[Will you accept the promotion quest?]

[Upon selecting yes, the player will be teleported to the test location.]

[You can only return after successfully completing the quest.]

Zaen readily accepted the quest and disappeared before Karloff could pull the trigger. With Ann sealed inside the containment room, he had nothing to fear.

Besides, he wasn't foolish enough to take on the entire branch while the system's primary function of leveling up was sealed. As long as he could level up, he could heal himself periodically.

It won't make me win against them, but it wouldn't be a straight suicide.

Seconds later, Zaen had arrived at the quest location. From his perception, the place looked like a deserted Times Square. Corpses were scattered everywhere, and almost all of them had bite marks on them.

"…what the hell happened here?"

From the reports Ann conveyed to him regarding the Bus 357 incident, Zaen knew one thing. Whatever he did or lived through happened for real, unlike that perception trial.

So did it mean that the Times Square actually had corpses strewn about everywhere?

As unbelievable as it sounded, it was true.

[Task Name: Survive.]

[Objective: Considering the player's extensive contribution in keeping anomalies in check, they have been presented with a gold mine of experience and rewards.]

[Task: Survive the BM-221 Graveborn plague infected for thirty minutes.]

[Condition: This is a one-man operation. Taking help from others might alert the anomaly. Proceed with caution.]

[Rewards: 15 exp per kill, 10~50 shop coins per kill, performance-based rewards.]

As soon as the notification disappeared, the corpses around Zaen stirred awake. It was like a scene pulled straight out of a certain resident's evil diary.

It wasn't much different from the first round of the game, where he had fought the ghouls serving the Endless. The only difference was… New York's population.

Even if 0.1% of the total population was converted into zombies, then Zaen would have to fight upwards of twenty thousand of them.

Wait, the quest didn't say anything about killing them all. The only requirement to clear the quest is to survive.

He re-read the quest details, and a smile formed on his lips. It wasn't a promotion quest, but a bonus treasure level disguised as one.

Even if he killed a hundred of them, he'd get over a thousand exp. If his levels shot that high up then who would be able to mess with him?

Tsk, that's too small of a goal for me. Let's aim for a thousand kills.

As the zombies got closer, Zaen opened the shop. The time when he cared about an item's price was over. With a gold mine ahead of him, every coin he spent would be an investment guaranteed to bring profits.

[Buy five <Pressure Mines> for 900 shop coins?]

Zaen didn't even bother checking the cost. He just bought the darn things and threw them into the horde. Seconds later, massive blasts shook the ground.

If anyone there was left alive, they'd think it was a terrorist attack or that some nation had invaded them. The terrorist theory would especially stick if they saw Zaen's disturbing smile.

At least a dozen zombies died from each mine, shooting Zaen's EXP and coins through the limits.

[BM-221 Graveborn Infected killed! Exp +15, Shop Coins +35]

[BM-221 Graveborn Infected killed! Exp +15, Shop Coins +50]

[BM-221 Graveborn Infected killed! Exp +15, Shop Coins +15]

[Exp: 4,400/1,600]

[Shop Coins: 1905]

Ignoring the extra 200 coins he had remaining after purchasing the mines, the investment had not only paid off, but it had nearly doubled.

[Buy ten <Pressure Mines> for 1700 shop coins?]

"Yes!"

More explosions followed, and EXP and coins kept pouring in like it was the last day on earth, and the gods were gifting free benefits for them to reap.

"It's a goldmine indeed!"

***

Meanwhile, inside the containment room…

After walking through the harsh snowy terrain, An eventually reached a small structure that looked more like an igloo. Blowing hot air into her hands, she pushed open the door, only to be hit by searing warmth.

All the snow on her body didn't melt, it got turned straight into vapor. Once she was done absorbing the warmth, she looked around, only to find the chamber empty apart from a second door opposite to the one she had entered from.

It wasn't an anomalous door like before. It was just a simple wooden door. Having spent decades of her life living amongst strangeness, the one normal thing before him seemed out of place.

Taking a deep breath, she opened the second door, and her mouth fell open along with it.

"…what in the world is this?"

Ann was back inside the facility, but she had never seen the room before. It looked like while the rest of the facility had been developed, that one room had been forgotten.

The moment she stepped in, the door behind her closed and disappeared for good, locking her inside.

"Fuck!" Ann exclaimed, slamming her hands where the door had just been. "Calm down, Ann… remember the training…"

She looked around, but apart from the white marble floors and a flickering fluorescent light, only an old computer was in there. The box-like monitor and a keyboard whose clicking sound probably the entire facility could hear, awaited her.

"How do I turn this thing on?" she mumbled, looking around.

The bizarre setup didn't even have a CPU to turn on!

However, as soon as she grabbed the wooden chair, the monitor flickered to life with words appearing on its dusty screen.

[AM-002 Clanker Bot at your service!]

[Please select one option to proceed.]

[Click here to enact the complete restriction protocol.]

[Click here to watch a guide (only for non-admins. If admin credentials are found on you, Clanker Bot reserves the right to digitize you).]

[Click here to exit.]

The last option was grayed out. It seemed that once someone entered the room, they could only leave after activating the needed protocol.

"…I hope this bot doesn't bite me in the ass."

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