Young-sik was in disbelief.

**Tuk-wak-wak-wak-wak!**

As the Gatling gun spat fire, zombies erupted and collapsed to the ground.

**Tuk-wak-wak-wak-wak!**

“Ah….”

**Tuk-wak-wak-wak-wak!**

Every time the barrel spun and unleashed fire, the zombies fell like a tide crashing down.

The Gatling fired continuously at regular intervals.

Although its power was somewhat lacking, often failing to take down a zombie with a single shot, he now understood why the Hyperion had chosen vacuum compression ammunition.

‘Compressing air into bullets… I don’t have to worry about ammo.’

Even in the apocalypse, firearms remained a threat even to the Awakened. However, guns were clearly consumable items, a significant disadvantage. It had been three years since the apocalypse began, and there was no way manufacturing plants were operational, so supplies were gradually dwindling.

The shelter had firearms, but they were reserved for emergencies.

But Young-sik didn’t have to worry about bullets.

**Tuk-wak-wak-wak-wak!**

With the relentless barrage of air bullets, no zombie could resist. Aiming steadily, the gun had the power to demolish buildings.

“What in the world….”

The surrounding zombies were completely cleared out. Whether to draw in zombies, the Hyperion unleashed firepower while keeping its stealth and silencer features off.

The zombies, attracted by the commotion, were no different from those that had come before. They were all blown apart, their heads punctured as they lay cold on the ground.

Massacre.

It was precisely what one would call a massacre.

**Tuk-wak-wak-wak-wak!**

As the last horde of zombies fell, silence descended over the area.

There were no more zombies.

“Ha ha.”

So overwhelmingly…

At that moment, the opening mechanism at the bottom of the Hyperion activated.

**Pushiiing— Clank—**

“Hmm?”

As the floor opened, a rush of wind swept between Young-sik’s legs.

**Wuuuu—**

The seat he had been in lowered down. Young-sik realized.

“Are they asking me to get off?”

Understanding vaguely, Young-sik jumped off the seat and disembarked safely. Unlike earlier, the Hyperion had lowered its altitude. He wiped his finger under his nose.

‘Well, aren’t we a bit closer now?’

He felt touched even by such a trivial and slight consideration.

Thud.

“Hmm?”

A bag and a clamp fell at his feet.

“Ah…!”

Young-sik realized what he was meant to do.

It was a prompt to collect the Blood Stones, which were rarely found within zombies.

“…”

Looking around at the mess of zombie parts scattered about, Young-sik broke out in a cold sweat.

“Please, for the next upgrade, let there be an automatic collection device…!”

Surely that request couldn’t be too much to ask?

Leaving the silent Hyperion behind, Young-sik rolled up his sleeves and started picking up the Blood Stones.

Well… he felt at ease knowing he wouldn’t be ambushed by zombies while collecting.

***

“Captain… what is that?”  
“….”  
“Am I seeing correctly?”  
“I don’t know, you fool.”

On the rooftop of a tall building, four Awakened Ones watched an absurd scene unfold in the distance through their scopes.

“What is that…?”  
“Ha ha. I can’t help but laugh.”  
“An Awakened? Or a Shelter user?”  
“Whatever it is, it’s not normal.”  
“How do we handle that?”  
“….”

The leader, who was guiding them, felt just as lost.

“We can’t afford to fail on the leader’s orders.”  
“This is driving me insane.”  
“But he’s all alone. Is he really just going to stay up there?”  
“Let’s take him out when he gets down. Then that… flying vehicle will be ours, right?”  

*Gulp—*

At the sound of someone swallowing, they fell silent. Though they didn’t say it out loud, it was obvious that everyone felt greed.

A flying vehicle with that kind of power?

If they had one of those, they wouldn’t fear this damned world.

“Oh, he’s coming down!”  
“Oh!”  
“Looks like he’s going down to collect Blood Stones. Should we strike now?”  
“Yeah, by the time he notices us, it’ll be too late. Let’s take care of him before he boards that craft.”  

They quickly approached Young-sik from the rooftop.

“Ha ha ha!”  
“Phew—.”  
“It’s been a while since I’ve tasted blood.”  

***

“Whoa….”

Four pieces of meat lay at Young-sik's feet.

“…”

They were the remnants of the attackers, utterly pulverized.

Young-sik recognized that they were the Awakened Ones under Yoo Byeong-tae. And they were the ones who dealt with the dirtiest tasks.

Young-sik could understand Byeong-tae using such individuals. Running a shelter meant there couldn’t always be good things; sometimes, dirty work was necessary. Moreover, it wouldn’t do to push away all the Awakened who weren’t of good quality, so using them for such tasks wasn’t bad as a management policy for the shelter.

But he never expected that he would become the target.

After all, they were once comrades.

Without realizing it, they had saved Young-sik’s life several times. They had devised strategies to deal with increasingly powerful evolved entities and shared tailored tactics for safe raids.

“…”

He never anticipated they would stab him in the back like this.

“Damn. I wasted precious Awakened blood.”

Although they were of somewhat inferior quality, an Awakened person was a significant asset just by existing for regular people.

“Now, it no longer matters to me.”

A shield user, a tracking specialist, a wind blade user, and a physical enhancement Awakened had rushed at him, only to meet their demise.

At first, they surrounded Young-sik and threatened him.

They might have thought they were safe since he wasn’t aboard the Hyperion. They didn’t realize he was merely a part of that machine.

“Tsk….”

Wiping the blood off his face with his sleeve.

‘That bastard Byeong-tae….’

He had been startled when they first attacked him.

With a light kick from one of the Awakened, a zombie’s entrails flew through the air and hit him in the face, spilling down his body.

- “There’s nothing more to say. There are a few questions I have. What is that flying craft above? Did you create it with your abilities?”  
- “….”  
- “Why are you silent? If you want to survive, that attitude won’t get you far.”  
- “If you hand over the piloting method along with that craft, I’ll let you go.”  
- “Ha ha! Captain! Isn’t that a bit too generous?”  

They had ignored Young-sik completely. Instead, they were utterly fixated on the mysterious flying craft, the Hyperion. Their eyes sparkled with greed.

- “Look at its appearance, it’s incredible, isn’t it?”  
- “Can it really hover like that? What is it? Is this even possible?”  
- “There are Awakened like us; why wouldn’t it be?”  
- “Looking closely, its firing rate seems fast, but each shot seems weaker than conventional firearms.”  
- “Hmm. Indeed, examining the bodies nearby, it seems there are quite a few non-penetrating wounds.”  
- “But I don’t see any bullet marks?”  
- “Just thinking about flying that around makes my heart swell.”  

Up until then, the Hyperion had been leisurely hovering in the air.

Then, the tracking specialist jumped towards the Hyperion’s underside. He seemed intent on climbing aboard through the opened bottom.

And then the Gatling gun of the Hyperion opened fire.

“Crrrrk!”

The Awakened, while fundamentally superior to regular people in physical abilities, clearly could not withstand the Hyperion's firepower.

As the body of the Awakened who had fallen apart was seen by the others, they hurriedly erected barriers and prepared to attack.

**Tuk-wak-wak-wak-wak!**

The barrier held up momentarily against the Hyperion’s attack, but it was mercilessly battered by air bullets exceeding 10,000 rounds per minute and over 200 rounds per second, crumbling like a melon.

‘Ugh….’

And it was no different for the other Awakened.

In an instant, the Hyperion reduced the Awakened to nothing more than meat paste, yet Young-sik felt that the Hyperion’s mood seemed to have soured.

How he could feel the emotions of a mechanical mass, Young-sik himself didn’t know.

His instincts as a caretaker?

As he examined the exterior of the Hyperion up close, he noted a tiny scratch, less than 1 cm, from the wind blade user’s last attack.

“Hmm… so that’s why?”

After clearing the surroundings, he boarded the Hyperion and realized that its power had increased slightly.

“Does it gain energy just by killing, without needing to feed it Blood Stones?”

Blood Stones were practically the only reliable currency in the apocalypse world. So if he could save them… 

Shush-shush— Shoo— Shush—

Not a chance.

As soon as he boarded the cockpit, all the Blood Stones were sucked in.

“…”

Young-sik gave up on thinking.

He had no intention of opposing the Hyperion, which had just obliterated the Awakened in an instant.

[Automatic hunting commencing.]
[Searching for suitable hunting locations.]

Beep—

Shortly thereafter, hundreds of red dots appeared on the screen.

‘Hmm… that area is known for frequent appearances of evolved zombies…’

Although Young-sik felt a bit anxious, he had no choice but to comply.

The Hyperion swiftly flew toward the area where zombies were densely clustered.

[Commencing battle.]

Wuuuu—

Tuk-wak-wak-wak-wak!

Like a high-level character running rampant in a low-level hunting ground in a game, the Hyperion swept away zombies in droves.

Tuk-wak-wak-wak-wak!

The Hyperion began sacrificing the poor zombies for its growth. For a brief moment, it felt as though the zombies were being helplessly ground to dust.

Watching this unfold, Young-sik was left speechless.

The impending disaster of a zombie wave was nearing.

Perhaps, for the Hyperion, this was merely an experience event…