The Apocalypse Has Been Downloaded – Chapter 32

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: JayM
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Kashnax’s gaze relentlessly followed me.

She scanned me intently, savoring me as if assessing the condition of a meal she was about to devour.

Even though I knew it was a lustful gaze, I couldn’t avoid it, nor could I refuse it.

The only thing I could do was silently endure the god’s heavy attention.

‘Annoying…’

How could I describe this unpleasant and unsettling feeling?

It was like being stared at by a creepy girl sitting in the back of the classroom who harbored twisted desires. It was a chilling sensation, as if I could be stabbed at any moment.

Nice boat*.

‘Wait? A creepy, busty girl in the classroom staring at me… This might not be so bad. Yeah, Kashnax is a creepy, busty, beautiful girl… Let’s think that way.’

Thinking of it as the lustful gaze of a creepy classmate who liked me made Kashnax’s persistent stare, which had felt so bothersome, somehow bearable.

I even felt like this intense interest was a form of love. Yeah, I decided to think that way. If I kept thinking like this, maybe Kashnax would actually appear before me as a creepy, busty girl.

‘Thinking about it this way makes my stomach feel a bit better.’

As expected, everything depended on your perspective. Just by thinking positively, I could even endure the pressure of a god.

Or maybe I had entered ‘Enjoyer Mode’ due to the constant stress.

“Alright, everyone has their weapons, right?”

“Yes!”

“Perfect.”

“Master. When can I drink blood?”

“Be patient.”

“Ah. Okay. Ah. I’m hungry. Ah.”

Ignoring Kang Ha-young’s whining complaints, I arrived at the barricade blocking the suoermarket’s entrance.

Unfortunately, we had used up all of our spray charges during the rooftop battle last night. Of course, we could now move around outside even without it.

“Alright, our destination is the Daiso. Let’s kill as many special zombies as we can on the way there.”

Everyone nodded. I liked their determined expressions.

Kang Ha-young still had a vacant look, but that didn’t matter. I had half-given up on her. As long as she followed my orders, I didn’t really care what she did anymore.

‘I want to use Abyssal Observation before we leave, but it costs 1 Karma, so it’s a bit much for me to use it now.’

It cost 1 Karma to peer into the Abyss, and I needed more Karma to make a contract. I needed to perform more human sacrifices.

‘If there are people at Daiso, I’ll kill a few and gain some Karma.’

I would capture and sacrifice a few non-Awakened to Kashnax or Indikron even if they didn’t resist.

That was assuming there were still people left to capture and sacrifice.

We moved some of the objects blocking the supermarket entrance and went outside.

We made sure to block the entrance again after we left.

“This place is a mess too.”

The area around the supermarket was filled with the corpses of zombies that had fallen to their deaths trying to climb to the rooftop.

We would have to burn and dispose of these later. If we left the corpses like this, a plague might break out. It would be a disaster if the rats that ate the corpses caused the black death or something.

“Hya!”

Thud!

While I was looking around at the corpses scattered around the supermarket, Ha-rin swung her axe relentlessly as she decapitated the approaching zombies. No, she was practically smashing them.

Thud! Thud!

Every time the axe swung with a loud thud, zombies were swept away in chunks.

She was even mixing in her skills while slaughtering dozens of zombies in a row without much effort.

“Are you using skills?”

“Yes. I want to get used to using them so I can use them immediately in a real fight. I’m already getting familiar with them.”

“Oh. Okay. Keep an eye on your Magic.”

“Yes!”

Ha-rin wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead and swung her axe at the zombies again. The axe wasn’t so much cutting as it was crushing and destroying. It was a massacre.

“By the way, there are surprisingly few special zombies. In fact, I don’t see any at all.”

The special zombies that had swarmed us last night had disappeared as if they had hidden somewhere with the arrival of morning.

Only the regular zombies, which had become slightly faster and more aggressive, were greeting us.

Where had all the special zombies gone? Who killed them all?

‘Was it me?’

I suspected that we had killed almost all of the special zombies last night, which was why they were so scarce now.

It was nice that the area was safer now since the surroundings mostly had regular zombies due to us, but it was also a shame because Eun-ji and Ha-rin couldn’t level up with these weaklings.

‘It’s boring without special zombies. It feels like a mild apocalypse like this.’

Killing regular zombies wasn’t as satisfying. They couldn’t satisfy me anymore.

As I was thinking these random thoughts, I unleashed tentacles at the zombies that were stealthily approaching us while hiding behind the cars.

“R’lyeh!”

Splat!

Tentacles burst from the purple summoning circle, scattering the approaching zombies while grabbing and crushing some at random.

“Oppa, judging by how fresh those are, they must be people who died last night.”

Eun-ji said as she stabbed a zombie in the eye with her short sword.

Eun-ji was surrounded by fallen zombies with their eyes pierced through to the back of their heads.

“You’re right. There are quite a few corpses that haven’t decomposed much.”

This showed just how many people who had been holding on until now had died last night.

I hoped the people at Daiso weren’t all dead. I wanted to enslave the Awakened and offer the non-Awakened as sacrifices. And I had to get some blood bags for Ha-young, who ate like a pig.

Just then, Kang Ha-young approached me while holding the neck of a dead zombie.

“Hehe… Master. Can’t I eat this?”

Kang Ha-young asked me as she held the relatively fresh corpse of a female zombie.

“Hey! Of course not. Are you crazy?”

“Hmm. That’s a shame. It looks edible. Can’t I just have one bite…?”

“No! You crazy bitch! Get that away from me!”

“Okay…”

Since it looked fresh, she was thinking of sucking its blood even though it was a zombie.

What was she thinking? No, did she even think at all?

‘Crazy bitch…’

She was hopelessly stupid. How did she become such an idiot?

“Seriously, you’re going to get yourself killed like this. But hey, does nothing drop when you kill zombies?”

“No. Nothing drops.”

Kang Ha-young hadn’t achieved the ‘First Kill’ achievement even after killing her first zombie.

This meant that the ‘First Kill’ achievement was achieved by killing your first zombie after awakening naturally.

It seemed like Kang Ha-young, who had become a player through an item, didn’t meet that condition.

‘Well, it’s a shame she didn’t get the achievement reward, but her stats are quite good…’

We continued towards the Daiso while killing countless zombies along the way.

Unlike me, Eun-ji, and Ha-rin, whose levels no longer increased from killing regular zombies, Kang Ha-young’s level steadily rose.

One interesting thing was that Kang Ha-young’s stats, except for Will, all started at 20.

Most players, including myself, Eun-ji, and Ha-rin, didn’t have base stats exceeding 15 at level 1, except for Luck. But Kang Ha-young’s Will stat was abnormally low at 5, while all her other stats were over 20. This seemed to be a characteristic of the Carnage Vampire class.

‘Especially her Magic stat, which is rising quickly.’

‘Her skills are good too.’

The Carnage Vampire’s uniqueness wasn’t limited to its stats. Its skill selection was also unique.

When I or the others leveled up, we had four choices to pick from for our skills, but Kang Ha-young only had one.

‘It was hardly a choice.’

It was closer to being unilaterally granted skills.

While we nurtured our characters by choosing our skills according to our needs, the Carnage Vampire’s potential abilities were unlocked one by one as it leveled up without any choices.

It was definitely good that I didn’t have to worry about choosing her skills, but it was a shame that her growth direction was fixed.

‘But the skills themselves more than make up for that shortcoming.’

To briefly explain Kang Ha-young’s skills, ‘Blood Claws’ made her nails grow into weapons, ‘Blood Drain’ healed her wounds by sucking blood, and ‘Blood Surge’ accelerated her blood flow, increasing her physical abilities and reflexes.

Her stats were high, and she had a good balance of combat-oriented skills and skills that enhanced her combat endurance.

It was a class with overflowing potential.

“Sigh, I’m hungry. I’m hungry. Ah.”

Of course, due to the influence of her class, she was mentally deficient and had poor judgment.

Fortunately, I could control her impulsive behavior to some extent with the Slave Brand.

She sometimes tried to resist my orders, but she ultimately obeyed.

‘She does follow orders. And she becomes obedient if I tempt her with blood…’

I had plenty of ways to control her.

All I had to do was raise her well and utilize her properly.

“Oppa, over there.”

As I was walking while lost in thought about Kang Ha-young, Eun-ji called out to me.

I looked in the direction she was pointing and saw something that had its head down while devouring a human corpse.

There were two such figures at the entrance of Daiso.

Were they wolves?

“Let’s hide.”

“Okay.”

We quickly hid behind the corner of a building and observed them.

They were special zombies with an appearance I had never seen before. Their skin was jet black, their bodies were abnormally muscular, they had menacing claws, and their upper bodies were bare, clad only in pants.

The most peculiar feature was that, unlike zombies, their upper bodies were covered in black fur, like beasts.

“Those are new, right?”

“Yes. They’re smaller than War Boys, and their skin is black. They also have fur. Oppa, are those even zombies?”

“I don’t know. They don’t seem like zombies. Strange.”

“Master, their claws are also very long. It looks like they could tear apart flesh with a single swipe…”

Their appearance was completely different from the special zombies we had seen last night.

They were different from the War Boys and they didn’t resemble the Zombie Centipedes at all. They weren’t similar to the Bitch, which screamed and attracted surrounding zombies, either. It felt like they were of a different species. They didn’t seem like zombies at all.

“Ha-rin. Use Heartbeat Tracking.”

“I’ve been using it since I saw them…”

“Yeah? Do you sense any heartbeats?”

“No. They’re definitely zombies. I don’t sense any heartbeats.”

“They’re dead then.”

The special zombies we had seen last night were all grotesquely twisted versions of regular zombies, and didn’t look completely different like these ones.

“They look very tough.”

If War Boys were large musclemen, these looked like compressed, blackened versions of War Boys.

Their exposed upper bodies were covered in dense muscles and the black fur on their body that grew like a lion’s mane was intimidating.

If we had encountered them at night, we might have been attacked before we even noticed them. They were that black. And the aura emanating from them was unsettling.

“Ominous. Do you guys feel it?”

“I also have goosebumps, Master.”

“Oppa, should we go back to the supermarket?”

“Well… What should we do?”

Could I kill them with tentacles? I felt like I could…

I looked up at the sky, hoping Kashnax would give me some guidance.

[Do as you please.]

A dull echo resonated in my head. Kashnax’s seemingly indifferent words gave me certainty. I would kill them here.

‘She’s saying it’s okay to fight. If I kill these guys, we’ll level up. It’s worth trying to fight them. Running away just because I’m scared isn’t always the best option.’

As I was thinking, one of the two raised its head from the corpse it was devouring and looked around.

“That bastard’s eyes are white.”

“The more I look at them… the more grotesque they seem.”

“Ha-rin, you really don’t feel anything from them?”

“They just feel very creepy, Unnie.”

They were monsters that even Ha-rin, who was usually fearless, found creepy enough to give her goosebumps.

I had a feeling we would all level up if we killed them. Kashnax had also told me to do as I pleased.

They couldn’t possibly be named monsters, right? Of course, even if they were, I would still try.

I was confident I could win as long as they weren’t some strange creatures like the Giant Zombie from the end of the century**. And I couldn’t avoid battles with zombies now that the good gods’ champions were coming for me.

“I think we can take them.”

“Phew. Master, should I use my skills?”

“Yeah. Let’s try to kill them. What do you think?”

I asked my companions for their consent though it was just for formality. I was already determined to fight. If Eun-ji or Ha-rin wanted to run away… I would have to order them to fight. I hoped they would choose to fight on their own.

“I’m in favor. I don’t think you’ll lose in your current state, Oppa.”

“I don’t mind anything as long as it’s what you want, Master.”

The two looked at me with trusting eyes.

Kang Ha-young, who was standing between them, looked at Eun-ji and Ha-rin alternately and then asked me.

“Huh? Did you ask me too?”

“No. You just have to follow.”

I didn’t care about Kang Ha-young’s opinion. She just had to do as I said.

“I’ll grab them with tentacles first. I’ll kill one as soon as I catch it, so you two deal with the other one. You need to level up, after all. And Kang Ha-young, you kill the surrounding zombies.”

The reason I wasn’t killing both of them at once was to give Eun-ji and Ha-rin experience points.

Kang Ha-young was still below level 5, so regular zombies seemed sufficient for her for now.

“Alright, let’s go!”

We rushed forward, having established a rough plan. I extended both my hands towards the two and chanted.

“R’lyeh!!”

Purple summoning circles formed on both of my hands, and tentacles burst forth from them.

My targets were the two unknown special zombies.

I planned to kill the one on the left immediately and leave the one on the right for Eun-ji and Ha-rin to gain experience.

“Huh?”

It dodged?

The one on the right twisted its body to avoid the tentacle and immediately severed the tentacle that was about to grab the zombie on the left with its claws.

“N-no way!”

I couldn’t believe it dodged the tentacles. This was a first.

“Kyaaa!!!!”

“Groooowl….”

The two lowered their bodies and took stances. Then they glared at us with glowing eyes, as if confirming their prey.

At that moment, words appeared above their heads.

“Wow. They’re actually named monsters…”

As I had feared, they were named monsters.

Why were named monsters here…?

“Graaa!!!!”

My question about why named monsters were in such a humble place was quickly interrupted.

I couldn’t help but stop thinking about it because of Kchiah’s scream.

The thought couldn’t continue because of its ear-splitting scream.

Moreover, the surrounding zombies began to gather due to its scream.

“Groooan!!!”

“Master. The zombies’ eyes have turned black…!”

“The influence of named monsters…”

The update notes had mentioned that the surrounding zombies would be influenced by named monsters. So, this was what it meant.

The regular zombies’ eyes had turned black, and their nails grew as well.

“Hey, Kang Ha-young! Can you kill them all!?”

“Uh…”

“I’ll give you plenty of blood.”

“Yes, I can do it! I’m very strong! I fight well!”

“Then hurry up and kill them! Kang Ha-young will handle the approaching zombies while the three of us will kill these two!”

Thud!

As soon as I finished speaking, Black Claw, Keshak, lunged at me as if he had been waiting for me to finish.

His black mane fluttered in the wind, leaving an afterimage like a streak of black lightning.

He flew right in front of me with a single leap.

Just how powerful was he physically?

“Hyaa!!!!”

I didn’t even have time to wonder about his physical specs.

Ha-rin jumped at Keshak, who was flying towards me, and unleashed Barbarian’s Roar. At the same time, she swung her axe.

Since the aggro was already on me, she seemed to have no hesitation in shouting.

Boom!!!

“Damn it!!!”

Despite being affected by Barbarian’s Roar, Keshak twisted his body mid-air using his insane physical abilities and dodged the incoming axe.

Ha-rin gritted her teeth as she pulled out her axe, which had sliced through the air and embedded itself in the asphalt.

Keshak, having forcibly dodged Ha-rin’s axe, momentarily lost his balance due to the strenuous movement.

‘Is this the power of a named monster?’

They were definitely much tougher than special zombies.

“Al-la-kum-Pluto!”

While he was staggering and trying to regain his balance, I used the skill I had prepared.

Splat!

Darkness coalesced around his right shoulder in the blink of an eye, and soon the darkness transformed into a grotesquely shaped mouth.

It had hundreds of teeth made of darkness with an even deeper black color than Keshak’s fur. The abyssal maw, filled with sinister teeth, was quite disgusting.

Crunch-

Where the abyssal maw had bitten, only Keshak, now missing his right arm, remained, screaming.

“Kyaaa!!!!”

Did zombies feel pain?

“R’lyeh.”

This time, he couldn’t dodge my tentacles.

Thanks to the closer distance, the tentacles quickly shot out and bound his limbs. As Keshak tried to break free from the tentacles with his strength, Ha-rin brought her axe down on his head.

Crack!!!

Keshak died as his head was split in half.

As expected of a named monster, the rewards for killing it were generous.

I quickly picked up the item that had dropped on the floor.

‘Keshak’s Black Thick Claw’ was a matte black dagger that didn’t reflect light.

“Graaa!!!”

Now only Screaming Darkness, Kchiah, remained.

Immediately after the battle began, Eun-ji had hidden herself in the shadows and approached him.

She must have been planning to assassinate Kchiah.

Judging by the short swords embedded in Kchiah’s shoulders, Eun-ji’s surprise attack had been successful.

“Graaaaa!!!”

Rumble!!!

A shockwave erupted from Kchiah’s pained scream, shaking the ground slightly.

Eun-ji, caught in the shockwave, was flung back and crashed into a parked van on the side of the road.

“Oh no!”

Fortunately, Kang Ha-young, who had already been heading towards Eun-ji, protected her, tearing apart the zombies approaching her with her Bloodstained Dagger and claws. Eun-ji herself seemed to have fainted.

“Groan…!”

As if that scream had been his last stand, Kchiah collapsed to his knees.

I quickly approached her with Ha-rin. Since a drop item had appeared, it was certain that Kchiah was dead.

“Wow… He’s been riddled with wounds.”

Kchiah’s back was a mangled mess.

Broken shadow throwing blades were embedded all over him, and judging by the holes in his legs, it seemed like Eun-ji had targeted his legs with Shadow Thorn first. I figured she had used all her skills to kill him.

“Eun-ji, are you okay?”

“Ah… Oppa. Hehe. I killed him by myself…”

“That’s amazing. You’re incredible.”

Eun-ji had only fainted briefly from the shockwave and wasn’t seriously injured. She soon got up.

Eun-ji was tough too.

“Sigh…”

We had unexpectedly hunted named monsters. It seemed like the two were a set.

Anyway, Eun-ji and Ha-rin had leveled up, and I had even broken through the level 10 barrier. Kang Ha-young, who had diligently killed the strengthened zombies, had also reached level 5.

As we finished off the remaining zombies and were praising each other, someone appeared.

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T/N – Hey guys! You may have noticed that I posted this chapter way earlier. After doing a poll on discord, I decided to move my release time earlier to around 11am EST. The schedule will still be the same Mon/Wed/Friday though.

Lol, see MC, you only need to change your perspective. Don’t think of Kashnax as an evil god staring at you. Instead, imagine it’s a creepy busty classmate staring at you with lust from the back row. 😂

Also, two named zombies, get! That was easy. Though Eun-ji getting launched at a car and coming out fine really makes you realize that they’re already in the realm of superhumans.

If you find any mistakes, feel free to point them out in the comments.

*No clue what this means in this context. Double checked it, and it’s also what was literally written in the raw 🤷‍♂️

**No clue what this is a reference to either. There also hasn’t been any giant zombies in past chapters. The biggest were the War Boys.