Chapter 11 – 11. Open Door on the Roof

She hugged her sleeping sister and smelled her her body her scent her her her. Now she is more than just a food pantry. She became a precious girlfriend and companion to survive the apocalypse.

“Sleep well.”

“Ugh.. Inho too.. Sleep well…”

So I fell asleep in the same bed as Saeyeon.

About 5 hours later…

-Wow.

“Huh…?”

At dawn, the sun hasn’t risen yet.

A sound like a humming machine was heard. Also upstairs.

“What… “

Is it possible that the washing machine is running at this hour? Could it be that they succeeded in returning during the night?

‘No… This is not the sound of a washing machine running…’

I slightly let go of Saeyeon, who was holding me, and then stood up from her seat. Perhaps because she was quite tired, Saeyeon, who was sleeping very deeply, did not wake up.

‘Upstairs… ‘

Our apartment is not soundproofed well. Maybe this sound didn’t come from the 8th floor. It might be coming from higher than that…

I quickly got dressed and grabbed the dented baseball bat. I also brought 1.5 liters of bottled water just in case. If something had appeared… Or if someone was intentionally making that noise at this time, they had to be stopped. Then, when a conflict arises, I have no choice but to kill… There is no need to spare a neighbor who threatens my life.

‘If the opponent is an awakened person, it is rather a piece of shit.’

Moreover, if the other person is an awakened person, it is better to try to talk to them and kill them right away if they get upset. If the awakened person, who may have any abilities or penalties, is a bastard who has ruined their humanity, they should be killed immediately. It would only be dangerous to keep him alive for no reason.

Of course, if it was someone like Junho’s uncle who openly showed that he wanted to be on the same side and revealed all his abilities and penalties his… And Junho’s uncle could be trusted more because he had a daughter to protect. I have faith that she will not go out of her way to prevent a situation that could harm her daughter.

‘Let’s go up first… ‘

Before I left home, I checked my stats in the full-length mirror attached to the shoe cabinet.

[Place of Origin: Earth]

[Name: Kang In-ho]

[Survival Grade: 1]

[Physical ability: 6.3] [Details]

[Sanity level: 99/100]

[Health level: 95/100]

[Abilities: Ability Stealing, Steam Engine, Reason Sense]

[Situation abnormalities: muscle pain (thighs), tension]

The muscle pain in my shoulder, which was in its original condition, disappeared when I applied a patch. I think the new muscle pain in my thighs was probably caused by being too intense with Saeyeon.

My thighs hurt a bit, but not so much that I couldn’t move. I’m nervous because of the sound coming from above. Everything else was good. It was especially nice that my mental strength, which was low, went up a lot.

She probably rose up a lot because of her relationship with her older sister. After all, sex is more important in a crisis like this. It lowers tension and anxiety and reduces stress.

“Yes…? Inho.. Where are you going..?”

“Ah, sister.”

At that time, my older sister woke up, rubbed her half-closed eyes, opened her door, and called me. I explained to my sister everything that happened.

“Yes.. I can hear it.. A humming sound. “My head is ringing, it’s something unpleasant… “

“Right. So I’m going to go check it now.”

“Okay? Let’s go together too. “Just a moment.”

Sister Saeyeon lifted her jangdori as she stood, putting on her clothes.

We opened the front door and carefully got out. Then he immediately stuck his head out from the railing and checked to see if there were any moving zombies near the entrance to the apartment.

If they had heard this, they would definitely flock here.

“He’s not coming..?”

“Could they not have heard..?”

“I guess so.”

However, the zombies did not seem to respond to this sound and were struggling under the streetlight opposite the entrance. They probably flocked to the streetlights. Either this sound didn’t reach the first floor… Or the zombies didn’t respond to this sound at all.

-Kkiik..

“Uh..”

“Ah..”

After looking down with my sister for a while, I carefully opened the door and ran into Jun Ho-jae coming out. It seemed like the old man heard something strange and came out to check. And Han Seung-hee followed him outside, carrying a crowbar.

“You and Seunghee heard something too, right?”

“Yeah.. There was some kind of buzzing sound.. Did you hear it too, Mr. Inho?”

“Yes.. I can hear it from above.. I’ll check behind you.. Would you like to lead the way?”

“I guess so.. Let’s go..”

We opened the fire door leading to the stairs.

Fortunately, there were no zombies wandering the stairs. Judging by the cries of zombies that can be vaguely heard from afar, they are probably crying near the second or first floor.

“There is nothing…”

“Okay… “

After confirming that there were no zombies, we went up to the 8th floor.

“It’s not here.. It’s a little higher..”

“9th floor..? Or..”

“It looks like a rooftop..”

The source of the sound was not the 8th floor. It can be heard a little higher.

The man said he thought the sound was coming from the rooftop and asked her to go up to the rooftop and take a look. I nodded and followed the man up, going up.

On the way, I checked the 9th and 10th floors just in case.

“There is a house with a light on..”

“That’s right… I’ll check that later… “

“Okay.. Let’s go up to the rooftop.”

The light was on in room 1003. Since I didn’t check after the 8th floor, I wasn’t sure if there were any survivors on the 9th and 10th floors… It seems like there were people in a few houses who survived .

For now, since it wasn’t an immediate issue, we went up to the roof. The door to the rooftop was locked.

“Oh my..”

“Wait a minute.”

Seunghee gripped the rooftop door handle tightly.

-Click.

In an instant, the locked door opened. It was thanks to her unlocking skill.

“…”

Due to a penalty for using her abilities, Seunghee was unable to speak. When the man asked if he was okay, Seunghee Han nodded his head as if there was no problem.

“Then.. I’ll open the door.”

“Yes..”

We opened the rooftop door and went outside, very nervous about what was going to happen.

-Wow. Wow.

“Well… What is that…”

Something was floating in the center of the flat rooftop covered in green waterproof paint.

‘That is…’

No matter how you looked at it, it looked like a gate. A portal-like thing that often appears in hunter novels was floating in the air, slightly pushing the surrounding air.

“Hey, Mr. Inho.. Do you know.. What that is?”

“Uh.. I’m not sure either..”

“Huh.. What.. It’s not an alien’s prank..”

Mr. Junho muttered absentmindedly when he saw the gate emitting a blue light and a strange humming sound.

We couldn’t approach or move quickly. In real life, just seeing zombies appear makes me dizzy… But seeing the gate even appear made me feel like I was going crazy.

‘In the first place… It was strange that I gained superpowers…’

I thought it was a simple zombie apocalypse… But I never thought an abnormal phenomenon would occur like this.

“Um, Mr. Inho… Is it okay if I just leave it like that…?”

“Well, I’m good too… “

We cautiously approached the strange object that seemed to be a gate.

-Wooow.. Wooung.

As it got closer, a faint tremor was felt. I also felt like some strange energy was passing through my skin.

[A crack in construction was found.]

[It is a ‘simple labyrinth’ that disappears when conquered.]

[Only survival level 1 or higher is allowed to enter.]

“Simple labyrinth..?”

“Ah…”

A message appeared in front of me and my uncle… As expected, this was the gate leading to the dungeon.

“Um, uh… Mr. Inho… Do you know what the survival level is?”

“Yes? Ah..”

It seemed like he hadn’t even looked in the mirror yet. You have to look in the mirror to remember your stats.

“When you look in the mirror, you will remember your abilities.. Go down later and check it.. It will probably be level 0, but…”

“Aha..”

The man and Seunghee Han said that they had not seen any new messages since they first awakened. It was the same for Saeyeon.

This automatically meant that these three people were still at a survival level of 0. It was only after killing dozens of zombies that my survival level reached 1, so in a way, it was a natural result.

If you didn’t kill zombies with enthusiasm, your survival rating would still be 0.

‘Should I go in and see this… ‘

They say that only survival level 1 or higher can enter, so I have to go in and out alone… I didn’t know what was in there, so I didn’t feel like going in.

To put it bluntly, I’m not a combat genius… I’m not a regressor or anything, so should I just rush into this because I’m crazy? Even if there are more than five zombies gathered together, it’s scary…

After all, it is crazy to throw yourself into a gap in time and space without any information.

“First of all, shall we go down again?”

“W-Is that so..? It doesn’t seem like we can do anything right now..”

We tried to go back, saying we shouldn’t mess with something so strict.

At that time, an electric current crackled from the gate and lightly touched me.

“Ugh..!”

“Inho..!”

The moment the electric current hit me, I felt a sharp pain and was so startled that I fell, and Saeyeon quickly ran to me and helped me up.

‘What was that… ? Compensation…?’

The moment the energy flowing from the gate passed me, something passed before my eyes. It was clearly the word compensation. It seemed like they were giving me some kind of box…

“Hey, Mr. Inho..! Are you okay?”

“Ah.. Yes..”

After giving the man a cursory answer, I stood up. Then I approached the gate again.

“Now, wait a minute..! Inho..!”

“Oh, it’s okay.. I just wanted to check for a moment..”

Despite Saeyeon’s dissuasion, I eventually arrived right in front of the gate. Then, the air flowing out of the gate became quiet, and the phrase I had seen in passing a moment ago came back to mind.

[Difficulty: Low]

[Labyrinth Name: Twisted Basement]

[Entry conditions: Survival level 1 or higher.]

[Imposed goal: Reach to the first floor.]

[Goal achievement reward: Green reward box]

[Capacity: 0/15]

[Would you like to enter?]

[Y/N]

“What is this…”

What is this? They say it’s a simple labyrinth of low difficulty… It’s connected to a twisted basement. It was quite suspicious that they even suggested a specific location and goal. Giving a reward seemed like they were hoping someone would come in.

“Hmm…”

If you can climb up to the first floor from the twisted basement… You can get something called a green reward box. It’s not a mission that tells you to fight or kill something… It’s a very simple mission in a way that just requires you to go up to the first floor.

‘But if you think about it differently… Wouldn’t this mean that you might be too busy running around without having time to do anything else… ?’

I still couldn’t go in and continued to worry. At that time, the number of people that could be accommodated changed.

[Capacity: 1/15]

“Huh..?”

The number increased by 1. This means that a gate identical to this one opened in another location other than here. This means there is not just one entrance..

I thought the number of people allowed was the number of party members who could enter together, but that wasn’t the case. This simple labyrinth was a kind of server, and an unspecified number of people entered through gates opened from all over the country.

[Capacity: 7/15]

In the meantime, other applicants rushed into the gate. It’s already almost half full. If you stay still, you won’t be able to get in. When I thought that I might have to leave due to the number of people being limited, I became anxious for no reason.

‘Should I go too…’ ‘ Yes, maybe this could be an opportunity… ‘

I felt extremely conflicted. At that time, someone again entered the twisted basement.

[Capacity: 13/15]

“Oh my..”

There are now only two seats left. Maybe this is the opportunity of a lifetime. It won’t work. I had a strong feeling that if I missed this opportunity, I would regret it later. What’s inside there? I need to check what other rewards are in the green reward box.

I looked back at my companions and said.

“I’m just going to come out here for a moment..”

“What? Wait a minute.. I knew there was something in there..”

“I don’t know what there is, but they say they will give you a reward if you come out alive. And 13 people have already entered.. I’ll be back.”

“Now, wait a minute..! Inho! It’s too dangerous..!”

[Capacity: 14/15]

While I was chatting with Saeyeon for a while, another person came in. I really don’t have time anymore. I will have to eat the last remaining seat.

“I’ll be back!”

I jumped into the gate. Without knowing what lies beyond.

[Capacity: 15/15]

[Reception closed.]

[The door to the labyrinth closes.]

After that message, my consciousness was cut off.