Webnovel Author In The Apocalypse World

In such an environment, the rescue team not only failed to find clues but also stumbled upon numerous frozen zombies trapped in the ice.

Kim Haru noticed one as well.

Snowball No. 1, pulling the sled, trudged slowly across the icy street.

The soft snow had already been pushed aside by the sled and the dog's paws.

When Kim Haru unintentionally glanced down, he suddenly locked eyes with a half-decayed zombie lying stiffly on its back in the ice, its wide-open eyes staring right at him.

Startled, Kim Haru froze for a moment.

However, he quickly recovered.

The current Kim Haru was no longer the person he had been when he first come to this world.

No matter how rotten or hideous a zombie was, it couldn't frighten him anymore—it was just an eyesore.

The only reason he'd been startled this time was that the thing had appeared so suddenly.

Even if it hadn't been a zombie, if it were an animal frozen in the ice, anyone would flinch if they suddenly made eye contact with it.

The rest of the rescue team was so focused on searching for clues that they didn't notice Kim Haru's brief stiffness.

Only the Ginseng Spirit hiding in the corner of the sled spotted it and stealthily extended a root to poke at Kim Haru.

When he looked over, the root bent into the shape of a question mark.

Kim Haru shook his head and whispered, "It's nothing. There's a zombie in the ice."

It's just a zombie.

Back in a certain winter, its even deliberately slept frozen in ice beside a zombie.

But when the ice thawed, the zombie woke up earlier than it and immediately tried to shove it into its mouth.

Since then, its never dared to sleep next to a zombie again.

Kim Haru originally wanted to experience the warmth of human touch, but it turned out zombies had no warmth and, worse, wanted to eat him.

Completely unfazed by the fear of zombies, the Ginseng Spirit quietly shrank back into hiding.

Neither Kim Haru nor the Ginseng Spirit had any intention of revealing Gingseng Spirit to other humans so soon.

The Cryo Wolf, the Unmelted Frost Bamboo Tree, The Mutated Hamsters, or those peculiar mutated plants—they could all be explained by post-apocalypse mutations.

However, whether mutated plant or mutated animal, none of them could mutate to the extent of speaking like the Ginseng Spirit could.

After all, the Ginseng Spirit was fundamentally different from genuinely mutated creatures.

To be cautious, it was best to stay out of sight for now.

The reason Kim Haru brought the Ginseng Spirit along this time wasn't that it was too precious to leave in the farm.

Instead, Kim Haru worried that the Unmelted Frost Bamboo Tree or the Cryo Wolf might try to express something complicated while he was away, and he wouldn't understand, potentially delaying the rescue.

So he decided to bring the Ginseng Spirit with him.

The Cryo Wolf also heard Kim Haru's words.

Unlike the easygoing Ginseng Spirit, they were indignant.

Hearing that a zombie dared to scare the human they liked filled them with rage.

Except for Snowball No. 1, who was pulling the sled and couldn't leave, all the other Cryo Wolf, from the second to the eleventh, focused their attention on the zombie encased in the ice.

The zombie's frozen location was slowly falling behind the sled.

The Cryo Wolf eventually stopped the sled altogether.

From inside the sled, Kim Haru could only watch as the Cryo Wolf began working their claws on the ice encasing the zombie.

At first, Kim Haru didn't react.

By the time he did, it was too late.

"Wait—"

Crunch, crunch, crunch.

Dig, dig, dig.

Since the snow in the Pyeongseong Safe Zone had been softened by the Unmelted Frost Bamboo Tree, the Cryo Wolf hadn't had the chance to dig through ice this tough in a long time.

They had barely scratched the surface when they realized the ice barely budged.

Their competitive spirit kicked in immediately.

By now, Kim Haru couldn't stop them.

Hearing the commotion, the other people searching for clues turned their heads to see the Cryo Wolf furiously digging at one spot.

They thought the Cryo Wolf had found something important and started to gather around.

Kim Haru quickly stopped them. "Don't—spread out!"

He could already foresee what was about to happen.

Sure enough, even though the others were curious about what the Cryo Wolf were digging up, this was an order from Mr. Kim.

How could they disobey? They promptly backed off and scattered.

Some members of the rescue team even thought about moving Kim Haru's sled to safety.

Before they could approach, the Cryo Wolf let out a triumphant howl.

Kim Haru knew it—the ice had been broken through.

Crack!

A hand emerged from the ice.

"Zombie!"

The surrounding rescue team members were horrified.

No one expected that while trying to save their companions, the Cryo Wolf would "rescue" a zombie instead.

"Everyone, stay alert! Attack!"

"Cryo Wolf, back away!"

Howl, howl!

Crunch.

The scene was complete chaos.

From the moment the zombie appeared, Snowball No. 1 had already carried Kim Haru to a safe perimeter.

The other Cryo Wolf stayed close to the sled, refusing to leave his side.

They even tried to nudge Kim Haru's hand, seeking praise.

The Cryo Wolf whimpered and whined.

Even without the Ginseng Spirit translating, Kim Haru could tell they were boasting about how elegant their digging technique was, how cool they looked, and how sharp their claws were.

In short, it was just endless self-flattery.

The zombie dug out by the Cryo Wolf seemed to have never tried moving around during such cold winters.

Its movements were slow and stiff.

Before it could fully emerge from the ice, it was already sent to its final rest by the combined powers of the twenty rescue team members led by Shin Woncheon, each using their abilities.

It was unclear whether the humans suffered collateral damage from the Cryo Wolf' actions or if the zombie was the one harmed by them.

Perhaps, both sides were victims.