episode_0006

『Currently, damage from an unconfirmed virus is rapidly increasing. Please refrain from going out and keep your hands and feet clean. Also refrain from visits or contact with strangers, and please stay in a safe place.』

– Disaster alert text message sent late –

***

The sticky gaze I felt on the side of my head was quite unpleasant.

From experience, this kind of feeling usually meant an unwelcome gaze.

I slowly turned my face towards where the gaze was coming from.

“……”

Judging by the uniform, it looked like a supermarket employee.

Its head was slightly bowed, and its arms hung limply.

Through the wildly disheveled hair, I met a glare aimed at me.

It wasn’t clearly visible, but it was definitely glaring.

This feeling, though faint, was ringing an alarm bell for me.

‘It can’t be. It can’t be. Something that shouldn’t exist…’

“Aaaaaaaah!”

The suddenly lifted face was hideously distorted.

At the same time, its outstretched arms clearly looked like they were trying to grab me.

Thump thump thump thump-!

It wasn’t fast, but its way of running towards me was somehow awkward.

Its discolored, glistening eyes held either murderous intent or hunger, I couldn’t tell which.

As it got closer, its pale skin and prominent black veins became more noticeable.

I had seen such beings before. No, I had experienced them firsthand.

That thing, rushing solely to harm me…

Swish~ Thud-!

I slammed it onto the floor.

As it approached close, I sidestepped slightly and tripped it.

At the same time, I grabbed one of the zombie’s shoulders and spun it hard in the direction it was falling.

As a result, its rushing body spun once in the air and fell on its back.

As soon as it landed with a thud, I stepped back slightly and took a stance.

If my thoughts were right, then maybe…

“Aaaaaaaah!!”

“…It’s definitely a zombie. Ha….”

It was a shock strong enough to knock out an ordinary person.

But seeing it get up and thrash about as if nothing had happened, I was certain.

In movies, the protagonist would deny reality and stammer in such a situation.

“I’m different. I’m somewhat experienced.”

Denial was the same for me as any other human, but I quickly accepted the current situation.

I didn’t panic or get flustered.

It was just that I didn’t want to accept it.

I wanted to dismiss the faint alarm bell as merely feeling unwell.

Perhaps I didn’t want to admit that my hometown, which I had just returned to, had fallen into such a state.

However, the memories and experiences I had suppressed and covered up were now resurfacing.

Instantly, thoughts of how I should move flashed through my mind…

Thwack-!!

Crash-!

I vigorously kicked the charging employee zombie.

It flew several meters and rolled into a display shelf.

Starting with the loud crash of the shelf collapsing, bizarre wails echoed.

Groooaaan-

Graaah-

“…Let’s get out of here first.”

I took off my eco-bag and slippers and put them into my inventory.

Ideally, I wanted to sweep up all the ingredients, but it was too dangerous now.

Over there, even if you were bitten by a zombie, you wouldn’t turn.

Unless a black mage raised a corpse, that wouldn’t happen.

But I couldn’t be sure now.

First, I had to retreat, prepare, and then come back.

Zombies, appearing from who-knew-where, began to slowly gather.

Without hesitation, I quickly ran towards the exit.

I was barefoot, but with my current strength, I wouldn’t easily get injured.

As I started running, the zombies that noticed me began to charge.

It was fortunate that I could run several times faster than an ordinary person.

Otherwise, I would have already been surrounded and torn apart.

B2, B1… I quickly passed them and burst out the exit.

It was roughly 200 meters to the gosiwon building entrance.

Continuing to run, as soon as I entered the building, I surveyed my surroundings.

Nothing was immediately visible, but an unpleasant feeling tickled the back of my neck.

I considered going up the stairs but decided to take the elevator for now.

Now that I had confirmed the existence of zombies, there was no reason to hesitate.

If they appear, I’ll just smash their heads.

Ding-!

The 7th-floor arrival buzzer sounded, and the door opened.

Fortunately, there was nothing. I passed the front door and entered the hallway.

Again, there was no sign of anything moving.

The gosiwon still seemed safe, so I let out a sigh of relief.

***

As soon as I entered my room, I first gulped down some water and then took a shower.

For some reason, I felt uneasy, and it didn’t feel good.

After showering, I took a moment to catch my breath, turned on my laptop, and started searching the internet.

I also opened YouTube on my smartphone and began examining the videos.

It seemed those videos from earlier weren’t just clickbait after all.

There didn’t seem to be any government measures yet, no announcements.

Only breaking news kept flooding in. The videos were all similar.

What I confirmed was that it started in the heart of Seoul and was rapidly spreading.

Public institutions were keeping silent and holding out, but netizens’ activities immediately proved otherwise.

“……”

There was nothing much to see even if I looked further, so I clicked my tongue and continued searching.

The content was none other than the locations of large supermarkets.

In particular, I focused on finding warehouse-style supermarkets like ‘Hollysale’ in the US.

Because there’s a big difference in terms of quantity and quality.

I planned to visit them as quickly as possible if I could.

I took out a can of coffee from the fridge, drank it, and took a breath.

‘I don’t know what measures the government will take, but they’re too slow. First, I need to take care of my own safety. If it were the old me, I would have been caught by that zombie horde and died earlier. But now, it’s different. I’ve experienced countless similar things over there and even crushed undead. Compared to then, my starting point now is very advantageous. For now…’

I quickly racked my brain and got dressed.

I took out a comfortable work uniform that I could easily discard if it got damaged.

I also took out a neck warmer and sunglasses I used for work. And a hat on top of that.

Just in case, I planned to keep my face covered for now.

Additionally, not ordinary sneakers, but safety shoes and thin electrical gloves.

It wasn’t intentional, but once I put everything on, it was all black.

“Anyone seeing me would think I look terribly suspicious.”

And then, although not much, I put all the items in my room into my inventory.

I planned to loot the supermarket and then come back, but I didn’t know what might happen.

Someone might rummage through my room and steal things.

I shouldn’t openly use it in front of people, but this wasn’t a situation to be frugal.

I still hadn’t figured out the exact capacity of the inventory.

However, considering my level, it seemed a considerable amount could be stored.

‘First, secure water and food. A base… I’ll have to find one.’

I hate being hungry.

Even when I went to the other side, I almost starved to death more than once or twice.

Whatever I tried to do, I needed sufficient food to sustain myself…

‘The government’s response is slow. Infrastructure will collapse quickly. Let’s gather what we can before then.’

Before leaving, I remembered something I had completely forgotten.

“I should turn on disaster alerts again….”

Since disaster alerts usually only sent weather forecasts, I had learned from YouTube how to turn them off.

But now, it seemed I should turn them back on, so I did.

Sure enough, as soon as I turned it on, the buzzer sounded, and a message came.

『Currently, damage from an unconfirmed virus is rapidly increasing. Please refrain from going out and keep your hands and feet clean. Also refrain from visits or contact with strangers, and please stay in a safe place.』

I changed the alert sound to vibrate and gave a bitter laugh.

The response was too slow, and the countermeasures were utterly shoddy.

Of course, it was right to hide oneself at home or in a safe place.

But in today’s world, who would stock up on food at home?

Even convenience stores were abundant on the streets, and food could be delivered with a single phone call.

Perhaps there might be some ramen or rice, but who knew how long that would last?

People who couldn’t endure any longer would come out onto the streets searching for food.

At that point, a hellish scene would unfold in this world.

‘First, I’ll survive, and then we’ll see.’

I slightly parted the blinds and checked outside.

Now, the streets were awkwardly silent.

Slap-!

I lightly slapped my cheeks to brace myself.

From now on, I have to stay alert to survive.

Now that daily life had begun to crumble.

Once again, I began to move to survive.

***

Before re-entering Home Plus, I looked for a building materials store.

Unfortunately, there were no hardware stores in this neighborhood.

It was a station area with a university nearby, so it was almost all restaurants and pubs.

But just a little further out, the commercial district ended.

From there, building materials and interior design companies were abundant.

I decided to stop at the nearest place and look for something that could serve as a weapon.

‘A pipe or a baseball bat… No. If I swing it now, it’ll break immediately.’

At the very least, a crowbar. In industry terms, a ‘bar’ would be useful.

A sledgehammer would be good to swing, but I thought at least a medium-sized hammer would be needed.

I looked around a few places but couldn’t find a suitable item.

Soon, I picked up speed and started running.

I started hurrying because of the looted convenience stores I saw here and there.

And I started seeing bloodstains and flesh that looked like organ fragments scattered around.

It seemed that quick-thinking people had already gone out to procure supplies.

After looking around a bit more, I found a hardware store instead of a building materials store.

An old building built in the 80s in an apparently undeveloped area.

A faded sign on it read ‘Hardware Store’.

After checking the surroundings and finding nothing unusual, I immediately went in.

The worn-out door was locked, but I pushed and twisted it with force.

Screech-!

My face contorted at the unpleasant sound of metal scraping.

The hardware store seemed to have been neglected for a long time, filled with dust.

It was indeed neglected for a long time. I checked inside, but there was nothing in particular.

Files and rasps were hanging all over, but what I was looking for wasn’t there.

I clicked my tongue and searched thoroughly, eventually finding a crowbar standing in the corner.

It was a corner where sunlight didn’t reach, so it wasn’t easily visible.

When I took it out, it looked to be about 1 meter long.

However, it was a bit thicker than a typical crowbar.

Furthermore, the claw part was cut off and sharpened to a point.

It looked like it had been used to break rocks, but that was even better.

“I can remove the rust later, but should I tape up the grip?”

I looked around more, but nothing else was visible.

However, I saw things like sickles, old scissors, and a sharpening stone.

“It seems the owner also used to sharpen things.”

I considered taking the sharpening stone too, but it was too old to work.

When I touched it with a little force, it crumbled.

In the end, I only took the crowbar, which was processed like a short spear.

Even just this much, I wouldn’t have to worry about a weapon for now.

Feeling reassured, I stopped by a convenience store on the way back.

There were bloodstains at the entrance, so I tensed up and checked inside, but there was no one.

Since my senses didn’t pick up anything, I thought it was safe and relaxed.

Food and cigarettes were already looted, but small items remained.

Among them, I found three rolls of electrical tape and a pair of cotton gloves.

I roughly wiped off the rust from the crowbar with the glove and wrapped one end with tape.

After taping it, the moderate grip in my hand felt quite good.

Before leaving, I looked around one more time and grabbed things like wet wipes and tissues.

And then I started running towards Home Plus again.

Vrooooom-!

While running, I instinctively turned around at the loud engine sound.

The road, which had been quiet just moments ago, became noisy.

And behind a car speeding away, several other cars followed.

‘Ah… that direction was Onsu, towards Seoul. Are they fleeing?’

As soon as that thought ended, even more cars came rushing in a disorderly fashion.

Their direction was away from Seoul.

In addition, there was black smoke visible in the distance.

Things that weren’t visible a few hours ago were now starting to appear.

…It seemed that what started in Seoul was spreading all the way here.

At that moment.

Rooooooar-!!

Groooaaan-!!

As the cars noisily passed, the monstrous roars of zombies echoed louder and louder.

“Were these bastards all hiding? Where are they coming from?”

It seemed the loud noise of the cars had agitated the zombies.

I looked towards the Onsu direction once more, then turned and started running again.

Before it’s too late, it’s time to start farming.