Chapter 6
The following morning.
After waking up, Hanseong began his usual routine, just as he had the day before.
“Open Map.”
The command had become second nature to him by now.
A map of the surrounding area soon unfolded before his eyes. Hanseong studied the countless red dots swarming across it, then tapped the location that appeared to have the largest concentration.
[Coordinates identified.]
[Select a skill to use.]
▷ Call Lightning (Lv.2)
There were no blue dots nearby.
After confirming this once again, Hanseong activated the skill, and a thunderous noise soon came from outside the window.
Rumble! KABOOM!
It was the sound of lightning striking.
[You have defeated a Starving Zombie.]
[You have acquired (9) coins.]
The next skill he used was Magic Arrow.
After loading five arrows, Hanseong attacked the zombies wandering around the officetel.
He kept two arrows in reserve, however.
Just in case he encountered another situation like the one he'd witnessed before, where a survivor was being chased. Besides, if the skill's duration was about to expire, he could always use the remaining arrows.
Just then, he remembered something he'd forgotten.
‘Oh, right. I wonder if the survivors who went to the shopping mall yesterday made it there safely.’
Hanseong looked in the direction of the shopping mall.
The three blue dots that had been staying on the second floor had increased to four. Hoping for the best, he used Detailed Observation and saw a familiar face.
A female student wearing the gym uniform of Jingwang High School.
After confirming the name Seo Haeun on her name tag, he finally let out a sigh of relief.
“Phew. I'm glad she's safe.”
He was relieved that the survivors accompanying her didn't seem like bad people.
As it happened, he'd accidentally witnessed a group of suspicious-looking survivors the previous night.
‘The survivors who came out of the underground shopping arcade.’
The group Hanseong had seen consisted of around ten people, and they looked like trouble at first glance.
They had threatened survivors they encountered along the way and stolen their food. They also showed no hesitation about using violence when the situation called for it.
‘I'd better avoid running into them as much as possible.’
Of course, Hanseong probably wouldn't encounter them anyway.
Still, one never knew what the future held, so he'd drawn sketches of the survivors' faces in his notebook in the form of composite portraits.
After finishing his recollection, Hanseong leaned back in his chair and muttered into the air.
“Status.”
─────
[Name]: Kang Hanseong
[Level]: 11
[Class]: Remote Support Mage
[Mana]: 415/600
[Tier]: 1st Tier
─────
Whenever his remaining mana dropped below 50%, he began to feel dizzy. As a result, checking his mana after using his skills had become part of his daily routine.
Hanseong took a deep breath and focused his mind.
[Meditation has begun.]
[Mana recovers at a rate of 10 per minute.]
When he first started meditating, he recovered only five mana per minute. Now, however, the recovery rate had doubled.
This was thanks to his Meditation skill leveling up.
Hanseong continued meditating until all his mana had been restored. It took roughly twenty minutes before he could finally finish.
“Hoooo.”
As he exhaled deeply and finished meditating, he noticed that Magic Arrow's cooldown had reset.
He activated the skill and hunted five more zombies.
After finishing his tasks, Hanseong looked at the number '201' engraved on his palm. It represented the number of coins he currently possessed.
“Good. With this much...”
He should be able to buy a Skill Book.
The cheapest Skill Books cost around a hundred coins, after all. Hanseong immediately opened the shop, and the first thing that caught his eye was the food section.
Hamburgers, pork belly, cola, and more.
The delicious-looking food tempted him, but he forced himself to ignore it. What Hanseong was after was a Skill Book—specifically, an offensive magic skill.
‘The more offensive magic I have, the better.’
Having more ways to eliminate zombies meant he could earn coins faster, too. He would save those foods for when he had money to spare.
Firmly resolved, Hanseong carefully examined the Skill Books one by one. A little while later, he frowned and sighed.
“Ugh, these are too expensive.”
The Skill Books he considered useful were Chain Lightning and Wind Cutter.
Chain Lightning was a skill that generated artificial lightning, which then triggered a chain reaction, repeatedly striking zombies within a certain area.
Depending on the situation, it seemed capable of eliminating even more zombies than Call Lightning. The problem was its price.
“Still, eight hundred coins is a bit much...”
It would take nearly a full week of hunting zombies to gather that amount. After some deliberation, Hanseong turned his attention to Wind Cutter.
Wind Cutter. Just as the name suggested, it was a single-target offensive magic skill that summoned blades of wind to strike enemies.
Like Magic Arrow, it worked by loading a total of seven blades. However, it had one significant advantage over Magic Arrow.
“If I defeat an enemy with Wind Cutter, there's a 10% chance that one blade will be recharged?”
That meant that, with a bit of luck, he could theoretically use the skill indefinitely.
But the problem was, once again, the price.
Wind Cutter cost 1,500 coins, nearly twice as much as Chain Lightning. Even if he focused entirely on saving, it would take him at least two weeks to afford it.
“Hoo... What should I do?”
Should he save up a few more coins and buy one of the two Skill Books? Or should he keep looking around?
As he considered his options and browsed through the other Skill Books—
“Huh?”
Something caught his eye.
Hanseong tapped the Skill Book almost as if he were under a spell.
─────
[Skill Book: Tinder]
▷Summons a flame that sets the target on fire. When a burning target dies, all enemies within the attack range are automatically set on fire.
▷Cooldown: 1 hour
▷Acquisition Requirement: [1st Tier]
▷Class Restriction: Mage
▷Price: [200 Coins]
─────
Judging by the description alone, it seemed like an inferior version of Chain Lightning. After all, its additional effect only activated once the target was completely eliminated.
However, what caught Hanseong's attention was the part explaining that all enemies within the attack range would automatically catch fire.
‘What if I use this skill on a group of zombies packed together inside a building?’
Once the first target turned to ash, all the nearby zombies would catch fire as well.
Not bad. And the price was reasonable, too.
He could afford it with the coins he already had. After a moment's hesitation, Hanseong made his decision.
‘All right, let's buy it.’
For now, he needed an offensive skill capable of hitting as many targets as possible rather than one focused on its effects. He could buy Chain Lightning or Wind Cutter later.
And so, Hanseong purchased the Skill Book.
[You have acquired Tinder.]
[Acquisition Target: Remote Support Mage]
[The skill will be modified to suit your class.]
Along with the familiar messages,
the newly acquired skill appeared before him.
─────
[Remote: Tinder (Lv.2)]
-Summons flames that trigger a chain reaction.
▷Effective Range: Up to 300m
▷Attack Range: 3m radius
▷Mana Cost: 3 per second
▷Activation Time: Instant
▷Cooldown: 55 minutes
─────
Tinder had reached Level 2 as soon as he acquired it.
Perhaps the effect that increased skill levels every ten character levels had been applied automatically. Its range and cooldown also seemed to have been affected.
“The effective range isn't bad.”
With a radius of three meters, it was almost on par with Call Lightning.
That was a fairly wide area. However, he discovered a problem in a place he hadn't expected at all.
“It consumes mana every second?”
Unlike his other skills, which consumed mana instantly upon activation, Tinder consumed mana every second it remained active.
‘Does that mean it'll keep going until my mana runs out unless I cancel the skill?’
The thought alone was horrifying.
The lower his remaining mana became, the worse his dizziness and headaches grew.
“Ugh, so that's why it was so cheap.”
Using it for just one minute would consume 180 mana. That was roughly equivalent to using Call Lightning and Magic Arrow once each.
He would have to be careful when using it.
His best option was to calculate his remaining mana consumption carefully while using the skill. Having understood how it worked, Hanseong immediately opened the map.
“Let's test it out first.”
He chose a bus stop about two hundred meters away from the officetel as the location to test Tinder.
Dozens of buses usually stopped there, making it a place that was always crowded with people. Of course, now it was packed with dozens, if not hundreds, of zombies instead.
There was another reason he'd chosen this particular location.
The entire bus stop had a transparent roof, which meant Call Lightning couldn't strike anything inside it.
[Coordinates identified.]
[Select a skill to use.]
▷ Tinder (Lv.2)
Hanseong tapped a zombie near the center of the bus stop and activated Tinder.
Since he could see the location through his window, he watched with interest.
Fwoooooosh!
A massive flame shot upward.
The targeted zombie began staggering and wandering around as soon as its entire body was engulfed in flames.
During this process, it collided with other zombies, but the flames didn't spread to them.
However, ten seconds later, when the zombie turned to ash, everything changed.
[Target eliminated.]
[Additional Trait, 'Chain Ignition,' has activated.]
Every zombie within a three-meter radius of the incinerated target was suddenly engulfed in flames.
There were more than ten of them.
However, Hanseong couldn't simply celebrate.
As he watched the zombies burn, he suddenly felt nauseated.
“Ugh! Urgh!”
Although they had taken the form of zombies, they had once been human beings. Watching them burn made his stomach churn, and he felt sick.
Hanseong eventually turned away, and in the meantime, countless notifications began filling the air.
[You have defeated a Starving Zombie.]
[You have defeated a Starving Zombie.]
[You have defeated a Starving Zombie...]
As time passed, the number of zombies rapidly dwindled.
The zombies engulfed in flames scattered in all directions again, and as soon as each one turned to ash, it spread flames to a new group within its attack range.
Of course, his mana was draining just as quickly. On top of his nausea, Hanseong began to feel a headache.
That meant his mana had fallen below half.
[Skill in Use: Tinder]
[Would you like to cancel the skill?]
Hanseong tapped the location on the map where Tinder was active and canceled the skill. He then tried to focus on Meditation while repeatedly suppressing his urge to vomit.
However, he didn't need to.
[Level Up!]
[All mana has been restored.]
He had defeated so many zombies that his level had increased in the meantime. His headache disappeared in the blink of an eye, and Hanseong took several deep breaths.
A little while later,
after finally managing to suppress his nausea, Hanseong looked back toward the bus stop.
The place that had been packed with zombies was now nothing but a blackened, scorched area.
Hanseong silently lowered his head.
“...I'm sorry.”
Even though they were zombies now, they had been human beings just a few days ago. For some reason, he felt he needed to do at least this much.
Of course, that didn't mean he intended to stop eliminating zombies. The world wouldn't be safe to walk around in until every last zombie was gone.
“Hoo, now then...”
Having regained his composure, Hanseong opened his palm to check how many zombies he'd eliminated with Tinder.
And then he lost the composure he'd only just regained.
“A-a hundred coins?!”
To be precise, 121 coins.
He'd had one coin left after purchasing Tinder, which meant he'd eliminated a total of 120 zombies.
The maximum number of coins he'd ever obtained with Call Lightning was thirteen. This amount far surpassed that, leaving Hanseong staring in disbelief with his mouth hanging open.
“If I can earn coins at this rate, I should be able to learn the other skills soon, too.”
He might even be able to learn Chain Lightning and Wind Cutter within a week if things went well.
Just as he was thinking how fortunate it was that he'd learned such a good skill—
[A notification message has arrived.]
Something he'd never seen before appeared.
Hanseong tilted his head and tapped the air. He then learned something he hadn't expected at all.
[Excluding Basic Innate Skills]
[You have acquired a total of 3 skills.]
[Remaining Skill Slots: 2]
“What...?”
Wait, remaining skill slots?
Did that mean he could only learn two more skills from now on? Seriously?
He was still wearing a bewildered expression when—
Another message appeared.
[Additional skill slots are granted according to your Tier.]
[To expand your skill slots, accumulate experience through Meditation and raise your Tier.]
“My Tier?”
Oh, right. He remembered seeing a Tier entry in his Status window. He was pretty sure it had said something about the 1st Tier.
Hanseong opened his Status window and tapped the Tier entry. A detailed explanation related to it soon appeared before his eyes.
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[Tier Experience]
▷Acquisition Condition: Use of Innate Skills
▷Innate Skill: Meditation (Lv.2)
▷Acquisition Rate: 0.1% per minute
▷Current Experience: 12.7%
─────
After examining the information, he learned that continuing to meditate would accumulate something called Tier Experience.
Hanseong let out a hollow laugh and muttered,
“I've got more work to do now.”
Actually, when he thought about it, this was something he would have had to do anyway. If he planned to use Tinder as his primary skill, he'd have to meditate frequently to recover his mana.
With a positive attitude, Hanseong activated the skill once again, watching as the red dots on the map gradually dwindled.
Three full days later,
Hanseong reached 100% Tier Experience.