Surviving the Apocalypse as an All-Time Best Overpowered Necromancer - Chapter 82

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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 82
82. The Colossal Zombie (3)
Crackle.
“Rrraaaagh.”
When Electric’s Lightning Bolt descended upon Im Jae-beom’s Water Ball, the zombies that had swarmed forward convulsed and collapsed.
“Burst Burn!”
Dozens of great and small flames erupted in succession, and with each fallen zombie came an overwhelming surge of Experience Points.
The zombies were still numerous, but with each one that died, the wall Lee Gang-hyuk had erected stabilized the battlefield in moments.
“Phew. Now let’s clear the lobby.”
“Yes! Fire Wall!”
As the situation calmed, Lee Gang-hyuk issued commands to the zombies and skeletons in his mind while speaking his orders aloud to Seo Hwa-rin.
The wall of flames that Seo Hwa-rin conjured swept across the lobby’s remaining creatures when a note suddenly flew toward him from Seo A-rin.
[He’s awake! But he’s not moving—just sitting still, though his gaze keeps fixed on your direction! For now, it seems safe.]
‘Sitting still and staring at us?’
Lee Gang-hyuk’s brow furrowed at once. This was not welcome news.
After all—a creature lying prone suddenly awakens and turns to gaze upon them?
‘A coincidence?’
No.
This was no coincidence whatsoever.
Had their gazes simply crossed, Seo A-rin would not have said “he’s watching.” She would have described it differently.
This meant the colossal zombie was aware of their situation and observing them.
So why did it remain motionless, merely sitting there?
Either their strength posed no threat to it, or the Snow Apes it had just consumed were not yet fully digested.
But regardless of the reason, the conclusion was singular.
The ease of the strong.
‘They say a sated carnivore is harmless…’
A line he seemed to recall from a nature documentary surfaced in Lee Gang-hyuk’s mind as his face hardened. He relayed the situation to Seo Hwa-rin.
“That…”
Seo Hwa-rin’s expression naturally grew taut as well.
“We need to wrap this up and retreat quickly.”
If it had merely risen, they might have gotten away with it—but if it had sensed their presence, they had to flee before it moved.
“Fire Wall! Burst Burn! Flame Stream!”
“Dissolve Flesh!”
Since they were not yet ready to engage the colossal zombie directly, Lee Gang-hyuk and Seo Hwa-rin unleashed a barrage of skills to eliminate the surrounding undead.
Their summons’ movements shifted correspondingly and aggressively in response.
Perhaps because of this?
The two cleared the lobby in a heartbeat, dispatched the creatures flooding the stairwell, converted the fresh corpses to Bone Beads, and fled the building in haste.
Had they burned through too many skills in such a short span?
Both of them, along with Im Jae-beom and Electric, found their Mana and Core Power depleted.
Fortunately, the Base lay just ahead, and they managed to return safely before the colossal zombie could rise to its feet.
Then, at that very moment…
[It’s coming! Come up right now!]
“!!”
An urgent note from Seo A-rin, watching from the rooftop, flashed before their eyes.
The colossal zombie had begun to move.
Startled by the note, the two hastily locked the front entrance, sprinted up the emergency stairs, sealed the emergency door, and held their breath.
And then…
“Kuooooooooooooh!!”
Boom! Boom!
The creature, having closed the distance to the Base in those mere moments, unleashed an ear-shattering roar.
“Ugh.”
“…Ngh.”
An overwhelming pressure they had not felt from a distance crashed down upon them, and involuntary groans escaped their lips.
From the roar alone, their bodies felt paralyzed—a numbing sensation crawled through them.
‘Can we actually defeat that thing?’
The sudden doubt caused their already rigid expressions to darken in an instant.
Initially, they had thought luring Snow Apes to engage the colossal zombie would let them defeat it once fatigue set in.
But the moment that roar reached their ears, they realized that calculation had been fatally wrong—and dangerously arrogant.
‘Snow Apes alone will never exhaust it.’
Luring them was problematic enough, but even if they succeeded, if the creature didn’t tire, victory was impossible.
Recognizing that he would merely be delivering prey to it, Lee Gang-hyuk stroked his chin thoughtfully, intending to revise his strategy.
Seo Hwa-rin, also startled by the roar, watched his contemplative gesture and felt a measure of reassurance. She exhaled slowly, never taking her eyes off him.
The very act of Lee Gang-hyuk stroking his chin in thought was evidence that he was devising a method to overcome the colossal zombie—thus, she chose to give him space to think.
And so…
As silence fell between them, the colossal zombie, robbed of its quarry, unleashed another terrible cry.
Sting, sting.
“…”
Once more, numbness coursed through their entire bodies, yet Lee Gang-hyuk remained unmoved, continuing to stroke his chin.
Seo Hwa-rin maintained contact with Seo A-rin, constantly tracking the colossal zombie’s position.
They intended to move the moment it wandered even slightly away.
Yet oddly, the colossal zombie made no move—it simply stood before the Base.
Perhaps for this reason?
The relief she had felt moments ago evaporated, and her expression hardened once more.
“It seems to be searching for us.”
At last, Seo Hwa-rin spoke to Lee Gang-hyuk.
Her voice was so soft that Lee Gang-hyuk, standing beside her, would not have heard it without acute concentration—lest the colossal zombie notice.
Fortunately, she was heard. The contemplative Lee Gang-hyuk glanced up briefly.
Then, naturally, he sent her a note.

Nod, nod.
“Mm.”
Acknowledging that there was no need to whisper when they possessed such a useful method, he returned his hand to stroking his chin.
‘Let me organize what I know about that thing…’
A Grolla Bear that has undergone mutation—indiscriminate in its consumption of both zombies and Snow Apes.
When sated, it lies down and rests.
Its sensory range is extraordinarily broad.
Its roar causes the body to go numb as if paralyzed.
Its size grants it tremendous striking power, and its movement speed is surprisingly swift.
‘Daunting.’
Simply cataloging the colossal zombie’s attributes left him overwhelmed with a sense of helplessness.
‘Still, it must have a weakness… Could it be vulnerable to fire, like the Grolla Bear?’
The moment the Grolla Bear’s weakness surfaced in his thoughts, he cast a sidelong glance at Seo Hwa-rin and released a quiet groan.
‘Testing it wouldn’t be unwise… but it’s far too dangerous.’
A careless experiment could mean death.
For now, remaining hidden until the colossal zombie moved elsewhere was the wisest course.
So Lee Gang-hyuk organized his thoughts and waited for the creature to relocate when…
“…Kraaaaaaagh!”
“Now!”
As the colossal zombie’s roar grew progressively distant, they immediately moved toward the rooftop.
“Why did you take so long? Are you both all right? Are you hurt anywhere?”
The moment the two reached the rooftop, Seo A-rin, who had been monitoring the colossal zombie’s movements to the very end, approached them trembling, tears in her eyes.
Despite their continuous communication via note, the delay in their arrival had frightened her.
“Yes, we’re entirely safe. What about it?”
“Sigh… It’s headed back toward Dobong Station.”
Reassured by their safety, Seo A-rin exhaled deeply and pointed toward Dobong Station.
It had pursued them here, then turned back?
“It seems to have made Dobong Station its home.”
It appeared to have claimed a radius of several hundred meters around Dobong Station as its territory.
“Home… So it has no intention of relocating elsewhere?”
“Likely not.”
As Seo Hwa-rin posed the question, Lee Gang-hyuk shrugged, watching the colossal zombie—then his eyes suddenly widened as a thought struck him.
“Regardless, it seems the creature can sense us when we use skills, so let’s stop collecting Bone Beads here and prepare for an assault.”
“Have you thought of a way?”
“For now? I’m not sure if it will work.”
At her question, Lee Gang-hyuk scratched his cheek uncertainly, and Seo Hwa-rin’s eyes widened as if she’d grasped his meaning.
“Is it the method I’m thinking of?”
“Well… given the way you’re asking, we seem to have arrived at the same conclusion.”
“What is it? What is it you two alone understand? Tell me too!”
Once again left out of the silent communication between the other two, Seo A-rin pouted her lip and grumbled.
Lee Gang-hyuk and Seo Hwa-rin responded in unison:
“Fire.”
“Fire Strategy.”
“Fire? Fire Strategy?”
Seo A-rin tilted her head briefly at the similar yet different words before recognition dawned and she clapped her hands together.
“Oh! Like the Battle of Red Cliffs from the Three Kingdoms? Right?”
“Yes, exactly. Just as fire strategy defeated Cao Cao at Red Cliffs, we’ll drive it into a corner with flames.”
As Lee Gang-hyuk nodded, Seo A-rin’s eyes suddenly blazed with fervor and she pumped her fist enthusiastically.
“Yes! Let’s burn it all to ashes!”
* * *
“We’re counting on you.”
“Yes!”
Having decided on fire strategy to eliminate the colossal zombie, the three immediately dispersed.
Seo Hwa-rin and Seo A-rin scoured the building for flammable materials, while Lee Gang-hyuk drained fuel from the abandoned vehicles in the Underground Parking Lot and collected it in cans.
Whether gasoline or diesel, he made no distinction. He gathered whatever fuel he could find.
And so…
By the time he had stripped roughly half the parked vehicles, Lee Gang-hyuk had secured his target quantity. He hoisted the Oil Cans and ascended to the lobby.
Simultaneously, as he sent a note to the women, something tumbled down with a heavy thud from the window outside.
Clothes and blankets—everything the two had gathered.
[No reaction.]
Lee Gang-hyuk had waited briefly after hearing the sound, concerned the colossal zombie might pursue, but reassured by Seo Hwa-rin’s note, he retrieved the items and hurried them inside the building.
‘Now I have to transport all this to the Baseball Stadium… Will that thing stay put?’
Carrying the clothes, blankets, and Oil Cans to the Baseball Stadium was not inherently difficult.
With the heavy snow, he could fashion a Sled and haul it there easily enough—the real problem was avoiding detection by the creature while doing so.
“Hmm.”
As he consulted the map in thought, Seo Hwa-rin approached, a pack slung over her shoulder.
“It just moved from Dobong Station toward Banghak Station. It’s discovered something. I’ve asked A-rin to keep watch, so we should move immediately.”
“Understood. Then let’s go right away.”
His hesitation resolved by her report, Lee Gang-hyuk folded the map and fashioned a Sled.
Honestly, a single trip wouldn’t suffice to move everything—multiple journeys would be necessary. Yet one fortunate detail remained: the Mana he had expended while gathering fuel had begun to recover.
Of course…
Not fully, but since the goal now was not combat, there was no immediate concern.
“Im Jae-beom.”
“Grrk.”
Whoosh, whoosh.
Splash, splash.
Splash, splash, splash.
As he loaded the Sled, Lee Gang-hyuk summoned a water serpent and spread it in all directions to guard against any surprise attack.
‘None nearby.’
Fortunately, no Snow Apes were detected in the vicinity.
The colossal zombie’s recent passage had apparently frightened away all the creatures in the area.
‘That’s fortunate.’
With the zombie consuming everything indiscriminately, the population of creatures in the region had visibly plummeted.
Temporarily satisfied, Lee Gang-hyuk shook his head, loaded the cargo onto the Sled, and moved swiftly toward the Baseball Stadium.

Meanwhile, Seo A-rin continued to monitor the creature’s movements, sending regular updates. Word that it remained in the direction of Banghak Station quickened both their pace.
“As you said, it’s quite spacious. This should do even if zombies swarm in.”
Upon arriving at the Baseball Stadium, Seo Hwa-rin expressed satisfaction, now understanding why Lee Gang-hyuk had chosen this as the battlefield.
It was spacious enough, with plenty of escape routes besides.
“You’re too kind.”
Lee Gang-hyuk acknowledged her gratitude when a distant roar from the colossal zombie reached them. He exhaled heavily and began unloading the supplies.
“Let’s drop these off quickly and move.”
“Yes!”
To overcome the colossal zombie, they would need to saturate the Baseball Stadium with oil-soaked cloth.
Since there was still much to be done, the two unloaded what they had brought and rushed back to the Base immediately.

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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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