Chapter 15
Chapter 15
Translator: M.N 1391
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Translator : M.N 1391
Title: The Mad Bomber of the Apocalypse
Chapter: 15
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The look in Dae-shik’s eyes as he stared at the system window was filled with madness.
‘Perfect. You’re all dead today.’
『Trait level has increased. (Blacksmith Lv3 -> Lv4)』
『A new function is now available.』
『Weaken : You can weaken the material of a target.』
Weaken. At first glance, it didn’t seem very useful, but it was actually quite handy. Especially in a situation like this, where he had gas cans.
Dae-shik slowly steadied his breathing and pulled out a can of soda from his bag.
『Ability is activated.』
『The can is weakened.』
After weakening the soda can, he picked up a chopstick from the kitchen and stabbed it in—Poke!—and a neat air hole appeared instantly.
‘Roughly like this.’
After testing the strength with the soda can, Dae-shik drank the liquid dripping through the hole. Not even a drop to drink or a crumb to eat could be wasted.
That was a conviction deeply engraved in his heart.
“Ahhh…”
After draining the soda clean, Dae-shik grabbed the gas cylinder again and activated his ability.
『Ability is activated.』
『Weakening the gas can.』
『Satiety decreases.』
He immediately replenished the lost satiety with a piece of MongX.
From now on, he’d be busy.
“Ugh… this is nerve-wracking.”
His heart shrank with fear that the can might explode if he squeezed it too hard.
Dae-shik carefully cradled the gas can, making sure not to crush it with his grip strength.
“Graaa…”
“Grrraaahhh…”
Before long, quite a few zombies had gathered on the sidewalk near the villa.
Mixed among the horde were a few infected ones as well. Trying to brute-force through that crowd would be a one-way ticket to disaster, any fool could tell.
But of course, Dae-shik was no fool.
“Whew…”
He took a slow breath first.
Then, rummaging through the kitchen, he grabbed a fruit knife and hurled the can with all his might toward the center of the zombie swarm.
Clang!
The red can rolled between the zombies wandering aimlessly like beasts searching for prey.
No explosion, only for the zombies’ gazes to momentarily turn toward where the can had landed.
That’s when it happened.
Swoosh!
With the sound of slicing wind, a fruit knife gleamed under the winter sunlight as it flew.
BOOM!
An enormous explosion shattered the air. A crimson blaze shot up from the center of the zombie horde.
The zombie closest to the can was blown away by the blast.
“Graaaargh!”
Caught off guard, an infected let out a piercing shriek. Unlike zombies, infected ones retained a shred of intellect. Its eyes turned toward where the explosive had been thrown from.
There stood a man, smiling brightly as he looked down.
“Grrrraaagh!”
The infected roared and pointed at Dae-shik.
Clang!
At that moment, with a ringing sound, a reddish can fell right by its feet.
BOOM!
Flames erupted from beneath.
The infected’s vision went black, the deafening explosion echoing in its ears.
* * *
“Eek!”
Hye-na screamed before she could stop herself as a sudden blaze burst up from the horde of zombies.
The lifeless street echoed with fire and explosion.
After two consecutive blasts, more than half of the zombies surrounding the building Dae-shik had entered were gone.
But the situation wasn’t getting better, only worse.
‘W-what is he thinking?!’
Just a while ago, he said not to make noise, and now he was causing a massive commotion. Sure, the zombies near the building had thinned out, but now ones from farther away were being drawn in.
Just then, Dae-shik waved his hand, signaling her.
Finally coming to her senses, Hye-na looked around and waved the signal flags. Whatever it was, she had to do what she could. And what Dae-shik had told her to do, was wave those flags.
Up, down. Up, down.
The flag pointed to one o’clock.
Then twelve. Then eleven.
Hye-na signaled every direction from which zombies were pouring out.
But in her mind, the thought wouldn’t go away, ‘Is this even going to help?’
From the front, side, back buildings of the old villa Dae-shik had entered, zombies were pouring out from everywhere. It was a scene straight out of a stirred hornet’s nest.
‘What on earth is he planning?!’
She stomped her feet anxiously, yet kept waving. Because she trusted there had to be a reason for all the chaos he was causing.
* * *
After confirming that the zombies were gathering, Dae-shik climbed straight up to the rooftop. Keeping his body low, he crept to the railing and looked down.
The entire building was surrounded, tight as a drum. No matter which direction he ran, he’d be swept up by the wave of zombies and end up joining their ranks.
‘Perfect.’
But a confident grin curved Dae-shik’s lips.
Two gas cans left. He set them down and pulled out his baton, already reshaped like a hammer.
『Ability is activated.』
『Transforming the baton’s shape.』
『Satiety decreases.』
When the ability activated, the baton’s end transformed into a hook.
‘Still a bit rough.’
It wasn’t a perfect hook, just a little crude at the edges.
But it would do for now.
He firmly tied the hooked baton to the end of a reinforced wire.
Leaving some slack, he began spinning the wire in his hand.
‘Let’s nail it in one shot!’
Clang!
The hook latched onto the railing of the building across on the 4th floor.
Dae-shik tugged the wire with all his might.
His life depended on this rope. If it wasn’t secured properly, or if the wire was weaker than expected, he’d plummet. Even if he survived the fall, he’d become zombie lunch.
‘Got it.’
Luckily, the railing was sturdier than it looked. No matter how hard he pulled, it didn’t budge.
After checking the rope’s stability, Dae-shik ran to the opposite end of the rooftop.
Then, he threw one of the last two gas cans.
The target wasn’t the zombies, but a car nearby.
Ting, ting!
The weakened butane can rolled under the car.
‘Strike.’
Then the final bomb followed.
Dae-shik grabbed a flowerpot from the rooftop. And hurled it toward the gas cans with all his strength.
Crash!
The sharp sound of shattering pots echoed loudly.
One, then another… With each shattering pot, more zombies gathered. And the last one, the biggest pot, fell toward the ground.
Its target: the gas cans.
BOOM!
The moment the pot broke, the gas can exploded with a deafening roar. But unlike before, the explosion didn’t end there.
BOOM!
Another blast followed.
The can under the car triggered a chain reaction.
KWA-BOOM!
A massive explosion thundered, so loud even Dae-shik flinched in shock.
‘Holy, mother—!’
Startled by his own explosion, Dae-shik clamped his ears and flattened himself against the ground. The power of the gas cans was beyond imagination, and the car’s explosion made a sound no gas can alone could compare to. And the explosion brought Dae-shik an unexpected stroke of luck.
『You have simultaneously eliminated multiple zombies and infected.』
『A special reward has been granted.』
The chain explosions and flying debris had wiped out far more zombies than he’d expected.
Over thirty in total.
『A new title has been granted.』
『New Title: Zombie Slayer』
『Your stats increase whenever you slay zombies or infected.』
『Strength +1』
『Stamina +1』
A wide grin spread across Dae-shik’s face.
‘In Achaia, it took me ages to earn this title…’
And now he’d become a ‘Slayer’ in just one day after the apocalypse began, without any combat skills.
‘Science really is amazing.’
He was a liberal arts major, but that didn’t matter.
The chain explosion worked beautifully, and even more zombies were now being drawn toward the blast zone.
‘Time to move.’
After confirming the situation below, Dae-shik ran toward the other side of the rooftop.
And looking down from there…
‘Perfect.’
The zombies on that side were also moving toward the site of the explosion.
Dae-shik immediately climbed onto the reinforced wire rope and crossed to the opposite building.
* * *
‘Amazing…’
Watching from afar, Hye-na couldn’t help but be awestruck.
Causing a massive explosion in the opposite direction to lure the zombies away, then using a rope to cross between buildings, already unbelievable. But what amazed her even more was…
‘Did he plan that too?’
Most of the zombies inside the new building he entered had also gone outside, drawn by the blast.
Thanks to that, he wasn’t surrounded the moment he entered.
Then, Dae-shik moved again—from that building to the next, then another beyond it, using the rope each time.
After three or four such crossings, he finally reached a place almost devoid of zombies.
At that point, for the first time, Hye-na could signal something other than “up” or “down.”
* * *
“That was incredible, Mr. Dae-shik!”
When Dae-shik finally reached the first floor of the safe house, Hye-na ran barefoot to greet him. Sweaty and disheveled, he looked like a mess, but having escaped hundreds of zombies, he stood tall like a returning war hero.
“Haaah… my god…”
Groaning, Dae-shik plopped down in the lobby.
“Are you hurt anywhere?” Hye-na asked quickly, rushing over.
“I’m fine… just hungry.”
Dae-shik grinned.
Then he took off his backpack and handed it to her.
“Let’s eat. Everything we do is for survival, after all.”
But Hye-na couldn’t bring herself to nod. All she had done was wave flags from a window.
While he had risked life and death out there.
“Eat up. Things are going to get busy starting tomorrow.”
Dae-shik handed her a convenience-store lunchbox. It was battered from all the chaos, but that hardly mattered.
At this point, even this was a blessing, and soon, there would come a day when even this would be too precious to find.
“Thank you…”
After hesitating briefly, Hye-na accepted the lunchbox.
“But… Do you really think I’ll have something to do starting tomorrow?”
At her question, a sly smile crept across Dae-shik’s face.
“Why do you think I’ve been setting off all these bombs?”
Translator: M.N 1391