I Became a Game Character in the Apocalypse

Chapter 8 –
They must have lied because they were hiding something.
The man who came out of the storage room looked at the man at the counter and, with an
awkward smile, spoke.
“Relax. I think this guy got flustered and misspoke. Let’s talk it out.”
“Misspoke?”
“He said he was alone out of loyalty. But, as you can see, there’s actually two of us.”
I didn’t trust that they were only two.
I watched them warily as I opened my bag.
I stuffed canned food, snacks, and drinks into it while keeping an eye on both men.
The man from the storage room silently watched me, and then, with a bitter smile, said, “Who
said you could take those?”
“I decided I could.”
“Hey, let’s talk about this.”
“I am talking.”
I continued stuffing items into my bag, and then slowly began to step back toward the
entrance.
The man from the storage room looked incredulous, and in a low voice, he spoke.
“You know, if you go out that door, you’ll die, right?”
Was he trying to intimidate me?
I didn’t sense any other presence nearby.
The only survivors here were probably those two, or maybe a few more hiding in the storage
room.
They didn’t have any weapons, and the entrance was small enough for just one person to pass
through at a time.
If I gathered my resolve, I could take them on.
I tightened my grip on the metal pipe and responded.
“Try me.”
“Don’t you want to know about the hideout?”
The word hideout made me pause involuntarily.
Are there survivors in this dorm?
Maybe he thought I’d take the bait, but the man raised the corner of his mouth and spoke.
“Put down what’s in your bag. Then I’ll tell you.”
I didn’t know if these guys were genuinely trying to help survivors, or if they were lying.
If I thought positively, then the man at the counter must have lied about the hideout to protect
it.
But if I thought negatively, they could be lying just to get the food I gathered.
It was tempting, but they had underestimated me.
I replied in a neutral tone.
“Do I really need to know?”
“What?”
“Do you think the location of the survivors is more important than food?”
“Are you planning to survive alone? Haven’t you seen the zombies outside?”
“I’ll manage.”
I had my sights set on the student union, not some dorm survivor hideout.
Even if there were survivors somewhere in the dorm, it didn’t concern me.
Two weeks ago, when I cleared Last Ark,
My classmates had gathered in the clubroom to prepare for finals.
They even asked me to join them there instead of staying in the dorm, so it was likely they
were still there.
Therefore, whether there were survivors in the dorm or not, it didn’t matter to me.
Besides, with the big boss zombie now appearing, staying in the dorm was like living with a
time bomb.
I glanced at the two men in the convenience store and said,
“It does not matter even if I don’t know where the hideout is, but if it’s in the dorm area, you
should leave quickly.”
I tried to offer advice and leave, but the man from the storage room flinched.
He furrowed his brows and glared at me, then asked,
“Are you a player?”
The word player made my eyes twitch involuntarily.
How does he know?
When I didn’t respond, he chuckled lightly and continued.
“What, if you’re a player, you should have said so earlier. We just wasted time.”
“…”
“Come with us.”
He smiled faintly and extended his right hand when I didn’t respond.
There was something sinister about his smile.
When I didn’t move, he shrugged his shoulders and spoke again.
“Don’t give me that look. We have a player on our side too.”
“…What’s your class?”
“Me? I’m just a regular survivor.”
“What’s your player’s ability?”
“I don’t remember their name, but they said they can see well in the fog.”
If they have good vision in the fog, the player must’ve picked Gabriel.
If Gabriel’s with them, the path to the student union would be much safer.
I hesitated for a moment, and then the man from the storage room took a step closer and
added,
“Oh, and the one who sees well in the fog is a woman. She’s pretty.”
“Don’t come any closer.”
I raised the metal pipe and glared at the man, and he gave an awkward smile.
“Still don’t trust me?”
It was tempting, but just because they had a player didn’t mean I should trust them.
I still had unresolved suspicions.
It seemed like they came to get food, but it didn’t make sense that they hadn’t brought
Gabriel, who could see in the fog.
Even if they found a safer route, the zombies wandering in the fog could still be
unpredictable.
Unless they cleared out all the zombies in the area, safety couldn’t be guaranteed.
If they had survived this long, they should know that.
Besides, if Gabriel had been with them, they would have detected the boss zombie’s presence
earlier, which made it strange that they were still in the dorm.
Above all, the man’s sinister expression… it felt different from mine.
Since my doubts hadn’t been resolved, I shrugged my bag onto my shoulder and said,
“I don’t trust you.”
I gave a brief reply and exited the convenience store.
I could hear voices calling after me from behind.
Shouting like that in the fog…
I knew I couldn’t trust them.
I glanced back from the entrance of the cafeteria, but I couldn’t see the men.
They must have given up after a few shouts, unable to follow me.
I wanted to go to the survivors’ hideout and take Gabriel with me, but that was greedy.
I didn’t know who the players were, and the likelihood of them following me was slim.
So, I decided not to be greedy and just head straight for the student union.
Ding ding ding!
At that moment, a clear sound rang out from the direction of the convenience store.
The sound of the wind chime attached to the glass door.
It wasn’t from the wind—it was deliberately making a sound.
Thud thud thud thud thud-
Grrrrr!!
Next came the sound of zombie footsteps and the deafening roars.
The wind chimes kept ringing, and the zombies, having heard the noise, began to gather.
Could they be trying to trap me by using the zombies?
As the thought crossed my mind, a surge of blood rushed to my head.
Zombies don’t hunt for human food.
They only crave humans.
They were probably planning to throw me to the zombies and later take my bag.
“Fucking bastards…”
Staring at the convenience store wouldn’t change anything.
Grrrrr!!
From the cafeteria in the distance, the roars of zombies echoed.
If the zombies inside the cafeteria joined the chase, it would be impossible to hide inside the
building.
Without thinking, I burst out of the building and blocked the glass door.
The zombies inside the cafeteria slammed into the glass door all at once.
The shock of their bodies hitting the door made my legs tense up as I braced myself and held
the door in place, repeatedly thinking.
I lost my sense of direction amidst the footsteps coming from all sides.
Should I move to the student union now?
The boss zombie must have heard the noise, too.
I couldn’t lead the zombies to the student union.
Besides, running the over-1 km distance at full speed without a break was impossible.
So, my options were…
I turned to the left and pushed off the ground.
Grrrrr!!
Zombies from the cafeteria poured out, and zombies from the pond area started following
them.
It wasn’t as fast as before, but I had once run the 100 meters in 11 seconds during gym class.
In one hand, I gripped the metal pipe, and in the other, a monkey wrench, while the bag on
my back swelled with food. I sprinted with all my might.
The thick fog shortened my sight and made it impossible to distinguish anything.
Fear gripped me at the thought of not knowing what might be ahead.
Every time that thought hit, I pushed harder with my thighs, gritted my teeth, and kept
running.
Ka-hack!
Suddenly, a long arm shot out through the fog.
Not wasting time by trying to stop it, I quickly sidestepped and evaded the reaching hand.
Soon, the parking lot lines appeared on the ground.
I had arrived.
Right in front of the dorm complex, the buildings of the Sculpture and Music departments
loomed.
Ahead was a large parking lot.
Since it was dawn and the fog had spread, many student cars were still parked there.
I ran along, scraping the parked vehicles with the metal pipe I held in my right hand.
Please, just one car…
WEE! WOO! WEE! WOO!
Soon, the sound of a car’s alarm started to ring out.
Like the saying goes, “You fight fire with fire,” noise was dealt with by noise.
I kept running, glancing back to see the zombies chasing me attach themselves to the car.
I had managed to cut off the tail end of the group. If I could just reach the student union…
Grreeeer!!
But to my surprise, zombies blocking the rear of the art department appeared in my sight.
The fog had spread during finals week.
All the students who had been staying up late in the art department to finish their projects had
turned into zombies.
The fact that I saw zombies in the fog meant that I had likely been spotted by them as well.
In the narrow alleyway behind the building, I felt a collective gaze from the black silhouettes
staring at me.
That moment of silence felt like an eternity.
I quickly halted, swallowing dryly. As soon as I did, the zombies in the alley let out a
collective roar and charged toward me.
I stumbled to the left, changing direction toward the small side road of the art building.
A dirt road rarely used by students.
The sticky, muddy ground stuck to my shoes as I ran, the damp fog making everything even
more difficult.
Before I could wipe the mud off my face, I was already charging forward again.
Grrrrr!!
The sound of zombies echoing inside the building was close now.
The piercing sound of car horns and the howling zombies resonated, riling up every zombie
in the area.
Crash!!
Glass shattered on the second floor as zombies fell out, their legs snapping, arms twisting,
and heads jerking in unnatural ways as they crashed to the ground.
Despite the chaos, the ones still alive glared at me with wild eyes and bared their teeth.
Zombies were littered in front of me, while more chased me from behind.
How could I escape this?
There was no way out—right was blocked by a building, and left was a steep cliff.
A cliff.
‘Should I go there?’
I realized now why people in panic situations don’t think clearly.
Back when the twin towers were attacked, people in the buildings broke windows and
jumped, forgetting they were in a high-rise.
In this life-or-death situation, the first idea that came to my mind wasn’t necessarily the best
one.
I needed to think on my feet.
I gripped my pipe tightly and stared ahead.
There were about 40 meters left to the edge of the building.
Zombies were still falling from the windows, but the path wasn’t completely blocked yet.
There was no need to fear those on the brink of death.
I exhaled sharply and sprinted forward.
Grrrrr!!
As I pushed off the ground, a zombie with a broken leg suddenly locked eyes with me.
I crushed its head underfoot and continued running.
Whuung—whuung—whung—
Dark figures filled the sky above as zombies plummeted to the ground.
I kept alternating my gaze between the ground and the sky as I ran without slowing down.
Thud! Crash! Thud! Thud!
The zombies following me were trampled by the falling ones, and the sound of their bones
breaking reached my ears.
There was no concept of allies among zombies.
Grrrrr!!
Just as I reached the edge of the building, a zombie with a broken arm lunged at me, baring
its yellowed teeth.
It was too close to swing the pipe effectively.
Instincts honed through countless battles forced me to act quickly.
I shoved my 1.5 cm-thick notebook, which was wrapped around my arm, into the zombie’s
mouth.
Human teeth couldn’t pierce it.
With wide eyes, I pressed my forearm against the zombie’s mouth, pushing it back to the
wall, crushing its head.
With the zombie’s skull shattering, its lower jaw fell limp.
To finish it off, I used my monkey wrench to gouge out its eyes and quickly checked my
surroundings.
The tangled zombies on the ground were getting up and rushing toward me.
I couldn’t stop.
I had to keep moving.
Once I passed the art department, where was I supposed to go?
‘The Natural Science building.’
I muttered to myself, pushing my legs forward, continuing to run.
My thighs and calves were trembling.
There were times when my legs felt like they would give out, and I stumbled, twisting my
ankle, but I kept running.
If I stopped, there would only be death waiting for me.
Grrrraaahh!!
When I reached the Natural Science building parking lot, zombies from all around began to
approach, gnashing their teeth.
There are zombies here too?
Even though the fog had spread in the early morning, the number of zombies was far beyond
my expectations.
No matter how much I ran, no matter how much I struggled, the shadow of death hanging
over me never seemed to fade.
I swung my metal pipe at the zombies in the parking lot, using the parked cars as cover,
making desperate, almost frantic movements.
But the zombies from the art department had already caught up and were now closing in on
me.
The same scene repeated—the thick fog and the zombies emerging from it.
Turning my head didn’t change anything.
Exhausted, with my body trembling and my lungs on the verge of collapse, I leaned against a
vehicle.
I had no strength left to swing the pipe, but the zombies’ relentless assault didn’t seem to
slow down.
There were no choices left.
“Fuck…”
I muttered bitterly under my breath.
Whoosh!!
Suddenly, a massive wall of fire erupted from my left, and the intense heat washed over me.