Chapter : 6
Zombie City (3)
[You have obtained the trait ‘Zombie Hunter (Normal)’.]
[You have obtained the exclusive skill ‘Zombie Hunting Lv.1 (Passive)’.]
The level of [Physical Enhancement] had increased to 3, and he even gained a passive skill that gave him an advantage against corpse-type enemies.
Even though it was just 1 coin per zombie, he had earned 109 coins from hunting them.
He still didn’t know where to use them.
Still, it was a decent gain.
Thinking he should use this method again, Dan-yoon started moving.
The safe zone was a school building.
At the end of a wide field stood several buildings, and around the field was a stone wall about 2 meters high.
As he expected, zombies were crowded near the safe zone.
It seemed he was a bit late after dealing with the Zombie Warrior and the horde.
Some players tried to ignore the zombies and climb over the wall, but were immediately caught and torn apart.
Of course, Dan-yoon had no intention of joining that foolish line.
“Stealth.”
He used the [Stealth] skill he had been saving.
His body became semi-transparent, and his presence disappeared.
Then he easily found a gap and climbed over the wall.
The moment his feet touched the ground inside the school, a clear notification appeared, and his body was restored.
[Clear Rank: S]
[You slaughtered many zombies and hunted an evolved Zombie Warrior, and reached the safe zone in a short time.]
[You have obtained 2,000 coins.]
[Additional reward: ‘Survival Kit’ item acquired.]
“Nice.”
Total: 4,269 coins.
He didn’t know if that was a lot or a little since he couldn’t use them yet.
But they would be useful someday.
He opened his inventory and checked the reward.
[Survival Kit (F) x5: Contains medicine, combat rations, water, and other survival supplies.]
Even though it was low rank, it was quite useful. It would’ve been better if it were a combat item, but the Warrior Blade was enough.
He closed the inventory and headed to the nearest building.
It was the gym hall.
Players who arrived earlier were lying around, resting.
Total: 19 people.
Fewer than expected.
Dan-yoon tilted his head and checked other buildings. A few people were resting in classrooms, but most were in the gym.
Less than 30 people total.
Even if more were coming, that was still very few.
He took out the map.
This place was exactly the center of the area.
And the apartments were arranged in a circle around it—likely the starting points for players.
There were so many apartments.
But only around thirty survivors?
He checked the remaining time.
About three days left.
“Hmm…”
Since everyone was gathered in one place, the next stage would definitely be a group stage.
But was this number enough?
If the next mission was to eliminate zombies outside, they would need as many players alive as possible.
And even if not, Dan-yoon had no intention of sitting still during Stage 3.
He had to prepare for the next stage.
Then someone interrupted his thoughts.
“Excuse me… aren’t you Dan-yoon?”
This was why he avoided other players.
Whenever people gathered, his past followed him.
He had appeared on TV and even in news reports, so it wasn’t strange someone recognized him.
People nearby began glancing at him.
“You’ve mistaken me for someone else.”
He denied it immediately.
“No… I was your fan.”
“Go away.”
“…What?”
“I said go.”
The man frowned and left.
“Acting like a celebrity… criminal bastard.”
Dan-yoon heard the muttering.
Even if he didn’t want to.
His enhanced senses picked up everything.
Fans and haters were separated by a thin line.
He smirked.
Then he stood up.
He wanted to find a quiet corner and rest.
His body was restored, but his mind was exhausted after three stages.
During Stage 3, Dan-yoon tested several things.
He checked things he couldn’t before.
Mana consumption, cooldowns, whether growth was possible after clearing a stage.
Result:
Most active skills had an 8-hour cooldown.
[Trap Detection], [Stealth], and [Potential Release] could be used about three times a day.
Basically, once per battle.
Except [Trap Detection], which could be used consecutively.
[Appraisal] could be used continuously if he had enough mana.
But it didn’t work on humans.
It showed: “Skill level is too low.”
So maybe later it would work.
“Stealth.”
His body turned transparent again.
He crossed the wall and hunted zombies nearby.
Still 1 coin per zombie.
He noticed something interesting:
Infected players became zombies with their original abilities.
For example:
[Zombie (E): Player Shin Gil-soo who became infected.]
They were much more dangerous.
He didn’t know what skills they had.
Moving silently, he stabbed the zombies hanging on the wall one by one.
Like harvesting fruit.
Soon, [Stealth] was about to end.
He returned safely inside.
Then he sat on the wall and looked outside.
He didn’t intentionally save people, but by clearing zombies, gaps appeared.
Other players used those gaps to enter.
‘Quite a lot of players have stealth-type skills.’
He hadn’t seen someone with [Stealth] exactly like his, but many players moved without being noticed.
He guessed it was a lower trait skill.
Maybe something like “Presence Erasure.”
There were many shut-ins in Korea.
‘Then there must be others with Stealth too.’
He decided to level up [Trap Detection] quickly.
It would be useful if players fought each other.
Skill leveling method wasn’t clear, but frequent use seemed important.
After days of hunting zombies, [Physical Enhancement] didn’t level up further.
But [Stealth] became Level 2.
Duration increased to 5 minutes, and mana cost decreased.
‘Stage should end soon.’
5 hours remaining.
He took out canned food and ate.
He saved combat rations, but used food from the starting point freely.
Something felt suspicious.
Some players tried to share food, but after learning PvP was possible in the safe zone, he avoided interaction.
“Not a great view while eating.”
Zombies hung on the wall, drooling.
While eating, he saw another group running toward the safe zone.
“Just a little more!”
“Robert!”
This time, six players.
Many late arrivals came in groups.
Because he had cleared zombies earlier, all six entered safely.
“Ha… ha…”
“We survived…”
One of them looked at Dan-yoon sitting on the wall.
“Were you just watching? You could’ve helped.”
“I killed the zombies here. Without me, you’d all be dead.”
“Oh… sorry. I didn’t know.”
The player apologized immediately.
“Thank you. I’m Annabel.”
“No need for introductions. Go rest.”
“….”
Her expression clearly showed what she thought.
What a rude person.
She wasn’t wrong.
Dan-yoon treated everyone the same.
Cold.
Not rude—just not kind.
But there were moments he couldn’t ignore.
‘Son Pil-ju?’
Someone he knew appeared.
It was Son Pil-ju, his former teammate’s doctor.
Friendly. Kind. Someone who treated him like an older brother.
From his movement, his [Physical Enhancement] was still Level 1.
And now, the wall was crowded with zombies again.
At this rate, he would die.
‘Hyung, I trust you.’
‘Don’t give up!’
‘Let’s eat together sometime.’
If he had ignored him like others…
If he wasn’t someone he knew…
Then he wouldn’t hesitate.
But now—
Dan-yoon was already running.
Seventeen zombies.
He had to kill them quickly.
Pil-ju was trapped, unable to move forward or back.
“Potential Release. Target: Physical Enhancement.”
[‘Gambler (Passive)’ is applied.]
[‘Physical Enhancement’ increases from Lv.3 to Lv.4.]
Luckily, he always saved one skill for emergencies.
His body became light like a feather.
The moment he pushed off the ground, he closed the distance instantly.
“Y-Yoon hyung?!”
“Stop talking and run straight to the wall.”
“Huh?”
“Now!”
At the same time, Dan-yoon swung the Warrior Blade at the nearest zombie.
