39-60

EP. 60. Armed Robber Attack (1) 

While I was devising a response strategy based on Park Ji-hye’s information, the phone strapped to my forearm vibrated and the screen lit up. 

“Ugh…” 

Worried that the phone’s light might attract zombies, I hurriedly pressed myself against the wall and lowered the screen brightness. 

It was a rookie mistake from being outside at night for the first time. 

‘If I’d done this near zombies…’ 

After blaming myself for neglecting such a basic precaution in my rush to get down to the first floor, I added this to the nighttime action rules and checked the phone screen, now set to minimum brightness. 

[New Quest: Base Defense] 

Thanks to a woman’s tip, you’ve learned of a plan to attack your base. To avoid losing your hard-earned base to others, you must use all available personnel and weapons. 

⚠︎ For smooth quest completion, ‘Shelter-Bollard’ has been unlocked. 

Defend your base from the armed robbers until sunrise. (Time remaining: 4 hours 32 minutes) 

⚠︎ If you not only defend the base but also wipe out all the armed robbers, MP rewards are doubled. 

Reward: 60 MP, ‘Shop-Secondhand Trade’ unlocked 

⚠︎ If you fail this quest, you and the MILFs may face an end worse than death. 

‘Shelter-Bollard’ unlocked? 

Double MP reward for wiping out all the robbers? 

What is ‘Shop-Secondhand Trade’? 

As a jumble of questions and amazement filled my head reading the quest window, I first opened the ‘Shelter’ menu to check the most important defensive measure: the bollard. 

[Shelter] 

Entrance Reinforcement (Lv.0): Entrance strength increases by 0%. (Lv.1) – 25%, 10 MP needed. 

Electricity Supply (Lv.4): 3 hours of power to the base. (Lv.5) – 4 hours, 30 MP needed. 

Water Supply (Lv.4): 3 hours of clean water to the base. (Lv.5) – 4 hours, 30 MP needed. 

Heating & Gas Supply (Lv.0): Provides heating and gas for a set time. (Lv.1) – 30 min, 10 MP needed. 

Fence Construction (Lv.0): Builds a wooden fence (2m high) at ground level, 100 MP needed. 

Barricade Construction (Lv.2): Builds a barbed wire fence (25㎡). (Lv.3) – barbed wire fence (40㎡), 60 MP needed. 

Safe Passage Construction (Lv.2): Builds a tunnel-type passage for safe movement. Barbed wire tunnel (30m). (Lv.3) – barbed wire tunnel (50m), 60 MP needed. 

(New) Bollard Construction (Lv.0): Builds bollards at desired locations to block vehicles and large objects. (Lv.1) – 5 reinforced concrete bollards, 20 MP needed. 

(1) Each function can be extracted for 10–30 MP and may be applied to other bases in the future. 

With ‘New’ now showing at the bottom for ‘Bollard Construction,’ 

At that moment, 

A good ambush plan came to mind, and without hesitation, I invested 20 MP in building bollards. 

Lee Hyung-min. 

A man in his forties who, before the zombie apocalypse, managed several businesses and was a fairly successful gangster. 

For him, the zombie apocalypse, with all social order destroyed, wasn’t a bad environment. 

The police he used to bribe were gone, and now “strength” was everything instead of cumbersome laws. 

To Lee Hyung-min, all of Seoul was no different from his own territory. 

If he stormed a place with supplies, killed everyone, and took over, it became his domain. 

‘If only for the damn zombies, this would be heaven… Anyone who challenges me, I smash their skull, and any woman I want, I take as I please, hehehe.’ 

His subordinates, who had been with him since before the apocalypse, actually thought things were better now. 

Three hours before the planned raid, he woke up and strode toward the convenience store storeroom. 

Before what might be the first raid with casualties, 

He planned to take Park Ji-hye, who had been locked in the storeroom while he slept, have her first, pass her to his men, and then decide what to do with her depending on her condition… 

‘It’s a bit gross with the period blood, but I’ll just get off once and go.’ 

Thinking of Park Ji-hye’s body-top-tier among married women he’d seen-he was already getting hard as he entered the storeroom. 

But then, his lewd anticipation was completely shattered. 

“Shit! Where the hell did that bitch go?” 

Park Ji-hye, who should have been in the storeroom, was gone without a trace. 

“I’m sorry, boss… I didn’t know there was another door behind the storeroom…” 

“It’s fine. Who would’ve guessed there’d be a door behind all those boxes? Just forget about her and get ready for the raid.” 

He brushed off his subordinate’s apology for losing track of Park Ji-hye and her daughter with a slightly annoyed look. 

He regretted missing out on the tasty widow, but taking over the facility producing “clean water” was much more important. 

‘We’re about to risk our lives in a fight-no point getting hung up over one woman.’ 

Then, 

Just as Lee Hyung-min turned to check on the other subordinates’ preparations, 

The subordinate who’d made the mistake hesitantly voiced his concern. 

“Boss, I hate to say this, but… what if she goes to the exchange center and rats us out?” 

“Man, you worry too much… Realistically, how could a woman with nothing, carrying a kid, make it through zombie-infested streets to the exchange center? It’s 1.5 km away even in a straight line.” 

He shook his head, dismissing the concern. 

He sighed and explained why Park Ji-hye wouldn’t do that. 

“And why would she risk it to go to the exchange center? If anything, knowing we’re headed there, she’d run the other way to save herself.” 

“But they say ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend’… What if the exchange center people find out about our plan-” 

“Enough. Hyuk, you just don’t get it… Women as a rule hate danger. Know what I mean?” 

“Uh, no?” 

“Have you ever seen a woman sacrifice herself or take risks?” 

“N-no, never.” 

“Exactly! Women are always super protective of themselves, above all else… And that one has a daughter, right? In that case, she’ll avoid danger even more. Would she really risk going to the exchange center, knowing it’ll be a war zone?” 

“I’m sorry, boss. I wasn’t thinking.” 

“Fine, just get ready to move.” 

4:30 a.m. 

With just over an hour until sunrise, 

Three vehicles pulled out of the underground parking lot. 

Vroooom 

A large SUV led the way, engines roaring as the vehicles sped in a line down the road. 

Zombies, attracted by the noise, reacted immediately but couldn’t get close, and the source of the sound quickly disappeared. 

This pattern repeated as they headed for Minwoo Kim’s exchange center at Pureum Apartments. 

Soon, the silhouette of the apartment complex appeared in Lee Hyung-min’s view from the lead SUV. 

Next, 

He rolled down the window and waved his hand forward. 

Vroooom!! 

Two large pickup trucks behind sped up and pulled ahead. 

He briefly saw the tense backs of the men riding in the truck beds. 

For a surprise attack, both trucks had their lights off as they charged side by side toward the barely visible main gate of the exchange center. 

As the men crouched in the beds, the trucks smashed into the main gate with a sharp metallic crash. 

CRASH! 

The barbed wire fence flew apart like paper under the trucks’ charge, and Lee Hyung-min turned his rifle to full-auto with a faint smile. 

But then, something he hadn’t expected happened. 

BOOM! CRUNCH! 

The two trucks, which seemed about to plow straight through the gate, suddenly came to a dead stop. 

Not only that, but with a huge crash, the rear ends of the trucks lifted high into the air- 

“Gaaaah!!” 

The men in the beds were thrown into the air, screaming. 

For a moment, Lee Hyung-min was stunned by the sudden “accident” and the unbelievable sight of his men flying. 

Next, 

The SUV following the trucks swerved and braked hard, but ended up crashing into the back of the left truck with a loud jolt. 

Screech-THUD! 

“Ugh!…” 

As Lee Hyung-min and the three others in the car groaned in pain, they heard glass shattering around them, 

And fierce flames began to rise.