Chapter 201
Chapter 201
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 201
Chapter Title: The God of the Fanatics - 2
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Even though the Ghoul Flower had exploded all at once, the situation wasn't completely resolved.
Enhanced Ghouls are born from the flower's remains, and among them, the Crying takes the cake.
It takes on a human form.
Normal ghouls resemble humans to some extent, but this one is completely indistinguishable.
In most cases, it mimics a woman, crying naked.
Take her back to your hideout or shelter, and that's when the nightmare begins.
In the dead of night, when everyone's asleep...
The Crying gathers ghouls and attacks the hideout.
Those who trusted their sturdy hideout and slept pay the price for bringing the Crying along—with their lives.
"There was no such thing in the game. You could always tell who the Crying was..."
It played out as a cutscene event, and if the player caught on and attacked, the Crying died right there.
Plus, with so few players around, it was rare to get confused about whether someone was a Crying or not.
"But in reality, it's hard to tell them apart."
"You can distinguish them because they mimic human speech awkwardly. But you can't tell if it's someone with a mental disability or a Crying."
Jang Won-taek, Lee Beom-seok, and Lee Sang-shin all grimaced at my words.
But Gukbap Addict, you shouldn't look clueless too.
"You've watched a ton of my streams."
He scratched his cheek awkwardly.
"I had it on while sleeping. Your voice is nicely deep, and with all the background noise, it helped me sleep."
I couldn't really scold him—most of my viewers did the same.
The only one who watched my streams religiously was Poor Man.
"Anyway, the Crying doesn't always mimic women 100% of the time. It imitates injured men or kids too. It steals clothes and pretends to be a refugee. From now on, no outsiders. Especially loners."
Jang Won-taek peered at the guidebook Geom-in had made, then shook his head.
"There's a lot not in the guidebook."
"Can't cover every scenario... And it wasn't important in the game, so Geom-in probably didn't bother."
Besides the Crying, there are plenty of other Enhanced Ghouls.
The Screamer, which shrieks to gather nearby zombies and ghouls.
The Jumpscare, which hides in stealth and pops out suddenly.
There's even one resembling a doppelganger.
The counter for all these Enhanced Ghouls is simple.
Reject outsiders completely.
They're not that strong offensively, so level 20 is enough to handle them.
Non-combat types are at risk, but get help from others nearby.
The key is: don't let outsiders in.
Jang Won-taek crossed his arms, deep in thought.
"...Sung-ho, have you heard? About Americans showing up in Gangnam-gu and Songpa-gu."
"I heard they were first spotted at Yatap Station's dimension gate."
He took a paper from Lee Beom-seok and handed it to me.
He knew we weren't on good terms, so he was being deliberate.
Skimming the paper, the contents were pretty serious.
Fanatical rednecks armed with guns...
Jang Won-taek elaborated.
"Most of these Americans who came to Korea are from Texas. From Texas Phoenix. Lots of survivalist preppers who prepared for the end times. They made personal forges to craft guns and ammo, all united by one belief. That 'He' will come on humanity's final day."
"'He'? Who?"
"No idea. At first, we thought it might be our god, but the story's different. Something about granting eternal life if you believe..."
Sounds like they're talking about that monster buried in the deepest part of the Great Labyrinth.
Same playbook.
This confirms programmer An Geun-seok can access other servers too.
We have to go through Great Labyrinth floor 1, but he has another way.
Makes sense for a guy who phases through walls.
Jang Won-taek hesitated before asking.
"You seem to know something... Right?"
"I have my suspicions. But it's not time to share here."
"Need more intel first. Got it. Anything we can do?"
This cooperative attitude is nice.
After the internal strife, he seems fully committed to supporting me.
I listed what was needed.
"First, detailed info on Gangnam-gu and Songpa-gu areas. Redneck numbers, firepower, battlefield status. And Sang-shin..."
Sang-shin, who had been dozing off, jolted awake.
"Wh-what? Me what?"
"Go scout nearby."
"Can't you just fly a drone or paper plane?"
"Some things you can't get that way. They're people. Poke them lightly, see reactions."
Sang-shin was the only one besides me who could fly.
Ruined roads were no obstacle for him.
Telekinesis is seriously OP.
"Ugh... Too lazy."
"I've fed you tons of gukbap. Time to earn your keep."
"Fine... But next time, somari gukbap."
"Where do we get a cow?"
"Wild ones in Hoengseong maybe?"
"Monsters would leave them alone?"
Sang-shin grumbled as he headed out.
I stopped him and handed over a few items.
Jang Won-taek and Lee Beom-seok's eyes widened.
"Insane options... Where'd you get these?"
"Geom-in looted them. She went through hell this time."
"Ah, from there. First all-stats item I've seen."
"Me too."
In 5,500 hours of play, triple-stat items were rare enough to count on one hand.
Sang-shin grinned and slipped on the bracelet.
"Ooh, stat rush feels good. Anyway, I'm off. Tell Geom-in thanks."
"Sure."
As he left, Jang Won-taek cautiously remarked.
"Looks like a lot's happening in your dimension gate even now. Heh."
"Something like that. Oh, Poor Man sent these bentos for you..."
I pulled two bentos from my dimension slot and set them on the table.
Jang Won-taek opened one curiously and gasped.
A mouthwatering sashimi rice bowl.
"This is...?"
"Poor Man packed them with care. Said our president works hard."
"Hah... Haha..."
A touched laugh escaped him.
He probably never expected anyone to care like this.
His eyes looked a bit misty to me.
His wrinkled hands wrapped around the bento.
"Tell him I'll enjoy it. This looks like flounder... Been ages..."
"It's sand flounder. Tastier than our local ones."
They're huge too—easily over 5kg.
Lee Beom-seok swallowed hard, clearly wanting some.
Time for me to bow out.
I said goodbye and headed outside.
.
.
.
Lee Sang-shin had arrived at Jamsil's shopping district.
Many buildings were wrecked by the earthquake, but plenty remained.
The rednecks were stationed right there.
He called it a station because they looked like an armed militia.
Everyone carried homemade guns, and some fired into the air.
"These guys are nuts, right?"
They looked it, and they were.
They were a bit unhinged.
Whether from ecstasy from the Ghoul Flower or something else, who knows.
Something's off. Why no monsters?
To Sang-shin, monsters swarming people was common sense.
But none showed even a whisker around this shopping district.
Not totems—upgraded ones only cover zombies and ghouls.
Most monsters ignore them.
Super suspicious.
Rumor from the auction house said they came through a dimension gate in Texas.
Why leave there for here? Mystery from the start.
Preppers probably have all supplies there.
Preppers.
People preparing for disasters.
Obscure in Korea, but big in the US.
Plenty turn basements into shelters and study preserved food seriously.
Sung-ho's basically a prepper too.
Fine, whatever.
Moving to Korea from homeland issues? Fair choice.
But making all that noise? Doesn't make sense.
Gonna attract every monster around?
Maybe they have some special trait...
All kinds of weird traits exist.
Then a paper plane flew over the shopping district.
Sang-shin was friendly enough with the shelter crew now to tell Yeo-hyeon from Yeo-ul.
Bold moves? 100% Yeo-ul.
She should've been born a guy.
Her bold, straightforward personality would've swapped perfectly with Yeo-hyeon.
Just Sang-shin's bias, though.
Yeo-ul launched it. Wait a bit...
Close-up scouting matters, but paper planes beat it.
It's an infinite-battery, unbreakable drone.
Lazing on the rooftop, suddenly chaos erupted below.
Some rednecks climbed up and unloaded on the paper plane.
Tatata-tang!
Black powder smoke billowed.
The plane dodged skyward but soon plummeted.
"What assholes."
Makes sense if they think someone's spying on their shelter.
Sang-shin scoped the man barking orders.
Leader... Built like a tank.
More ripped than Sung-ho.
Sunglasses, cowboy hat, muttering irritably.
Then he looked straight at Sang-shin.
Gasp!
Sang-shin yanked away from the scope, but it wasn't over.
"Rat! Fire!"
Bullets rained on his rooftop.
Homemade guns, shitty accuracy—but that terrified him more.
Can't get hit by a stray!
He leaped downward.
Concrete debris caught him midair.
Glancing back, his eyes bulged.
Someone far off shouldered what looked like a rocket launcher, aiming.
"You crazy Yankee bastards!"
Flames erupted regardless.
Sang-shin dove lower.
Boom!
"Ugh!"
Debris cushioned his feet last second, but the shock hurt.
He ducked into an alley as gunfire poured in.
Escape wouldn't be easy.
.
.
.
Weird rumor circulating at the auction house.
Free sex in Gangnam/Songpa if you go there. Perverted stuff.
Everyone dismissed it as BS, but people claiming they did it started popping up.
Feels shady...
Gangnam/Songpa is where Sang-shin got attacked and fled.
Over 100 rednecks stationed, and lone women showing up? Suspicious.
Aren't rednecks super exclusive to outsiders?
"Sex evangelism or something..."
Sex is a major threat-weapon against men right now.
Women are rare in the apocalypse, unpaired men everywhere.
Not all relationships are just sex, but it's a big pillar.
Offer starving men sex? Tons will bite.
"No rumors of them dragging people in, though. Weird."
Evangelism aims to grow numbers and influence.
"Maybe bait now, scoop later..."
Word is rednecks have plenty of food.
Survivors eating store bread and purifying river water? Tempting.
Plus sex...
I concluded.
"An Geun-seok's behind it."
And behind him, the Great Labyrinth monster.
Don't know their endgame, but one thing's clear.
They're luring people.
Started hiding, fusing people/monsters—now going full throttle.
"Tough enemy."
Unknown limits make it so.
Bringing 100+ US rednecks to Korea? Not easy normally.
They've got guns, rockets—crude but real.
Nearby battlefield uncleared; approach rashly, lose a revive scroll.
"Stay put, they'll snag all the horny guys."
Logically risky, but men lose it sometimes.
What to do...
Need solid intel inside first.
Sang-shin said their senses are sharp.
Stats/traits suppressed, infiltrating's near impossible.
I rummaged Geom-in's backpack, pulled out a cloak.
This erases all traces, lets me move freely.
Stealth option especially broken.
Some have it as traits, but as an option? Insane.
No extras limits uses, but enough for me.
Draped it on, looked up—mirror showed just wallpaper.
Even moving much, no presence.
"Just stay quiet."
I packed gear in the backpack, ready.
Time to infiltrate the redneck shelter.
The God of the Fanatics - 2 End