Chapter 25: Profits from Zombie Hunting

Even in the game, zombies were not easy enemies.

To be precise, they were easy enemies if you were a Supreme Master and could shoot out sword energy, but for characters below First-Rate

who couldn’t use sword energy, they were like an impassable wall.

After all, you need to be able to hit them with your sword to even fight them.

However, zombies clearly had a weakness.

Their movements were monotonous due to their stiff joints.

That’s why they were difficult for beginners, but if you had excellent control skills, you could defeat them without getting hit even with

Second-Rate skills.

But this is not a game, but reality. The idea of solving everything with control was impossible from the start. So, I focused on the second

weakness.

The zombie’s intelligence, or rather, the lack of intelligence.

Zombies were just creatures faithful to their instincts.

They couldn’t avoid traps even when they were right in front of them. In the game, you could only use pre-made traps, so it wasn’t a big

advantage… but in reality, it was different.

You can make traps yourself.

I started looking for the best place to set up a trap. There were three conditions required.

First, it should be close to the ruins where the zombies are.

Second, the ground should be soft enough to dig a pit.

Third, there should be hills nearby.

These were the three conditions.

After looking around for a while, I found a suitable spot.

“Okay! Let’s ambush here!”

I divided the children who were skilled in archery and placed them on the left and right hills.

The arrowheads they were holding were glistening with oil.

Looking at the completed pit, I couldn’t help but smile.

The depth was about four times the height of an adult man. Straw soaked in oil filled a third of the pit, and the top was thinly disguised with

branches.

It was a suspicious and clumsy trap at first glance, but that didn’t matter. After all, the opponent was a zombie with no intelligence.

Now, all that was left was to wait for the swift Sobok with the [Swift Feet] trait to lure the zombie.

We all held our breath and waited in the darkness.

Waiting for the sound of Sobok’s footsteps from afar.

The sound of footsteps gradually approached from afar.

Soon, Sobok’s silhouette was revealed under the darkness.

And behind her… it was chasing after her.

“T, there’s a zombie! There’s a real zombie!”

“Shhh! Be quiet.”

The children held their breath at my voice. The zombie was hopping towards the trap we had set up, chasing after Sobok. Sobok deliberately

slowed down to lure the zombie.

My heart started beating fast.

I had never made such a trap myself, even in the game.

“Um, Young Master… do you really think this will work?”

A girl with a bow on the hill asked in an uneasy voice.

I hesitated for a moment to answer. This was not a game, but reality.

But my anxiety could not be conveyed to that child.

“Of course.”

Sobok turned in front of the trap and waved a red cloth.

The moment the zombie reached that spot, with the sound of breaking branches, a huge body fell into the pit.

“Now!”

The screams and movements from the bottom of the pit made me uneasy.

Will the fire arrows really work? Was my calculation really correct?

“Fire!”

With my cry, fire arrows flew towards the pit.

The fire arrows pierced the oil-soaked straw. A small flame rose, and soon a raging fire soared.

Under the bluish moonlight, red flames blazed, filling the pit with smoke.

“Kweeeeek!”

The zombie’s scream grew louder and louder. In the flames, its huge figure could be seen writhing.

“Keep shooting!”

Once again, fire arrows poured down.

This time, more arrows were aimed at the pit.

The fire blazed even more fiercely, and the zombie’s screams gradually weakened.

Smoke billowed up thickly.

We held our breath and looked down.

The zombie’s screams that had been heard in the flames had long since stopped.

Only the white smoke rising under the moonlight adorned the quiet night.

“How much longer do we have to wait, Young Master?”

“Let’s watch a little longer. Zombies are tougher than you think.”

Half an hour passed. The children’s tense breathing could be heard occasionally.

We waited in silence until the fire completely died down.

As the wind blew, the smoke rising from the pit began to clear.

Pure white ash scattered with the wind.

I carefully approached the edge of the pit and looked down.

There was nothing to be seen except for black soot.

Not even a trace of the zombie could be found.

“We… we did it!”

A cry erupted from the left hill. The voice of the girl with the bow was trembling.

“Wow!”

At that moment, cheers erupted as if suppressed emotions were bursting out.

I couldn’t help but smile. We had defeated a monster that even Supreme Masters couldn’t easily handle. And without a single casualty.

The children’s cheers filled the night sky.

For a while, I watched the children’s cheers and laughter.

It was nice to see them hugging each other and patting each other on the shoulders, intoxicated with the joy of victory.

“Good job. But now is the real beginning.”

The laughter subsided as my voice rang out.

The children’s faces turned to me one by one. I didn’t miss the change in their eyes.

The anxious eyes that had doubted my plan until recently could no longer be found.

Instead, eyes filled with expectation and determination turned to me.

“From now on, we will begin a full-scale exploration of the ruins. There may be other zombies or spirits, so don’t let your guard down.”

“Understood!”

Based on my knowledge of the game, there were no other dangers.

However, since this world is a mod version, there are many unpredictable elements, so I instructed them to be as careful as possible.

Humid air brushed my nose. We headed to the ruins entrance, where the zombie had been.

“It’s amazing that there were ruins in a place like this.”

“And it’s even more amazing that no one has found it until now.”

“It was revealed because Young Master activated that strange mechanism.”

“The old man who sold the map told us…”

Some of the children exchanged meaningful glances.

The story of buying a map from a mysterious old man would no longer be believed except by a few innocent people.

But that didn’t matter. What mattered was that my words were true and that there was treasure inside. That was all that mattered.

“Now, lead the way.”

The children with torches stepped forward, and I followed behind them.

While following the deepening passage, suddenly one of the girls screamed.

“Eek! A snake!”

There was no need to be so surprised. It was natural for there to be a snake in a damp and dark underground.

The girl who screamed directly swung her sword and cut off the snake’s head.

Not long after, several rats popped out this time. They were about four times the size of ordinary rats, but they were just large rats in front of the children’s swordsmanship.

“Ha!”

Nanchung’s sword flashed, cutting the rat in half. There was no need for me to even lift a finger.

After that, we were able to proceed smoothly without any special obstacles. The children relaxed and began to speculate about the identity of the ruins.

“The costumes in that mural look like those of a government official.”

“But that can’t be… a government official’s ruins in such a deep mountain. It must be the ruins of an ancient sect.”

“Could the government have occupied the ancient sect’s building?”

“Not the other way around… how could that be?”

“There’s something here!”

Suddenly, a shout was heard from the left. A girl pointed to a dusty wooden box.

“Open it carefully.”

The box lid creaked open. The golden light reflected in the torchlight cut through the darkness and sparkled.

“There’s really treasure!”

“Young Master was right.”

The children’s excited voices echoed.

“Two-thirds of it is mine. The rest will be divided equally, but the share of the child who lured and the archers will be more. And collect

antique art and relics separately. We will dispose of them later through a professional merchant. For now, let’s just sell the plain gold and

silver.”

There were no complaints on the children’s faces.

Of course. With this amount, each person’s share alone would be a considerable amount of wealth.

After that, we found a few more boxes, and there was a considerable amount of treasure inside.

“This is the amount of money I would have to save for a year even after becoming a First-Rate warrior.”

“I’m going to buy elixirs and weapons with this!”

“If we dispose of the antiques, shouldn’t we just retire?”

There was even a child who was already talking about retirement.

I wasn’t very interested in the treasure.

Money is always good to have, but what I was really looking for was something else. That thing I saw in the game.

The room at the end of the hallway was visible. The patterns drawn on the wall flickered in the torchlight.

“Everyone stop!”

The children’s laughter stopped at my cry.

The last place in the ruins. The moment I entered the room, I found it. It was a huge stone box.

I operated the mechanism on the wall with familiar hands.

A mechanical sound rang out along the seams of the stone box, and the lid opened with a heavy sound.

Inside, there was a bundle of bamboo scrolls that were strangely well-preserved.

A smile naturally spread across my face.

“It’s in the script of the ancient era.”

Nanchung said, carefully examining the bamboo scrolls.

I nodded. The other children also looked at the bamboo scrolls with curious eyes.

As the torchlight illuminated the old bamboo, the characters written in black ink were clearly revealed.

At first, I naturally thought that I would not be able to read these ancient characters. I even considered searching the Cheonsalgok library for

an ancient script textbook.

But there was no need to do that.

The characters in the ancient book that I had accidentally found in the library were read naturally, as if water was flowing. All kinds of

characters felt like my native language.

It was one of the perks I received when I entered this world with the status window.

“I can read this.”

“As expected of Young Master!”

The children’s shouts of surprise followed.

I already knew what the contents of these bamboo scrolls were, but it was hard to say it right away, and anyway, I had to understand the

contents for sure.

I read the characters on the bamboo scrolls one by one. It was as expected.

“This is a formation martial art. It is a special martial art created for group combat.”