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Chapter 15
‘Stings like hell.’
Jang Sunam winced in pain.
He hadn’t been able to perfectly block the telekinetically hurled forks, and blood seeped from his arms and legs.
‘There’s gotta be something useful on him.’
He rifled through the corpse of the subordinate, checking for drop items.
‘Damn, this guy was loaded.’
[You have acquired 2,205 Coins.]
It was more than what you’d normally get from hunting a boss.
‘That much means he was squeezing people dry.’
With that, Jang Sunam’s total wealth surpassed 60,000 Coins. Enough to buy entire buildings—but pointless for now.
In this world, buying a building just meant it would be destroyed by monsters or hunters before long.
What was needed was a structure that could be repaired, reinforced, modified, and even relocated—like stacking blocks in a construction game.
‘Still a bit early for that.’
Once he ascended to the upper districts and became an E-rank hunter, the “Construction System” would unlock.
‘Anyway… this bastard had plenty on him.’
The subordinate’s drops were numerous enough that sorting through them took time. Most were junk by Sunam’s standards.
“…Oh?”
Among them, he found 8 Healing Potions (F).
Each required 10 Coins to unseal—not an amount that troubled him. He bought them all.
Gulp!
‘Ugh… tastes nasty.’
The small glass bottle’s contents left a bitter tang on his tongue.
‘But the effect’s solid.’
The bleeding stopped, and the torn wounds knit shut.
Just then—
“Here you are, nya.”
A cat walked in and spoke.
It was the slime mimic in feline disguise.
“Fun little hunt out there, nya.”
Apparently, it had taken out a few White Authority guards.
“I picked up something good, nya.”
It handed over an item—an advanced detection tool: Goblin’s Scanner (F+).
‘Well now, that’s lucky. More useful than I expected.’
He hadn’t thought it would go farming on its own. Monsters couldn’t earn Coins from kills, but anyone could grab the Coins dropped by a dead NPC or hunter.
That was why the slime had been able to buy the sealed drop. After all, both monsters and NPCs benefitted from the same System.
‘It’s fine now, but… later, that’ll be a real nightmare.’
Monsters with intelligence—like the slime before him—were especially dangerous.
“Good work.”
He equipped Goblin’s Scanner (F+)+1, and the F+ ranks that had previously displayed as ??? finally appeared.
“Grateful, right?” the slime asked.
“Not sure about that,” Sunam replied.
The slime danced about in its cat form, trying to please him. Yet inwardly, it plotted.
‘Heh heh… Just wait, human. Someday I’ll regain my freedom, nya.’
Perhaps there was a way to overcome its salt weakness or to escape the binding of a summoned creature.
The mimic clung to that hope, playing the role of a loyal summon in the meantime.
‘Yeah… that’s probably what it’s thinking. Summoning doesn’t change the personality, after all.’
Of course, Jang Sunam already knew that.
“Follow me, Jelly. Time to deal with the next problem.”
“Jelly?”
“Your name.”
Though given a name out of nowhere, the mimic accepted without complaint.
“Fine, nya. From now on, I am Jelly.”
Sunam headed for the base camp’s incinerator.
‘The manager here is dead, so I should be able to buy it now.’
He planned to purchase the Chaos Energy Collector and examine it later—his Infinite Inventory made it possible.
Unfortunately—
‘Broken, huh.’
The collector was already smashed beyond repair.
‘And the storage section’s missing. Someone must’ve taken it.’
Likely, the so-called “Retriever” had realized the camp’s fall and grabbed it quickly, then destroyed the device to erase evidence.
Even after six endings, Sunam had never learned of this faction. He wasn’t foolish enough to think he could track them easily.
‘Still, there are other ways.’
The clue lay in Bloodstone.
Even an ordinary member, once interrogated, could lead him along the chain toward the core.
‘No rushing. Step by step.’
For now, solving the zombie outbreak came first.
About an hour later—
“As I thought… late.”
Arriving at the Government Daejeon Complex, Sunam sighed.
He had wanted to derail the subordinate’s plan, but several guilds—including the White Authority—were already battling the boss.
And it was nearly over.
[Boss: Ice Goblin Lord has been defeated.]
[Best Slayer: None (Boss self-destructed)]
[Best Support]
– <Lee Doona>
– <Park Seyoung>
– <Kim Chaewoo>
The cornered boss had triggered a self-destruction skill, taking several hunters with it.
“It begins.”
At his words, the event following the boss’s death unfolded.
[With the defeat of the Ice Goblin Lord, the frozen zone’s seal has been lifted.]
The 5km stretch from here to the Sacred Heart Altar rapidly thawed.
Unlike normal ice, it sublimated instantly into vapor.
And within it, the embedded Red Ice also dissolved.
“What’s that red mist, nya?”
The living crimson fog swirled toward nearby goblin corpses. To Sunam’s expectation, they twitched and rose.
“If it touches you, you become a zombie.”
This forced event always followed the Ice Goblin Lord’s fall—
The beginning of the Zombie Apocalypse.
While other guild hunters panicked, the White Authority guards bolted for the exits. Smoothly, as if rehearsed, they locked the doors and bound the handles with chains—trapping the other raiders inside.
‘So they’re executing the vaccine plan.’
By turning the trapped hunters into zombies and spreading the plague, they’d inflate the vaccine’s value.
People desperate to save loved ones would pay any price.
That wealth would allow White Authority to dominate the world again, just as they had in the first cycle.
Through binoculars, Sunam saw hunters begging to be let out while the guards laughed at them.
With the facility indestructible, the chained doors were nearly impossible to break.
And inside, the boss revived—corrupted by the mist—
becoming the Ice Goblin Zombie Lord.
Hunters were on the brink of annihilation.
“Stay clear of the mist,” Sunam ordered.
“Then can I hunt the guards outside, nya?”
“They’re fair game. Just drag them away from the door.”
At that, Jelly smirked wickedly and morphed into the subordinate’s form.
It charged the guards and barked—
“You idiots! Who told you to handle things like that? Form up, now!”
“……!?”
Recognizing the voice and attitude, the guards obeyed without question.
“Are you unharmed, sir? We heard the base camp was attacked—”
“What, were you hoping I’d die? You bastard, on your knees!”
As the fake berated them, Sunam slipped past toward the door.
Inside, through the glass—
“Uaaagh!”
“Help us!”
The scene was pure hell.
The Zombie Lord wielded a grotesque gem, spewing crimson fog. Hunters transformed in droves, turning on their allies.
Hunters with spare lives would respawn normal after death.
But those who had nearly spent all their lives in the boss fight—once turned, could not return.
The number of unkillable zombies was rising fast.
“…Hey, who’s that?”
One guard, mid-scolding, spotted Sunam.
‘Too late to hide.’
Sunam didn’t hesitate—he swung his axe.
CLANG!
The F+ weapon shattered the chains without a scratch.
“He’s breaking the lock!”
The guards rushed, but too late.
Sunam tore off the last chain, yanked the doors wide, and roared—
“The door’s open! Kill the White Authority bastards!”
That was all the trapped hunters needed.
Their joy at release and fury at betrayal fused into a savage charge.
“Thanks, Crow!”
“So it’s the hunter from the rumors? I’ll remember this favor—!”
Like demons loosed from hell, they stormed the guards.
“C-captain, what now—?”
The team leader spun to his commander—
only to see a stranger with a sinister grin swinging a weapon.
Jelly had shifted forms again.
CRACK!
“Aaagh!”
The captain’s scream rang out as hunters and guards clashed in a chaotic melee.
Leaving the skirmish behind, Sunam loosened his shoulders and strode inside.
“Graaaah…”
“Uuuuurgh…”
The building swarmed with zombified goblins and hunters.
At the center loomed the Zombie Lord, seething with crimson power.
“Well then. Since it’s come to this, I might as well clear house and snag myself a new weapon.”
This time, he wouldn’t summon.
Summoned or not, if they touched the mist, they’d turn.
“Let’s finish this quick.”
Grinning, Jang Sunam charged into the horde.
