The Apocalypse Has Been Downloaded – Chapter 4

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: JayM
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I descended the stairs, bashing the heads of the zombies blocking my way. They were hindering my movement, so it was best to clear them out as I went.

Of course, I didn’t spend too much time hunting zombies. That wasn’t my immediate goal. I just kept bashing their heads in as I ran down to the first floor.

“Get out of my way, fuckers!”

I shoved the zombies down the stairs, stomping on the backs of their necks to prevent them from getting up again, and ran towards the convenience store. I didn’t run at full speed since I needed to pace myself. Soon, I reached the convenience store, and saw that its doors were wide open.

‘Seeing the doors wide open like that, it’s probably already been looted…’

As I expected, there was almost nothing left in the convenience store. No food, no daily necessities, nothing. I hadn’t realized it before, but it had already been three days since the apocalypse began. The Awakened in this area must have looted the convenience store a couple of days ago.

“Damn it.”

Still, I managed to snag a few packs of cigarettes, my primary target for this convenience store run. Only three packs though. They even took entire cartons. The person who looted this place must have been a heavy smoker.

‘Even the storage room is completely empty…’

After briefly checking the convenience store’s storage room, I quickly bashed the heads of two zombies lingering at the entrance and ran outside. Seeing the coins pop up, I must have killed both with a single blow.

I crossed the road, filled with abandoned cars, and entered the pharmacy on the first floor of the building opposite the convenience store.

As expected, a few zombies were milling about inside. I smashed their heads in as I entered. The continuous bashing sent jolts of pain up my wrist. I had to be careful not to sprain a ligament or swell up my wrist.

“Ha…”

The pharmacy had also been looted. However, the looters had some conscience, as they hadn’t taken everything. I quickly stuffed the remaining pills into my bag before someone else came along.

Painkillers, anti-inflammatory drugs, antibiotics, a bunch of cold medicine, antidiarrheals, deworming medication, and many more. I took everything I could find, including the pills in the drawers. There were also some bandages, band-aids, wrist guards, and other protective gear left, so I grabbed them all. It was quite a haul. Unfortunately, there were no vitamins or nutritional supplements left.

I immediately put on the wrist guard I’d found.

“That takes care of the pharmacy…”

I checked the time on my phone. Thirty minutes had already passed. Time was flying by, but I had only looted the pharmacy so far… I started to feel anxious.

I paced myself as I ran to the nearby large supermarket. I was slightly out of breath when I arrived, but the supermarket was already occupied. The entrance was barricaded with cars.

“What the hell, they’ve already set up shop.”

There was already a group occupying the supermarket. What unfortunate news.

Someone on the supermarket roof spotted me and shouted.

“Don’t come any closer! I’ll shoot!”

Two on the roof, and one standing at the entrance, glaring at me. I immediately took cover. I didn’t know what they would do. The guy had a police-issue pistol, probably looted from somewhere. That looked dangerous. Awakened or not, I was still a level 1 noob. A bullet would kill me just as easily as any ordinary person.

I decided to leave without hesitation. If they were able to occupy the supermarket and set up barricades in just three days, they must have several Awakened among them. They weren’t opponents I could handle alone. I could only blame myself for starting late. At least they weren’t chasing me down to kill me. That was fortunate.

“The supermarket is out too…”

I ran to the hardware store. It wasn’t a very large one, just a local store with faucets and other small items.

“The… shutter is down…”

Blocked at the entrance.

“I can just open it!”

As I struggled to lift the shutter, a sharp voice yelled from inside.

“Get lost! If you open that shutter, I’ll smash your head in! I’m Awakened!”

It was the hardware store owner’s voice. I didn’t feel like opening the shutter to confirm whether he was truly Awakened.

“Sir! I just need a crowbar…”

“I don’t have any! Get lost! You’re attracting zombies!”

Damn it… Unexpected situations kept occurring. The convenience store and pharmacy were almost completely looted, a survivor group had already taken over the supermarket, and the hardware store owner was yelling at me to get lost.

The Daiso store was probably a lost cause as well.

“Seriously?”

Indeed, there were already people at the Daiso store. They even had bows, probably looted from somewhere. I would have been shot if I hadn’t left quickly.

I might get to see a territorial dispute between the supermarket group and the Daiso group.

Of course, that was only if I didn’t starve to death first.

“Damn it.”

As expected, in a ruined world, other people were demons. I had to be prepared to kill and steal. Otherwise, I would be the one getting killed.

Should I grit my teeth, sneak in, kill them all, and loot their supplies? Could I really charge in there with just a baseball bat, kill everyone, and escape unscathed, when I had no idea how many people were waiting inside to kill me?

It was impossible. My Summon Tentacles skill was limited to three uses per day, and I couldn’t use it again until my mana regenerated. Should I have chosen Human Sacrifice instead? Or maybe Surging Flesh, and just charge in while taking hits? I didn’t know.

Meanwhile, the Zombie Repellent’s duration was ticking away. I had to return home before the two hours were up. I didn’t want to waste another spray.

“Ha… I have to bring something back…”

All I had managed to get so far were some over-the-counter medicine and a few packs of cigarettes. I peeked into a few restaurants, but they were all almost completely cleaned out.

Koreans’ “ppalli-ppalli” (hurry-hurry) spirit remained strong even after the world had ended. Our looting speed was like the speed of light.

‘Isn’t that too fast?’

Still, I hadn’t come up empty-handed. I found a small restaurant with its door open down an alley. Inside, a zombie ajumma (middle-aged woman) in an apron greeted me. I effortlessly smashed her head in and searched the kitchen, finding a few packs of ramen nearing their expiration date.

‘They must have abandoned this place mid-loot…!’

In the refrigerator, I found a few nearly rotten consumables like eggs and green onions, some expired fish cakes, and frozen dumplings. I also managed to grab some cooking oil and tteokbokki rice cakes. Seeing that most of the items were expired or about to expire, they must have intentionally left them behind.

“They didn’t even bother taking this crap… That’s annoying.”

It didn’t seem like going further would improve the situation.

Three days made a huge difference.

In just three days, the Awakened had already formed groups, and the survivors had banded together to establish bases. Trying to force my way in now would be difficult. I kept getting blocked at the entrance, like they were pulling up the ladder behind them. The only way to join them was to prove or flaunt my strength, but even that wasn’t easy.

Should I just kill some zombies since I was already outside?

“Die!”

I smashed the heads of the zombies staggering through the streets.

The more I killed them, the more of these useless coins I accumulated.

After crushing about thirty rotten heads, a notification popped up.

My stats had increased slightly across the board. I felt a bit lighter on my feet.

My grip on my baseball bat felt stronger. I felt confident that I could now crush a zombie’s skull with a single blow. And my mana had increased significantly, 10 points at once. Was it because my job was Cultist?

By the way, my luck stat remained unchanged. I didn’t know if it was a fixed stat or if it was just stuck at 666 for me, but I decided to ignore it for now. Having a high luck stat didn’t seem to bring me any joy or happiness at the moment.

I entered an empty building to choose my skill.

A new skill had appeared in the slot where Summon Tentacles had been. It had a very intriguing name…

“Slave Brand… Gulp.”

This was an incredibly novel skill. I could enslave anyone as long as I subdued them. I could immediately return home, subdue Lee Eun-ji, and make her my slave. Once she was my slave, I could do whatever I wanted with her. I didn’t need to worry about betrayal anymore. I could even make her carry out a suicide attack.

Perfect. It would be foolish of me not to choose this.

“Slave Brand…”

“Ugh!”

Once again, instructions on how to use the skill were imprinted in my mind as I felt like something was rummaging through my brain. I couldn’t help but drool from the dizzying pain.

“Grrr…”

Using the skill was a bit complicated. I had to force the subdued target to kneel, prick my thumb to draw blood, and then press it against their forehead like a stamp. It wasn’t a skill I could use easily. It required some sort of ritualistic action.

It also consumed a whopping 10 mana.

“Ha… Ha…”

I managed to pull myself together and stood up.

Buzz, buzz, buzz. My phone alarm went off.

An hour and a half had already passed. It was a fifteen-minute run back to my apartment. I had to start heading back.

“Time flies… But I have to try out the skill when I get home…”

“Hey! Stop!”

As I hurried home, eager to subdue and enslave Lee Eun-ji, someone called out to me.

“Drop the bag and the baseball bat and get lost.”

A woman armed with a bow, something that looked like an archer would use, that was loaded with an arrow was staring at me.

‘Damn it, a luck stat of 666, huh? This is really unlucky… Or is it? Maybe… this is an opportunity…’

This woman seemed like an Awakened like me. Judging by the fact that zombies weren’t attracted to her, she must have used the Zombie Repellent spray.

I didn’t know what abilities she had, but I was glad she didn’t shoot me on sight. I might have died if she had just shot me in the head. It sent shivers down my spine. I had been too careless, thinking that the streets were empty.

“…”

I silently dropped the bag and the baseball bat on the ground.

“Put your hands up! And get lost.”

It seemed like she didn’t intend to lower her bow until I was far enough away.

‘This bitch…’

I trembled and backed away, acting like a terrified coward. I put on the best performance I could to make her lower her guard. It seemed to work, as she lowered her bow for a moment to grab my bag as soon as I was far enough away. She probably intended to run off with it.

What a foolish act of mercy. Stupid bitch. You should have just shot me on sight. I’ll teach you how dangerous misplaced sympathy can be.

“Al-la-kum-R’lyeh.”

I perfectly drew a pentagram with my right hand!

The woman sensed the danger and tried to raise her bow again, but I was faster. Before she could react, a glowing purple magic circle appeared before her, and a cluster of pink tentacles sprouted from its center, seizing her.

“Mmm!!!”

Her limbs were bound, and the tentacles wrapped around her mouth and neck, completely immobilizing her. If I exerted even a little bit of force, she would be squashed. If I clenched my fist, the tentacles would constrict and crush her.

Of course, that wasn’t my desirable outcome. I had perfectly captured an Awakened woman in this ruined world. And I had the incredibly awesome Slave Brand skill. There was no other option but to enslave her. She seemed athletic, judging by her toned legs… She had a well-proportioned, curvy figure. It was incredibly arousing.

She wasn’t as pretty as the slender Lee Eun-ji, but her body was more than enough to end my life as a virgin. More than enough. I was grateful. Grateful that she hadn’t killed me outright and had given me a reason to capture and enslave her. Perhaps my luck stat of 666 was an amazing number after all.

To think I could make such a wonderful woman my possession.

All sorts of lewd thoughts flashed through my mind.

“Hehehehehe.”

I approached her cautiously, still wary in case she had some strange skill like me.

“Mmm! Mmm!!”

Her eyes were filled with terror. Tears streamed down her face. Well, it was understandable to be afraid when you were suddenly enveloped and immobilized by some sticky, slimy pink tentacles. But I was thrilled. This was a historic moment, the capture of my first slave.

I loosened the tentacle around her mouth slightly.

“Hey. Don’t resist. You’ll really die.”

“P-please… spare me…”

Perfect. As if urging me to enslave her, a notification popped up. It was over.

Now all I had to do was draw blood from my left thumb.

My right hand was busy controlling the tentacles, so I couldn’t move it. I tried to prick my thumb with the kitchen knife, but I couldn’t do it with one hand. It seemed like biting it was the only option.

Crunch.

“Ow… Shit… That hurts like hell…”

In anime, they just casually bit their thumbs to draw blood when summoning toads. But in reality, biting my thumb to draw blood was incredibly painful. The skin wouldn’t tear easily.

Still, I managed to gnaw at it with my canine teeth until I drew blood. I couldn’t waste time hesitating because of the pain. I had to enslave her quickly and take her home.

“You are my slave now.”

I pressed my thumb against her forehead.

Sizzle….

Smoke rose as if a brand was being burned onto her skin, and a notification appeared.

Ha… There was even an achievement. This was truly exhilarating.

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T/N – Well there we go. Scumbag MC is a go. I do hope the MC doesn’t go too crazy with the slave brand. We’ll see how it goes. Still, you should all know where this is going.

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