Chapter 56
A day and a half had passed.
“Damn, my whole body aches. Seriously.”
Yesterday, after going through hell distributing the supplies in the Camping section, my entire body was so wracked with muscle pain I felt like I could die.
Even though I hadn't moved the stuff on the pallets on the second, third, and fourth floors and had just delivered it by eyeballing the quantities, I was still in this state, so that said it all.
“So that's why they don't put walk-behind forklifts there for no reason...:
I hadn't used one because I was afraid I might get crushed or cause an accident by handling it without knowing what I was doing, but I should have just used it.
Anyway, after overdoing it like that despite my three-lift total being only sixty kilograms, it was only natural for every muscle in my body to scream.
“So that's why people tell you to go work at Coupang once if life gets boring...”
This wasn't something a person should be doing.
I should have exercised regularly. This was an Awakener's body...?
“I really need to start exercising.”
They say exercise is good for your mental health too, so I should work out whenever I had the chance and build up my mental strength as well.
In any case, it was true that I had come down with body aches and collapsed inside my tent, but that didn't mean I had slept comfortably.
“I'm too anxious... I can't sleep...”
I knew perfectly well that even after sending out that much, it still wasn't enough.
“My opponent is the entire Capital Area and Gyeonggi Province...!!!!”
Even if there weren't many survivors, if the contents of this department store were enough to cover such a vast area, that would be fantasy.
So I kept checking the Gallery whenever I woke from my fitful sleep to see whether anything had happened.
“This free giveaway is insane...”
At the perfect time, I even sent the gardening and horticultural insecticide I had obtained by unlocking the second floor to each guild.
There wasn't as much as the supplies in the Camping section, but since I had used up everything in the Camping section, this was all I had left.
Title : [Myth] System-nim sent supplies to us too...!!!!!
(Some rough photo of horticultural insecticide. jpg)
It fell from the sky early yesterday morning... while we were taking in ordinary people!!!
Of course, it isn't enough... but with this much concentrate... we can do it.
We're immediately mobilizing our water-element mages to disinfect areas focused around the ordinary-person reception zones.
?!
ㄴ Holy shit
ㄴ You mean whole jerry cans of concentrate??
[Shop Wiki] I enlarged the photo and checked the ingredients list, and it looks like it's a deltamethrin-based product.
ㄴ [Shop Wiki] This ingredient destroys insects' nervous systems, so it looks like it'll definitely be effective.
ㄴ The Wiki guy is an entomologist lol
ㄴ So he was Fabre;;
ㄴ ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
Wow, fuck, is the System sending this so we can prevent it like this?
ㄴ That's fucking incredible;;
ㄴ For real
Title : [Ironclad] Anyway, the guilds that received concentrate are sharing tips ㅇㅇ
We got four twenty-liter containers earlier too.
Don't spray it into the air. Thoroughly soak unusable cloth or rope in the diluted solution and run it all the way around the outer fence of the ordinary people's tent village.
The little bastards fly toward the tents, smell the chemicals, pass out, or drop straight to the ground as soon as they get near ㅇㅇ
I think we can definitely reduce both the number of people on night watch and the number of guards.
Were you from a pest-control company?
ㄴ Were you perhaps from Cesco...?
ㄴ ㅇㅋㅋㅋㅋ
[Unlucky Gallery Doctor] You idiots!! If it's horticultural concentrate, dilute it at a ratio of 1:500 or 1:1,000!!
ㄴ [Unlucky Gallery Doctor] If you mix it too strong without knowing what you're doing, it'll destroy your respiratory tract and make your skin break out!! Always wear a mask and gloves when handling it!!
ㄴ Where are we supposed to get masks and gloves?
ㄴ I'm just handling it with a condom on ㅇㅇ
ㄴ We're Awakeners, so it's fine ㅇㅇ
Die from having your respiratory tract destroyed VS. get infected by a mosquito
ㄴ System-nim gave us a reasonable amount instead of making us choose between the two ㅇㅇ
ㄴ Damn
ㄴ Damn
ㄴ G R E A T S Y S T E M
[Ironclad] For the ordinary people's tents, light mosquito coils.
ㄴ [Ironclad] We're picking out ordinary people who are still in decent condition, giving them electric flyswatters, and having them hunt mosquitoes ㅇㅇ
[God of War] We just dumped all the concentrate into the surrounding sewers and stagnant puddles ㅇㅇ
ㄴ [God of War] Completely stopped those goddamn bugs from laying eggs ㅇㅇ
ㄴ Now that's real pest control lol
ㄴ But what if we drink that water?
ㄴ Oh dear...
ㄴ Oh no...
Die from being bitten to death by mosquitoes VS. die from drinking pesticide
ㄴ What a heartwarming set of choices lol
ㄴ Honestly, drinking pesticide and going peacefully would be the better death ㅇㅇ
ㄴ I'm leaving this miserable world first ㅇㅇ
?? Wouldn't that actually be good? A mosquito drinks my pesticide-laced blood > mosquito dies > perfect biological pesticide achieved ㅇㅇ
ㄴ Vlad, my guy...
ㄴ Have you perhaps mastered immunity to every poison?
ㄴ The lethal-human meta is fucking hilarious lol
But what do we do when we use it all up?
ㄴ For real, if each guild received several containers... assuming we dilute it before using it, it seems like it could last three days to a week...
ㄴ [Head Mod] We need to find another solution before then.
The reaction was explosive.
“Ugh...! Every one of those is a mana stone...”
As expected, customer goodwill is the best investment.
I couldn't help wondering how much profit I could have made if I had sold it for mana stones.
“This is all an investment in the future. An investment, got it?”
Wasn't there a fundamental maxim of capitalism that had been around since ancient times?
- Give away razors for free and sell the blades for the rest of their lives.
The free insecticide and tents I was giving out now were merely loss-leader products.
Once people got even a single taste of the sweetness of avoiding bugs and living comfortably in this harsh world?
“Heh heh... I'll make you incapable of living without mosquito nets and insecticide ever again.”
I was going to brainwash and train them until they couldn't last even a single day without my Shop for the rest of their lives.
Of course, I knew I was just rationalizing it.
“Still, it's much better than people really dying.”
Anyway, even when I considered it from every angle, if this was beneficial as a preventive measure, then it was a gain, not a loss.
“It's not really a loss anyway, since the stock will refill eventually.”
All I had to do was sell the refilled stock.
Ding-!
[VIP Head Mod (Baek Eunwol) Customer Inquiry Received]
[System-nim... System-nim... Why have you shown us such mercy...?]
[Surely this is your noble intention to save everyone without abandoning even a single person...?]
[We will make sure the supplies you sent are never put to waste. Please watch over us...]
“Uh... well, it's not quite that serious...”
Still, there was nothing bad about being thanked.
“All right, let's do our best, Head Mod.”
[Reply sent]
[Thank you for your valuable feedback. -Starplex- will continue to do its best for your safety.]
That damn System really knows how to handle things.
[VIP Speedrun (Cha Do-hee) Customer Inquiry Received]
[I didn't even say anything... but mosquito coils and tents fell at the piano academy in the slum too.]
[You did this again, didn't you?]
[...Thank you... even though I didn't ask.]
I already knew the coordinates because Speedy had told me last time, so I sent supplies there in advance.
“Because this is prevention.”
No need to thank me. If I can do it, of course I'll do it.
- [Head Mod] : The deputy mods are all okay, right?
- [Speedrun] : Thereisnoreasonforyoutoworryaboutme
- [Shop Wiki] : I'm fine for now.
- [Healer Union] : “I'm okay.”
- [Troll NEET] : Living up to my username
I didn't send anything separately to Healer Union because I figured they were probably with the Myth Guild.
And actually.
“I really have nothing left now...”
I had nothing left because I had delivered everything for free.
I only managed to send the separate packages because a little had been left over. Even if I wanted to send more, I couldn't. The supplies were completely empty.
[Starplex B1 Living/Camping Section Stock Refill In: 36 hours 12 minutes]
[Starplex 2F Gardening Garden Stock Refill In: 48 hours 05 minutes]
“A day and a half... and two days.”
If I just kept treading water like this, maybe we could somehow get past it.
If I replenished the supplies whenever they refilled and they continued preparing diligently as they were now, we might be able to get through it with only minimal damage.
“Maybe we really can get through this without anything happening?”
It was now dawn.
Blinking my fatigue-heavy eyelids, I desperately tried to force my thoughts in a positive direction.
But I didn't know it yet.
In this brutal world, with the apocalypse upon us, simply doing one's best was not enough.
Even after exhausting every effort and method available, situations that trampled those efforts would arise one after another.
And sometimes, we had to learn to calmly accept the results.
[Current Shop Members: 7,991 / 8,000]
[Current Shop Members: 7,922 / 8,000]
[Current Shop Members: 7,811 / 8,000]
...
It was only after seeing the number of members suddenly dropping at a noticeable rate.
“Huh...? What's going on?”
That was when I got an ominous feeling.
- Fuuuuuck!!! We're screwed!!!! [4443]
- Emergency! Emergency!!! Everyone wake up!!! [4443]
- ? Something's happening outside. What is this? [664]
- Wake up everyone who's sleeping!! We're all completely fucked right now, fuck!!!! [7741]
- It was already inside...? [5553]
....
Posts hinting at similar things began covering the Gallery.
[Capital Area Survivors Gallery (Current users: 89,781) ▼ 1,325]
The number of Gallery users had plummeted straight down.
“Fuck! Fuck, what is this!!!”
It was only after I leaped up from the tent and checked the comments.
[Ironclad] Fuck!! Fuck!!! The people we received aren't human!!!
ㄴ ??!!
ㄴ Why is everyone acting like this!!
ㄴ What is going on!!!
[Ironclad] The ordinary people we received early yesterday morning weren't human!
ㄴ [Ironclad] Everyone snap out of it and look carefully!!!!!
ㄴ [Ironclad] They're not people!!!!!!!!!!
ㄴ [Ironclad] Already...
“What the fuck.”
Only then did I understand how things were unfolding.
*****
At the same time.
On the outskirts of the Yellow Zone. The ordinary-person reception area temporarily prepared by the Ironclad Guild.
“Hey! Wake up!”
“Everyone wake up!!”
"Come over here!!!!"
Several guild members patrolling the tent village were waking or calling over other guild members.
An incomprehensible sight had unfolded before them.
About half of the ordinary people who should have been sleeping inside the tents and temporary barracks had already come outside.
“...nida...”
“Tha... you...”
Some were standing. Some were kneeling as if in prayer. Others were frozen in grotesque poses.
“What is everyone doing!!”
“Get back inside!!”
The guild members approached irritably, but they did not move an inch.
Hundreds of people stood with their heads hanging low, shoulders heaving as they muttered something.
“Thank you... Thank you...”
“What?”
“Thank you... Tha....nida...”
"Thank you. Thank you"
"Thank...nida... Thank you"
"Tha...nida.. Thank you..."
"Thank you... Thank you."
"Thank you.Thank you."
....
A chorus with no intonation or variation in pitch flowed from hundreds of lips.
The moment a guild member shone a torch onto their faces
“Shit...?”
“W-What is this.”
The ordinary people's eyes had rolled back without focus, leaving only their whites gleaming, and foam was bubbling from their mouths.
“Hey... What the hell is wrong with these bastards!!”
“Everyone get ready!!!!”
"Prepare for battle!!"
When the guild members rushed over at the veteran's scream and hurriedly drew their weapons.
As if they had made an appointment, the ordinary people who had been bowing their heads all raised their chins toward the guild members at once.
Craaack-!
A jaw joint grotesquely pried apart in defiance of human anatomy.
From inside that gaping esophagus.
Buuuzz-! Bzz-!!! Bzzzz-!
“Aaaaah!!!!”
“Fuuuuuck!!!!!”
Swarm after swarm of maggots, mosquitoes, and flies began pouring out in numbers too great to count.
“These bastards!!! They were already infected!!!”
“Fuck!! It's an infection!! It burst from inside!!!”
The Awakeners' abilities struck at empty air, and some of the insects fell to the ground after being caught by the insecticide that had been sprayed beforehand.
But that was only the beginning.
- Graaaah...
- Kyaaaak!!!
Before long, the bodies of the people who had vomited up the insects began twisting.
“Mu-mutating...”
"They're zombies!!"
They killed the insects, but the mutations of the hosts that had carried them did not stop.
Thus began the wave of mutants that had erupted from within.
“Everyone, form ranks!!!”
“Don't scatter! Call everyone over!!!!!”
Hundreds of infected creatures that had awakened inside lost their reason and began rushing toward the guild members and the tents of the uninfected.
“Ah. We're fucked.”
The guild master, who came out late and witnessed the scene, murmured quietly.
*****
The same chaos was unfolding at Ares in the Orange Zone.
“Don't let them push us back! Take their heads off properly!!”
“Wipe them out without leaving a single one!!!!”
Under Guild Master Baek Kang-san's command, they rapidly brought the situation under control, cutting down the infected ordinary people with the guild's characteristic overwhelming force.
“Haa... haa... Fuck, that was close.”
Baek Kang-san shook the blood from his sword and panted heavily.
“Separate the injured and find the uninfected ordinary people in the reception area!!!!”
“Take only the healthy and get out!! Don't let your guard down!!”
“Reception ends here!! Don't accept anyone else!!!”
The internal infection that had erupted at the ordinary-person reception center.
They had been able to respond quickly after seeing the posts uploaded to the Gallery.
“Please, just let us in! Just us!!!!!”
“Everyone turn back! Do you all want to die?!”
“We really weren't bitten! We're fine! Look!!!!”
“Anyone trying to enter from now on will be killed without warning!!”
One guild member had been shouting and blocking people from approaching the fence.
Bzzzzzz-!
He slapped the back of his neck with an uneasy expression.
“Hey, are you okay?”
“Fuck, I'll be fine. It's just one mosquito.”
The guild member answered his nearby companion while flicking the mosquito carcass from his palm.
‘I'm from the Orange Zone, so I should be fine against ordinary ones...’
There was only one thing he had done wrong.
He didn't know which mutant's saliva, from which area, the mosquito that had just drunk his blood had been carrying.
”Ugh... Bleeegh!!!!“
“Fuck!! What's wrong with this guy!!”
“What the hell!!!”
The guild member's face, which had been laughing and saying he was fine, twisted in an instant.
Crunch.
His eyes rolled back, and his jaw dislocated and tore open hideously.
Soon, his body swelled grotesquely in an instant before collapsing.
“Huh...? Minhyeok... why...”
Crack-!
Then he bit straight into the head of the companion beside him.
“Crazy! It's an infection!!!”
“Even Awakeners can get infected!!!”
The flustered guild members poured magic at him, but the mutated guild member's body had already sunk into the shadow on the ground.
- Crack-!
It merged with the heap of corpses of ordinary-person infected creatures on the other side, and soon began churning like a swamp.
“Oh... fuck...”
“Don't tell me...”
- Skreeee... Grrrrr....
With a chilling sound, a cluster of countless corpses twisted together rose from the shadows.
“A Shadow Walker...?”
“Don't joke around... This is the Orange Zone...”
The cluster charged at them as they stood dazed and in shock.
“We're all going to die...”
One guild member muttered in despair after seeing the scene.
******
- What the fuck, everyone run! It's already over!!! [4443]
- This wasn't something we could handle!! We're fucked!! [3881]
- [Myth] It's out of control right now!! [4193]
- Run away, everyone! It's already over!!! We can't control it, fuck!!! [44431]
- Awakeners are infected too!! We don't know whose blood these bastards drank before coming here!!!! [43431]
- [White Night] Damn... [3323]
The Gallery was covered in despair in an instant.
There were no countermeasures and no hope.
“Sh-shit... We're fucked... It's all over!”
The outskirts of the Yellow Zone.
A terrified party of Stalkers was sprinting madly along an overpass.
“Where do we go!! There's nowhere to run!!!”
“The Green Zone!!! We have to go to the Green Zone!!!”
"...!"
The other Stalkers' expressions hardened at the party leader's words.
“B-But... the Green Zone...”
“There's no way they'll let us in...”
There was no way they could enter without permission.
Even so, they were heading there.
“I know! Fuck! We still have to go! If we stay outside, we'll die like dogs!!!!!!”
“...The leader's right...”
“Damn it.”
Their instinct to survive was guiding them.
That place had maintained its infrastructure even long after the apocalypse.
That place had remained a sanctuary without being contaminated even once.
The Green Zone.
“Let's go.”
“Gather up all the mana stones we have!!!”
How long had they run?
A massive concrete wall utterly out of place in the outside world came into view through their labored breaths.
“We made it...!”
“We made it!!”
Above the wall, which stood several meters high, a translucent barrier surrounded the entire city in a rounded dome.
Zzzzt-! Crackle-!
The insects flying in from the darkness sparked against the barrier and fell to the ground the instant they touched it.
“So the rumors were true!!!”
“Who is maintaining a barrier this huge...?”
“This place is safe!!!”
The Stalkers went to the front of the enormous closed security gate and shouted.
“Open the gate!! Please save us!!!!”
“We're not infected!! We have 20,000 mana stones! We'll give you all of them, so please just let us in!!!”
“Hunters!! Please!!!”
At the moment they shouted with all their strength.
- Rumbleeeee-!
With a heavy sound, the firmly closed security gate began to slide open.
Warm light, no different from that of the pre-apocalypse, poured through the opening.
“I-It’s real!!!"
"..!!!"
The cityscape visible through the gap.
Apartments boasting relatively intact exteriors, and signs hanging from shops glowing with neon lights.
It was unmistakably the sight of a city.
A city from before the apocalypse.
“The infrastructure really is intact...!!!”
“Ah... Aah! It's a city! A city!”
“It opened...!! The Hunters are letting us in!!!”
Just as the Stalkers embraced one another and burst into tears of joy.
- Swoosh-!
With the gentle light behind him, a man floated out through the opening, gliding through the air.
A neat suit. Pomaded hair combed back neatly, and smooth skin.
And a haughty gaze cast downward.
“A H-Hunter...”
“There really was another Hunter besides the Head Mod...!”
“Oh... Hunter-nim...!”
“You're here to save us...!”
Just as the party leader at the very front was about to kneel in gratitude.
- Vrrrrrrr!
The eyes of the floating Hunter began glowing an unnaturally bright red.
“Huh...! W-Wait!”
In the instant the party leader stupidly opened his mouth.
Vwoom-!
A blood-red flash shot from the Hunter's two eyes and swept horizontally across their waists.
“......Huh?”
“Eh...?”
They couldn't even scream.
"..."
"...."
They blankly watched as their upper and lower bodies separated and slid to the ground.
Splat-! Squelch-!
After confirming that the Stalkers' guts and blood had thoroughly soiled the ground, the Hunter
then frowned at the drops of blood splashed onto the tips of his shoes and muttered.
“Where the fuck do these bug bastards think they're crawling into, trying to enter a place where people live.”