Bait
Bait
Whether I could survive until the vaccine was complete, or meet my death before then.
Everything depended on this one choice.
'Before choosing, should I take a good look?'
First, Physical.
If one chooses Physical as their Special Ability, they can transcend the limits of the body.
The performance of the body, such as strength, agility, and eyesight, would dramatically increase as a basic, and by investing Points, one could transform their body, making their skin as hard as steel or turning their sweat into poison.
Naturally, increased recovery and immunity were also possible, making Special Ability-Body a very reliable friend, like a hearty meal.
For reference, as a proud son of Korea, I loved such hearty meals very much.
'...Let's exclude Physical.'
Nevertheless, I excluded Physical from the options.
Because I wasn't confident I could survive with it.
Embarrassingly, I was quite clumsy.
I also disliked pain, so I had never once fought with anyone in my life.
Could someone like me fight well just because my body got a little better?
'Absolutely impossible, right?'
Next was Psychic.
If one chooses Psychic as their Special Ability, they gain psychic powers such as telekinesis, clairvoyance, and pyrokinesis.
However, they couldn't choose the psychic power they wanted.
Psychic powers were randomly assigned based on the person's aptitude, personality, profession, and so on.
That wasn't the only problem with psychic powers.
Because a lot of mental energy was consumed to exert psychic powers, survival was difficult in the early stages, before investing Points to increase their efficiency.
Despite such serious problems, psychic powers were extremely useful and powerful.
Above all, they had the advantage of allowing even clumsy and whiny people like me to perform more than their share.
'So, Psychic is on hold for now.'
Finally, Summoning.
If one chooses Summoning as their Special Ability, they could command historical figures who no longer exist, or fictional beings from legends and novels, as summoned creatures.
Unlike psychic powers, which considered aptitude, personality, and profession, the summoned creatures for Ability Summoning were completely random.
Furthermore, summoned creatures had a 'loyalty' stat, so one shouldn't feel safe just because they summoned an excellent creature.
Because if they treated a created being carelessly, the summoned creature might run away.
Instead, the summoner could summon multiple creatures by spending Points.
This meant that if done well, one could create a one-person army.
'...Alright, I've decided.'
After agonizing for a long time between Psychic and Summoning, I made my decision.
The Special Ability I chose was,
'Summoning. I choose you!'
The fact that I could form an army by myself was very appealing.
From what I've experienced in life, nothing is as important as numbers.
-Ding! You have chosen Ability Summoning. Summoning will begin shortly. May luck be with you, survivor-nim.
Whoosh!
As the notification sound rang in my ears, a dazzling blue gate formed before me.
Soon after, something the size of a watermelon bounced out of it.
"..."
-...
"...System-ah, no, right? You're playing a prank, aren't you? Huh?"
-Ding! Congratulations. You have summoned a Slime. Please use the Summoned Creature Window for detailed information.
-P.S. You're incredibly unlucky!
"Don't send such a thing as a postscript!"
Already fuming, I was intensely enraged by the System's atrocity, which was like pouring fuel onto a fire.
Tremble, tremble, tremble
The Slime began to tremble, looking at me like that.
Thanks to a special perk granted to summoned creatures with difficult communication, I could tell what emotions it was feeling and what it was thinking.
The Slime was currently feeling guilt and fear.
It felt guilty that it, the absolute weakest of the weak, had been summoned as the first creature, and it feared being abandoned by its summoner immediately after being summoned.
A wave of apology washed over me.
Holding the Slime in my arms, I apologized to it.
"I'm sorry. For making you feel those emotions. Don't worry, I'm not such a bad person as to do what you're thinking on our first meeting."
Mollang?
"Really, it's true. More importantly, I'm late with introductions. My name is Park Minsu. I'm just an ordinary college student with no special talents. So, please help me a lot from now on."
Molkang! Molkang!
"Yes, I'll trust only you."
∼♥
Perhaps my words of trust pleased it greatly, as the Slime, having regained its spirits, rubbed its body against my cheek like a dog showing affection.
The Slime's body was incredibly soft and squishy, feeling very pleasant.
Thanks to that, the burning rage that had flared up quickly subsided.
'Now that I feel better, shall I check it out?'
Watching the Slime's reaction, I opened the Summoned Creature Window.
◎(Name Undecided)
Species: Slime (♀)
Owned Skills: Digestion, Mucus Generation, Telepathy (Perk)
Loyalty! : 70 (50→70)
-Skill Description
Digestion: Can digest not only organic matter but also some inorganic matter.
Mucus Generation: Can generate mucus with special effects. (Currently generatable mucus - Digestive Fluid)
Telepathy: A special perk for summoned creatures with difficult communication. Can communicate through thoughts.
'...As expected, there's nothing great.'
As if to prove it was the weakest of the weak monsters, there was nothing particularly noteworthy in the Summoned Creature Window.
Although its Loyalty increased from 50 to 70, raising the loyalty of low-intelligence summoned creatures like Slimes was very easy, so it wasn't particularly remarkable.
The skills were not just ordinary, but pathetic.
With those, I wonder if it could even catch a single Zombie.
'What should I name it?'
My disappointment was brief; I pondered the Slime's name.
Until I earned Points and summoned a new creature, I had no choice but to be with the Slime, whether I liked it or not.
In that case, it was much more beneficial to decide on the name of the partner I'd be constantly calling, rather than just sighing repeatedly.
"Lime? No, that's too cliché. Lala, how about Lala?"
Molkang! Molkang!
Perhaps it liked the name, as the Slime—no, Lala—bounced up and down in place.
"Then, shall we go hunting now?"
Molkang! Molkang!
Points could only be obtained by defeating Zombies.
The more Points a survivor collected, the stronger they became, so hunting was not an option, but a necessity.
"Ah, before that, let's make some preparations."
It's a regrettable thing to say to Lala, but if I went hunting mindlessly, I felt like I'd die without even getting to try anything.
After checking how strong Lala was and how much she could transform her body, I crafted weapons from items in the convenience store.
For weapons, I sharpened the end of a mop handle.
I considered attaching a utility knife, but I thought it wouldn't be effective against Zombies, unlike against people, so I chose the former.
'Let's make some armor too.'
Since I was already putting in the effort, I decided to make armor as well.
I brought a few boxes from the storage room, wrapped them around my limbs and body, securing them tightly with tape, and thoroughly protected my hands by wearing coated work gloves.
'If I had been home, such preparations would have been impossible.'
Compared to my home, which only had minimal daily necessities, the convenience store had a variety of items and plenty of food.
My current ability to prepare at my leisure must be thanks to that.
I felt a little, just a very little, grateful to the store owner who had prevented me from leaving work.
"Lala, let's really go now."
Having completed all preparations, I headed for the door with Lala.
Then, seeing the scene unfolded before the door, I immediately turned back.
'Oh, fuck.'
I remembered belatedly.
What was in front of the convenience store.
Less than three minutes from the convenience store was a hospital, specifically an emergency room, and just tens of minutes ago, countless Malum Suspected Patients were being transported to that emergency room.
So, what kind of scene would be unfolding in front of the convenience store now that the Apocalypse had begun?
'What else? Of course, it's overflowing with countless Zombies!'
Therefore, going out the front door was absolutely impossible.
Because the moment I stepped out, countless Zombies would rush towards me, panting.
'Would the back door be the same?'
Giving up on going out the front door, I immediately thought of the back door, which was used for taking out trash.
The back door connected to a narrow alley between buildings, so due to its location and structure, there couldn't be many Zombies.
Heading straight for the back door, I slightly opened it to check the situation in the alley.
'As expected!'
As anticipated, there weren't many Zombies in the alley.
About three of them?
It was ridiculously few compared to the front door, but still a daunting number to go out and fight.
'Lure them. Lure them into the convenience store and kill them.'
Fortunately, the hallway connected to the back door had a structure optimized for hiding and ambushing.
'The key is how to lure the Zombies.'
Molkang! Molkang!
"What? You want me to leave it to you?"
Molkang!
While I was contemplating how to lure the Zombies, Lala bounced around, sending me a thought-message asking me to leave it to her.
From that thought-message, I felt Lala's will to help me in any way she could.
In the end, I nodded and entrusted the luring to Lala.
After slightly opening the back door for Lala to go out, I hid myself around the corner.
Lala rolled out the back door.
Perhaps she's rolling like that because if she bounced around, she might draw too much aggro?
Lala's intelligence seemed better than I expected.
Roll, roll!
Kkeueoeo
My admiration for Lala's intelligence was brief; Lala rolled back in the same way she had rolled out.
Behind Lala, a Zombie appeared.
The Zombie, which had been chasing Lala step by step, finally reached a dead end.
At that moment, Lala bounced up and covered the Zombie's mouth.
And at the same time,
Thwack!
The tip of the spear, thrust with all my might, pierced through the Zombie's head.