Chapter 55…
[LOL he just twisted his neck right off!]
[No, I didn’t twist it!?]
[LOLOL Heavenly Demon! Heavenly Demon!]
[The Heavenly Demon has descended into the world of Zombres!]
[So you’re not going down the sweet potato* route anymore?]
(*Sweet potato = Korean slang for frustrating, suffocating developments.)
“Guys, no, please calm down first.”
The chat was roaring with cheers.
Lee Ji-han was flustered.
From afar, it looked like a comedy; up close, it was even funnier.
“I had to knock him out. If I hadn’t, he would’ve killed himself right there! Otherwise, maybe I would’ve gotten shot instead!”
His justification was sound.
His actions were logical.
But life—and streaming—never unfolded that neatly.
[LOLOLOL Heavenly Demon! Twist his neck again!]
[No more sweet potatoes!]
[Good deeds are nice, but smashing things up like this feels so refreshing!]
[You finally figured out what we want!]
[You’ve opened your eyes, Lee Ji-han!]
The chat was ablaze, carried away by its own intensity and absurdity.
Ji-han looked at it awkwardly, then stood up.
“I’ve got a lot to do, so let’s keep moving.”
With a helpless smile at the wild chat, he turned back to the game.
“I need to check the CCTV and track down the others, but before that, let’s see if we can find some clues.”
[LOL he really woke up]
[You mugged him hahaha]
[The way you search his pockets, no wonder they misunderstand!]
[But it’s hilarious, right? Cheers!]
[Seriously, it’s so damn funny]
But Ji-han wasn’t watching chat.
He had to find clues, uncover the true nature of the lab, then regroup with Marcus and the kid.
Rustle—
“Hm?”
He found something in the researcher’s pocket.
A small USB stick.
“…Let’s check this first.”
He plugged it into the laptop.
Files loaded—documents in a foreign language, incomprehensible.
“…It’s not translating.”
Normally the files would auto-translate into readable text.
But this time, as if deliberately concealed, it showed up in some unknown script he’d never seen before.
[???]
[Is that English?]
[Doesn’t look like English, maybe Russian?]
[Nope, I majored in Russian. Definitely not.]
[…Never seen anything like this.]
[What language is this?]
[Wait, I think I saw this while playing before.]
“You’ve seen this before?”
Ta-da-dan-tan-tan!
[‘ZombresMania’ has donated ₩10,000.]
Yeah, I unlocked story mode while watching Ji-han’s stream. This script comes up often, but even with language perks you can’t decode it.
The viewer, afraid their message would get buried, sent it via donation.
“You could’ve just said it in chat.”
[Oh, really? Some streamers don’t read backseating at all, so. Anyway, yeah, it shows up a lot.]
[So it was there even before the patch?]
[Yeah. It feels like a cipher, but I never put points in decoding perks.]
“A cipher, huh…”
Looking closely, it did feel like encryption.
Alphabets, some Chinese characters, and squiggly script in between.
Ji-han squinted, staring hard, but nothing meaningful emerged.
“But doesn’t it look like those bugs we saw before?”
[Yeah, it’s super similar LOL]
[So this is research on those alien parasites?]
[Meaning this lab studies those organisms, and what we’re uncovering is—]
[—a huge lore bomb that ties the whole story together!]
[LOL “huge lore bomb” hahaha]
[Of course it’s encrypted, duh!]
[We really stumbled onto something big. LOL jackpot!]
[But what if we can’t use it?]
At that, Ji-han smiled softly.
“You mean because it’s undecipherable, right?”
[Exactly! If we can’t read it, it’s useless!]
[So we’re stuck here again, huh. What now?]
“No, we’re not stuck. Guys, clip this and upload it to Pretzel.”
The chat froze.
[LOLOLOL]
[Ahhh I get it now LOL]
[Okay, I’ll spread it in Zombres streamer chats]
[I’ll post it on the community boards]
[LMAO genius]
[Yep, this is it]
“Thanks. Players should use player methods, after all.”
Ji-han cleared his throat.
“Hello, this is streamer Lee Ji-han. We’ve found this encrypted file.”
Pointing at the screen, he spoke seriously.
That sincerity was enough to grab attention.
“I’d like to ask for your help.”
The monstrous rookie, Lee Ji-han.
A monster who solved everything with pure skill, the undisputed frontrunner of Zombres.
Now, the vanguard himself was—
“I can’t decode this. If anyone can, let’s solve it together. Share it on the community, email it to me, or even send it as a clip.”
He was asking other streamers, viewers, gamers for help.
“So I’ll leave it to you. And if someone really does decode it…”
After a moment of hesitation, he grinned and blurted out something ridiculous:
“I’ll buy you chicken. I’ll send you a gifticon!”
Others might have laughed him off.
But Ji-han’s face was deadly earnest.
As if chicken was the most delicious food he’d ever tasted.
As if he was offering something truly precious.
That was the sincerity he conveyed.
And it worked.
As soon as the encrypted file spread on Pretzel and community boards, self-proclaimed Zombres experts began to move.
It wasn’t about the chicken.
Well… maybe the chicken mattered a little.
But more than that, it was the craving for recognition—
to contribute to the frontlines themselves.
“Isn’t that the monster streamer from Korea?”
“The one JC kept talking about?”
“A newbie claiming the frontlines of story mode, tsk.”
At first, they thought it would only spread in Korea.
But Pretzel was an international giant.
The clip spread overseas, faster than an epidemic.
“Chicken gifticon? Is that a Korean thing?”
“Ha! I don’t need chicken. This is way more fun.”
“Don’t mock us, Korean! We’re serious about story mode too!”
One by one, Zombres experts across the world began reacting.
“Decrypting codes? That’s our specialty.”
“…What are you watching now?”
“Look, this Korean guy’s asking for help.”
“Oh hey, isn’t that Zombres?”
“You know it too? Yeah, great game, been out for a while.”
“So are we gonna crack this cipher?”
“Nothing else to do—let’s take a stab at it.”
Not just Zombres experts, but actual cryptographers too.
The world itself was beginning to move.
“Next, it looks like this lab is pretty big.”
Meanwhile, some people were completely unaware.
Ji-han and his chat, who only shared the clip domestically.
They were just enjoying watching him play.
[So what now?]
[You’ll find Marcus and the kid, right?]
[Check the CCTV, maybe?]
“…Not a bad idea. CCTV could save us time and effort.”
Ji-han removed the USB and pocketed it.
Then he turned to the side, where the next step awaited:
CCTV control.
He powered up all cameras across the vast facility, searching for traces of Marcus and the kid.
“Nothing in this sector… where could they have gone?”
His face turned serious, the monitors’ blue and white light flashing across it as he scanned.
Then suddenly, he froze.
A faint, strange sound came through the feed.
He sped up the playback, narrowing down the chase.
“Ah, mister! Where are you!?”
“Kid, it’s fine to look for the boss, but keep it down. Zombies have sharp ears.”
“…S-sorry.”
The two looked exhausted, bodies covered in scratches.
Their clothes were filthy and torn in places.
But no bite marks—proof they’d been desperately running, and barely surviving.
“Found them!”
The moment he spotted Marcus and the kid, Ji-han began mapping their position.
“Sector B, Corridor 12… next, Corridor 13, 14, 15. They’re walking along the route.”
He muttered the details, storing them in his head.
Then he checked the map for their path versus his own.
“Got their position.”
[We’re memorizing too, don’t worry!]
[But their clothes are wrecked, are they under constant attack?]
[Hey! Look now! Zombies beside them!]
[You have to save them, right?]
“…I have to go.”
With that, Ji-han snatched a handgun from the fallen researcher’s hand and sprinted.
[LOL now he’s looting like a pro]
[But he was always good at looting, even in Jegal LOL]
[Guess after Gangho Sword Chronicles, he’s basically a thug now]
[Hey, drops from my kill are mine LOL]
[You’ve awakened, Ji-han! You’re becoming a gamer!]
While chat joked around, Ji-han’s face grew more focused, his pace quickening.
[Ji-han! Wipe them out and save them!]
[It’s time to rescue your comrades!]
[Wait, wasn’t the Heavenly Demon a lone wolf?]
[LOL he’s a Heavenly Demon but not that Heavenly Demon!]
[In Zombres he’s a saint, duh]
[Shut up, Saint Order! He’s Heavenly Demon! Heavenly Demon!]
[Saint or Demon, whatever—let’s gooo!!!]
Ji-han and his viewers charged forward.
To save his comrades.
Toward Sector B, without hesitation.
