Chapter 58
Chapter 58
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 58
Chapter Title: The Unsummonable
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"Kuaaaa!!!!"
The first floor of the supermarket was breached.
On the first floor, where the Ha brothers, Kim Il-woo, Kim Min-jun, Lee Eun-hye, Kang Eun-jeong, and others had been holding out.
In addition to them, the various Awakened and survivors that Jo-jun had captured before leaving for the black market were also blocking the entrance, trying to stop the zombies from pouring in.
But just they weren't enough.
"Damn it!!!!"
Kim Il-woo swung the bastard sword he had obtained from hunting a Special Zombie in a wide arc, fighting against the Revenant that had smashed through the entrance.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The Revenant raised its greatsword and swung three consecutive attacks in an instant. While Kim Il-woo was barely managing to block them, he was struck by the shockwave emitted by the Revenant, lost his balance, and was pushed back.
"Ugh, ughaaaa!!!!"
The moment Kim Il-woo lost his balance.
Another Revenant leaped out from the side and bisected Kim Il-woo's body.
Kim Il-woo, split into his upper and lower body, flew through the air, scattering his innards as he fell into the swarm of zombies.
"Il-woo!!! Damn it!!!! FUUUCK!!!!"
Kim Il-woo, who had been holding one section of the front line, was cut in half and killed. His corpse was immediately swarmed by dozens of zombies, which chewed and swallowed his overflowing innards and flesh.
The moment the level 14 warrior died, the burden on the remaining Awakened grew even heavier.
The flow, once broken, began to collapse. Morale plummeted.
Soon, another person screamed.
It was Kim Min-jun, who had been grabbed by two Draugs.
He had been running around, shooting his bow, but was hit directly by a Wight's mental attack. Stunned for a moment, he was caught by the two Draugs.
Immediately, the Draugs mocked the struggling Kim Min-jun and began to pull his body and head apart in opposite directions.
Crrrck. Crack...!
"Gggyaaa!!! It hurts, it hurts, it hurrrrts!!!! Save me!! Save me! Somebody save me!!!!! FUUUCK, FUUUCK, FUUUUCK!!!!! GODDAMMIT!!!!!"
Splurt!!!
With a desperate scream, his head was ripped off. His spine dangled loosely as blood gushed out.
"R-run!!! Run!!! Ughaaaa!!!!"
Having witnessed two deaths in an instant, Ha Jin-seong forgot about commanding and fell into a panic.
It was the same for the others.
The Awakened who had already started to flee and the Non-Awakened left behind were mixed up with the zombies, turning into lumps of meat.
"Gggyaak!"
As Eun-hye fled, her head was crushed half by a Draug's punch. As she fell, the Revenants rushed in, crushing and breaking her body.
Screams filled the air. The supermarket had been invaded.
Under the zombies' desperate assault, the survivors were dying helplessly.
There wasn't even a situation where someone got bitten and turned into a zombie.
Those who fell were so thoroughly destroyed they couldn't even become zombies.
*****
Luckily, the rooftop hadn't collapsed yet.
But at this rate, everyone would be dead soon.
'My mana is running out..'
That was the biggest problem. No matter how many they killed, the enemies wouldn't decrease.
Even if they reduced their skill usage to conserve mana, or took turns resting to recover it, it was still not enough.
After the rooftop was breached once by the Centipedes, and they had fought the Evolved Zombies that climbed up using them, there was no room to breathe.
From that point on, they had to fend off the zombie rush without a moment to rest.
'Will we be able to make it through tonight..?'
Everyone was exhausted. She was no different. Lee Eun-ji, who would run to intervene and adjust the battlefield whenever she sensed danger, felt like the muscles in her legs were about to burst.
Also, Han Ah-ram, who had just shattered five Revenants at once, was completely drained, saying she couldn't use her skills anymore, and had to be saved by Kang Hee-seon who rushed over in an emergency.
Seong Ha-rin and Kang Hee-seon, who were fighting dozens of Draugs, were also pushed to the brink of death by a mental attack from a group of Wights that had crawled up to the rooftop. If Kang Hwa-young hadn't helped them in the middle, it would have been a disaster.
The rooftop was actually in a more precarious position than the floor below.
'Yewon's beast summoning will.. end soon..'
Kim Yewon, who had Awakened as an Unholy Queen, had become able to summon enhanced beasts using various buff skills, but that alone wasn't enough. Kang Hee-seon's lower-grade spirits weren't much help in combat right now either.
'There are too many.. Why didn't I notice them gathering like this..'
Monday, the first day of the update, had been quiet. It had been much more peaceful than they had expected.
The second day, Tuesday, also had no major changes. It was so quiet, in fact, that they thought they could spend a whole week like this.
Until then, the supermarket group had just spent their days waiting for Jo-jun to return, no different from usual.
They all expected that he hadn't died yet, since the order he had given hadn't been lifted.
They did think that there were fewer zombies on the streets, though. It felt strange, but they didn't pay much attention to it. They just thought they had killed that many.
'And then Wednesday... tonight..'
Eun-ji saw the zombie army approaching in an organized, legion-like manner, as if someone had given them orders to attack this place.
They had simply been hiding from the surface. The ones that had gathered in the sewers had all opened the manhole covers and crawled out when night fell.
The silence of the past two days was no different from the seawater being sucked out before a tsunami hits.
Draugs, Revenants, Wights... and their leader.
'Ghoul..'
The Ghouls were commanding the zombies.
They had gathered the zombies from the streets to create a legion.
They had hidden thousands of zombies in the sewers, deceiving the supermarket's people.
Now that they had gathered enough, the Ghouls sent the dead they had saved to charge at the supermarket today, to wipe it out.
There are too many zombies approaching.
No matter how many they kill, there's no end to them.
At this rate, they might not be able to hold on until Jang Jo-jun returns.
"Kuaaaa!!!!"
At that moment, they saw the supermarket's entrance being completely breached by the Revenants.
'Will the people on the first floor be able to hold on..? No, they won't.. Damn it.'
Until now, they had been luring the zombies to the rooftop, but since that became difficult, the burden would have shifted back to the first floor.
Soon, just as she had feared, those who had been fighting on the first floor came rushing up to the rooftop in a panic.
"Fuuuck!!!!"
Ha Jin-seong, who had come up to the rooftop, dry-heaved and collapsed on the floor.
Ha Jin-woo and Kang Eun-jeong, who followed right after, blocked the entrance.
"What's going on!!? What about the others?!"
Kang Hee-seon asked them.
Ha Jin-seong shook his head roughly and answered her question with a choked voice.
"Il-woo.. is dead.. Damn it.. Min-jun and Eun-hye too.. Besides the three of us, everyone else is dead!!"
Ha Jin-seong trembled all over at the death of his comrades.
The faces of those intercepting the enemies on the rooftop turned pale.
Only three of the Awakened who had been guarding the first floor remained; the rest had been wiped out.
Ha Jin-woo shouted at them, who were stunned.
"Goddammit!!! Everyone, get your shit together!!! We just have to hold on until the boss gets here!!"
At his words, the group pulled themselves together and started moving again.
They intercepted zombies climbing up the exterior walls of the rooftop or blocked the objects the zombies threw.
However, there was no way to deal with the black magic shot by the Wights, and the supermarket was being torn apart in real-time. Hwang Su-min was providing covering fire, but... he could only barely suppress them, overwhelmed by the number of Wights.
"Ah!! He's here!!! He's coming up!!"
The rooftop entrance rattled, trying to open.
Ha Jin-woo and Kang Eun-jeong blocked the entrance with their entire bodies.
Crash!!
The entrance exploded open, and Ha Jin-woo and Kang Eun-jeong, who had been blocking it, were sent flying.
At the same time, the rooftop entrance was blown apart by a greatsword, and Revenants crawled up like a flood.
"Hey!!! Sacrifice one person!!"
At that moment, Kang Hwa-young used a Non-Awakened on the rooftop as a sacrifice, drawing out all of his blood.
Then, she scattered the blood around, causing a series of blood explosions.
Bloosh!!!
The areas splattered with blood burst apart, and the zombies crawling up the rooftop entrance died, their bodies piling up.
Soon, the rooftop entrance collapsed, and the zombies following behind screamed as they were crushed by the debris. For the time being, the entrance was completely destroyed, blocking the zombies' entry, but it was unknown when it would be breached again.
"Goddam.. it.."
Kang Hwa-young knelt down slightly.
She had blocked the immediate threat, but her mana was completely drained. Overcome with extreme hunger, she trembled.
As the Mark was carved and she became Jo-jun's complete vassal, her mind had returned slightly. Also, she didn't need to drink as much blood anymore. It was definitely a good thing. But now, she could only satisfy her hunger with Jo-jun's blood.
Soon, Kang Hwa-young collapsed. She couldn't hold on any longer after not having a proper meal for five days.
Eun-ji quickly caught the collapsing Kang Hwa-young, then used her Shadow Thorns to blow apart the upper body of a Centipede zombie climbing up to the rooftop, panting heavily.
A total predicament. Seeing the situation coming to an end, Ha Jin-seong muttered softly.
"It's over... It's all over.."
Ha Jin-seong had lost his will to fight.
He had seen it. How Kim Il-woo's body was bisected in a few exchanges, spilling his innards.
How Kim Min-jun's head was ripped off, and Eun-hye's face was smashed by a Draug's punch.
He had also seen the other Awakened slaves Jo-jun had captured die without even being able to resist.
'Why.. is this kind of calamity..'
As if this was the end.
As if this was truly the Apocalypse.
A hopeless calamity was rushing in like a wave, trying to take everything from the supermarket.
And at that moment.
A pure white door appeared right in front of Ha Jin-seong and swung open with a click.
Boom!
Ha Jin-seong, who had his head bowed, bumped his head on the door as it opened.
"Ouch!"
"Hey. What are you doing there?"
A familiar voice reached Ha Jin-seong, who was waiting for his impending death with his head down.
"Huh...?"
"Ah, damn it. I'm trying to open the door, and you're blocking it. Get out of the way, you punk."
Ha Jin-seong, who was sitting, awkwardly moved aside.
Then, the door swung wide open, and Jang Jo-jun, who had been missing for five days, and a tall, unnamed woman walked out.
"B-boss..!!!"
"Hey. What the hell is all this?"
"Th-that's..!"
Ha Jin-seong felt tears welling up just looking at Jo-jun's face, whom he hadn't seen in so long.
He had arrived just before they were all about to die.
"Oppa!!!!"
And Eun-ji, who had run over quickly, laid Kang Hwa-young down beside her and clung to Jo-jun.
'Oppa has.. come..!'
Eun-ji, who had just been thinking that they would all die at this rate, felt the darkness in her heart completely vanish the moment she saw Jo-jun's face.
In Eun-ji's heart, Jang Jo-jun was already no different from a savior. An absolute powerhouse who, no matter how bleak the situation, finds a way and ultimately survives.
Without knowing anything about his luck stat or his abnormal fortune, Eun-ji's perception of Jo-jun was becoming more and more godlike.
"What's going on. Eun-ji. Explain the situation."
"Ah, okay!"
Eun-ji wiped her tears and quickly explained the desperate situation.
In the meantime, Ah-ram and Ha-rin were killing the zombies that were crawling out from the debris of the collapsed rooftop entrance, buying time.
Jo-jun looked around at the people on the rooftop as he listened to her explanation.
None of them were in good shape. Kang Hee-seon's clothes were half-torn, and she had wounds on her arms. Ah-ram had collapsed on the floor, completely drained.
Ha-rin and Ah-ram also looked like they were barely holding on, and Eun-ji, though smiling, had her leg muscles cramping, in a state where it wouldn't be strange if she collapsed at any moment.
Kang Hwa-young had completely fainted, and Kim Yewon, squeezing out the last of her mana to try and summon a beast, was vomiting blood.
Eun-ji informed Jo-jun that the update had happened, that unbelievable monsters were swarming into the supermarket in hordes, that many people had died in the process, and that those on the rooftop were all that was left.
Even some of the members who had been with them since the beginning of the supermarket's occupation were dead.
The only fortunate thing was that Jo-jun's slave harem was all safe.
Jo-jun quickly cut his finger with a knife to draw blood and forced it into the mouth of the collapsed Kang Hwa-young.
"Ugh.. gulp.. slurp.. sweet.. huh..?"
Soon, Kang Hwa-young licked the blood and opened her eyes.
"M-Master!!!!"
As he received her greeting, with her stamina and mana slightly recovered by his blood, Jo-jun immediately raised both hands and fired an Abyssal Maw, destroying the zombies trying to climb up to the rooftop with his tentacles.
However, that alone wasn't enough to block them all, as their numbers were too great.
At that moment, a window announcing the late update appeared before his eyes.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Update Complete!] You're still alive! Congratulations! For those of you who have safely passed the week of calamity, we have prepared bug fixes, new zombies, and various NPCs! We wish you the best of luck! [Update Details] 1. Evolved Zombies. Highly intelligent Evolved Zombies that hunt Awakened will appear! Evolved Zombies have very high intelligence and use various tactics and tools. Also, Evolved Zombies become more active at night and will try to destroy survivors and their shelters! Finally, Evolved Zombies will appear at level 15, which is the current player's level limit!
> [Evolved Zombie Details] [1. Draug: A fighting-type zombie. Uses body regeneration and body enhancement.] [2. Revenant: A warrior-type zombie. Uses various weapon techniques and shockwaves.] [3. Wight: A mage-type zombie. Uses various black magic and mental attacks.] [4. Ghoul: A commander-type zombie. Controls zombies and creates an army of the dead.] [5. Undying: A priest-type zombie. Revives zombies and mass-produces Special Zombies.]
> 2. Field Bosses. Some named monsters will awaken as boss monsters. A named monster that awakens as a Field Boss will take surrounding zombies as its vassals. Normal zombies that become a Field Boss's vassal will mutate and change into a Special form. If a Field Boss takes an Evolved Zombie as a vassal, the Evolved Zombie will become a Named Evolved Zombie. If you hunt a Field Boss, you can level up past level 15. Until you hunt a Field Boss, level 15 is the level limit.
> 3. The End of Modern Weapons. Circumstances have been detected of some users using nukes! As a penalty for nuke usage, all nukes in the world will be eliminated. Also, holding humanity responsible for this incident, the use of firearms will be severely restricted. The leaders of the powerful nations who recklessly detonated nukes in their own countries, reflect on your actions!
> 4. The Appearance of New NPCs. An arms dealer and a jewelry dealer will appear! The arms dealer sells various weapons. The jewelry dealer sells various accessories. To meet them, you must encounter a Peddler at least 3 times. You must have accumulated over 100,000 coins. You must have hunted at least 10 named monsters, and you must have hunted at least one Ghoul! If a person meets these conditions, an arms dealer and a jewelry dealer will appear randomly in the vicinity. Jo-jun, who had roughly read the notification window and closed it, let out a sigh.
The appearance of Evolved Zombies, Field Bosses, and a level limit.
The restriction on nuclear weapons and firearms was actually a fortunate turn of events.
It meant the threat of nuclear bombs and snipers would be significantly reduced.
The appearance of the arms dealer and jewelry dealer was also welcome news.
"Bring me the weapons you got from killing Special Zombies! Mer. What kind of weapons do you mainly use?"
"I can handle all polearms, including spears and halberds."
"Big weapons!! Bring them!"
"Master! Here's a scythe."
Jo-jun quickly handed the red scythe Hwa-young had given him to Mer.
"How's this?"
"It's sufficient."
Mer immediately swung the scythe and cleanly bisected the torso of a Revenant that was jumping out of the rooftop entrance.
"Whoa... Wow..."
Ha Jin-seong watched the scene, his mouth agape.
This tall woman had killed the monster that had bisected Kim Il-woo as easily as breathing.
"You move pretty well?"
"I'm no stranger to battle, even if I don't look it."
Merhere took charge of the supermarket's rooftop entrance, and Jo-jun decided to give the best gift to the ones who hadn't crawled into the supermarket yet. He judged that this was not a situation to hold back.
"Rot in hell! You goddamn zombie bastards."
Jo-jun immediately offered 500 mana as a price.
"Summon Abyssal Pillar."
The void shimmered, and a giant monster's claw burst forth.
Thud!!! Thud!! Thud-dud-dud-dud!!!!
💥 WARNING! 💥 [The Master of 'Prison Palace' has appeared on the field!!!]
[Abyssal Pillar, 'Abyssal Queen Kishiria' reveals herself to the mortal world!!!]
[This is a monster that should not exist in the current version!!!]
[The Summoner's level is too low!!! It violates the law of causality!!!]
[Penalties will be applied to the Summoner and the Abyssal Pillar!!!]
[Summoning duration is approximately 3 minutes. It will take 2 weeks to summon again!!!]
[Kishiria's level is being lowered!!!]
[The Abyssal Queen is being summoned in a weakened state!!!]
The air trembled.
A killing intent so sharp it made one's skin tingle spread forward, and even the howling zombies fell silent.
Merhere, who had instinctively been about to swing her scythe, immediately stopped and muttered in awe.
"That's... a being like a nightmare... Why is it here...?"
A monster that breaks all willpower the moment you face it.
The greatest byproduct and masterpiece of Indicron, the master of the abyss.
If Jang Jo-jun had not received the favor of the Evil God, his head would have exploded the moment he summoned it.
[Kish... Hah... This place is full of a rotten stench. Disgusting. My body has weakened too... This is irritating. I want to go back quickly.]
Kishiria's slight annoyance. That alone twisted the mana inside his body, and Jo-jun vomited blood.
[Vomiting blood over something like this. How pathetic... So, what do I need to kill? The Master's toy.]
At her question, Jo-jun held his splitting head and said.
"Everything in front of me... Kill all those zombies... gghh..."
[Kishishishishi. It's too easy and simple a task. Kishit. You called me out for such a trivial matter? Don't call me for such pathetic work next time. I'll let it slide this once, for the Master's sake. Toy.]
Kishiria, who had shot a sharp warning at Jo-jun, jumped off the rooftop.
Thud-dud-dud-dud!!!
The earth was torn apart, and the atmosphere roared.
At the same time, Jo-jun fell to his knees.
Blood spurted from his mouth.
"Cough..!"
He never imagined that the recoil from just summoning it would be this severe. It was on a completely different level from something like the Black Wheel.
Just from calling her out, Jo-jun felt a pain as if all the blood vessels in his body were being destroyed.
'Crazy. Just how strong is this being... To have this much recoil..'
Moreover, the Abyssal Pillar did not recognize Jo-jun as its master. A monster that called Jo-jun a toy, as if its only master was Indicron.
Even as she supported Jo-jun, who was drooling blood, Merhere couldn't take her eyes off the Abyssal Pillar who had jumped from the building.
That was a monster with no answer, even for her in her prime, who hadn't yet fallen.
Right now, she was being forced to, truly forced to be controlled by Jo-jun, but it was a being that could shatter the contract and tear Jo-jun apart at any moment.
Since she didn't yet fully understand that Jo-jun was favored by the Evil God, this was a confusing situation for her.
"Kihah..."
Kishiria, who had advanced by roughly crushing the zombies with her claws, settled into her position.
The Ghouls instinctively sensed death and began to flee, turning their backs.
All the zombies in the vicinity were running away. Kishiria did not allow their escape.
Every zombie she caught would die.
"Kishasaaaaaa!!!!"
Along with her scream, black threads of light sprayed out in all directions.
Not a single zombie was missed, all pierced and captured by the threads.
Soon, the threads that had connected hundreds of zombies were pulled taut.
Rip...
In an instant, all the zombies were torn to shreds.
"W-world.. with.."
"Th-this... This is.."
Everyone on the rooftop witnessed it.
It was a monster with the upper body of a seductress and the lower body of a spider, and it was the very embodiment of standardized death.
[Kishit. Time's up. Next time, hope you call me when your level is higher and there are enemies worth facing. This is a warning. There won't be a second time. The Master's toy.]
Kishiria vanished, shrouded in darkness.
"Cough..!"
Jo-jun vomited blood one more time before he could finally lose consciousness.
*****