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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Xrecker
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The next morning, he gathered emergency rations and water from the supermarket and left.
He was going to find a bow.
According to Google Maps, a traditional archery shop was about three or four hours away on foot.
He didn’t know what condition it would be in, but he had to try.
Soo-hyun hadn’t come to his room last night either.
It seemed the women were having almost nightly drinking parties.
He occasionally heard their laughter, which suggested that Jung Eun-seo was recovering quickly.
Meanwhile, he felt awkward asking Soo-hyun to make him a ranged weapon.
Soo-hyun was already dealing with a lot, and he couldn’t ask her for such a favor when she was already busy reinforcing the building.
If everything went well, he could make the round trip in half a day.
If things went wrong and he had to hide somewhere, he’d been staying out often for leveling up, so they wouldn’t worry too much even if he was a little late.
A bow. And arrows.
Also, that feather band.
That damned feather band.
How was he supposed to use it?
The sword was definitely a no-go.
He’d left it wrapped around the scabbard all night, and it hadn’t duplicated; it just looked like a well-crafted ornament.
It seemed he needed a proper projectile.
He walked for a while with his back to the subway, then stopped.
And turned around.
The Cockroaches were on his mind.
He’d closed and reinforced the shutters securely, so they wouldn’t be able to cause any trouble even if they attacked now.
He needed to hurry.
The rain was still falling.
It must have poured heavily overnight, as there were puddles everywhere.
The streets were deserted.
And he was alone.
The sound of the rain masked the noises he made, and he had become accustomed to walking silently, so the human beasts in the surrounding stores weren’t easily provoked.
After walking for about two hours, he reached Cheonggyecheon Stream.
Bushes and vines grew along the walls.
Neatly planted trees and wide staircases.
Lights illuminated the stairs leading down.
It was a strangely out-of-place stream in the middle of towering buildings, yet it had a scenic beauty.
He looked at the stairs leading down to the artificial waterfall, which was still beautifully illuminated beneath a strangely shaped sculpture.
Cheonggyecheon.
Should he go down and walk along the stream, or stay on the road?
Buildings, market alleys, convenience stores, and all sorts of shops lined the sides.
If he went into the market alleys, he might run into a horde of zombies. And there was probably something inside Cheonggyecheon as well.
Hmm…
He would go down for now.
If anything happened, he could use Accelerate, cut his way through, and run.
He descended the stairs and walked along Cheonggyecheon.
The water was still clear.
Unidentified freshwater fish were still swimming leisurely in the stream.
But he couldn’t see any sign of human life along the slightly curving yet straight path ahead.
There were stairs and open spaces here and there, so he couldn’t be sure, but there was no visible human presence.
“…Hmm.”
He felt a little relieved.
As he walked along Cheonggyecheon, he kept an eye on the roads, alleyways, and small bridges above, wary of anything that might appear.
He walked for a while and reached under a bridge.
A bird was perched there.
It had a long, black neck.
It was quite large.
It looked like it would fill his arms if he held it.
A crane?
He didn’t know much about birds, so he didn’t know its name.
The bird stood with its long, slender legs in the middle of the stream, looking at him.
He looked at the bird and slowly walked towards it.
It wasn’t flying away.
He kept walking.
Watching the bird.
The bird was also watching him.
The bird’s head tilted slightly downwards.
Hmm.
Was it about to fly away?
He was quite close now.
Suddenly, the bird spread its wings.
“Screech!”
[Auto-cast: Accelerate]
“Eeee—”
Huh?!
Startled, he looked around.
There was nothing there.
Only the bird.
The bird!
Its beak was open.
In its beak…
Those were… like grains of rice…?
…Fangs?!
The bird seemed to be about to take flight, pushing off the water.
Its wide-spread wings were impressive.
It looked even bigger with its wings spread.
But why…
Why fangs?
He stopped thinking and immediately drew his sword, slashing downwards.
He felt the distinct sensation of cutting through something.
But there was no resistance, no effort.
It felt like cutting through tofu.
“—Squawk!”
The bird shrieked as its body split in two and fell forward.
A torso with a head, a headless torso.
Scattered entrails.
Crimson blood.
He caught his breath and looked down at the bird.
The headless body was motionless.
That part was dead.
But the torso with the head was different.
It was still flapping its remaining wing, rubbing it against the ground.
Even without a heart.
“Squawk! Caw! Gurgle!”
Crazy.
He stomped on the bird’s neck.
It was both soft and hard.
“Caw! Squawk!”
The head, which had been thrashing and spewing blood.
It stopped moving.
He reversed his grip on the sword and aimed it at the bird’s head.
Then, he stabbed downwards.
Thud.
“Gurk.”
It made a strange sound and went limp.
He pulled out the sword and looked around.
Tension rose within him.
This was a bird.
But it was no different from a human beast.
It moved even after death, and it tried to bite even without a heart.
Besides, he’d never heard of a bird having fangs.
It wasn’t just humans.
“…Apocalypse.”
Yes.
Apocalypse.
The end of the world.
Every living thing in the world…
Everything had changed.
He had unconsciously assumed it was only humans.
Humans weren’t the only living things in the world.
There were countless creatures living in the sky, in the water, in the mountains, and in the fields.
The apocalypse had arrived.
The apocalypse of all living things.
He gritted his teeth and swung his sword.
Swish.
Droplets of blood splattered against the wall.
“Do you think I’m going to die?”
He spoke through gritted teeth, then sheathed his sword.
Shing Click
He had to go.
To get a weapon.
If every living thing in the world had met its apocalypse, and if he, too, would eventually succumb to it, then he would sink, wielding his weapons until the very end.
His nose wrinkled.
He couldn’t let his guard down.
He walked.
After about an hour, he spotted the sign for the traditional archery shop.
He climbed the stairs and left Cheonggyecheon.
The rain was falling.
Rainwater dripped from his hair as he entered the building.
The stairs were empty.
The elevator…
It worked.
Traditional archery shop.
Traditional archery.
Was it Gukgung (Korean traditional archery)?
He took the elevator to the designated floor.
Growl
He heard the sound as soon as the doors opened.
He placed his hand on the hilt of his sword.
A large building.
The entire floor was an archery center.
It seemed to be equipped for archery practice.
A glass door with posters on it.
He took a deep breath and opened the door.
“Groar?!”
They turned to look at him.
Their eyes flashed.
Their faces contorted.
“Kraaa!”
…Accelerate.
[Auto-cast: Accelerate]
“Hah!”
Crack!
His sword pierced through a head.
It was light.
So light!
It wasn’t the sensation he was used to.
He had stabbed out of habit, but he realized it the moment he stabbed.
HP!
He immediately twisted his body and slashed with the sword he’d just thrust.
Slash! Splatter!
The blade cut through the head, splitting it in two as it passed through.
It felt like cutting a banana.
…Enough!
“—Kyaa—”
Accelerate.
[Auto-cast: Accelerate]
The eyes and forehead of the one whose face he’d slashed flew into the air along with the head.
He saw the cleanly severed brain matter.
Blood spurted out.
He turned and swung his sword.
Slash! Crack!
He smiled.
Laughter escaped his lips.
“…Haha, haha!”
He caught his breath and looked around.
Nothing.
He had killed them all.
Twenty-three in total.
He had discovered the joy of slashing.
A new…
Pleasure.
He’d gotten a little carried away, and the floor was littered with dozens of pieces of the twenty-three corpses.
…He should try to restrain himself in the future.
He hadn’t realized it while he was excitedly swinging, but now that he looked at it, it would have been better to just cleanly stab them in the head.
From now on, he would try to only sever the heads.
[Level Up.]
“Huu.”
…Hmm?
He looked at the message window.
He’d killed over twenty, but only gained one level…
…One level for every twenty?
“Haa…”
Of course, it would be like that.
He opened his status window; he had 21 Strength left out of 45.
…The bird from earlier had been counted as well.
As expected, the bird was also a Malignant Entity.
His assumption that every living creature had changed was correct.
He sighed and shook his head.
This…
He should probably avoid telling his group about this.
They would find out eventually. But…
It was okay to let them enjoy their peace a little longer.
He nodded and looked around.
It looked like a small archery range.
A large room that was something between an office and a display area.
And a wider, longer room with targets.
Impact-absorbing material covered the windows behind the targets.
They must have done that to prevent stray arrows from going through the windows.
It was a pretty good facility.
Bows were scattered among the corpses on the floor and throughout the target room.
He looked them over for a moment, then went into the display room.
He might as well get a new one.
All sorts of bows were neatly displayed on the walls and shelves of the display room.
There were at least thirty of them.
Crude shortbows, the distinctive three-curved Gakgung (Korean traditional bow), and even a large bow that looked like it belonged in an Olympic archery competition, which seemed out of place in a traditional archery shop.
He liked it.
He would have preferred a double crossbow like the Demon Hunter used in Diablo, capable of rapid-fire, but it was unrealistic to find such a fantasy weapon here.
Which one should he choose?
He picked up each bow, one by one.
First, the compound bow.
It was incredibly cool.
The design was simply the best.
A curved, painted body, a stick-like sight attached like a lightning rod, and a large size that made it clear he was wielding a bow.
The Gukgung was quite small.
About the length of his arm.
But when he lightly pulled the string, it felt more taut than the compound bow.
The arrows used for the two bows seemed to be different as well.
He needed to consider their purpose.
The compound bow was definitely cooler.
There was no room for argument there.
But he had to carry multiple weapons.
He needed to be able to carry it with him along with his sword.
“Tsk… It’s a shame.”
He looked longingly at the compound bow for a moment, then picked up a Gakgung.
There seemed to be some information about it.
…It was called Gakgung because it was made from animal horns?
He didn’t care about that.
He plucked the string of the Gakgung and pulled it back.
Then, he drew it fully.
…Wait a minute.
This required more strength than he’d thought.
He held it drawn for a moment, and he could definitely feel the strain on his arms and back.
It wasn’t difficult thanks to the HP achievement skill, but it definitely required more strength than swinging his sword.
Archers…
Were they Strength-based?
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Archers have insane back muscles ngl, anyways thanks for the chappie,!