Chapter 18: Mutant Child Zombie
The only issue was that the neck area was much smaller than the head, so it required greater accuracy.
And when people attacked with full force, their precision naturally became weaker.
A gray beam of light rose from the zombie’s corpse.
Joo Joowon moved the table aside and reached out to grab the drop.
The moment he bent down, a yellow blur suddenly rushed toward him.
The unexpected accident happened so suddenly that Joo Joowon’s reaction could not have been faster.
He immediately swung the fire axe in his hand toward the attacker, then violently kicked the door shut before instantly raising the compound crossbow and aiming at the target.
"ROAR!"
The zombie slammed itself against the door while roaring furiously.
The tremendous force caused dust to begin falling from the door frame.
Because the corpse of the zombie he had killed earlier was blocking the entrance, the door could not close completely.
Joo Joowon was not surprised by this result.
The only thing he had not expected was that this small zombie would possess such terrifying strength.
Even if there had been a table blocking the outside of the door, Joo Joowon suspected the door still would not last long under continuous impacts like these.
When going outside, being cautious was never a bad thing.
Every time Joo Joowon looked through the peephole, he never opened the door immediately.
Instead, he always waited for the zombies to calm down first before observing the environment inside through the peephole.
Only then would he make his move.
After continuously killing zombies, his clothes were already soaked and stained with zombie blood to the point they almost formed a hardened layer.
This was enough to mask the scent of a living human.
As long as he did not make any obvious noise, the zombies would usually calm down quickly.
The difference between a shared rental apartment and a privately rented home was extremely obvious from the layout of the living room.
As long as Joo Joowon observed through the peephole for a while, he could roughly understand the situation inside the apartment.
That was why, after seeing the layout of this living room, he had remained on guard the entire time.
There were baby clothes lying on the sofa and a baby stroller nearby.
Clearly, this should have been a family of three.
Yet when Joo Joowon first made noise, only two adult zombies rushed out.
However, Joo Joowon did not believe the baby was still alive.
After all, once people transformed into zombies, they no longer possessed human emotions.
How could they possibly ignore food that was right in front of them?
Even if the baby had been lucky enough to remain inside a room while the zombies stayed outside, the apocalypse had already lasted nearly a full day.
How could a child who understood nothing remain completely silent for that long?
Under those circumstances, the baby not appearing meant there were only two possibilities.
The first possibility was that the baby had already been completely devoured by its parents.
The second possibility was that it had already developed intelligence and learned how to ambush prey.
Joo Joowon would never optimistically assume the first possibility was true.
Earlier, while killing zombies, he had already encountered situations where some zombies were missing limbs.
There were even apartments that clearly showed signs of two people living there, yet only a single zombie eventually appeared.
Combined with the bloodstains and scattered flesh inside the rooms, it became obvious that if someone was bitten and failed to hide properly, or if their transformation into a zombie was not fast enough, then they would not even have the chance to become a zombie themselves.
They would simply become food for another zombie.
Even adults were already at a disadvantage when facing zombies, let alone underage children.
Because of his past life experiences, Joo Joowon was far more used to preparing for the worst rather than holding onto blind optimism.
That was why, even after killing the two zombies, he had never relaxed his vigilance.
And it was precisely this cautious attitude that prevented him from ending up like a mantis stalked by the oriole behind it.
Only now did Joo Joowon finally get a clear look at the small zombie’s appearance, causing a chill to run through his heart.
The little zombie looked quite fat, even larger than a corgi in size.
Its skin was pale white and traces of crimson blood still seemed to stain the teeth inside its open mouth.
However, the most eye catching part was its face.
It actually had the face of a cat!
Its face was covered in orange cat fur.
Its crimson eyes were round and large, no longer resembling human eyes at all, but standard feline eyes.
A tail had even grown from the end of its spine.
Its fingernails were sharp and pointed, soft paw pads had formed in its palms, and it moved on all fours.
The entire creature looked grotesquely unnatural.
It was neither truly a cat nor truly a human.
The only fitting description for it was monster.
Joo Joowon had originally believed he might need to face a troublesome Level 2 zombie.
But now, it felt more like he had encountered an elite monster.
His unusually high Mental Power allowed him to remain calm during critical moments.
Bracing his foot firmly against the door, Joo Joowon fired the crossbow bolt without hesitation.
At such close range, missing was impossible.
However, this zombie was clearly different from the ones Joo Joowon had killed before.
The previous zombies did not even know how to dodge attacks and acted only on instinct.
But this one instinctively tried to evade danger the moment it was attacked.
As a result, although the bolt struck the target, it failed to hit a fatal spot.
That reaction speed deeply alarmed Joo Joowon.
Even though he had already guessed from the little zombie’s appearance that its speed might be frighteningly high, he still had not expected it to be this fast.
Fast speed.
Great strength.
Practically no weaknesses at all.
Comments