Chapter 21: Clash (1)

The power supply had been cut off in the residential area.

With the disappearance of both lights and signs of life, the streets had transformed into an eerie atmosphere. The only things wandering about were zombies.

“Grrrr…”

“Uuugh…”

The zombies roamed in groups of three or four. It wasn’t due to any particular instinct.

It was simply a phenomenon that occurred when entire families living in homes turned into zombies at once.

Just then.

Twitch!

The zombies’ shoulders jerked.

An unfamiliar sound was heard not far away.

The zombies moved to devour the living, and soon arrived at the source of the sound.

But what awaited them was a monster with an appearance that was hard to consider human.

“Grrr…”

A massive body over 3 meters tall.

Arms and legs with deformed shapes. The monster, peculiarly lacking a head, immediately swung its arm at the newly arrived zombies.

Thwack!

The zombie hit first by the high-speed strike was instantly cut in half.

Seeing this, the other zombies instinctively stopped in their tracks, but the outcome remained unchanged.

After dispatching the zombies in the blink of an eye, the monster gathered up the fallen zombies’ bodies and stuffed them into the pouch in its belly.

And there was someone watching this entire scene of carnage from a distance…

“Its reaction speed is no joke.”

It was Han-seong, the monster’s master.

Han-seong had dispatched the Collector in auto mode, attack stance, to specific coordinates.

The goal was to pick off groups of zombies numbering ten or less. The Collector was fulfilling this objective splendidly.

‘It took exactly 10 minutes.’

That was the time it took to arrive at a location about 1km away and dispatch about a hundred zombies.

Additionally, there was a skill perfectly suited for hunting zombies wandering alone.

[Replica: Collector’s Skill]

[Puppetry is activated.]

A skill that takes out corpses stored in the pouch and controls them like puppets. When the Collector activated the skill, the dismembered bodies reattached.

Soon after, ten completed zombies.

Following the Collector’s orders, they attacked zombies moving alone. The Coins obtained naturally became Han-seong’s share.

“Ugh!”

A sudden headache struck.

The Collector’s attack stance conversion consumed a whopping 80 mana per minute.

It was about time for mana deficiency to set in.

Han-seong gulped down the blue drink placed on the desk. The effect was amazing.

[30 mana has been recovered.]

The energy recovery potion made by Ji-hye.

A notification appeared each time he drank 10mL, and soon after, an additional notification showed that his mana was fully replenished.

“Phew.”

It had been three days since he started drinking the potion.

There weren’t any particular side effects.

The taste was similar to an ion drink with the tangy flavor removed, so it wasn’t undrinkable.

There was just one thing he wished for.

“If only it could be a bit cooler.”

The problem was that there was no way to make it cold.

The electricity was cut off and the refrigerator had become useless. He had looked into ice magic as well, but it wasn’t sold in either the shop or the auction house.

“I’m worried about the approaching summer.”

Han-seong muttered while looking at the potions.

Then he burst into laughter. Even he thought it was a luxurious concern.

Knock knock!

Just then, someone knocked on the front door.

A familiar voice followed.

“Mage-nim, I’ve brought the potions.”

It was Ji-hye, with whom he had formed a new cooperative relationship three days ago. Soon the sound of her taking out potions was heard, and her voice continued.

“I’ll leave them in front of the door.”

The sound of footsteps gradually fading away was heard beyond the front door, and her presence soon disappeared. Han-seong pulled his wheelchair and opened the front door.

What he saw were seven bottles of potion.

This was the optimal amount Ji-hye could produce in a day. She could make more if she used additional concentration, but there was no need for that.

‘The daily limit is five bottles at most.’

Drinking more than that causes nausea.

A situation where supply exceeds consumption. As time passes, mana potions will accumulate, so there’s no need to rush Ji-hye.

Meanwhile, Ji-hye was residing in room 809 of the officetel, directly below Han-seong.

‘I originally recommended the room next door, but…’

Unfortunately, it wasn’t an environment suitable for living.

The entire house was covered in blood. The most intact room was the one directly below Han-seong’s.

Also, being directly below was good in many ways as it was within the range of his unique skill, Magic Castle.

‘Anyway, I’m very pleased.’

The potions Ji-hye makes are very efficient compared to their production cost.

10 Coins for bottled water, and there’s a truckload of salt and sugar taken from convenience stores.

Adding the 10 Coins used as ingredients and the 5 Coins provided as compensation, it costs about 25 Coins per bottle.

On the other hand, the Coins earned by consuming one bottle of potion are several times more than that. Also, thanks to the potions, his level has been rising much faster than before.

“Status.”

[Name]: Kang Han-seong

[Job]: Remote Support Mage

Grade: 3rd Tier

Han-seong had reached level 30 this morning.

It was thanks to spamming skills while drinking mana recovery potions. And when cooldowns were in effect, he hunted zombies by controlling the Collector.

‘I can feel myself getting stronger.’

Han-seong opened the map.

Now, a 500-meter radius around the officetel had become a perfect safe zone. The proof was that not a single red dot existed.

Even up to 1km away, there were no large groups of zombies visible. They had already been annihilated by Call Lightning and Tinder.

‘The rest can be handled by the Collector.’

It’s still hunting diligently.

After briefly observing the coordinates where the Collector was, Han-seong widened the range further.

A 3km radius. Within this area, there were still places full of large numbers of zombies, and there were also other survivor groups besides Han-seong and Tae-min’s group.

‘Kangil Girls’ High School.’

It was the group with the largest number of survivors within the 3km range. According to Precise Observation, they numbered about 300.

Many professionals like police officers and doctors were also found. They cooperated to run the group and seemed to be maintaining well so far.

‘And…’

There was also a place that concerned him for the opposite reason. 3.8km from the officetel, about 1.3km from Kangil Girls’ High School, at Ttukseom Hangang Park.

And a square red dot.

It was an elite monster.

Additionally, countless red dots were marked around it, showing the highest concentration he had seen so far.

‘If I use Precise Observation, I could know, but…’

Han-seong didn’t do that.

He had seen a comment saying that if skill levels were the same, there was a low chance of observation and stealth skills being detected.

So he held back until there was a gap in skill levels. And now, having reached level 30, he finally activated the skill.

[Activating Precise Observation.]

[Vision is shared.]

Some time later.

Han-seong’s eyes widened.

The first thing that came into view was a tree as massive as a high-rise building. What was peculiar was that its roots were exposed above ground.

Additionally, grotesque monsters were observed around the tree, all in the form of zombies entangled in vine stems.

Above all, the biggest problem was the number.

‘There’s an enormous amount.’

At least over a thousand in number.

As Han-seong blankly watched this, he quickly came to his senses. Then he activated an additional skill.

[Activating skill.]

[Remote: Detection]

A skill that identifies the target’s information and weaknesses.

Soon, the tree’s identity was revealed.

[Name]: Vampiric Tree

[Possessed Skills]: Colony Management, Parasitic Sporeworm, Emergency Muster, Vampiric Thorns, Myriad Flower Rain

[Weak Spot]: Hidden Roots

“What? Level 29?”

Han-seong’s eyes widened again.

He couldn’t help it. According to information recently obtained from auction house comments, all elite monsters were said to be level 20.

So far, about dozens of elite monsters had been subjugated worldwide, but no monsters exceeding level 20 had been discovered.

‘But why…’

Is this one level 29?

Thinking he might have seen wrong, he looked again, but nothing had changed. Then suddenly, a speculation flashed through his mind.

‘No way!’

Could it have leveled up by hunting survivors?

The reason this speculation came to mind was because of the vine zombies surrounding the Vampiric Tree.

They clearly looked like minions controlled by the Vampiric Tree, and upon careful observation of their appearance, differences between each became noticeable.

‘The degree of decay varies.’

There were zombies that were completely rotten, but there were also several zombies that showed almost no signs of decay, as if they had just turned.

In other words, they had recently become zombies.

Additionally, judging by their appearance, it was possible to assume they were infected through the Vampiric Tree’s minions. Han-seong frowned and chewed his lip.

‘I want to eliminate it right away, but…’

He had no means to strike at it.

The attack skill with the longest range was Call Lightning, but even that was limited to 2.4km.

The one fortunate thing was that it hadn’t detected Han-seong’s existence. And thanks to the Han River, it couldn’t easily come this way.

‘I’ll have to refrain from observing for a while.’

If the Vampiric Tree reaches level 30, there’s a possibility of being detected in the next observation.

Not wanting to experience being attacked first like with the Collector again, Han-seong carefully recorded information about the Vampiric Tree and its minions in his notebook.

Afterwards, he entered the auction house to share this information with other survivors.

But then.

[A new feature has been added.]

[Information Sharing Board]

An unexpected notification message appeared.

Along with unexpected content. Han-seong blinked and muttered:

“A bulletin board?”

Feeling curious, he touched the area the message indicated. Soon, a space where he could write appeared at the bottom of the auction house.

-This is a space for survivors to share information. Cooperate with each other to prepare for the apocalypse.

▶Post Registration: [3rd Grade] or higher

▶Comment Writing: [2nd Grade] or higher

Until now, information had been shared by writing comments on the product registration page.

Even that was difficult to store and share information as the content would be erased when registered products were sold or went unsold, but now such a feature had appeared.

‘This is perfect timing.’

Han-seong immediately set out to write a post.

Then another message appeared.

[Registration as an author is required.]

[Please enter the name you will use.]

“A name…”

Should he just use his real name? No. It would be troublesome if his identity was specified. After pondering briefly, Han-seong quickly made a decision.

[Name: Mage]

[Do you want to confirm?]

He immediately touched the confirm button.

[No duplicates. Available for use.]

[Checking grade─]

[─3rd Tier. Confirmation complete.]

[You can register posts.]

With that final message.

Han-seong began writing information about the Vampiric Tree. Hoping it would be helpful to survivors around the world.

Meanwhile, at that time.

Ha-eun swung her baseball bat to strike down a zombie rushing at her.

With the sound of its neck bones crushing, the zombie collapsed. Just then, another zombie pounced on Ha-eun, and as she was about to dodge and prepare a counterattack─

Thwack!

Someone struck the zombie’s waist.

Caught off guard by the sudden attack, the zombie lost balance and fell, and Ha-eun didn’t miss this chance.

Thud! Crack!

The zombie’s head exploded.

Ha-eun let out a short sigh and looked at the one who had helped her. Soon after, the face of the helper who approached was exactly the same as hers.

Even the outfit and weapon were identical.

‘Well, of course.’

Because this was her clone.

Just then, the clone before her suddenly became hazy. The clone soon disappeared like smoke, and Ha-eun recalled the skill she had recently acquired.

[Clone: Shadow Doppelganger (Lv.2)]

-Summons 1 clone from the shadow that copies 50% of physical abilities. Experience and loot obtained by the clone belong to the owner.

▷Energy Consumption: 100

▷Duration: 20 minutes

▷Cooldown: 110 minutes

The skillbook received from the Mage three days ago.

Ha-eun’s clone created by the skill could use even her skills identically. Of course, it couldn’t replicate the skill to create clones.

‘Thanks to this, hunting has become so much easier.’

The amount of Coins earned in a day had increased significantly compared to before. Her level had also caught up with Min-cheol’s.

Ha-eun smiled with satisfaction.

‘I think I’ve gotten stronger too.’

As her level increased, Ha-eun realized that her physical abilities were improving.

When she was level 1, she could only twist a zombie’s neck by using a skill, but now she could blow off their heads with just a baseball bat.

‘However…’

Tae-min and Eun-ji were exceptions.

Their physical abilities didn’t increase even as they leveled up. Only Ha-eun and Min-cheol felt the change.

Ha-eun guessed it was probably the difference between jobs that engage in close combat and jobs that can attack enemies from a distance.

As she was finishing the battle.

“Graaaah!”

A new zombie appeared from a corner.

Ha-eun instinctively stepped back and soon prepared to attack. However, she didn’t have to swing her baseball bat.

Poof!

Suddenly, the zombie’s body was enveloped in light and crumbled like a sand castle. Then a familiar voice was heard from not far away.

“Ha-eun, are you okay?”

The Healer, Kang Eun-ji.

She had just used a skill called Turn Undead. It’s a holy-type attack skill effective only against undead-type enemies like zombies or ghouls.

Like Shadow Doppelganger, it was a skillbook received from the Mage. Eun-ji also showed a very satisfied reaction after learning this skill.

“Thank you, unni.”

Ha-eun answered with a bright smile.

The two continued hunting together, coordinating their efforts. As they did so, they noticed the sky turning orange with the sunset, and Eun-ji glanced at her watch.

“Should we head back soon?”

“Yes, we should.”

The current time was 6 PM.

When night falls, the city is plunged into darkness.

This was because the power supply to the entire city had been cut off. As the risk increased that much, the group had set 6 PM as the time to end hunting.

Ha-eun and Eun-ji turned towards the direction of the shopping mall and arrived shortly after. Then a familiar voice greeted them.

“Good work, both of you.”

The Assault Warrior, Yoo Min-cheol.

He patted the shoulders of the two girls with a warm smile. On the other hand, Tae-min, who was with him, only nodded his head without offering any greeting.

He looked somewhat displeased.

Ha-eun, quickly noticing this, whispered to Min-cheol:

“Did something happen?”

“Ugh, well…”

Min-cheol wore a troubled expression.

He answered with a sigh.

“The Mage kidnapped the Alchemist.”

“What? Ki-kidnapped?!”

“Yeah. We went to deliver food rations to the Alchemist who was making potions on the top floor, but…”

The Alchemist was nowhere to be seen.

Even after thoroughly searching the top floor and checking the rooftop, no trace could be found.

It was as if she had vanished into thin air.

Analyzing this situation, Tae-min pointed to the Mage as the culprit. He judged that the Mage had used a skill to kidnap the Alchemist.

“But there’s no evidence that the Mage kidnapped her…”

“No, it’s definitely the Mage’s doing.”

Tae-min spoke up then. Shaking his head, he stared intently at Ha-eun.

“The Mage has a skill to take things remotely. You’ve seen it too, right?”

“Umm, that’s…”

She couldn’t deny it.

Ha-eun had witnessed that scene up close. If so, it seemed possible he could kidnap a person in a similar way.

Meanwhile, Eun-ji tilted her head.

“Then why did he kidnap her?”

“Obviously, he must have judged it would be cheaper than trading with me.”

Tae-min spoke with a cold sneer.

He muttered in a low voice:

“To think the kindness I showed would be repaid like this. If I had known, I should have just…”

The rest was too quiet to hear.

More concerning was Tae-min’s expression. It was fierce enough to kill someone. Ha-eun furrowed her brow.

‘…He seems to have changed a bit.’

She couldn’t pinpoint it exactly, but she felt the person himself had changed. Should she say he had become more aggressive than when they first met?

Maybe this was his true nature. As Ha-eun was observing Tae-min, she soon lost interest.

‘I’ll check the auction house.’

She had gathered quite a few Coins anyway.

Ha-eun entered the auction house.

Intending to check if there were any useful skillbooks or equipment. But then.

“Oh? What’s this…”

“An Information Sharing Board?”

“Hmm, something interesting has appeared.”

Eun-ji, Tae-min, and Min-cheol also muttered while looking into the air. They were probably seeing the same scene as Ha-eun right now.

As they were examining the new feature with curiosity, a post caught Ha-eun’s attention.

[Title]: Level 29 Elite Monster Sighted

The moment she saw the name Mage, Ha-eun unconsciously touched the post.

[Name]: Vampiric Tree

▷It’s a giant tree monster. It possesses at least a thousand minions, and was discovered in Hangang Park in Seoul, South Korea.

South Korea. Seoul. Hangang Park.

Ha-eun’s eyes widened.

‘Could it be…!’

Is this the Mage I’m thinking of?

Judging by the place names alone, the possibility was high.

Also, since only those of 3rd grade or higher could write posts, the power condition was met. Ha-eun curiously examined the post and comments.

↳ A level 29 elite monster?

↳ Could it be a new species?

↳ Hmm, probably not?

↳ Right. There wasn’t any separate notification.

Comments could be made from 2nd grade, so many survivors offered various speculations and opinions.

Then the Mage added a comment.

[Mage]: I suspect it might have leveled up by hunting survivors. The Vampiric Tree’s minions each showed different degrees of decay.

↳ An elite monster leveling up?

↳ Well, there’s no law saying they can’t grow…

↳ If this is true, isn’t it a big deal?

↳ It is a big deal. There might be threatening monsters growing in places we don’t know about.

The tone of the comments became serious.

Ha-eun’s expression hardened as well.

There was a Hangang Park not far from where their group was currently staying.

↳ Mage-nim. Could you tell us which Hangang Park this monster is in, if possible?

So she asked the Mage a question.

Soon after, a reply came.

[Mage]: It’s in Ttukseom Hangang Park.

At that moment, everyone’s expressions froze.

They couldn’t help it.

That location was the closest Hangang Park to their current shopping mall, and only about 1km away from Kangil Girls’ High School, where they had originally planned to go.

“…So it was indeed the Mage of Fire Thunder?”

Tae-min muttered with a frown.

When he heard ‘Mage’, he was skeptical, but the moment he heard the place name, he was certain. Only the Mage of Fire Thunder could do something like this in this area.

“Wh-what do we do? What should we do?”

Meanwhile, Eun-ji was stomping her feet anxiously.

For her, a Kangil Girls’ High School student, this was directly related to the danger her friends were in. Seeing Eun-ji’s panicked state, Min-cheol patted her shoulder.

“Don’t worry too much.”

“Ahjussi…”

“I’m sure the Mage of Fire Thunder will do something about it somehow. Just like he always has until now.”

“That’s right. Since he kidnapped our Alchemist too, he’ll be able to fight much better than before.”

Tae-min let out a snicker.

With an ice-cold expression.

After silently staring at the post for a while, Tae-min suddenly wrote a comment.

↳ You must often run low on mana since you use skills frequently. Are you doing better these days?

This was an action to test the Mage.

To solidify his suspicion that he had kidnapped the Alchemist into certainty. It also carried the subtle warning that ‘I know about your situation’.

The Mage replied to the comment.

[Mage]: Yes, thanks to that.

This bastard.

Tae-min’s face contorted.