Surviving the Apocalypse as an All-Time Best Overpowered Necromancer - Chapter 103
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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 103
103. A Day in December (4)
Christmas Eve morning dawned.
Those who had finished the tree the night before and chatted in front of it until they fell asleep there now woke with sleepy eyes and giggled.
“You looked like that when you woke up, didn’t you?”
“A bird must’ve come by in the night and built a nest. Why not try keeping your hair like that for now?”
“Ugh.”
At Seo Hwa-rin and Kang Pil-du’s words, Lee Gang-hyuk hurriedly tidied his hair and looked at Seo A-rin and the children, who slept soundly despite the fuss.
“They sleep well.”
“They were making clothes until late yesterday.”
“I see.”
Lee Gang-hyuk spoke in hushed tones so as not to wake them, then smiled.
But only for a moment.
The moment he saw Seo A-rin sleeping with her mouth open, drool at the corner of her lips—a cheerful soul even in slumber—laughter burst out of him unbidden.
“Pfft.”
“…What? Is something wrong?”
At the sound, Seo A-rin stirred awake and sat up with drowsy eyes, asking. Lee Gang-hyuk silently handed her a wet tissue.
“Huh? Oh!”
Seo A-rin took the tissue in a daze, her expression blank for a moment before understanding dawned—then she hurriedly wiped her mouth.
“Mm.”
“…Good morning.”
The children, roused by the commotion, bowed their heads with sleep-hazed faces, then promptly fell back asleep.
They hadn’t let it show, but it seemed they’d been quite exhausted.
‘Let’s go.’
Nod, nod.
Lee Gang-hyuk pointed to the next room to let the children rest longer, and everyone nodded quietly and rose from their seats.
After they arrived at the sisters’ apartment, everyone spoke up simultaneously the moment they sat down in the living room.
“Still, it’s Christmas—shouldn’t we give the children gifts?”
“What should we do about gifts?”
“Gifts…”
Without anyone saying it was their turn to speak first, they realized they all shared the same thought and burst out laughing.
“Then let’s each prepare something.”
“Yes!”
“Sounds good.”
Everyone nodded in agreement at the suggestion.
While Seo Hwa-rin prepared breakfast, Lee Gang-hyuk headed home to prepare gifts for the children.
‘What would be good?’
If the Calamity hadn’t struck, he would have bought something new to give as a gift.
Since circumstances didn’t allow for that, he’d decided to give something from what he already owned that the children would like, and he began to search through the room he’d been using as storage.
“Hmm.”
Nothing.
Most of it was camping equipment.
‘Should I craft an item to give instead?’
The sudden thought made him stroke his chin, but he quickly shook his head.
Giving the children items made from bone felt off somehow.
“Hmm.”
As his deliberation continued, he finally decided to craft items after all.
While items the children would enjoy were good, he also wanted them to survive for a long time—that’s why he decided.
So yesterday’s smile.
Today’s warmth.
Could continue for a long time.
‘All right. Let’s do this.’
With his decision made, Lee Gang-hyuk grabbed the gems and headed down to the 3rd Floor where the corpses were kept.
‘Gems that would suit the children…’
After descending to the 3rd Floor, Lee Gang-hyuk examined the gems he’d brought, stroking his chin thoughtfully before crafting items.
First, he excluded ruby and sapphire. Being fire and water attributes respectively, they didn’t suit the children.
That left topaz, diamond, and pearl. After deliberating, he decided to make all three and activated his skill.
“Bone Weapon Crafting!”
[You have sufficient materials for crafting.]
[Here is the list of items you can craft.]
– Bone Sword x 12
…
…
– Bone Staff x 3
Relieved to confirm that pearl crafting was possible, he continued.
Once the three staffs were created, he checked their information.
[Bone Topaz Staff]
– Magic Power + 2
– Mana and Core Power natural recovery speed slightly increased.
– Electricity attribute skill power slightly increased when used.
– Allows stable control of Magic Power.
[Bone Diamond Staff]
– Magic Power + 2
– Mana and Core Power natural recovery speed slightly increased.
– All attribute skill power slightly increased when used.
– Allows stable control of Magic Power.
[Bone Pearl Staff]
– Magic Power + 2
– Mana and Core Power natural recovery speed slightly increased.
– Healing-type skill recovery power slightly increased when used.
– Allows stable control of Magic Power.
“Mm.”
After reviewing the information, he realized there was no need to deliberate and nodded with satisfaction.
“Electric, you use this for now.”
“Grrrahhh.”
Clearly, the topaz staff’s owner was Electric.
When he handed it over, Electric growled contentedly and took it, but as soon as the zombie tried to wave the staff in his hand, it slipped and fell.
“…”
As a zombie, Electric apparently didn’t even have the strength to hold the staff.
Of course…
If Lee Gang-hyuk commanded through his Command Domain to keep holding it, Electric would continue to do so without dropping it.
But he couldn’t keep paying attention during combat.
“Hmm.”
He considered creating a new bone mage, but there was no room for one.
Somehow he had to get Electric to hold the staff…
After a moment’s thought, Lee Gang-hyuk retrieved bandages, placed the staff firmly in Electric’s hand, and wrapped the bandages around it.
As a result, Electric’s left hand resembled a boxer wearing a glove.
But since the staff wouldn’t fall, Lee Gang-hyuk was satisfied, picked up the remaining staffs, and headed back to his apartment.
Before everyone scattered, they’d decided to place the gifts under the Christmas tree once the children were asleep.
Moreover, since these were supposedly gifts, wrapping them bare felt awkward, so Lee Gang-hyuk wrapped them in white cloth, tied them with a ribbon as decoration, and satisfied with the result, headed up to the 23rd Floor.
“Oh?”
Upon arriving at the 23rd Floor, a delicious aroma wafted from somewhere. She’d said to look forward to it yesterday, and it seemed she’d been preparing since morning.
Already anticipating what was to come, Lee Gang-hyuk naturally entered the sisters’ apartment, and Seo Hwa-rin smiled warmly at the sight of him.
“From your expression, you’ve finished preparing. You must be hungry. Please, sit down.”
“Yes.”
He sat in the living room as she suggested and waited, and soon as people gathered one by one, the living room began to buzz with activity.
Shortly after, Seo Hwa-rin brought out the food she’d prepared, scratching her cheek as if embarrassed.
“I did my best to make it, but I’m not sure if it’ll suit everyone’s taste.”
What she’d made was pasta with olive oil and cherry tomatoes, and patties made by mixing ham from a can with flour.
Without eggs or starch, it was merely finely crushed ham mixed with flour and fried in oil—a meager form—but.
Perhaps because she’d used a whole can of carefully reserved ham, or because they’d eaten only instant ramen for so long, or perhaps because of the sincerity and effort Seo Hwa-rin had poured into the meal, the children’s eyes widened and they began to drool.
“Thank you for the food.”
Lee Gang-hyuk thanked Seo Hwa-rin and immediately took a bite.
“!!”
The moment the pasta touched his tongue, his eyes widened in surprise.
The same was true for Seo A-rin, Kang Pil-du, and the children.
“Wow.”
“…You’re quite skilled.”
“It’s… it’s delicious!”
Each person offered their amazed comments and ate eagerly without restraint.
Seeing this, Seo Hwa-rin let out a relieved sigh and smiled softly.
“I’m so glad it suits your taste.”
“You should eat too.”
“All right.”
Feeling happiness at seeing people enjoy what she’d made, Seo Hwa-rin finally picked up her chopsticks at the urging, and.
They spent a pleasant time eating together.
* * *
After the meal, Seo A-rin and Yu Bit-na said they had work remaining and went into a room.
Then Kang Pil-du, claiming he hadn’t finished preparing his gift and needed to wash up, went down to his own room, while Seo Hwa-rin said she needed to check on the field in place of Seo A-rin and headed toward the plastic greenhouse.
From the way she politely declined his offer to help and went alone, it seemed she needed some time to herself.
Left behind, Lee Gang-hyuk and Yu Ha-neul scratched their heads and looked at each other.
“What should we do?”
“Well…”
There was nothing to do.
For the first time since the Calamity struck, Lee Gang-hyuk felt truly at ease—and had no idea what to do with it. He scratched his cheek.
“Oh! Then, could you watch me train for a bit?”
“Hm?”
At the sudden request, Lee Gang-hyuk tilted his head.
They’d clearly agreed not to train during Christmas.
The moment he wondered why Yu Ha-neul would ask that, the boy winked at him with one eye.
As if to say someone should hear it—Yu Bit-na must have suggested this.
Which meant…
Yu Bit-na had something she wanted to keep hidden.
“All right. Let’s go.”
“Yes!”
Understanding the situation, Lee Gang-hyuk gave his permission, and Yu Ha-neul spoke again, his voice carrying loudly.
The two then went outside and made their way down the stairs.
“So what’s this about?”
Curious about the reason, Lee Gang-hyuk asked, and Yu Ha-neul scratched his cheek sheepishly.
“It’s Christmas, so I want to give a gift to Bit-na. I thought everyone would worry if I wandered around alone…”
“You little rascal.”
At those words, Lee Gang-hyuk messed up Yu Ha-neul’s hair.
How admirable—his care for his sister.
“So what kind of gift do you want to give?”
“Since Bit-na likes animation, I want to find something related to it as a gift… I should look around to see if there’s anything.”
“All right. I’ll help you.”
“Yes!”
The two, thinking there must be something somewhere in one of the many apartments in the building, began to search.
And so…
As they made their way down the floors, searching through the apartments,
After checking from the 22nd floor down to the 10th, they found nothing related to animation.
Perhaps that was why.
Yu Ha-neul’s expression grew increasingly dim.
But six more floors remained. Excluding the lobby and the floors connected to the commercial building, they hadn’t checked all the residences yet.
Believing it was too early to give up, Lee Gang-hyuk patted Yu Ha-neul’s back and continued searching.
Then, in one apartment on the 5th Floor, he discovered a heap of pocket monster figurines.
“Thank you! I found them thanks to you!”
“What do I get credit for?”
With an elated expression, Yu Ha-neul thanked him and put the figurines into his bag.
That moment.
“Krrrraaaaaahhhhh!”
“!?”
Through a slightly open window came a cry—somehow oddly familiar.
“Isn’t that… the zombie we saw yesterday?”
“Catapult?”
The moment they heard the roar, both their expressions hardened as Catapult came to mind.
That thing should’ve been at the school beyond Dobong Station. Why here?
‘Could it be chasing us?’
But they’d clearly used the railway to return to the hideout yesterday.
Moreover, from Dobongsan Station onward, they’d traveled by mountain roads to avoid the Yetis, making a pursuit realistically impossible.
“What in the world…”
Alarmed, Lee Gang-hyuk, worried the creature might spot them if they went near the window, finished gathering the figurines and headed upward.
As he climbed the stairs, he encountered Kang Pil-du, and seeing the man’s hardened face, Lee Gang-hyuk knew he’d heard it too and asked for explanation.
“What’s going on?”
“The Rooftop.”
With no easy way to explain, Lee Gang-hyuk shook his head and headed to the Rooftop with Kang Pil-du to confirm Catapult’s location.
“Over there.”
Upon reaching the Rooftop, Seo Hwa-rin, Seo A-rin, and Yu Bit-na were already there.
Lee Gang-hyuk looked toward the spot Seo Hwa-rin pointed to, having apparently identified Catapult’s location.
“…So it wasn’t just brute strength.”
Seeing it sniffing along the rails and heading toward Dobongsan Station, it was clear the creature was tracking their scent.
Now that he thought about it, when they’d encountered it the day before, it had appeared without warning.
It had likely been tracking them by scent then as well.
Just as he was thinking this, the creature walking along the rails let out another roar, tore up part of the rail, and hurled it toward Dobongsan Station.
Startled by the sudden action, everyone hurriedly looked toward Dobongsan Station.
When blood splattered from the rail that fell into the previously empty space, they realized there were Yetis there.
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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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