Uneasy Coexistence

"Auntie, run!"

"Huh? Eek!"

I wrapped my arms tightly around the auntie's body and broke into a sprint. It wasn't too late yet. If we could just get inside the house, we could hold out for a while.

BOOM!Screeech—!THUD!

"Kyaaaah!"

"Are they insane?!"

"You son of a bitch!"

"Someone's collapsed!"

"Wh-what's wrong with those people?!"

All kinds of crashes and shouts erupted behind us. When I glanced back, I saw cars piled up in a chain collision and people sprawled on the sidewalk, convulsing.

'It's begun!'

The fallen people's chests jerked as if rebounding, their limbs trembling violently before they started vomiting blood.

"Hey! This person's throwing up blood!"

"This one too!"

"Call 911 first!"

The panicked cries of people looking at them reached my ears. A sense of déjà vu hit me harder than ever before. It was exactly like the moment I started WAW Server 1. The dot-graphic NPCs all collapsed at once and turned into zombies. Ten seconds. In ten seconds, these convulsing people would become zombies.

I looked at the auntie. Her face had gone completely white and she was shaking.

"This way!"

I grabbed her hand—she couldn't even respond—and ran. Reaching the house was impossible. If we ran into zombies on the way, it would be game over.

Apartment Security Shelter!

Fortunately, I spotted a plump, kind-looking middle-aged man opening the door to the apartment security shelter. Just as he stepped inside and tried to close the door—

I snatched the handle before he could lock it.

"Fuck, mister! You made eye contact with me! Why the hell are you closing the door?!"

"Then get in here, quick!"

The man shouted back with a flustered expression. The last thing I saw before the shelter door shut was zombies swarming over people.

"Grrrk, grrrk!"

Zombies reached out with wet, phlegmy growls.

"Kyaaaaaaaah!"

"Don't bite me, you bastard!"

"Mom, save me! Kyaaah!"

"What the hell is wrong with these things?!"

The shelter wasn't soundproof. The deranged screams from outside pierced right through it.

"It bit my arm!"

"Die, you fuck!"

"Kyaahk!"

"Oh my god, mister! Why are you hitting that person?!"

"Grrrrk!"

Madness had swallowed the once-ordinary scene at the apartment entrance.

'Good thing I wasn't late.'

I let out a long breath and pulled the baseball bat I'd tied to my bag. No matter what happened, I needed at ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠least a minimum means of defense.

"Uh, student… how about you put that down so we can talk?"

The man who had been about to lock the door forced a smile.

'How did he know?'

This man had tried to hide in the shelter before the convulsing people even turned into zombies. That was the reaction of someone who already knew what was coming.

"Mister, you'd better speak properly."

"Wh-what do you mean, properly?"

"How did you know the people having seizures would turn into zombies?"

The man, already sweating coldly, stiffened at the word "zombies." His eyes darted between me and the bat before he answered cautiously.

"Th-there was a message, you know?"

"The one that says 'The wave is beginning'?"

"Y-yeah! That one. Can you put the bat down first?"

"And?"

When I rested the bat on my shoulder, the man spoke in a rush.

"I-I play this game called World Apocalypse Wave! A message like that pops up right before people turn into zombies. I ran just in case. My head was a mess, you know?"

What incredible survival instinct. The way he'd tried to lock the door proved he was the type to kick away someone else's ladder to save himself.

'To think he was a WAW user.'

Along with the wave alert came the awakening notification. That meant he had a status window too.

'Status window.'

It was identical to the status window from WAW.

'As expected! Then the skill window…'

Just as I expected, I possessed the skill of the character I had created in the game.

'Why is there already a summoned tower? Does it count the one I tested in the game as summoned?'

But the stack hadn't been consumed. I set the question aside and checked the skill tree as well. It was divided into [Summon], [Utility], and [Upgrade].

After skimming through it, I asked the man.

"Then you must have awakened too, mister. What's your skill?"

"Isn't it manners to reveal yours first before asking?"

The man hardened his face, clearly unwilling to budge on this.

'Manners, huh.'

From his expression, he seemed to suspect I was also a WAW user. After all, I had started moving before the people turned into zombies.

"Is answering a question with another question manners? I guess my warning didn't sound serious."

"No, that's not it… If I tell you, you'll tell me too, right?"

When I gave a quiet nod, the man nodded back.

"I have Bash."

Bash was a striking skill that worked with any weapon. You could even use it with your fists, making it an all-purpose ability.

'Started with a good skill.'

It was useful not only in the early game but grew even stronger the further you progressed down its skill tree.

"Then what about you, student?"

The man asked, watching me carefully.

"Tower Summon."

There was no need to give the exact skill name.

"Student, I was honest with you! There's no such skill!"

"It seems like a newly added skill from an update."

When I mentioned a WAW update, he nodded skeptically.

"But what exactly is a tower?"

"Probably like the turrets from strategy simulation games."

"Th-then! If you summon a tower, we'll be safe, right? A new skill like that must be incredibly powerful!"

"Maybe."

In my judgment, the Random Tower Summon skill was outstanding no matter what it was compared to. First, the randomness—you never knew what surprise it might deliver. Second, you didn't have to fight directly. Third, with no consumption cost, given enough time it would automatically reduce the number of enemies. Fourth, there was no limit to how many towers you could have. Given sufficient time, it would clearly grow stronger and stronger.

'However, it's unlikely to help us right away.'

If it summoned something like a thorn tower, it probably couldn't even kill a single zombie.

"By the way, what skill do you have, miss?"

The man asked while openly scanning the auntie's figure up and down.

I raised a hand to stop him and whispered to the auntie.

"Tell him you don't know."

The auntie whispered back with a flustered look.

"I really don't know."

"That's perfect."

I gave her a reassuring smile.

I already knew the auntie's skill. She possessed a cooking skill with built-in buffs. If Random Tower Summon was an ultra-rare skill added in the update, then cooking was a rare support skill from the original WAW. I had seen her use the cooking skill in the dream scene. Saving the auntie had partly been because of that skill. In a normal RPG, cooking might be looked down on, but in the apocalypse it was a key survival skill.

"What kind of secret meeting is this? You heard my skill, so now it's the young lady's turn to tell us hers, isn't it?"

"I'm sorry… I really don't know much about that."

"Argh! Student, you're really going to play it like this? Just tell me how to open the skill window!"

"Shh. Lower your voice first."

Right on cue, the growling of zombies came from outside.

"Grrrrr…"

"Groooan…"

The fact that only zombie sounds could be heard meant the healthy people had either been bitten and turned or had hidden themselves.

The zombie wave would continue for the next two months. Just like in the movies, they were strong, could run, and anyone bitten would inevitably turn. But there were exceptions—reaching Level 10, or the extremely rare cure drops that could be fed to a zombie. Of course, even if they reverted to human form, if their body was too damaged they would die anyway.

"Hey, student," the man whispered so quietly I could barely hear him. "How about using that tower summon skill to clear out the zombies and move somewhere safe?"

"I'll give it a try."

I had been planning to do exactly that even without being asked. But I acted as if I were obediently following his request. That way, he wouldn't be able to refuse my own requests later.

'Random Tower Summon.'

Just like when I had summoned towers in the game shop, a green targeting area appeared before my eyes.

'Oh.'

It could even designate areas I couldn't see. As long as the distance allowed, it seemed I could place it anywhere. I set the range above the shelter building and began the summon.

Creaaaaak.

The sound of a primitive wooden outpost forming echoed.

"Grrrrraaaah!"

"Krrrrk!"

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Zombies reacted to the noise and began slamming against the shelter walls. The old, thin walls vibrated as if they might collapse. But when the sound stopped, they fortunately ceased their reaction.

"Hup!"

Everyone was tense, bodies rigid. Ignoring them, I selected the summoned tower in my skill window.

'This isn't great…'

When I glanced sideways, the man was staring at me with urgent eyes. I decided to test it in manual mode first.

'Switch to manual.'

My viewpoint shifted to the web tower, and the surrounding scenery came into view.

'There are way more zombies than I thought.'

At a glance, there were easily over a hundred around the shelter alone. Since there were no humans left to stimulate them, they stood motionless with their heads lowered. One of the zombies right in front already had webs clinging to it.

'This won't give me any meaningful restraint.'

It looked like it would need to fire hundreds or even thousands of times to hinder their movement even slightly.

"Hey, student?"

I ignored the man's whisper and pondered how to use it.

'This could work!'

I aimed at a zombie's eyes and fired.

Swoosh—!

A bundle of thread the size of a finger joint shot out. As it neared the target, the web spread wide. Since the distance was short, it landed perfectly over the eyes. The zombie didn't react to the web covering its face. It was lucky they had no sense of reason.

'If I repeat this, I can blind them.'

The web tower that had seemed useless had become a lifeline for escape. I also confirmed that the zombies didn't react to the tower's movements. They basically ignored anything that wasn't human. If it blocked their path to humans, they might destroy it, but otherwise—

I set the web tower to target the zombies' eyes and switched it back to automatic.

"Hey, student!"

The man urged me again in a hushed voice.

"What?"

"How did it go?"

"I'm currently working on obstructing the zombies' vision."

The man's face brightened at my words.

"You can cover their eyes? ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠How long will it take?"

"Well, there are so many zombies."

"A few hours should be enough, right?"

"It might take days."

Accuracy would drop the farther away they were. The man's expression hardened.

"I had expectations, but it's a useless skill after all. Tsk."

He suddenly changed his attitude. Typical WAW user behavior. If a skill proved useless, discarding the person was standard. Betrayal was common too. For now, since he had no escape route or weapon, he wouldn't attack me, but I had no idea what might happen later.

Click.

At the sudden sound of a door opening, everyone's eyes turned.

'What?!'

The security guard was poking his head out from the inner room.

"Um… is something wrong?"

I set down the bat I had been gripping tightly.

"What? Why are you coming out from in there?"

"Pardon?"

"With the chaos outside, instead of helping the residents, the security guard is hiding in here?!"

When the man snapped at him, the security guard couldn't even reply.

Bang bang bang!

"Grrrrraaaah!"

"Krrrrk!"

The zombies reacted to the raised voices.

"Shh."

I put a finger to my lips. The man finally realized his mistake. I quickly checked outside through the web tower. The zombies that had been banging on the walls stopped when the noise ceased and lowered their heads again. Some now had their vision blocked and kept bumping into each other.

'More useful than I expected. If I play this right, we can escape.'

The man was pressing his ear against the wall.

'When we escape, I'll have to deal with that man.'

In WAW, while the zombie wave was a major threat, hostile humans were just as dangerous.

"Hey, security."

"Yes?"

"What skill do you have?"

"What is a skill?"

After the man whispered an explanation, the security guard recited his skill name.

"It says Pierce."

It was a stabbing-type skill.

"Nice!"

As the man said, Pierce was definitely a good skill—especially one of the best against zombies. You had to aim for the head to kill them, after all. Using Pierce with spears, swords, or crossbows to stab their eyes would make it much easier.

When I explained this, the security guard asked back in confusion.

"Huh? Won't the police or military take care of it soon? If we just hold out a little longer…"

"How frustrating! If that were possible, would we be worrying like this?"

"What do you mean?"

"All firearms in the world will have disappeared."

It was exactly as the man said. When the wave began in WAW, every firearm on Earth vanished. Most infrastructure stopped functioning as well. Electricity would cut out within fifteen days, water within thirty. The exact timing was random.

Both the security guard and the auntie turned deathly pale. Perhaps because the man's expression was so serious, neither of them argued or asked questions.

"If you want ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to survive from now on, use your head well."

After those words, time passed in heavy silence. Several hours went by while we stewed in anxiety.

'What?!'

My level had risen unexpectedly.