Surviving the Apocalypse as an All-Time Best Overpowered Necromancer - Chapter 70

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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 70
70. The Zombie Horde from the West (6)
The next morning.
Perhaps it was the weight of all those worries.
Lee Gang-hyuk woke early and gazed out the window with a heavy sigh.
“I don’t know.”
Whether it was right to release the man.
Or if it was better to just leave him locked up.
He’d spent all night wrestling with it alone, but no clear answer had come.
If anything, the more he thought about it, the worse his headache became.
Then his gaze drifted toward the direction of Yangju City Hall.
Though too far to see clearly, the mere thought that Zombie Hordes roamed somewhere in that direction made his brow furrow.
“All right. Let me go up.”
Worrying alone wouldn’t solve anything.
As he’d told the man, he climbed to the twenty-third floor to consult with the two women.
“You’re here!”
“You came up earlier than usual today?”
Fortunately, both women seemed brighter than they had the day before.
It appeared they’d had a long conversation during the night.
Reassured, Lee Gang-hyuk greeted them and immediately broached the subject.
“The person upstairs made a proposal yesterday. He said if we release him, he’ll investigate the movements of the Zombie Horde at Yangju City Hall and lure them to a different area.”
“The Zombie Horde?”
“That man? He really said that?”
Seo Hwa-rin’s response to the sudden news was one of doubt, while Seo A-rin looked visibly startled.
“Yes. So I wanted to consult with both of you about it…”
“I think it’s fine, as long as we have a means to control him.”
“I’m against it.”
Before Lee Gang-hyuk could finish, Seo Hwa-rin gave conditional approval while Seo A-rin flatly opposed it.
“What are your reasons?”
As their opinions diverged, Lee Gang-hyuk stopped and asked for their reasoning.
The two women exchanged glances, and then Seo A-rin raised her hand to speak first.
“It’s true that I’m close to him, but I can’t be sure he’ll properly investigate the Zombie Horde and successfully lure them elsewhere.”
“Are you saying he might attack us instead of the Zombie Horde?”
At his question, Seo A-rin shook her head.
“No, that’s not what I mean. I can be confident he won’t attack us, but I can’t be confident about his ability to lure the Zombie Horde away.”
He won’t attack us.
As that phrase reached his ears, Lee Gang-hyuk recalled what the man had said the day before, and he pressed further.
“What’s your basis for that?”
“His condition has improved somewhat now, but just a few days ago, he was trying to take his own life. I apologize for keeping that to myself without telling you. But… rather than investigating and luring the Zombie Horde, if he were to… anyway, that’s why I’m opposed.”
He was trying to take his own life?
Hearing this for the first time, Lee Gang-hyuk was deeply shaken.
At the same time…
His question about why the man had been so protective of Seo A-rin was instantly resolved.
So that was the reason behind it.
Now that clarity had settled into his mind, Lee Gang-hyuk turned his attention to Seo Hwa-rin.
“I see. Then what about you?”
“With his Concealment Ability, he’d be excellent at investigating and luring the Zombie Horde. But as I said, only if we can control him.”
Her thinking aligned surprisingly with Lee Gang-hyuk’s own.
The Concealment Ability was perfect for investigating and luring the Zombie Horde—but the inability to control him troubled him deeply.
“Then, if we were to send this man, how should we go about controlling him?”
“That’s… something I need to think more carefully about.”
To his follow-up question, Seo Hwa-rin glanced at Seo A-rin once before shaking her head.
The moment he saw that look, he understood immediately.
Seo Hwa-rin was thinking, somewhat tacitly, that they could use Seo A-rin as a means to control the man.
But given what had happened the day before and knowing how much pain this would cause her, Seo Hwa-rin had chosen not to voice it and to find another way instead.
“I notice it every time, but we really do think alike.”
“Do we? Then let’s think about this together.”
The moment Lee Gang-hyuk expressed his surprise at reading Seo Hwa-rin’s thoughts, she shook her head and spoke again.
It was a silent pressure not to use Seo A-rin as a control mechanism.
Just then…
As the two were observing each other’s expressions, Seo A-rin seemed to realize something and looked upward.
“I’m sorry to interrupt, but could I go visit him for a moment?”
“What? Yes, well…”
At her sudden request, Lee Gang-hyuk nodded, and Seo A-rin quickly rose to her feet.
“Thank you! I’ll be back down shortly!”
As Seo A-rin hurried toward the thirtieth floor, both Lee Gang-hyuk and Seo Hwa-rin exhaled deeply.
“We tell her to rest, and then suddenly she’s having a conversation like that…”
“She said she had some information about a Necromancer to discuss, so it was just a quick conversation…”
At her somewhat reproachful tone, quite different from the day before, Lee Gang-hyuk scratched his cheek awkwardly.
“Setting that aside—do you think she’ll be all right?”
As Lee Gang-hyuk pointed upward, Seo Hwa-rin smiled bitterly and spoke.
“She’ll be fine. It looks like she went up to confirm what his reasoning was for making such a decision.”
“Hmm.”
Hearing her explanation, it began to make sense.
Since her own thinking aligned with Lee Gang-hyuk’s and Seo Hwa-rin’s, she probably couldn’t bring herself to oppose outright, could she?
“Then we should wait for her to come back down.”
Though he was curious what kind of conversation they’d have, Lee Gang-hyuk thought it best to leave them be for now and shrugged, at which Seo Hwa-rin broke into a wide smile.
“Since we’re at it anyway, shall we prepare breakfast together?”
“Sure. We’ll need to eat well if we’re visiting Banghak Station later today.”
He hadn’t heard from Park Mu-jin yet about whether the extermination at Banghak Station was complete, but since it seemed likely the message would come today, Lee Gang-hyuk accepted her suggestion.
About ten minutes passed, and as they were preparing breakfast, Seo A-rin came back down.
“So if we have a reliable means of control, we send him, right?”
“Huh?”
“What?”
At her sudden question, Lee Gang-hyuk and Seo Hwa-rin exchanged glances without meaning to, and once Lee Gang-hyuk confirmed that she still shared his thinking, he nodded.
“Yes. Probably… I suppose…”
Even as he gave his answer, Lee Gang-hyuk realized that at some point his own thinking had shifted toward releasing the man, and he let out a small groan.
At the same time…
Upon hearing his response, Seo A-rin spoke with a certainty that was different from before.
“Then I’ll agree to it.”
At that, the gazes of both Lee Gang-hyuk and Seo Hwa-rin met once again.
‘What on earth happened up there?’
Their question was identical—the moment their eyes met, both their gazes turned upward.
Then it happened.
A notification appeared in Lee Gang-hyuk’s vision.
A message had come from Park Mu-jin.
[It took longer than expected to clear it, but Banghak Station has been secured without incident. We’ll be working to clear the other stations soon, so I look forward to our next meeting. Oh! The survivors are all safe.]
Was it because of the survivors?
Or because of what happened at Bulamsan?
The message seemed softer in tone compared to before.
‘I suppose he’s become confident that I’m on his side now.’
After reaching that conclusion, Lee Gang-hyuk relayed the situation to the women.
“Banghak Station has been cleared. So before we head there, let’s figure out how we’re going to control him.”
All three of them were in agreement.
So before the Zombie Horde moved down toward them, they had to decide how they would control the man.
That’s why he’d brought it up…
The moment the words left his mouth, Seo A-rin produced something.
“I brought it down.”
“What?”
“Huh?”
In her hand was a small pendant.
This was the means to control him?
The moment Lee Gang-hyuk and Seo Hwa-rin saw the pendant, they tilted their heads in confusion, and Seo A-rin continued, her expression turning solemn.
“It’s his late lover’s final photograph. And this… is a gift he gave to him.”
“…”
“…”
At her words, both of them fell silent, their eyes meeting without speaking.
* * *
Creak.
Thud.
“…Come out.”
“So you’ve reached a decision. I imagine you weren’t eager about it.”
As the Iron Door opened, the man smiled faintly.
When the man emerged from the bathroom, Lee Gang-hyuk instinctively lowered his stance.
The man then laughed softly and shook his head.
“Don’t worry. Like I said yesterday, I have no intention of attacking you.”
“…All right.”
As Lee Gang-hyuk reluctantly nodded, the man’s gaze shifted to the pendant.
His pupils trembled visibly—he seemed unsettled that his pendant was with Lee Gang-hyuk and not with Seo A-rin.
But soon, as if gathering himself, he steadied his breathing and pointed to the pendant with a request.
“Take good care of that girl and the pendant. I’ll handle things as quickly as I can and return.”
“Wait.”
As he spoke and moved toward the stairs without hesitation, Lee Gang-hyuk grabbed him.
“…You’re really going out there with nothing but your bare hands? No weapon?”
“I’m not going to fight them, just lure them. Why would I need one?”
At that, Lee Gang-hyuk hesitated for a moment before tossing him the Bone Sword.
It was a blade forged from the corpse of an ordinary Zombie.
If he had trusted the man more, he might have given him a sword made from an Electric’s core instead.
But since he couldn’t yet fully trust him, he’d handed over the plain Bone Sword.
As the man caught the Bone Sword, his expression grew complex.
“What? You’re really giving me this even though I might be deceiving you?”
“…”
Since he himself found the gesture distasteful, Lee Gang-hyuk’s brow furrowed involuntarily.
Yet he had given the man the sword because Seo A-rin herself had said she would take responsibility, and so he was trusting her.
The pendant was the same.
The man had pursued Electric alone to avenge his deceased lover, so his attachment to the pendant must have been considerable.
Entrusting it to him was, in his own way, a display of trust on Lee Gang-hyuk’s part.
Perhaps that was why.
Lee Gang-hyuk remained silent for a moment at the man’s question before explaining his reason for giving the sword.
“It was a request from A-rin. She said if you ask, tell her that dying won’t solve anything.”
“…I see.”
For a moment, the man’s complex expression softened, and he secured the sword at his waist.
His eyes glinted with vitality.
“I’ll relay the situation through the community.”
“All right.”
With that, the man descended the stairs quickly, apparently eager not to waste more time.
Judging by how things looked now, it seemed like the right call…
Yet Lee Gang-hyuk exhaled, thinking he had violated his own Survival Rule.
‘But…’
He would keep his promise.
Lee Gang-hyuk looked down at the pendant in his hand and resolved to trust the man once more.
“Why aren’t you coming down?”
Just then, Seo Hwa-rin approached his side.
“I’m about to head down now.”
“Then let’s stay up here a moment before we go down.”
As Lee Gang-hyuk spoke, Seo Hwa-rin gestured naturally downward.
She had clearly stepped away to give the man and Seo A-rin a chance to talk.
“Do you think we did the right thing?”
“Honestly… I’m not sure either. If I judged by your standards, we shouldn’t have released him, but since you apparently think similarly to me… it feels like we did the right thing, but also like we made a foolish mistake. Well, life has no answers anyway. Maybe in the end, it was the right choice?”
“…Life has no answers.”
The moment those words reached him, Lee Gang-hyuk’s own Survival Rule came to mind.
Survival Rule Number Eight: Life is always at its worst.
When he had first established this rule, Lee Gang-hyuk had nearly been killed by a Zombie.
Fortunately, luck was on his side and he managed to escape home, but his food supplies had run out, leaving him to starve for a long time.
Despite that, Lee Gang-hyuk couldn’t bring himself to venture outside and remained cooped up in his house.
For fear of dying again.
The thought of encountering Zombies terrified him too much.
What had finally allowed him to step outside was…
The realization that life was already at its worst, so things couldn’t get any worse.
It was only after that thought arose that he could move.
‘Now that I think about it, what I needed was courage.’
The courage to step outside my home.
Isn’t the current situation essentially the same?
The courage to release the man.
It seemed he’d been troubled by his inability to be certain of that. As he organized his thoughts this way, Seo Hwa-rin observed his expression and smiled.
“Your expression looks brighter. It seems like it helped.”
“Yes. Thanks to you, my mind is clearer. Thank you.”
“I’m glad to hear that. Then shall we start moving?”
“Yes!”

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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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