The New Ruler of the American Wasteland
On a hill overlooking the panoramic view of the American Dream East Camp, McClain, an Awakened who hadn't yet entered the Abyss, stared with his mouth agape at the camp collapsing in real-time. "My god..."
"Hey, snap out of it. We have to get out of here, now."
"Ah, no... holy shit..."
Becky pulled on the arm of McClain, who remained dazed as he watched people falling. She was his girlfriend, and having sensed something was wrong the day before, they had already planned their midnight escape. "I knew it was strange... ever since they started agitating for us to go to the Abyss. Everyone else seemed to fall for it easily because they promised us real estate in the Abyss... but not me. I’m not falling for that, ever."
Becky took the lead, hacking through the forest while rattling off her thoughts to her boyfriend. McClain agreed with her, but his expression remained one of pure disbelief. The sight of thousands of insects swarming over people and mushroom-shaped monsters crushing humans like beef jerky was the definition of terror. He was already terrified of zombies, but seeing even more horrific monsters crawling out made him feel a sense of despair at this unbelievable reality. Seeing that most of the camp's Awakened had already been brainwashed by the enemy, McClain thought that if he hadn't listened to Becky, he might have been brainwashed by those alien monsters too.
"I can't believe it... that Erickson was a traitor... he definitely... he didn't seem like that kind of person..."
"No, that bastard was a two-faced snake from the start. McClain, stop worrying about that place now... there's a zombie ahead, so get your weapon out... Ah, shit... two Revenants..."
"Ah... this is driving me crazy..."
Two special zombies, clad in tattered armor and wielding rusted swords, were wandering around, letting out bizarre, eerie cries. To Jojun’s slaves, who had to hunt zombies regardless of their feelings due to their master's orders, evolved zombies might look like mere fodder, but to Becky and McClain—Awakened from the US East Camp who had stayed holed up in their base—even one was a formidable enemy.
"Will a machete work...?"
"I don't know... I've never fought those bastards either..."
McClain, who had been a pharmacist before the disaster, had only managed people's health in the makeshift infirmary afterward, so despite having a powerful class like 'Spiritist,' he had little experience killing even regular zombies. Perhaps that was why he was still only level 5. There were plenty of others who would fight for him, so he never felt the need to hunt. Becky, a 'Sword Dancer' class who had done some exercise and served as a member of the survivor camp's vigilante group, had more experience than McClain, but even she had almost no experience hunting zombies since they had been replaced by evolved variants.
"Let's just wait until they leave..."
"How do you know when they'll leave? Let's take a detour..."
"Yeah..."
In the end, the two gave up on the idea of fighting, hid their bodies in the grass, and changed direction to avoid them. Their goal from the start was to get as far away from the camp as possible, so there was no need to take unnecessary risks fighting enemies. Moreover, the US had such vast land that there weren't as many zombies in these outskirts as there were in Korea. Thanks to this, the two were able to spend the whole day avoiding zombies without any major crises.
"Haa... let's rest here... in this empty house."
Having spent the entire day hacking through the forest and walking, they entered a cabin they found abandoned in the woods as soon as they saw it. Occasionally, there were houses built as vacation homes for hunting like this. It was highly likely that the forest Becky and McClain were in was someone's private property. Of course, that someone was likely already dead.
"Becky, here. Vitamins and supplements."
"Ah... haha... you actually packed these?"
"Yeah. You have to make sure you replenish your nutrients."
"Geez... McClain, you're really something... amazing."
Becky let out a dry laugh as she looked at the pills McClain handed her. Perhaps because he was a pharmacist, McClain had an excessive obsession with these kinds of supplements. The two took their vitamins and opened a can of beans they had brought along.
"Should we light a fire?"
"Yeah. We've come this far... I think we can feel safe."
As it got darker, it grew colder. McClain, the Spiritist, summoned a Salamander. *Whoosh.*
"It's great that this one doesn't produce smoke."
"Yeah..."
The two sat close together, hugging the Salamander that emitted a warm flame.
"Both of you, get up."
"Hmm...?"
"What is..."
A man appeared before the awakened McClain and Becky. He was aiming a bow at the two of them.
"Uh..."
"W-wait..."
"Who are you two? This is my house."
"Uh... that is..."
The man, wearing a suit with a bowl cut and a full beard, was a member of the 'Amish,' a Mennonite religious group primarily gathered in Pennsylvania. For reference, the Amish are, simply put, a kind of American primitive tribe that lives like it's the Middle Ages even today, not even using buttons or electricity.
"Look... mister. Please calm down. We have no intention of fighting you."
"Y-yeah... we ran away too."
"You ran away? From where."
"That is..."
McClain explained the situation. The US East survivor camp was a camp set up in a rural town called Chester in New York State. At the news that it had collapsed, the Amish man groaned and wiped his face.
"Nick, is that man dead too?"
"Uh... do you know Nick?"
"Yes. I've received help from him before."
"Ah... I haven't seen Nick's corpse, but given the circumstances, we have to assume he's dead."
"Damn... he was a good man... then the largest survivor camp in the East is finished now."
"Yes... I don't know what their goal is... but it didn't seem like they were killing people indiscriminately. Maybe they're capturing people... to do something with them..."
"They might be planning to set up a human farm. If Chester has fallen and they want survivors... this place isn't safe either."
At the man's words, Becky and McClain's expressions twisted.
"Both of you, get up and prepare to leave."
"Where are you planning to go..."
"We have to go further up."
Thus, the three abandoned the cabin and moved north. The place Tony, the Amish man, was aiming for was the New York Stewart International Airport. He had heard through the radio that those who had settled there were planning to escape to Europe. Unlike an Amish man who shunned electricity, he used the radio diligently. To survive in a ruined world, the Amish man had long ago abandoned his religious beliefs. No matter how much he prayed, the family members bitten by zombies wouldn't return, so his faith had been completely shattered.
The thing that surprised me the most when I heard about the camp's atmosphere from Erickson was the mindset of these bastards. Most Americans weren't very enthusiastic about hunting zombies. Only a small number of people with combat-specialized jobs stepped up and fought with a sense of duty, while most just stayed holed up at home, cheering them on.
"What...? They don't want to hunt zombies?"
"Yes. Most people said that since they couldn't use 'guns'... their motivation disappeared, so they gave up on zombie hunting."
"Motivation? Holy shit..."
"Since there were hundreds of people catching them even if they didn't do it themselves... most just gave up... and then the difficulty increased significantly with the update... so it was impossible to go out and kill zombies now."
"Is this America? This... the American..."
No guns, so... they have no motivation to kill zombies? What kind of national character is so dependent on firearms? Sure, I fully understand the desire not to die. But the fact that the majority of the four thousand people had never caught more than two zombies was a shock in itself. That meant there were people who hadn't even been determined to be Awakened yet. I had felt this kind of vibe once before... That's right, when I invaded Hyoseon Girls' High School, the humans there had this mindset too. People who gave up on struggling because someone else was fighting for them.
"They all enjoyed irresponsible freedom too much."
I wonder if this happened because there wasn't a proper leader or commander like me, who would just beat them into submission, brand them with a slave mark, and order them to go kill zombies. From what I heard, Nick, their spiritual pillar, only had the ability to rescue people and zero ability to manage them, and Michael tried his best but couldn't manage thousands of people one by one... Plus, he was a racist, so there was quite a bit of backlash... In a word, there are too many parasites in Chester right now. Since there are bastards who have no meaning in living anyway, eating up the food meant for people who should live, food shortages were inevitable. I was dumbfounded to hear that they didn't even think about fighting zombies while eating an enormous amount.
Moreover, this world is structured in such a way that it's difficult for humans who haven't raised their level to 10 or higher by catching zombies in the first and second weeks to survive. Why? Because there was a shitty update where all regular zombies were changed to evolved entities. It was impossible for ordinary people who hadn't even Awakened to catch zombies that walked around stupidly and then turned intelligent and started using strange skills. As a result of ignoring zombie hunting entirely, most of the 4,200 people ended up living as non-Awakened.
'Well... it's not that bad.'
If these guys had actively killed zombies, it would mean the resources I could use would disappear. In a way, I'm glad they were so lethargic.
'Because to me, zombies are resources too...'
During this Abyss raid, the Jet-Black Beetle evolved, and as a result, its offspring increased to hundreds of thousands. I was short on food to feed them, and America, where zombies weren't properly swept away, could truly be called a golden land.
'I don't need to let them gnaw on the meat walls of the Abyss...'
I heard there are zombies overflowing in New York and various major cities, so I thought I could just send them all there.
'Not just zombies... blind resources are everywhere...'
If I swallow America, I think I can get an absurd amount of supplies. It's even directly connected...
'The fact that you can walk from Seoul to America in 12 hours... is an absurd merit.'
I don't know how many days it would take to walk from Seoul to Busan, but being able to travel on foot a distance that takes about 14 hours even by plane is an absurd thing. Since I've set foot in America, I can reach not only Canada above but also South America below.
'I should build a road in the Abyss...'
If I connect the entrance to America and the entrance to Korea in a straight line and operate vehicles, I'll be able to travel between America and Korea at a faster speed. Since time flows differently inside and outside, to those outside the Abyss, it would feel almost like teleportation.
'It's practically the great integration of the North American server and the Korean server...'
Large-scale farmland and an enormous number of cattle. If I can just get to the US West, I might even be able to eat LA Galbi in LA. It means I can make all of America's absurdly magnificent dairy industry and large-scale farms my own property.
'The new ruler of America...'
Just the imagination makes me feel strange. How did I end up eating American food?
"Erickson, filter out those who can do vehicle maintenance or pilots who can fly planes. And..."
I stood all the captured humans in the square. They were all non-Awakened. First, I set aside the disabled who were judged unsuitable for survival. I also herded the white-haired old people into a corner.
"Kill all the parasites without ability. Divide the old people into those who are useful and those who are just old. And separate the morbidly obese as well, as I'll use them all as food for the Jet-Black Beetles."
I have no intention of keeping those who survive unnecessarily and only consume food alive. Moreover, it would take an absurd amount of time to turn them all into slaves, so I ordered them to have an interview as a first filter. Except for those who can be used as technicians or labor, I will sacrifice all the other incompetent bastards. Also, since the Evil Gods don't particularly prefer those with disabilities, I plan to give them a new life by turning them into infected through Yoon Ha-jun, an Alcid-infected entity. Finally, I plan to entrust the useful old people to Hellas and use them as clinical trial samples for brain-computer interfacing.
"I'll give you a week, so finish it."
"Yes... I understand."
I obtained truly enormous human resources. Plus, I monopolized the items Nick had collected and the idols of the gods brought from the Forest of the Missing... Nick has nowhere to return to now. It doesn't seem like he was resurrected on this side anyway.
"People are gathering one after another."
"Is that so... That's... great news... We'll be able to reach the target soon, right? Hehehe."
Meiling, a Chinese-American, smiled slightly as she looked down at the people gathered at the airport. Thousands of Americans had already escaped to France. It seemed like she would be able to fill the 10,000 mark by today.
"Since I moved according to the revelation... surely he will give me a chance to meet him again, right...?"
"Uh... yes... probably..."
"Hehehe... surely he will be happy too. The World Tree promised me. If I handle this well... she said she would give me a Potion of Enchantment as a gift... Then she said he would only look at me... She said his interest in other women would drop off completely... What do you think, Ian?"
"Uh... that would be really great..."
"That's right. Surely... it will be incredibly great... because he only needs me by his side. Yes, this is what 'pure love' is, isn't it? Hehehe... I'll make him regret... leaving me behind... I'll make him regret it for the rest of his life... having left such a good woman... Hehehehe..."
Meiling was moving after receiving revelations from some of the gods among the Ten Thousand Ghost Hall who had decided to be hostile to the Manma-jeon. She was following the gods' orders only to meet Jojun again. Without even knowing that Jojun had already entered the United States.