Breathing Life into Real Dolls
Chapter 58: One Month Later

“Let’s go a little further.”

Kim Doha and the cameraman walked through the corridor of the officetel, stepping over the dismembered zombies.

As they moved forward, violently pulsating blood vessels appeared on the ceiling of the corridor, resembling earthworms.

Kim Doha pointed at the ceiling’s blood vessels and spoke.

“These are the blood vessels stretching out from the nucleus of the rift, the ‘gochi.’ If we follow them, we will find the gochi.”

The cameraman briefly zoomed in to show the blood vessels and then followed Kim Doha, who was moving ahead.

Following the path of the ceiling’s blood vessels and climbing the stairs, they found a massive gochi in the middle of the way to the upper floor.

Thump-thump-thump-thump—

It was of a tremendous size that could comfortably accommodate two adult men, and thick blood vessels protruded from it, pulsating like a heart.

“This is the gochi. If we defeat this guy, we can exit the rift.”

Kim Doha drew his sword without hesitation and slashed the gochi.

“Screeeeech—!”

A spine-chilling scream came from the gochi.

Simultaneously, a crimson wind swept them back into the original room of the officetel.

The world, once filled with red as if under a filter, was back to normal.

Shining in natural colors, the world made the viewers feel as if their eyes were clearing.

Srrrng-

With a stylish motion, Kim Doha sheathed the sword he had used to slay the gochi.

He waved his hand with a smile.

“That’s it for the rift raid strategy. I hope everyone can safely close the rift. Good luck.”

The video ended like that.

Kim Doha did not particularly try to show off.

The fact that he had rolled around on the floor, doing his best while fighting zombies, was proof of that.

However, the effect of the “Heavenly Blessing” that made him shine brightly in the crimson world and the graceful appearance of the glowing blade synergized to make him look like a hero straight out of myth.

The reactions of those who saw the video were explosive.

-Crazy LOLLLLLL

-What? Why so cool?

-Wow LOLLLLLL, he's fighting so romantically...

-He just wiped out five mutant zombies by himself LOLLLLLL.

-Their skin is so tough, but he just sliced them as if it were nothing LOLLLLLLL

-Did they script this with the zombies? When the doors opened on both sides of the corridor, and the mutant zombies came out, I got serious chills LOLLLL

└For real, LOL, but he handled it so well...

└He rolled between the zombies. LOL, such skill.

└Doesn't feel like he's overly strong, but he's just good at fighting LOL

The first comments to pour in were mostly those expressing admiration.

The impression that the video gave of Kim Doha was so strong that people were overwhelmed and left comments.

And then, the next wave of comments began…

-I thought he'd be really strong since he's ranked #1, but he's not that much?

-How did he solo close a D-rank if he's like this? It would be different if 10 attacked at once.

-Seeing him roll to dodge mutant zombie attacks, he honestly doesn't feel that strong...

These were the ‘not as impressive as I thought?’ type of comments.

In fact, this was also a positive sign. It meant that the impression Han Miin intended had been received.

For a minority of powerful ability users, especially those within the top 100 ranks, this video felt like it was truly ‘worthy of the number 1 spot.’

Among those with a competitive spirit, they would soon ignite a fire in their eyes and look to find and seal the rifts.

In the end, this was a good thing.

Of course, the responses to these comments were not good.

└Freaking annoying moron ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ (laughing)

└Everyone acts like a hero on the internet, seriously ㅋ (laughing)

└Really feel like slapping him ㅋㅋㅋㅋ (laughing)

└I'm also a C-level special talent, but Kim Doha seems weaker than I thought ㅇㅇ;

└This statement is correct ㅋㅋㅋ the special talent here is average C-level ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

It was only natural.

Those strong enough to feel they could take on Kim Doha were a very small minority, so comments revealing such bravado inevitably became the subject of ridicule.

And some comments started to speculate on Kim Doha’s abilities.

-Does anyone know what the ability is that makes him shine white? I thought I knew all the common abilities by watching the community, but this was my first time seeing this.

└Looks like a stat-boosting ability.

└Considering how he easily cut through the mutant zombie's skin, it seems related to cutting power?

└Did you guys see the cross-section of the zombie? It was well-cooked.

└It seems not just a simple stat-boosting ability...

-How did you find new cracks so quickly? I read the information you posted and searched all day today but didn't find any.

└Me neither?

└It seems like there's someone with a search-type ability among his colleagues. Otherwise, it doesn't make sense.

└Being ranked 1st must mean he's lucky.

-Where does that sword come from? Is that an ability, too? It looks really cool, seriously.

Lastly, those ability users who were planning to challenge the rifts to seal them left thank-you comments.

-I found an F-level crack during the search today. I was thinking of challenging it after watching Kim Doha's crack attack video, but I didn't know you'd upload it so quickly. I will definitely challenge it and leave a review. Thank you so much, Master.

└I support you.

└I hope you succeed...

-We'll watch the strategy video 10 times and challenge the crack sealing with my colleagues. We'll wear body cams, so if we succeed, we'll upload a video, too. If we meet later, we'll greet you in person. Thank you!

└Fighting! (Go for it!) I hope you succeed!

└Looking forward to the video!

└Return safely...!

Not all ability users were ignorant enough to hope for the end of a ranker’s life.

Even so, there was a reason they were challenging the sealing of rifts.

It was natural; if the rifts were left unattended for a specific period, they would crack open.

In such a case, the mutant zombies escaping from the rifts would disperse and attack the surrounding survivors.

In other words, sealing the rifts was a task for all the survivors.

As a result, the comment section was filled with supportive comments for those attempting to seal the rifts, and the community began to radiate an unusually hopeful atmosphere from this heartwarming sight.

It eventually turned out just as Han Miin had intended.

“Oh …”

“How is it? It happened just as I said, right?”

Han Miin, who had her hand confidently on her waist, spoke.

“How about doing this occasionally in the future? It’s a shame to stop after doing it once when people like it so much, isn’t it?”

“Indeed, doing it from time to time wouldn’t be bad.”

“Call me if you have new information or strategy articles to post on the community. I’ll be looking into filming techniques and such until then.”

Han Miin, holding a camcorder, seemed to have found joy in filming and smiling brightly while watching the saved videos.

Time passed quickly, and another month had gone by.

In other words, it had been two months since this world had turned into a zombie apocalypse.

During that time, Ciel quickly adapted to D-Mart and got along well with the people.

Ciel had a curt personality and rarely even smiled when Seona and Serena weren’t around, so people initially found it difficult to approach her.

However, as Ciel began to step forward to heal injured people with the light of grace, one by one, people started to talk to her.

Of course, Ciel still didn’t smile much.

The barrier surrounding the land of hope that enveloped D-Mart had gradually expanded, now covering a much larger area compared to the beginning.

D-Mart’s expansion had even slightly included the neighboring building.

Thanks to this, the construction work on the nearby officetels had almost reached the final stage.

The nearby survivors had all been rescued, so it was now time to consider moving on to the next neighborhood if they continued the rescue work.

Every time people saw Baek Jihun, they were amazed at how quickly his abilities were developing.

The days when the Land of Hope expanded were, of course, the days when I had intense sex with Baek Seonah and Jinah, but that was obviously a secret.

Over the past month, my primary task has been sealing the rifts.

Riding Ciel, I quickly found the rifts and mobilized Serena to seal them in one fell swoop.

The highest level of the rifts we had found so far was a Class C, which required fighting against 30 mutant zombies and nearly an army of hundreds of regular zombies.

Class D, with 10 mutant zombies, seemed suddenly easier in comparison.

If this was the trend, then how many zombies would come out in Class B and Class A…?

But at least against a Class C, the White Knight Serena was a cheat code.

She single-handedly massacred 30 mutant zombies.

It was an expected outcome.

The mutant zombies couldn’t even make a scratch on the White Knight’s armor, and the blessed Zweihander of the White Knight cut through the zombies as smoothly as pudding.

After sealing the Class C rift, a thought came to me.

‘If there are rifts above Class B, I must find and seal them, even if they are far away.’

Class C already involved an army of zombies; what would happen if a Class B or higher rift opened?

The annihilation of nearby survivor groups would be a given, and it was certain that zombies would spread to other areas.

In other words, Class B and above would be disasters that everyone would have to combine forces to stop.

So, I gave a warning to the community in advance.

If a rift of Class B or higher was found, we needed to form a team of strong ability users to seal it and to not touch it recklessly but report it to the community. Sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ NovᴇlFɪre .ɴᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

Fortunately, there had been no news of Class B or higher being found yet.

It had been about a month since I started sealing the rifts.

Serena, Ciel, and I. The three of us roamed various regions, sealing dozens of rifts.

And, of course, all of these contributions were credited to me.

As a result…

“Ranking.”

Ding-!

Contribution Ranking

※ Defeating Ashimone's minions is the will of Goddess Hestia. The more you contribute, the more of Hestia's grace you will receive.

1st. Real Kim Doha

Contribution Points: 18750pt

2nd. aaa

Contribution Points: 6877pt

3rd. Saint Kendo

Contribution Points: 4132pt

4th. Come to Incheon, a Nice Place to Live

Contribution Points: 3853pt

[More]

This was how the current ranking window looked.

Thanks to this, posts like this have been consistently appearing in the community for about two weeks now.

[Is Kim Do-ha's Contribution Points a Bug?]

Of course, I ignored it.

Sᴇarch the NʘvᴇlFɪre.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.