Surviving the Apocalypse as an All-Time Best Overpowered Necromancer - Chapter 46

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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 46
46. The Laughing Zombie (1)
Two hours later.
After erasing every trace of the mark from the basement and rooftop, Lee Kang-hyuk made his way down the stairs, his unease prompting him to glance out the window.
“There couldn’t be any other places, right?”
The window showed only darkness—the sun had set long ago. Any further search was impossible now.
Lee Kang-hyuk shook his head, convincing himself that his anxiety was mere groundless worry.
‘There shouldn’t be. The rooftop of the tallest building and the basement of the lowest—it’s excessive to have them draw marks anywhere else. Even I wouldn’t do it.’
Since building layouts varied from district to district, they would have established a simple rule to communicate across different areas.
Visible, easy-to-identify locations. So there shouldn’t be marks anywhere else.
Especially considering Electric and Im Jae-beom’s personalities when they were alive—they probably found even drawing marks tedious.
So if they’d left marks in yet another place?
They might have marked only the rooftop and skipped the basement.
For them, the important thing was tormenting and plundering the weak.
Even if it was troublesome, they’d have left a mark on the rooftop—clearly to signal that this place was claimed and to direct others elsewhere.
So the rules governing the marks had to be as simple as possible.
But…
Even as his mind reached this conclusion, Lee Kang-hyuk found himself uneasy. He gazed out at the thick darkness beyond the window and exhaled a thin sigh.
‘…Still, just to be safe, let me check the basement of this building one last time before heading back.’
Just as he was about to check the basement of the tallest building one final time before returning to the hideout.
A sound came from below—metal scraping.
Screeeeeech.
Screech.
‘A zombie?’
An Awakener wouldn’t be doing that in the middle of the night.
‘Did I attract their attention when I came here?’
That seemed to be the case. When Lee Kang-hyuk first arrived at the building, when he climbed the stairs—he hadn’t sensed a single zombie or any human presence whatsoever.
The Jungnang-gu Alliance must have dealt with the zombies inside when they gathered here.
So the zombie down there was one that had followed him here.
‘Perfect timing, actually.’
Having released zombies to throw off nonexistent pursuers, Lee Kang-hyuk was in need of a zombie to tame. With Electric and Im Jae-beom at the lead, he descended the stairs.
Screeeeeech.
Screech.
“Hick, hee-ick…”
At the sound that followed, Lee Kang-hyuk halted on the stairs.
‘What is that?’
Something felt off.
It sounded almost as if the zombie were laughing.
He’d encountered countless zombies since they first appeared, but he’d never heard one make a sound quite like that.
‘A Mutant Zombie?’
No.
He’d read through the Mutant Zombie list multiple times. But nowhere did it mention anything about a zombie that laughed.
Was that why?
Rather than descend further, Lee Kang-hyuk climbed back up the stairs.
Confronting an unknown entity would be no different from suicide.
‘A Laughing Zombie.’
A moment later, once the sound faded, Lee Kang-hyuk logged into the community forum and searched for any reports of a Laughing Zombie sighting.
There was nothing relevant on the community forum either.
‘Is it not a zombie?’
He didn’t know.
Perhaps the rumbling sound had just sounded that way.
Or perhaps it was an undiscovered Mutant Zombie variant.
Or maybe just some lunatic.
Blocked by an unknown entity and unable to descend further, Lee Kang-hyuk exhaled in frustration.
‘What a damned day this has been.’
His head throbbed.
He’d endured so much throughout the day that his body had accumulated fatigue without his fully realizing it.
‘I should probably get some food soon…’
If he ate here, the creature below would catch the scent and come up.
So Lee Kang-hyuk headed for the emergency stairs, shut the emergency door behind him, and decided to eat in peace. But the instant he moved, he heard something like running footsteps from below.
Thump-thump-thump!
“!!”
It was the creature.
The thing that had been scratching metal and laughing had detected Lee Kang-hyuk’s presence.
Whether it had heard the sound.
Whether it was drawn by the light.
He didn’t know the reason, but this was dangerous.
“Block it!”
“Shriek!”
“Grrrrrrgh.”
Startled by the sudden situation, Lee Kang-hyuk barked his order. Im Jae-beom summoned water snakes, and Electric unleashed Spark on the summoned creatures.
Crackle.
Crackle-crackle-crackle.
Before the shock of the unexpected combined assault could even register.
As soon as the spark-charged water snakes flew forward, Lee Kang-hyuk bolted for the door.
He didn’t have enough zombies to face an unknown opponent directly right now.
And if things went wrong, he could lose Electric and Im Jae-beom.
To protect his two companions and buy time against this unknown threat, Lee Kang-hyuk positioned himself in the emergency exit, shut the door connecting to the stairs, then opened the inner door and reached inside.
“Corpse Control!”
As the skill activated, a notification appeared confirming he’d tamed a zombie.
Confirming the presence of zombies, Lee Kang-hyuk rapidly cycled through the skill, attempting to tame every zombie nearby.
Then it happened.
Crash!
“Ugh.”
As the unknown creature slammed into the emergency door, the metal frame shuddered violently.
More forceful than he’d expected.
But there was an advantage—it let him deduce the creature’s nature.
‘That thing is…’
Not human.
Whether a marauder or a madman, a person would have opened the door rather than body-slam an iron door.
Judging by the laughter and the way the metal buckled, it wasn’t an ordinary zombie either.
It had to be a Mutant Zombie—but the problem was…
It might be a new variant unknown to the world yet.
Or perhaps an existing pattern that people simply hadn’t discovered.
Either way, he had no method to defeat it.
For someone like Lee Kang-hyuk, who fought by ruthlessly exploiting an opponent’s weakness, this was both frustrating and irritating.
But that realization passed quickly…
Not knowing what it was, having no strategy against it—Lee Kang-hyuk realized there was no need to fight it at all. He stopped taming zombies and rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
‘True enough…’
There’s no need to fight it.
He could simply keep the iron door sealed and use the emergency stairs on the opposite side to descend.
Of course…
Unlike this side, which the Jungnang-gu Alliance had cleared, the opposite stairs might have more zombies. But that didn’t matter.
Fighting dozens of ordinary zombies was far easier than fighting a Mutant Zombie whose strategy he didn’t know.
And his odds of survival were that much better.
“Good. Let’s go. Attack anything around you!”
The moment Lee Kang-hyuk decided to flee rather than fight, he ordered the newly tamed zombies to attack anything nearby.
He gave the order to prevent potential danger as he made his way through the interior to reach the opposite stairs.
At the same time…
Bang!
Crash!
Whether it heard Lee Kang-hyuk’s voice or not, the unknown creature on the stairs brought the iron door down hard, but it remained intact and unbroken.
Through this, his knowledge of the creature expanded.
‘It’s not a strength type.’
If it were a strength-type Mutant Zombie like a Tank or Bulldozer, the iron door would have shattered long ago.
Given that the door remained whole despite repeated impacts, it appeared to be an ability-type Mutant Zombie.
‘Could it be the spider?’
Suddenly, the spider he’d seen in the Underground Parking Lot came to mind.
With that creature’s intelligence, wouldn’t it be capable of mimicking laughter?
‘Whatever it is, just stay quiet here. If any of these creatures’ allies show up, these four can handle them.’
He’d erased the mark from the rooftop but hadn’t been perfect about it.
It would be unrecognizable from a distance, certainly, but given the nature of those who drew marks on the tallest building, there was an extremely high probability they’d come to re-mark it and discover the erasure.
‘Please.’
Let the creature beyond the door do its part when that happens.
Bang!
Crash!
‘Did it finish them all?’
As the sounds of combat from inside subsided and only the creature’s assault on the door continued, Lee Kang-hyuk opened the emergency door to check within.
Simultaneously, he confirmed that the newly tamed ones stood in formation, motionless. He headed for the opposite emergency exit.
“Waaah!”
Before entering the stairs, he cracked open the emergency door and shouted with all his might.
To check whether there were zombies. But despite his cry, silence answered.
It seemed the Jungnang-gu Alliance had cleared both sides.
‘I like this. They’d be a pain to have as enemies.’
His stamina had been depleted from constant movement since morning, so this was convenient.
For the first time, Lee Kang-hyuk was pleased with an action the Jungnang-gu Alliance had taken. Satisfied, he descended the emergency stairs.
* * *
Meanwhile, at the Menmok-dong shelter, upon receiving Park Mu-jin’s report, Kim Tae-shik murmured with an expression of pleasant surprise.
“…He’s commanding Im Jae-beom as a zombie? Interesting. Seems he’s stronger than I thought. Or he’s already part of an organization.”
He hadn’t asked for an answer, but Park Mu-jin, having heard his murmuring, immediately relayed what he’d felt upon observing Lee Kang-hyuk.
“In my assessment, it’s both.”
“Both?”
“Even when surrounded by us, he showed no fear. Moreover, he occasionally stared into empty space, as if communicating with allies.”
“I see. So he has an organization backing him.”
Kim Tae-shik nodded to the follow-up and exhaled a regretful sigh, but soon his eyes sparkled as he turned to Park Mu-jin.
“Still, we can’t give up. Find his hideout and assess its scale. We’ll decide later whether to negotiate or absorb them.”
“Yes, sir!”
* * *
“Welcome! You must be exhausted!”
Upon arriving at the hideout, Seo Hwa-rin, who’d been waiting on the first floor, greeted him warmly.
Though he’d sent word of his imminent arrival, Lee Kang-hyuk hadn’t expected her to come down. He scratched his head in surprise.
“You weren’t sleeping?”
“I heard you were coming and waited. You must be hungry, right? A-rin is cooking ramen right now, so please eat before you shower.”
His worry was short-lived.
At her words, Lee Kang-hyuk’s eyes lit up.
“Ah! I was really hungry. Thank you so much.”
“Don’t mention it. I’m really sorry I couldn’t be more helpful this time.”
A downcast expression.
Was it because she’d arrived near dawn?
Seeing her face full of apology, Lee Kang-hyuk quickly waved his hand.
“Not helpful? Just knowing the Jungnang-gu Alliance’s location was incredibly helpful!”
Had Seo Hwa-rin not sent that note, he’d have been caught off guard and might have run into them unprepared.
Though he hadn’t prepared perfectly, he’d obtained satisfactory results in the end, so it was certainly helpful. At his words, Seo Hwa-rin’s expression brightened considerably.
“I’m glad to hear that. Did you manage to resolve what you needed to?”
“I handled things for now, but… we’ll have to see how it develops.”
“…I see. I’ll keep watch as well. Ah! We shouldn’t linger here—let’s go up! A-rin will be waiting.”
“Right!”
Though he hadn’t shown it, Seo Hwa-rin read the exhaustion etched across his face. At her suggestion, the two climbed directly to the twenty-third floor.
Moments later, upon entering the apartment where Seo Hwa-rin and Seo A-rin lived, Seo A-rin came hurrying out from the kitchen.
“Oh! You must have had a rough time. It’s almost ready, so please wait a moment!”
“Thank you.”
As he expressed his gratitude for her warm welcome, he felt the warmth alongside the aroma of ramen.
Something…
Only now did it truly feel like he was home.
Lee Kang-hyuk eased into the sofa and smiled—but suddenly, the laughter of that unknown Mutant Zombie echoed in his ears.
“!!”
Startled, Lee Kang-hyuk glanced toward the entrance, thinking the creature had followed him.
But the zombies he’d positioned in the hallway were silent, and confusion furrowed his brow.
Looking around, the two women preparing ramen showed no reaction whatsoever.
Could he have… misheard it?
The doubt lingered only briefly.
Lee Kang-hyuk shook his head in denial.
‘No.’
The laughter had been far too vivid to be a mishearing.
It was far too unsettling to dismiss as an auditory hallucination.
“…”
Unease settling over him, Lee Kang-hyuk rose from his seat and peered out the window.
But with dawn not yet broken, all he saw was his own reflection in the glass.

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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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