[Ingredient Appraisal (Enhanced)]
[Parasite Type B-36S Mutant (Primary Incubation Stage)]
[Freshness — Highest]
This is exactly......
The identity of zombies.
[This is a parasitic lifeform that roams multiple universes to breed — a Parasite.]
“Parasite.”
[The parasitic lifeform, the Parasite, begins full-scale activity from the moment its host dies.]
[Settling in the nervous system of the deceased host, the Parasite can control the dead host’s body.]
[After attacking another living being through the host, it injects its eggs via the mouth, fingernails, and so on.]
[Once hatched, the Parasites swiftly drive the host to death, then begin the same activity through yet another host.]
It moves the bodies of the dead.
It attacks others to inflict wounds, and infection enters through those wounds.
That is zombies to the letter.
But their true identity was a parasite.
Across media, the causes of zombies vary.
The reason I came to suspect these things were parasites—
There was one big reason.
[Chef of Dasmur].
Because I saw his memories.
Two scenes in particular were the clues in those memories.
First, the zombies of my own kind charging “me.”
What “I” said while watching those zombies.
—Like a bunch of bugs......!
I could understand why the Pontiff called us bugs.
A race each of whom grows to a size reaching ten meters.
The mana that matched that size made them look truly powerful.
Compared to them—
We humans could indeed look inferior.
However.
The ones that rushed the chef at that time were different.
Zombies they might have become, but they were of the same race as “me.”
“Calling those guys ‘bugs’ felt a bit off.”
And second......
When the chef’s body was cut in half by the Sacred Beast’s teeth.
The moment he was sucked into that stomach.
What was visible inside.
‘Countless parasites.’
Parasites themselves are not strange.
In fact, the Sacred Beast’s parasites were said to be a tremendous ingredient.
But.
The Sacred Beast’s parasites I saw as ingredients were monstrously big.
Big enough that the ten-meter-tall chef had to hold one in both hands to cook it.
By contrast, what the chef saw right before dying—
A swarm of very small parasites.
The moment I saw that, I thought:
‘Those might be...... the true identity of zombies.’
And.
This is the result of that thought.
“No wonder they were hard to find......!”
I muttered, looking at the tiny worm pinched between my fingers.
A bean-sized bug that carried mana.
Human corpses already tend to swarm with maggots.
All the more when this thing was nearly the same size as other ordinary bugs—hard to distinguish.
‘......Team Leader Lee Sanga said they leveled up by killing a zombie.’
By contrast.
Most survivors did not level up even when they killed zombies.
What the difference was—
I think I know now.
I applied a bit of strength to the fingers holding the parasite.
Then—
Crack.
The bug burst with ridiculous ease.
And then—
A strange sense of fulfillment poured into my body.
[You gain experience points.]
The amount was faint, but.
It was unmistakably experience.
Exactly the energy needed for Awakening.
“Team Leader Lee Sanga...... when they killed that zombie, they luckily struck the part where the parasite was.”
When the conquest of Inje County was underway,
I had dropped by the tailor shop where Lee Sanga used to work.
I also saw the zombie she’d said she killed to Awaken.
And, on the nape of that zombie—
A pair of dressmaking shears was lodged.
I found this parasite near the spinal cord.
‘It parasitizes near the spinal cord...... and moves the host.’
Unlike others who failed to Awaken even after killing zombies—
Those who killed a zombie and succeeded in Awakening—
They had the luck to strike the spot where this worm was.
‘As for why they didn’t show up in our unit.......’
If I had to guess, well.
There’s only about one reason.
‘Our unit’s elevation is high enough that even mosquitoes didn’t come out.’
These worms—
They’re surprisingly constrained by living environment.
The radar unit perched high on a mountain.
Even mosquitoes couldn’t settle there.
The same goes for the parasite that makes zombies.
To parasitize a host, it first has to move into the area.
If the environment is one where zombies have trouble settling, they can’t parasitize either.
The reason these things couldn’t parasitize our soldiers—
Was probably the same.
Maybe, down near South America, say—
In high-altitude countries, zombies might not have appeared at all.
Come to think of it.
Even when looking through [Ingredient Appraisal],
Zombies were labeled only as [Corpse of the Human race].
There was no description saying “zombie.”
‘Of course.’
A walking corpse is only the host of the parasite.
The true body was the tiny worm buried inside.
“......With this, we’ve identified what zombies are.”
Judging by the Chef of Dasmur’s memories—
Zombies may seem like no big deal now.
But there was a high chance they would become trickier enemies later.
And no wonder.
[Parasites are a parasitic lifeform that forms a kind of colony and continues to evolve as time passes.]
[A sufficiently evolved Parasite completely dominates the host’s body and influences its physical abilities.]
[Parasites in the Primary Incubation Stage can reproduce the host’s abilities from life to a usable extent; their mutation stage is not high, so they possess no reason.]
[The most appropriate processing # Nоvеlight # method for this stage is—]
“Primary Incubation Stage, huh. That means there’s a next stage.”
Right now these things are marked “Primary Incubation Stage.”
There was even an explanation that the more offspring they produce, the more they evolve to the next stage.
‘If they evolve like that...... what happens then?’
I don’t know exactly.
But judging from what I saw in the Chef of Dasmur’s memories—
One thing was certain: it wouldn’t go in a direction favorable to us.
A fresh chill ran over me.
Until not long ago, zombies had been half neglected for not being all that threatening.
But if those things pass that stage—
And metamorphose into something dangerous—
‘What will happen then.’
Zombies could become a major threat going forward.
The fact that we identified their nature now, before they evolve to the next stage—
That had tremendous significance.
If there was one problem, well.
“When are we ever going to finish dealing with all those zombies.......”
Gangwon-do isn’t exactly high in population density,
But even so, an enormous number of people died.
Those who died without receiving proper funerals like cremation.
Most of them are wandering around as zombies.
They say the Dragon Fang Troopers are patrolling the vicinity of Chuncheon City and culling them—
But even that is only some areas close to our stronghold.
Reducing the number of zombies hiding everywhere is no easy task.
‘At least with our guild alone...... wiping out the zombies is impossible.’
Not absolutely impossible, perhaps.
But our number of guild members is limited.
It would take an insanely long time.
There’s no guarantee those zombies won’t evolve in the meantime.
Above all, our guild can’t devote such a long stretch solely to zombie subjugation.
The experience those bugs yield when I pop them is very small.
It won’t help much with our guild’s growth.
On top of that—
“Winter has come.”
Over this winter—
More people will die.
It’s a time when even firewood has to be saved.
Cremations to prevent zombification will become difficult.
Many will die.
They’ll rise as zombies just like that.
“We need...... a method.”
Ordinarily—
I would have cooked up some method through cuisine one way or another.
‘But I can’t exactly feed every zombie one by one.’
This time, the angles just don’t line up for a culinary solution.
Hmm.
This is......
‘......There might be no “method,” period, might there?’
Across all of Gangwon-do.
No—zombies might be spread across the entire Republic of Korea.
How do you solve that?
As I racked my brain over a problem with no answer—
“Youngjun?”
“......Yeah?”
Someone came to the Dining Hall.
“Minjae?”
A man with the electric serpent we’d captured recently coiled around his body.
It was Sergeant Lee Minjae.
With a slightly serious face, he opened his mouth.
“I came because I have a favor to ask.”
......A favor?
****
Sergeant Lee Minjae is like our unit’s company first sergeant.
Since I, the actual guild leader, am pretty busy with other things—
Lieutenant Kim handles the external-facing guild leader role.
And Minjae often handles many of the internal matters of the guild.
Me, and the other guys too—
We often felt how Minjae quietly took care of this and that.
Because he’s in such an important position—
I made a point of keeping an eye on him in my own way.
Right after the Salmo-neus operation last time—
Minjae seemed thrilled with the new abilities he’d gained.
But only for a while.
‘Lately he’s looked like he’s wrestling with something.’
Spacing out, staring at the air.
Perched on the fortress wall, gazing far off, lost in thought.
Anyone could see he looked troubled, and I often saw him like that.
Well, to be precise—
Rather than after the Salmo-neus operation—
From before that.
‘From the day of the first snowfall, he’s been roughly like that.’
I couldn’t tell exactly what the issue was.
I was thinking I’d have to ask him myself soon—
“Here. Your favorite coffee.”
“Thanks. It’s getting hard to come by......”
That Sergeant Lee Minjae—
Had come to ask me for counsel.
“Ah. Actually, not necessarily.”
“Hm?”
“They’re developing a crop over in Inje County that can serve a role similar to coffee. If it goes well, we might even be able to restore coffee.”
“That is...... certainly impressive.”
I sat across from Minjae at a table in the Dining Hall.
As I set down a cup of his favorite coffee, I asked:
“So. A favor?”
Minjae and I often discuss the unit’s affairs both big and small.
When I’m absent, Minjae leads the unit.
Even when I’m here, he tends to handle the minor administration.
He’s effectively the corps commander’s deputy.
Or deputy guild leader—no different from that.
Because Minjae is that kind of person—
He often proposes things to me.
“But what kind of matter uses a grand word like ‘favor’?”
I think this is the first time I’ve heard him say “favor.”
‘It must be connected to the troubled look he’s had lately.’
What on earth would make him ask a “favor.”
As I wondered and asked—
“Before that, there’s one thing I want to tell you.”
“Yeah?”
“Thanks to you, I passed Level 30. I told you that last time, right?”
“Well, yeah.”
Thanks to that, he Awakened new traits.
Even gained a vassal, and Sergeant Minjae’s been on a roll.
‘Maybe not to Gwangil’s level, but he must have gotten insanely strong.’
In terms of wide-area attack—
No one in the unit, including Gwangil, could match him.
“When you hit Level 30, I thought you’d become a High-Grade Mage, but that wasn’t it.”
“Ah~ same for me.”
After Low- and Intermediate-, I naturally expected Advanced or High-Grade.
But starting at Level 30, you get a specialized field? Something like that.
In my case, War Chef.
A job where extra bonuses apply to combat-related buffs and actions.
Since my primary specialty was field cooking—
Well, it made sense.
“Right. And my specialization as an electricity-line mage is......”
[Ingredient Appraisal (Enhanced)]
[Awakened: Lee Minjae]
[Mage of Waves Lv.30]
“Radio waves.”
Radio waves......
Radio waves, huh.
‘......Mm. Not sure.’
Even with that said—
I couldn’t easily guess what abilities the class would have.
“To be honest, I have a hunch why I got this class.”
“Yeah?”
“Did you forget? My billet. I was a signalman.”
“......Ah.”
Like how I was the senior hand of the cooking section—
Minjae had been the senior hand of the signals section.
Now that distinctions like “signals section” have vanished—
I’d thought it didn’t mean much.
......Hold on.
If that’s the case—
“W-wait. If you got that class because you were a signalman—”
That class.
Don’t tell me—
“Does it have something to do with communications?”
“Correct.”
“......!”
At those words—
I couldn’t hide my shock.
Bang!
“No way!”
Kicking my chair back, I slammed the table and shouted:
“If you’ve gained an ability to restore communications......!”
Since Doomsday—
Ordinary calls, the emergency network,
TV, radio, intranet, military frequencies......
Every kind of communication has been cut.
Aside from guild messages possible only among guildmates—
The only “communication” we could manage was something like beacon fires from Joseon-era days.
Thanks to that—
Our unit has grown quite strong.
Even so, we don’t truly know conditions in other regions.
Merchants who move between regions—
Through Sanghyeop we hear rough rumors at best.
But that’s all.
Sanghyeop’s activity range isn’t that wide either.
Other parts of Gangwon-do our influence hasn’t reached—
What became of those places.
No—
Beyond that, what the situation is in other areas like Seoul—
We—
We don’t know a single thing.
‘If we could just restore communications......!’
Through contact with survivors in other regions—
We could check the situation.
Yeah, maybe even—
The information I’d been trying hard not to dwell on—
‘News about my family......!’
