Chapter 6: Swarm of the Dead

The eerie quiet that followed our victory over the Undead Juggernaut was unnerving. We should have felt triumphant, but the exhaustion of the fight hung heavily on our bodies, like a weight we couldn’t shake off. The air reeked of blood and rot, every breath thick with the stench of death. It settled deep into my lungs, making it hard to breathe, let alone think.

Kwon-Ji-Han wiped the sweat from his brow, his chest heaving with effort. Gil-Yong was already checking his weapons, as if he knew this wasn’t over yet. His eyes, sharper than I’d seen before, scanned the horizon with a cold calculation.

Up above, Yu-Song-Hwa stood motionless on her sniper's perch, her rifle still aimed toward the shadows, her sharp gaze lingering on the battlefield. Her stance didn’t relax for a second, even in the brief silence. We were all on edge, and the silence felt… wrong.

"That boss was tough, but we did it," I said, trying to catch my breath, but my words felt hollow.

Gil-Yong didn’t look at me when he replied, "Yeah, but don’t get too comfortable." His voice was dark, almost hollow. "Something tells me we’re not out of the woods yet."

[ANNOUNCEMENT: Upgrades and Building Options Unlocked]

The system window flashed before my eyes, offering us upgrades and new options to fortify our base. I barely looked at it. The aftermath of the battle still clung to my mind, like a shadow that wouldn’t leave. My hands were still trembling from the adrenaline. When I glanced at the others, I could see the same unease etched on their faces. This victory felt… fragile, like it could slip away at any moment.

Kwon-Ji-Han was the first to break the silence. "We need to upgrade our defenses. I’ve got a feeling the next wave will be worse."

I nodded, forcing myself to open the menu, but something felt wrong. The point requirements were astronomical—way too high for the scraps we had left. It was like the system was mocking us, offering survival at an impossible price. The more we fought, the fewer resources we had to keep going.

"Pick the basics," Yu-Song-Hwa said coldly, never taking her eyes off the distance. "We don’t have time for anything fancy."

She was right. We didn’t. We quickly fortified the entrances with wooden barricades, spending the remaining points on traps. It wasn’t enough. We knew it wasn’t enough, but there was no choice. We were hanging by a thread, hoping these makeshift defenses would hold.

[ANNOUNCEMENT: Time left until Wave 3: 10 minutes.]

A chill crawled up my spine. Ten minutes. That was all the time we had before the next onslaught. The countdown was shorter than before. This was deliberate—it was meant to break us.

"Ten minutes?" I said aloud, feeling the unease turn into panic. "That’s not enough time to recover."

"Doesn’t matter," Kwon-Ji-Han said, his voice firm but laced with tension. "We’ve got to make it work."

Gil-Yong let out a dry laugh, but there was no humor in it. "Another wave already? This game is relentless."

We scrambled to set up what little we could. Yu-Song-Hwa positioned herself back on the rooftop, her sniper rifle steady in her hands, her sharp eyes focused on the horizon. Kwon-Ji-Han and I moved to the barricades, our bodies exhausted but still ready for what was coming. Gil-Yong holstered his twin pistols, his fingers twitching, eager for the next fight.

"I hope you’re ready for this," Gil-Yong said, flashing a grin that didn’t quite reach his eyes. "This time, it won’t be about one big boss. We’re going to get swarmed."

His words hit hard. My stomach churned with the weight of the truth. The boss from the last wave had been tough, but it had been one monster. This time, it felt different. I could sense the storm coming, and it was much worse than anything we’d faced before.

[ANNOUNCEMENT: Time left: 00:03]
[ANNOUNCEMENT: Time left: 00:02]
[ANNOUNCEMENT: Time left: 00:01]
[ANNOUNCEMENT: Wave 3 has begun.]

The ground rumbled as the horde approached, the low growls and snarls of zombies echoing through the night. But they didn’t come from one direction. They poured in from everywhere.

"They’re everywhere!" Yu-Song-Hwa shouted from above, already firing. "Too many of them!"

I swung my Katana of Ghost, cutting down the first zombie that reached the barricade, its head splitting open with a sickening crack. But for every one I killed, two more replaced it. The sheer number of them was overwhelming, suffocating.

"Stay sharp!" Kwon-Ji-Han called out, his fists smashing into a zombie’s skull with bone-crushing force. "We can’t let them break through!"

Gil-Yong was a blur of motion, his twin pistols firing off shot after shot, taking out zombies closest to him. "There’s no end to them!" he shouted, the frustration clear in his voice.

[ERROR: Increased Zombie Spawn Detected]
[Wave Modifier: Zombie Swarm]

The system announcement sent a cold dread through me. More zombies than usual. It was too many—too fast. My breath quickened. This wasn’t just a fight anymore; this was survival in its rawest, most terrifying form.

"BANG!"
"BANG!"
"BANG!"

Yu-Song-Hwa’s sniper shots rang out, picking off zombies with deadly precision, but no matter how many she killed, more kept coming. They were like an endless tide, their rotting bodies clawing at the barricades, their eyes glowing with insatiable hunger. They weren’t just mindless—they were ravenous.

"They’re overwhelming us!" Kwon-Ji-Han shouted, his fists bloodied from the constant barrage of attacks. The barricade near him creaked, groaning under the pressure of the horde.

With a sickening crack, the barricade splintered, and the horde flooded in.

"Fall back!" Gil-Yong yelled, his voice barely audible over the chaos. "We need to regroup!"

We pulled back toward the center of the base. The barricades were gone, useless now. The traps we set had only taken out a handful of the swarm. The zombies were everywhere, closing in from all sides. My heart pounded in my chest, each beat louder than the next. We were running out of time, and I was running out of hope.

The fire inside me roared to life. I could feel it—the same energy that surged during the last fight. My vision blurred, the sounds of battle around me fading as everything slowed down. The chaos seemed to part as if revealing a path only I could see. The zombies’ movements became clear, their patterns predictable. I could see their weaknesses—every flaw in their attack. I could anticipate their moves before they made them.

[USING “OBSERVING POINT”]

"Hit them in their weak spots!" I shouted, my voice no longer shaky but strong, cutting through the noise. "We can turn this around!"

Kwon-Ji-Han didn’t hesitate. His fist slammed into the nearest zombie’s skull, shattering it instantly. Gil-Yong followed up, firing a series of precise headshots, each one finding its mark. Yu-Song-Hwa, seeing the new openings, adjusted her shots, taking out zombies with a deadly efficiency that left no room for error.

[ANNOUNCEMENT: Wave Progress 75% Complete.]

The tide of the battle finally began to shift. The number of zombies was thinning, but each one we killed was a hard-won victory. We moved like a unit, each of us perfectly in sync, fighting with a precision that could only come from trusting one another.

With one final blow, Kwon-Ji-Han slammed his fist into the last zombie, and with a sickening crack, its head exploded into a mess of rotting flesh and bone. The battlefield was littered with the bodies of the dead, but we were still standing.

[ANNOUNCEMENT: Wave 3 Complete.]
[Rewards: 60 Points]