Season 3: Chapter 1: Occupying The Main Building (1)
"Should I say that life is unpredictable!? Not a single student of the seemingly disadvantaged Class 3 died!?"
Class 3 successfully entered the main building without any further losses. Considering the initial mistake with Bubblegum that led to the deaths of many students, it was a remarkable achievement.
"Sigh... Sigh..."
The problem was their drop in morale. All the students felt exhausted to begin with.
"My, my heart feels like it's going to burst."
They had sprinted from the playground to the main building at full speed. What was the big deal with just running a bit? Running from zombies that were chasing them was very different from jogging to the morning bird calls.
When muscles became unnecessarily tense, it was easy to get injured. Often, injuries worsened because they weren’t noticed in time.
"Woah, woah!"
As seen now, the students were just beginning to feel the side effects.
"Ugh... My stomach is turning."
The excessive running had gone beyond causing stomach cramps and made them feel nauseous.
"Ugh... Sob sob."
"Did everyone really survive?"
This wasn’t only due to the frantic sprinting. They also recalled the moments when they had to push their friends away. The guilt was gnawing at their insides.
[The morale of the class has decreased.]
A message appeared in the players' view.
— Brr!
— Survived, but morale still drops
— Shouldn't we do something??
— If we do nothing, morale will continue to drop, right
In extreme situations, they had to be aware of too much time passing. They needed to focus solely on survival to rid themselves of distracting thoughts.
"Okay, kids. It isn’t just this main building door," Tako stood up first and spoke.
His words weren’t wrong.
"We need to block the other doors too. The zombies don’t seem to be coming back yet, but they might catch a scent and return soon."
The zombies were currently only coming from one direction, the playground. The students successfully held them off by lowering just the main gate shutter.
Soon, the zombies would start sensing other bloody scents. Tako wanted to prepare by blocking the other doors as well. His words had no flaws.
"..."
"Um..."
The students responded hesitantly as if unsure.
'What?'
Tako rubbed his head, which he would have normally patted. This was a habit when he felt perplexed.
'What’s with these kids?'
They didn’t trust Tako’s words.
'When did I lose their trust?'
Was it because of the characteristics of his role? Was Tako's character low in leadership stats? Or...
'Could it be because I suggested abandoning Gum?'
The students all looked at Bubblegum.
"Bubblegum, what do you think?"
"Bubble, do you think it's good to block all the entrances?"
It was as if they were office workers waiting for approval from Manager Gum.
— Bubblegum's popularity, what lol
— We live in the era of Bubblegum.
— Buggy player lol
— Such a buggy game
"Ah..."
Bubblegum glanced at Tako because Tako's judgment was usually correct. Just reciting it would suffice for half the effort.
"We should definitely block all the other entrances to the main building. It's obvious."
Click.
He stood up like a commander and began giving orders.
"If even one zombie invades, it will become quite troublesome. Let’s block them all as soon as possible."
The students nodded energetically.
"Typical Bubblegum!"
"So cool. The loyal Bubblegum!"
Tako looked at them with an incredulous expression. It was amazing how well his words worked. It seemed better to issue important commands through Bubblegum.
"Wait. Before we rush to close the main building doors, are we the only class here?" the class president, Ahn Gyung-Hoon, adjusted his glasses as he spoke.
"Huh?"
"Why does that matter?"
"Maybe not? Everyone went out to the playground..."
They tilted their heads in puzzlement. Tako was no exception.
"He has a different reason from the other children."
'Doesn't this guy get swayed by Bubblegum's words?'
He thought the class president's reaction was unusual. Unlike the kids who adored everything Bubblegum said, he seemed to view matters more critically. That was evident when he decided to push another classmate and lower the shutter. He was a bit of a special character.
'It's important to understand the personality traits of these characters.'
Even in the early access, NPCs had their own temperaments. Perhaps in the official version, these traits would be more clearly defined. Characters with twisted natures like the class president weren’t influenced by Bubblegum’s words and could require more persuasion.
"Why does it matter if there are kids from other classes here?" Tako asked the class president as if probing.
The class president looked back at him as if questioning why he would bring up such an awkward topic.
"… Because it’s dangerous."
"Dangerous?"
"Look over there."
The class leader pointed beyond the shutter.
"Ugh..."
"Kyaaa!"
Clank! Clank!
The zombies were still vigorously banging on the bars. One of them was a friend of the class president. They even said their mothers were friends.
"Our class abandoned all the other classes. Do you think the other class kids will accept us?"
"…"
"They might try to kill us if they get the chance."
Although this could be the class president’s paranoia, it wasn't entirely impossible. However, this didn't mean that they shouldn’t block the main entrance.
"So, are you saying we shouldn’t block the main building?"
"No. We should block it, but let’s move in groups of at least ten."
Ten people each? Well, kids from other classes could be moving in groups of thirty.
— The class president is smart
— Wow, relations with other classes have deteriorated this much?
— Are they really going to fight just because they are from different classes? There are zombies around
— So cold-blooded
— But is Almond sleeping right now?
Tako nodded.
Bubblegum looked at Tako and said with a nod, "I agree, Gyung-Hoon."
— Listens with one ear and agrees lol
— lol lol
— Just riding along lol
— Master of hopping on the bus
"Then, let’s divide into groups of ten."
"Bro, does that mean we three should split up…?"
"Yeah. That’s right."
Since it wasn’t good for the players to be clustered together, they decided that each of them would lead a group of ten. The main building's entrance faced west with doors in all four directions.
Bubblegum would head east, Almond south, and Tako north. Each with ten students.
***
[Hunger]
[Thirst]
[Fatigue]
While staring indifferently at the familiar status ailment window one encountered while playing the game, Almond led the students south.
— Oh, was Almond there?
— Sleeping during meetings type lol
— Nut guy lol I think he just woke up
— Say something lol
Almond typically remained quiet when it came to brainstorming, which gave people the impression that he wasn’t paying attention even when he was.
"Yawn."
Really?
— lol yawn
— Yawning Almond is so cute!
— Aren’t zombies going to pop out? I hate jumpscares
[CancerSide has donated 4000 won!]
[Choose who made a mistake: 1. Almond yawning 2. Bubblegum doing his best]
— 22222
— 2222
— lol lol lol
— That’s too harsh lol
— lol
"Yawn… thank you, Cancer."
It was unclear whether this character felt sleepy or if Almond himself was sleepy.
'I don’t know.'
Almond couldn’t tell. The other kids didn’t seem sleepy as they chatted among themselves while walking.
"Ugh… I’m hungry."
"Should we raid the snack bar first?"
"It’s almost night. What about my mom…?"
Time passed by very quickly in Zombie School. Just a little while could mean more than a day had passed. It was already 8 P.M. when they ran from the playground to the main building and secured it against the zombies.
"If we lock this and everything else up, the main building is ours. Then, we can raid the snack bar…"
"Shh."
Almond briefly silenced the kids.
'What’s that?'
He quietly pointed to the scene unfolding before them.
"!"
"… Wow."
They weren’t seeing this for the first time. They had been looking at this familiar place just a few moments ago.
Clank…! Clank…!
Zombies grumbled as they mindlessly beat against the shutters that had been lowered. The corridors had turned into a sea of blood with footprints spreading in many directions.
"Who was here…?"
The main entrance looked similar to this. In other words, another group had already blocked this door and moved elsewhere.
"… It’s not just our class here," Almond muttered to himself and placed his ear on the floor.
Tap… Tack…
Footsteps could be heard.
'Is it a zombie?'
If zombies had penetrated the main building, it would be a disaster.
As he listened, it didn't seem so.
'They’re walking properly.'
There was too little dragging for a zombie. Most zombies couldn’t walk well and tended to drag their feet. This wasn’t the case here. It was definitely a living person.
"There are students from other classes," Almond concluded and sent a message on his phone.
[Almond: Bro, looks like there are kids from other classes. Be careful.]
[Almond: Haven’t run into them yet, but got a bad feeling.]
[Takoyaki: What? Really? OK OK, if the door’s closed, let’s meet back in the center, where’s Gum bro?]
Bubblegum wasn’t responding. Messages couldn’t always be monitored, so it was possible to be temporarily unreachable.
'Hmm.'
Almond began to think of a strategy concerning the presence of other classes. The other students also shared their opinions.
"Do we have to hide just because there are students from other classes?"
"Yeah. It would be good if we could help each other."
Their statements sounded correct. However, Almond found it difficult to agree. It was just his intuition.
'Would students from other classes think the same?'
The class president’s words were key. Their class had already abandoned the other classes, stepping over their bodies to survive. There was no rule saying other classes wouldn’t do the same. Even in the early access, the real enemies were often other humans. Plus, wasn’t this a competitive multiplayer mode?
'It’s better to take a look.'
Almond decided to enter the nearby restroom.
"Let’s all go to the restroom."
"The restroom?"
"Yes. The footsteps are getting closer. They might be coming back," Almond whispered and pushed all of them into the men’s restroom.
"But… I’m a girl…"
"I know."
— I know lol
— Obviously, she's a girl lol
— ??? I’m actually a human…
"No, I didn’t mean that…"
"Don’t push me!"
The faces of the female students turned red, but no one seemed genuinely unwilling to enter the men’s restroom. They feared what could happen if they went alone to the women’s restroom.
The restroom door opened and quietly shut.
Almond listened again.
"Anyone?"
It wasn’t the voices of students from Class 3. It came from outside.
— Damn, there really are others??
— Wow, when did they get there?
— Woah, shocking
Class 3 had thought they were the first to reach the main building, but other classes were also present.
Tap. Tack…
The footsteps grew closer. Their conversations could be heard.
"Doesn't it seem like there are other kids here?"
"Seems like it."
"Ah. Is this a team competition?"
"… It might be."
"We have to continue our winning streak in challenges…"
What? A team competition? A challenge? That wasn’t something NPCs would normally say. Could it be…?
‘Are there other players here?’
The broadcast team hadn't explained the challenge mode. Other challenge teams were also on the same server, so it wasn’t just a multiplayer mode with three players. It was a fifteen people multiplayer battle.
Was that possible? This would change the entire game.
Almond rummaged through his pocket thinking he needed to share this information quickly.
Tap. Tack.
The footsteps suddenly sped up.
‘Huh?’
Almond’s eyes widened as he peeked through the narrow gap in the door.
"Hey."
Thud.
A large eye filled his vision.
"Why are you peeping from there?"
***
[Beginner’s Tip: Fortifying your mind might be more important than finding an actual weapon.]