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🕑 Added 2025-09-06 21:17:29 +0000 UTCEP. 25. A New Family Member and a New Zombie
"Ah, seriously! This jerk tried to sneak into my room at night and rape me!"
"What are you talking about? I gave you a room and even shared my scarce food, and now you’re spouting nonsense!"
Last night.
Catherine exposed Lee Changseop’s attempted rape-which she caught him in the act of-before everyone.
Changseop responded with a look of disbelief, denying her accusation.
The two clashed, and the atmosphere grew tense, as if they might come to blows at any moment.
But, as the saying goes, "birds of a feather flock together," the residents, whom Catherine expected to denounce the crime, instead sided with Changseop.
"Their stories don’t match, and there’s no 'evidence'..."
"His hand definitely touched my chest, so DNA-"
As if anyone could check for DNA on clothing in a collapsed world.
Catherine herself realized how absurd that sounded, and was left speechless. Then, a woman who seemed to be the leader among the ajummas delivered what amounted to a verdict.
"But if what Catherine says is true, the victim can’t keep staying in the perpetrator’s house, so Catherine should leave Mr. Lee’s place. Don’t you all agree?"
"That’s right, that’s right."
With no one but Changseop willing to take her in, they told her to leave his house.
It was, in effect, a passive expulsion, and the others nodded in agreement.
Catherine’s face turned pale as she watched this scene.
And so, on the morning of the third day of the zombie apocalypse,
Catherine Smith, just as when she first entered Purum Apartments, climbed the stairs carrying only her fire axe.
It was her own choice-not to get further entangled with such disgusting people.
Behind her, she heard mocking voices:
"Actually, if you think about it, this could have been her plan."
"What do you mean?"
"That foreign woman seduced Mr. 403 on purpose, got him to attack her, and now she’s accusing him so she can have his apartment all to herself."
"Who knows, haha."
‘Damn... these motherless bastards...’
"Wow, insane... These people aren’t even human..."
"Oh my... Catherine, you’ve been through so much. It’s safe here, so please relax."
"Sniff... thank you..."
The shocking truth spilled from Catherine’s lips.
I couldn’t help but curse, while Aunt Hyeyeon took Catherine’s hand and comforted her.
At that, all her pent-up sorrow burst out, and Catherine sobbed in Aunt’s arms.
It was understandable.
Considering what she’d been through downstairs, it was impressive she managed even an awkward smile when she found us; the survivors below had treated her like trash.
You can’t blame people for coming out late when their lives are at risk in an apocalypse, but their attitude and actions afterward exposed the worst of humanity.
‘If Catherine’s telling the truth, it’s a miracle she doesn’t distrust all people...’
We let Catherine rest in the empty unit 704.
Back home, Aunt and I discussed her situation.
"I don’t think Catherine is lying. What do you think, Minwoo?"
"Hmm... I think so too. But just in case, let’s be careful until we’re sure."
"Let’s do that."
It seemed unlikely, but we decided to keep in mind the possibility that Catherine might not be telling the whole truth.
Just as we were about to make sandwiches for a belated lunch, there was a cautious knock at the door.
Knock knock knock
With barricades on the 6th and 8th floors, only Catherine could be at our door...
I put my hand on the knife at my belt and approached the entrance.
"Who is it?"
"It’s Catherine. I have something to show you..."
"Okay, just a moment."
Shing...
For safety, I was holding onto the axe she’d brought, but it never hurts to be careful, so I half-drew my knife as I opened the door.
There was Catherine, holding up her phone.
She showed me a paused video.
"This, on NewTube..."
"What is it, Catherine?"
"Zombie, uh... um... a mu-mutant?"
When Catherine mentioned “mutant,” I immediately took her phone and saw a video apparently filmed from an apartment right by the Han River.
[New Zombie Appears at Han River 01:14]
When I hit play, the video showed the Han River bank...
Soon enough, as the title suggested, a new type of zombie appeared.
Its body was humanlike and no different from other zombies, but strangely, its head had “nothing” on it.
No hair, no eyes, nose, mouth, or ears-just a smooth, curved head.
It looked like a vase or a flower bud, and as it stood by the water’s edge, it suddenly stopped.
Next moment.
The smooth zombie head split open in four directions from the crown.
Its contents spilled out.
‘What the hell is that? Tadpoles?’
Instead of a brain, the zombie’s head was filled with milky fluid and tadpole-like things.
[Shit...]
The video captured the filmer’s terrified cursing as the zombie’s upper body bent forward, and the mysterious liquid and squirming tadpole-like creatures spilled into the Han River.
A moment later, the zombie, now emptied, collapsed into the river and floated away.
Tap tap...
As soon as the video ended, I closed full screen and opened the comments.
After a short load, over 300 comments appeared.
[Shit, that’s disgusting. Zombies were bad enough, but what the hell is that?]
[WTF, what did that thing pour into the river?] ... L No idea, but one thing’s for sure. Getting clean water just got a lot harder.
[It’s not just the Han River, I’ve seen the same thing in any place with water. Even saw weird stuff in the pool behind my house.]
[Me too! There’s weird stuff floating in my pool.]
[Shit, I don’t have much bottled water left... I’m screwed...]
L Seriously, drinking tap water will probably get you infected.
[This is just like Yeongasi. It’s the same, controlling the host and drawing it to water.]
[What happens to those tadpole things when they grow up?]
↓\downarrow↓ No idea, idiot. If you’re curious, raise one yourself.
[Behold! Events like the locust plague in the Bible are happening. To the One in Heaven...]
4 Oh, this crazy religious nut isn’t dead yet.
Lol, try carrying a giant cross through a zombie horde if you believe so much.
A mix of speculation, eyewitness accounts, and useless chatter.
As I scrolled through, my first thought was to upgrade “Water Supply.”
But then I realized this video had brought me a huge windfall.
‘Now that people are worried about “water contamination,” demand for clean water will skyrocket. If I set up a proper exchange, it’s guaranteed to be a hit.’
[Shelter]
Entrance Reinforcement (Lv.0): Entrance strength +0%. (Lv.1) – 25%, 10MP needed.
Electricity Supply (Lv.0): Supplies electricity to the base for a set time. (Lv.1) – 30 min, 10MP needed.
Water Supply (Lv.4): Clean water for 3 hours. (Lv.5) – 4 hours, 30MP needed.
Heating and Gas Supply (Lv.0): Supplies heating and gas for a set time. (Lv.1) – 30 min, 10MP needed.
Fence Construction (Lv.0): Builds a fence at ground level. (Lv.1) – Wooden fence (2m tall), 100MP needed.
Barricade Construction (Lv.1): Build a barricade where desired. Barbed wire fence (15㎡) (Lv.2) – Barbed wire fence (25㎡), 40MP needed.
(1) Each function can be extracted for 10~30MP and later applied to other bases.
Thanking Catherine for the valuable information, I left Aunt to handle her and immediately upgraded “Water Supply.”
‘Even if the water source is treated before it reaches the tap, you never know.’
After that,
Since she was now part of our household, the three of us ate an early dinner together and had an exploratory conversation.
We agreed to clear up to the 20th floor over the next two days, and just then, my phone vibrated.
Bzzz
[New Quest: In Search of a Fetish (1)]
You’ve succeeded in collecting your first MILF and establishing a base!
To reward you, we’ve prepared a sexy quest with rich rewards.
Spend time intimately exploring each other with your partner and deepen your affection.
Do naked stretching with Lee Hyeyeon for 10 minutes. (00:00/10:00)
Reward: ???
① This quest is part of a continuous quest chain. All rewards are given at once after all quests are completed.
© If you do not complete the quest before sunrise, the entire chain will be canceled.
