Episode 12
I remember dying at least ten times in this part.
At first, I wandered around ignoring the school announcement, and got caught and killed by a mutant zombie. The second time, I hid in one place to assess the situation. Thanks to that, I was able to survive until the third period, but as soon as the fourth period started, I was discovered by a mutant zombie and died. From the third time onwards, I roughly got the hang of it and managed to hide until the third period, then dodged around to survive during the fourth period. Then I got ambushed and killed during the supplementary class time.
After that, from the fourth time onwards, the night study sessions started, and I always ended up dying before long. Seriously, from 6 PM to 12 AM was like hell itself. How was I supposed to survive with so many mutant zombies around…
“Whew… It feels like I can live a little now.”
“There sure are a lot of zombies on the first floor.”
“Exactly. Even though they’re just regular zombies and not mutants, there are so many that it’s a bit tough.”
I came out of the building and took a deep breath, glancing back at the inside. It was packed with zombies, there wasn’t even space to see your feet. I could hardly believe we managed to break through that horde and get from the infirmary to here.
“Are you okay?”
“Of course.”
“Good, let’s go to the gym right away.”
Our plan was as follows. I had already killed the mutant zombie specialized in the sense of smell, which was in charge of the first period from 9 to 10 AM, so there were no mutant zombies roaming around during that time, making it relatively safe. Therefore, we decided to go outside and head to the gym during this time. The gym was across from the main building, and we had to cross the playground to get there, so it was a bit far. That was also why the mutant zombies in charge of the first to third periods, which lacked mobility-related abilities, didn’t come here. So we planned to hold out here until the third period and then start moving actively from the fourth period.
Moreover, the gym had a lot of sports equipment, so there would definitely be good weapons. The gym, where we could get weapons and spend the first to third periods safely, was truly the best place.
***
Ding-dong~
[The fourth period has begun. The teacher in charge, please find the students hiding within the school.]
[We’re announcing once again. The fourth period has begun. The teacher in charge is requested to find the students not attending class.]
“Be honest, have you ever learned archery?”
“I really haven’t.”
“Then how do you handle it so well?”
“Um… I just can, I guess?”
This talented freak. No, it was probably because he was a game character rather than being a talent.
Originally, in the game, you could use any weapon just by equipping it to the character. Whether it was a sword, a bow, or a gun, the characters could handle them all skillfully. Did that buff remain with him? After finding an arrow and a bow, he tried shooting it once and hit the bullseye of the target board. My eyes widened at the sight, and I asked him to shoot a few more times. As a result, all the remaining arrows also hit the 10-point mark. Wondering if it was really that easy to hit a 10, I tried it myself.
Tik…
Instead of flying, the arrow dropped straight down as soon as I let go of my hand. For a moment, silence flowed, and with my face flushed in embarrassment, I picked up the fallen arrow and took my stance again. After taking a deep breath, I concentrated and released the drawn bowstring, but again, the arrow dropped straight down.
Then I heard a sneaky laugh from behind. I glared at him, my neck turning red, and bit my lip, handing him the bow.
He’s laughing? Is it that funny now? Ha, I guess it must be very amusing that I can’t shoot. Pfft! I’m just refusing to do it, because it’s dirty. Not that I can’t. Hmph!
I thought to myself as I looked for another weapon, but he suddenly came up behind me and hugged me from behind, wrapping his hands over mine. Then he taught me everything from the stance of holding the bow to the method of setting and releasing the arrow. This time, instead of dropping on the spot, the arrow flew a little, just a little bit forward before dropping. I tried a few more times, but there was no sign of improvement, and in the end, I had to taste bitter frustration.
What an unfair world!
“Noona, are you mad?”
“I’m not mad.”
“You know, this is perfectly fine. Even if I’ve never seen a case like yours before, but….”
“Enough. Go over there!”
“I’m just kidding. Please lighten up.”
“I said I’m not mad.”
I struggled to hold back my anger, my hands trembling as I gripped the bat tightly, wondering whether or not to hit him with it. Was his personality originally like that? I didn’t know he was so good at teasing others…!
“Anyway, it’s already the fourth period, noona. That thing will appear soon.”
“Don’t worry too much. It’ll take some time to get here. Since I blinded it, it won’t know we’re here.”
“I hope so, then.”
I sat cross-legged on the vault and looked out the window, occasionally checking the time as I waited. Eventually, I heard the sound of the gym door opening.
It was here.
I turned my head to look at Do-yoon. He also looked at me, and we nodded slightly as we moved according to our plan. I got off the vault, holding a baseball bat in one hand and a baseball in the other. Meanwhile, he had a bow and arrows on his back and a baseball bat in his hand, just like me. He stood by the door, ready, and I loosened my shoulders while fidgeting with the baseball next to the vault, which was in a straight line with the door.
We were currently in a storage room inside the gym. This place, filled with various sports-related items, was like an armory. After the sound of the gym door opening, there was no other sound.
‘That’s inevitable.’
It was a teleportation-type, not a walking one. Originally, thanks to its second ability, it could easily teleport through walls, but since I destroyed its eyes, it couldn’t use that anymore.
With that limitation, it could now only move to places within sight. It would probably look around the gym once and then come here. And when the door opened, we were going to proceed as we planned.
After waiting with bated breath for a short while, we could see the storage room door slowly opening. Instinctively, I gripped the ball tightly in my hand. And… now!
The door swung open, and the moment I saw it, I swung my arm with all my might and threw the ball. The ball flew straight and hit the guy’s face. It hit a part where only bones were left, and I heard something break along with the sound of cracking.
‘Wow… I didn’t throw it that hard, but it cracked? If Do-yoon had thrown it, it would have just made a hole in its face, right?’
As I had that thought, the thing let out a cry of anger and disappeared from that spot to move right next to me. It tried to attack me, but… thwack. The guy who had been drawing the bowstring by the door fired an arrow the moment the thing appeared next to me. Then, I, who’d been waiting for this, toppled the vault next to me, pinning the thing underneath.
Thud!
The dust in the storage room flew up the moment the vault collapsed, obscuring my vision. I covered my mouth and nose, coughing, and soon looked around to find the creature. I quickly discovered it right in front of Do-yoon.
I hurriedly ran to where the balls were gathered and picked up a basketball. Then, I threw it with all my might at the back of its head.
Ah, damn it. I missed.
Unfortunately, the ball veered off to the side. However, even though I couldn’t hit it, I managed to draw its attention here. Not missing the opportunity, Do-yoon swung the baseball bat with all his might at the guy’s head from behind. Thwack! The sound of something bursting was heard. This time, it really seemed like his head had burst.
But this zombie wasn’t called a mid-boss for nothing – it wasn’t going to die from just this. As expected, the creature, with one side of its head burst open, tried to attack Do-yoon even while staggering.
‘Do you think we’ll just let you do that?’
I threw all the balls nearby at the guy. Perhaps because I bothered it more than Do-yoon with my frequent movements, it teleported behind me and tried to kill me first. But thwack, another arrow pierced its body.
‘You fool. You’re already caught.’
The corners of my mouth went up in a smirk as I watched the thing helplessly take the hits. The plan we had set up was simple. Do-yoon and I would position ourselves at a slight distance from each other and attack the monster in turns, as if passing a ball back and forth. If the monster came at me, Do-yoon would shoot an arrow to hold it back, and I would hit it with the bat. Conversely, if the monster went after him, I would throw the nearby balls to draw its attention and create a timing for him to attack. By doing this back and forth, we would gradually wear down its health, and with a bit of luck, we could kill it. If not, we just had to hold out for about 30 minutes.
For reference, the reason it was 30 minutes rather than an hour was because it took the monster about 30 minutes to check both the main building and the new building and get here. So, if we just dealt with the creature for the remaining 30 minutes, the next period would start, the mid-boss would disappear, and the mutant zombie in charge of the fifth period would appear.
‘So, take a few hits, you bastard. I won’t be the way I was in the infirmary yesterday.’
Back then, it was the first time I faced a mutant zombie, so I was not only flustered but also not immune to the mutant zombie’s aura. But now, it was different. I already had experience killing a mutant zombie specialized in the sense of smell and a gatekeeper, and I even had a proper weapon this time.
So today was…
“It’s your doomsday, you son of a bitch!”
They make a great team hehe
