POARW 10

Chapter 10

Was it because Park Sang-il and I didn’t look too pleased?

Park Sang-ha, standing beside us, spoke up.

“Even if the time limit looks tight, if we keep moving without resting from now on, isn’t it still doable?”

“That’s right. If each person kills about 250 zombies… it’s manageable, right?”

I replied with a faint smile, and Park Sang-hoon added casually,

“Other survivors will probably arrive while the episode’s progressing anyway. Let’s rack up as many points as possible before they get here.”

It was still the early stage of the episode.

The zombies weren’t that strong yet.

Our group was already prepared for combat and had experience fighting zombies.

If the four of us hunted together… the number wasn’t impossible.

Park Sang-il glanced at Kim Hee-joo and Gyeong-seo beside him.

“Let’s find a place for Hee-joo and Gyeong-seo to hide first before we move.”

“I already checked.”

“Already?”

I opened the 3D terrain map, checked the apartment building numbers, and said,

“Let’s head to Building 105 first.”

“Where’s Building 105?”

“It’s close. Over here.”

When I pointed at a specific spot on the map, Park Sang-il alternated between the map and the actual surroundings, rubbing his chin quietly.

“Hmm… the layout’s kind of confusing.”

“I think it’s because this apartment complex was built with terracing. The first floor isn’t really the first floor.”

“What kind of place has the first floor three stories above ground?”

“I think the path upward is over there.”

“Good thing you’ve got a 3D map. If it were just a flat map, we’d waste an entire day finding the way.”

Park Sang-il was about to move immediately, but I grabbed his shoulder.

“Wait a second. Let’s change weapons first.”

“Weapons?”

Right now, we were fighting zombies with kitchen knives, steel pipes, and baseball bats.

If we wanted to kill 1,000 zombies within 24 hours, we needed to save every second—including the time spent checking whether fallen zombies were truly dead.

“Sang-ha hyung, how many points do you have right now?”

“2,158.”

“It costs 500 points to craft one weapon, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Please make four.”

“Should I make blunt weapons?”

“No. We need to increase hunting speed, so blades would be better.”

At the mention of blades, Park Sang-il tilted his head.

“Are swords really the right choice? Wouldn’t blunt weapons be better?”

“Maker-crafted weapons come with special abilities, so bladed weapons are stronger.”

“Special abilities?”

“Right now, even after you cut off a zombie’s head, it can stay alive for a few seconds, right?”

“Yeah. Some bastards kept moving for three whole minutes after getting decapitated. That’s why you told us to watch out for ankles.”

“Right. But if you cut off a zombie’s head with a Maker weapon, it dies instantly.”

Park Sang-il and Park Sang-hoon looked shocked.

Meanwhile, Park Sang-ha immediately sat down and started crafting weapons.

Opening the system window, he fiddled with the interface and asked,

“There are a lot of blade types. Which one’s best?”

“A hwando would probably be good.”

“Hwando? Like the swords from the Joseon era?”

“Yeah. The length is decent, and it’s easy to carry.”

The moment Park Sang-ha began crafting—

Tzzzzt!

A small furnace materialized before him, sparks flying from within.

“Holy shit, that’s cool.”

Park Sang-il crossed his arms as he spoke, and Kim Hee-joo smacked his arm lightly.

Probably telling him not to curse in front of the kid.

[Beginning equipment crafting.]

[Crafting time may increase depending on difficulty.]

[Crafting item: Hwando]

[Time remaining until completion: 10, 9, 8, 7…….]

When the ten-second countdown ended, the shape of a sword slowly emerged above the glowing red furnace.

A single-edged blade with a slight curve.

There was even a ring attached to the end of the handle.

It resembled the hwando swords used during the Joseon Dynasty, though this one was slightly larger.

Park Sang-ha handed the completed sword to me.

“What do you think?”

The blade itself was around 80 centimeters long, and the handle was about 20 centimeters.

A bit too large to call a traditional hwando… but who cared?

It felt fantastic to swing, and incredibly light.

“It’s light. Easy to swing, and well-balanced too. Thanks.”

The furnace continued crafting without pause.

Even under the pouring rain, the flames never went out.

Soon, four swords were completed, and everyone grabbed one, swinging them through the air.

“These are insanely light. Aren’t they gonna snap easily?”

A reasonable concern.

I gave a faint smile and answered,

“They’re not made from minerals that exist in reality. They’re durable and extremely tough.”

“Light and durable? What is this, adamantium?”

“Uh… in the sense that it doesn’t exist in reality, I guess it’s similar.”

Now that we had weapons, it was time to move.

“Invest remaining points into agility.”

[Consumed 1,000 points to increase Agility by 10.]

[Current Stats: Stamina 45, Strength 25, Agility 30, Skin 5]

[Remaining Points: 19]

[Owned Coins: 3]

With this much strength, stamina, and agility, I could practically massacre early-episode zombies.

And now we had Maker-crafted weapons too.

Our hunting speed would increase several times over.

After finishing my stat investment, I looked at Park Sang-il.

He drew the hwando from its sheath and said,

“Let’s go.”

* * *

“Grrrrrr……”

Visibility was barely twenty meters.

Between the sound of pouring rain came irregular splashing footsteps from all directions.

“Do-yoon, four zombies thirty meters to the right.”

“Let’s take them out and move.”

Pointing toward the zombies, Park Sang-il spoke.

“I’ll take the one in front. Do-yoon and Sang-ha, deal with the ones behind it.”

“What about me?”

When Park Sang-hoon asked, Park Sang-il looked back at Kim Hee-joo and Gyeong-seo.

“You stay beside Hee-joo and Gyeong-seo.”

Once the briefing ended, we charged the zombies without hesitation.

“Kahaaaak!!”

The zombies finally sensed us and turned our way.

Stab— Slash! Slice—

The hwando cut through the air before they could even react.

Zombie flesh and muscle split apart cleanly.

Even bones as thin as wrists were sliced like paper.

This weapon’s performance is insane.

You couldn’t feel this in No Way Home.

I knew Maker-crafted weapons were strong, but…

Using one in reality was on an entirely different level.

We cleaned up the four zombies instantly, and Park Sang-il stared at the hwando in disbelief.

“With weapons like this, we could take on any number of zombies.”

“Don’t let your guard down. The zombies get stronger later on.”

I replied calmly.

Meanwhile, Park Sang-ha checked the system messages and tilted his head.

“Do-yoon, can weapons be upgraded too?”

“Yeah, but it costs a ton of points. You’ll see if you check.”

“Oh, wow. The cost doubles.”

“It doubles every upgrade.”

After the brief explanation, I looked toward Park Sang-il.

He was staring toward Building 105.

“There are more on the way there.”

“How many?”

“Ten visible. There might be more hiding behind obstacles.”

“I’ll handle them.”

Gripping the sword handle tightly, I ran ahead into the rain.

I wanted to test both the hwando’s performance and my enhanced body.

“Grrrrrr……”

“Kahk— haaak!”

The zombies turned toward me after hearing my footsteps.

Their blurry silhouettes sharpened instantly, mouths gaping wide as they lunged for my flesh.

Slash! Stab! Shhk!

The hwando’s weight couldn’t even be compared to an aluminum bat.

After a horizontal slash, transitioning into the next movement felt effortless.

Thrusting into zombie hearts or necks was easy too.

Just by changing weapons, the burden on my muscles and stamina consumption dropped drastically.

And with my agility, strength, and stamina all increased, the zombies looked much slower than before.

I felt like I could react to any attack.

After killing all ten zombies in an instant, I checked to see if any were still alive.

“Kkh……”

One of them collapsed while coughing blood.

Its upper body twitched erratically.

The blade must’ve missed slightly.

Its neck was still attached.

Do zombies fear death too?

I stared silently at the fallen zombie’s face.

Its eyes held nothing except the instinctive hunger for prey.

Click— clack—

Gnashing its teeth together, it crawled toward me.

Even while dying, it still craved my flesh.

Gripping the sword handle with both hands, I severed its neck completely.

As the head separated from the body, the zombie finally stopped moving.

“Kahaaaak!”

At that moment, a zombie cried out from the bushes to my left.

The instant I heard it, my enhanced agility and strength made my hand react before my mind did.

Even my reflexes had improved.

Whoosh—

‘Huh?’

But the blade hit nothing.

My eyes followed a split second later—

Something at waist height entered my vision.

A child no older than ten drooled thick saliva as it lunged toward my side.

Too short for the blade to hit.

That brief moment stretched endlessly.

‘A child… no, a zombie.’

I hurriedly twisted my wrist, changing the direction of the blade, and swung toward its carotid artery.

Slash!

The exact moment the zombie child’s head flew off…

Was burned clearly into my vision.

A chill crawled over my entire body.

I stood there blankly as Park Sang-il and Park Sang-ha ran over a second later.

Park Sang-ha pressed his lips tightly together while staring at the decapitated corpse.

The zombie looked like an elementary schooler.

Maybe even kindergarten age.

He couldn’t take his eyes off it.

Just from his expression, I could tell what he was thinking.

It must be hard.

Hard to accept.

Everyone accepted the apocalypse differently.

Some despaired.

Some became numb.

And some celebrated.

I didn’t know which type Park Sang-ha was, but I hoped he could endure it.

Even I had been momentarily shaken seeing a child zombie.

Someone kind-hearted like Park Sang-ha would feel it even more deeply.

‘Get a grip.’

This wasn’t the time to drown in emotions.

If you didn’t kill zombies, you died.

“Sang-ha hyung.”

“……”

“Sang-ha hyung?”

“Huh? Ah, yeah, Do-yoon.”

“You have to accept it.”

“……”

Park Sang-ha gave a bitter smile and nodded.

Without saying anything, Park Sang-il patted his brother’s back and called the others over.

As Kim Hee-joo, Gyeong-seo, and Park Sang-hoon ran toward us, Park Sang-ha stepped in front of the child zombie’s corpse so they wouldn’t see it.

I examined Building 105 and spoke.

“It looks exactly like the 3D map. Let’s use this place as our hideout for now.”

If we stayed talking at the entrance, the others would eventually notice the corpse.

Better to move quickly.

I stepped ahead and opened the communal entrance door.

We entered through Lines 5 and 6.

Opening Apartment 106 on the right, a clean shoe cabinet and living room came into view.

After carefully checking the living room, master bedroom, and bathroom, I spoke to Kim Hee-joo.

“Noona, stay here with Gyeong-seo.”

“But is it safe? This is the first floor.”

“The entrance is on the first floor, but if you look out the back window, it’s actually pretty high up.”

“So it’s easier to escape if things get dangerous?”

“Yeah. Unlike villas, if you settle on an upper floor here and zombies rush in, there’s nowhere to run.”

Everyone agreed.

As long as the curtains stayed closed and nobody made loud noises, it would be safe.

Now that we had a hideout, we needed to speed things up again.

“Let’s go. If we want to kill 1,000 zombies within 24 hours, we need to keep moving.”

“Now that we’ve got weapons, how about splitting into two teams?”

I looked at everyone’s expressions after Park Sang-il suggested it.

It would definitely be faster…

But would it really be okay?

Feeling uneasy, I stared at Park Sang-il.

“Will you be alright?”

“Haha! Are you worried about me?”

The moment he said that, I realized my mistake.

I wasn’t their guardian.

There was no reason to insist on staying together.

Park Sang-il stared back at me blankly, then let out a bitter smile.

“Why so serious? I’m joking.”

“I wasn’t being serious.”

Feeling embarrassed, I cleared my throat and looked away.

Park Sang-il crossed his arms and asked,

“Baek Do-yoon. Did you ever learn kendo or something?”

“I learned a little during hard times.”

“You learned when things were hard? Shouldn’t you rest when life gets hard instead of…”