Chapter 84
Chapter 84
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 84
Chapter Title: [Cooperate or Clash - 3]
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Among the high-veteran four-man crew, Survivor1 occupied a somewhat awkward position.
You know that type of friend, right?
The kind who's fine when hanging out with the group, but things get weird if it's just the two of you.
Bunny Duo, Duck Down Quack, and Kimbap Lover hardly remembered ever messing around one-on-one with Survivor1.
That was because he enjoyed holing up in his shelter.
Every game has its item collectors.
And since the game's theme was survival, prioritizing a shelter wasn't an issue at all.
But whenever the other high-veterans pulled some crazy stunt, he always stepped back and passed.
When Bunny Duo and Duck Down Quack were on the verge of account deletion, Kimbap Lover would curse but still join in.
Survivor1, however, was always a few steps removed.
He'd clean up the mess afterward.
But he never got swept up in it himself. That was his position.
Maybe that's why Duck Down Quack—Choi Da-jeong—didn't seem all that thrilled to see him.
They had hung out before, but not in the insane way she had with Bunny Duo or Kimbap Lover.
"Long time no see. Doing well?"
It was a perfectly bland greeting.
Bae Geom-in flinched as he went to hug her, then just stood there with an awkward smile.
"Yeah, I'm doing fine. I'm at the government shelter right now."
"Have you run into Bunny Duo or Kimbap Lover by any chance?"
"First one: yes. Second: no."
"You saw Bunny Duo?"
"A while back. Just like the rumors—he was really wandering around in nothing but his panties. The cape and boots were optional."
"Oh... what a real man. I wanna kidnap him."
To Geom-in, her words sounded like she was saying she—the one hunkered down in her shelter behind a curtain of zombies—was no man.
"Da-jeong, right? I'm Bae Geom-in. Age doesn't matter between us, so how about we drop the formalities?"
"Sure, go ahead."
"Mind lending me a subordinate for a sec? I'll do the same."
She was talking about Sung-ho amid the zombies.
Geom-in nodded to the people who'd come with him, telling them to step back for a bit.
They looked annoyed.
They weren't even his subordinates, yet he was gesturing for them to come and go.
But with the famous zombie queen there, it wasn't the mood to make a fuss.
As they backed off, Sung-ho slipped through the zombies and quickly ducked into the dimension gate.
Now alone with her, Geom-in finally showed his true colors.
"I had no idea Duck Down Quack was such a beauty. Should've looked for you sooner, haha."
His eyes scanned Da-jeong's body from head to toe.
She was wearing a long dress that only someone super confident in their figure could pull off, paired with high heels.
An absurd outfit for the apocalypse, but it made sense given her traits.
She didn't fight directly, after all.
People didn't call Da-jeong the zombie queen for nothing.
Da-jeong noticed his passionate gaze.
"And what're you gonna do now that you've found me?"
"...Out of our high-veteran four-man crew, the only ones with proper reputations are you and me."
"You think so?"
"Bunny Duo's strong but nuts, and Kimbap Lover's just hiding like a rat. Sure, taking first in that event proves he's pretty tough. But he's not as upstanding as me."
"And?"
Da-jeong tilted her head up, urging him on.
Emboldened, Geom-in launched into his sales pitch.
"I'm the ruler of the government shelter."
"One of the rulers, you mean? There's Jang Won-taek."
"That's just nominal. I directly control the shelter. My trait strengthens it. Zombie raids are hitting nonstop right now—who do you think's stopping them?"
"Is that so?"
Da-jeong cocked her head.
From what Sung-ho had told her, Geom-in's trait was shrouded in fog.
It was publicly known as shelter reinforcement, but there were plenty of suspicious points.
Coming in fourth in the first-kill event only fueled the doubts.
"But how'd you snag that orc so quick?"
Geom-in spread his arms as if subordinates were flanking him.
"I've got a ton of underlings... they helped me out."
"Helped? More like a deal, right? Those guys just now didn't look like real subordinates."
For a split second, his face twisted in irritation—or so it seemed to Da-jeong.
Geom-in quickly changed the subject.
"Anyway, the government shelter's full of people who help me out... How about it? Join me, and you can live easy."
A smile crept onto the zombie queen's lips.
"I'm living pretty good already."
"Relatively speaking, sure. But if you join the shelter, you'll get all sorts of stuff. Food, clothes, fuel, medicine... everything you need is there. You just take it."
"Sorry, but that's not enough to tempt me. If you wanna hook me, you'll need something better."
Her blunt words threw Geom-in off.
Had scanning her figure been too much?
He rubbed his face with his palm, gathering his thoughts.
Should he go this far...?
He didn't want to give up on Da-jeong.
Her trait aside, her looks were too appealing.
Everyone else was grimy from lack of supplies, but she shone.
Of course, up close, she had some soot too.
But that soot actually highlighted her charm.
'I want to make her mine.'
Geom-in felt that impulsive desire.
So he spilled even what should've stayed secret.
"This is just between us..."
"Yeah, yeah. I love secrets."
Da-jeong cupped her hands like a megaphone to her ear, like a kid.
He checked his surroundings again before speaking.
"Our shelter... has guns."
"...Had guns, you mean?"
"Haha, normally yeah. But what if they're buried deep underground?"
"You know about the metal plague, right? It destroys all metal underground too."
"Even at 500 meters down?"
"..."
Da-jeong's face shifted to shock.
Thinking he'd landed a hit, Geom-in pressed on.
"The metal plague's particle radiation. Like radiation. Which means it has penetration limits. While you were playing with monsters, I researched it. Dug holes in the shelter to see how far it reaches."
"In-game? Where'd you get metal... oh."
Magic metal.
Basically, magic metal is safe from the metal plague.
But with special methods, you can strip its options completely.
Turning it into plain metal.
Geom-in had experimented alone in his shelter during those months when the metal plague raged.
Foolish, but Survival Life was full of that type.
"You couldn't dig hundreds of meters alone, though."
He admitted it readily.
"Right. I only dug about 20 meters myself. But I confirmed something: at 20 meters underground, the metal plague weakens just a bit. That's where I got my hint."
"Dig deeper, and you might escape it entirely?"
"That's how I convinced the government folks. When building the government shelter, they sealed a massive haul of guns and ammo in mineral oil and buried it underground. Bet you didn't know the shelter's on an abandoned subway station."
Sung-ho, eavesdropping, was stunned.
They'd hidden guns... to dig them up after the metal plague eased in a few months?
No awakener could ignore guns.
Sniped from afar, and you're done.
And from the sound of it, guns weren't all.
"Generators, computers, Geiger counters... even bombs. They've stockpiled a ton. Meaning in a few months, even installing them with traits gets tough."
"You threatening me?"
"No way. This is an invitation. You could own it all. Just take my hand."
Geom-in grinned wide, extending his hand.
As if grasping it would make her master of everything.
But Da-jeong had zero interest.
She picked up a twig and jabbed his palm away.
Not even a finger—a twig.
The smile vanished from Geom-in's face.
"Why reject me? We're friends."
"You rub me the wrong way. Bragging at the auction house, rage-quitting fourth in the orc event. And now, flexing to me. All of it annoys me. The government shelter's weapons aren't all yours."
"Help me, and taking over the shelter's no problem."
"And become your subordinate?"
"Equal friends. We were friends in-game, right? Just carrying that over. Nothing's changed."
Geom-in offered his hand again.
He stressed "friends," but to Da-jeong, he was no longer one.
In-game, fine.
But meeting in person, his words and actions reeked of frivolity.
Eyeing her body up and down.
Boasting about minions, arrogantly claiming the shelter's vast supplies as his.
Not a single likable thing.
Compared to him, Sung-ho was a decent friend.
Not much fun, but being around him often led to pleasant surprises.
Who'd have thought you'd get proper poached chicken in the apocalypse?
And he'd hooked her up with that nice guy Yoo Hyun.
Yoo Hyun wasn't her boyfriend, but he helped her unwind.
'Just fix that slight timidity, and he'd be fun to play with.'
That was his trait, so she could forgive it.
Da-jeong looked forward to how Sung-ho would surprise her next.
Geom-in offered nothing to anticipate.
He'd probably dominate people and supplies with his good trait.
But that was it.
He'd never make her heart race.
As her face cooled, Geom-in's expression soured in real time.
Another real fan, huh...
He could cling here, but it'd earn resentment from his... no, comrades.
"Our time's not infinite," they'd say.
Zombie queen was a bust, so griffon hunting it was.
Winning hearts was key.
He withdrew his hand.
"Fine. I won't proposition you again."
Da-jeong waved cheerily.
"Yeah, bye. Take care."
"..."
Something boiled up inside Geom-in.
He glared at her, then quietly left.
.
.
.
"This is a problem."
Da-jeong jumped as I emerged saying that.
"You popped out of nowhere..."
"Shh."
I pressed a finger to my lips and pointed skyward.
Then I summoned Yoo Hyun's paper airplane, apologized, and tore it up.
"Yoo Hyun might be listening. Always be careful."
Paper airplanes had limits on hearing and sight, but better safe.
"He's not the type to get ideas."
"People can change minds anytime. Especially if they know who I am."
She puffed her cheeks.
"You're so paranoid. Should've gone with that old guy."
"No feelings for him."
"Hehe. So what now? They've got guns. One shot, and I'm toast."
I knew it too.
Best to spot and strike first, but guns ignore distance.
Sniper rifle from afar, I'm dead.
Or a grenade—plenty of ways.
"Buried deeper in the subway for storage... Always wondered what he did holed up in that shelter. Researching that, huh."
In-game talk.
"We were busy hunting monsters. No surprise we didn't know."
Her words didn't comfort me.
In a few months, the metal plague's effects would fade.
Game lore—we hadn't experienced it ourselves, but the events so far suggested it was legit.
Hundreds of guns entering the world.
If Bae Geom-in took the government shelter, big trouble.
Unfriendly forces could turn guns on us.
We were hidden, but collision was inevitable eventually.
Da-jeong's face fell as I explained.
"Gonna get shot in a few months? Hate that."
"Not set in stone. We just parted ways 'cause opinions clashed—no real feud, right?"
"Felt like he was done talking to me forever."
I sorted my thoughts.
Could be bluffing, but for now, set it aside.
Considering the president's foresight in prepping for quick apocalypse, they'd probably buried them for real.
And they weren't Geom-in's yet.
Jang Won-taek and Bae Geom-in split power in the government shelter.
Wedge in there, opportunity exists.
"Da-jeong, can you head to Seoul for a bit?"
"What? Just met you, now go up there? No."
She refused flat-out.
"Not breaking up. Just operating elsewhere temporarily. Infiltrate the government shelter with the president—not Bae Geom-in."
"Boring there. I'll suffocate."
"Just for a bit. I'll come up too. With Bunny Duo."
Her face lit up.
"For real?"
"Buy time till I arrive. Three of us playing here is cramped, right? Seoul's big—let's have some real fun."
Luring her with this.
Three together? I'd be a walking target from day one.
She crossed her arms, humming...
To me, she looked like a fish circling bait.
Time to reel.
"Unlimited cooking of whatever you want."
"Hm... chicken possible?"
"Possible."
Her eyes sparkled.
"What? You said impossible before."
"Said difficult, not impossible. No fryer, so improvise."
"Tuna sashimi?"
"Hey, that's..."
Tuna-like fish in the shallows?
I'd get caught instead.
I bargained her down to boiled meat and sashimi.
Da-jeong snapped her fingers.
"Whenever I want, as much as I want. Got it?"
"Got it. In return, stay with Jang Won-taek in the government shelter till my signal. Curb Bae Geom-in if you can."
"But here's the real issue."
"What?"
"You talk like we're one team, but we're not strictly, right? I could call that old guy back now."
"No intention."
"Exactly—so give me conviction! Ugh!"
Da-jeong smirked oddly and approached.
I flinched—what?—then she circled behind and hugged me.
No way?
That's what she wants?
Not that I'd hate it with Da-jeong, but I saw her as a friend...
She buried her face in my back.
"I wanna fuck you. Want that dick."
So that's it.
Forgot Da-jeong's no normal girl.
I twisted free.
"You said Yoo Hyun's your type."
"Pretty boys and muscle hunks—no picking winners."
"On wanting to fuck?"
"Hehe."
Enough.
I spun her around, gripped her shoulders.
"You're my friend. With Bunny Duo. Till death, unchanging."
"Yeah, yeah. Means no betrayal ever?"
"Right. So let's survive together."
Surviving monsters and environment wasn't all.
Had to fight people too.
And Geom-in was the likely foe.
Da-jeong's eyes glittered.
"Invite me to that gate later? Where the tanuki is."
She seemed to think beyond the dimension gate was some fantasy tanuki land.
Couldn't promise opening it easily.
But "someday" as a qualifier.
"Promise. Someday I'll open it."
"Deal."
She patted my ass, then summoned her zombies.
"So, out the Seoul dimension gate now?"
"Not yet. Gotta kill the griffon first."
"Not raiding the nest?"
"Plans changed. Need the Griffon's Eye skill."
Way better vision than any crappy telescope.
"Dangerous... Our specs can't take a griffon. Even all your boy era crew couldn't hold it."
"Think I don't know? Got confidence—help out."
No need to solo the griffon ourselves.
Sometimes you need others' help.
Sorry, Mr. Geom-in.
Monsters are mine again this time.
[Cooperate or Clash - 3] End