Chapter 10

I felt like I’d only survive if I smoked.

But after quitting cigarettes just to see Miyoung, there was no way I had any left at home.

‘Let’s go buy some.’

Sniffling, I roughly wiped under my nose and stood up, grabbing my phone—when someone happened to call right then.

Incoming Call

Park Taekyun (Jay)

Slide to answer

<img alt="image5.png" src="https://webview-cache.ridibooks.com/3302046681/epub/images/Images/image5.png"/><img alt="image4.png" src="https://webview-cache.ridibooks.com/3302046681/epub/images/Images/image4.png"/>

He was my best friend—the one I’d gone to school with since we were little. Figuring I’d finally get to hear a familiar voice after forever, I answered with genuine relief.

“What is it, Park Taekyun...!”

—Yeonhoo, Yeonhooo.

“You’re back in Korea?!”

When I asked, Taekyun—buzzing with that bright, happy voice of his—spilled everything at once.

—Yeahhh. Dude, I’ve been back for ages.

“When did you get in?”

—Like... five days? And you wouldn’t pick up, so I thought you died.

“Why would I not pick u— Ah! Right.”

I remembered I’d put my phone on silent so I could focus on the game.

“My bad, my bad. I’ve been busy.”

Now that he said it, I had a pile of missed calls and messages. And yeah—recently my routine had been: get my soul sucked out by the game, then pass out immediately. I hadn’t even looked at my phone.

“I haven’t gone out because I’ve been gaming.”

—Huh? Gaming?

“Yeah. I met someone I like, so I’m playing the game she plays.”

—Oh my god. You’re trying to pick her up??

“I’m trying.”

—Wait, who’s the girl you like? And how do you pick someone up with a game?? Ah—actually, Kim Seongjae met a girl in a game too and they’ve been together for like... how many years now?

“Seongjae dated her for four.”

—See, that’s what’s crazy. Anyway, is it going well?

Still standing there half-upright, I let out a long sigh.

“Mm... I think I’m screwed, actually....”

Some people met in games and dated for years. Meanwhile I couldn’t even get into the same alliance as the person I liked, let alone send her a whisper.

—What? Why?

“I have to get into this group she’s in, but I can’t even get an interview....”

—Like a crew?

“...Something like that.”

—Jesus. So you only do well if you get into the crew?

“Yeah. I have to. No matter what.”

From what I’d felt playing, if you weren’t in the same alliance, it was hard to form any kind of connection.

Even the posts people made on the community were mostly about bonds that started from being in the same alliance or party and playing together. So I’d been trying to get into the alliance Miyoung was in, no matter what, but—

—Then you have to get in!

“Yeah, but I can’t join right now. It’s complicated if I explain it....”

—Can’t you just... lobby?

Lobby?

I blinked.

“How?”

—Send gifts to the admins. Something like that. If you give them game items, they’ll at least look at you, right?

“So you’re telling me to bribe them?”

—Yeah. Bribe them, then slip in a little appeal.

...He had a point. That actually sounded pretty good.

If it kept telling me to go through ShinJadu or Miu, it probably meant if I got close to them—or got on their good side—they’d accept my application.

‘And I already know where 47 is....’

‘Should I just camp there?’

The coordinates of that giant building Miyoung had entered were still burned into my head. And the gate had a huge 47 on it, so that was probably their headquarters.

While I was thinking, Taekyun kept running his mouth.

—And even if you can’t get into the crew, can’t you just give the person you like gifts directly and show how you feel? You can just go for it.

Go for it with Miyoung?

“How am I supposed to do that?”

—What’s the problem? She doesn’t even know it’s you anyway, right? It’s a game. Nothing to be embarrassed about. If it goes well, you reveal it’s you, and if it blows up, you pretend it wasn’t you.

At his advice, my mouth fell open a little.

“...That’s actually not bad?”

Now that I thought about it, yeah.

“You get smarter or something?”

I hurried back to my monitor and sat down.

‘Seriously. She doesn’t know it’s me anyway....’

I could hear Taekyun chattering in my ear, but once my focus locked onto the screen, his voice started to fade out.

My eyes blinked slowly.

The traces of tears that had pooled there earlier were gone.

Before I knew it, my eyes were bright and sparkling as I searched the coordinates.

*****

The outer wall was so high you had to crane your head for ages just to glimpse the top. It looked like something that didn’t belong in a zombie setting at all.

At a glance it seemed like a simple outer wall made from iron and concrete, but if you looked closely, rusted iron and mismatched stones tangled together in a strange pattern.

At the very top of that space—wires and barbed wire snarled together into something that was obviously a fortress—a user typed into chat.

(Alliance) KimFactory: ugh today is so dead im bored to death

It was a sexy female character. KimFactory, with long bright-red hair spilling down her back, used a yawning emote as she spoke.

But despite saying she was bored...

(Alliance) 1Poop1: bored my ass look at you standing there staring out like a fucking hawk LOL

(Alliance) GoodLuck: kimfactoryyy~ sit down~~~ you’re making me nervous~~~~ oh my god~~

(Alliance) BBQ: lowkey feels like she wants a war to pop off lol

The ones sitting beside KimFactory tossed in their own comments, snickering.

(Alliance) ShinJadu: MeerkatMode ON

(Alliance) KimFactory: ugh this is legendary annoying LOL i cant even say im bored T_T

(Alliance) GoodLuck: being bored is a good thing~~~ right~~~?

(Alliance) FUNK: what if kimfactory does that too long and her neck gets longer and she falls off

(Alliance) CheersInMyEyes: LOLOL for real

(Alliance) KimFactory: you’re fucking going in circles, shit T_T

Each of them carried a different weapon.

KimFactory held a staff. 1Poop1 had dual pistols. CheersInMyEyes held a tiny flute. ShinJadu carried an emergency kit. GoodLuck wore a huge backpack...

If you only looked at their characters, their jobs were all different, and it seemed like they had nothing in common.

But that wasn’t true.

Because the same number was written above every one of their heads.

<47>

47 was a pretty famous alliance in Zombie Village.

Overall Server #1: 47

X-1211 #1: 47

Siege War Previous Season #1: 47

Because they were overwhelming.

47 was an alliance that had held rank #1 for a long time—not just on the infamous X-1211 server, but across the entire server rankings.

In the game, holding the top rank for that long was considered a pretty rare thing.

(Free Board)

Is the #1 alliance still 47?

Posted by: GrindGrindGrinder

Doesn’t the #1 alliance usually keep changing??

They’ve held on for a while though, yeah

Comments (21)

<img alt="grave3.png" src="https://webview-cache.ridibooks.com/3302046681/epub/images/Images/grave3.png"/> Ara Reply

fr thats what im saying they’ve held on a long time?

⤷ ilililiii Reply

im new here isnt it normal for rankings to stay?? other games dont change much

⤷ EROER Reply

nah usually siege wars and server wars keep pounding them so ranks swapped nonstop between 1-3

⤷⤷ ilililiii Reply

why???

⤷⤷⤷ EROER Reply

war’s when you throw even the spoon you were eating with just to crack the other team’s skull. the higher the alliance the worse the resource drain so they drop easy

⤷⤷⤷⤷ ilililiii Reply

ohhh

<img alt="grave2.png" src="https://webview-cache.ridibooks.com/3302046681/epub/images/Images/grave2.png"/> ICanHearWailing Reply

maybe cuz those 47 bastards have been spending big forever?

<img alt="grave3.png" src="https://webview-cache.ridibooks.com/3302046681/epub/images/Images/grave3.png"/> IfYouSetATrapItsMyTrap Reply

money power’s real but they’re skilled too

⤷ letno Reply

facts they’re actually good

In Zombie Village, top-tier alliances got targeted hard, so resources and gold burned up fast.

But even so, 47 was solid enough to hold #1 for a long time. And the people logged in today, keeping watch, were high-level and high-combat-power players even within 47.

There was only one reason the 47 members—who mostly preferred solo play—were gathered like this on the watchtower guarding the outer wall.

(Alliance) FUNK: but why’s there so much war lately? didnt we have a truce up through top 10

(Alliance) GoodLuck: for real~ when you look at ranks flipping lately~ it’s brutal~

(Alliance) ShinJadu: vibes are bad yeah..

(Alliance) MouseTrap: yeah T_T_T_T what even happened.. jadu have you heard anything??

(Alliance) ShinJadu: T_T_T_T not sure yet.. once i’m sure i’ll share!

(Alliance) GoodLuck: yeah~ yeah~

(Alliance) KimFactory: if it’s coming i hope it comes fast T_T i wanna go sleep T_T

Because lately, the server atmosphere hadn’t felt normal.