Surviving the Apocalypse as an All-Time Best Overpowered Necromancer - Chapter 88

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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 88
88. A New Combination (3)
Crash!
“Gaaaahhh…….”
“Ugh. This bastard is damn heavy.”
What should have taken thirty minutes from the baseball field right next to Dobong Station to the hideout ended up consuming two hours because of the enormous Zombie corpse, and they barely managed to haul it back.
At first, Lee Gang-hyuk had planned to collect the massive Zombie and the Yetis first, then deal with the rest.
But the weight of the giant Zombie overwhelmed even those he’d tamed, so only after combining all their strength could they barely transport it to the hideout.
Of course…….
It was a shame to leave the corpses of the Yetis and Zombies at the baseball field, but they wouldn’t rot away anytime soon…….
And since he wasn’t moving elsewhere, he shelved the regret and collected only the massive Zombie for now.
Thus…….
After two hours of reaching the lobby, the group sighed and decided to rest first.
Though Seo A-rin didn’t need it, both Lee Gang-hyuk and Seo Hwa-rin were depleted of Mana and Core Strength, so rest was more urgent than ever before.
“Then take your time resting.”
“Aren’t you going to use the sauna first?”
Seo A-rin asked in return. She’d mentioned wanting to bathe in warm water and use the sauna…….
Lee Gang-hyuk, wondering if she meant for him to join her in the sauna, scratched his cheek wearily and shook his head.
“Yes. For now, I’d just like to rest. You two go ahead.”
“Understood. If you change your mind, come up in an hour. If you come earlier than that, we might end up in an awkward situation with each other.”
What she meant was that they wouldn’t enter the sauna in their usual light clothes, but would remove them entirely.
Since it had happened that way several times before.
Lee Gang-hyuk waved his hand, telling her not to worry.
“Got it.”
“Yes. You’ve worked hard. Get plenty of rest. I’ll call you when it’s time for dinner.”
“See you later then. You’ve both worked hard.”
With that, the three scattered to their own spaces and rested.
* * *
Three hours later.
Lee Gang-hyuk, who had collapsed into sleep the moment his head hit the pillow, shot up from bed.
As his Mana recovered somewhat, the lethargy vanished and he naturally woke.
‘About halfway now?’
The moment he opened his eyes, Lee Gang-hyuk sat on the bed and checked his status, then let out a sigh.
The recovery was slower than expected.
‘Still…….’
Even with just fifty percent Mana, it was enough to craft the massive Zombie into items.
Since he wouldn’t use the corpses of the Yetis and Zombies right away anyway, and Mana wasn’t needed to transport them to the hideout, Lee Gang-hyuk headed down to the lobby to begin crafting.
‘It’s quite large.’
Upon arriving at the lobby, he circled the enormous Zombie corpse, stroking his chin.
He was struggling to decide what to make.
‘……Should I craft an accessory?’
Given that it was likely a mutation of a Grizzly Bear, crafting an accessory might yield similar options.
An option where abilities increased the more you ate.
Honestly, the option on the Bone Necklace he currently owned wasn’t particularly good.
Arbitrary physical ability +1 per kilogram of food.
Considering his own meal intake as well as Seo Hwa-rin’s and Seo A-rin’s, the necklace’s performance wasn’t that impressive.
You could say the efficiency was poor?
But forcing himself to eat just to raise his stats had its limits.
So in the moment he was thinking it would be better to craft a new necklace.
‘Ah! A giant’s sinew!’
Suddenly, the content of a novel he’d written during his amateur days came to mind.
It was a scene where the protagonist catches a giant and crafts a bow from the giant’s sinew.
While the massive Zombie wasn’t a giant with extraordinary strength, couldn’t he still craft a bow given its size?
“We do need a ranged unit anyway…… Let me just check if it’s possible.”
There was a chance the bow might not be on the available list.
Deciding to check the list first, Lee Gang-hyuk extended his left hand and activated the skill.
“Bone Weapon Crafting!”
[You have sufficient materials for crafting.]
[Here is the list of craftable items.]
– Bone Greatsword x 2
– Bone Dagger x 8
– Bone Two-Handed Axe x 1
– Bone Axe x 2
– Bone Spear x 1
– Bone Club x 2
– Bone Bow x 1
‘Just one?’
As expected, the bow appeared on the crafting list.
But Lee Gang-hyuk’s expression stiffened at the prospect of crafting only a single bow.
Yet understanding soon dawned, and he sighed while examining the available list.
‘It’s because there aren’t enough bones for materials. Still, I’m pleased that greatswords and two-handed axes have been added to the options.’
As more craftable weapons became available, so too would the Skeletons’ job options.
Eventually, combinations would emerge that offered even greater stat increases than the current one.
Satisfied, Lee Gang-hyuk decided to craft the bow first to discover what its materials were.
A single bow wouldn’t consume all the giant Zombie’s sinew, so once he identified the necessary materials, he could supplement them and craft more bows.
With that thought, he continued crafting.
[Crafting Bone Bow.]
[Your Craftsmanship influences the crafting.]
[Your Craftsmanship is too low; some of the material’s inherent power will be lost.]
[The item’s abilities have been adjusted to match your Craftsmanship level.]
[Will you use the Mutated Zombie’s Core as material?]
When asked whether to use the Core, Lee Gang-hyuk shook his head.
“No.”
This creature had mutated from a Grizzly Bear.
Judging that its abilities wouldn’t suit a bow, Lee Gang-hyuk decided to save the Core for now.
At that moment…….
A pure white light burst from the giant Zombie’s chest, and suddenly a yellow marble the size of a fist materialized.
‘A Core?’
The moment he saw the marble, Lee Gang-hyuk realized it was the Mutated Zombie’s Core and expressed satisfaction at the unexpected development.
‘If I don’t use the Core, it transforms into a marble for later use.’
Until now, he’d thought the Mutated Zombie’s Core had no physical form.
So he’d believed he had to use it before the corpse decayed, rushing to craft items the moment he obtained a Core…….
He’d never imagined it would transform into a marble if unused.
‘There was no need to rush.’
Learning this new fact, he felt satisfied that there was no urgency to crafting, and picked up the newly formed marble.
At the same time…….
[Crafting successful!]
[You have crafted a Bone Bow.]
Once the Bone Bow was complete, he checked its options, but they were little different from one crafted from an ordinary Zombie.
It seemed the Core’s presence, rather than the Mutated Zombie’s flesh itself, determined the item’s performance.
‘Can’t be helped. As long as I can make ranged units, that’s what matters.’
The bow’s performance wasn’t particularly important. He just needed to be able to create ranged units.
So Lee Gang-hyuk killed one Zombie, placed the Bone Bow beside it, and used the skill.
“Undead Summoning!”
[Summoning Undead.]
[Your skills influence the summoning.]
……
……
[Here is the list of summonable Undead.]
Bone Archer x 1
“Proceed.”
As the Archer appeared as expected, Lee Gang-hyuk’s smile deepened.
[Summoning Bone Archer.]
[Your Mana influences the summoned Undead’s abilities.]
[Bone Archer summoned.]
[You have discovered a new combination.]
[Dead Warrior Party Combination.]
– Bone Swordsman, Bone Shielder, Bone Assassin, Bone Archer, Bone Spearman, Lesser Lich.
– Attack Power + 4
– Defense Power + 4
[Will you activate the new combination?]
“Dead Warrior Party?”
He wasn’t particularly surprised at the Bone Archer’s summoning—that much he’d anticipated.
But the notification that followed was completely unexpected, and he opened his mouth in startled haste with an excited expression.
“Yes. Set it as the new combination.”
[Set.]
When the notification he’d glossed over during combat flickered before his eyes again, satisfied, Lee Gang-hyuk gazed at the Bone Archer.
‘Should I summon one more?’
A brief moment of deliberation.
But Lee Gang-hyuk made his decision in an instant and killed another Zombie to check if he could craft another bow.
‘It’s there. So it was a material shortage after all.’
When the Bone Bow appeared on the list, he realized the shortage was indeed material-based, and continued crafting with a satisfied smile.
Shortly after…….
After crafting a second Bone Archer, Lee Gang-hyuk examined them with a contented expression, then suddenly remembered one critical problem.
There were no arrows.
“If they don’t exist, I’ll make them. Bone Weapon Crafting! Bone Tool Crafting!”
He used both Weapon Crafting and Tool Crafting skills at this late realization, but arrows appeared on neither list.
‘Is it because I lack materials? Anyway, what goes into making arrows?’
Assuming the absence from the list was due to insufficient materials, Lee Gang-hyuk thought about what materials were needed to craft arrows.
‘Arrowheads, arrow shafts, and feathers?’
As he visualized arrows and tried to deduce the materials.
When the image of arrow fletching came to mind, he sighed and shook his head.
“Damn, how am I supposed to get feathers in this situation.”
The arrowheads and shafts could probably be managed using bone.
But replicating feathers for the fletching in bone seemed difficult.
‘Still…….’
He couldn’t give up like this, so should he try crafting anyway? Or perhaps ask the Jungnang-gu Alliance for arrows?
“Sigh.”
A sigh escaped involuntarily, and as he took a deep breath, his gaze naturally drifted to the second-floor window.
‘Come to think of it…… weren’t there pigeons?’
On the day Lee Gang-hyuk first awakened, when he went into the hallway to tame Zombies, he’d seen pigeons through the window.
And in fact…….
Even now, they occasionally perch on the windowsill.
If he caught those creatures, the arrow fletching problem would be solved, but the issue was how to capture pigeons outside the window.
‘If I open the window, they’ll definitely fly away…… But I can’t catch them with the window closed…….’
As Lee Gang-hyuk thought that far, a memory surfaced—when Jae-beom was alive and found them hiding on the third floor.
‘The Water Serpent would be more than enough to catch them!’
The Water Serpent that had seeped through the window cracks to find them would have no trouble capturing pigeons perched outside.
“Let’s go.”
“Screeeech.”
His thoughts organized quickly, Lee Gang-hyuk led his tamed creatures up the stairs.
After succeeding in capturing pigeons on the seventh floor, he returned to the lobby and placed the pigeon corpse beside the remaining corpse, having just crafted another Bone Bow.
Then he activated the crafting skill again, and upon seeing the Bone Arrow on the Bone Tool Crafting list, he expressed satisfaction.
But only for a moment…….
[Bone Arrow]
– An arrow crafted using someone’s bone and pigeon feathers.
– The fletching is short and has poor durability, making it very unsuitable for long-range attacks.
‘Short fletching makes it unsuitable for long-range attacks?’
After reviewing the arrow’s information, he stroked his chin, then shrugged his shoulders.
“Still, the battlefield isn’t that large, so it shouldn’t be completely unusable.”
It wasn’t like he’d be sniping Zombies from afar…….
Figuring he’d rarely need to shoot arrows at long distance, Lee Gang-hyuk decided to check the Bone Archers’ performance.
It was a shame to waste the Zombies as targets, but it was far safer than accidentally going outside and encountering the Yetis while checking performance.
So Lee Gang-hyuk positioned two Zombies in front of the security room, then sent the Bone Archers to the opposite convenience store and commanded them.
The distance was roughly thirty to forty meters—perfect for assessing performance.
“Ready positions. Begin firing once ready.”
Shortly after Lee Gang-hyuk gave the order, the Bone Archers immediately drew their bowstrings.
Creak.
Thunk.
And shooting commenced.
Whoooosh!
Thwack! Crack!
“Hrrgh…….”
“Gaaaahhh!”
Though aiming at the same spot, the arrows shot by the Bone Archers hit different places each.
‘The accuracy isn’t particularly high.’
The results weren’t as satisfying as hoped.
‘Still…….’
Looking at how the arrows shot by the Bone Archers pierced through rather than lodging in the body, the problem seemed to be with the arrows themselves, not the archers.
Was that why they were unsuitable for long-range attacks?
“……I need to figure out how to make better arrow fletching.”
After confirming the arrows’ performance, Lee Gang-hyuk scratched his cheek embarrassedly and resolved to develop superior arrow fletching.

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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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