Episode 37: Promotion (3)

Morgue’s Magical Warehouse, 1st Floor Safe Zone.

A space of immeasurable vastness, one that wouldn’t reach its limit even after swallowing an entire continent whole.

Somewhere in that expansive place, the Zom den connected by tens of millions of tunnels had taken root.

And currently, inside the Zom den.

Kugugugugugu~!

It was shaking in all directions as if an earthquake had struck.

Fierce roars and earth tremors.

That was because thousands of Zom legion were moving all at once.

[Kieeeek~!]

[Kyaaak~! Kyaaaak!]

[Kigiiit—! Kigikit—!]

Screams that seemed to tear eardrums erupted from all over.

Intense emotions dominated the entire Zom legion.

Rage.

Zom can share all thoughts and emotions through the queen’s DNA present in their bodies.

Furthermore, the queen emits unique pheromones and biological waves to control and command the Zom. And in this place without the queen, that role was taken over by the queen’s egg sac.

Therefore, the Zom instinctively knew.

The fact that an intruder had entered their nest.

……The fact that the intruder had destroyed the queen’s egg sac!

At that moment.

[Kieeeek~!]

A grudge-filled scream shook the underground passage.

At the same time, a massive shadow charged to the front of the legion.

A massive body three times that of a normal Zom.

A sturdy chitinous exoskeleton covering its entire body and a pair of jaws that could easily tear apart even steel.

Among the soldiers born for battle, an exceptionally sturdy individual, the ‘Elite Soldier Zom.’

With the Elite Soldier Zom joining, the Zom legion charged forward with even fiercer momentum.

……A moment later.

Far ahead, at the end of the passage, the destination came into view.

The Unclean Reproduction Pit.

The nest where tens of thousands of Zom were born and raised.

That place was a horrific sight too gruesome to behold with open eyes.

Black scorch marks covered all directions.

The surroundings were filled with acrid burnt smell, and the sound of something sizzling endlessly could be heard.

Above all, the queen’s egg sac was torn to shreds and scattered on the floor.

[Keeeeek~!]

Rage-filled screams erupted chain-reaction-like from spots throughout the legion.

Soon, the Zom discovered the lifeform standing in the center of the Unclean Reproduction Pit.

A black-haired human male.

The intruder who killed the queen’s clone.

Intense killing intent began resounding in the minds of all Zom.

Kill it!

-Kill it! Kill it!

-Kill it! Kill it! Kill it!

-Kill it! Kill it! Kill it! Kill it!

-Kill it! Kill it! Kill it! Kill it! Kill it!

Thousands of Zom began charging toward the human all at once.

Leading the charge were the Elite Soldiers.

At that moment.

Squelch—

A sticky sensation was felt underfoot.

Slime exuding a foul smell covered the ground.

At the same time.

“Welcome.”

The human male’s voice was heard.

Soon, the human male placed his foot on the slime.

His foot with blazing crimson flames rising fiercely!

“And now, get back in.”

Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-boom—!

With a rough explosion, fierce flames rose over the black slime.

The wave of fire surged back, swallowing the Zom legion in an instant.

[Kieeeek~!]

[Kyaaaaak—!]

[Kkik—! Kkigikik—!]

The sizzling sounds and Zom screams mixed chaotically.

Limbs turned pitch black and crumbled to ash, shells melted and flowed like cheese.

In the crimson brimstone fire, hundreds of Zom were turning to ash piles one by one.

But at that moment.

Fwoosh—!

An Elite Soldier Zom broke through the soaring flames and revealed itself.

Its entire body was covered in red burn marks, but the Elite Soldier Zom showed no sign of distress.

[Kieeeek~!]

Intense rage spread wave-like through the Zom legion.

Then, hundreds of Zom began crawling out through the flames.

Even as their limbs crumbled, parts of their heads melted, and their entire bodies burned like charred lumps, the Zom continued advancing.

Soon, one Elite Soldier Zom charged forward with ferocious momentum.

Overwhelming speed unfit for its massive body.

Swooooosh—!

At that moment, something brushed past the Elite Soldier Zom’s side.

Slash—thud!

A large sphere rolled forward in front of the Zom legion.

……It was the head of the Elite Soldier Zom.

What on earth had happened.

At that moment, a clear voice rang out.

“I will handle the remnants, Master.”

A black-haired human female stood tall in front of the Zom before anyone knew it.

In her hand was a grotesque sword shaped like a spine.

Soon, as the human female began swinging her arm.

Slash—! Slash—! Slash~! Slash—! Slash~! Slash—!

The Zom heads began falling to the ground like autumn leaves.

But at that moment.

[Kieeeek~!]

An Elite Soldier Zom lunged at the human female’s back.

Even though its head was severed, the Zom’s body moved with tenacious vitality.

The Elite Soldier Zom tightly gripped the human female’s two arms.

At the same time.

Bwoooosh— bwooooosh—

The Elite Soldier Zom’s body swelled up enormously like a balloon.

Its abdomen was filling to the brim, sloshing with orange liquid.

It was an extreme acidic liquid that corroded cellular structure upon the slightest touch.

The Elite Soldier Zom had chosen mutual destruction as its final resort.

Danger factor. Eliminate. Hold tight. Don’t let it escape. For the queen.

The Elite Soldier Zom’s thoughts flowed into the other Zom.

Then, dozens of Zom began charging at the human female.

Both arms and legs, back and waist, even the head.

The Zom densely surrounded her.

[Kieeeek~!]

[Kkik— kkigikik—!]

[Kiit—! Kigikit—!]

Soon.

Boom! Sizzleeee!

The Elite Soldier Zom exploded, spraying orange acidic liquid everywhere.

The Zom that touched it began melting gooily.

The Elite Soldier Zom, the human female, and the dozens of Zom surrounding them.

Sizzleeee—

All of them were melting stickily like wet grass.

Soon, the melted liquid and lumps mixed on the ground.

Only then did the Zom legion begin advancing forward.

-Human female. Dead. Remaining enemy. One.

Now, only the black-haired human male remained.

But at that moment.

[……Kkik!?]

The Zom sensed a strange killing intent and halted.

Amid the orange acidic liquid, jet-black flames flickered.

Fwoosh!

Black flames surged fiercely, and within the flames, white bones began forming.

Starting from the toes, then pelvis and ribs, arm bones and shoulder blades, finally the skull—the skeletal form took shape in order.

Soon.

Step— step step— step—

Enveloped in pitch-black flames, the human skeleton began walking slowly.

Even as it walked, blood vessels, muscles, and flesh generated in sequence, covering the bones.

The sight resembled the king of the underworld walking forth.

Before they knew it, the Zom were stepping back hesitantly.

Fear.

Dread.

Survival instinct.

For the first time, independent emotions arose within the Zom.

Before long, the human female’s face had fully regenerated.

An emotionless, dry face.

Jet-black aura began rising from the sword gripped by the human female.

『Seven Demon First Strike: Gluttony Slash, Beelzebub.』

……And the world was engulfed in darkness.

***

Ding-dong!

<All Zom inside Morgue’s Magical Warehouse, 1st Floor Safe Zone, have been exterminated!>

……Those were the last ones.

I checked the quest window.

[Promotion Quest]

– Exterminate the Zom in the 1st Floor Safe Zone and destroy the Unclean Reproduction Pit.

· Worker Zom defeated (25,971/300) [Completed(✓)]

· Soldier Zom defeated …… (8,463/100) [Completed(✓)]

· Elite Soldier Zom defeated …… (47/10) [Completed(✓)]

· Unclean Reproduction Pit destroyed …… (1/1) [Completed(✓)]

“Damn, there were so freaking many.”

A mountain of Zom corpses came into view.

After killing thousands that swarmed, another thousands came rushing in……

That kind of Zom defense game had continued non-stop for a full 3 hours.

Even the first floor is like this—what the hell is going on in the floors below?

Just imagining it is horrifying.

Zom are like cockroaches that multiply endlessly no matter how many you kill.

As Featherback said, the Zom can only be completely eradicated by eliminating the ‘queen.’

At that moment.

Ding-dong!

<You have completed the Promotion Quest.>

Along with the promotion completion message, a large system window appeared before my eyes.

<Promotion Rewards>

-1. New Title …… [Claim]

-2. Growth Potion 【Claim】

-3. Observation Zone Key …… [Claim]

※ Press the claim button to receive rewards.

It’s finally reward time.

“Let’s check the first reward right away.”

Ding-dong!

<Congratulations! You have successfully promoted as Warehouse Keeper!>

<Title Change: Inexperienced Warehouse Keeper → Awkward Warehouse Keeper>

“Hm?”

The Warehouse Keeper title had been upgraded from ‘Inexperienced’ to ‘Awkward.’

……It’s an improvement, right?

Soon, another system window appeared.

<Awkward Warehouse Keeper>

– Skill ‘Open’ cooldown time has been reduced!

Open cooldown change: 7d -> 1h

New pages in [Guidebook for Novice Warehouse Keepers] have been unlocked!

↦ 120 Safe Zone stored item info unlocked

→ 16 Observation Zone stored item info unlocked

Acquired new skill ‘Management·Supervision’!

Warehouse Keeper can warp to the location of stored items whose info has been unlocked.

↦ This skill is only active inside Morgue’s Magical Warehouse.

First, the ‘Open’ skill cooldown has been drastically reduced to 1 hour.

It feels like the internship is over and I’ve finally been granted freedom of movement.

Anyway.

Exploration will be much more convenient from now on.

Also, various artifact info has been newly updated in Featherback’s guidebook.

Both are modest but very useful changes.

But above all, the most satisfying reward is the newly added ‘Management·Supervision’ skill.

……Warp? The convenience is insane.

Previously, I had to walk from the warehouse entrance to find the desired item.

But now, I can move directly to the stored item’s location with ease.

Of course, limited to items updated in the guidebook, but that’s more than enough.

“Alright, then let’s claim the second reward right away……”

It was then.

Ding-dong!

<Announcing the promotion evaluation for Warehouse Keeper ‘Cha Hasang’!>

“Promotion evaluation? Was there such a thing?”

Ding-dong!

<You achieved promotion conditions 12,750% faster than the expected time hypothesized by Morgue Mu Featherback!>

<Warehouse Keeper ‘Cha Hasang’s promotion evaluation result is ‘S’! Congratulations!>

Featherback probably introduced the promotion system to nurture the warehouse keeper.

That’s why it calculates and shows the evaluation result in detail.

Thanks to doing it with Jeanne, we ended up with results far exceeding expectations.

Since we completely exterminated the Safe Zone Zom, the score couldn’t help but be high.

As I was thinking that.

Ding-dong!

<‘Featherback’s Special Privilege Reward’ will be given to the warehouse keeper who recorded excellent results!>

“……Oh?”

I hadn’t expected a bonus like this?