I Became a Game Character in the Apocalypse

Chapter 21

Seeing that side of him, after always witnessing his quirky behavior, left me speechless.

Yoon Hye-ri seemed just as stunned as I was, her mouth agape as she stared blankly at Choi Hyun.

After confirming that no more zombies were coming, Choi Hyun pointed upstairs with his finger.

Like we were possessed, Yoon Hye-ri and I nodded in agreement and headed to the 4th floor.

Once we reached the 4th floor, I spotted Lee Jung-woo, Jeong Jin-young, and Jeon Wan-soo, with Lee Jung-woo wiping the blood from his face.

Breathing heavily, Lee Jung-woo asked me, “How’s the situation on the stairs?”

“It’s safe up to the entrance of the 3rd floor. How about you?”

“It took a bit longer to clear out the club room on the 4th floor. Is it okay to go down now?”

Nodding, Lee Jung-woo brushed off his hands lightly and headed for the stairs.

These were people who had never taken a life before.

No matter how much they were zombies, they still looked human, making it hard to avoid feelings of discomfort.

The strange sensation I felt at the tips of my fingers with every thrust into their flesh would not easily fade from my memory.

Lee Jung-woo was trying hard to appear calm, but I noticed his hand gripping the spear was slightly trembling.

He must be in pain and want to escape this situation.

But as the mental pillar of our club, he was doing his best not to show it.

If Lee Jung-woo falters, we all will.

As he descended to the 3rd floor, he stabbed the already cold corpse of a zombie once more in the temple.

After confirming the kill, we all moved into the 3rd floor and began clearing out the remaining zombies in the hallway.

The 3rd floor was different from the others; it had a shorter hallway that led to a large gym.

It was the gym used by the Ye-bong-gak club.

Through the large glass on either side, I could see gym equipment scattered about, and there was a shower room in the corner.

Unlike the 4th floor, the open space made it easier to spot the zombies.

“Graaah!”

Zombies hiding in the gym charged at us, growling.

Four? No, five.

Watching their movements calmly, I steadied my aim.

While the zombies in the gym were easy to deal with, the zombies in the fitness area posed a problem.

They slammed against the glass, breaking through and charging in our direction.

Muscular zombies.

Their strength was extraordinary.

Crack!

“Gahh!”

A jolt of pain shot through my body as one of them bit into my forearm and gripped my waist.

The tape and books I had been using to defend myself were torn away, leaving me vulnerable.

I wanted to swing my hunting knife, but the muscular strength made my mind hazy.

The pain felt like my waist might snap.

Swish!

Jeon Wan-soo came over and effortlessly severed the zombie’s arm in one clean cut.

He twisted and beheaded the zombie in a single motion.

Coughing, I collapsed to the ground as Jeon Wan-soo glanced at me and asked, “Are you okay? Did it bite you?”

“I’m fine.”

“Wasn’t your arm bitten earlier?”

“The tape just came off.”

“Graaah!”

As if refusing to give us a moment’s respite, another zombie charged from the right.

Jeon Wan-soo quickly twisted its ankle and severed its neck.

He had also trained in kendo with Choi Hyun, and his skills were impressive.

Once we dealt with all the zombies on the 3rd floor, I glanced over at the stairs and saw Choi Hyun and Seol Ye-won guarding them.

Soon after, Jeong Jin-young approached me and asked, “What’s the next plan?”

As much as I wanted to catch my breath, we needed to wrap this up before the alarm sounded again.

The alarm was set to go off every three minutes, and we needed to seize the 2nd floor before the next one.

“Jin-young hyung and Jung-woo hyung should head to the 5th floor and move through the back stairs.”

“What comes next?”

“Secure the iron door on the 2nd floor tightly with a microphone cable. Then knock on the door to attract the zombies from the hallway.”

“And you guys will head down the front stairs?”

“Yes, you need to gather as many zombies as possible in the 2nd-floor hallway. That way, we can break into the front stairs.”

A dark shadow fell across Jeong Jin-young’s face.

I understood his concerns.

He and Lee Jung-woo would have to hold off the zombies in the narrow stairs.

Moreover, if the microphone cable became loose or snapped, they would meet their doom right there.

But we also faced significant risks in heading down the front stairs.

We had to deal with the zombies coming from the 1st floor and those remaining in the 2nd-floor hallway before we could even reach the store.

Jeong Jin-young understood this too, letting out a sigh before nodding in agreement.

Without wasting a moment, Jeong Jin-young and Lee Jung-woo moved, and Jeon Wan-soo, who had been quietly listening, looked at me and asked, “When do we move?”

“We’ll wait for the sound of them knocking on the iron door. That’s when we head to the 2nd floor.”

Jeon Wan-soo nodded vigorously and ran to where Choi Hyun and Seol Ye-won were.

The two were growing increasingly exhausted as they dealt with the zombies coming from the 2nd floor.

“Switch.”

As I gripped the hunting knife tightly, Choi Hyun and Seol Ye-won stepped back as if they had been waiting for my command.

Jeon Wan-soo and I took their place, waiting for the signal from Lee Jung-woo and Jeong Jin-young.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

About three minutes had passed, perhaps?

We heard the sound of them knocking on the iron door from the opposite stairwell on the 2nd floor.

Immediately, the sounds of zombies echoed in the hallway, and the number of zombies climbing the stairs began to dwindle.

Sweat poured down like rain.

With my enhanced stamina, I could still feel fatigue, so I could only imagine how the others felt.

But… we still couldn’t rest.

“Move.”

As I turned to my group, everyone was panting heavily but began descending the stairs.

The legs of my companions trembled like aspen trees in the wind as they made their way down.

Everyone was utterly exhausted, but they held on through sheer willpower.

They knew that if we delayed, it would put Lee Jung-woo and Jeong Jin-young’s lives at risk, so nobody showed signs of fatigue.

Choi Hyun and Seol Ye-won moved down the stairs a step ahead, suddenly standing in place with expressions of horror.

Finally, I caught a glimpse of the 2nd floor.

I had thought some of them would head to the 1st floor after the sound of the fire cracker, but the 2nd-floor hallway was still swarming with zombies.

There must’ve been at least 40 of them, even just from a glance.

Is their hearing really that bad?

How far can they see, and how far can they hear?

Walking over to the stair railing and looking at the spot where the firecracker went off, I saw about a dozen zombies gathered together.

Could it be that the zombies from the first floor pulled the firecracker with their feet?

The zombies packed into the second floor still hadn’t noticed us, mostly because of the sound of banging on the iron door from the opposite side.

Choi Hyun licked his cracked lips and whispered, “It’s impossible. How are we supposed to go through that? Let’s go get the others before we get caught.”

“No way. If we give up here, everything will go to waste.”

“Then what do you want to do? The seniors have their limits.”

I had to think.

I needed to think.

I had to come up with the best plan.

How long could Lee Jung-woo and Jeong Jin-young hold out on the opposite side of the hallway?

Even at this moment, they were probably navigating a dangerous line.

There was a lack of research on zombies.

I needed to better understand the range of their sight, hearing, and smell.

Then suddenly, my last option came to mind.

If their hearing isn’t great… wouldn’t it mean that making noise here wouldn’t alert the ones outside?

Without even organizing my thoughts, I spoke to the people next to me.

“Let’s go to the third floor and bring down some gym equipment.”

“What?”

“There’s no need to go into the second floor blindly. We should use the advantage of the stairs.”

“What do you mean?”

“Bring anything that can roll.”

Choi Hyun looked at me in disbelief, but Seol Ye-won took the lead and headed to the third floor.

Soon, she returned carrying a long weight with 10 kg weights on either side.

“Are the guys just going to sit around?”

When Seol Ye-won frowned and asked, both Choi Hyun and Jeon Wan-soo went up to the third floor without hesitation.

I carefully placed the weight Seol Ye-won was holding on the floor and focused on the zombies.

What were the chances that the zombies outside would come in when we rolled heavy equipment down the stairs?

Just like the zombies on the second floor didn’t hear the alarm, those outside wouldn’t hear the commotion happening here.

I hoped my judgment was correct as I placed the equipment on the floor one by one.

After closing all the windows on the stairs and finishing my preparations, I took a deep breath and shouted toward the zombies on the second floor.

“Hey, you bastards!”

Krrrrr—

The zombies in the second-floor hallway turned to look at us.

Graaah! Kahak!!

Then, like wild beasts caught in a frenzy, they began to rush toward us.

The moment they reached halfway up the stairs, I pushed the 30 kg weight on the floor with all my might.

Thud! Thud— Thud!

The zombies climbing the stairs fell forward or toppled over.

The ones that scrambled to get up were swiftly dispatched by Choi Hyun and Jeon Wan-soo, who wasted no time in slicing their throats.

Before the zombies could cluster together, we hurriedly rolled more gym equipment.

Thud! Thud! Bang! Clang!

The second-floor stairs had become a chaotic scene with zombies and gym equipment.

Whenever the fallen zombies tried to get up, we rolled another piece of equipment to block their approach.

The explosive sounds echoed through the stairs, drawing zombies from the second and first floors to charge toward us.

“Bring more!”

I shouted at Seol Ye-won and Yoon Hye-ri behind me. The two hurriedly went up to the third floor, bringing down everything in sight.

Heavy dumbbells, chairs from the gym, desks—anything that weighed something.

While rolling equipment without pause, I kept an eye on the situation outside.

I couldn’t see clearly through the thick fog, but it seemed the zombies outside were unaware of the commotion happening here.

It’s working.

I continuously threw dumbbells and chairs at the zombies climbing the stairs, and when a group approached, I simply shoved a long desk at them.

The second-floor stairs started to resemble a garbage dump.

The tangled and intertwined zombies broke limbs, snapped necks, and shattered spines, yet they continued to thrash and scream.

As equipment piled up, leaving no space for the zombies to step through, Choi Hyun and Jeon Wan-soo slowly moved down to attack the heads of the zombies lying beneath.

Having no more objects to roll, I drew my hunting knife and plunged the blade into the temples and eyes of the zombies flailing on the floor.

I had to be cautious.

Even if there were zombies underneath, if I let my guard down and they grabbed my calf, it would be a disaster.

Carefully handling the stacked zombies, I passed through a pile of debris up to my waist and stepped into the second floor.

Peeking down the stairs leading to the first floor, I saw that no zombies were coming up anymore.

I turned to the people behind me and said, “Hyun and Wan-soo, check the convenience store. Hye-ri, follow them, and Ye-won, let’s go help the older guys.”

Everyone nodded and moved out in unison.

As I dashed down the hallway with Seol Ye-won, we checked the two club rooms on the second floor.

There were no signs of anyone having entered those rooms.

The doors were locked, and there was no sign of life.

The break room opposite the convenience store was also completely empty.

Turning my gaze to the left after rounding the corner at the end of the hallway, I spotted an iron door leading to the spiral staircase.

In front of it, I could see zombies scratching and banging on the door while screaming.

There were dozens of corpses piled up in front of the iron door.

It was evident how desperate Lee Jung-woo and Jeong Jin-young had been, and how fiercely they had fought.

I narrowed my eyes and charged at the zombies in front of the iron door.

The zombies, scratching at the door in an attempt to get outside, turned around at the sound of our footsteps.

At most, there were about eight left.

It had been tough to deal with just three zombies when escaping the dormitory, but after gaining experience, eight zombies felt like easy prey.

Gripping the knife tightly, I slashed without pause.

When Seol Ye-won joined me from the side, the tightly shut iron door swung open as if a sluice gate had been opened.

From inside, Lee Jung-woo and Jeong Jin-young emerged, their bodies covered in sweat and their eyes wide with focus.

Both of them were at their physical limits, but they were holding on purely by willpower.

They showed no signs of losing concentration even to the end.

Jeong Jin-young gripped his hand axe tightly and began to smash the skulls of the zombies.

The eight zombies fell like autumn leaves before our combined assault.

When the last zombie fell, only heavy breathing echoed through the hallway.

I could hear ringing in my ears, the sound of a bell echoing in my head, and the pounding of my heart felt like it was racing violently.

My limbs trembled like aspen leaves, my mouth felt parched, and my eyelids were wet with sweat.

My lungs were heaving and contracting wildly.

But the light in my companions’ eyes was extraordinary.

A passion for life.

After dealing with dozens of zombies, I felt something hot surging up from deep within me.

The confidence that I could do this, the joy of surviving.

It was a sense of achievement that words could hardly describe.