NOVEL NEXT Chapter 23
A woman who looks like she played around a bit as a child is running barefoot while holding high heels in both hands.
Well, in this situation, it’s better to be barefoot than in high heels!
“It’s still a long way to Halloween…!”
Everywhere she looks, it’s all [zombies].
Zombie pandemic?
Don’t make me laugh!
How can something like that happen in reality?!
The moment Lumi thought she had successfully suppressed the early outbreak of [zombies] in Hongdae, it was unfortunate, but Hongdae wasn’t the only place where [zombies] had appeared.
Zombies were randomly emerging all over Seoul.
Naturally, not everyone could respond as quickly as Lumi did.
No, in fact, the regions that failed to suppress the outbreak early were overwhelmingly more.
As if what’s shown in the movies isn’t a lie, the speed of the spread was staggering.
One zombie becomes two.
Two zombies turn into four.
In an instant, the situation reached a point where it was uncontrollable.
It was truly an apocalypse!
“AHHHHH!”
A woman screams as she trips.
At that moment, when she looked back, blood was flowing from her foot, which had taken off the high heel.
She tripped on a sharp stone, causing the bleeding.
To make matters worse, she also felt pain from her twisted ankle as she fell!
Once she collapsed, her leg couldn’t support her due to the pain, and she became isolated as the people around her had already escaped.
And then, the [zombies] approached her.
“I- I don’t want this…!”
She moved as if she intended to crawl away, but it couldn’t be faster than the zombies.
The [zombie] got right up close.
Trying to push it away with her hands was pointless.
In fact, the [zombie] grabbed her hand and opened its mouth as if to bite, making her nearly pee herself.
Just as she was about to crumble in fear of death.
Thud-
With a dull sound, the zombie’s head is smashed.
“We’re here to rescue you!”
A man appeared, brandishing a long hammer that had just smashed the zombie.
And behind him…
“A- a camera?”
“Oh! Still safe!”
The man confirmed that the woman was safe. He turned to the camera and playfully saluted, saying, “Successfully rescued one civilian! Points are delicious! Next, anyone nearby, raise your hand!”
“W-what…?”
The woman, unable to keep up with the situation.
The man turned back to her again and said, “Come on! It’s dangerous here, so follow me! Oh, and please find [Streamer – Kim Hyun-woo] when you get to safety and subscribe!”
These were just ordinary scenes happening all over Seoul right now.
*
■ [Local Quest] Apocalypse IN Seoul
└ The invasion of [zombies] in Seoul!
One zombie might be weak, but the infection from the virus is a calamity beyond human control.
The early suppression has already failed!
There’s only one way left.
Defeat the source of the virus, the [first zombie], and save the endangered Seoul.
■ Conditions
└ [First Zombie] subjugation (0/1)
■ Rewards
└ Release of [Abnormality – Zombie Pandemic].
└ Obtain 1 Boss Skill.
■ [Local Quest] Rescue Survivors.
└ [Streamer] has an obligation as a member of the [Broadcasting Station] to protect the world.
Seoul is in chaos.
Please rescue the citizens who are gripped with fear and reassure them!
In this collapsed civilization, the citizens you rescue might become your people.
■ Conditions
└ Rescue citizens (0/???)
└ Secure stronghold (0/1)
└ Secure 100 citizens (0/100)
■ Rewards
└ 1P for each rescued citizen (immediate reward).
└ Register Safe Zone.
“This what now…?”
After killing a zombie, her smartphone alarm sounds that the status window has awakened.
When she took out her smartphone to check, the screen showed.
“Quest? It’s not some kind of game.”
No, before that…
“Is this real?”
The content of the quests was more grim than she had expected.
The zombies she caught here weren’t the end of it.
Seoul had already started spreading with [zombies].
Moreover, from the wording in the second quest, it implied that the government would already be dysfunctional.
What’s this about awakening, anyway…
She reads web novels.
Sometimes she checks them out when she’s bored, but she knows this kind of cliché.
‘The upcoming era will be the era of hunters hunting [Abnormalities].’
Suddenly, Han Yu-seong’s words came to mind.
An era of hunters, huh…
Was that what it meant that the world would turn into a hunter story?
“More importantly, this isn’t a hunter story; it’s an apocalypse…”
She looked around.
People were returning one by one after confirming the zombies were dead.
“This is troubling.”
She had a rough grasp of the situation and the system.
People were whispering and pointing fingers at her.
Occasionally someone even muttered “murderer”…
Didn’t that girl see the [zombies] earlier?
‘A divinity.’
She thought about whether she could register the people from Hongdae as citizens, but it was impossible.
The fact that they had solved the zombie crisis too quickly meant that people couldn’t perceive the seriousness of the situation, and it had ended.
If [zombies] from other areas popped up, maybe…
She assessed the situation as much as possible.
Apocalypse.
It was uncertain for now, but the likelihood of the government becoming incapacitated soon was high.
And the quest from the status window.
‘I need power.’
Not just against [zombies], but to survive against the same people as well.
《Iron V > Iron IV》
《10P is needed for promotion.》
《10 subscribers are needed for promotion.》
“Since the promotion can’t happen, it seems to refer to subscribers within the [Streaming System]…”
Other platform subscribers wouldn’t be useful at this rate!
Or would they…?
“Hey, any viewers near Hongdae? It doesn’t even need to be close! Starting a fan meeting from now!”
There’s no need to personally find citizens, right?
*
“Oh, clever.”
Han Yu-seong admired as he watched the broadcast screen.
He never expected there’d be a [Streamer] recruiting citizens like that.
It was a method possible because she had suppressed the [zombies] spreading in Hongdae early, but at least as long as it was before the [zombies] from other areas came over, it would be an incredibly effective tactic.
If she absorbed her existing viewers, her subscribers would increase quickly too.
After all, as a [Streamer], subscribers are fundamentally important.
Even if she enhances with points, those points are ultimately like empty cans.
Except for the willpower to achieve [Abnormalities].
Unless using skills through [Broadcasting Station], that alone couldn’t elevate her physical capabilities.
That’s why she needs the subscription system.
Through subscriptions, she could focus the willpower of others and use that to strengthen her body with points.
This way, the dissemination of willpower spreading while waiting would reduce, and thus the generation rate of [Abnormalities] would also slightly decrease, making it truly a win-win situation.
Thinking about other [Streamers] awakening in different areas struggling to gather citizens one by one, that Lumi-chan [Streamer] would quickly grow strong.
“If that girl grows as expected, sending a [Partnership] proposal wouldn’t be a bad idea.”
“Well, she is a promising rookie.”
Busy little bear.
If there was one more guy to place in a managerial position, it would lighten the load a bit.
It really is quite unfortunate.
Finding competent and smart talent who won’t betray is this difficult.
Huh? Am I relying too much on the bear?
Well, she is also an [Abnormality] subordinate to the Back Room anyway.
Is it calling it a shared destiny?
In fact, even before the [Alliance]’s raid, they would merely persuade with words but didn’t particularly hinder my work.
“So, how does it look to an outsider? The system I’ve created.”
I asked the only outsider in the management room of [Ordinary City].
“Yes, yes? Me?”
“I mean, is there anyone else here besides you…?”
A [Company] employee.
She was the subordinates of the assistant I dispatched after confirming the proposal’s validity.
As soon as they appeared, the little bear bit at them.
Since they had regressed into a juvenile state, their teeth wouldn’t hurt that much anyway, but they were screaming.
I left them behind as a contact person…
“W-well, I guess! I didn’t see it well…”
“….”
Well, that one.
Even if they are called a contact person, I think it wouldn’t be without intent to extract information…
Did they simply leave because they were genuinely useless?
N-no, surely not…?
I lost my words at the sight of the company employee radiating a total rookie aura.
I decided to ignore the company employee.
Well, the entities will deal with it if they do anything strange, so it shouldn’t matter.
It feels like I’ve realized that pouring my energy into such things would be a waste…
‘That assistant must have had a lot of trouble.’
Poor them.
They seemed competent, but is there a way to recruit them?
As I thought that, I leaned back into the plush chair.
With entities around, [Ordinary City] wouldn’t be threatened by mere [zombies], and I had already sent an entity unit for support as soon as I received rescue requests from my viewers…
Now what I have to do is…
Boom—
“Oh, crazy people are starting to pop out soon.”
The shock coming from the outskirts of [Ordinary City].
I thought it was around time.
From the moment I said I’d join one of the Four Great Powers, there were many who looked at it with disdain.
“Come to think of it, [Company] was really gentle.”
With the collapse of the [Alliance] and the inundation of [Abnormalities] into the world.
In such a world, the [Broadcasting Station] is trying to establish order anew, but…
There are also sociopaths who simply hate order in the world.
Let alone if those psychos have gained power…
“Are you leaving?”
“Shouldn’t I go if you’re calling?”
Shadows captured by the cameras showcasing the outskirts of [Ordinary City].
People with colorful appearances could be seen wildly dancing around.
“Let’s see if we can catch sight of the faces of these [Artists].”