A Step Forward
Han Chang-sik had been suspicious and cowardly since childhood. While his much younger brother, Han Chang-oh, was a reckless hothead who constantly caused trouble, Chang-sik had never stepped out of line growing up. Of course, that didn't mean he hadn't done bad things. Han Chang-sik had committed countless misdeeds and crimes, yet he had only been caught once. In a way, he could be considered a criminal genius, but in truth, his cowardice simply kept him from crossing certain lines. He stuck to petty crimes, never daring to pull off a major heist.
But then came the apocalypse, dragging law, order, and morality down into the gutter. To seize his chance, he committed the ultimate crime: murder. Naturally, taking a life in a world like this didn't dramatically alter a personality forged over decades, but it did make him somewhat bolder.
That was why, today, he had deployed nearly eighty percent of his combat force to raid the Nonghyup Mart alongside the survivors of Gahyeon Elementary School. Before this, he had never sent out more than half of his strength. He had to keep watch over the hostages and slaves scattered around his townhouse complex, and above all, he had to ensure his own safety.
However, the Gahyeon Elementary School survivors were numerous, and clearing out the Nonghyup Mart in one go required a massive workforce. More than anything, he judged that today—with its bone-chilling cold and heavy snowfall—was the perfect opportunity when everyone would let their guard down. So, he had dispatched over thirty men, including his own younger brother.
Naturally, being the coward he was, Han Chang-sik had prepared a backup measure to protect himself even in their absence. It was a Chinese-made pistol he had acquired over a decade ago. When he was kicked out of Mokuri, where he had barely managed to establish a foothold, he had handed over his business in exchange for cash and this weapon.
The QSZ-92, complete with two fifteen-round magazines and thirty spare rounds, had slept in his safe for over ten years. The only time it had ever been fired was when a director of the Daeseonghoe—the genuine, nationwide syndicate that had bought out his business at a premium—gave him a demonstration. Although Chang-sik had meticulously disassembled, cleaned, and maintained it twice a year exactly as he had been taught, he had never actually shot it himself.
Thus, when he saw the armed intruder suddenly appear on the second floor via the CCTV monitors in his bedroom, he didn't hesitate. He had grabbed a woman who was with him, shoved her out the door to distract the intruder, and aimed the QSZ-92. The moment he pulled the trigger, Han Chang-sik felt a brief, intense rush of euphoria amidst his overwhelming excitement. The heavy recoil and deafening report of the pistol seemed to banish all his fear, giving a fiery boost to his fragile masculinity, which had always been a source of insecurity.
But Han Chang-sik had forgotten one crucial detail: his only experience with firearms was watching someone else shoot over ten years ago, and back then, he had been wearing thick ear defenders inside a perfectly soundproofed underground shooting range.
BANG—!!!
The explosive blast, exceeding 150 decibels, tore into Han Chang-sik's ears and rattled his brain. Even through the shock, he saw his target stagger violently from the impact.
Beeeeeeeeeeeeep!
"Ugh!"
A high-pitched ringing pierced his inner ears like a hot poker. Han Chang-sik instinctively clutched his ears and squeezed his eyes shut. Temporarily losing his sense of balance, he tried to brace himself against the floor with the hand holding the gun. Strangely, however, his hand refused to obey.
Thud!
His strength vanished as if his arm no longer belonged to him, and Han Chang-sik collapsed right in front of the master bedroom door.
"Agh... gasp! Wheeze, cough."
A delayed, agonizing pain flared in his right chest. He struggled desperately to draw breath. At that exact moment—
Patter-patter-patter!
Thwack!
The intruder—who had undoubtedly been shot—rushed forward with terrifying speed and delivered a brutal kick straight to the jaw of the groaning, struggling Han Chang-sik.
"Gack!"
A few broken teeth flew through the air. Following the deafening gunshot, this second massive shock to his brain turned off Han Chang-sik's consciousness like a light switch.
Crack—!
"...?!"
Park Deok-cheol's eyes widened in shock as a sharp gunshot echoed from the townhouse he was watching through his scope.
"Gunshot! Did you hear that?"
"A gunshot? You heard a gunshot?"
"Yes, sir. It came from inside the house just now."
"Hold on. Maintain your shooting posture."
Following Yun Yeong-su's urgent voice, one of the two drones monitoring Han Chang-sik's townhouse and the surrounding area descended rapidly.
Whirrrrrr!
Emitting a loud buzz that was completely inaudible when it was high in the sky, the drone flew through the balcony window Jun-hyeok had shattered. It entered Han Chang-sik's townhouse, capturing the interior of the second floor on its camera.
"Ah, thank goodness. Whew..."
Yun Yeong-su let out a long sigh of relief as he watched Jun-hyeok bind the limbs of the splayed-out Han Chang-sik with heavy-duty cable ties.
"Jesus. I thought something terrible had happened."
Seeing the same scene on the tablet screen resting beside his air rifle, Park Deok-cheol also felt his tension melt away in relief. But it was short-lived.
"Ducky! The thugs are crawling out after hearing that gunshot!"
"I see 'em," Deok-cheol muttered.
Through his scope, he watched men armed with knives, axes, and makeshift spears pouring out of three townhouses adjacent to and directly below their primary target. However, they were not Deok-cheol's responsibility.
Pfft! Pfft! Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!
Two G1 drones, positioned thirty to fifty meters away from Deok-cheol, unleashed a torrent of fire, their high-pressure air systems emitting their signature muffled pops.
"Argh!"
"Gack!"
"Aaaagh!"
The targets screamed as they collapsed, rolling on the ground. They wouldn't die; the drones had specifically targeted non-lethal areas like arms, shoulders, and thighs. However, the power of the tungsten pellets was devastating. The moment the heavy metal rounds tore through their clothing and embedded deep into their flesh, the men dropped, groaning in sheer agony.
"Motherfucker..."
"Ugh!"
A few tried to force themselves back up, but the G1 drones mechanically tracked them, firing another round of tungsten that sent them crashing back down with fresh screams.
"Another one coming out!"
At Yun Yeong-su's warning, Deok-cheol immediately aimed at the front door of the main townhouse. The door burst open, and a man wearing only a sweater and trousers rushed out. He was definitely not one of their allies. The moment Deok-cheol spotted the kitchen knife in the man's hand, he pulled the trigger without a shred of hesitation.
Pfft!
As the tungsten pellet slammed into his collarbone, the man shrieked at the top of his lungs and dropped the knife. Immediately after, two heavily armed allies of theirs charged out of the entrance and kicked him squarely in the back, sending him sprawling. They wasted no time in ruthlessly beating the fallen thug.
"Horrible..." Deok-cheol muttered.
It was a rather hypocritical comment coming from the man who had just shattered someone's collarbone with a high-powered air rifle. Keeping his eyes glued to the scope, Deok-cheol continued to scan the entrance and the broken windows of the townhouse. But no one else emerged.
"Alright, here comes the real deal. Everyone, get ready for Plan B."
At Yeong-su's command, Deok-cheol swiftly pivoted his rifle barrel away from the townhouse. Ten seconds later...
Grrrrrr...
The guttural groans of zombies began to echo from both the main entrance of the townhouse complex and the back gate—the one they had failed to breach last time. The chilling sounds rapidly drew closer.
> Initiating Plan B.
Following the cold, synthetic voice of the AI Akina, the G1 drones opened fire.
Pfft! Pfft!
Plan B. It was the contingency plan designed for when Han Chang-sik fired his pistol inside his stronghold, or when any equivalent loud noise occurred. No matter how enclosed the space, a pistol's report typically reaches 150 to 170 decibels. That is comparable to a nearby lightning strike or standing right next to a runway as a jet fighter takes off. Reality was not like movies or dramas where characters shoot handguns indoors and walk away completely unfazed.
In other words, if someone fired a pistol inside a house in the dead of night, anyone with normal hearing within a three-hundred-meter to one-kilometer radius would hear it. It was only natural that the zombies, whose hearing remained as sharp as when they were human, would swarm the area.
Of course, those further away eventually lost interest and gave up when they failed to spot any living humans along the way. But those within a five-hundred-meter radius of Han Chang-sik's townhouse poured out of every nook and cranny, sprinting toward the noise. Above all, the relentless screams and chaotic din echoing from the complex allowed them to pinpoint their destination with absolute precision.
Grrrrrr!
Pfft! Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!
As the zombies' guttural roars drew closer, the other G1 drone joined the fray. And immediately after:
"Target in sight."
Pfft! Pfft!
Deok-cheol opened fire with his modified air rifle, while Jun-hyeok, having completely subdued the unconscious Han Chang-sik, began firing his KP9 from the townhouse rooftop.
The sight of hundreds of zombies surging up both paths was terrifying, but neither Jun-hyeok nor Deok-cheol panicked. They calmly pulled their triggers. They had two reliable G1 drones backing them up. Unlike when they were targeting humans, the combat drones aimed strictly for the head. Under their precise, mechanical fire, the zombies collapsed one after another, their foreheads and faces caving in from the impact of the tungsten rounds.
Fortunately, the bulk of the zombies in this area had already been cleared out beforehand. Still, a few stragglers controlled by Alphas had remained hidden. But drawn by the powerful explosion—the loudest sound they had heard since their mutation—an unidentified Alpha instinctively led its horde out, only for them to be mowed down like wheat before a scythe.
Grrr!Shriek!
Though they weren't as formidable as the Alpha D that Jun-ho had slain, these Alphas had consumed enough human flesh to awaken a degree of tactical intelligence. Realizing their prey possessed overwhelming firepower, they ordered a retreat. But they were too late.
> Based on combat algorithms acquired from Master Lee Jun-ho's battles, three suspected Alpha entities have been identified.
> Prioritizing elimination.
"Holy shit! I built her, but she is seriously the best! Akinaaaa!"
Immediately after the AI's announcement and Yun Yeong-su's ecstatic shout, the G1 drones whined.
Whirrrr.
Ignoring the zombies surging up the main and back paths of the townhouse complex, the drones pivoted to target the dozens of zombies that were suddenly retreating, and opened fire.
Pfft... Pfft... Pfft...
In an instant, the back of over a dozen heads exploded. Deprived of their command, about three-quarters of the retreating zombies suddenly froze, their bodies contorting in bizarre, jerky motions reminiscent of their initial mutation. But the confusion was brief. Having lost the master controlling them, some wandered back to their original territories, while others turned back and began shuffling toward the townhouse once more.
> All suspected Alpha entities eliminated.
> G1 Unit 05: Ammunition depleted.
> G1 Unit 06: Battery below 20%. Ceasing operations in 5 minutes.
One drone had already ground to a halt, having expended its entire two-hundred-round payload, and the report indicated the remaining drone would soon follow suit.
"It's fine! We've cleared out almost all of them! Ducky, you still good on ammo?"
"Yes, sir. I've got three more air tanks left and plenty of bullets."
Deok-cheol spoke rapidly as he aimed and fired at the zombies shuffling up the main road of the townhouse complex. Though they had once been living human beings, Deok-cheol, who had received a very unique upbringing from his grandfather, simply pulled the trigger with cold detachment. Jun-hyeok, firing his KP9, was no different.
"It's almost cleared up on my end. Redirect the remaining G1 to Deok-cheol's side."
"Roger that!"
As the remaining active G1 drone moved to support Deok-cheol, the zombies advancing from the main entrance of the townhouse complex began to fall at an even faster rate.
Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!
Click!
Deok-cheol had been firing frantically when he realized his compressed air had run out. Just as he scrambled to swap out the air tank, a voice came through his earpiece.
> All hostile targets eliminated.
> Re-evaluating... Threat Level B: All targets eliminated.
> No active threats detected within drone surveillance range.
> Combat operations complete.
It was the same emotionless, business-like voice as always. Yet, at this moment, that cold synthetic voice felt more reassuring and comforting than anything else. Having successfully killed over fifty man-eating monsters in his very first real combat mission, the former idol Park Deok-cheol let out a long, ragged breath.
"Whew..."
He pulled off his sweat-drenched helmet, his body suddenly limp with relief.
December 24, 2024. Christmas Eve.
Jun-ho and the members of Our Shelter had not only completely subdued the thugs, but they had also successfully eliminated over seventy percent of the zombies roaming the Jung-dong sector of Gahyeon-ri.
Among the slain undead were several Alphas, including Alpha D. Jun-ho had personally put down two of them. And because of that, his body had undergone a change... Specifically, his physical capabilities had taken a step forward. It was a realization that Jun-ho would only fully grasp the very next day.