Chapter 58
Orange Zone.
The ridge of a park where the Myth Guild's temporary camp had been set up.
“Keep the flame barrier up at the front!!! If it breaks through, we're done!!!”
“Another infected person just appeared in the rear holding area!!”
“Pull the scouts out and send them to support the holding area!!!”
It's hell.
Below the ridge, an endless march of black zombies was surging up toward them.
In the tent village at the rear, where ordinary people had been sheltered before the outbreak, ordinary people bitten by insects were intermittently turning into zombies.
“This is impossible...”
Myth Guild Master Yoon Seo-jin looked down the slope.
A desperate sight entered her field of vision.
Flash-!
Whenever someone cast a flash spell, briefly illuminating the night sky, the silhouettes of the zombie wave converging on them from every street were laid bare.
“It doesn't end...”
What had happened to the other guilds?
There wasn't even time to look at the Gallery anymore.
Every guild member was scrambling to hold back the catastrophe unfolding before them.
“We have to endure... We have to hold out...”
However, Seo-jin forcibly tightened her grip on her sword with trembling hands.
Because there was still someone helping the Myth Guild keep from collapsing even in this desperate situation.
Seo-jin turned her gaze toward the very rear.
“Maknae!!!”
“Maknae!! Potions!! Cough...!”
“Over here!! Two more elixirs!!!”
Whenever the combat teams fighting mutants at the front and rear collapsed from exhaustion,
one girl stubbornly forced them back to their feet.
“Aaaah!! Just a moment!!”
[Starplex Pharmacy Branch Manager, Branches 1–5]
[-Lee Si-yeon-]
Lee Si-yeon, the youngest member of the Myth Guild and the manager of Starplex Pharmacy.
[Pharmacist Saint Main Quest 49: Alchemize a Lesser Elixir! (Complete)]
[Effect: Dramatically reduces the target's physical fatigue, heals external injuries, and slightly restores depleted mana]
She had been diligently clearing her main quests, using her salary from the System and potion commissions to buy medicines from the vending machine even before the outbreak.
On top of that, when the insect infection began, the guild members handed Si-yeon every pre-apocalypse medicine they had bought from the vending machine.
She swallowed all those medicines, cleared her main quests, and continued to create new potions.
“Eugh... It tastes terrible...”
But her contribution went beyond simply churning out potions.
[Passive: Area-of-Effect Aura Active]
[Base Medicines: Sleep Inducer, Muscle Relaxant, Bandages, Fucidin, Burn Ointment.......]
[Effect 1: Greatly slows the reaction speed of hostile entities that enter within a 100-meter radius]
[Effect 2: Helps nearby allied entities within a 100-meter radius recover from fatigue]
[Effect 3: Greatly increases the natural healing speed of allied entities within a 200-meter radius]
....
...
Every time Si-yeon swallowed a pre-apocalypse medicine, she manifested a unique skill.
Thanks to that, the guild members fighting on the front lines had managed to hold their position with the help of the potions and skills Si-yeon provided.
“Achoo!”
“Maknae, are you okay?”
“Yes! I'm fine, achoo!!!”
But Si-yeon's condition was not normal either.
[Warning: You have alchemized too many medicines in a short period of time! Side effects will occur.]
[Debuff: Unstoppable Sneezing]
[Debuff: Runny Nose]
[Debuff: Intermittent Muscle Spasms]
“Sniff... A- achoo!! Ah... this runny nose... Stop...”
Si-yeon kept sniffling, the bridge of her nose bright red from the sneezes that kept bursting out without pause.
Her hands trembled from muscle spasms, and her stamina was gradually running out, but
‘I can't. I can't stop here.’
Si-yeon was also taking medicine without rest because she knew that if she collapsed, the entire guild would be wiped out in an instant.
“I wanted to be a mukbang BJ before the apocalypse... Who knew I'd end up doing this?”
But even that was now reaching its limit.
“S-Si-yeon. We've got a problem.”
“Achoo! Yes? What is it, Senior?”
“The medicine... It's all gone. This is the last disinfectant.”
A veteran covered in blood said this as he showed her his empty backpack.
“...What? W-What does that mean...?”
“It's over... There isn't any medicine left...”
Si-yeon's trembling hands stopped in midair.
“N-No... Can't we go to the vending machine and get some...?”
“Even if the fastest guild member went to the nearest vending machine... it'd take fifteen minutes round trip...”
The veteran shook his head with a dazed expression.
“The place is crawling with Walkers and Runners... We don't have anyone who can break through the encirclement and go there... And even if someone did...”
“Uh... T-Then....”
“We won't be able to hold out that long...”
No sooner had he finished speaking than Yoon Seo-jin and the guild members fighting at the very front staggered and dropped to their knees.
“Huff... huff...”
“Damn it! Potions! Are there any more potions?”
“We're really at our limit now!!!”
At that moment, the desperate cries of other guild members rang out.
“Ah...”
Amid those screams, Si-yeon let her trembling hands hang limply.
Was it really over?
Was there truly nothing she could do now?
At this moment, with everyone's fate hanging by a thread,
one person came to Si-yeon's mind.
“Is the dog... okay?”
No. With the entire Capital Area in this mess, there was no way he could be okay.
“If possible...”
Would it be all right to say goodbye, at least?
As though resigned, Si-yeon opened the deputy-mod chatroom with trembling hands and started a one-on-one conversation.
- [Healer Union]: NEET... are you asleep...? Ah, of course not...!
- [Healer Union]: Are you okay...?
- [Healer Union]: I'm... not... I'm at my limit now....
Tap.
A message sent. A remarkably calm greeting for someone standing on the brink of death.
But the reply Si-yeon received was completely unexpected.
[Troublemaker NEET]: Oh, I was just about to contact you too
[Troublemaker NEET]: Good timing
“What?”
He had been just about to contact her?
“Y-You too?”
Could it be that Troublemaker NEET had thought of her in this desperate crisis too?
“Pfft... That's funny...”
He could still casually reach out at a moment like this.
Holding back the tears welling in her eyes, Si-yeon typed a message.
- [Healer Union]: Thank you for everything, Troublemaker NEET... Still, having you around made me feel a little more at ease and happy, even if it was only for a short time...
- [Healer Union]: I'm really at my limit now. I don't have any mana stones to buy more, and there aren't any vending machines nearby...
A brief silence.
Soon, a short, dry reply came from Troublemaker NEET.
- [Troublemaker NEET]: What do you need?
What did she need?
“What are you talking about...?”
[Healer Union]: Um... uh... A whole lot of medicine? A really huge amount...?
[Troublemaker NEET]: Ah, I see. Figures
[Troublemaker NEET]: Wait
The reply that followed was also full of incomprehensible shorthand.
“W-Wait?”
Was he planning to come here himself?
“Th-That's impossible...!!”
Even a member of the large Myth Guild could not do such a thing.
It was impossible to break through hundreds of zombies and deliver medicine.
But no further reply came, and silence alone lingered in the chatroom.
“The other healers are all out of mana too!!!”
“Shouldn't we run away??”
In reality, only the guild members' desperate screams and the monsters' howls were ringing out as though they would tear apart their eardrums.
“Ah... Aah...”
Just as the howls of zombies were about to engulf them from every direction.
Ding-!
[VIP Member Message]
[★Starplex★ wishes Lee Si-yeon a happy future]
[★Starplex★ wishes Lee Si-yeon a happy future]
“...Huh?”
Whiiiiir-!
The night sky was torn open in an instant, revealing a portal.
“Th-That is...?”
“S-System-nim?”
“It's a portal... The System-nim is doing it again...!”
“But how could it possibly...!!”
Just as the guild members looked up at the sky with doubtful expressions, something began falling from the portal.
Rattle-rattle-rattle! Fwoooosh-!!!
“M-Medicine...?”
“Huh...?”
It was an uncountable quantity of medicines, including disinfectants, painkillers, antibiotics, cold medicine, and more.
They fell.
They poured down.
They blanketed the sky as they descended.
“H-How can there be this much...?”
“Th-This is an impossible amount...”
An overwhelming quantity of medicine beyond common sense, as though someone had turned an entire pharmacy upside down and shaken it out in midair,
came pouring down and piled up around Si-yeon like a mountain.
“The System-nim is watching over us...”
“The System... It's watching over us...!!!”
Even the guild members briefly stopped fighting and stared only at the sky raining medicine.
‘I don't know how this happened...!’
But Si-yeon alone realized faster than anyone what she needed to do in this situation.
‘I understand. I know what I have to do now.’
Si-yeon gazed at the mountain of medicine piled around her with determined eyes and shouted.
“Seniors! Bring me every medicine I call out right now!!!!”
“Huh...? Huh?! Y-Yes!”
“O-Okay, Maknae! What should we bring you?”
“Antibiotics! Antidiarrheals! Sleep inducers! Open every cap and pour them into my mouth, quickly!!”
The veteran healers hurriedly began scooping up medicines and bringing them to her.
“Th-There's too much... Are you going to be okay?”
“Hurry!!!”
Si-yeon opened her mouth and began frantically stuffing in every medicine her seniors uncapped and handed to her.
Crunch-! Crack! Gulp!
The moment dozens of medicines slid down her esophagus,
alarm sounds rang out in succession, and new quest windows flashed across her vision one after another.
Ding-! Ding-! Diiing-!
[Pharmacist Saint Main Quest 50: Consume a Large Quantity of Antibiotics and Antidiarrheals! (Complete!)]
...
...
[Pharmacist Saint Main Quest 78: Simultaneously Consume Antipyretic Painkillers, Antidiarrheals, Vitamin D, and Glucose Candies! (Complete!)]
...
...
[Pharmacist Saint Main Quest 97: Swallow Ten Steroid Ointments and Sleep Inducers at Once! (Complete!)]
...
...
Quest completion windows updated at breakneck speed.
“It's not enough...! Not enough! More!!!”
But Si-yeon did not stop.
Even strong ethanol disinfectant concentrate, hydrogen peroxide solution, red antiseptic, and medical preservatives.
The moment she gulped down countless disinfectants all at once.
Crack! Gulp.
Ding-!
[Pharmacist Saint Main Quest 158: Poison Against Poison! Consume High-Concentration Disinfectant Concentrate and Medical Chemicals to Your Limit (Complete!)]
[A new skill has been unlocked!]
[New Active Skill: Activate Area Sterilization and Disinfection Aura!]
[Effect: Emits disinfectant components fused inside the body as an aura over a wide area!! All infection vectors and lesser mutants within the area suffer lethal damage over time]
[Duration: 12 hours]
Along with that miraculous message that appeared,
Fwoooosh-!!!
A purple aura burst from Si-yeon's body.
- Gyaaaah!!!
- Gwoooooh!!!
The Walkers and Runners surging toward the Myth Guild, along with
Aaaang-! Crackle-!
the nearby insects, all began melting away at once.
“The S-Saint...!”
“Si-yeon was chosen by the System...”
“The System-nim chose Si-yeon...!!”
As the guild members watching the wondrous sight stood there dumbfounded,
Si-yeon shed a few tears and shouted toward the air.
“Bleegh! So bitter!!!!!”
****
In front of the large pharmacy on Starplex's second floor.
“Fuck... Did it work...?”
That's right. The person I chose was neither the Head Mod, Speedrun, nor Shop Wiki.
One person.
“Healer Union...! Lee Si-yeon!”
I wasn't an expert, but I judged that there would be limits to solving this situation through brute force.
A more fundamental solution was needed to resolve this situation, and the fundamental solution I had in mind was, essentially,
“Biochemical terrorism...!!!!”
Lee Si-yeon was the one who had eaten pre-apocalypse modern medicines and even drawn out red and blue potions.
Her ability had an infinitely high ceiling, but an infinitely low floor.
I didn't have an infinite supply, but I owned a massive amount of modern medicine and could deliver more to her.
So the simple calculation was that she could reach her ceiling more easily than the other deputy mods.
That was all.
I already knew through our one-on-one chat that she needed medicine to clear her main quests.
I simply thought that if I helped Si-yeon clear her quests, something might come out for me too.
“I can power-level her, too.”
And the result?
“Pleaaase... Please!!! Damn it, I want to live too!!!!”
With trembling hands, I opened the Gallery.
Title: [Myth] The Maknae...! The Maknae!!!
(Rough photo of an aura bursting out. JPG)
The System-nim... sent us every last medicine...
The amount was something we'd never seen before...
It was about as much as emptying out an entire pharmacy vending machine...
Our maknae swallowed all of it...
The insects that touch that aura... are all disappearing...
And it seems to affect Runners and Walkers too...!!!
The zombie wave that was surging toward us melted away too...
????!!
ㄴ What?
ㄴ ??!!
ㄴ Huh??
ㄴ Holy shit lolololol
Si-yeon did it again...?
ㄴ The insects die instantly...?
ㄴ Si-yeon pulled this off again!!!!!!
ㄴ What the fuck, the insects die instantly????
ㄴ Is she an insecticide...?
ㄴ A human insecticide???
Huh??
ㄴ I was hiding in an abandoned building near the Myth Guild branch...
ㄴ Is this the purple fog?
ㄴ ?
ㄴ It spreads all the way there??
ㄴ Yeah, it's coming this far?
ㄴ Wait, isn't that pretty far...?
What the fuck kind of area-of-effect skill is that?
ㄴ Wait, can the smoke travel on the wind too...?
ㄴ The swarm of mosquitoes heading toward me just dropped with a patter...
ㄴ ??
ㄴ ?!
Is she a walking Cesco or something?
ㄴ Is she a pest-control truck? lol
That's not what's important!!
ㄴ They say it affects zombies too!!!
And my judgment had not been wrong.
“It works...!!!!”
I didn't know how many main quests she had cleared, but she had become a human pest-control truck effective against Runners and Walkers too...
“D-Did the alchemy succeed...?”
Even so, wasn't an effect like that pretty useful?
I'm sorry to treat Lee Si-yeon like a human alchemy machine, but it was unavoidable if we wanted to resolve this situation.
[Myth] We're pushing back the entire wave with Si-yeon's aura right now!!!!
ㄴ [Myth] All Stalkers nearby, come over!!!! Join us!!!!
ㄴ !!!!
ㄴ !!!!!!!!
ㄴ Run to where the Myth Guild is!!!
ㄴ It's safe there!!
ㄴ Run!!!!!
[Myth] It's safe for at least half a day!!!
ㄴ ?!
ㄴ Half a day?
ㄴ Huh?
[Myth] The aura lasts for twelve hours...!!!
ㄴ No! Fuck!!!
ㄴ Then this isn't solved at all!!!!
[Myth] At least we'll have time to regroup and fight back within that window.
ㄴ That's true...
ㄴ The creation of a purified zone is enough for now!!!
ㄴ Run first!!
ㄴ Everyone gather!!!
ㄴ The Myth Guild is counterattacking!!!!
Kinda iffy...
ㄴ Isn't it still better to go and combine forces??
ㄴ Hmm
Hope was blooming in the Gallery, but even this was not a perfect solution.
“Fuck.”
Judging by the wording, it seemed like things had been resolved to some extent.
But this wasn't perfect.
“...As expected, nothing ever goes smoothly. This damn apocalypse.”
But it was okay.
At least we had confirmed that there was a possibility.
This alone gave us enough momentum to overcome the desperate situation, and I could smile.
[Time remaining until the stock in the four slots of that pharmacy tile is refilled: 71 hours 45 minutes]
As you know, I delivered every medicine on my pharmacy tiles to Lee Si-yeon.
There wasn't a single medicine left now.
But there was another reason I could smile in a situation like this.
Why? Was it simply because I was a cheerful person?
“No.”
Because I've still got a second bullet to fire.
[Would you like to immediately refill the stock in the [4-slot] second-floor large pharmacy tile?]
[Cost: 400,000 mana stones]
[Mana Stones Currently Held: 496,223]
I stared at the status window that appeared before me and thought for a moment.
“Fuck... My precious mana stones...”
How hard had I worked to earn these?
It's okay. I'm bringing in over 200,000 mana stones a day now. I can sell them again during another opening rush.
So for now, solving their problem came first.
All right. Then?
“Paid refill.”
I made a second bet on Lee Si-yeon.
*****
Orange Zone.
In front of the Myth Guild's temporary camp.
“Cough...! Ugh... Bleeegh!”
Si-yeon was sprawled on the ground, vomiting dark-red clots of blood.
Warning windows blinked red at the edge of her vision.
[Warning: A large quantity of complex chemical medicines has accumulated in your body!]
[Debuff: Severe Vomiting and Visual Hallucinations]
[Debuff: Skin Necrosis]
[Debuff: Continuous Decrease in Vitality]
“Huff... huff...”
Pain that felt as though it were tearing her entire body apart. Every breath made her lungs sting as though they were burning.
The guild members, realizing she had reached her limit, hurried over with pale faces.
“Si-yeon!! You'll die if this continues!!”
“That's enough, stop!!!”
“Leave the rest to us! You've blocked this much already, that's enough!!”
Guild Master Yoon Seo-jin rushed over and gripped Si-yeon's blood-covered shoulder tightly. Her fingertips were trembling.
“Stop. Maknae! You can't do this anymore!!!!!”
Stopping the insects and the wave with this aura alone was already enough to be called a miracle.
But.
Si-yeon knew.
She knew that this aura was ultimately nothing more than a stopgap that merely slowed the progress of the incident.
“Maknae. You've done your best. It's dangerous now...”
When Yoon Seo-jin pleaded with her, Si-yeon answered calmly.
“I know.”
As though responding to Si-yeon's calm resolve,
a portal appeared in the dawn sky once more.
Rattle-rattle-rattle-!!
An unbelievable sight.
The exact same quantity of medicine that had poured down moments earlier was pouring from the sky again.
“C-Can this be real...?”
“Th-This is impossible...”
“System-nim...”
While the guild members stood dazed, staring at the medicines pouring down,
“Ugh...”
Si-yeon staggered to her feet and threw herself toward the mountain of medicine piled at her feet.
“Si-yeon!!!”
“No!!!! Stop it!!!!”
Crunch-!
Tears obscured her vision.
Burning pain spread through her entire body.
Her head felt as though it were swelling to the point of bursting.
Her trembling hands would not obey her. Blood seeped from her eyes.
But.
Crack! Gulp!
Si-yeon did not stop.
“Lee Si-yeon, stop!!!”
“Maknae, stop!!!!”
She did not know what she would obtain.
Perhaps all of this was a futile effort.
Perhaps she would die like this.
“...It's okay.”
If it wasn't too late.
“A-Are you really okay...?”
“B-Because of us...”
“S-Sorry...”
"We're sorry..."
If she could save everyone who trusted her.
So even as tears streamed down her face, Si-yeon clenched handfuls of medicine in both hands, stuffed them into her mouth, and swallowed.
Ding-! Ding-!
[Pharmacist Saint Main Quest 159: Simultaneously Take Narcotic Painkillers and High-Concentration Stimulants (Complete!)]
....
[Pharmacist Saint Main Quest 172: Consume an Excessive Quantity of Steroids Beyond the Limit (Complete!)]
....
[Pharmacist Saint Main Quest 188: Consume Ten High-Concentration Antibiotics and Twenty Bottles of Disinfectant Concentrate at Once (Complete!)]
...
...
“Just a little more... Just a little more...!!!”
At last, the moment Si-yeon scraped up the pills rolling across the ground, stuffed them into her mouth, and swallowed them.
Ding-!
[Pharmacist Saint Main Quest 231: Break Through the Critical Point of the Complex Medicines Accumulated in Your Body (Complete!)]
[Accumulated Medicines: 30 Tablets of Broad-Spectrum Antibiotics, 20 Capsules of Narcotic Painkillers, 15 Ampoules of High-Concentration Steroids, 10 L of Ethanol Disinfectant.......]
[Reward Granted!]
[New Blueprint Unlocked: Vaccine for Preventing Lesser Mutant Infection!]
[Effect: Anyone who takes this vaccine will no longer be infected by lesser mutants. Anyone can take it]
“Ah...”
Si-yeon stared blankly at the quest window for a moment through her blood-tinged tears, then quietly murmured.
“...I found it...”
At the same time.
Far away, the sun rose, dispelling the darkness.