"Walking corpses... zombies."
At the words I dropped out of nowhere,
even the soldiers were looking at me with puzzled eyes.
"What did Sergeant Shin just say?"
"...Zombies?"
Of course they’d react that way.
It’s information I myself only learned not long ago.
"Dissect the area near a zombie’s spine and examine it closely. Among the parasites there, you’ll find a grotesque worm with a dark crimson blotch stamped across its back."
Information I only learned recently,
and beyond the city’s Awakened as well—
"The true identity of zombies."
"...!"
even our Legionnaires hadn’t been briefed on it yet.
Even the listening soldiers widened their eyes in shock.
"S-Sergeant Shin?"
"Is that real? You figured out what zombies actually are?"
Silently, I nodded and continued.
‘Zombies.’
I’d thought they were no big deal as monsters,
but I only learned recently how dangerous they could be in truth.
The problem was this:
even knowing they were dangerous, there was no way to actually solve them.
They were already spread far too widely,
and once a person died, if you couldn’t cremate the body,
another zombie would be added to the count.
Especially once winter came,
many people would die,
and the dead would rise as zombies.
‘I’d all but decided this was a no-answer situation.’
Which is why,
the instant I heard Minjae hyung’s proposal,
I thought:
‘Why didn’t I think of that?’
—like that.
"These zombies... these parasites take humans as hosts. They lie in wait near the spine, and from the moment their human host dies, they appear to begin their activity."
It’s hard for just us to eradicate zombies?
That once winter hits, lots of people die, so the number of zombies will climb?
"According to what we’ve learned, once these parasites finish developing they’re highly likely to metamorphose into quite a powerful monster, so I recommend removing them in advance."
Then
the answer is simple.
"Also, these parasites, faint as it is, carry mana."
Give people
enough power not to die.
"By killing that parasite, you can undergo an Awakening—and you’ll gain experience points as well."
You hand them an easy path to Awakening and to gaining experience,
keep them from dying,
and then you leave it to them.
"So awaken."
Those who still haven’t awakened,
or those who have, but haven’t gained enough strength to hunt monsters—
for them, zombies will be good prey.
"Hunt zombies and grow until you’re at a level sufficient to hunt monsters. Zombies whose parasites haven’t evolved are weaker than an ordinary human."
If an average person prepares properly, hunting zombies isn’t difficult.
So long as they go through Awakening,
unless they’re ambushed,
you can assume they won’t lose to a zombie.
"Hunt zombies and build your strength."
That’s why—
"Youngjun, you...!"
The man staring at me, eyes flung wide in shock—
looking at Minjae hyung,
I couldn’t help feeling grateful.
‘If it were just me—or even the other soldiers—no one would’ve come up with something like this.’
Dumping information for free over the radio?
It’s obviously an idea where we take a loss.
Even if the thought flickered across your mind, going as far as proposing it? Almost no one would.
I’m the same.
When I heard about the ability Minjae hyung newly gained,
all I thought about was how to use it to contact family.
‘I’m a pretty selfish bastard.’
But
Minjae hyung was quite different from me.
He showed no interest in using his ability for personal gain.
Even though, if he played it right, he could become the single most valuable person in this world,
with that power,
the first thing he worried about was how to help others.
‘When we got Salmo-neus, did he thank me?’
As if.
I was always the one who should’ve been grateful.
A proposal others wouldn’t have made—
because Minjae hyung handed that proposal to me,
I was able to think of a way to remove a threat to our unit.
"Do whatever it takes to survive."
Yeah—like that.
Zombies and monsters that might someday become a threat to us—
cut their numbers down.
"And if you do that, someday—"
Raise your strength,
endure the winter.
"—our Legion will come find you."
Join us,
and until the day you become soldiers who hunt monsters.
****
"The broadcast is finished."
"Whew!"
When the engineer fiddling with the broadcast gear said that,
I exhaled and stepped back from the mic.
"Good work."
"For now, I’ll set this broadcast to air periodically."
"Right. I’m counting on you."
The radio that goes out from this building—
so that its signal won’t be affected by mana,
Minjae hyung had already taken measures.
That radio message we just sent will keep spreading.
"About what you said on zombies—was that real?"
As I was catching my breath,
the soldiers looked at me and asked.
Something I only learned not long ago.
From a soldier’s standpoint, it’s hard to believe.
"Unfortunately, it’s real."
"Zombies might become a threat..."
"Then shouldn’t we be actively going out on zombie hunts too?"
"I’d like to, but if we mobilize, how many are we really? There’s a hard limit."
At that,
a few soldiers smacked their palms.
"Ah!"
"Don’t tell me—that’s why you did this broadcast..."
"Correct."
Those who hear this broadcast will go out to hunt zombies for Awakening and experience.
Zombies were a troublesome enemy in all sorts of ways.
They weren’t particularly strong,
but killing them didn’t trigger Awakening,
and they gave no experience points—just a nuisance.
However,
‘that’s different now.’
You can hunt them easily and awaken,
and in the early stage of Awakening when your strength is still low,
for those who find it hard to hunt monsters, zombies will be a source of easy experience.
They’ll become a kind of beginner’s monster.
If that happens, naturally,
the zombies that were said to ‘metamorphose’ and evolve down the line—
that threat will shrink dramatically too.
"So that’s what it was..."
The other soldiers seemed to realize it as well,
gaping in wordless admiration.
"That aside, zombies are one thing—but scattering information like that..."
"Is that really okay?"
On the other hand,
a few soldiers muttered in uneasy voices.
Information on monsters, and now on zombies.
I don’t know how far the data I spread this time will reach,
but the humans in any land it reaches will rapidly grow stronger.
Whether this choice is right—
for the soldiers, they couldn’t be sure.
"If the humans who strengthen themselves with this information pull something stupid..."
"Won’t that put us at a disadvantage?"
Our unit members tend to distrust those who weren’t originally our comrades-in-arms.
I’d anticipated this attitude to some extent,
so I shook my head and said:
"Sure, it’s true the world’s become a place where it’s hard for people to get along."
"Sir?"
"Even so, let’s not get confused about who our main enemy is."
There are people like raiders,
but even they,
ultimately—
we shouldn’t be seeing as the enemy.
"It’s right to see this as humans versus invaders."
"..."
In the end, we have to eradicate all monsters sooner or later.
If, by letting that info out,
humans in other regions kill monsters in our stead,
‘that’s a sweet deal.’
You can never have too much human combat power.
This winter is the human reserve force—
a trial where survivors can die off in an instant.
"We need to make it possible for as many humans as possible to endure the winter."
Even if they get nasty ideas,
later I can just [reform] them with cooking.
"Of course, it’s not impossible some bastard with the wrong idea grows too strong."
"R-Right. Isn’t that the problem?"
"There’s only one answer to that problem."
Grin.
"We make ourselves stronger so we don’t fall behind those bastards."
"..."
The soldiers looked at me like they were a little dumbfounded,
but—
"Pff. Understood."
"If that’s Sergeant Shin’s judgment, then it’s solid."
Fortunately,
these guys’ trust in me was through the roof.
"I hope things play out the way you’re thinking, Sergeant Shin."
"And while we’re at it, I hope this broadcast spreads far and wide."
Just like that soldier said—
we did send the transmission using Minjae hyung’s ability,
but—
‘who knows whether that signal can punch through that Black Wall.’
I don’t know if this broadcast will break through that [Black Wall] out on Gangwon’s perimeter.
Of course, even if it only reaches the humans inside Gangwon, we’ll still profit plenty.
But people’s hearts being what they are, you want maximum gain if possible.
If we’re doing it, I’d like it to spread across the entire peninsula.
And then—
right as I was thinking that,
—ding!
a suddenly ringing,
crisp chime.
"Huh?"
[Large Region - The Iron Legion’s influence over ROK surges.]
[Large Region - The human race in ROK remembers the name ‘Iron Legion’.]
Right before my eyes,
a system message I hadn’t dared hope for popped up.
[Guild Skill - ‘Legion’s Token’ undergoes a change.]
At that message,
I pulled out the dog tag hanging at my neck to check.
[Ingredient Appraisal (Enhanced)]
[Honorable Iron Legion’s Token]
A kind of [Guild Skill]—
an equipment item distributed uniformly to those belonging to our unit:
[Legion’s Token].
But—
the item’s name had changed.
And not only that—
"The token’s effect..."
"Has increased?"
Its stats had gone up by a lot.
To a degree that didn’t even compare to before.
—ding!
And
it didn’t end there.
[Guild - Iron Legion has contributed to combat.]
"W-What is this now."
"I’m not the only one seeing this, right?"
Not just me—
it seemed the same message had appeared before every member of the unit.
And as random as it was,
[You gain experience points equal to your contribution.]
"All of a sudden?"
—it was a line announcing experience gain.
****
Gangwon Province, where the Legion’s unit was staying.
Beyond the wall of heat erected around its outskirts—
somewhere in Chungcheong Province,
there was a band of humans using a small mart as their base.
"Whew!"
"So this is as much firewood as we’ve secured for now?"
Since the ‘Day of Ruin,’
they’d clenched their teeth and survived, enduring until now.
At present,
they were busy preparing to get through the winter.
"Whatever else, we’re way too short on food."
"Can’t be helped. Winter isn’t a day or two. Securing enough food to last all that time—when is that ever easy?"
"I get it, in my head."
A middle-aged woman in the conversation let out a deep sigh.
There was one reason they’d begun their winter prep like this:
not long ago,
the people in their group who had [Cold Affinity] all said the same thing:
‘This winter is going to be brutally harsh.’
Up to now, they’d been too busy surviving day to day,
but only after hearing that did they realize:
the most dangerous season was coming,
and they had to prepare before it arrived.
"Not just that. There’s a high chance this firewood won’t be enough either."
"Still... if we stay inside a building we won’t freeze to death, right?"
"Buildings without heating don’t insulate that well. And there aren’t many intact buildings left."
The world didn’t end for nothing.
Thanks to rampaging monsters and zombies, most buildings were partially destroyed.
With no electricity now,
the cold itself would be a massive enemy.
‘We’ll try to hold out with firewood somehow, but even that’s not enough.’
If that short supply of firewood runs out,
it won’t just be a problem of the cold.
Even if they barely hold out by sharing body heat,
‘the water will freeze too.’
In the end, getting additional fuel was a must.
But—
"From what we’ve observed, monsters are living beings that need to eat something as well. Eating people is part of that."
"So once winter comes, they’ll be out hunting even harder."
With winter approaching now,
the monsters too would be busy trying to secure food.
There was a high chance they’d become even more ferocious.
In an already cold winter environment,
add in the threat of monsters—
‘horrific.’
Not just the survivors,
even Awakened wouldn’t be able to move freely.
In that kind of extreme environment, while dodging monsters,
to secure the supplies needed for survival—
‘that’ll be very, very hard.’
It would be ideal to increase the number of Awakened before then,
but fighting monsters carried risks that were far too great.
With those ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ thoughts,
as the group’s leader was groaning,
"H-Hyunsu, sir."
"Hm? What is it."
"There’s something you should take a quick look at..."
At those words,
he was led to a spot,
where—
Cough...
"J-Jinhyuk?"
"Uncle..."
was a child, shivering and coughing like he’d taken ill.
"Since when was he like this?"
"I-I just found him now."
"A kid who was fine not long ago—why all of a sudden..."
"...It’s gotten sharply colder lately."
Changing seasons.
Awakened can be a bit desensitized to the cold,
so they’d failed to notice and let it slip by,
‘that this is a dangerous time for ordinary humans—I forgot...!’
If they’d prepared enough, it might have been solvable somehow.
As the group’s leader, he could only blame himself.
"Still... didn’t this mart have some medicine left?"
"It’s not like there’s none. But if we use it on this kid, that’ll probably be the end of it."
"The end...?"
"We had lots of little things to use it for over time. Couldn’t be helped."
In winter, people’s immunity plummets.
There’s no law that says this kid will be the last patient.
"It’s going to be hard enough just to move around outside."
"Getting more medicine will be even harder."
"..."
Cold.
Monsters.
Disease.
As winter arrived, dangers that clung to its heels.
Staring silently into space for a moment, the leader
let a short word slip out:
"...fuck."
"..."
A curse he couldn’t hold back.
No one present failed to understand how he felt.
Everyone gathered there sensed it in their gut:
this winter,
more than half of the people here would die.
