The Worst Assumption

"Block the entrance!"

"Just seal the entrance, stay calm!"

"Shields forward!"

There were three entrances we had to block: the stairs, the vehicle entrance, and the exit. The vehicle entrance and exit were manageable. The cars we had piled up made it difficult for zombies to push through, and we had support fire from the Hunting Bow and Light Crossbow Towers. The real problem was the stairs.

The zombies weren't descending in any orderly fashion. They tumbled down in a chaotic tangle, crashing and banging like they were driven by pure madness. The overwhelming sight left the squad members momentarily stunned.

"Kruk!"

Even with its arm broken and twisted at a grotesque angle, it kept reaching out. Before the hand could touch anyone, Lee Geonwu smashed its head to pieces.

"We've practiced blocking the entrance before, haven't we?! Just stay calm and hold the line!" he shouted, thrusting his shield forward to narrow the angle of approach.

"Stick tight so they can't get in!"

"Yes!"

"Hold!"

The veterans responded instantly, locking their shields together to wall off the entrance. Through the gaps, Lee Hana's rapier shot forward like lightning.

With a wet slicing sound, a single thrust pierced two skulls at once. For a moment, it looked like we had it under control.

Then—

Thud!

"Ugh!"

"Cough!"

The two squad members holding the line were blasted backward as if they'd been hit by a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠truck.

"Lee Hana, take that one down first! It's a special zombie!"

She dashed forward without answering, her rapier thrusting out with deadly precision.

"Haaap!"

While Lee Geonwu filled the gap with his charge, the waiting personnel rushed in to reinforce the line. The faces of the squad members already in formation had gone deathly pale. The entire battle line had nearly collapsed and been breached in a single instant.

"Is the front okay?!"

"It hasn't broken through yet! We're still holding!"

Those waiting farther back hadn't seen it clearly, but the people right behind the line had.

"Fuck… we almost all died just now."

"What the hell was that thing?!"

"Pretty sure it used Bash…?"

Until now, none of the squad members had ever faced a special zombie. That was because I had sniped them all in advance.

"Keep your heads on straight! If a hole opens in the formation, jump out immediately and fill it!"

"I'll take the next one."

Fortunately, the squad's will hadn't been broken.

"Anyone who's tired, don't push it—rotate out. This is going to be a long fight. Don't hold back on skills."

Since we had already drawn their aggro, I issued orders over the mic without hesitation.

"Rotate with me over here!"

"Me too! I'm out of mana!"

"We need rotations at the exit too!"

"You've got standby people over there, don't you?"

The moment the orders dropped, the rotations happened smoothly.

It's precarious, but we can hold this.

This was exactly why I had made them build combat experience and helped them level up. They were finally earning their keep.

The battle dragged on for a full five hours. There were several dangerous moments, but quick responses got us through them safely. Lee Geonwu's performance especially stood out. Following my instructions, he waited in the second line and used Charge to plug holes whenever the front was pushed back.

Lee Hana was incredible too. Without her, the fight would have lasted several hours longer. No one was injured—just completely drained. So we postponed entering the mart until tomorrow. We would have to spend the night in the underground parking lot.

Slurp.

"How long has it been since I had cup ramen?"

"I only had cup ramen left at home."

"Must be nice. I only had kimchi."

The squad members settled for cup ramen for dinner. Cooking proper food with skills when there was no battle would have been a waste.

"Lee Geonwu, Lee Hana."

"Yes."

"You called?"

They were different. As the core combatants of the squad, they deserved better.

"Come over here and sit."

Food had been laid out on a simple table and chairs prepared in one corner. Cooking often came with stamina stat buffs. Since high stamina helped with recovery, eating well and resting properly was the most efficient choice.

"I'm fine with cup ramen."

"I'm okay too."

They said no, but their eyes were glued to the stir-fried pork and seaweed soup.

"It's a reward for your hard work, so stop refusing and eat."

"W-well… if you insist?"

"Thank you!"

The visuals were too violent to resist. White rice, spicy stir-fried pork, seasoned greens, kimchi, and rich seaweed soup. In the apocalypse, it was practically a feast. The other squad members watched with envy, but there was no jealousy in their eyes. These two had saved their lives multiple times, after all.

We set up night watches and the squad members each climbed into the vehicles to sleep.

Switch to manual.

Most of the zombies should have been cleaned up, but something still felt off. It was just a gut feeling. If this were still the old WAW, I wouldn't have needed to worry. But I had learned from experience. I could no longer blindly trust only the knowledge I had from the game.

This area is fine too, aside from being a total mess.

Aside from the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠zombies stuck in the structures, there was nothing dangerous. I checked every corner, but ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠found no anomalies.

The fresh food is in better shape than I expected.

It was a relief that the refrigeration and freezing systems were still running.

I finished my patrol and climbed into the SUV.

"Did something happen?" Lee Hana, who had gotten in first, turned on the interior light.

"No, I checked around but everything was quiet."

"That's a relief, right?"

"I almost wished there had been something."

"Why? Isn't nothing happening a good thing?"

"It would be fortunate if nothing happened at all."

The suspicion wouldn't leave my head. Is it really over just like this?

"I believe the squad leader will handle whatever comes up," Lee Geonwu said.

"Yeah, you protected us when it got dangerous earlier," Lee Hana agreed.

"I really thought we were about to get overrun."

There had been one crisis. Two special zombies had emerged together, collapsing the shield wall instantly. If I hadn't immediately blocked the gap with the shrunken Wooden Watch Tower, we would have lost the entrance. A melee would have meant heavy casualties.

"Everyone was panicking and couldn't even recover properly."

"Yeah, if we'd fought like that, it would've been really bad."

That much had been within expectations. We hadn't been holding a blocked retreat without any countermeasures.

Let's not waste mental energy on useless worries. I've already checked everything.

I pushed the few ominous assumptions out of my mind.

"Both of you worked hard. Get some proper sleep."

"You worked hard too, Suhyuk. Sleep well."

"You really… Thank you for your hard work, Squad Leader. I'll turn off the lights."

Even at that moment, the siblings were still bickering.

The morning began quietly. We set a relaxed assembly time. Even after awakening, fatigue still built up. We needed to give them enough rest.

"After breakfast, we enter the mart interior."

"Understood."

"Yes."

I gave the veterans a simple briefing.

"Once we enter the first basement floor through the stairs, do not advance immediately. Establish the formation first."

"Team 1 will take the vanguard."

"Team 3 will join us."

For efficient interior clearing, team organization was necessary. The mart was full of obstacles, making it difficult to stay grouped, and we needed to split up to clear assigned sectors. I had finished the formations the night ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠before. Six people per team. I assigned the veterans—Baldy, Glasses, Big Guy, Skinny, Gym Rat, and others—as team leaders.

"Begin. Team 1 and Team 3, enter first."

"Yes!"

"Yes, Team 3 follow me."

They climbed the stairs in perfect order.

"Most of the zombies have been cleared, but don't let your guard down."

"Yes, understood."

"We'll stay focused."

I had completed the reconnaissance in advance as well. There was clearly no reason to feel this uneasy. Yet contrary to those thoughts, not even the slightest noise could be heard. Only the busy sound of footsteps climbing the stairs filled the air.

Right when half the squad members had entered the mart and begun forming up—

"What is this?"

"A message just popped up?"

The casual remark from one of the squad members triggered a memory.

"A dungeon?"

"Like the ones from the game?"

The abnormal phenomenon known as a Field Boss.

"Everyone get back down here immediately!"

But why now? It hadn't appeared when Team 1 and 3 first entered.

"Underst—huh? We can't go back down!"

"It feels like something is blocking us!"

An ominous thought rose. A trap.

Did it wait to lure us in?

There was no longer any path of retreat. Since it had come to this—

"All personnel, enter the mart immediately!"

"Huh? Yes!"

"Hurry up the stairs!"

"Run!"

The veterans reacted instantly to my shout.

The moment we crossed the stair door and entered the interior, the message appeared. Countless assumptions that had floated through my mind. New content from the patch notes. A Field Boss. Or a mutant born from a zombie swarm. Or an unprecedented event where a zombie horde gathered. And a dungeon that should not have been generated during the first wave.

Of all those possibilities, the worst assumption had come true.

Dungeons only began appearing long after the second wave started. And every dungeon had a boss. What kind of boss would appear could be inferred from the monsters inside the dungeon. The monsters here were, naturally, zombies. Mutants—the enhanced versions of zombies. If one of those mutants became the boss?

It was the worst possible outcome, but it was still manageable. I had already cleared out the zombies in advance.

"What is this?"

"Why are there shapes everywhere?"

A massive purple magic circle covering the entire first basement floor store floated into view. I had seen it on the community before—an illustration rendered in WAW's dot graphics. It was definitely the Rise Undead magic circle.

A low, rumbling groan rose from below the stairs, as if something was crawling up from the abyss. Like déjà vu, yesterday's battle flashed through my mind. The only difference was the direction.

I immediately used the shadows that had melted into the structure to cut the rope holding the door shut.

"Zombies are coming up! Block the entrance!"

"Yes? Yes!"

"Understood! Team 7, get over here!"

"Teams 8, 9, and 10, reinforce them too!"

"Yes!"

Their faces were full of confusion, but they reflexively obeyed my orders.

"Prepare for battle!"

"Prepare for battle!!"

I immediately began my own preparations. I selected the skill tree I had planned in advance. After taking the utility tab skills Tower Summon Release/Resummon and Tower Repair, I chose the next one.

Spears and hammers were useless. They were made of wood anyway.

"Anyone confident in shooting, over here!"

Bows were the same. You had to fire them yourself.

"I always scored full marks in the military!"

"I've even received vacation awards for marksmanship!"

"Get over here!"

But crossbows should be usable.

"Did you invest in Strength?"

"Yes!"

"My Strength stat is 12!"

"Then take this."

I handed out the five Heavy Crossbows to those two and the additional person who came running. To the squad member who arrived after them, I gave two Light Crossbows.

"Lee Hana, you come here too!"

She reached me in an instant using her movement skill.

"Why?"

"You take this too." I handed her a Heavy Crossbow.

"I don't know how to shoot this. Wouldn't it be better if I used my rapier?"

"No. We have to avoid close combat. Use your movement skill to dodge around and snipe with this."

"I don't even know how to use it."

"I'll teach you right now."

It was a situation where every second counted, but I calmly taught her the proper aiming and firing method in the quickest way possible. I had never fired one myself either—I had only seen it a few times in videos while looking up cold weapons.

"But what about the bolts?"

"The bolts will charge automatically."

Thud—

I immediately began practice shots. I needed to check whether they would actually hit.

"Why are you sweating so much? Calm down."

"A boss is about to appear soon."

"What's a boss?"

Lee Hana had never even seen a Field Boss. Of course she wouldn't know.

"If my prediction is correct…"

Boom! Thud! Thud! Thud!

Heavy impacts slammed against the closed stair door.

"The zombies have gathered!"

"Groooaaan."

"Grrrraaahhh."

"Uwooooooh."

"Get away from the door!"

"Raise your shields and form up!"

Those weren't the cries of ordinary zombies.

"The zombies are enhanced mutants. And an even more powerful version of those mutants is going to come out as the boss."

CRASH!!

A giant, glossy, perfectly circular object smashed through the ceiling and plummeted downward.