Chapter 210
Chapter 210
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Despair
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I planned to scout the north first.
If there were any threats to the habitat like those monster giant hornets, I figured I'd take them out while earning some skill points.
I didn't even need to bother checking the south; it was probably already reduced to scorched earth by those monster giant hornet bastards.
The biggest threat down south was the giant hornet legion anyway.
And I'd struck a truce with them.
Ironically, that meant the south was somewhat secure thanks to them.
They might stab me in the back someday... but I had a pretty decent watchdog in the form of that giant wild boar.
Besides, they didn't seem like the backstabbing type.
Maybe because they weren't human? It made them a bit more trustworthy.
For now, I planned to head toward Seoul and keep pushing north.
I considered expanding my senses to survey the area widely, but spreading them out too much unless absolutely necessary seemed like a bad idea.
Using it before hadn't been a huge burden. It felt like I was some god overlooking the expanded world of my perception.
That was the problem.
Looking back now, that sensation...
It didn't sit right with me.
To put it nicely, it was like seeing things with perfect clarity.
To put it bluntly, it was like even my libido had dulled.
The rage toward that bastard Hwan, Kim Kyung-sook's kidnapping—it all just felt flatly neutral in that state... Not a pleasant feeling at all.
I'd had similar thoughts even in my normal state sometimes.
When dealing with women I liked, my emotions were sharp, but with everyone else, they felt a bit muted.
I decided to be cautious about expanding my consciousness until something definitive happened.
I wasn't in a rush to move fast.
I planned to take it steady, scanning around and dealing with any mid-level or higher Corrupted Beings I spotted.
Just as I was about to levitate, orient myself, and fly off—
I felt someone's gaze on me.
Looking that way, I spotted something watching me from far off in the distant sky, keeping a good distance.
It was a massive crow.
Sensing my attention, the crow quickly fled the scene.
'It's running?'
Of course, I couldn't let it get away.
There was an ominous vibe about it—a seriously high point value.
-Boom!
The air exploded with a bang as I accelerated sharply to pursue it.
It felt familiar, like something I'd glimpsed before.
Probably the chatty crow those wild boars had mentioned.
I sent telepathy while chasing it down. Since it could communicate with the wild boars, I figured it'd understand.
Either it got the message or not, the thing sped up even more. I could feel its desperate flight.
'Suni.'
A stronger propulsion kicked in, closing the gap bit by bit.
Sensing it couldn't escape my threat, the crow slowed, then came to a halt.
"Wh-what do you want, human?"
The crow glanced at me warily and spoke. Surprisingly, it wasn't telepathy—Korean words flowed from its beak. A smooth feminine voice, so probably female.
"You can talk?"
"I can."
"You know me, right?"
"Y-yes."
Judging by its size, at least a 5-pointer.
My mouth watered.
"Sp-spare me, human. I haven't done anything wrong to you."
Sensing my killing intent, the giant crow begged, flattening itself. It softened my bloodlust a tad.
"Nothing wrong? Didn't you go blabbing my info to those wild boars without permission?"
This the one? Female, so bitch-crow?
"I didn't sell it. I just talked."
"Still, spreading my personal info without consent is a grave sin."
I doubted it grasped concepts like "personal info," but that's how it is with the powerful.
"I-I'm sorry. I won't scout your area again."
"Not good enough. You've already sinned."
"Th-then what do you want?"
It was eyeing an escape route now.
It knew running was futile, but no one offers their neck willingly. Natural reaction.
The crow was huge.
Not quite giant wild boar size, but its body alone looked about 5 meters.
'This...'
A decent idea popped up. I sent it a raid party invite.
Seemed like it could join a raid party.
"Wh-what is this?"
"Accept it."
It hesitated at my near-threat of an order.
"You know what happens if you don't?"
"O-okay."
"Got a name?"
"Uh, no."
"From now on, you're Kkami."
"Kkami? Sounds half-assed. Something else would be better."
Beast with quick wits and pickier than expected.
"How about Kkumang?"
"No. Kkami's fine."
Moody, as expected from a female.
"Can I go now?"
Kkami asked, eyeing me carefully.
"Nope."
"Why not? I did what you asked."
"You think you can just waltz away after a freebie? Did you really believe leaking my personal info would be forgiven that easily?!"
That's right.
Personal data leaks are serious crimes.
No way a beast like Kkami gets off easy.
"Th-then what do you want...?"
Kkami asked, shrinking back.
"Become my mount."
"What?"
Conditions at Camp Humphreys worsened with each passing day.
The monster zombie numbers kept growing over time.
Repelling their assaults was getting harder and harder.
Commander Daniel regretted having to abandon the base's facilities, but he eventually concluded they had no choice but to relocate.
He decided to leverage Camp Humphreys' proximity to the sea.
Their target: an island.
Giant zombies probably couldn't cross the ocean, so it seemed like the best option.
Ideally, everyone could evacuate at once, but sadly, they lacked ships that big.
So, they'd go in waves.
Once the relocation plan was set, the Awakeners suggested sending their families first.
Awakeners were key assets. As commander, he could grant that much.
But then the real problem erupted.
Rumors spread that only Awakeners were trying to escape the camp.
Tensions were already high from Awakeners' subtle disdain toward civilians. The rumor was like a spark to dry tinder.
Commander Daniel stepped in to deny it, but no one believed him.
Emotions had deepened into a chasm.
Then the civilians snapped.
Some tried stealing boats, only for Awakeners to blast them apart. Witnessing that, other civilians started torching the boats in mutual destruction.
The fiasco derailed the entire island evacuation plan.
Just as Awakener-civilian conflicts peaked, a massive zombie monster wave hit.
Their assault briefly patched things up—whether temporary or not.
Infighting would've just gotten them all slaughtered by zombies. For their families' sake inside the camp, it was the obvious choice.
The survivors banded together again to fend off the zombies.
But with their boats gone, Humphreys was isolated, endlessly fending off zombie monsters.
Land evacuation was too late.
The barriers were walled off by thick zombie hordes—no vehicle could plow through now.
In fact, people who'd tried fleeing by car hadn't gotten far before getting stranded and becoming zombie snacks.
And then a new monster zombie appeared.
Not the usual 2-3 meter ones—this was a whole other level: 5 meters tall giants.
The issue was these individually overwhelming giant zombies starting to show up one after another.
Small mercy, if you could call it that: they weren't charging the barriers. They just stood there blankly at a distance.
Like they'd surrounded the place.
Commander Daniel couldn't fathom why—even one charging would've collapsed the barriers. What were they waiting for?
'Not just mindless destruction?'
This wasn't the usual brainless zombie rush. Anyone could see they were posted to prevent escape.
The defending soldiers and Awakeners watched, faces growing darker.
With families behind the barriers, they could only grit their teeth and fight.
From atop the barriers, Commander Daniel stared at the scene, no clever escape plan coming to mind.
That was when it happened.
-Thud. Thud.
A heavy vibration shook the ground.
Not an earthquake.
It sounded like... something walking.
"Commander... th-there..."
His adjutant Walter, face pale as a ghost, pointed blankly at the sky, dazed.
Daniel's gaze followed naturally.
"Oh... my... God..."
Nothing else to say.
A giant.
No other word fit.
An overwhelming zombie titan, easily over 20 meters tall.
The zombies around the barriers looked like bugs by comparison.
And it wasn't alone—it brought escorts: smaller... but still around 10-meter giants.
'Where the hell did that thing come from...'
Commander Daniel thought it was all over.
Every human in Camp Humphreys gawked at the colossal zombie, their faces unified in terror and despair.