"Ummm… So… You guys are the ones who made this?”

Nod nod.

The group of scarabs nodded their heads simultaneously as I asked them. The item that they claimed to be their creation is the mithril knife I was using.

It started out with a simple transaction. The scarabs had brought a spark stone to me in order to trade it with their favourite jelly. However, when I started to skin the rabbit that Dingo hunted with the mithril knife, the scarabs came and watched. Then, the Scarab Leader drew a knife, an arrow, and a scarab figure on the ground. They claim to have made it.

“Aren’t you a scarab? How do you make a knife like this?” I was aware they were not an ordinary scarab but a sentient one, but it was still hard to believe that these tiny bugs had the ability to make something like a mithril knife.

The Scarab Leader hit its head with its forelegs. Is it an action to express their frustration just like how gorillas pound their chest to express their emotion? Then, let's give them the benefit of doubt.

"Wait a minute." I took a coin from my cave and held it to them. “If you're truly it's maker, can you process this?”

When the Scarab Leader moved its forelegs to indicate something, the two scarabs behind him rushed towards the coin. They moved their snout, and then, to my surprise, they started to gnaw on the coin.

“Huh?” I let out a surprised voice as I saw an unthinkable thing happen in front of me. The two creatures were eating the coin before spitting it back and mending it into the shape of a sword. On top of that, the surface of the tiny sword was also sleek, about as shiny as a weapon crafted by modern technology. At this point, I have no other choice but to admit it.

“Awesome, really. But if you can process it as sleek as that, why is this knife so rough?” I asked while holding out my mithril knife towards them. The Scarab Leader then moved his forelegs and covered his eyes.

Why are you crying all of a sudden?

He then drew a slumping picture of scarabs and a certain familiar monster. The monster in the drawing—whose identity was a goblin—was hitting the slumping scarab.

“Goblins hit you?” The scarabs nodded his head eagerly at my question. In the next picture, scarabs were seen running away from the abuse of the goblins. From those two drawings alone, I roughly know what situation the scarab was in. They were being abused by the goblins. Therefore, they didn't make the right stuff, just haphazardly make anything the goblins want them to make. And the crude knives and mithril knives with rough surfaces were the result of that forced labor. It's impossible for goblins to recognize good products, so even if I was in their shoes, I would also make it roughly.

“You guys did a good job running away. So where are those goblins?” At my question, all the scarabs pointed north, in the direction of the goblin nest I had found. At that revelation, an idea crossed my mind. I already had a plan to destroy that nest someday, but since the scarabs also bear a grudge against them, I could turn the hunt into a profitable one.

I put the Scarab Leader on the palm of my hand and said. “I will take revenge for you. But of course, I won't do it for free, so let's make a deal. I want these kinds of ignition stones. Emeras is fine too.”

The Scarab Leader thought for a moment, then drew ten lines on my palm. It seems like he was asking if it's okay for him to pay me 10 of those items.

"Deal." With that, a deal was established. From my point of view, the goblin nest in the north was just a threat that should be removed one day. But with the deal I just landed, I would get paid and also get a friendship point with the scarabs. All in all, it was a very profitable deal for me.

“I should save some live ammunition…” But it was inevitable to use some ammo if I wanted to eradicate the goblin nest. Afterall, there’s a hobgoblin there. So, my 173 bullets will dwindle even more in the near future. And with the situation on Earth as it is, it was not easy or straight impossible to get some more.

While thinking like that, I looked at the scarabs. These guys can use metallurgy pretty well. Wouldn't it be possible for them to make bullets if I brought gunpowder to them?

“Even if they could make the casing, the ignition part is a problem.” On Earth, they were made by hand somewhere in Africa or the United States, but that was on the premise that an equipment was present.

Let’s think about it more later.

After getting two more packs of jelly from my generosity, the scarabs walked away from my shelter happily.

Let's do better in the future, I said to myself as I looked at them moving into the forest.

.

.

.

I packed my bags and prepared to go outside. My plan for today was to go to Eden Villa, which Sooyeon told me about. I wanted to check to see if the materials she told me about had been stolen yet or not. On top of it, I also wanted to see the existence of the time shelter that the government had installed close to that villa. As it’s a facility for a large number of unspecified survivors, it should’ve contained an enormous amount of various supplies. I wouldn’t loot it today, but checking the situation around it wouldn’t hurt.

“I will also scout the bunkers.” Kwon's golf club was also located near the Eden Villa. I would be able to get an idea of ​​its approximate size by checking out the people wandering around.

By the way, Yoohyeon from the gym group had been sending a paper airplane to my house since morning. He had been contacting me like this for a few days. He told me that he had reached level 5 and could now send his dolls to quite a distance.

-The Manager had opened the Store for the first time. It has some really good items, Hyung! But I don't know why the items inside are so expensive. I want a mithril knife.”

A mithril knife was a good choice indeed. Afterall, the current Earth was a place where metal couldn’t be used because of the corrosive disease. And as mithril knives were made of magic metal, it wasn’t affected by the corrosive disease at all. However, it was better to not be interested in magic metal weapons in the beginning. The priority for survivors in the beginning was to find the zombies before they could find them by raising the Perception stats. I implied this to Yoohyeon, and he was giving his opinion to Hyung-jun Hyung, saying that they should trust me because from experience it was a good choice.

-Certainly, as my Perception stats go up, my surroundings feel different. I feel like I can hear zombies twitching.

It's not that much though… Yoohyeon is a good kid, but he tends to over-dramatize things. But Hyung-jun Hyung never told him off, it seems like he found him adorable too.

“He felt like a nephew at this point. Both for me and Hyung-jun Hyung.”  Hyungjun Hyung, who had lost his family, as well as the other people in the gym group, were gradually adjusting to the apocalypse. Kyunghoon and Bora had become a couple while Yoohyeon had made an engine using ceramic and plastic only. And for now, we were only using it for a fan.

I crumpled the paper airplane. If I have something I want to say, I can write it down on a paper airplane and send it off. Yoohyeon, who was linked to the paper airplane, will take care of taking it back to the gym. All means of communication were cut off, so we had no choice but to communicate like this.

“Well, once they open the Auction House, it will be much easier.” The problem was, the messages would be visible to everyone who uses the Auction House.

Would it be better to set up a password in advance? I'll think about it later.

Next, I called up my status window.

「Level: 15 Point(s): 384

Vitality: 12 (+2)

Strength: 13 (+2)

Agility:9 

Dexterity:11(+2) 

Perception:10(+2)

Unique Ability: Dedicated Dimension Door

Skills: Survival Instinct, Terrain Detection 2, Motionless Movement

Active buff(s):- 」

Seeing my stats had been boosted by the items really put my heart to ease. Vitality and Strength-boosting items were especially hard to find, so I was really grateful to Rabbit Pwincess for giving it to me. “By now, I’m sure he's already running around trying to get one again.”

After packing, I checked the map for the location of Eden villa.

“I once thought it was a simple villa…” When I tried to check it with Nevermap before the apocalypse happened, I couldn't see inside because of the high fence and trees. It’s like a luxurious villa in Seoul. (N: Nevermap is a reference to Naver Map, a GPS navigation app that is mainly used by South Koreans)

“Let’s go, Dingo.” The guy followed me outside. “You have to be careful, okay?”

After several days since the apocalypse had begun, the zombies had gotten considerably stronger. Their strength remained the same, their eyesight weakened, but their hearing became more sensitive as a trade-off. They also became faster to boot.

“The goblins and the kobolds are also coming soon.” Just because they will spawn, doesn't mean the zombies will disappear or weaken, so surviving is going to be even harder. Although they also fought against each other, they will always prioritize humans.

I tapped Dingo in the back.

"Run!"

However, the zombies quickly caught up.

.

.

.

I stopped by the construction material store on the way to the villa. For some reason, no one had looted the place yet. Once I’m sure there’s no one around, I put sacks of cement, bricks, and PVC pipes into the portal.

From the outside, A few zombies quickly approached me. Dingo barked towards them while I swung my ebony stick towards their heads.

Puck-!! puck-!!

I hit a zombie a few times while moving left and right to avoid its attack, but it didn’t fall as easily as before. The domination of the spores over the body has been completed. Therefore, their durability was enchanted considerably. Now these zombies could crawl even when their lower body was cut off. A zombie in this state is what we call a half, but it's not as cute as its name.

“Come on!”

Crack-!!

When I finally punched a hole in the head of the last zombie, it fell down. Seeing it wriggling to the end while various parts of its body being torn apart, these things were definitely different from before.

“This stick is finished.” I said as I saw the ‘Old’ option attached to it. It means that its durability was close to zero. It was still possible to kill one or two zombies with it, but it was a risk I would rather not take. I tossed the stick in my hand and took a new ebony stick out of the slot and put it in my backpack.

By the way, there were so many things to loot in the construction store, such as vinyl, string, styrofoam, basin, etc. Other than that, while I'm here, I should also loot all the items on the dusty shelves.

“I feel it all the time, but this moment never fails to make me feel really good.” The sad thing is most of the items were broken and had turned into a grain of sand because of the corrosive disease.

After putting the last dozen bags of sand, I closed the portal and left the construction store. Through the zombie-infested city center, I headed to Eden Villa.

“The location is… over there.” A secret space surrounded by high fences and trees. All the buildings around the Eden Villa have the same luxurious atmosphere just like it. Even if I worked hard my whole life, I feel like I still wouldn't be able to live in a place like this.

I took my notes to check the number of Sooyeon’s room. It’s room 302. I entered through the broken gate and was instantly greeted with a very neat garden and a nice building. Let's just pretend to not see the decaying zombie corpses strewn all over the garden and just admire the beautiful display.

The building itself looked intact because it was built strongly. How could I know? It’s a luxurious villa, so wouldn’t it be natural? Just like what I’d heard, there’s an elevator inside the building. Then, once I moved to the emergency stairs, I saw various pieces of furniture were blocking the stairs. It would be too bothersome to move it one by one just to climb up.

“How do you get in and out, miss Sooyeon?” I whispered as I returned to the lobby. I proceeded to move towards the elevator passage to see if there was another way. And what I saw there was a sturdy rope hanging down from the top. There’s a knot in reasonable distance from each other all over the rope which makes it easy to climb.

“Are you using this?” I pulled the rope a few times in order to test its strength, but it didn't come off. It seemed like it was tied to a pole or something. At that moment, I remembered Sooyeon’s toned body which she got from exercising. With her body, she would be able to climb this rope without any problem.

Then, that means, I could do it too. Since I don’t know whether there’s someone around or not…

“Dingo, get up here.” As Dingo climbed and hung onto the backpack on my back, I started to climb. It was quite heavy, but it wasn't that difficult once I got my foot on the knot. When I went up to the third floor, it was filled with remains of various decorations. Meanwhile, a sturdy wooden door protected room 302, which was Sooyeon’s room.

I knocked on the door and waited for a while. She must have passed the tutorial, so did she go farming with her group members?

The moment I made up my mind to look around the other room after confirming that the door to room 302 was intact, a small window on the side of the door suddenly slid open.

“Get off the door.”

“Miss Sooyeon, it’s me. Kang Seongho.”

“Mr. Seongho?” Her voice quivered as she called my name. From the window I could see Sooyeon's eyes and hair were droopy. “How did you get here?”

“Didn’t you tell me to come here for the supplies? I'm just here to make sure they're okay."

"…is there anyone other than Seongho?"

“There’s Dingo. My dog.”

“Ah… that dog.” After she said that, the door opened slightly. However, I did not go in immediately, but raised my arms first.

Sooyeon sighed in relief and said. “I was surprised that you came here all of a sudden. Is that Dingo in the back?”

"Yes. Dingo, come down.”

Sooyeon’s eyes twinkled as she told me how cute Dingo, which resembles a husky, was. But the guy didn’t even come to her and only stood next to me with his tail wagging. After a few more moments, Sooyeon fully opened the door.

"Come on in. Normally, I never invite anyone to come in. But since it was Mr. Seongho, it should be fine.”

“Is there anyone who has come here?”

“It will take some time to talk about it, will it be okay?” She said as she walked inside with me and Dingo in tow.

Once I went inside, my mouth hung open. The inside of the room was wide. It was so spacious to the point even with the huge sofa in the middle of the living room, there was still quite a space left. It was certainly different from a normal villa. The floor was made with marble which I had only ever seen on TV while there are dozens of antique furniture decorating the wall. Because the window was completely covered with a black curtain, it was quite dark. But a couple of candles lit up the room offers the bare minimum light to see. 

Sooyeon, wearing leggings and a tank top, smiled shyly and pointed her hand towards the sofa. "Please sit down. Sorry, it's too hot, so I'm wearing this outfit."

“There is no fan, so there is nothing we can do about it.”

“You seem to have passed the tutorial safely?” Sooyeon said as she sat down.

“Well, it’s not only me. The others from the gym have also passed and are doing just fine. But why aren’t you with your members?”

Her face slightly darkened as I asked her. 

“I feel like I’m going to die if I stay with them.”

"Why?"

“I think there is a murderer around. No, I’m sure about it.” He said as he stroked Dingo’s head as the guy climbed onto the sofa.

“A murderer?” I asked. It seems like there’s someone who has already killed two or more people. In some ways, they were a little like me. The only difference was that I avoided the system's verdict while they’re not.

A smile bloomed in the back of my mind. If I succeed in killing a murderer in a deathmatch event, I will receive a large amount of points. There’s also an opportunity to acquire unique skills. It was simply too mouth watering to simply pass it up.

However, I didn’t let my inner excitement come out to my face as I touched my forearm to act as if I was terrified.

"Wow… It's scary. It would be nice if I never met them… Do you have any information about it?”

“The story is a bit long…”

“Well, I have a lot of time.”

"Then…" Sooyeon cleared her throat and started her story.