Chapter 23. Adaptation

Chapter 23. Adaptation

Stepping out of the building, I mentally traced the path I needed to take.

I would go straight for two blocks, following the same direction I had turned left from the main road. Then, I’d turn right and walk up two more blocks, and a pharmacy would be at the corner building of the intersection.

It was a simple route, so there was no fear of getting lost.

*Getting lost isn’t the problem… I could lose my life.*

When I had surveyed from the Rooftop, the adjacent building was still under construction. As I headed towards the building under construction, I’d find a small alleyway on the right, with two officetel buildings tucked inside. This particular block consisted of a Convenience Store building, the building under construction, and the two officetel buildings. After passing this entire block, a small road would appear, followed by a broadcasting station building in the next block.

Grrr…

As I moved forward, a Zombie growl echoed from the narrow alleyway, just as I had feared. I pulled out the Hand Mirror from my sling bag to check, and sure enough, a single Zombie stood around the bend of the corner.

I gave Seonyoung a signal, then immediately stepped into the alley.

Raaaargh!

The Zombie, having met my gaze, predictably charged at once. Using the momentum of its charge, I sent its head flying with just a light swing.

I could have waited for the Zombie to turn around and then ambushed it, but now, I considered the time spent observing a Zombie’s movements and waiting to be a waste. After a few encounters, I’d calculated that one or two Zombies could be faced head-on. This was considering my current physical abilities, reflexes, and dynamic visual acuity.

Raaaargh! Ughhh!

Almost simultaneously with dispatching the Zombie, the howls of several more Zombies erupted. It was the Parking Lot of the officetel building located deeper within the alley. Perhaps reacting to the cry of the Zombie I’d just dealt with, seven Zombies burst out all at once and rushed towards us.

*I hadn’t accounted for this.*

I quickly checked behind me and in other directions, but for now, the group of Zombies directly in front was all there was. I swiftly ran to the building under construction and picked up broken bricks in both hands.

“Shield! Oppa, check the Shield’s position on the ground.”

Seonyoung, reacting quickly, closed her eyes for a moment, then created a Shield and shouted. Just as she said, I saw the Shield generated, lying low on the ground. It was a bar-shaped Shield, created roughly at an adult’s knee height. The elongated Shield blocked the alleyway. The charging Zombies would inevitably trip over it.

“Good.”

I briefly called out to Seonyoung, then threw the broken brick in my right hand at the oncoming Zombie.

Whoosh! Thwack!

Thanks to my enhanced physical abilities, even a simple stone throw carried considerable force. The broken brick struck the head of a Zombie wearing shorts, and the Zombie collapsed instantly. I adjusted my stance and threw the remaining brick fragment from my left hand again. This time, it missed slightly, hitting another Zombie in the torso. Still, the force of the throw didn’t disappear, and the Zombie hit in the chest by the brick fell backward.

“Watch out!”

“You too, Oppa.”

I picked up the Baseball Bat I had briefly set down on the ground. Soon, the charging Zombies began to tumble over en masse. Together with Seonyoung, I struck the heads of the fallen Zombies one by one, as if chopping firewood. We quickly dispatched the Zombies that had fallen, then finished off the one that had been hit by a brick, fallen, and was now belatedly charging.

After dealing with all the Zombies, I looked at Seonyoung, and she nodded her head. I nodded back at her. Nodding after dispatching Zombies meant that the Acquired count had increased according to the number each of us had dealt with. Shaking our heads from side to side would mean the number of Zombies dealt with didn’t match the Acquired count. Of course, we also performed confirmation kills, but this was a double-check to see if the number of Zombies dealt with matched the Acquired count, like now.

For now, we only had a few simple and intuitively understandable signs established. As we traveled together and added signs whenever necessary, their number was gradually increasing, and I wondered if I could remember them all.

“Hoo.”

I paused to catch my breath, focusing on the surrounding sounds. Because loud noises, like the ones just made, could attract Zombies from other areas. Fortunately, the street, now devoid of the rampaging Zombies’ screams, was utterly silent.

“That was a great idea. We almost got into trouble, but thanks to you, we got through it easily.”

“Hehe, see? You really need a good head on your shoulders, don’t you? What do you think, Oppa? Aren’t I cool?”

“Seonyoung, you’re always pretty and cool. You’re the best!”

I kept giving her thumbs-ups and showering her with praise. Seonyoung’s hands still trembled slightly after a fight with Zombies. She was trying to calm herself down by acting playful like this.

Anyway, this time, we almost got into danger because of my mistake. When I’d looked from the Rooftop, I couldn’t see the first floor of the officetel, so I hadn’t realized it was an open Parking Lot. I hadn’t considered the blind spot, and since there were no Zombies immediately visible, I had naturally concluded there was only one Zombie in the alley. I thought I had learned how to navigate the Zombie-infested streets, but I was still far from it.

Listening carefully to sounds, and sweeping my eyes 90 degrees left and right from my direction of travel as I walked. Double-checking any areas where my vision was obstructed. Using the Hand Mirror, and other such techniques—I had developed my own know-how over the past three days. That’s why I thought I was adapting well. But after this incident, I realized that insight was also crucial. If I had spotted the officetel building, I should have extended my thoughts to consider that it might have an open-style Parking Lot on the first floor. Because that’s a common building type seen in Seoul. Then, it would naturally lead to the assumption that there might be more Zombies.

“Let’s move.”

I caught my breath for a moment and started walking again. It was true that experience was important. But now, I couldn’t comfort myself by saying it was okay because I didn’t know yet, or because it was my first time. Because if I made a mistake the first time, there might not be a second chance. So, I needed to get into the habit of thinking one step further.

*Are there Zombies inside there too?*

Passing by the construction site building, I hypothesized that there might be Zombies inside the construction area, which was covered by a tarp. *No. If there were Zombies, they would have already heard the noise and come out.* I negated my own thought.

As I diligently continued my thoughts, I suddenly felt annoyed. This was all because my body was insufficient. If I could single-handedly mow down any number of Zombies, I wouldn’t need to rack my brain like this. If I further enhanced my abilities, couldn’t I gain skin that even Zombie teeth couldn’t penetrate? Or perhaps acquire physical abilities that would make me absolutely uncatchable by Zombies. Indeed, when the body is weak, the mind suffers.

I was still lacking. So, I invested 10 Acquired points into Body Reinforcement. I could have invested all my Acquired points without leaving any. However, I wanted to check how much effect each specific trait had when increased by units of 10 or 5. It also looked cleaner. So, for the time being, I planned to increase each trait in multiples of 5 to get a feel for the extent of the changes. I wasn’t entirely sure if this thought process and conclusion were correct.

Anyway, I ended my period of self-reflection and looked at the J Broadcasting Station Building visible across the road. It was a massive building, occupying an entire block. Even at a glance, it seemed to be over 20 stories tall.

“Oppa… we can’t pass through there, can we?”

“Yeah, it looks that way. We came to check it out, but I think we’ll have to go around.”

Across the two-lane road was a small vacant lot, and behind it, the main entrance of the broadcasting station building was visible. The main entrance had a large revolving door and a regular door. Long glass panels extended on both sides of the entrance, so normally, the interior of the first floor would have been clearly visible. But now, bloodstains splattered everywhere restricted the view. Still, I tried to observe the interior a bit more through the gaps in the bloodstains. The first floor was a high-ceilinged, open-plan lobby. The problem was that this vast lobby was filled with Zombies. Men and women in various outfits had turned into Zombies and were milling about. Naturally, there wouldn’t be any people among them, and it felt like the entire building had been overrun by Zombies. Though perhaps there might be survivors on the upper floors.

“Oppa. Even at a rough guess, there must be over 30 of them, right?”

“More than that. What we can see alone is at least 50. Try counting them in groups of five.”

“I see. So, we’re going back around? If we go this way, will they notice us?”

“There’s a bit of distance… but I don’t know for sure. I was actually planning to go all the way around, just in case Zombies popped out from ahead if we followed this road.”

“Ah, that’s true. If they somehow notice us and swarm out… Ugh, that’s horrifying.”

Even in the worst-case scenario, I felt I could carry Seonyoung on my back and run to escape. Still, we decided to take the safe route and go around. Deviating from our original planned route, we retreated back into the alleyway we had just come through.

“Let’s try this way.”

“Okay.”

We passed through the alley and emerged onto another road. After seeing such an enormous horde of Zombies, I felt somewhat drained. And a little detached from reality. Turning left and walking up the road, another Convenience Store appeared.

*How many Convenience Stores are there in our country? And why do all Convenience Stores have glass walls? Is there ever a time when a Convenience Store has no customers?*

As I dealt with the three Zombies visible inside the Convenience Store, it suddenly struck me just how many Convenience Stores there really were.

“Hoo… Let’s keep going.”

“What about across the street? Will it be okay?”

“As long as we don’t make any noise, I think we’ll be fine.”

Fortunately, no Zombies were visible in the building across the street. There was a small coffee shop and a restaurant on the first floor, and while there might be Zombies inside, our view was obstructed, so we just passed by. Walking along the building wall, we reached an intersection. We had now covered more than half the distance. We had come much further than anticipated before starting.

“Amazing. We absolutely have to check that place out.”

“Oh? You’re right.”

Diagonally across the intersection stood a 10-story building. A sign with the words ‘Hana Trade’ was attached to the top and first floor of the building.

We had found treasure there.