Chapter 22: Clash (2)

“Alright. This should be enough, right?”

After sharing information about the Vampiric Tree, Han-seong’s post was soon flooded with numerous comments. They ranged from concerns about his safety, assuming he had attacked the elite monster to learn its level, to questions about the appearance of its minions.

Han-seong carefully replied to each comment.

However, there were some questions that were difficult to answer.

“…Why are they asking things like this?”

Questions about his level, skills, coins held, and nationality – things unrelated to the Vampiric Tree but personal to Han-seong. He decided not to answer questions unrelated to the Vampiric Tree.

‘It would be troublesome if my identity was exposed.’

Currently, Han-seong had no means of transportation.

Let alone driving a car, he couldn’t even run away on foot in his current situation.

Until he had a means of escape from his current location, like a teleportation skill, it would be dangerous for his identity to be specified.

While looking through other comments, one caught his attention.

↳ You must be low on mana from frequently using skills. Are you doing better these days?

The tone was as if they knew him well.

Moreover, it wasn’t entirely wrong. Just a few days ago, Han-seong had been struggling with mana depletion due to frequent skill use.

‘Then probably…’

It must be someone who had witnessed Han-seong using skills or a survivor living nearby.

Then there was only one answer.

Tae-min’s group. Most likely Tae-min himself. Han-seong let out a small chuckle.

“Feeling bitter about losing the Alchemist, I see.”

It seemed Tae-min had intended to use Ji-hye to trade with him. Recalling the events from a few days ago, Han-seong replied:

[Mage]: Yes, thanks to that.

After writing this provocative response, Han-seong looked through a few more comments before exiting the post. He judged that he had already achieved his original goal of information sharing.

But then he noticed a new post on the board. It was a fresh, just-uploaded post.

[Title]: The Possibility of Skill Evolution

The fact that they could post here meant they were a 3-star rank or 3rd tier survivor or higher. Han-seong’s eyes lit up with curiosity. The title was particularly eye-catching.

So he decided to take a look.

▷I’m informing all survivors reading this post. When first acquiring skills, learn skills with the shortest cooldown times first.

The reason is simple. If you use one skill countless times, that skill evolves. In fact, my skill evolved just yesterday.

“Skills can evolve?”

Han-seong tilted his head.

He too had used numerous skills in rotation since the Upheaval, but he had never received a notification about a skill evolving.

‘Let’s read a bit more.’

Since there was still more content, he continued reading the Slinger’s post.

▷First, let me explain my skill.

My job is Slinger. The first attack skill I acquired after the Upheaval was ‘Sling Shot’. It’s a skill that throws stones at high speed to smash zombie heads.

The cooldown is 5 minutes. It only consumes 5 energy. Thanks to this, I’ve been able to use it frequently and accumulate quite a few coins from the start.

And as I mentioned earlier, yesterday my skill suddenly evolved along with an achievement notification. After that, the Sling Shot skill changed into a different skill.

It’s called ‘Stone Vulcan’.

Stone Vulcan. The cooldown is 30 minutes.

Its effect is to automatically collect up to 10 stones and store them in a virtual storage, then fire them with three to four times the power of Sling Shot.

It seems similar in type to Han-seong’s Magic Arrow or Wind Cutter. In any case, it was clearly superior to the Sling Shot skill.

“Repeated use of skills…”

Here, Han-seong wondered.

How many times would one need to use a skill to meet the evolution conditions? At that moment, other survivors seemed to have the same thought as similar questions poured in.

↳ How many repetitions are needed?

↳ Does it reset if you use other skills in between?

↳ How do passive skills evolve?

Countless questions flooded in.

Soon after, the Slinger’s replies followed.

[Slinger]: I repeated it a thousand times.

[Slinger]: It doesn’t reset. Seems to accumulate?

[Slinger]: Sorry lol, I don’t know about that.

“A thousand repetitions?”

Han-seong’s eyes widened.

Well, thinking about it, it would be possible.

Earlier, he did say that Sling Shot’s cooldown was only 5 minutes. As Han-seong was organizing his thoughts, he soon wrote a question post.

↳ Is there a function to display or check how many times you’ve used a skill?

The Slinger said he repeated it a thousand times.

If he could state a number, there must be a way to check the number of skill uses. However, Han-seong’s guess was completely off the mark.

[Slinger]: There isn’t. I just suddenly received a message yesterday saying the skill would evolve after using Sling Shot a thousand times.

‘Ah, so that’s how it works.’

Then in the end, you just have to keep using the skill until the notification appears. Han-seong nodded as if understanding.

At that moment, a new reply was posted.

[Slinger]: Oh, come to think of it, when I achieved the feat, an item called ‘rarity’ was displayed, and mine showed as ‘basic’. I’m not sure what this means though.

While it was nice of him to share the information kindly, it wasn’t particularly helpful information at present.

Han-seong wrote a comment thanking him, then opened the list of skills he had acquired so far.

‘The skill I’ve used the most is…’

Undoubtedly Magic Arrow.

Its current effective range was 1.4km. That’s twice as far as Wind Cutter. Also, the firing speed of Magic Arrow was slightly faster.

So Han-seong set the Collector to auto mode, while using Magic Arrow to deal with zombies in places that were awkward for the Collector to hunt.

‘Then for now, should I focus on using Magic Arrow more consciously?’

To experiment with skill evolution as well.

With this resolution, Han-seong stored Magic Arrow in the skill slot of his bracelet. It happened to be empty, which worked out well.

Having finished his task, Han-seong exited the auction house and focused back on the Collector. To guide it towards areas with many zombies.

About an hour later.

“Good. That should do it.”

He had stored Magic Arrow in the bracelet’s skill slot three times. Now he could fire fifteen arrows in succession without using mana.

Just then, the Collector had also finished hunting all the zombies in the vicinity. The evidence was that there were no red dots in the nearby area on the map.

‘Let’s see how much we earned.’

Han-seong checked the coins engraved on his palm.

The coins earned while emptying two bottles of potion amounted to about 900 coins. This was the sum of what the Collector had hunted and what Han-seong had gained from striking with skills.

‘Really amazing efficiency.’

If you add up the cost of materials and labor, one bottle of potion is worth about 25 coins. If you buy sugar and salt from the shop, it’s about 30 coins.

In other words, he had earned 900 coins by consuming potions worth 60 coins. Han-seong smiled with satisfaction, then expanded the map widely.

‘The south is mostly cleared now…’

The next areas to advance to were west and east.

Towards Gangnam and Gangdong-gu respectively. Especially Gangnam, perhaps due to its high floating population, had numerous zombies swarming in a small area.

If he sent the Collector there, he could earn several times the coins gained today. Of course, he was planning to send it tomorrow morning as he was tired in various ways today.

“I should tell it to come back soon.”

Han-seong issued a return command to the Collector while examining the Gangnam area with Open Map. To scout locations to dispatch the Collector tomorrow.

Just then, moving blue dots on the roads of the map caught his eye.

“Hm? Are those survivors?”

About twenty blue dots.

They were moving from the Gangnam direction towards Songpa where Han-seong was. Judging by their speed, they seemed to be in vehicles.

Meanwhile, just as the blue dots passed Teheran-ro and were about to enter Olympic-ro, a scene unfolded that made him doubt his eyes.

“…Huh?”

Suddenly, countless faint red dots began to sprout in the middle of the road.

The pale crimson dots gradually turned into vivid red, and soon dozens of red dots were marked on the map.

Han-seong was quite taken aback.

“What, what’s this?”

They definitely weren’t there just a moment ago.

How could they suddenly appear?

As he was swallowing his bewilderment, a phenomenon occurred that surprised him even more. A square dot appeared among the red dots.

“An elite monster!”

Han-seong’s eyes widened.

Red dots weren’t much of a concern, but if there was an elite monster, that was a different story.

Moreover, the road where they appeared was near Sports Complex Station. About 3.4km away from here.

It was natural to be on guard when an elite monster appeared closer than the Vampiric Tree. Han-seong immediately decided to examine those coordinates.

[Activating Precise Observation.]

[Vision is shared.]

The moment he observed those coordinates.

He saw monsters, different from zombies, chasing four vehicles. Han-seong zoomed in his view and soon identified the nature of the monsters.

“…Centipedes?”

Hard-looking shells and numerous legs.

Anyone would recognize them as centipedes. However, they were a bit different from the centipedes Han-seong knew. After all, dozens of these centipedes were almost human-sized.

Also, the giant centipede presumed to be the elite monster was so huge that its size reminded one of a high-speed train.

Then Han-seong noticed something.

“That’s…!”

The area where the red dots had appeared on the map.

He belatedly discovered that dozens of holes and a massive hole reminiscent of a sinkhole had formed in that location.

Seeing this, Han-seong finally realized why they hadn’t been marked on the map before.

‘They were moving underground!’

Han-seong’s unique skill, Open Map.

This mysterious map shows not only the interiors of buildings but even underground shopping malls. However, that doesn’t mean it’s omnipotent.

In fact, subway tracks deep underground aren’t displayed on the map. In other words, you can’t know what’s in the deep underground.

‘The sudden appearance of the centipede monsters on the map must be for a similar reason.’

If they usually live and move in the deep underground, Open Map can’t detect them.

Of course, it’s different now. The centipede monsters have surfaced and revealed themselves. Han-seong touched the coordinates where the centipede monsters were and used his skill.

[Activating skill.]

[Remote: Detection]

[Name]: Centipede Larva

The first to appear were the centipede monsters relatively in front of the elite monster. They didn’t seem particularly concerning.

Next, the information about the elite monster was revealed.

And Han-seong’s expression hardened.

[Name]: Centipede Queen

[Owned Skills]: Poisonous Liquid, Poison Mist, Spawning

[Weakness]: Magic, Divine, Spirit

‘…Level 25.’

This meant there was a possibility it had leveled up by hunting people, just like the Vampiric Tree. Realizing this fact, Han-seong’s eyes turned cold.

While analyzing the Centipede Queen’s skills, weaknesses, and weak spots, the survivors had already reached near Jamsilsaenae Station.

An area only about 2km away from the officetel where Han-seong was. The centipede monsters were also fiercely pursuing the survivors.

‘At this rate, they’ll encounter each other.’

Just like when he first faced the Collector.

But he wasn’t as tense or scared as back then. He had more magic at his disposal now, and also a reliable subordinate in the Collector.

Rather, this was what he had been hoping for.

Thud! Thoom!

The sound of footsteps beyond the front door.

It seemed the Collector, which he had ordered to return, had arrived. Han-seong pulled his wheelchair and opened the front door, then placed his hand on the Collector’s back.

[Replica: Collector]

[Switching to Manual Mode.]

Simultaneously, the viewpoint changed.

Before fully controlling the Collector, Han-seong looked at the potions piled under the desk.

‘We have enough potions.’

Enough for a prolonged battle.

Then there was no reason to hesitate.

Han-seong stared at the Centipede Queen and the survivors, who had now approached within 1.5km, and pinpointed their movement path and coordinates.

A moment later, the Collector moved.

Whoosh! Crash!

The Collector, leaping down from the 9th floor, sprinted through the streets at a terrifying speed. To hunt the monsters that would soon step into its territory.

Axe Warrior, Park Young-cheol.

Known as the eternal manager at his company, he was currently feeling utterly insane.

One reason was the increased mental burden of becoming the next leader after Choi, the actual leader of the group, had died recklessly.

But the bigger reason was the horde of monsters chasing them.

“Assistant Manager Kim! Step on it more. They’re about to catch up!”

“B-but there are zombies on the road…”

“Just ram through them and keep going!”

“There are too many! If the car stops in the middle, we’re done for!”

“The centipedes are a bigger problem than the zombies. You all saw what happened to Manager Choi earlier!”

At Young-cheol’s shout, Assistant Manager Kim’s expression at the wheel stiffened. The other employees were the same.

That’s how shocking Manager Choi’s demise had been. Young-cheol felt his heart shrinking as he grimaced.

“Anyway, step on it more. At this rate…!”

We’ll be caught by the centipede monsters.

Then we’ll end up just like Manager Choi.

But at that moment, the intern staff Minjeong and Eunhee in the back seat widened their eyes.

“M-Manager! Look over there!”

“It seems they’re not chasing us anymore?”

“…What?”

It was true.

With Seokchon Lake barely 1km away, the centipede monsters suddenly stopped in their tracks. Then they all turned to look north.

“What could be over there…”

“Ah! I remember now.”

“What is it?”

“I saw on the auction house’s information sharing board that there’s an incredibly powerful monster in that direction.”

Hearing those words, Young-cheol remembered too.

The story he had heard from the employees before the chase with the centipede monsters began. Then Eunhee, who had accessed the auction house again, sparkled her eyes.

“It’s true. They say there’s an elite monster called the Vampiric Tree near Ttukseom Hangang Park. It’s said to have over a thousand minions.”

“…That place is even more of a hell than here.”

Young-cheol let out a hollow laugh.

Even dealing with dozens of centipede monsters was overwhelming, let alone over a thousand.

But that was only for a moment. His expression hardened as he opened the car door and rushed out.

“What are you all doing?! Get out quickly!”

“Huh? Why so suddenly…”

“You idiots! We need to clear the zombies on the road! So we can escape before those centipede bastards start chasing us again!”

Young-cheol shouted in frustration.

At his words, about twenty employees hurriedly got out of the cars. To clear the zombies blocking the road and resume their journey.

Fortunately, the centipede monsters were still motionless, their gaze fixed on the north.

‘Stay still like that, will you.’

Young-cheol gritted his teeth.

Soon, the clash with the zombies began.

Whoosh! Crack!

Young-cheol swung the logging axe he had taken from the trunk, beheading a zombie.

As he hunted zombies at a rapid pace, he recalled how their peaceful daily life until yesterday had come to such an extreme turn.

‘This is all because of that bastard.’

About a week ago.

Young-cheol had been repeating the routine of hunting zombies while using the company building on Teheran-ro as a base.

Under the leadership of Manager Choi, who had always been charismatic, order and discipline were maintained, and thanks to this, the employees adapted to the new world without much confusion.

But then.

While roaming around a nearby mart to find food, Young-cheol and the employees accidentally encountered another group of survivors.

‘Bae Hyeon-seok.’

The leader of the other survivor group.

A man who approached with a kind smile, contrary to his somewhat rough-looking face.

That man suddenly handed out food to Young-cheol and the employees, saying to take care of each other from now on, and then disappeared.

‘We shouldn’t have accepted it…’

No, even if we did, we should have been suspicious before eating it. As they had run out of food, Young-cheol and the employees ate the food Hyeon-seok had given them.

And that night.

Terrible pain struck. Vomiting, diarrhea, and some even coughed up blood.

Soon, Young-cheol realized. That something was wrong with the food Hyeon-seok had given them.

‘But…’

It was already too late.

The next morning, Hyeon-seok returned with a completely different attitude from yesterday.

You are in a poisoned state, and if you don’t take the antidote, you’ll die within three days.

So if you want to live, follow my orders.

That was roughly the content. And so, the employees had no choice but to follow Hyeon-seok’s instructions.

‘And last night.’

The problematic incident occurred.

Bae Hyeon-seok suddenly visited their base and started spouting nonsense out of nowhere.