Chapter 47

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Translator: True Detective

Chapter: 47

Chapter Title: War Support Preparations

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'Zombie Queen, huh...'

If the Zombie Queen was on the move, that meant war was coming soon.

Of course, since I'd never experienced war firsthand, it didn't quite hit home for me.

'I wonder if Ice Queen is okay.'

Since Ice Queen was participating in the war too, I couldn't help but worry about her.

In any case, the flood of posts that had been pouring in nonstop gradually slowed down, returning to the usual pace with comments attached.

............

......

'Broadcast?'

The moment I saw the title about someone filming zombies, I jumped straight into the 3-channel broadcasts.

The top one had a whopping 400,000 viewers, so I clicked it immediately.

"Everyone, you can see it too, right? That massive zombie."

'Massive zombie?'

By the way, the broadcast was filmed from high in the sky, overlooking the entire terrain.

Separately, scanning the screen, there was indeed one standout huge zombie.

"......?"

The moment I laid eyes on that massive zombie, some unidentified message popped up.

'This... looks like the message that appears for 3-channel people.'

Thinking about why it showed up for me, a few reasons came to mind.

One was that since I could communicate with all gallery channels, it appeared.

'Or maybe I acquired a 3-channel ability.'

In any case, the 5th-stage mutant zombie could be a wildcard in this war.

Being 5th-stage meant it had the power of 100,000 zombies, after all.

............

......

The broadcast chat was scrolling at an insane speed too.

Even split into groups of 500 due to the massive viewer count, it was flying by.

'Incheon Alliance won't lose, right?'

If they did, the 3-channel situation would get ridiculously dire.

'Is there any way I can help?'

200-300k zombie horde plus a 5th-stage mutant zombie.

Seeing it on the broadcast made me start worrying seriously.

"......"

But the only way I could think to help was handing over 4-channel weapons.

The problem was, to use 4-channel weapons properly, Incheon Alliance's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠assault captain had to wield them.

'But she said Ice Queen wasn't keen on that.'

So I thought of completely different channels: 5-channel and 7-channel.

The common point between those two was that they weren't under immediate life threats.

'Both worlds have real ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠potential.'

5-channel's Grand Witch had wiped out all life on her planet before.

7-channel's Yoo Hyun-min had survived alone in a world where all humanity perished.

'In a way, they're closer to total doom than other channels.'

Especially 7-channel—it wouldn't be wrong to call it already doomed.

'Should I ask hyung first?'

I thought of 5-channel's Melani and Otil, but Melani was too young.

Otil, on the other hand, wasn't close enough to ask for help from other channels.

The one left was Yoo Hyun-min from 7-channel, who I felt somewhat close to.

Yoo Hyun-min left a message to wait while he checked 3-channel.

'He could wipe them all if he went there personally?'

There were 200-300k zombies heading to Incheon right now.

Seeing Yoo Hyun-min talk like he could handle that many made me curious just how strong he was.

Yoo Hyun-min seemed to get it roughly, but that was it.

The moment I mentioned bombs, Yoo Hyun-min seemed to recall something and explained.

I asked just in case if the monster revived, and Yoo Hyun-min confirmed.

Face off against 200-300k zombies.

Or unleash 7-channel's ruthless monster.

I couldn't tell which was better.

More tricky to use than expected.

But if Yoo Hyun-min was this confident, the monster itself must be powerful.

I hesitated briefly, but figured unleashing a monster was better than letting zombies kill tons of people.

Yoo Hyun-min brushed it off and seemed ready to head out.

"Castaway. Were you chatting with someone else?"

Rubyel asked the moment the conversation ended.

Her perfect timing made me think she'd been watching.

"Yeah. Looks like war's breaking out on 3-channel soon, so I was checking if there's any way to help."

"3-channel?"

"Check the new 'Gallery Broadcasts' category. You should see it."

Rubyel did as I said and nodded soon after entering the 3-channel broadcasts.

"Yeah, that's a lot of them. You want to help because of the Awakening Stones and Bloodstones?"

"That's part of it, but someone I know is in the war. Don't want them dying."

Rubyel nodded in understanding at my answer.

Then, perhaps curious inwardly, she asked how I planned to help.

"But how do you plan to help?"

"7-channel's sending an Aqua Revenant core."

I even explained the monster's traits.

Rubyel tilted her head right away and suggested another possibility.

"Sounds like an amorphous monster. Might be possible to control those separately."

"You can control it?"

"Yeah. Those kinds usually lack intelligence. Probably just need to tweak the core?"

So, get the core from Yoo Hyun-min and hand it to Rubyel?

'If controllable, it'd definitely help in the war.'

But Rubyel let out a small sigh, sounding regretful.

"Problem is, no equipment or facilities here to do it. If the surface was intact, I could've done it right away."

"Can't without that, huh."

"Even amorphous monsters aren't easy to control freely."

"......"

Hearing it was difficult, I suddenly thought of 5-channel's witches.

Being witches, they might have similar magical expertise to Rubyel.

"Over here."

That's when Elisicia pointed at a cave, saying it was this way.

"Enter this cave, and you can go up to the Beastkin labyrinth."

Beastkin...

"Come to think of it, what kind of race are the Beastkin?"

"A race mixed with animal traits. Basically superior physical abilities."

After Elisicia's answer, Rubyel added hers.

"Just think of them as beasts. They act like beasts too."

Rubyel seemed to dislike Beastkin a bit.

"But that's why they're strong, right? That's why we're going."

"Exactly. And she's the Beastkin chieftain too, so no doubting her strength."

"Beastkin chieftain? Is it okay to bring someone like that?"

"In this situation, we need to even more. Plus, as I said before, the issue's resolved."

She had explained before why she didn't recruit on labyrinth 4th floor early.

'They couldn't use power without jelly.'

Now with me handling food, the problem was solved as Elisicia said.

Remembering there were two Beastkin recruits, I asked about the other.

"One's the Beastkin chieftain. Who's the other?"

"Tipina, a fox Beastkin shaman versed in sorcery."

Rubyel explained next.

"Excels at barriers and concealment. We'll ask her to guard you."

"Even if something happens to us, you can head back to labyrinth 1st floor."

I looked at Elisicia as she mentioned the worst-case scenario.

It might happen one in a million, but I decided not to think about it now.

"Our forces are much stronger than before. I think it'll be fine."

"I think so too, but just in case."

"If it happens again, I'll help too, and we all retreat together."

"......"

Elisicia stared at me silently for a moment, then smiled and nodded.

"Yes. We'll do as you say, Castaway."

With this conversation and yesterday's events, I felt oddly closer to Elisicia.

'Probably just my imagination.'

In any case, me and the Hero Party headed up to the labyrinth 9th floor to meet the Beastkin.