I Became a Game Character in the Apocalypse

Chapter 12 –
The zombie had risen but didn’t go back down, so it seemed to focus on the lingering scent in
the hallway.
Clunk- Clunk-
Soon, the sound of a door being rattled could be heard clearly.
Seol Ye-won, whose large eyes were already wide, stared at the door in shock.
Should I just open the door and kill the monster outside?
But what if there are more zombies left in the hallway?
It was difficult to make a move.
Was there no way to escape?
Looking around the room, another door caught his eye, a door behind the desk.
If it’s connected to the office of the dean… does it lead to the staff room?
Seol Ye-won was physically exhausted and unable to continue fighting.
Pointing toward the staff room, Park Jae-hyung motioned for her to go. She nodded and
crawled on the floor, heading towards the room.
Click.
At that moment, the sound of the doorknob turning was heard.
Park Jae-hyung hurriedly grabbed the doorknob, eyes wide in surprise.
The zombie outside seemed to know how to open doors, not just break them down.
With both hands on the doorknob, Park Jae-hyung braced the door with his entire body.
Creeeek… Grrr!
When the door wouldn’t open, the zombie in the hallway began to growl and push forcefully
against it.
The tremors shook Park Jae-hyung’s entire body, and a sharp pain shot through his shoulders.
Looking at Seol Ye-won, she was already standing near the staff room, watching Park Jae
hyung.
After motioning for her to go in first, Seol Yeowon hesitated, lips trembling.
Though Park Jae-hyung appreciated her concern, there was no benefit in staying together
now.
Exhausted, Seol Ye-won was more of a burden than help.
With a furrowed brow, Park Jae-hyung gestured again, and Seol Ye-won weakly lowered her
head and opened the door, entering the staff room.
She then peeked her head out with an anxious look, scanning Park Jae-hyung.
If Park Jae-hyung lets go of the doorknob, the resonance zombie will come inside.
It was a no-win situation.
Wait, I don’t actually need to go out, do I?
What if I pull the zombie inside instead?
Gripping the iron pipe left on the floor, Park Jae-hyung listened to the footsteps echoing in
the hallway.
The echo zombie took a few steps back before charging full force, in order to throw its body
against the door.
The sound of footsteps retreating to gather more momentum followed.
Thud!
The zombie’s presence could be felt as it rapidly approached, propelled by the sound of its
feet hitting the floor.
Now!
The protagonist spun the doorknob forcefully and pulled the door open.
The resonance zombie flew into the office with its body suspended in the air.
The moment the zombie’s eyes met Park Jae-hyung’s, everything seemed to slow down in his
mind.
Before the zombie could hit the floor, the protagonist tensed their left arm and raised the iron
pipe.
Hoo!
Breathing deeply, Park Jae-hyung struck the zombie’s temple.
Simultaneously, with the other hand, he slammed the office door shut.
The office was soundproof, so even if the zombie was pummeled mercilessly, no noise would
escape.
Park Jae-hyung swung the pipe until the zombie stopped moving, then quickly scanned the
glass window at the top of the door.
Fortunately, no zombies were visible outside.
The resonance zombie had been taken care of, but how were they gonna exit now?
The floors filled with fog would be teeming with zombies.
The golden glow of the setting sun filtered through the window.
There wasn’t much time left.
Staying here until morning and then leaving seemed like the most ideal plan, but the main
building wasn’t far from the dormitory.
Since the zombies in the music department had likely heard the noise, the leader zombie in
the dorm might have noticed the presence of survivors as well.
If they didn’t move now, there might not be a tomorrow.
How many zombies are there around here?
Park Jae-hyung quickly ran to the window to check the surface of the fog.
From his time spent in the dormitory, he learned that when a large group of zombies moved,
the surface of the fog would ripple.
Park Jae-hyung peered through the wide horizontal window of the office.
The fog outside the building rippled like waves.
At least 100 zombies, if not more.
In the distance, movements from the music department zombies could be spotted.
If the zombies in the music department had noticed the presence of survivors, the leader
zombie in the dorm would also have realized it.
Why is it that my uneasy predictions are always right?
“Jae-hyung, what should we do now?”
Before he could respond, Seol Ye-won was already standing beside them, clenching her
hands and looking in the direction of the ripples with anxious eyes.
Park Jae-hyung bit his lower lip and avoided Seol Ye-won’s gaze.
He didn’t know what to do either.
Unlike the dorm escape, there were no blankets or external pipes to climb.
The stairs and hallways on the 1st and 2nd floors would be full of zombies, and he didn’t
know how many more resonance zombies were out there.
Was there any way to draw the zombies’ attention away, even for a moment…?
Attention?
A bright idea suddenly crossed the protagonist’s mind, and they hastily opened the bag on
their back.
They had packed a few things when escaping from the dorm.
Among them was…
“Are you serious?”
Seol Ye-won looked at the item Park Jae-hyung had pulled out, her expression filled with
unease.
He turned the alarm clock and spoke.
“Watch. This will be more effective than a grenade.”
***
The small glass attached to the office door wasn’t enough to survey the entire hallway.
“Yeowon, can you check the left side of the hallway from the staff room? See how many
zombies are out there.”
“Okay.”
Thanks to the staff room being connected to the office, they could survey the left and right
sides of the hallway without leaving the room.
There were no zombies on the 5th floor hallway.
“Ye-won, can you run?”
“If I want to survive, I have to.”
Her voice sounded as dry and cracked as the parched earth.
At this point, she must have felt the metallic taste in her throat.
After finishing the last of the water, she carefully opened the door and stepped into the
hallway.
Creeeek…
The moment the door opened, the screams of zombies filled the air.
It seemed like there were zombies on the 4th floor too.
“What are we going to do?”
“We’ll lure the zombies to one side of the stairs, and then we’ll go down the opposite stairs.
Once we reach the first floor, we’ll head straight out the side door.”
“Are we really going to make noise on purpose? What about the scent?”
“Just follow me.”
As he entered the bathroom on the fifth floor, the familiar, rancid smell of decay filled the air,
and they saw a toolbox that reeked of rot.
The stench was so strong it made Park Jae furrow his brow instinctively.
He grabbed a mop and handed it to Seol Ye-won.
“Rub it on yourself.”
“W-What? This?”
“Don’t you want to live?”
Seol Ye-won grimaced but reluctantly rubbed her entire body with the mop.
The protagonist did the same, rubbing their body with the mop.
Seol Ye-won gagged repeatedly, swallowing hard to keep from vomiting.
It was unpleasant, but what else could they do? They had to do whatever it took to survive.
Dragging their foul-smelling bodies, they moved toward the end of the right hallway.
Moving silently down the stairs, the cries of zombies grew louder.
Park Jae peered around the corner of the fourth-floor hallway, spotting a zombie swaying its
upper body from side to side.
Without needing to ask, he recognized it as an resonance zombie.
From previous experience, he knew that zombies had a kind of homing instinct.
After chasing prey outside the mist, if they lost it, they would return to the mist.
The zombies that didn’t turn back were likely resonance zombies.
It would be safer to take care of it before moving, but the distance was at least 20 meters.
No matter how fast they ran, it would be impossible to cover that distance before the zombie
opened its mouth.
It was better to throw the alarm clock first, draw the zombies in, and deal with them
afterward.
If the two sounds mixed together, the zombies without auditory functions would focus on the
nearest sound.
The protagonist looked at the alarm clock and spoke to Seol Ye-won.
“I’m going.”
Without replying, Seol Ye-won tightened her grip on the iron pipe and nodded.
As they descended to the third floor, the discordant sounds of the zombies’ cries filled the air.
Without needing to see it, Park Jae could already picture how many zombies there were in his
mind.
At least 20 or more.
“Get ready to go up to the fourth floor.”
With that, he pushed the alarm clock into the midst of the zombies.
Like curling in a game of curling.
The alarm clock scraped across the hallway, stopping near the zombies’ feet, and the growls
of the zombies followed.
Drrrring!!
Grrr! Cack—caw!!
The loud alarm echoed through the hallway, causing the growls of zombies to intensify
across the building.
The sound was so shrill it made Park Jae’s neck tense up.
In a panic, he hurried up to the fourth floor, leaning against the railing and watching the third
floor.
From the second floor, zombies could be seen moving up.
There were more zombies crawling on their limbs than those running on two legs.
Their obsession with their prey completely dominated their bodies.
Dozens of zombies had gathered in the third-floor hallway.
After a brief wave of movement, the echoing alarm blended with the sound of the resonance
zombie.
Grrrrr— oooooo—
An unnatural cry that seemed to drain the soul.
Were there resonance zombies mixed in with the ones coming from below?
Trying to calm his nervous heart Park Jae checked the stairs.
Fortunately, no zombies had reached the fourth floor.
After confirming the zombies had gathered on the third floor, he licked his parched lips and
looked back.
A long silhouette was cast over the fourth-floor hallway.
Zombies on the fourth floor were also drawn to the alarm and were approaching.
This was expected.
Thud!
Without a second thought, driven by instinct, Park Jae sprinted up the stairs.
Before they were discovered, they had to strike first.
Gripping the iron pipe tightly, he rounded the corner and swung the pipe without even having
time to confirm with his eyes.
Thwack!!
The zombie didn’t even react before its nose was crushed.
Teeth fell to the floor with a dull sound.
Not stopping there, Park Jae swung the iron pipe again and again.
Seol Ye-won, who had followed, alternated between watching the zombies and Park Jae,
swallowing dryly before asking.
“Where do we go now?”
“Like I said before. We’ll go down the opposite stairs and head straight out the side door…”
Thud!
“Huh?”
The protagonist suddenly froze, feeling a sharp pain in their calf.
Looking down quickly, he saw a zombie with its face crushed, biting into his calf.
There was no instinct to shake it off.
It felt too surreal, and his mind went blank.
Was I bitten?
Before hr could react, Seol Ye-won did.
She widened her eyes in horror and drove the iron pipe into the zombie’s temple.
Park Jae collapsed to the floor, staring helplessly at his calf.
A clear bite mark was visible on their pants, and red blood was soaking through.
He had been careless.
Seol Ye-won, her face filled with panic, inspected the protagonist’s calf but said nothing.
Even though Park Jae had been bitten, he instinctively ran up the stairs to observe the
zombies’ behavior.
Fortunately, no zombies had been attracted by the commotion yet.
The zombies were too distracted by the blaring alarm.
Then, Seol Ye-won, eyes welling with tears, struggled to speak.
“Jae-hyung… your calf…”
“Go quickly.”
“…Huh?”
“Go. To the student union.”
Seeing the bloodstains on the pants, Park Jae couldn’t feel the pain, anger, or fear.
Everything felt empty, absurd.
Their limbs felt weak, and all he could say was “go.”
Seol Ye-won trembled, her lips quivering, and her eyes red from tears.
What more words could there be?
This was the end of their story.
Park Jae opened the window on the fourth floor and looked down.
Could I die instantly if I fell from here?
Stepping onto the window ledge, Seol Ye-won rushed over and grabbed his thigh in
desperation.
“What are you doing!”
“It’s better to die now before I change.”
“Hey!”
Ignoring Seol Ye-won’s cries, the protagonist gazed out into the fog.
Was it fear?
Was it despair?
Or was it guilt?
His hands shook, and his heart ached.
With trembling hands, he touched his forehead and bit his lip.
Was this a punishment from the heavens for all the sins I’ve committed?
Park Jae knew it was too late for these thoughts, but…
He didn’t want to die.
He wanted to live, too.
There were so many moments he regretted, so many things he wished he had done
differently.
But deep down, he knew.
Regret didn’t help now.
The more he thought, the more he hesitated. If the alarm stopped, Seol Ye-won would lose
her chance to escape.
He had to make a decision if Seol Ye-won was to survive.
Turning to look at Seol Ye-won for the last time, Park Jae spoke.
“I’m glad… we met, even if it was just for a short time.”
“Hey…”
“Thank you. For saving me at the natural sciences building.”