Chapter 337: Two Camps

First, my dog-biting companion and I decided to finish one task while using Thunder Magic III to relight the lamps.

That task was the destruction of the escalator located in the western area—the original objective.

This was an absolute necessity to prevent any more zombies from invading the third floor.

Our conversation along the way naturally became fast-paced, as both of us spoke quickly.

"Undead Master" is a job that can reanimate corpses into "zombies" or enhance them.

"Hmm."

"I was originally heading toward Disneyya in Chiba. I had information that an Undead Master was hiding there..."

...Hmm.

In other words, Disneyya had:

・Shizukawa Reika, who possessed the Soul Replicator.

A necromancer who controls zombies.

There were two "things capable of reviving the dead," as it were.

The nature of Reika's relationship with the "Undead Mage" remains unknown.

The relationship between the two and this "Land of Mirrors" remains unclear.

Learning a new fact only seemed to deepen the mystery.

Hmmm, complicated.

The only thing I'm certain of is that the "necromancer" is definitely an enemy.

Yes...

Nevertheless, the correlation chart has been updated.

Below is an excerpt from my internal notes.

▼

【Hero Camp】

"Hero"…… A person who has perfected the karma of good. Supposedly cannot die as long as the "Demon King" remains alive, thanks to the "Undead" skill. Right now, Dog Bite seems to fit that description. But where is Suzuta Kagane, the one I met before?

"Fake User"…… Job is "Merchant." Female. Everything else remains a mystery. For now, she seems to be allied with the "Hero."

Pochi... the boy who once called himself a "tool of the Faker."

【Demon Lord's Camp】

"Demon Lord"…… A person who has reached the peak of evil karma. Supposedly immortal due to the "Undying" skill, as long as the "Hero" remains alive. Their true nature is unknown.

"Hungerer"…… Players who have absorbed zombie blood into their bodies. It seems their previous personalities are largely ignored, forcibly turning them into allies of the "Demon Lord."

"Undead Master"... some dangerous guy controlling zombies.

▼

Something like that.

There seem to be quite a few neutral figures involved too, like the "Guardian," Hana-san, and even the "King" of Akihabara.

Hmm. Complicated (again).

"Careless of me. I never expected that guy Hamada was connected to the Undead Master."

Ignoring Inu Oi-kun muttering to himself in regret, I use the *Fatal Sword V* on all four escalators.

As before, the escalators are cleanly severed and rendered useless in an instant.

I also apply *Fatal Sword V* to the emergency staircase on the third floor.

The staircase, shattered like it had been hit by dynamite, can no longer serve as a "zombie" obstacle.

"With this, we can rest easy on this side."

"Yeah, probably. I mean... perhaps..."

...

Huh. This guy's really uncertain, isn't he?

He seems to be hiding something, or at least holding back.

"Hey, Dogbite. If there's still something you're not telling us about the 'Necromancer'..."

"No, there isn't. I'm not involved, after all."

Huh?

"Not involved... what do you mean by that?"

"Oh, no... Actually, I was wondering—what do you think about the 'running zombie' phenomenon, 'Anonymous'?"

I can't help but chuckle at the painfully obvious attempt to cover up, but I'll go along with it anyway.

We can discuss the details later.

I need to focus on getting out of this situation.

"Running... well, I've never actually seen that before."

When it comes to zombies, shuffling gait is the standard.

Of course, I don't know about movie worlds.

"Ah… I see what's going on now."

"?"

"Look here, Mr. Anonymous!"

Following the direction Dogbite pointed, there—sure enough—was a dense crowd of zombies jammed together.

"Wow..."

It seemed the zombies' eye colors had changed.

In the darkness, their eyes glowed ruby-red, and they clearly stood differently than before.

"Veeaaarrrrroooouuuu!!"

The scream itself sounded different—full of energy, unlike before.

In fact, it almost seemed like these things could communicate with each other, in a simple way.

Staring in disbelief, I watched as one of the "zombies" clearly pointed its index finger straight at me.

Then, what happened next—

They surged forward with terrifying speed, gathering around the pillar that connected the first and second floors, as if trying to climb up like souls from hell.

"Whoa!"

Fortunately, the smooth, marble pillar was impossible to grip, so the "zombies" couldn't climb up toward us—but honestly, it sent a chill down my spine.

"This feels like hard mode... This is definitely dangerous."

Before I could even offer a gamer-like comment, Inugakun dashed forward.

"I'll retrieve the two on the third floor and head for the rooftop. As for the 'Nameless' one—please, let me save the other one, the cute girl... the 'Dancer'!"

Nodding in agreement, that was when it happened.

The earth-shaking shrieks of the "zombies" echoed throughout the entire "Land of Mirrors."

The invasion by the army of the dead had begun.