I Became The Necromancer In The Post-Apocalyptic Zombie World

Chapter 68

—–CROW—– 

“C-Castrated, sir…?”

The soldiers all stared at me, their faces pale.  They looked as if they couldn’t believe their own ears.

I wouldn’t have believed it either.  For a man, castration meant killing another part of himself.  No one wants to lose their reason for living.

“That’s what I heard.”

“Then getting beaten with a club isn’t the problem!”

“No…! Absolutely not…!”

“I-I’ll go back! I’d rather starve for a week!”

“Lee Seo-ho-nim! N-No, Master! I’ll do anything if I can go back! Please!”

The soldiers rushed towards me, their faces filled with terror, kneeling and begging.  They knew I was the only one who could stop their castration.  They looked like children whining about getting a shot, but this was on a whole different level.

“Ah… Well, it’s not that you *can’t* go back…”

Hope bloomed on their tear-streaked faces.

‘As expected, no man would want that, huh?’ I smiled.

Of course, the castration story was a lie.  Although with Hong Si-eun completely under my control, it *was* possible, that wasn’t my goal.

“Then please let us go back!”

“I don’t need to be treated like a human! I’ll be your slave for life!”

They chose their dicks over their lives as humans.  Or rather, their balls.  I would have done the same, so I understood.

“Sigh, it’s not easy to go back after coming this far…”

“We’ll do anything…!”

I sighed dramatically, implying it would be difficult.  They clung to my pants even more desperately.  This was getting tiresome, so I decided to end the act.

“Fine. Now’s your chance, while everyone’s still asleep. Follow me.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Thank you! Thank you so much!”

None of the four wanted to stay.

We quietly left the tent, leaving behind only empty sleeping bags.

。 。 。

Before dawn, the area in front of the hotel was deserted.

Some men and women were bundled up in clothes, warming their hands by the blazing fire in the drum cans.

[Ahh…!  Hng…!]

From another tent came the sounds of enthusiastically productive morning activities.

The soldiers gulped and listened intently as we passed by. The sounds seemed to fuel their desire to protect their manhood.

‘Is it a man or a woman doing the fucking?’

This was a strange cult where status was determined by gender. Women could enslave men simply for being men.  Naturally, some women turned men into sex slaves to satisfy their lust.  Handsome men were apparently used as shared male prostitutes, like Shin Joo-ha at the dormitory.

‘They probably wanted to use me like that too.’

If I only had Charming Gaze, I might have become the top-earning male prostitute here.

“Um, where are we going?” one of the soldiers asked anxiously as we passed the tent filled with the sounds of sex.

“We’re going outside the hotel.”

“O-Outside…?”

“You know, where the zombies roam.”

The area around the hotel was enveloped in a faint green barrier, barely noticeable unless you looked closely.  Thanks to this barrier, zombies couldn’t enter.  It was unclear whether they couldn’t perceive humans or if they simply disliked the barrier itself.  The principle was unknown, but…

“No one’s guarding it…”

We passed through the tent village by the fountain, where the wanderers seemed to live, and reached the edge of the hotel grounds.  The barrier became clearly visible as we approached.

“There’s not much need to guard it,” I replied casually to one of the soldiers.

This cult seemed unconcerned about the hotel’s perimeter, leaving it poorly guarded. Instead, they focused on heavily guarding the hotel building itself, preventing outsiders from entering easily.

‘Do they not care what happens to the people in the tent village?’

Guarding required manpower. Even with three hundred people, only a small number could be spared for guard duty. They probably didn’t want to waste manpower on guarding the perimeter.

Besides, the area outside the barrier was teeming with zombies. The barrier protected those inside from the zombies while simultaneously using the zombies to keep other survivors out.  It was an efficient system, but…

‘It’s perfect for someone like me.’  For someone like me, completely immune to zombies, it was like an automatic door.

“Follow me.”

“A-Are you sure this is okay?”

“If it’s not okay? I don’t care.”

“S-Sorry! I’ll stick close to you.”

“You’re annoying, get lost.”

“Eek!”

The soldiers, knowing my abilities, followed me despite their fear.  It was annoying that the zombies were drawn to them, but…

…a single ‘Stop’ or ‘Get lost’ was enough to make them back off, so it wasn’t a big problem.  I even used the approaching zombies to clear a path, ordering them to block other zombies.

“This is…”

We arrived at a convenience store not far from the hotel.  Of course, it was now just an empty shell, devoid of electricity and goods, everything looted.

“Why are we here…?”

“What do you care? Just follow me.”

The soldiers followed me with puzzled expressions.  There was no special reason for choosing this empty convenience store.  It was simply the closest building to the hotel barrier.

Inside the convenience store, I first barricaded the entrance with zombies and closed the door.

“Can we go back to the department store from here?”

“Or… are we supposed to hide here until it’s over…?”

While the soldiers speculated about our purpose here…

…I headed to the back storage room. It was also empty, just like the store itself.  It was surprising that they had looted absolutely everything.

I gestured towards empty space in the storage room. I was accessing the system shop.

‘It’s a good thing I got that bonus.’

Thanks to the extra points, I didn’t need to waste time on another quest.  I purchased a crystal.  As I pressed the buy button, a green crystal appeared, floating in mid-air.

“Um… should we wait a bit longer?” the soldiers asked, peering into the storage room.

“Ah, I’m done.  Perfect timing.”

I smiled at them.

“I’m ready to go back.”

The four soldiers approached with bright smiles.

“Ooh, we’re going back to the department store with this magical stone!”

“A-Actually, I’m fine with the dormitory…”

“You idiot! Just go where he tells us!”

The soldiers were elated to finally be free from the threat of castration.  I didn’t intend to spoil their mood, but…

“Oh, before that, there’s something I need to send first.”

“Huh? What…?”

Ignoring their question, I walked to the front door of the convenience store and opened it.  A horde of zombies, drawn by the soldiers earlier, was waiting outside.

“Okay, twenty is the limit. One… two…”

“L-Lee Seo-ho-nim? What about the zombies…?”

The soldiers, who had been excited about returning, looked at me fearfully as the zombies entered the convenience store. I smiled gently at their worried faces.

Once twenty zombies were inside, I stopped the rest.

“Go in one by one. Line up.”

I absorbed them into the crystal, one by one.  Once all twenty were absorbed, the convenience store base leveled up to 2.

“U-Um…”

“This… is this really going to take us back to the department store?”

“But why the zombies…?”

“P-Please answer us…!”

The soldiers, watching the twenty zombies turn to dust and get absorbed into the crystal, sensed something was amiss.

But…

…they were already here.

There was nothing they could do.

I smiled gently at their anxious faces and gestured.

“Okay, one person first.”

“Y-Yes?”

“Didn’t you hear me? I said one person.”

“U-Um…”

My lack of explanation made them even more anxious, exchanging nervous glances.

“Hey, fuck. Aren’t you going…?! The youngest should go first…!”

Pushed by Sergeant Park Sung-hoon, Private Yoo Jae-wook, the lowest-ranking among them, stepped forward.  He grabbed my sleeve with teary eyes and asked desperately,

“Th-This is really taking us back to the department store, right?”

He clung to a sliver of hope, praying he was mistaken.

But I was tired of acting like their comrade.

“Hey, I have a question.”

“Y-Yes…?”

Private Yoo Jae-wook and the other three trembled as I crouched down.  I looked at each of them and asked,

“Why are you speaking formally to me?”

“…Huh?”

“I’ve been meaning to ask.”

Realizing his faint hope was an illusion, Private Yoo Jae-wook’s eyes trembled, and tears streamed down his face.

I grinned.

“Since this is the end, I’m really curious.”

Zombies, drawn in from outside, surrounded them.

“Anyway, hurry up and go in.”

“W-Wait…! I’m really sorry…! We…!  No, I really…!”

“Whatever.”

I patted Private Yoo Jae-wook’s shoulder, letting him know he still had a choice.

“I told you.  You can go back if you want.”

He could gamble on the uncertain crystal…

…or return to the hotel, where his life, at least, was guaranteed.

The choice was his.

And…

‘With this, the crystal’s level is 4.’

I looked at the skill selection window that appeared, remembering the four soldiers entering the crystal, whining like newborns.  Their expressions as they watched each other turn to dust, one by one…

…had been quite amusing.

They had chosen to protect their balls until the very end.  And thus, their manhood, at least, remained safe.

Thanks to them, the newly installed crystal had already reached level 4, allowing me to choose three base skills.  I used all three opportunities…

…to acquire and enhance [Teleportation].

『Teleportation

– Allows teleportation to the base once a day from outside.

Current Skill Level: 3

Number of uses: 4

Number of people: 3

Identical Skill Crystals: 1 [S Department Store]』

—–CROW—– 

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