Finding a Survivor

A survivor? The moment I saw the woman, I knew. This person was the reason the golems had suddenly stopped at the PC Bang Building on their way to kill the Necromancer Zombie.

Looking at her state, she had probably been hiding somewhere in the PC bang all this time, unable to eat or drink a single thing.

Ugh... It seemed the golems had decided it was better to bring her back first and wait for my orders rather than just letting her in blindly. What should I do?

What if she's infected with the zombie virus? What if I let her in, and she tries to kill me and steal all my food...? There was a reason why characters in apocalypse movies always started with suspicion or pointed a gun the moment they saw another human.

Even though I had been wishing to find traces of survivors just a while ago, actually seeing a living person immediately filled me with terrifying thoughts.

Still, despite everything. A person with a familiar face had been rescued in such a pitiful state; it felt wrong to tell them to put her back where she came from. Besides, if I just assigned a single golem to watch her, I could easily keep her safely quarantined.

Since she was a night-shift part-timer, she must have been working right up until the zombie outbreak, right? She was highly likely to know what had happened during the early hours of the first day of the apocalypse—while I was fast asleep.

"Put her in any empty room upstairs, and have Unit 2 stay with her to watch her for now." Thinking it would be better to talk to her briefly rather than sending her back, I gave the command using Sound Transmission. If I gave her a room on the fourth floor, she wouldn't be able to escape through the window anyway.

Unit 2 did as she was told, carrying the woman into a room on the fourth floor. At the same time, Unit 1 began to explain in detail what had happened over at the university.

"I believe you must have grasped the general situation through Mana Detection, Master. The buildings did not collapse as much as expected, but the interiors seem to have sustained significant damage."

According to Unit 1, the Necromancer Zombie had indeed dropped an Ether Crystal, but the university I used to attend was now completely devastated, looking as if it had been hit by an aerial bombardment.

"And this is the Ether Crystal." With those words, Unit 1 held out a small gem that radiated a mysterious, iridescent rainbow light. It looked as if a rainbow-colored fluid was trapped inside a solid crystal.

If they sold this at a school supply store, elementary schoolers would go crazy for it. It was pretty, but honestly, it looked a bit like a container for some high-end SSR-grade slime toy, which ruined the vibe a little. But regardless of its appearance, this was the most crucial material needed to upgrade the Magic Tower to Level 2.

"In addition, as you can see, we managed to gather a decent number of Mana Cores on our way back. Though we consumed quite a few to restore our mana..." After today's events, I knew for certain: the more Mana Cores, the better. They were a necessary material for upgrading the Magic Tower, and as long as I had enough of them, even basic spells could yield impressive combat power.

I didn't have any Level 10 spells, but since I had multiple modified spells, I already met the requirements to upgrade the Magic Tower's level. Usually, common elemental spells rarely triggered modifications. Plus, fulfilling the conditions for Enlightenment to modify a spell could be incredibly tedious, so most people said they preferred to just grind a spell to Level 10 to reach Level 2, even if it took longer.

How am I supposed to reach Level 10 when I'm already struggling with EXP just to hit Level 5? Anyway, if I just grinded a bit more to gather the remaining materials, I should be able to reach Level 2. Surely there wouldn't be another dangerous special zombie nearby.

Well, since nothing else showed up on my Mana Detection for now... For the time being, I could take it easy, craft materials, send the golems out to farm, gather Mana Cores, and focus on upgrading to Level 2 first. But before that, I needed to talk to the survivor.

If things go well, maybe I can recruit her as an ally? Perhaps I could get some useful information, or even find other survivors. I also wanted to know what was happening outside this city, though there probably wasn't anyone left here who knew that.

Later, once my survival was a bit more stable, I should send a golem to scout directly. I'd start by searching the major farming spots in this neighborhood, like the university (or what was left of it) and the big supermarkets.

"Good job, thank you. You saved my life." I stood up, gently patted Unit 1's head, and headed toward the food storage.

I remembered seeing this in a movie once: giving salty, greasy food to someone who hadn't eaten for days could cause serious medical issues. Aside from some questionable side dishes and a tiny bit of rice, my food storage was filled with nothing but heavily seasoned convenience store food. I should start by giving her some water.

I handed a bottle of water to Unit 1. "Take this to the person upstairs. Tell her to drink it slowly, in small sips."

"Understood." Once she drank some water and recovered a bit of strength, I'd boil some rice to make porridge. Grabbing a small amount of rice and a pot, I headed to the kitchenette in an empty room.

I conjured water with magic, poured it into the pot along with the rice, placed it on the stove, and lit a fire. Ugh... Maintaining the heat constantly drained my mana quite fast. Still, it was a relief that my total mana pool had grown significantly compared to when I was defending the room with Mana Absorption.

After boiling the rice and making a thin porridge, I handed it over to Unit 1 once more. After waiting a little while, she returned. "I fed her slowly, and she seems to have regained some of her strength." Fortunately, it seemed the survivor wasn't going to die. I was glad I didn't have to watch someone die right in front of me.

"She is asking where this is. It seems she believes she has died and gone to the afterlife."

"Tell her she's not dead, and this is just near the university. Tell her I'm a survivor just like her." Now that she was conscious, it was time to talk.

"And also, could you ask her what on earth happened during the early hours of the first day of the zombie outbreak?" Just in case any issues arose, I kept the woman quarantined on the fourth floor and communicated solely through the golems.

...Well, to be honest, I still didn't have any proper clothes to wear, so I was just lounging in an oversized men's T-shirt and boxers. There was absolutely no way I wanted to face another person looking like this. The story relayed back to me, however, was rather bizarre.

"She says she was working when, suddenly, starting from the early hours of the morning, zombies appeared out of nowhere and began sweeping through the entire area. She is not sure of the exact time, however."

"Hmm."

"She claims they were far stronger and smarter than the zombies currently roaming outside. They actively cut off the electricity and water supply, and even went out of their way to find building entrances to slaughter the people inside."

Enhanced Zombies? This was undoubtedly about the zombies that the Necromancer Zombie had temporarily buffed. The ordinary zombies roaming around right now were already tough enough, but she was saying those initial ones were even stronger.

"Upon witnessing this, the government immediately declared this region abandoned. She says almost everyone died, except for those who were lucky enough to be in buildings the zombies missed, or those who hid exceptionally well."

Which meant... I only survived because I got lucky. The reason I was still alive was likely because ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the zombies hadn't targeted my building during the initial hours of the outbreak.

"She says it was only after about three or four hours had passed that the zombies became like they are now." I looked back toward the university using Mana Detection. The zombies were still running wild. Those ones would probably calm down after three or four hours too.

"She heard that the initial outbreak in other areas wasn't this severe... but communications were cut ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠off shortly after, so she doesn't know the exact details."

On top of that, even after the enhancement wore off and the zombies weakened, they were still far too strong for ordinary citizens armed with mere knives or iron pipes to handle.

Consequently, most of those who had luckily survived the first three hours ended up dying while trying to scavenge for food or water. She believed she had only survived this long because she had given up on everything and huddled in the building's basement machine room.

"Also, she mentioned that there was actually another group of survivors hiding in the same building. However, it seems they ran out of food and attempted an escape just a few hours before she was rescued."

Then the ones the Necromancer Zombie was chasing were... They were probably all dead by now. It left a slightly bitter taste in my mouth. Though, thanks to that, almost all the convenience stores and shops remained untouched, leaving plenty of food for me.

"She doesn't know anything else?"

"It seems so. And she is begging for her life." As expected.

"To quote her exactly: 'I don't know who you are, but do you need a slave? I won't ask any questions and will obey absolutely.'"

"Ugh..." Even I had to admit that staying with me was probably her only hope of surviving intact in this area, but ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hearing that made my face flush with embarrassment.

But honestly, a normal college student—and a girl at that—was just too physically outmatched to go out and fight zombies. I had the Free Registry, so I didn't particularly need a conversational partner.

And since I lived alone, there weren't many chores to assign. Even if there were, it would probably be better to just make the super-strong golems do them. I didn't even need a cook since I mostly ate processed foods.

Even if I take her in, what would I even have her do? The only thing worth considering was the Magic Tower's Disciple System. There had to be a reason why people said taking in a disciple ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was better than making golems. Might as well ask.