13. Survivors. (1)

…Level 2?!

No way, I killed 27 of them?!

…1 level up for every 10 kills?

…Wow…

This is ridiculous, damn it.

Going from 1 level up per kill to 1 level up for every 10 kills is a bit much, isn’t it?

My motivation is completely drained.

“Status.”

ㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡ

Chosen One

[Specialization – Survival Expert] [Level – 3]

[Title – Gained Strength]

Status

[Health – 27/30] [Senses – 2/2]

[Strength – 0/27] [Agility – 4/4]

[Spirit – 10/60] [Intelligence – N/A]

[Unallocated Points – 2]

Skills

[Passive – Soul Tattoo Lv. 2]

[Passive – Recovery]

[Active – Acceleration] (Auto-casting)

ㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡ

…Damn it.

1 point per level up, right?

…Ah…

I sighed, pressing my forehead.

I had thought it was a bit strange that the leveling speed increased as I leveled up.

When I first received the Time Adjuster specialization and started leveling up, I think I leveled up twice on the first day, or maybe four times.

I hardly leveled up at all in the early stages.

From the next day, it gradually sped up, and by the end, I was leveling up by over 20 levels at a time. I definitely thought it was strange a few times.

You start at level 1 with a new specialization.

Continuously increasing health to shorten recovery time does result in being able to kill more in a day.

So, the leveling speed will keep increasing.

Yeah…

It’s good to have some constraints on leveling up, but 1 level up for every 10 kills is a bit much, damn it.

I need to get stronger quickly, but at this rate, when will I ever get strong?

“…Sigh…”

Ah, I’m getting anxious.

Can I go back home?

Parents, sister, friends.

…Damn it.

Pressing my forehead and sighing, I feel my energy draining.

I’ll let acceleration recover a bit and go back at night.

I went up to the attic and lay down.

I need to recover 50 spirit points.

With 30 health…

I need to rest for about 13 hours to fully recover.

…I can’t rest for 13 hours.

I’ll rest until night and go out again.

It’s important to recover quickly.

I added 2 points to health, went into the bathroom, washed off the blood, and lay down.

When I took off the maintenance gloves, the tattoo was incredibly vivid.

This damn thing.

I wonder what my old friends would say if they saw it.

If they’re still alive, that is.

Back in high school, I remember a guy who got into trouble and was sent to some juvenile detention center. When he came back, he had this ridiculous tattoo on his arm, some stupid Chinese characters, and he was hanging out with gangsters, sniffing glue, and extorting people. He was acting all tough, but I beat him up like a dog.

Well, I won because the message window told me I could beat him up like a dog, but it’s hard to say I won.

After that, he was called “tattoo freak” by me and my friends and was bullied until he dropped out and disappeared.

I can’t even remember his name.

Just “tattoo freak.”

If I show up with this tattoo, my friends…

“Ah, damn, this is really messed up.”

…The design isn’t that bad, though.

It’s a tattoo of something that looks like a flower burning, surrounded by several rings.

I don’t know what’s burning inside.

It’s weirdly designed, though.

Still, I don’t like it.

I remember seeing some old gangsters with tattoos on the streets.

Damn it.

Feeling like I’m in the same category as tattoo freaks and old gangster trash is really unpleasant.

Forget it, I’ll just go to sleep.

I just woke up, so I doubt I’ll fall asleep right away.

…YouTube was in chaos.

Not just in our country, but all over the world, there are countless channels pleading and crying out, asking what the president and the military are doing.

With the whole world in this state, what can a president do…

Looking around, every third or fourth house is growling.

This means roughly one in 30 or 40 people has turned.

Places where people gather in large numbers, like military barracks, are likely to have suffered catastrophic events.

Especially in barracks, it’s even more fatal.

Some units might have survived quickly, but others could have been decimated in just a few hours.

It’s unreasonable to expect the president to solve this, as he’s not a superhuman.

……Hm?

…There’s something strange on a channel…

What is this?

It looks like a World Cup soccer final crowd.

An enormous crowd fills the entire city.

Where is this?

It looks like a very steep slum.

…Rio de Janeiro?

Brazil?

Why are there so many people?

Is this an old video?

…The upload date is yesterday.

…Yesterday?

No way…

The channel owner is babbling urgently in Portuguese or some language I can’t understand.

I have no idea what they’re saying.

…Drone?

The word “drone” is often heard.

It seems to be filmed with a drone.

…The sight of an enormous crowd filling the slum is making me feel a bit dizzy.

Let’s check another channel.

…Oh, this is America.

…New York?

The skyscrapers look like Madison Square… from a movie I saw.

The crowd…

Is enormous.

Just like in Rio, an enormous crowd fills the city center.

I can’t understand what they’re saying in English.

The upload date is…

8 hours ago?

…What the hell…

…This is ominous.

People who were on the road and are now missing, clearly more should be there but they’re not visible.

I had this thought before.

Let’s check a Korean channel.

…Found one.

“…What the hell…”

…Where is this?

Incheon?!

Someone filmed it with a drone.

The streets of Incheon…

Are filled with a crowd.

At a glance, it looks like tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of people.

They completely fill the gaps between buildings and roads.

The channel owner is whispering.

“L, look at this, everyone. I, I always check the area with a drone before going out to get food. T, today, in front of my house… it’s… completely filled with zombies, and I, I can’t go out at all…”

The channel owner is trembling in extreme fear, and the sound of his teeth chattering can be heard between his words.

Roars and growls, overwhelming even the sound adjustments, can be heard.

The sound is so loud it shakes the house.

This person’s house is completely surrounded.

The channel owner whispered:

“T, these zombies are moving. I, I don’t know where they’re going. They keep coming endlessly and moving somewhere. A, apparently they’re heading towards Suwon, but I’m not sure. I, I don’t know if people there are safe. I, if you see this, be careful. L, let’s all stay safe and meet again.”

The channel owner waved his hand.

The video ended.

Upload time, 4 hours ago.

……The Human Beasts, they were gathering from the streets.

…It’s dangerous.

Those things aren’t here yet.

Not yet.

But if that horde shows up here…

This is no ordinary situation.

A week, or a month.

Or even longer.

I might not be able to step outside the house.

Even if I can deal with them quickly, I can’t kill an infinite number.

I can’t cut down tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands alone.

I jumped up from my seat.

I put on my gloves, grabbed my sword, and went outside.

…The growls from the high-rise building are still audible, but they’ve quieted down a lot.

It seems like a good time to head back.

…Is Soo-hyeon okay?

He’s probably at the hardware store, so I’ll check on him first.

I bent down and walked to the convenience store, then arrived at the hardware store.

Some clinking sounds and voices could be heard.

“Ah, those are welding rods. We need to take those too.”

“Yes, Soo-hyeon. Just tell me.”

…I feel relieved.

After seeing that, my tension was really high.

“Soo-hyeun.”

“Huh? Big brother.”

Soo-hyeun looks at me and smiles happily.

The large man, standing next to him, greets me as usual, calling me “sir.”

“How are you? Did you gather some supplies?”

“Yeah. I’m going to go back and come again.”

I nodded and asked:

“Soo-hyeun, how’s the fortification of the boarding house coming along?”

“It’s going well. Why?”

I held out my phone to Soo-hyeun.

“…Have you seen this?”

Soo-hyeun smiled happily.

“Wow, YouTube. I’ve been busy hammering for the past few days and couldn’t check it. What’s interesting… huh…?”

His expression changes.

The large man’s face also changes instantly.

“S, sir… T, this…”

I nodded.

“Incheon isn’t that far for these things. We need to fortify properly.”

“…It’s not just Incheon.”

Soo-hyeun said.

“Big brother. There are definitely enormous crowds in other parts of Seoul. There are probably many such crowds all over the country.”

…Soo-hyeun is right.

The crowd in the Rio video isn’t all the Human Beasts in Brazil, and the crowd in Madison Square isn’t all the Human Beasts in the U.S.

…Are these crowds only in Incheon?

Absolutely not.

There are likely tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of such crowds gathering and moving somewhere all over the country.

“S, sir. W, what should we do?”

What to do…

I need to level up, damn it!

But 1 level up for every 10 kills, damn it!

I squeezed my eyes shut and opened them.

“First, we need to help Soo-hyeun. And we need to stock up the house with food. Just in case.”

“Yes, sir. That’s the right thing to do.”

I nodded and said to Soo-hyeun:

“I’ll help you. Take everything you need.”

“Got it.”

Soo-hyeun nodded with a determined look.

At first, he was hammering half out of interest and half out of seriousness.

Later, it became a full-time job, just work.

Now, he’s putting all his effort into turning the house into a fortress.

That’s the look on his face.