episode_0073

Advance and follow-up units (5) – Hang-dong, Guro-gu, Seoul

The night in Seoul ended and morning dawned again.

All the zombies shaking the ground disappeared as if it were a dream and the city fell asleep again.

The only proof that last night’s hell wasn’t a dream was the window broken by the steroid-blown zombie.

There was only a distorted, spiderweb-like crater on the floor of the shopping district.

Other than that, everything was the same as when I first crossed the barrier.

Rather, that struck me as a more intense sense of heterogeneity than anything else.

After regaining my sanity in the bedroom on the lower floor of the penthouse, I approached the protective shield.

Just as I could not understand the dynamics of Seoul before entering Seoul, I could not see anything outside of Seoul.

An unidentified black curtain that isolates each other.

Slowly, I pushed my right hand out past the black shield with great force.

Tiring—!

[Awakened people who do not possess a return stone cannot leave Seoul.]

[Perform the mission and secure the Hearthstone!]

I nodded at the warning message I had guessed and withdrew my outstretched hand.

“You can do whatever you want when you go in, but not when you leave.”

Still, it was better than some pink gay bar somewhere.

This is because there is a definite escape item called a ‘return stone’.

Rather than that, I kept asking myself, ‘Why?’

Why was this curtain placed on the capital of South Korea?

Why did they lock up the awakened people who came in and apply a system called a zone?

Why did they create missions and make them compete with each other to induce a virtual battle royale?

“Hmm… When I think about it, why am I suddenly having such useless thoughts?”

Asking this question without any clues only made my head hurt.

Like Seo Joo-won yesterday, I lightly shook myself and brushed away all my miscellaneous thoughts.

Serious deliberation, something only philosophers would do, was of no use at this moment.

I just need to continue to achieve certain victories and gains as I have been doing so far.

My goal is not to consider a broken world, but to create a new world.

Plus, it had been quite a while.

That was the moment when I ran wild as I wanted without anyone watching.

I recalled the moment I first woke up and encountered zombies on the first floor of my apartment.

Just like Hanmaeum Apartment back then, I was the last survivor of this Guro-gu.

“One mind apartment mode on.”

Grumble!

He kicked the ground, crushing a little bit of the asphalt of the road.

A soft telekinetic force enveloped the body that quickly soared into the air.

The panoramic view of Guro-gu, no different from yesterday, welcomed me.

My green territory, which was slightly larger than the red area of Seojuwon, caught my eye first.

6.5% of the entire Guro-gu area.

There was still a long way to go.

“Mission, where is the mission?”

Therefore, it was more urgent to find a mission that Seo Joo-won had also performed several times.

While searching the entire Guro-gu from top to bottom, a new system message came to mind.

[The morning has dawned in Seoul.]

[Today’s ‘Today’s General Mission’ is updated!]

At the end of the two-line system message, the entire Guro-gu area flashed for a moment.

I opened my eyes, which had been squinting for a moment due to the excessively bright light, and looked at Guro-gu again.

Since the general mission has been updated, you will definitely see something different from before.

“… I found it.”

My eyes sparkled at the buildings that were emitting abnormally bright light, unlike other buildings.

Without wasting time, I landed on the closest one of the five glowing buildings.

‘Pressian Apartment Building 101.’

The entire apartment wasn’t shining either.

In particular, only one building, Building 101, was emitting bright light and tempting me.

As I was entering Building 101 for navigation, the system message was updated.

Tiring—!

[You have entered the standard mission ‘Apartment Cleaning’.]

[There is no mission performance history of the awakened person.]

[Mission difficulty is fixed to ‘Tutorial’.]

“Huh, I’m being treated like a newbie out of nowhere.”

Are there any newbies with full level combat skills?

Wait, isn’t the reward too high for the tutorial difficulty?

I quickly opened the mission window again and looked for a difficulty change, but there was no difficulty change.

[Enter the apartment slowly and be aware of your surroundings!]

“That… System. Shall we talk for the first time in a while?”

[Enter the apartment slowly and be aware of your surroundings!]

I understand very well that it is a tutorial.

The way he spoke was like a kindergarten teacher telling us to be careful when crossing a crosswalk.

Seeing the same words being said over and over again, it was probably at a level where protesting wouldn’t work.

[Enter the apartment slowly and be aware of your surroundings!]

“I got it, I got it.”

Okay, let’s think of it as a game where you can’t skip the tutorial.

I decided to adapt to the rhythm of the system that keeps urging me on.

We slowly entered building 101 of the Pressian Apartment, which was a system-certified ‘tutorial’.

Of course, as the system hoped, we did not forget to be alert to our surroundings.

Kkkk-

[A terrible sound shaking the apartment! You have confirmed the remaining zombies inside!]

[You should check above where the sound came from! Be careful of sudden zombie attacks!]

When I came in and read the newly updated system message, I had a different feeling because it felt like I was receiving a backup of the system.

I glanced upwards, where a roar sounded like a message from the system.

In order to clean the apartment, you have to kill all the zombies above.

Trap – plod –

I started climbing the gloomy stairs to the apartment.

Thanks to the sunlight shining through the windows installed on each floor, there was no need for a flashlight like yesterday.

As I was climbing up the second and third floors, my ears caught a small sound.

The sound of someone shuffling and wandering around.

Needless to say, he was a zombie.

[You have detected the presence of zombies in advance! But sensing and processing are two different things!]

[One zombie always calls for more zombies! Pass by as quietly as possible or deal with the zombies as quickly as possible!]

It was a serious tutorial, not a joke.

I looked back at the last sentence of the system and let out a laugh.

They’re not mutants, they’re regular zombies, so scare them and just pass by or deal with them.

“You can’t do that.”

The quietly whispered answer reached the third floor.

And it immediately catches the attention of the wandering zombies.

“kkieeek―!”

The howl it let out shook the building and attracted all the zombies in the apartment.

I traced the sound and held out my hand to the zombie running up the stairs.

[this! A zombie has noticed you! Hurry… ]

Chewy profit-

The zombie’s body collapsed before all the system messages were output.

“Huh? What system?”

He threw the guy’s head on the floor and began to leisurely climb the stairs.

The sound of zombies’ footsteps coming down from below continued to ring out.

“Ah, today I keep thinking about the first day.”

Is it because of the commonality of killing zombies in apartments?

The difference from then was that the zombies that had been following me were now coming down from above.

Dozens of zombies came down the stairs and ran into me.

I mechanically stretched out my hand.

My eyes moved quickly left and right, watching the necks of the zombies running towards me.

“kkieeek―”

[this! Zombies are truly scary when they band together! Hurry… ]

Cheee-

Their bodies collapsed like waves.

I lightly jumped over the heads of those who were falling to the ground, thumping to the beat.

I jumped over the corpses of the zombies and walked steadily without stopping to the top floor, which was expected to be the goal of the mission.

Small waves of regular zombies were overcome long ago on the first day of awakening.

[…] … ]

I couldn’t help but laugh when I saw the system stop printing a message.

“Huh? My molars will break, system!”

The number of cases where the dungeon was ‘Hell Difficulty’ disguised as a tutorial commonly found in web novels was reduced.

As soon as I was convinced that this was a real tutorial, I quickly picked up the pace.

If it was just regular zombies, there was no reason to walk on guard.

Jumping one floor at a time in one leap, he arrived at the 49th floor, the top floor of the apartment.

“Please save me! Is there anyone?!”

Someone called me from the only one of the four front doors that was closed.

A voice that tickles and makes you want to rush to help just by hearing it.

I couldn’t help but laugh out loud at the familiar voice.

[After going through hardships, you arrived at the top floor of the apartment! Then you hear someone’s urgent rescue request! But be careful! In this world, there are not only zombies that bite you!]

Ah, I guess this is the climax of the tutorial?

Even though it was a simple message output, the system’s elation was strangely evident.

“Please save me! Is there anyone?!”

It’s as if it was recorded, with repeated tones and repeated sentences.

“Do you think those bastard best friends are also stuck in the ceiling?”

Grumble-

After briefly denting the closed door, I entered the house while keeping my eyes on the ceiling.

“Please save me! Is there anyone?!”

Upon closer inspection, there was nothing in the living room.

The source of the sound was not the living room, but a bedroom closed with a white door.

[The cleaning mission at the Pressian Apartment is over. As long as you check the last bedroom! you are… ]

Also, I ignored the system that was outputting messages and opened the bedroom door.

As expected, something stuck in a sack and struggling desperately called to me.

“Ah! thank you! Uh, please come inside and get me out!”

Oh, for the first time, instead of asking for help, I say something else.

He stretched out his hand towards the ceiling with a sad expression.

As expected, a Sound Stalker was preparing to attack me as I entered the room.

[You stayed calm even in the face of human voices! You’ve caught something that looks nothing like a regular zombie. they… ]

Creak drudge-

In one fell swoop, the Sound Stalker’s body was crushed into a ball.

He then projected his telekinetic powers onto the bag containing the zombies.

Chewy profit-

Rotten blood splattered out of the sack, which was torn in half, all the way to the ceiling.

When the buzzing voice became silent, the system message also stopped output.

“End?”

The system, which had been silent for a while due to a light question, updated the message.

Tiring—!

[The ‘Apartment Cleaning’ mission on ‘Tutorial Difficulty’ has been completed!]

[Guro-gu dominance rate rises slightly!]

[Awakened Han Gu-won’s Guro-gu domination rate: 6.6%]

[‘Easy Difficulty’ will be available from future missions!]

[To unlock ‘Normal Difficulty’, you need to complete 5 ‘Easy Difficulty’ missions!]

Oh, the reason I couldn’t see the high difficulty level was because I didn’t complete the tutorial.

If you beat Easy difficulty, you’ll get Normal difficulty, and then after Normal difficulty, you’ll get another higher difficulty level.

As I nodded slightly, the remaining messages were printed one after another.

[Choose a reward for completing a normal mission!]

[One. Stamina recovery potion]

[2. Apartment citizen rescue (2 people)]

[The moment you select a reward, the normal missions you can perform today will be deducted!]

[Normal missions that can be performed: 4 (Update: 23:40:39)]

“Autumn was right.”

‘Health recovery potion.’

After awakening, for the first time, an item was waiting for me to choose.

However, my hand did not go in that direction.

My eyes have been staring at the second reward ever since.

“… Civil Rescue.”

There was no greater reward for a religious leader than people.

As soon as I chose number 2 as the reward, a halo of light fell from the ceiling.

The flowing light slowly transformed into the shape of two people. And then it slowly disappeared.

As the white light left, the two men and women slowly opened their eyes.

“Ugh… ”

Of the two, the man who recovered his senses quickly looked at me while holding his head.

The man’s eyes trembled slightly, showing embarrassment and fear.

“W, where am I?”

I looked down at the man and woman without any response.

There was no trace of mana at all.

Two completely normal people came down in front of me.

‘Seo Joo-won… ‘You didn’t get your hair cut outside.’

I could tell that he had also rescued a citizen as a reward.

Although my goals were completely opposite.

“Aaaagh―!”

The woman, who came to her senses late, screamed and went crazy.

It seemed like it was thanks to the corpses of the Jangsan zombies and sound stalkers I killed.

The man also heard the woman’s screams and noticed black blood on the floor.

“What, what are you doing! Blood, it’s blood!”

It was the reaction of someone who was horrified to see blood for the first time in a long time.

It was the exact opposite of how the elderly and infirm at the department store and the survivors at Starlight Church were indifferent to the blood.

“What, what! This is our apartment! Aren’t you the girl next door?”

“Wrong wow- Mister, did you kidnap me by any chance? Please release me before the police come. I won’t tell anyone.”

“What are you talking about! New, I didn’t even step out of the house after watching the news! How are you here? Me, I’m a victim too!”

I was convinced after listening to the conversation between those two people.

He talked about kidnapping and the police, and mentioned news stories that we’re not even sure existed anymore.

The two were citizens of this apartment who disappeared before the zombie outbreak reached its peak.

The moment it was covered by the curtain of Seoul, it would have disappeared at once.

“Black Black Black― Really?”

“Ah, I heard you say so! Quickly hide behind me. Can’t you see that guy wearing strange clothes?”

“Yes? uh? Ahhh! ”

Why is your reaction more intense when you see me than when you see a corpse?

The man hiding the woman behind his back clenched his fists and confronted me.

It seemed like he was calmly opening his mouth, but he couldn’t hide his rapidly fluttering uvula.

“Ah, uncle! Didn’t you even watch the news? Now it’s dangerous to go outside the house! Well, we won’t report it to the police, so please let us out.”

“That’s right! Don’t leave the house, uh, I have to call my mom, I have to call my younger siblings… ”

I smiled brightly and just moved to the side without saying anything.

Two people who were secretly watching me quickly ran out of the bedroom.

I followed them very leisurely.

Their running becomes faster as they hear the footsteps following them.

“Ugh!”

The man who was going down the stairs in the lead, skipping two or three at a time, screamed and collapsed on the stairs.

The headless corpses lined up in front of the man were literally the center of a gore movie.

“What is this~!”

“Aaaagh―!”

A woman who discovered the tragic scene belatedly fell asleep behind the man.

Trap – plod –

The man and woman who saw me slowly following behind them trembled with white faces filled with fear.

In their eyes, I will be seen as a psychopathic killer who is slowly toying with them.

The sight of someone trembling, jumping over a corpse and running away was literally like nothing else in a horror movie.

“Oh, don’t come! Don’t follow me!”

“Ah, uncle, let’s go together! Don’t abandon me!”

I continued to walk slowly behind them.

After finishing the long 40-story staircase, the man and woman run outside the apartment.

They had not yet noticed anything strange and were concentrating on running away, but stopped beyond the front door of the apartment.

Suddenly, we stopped and looked around the city next to them.

Vehicles and people who were usually busy coming and going.

Owners waiting for customers in restaurants and stores.

At least there was no unknown bird landing on the tree branch.

A city that has fallen into silence.

With their mouths open in a daze, they recognize the most powerful being.

A dark, unidentifiable film that surrounds Seoul.

The silence of the city was contagious to them, as if the screams they had been screaming until now were lies.

I thought to myself as I looked at them completely confused.

The disaster started now.

Unlike the people who had endured and persevered until now, they had to endure all the despair that had hitherto stopped.

‘It must be difficult, painful and sad.’

A smile was drawn on my lips.

So, I guess I’ll find someone to rely on.

“Um, what on earth is that… ”

Like the cliché, they don’t even ask if it’s a movie shoot or a hidden camera.

The sense of reality given by that black curtain instilled a feeling of intimidation in them even without asking such foolish questions.

It is a “ statement. But it’s a door that doesn’t open.”

They stared at the black membrane blankly at my indifferent answer and then stared at me.

They no longer ran away or cried.

The only moving and speaking person in this city never left me.

Cult groups did not confiscate communication tools and imprison people in the same space for no reason.

People in the same space become influenced by the person next to them without even knowing it.

Underneath this black curtain, Seoul was a natural space for perfect missionary work.

I looked again at Gurogu under the black curtain.

So many apartments packed so tightly together.

I could see numerous ordinary people stuffed inside.

“Oh, who are you?”

It was the first question they said worth answering.

I smiled kindly as I saw them asking me questions with trembling eyes.

Once again, it was time to return to being the leader of Salvation Church, not Han Guwon.

A prison that cannot be escaped and a disaster that will disturb the night.

I am the only one standing above them as they cry out in sorrow.

“I am your protector and guide.”

Suddenly, the life of someone revered as a god came to mind.

What did he say about the time in his life when he preached to those who did not believe in him?

Time for ministry?

Public life?

no.

In this city where even time stops and even God sleeps.

“He is the leader of the One Mind Salvation Church.”

The time of the Second Coming has arrived.