Mental Caretaker In An Apolcalypse Game

Episode 29

“It seems quiet outside. Should we go out and check the situation?”

By now, the main zombie should have grown to its full size and would be hunting humans.

In response to my words, she hesitated for a moment before nodding, and he, as if it were natural, took my hand and headed towards the door. As we walked through the underground room and the secret passage, the faint screams of people grew louder. When we finally stood in front of the door leading outside from the secret passage, the screams became even more vivid.

“Is it really okay to open this door?”

“…I can’t guarantee it’ll be okay, but we need to open it to know the situation outside.”

She seemed frightened by the terrible sounds coming from outside the door and asked as I reached for the doorknob. To be honest, I didn’t want to go outside right now. It was certain that chunks of flesh that had fallen off the main zombie would be sweeping through the inside of the supermarket. Having to see those horrific things… I already felt like what was inside my stomach was about to come up.

The main zombie of this stage was so huge that it pierced through to the third floor. Its feet were in the underground, its lower body on the first floor, its upper body on the second floor, and its head on the third floor. Its appearance was somewhat grotesque, with the most notable feature being that its entire body’s flesh was melting away. These chunks of flesh that fell off moved as if they had their own will, devouring humans, and thus were also considered zombies.

Unlike the chunks of flesh roaming the inside of the mart, the main zombie stood tall in the center, with slight movements such as swinging its arms wildly or stomping its legs. Occasionally, the vibrations from the stomping would reach the third floor, which was less affected. If you didn’t want to see melting human faces, it was better not to go up. Moreover, the zombie would go berserk at the sight of humans, causing even more destruction on the second and first floors. So it’d be better not to go there for that reason.

As for the second floor… I recommend not going there if you don’t want to suffer. It was a place where the zombie swung its arms indiscriminately. If you let your guard down for even a moment, you could be hit by its huge arm and sent flying. In severe cases, you could be caught and taken straight into its mouth…

The first floor was relatively better. The main zombie didn’t swing its arms like on the second floor; it just stomped up and down, so there was no need to keep a close eye on it until the second phase began. For now, we just had to be wary of the chunks of flesh zombies.

I looked down at the bat in my hand and took a small deep breath. This bat and I had been through life and death together at school. It was a great bat that had smashed the heads of countless zombies, and I hoped it would do the same this time. I gave strength to the hand that held it.

“Do-yoon, we don’t know what the situation outside will be like, so be prepared. It’ll be dangerous.”

“I understand.”

“But don’t overdo it; it hasn’t been long since you’ve fully recovered, right?”

He had his skill, and I had a weapon, but she didn’t have anything to protect herself, so I asked him to look after her as well. He might have to go a bit out of his way, but for now, there was no other choice.

Then, two tigers popped out of the floor. Even though I knew something would jump out, I was still a little startled and flinched.

“This… you did before too! What the hell is this? How can something like this…?”

“Ah… It’s just like magic.”

“Magic? How can something like that exist in reality…?”

“If zombies can appear, magic can exist too.”

“Still, that’s…”

“I’ll explain the details later. For now, just let it go.”

Finally, she nodded as if she understood and looked at the tigers created from shadows with a gaze that said she had really seen all sorts of things now.

‘They really do resemble the real thing, don’t they?’

I murmured to myself in amazement, watching the tiger that was rubbing its face against my leg. Even the sound was the same as a real one, as if a real tiger had been brought in and just covered in black paint. I doubted I could create something like this; his imagination must be quite extraordinary…

“Shall we go out?”

“Noona, step back. I’ll open the door.”

“Do you really need to do that? I’m armed too.”

“It’s still dangerous.”

As he said that, he once again urged me to step back. I shrugged my shoulders as if there was no other choice and told him to open the door. Watching him reach for the doorknob, I took a deep breath to steady my nerves.

Let’s focus… The chunks of flesh zombies were weaker than regular zombies anyway. There was no need to be too scared.

I thought I might have gotten a little used to dealing with various zombies, but when I came face to face with a situation like this, I was proven wrong gain. I would have to see this until I could return home anyway, so getting tense and scared every time, expending my energy, was also a struggle. I needed to get used to it quickly…

“I’m opening the door.”

“Okay.”

The door, which had been the focus of everyone’s attention, slowly opened, revealing the bizarre interior beyond. Some kind of dark, lumpy masses were scattered everywhere; some resembled human shapes, while others were just sprawled out and indistinct, each one different from the other. The sight made me involuntarily frown, and I had to bite the inside of my cheek to suppress the urge to retch.

“What is all this…?”

“They seem to be moving… Could they all be zombies?”

“Probably.”

Just in time, a perfect example appeared before our eyes to confirm this. A person who had been running around in confusion stepped on a lump on the floor without checking it. The creature then climbed up their leg, spreading until it covered their entire body in an instant. The person, eaten by the creature, screamed in agony and thrashed about before finally falling silent. The lump moved slowly, then began to walk on two legs like a human, maintaining the shape of the person it had just consumed.

We watched the entire process in silence. Well, I already knew about it, but it seemed like those two’s words were stuck because they were seeing this horrific sight for the first time.

“Kwaaaah!”

Then, a regular zombie appeared from somewhere and, upon seeing us, let out a guttural scream and started coming towards us. I raised the bat in my hand, ready to strike at any moment. However, before I could step forward, one of the tigers leaped forward and pounced on the zombie, knocking it down. Without giving the zombie a chance to resist, the tiger climbed on top and tore out its throat. This scene was just as stimulating as the one we had just witnessed where a human was eaten by a zombie, so it temporarily left us speechless.

“…But seeing that those strange lumps and zombies appeared, could it be that the zombies from outside have broken in?”

“I guess so.”

That wasn’t it. These zombies weren’t from the outside; they were created inside. I glanced at the lumps walking around in human form. Horrifyingly, those things would turn into regular zombies over time. They transformed by digesting the humans they had eaten, and the process was truly grotesque. They started by forming their faces, with eyeballs popping out and mouths tearing open to reveal tongues and teeth. There were many other steps in the process… but I didn’t want to think about it anymore.

In any case, I couldn’t bring myself to tell her this shocking truth. This was better for her mental health.

“But do those things swallow shadows or other objects besides humans?”

He asked, frowning and staring at one side. Following his gaze, I saw a lump wriggling on the floor, slowly approaching the shadow tiger. The tiger growled low, seemingly wary, and circled around without touching the lump.

“Objects seem to be fine, don’t they? Look over there. The display racks or items on the floor don’t get harmed when they touch those things. But I’m not sure about shadows.”

It was clear that shadows could also be eaten too. Those lumps reacted to anything alive or moving and swallowed them. However, shadows could change their shape at any time. I remembered that even if they were eaten by those creatures in the game, they could grow inside and tear through the surrounding lumps to escape.

“Let’s test it then.”

Then, the tiger, which had been circling at a safe distance, approached the lump. It poked it with its paw, testing it, and the lump responded by wrapping around the paw and climbing up the leg.

The tiger, seemingly displeased, let out a roar, raised its other paw, and unsheathed its claws, beginning to scratch at the lump. Before long, it climbed on top of the creature, biting and trampling it with its feet, scratching it—even more fiercely than when it had hunted a regular zombie. The shadow tiger, which had let out a loud howl as if to say “Where do you think you’re going?” finally seemed to have finished its job and turned around without hesitation, striding back towards us. In its wake, chunks of flesh were scattered across the floor.

Wow, damn… This was the first time I’d seen them dealt with in this way… The tiger’s approach was more aggressive than I had imagined, and I could only stare blankly at the tiger rubbing its face against my leg, as if asking for praise.

“It’s better than I thought. It seems like shadows can be eaten too, but if it’s to this extent, it’s fine.”

His voice brought me back to my senses, and when I turned my head, there was another one looking at me as if he wanted me to praise him.

“…Yes, you did well. Very reliable.”

Pleased to hear the words he wanted, he smiled beautifully. I watched him and soon turned my head away.

“What should we do now? We have a rough idea of the situation, but… The noises we heard earlier must have been people trying to escape these zombies. Should we get out of here like them?”

Meanwhile, she, who had been watching all this from behind, looked around the interior with a strange expression and said. Her face, which seemed to be smiling yet sad, looked as if she was holding something back.

“No. You haven’t taken your revenge yet. It’s too early to leave. There’s still something we have to do, so let’s look around a little more for now.”

“But the people I need to take revenge on are no longer here. They’ve either run away or died. It’s almost like the zombies are taking revenge in my place.”

She spoke with a resigned expression, saying it was okay to leave if we were staying longer in this dangerous place because of her.

“Are you really okay with that? With taking revenge in this way? You won’t be satisfied, will you? As I said earlier, it’s not just because of you that we’re staying longer. We’re staying because there’s still something we need to do. And you never know; there might still be people who haven’t managed to escape.”

Well, some might be dead and gone, but most would still be here. After all, all the exits would be blocked anyway.

“But I won’t force you. We’re going to look around a bit more. What about you, Ms. Ga-eun?”

“….”

She hesitated for a moment, as if agonizing.

“I’ll go. I’ll… go with you.”

“Alright. Let’s look around a little more, then.”

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The tiger takes after his master lmaoo

sorry for the delay! I kinda forgot to post lol. Anyways, as always, more comments = more chapters (I am very motivated by the comments)