Surviving the Apocalypse as an All-Time Best Overpowered Necromancer - Chapter 2

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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 2
2. Survivor of a Ruined World (2)
“Corpse Control!”
[You use the Corpse Control skill on the target.]
[The target’s Magical Power is lower than the user’s.]
[The target cannot resist the skill. The skill activates normally.]
Slip.
“Ugh…….”
As the skill activated properly, Mana drained from his body and he felt a strange sensation.
It was like someone had crept up and tickled him, then suddenly gotten annoyed on their own and pinched him in a fit of rage.
And then at the end came a hollow feeling.
‘Since Mana is energy I possess, I need to use it as conservatively as I can.’
He’d never seen information about this in the Community, but knowledge that had forcibly seeped in during the Awakening was warning him.
The thought to conserve Mana lasted only a moment.
“Ah!”
Corpse Control had activated successfully.
At the same time…….
The sound of the pigeon perched on the windowsill being targeted and a body rubbing against the window disappeared.
‘What does that mean?’
Lee Ganghyeok, hiding behind the fire extinguisher door, headed toward the staircase to check on the zombie’s condition.
“Grrrrgh.”
The zombie that had been rubbing itself against the window just moments before now stood motionless in place, growling, and Lee Ganghyeok instinctively stopped and examined it.
“Did it work?”
Was it standing still because of the skill’s effect?
He couldn’t tell.
Still unable to let his guard down, Lee Ganghyeok stared at the zombie with suspicious eyes, then recalled the meaning of Corpse Control and issued a command to the motionless zombie.
“Hey! Come up here.”
“Grrrrgh.”
Slip.
Thud-thud.
“!!”
It moved.
The zombie that had been standing in place heard his command and climbed the staircase.
At first, Lee Ganghyeok had been tense, thinking the zombie had heard his voice and was coming for him, but seeing it stand before him waiting for the next command, he felt relief…….
“Ugh! Christ, the smell.”
Before he could even feel relieved, Lee Ganghyeok was startled by the overwhelming stench emanating from the zombie and stepped backward, covering his nose.
‘Is that rotting smell coming from the decaying flesh?’
It seemed likely.
Then he began to understand why he possessed the Flesh Dissolution skill.
“Flesh……. No. Get away from me.”
“Grrgh.”
Thud-thud.
Just as he was about to use Flesh Dissolution, Lee Ganghyeok suddenly remembered that this was right in front of his own home, and worried that the stench of melting flesh might seep inside, so he kept the zombie as far away as possible.
But one thing had become certain.
‘Just as the Community said, these zombies really were corpses.’
After all, they had stopped breathing and then been revived as zombies.
So most survivors didn’t regard zombies as living people.
Of course…….
Six months on, there were still people who stubbornly believed there was a way to cure their family members who had turned into zombies.
But from what had just happened, Lee Ganghyeok became certain that zombies would never be restored to human form.
Because it was impossible to bring the dead back to life…….
Countless Awakened Ones had emerged thus far, but even they lacked the ability to resurrect the dead.
Even those who awakened the miraculous power to heal the wounded or reattach severed limbs couldn’t save the dead.
‘Compassion is a luxury unnecessary for survival.’
Survival Law Seven: Do not pity others. For if you do, your own life is far more pitiful.
Lee Ganghyeok recited the survival law he’d set for himself and gazed at the zombie he’d kept at a distance because of its vile stench.
“After the skill succeeds, it seems fine to send them far away. Commands require my voice to be heard, though……. How much Mana do I have left?”
Part of the reason he’d kept it at a distance was the smell.
But another reason was to test whether he could issue commands even from far away.
Though the hallway wasn’t long enough for a proper test, Lee Ganghyeok obtained results he found reasonably satisfactory, nodded to himself, and checked his Mana.
“About eighty percent? It’s a bit vague since this is my first time…….”
Unfortunately, the status window didn’t display precise figures for Health and Mana.
He had to rely solely on his intuition to gauge his remaining Mana.
So Lee Ganghyeok estimated how much Mana he had left based on the current hollowness he felt.
‘I’ll know exactly once I use the skill more.’
The only way to learn how much Mana he had and how many times he could use a skill was to actually use it.
However, since using all his Mana recklessly trying to find his limits might cause problems, he decided not to venture outside and instead maximize his use of the zombies inside the building.
With a large building came plenty of zombies, which should be more than enough for testing!
With that thought, Lee Ganghyeok led the tamed zombie upward.
In case something went wrong and he needed to flee, going down the staircase was much faster than going up.
Besides, it would save him more stamina that way.
Thanks to his enhanced physical abilities from the Awakening, climbing stairs shouldn’t be physically taxing.
‘But better safe than sorry.’
While climbing cautiously, he spotted another zombie stuck to the wall, targeting a pigeon outside the window just like the first one.
‘Did these things stay here because of the pigeons, not because of me?’
He hadn’t realized zombies liked pigeons so much.
Maybe they wanted to eat anything.
Maybe they reacted to sounds the pigeons made.
“Tsk, Corpse Control!”
“Grrgh.”
Exasperated, Lee Ganghyeok used Corpse Control on the second zombie just as he had with the first.
“Slightly more than half left?”
Using Corpse Control twice seemed to consume about thirty to forty percent of his Mana.
He’d need to use it more to be sure.
“Let’s go.”
“Grrgh.”
Lee Ganghyeok continued upward, leading two zombies now.
Still covering his nose.
And so…….
When he reached the 22nd Floor, he finally managed to command a fifth zombie, but his Mana was depleted accordingly.
‘About fifteen percent per zombie? Fortunately, once the skill activates, maintaining it seems to cost no Mana.’
Each use of Corpse Control consumed fifteen percent of his Mana.
After that, controlling the zombies seemed to cost nothing.
“Using Flesh Dissolution right now would be tough……. Should I test them in combat instead?”
The smell that had been terrible at first was becoming bearable as he adapted.
Besides, he didn’t have enough Mana for Flesh Dissolution, so he decided to recover Mana while testing the zombies’ combat abilities.
So just as he was about to head upstairs again.
Bang. Bang.
From a nearby apartment came the sound of something—presumably a zombie—knocking on the door.
The zombie trapped inside had heard Lee Ganghyeok’s voice and reacted.
‘I’ll check that apartment later.’
Apartments like that almost certainly had food inside.
If a zombie was trapped inside, it meant the resident had been caught in the first Mutation, and no one had ever opened the door.
‘Room 2203.’
He’d noted the room number, but most apartments in the building would be the same.
With no reason to open it immediately, Lee Ganghyeok made a note to check later and continued upward.
Soon after, spotting a zombie wandering the Hallway, he immediately issued a command.
“Attack.”
“Grrgh.”
“Grrgh!”
At the attack command, his five zombies snarled and lunged at the target.
But their speed was disappointingly slow for K-Zombies he’d seen in old films.
Six months of decomposition had rotted their flesh and muscle. Not all zombies moved this slowly, however.
Zombies that had successfully fed on humans developed abilities just as surviving humans awakened powers, growing stronger.
He’d heard some of these evolved zombies could move faster than humans, but he’d been lucky enough not to encounter any.
‘Anyway, they’re too slow to be much use hunting.’
Five against one.
Despite the numerical advantage, their movements were sluggish and their attacks were slow.
It seemed he could attack much faster himself.
So perhaps for that reason.
Lee Ganghyeok adjusted his grip on the Hammer and issued a new command to the zombies engaged in the struggle.
“Hold it down!”
“Grrk!”
“Graaaaah!”
At the new command, the struggling zombies pinned down the target’s limbs.
‘Now!’
With the zombie unable to move, Lee Ganghyeok steeled himself and rushed forward, bringing the Hammer down hard on its head.
Crack!
“Grrrrgh!”
With a dull sound, the zombie’s skull caved in, but it didn’t die and continued struggling.
His weak strength had made the blow insufficient.
“Die!”
Thud! Crack!
If one blow won’t do it, then keep hitting.
Thud!
“Grrk…….”
So Lee Ganghyeok kept bringing the Hammer down on the zombie’s head, and after three consecutive blows, its body went limp.
‘Is it dead?’
As he stared at the zombie held by his subordinates, its body hanging slack, confused——
A notification appeared in Lee Ganghyeok’s vision.
[Achievement Unlocked!]
[Hunt a Zombie.]
– You have successfully hunted a zombie for the first time.
[Bonus Experience granted for Achievement.]
[Congratulations. You have leveled up. All physical attributes increase by 1.]
[You receive 1 distributable Point.]
[This Point can only be allocated to Job-specific abilities.]
[Depleted Health and Mana are recovered.]
“Yes!”
As he killed the zombie, an Achievement was unlocked and he leveled up, just like those Awakened Ones who had boasted about it on the forums.
Thanks to this, all his physical attributes increased, his depleted Mana recovered, and the hollow feeling vanished.
But was it because his tension had eased?
Even though his Health and Magical Power were fully restored, standing somehow felt unbearably difficult.
Perhaps it was because he was struggling to accept that he’d killed a zombie for the first time.
‘It’s okay. Zombies aren’t people anymore. I killed a zombie. If I don’t kill them, they’ll kill me.’
Seeming to understand the source, he steadied his resolve while looking at the zombie he’d killed.
Yet even so, his mind wouldn’t settle, and as he wondered what to do.
He suddenly thought of those people who had posted bragging threads the moment they’d awakened.
Then Lee Ganghyeok logged into the Community and posted boastfully about everything he’d done so far.
[Title: Just Awakened as a Necromancer.]
[Tamed zombies and made them fight each other. Pretty cool, right?]
┖ Necromancer, welcome aboard!
┖ Oh! A Necromancer! We’ve got ourselves a rare one.
┖ Congratulations!
┖ Kid, posting right after awakening, huh. I know that feeling. But let me tell you—that’s not your fault. You did good. Really great job killing them!
┖ Now that you’ve awakened, keep it up. Exterminate the zombies!
┖ Exterminate the zombies!
“Haha.”
Comments flooded in the moment he posted.
Everyone offered congratulations and affirmed that killing the zombie had been right.
So perhaps for that reason.
The turmoil that had filled him moments before felt calmed.
‘Is that why everyone posts about their awakenings like this?’
Maybe they posted to reassure themselves—that killing zombies was absolutely not wrong, that what they’d done was genuinely justified.
“Great!”
Thanks to the comments, Lee Ganghyeok’s heart felt lighter. Strength returned to his legs, and he stood up, adjusting his grip on the Hammer.
With his level up, his Mana would have recovered too. Now it was time to repay all the humiliation the zombies had inflicted over the past six months.
‘First, let me clear out this building.’
This building didn’t belong to Lee Ganghyeok. There was definitely a building owner.
Whether they were alive or dead, he couldn’t know.
But what mattered was…….
‘From now on, this building is mine.’
For some reason, Lee Ganghyeok’s eyes gleamed.

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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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