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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Xrecker
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In the middle of the vegetable garden.
I stood there, on the tilled soil.
I felt a little bad for the grandmother, Ye-eun, and So-eun, who had put so much effort into cultivating it, but he needed to do this.
I looked to his side.
Outside the garden.
People were crowded around.
The newcomers, having heard about what was happening, had joined the others, creating a bustling scene.
I drew my swords.
Shing-
Han-tae was standing nearby, holding the box of almond choco balls, and Soo-hyun was filming me with her phone.
I said,
“Throw them.”
“Okay, hyung!”
Han-tae tossed the choco balls into the air.
Whoosh-
The choco balls flew towards him.
Accelerate.
[Auto-cast: Accelerate]
Han-tae’s throwing pose, the faces of the onlookers, the clouds in the sky…
Froze.
Or rather, slowed down.
I looked ahead.
Twelve choco balls slowly floating in the air.
I walked forward and slashed at a choco ball.
The choco ball, rotating slowly like a Ferris wheel car, was cleanly sliced in two.
Next.
In a flash, I whirled through them, slicing every single choco ball, then lightly touched the tips of my swords to my scabbard.
Accelerate wore off.
The twenty-four choco ball halves rained down around me.
Pitter-patter.
I sheathed my swords.
Shing Click
The onlookers’ expressions varied.
Those who had seen him do this before looked slightly awestruck.
The newcomers were seeing me wield my swords for the first time.
Their faces were filled with surprise and shock.
“…Did you get it?”
Soo-hyun beamed and nodded vigorously.
“Yep. All done. Good job, Oppa.”
I smiled and walked over to Soo-hyun, stepping through the vegetable garden.
“Let me see.”
As he approached, the newcomers flinched and stepped back.
It must have been quite a shocking sight.
What was so shocking about it?
Soo-hyun showed him the video.
I was standing there.
I drew my swords.
“Throw them.”
“Okay, hyung!”
Han-tae tossed the choco balls from the side.
Twelve choco balls flew through the air.
And then, he vanished.
I was practically invisible.
Neither my feet nor my hands were visible.
Only my black hair left a dark blur.
I wasn’t moving wildly.
I mostly stayed in place, leaving only afterimages.
My swords reflected the sunlight, creating momentary flashes of light like stars.
And then, I reappeared.
Pitter-patter, a noticeably larger number of choco ball pieces rained down onto the vegetable garden.
I sheathed my swords.
Shing Click
“…Did you get it?”
“Yep. All done.”
Hmm…
…Not bad.
Soo-hyun smiled and asked,
“Should I send it? To that number?”
“Yes.”
“Okay.”
Inodded and looked at the others.
If things went well with the government, I might have to leave for a while.
Ilooked at them and said,
“Everyone, we have work to do.”
They all looked at me.
The work was simple.
Fortifying the building.
The shutter work was mostly finished, providing some level of fortification, but they had to prepare for any contingency.
First, they would reinforce all the windows and glass walls from the fourth to the tenth floor using wood and other materials salvaged from within the building.
Since welding produced too much noise and light, they would use silicone and strong adhesives from the hardware section on the second floor and the storage room on the third floor.
They would also barricade the stairwells. They would create barricades using unused desks, chairs, and other furniture to block access completely.
There were gaps between the desks and chairs.
If they piled them up, two or three skilled riflemen positioned between the furniture on the stair landings could take out anyone trapped behind the barricade.
If that happened, the accumulating bodies would form a mound, effectively becoming a wall.
Eun-seo seemed quite skilled with a bow.
He hoped she could handle a gun as well.
And lastly, the rooftop access door.
They would create a small hole, about the size of a hand, using a cutting tool and other equipment, and reinforce the door itself with additional supports.
According to the videos he’d seen on YouTube, zombies could climb buildings by clambering over each other.
The thought of them reaching the rooftop and swarming a helicopter was chilling.
This was a precaution against that scenario.
By reinforcing the sturdy metal door with supports and creating a small hole, even a single rifleman could defend it effectively.
They could just shoot anyone whose face appeared in the hole.
Or toss a grenade through it.
There was only one reason for fortifying the building.
To prepare for any contingency that might arise while I was gone.
If they could just hold out until he returned, I would take care of the rest.
I didn’t know how much I would level up, how much stronger I would become, or how well I would be able to fight after I left.
But one thing was certain: I would only grow stronger.
The zombie wave consisted of hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of human beasts. If a worst-case scenario occurred, even a million rounds of ammunition wouldn’t be enough.
Reinforcing the building and creating piles of corpses in front of the doors and stairwells would provide sufficient defense.
They just had to hold out until Ireturned.
Of course, it was best if nothing happened, but it was better to be prepared.
To accomplish this, they needed to move most of the items in the supermarket upstairs.
They decided to use the seventh and eighth floors as storage and mobilized everyone for the task.
With a massive zombie wave outside, everyone was highly motivated, even without being told.
They had to work to survive.
While the others went downstairs to work, I stayed on the rooftop, sniping the zombie wave with my bow.
It had been over ten days since the zombie wave arrived.
As a result of his daily sniping, I was now Level 75.
He would unlock the next specialization soon.
And that afternoon, I received a call from the government.
“Hello.”
“Greetings. This is Sung Kyu-hyuk, Special Task Force Team 2 Leader. Are you the man with the swords? According to the person who sent the video, your name is Han Sung-hoon.”
The voice was firm and authoritative.
“Yes, that’s me.”
…Special Task Force?
“Are you 707?”
The authoritative voice sighed quietly.
“There is no 707 anymore. 707, UDT, all special forces units have been decimated. Haven’t you heard?”
Ah.
Human beasts had swarmed every military base.
Even highly trained soldiers wouldn’t stand a chance against their comrades, their seniors and juniors, suddenly turning into monsters and attacking them while they were training or eating together.
Some soldiers might have fought back.
But they weren’t human.
Stabbing them in the neck or the heart wouldn’t kill them.
The only way to kill them was to pierce their heads.
Could any soldier, in that chaotic situation, accurately pierce the heads of every human beast swarming them?
They were humans before they were soldiers.
Only a psychopath could instantly kill people they’d shared meals with, just because they were attacking.
The military had truly been decimated.
I nodded and said,
“I’ve heard. And I also heard from the Chief Secretary that you are organizing a special forces unit. Is that why you’re calling?”
“That is correct. I saw the video. Honestly, I still can’t believe it. We also train with swords, but no one can wield a sword like that. Are you sure it isn’t manipulated?”
I chuckled.
“It isn’t. I can show you sometime.”
“…Alright. I understand.”
Just then, Jun-hyuk and Hoon came up to the rooftop.
“Sung-hoon, we should start moving the rice…”
They stopped talking when they saw me on the phone.
At a time like this, it was obvious who would be calling.
They approached me.
Seeing their expressions and the look in their eyes, I switched to speakerphone.
“—but when will you be able to join us?”
Hoon and Jun-hyuk’s eyes widened.
They understood what the call was about, even from that short sentence.
I said,
“There’s a slight problem. The area we’re in is currently overrun by a zombie wave. We can’t go anywhere.”
“…Ah. You mean the zombie wave.”
Then Jun-hyuk said,
“What if we just burn them all?”
The Special Task Force Leader, Sung Kyu-hyuk, replied,
“Did you say burn them? Do you have napalm or white phosphorus?”
Jun-hyuk shook his head.
Even though the person on the other end couldn’t see him.
“Uh… no. Napalm… we don’t have any.”
“Then don’t even think about it.”
Jun-hyuk looked at them in surprise.
He asked,
“Why?”
Special Task Force Leader Sung sighed quietly.
“I’ll explain from the beginning since you don’t seem to understand. We’ve been observing Seoul from the light aircraft. Zombie waves mostly occur naturally. But they can also be triggered artificially.”
…Artificially?
That was news to me.
I had never observed them.
Special Task Force Leader Sung continued,
“As far as we can tell, the zombie wave in your area originated in Gangnam. Do you know how it started?”
Jun-hyuk shook his head.
“No. I don’t.”
“Because the survivors in that area foolishly set them on fire.”
Jun-hyuk stared at the phone in surprise.
Special Task Force Leader Sung said,
“First of all, they are not human. They won’t die easily just because they’re on fire. The only way to kill them is to completely cook their brains, but to do that, you need more than just gasoline or Molotov cocktails.”
I groaned and muttered,
“…Napalm and white phosphorus. That’s why…”
“That’s right. Just because their skin is charred black doesn’t mean their brains are cooked. As long as their brains are alive, they will keep moving. That’s why there’s no point in setting them on fire unless you have napalm or white phosphorus. And there’s something else.”
Iheard a gulp.
The man must have taken a drink of water.
He continued,
“When they catch fire, they scream and thrash around. It’s a different sound than usual. That sound attracts all the monsters in the vicinity. A burning one was thrashing around, and the fire spread to a gas station, causing an explosion. That’s what caused the zombie wave in Gangnam, and those are the ones that are currently overrunning your area.”
…Holy shit, that was incredibly dangerous.
They were already dangerous, but if they caught fire, they would go berserk.
If they went crazy and ran into a store, setting it on fire, the surrounding buildings could also be engulfed in flames.
…I would have been screwed if I had tried making Molotov cocktails without knowing this.
Jun-hyuk’s eyes widened.
My jaw dropped.
Isaid,
“…We won’t set them on fire.”
Special Task Force Leader Sung sighed.
“Good. Don’t.”
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