Surviving the Apocalypse as an All-Time Best Overpowered Necromancer - Chapter 50

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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 50
50. The Laughing Zombie (5)
“Ambush!”
“Aqua Barrier!”
Seo A-rin anticipated the surprise attack and erected a defensive barrier the moment she heard Lee Gang-hyuk’s warning, and nearly simultaneously, the massive creature spat a stream of green liquid.
“Splurt!”
Splat.
What he’d suspected was poison exploded the instant the green liquid struck the barrier.
Boom!
The blast was considerable, but fortunately the barrier held firm.
“Tch. I didn’t think it could fire from range like that.”
“It’s coming again!”
Before they could even register their relief, the creature spat once more.
Fearing the barrier would shatter under the barrage, Seo A-rin conjured water serpents and wound them around the barrier for reinforcement.
Boom-boom!
The thickened barrier remained unshaken by the explosion, standing intact.
Yet Seo A-rin’s face had gone pale—the toll on her Core Power was severe.
She’d been using independent techniques that bypassed the system’s aid, one after another.
He understood.
She’d mimicked Im Jae-beom’s techniques, who was several levels higher, so the Core Power drain would naturally be immense.
At this rate, defending alone would deplete Seo A-rin’s reserves before anything else.
He needed to find a way to take down these creatures before that happened.
‘Every Mutant Zombie has a weakness.’
Just as every creature he’d faced so far had had one, these too must possess some vulnerability.
As Lee Gang-hyuk observed the Mutant Zombies with this conviction, Seo Hwa-rin unleashed her flames and deployed a skill.
“Fire Wall!”
Whoosh.
“Screech.”
“…Kree-eek.”
A wall of flame erupted down the Corridor, and the Mutant Zombies recoiled.
At the same moment…
The larger creature shoved the smaller one behind itself protectively and let out a guttural growl.
‘A zombie protecting another zombie?’
Catching this detail, Lee Gang-hyuk ordered the others to charge while he began studying the pair intently.
“Hah!”
Seo Hwa-rin, having also noticed the Mutant Zombie’s strange behavior, glanced at Lee Gang-hyuk briefly, then grasped his meaning and steered the flames she’d conjured toward the creatures.
Whoosh.
The flames she hurled started roughly the size of a baseball, but as they passed through the Fire Wall, they swelled to the size of a soccer ball and rushed toward their targets.
Just as it seemed the creatures would be struck…
The trajectory of the flames curved mid-flight, targeting the one behind, when the larger creature stepped in and blocked the blow.
Boom!
“Kree-eek…”
The moment the flames burst against the larger creature’s body, the smaller one hiding behind suddenly whimpered like a puppy.
‘Could it be…?’
Lee Gang-hyuk’s brow furrowed involuntarily.
From that action alone, the truth became clear.
The zombies before him were parent and child.
And upon realizing this, he noticed the tear across the larger creature’s abdomen.
‘Could it be… that it became a zombie while pregnant? And when it underwent mutation, the child inside transformed as well…?’
Lee Gang-hyuk stopped his thoughts there. There was no point wasting mental energy on unnecessary details when he’d already reached his conclusion.
Whatever they were in life, a zombie is a zombie.
‘If I let the zombie live, someone else dies.’
Having quieted his mind and reaffirmed his resolve, Lee Gang-hyuk explained the situation to the other two.
“It seems the larger one is the mother of the smaller creature.”
“As I suspected.”
“Ah…”
Seo Hwa-rin, having already guessed, nodded silently, while Seo A-rin could only let out a mournful sound.
But that too was brief.
Both women set their jaws with grim determination, clenching their fists and taking their stance.
They had made their decision: since these two had already become zombies, there was no way to restore them. Better to end them quickly and release their spirits to peace.
“Do you both remember Survival Rule #7?”
Nod, nod.
At his question, both women nodded wordlessly, understanding his intent.
Survival Rule #7—do not pity others. Your own life, which hangs by a thread because of that pity, deserves far more compassion.
That a pregnant being became a zombie was truly tragic.
But for his own survival, there was no alternative. Lee Gang-hyuk, reminding them of this truth with an expressionless face, pointed at the mother zombie.
“Start with the larger one.”
“…Understood.”
“Yes.”
He’d deliberately called it ‘the larger one.’
Even with resolve, hesitation might linger. Calling it ‘the mother zombie’ would have softened their hearts, made them falter.
Just then…
The mother zombie, while warding off the swarm of attacking zombies, scooped the child zombie onto her back.
Unable to protect her child while fending off constant assaults, she’d resorted to carrying it.
“Kee-kee-kee.”
The moment the child zombie laughed while riding on the mother’s back, its Stealth ability activated, and the creature vanished in an instant.
“…”
All three of them fell silent, exhaling quietly.
The child zombie’s Stealth wasn’t meant for ambush—it was to hide on the mother’s back like this.
‘I did that once, too.’
Memories surfaced unbidden: as a child, whenever frightened, he’d hidden behind his parents.
It had felt safe then, so reassuring…
“Tch. Keep attacking!”
Lee Gang-hyuk, seeing the memory had intruded, rejected the useless emotion and barked orders at his tamed zombies.
“Aqua Barrier!”
All the zombies except Electric and Im Jae-beom surged at the mother creature, and Seo A-rin thickened her barrier once more with Aqua Barrier.
The child zombie riding the mother might strike at any moment, so defense was paramount.
“Hah!”
With defense entrusted to her, Seo Hwa-rin summoned dozens of flames to unleash her strongest attack within her limits.
Crackle.
Whoosh.
“Graaaah! Splurt!”
As dozens of flames materialized in the air, the mother zombie suddenly shrieked and spat at Seo Hwa-rin.
Splat!
“Gaaahhh!!”
Creating an opening, the creature took strikes from the zombies but ignored them, fixating on her alone.
It seemed the flames Seo Hwa-rin had conjured had targeted the child zombie.
Clink.
Ssshhhhh—
Though the attack came sudden, fortunately Seo A-rin’s reinforced barrier caught the mother’s spit.
“Fire Wall!”
Whoooosh.
Reassured, Seo Hwa-rin, seeing aggro was now on her, activated Fire Wall and retreated.
“Graaaah!”
Boom!
As the wall of flames erupted again, the mother zombie lunged at Seo Hwa-rin, only to be blocked by shield-bearing zombies, her charge rendered useless.
Seeing the opening created, Lee Gang-hyuk glanced at the Bone Prison still sealing the door, intending to maximize the opportunity.
‘Tactical Craft!’
Tap.
Pat-pat.
As he activated the skill, the Bone Prison flared with brilliant white light and transformed into an Orb.
Yet the mother zombie, still fixed on Seo Hwa-rin, never glanced back and continued spitting.
‘The smaller one…’
Still seemed to be riding on the mother’s back.
Though concealed and invisible, the mother’s movements mirrored those of his own mother carrying him as a child, so he could discern the child was still there.
And…
Despite witnessing the Bone Prison vanish, the child remained still.
‘It has no intention of fleeing, then.’
Either that, or it trusted the mother would win regardless of what they did.
‘Whichever it is, pretend you don’t notice.’
Lee Gang-hyuk silently hoped it would remain hidden as he ordered Im Jae-beom to move the Orbs beneath the mother zombie’s feet.
That instant…
A zombie blocking the mother’s charge at Seo Hwa-rin collapsed.
The impact had been so severe it died outright.
“Tactical Craft!”
Seizing the opportunity, Lee Gang-hyuk immediately applied Tactical Craft to the fallen zombie.
“Kee! Kee-kee.”
As Tactical Craft’s effect released brilliant white light from the zombie’s body, the mother creature recoiled and laughed.
Whiiish—
Dozens of spikes erupted from the zombie, but since she’d already retreated, they never touched her.
Still, Lee Gang-hyuk appeared satisfied.
This attack had been unplanned—a timely opening—so the outcome mattered little.
Ultimately…
The distraction bought Seo Hwa-rin time to ready her skill, and the water serpents gathered the Orbs undetected.
‘Now!’
Just as the mother zombie hadn’t yet noticed the Orbs accumulating beneath her, both Seo Hwa-rin and Seo A-rin cried out and unleashed their skills.
“Burst Burn!”
“Water Ball! Electric!”
“Graaagh!”
Crackle.
The two women, mobilizing even Electric, attacked the Mutant Zombies and sent him a hand signal.
‘Understood. Go.’
Though they were in the midst of their skills, their signals were simple enough that their meaning was unmistakable.
Draw aggro, and he’d strike with the Orbs gathered beneath her feet.
Conserving mana, Lee Gang-hyuk had refrained from using Flesh Melt, his only attack skill, until now. At their signal, he nodded immediately.
He intended to create dozens of spikes.
The situation was urgent, leaving no time to deliberate. His mind held only memories of the spikes that had proven most effective.
But hadn’t she retreated immediately after the light appeared moments ago?
This meant the mother zombie had learned that spikes emerge where the light forms—or perhaps she was simply cautious like him.
‘I wish there hadn’t been light… Is there a better approach?’
As the two women drew aggro, Lee Gang-hyuk pondered briefly to land an effective blow, then a thought struck him and he glanced at Electric.
‘Electric! Lightning Bolt.’
Crackle-crack.
Using Command Range to relay the order, Electric, understanding his will, conjured a Lightning Bolt into the air.
“Graaagh!”
Whoosh.
The Corridor flooded with light, and the mother zombie shrieked, backing away in panic.
Her immediate response to the light confirmed she’d learned well.
‘Perfect. Now…’
With the electrical orb bathing the Corridor in light, the radiance from Tactical Craft would go unnoticed.
If his plan held, the attack would connect…
‘Tactical Craft!’
Lee Gang-hyuk activated the skill with desperate hope, and the Orbs at the mother’s feet flared with white light, yet she stood motionless, her gaze stolen by the electrical sphere.
‘Go!’
Good.
The plan worked.
Countless spikes erupted from beneath the mother zombie’s feet.
“Kee! Kee-kee.”
Discovering the spikes too late to flee, the mother zombie, sensing her doom, laughed instead.
For a moment, he thought she’d given up.
Crack-crack.
Splurt.
Thud.
Her muscles hardened like stone, shattering every spike that rose to meet her.
Realizing the child zombie’s ability was Stealth just as the mother’s was body enhancement, Lee Gang-hyuk redeployed the skill, transforming the spikes into a wall to trap her.
Spikes wouldn’t work, so he’d cage her instead and finish it with Seo Hwa-rin’s power.
Crackle-crack.
“Burst Burn!”
As the rising spikes transformed into walls, Seo Hwa-rin, understanding the shift without being told, unleashed her skill.
“Electric! Im Jae-beom! All of you, attack! Flesh Melt!”
“Graaagh!”
“Graaaah!”
Flames materialized in the air. Lee Gang-hyuk roared orders to all his tamed zombies and, unleashing his reserved Flesh Melt, targeted the mother’s back—where the child rode.
If he struck the child clinging to the mother’s back, her focus would split and leave her vulnerable.
Using maternal affection as a weapon felt wrong, but survival left no room for choice.
His gambit paid off. The mother zombie, trying to break through the wall surrounding her, instead curled protectively.
Boom!
Boom-boom!
All attacks connected, yet the mother still lived and moved.
“Tch.”
Her enhanced body’s durability seemed to exceed their combined firepower.
Following the strike on her child, the mother zombie, curled in defense, shrieked and began thrashing her fists wildly.
Bang! Boom!
Her fury amplified her strength. The wall would shatter if this continued, the situation spiraling beyond control—but before panic took hold, Lee Gang-hyuk and Seo Hwa-rin’s eyes met. A gaze seeking permission of some kind.
Understanding immediately that Seo Hwa-rin was asking to use Ignite, Lee Gang-hyuk reluctantly nodded.

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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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