Surviving the Apocalypse as an All-Time Best Overpowered Necromancer - Chapter 56

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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 56
56. Let’s Build Up Food Stores (4)
“It seems like it ate that person and mutated.”
“Ah…….”
When they entered the third floor where the laundry shop was, they discovered a corpse lying half-devoured and dead.
It seemed the bulldozer they’d killed moments ago had consumed this person before mutating.
It was unfortunate, but given how the times were, there was nothing to be done—or so Lee Gang-hyuk thought, until——
“……Seo, Seo Do-gyeong?”
Was it someone they knew?
The moment Seo Hwa-rin saw the corpse’s face, she muttered in disbelief.
“Do, Do-gyeong? No, that’s a lie.”
At her words, Seo A-rin also started in alarm and denied what she’d said, checking the face.
Soon both women shook their heads, eyes glistening with tears as if confirming the identity.
“Why…….”
Watching the two of them consumed by sorrow, Lee Gang-hyuk offered silent comfort for a moment. Once they seemed to have collected themselves, he looked at the one named Seo Do-gyeong and asked.
“Was he a colleague?”
“Yes. A friend we used to live with in our old Shelter. We got word that he’d found a place to stay near Yangju City Hall……. I don’t understand why he’s here.”
“So you were in contact with former colleagues.”
As Lee Gang-hyuk spoke, realizing something he hadn’t known, he expressed bewilderment. Seo Hwa-rin replied with visible reluctance.
“Yes. On the day you rescued us, I sent notes to people we’d been close to, to share news. But only this friend actually got back in touch.”
“I see.”
“Still, I didn’t tell him our location. I thought you’d dislike it. And besides, when Do-gyeong said he’d found a Shelter, there was no need to tell him…….”
She trailed off, looking at the dead Seo Do-gyeong, and it didn’t seem like she was lying.
Even so, he couldn’t help but feel regret.
If they hadn’t discovered Seo Do-gyeong’s corpse, they would never have learned about the existence of a Shelter near Yangju City Hall.
“I wish you’d told me sooner. Next time, please inform me in advance. We might have ended up in conflict with them if we’d gone north to gather food without knowing.”
“Understood.”
Winter was coming soon. Food security had become critically important, and survivors might clash over the limited rations available.
What would happen if they trespassed into another group’s territory without knowing their location?
They might fall into traps laid by those people and lose their lives, just as he’d killed the bulldozer without much difficulty.
That’s why he’d spoken now, even knowing the two of them were consumed by grief.
After all, he was the leader of this team, and maintaining coldness regarding matters of team survival was simply his responsibility.
Fortunately, the two women seemed to understand his point and nodded in silence.
“We’ll collect the body separately and give him a proper funeral.”
“……Thank you.”
Judging from the fact that he’d made it down here alone, Seo Do-gyeong must have undergone an Awakening.
But turning an acquaintance into a Zombie to command or into an accessory seemed like it would have a negative effect on these two, so he decided to give him a funeral instead.
As the two women bowed their heads in gratitude, Lee Gang-hyuk continued speaking.
“Well, looking at the current situation, I can narrow it down to three possibilities. Either he came looking for the two of you and was driven down here, or he was conducting a desperate search for food and ended up being chased here, or the Shelter he was staying in was compromised. What do you think?”
“That…….”
“…….”
At the suggestion that he might have come looking for them, both women looked at Seo Do-gyeong.
At the same time, Seo A-rin shook her head.
“I don’t think he came looking for us. We didn’t tell him our location.”
“Hmm. I see. Then it’s one of the remaining two……. By any chance, did he ever mention the scale of the Shelter he was staying at?”
“He didn’t go into detail, but he said it was smaller than our old Shelter. Since there were about fifty of us before, I’d say his was smaller than that.”
Fifty or fewer.
A group that size would have no reason to conduct a desperate search for food.
Especially since Uijeongbu is near Yangju City Hall, there would be no reason to cross the entire city and come all the way here.
Even if he was being chased by Zombies, the same would apply.
Which meant…….
“The Shelter might have collapsed. The reason he didn’t contact you two could be because he didn’t want to worry you, or perhaps he had no chance to reach out…….”
“…….”
As Lee Gang-hyuk finished his speculation, both women’s gaze turned back to Seo Do-gyeong.
They stood there unable to speak, heads lowered.
‘They must have been very close.’
Certainly…….
The way Seo A-rin referred to him without hesitation suggested they had a deep connection.
It would be best to give them time to mourn.
“You two stay here. I’ll go to the laundry shop and bring back a Sewing Machine.”
“Thank you for your consideration.”
“……Thank you.”
As Lee Gang-hyuk spoke softly, both Seo Hwa-rin and Seo A-rin thanked him again.
Stepping into the laundry shop, he pretended to gather the Sewing Machine while gazing out the window at the sky, exhaling a quiet sigh.
‘This isn’t easy.’
* * *
Seo Do-gyeong’s funeral was held at the decoy hideout.
It was the two women’s choice.
Though they had a personal connection, they apparently didn’t want the hideout’s location to be exposed because of it.
And so…….
Once the three of them arrived at the decoy hideout, they cremated Seo Do-gyeong, then went up to the roof and scattered his ashes to the wind.
Lee Gang-hyuk didn’t participate in that part—instead, he surveyed the decoy hideout, checking for any signs of intrusion and whether the installed lighting remained intact.
A short while later…….
When the two women who had just said farewell to Seo Do-gyeong approached him, Lee Gang-hyuk nodded silently and exited the loading area.
Without needing to say it aloud, they understood well enough—it was time to return before it got late.
The two women seemed to understand his consideration and, thanking him, followed behind.
“…….”
During the return to the hideout, silence persisted. But once they arrived, Seo A-rin hurried inside, retrieved the Sewing Machine from the security room, and wore a confident expression.
“I’ll have it finished by tomorrow morning! I’m going up first.”
The moment she said this, Seo A-rin rushed up the stairs as if in a hurry.
“……I’m not sure if she’ll be alright.”
Seeming to suppress her grief, or perhaps feeling guilty for having caused them this burden, Seo A-rin was keeping busy. Lee Gang-hyuk spoke with concern, and Seo Hwa-rin’s expression turned wry.
“She’ll be fine. We’ve both gone through things like this before. Of course, we’re not used to it yet, but we won’t just sit in sorrow without doing what needs to be done.”
“It’s not an emotion anyone should become accustomed to, honestly.”
“……No, it’s not.”
No one ever becomes accustomed to death and sorrow.
They simply learn to endure it and live on.
Having experienced sorrow multiple times since the catastrophe, Lee Gang-hyuk organized his feelings by letting out a breath, then smiled with effort and pointed upward.
“Then let’s head up as well. We’ll need Electric to use the Sewing Machine.”
“Oh! She must be quite flustered.”
At his words, Seo Hwa-rin immediately understood why he’d been concerned, nodded with a rueful expression.
“Um……. Come here.”
“Screech.”
Soon the two reached the twenty-third floor, and Seo A-rin dragged Electric along, her face flushed with embarrassment.
Having spoken so confidently, she was ashamed to have forgotten Electric—the most crucial part of the work.
Still, thanks to this mishap, the sorrow seemed to have lifted somewhat. Lee Gang-hyuk and Seo Hwa-rin exchanged a glance, shrugged, and followed Seo A-rin into the room.
The three then worked on crafting bags to carry the food stores they’d gathered at the Driver’s License Test Center, each overcoming their grief in their own way.
* * *
“Then let’s depart.”
“Yes!”
The next day.
As dawn broke, the three of them, having finished their preparations, loaded the bags they’d made overnight onto Zombies and headed toward the place where they’d arranged to meet Park Mu-jin.
Of course, before that, they stopped by the building where the bulldozer was dead and crafted a Bone Ring.
They’d left it unused due to a shortage of Mana, but it would be wasteful to let it rot as is…….
The Bone Ring they obtained this way had better performance than the Bracelet they’d made before.
[Bone Ring]
– A ring crafted from the Core of a mutated Zombie.
– The wearer’s Stamina and Strength are enhanced (+3).
– When Stamina drops to 50% or below, the ring stimulates the wearer’s nerves, raising Strength by 6 points for 20 seconds.
(Cooldown: 10 hours)
A truly subtle difference.
But having confirmed that his performance had improved along with his Craftsmanship stat, Lee Gang-hyuk resolved to invest further in it and turned to the two women.
“This time, we’ll go to the meeting place via Surak Mountain. Think of it as moving in the reverse direction from last time.”
After fighting the bulldozer and holding Seo Do-gyeong’s funeral, they’d worked on the bags until late into the early morning.
Even unspoken, they must be quite exhausted.
Lee Gang-hyuk decided to use mountain paths to avoid encountering Zombies as much as possible. Though this meant taking a much longer route.
It was an unavoidable choice for safety.
“We’ve been this way before, so it feels familiar.”
“No Zombies, and we should use this route often!”
Though the mountain path was rough and harder than walking on flat ground, the two women seemed pleased about it anyway, walking with vigor and satisfaction.
‘There’s no need for them to try so hard like that…….’
Realizing they were doing so because of yesterday’s events, Lee Gang-hyuk exhaled quietly and followed after them.
“Already……. There’s no need to rush this much…….”
By the time he’d finished following the two women, they’d already arrived at Sanggyesan Station.
Having arrived at Sanggyesan Station an hour earlier than he’d anticipated, Lee Gang-hyuk felt awkward and scratched his cheek, while Seo Hwa-rin smiled and shrugged.
“Arriving early gives us more of an advantage.”
If they reached the meeting place before Park Mu-jin, they could survey the surroundings to check for traps.
Of course, it was unlikely that Park Mu-jin would have laid traps, but since blind trust wasn’t wise, it was good to verify.
‘Did I really need to arrange a meeting?’
It would have been simpler to just visit the Driver’s License Test Center without their knowledge.
But thinking about the future, building a relationship with them would be far more advantageous.
Provided they didn’t change, that is.
‘Still, they didn’t seem petty enough to lay traps and stab us in the back.’
He still didn’t fully trust the Jungnang-gu Alliance, but they didn’t seem like the sort of contemptible people the Chungmuro Alliance were.
Lee Gang-hyuk nodded and pointed to the River that extended all the way to Junggye Station.
“Then from here on, we’ll move along the River.”
Between Sanggyesan Station and Junggye Station lay many apartment complexes.
Cutting across the road to reach Junggye Station risked drawing the attention of Zombies nested in those buildings—too dangerous.
They could also detour around via Nowon Station, taking a mountain path like before, which wouldn’t be a bad option.
But as Seo Hwa-rin had suggested, it seemed best to scout ahead by arriving early, so he decided to move along the River.
And so…….
As they walked along the River toward Junggye Station.
Boom——!
Suddenly, a deafening explosion split the air.
“!!”
“Wh, what…….”
They were startled, but immediately the ground beneath them trembled.
As the three looked up, they could see a massive pillar of fire rising in the distance near Junggye Station.

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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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