Chapter 24 – Zombie Apocalypse (21)

After finishing work at the supermarket, I came back and slept well.

I think I used a little too much mental power yesterday, perhaps due to the effect of combat sleep, but my body and head were fine.

It would have been quite difficult if I had had to kill the zombies at the entrance and deal with everyone on my own, but I thought the fight was much easier in many ways because there were spearmen.

Today again, I stroked Naeun’s firm buttocks, who had been sleeping a little longer than me.

Then I closed my eyes and used presence detection.

As I increased the range, my head hurt a little, but I gave up using it because I thought I could still check for nearby zombies inside the house.

It had a circular shape that increased the detection range, but since presence detection was used on the 3rd floor, I had to use too much mental power to identify the zombies on the ground, so I thought it would be better to just check with my eyes.

While trying to find a zombie, I was able to find the location of Jung Jun-ho, who was supposed to be in room 303. Looking at the street, it seemed like he was sleeping in room 304.

Since I blocked the entrance myself, I’ll be fine.

I picked up my smartphone and checked the time.

Now, 2 days and 12 hours have passed since the zombie outbreak occurred, just over halfway.

I decided to unlock it and browse news and community sites.

In overseas countries where many zombies appeared, a significant number of sites were dead without being updated.

I don’t know what’s going on with YouTube, but we have to accept only the raw information posted by individuals here.

There are now quite a few videos of people fighting against zombies, and fortunately, there are videos that end in victory.

It seemed like it was broadcast in real time, but the real-time chat was a mess.

Even just hoping for victory wasn’t enough, so some people asked if zombies had human rights, while others asked for help.

If you ignore that and check the fighting methods, most of them use long-range weapons such as spears.

Swinging a baseball bat in this situation is a bit foolish.

Then, I remembered something I had used as a quick fix during yesterday’s fight.

Shield.

I swung a bag containing a baseball bat and used it as a shield, and I thought it could be a new form of armor.

I got up from the bed and opened my bag, which was slightly torn from being stabbed.

There were three baseball bats inside, and when I put them together in the forward, reverse, and forward directions, it was not big, but it had a pretty nice shape.

I think the width would be fine if there were two more, but since Naeun and I were using them, we couldn’t add them.

I started to think that I only got gas burners and gas from the supermarket.

There must have been more things there that could be used as iron plates.

Alternatively, you can use it by tearing off the refrigerator door in room 301.

It looks like it will be empty tomorrow if it’s a little early.

“What are you doing?”

Naeun asked after seeing me pondering over the baseball bat.

“Worried about the shield? Naeun, did you sleep well?”

When I turned to the bed, I saw that Naeun had a very tired face.

It looks like you’re tired because you don’t have the ability to battle sleep like me.

“I feel like I slept well, but I’m tired. I guess I paid a little too much attention at night.”

It seemed like Naeun immediately picked up her smartphone and sent a message.

And the incoming phone call.

“Young-eun, is it okay if I call you?”

Naeun immediately switched to speakerphone and I sat next to Naeun.

“Yes. The supermarket has calmed down a bit.”

“Really? Are you okay?”

“It should be okay. Yesterday, the victims gathered together and cried while washing their bodies, and I felt relieved. They must have all died, too. Those who will live should continue to live.”

Seeing him speak in a more relaxed voice than when we spoke last night, I felt like he had calmed down a bit.

“Okay. Good job. Can you tell me what Mart will do now?”

“We couldn’t really hear because we were washing up, but Mart is thinking of stopping gathering people. At least we’ll keep quiet until the injured get their strength back. And the women also decided to practice how to use weapons. Those who are dexterous. Are you planning to make more windows? They are still making them.”

When I heard those words and listened closely, I could hear the sound of metal hitting from afar.

I guess she knew that she was more afraid of not having the strength to protect her colleagues than of the zombies coming.

After the injured people recover, Mart will likely become much stronger.

“If you need any supplies later, come to the mart. You can join us.”

“Yes, I understand.”

That’s how I ended the conversation with Young-eun.

After being quiet for a moment, I spoke.

“Naeun, shall we have lunch now?”

“Yeah. What should I make today?”

I thought that no matter what it was, it would have red pepper paste in it.

*

Since there were no quests, I decided to rest in the room with Naeun today.

Naeun looked tired even after taking a nap, perhaps because he had to march a bit last night.

Today, after eating a red lunch, Naeun and I were lying in bed covered with a blanket, but it got a little noisy outside.

“Who’s here? I’ll check and come back.”

“Yes. When I come. Melon bar.”

She lightly flicked Naeun’s forehead with her finger as she talked about the ice cream that was now difficult to eat, and then went out into the hallway.

Outside the officetel, three men wielded weapons to kill zombies and then attempted to enter the officetel.

If you look at the fact that they come by killing zombies instead of just randomly dragging them around, it looks like your personality is at a passing level, right?

I went downstairs to talk to those men.

“Who are you?”

“Huh? People?”

“Yeah. There were a lot of strange zombie corpses here.”

“Eye. Is this where people live? They’ve laid barbed wire everywhere else and blocked the entrances, but there’s nothing here?”

While the men were talking, one man told us why he came to our officetel.

Since it was a place that had no special defense measures in place against zombies, it seemed to be perceived as a place where they could freely steal supplies.

“Yesterday? Did you hear before that? They were intentionally creating zombies in places with a lot of people. So there were fewer people, so they were more bearable.”

“Seup. By the way. You’ve come this far, and you’re the only one showing your face. Doesn’t that mean there’s no one there, or you’re the only one? Aren’t you bluffing?”

I was definitely the only one in this officetel who expressed his opinion.

The 1st and 2nd floors must have heard that commotion, but they were stuck inside the house.

It was tempting to think that I was the only one occupying this officetel.

He wasn’t very well armed, and he looked tired from coming all the way here, but I was confident that I could win even if I fought alone.

I thought about just going down and breaking one arm, but I heard a man’s voice upstairs.

“There are people who can make you into muksabal. Just go. Why are you waking me up when I’m sleeping to save energy?”

“Fuck… Eat well and live well, you bastards!”

The intruder who said that picked up a rock from the floor and threw it at the window in the hallway on the first floor.

Clink.

There was a loud sound of glass breaking, and the intruders disappeared out of the officetel with weapons in hand.

“I think we need to block the entrance.”

It’s a bit of a hassle to do alone, but it’s for everyone, so I said it above.

“If you want to do it, do it yourself.”

A reply was heard from above and the door was slammed shut.

They are strange people.

It’s easy to overlook what the man in Room 104 would do with a female zombie corpse, but he doesn’t participate in protecting the officetel.

“Someone with regrets should do it.”

Now that I can complete Yoo Sian’s quest in two days and less than half a day, I just want to spend the remaining time quietly with Naeun.

To be honest, going to the supermarket yesterday felt like it was too much.

After going into the room and seeing that Naeun was sleeping despite the noise, I decided to move on my own.

The first thing I did was break down the door of room 102.

Still, Nos. 104 and 106 showed no particular reaction.

Is he dead?

I used presence detection and both people were doing something in the room.

It’s alive.

Room 102 was clean compared to the room next door, and looking at the various cup ramens strewn about, it seems like they went to a convenience store to collect cup ramen during the zombie outbreak.

I guess he didn’t come back after that.

I filled the bag I brought with me with cup noodles and tore off the most important front door.

Perhaps because of his strength, he opened the door and then ran to it and kicked it, causing it to tear open in one go.

In that way, the door of room 101, which was used as a garbage dump, was torn off and placed at the entrance of the officetel.

I felt like I needed to support something heavy, so it wouldn’t be easily pushed away, so I went back to room 102.

Although it’s about as heavy as a refrigerator, it wouldn’t be enough to use it to block the entrance.

If I want, I can even destroy the wall separating rooms 302 and 303 using the refrigerator and other miscellaneous items.

“Is it because of my standards?”

The refrigerator is moderately heavy.

I lifted the refrigerator with both hands and placed it behind the front door, which was roughly stacked at the entrance.

Then, I roughly blocked the entrance by tearing down the curtains and wrapping them around the front door and refrigerator.

Actually, the most important thing is the way to my house from the stairs on the 3rd floor.

As long as I block that area completely, I won’t lose anything.

I thought it was necessary to secure an emergency escape route in case of an unexpected situation, so that would be okay.

*

Days 3 and 4 passed smoothly.

On the third day, I guess blocking the entrance was effective, so I couldn’t see any zombies coming into the front yard of the officetel, and I had a sweet time with Naeun, who had a good night’s sleep and had recovered after waking up.

On the fourth day, I heard a few loud sounds from above, as if the front door was being broken down, but I decided not to pay any attention to it.

I also have a record of destroying two officetel buildings without consulting with the residents.

Naeun talked to Yeongeun on the phone once a day to hear about the situation at the supermarket, and she even called her parents once on the fourth day, her hands shaking slightly.

Fortunately, Naeun’s two parents were staying at home, so they were spending time disconnected from the outside world.

I also called Lee Sian’s parents, and they both said that they do not go out and live a life of saving food at home.

‘There are now 24 hours left.’

『Tutorial Quest-3』

〈Survive the possessed body.〉

-Time remaining: 24:05:21

-Completion: [Skill] ?