The Zombie Cure
I was moving with Hana in the back seat of the fire truck.
"Ready?"
"I'm not mentally prepared yet...."
"It's different from the last dungeon boss, you know."
"That's true, but."
"Still, it's the same mutant!"
This time I planned to let Hana land the final blow on the mutant. Just taking down one mutant would shoot her straight to level 8.
"You can do it. Fighting."
"Look at you sounding so dry just because you're not the one doing it!"
Hana, sitting in the back seat, grabbed my shoulder.
"This should be far enough. Get off."
"You're really going to wait here?"
"Yeah. It won't take long."
The fire truck that had dropped Hana off started moving again. She poked her head out the window.
"Hana's going to live here forever. Mom's heading out."
"You idiot, stop joking around!"
Her reaction was perfect. Teasing her was always satisfying.
I waved at Hana as she grew smaller in the distance.
We arrived beyond the Jeonil Apartments.
Hunting the mutant wasn't just to level up Hana. It was also to raise my level and the levels of my towers. On top of that, the zombie swarm would provide experience for the raid members.
'I just need to cripple its arms and legs.'
Even for someone like Hana, fighting a healthy mutant one-on-one was dangerous.
'Fire.'
Pang! The arrow launched from the Longbow Tower traced a parabola through the air. The mutant reacted instantly, sprinting before the arrow could even arrive.
"Kyaaaaah!"
The mutant closed the distance in the blink of an eye. I dismissed the Longbow Tower.
Shhhk— Tap.
The mutant casually swatted away even the arrow shot from the rooftop. Mutants were highly intelligent. They never fell for the same trick twice. Fortunately, each individual didn't share its experiences with the others.
Thud!
Wooden Maul Tower Lv.6
The newbie batter cleared the fence. The falling creature twisted its body and landed on both arms and legs.
'Volley Fire.'
Volley Fire
Papabababak! Arrows fired in unison sank into its legs. Then came the whoosh of hammers smashing joints, the wet thunks of spears piercing calves and thighs.
The mutant thrashed wildly, but the towers that had attacked it had already vanished like illusions, leaving only empty air in their wake.
"Guess we need a second round?"
The creature dragged its ruined legs and climbed the building with pure arm strength. Its persistence was impressive, even for a zombie. But the towers had already relocated to the opposite building long ago.
Just before it reached the rooftop—
Papababababat! Another volley slammed into the arms barely supporting its massive body. I turned away from the falling mutant and gave the order.
"Let's go."
"Yes, sir."
Beeeeep— I sounded the siren like calling a trained dog. The creature crawled toward us, pushing against the ground with its one good arm.
"What... what is that thing?"
"It's a mutant."
"Why does it look like that?"
"Who knows."
It was barely more than a rag doll now. Its limbs were destroyed, and its entire body had been torn apart from being dragged across the asphalt.
"Finish it cleanly."
"Yeah, I will."
Hana raised her rapier.
Tatata— Shpuk!
The thrust was so fast it was nearly invisible. Only the afterimage remained. The mutant's head fell a moment later.
Next to it lay a glass bottle filled with cloudy liquid.
"That's..."
It had finally dropped. The Zombie Cure.
◈ Cures zombie infection, restores sanity
◈ Grants absolute loyalty to the administrator
"Huh? What's this?"
"It's a cure that can turn zombies back into people."
"What?! There was something like that?! Then..."
Her reaction was exactly like the newbie I'd taken around before. I'd regretted not knowing about the cure and killing zombies instead.
"Anyway, the cure almost never drops unless you kill a mutant. There's no point entertaining meaningless hypotheticals."
"Still..."
Even if the drop rate was higher than regular items, cures weren't easy to obtain. Without my Random Tower Summon, we couldn't have caught it this easily. It had been the same in WAW. Even full raid parties took casualties. Total wipes were routine for mediocre teams.
'Now I can turn Chaei back.'
It had taken longer than expected. But now that the moment had arrived, I felt strangely reluctant.
"Let's go. The zombie swarm is coming."
"Yeah, let's go. But didn't you say we'd have to handle both the mutant and the swarm?"
"That's right."
I pointed at the clear blue sky. A red line sliced across it, as if dividing the heavens in two.
"Fire."
My command acted as the trigger. A deafening tearing sound ripped through the air—Shraaaak!!
The vanished red line brought a violent gust of wind with it.
Kwaaaang!!
A heavy impact echoed from far away.
"Get on."
"Huh? Huh? What was that? Is it over already?"
"Yeah. That's it."
Hana climbed into the fire truck with a dazed expression.
Weeoo weeoo weeoo— Beep beep beep—
We headed back to the apartment with the siren blaring as usual.
"Prepare to receive guests."
Despite the relaxed command broadcast through the loudspeaker, tension was etched on every raid member's face. You could feel it in the air. This was another massive swarm, just like last time.
Gugugugugugung—
The heavy rumbling from the ground confirmed my prediction.
"Is this really going to be okay?"
"At this point we should just treat this level as an attraction. We can't keep struggling against zombies forever."
For a moment, the gathered raid members' eyes were filled with resentment.
"Don't look at me like that. The towers will help this time. I prepared all of this to raise you guys."
Not a single thankful expression appeared. Back in my day, no one helped me. They should be grateful.
"Let's finish this quickly. I need to check if any items dropped."
The odds were low, of course. But it was still worth confirming.
At the traffic light, the vanguard moved in.
Kkududududuk.
The summoned Wooden Maul Tower drew the zombies like a magnet.
Whooooosh—Pow! Crunch! Thud! Crack!
As the front line was swept away, the ones behind surged forward. But waiting for them were the Swing Log Traps and—
Thud. Buuuuung— Pububuk! Pubuk!
The Wooden Maul Tower and Wooden Spear-type towers neutralized the zombies.
'This is seriously just an amusement park now.'
The arriving visitors were greeted by the attraction staff.
"Maintain shield formation!"
"Don't use skills yet! Save them for when the healthy ones rush in!"
"Fuck, why does the difficulty keep going up every single time?!"
To calm the complaints, I'd have to offer prizes.
"To those who show outstanding performance, I'll award food and weapons crafted in the forge. Fighting!"
"Since we're out here rolling the dice anyway, we might as well get prizes!"
"I'm seriously about to cry, thank you, damn it!"
Guess they liked it that much. The prepared prizes seemed to hit the spot.
We only finished after sunset. Thanks to the towers sniping anyone in danger, there were no casualties.
"Alright, announcing the rankings."
We picked the top ten based on zombie kills, crisis management, and rescuing endangered raid members. I'd instructed the towers to mark notable performances.
Of course, first place was Lee Hana.
"First place goes to Lee Hana. Everyone give her a round of applause."
"Congratulations, Hana!"
"You saved me when my shield was taken. Thank you so much!"
"You saved me too."
"Congratulations!"
Everyone congratulated her together. It was quite heartwarming.
"I'll take care of Hana's reward myself, so I'll pick ten others. Lee Geonwu, you, you, you, and you."
When I pointed, they double-checked if it was really them.
"Step forward."
Most were team leaders, but there were also newcomers. Park Kang-hyuk and the two who had come with him.
"The newbies did great."
"It was nothing."
For it to be nothing, they looked absolutely wrecked.
"Team leaders who didn't make the list will have to step it up next time, yeah?"
"Yes..."
"We'll work harder."
The team leaders answered dejectedly.
Auntie distributed the food she'd cooked to the top ten. The weapons would be handed out as soon as they were finished.
"Here, take this."
"Why this?"
It was a transparent glass bottle containing cloudy liquid. The Zombie Cure.
"In case your brother gets bitten, use it on him."
No matter what, Lee Geonwu always stood on the front line. He was constantly exposed to danger. He had the gear, but you never knew what could happen. If he got bitten, Hana's mentality would shatter. This was insurance.
I could get more cures anytime anyway. I still had the Titan's Warbow Tower.
"Really? You're really giving this to me?"
"Yeah. Plus you landed the final blow. It dropped because of your luck, so it's yours."
Lately I'd been feeling luckier too, but Hana had done pretty well herself.
"Really... thank you so much."
She bowed her head deeply in gratitude. It wasn't that big a deal. If I had kept it, I would have used it on someone like Lee Geonwu anyway.
'Useful guys like Geonwu aren't common.'
Honestly, more than any other reason, I just really wanted to delay curing Han Chaei. Being obsessively clung to and embraced by a woman like her was seriously addictive. If I cured her and she never hugged me like that again, it would feel empty. The same with kneading those soft, squishy breasts.
"Geonwu's waiting. Go on."
He wasn't approaching, just watching from a distance. Must have been curious what the prize was.
"O-okay. I'll head over then. Good work today."
Hana hesitated for a moment, then waved and left.
'Since I'm thinking about it, maybe I should go check.'
I headed toward the Apartment Security Shelter.
Thump! Thump!
Han Chaei greeted me enthusiastically. Once I cured her, I wouldn't get to see this anymore. So what if I delayed it a day or two?
Knock knock.
I knocked on the door as if answering her. When I opened it—
Whoosh!
"Kweup!"
Squeeze.
She wrapped her arms around my neck and clung to me like a lover welcoming her man home.
'How the hell am I supposed to hold back?'
I supported her hanging body by cupping her butt and carried her inside.
"Kweup! Kweup!"
I slipped my hand under her thick padded pants and kneaded her ass.
'The elasticity is insane.'
As expected from an athlete, the grip and firmness of her lower body were no joke.
'Should I take these off and really appreciate the view?'
I wouldn't be able to see it after curing her. It would be too regretful to miss out.
Sluuuuurp.
I yanked her pants down without resistance.
"Wow! This is crazy. For real."
Her pure white skin was dazzling. Plump pelvis, luscious buttocks. Her thighs were more chewy than hard, and incredibly arousing. Her long legs created a breathtaking line. She could have been a model instead of a kendo athlete.
'I should've taken these off sooner.'
Her upper body was insane, and her lower body was insane too. It was impossible to pick which was better. A truly blessed figure. If Yeonhee Nuna represented soft voluptuousness at its peak, Han Chaei was all elastic perfection.
Just looking at her made my lust boil over. My underwear was soaked with precum.
Knead, knead.
'Ah, I've touched it now.'
If she weren't a zombie, I would have fucked her right then and there. It was literally a cake in a painting. At least I wouldn't turn into a zombie-fucking psychopath.
'Regular psychopath is fine, but zombie-fucking psychopath is a bit...'
Even I thought that was crossing the line.
'Wait a second.'
Wouldn't it be fine to fuck her after curing her? She'd become an absolute slave who obeyed my every command anyway. It might not work exactly like in WAW, but it was worth testing. Though it would be sad if she rejected even being touched after turning back.
'Asking for the cure back wouldn't be right, would it?'
The cure I'd given Hana flickered in my mind.
Sluuuuurp.
I pulled Han Chaei's pants back up.
"Kweup!"
I already missed the chewy sensation of her ass.
"Wait here. I'll go get the cure and come right back."
There was still one left. It was time to check on the mutant caught by the Titan's Warbow Tower.