The Reaper's Stride

The raid members and residents were waiting at the apartment complex where we'd taken a brief rest. I told them to head back to our apartment.

"Uuuung!" The moment the raid members released her wrist, Chaei came running straight to me. She slammed into me with a hug. For some reason, it reminded me of when she was still a zombie?

"Raid Leader, I knew you'd be safe!"

"I'm so glad you're okay!"

"We're fully prepared to depart. Should we leave right away?"

Their faces were a mix of relief and lingering anxiety. Why were they acting like this?

"Where were you planning to go?"

"To Suyeon Apartments, obviously! Getting some distance should be our top priority, right?"

"Ah."

So that's what they meant. They still didn't know?

That I'd taken down that massive boss.

"Don't worry. I killed that lump of a boss."

It seemed to take them a moment to process. They exchanged glances.

"For real?!"

"Y-you actually managed to kill something like that?!"

"We were thinking we'd have to abandon Seoul..."

The squad leaders grabbed my hands and shook them vigorously. Why were they grabbing my hands like this? It was overwhelming. I didn't even like holding another guy's hand!

"What's with all the fuss? It's not like this is the first time."

To be honest, I'd been thinking the same thing as the raid members. But I had an image to maintain. I couldn't let it show.

"How on earth did you kill it? No matter ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠how I looked at it, it didn't seem like something a human could handle."

"Exactly. I was even prepared to abandon our food supplies if things got that bad."

If the situation had deteriorated that far, I would've gone to get Yeonhee noona first.

"Anyway, we're heading out, so get ready."

"Huh? Where are we going?"

"The department store, obviously. We need to collect the loot, don't we?"

After all that suffering, why waste it?

"Ugh, that place..."

"Uuuugh."

"Blegh."

Reflexive reactions of disgust. Had they developed some kind of trauma? It was understandable, though. Still, there was nothing I could do to help them with that.

"Hana, are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine."

"Are you really okay? You don't have to push yourself."

"I'm really fine."

Her expression didn't look particularly clouded. After all, Hana had seen me take it down.

"Raid Leader, we're ready."

"Good. Let's move out."

"Yes!"

Once again, the convoy of vehicles filled the road. As I sat in the car, I fell into thought.

What would've happened if I'd left that thing alone?

Its grotesque appearance. The way it absorbed those dark red waves of light from the corpses. Its behavioral pattern of ignoring us completely while gathering the bodies. The way it gradually formed into a round mass.

It all felt incredibly ominous.

Even after everything was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠over, preparing for the "what ifs." This was practically a habit now.

To survive, I always had to analyze new monsters. I needed to understand their patterns and habits, then find their weaknesses.

That's why the first wave had felt relatively easy to me. They were all just zombies, after all.

The second server could prepare based on information released from the first server. But I was always in the position of having to tackle something completely new.

'So I thought it'd be easier in reality.'

With experience, I figured it would be simpler. If only there hadn't been variables from the patches.

I even suspected the difficulty might skyrocket insanely from here on out. If the game company hadn't given me that special reward. If I hadn't drawn the Random Tower Summon skill.

It would've been truly dangerous.

"What?"

"Hmm? Suhyuk, what's wrong?"

"Hold on a second."

Before answering Hana's question, I checked my skill window.

"Whoa?!"

"Is something wrong?"

A new skill called Reaper's Walk had appeared in my skill window. How did this happen? First, I needed to check the details.

'Holy shit!'

I'd thought Deadly Pierce was the pinnacle of passive skills. But here was one that rivaled it—maybe even surpassed it.

'No, its role is completely different from Deadly Pierce.'

Especially that second option. In WAW, there were two ways to die. One was striking a vital point that would absolutely kill the target for an instant death. The other was reducing their health to zero.

Even if you inflicted a life-threatening wound, the target wouldn't die if they still had health remaining. The only exception was zombies.

That's why tankers invested in vitality. Their pattern was to endure with high health, survive the crisis, and then get healed. Plus, it increased pure physical durability, greatly boosting their survivability.

But if this skill granted an instant death judgment even when health remained...

'It would end before they could even pull out their final trump card.'

Desperation patterns, skills that grew stronger as health decreased—everything like that would become meaningless. Even against zombies.

WAW didn't give anything for free. There had to be a clear reason I'd obtained this skill.

"Raid Leader, we've arrived."

Perfect timing. We'd reached the department store. In the distance, among the rubble of collapsed buildings, only the altar stood alone.

'So it really was an altar.'

That massive lump of flesh had completely burned away and disappeared. It must have paid the price. With a skill.

'Now skills are even giving me more skills.'

Random Tower Summon was truly an insane skill. And of all things, it had to be this type.

Coincidentally, this was the same category as the skill my character in the first server had awakened. It was Back Attack. A passive that granted critical hit judgment when attacking from behind an enemy. It was a pretty decent passive since it could also reduce enemy health.

Still, compared to active skills, it was incredibly difficult in the early game. Catching someone from behind was hard in itself.

'That's not what's important here.'

What mattered was that progressing through the skill tree would unlock stealth-type skills.

'As expected!'

The Reaper's Walk skill tree also had stealth skills available.

"This is jackpot level."

I never imagined there'd be an upper-tier version of Back Attack. And that I'd be the one to get it.

"What's a jackpot?"

Hana brought her face closer, looking curious.

"I got a new skill. A passive one."

"From the skill tree?"

"No, a basic skill. Like your Deadly Pierce."

She seemed to think for a moment before her expression gradually turned to shock.

"Whoa, seriously?! You can get new skills like that? What about the skill tree then?"

"Yeah, the skill tree too. Skill books drop with a really low chance, just like items. But people usually don't learn them."

"Why not?"

"Because skill points are limited."

But I could gain skill points through the altar. If I wanted, I could even develop two skill trees.

"So you got a skill book as a boss drop?"

"It's similar, but a bit more complicated."

I could tell Hana. But there was no need to reveal everything in case information ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠leaked unintentionally. I simply told her it was a close-combat skill.

"Then can you use this now?"

A grin crept across my face. I drew Mugeuk, revealing its beautiful white blade. Now I understood why women smiled just looking at jewelry.

'Haa.'

But reason and emotion clashed. Staring at the milky-white blade made my heart complicated. My head already knew.

Reaper's Walk was an assassination-type passive skill. A long blade like Mugeuk wasn't suited for assassination.

'So what?! If I kill them, it's assassination anyway!'

No matter how much I threw a tantrum or insisted, the fact that they didn't match remained unchanged. I shed tears of blood in my heart.

Why did the heavens give me Mugeuk and then Reaper's Walk?

Of course I could force myself to use it, but my gamer brain interfered. Was I really going to leave the first Unique item to rot inefficiently?

'Damn it.'

I pulled out the melted shadow. A dagger definitely suited it better. Of all things, a dagger had appeared, and I'd obtained the Reaper's Walk skill.

"Is this a coincidence? You're not trying to screw me over, right?"

Asking the empty air was pointless. The grip of the melted shadow fit perfectly in my hand.

'I used daggers in the first server too.'

I'd clearly played with a keyboard and mouse. Yet somehow, the dagger felt like it was melting into my hand. Was this fate?

"Moving in."

"Yes!"

The interior had already been scouted by the towers. There were traces of everything being smashed to hell, but no dangerous elements remained.

'Nice.'

Now I just needed to find the items. If I was lucky, there would be some. If unlucky, there wouldn't. The peculiar thing was that items in the dungeon would transform from the objects that existed within it.

'Please let something useful come out.'

There were so many things piled up in the department store that I couldn't even guess what might appear.

"Squad leaders, recover supplies and check if any items have appeared."

"Yes!"

Though covered in all sorts of debris, the condition of the goods wasn't bad. It was fortunate we'd escaped before the dungeon boss completely destroyed the department store.

I entered a luxury brand store where the glass walls had been shattered.

"Hana, you pick something too. I'll buy it for you."

"Pfft. Then will you pick something out for me, Suhyuk?"

Ah, my fashion sense was seriously terrible.

"Sure, I'll try picking something."

"Should I get my hopes up?"

"Don't get your hopes up..."

In that case, something safe would be better.

"How about accessories?"

"I already received one from ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠someone, remember? Hehehe."

Hana, who had been browsing clothes on the display stands, raised her hand to show me. It'd be hard to find an accessory that could beat that one.

Hana seemed to be picking out clothes for Chaei first. She kept bringing items over and holding them against her.

"This is pretty too! It suits her so well!"

Looking at them, it felt like watching celebrities out shopping together. And I was just the pack mule.

Thirty minutes of shopping, and she still hadn't found anything that suited Hana.

'At least know her size before trying to pick...'

Just how many cups was that chest anyway?

"An item!"

I never expected one to drop in a luxury brand store.

'But the options are a bit...'

They weren't suited for combat. If this had come from WAW, I would've been pounding the ground in resentment. It was completely useless.

But in reality, the story was different. For non-combat purposes, it was perfect.

'Wouldn't this be just right for Yeonhee noona?'

It was plain yet luxurious. Anyone would say it was pretty. Plus, cardigans didn't depend on chest size.

'I've got a gift for Yeonhee noona now.'

Now I needed to find clothes that would suit Hana.

"Suhyuk, have you picked everything?"

"Sorry, but no matter how I look, I have no idea."

Just grabbing anything randomly didn't feel right either. Since Hana needed to wear combat items, I couldn't give her Gentle Breeze.

"Pfft! I knew it. It's fine, so cheer up."

Both of Hana's hands were full of shopping bags. She must have wrapped each one herself.

'I didn't need to pick anything in the first place!'

I felt unfairly treated for no reason.

"Come here."

"Why?"

"I picked out clothes for you, Suhyuk."

I'd completely forgotten about my own clothes. The one Hana brought was a coat.

"A coat in the middle of summer?"

"Autumn will come too."

I held the coat against myself to see if it fit. 'Is this cold weather preparation... or does she just want to hold onto the hope that we'll survive until then?'

When I tried it on, the coat Hana picked fit me perfectly. I liked that it was black too.

"Thanks. I'll wear it well."

"Yeah! I picked it, but it really suits you?"

It was starting to get hot, so I stored it in my inventory.

"Hana, why don't you put the shopping bags in your inventory too?"

"You don't get it. You're supposed to carry them around like this."

"That's ridiculous."

I laughed because it was so absurd. The sight of her holding shopping bags stirred up strange emotions. It was a sight we might never see again.

"Raid Leader! We've discovered an item!"

A squad leader reported over the radio. Finally!

"Where?"

"Second basement level!"

"I'm on my way. Wait for me."

This time, I was hoping for a real jackpot!

"Hana, let's go get the item."

"Hehehe, okay! I'll go first!"

No, that's why I told you not to use your skill to go ahead. I hoisted Chaei onto my back and ran after Hana.