Chapter 81
Chapter 81
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 81
Chapter Title: Butterfly Effect for the Writer
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21. Which of the following is incorrect regarding the world situation after the Berlin dimensional gate opened?
(1) The Allied Forces stationed troops in Asya under the pretext of hunting down Nazi remnants.
(2) The Gelcha Kingdom, which persecuted Earth merchants, was destroyed.
(3) The Emperor gifted an Elixir to Stalin.
(4) Atomic bombs were dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima.
(5) The Deep Tower fell due to the Air Conditioning Revolution.
『Lord Howe Academy Entrance Exam Question Paper Social Studies Section (Modern and Contemporary History)』
***
There is always some minute, unpredictable error in every event in the world.
An error so tiny that no one pays it any mind.
And most such errors vanish without causing any change.
But occasionally, certain errors lead to massive, unforeseeable changes.
Someone called those changes the butterfly effect, while others termed it chaos theory.
However, at this very moment, the author transmigrated into the novel couldn't recall either term.
Faced with the enormous change born from an unpredictable error, he had only one thing to say.
"Fuck."
Beyond his vision, enhanced by gathering nonexistent mana, something poured down from above the dark cavern.
Unlike the other students who only stared at the transfer students, he instantly recognized what it was pouring from the cavern.
Zombies.
Not the cheap kind that couldn't even scratch a superhuman's skin. Each one was a mad necromancer's special product, forged from hatred and madness.
Why?
Why were the zombies that should have appeared in the prologue—the bloody entrance ceremony—showing up right now, of all times?
He had no way of knowing. Even if he did, it probably wouldn't change the situation.
‘Gotta run.’
The thought came instinctively. But immediately after, a counterargument followed. Run where?
The shelter door was locked tight, and zombies were pouring from the cavern. There was no place to escape to, let alone any weapon to fight back with.
It was a truly hopeless situation, but he was the only one feeling that despair.
The students gathered in the shelter chattered on with their reactions to the transfer student's victory.
—We survived...
The ones relieved at the victory.
—They acted all serious, but it wasn't that bad, right?
The ones spouting baseless bravado.
—How could they do that to a person...
And the ones terrified by Cheon Yeomyeong's ruthlessness.
‘These stupid fuckers...’
The author gritted his teeth as he scanned the students.
Some had belatedly noticed the wriggling things from behind, but most had even dispelled their vision enhancement and wore relieved expressions.
When they should have been blocking together with their lives on the line, they were already relaxing. He didn't need to see to know what would happen next.
Most of the students in this shelter would end up as zombie chow.
‘If you're gonna die, die on your own.’
The author bowed his head and retreated to the back of the students.
He deliberately didn't warn them about the approaching zombie horde. It was to buy himself time to fall back.
Fortunately, reaching the opposite wall was easy. The students stepping forward to greet the transfer students had cleared the way.
Any guilt about hiding info from his classmates and using them as meat shields? None.
Weren't these the guys who were supposed to drop like flies at the entrance ceremony in the original story anyway?
‘...Just hold out until the academy rescue team arrives. Then I can survive.’
In the original, he would have stuck by the strong ones to save his skin... but right now, all the first-year powerhouses here—except one—had gone off with Cheon Yeomyeong.
And even that one wouldn't be much help in this situation, so using his classmates as meat shields was still the way to...
That was when Cheon Yeomyeong's voice boomed through the cavern.
"Grab any weapons you can while falling back!"
It was a voice so urgent even the idiots realized things weren't over. Only then did unrest spread among the students.
—What? What's next?
—B-behind, those things behind!
—Zombies?
The students' stir was surprisingly minor.
It was common knowledge that regular zombies weren't much of a threat to superhumans.
But as soon as Cheon Yeomyeong and his group, laden with weapons, arrived at the collapsed wall, all the students fell silent.
"Damn, nearly got bit grabbing these weapons!"
Wesley, boasting the fourth rank in entrance rankings, was covered in zombie bite marks and scratches on his superhuman body.
A sight that defied common sense.
And then the zombies flooding the cavern.
"Kyaaak!"
Starting with a scream from some nameless student, chaos returned to the shelter.
***
Right in front of the shelter's collapsed wall.
—Uuuugh...
Yeomyeong's eyes sank heavily as he watched the zombies slowly swarming from the cavern beyond.
It was because he had discovered an unexpected flaw in his martial arts.
‘...Not a single one suitable for prolonged battles.’
His martial arts were fundamentally specialized for short engagements.
Flying Leg Art and blood flow acceleration that ignored aftereffects and pushed the body to its limits.
Wave Yang Art and Comet Sword that devoured an enormous amount of mana proportional to their power.
They were extremely lopsided martial arts, but he hadn't felt any issues until now. His opponents had always been on his level or stronger.
But facing hordes of zombies made him realize those lopsided arts had a fatal weakness.
What if the enemy drained his strength with numbers and forced a war of attrition? He'd be at a complete disadvantage.
Wasn't the fight with Horse Head in Manchuria exactly like that?
He'd wasted energy on the corrupted mercenaries, delaying the Horse Head's defeat.
Yeomyeong quietly mulled it over. Once he identified the problem, the solution came easily.
‘Martial arts specialized for prolonged battles... that use mana efficiently.’
The first thing he thought of was Pasun. The mine who used the widest variety of martial arts among those Yeomyeong had seen.
An enemy worth learning from.
From ranged blasts to aerial martial arts, Pasun had broadened the horizons of Yeomyeong, who had only just begun martial arts.
If he were alive, Yeomyeong would have liked another "lesson" disguised as a fight, but the guy was already rotting in the Manchurian base morgue.
No regrets, since Yeomyeong himself had turned him into a corpse.
Anyway, Yeomyeong slowly reviewed Pasun's martial arts.
Especially the one where he emitted mana from his body like heat haze.
He couldn't steal the true essence since he couldn't read it, but...
‘If I imitate it even roughly, I might get decent efficiency.’
Just as he was thinking something that would horrify Pasun or other superhumans.
"Yeomyeong, don't worry too much."
Soemiri placed a hand on Yeomyeong's shoulder. Contrary to her words not to worry, her hand trembled slightly.
"...The academy rescue team will be here soon. We just have to hold out until then."
Her serious expression and resolute voice. She must have mistaken his tension.
"You handled the last fight great, didn't you?"
He didn't know how it looked to others, but Yeomyeong knew. She was forcing herself to be brave to ease his tension.
Maybe that's why he couldn't say that no matter how many zombies there were, they posed no real threat to him—so he wasn't tense, just pondering martial arts.
As he stayed silent...
Soemiri mustered even more courage.
"Today... no one in this shelter will die. We'll make sure of it."
"...."
Yeomyeong held his tongue again. Regardless of the fairy princess's resolve, he didn't particularly care about the others' lives.
Saving Seti, the Saintess, Soemiri, and those nearby was enough.
As for the strangers...
That's when Wesley wedged himself between them.
"Cool."
"...."
"A superhuman's gotta have that kind of guts."
Wesley said that as he looked around at the group. Jeon Yunseong, the Saintess, Seti, Gemini Teacher... all wore serious expressions agreeing with Soemiri.
‘...Even Seti?’
As Yeomyeong looked at her in disbelief, Seti nodded toward the shelter.
Following her gaze inside, he saw a red bob-cut girl smirking at him.
‘...Siri? Oh, right.’
Seti's sisters had entered the academy too.
Yeomyeong immediately scrapped his plan to use the golden seal to open the shelter door and escape.
‘...Guess I'll test out some martial arts while I'm at it.’
The resolve was brief, the action swift. Yeomyeong raised his sword toward the zombies approaching the shelter.
As he prepared to charge, Soemiri spoke up again.
"Yeomyeong."
"Yeah?"
"...One last line of resolve, please."
No, that's a bit... As Yeomyeong swallowed words rising to his throat, Soemiri added.
"I'd like that. You're the one who brought us together."
It was an exquisitely timed moment, too perfect for coincidence.
The zombies had reached right in front of the shelter, and all eyes turned to Yeomyeong.
"...Don't die. I don't want my first academy meal at a funeral."
Even Yeomyeong cringed at his own words.
He didn't dare turn his head, fearing his awkward acting was exposed, and charged straight at the zombies.
Of course, to others, it didn't look like acting.
***
Faced with the unprecedented crisis of the academy being attacked, the faculty's reaction was unanimous.
Rage.
Not just the superhuman guards, but even the mages holed up in the magic faculty poured out to hunt the attackers.
The enemies were unidentified terrorists armed with firearms.
They had struck the northern island, where few students were present.
It was fortunate that it coincided with joint class time for all students... or so they thought—that was precisely the enemy's aim.
The foes had drawn the academy's defensive forces to the northern island, then targeted the students in an unimaginable way.
Zombies.
A staggering number, enough to fill the coastline, had landed on the island.
By the time communications were restored and the faculty realized it, the zombies had already surrounded the students.
Australian military and US Navy forces mobilized to protect the academy, but they wouldn't arrive for at least two hours.
In the end, the academy was forced to choose.
Which year to save first?
First-years with the Saintess and the Vessel?
Second-years with royalty beyond the dimensional gate?
Third-years with the US President's grandson?
The teachers insisted on saving all years simultaneously, but reality was cold. They lacked manpower and time.
One wrong move, and they could lose every year.
There was little time to deliberate, and the choice was cruel.
The academy faculty decided to rescue the first-years first. The Saintess and Vessel were that crucial.
But the principal thought differently. She split forces between the second- and third-years.
—You're abandoning the first-years entirely!
The faculty's harsh protests continued, but the principal's resolve was firm.
No one could break her stubbornness. Or rather, truthfully, they lacked the time to.
The faculty fought the zombies with half resignation, half trust in the principal.
After battling the endless zombie horde for dozens of minutes.
A hero descended to save the school from the hopeless despair.
The Holy Sword, Freya Khan.
The faculty cried out desperately upon seeing her sweep away thousands of zombies in a single blow.
—Holy Sword! Save the first-years first, the first-years!
But for some reason, Freya Khan's response was no different from the principal's.
—First-years? With the Saintess and that guy there, why?
After instantly securing the third-year shelter, the Holy Sword headed to the second-year shelter, leaving just one remark.
Without imagining the ripples those words would cause.
—If they can fall to these zombies, I wouldn't have given them the Comet Sword.
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