Chapter 14
Chapter 14
Translator: M.N 1391
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Translator : M.N 1391
Title: The Power of Infinite Energy
Chapter: 14
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Suspicious and cowardly people never talk to others for no reason.
In their mental world, others are beings that can’t be trusted and will only bring harm, so it’s natural that they’d want to keep their distance. That was a truth Dae-shik had learned through two hundred years of living in Achaia.
You could call it paranoia. Or delusional suspicion. Either way, the brown-haired guy was clearly suspicious and scared. Yet, the fact that he kept hovering around and talking to Dae-shik meant he was definitely up to something.
“What… what are you talking about.”
“You’ve been pointlessly talking to me and sneaking glances all this time. Why?”
The moment he met Dae-shik’s cold eyes, the brown-haired man felt a chill crawl up the back of his neck. It was like someone had grabbed the nape of his neck with an ice-cold, frozen hand in the middle of winter.
“Damn it… I knew I should’ve taken more.”
Flustered, he cursed under his breath and pulled something small from his coat.
It was a little hammer, its tip sharp like a spike.
“Where’d you get that?”
“W-where I got it doesn’t matter. J-just hand over the bag.”
At first, what caught his eye was Dae-shik’s weapon. But as they talked, the bag also started to look tempting.
Inside that bag was all the food Dae-shik had scavenged, and there might be even more useful stuff in there, too. So, if he could just take the bag and the weapon and run, he’d be set. That was the brown-haired man’s plan.
But Dae-shik didn’t even flinch at the sight of the weapon.
He didn’t look surprised at all, instead, he sighed, as if the whole thing was just pathetic.
“Haa...”
Then he shook his head and calmly took one last bite of his chicken mayo bowl.
“I said, give me the bag!”
The brown-haired man shouted, his heart pounding and his head burning hot from adrenaline.
“This is your last warning. Think carefully before you act. If you just walk away, I’ll let you live.”
His voice was cracking slightly, trembling hands giving him away. It was obvious even at a glance, he was a complete amateur.
‘Well, how many people on Earth have actually swung a real weapon at someone, anyway.’
Confirming that much, Dae-shik leisurely began packing a few essentials from the convenience store’s shelf into his bag, some toothpaste, a toothbrush, and soap.
Anyone watching might think, “Why the hell’s he taking a toothbrush right now?” but to him, it was important.
When the world became peaceful again someday, he didn’t want to ruin his teeth and be unable to enjoy good food.
‘Alright, that should do it.’
After judging that he had what he needed, Dae-shik swung the bag onto his back.
“Damn it! Are you ignoring me?!”
“If you’re really gonna do it, then hurry up. Why waste your breath yelling?”
Then he reached into his vest and pulled out his secondary weapon—a sturdy crowbar.
The color drained from the brown-haired man’s face.
“Y-you…”
“I told you to think carefully before you act.”
Unlike his opponent, Dae-shik’s tone was calm and natural.
You wouldn’t believe he was standing face-to-face with someone wielding a weapon.
But then, his expression suddenly changed. From outside, at the fifth floor of a nearby building, a flag made from black cloth was fluttering.
The signal was clear, up, down, up, down.
Something was coming.
“Shit!”
At that moment, the brown-haired man screamed and charged toward Dae-shik.
Dae-shik merely took a step back, letting the attack miss.
“Die, damn you!”
CRASH!
The display shelf toppled over, scattering goods everywhere.
As Dae-shik avoided the attack, a can of mackerel had somehow ended up in his hand.
“You little punk.”
VWOOM!
The can flew straight toward the brown-haired man’s face.
He barely dodged it, jerking his head to the side.
At the same time, Dae-shik’s fist came flying for his face.
THUD!
For a moment, the brown-haired man’s vision went black.
When he opened his eyes again, Dae-shik was already holding his wrist in an iron grip.
“Let go, damn it!”
He struggled, but Dae-shik’s hand didn’t budge an inch.
“Shut your mouth.”
Dae-shik raised the crowbar.
Immediately, the brown-haired man started pleading.
“P-please! Don’t kill me!”
A horrific image flashed through his mind, Dae-shik bringing that crowbar down on his skull, the sound of bone shattering, and his vision going dark…
But Dae-shik merely pried the little hammer from his grasp.
He didn’t smash his head in.
“Huh?”
Then, the weight pressing down on his back vanished.
When he looked up, Dae-shik was already heading for the door, collecting his weapons.
“Hey! You bastard! You said you’d give that to me!”
The brown-haired man shouted after him, chasing to the door, but then stopped dead in his tracks. From the left corner of the convenience store, a horde of zombies was approaching.
* * *
“Huff, huff...”
After escaping the convenience store, Dae-shik sprinted into the nearest building.
In his left hand, he clutched a box of Monk-Tong-Tong snacks and a canister of butane gas.
“AAARGH!”
A scream echoed from the direction of the store.
That idiot’s yelling had bought him a bit of time. But it was too soon to relax.
If he went back outside now, the zombies would spot him immediately, and it’d turn into a chase down the street.
‘That’s not happening.’
He wasn’t about to let zombies loiter around near his hard-earned safe house.
It was a perfectly rational decision.
The only problem was… he couldn’t guarantee this building was free of zombies or infected either.
After a short moment of thought, Dae-shik stuffed two skewers into his bag and gripped the crowbar tightly with both hands.
The skewers stuck out slightly, but that didn’t matter.
‘Hopefully no one’s alive in here.’
He had entered an old, worn-down villa. The whole area was under redevelopment, and many of the buildings scheduled for demolition were already uninhabited.
For someone who didn’t want to waste unnecessary energy, it was only natural to hope this one was empty too.
After catching his breath, Dae-shik started up the gray, crumbling staircase, crowbar in hand.
“Grrr-aaah-k!”
The moment he stepped onto the second floor, a zombie lunged at him.
THWACK!
Dae-shik swung his crowbar at its ankle with full force.
The creature lost its balance and fell, its head perfectly lined up for a strike.
STAB!
With a practiced motion, Dae-shik drove the pointed end of the crowbar straight into the zombie’s mouth.
Two or three more appeared as he climbed higher, but they were dispatched quickly, without any trouble.
And then, the fourth floor.
While other floors were divided into three apartments each, the fourth floor belonged entirely to one person.
As was typical for old buildings like this, this was clearly the landlord’s home.
DING-DONG!
Dae-shik politely rang the doorbell.
Just in case the owner was still alive.
“Excuse me, is anyone home?”
No answer came from inside.
“Is anyone home?”
Even after ringing again and speaking, there was no response. So, Dae-shik lifted his crowbar and began prying open the door.
CRREEEAK, CRUNCH!
The metal around the latch bent like taffy, and soon, the thick steel door swung open.
“Anybody here?”
Just in case, he called out once more.
For an apocalypse, his manners were surprisingly courteous.
‘That’s right, that’s right.’
He lightly praised his own refined behavior, then walked toward the veranda.
Stepping outside, he leaned out slightly and waved his hand.
From the safe house, a flag signal responded.
* * *
“Phew...”
Hye-na, watching from the safe house, let out a long sigh of relief.
When the fight had suddenly broken out at the convenience store while zombies were swarming nearby, her heart had nearly stopped. But Dae-shik had handled it with unsettling ease, knocking the guy out and walking away as if nothing happened.
‘Is he really a former special forces soldier?’
Just watching from afar had made her knees tremble…
‘But what was that thing he carried out with him?’
When he’d left the store, Dae-shik had hastily grabbed something.
She couldn’t tell what it was, her eyesight wasn’t sharp enough at that distance. Whatever it was, it had to be something important. But seeing the zombies all over the street made her stomach twist with worry.
‘Should I go help him?’
Her eyes turned to the electric bicycle parked in the corridor.
The villa Dae-shik had entered was already surrounded by zombies. If he came out now, they’d definitely chase him.
‘If I use the e-bike, maybe I can get to him…?’
It had to be faster than running, at least. That thought flickered in her mind and then she saw someone waving furiously from the fourth floor window of the building Dae-shik had entered.
‘He’s signaling for help!’
Hye-na quickly put away the flag and ran to the bike.
“Ugh… haa!”
She lifted the e-bike as high as she could so it was visible through the window, then set it back down.
‘It means I’m coming to rescue you, wait for me!’
Something like that. A kind of body language, maybe.
* * *
Back on the fourth floor.
Her “body language” had been perfectly understood.
“Is that woman insane…?”
Dae-shik’s reaction, of course, was not what she expected.
“No! Don’t! Stop that nonsense!”
He crossed his arms in a huge X and waved them furiously.
Then he even pulled out the skewers from his bag, crossing them into an X as well to make his point absolutely clear.
If she really rode over here, escape might be possible, but then the safe house would be surrounded by zombies camping out for days.
“Just wave the damn flag! The flag!”
Muttering to himself, Dae-shik looked back toward the safe house window.
Hye-na was making a circle above her head with her arms.
Probably a sign that she understood.
Then, once again, the black flag signal appeared in the window.
‘Phew... Good. Just tell me where the zombies are.’
Relieved that she wouldn’t do anything stupid, Dae-shik turned his eyes to the system window.
Current Satiety: 80. Thanks to the brown-haired idiot’s interruption, he hadn’t managed to fill it to 100.
But that was fine.
Dae-shik immediately tore open the box of Monk-Tong-Tong.
Then he untied the wire around his waist and grabbed it, channeling his ability.
『Reinforcing wire.』
『The wire becomes sturdier.』
『Satiety decreases. Remaining satiety: 30.』
Next, he strengthened two monkey wrenches that hadn’t yet been enhanced, and before his satiety hit zero, he stuffed mouthfuls of chocolate-covered snack pies into his mouth.
‘Not yet?’
Just as his throat started to clog up…
『Trait rank has increased.』
『A new function has been unlocked.』
At last, the message he’d been waiting for appeared.
Translator: M.N 1391