Ch.5050. Spider (2)

# Unidentified Zombie Horde Discovered!

However, the joy of obtaining new materials never seen in reality was very short-lived.

A signal came from a soldier monitoring the surroundings, and following that signal, Jeong Dong-geon and his unit prepared for battle.

“Wh-what’s happening?”

“Enemies. According to the signal, they appear to be zombies.”

In other words, there were hostile zombies heading toward Jeong Dong-geon’s group.

At those words, Son Sang-hui couldn’t hide her bewildered emotions as she took out her weapon to prepare for battle. By the time Son Sang-hui was preparing, Jeong Dong-geon and his unit had already formed their combat formation.

After arranging a circular formation to avoid being surrounded by zombies, Jeong Dong-geon spoke to the soldier who had been monitoring the area.

“What are we facing?”

“It seems to be a variant we haven’t encountered before. From what I can see, it has a human upper body with a spider-like lower body.”

It sounded terrifying just hearing about it.

A zombie fused with spider characteristics—though whether it could still be called a zombie was questionable—was a first encounter for Jeong Dong-geon and his unit.

They could choose to return to headquarters without engaging, but…

“It seems to be the creator of these spider webs. We needed data on new variants anyway.”

“Are we going to fight?”

“Of course.”

Running away without fighting wasn’t even an option.

Wasn’t the reason they were sent as an advance team to fight new variants in the first place?

They simply readied their weapons or loaded them, waiting for the monsters approaching them.

“Enemies spotted at 6 o’clock! Five of them!”

“As reported, they’re bizarre variants with zombie upper bodies and spider lower bodies!”

“Good grief. That’s not a zombie, that’s an alien!”

When the creatures came within proper visual range, the soldiers exclaimed in horror, questioning what kind of zombies these were.

The monsters had human-like upper bodies that were barely clothed, while their lower bodies were spider-like.

As if to prove they were zombies, the human-like upper bodies resembled the typical zombies seen in cities, but unlike the upper bodies, the spider parts of the lower bodies were brimming with vitality.

The horrifying and grotesque appearance—as if a spider’s mouth was devouring the zombie’s lower body—could certainly cause some disturbance among the soldiers who had to face it, but…

“Stay calm. Follow your training and we’ll win.”

“Yes, sir.”

At Jeong Dong-geon’s cool command, all unit members calmed down and prepared for battle.

They tried to fire their rifles to halt the enemy’s advance, but both the zombie upper body and the spider lower body seemed extremely tough, making it impossible to stop them with the cult’s rifles.

The grotesque monsters, charging with unstoppable momentum, spat something toward Jeong Dong-geon’s group like phlegm.

“Dodge! That dissolves whatever it hits!”

“Scatter!”

With Son Sang-hui’s near-panicked scream, Jeong Dong-geon ordered everyone to scatter without hesitation.

Jeong Dong-geon, Son Sang-hui, and the soldiers scattered to avoid the spit, and fortunately, no one was hit as they took new positions.

However…

“Wow. It’s acidic. Like sulfuric acid level? It even melted the asphalt!”

“Even if an Awakened gets hit… they’d either die or be in excruciating pain.”

The acid was strong enough to instantly melt the asphalt floor.

It was amazing that such strong acid existed inside their bodies, but if an ordinary person were hit by that poison, they would either die instantly or suffer tremendous pain. Even an Awakened would have their skin and muscles dissolved if directly hit by such acid.

Of course, Jeong Dong-geon’s group was wearing protective suits that covered their entire bodies, so they had some defense against poison, but they still decided to fight with utmost caution.

“Captain! The carapace is tough. Regular bullets aren’t working!”

“I can see that.”

The soldiers scattered and concentrated fire on the spider zombie variants, but it didn’t seem very effective.

They aimed precision shots at what appeared to be softer skin, but even that skin deflected bullets as the monsters began chasing after the scattered soldiers.

The soldiers, being the elite of the Balhut Cult with high levels, managed to avoid being caught while continuing to fire bullets, gathering data on the spider zombie variants.

“The carapace is quite sturdy.”

“With that level of hardness, we’ll probably need weapons with the Indent effect.”

“Right. Let’s prepare.”

Ordinary bullets fired from rifles had no effect on the spider zombie variants.

There was absolutely no stopping power even with concentrated fire, and despite witnessing bullets deflecting whenever the spider zombie variants charged, Jeong Dong-geon showed no significant concern or surprise.

While it was true that the carapace covering their bodies was tougher than expected, there were still ways to penetrate it.

Jeong Dong-geon nodded at his unit member’s words, preparing to reveal the cult’s trump card.

“Is this okay? The bullets aren’t working.”

“It’s fine. We’re the ones doing the testing here.”

“Testing? What do you mean?”

Son Sang-hui, who was standing nearby, looked at Jeong Dong-geon with a worried expression, but he dismissed her concerns.

The bullets they had fired so far were merely for gathering data and checking the strength of the newly encountered spider zombie variants.

They hadn’t yet brought out the Balhut Cult’s prized new weapons.

“Since the carapace of those spider zombie variants is tougher than expected, let’s test if our prepared Bahamut bullets can penetrate it.”

“Understood, Captain.”

Jeong Dong-geon and his unit members fled from the spider zombie variants while replacing the magazines in their rifles with new ones.

They switched from automatic to single-shot mode and looked at the bloodthirsty spider zombie variants pursuing them.

“Commence firing. Shoot!”

With Jeong Dong-geon’s command, they began firing Bahamut bullets loaded in their rifles in unison.

The spider zombie variants, thinking these bullets would be the same as before, rushed forward mockingly at the humans’ seemingly meaningless resistance, but that choice was a grave mistake.

The spider zombie variants that thoughtlessly charged ahead suddenly had dozens of holes throughout their bodies. One of them, apparently hit in the head and heart areas, was shredded by bullets and died without even uttering a death cry.

“Kieeeek?!”

“Captain, these creatures seem to have intelligence like other zombie variants.”

“Indeed.”

After witnessing the terrible fate of their comrade, the remaining spider zombie variants showed great agitation, unlike earlier when they hadn’t made any sounds.

Seeing this, a unit member immediately informed Jeong Dong-geon that the enemy possessed intelligence, and Jeong Dong-geon glared at the spider zombie variants with cold eyes.

‘According to Son Sang-hui’s testimony, they even abducted survivors. They must have at least child-level intelligence, enough to make distinctions.’

Now, what would the spider zombie variants choose?

Would they continue fighting Jeong Dong-geon and his unit, or would they flee, unlike typical monsters?

‘They’ll flee from an unknown weapon.’

Jeong Dong-geon predicted that if the opponents were intelligent beings, their survival instinct would be even stronger, and…

“Looks like they’re running away.”

“Hmph. Monsters running from humans? Have they no shame?”

“Let’s pursue them.”

His prediction was correct.

After seeing their comrade die without resistance, the spider zombie variants sensed something dangerous about their opponents and turned to flee without hesitation.

Of course, Jeong Dong-geon had no reason to let them escape.

If they were intelligent and had other comrades, they likely formed a group, and if they escaped, information about the Balhut Cult would very likely spread to that group.

In the worst case, if the spider zombie variants they just encountered dominated most of Pohang, they would have revealed their trump card to the enemy for nothing.

“Kieeeeeeeeeek!”

As Jeong Dong-geon and his unit pursued the fleeing spider zombie variants without hesitation, the creatures screamed, seemingly alerting others throughout Pohang of the danger.

“When in danger, they call for their comrades. We can’t allow that!”

Jeong Dong-geon rushed toward a spider zombie variant that was calling for help from its comrades. He grabbed a knife with cutting Indent enhancement from his waist and aimed for the monster’s waist.

With a swift motion, he cut through the tough carapace like paper, separating the spider zombie variant’s upper and lower body.

Once separated, the spider zombie variant tumbled onto the asphalt. Both parts twitched a few times, but ultimately couldn’t escape death.

“He killed it with a single strike!”

“Our captain is the strongest Awakened in our cult!”

“There’s also the Lord.”

Son Sang-hui, witnessing Jeong Dong-geon slaughter the spider zombie variant with a single strike, couldn’t believe what she saw, while the unit members praised Jeong Dong-geon as the Balhut Cult’s strongest Awakened.

In truth, if discussing the strongest Awakened, Yu-na should be mentioned rather than Jeong Dong-geon, but Yu-na was considered an exception.

“The Lord is in a different category.”

“That’s true.”

“Stop playing around and deal with the others.”

“Yes, sir!”

The unit members, apparently not forgetting the shocking scene of what happened to Jo Sun-do, agreed that the Lord should be humanely excluded from the comparison.

Jeong Dong-geon scolded his unit members whose minds had wandered, and they quickly remembered they were on a battlefield and engaged with the spider zombie variants.

“Then I’ll collect this carapace for Lord Bahamut…”

As the soldiers began pursuing the remaining enemies, Jeong Dong-geon looked at the lower body of the fallen spider zombie variant, thinking the carapace would be worth researching. He started cutting and collecting it with his knife.

His subordinates were sufficient to handle the remaining zombie variants, so he focused on gathering information, but…

“Jeong Dong-geon! Behind you!”

The upper body part, which had fallen limply, suddenly moved again and lunged for Jeong Dong-geon’s nape with its filthy teeth as he was collecting the carapace from the lower body.

Seeing this danger, Son Sang-hui, who had been watching the battle, warned Jeong Dong-geon with a shocked cry, but…

“It’s fine.”

He pulled out a pistol loaded with Bahamut bullets from his holster and pressed it against the forehead of the filthy face aiming for his nape.

As if he had known all along, Jeong Dong-geon precisely placed the muzzle against the zombie’s forehead and pulled the trigger.

With a boom like a cannon firing, the zombie’s face exploded and its body was engulfed in flames.

After easily disposing of the zombie that had targeted him, Jeong Dong-geon put his pistol back in its holster and approached Son Sang-hui, who was staring at him blankly.

“I still had a trump card left. I can easily handle such ambushes.”

As he spoke, several more booms echoed from the battle area.

However, Son Sang-hui couldn’t respond.

The overwhelming thrill coursing through her body made it impossible for her to suppress the smile twitching at the corners of her mouth.

“You’re really amazing, Jeong Dong-geon… sir.”

Her heart was racing.

She seemed to have fallen for Jeong Dong-geon, who had just demonstrated such elegant yet overwhelming martial prowess.

Son Sang-hui gazed at Jeong Dong-geon passionately, her face flushed red.