episode_0277

Zombies filled the wide road. When the surging sight met his eyes, for a moment, he couldn’t think of anything. “Ah, damn it.” The expletive that naturally burst out was followed by a feeling of ‘deep irritation’.

“No, where did they come from?” The eerie sound quietly echoing gave rise to an unanswered question. “Am I not fully awake?” Thinking he might have seen it wrong, he rubbed his eyes, but the squirming feast of flesh remained unchanged.

“…Ah, those damn things…” A slight sense of fatigue drained the strength from his body, and his stomach unpleasantly churned. Then, a deep irritation rose again. This futile cycle of emotional exhaustion repeated for a while.

What was this feeling now? It was like finishing a tough job, gritting his teeth for overtime, and then getting a new task right as he was preparing to leave. It was an indescribably frustrating feeling, like facing a crazy, mentally ill, salary-stealing manager who throws urgent-but-not-urgent tasks at you while just wasting food and giving unwanted advice. Though the circumstances were different, if he had to express it, it was that kind of dirty feeling.

“…Why are they doing this to me…” He pulled out a cigarette and lit it, gazing at the distant zombies who hadn’t noticed him yet. “Huuuuh, damn it.” He exhaled the deeply inhaled cigarette smoke, his empty feelings carried within it.

The nicotine, which made his body feel languid, calmed him down, if only a little. “This is why I can’t quit smoking.” The cigarette quickly turned to ash and vanished.

A single cigarette calmed him somewhat. The damp, cold wind brushing against his entire body also helped him regain his senses. For now… his initial objective of searching for potential dangers had been achieved. It was fortunate that he found them first, rather than being caught unaware, as it’s better to take the hit first [a proverb about facing difficulties head-on].

‘Oh well, I don’t care.’ He quickened his pace slightly, moving towards the groups of zombies. There weren’t many zombies loitering within a certain distance from the mountain entrance, where there were no residential buildings. Aside from the scattered corpses on the 8-lane road, a certain section felt empty.

Though he had spouted nonsense in his bewilderment, he was truly bothered by why those things had suddenly appeared. However, one thing was certain: the variant had migrated from where the large number of zombies were. The sporadic corpses visible in the direction he was walking pointed the way. They were left in a similar state to the corpses found in the mountains, making them easily identifiable. The continuous trail of corpses served as a roadmap.

The traces left by the variant led to a massive building. A remarkably large and imposing building. 【Geumhwa Church】 The church, three to four times larger and taller than nearby buildings, originally had a clean exterior. The trail led to the church entrance.

‘…From here?’ It was an unexpected location, so he stopped and began to look around. The wrecked cars on the 8-lane road were especially concentrated at the church entrance. That church entrance was utterly smashed. The entrance was filled with corpses. Ominously, it was even covered in blood. The disorderly piled corpses formed a long line leading into the building.

‘Hmm…’ That was all he could confirm from a distance. Even for an investigation, he didn’t want to go closer. Indeed, he didn’t know what had happened, but there were simply too many corpses. An intensely foul stench, unbefitting a church building, emanated profusely. Coincidentally, zombies swarmed from around the church building. And then…

『Be reverent before the End.』 – Those who face God’s wrath shall kneel and repent. – The sight of banners praising the apocalypse plastered everywhere was enough to make him instinctively turn away.

‘Those tax-evading bastards sure are having fun.’ He could imagine the people doing business by selling God shouting, ‘This is it!’ and celebrating. Entering such a magnificent building, as grand as the madness of those lunatics, was a bit… Modern-day God-peddlers might not even imagine it, but God did exist. At least, he truly existed on that side. Because of that, he grumbled and complained, but he couldn’t openly curse. As a human, he was afraid of divine punishment, but…

『Repent. God will forgive your sins.』 “Ugh…” Just thinking about it sent shivers down his spine. The paladins, almost fanatical, were truly troublesome individuals. The God-peddlers, not him, should have gone to that side. If they had, they might have become true believers through heartfelt repentance, not empty prayers. Or perhaps the current situation was the result of God’s wrath.

Anyway. Lingering around churches had led to more trouble than good experiences. Based on experience, he decided to ignore it and turned away. “…Huh?”

『Media Box』 『Game Distribution』 A charming five-story building adorned with large display windows. A sign boasting very stimulating phrases caught his eye. He found a place that was impossible to just pass by and fell into thought.

‘Of all places, the location is…’ Its location was directly opposite Geumhwa Church. And the 8-lane road was full of wrecked cars and zombies. Zombies were also gathered at the entrance of the culture-related (?) building. However, in recent times, with online transactions prevalent, places like this were rarely seen. Even more so if they were right next to each other. Should he go in? Or not?

“…Let’s go.” His hesitation was brief, and he immediately took action. The culture building was about 200 meters ahead. He decided to cross to the opposite side first and reach the building’s rooftop, then moved.

Groooan… Gurgle… Low growls echoed from the alley between the buildings. Thump-thump-thump- THWAP! The moment he ran quickly and leaped up.

Kaa-aa-aack-! Screeech-! Zombies rushed out from the alley. Soon after, he landed on the rooftop of a three-story building and looked down to see zombies glaring at him, smashing their bodies against the wall. Some leaped into the building entrance.

“Tch.” He immediately moved away, avoiding the chaotic stomping sounds of the zombies. Dash-dash-dash- THWAP! SWISH! He easily leaped over the rooftops of buildings with varying heights.

“K-h-o-aaaaa!” Perhaps because the buildings weren’t very tall. As he leaped over alleys wide enough for one or two cars, some zombies who noticed him let out screams. Then, their attention was drawn, and the horde rushed towards him.

Thump-thump-thump-thump-thump-thump-thump- The monstrous roars, growing in size as they merged, drew in the zombies that had been standing blankly. “Oh, come on…” By the time he safely landed on the rooftop of the Media Box building, a tremendous number of nearby zombies had rushed towards him.

They not only surrounded the building but piled up in layers, appearing as if they would step on each other to climb up. In addition, some of the ones surging on the road also approached. “…” The sight of zombies in colorful, diverse clothes swarming was like a swarm of ants clinging to candy.

He immediately moved away from the railing, but the zombies’ frenzy didn’t subside. Even when he moved out of sight and waited, they didn’t calm down. CRASH-! CLINK-! “Ssshh-!” Hearing the sound of glass breaking on the first floor, it seemed they had entered.

He cautiously approached the rooftop entrance and listened. Zombies had definitely entered, but there was no sign of them coming up. ‘Should I wait a bit… Hmm?’ As he stepped away from the door.

Those unforgiven shall fall into hellfire! “…” The words he saw in passing. He smiled bitterly, looking at the long banner hanging vertically from the church rooftop. He glanced up at the cloudy sky.

‘If that’s what you wish.’ God wished for it. A fiery, fire-attribute attack. Listening to the roars of the dead echoing from below, he reverently opened his inventory.

‘First, the neck warmer… Only one left.’ He put on his last remaining black neck warmer and a pair of work-grade paint gloves. Then, for the first time in a long while, he began making molotov cocktails. He spared no materials, pouring his full effort into them. Though the recipe was hazy, his hands were used to it from having made them a few times before. After a little time, he was able to easily create dozens of molotov cocktails. Once they were all made and laid out, it was quite a spectacle.

This time, without making any mistakes, he prepared the remaining sloshing alcohol in a large soup pot beforehand and carefully placed the molotov cocktails inside. Preparation complete. Reflecting on his experience in Yangjae-dong. Starting a fire up close would screw him over.

“Let’s see…” He had a plan for safety. He slowly approached the railing and surveyed the road. 【262】 A discarded blue bus, right in the middle of the road, exactly between Media Box and the church, made for a perfect target.

“Good.” Now, all he had to do was move. He stepped back for a moment, then… Tat-a-da-dat-! WHOOSH! He boosted his legs, attempting a leap to the blue bus.

The moment he cleared the railing, he saw the stench rising from below and the zombies’ gazes fixing on him. Kaa-aa-aack-!! THUMP- The bus roof he landed on dented inward, and at the same time, zombies swarmed the bus.

The bus dangerously rocked and swayed as they crashed and rubbed their bodies against it. SPLASH! He opened his inventory and widely sprayed gasoline, drenching the frenzied zombies. Immediately after, he pulled out a molotov cocktail, lit it, then.

Gurgle-gurgle-gurgle- BOOM!! He leaped back to the Media Box building’s rooftop, simultaneously throwing the molotov cocktail behind him. In his fleeting sight, the bus, unable to withstand the impact, crumpled and toppled onto its side.

And the molotov cocktail, having fallen near the bus’s bottom, began to do its work. WHOOSH-!! Screeeeeeeech!! Turning around on the rooftop he had ascended to, he saw the flames already rising.

The fire, which started with a single bottle, burned a significant area from the very beginning. Exactly the area where the gasoline was sprayed, but… “…The effect is definite.” The flames immediately grew in size and soon began to swallow the zombies.

Screeeech-! The stimulated zombies’ roars formed a tremendous chorus. Drawn by the surging flames like moths to a light, the zombies gathered frantically. As they crushed and trampled each other, the zombies, packed so tightly they were practically stuck together, shared the warmth of the flames with their bodies.

“Oh, wow…” Unlike when he had only thrown molotov cocktails, the speed at which the flames grew was distinctly different. “…” The fire spread faster and faster. Moreover, they were screaming among themselves while the flames surged. The number of rushing zombies increased steadily.

“This is good—“ BANG-! Black smoke and flames surged greatly from the toppled bus. BANG-! BANG! CRACKLE-! THUD! “Ah, no…” Glass simultaneously burst from the burning vehicles. And flames soared.

He had expected it, but the speed at which the fire spread was unexpected. He had thought the vehicles would catch fire, but not that quickly… KABOOM-!! He flinched! Seeing the blue bus’s body heave with the explosion, his shoulders trembled.

BOOM-! CRASH! KABOOM!! A beat later, similar large and small explosion sounds began to be heard from passenger cars as well. The zombies were frantic with the threatening roars. WHOOSH-!! Flames roared with terrifying momentum.

“Ah, hot!” Even from a distance, intense heat grazed his forehead. Groooooooan-!! Despite being drenched by the rain all night, the zombies burned vigorously like dry kindling.

KABOOM!! ROAR-! Not to be outdone, the wrecked cars exploded and burst into flames. Sizzle-sizzle- Even the faint sound of burning flesh. “…” A hellscape unfolded on the wide 8-lane road between him and the church.