Surviving the Apocalypse as an All-Time Best Overpowered Necromancer - Chapter 20

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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 20
20. Weathering Winter (1)
“Hold on a moment.”
“Yes?”
The atmosphere was good.
As Lee Ganghyeok was about to move down to the lower floors to clean up the remaining Zombies.
Lee Ganghyeok seemed to remember something and asked the two of them for permission, then approached the lifeless Grolla Bear.
Then, as if it were only natural, he reached out his hand.
“Corpse Control!”
Wondering if Corpse Control might work now, he attempted the skill, but it failed again.
It seemed that Mana was preserved even after the creature’s breath stopped.
“Damn. Bone Accessory Crafting!”
Frustrated, Lee Ganghyeok clicked his tongue and decided to try making an accessory instead.
He wanted to verify whether the Mutated Zombie was indeed the essential material needed for Accessory Crafting.
The moment he activated the skill, a familiar notification appeared before his eyes.
[You have sufficient materials for Crafting.]
[Here is the list of items you can create.]
Bone Necklace × 1
Bone Ring × 1
Bone Bracelet × 1
‘As I thought, the Mutated Zombie was the key material.’
Gems might also be materials for accessories, perhaps.
But since there was no way to verify that immediately, Lee Ganghyeok crafted the accessories using only the Grolla Bear’s corpse.
“Bone Necklace.”
Whoosh.
Having now fully accepted the two of them, he no longer hesitated to use his Crafting skill in front of them.
Honestly, the two had heard Lee Ganghyeok mention Crafting before, so they merely watched with curious eyes rather than reacting with surprise like they were seeing it for the first time.
‘It seems they’re used to this sort of thing. After all, the Shelter must have had Awakeners with Crafting abilities too.’
Observing their reaction, Lee Ganghyeok seemed to have forgotten that he’d mentioned obtaining materials to craft weapons on the 3rd Floor of the Shopping Mall.
He imagined there was an Awakener with similar abilities and continued crafting.
[Beginning Bone Necklace Crafting.]
[Your Dexterity affects the Crafting process.]
[Your Dexterity is too low; some of the material’s inherent power is damaged.]
[The power has been adjusted to match your Dexterity level.]
[Crafting successful!]
[Bone Necklace created.]
[Achievement unlocked!]
[Craft an accessory.]
– You have successfully crafted an accessory for the first time.
[Additional experience and Dexterity gained for achievement.]
– Dexterity +1
[Bone Necklace]
– A necklace made from the Core of a Mutated Zombie.
– Slightly increases natural recovery speed of Mana and Core Power.
– When food is consumed, physical abilities increase until digestion is complete.
(Physical abilities +1 per kilogram of food consumed)
“Huh?”
The moment the Bone Necklace was completed, Lee Ganghyeok’s expression stiffened.
It was because of the notification that his low Dexterity had diminished its power.
Yet despite that, the necklace’s performance was extraordinary.
Just the increased Mana recovery speed alone was incredible, but an option that raised physical abilities the fuller your stomach got?
What would have happened if his Dexterity had been higher?
‘Now that I think about it, I’m a Necro Smith. I shouldn’t just invest in Charisma—I need to pay attention to Dexterity too. But… if I do that, my abilities might become too scattered…’
On the other hand, he needed more Zombies for workers, smoother combat, and his own safety.
But to grow quickly, raising his Dexterity level to craft higher-performance items wasn’t a bad idea either.
“Hmm.”
After thinking briefly, Lee Ganghyeok decided to make a decision after hunting another Mutated Zombie, and handed the crafted Bone Necklace to Seo Hwarin.
“It has options for natural Mana and Core Power recovery. I’ll lend it to you until we finish cleaning the Parking Lot.”
“What? I… yes.”
Wearing a necklace made from the Grolla Bear’s corpse felt unsettling.
But hearing that it had Mana recovery options, Seo Hwarin accepted the necklace without protest.
At the same time, seeing this, Seo Arin giggled as though relieved she’d dodged the same fate.
“After combat, you’ll wear it, Arin. Managing a field requires a lot of Mana, after all.”
“Ugh… understood.”
At his words, she fell into despair.
Regardless.
With his business finished, Lee Ganghyeok led the Zombies down the slope.
Since he’d already gotten a sense of how many Zombies were on the lower floors, there was no need to take the stairs.
“These alone should be sufficient, but I think it would be better if we coordinated and finished them ourselves to get some practice, don’t you?”
“I think that’s a good idea too.”
“Me as well!”
One might think there was no need for such bother, but the two of them rather brightened at the prospect.
Like people who’d wanted to work in tandem but hadn’t yet found the chance.
Being a team, as they conceived it, meant sharing such experiences.
“Excellent. Then…”
Understanding their sentiment, Lee Ganghyeok smiled with satisfaction and outlined the new strategy.
Soon the three moved in perfect synchronization, like people who’d worked together for years, and successfully cleared the remaining Zombies.
* * *
After the Parking Lot was cleaned, Lee Ganghyeok sent the two back up.
It was because Seo Arin was fretting audibly over the field, stomping her feet with worry as the relentless rain continued to pour.
And so…
After sending them up, he first checked whether there were any vehicles with Car Keys left in the ignition in the Parking Lot itself, but unlike those left in the Lobby, the cars parked inside had no keys at all.
“Should I hotwire the key box?”
He’d learned from movies how to hotwire a car by bypassing the key box.
It wouldn’t have been a major problem to use vehicles the same way as the compact car left in the Lobby, but the hesitation he felt every time he had to splice wires was brief.
Lee Ganghyeok unconsciously looked upward.
And he smiled, as if he’d realized something.
“If they parked here, that means the Car Keys are inside their homes, right? Then wouldn’t I find keys if I check each unit?”
The moment that thought occurred to him, Resident Identification Stickers with unit numbers caught his eye.
Not bad.
Having already planned to clear out the Zombies inside the residences anyway, Lee Ganghyeok walked through the Parking Lot with satisfaction, recording the locations and unit numbers of the vehicles.
There were more cars than expected, and recording them took considerable time, but having achieved meaningful progress, Lee Ganghyeok left the Parking Lot with a pleased smile.
‘Oh! Now that I think about it, what happened to that guy?’
While returning via the emergency stairwell, Lee Ganghyeok suddenly remembered the Fighter who’d been leading around a horde of Zombies and accessed the Community to check the forum.
‘Still nothing?’
There were no significant new posts on the forum.
Disappointed, Lee Ganghyeok noticed a comment on his own post and, hoping for news, checked it—and found the information he was looking for there.
┖ We hereby inform you that thanks to your courageous report, the Fighter in question has been safely eliminated by the Jungnang-gu Coalition.
However, the Zombie horde has not been completely eradicated and we plan to commence operations against the remaining individuals once the Coalition has reorganized.
Therefore we ask your continued vigilance, and extend our deepest gratitude once again for your invaluable report.
We pledge to treat you always as a friend and benefactor of this Coalition, and when the opportunity arises, we wish to present you with a token of our appreciation, so please visit the Myeonmok-dong Shelter at your earliest convenience.
We eagerly await your visit.
‘Myeonmok-dong Shelter… It looks like the Shelters in that area have formed a Coalition.’
Could it be because one Shelter had already been destroyed?
It seemed that the nearby Shelters had joined forces, finding it difficult to stand alone.
Whether this would be advantageous or disadvantageous to him remained to be seen, but at least they considered him a benefactor.
Pleased at this news, Lee Ganghyeok headed up to the 23rd Floor to share it with them.
“You’re back? You’re quite late.”
“Ah, I was delayed recording the unit numbers of the vehicles.”
She asked immediately, seeming worried that he’d been gone so long.
When Lee Ganghyeok explained the reason for his delay, she nodded in understanding.
“Unit numbers? Ah! The Resident Identification Stickers. You’ll need those to get the Car Keys, won’t you?”
Seo Hwarin was pleased with this.
She grasped his intent without him having to elaborate.
Whether she had sharp instincts.
Or whether her thoughts ran similar to his.
Whatever the reason, satisfied, he continued with a warm smile.
“The Fighter has been caught. By the local Coalition.”
“Really? That person was caught?”
“Yes. It seems the Shelters in the area have formed a Coalition. They did kill him, but apparently haven’t finished clearing all the Zombies yet, so they’re asking us to be careful for now.”
“Thank goodness, truly…”
The moment she heard the Fighter had been caught, Seo Hwarin’s eyes grew moist and she gazed out the window.
Old comrades seemed to come to mind.
As Seo Hwarin fell silent and bowed her head, Seo Arin, who had just come back from checking on the field, rushed to her side.
“What? Unnie, why? What’s wrong? What happened, Ganghyeok? Why is unnie…?”
Seeing her sister’s tears, Seo Arin looked flustered.
She’d probably never seen her sister cry before.
Yet she seemed certain Lee Ganghyeok wasn’t the cause, for she looked at him in bewilderment and asked what had happened.
Lee Ganghyeok scratched the back of his head awkwardly and explained.
“I only told her that the Fighter was caught…”
“Really?! That damn bastard was actually caught? For real? Is that true?!”
Unlike Seo Hwarin, who’d asked politely, Seo Arin showed no hesitation in expressing her anger.
With reactions like this, who could tell which one had the water attribute and which had the fire attribute?
Had the gods made a mistake and swapped their abilities?
Just as such thoughts crossed Lee Ganghyeok’s mind.
“Unnie!”
Seo Arin embraced her sister and began to cry as well.
She too seemed to remember her old comrades.
“…Then I should head back down.”
Sensing this wasn’t the place for him, he started to leave to give them time alone.
But Seo Arin suddenly stopped him.
“Don’t go! On such a wonderful day, wouldn’t you like to have dinner together?”
Even though she’d been refused before, Seo Arin showed no sign of giving up and asked again.
Dinner.
He couldn’t even remember the last time he’d eaten with someone else.
So he was a bit hesitant.
But with these two, it seemed it would be fine, so Lee Ganghyeok scratched his cheek and nodded.
“Very well. I had something to tell you two anyway.”
“!!”
“Really? We’re really eating together?”
The two, who’d expected another refusal, watched him with wide, surprised eyes, tears still glistening.
Seo Arin, despite having been the one to suggest it, even asked again in disbelief.
She invited him to eat, then acted shocked when he agreed.
Lee Ganghyeok met their astonished gazes and shrugged.
“Yes. Since you two helped me clean the Parking Lot, I’ll treat you to something delicious, even if it’s not fancy.”
“Yes! I’m looking forward to it!”
“…Thank you. For thinking that way.”
They had hunted Zombies back-to-back with him.
When he rephrased it that way, Seo Arin beamed at the mention of being treated to food and nodded eagerly, while Seo Hwarin, understanding the deeper meaning, bowed her head in gratitude.
Indeed…
He was quite fond of the way Seo Hwarin carried herself.
And always cheerful Seo Arin as well.
“Then I’ll go prepare some food.”
Lee Ganghyeok, embarrassed by the sight of these two who were alike yet different, scratched his cheek and hurried back to his own quarters.

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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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