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Translator: penny
Chapter: 4
Chapter Title: Is This the Mutation?
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Is this the mutation?
"Grrr..."
Thwack!
"Kraaaagh!"
Crunch!
This neighborhood was packed with multi-family homes and studio apartments, so the phlegmy growling echoed all the way past the buildings.
Near the walking path, most places were standalone houses where elderly couples lived, so even if they turned into zombies, there were only two per house at most.
I smashed the head of every one I saw and picked up anything that looked useful as a weapon.
'Damn, this doesn't even compare to playing the game.'
I wondered if bashing zombies on screen ever felt this exhilarating, then charged at the slow-walking ones and pulverized them.
Just like an evil human mercilessly slaughtering innocent zombies.
I didn't run into any zombies while crossing the hill behind.
It was called a walking path, but it was so poorly maintained that most people wouldn't even know there was a trail here.
Thanks to that, I crossed the mountain while watching squirrels hopping between trees and birds I couldn't name.
In some professions, animals got infected too, but luckily that didn't seem to be the case here.
Once I crested the hill, an astonishing sight unfolded.
"Whoa, fuck."
The curse slipped out naturally.
Beneath the overpass was a tangled mess of cars, a total slaughterhouse.
Black smoke rose from spots here and there, zombies prowled the surroundings hunting for intact corpses.
I had no idea how lucky I was not to have brought a car.
In one hand, an aluminum bat; in the other, an iron pipe I'd found at a construction site.
Weapons like these were plenty sufficient.
Everything else was my stats built up on the way here and my resolve to smash them all.
⚔ STATUS ⚔⚡ Offense/Defense: 11💨 Agility: 10✨ Perception: 8💰 Available Points: 0 pt
I'd raised the early-game essentials, Offense/Defense and Agility, into the double digits.
At this level, I could drop even sprinting zombies in one hit.
I descended to the road and smashed the legs of the nearest one with the iron pipe.
As its body wobbled, I swung the bat into its chest like a baseball slugger.
Its upper body tore off at the waist and flew toward the two shambling up behind.
I leaped at the two knocked down by the impact and stomped their heads with the pipe and bat like a wheelie.
Squish~
Crunch—!!
It was a combo attack of sorts, and it connected smoother than expected.
Looking back, three or four were clumped together heading my way.
Their phlegmy growls were starting to feel almost familiar.
Time to test how many times I could chain that combo.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"11th kill in a row—!!"
I roared toward the sky like a player who'd just scored the Champions League final goal.
It was the perfect ceremony to vent the bullshit of this crumbling world.
I opened the status window to check my kill count.
⚔ STATUS ⚔⚡ Offense/Defense: 11💨 Agility: 10✨ Perception: 8💰 Available Points: 37 pt
'Heh heh heh, 37...'
Even as a game veteran, I hadn't expected to adapt to zombie hunting this fast.
I was starting to suspect my 'Dominant' trait made me a slaughterer, not a ruler.
When I reached the media center, I'd worried about the horde swarming in, but at this point, I could handle it.
Time to hurry up and see the face of whatever bitch put me through all this.
Don't let some other bastard break through first—wait obediently for me!
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
tvM Media Center —
"One more time. There were two fridges in the pantry, right?"
The bottled water and snacks we'd farmed wouldn't last more than a day, so the team leader suggested raiding the other fridge too.
The manager, stuffing his face with biscuits like a glutton, nodded reluctantly.
Once they agreed, the team leader cleared the boxes and cracked the door open.
The zombies' positions were just as they'd seen that morning.
The team leader crept toward the break room, eyes on the zombies' sightlines.
With a slight gap, the manager followed, pickaxe in hand.
Heo Yun-ji stuck half her body out like before, watching for approaching zombies.
'Nice.'
The second fridge was way more stocked than the first.
She hurriedly transferred its contents into the boxes from the storeroom.
This would hold them for a few days.
'Fuck, she's so goddamn pretty. I wanna touch her.'
Heo Yun-ji's smooth thighs gleamed as she kept watch.
The manager forgot their zombie siege, staring at her legs with a dazed look.
He didn't even hear the groans of the approaching zombie from that direction.
"Manager! Zombie... zombies!"
Heo Yun-ji spotted it first and urgently called out.
Only then did the manager glance over, dropping his pickaxe in shock at the oncoming zombie.
The clatter echoed down the quiet hall.
"Kyaaack!"
"Kraang, krrgh...!!"
Zombies from the end of the hall started swarming.
The manager bolted into the storeroom and slammed the door, even with the team leader still in the break room.
"Manager! The team leader's still out there!!"
"Shut your mouth or you wanna die too?"
The late-arriving team leader pounded on the locked door.
"Hey, you bastard, open up! Hurry the fuck up!! Yun-ji, Yun-ji!!"
Unable to take the calls for her, Heo Yun-ji lunged at the manager.
Thud!
"Aaaagh!!"
Heo Yun-ji hit the floor rolling after the manager struck her.
Outside came agonized screams and the sound of flesh tearing.
Heo Yun-ji retched, trembling in terror.
"Do that one more time and I'll kill you! Think I won't?!"
Bloodshot veins bulged in the manager's eyes.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇⚙ TIMER ⚙[Remaining Time] Virginity Loss: 13:11 Death: 19:11
It took longer than expected.
After the 11-kill streak boosted my confidence, I hunted every zombie I spotted, turning under an hour's distance into over two.
tvM's prized media center loomed ahead.
Especially the open hall on the fourth floor, where they produced all sorts of variety and educational shows.
A few zombies wandered the entrance.
Smashing those pots wouldn't be hard, but the noise would draw every one from the main road.
Good thing I'd been here a few times for shoots.
I knew the way from the underground parking to the open hall.
'Freight elevator.'
The freight elevator for hauling gear to the open hall went straight from underground parking to the fourth floor.
Staff and visitors never used it, perfect for sneaking in.
It had a card key or code-locked safety door, but with my strength now, I could rip it open.
Creak!
I decapitated a few shambling zombies in the underground lot and tore out the safety door.
Tougher than expected, but I made enough space for myself.
Inside the elevator, I hit the fourth-floor button.
Gripping bat and pipe tighter, I watched the numbers change—like a warrior dual-wielding before battle.
Ding, the doors opened.
The noise bugged me, but this was the farthest corner from the open hall.
No reason for zombies from there to wander to an empty spot like this.
"Fuck, shit..."
Shouldn't have assumed it'd be easy.
Guess they were recording some show here when the zombie outbreak hit.
No way there'd be that many audience zombies otherwise.
I stared blankly at the growling horde clogging the entrance.
How packed must it have been for them to spill into the corners?
No choice—start bashing the ones in front.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"Hic... sob..."
"Fuck, shut it!"
The manager snarled at Heo Yun-ji crying in the corner.
Since the team leader became zombie chow, the manager had started acting weird.
Crying, laughing, raging—even clawing his arms and legs till blood dripped.
Heo Yun-ji watched the manager with fearful eyes.
He scowled and pressed his ear to the door.
The zombies' growls that had driven him mad were gone.
Straining to listen, he heard nothing—unnaturally quiet.
He shoved the boxes aside and peeked out.
The zombies that had been milling about were completely gone.
He opened wider for a better view.
No zombies as far as the hall's end.
Instead, distant beastly howls, explosions, and shattering glass.
"Uh, uh... rescue team...?"
Out of his mind, that's all the manager could think of.
Rescue or military must've stormed the building, fighting zombies.
No zombies-only scenario made those noises.
Panicking, the manager sprinted toward the hall's end.
His charge didn't matter.
"Ma-Manager! Wait!!"
Startled, Heo Yun-ji followed out, but he was already far ahead.
As she chased, something happened.
"Hng... ahhh..."
Her whole body burned like fire.
Unbearable heat enveloped her.
Legs gave out; she collapsed.
'What's happening? Why? My body... it's too...'
"Haaaang~"
A lewd moan no pure idol should make.
Shocked, Heo Yun-ji clamped her mouth and stared down the hall.
But she wasn't the only one sensing the anomaly.