Season 2: Chapter 55. The Original Play (1)
Almond reflected on his survival as a new day dawned in the world of Zombie School.
"I've survived quite long for a high school student in a zombie apocalypse."
However, he felt it was just the beginning and understood the playstyle of survival games. The school was just the prologue. The real survival would begin once they left for the government shelter, but the developers hadn't created that part yet. Almond was unaware of this.
"Time to leave the school."
With this thought, Almond began planning for the next phase of survival.
***
Almond gathered the students together.
"Everyone, gather around."
He stood at the highest point in the gymnasium and called out for everyone to assemble under him.
"We might feel safer now, but we don’t know when the power will go out. The bread from the snack bar won't last forever."
The school couldn't be their permanent refuge. Everyone nodded in agreement.
"Right."
"The food will run out eventually."
"Yes."
Almond continued, "Let's go out once. Even if we stay in the school, we need to start getting food from outside."
There were murmurs of agreement and no one openly objected. They knew this day would come. Their path had been unclear, but now they had a guiding light in Almond who stood before them and explained the situation.
"And we have an immune person. If we reach a shelter, we can get vaccines."
Almond speculated that one immune person could cover vaccines for ten people. That was probably why the government allowed ten people per immune person into the shelters. Otherwise, the goal would be to save as many survivors as possible regardless of immunity status.
"There are fifteen of us..."
Not everyone here could be covered with one immune person.
"Can we find more immune people outside?"
The distribution of immune individuals in the Zombie School universe seemed higher than in other zombie content. It wasn't stated explicitly, but information gathered from YouTube and portal sites suggested this.
"How much longer can we use our phones?"
Almond sensed they didn't have much time left.
"Let's move quickly. First, we need to make more weapons at the construction site."
"Okay!"
"Yes!"
The students efficiently moved toward the construction site to begin their tasks.
***
The students devoted all their efforts to making arrows and spears at the construction site. Everyone focused on making weapons except for a minimal guard to prevent zombies from being attracted by the noise. Some were also assigned to ensure the workers had enough food.
"Hey! Bread delivery! Move it, will you?!"
"Sorry..."
Ironically, the remnants of Baek Joon-Soo's gang handled the bread delivery. They carried things back and forth like slaves. They received some food in return, albeit only half the amount others received.
"Eat that and then move these iron pipes over here."
"Okay."
They didn’t have long for mealtime. The students armed themselves with rigorous efficiency, dedicating their entire day to weapon production. By late afternoon, they finished making forty arrows for Almond and another archer along with ten more spears. Now, each student could wield a solid steel spear.
Finally, they completed all the preparations.
Almond addressed the group under the dim glow of the evening sun, "It's time to start exploring."
He pointed at Soo-Hyun standing beside him.
"Uh... The exploration will consist of groups of five. Our goal is to find a route to the shelter. We must return before the day ends..."
Soo-Hyun signaled and the class president unfolded a large map. He had prepared this map in anticipation that they would lose phone service soon while the others busily made weapons.
"We need to find livable locations between here and the shelter, identify where mutant zombies might be, and scout potential food sources."
Soo-Hyun then explained the crucial rules they had to follow.
"The rules will evolve, but for now... Rule 1: Never bring anyone back to the school. We can't verify if outsiders are infected, so we can't risk it."
The students nodded in understanding.
"The exception is immune individuals. If you find one and can communicate via phone, inform us immediately. If not, your priority shifts to bringing that immune person to our school."
Having an additional immune person would significantly benefit their situation.
"Rule 2: You must reach and return from your assigned exploration area. Mark it with this spray. If you can't make it, you'll need to explain why."
"Rule 3: Leave as much evidence as possible. If phones work, take videos and photos. If not, bring back something from there as proof."
Soo-Hyun placed several spray cans on the table, indicating that they were essential for marking territories.
His well-organized exploration plan impressed Almond.
"I've reinforced the school's practice compound bows. The original ones were practically toys."
"Why go to all this trouble?"
The steel arrows would have been more than enough to effectively handle zombies. All this extra preparation seemed unnecessary, but Almond appreciated it nonetheless.
"Who knows what we'll encounter outside. There might be something even tougher than the one on the second floor.”
— Pizza Bread, so touching...
— So kind...
— Legendary Pizza Bread
[PizzaBreadDateMe has donated 10,000 won!]
[Soo-Hyun... It's so touching]
The other exploration team members were also surrounded by friends offering support and encouragement.
"Be back by twelve o'clock."
"Just run if you see anything weird, okay?"
"Did you pack your phone?"
There seemed to be a lot of concern. It was just a half-day exploration, but they were leaving the school for the first time since the zombie outbreak.
"We're off."
"Let's go."
The team, equipped with their food, weapons, and communication devices, stood up from their place in the gym. As they reached the school gates, Almond double-checked his arrows.
"Twenty arrows..."
It felt like too many, but it made sense to be well-prepared for their first exploration.
"Lead the way, Do-Hoon."
He turned to Ji Do-Hoon, the navigator with a phone and a power bank. Almond asked him to open the map shared from Soo-Hyun's account, which had potential bases marked along the route to the shelter.
"Our destination today is a large supermarket about two subway stops from here."
Following Do-Hoon's guidance, Almond and the students stepped beyond the school gates for the first time since the outbreak began. It seemed like a good spot to end the stream.
"Today was fun."
— ?
— No, it's already time?
— Don't go!
— Stop!
It was already past midnight. Time flew by after he dealt with the bully gang. There was even more to do in the game now.
"Starting tomorrow, we'll begin exploring. It should be a different kind of excitement."
— But if we can go outside, doesn’t that mean the game is huge???
— Can't wait for tomorrow, haha.
"Till next time!"
Almond paused just as he was about to end the stream.
"Wait a moment. I'll raid someone."
— A raid?
— What's the occasion?
— Nice!
— Refugee toss, lol
— Please don't go!
***
A man gasped for air while clutching a baseball bat as he ran down a school corridor and reached the end.
"Phew... Ah, damn it...!"
He turned around, resigned to whatever fate awaited him.
"Bring it on! Come at me! But one at a time, please!"
"Groooar..."
"Screeeech!"
Before him were numerous zombies...
"Hey, I said one at a time... huh?"
[Almond has raided you with 18,452 viewers!]
Such a message popped up on his screen.
