Chapter 28

Chapter 28: Let’s Go. It’s Our Turn.

Gang-ho involuntarily clenched his teeth.
‘Is she trying to play the queen now?’
Looking at her, a sense of absurdity surged within him.
At the same time, the image of the people who were expelled from Pyongyang, living in fear of the undead, flashed in his mind.
He softly called her name.
“Park Si-yeon.”

Immediately, she glared at him with sharp eyes.
“How dare you utter my name? Presumptuous!”

Their eyes locked.
And in that moment,

[Disaster Manual Patch (Ver.3) Update]
[Awakening Species List]
[Completed Instantly]
[Reflected Immediately]

Information rapidly flickered before his eyes.
Then, Park Si-yeon’s details poured out.

[Name]: Park Si-yeon.
[Species]: Human / Succubus
[…]: …
[Trait]: Dream Sorceress.
[Level]: Lv. 21.
[Enhancement]: 15%
[Attribute]: Mind Control. Unification.
[Special Skills]: Dream Manipulation. Phantom Illusion.
[Basic Effect]: Fascination.
[Auxiliary Skill]: Hostification.
[Restricted Effect]: Air Defense Network Construction.
[Items]: Arsenal (General/Limited).

This was the first time he stumbled upon the category labeled ‘Items’.
There were many other odd details as well.
What caught his attention the most was the confirmed mutation status.

‘She underwent first mutation through serum injection and became a second mutation via magnetic exposure. What conditions are necessary for her to be confirmed, just like that girl?’

Gang-ho analyzed Park Si-yeon’s information against his own standards.
In many ways, her awakening state differed from that of his party.
‘Now, a succubus too?’

He hid his astonishment and continued scrutinizing her, who was radiating a purplish aura.
And then it dawned on him that the men standing behind her like a folding screen had eyes like fish eyes.
‘Dream-like, or in a hallucinatory state.’
They were all inebriated by something.
Whether it be a dream or hypnosis, he finally realized that something was off.
That was probably Park Si-yeon’s power.

Meanwhile, Park Si-yeon concluded that she had to demonstrate an example for Gang-ho, who irresponsibly called her name and defied her.
“This is intolerable and impudent.”

The moment she finished speaking, his vision suddenly blurred, engulfed by a sweltering heat that enveloped his whole body.
Ugh.

He was startled by his own moan that had slipped out.
It felt like he had dozed off while driving on the highway, lost for a second.
Not only that.

‘A dream? A hallucination?’
He saw Park Si-yeon enveloping herself around him in an alluring manner.
And it was a strange sensation and feeling.
It felt all too real.

‘Ah, the succubus’s dream.’
Just as he braced himself, Gang-ho was jolted by another reason.
The emergency siren he had grown weary of hearing at the World Species Repository blared loudly.

Beeep. Beeep.
“What’s going on? Is it back again?”

Park Si-yeon also shouted, scrunching up her face.
Then, Lee Jeong-hoon, who hurriedly checked something, whispered into her ear.
“……”
“It’s only been a few days and already… everyone to the command room, now!”
“Yes!”

As she disappeared in a puff, safeguarded by tall and model-like bodyguards, it seemed there were emergency exits beneath or around the platform.
Other surrounding people hurriedly followed suit and scrambled away.

Up until then, Gang-ho and the crew maintained a defensive posture, closely monitoring the swiftly changing situation.
However, no one cared about them.
A brief moment passed.

“Seems like something’s happening.”
“It feels familiar.”

While the atmosphere hinted they might be in for a hefty scolding, everyone had evacuated, leaving only Gang-ho and his party awkwardly behind in the vast space.
Just as they were pondering what to do in this odd situation, the door at the back of the platform creaked open.
Clunk.
“What are you doing? Come on in!”

Lee Jeong-hoon returned as if grabbing at forgotten belongings, calling out to Gang-ho and his party.
“Shouldn’t we follow?”
Reina suggested, and Gang-ho nodded in agreement.
“Let’s go.”

No one voiced any opposing opinions.
Thus, they followed Lee Jeong-hoon.

Where Gang-ho’s party followed Lee Jeong-hoon was a high observation deck.
Being part of a castle structure, it seemed to serve the purpose of a guard tower or lookout.
“Wow. It’s really spacious here.”
Lisa remarked in awe but quietly.
However, that little sound was heard quite far away by Park Si-yeon.
“It’s a place where you can see the entirety of Pyongyang.”

She was still intensely watching the area below ahead.
For a moment, suddenly, the sound of cannon fire began to erupt loudly.
Boom, boom, boom.
Rumble rumble. Rumble.
Bang.
Ka-boom!

In an instant, flames erupted at the castle gates and around the walls, creating a cloud of smoke.
Gang-ho confirmed with his enhanced vision the zombies being shredded by conventional military weapons.
But it was unclear just how many there were.

“There are more than in the last second wave.”
Someone reported, and Lee Jeong-hoon spoke worriedly.
“Based on past experiences, their numbers keep increasing exponentially. At this rate, the third wave won’t hold up against the turrets.”

He recalled explanations he’d heard before.
‘Repeated large-scale zombie appearances.’
He had said that every time, Park Si-yeon had managed to fend off those overwhelming assaults.
From the looks of it now, it seemed his chance to witness her powers was approaching.
And indeed,

“Open the front defense shutters.”
“Yes.”
Whoosh!
Thud.

Park Si-yeon moved forward, dragging her long skirt like a robe.
Looking down at the ground, she spread her arms wide.
“KARDASH.”

The tone of her voice was strange.
And what she was saying—whether it was language, a spell, ancient words, or an alien language—was undeterminable.
Nevertheless, he couldn’t afford to care about such things.
Guuooooo.
A wave of sound radiated from her.

Before they knew it, the zombies that had densely gathered around the castle started stumbling aimlessly.
The states of the zombies were truly varied.
Some were rolling around in each other’s embrace, while others were biting each other.
Gang-ho was quite astonished.
‘To enchant even soulless or mindless zombies? This is ridiculous.’
Furthermore, if she could unleash such a grand-scale hallucination, just how powerful would her mental strength have to be?
Her being level Lv. 20 crossed his mind again.

However, a new scene was unfolding.
A person dashed into the center of the zombie swarm.
“A person! A survivor!”
Lisa exclaimed with elevated voice.

But soon, something even more astonishing occurred.
Boom!
It was a self-detonation.
He cleanly vanished along with the horde of zombies he charged into.
“……!”

As similar individuals began to multiply, flames erupted everywhere like a fireworks display.
With horror, Lisa looked towards Gang-ho.
Gang-ho too found himself grimacing without realizing it.
‘Mind Control.’

For the dead, the enchantment merely created confusion in distinguishing enemies from allies, but it seemed for the living, mind control was possible.
Thus manipulating them into human weapons.
“Why, why do you have to use people…?”

Lisa looked at Park Si-yeon with horror, realizing this fact.
“If it’s the same as using explosive weapons, is there really a need for a human sacrifice?”
Reina couldn’t hold back any longer and blurted out.

Then, in response to her words, Lee Jeong-hoon replied.
“It’s different. That’s why it’s used.”
“What’s different? Isn’t a bomb still gunpowder? Why not just shoot…”

Lee Jeong-hoon cut off her words.
“It’s not a bomb. We’ve been facing those many zombies for almost a month now; do you think there are shells? And those people, they were the ones indulging in all sorts of wrongdoing after the world turned this way.”

At those words, Gang-ho turned back to the frantically flapping arms of Park Si-yeon.
‘Hosts!’
He didn’t know exactly what the explosive substance was, but it must have been her energy trigger that Park Si-yeon had implanted in those people.
‘So that’s why her eyes are completely black…’

But he couldn’t comprehend it.
How long could she control so many people?
Probably just for a moment.
Early on in their awakening, Lisa had poured out flames and, having exhausted her energy, couldn’t use her powers afterward.
The same would apply to Park Si-yeon.
Given her attribute was mind control, the consumption would likely be significant in terms of mental energy rather than physical strength.
‘Even if she is Lv. 21…’
Gang-ho silently observed the horde of zombies surrounding the castle.
The numbers had certainly diminished considerably.
‘This woman has managed to hold on until now.’

This wasn’t something that could be divided neatly into good and evil, right and wrong.
It was a question of survival; they had to live on.
One thing was clear—he had no other words but to call it incredible.

“If we stop the third wave, won’t that be the end?”
At Gang-ho’s sudden question, Lee Jeong-hoon hesitated before answering.
“So far, yes.”
He himself didn’t seem certain.

“I told you earlier. The undead aren’t just zombies.”
“But still…”

His answer wasn’t finished.
Hssssss.
A strange noise that seemed to stimulate the brain left Gang-ho and his party’s faces pale.
“Lich!”
Gang-ho found himself being drawn next to Park Si-yeon without realizing it.
Other party members also moved there, and they were able to see a lich manifesting its ethereal presence far from the castle gates.
“Oh, it really has come!”
“Gang-ho?!”

They trembled at the vivid memories of that day.
Perfectly ordinary people were lost like wooden puppets, and the deceased turned into undead, following the lich.
Gang-ho was at a loss.
‘We’re not prepared yet.’

Looking over, he saw Park Si-yeon’s face drenched in sweat.
“Haah, haah.”
Gang-ho spoke to her in a low voice.
“You’ve done well. We’ll handle the cleanup.”

Then he swiftly turned around and boarded the lift.
“Let’s go. It’s our turn.”

The next chapter will be updated on August 18 at 08:00.