Surviving the Apocalypse as an All-Time Best Overpowered Necromancer - Chapter 32
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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 32
32. Job-Exclusive Quest (2)
‘Would Bulldozer recognize those creatures as allies, or would he see them as competitors trying to steal his prey?’
This was the first thought that crossed Lee Kang-hyeok’s mind.
The relationship between a mutated zombie and ordinary zombies.
What would it be, exactly?
Curious despite himself, Lee Kang-hyeok observed Bulldozer, and the creature seemed utterly indifferent to the incoming zombie horde—it didn’t even glance at them, just kept rolling its feet in place.
‘Does he only recognize the zombies I’ve tamed as enemies?’
Wanting to confirm whether Bulldozer could distinguish between the zombies he’d tamed and wild ones, Lee Kang-hyeok moved some of the zombies from the lower level deeper into the building.
At the same time…….
He relinquished control over the ones he didn’t move.
The moment his control slipped, the zombies that spotted him bared their teeth and scratched frantically against the wall, trying to climb.
That instant…….
Bulldozer, who had been about to charge with his foot-rolling buildup, came to an abrupt halt and turned his gaze toward Lee Kang-hyeok.
Once the control was released, Bulldozer didn’t seem to recognize them as enemies. And even when visible, the aggro seemed to drop.
It was then.
“Kraaaaaaagh!!”
Suddenly Bulldozer let out a piercing roar.
Lee Kang-hyeok was plainly visible, but because he was atop the building, out of reach, Bulldozer seemed frustrated.
In fact, he appeared ready to demolish the entire structure to drag him down, rolling his feet wildly.
Paying it no mind.
Lee Kang-hyeok nodded once, and the moment the zombie horde reached Bulldozer’s side, he quickly activated Corpse Control.
“Corpse Control! Attack that thing!”
The zombie, struck by the skill, rushed at Bulldozer without hesitation, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Since this was a newly tamed zombie without weapons, it could only claw and bite—but still.
Whether from the interruption or from having a new target appear, Bulldozer’s attention shifted to the attacking zombie.
‘It works.’
Good.
With that, Lee Kang-hyeok understood that Bulldozer could indeed distinguish between the zombies he’d tamed and those he hadn’t.
‘Then…….’
The moment he grasped Bulldozer’s pattern, Lee Kang-hyeok adjusted the Accessories that Seo Hwa-rin and Seo A-rin had given him.
“Now there’s only you I can count on.”
It looked like this fight would drag on for a considerable while.
So…….
There was nothing to do but rely as much as possible on the Accessory’s options—boosting the natural recovery rate of Mana and reducing skill Mana consumption.
“Corpse Control!”
Lee Kang-hyeok tamed the zombies he’d briefly released control over again, and just as Bulldozer finished his preparatory motion, he let out another roar and crouched low.
“Kraaaagh!”
Simultaneously…….
Judging that the armed zombies were more dangerous than the one clinging to him, he charged toward them at speed.
Reading his intent, they quickly dodged to the side, and when Bulldozer collided with the outer wall from the dodge, Lee Kang-hyeok tamed the nearby zombies as well and unleashed a barrage of attacks.
Stunned momentarily by the impact, Bulldozer took a beating from the zombies.
If only things could go this smoothly…….
But the problem was that once the zombies Lee Kang-hyeok had tamed began attacking Bulldozer, the wider zombie horde’s aggro was drawn, and chaos erupted.
“Kragh!”
Thud!
Then.
Bulldozer, coming to his senses, let out a roar and hurled his fist at the zombies attacking him.
As expected!
The force was so tremendous that the zombies nearby toppled like dominoes from a single punch.
“Corpse Control!”
The moment his tamed zombies were knocked back, Lee Kang-hyeok released control and tamed another one, commanding it to attack.
“Krag!”
Whoosh!
Crack!
Faced with yet another assault, Bulldozer no longer had time for his foot-rolling warmup—he simply swung his fists, flinging the clinging zombies away.
As a result, the zombies that had just gotten up fell like dominoes all over again.
“Corpse Control!”
This time taming zombies standing on the opposite side to attack Bulldozer, Lee Kang-hyeok noticed more climbing up the wall and casually reached out his hand.
Snap.
Crackling.
Reading his intent, Electric’s skill flew toward them.
‘I think I’m starting to understand something now.’
Maybe because the situation was getting urgent, his mind was working just as fast?
The way to use his Command Range, the manner of issuing orders—he was becoming not just comfortable with these things, but natural at them.
So it seemed the effectiveness was improving as well.
Satisfied, Lee Kang-hyeok left the wall-climbers to Electric and continued using Corpse Control.
‘To use barbarians against barbarians.’
In other words, using Bulldozer to eliminate the incoming zombie horde.
Of course, if he did that, the quest wouldn’t count those kills, so he’d have to defeat zombies himself as well. But the quest was ultimately something he had to survive to complete anyway.
“Corpse Control!”
Each time he used the skill, his body felt drained, but Lee Kang-hyeok pushed through the sensation and continued casting. Suddenly, numerous notifications appeared before his eyes.
[Achievement Unlocked!]
[Tame 100 corpses.]
– You have successfully controlled 100 corpses.
[Your skill will be strengthened as a result of this achievement.]
[Skill ‘Corpse Control’ has been enhanced.]
[You can now control more corpses, and corpses of higher tiers.]
– Basic: 1 corpse → 5 corpses
– Even targets with higher Magical Power than the user can be tamed at low probability (the greater the Magical Power difference, the lower the taming probability).
‼
Startled by the unexpected notification.
Lee Kang-hyeok, who had been using the skill, came to a stop.
His vision grew dark, and tingling spread through his fingertips.
Somehow…….
If he used any more Mana, something bad was going to happen. Which meant his Mana reserves were completely depleted.
Still, thanks to the bracelet that reduced Mana consumption when using skills, he’d been able to cast far more than he’d initially expected. He felt a moment of satisfaction before—
—seeing the still-numerous zombie horde and the very much alive Bulldozer, he let out a sigh.
“Kragh!”
Boom! Boom!
With no enemies around anymore, Bulldozer’s gaze turned back to him.
And once again, the foot-rolling began.
Seeing this, Lee Kang-hyeok’s eyes gleamed, and he transferred the zombies he’d hidden behind the building, exposing them to Bulldozer.
As expected!
The moment another target appeared, Bulldozer stopped his foot-rolling and charged toward them.
‘Now!’
Following this, Lee Kang-hyeok’s intent was conveyed, and the zombies aimed at the charging Bulldozer, simultaneously thrusting their Bone Spears forward.
He was hoping to use Bulldozer’s charging force against him, piercing his body on the spears.
But…….
His plan came to nothing.
The Bone Spears, crafted with poor craftsmanship, shattered completely before they could pierce Bulldozer’s body.
As a result, those holding the spears were sent flying by Bulldozer—
—and crashed to the ground with broken legs, thrashing helplessly.
Though he’d lost all his ground-level zombies, the attempt wasn’t entirely wasted.
The bone spear fragments that scattered when they broke lodged themselves in both of Bulldozer’s eyes, and whether from lost sight or sheer agony, the creature roared and began flailing wildly.
Then…….
When the zombies gathering around the building made noise, Bulldozer judged them as enemies and charged recklessly toward them.
No foot-rolling warmup this time.
Yet his body-slam still sent zombies flying helplessly—the force was tremendous.
‘How I wish I could tame that creature.’
For a moment, Lee Kang-hyeok wondered if the enhanced Corpse Control from the achievement might actually allow him to tame Bulldozer, and he reached out his hand.
“Corpse Control!”
[Using Corpse Control skill on target.]
[Target’s Magical Power exceeds the user’s.]
[Taming probability is lowered.]
[Current probability: 5%]
[Target resists the skill. Skill activation fails.]
5%.
The probability was far too low.
It seemed the Magical Power of mutated zombies was even higher than he’d imagined.
‘Still, 5% isn’t impossible…….’
A 5% probability.
In a game, that’s actually quite a high number.
Having successfully enhanced items with 1% odds before, this wasn’t entirely implausible.
Once his Mana recovered somewhat, he tried the skill on Bulldozer again, but…….
[This is a target you have already failed to tame. You cannot attempt again.]
[Skill activation fails.]
“Ah.”
The moment the notification appeared, Lee Kang-hyeok’s brow furrowed involuntarily.
‘So it was only one attempt per creature.’
If you failed to tame something, that was the end of it.
He was learning this for the first time.
Still, having gained new information, Lee Kang-hyeok didn’t dwell on the failure—he simply waited for his Mana to recover.
Of course…….
That didn’t mean he’d just stand around doing nothing. He kept himself busy kicking back the zombies trying to climb onto the building, buying time.
In the meantime, Bulldozer, now blinded in both eyes, continued attacking the surrounding zombies, and thanks to that, nearly half the gathered horde had been cut down.
His Mana recovered accordingly.
‘Please…….’
With the Mana he had now, he hoped to kill Bulldozer.
With that thought, Lee Kang-hyeok used his recovered Mana to tame a fresh zombie.
Freshly tamed, so the wider horde’s aggro wouldn’t be drawn.
Maximizing this advantage, he ordered it to pick up a fallen Bone Axe, then paused to assess the situation.
‘Time.’
Now that he had a moment to catch his breath, he checked the hourglass in the upper left.
‘Still plenty left.’
Roughly 3/5 remained. Confident he had enough time to clear the quest, he pointed at both of Bulldozer’s eyes.
“Electric, let’s finish this now.”
The moment he spoke, Electric’s hand, which had been attacking zombies, flashed bright.
Crackling!
Immediately after, Electric unleashed a Lightning Bolt toward the bone spear fragments lodged in Bulldozer’s eyes.
He was hoping the electrical current would travel through the bone fragments to the interior.
“Kraaaagh!!”
Thud!
Despite the skill connecting, the creature showed no sign of actual damage—just roared and flailed his fists wildly.
‘Why?’
Seeing this, Lee Kang-hyeok’s expression twisted.
He’d assumed it would work.
The bone fragments stuck in both eyes should have conducted electricity inward, dealing internal damage. No damage at all? Did the creature have electrical resistance? The thought flashed through his mind and he immediately grasped the real problem.
‘No, it’s not the creature. It’s the fragments.’
There was no electrical resistance. The problem was that what was embedded in the creature’s eyes were bone spear fragments.
And that was because…….
Bone, unlike metal, doesn’t conduct electricity well.
That’s why the current couldn’t reach inside, resulting in no damage whatsoever.
Then…….
If he replaced the bone with something else, it would work.
Now understanding the cause, Lee Kang-hyeok commanded the zombies waiting with their Bone Axes to pick up something made of metal instead.
Since this was an auto-shop, there were metal objects scattered everywhere.
Thanks to that, the zombies obeyed his command without hesitation and immediately charged at Bulldozer’s eyes.
Squelch! Squelch!
“Kraaaaaaagh!!”
Blinded, Bulldozer couldn’t respond to their attack and took the hits directly, shrieking from the terrible pain in his eyes.
The attack succeeded, but within moments the wider horde’s aggro was drawn, and the zombies he’d just tamed died helplessly.
But since they could be tamed again once Mana recovered, Lee Kang-hyeok spared them not a glance.
He fixed his gaze on the Iron Cores embedded in Bulldozer’s eyes and shouted with all his strength:
“Electric!!”
“Krag!”
Crackling.
Crackling.
This was the chance to bring down Bulldozer at last!
As if understanding his desperate will, Electric poured every ounce of power remaining in his core into the attack.
And so…….
Electric’s full power reached the Iron Cores lodged in Bulldozer’s eyes, erupting in enormous sparks that burned the creature’s head.
“Kraaaaaaagh!!”
Craaash!
Groan, groan.
Gasp.
Bulldozer, crying out from the sudden agony, abruptly crouched low and, without any foot-rolling warmup, charged blindly straight ahead.
CRASH!
Trembling, trembling.
He’d collided head-on with the concrete pillar of the very building Lee Kang-hyeok was on, and in one final, pain-fueled act of desperation, the concrete pillar shattered completely.
But the falling debris crushed Bulldozer’s body flat, and seeing this, Lee Kang-hyeok immediately tamed a nearby zombie and commanded it to attack.
“Grrrrgh.”
Whoosh.
The zombie, receiving its orders, picked up the fallen Bone Axe and approached the crushed Bulldozer, raising the axe high.
As if channeling all the anger Lee Kang-hyeok had felt since their first encounter, it brought the axe down relentlessly without pause.
Crack!
Crack!
“Grawwwagh!!”
The sound of the axe falling and the aggro’d zombies pressing in on the attacker filled the air, as Lee Kang-hyeok’s pent-up rage poured out through his summon’s weapon.
At last, as Bulldozer’s breath faded, a notification announcing a level-up appeared.
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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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