Episode 2 – A Nightmarish World (3)

Nightmare Weavers.

Sinister creatures of the nightmarish world. It was said that they used to be normal creatures until they were corrupted by a deadly substance known as miasma, losing all their sanity and becoming beings of destruction.

They were ranked from grade 0 to grade 9. With grade 9 being the weakest and grade 0 being the strongest (monsters in this category are called Calamities or Titans)

The creatures chasing us were called 'Night Crawlers' but the people from earth referred to them as zombies.

They were grade 9 monsters so they were the weakest of the bunch. But even if they were the weakest monsters, there was no way we would stay and fight. It was impossible to fight.

"Fuck! Fuck! What the fuck?! What the hell is with these numbers!"

Kwangsun screamed as he ran forward with all his might.

That's right. The number of zombies chasing us reached above thousands. Some of them were even from the hospital.

As if that was not enough, those bastards were fast on their feet compared to zombies in movies.

"Grrrrr!"

"Fuck!"

A zombies from the side tried to grab me and I reacted quickly by shooting it in the head with the pistol.

Bang— Crush—

The sound of the monster's head being crushed by the bullet rang in my ears.

[You have killed a grade 9 night crawler.]

[100 coins has been given as additional compensation.]

[The skill 'Markmanship' has been acquired.]

It was not surprising that I was receiving this notification. Skills can be obtained in two different ways in Nightmare. Namely, it can either be bought from the shop or obtained through specific actions.

Although, the latter was very hard to accomplish but It was still possible. Especially with the gamer attribute.

'But it doesn't change the fact that I just wasted a bullet.'

The gun I was holding was a 9mm handgun. It was a rare kind that possessed a maximum capacity of 17 rounds in the magazine and I had used the handgun twice. Meaning, there was only 15 rounds remaining.

'I should save as many rounds as possible.'

I looked at the noisy zombies behind me. I realised if we continued to run in a straight line, we will get caught by the zombies before 30 minutes was over. This is where Lee Jong-ho comes in.

"Lee Jong-ho. The grenade."

"Ah... Right."

Lee Jong-ho pulled out a grenade, removed the pin and threw it behind him.

Once the grenade touched the forehead of a zombie, it lost its form and exploded in all directions.

KABOOM!!!

A tremendous explosion shook the earth and the ground trembled. The rest of the group screamed but never stopped their tremendous sprint.

Why? It was because the zombies were still chasing us despite getting blown by the explosion.

The zombies unaffected by the explosion, climbed on top the fallen corpses and continued to push forward.

Suddenly, somebody shouted.

"... Wh-What? Are you kidding me?"

"... There are more infront!"

There were zombies coming towards us from the front. They were the torn bodies that were lingering around. Thankfully, their numbers wasn't high so we should be able to push though.

"What should we do?"

"Let's take a turn."

"No, we will fight our way. Don't try to fight all of them and pass through. Most importantly, don't get bitten!"

"What happens if we get bitten?"

"Take a guess."

"..."

He was a doctor yet he did not know. Kwangsun kept quiet when he realised he just asked a stupid question.

We continued to run forward and the zombies infront got closer and closer. At the next instant, a battle erupted.

Keok— Keokuk—

Slam— Slam—

Slash— Slash—

The numbers of the zombies were reducing rapidly.

Lee Jong-ho smashed a zombie with his metal pipe, Kwangsun shot a rock with his slingshot, Jung Yunhee cut through the zombies with her sashimi knife and I shot the zombies with the handgun.

Bang— Bang— Bang— Bang—

Each time the zombies forehead got pierced, the system notification will ring in my ear.

[You have killed a grade 9 Night crawler.]

[100 coins has been gained as additional compensation.]

[You have killed a grade 9 Night crawler.]

[100 coins has been gained as additional compensation.]

[You have killed a grade 9 Night crawler.]

[100 coins has been gained as additional compensation.]

[You have killed a grade 9 Night crawler.]

[100 coins has been gained as additional compensation.]

[You have achieved six headshots in a row.]

[The exclusive skill 'Eagle Eye' has been acquired.]

Maybe it was because I had a hidden talented in shooting, I easily acquired the 'Eagle Eye' skill. Maybe American blood runs through my veins.

Eventually, we finally managed to push our way through the zombie-like creatures and continued running.

Grrrr—

Crack—

Because of the slight delay, our movement speed has been reduced and the zombies from behind were slowly catching up to us.

It seems like it's time for bomb them again.

"Lee Jong-ho. Once again!"

"... I understand!"

Upon hearing my words, Lee Jong-ho cocked another grenade and threw towards the zombies.

The same scene as before repeated itself.

The grenade simply touched the nose of a zombie and exploded in all directions.

BOOM!!!

The zombies were blown away by the explosion and the ground shook tremendously as if struck by an earthquake.

"... Ah!"

Angelica, shaken by the explosion, fell on the ground. I immediately grabbed her arm and forcefully rose her back to her feet.

"Suwon... I'm..."

"Don't say anything. Just continue running. We are almost there."

Fortunately, the distance to our destination was now less than a hundred metres. If we continued at this pace, we should be able to survive.

However, there was only one problem.

Rumble! Rumble!

Night crawlers were not the only enemy we had to worry about.

"... Wh-What's going on?"

"... An earthquake?"

"Damnit! Keep running!"

It was too late.

Crack! Kkk—

The ground shook tremendously as never-before-seen plants grew from the fissure. It was a massive monster over 30 metres tall. It was a grade 7 weaver that belonged to the plant species.

Now the entrance to the other side was blocked by the monster's massive body. Everyone seems to have safely made it to the other side. However, the same cannot be said for me.

"... Jakga!"

"Damnit, Jakga!"

I heard Lee Kwangsun and Angelica shouting my name on the other side. The grade 7 weaver was impossible to catch at the moment so there was no hope of getting to the other side.

"Everyono, stand back. I'm going to blow it up."

"Don't do it, Jong-ho. It won't work."

The skin of the grade 7 plant monster was much tougher than the grade 9 night crawler so bombing it with a grenade was pointless.

It might even backfire and enrage the monster. It probably ignoring us since we are not worth it's time.

" You guys go ahead, I will find another way."

"But..."

"I will be alright. Just go ahead."

"Tck."

Someone made an irritated sound. If it was Lee Jong-ho, I'm sure he would make the right decision.

"I understand. But you better not die."

"If that is so then don't raise death flags, God Damnit!"

Guwooh—!

Gyaaaaaaah—!

Before I could say more, I had to shift my attention somewhere else. Behind me, the night crawlers were jabbering nonsense and rapidly approaching.

I avoided the zombie that had gotten close and made a sprint towards the other road at the right.

[00 : 10 : 04]

I checked the time remaining for the scenario. It seems I have to survive for ten minutes. It was not alot of time but in this situation, it felt different.

'I just have to buy time.'

The theme of the second scenario was survival. You had to simply survive against a horde of monsters that will continue to respawn no matter how many you killed.

Fortunately, I already expected something like this to occur and made preparations in advance.

Now where would be an adequate place...

"Over there."

I made a sprint towards a building. As I entered, I closed the door and push something heavy to completely seal the entrance.

Bang! Bang!

The night crawlers started banging at the door but I have already gone up the stairs and reached the top of the building.

Then I made my way to the edge and noticed a huge crowd of zombies had gathered around the building. This was good.

I opened the backsack and pulled a bottle of salt. After opening the bottle, I poured the salt at the crowd of zombies. The result?

"Gugh, guwahhh—"

"Gyaaack—!"

The night crawlers started to twitch, and screamed in pain.

It was a pleasant sight to watch. Normally, those guys won't scream no matter how you cut and sever their limbs.

Yet they were all screaming below as if they were little girls. It was because of the salt.

Soon...

"Chii—!"

The night crawlers started falling to the ground one by one as their bodies began to melt.

[You have killed a grade 9 night crawler.]

[100 coins has been gained as additional compensation.]

[You have killed a grade 9 night crawler.]

[100 coins has been gained as additional compensation.]

[You have killed a grade 9 night crawler.]

[100 coins has been gained as additional compensation.]

"This is great."

If I continued to kill the zombies using this method, I should be able to farm alot of coins.

I started investing the coins I have gained into my stats.

[800 coins has been invested into Physique.]

[Physique Lv. 6 –> Physique Lv. 10]

[1,400 coins has been invested into Strength.]

[Strength Lv. 3 –> Strength Lv. 10]

[1,000 coins has been invested into Agility.]

[Agility Lv. 5 –> Agility Lv. 10]

[Your overall stats has reached the limit for the scenario.]

[You won't be able to increase your stars further.]

I was expecting such a message. With this, my overall stats was now 40.

Scatter—

"Guk! Guk! Guk!"

The night crawlers broke the door and came rushing at me. They arrived just in time.

I shifted backwards a little before I sprinted and jumped to the next building. The monsters that foolishly chased after me fell below and crashed on the ground.

So now what happened next was simple. I repeatedly jumped from building to building while pouring salt on the night crawlers below.

Dying cries constantly echoed below. I didn't bother to check if they died or survived. It was because I was constantly receiving kill notifications from the system.

[You have killed a grade 9 night crawler.]

[100 coins has been gained as additional compensation.]

[You have killed a grade 9 night crawler.]

[100 coins has been gained as additional compensation.]

[You have killed..... ]

[....]

I lost count of the number of notifications I currently received some time ago. Unfortunately, it didn't last for long.

After a while, my salt supply ran thin and my bag was now completely empty. To add to the bad news, the night crawlers have already broken down the door and were approaching in large numbers.

The time remaining before the scenario ended was 5 minutes. I have to hold them done somehow.

I starting shooting them down with the 9mm handgun. Since the bullets were reinforced with ether, one bullet was enough to pierce through multiple night crawlers.

Bang—! Bang—! Boom—!

All headshots.

The night crawlers livelessly fell to the floor when they got their heads pierced. On the other hand, I continued to receive system messages but I ignored them.

I was too busy shooting down night crawlers like I did in all those zombie shooting games I used to play in the arcade.

Bang—! Bang—! Bang—!

One, two, three. I began to lose count but I never stopped shooting the night crawlers until...

Click! Click! Click!

No bullet came out of the barrel anymore.