Surviving the Apocalypse as an All-Time Best Overpowered Necromancer - Chapter 31

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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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Chapter 31
31. Job-Exclusive Quest (1)
[You have been given a Job-Exclusive Quest.]
– Hunt 100 zombies using your Tamed Beings within 10 hours, and use them to craft 20 Bone Armors.
(This is a Necro Smith-exclusive quest. Zombies killed by any entity other than Tamed Beings are excluded from the count.)
[If you fail the Job-Exclusive Quest, one random physical ability will permanently decrease.]
[We sincerely hope you succeed without failing the Job-Exclusive Quest.]
‘A Job-Exclusive Quest?’
Lee Ganghyeok tilted his head at the belated notification, stroking his chin with a puzzled expression.
A Job-Exclusive Quest. He’d never even heard of such a thing.
Of course…….
It was straightforward enough that he grasped the meaning the moment he saw the notification, but he was confused about why such a quest had suddenly appeared now.
Still, that confusion didn’t last long.
The moment he checked the notification, an hourglass appeared with a soft pop in the upper left corner of his field of vision.
‘A time limit…….’
Lee Ganghyeok understood the meaning instantly and, shelving his questions, began to move.
Hunt 100 zombies within 10 hours.
To be honest, that part wasn’t terribly difficult. But the real problem came next.
Craft 20 Bone Armors.
Using the hunted zombies as materials would be sufficient, but the issue was mana.
At full capacity, his current mana could only produce 10 Bone Armors.
That meant he had to drain all his mana entirely, let it recover, and then drain it again to produce 20 Bone Armors.
His recent level gain had sped things up somewhat, but fully depleted mana wouldn’t recover in 10 hours—not by a long shot.
Was this even a beatable quest? The moment that thought crossed his mind, Lee Ganghyeok realized that hunting 100 zombies would be more than enough to level up again. He exhaled in resignation.
‘A guy who writes novels and plays lots of games forgetting something so basic. Outstanding work. Really outstanding. Have things gotten too comfortable for you lately?’
Having briefly blamed himself for his own stupidity, Lee Ganghyeok hid behind a tree and surveyed the area.
Breaking the quest was good, but his original goal was to gather the materials needed for welding.
So he decided the safest approach was to hunt zombies that clustered in the smallest groups while searching. He concealed himself and examined the path ahead.
Soon, he spotted five zombies emerging from behind a bus and nodded to himself.
Though another group lurked in the vicinity, they were far enough away that he could easily kill these five before the others approached.
If he then established a formation, couldn’t he handle the rest without too much trouble?
‘Just in case, let me check the rear of nearby buses too. At a bus depot like this, they could be hiding in places I wouldn’t think to look.’
Since sudden appearances of unseen enemies could prove dangerous, Lee Ganghyeok surveyed even the blind spots before finally beginning his hunt in earnest.
He started hunting in earnest.
“Grrrragh.”
“Khack-!”
Thud-! Crack.
Snap.
Killing the five nearby zombies was almost trivially easy.
Since they hadn’t detected Lee Ganghyeok, his Tamed Beings drew no aggression from them.
Approaching without taking fire, he quickly surrounded them, and his creatures swiftly raised their weapons and killed all five in a single coordinated strike.
‘Form up! Prepare for the next attack.’
Having dispatched the five with ease, his Tamed Beings responded quickly to the command and established a formation.
Simultaneously…….
‘Bone Armor Crafting!’
[Insufficient materials for crafting.]
Lee Ganghyeok had intended to craft Bone Armor from the corpses he’d just killed and outfit the shield-bearers with it, but the distance was too great and the crafting failed.
‘Not even that far away…….’
At most twenty or thirty meters?
The Command Domain’s effect kept him from retreating to safety, forcing him to remain close. His brow furrowed in annoyance, but then he spotted approaching zombies and quickly issued orders.
‘Electric, attack the ones at the front. When they’re paralyzed and stop moving, switch to the ones behind them.’
As he issued the command through his will, Electric’s hands, which had been motionless until now, glowed yellow.
Crackle.
Snap-snap-!
Electric’s Lightning Bolt surged forward to engulf the approaching zombies, and they collapsed to their knees as if paralyzed.
And then…….
Though low, the barrier of paralyzed zombies caused those behind them to stumble over the fallen bodies.
And waiting for them was something else entirely.
An axe fashioned from someone’s bones.
The shield-bearers pressed down on the fallen zombies’ necks as the creatures behind them brought axes crashing down like woodsmen splitting logs, cleaving the zombies’ skulls in two.
The shield-bearers then shoved the paralyzed zombies aside and pressed down on their upper bodies with their shields once more.
Another cascade of axe blows fell, and the zombies, unable to resist, simply died where they lay.
[Quest Progress]
Zombies Hunted: 13/100
Bone Armors Crafted: 0/20
A good start.
Just one engagement, and already thirteen kills.
‘The time is…….’
Sufficient.
There’s still plenty to spare.
He’d only just begun to think this was manageable when——
Boom-!
“!!”
A massive sound suddenly erupted from the direction of the Transfer Center.
It seemed the noise from Electric’s skill had carried all the way there.
But the problem was: ordinary zombies couldn’t produce a sound that loud.
From the Transfer Center to where he stood was at least a hundred meters.
An entity capable of producing such a massive roar in response to a sound from that distance…….
‘A Mutant Zombie?’
The moment he heard the sound, Lee Ganghyeok grasped the situation and quickly approached his Tamed Beings, using his skill on their corpses.
“Bone Armor Crafting!”
If the Mutant Zombie inside the Transfer Center had heard the noise and was trying to emerge, then his options were limited.
He could either run to the opposite side or stand his ground against it.
Even if he chose to run, the creature might catch him.
So boosting the zombies’ defense as much as possible was the best approach. That way, even if it caught up, they’d have the strength to face it.
He crafted five Bone Armors from the zombies he’d just hunted, quickly armed the shield-bearers with them, and without hesitation bolted toward the opposite direction.
Fortunately, since this was a vehicle inspection area, ordinary zombies were nowhere to be seen.
‘Thank goodness.’
Just as Lee Ganghyeok exhaled in relief, he caught sight of a massive shadow leaping from the Transfer Center’s roof, landing outside the building.
“Damn.”
No doubt about it.
This was definitely the creature that had made that roar.
For it to leap from a roof despite the Transfer Center being no small structure——
‘What in the world is that thing?’
Seeing its shape, Lee Ganghyeok recalled information about Mutant Zombies he’d seen on community forums.
Given that it had made such a thunderous sound, it wasn’t an ability-type.
That meant it had to be one of the strength-types…….
‘Please, anything but Catapult.’
He desperately hoped it wasn’t Catapult, the Mutant Zombie known for hurling objects indiscriminately. He hid behind a building and watched the Transfer Center.
“Graaaaaaagh!!”
Boom-boom-boom-boom!
The creature that had leaped from the roof landed unharmed and charged toward him, leaving tremors in its wake.
A Mutant Zombie screaming as it charged.
‘Bulldozer!’
He’d only seen posts about it on the community forums, never its actual form until now.
But Lee Ganghyeok was certain: it was Bulldozer. His brow furrowed as he issued orders.
“Scatter!”
A creature charging with a massive body like a rhinoceros.
Its force was powerful enough to crush a bus.
Even equipped with Bone Armor and Bone Shields, his Tamed Beings couldn’t effectively block such a charge.
Attempting to block risked having their bodies crushed.
Scattering was far safer than maintaining formation. The moment he issued the order, Lee Ganghyeok clambered up the wall and onto the roof of the building.
Being above was far safer than being below.
‘I wish Electric could climb up here too.’
Ordinary zombies could be re-tamed anytime, but Electric was different.
A special zombie obtainable only by slaying an Awakener.
As he stood there wondering what to do——
Electric’s body flickered and vanished, then suddenly appeared beside him.
Electric had read Lee Ganghyeok’s thoughts and climbed up using Volt Step.
But in doing so, some muscle tissue in Electric’s thigh had been damaged.
“You, you bastard…….”
Not long ago, Electric had damaged muscle tissue using Volt Step, so he’d been avoiding the skill. But Electric deployed it recklessly anyway, and Lee Ganghyeok’s brow creased involuntarily. Still, since Electric had saved himself by doing so, Lee Ganghyeok sighed and shook his head.
That very moment.
Bulldozer, having crept close, slammed its body against the exterior wall of the building where Lee Ganghyeok stood.
Boom!
Shake-shake.
“Damn.”
The force was so tremendous that the building shook violently the instant it made contact, as though an earthquake had struck. At least because this was a vehicle inspection facility with a larger structure, it held.
If he’d been on top of a bus instead——
He’d surely have plummeted straight down.
Though startled, he decided he was safe for now. He pointed at Bulldozer, which was staggering from the collision.
“Electric, Lightning Bolt! Everyone else, hold your position.”
“Ghack!”
Crackle.
Snap-snap-snap.
“Graaaaaaagh!”
Boom! Boom!
Electric’s attack connected. Bulldozer, staggering a moment before, let out a scream and then lifted its head to glare at Lee Ganghyeok.
But realizing it couldn’t attack him from where it stood, it turned toward the scattered zombies and began pawing the ground.
“Get clear!”
Lee Ganghyeok shouted the command. Bulldozer, which had been pawing the ground, charged straight at the zombies. One of them caught the full force of Bulldozer’s body tackle and died, its form crushed.
“Graaaaaaagh!”
Boom! Boom!
Another round of ground-pawing followed.
Realizing this was a preliminary motion before charging, Lee Ganghyeok deployed a skill to check its advance.
“Flesh Melting!”
Sizzle-!
“Graaaaaaagh!”
Boom! Boom!
He’d aimed for its leg muscles to reduce its forward momentum, but as if the mutation had amplified not just its physical abilities but also its resistances, the creature’s muscles remained unscathed.
Boom-!
‘Damn it……. How am I supposed to handle something like that?’
As another charge followed and Lee Ganghyeok lost another zombie, frustration overcame him. But then he recalled how Bulldozer had slammed into the building’s exterior wall and been dazed, and he quickly called his scattered forces back together.
“Grrrgh.”
Stomp! Stomp!
The creatures, understanding his intention, approached the building and lowered their stances, then immediately began taunting Bulldozer.
Boom! Boom!
Whether their provocation worked——
Or it simply wanted to kill them——
Bulldozer looked toward the zombies and began pawing the ground again. Lee Ganghyeok’s eyes gleamed.
He hoped his prediction would play out as expected.
And in that very moment——
‘Damn……. What is this now?’
Suddenly, a horde of zombies poured out from the Transfer Center.
At first glance, there had to be dozens of them.
It seemed nearby creatures had heard the noise caused by Bulldozer and come running.
He was already overwhelmed by Bulldozer alone.
Now he had to contend with dozens of zombies?
“Ha…….”
Beyond anxiety and fear, beyond shock and disbelief, Lee Ganghyeok simply laughed hollowly at the sight of the approaching horde.
But he couldn’t just lie down and die quietly.
Besides, he was on top of the building, so he had some safety for now.
If he kept killing whatever came his way, eventually it would all be over. But the real question was…….
Who would be alive at the end?
Either they’d all be dead, or his mana would run out and he’d die.
One way or the other, it had to be one of the two.
“Sigh.”
As that thought took hold, his mind cleared and a principle he’d formulated came to him.
Survival Law Number Eight: Life is always at its worst.
His entire life had always been at its worst.
There was nowhere further down to go.
So he wouldn’t despair.
He’d consider only the worst scenario and find a way to break through it.
That was Lee Ganghyeok’s way of survival.
With method in mind, he looked back and forth between the ground-pawing Bulldozer and the approaching horde, stroking his chin thoughtfully.

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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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