The Returned Hunter Has Awakened to a Hidden Class - Chapter 66
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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66
Chapter 66
Zombie Apocalypse (3)
The 27th Floor with a zombie theme.
There are two things you must absolutely never do here.
First, making noise.
Second, letting your guard down.
“There’s nothing inside?”
Ryu Ji-a said while carefully looking around.
She had prepared herself to cut through hundreds of zombies as they climbed up.
But surprisingly, the interior of the 63 Building was quiet. So quiet it was chilling.
“Still, don’t let your guard down.”
Kim Jun warned in a low voice.
“You never know when they’ll appear. By then it’ll be too late.”
Gulp-
Ryu Ji-a swallowed.
“Y-yes…”
Her frightened hand gripped her staff tightly.
So tight that her knuckles turned white.
Creeak-
The emergency exit door opened.
Stairs.
The group slowly moved their feet.
One step.
Two steps.
Very carefully, so as not to make any sound.
The formation was set.
Kim Jun at the front.
Han Su-in behind him.
Lee Seo-yeon in the middle.
Then Ryu Ji-a.
Park Min-soo at the very back.
[7th Floor]
The floor indicator came into view.
Fortunately, no zombies had appeared yet.
But that made it even more frightening.
Because you never know when they might jump out.
What if they encountered a zombie horde in these narrow stairs?
There would be no answer.
Even if they released mana externally to wrap around their bodies, maintaining that would consume mana exponentially.
It would run out in just a few minutes.
And they couldn’t keep Lee Seo-yeon’s shield activated continuously either.
Her mana was also limited.
In the end.
They had no choice but to climb up while staying tense and alert.
‘Please.’
Even Kim Jun was desperately hoping.
He really didn’t want to face a companion getting infected.
Moreover, in this place, the doors that could open were limited.
[This door will not open!]
They couldn’t be opened by physical force.
Just like in a game, where you can’t enter areas that haven’t been implemented.
5th Floor, 10th Floor, 15th Floor…
They could only enter the interior at 5-floor intervals.
[10th Floor]
Drip-
“?!”
The group stopped at the sudden sound.
It was the sound of water.
The sound of water dropping from somewhere. From the ceiling? Or from the floor above?
“…”
Kim Jun raised his hand to signal a stop.
Everyone held their breath.
Drip-drip-
Only the regular sound of water droplets broke the silence.
5 seconds.
10 seconds.
20 seconds passed, but no other sounds were heard.
“…Let’s go.”
Kim Jun moved his feet again.
[13th Floor]
Scrape-
Park Min-soo’s foot scraped against the floor.
“…!”
Everyone froze instantly.
It felt like their hearts had stopped.
5 seconds.
10 seconds.
Whew-
Everyone carefully exhaled.
Gasp-
Ryu Ji-a had been holding her breath and barely managed to inhale air.
Cold sweat ran down her spine.
“…It seems fine. Let’s move.”
Kim Jun reassured them, but his hand was gripping his sword hilt even tighter.
Every little thing made them sensitive.
Even the smallest sound made their hearts pound as if they would burst.
[19th Floor]
A smell that stung the nose.
It was the smell of decay.
“Ugh…”
Ryu Ji-a covered her nose.
‘There’s a corpse.’
It meant that somewhere there was a zombie, or rather the corpse of a person who had become a zombie.
Somewhere close.
Kim Jun’s nerves became even more on edge.
[26th Floor]
Creeak-
Thud!
The sound of something falling came from below.
The group all stopped at once.
Their hearts pounded.
“…”
No one could open their mouth.
But even after waiting.
No sound could be heard.
‘Whew.’
Swoosh swoosh-
Kim Jun gestured with his hand and climbed the stairs again.
But the tension only heightened further.
[29th Floor]
‘Hah…’
Lee Seo-yeon let out a small sigh.
Fortunately, there were still no signs of anything.
Should she consider it fortunate?
Just as she was thinking that.
“Ugh… my legs…”
Ryu Ji-a muttered weakly.
For her, who never exercised at all normally, walking up 29 floors was torture.
Even in daily life, she used mana to assist her body when walking, to the extent that she extremely hated moving.
Moreover, she had run like crazy avoiding zombies to get here.
She had also consumed a lot of mana killing over a thousand of them.
Thump-
“Hah… hah…”
When Ryu Ji-a collapsed, Kim Jun called Park Min-soo.
“Min-soo.”
“Okay.”
Park Min-soo turned his back on his own.
“Get on.”
“Won’t it be hard for you?”
“It’s fine.”
Flex flex-
Park Min-soo rolled up his sleeves as if to reassure her and showed off his biceps.
“Don’t worry. I’m a man with a 2000 total for the big three lifts.”
He joked around as usual.
Smiling brightly.
But sweat was pouring down his forehead like a waterfall.
Sweat running down his spine. Sweat soaking his nape.
Tension.
Even he, who was usually optimistic, had all his nerves on edge right now.
‘I’m okay.’
He wasn’t afraid of dying himself.
Because he was a tank.
He thought it was his fate to die blocking attacks from the front.
But.
Ryu Ji-a looking at him with bright, innocent eyes.
She was a bit bratty, but still cute.
‘…And pretty too?’
Kim Jun and Lee Seo-yeon, who made him feel brotherly affection for the first time as an only child.
…Han Su-in, who didn’t talk much but quietly cared for him.
‘Mm. No way, absolutely not.’
Just imagining it gave him goosebumps all over.
It would be better if he died instead.
It would be better to die hundreds, thousands of times.
Rather than watch his companions get infected.
‘I just need to suffer a little more.’
That thought made Park Min-soo even more tense.
“Protecting a lady is a gentleman’s duty! Come on, get on!”
Park Min-soo spoke with forced brightness, but.
“…Don’t talk like that. Tch.”
Ryu Ji-a grumbled with dissatisfaction.
“???”
Park Min-soo had an expression that said he didn’t understand.
He had said it to make her laugh.
But the reaction was quite different.
‘This little one is nervous too.’
Only then did Park Min-soo realize.
That Ryu Ji-a was also grumbling on the outside, but scared to death on the inside.
That she was hiding her tension by complaining as usual.
‘We’re all the same.’
Everyone probably felt the same way.
Big brother, big sister, Su-in noona, and the little one too.
Of course, it wasn’t fear about dying themselves.
It was fear about their companions getting infected.
‘Please.’
Please.
At least those beside me.
At least those I care about.
Please don’t get infected.
Please don’t become zombies.
Everyone climbed the stairs carrying that desperate wish.
[41st Floor]
Normally they would have climbed faster.
But walking while tense, they couldn’t pick up speed.
Moreover, once Park Min-soo started carrying Ryu Ji-a on his back, their speed dropped even further.
“Can’t we go ahead? It doesn’t seem like there’s anything anyway.”
Park Min-soo gestured for them to go ahead.
“Nonsense.”
Kim Jun cut him off sharply.
If he was carrying Ryu Ji-a on his back and zombies appeared, he wouldn’t be able to respond at all.
That’s when it happened.
Thud-thud-
“…?”
A sound came from somewhere.
Footsteps.
Thud thud-thud thud-
“Wh-what is it?”
Ryu Ji-a asked with a trembling voice.
“Quiet!”
Kim Jun sharply cut her off.
The group stopped in unison.
They held their breath.
Only the sound of heartbeats echoed loudly.
Thud thud thud-thud thud thud-
The footsteps grew closer.
Fast.
Too fast.
‘It’s a Speed!’
Kim Jun’s face hardened.
Thudthudthudthudthud-!
The sound of something coming down the stairs.
No, not from above but below.
“It’s coming up from below!”
At that moment.
All sounds stopped.
The footsteps.
Even the heartbeats.
As if time had frozen.
Silence.
It was too silent.
1 second.
2 seconds.
3 seconds.
And then.
Kieeeeeeeek!!
With an ear-splitting scream.
Thud-!
Something burst through the door and leaped up.
A mutant called Speed.
Its skin had turned grayish, torn in places revealing red flesh.
Its jaw was unnaturally wide open, and the teeth inside were sharply pointed.
But the most chilling thing was its eyes.
Blood-red.
Completely stained red, pupils with not a trace of humanity left.
Saliva dripped down.
Sticky, yellowish saliva.
After long starvation, it rushed forward madly as if it had finally found prey.
“Damn it-!!”
Kim Jun drew his sword.
“Everyone up! Run right now!!”
They were currently on the 41st floor.
To open a door and enter, they needed to get to at least the 45th floor.
“Kyaak!”
Ryu Ji-a screamed.
Park Min-soo grabbed her tightly and began running up the stairs at full speed.
Kieek-! Kieek-! Kieek-!
More screams echoed from below.
It wasn’t just one.
There were several.
“Hurry!!”
Kim Jun shouted while looking back.
Below the stairs.
Speed zombies were swarming up.
At least ten.
No, more than that.
Men, women, elderly, children.
Their appearances in life were all different, but now they were all the same monsters.
Their clothes were torn, their skin was rotting, and their limbs were grotesquely twisted.
But they ran.
On all fours.
Like beasts.
Their claws scraped the floor, creating sparks.
Kigigigik-!
Kraaaak-!
Kieek-!
Screams mixed together.
The stairs were covered with zombies.
Swarming.
They surged forward like a wave.
“Get through the door!”
Kim Jun took the lead and opened the 45th floor door.
Tak tak tak tak-!
Footsteps echoed on the stairs.
From behind, the zombies’ screams.
Kieeeek-!
Kraaak-!
They were getting closer.
“Hurry, hurry and get in!”
Lee Seo-yeon shouted urgently.
Han Su-in entered first, followed by Lee Seo-yeon.
“Grrrruup!”
Kim Jun stayed behind Park Min-soo and Ryu Ji-a who had fallen behind, facing the pouring zombies.
Whoooosh-!
He unleashed sword energy at them.
But it was meaningless.
More zombies poured from behind.
Stepping on, climbing over, and leaping over the fallen zombies.
And now it was night.
The already fast ‘Speeds’ climbed up even faster.
Kieeeeee-!!
The zombies had chased them right to their heels. Close enough to reach with an outstretched hand.
At that moment, Park Min-soo didn’t hesitate for even a second.
Whooom-!
“P, Park Min-soooo!!!!”
“Haha.”
He threw Ryu Ji-a to Kim Jun.
And then.
“You bastaaards!”
Thud!
A 「Retaining Wall」 is erected.
So that they can never reach his companions.
A solid and sturdy retaining wall.
He’ll hold out until Ryu Ji-a climbs up to the 45th Floor!
“You absolutely can’t pass through. Wahahahaha!”
Thud! Thud-bang! Bang!
Dozens of them pounded on the retaining wall all at once.
Scratching with claws, biting with teeth, ramming with heads.
In that moment, Ryu Ji-a began to blame her entire life.
I should have exercised more regularly.
Instead of using magic to lighten my body every day when walking, I should have walked properly.
Instead of always refusing with ‘It’s bothersome’, ‘I’m tired’, ‘I’ll do it tomorrow’, I should have taken Park Min-soo’s hand.
I should have tried just a little harder.
I should have moved just a little more.
I should have been just a little lazier.
If I had done that.
That muscle pig.
Park Min-soo who shouted ‘Exercise!’ every day.
Wouldn’t have gotten tired carrying me up these stairs.
His speed wouldn’t have dropped.
He wouldn’t have fallen behind the zombies.
In the end, he wouldn’t have been driven into a corner.
Tears come pouring out.
“Damn it!”
Kim Jun felt the same regret.
Memories from before his regression.
The zombies had always come down from above.
So he had taken the lead.
The strongest one should face them first.
The tanker Park Min-soo could prepare for emergencies from the rear.
That’s how he had judged it.
‘I was wrong.’
Completely wrong.
This time they came up from below.
Why?
What had changed?
Where did it start going wrong?
“Min-soo!! Hurry up!”
Scritch-
Just because you make contact with a zombie doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be infected.
Whoooosh-!
Though the infection rate in this world is excessively high, there’s still a possibility.
Crack-crack-crack-!
It’s still just probability after all.
Kim Jun desperately engaged his wishful thinking circuit as he launched sword energy at the zombies, but.
Crunch-!
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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