Chapter 461: 461 The Walking Dead
To be honest, I didn't dislike casinos.
If you enjoy them in moderation, they can be quite fun, and the service is decent, offering plenty of free perks.
In a way, they're similar to alcohol—moderate enjoyment is fine and can even help socialize, but excessive indulgence will eventually ruin you.
Ding, ding, ding, dingaling— dingaling— bam bam bam~!!!
"Huh! 777! That guy hit the jackpot!!!"
"What? Really???"
"Whoa, that's insane!!"
"How much did he win?"
When I hit the jackpot, a crowd gathered nearby, taking photos and making a huge commotion.
"Oh, 22 million dollars."
When I said that while looking at the receipt from the slot machine, gasps of admiration came from all around.
Twenty-two million dollars was an astronomical amount—about 300 billion Korean won.
Add to that the money I'd already won at this casino, and the total came to almost 320 billion won.
The casino manager who had searched me earlier must have heard the news and came running out.
He was sweating and looking at me with a helpless expression.
'If you had just upgraded my hotel room, this wouldn't have happened. Meal vouchers? Come on.'
I shouted to the crowd, "Since it's such a good day, drinks are on me! Let's go!"
Woooh!!!
A cheer erupted from the crowd.
I exchanged the receipt and chips for a cashier's check in front of everyone, then took the group to a nearby bar and started drinking with them.
"Did you see the casino manager's hands shaking when he handed over the check?"
"I saw it too. He lost a lot today, and that made me feel so much better."
"It's not my win, but I feel great."
People were enjoying secondhand satisfaction from my jackpot.
Those who had lost a lot were especially happy.
I had brought about 50 people, and they were all drinking and chatting happily, so the bill came to almost 70 million won.
But since I had won so much, this was nothing.
Besides, these people were a kind of shield to keep the casino from pulling any more stunts, so I gladly paid the bill.
The next day, word seemed to have spread to other casinos—I had a tail as soon as I walked in.
Given the tight network among Las Vegas casinos, it's well-known that once you're blacklisted, information spreads fast to other casinos.
My identity and yesterday's events had probably already been shared.
But I didn't pay much attention.
At places where I was just being watched, I played moderately; at places that were rude, I'd hit jackpots like I did before.
Eventually, my name ended up on the blacklist, and soon I was banned from all the casinos in Las Vegas.
I thought about complaining, but time was running out and I had things to buy, so I decided to wrap things up here.
In just over a week, I had earned nearly 50 million dollars after taxes.
That was about 720 billion won—an enormous sum.
'Earning this much makes the blacklist understandable.'
The problem came on the day I was leaving Las Vegas.
After packing at the hotel, I got into the Scorpion MRAP to go buy supplies.
As I was passing through a quiet area, a gang blocked the road with their cars.
They were pointing guns at me, blocking my path.
"Hey, get out quietly."
I stepped out of the car as they ordered.
"We know you won big at the casino, so don't even think about lying. Hand over all your money, and maybe we'll let you live."
"Who sent you?"
"Nobody. Just hand over the money!"
I had the [True Discerner] ability from an old gacha, which let me tell truth from lies.
They had already lied twice—once about letting me live, and once about not being sent by anyone.
I chuckled and used [Will Domination (Kilgrave)] to command the gang.
"Kill each other."
At that, the gang members aimed their guns at each other and fired without hesitation.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
"Gah!"
"Aagh!"
[Will Domination (Kilgrave)] is the ability of the villain 'Kilgrave' from Marvel's Jessica Jones series—it allows control over the will of people within a certain range, making them obey commands.
After they all fell, I approached the one who was still alive, placed my hand on his head, and read his memories.
I soon learned who had sent them—none other than the manager of the casino where I'd hit the jackpot.
He had hired the gang to rob me, and they were supposed to split the money fifty-fifty.
I turned the car around and went back to the casino.
Using [Stealth], I entered and used my newly acquired [Pain] ability on the manager, inflicting the maximum amount of pain a human can endure without dying.
"KYAAAAAAAH!!!"
"What?! Manager!"
The casino manager suddenly collapsed, writhing and screaming in agony, causing a commotion as people called for an ambulance.
I kept inflicting pain until the ambulance arrived, then finished by using [Death Sentence], an ability I'd gotten from Konosuba.
Honestly, I wanted to keep tormenting him, but I had things to do, so I ended it there and hit the road.
I went directly to a canning factory and bought a massive amount of food wholesale.
Among them was the canned bacon with a shelf life of over ten years—something I'd relied on heavily during my bunker days.
I also bought all kinds of emergency rations, dried foods, rice, flour, and seasonings wholesale.
Of course, I didn't forget to buy various seeds for future farming.
The Walking Dead is a world where the apocalypse drags on for a long time.
Securing a stable food supply was paramount.
Having lived in a bunker for a long time, I was practically an expert at stockpiling food, so preparing was no problem.
After finishing with food, I visited gun shops and bought large quantities of ammunition and survival gear.
Unlike in Dawn of the Dead, this was surprisingly easy.
Wearing a Delta Force uniform made people less suspicious, so I was able to get the supplies I needed without much trouble.
Medicine, however, was a different story.
No matter what credentials you had, buying large quantities of medicine at once was impossible.
So I decided to use [Internet Shopping] for that.
I'd rather avoid using abilities to acquire supplies, but medicine was an exception.
I had a plan: to seriously study the viruses I'd collected here.
Since the world had already fallen, a little virus leak wouldn't matter much.
With national infrastructure practically collapsed, I could research freely without interference.
To do that, I needed a substantial amount of medical supplies.
So for medicine, I didn't hold back and used [Internet Shopping].
Of course, all these purchases were 15% cheaper thanks to the [Discount] ability.
'Next, I need to find a place to research the viruses.'
Locations were everywhere, but I needed a place others couldn't easily access.
So I chose the 'USS Gerald R. Ford' nuclear aircraft carrier, which was just about to be commissioned for operations in the Atlantic.
In the Walking Dead world, this carrier would be left abandoned at the Newport News shipyard in Virginia, completed but never deployed.
It seemed better for me to use it than to let it waste away.
So I went to Virginia to scout its location and make it easier to retrieve later.
While using the remaining money to buy fuel, I suddenly got an alert from the Leisure Life system.
The original story was less than a week away.
[Warning: A powerful virus is attempting to infiltrate. Due to the [Status Ailment Immunity] ability, the virus is immediately destroyed.]
I looked around with [Naked Eye] and saw countless viruses floating in the air.
The zombie virus had already begun spreading through the atmosphere.
This was exactly why the zombie virus in The Walking Dead was so terrifying.
The zombies themselves weren't fast or particularly strong compared to other zombie fiction.
But the real problem was that the virus spread through the air.
Because of that, virtually every human was already a carrier.
While alive, there were no symptoms, but if bitten by a zombie or dying from another cause, the dormant virus would activate.
Soon after, the corpse would reanimate as a zombie.
Because of this characteristic, in densely populated areas, a single mistake could wipe out an entire group in an instant.
Even without contact with the infected, the moment someone died, they'd turn into a zombie, so the virus spread incredibly fast.
While the zombies themselves were weak, the virus was truly vicious.
Fortunately, animals were unaffected by this virus.
That's why survivors could hunt for food, which was one reason they could survive for so long in this prolonged apocalypse.
Now that the virus was spreading, I sterilized the purchased fuel with [Life Magic], stored it in my inventory, and drove the Scorpion MRAP to a hotel near the residential area of Macon, Georgia, to rest.
Clementine's house was nearby, so I figured I could meet Clementine and Lee Everett—the protagonist of the Walking Dead game—as soon as the outbreak started.
The TV show started quite a while after the outbreak, so I had time.
I decided to take it slow and focus on the game's storyline first.
—"Next news. You'll remember the shocking case of a senator murdered by the husband of the woman he was having an affair with. The suspect, Lee Everett, has been sentenced to life in prison..."
At lunchtime, I left the hotel and was eating steak at a nearby restaurant when a news report about Lee Everett came on TV.
Lee Everett, one of the protagonists of the Walking Dead game, was a former history professor at the University of Georgia who had been sentenced to life in prison for the accidental killing of a senator who was having an affair with his wife.
"A life sentence for manslaughter? That's too harsh."
"Right. The wife cheated. I'd have lost it too. Life is way too much."
"Since it was a senator, there must have been some pressure from behind."
"It's a shame he was a professor."
The people in the restaurant also expressed sympathy for Lee's verdict.
But I knew that the news on TV was a signal—the zombie outbreak was just around the corner.
I only filled the Scorpion MRAP's fuel tank and didn't load it with supplies.
Looking too prepared would raise suspicion.
So I wore a Delta Force uniform and vest, and only carried the pre-prepared weapons—my backpack (katana), the Yukimura (pistol), and a dagger.
On my vest and belt, I had a hip pack with ammunition and spare magazines.
—"Viewers, we have breaking news. A series of unexplained violent incidents are being reported in multiple regions. According to witnesses, some people are suddenly losing control, attacking those around them, even biting them.
Authorities have not yet identified the exact cause, but are investigating possibilities such as an epidemic or mass psychosis.
Citizens are advised to avoid going out and to limit contact with strangers.
The government has activated an emergency response system and will provide updates as more information becomes available. Again, for your safety, please remain indoors and stay tuned to official announcements via radio and broadcast."
As soon as the warning came on, I left the hotel and got into the Scorpion MRAP.
The original story had finally begun.