Chapter 27

I raised a hand to my eye.

The heat beneath my palm was intense.

I rubbed it several times, but the golden glow reflected in the glass didn’t disappear.

‘What is this?’

As I stood there, frozen in confusion, I heard a sharp shout.

“Recruit!”

The Chef Zombie was moving again.

Since he could no longer use one of his legs properly, he crawled toward me.

Though saying he was crawling would be an understatement.

He was moving so fast that he practically looked like he was running.

I took a few steps back while removing the magazine and clearing the chamber.

My hands trembled a little, but I didn’t make a single mistake.

The round in the chamber fell onto the metal floor with a dry clink.

I put the Glock back into the sling bag and shouted,

“Please keep repairing the generator!”

I couldn’t take my eyes off the Chef Zombie, so I didn’t check what Mo Haein and Kwak Hanmuk were doing.

But I knew they had resumed working.

The repair progress bar started moving again.

Current repair progress: 69%

Since the Chef Zombie was moving much more slowly than before, dealing with him had become considerably easier.

However, my own reflexes had also become slower.

Between those golden eyes and the constant system windows appearing to block my vision, my mind was in complete chaos.

You feel that something inside you has changed, but you soon realize that it is nothing out of the ordinary.

Because you are ■■ ■.

It is merely a natural process of growth as a ■.

However, ■■ ■ must remain hidden for now.

To protect that secret, you think this is the most appropriate and perfect moment to register ‘Mo Haein’ and ‘Kwak Hanmuk.’

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

I closed every window except the one displaying the repair progress.

Surviving came first.

If I died, it wouldn’t matter what color my eyes were glowing.

‘Two gonggi stones left.’

I intended to save one of them.

I had already used the pistol.

I couldn’t afford to lower the Chef Zombie’s health any further.

But the second phase would begin soon.

As if it had been waiting for that exact moment, the progress increased again.

Current repair progress: 70%

At 70%, the most difficult part began.

The Chef Zombie entered the second phase.

As he crawled across the floor, his body began convulsing.

“Grr… Grrr…”

Veins began bulging all over his body as though he were enduring unbearable pain.

Thick bluish blood vessels protruded beneath his skin.

Then every one of his joints cracked, one after another.

Crack.

Crack.

As though he were testing out a brand-new body.

Then he slowly turned his head toward the emergency generator.

With the repairs at 70%, the generator was producing a deafening roar.

“Kieeeehh!”

The Chef Zombie let out a piercing shriek and began crawling at tremendous speed, his apron dragging across the floor.

He wasn’t coming after me.

He was heading straight for the generator.

That was the real problem with the second phase.

The Chef Zombie attacked the emergency generator without exception.

No matter how much the player drew his attention, he would ignore them again only a few seconds later.

Even the gonggi stones only distracted him for three seconds.

That was why, during the second phase, the best—and practically the only—strategy was to physically stop him.

I quickly pulled a carabiner with a climbing rope already attached out of the sling bag and secured it to the metal shelving unit.

Then I looped the rope around a thick pipe, wrapped it around several times, and finally tied it around my waist.

After checking the knot, I ran after the Chef Zombie.

And grabbed his leg.

The left one.

The same knee I had shot.

He was wearing chef’s boots, so I nearly ended up pulling off only his footwear.

But I reacted in time and grabbed him above the ankle, wrapping myself tightly around his leg.

“Graaaah! Graaaaah!”

The Chef Zombie began struggling violently.

But he didn’t attack me.

As long as he didn’t receive damage beyond a certain threshold, the generator remained his absolute priority during the second phase.

With me hanging from his leg, he continued advancing using only his arms and his other leg.

I was dragged across the floor.

Until the rope around my waist became completely taut.

“…”

I felt a pain so intense that it was as if my entire body were being torn apart.

I clenched my teeth with all my strength and braced my feet against a dented section of the metal floor.

A sticky sensation coated my skin.

It was the dark, putrid liquid oozing from the Chef Zombie’s leg, soaking me.

With my normal strength, I could never have stopped him.

I was only holding on thanks to the rope.

But it was obvious I wouldn’t be able to last much longer.

‘Just a little longer…’

The sweat running down my forehead blurred my vision.

I blinked several times until I could see clearly again, and at last, I saw the first digit change.

Current repair progress: 90%

The moment the repairs reached 90%, the Chef Zombie began convulsing.

His entire body shook as his limbs twisted into grotesque shapes.

It was the omen announcing the start of the third phase.

During the third phase, the Chef Zombie entered a berserk state.

Some of the bones in his hands grew into the shape of kitchen knives.

Both his speed and his strength increased dramatically.

With that deformed body, he began launching indiscriminate attacks throughout the generator room.

Even though one of his legs was injured, after seeing how fast he had crawled earlier, I doubted the wound would reduce the power of his frenzy by much.

In other words.

He was about to become an enemy I couldn’t handle.

All of this was happening because, in the original plan, Kwak Hanmuk was supposed to fight the boss.

But things had already reached this point.

I had to find some way to make it work.

I let go of the Chef Zombie and took off my work gloves.

Then I pulled out the fourth gonggi stone.

I was going to try a completely new method.

One I had never been able to attempt in the game.

‘Because back then it had been physically impossible.’

But now.

Maybe it would work.

I gripped the gonggi stone tightly.

And pulled the two plastic halves apart.

Click.

The stone split open.

The tension I felt eased slightly.

In the game, it was an item that could never be taken apart.

And after checking the description, I saw that it had changed as well.

Broken Gonggi Stone: Please! Use it only to play gonggi!

I poured the tiny metal pellets inside into my palm and held them together with the plastic shell.

Then I threw them in the opposite direction from the Chef Zombie, just as he was about to begin his transformation.

The shell and the tiny pellets scattered across the floor, producing faint clinking sounds.

Compared to the roar of the diesel generator, they were no louder than the sound of leaves falling.

But the Chef Zombie reacted immediately.

The body that had been writhing convulsively only a moment before came to a halt.

Even his physical transformation was interrupted.

His growls also stopped completely.

For several seconds, the only sound in the entire room was the engine.

As though he had encountered an error, the Chef Zombie stood motionless.

Then he turned his head very slowly.

His gaze fell upon the fragments of the gonggi stone scattered across the floor.

“Ah… Ah…”

For the first time, he made a different sound.

He began desperately looking from one fragment to another.

His head kept moving up, down, left, and right without stopping.

After a few moments, he began frantically crawling around.

But not toward the generator.

Nor toward me.

He was only trying to gather the fragments of the gonggi stone.

However, the hands that were in the middle of transforming already had bones protruding from everywhere.

Those hands had evolved solely to destroy.

They were far too clumsy to pick up tiny metal pellets.

He barely managed to pick up the plastic shell and shove it into his mouth.

While the Chef Zombie kept futilely trying to gather the tiny fragments, the repair progress continued advancing steadily.

Finally, Kwak Hanmuk tightened the last screw.

Current repair progress: 100%

The emergency generator repair has been completed!

The cheerful notification appeared alongside a new system window.

The moment Kwak Hanmuk confirmed that the repairs were finished, he sprang to his feet with the screwdriver in his hand.

I tried to stop him before he charged at the Chef Zombie.

Well.

I tried.

“Captain Kwak…! Ugh!”

I had completely forgotten about the rope tied around my waist.

I couldn’t move forward.

On the contrary, I was yanked backward.

I landed hard on my tailbone, and it hurt as though it had cracked, but I didn’t even have time to check.

“Don’t kill him!”

Kwak Hanmuk had stepped on the back of the still-writhing Chef Zombie and was about to drive the screwdriver into the back of his neck.

He turned to look at me.

His sharp eyes showed not the slightest trace of emotion.

I froze for a moment before speaking slowly.

“He’s the father of the child who owns the gonggi stones you brought.”

“So?”

Kwak Hanmuk still had one foot planted on the Chef Zombie’s back.

“Is that a reason to keep the boss alive?”

“We’re going to develop a cure. He can become human again.”

“Does it have anything to do with the True Ending?”

“…Yes.”

He continued staring at me.

I kept explaining.

“The side quest you received at the elementary school is connected to the True Ending.”

Kwak Hanmuk smiled.

He tossed the screwdriver into the air.

It spun several times before landing perfectly back in his hand.

“You should’ve started with that.”

The truth was, it had nothing to do with it.

It didn’t matter whether the Chef Zombie lived or died.

It wouldn’t affect either the cure or the vaccine.

But I wanted to save him.

Because after playing Dead Zone Deal countless times,

I had never managed to do it.

◆ Side Quest: Find the Child’s Father.

When you accepted the little boy’s quest at the elementary school, you received the gonggi stones used during the boss fight.

Since using them was mandatory to defeat him, the quest was designed to fail.

I tried everything.

I even started by trying not to use the stones.

But every attempt ended the same way.

The little boy would burst into tears after learning that his father had died, asking why I hadn’t kept my promise to find him.

No matter that Dead Zone Deal was set in a zombie apocalypse.

This time, we were going to create a cure as well.

I wanted to achieve a far more perfect happy ending.

Of course.

I couldn’t save every zombie.

‘But I can at least save one or two of the ones I know.’

As long as it didn’t interfere with the progress of the game.

Besides, once the generator had been repaired, killing the boss was no longer necessary for the battle to be considered complete.

I glanced at the system window.

You have defeated the Chef Zombie!

Kwak Hanmuk kept tossing and catching the screwdriver as he asked,

“So how do you plan to keep him under control?”

“Yes. Well… I’d appreciate it if you could hold him down for a little longer.”

I hurriedly untied the climbing rope from around my waist.

Just as I was about to unclip the carabiner from the metal shelving unit,

Mo Haein stepped in front of me.

“Wait.”

She held out a hand toward me.

I watched her approach nervously.

That was when I remembered something I had forgotten because of the battle with the Chef Zombie.

My eyes had been glowing with an intense golden color.

Mo Haein’s hand opened the zipper of the sling bag hanging across my chest.

She took out the pistol.

She aimed it at the floor and pulled the trigger.

Click.

The trigger locked to the rear.

I was still completely tense while she finished making the gun safe.

But all she did was put it back into the sling bag.

‘She’s not going to arrest me this time…?’

Having previously been detained for causing a national disaster, I could only stare at her in confusion.

At that moment, the room’s speaker emitted a burst of static.

And immediately afterward, a familiar voice rang out.

“Sniff… M-Mr. Gunbam… A-are you still alive…? Hic… If you’re still alive… could you come quickly…?”

It was Lee Gaon’s voice.

And before I could even wonder how she had managed to activate the PA system, she dropped an even bigger bombshell.

“Sniff… Hic… I-I think… I think I just killed someone…”