Apocalypse Tyrant

Unlock (1)

“Keeeeeek—!”

The bizarre sound poured cold water on my briefly dazed mind.

I quickly descended the short stairs 2-3 steps at a time, watching the madman who began thrashing and raging.

The pre-zombie, not yet fully mutated, writhed in agony even as prey brushed past him.

Looking at the hedge trimmer discarded next to that pre-zombie, I bit my lip in regret.

It’s dangerous.

It was dangerous to approach that madman who seemed almost fully infected again, and I had wasted too much time on that crazy landscaping equipment.

Swish—

My face running down the well-manicured tree-lined street cut sharply through the wind.

Kyaaaaaaah—

And following that wind came the screams of people.

Beyond the side door, the scene now entering my view in front of the Humanities Building main entrance was nothing short of hell.

Students laid out on tables that usually held Chinese restaurant sets.

And zombies chewing on them as if eating sweet and sour pork.

Students trying to escape the Humanities Building, students trying to go back in after seeing the zombies overflowing outside.

And zombies indiscriminately attacking them.

“Uwaaaaaaah—!”

I gritted my teeth at the male student’s wail carried on the wind again.

I have to get out.

As fast as possible.

While those zombie bastards still have spare prey.

Ding—!

[Dexterity: 1 -> 2]

[Remaining Points: 1 -> 0]

The point I had gained over a very long time moves to dexterity.

The moment the dexterity stat changed from 1 to 2, I felt a clear difference in my body.

I could naturally understand without anyone teaching me.

I could increase my speed much more easily and quickly than before.

A sensation as if engraved in my body without any learning or understanding guided my legs.

Swish—!

The wind tore more fiercely past my ears.

Much faster running and breathing becoming regular.

But this isn’t enough.

Honk— Hooooonk—

The sound of vehicle horns blaring on the road heading from the Humanities Building to Banseok University’s main gate.

Vehicles moving urgently left and right, constantly leaving skid marks on the road.

Vehicles hitting and driving over students who had fallen into chaos, whether on the road or sidewalk.

Vrooooom—!

Watching zombies flying in and tearing apart the front seats where airbags had deployed in a vehicle that had crashed into a roadside tree with a roar, I glanced at the bottom of my status window.

The notification had clearly said the “dormant state” was released.

Then, there was a high probability that the question I always had while looking at the status window was also resolved.

The supernatural ability that should naturally exist if there was a status window.

The alpha and omega of the status window.

I needed a “skill” to overcome this fucked up situation right now.

[Strength: 1] [Dexterity: 2] [Intelligence: 1]

[Remaining Points: 0]

“…Fuck!”

The status window where nothing had changed except the dexterity stat increasing by 1.

I frowned at the status window that had no skills.

The joy of finally being able to use the status window was one thing, but now was now.

What I was given to escape this hellish situation was 1 remaining point.

And that point was already invested in dexterity.

The way forward looked bleak, but I couldn’t stop running now.

When I first witnessed the zombie pouncing on the female student in the lecture hall, I had two choices.

Either hide in a safe place surrounded by walls on all sides, or escape through places with lurking threats.

And I chose to escape.

“Keeeeeek—!”

This isn’t a bomb shelter or military facility.

A university full of amenities to help students attend classes more comfortably, not facilities to block something out.

Whether to attend classes, eat meals, or even study in the library.

It was a university full of floating population, with people constantly moving.

In a zombie outbreak, especially in the early stages, it would be one of the worst places to be.

First, I need to escape the university somehow.

Even hiding in one of the many residential-commercial buildings overflowing on University Road would have a higher survival probability.

Whirrr—!

A mechanical sound overtaking me as I ran frantically while organizing my thoughts.

An electric scooter lightly passed by me as I ran with gritted teeth.

‘…Ah.’

A sigh escaped as if someone had suddenly hit the back of my head with a hammer.

Just because my stat point increased by 1 doesn’t mean a human could beat a machine.

Even a bicycle would still be much faster than me—

Fuck, my vision had been too narrow in this sudden situation I couldn’t have imagined.

“Uwaa, uwaaaah—!”

While my insides were boiling with self-reproach for my own stupidity, the electric scooter that had been steadily widening the distance from me wobbled.

With a sudden sharp stop, the man holding the handlebars flailed at something.

Thud—!

A woman was thrown off without any resistance by his arm movements.

What? Were there two people riding?

“So, sorry! I’m sorry Sehui! Really, really sorry—!”

The man’s face full of fear as he looked at the female student thrashing on the ground.

“Bu, but you’re going to change too! Fuck— You’re going to turn into a zombie like the seniors too—!”

Whether self-justification or self-defense—

The man shouting and spitting at the woman who seemed to already be in the process of infection.

Drip drip—

The man looked around, shaking cold sweat in all directions, and increased the speed of the electric scooter again.

The man who kept looking back at the woman with a face full of terror pointed a little further back with his finger.

“If, if you’re going to bite, bite someone else! They’ll be easier to eat than me, ye, yeah, that’s right—! Bite that bastard running over there—!”

He was pointing at me.

The man who abandoned the woman and fled was getting further away, and I was getting closer to that woman.

‘…That son of a bitch.’

Crunch—

My molars ground together hard with absurd anger.

“Keeeeeek—!”

I quickly moved the bag I was carrying to my right hand.

And threw it at the face of the zombie trying to get up hurriedly.

With a thud, the female student zombie collapsed again momentarily.

“Sehui—! You’re alive—!”

At the shout ripped from my throat, the head of the man riding away on the electric scooter turned back.

His gaze shifted from me running fiercely to the female student sprawled on the ground.

An alien sound rang in the ears of the male student staring blankly at the female student with his head turned back.

Thud—!

“…Huh?”

A single syllable that sounded unusually clear even on a road full of tearing roars.

Along with a dumb sound completely out of place in this situation, the man’s body flew through the air.

The electric scooter caught on the small curb separating the sidewalk and road.

And the man flying from the electric scooter to a roadside tree like an Angry Bird.

Boom—!

The collision sound of his head and the tree was quite large.

The man lying face down without moving after flying into the tree.

I stood the now riderless electric scooter back up and turned the accelerator.

Whirrr—!

The electric scooter increasing speed forward again and the female student zombie reaching the fallen man.

“Keeeeeek—!”

After looking at the female student zombie howling as if rejoicing at an unexpected windfall, I finally looked down at the unconscious man.

Idiot.

“Insufficient attention to the front and helmet-less idiot.”

This is why safety rules are important.

Well, I didn’t have a helmet either, but I wasn’t an idiot who only stared blankly behind like that bastard.

Whirrr—!

I turned the accelerator deeper and focused on what was ahead.

Honk—! Hooooonk—!

As I got closer to the main gate, I could see vehicles lined up bumper to bumper.

Severe traffic congestion, unclear where it had started.

And in this fucked up situation, there were no drivers who would patiently wait their turn.

Honk—! Hooooonk—!

Loud horn sounds ringing in my ears and vehicles leaving their lanes trying to squeeze through gaps in the main gate somehow.

And the road getting even more congested thanks to those vehicles.

Moreover, the population density was on a different level compared to the Humanities Building and the path I had come through.

Even from a distance, I could clearly see people clustered together as if everyone trying to escape had gathered.

Bang—! Bang—! Boom—!

An explosion rang in my ears as I slightly pressed the brake with an inexplicable uneasiness.

I could see a shuttle bus pushing through vehicles and squeezing into the main gate from a bit further away.

Screech—! Vrooom—!

The shuttle bus that had been swaying left and right as if someone had turned the steering wheel urgently toppled over, unable to withstand its weight.

“Keeeeeek—!”

And zombies pouring out through the front windshield of the overturned bus.

Those zombies rushed at all the people gathered at the main gate.

Kyaaaaaaah—!

Screams echoing all around again and people hurriedly getting out of the congested vehicles.

Screech—!

I was wrong.

I also bit my lip hard while urgently gripping the brake.

It’s impossible to escape the university.

…I have to go back in.

“Keeeeeek—!”

I could see zombies surging as they devoured the people overflowing at the main gate.

The wave of zombies closing the distance while soaking the main gate like a tide.

To avoid that hell, I have to go back into hell.

“…”

On this electric scooter whose fate was uncertain.

And riding this thing that had just launched its owner into a roadside tree.

“…Fuck.”

Swear words just wouldn’t leave my mouth today.

“Uwaaaaaaah—!”

At that moment, at the end of the congested road.

The last vehicle to arrive was shaking violently left and right.

Since they probably weren’t having one last mating session in this situation, there was likely only one reason.

“Agh— Agh— Aghh—”

A man clutching his forearm tightly and hurriedly opening the driver’s side door to get out.

“Keeeeeek—!”

And a woman clinging to the back of the man’s waist as he hurriedly exited the vehicle.

“Uwaaaaaaah—!”

The pain-filled scream of the man struggling to shake off the woman clinging tightly like a cicada.

But what caught my eye wasn’t that poor victim, but the car that had just lost its owner.

The car at the very end of the line, showing it was still running with a rumbling exhaust sound.

At that moment—

A strange feeling pricked at my face.

I felt someone staring at me intently.

Kyaaaaaaah—!

A man on the opposite sidewalk quietly staring at me even amidst the zombie wave approaching rapidly.

I exchanged an odd gaze with that man.

The destination where our gazes moved simultaneously after briefly connecting as if exploring each other.

“…Fuck.”

Whirrr—!