Surviving the Apocalypse as an All-Time Best Overpowered Necromancer - Chapter 10

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 10
10. Winter Comes (4)
“Phew, finally done.”
Two days had passed since he’d picked clean the marketplace.
In that time, Lee Ganghyeok had crafted equipment for himself from the corpses filling the lobby.
A Bone Armor Set.
And even a Bone Shield to guard against attacks.
Just making these had taken two days.
The amount of mana consumed in crafting the armor was far greater than he’d anticipated.
He hadn’t even managed to make accessories yet.
Lack of materials.
Even gathering more corpses yielded the same result.
It seemed he needed materials other than bone.
Honestly, he could guess what those materials were to some degree.
Mutated zombies.
Or jewels.
‘Mutated zombies still seem out of reach…. I’ll have to raid a jeweler’s soon.’
The Bone Armor Set alone was sufficient to protect his body.
Though accessories would be nice if he could get them.
If he wasted any more time, he might miss the window for planting barley.
Simply laying down soil and planting barley seeds wouldn’t make them sprout.
So, having completed the Bone Armor Set today, Lee Ganghyeok headed up to the roof first to gather information about the small mountain where he planned to dig soil.
He needed to locate the zombie horde he’d encountered two days ago.
“…….”
But the zombie horde was nowhere to be seen.
Even though this wasn’t the tallest building in the area, it was high enough to count among the notable ones, so he’d expected to see the entire vicinity at a glance.
He could only see the upper parts of buildings, not the streets and passages.
Still, he examined every visible section carefully just in case, and realizing there was no zombie horde near this building, Lee Ganghyeok let out a relieved sigh.
“Phew, still, I should be as careful as possible.”
Just because the horde wasn’t visible.
Outside, the streets were still teeming with zombies, and at any moment they could coalesce into a horde.
Perhaps that’s why.
Lee Ganghyeok surveyed the direction where the small mountain lay, marking on a mental map the fastest route, paths that could detour further but still allow him to return, routes leading through rice fields, and buildings where he could hide if something unexpected happened, finally finishing his preparations.
* * *
“Grrrrr……”
“Grrgh…….”
Trudge, trudge.
The zombies walked along, a Bone Axe in one hand and a Bone Shovel in the other, a backpack slung across their backs, their guttural growls filling the air.
If anyone had seen this sight, they would have found it extraordinary and snapped photos.
But whether the people who’d lived nearby had all fled elsewhere,
or if they were all dead,
there wasn’t a sound of human life anywhere in the neighborhood.
‘Desolate.’
Though the sun hung in the sky, the air felt eerie—like standing in a ghost town.
“Tsk.”
Having never ventured this far since the catastrophe struck, Lee Ganghyeok found the devastation of the neighborhood far worse than expected, and clicked his tongue in frustration.
‘So what was that trace I saw in the marketplace before? Someone else who survived alone? Or did some kind of shelter form in this area?’
He couldn’t say. That one bicycle he’d seen in the marketplace was too little to go on. Besides, he’d been fleeing from the zombie horde at the time—the person could already be dead.
‘Still, thanks to them, I saved my own life.’
The important thing was that he’d survived.
Lee Ganghyeok figured he’d done his part simply by wishing good luck to a stranger whose face he’d never see again, and he continued walking, listening to the zombies’ guttural sounds.
After all, thanks to their growling, he could avoid running into other zombie hordes.
He’d been using them as an alarm of sorts.
How long had he been walking?
Upon arriving at the small mountain, he checked his watch first.
“……Twenty-four minutes.”
That was how long it took from the building to the small mountain.
Had he come alone, it would have been faster, but the zombies slowed him down considerably.
And once he loaded sacks filled with soil, he’d move even slower.
‘Accounting for the round trip alone, an hour, plus the time to haul it all up to the roof…. This won’t be finished in a single day.’
It seemed he’d have to keep coming here for several more days.
Still relieved that he’d encountered no zombies on the way, Lee Ganghyeok turned to regard the zombies standing idly and spoke.
“What are you all doing? Move faster. Time is money.”
“Grrgh…….”
“Shriek—clatter, clatter, clatter, clatter, clatter.”
At his words, their growling intensified into convulsive chattering, but unable to refuse once they’d received orders, the zombies began clawing at the earth.
* * *
Four days had passed since they’d begun hauling soil from the small mountain.
In the meantime, the field was nearly complete. Before the sun set today, or by tomorrow morning, it would be finished.
It could have taken longer originally.
The neighborhood’s zombies seemed to have been completely swept away by the zombie horde from a few days earlier, so there were none between his building and the small mountain.
Well….
Occasionally he’d hear a zombie growling from inside a building.
But those idiots couldn’t even open doors, and since he wasn’t idle enough to bother killing them, he simply ignored the sounds and kept digging soil.
Thanks to that, the field was nearly complete, and while he was digging frantically as if possessed by a single thought—’finish it today no matter what!’—
Boom—!
Crash!
Suddenly, a loud explosion erupted from somewhere.
Given how faint the sound was, it seemed to be quite far away.
Anxious it might be his building, he checked the direction of the sound and was relieved to find it wasn’t.
“Dig faster! Let’s hurry.”
That didn’t mean he could relax.
The zombie horde might be approaching this way again.
In the worst case scenario.
But thinking optimistically, awakeners in the area might be cooperating to exterminate the zombies.
Survival Law 8: life is always worst-case.
It was better to assume the worst and act accordingly than to lose his life for groundless hope.
That’s why, the moment he heard the explosion, Lee Ganghyeok urged the zombies on and frantically shoveled soil into the sacks.
“Let’s pray this is the last load.”
“Grrawk!!”
“Grraaaagh!”
The loud response lifted his mood momentarily, but soon his worry about the explosion returned, and he set out with a grim expression.
A while later.
Halfway back, another explosion sounded.
This time, buildings surrounded him on all sides, so he couldn’t pinpoint the exact location.
Still, it seemed to be at a considerable distance, so Lee Ganghyeok felt reasonably assured and let out a relieved sigh.
‘Looks like awakeners hunting together.’
That would explain the series of explosions.
“…….”
For some reason, he suddenly felt uneasy. But thinking it was baseless worry, he furrowed his brow and muttered quietly.
“Please, you all just go play over there.”
Hunting zombies was fine, but he desperately hoped their fight wouldn’t reach him. He walked quickly, his pace brisk.
Soon after…….
Having finally completed the rooftop field, Lee Ganghyeok spread the fertilizer he’d brought from the marketplace and smiled contentedly.
“Now I’ll plant barley here, and potatoes, and corn. It would be nice to raise livestock too…. Are there any living animals left?”
He’d just finished building the field and spreading fertilizer. Yet to Lee Ganghyeok’s eyes, the field before him seemed already filled with green shoots and golden-ripe crops.
In places, he could even see livestock.
Chickens, pigs, cattle…….
Grazing peacefully beside the golden-ripe crops.
Perhaps that’s why.
A humming tune emerged unbidden.
He felt good. But he couldn’t plant seeds right now.
It was knowledge he’d learned while gathering information.
The soil he’d dug from the small mountain lacked nutrients, so if he planted seeds immediately after making the field, they wouldn’t grow well.
“First, I need to restore the soil fertility before planting barley.”
It was still early October.
Since the field was built faster than expected, he had plenty of time to plant barley seeds.
Of course, that didn’t mean he could afford to dawdle.
But there was no problem waiting for the fertilizer he’d just spread to be absorbed into the field.
Just as he was finishing the field work and thinking about boasting about it on the broadcast before heading down,
the explosion he’d heard earlier sounded again.
Crash!
“!!”
This time it was close.
The explosion didn’t come from far away like before, but from right nearby.
Startled, Lee Ganghyeok immediately went to the roof’s edge and looked toward where the sound had come from.
“Damn.”
Obscured by buildings, he couldn’t see clearly, but creatures that appeared to be zombies were moving rapidly between the structures—and from their pattern of movement, it seemed they weren’t being hunted, but rather drawn to aggressors and being chased.
‘Could that be the person from back then, still alive?’
The one who’d drawn the attention of the zombie horde when he was heading to the marketplace?
That person had survived all this time?
Startled by the sudden thought, Lee Ganghyeok furrowed his brow and continued watching.
Soon, emerging from the maze of buildings and stepping onto the main road, he could finally see that person….
No—those people.
‘Women?’
Though the distance was considerable, judging from the long hair, lean figures, and running form, the ones being chased by the zombies were women.
Two of them.
‘Have these people been running from the zombies this whole time?’
As the thought surfaced again,
flames suddenly erupted from one woman’s hand, hurtled toward the zombies, and detonated directly.
Boom—!
Crash!
‘An awakener, then.’
The source of the explosions was that woman.
Of course….
If she weren’t an awakener, she’d never have had the ability to flee from a zombie horde for days.
‘Well, she’ll manage on her own….’
I’m no hero.
Recalling Survival Law 11, he thought she’d survive on her own just as he had until now, and turned to leave—but then he noticed one woman limping, her leg apparently injured.
Moreover, the woman who’d created the fire orb to attack the zombies was also in bad shape, supporting her companion while moving unsteadily.
That form….
‘Her mana must be depleted.’
One was out of mana, the other injured.
Fortunately, the zombies were moving slowly enough that they wouldn’t be caught immediately, but it looked like they’d be caught any moment now.
“Ha…….”
A sigh escaped him. In his mind, the thought that he should save them collided head-on with Survival Law 11.
His survival until now had been thanks to strictly adhering to the survival laws—he couldn’t break that just because he pitied these people.
“Tsk.”
Just as he finished that thought, Survival Law 10 suddenly came to mind.
All decisions going forward must prioritize safety above all else.
If those people got eaten by the zombies right now? That would mean two mutated zombies appearing near his building.
He couldn’t allow that.
Just look at Electric alone—wasn’t its power far beyond that of ordinary zombies?
If two such zombies lurked around his home,
it was unthinkable. Determining this, Lee Ganghyeok identified the women’s location, then descended with the zombies in tow.
Whether to kill them before the zombies did,
or to save them from the zombies—
he’d decide that once he arrived.
* * *
“Fire!”
Bang!
Crash—!
She had almost no mana left now. If she squeezed hard, she could use it once more,
but doing so would cause her to lose consciousness.
She couldn’t let that happen.
If she collapsed, her sister would die too.
Thinking she had to stay sharp to save her sister’s life, Seo Hwalin bit her lip hard, and seeing this, Seo Arin used her skill while speaking through tears.
“Water Ball! Sister…. Just leave me. We’re all going to die like this. You have to live. I…….”
“We die together, or we live together.”
At the words that followed, Seo Hwalin cut her short as if refusing to listen, then spoke firmly.
Yet her voice lacked strength, likely due to her depleted mana.
Her eyes had even lost focus, staring blankly ahead.
At this rate, it was truly dangerous.
Before her sister’s condition worsened further, Seo Arin had to get her to safety somehow.
“Run!”
Desperate to save her sister, Seo Arin cried out loudly, and at that shout, Seo Hwalin’s eyes, which had seemed on the verge of losing consciousness, snapped wide open.
Her sister’s cry had jolted her awake.
At the same moment, Seo Hwalin furrowed her brow and spoke.
“How could I leave you behind? I can’t lose you like this. We’re going together, to the very end. We can survive.”
“Sister…….”
Her eyes were open, but her voice still lacked strength.
Meanwhile, the zombies continued their relentless approach.
“Water Ball! Please, just disappear! Go!”
Splash—!
Seo Arin screamed desperately, flinging her skill toward the zombies in a frenzy.
A water sphere the size of a human head flew forward, pushing the zombies back with force.
While it didn’t kill them, the narrow width of the road meant they couldn’t approach easily.
But that respite was short-lived….
Zombies appeared from the opposite direction.
“!!”
In that instant, the two women panicked.
They were currently standing on an elevated highway. Had Seo Arin’s leg been uninjured, she would have jumped down, but with her leg damaged, she couldn’t.
Moreover, Seo Hwalin’s depleted mana meant she could suffer severe injuries from the fall.
Trapped between a rock and a hard place, unable to do either, the two women in their panic finally resolved to make a stand, clenching their fists.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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