Zombie Apocalypse (4)
Crack-
That sound was enough to crush Kim Jun’s last shred of hope.
Just touching a zombie was enough to send the chance of infection soaring. Even at a distance, even from blood particles drifting through the air, contamination was still possible. But being bitten meant one thing, and one thing only.
100% guaranteed.
“Kghhh…!”
“Ahh… Minsu…”
“Get moving, damn it!! They’re gonna bite you too, hyung!”
From the moment the zombie horde surged in, Lee Seoyeon had spread her barrier. On top of that, Park Minsu’s Retaining Wall had layered over it, and countless defensive skills had blocked off the narrow staircase.
Thanks to that, they’d kept the zombies’ blood from spraying up to the floors above.
Unfortunately, they couldn’t protect Park Minsu himself.
Seoyeon’s barrier had been smashed apart by the mad, wave-like assaults of the zombies, and in the end, Minsu had been bitten.
“Kghhh! Don’t think about it—just go! I’ll tear these bastards apart and find the supplies, so don’t worry about me!”
“…”
Watching Park Minsu buried beneath the swarm, Kim Jun imagined countless outcomes in that split second.
Leave Minsu behind?
No. That had never been an option.
He hadn’t regressed for an ending like that.
Stay calm.
At the current rate, it was all but certain that Park Minsu would become a zombie.
Then Kim Jun’s course of action was clear.
Wreck Yeouido, search the supplies, and obtain an antidote.
The odds were abysmal.
Unfortunately, Thread of Ariadne counted as a special item.
Caution
Special items cannot be used.
And because the 27th floor’s newly added “law” had locked it down, he couldn’t use it.
That left him with only one choice: trust pure luck and find the supplies on his own.
No matter how slim the odds were, Kim Jun would give it everything he had.
But was betting on luck really rational?
Worse, if he chose that route, then until he found a protective suit among the supplies, he’d be exposed to the risk of infection himself.
A protective suit was a mandatory item that blocked every infection vector from a zombie.
And in the worst-case scenario?
Two of the five strongest hunters who had entered the Tower of Trials would become zombies.
Could the other hunters really bring themselves to kill Kim Jun and Park Minsu if it came to that?
If those two turned, the Tower of Trials’ best climbing record would probably end at only the 26th floor.
Then.
The second method.
Use the item he had obtained from the Golden Tower, Eldorado.
SS
Effect: Automatically revives upon death. (Disappears after one use.)
The method was simple enough.
Hand the Phoenix Feather to Park Minsu, then kill him before the zombie infection took hold.
But there was a catch.
There was only one of the item.
Of course, it wasn’t that he thought it was a waste to use it on Minsu.
If anything, they were so close he’d be willing to die in his place—closer than most families.
They had crossed the border between life and death together, and survived everything up to this point side by side.
What truly concerned him was the Almighty on the 100th floor.
Kim Jun had died without ever even seeing that monster’s full strength.
I never managed to force out even one percent of it.
Maybe this item would become his trump card.
After all, if they failed to clear the 100th floor, the world would be destroyed anyway.
Saving Minsu here would ultimately mean nothing if everything else ended in ruin.
“I said hurry up and go!! I’m fine!!”
“Fine, my ass. You slow bastard.”
“What did you say?!”
Kim Jun made his decision.
Thud, thud, thud-
“W-What the hell! Why are you getting this close?! Didn’t you say being near me was dangerous too?!”
“I’ll handle it.”
“Even for you, hyung, this is a pretty damn stupid choice, isn’t it?”
The one with more to protect was always at a disadvantage.
Throughout human history, the invader had always had the upper hand over the defender.
But what if you could erase that weakness entirely?
Wasn’t the will to live said to be stronger than anything else?
Then what Kim Jun was doing now was something else entirely.
What, then, should the will to die be called?
An unpredictable variable even ■■■ could not foresee.
“Hoh.”
Someone laughed, but the sound never reached Kim Jun.
He only looked at Park Minsu in front of him.
At the man surrounded by zombies, still refusing to let go of his shield.
This was the best option.
The way for both of them to survive.
No. The way for everyone to survive.
Kim Jun drew in a deep breath.
Then he took one more step forward.
Fwoooooosh—!!
Flames burst up.
Kim Jun cut down the zombies as he forced his way toward Park Minsu.
“Whoa, this hyung is way more nuts than I thought. Is he even crazier than me?”
Park Minsu shouted in disbelief.
Kim Jun ignored him and stepped up beside him.
Tap-
Their shoulders touched.
“Hyung!! At this rate, you’re really gonna get infected!”
“Shut up, little brother.”
Kim Jun swung his sword.
Slash-!
Two zombie heads flew off.
“Keep your mouth shut—”
Kim Jun glanced around.
The staircase.
The narrow space.
And the endless flood of zombies pouring in.
No matter how many he killed, there was no end to them.
He and Minsu might be able to handle it, but if this kept up, the comrades who had gone up ahead would be in danger too.
Then there was only one answer.
“Shut your mouth and let’s break the building.”
“Huh?”
For a moment, Minsu looked like he’d misheard him.
“Break it. The building. So they can’t come up anymore.”
“Huh?”
Minsu’s eyes went wide.
He had heard that right.
Break the building.
Here.
Right now.
???
Thump-
Kim Jun drove his greatsword into the floor.
“Uh—”
Thud-
Deeper.
“Uhh, wha—wait, really? Here?”
Thud-thud-thud-
And at the end of Dragon Eater, he gathered mana.
“Oh, shit. At this rate I’m gonna die from my hyung before the zombies get me.”
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-!
Ragna-Explosion
.
.
.
Booooooooom!!!
In an instant, his vision went white.
Then came the sound.
Biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii—
A deafening ringing tore through his ears.
He couldn’t hear a thing.
And then—
KRA-GA-GA-GA-GA-KANG-!!
The building shook.
The ground shook.
The staircase collapsed.
Rumble—!
Every stair beneath the 43rd floor caved in at once.
Dust exploded into the air. Debris rained down.
This should be enough…
If Kim Jun had unleashed his full power, the building itself would have vanished.
But he had restrained himself.
Only what was necessary. Just the stairs below the 43rd floor had been neatly obliterated.
“Ghk…”
Park Minsu brushed the dust from his face and looked around.
The staircase was gone.
They had been completely cut off from the lower floors.
And then—
Kim Jun’s shadow trembled.
The darkness writhed.
Inside the bubbling black mass of shadow—
Kuuuuuuuuuk—
A massive horn rose up.
Then came red eyes.
Wings.
A giant demon crawled out of the shadow.
“Kuoooooo! What is it, Master!”
“Go up. Protect my comrades.”
“What about you, Master?”
“I’ve probably already been infected.”
Kim Jun spoke calmly.
“I was too close. Stay away from me too. It’s dangerous.”
“Mm…”
“Even if you have to die, protect my comrades.”
“Understood!!”
It was a cruel thing to say to Andras, but there was no helping it.
Kim Jun’s comrades were more precious to him than anyone else.
“Minsu.”
Kim Jun turned to Park Minsu.
“Yes, hyung.”
“Let’s go down.”
“…Phew.”
Park Minsu let out a hollow laugh.
“You really are a crazy bastard, hyung. Fine! Then let’s go down together!”
“We’re not going to die. We’re both getting out of this alive.”
“…;”
Of course, Minsu had meant it as a joke, as he always did.
But Kim Jun’s expression was completely different.
He looked utterly serious, and somehow more resolute than usual.
He had the face of a man who had no intention of dying.
Hyung…
He really believed it.
That they could both survive.
That they could both make it back alive.
“Tch.”
Park Minsu flashed an embarrassed grin.
“What a cheesy guy.”
“You little— you wanna die or something…”
“Wahahahaha! I’m heading down first!”
Just before he could get flicked on the forehead, Minsu quickly set his shield in front of him and
whoooosh—
threw himself downward.
He fell straight down.
Into the darkness.
Into the place swarming with zombies.
“Let’s go.”
Kim Jun jumped too.
Following behind Park Minsu.
Swish—
The wind struck his face.
And Kim Jun sent Andras one last message.
Please.
I’ll protect your wife, Master.
At Andras’s answer, Kim Jun’s brow furrowed.
Are you serious? Cut the crap.
Kekekekeke. Come back alive. I still have plenty of bastards left to kill.
Yeah.
It was a short farewell, but enough.
Kim Jun and Park Minsu.
Two men vanished into the darkness.
Flutter—
Watching them fall, Andras spread his wings too.
“Good. Let’s go!!”
With a roar, he flew to protect his master’s comrades.
Kim Jun’s choice was insane.
But it was also rational.
If he didn’t fear infection, then there was no need to be cautious while searching for supplies.
He could tear through the zombies without hesitation.
Faster. More aggressively.
“There’s a restaurant upstairs, so the kids’ meals are covered…”
Kim Jun muttered to himself.
In the 63 Building, there were plenty of restaurants above the 50th floor.
Because the Tower had reproduced reality exactly as it was, food wasn’t something he needed to worry about.
“Minsu.”
“Yes, hyung.”
Shining brightly—
…It almost looked like Park Minsu’s eyes were sparkling even more than usual, but that aside.
“We need to find supplies and food.”
“Okay.”
Kim Jun began sorting out what had to be done in his head.
First, food.
They had to survive for a week. Once he included the portions for his comrades, they would need quite a lot.
Second, a protective suit.
He also needed to find a protective suit in case his comrades came down here too.
The odds were low, but better to have it than not.
Third, an antidote.
That was the most important thing.
If he could move around without fearing infection, he would find far more supplies than the hunters had before the regression.
Then there was a real chance of finding two antidotes.
Best-case scenario.
If he found two, he could cure both himself and Park Minsu.
That would let him save the Phoenix Feather for the 100th floor.
But even one would be enough.
In that case, he could use the Phoenix Feather.
One of them would be cured by the antidote, and the other would be killed before turning into a zombie, then revived.
Of course, that would waste a bit of time.
In terms of results, it would be no different from using the Phoenix Feather from the start.
But there’s a difference.
With this method, the possibility of finding two antidotes was still open.
And that wasn’t all.
If he could move around without fearing infection…
He could gather far more than just antidotes. Food, protective suits, and other vital supplies would all be much easier to find.
The hunters before his regression had moved carefully because they were afraid of infection.
Even when they found supplies, they approached them cautiously, and if there were too many zombies nearby, they simply gave up.
But Kim Jun was different.
He could go anywhere—whether it was crawling with zombies or soaked in blood.
That meant he could secure far more food for his comrades, as well as protective suits for emergencies.
Even if I end up using the Phoenix Feather,
the result might look the same, but in reality, it was a gain.
It was a gamble, but one with a high expected return.
And besides.
The corner of Kim Jun’s mouth lifted slightly.
Since I’m already infected anyway.
That thing Adeline had asked for.
Zombie brain.
Now that he didn’t need to fear infection, he could get it without hesitation.
Two birds with one stone.
I will.
Kim Jun’s eyes sharpened.
Whether it was the antidote or zombie brain, he would bring everything back with him.
68