Chapter 26

There were two bosses in the Dead Zone Deal laboratory.

The first was the Security Guard Zombie, whom you fought as soon as you entered the first-floor lobby.

Back when he was human, that grotesquely swollen security guard had injected himself with illegal steroids to increase his muscle mass.

After turning into a zombie, the remnants of the drug accelerated, transforming him into something that could no longer be considered human.

The Security Guard Zombie possessed the greatest offensive power in all of Dead Zone Deal.

But Je Hyuno had killed him at the very beginning, so I never even got to see him.

The second was the Chef Zombie in the underground area.

According to the story, he was a cook who fled to the generator room when the outbreak began and ended up turning into a zombie there.

Having been trapped in a place filled with constant noise twenty-four hours a day, he had become far more ferocious than any other zombie and had extraordinarily sensitive hearing.

The Chef Zombie was a time-limit boss.

He constantly struck the emergency generator to reduce its operational capacity.

If the player focused too much on delivery missions and took too long to confront him, he would completely destroy the generator, and the game would immediately end with a Bad Ending.

Furthermore, once the battle began, he attacked indiscriminately.

That was why it was crucial to keep his attention away from the generator to prevent him from destroying it.

If too much time passed after the battle started without repairing the generator, it would explode, blowing the entire underground sector sky-high.

Game Over.

But if you reduced the boss’s health to less than half before finishing the repairs,

it was also Game Over.

The Chef Zombie would self-destruct, causing the generator to explode.

It was a battle designed so that anyone unfamiliar with the mechanics would inevitably lose.

I had defeated the Chef Zombie so many times that I was sick of seeing him.

That was why I had let my guard down a little.

I thought I would be able to react to almost any unexpected situation.

But my zombification disappearing…

That had been completely beyond anything I could have anticipated.

The moment I exhaled the breath I had been holding, the Chef Zombie lunged at me.

“Graaaah!”

“Goyo!”

“Recruit!”

Kwak Hanmuk and Mo Haein immediately reacted to the unexpected situation, but I stopped them.

“I’m fine!”

As I broke into a run, I shouted at the top of my lungs.

“I’ll handle the boss! Throw me the sling bag!”

Kwak Hanmuk ripped off the sling bag in one motion and threw it.

The small bag traced a perfect arc before landing right in my hands.

I caught it in midair.

Meanwhile, Kwak Hanmuk and Mo Haein ran toward the spare parts cabinet.

Kwak Hanmuk slammed his entire body into the metal filing cabinet.

He tore the door off by force and dumped out every part inside.

◆Wha?t?! Ma?in Qu?est!!: Defeat the enraged Chef Zombie.

Are you…? Are…? Crazy…? Out of your mind…?

You think you’ve definitely lost your mind.

■■ ■ is still weak.

Your abilities are also pitifully insignificant.

You swear you’ll never ignore a system window again.

However, the disaster has already begun.

The chef, who was always angry because the researchers complained about the food, became even more violent after turning into a zombie.

He might tear you apart. Apart! Apart! Apa-apa-apart!

Defeating the enraged chef will never be an easy task.

‘Of course. If you actually said something useful from the beginning…’

Then I’d diligently read every system window myself.

It was still the same.

There wasn’t a single useful line.

Just lectures about not reading them and a bunch of nonsense.

I glanced over my shoulder at the Chef Zombie, who continued chasing me.

‘Am I the only one whose zombification disappeared?’

Judging by the way he was targeting only me, the answer was obvious.

I didn’t understand why it had happened.

After Mo Haein bit me, I hadn’t done anything at all.

The only difference between me and Kwak Hanmuk

was that I was the System.

That was the only explanation I could come up with.

And once the boss had already recognized me as his target, even if I turned back into a zombie now, it wouldn’t matter anymore.

I’d have to face the Chef Zombie as a human.

You think you’re truly in a desperate situation this time.

But fortunately, there is a way to overcome it.

You wish to register ‘Mo Haein’ and ‘Kwak Hanmuk’ to complete the ‘3 slots’ and raise the System’s power to a new level.

Do you wish to register ‘Mo Haein’ and ‘Kwak Hanmuk’?

Oh, seriously.

‘It’s precisely because you keep saying this kind of nonsense that I stop reading you.’

The strange sensation I had experienced when registering Je Hyuno was still vivid in my memory.

I didn’t want to register anyone else.

Ignoring the system window as I continued running, I surveyed the generator room.

It was a spacious area dominated by a massive engine.

But not spacious enough to play cat and mouse with the Chef Zombie for six minutes.

Especially considering my agility.

If I were still a zombie, my physical abilities would be considerably better than they were now.

What a shame.

I unzipped the sling bag and reached inside.

I pulled out one of the items Kwak Hanmuk had obtained despite asking me over and over what the hell I needed it for.

A set of simple plastic gonggi stones.

Gonggi Stones: Use them only to play gonggi.

The gonggi stones rattled continuously.

The small filling inside them produced a soft clattering sound.

I picked up one of them and threw it in the opposite direction from the one I was running.

“Graaaah!”

The Chef Zombie let out a chilling roar and immediately charged toward the stone.

‘It worked.’

Kwak Hanmuk had managed to get the right item.

The gonggi stones were a toy played with by a child at the elementary school in Green Zone.

The Chef Zombie unfailingly reacted to the faint sound they made.

Furthermore, he always picked them up and swallowed them.

When he did, he became stunned for three seconds.

The hidden strategy for defeating him was to keep throwing the stones while escaping.

But there were only five.

I couldn’t waste them carelessly.

I had to manage them carefully while the emergency generator was being repaired.

“Grrr…”

The Chef Zombie picked up the stone with his rotten hand.

He had picked it up instinctively, though he didn’t seem to know what to do with it.

He stood still for a few moments before putting it into his mouth and swallowing it.

While the Chef Zombie remained stunned, I climbed a metal shelving unit where several pipes were neatly stored.

I climbed onto the platform about two meters above the ground and looked toward the emergency generator.

At that moment, a system window appeared.

The emergency generator repair has begun!

Repairers: Cheongroe, Morae. (The repairers cannot be changed once the repair has begun.)

Current repair progress: 1%.

Kwak Hanmuk and Mo Haein were sitting on opposite sides of the generator, removing the metal panels.

After spraying the rust remover, Mo Haein hurled the aerosol can with all her strength.

Clang!

The can struck the metal fence on the opposite side.

Just then, the Chef Zombie’s stun ended.

As he searched for me, he immediately rushed toward the source of the impact.

“…”

Mo Haein checked with trembling eyes that I was still unharmed.

Then she immediately went back to work.

She ran over to Kwak Hanmuk’s side, and the two of them began loosening bolts with wrenches and replacing the damaged cables according to their respective colors.

They both worked calmly, exactly as I had explained during the briefing.

It looked like they would finish the repairs within the six minutes I had estimated.

Thanks to the few seconds Mo Haein had bought me, I managed to climb to the top of the shelving unit without any trouble.

“Kieeaaa!”

The Chef Zombie let out a horrifying shriek and slammed into the shelving unit.

The impact was so powerful that even the metal frame, firmly bolted to the floor, shook.

The most important thing was to keep all of his attention focused on me.

I left the repair progress window in the corner of my vision and waited for the Chef Zombie to finish climbing.

When he was only one level away from reaching me,

I took off running.

I sprinted along the long row of metal shelves as though it were a running track.

The Chef Zombie immediately chased after me.

His apron, riddled with holes, flapped noisily as he ran.

Just before reaching the end of the shelving unit, I threw the second gonggi stone to the opposite side.

Just as I expected, the Chef Zombie reacted to the sound once again.

Crash!

As he chased after the stone, he fell off the shelving unit.

The impact left him motionless for a few seconds.

Then his body bent with horrifying cracks before he got back to his feet.

And he ran after the stone once more.

I took the opportunity to check on the repairs.

Mo Haein had returned to the right side to clean off the rust and remove the internal bolts.

On the left side, Kwak Hanmuk had already finished connecting the cables and was tightening the bolts one by one.

The intense heat radiating from the generator’s engine caused sweat to trickle down Kwak Hanmuk’s temples.

When the Chef Zombie came back toward the shelving units, I ran this time toward the generator’s cooling fan.

The scorching air it expelled was unbearable.

But it was the noisiest spot in the entire room.

As long as I stayed there, the Chef Zombie would temporarily lose track of me.

Just as I expected, the monster hesitated for a moment after losing sight of his target.

For the next minute, he would wander around looking for me.

But once that minute was over, he would go back to attacking the generator.

I had to act before that happened.

With that brief window of safety, I counted the seconds in my head while watching the metal fence on the opposite side.

Behind it stood another generator that was completely shut down.

Just as the Chef Zombie was about to stop searching for me, I threw the third gonggi stone.

Not too hard and not too softly.

The stone passed perfectly through the gap in the fence and landed exactly where I wanted it to.

In a place the Chef Zombie could barely reach with his hand.

The moment he heard the sound, the monster hurled himself at the fence.

Unable to reach it through the openings, he began ripping the mesh apart with brute force.

Crack! Crack!

The wires began to snap.

The sharp ends pierced the backs of his hands.

A viscous, putrid liquid began dripping from the wounds.

But zombies don’t feel pain.

The Chef Zombie completely mangled his own hands as he tore apart the fence.

In the end, he managed to grab the stone and shove it into his mouth.

I hadn’t anticipated that.

In the game, you only saw him tearing down the fence.

It never showed him injuring himself like that.

After all, the game had pixel graphics.

There was a limit to how much information it could convey.

‘If he’s a chef, he shouldn’t be destroying his hands.’

I had no choice but to slightly alter my plan.

I pulled a pistol out of the sling bag.

It was a compact Glock 19 with a fifteen-round magazine.

But I only intended to fire one shot.

The Chef Zombie didn’t have that much health.

If I mishandled the weapon and reduced his health below half,

he would immediately self-destruct.

It was a tool that was as useful as it was dangerous.

I had wanted to avoid using firearms whenever possible.

But this time I had no other choice.

I racked the slide and aimed at the Chef Zombie.

In FPS games, I had been an excellent marksman.

But this was reality.

I hadn’t even received basic military training.

It was the first time I had ever held a real gun.

The rough texture of the grip lightly scraped against my palm.

With every nerve in my body focused, I placed my finger on the trigger.

The Chef Zombie growled as he turned toward me.

He had detected the sound of my breathing and charged immediately.

I waited calmly.

‘When he’s as close as possible.’

That was the best way to minimize the margin of error.

The approaching zombie seemed to be moving in slow motion.

Even though it was impossible for him to actually be moving slowly.

As I focused all my attention,

I felt an intense heat in my eyes.

It was that same sensation I had already experienced several times.

Strange as it was,

it didn’t scare me.

On the contrary.

It felt completely natural.

I pulled the trigger.

Bang!

The recoil caused the barrel to jerk upward, and the shell casing flew off to one side.

The first shot only left a long groove across the zombie’s skin before deflecting away.

But I smiled.

And pulled the trigger again.

This time I didn’t miss.

The bullet pierced his kneecap.

“Kiaaa!”

The Chef Zombie lost his balance and collapsed to the ground.

The sound of the shell casing hitting the floor echoed loudly.

I immediately lowered the gun.

If I kept firing, I’d enter his self-destruction threshold.

I slowly exhaled and looked toward the generator.

But Kwak Hanmuk and Mo Haein were no longer repairing it.

Both of them had stopped working.

With tense expressions, they were staring fixedly at me.

‘What’s wrong?’

I quickly looked around to see if there was something near me.

But there was nothing.

Then I saw my reflection in the glass door of the fire extinguisher cabinet.

Even through the dirty glass, it was perfectly clear.

My eyes were glowing with an intense golden color.