Chapter 9
Chapter 9
Chapter 9. Even If the World’s Gone to Hell, This Ain’t It
“Ah, ahhh··· so cold!”
When I left the house, it wasn’t nearly this cold, but as the night deepened, the chill seeped into every corner of my body.
After spending 200 years in another world, I’d briefly forgotten.
That Grandpa Dangun had picked quite the high-difficulty zone as my starting point.
Why does this country turn into a boiling cauldron in summer and a freezer in winter, seriously.
At least I had one bit of good fortune, I’d managed to find some work shoes. Broken glass, shards of sidewalk, and bits of twisted metal were scattered all over the street. If I’d still been walking around in slippers, I’d have stepped on something and wrecked myself for sure.
‘Good thing I went for shoes first.’
Next on the list, clothes.
You’d think I could just strip a dead guy and wear his stuff, right?
That’s the trap card right there.
If I walk around wearing clothes that reek of blood, it’s basically the same as advertising my location to every zombie and infected in the area.
‘It was around here...’
I quickly headed toward the small clothing shop I’d marked from the rooftop.
First thing’s first, I needed to get some clothes, no matter what.
If I kept going around with just a T-shirt and a hoodie, I’d freeze to death before a zombie or infected even got me. There was only one way, get to that store fast and grab some winter gear.
Every breath I took came out as a cloud of white mist.
‘What the hell’s the temperature?’
Just as I turned the corner,
“Grrwoooaaar!”
A zombie suddenly appeared from around it.
‘Ah, damn it!’
I reflexively swung my new weapon,
Thud!
With a dull sound, the thing collapsed limply to the ground.
Stab!
When I jabbed the sharp end of the crowbar into its mouth, even the faint spasms stopped completely.
‘Ugh, my hands are freezing.’
Holding a chunk of cold steel in this weather was enough to sap my body heat on its own.
If I didn’t at least have gloves, my hands would’ve gone numb already.
‘Still, the power’s no joke.’
I hadn’t even strengthened it, and it still hit like that.
Once again, all thanks to the hardware store old man.
‘Alright, from now on, you’ll be called Crowbar-calibur.’
It’s not a sword, but it’s a damn fine weapon anyway.
Of course, calling it a perfect weapon would be a stretch.
It was heavy, sturdy, yes, but heavy enough that every swing drained a lot of stamina. And the balance wasn’t like a proper sword or mace either, which limited my movements a lot.
That was a major flaw. Especially considering the average salaryman Kim Daesik’s pathetic fitness level.
‘Feels like it’s about time for my skill level to go up.’
Thinking that, I quickened my pace again.
Once my trait leveled up, this issue would be easy to fix, but right now, clothes were the priority.
Whoooosh…!
A gust of icy wind blasted across me, draining what little warmth I had left.
‘U-ugh...’
I swear, my ears were about to fall off.
‘With this kind of wind and temperature, frostbite isn’t even a joke.’
Well, maybe frostbite was a bit of an exaggeration, but what worried me more was catching a cold.
In the apocalypse, you couldn’t eat or rest properly. Even a common cold could drag on for over a week. And during that time, your condition dropped, making it harder to move like usual.
In times when every minute and second mattered, the last thing I wanted was to be bedridden with a fever.
So, keeping an eye out in all directions, I picked up my pace.
After cutting down a few more zombies through the bitter wind, I finally reached the clothing store area...
‘Son of a—!’
A curse slipped out before I could stop it, a horde of zombies was now milling around the store.
‘They weren’t here before!’
When I’d checked from the rooftop, there hadn’t been a single one. Where the hell did they come from!?
‘One, two... seven?’
And that number wasn’t small.
Charging in and taking them all out at once wasn’t an option. Given the crowbar-calibur’s weight and my sorry excuse for muscles, that’d be suicide, but I didn’t have the luxury of searching for another store.
There weren’t any nearby, and wandering too far in this cold would only make things worse.
‘What’s with this damn temperature swing...’
This had to be at least minus ten degrees.
I muttered a string of curses under my breath as I reached into the vest pocket for my small monkey wrench.
Then, something strange happened.
『Ability activated.』
『Choose the point source for enhancement.』
『Satiety (100) / ??? (10)』
What the hell...So the sub-battery wasn’t the same thing as satiety?
‘This didn’t exist back in Achaia...’
After a brief moment of confusion, I decided to stop thinking and just use it.
I’d understand what it did soon enough anyway. And if I was going to take down that group, I needed to unlock the next skill.
『Consuming satiety.』
『Enhancing monkey wrench.』
『The monkey wrench’s shape changes.』
『Using ???.』
『Enhancing monkey wrench.』
『The monkey wrench’s shape changes.』
When the form change triggered, the wrench’s head thickened and sharpened like a small axe blade.
I tossed it lightly in my hand, testing the balance.
Then, with a quick snap of my wrist, I threw it.
Thunk!
The sharpened edge of the transformed wrench buried itself straight into the zombie’s skull.
A bullseye on the first throw.
“Grrr?”
As their comrade fell from a surprise attack, the remaining six zombies turned and rushed straight toward me.
I immediately threw my second wrench, the one powered up with the sub-battery.
Then...
Thunk!
The sound was twice as loud, and the zombie’s body flew backward like it had been hit by a car. Even at a glance, the difference in power from an ordinary wrench was enormous.
‘What the hell!?’
I barely had time to recover from my shock before five more zombies came barreling at me.
Thud, thud!
I rammed the crowbar straight into the open mouth of the one leading the charge.
“Gr-ghhrrrk...”
The tip pierced clean through its skull. Kicking its body away, I swung the crowbar again toward the next one.
‘It’s heavy.’
Maybe it was because my body was stiff from the cold, but my already sluggish movements felt even slower.
“Grrwaah!”
Damn, still three left.
Right then, a most welcome message flickered before my eyes.
『Trait level increased.』
『Blacksmith (Lv2 -> Lv3)』
『New function unlocked.』
『Weight Reduction: Slightly decreases the weight of the selected item.』
‘Nice timing.’
I immediately used the new “Weight Reduction” feature.
『The crowbar’s weight decreases.』
『Remaining satiety 70 + 5』
Once the crowbar-calibur became nearly half as light, I felt every impact of the next swing, the satisfying crunch of skull giving way under steel.
Crunch!
‘Three left.’
I twisted my body to dodge a zombie’s flailing attack and swung again.
Now that it was lighter, the motion felt almost effortless.
Wham!
A perfect hit, the levered end of the crowbar-calibur smashed into the zombie’s back of the head.
“Phew...”
With my newly improved weapon, I dispatched the last two zombies cleanly, then retrieved both monkey wrenches.
After that, I sprinted into the clothing store as if something were chasing me.
“Huff, huff...”
The first thing I did was grab any clothes nearby and wipe the sweat off my face.
‘If this sweat cools down, I’ll definitely catch a cold.’
Then, while slowing my breathing, I carefully wiped the blood off the monkey wrench.
Weapons rust quickly if you don’t maintain them, especially the ones you spent precious satiety to enhance.
As I cleaned the blood from the upgraded throwing wrench, one question kept circling in my mind.
‘What the hell was that?’
The power from the sub-battery-enhanced weapon was insane. It wasn’t just the boost in hardness or sharpness from the crafting skill, the destructive power was on another level entirely.
If possible, I wanted to keep that sub-battery charged at all times.
But I had no clue how to refill it.
‘Maybe it fills up from overeating?’
Or maybe from eating cleanly, not leaving a single drop of soup behind, savoring every bite... yeah, that was probably wishful thinking. I was pretty good at eating, though. Especially eating a lot.
‘Do I have to receive food from someone else?’
That sounded difficult, but it was probably the most likely explanation.
While mulling it over, I turned my gaze around the inside of the store. That could wait, getting winter gear came first.
‘Whoa, there’s a lot.’
From plain T-shirts to those flowery shirts that grandmas love, the shop was packed with all sorts of clothes.
I quickly scanned through them for anything wearable.
Light, frilly, or flashy stuff, out. They had no insulation and drew too much attention.
Color, preferably black.
Not because of zombies or infected, but because of humans. Once society collapses, humans become just as dangerous as monsters.
And against humans, wearing black helps. Not much difference in daylight, but at night or in dark areas, black clothes give you a big advantage.
It’s not like ninjas or assassins wore black for fashion reasons, after all.
Next, scarves and earmuffs, winter accessories. Thankfully, the store had those too, along with handkerchiefs, socks, and all sorts of miscellaneous stuff.
‘Is this a thrift shop?’
Judging by the condition of the clothes and the mix of brands and unbranded stuff, yeah, definitely a secondhand store. That was great news for me.
It meant I had a wide variety to choose from. But there was one big problem...
‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’
When I actually tried to pick something to wear, there were almost no men’s clothes.
‘Even if the world’s ended, I’m not about to go crossdressing!’
I prided myself on not caring too much about what others thought, but come on!
What would people even say if they saw me?
‘Jeez, even after the world went to hell, he’s still confidently walking around in women’s clothes,’ they’d click their tongues and whisper!
They’d think I was using the apocalypse as an excuse to finally flaunt some hidden fetish or something!
‘No, absolutely not.’
Caught off guard by this unexpected crisis, I fell into a brief panic, frantically digging through the racks, hoping at least for something labeled “unisex.”
“Huh?”
And there, beneath the hanging clothes, I found an unexpected treasure.