episode_0243

“This… what… ”

I quickly covered my mouth with my hand and looked around.

Green mist rose from all directions.

It was only for a moment, but my entire field of vision was dyed green to the point where I couldn’t see it.

But other than this, there didn’t seem to be much else.

The fog continued to appear, but it was not as green as it had been at first.

It just created a very humid environment.

I felt like I had entered a room with lots of sprinklers on.

No, maybe that was really what it was for.

“… I think I read it in a book.”

Some trees are said to release chemicals when animals eat their leaves.

Did you mean to quickly secrete poison into other nearby trees?

Anyway, this one seemed similar to that.

Because I set the chemical on fire, it seemed like it misunderstood that it was on fire and released all the moisture.

“Ugh, it’s humid.”

I waved my arms around, but nothing changed.

The fog had risen to the point where visibility was blurred and had no intention of going away.

Still, I was glad that I didn’t get anything out of it.

“It looks like there are some zombie characteristics here too.”

In the original work, the zombie virus prioritized the preservation of the species.

This was also the reason why zombies began to mutate so quickly.

First of all, in order to preserve the virus, we are going to try various things.

So I thought it was limited to living zombies…

Looking at this example, it seemed like it also applied to plants.

“… Yes, it’s good that I figured it out.”

I said that and wrapped my upper body with both arms.

One thing I forgot was that it was only the end of February.

Is it early March? Anyway, one thing was certain.

Spring hasn’t really arrived, so the weather is still quite chilly.

And now I was in a sports bra and shorts.

With fog appearing there, it felt like my body temperature was dropping in real time.

It would have been better if there were zombies around.

My body must have gradually tensed and generated heat, and the body temperature must have been maintained somehow.

But it seemed like there were no zombies here at all.

“Damn, I need to get out of here altogether.”

I grumbled and lightly jumped in place a few times.

I wanted to just go back to the base, but it was obvious that the fog was thick even inside the building.

It seemed like the inside of the base was definitely filled with fog, so I thought it would be better to get out of here.

“If I had known this would happen, I would have brought something more.”

No, I didn’t think there would be any significant change even if I took care of it.

There is such widespread fog, there is no way we can do anything about it.

Also, perhaps because it was so cold, a crackling sound came out of my mouth.

Still, I was glad that it wasn’t too dangerous.

Anyway, if you leave this area, your body temperature will return quickly.

So I started running straight down the road.

Fortunately, after running for a few minutes, the fog slowly began to disappear.

I looked around for a moment more, and then walked back to a place where there was no fog.

And it wasn’t just the fog that appeared earlier, it seemed like pollen was floating in the air.

Of course it seemed bad for my health, but there was nothing I could do about it.

“… Which is better?”

Risking a drop in body temperature, I went back to the base and took a mask.

Or wait here, believing that something like pollen won’t have any effect.

The former or the latter, that was the question.

But when I thought about it, I thought the latter would be better.

If my body temperature dropped and I caught a cold, it would be difficult to recover from this situation.

Well, if I wasn’t feeling well, I could just retreat.

But rather than retreating because of a cold, I wanted to retreat because of things like pollen.

Then you can gain at least one piece of knowledge.

“I came here to scout, so I should at least get something.”

I repeated that and walked deeper into the city.

My physical condition doesn’t seem that bad, and I don’t see any zombies around.

I felt like I could wander around this area some more to get information.

Above all, it would be of greater help if you could find an accurate map nearby.

All I know is the way to get here, not the way inside.

The more times like this, the more I missed the Internet.

If I had Internet, I would have just opened the map app and checked.

Well, they are trying their best to restore the communication network.

There were rumors like that, but I couldn’t find out the details.

Of course, it didn’t seem like it was producing proper results.

“If you had it, you would have given it to me.”

Noh Chang-hoon’s personality was obvious even without looking at him.

It was clear that if he could come here and use it, he would have done whatever it took to get it to me.

It seemed like he preached for hours while nagging me to put it to good use.

I grumbled internally for a moment, then started walking again.

I didn’t know where to go, but if I walked around, it seemed like I would come across a huge building.

So, there are schools, offices, etc.

It was clear that if you searched in those places, you would find something.

Even if that wasn’t the case, it would have been nice if traces could be found.

I thought that even if there were traces of survivors, it would be helpful in identifying this place.

After walking like that for a few tens of minutes, I felt my body slowly getting warmer.

But after walking this long, it was normal to see something.

“… What is it?”

As I continued to look around, I noticed something strange.

Because everything around was green, it was difficult to get a feel for it.

So, I was confused about where on earth I had come.

Of course, it wasn’t completely confusing.

The heights of the buildings were different, and the street trees were also different.

“This seems pretty messed up… ?”

But I couldn’t tell where exactly it was.

As it happened, there was moss-like material all over the signs.

At least I couldn’t make out anything about the surrounding geography.

It was covered in vines and moss or something, so it was clear that you wouldn’t be able to tell where it was until you tore it all down.

I looked around blankly for a moment, then closed my mouth.

This is something I should have guessed when I came here.

Yes, this is a den of zombies. Of course, they will try to get rid of the intruder by any means necessary.

Would it be better to call it a den of plants rather than zombies?

Anyway, no matter what happened, it didn’t change the fact that I stuck my head in the tiger’s mouth.

First of all, I thought it would be best to calmly observe the situation.

And all I had to do was climb up to the tallest building in the area and take a look at the surrounding scenery.

I’m not an idiot either, so I’m sure I can at least tell where it’s coming from.

So I ran to a suitable building and broke down the door.

The door, wrapped in moss and vines, shattered in an instant.

And I went straight inside and broke down the emergency exit door.

After breaking down the door, I kicked up the stairs and went up.

I know I should calm down, but I just couldn’t.

I thought that if I made a mistake, I wouldn’t be able to get out of here.

There were no zombies, but that made it even scarier.

I could feel how strong the zombies were.

So no matter what kind of zombie appeared, if it was a strong zombie, I wasn’t that scared.

Rather, I heard it was like a desire to win or something like that.

But not now.

My enemies were not zombies, but mutant plants.

When I thought that this entire city had become my enemy, I naturally couldn’t calm down.

Are you exaggerating?

Okay, that might be an exaggeration.

Maybe I was judging wrong.

But for some reason, I felt an inexplicable confidence.

There was something weirder here than I thought.

I didn’t think it was okay to look down on it because it was full of plants.

So I broke down the door at a very fast pace and climbed up the stairs.

How long has it been like that?

I even broke down the rooftop door and went out.

Even the rooftop was full of green. It was a strange feeling of rustling every time I took a step.

Additionally, the air was quite thick. Every time I took a breath, I felt something like pollen entering my lungs.

“… What is this?”

I looked across and laughed in despair.

In the building across from there was the corpse of a huge monster.

Even if it were not possible, it would have been over 5 meters tall, but even that monster was dead with its hands outstretched in the air helplessly.

The corpses of other zombies were also seen around there.

That wasn’t the only thing.

In the distance, in the school playground, long flowers were constantly spewing out something.

The building on the left had a human-sized flower growing on the rooftop, and strange insects were constantly moving around there.

Only then could I be sure.

This could be said to be one giant zombie.

It is an organic life form that has taken over Gijang-gun.

This city, no. The entire Gijang army could be said to be enemies or nobles.

“If this is the case, at least… ”

count? No, this couldn’t have been the best count.

The count’s influence lasted at most a few districts.

A few dongs. A few towns. That was the limit of the count.

If you’re in control of a county, you’re a marquis.

It was Margrave.