Chapter : 10
Survival Mission (3)
However, their ambitious plan was shattered the moment they returned to the safe zone.
“…What is this.”
“Saea! Hyun-soo!”
Bae Ji-hyun ran toward the people collapsed in the middle of the hall.
Inside, more than a dozen players had been attacked and were lying on the ground, and the center—where the survival kits had been stored—was completely empty.
“…This is unbelievably stupid.”
Dan-yoon bit his lip and walked over to Son Pil-ju, who was moving around treating the injured.
“What happened?”
“Hyung… well…”
Pil-ju wiped his sweat, clearly nervous. Only after Dan-yoon pressed him a few times did he explain.
A few hours after they left, seven players from Party 2 ambushed the guards, subdued them, took all the kits into their inventory, and escaped outside the safe zone.
“We said to ring the bell if anyone approached the supplies without permission. What happened? This many people couldn’t stop just seven?”
“One of them had a stealth skill. You know… that woman who kept arguing with the temporary leader.”
“So she hid her skill from the start. It was planned.”
‘No wonder things felt too easy.’
He had been too relaxed, overlooking something obvious.
It was much easier and safer to knock out a few guards and steal supplies than to fight zombies.
If they took all the stored supplies, even seven people eating two meals a day could last more than 30 days.
And since the four strongest players in the area were away, they must have thought this was their best—and last—chance.
It was also a mistake to put all seven of them into Party 2 just because they were weaker.
Who would have thought they’d team up and steal everything?
It was also a mistake to keep players away from the storage area to prevent theft.
While Park Chang-hoon grabbed his head in frustration, Dan-yoon calmly studied the map.
‘Hmm.’
The loss of supplies was bad—but what annoyed him more was the feeling.
He had never just let something like this go.
There was a perfect word for this situation.
‘All-in rush.’
‘What should I do…’
Dan-yoon spread out the zombie city map and thought deeply.
On one side of the desk was a paper listing the traitors and their basic skills.
Compared to him, Park Chang-hoon, Bae Ji-hyun, and Rainer Hagen, they were far weaker.
They had skills like [Stealth], [Acceleration], [Long Vision], [Short Jump], but most were only Level 1 or 2.
The only real threats were the one who used [Stealth] like him, and the one with [Physical Enhancement Lv.2] plus [Acceleration].
Even so, Dan-yoon felt confident he could win, even against all seven.
As long as they didn’t suddenly grow stronger.
‘If I do this, I must do it quickly.’
The key was not giving them time to grow.
First, find their location.
He carefully analyzed the map.
The zombie city looked like a dartboard.
Eight starting points in a circle on the outer edge.
Inside that, mid-boss supply points in the four directions, with smaller supply points between them.
And at the center, a large safe zone.
Dan-yoon’s eyes sharpened.
He couldn’t search the entire map. He had to narrow it down.
Where would they be?
Which direction did they run?
People moved inward from all eight starting points, so the closer to the center, the more zombies there were.
Logically, going back toward the starting areas would be safer.
At least, they would try to move beyond the supply zones.
His gaze moved to the mid-boss supply points.
Then to the western boss zone, which looked especially dangerous.
‘They would stay as far from the west boss zone as possible… somewhere outside the eastern supply line.’
Even then, the area was huge—about a quarter of the entire map.
But something felt off.
‘No… that’s not it.’
Don’t think so simply.
They were high-ranking players from previous stages.
They wouldn’t just move randomly.
If he were them, where would he go?
If he were the leader, where would he tell them to go?
Dan-yoon closed his eyes.
The entire city map appeared in his mind like a 3D image.
‘The stages are connected.’
‘After surviving 30 days, the next mission will definitely be battle. A large-scale fight. They’ll plan to return to or retake the safe zone if needed.’
‘Then they wouldn’t go far.’
He remembered the [Long Vision] skill they had.
At the same time, he recalled an 8-story building he had seen earlier on the eastern side.
Not too noticeable, but the tallest among nearby buildings.
‘If they hide nearby and watch us…’
A slight smile appeared on his lips.
It felt right.
Like predicting an opponent’s strategy perfectly, just like before.
‘I’m at least 70% sure of their location. But the real problem is…’
The real problem was something else.
They attacked first. He had decided to retaliate.
A clash was unavoidable.
The question was the intensity of that clash.
Could he kill people?
He couldn’t answer easily.
Half-hearted revenge only leads to more revenge.
If he couldn’t finish it properly, it was better not to start.
The answer was simple—but the decision was not.
Because of the weight of the word “killing.”
‘…I have to.’
This was not Earth.
Sooner or later, someone would try to kill him.
Directly or indirectly.
It would happen anyway.
Better to do it now.
“Hyung, aren’t you coming to eat?”
Son Pil-ju came to call him.
Dan-yoon shook his head.
“You go ahead. I need to go somewhere.”
“Where?”
“Hunting.”
He stood up and left.
Ignoring Pil-ju’s confusion, he ran, following his memory.
The remaining zombies attacked one by one, but they were no longer a threat.
Using blind spots, he reached near the target location and activated [Detection].
No zombies were detected inside the 7-story building.
At that moment, he was sure.
They had already cleared it and settled inside.
As expected, he saw two figures guarding the entrance.
They tried to hide, but they couldn’t escape his senses enhanced by [Physical Enhancement Lv.4].
“Potential Release. Target: Stealth.”
[Skill ‘Gambler (Passive)’ is activated.]
[‘Stealth’ has increased from Lv.2 to Lv.6.]
He immediately activated stealth.
His presence and body disappeared.
Level 6 stealth lasted one hour, but once [Potential Release] ended, the level would drop.
So in reality, it would last only 5 minutes.
Still, he chose this to counter possible detection skills.
‘At Level 6 stealth, no one can detect me.’
This was life and death.
He would not let his guard down until it was over.
His body moved silently, but quickly.
Strike first.
He didn’t need to fight all seven at once.
He approached the two guards.
The moment he got close—
His blade pierced one man’s neck.
“Wha—”
The other reacted instantly after seeing his teammate bleed.
For a moment, what he had done sent chills down his spine—
—but Dan-yoon covered his mouth and subdued him from behind.
[‘Adaptability’ has increased from Lv.1 to Lv.2.]
The excitement and chaos quickly settled down.
“Mmm! Mmm!”
The man struggled, but Dan-yoon slowly pressed the blade against his throat.
“Move and you die. Don’t make a sound.”
The man nodded desperately.
Dan-yoon lowered his hand and restrained his neck.
“Answer quietly. Where are the stolen supplies?”
“….”
“Answer.”
The blade pressed deeper.
“F-fourth floor…”
“Where?”
“Room 405…”
So they hadn’t split the supplies.
As expected, food was what held them together.
“Guards? Security?”
“There are none… The supply keys are kept in a shared space… and whenever we go to the storage, we all move together…”
“I’ll tie you up and check. If you’re lying, I’ll come back and kill you.”
“I’m telling the truth…”
“What are the others doing?”
“One is on the rooftop… the rest are on the 7th floor…”
The man began to cry.
“Please… spare me. I just followed orders—”
But he couldn’t finish.
Dan-yoon stabbed his neck without hesitation.
An unpleasant feeling spread through his body.
[You have killed two or more of your own kind in a short time.]
[You have obtained the trait ‘Kin Slayer (Common)’.]
[You have obtained the exclusive skill ‘Plunder Lv.1 (Passive)’.]
He ignored the system messages for now.
He hid one of the bodies in a corner of a nearby building.
Then he immediately went up the stairs.
Only 7–8 minutes had passed so far.
Unless something unexpected happened, everything would go as planned.
Even if something did happen, he wasn’t worried.
He didn’t think he would lose to the remaining five.
He would just proceed carefully and precisely.
Dan-yoon stood in front of Room 405.
‘An old door handle.’
Good.
Better than a digital lock that might make noise.
He glanced upstairs, then struck the handle.
Crack.
It broke easily.
He removed it and unlocked the door.
Inside, it looked like an old house from the 80s or 90s.
And in the living room, combat rations were piled up messily.
There was still a lot left.
After all, they had taken supplies from over 300 people.
“Inventory.”
He opened his item window and collected all the food.
The items stacked neatly as icons.
Then he hid inside a piece of furniture in the corner.
Only then did he feel his breathing become heavy and his mind unsettled.
Was it from the first kill?
Or from exhaustion?
He shook his head.
The bait had been set.
Now he just had to wait.
Murmurs filled the air.
About 30 minutes had passed.
The voices grew louder—then turned into shouting.
“What is this?!”
A sharp voice rang out.
‘Hwang Min-ji.’
That woman.
The one with [Stealth], who had argued with Park Chang-hoon.
Likely the leader of this betrayal.
“Duncan, you bastard! You tried to survive alone!”
After seeing the situation downstairs, she assumed the dead man was the traitor.
Bang! Bang!
She kicked things in anger, breaking furniture around her.
