episode_0018

018

Fake

I looked at the food alley across the road.

There are many stores, but only 4 are operating.

‘The last special store is honey.’

It’s not that the situation is honey, but it’s a store that actually sells sweet honey.

Dwarf beekeepers are coming out, commanding honeybees the size of an adult male’s fist.

Each beekeeper is commanding at least 20 of them.

‘Bees become zombies too, right?’

Beside them, dwarves are steadily coming out from the pizza, candy, and steak stores.

But to my eyes, the rewards they will give are more apparent than the dwarves.

‘How sweet?’

Seeing the countless ingredients spread out before my eyes makes a wide smile naturally form.

With this much, I’ll be able to make all sorts of supplements.

There’s no need to rush to Phase 4 to fill up on calories.

‘With this much quantity… Hehehe.’

I can just open a gym right here.

I’m already beaming with the thought of selecting zombie specialists in supplement manufacturing and systematically running a curriculum.

Beside me, Bangnae is also clapping and laughing.

“Hehehe. So many, so many.”

Could it be that Bangnae is also happy at the thought of taking supplements and exercising?

Perhaps she has finally matured.

Woof woof –

As the enemies began to move, the dogs barked.

I, who had been briefly indulging in happy delusions, soon came to my senses.

Harvesting the sweet fruit can be done after finishing the homework.

First, let’s deal with the dwarves in front of our eyes.

Before issuing the attack command, I checked if there was anything that could be a threat.

Rather than absolute strength, the possibility of corpse damage is important.

The hot iron spatulas from the oven and the swarm of bees are a pass.

The sticky sprayers the candy store guys are holding also seem more or less okay.

Cleaning up afterwards will be bothersome, but it’s not to the extent that corpses will be damaged.

And the steakhouse guys are just wearing masks and gloves.

‘Uh… Is it not steak?’

Looking at the sign, two forks are crossed above a hunk of meat.

I can see a machine running inside the store.

The hunk of meat goes into something that looks like a giant maw, and to the side, remnants are cut out.

Whirr –

‘Is it a raw meat restaurant?’

The menu isn’t important.

What’s important is that if they go into that machine, they will lose their zombie form.

“See those guys wearing gloves over there? Bangnae will handle them.”

“Alright. Boots is going too.”

It seems the newcomer’s name has somehow become Boots.

If he doesn’t die later, let’s give him a proper name.

And for the special stores, just in case, it seems better to attach elite troops.

“The dogs will handle the swarm of bees.”

Woof woof –

I issued the battle commencement order.

The Brute’s voice spreads.

“All units charge!”

Kyaaa – Kieeek –

The zombies charge into the enemy lines.

Since the enemies don’t stray far from the stores, there’s no risk of troops getting mixed up and causing accidents.

‘Easy.’

The battle unfolded mostly as expected.

I stayed with the main force and faced the pizza and candy stores, and soon Bangnae, who had dealt with the enemies, burst in.

However, there was a variable; the pizza guys’ buff was ‘Rampage’ instead of ‘Strength Increase’.

Effects of a similar nature are difficult to distinguish by external characteristics.

The pizza store dwarves sliced off the zombies’ limbs with iron spatulas.

Of course, it was quickly dealt with as I intervened, but a few zombies lost their arms.

‘It was about time for them to appear.’

The appearance ratio of high, medium, and low level buffs is 1:7:92.

It wasn’t strange at all for a medium level one to appear around now.

I confirmed the [Receive Reward] pop-up on my phone and declared the end of combat.

From now on, there’s quite a bit of work to do.

Looking around for Bangnae, I found her loitering in front of one of the stores.

It’s the store selling honey.

“Hey, what are you doing?”

Bangnae turns around.

The Brute standing next to her answers.

“She says we need to find out if there’s poison in the honey.”

‘…Would there be?’

I thought about it for a moment and decided to just allow it.

From now on, Bangnae has a lot of work to do.

“Eat just one and clean up afterwards. You know what you need to do, right?”

Bangnae’s expression brightens.

“Hehehe. Alright!”

Identifying the wounded, procuring weapons, organizing materials, etc., I left it all to Bangnae.

It might be more accurate if I stepped up and did it myself, but.

Right now, there’s something I need to do.

I left the zombies and came back into the starting store.

The old tiles on the floor.

Today, they look unusually rougher and dirtier.

‘As expected…’

I sat on a chair and stared intently at the Slime Pufferfish picture.

Since dealing with [Special Meal], there’s no smell.

I had been continuously aware of my surroundings, trying to find the alteration in the [Contaminated Source].

I did not neglect observation during combat or during movement.

But I found nothing.

Then suddenly, such a thought occurred to me.

[Special Meal] was a special meal, the summoner prepared for the Slime Pufferfish.

[Talkative Ingredient] was an ingredient, the summoner for the Mandrake.

If so… could the Contaminated Source also be me?

Thus, I arrived at the thought that I could be the source of the contamination.

Did you know? There are no restrooms in this city.

Up to Phase 3, nutrients are supplied to the body, so we neither eat nor excrete.

The act of eating food made with [Tools] allows one to briefly taste it, then it gives a buff and disappears within the body.

Therefore, waste is not generated within the body.

Consequently, I haven’t seen one item for a very long time.

A mirror.

If there’s no mirror, I can just look through something else that reflects my appearance.

But not in the cafe I just went to, nor in the newly opened stores, nor anywhere else.

There was nothing that could reflect myself.

Not just mirrors. There were no large windows, not even common metallic decorations.

Isn’t that truly strange?

As if someone intended it.

As if an alteration had occurred.

Even this tiled floor I’m looking down at feels like it’s maximally lacking the act of reflecting light.

The three elements to resolve an [Event].

Location, Object, Interpretation.

Right. All of that is integrated into one and embedded within myself.

‘This boring game of tag. Let’s end it.’

I lifted my cell phone and looked at myself in the turned-off screen.

I can be seen beyond the darkness.

It’s my face, seen after a truly long time.

It seems they couldn’t bring themselves to make cell phones unable to reflect light.

Indeed, if this wasn’t the case, it would be too obvious.

Following the expression I make, the me reflected on the screen makes an expression.

I grinned.

“Wow, this bastard. You act well?”

This isn’t simply the realm of speculation.

Looking at the writings of my longtime advisor, ‘The Expert,’ there are often stories of him wandering the city, finding a mirror, and fixing his hair.

In other words, there must be mirrors in this city.

This cunning bastard.

This guy must have stuck closely to me and quietly waited for the boss round.

And the moment I eventually gave up on searching and chose combat, it must have popped out to try and devour me.

I looked at the me in the screen and said.

“You’ve been caught, you bastard. Just pop out.”

Unlike me, who was smiling, the expression on my face reflected in the phone disappeared.

With a stiff face, it stares fixedly at me.

And opens its mouth.

“Wow? You caught this?”

The cell phone vibrates like crazy.

Woong – Woooong –

And laughter spreads in all directions.

“Kihahaha! What the hell is this guy? I didn’t even go to a space where diffuse reflection is impossible… You found me like this? Kihiki. This is the first time for something like this!?”

The cell phone screen bulges forward.

I widened the distance first.

Swoosh –

A head pops out from the screen.

It looks exactly like me.

‘This is… not good?’

I didn’t really expect it, but a guy who looks exactly like me appeared.

This is why I came to a space without zombies.

Before he was fully out of the cell phone, I shouted with all my might.

“All units! Do not enter the store!”

And I immediately ran out and punched his head with my fist.

Thud –

My fist is blocked by his hand.

“Wow. Shouldn’t you wait during a transformation and appearance? Bad manners?”

“Cut the crap.”

I swung my other hand, but it was also blocked by his other hand.

From what I can feel, our strength is the same.

Not just strength. Voice, speech patterns, even actions.

Everything is a perfect copy of me.

“So, you want to play dirty, huh?”

While we were locked in a struggle, holding hands, he took a breath and shouted.

“All units! Enter the store!”

The zombies outside react to the Zombie Summoner’s voice.

I quickly made a judgment.

‘A narrow space is no good.’

I held onto him just like that and violently rolled my body towards the front door.

The store door broke as we fell into the gap between the zombies.

Crash –

Numerous zombies faced the two summoners.

The masters who were locked in a struggle, holding hands.

The zombies backed away, perhaps confused.

Eventually, a large space was created around us.

At that moment, black smoke rapidly spread out from his body.

I held him tightly and didn’t let go.

His voice is heard.

“You seem to use your head a bit, huh? Shall we see who is the more excellent master?”

The smoke slowly clears.

Woof woof woof –

The dogs had run over at the commotion.

But they too had a look of confusion upon seeing the masters who had become two.

“This guy is the fake! While I’m holding him, hurry and bite this guy!”

“Don’t talk nonsense! This guy is the fake!”

“Ha… There’s no end like this.”

“That’s what I should say.”

While we were locked in a struggle for a long time, the Brute’s zombie arrived.

And the small zombie riding on top of him as well.

Bangnae quietly looks down at the two of us.

A large honey pot is held entirely in her arms.

“Yum yum.”

‘This kid…! I told her to eat just one, but she’s eating it by the pot?’

The moment the fake saw her and tried to shout something, Bangnae raised a finger and brought it to her lips.

“Shh. Bangnae will do it.”

After Bangnae came down to the ground, she handed the honey pot to the Brute.

And then she picked up the needle-sword at her waist.

She gently approaches us.

We are strongly restraining each other and glaring.

Since our physical abilities are completely identical, if one side exerts full strength, the other cannot break free.

Now Bangnae…

Thrust –

Without prior warning or dialogue, Bangnae’s sword pierced the chest of one of us.

“Uh…?”

We simultaneously looked at Bangnae.

Her eyes had turned bright red.

Bangnae smiles.

“You are the fake.”

The one who was stabbed in the chest vomits blood.

But I am now no longer a living being that would die from being stabbed once near the heart.

“Bangnae, this is… Wh-…”

Crunch – Grind –

Bangnae twists the sword, tearing out the flesh and muscle around it entirely.

“Fake. Be quiet.”

Saying that, she approaches him and speaks right by his ear with clear pronunciation.

A sound that is not slurred at all.

“You don’t smell like mine.”

Splurt –

Using the tip of the pulled-out needle-sword, his heart was cut out roundly.

Bangnae bites into the heart.

Chew chew. Spit!

“Trash.”

[Contaminated Source] has been resolved.