Surviving the Apocalypse as an All-Time Best Overpowered Necromancer - Chapter 76

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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 76
76. A New Change (4)
When a note arrived for Kim Tae-sik, Lee Gang-hyuk was in the lobby gathering the zombies he’d just killed into one place.
Since the zombies had grown stronger, he wondered if the Bone Armor might have improved as well—and he was preparing to craft new items to find out.
And so…….
While Lee Gang-hyuk sent the note, he set aside the one written with thanks and activated his skill.
“Well, they can handle the rest themselves from here on. Bone Armor Crafting!”
Among crafting skills, armor crafting consumed the most Mana.
So Lee Gang-hyuk, who had decided to make Bone Armor first when his Mana was plentiful, activated the skill and received the familiar notification, and—
The moment the Bone Armor was complete, he examined its performance with eager eyes.
[Bone Armor]
– Armor crafted from someone’s bones.
– Defense +4
“As expected!”
The Bone Armor’s performance had indeed improved as he’d anticipated.
After checking the notification and confirming that the items he’d crafted before had similarly upgraded in performance thanks to the stronger zombies, he turned to the Skeletons standing nearby.
“You lot will need replacing, unlike the zombies.”
When you tamed a zombie, its ability diminished.
But if the zombies had grown stronger and the items’ performance had improved, it meant the Skeletons’ abilities had risen as well.
After all, he’d crafted them too.
Of course…….
There was a possibility they might lose power like the zombies, so Lee Gang-hyuk crafted items before replacing the Skeletons.
He decided to craft armor for Seo Hwa-rin and Seo A-rin first, then use the remaining Mana to replace only some of the Skeletons.
But then, a sudden question arose in his mind.
‘Could I replace bones with Bone Beads?’
The thought had come out of nowhere.
If he used Tactical Processing during combat to deform Bone Beads and replace fractured bones, wouldn’t Skeletons not need Healing Skills?
‘It might actually work…….’
As the thought took shape, his head nodded in affirmation of its own accord.
Now that he’d given up Charisma and invested in Dexterity,
the most important thing was maintaining his current forces.
And the best way to do that would be to recruit an Awakener with a Healing Skill to the team.
But where would he find someone with a Healing Skill, and how?
And he couldn’t guarantee he could trust someone he found like that.
So, acting on the sudden impulse, Lee Gang-hyuk finished crafting the Bone Armor and headed up to the third floor.
It was to prepare for any unforeseen situation.
Once on the third floor, Lee Gang-hyuk released his control over the zombie, forced it into combat, and immediately ordered it to attack the Bone Swordsman’s legs.
Thwack!
Crack!
The attack came immediately after he gave the order.
“That’s enough.”
The moment a fracture appeared in the Bone Swordsman’s leg, Lee Gang-hyuk stopped the combat at once.
If not for the Command Domain allowing him to adjust the force, he might have shattered the leg entirely instead of just cracking it.
“Ugh.”
Lee Gang-hyuk let out a short sigh, wishing he’d tested it on a Bone Specter instead, and pulled out a small amount of Bone Beads he’d brought.
“Hmm……. How should I do this?”
He deliberated for a moment.
But Lee Gang-hyuk soon recalled what the core of Tactical Processing was and nodded.
Imagination.
The power to turn one’s imagination into reality.
Just as he’d created spikes by building walls and crafted carts, he imagined the Bone Swordsman’s fractured leg in his mind’s eye, activated the skill, and a bright light burst forth.
At the same time…….
A bone in the exact shape of the Bone Swordsman’s fractured leg was created.
But it was merely crafted.
Nothing else changed.
‘Do I have to replace it myself?’
Doubt struck him, and Lee Gang-hyuk approached the Bone Swordsman with the bone he’d just created.
He removed the fractured section, and Mana swelled where the bone had been, maintaining the Bone Swordsman’s form.
Seeing this, he understood immediately.
He could use Tactical Processing to replace broken bones anytime during combat.
And true to Lee Gang-hyuk’s prediction, the moment he fitted the newly crafted bone into place, the Bone Swordsman jumped to its feet.
As if it had always been part of him.
When he ordered the uncontrolled zombie to attack, it moved without the slightest awkwardness.
“Stop.”
Cut.
Just before the Bone Swordsman could sever the zombie’s neck, he commanded it again, and the Bone Swordsman’s movement stopped dead.
“Perfect.”
Had the newly replaced bone felt awkward, the Bone Swordsman would have stumbled instead of stopping smoothly. The stable halt suggested it would work perfectly well in actual combat.
The only problem was…….
‘How am I supposed to replace it during combat? Should I try using the Water Snake?’
As Lee Gang-hyuk pondered this, he spotted Im Jae-beom and immediately summoned the Water Snake.
“Bone replacement.”
He spoke curtly and issued the command through his Command Domain. The Water Snake moved swiftly and bit the Bone Swordsman’s leg bone. Chomp!
The Bone Swordsman staggered as it instantly lost its leg bone, but the Water Snake put the bone back in its mouth, and the Bone Swordsman quickly regained its footing.
“Good.”
Lee Gang-hyuk grinned at the satisfying result and gave a thumbs up.
This experiment had further increased his team’s stability.
Just as a pleased smile deepened across Lee Gang-hyuk’s face—having achieved results beyond what he’d expected from such a sudden idea—
a note from Seo Hwa-rin arrived telling him to come up for a meal. Startled, he quickly rushed up to the twenty-third floor.
He’d come down without telling the two of them, after all.
As he gathered the Bone Armor he’d just crafted and headed up to the twenty-third floor, he ran straight into Seo A-rin, who was coming down after checking the rooftop garden.
“The Bone Armor—why……? Did something unexpected happen? That huge mutated zombie we saw earlier didn’t come this way, did it?”
“No, that’s not it. Since my abilities went up, I decided to make the Bone Armor again. When I did, the defense increased, so I brought these to give to both of you.”
“Ah……. I thought something else had happened.”
Seo A-rin let out a relieved sigh, and Lee Gang-hyuk asked in return.
“What did he say?”
“Fortunately, there are no giant mutated zombies nearby, and luring them poses no problem. He said if anything unusual occurs, he’ll relay it directly to you when he returns, and to be careful until then.”
“That shows how much he worries about you. Anyway, let’s get in before we’re late and end up in trouble with Hwa-rin again.”
“Yes!”
* * *
A week had passed since the bone replacement experiment.
During that time, the three of them stayed within the safehouse, focusing solely on managing it—tending to the garden, crafting necessary items, and other such tasks.
The man luring the zombie horde toward Gangwon-do had encountered no major problems.
But as his return took longer than expected, Seo A-rin’s worry grew, and so did Lee Gang-hyuk’s.
To be honest, it was less worry than unease.
‘Surely everything he said wasn’t a lie……?’
Lee Gang-hyuk gazed down at the Pendant the man had left behind and sighed quietly.
Then it happened.
A note arrived from Seo A-rin, who had gone to check the rooftop garden, urging him to come up quickly.
Worried that another giant mutated zombie had appeared, Lee Gang-hyuk rushed up to the rooftop.
And so…….
The moment he arrived on the rooftop, Lee Gang-hyuk understood at once why he’d been called.
“Snow…….”
He stood speechless, watching snow fall from the sky, when Seo Hwa-rin and Seo A-rin approached him, rubbing their cheeks shyly.
“I’m sorry we didn’t tell you. A-rin insisted we absolutely had to call you.”
“Yes. This is the first snow since we became a team…… I wanted us all to see it together. Sorry for interrupting your work.”
Hearing this, Lee Gang-hyuk smiled.
“Not at all. I’d just finished what I needed to do anyway. And as for the snow…… it looks like winter is truly beginning now.”
Having been so preoccupied he hadn’t noticed time passing, Lee Gang-hyuk was struck by the change in seasons.
“But……doesn’t snow seem early for this time of year? Usually snow doesn’t come until mid-November, and it’s still early……?”
“Ah? Now that you mention it, you’re right.”
At those words, Seo Hwa-rin’s expression hardened.
Early November snow wasn’t common, but it did happen occasionally.
Yet because he’d recently received a notification that zombies had grown stronger, Lee Gang-hyuk began to worry whether this too might be the start of a new calamity, stroking his chin thoughtfully.
The amount of snow for the first fall seemed far too heavy.
Zombie Apocalypse, winter, snow, calamity.
‘Extreme Winter?’
Recalling a similar setting he’d written into an apocalypse novel long ago, Lee Gang-hyuk furrowed his brow and spoke.
“It’s possible this winter will be unusually harsh. We should prepare more thoroughly.”
“Is there something we should do?”
“What should we start with?”
As Lee Gang-hyuk spoke in warning, Seo A-rin and Seo Hwa-rin reflexively asked back.
From the tone of his voice, they realized this wasn’t a time to simply enjoy the snow.
Lee Gang-hyuk turned to Seo A-rin first.
“A-rin, please make winter clothes for us to wear.”
“Yes!”
“Hwa-rin…… could you possibly build a sauna?”
“A sauna?”
Suddenly?
Seo Hwa-rin expressed her confusion at the unexpected request, so Lee Gang-hyuk continued.
“You know those simple wooden saunas. I’d like something to help us warm up when needed.”
“Ah! I think I know what you mean. It’s possible.”
The moment Seo Hwa-rin understood, she answered and immediately began thinking through the details.
“Good. Then let’s start right now.”
“Yes!”
* * *
“Damn…….”
The man luring the zombie horde toward Gangwon-do was wounded, blood dripping steadily as he continued his flight.
He couldn’t afford to be caught here.
If he were caught now, he’d be devoured in an instant by the pursuing zombie horde.
‘I won’t allow it.’
He would not die.
He’d made that promise, and besides, until he had his revenge—until he destroyed the place where the man who’d killed his beloved belonged—he couldn’t die under any circumstances.
‘Just a little longer…… just a little longer. Hold on.’
Though his vision blurred from blood loss, he refused to give up and kept moving forward.
Fortunately or unfortunately, the zombie horde following him didn’t scatter but continued to pursue the trail of blood he left behind.
And so…….
How many hours had he walked?
The destination finally appeared before the man’s eyes.
Soyang Lake. If he got on a boat here and followed the river downstream, he could shake off the zombies.
His original plan had been to lure the zombie horde to Soyang Lake and then slip away using Concealment.
But the unexpected wounds he’d sustained made Concealment useless.
Still determined to lose the horde somehow, the man made his way to the Boat Rental Area—where he and his beloved used to date every weekend long ago.
As the Boat Rental Area drew closer, a familiar space caught his eye.
‘Do-hee…….’
Her face came to mind unbidden—the place where they’d enjoyed walks together, taking photos with her.
In that moment…….
“Grraaaagh.”
“Gurrgh…….”
The growls of zombies echoed from the Boat Rental Area, snapping him back to focus. His brow creased sharply.
“This really is a hell of a situation.”
Zombies occupied the Boat Rental Area ahead, while the horde he’d brought chased from behind. The man laughed bitterly.
“At least you were spared seeing such a miserable world.”
As he muttered this and looked up at the sky, he spotted an abandoned Boat beside the Boat Rental Area and moved without hesitation.
He barely reached the Boat before the zombie horde caught him.
But a Boat left abandoned for six months since the calamity began couldn’t possibly work, so the man pushed it toward the river with his last strength and climbed aboard.
Though wounded, his Awakener status allowed the Boat to drift away from the shore safely—and his consciousness cut out.
At the same moment…….
The water around the Boat rippled as if alive, moving it in a fixed direction.

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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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