39-70

EP. 70. Lizard Extermination (1) 

“Mr. Minwoo, please take a look at this.” 

Responding to Park Jinwoo’s call, I walked over to the workbench. There, I saw an acid lizard, dissected and lying cold. Its torso, or more precisely its belly, had been split open, exposing bones and organs. Thanks to some “fear immunity,” I didn’t feel too nauseous, and watched as Jinwoo, removing his bloodied gloves, began to speak. 

“As you asked, I focused my research on finding weaknesses. I’ve discovered two things.” 

He pointed to the gaping maw of the lizard and illuminated the inside with a flashlight. 

“If you look closely here at the lower throat, there are two holes... do you see them?” 

“Yes, I see.” 

“Acid is expelled through those holes. Following the tubes connected to them leads to two sacs.” 

Located where the thick neck meets the torso are the lizard’s acid sacs two dark red pouches, one of which was split open and caught my eye. Park Jinwoo revealed the lizard’s first weakness: 

“In short, these sacs and specifically the acid inside them are a vulnerability.” 

He pointed to the surrounding melted organs and tissue, explaining in detail what happened. 

“The organs, which could regenerate from wounds, melted away as soon as they touched the acid. The specimen died quickly. Even stabbing its heart with a scalpel only made it twitch for a moment; it recovered immediately, but the chemical reaction from the acid was fatal.” 

“It’s odd. The lizard sprays acid from its mouth, but its internal organs are sensitive to acid?” 

“I wondered about that too, but look here...” 

As I expressed my own confusion, Park Jinwoo’s tired face quickly brightened, and he launched into an excited “expert” rant stuffed with technical jargon. For about five minutes, I could only listen, unable to ask him to stop. When he finally finished: 

“So, the oral cavity isn’t affected by acid, but the rest of its body is. It’s a bit complicated should I explain it again?” 

“No, I understand.” 

‘Even if I heard it twice, I wouldn’t get it...’ 

When prompted for a repeat, I quickly declined, and Jinwoo, looking disappointed, brought out a tray containing a partially melted lizard leg. 

“What’s that?” 

“That’s the second weakness.” 

Not sure what I was looking at, I asked, and Jinwoo dipped a finger in the black liquid pooling at the tray’s bottom. Then, picking up a flask, he poured some of its contents onto the rest of the leg. 

Hiss  

Steam and bubbles rose as the remaining leg began to dissolve. 

“Is the lizard vulnerable to strong acid everywhere but its mouth?” 

“No. What I just poured is a ‘surfactant.’ I don’t have the equipment to analyze its mechanism, but I found that the lizard’s skin, muscles, and fat below its skin dissolve in surfactant.” 

It was surprising to learn that a common chemical ingredient used in shampoo and detergent harmless to humans was extremely toxic to the acid lizard. My mind began to turn quickly, picturing a method for exterminating them using surfactant. Meanwhile, Jinwoo showed me a phone video with yet more explanation: 

“This was shot when the specimen was alive. You’ll see that skin exposed to surfactant doesn’t heal the melting flesh is faster than its regenerative power. In other words, these lizards’ overwhelming regeneration is useless against surfactant.” 

[Congratulations! You have completed the ‘Incoming Threat’ quest.] 

[You’ve received 60MP and 5 Reinforced Suppression Shields. The shields are in your temporary inventory, viewable through the shop. Once claimed, they cannot be returned, so be careful.] 

[New Quest: Preparing for Attack] 

Your research has uncovered the acid lizard’s weaknesses. Now, use this knowledge to create defenses and facilities before their attack (0/100%). 

Reward: 60MP, one free skill upgrade 

⚠︎ Estimated time until acid lizard attack: 25 hours, 12 minutes 

“You even provided such a valuable research opportunity, now giving me incentives... thank you so much.” 

“You did your job well, so it’s only right you get your reward.” 

Jinwoo had successfully identified the acid lizard’s weaknesses, proved his capabilities, and received a week’s worth of water and food as a bonus. Truly moved, he thanked me, and at the same time his betrayal level plummeted to 5. 

‘Oh... at this rate, he’ll do anything I ask in the future.’ 

Managing Jinwoo was simple compared to other staff. Satisfied, I glanced out the window as morning dawned. My body ached from lack of sleep, but it was time to move quickly to deal with the threat of a lizard invasion. 

. . . 

Leaving Catherine and the minimum staff to run the Exchange, I took Park Sanghyuk and five employees outside. We split into two SUVs, driving down the road and crushing zombies under our wheels. 

Smash! Crunch! 

Through the closed windows, the sound of zombies being squashed was tense. I scanned the storefronts for hardware shops while we passed through the apocalypse-marked streets for about ten minutes. Finally, I spotted the old, faded sign: “Yugyeong Hardware.” 

“Stop, stop!” 

Screech  

With my urgent shout, the car braked hard, leaving long skid marks on the road. As soon as we stopped, I and four others jumped out, keeping watch with our rifles as we rushed into the hardware store with its shattered glass door. 

“Suhyun, you and Chansoo guard the entrance... shit...” 

I assigned guard duty and turned inside just in time to see a massive lizard lurking in the shadows. 

Immediately, I swore and my face twisted, but my body responded automatically raising the rifle and aiming at the acid sac at the base of its throat. 

Just as I lined up my sights, four more baby lizards appeared behind the first. 

“Seriously, this is crap...” 

. . . 

After calmly blasting the first lizard’s acid sac with a slug, me, the other two who entered, and Suhyun and Chansoo who watched the entrance all joined in, firing at the remaining four. 

Ratatatat  

Bang! Bang! 

In less than ten seconds, the small, dim shop was lit up with muzzle flashes and deafening gunfire, mixed with the wet sounds of tearing flesh. When the shooting was done, five lizard corpses lay scattered along the main aisle. 

A moment later, I reloaded and, just to be sure, double-tapped two more shots into each motionless lizard’s nape. 

Bang! Bang! 

Though we’d already spent over 150 bullets, leaving any alive was not an option.