Chapter 16 …
The red mist could turn anyone it touched into a zombie.
Even so, Jang Sunam ignored it and charged straight at the zombies.
Whoosh─ Thwack!
Thanks to the +1 enhancement of <Mind-Body Training> (S), Jang Sunam moved more nimbly and kicked a nearby goblin zombie.
The force was so powerful that the goblin zombie’s neck snapped instantly, killing it in one blow.
“Since we never know when extreme misfortune might strike, let’s finish this quickly.”
Jang Sunam threw his axe at another goblin zombie approaching from the side.
Whoosh─ Crunch!
The spinning axe flew straight into the head of the charging goblin zombie. Momentum carried the fallen creature sliding all the way to Jang Sunam.
“Hunters don’t know how many lives they have left…”
Jang Sunam drew his axe and spun in place. The attack from a nearby hunter zombie missed, leaving it off balance.
“I just need to subdue it.”
Thwack!!
The hunter zombie fell with a tremendous sound, its spine shattered by the hammer-like strike of Jang Sunam’s axe back. Though this injury was severe, it could be healed with a recovery potion, so Jang Sunam moved without hesitation.
Whoosh! Thwack!
Vroom! Shreek!
He subdued the hunters and killed the goblins, clearing the area quickly with clear and decisive force.
“Krrr… Kyah!!”
Observing this, the Zombie Lord grew furious, raising both arms. The red mist spewed like snakes, engulfing Jang Sunam.
“Ugh…!”
Painful groans escaped his mouth as the red mist enveloped him. His eyes turned rapidly red, and his expression grew feral—a typical symptom of zombification.
But unlike other hunters who had become zombies in an instant, Jang Sunam clung to his consciousness by a narrow margin.
“It’s tough, but I can endure this!”
That was the effect of his +1 enhanced <Mind-Body Training> (S). With both body and mind strengthened, he could resist losing his human consciousness even while turning into a zombie.
“The average infection time is thirty seconds.”
He pulled out a glass vial containing golden powder from his inventory—the zombie virus cure vaccine obtained from the Sacred Heart Tower.
“If I can just hold on, I can get something valuable…!”
[Extreme Misfortune has been triggered.]
At that moment, his heart sank.
What terrible timing was this?
“Ugh…!!”
A more massive wave of the virus penetrated his body than anything he had experienced before.
“Damn… crazy…!!”
His body swayed and his mind clouded.
───.
On top of that, hallucinations from the red mist urged him to give up life and walk the path of the dead.
“Kr… Kyah…”
His reason rapidly slipped away, bringing him to the brink of complete zombification. Yet, even in that state, he remembered one thing: the time.
“29… 30….”
Suddenly!
Jang Sunam’s eyes snapped open. With sheer force, he shattered the vial in his hand.
Crack! Shhhh—!
The golden powder poured out, mixing with the swirling red mist, glittering as it did so. The powder instantly purified the red mist, turning it into ordinary fog, and restored Jang Sunam’s body to its original state.
[Hidden Achievement: ‘Indomitable Will’ unlocked.]
[Skills Held]
<Disease Resistance> (S)
┗ Grants immunity to all types of disease.
“Disease Resistance…?!”
Thanks to the vaccine and his skill, Jang Sunam’s mind rapidly returned. He was honestly amazed.
“I was aiming for the A-rank skill ‘Disease Mitigation,’ but I got an even higher skill!”
It seemed that being in “misfortune time” didn’t affect the reward. On the contrary, enduring misfortune had earned him a greater reward.
“Great! Misfortune time doesn’t necessarily mean bad things!”
He smiled and faced the boss.
“Now your ability won’t work on me.”
The boss sensed an ominous threat from Jang Sunam’s expression and jumped back.
“Kyah!!”
Raising both arms, the boss attacked hunters outside the door, trying to overwhelm them by increasing the number of zombies.
“I can’t let that happen.”
Reinvigorated by Disease Resistance, Jang Sunam threw his axe. It flew powerfully and struck the boss’s right arm.
“Kk!”
The boss’s arm muscles tore, dropping something—a gem controlling the red mist.
Whoosh.
The gem fell, and the red mist lost power and vanished.
“Now’s my chance!”
Jang Sunam dashed at the Zombie Lord, snatching the boss’s staff mid-fall.
“Haah!!”
Gripping the staff with both hands, he swung it like a golf club, smashing the fallen red gem.
Thwack!!
The gem hit the Ice Goblin Lord zombie’s forehead with tremendous force.
“Kyah?!!”
Crack!
The gem shattered, and the boss could no longer control the red mist.
“Now all that’s left is to heal the zombies already created… and…”
He turned to face the charging boss.
“Create a new weapon, I guess.”
“Kyah!!”
Furious, the boss grabbed the axe handle lodged in its arm. While ownership of the weapon couldn’t be taken, its use could be negated.
Swish!
The boss pulled the axe from its arm and threw it forcefully.
Whoosh!!
Jang Sunam narrowly dodged the flying axe.
Bang!
Crack!
The handle collided with a pillar and shattered, the axe head falling off. Jang Sunam quickly drove the staff into the fallen axe head.
“Interaction, synthesis.”
[Ice Goblin Lord’s Staff can be synthesized.]
[Conditions met.]
[Item is being synthesized.]
The magical staff reshaped, locking the axe securely. Some items can synthesize on their own, and this was one of them.
[<Goblin Lord’s Ice Halberd Axe> (F+) +1 completed.]
A new weapon was born in Jang Sunam’s hands—a giant halberd-like axe spear.
“Time to test the new weapon.”
Swinging the halberd lightly, Jang Sunam assumed a stance, and the Zombie Lord cautiously retreated. Other goblins nearby grabbed fallen swords and shouted.
“Krarr!!”
“Sorry, but my range is pretty long.”
Skills grant the user necessary knowledge and ability. If someone reincarnates having already learned skills, do they lose that knowledge entirely? Half true, half false.
Good memory allows some recollection of previously learned skills, but most cannot endure physically without skill support.
“That’s why I trained in Mind-Body Training.”
Currently at +1 enhancement, it was worth trying.
“I should be able to handle this.”
Jang Sunam charged the boss, showcasing a new technique.
“Lightning King Spear Technique, 1-Star.”
The halberd seemed to bend mid-swing, striking the boss rapidly. This was part of the Lightning King series he had used in a previous run. Derived from a genius who developed superhuman skills, it was not technically a skill but functioned at skill-level power.
Normally it would include the Lightning attribute, but his current body couldn’t replicate that. Still, pure spear technique alone gave it incredible power.
Bam-bat!!
“Kiek!”
The Zombie Lord barely blocked with a sword, but for every block, Jang Sunam’s attack struck twice.
“Kkgya-gyah?!”
Holes appeared across the Zombie Lord’s body, slowing its movements.
“Just a little more!”
He couldn’t fully reproduce the Lightning King Spear technique yet. Forcing it would strain his body.
Paba-bat!!
Still, he kept striking, destroying more of the Zombie Lord’s body.
“This ends now.”
Pat!
He twisted his body and thrust the halberd in a powerful final strike—the fastest and strongest yet. Like a bolt of lightning, it hit the Zombie Lord’s head.
Bang!!
The Zombie Lord’s head was obliterated, leaving its body crumpled.
[Hidden Achievement unlocked: ‘Savior of the Zombie Apocalypse’.]
A system message celebrated his victory.
“I did it.”
His goal had been this achievement, which granted a title.
[Title]
<Indomitable Body>
┗ Greatly increases all physical defenses.
A significant boost, reducing bodily strain and allowing him to use the Lightning King Spear technique more freely.
“I’m ready to enter higher zones.”
Higher zones with E-rank anomalies are far more challenging. Yet, the White Robe Authority still hadn’t been fully eliminated.
“Woooaaah!!”
Cheers erupted outside from hunters—the White Robe Authority guards had all been defeated.
“Their plans are foiled.”
The zombie problem wasn’t completely solved. Pockets of red ice remained in the glacier zones. But unlike the Authority, these could be managed by distributing the vaccine.
“All guards have been dealt with, nya~.”
At that moment, Jelly, transformed back into a cat, approached and placed 1,030 coins and ten recovery potions on the ground.
“Good job, Jelly.”
Jang Sunam collected them, patting Jelly’s head.
“Purr~”
Jelly meowed like a cat.
“What’s next, nya?”
“The plan’s obvious.”
To mass-produce the vaccine, the research facilities of the White Robe Authority HQ were required. Using Elf Domael Dezar’s magical medical abilities there, vaccine production would be guaranteed.
The Authority was vast, so Jang Sunam alone couldn’t capture the HQ. But that wasn’t a problem. Now that their true nature was revealed, enraged hunters would soon storm the HQ.
“I’ll leave the guards to the hunters and handle the photon ore myself.”
Then interrogate the remaining enemies for information on the seeds of the Evil God faction. Completely eradicating them from this world was the only way to reach a happy ending.
