NOVEL NEXT Chapter 3
Chapter 3
—–CROW—–
—Thud.
The zombie biting my shoulder suddenly collapsed. One moment, a strange hologram-like thing had appeared; the next, the creature that had been devouring me was lying motionless on the floor. I was more bewildered than relieved.
“Wh-What the…?”
Clutching my wounded shoulder, I stared at the zombie. Its mouth was agape, showing no signs of life.
‘Am I dreaming?’
The message still hung in the air:
[You have inherited the Necromancer class.]
[Player’s desire confirmed. Configuring system and referencing data.]
“…Necromancer?”
The throbbing pain in my neck confirmed that this was no dream. Maybe *I* was the one going crazy. But the zombie had stopped moving…
My trembling hand reached out and touched the hologram.
—*Ding.*—
The translucent blue window vanished. I could almost feel its ghostly texture on my fingertips.
“Could this be…?”
Before the pandemic, a lonely college student lost in the crowds, I’d found solace in the virtual worlds of my smartphone. And in those worlds, one thing was common…
“…Status window.”
—*Ding.*—
The words, spoken on a whim, brought the window back.
[Name: Lee Seo-ho
Class: Necromancer
Trait: Aura of Death – As a Necromancer who commands the undead, you are unaffected by them.]
‘Zombies weren’t enough, now I have a status window? This is insane.’
I laughed, a hollow, disbelieving sound. So many times, while enduring the hunger and drudgery of life in the dormitory, I’d wished it was all a dream, a nightmare induced by too many zombie movies.
“Well, I guess if zombies are real, then maybe fantasy stuff like this…”
A thought struck me. The zombie’s attire. The robe it wore, so fitting for a Necromancer. It looked like something straight out of a fantasy comic, a dark sorcerer. And this…thing…was a zombie in a department store bathroom?
“Could it be…?”
A theory formed in my mind, fueled by the increasingly unbelievable reality unfolding around me.
“You bastard…were *you* the first infected…?”
The corpse didn’t answer. But if my theory was correct, it would explain this insane zombie apocalypse. It all started in Seoul, not America, Iran, or China. The zombies appeared out of nowhere, plunging Korea into chaos before spreading across the globe.
And here, lying before me, was the potential source.
‘Well, no point blaming a corpse…’
I focused on the message, the status window. The kind you saw in games and fantasy stories, displaying all sorts of information. And it said I was a Necromancer.
‘And this description of my trait…’
*Aura of Death. As a Necromancer who commands the undead, you are unaffected by them.*
Undead. Things that were dead but acted alive. That meant…
“Zombies…”
According to the status window, as a Necromancer, I was immune to the walking dead.
‘Could it…could it be true?’
A surge of dopamine overshadowed the pain in my shoulder. The corners of my mouth twitched. Immune to zombies. That meant my chances of survival in this zombie-infested world had just skyrocketed.
‘…And I’m in a department store.’
The very department store where the outbreak started. In the initial chaos, no one would have had time to loot the place. This department store was an untouched treasure trove.
I got up and approached the bathroom door. My hand trembled as I reached for the handle. A horde of zombies likely waited on the other side. But I was *unaffected* by them. Did that mean I couldn’t be infected? Or just that they wouldn’t attack me? Being immune to infection wouldn’t matter if they tore me apart.
I swallowed, slowly turning the handle. Then a wave of doubt washed over me.
‘…What if I’m wrong?’
I was getting ahead of myself, excited by the possibility of being special in this crazy world. Maybe I was hallucinating.
‘I just survived, and now I’m going to die again…?’
My hand trembled. The memory of my near-death experience flashed through my mind. The resentment, the burning desire for revenge.
‘Those bastards…’
The ones who enslaved me, dehumanized me, the ones who stood by and watched, the bitch who betrayed me. Rage surged, pushing back the fear.
“Fuck it, I was already dead anyway—!!”
Throwing caution to the wind, I flung the door open.
“—Groan, groaaan…”
“—Ugh, ahh, kee…”
The department store’s food court lay in ruins, teeming with zombies. But they hadn’t reached the bathroom. A metal security shutter blocked their path.
‘If they were right outside, they would have come when I was screaming.’
Zombies were drawn to sound and smell. Unusual noises attracted their attention, and then their sense of smell guided them. The soldiers exploited this to navigate relatively safe routes. When the robed zombie attacked me…
“Hey—! You bastards!! There’s a zombie down here!! You sons of bitches—!!”
…my screams should have attracted a horde. But they were trapped behind the shutter, their hands reaching through the gaps, their bodies pressing against the metal.
*Step, step.*
“…Is this really happening?”
I walked closer. No reaction. The zombies pressed against the shutter, reaching for me, but none of them seemed to register my presence.
I swallowed, my trembling hand reaching out. I touched the head of the nearest zombie, its jaw dangling loosely.
*Tap.*
Nothing.
“…He…hehe…”
Relief gave way to laughter. I clenched my fists, raising my arms in triumph.
—–CROW—–
“Hahahaha—!! I’m fucking invincible, you bastards—!!!”
Until now, my body had been a coiled spring, constantly tense, hyper-alert to every sound and movement. The fear had been exhausting. But now, the tension released, replaced by a wave of relief and exhilaration. I couldn’t help but scream.
“—Raaaagh!!”
“—Urrrgh!!”
“—Kee, kyaaa!!”
My shouts triggered the zombies, sensitive to noise. But they only reacted to the sound, making no aggressive moves towards me.
“More!! Scream more, you pathetic corpses!! Serves you right!! I’m living a different life now!! Do you hear me?!”
The release of pent-up frustration was cathartic. I yelled, reveling in my newfound freedom.
“Heh…hehe…”
Laughter mixed with a thought that had been nagging at me.
“Just you wait, you bastards…I’m going to take my sweet time with you.”
I smiled, picturing the faces of the people back in the dormitory.
***
The zombie pandemic. A common trope in fiction, the unstoppable virus that brings about the end of the world. What were the keys to survival in such a scenario? The ability to avoid zombies and the ability to secure the necessities of life: food, shelter, clothing.
“Damn, it’s been a while since I’ve done some proper shopping.”
*Rattle, rattle.*
I pushed a shopping cart through the ravaged food court, a leisurely stroll through the apocalypse.
“Hey there, little one. Out shopping with your mom, and then *this* happened?”
“—Kyaa…”
A ten-year-old zombie, missing an arm, responded to my voice with a mournful groan. Even in a normal world, a kid that age would have struggled to survive this. Maybe becoming a zombie was a mercy.
I hummed, pushing the cart. I raided the snack aisle, piling it high with whatever remained. I grabbed a pack of chocolate biscuits, the high-calorie kind often touted as emergency rations, and tore it open.
“Ahh…fucking delicious.”
The sugary, high-calorie goodness filled my mouth, revitalizing my starved body.
As I was saying, survival in a pandemic was about avoiding zombies and securing resources. And in that respect, I was now invincible. The fact that zombies were no longer a threat accounted for 99% of that. Resources weren’t usually scarce in a zombie apocalypse. There was plenty of stuff left behind when the virus hit. The problem was getting to it because of the, you know, *zombies*.
Like in this department store.
“I think this is enough for now.”
The cart overflowed with food. I could have left it here and come back for it as needed, but this was about more than just gathering supplies. It was about indulging in a long-denied pleasure: shopping.
“Too bad all the frozen and fresh food is rotten.”
That was unavoidable. It had been almost two months since the outbreak. The power was out, and the water ran brown. Even refrigerated food would be past its expiration date. But there was still plenty of non-perishable stuff: canned goods, snacks.
I loaded the food into a backpack I’d found and headed to the bedding section on the third floor. That was the advantage of a department store. Regular supermarkets only had food, and half of that was fresh or frozen. But department stores had different sections on each floor.
“Wow, this is so soft.”
I threw myself onto the cleanest bed I could find. The dormitory had beds, but they were hardly comfortable. This was a king-size bed, with plush pillows. Pure bliss. I settled in, grabbing a drink from my backpack. It was lukewarm, but it quenched my thirst, the sugary sweetness a welcome treat.
For the first time in a long time, I felt…human.
“Status window.”
The familiar blue screen appeared.
[Name: Lee Seo-ho
Class: Necromancer
Trait: Aura of Death – As a Necromancer who commands the undead, you are unaffected by them.]
“…Hmm, can I only see my status?”
In the games and stories, there were usually other things: skills, inventory.
“Let’s see…Skill window?”
—*Ding.*—
[Requirements not met. Unable to access.]
“Aha, so I *can* access it once I meet the requirements.”
It wasn’t that it didn’t exist, just that I wasn’t ready yet. Intrigued, I tried another command. It was a staple in these kinds of systems. There *had* to be something.
“Quests.”
—*Ding.*—
[Loading quests.]
[Survival Quests]
[Growth Quests]
[Main Quest]
Three categories appeared.
—–CROW—–