Chapter 15
"It's dangerous wandering around alone. Where did you come from? Want me to walk you back?"
"...Huh? No, I'm okay..."
Despite the fierce tattoo and bloodstained weapon, her attitude was as kind as a neighbor helping a lost child.
She had come over because she was worried I might be in danger.
The taut thread of tension snapped, and a wave of relief washed over me.
"Ah... n-no, I'm not lost. I have companions too..."
I answered awkwardly, subtly pointing at the drones floating beside me.
The hand that had been gripping the mace tightly also slowly lost its strength.
The old saying that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover still held true, even in this ruined world.
"Really? That's a relief. These... drones? So they're your companions. Can you get back safely?"
"Yes... um, it's just right ahead."
"I see. Anyway, be careful."
The woman gave a cool little wave, then slung her weapon over her shoulder and turned to go on her way.
'Right, you really shouldn't judge by appearances.'
With a sense of relief, I turned and hurriedly boarded the train.
It had been a warm encounter this time, but who knew what kind of meeting would be waiting next?
I decided to open the box after returning to the train.
Only after getting back inside the train did I let out the breath I'd been holding and collapse onto the sofa.
"All right, then, for the long-awaited gacha...."
I swallowed once and opened the lid of the radiant purple box.
Fwoooosh-!
In an instant, dazzling golden light burst out from the box.
The inside of the train turned bright as day.
"This is—!"
Anyone could tell this was the sign of a jackpot.
As the light slowly faded, a thick book was lying inside the box.
[Skill Book: Vitality]
- Greatly increases base HP, and when recovering, recovery speed rises dramatically.
"This is good."
I shouted in triumph.
It wasn't an attack skill or magic, so I almost felt a little disappointed, but the moment I read the description, that disappointment melted away like snow.
One of my biggest weaknesses was my physical abilities and stamina.
I was making up for my lack of physical ability with skills and equipment, but after one dungeon run, my whole body would ache and I'd have to sprawl on the sofa for about a day.
If the dungeons got longer than the ones I'd been clearing so far, or if I ran into a higher-difficulty dungeon, I might run out of stamina partway through.
And this skill raised that stamina.
[Would you like to learn the skill Vitality?]
I pressed Confirm without hesitation.
The skill book turned into particles of light and seeped into my body.
In an instant, a hot surge rose from inside me, and I could feel it coursing through every vein in my body.
Maybe it was only my imagination, but at least that's how it felt to me.
"...Should I write a brag post?"
I couldn't keep this overwhelming feeling to myself.
I immediately took out my smartphone and logged into the Survivor Gallery.
I was planning to title it something like 'Is this good?' and enjoy the envy- and jealousy-filled comments in real time.
A legally sanctioned humblebrag session.
Just as I was about to hit the post button, one newly uploaded post at the top of the free board stopped me in my tracks.
"The title kind of bugs me..."
---
[Title : Just saw a newbie survivor in front of the vending machine]
Author : Magical Girl
I was tired from hunting since morning, so I was just planning to grab some mana stones and head home, when I saw some girl standing in front of the apartment complex vending machine.
She was hugging a purple box like it was precious, and beside her two toy-like drones were hovering around.
When she saw me, she flinched like a startled rabbit lol. So cute.
I told her it was dangerous and that she should hurry to a safe place!
If you're a newbie and on the Gallery, please be careful when you come in! Fighting!
[Comments]
ㅇㅇ : That way of talking is fucking annoying
ㄴ Magical Girl : T_T
---
"...No way."
I stared straight at the smartphone screen and shut down my thought process.
Purple box.
Two toy-like drones.
This wasn't just déjà vu. It was exactly the situation I'd gone through just ten minutes ago.
Then this user named Magical Girl, who wrote in that cute, cutesy tone...
was actually that woman who'd stepped out of the darkness like a Mad Max character, wrapped head to toe in menacing tattoos?
"No way..."
I let out a dry laugh.
Had the apocalypse changed people's preferences too, or was she just naturally the type to dress like that?
The gap between the internet world and reality was so huge I felt dizzy.
I let out another dry laugh and closed my smartphone.
Forget bragging and all that; just looking at the Gallery any longer seemed like it would only make me more confused.
"Right, and I'd gathered mana stones too."
I got up from the sofa and headed for the cockpit.
In one corner of the storage room, the mana stones I'd collected were piled up like a mountain.
Including the mana stones I'd earned by selling items on the Gallery exchange, and the ones the drones and spikes had brought in.
It was about time to use them.
"First, the modifications."
I opened the train modification window from the cockpit.
The first thing that caught my eye was the exterior equipment I'd failed to buy last time.
[Modification: Install External Auto Turrets]
"Pay."
Rumble-!
The train's roof and side armor opened up, and four twin-barreled machine-gun turrets with sleek black barrels rose up.
Now any monster that approached within a 50-meter radius of the train would be auto-targeted and turned into a sieve.
"Next, let's improve our drones' welfare."
[Modification: Drone Hangar Lv. 2 Upgrade]
Wiiing- clack!
The drone launch bay on the wall of Car 2 widened by twice its original size, and the internal charging station turned more luxurious.
As the hangar was upgraded, new drone blueprints were unlocked in the hangar list.
A sniper drone with a sniper rifle, a heavy-armored pack drone, and even a bombing drone that dropped small explosives.
The materials looked a little complicated, but they seemed like the kind of drones worth looking forward to.
"Now, then..."
I scrolled down and looked at a modification that had caught my curiosity before.
[Exterior Modification: Monster Lure]
- Emits special sound waves and magical fluctuations to lure monsters within a 500-meter radius at a low probability.
Honestly, in a monster apocalypse like this, anyone who spent money on something like this deserved to be called crazy.
When you were supposed to hide your breathing and avoid monsters at all costs, a machine that lured them in was basically a suicide button.
But my situation was a little different.
The train's armor durability, bought at the cost of my manhood, was listed as nearly invincible.
On top of that, I had the auto turrets I'd just installed, the spikes on the front, and even the flying drones.
It was the perfect setup for defending against a swarm of monsters.
"It's crazy, but..."
Lure the monsters in -> the turrets and drones fire -> plow through them with the train and grind them up with the spikes -> pick up the mana stones and items that drop.
If it worked well, it looked like it would be incredibly efficient.
"...Let's go!"
I squeezed my eyes shut and dumped the rest of my mana stones into the payment button.
The piled-up mana stones turned into particles of light and vanished in an instant.
A hollow emptiness hit me at the sight of my wallet going completely dry, but right after that, the majestic mechanical sound coming from outside the train made my mouth curl into a grin.
[Monster Lure installation complete.]
[An antenna will be deployed on the top of the train.]
"Phew... let's earn back what we spent."
I ran to the cockpit and checked the external camera.
A geometric antenna-like device stood tall at the center of the train's roof.
Another button had appeared on the panel.
Just by pressing this one button, every monster in the area would surge toward the train like moths to a flame.
"Now... maybe I should prepare first before testing it?"
I took a deep breath and decided to start by preparing.
"Drones. Tight escort around the train. And external turrets, power on."
Wiiing- clack!
In response to my command, the four twin automatic turrets installed on the roof of Car 2 rotated smoothly and began scanning their surroundings.
"Let's move our position a bit too."
Fearing I might inconvenience or harm other survivors, I drove the train deep outside Seoul to an outlying station.
I came to a deserted area blocked by ruins from collapsed buildings and rusted wrecked cars.
"Good, nobody should be here."
I checked and locked all the doors from the cockpit panel.
No matter how sturdy the train was, locking the doors was basic common sense.
Taking a deep breath, I flipped the switch on the newly installed special device with trembling hands.
"Wide-area Monster Lure, activate."
Bwoooom—Paaang!
From the antenna jutting up on the train roof, a heavy noise like low-frequency vibrations rang out, and the whole train seemed to shake slightly.
"..."
I held my breath and stared through the glass window.
One minute, two minutes.
"Any second now... huh?"
A strange change began to stir in this silence.
Rustle, rustle.
From beneath the collapsed concrete rubble, inside the trunks of rusted wrecked cars, and even from beneath the ground.
Black, bizarre shadows began to creep out.
The ones completely entranced by whatever the lure was emitting turned their eyes toward this train alone.
"It's way more effective than I expected...?"
At first, monsters the size of neighborhood stray dogs approached, and soon beast-type monsters as big as cars and insect-type beasts began charging in, kicking up dust.
Their numbers swelled from a dozen to several dozen in an instant.
It was like a zombie-horde scene from a movie playing out live before my eyes.
"Kruuulook!"
That was when it happened. Among the pack, one wolf-type monster with unusually quick movements and flashing red eyes kicked off the ground and leaped into the air.
Its target was precisely the cockpit window where I was standing.
"W-what?!"
Kwaaaaang-!
Its forepaws and vicious fangs slammed head-on into the window.
"Ghk...!"
With an enormous cracking sound, its bloodshot eyes came right up to my face.
My cowardly instincts kicked in, and before I knew it I was yelling as I backed away.
"...So monsters can see through the tint too... Is the window okay?"
I slowly looked at the window the monster had crashed into.
But.
Not a single crack, not a single scratch had appeared.
Only the monster that hit the glass slid down to the floor with its muzzle smashed in.
"It's sturdy..."
And then my train's full-scale counterattack began.
The train's turrets opened fire on the monster that had fallen to the ground.
Drdrdrdr-!!
All four automatic turrets mounted on the roof opened fire at once.
Blue bullets slammed into the mass of monsters surging in from all around.
"Whew..."
The performance was definitely solid.
The corpses riddled with holes fell to the ground.