[TS] Formula One Streamer - Chapter 126

“Guys, you can use any shotgun or rifle you like. If you’re not confident, the rifle is easier and more versatile, so go with that. If you’re not bringing a melee weapon, pack more grenades. There are plenty of places to use them.”

“Ji-hyun should use a shotgun. It’s a bit challenging, but the spread is wide, making it easy to hit. Use a pump action, and instead of packing a melee weapon and a sidearm, load up on ammo and grenades. But… what’s with the outfit? Come here.”

When I looked at Ji-hyun, it seemed like I was more invested than usual. Won-jin, being experienced, meticulously considered each person’s setup. He arranged weapons and roles in a way that maintained team balance while taking individual characteristics into account.

The division of roles and placement for the five of us was the most crucial aspect, or so they said.

“Lee-hyun, just do whatever you want.”

“Uh? Yeah…”

But why were they neglecting me like this? Even though I planned to do what I wanted regardless, I still felt bad about being treated like an afterthought.

But what can you do? A boy in love can only see one girl.

I stopped grumbling and packed my gear.

I picked up a light and short submachine g*n for close-quarter combat and a pistol for emergencies. The rest was filled with half grenades and half ammo. With a four-hour limit, it would take a while to get to the tower with the vaccine, so I figured it was best to stock up on plenty of ammo.

I’ve heard that there are supply crates with extremely good firearms, ammo, and grenades on the map. Naturally, those supplies are only on the shortest route to the tower. It would be beneficial to minimize the number of times we need to collect supplies for the time attack.

In F1 terms, securing supplies is like a pit stop. In other words, it’s like changing tires.

“I’ve shot guns at the shooting range, so there shouldn’t be a problem.”

As a left-handed shooter, I firmly anchored the buttstock against my left shoulder and assumed a shooting stance. Having shot a variety of guns at the range, it wasn’t too difficult to adapt. However, it was uncomfortable having to reduce the buttstock to its minimum length in preparation for gunfights inside buildings.

The reduced length made stabilizing difficult, causing issues with aiming.

“If I just aim loosely, I should hit something.”

Anyway, once inside the building, the distance would be close enough that I could probably hit a few shots if I aimed well.

Once I finished setting up with the maximum capacity, I surveyed the approximate map layout that would become the battleground for survival and bloodshed.

For a four-hour limit, the map wasn’t as large as I thought. If you sprint straight from the starting point, it takes just over an hour to reach the tower. Even with the worst-case scenario, we’d still have over two and a half hours left.

Probably, various obstacles would come into play like terrain features, zombies, and most significantly, other players, making that four-hour limit feel tight.

Before the match began, Won-jin unfolded a large circular map and started explaining.

“The starting point is random, so we don’t know what time we’ll begin. Even if we did, the city layout keeps changing, so it’s not useful. What’s important is this: the red, blue, and white dots. Just memorize these well.”

The red ones are zombies, blue ones are players, and the white ones are supplies.

Players spawn at designated locations on the edges of the circular map at regular intervals. Once the game starts, only allies are marked, so they aren’t that significant. The same reasoning applies to the supplies, which he also downplayed.

And the most crucial factor that influences strategy, the red dots—zombies—occupied more than half of the map, given that the stage is a big city. With their large numbers, they were actively moving around the map.

“The key is reading the map well. If there are too many, it’s hard to break through, and the chances of being pursued increase. Well, there are ways to offload them onto other players, but that’s tough, so let’s just avoid them as much as possible.”

True. If they are too numerous, the loss in ammo or time would be considerable. In the worst case, we might even have to turn back the way we came.

It would be nice if we could use the zombies to our advantage, but with the skills of our party made up of newbies, it’s wishful thinking. It would be a blessing if we didn’t all end up like zombies ourselves.

Self-proclaimed expert Won-jin quickly moved on to the next point.

“And this black one. This black dot is the key point of this game.”

The black dot. There are only ten black dots on the map, and simply put, they are something out of the ordinary. Its official title is ‘Black Point’.

This could be a GPS tracking device that shows locations of weapons and vehicles or other players. It could also grant benefits like doubling movement speed or unlimited ammo for a certain time.

“Just hearing about it sounds like a balance-breaker…”

“It’s not that overpowered. The duration isn’t very long, and it only shows up once on a specific path. Furthermore, that area is a zombie dense zone, making it hard to access. Unless you’re particularly skilled, it’s often the case that you d*e before getting it.”

Still, it seems the creators had some consideration, as there are regular zombies along with special zombies surrounding the Black Point. Whether to risk heading towards the point or to bypass it would not be an easy calculation.

The benefits given are random, so if what you need isn’t immediately necessary, it could be useless.

You really need to judge the situation well.

“That’s about all I’ll explain, and you’ll figure out the rest while playing the game. Now, let’s start the match.”

Won-jin stomped out the last embers of the small campfire, signaling the start of the match.

Boom…!

And soon, with a heavy drumbeat echoing from deep within, the pitch-black darkness that had enveloped the city descended.

The festival of the living dead, the celebration of the undead, was about to begin.

***

“Shh…! Inside, let’s get inside.”

After the game started, we were walking in a single file along the walls of a tall building on the main street, trying to keep as quiet as possible. We were seeking refuge inside for concealment, and this was the moment.

Just one block away, a horde of zombies was marching forward, groaning horribly. Leading the group was a special zombie with a grotesquely large mouth, howling to attract other zombies. It was a Speaker.

There seemed to be well over a hundred. It was an environment far too harsh for five to break through.

Without hesitation, we moved inside the building under Won-jin’s signal. Maintaining a wary stance, Won-jin used a portable flashlight to check that the inside was safe before letting out a deep sigh.

“Oh, the wave is piling onto our side too much. This is really unfair…”

It was a frustrating situation even for someone like me who didn’t know the game well. From the start, the zombies were slowly and leisurely crossing the street like a parade, and we had lost precious time. It was much the same on the other side of the mountain.

“Can’t we slip into the underground parking lot of the building on the right? It says it’s connected to the building ahead through a sky lounge.”

I spoke up while looking at the map. The building on the right is a twin building connected by a sky lounge, so it seemed worth a shot. With the amount of time we had already lost, we seemed to have no other options.

The response I got was cold.

“That tragic building? No way. The underground parking lot is packed with special zombies. It’s the only place with a somewhat intact vehicle, but the difficulty in breaking through is too high, so even experienced players tend to avoid it.”

The twin buildings had earned the nickname ‘tragic building’ among players due to their atrocious difficulty.

Special zombies commonly spawn in dark and damp areas, so the underground parking lot is practically their den.

Special zombies include the Speaker that was leading the earlier parade, the Helser with formidable strength, the fast-moving Speeder, and the Bat that swoops down from the skies to attack survivors. Each of them was a tricky monster that we wouldn’t stand a chance against in a group.

“Don’t we have to go through there? It feels like we won’t make the time attack at this rate.”

“Let’s try something. Whether we cut through the underground parking lot or go through the sky lounge.”

“Or we could charge straight ahead and bravely d*e fighting.”

“Hmm…”

But there were not many choices. Charging straight ahead would mean facing a horde far too large, and while the sky lounge holds a Black Point, we would have to climb 50 floors, which posed too great a risk and wastage of time.

Realistically speaking, the only option that was more dangerous but could save time was to break through the underground parking lot.

After some contemplation, Won-jin seemed to make up his mind, gripping the pump-action shotgun tightly with both hands.

“Let’s go to the underground parking lot. There should be a car with the license plate 7777. That’s the one that can start up. We need to prioritize finding that. There’s no other answer. So, if we find it, don’t worry about who dies and just run.”

Won-jin spoke casually and then exited the building. We followed him, crouching low as we hurried across the streets of the d*ath-filled city. The darkness served as a cover for our enemies but was also a fair scale that obscured their sight.

Hidden in the shadows, we moved forward silently and in a single file like a swarm of rats passing through a sewer.

Roar-! Creak… rumble… crash!!!

In the distance, the parade led by the Speaker was echoing an incomprehensible song.

Was the wailing of the zombies heading toward the tower a requiem for us?

Perhaps it was just my imagination, but as a wave of unpleasantness washed over me, I shifted my gaze back and steadied my pounding heart as I slipped into the twin building.

The first floor of the twin building was quiet, but it wasn’t reassuring. Considering the ferocity of the zombies that would swirl in from the underground parking lot, it felt perfectly apt to describe it as the calm before the storm.

“This way, let’s head down to the stairwell.”

Skilled in navigation, Won-jin found the stairwell and took hold of the doorknob.

Confirming the ammo for the team, Won-jin filled up the combat vest with grenades, and in that moment, he felt dependable.

“From now on, we’ll maintain a single file. I’ll lead, Enrique will be second, Ji-hyun will be third, Leclerc will be fourth, and Lee-hyun will be last. We’ll move against the right wall. Don’t fall behind and make sure to keep up.”

Before entering the narrow stairwell, we armed ourselves with melee weapons and held our breath as we stepped inside.

Creeeak… The ominous sound of rusty hinges creaked as the door opened.

It didn’t take long for us to realize that this was indeed the door to hell.