Surviving the Apocalypse as an All-Time Best Overpowered Necromancer - Chapter 28

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

Chapter 28
28. A Stealth-Type Awakener (1)
‘What? Could they have sensed me?’
The Man showed surprise as he watched the three people flee into the mountains, immediately scanning his surroundings the moment he gave chase.
‘It’s possible one of those women can detect Stealth. Troublesome, but I’ll need to be careful.’
As far as the Man knew, Necromancers lacked the ability to sense Stealth. So it was possible that one of those women possessed such a skill.
Thud.
“Hah.”
Having decided not to chase immediately and instead follow the traces they’d left behind, the Man deactivated his Stealth and took a brief rest to recover his depleted Mana.
When he’d only gathered food while evading the zombies’ eyes, Mana consumption had been modest. But maintaining Stealth while pursuing the three people had burned through nearly half his reserves before he realized it.
Mana must always be full.
Because he never knew when he might suddenly encounter the one who’d killed his beloved——
And if by some miracle of fortune, while following their traces, he happened upon that cursed bastard who’d vanished without warning in this area—that Necromancer-hunter conducting his raid—he wanted to be ready to kill him on the spot.
Praying he’d find the man today, he rested and then moved swiftly along the Mountain Trail, unwilling to let the traces grow cold.
Soon the scattered corpses of zombies came into view along the path.
They must have hunted them during their escape.
‘That saves me trouble.’
Grateful he no longer needed to verify traces, the Man nodded with satisfaction and continued forward.
Splash, splash.
For some reason, there were many puddles along the Mountain Trail.
‘Before it’s too late…’
The Man dismissed it as simply the remnants of rain from a few days past and, without suspicion, stepped into one of the puddles while pursuing the three——
“Ugh!”
Crack!
Crackle-crack!
Electric, hidden nearby, unleashed a skill toward the puddle the Man had stepped into.
“What——!”
Though he hadn’t expected the ambush, the Man tried to react and flee backward, but——
His ankle felt as though seized. Looking down, the puddle writhed as if alive.
Which meant——
“Water-type……”
The moment he realized it wasn’t from rain a few days ago, but created by a Water-type Awakener, Electric’s skill struck the puddle.
“AAAHHHHHHH!!”
Thud.
As the Man’s entire body became paralyzed by the electric shock and he fell to his knees, the zombies who’d been disguised as corpses suddenly rose in unison, surrounded him, and aimed their weapons at his throat.
A trap had been set.
He should have pursued cautiously and slowly, examining his surroundings carefully.
Even as that thought crossed his mind, the Man looked toward whoever had used the Electric-type Skill, hoping against hope.
Though obscured by trees, he couldn’t see clearly, but that silhouette, and the skill that had been used——
It was unmistakable.
It was him.
Could the reason he’d disappeared without a trace for so long have been to set a trap to capture the Man with an accomplice?
“Tch…… So he was working with someone else.”
Unaware of this, the Man—having fallen into the trap while pursuing—furrowed his brow in bitter frustration, and Lee Gang-hyuk voiced a question.
“That person?”
What? Does this person know Electric?
Despite having his entire body paralyzed, he spoke of Electric in such a manner that it became clear he had some connection to him.
“You know that person?”
When Lee Gang-hyuk pointed to Electric, the Man answered with a growl.
“Know him? That damn bastard only targets Necromancers.”
“So you’ve been chasing him all this while?”
“Yeah.”
As expected……
The Man seemed to know Electric’s past, exactly as Gang-hyuk had assumed.
And in a very bad way at that.
“Sigh.”
Once his thoughts cleared, a sigh escaped him involuntarily.
And at the same time……
Though the paralysis was beginning to wear off, the Man continued speaking to buy time, making sure not to give himself away to those present.
“I never understood why, but was it all you pulling the strings behind the scenes, ordering him around?”
“Me?”
At the accusation, Lee Gang-hyuk expressed bewilderment.
Him orchestrating and commanding the man to kill Necromancers? Absurd.
Though he understood the misunderstanding, it was one he couldn’t accept, so he countered immediately.
“I think you’ve misunderstood something, but that man is already dead. A few days ago, when he tried to kill me, I killed him instead. And I simply revived his corpse as a zombie.”
“What?”
At the revelation, the Man was taken aback.
“That’s a lie——”
The Man was about to call him a liar when the paralysis finally released him. But instead of counterattacking, he turned to look at Electric.
Upon seeing the zombified Electric snarling before him, the Man’s face went hollow. He exhaled a long sigh and shook his head slowly.
“It was already…… already over.”
The fierce glint in the Man’s eyes, full of rage and resentment, gave way to emptiness.
‘Someone close to him fell to that bastard? Well, at least things worked out in my favor.’
Seeing the Man’s expression, Lee Gang-hyuk felt relieved that the situation had resolved before spiraling further, and continued.
“I don’t know what happened, but anything he did while alive has nothing to do with me. I was attacked by him too, and I simply killed him.”
“How am I supposed to believe that? Maybe you ordered him to kill those Necromancers, then killed him afterward to destroy the evidence.”
The moment Lee Gang-hyuk finished speaking, anger suddenly flared in the Man’s hollow eyes once more.
Had he lost his target for revenge? Or did he simply refuse to believe the claim about Electric’s innocence?
Already on edge from being pursued, misunderstood, and having tried to explain himself, Gang-hyuk was irritated at being growled at again.
Exasperated, Lee Gang-hyuk shook his head with disbelief, as if to knock some sense into him.
“If he were obedient enough to kill others on my orders, why would I bother killing him? What’s the logic there?”
“Maybe he died for some other reason, and you just resurrected him as a zombie——”
As the Man offered specious arguments, Lee Gang-hyuk cut him off mid-sentence and pressed the point further.
“Let’s say everything you’re saying is true. So why would I bother keeping you alive right now? It’d be convenient for both of us if I just killed you.”
“That’s……”
The Man’s words caught in his throat.
Honestly, it was a fair point.
If Gang-hyuk had really been in league with the Electric-type Awakener, he would have simply killed him on the spot rather than keeping him alive this way.
Of course……
It was possible he was fabricating and covering up his past to live with the two women.
For now, it seemed better to feign trust and watch from close by. And if he found evidence of collusion——?
‘I kill him immediately. So I can’t die until I find evidence of his involvement.’
With that thought, the Man apologized to Lee Gang-hyuk.
“Sorry for the misunderstanding. Seeing that bastard’s face made me lose my cool for a moment.”
Suddenly, at the Man’s changed demeanor, Lee Gang-hyuk found himself at a loss for words.
But only for a moment.
“Regardless, now that the misunderstanding’s cleared up, I’d appreciate it if you’d stop following us and head somewhere else.”
“I apologize for the misunderstanding, but I’m in rough shape because of you. I was hoping to convalesce here for a while—would that be possible?”
“……Absolutely not.”
At the Man’s words, Lee Gang-hyuk made a puzzled face, and the Man suddenly gestured toward the women.
“I’d like to hear the ladies’ thoughts as well. I’m sorry for the misunderstanding, but my wounds run deep, and I can’t go on like this.”
If the Man was trying to curry favor with the women to leave his past behind, he’d have no choice but to listen to what they said.
Hoping to appeal to their maternal instinct, the Man spoke as pitifully as possible, but the women didn’t hesitate for even a moment before shaking their heads.
“I’m sorry.”
“That does seem… difficult, I’m afraid.”
Be wary of strangers, and don’t give your sympathy easily.
It was written in the Survival Rule Lee Gang-hyuk had given them.
Moreover, this person had chased them with clear intent, misunderstanding or not. They judged him dangerous, and it took only a moment for them to refuse based on that assessment.
“Lee Gang-hyuk, just a moment…”
Seo Hwa-rin suddenly furrowed her brow, called his name, and whispered softly.
“I think we should bring that person with us.”
“To the Base? No. We can’t do that.”
At the suggestion to bring the Man along, Lee Gang-hyuk recalled how he’d recently worried about what to say if the two of them asked to accept former Shelter companions as team members.
On the other hand, knowing things would come to this, he decided it was time to be clear about it, so he flatly rejected her opinion. Seo Hwa-rin spoke again.
“If we leave him as is and he happens to join the Union, the Base’s location could be exposed. And since he’ll harbor resentment for being wounded and abandoned, it’s better to either bring him and lock him up, or kill him outright—like we did with Electric. We can use him just the same.”
“……”
At her words, Lee Gang-hyuk was momentarily shocked, then realized it was because of Seo A-rin, and nodded in understanding.
Certainly……
He couldn’t simply leave a Stealth-type Awaker like this Man behind. There was no way to predict how that decision would come back to haunt them……
Either bring him to the Base,
or kill him and use him like Electric.
One of the two—there was no other way to avoid complications.
But if the Man died, he’d become Chaotic in nature, just like the Electric-type Awakener.
Without knowing what disadvantages came with a Chaotic disposition, or whether it could be reduced, killing the Man felt too risky at the moment.
Having decided it was better to bring him to the Base and lock him away, Lee Gang-hyuk sighed and asked her a question.
“Since when did you know that Electric had become an Awakener corpse?”
Earlier, when he’d told the Man he’d killed the Electric-type Awakener and made him into a zombie.
The two women must have heard it for the first time, yet they’d shown no surprise whatsoever.
As if they’d known all along.
So he asked, and Seo Hwa-rin, feeling a bit embarrassed, flushed and spoke.
“When we met Gurolle Bare? Someone who tames Mutant Zombies wouldn’t look like they were seeing one for the first time, but he did. That’s how I knew. And I figured you had your reasons, so I didn’t ask.”
“……I see.”
Certainly……
I did see the Mutant Zombie for the first time back then.
Is that why?
Those emotions must have unconsciously manifested in my actions. And she’d noticed the lie from my behavior.
On the other hand, it was surprising that she’d noticed but hadn’t said anything.
‘If I didn’t know about the Union, I could understand it. But knowing about it and still saying nothing—does that mean she trusts me that much? Or did she just stay quiet to avoid complications?’
Was it the survival instinct of the two of them, or were they actually becoming One Team?
If he were the old him, he’d have thought negatively.
But for some reason, the thought of becoming One Team came first, positive and reassuring. Caught off guard by this shift, Lee Gang-hyuk pointed to the Man.
“Well…… let’s bring him along for now. If we kill him carelessly and his nature turns Chaotic, who knows what might happen.”
“Yes. But if, because of his Chaotic nature, we can’t kill him when we need to…… then I’ll kill him instead. I’m prepared to do that much. If it means protecting both of them.”
Determined eyes.
It was a resolve to protect the Base, but——
Looking at those eyes, the desire to protect Seo A-rin seemed to be shifting in a rather dangerous direction.
It didn’t seem like he’d crossed a line yet, but the moment he killed the Man, he felt he’d cross a river from which there was no return. Startled, Lee Gang-hyuk scratched his cheek awkwardly.
“…… We’ll have to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

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