Chapter 23
Chapter 23
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 23
Chapter Title: Selection
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We charged forward with all our might.
“Uooooo!!!!”
“S-Save me!!! Gyaaa!!!!”
“S-Shit!!!”
Survivors and zombies were mixed together, screaming all around us. It was a chaotic battlefield.
‘Should I just use Human Sacrifice and crush them with my own hands instead?’
That thought crossed my mind, but I didn't have the time to level up a skill right now.
Due to my job characteristics, selecting a skill comes with an intense headache. If I leveled up a skill right now, I’d probably collapse, drooling and unable to fight.
We couldn't waste a single second since we had used the Zombie Repellent Spray. We planned to kill all the Special Zombies that had climbed onto the roof, so wasting time was not an option.
“Kill the War Boys first!!! Eun-ji and Ha-rin, crush their legs!”
“Yes!!!”
“Got it!!!”
There were well over ten War Boys on the roof. These 3-meter giants were smashing everything indiscriminately, turning the roof into a mess.
“Hiyaaa!!!!”
Ha-rin charged forward with a roar. Her reinforced muscles transferred all their power to the monkey wrench in her hand.
Crash!
Just one hit. That was enough to shatter the War Boy's right knee. The brute force born from overwhelming strength toppled the 3-meter giant.
Thud!
“Uwaaaaaaa!!!!!”
The War Boy screamed as it collapsed on its broken knee. Perfect. Its head was now within reach.
“Die!!!”
I grabbed the War Boy's head with my left hand, dripping with green sludge.
Sizzle!!!
Smoke rose as if flesh was burning, and the War Boy's head melted into a green viscous mess and was torn off.
“Ugh..!!!”
An awful smell pierced my nose along with it.
The rotting stench of zombies was bad enough, but the foul odor released as the corpse dissolved in the corrosive fluid was beyond imagination.
“Ugh...”
I felt something rising from my stomach... Ha-rin seemed to feel the same, her face turning pale as she dry-heaved.
“Oppa! Over here!”
Just then, Eun-ji shattered the ankles of a War Boy in the distance, causing it to fall.
“J-Just a sec...!”
I ran over to Eun-ji and melted the War Boy's head again.
Sizzle!!!!
“Ugh... Shit... O-Oppa... the smell... Ugh..”
This is driving me crazy. To think there would be such a fucking side effect to this great skill...
“I-Just keep knocking them down! I’ll kill them!”
“Y-Yes!”
“Got it!”
From then on, Eun-ji and Ha-rin mercilessly shattered the knees and ankles of the War Boys, dropping them to the roof floor.
This was only possible because we had the spray. Otherwise, it would have been quite a struggle.
“That’s it!! Leave those five alive! We might need them later!”
“Yes! Oppa!”
“Got it!”
That took care of almost all the War Boy bastards. Of course, they were still climbing up in real-time, but reducing the number of those rampaging on the roof gave the Non-Awakened and slaves a bit of breathing room.
“Next are the Zombie Centipedes! Crush their arms and legs so they can’t crawl!!!”
“Aza!!”
“Uraaa!!!”
Eun-ji and Ha-rin roared with rough battle cries like warrior women, smashing and breaking the Zombie Centipedes' arms.
The centipedes thrashed roughly. But they were just legless cripples.
I pushed in without hesitation and melted their heads.
They said that once my Mana stat broke 100 and mana started flowing through my body, my movements would become lighter and smoother, and it was true.
“O-Oppa! You’re amazing!”
Listening to Eun-ji's cheers, I erased the Zombie Centipedes one by two.
How long did we fight and brawl against the zombies on the roof?
Finally, this dreadful and horrific night passed.
The air at dawn was exceptionally cold. The zombies fought back with their last bit of strength, but we endured. In the end, we won.
The sun would rise soon. Has there ever been a time I longed for the morning sun this much?
As the sun rose, the zombies that had been rampaging like crazy were starting to look tired.
“The sun is up!!! Shit!!! The sun is up!!!! Jin-woo!!! We’re alive!!! You bastard!!! We’re alive!!!”
Ha-jin-sung, who had survived the night, let out a tear-soaked roar.
Ever since his younger brother Ha-jin-woo twisted his ankle and fell, Ha-jin-sung had a look in his eyes that could be described as murderous, frantically beating approaching zombies to a pulp until the sun rose.
Even Ha-jin-sung was now covered in zombie blood, with his eyes half-closed. He looked extremely exhausted.
“Hyung.. Huk... Shit...”
Ha-jin-woo was also overwhelmed, tears streaming down his face as he enjoyed the joy.
It wasn't time to cry yet. Zombies were still left.
“Oppa! There aren't many left now!”
“Yeah... You all worked hard.”
I left the regular zombies to the other slaves and focused on the few remaining Special Zombies with Eun-ji and Ha-rin.
After fighting them, it became clear. Each Special Zombie was tough enough that simply beating them to death wasn't an option. Their skull density was different. They had a toughness that couldn't be killed just by swinging a crowbar.
Of course, that was useless against the thick green corrosive fluid emitted by the skill 'Profane Touch'.
Those touched by the corrosive fluid melted away screaming without even putting up a fight. Whether it was a War Boy or a Zombie Centipede, it was all the same.
The strategy of Eun-ji and Ha-rin breaking the War Boys' legs, then me melting the heads of the fallen with Profane Touch was excellent.
“Here!!! A centipede is coming up here!!!”
Hwang Su-min shouted urgently while looking after Lee Eun-hye, who had an injury on her arm.
“J-Just a sec! My back hurts..”
Having stayed up all night killing zombies, my back felt like it was going to break.
My back was stiffer and hurt more than when I was rolling around intensely with Eun-ji and Ha-rin.
“If Oppa's back goes out, we're in trouble...”
“Master. I'll handle it. Please rest a bit.”
They worry about me right away when I say my back hurts... How touching...
As expected, Eun-ji and Ha-rin are the best. Just watching them gives me energy.
Normally, my lower half would be throbbing too, but I was so tired that my little guy didn't react.
“It's fine. I'll do it. You guys are out of mana. Rest for a bit.”
“But...”
“Yes...”
I wanted to pat Eun-ji and Ha-rin's heads since they were worried about me, but my hands were too dirty to do so.
Leaving my regret behind, I walked toward the railing Su-min pointed to.
“Ha... Shit... This is really getting on my nerves...”
I've thought this dozens of times today, but there are way too many zombie bastards. Even after killing them, more crawl out from somewhere. It feels like I'm killing cockroaches.
No matter how many I kill, they appear again somewhere.
The sun is up and the roof is almost cleared, but these fucking bastards keep climbing up without a clue.
‘Still... since the sun is up, it should get better now...’
I saw one of those disgusting Zombie Centipedes crawling up the mart's exterior wall, carrying regular zombies on its back like its own children.
It had a repulsive appearance with many arms, making it annoying just to look at.
“I stayed up all night, so let's get some rest now... you fucking bastards... I'm tired!”
I swung my hand, melted the head of the one crawling up the wall, and caused it to fall to its death along with the zombies hanging off it.
“Uooo!!!”
“Uwaaa!!!”
The zombies falling and screaming with stupid voices looked like some kind of inhuman zombie gag show, which was funny.
As I stared down at the zombies falling to their deaths, someone approached.
“Hyung-nim, you worked hard.”
It was Ha-jin-sung, supporting his injured younger brother.
“Uh... You worked hard too. H-Hey, you were going crazy protecting your brother.”
“It was nothing.”
“Hey, Ha-jin-woo. Is your ankle okay?”
“Yes! It’s fine! I'll get better if I rest a bit!”
Ha-jin-woo shouted vigorously with eyes full of fear, as if he was afraid I would abandon him.
As I stared at Ha-jin-woo, Ha-jin-sung, worried his brother would be abandoned, quickly changed the subject.
“Hyung-nim. We're done once we kill those bastards.”
I turned my head at Ha-jin-sung's words.
There were five War Boys and Kim Jun-min and Kim Il-woo running away.
“Uwaaa!!! Shit!!! Hyung-nim!!! How long do we have to keep running!!!”
“Uwaaa!!! Get away!!! You fucking bastards!!!!”
Kim Min-jun and Kim Il-woo were running away with five War Boys trailing them precariously.
“Hey! Run faster!!! You'll get caught at this rate!”
I used my head a bit. I had a strategy to use the War Boys to kill the regular zombies.
Zombie Centipedes, specialized in climbing, evolved to hunt humans in high places. Consequently, their combat abilities weren't that great.
In contrast, these crazy muscular zombies were monsters specialized in combat.
Just looking at how the warrior Kim Il-woo was sent flying without even putting up a fight proved it.
These bastards were strong and rough.
‘And they are stupid.’
Fortunately, War Boys had a personality of individualism with zero sense of cooperation.
Realizing that these 3-meter giants of muscular zombies were rampaging, causing the regular zombies around them to get caught in the crossfire and die, I ordered Kim Min-jun, who had the fastest feet among us, and Kim Il-woo, who had the best stamina, to barely dodge their attacks.
The attacks that those two barely dodged would hit and kill other regular zombies instead.
Well, you could call it indirect murder. No, since I'm killing already dead things, it's not murder.
Anyway, those two faithfully followed my orders, luring the War Boys and clearing out the regular zombies left on the roof. Thanks to that, a few Non-Awakened seemed to have survived.
“H-Hey! Heh... Heh.. How long do we have to run! This... Heh... I can't anymore...”
Eventually, Kim Il-woo, his breath reaching his limit, fell forward.
“Hey! Shit!! What are you doing falling there!!!”
As expected of a loyal guy, Kim Min-jun quickly turned around to support the fallen Kim Il-woo.
“Allahu akbar.”
Puff!!!
A bundle of tentacles shot out, turning the War Boys that were trying to grab and tear apart Kim Min-jun and Kim Il-woo into pieces of meat.
Simultaneously, the meat chunks of the exploded bastards rained down on the two.
“Ugh... Toot! Toot! Shit... It feels like it went into my mouth...”
“Ugh...!”
Kim Min-jun got covered in the blood and flesh of the exploded War Boys and frowned. He wiped his face and shook the flesh off his hands.
Kim Il-woo was leaning on the floor, throwing up. So dirty...
“Oppa! You worked hard!”
“Master!”
Eun-ji and Ha-rin ran to me. It was really over now. I killed them all....
“Uooooo!!!”
“There's more left?!”
Just then, the last zombie left on the roof walked toward me. It must have been buried under the dead Zombie Centipede.
“Uwaaaaaa!!!!!”
“Ugh... Is there no end to this...”
Crack!!!
I used Profane Touch unconsciously.
Then, the head of the zombie I touched instantly turned into green viscous fluid and melted.
Simultaneously, a pungent smoke rose, and a foul stench spread that made me want to rip my nose off.
Profane Touch was truly the best skill in terms of effect. Whatever I touched melted and decayed, so no matter who the opponent was, I could take them down just by touching them. Mana consumption was also quite cheap.
The only problem was that it emitted a terribly horrific smell when killing zombies.
Even the green viscous fluid secreted from my palm when using the skill had a nasty smell, but the smell produced when this fluid touched a zombie was too much to bear.
“Ugh...”
This was the twenty-ninth time I dry-heaved from the smell, which was beyond imagination. No matter how much I smelled it, I couldn't get used to it. At this point, my nose should have gone numb, but since my stats were high, there were no signs of that, and I felt like dying.
‘Fucking hell... I didn't know there would be side effects like this...’
The shittiest part about this was that it wasn't just me suffering; Eun-ji and Ha-rin were suffering too.
“Ugh... O-Oppa... that’s a bit...”
“I-I-It's nothing. Ugh....”
“A-Ah. Hey. Sorry. I used it unconsciously...”
“I-It's okay... Master... Ugh...”
“No...”
They were trying to throw up but pretending to be okay...
“A-Anyway... Still, it's good that we killed them all.. Right?”
“Y-Yeah. It's time to use the skill now.”
The zombies on the roof were all dead, ending with the one I just killed.
I killed about 30 War Boys and 27 Zombie Centipedes. There were also many unnamed Special Zombies mixed in. The three of us really killed a tremendous amount.
Thanks to that, my level went up by a whopping 5, Eun-ji and Ha-rin each went up by 4, and the Ha duo and the other slaves went up quite a bit.
‘Besides, items drop when you kill Special Zombies...’
After staying up all night killing them, I noticed that shiny items were dropping in between.
I realized during the battle that killing Special Zombies drops weapons or armor with a certain probability.
I'm sure it was written in the notification earlier, but the situation was so urgent I couldn't read everything one by one.
“Everyone, pick up the items on the floor!”
“Yes!”
The equipment items on the ground were all 'items' just like the ones the Peddler sold. Items showed descriptions.
For example, this dagger.
[Ceremonial Dagger: Features a wavy blade.]
It was an item with no special effects, but it looked quite menacing.
I should use this one.
“I've gathered them all.”
“Are these five the last?”
“Yes. I looked further but didn't find any.”
I picked up the dagger I found, two short swords of ambiguous length, one axe, and one iron helmet.
They were all ordinary items with nothing special about them.
I kept the dagger, gave the two shortswords to Eun-ji, and gave the axe and helmet to Ha-rin.
“Good.. It's all over..”
About an hour had passed since the sun rose. The mart roof was in a lull, as if the zombie wave was completely over.
“All you survivors, come over here to the Peddler!”
There were still a few Non-Awakened who had survived. I called them over. But...
“Keuk.. I-I think I got bitten...”
“Damn it! You really got bitten!”
These heartless, lowlife bastards.
If they got bitten, they should just shut up and die quietly. Why are they coming here making a fuss?
“Ah, I see.”
This was the perfect moment to use Human Sacrifice.
They were going to turn into zombies and die anyway, so let them become my 'Karma'.
“Skill Selection!”
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙
Please select a skill. 1. Human Sacrifice 2. Supremacy of the Heavenly Demon 3. Abyss Observation 4. Selfless Demon Eye
[Supremacy of the Heavenly Demon: Gains interest and favor from otherworldly beings. Contract conditions are eased.]
‘Another weird skill... I'll choose Human Sacrifice for now!’
Throb.
“Keughup...!!!”
Just as expected, an intense pain that felt like my head was being crushed made my body sway. Naturally, drool dripped from my mouth.
Right away, Eun-ji and Ha-rin supported me. I leaned against their bodies and swallowed the pain.
“Ha.. Ha.. Shit...”
Information about Human Sacrifice flowed in.
‘No mana consumption... This is jackpot...’
The target of Human Sacrifice was limited to 'intelligent life forms'. Existences without intelligence, like zombies, were impossible to sacrifice, and low-intelligence beasts were naturally impossible as well.
‘But... this... it says it can be used on other species except humans... what the hell is this?’
Could it be... a hint that things like alien species beyond zombies will appear?
My body swayed. Zombies alone are plenty to deal with, you bastards...
‘By the way... it seems I need to perform the act of offering, meaning I need to do a performance.... What is it? Do I have to say "I offer this" and then kill them?’
It seems so. It seems I need to make a gesture or statement clearly offering it to God, like a religious act such as making the sign of the cross while talking about the Father and Son in a church.
“Well... this is getting serious...”
I'll create my own signature sign of the cross later, but first, I need to send that bastard, who is about to turn into a zombie, to God's side.
“Gwaaa! A-It hurts!!!”
“Of course it hurts, you bastard! You're turning into a zombie!”
Eun-ji and Ha-rin pinned the guy down without a moment's rest.
“I offer this!!!”
Then, they immediately plunged the dagger into the guy's head.
Puck! Crack!
The Non-Awakened died instantly, spilling warm blood and brain matter.
Did Human Sacrifice succeed?
I waited a moment. However, nothing happened...
[Ah. Sweet.]
“Gwaaa...!!!!!”
Something... something entered my mind...!
[Bring me more.]
“Guhup....!”
A massive sense of malice dug into my small brain, and system messages rose one after another.
💥 ENCOUNTER! 💥
[Encountered Evil God 'Kashnax']
[You have become a servant of the Evil God!]
[Mark of the Heavenly Demon is being imprinted!]
[You have encountered the Evil God 'Kashnax'!]
Congratulations? You have become a servant of the Evil God!]
[You have become one step closer to the Evil God!]
[Mark of the Heavenly Demon is being imprinted!]
[All players of the Good God faction feel a sense of disgust toward you!]
[Achievement Unlocked! 'Encounter with the Unknown']
[Achievement Unlocked! 'The Unforgivable']
[Achievement Unlocked! 'Servant of Kashnax']
[Achievement reward granted.]
[Achievement reward granted.]
[Achievement reward granted.]
“Gwaaaaa!!!!!!”
Along with searing pain, something was engraved on my forehead.
I felt pain as if my flesh was being torn by a thin fingernail.... Is the Mark of the Heavenly Demon being engraved? Along with the pain, I felt that I was completely screwed.
[Mark of the Heavenly Demon: Your soul and body are now the property of the Evil God Kashnax. As his servant, you can communicate freely with the Heavenly Demon.]
[Those with other divine marks will be hostile toward you.]
“F-Fucking hell...”
I never imagined this would happen... Was I too complacent? Did I... let my guard down too much?
What are those with other divine marks? It seems there are other classes like mine that receive God's attention... Other divine marks... Then is this Mark of the Heavenly Demon also a divine mark in the end?
I don't know. I'm just filled with anxiety thinking I'm completely screwed.
⚡ SKILL IMPROVED ⚡
Skill 'Tentacle Summon' improved!
Tentacle Emission: No limit on summon count. Pentagram engraved on palm. Incantation shortened. Mana cost increased to 10!
“Ah, this is jackpot.”
It was a gain. As expected of 'God'. You never disappoint... Now I don't need to draw a complex pentagram. The incantation is just 'Ru Rue'. And the summon count is unlimited...
‘Well, what is there to be anxious about? Whether it's a divine mark or whatever, I'll just catch them all and make them slaves... Kashnax is a God and I am invincible.’
Let's think positively.
Anyway, the sun is up. I survived another day.
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