Chapter 11 : Companions (1)

Chapter 11: Companions (1)

The fact that the above message had appeared meant that the total tutorial achievement points had surpassed 3,000P.

‘It was faster than expected, but that was even better.’

The difficulty had risen drastically with the appearance of variants.

But hunting variants was the best way to accumulate the most achievement points in the tutorial.

From Dohyeong’s perspective, who had to gather as many points as possible, this situation was more welcome than anyone else.

Leaving Dohyeong, who was smiling inwardly, Suho muttered as if worried.

“What even is a variant, seriously… it hasn’t even been a day yet, isn’t this too much…….”

Suho bit his lip tightly with a frightened expression.

It was a reaction so bleakly opposite to Dohyeong’s.

For an ordinary person, it was the natural response.

“This is really bad. We don’t even have anything to eat right now, and nowhere to rest. And the enemies are getting stronger.”

Dohyeong patted Suho on the shoulder.

“It’s fine. You can tell their ambush timing to some extent by the sound, right? And if they’re zombies…….”

He did not bother to finish the sentence.

But Suho could understand what he meant.

Even though it had been when he couldn’t see, he knew that Dohyeong had wiped out the zombies in an instant.

A ‘it’s fine’ coming from someone with that kind of power carried quite a bit of weight.

Suho’s anxiety eased to some degree.

Grrrrk……!

Perhaps because of that, a resounding sound came from Suho’s stomach.

Embarrassed that his stomach was sending a food signal at a time like this, he gave an awkward smile.

“S-sorry. I haven’t been able to eat anything until now…….”

“Then should we eat first before we start?”

“Yes? Th-there’s something to eat?”

Leaving the bewildered Suho behind, Dohyeong opened the duffel pack and took out a green fruit.

“Here. It’s a gift.”

The moment Suho accepted the green fruit with his eyes widened, an achievement completion message appeared for Dohyeong.

Ding!

「Achievement completed」

「You provided food to another player in a state of hunger」

Achievement Points Acquired: 30P

A small smile formed on Dohyeong’s lips as he checked the message.

‘Might as well collect all the remaining achievements too.’

.

.

.

Dohyeong told Suho that he had already tried the green fruit himself.

And that he was observing the aftermath for a while in case there were side effects like with the yellow fruit.

Reassured by that, Suho hurriedly devoured two green fruits.

“Suho, it seems like we’ll be sticking together for a while. Don’t you think we should get a grasp of each other?”

“Yes! I, I’m a third-year at Seogyo High Scho—.”

“No, that kind of thing is fine. I meant things like what skills you have or your current stats.”

“Ah, yes!”

Since things had turned out this way, Dohyeong intended to properly raise Suho.

To do that, he needed to check what Suho’s starting skill was.

‘What did he pick?’

Perhaps because he had been saved by him several times.

Suho told Dohyeong his stats and skills without holding anything back.

“First, with the bonus stats I got at the start, I raised all my attributes by 1.”

And the remaining 1 bonus stat had been prudently left unused for any unforeseen situation.

What was interesting was the guy’s skill.

“Mental Armament?”

“Yes…… I thought carefully before choosing a card, but I don’t think I picked a very good one.”

The passive-type [Mental Armament].

It was a skill that allowed one to maintain calm even in extreme situations.

It was the moment that made sense of how the guy, who had been trembling earlier, had still assessed the situation fairly calmly.

It was a skill that matched Suho quite well.

But it was true that it wasn’t very useful right now.

However.

‘If you consider this skill’s hidden piece, it was a good choice.’

Ancient Demon Serum.

By using this extremely rare item, one could become a [Demon], a being that was overpowered by its very existence.

Because consumption was only possible if one had obtained an upper-tier skill of [Mental Armament].

For going down the demon tech tree, [Mental Armament] was practically mandatory.

Dohyeong imagined this frail bespectacled guy, who was giving an awkward smile, becoming a demon.

‘It kind of suits him, somehow.’

Dohyeong nodded once and muttered inwardly.

‘You should consider yourself lucky.’

This was an ultra-rare hidden piece that other veterans didn’t even know about.

If he hadn’t met him, Suho would definitely have lived his entire life without ever realizing the true value of this skill.

‘That aside, a demon…… when the tutorial ends, I should properly check whether that guy is also in the [Hall of Heroes].’

As he recalled one of the sub-characters he had raised.

Just as he was about to subtly probe about the skill of that guy’s older sister, who had been born with [Mana Womb - Blessing of Mana].

Grrrraaah……!

An unsettling wail began to echo around them.

The first zombie wave since entering a new phase.

“Since we’ve filled our stomachs, are they at least giving us time to digest?”

At Dohyeong’s words, Suho nodded with a stiffened expression.

“These guys really don’t give us a moment’s rest.”

10 minutes earlier.

In the middle of a forest at some distance from Dohyeong’s group.

A gigantic iron gate suddenly appeared.

And from between the iron doors, one person emerged.

“So this is the place?”

It was Jegal Geon, with Jesus-style hair grown to his shoulders.

He casually slung a machete, smeared with blood and chunks of flesh, over his shoulder.

“From here on, it’s the real beginning.”

It was a fact told to him by the rabbit he had swung his sword at, thinking it was a monster.

Jegal Geon slowly swept his gaze across the forest, where a sinister aura spread throughout.

It was a place that suited a ruined world perfectly.

In a place where an ordinary person would likely be tense, he gave a faint smile.

“I like this place.”

Cracking his neck to either side as he stretched, he checked his condition.

‘They said my level went up, right?’

When the rabbit had waved its hand once.

It had said that as the system stabilized, the accumulated experience data that had been on hold came rushing in.

Finding it bothersome to check and calculate the status window one by one, he dumped all the bonus stats he received as level-up rewards into [Strength] and [Agility].

Then.

“!”

A power surged up, enough to make his eyes snap wide open.

‘I want to slice something up already.’

His body was already itching.

Just as he was about to step forward with a deep smile.

Ding!

===========================

The combined achievement points of all current players have reached the standard value.

From now on, the physical bodies of zombies will strengthen and become more ferocious.

In addition, ‘variant’ individuals with power different from basic zombies will be generated, so beware of danger.

============================

An ordinary person would probably read it slowly.

But Jegal Geon was merely annoyed that it was blocking his view.

‘How irritating.’

Just as he frowned and waved his hand.

“!”

Something was felt from far away.

……Gwoooaaargh!

A beat later, a zombie’s howling was heard.

He immediately realized that the sound belonged to a monster inhabiting this place.

A deep smile formed at the corner of Jegal Geon’s mouth.

Then, without any hesitation, he sprinted forward.

Tat-tat!

Charging through the forest as if it were his own living room, without even checking what it was.

Or what kind of scale it was on, he swung his machete.

Shukak!

The sound of the blade slicing through the air rang out fiercely.

The enhanced zombie that had burst out of the forest reflexively raised its hand toward the charging Jegal Geon, but.

Slash!

Its forearm and head were severed clean off.

Jegal Geon shuddered as he felt that peculiar sensation at his fingertips when flesh and bone were cut apart.

“This is it.”

Jegal Geon, grinning broadly, looked around.

Only then did he confirm that what he had decapitated was a zombie.

“Kwaaaah!”

“Krk!”

The remaining zombies numbered a total of eight.

The smile on his lips showed no sign of fading at all.

“There’s still plenty left to slice.”

And so, without anyone knowing, the 33rd player entered the tutorial zone.

Two hours since he had begun accompanying Dohyeong in earnest.

Suho was filled with admiration for Dohyeong at every moment.

Walking ahead, Dohyeong raised his hand and pointed to one side.

If he listened carefully in that direction, he could hear the faint sound of zombie howling.

Gwoooer……!

“About six of them, I think? That shouldn’t be dangerous.”

“Ah, yes!”

For now, Suho could only distinguish whether there were many or few.

But Dohyeong pinpointed their numbers with considerable accuracy.

When howling was heard, he estimated their scale and decided whether to hunt or leave the area.

“Alright, then let’s ambush them first like before.”

Once the hunt was decided, they either set traps and waited.

Or launched a preemptive ambush before the creatures arrived.

Tat-tat!

Just how much strength and stamina he had, Dohyeong ran smoothly through the forest with a heavy-looking duffel bag slung over his shoulder.

Chasing after him with all his might.

“Kraaaah!”

“Krrr……!”

One or two zombies were already rolling on the ground with their necks severed.

And Dohyeong was simultaneously dealing with the remaining zombies using a spear imbued with green energy.

“I’ll join you right away!”

Without a moment to catch his breath, Suho swung his spear.

Slash!

Suho severed the forearm of the enhanced zombie he was dealing with.

“Kraaaah!”

But the enhanced zombie thrashed about viciously.

Pa-at!

It lunged powerfully toward Suho.

Just as he stepped back in time with the creature’s movement and was about to thrust his spear.

Thud!

His foot caught on a tree root he hadn’t noticed, and he fell backward.

“Khk……!”

As he fell, he barely raised the shaft of his spear and was bitten by the oncoming creature’s teeth.

Clack! Clack!

The sight of it gnawing viciously on the spear shaft right in front of his face was terrifying.

It was enough to freeze someone in fear, but Suho ignored it and grappled with the creature head-on.

“Ghhh!”

“Karrk, kak!”

Fortunately, since it was missing one arm, it wasn’t difficult to shake it off.

In the end, he drove the spearhead straight into its crown.

“Hoo, huff!”

Letting out rough breaths, he quickly scanned his surroundings.

“Are you okay?”

While he had been locked in a life-or-death struggle with one zombie.

Dohyeong had already dealt with all the remaining ones.

Judging that there was no more danger around, Suho let out a deep sigh.

“Yes. I’m fine.”

“Good job. From what I saw, you didn’t flinch and fought well.”

“That’s all thanks to the skill.”

The [Mental Armament] he had thought he chose wrong at the beginning, after reading the description, now felt quite satisfying.

It allowed him to act calmly in sudden situations like just now.

‘Just like hyung said, when I went blind, being able to get a grip on myself was all thanks to this skill.’

As he was catching his breath for a moment like that, the howling sound was heard once again.

“They really don’t let up at all. I wonder if we’ll even be able to sleep properly.”

Suho shook his head.

But Dohyeong’s expression looked somewhat unusual.

“……Hyung? Is something wrong?”

Dohyeong replied with a frown between his brows.

“No, it’s just. I’ve got a strange feeling.”

“A feeling?”

At that, Suho listened closely to the howling.

“Kraaa……!”

It was no different from before.

But it seemed Dohyeong didn’t think so.

He placed his index finger over his lips and quietly moved in that direction.

Swept up by the mood, Suho followed him as carefully as possible.

He had felt it when he was first saved, too.

This hyung really was something different.

‘If it weren’t for hyung, my sister or I would’ve already died a long time ago.’

Just as he formed a bitter smile, Dohyeong’s steps came to an abrupt halt.

“Wait.”

Dohyeong’s eyes gleamed as if he had spotted something.

“I think that’s a variant.”

“!”

At those words, Suho narrowed his eyes and cast his gaze into the distance.

A monster, clearly larger and thicker than the other zombies, stood towering there.

“Krrr…….”

Swallowing dryly at the sudden appearance of the creature.

Suho somehow felt that, if he were together with the person beside him, it might be worth trying.