TRTP 09

Chapter : 9
Survival Mission (2)

“Kiiieeek!”

At the same time the evolved one threw its spear, the zombies rushed in all at once.

It was time to test the party’s true strength.

Park Chang-hoon seemed to think they could win even in a direct fight, so he didn’t give any special orders.

Instead, he activated his skill, [Morale Boost].

There wasn’t a huge change, but they could feel a slight increase in strength in their bodies.

“Grrr!”
“Graaah!”

With their twisted bodies, the zombies charged like hyenas rushing at prey. No matter how many times he saw it, it was hard to get used to.

Dan-yoon maintained formation and cut down the approaching zombies.

Now, a single zombie was no threat to him.

But a horde coming from all directions was a different story.

In such a situation, with limited movement, even a small scratch from their claws was possible.

Thud! Thud-thud!

On the opposite front, Rainer was wildly swinging his fists.

At over 190 cm tall, the power of his downward punches was incredible.

“Aren’t you worried about getting injured fighting barehanded like that without a weapon?”

“Hahaha! Mister Dan! My body is strong!”

He raised both arms covered with his [Hardening] skill.

Below his shoulders, his arms looked as hard as solid stone, like cement.

His attack power seemed enough, but because his [Physical Enhancement] level was low, he couldn’t kill zombies in one hit.

Each zombie took him dozens of seconds to deal with, and he was gradually being pushed back.

As a result, the party’s front line was also being pushed back.

“If we get pushed any further, I can’t reach them.”

Bae Ji-hyun complained.

She was already annoyed because other zombies kept getting in the way of her shots, and now the distance was becoming too far.

As Rainer slowed down, Park Chang-hoon also stepped forward.

The formation turned into a “T” shape.

“Ji-hyun, give up sniping the evolved one for now and deal with the zombies in the middle first. Let’s push forward step by step.”

“Yes!”

She answered firmly and was about to use [Mana Arrow]—

—but the spear that all three had missed struck her shoulder.

A scream echoed.

“Ahhh!”
“Ji-hyun!”
“Wait, if you leave the formation—!”

Park Chang-hoon rushed out of position.

Dan-yoon tried to stop him, but he said, “Please hold on for a moment,” and quickly took out an antidote ampoule for Ji-hyun, who was losing consciousness.

Because of that, Rainer was completely surrounded by zombies.

Once the formation collapsed, the situation turned in an instant.

He had no choice but to use [Hardening] on his entire body.

He couldn’t move, and could only hope their teeth wouldn’t pierce his hardened skin.

Naturally, all the zombies focused on Dan-yoon.

He had no choice but to use his skill.

It had an 8-hour cooldown, so he didn’t want to use it if possible.

“Potential Release. Target: Physical Enhancement.”

As [Gambler] activated, the level of [Physical Enhancement] rapidly increased—stopping at Level 8.

His body felt light, as if it could fly.

Dan-yoon began cutting down zombies as if possessed.

One. Two. Three.

With each swing, a head flew into the air.

The zombies felt as slow as crawling insects.

“…?!”
“W-what is that…?”

The two who were about to rejoin the fight after using the ampoule stood frozen in shock.

Even seeing it with their own eyes, they couldn’t believe it.

Dan-yoon quickly cleared the zombies around him and ran toward the spear-throwing zombie.

The evolved one met his eyes and let out a cry.

Then it threw another spear.

Dan-yoon simply tilted his head to the left and avoided it.

Slash!

With a diagonal strike, the evolved one’s body split in two.

A notification sounded in his head.

[You are the first in this area to hunt the ‘Zombie Lancer’.]
[You have obtained 500 coins.]
[‘Potential Release’ has increased from Lv.1 to Lv.2.]
[‘Zombie Hunting’ has increased from Lv.1 to Lv.2.]

The sound of skill level-ups was always thrilling.

Especially since [Potential Release], his most useful combat skill, had leveled up.

As the skill ended, his body suddenly felt extremely heavy.

No matter how many times it happened, he couldn’t get used to the moment it started and ended.

Dan-yoon picked up the spear container left behind after the body disappeared.

[You have obtained ‘Zombie Lancer’s Spear Container (D)’.]
[‘Zombie Lancer’s Spear Container (D)’: A container used by the Zombie Lancer. It can generate throwing spears. Remaining: (100/100)]

It didn’t seem immediately useful, but it might come in handy later.

After putting it into his inventory, Dan-yoon returned to the group.

“It’s not a spear-throwing zombie. It’s called a Zombie Lancer.”

“What… what was that just now…?”

“It’s a skill with an 8-hour cooldown. If we encounter another evolved one with a zombie horde, we retreat.”

“Amazing…”
“That’s amazing, Mister Dan!”

Rainer shouted excitedly and hugged Dan-yoon tightly.

The smell of rotten zombie blood hit him.

Dan-yoon frowned and pushed him away, and Rainer was easily shoved back.

“How does such a small body have so much strength?”

“It’s because of skill levels. And I’m not small.”

You’re just too big. Dan-yoon was actually above average height, even among pro gamers.

“Ji-hyun, are you okay?”

“Yes… I’m sorry. I caused trouble.”

“It’s fine. It was an unexpected situation. But Mr. Park Chang-hoon, it’s better not to leave formation during combat.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Seriously, oppa. I can handle this myself. Don’t treat me like I’m useless.”

“…I’m sorry to you too.”

Park Chang-hoon lowered his head.

This crisis was clearly his mistake.

If he had let Ji-hyun use the ampoule herself and stayed in position, they might have handled the zombies more safely.

“By the way, our peeping watcher is here again.”

“Huh?”

Dan-yoon felt the gaze he had noticed earlier and looked up at the sky with an annoyed expression.

Then a notification appeared.

[Star Master Stella is flustered at being called a peeping watcher.]

“Well, I’m just saying.”

[The Master is watching you with interest.]

It seemed this notification wasn’t just because the Master was watching, but more like directly sending messages to the player.

He had already felt the gaze since the battle began.

[The Master nods, surprised by your deduction.]

“Stop reading my thoughts, you peeping watcher.”

[The Master points out that you are rude.]

The three others watching this strange exchange were shocked.

“W-what is this?”

From their reaction, it seemed this was their first time experiencing a Master’s message.

Dan-yoon shrugged and explained.

“At the beginning, there was a message asking us to choose a faction, right? It’s probably a god watching our entire faction.”

“That’s…”

“It’s not very helpful though.”

[The Master looks disappointed.]

“It’s the truth.”

[The Master argues that it’s just not the right time yet.]

“Really? You’re staying longer today.”

[The Master smiles and says they will leave now.]

“Leave some coins before you go.”

[The Master says goodbye and that they will meet again.]

“What a scammer.”

The gaze disappeared.

Must be nice, just watching from above like it’s entertainment.

“…Kind of cute.”

Bae Ji-hyun murmured.

“A god that reacts to every word players say.”

“I don’t know. Maybe it’s the one who brought us here. Does ‘cute’ really fit?”

“Maybe not.”

“Anyway, let’s move.”

At some point, control of the party had completely shifted from Park Chang-hoon to Dan-yoon.

It was inevitable.

There was an overwhelming difference in strength between him and the others.

Even if it was only for 3 minutes with an 8-hour cooldown.

‘Oh, right.’

Dan-yoon checked the description of [Potential Release] again.

Since it leveled up, there should be changes.

‘As expected.’

The cooldown was still 8 hours, but the duration increased to 5 minutes.

For something so hard to level up, the reward was quite small.

Even with a 3x experience event, it was this hard. They could have been more generous.

He grumbled, but wasn’t truly dissatisfied.

It was still a very efficient skill, and he was sure it would become even more useful later.

He quietly closed the skill window and continued walking.

“We’ve arrived. Looks like those earlier ones were guarding this place.”

They had reached their destination—the supply point.

After defeating the Zombie Lancer, hardly any zombies appeared.

Only one or two showed up occasionally.

The supply point was easy to find since it was clearly marked on the map.

Inside an empty department store, they opened reddish-brown boxes up to their knees.

“Twenty.”

At Park Chang-hoon’s words, everyone frowned.

Twenty meant only 40 packs of combat rations.

Not even enough for one meal for everyone in the safe zone.

“This ruins the whole plan…”

There were 100 supply points.

The original plan was for 1–4 teams to steadily grow and gather food over 30 days.

But if each supply point only had 40 rations, even clearing all 100 would still leave them short by 5,000.

“I thought we’d get at least 100…”

This meant one ration every 2–3 days per person.

Not only would satisfaction drop, but energy levels would fall, reducing combat efficiency.

Park Chang-hoon muttered, looking shaken.

Dan-yoon, who had been quietly studying the map, spoke.

“The total amount across all supply points is probably enough.”

“…What?”

“Look at this.”

He pointed at the red dot marking their current location, then at others.

“Oh… this is…”

“Yes. The sizes of the dots are slightly different. Only here, here, and here.”

Out of the 100 supply points, only five dots were slightly different in size.

And one of them was noticeably larger than the others.

“These are like mid-bosses. And this one is probably a boss monster. Most of the food is likely concentrated there.”

“Then we need to change the strategy.”

“While the main party takes down the mid-boss, the other teams move separately and clear normal supply points.”

“To keep up with food consumption, other teams need to grow faster too.”

The two nodded at the same time.

Meanwhile, Bae Ji-hyun and Rainer just watched them talk and looked at each other blankly.