《Walking Daddy》 Chapter 1 Chapter 1 ¡°Daddy, I¡¯m hearing weird soundsing from outside.¡± ¡°So-Yeon honey, why aren¡¯t you sleeping?¡± ¡°That weird noise... It''s scary,¡± So-Yeon said as she walked towards me, rubbing her eyes. My daughter, So-Yeon, had just entered elementary school. I squatted down so that I could look her directly in the eyes, and patted her head. ¡°Daddy isn¡¯t sure what that noise is either.¡± ¡°Hmm... it¡¯s weird.¡± ¡°Daddy thinks so too. Then¡­ why not let Daddy go check it out, and our dear So-Yeon can go back to bed?¡± ¡°It¡¯s scary to be alone. I want to go with Daddy.¡± I looked at her, not knowing what to say. There had been reports all over the news about the spread of a new virus, said to inhibit the rational minds of those infected, leaving them with only their violent tendencies. Multiple times a day, warnings red out across the city, advising citizens to stay home. However, these also stopped when the electricity was cut off. After that, the whole world was turned upside down. Every single day, screams rang out, hundreds or even thousands of times. These cries from outside got into the minds of the sane, pushing survivors further into a darker and deeper ce. I was one of these survivors. Together with my little girl, we were counting on a rescue team to arrive. I was not sure how long it had been since it all started. My days turned dull and boring, with nothing to do but await rescue. All I could do each day was look out the window and observe the situation outside. So-Yeon looked around and asked, ¡°When is Mommying?¡± ¡°Well, about your mommy¡­ Daddy will try calling her.¡± ¡°I miss Mommy...¡± She pulled a long face, full of disappointment. There was no way there would be cell service in a situation like this. Even in central Seoul, there was no service. There was no way of getting hold of her. My gaze wandered to the calendar hanging on the kitchen wall. I couldn¡¯t help but sigh when I saw the number of ¡®X¡¯s on the calendar. When the virus had first emerged, I had tried to stop my wife from going to work. However, she hadn¡¯t given it much thought and headed to work with a mask like she usually did. Eight days had passed since then. It was impossible to remain calm, given the unfolding disaster happening outside. The bizarre cries that apanied the screams of the victims¡­ Those weren¡¯t the cries of a human being. A human being? No, it wouldn¡¯t be right to call them human beings. These cries came from some creature that merely resembled a human being. It was a disturbing sound, almost as if one¡¯s throat was being torn apart. It was an unbearably gruesome noise. I sat So-Yeon down on the couch and walked cautiously toward the window. I lifted a corner of the curtains slightly and peeked outside. Several buildings in the distance were emitting dense gray smoke, but did not hear any fire trucks. That meant calling 119 would do no good.[1] I looked down to the ground floor outside my apartment, my face glum. There were several unknown creatures in front of the apartment entrance. A man was standing there, hunched over, waving his arms back and forth. It was impossible to tell what he was thinking, or why he was doing what he was doing. The man had kept up this abnormal behavior for thest three days. Finally, my eyes fell on the woman lying on the ground next to him. She had lost her right leg and was twitching intermittently. Was she twitching from the pain, or begging for help? Upon closer inspection, though, there were no signs of pain or despair on her face. Rather, her eyes had a determined look in them. She would wave her arms slowly, as though trying to reach something, and every time she did this, I would realize that¡­ She was staring at the fifth floor, where I was. When our eyes met, my heart dropped, and a wave of fear rushed in. Every time, I would have no other choice but to shut my eyes tightly and let the curtain fall. ¡°Daddy,¡± So-Yeon called out, her voice gloomy and full of fear. I walked over to her and wrapped her tightly in my arms. She returned my hug wordlessly, but I could sense her pouting. I wondered if she was angry with me for not answering all the questions that were on her mind. Yet, whatever question she asked, I could only muster the same response. ¡°It¡¯s all right, Daddy¡¯s right here.¡± * * * The next thing I knew, I was asleep on the couch. As soon as I woke up, I turned to my right. I stood up quietly, relieved to feel the gentle breathinging from that side. I made my way back to the window and cracked open the curtains again. It was pitch-ck outside¡ªa truly deste view. The light from the streetmps, the bright windows dotting the apartment buildings, the cars driving along the roads¡­ These were nowhere to be found. I looked down at the entrance to the apartment building. The unknown creatures were still at the same spot. The man was still there, waving his arms back and forth, no matter the time of day. I let my head sag and sighed deeply. I wondered how much longer it would take for all of this to go away. How much longer would it be before a rescue team arrived? It seemed to be a hopeless wait. I pressed my lips together and walked back to the couch. So-Yeon was sleeping like a baby. I patted her head. ¡®It¡¯s alright. Everything¡¯s going to be alright.¡¯ It was merely an attempt to trick myself into ignoring reality. ¡°Help me, please help me!¡± The sudden cry made me jump, jolting me back to reality. I stood up reflexively, my ears alert. ¡®Where did thate from?¡¯ It was a woman¡¯s voice. And it hadn¡¯t been nearby. Rather, it felt like an echo that had pierced its way through the darkness outside. I walked towards the window and took a careful look. The total darkness outside dredged up long-forgotten fears. With the window as my shield, I scanned the area, trying to locate the source of the sound. I stared into the distance to limatize myself to the darkness. As my pupils slowly adjusted, I could gradually make out someone moving. About two blocks away, a woman was running with all her might, carrying something in her arms. I could not see her face, but from how little noise her footfalls were making, I could tell that she was barefoot. ¡°Help me, please!!!¡± Her wail slowly turned into a scream. She was screaming at the top of her lungs, as though holding on for dear life. However, no one wasing to her aid. I was no different. My body had gone stiff, and all I could do was follow her movement with my eyes. I watched the pack of unknown creatures tailing her with bated breath. They were hunting her down in an unsettling way. Their arms were waving uncontrobly and their heads were rocking all over the ce. What they were doing couldn¡¯t be considered running. Rather, it seemed like they were charging at prey that was attempting to get away. Just seeing them like this sent a chill down my spine and heightened my fear. They were not moving like human beings, and they seemed desperate to close the distance between them and the escaping woman. ¡°Please help me!¡± Her cry was choked and full of despair. Transfixed by the scene, my mind began to race. ¡®Should I help her? No. What good would I be? Besides, what if I get So-Yeon in trouble?¡¯ I looked at So-Yeon, who was still sound asleep. I couldn¡¯t risk her life to save someone I didn¡¯t know. ¡®I have to protect So-Yeon. Please, please, oh dear lord, someone save that woman... And save me and So-Yeon as well¡­¡¯ I was desperately praying for someone who was, in all probability, nonexistent. Moments after, the woman tripped over a rock and fell. ¡°Get up, get up¡­¡± I whispered to myself through gritted teeth. I clenched the curtains in my hands, my arms shaking as I took in ragged breaths. The unknown creatures were closing on the woman on the ground. I could almost feel her terror, as though I was the one lying in the middle of the street. Despite losing her bnce, the woman hadn¡¯t let go of the object she was clutching, and so she¡¯d fallen head-first onto the hard ground. Shey there, unmoving, then her upper body twitched, as if she had suffered a concussion. Whatever it was in her arms squirmed its way free of her grasp. It was a little child, a child smaller than So-Yeon. The child reached out to shake their mother. The child¡¯s sweet voice made my mind swirl. ¡°Mommy¡­ Mommy¡­¡± Their whimper pierced the darkness and echoed throughout the city. In a sh, the unknown creatures were upon them. I covered my mouth with both hands, unable to take my eyes off them. I covered my mouth, unable to do anything but watch the horrific scene unfold in front of my eyes. I wanted to turn away, but my stiff body wouldn¡¯t let me. It was a moment of terror, cruelty, and total despair. Not even these words were enough to describe the feeling that enveloped me in that moment. We humans, who stood at the top of the food chain and considered ourselves outside it¡­this was a moment where none of that mattered. Tears streamed silently down my face. All I could do was cover my mouth and hold in the whimpers that tried to make their way out. A wave of fear and disbelief flowed through me, causing me to tremble uncontrobly. The monsters that looked human... were eating humans. And the woman and child were being eaten alive. The child wailed in agony as it saw its own arms torn away. It was screaming in fear, unable to fight back. It was nothing but helpless prey being devoured by a carnivore. And there I was, looking on, taking in the entire scene without being able to do a single thing¡­I felt so helpless. My legs gave out and I fell to the floor. The noise woke So-Yeon, who stumbled to my side while rubbing her eyes. ¡°Daddy...?¡± I quickly wrapped my arms around her, covering her eyes. She looked up at me, clueless. Carrying her, I crawled beneath the dining table. Seeing my bloodshot eyes, her expression grew upset, and she seemed about to cry. I covered her mouth and said in a trembling voice, ¡°It¡¯s alright, it¡¯s alright.¡± It wasn¡¯t enough, and she began to wail. I pressed my right hand harder against her mouth, praying that her cries would not travel too far. I bit my lower lip and gave all I had to stop trembling. ¡®Stop shaking, calm down.¡¯ But my body, intoxicated with fear, wouldn¡¯t listen. I kept uttering the same thing over and over as if possessed. ¡°It¡¯s all right. We¡¯re safe. We¡¯re going to be okay...¡± I kept saying that we would be fine, but they were meaningless words, uttered without any serious consideration. I was in fact, not alright at all. I was indeed afraid¡­ And I wanted to get out of this situation more than anyone else. 1. 119 is the equivalent to 911 in Korea. However, unlike 911, there are other numbers such as 112 and 182, for the police and medical emergencies respectively. ? Chapter 2 Chapter 2 Light was streaming through the curtains. I awoke slowly and found myself underneath the kitchen table. As I opened my eyes and got up, a nket slid off me. I looked at the nket, then directed my gaze toward the couch. I didn¡¯t see So-Yeon. I looked around, but she wasn¡¯t in the living room, kitchen, or bathroom either. ¡®Could she have possibly gone outside?¡¯ I opened the door to the master bedroom, the nervous anxiety of the previous night still coursing through me, hoping that she would be inside. As I looked in, I let out a quiet sigh. There she was, sleeping like a starfish. I sat on the edge of the bed and patted her head. ¡®She was probably scared as well. Seems like she got me a nket then went to bed herself.¡¯ I was proud of her, but also sorry for what I put her through. ¡®A father being consoled by his eight-year-old¡­¡¯ Feeling pathetic, I let out another sigh. ¡®Let¡¯s get it together.¡¯ There was no time for weakness. The creatures outside were hunting down humans. As I thought about them, I remembered the news reports concerning the virus. - Those exposed to the virus lose their rationality and are left with only their violent tendencies¡­ Everything that had transpired was exactly in line with those news reports. Not only that, it was even worse. It wasn¡¯t just ordinary violence. It was pure ughter. I took a deep breath and reminded myself that I could no longer act like this. I had to be stronger, for So-Yeon¡¯s sake. The child I¡¯d seenst night could easily have been So-Yeon¡­ This was no time for inaction. I gave her a kiss on the forehead and left her to sleep. I took out a notepad and began taking notes on our current situation. - Rescue Team. Highly likely that they aren¡¯ting. - 119 High chance that they have been turned into those creatures. - Shelters. No news regarding them before electricity was cut off. No safe haven avable. - Weapons. A hammer and wrench. A knife as well. - Food. My mind went nk as I tried to recall what food we had, so I headed straight to the kitchen. The refrigerator had stopped working. It was the middle of summer, and it wouldn¡¯t be long before all the frozen food spoiled. I needed to organize the food we had into different categories¡ªperishables, and those that would keep longer. After excluding the canned food, water, cereal, and the couple of packets of ramen we had, the remaining food wouldst us about two days. ¡°Geez¡­ what should I do?¡± I bit my lip while scratching my head. It had already been a week, but there was still no sign of any electronic signalsing back online, nor the presence of any rescue teams. Under normal circumstances, government forces would have been mobilized to bring the situation under control, but they were nowhere to be seen. That meant one of two things¡ªeither the government had no way of getting rid of ¡®them¡¯, or theycked the necessary manpower to take back control of the city. This left us with two options: starving to death after we ran out of food, or taking the risk to head outside to get more food. If I¡¯d been alone, I would¡¯ve made a n and taken action right away. However, having to go outside with So-Yeon made things very different. If she started acting out while out there in the city¡­ Things could take a turn for the worse. Then again, leaving her alone would hardly make things better. What if ¡®they¡¯ broke in and got to her while I was outside getting food? There would be no more reason to keep on living. ¡®Let¡¯s continue to observe the situation until all the food goes bad.¡¯ That was the conclusion I came to. We would live off the perishable food while I tried to figure ¡®them¡¯ out. And I only had two days to do so. After the second day, we would have to start eating the canned food. By that time¡­ I had to be fully prepared and ready to go outside to look for food. * * * After organizing the food we had, I went to take a peek through the curtains. They were still at it, doing the same old thing. The only difference was that the creature waving its arms at the entrance to the apartment building now had blood all over its mouth. Looking at it reminded me of what had happened the night before. I couldn¡¯t help but picture the face of the little child watching helplessly as its body was devoured. A sudden wave of nausea rocked me as I considered that the blood on that thing¡¯s face could be the child¡¯s blood. I covered my mouth, trying to calm myself and banish this sudden feeling. I took a deep breath and blinked several times, preparing myself to once again confront the situation outside. I was currently in apartment 104, in Haengdang-dong. Apartments 101 and 102 were across from us, about 200m away. However, the space between our apartments was crawling with ¡®them¡¯. Chirp, chirp. A sparrow heralded theing of dawn, and the creatures all turned their attention to the sparrow. They gathered around the stump where the sparrow was, waving their arms at it. Couldn¡¯t they climb? Also, they seemed lethargic, unlike the night before, when they were running wildly. Was it because it was a sparrow? Or because the sun was up? From what I¡¯d observed, the creatures did not seem to be able to see. They probably had no way of telling how dangerous orrge their prey was. If that were the case¡­ the only usible theory behind their abnormal behavior was the presence of the sun. There was no other exnation. It seemed that their physical capabilities were drastically reduced during the day. One thing was for sure¡ªthey reacted to sound. They hadn¡¯t reacted while the sparrow had been flying around or sitting on the branch¡­ However, as soon as it started chirping, it drew their full attention, and they all turned toward the source of the sound. Very quickly, they all began to growl at the sparrow. This was a different sound from the one they made when they were hunting. It wasn¡¯t the disturbing sound that sounded like a person¡¯s throat being torn apart. It was odd, and even slightly grand. ¡®Are they making this sound out of frustration? Or could there possibly be another reason?¡¯ As they continued to make these sounds, other creatures out in the street came streaming into the apartmentplex. ¡®These sounds they¡¯re making¡­ Is this their way ofmunicating?¡¯ I closed the curtains tightly, leaving only a small peephole to keep an eye on what was going on. As their numbers increased, I grew increasingly anxious. ¡®If they find me, I¡¯m dead meat.¡¯ They began to shake the tree violently, causing the sparrow to fly away. None of them seemed to notice the sparrow¡¯s departure, and continued to shake the tree until it toppled over. I wondered if any human being would have been physically capable of doing what they had just done. It seemed obvious that they were physically superior to human beings. However, their intelligence didn¡¯t seem to be on par with their physical strength. As the tree fell over, some of the creatures were crushed by it. They were still alive, though¡ªthey were still waving their arms about. I wondered how they were still alive after all that. As I continued my observation, I noticed that one of them wasn¡¯t moving at all. Its head had been crushed, and blood was oozing out. This prompted me toe up with another theory. I took out another notepad and started jotting down their characteristics. - ¡®They¡¯ react to noise. - ¡®They¡¯ have no vision. - ¡®They¡¯ can move without their arms or legs. - Smashing their heads kills ¡®them¡¯. - ¡®They¡¯ seem tock intelligence. As I went through what I had just written, I came to the realization that these were characteristics of a zombie that appeared in movies orics. I looked out the window again. They seemed to have taken over the apartmentplex, and were still making that strange noise. ¡°Zombies, huh¡­¡± I couldn¡¯t possibly believe that there were zombies right in front of me. However, it seemed unlikely that they would be simr to the ones in movies. At least, it didn¡¯t seem like the best idea to consider them as such. Of course, this was all spection. What I needed was more information. I sat down on the windowsill and continued to observe carefully. As I trained my eyes on them, one thought kept running through my mind. ¡®There has to be a reason why they act like that. There has to be.¡¯ * * * After a while, I sensed someone standing behind me. I turned around to see So-Yeon walking toward me, rubbing her eyes. She tilted her head side to side and asked, ¡°Daddy, what are you doing?¡± ¡°Hey honey, you¡¯re up?¡± It took me a moment to realize that it was already sunset. I patted her on the head and went to the kitchen to prepare her some food. I took out some bean sprouts, spinach, kimchi, and jangjorim. The rice cooker no longer worked, and all we had was cold rice. I took a big scoop of rice after trying a bit to see if it was still edible. ¡®We probably won''t be able to eat this rice from tomorrow onwards.¡¯ It was likely to spoil the next day. It would be best to eat as much of it as we could now, and rely on the side dishes for sustenance afterwards. So-Yeon began to dig into her food. I was surprised by her appetite. I couldn¡¯t help but smile as I watched her eat. After a while, though, she started slowing down, and gave me a sidelong look. I wondered if it was because she started thinking the rice had gone bad or something. I mean, gone rice would most definitely cause some stomach issues. ¡°What¡¯s wrong, honey?¡± I asked with a worried expression. ¡°Does it taste funny?¡± ¡°Daddy, aren¡¯t you going to eat?¡± she asked, a nk look on her face. She probably felt sorry that she was the only one eating. Smiling, so I picked up a spoon. ¡°Daddy¡¯s going to eat too. Daddy almost forgot. I was too busy watching my cutie So-yeon eat.¡± She swayed side to side, feeling a little embarrassed. After we finished our meal, I went back to observe what was going on outside. I nced back at So-Yeon and noticed that she was putting the dishes away in the sink. Given how short she was, it was quite a struggle for her, and she had to lift the dishes over her head in order to do so. I quickly ran back to the kitchen and told her, ¡°Honey, Daddy will take care of it.¡± ¡°But Mommy told me to take the dishes to the sink whenever we finished eating.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°She said it¡¯s harder to do the dishes when the rice starts to stick.¡± She smiled up at me. At that moment, I had no clue what to say to my beaming child. When the electricity went out, so did our water supply. That meant we didn¡¯t have to te our food anymore. We wouldn¡¯t need separate dishes to put food on, and washing dishes would be a luxury. Drinking water was another huge issue as well. And if something wasn¡¯t done about this situation¡­ it would soon be our reality. However, what would be the right thing to say to her? Should I tell her the truth about what was really going on? Or should Ipliment her for being a good girl? At that moment, I couldn¡¯t help but think about my wife. Yes, she nagged me all the time¡­ but she always put family first. ¡®Honey¡­ what would you do in this situation?¡¯ That was the one question I dearly wanted to ask my wife. I already knew that such situations woulde up in the future¡ªchoosing between reality and an ideal fantasy, having to make difficult decisions, followed by moments of regret. Especially when So-Yeon finally entered puberty¡­ I couldn¡¯t help but let out a sigh as I contemted the frustrating and hopeless future ahead of us. Almost immediately, I felt a tickle on my wrist. So-Yeon was tickling my wrist. Tickling was what I did to her when we yed around, or when she was upset or feeling down. It seemed that she was doing the same thing to me now, having seen my sad expression. It almost brought me to tears. I took her in my arms and didn¡¯t say a word for a while. Her warmth helped to ease the worries in my heart. She looked at me, clueless, but kept on hugging me. Was she feeling the same way as I? In the end, she was still with me, and I was still very much here with her. For So-Yeon, I had to survive no matter what. Chapter 3 Chapter 3 Deep in the night, the bugs chirped away, and So-Yeon was sound asleep. It seemed like she could never get enough sleep. I wondered if she was on the verge of growing taller. I pulled some nkets over her and headed to the utility room we used as a closet. Inside, there was an old radio. All the phones and televisions had stopped working, but I thought the radio could still be working. I wasn¡¯t sure if I would be able to get it to function, as I was the furthest thing from a mechanic, but I had to try something. I turned the radio on with the slightest hope, but I ended up with nothing. Tuning the receiver through the different stations didn¡¯t help either. I wondered if the radio was just worn out. I should have picked up the skill of fixing things when I had the chance. I smacked the radio a few times hoping it would fix itself. ¡®It used to fix itself with a couple of knocks¡­¡¯ Unfortunately, I didn¡¯t get anywhere with it. I let out a sigh and walked over to the window. Who was to me for my ignorance? And who was to me for how the world was unfolding? As I looked out, I noticed that ¡®they¡¯ had gone back to wherever they hade from, realizing that there wasn¡¯t anything for ¡®them¡¯ to hunt. And the creature had returned to its usual spot, going about its usual routine. This despairing reality¡­ felt surprisingly peaceful today. I wondered if it was me just getting used to all of this. Or perhaps my sense of danger had dulled. I let out a sigh and stared nkly into the night sky. The moon was shining more brightly than usual. Times like these made me want to go outside and take in the fresh air. But the double-paned window and curtains were blocking my view, as if they were telling me toe back to earth. I closed my eyes as I focused on the chirping of the bugs. ¡®They¡¯ didn¡¯t seem to be reacting to the bugs chirping, merely looking around silently. It seemed like all their attention was on trying to pinpoint where the sound of the bugs wasing from, and ¡®they¡¯ couldn¡¯t spare any energy to make meaningless sounds. I couldn¡¯t figure out the real reason behind all this, but I was able to have a peaceful evening thanks to the bugs. Stomp, stomp, stomp, thud. That moment, a sudden cacophony broke the silence. I opened my eyes and peered straight ahead into the darkness. I noticed several people in apartment 101¡ªthe apartment across from mine¡ªsneaking out with their backs hunched. In an apartmentplex like this one, even the slightest sound traveled through the entireplex, no matter how tightly the windows were closed. It was even more pronounced on a night such as this one, where even the sound of bugs chirping could be heard. I could hear them even more clearly since I¡¯d been so intent on listening. But then, what about ¡®them¡¯? ¡®They¡¯ relied on their hearing. There¡¯s no way ¡®they¡¯ would have missed that. I quickly shifted my attention toward the entrance to the apartment and focused on ¡®them¡¯. ¡®They¡¯ had stopped waving their arms and were staring straight at apartment 101. ¡®There¡¯s no way ¡®they¡¯ missed that. ¡®They¡¯ must¡¯ve heard them.¡¯ I followed ¡®their¡¯ gaze, and eventually found myself looking at the people from apartment 101. There were a total of three people outside, two men and a woman. The man in lead started whispering to the one in the back, as if he had noticed ¡®their¡¯ re. It seemed like the man at the end had made the noise. I couldn¡¯t help feeling worried as I looked at them. ¡®Go inside and don¡¯te back outside again!¡¯ Moving at night was practically suicide. It was much better to move during the day, when ¡®their¡¯ movements were slowed down. And on a calm night like this one¡­ ¡®Their¡¯ senses were probably especially heightened. I clutched at the curtains as I observed the trio of humans, wishing desperately that they would go back inside. Unfortunately, they started heading down to the first floor. ¡®Why? Why in the world are they heading down? Are they low on food? Do they think that a rescue team would never make it to them? Are they unable to handle the despair of feeling trapped inside anymore? Or do they somehow believe that they can find help outside?¡¯ My eyes stayed glued to them as they moved hastily along the first floor wall. At that moment, one of the creatures at the entrance to the apartment started acting strangely. It moved its head up and down while making a strange expression, and I could hear a faint sniffing noise. At that moment, I couldn''t help but think about the face of the creature I had seen earlier that morning. It had been going about its usual routine, waving its arms forward and backward in its usual spot, but it had blood all over its mouth this time. Before the child and the woman had been eaten alive the night before, it had only been waving its arms about. On that basis, I had to conclude that the creature had to have smelled the blood of the child and the woman, and had feasted on their fleshter on. That was the only exnation for the blood covering its mouth. This meant that ¡®they¡¯ also had a sense of smell. I couldn¡¯t believe that this hadn¡¯t urred to me earlier. I wondered why I had believed that they relied solely on their hearing. This thought sent a chill down my spine as I observed the trio moving along the wall. I couldn¡¯t help but envision the worst possible situation that could happen to the trio if they were to be caught by ¡®them¡¯. After all, if it was just about noise, they could walk more cautiously and breathe carefully until they were outside ¡®their¡¯ reach. But what about ¡®their¡¯ sense of smell? What if ¡®they¡¯ could smell the vitality of living things? If so, there would absolutely be no chance of getting away from ¡®them¡¯ without being caught. I bit my lip as I watched them running. ¡®Is there a way I can signal them to go back? There has to be a way to signal them.¡¯ At that moment, though, a rather cold-blooded thought surfaced in my mind. ¡®Why am I worried about them in the first ce? It¡¯s none of my business anyway.¡¯ I had no way of saving them, nor any reason to save them. But for some reason, I couldn¡¯t stop worrying about them. Was it because they were humans like me? Because I knew how it felt to be like one of them? Or¡­ was I secretly rooting for them, deep down, to make it out safely? Would their sess spur some motivation or courage within me? I shook my head and let out a sigh. Now wasn¡¯t the time to be swept away by such thoughts. I had to figure out what was going on. ¡®Let¡¯s go through some scenarios and predict their oues. Let¡¯s say I actually do help them, and get them out alive. But what if they start threatening me? And if they were to go after the remaining food that So-Yeon and I have¡­¡¯ Then, I would have to fight them off. And in the process, someone would probably end up getting hurt, or even dying. Clearly, then, there would absolutely be no reason to help them in the first ce. But what if they could help me out? I started considering what help they could offer me. ¡®Food? Medicine? Information? Manpower to fight ¡®them¡¯ off?¡¯ I watched them closely as I ran through the different possibilities. ¡®If I were them¡­ I wouldn¡¯t have chosen this time to go outside.¡¯ The noise of the bugs notwithstanding, it made no sense to move during the night. It made more sense to move during the day, when the chances of survival were higher. If this trio had paid attention and observed what ¡®they¡¯ had been up to, they wouldn¡¯t have gone out right now. With that, I came to the conclusion that they weren¡¯t that bright. They were irrational, and hadn¡¯t thought things through. While it was true that actions sometimes spoke louder than words, they probably had a safe ce where they could have strategized, and, frankly speaking, should have done so. And that was their mistake¡­ Not thinking it through. There was no reason to save such irrational beings. Having justified myself, I suddenly felt relieved. There really was no reason for me to take risks, anyway. I had to take care of So-Yeon. Her safety was my number one priority. One mistake, and our lives could be taken away. I put my head in my hands as I brought my attention back to what they were doing. They had made it past the walls and reached a side entrance on the left, and were poking their heads out into the main road. I wondered what they were going to do next. ¡®Where in the world are they going?¡¯ In order to get food, they would have to go to a convenience store or supermarket, and the way to either one was through the main entrance. Since the main entrance was full of ¡®them¡¯, however, this wasn¡¯t an option. Even so, the side exit on the left led nowhere. They had to go to the exit on the right if they wanted to get to any convenience store. ¡®So what are they after? Are they trying to find a different ce to hide?¡¯ At that moment, the man in the lead gestured to the group to keep on moving forward. Surprisingly enough, there were no creatures on the main road. All of ¡®them¡¯ within the apartmentplex had turned their attention towards apartment 101. ¡®They¡¯ started gathering around apartment 101, and some of ¡®them¡¯ started sniffing in the direction of the stairs of apartment 101. ¡®Are ¡®they¡¯ trying to track them down?¡¯ I had no clue what the trio were up to, but it seemed impossible for them to return. I began biting my nails nervously as I gazed back at the main road. The trio had crossed the road quickly and now stood on the curbside. With all the lights out, I couldn¡¯t tell which store they were standing in front of. I squinted for a while until, to my shock, I realized where they were heading toward. The building sported a big logo and the word ¡®Pharmacy.¡¯ ¡®They risked their lives to go to a pharmacy. Do they have someone sick with them? Someone with a summer cold? Food poisoning? Enteritis? Eczema?¡¯ I could think of thousands of diseases that anyone in our situation could contract. Without any electricity or water, our immune systems were getting weaker. On top of that, without electricity, preserving food was a tall order, and not being able to wash up didn¡¯t help. Full of anxiety, I covered my mouth and clenched my fist. Not long after, I heard the sound of heavy footfallsing from apartment 101 and directed my attention that way. ¡°Oh goodness¡­!¡± A gasp escaped my lips. Click! ck! ¡®They¡¯ weren¡¯t going after the trio. Instead, ¡®they¡¯ were tracing their way back to where the trio hade from. ¡®They¡¯ jolted up the stairs like animals, making their way up on all fours. ¡®They¡¯ didn¡¯t seem to be short on stamina. As ¡®they¡¯ made their way up to the third, fourth, fifth, and finally the seventh floor, they suddenly vanished. ¡®They¡¯ had probably gone to the opposite hallway. In moments, the curtains in a balcony window on the seventh floor began to shake. When they were finally lifted, I saw a woman standing there. Her eyes were fixed on the front door, and the banginging from that direction was enough to make me scared stiff. Thud, thud, thud! The banging, kicking, and scratching continued. ¡®What to do, what to do?¡¯ I felt as though I was in her shoes. ¡®They¡¯ were blocking her only way in and out of that unit. There was no way out for her. Her group of friends were outside, and she had no means of fighting ¡®them¡¯ off. My chin was trembling. I covered my mouth, not willing to risk any noise leaking out. The fear of death almost swallowed me. The woman looked back and forth between the front door and the balcony. Then, she pulled the curtains wide open and looked outside. Chapter 4 Chapter 4 The woman came back to the balcony carrying something. I squinted at her. ¡®What is she holding?¡¯ I looked closer, and saw that it was a newborn baby, not even a year old. ¡®No way¡­¡¯ I looked back at the trio at the pharmacy. They had dropped whatever they had obtained at the pharmacy after realizing what was going on at the apartmentplex, but they hadn¡¯t done so in order to get away. Rather, two of them had restrained the third man, who was struggling against them. His head was pressed against the ground, his face contorted in wordless agony. The other man was pressing him down to the ground, while the woman held onto his arms as she assessed the situation in the apartmentplex. I couldn¡¯t see all the stuff they had dropped, but I was certain that I saw diapers on the ground. It was the type that So-Yeon used to use, the ones that newborns used. Seeing the diapers, my heart skipped a beat, and I felt tears welling up inside.. Something deep down made my heart ache and my breathing be irregr. These weren¡¯t irrational people. They certainly weren¡¯t idiotic. They were just people trying to save the life of a newborn. ¡°No, no¡­¡± I started muttering to myself as if I was about to go insane. I couldn¡¯t hold in my tears. Everything started toe together. It would¡¯ve been much wiser to get diapers from a nearby convenience store or supermarket, since they could¡¯ve gotten food as well. But if they had purposely gone to a pharmacy instead¡­ it was clear that the newborn was sick. They probably needed fever reducers, and it seemed like they had stashed a couple of diapers away. It wasn¡¯t umon for newborns to have fevers reaching 39 to 40 degrees celsius, and not taking medicine at the right time could lead to autism. [1] None of this zombie stuff would have mattered if my child had been going through the same thing. And although ¡®they¡¯ were slower during the day, the fact that ¡®they¡¯ were dangerous didn¡¯t change. I couldn¡¯t imagine what the man on the ground was feeling. My heart was aching like it had never had before. I wanted to help them out somehow. Drrk¡­ thud! I could hear the balcony window opening from afar. I quickly wiped away my tears and looked at the seventh floor of apartment 101. The woman emerged with the newborn in her arms. I could see that their front door was already half-demolished. She stood at the balcony, and after a moment of hesitation, stepped onto the railing. A gasp inadvertently escaped my lips.. I prayed to God that she wouldn¡¯t make the wrong move. ¡®Isn¡¯t there a way to help her? Can¡¯t I help her somehow?¡¯ At that moment, a thought crossed my mind. I went straight toward my wife¡¯s dresser in the master bedroom and came back with her hand mirror. The moon was shining brightly. And this hand mirror¡­would be theirst hope. I used it to reflect the moonlight to let her know that I was there. The sudden ray of light shining on her seemed to give her pause. It seemed like she was in unit 704. Without hesitation, I directed the light toward the balcony of unit 705. Her eyes also followed the light. It wasn¡¯t too far. Getting to unit 703 was a bit of a stretch, but unit 705 was more than possible. The woman started moving toward unit 705, looking at the ground below, the unit¡¯s balcony, then the ground again. It was definitely too early to give up. I clenched my fists and urged her on silently. ¡®You can do it. You¡¯ll make it!¡¯ She took a deep breath and jumped toward the balcony. Thud. nk! ¡°Oh Jesus Christ!¡± I couldn¡¯t hold it in. It felt as if time had stopped. The scene in front of me wentpletely still, like a proid photo. Of all the things that could¡¯ve happened¡­ her ankle just had to get caught in the railing as she was making the jump. She lost her bnce and used both arms to stabilize herself. As she was iling, the baby that was in her arms¡­ I watched it fall. I could not believe what was unfolding in front of me. I couldn¡¯t stop trembling, as though I was suffering a seizure. Feeling light-headed, I took a deep breath, wondering how long I had been holding my breath. I started breathing heavily to make up for all the air I had missed. My heart was about to explode and I was tearing up. With bloodshot eyes, I looked at them again. The woman had copsed to the floor, her head peeking through the railing, staring down at the ground. She had gone as still and quiet as a tomb, as though mired in a swamp of despair and guilt. Before she even realized it, ¡®they¡¯ had made it out onto the balcony of unit 704 and were reaching out toward her, screaming and snarling. The noises drew her back to her senses and she looked ¡®them¡¯ straight in the eye. ¡°Ahhh!!!¡± No, she hadn¡¯te back to her senses. Instead, she let out a scream that I never imagined any human could produce.. It was a cry that defied description. It was a cry of damnation and hatred toward ¡®them¡¯. However, it was impossible for her to kill ¡®them¡¯. It seemed like she knew that as well. Without hesitation, she climbed back onto the railing. ¡°No, no!¡± And at that moment, I witnessed¡­ a person freefalling. St! The piercing sound of the impact echoed through the apartmentplex, and my mind went nk. My eyes fogged up, obscuring my view. My mind was telling me to look away, to stop looking. I wondered if this was the result of an adrenaline rush, or if it was my fear overtaking me. I felt my mind bing more and more hazy. I pressed my temples and took in deep breaths. ¡°Damn it¡­¡± I couldn¡¯t do anything to help. All I had done was sit herefortably, presenting options to the woman. And the option I had given her had only brought her despair. I wondered who had caused her death, me or ¡®them¡¯. I looked at my trembling hands nkly. I was nothing more than a useless, quivering person. I was nothing more than a weak and cowardly observer. All I could do was weep quietly. And through it all, I¡¯d had my mouth covered, just in case So-Yeon woke up. I was nothing more than a hypocrite. * * * It had been a while since Ist dreamed. I dreamed about the time I first met my wife. She was sitting alone in a cafe, looking outside. I sat at a table across from hers. I couldn¡¯t help but smile as I watched her. We locked eyes, and she began talking to me with a smile on her face. For some reason, I couldn¡¯t understand what she was saying. I leaned toward her and her words hit me. ¡°Wake up, you coward.¡± I woke up with a broken heart, gasping for air. A ray of sunlight was shining into the room, and I turned to see the clock. It was already past five in the afternoon. I let out a deep sigh and rubbed my face. I wondered when I had fallen asleep. I hoped that I hadn¡¯t fainted. But above all¡­ why did I have such a strange dream? Was it possible that my wife had died? Was my dead wife appearing in my dreams to curse me? I bit my lip and closed my eyes tightly. ¡°Daddy, I hear weird noises from outside.¡± I could see that the noises were making So-Yeon restless. She was fidgeting while making a face. Her eyes were full of fear. Grr¡­ That¡¯s when I came back to my senses. I could hear ¡®their¡¯ calls. I looked out the window again to check the situation, and I couldn¡¯t believe what I was seeing. I was in shock and I quickly shut the curtains down. ¡®They¡¯ were looking at us while calling out. ¡®Why, why?¡¯ ¡®Is this all a dream too?¡¯ I pped myself to see if it was. I could still hear ¡®their¡¯ calls, but now my cheek also stung. This was not a dream. Growing flustered, I stammered a little and asked So-Yeon, ¡°Honey, did you make a loud noise?¡± She shook her head. ¡°Then did you happen to throw something at the window¡­ or do anything?¡± She shook her head again. ¡°Then what in the world did you do to get their attention?¡± As I questioned her, my expression grew frightening, pushing her to the brink of tears. I scratched my head and let out a sigh. ¡®Let¡¯s calm down. It¡¯s not her fault. I¡¯m not thinking straight.¡¯ I got down to my knees and hugged So-Yeon, hoping she would know how sorry I felt. ¡°Daddy¡¯s sorry.¡± ¡°But I didn¡¯t do anything wrong!¡± ¡°Daddy knows¡­ Daddy just woke up and wasn¡¯t thinking straight. Daddy¡¯s sorry.¡± I pacified her and went back to the window. I cracked open the curtains to see what was going on. I noticed one of ¡®them¡¯ giving me a death stare. It was the woman who was missing a leg. It was the creature that was always waving its arms around while staring at the fifth floor balcony. As I fixed my eyes on it, I felt chills down my spine. It had to be her. The thing that made all of ¡®them¡¯ gather here¡­ it had to be her. ¡®But why? I mean, it saw me, but it never attacked us.¡¯ I started thinking, although my mind was not at its most rational. And right then, I remembered what I had done the night before. The hand mirror. It had probably given ¡®them¡¯ an inkling that there was a survivor here as well. It seemed like pure spection¡­ but it was the only possible reason I could think of. I grabbed a bag and quickly stuffed it with all the food I could fit in it, along with a nket and some clothes to change into. I wanted to put more inside, but my bag was already filled to the brim. As I was packing, I couldn¡¯t stop thinking about ¡®them¡¯. ¡®Can ¡®they¡¯ see as well?¡¯ Until now, I had thought that they only relied on their hearing and sense of smell to hunt. But the thing that had locked eyes with me¡­ there was no doubt that it was ring at me. It had done so in the past, and it had done so this time as well. So that meant that ¡®their¡¯ vision was very much working¡­ but the ones that had gone after the sparrow clearly hadn¡¯t been able to see. Could the virus have mutated, allowing some of them to keep their vision? Mutations seemed to exin the situation perfectly. But if so, all the information I had gotten from observing ¡®them¡¯ was useless now. 1. This is the main character''s own opinion. There is no evidence to suggest that it would lead to the child getting autism. ? Chapter 5 Chapter 5 I packed quickly and went to the bathroom to get a mop. Iid the mop down and struck the head with my right leg. Snap! I thought the mop would snap easily, but I ended up almost breaking my right leg. The pain made its way up and I bit my lips to keep from crying out. There was no way I could snap the mop with my feet. I tucked the head underneath the couch and pulled upward on the shaft of the mop. I almost flipped the couch. I had to keep calm, especially at that moment. I stood on the couch and pulled the shaft of the mop again, thinking that my weight would be enough to keep the couch stable. ¡°Darn it. Please¡­!¡± Drr! I could hear the bottom of the couch tearing apart. But, thankfully, the mop head was also falling apart. I yanked once more and got the head off. It wasn¡¯t much, but I had few other options in this situation. I had to attack from a distance. I would not be able to recover if ¡®they¡¯ bit or wed me. I had to take advantage of my reach, however limited it was. I also tucked a knife under my belt just in case. ¡°Let¡¯s go, sweetie.¡± ¡°Where? Are we going somewhere?¡± So-Yeon asked, looking at me with eyes full of fear. There was no time to lose. I had seen the fate of the woman who¡¯d been trapped in her unit, so finding a way out was my number one priority. If ¡®they¡¯ blocked the front door from the outside, that would spell the end for us. The two creatures who could see were staring at us. I thought of going over to the next unit through the balcony but quickly realized that it wouldn¡¯t be worth it. ¡®We have to get out of here right now¡­¡¯ Bang! At that moment, I heard a loud noise that sent chills down my spine. I held my breath and stared at the front door. So-Yeon hid behind my legs like a squirrel. Grr¡­ Bang! I was certain that the sound wasing from the front door. Something was banging on the door while making a throat-tearing noise. I knew exactly what that something was. Cold sweat trickled down my back. I couldn¡¯t think clearly, and my body stiffened up. ¡°Daddy¡­¡± So-Yeon¡¯s voice was quivering. She was holding onto my pants with all her might. I got myself together and took her to the master bedroom. There was no longer a way out. I had to lure ¡®them¡¯ to somewhere else. I put So-Yeon in the closet and whispered to her, ¡°Sweetie, no matter what happens, you cannote out until Daddyes back for you, okay?¡± ¡°Daddy, daddy¡­!¡± ¡°Sweetie, hold on to this bag. Drink the water and eat the cereal inside if you get hungry. Alright sweetie?¡± ¡°Daddy don¡¯t go!¡± ¡°Sweetheart, Daddy will be back in a little bit. Just hang in tight there.¡± ¡°I said don¡¯t go!¡± She wrapped herself around me, and the tears she had been holding in flowed out uncontrobly. I swallowed, then patted her small back. ¡°Don¡¯t worry darling, Daddy¡¯s right here.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t go, don¡¯t go!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry sweetie. Daddy¡¯s going to be in the living room.¡± ¡°Then why should So-Yeon stay here? I want to stay with you.¡± I didn¡¯t know what to say. I tickled her wrist and said, ¡°It¡¯s better for you to hide here, my sweetie baby.! We¡¯re going to y hide-and-seek okay?¡± ¡°I know this isn¡¯t hide-and-seek! I¡¯m not stupid!¡± ¡°It is hide-and-seek, you silly goose.¡± I smiled and gave her a noogie. She started crying as she rubbed her forehead. Even in a situation like this, her cuteness still made meugh. ¡°It¡¯s alright, Daddy¡¯s here. It¡¯s alright.¡± ¡°Oww!¡± I closed the door to the closet with So-Yeon crying inside. I could hear her pounding against the door. Her crying made me want to turn around and open the closet again. I knew that whatever would happen today could leave her traumatized. However, this was the best I could do. Once I got back to the living room, I dragged the couch to block the door to the master bedroom. I wasn¡¯t sure how long that worn-out thing wouldst, but it still gave me a sense of relief. I then dragged the dining table out of the kitchen and used it to block the front door. I filled in the gaps with chairs, boxes, and shoes, and whatever else I could find. Thud! Bang! m! ¡®They¡¯ mmed themselves against the door, trying to break in. ¡®Don¡¯t they feel any pain?¡¯ My bones would have broken if I mmed myself against the door like that, but they kept mming themselves against the door with increasing force. I had to fix my grip on the mop over and over again as I was sweating too much. ¡®When will they get through¡­? What will happen after they break through? Will I be torn to pieces? What will happen to So-Yeon? Will she die of starvation? Or will she be eaten as well?¡¯¡¯ I couldn¡¯t stop thinking about the worst-case scenario. At that moment, the dreamed-up image of my wife from the night before shed across my mind. The fact that she had called me a coward while beaming at me lingered in my mind. I knew I was a coward. I didn¡¯t care about the safety of others. I only cared about mine and So-Yeon¡¯s. If that was my w, if that made me a sinner¡­ I would live as one for the rest of my life. I would not hesitate to be evil itself,mitting more sins. That was how badly I wanted to survive. I had to survive until I met people I could trust So-Yeon with, or find shelter where the both of us would be safe. Even if the people at the shelter used me of being a murderer, I would dly suffer that. But right now¡­ I had to survive no matter what. Not for my own meaningless life, but for So-Yeon. * * * The constant banging and the clock ticking away stimted all my senses. My heart was racing but I was surprisingly calm. Perhaps it was because I knew that it might be the end for me. But I had no intention of giving ¡®them¡¯ what they wanted. ¡®Come and get me. I¡¯m ready. Try to get some if you can. I¡¯ll blow your heads off before you can get to me.¡¯ I held my nervous stance in front of the barricaded front door. Time passed without me noticing, and soon I saw my shadow appearing. The sun was setting behind me. ¡®Their¡¯ banging only got more forceful with the setting sun. They mmed their bodies against the door like crashing waves. I could tell that they were getting stronger. When the sun fully set, ¡®they¡¯ would probably take down the door in a heartbeat. Screech¡ª I could hear them wing at the iron door. A jolt traveled from my tailbone all the way up to my head, clearing my mind of all distractions. My jaw was tight with anxiety. The bolts that kept the door together were starting toe loose, and the hinges seemed misaligned. I knew that a few more blows would take the door down. ¡®What if a rescue teames in the nick of time?¡¯ Improbable thoughts began to enter my mind as the door was slowly worn down. Bang! I knew that any hope was pointless. Now that the door was down, I could see ¡®them¡¯. I stabbed the creature in the very front with the mop. It made its way through the creature¡¯s eye and hit its skull. I could feel the disgusting recoil slither along the shaft to my fingertips. I instantly felt nauseous. I made a face while puffing both of my cheeks out like a toad. Despite all this, I could not stop stabbing them. I braced the table with my left leg while drilling the mop through their heads. One, two, three¡­ I began to grow numb from all the stabbing I was doing. I was inplete chaos. My mind was having troubleprehending what was going on while my heart was beating so fast that I could hear it. Stab, next. Stab, next. Stab, next. My muscle memory and my survival instinct took over. I gave up on thinking and let my body handle what was going on. Soon enough, everything but the front door was blurred out. The sound of my breathing and my heartbeat assaulted my eardrums, growing ever louder as I continued to stab away at ¡®them¡¯. I felt as if everything was in slow motion, even my movements. ¡®I have to move faster, faster!!¡¯ My distorted mind started interfering with my body. I could hear ¡®their¡¯ wailing, and see their dead bodies piling up. The table started wobbling, ready to break at any moment. I knew I couldn¡¯t hold off the weight pressing against the table for much longer. ¡®I can¡¯t do this anymore.¡¯ My mind kept telling me to give up, but my body resisted, gripping the mop even more tightly. Each time I felt like giving up, I stabbed another creature, pulling the mop out of another¡¯s head every time I was tempted to take a rest. I no longer felt like myself. A strange feeling washed over me. My body moved like a set of gears, doing the same thing over and over again. ¡®Stab, pull, stab, pull¡­ I want to give up, I want to take a rest¡­¡¯ These thoughts ran through my mind like a broken record, but my will to survive kept me from letting myself give in.. ¡°Argh!¡± I lost my grip on the mop. It had gotten stuck in the head of the creature I hadst stabbed. I fell on my bottom trying to pull it out. I stood up right away and grabbed the mop again. My hand was shaking as if I was having a seizure. My body was drenched with fear and fatigue, but a ray of hope made me move again. ¡®So-Yeon¡­!¡¯ I clenched my jaw and pulled the mop out as hard as I could. I could not feel my arms anymore. I was exhausted, but ¡®they¡¯ were still going strong. ¡®I¡¯m going to die if I don¡¯t do something.¡¯ Tears rolled down my face as I confronted my weakness and exhaustion. ¡®Is this the end for me? Is this the furthest I can go?¡¯ My body was spent, and my life seemed meaningless. ¡®Will my life end like this? Just eat me alive and let So-Yeon survive. I¡¯m the only survivor here! Be on your way after finishing me.¡¯ I stared at their mouths with ssy eyes. Grrr!!! A cry I¡¯d never heard before came from behind me. It was abnormally loud and disconcerting. It sounded like a demonic cry that could suck my soul out. It reverberated through my eardrums, bringing my mind back to the present. ¡®What next? How much longer are ¡®they¡¯ going to torture me?¡¯¡¯ I drew my attention to the creatures at the front door. I no longer felt ¡®their¡¯ weight on my left foot. They weren''t pushing against the table anymore. An unidentifiable cry hade from afar, and ¡®they¡¯ had all stopped moving. In moments, the creatures crowding the doorway began to back off. I couldn¡¯t help butugh, but I knew it wasn¡¯t because I was relieved. ¡®They¡¯ had started running away. These things that enjoyed killing had run away. ¡®They¡¯ were like hyenas running away when they saw lions. ¡®Their¡¯ eyes were full of fear. These animals that hunted people had been scared off because of the cry. I managed to turn around and look at the balcony. I saw something through the curtains, and a jolt of anxiety ran through me. I felt something looking at me. In moments, I heard footsteps and saw its feet on the balcony. Its silhouette looked exactly like that of a human being. Ironically enough, even at this moment, a stray thought came unbidden to my mind. ¡®Did ¡®it¡¯¡­ jump all the way up here?¡¯ I was on the fifth floor. I wondered if ¡®it¡¯ had reached the fifth floor in a single leap. ¡®It¡¯ hadnded much too smoothly, and it did not seem like ¡®it¡¯ had mbered up from the lower balconies. ¡®That¡¯s some impressive skill¡­¡¯ It had already surpassed the capabilities of a human being. Even with the sun down, there was no way ¡®their¡¯ physical capabilities would allow them to do such a thing. I gripped the mop with my trembling hands, but I could not stop my teeth from chattering. My legs were shaking uncontrobly as well. I was already worn out, probably because my nerves were frayed beyond belief. I had felt a momentary sense of relief when ¡®they¡¯ had run away, but now, my energy was leaking out of me. It wasn¡¯t cold at all, but I couldn¡¯t stop my teeth from chattering. I was scared to death. The thing on the balcony let loose another cry. GRR!!! Up close, the noise was almost loud enough to rip apart my eardrums. It left my head spinning and my ears ringing. ¡°Jesus¡­!¡± I blinked and exhaled slowly. ¡®I bet it could even break through those double-zed windows.¡¯ Its cry sounded like a pig being ughtered, but it was sharper and louder. It was a morbid scream, conjuring up the image of a Dementor sucking out a human¡¯s soul. [1] The mop fell from my hands. My legs suddenly gave out and I fell to the ground. Plop¡ª ¡®It¡¯ started moving. 1. A Dementor is a fictional creature from the Harry Potter series that is capable of consuming a person¡¯s soul, leaving their victims in a vegetative state. ? Chapter 6 Chapter 6 ¡®It¡¯ made its way to the living room, stepping on the shattered ss. As ¡®it¡¯ came closer, my mouth fell open. The creature seemed to embody death itself.. If I had been surrounded by hyenas, I would have given myself a chance at survival, but I knew there was no way to survive this thing. Its body was pitch ck and shiny, as though covered in oil. It was skinny, but I could tell it wasn¡¯t weak. Rather, it seemed like it was packed with muscle. Most shocking of all was that it only had a mouth on its face. The fear of death enveloped me. Every part of me was begging me to run away. My mind kept telling me to get away, but my body didn¡¯t budge. It was the exact opposite from what had happened earlier. The creature came right up to my face and opened its mouth wide. ¡®Is it going to scream again?¡¯ Is it going to eat me?¡¯ I couldn¡¯t hear anymore. The creature was emitting a continuous, high-pitched whine. Twist, twist. Just as the creature was about to bite my neck, its attention was suddenly drawn toward the bedroom. I unconsciously followed its gaze. I couldn¡¯t quite hear what was going on but I could see that the door knob was moving irregrly. So-Yeon was trying toe out. ¡®So-Yeon, no!¡¯ My ears were nearly going deaf, so I couldn¡¯t tell if I¡¯d said her name out loud, but it was definitely her. She was trying toe out. I didn¡¯t even want to contemte what would happen if she came out at that moment. I got myself together and picked up the worn out mop. Wielding my makeshift weapon, I went straight for ¡®its¡¯ neck. Stab! I got ¡®it¡¯ right in the neck. Despite how dull the end of the mop was, it only made sense that it would pierce the creature¡¯s neck. However, despite putting my full strength behind the strike, the mop simply passed by. More urately, it bounced off the creature¡¯s neck. Its skin was clearly very thick, almost like ayer of armor. ¡®Don¡¯t I have any strength left in my arms? Or have I lost my strength altogether?¡¯ The creature¡¯s gaze flicked toward me, noticing that I was up to something. As soon as ¡®it¡¯ saw me with the mop, it grew enraged. ¡®It¡¯ opened its mouth again and whacked the mop out of my hands. I could feel my right arm being dislocated. ¡°Huh? What the¡­¡± My eyes popped out of my head when I saw my broken arm. ¡®This is horrifying. I¡¯m beyond scared.¡¯ However, even at that moment, I could only think of one thing. ¡®Please So-Yeon, stay inside! You cannote outside!¡¯ But I couldn¡¯t say those words out loud. My soul had already been crushed by this monster¡¯s presence, and I couldn¡¯t even breathe properly. In a sh, ¡®it¡¯ went straight for my belly. It all happened in an instant. My eyes couldn¡¯t keep up with its lightning-quick movements. I was so surprised that I couldn¡¯t even scream. All I saw was my insides being torn apart. ¡°ARGHHH!¡± The pain finally hit me and I let out a scream. It felt like I was being burned alive. I couldn¡¯t breathe. I saw my end approaching. ¡°ARGH! JESUS! ARGHHH!¡± I started screaming nonsense that even I couldn¡¯t understand. I did the best I could, striking its head and pushing it away from me. However, the more I struggled, the more drained I felt, until I had no more strength left in me. ¡®I¡­ I can¡¯t die.¡¯ Even as I was dying, I couldn¡¯t let go of the hope of surviving. I was screaming for dear life while covered in tears and snot. Even after seeing all my insides spill out, I couldn¡¯t give up on myself. It wasn¡¯t because I wanted to live. ¡®Who would take care of So-Yeon if I died? What kind of life would she have if I died?¡¯ I was worried that it would go for So-Yeon after finishing me. I couldn¡¯t stop imagining her going through the same thing I was going through. Blood was oozing out of me as I reached for my knife. I wasn¡¯t going to die alone. I couldn¡¯t dare leave a monster like this alive. With my final blow, I went for its head. Thud! I stabbed the knife into its skull with all my might. I knew I had it this time. This was my final blow. To my horror, it only produced a small scratch. All my blood was rushing to my head, and I felt my body getting colder. I felt my blood rushing through my throat, eventually spilling out of my mouth. I kept on repeating the same thing to myself, even as I was losing my mind: ¡°Don¡¯t¡­e¡­ out. No¡­¡± Thud. My heart was beating madly, and it felt as though it was going to beat for thest time. I could no longer see what was in front of me. I could tell that I had taken myst breath. I was slowly passing out. ¡®Why am I not breathing? How do you breathe again?¡¯ I couldn¡¯t breathe. I felt myself falling into an abyss. I could not resist the ground pulling me down. * * * I slowly opened my eyes and stared into the air above me. I wondered how much time had passed. I stared nkly at the ceiling of the living room. The warmth andughter around me seemed unreal. I turned toward the noise, my gaze drawn toward the kitchen. My wife and So-Yeon were there. For some reason, seeing them made me somewhat sad. I missed this whole atmosphere so much. My wife, my sweetheart, and this tranquility. I got up and walked toward the kitchen. Very quickly, I realized something was wrong. There was a ss wall in front of the table, blocking my way to them. ¡°Honey, honey!¡± I called with all my might, but neither of them seemed to notice. They were unaware of my presence, as if we were in two different worlds. I struck the wall as hard as I could, trying to draw their attention. My hand hurt like hell, but I could not stop banging. I wanted to break this wall down so that I could be next to my family. As I got more desperate, I started tearing up. ¡®Why, why, why¡­¡¯ I wasn¡¯t sure why I was this sad, but this inexplicable feeling was, without a doubt, pure sadness. At that moment, So-Yeon looked toward me. She seemed to sense my presence, and ran toward me with a big smile. However, my wife stopped her. As she did so, her face took on an expression that I had never seen before. Her eyes were full of hate. She red at me and whispered, ¡°How could you let yourself go like that? Your job was to keep her safe!¡± I felt as though my world was falling apart. ¡®Me, not doing my part? I risked my life to save her. Now you¡¯re telling me that I was being irresponsible? What did you do? What have you ever done in this damned world?¡¯ An iprehensible rage took over me, and I started screaming at the top of my lungs. ¡°GRR!¡± ¡®What¡­? What is this sound? Am I making this noise?¡¯ I rubbed my neck. I couldn''t feel anything, even though I was touching different parts of it. I looked at my stomach. ¡®Huh?¡¯ My eyes almost popped out. I could see my intestines spilling out from my stomach. ¡®What is going on? Should I try putting them back in? What good would that do?¡¯ My mind went nk. A wave of fear and confusion rushed over me. Then it hit me. ¡®Am I dead?¡¯ ¡°Daddy!¡± I heard So-Yeon¡¯s voice from afar. She was holding onto her mom¡¯s hand and calling me. I calmed down and reminded myself of my purpose. ¡®She needs me. My sweetie¡¯s looking for me!¡¯ I punched the wall even harder. ¡®Please break already! Jesus Christ!¡¯ ¡°Grr!¡± I threw myself at the wall, shattering the obstacle that was separating us. I grabbed her hand, but as I did so, my wife started fading away. ¡°Daddy!¡± So-Yeon ran up to me as if she had been waiting for the wall to break. I gave her a hug and calmed her down. ¡®It¡¯s alright sweetie. Daddy¡¯s right here.¡¯ For some reason, I couldn¡¯t say the words out loud. I hugged her for a while, thinking of how I wasn¡¯t going to let this happen again. ¡®I am not going to let go of her ever again. I will never leave her alone again.¡¯ Thud. My heart awakened my soul. * * * ¡°GRR!¡± I woke up howling. My spit sttered all over the ce. I continued to breathe heavily as I slowly got myself together. ¡®Am I dreaming? Or am I alive?¡¯ I looked around and noticed bloody bits of broken ss all over the floor. I patted down my body remembering what happenedst night. I could still picture the pitch-ck creature tearing out my stomach. I swallowed hard and looked down. To my surprise, nothing was wrong with my stomach. My clothes were torn, but that was it. I was just slightly paler than usual. ¡®I made it huh? I¡¯m a survivor!¡¯ I couldn¡¯t stop smiling. I got up and felt better than ever. I remembered being in so much pain before I fainted, but now I felt as good as new. As I basked in the joyous fact that I was alive, a familiar face shed through my mind. ¡®So-Yeon!¡¯ I couldn¡¯t believe I¡¯d forgotten about her. I rushed toward the bedroom. But then, I felt something squishy underneath me. I looked down immediately. I couldn¡¯t tell what it was, so I got on my knees to take a closer look. ¡®There¡¯s no doubt¡­ these are my intestines.¡¯ My mind went nk for a second, then I rubbed my stomach. I carefully prodded my stomach around and realized that my hand was being sucked in, as if it was empty. My stomach felt like a spongy rubber ball¡­ it was hollow. My skin felt like a b of frozen meat. I stared at my hand for a while and carefully ced it on my heart. ¡°...¡± I couldn¡¯t feel anything. ¡®Does this mean my heart isn¡¯t working? Wait¡­ then could this possibly mean¡­?¡¯¡¯ My mind came to an abrupt halt. I couldn¡¯t process all of this. ¡®How am I moving with a heart that isn¡¯t beating? How am I thinking, yet alone seeing anything?¡¯ I stood still, trying to understand what was happening. Twist, twist. I could hear a door knob turning somewhere. I looked toward the bedroom and saw the couch blocking the entrance. Chapter 7 Chapter 7 I dashed toward the bedroom and pushed away the couch that was blocking the door. ¡®So-Yeon, So-Yeon!¡¯ I could only think about her lovely face. I didn¡¯t care about my current circumstances. I had to know if she was okay. I moved the couch out of the way, and the bedroom door slowly opened. I found myself looking into So-Yeon¡¯s face, her expression full of fear. She was standing still as a rock, clearly shocked to see me. ¡®Sweetie¡­¡¯ Thankfully, she was alive. Feeling relieved, I stumbled towards her, feeling as though I might fall over at any second. However, she turned around and went straight back into the closest. I had no clue why she had gone back into hiding once more. I had no idea what was going on. ¡®Why is she running away? Why is she running away from me?¡¯ I stood in front of the closet and called her name in a soothing voice. ¡°Grr¡­ Grr.¡± I paused. ¡®Wait¡­ Is this my voice? I swear I said ¡®Daddy¡¯s right here¡¯.¡¯ All I could hear was a disturbing throat-rending sound. I couldn¡¯t open the closet door. Then, it hit me. I finally realized what I had be. I slowly walked toward the bathroom. I knew that my heart wasn¡¯t beating anymore¡­ but that didn¡¯t necessarily prove my suspicions correct, did it? I was scared. I couldn¡¯t stop thinking about the worst-case scenario. As I looked into the mirror, my body began to shake uncontrobly. It was getting harder to breathe. I couldn¡¯t see straight. An unexinable rage rose up within me. ¡°GRR!!¡± I let out a throat-rending scream and smashed the mirror. I could see my face through the broken ss. A pale, cold piece of meat, still and unmoving. My lips were blue. My eyes were bloodshot. I was in utter denial. I wished desperately that it was all a dream. But there was no way out. This was my reality now. I was just a monster that should¡¯ve died. * * * I wondered how many days had passed. It had been a couple of days since we¡¯d run out of food. We didn¡¯t even have water, and I needed to get some for So-Yeon. I went out onto the streets each day, heading to nearby supermarkets and convenience stores. I wasn¡¯t doing it for myself. It was for So-Yeon. She was still very much alive, and she needed food and water to survive. ¡°Grr!¡± As soon as I emerged with the food and water that I needed, one of ¡®them¡¯ started screaming at me. ¡°Grr!¡± I screamed right back at it. It turned away, mistaking me as one of ¡®them¡¯. Ever since I¡¯d started acting like one of ¡®them¡¯, ¡®they¡¯ didn¡¯t see me as prey. ¡®They¡¯ took me as an unusual one of ¡®them¡¯ that moved during the day. At first, I had been worried about heading outside. But it wasn¡¯t long before I realized that the other creatures had let their guard down when it came to my presence. I felt that I had been epted as one of ¡®them¡¯. ¡®I got some water and canned food¡­ I wonder if it will be okay to cook some ramen?¡¯ I went through my grocery cart again. Skrunch. The sudden sound of footsteps made me hunch over instinctively. ¡®Oh¡­¡¯ My body still retained its human instincts. Within seconds, the fear, despair, and nervousness I felt when confronted by ¡®them¡¯ threatened to overtake me. The fear coursed through me for a minute, but then I realized that I had nothing to be afraid of anymore. I was now a predator in this damned world. I just happened to be a mutant that had the ability to think despite being in this body. I had no reason to be afraid of any attackers, or anyone that made a sound. The survivors were the ones who should have been afraid of me. A sudden noise interrupted my train of thought. I turned toward the sound. It seemed to havee from a convenience store with broken windows. I walked over slowly and inspected the interior. I expected a creature to be inside, but instead, I saw a person¡¯s foot, quivering. This was probably a survivor who had heard me, and had quickly hidden in the staffroom. However, this individual¡¯s foot had been caught between the doors, leaving them wedged open, unable to close. The individual didn¡¯t move an inch, apparently sensing my presence. I saw that it was a woman¡¯s foot, and that she was wearing beige ts. I bit my lip and walked toward her. Sob¡­ I heard her sniffling as I approached the staffroom. She was terrified. I could tell that she knew that she couldn¡¯t make a sound, and was desperately trying to keep her tears in. I knew that I would terrify her if I appeared in front of her. I let out a sigh and gave her foot a nudge. She quickly pulled her foot inside, but the door did not move at all. It seemed like she didn¡¯t have enough courage to shut the door. I took a quick look around the store. All the previously-frozen food had gone bad because of the weather. I didn¡¯t see any water as well. As I stood there, I heard noisesing from the staffroom. ¡®Are there more survivors? She might not be the only one.¡¯ I wasn¡¯t sure how many survivors were in the staffroom, but I had no doubt that they were starving. I kneeled down and took out water, along with three cans of food and pushed them through the door. Deep down, I wanted to leave them with a warning: ¡®Don¡¯t end up getting bitten like me, please.¡¯ But I had no way ofmunicating with them usingnguage. I could only let out that horrendous cry. It was best that I keep my mouth shut. In a few moments, I saw a skinny hand reach out for the water and canned food. Relieved, I took a deep breath. ¡°Thank¡­ Thank you.¡± I heard them thank me after a little while. I smiled gently and quietly closed the staffroom door. Even though my heart wasn¡¯t beating, my mind was still very much alive. I was thinking and acting like a human being. I didn¡¯t need to hunt down on survivors, as this dead body of mine did not feel hunger. I had recently observed something. ¡®They¡¯ did not have to hunt humans because of hunger. I had seen ¡®them¡¯ at night, vomiting out the human flesh they had eaten during the day. ¡®They¡¯ had no digestive systems. Their digestive systems were either paralyzed or no longer working. ¡®They¡¯ took pleasure in hunting and ughter. The transformation process took about 30 minutes once an individual was bitten, unless their head had been bitten off. It didn¡¯t matter if you lost an arm or leg, or even both¡­ As long as your brain wasn¡¯t damaged, you would turn into one of ¡®them¡¯. I¡¯d figured this out when I came across a little boy, around the age of five, with no arms. The little child, so used to whining to his mom, had transformed into one of ¡®them¡¯. I let out a deep sigh and made my way back. The sun was starting to set. I couldn¡¯t stop thinking of how hungry So-Yeon would be. * * * I came back to the living room, which was swarming with flies. I brushed off some dirt, took a hard swallow, and knocked on the bedroom door. Knock, knock. I heard some footsteps from inside. So-Yeon slowly opened the door. Ever since my death, I never got to see her smile. She looked at me nkly. Her eyes showed no signs of hope. I couldn¡¯t bear to approach her. All I could do was leave the groceries in front of the door. I smiled as much as I could. ¡®Eat as much as you want sweetie.¡¯ ¡°Grr¡­¡± I could only make this irritating sound. She showed little reaction as she took the groceries inside. She must¡¯ve gotten used to my growling. She closed the door with no hesitation. I stood there nkly, looking at the closed door. ¡®I want to spend more time with her, I want to be next to her.¡¯ But I could no longer pat her head or feel her warmth. I scratched my neck and headed toward the couch. The couch was no longer a couch. Every part of it was torn. I recalled all the memories So-Yeon and I had made on this couch. I sat down and stared nkly into space. There was nothing but a pitch-ck television screen in front of me. I caught a reflection of myself, and couldn¡¯t help but smirk. As I looked at my reflection, I pictured myself in a movie. I was the main character of this tragic movie, and nobody knew when or how it would end. ¡°Grr¡­¡± I let out a cry. I cried because I could not believe that all this wasn''t a dream. I couldn¡¯t ept this as my reality. However, all I could do was emit this wordless and disturbing cry. Just what was this emotion? Did ite from my heart? ¡®But I¡¯m clearly dead, aren¡¯t I?¡¯ I wondered if this strange feeling was being driven by the memories I¡¯d made when I still had emotions. Despite everything, though, there was one thing that I knew was true. I knew my curious self was dead. Yes, the person inside me was dead. With this dead body of mine, I made my daily trip to the supermarket. If I had to express my feelings in one phrase¡­ I would have said that I felt like shit. I didn¡¯t know what I had to do to get rid of this feeling. I just hated myself. * * * As night fell, my mind grew clearer. I didn¡¯t have to sleep, nor did I feel any fatigue. ¡®How nice it would have been if I¡¯d been this way while still human.¡± I would¡¯ve made tons of money, and led a sessful life. Or I might have gone crazy. Who knew? I looked out across the silent city. I used to look outside to figure ¡®them¡¯ out, but now, I was looking for survivors. I only had one goal¡ªfinding survivors. It wasn¡¯t to save them or protect them from evil. I was no hero. I was desperate to find them for the sake of So-Yeon¡¯s future. I knew I could keep her alive if I kept on giving her food while she stayed in the bedroom. But I wasn¡¯t sure how much longer we would be able to do this. ¡®Until she died? Or till my head gets blown off?¡¯ I knew that all this would end eventually, and in order for her to grow up as a proper human being, she had to be with the right kind of survivors. Right now, I felt as though I was raising her as livestock, rather than keeping her alive. I was feeding her while keeping her inside a cage. I couldn¡¯t help but see her situation asplete and utter torture for her. I wished that she could live amongst people. I also knew that, if that were to happen, I might not be able to see her anymore. But if that was the only future for her, I would suffer the pain and let her go. I would keep her forever in my heart instead. The image of her beaming floated into my consciousness, and I smiled. She was looking at me, not with the eyes she had now, but with eyes that glittered, like the ripples on the surface of a calm and peacefulke. It was surely a beautiful moment, one I dearly missed. I wanted to put a smile on her face again. If there was a way to do so¡­ I would go through hell to make it possible. Chapter 8 Chapter 8 I had devised a rigorous criteria for choosing So-Yeon¡¯s caretaker. First, they had to be strong, someone who could protect their family, friends, andpanions in this damned world. They had to be both physically and mentally strong. Second, they had to have retained their humanity. This world was done. I could already tell that there would be ouws, evildoers who hadin low during the time when the rule ofw still held firm, and that they woulde storming out into the streets once things settled down. They were just as despicable as the creatures that now roamed the streets. There could be those who had gone insane, or those who had unleashed their true selves during this time of madness. It was possible that these individuals harbored all sorts of vile traits along with instincts they could keep under control. A sense of humanity and strength was a must. Lastly, she needed proper shelter. Her bedroom couldn¡¯t be her whole world. She needed a ce where she could learn that the world was a wider and much more beautiful ce where people came together. I wondered if there was a person that would meet these requirements, or even a ce that would meet myst requirement. I knew that the chances were slim. However, I wished that So-Yeon could live in such a ce. You could call me naive, but as her father, I only wished the best for her. I wanted to find that someone and some ce while I was still sane. ¡°Grr¡­¡± I let out a deep breath and looked outside. I couldn¡¯t even hear any chirping. The world was dead silent, as though devoid of living creatures. Out of nowhere, the woman I met earlier crossed my mind. I remembered her shedding tears as she thanked me. I wondered if she had some sense of humanity left in her. ¡®Is she¡­ alright?¡¯ I was surprised that I had the time to worry about others. I wondered if it was because I was dead. But I shook my head and collected my thoughts. ¡®No, she didn¡¯t have the strength or the confidence to keep on living. She¡¯ll probably die in that convenience store.¡¯ She could only meet my second requirement. Besides, she could¡¯ve said thank you out of habit. I needed someone with more sincerity. Even ignoring the third requirement, there was no way she would meet the first requirement. I quickly came to a conclusion. ¡®This sure isn¡¯t going to be easy.¡¯ No matter how hard I tried, the thought of leaving my baby girl to strangers left me feeling ufortable. I couldn¡¯t stop worrying about how she would adjust, or if she would be bullied by others already there. My thoughts kept going round and round, and I realized that I was getting nowhere. My mind felt all jumbled up, without being able toe to a conclusion. I stopped ruminating and looked up at the night sky. As I gazed into the unknown, I thought about my next move. ¡®I should look for a shelter. Amunity. I bet there would be someone with a clear mind amongst such a group. If they¡¯d been able to pioneer an effective way to survive, they would possess good judgment and situational awareness. If there were rules within themunity, they would also show that they have retained a sense of humanity. If there were people who were capable of fighting back, that would be Heaven on Earth.¡¯ I closed my eyes and began to think about possible ces. * * * It was way past sunrise, but I couldn¡¯t see the breaking dawn. The sky was gloomy and dismal. I got up from the balcony and walked cautiously to the living room. I dragged one end of the couch and blocked the bedroom door. I stacked chairs and desks on top to make a barricade. It probably wasn¡¯t enough to hold ¡®them¡¯ off but it was enough to make me relieved. I was going to look for shelters today. I knew it was better for me to move during the night, but I couldn¡¯t do so while also guaranteeing So-Yeon¡¯s safety. The survivors would probably conclude that I was unusual, since I was actively moving during the day, unlike ¡®the others¡¯ who couldn¡¯t. I checked the barricade onest time, then took a deep breath and walked outside. I could see sparrows flying lower than usual. I sensed that it would start raining either that night or the next morning. I looked at the hazy sky and reminded myself of today¡¯s destination. I had decided to go to the high school nearest to our ce. The school served as an emergency evacuation shelter. I walked in that direction with the hope that someone would be there. Although the school was the closest one to our ce, that didn¡¯t mean it was actually close by. It would take forty minutes of non-stop walking to get there. I kept moving while trying to remember where the school was. I passed through a narrow alleyway and followed the road down. I saw some of ¡®them¡¯ on my way. Sometimes, there were two or three of ¡®them¡¯ wobbling around unsteadily, but there were also several big groups of ¡®them¡¯ just looking around. The sun was restricting their movements. Instead of hunting down their prey, they were waiting for their prey toe to them. A stray thought entered my mind. ¡®Shouldn¡¯t I know something about ¡®them¡¯? Since I¡¯ve turned into one of ¡®them¡¯?¡¯ I wanted to test some theories out. ¡®They¡¯ were no longer a threat to me, as I no longer had to stay away from ¡®them¡¯ in order to survive. If I¡¯d been alive, I wouldn¡¯t have been able to go ahead with my experiments. I felt like I was a teenager again, observing ants. I bent down and picked up arge rock that I couldn¡¯t carry with one hand. I could tell that it would be as threatening as its weight suggested. I hurled it toward ¡®them¡¯ with all my might. Thud! It struck the ground with a dull sound, causing a slight tremor. The creatures quickly turned toward the sound. ¡®They¡¯ started observing and sniffing the area around the rock. Once ¡®they¡¯ realized that it wasn¡¯t a living creature, ¡®they¡¯ quickly lost interest. Unlike the regr creatures, the ones who possessed their sight observed the rock from afar. They were staring at it, confusion written all over their faces. They seemed to have trouble figuring out what the rock was, and also whether it was dead or alive. None of ¡®them¡¯ seemed to take notice of me. Thinking was non-existent for ¡®them¡¯. They weren¡¯t trying to figure out where the rock had been thrown from, or why it had been thrown. They just stared nkly at it. I walked toward them confidently. I stood right in front of the ones that had vision. ¡®They¡¯ looked me up and down, then sniffed me as they circled me. Apparently, the ones who could see also had a sense of smell. I wondered if ¡®they¡¯ went through different stages of life, just as humans went through babyhood, childhood, puberty, and adulthood. Perhaps they started out with only the ability to hear. After that, they developed their sense of smell along with their hearing. And the ones with sight, had everything. I didn¡¯t do anything but stare at one of them. In a few moments, ¡®it¡¯ sensed my attention and looked away. I knew something wasn¡¯t quite right. ¡®It¡¯ wasn¡¯t just looking away. ¡®It¡¯ was looking down as it stepped back, away from me. ¡®It lowered its eyes?¡¯ The creature¡¯s movements piqued my curiosity. The look on its face¡­ It was a face that a child would make when they were scolded by their parents. I walked toward ¡®it¡¯ to confirm my theory. Soon enough, ¡®it¡¯ shifted its gaze side to side and stepped backwards, acting as though it had seen something it shouldn¡¯t have. Then it looked up at me, its face full of fear. ¡®Oh, I see. Let¡¯s see what happens if I do this!¡¯ ¡°GRR!!¡± I screamed at it. I was curious how it would react. ¡°Grr!¡± It barked back. However, there was no threat behind its bark. It sounded like a noise that a cornered animal would make. ¡®Why is it feeling afraid?¡¯ I stared at ¡®it¡¯ nkly, trying to figure out the reason behind this. As the creature¡¯s fear grew, the other nearby creatures that had been swaying all stopped. ¡®They¡¯ nced at each other, and then at the one that was visibly terrified. ¡®These things¡­ They definitely feel afraid.¡¯ There was no way they could consider putting up a fight. I was slightly hesitant to move forward with myst experiment. I knew that the unexpected could happen if I went ahead with it. But then, I remembered something. ¡®What else is there to lose? I¡¯m pretty much dead anyways.¡¯ Besides, I had unbelievable healing powers. I had the ability to repair parts of my body that had been severely injured. ¡®Alright, let¡¯s give it a try.¡¯ The experiment was slightly extreme, but it would hardly be considered insane. I took a big breath and went after the weakest looking one. ¡®It¡¯ didn¡¯t have a sense of smell or the ability to see. ¡®It¡¯ was wearing a torn ck suit. ¡®It¡¯ was also missing an arm, and one of its legs was bent. I let out a deep breath and kicked it as hard as I could. This sudden, unexpected attack knocked ¡®it¡¯ to the ground. It stared up at me with its mouth wide open. Throb. ¡°GRR!¡± A sudden, sharp headache hit me, as though someone was hammering a thick nail through my skull. I instinctively started to tug at my hair. My face was all scrunched up, and I couldn¡¯t even open my eyes because of the dizziness. It felt as though my mind and soul were being swept away by a wave as tall as a house. ¡®I¡¯m the one who attacked. Why am I in pain? Is there some strange force that prevents them from attacking each other?¡¯ As soon as I opened my eyes, all these thoughts and questions flew out of my head. The creature was looking me straight in the eye. As I looked back at it, I realized that ¡®its¡¯ body had turned green. * * * I was a mutant. A special type of mutant, one with powers that even I couldn¡¯t quite exin. I had some extraordinary healing abilities, and had been able to heal my broken arm and my eviscerated stomach. I also had red eyes, unlike the others. That day, I discovered yet another special ability. Perhaps ¡®special ability¡¯ wasn¡¯t quite the term for it. It was a characteristic I possessed, being this sort of mutant. The green creature in front of me was staring at me, standing at attention. However, there was a catch. The creature wasn¡¯t actually green. My mind was perceiving ¡®it¡¯ as green. It didn¡¯t take me long toe to this conclusion. I figured that, even if the creature¡¯s skin had turned green, the suit ¡®it¡¯ was wearing should have remained ck. However, the suit ¡®it¡¯ wore also looked green to me. There was a difference in saturation, but it was still technically green. It meant my mind was perceiving the creature, which was standing at attention in front of me, as green. I took a deep breath and stretched. My head was still throbbing, but I couldn¡¯t afford to look weak in front of ¡®it¡¯¡¯. ¡®It¡¯ was standing absolutely still, and I sensed a disparity between the two of us. I wondered if ¡®it¡¯ was looking down on me. I looked ¡®it¡¯ straight in the eye and sent out a thought. ¡®The hell are you looking at?¡¯ ¡®It¡¯ turned away, lowering its eyes while keeping its back straight. Chapter 9 Chapter 9 I stared nkly at what ¡®it¡¯ was doing. Unlike the ones next to it, ¡®it¡¯ was standing still, its face lowered. ¡®This thing¡­ Why is getting all worked up? Why is it staring at the ground? Is it looking for something?¡¯ As if ¡®it¡¯ had read my mind, it suddenly turned toward me. Since ¡®it¡¯ seemed to be doing what I was telling it to do, I tried giving it somemands. ¡®Look left.¡¯ Crunch. It turned its neck so fast that I could hear it crack. ¡®Now look right.¡¯ Crunch! I couldn¡¯t close my mouth. ¡®Sit down and get up.¡¯ Shoosh, shoosh. ¡®Get down.¡¯ St. ¡®Start crawling.¡¯ Shoosh, shoosh. ¡®Get up.¡¯ It shot back up to attention. ¡®Turn around.¡¯ Twirl! ¡®It¡¯ stared nkly at me with dirt all over its clothes. It stood perfectly still, like a robot waiting for my nextmand. I covered my mouth in disbelief. ¡®Is this thing my puppet? My underling?¡¯ I didn¡¯t know how to take this in. I wondered why this was happening all of a sudden. ¡®Why is it following my orders? Why?¡¯ I thought about what I had done a few minutes ago. I had experienced an unexinable headache as soon as I had shoved it, but after that, I was able to control it. I bit my lip and looked at the other ones. They weren¡¯t even meeting my eyes. They were scared of me. I gave one of ¡®them¡¯ another shove to confirm that my train of thought wasn¡¯t total nonsense. Thud! The same headache struck me. The sharp pain shot through my head again, hurting more than it did earlier. I gritted my teeth and bore it as best as I could. Crunch! I could feel pieces of my teeth scattered across my tongue. I couldn''t believe that I was biting down hard enough for my teeth to break. I slowly turned toward the creatures, spitting out the residue. Now, two of them looked green. ¡®Is this headache part of the process that links me with ¡®them¡¯? Am I bing one with ¡®them¡¯, the same way ntsmunicate with each other?¡¯ I swallowed as I tried to figure out what was going on. My heart skipped a beat. Well, it technically didn¡¯t, since I was already dead. I could feel the headache throbbing at a constant tempo, like a heartbeat. I took a deep breath and looked at the remaining creatures. I couldn¡¯t help but smirk. ¡®Huh, now this is going to get interesting.¡¯ Without hesitation, I started shoving ¡®them¡¯ at random. The headaches that bombarded me almost drove me insane, but I couldn¡¯t stop. The more underlings I had, the more guards I would have. I still had much to learn about them, but it was possible that I could turn them into bodyguards for So-Yeon and me. I kept on shoving them, struggling through the joy and pain. ¡°Grr!!!¡± My pained, determined cry echoed through the quiet street. * * * I slowly opened my eyes. ¡®Did I faint?¡¯ The concept of fatigue was no longer applicable to me, but fainting was still possible. The immeasurable amount of pain had knocked me out. I stood up, pressing my fingers against my temples in the hopes of feeling better. Grr. At that moment, I heard voices behind me. I turned to see green creatures everywhere. They were all standing still, staring nkly at me. The world was already engulfed in darkness, and there wasn¡¯t one source of light to be seen. However, they were glowing as green as they could. I wasn¡¯t sure how to describe each of them. ¡®A giant firefly? Or a long glow-in-the-dark pen?¡¯ I wasn¡¯t sure how to describe them as a whole, but now, I had a group of subordinates following my orders. I bit my lip, and began to give them orders. ¡®Why aren¡¯t you bowing to your leader?¡¯ Grr. Almost instantly, the green creatures all bowed toward me. I did a head count and swallowed in astonishment. ¡®A total of 32. I have 32 underlings. Wait¡­ What should I do now?¡¯ Taking them back to the apartment right now would be a stupid decision. I did not fully understand their characteristics. I didn¡¯t know what would happen if they started acting out. I had no choice but to give them more orders. ¡®Everyone, look at me and listen up.¡¯ They raised their heads as one and stared nkly at me. ¡®Stay put. Don¡¯t attack human beings even if you sense any. Got that?¡¯ Grr. They replied together, full of spirit. ¡®At ease.¡¯ Grr¡­ The creatures shuffled toward a nearby wall and turned to face it, unmoving. With that out of the way, I headed out. I had to postpone my original n to look for the high school. All I could think of at that moment was So-Yeon being left alone. Fainting hadn¡¯t been part of my n. I couldn¡¯t shake the thought that perhaps she had stepped outside to look for me. My pace quickened, my nervousness growing with each step. I didn¡¯t know how long I¡¯d been out cold. It could have been a day, or even two. As soon as I got back to my living room, though, a wave of relief came over me, washing away all my anxiety. The barricade was still standing strong. I moved it to the side and knocked on the door carefully. Knock, knock. Knock, knock. I kept up my rhythmic knocking, and soon, I heard footsteps inside. They were small and light. Soon enough, the door creaked open and I saw So-Yeon. I bit my lower lip and stifled a cry. Thank goodness she was doing alright. She didn¡¯te out. She was waiting calmly inside the bedroom. I was relieved just to see her alive. My head sagged as I reached for the door handle. Then, I slowly closed the door. My legs lost their strength, and I copsed in front of the bedroom door. I covered my mouth and closed my eyes. ¡°Grr¡­ Grr¡­ Grr¡­¡± I couldn¡¯t help but cry. I bit my right hand with my half-broken teeth in an attempt to keep myself from sobbing. There was a creak. The door opened, and So-Yeon stuck her head out. I quickly closed my mouth and tried to close the door. However she had her hand between the door and the doorframe, as if she didn¡¯t want the door to be closed anymore. I couldn¡¯t force the door closed, for fear that her hand would get stuck. As I hesitated, she carefully stepped out and stared nkly at me. Then, she smiled and whispered to me in a soothing voice, ¡°Where¡­¡± ¡°Grr?¡± I couldn¡¯t understand her quiet whisper. As I titled my head in confusion, she spoke up again while fiddling with her fingers. ¡°Where¡­ Where did you go?¡± She was asking where I had been. Her voice struck me straight in my heart. There was no aversion or difort in her tone of voice. Rather, it was a signal that she was still very much relying on me. I couldn¡¯t believe what I was hearing. I¡¯d almost forgotten thest time I¡¯d heard her voice. I wanted to give her a big hug. As I reached out, I could see her stiffen. I quickly pulled my hand back, my head sagging again. It seemed like she still wanted to keep a distance. Noticing that I had gotten sulky, she went back to the bedroom to get something. I saw here back with something in her hands. She presented me with a drawing pad and crayons. ¡®Is she telling me to write out what I want to say since I can¡¯t speak?¡¯ I took the crayons and smiled. ¡®I can¡¯t believe I didn¡¯t think of this. Even if I can¡¯t speak, I can still write.¡¯ I took a crayon and opened the drawing pad. I wanted to write down the following: ¡®I was looking for a ce where my sweetie can stay and be safe. But something happened, which is why I¡¯mte.¡¯ Although the words in my mind were clear, my hand didn¡¯t budge. My head was telling me to write down what I was thinking, but my hand was just floating in mid-air, as if it didn¡¯t understand what my mind was saying. I was taken aback. I stared nkly at the drawing pad, not knowing what to do. It felt like dry sweat wasing out of me. This feeling¡­ It was like studying a foreignnguage. It felt as though I knew the words that I wanted to use to express my thoughts, but I just couldn¡¯t write them out. The ability to form the letters seemed just out of reach. I felt illiterate¡ªable to speak and think, but unable to write.[1] As time went on and I still didn¡¯t write anything out, So-Yeon started to get nervous. ¡®No, no, no!¡¯ I couldn¡¯t lose this chance of her opening up to me like this. I drew arge circle with my shaking hand. I drew it out of desperation, but it ended up being the small inspiration I needed. ¡®I could draw something instead! I don¡¯t need to write something down.¡¯ After all, hadn¡¯t humanmunication begun with drawings as well? I started drawing away. I drew a house with So-Yeon inside, making a sad face. She took a close look at the drawing and pointed to herself, asking if that was her. She seemed to understand that I had drawn her. I nodded violently and turned the page. I drew a big, clean house with So-Yeon ying together with other children. She tilted her head side to side as she tried to figure out my drawing, seeming confused. I concentrated as hard as I could on my right hand, wanting to get my message across. I desperately wanted to use letters to exin myself. I wrote a few letters out with my trembling hand. ¡°House¡­?¡± She hesitantly read out what I¡¯d written. ¡°A new ce to stay¡­?¡± ¡°Grr!¡± I identally let out my awful cry. I was so proud that So-Yeon had understood what I¡¯d been trying to say, and that I couldmunicate with her. I quickly covered my mouth in case my ¡®voice¡¯ made her afraid or ufortable. Thankfully, my worries were unfounded. She was smiling. I wanted to give her a round of apuse for being so clever. She¡¯d known what I was saying right away, despite my horrible drawings and poorly-scribbled letters. She kneeled down to take a closer look at my work and asked, ¡°Then, where will¡­ be staying?¡± I shook my head, and she bit her lip and avoided my gaze. I looked at her questioningly, patiently waiting for her to say the words she was hesitating to say. ¡®I don¡¯t want to rush her for an answer. I need to give her some time to think this through.¡¯ I satfortably and closed my eyes. I knew that my bloodshot eyes would be threatening to her. After a while, I heard a very quiet voice, almost softer than a whisper. ¡°You¡­¡± I wasn¡¯t able to hear what she was saying, so I looked at her and shook my head. She fiddled with her fingers, and her head sank. After a little while, she said in the same, quiet voice, ¡°... You¡¯re Daddy?¡± My mind went nk. I couldn¡¯t find a way to respond. My eyes were wide open, and I couldn¡¯t keep my mouth closed. It felt as though time had stopped, and there was nothing else in the world but me and her. ¡®You¡¯re Daddy. Daddy, Daddy, Daddy.¡¯ The word Daddy echoed through my head. She¡¯d called me Daddy. After all the distance she had put between us, and her fear of what I had turned into, she had started calling me Daddy again. There had been a slight hesitation in her voice, but she¡¯d still called me Daddy. I felt like I owned the world. It gave my life purpose again. It also became the reason I couldn¡¯t die. 1. The writer provides an example using Korean and romanized Korean to illustrate his point. This has been omitted in the final trantion. ? Chapter 10 Chapter 10 Sob. I let go of the crayon and quickly looked down. I bit my lower lip, trying to restrain myself from letting out another horrible screech. As I stopped drawing, So-Yeon took the crayon and started drawing something on top of my drawing. It was a man watching the other children y. The man had a smile, and his eyes were full of curiosity. I pointed to the man in the drawing and then back at myself, wondering if that¡¯s what she meant. She nodded without saying a word. Her nod conveyed more meaning than any words could. ¡®Is she acknowledging me as her dad? Even though I look like a monster¡­ she thinks I¡¯m her dad?¡¯ The man in the drawing, with his beaming smile. This was a sign of hope and eptance. She was willing to let me be with her. I couldn¡¯t keep my tears in anymore. I cried out loud. She didn¡¯t know what to do at first, but as she looked at me closely, she started tickling my wrist. This was what I used to do as a human being when I teased her. With that, my tears started pouring down. ¡®My baby, my sweetie, so smart and kind¡­¡¯ Words were not enough to express the feelings that welled up within me. At that moment¡­ I felt unbelievably alive. I hugged her tight. She didn¡¯t quite let her guard down, and I could sense her nervousness. However, she could feel me trembling, and she slowly opened herself to me. After a while, she cautiously began to pat me on my back. She knew the sadness I was going through and was sympathizing with me. I was ovee with amazement. She seemed to understand what to do perfectly. I found every way topliment her and show her my gratitude. But of course, I was only making howling noises. * * * I wondered how many nights of pent-up tears had flowed out of me. My shoulders sagged like a wet towel from all the crying. So-Yeon was in my arms. Hearing me crying, she¡¯d cried along with me. She was sleeping like an angel, exhausted from all the crying. Now, I could see her as much as I wanted. I couldn¡¯t help but smile. I closed my eyes, savoring the unforgettable moment of her calling me Daddy again. I couldn¡¯t help reminiscing about the first time she ever called me Daddy. She had toddled over and babbled ¡®Dada¡¯ to me. My smile lingered on my face. This happiness, which I had long dreamed of, was too sweet and dazzling. If this was a dream, it was one that I never wanted to end. Grr¡­ Grr¡­ I could hear ¡®them¡¯ through the broken ss panes of the balcony. It was the cry they made when looking for prey. I could tell that it wasing from afar. From the direction it wasing from, I assumed that there were other survivors in different apartments. As long as I was next to So-Yeon, ¡®they¡¯ would not attack us. Rather, ¡®they¡¯ couldn¡¯t because I was here. In the hierarchy of creatures, I stood above them. There was no chance that those things that were so fearful of me would ever approach this ce. I looked at So-Yeon, sleeping like a baby, ignoring whatever was happening outside. Right now¡­ all I wanted was to be next to So-Yeon. I wanted to feel her warmth with my own hands again. But their cries got closer and closer. I grimaced and picked her up. Iid So-Yeon down in the bedroom and put the barricade up again, just in case anything unforeseen urred. I walked to the balcony to survey the situation outside. ¡®Who¡¯s getting on ¡®their¡¯ nerves?¡¯ I wanted to get a glimpse of whoever was disturbing my moment of peace. I saw ¡®them¡¯ zigzagging across the street, hot on the heels of several people. There were two men and a woman. For some reason, the way they were dressed seemed familiar¡­ I blinked, then focused on the fleeing humans. I finally made out their features, which brought back memories that I had pushed aside. As my memories returned, I felt a jolt of surprise. It was the trio I¡¯d seen before¡ªthe father who couldn¡¯t protect his wife and baby, and the other two who had been with him. Thest time I¡¯d seen them, the two of them had been struggling to pin the father down. ¡®They made it through alive?¡¯ I grasped the balcony railing. I¡¯d assumed they were dead, but they were clearly still alive. That day, I¡¯d tried to save the woman and baby trapped in unit 704 using my hand mirror. Because of that haphazard n, I¡¯d ended up like this, and the mother and child were no longer in this world. It was a terrible memory that I could not get rid of. I never thought that the trio who had made the trip to the pharmacy would still be alive. It only made sense to think so because, back then, both the entrance of apartment 101 and the apartmentplex had been full of ¡®them¡¯. Back then, returning to the apartment building had seemed impossible. No, it had definitely been impossible. After the creatures had finished with unit 704, they¡¯d gone after the trio. They had to have been hunted, and it would have taken them all their might just to get away. I couldn¡¯t believe that they¡¯d made it through the darkness alive. They would have been running for dear life, holding on to thest shreds of hope. They had probably found a different apartmentplex to hide in, one that wasn¡¯t a living hell like this one was. ¡°Da-Hye!¡± I saw a woman lying on the ground, far behind the group. She was struggling to get up, and her shoes were nowhere to be seen. The man who was calling her name went back for her without hesitation. The man leading the group tightened his grip on his shovel and used it to strike the closest creature. After sunset, the physical abilities of these creatures surpassed that of human beings. It was almost impossible to outrun them, even if you tried with all your might. Coming to a stop just to help a woman on the ground was practically suicide. At that moment, I saw the woman¡¯s shoes lying on the ground behind her. Beige ts. I recognized them right away. They were the same ones that the trembling woman in the staffroom of the convenience store had been wearing. ¡°¡­Thank you.¡± I recalled the moment when she¡¯d thanked me. It was an ordinary way of expressing gratitude, but it had given me hope that there was still some semnce of humanity left in this damned world. This hope came in the form of these survivors from unit 704. I screamed at the top of my lungs, clutching the railing as hard as I could. ¡°Grr!!!¡± I might have been an idiot who made the same mistakes over and over again. But I still had the morals, logical thinking, habits, and instincts of a proper human being, just as I had when I¡¯d been alive. I let out a scream in the direction of the survivors without hesitation. My howl pierced through the darkness. Almost immediately, the creatures going after the trio stopped in their tracks and looked in my direction. I stared at them straight in the eye and sent out a simple thought. ¡®Get lost.¡¯ They exchanged looks, momentarily frozen. ¡®Did they hear my voice?¡¯ I couldn¡¯t tell. Unfortunately, the creatures couldn¡¯t look me straight in the eyes. My bloodshot eyes would let them know instantly just how threatening I could be. I wanted to rush to the aid of the trio right away, but I was worried that ¡®they¡¯ would bust into my ce while I was gone. I wanted to save the humans, but my number one priority was always and would always be So-Yeon. At that moment, a n crossed my mind. What if I called the ones I had instructed to stay put? Let¡¯s assume mymands work the same way that telepathy works. What¡¯s the range for telepathy?¡¯ Using my mind, I called out to them over and over again. I wondered if they received my call. They were about twenty minutes away by foot. I did not receive any signals back from them, so my only choice was to wait and see if they showed up like I¡¯dmanded them. ¡®Twenty minutes by foot. That¡¯s pretty long.¡¯¡¯ The wait seemed like an eternity, especially in a situation where every minute, every second was on the line. Grr¡­ Grr¡­ I could hear their cries cutting through the night. It came from the opposite side of the apartment, behind me. I quickly ran to the kitchen to look out the other side of our apartment. I could see a group of green fireflies hurrying over from afar. I was sure that they were at least twenty minutes away, at afortable walking pace.. However, ¡®they¡¯ arrived in 2 minutes. Since they did not feel fatigue, they had no concept of taking breaks. Instead, they focused solely on executing their orders, which exined why they¡¯de straightaway. They were running to where I was at full speed. Very quickly, they had all gathered at the ground floor of apartment 104, where I was. I took a deep breath and walked to the balcony. I stared at my underlings andmanded them to save the trio. Grr¡­? They looked at me questioningly, not understanding what I¡¯d just said. ¡®Don¡¯t they know what ¡®save¡¯ means?¡¯ I smacked my lips and rephrased mymand. ¡®Bring the three humans to me carefully. I don¡¯t want any of them getting hurt. Don¡¯t even think about biting them.¡¯ Grr! They started moving in unison. I pointed toward the trio¡¯s location, and the one who possessed the ability to see led the way, the others following quickly. The creatures chasing the trio would soon be confronted by my gang of underlings. It wasn¡¯t going to be a physical confrontation, but more of a verbal contest, each side trying to im the right to the territory. The survivors looked at me and then back at my gang of underlings as if their souls had been sucked out. Their expressions were full of confusion, and I could sense a million questions racing through their skulls. However, since they realized that there was no way out, they grouped together and looked on as the two groups of zombies snarled away. After a few moments, some of my underlings came to me, carrying the survivors. The survivors were screaming and tried their best to resist, but with the sun down, they posed no trouble to the creatures. Once the survivors had been brought to the ground floor, I told my underlings, ¡®Send the humans up and guard the entrance. Don¡¯t let anything get in.¡¯ Grr! ¡®They¡¯ tossed the trio to the ground and urged them up the stairs by gesturing with their heads. The survivors,pletely clueless as to what was going on, came up the stairs, while my underlings stood guard on the ground floor. In moments, they were in front of unit 504, where I was. They hesitated as they saw the front door, barely hanging on by its hinges. I watched them from a distance. They were standing in front of the door, hesitating to enter.. A cold, deep voice spoke up. ¡°What are you doing? Go in.¡± Soon after, I heard footsteps approaching as they moved closer to the living room. I gave them a sidelong nce, trying to assess what equipment they had. They all held different items. The man in the back wielded arge shovel, and the man in front of him had a knife. The woman behind was carrying an overstuffed backpack. She seemed to be the group¡¯s porter. As soon as they came into the living room, they put up their guard. I felt their presence, but didn¡¯t look at them or open my mouth. They¡¯d probably rush at me if they saw me. Besides, I couldn¡¯t speak. The man with the shovel posed a question. ¡°What the heck is going on? Are you human?¡± I remained silent. ¡°Speak up would you? How are you controlling the zombies?¡± They were colder than I¡¯d expected. The man had a threatening voice, and hadn¡¯t even bothered to thank me for saving their lives. However, I hadn¡¯t called them just to hear words of gratitude from them. I slowly turned toward them. Chapter 11 Chapter 11 The survivors'' faces contorted in a way that almost defied description. Bloodshot eyes with extremely pale skin¡ªI was no longer human. The fact that I looked different, that I was above ¡®them¡¯ in the food chain, probably crossed their mind. The woman and the man with the knife were struggling to close their mouths. They were clearly having a hard timeprehending what they were seeing. Their expressions and their actions betrayed their thoughts. Were they surprised? No. I could tell they were afraid. The man with the shovel adjusted his grip, getting ready to attack me any second. However, no one dared to make the first move. ¡®They¡¯re probably running through several possibilities in their minds.¡¯ They had no clue what would happen if they attacked a mutant that controlled other zombies. No fool woulde at me without any information about my powers or the abilities I possessed. I sighed and walked across the living room. All the survivors were trembling, ready to attack when the circumstances required it. My footsteps were calmer than those of the creatures outside. I walked like a human being. The man with the knife and the woman exchanged looks with the man with the shovel. The man with the shovel¡ªI remembered his face. He was the one who had been crying as he saw ¡®them¡¯ rush into apartment 101. His eyes were threatening, unlike the other two. He probably despised and cursed those who had turned into creatures like me. I understood what he was feeling, since I wasn¡¯t any different. I pushed aside the barricade blocking the bedroom door. Knock, knock, knock. After a moment, I heard footsteps, and So-Yeon stepped out. The survivors gasped as they saw here out. She was also surprised to see them. She was scared to see these other survivors. The man with the shovel pointed at me. ¡°What the fuck are you?¡± The survivors¡¯ agitation increased tenfold. Was the zombie keeping the child captive? Or domesticating it? I could see even more fear reflected in their eyes. After a moment, the man with the knife started talking. ¡°Hyung, I think the bedroom is where it stores its food.¡± The knowledge that there might be food inside made the survivors temporarily forget their fear. However, their sentiments quickly turned to anger. The man with the shovel gritted his teeth and spat, ¡°You want us to go into your food storage? You son of a bitch.¡± Without hesitation, he pointed his shovel toward me. I didn¡¯t me him. It was easy to assume the worst in such a situation. A zombie taking care of a person¡ªit was an unbelievable scenario. I sensed that he was on the verge of striking me with his weapon. ¡°No!¡± At that moment, So-Yeon screamed, holding onto my legs. The survivors flinched and stopped moving. They were dumbfounded by her reaction. I could feel her little hands trembling as they clutched at my thigh. ¡°Don¡¯t hit him, please¡­¡± she finally said, sobbing. They all froze in unison. Even the man with the shovel was taken aback. He stared nkly at me and So-Yeon, unable to process what was going on. I kneeled down in front of her and started talking. ¡°Grr¡­ Grr¡­¡± She gave me a confused look. I patted her on the back and pushed her toward the survivors. She caught onto what I was trying to say, and ran back to me in tears. I hugged her while biting my lips. ¡®I have to keep it in¡­ I promised myself that I would never cry when the time came¡­¡¯ My sobbing made its way through my broken teeth. My cry was threatening and even slightly abhorrent to the survivors. But So-Yeon knew. She knew the subtle difference in my cry. I hugged her tightly and tickled her wrist. She then cried even louder, shedding tears everywhere. I patted her on her back and nudged her toward the woman in the back. The woman picked her up, somewhat halfheartedly, and So-Yeon resisted with all her might. The woman eventually couldn¡¯t handle the struggle, and set her down. Pat, pat, pat. So-Yeon ran toward me. Despite my horrendous appearance, she still came running to me. I couldn¡¯t help but give her a hug. I soothed her as best as I could. ¡®It¡¯s alright, sweetie.¡¯ The survivors had no clue how to handle this absurd, ridiculous situation. I looked at them without saying a word. I locked eyes with the woman in the back. Even though my appearance was monstrous, my eyes were full of sadness. The woman looked at So-Yeon, then back at me. Finally, she said, ¡°I think that person¡­ is the child¡¯s father.¡± ¡°What?¡± The face of the man with the shovel contorted after hearing what the woman had said. However, he could offer no exnation for the bizarre situation confronting them. ¡°I think what Da-Hye said is right. I think that person is different from the other ones.¡± ¡°What? Different? You fucking idiot. How could you say that, knowing the fate of your sister-inw?¡± The man with the shovel, who was now all worked up, red at the younger man. The younger man remained silent, avoiding eye contact. ¡°Da-Hye, you can¡¯t be saying things like that either. Have you ever seen them act rationally?¡± ¡°...My apologies.¡± The woman was now caught up in the argument as well, but she continued to assert her original theory, instead of agreeing with the man. ¡°But¡­this is differentpared to what we¡¯ve been through today.¡± ¡°Different my ass!¡± The man said with a huff, shaking his head violently. As I watched them argue, I figured out that the man with the shovel was their leader. He had suffered a traumatic experience which cost him his sanity and left him with nothing but hatred toward ¡®them¡¯, and a desire for revenge. On the other hand, the younger one, along with his wife, had begun to ept reality. They were keeping a distance from me, but they were thinking logically, and were obviously considering the possibility that the zombie creatures could have multiple characteristics. They weren¡¯t neglecting alternative possibilities. I understood their situation more than anyone. I decided to wait until they came to a consensus. It felt like the only way I could brush off the sense of guilt I felt when it came to them, regarding what had happened in the past. The man with the shovel stared at me for a while, without saying a word. Eventually, he threw his shovel on the ground and spoke. ¡°So, now what? What do you want to do?¡± ¡°How about we try talking to him?¡± the woman responded weakly. The man immediately flew into a rage. ¡°What in the world are you saying? How the fuck are you going tomunicate with him when all he does is growl?¡± ¡°But I¡¯m sure he¡¯s someone who thinks rationally. Just look at what he¡¯s doing right now...¡± The man pointed at me and scoffed, ¡°What? A person? You think he¡¯s a person?¡± Of course, I wasn¡¯t a person anymore. I was something else, something not-quite-human. There were many words like zombie, ghoul¡­ but they didn¡¯t seem to fit me perfectly. As the man¡¯s voice grew louder, the younger one spoke up, smiling sheepishly. ¡°Could you keep it down? The window¡¯s broken¡­¡± ¡°For fuck¡¯s sake. So I¡¯m the only one crazy here, huh?¡± The man clicked his tongue and took a seat at the dining table. The situation was going south. The team was falling apart from the inside because of me and So-Yeon. Silence filled the living room, only interrupted now and then by the chirping of insects or the howling of the wind. However, the damage had been done, and it would take more than silence to undo it. The man with the knife finally couldn¡¯t bear it anymore, and broke the silence. ¡°So what do you want to do?¡± The older man didn¡¯t respond immediately. ¡°We know more than anyone the tragedy you¡¯ve been through,¡± the younger man continued. ¡°I know as well that you haven¡¯t had anyone to talk about it with. We also know that you¡¯ve been putting us first all this while.¡± The man in the chair didn¡¯t answer. Seeing his older brother sitting silently, his shoulders slumped, the younger man spoke again. ¡°Hyung, I¡¯m sorry. We¡¯ve been no help at all.¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s nothing like that.¡± ¡°No, I know Da-Hye and I have been a burden to you.¡± The younger brother¡¯s expression grew mncholy, and he subtly dropped his honorifics. The older brother gave his brother a sidelong nce and let out a sigh, returning his gaze to the dining table. He seemed to have a lot on his mind, but was having trouble choosing the right words to express them. However, the younger one kept at it. ¡°But Da-Hye and I survived. It wasn¡¯t the government or some God that saved us. No one was sane back then. But you were different.¡± The older brother remained still as a rock. ¡°Hyung, you rescued me and Da-Hye.¡± The older man sighed, covering his face with his hands, staring at nothing. I wondered what he was thinking. His soulless gaze was directed at the dining table. After a moment, he took a deep breath and started to speak. ¡°If I hadn¡¯t gone to the pharmacy that day¡­ Everyone would be here together.¡± ¡°There was nothing you could do about that. So-Jin had a burning fever.¡± ¡°She might¡¯ve gotten better if we had just waited. We should¡¯ve waited another day. Things might¡¯ve been different then.¡± ¡°She had been running a fever for three whole days. I would¡¯ve done the same.¡± Silence descended again. The man at the dinner table bit his lip, but said nothing. After a few moments, he let out a deep sigh, and his head sagged. ¡®Is he thinking about his dead wife? Or his baby?¡¯ The man did not speak a word after that. He covered his mouth with his right hand, his face full of emotion. I could see that his hand was trembling. His eyes were tearing up. Without warning, they burst forth. The tears he had been holding in all this time were forcing their way out. His younger brother went to his side and patted his shoulders. The world turning upside down all of a sudden had put a strain on their brotherly rtionship, turning it into a barren, parchedndscape, likend going through a drought. These tears were like blessed rain, watering the aridnd and restoring their brotherhood. ¡°It¡¯s not your fault.¡± ¡°No, it is. It¡¯s all my fault. I was fucking stupid back then¡­¡± ¡°Why do you keep saying that? It¡¯s not your fault.¡± The younger one patted his brother on the back, sadness written all over his face. The woman, who was witnessing this from the side, teared up as well. I looked at them without saying a word, patting So-Yeon on the head. After a while, the woman wiped away her tears and kneeled in front of me. She started talking to me. ¡°Well then, you¡­ Nevermind.¡± Without finishing her thought, she turned to So-Yeon instead. ¡°So sweetie, what¡¯s your name?¡± Chapter 12 Chapter 12 So-Yeon looked back and forth between myself and the woman before carefully opening up. ¡°Lee So-Yeon¡­¡± ¡°Lee So-Yeon? What a pretty name! How old are you sweetheart?¡± ¡°...Eight years old.¡± So-Yeon held onto my shirt as she answered. She was still keeping a distance from the strangers. The woman seemed to sense what she was feeling. She put on a smile and said, ¡°Nice to meet you sweetie. My name is Choi Da-Hye.¡± The woman rubbed her right hand on her pants and offered it out for a handshake. She wanted to shake So-Yeon¡¯s hand. So-Yeon looked at me, her eyes reflecting an unspoken question: ¡®Can I shake her hand?¡¯ I smiled, giving her a nod of approval. Only then did she let go of my hand and shake the woman¡¯s hand. She was now holding onto a living human¡¯s hand, full of warmth, unlike mine. I looked at Da-Hye and gave her a nod. It was the best way for me to express my gratitude. She looked at me, swallowed visibly, and looked at So-Yeon. ¡°Is he your father?¡± So-Yeon nodded. Sheughed and said, ¡°Hmm¡­ what a nice dad you have.¡± She still had some wariness and fear, but she was trying her best to maintain a smile for So-Yeon¡¯s sake. I knew she was a good person. Even in a situation like this, she interacted with children while doing her best to lighten the mood. Thanks to her, So-Yeon¡¯s anxiety also disappeared. As she opened up, Choi Da-Hye started asking questions that she had wanted to ask. So-Yeon answered as best as she could, given her knowledge. Choi Da-Hye asked her simple questions, for example, how long So-Yeon had been in the apartment unit, how I turned into a zombie, and how I was different from the other ones. I tried to draw and scribble out letters on the drawing pad to provide answers to the questions So-Yeon couldn¡¯t answer. However, Choi Da-Hye could not understand what I was trying to convey, so she called the man at the dining table. ¡°Hey, Jeong-Hyuk.¡± The man didn¡¯t say anything so Da-Hye called him again, sharply. ¡°Lee Jeong-Hyuk? Jeong-Hyuk oppa!¡± ¡°Yeah, what?¡± The man with the knife was named Lee Jeong-Hyuk. Now that his older brother had calmed down, he patted him on the back and got up. He walked over to Choi Da-Hye and looked closely at the drawings and letters I¡¯d put together. He shook his head, as though confused. I needed time to build my rapport with them. They were survivors in this hellish world that hadn¡¯t forsaken their morals. The third requirement I¡¯d set earlier¡­ That didn¡¯t matter anymore. I was nning to go to the high school again the next day, and if that didn¡¯t work out¡­ Wouldn¡¯t I be able to find some kind of direction along the way? I was going to find the third requirement by myself, so these survivors only had to satisfy my first two requirements. Lee Jeong-Hyuk sat next to me, rubbing his neck. With a sheepish grin, he whispered to me, ¡°My apologies for the aggressiveness my brother showed earlier on.¡± He was apologizing to a zombie. I didn¡¯t know how to take this in. I gazed at the man at the dining table. He was staring straight into the dark kitchen, unmoving. It seemed like he had gone through a lot. I knew how he felt. He had probably been engulfed by the fear of death when the zombies trapped them. Even in such a situation, he¡¯d put his life on the line to save Lee Jeong-Hyuk and Choi Da-Hye. The fact that they¡¯d been brought to me by zombies probably hadn¡¯t helped either. It made sense for them to bepletely on edge. However, despite the despair he surely felt because of what had happened to his family, he buried his pain deep down to protect those around him. I valued his efforts and mentality. The fact that they¡¯d survived to this day, proved that they had decent survival skills as well. They were different from me, since I hadn¡¯t been able tost even a day against ¡®them¡¯. Lee Jeong-Hyuk rubbed his chin while taking a close look at my drawing. ¡°So¡­ let¡¯s cut to the chase. You want us to protect your daughter? The words here seem to be ¡®daughter¡¯ and ¡®protect¡¯, am I right?¡± I nodded, growling at him with my throat-rending cry. The sound made him take a couple of steps back, but he continued, ¡°Hmm¡­ I really don¡¯t know what to do.¡± Talking with a dead person. This was impossible to do with a sane mind. At that moment, the man at the dining table croaked, ¡°How can we trust you? What if that child is merely a lure that leads us to guys like you?¡± The man was running through all possible scenarios. As a leader, he had to think about and take care of the things no one else did, could, or wanted to. I didn¡¯t take his words as an insult. I had to figure out how to gain his trust. I spied Choi Da-Hye¡¯s shoes in the entryway. They had all taken off their shoes when they had entered. I was amazed that they had taken them off, even with the world in the state it was in. If my intentions had been different, they would have had to run away barefoot. The thought of that made meugh reflexively. The man at the dining table narrowed his eyes, taking it as a sign of mockery. ¡°You¡¯d better exin everything.¡± In response, I walked to the entryway and picked up Choi Da-Hye¡¯s shoes. The survivors looked at me cluelessly, waiting for my next move. I took her ts and walked toward the living room. I ced it between the door and the door frame, showing them how the door wouldn¡¯t close. They looked at me with puzzled expressions. I went inside the bedroom and retrieved three cans of food and some water, to help them understand what I was trying to express. I rolled the food items in through the crack in the doorway. ¡°Hmm?¡± Suddenly, Choi Da-Hye¡¯s eyes flew wide open, as if she had reached an epiphany. She pointed at me hesitantly, then nudged Lee Jeong-Hyuk in the arm, her voice growing excited. ¡°Don¡¯t you remember, oppa? The time when someone gave us food while we were trapped in the convenience store?¡± ¡°Oh¡­¡± ¡°You don¡¯t remember?¡± ¡°So this was the¡­ person¡­ human¡­ zombie¡­? Anyway, it was him?¡± ¡°Yes! It was my shoes. The door didn¡¯t close because it had gotten caught!¡± Lee Jeong-Hyuk seemed to remember now. He looked at me, his eyes open wide. The man at the dining table was also scrutinizing me. Then, Da-Hye stood up. ¡°Oh goodness! It was you! The person who gave us food?¡± ¡°Grr¡­¡± I nodded violently. I wanted to let them know that I was different, that I didn¡¯t harm people, that I was a zombie that was on the side of the humans. The man sitting at the dining table came toward me. After a while, he looked me straight in the eyes and asked, ¡°If we take care of your child, what will you do for us?¡± Straight to the point. It felt rather threatening, but it was the wisest question, given the current situation. Negotiations were inevitable. That¡¯s how all deals were made. I picked up the drawing pad and crayons on the living room floor and took them to the kitchen. I opened the drawing pad and tried my best to exin myself using abination of pictures and letters. The man rubbed his chin for a while, then finally spoke. ¡°So¡­ if we take care of your child, you¡¯ll provide us with food?¡± ¡°Grr!¡± I nodded violently. He then flipped to the next page, wanting more confirmation about our deal. ¡°Then what does this mean? If your child gets hurt or dies¡­ We will lose our lives as well?¡± I nodded, a serious expression on my face. The man swallowed visibly. ¡®Is he nervous?¡¯ Despite this reaction, his expression remained impassive, showing no emotions. However, Jeong-Hyuk and Choi Da-Hye couldn¡¯t hide their nervousness. After a while, the man grinned and said, ¡°Isn¡¯t this an unfair deal? Then again, I suppose we don¡¯t have a choice.¡± I didn¡¯t react to his question. He was right. They had no choice. He rubbed his ears, then added, ¡°We¡¯ll ask for one more thing.¡± I tilted my head and raised an eyebrow, waiting to see what they were going to bring to the table. He took a close look at all of my drawings and pointed to one of them. ¡°This. Does this mean you¡¯re looking for shelter?¡± I didn¡¯t say anything. I could tell where this was going. ¡°You were probably looking for one for your daughter. Or somewhere with prey to hunt.¡± Everyone had let down their guard, but this man still had his up high. ¡®Lots of prey, huh.¡¯ His statements werepletely bogus, but it made sense for him to be cautious, since they had yet to experience death. He kept his piercing re on me, and continued, ¡°We want to go to a shelter too. I want you to guard us until we find one. This is my additional condition. When your daughter goes, we go too.¡± I heard his demands, but remained silent. I wasn¡¯t sure if I could trust them with So-Yeon. He was wary of everything and everyone, except for his own people. It was definitely something you needed to survive this cursed world, but having too little trust was just as bad as having too much. Distrusting everything meant istion from everything. He noticed myck of response, and folded his arms. ¡°If you don¡¯t agree to this, you can kill all of us here right now.¡± Lee Jung-Hyeok¡¯s eyes grew wide. ¡°You can¡¯t say that!¡± The man¡¯s gaze did not flicker towards his brother at all. It remained locked with mine. ¡®Is he bluffing? Or is he just being brazen?¡¯ There was a glint of certainty in his eyes. I could tell just by looking at them. He knew that I had no intention in killing them and knew for a fact that I needed them. If I considered them prey, I would¡¯ve finished them off much earlier. But So-Yeon was a game-changer. The man had probably taken some time to consider the situation, and figured out that striking a deal with me was the key to survival. However, striking a deal on my terms probably left him with a lot of questions. The possibility that they could end up being domesticated like So-Yeon probably bothered him. Also, if I did find shelter, he was probably concerned by the possibility that I could just send So-Yeon there by herself and devour everyone else. Even though I had emotions and a rational mind, to him, I was no different from the ones outside. To him, I was nothing more than a walking dead body. So he was going to use So-Yeon as his key to get them all to a shelter. He was smart. I had to be extra careful. You could say he was using his people as pieces in a negotiation, but this was probably for the best. As soon as I understood his intentions, I couldn¡¯t help butugh. He narrowed his eyes and said, ¡°You think I¡¯m joking?¡± Nope, it was the exact opposite. I liked his offer. If he ever found himself alone, he would turn into an absolute beast, with no mercy left in him. However, the tears he¡¯d shed, along with the chemistry he shared with hispanions¡­ He still had the capacity for emotion, and he had leadership traits. Lee Jeong-Hyuk and Choi Da-Hye were his buffers. As long as they were around, he would not go south. If So-Yeon and I could join them, they would be irreceable allies. Chapter 13 Chapter 13 I nodded and offered my hand for a handshake. The man stared at my hand, let out a dry cough, then shook it. ¡°It¡¯s Lee Jeong-Uk.¡± He said his name, but I couldn¡¯t say mine. Noting my silence, he smacked his lips and asked, ¡°What is your name?¡± I wrote it down on the drawing pad letter by letter. - Lee Hyun-Deok He smirked. ¡°Your name sure doesn¡¯t match your appearance right now.¡± He smiled nervously, then continued, ¡°All right then, it¡¯s a done deal.¡± I nodded at him with a grin, revealing my teeth. He looked at them with particr interest. ¡°What happened to your teeth?¡± He knew that he couldn¡¯t get an answer from me. I assumed he was speaking out of amusement. Lee Jeong-Hyuk and Choi Da-Hye came over to check on them as well. After observing them for a while, Da-Hye came up with the most idealistic scenario. ¡°Do you think he got rid of his own teeth so that he wouldn''t bite other people?¡± Clearly that hadn¡¯t been my intention, but her words were more than enough to touch the hearts of the survivors. Lee Jeong-Hyuk bit his lips, then carefully reached his hand out and patted me on the back. His face was a jumble of emotions. Is he trying to console me? Or is he showing me pity? His expression could not be described in words. Lee Jeong-Uk seemed at a loss for words as well, biting his lips, his face remaining impassive. Choi Da-Hye began to tear up, perhaps touched by what had just transpired. She paused for a moment, then said in a trembling voice, ¡°I understand how much you love your daughter, and what kind of person you are¡­¡± She wiped away her tears, leaving her sentence unfinished. She took a deep breath, then continued, ¡°Your daughter¡­ We¡¯ll take good care of her.¡± She lowered her head, then carefully reached out to hold my hand. I nodded to reassure her. Having observed us for a while, So-Yeon came running to me from the living room. She must have sensed that things had turned out well. I smiled and patted her. The survivors¡¯ expressions grew even more anguished. I had no reason to bring up the truth. This was a nice way to frame things. I was also touched by their actions, and I felt a desire to protect these emotional human beings. Lee Jeong-Hyuk and Choi Da-Hye copsed to the floor, sighing with relief. The state of my teeth had left them feeling more assured. We hade to an agreement. With that, the strange cohabitation of the living and the dead began. * * * The next day, we left unit 504 for unit 505. Now that our group had grown, we needed a living room, along with a room that had a proper window. Some of ¡®them¡¯ had the ability to smell. Individuals released odor, and with more people in the same ce, the smells would be stronger. This increased the probability of attracting ¡®their¡¯ attention. Thankfully, unit 505 was quiet. I could see traces of hastily-packed belongings, as if the people who had lived there previously had gone into refuge right as this whole mess had unfolded. I settled our group into the unit and prepared to head out. I wanted to procure some daily necessities for the group before sunset. I was nning to go to the high school after sunset. If there were survivors at the high school, they could be a threat to me. It was better for me to go there at night, when my physical capabilities were enhanced, so that I would be able to better defend myself if the need arose. I trusted the Lee Brothers and Choi Da-Hye to ensure So-Yeon¡¯s safety. I headed toward the front door with groceries bags in each hand. Lee Jeong-Uk followed me and asked, ¡°What should we be doing?¡± I stared at So-Yeon, not saying a word. I hadn¡¯t realized how close she and Choi Da-Hye had gotten. The two of them were having fun drawing together. We both looked at them, and Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s expression changed. He seemed to read my mind. I nodded without saying a word. Their responsibility was clear. It was to protect So-Yeon. They didn¡¯t need to do anything else, since I was going to take care of everything else. I stepped outside, groceries bags in hand. As I got to the first floor, I saw my 32 underlings blocking the entrance. ¡®Make way.¡¯ My underlings cleared a path, moving to both sides like the Parting of the Red Sea. After giving them the samemand as the day before, I stepped outside alone. I was beginning to trust these underlings, especially after the way they had delivered Lee Jeong-Uk and the others to me. The green underlings were no longer driven by their instinct to kill. They had be creatures that followed my everymand. They were extremely useful minions. As I walked, I noticed a familiar face. It was the woman with one leg. Upon closer inspection, I realized that her spine was broken. ¡®Is this why she couldn¡¯t move?¡¯ She used to stare at me every time I looked out the window. As I studied her, a thought ran through my mind. ¡®This woman¡­ I should kill her.¡¯ This creature, who could see, was a potential danger since we made the move from unit 504 to unit 505. She hadn¡¯t been a threat while So-Yeon had been sheltering within the master bedroom of unit 504, but now that the group had grown, and there was arge window in the living room of unit 505, it wouldn¡¯t be a surprise if this woman were to notice us. I could turn her into one of my underlings, but there was no reason to have an immobile underling. I found a big rock next to the flower bed. I stood in front of her, holding the rock. The woman stared at me with her soulless eyes. ¡®This woman¡­ What is she thinking? Does she know that she¡¯spletely done for? Or, more importantly, is she even capable of thinking?¡¯ I shut my eyes and struck her head as hard as I could. Crack! It sounded like a watermelon being split into half. An unpleasant vibration traveled up from the tips of my fingers all the way up my arms and through my whole body. A wave of nausea overcame me, and my upper body shook. I couldn¡¯t believe I was feeling nauseous despite myck of functioning organs. It wasn¡¯t easy, ending the life of something that resembled a human being, no matter if they were undead or alive. It was an unpleasant feeling, and made me want to forsake myself. I took a deep breath as I stretched my upper body. I carried the corpse over to the flower bed to check if she was gone for good. At that moment, I noticed something strange. I had gone straight for her skull and crushed her face t. Her disgusting blood was sttered all over the rock. However, she had a smile on her face. ¡®Is this rigor mortis? Or a hemifacial spasm?¡¯ However, her smile was too natural to be called a spasm. She had a natural smile as if she was thanking me for killing her. I got this strange feeling of blessing her, when in fact I killed her. ¡®Do they experience some kind of terminal lucidity? Are their brain cells activated right before they die? Do their lives sh before their eyes? Are they thankful for death, after killing all those humans while they were ¡®alive¡¯?¡¯ I couldn¡¯t be sure of anything. I spat on the floor, feeling more bothered. I headed toward the entrance to the apartmentplex, grocery bags in hand. As I got to the entrance, I caught sight of the man that was always waving his arms. He had a sense of smell. His body seemedrgely intact, and he looked like he was in great physical shape. Thinking that he might be useful, I pushed him as hard as I could. The headache hit me, and he turned green. Thanks to him, I lost another tooth. Since there were now gaps between my teeth, the ones still remaining started falling out with ease. He immediately stood up, looking me straight in the eye. ¡®You, follow me.¡¯ He growled at mymand. I took him to the supermarket nearest our apartmentplex. I had stockpiled a couple boxes of fresh water during myst visit. It was impossible for a single person to carry all of them. I remembered hearing that supermarkets had begun to stockpile fresh bottled water, as the number of people living alone and who preferred bottled water over water purifiers had increased. That news was extremely urate. I couldn¡¯t believe that there was this much water. It was enough tost one person for more than a year. I was nning to take back as much fresh water as I could, with the help of my underling. As a backup n, I could also convert a couple more underlings in front of the supermarket if we needed more hands. After walking for five minutes, I finally saw the supermarket. I was surprised to see fewer creatures than I anticipated. The previous time, there had been about ten of them, but now there were only three. ¡®Where¡¯d they all go? Are they out hunting?¡¯ I headed toward the supermarket entrance, a part of my mind still wondering what had happened to them. At that moment, I noticed something shoot past the window. ¡®Wait¡­ Something shot past?¡¯ No zombie could run during the day. The best they could do was brisk-walk. Also, none of them could move so actively, as they preferred to remain passive. This meant the chances of them being on a hunt was slim. As I continued my train of thought, I began to develop an uneasy feeling. I stopped instinctively, and slowly took a few steps back. There was something inside. It had discovered me, and was taking up an aggressive stance. ¡®Calm down. Don¡¯t panic.¡¯ Sensing imminent danger, I started acting like the creatures around me. I growled on purpose and looked around. Then, I limped away, dragging myself far away from the supermarket. There was no chance of me acting like a human being, at any rate. My bloodshot eyes and pale skin was enough to make me seem threatening to any survivors. I couldn¡¯t let them know that I was a mutant. A sane person would grow defensive when confronted by a mutant, or take other measures. I had to make them believe that I was an ordinary zombie, just like the ones they saw on the street. I limped away for a while. I was about fifty meters away from the supermarket when I came across a lone, abandoned building with shattered windows. I headed for the rooftop of this five-storey building. From there, I could see the entire supermarket. The supermarket was allid out on one floor, which made it easier for me to see what was happening there. I heard a cheerfulugh from the supermarket. I honed in on the unexpectedughter, and searched for the source of the sound. Eventually, my eyes were drawn to something squirming on the supermarket rooftop. There were two objects there that seemed to be stationary. However, they started to move rapidly, and I quickly realized that they were people. There were two people on the roof. * * * The two men mumbled to each other while they kept watch of their surroundings. I couldn¡¯t hear what they were saying because of the distance. One of them seemed to be carrying some sort of club. It looked like a baseball bat. I assumed they had taken it from an indoor batting cage, as it has a strap at the end. Not knowing what to do, I swallowed, then tracked their movements. I knew that there was more than enough food left inside the supermarket. ¡®Should I ask them to talk to Lee Jeong-Uk? No, that¡¯d be too risky, since I don¡¯t know what kind of people they are.¡¯ I wondered if they were nice people or crooks. I swallowed anxiously. I didn¡¯t know what to do. These strangers had taken over the supermarket, which I essentially considered So-Yeon¡¯s food storage. I could take care of them easily if I called in my underlings. But what if they are nice people, like Lee Jeong-Uk and his group? What if all they were doing was trying their best to make it through this cursed world? What if they were still ethical people, living in this godforsaken world where morals and selflessness didn¡¯t mean a thing? Was it right at all for me to decide what was right and wrong? I let out a sigh as I bit my nails, struggling with my uneasy feelings. I knew there was another supermarket thirty minutes away. ¡®Wouldn¡¯t it be beneficial for the both of us if I went there instead?¡¯ After considering it for a moment, I made the decision to go to the supermarket further away. ¡°You bastards! Oh god!¡± Just as I was about to leave, I heard a cry from the supermarket. My gaze reflexively fell on the supermarket, and I saw a woman being pulled by her hair. Chapter 14 Chapter 14 The woman kept on screaming. The men on the roof shook her head from side to side, letting out a guffaw. They pped her, then one of them covered her mouth and yelled, ¡°Shut the fuck up bitch! The zombies are going toe after us if you keep on screaming! Hahaha!¡± ¡°Nice one, big brother! Hahaha!¡± The woman tried her best to put up a fight. Such a shameless thing was happening in broad daylight on the roof of a supermarket. In a few moments, a boy emerged from a doorway that led onto the rooftop. ¡°Nuna!¡± The boy seemed to be the woman¡¯s younger brother. His face was thin and his arms were as thin as twigs, as if he hadn¡¯t had anything to eat for days. Immediately, a bald man came running after the boy and caught him in a chokehold. The two men stoppedughing, and one of them yelled at the bald man, ¡°You bastard! Didn¡¯t I tell you to keep an eye on him?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but this guy made a run for it all of the sudden.¡± ¡°Are you trying to fuck with me?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll fuck him up real good, big brother.¡± ¡°These pieces of fresh meat don¡¯t know the right way to do things.¡± As the manined, the bald man dragged the boy back downstairs. I almost lost my mind as I watched it all unfold in front of me. ¡®What did I just see?¡¯ My mind grew so muddled that it stopped altogether. I couldn¡¯tprehend the unbelievable situation that was happening in front of me. These wereplete strangers to me. It wasn¡¯t as if I¡¯d ever crossed paths with them before. However, an indescribable feeling of rage was boiling within me, making my hands shake. I could feel myself getting worked up. I was neither a god nor an extraordinary person who rescued others from their despair. Of course I wasn¡¯t Yama, I was just a mere zombie. [1] However, if these pigs did something even a zombie like me wouldn''t do, could they even be considered human? I gritted my remaining teeth and rushed to the first floor. I started shoving any zombies that came into view. ¡°GRR!¡± My head was about to split into two. My brain felt as if it was on the verge of exploding. My mind fell deeper and deeper into the abyss as I pushed more and more of ¡®them¡¯. ¡®This is more painful than I expected. I think I might die if I keep doing this.¡¯ However, the scene that I had just witnessed kepting back to me. The pain I felt was nothingpared to my anger. As a father who had a child, I couldn¡¯t ignore what had just happened. This feeling of guilt, and the need to be a hero, was driving me forward. I had to get back to my senses. I had to bring my already-dead body back to its senses. I pped myself in the face and pulled at my hair to drag myself out of the abyss that I had fallen into. I cried out at the top of my lungs as I slowly regained my rational mind. I struggled to keep a tenuous hold on my sanity as I tried to figure out how many creatures I had pushed. I counted the green creatures around me. There were twenty-eight of them. My eyes lit up with satisfaction. I ran my eye over these new underlings, noticing that their bodies were all intact, and they all had chins. I looked at my fresh recruits, pointed to the supermarket, and gave them my first order. ¡®It¡¯s time to eat.¡¯ They howled as one. * * * I lined up five underlings in front. I followed right behind them, while the rest were on my left and right, watching our surroundings. The reason I followed them was pretty straightforward. I couldn¡¯t just order them to eat every living creature in the supermarket. I had to sort out the victims and perpetrators for them. There was no way my underlings could do that, given their inability to think rationally. So I had to tell them which ones they should go after. As we approached the supermarket, the perpetrators didn¡¯t take any action. ¡®They probably forgot to post a guard.¡¯ I saw a rather clumsy barricade set up inside the supermarket entrance. I ordered the five in front to get rid of the barricade. Grr!!! My underlings screamed at the top of their lungs and mmed their bodies against the ss door leading into the supermarket. It shattered instantly, pieces of ss piercing the bodies of my underlings. But the shattered ss fragments weren¡¯t enough to stop my underlings. With the door down, my underlings went for the sloppy barricade. Sharp wooden stakes dug through their stomach, chest, and arms. These weren¡¯t small thorns. They punchedrge holes the size of fists through soft flesh. But this didn¡¯t matter to beings that were numb to pain. All they did was follow my orders. My underlings pushed against the barricade, driving forward with all the strength in their legs. In moments, the clumsy barricade began to bulge inwards, unable to withstand the pressure. Parts of it began to splinter and break, and it was difficult to tell that it used to be a barricade. The perpetrators came running, realizing the severity of the situation. There were three men. It seemed like they were threatening the survivors. I actually didn¡¯t care what they were up to. To me, they were nothing more than blobs of fat. They had tattoos across their chests, which screamed to me that they were gangsters. ¡°What the fucking shit!¡± A torrent of vulgarities erupted from their mouths, but I saw a rather familiar emotion in their eyes. They were not experiencing any ordinary feeling of fear. Their minds were yelling it, their hearts were pumping it out loud. Death. They were witnessing what death was. I sized them up with my bloodshot eyes and followed up with amand. ¡®You guys in the front, bite everything off except for their heads.¡¯¡¯ Grr! My underlings sprinted toward the three gangsters, screaming at the top of their lungs. The three gangsters wailed as if their lives were shing before their eyes. They were like herbivores being set upon by carnivores. My underlings greedily inhaled their tattooed bodies. I ordered these underlings to feast on the gangster trio and leave any other living things alone, then headed toward the rooftop with my other underlings. ¡®Hold it.¡¯ I stopped midway up the stairs. Something wasn¡¯t right. The gangsters on the rooftop had probably heard themotion downstairs. I should have been able to hear their footsteps. But the rooftop was suspiciously quiet. ¡®Are they getting ready to ambush me?¡¯ Since I couldn¡¯t take the risk, I ordered my underlings to go up first and bite the two men on top. My underlings cheerfully ran up the stairs, screeching in their throat-rending manner. Thud! As the one in front got closer to the top, a solid baseball bat swung out and smashed its head in. The stricken underling copsed on the spot. I quickly order my underlings to stop. This stairway was barely wide enough for a single person to make their way up. Even if we had a numerical advantage, we would suffer more casualties. All my underlings froze at my suddenmand. I stared at my underlings, ordering them to back away and follow me. As I slowly led my underlings downstairs, I heard the gangsters above begin to speak. ¡°Big brother, they¡¯re going back down!¡± ¡°What? Why would they do that?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure what¡¯s happening either.¡± Ordinary zombies would¡¯ve gone straight for the smell of fresh meat, fighting with each other to get through the narrow stairway. But I had no intention to give them what they wanted. On my way out, I ordered five of my underlings to stay at the bottom of the stairs. Then, I went out and assessed how high the roof was. It was pretty high for a one-storey building. Now I understood why the gangsters on top couldn¡¯t jump down. ¡®Do they think they have a chance if they fight on the rooftop?¡¯ They probably didn¡¯t think that we could scale the wall. I pointed to three of my underlings. ¡®Three of you, make a tform for us to stand on.¡¯ They growled at mymand, then moved to stand against the wall. However, they didn¡¯t do anything else. It was impossible to exin what a tform was to them, so I folded each one of my underlings one by one, making their backs parallel to the ground. ¡®None of you move. Stay still until we make it to the top.¡¯ The three underlings had their heads against the wall, their buttocks pointed outward. I stood on top of them, but realized that the rooftop was still out of reach. I got another underling into the same bent-over position on top of the three others. ¡®I think this is enough. Alright, the rest, head up!¡¯ As if they couldn¡¯t wait any longer, the remaining underlings made their way up mbering over the four stationary ones. In moments, I heard a string of vulgarities, along with something hard being hit by a baseball bat. At that moment, Imanded the five underlings at the bottom of the stairs to go up. Immediately, I heard growlse from the supermarket. I was thest one to mber over my ¡®staircase¡¯ underlings and onto the rooftop. The rooftop was clear when I got there. My underlings were chomping their way through the men. I saw a woman curled up in the corner of the rooftop, shaking violently. Some of my underlings looked at me questioningly, wondering if she was one of the things they could chomp on. I sighed and forbade them to do so. They stopped moving instantly, bing as still as well-sculpted stone figures. The ones that were feasting on the men were rolling their eyes. Grr¡­ My underlings were whining like dogs waiting for their owner¡¯smand to eat. ¡®Wait.¡¯ After telling them to wait indefinitely, I made my way down to look for a nket. Thankfully, there were nkets hung along the wall, big enough to cover a single person. I headed back to the rooftop with the cleanest-looking one in my hand. I tossed her the nket. She stared at me nkly with ssy eyes. I was not looking for gratitude. To her, as long as I was there with my underlings, I was no different from them. I told my underlings to take the corpses outside and wait. Under mymand, they moved in unison. Of course, I didn¡¯t forget to tell them the most important thing. ¡®Eat everything except for their heads. I have something in mind for them.¡¯ My underlings barked back, taking the gangster¡¯s bodies outside. The mission was a sess, but there was still some unfinished business. It was time to see who had really survived. 1. Yama, also known as K and Dharmaraja, is a Hindu god of death and justice. He is simr to Hades in ancient Greek religion and myth. ? Chapter 15 Chapter 15 I found the rest of the survivors in the break room behind the counter of the supermarket. There was a boy who looked like he had just entered elementary school, along with a woman in her thirties and an adolescent with a beat-up face. Fear and despair were written on their faces, but I couldn¡¯t say anything to them. ¡®Everything is alright now. I got all the bad guys. You cane on out now.¡¯ It was better for Lee Jeong-Uk to say such words instead of me. In their eyes, I was nothing more than a zombie. I closed the break room door and walked outside. As I made my way out of the supermarket, I saw five heads on the ground. The five heads blinked, their mouths opening and closing like goldfish. The gang members had been turned into the same things as us. No¡ªtheir plight was worse. They couldn¡¯t kill themselves even if they wanted to, as they didn¡¯t have any arms or legs. They were both dead and alive. Imanded my underlings to pull out all of their teeth while I watched. My underlings did so without hesitation. I ordered them to hang the five heads at the entrance to the supermarket. My underlings executed my order in unison. The finished masterpiece was shocking even to me. It was a clear warning to others that they should avoid this ce, as there were psychopaths inside. No living being wouldn¡¯t dare set foot in the supermarket after seeing such a disy. I looked at my remaining underlings. I had lost two¡ªI now had twenty-six, down from twenty-eight. It took two underlings to take care of five people. Among the twenty-six, two of them had each lost an arm. They must¡¯ve lost them while breaking through the barricade. This would not have happened if we had taken action during the night. It was such a pity to see them like this. Their bodies were mostly intact, and they were pretty useful. I told my underlings to stand guard. ¡®Don¡¯t let anyone get close. It doesn¡¯t matter if they¡¯re zombies or living creatures.¡¯ They growled in acknowledgment, and I headed back to my apartment. I was aware that none of this would have happened if we had attacked during the night. It was a pity for fresh recruits to be wasted like this. They could have done more if their bodies had remained intact. The zombies had had their fill of fresh meat. They growled at me again. I gave them a slight nod, then made my way back to my apartment. My original objective had been to obtain supplies from the supermarket, but I couldn¡¯t stop thinking of the survivors left in the break room. The boy who had confronted the gangsters to save his older sister was in critical condition. He needed to be treated right away. One of the boys was suffering from malnutrition, and the the other woman and the boy had suffered severe mental trauma. They were probably questioning why they were alive right now. I knew they had to be feeling betrayed by mankind. I couldn¡¯t imagine the hatred they harbored toward mankind. They deserved another chance to start anew. Perhaps I was thinking too much, but I was able to see the world we were living in through their eyes. I knew my body wasn¡¯t in the most ideal condition, but I wanted to give them some hope. I wanted to let them know that even someone like me was holding on, and hadn¡¯t yet given up hope. Sigh¡­ I didn¡¯t want to think about any of that anymore. All I wanted right then was to see So-Yeon. * * * When I returned empty-handed, Lee Jeong-Uk and hisrades greeted me with nervous looks. I could feel their wariness underneath their scared faces. ¡®Perhap they think that I broke our agreement because I didn¡¯t bring any food back.¡¯ I took out the drawing pad, hoping to relieve their anxiety. I wrote a few individual words to exin what had happened a few minutes ago. - Supermarket. Survivors. Lee Jeong-Uk read them, then arched his eyebrow and asked, ¡°There were survivors at the supermarket?¡± I nodded in agreement. Lee Jeong-Uk contemted this for a while, rubbing his chin. A momentter, his expression grew slightly bitter. ¡°So, you want to bring them here?¡± I nodded again in agreement. Lee Jeong-Uk thought about this for a while. He stared into my face for a long time, and eventually chuckled. ¡°With that face of yours?¡± ¡°¡­.¡± ¡°You want me to go with you, right?¡± I nodded. Lee Jeong-Uk had figured out what I wanted right away. Almost instantly, Lee Jeong-Hyuk called Lee Jeong-Uk to him, a worried expression on his face. ¡°Hyung.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I¡¯m against the idea of you going alone.¡± ¡°Why, cause you think he¡¯ll eat me or something?¡± The younger man didn¡¯t reply. Jeong-Uk must have hit the nail right on the head. Lee Jeong-Hyuk said nothing, but gave me a quick nce. Then Lee Jeong-Uk shrugged and continued on. ¡°One hour. If I don¡¯te back, follow your gut.¡± ¡°What? My gut?¡± ¡°That¡¯s up for you to decide.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk shooed his brother away, then made preparations to go out. I wondered if his urge stemmed from boredom, since all he did was sit around all day. Then again, perhaps he wanted to see the survivors for himself. Lee Jeong-Hyuk and Choi Da-Hye stared at Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s back, their eyes full of fear. Lee Jeong-Uk took out his knife, and told the two of them to not worry. He acted as though he was ready to stab me the moment I tried anything funny. We were still in the process of building up mutual trust. The chances of him stabbing me were slim to none, and since I wasn¡¯t lying, there was no need for him to carry a knife. An hour was more than enough, as the supermarket was only five minutes away. After he was done, Lee Jeong-Uk met my eyes and asked, ¡°So, we got ourselves a deal?¡± I nodded approvingly. * * * It wasn¡¯t easy bringing Lee Jeong-Uk with me for the five-minute journey to the supermarket. As soon as he stepped out, the zombies fixed their gazes on us. They must¡¯ve sensed his living flesh. I had no choice but to bring along six of my underlings that were guarding the entrance to the apartmentplex. I made them escort Lee Jeong-Uk. His face was a picture of dissatisfaction, but he followed along without saying a word. He knew that it was for his own benefit. Zombies gathered around after picking up Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s smell, but all of them swayed their heads side to side, as though sensing that something wasn¡¯t right. The strange mingling of the odors of dead and living flesh seemed to confuse them. They couldn¡¯t quiteprehend this weirdbination of smells. I red at them, and they backed away, smacking their lips. Thankfully, none of them attacked. As we got to the supermarket, I saw my newest recruits still guarding the entrance. I ordered them to make way, and to keep their hands off of Lee Jeong-Uk. Once we entered, I heard cryinging from the break room. Lee Jeong-Uk looked at me and swallowed. I gave him a slight push, encouraging him to enter. He stayed inside for more than thirty minutes. At first, I was worried that he was taking too long, but the cries that made it out of the room reassured me. He was soothing andforting the people inside. After a while, he finally stepped out, together with everyone who had been inside, his expression serene. He shed an awkward smile. ¡°Let¡¯s get going.¡± I nodded, givingmands to my underlings. * * * When we returned to our hideout, the survivors from the supermarket furnished us with a trove of information. They were originally from the Ttukseom area, but eventually made their way to Haengdang-dong to avoid the zombies. The people they met when they reached the city happened to be the gangsters that met their end earlier in the day. The gangsters held them captive under the pretense of protection, and they used the husband of the woman in her thirties and the boyfriend of the woman in her twenties as bait to take over the supermarket. Once the zombies started feasting on the husband and boyfriend, the gangsters sprung into action, smashing the zombies¡¯ heads and taking over the supermarket. There had been more than ten gangsters in the beginning, but after their fight with the zombies, only five remained. Most shocking of all, all of this had happened just the day before. Within a day, one woman had lost her husband while the other had lost her boyfriend, and they had almost surrendered their own lives as well. Sitting in the living room, I grew angry as I listened to the story, and a low growl escaped my throat. Lee Jeong-Uk motioned for me to keep calm, as my growl was scaring the others. I clenched my fist to control my anger. The survivors who had just joined us looked at me with raised eyebrows. Then, the woman in her twenties pointed at me and asked a question. ¡°That person, no that zombie¡­.¡± As the woman struggled to address me, Lee Jeong-Uk suddenly came up with a title for me. ¡°Call him the zombie leader.¡± ¡®What? The zombie leader? You know my name is Lee Hyun-Deok, right?¡¯ I wasn¡¯t sure if he was joking or not. As I red at Lee Jeong-Uk, he patted me on the back and shed a nervous smile. What a sick joke for him to make. The woman in front spoke up in a small voice. ¡°Thank you for helping us today.¡± I let out a sigh. There really wasn¡¯t anything for her to be thankful about. The world had just been turned upside down. The woman in her twenties offered me the nket she was holding onto. ¡°Thank you for this. I didn¡¯t want to return it without washing it¡­¡± She trailed off, her expression growing bitter. I wanted to say it was alright. However, since I couldn¡¯t talk, I had no choice but to take the nket she offered. I felt bad, hearing her apology. To be honest, the nket wasn¡¯t mine to begin with. Lee Jeong-Uk smirked,menting on my gesture. ¡°When¡¯d you give her a nket? What a gentleman.¡± I sighed and shook my head slowly. I didn¡¯t want to go along with his jokes. He then offered the survivors the option of staying with us. His expression was one I hadn¡¯t seen before. He seemed more joyous than usual. ¡°You¡¯re wee to stay with us.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± The eyes of the woman in her twenties grew wide, and she looked back and forth between Lee Jeong-Uk and me. Lee Jeong-Uk then asked me for my decision. ¡°Isn¡¯t this what you want as well? Right, Hyun-Deok?¡± I was momentarily at a loss for words. Lee Jeong-Uk had called me by my name. I guessed he was feeling sorry for calling me the ¡®zombie leader¡¯ earlier. I bit my lip, nodding in approval. The supermarket survivors were the kind of people So-Yeon needed to make it through in this world. People that knew how to offer gratitude, people who weren¡¯t morally bankrupt like the gangster from earlier on. After a moment, the woman in her thirties spoke up. ¡°I¡¯m really sorry, but do you happen to have anything to eat?¡± Her words were barely audible, and she seemed to be having difficulty making eye contact with the rest of us. She knew that she wasn¡¯t in the position to ask favors. Her arms were painfully thin, and her cheeks were sunken. All this, along with the dark circles around her eyes, spoke of her current condition. She probably hadn¡¯t eaten for a couple of days. She likely hadn¡¯t gotten sufficient sleep because she¡¯d had to stay alert, and all the moving around to survive had probably ruined her even more. At that moment, her gaze rested on the little boy, who couldn¡¯t even keep his eyes open. She wasn¡¯t asking for food for herself. She had taken the liberty to ask for food for him. Lee Jeong-Uk nodded, looking at Choi Da-Hye. She brought their bag over and took out some canned food and chocte bars for the survivors. The woman¡¯s eyes glittered as her gaze fell on the canned food, offering thanks to Choi Da-Hye as she hurriedly spooned the canned food into the boy¡¯s mouth. My heart ached as I saw her feed the boy. There was nothing actually wrong with this scene, yet I couldn¡¯t help but feel sad. I got up, a grocery bag in my hand. Lee Jeong-Uk followed me and asked, ¡°Is there anything you want me to do?¡± I pointed at everyone sitting in the living room, then finally at him. ¡®Take care of everyone.¡¯ He nodded at me as if he knew exactly what I was thinking. ¡°Daddy!¡± Tap, tap, tap. So-Yeon ran toward me. I gave her a pat on the head and picked her up, flying her around here and there. Her final destination was in Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s arms. Lee Jeong-Uk took So-Yeon and bid me farewell. I had to get food before sunset. I needed to get more food now, since there were more of us. I could have felt pressured, but I didn¡¯t. Instead, I felt less stress. We were all still strangers, but there was something different about this group. They all had each other¡¯s backs, and put others before themselves. These were people So-Yeon needed in her life to make it in this world. I had to go to the high school in the evening. The sun was about to set in an hour or two. I had to hurry. I stepped outside, holding onto the grocery bags. Chapter 16 Chapter 16 I returned to the supermarket with ten underlings. There was still a lot of fresh water, canned food, and ramen in the back. While I was getting essentials like portable burners and gas, I felt the need for several extra pairs of hands. I turned two more zombies into my underlings and sent them back to our shelter with both arms full of supplies. Everyone weed me with surprised looks when I got back. Well, they weed the food I brought. ¡°Ramen? Is this ramen?¡± eximed Choi Da-Hye, jumping up and down with excitement. Lee Jung-Hyuk went straight for the watermelon, knocking it to see if it was ripe. Lee Jung-Uk beamed at me, unable to hide his astonishment. But I wanted them to wash up before they ate. I waved at everyone to calm them down and wrote on the drawing pad. - Shower Choi Da-Hye shrieked as she read the word ¡®shower¡¯. She came right up to me and asked, ¡°What about water? Where are we going to get water?¡± I couldn¡¯t tell if she was asking me a question or threatening me. She couldn¡¯t hide her excitement. I saw her honesty as a good thing. Well, everyone in our group was honest. That¡¯s what I liked about our group. I much preferred people who were straight shooters, instead of those who pretended to be nice while talking about me behind my back. I told my underlings to leave the fresh water by the front door. They followed my orders, putting the bags full of bottled water on the floor. Some of them had water jugs on their shoulders. The amount of water that was being piled up left the others open-mouthed with astonishment. Even the survivors from the supermarket uttered in disbelief, ¡°We only had two bottles of fresh water for the past few days¡­¡± I knew that surviving on two bottles must have been tough. I couldn¡¯t even fathom their struggle. I took the drawing pad to Lee Jeong-Uk. I pointed at the word ¡®shower¡¯ and then at the food. I wanted them to take a shower before eating. Lee Jung-Uk nodded in agreement. Then he scratched his neck and hesitated awkwardly, as though struggling to say something. After several moments, he finally spoke. ¡°I hope I don¡¯t sound like a snob saying this right now¡­¡± ¡°Grr?¡± ¡°... But thanks for saving me, Jeong-Hyuk, and Da-Hye.¡± I didn¡¯t reply immediately. It sure took him a while to say that. However, I was mildly surprised, since I hadn¡¯t expected him to thank me at all. He pointed at the bottled water, trying to steer the conversation away. ¡°We¡¯ll conserve the water. Except for today. Deal?¡± I smirked and nodded in agreement. Tap, tap, tap. So-Yeon grabbed my hand and asked, ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to take a shower?¡± I didn¡¯t know what to say. I couldn¡¯t tell her that my dead body didn¡¯t need washing. As I stood there, my mouth working silently, Lee Jeong-Uk patted her and said, ¡°Your dad¡¯s going to be thest person to wash up.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°He said he¡¯ll wash up after taking care of a couple of things.¡± ¡°Really? Daddy said that?¡± ¡°Of course, sweetheart. I wish he would wash up because he stinks! Right?¡± ¡°Hehe, yes!¡± She nodded,ughing. To my surprise, she got along with Lee Jeong-Uk pretty well. In my mind, he was the most difficult one to get close to, but she followed him as if he was the friendly next-door neighbor, or that one uncle in every family that every child looked up to. I wondered if he had been treating her well while I¡¯d been gone. Perhaps he was only prickly toward me. Ever since we rescued the supermarket survivors, though, he¡¯d begun to open up to me as well. So-Yeon¡¯s mood seemed to have brightened, now that she was getting used to being around more people. She talked more. Sheughed more. It was a good change. ¡®So far so good. I¡¯m doing my best.¡¯ I smiled at her beaming face. Lee Jung-Uk broke the silence, snapping me out of my contemtion. ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to head out?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡®It¡¯s going to take more time to get closer to Lee Jeong-Uk.¡¯ * * * I took five underlings with me and went outside. The sun was still up. Beyond the reddish sky, I felt the summer breeze and the sound of bugs chirping. I was able to enjoy the nature around me, as the breeze and the chirping covered the sounds that the zombies made. My destination was a high school that was forty minutes away. I was going to check if there were any survivors there. Of course, the n to move So-Yeon there wasn¡¯t set in stone yet. I wasn¡¯t willing topromise on my second condition. I would only move the group once I felt, from their behavior, that they were safe to be around. The sky lost its reddish hue as I headed to the high school, sinking into inky darkness. At night, without the sun, the streets were eerier than I expected. I passed cars and buildings with shattered windows, and the streets were littered with trash and corpses. Zombies were running around, and some twisted their necks violently to sniff the air. The sunless streets were a living hell. I couldn¡¯t help but be impressed by Lee Jung-Uk¡¯s group and the survivors from the supermarket for staying alive in a world like this for days. With the electricity cut off, the city was pitch ck. I couldn¡¯t see anything. Even when my eyes grew used to the dark, I was constantly surprised when zombies came out of nowhere. It was difficult to spot them with the naked eye, while it was impossible to remain unnoticed by them, given their acute sense of smell and sight. I varied my route and snuck through small alleyways, trying to avoid the zombies as much as possible. I did so because I knew I might have to bring everyone along with meter. I was looking for a route where we would encounter the least number of them. I could turn them into my underlings, but I considered that the worst-case scenario. I didn¡¯t want to go through the acute headaches again, or suffer more broken teeth. It took more than just sheer grit to get through such pain. I wasn¡¯t nning to increase the number of underlings unless it was absolutely necessary. I counted the current ones I had with my fingers. To my surprise, I had exactly sixty underlings. ¡®A leader of sixty zombies.¡¯ I felt a sense of power. I kept on walking through the darkness, my mind preupied with all manner of thoughts. Before I knew it, I saw the high school in front of me. A wall, taller than the average person, surrounded the school. There were two ways to get in, the front gate or the back gate. Both were steel sliding gates. I approached the front gate slowly, following the wall. As I got closer, I heard voices from behind the steel gate. ¡°Wait. So what happened to Mr. Kim?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. I heard he confronted the principal or something.¡± ¡°Man, I can¡¯t tell who¡¯s telling the truth.¡± ¡°Well, both sides are telling the truth, that¡¯s why. But you shouldn¡¯t just move around unless you want to die like a dog.¡± ¡°But there¡¯s no guarantee that a rescue team is going toe. It¡¯s already been weeks. And what are we going to do about the food?¡± I stooped down instinctively, a jolt of surprise running through me. Even though they were whispering, I knew that this was a conversation between living people. I had harbored the slightest hope, but I couldn¡¯t believe there were actually survivors. From what they¡¯d said, it was clear that there were more survivors. I had to know what the situation was inside. I lined up my underlings against the wall behind me. Imanded them to bend over, the same way I¡¯d ordered the others this morning, to form a tform for me to stand on. I mbered up onto their backs so that I could see the entire school. There were a total of five floors, but it seemed like that the first floor was the only one being upied. A couple of ssrooms on the first floor had light shining out of them. The lights flickered through the curtains the way candlelight would. There weren¡¯t any high-rise buildings nearby where one could observe the entire school. Thanks to this, it seemed like the zombies that had developed their sight couldn¡¯t see the lightsing out from the first floor. ¡®How are the people on guard duty protecting themselves from the zombies?¡¯ After all, the zombies would attack once they smelled living flesh. I rested my chin on the top of the wall as I observed the lookouts. I looked more closely at them, and noticed that they had smeared zombie blood all over themselves. I couldn¡¯t believe they would do something that disgusting. I supposed there wasn¡¯t anything one wouldn¡¯t do in order to survive. Now that I had confirmed the presence of survivors, I had to take a look inside. I led my underlings to the rear of the school and arranged them in the same manner. After climbing over them, Inded on the other side of the wall without making a sound. I thought mynding would make a noise, but surprisingly enough, my body was light as a feather. Now that the sun was down, my physical capabilities far surpassed what I could do when the sun was up. I immediately fashioned an escape route just in case I got caught by the people in the school. I lined up some desks and chairs along the wall. They seemed to be extra items that weren¡¯t used in the barricade that the survivors had created. The makeshift tform wasn¡¯t that sturdy, but it was more than enough for me to make the jump over the wall. After preparing my means of escape, I spied a back door far away that led into the building. I made my way over, silent as a cockroach. However, it was shut tight, locked and chained. I hastily searched for an open door. However, all the doors, including those in the back and to the left and right, were locked. I knew that it would be no trouble to break in, since they were ss doors. If I did so, though, all of my sneaking around would have been for naught. I came to the conclusion that there was no other way than to go straight in through the main gate. At that moment, I directed my gaze toward the second-floor window. The window seemed broken. ¡®Bingo. Let¡¯s enter through there. I guess the saying ¡®if there is a will there''s a way¡¯ is really true. All right, let''s give this a try.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t the ideal time to test my physical capabilities, but I had no other choice. I jumped as high as I could, concentrating all my strength into my legs. I felt my thighs expand as my calvespressed. I leaped. I barely got my hands onto the windowsill. I couldn¡¯t believe what I was capable of. ¡®Wait, I can jump this high? I wonder how high my vertical leap is.¡¯ It looked like it was well over a meter. I got chills knowing what I was capable of. It felt as though I could momentarily defy gravity, a feeling I¡¯d never experienced before. I had now gained confidence in my physical abilities, something I¡¯d never had before. I vaulted through the window and stooped low. I saw a barricade blocking the stairway to the first floor. Given the way it had been set up, I could see that the survivors here had underestimated what the zombies were capable of. As I crouched there, I heard footstepsing from the first-floor hallway. Iid low, focusing on the sound of the footsteps. Chapter 17 Chapter 17 The footsteps grew closer, and I began to make out whispers. They sounded like women. ¡°Ms. Han, are we done with night shifts?¡± The other woman sighed. ¡°We probably can¡¯t do night shifts anymore. We¡¯ve run out of ¡®their¡¯ blood to smear on ourselves.¡± ¡°What happened to the people that were looking for ¡®their¡¯ dead bodies and food?¡± ¡°The search team? I mean, who would want to volunteer when half of the team doesn''t make it back every time? We¡¯re all going to die at this rate.¡± Things weren¡¯t going in their favor. I wondered how many hadn¡¯t made it alive for her to say something like that. I knew that it wasn¡¯t easy for someone to risk their own life, but if they had people they wanted to protect, they would have no other choice. I continued to eavesdrop as their voices grew more distant. ¡°Ms. Han, how many men are left?¡± ¡°I¡¯d like to know that as well. News about the search team changes all the time, you know.¡± Another sigh. ¡°Things are bing stranger by the day.¡± ¡°What can be done about it? It¡¯s probably because everyone had different ideas about how to run things.¡± The conversation about the remaining number of men had automatically moved to a discussion about the search team. That meant that the search team was only made up of men. It seemed like this group of survivors had distributed their responsibilities rather well. In this hellish world, there was no doubt that physical strength was prized, and it was a given that men would have higher chances of survival than women. It seemed like the men went outside to forage while the women stayed behind to protect the school. However, I couldn¡¯t help wondering what she meant when she said they had different ideas about how to run things. Their footsteps grew further and further away, leaving me with unanswered questions. I took this opportunity to get beyond the barricade that was blocking the first-floor hallway and reach the ssrooms with the flickering lights. Two of the ssrooms had lit candles inside them. Most of the windows were broken, and the curtains were either torn up or full of dust. I peered into the two ssrooms and counted about thirty survivors. Half of them were elderly, and the rest ranged from children to adolescents in school uniforms. Seeing this gave me a glimmer of hope. The survivors here were taking care of children and the elderly. It seemed that they hadn¡¯t forsaken their humanity yet. Armed with this knowledge, I prepared to head back. At that moment, I saw a flickering light at the end of the hallway. ¡®Is that the principal¡¯s office? Or the night-duty room?¡¯ I headed toward it to figure out what it was. I assumed from the faint light emanating from the room that there was someone there, and I had to find out what they were up to. As I got closer, I heard voices of several people inside. ¡°The female teachers will have to join the search team as well.¡± ¡°Did I say anything about that? I know what you¡¯re saying is right. But what I want to know is, who¡¯s going to be on guard duty if the women help the search team?¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that easy? We can ask the ones left here to do that.¡± ¡°Who? The children? Or the elderly? What do you think they¡¯ll be capable of?¡± ¡°To make it through, everyone has to work together.¡± Both sides had a valid point, but the principal and the mysterious woman continued to argue the matter. ¡®Why, though?¡¯ This didn¡¯t seem like an issue worth getting all worked up for. The woman said in an angry voice, ¡°You¡¯re all talk. What exactly have you done here?¡± ¡°What did you just say?¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t you a man? Why aren¡¯t you part of the search team? You¡¯re always passing the buck to the younger men. Don¡¯t act so clueless!¡± ¡°Passing the buck? Here now Ms. Park, you think I¡¯m doing nothing?¡± Their voices grew louder. I felt the resentment and anger they had toward each other. However, amon undercurrent ran beneath their voices. Fear. The fear of whatever was beyond the wall, the fear that they would run out of food, the fear of people dying, and the fear that there was no rescue teaming. All these fears had taken over their emotions, when, in reality, they should have been working together to make it through. After a pause, the woman¡¯s voice came again, full of rage. ¡°Yeah, what do you do here, anyway? I bet no one can tell. It¡¯s funny, because you were the one who was against the female teachers joining the search team in the beginning. Now, though, you want us to step up after seeing the male teachers die? Who in their right mind would do so?¡± ¡°Then are you saying the women teachers won¡¯t do anything because they have to perform guard duty?¡± ¡°I¡¯m saying that your system was wed from the start! Everyone has lost hope, especially since we¡¯ve lost all connection to the outside world. You should be the one to be part of the search team. You have to be a part of it, to win back the trust of the others! That¡¯s what all the male teachers have been saying!¡± There was a long silence. The principal did not reply. All this eavesdropping had revealed something to me. It wasn¡¯t just ack of leadership. There was something more fundamental that hadn¡¯t been resolved. The blister had already popped, and the infection was getting worse. It already had turned into an incurable sepsis. The conversation was ping-ponging back and forth between idealism and reality. I wondered what had led them to this point. After a few moments, the principal answered, his voice colored with agitation, ¡°Have you considered what you would do if I were to die while being on the search team?¡± ¡°What?¡± The woman did not immediately answer the principal¡¯s question. The principal took a deep breath and demanded, ¡°Who are you going to put up as the next leader?¡± He tried to keep his cool, keeping his volume in check, grasping at what little sanity he had left in him. ¡°Kim, Mr. Kim will take your spot,¡± replied the woman, stuttering slightly. The principal¡¯s anger burst out from within him. ¡°That bastard! That bastard only thinks about going outside! Everyone¡¯s going to die if you go outside!¡± ¡®Mr. Kim, huh.¡¯ The conversation I¡¯d overheard at the front gate had given me some idea of the reputation of Mr. Kim. He was the teacher who had confronted the principal. It seemed like these were the two opinions that were in conflict¡ªwhether to stay put or to take their chances outside. Since this woman was advocating for Mr. Kim, I assumed that the younger teachers were on Mr. Kim¡¯s side. The principal let out a roar ofughter. He wasughing at the top of his lungs, as though he had just heard the funniest joke in the world. Then, he said through gritted teeth, ¡°Didn¡¯t you say something about the survivors earlier? Now you¡¯re just thinking of abandoning everyone. Isn¡¯t that right?¡± It was the woman¡¯s turn to remain silent. Bang! The principal pounded his fist on the desk. ¡°Do you know why I¡¯m not part of the search team? Is it because my life is too precious? No, no. My life isn¡¯t worth anything, not after I left my son and wife behind when they were bitten by the monsters out there. But the children and elderly here, they¡¯re all counting on me. How can I die when they¡¯re all relying on me? If I die, won¡¯t everyone just leave, including Mr. Kim? Am I wrong? I know you¡¯re going to abandon everyone!¡± His usation was met with a deafening silence. ¡°You folks have no difficulty getting around! You folks are going to leave, without any consideration for whether those people die or not!¡± ¡°Why do we have to be responsible for them?¡± the woman retorted. ¡°Do you even know how many teachers have lost their lives protecting them?¡± She met the principal¡¯s rant with the thoughts that were consuming her own mind. Tears were rolling down her cheeks. ¡°How long do you think we can protect these people? Huh? Like it or not, we¡¯re all going to die at this rate!¡± ¡°That¡¯s why I said we should let them take on guard duty!¡± ¡°We don¡¯t want that! We just want to get away! How long do we have to sacrifice ourselves? We can¡¯t even take care of ourselves in this damned world!¡± ¡°Ha! When you say ¡®we¡¯, you¡¯re not including the children or the elderly, are you?¡± The woman bawled her eyes out. The principal took a breath and did not continue the conversation. There weren¡¯t enough young, physically capable people in this ce. It was like an aging society that did not have enough support to keep itself afloat. The system was copsing, and it was only a matter of time before the remaining poption of young and healthy individuals fled. It was a situation that had no solution. No, it was a situation to which the conclusion was painfully clear. * * * I leaned against the wall, listening to the sighing and crying across the wall. I wondered what would happen if our survivors came here. We had capable individuals who had the strength to aplish things. Would they be forced to make sacrifices, or would they grab power and take over? I didn¡¯t know what to think. This was something outside my control. It wasn¡¯t something I could solve. If our group of survivors came, there would be more than fifty people living in thispound. Would I be able to bring back enough food for all of them? Would Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s group continue to take care of So-Yeon if I wasn¡¯t able to bring back enough food? One question led to another, a never-ending stream. However, I eventually came to the most important question. ¡®Do I ignore these survivors, or help them?¡¯ Both sides had valid points. One faction was trying to get out, while the other faction wasn¡¯t willing to leave. The fact that they were arguing showed that they were still sane, and still had some semnce of morals. However, like a ss floor slowly cracking under too much weight, they seemed to be slowly losing their ability to remain rational. I couldn¡¯te to a conclusion. I had to discuss this matter with my group of survivors. I wasn¡¯t sure if I could exin everything that was going on, but I was willing to try, regardless of how long it would take. I got up and made my way out of the building. As I jumped over the wall, I noticed my underlings still hunched over next to the wall. After telling them to stand up, I made my way quickly back to my own shelter through the darkness. My heart was heavy the entire way back. I could not stop thinking about what I had seen back at the school. I just couldn¡¯t get over it. I knew I needed to discuss it my group ande to a decision. * * * I heardughter through the front door as I reached my ce of shelter. It wasn¡¯t much, but I could feel the warmth in it. I took a deep breath and slowly opened the door, knowing that I was the bearer of bad news. Lee Jeung-Uk approached me with a smile. ¡°Hey, Lee Hyun-Deok, we came up with this idea¡­¡± He cut off abruptly as he saw my face. His smile slipped, and he asked me what was wrong. As I stood there with mixed emotions, Lee Jeong-Uk brought me the drawing pad along with a few colored pens that had beenying around. He was asking me to exin what had happened. I started writing slowly, letter by letter. He nodded as he followed my scribbles. I wrote, on and on. - Lots of elderly and children. Not many young people. Lee Jeong-Uk slowly mouthed the words on the drawing pad. ¡°Is there arge discrepancy between the two groups?¡± I nodded, growling. ¡°Alright. Keep going.¡± I continued to write. Chapter 18 Chapter 18 I drew images to represent the leaders of the elderly faction and the younger faction, and wrote the word ¡®leaders¡¯ underneath. Lee Jeong-Uk tiled his head, trying to figure out my drawing. ¡°The leader of the elderly, and the leader of the young people?¡± I nodded in approval. I then drew countless arrows to describe the ones who were trying to leave, the ones who were trying to stay, and their disagreement. Lee Jeong-Uk considered the arrows, then followed up with a question of his own. ¡°They¡¯re trying to leave? Only the younger people?¡± I growled in the affirmative. ¡°Why would they want to leave? How about the rest of the people?¡± I drew arge ¡®X¡¯ over the remaining people. Lee Jung-Uk¡¯s face grew pale. ¡°They¡¯re dead?¡± I growled in denial, shaking my head. He tilted his head once again and rephrased his question. ¡°Did the younger people kill the elderly?¡± I made a face, growling in denial again. I wrote down a few words to borate myself. - Elderly, children, no strength. Younger people, nothing to lose. Lee Jeong-Hyuk came to the rescue. ¡°I think he¡¯s trying to say that the younger people are going to leave the elderly and children behind because they aren¡¯t really useful to them.¡± I growled in approval, patting him on his shoulder to thank him for easing my frustration. I felt him jump at my sudden touch, but he quickly shed a satisfied smile. The rest of the group came over to look at my drawings and words. Choi Da-Hye broke the silence. ¡°Wait a minute. Let¡¯s make this clear before we move on. So you¡¯re saying that the younger people are going to abandon the elderly? Is that why the leader of the elderly group is frowning?¡± ¡°Grr!¡± ¡°Then what¡¯s the drawing on the next page about? The one where the leaders are arguing. Is it a quarrel between the ones that want to stay with the ones that want to leave?¡± I was so d that I almost howled. I felt like I¡¯d aged at least ten years in the span of a few minutes. I was thankful that Lee Jeong-Hyuk had corrected the false assumptions, bringing the conversation back on track. Lee Jeong-Uk sat still, quietly listening to what the rest were saying. After a while, he frowned in disapproval, then scratched at his sideburns and asked, ¡°So the younger people are desperate to leave while the elderly want them to stay?¡± ¡°Grr!¡± ¡°Wait, this doesn¡¯t seem right. There¡¯s something more fundamental that doesn¡¯t make sense. If the younger people had the power to leave, why would they stay and argue about it?¡± I didn¡¯t know how to answer his question. He waspletely right. However, I didn¡¯t know how to exin this. I wasn¡¯t Picasso, so there was a limit to how much I could exin through my drawings. Besides, I also couldn¡¯t think of the right words to exin this situation. At that moment, Lee Jeong-Hyuk spoke. ¡°I bet there¡¯s some issue with food. They¡¯re probably fighting because the younger people were trying to take all the food. Right?¡± ¡°No, I don¡¯t think that¡¯s the case. There¡¯s nothing to lose, even if they left. The chances of them having a lot of food is slim to none. In the end, they just want to get rid of the people who aren¡¯t of much help. After all, they could¡¯ve just left with the food from the start.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk had made a very sinct point. I wanted to give him a round of apuse to acknowledge his sharp and analytical mind. He rubbed his chin, then snorted and continued with his hypothesis. ¡°Huh, that leaves only one reason¡­¡± His promation drew everyone¡¯s attention. With all eyes on him, he smacked his lips and continued to speak. ¡°They can¡¯t leave without feeling guilty. They want to leave, but at the same time, they don¡¯t want to feel like they¡¯re abandoning the people that would be left behind. It¡¯s like they¡¯re trying their best to justify their actions. Bunch of hypocrites, if you ask me.¡± There were universal noises of approval as the rest of the group nodded, agreeing with Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s theory. He shrugged and continued, ¡°It could be rationalization or justification. It seems like they already know they have no way of justifying what they want, so they¡¯re just wasting time quarreling.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but nod at his theory. I recalled the argument I¡¯d overheard between the principal and the woman. It now seemed to me as though the woman just wanted to get rid of the principal by making him join the search team. There would be no better justification for their actions than if the principal were to be killed. They didn¡¯t want to do the dirty work themselves, nor did they want to maintain the status quo. They were as selfish as they could be. I wondered if they knew that they were no longer acting like rational, intelligent beings. As I stared at Lee Jeong-Uk, he smirked and said, ¡°Hey, So-Yeon¡¯s dad.¡± I growled back in surprise. Previously, he¡¯d called me the zombie leader, but now he was calling me So-Yeon¡¯s dad. It had a ring to it. ¡°Do you know what¡¯s going on?¡± I didn¡¯t reply. Noticing that I was avoiding his question. Lee Jeong-Uk sighed and walked toward the couch. He slumped into the couch and muttered, ¡°It¡¯s toote now.¡± Moonlight shone into the living room, as though illuminating his thoughts. There wasn¡¯t a single person present who didn¡¯t catch what he meant. It was toote to persuade the younger people in the school to think ethically and morally anymore. It was pointless to give them a second chance, especially since the only thing they wanted right now was to get rid of the principal. They were no different from children wishing for their parents to die. After a while, Lee Jeong-Uk asked me another question. ¡°So-Yeon¡¯s dad, there¡¯s only one thing on your mind right?¡± His question drew everyone¡¯s attention to me. I nodded, my face full of mixed emotions. The one thing that was bothering me was the fate of the helpless children and the elderly. It was only natural for the young and able-bodied individuals in the school to plot an escape. My mind was solely on the children and the elderly. They would die without knowing why. I knew that ignoring them would strip away thest bit of humanity I had. I couldn¡¯t turn a blind eye to them. If I did, I would be nothing but a dead body, with no humanity left in me. As I made my way back from the school, the principal¡¯s plea lingered in my mind. He wasn¡¯t there to keep himself alive. He wanted everyone to stay together, despite knowing what the younger ones wanted. He wanted to save everyone. When he realized that wasn¡¯t an option, he¡¯d cried his heart out and begged the rest of them to be on the same page as him. Unfortunately, no one was willing to get on board. From the moment they¡¯d decided that they wanted the principal gone, it was only a matter of time before the younger faction made their move to escape. Lee Jeong-Uk took a close look at my face, his head swaying from side to side in disapproval. ¡°I can¡¯t tell if you¡¯re a good person, or just dull-witted.¡± I made a face. ¡®Me, dull-witted?¡¯ People¡¯s lives were on the line. Did I have to call him out for not being able toe to such an easy decision? Lee Jeong-Uk let out a sigh and continued, ¡°I¡¯m no different. I can¡¯t stop thinking about the people there.¡± I stared at him, not saying a word. He was calling himself dull-witted as well. I realized that he and I might have more inmon than I¡¯d previously thought. After a while, he got up with a grunt and finished his thought. ¡°Alright then, I have faith in you. Don¡¯t let me down.¡± ¡®Faith, huh?¡¯ I wasn¡¯t sure if he was telling me not to betray his trust, or if he wanted me to never let go of my attitude of caring for others. I couldn¡¯t help but smirk. He probably meant both. I¡¯d been put off by his attitude at first, but the more I got to know him, the more I realized that he and I got along pretty well. He scratched his neck and followed up with a question. ¡°So what¡¯s the n?¡± I tightened my grip on the pen on the table. * * * When evening came around the next day, I brought Lee Jeong-Uk to the high school. Thirty of my underlings escorted him. We were making our move at night for one simple reason. I wanted to raid the school when my underlings were in peak physical condition. If the survivors had paid attention to what was happening, they should have been aware of how threatening the zombies were after sunset. I call it a raid, but the thirty underlings I was taking with me were mere extras. We were going to make a show of threatening the survivors. I assumed they would not fight back, since they didn¡¯t seem to possess any proper weapons, and theycked the will to defend the school. Once we appeared and held the numerical advantage, the younger ones would flee. At that moment, Lee Jung-Uk would approach the elderly and children trapped in the ssrooms. After taking over the school, Lee Jung-Uk would assess the survivors. This was the n we¡¯de up with the night before. I had also drilled into my underlings over and over again that they were never to, under any circumstances, bite any of the survivors in the school. Moving around at night with Lee Jeong-Uk was more dangerous than I¡¯d anticipated. stering his body with zombie blood wasn¡¯t enough to conceal his sweet human smell. Every time he breathed, his smell permeated throughout the streets like the aroma of mouth-watering ramen. The zombies, with their senses heightened, were constantly attracted to him. Every time unfriendly zombies made an appearance, I had to line up my underlings and yell at the approaching zombies, ¡®Move, get lost! Come closer if you want to die.¡¯ I turned away as many zombies as I could in this manner. I did not want to suffer any headaches before we executed our n. It would be a total disaster if I lost my mind. However, I had no choice but to turn the zombies who possessed sight into my underlings. I could do something about the ones who only possessed the ability to hear or those who relied on their sense of smell, but I didn¡¯t know what surprises the ones who could see would bring. If the ones with vision began to call out, matters would quickly spiral beyond my control. As we encountered more and more zombies, our pace slowed. Even though we were so close, we had to stop multiple times because of the severity of my headaches. I recruited eight new underlings along the way. All eight of them had the ability to see. I hadn¡¯t seen them during the day, but now they were making the asional appearance. ¡®Man, let¡¯s get it together.¡¯ I took a couple of deep breaths, checking to see if Lee Jeong-Uk was falling behind. It was quite a sight to behold, watching him moving while being escorted by my underlings. His bitter expression made me chuckle. It felt rather nice; it was like getting back at him for all the jokes he¡¯d made at my expense. After moving for fifty minutes, all the while paying close attention to our surroundings, we finally glimpsed the wall surrounding the school. It had taken us longer than usual. I looked at Lee Jeong-Uk while pointing at the school wall. He nodded, swallowing visibly. He was no longer smiling. He was mentally preparing himself for what was toe. My attitude changed too, as I carefully made my way toward the wall. I had to stay hidden from the guards to ensure that our n didn¡¯t fail. I bit my lip, taking each step with caution. Ssh. The unexpected sound halted me in my tracks. My legs froze and my hair stood on end. I crouched down immediately, and ordered my underlings to sit. Lee Jeong-Uk followed me surreptitiously, looking at me with a nervous expression. I opened my eyes as wide as I could, scanning the area, including any possible blind spots. ¡®Where is this sounding from? It sounds too familiar.¡¯¡¯ An uneasy feeling welled up from within me, and I could feel the cool summer breeze caress my skin. With chills running up my spine, I continued to look around, straining my bloodshot eyes. Ssh, ssh. I heard it again. Sticky footsteps, as though whatever it was had wet feet. The unpleasant noise ground into my eardrums. After a moment, a forgotten memory drifted into my mind. I froze as though I had seen a ghost. rm bells were ringing through my mind. The sound filled me, as well as the feeling as though all the water was draining out of my body. This was a feeling I hadpletely forgotten about after bing a zombie. This feeling, which I thought I would never have to experience again, engulfed me once again. Death. The fear of death red through my mind like a siren. Chapter 19 Chapter 19 As I stood motionless, Lee Jeong-Uk spoke, his voice full of doubt. ¡°Hey, So-Yeon¡¯s dad.¡± He was nervous too. I could sense the desperation in his voice. He had never confronted the ck creature before. He was probably wondering why I¡¯d stopped moving. I made my way through my underlings and covered his mouth. He hadn¡¯t expected that. His eyes flew wide open, and his entire body shook. ¡°Does he think I¡¯m going to eat him?¡¯ A glimpse at my nervous expression made him realize that something else was going on. He carefully removed my hand, blinking as hard as he could. He was signaling to me that he could keep quiet. Ssh. I heard it again. My teeth chattered with fear. A distance away, on the opposite side of the school, I saw the creature I never wanted to confront again. The elongated shadow, fashioned by the moonlight, walked slowly toward the school with a big smile on its face. ¡®A shadow? No.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t a person. This shadow was a grim reaper. Ssh. The creature¡¯s eerie footsteps echoed along the silent street. The zombie blocking its way let out a cry out of fear. Crack! I almost gasped in astonishment. My eyes went wide, and I covered my mouth in surprise. It had all happened in an instant. The ck creature ate the zombie¡¯s head. Murky ck liquid was oozing out from the zombie¡¯s neck. It had been sheared through cleanly, as if cut through by a guillotine de. The zombie¡¯s body fell to the ground like a reed blown by the wind. I felt like I was about to lose my mind. It was eating its own kind. The ck creature swallowed the zombie¡¯s head without hesitation, as though it was eradicating a useless pest. Gulp. I heard someone breathing heavily behind me. My gaze flicked towards the source of the sound, falling on Lee Jeong-Uk, whose eyes were full of fear. ¡®Oh shit.¡¯ I looked back at the horizon, and saw the creature staring in our direction. * * * Why hadn¡¯t I thought of this earlier? Maybe, just maybe, I¡¯d been denying its existence as some sort of defense mechanism, as a means of retaining my sanity. I¡¯d been arrogant in thinking that it had left Haengdang-dong for good, and that it wouldn¡¯t appear in front of me ever again. I felt my stomach tingle, then begin to throb painfully. The ck creature was walking slowly toward me. I stood as still as a stone statue, frozen with fear. I knew better than to scream or fight back, unless I wanted to meet the same end as the zombie that had its head bitten off. There was no guarantee I was going to survive if I tried to fight that thing off. I was well aware of its physical capabilities. I knew running away wasn¡¯t an option. I just had to hope it directed its attention elsewhere. Grr¡­ It finally reached me. It made an unpleasant cry that made my hair stand on end. I didn¡¯t dare look at its face. My head sagged like a frightened animal. It circled around me, smiling all the while. It kept on circling me, as if it was trying to intimidate me, reminding me of my stationpared to it. Ssh, ssh, ssh. Its slow gait and clear, distinct footsteps heightened my senses. Its proximity paralyzed my every nerve. I stood there, frozen, as it stopped right in front of me. I didn¡¯t know how much time had passed. It just stood in front of me, sowing in me fear, despair, and helplessness, like a farmer sowing his seeds. I carefully lifted my head to catch a glimpse of it. Just looking at it made my knees go weak. It was smiling. I had no doubt that it was smiling. The corners of its mouth were lifted as far up as it could manage. All I saw was its red gums. It wasughing at my fear. It had teeth as sharp as a shark¡¯s, with no gaps in between. I couldn¡¯t tell how many teeth it had. Its silent smile was a constant reminder of my ce within the food chain. I felt as though I was at the bottom, not even close to ¡®it¡¯. Iy on the ground shaking, my body wracked with spasms. It looked at me for a while more, then shifted its attention toward its original target¡ªthe school. ¡®Is it letting me live? Is it being merciful toward the weak?¡¯ It quickly mbered onto the top of the wall, and curled its body in preparation for a jump. Its thigh muscles clenched, while its calves folded like springs. It floated upwards like a butterfly, or a ghoul that was trying to make its way from the depths of hell and into heaven. It jumped so high and moved so quickly that I couldn¡¯t follow its movements. Ssh. Itnded on the school rooftop with ease. The only sound it made was a gentle tap, despite such a big jump. GRR!!! It let out a shriek that was loud enough to split eardrums. It sounded like a Dementor, sucking up every soul around it. [1] My head was ringing, and it felt as though all the air around me had been sucked away. ¡®What the heck!¡± ¡°What was that noise?¡± I could hear the exmations of the people on guard duty. ¡®It¡¯s Death. They¡¯re going to die.¡¯ I shook my head violently, trying my best toe back to my senses. As my faculties returned, I noticed Lee Jeong-Uk on the ground, his mouth opening and closing like a goldfish. There was no time to lose. I felt sorry for the people at the school, but I had to use them to buy some time to run away. I grabbed Lee Jeong-Uk by his arm and forced him upright. Now wasn¡¯t the time to care about the zombies around us. We had to get away. We had to run without looking back. The silver lining in this situation was that the zombies around us were also fleeing the ck creature¡¯s cry. It was an opportunity for me to escape with my underlings. I assumed it would be harder for the ck creature to distinguish us from the other zombies that were also running for lives. I ran as hard as I could, the buildings of the darkened city zooming past me. Everything passed by in a blur, as if I was looking out the window of a moving train. My body was driven by one, overriding thought¡ªto keep on running. I picked up speed, as though my legs were driven by motors. Every single muscle in my body was being controlled by the danger signals being sent by my mind. With the sun down, I could run much fasterpared to during the day. I made a beeline for our apartment whilemanding my underlings to keep watch on our nks, and to monitor Lee Jeong-Uk in the case he got left behind. There was no time to make a detour to avoid the zombies. We had to take the most direct route. There was no need to look back. All I could hear was the sound of my ragged breathing. After running for an eternity, I heard a gasp from behind. As I turned around, I saw Lee Jeong-Uk drenched in sweat and dry heaving. There was no time to rest. There was no telling how far the range of that ck demon was. I swung Lee Jeong-Uk onto my back and kept running. ¡®We have to get further away. Even further!¡¯ I ran like a madman, surrounded by my underlings. As I kept on running, I spied our apartment in the distance. ¡®We¡¯re there. We¡¯re almost there. Just a little bit more then we¡¯re back at our apartment¡­¡¯ A demonic howl split the air. The shriek sent chills up my spine. With effort, I turned my stiff neck to see what was going on behind us. I glimpsed the creature a distance away, jumping from roof to roof as it made its way toward us. It had caught up to us, and was now following us. ¡®There¡¯s no way all of us can make it out together.¡¯¡¯ No matter how hard we tried, it would outpace us. Cough, cough. I heard Lee Jeong-Uk coughing behind me. I knew he¡¯d run with all his might despite his foggy mind. He had probably run at full speed for a couple of kilometers, with no thought to pacing himself. He was already exhausted. In those few moments, I collected my thoughts and ordered my underling to take Lee Jeong-Uk back to the apartment. My underlings grunted in reply and prepared to run. Just then, I felt a tug. Something grasped my clothes tightly. I looked down, and my gaze fell on Lee Jeong-Uk, bathed in cold sweat. He was pale and breathing heavily. ¡°Don¡¯t die.¡± I was taken aback. I knew he meant it from the bottom of his heart. His eyes were barely open, but I knew he was looking at me. However, I didn¡¯t know how to react. ¡®How can I fight this ck creature?¡¯ Fighting it was thest thing I wanted to do. The best I could do was run away or beg for mercy. Surviving a fight with that thing was unimaginable. Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s request for me to stay alive was almost a pipe dream. After a moment, Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s arm fell limp. He¡¯d fainted from exhaustion. ¡®Go ahead. Go!¡¯ At my order, my underlings dashed toward our apartment. Seeing me and Lee Jeong-Uk split up, the ck creature stopped its advance through the buildings momentarily. It was probably contemting on who to feast on first. If it went after Lee Jeong-Uk, its next prey was obvious. ¡®So-Yeon.¡¯ I couldn¡¯t let that happen. I couldn¡¯t let it go after Lee Jeong-Uk. It had taken us well over forty minutes to walk to the school, a considerable distance. However, this creature had followed us persistently. With it around, I couldn¡¯t ensure the safety of the people in the apartment. I couldn¡¯t direct it to where So-Yeon was. No, I absolutely could not send it there. I had to fight it off somehow. The situation had taken a ridiculous turn. I looked at the receding figure of Lee Jeong-Uk and took a deep breath. His slouched form seemed so small and insignificant from here. Nevertheless, I hoped that that hunched-over silhouette would make it back safely, to take care of So-Yeon. I yelled as hard as I could toward the ck creature. ¡°GRRRR!!!¡± The unpleasant, throat-rending cry tore through the silence of the city. The ck creature stopped and looked toward me. ¡®It¡¯s this way, you idiot!¡¯ It was time for the weak to fight back. The creature howled, even more angrily than before. I wondered if it had heard me curse at it. It ran toward me like a bull reacting to a red g. My skin tightened in fear, and I could sense the creature¡¯s killing intent enveloping my body. I yelled at it with the intention of scaring it somehow, but it didn¡¯t do much. Fighting it face-to-face was suicidal. I started running in the opposite direction of our apartment on stiff legs. ¡®Alright, let¡¯s think. Think, think, think!¡¯ I didn¡¯t know if that ck demon could think, but right now, I had to concentrate fully on my own survival. Its hellish scream sted through the air behind me. Despite all my efforts, I couldn¡¯t put any more distance between us. On the contrary, its cry sounded even nearer. I knew it was getting closer. It was a matter of time before I got caught. ¡®You five in the back, block the ck creature! No, kill it!¡¯ I kept on running as I gave my orders to my underlings. Grr! Argh! Grr! I heard their cries as I gave out more orders. It seemed that the creature had already caught up to them. I nced behind me sporadically to check out what was going on behind me. I saw my underlings being torn apart, their flesh flying everywhere. Suddenly, I saw a green head flying toward me. 1. A Dementor is a fictional creature from the Harry Potter series that is capable of consuming a person¡¯s soul, leaving their victims in a vegetative state. ? Chapter 20 Chapter 20 With a gasp, I ducked and let the flying head sail over me. I pulled out all the stops and made a run for it. I bit my lips as I ran, and soon, I saw Wangsimni Station in the distance. [1] There was an abandoned building under construction in the front of the station. Construction was obviously at a halt, since the ¡®safety first¡¯ sign was partially torn away. I knew it was impossible to shake ¡®it¡¯ off. I could sense, subconsciously, that the construction site would be my final battlefield. I used my underlings as bait while I hastily made my way toward the construction site. Eight, nine, ten of them¡­ I heard the endless screams of my underlings. I felt the resentment in their cries. I closed my eyes to ignore their wails. ¡®I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry!¡¯ Their deaths were meaningless. I was not ordering them to fight. Instead, it was like a kamikazemand. [2] However, there was no way I could let myself die. If I died, what would happen to everyone back at the apartment? What about the rest of my underlings that followed my orders? What about So-Yeon? I couldn¡¯t foresee the consequences. I squeezed my eyes tightly and bit down on my lower lip. I felt bad for my underlings, but I couldn¡¯t die here. I barely made it to the construction site, though I sacrificed my underlings to do so. I knew better than to take a rest. I searched the construction site for a weapon I could use to fight the ck creature. After an extensive search, my eyes fixed on a pile of rebars. There were rebars lying all over the floor. It seemed that the wires that had been holding them together had snapped. GRR!!! I heard its shriek from behind me. I was sure it would grab me by my neck at any moment. I felt chills down my spine, and the air around me turned ice-cold. Even without turning around, I sensed its wide-open mouth straining for my neck. I threw myself to the closest pile of rebars, grabbing the closest one to me. I brandished the rebar, trying to regain my bnce. The moment it caught sight of me, it charged toward me. My body reacted first. I thrust the rebar as hard as I could, skewering the creature as it flew through the air. The rebar went straight through its heart. The creature screeched and howled. Its scream filled the air around me. But it wasn¡¯t a cry of pain. Rather, it was one of anger, one that a predator would make when it was challenged by something that it deemed as prey. It struggled even more ferociously. I tightened my grip on the length of rebar, and held onto it as hard as I could. I used all my strength, trying to counter the creature¡¯s resistance. However, I was only being drawn closer to the creature, like iron filings toward a ma. I eventually let go of the rebar. My eyes fell on another length of rebar on the ground, and I quickly picked it up. ¡®Everyone, grab a length of rebar and stab it!¡¯ I gave the order to my remaining underlings, who each picked up a rebar as they dashed toward me. Using all my strength, I stabbed another length of rebar diagonally into the creature¡¯s body. Crack! The rebar pierced through its body with the sound of splintering bone. Crunch! Crack! Whack! My underlings carried out their own onught. The creature¡¯s body looked like it was riddled with bullets. I knew I couldn¡¯t stop. This was not enough to stop it. It staggered for a moment, then rushed toward me, snatching one of my underlings and snapping its head off. I backpedaled as quickly as I could as the creature reached out its arms towards me. Despite my desperate attempt to evade it, it managed to grab my left arm with its long arms. Crack! ¡®Hmm?¡¯ Its sharp nails dug into my elbow and ripped off the bottom half of my arm as if it were made of styrofoam. My eyes went wide as I saw my left arm flying through the air. ¡°GRRRR!!!¡± Its howl of rage threatened to rip my mind apart. I gavemands to my underlings, barely clinging to sanity. ¡®Keep stabbing! Don¡¯t stop!¡¯ As I ordered my underlings to attack ¡®it¡¯, I went inside the half-finished building to look for something that could end its life. I rushed up the stairs, going through the second and third floors without stopping. I could hear the screams of my underlings from below, followed by the howling of the creature, like a dissonant echo. Its howl numbed my mind, causing me to lose control of my legs. I kept on heading up, punching at my thighs, which were stiffening up due to the overwhelming fear. As I made it to the fourth floor, something caught my eye. There were a couple of vibration-resistant, reinforced concrete pipes close to the walls of the site. I wasn¡¯t sure what a sewer pipe was doing on the fourth floor, but it wasn¡¯t the time to think about such things. I looked over the guardrail to assess the situation below, and I saw my underlings being ripped apart by ¡®it¡¯. Pieces of rebar were sticking out of its entire body, but this did nothing to stop it from continually attacking my underlings with its arms. Restricting its movements seemed to do very little. It still ripped through my underlings with its overwhelming strength as if it was tearing up stacks of paper. I had no time to get sentimental. In order to finish it off, I had to execute a fatal blow. Using a length of rebar that was lying around, I shoved with all my might against the reinforced concrete pipes. However, one piece of rebar wasn¡¯t going to be enough to move something that weighed several tons. I wedged a couple of lengths of rebar underneath the circr tube as a lever, and pulled down on them as hard as I could. My right arm was shaking violently, and it grew hard to breathe. The reinforced concrete pipe finally twitched. I knew I could turn the creature into a meat patty once I pushed it beyond the guardrail. I put all my remaining strength behind it, shattering my remaining teeth. My muscles felt as though they were going to burst any minute. I growled at my dislocated joints. My veins bulged right out of my body, as though they were going to burst. ¡°GRRRR!!!¡± I strained against the reinforced concrete pipe with all my might. Thud, Roll, Thud. I finally managed to get the concrete pipe moving. I saw my underlings down below being ughtered by the ck creature. It took a moment to register the falling concrete pipe. It crouched immediately, preparing to jump. The screech of metal on concrete echoed through the construction site. The lengths of rebar that were stuck diagonally through its body prevented it from jumping. As it struggled harder, the rebars tore at its flesh and insides. The rebars kept it in ce. GRRRR!!! The creature stared at the fourth floor while letting out a terrible howl. It wasn¡¯t a cry of hate, but the cry of an animal that knew that it was about to meet its end. It knew that there was no way it could avoid the falling reinforced concrete pipe. Crash! The ground shook as though an earthquake had struck, and the tremendous vibration whipped up a massive cloud of dust. I felt the vibration through my legs as it traveled up the building to the fourth floor. I squinted while covering my mouth and nose with my one arm. ¡®Is it dead? Is it dead for sure?¡¯ Ga¡­ Grr¡­ I still heard its cries. It wasn¡¯t dead yet. It was still breathing, despite having a two-ton block of reinforced concrete dropped right on top of it from the fourth floor. I clenched my fist as I made my way down to the first floor. As the dust settled, I noticed it lying there, with half its head squashed in. The reinforced concretey pressed against the rebars still pincushioning its body, tearing at its flesh. Its body was a mess, and its insides were spilling out There was ck, inky liquid oozing out from its crushed head and mouth. Ity there, spitting out gooey liquid that resembled fetid swamp water, offering no resistance. I grabbed thest remaining length of rebar on the ground to end my frustrating rtionship with the creature. I concentrated intently as I aimed for its motionless head. ¡®Go to hell.¡¯ My blue veins seemed about to burst. With all my strength, I stabbed the length of rebar into its face. A terrible howl escaped the creature. Crack! With a final, dying cry, the cold rebar pierced through its skull. Its body sagged like a marite doll with its strings cut. The rebar that pierced it was shaking violently. My legs lost their strength, and I copsed to the ground. It was over. Everything was over. I didn¡¯t feel sick. I was overwhelmed with the joy of having conquered my adversary, together with the adrenaline that still coursed through my muscles. I couldn¡¯t help but smile. I felt amazing. It was a happiness that stemmed from the knowledge that I was forever done with this creature. I pictured a child running toward me with a smile. ¡®Now I can go see So-Yeon.¡¯ Beeeeep! At that moment, a high-pitched noise assaulted my eardrums, causing my vision to blur. It was a single, high-pitched squeal. Lights seemed to be shing before my eyes. ¡®Is there a problem with my brain?¡¯ It was difficult to maintain my bnce, as though something had gone wrong with my inner ear. Along with this sudden headache, my mouth started to be extremely itchy. It felt like hundreds or thousands of insects were crawling around inside my mouth. I felt my mind slipping away, as though the rebar that had pierced the ck creature¡¯s head had actually pierced mine as well. ¡®Is this some kind of rebound? Is it because my joints are misaligned?¡¯ It was impossible. I felt no bodily fatigue, nor did I feel any physical pain, except for this headache. However, because of it, my entire body was in agony. ¡°GRR, GAH! GRR!!!!¡± Saliva drooled out of my mouth. I couldn¡¯t breathe. I wrapped my right hand around my neck in pain. ¡®Where is this paining from? Why am I in pain? I feel like I¡¯m dying. It feels like I could die at any moment. So-Yeon¡­¡¯ Her face shed through my mind. I imagined her running toward me with a cute smile, reaching me and hugging me. She seemed so close, just an arm¡¯s length away, but she disappeared in front of me like a mirage. ¡°Grrr¡­ GAAH!¡± I kept jerking and twisting, trying to resist this death-bringing pain. I couldn¡¯t die like this. I couldn¡¯t leave So-Yeon behind like this. It grew harder to breathe, as if someone had put a big stone in my throat. I couldn¡¯t draw in any air. My blood seemed to stop flowing once it reached my blocked-up neck, unable to make it up into my brain. I felt like my head was about to burst, and my eyes were about to pop out. ¡°Grr¡­ Grr¡­. Ga¡­¡± My entire life shed before my eyes. The moment So-Yeon called me ¡®Daddy¡¯ after having kept her distance from me for what seemed like ages. The moment the survivors thanked me. The moment Lee Jeong-Uk called me the zombie leader. All those memories shed through like a blurred-out strip of film. Even though I was like this now, a living corpse, I still had precious moments where I felt alive. - Don¡¯t you die. Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s words brought me back to my senses. ¡®Right, I can¡¯t die. I won the battle, and death is only for losers.¡¯ I opened my eyes wide open and smashed my forehead against the floor. ¡°GRRR!¡± I channeled all my remaining strength into the one arm I had while forcibly straightening my stiff upper body. ¡°GAAA!¡± At that moment, something began to grow within my itching mouth. It made its way through my gums, growing into their correct positions. I gritted my teeth to fight the pain. ¡®Wait, did I just grit my teeth?¡¯ I knew I had lost all my teeth, but somehow, at that exact moment, I was clenching my teeth. As I straightened my back, my blocked throat slowly cleared up. The summer breeze made its way through the gap. My mind, which had fallen into an abyss, barely made its way back to sanity, registering the sweet air through my nose and mouth. Pant, pant. I could feel my senses slowlying back. My entire body was shaking, wracked with coughs as I greedily sucked in air. I slowly got back to my senses, and I felt a feeling of intensefort wash over me. ¡°Grr¡­¡± As I let out the stuffy breath that had been trapped inside me, my quivering body started to settle down. I slowly got to my feet, taking deep breaths with my eyes closed. A feeling of freshness and calmness that I had never experienced before wrapped itself around my body. The fear of death that had engulfed me mere moments ago was gone like the wind. I opened my eyes, gazing into the horizon. Everything seemed far away, as if I was dreaming. I saw the entire world as though I was in a deep sleep. I stood in a vague, meaningless, and weightless point in time and space. Everything in this world felt like ripples on the surface of a calmke. I massaged my stiff neck, slowly moving it side to side. I lifted my right hand to scratch the itchy part of my mouth. sh. It felt like my flesh was being sliced apart. ck blood dripped down my right index finger. My teeth had grown. No¡ªa pair of fangs hade out. My teeth were sharp and razor-like, like shark¡¯s teeth. Something was wrong. I was sane, yet everything seemed too peaceful. It felt like I wasn¡¯t myself. After a moment, I smelled something sweet. I sniffed continuously, and my gaze eventually fell upon the object which was giving off the smell. I realized that it wasing from the ck creature¡¯s torn-up corpse. I walked up to it. Gulp. My mouth was watering. The hunger that I hadn¡¯t been able to feel rumbled within me like a volcano that was about to explode. I wasn¡¯t sure how to describe the state I was in at that moment. It didn¡¯t seem right to say that I had lost my mind. However, I wasn¡¯t just following my instincts either. Without hesitation, I went for the ck creature¡¯s head, cracking its skull to expose its brain. Its brain was pitch-ck. I didn¡¯t know how to describe the way I was feeling. ¡®Is it the feeling of sitting in front of a piece of juicy, tender beef while it''s being cooked?¡¯ I couldn¡¯t stop my mouth from watering. I could already taste the sweetness swirling inside my mouth. I opened my mouth as wide as I could to munch on its brain. Gobble, gobble. Its brain was a delicacy, just as I thought it would be. I felt my body muscles tense and expand repeatedly as I kept feasting. I felt my muscles grow as tight as the ck creature¡¯s muscles. In moments, I had finished all of it. Only fluid was left behind. Beeeeeep! The high-pitched whine started up again. The noise thrashed against my eardrums, messing with my mind. I couldn¡¯t keep my bnce. I knew I had to stand upright, but the world in front of me was already sideways. In moments, I felt the coldness of the floor through my skin. I wanted to move. My mind was telling me to move. But my body wasn¡¯t having it. After a while, an unusual feeling engulfed my body. ¡®An unusual feeling?¡¯ It was a feeling I hadn¡¯t felt in a while, so it took me a while to realize what it was. I¡¯d never felt it after turning into this. Drowsiness. I suddenly felt sleepy. My eyes were drifting closed of their own ord. I couldn¡¯t resist, as if I was going into hibernation. My body was acting instinctively. It seemed perfectly natural for me to go to sleep. My mind was yelling at me to move, and that I had to get back to the apartment. However, my body didn¡¯t follow along. Instead, my eyelids started to close. I blinked several times, my vision flickering the way lights did just before a ckout. Eventually, darkness swallowed me. 1. Wangsimni Station is a subway station in Seoul, Korea. It is located in Haengdang-dong district, where the main character resides. ? 2. A Kamikaze was a technique employed by Japanese pilots in World War II. They would strap explosives to their aircraft and attempt to take out enemy targets by crashing their nes into them,mitting suicide. ? Chapter 21 Chapter 21 ¡®How long was I out?¡¯ I cracked open my eyes, and saw hundreds, even thousands of ants. I was so surprised that I shot up right away. I then realized that the hot sun had cooked my right cheek to the point where it stung. I looked around as I brushed dirt off my body. I finally recognized the abandoned construction site, and saw my underlings standing around in the sun, staring at me nkly. When I first left ourpound with Lee Jeong-Uk, I had thirty underlings with me. I recruited eight more on our way to the high school, which meant that I should have had thirty-eight underlings. At that moment, though, I only had five left. Did I order thirty-three of my underlings to act as bait to distract the ck creature? I didn¡¯t even realize how many underlings I had lost while fighting for my life. I took my underlings out of the sun and into the unfinished building. They had all turned ck, their skin burnt by the sun. I stepped inside the construction site to pull myself together. Moving both arms, I covered my face in my palms. ¡®Huh? Wait, my arms?¡¯¡¯ I stared at my intact left arm. It had regenerated. My severed arm had regenerated. Every joint was intact, as if nothing had happened to it. I stared nkly at my left arm, then began to feel my entire body with my arms. The misaligned joints had fixed themselves. My restorative abilities had regenerated my injuries. ¡®Why isn¡¯t my stomach regenerating, though? Is it because it got torn out while I was a human?¡¯ I swallowed as I looked at my underlings before me. I asked the underling in the very front how many days it had been. ¡°Grr¡­¡± The underling looked at me, confused. ¡®Right. It probably doesn¡¯t understand what days mean.¡¯ I rephrased my question so that it was easier for them to understand. ¡®See the thing up in the sky? The sun, the hot thing.¡¯ It growled in approval. ¡®How many times did that thing go up and down?¡¯ It started folding its fingers, but stopped with a puzzled expression when it realized that it only had three fingers on its right hand. It looked at me, its expression indicating that it didn¡¯t have enough fingers to count. ¡®Has my bond with them grown tighter?¡¯ I felt like I knew what they were saying. I grabbed its left hand to let it know that it had more fingers, and it continued to count off the days. My underling finally folded a total of seven fingers. A week. I¡¯d been here for more than a week. My heart skipped a beat. A week was long enough for anything to happen to the people back at the apartment. I pulled myself together and headed back toward the apartment. As I stepped out from under the half-constructed building, I saw the ck creature¡¯s corpse. It didn¡¯t have a head. As I stared at this being, a rather unpleasant memory surfaced. In my memory, I had ripped its head off, and was munching on its brain. ¡®What was that?¡¯ My eyes went wide as I stared at the ck creature¡¯s corpse, remembering what had happened. A sudden wave of nausea overcame me. My legs copsed while I tried to keep the ck leftovers down. It took me a while before I could find my feet again. My insides couldn¡¯t keep still. ¡®Why, why did I do that?¡¯ I vividly recalled myself piercing its head with a length of rebar. But whatever happened afterwards seemed to have been done by someone else, with me ying the role of a spectator. That thing that I saw, it hadn¡¯t been me. I mean, I was the one who hadmitted the action, but in that moment, I hadn¡¯t been myself. ¡®Did I lose my sanity for a moment? Or is it more urate to say that I was possessed by something?¡¯ I wiped away the saliva around my mouth and looked at my underlings. ¡®What happened while I was knocked out?¡¯ I asked them. My memory had holes in it, in the period after I¡¯d eaten the creature''s brain. This meant that I could¡¯ve done anything while I was out. However, all my underlings just shook their heads, not saying a word. If I had done anything funny, my underlings would¡¯ve made unpleasant noises as they tried to exin what had happened. However, judging by the way they were just swaying their heads, it seemed like I had been lying motionless for a week. I closed my eyes to recall what had happened that day. ¡®I ate the ck creature¡¯s brain. Something about teeth? Expanding muscles?¡¯ As I put together the snippets of my memory, I began to remember that day, little by little. In summary, I had regrown my teeth and developed stronger muscles by eating the ck creature¡¯s brain. Then I fell into hibernation. ¡®Why did I do that? Why, why, why?¡¯ I couldn¡¯t figure out the reason why. Up until now, I thought everything happened for a reason. That there was an exnation for everything. At that moment, though, I couldn¡¯t find a reason or cause for what I¡¯d done. This incident had defied my beliefs. After the world changed, so many unexinable things happened. ¡®Oh..¡¯ Through the tangled snippets of my memories, something caught my attention. That something cleared up my mind instantly. So-Yeon¡¯s bright smile burned through the haze like a shfire. Then, Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s crabby face, Choi Da-Hye¡¯s face as she was ying with So-Yeon, Lee Jeong-Hyuk¡¯s cheesy face, and the faces of the supermarket survivors passed through my mind as well. This drew me back to my senses. I stood up, realizing that it wasn¡¯t the time to contemte questions that couldn¡¯t be answered. I didn¡¯t know a thing about the state of the people in the apartment. I had to figure out if Lee Jeong-Uk had recovered from dehydration, what the food situation was, and if they¡¯d moved to another apartment or not. ¡®They should be together, right? They definitely should be.¡¯ The thing that made me the most nervous and desperate was So-Yeon¡¯s safety. I made myself believe that everything was alright as I hastened back to the apartment. Chirp, chirp. The calls of the cicadas filled the streets. Summer was almost at its peak. Interspersed between the cicada¡¯s calls, red dragonflies flitted about. Nothing else around the area had changed in thest week. Thud. Something caught my foot. I jumped in surprise, looking down reflexively to see what it was. It was a zombie head that was still alive. Its eyes were fixed on me, and its mouth was moving. A rush of guilt washed over me as I met its gaze. The zombie seemed familiar. Though it was now only a single head, I clearly remembered what it had been wearing. It was my first underling, the one with the ck suit. ¡®Oh jeez¡­¡¯ In the first moments of the confrontation, I¡¯d ordered five underlings to act as bait to distract the ck creature. The ck creature had torn my underlings apart and thrown one of their heads toward me. I¡¯d ducked to avoid it, then ran like the wind. Ever since it had been thrown at me, it had been left here, still awaiting my orders, unable to kill itself. It no longer had its expensive suit. It was just a head, waiting for my orders. I looked at it for a while. It moved its mouth, its eyes full of tears. I almost sensed it saying, ¡®Boss, I can¡¯t move at all¡¯. I closed my eyes and said to him, ¡®I¡¯m sorry.¡¯ Squinting, I looked around. I needed something that would help end its journey. There was debris scattered all over a utility pole that had toppled over. I picked up thergest piece and stood in front of my underling. I looked it straight in the eye, and said myst words to it. ¡®You¡¯ve done well. It¡¯s time for you to get some rest.¡¯ St. I closed my eyes as I smashed the piece of debris into its face. Dark red blood sttered all over my face and hands. After a moment, cerebral fluid flowed out from around the piece of debris, and the zombie¡¯s mouth stopped moving. ¡®I hope you get born again in a world where there are no zombies.¡¯ I stood up with a sigh. ¡®Thank¡­ you¡­.¡¯ At that moment, I heard a thank you. I turned around to see the underling I had just smashed. Its mouth was no longer opening and closing like that of a goldfish. Instead, it was smiling. It was smiling. It had just thanked me for killing it. As I stared at what remained of it, I remembered the woman with no legs on the first floor of the apartmentplex. She had definitely been smiling too. She hadn¡¯t said thank you, but she had definitely been smiling as well. Terminal lucidity. I guess zombies had it as well. It seemed like they recalled the times when they¡¯d still been humans the moment they epted death and realized that their life wasing to end. This was all just spection, but it was the only logical conclusion I coulde up with at that moment. The five underlings stood next to me, their expressions nk. They didn¡¯t seem to mourn or feel sad about a fellow zombie¡¯s death. It seemed like zombies only got emotional right before they died. Despite it all, something didn¡¯t feel right. The dead underling had thanked me, but I still felt like I¡¯dmitted an unforgivable sin. I made my way back to the apartment, and gave my underlings amand along the way. ¡®Follow me, but be on the lookout. Let me know if you see any other living zombies.¡¯ On my way back to the apartment, I killed an additional five underlings. All five of them thanked me. However, I could not ept their thanks. I was a sinner. I was the one who had used them for my own needs. I hadn¡¯t felt much when I¡¯d first recruited my underlings. I treated them as disposable things that I could use for my convenience, since they were dead beings anyway. However, my underlings were faithful to me. Theirst moments were no different from that of humans. In a way, they could end up reaching the end of their lives in a more human way than actual humans. They didn¡¯t belittle or distort the truth, nor did they force sacrifices on others. They also never ended up in an endless swamp of negativity. They humbly epted their death after doing all they could do in their given position. My heart was clouded with mixed feelings, clogged up by unidentifiable, inky debris. ¡®Do I have the right to waste the lives of these zombies?¡¯ Of course, they¡¯d probably all been regr zombies that had hunted humans before being recruited as my underlings. However, I felt the need to ensure that they could rest in peace after they became one of mine. They were connected to me as one organism, and devoted their lives to the survivors. ¡®Let¡¯s just say that they¡¯ve paid for their sins as human beings by bing zombies. And that they¡¯ve paid for the sins theymitted as a zombie by bing my underlings and devoting the rest of their lives to helping humans.¡¯ I took a deep breath and continued to organize my thoughts. ¡®We¡¯re different from the zombies that hunt other human beings. We¡¯re zombies that exist for humans. We¡¯ll devote the rest of our lives for the survival of humans.¡¯ ¡®Though my body is dead, I still possess my intelligence, and I have underlings that follow mymands. That¡¯s why I want to live the rest of my life like a human being. I want to do good for others, good that I was not able to do while I was still a human. I want to live like a human.¡¯ * * * As I passed the entrance to the apartmentplex, I saw the green group of zombies guarding the entrance of apartment building 104. They were standing still, shoulder to shoulder, blocking the entrance. They seemed to be waiting for someone. As I showed up, my underlings started growling, their eyes fixed on me. Grr¡­ They kept on growling. ¡®Quiet.¡¯ With that quickmand, I headed up to unit 505. When I got to the front door, I didn¡¯t sense the presence of people within. Previously, I¡¯d heardughter, but now, it was as quiet as a tomb. I swallowed and reached for the door knob. On the way to the apartment, I¡¯d reminded myself over and over again not to be surprised even if there was no one inside. I reminded myself of this one more time as I nudged the door open. Click. As I stepped in, I saw all manner of colored shoes in the shoe cupboard. I saw So-Yeon''s shoes and Choi Da-Hye¡¯s ts. The unidentifiable pieces of inky debris that lingered in my heart disappeared. I let out a sigh of relief. They hadn¡¯t abandoned me, even after losing contact with me for over a week. They hadn¡¯t left me, even though they didn¡¯t know if I was still alive. I took off my shoes. I wanted to see everyone''s faces. I wanted to see So-Yeon¡¯s beaming face. I smiled as I rushed into the living room, almost tripping. Quickly, though, I realized that something wasn¡¯t right. ¡®What¡¯s going on?¡¯ Everyone¡¯s shoes were there, but there was no one in the living room. ¡®What¡¯s going on? What happened to everyone?¡¯ ¡°So-Yeon¡¯s dad?¡± A voice came from the kitchen, and my gaze flicked over. I saw Choi Da-Hye peeking out from beneath the kitchen table with a knife in her hand. Her eyes widened as if she had seen a ghost, and she shouted at the top of her lungs, ¡°He¡¯s alive, he¡¯s alive! Everyone, you cane out now!¡± With her confirmation, the others began popping out from various ces. The woman in her thirties came out from behind the couch, Lee Jeong-Hyuk emerged from the air conditioner, the woman in her twenties with her younger brother from the bathroom, and finally, Lee Jeong-Uk from the master bedroom. As Lee Jeong-Uk stepped out to the living room, So-Yeon and the little boy followed him. ¡°You, you, you¡­!¡± Stuttering, Lee Jeong-Uk walked toward me. His eyes were bloodshot. I didn¡¯t know why, but at that moment, seeing everyone seemed to stir something in my dead heart. It almost felt like my heart skipped a beat. Seeing Lee Jeong-Uk felt like seeing a friend after a long time apart. I was back. I was back in the ce where everyone was. Everyone weed me with a smile. Everyone weed this living corpse with warmth. Chapter 22 Chapter 22 ording to Lee Jeong-Hyuk, during my absence, they had had meeting after meeting. In conclusion, the majority seemed to believe that I would make it back alive. The violence, cruelty, and superior physical capabilities the ck creature possessed made them consider my death as a real possibility, but Lee Jeong-Uk believed that I would make it. I looked at Lee Jeong-Uk with a rather puzzled look, but he looked away and continued his story. ¡°I just assumed that you were alive, since all of your underlings were still waiting for you.¡± I knew he¡¯d been worried about me, despite what he said. His eyes, set in his pale face, had welled up with tears. I smiled at him while patting him on the back. He looked at me, then stood up and walked off while clicking his tongue. Patter, patter. I heard footsteps racing into the living room. So-Yeon was running toward me, covered in tears and snot. ¡°Daddy¡­¡± She ran toward me with her arms wide open. I smiled brightly, lifting her up. I smelled sweet shampooing from her. Her cheeks had gotten chubbier, which told me that everyone had been taking good care of her while I¡¯d been gone. I patted her on the back as I held her in my arms. ¡®My sweetie, have you been listening to the adults?¡¯ I wish I could have said this. I wanted to talk to her. I wanted to talk to her about normal stuff. But I knew that such a thing was a luxury in this situation. Instead, I hugged her, hoping that all the words I wanted to say to her would somehow be transmitted to her. I looked at Lee Jeong-Uk and gave him a slight nod. ¡®Thanks for taking care of her. Thank you for being a leader, so that everyone can get along.¡¯ My nod contained a thousand thank-yous. Lee Jeong-Uk seemed to sense my meaning. A small smile spread across his face as he looked at me and So-Yeon. These were people who knew how to show gratitude. And they were good people. Even in this cursed world, they were able to keep a bnce between practicality andmon decency. They took care of So-Yeon while I was away, and treated the people from the supermarket as human beings. After a while, the teenage boy came looking for me. ¡°Ahjussi¡­¡± The boy put down the gunny sack he was carrying. This was the first time he was seeing me. He¡¯d been in a terrible condition when I brought him over from the supermarket. His face had been swollen, blood oozing from his battered lips. He¡¯d been on the verge of dying, like an unwanted dog being beaten to the brink of death. Those gangsters must have really taken it all out on him. However, in the span of a week, I could already tell that he was doing much better. He probably still had bruises here and there but with time, the physical pain he¡¯d suffered was bound to fade away. The boy bowed low, from the waist, and said, ¡°I heard that you saved me. Thank you very much.¡± I put on a benign smile and patted his head. The boy flinched, but quickly went back to his sister with a smile on his face. The girl in her twenties beamed at me as she squeezed her younger brother¡¯s cheeks. Iughed along. Then Lee Jeong-Uk asked while looking at my face. ¡°Huh? What¡¯s this?¡± ¡®Oh shoot. My teeth.¡¯ Lee Jeong-Uk lifted my lips up without my permission, exposing my full set of razor-sharp teeth. I quickly turned away with a frown. His eyes went wide, then he asked, ¡°You can¡­ grow teeth?¡± I was actually surprised by his question. I assumed that he would be rmed, and hadn¡¯t expected a question stemming purely out of curiosity. However, I couldn¡¯t find a hint of wariness on his face, just genuine surprise. Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s question drew the attention of the others. They all gathered round, then said in unison, ¡°Say ahh¨C¡± * * * Using abination of words and drawings, I exined what had happened to me that day. Everyone¡¯s eyes were glued to my drawings, and they slowly nodded when I exined how I got separated from Lee Jeong-Uk that day. Of course, I didn¡¯t tell them I¡¯d eaten the ck creature¡¯s brain. I only told them that I pierced its head with the rebar. Everyone thanked me for what I had done. Lee Jeong-Uk patted my back without saying a word. ¡®Is he trying to say sorry for not being able to help? Or is he thanking me?¡¯ I wasn¡¯t sure why he patted me, but I didn¡¯t sense any ill will. Lee Jeong-Uk looked closely at my drawings, then tilted his head one way then the other, seemingly confused. ¡°So you started growing teeth after killing the ck creature?¡± I nodded in agreement. ¡°That¡¯s interesting. Have you seen this ck creature before, though?¡± I hesitated, slightly puzzled. ¡°You know, back at the high school, you seemed to sense its presence before anyone else did. You suddenly covered my mouth.¡± ¡®Oh right. I remember now.¡¯ I¡¯d been terrified back then. I didn¡¯t even think about running away until it was right in front of me. I probably looked as though I¡¯d known of its existence, and knew that resistance was meaningless. However, I didn¡¯t know how to word my exnation properly. I put the pen down and pointed at myself. Lee Jeong-Uk stared at me nkly, shaking his head in confusion. ¡°What about you?¡± ¡°Grr, grr.¡± I pointed at the ck creature in the drawing pad. Then I made a biting motion while pointing to myself. As I continued to gesture in this manner, Lee Jeong-Hyuk spoke up. ¡°Hyung, I think the ck creature attacked So-Yeon¡¯s dad.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± He let out a small sigh, finally understanding what I was saying. His face suddenly darkened. He asked another question, biting his lip uneasily. ¡°So you turned into a zombie because of it?¡¯ I nodded in the affirmative. He sighed and nodded, giving me the notion that he would not be asking any further questions about this matter. ¡°I¡¯m still not sure I have the full story about what happened, but you¡¯re still the same as before, right?¡± I nodded, my expression serious. He nodded back and gave me a pat on the shoulder. ¡°That¡¯s what¡¯s important.¡± I didn¡¯t know how to respond to that. ¡°Why don¡¯t we continue eating!¡± They had been eating lunch before my sudden return, but when my underlings on the first floor had begun to howl, they¡¯d hurriedly made preparations to fight. They had probably cleared away their meals and gotten into their fighting positions, all nervous. When I¡¯d entered the living room, everyone had been working in unison. Everyone had been wielding a weapon, except So-Yeon and the boy who was her age. Many of the weapons were improvised, but everyone was ready to protect the children and defend their own lives. This was a good change. I mean, I wasn¡¯t sure if it was good to look for a weapon only when they sensed something approaching, but it definitely felt like a good change in this damned world. * * * I watched from the couch as the rest of them finished up their lunch. I couldn¡¯t help but smile. Just looking at them warmed my heart. So-Yeon was working away with her chopsticks with her small hands, shoving in food in her mouth. My prediction that there would be no more washing dishes had beenpletely off. Even in this cursed world, without water or electricity, life continued on. It was like seeing a family gathering. Lee Jeong-Uk came toward me after finishing eating first. ¡°Hey, So-Yeon¡¯s dad.¡± Everyone now called me Soyeon¡¯s father, but Lee Jeong-Uk called me Soyeon¡¯s dad, as if it was my nickname. I looked at him and snorted. He took out a notepad to look at all the ns he¡¯d made, and briefed me on the ns for the day. ¡°I was nning to get some food and take care of some stuff outside. I¡¯m sorry to have to ask you since you¡¯ve just returned, but would you mind joining me?¡± I nodded without hesitation. After all, I didn¡¯t suffer from fatigue. Rest meant nothing to me. Once I¡¯d agreed, Lee Jeong-Uk went to retrieve something from the room. He emerged with a can of spray paint, the kind that graffiti artists used. I looked at him all confused. He hardly looked like the type of person to ask me to draw graffiti art with him. He shook the can as he exined his agenda. ¡°I¡¯m not sure how you tell your underlings apart, but in our eyes, they¡¯re all zombies. So I wanted to mark them with this.¡± ¡®Oh, I didn¡¯t think of that earlier.¡¯ Looking back, he hadn¡¯t seemedfortable every time I went outside with him. I thought that it had been because of the unpleasant smell, and the fear that came naturally with the situations we were in. However, in his shoes, the fear of not knowing if a zombie was on our side or not probably engulfed him the moment he stepped outside the apartment. Obviously, I had no problem telling them apart, as my underlings appeared green to me. From his perspective, though, it would be almost impossible to differentiate an ally from an enemy. Despite all this, he¡¯d gone along with all my ns, and had even made two trips outside with me. I wasn¡¯t sure if it was right to say that he had guts, or that he had no fear. It was perhaps best to think of him as an exemry leader. I felt sorry for not considering his perspective beforehand. I had to pay attention to the details. I took the spray can with a nod of approval. I felt bad for my underlings, but this had to be done. Lee Jeong-Uk and I headed toward the front door, leaving the others who were still eating. Lee Jeong-Hyuk and the teenage boy followed us. The boy¡¯s face was full of determination. Lee Jeong-Uk caught sight of the boy and gave him a nudge. ¡°Stay inside.¡± ¡°I can help too!¡± ¡°Young blood, you¡¯re not even a high schooler yet.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be a high schooler next year!¡± A freshman in high school next year. I couldn¡¯t help butugh at what he¡¯d said. The concept of school was long gone. I couldn¡¯t help butugh at his mention of going to high school next year, despite the situation we were in. Lee Jeong-Uk clicked his tongue and fastened his gaze on the boy. Lee Jeong-Hyuk swallowed the remaining food in his mouth and began to speak. ¡°Kang Ji-Suk! You have to protect the people here. Who¡¯s going to be the leader when we¡¯re gone?¡± ¡°Me¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. You have to toughen up and be a man! And do your part! Got it?¡± ¡°Yes¡­¡± Lee Jeong-Hyuk smiled proudly and patted the boy¡¯s head. How could the two Lee brothers have such different personalities? Lee Jeong-Hyuk was the stereotypical kind uncle, while Lee Jeong-Uk was the edgy and rebellious uncle. I chuckled at their short exchange as I shook the can of spray paint. As the Lee brothers stepped outside, I saw my underlings on lookout duty. There were a total of thirty-five of them. I¡¯d lost some, but the ones remaining were still trustworthy. The Lee brothers started spraying them away with blue-colored spray. ¡°GRR!¡± My underlings all red at the Lee brothers, surprised by their unexpected spray attack. ¡®Don¡¯t move. Stand still. It¡¯s good for your body.¡¯ Mymand forced my underlings to remain still as they watched the blue paint slowly cover their bodies. I could tell by their expressions that they did not enjoy getting sprayed. They looked at me with expressions that conveyed their difort. My underlings looked back and forth between their bodies and me with confused faces. ¡®I know, it¡¯s probably wet. ¡® I wasn¡¯t sure if they still possessed the sense of touch, but all of them smeared and scratched at the paint on their bodies. Eventually, all thirty-five underlings had blue bodies. They still looked green to me, but the saturation seemed a little different. The Lee brothers looked at their work with faces of satisfaction. After a moment, Lee Jeong-Uk broke the silence. ¡°Damn, they kind of look like calm waves.¡± ¡®Waves, huh.¡¯ I realized that they weren¡¯t all the same blue. The ones wearing ck clothes would seem darker, while the ones in white would seem brighter. Even their skin color was a factor in determining what shade of blue they were. I chuckled at my observation,manding my underlings to sit down and stand up until I told them to stop, beginning with the first row. Grr. My underlings followed my orders, alternating between sitting down and standing up. Lee Jeong-Uk looked at me, his eyes growing wide. ¡°Are you making them do a wave?¡± Lee Jeong-Uk let out a bigugh as I nodded. I smiled at the long-awaited peacefulness. Chapter 23 Chapter 23 Once we were done, the Lee brothers headed back to the apartment, while I took ten of my underlings to the supermarket. The gangsters¡¯ heads were still hanging at the entrance. Thanks to them, everything inside was still intact. I grabbed all the food I could see and passed them to my underlings. In the span of a week, all the frozen food had gone bad. The watermelons felt rather warm on the outside. I wasn¡¯t sure if they were edible but I grabbed a few anyway. Lee Jeong-Hyuk or Choi Da-Hye probably knew more about me when it came to food and meal prep. I also got some fresh water and clothes. No one had changed for a couple of days. I picked out some clean underwear and some summer clothes, along with nkets and duvets just in case it got cold at night. I stopped by the hardware section at the end. I gathered some tools that seemed useful. I wanted to procure some weapons for them. I wanted to make sure that they would be able to take care of themselves, even in the event of something unfortunate urring, such as me being gone for a week. I knew they needed tools to protect themselves. After filling the shopping basket with all the tools I thought were going toe in handy, I realized I had put in a lot more than I thought. I grew worried that we couldn¡¯t carry everything back. I looked at my underlings to see if any of them could spare a hand. Every single one of them had bags in their hands, and some even had bags taped to their waists as well. ¡®Hmm, maybe I got a little too greedy.¡¯ I didn¡¯t see any other zombies around. I was considering recruiting some new underlings if there were any around that looked alright. However, most of the ones whose bodies were still intact were already under my control. There was also no reason for the passive zombies to be out here in broad daylight. ¡®Okay, I need more underlings.¡¯ The fight against the ck creature had made me think of what was most important. I came to the conclusion that the most urgent issue was to recruit more underlings that could assist me. There was no guarantee that there was only one ck creature out there. I knew there had to be other zombies like me who still possessed their rational minds. Zombies with cognitive abilities. What would be the odds of them fighting for other groups of survivors? Everything was mere spection, and was all the more reason for me to recruit more underlings, just in case the unexpected happened. ¡®I should search Haengdang-dong inside out. I need to recruit those with strong andplete bodies into my underlings as punishment for eating humans.¡¯ Thus wrapped in my thoughts, I headed back to the apartment. * * * Everyone at the apartment was happier than I expected with the things I brought back. They weed the food, but they were happier to see the extra pairs of underwear and clothes. Filling up the grocery cart with everything I saw because I didn¡¯t know everyones¡¯ sizes was a stroke of genius. Lee Jeong-Ukughed out loud when he saw the brilliant pink pair of boxers. ¡°Ji-Suk, Ji-Suk!¡± ¡°Yes, ahjussi?¡± ¡°Here¡¯s one for you.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk handed him the pink pair of boxers. The teenager blushed and mumbled something. The girl in her twenties, Kang Eun-Jeong, gave him a noogie. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t beining you know!¡± she said. ¡°What? Nuna!¡± ¡°Say thank you and wear it.¡± Despite her firm voice, she had a smile across her face. Kang Ji-Suk took the pink underwear into the master bedroom, grumbling all the way. After that, Lee Jeong-Uk took a look at the things I had brought from the hardware section. ¡°Where¡¯d you get this? Wait, no¡­¡± Lee Jeong-Uk rephrased his question, shaking his head as if he knew how silly his question was. ¡°Did you get these from the hardware section?¡± I nodded, and Lee Jeong-Uk looked at Lee Jeong-Hyuk. ¡°Jeong-Hyuk, can you take a look at this?¡± ¡°This?¡± ¡°You used to work as a welder.¡± Lee Jeong-Hyuk replied hesitantly, ¡°Welder? What welder? I barely learned anything in that part-time job. And that was back in my freshman or sophomore year in college.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk smacked his lips and said, ¡°You¡¯re right. And it¡¯ll probably be too noisy anyway.¡± ¡°Hyung, I don¡¯t think we have to weld it. I think we can just use it the way it is.¡± ¡°Do you think you can even swing it properly? It¡¯s pretty heavy.¡± ¡°The one you¡¯re holding is too heavy. I¡¯m talking about this one. Don¡¯t you think it¡¯ll be quite nice to put a knife at the end of this stainless steel tube?¡± Lee Jeong-Uk nodded as he took a look at the stainless steel tube Lee Jeong-Hyuk passed him. Stainless steel was extremely useful, as it had a good strength-to-weight ratio, and did not rust as easily as other metals. The Lee brothers went to work on their ideas. Meanwhile, I got up, preparing to go out. Choi Da-Hye watched me for a moment as I made my preparations, then she asked, ¡°Are you going out?¡± I picked up the drawing pad, pointing at the high school. Just then, Lee Jeong-Uk walked up to me. ¡°Are you nuts? You¡¯re trying to go to that school again?¡± I nodded. My gesture was met with silence. Lee Jeong-Uk didn¡¯t say a word. His lips were pursed tightly, and our eyes were fixed on each others¡¯. He finally broke the long silence by asking me another question. ¡°Are you worried about the survivors?¡± I didn¡¯t reply. Considering how quickly the ck creature hade after us, it was possible that there were survivors left within the school. However, I wasn¡¯t concerned about just any survivor. I was interested in the lookouts who were on guard duty that night. They had seen the ck creature with their own eyes. If the ck creature attacked them, there was a possibility that they could¡¯ve transformed like me. I had to see if there were more creatures like me with my own two eyes. Frankly speaking, though, I didn¡¯t need to exin all of this to the rest of them. Therefore, all I did was nod calmly. Lee Joeng-Uk sighed. He knew that there was no way to dissuade me from going. ¡°If anything happens, just run. Don¡¯t be overconfident.¡± I nodded and headed out. Everyone in the living room bade me farewell. Amongst them was So-Yeon. ¡°Daddy!¡± So-Yeon came running up to me. I took her into my arms and patted her. She smiled and tickled my wrist. ¡®Do I look sad? Why is she tickling me?¡¯ Quickly, though, I realized that she was writing letters on my wrist. I couldn¡¯t exactly tell what she was writing but I assumed she wrote something positive as she was beaming so I smiled back. After that, she sidled up right next to my ear, and whispered, ¡°...you.¡± I was so surprised to hear those words from her that my eyes almost popped out. I had to question myself if I heard the right thing, even though I¡¯d heard them crystal clear, since it was something so unexpected. She immediately dashed to Choi Da-Hye as though embarrassed that she¡¯d said those words. I waved at So-Yeon before heading out. As I opened the front door, a musty smell hit me in the face, but I couldn¡¯t stop smiling. Her warm words had melted my heart well. - I love you. That¡¯s what So-Yeon had said to me. * * * I made my way outside, taking five underlings with me as I got to the first floor. I was nning to interrogate zombies that were simr to me. I needed to see if they were on my side or not. If they held any animosity toward humans, I was going to kill them without hesitation. I didn¡¯t care if my actions were hical. I wasn¡¯t an ethical being anymore. I made haste toward the high school with my underlings. The journey no longer felt long. I felt as though I could make the trip with my eyes closed. More importantly, I could tell that something was different about my muscles. I was pushing off the ground with much more force than usual. It didn¡¯t feel like I was going forward. Rather, it felt as though I was pushing the world backward. I touched my thighs, questioning my rather unfamiliar muscles. They felt too strong, and my muscles felt rock solid. I twisted my head side to side to observe my underlings behind me. They stared back at me nkly, wondering if something had happened. ¡®If I¡¯m walking faster than usual, there¡¯s no way they can be right behind me.¡¯ However, my underlings were keeping up with me, perfectly calm. ¡®It¡¯s probably nothing, right?¡¯ I didn¡¯t think much of it, putting it off as just a feeling. We reached the wall surrounding the school, and I ordered my underlings to check out the situation over the wall while I leaned against it. Leap, leap. As soon as I gave them orders, the unbelievable happened. My mouth fell open. All my underlings began to jump over the wall with ease, despite it being at least two meters high. The underlings who¡¯d had to mber over each other to get over these same walls just a few days earlier were now performing miracles. I watched them jump over one by one in awe, and soon, I realized that all of them had made the jump. ¡®Now¡¯s not the time for this.¡¯ I put all my strength into my legs to make the jump after getting myself together. Then I leaped. Immediately, my body was in midair, and I felt a sense of weightlessness. I had a sensation of my soul trying to catch up to my body. My body kept floating higher, like a spaceship defying gravity. ¡®Huh? This is really high. Too high. Stop, stop! I want to get down now.¡¯ As I reached the peak of my leap, I could see the entire school below me. Then, some unfathomable force grabbed onto my ankles. I looked down reflexively as I felt gravity pulling me down. Gravity was persistently dragging me down to the ground. I was scared. I was falling too fast. It felt like being on a free-fall tower ride with a broken seatbelt. The wind pping at my ears heightened my fear. I let out a sharp scream. I closed my eyes and prepared for impact. I felt almost nothing as Inded. ¡®What the¡­? How can this be?¡¯ My body felt light as a feather. Mynding had been gentle and sophisticated like a cat¡¯s. I carefully opened my eyes, erasing the frown from my lips. My arms and legs were shaking violently. I had felt absolutely no impact, but the fear and terror had given me the chills. Five underlings were arrayed in front of me, staring at me with the same confused expression. I brushed my hands, looking left and right to hide my embarrassment. I took my time to stretch a little, then put on a straight face and asked them, ¡®When did I tell you to jump? Didn¡¯t I order you just to check out the situation?¡¯ As I gave them a dressing down, the underlings exchanged looks while scratching their hands. After a moment, they all jumped back over the wall. They were like trained ninjas that had taken on the appearance of zombies. When all of them had made it over the wall, I fell to the ground. It was as if I¡¯d been waiting to be left alone to do so. I was surprised. I was more than surprised. All I¡¯d done was jump over the wall, but as I did so, I sensed my body grow light as a feather, while my lower body and core muscles had gotten abnormally strong. It definitely wasn¡¯t just a feeling. I now knew that I couldn¡¯t dismiss the feeling I¡¯d felt on the way to the school. My physical abilities had be abnormally enhanced, along with those of my underlings. The regr zombies on the streets were still the same. The change had happened only to me and my underlings. As I contemted the cause of this, every avenue led to the same conclusion. The ck creature¡¯s brain. My muscles had gone through a transformation as I ate its brain. I felt as though my muscles had condensed, somehow, bing stronger and tougher. ¡®Doesn¡¯t that mean that my body has simr physical capabilities as the ck creature?¡¯ I swallowed as I looked at the rooftop of the school building. The school was five stories high. The ck creature had jumped to the top of it with ease. If it had used all its strength, it would have easily been able to jump to a height of six or seven stories. I wondered how high I could jump. ¡®What¡¯s the point of thinking about it? I can test it out on my own.¡¯ I stood up, directing all my strength into my legs and getting into position to leap. My thigh muscles expanded, and my calves held firmly onto my achilles tendons, which were coiled like springs. With all my might, I held my breath and leaped toward the rooftop. The wind rushed past my ears. The first-, second- and third-floor windows zoomed before my eyes. With a nk, I grabbed onto the windowsill of the fifth floor hallway. ¡®I think I could¡¯ve made it to the rooftop railing if I had put in more strength.¡¯ My physical abilities had be abnormally enhanced, but unfortunately, I was still no match for the ck creature. Despite this, I was more than happy with what my body was capable of. My body was slowly turning into a weapon. I smirked as I looked down at the ground. ¡®This is pretty high up.¡¯ I felt nauseous. Though my physical body had been enhanced, the acrophobia I suffered from while still a human had not gone away. I made my way into the hallway, not even thinking about jumping down. Even though I was inside, my arms still trembled continuously thanks to my fear of heights. I sped my hands together, taking deep breaths to calm my violently shaking body. Chapter 24 Chapter 24 As I made my way down the stairs, I noticed the candle-lit ssroom on the first floor. I stealthily made my way toward it, so that I could have a peek inside. There were about twenty kids in a circle, talking amongst themselves. ¡®Wait¡­ Talking?¡¯ No¡ªthey were crying in silence. ¡°Why aren¡¯t the teachersing back?¡± one of them said, sobbing. ¡°You idiot, you still don¡¯t get it, do you? They abandoned all of us!¡± ¡°No! They said they¡¯d be back with food.¡± ¡°Do you think people who go out to get food take all the weapons with them when they leave? How do you think they¡¯ll bring all the food back?¡± The male student, sitting across from the female student, raised his voice. It seemed like the young, able-bodied adults had grouped up and made a run for it, leaving only the helpless children and the elderly behind. I wondered where the elderly were. I squinted, but could not make out any elderly individual. There were only children and teenagers, of varying ages. Click. The sound of a door knob being turned came from somewhere down the hallway. I quickly hid myself in the next ssroom. Thud, tap. Thud, tap. The footsteps sounded weird. They were weak, and alternated with thudding sounds, as if whoever it was was walking with a cane. I peeked down the hallway to see what was going on. An elder with snow-white hair was walking down the hallway, their head sagging down. Concern and anxiety were written all over this elder¡¯s face. After a moment, a man with a fully-grown beard followed the elder through the door. ¡°Sir!¡± ¡°Oh, yes?¡± ¡°You left your onigiri here.¡± ¡°It must¡¯ve slipped my mind.¡± The white-haired elder with white hair addressed the man with the fully-grown beard as the principal. I hadn¡¯t seen his face thest time I was at the school. He looked very gentle and kind, an image that did not match the way he¡¯d raised his voice previously. The white-haired man hesitated for a moment after receiving the onigiri. He then offered half of it to the principal. ¡°Have you had the chance to eat yet?¡± ¡°Of course, sir. You should eat before it gets cold.¡± ¡°I know you haven¡¯t. You¡¯ve been on lookout duty all day. Let¡¯s eat.¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m alright. Thank you, though.¡± ¡°My arm¡¯s starting to hurt. Come on, take it already.¡± The principal persistently refused the onigiri with a nervous, sheepish smile. Eventually, the elder forcefully ced one half of it into the principal¡¯s hand. The onigiri was pathetic. It was made with crumbly rice, and probably smaller than an adult male¡¯s fist. However, the two still possessed a shred of humanity. I felt stifled and uneasy as I watched them, and the uneasiness soon turned into unexinable anger. ¡®Who am I mad at? Toward the younger adults who left them behind? Or toward this damned world?¡¯ These people were locked up in here for life, just for the sin of remaining human. They were doomed to spend the rest of their lives in this jail disguised as a school. I was watching human beings go about their lives as people, and yet I was wracked by an unexinable feeling of guilt and sadness that I did not expect. I had known of their plight since the week before. However, I hadn¡¯t been able to render them any assistance. I¡¯d faced several issues in the process, but now, looking at them, they all seemed like excuses. After a moment, the principal and the elder began to converse. ¡°Sir, did Madam Mal-Sook make it back yesterday?¡± The principal didn¡¯t say anything. The elder muttered something to himself, then patted the principal on his shoulder. ¡°She used to run all over the ce when she was young¡­¡± The elder didn¡¯t finish. The principal let out a sigh, and spoke in a grieving tone, ¡°It¡¯s all my fault. If I had paid more attention, Madam Mal-Sook would¡¯ve¡ª¡± ¡°Stop.¡± The elder cut him off and gave him a pat on the back. ¡°You didn¡¯t do anything wrong. I know you¡¯ve been doing your best, taking care of people like me. You don¡¯t have anything to apologize for.¡± The principal remained silent. ¡°And you should have some of the food that you went out with her to get.¡± ¡°No, I wouldn¡¯t dare¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t feel guilty.¡± After that, the elder made his way back to the ssroom. Thud, tap. Thud, tap. The sound of his cane receded down the hallway, leaving the principal alone in the silent hallway. He stood there, unmoving, his head drooping down. He let out a long, heavy sigh. His sigh sounded like it contained all the guilt that he¡¯d stored up inside. His shoulders dropped, and he copsed to the floor like a falling leaf. He was crying in silence, a fist in his mouth instead of the onigiri. I knew he had a lot on his shoulders. However, there was probably no one he could talk to about it. The responsibility, guilt, and helplessness that weighed the principal down filled the hallway. * * * There didn¡¯t seem to be any other beings inside the school. I didn¡¯t see any zombies like me, or any traces of the ck creature. I wondered what had happened during the week I¡¯d been gone. I hurried back to our apartment to figure out the answer to my question. I had to go ahead with our initial n, but we had to tweak it so that it was more moral. There was absolutely no time for any role-ying. As soon as I got back, I exined the situation at the high school. It took a couple of hours to get them to understand what my intentions were. Lee Jeong-Uk stroked his chin with his hands. ¡°Let¡¯s go tomorrow.¡± He was now volunteering to go with me. I felt his resolution behind his words. He also needed a purpose in life. He needed something beyond the safety, protection, and survival of everyone here, something more fundamental that would keep him going. I took his answer as a ¡®yes¡¯. I met Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s gaze and nodded. He returned it slightly, as if he knew what I was trying to say. Then Lee Jeong-Hyuk got up from the kitchen, and took out the precious stainless steel spear. ¡°I¡¯m not sure if you¡¯ll need this, but just in case.¡± Lee Jeong-Hyuk passed the stainless steel spear to Lee Jeong-Uk with a smirk on his face. He received the weapon from his younger brother and returned the smirk. The next day would be the first time we would be moving as a team. Not because someone asked a favor, or by force, but as a team united behind one purpose. * * * Unlike our initial n, our preparations began early in the morning. Lee Jeong-Uk, Lee Jeong-Hyuk and Kang Eun-Jeong were part of the group. We knew that the people in the school would be suspicious if Lee Jeong-Uk entered by himself. I could foresee the questions they would be asking. ¡®How did you survive by yourself? Why did youe here? Have you been spying on us?¡¯ We came to the conclusion that it had to be a group of people. Lee Jeong-Hyk volunteered, while the Lee brothers vetoed Choi Da-Hye from joining. Someone had to stay to take care of So-Yeon and the children in case something went wrong. Kang Ji-Suk raised his right hand to volunteer, but of course, the Lee brothers ignored him. We realized that there could be a problem inmunication if the groupprised only rugged men. A vote was put forth, and based on the majority, Kang Eun-Jeong was selected toe with us. Surprisingly, she went along with our request. - I have to do my part. That¡¯s what Kang Eun-Jeong said to me. Since we had more people, I brought more underlings with me. I made my thirty blue-colored underlings form a tight circle around everyone. Lee Jeong-Uk noticed that I wasn¡¯t in my best condition, and approached me. ¡°Is something wrong? Did you not get enough sleep?¡± He knew that I didn¡¯t need sleep. His joke merely highlighted his concern for me. I chuckled while pointing at the zombies near the apartment entrance. He stared at them nkly, then looked at me with disbelief. ¡°Wait, they¡¯re all your underlings?¡± I growled an affirmative in my throat-rending voice. The previous night, while everyone had been sleeping, I¡¯d gone around to recruit more underlings. Well, I didn¡¯t recruit them because I wanted to. I was almost obligated to do so. I turned the zombies near apartment block 104, the one that we were located in, along with those near blocks 105 and 103. That night alone, I recruited fifty-two underlings. I pushed them one by one until I was on the verge of fainting. My head almost split as I continued throughout the night. Thanks to my work, though, we had increased protection. I was nning to take care of all the zombies within our apartmentplex. I wanted to create a ce where everyone felt safe, a safe haven that did not exist anywhere else. That was my grand n for our apartmentplex. Lee Jeong-Uk patted me on the shoulder and smacked his lips. He knew that I suffered physically when I created more underlings. His gesture conveyed a million thanks. Then, he took a deep breath and looked at Lee Jeong-Hyuk and Kang Eun-Jeong. ¡°Ready?¡± Lee Jeong-Hyuk and Kang Eun-Jeong nodded, their expressions betraying their nervousness. As he looked at them, Lee Jeong-Uk smirked and remarked, ¡°Just do what So-Yeon¡¯s dad says. He¡¯ll make sure you¡¯re safe.¡± Everyone knew I couldn¡¯t speak. I was basically a living corpse. But his joke was enough to lift the team¡¯s spirits. I caught Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s eyes and nodded. He sighed, then said in a slightly bitter tone, ¡°I don¡¯t think I ever made it to school on time back in the day.¡± ¡®That¡¯s something to be proud about,¡¯ was what I wanted to say. * * * The school was as silent as a tomb when we got there. I ordered my underlings to keep everyone else hidden, then knocked on the closed steel door. Thud, thud, thud. There was no response after the three knocks. All it did was attract the attention of the surrounding zombies. I red at them with wide-open eyes. My bloodshot eyes were enough to threaten them. They all avoided my eyes or stepped backward. I wondered if the ones without vision felt my re as well. I had figured out from the beginning that these street zombies and I were different. As I stood in front of the wall, I thought to myself, ¡®Should we jump over?¡¯ I assumed that talking to them would be more difficult if we did so. I wanted to enter the school together with everyone else in the most proper way possible, but the situation did not allow us to do so. There was no other option but to barge in. I ordered my zombies to make a tform, the same way they did the first time I¡¯de to the school. I sent Lee Jeong-Uk, Lee Jeong-Hyuk, and Kang Eun-Jeong over the wall. Just before Lee Jeong-Uk went over, he reminded me about our n. ¡°If things go south, let¡¯s go with what we agreed on earlier.¡± We¡¯de up with a n before we left the apartment. It wasn¡¯t a grandiose n. The n was to get Kang Eun-Jeong to scream at the top of her lungs as we broke in. All those inside the school would be shocked to see us, and freeze. If any street zombies made their way in while we were at it, I would take care of them. I nodded back to Lee Jeong-Uk, hoping for the best. * * * The sun was at its highest. I could feel the intense heat scorching my body. The streets shimmered with the heat. I sat on a wooden swing and waited for the others who had gone inside. As time flew by, I got more desperate. ¡®What if they get caught before Kang Eun-Jeong screams? What if the people inside start attacking without asking questions?¡¯ My negative thoughts swirled around like the heat haze shimmering over the street surface. I shook my head violently to get rid of them. ¡®There¡¯s nothing to worry about. They can still make it work through negotiation. The people inside haven¡¯t lost their humanity.¡¯ I continued to wait, assuming that the dy was merely because there was much for my group to exin. ¡°¡­Here!¡± A familiar voice interrupted my thoughts. Someone was screaming desperately at the top of their lungs. I wasn¡¯t sure how far away the voice was. It was so small that it barely made it through the shimmering heat haze. Someone far away was begging for their life. I stood up, my senses alert. ¡°Here! This way!¡± It was a person¡¯s voice. And it wasn¡¯t just one person. From the voices and footsteps, there seemed to be at least two or three people. I looked toward the sound. It wasing from the other direction, away from the school. I¡¯d been drawn to the voice for a simple reason. It sounded very familiar. I knew I¡¯d heard it somewhere before. A face drifted into my mind, and I could see him shouting in anger. It was the principal¡¯s voice. Chapter 25 Chapter 25 I left my underlings where they were and headed toward the voice. I was running pretty fast, even with the sun up. It couldn''t bepared to when the sun was down, but I still outpaced the other zombies by a fair bit. As I kept going, I grew worried, wondering if I was moving too far away from the group that had gone into the school. However, if the voice really was the principal¡¯s, it meant that they didn¡¯t even get the chance to speak seriously. ¡®Wait¡­ Then what are the Lee brothers and Kang Eun-Jeong doing inside? Are the children inside telling them about the situation?¡¯ It wasn¡¯t the time to get lost in my own thoughts. I pushed these useless thoughts aside and headed toward the source of the sound. ¡®Let''s focus on the situation at hand. I need to confirm if it¡¯s actually the principal¡¯s voice.¡¯ I finally reached the source of the sound. I could hear people screaming through the broken window of a store. It was a cacophony of sound, zombie howls mixed in with human screams. I entered the store immediately, not wasting a single second. My eyes fell on a group of zombies. Three? Four? No¡ªthere were at least five of them. The zombies were trying to squeeze themselves somewhere. They were heading for the store¡¯s fitting room. That was when I realized that I had entered a clothing store. One of the zombies fell to the ground with a thud. It spasmed once then stopped moving, as if its skull had been cracked. ¡°Go in, hurry up!¡± I heard the principal¡¯s voice from the fitting room. At that moment, another zombie pushed its upper body through the partially-damaged door of the fitting booth. ¡°Sir!¡± A youngster¡¯s voice called desperately for the principal. That snapped me back to my senses. The voice that called for the principal was also familiar. I remembered the male student who¡¯d been scolding the female student the night before. As snippets of memories shed through my mind, I felt unexinable anger and fury seethe within me. ¡®Is this anger toward the younger teachers? Or anger toward the whole damn world?¡¯ With a scowl on my face, I growled at the zombies in front of me. ¡°GRRR!!!¡± I let my voice loose, filling the store with a discordant, throat-rending shriek. For a second, all I could hear was my cry, and the zombies that were in the midst of their frenzied hunt all stopped to look at me. I red at them with bloodshot, murderous eyes, as if I was going to eat them at any second. The zombies looked down, shaking their heads as they realized they had crossed paths with an apex predator. ¡®Are they confused? No, they¡¯re scared.¡¯ As I headed for the dressing booth, they parted to the side, like an automatic door. I could feel the presence of people inside. They were busy with something inside. I wondered what they could possibly be doing. I peeked in to see what they were up to. I saw a small hole at the far end of the fitting booth, just big enough for a single person to fit through. The male student was squeezing himself through the hole, while the principal was staring at me with his mouth open, like a goldfish. I locked eyes with the principal. I didn¡¯t know what to do now. I turned away, frowning as I tried to process my mixed feelings. The principal held onto a bup sack, and he swallowed so hard that I could hear it. The sack was quivering violently, a clear indication of how the principal was feeling at the moment. A zombie with glowing red eyes. In his eyes, this was a mutant he had never seen before. ¡°Sir, this way! Quick!¡± There was a sharp intake of breath. The male student, who had made it through the hole and was looking at the principal from the other side, gasped when he saw me. He fell on his bottom, covering his mouth. It seemed like he had bit his tongue in shock. I saw another student next to him. ¡®Did she make it through first?¡¯ It was a female student wearing gym clothes. Her legs gave out the moment she saw me. To the survivors, I wasn¡¯t a hero, savior, or someone great. I was just a threatening being that stoked their fear of death. The principal stared at me, not moving an inch. ¡®Is his body stiff with shock, or is his mind telling him that he shouldn¡¯t move?¡¯ I was growing impatient, so I lifted my right hand. His lips were trembling while his eyes were glued to my fingertips. I made a tiny hand gesture that only humans could understand. ¡®Go! Hurry.¡¯ The principal looked at me nkly, then blinked and threw himself through the hole. I could tell that it would be painful for him to try to fit his body through the narrow space. I knew that the sides of the hole would scrape against his body painfully. I heard him scream in agony as he struggled to push himself through the hole. ¡®I wish he knew he could take his time¡­¡¯ I knew what was going through his mind. He probably thought that I was going to eat him at any second. I couldn¡¯t help but feel sorry as I watched his legs floundering behind him. As he tried to make his way out faster, his legs pushed off desperately against the floor, his feet slipping and scraping. I wanted to help him, but I knew better. At that moment, staying put was the best way to help him. As soon as the principal made it through, they all ran away as if that had been the n all along. I finally let out a sigh of relief, and looked back at the entrance to the shop. I could still see several zombies there, avoiding my gaze. They all seemed to be in one piece, which made them suitable candidates as underlings. I contemted for a minute on whether I should turn them into my underlings or not. I walked away shaking my head, eventually deciding not to. I assumed that the principal and the two children had already seen the faces of the zombies here. I could already envision how they would react if I brought them with me to the school. ¡®I¡¯ll see you guys around.¡¯ I headed toward the school. * * * I followed the principal and children to get to the school. As soon as they left the clothing store, theyposed themselves and started moving swiftly. The principal led the way, with the female student in gym clothes right behind him. She was covering her mouth to prevent her cries from leaking out. The male student followed her in a daze, as if his soul had left his body. The principal looked pale as well, and seemed lost in thought. They followed their instincts, making their way back to the school to survive. As I followed them, we encountered a couple of dangerous situations, when zombies with the sense of smell and who possessed vision grew attracted to them. However, as soon as they saw me tailing the trio, all of them backed away, smacking their lips. I red at the retreating zombies with a warning. ¡®They¡¯re mine. Don¡¯t you darey a hand on them.¡¯ Of course, I had no intention of eating the humans. I only wanted to threaten the zombies so that they would back off. I wondered if the principal and students knew what was happening behind them, or if they were aware that they had almost gotten killed three times on the way back. Fortunately, with me shadowing them all the way, the principal and children made it back safely to the entrance of the school. I looked at them from a distance away, letting out a sigh of relief. My heightened senses cooled. I called for my underlings, whom I had hidden away earlier on, preparing to escort everyone in the school. I already knew that they would take up our offer. They would have joined up with us nine times out of ten anyway. What happened today would surely be enough for them toe to the conclusion that the school wasn¡¯t safe anymore. They probably realized that there was a mutant lurking around as well. They would have to find another ce to shelter. Now everything was in Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s hands. * * * I couldn¡¯t tell how much time had passed. It seemed like well over an hour since the principal and the children had gone inside. Finally, the sealed entrance to the school opened, and Lee Jeong-Uk peeked out. I raised my hand up high for him to see me. I was signaling him that I was ready, so that he would bring the people out and we could escort them back to our ce. But instead, he waved at me to join him. I wasn¡¯t sure what was going on, but I took his cue and went to the entrance. ¡°So-Yeon¡¯s dad.¡± I looked at him quizzically. ¡°I think you should hear this.¡± I shook my head and pointed at myself, just to double-check. Lee Jeong-Uk sighed, continuing where he left off. ¡°You met the principal here an hour ago, right?¡± I replied with a series of growls. ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s about that.¡± They were probably raising questions about me. I was certain that the principal would bring up the mutant he had seen with his very own eyes, and that Lee Jeong-Uk would say he knew the zombie he was talking about. I scratched my head, looking at the underlings that were lined up in front of me. They were all staring at me nkly, standing in the shade. ¡®At ease.¡¯ After giving them this briefmand, I followed Lee Jeong-Uk inside. As we crossed the wide field, I could see people¡¯s faces in the first floor window. They were all staring at us, as if I were some animal in a zoo. Feeling embarrassed, I let my head droop as I continued to follow Lee Jeong-Uk. We headed toward the principal¡¯s office. As we stepped inside, I noticed the two students from the clothing shop sitting down in the corner. The principal and a white-haired elder were sitting at a table in the center of the room. Now that I was seeing the principal up close, I noticed that he also had a lot of white hair. He looked just slightly younger than the elder next to him. It made sense, since high school principals weren¡¯t typically young. His eyes shone with the re of a ferocious tiger. However, I quickly realized that his gaze was nothing but a bluff. His hands, which were on the desk, were shaking violently. I could see an endless abyss of fear in the students¡¯ eyes as well. I didn¡¯t dare look at the students. My gaze was probably enough to scare the living daylights out of them. ¡°Have a seat, please,¡± said the principal. Lee Jeong-Uk and I calmly sat in front of the desk. The principal sighed and sped his hands together. I could tell from his tight grip that he was trying to hide his nervousness. The principal remained silent, and so Lee Jeong-Uk continued the conversation. ¡°The monster you said you saw outside. Is it this friend of mine right here?¡± ¡®Monster? Friend?¡¯ I supposed I stood somewhere in between these two diametrically-opposing terms. The principal nced at me and nodded. Lee Jeong-Uk shed a slightly bitter smile and continued, ¡°Even though he looks like this, he¡¯s a person.¡± ¡°He¡¯s a person?¡± The principal finally let down his guard, offering a genuine human reaction. His eyes widened in surprise, and I almostughed out loud. ¡°Yes, he¡¯s a person,¡± Lee Jeong-Uk answered with a soft smile. ¡°Well, I just can¡¯t see him as one.¡± ¡°Sir, you do know that¡¯s extremely insulting to say to someone who saved your life and the lives of those children, right?¡± Despite his smile, he wasn¡¯t about to give in. Lee Jeong-Uk was the type of guy who didn¡¯t hide his feelings. If he felt insulted, he would say so. With his boldness and magnanimity, he took control of the conversation. I looked at Lee Jeong-Uk. He smirked at me and mouthed the words ¡®why¡¯ and ¡®what¡¯. I was touched by his gesture. His guts and confidence continued to surprise me. ¡°He may seem a little different. I understand. I didn¡¯t trust him at first either.¡± He also made blunt, hurtful statements without batting an eyelid, but his frank manner of speech was effective at building up trust. He leaned over the desk to speak to the principal. ¡°But I want to get one thing straight. Don¡¯t treat him as a monster. He¡¯s a person.¡± ¡°¡­¡± The principal remained silent. I could still sense the uneasiness in their gazes. Then, the white-haired elder intervened. ¡°I agree. We should join up with these people.¡± Everyone turned to look at the white-haired elder. The principal¡¯s eyes widened as he heard the elder¡¯s decision. ¡°You don¡¯t have toe to a decision right now¡­¡± the principal said, as though questioning the finality of the elder¡¯s decision. ¡°No. The world has changed.¡± The white-haired elder put his cane on the desk. ¡°There are people out there who are worse than animals these days. But look at him. Even though he looks the way he does, he¡¯s here, listening to our story.¡± With that, everyone directed their gaze at me. I bowed my head in embarrassment. With a satisfied smile, the elder followed up with a question. ¡°Could I ask your name?¡± Out of all the things that he could¡¯ve done, he¡¯d asked me a question. I stared at Lee Jeong-Uk, hoping he would answer instead. He clearly understood what I was trying to convey, and answered the elder¡¯s question with a smile. ¡°You can call him So-Yeon¡¯s dad.¡± He insisted on calling me ¡®So-Yeon¡¯s dad¡¯, even though he knew that my real name was Lee Hyun-Deok. ¡®Does he think ¡®So-Yeon¡¯s dad¡¯ sounds more friendly?¡¯ The elder chuckled as if he appreciated the moniker. ¡°It seems like he has trouble talking.¡± ¡°Yes, sir.¡± ¡°Did he have issues with his speech since birth?¡± ¡°No, I don¡¯t think so.¡± ¡°What a pity. It must be difficult for him.¡± The elder nced at me and Lee Jeong-Uk with eyes of pity, then eventually got to his feet without his cane. Lee Jeong-Uk, who was sitting next to the elder, quickly got up to support the elder, who thanked Lee Jeong-Uk with a gentle smile. He smiled at me as well. I stood up and bowed toward him. The elder came closer to me, with Lee Jeong-Uk supporting him. He then grabbed my hand. ¡°Thank you. Thank you for saving our principal and the children. Thank you for showing up for us.¡± I bit my lip to contain my feelings. The elder¡¯s hands were skinny and as wrinkled as they could be, but they were the warmest hands I had ever held onto. I could feel the affection from them. It was a feeling I had never experienced as a human. Only now, with a dead heart, did I get the opportunity to feel this emotion. I couldn¡¯t lift my head. I knew I wouldn¡¯t be able to control my feelings if I looked at him. I held onto the elder¡¯s hand with my head down. Chapter 26 Chapter 26 The elder¡¯s words helped to bridge the gap, and my people and the survivors from the school began to speak on the same wavelength. From these conversations, I got answers to the questions that had been guing me. The week before, the ck creature had attacked the two men on lookout duty. Everyone said that it had all happened in a sh. In fact, it was over so quickly that they couldn¡¯t do anything about it. Fortunately, after attacking those two, the ck creature had jumped over the wall and ran off as though bewitched by something. I had mixed feelings toward their story, because I knew that the ck creature hade after Lee Jeong-Uk and I afterward. I pursed my lips, feeling uneasy as I listened to the principal¡¯s story. He seemed to remember the devastation that had been wrought that day. He pressed his fingers against his temples and let out a deep sigh, then continued. After the ck creature had vanished, everyone inside quickly made their way outside to see the two. They had already died and were in the process of mutation. Their veins seemed like they were going to burst, and their pupils were dting and contracting repeatedly. The principal said that he had taken care of them until the end. Lee Jeong-Uk wanted him to borate on what he meant by ¡®taking care of them¡¯. The principal clenched his fists while biting his lips. ¡°Their head, with this¡­¡± he said, his voice cracking. He picked up the monkey wrench on the floor. His eyes welled up with tears, as though the pain he had felt that day was still fresh in his mind. I observed his demeanor closely. His shoulders weren¡¯t heavy with guilt or fear. It was a sense of responsibility that was crushing him down to his soul, a weight that he couldn¡¯t brush off. This responsibility of his had kept him alive to this day, while sapping the life out of him. He was certainly a poor soul. The others remained silent, and the principal took a deep breath before going on. ¡°The younger group of adults left the school.¡± ¡°They left?¡± repeated Lee Jeong-Uk. ¡°They finally found a justifiable reason to do so,¡± replied the principal. ¡°They saw me do something inhumane with their very own eyes. So they left, just like that.¡± ¡°Damn bastards,¡± Lee Jeong-Uk cursed through gritted teeth, his fists clenching in anger. The younger adults who had been looking for any excuse to justify their actions had left the school the instant such an excuse had appeared. I could almost see them using the principal for his ipetence and cruelty, berating him with the fact that he had crushed their heads. Once they¡¯d left, the principal had to step up as the elders and children left at the school were helpless, like wilting nts. He had taken trips outside on his own to retrieve the food and necessities they needed. The principal¡¯s expression grew sad. ¡°About two days after that, the elders said they would make the trips outside with me.¡± The principal looked at the elder, his eyes downcast. The elder nodded slowly and silently. After a moment, he spoke. ¡°He was against the idea, but we didn¡¯t want to be a burden.¡± ording to the principal, the elders were incredibly stubborn. He had no choice but to take them with him on his trips outside. Over the course of two days, half of the elders had been wiped out. Their deaths broke the principal¡¯s heart and threatened to overwhelm his sanity. He thought about dying multiple times a day, torn between reason and emotion. Each time it happened, though, the children were there to bring him to his senses. The way the children looked at him renewed his gging hope. He endured the pain of going out everyday. He probably had to endure more suffering as more and more elders passed away. The previous night, the children in their middle- andte-teens said they would join in as well. After this revtion, I looked at the boy who was sitting in the corner. He wasforting the girl, who was crying silently. Lee Jeong-Uk smacked his lips and asked the boy a question. ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± ¡°Byeon Hyeok-Jin,¡± replied the boy, rather curtly. I wondered if he was still keeping his distance from Lee Jeong-Uk and I. Lee Jeong-Uk nodded slowly, then asked the girl next to him, ¡°How about you?¡± ¡°Ga-In. Woo Ga-In.¡± ¡°Woo Ga-In? I haven¡¯t heard the family name ¡®Woo¡¯ in a while.¡± He smiled and continued, ¡°You made a courageous decision. I bet it wasn¡¯t easy for you to do so.¡± ¡°We¡¯re different from them,¡± Byeon Hyeok-Jin retorted with a frown on his face. I wondered if his anger was directed towards the teachers who had abandoned them. To me, it seemed like they still harbored doubts and distrust toward adults, which exined why they were keeping their distance from Lee Jeong-Uk and I. To them, Lee Jeong-Uk and I probably seemed no different from the teachers¡ªyoung and healthy adults who could abandon them at any time. Adults who were still in their prime, and selfish deep down. I could see why they would keep their distance from us. After a moment, the principal sitting across the table spoke up. ¡°It wasn¡¯t an easy decision for both me and the students.¡± The principal confessed that he had brooded over whether it was all right to let the youngsters go outside. He wasn¡¯t sure if it was right to take the children beyond the barricades, given how difficult it was just trying to survive. Struggling with this question had cost him a night of sleep. Finally, at sunrise that morning, he let Byeon Hyeok-Jin and Woo Ga-In apany him outside. They stayed close to the school so that he could teach them what they had to be cautious of when going outside. However, a zombie had snuck up on them, causing Woo Ga-In to scream, thus throwing the expedition into chaos. At that moment, I remembered the faces of the principal and children while they had been trapped in the dressing room. Even in such a situation, the principal had prioritized the safety of the children over his own. I recalled the zombies trying all their might to get inside while the male student was struggling to escape through the narrow hole. The principal had fought back, with no hint of running away, as if he had already epted his death. If I hadn¡¯t gone into the clothing store, he would¡¯ve met his end there. The children, who had barely made it out, would have met the same fate on their way back to the school. Having listened to all that had happened in the past week, I looked at Lee Jeong-Uk and took a deep breath. He studied me for a moment, then chuckled. ¡°Why, you want to get going?¡± ¡°Grr¡­¡± I let out a growl by ident. Everyone in the principal¡¯s office was aghast at the sound. The principal stiffened, and I could almost tell what was going through his mind. Unlike everyone else, however, the elder merely looked at Lee Jeong-Uk and me, his eyes full of curiosity. ¡°Did you say your name is Lee Jeong-Uk?¡± he asked. ¡°Yes, sir.¡± ¡°Can you understand what he¡¯s saying?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t, but I can tell the difference between ¡®yes¡¯ and ¡®no¡¯.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk answered, scratching his forehead. The elder nodded as he looked at me. He was clearly finding this whole interaction fascinating. I couldn¡¯t tell by his expression what he was thinking. He was looking at me and Lee Jeong-Uk with a gentle smile. After a moment, he sped his hands together and said, ¡°I¡¯m not sure if this analogy is urate. However, we know that animals also have feelings; they just can¡¯t express themselves using humannguage. I believe the fellow here is in a simr predicament. What do you think, Principal?¡± The principal replied with a sigh, keeping his eyes on Lee Jeong-Uk. ¡°He can understand what we¡¯re saying, right?¡± asked the elder. ¡°Yes,¡± replied Lee Jeong-Uk. ¡°He just can¡¯t speak.¡± ¡°Then how do you two usuallymunicate?¡± ¡°We exchange ideas through writing or drawings.¡± The principal was still rather guarded when it came to me. However, I knew his curiosity was just as strong as his sense of caution, and he was dying to ask questions and know more about me. After a moment, he straightened his posture and cleared his throat. ¡°Let me ask just one more question.¡± It seemed like all the other questions had merely been intermediate steps to get to the real question. He was finally cutting to the chase. He sighed deeply before continuing. ¡°I¡¯m not sure if I can say such a thing to someone who saved our lives, but why did you save us in the first ce? It seems to me that your people have no problem sustaining yourselves. Why did you save weaklings like us? No matter how much I think about it, I just can¡¯t seem to understand your actions.¡± As he spoke, I caught a glimpse of desire in his eyes. He seemed to be looking for a specific answer, yet it was one that he couldn¡¯t really articte to himself. I could tell, however, that he needed some words of constion. I knew exactly how he was feeling. He needed someone to give him sce. In this situation,fort was valued as much as hope was. I could empathize with the principal¡¯s reactions. The bad blood between him and the other teachers had probably caused him to lose his trust in others. I knew better than to let something like that happen again. I stared at Lee Jeong-Uk. It seemed like he had also realized what the principal needed right away. Out of the blue, I recalled the first time I met Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s group. Lee Jeong-Uk had been as cautious as the principal, perhaps even more. He had been ready to crush my head in with the shovel he¡¯d been wielding back then. However, the agreement we hade to, the contract that we had made, had been enough to bring constion to his group, and as it continued, trust soon developed. With a smile, Lee Jeong-Uk answered the principal¡¯s question for me. ¡°Does there have to be a reason for people to help other people?¡± His words were enough to move the principal. He nodded slowly and silently. The elder nodded as well, a smile on his face. He was clearly pleased by what Lee Jeong-Uk had said. The principal got to his feet and took a deep breath. ¡°Frankly speaking, I still don''t know if this is the right thing to do. However, I think it would be best to follow you, for the childrens¡¯ sake. Looking at you and Lee Jeong-Uk, along with the others who are with you, gives me hope for a brighter future.¡± The principal couldn¡¯t look me in the eye, but I could see his slight smile. I nodded back without saying a word. Lee Jeong-Hyuk and Kang Eun-Jeong were taking care of the children in the ssroom. They weren¡¯t being pretentious at all. In the end, how much stuff you had did not matter when it came to interacting with others. Interactions had nothing to do with things like fame or wealth. Empathy. All that was needed was a sense of empathy, being able to understand and care for others. The principal stretched out his hand. ¡°A second betrayal would absolutely destroy me. I don¡¯t know how I¡¯ll act if that happens.¡± There was a kaleidoscope of meaning and emotion behind his words. He was desperately asking for a favor, and yet he was threatening us at the same time. I stood up and sped his hand tightly. I knew there was no way he could get rid of his anxiety right away. As I shook his outstretched hand, offered to me with a myriad of emotions, I hoped that my sincerity could help him find a sense of peace. After a brief moment, Lee Jeong-Uk spoke up. ¡°Alrighty then! Let¡¯s get going before sunset!¡± Everyone in the principal¡¯s office nodded in agreement. After doing a headcount, we realized that there were twenty one children, four elders, and the principal. There were a total of twenty-six survivors in the school. I knew we needed more underlings if we were to move all these people. I stepped out of the principal¡¯s office catching Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s eye and gesturing to him with my hands. ¡®Zombies over the wall. Need to make them into underlings.¡¯ I always knew that bodynguage was the best form ofmunication between humans. He looked closely at my gestures and tried to guess at my intentions. ¡°You¡¯re going to bring your underlings?¡± he asked, his voicecking in confidence. He sort of managed to get what I was trying to say. I nodded, and Lee Jeong-Uk gave me a pat on the shoulder, as though guessing my intentions was a piece of cake to him. ¡°You¡¯re right. It¡¯s probably better to get into formation on the field in the schoolpound, instead of doing it outside the gates. We¡¯ll wait here.¡± I nodded and made my way to the front entrance. As I passed the tightly-shut steel gate, I saw my underlings sitting in the shadows, examining the red dragonflies. I had a total of thirty underlings waiting for mymand. Thirty definitely wasn¡¯t a small number, but considering the amount of people we had, it wasn¡¯t going to be enough. I assumed that five underlings to each person would be optimal. I knew that the zombies in the streets would make their move if they saw even the slightest gap. If they managed to harm any of the survivors, they might be infected as well. ¡®What if I gathered the survivors in the center of my underlings? No, no. The zombies with their sense of sight would be attracted right away.¡¯ It only made sense thatrger groups would attract more attention. ¡®Is moving around in smaller numbers the only solution?¡¯ I stopped thinking about the details and looked at the zombies milling about the streets. ¡®So the bottom line is that I don¡¯t have enough underlings, huh? Let¡¯s get to work.¡¯ Chapter 27 Chapter 27 ¡®Darn it, I can¡¯t believe I have to do this again.¡¯ The pain from the night before still lingered, but I knew that the others would be put in greater danger if I let myself rest. I dusted off my hands and did some stretching, then approached the zombies that were still in one piece and could move around properly. Steeling my resolve, I began to push them. It wasn¡¯t long before my head started to hurt, and my ears were ringing constantly. Despite the growth in my physical abilities, I couldn¡¯t get used to these headaches. Perhaps this was natural, since my brain couldn¡¯t pack on muscle like my body did. My physical abilities had grown exponentially after feasting on the ck creature¡¯s brain. I tensed every muscle in my body in an attempt to resist the pain. GRR!! Suddenly, an unfamiliar shriek cut through the air. I spun around quickly as I tried to find its source, holding onto my aching head with my left hand. ¡®Where is iting from?¡¯ It hadn¡¯t been a random noise, nor was it a sound that a regr zombie on the street would make. It was more sharp. In fact, it caused me to tense up and put all my senses on alert. It kept repeating, like waves crashing upon a shore. It almost felt like some sort of morse code, as though someone were trying to broadcast a message to attract my attention. ¡®Am I being too sensitive?¡¯ However, I could sense the subtle differences between zombies¡¯ voices, the same way a human could distinguish different human voices. The zombie noises that followed this sharp cry sounded more like the cries the zombies on the streets made. It felt like the street zombies weremunicating to each other. I looked around, and eventually my gaze swept across a rooftop a distance away. There was a zombie there, looking me straight in the eye. As I continued to look at it, I suddenly felt chills run down my spine. ¡®What the hell is that bastard?¡¯ The headache that was bothering me went away instantly, reced by rm bells and an intense feeling of danger. Every part of my body was tense and on alert, as if signaling me to go after that zombie right away. My muscles tensed up, and my fingertips trembled. The anxiety that had gone out like the receding tide was now rushing back at me as a tsunami. I swallowed hard. It still hadn¡¯t looked away from me. The zombies on the streets would normally tremble just by looking at me, but this creature was staring right at me, standing perfectly still. ¡®Does it think it has a chance against me? On second thought, I suppose it won¡¯t be wrong for it to think so.¡¯ This creature was different from the other zombies. It was red. * * * I ran toward the zombie with all my might. I¡¯de to the conclusion that following my instincts was the best course of action for now. I wasn¡¯t sure if I could utilize the full extent of my abilities since it was broad daylight, but I knew that the same restrictions would apply to the other zombie as well. ¡®Dealing with an enemy to get rid of danger. This was the natural thing to do.¡¯ Four hundred¡­ three hundred¡­ two hundred¡­ and finally, one hundred meters. As I got closer, I identified the building that the zombie was in. I ran straight through the crumbling entryway and climbed up the stairs. The building was twenty-two stories high. Bang! A loud thud rang in my ears as I was climbing up the stairs. It hade from outside. ¡®Is something happening outside? Should I go back down?¡¯ No. I had to confront the zombie on the rooftop. After taking a moment to gather my thoughts, I recruited all the strength I had in my legs and continued up the stairs. Even after clearing twenty-two flights, I did not feel an ounce of fatigue. As soon as I got to the rooftop, I looked at the spot where the zombie had been standing earlier on. However, the creature was no longer there. ¡®Where¡¯d it go, where¡¯d it go?¡¯ I looked around as if bewitched. No matter how hard I looked, however, I found no trace of it. It had already disappeared before I¡¯d gotten there, as if it had already known that I would show up. I knew that the zombies moved passively during the day, but this characteristic clearly did not apply to this particr zombie. I clenched my fists and walked to where it had been standing earlier. When I got there, I realized how it had disappeared. As I stood at the edge of the rooftop and looked down, I saw a twisted zombie body lying dead on the ground. It had thrown itself to the first floor. ¡®Itmitted suicide?¡¯ Btedly, I realized that the sound I¡¯d heard while climbing up the stairs was its skull shattering. This realization stunned me. ¡®How can this be?¡¯ I got myself together and looked more closely at the zombie¡¯s dead body, lying on the ground. After a moment, its red body slowly started to change color. It slowly lost its red hue and returned to its normal color, looking just like any other zombie on the streets. The blood surrounding it was the only indication to me that the zombie was there. I copsed to the floor, my mind going nk. I went through my memories to recall what I had figured out regarding the characteristics of zombies. ¡®How is it possible for zombies tomit suicide? There¡¯s no way in hell one would fall off the roof identally.¡¯ I knew there wasn¡¯t anything around that could have agitated it. Neither were there any birds in sight. Everything I¡¯d assumed I¡¯d known about them started to make no sense. I had deduced that they could only move passively, and that the best they could do during the day was walk briskly. However, this zombie had moved actively, and had chosen tomit suicide once it realized that it couldn¡¯t get away from me. ¡®Wait, actively?¡¯ A sudden possibility popped into my mind. The zombie had been acting unpredictably. I got to my feet so that I could examine its body lying on the ground again. There was no more red glow emanating from it. ¡®Actively, or under control. It¡¯s possible that it had been carrying out orders.¡¯ If it had been sent here under orders by someone else, it could have been under someone else¡¯s control, without the ability to act independently. It had probably been given orders to yell when it found me. And then it may have been ordered to jump off the rooftop if I ran toward it. ¡®A being that follows orders, along with the red glow¡ªthese prove its existence.¡¯ Chills ran down my spine as I realized where this train of thought was leading me. My hair stood on the end, and my senses were on heightened alert. Somewhere around here, there was a being with glowing red eyes like me. It was more organized than me and had more information about zombies than me. It was looking for special mutants like me. I wondered why it was looking for mutants, and for what purpose. I frowned and shook my head quickly. ¡®That¡¯s not important right now. This isn¡¯t the time to think about its cause. Let¡¯s focus on the current situation. Concentrate!¡¯ The important thing right now was the fact that it had found me. * * * I quickly made my way back down the stairs to examine the creature that wasn¡¯t glowing red anymore. Cerebral fluid was oozing out of its cracked skull. It was no longer moving, and I didn¡¯t notice anything special about its body. It just looked like a dead street zombie. I wondered why it looked red to me. ¡®Do enemy zombies look red to me, just as my underlings look green?¡¯ This was all spection, but it was the only conclusion that seemed convincing to me. I stood back up and prepared to head back to the high school. I had to get away. I had to get away from where I was before it caught a glimpse of me. ¡®This creature that¡¯s like me¡ªwhat kind of mindset does it have? Does it believe in dedicating its life for the survival of humans? Or does it threaten humans?¡¯ There was no way of knowing. I had to evacuate everyone quickly. I didn¡¯t have a second to lose. I ran as fast as I could to the high school, pushing every zombie I saw that had an intact body. I had to recruit more underlings. Not necessarily to escort the people trapped in the high school back to our apartment, but to protect my people from potential danger. By the time I made it back to the high school, I had recruited twenty-seven underlings. I knocked on the tightly-closed steel gate, apanied by my newly-recruited underlings and the thirty others that were guarding the front entrance. Thud, thud, thud. After a moment, I sensed a person behind the steel gate. It opened, and I saw Lee Jeong-Uk standing there. He smirked when he noticed I had more underlings with me than before. ¡°I was wondering why you were taking so long. So, you recruited more underlings?¡± I walked onto the field without saying a word. He noted my serious expression and mirrored it as well. ¡°Hey, is something going on?¡± he asked, grabbing a hold of my shirt. I hurried inside, gesturing to him that we would discuss the matter inside. He followed me inside with a frown, sensing that something serious was about to happen. I went into the principal¡¯s office and gestured for a pen. The principal took out his pen from his pocket, along with a piece of paper. - Found Enemy ¡°Enemy? What enemy? The ck creature?¡± I sensed the fear in Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s voice, which was also evident in his expression. It was natural for him to react this way. He¡¯d seen the ck creature not too long ago. I shook my head while I wrote out several new letters. He watched what I was doing closely, then went out into the hallway. He wanted to call the rest of our people in. In moments, both Lee brothers and Kang Eun-Jeong were in the principal¡¯s office. They contemted what I had written down. I drew some simple drawings and added a couple of words to help them understand what I was trying to say. - Me, Same Being, Red Eyes I drew me and the red-eyed being looking each other in the eye. I knew the exaggerated red eyes would help them understand. Of course, this wasn¡¯t strictly true, but I couldn¡¯t think of a better drawing to help them understand the situation. After studying the drawing for a while, Lee Jeong-Hyuk finally let out augh. ¡°Isn¡¯t this a good thing, then? That they¡¯re more beings like So-Yeon¡¯s father around.¡± Lee Jeong-Hyuk¡¯s statement drew smiles from the rest of the room. However, Lee Jeong-Uk didn¡¯tugh. He knew that we were now facing a ticking time bomb. The problem was that no one knew when it would blow up. Lee Jeong-Uk was thest person toe to mind when it came to optimism. He thought about issues no one else did. He was constantly probing and doubting, until he built up enough trust. He may have seemed pessimistic, but with the world in such a state, it didn¡¯t hurt to be careful at all times. He rubbed his chin, then voiced out his inner thoughts. ¡°They¡¯re dangerous.¡± After hearing what he had said, everyone stopped smiling. Nervously, Kang Eun-Jeong asked him why. ¡°This means that it¡¯s a thinking zombie.¡± ¡°Well, So-Yeon¡¯s father can think too.¡± ¡°Well, he¡¯s a good person to begin with. There¡¯s no way we can know if the others would be the same.¡± This was enough to make the rest feel on edge. He continued, ¡°Imagine if one of the gangsters turned into a being simr to So-Yeon¡¯s dad. If they turned into a zombie and knew that they could recruit underlings, wouldn¡¯t the rest be obvious?¡± Kang Eun-Jeong¡¯s face grew pale. His statement was probably traumatic for her, but it was the perfect way to describe the current situation. Lee Jeong-Hyuk spoke up, his expression troubled. ¡°The zombies already enjoy killing. If they have a leader that thinks the same way, wouldn¡¯t that be pretty serious?¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯m saying. That¡¯s why he looks so troubled as well.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk sighed and scratched his head, annoyance written across his face. ¡°We need to get going, and quickly. It seems like this creature is nearby. It doesn¡¯t hurt to be cautious.¡± ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll let the children know to get prepared.¡± ¡°Jeong-Hyuk and Eun-Jeong, pack up the food and necessities we need.¡± ¡°On it.¡± After giving everyone their orders, he gripped the stainless steel spear he had brought with him. He then turned to me and asked, ¡°Moving everyone today¡­ That¡¯s probably not possible, right?¡± When I nodded in agreement, Lee Jeong-Uk let out a deep sigh, running his hands through his hair. ¡°It might be keeping an eye on us. Can you tell its underlings apart from the other zombies?¡± I nodded vigorously. They looked red to me. Differentiating them from regr zombies wasn¡¯t difficult for me. Lee Jeong-Uk nodded and took a deep breath. ¡°Right, you can probably recognize them, since you can tell your underlings apart from the rest.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk had grasped the situation as if he could read my mind. His intuition amazed me. He took another look at my drawing, then cut to the chase. ¡°So, how many survivors do you think we can escort today?¡¯ I couldn¡¯t answer. ¡°No, that isn¡¯t the right question. Can we move half of them?¡± I nodded. I had fifty-seven underlings with me. If we pushed it, we could get more than half of the survivors back to the apartment. However, it would be a disaster if the red creature attacked while I wasn¡¯t at the school, so I had to leave several underlings behind, just enough to protect the ce. All things considered, I could probably only bring a maximum of twenty underlings with me. It was impossible to move all the survivors unless I brought more underlings. Lee Jeong-Uk sat on the floor, massaging his temples. He sighed constantly, as though running through and evaluating different scenarios in his head. I moved next to him and ced my hand on his shoulder. I hoped it was enough to convey what I wanted to say. ¡®You can¡¯t let everyone down now. You have to stay strong.¡¯ Chapter 28 Chapter 28 After the first group of survivors to be evacuated were selected, I assembled the thirty underlings I¡¯d first brought to the school, and we made our way out through the back entrance of the school. I order the twenty-seven new underlings to stand guard on the field and protect the school. The eight children in the group were all in their early teens or younger. Some cried, and all were full of fear when they saw the blue-colored zombies. ¡°Hey! The principal said we shouldn¡¯t cry. Have you forgotten?¡± ¡°But still, I¡¯m scared¡­¡± ¡°He said the blue zombies here are on our side. There¡¯s no reason to be scared.¡± The oldest child amongst them calmed the other children down. However, I could tell that the oldest child was also nervous, despite his reassuring words. Nevertheless, he resisted his fear and trusted what the adults had said. I was proud of the young fe. The first group of evacuees had no trouble getting to the apartmentplex thanks to this child. I didn¡¯t see any red creatures along the way. I sent the children up to unit 505 where my people were waiting. After seeing the eight children, the others in the apartment asked about the whereabouts of the rest. Choi Da-Hye looked extremely anxious. I raised both of my index fingers and waved them back and forth, trying to exin to them that we would be making multiple trips. Choi Da-Hye nodded at me, and asked me to make sure we got back safely. I replied with a slight nod of my own, then stepped outside again. I knew we had to move faster. The sun was already falling below the horizon. In an hour, or even less than that, the sun wouldpletely set. I took a look at my underlings around me and headed back to the school with an additional twenty of them. The journey to the apartment had taken a long time because of the children, but we were now sprinting back. Well, to be precise, it wasn¡¯t exactly sprinting. My underlings were, at best, jogging behind me. I was d that they were at least jogging. After a while, my underlings even began to run a little. It was an improvementpared to the trotting they had managed earlier in the day. ¡®So, my underlings get stronger if I get stronger, huh?¡¯ Ever since I had eaten the ck creature¡¯s brain, I realized that the physical abilities of my underlings had changed as well. It was nice to know that I had learned another thing about zombies. ¡®But hey, enough with the idle thoughts.¡¯ I continued toward the school, at a pace faster than that of my underlings. * * * In the first-floor hallway, the teens who were older than the children from the first group of evacuees were waiting for me. Most of them seemed to be in their mid- tote teens. Each of them carried a backpack. I assumed that they had packed the remaining food or essentials. I saw Lee Jeong-Uk rushing somewhere. He noticed me and halted, then came over to speak to me. ¡°Did you get the children back okay?¡± ¡°Grr.¡± ¡°Good work man.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk gave me a pat on the shoulder while wiping off the sweat trickling down his forehead. It seemed like he could sense the subtle difference between my growls now. I guess he wasn¡¯t lying when he imed he could tell from my growls whether I was saying ¡®yes¡¯ or ¡®no¡¯. He bade me farewell and was just about to run off again when I grabbed onto his sleeve. He turned around and asked, ¡°Hmm? Do you need anything?¡± I raised four of my fingers to indicate the number ¡®four¡¯. He stood there, looking at me, then said hesitantly, ¡°You want to reduce the number of people in the group to four?¡± I growled out a negative. ¡°Then you want four more?¡± This time, I growled in approval. Lee Jeong-Uk looked over the underlings behind me one by one. He could tell at a nce that there were more underlings than before. He nodded, then ran toward the ssroom. He returned with four more kids and made them join the others who were already in the hallway. ¡°Take care, and make it back safely.¡± I nodded back, then ordered my underlings to form a tight circle around the kids. Just as what had happened with the first group of evacuees, we made our way to the back entrance. This trip being the second trip, I had already mapped out in my mind the path with the least zombies. Thanks to this, we were able to make much better time aspared to the first group. The fact that the children were a bit older on average also made things go much more smoothly. During our journey, four zombies with vision tried to attack the children. At my touch, however, they all turned green. I knew that, in the situation we were in, yelling and threatening zombies was a waste of time. I got the twelve children safely to unit 505 and headed back to the school right away. The sun was almost below the horizon, and darkness was slowly creeping up from the east. Because of this, my underlings and I were able to move faster. It took me ten minutes to get to the school from the apartment. I knew I would be able to save more time once the sun had setpletely. Once I made it past the walls of the school and into the mainpound, I saw my people with the rest of the survivors in the first-floor hallway. This third group of evacuees seemed to be thest, as Lee Jeong-Uk was also in the hallway. ¡®I¡¯m d that I brought more underlings.¡¯ If it weren¡¯t for the extra underlings, we would have required a fourth trip. This third teamprised the Lee brothers, Kang Eun-Jeong, Byeon Hyeok-Jin, four elders, and the principal. As I stepped into the hallway, Lee Jeong-Uk came up to me. ¡°Let¡¯s get going right away.¡± I agreed with him. There was no time to lose. I gave him a firm nod and led my underlings and the survivors to the back entrance. The moment I went through the back entrance, I felt a tingling sensation. Immediately after that, I felt as though something was looking at me with murderous eyes. My eyes went wide with surprise, and I quickly turned around. However, I couldn¡¯t see anything with my naked eye. The sensation, of all things, wasing from the direction of the sunset, which made it even harder to open my eyes. All I could see was the ring sunset and the surprisingly quiet school. The tingling feeling grew stronger. I felt as if every part of my body was being dragged down into a swamp. Byeon Hyeok-Jin noticed my sudden caution and decided to speak up. ¡°Why, what¡¯s going on? Is there something out there?¡± It was none other than Lee Jeong-Uk who covered Byeon Hyeok-Jin¡¯s mouth. Lee Jeong-Uk looked at me anxiously, still covering Byeon Hyeok-Jin¡¯s mouth with one hand. I had reacted in a simr manner when we¡¯d run into the ck creature. Lee Jeong-Uk had probably sensed something subconsciously, thanks to his memories of what had happened back then. I gave up on returning to the apartment and led everyone back to the school. I couldn¡¯t risk the trip back to the apartment knowing that there was something out there eyeing us. It was clear to me that, if we tried to make the trip, the consequences would be dire. I couldn¡¯t endanger So-Yeon¡¯s safety. My underlings and everyone who was with me followed me without saying a word. We entered the first floor of the school, and I caught Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s eye. Even without saying a word, Lee Jeong-Uk realized how serious the situation had be, and led the survivors to an empty ssroom. All the windows in there were covered with nks. I assumed that he had been busy putting these up earlier on. I was surprised at what Lee Jeong-Uk had done while I¡¯d been busy. It seemed he had prepared this ce ahead of time, just in case enemies attacked while I was gone. I ordered my underlings to keep a lookout in the hallway while I followed the survivors into the empty ssroom. Only then did Lee Jeong-Uk whisper, ¡°There¡¯s something out there huh?¡± I nodded in reply. I peered outside through the cracks between the nks to assess the situation. The sun was barely visible. During our short journey, darkness had swept across the sky. Only then did I notice the zombies looking our way with my own eyes. I saw the red beings peeking their heads out of the window of a building three hundred meters away. I hadn¡¯t been able to visually confirm their existence earlier on because of the sunset. Now that the sun had set, though, there was no way they could hide their red-colored heads in the darkness. ¡®Five? Six? No.¡¯ There were more red faces in the building next to them. And more in the building next to that one. There were at least thirty of them. And they all had vision. For zombies in the streets, it would be surprising to find one zombie out of ten who could see. In that case, it meant that there were at least three hundred red creatures upying the area. I assumed that there had to be a leader amongst them that was targeting us. Their overwhelming numbers caused fear to swell within me, and I broke into cold sweat. Three hundred zombies. It was an absurd number. ¡®Can I protect everyone from them?¡¯ As I stared nkly into space, Lee Jeong-Uk shook me to get my attention. ¡°Can you hear me?¡± I looked at him quizzically. I didn¡¯t even notice he¡¯d been calling me. All my attention had been trained on what I¡¯d been seeing outside. I had no clue that he¡¯d been trying to grab my attention. He grew a little agitated and asked forcefully, ¡°What the hell are you looking at?¡± They were three hundred meters away. And they were just peeking their heads out through the buildings¡¯ windows. With the sun down, it was impossible for a human being to see them with their naked eye. Without the ability to sense their presence the way I could, or recognize the red glow, it was impossible. I mimed holding a pencil with my right hand, indicating that I wanted a pen. Lee Jeong-Uk handed me the pen he had inside his pocket. I took the pen and wrote down letters on the nk. - Many After reading what I had written down, all the survivors looked at me open-mouthed, but not in a good way. Lee Jeong-Uk seemed like he was about to lose his mind. In a stuttering voice, he asked, ¡°Then, then¡­ Are they after us?¡± I nodded, my expression rather calm. My gesture caused the survivors to fall into despair. Sighs and groans filled the room. Lee Jeong-Uk smacked his lips. ¡°How many? How many do they have? Are there more of them than your underlings?¡± I put down the pen in my hand and spread my arms out wide. I then made a big circle. With that, everyone sank to the ground, their mouths open like goldfish. Many parents often asked their children how much they loved them. I, too, had asked So-Yeon this question multiple times when she went to daycare. Most children answered by spreading their arms as wide as they could while making a big circle. This much. When children made this gesture, it brought indescribable happiness and inspiration. Now, however, the same circle only brought despair and death. Lee Jeong-Uk stared at me nkly. He waspletely spaced out. I didn¡¯t know what to do. Time was ticking away. Every minute felt like ten years. One of the elders began hyperventting, as though suffering from ustrophobia. The principal went up to the elder with a stic bag as if he knew he was going to vomit. At the moment, we were all in a ssroom. However, to the elder, the spacious ssroom must¡¯ve felt like a tiny cell with no way out. I looked across the room, looking into the eyes of the survivors. Everyone seemed to have unfocused gazes. They were either staring nkly at the ceiling, or sighing while looking down at the floor. I didn¡¯t know what to do. I didn¡¯t know how to improve this horrid atmosphere. At that moment, I caught a glimpse of the full length mirror in the corner of the ssroom. I saw myself standing among the other people with my glowing red eyes. ¡®What the heck are you doing, man? You really think you¡¯re human just because you¡¯re in a group of other humans? Get your shit together, man.¡¯ I couldn''t help but smile at how ridiculous I looked. I got up and headed out into the hallway. Chapter 29 Chapter 29 As soon as I was in the hallway, I counted the number of underlings I had. I¡¯d started off with thirty underlings, then added another twenty-seven in between, and retrieved another twenty after escorting the first group of evacuees back to the apartment. On my second trip back, I¡¯d made four more. That meant I had a total of eighty-one underlings with me. This made it eighty-one against over three hundred. The other side had an overwhelming advantage in numbers. I sighed and headed toward the art room. I grabbed all the blue paint there was and returned to my underlings. I, too, had been engulfed by fear when I first saw the red creatures. However, after seeing the survivors lose hope that they would make it out alive, I knew what I needed to do. I reminded myself of my purpose for continuing to live, the reason I couldn''t let my life end even though I was a zombie. ¡®For So-Yeon, right?¡¯ Yes, it was for So-Yeon. And for the people who had washed her, fed her, and took care of her while I had been gone for a week. The people who were, at this moment, fearing for their lives. I knew I wasn¡¯t alone. No¡ªin fact, none of us were alone. I wanted to wash away their despair. I wanted to show them the meaning of life, along with the hope that they would live on. I wanted to nt the idea of constion in their hearts. I knew that there would be moments that would be painful enough to make me want to give up. At that moment, I didn¡¯t dare fathom how much pain that would be. However, as I thought about it, it seemed like there had never been a day without pain. Not a single day as a human, or as a being that couldn¡¯t die. I knew pain would be inevitable, and I would have to endure the suffering ahead of me. And if that was my destiny, I wasn¡¯t going to get sad, sulky, or fall into despair alone. I had amunity now. I wouldugh, cry, and share my moments with others. I squeezed out all the blue paint on a palette to paint the underlings that hadn¡¯t yet been painted. After a moment, Lee Jeong-Uk joined me, looked closely at what I was doing. He sighed, then walked toward me, his posture sagging and his facepletely straight. He took a handful of paint and started smearing it on my underlings as well. Then, he said in a low voice, ¡°We can do anything if we fight to the end.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure how many enemies there are, but since they¡¯re not making the first move, it seems like they also have no clue how many of us there are.¡± ¡°....¡± ¡°They¡¯ll start attacking once they have an idea of how many of us they¡¯re up against.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk had a point. However, I felt like there was another reason behind their inaction. I believed they were trying to follow us. If they were thinking about attacking this ce, they would¡¯ve attacked earlier, through the back entrance. However, the only thing they had been doing was keeping an eye on our movements from three hundred meters away. I bet that they were curious as to why we kept on going out through the back entrance. They probably wanted to find out our destination. They weren¡¯t thinking of cutting off our arms and legs. Rather, they were thinking of swallowing us whole. We finally finished painting all my underlings. Lee Jeong-Uk sighed deeply, clutching his stainless steel spear. ¡°Alrighty then¡­¡± He sighed as if it were hisst sigh as a living soul. It was heavier than any other sigh I had heard from him. Lee Jeong-Uk chuckled weakly. ¡°Let¡¯s keep going till the¡­¡± Thud! His eyes widened in surprise. He stared nkly at his two hands. Without even realizing it, the stainless steel spear that had been in his hands was suddenly in mine. I pushed Lee Jeong-Uk, dumbfounded, into the ssroom. He let out a small scream,nding on his bottom. I looked into each of the survivor¡¯s faces as I ordered my underlings in the hallway into the ssroom. ¡®One, two, three, four¡­¡¯ Once thirty of them were inside, I ordered them to guard the door. ¡®The thirty of you, protect the survivors and kill anything that tries to get in through the windows. The rest in the hallway, kill the ones that try to get into the ssroom. Lastly, the ones in the ssroom, don¡¯t let anyone out until I get back.¡¯ It was a simple order. Kill anything that approaches. Once I had given my orders, I shut the ssroom door. Lee Jeong-Uk quickly got up, trying to open the door. However, the underlings inside the ssroom stopped him. He had no choice but to back away. The sudden development took the survivorspletely by surprise. With them inside, I headed toward the entrance to the schoolpound. The wide field weed me, and the fresh summer breeze kissed my cheeks. The subtle chirping of bugs calmed my nervousness. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. ¡°Grr¡­¡± I sorted out my jumbled emotions. I was at peace; everything seemed so peaceful. Fear, nervousness, despair, or frustration¡ªthey no longer held me back. As I opened my eyes, I focused my gaze on the lights glowing in the distance. I took one step after another toward them, gripping ever more tightly onto the stainless steel spear. I wasn¡¯t sure how to describe the situation. I wasn¡¯t even sure if there was a word or phrase that could describe my feelings. Oh, nevermind. I found the perfect saying. ¡®I¡¯m not going down by myself.¡¯ It was time to see who fell into hell first. * * * Thud, thud, thud. The dark sky shoved me toward them, like a lonely boat in the middle of the ocean being pushed by strong, dark waves. Before I knew it, I was almost upon them. The three-hundred-meter distance between us felt like nothing. In moments, I was a mere thirty meters away from them. They peered down at me through the windows of an eight-storey building. They were probably startled by my unexpected move. None of them moved in response, but their eyes were locked on me, full of curiosity. Soon after, another being appeared on the roof of the building. I looked closely at its face. It was different from the ones I¡¯d seen before. It wasn¡¯t a normal red, but a deep, crimson red. I didn¡¯t know how to describe its color. It was almost the color of red wine, the sort of wine that has matured over a long time. Its entire body had a burgundy hue. We red at each other for a while, then it vanished out of sight. After a moment, I heard heavy footstepsing from inside the building, causing my hair to stand on end. Before I realized it, the creature had made it down to the first-floor entrance. It had red glowing eyes, like me. I locked eyes with the creature. ¡®Is it trying to talk to me? How is talking going to work? Do we have to get down on the asphalt and start drawing?¡¯ We kept on staring at each other. We were both waiting for the other side to make the first move. ¡®Hey you, you hear me don¡¯t you?¡¯ At that moment, my mind went nk. I had no clue where this sound wasing from. The creature in front of me had its blue lips tightly shut. However, I knew that this sound wasing from the creature standing right in front of me. There was no other possibility. It walked right up to me, its face filling my vision, and repeated its question. ¡®You hear me, don¡¯t you?¡¯ I replied to it this time, my eyes glowing red. ¡®What¡¯s your purpose for showing up here?¡¯ I wasmunicating with it just by thinking. We didn¡¯t need tomunicate verbally. Signals were sent straight to my brain, as though we were ntsmunicating with one another. It shed a sly smirk, then continued with its own questions. ¡®You already know what I want. How many people do you have back at the school?¡¯ ¡®That¡¯s none of your business.¡¯ ¡®I know they''re yours, but if you keep it up like this, you¡¯re going to lose. Can¡¯t you tell?¡¯ ¡®I don¡¯t need you to remind me about that.¡¯ This was a rather unpleasant conversation. In fact, I didn¡¯t even know if what we were doing could be considered a conversation. It felt like predators fighting over prey. It scratched its head silently for a while. Then it frowned and continued, ¡®At this point, you¡¯re just asking me to kill you. You know that right?¡¯ ¡®Come at me if you think you can.¡¯ I red at it, tilting my head. I knew I couldn¡¯t back down right now. If I did, I knew it would unsheath its ws and attack me right away. The creature snorted and let out a vulgarugh. ¡®GRRR!! GARRRR!!¡¯ It howled as it opened its dirty and vulgar mouth. Itsugh was too vulgar to even be considered augh. It stared into my eyes with a deadly serious expression and said, ¡®You seem pretty full of yourself. But what are you going to do? Nothing good wille from getting into trouble with us.¡¯ My eyes twitched after hearing its words. I looked away to avoid its gaze while I processed what it had just said. ¡®Did it say ¡®us¡¯? Does that mean it¡¯s not alone?¡¯ I mean, it was a zombie that had the ability to think. If they had the ability to think like humans, of course there was the possibility of them moving in groups. I couldn¡¯t believe I¡¯d missed this. Pat. The creature put its hand on my shoulder. I was still avoiding its gaze. Its touch was nothing but a sensation of unpleasant dirtiness. I focused on its face while it continued to speak. It was frowning. ¡®Hey ahjussi, you should look at the other person¡¯s face when you¡¯re talking.¡¯ ¡®What good is it to see your damn face?¡± I replied, tilting my head. It let out a rather dumbfounded huff, and took a step backwards, staring nkly at my face. It looked at me incredulously. ¡®Don¡¯t you know anything?¡¯ ¡®...¡¯ ¡®HAHAHAHA!¡¯ It howled withughter, and its tone grew more arrogant. ¡®Here I was, thinking this guy knew what was going on. Turns out he doesn¡¯t know shit! Stupidity is truly the best, isn¡¯t it? You sure got a lot of courage though!¡¯ It roared its disconcertingugh once again. Itsughter swept through every part of my body, giving me the chills. I clearlycked information. This meant it had the high ground. It was no longer an even tug-of-war. It had the upper hand, and I was going to be dragged forward by it. It stared right into my eyes and started bombarding me with questions. ¡®How many underlings can we have?¡¯ ¡®...¡¯ ¡®What happens if we eat each other?¡¯ ¡®...¡¯ ¡®What happens if we eat humans?¡¯ I couldn¡¯t answer any of its questions. It snorted with its head up high, as if there was no further point to this confrontation. It acted as if it was already the winner. It continued in a teasing manner, ¡®Hey ahjussi, if you don¡¯t want to die as aughing stock, just stay low. Got it?¡¯ ¡®...¡¯ ¡®The next time you see my gang, run for your goddamn life. The others aren¡¯t gentlemen like me. You got it?¡¯ I kept silent, and it flicked my cheek with a finger. ¡®And, ahjussi, look people in the eye when you speak. Or else we can¡¯t hear a goddamn thing you¡¯re saying. There¡¯s rules to follow. Got it?¡¯ ¡®Rules?¡¯ ¡®Huh? You really don¡¯t know anything? Ahjussi, have you never seen others with red eyes like us?¡¯ ¡®...¡¯ I replied with a nk stare, and it stared back at me as though at a loss for words. I wondered if it was mad at me. Given the way it was looking at me, though, I assumed not. Rather, it seemed more astonished than mad. Despite its silence, I could guess its thoughts by its expression. It was probably something close to this: - How has he managed to not meet any other red-eyed creatures?? After a moment, it looked toward its underlings. Now that we no longer held eye contact, I stopped hearing its voice. I had no clue what orders it was giving to its underlings. ¡®Is this why it said to look each other in the eyes whenmunicating?¡¯ I realized that I couldn¡¯t hear anything without eye contact. After a moment, one of its underlings came running, clutching a paper folded into a rectangle. It snatched the paper from its underling, frowning as it opened the crumpled paper. Even though I had no clue what they were saying, I could sense that something was amiss. After a pause, it looked at me with its glowing red eyes and asked me in a serious tone, ¡®Hey ahjussi, where the hell is this ce?¡¯ Needless to say, I didn¡¯t answer. Chapter 30 Chapter 30 ¡®Are we in Haengdang-dong?¡¯ it asked with a frown. Again, I didn¡¯t say anything. It was holding a map of Seoul. The map was all tattered, with all sorts of markings on it. ¡®What could zombies possibly mark on a map? The location of survivors? Or other zombie groups?¡¯ That moment, My eyes were drawn to a rather unique marking on the map. Some ces had scissor-like marks on them. And Haengdang-dong was one of them. The zombie came right up to my face and repeated its question. ¡®You bastard, I¡¯m asking if we¡¯re in Haengdang-dong.¡¯ It was acting aggressively, but I saw its eyes shifting from side to side. I could tell that its eyes were full of fear. So I didn¡¯t tell it where we were. Instead, I took small breaths. It started gritting its teeth, and I caught a glimpse of them. I noticed that its teeth weren¡¯t sharp like mine. It still had human teeth, with pieces of flesh stuck between them. It managed to contain its boiling rage just enough to speak again. ¡®Ahjussi, you remember the rules I told you about earlier?¡¯ Instead of answering, I looked it straight in the eye. The zombie shook its clenched fists violently before continuing. I could sense the cold fury in its voice. ¡®First, you look people in the eye when you talk. Second, if someone breaks that rule, you can either eat or kill that person.¡¯ Instead of answering, I replied with a question of my own. ¡®Now who in the world made that rule?¡¯ The zombie lost control and started screaming like a mad beast. With its mouth open wide, I could smell the stench of its breath. Its thick, murky spit sttered all over my face. I knew no one liked receiving questions in response to their own. However, only the living cared about such things. I was already dead, so I had nothing to worry about. It continued to grind its teeth, ring at me with murderous eyes, ready to attack me any moment. Unexpectedly, it backed away from me a little, then howled at the top of its lungs. GRRRRRRRR! I heard the patter of hundreds of footsteps in response. The red creatures that had been hiding in the building all started to move. Their footsteps echoed in my eardrums, putting all my senses on alert. I couldn¡¯t fathom how many there were. The ground shook with the constant drumbeat of their footsteps. In moments, I saw a wave of red surging towards me from the lobby of a nearby building. It was quite a sight. This was probably how the Nile River looked when the water had been turned to blood. I tightened my grip on my spear as the red tsunami rolled toward me. I knew this was bound to happen. Instead of fear, I felt a readiness to fight back, and a burst of adrenaline flowed through my body. I wasn¡¯t fighting against my fears. Instead, my agitation drew me into a state of ecstasy. ¡°GRRRRR!!!¡± I roared at them, revealing my sharp teeth. I thrust my spear into the first red creature that got close to me. Crack! My spear pierced it, breaking its ribs. As I stabbed the spear deeper into its body, my right hand, which was holding onto the spear, eventually made it through the creature¡¯s body as well. I was shocked by how deep in my thrust went. ¡®What in the world¡­? How much stronger did I get?¡¯ With that, I let go of the spear. I realized that my bare hands would be more effective weapons than the spear I was holding. Red creatures swarmed toward me from all directions. Without hesitation, I threw out a flurry of punches. Crack! My punch cracked a red creature¡¯s skull, and the force of the blow recoiled up my arms. I didn¡¯t have the time to think about it. I kept throwing punches. ¡®Faster, faster!¡¯ There was no time to rest. In this situation, any sort of rest meant death. I knew that if I hesitated, even for a split second, they would grab hold of my body and sink their rotten teeth into my flesh. I threw punch after punch without flinching. The red creaturesing at me were obviously not rational beings. They only had one objective in mind¡ªto get me. It didn¡¯t matter if theirrades fell, died, were stomped on, or had their heads cracked. GRR!!! I heard a terrible throat-rending noise from behind. One of them was trying to attack me from behind. I realized I didn¡¯t even have the time to turn around. So instead, I reached my hand out behind me. Luckily enough, I managed to grab its head. I grit my teeth as hard as I could and crushed its head with all my might. Pop! It felt like squeezing a watermelon until it burst. I managed to find a firmer grip, the remnants of its head acting as a handle of sorts. I didn¡¯t let go, but whirled it in front as hard as I could. A human body swung outward in front of me, still attached to my hand. ¡®Now this is the sort of weapon I¡¯m talking about.¡¯ My moves were neither elegant nor delicate. They were movements born out of ast-ditch effort to keep myself alive. On the other hand, though, my enemies probably viewed me as the devil himself. I swung the dead body like a mace. After a while, though, the ¡®handle¡¯ bent, unable to withstand the strength of my grip. I felt a horrible feeling travel through my body, from head to toe. But I couldn¡¯t stop. I had no time to think because of all the red creatures trying to grab me. I swung the dead body around for as long as I could. Momentster, the neck tore, unable to handle the centrifugal force. As I drew my hand back, the creature¡¯s spine came out. I reached the conclusion that the spine alone was a poor weapon. I hurled it toward the closest zombie that was charging at me, and followed swiftly behind it. St! I caught the creature in the face with my fist, and its jaw dented as though made of styrofoam. I quickly realized that there were more zombiesing at me, and taking them down at this rate wasn¡¯t going to cut it. There was no end to them. Finding an escape route seemed impossible. I knew I would¡¯ve had a chance if I had a wall behind me, but I knew if this kept up, I would eventually fall. Just then, a thought struck me. ¡®Is there really a reason for me to find an escape route?¡¯ I didn¡¯t need to find an escape route. In fact, I was a being capable of making one. I kicked the closest one charging toward me as hard as I could, knocking it back and causing the others behind it to fall like dominos. That bought me a little time. I didn¡¯t waste a second. I braced myself and jumped with all my strength. Whoosh! Wind raced past my eardrums. I made it to the fourth-floor windowsill of the building opposite. As I entered the building, the red creatures raced into the first floor of the building I was in. I could hear the zombie tsunami making its way up the stairs. Dust was flying everywhere, as if the old building was about to copse any second. I knew I had to make it to the fourth floor staircase before they did. I hurried to the emergency stairwell and saw the red tsunami sweeping its way up. ¡®Numerical advantage? That¡¯s no longer relevant you fools.¡¯ More numbers only worked in an open space without walls. Here, though, the space was blocked off by four walls. And there was only one way up and one way down. I knew I had the high ground, so I no longer had to think about losing. I also knew that my physical abilities had surpassed any ordinary human. In fact, I wasn¡¯t human anymore. At that moment, I remembered the time the ck creature had ripped apart my underlings in every possible way and had thrown their heads about like baseballs. My physical abilities were currently very close to that creature¡¯s. The red tsunami in front of me parted like the red sea. Without even realizing it, the red creatures that had made it to the fourth floor had been pushed back down to the first floor. I was crushing their skulls in the entryway to the stairwell on the first floor. These creatures were merely executing orders. They did not know that they were ramming their heads against a brick wall. They were charging at me nonstop, even after seeing theirrades die. I easily handled the ones trying to squeeze themselves into the emergency stairwell. With the situation under control, I finally had a moment to think. At that moment, I remembered a face that I had forgotten for a little while. ¡®Where¡¯s their leader?¡¯ I no longer saw the creature with glowing red eyes. It seemed to have hidden itself after ordering its underlings to be shields. ¡®Did it actually run away? Did it flee after seeing the manner in which its underlings were being wiped out?¡¯ Grrr!!!! That moment, a cry rippled through my mind. I knew it wasn¡¯ting from one of the red creatures in front of me. It wasing from those that were connected to me, like my alter egos. Their voices echoed as one, containing a single, unifying thought. Enemy detected. Get rid of the enemy. I realized that these thoughts were my underlings¡¯. Obviously, they weren¡¯t saying them out loud, but I could sense that this was what they were trying tomunicate. Right then, I realized something. ¡®The school.¡¯ The leader was heading toward the school. It had distracted my attention with the red tsunami while it made its way to its real objective. It seemed like my underlings were following my exact orders, and having noticed the iing enemies, were gearing up to fight. They were acting on my orders and reporting back to me instantaneously. Without even realizing it, my underlings and I were moving as one. I had to get back. I had to go back to the school somehow. However, the red tsunami of zombies was growing even more out of control, threatening to swirl into a tornado. I began to wonder if I could make it past the massive tide of red zombies alive. I knew that there was no way for me to get away from them, and dragging them with me to the school would be absurd. I had no time to stand still and think. I had to do something right now. I threw myself toward the emergency exit. * * * ¡°Move to the right side!¡± As the wood nks that were blocking the windows broke, Lee Jeong-Uk was the first one to pick up his spear and prepare to fight. Lee Jeong-Hyuk hid the elders and male students underneath a desk and hurried next to Lee Jeong-Uk. In the meantime, Kang Eun-Jeong was stacking desks and chairs in front of the ssroom doors. When the attacking zombies broke through the nks, the zombies painted in blue started moving. GRR!! The blue-colored zombies snapped and bit off the necks of the zombies that wereing in head first. It would be obvious to a living person that trying to get in through a small window was akin suicide. But there was no way that these zombies were aware of such logic. The zombies kept on trying to get through the gap in the window. The ones in front were pushed by the ones behind. This was a treat for the blue-colored zombies as they hunted down the prey that were walking right into their trap. Despite this, some managed to make it inside the ssroom. However, they were no match to the blue-colored zombies. The attacking zombies that tackled the blue-colored ones head-on had their wrists and arms twisted instantly. Then, their necks were bitten and red blood spurted out, as though it were the most natural thing in the world. Lee Jeong-Uk looked around, dumbfounded by what he was seeing. The zombies that managed to enter had fallen before he even had the chance to fight them. The blue-colored zombies were a different breedpared to the ones trying to get in. At this point, they weren¡¯t merely defending themselves. They were like fishermen who had prepared arge to catch all the other zombies who were trying to enter.. Lee Jeong-Uk looked out into the hallway to see what was going on outside. The situation there was no different. The zombies that wereing from both ends had been pushed all the way back to the entrances. There were no zombies in sight. Blue-colored zombies were blocking off the entrance to the ssroom. The attacking zombies could only be observed by peeking out through the windows that opened into the hallway. The blue-colored zombies were carrying out a massacre. Utter dominance was the perfect phrase to describe the current situation. As Lee Jeong-Uk stared nkly at the scene before him, Lee Jeong-Hyuk appeared at his side. ¡°Big brother, I don¡¯t think we have to worry about So-Yeon¡¯s father.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk nodded at what Lee Jeong-Hyuk said and swallowed. He realized he¡¯d been worrying for nothing. ¡°I thought he was just a strong cow¡­ but he''s actually a fierce bull.¡± This was the perfect way to describe the current situation. There was a monster that munched on other monsters. And the people there were closely connected to that monster. ¡°GRRRR!!!¡± A murderous scream ripped through the air,ing from the school entrance, causing everything in its vicinity to shake, and threatening to bulldoze everything in its path. Lee Jeong-Uk looked toward the source of the scream through a window that was hanging off its hinges. He caught a glimpse of the creature leaping over the front gate. However, Lee Jeong-Uk felt no fear, nor did he fear the creature. Rather, he grinned and muttered calmly, ¡°So-Yeon¡¯s father is here.¡± Chapter 31 Chapter 31 I saw a group of red creatures at the windows. I couldn¡¯t tell exactly how many there were, but there seemed to be around ten to twenty of them. Those were rookie numberspared to the number of zombies I had fought earlier. I saw a simr number of red creatures at the school entrance as well. I ran toward them without any hesitation. Stomp, stomp, stomp. Dirt flew everywhere. The field, which was at least a hundred meters in length, was tiny to me. The red creatures were slow to realize I was dashing toward them. Once they noticed me, they whipped around. However, it was toote for them. It was toote for them to escape or beg for their lives. They should¡¯ve known better before attacking my people. Survival was no longer an option for them. ¡®This is your destiny. Death is upon you.¡¯ Crack! I grabbed the head of the red creature in the very front and used my momentum to smash its head into the school wall. If you ever wondered if a person¡¯s head can be smashed t, I¡¯d reply that I wasn¡¯t exactly sure what you meant by ¡®t¡¯. However, I would tell you that it was more than possible for it to shatter into pieces. Its eyeballs popped out of their sockets and slipped in between my fingers. Without a moment¡¯s pause, I started crushing the other creatures¡¯ heads. I didn¡¯t even need to punch them. All I had to do was grab onto their skulls and crush them with my grip as if I were squeezing an apple. Or I could pin them to the ground and squash their round skulls into pancakes. The intent to fight was still coursing through me following the fight in the building lobby. Well, to be precise, it was a murderous intent. I crushed the heads of the red creatures clinging onto the windows like a bat out of hell. I was a raging beast. Without even realizing it, I reached the entrance to the main building, and took care of the ones that were blocking the entrance. ¡®Where is it, where is it? Where is it, goddamn it!¡¯ I didn¡¯t see the one with glowing red eyes anywhere. I had to kill the boss no matter what. I knew that if I left it alive, it was possible that it woulde after me again. And when it did, it would probably bring more underlings, or evene back stronger. I had to pull out this evil by its roots, before it had the chance to grow. I searched around with my glowing red eyes, my senses heightened. I could perceive even the tiniest details. To be precise, my zombie instincts to search for prey had taken over me. Patter, patter. At that moment, I detected my quarry. I heard its footsteps. They weren¡¯t ordinary footsteps. They were the footsteps of someone fleeing the battle alone. They were the footsteps of the defeated. I paid closer attention to them. ¡®Where are you? Where the hell are you hiding?¡¯ My eyes eventually honed in on a burgundy-colored zombie climbing up a wall. I couldn¡¯t help but smirk when I saw the effort it was expending trying to save its dear life. ¡®Oh boy, I got you now.¡¯ I mustered all my strength and jumped. I floated through the air andnded right in front of the only red light that glowed brightly in this world of darkness. As soon as the fleeing zombie made it over the wall, it fell onto its bottom in surprise. It was horrified to see me. It stared at me as if it was seeing a ghost. Its eyes were full of fear and despair. ¡®Don¡¯t, don¡¯te near me! Get away, you fucking monster!¡¯ I couldn¡¯t stop smiling at its groveling fear. I enjoyed the sight of this creature being scared of me. The madness within me was driving me to feast on this wretched being. It started looking around desperately, as though looking for help. I grabbed its neck and forced it to face me. My glowing red eyes bored into its face. ¡®Keep your eyes on me eh? I can¡¯t tell what you¡¯re saying if you don''t, you idiot.¡¯ ¡®You, you fucking monster! Fucking monster!¡¯ At that moment, I saw a reflection of myself in its glowing red eyes. I immediately let go of its neck in shock. I looked hideous and terrifying. The feeling that had filled me thest time I saw the ck creatureughing rushed into me again. I couldn¡¯t believe I was feeling the same way just looking at myself. I felt like I was looking at the ck creature. I had been roaring with bestialughter. I was enjoying this moment like a beast feasting on flesh. Most striking of all, my eyes looked like those of a cat. They didn¡¯t look normal. My pupils were no longer round, but were shaped like vertical slits. My glowing red eyes and vertical slit-like pupils were enough to shock me. It took me a moment toe back to my senses. After a while, the crazed instincts within me slowly died away like a candle burning itself out. I was still taken aback at my reflection. ¡®Me? That¡¯s me? That¡¯s how I look now?¡¯ I couldn¡¯t keep myself together. My mind was past the point of confusion. As I stood there in shock, the red zombie leader rushed at me, believing that it was the perfect moment to get me. I wondered if it knew that attacking me was like banging its head against a wall. I didn¡¯t even have to look at it; I could already tell what it was going to do. My left arm shot out and grabbed its face. It screamed at the top of its lungs out of agony. I saw its eyes peeking through between my fingers. I looked straight into them and said. ¡®Do I still look like a monster to you?¡¯ ¡®Let go of me! Let go of me, you son of a bitch!¡¯ It didn¡¯t bother to answer my question, but went on spewing out a string of vulgarities. I fixed my gaze on the creature again. ¡®You¡¯re right. I am a monster.¡¯ ¡®Wait, wait! I¡¯ll tell you everything. Please, please don¡¯t kill me!¡¯ ¡®...¡¯ I looked at it silently, my expression deceptively calm. I could see right away that its eyes weren¡¯t that of an animal begging for its life. It had the eyes of a hyena, looking for another chance to pounce on its prey. Realizing its intention, I calmed myself and asked the questions I wanted answers to. ¡®You asked me earlier if I knew what would happen if a zombie like us ate other zombies, right?¡¯ ¡®Yes, yes. I¡¯ll tell you. I¡¯ll tell you everything. I swear! Please don¡¯t kill me!¡¯ ¡®You know what? I actually don¡¯t need to hear it from you anymore.¡¯ ¡®Huh? What do you mean?¡¯ It looked at me with eyes filled with fear. ¡®Let¡¯s just say it¡¯s time for an experiment.¡¯ St. Thud. I crushed its skull. The light from its glowing red eyes faded away. In moments, the lifeless body sagged to the ground. This was the end. Everything was over. The fight was over. But I was left with a scar within me, one that marked where a piece of my humanity had been burned away, a scar that I could never forget. I knew I had won the fight, but something just didn¡¯t seem right. I felt like I had lost something. ¡®Do I enjoy killing?¡¯ Even though they were zombies, they were creatures that still resembled humans. I sighed deeply, so deeply that I almost thought I was going to vomit. After several moments, I shifted my gaze toward the dead body on the ground. There was still some unfinished business. And I had to do this voluntarily, with a sane mind, unlike the previous time when I¡¯d done it unconsciously. Gulp. I swallowed hard. The sound was louder than I¡¯d expected. I took in a few shallow breaths. There was no time to hesitate. I had to get this over with before one of my people came searching for me. I plucked the dead zombie¡¯s dented brain from its skull. I tore into it, believing that there was no time to lose. One bite after another, I ingested its brain. I was voluntarily doing something inhuman in order to obtain more information. With every bite, I felt the remaining humanity within me getting torn to pieces. At the same time, I was beset by a painful headache, and my body began to shiver uncontrobly. It felt simr to the time when I ate the ck creature¡¯s brain. However, I wasn¡¯t on the brink of death, nor was I trying to ward off unthinkable agony. Beeeeep. With myst bite, a high-pitched whine filled my ears. I felt dizzy and I couldn¡¯t keep my bnce, as though something had gone wrong with my inner ear. ¡®Huh?¡¯ I didn¡¯t have any difficulties breathing, nor was my body engulfed in pain. My mouth wasn¡¯t itching, nor did the headache persist. But for some reason, I still couldn¡¯t keep myself upright. I copsed to the ground. ¡®What? What¡¯s happening?¡¯ I waspletely sane, but everything in front of me started flickering, as though I was watching a movie where the film had been damaged. I could tell that my body remembered this feeling. I inevitably began to feel drowsier. I felt my body grow warm, and soon after that, I felt all the umted fatigue rush into me at once. Just as when I¡¯d eaten the ck creature¡¯s brain, I was ready to enter a deep sleep. * * * ¡°Grr¡­¡± I had no clue how long I¡¯d been out for. I slowly picked myself up as I opened my eyes. My vision was blurry, so I rubbed my eyes and blinked them hard to clear it. I looked around and saw desks and chairs stacked on top of each other irregrly. I could tell that people had been there earlier. I saw rice on the floor, along with footprints, and marks that indicated that someone had been sitting on the floor. Rattle, rattle. The ssroom door opened and I saw a familiar woman with a big water jug in her hands step inside. When she saw me, her eyes widened in surprise. ¡°Huh? Oh!¡± As she stood motionless at the entrance, the man behind her startedining. ¡°Eun-Jeong, just go in already. This stuff is heavy, you know.¡± ¡°But, but look!¡± ¡°Look at what?¡± ¡°So-Yeon¡¯s father!¡± Kang Eun-Jeong ced the jug on the floor and came running up to me. Her face was as red as a beet. She grabbed my hand and began to sob without saying a word. Realizing that I was awake, the man who followed her in called my name with a bright smile. ¡°So-Yeon¡¯s dad!¡± It was Lee Jeong-Uk. He came up to me and gave me a good smack on the back. ¡°Hey, I thought you were dead!¡± ¡°Grr?¡± ¡°I mean your heart wasn¡¯t beating, you weren¡¯t breathing, and you seemed to be asleep as well! You were sleeping as though you were dead! I was on the verge of burying you!¡± To them, my condition would¡¯ve been confusing. Since I had no heartbeat, if I fainted, my condition would be no different from that of a dead body. They probably couldn¡¯t tell if I was dead or just knocked out. But Lee Jeong-Uk, he had a way of knowing if I was alive or dead. If my underlings stood still like soldiers waiting for orders, that meant I was still alive. If they acted like defeated soldiers, not knowing what to do with themselves, that would mean that I was dead. Since he had already experienced this before, he¡¯d probably acted ording to his observations of my underlings. I shed a bitter smile and scratched my side burns. Lee Jeong-Uk smiled gently. ¡°Thank goodness you didn¡¯t die.¡± I didn¡¯t immediately offer a reply. ¡®Not dead huh¡­¡¯ I couldn¡¯t help butugh. The whole situation seemed ironic. ¡®So what exactly am I? Dead or alive?¡¯ I stood up and headed straight to the bathroom. My sudden movement left the two of them feeling rather perplexed, but they continued with what they were doing, assuming that I had business to take care of. They checked their stores of water and inspected their weapons. The ssroom and the hallway outside still bore battle scars. Judging by their state, I assumed that not a whole lot of time had passed. As soon as I entered the bathroom, I checked myself in the mirror. My pupils, which had been vertical slits earlier, were now normal and round again. ¡®What in the world? I swear they were vertical earlier.¡¯ Despite this, I couldn¡¯t stop imagining the way I had appeared earlier on. Thankfully, the murderous madness seemed to have left me, and I was normal as anyone in my state could be. I had lost my mind as I¡¯d fought off the hundreds of red zombies that had crashed into me like a tsunami. Back then, I couldn¡¯t think of anything else other than killing them. Slowly, fragmented memories came back to me, showing me how I fought and how many of the zombies I had killed. Back then, it felt like an alter ego hidden somewhere deep down within me had taken over my body. The other part of me that enjoyed killing, unlike the one that loved humans. Perhaps my zombie instincts were getting stronger and stronger. I wondered how much longer I could remain around humans. ¡°Grr¡­¡± Saddened by this thought, my head sagged and I let out a sigh. I couldn¡¯te to any solid conclusion. I had no idea what would happen to me down the line. I turned the sink on to try to wash my face with cold water, but I realized that the sink wasn¡¯t working. So instead, I had to p myself in the face a few times to get myself together. When I returned to the ssroom, I saw the survivors sitting in a circle and drinking water. The constant anxiety had probably left them feeling rather thirsty. I sat next to Lee Jeong-Uk and gave him a nudge. As he turned to me, I pointed toward my wrist, asking for the time. He looked at me closely, and then asked hesitantly, ¡°Are you asking how long you were out for?¡± ¡°Grr.¡± ¡°Not sure. Maybe half a day?¡± ¡®Half a day, huh?¡¯ That was nothingpared to the week I¡¯d been knocked out for after my fight with the ck creature. I smacked my lips and sighed in relief. Lee Jeong-Uk passed me the water. ¡°Can you drink water?¡± Honestly, I didn¡¯t know. I had never tried drinking water after my transformation. Instead of answering his question, I took the bottle and slowly drained the water down my throat. Chapter 32 Chapter 32 Cough, cough! ¡®Goodness gracious!¡¯ My throat was burning and my entire body was resisting the water. All the water I drank drained back out through my nose and mouth. Lee Jeong-Uk frowned as he watched all the water streaming out. ¡°I mean, you could just say you don¡¯t like it if you don¡¯t.¡± ¡°Grr¡­¡± I rubbed my neck with my left hand to soothe the pain as I passed the water bottle back to Lee Jeong-Uk. I got up and headed outside for some fresh air. I felt the morning sun and the cool breeze. I took in deep breaths as though trying to clear my lungs of cigarette smoke. ¡®Oh wait, what about the red leader¡¯s dead body? If Lee Jeong-Uk brought me back, what did he do with the leader¡¯s dead body?¡¯ I immediately went over the wall and headed toward the ce where I had passed out. Its body was nowhere to be seen. I only saw blood stains on the ground. ¡®Darn it, there¡¯s still something I need to retrieve.¡¯ It was the map it had been holding. That was what I needed. If I had the map, it would be easy to understand the current situation within Seoul. The map was not only important for me, but for the survivors as well, since it probably had important information marked on it. I looked around frantically, like a person who had lost their wallet, trying my best to find it. ¡°Hey, what are you doing?¡± Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s voice came from behind me, startling me. I flinched at his sudden appearance, as if I had been caught red-handed for doing something wrong. But then, I realized I had done nothing wrong, and tried to find out from him where the dead body was. After using my best signnguage, Lee Jeong-Uk finally figured out what I was asking. ¡°Where did the dead body go?¡± I growled in acknowledgment. ¡°It¡¯s in the garbage dump behind the school. I moved all the dead bodies lying around over there.¡± My eyes widened with hope, and I hurried over to the garbage dump. There were piles of dead bodies lying around, yet to be burned. I figured it would¡¯ve been difficult to burn any of the zombie bodies during the night. They either had to wait until I awoke or the sun came up. Lee Jeong-Uk followed me. He covered his nose and said, ¡°If we don¡¯t burn these dead bodies fast, we might have to deal with who knows what kind of diseases. And with this hot weather, we shouldn¡¯t dy any longer.¡± He sounded like he was just making an excuse to get rid of the smell, but he was right. His judgment was sound. But I needed that map no matter what. It was essential for us to get our hands on the map. I went through the piled-up bodies in order to find the leader. I looked around everywhere. Lee Jeong-Uk studied me for a while, then smacked his lips and asked, ¡°Are you looking for something?¡± I didn¡¯t spare the time to answer his question, but kept on digging through the dead bodies. I went through the dead bodies, hoping that I would chance upon the leader¡¯s body. As I went through the pile of dead bodies, the reality of what I had done the day before hit me. Many of the dead bodies were torn apart, and others had crushed heads that were barely attached to their bodies. I saw another one with its arms twisted abnormally, and others that had their tongues and eyes sticking out. I couldn¡¯t believe I did all of that. I was shocked by the fact that I could be that violent. I tried my best to mp down on my disgust and contain the vomit that was trying to make its way up. After a while, I finally grabbed a dead body that only had half of its skull. It was missing its brain. I dragged it out from the pile and looked at its face. It was impossible to identify it since its face was so damaged. However, it was wearing the same clothes as the leader, and my gut told me that I was holding onto the right dead body. Lee Jeong-Uk frowned as he stared at the body I was holding up. ¡°That one didn¡¯t have a brain to begin with,¡± hemented. ¡°I think some rats ate it.¡± His statement caused me a moment¡¯s hesitation. ¡®What if he knew that I was actually the one who ate the brain, and not some rats?¡¯ I shook my head to clear my mind of these meaningless thoughts. I started rummaging through its clothing. I went through every pocket, top and bottom, hoping that it still had the map with it. Crumple. I felt something that seemed like paper in its thigh pocket. I quickly took it out and realized it was the map I was looking for. I felt like a treasure hunter who had found the gold he had dreamed about his whole life. ¡®The map! I finally found you!¡¯ Immediately, I opened it. It was arge map of Seoul, one meter wide and eighty centimeters tall. Noticing my sudden joy, Lee Jeong-Uk moved next to me. ¡°Is this a map of Seoul?¡± he eximed in surprise. I growled in approval. ¡°What are these signs?¡± I couldn¡¯t answer his question. Not because I didn¡¯t want to, but because I didn¡¯t know either. I shook my head, and Lee Jeong-Uk supported me as I got to my feet. He nced at the map I was holding. ¡°Let¡¯s go back inside and figure it out. It smells awful here.¡± I nodded in agreement and followed him back to the ssroom. * * * When we came back with a map, all the survivors gathered around us. We didn¡¯t even have to invite them. We first noticed areas colored green, orange, and red, as well as ces marked with the strange scissors sign. Above these areas, there was a small skull mark, along with multiple shield marks. We got together to decipher the meaning behind the marks. From our spections, we derived a few conclusions. The skulls meant zombies, while the shields meant survivors. We guessed that the shields representedrge numbers of survivors. We concluded that the mark indicated that whoever was there had adequate defenses and were living in groups. The real problem was the colors. We had no clue what they meant. However, Lee Jeong-Hyuk provided the solution. ¡°Since this is a map that the zombies were carrying around, wouldn¡¯t it make sense to think it was showing the zombie¡¯s status?¡± ¡°What do you mean by ¡®zombie¡¯s status¡¯?¡± Lee Jeong-Uk asked, inviting his brother to borate. Lee Jeong-Hyuk shrugged and answered, ¡°Hmm¡­ this was a map that the opposing zombie leader was holding, right? So I¡¯m assuming it could show some sort of hierarchy. Don¡¯t you think so?¡± ¡°So the colors represent who¡¯s higher up in theirdder?¡± ¡°Yeah. Just like how So-Yeon¡¯s father was absurdly strongpared to the other, I bet there¡¯s some sort of hierarchy among zombie leaders.¡± He had a point. Everyone seemed to agree with what Lee Jeong-Hyuk was saying. However, he let out an abrupt sigh and rubbed his chin. ¡°Darn it, there are only three green areas. And all of them are outside of Seoul.¡± ¡°I guess the one that attacked us was one of the weakest ones.¡± ¡°Wait, that doesn¡¯t exin how it made it all the way here. There are only orange and red areas around us.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m not sure. Maybe it got caught in the currents of the Han River and was swept down?¡± ¡°You actually think that many underlings could ride the current all the way here?¡± Lee Jeong-Hyuk smiled ufortably and scratched his neck after Lee Jeong-Uk scolded him. I could tell from his smile that he was slightly annoyed that he hadn¡¯t been allowed to even make a joke. After a moment, Lee Jeong-Hyuk smacked his lips and continued, ¡°Or they could¡¯ve been trying to get to Gangnam. There aren¡¯t any markings in Gangnam.¡± He was right. The green, orange, and red markings were only in the Gangbuk area. It seemed as though they hadn''t been able to survey the Gangnam area yet. Everyone was anxious. No one could figure out what the marks on the map truly meant. However, I had a suspicion that I knew their intention foring all the way here. I remembered what the zombie with the glowing red eyes had said to me. - ¡®The next time you see my gang, run for your goddamn life. The other ones aren¡¯t gentlemen like me. You got it?¡¯ That meant it hadrades. And the fact that he said that they weren''t gentlemen probably meant that there were a lot more zombies that were stronger than it. It had probablye here under orders from a zombie that was higher up in thedder. And it hade all the way here without knowing this ce was Haengdang-dong, a ce marked with scissors. I assumed that it was just a leader with a small handful of underlings that got yed by someone higher up. It should have known its ce. I didn¡¯t know how many zombies the ones controlling Gangbuk had, but it was clear that they had not been able to find a way across the bridges spanning the Han River yet. Judging by the map, though, they seemed to have taken over the Gangbuk area for sure. After a moment, Lee Jeong-Uk, still full of questions, spoke up. ¡°Well, we cane back to thister. What about this ¡®X¡¯ mark? The areas marked with an ¡®X¡¯ don¡¯t have a skull mark or a shield mark.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk rubbed his neck, offering a gesture of agreement. ¡°About that¡­ I also don¡¯t know.¡± All the other survivors had tilted their heads to one side or the other, and were rubbing their chins continually. No one seemed daring enough to speak up. For some reason, though, I felt like I knew what the ¡®X¡¯ meant. * * * I remembered what the zombie with the glowing red eyes had asked me. - I¡¯m asking you a question, you bastard. Are we in Haengdang-dong? Its voice had been agitated, and it sounded all worked up. Despite that, its eyes had been full of fear, and locked onto the ce marked with an ¡®X¡¯, which was Haengdang-dong. ¡®Why was it so scared? Why in the world would a zombie leader with more than three hundred underlings be so scared?¡¯ Looking back at that situation, I might have known the answer to that question from the beginning. In fact, it was rather simple, if one considered the situation from the point of view of the other zombie leader. The mark represented the creature that I feared, the creature that I was also afraid of. The creature I had tried my best to avoid. The creature that could not bemunicated with. The zombie leader with the red glow had also known of the ck creature¡¯s existence. When taking that into consideration, it was very possible that the location marked with the ¡®X¡¯ was the ck creature¡¯s territory. It was a warning: ¡°Do not enter, no trespassing allowed.¡± It was a ce that they wanted to erase from the map. After the world had fallen, Haengdang-dong, one of the most representative residential areas in Gangbuk, Seoul, was now a ce feared by everyone and everything. I drew the ck creature on a wooden nk and showed it to Lee Jeong-Uk. After seeing what I had drawn, Lee Jeong-Uk gasped in surprise and passed my opinion on to the other survivors. ¡°He¡¯s saying that the X marks means the ck creature¡¯s territory.¡± Lee Jeong-Hyuk¡¯s eyes went wide, clearly not wanting to believe what he had heard. ¡°The -ck creature?¡± Even Lee Jeong-Hyuk knew how powerful the ck creature was, even though he had never seen it with his own eyes. The survivors from high school were all shocked. They gasped, exining that they too had seen the ck creature before. They would have known about it, since the two men on lookout duty that night had been bitten by it and died. ¡°Are there more ck creatures?¡± Lee Jeong-Uk asked me, his face grim. I wasn¡¯t sure how to answer his question, so I shrugged and offered him a neutral expression. Being honest was the best answer I could give him. He watched my response, his expression remaining grim. After a moment, he rubbed his chin and took a closer look at the map. He remained silent for a while, as though contemting something. After a few minutes, Lee Jeong-Uk tilted his head and pointed to one part of the map. He directed a question to everyone around him. ¡°Look here. Isn¡¯t this also a shield mark?¡± There really was a small shield mark at the tip of this finger. But I wasn¡¯t sure if it was a shield. It was a very odd drawing. What made things worse was that the part he was pointing at had gotten wet earlier. It made it even harder to determine what exactly the mark was. Lee Jeong-Hyuk held the map right up his face. After a moment, he shook his head, still unable to quite figure out what it was. ¡°I think it¡¯s safe to say it¡¯s a shield?¡± ¡°If that¡¯s true, doesn¡¯t that mean there are people at a shelter in Haengdang-dong as well? This is Wangsimni Station.¡± ¡°Hyung, you actually think there are people at a subway station?¡± ¡°Hey, take a closer look at the map. The shield drawing here; isn¡¯t this where the supermarket is?¡± I was surprised to see the ce Lee Jeong-Uk was pointing out. The construction site where I had taken care of the ck creature was less than three minutes away by foot from that location. I also knew the supermarket he was talking about. It had a big letter ¡®e¡¯ on it. [1] I had glimpsed the supermarket next to Wangsimni Station when I had been running away from the ck creature. However, at that time, I hadn¡¯t been in the best situation to be checking for survivors. After a moment, Lee Jeong-Uk faced me and asked, ¡°So-Yeon¡¯s dad, what do you think?¡± I shook my head, prompting Lee Jeong-Uk to chuckle. ¡°I mean, a supermarket would have plenty of food. It probably even has other things we could make use of. How about we go together?¡± I didn¡¯t go along with his suggestion right away. A supermarket was a dream for any survivor. However, when I used the term ¡®survivors¡¯, that also meant criminals, and not just ordinary people like us, since we were living in an era where people weren¡¯t ssified as civilized or criminals, but dead or alive. I picked up the pen I had put down and scribbled some letters on my palm. - Me, first. Lee Jeong-Uk scratched his sideburns and said hesitantly, ¡°You want to go first, and then we can go together?¡± I nodded twice. Lee Jeong-Uk agreed silently. I knew better than anyone that it would be much easier and more efficient to bring him along to confirm the existence of a shelter. With him around, I wouldn¡¯t have to struggle to exin the situation to the otherster on. However, it came with a cost. I could not guarantee his life. That was thest thing I wanted. I knew it would be better for me and my underlings to head out during the night to check if the ce was safe or not. That way, there was less risk to Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s life. I assumed Lee Jeong-Uk knew this as well, since he didn¡¯t contradict my suggestion. After a moment, he got to his feet. ¡°Alrighty everyone, let¡¯s get moving. We can¡¯t stay here forever. We have to get back to the apartment.¡± Everyone in the ssroom got up and prepared to leave. With that, I ordered my underlings to gather on the field. A momentter, all my underlings and the nine survivors were present on the field. I lined up my underlings around the survivors. But then I realized something strange. I had more underlings than I remembered. 1. There is a big supermarket in Korea called e-mart. The e-mart logo is a big ¡®e¡¯. ? Chapter 33 Chapter 33 Lee Jeong-Uk, who was next to me, had noticed as well. He looked at my underlings cautiously and called my name. ¡°Hey, So-Yeon¡¯s dad.¡± ¡°Grr?¡± ¡°There are ones without blue marks.¡± The underlings that hadn¡¯t had their bodies spray-painted blue had had their faces painted with blue paint instead. However, there were several zombies there that didn¡¯t even have their faces painted. They were scattered about my other underlings, waiting for my orders as well. I counted each of my underlings one by one. ¡®What? What¡¯s this?¡¯ If I remembered correctly, there should''ve only been eighty-one underlings, even less if some of them had been killed during the battle. However, to my surprise, there were ny-eight underlings lined up in the field. I called out the seventeen unusual ones and lined them up in one row. I then ordered them specifically to sit down and stand up ten times. Grr¡­ They followed my orders, sitting down and standing up. They were following my orders. They also looked green to me. That meant they were my underlings. But no matter how hard I tried tracing in my memory, I couldn''t remember pushing any of them. On top of that, none of their faces were painted blue. At that moment, I saw a familiar face among the seventeen underlings. It was the one that had run up to the zombie with glowing red eyes to hand over the map. ¡®Why is this one here?¡¯ It looked red the first time I¡¯d seen it, but now it was green. A sudden hypothetical question crossed my mind. - What happens if we eat each other? This was what the zombie with glowing red eyes had said to me. If zombies ate each other¡­ To be precise, if the winner ate the loser''s brain, they could take control of the loser¡¯s underlings as well. That was how this world worked. I also remembered it asking me how many underlings I thought we could have. As I pondered this, all manner of questions popped up in my mind. ¡®If there¡¯s a limit on how many underlings we can have, I wonder if that limit goes away if I eat the right amount of brains?¡¯ At that moment, I realized how dangerous the orange and red areas on the map were. If the ¡®X¡¯ on the map indicated the ck creature¡¯s territory, it meant that the ck creature had no presence within the other regions. That led me to the conclusion that the orange and red areas were basically warzones. The power y between different zombies and the remaining humans¡¯ struggle to survive amidst all of this was happening at this very moment. I stared into the distance. It was Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s voice that interrupted me. ¡°So-Yeon¡¯s dad, are you alright?¡± ¡°Grr?¡± ¡°Are they your underlings as well?¡± I hesitated for a moment, but eventually nodded. No green underlings had ever revolted against me or suddenly changed color. I came to the conclusion that the newly added seventeen zombies were no different from my other underlings. Just in case, though, I made these seventeen new zombies stand with me, while I ordered the ones painted blue to stand next to the survivors. ¡®Let¡¯s go back for now. Let¡¯s go back to where everyone is waiting; where So-Yeon is waiting for me.¡¯ * * * As we got back to the apartment, the other survivors in unit 505 greeted us. I could see happiness in their faces, along with a sense of relief. I could picture a bright future with them. Patter, patter. I heard familiar footsteps in the midst of all the noise. They were small, cute footsteps, and just hearing them immediately brought a smile to my face. ¡°Daddy!¡± So-Yeon came straight to me and hugged me. I gave her a happy smile and hugged her back. As I lifted her up, she started giggling, and the stress I had umted went away at once. The beaming smile that was so dear to me was right in front of my eyes. It wasn¡¯t a mirage, nor did it disappear like haze. I was hearing So-Yeon¡¯sughter, full of life. Her smile made me feel alive, and gave me a reason to live on. As I kept on smiling, Lee Jeong-Hyuk looked at me and chuckled. ¡°Hey, hey, So-Yeon¡¯s father. You¡¯re that happy?¡± As I nodded, Choi Da-Hye, who was standing next to him, joined in as well. ¡°You sure look happy. Look at his smile!¡± Lee Jeong-Hyuk looked at Choi Da-Hye with suggestive eyes. However, contrary to his expectations, Choi Da-Hye merely jabbed him in the stomach. I bursted outughing looking at the two of them. So-Yeon grabbed my hand to take me to her friends. The children were scared of me but at the same time looked at me with curiosity, since I got along well with the others. I wasn¡¯t sure how to exin this situation. Everybody was shrinking away in fear, yet their eyes were sparkling with curiosity. They were scared but curious, afraid yet amazed. ¡®I think we¡¯ll need more time to get closer to each other.¡¯ I took a deep breath and took a look around. I was thinking about going to the supermarket right away, but after seeing everyone so revitalized I didn¡¯t want to go anywhere else. I thought thest bit of humanity left in me had been stripped away during my fight with the glowing red-eyed creature. However, I still wanted to be around people and get along with them. I still liked people and I wanted to keep seeing peopleugh brightly like this. I felt the negativity within me go away now that I was in a ce brimming with positive energy. I smiled as I walked toward a dining chair. Then So-Yeon came up to me and stretched out her arms, asking for a hug. I wondered how much cuter she could get. I wondered who she had gotten all her cuteness from. I sat So-Yeon on myp, all happy, and stared at the bustling crowd of people. I finally realized the feeling of amunity that I had never experienced as a human. * * * As the evening rolled in, I joined the rest of the group and started catching up with them. Of course, I was just listening to their stories. Lee Jeong-Uk mentioned something that he found interesting. He told me that my underlings were strongerpared to the other zombies. With that in mind, I decided to try something out. I went to the first floor and picked out the strongest looking zombie among the newly added seventeen underlings, and pitted it against one of my blue underlings. I didn¡¯t make them actually fight with their fists. Instead, I asked them to engage in a palm-pushing game to see which one was stronger. The results were different from what I had expected. The two were evenly matched. Through this experiment, I learned something else. The abilities of an underling depended on their leader. Even though these underlings had been weak before, they seemed to have gotten stronger, depending on who they recognized as their leader. Lee Jeong-Uk and I took out the leftover blue spray paint and sprayed these new ones blue. Once we were done painting the newly added seventeen members, as well as some new recruits I had acquired overnight, I had a total of one hundred and thirty-five underlings painted blue. Lee Jeong-Uk shook the almost-empty can of spray paint in his hand. ¡°We need to get some more spray paint too.¡± I knew that I was going to acquire a lot more underlings than I had right now. Therefore, we had to get more paint when we went out to get food. I nodded and gestured for him to head back first. Lee Jeong-Uk arched an eyebrow. ¡°Are you trying to go to the supermarket right now?¡± I nodded, and Lee Jeong-Uk scratched his head. I noticed some hesitation in his movements. It seemed as though he wanted to say something, but he did not want to just blurt it out. I tilted my head as I looked at him, and he let out a chuckle. ¡°I just wanted to let you know that I¡¯m sorry.¡± ¡®Well, that was unexpected.¡¯ In this fallen world full of anger and hate, that was thest thing I¡¯d expected to hear. As I looked at him questioningly, he smiled gently and looked away. Then he smacked his lips and continued, ¡°Well it seems we¡¯re making you do everything and¡­ You know what? Nevermind.¡± His upper body shook as if he knew what he was saying was cringe, and mumbled something nomittal as he made his way up the stairs. I couldn¡¯t helpughing at the way he acted. Clearly, underneath his picky and sensitive personality, he had a soft spot in him. ¡®Sorry, huh¡­¡¯ He could have been offering me his gratitude disguised as an apology. More than anything, though, there was no reason for Lee Jeong-Uk to feel sorry toward me. So-Yeon had startedughing again thanks to him and his group of people, and I was able to save others thanks to them. They taught me a sense ofmunity, and let me experience the joy ofmunal living. ¡®No, it should be me that should be apologizing.¡¯ I smacked my lips in sadness. I suddenly remembered the baby and woman falling from unit 704, and Lee Jeong-Uk wailing. I shook my head and sighed deeply. I wondered when I was going to get past this memory. I had a feeling that it would follow me until the day I died. * * * Once I had taken care of everything, I returned to the living room. As I entered, everyone in the living room started looking at each other, as if someone had something to say. As I looked at them quizzically, Lee Jeong-Uk spoke up. ¡°So-Yeon¡¯s dad, we had a little talk while you were gone.¡± ¡°...?¡± Lee Jeong-Uk seemed hesitant to speak his mind, as if he was about to ask for the impossible. As I waited patiently, he finally took a deep breath and continued, ¡°We¡¯ll take care of getting food from now on.¡± I growled in disapproval. My expression grew angry and I shook my head vigorously, letting them know that I wasn¡¯t about to let that happen. I couldn¡¯t risk Lee Jeong-Uk and his people getting hurt. The day any one of them died, the whole system we¡¯d worked to establish would copse in a matter of days. Lee Jeong-Uk smacked his lips and avoided acknowledging my response. Lee Jeong-Hyuk, who was next to him, smiled ufortably and said, ¡°We have to do something too.¡± When I heard that, I pointed to So-Yeon, who was coloring with the other children. Lee Jeong-Hyuk scratched his sideburns and pressed on, ¡°Of course we have to protect So-Yeon. But if we don¡¯t do anything, don¡¯t you think we¡¯re just beingzy?¡± I got a pen and quickly jotted down a couple of words on the drawing pad. - Safety First. Lee Jeong-Hyuk chuckled at what I had written. ¡°We know. But your underlings are protecting the entrance. Since there are more of us, we just can''t let you shoulder all the burden.¡± My expression grew sad as I looked at Lee Jeong-Hyuk, and I remembered what Lee Jeong-Uk had said earlier. - I just wanted to let you know that I¡¯m sorry. Lee Jeong-Uk had clearly apologized earlier on. I wondered if I was keeping everyone here out of my own arrogance. They were people, who were very much alive. They were also adults. They weren''t beings that I had to protect and take care of, but individuals, with their own thoughts and feelings. I took a deep breath as I considered the situation. Finally, Lee Jeong-Uk, who had kept silent, spoke up. ¡°So-Yeon¡¯s dad, we¡¯re a team now. There¡¯s a limit on how much you can do by yourself. We all need to take charge of something.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Don¡¯t try to do everything by yourself. So, do you think you can give us a chance?¡± Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s face was full of determination. His voice was extremely calm, and he looked at me with eyes full of resolve. I saw the trust and faith he had in me. I couldn¡¯t help but nod in response to his request. Lee Jeong-Uk finally smiled gently, and continued, ¡°Since I know the supermarket that we went tost time, let us take care of getting food.¡± I nodded. ¡°And we¡¯ll make sure that So-Yeon never gets left alone. I won¡¯t let that happen no matter what. Even if that means I have to die. I won¡¯t let that happen.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk patted me on the shoulder as he made his promise. I looked at Lee Jeong-Uk without saying a word. His eyes were full of vitality. He didn¡¯t have the soulless eyes he¡¯d had when I first saw him. Instead, they were sparkling with life. I felt as though they were providing me with some sort of constion as well. Deep down, I was a bit worried, but the only thing I could do right now was to trust Lee Jeong-Uk. He knew the characteristics of zombies, and he¡¯d managed to survive with Lee Jeong-Hyuk and Choi Da-Hye, who considered themselves useless. My request that they do nothing else but protect So-Yeon had its limits. I¡¯d been thinking about the map, and had realized that the shield markings on the map might not be shelters after all. If that were the case, then perhaps making everyone stay put until I found a safe shelter might only serve to worsen the current situation. I took a deep breath and nodded. With that, everyone¡¯s expressions brightened up. Their faces seemed much more alive and warm, even though they now had to risk their lives to go outside and get food. I guess that¡¯s how humans differed from animals. If all they did was sit around and eat all day, these people would be no different from domesticated animals. I looked deeply into each of their faces. I saw the trust and faith we had umted throughout our time together. They no longer had the faces of mere survivors just trying to make it out alive. Their faces were full of vitality. Chapter 34 Chapter 34 I headed to Wangsimni Station aftering to some agreements with my crew. As I got near to Wangsimni Station, I saw the big supermarket from afar. Before going inside, I ordered the underlings I¡¯d brought with me to be on the lookout. I had brought a total of three underlings with me; all of them had vision. I ordered one of my underlings to go east, west, and south. I ordered them to find the highest building in their respective directions and settle down on the rooftops. After that, I gave them only one order. ¡®Send signals if you see any red or ck creatures.¡¯ Since my underlings had experience with both red and ck creatures, they followed my orders without question. I took a look at where my underlings were, then headed north. I made my way to the supermarket and scouted out the surroundings. I saw a total of twenty-four zombies roaming around the streets. Most of them had vision. As time passed, it seemed like more zombies would develop vision. They were like adolescents going through puberty and entering adulthood. Their senses were getting better by the day. The speed at which they developed was out of this world. It was way beyond what humans were capable of. On my way, I noticed that the barricades that were set up to defend against the ones who only had their sense of hearing became useless, and the decoys used to fight off the ones with a sense of smell also became useless. In order to fight off the ones with vision, people needed a safer and more effective weapon. It was obvious that there was a limit to what one could do with a monkey wrench or kitchen knife. ¡®I guess the best weapon is a gun, isn¡¯t it? Actually, no. It might be more dangerous because of the noise.¡¯ I shook my head with a frown. ¡®Is there a weapon that isn¡¯t as loud as a gun that can still attack enemies from a distance?¡¯ A catapult or bow would be the best weapons in this situation. However, getting a catapult or bow in Korea was akin to asking for the moon. I sighed deeply and looked up into the night sky. Perhaps the best weapon in the current situation was a zombie that acted for the humans¡¯ sake, like me. It was the most guaranteed and low-risk option. The problem was figuring out how many more creatures like me existed. I shook my head violently at this conundrum, and looked at the nearby zombies. Every one of them froze when they saw me. They moved like animals stuck in a swamp, not even thinking about getting away. All they did was sway their bodies side by side, not knowing what to do. I ran toward them before they had the chance to flee. I pushed every single one I couldy my hands on. I knew that leaving the ones with vision alive would be a big threat to the survivors, whereas the more zombies with vision I had as underlings, the better it was for me. I frowned, pressing my thumbs against my temples. My eardrums were already ringing only after pushing five zombies. But at the same time, I knew it would be a waste to let the zombies who could see and whose bodies were whole just roam around. I kept on making more underlings on my way to the supermarket. Once I got to the entrance of the supermarket, I realized that I had made a total of twenty new underlings. ¡®Be on the lookout, like how your seniors are doing.¡¯ Grr! Gar! The twenty fresh recruits went their separate ways immediately after getting my orders. Only after that did I enter the supermarket. This was my actual objective from the beginning. * * * I walked into the first floor of the supermarket and was greeted by a rather gloomy atmosphere. I didn¡¯t feel the presence of any living creatures. Instead, I saw half-torn advertisements along with a bunch of hangers strewn across the floor. There were branded items that I couldn¡¯t even imagine owning when I¡¯d been a human just lying on the floor. However, all of it didn¡¯t matter, since they were basically trash now. I made my way quietly around the first floor. I didn¡¯t sense the presence of anyone or anything, dead or alive. I found the travtor that led to the second floor, and noticed that there was a barricade. It was poorly built, serving almost no purpose. It was just a random stack of chairs, desks, and boxes that seemed about to copse with the slightest touch. ¡®I can¡¯t imagine there being any survivors here.¡¯ At least for the first floor, I didn¡¯t see any traces of people staying here. But it was too early to give up. I made my way over the barricade and headed toward the second floor just in case. When I got to the second floor, I saw a bunch of tents with holes in them. There were all sorts of utensils, duvets, and clothes lying inside. They were covered in ayer of dust, so I assumed that it had been at least a week since they¡¯dst been used. Judging by the number of tents and the amount of rotten food, it seemed like there had been more than twenty survivors camping out here at least. ¡®Where did they all go?¡¯ Considering the food they¡¯d left behind, a zombie ambush was a possibility. I rubbed my chin as I looked around the deserted floor. At that moment, I remembered the shield mark on top of Haengdang-dong on the map of Seoul. Unlike the other areas, the shield marker on this location was tiny and misshapen. I had assumed that it was because that portion of the map had gotten wet, but now that I thought about it, it could have been done intentionally, in an attempt to erase the shield marking. That opened up the possibility that the survivors here had all been annihted. I let out a deep sigh and headed toward the travtor that led to the third floor. With each step, the same thought kept running through my mind. If, hypothetically, the survivors had been annihted, there should have been some zombies inside the building. But I hadn¡¯t seen a single zombie since I¡¯d entered the first floor. At this point, it seemed like the supermarket did not allow any creature inside, no matter if that being was a survivor or zombie. These questions made me doubt my earlier reasoning. It was possible that something else could have happened besides a massacre. Swish. Just then, a noise tickled my ears. I stopped midway on the travtor leading toward the third floor. As with the travtor that connected the first and second floors, there was a barricade. Unlike the first-floor barricade, though, this one was a lot sturdier. However, that didn¡¯t matter to me. They were a minor annoyance that I could easily jump over. The barricade itself wasn¡¯t bothering me¡ªit was the noise I heard beyond the barricade. I stopped moving and crouched down, focusing on the sounding from behind the barricade. I wondered who the noise was being made by¡ªsurvivors or zombies. However, I could no longer feel their presence, as though they somehow knew that I was there. ¡®Are they aware of my presence too?¡¯ The beings on the underside were acting just like me, hiding their presence. This meant that they weren¡¯t merely ordinary zombies from the streets. This probably meant that whatever was on the other side were beings that could think and feel. ¡®But what if I¡¯m specting wildly? What if it¡¯s another living being like a cat or dog in this building?¡¯ For some reason, though, I was certain that the noise I¡¯d heard was something or someone dragging their shoes. ¡®Can wild animals make that kind of noise?¡¯ If the noise had been the sound of something dropping, or some sort of loud cry, it would have been possible that it indicated the presence of a wild animal. But if it was something or someone dragging their shoes, it came down to two possibilities. Either they were a survivor, or they were a being like me. I walked as quietly as I could toward the window, thinking of escaping the supermarket through there. If the beings on the other side of the barricade were survivors, they would most definitely attack me. And if the being was simr to me, it would result in a nasty situation. It was best to get out of this situation, regardless if they were survivors or not. I went to the broken window on the second floor and hurled myself outside. Inded as quietly as I could on the first floor. As soon as Inded, I hid myself in the darkness. The halo of the moon was brighter than usual, and an unusually eerie atmosphere pervaded the lonely city. Unless the beings on the third floor were glowing creatures with red eyes like me, they would never be able to find me. I went around the supermarket and hid in the building behind it. It was facing the supermarket, and thanks to its many floors, I would be able to see the entire supermarket in one go. I quietly went up the stairs to the third floor. I examined the interior of the supermarket through a broken window. The first and second floor of the supermarket were absolutely silent and nketed with a dreary atmosphere, just like it had been earlier on. But what I saw through the third floor window made me nervous, causing my body to stiffen. There were survivors. I saw four survivors moving around like cockroaches, their backs hunched. It seemed like they hadn''t seen me. They were quietly surveilling their surroundings. I wondered if they were trying to locate the presence of whoever it was that they had sensed earlier on. Or were they getting ready to hunt me down? No, they weren¡¯t getting ready to hunt. They seemed to be gathering to protect themselves from potential danger. Among the hastily-moving survivors, I saw a man in his twenties, quivering with fear. Even from this distance, I could see him trembling on the floor. He had a forged steel pole in his hands. The poles seemed to ripple as the moonlight reflected off of it. A momentter, a man in histe forties came up to the young man and patted him on the shoulder. It seemed like he was trying to calm him down. The younger man got a hold of himself, nodded and straightened his back. Then, he began to move. I had my eyes locked on him. He eventually reached arge tent. At first, I thought it was a big piece of cloth used to cover items, but it was in fact arge tent for survivors to hide in. It seemed like the survivors there had connected severalrge pieces of cloth together to make a big shelter, using several items in the supermarket as supports. The man in his twenties slid into the tent. After a few moments, he came out with five other people. There were young women and men, along with an old woman. Each of them moved to separate, specific locations, as if their movements were pre-nned. They were moving in unison. They seemed to have a rather stable system going on. They weren¡¯t kicking out or ignoring those that were scared or weak, but rather looking after each other and watching each other¡¯s backs. ¡®I need to bring Lee Jeong-Uk here.¡¯ I sighed with relief, flushing away the nervousness that had engulfed my body. I had finally found real people. I sat down on the dusty floor. ¡®Thank goodness. What a relief.¡¯ Just seeing survivors who hadn¡¯t lost their humanity brought a smile to my face. Even though we were living in a world full of zombies, I felt a glimmer of hope that the world was still an okay ce to live. I crawled toward the emergency exit so that the survivors wouldn¡¯t notice me. I wanted to get back to the apartment and tell everyone the good news. I wanted to let them know at this very instant that there were survivors at the supermarket who still clung to their humanity. ¡°Waa, waaah!¡± ¡®What¡¯s that noise?¡¯ I stopped in my tracks and quickly turned around. It wasing from the building across from me. The building across from me was obviously the supermarket. I lost my train of thought, and immediately rushed back to the window. The survivors on the third floor were totally caught off-guard. Every one of them was staring at the same thing, their faces a mixture of clueless anxiety. Their eyes were all locked on the big tent. A baby inside was crying. It was wailing at the top of its lungs. It was a sad, mournful wail. The baby had no intention of stopping. Someone covered the baby¡¯s mouth, and I ceased hearing it crying. This all happened in the span of five seconds. Just five. However, those five seconds of crying had been enough to wake up the sleeping city. I looked around, my eyes wide open. GRR, GRR. I heard the zombies howling. As soon as one howled, others took up the call. Their howling spread out like wildfire, even into alleyways and roads that I couldn¡¯t see. Chills ran down my spine. In moments, I saw a ck wave heading in my direction. The ck wave roiled into a deadly tsunami that was preparing to crash into a lighthouse. It made its way over swiftly, clearly intending to extinguish any light that dared to shine in the darkness. In this case, the lighthouse was the supermarket. The waves wereing in from all directions. I couldn¡¯t even count how many zombies there were. ¡®Maybe fifty? Seventy? Or even a hundred?¡¯ I couldn¡¯t fathom their numbers. The zombie with the glowing red eyes at the high school had more than three hundred underlings. Right now, though, that number seemed insufficient. Arger and wilder tidal wave was making its way to the supermarket. Zombies that were acting on their instincts, not under orders, were charging toward the supermarket. I nced at the survivors and gritted my teeth. None of them dared to move. The man in his twenties, who had been trembling violently just a couple of minutes ago, was no longer shaking. I wondered if he had ovee his fears. ¡®No, there¡¯s no way.¡¯ Instead, I saw the hope of survival drain out of his eyes. They slowly turned into soulless orbs. He was sinking ever deeper into a swamp of despair. All the other survivors seemed to be caught in the same swamp. With death staring them in the face, they had lost the will to resist. I closed my eyes to maintain myposure as much as possible. I took a couple of deep breaths and sent out an order to the underlings around me. ¡®Everyone, gather at the first floor of the supermarket.¡¯ Chapter 35 Chapter 35 Once I gave the order, the underlings perched on the buildings to the east, west, and south moved immediately, as though they had anticipated mymand. I jumped from the third floor of my building and into the supermarket in one go. As with any supermarket, there were many entrances. That meant, it was impossible to block every entrance. I had to restrict the entryways somehow. I gave amand to the flock of green zombies that wereing into the supermarket. ¡®Block the travtor and esctors going up to the second floor. Make sure nothing gets through.¡¯ I split the twenty-three underlings evenly and had them block the way to the second floor. Very quickly, the ground started to rumble. It seemed like the ck tsunami had arrived. I took a deep breath and went out through the main entrance of the supermarket. The cold summer breeze made me sniffle. Thud, thud, thud. GRR!! KARRR!! Along with their intimidating footsteps, their hideous voices assaulted my eardrums from a stone¡¯s throw away. I clenched my fists and looked to the horizon. Whenever I found myself in a situation like this, I always asked myself the same question. ¡®Why do I put myself through all of this for people that I don¡¯t know?¡¯ Perhaps it was because of my conscience, or just useless hypocrisy. However, in this world, there had to be someone who followed their heart, someone who held onto their integrity, so that they could make the world a better ce to live in. All of this just might be a meaningless gesture. It might be stupid for me to risk my life for someone I didn¡¯t know at all. The people in the supermarket wouldn¡¯t cry or pray for me even if I died trying to protect them. ¡®¡­So what? Is there even such a thing as a meaningful death in this world?¡¯ In the face of death, everyone stood equal. All of us are just mere beings waiting for death. I had already experienced death, and knowing how painful it was, I wanted to cheer on whoever was still alive, to help them and protect them. I wanted to devote this second life of mine to So-Yeon, along with the survivors I had chosen to help her grow into a proper person. I wanted to give them a sense of hope and stability. This will of mine wasn¡¯ting from a ce of arrogance, where I considered myself superior to everyone else. This was just what my heart told me to do. I wanted to help people in need, and listen to the innocents who found themselves in a difficult situation. Since I was already dead and my body had a limit, I wanted to do the best I could do, given my circumstances. Just like the principal at the high school, and Lee Jeong-Uk when he had been trapped by zombies. If liking and taking care of people was a sin, I would be handed a life sentence just like them. If I couldn¡¯t get out of this damned world, this prison, if this was my destiny and fate, I had no ns to back down. I would fight against this world, together with the prisoners that shared the same vision as me. ¡°GRRRRR!!!¡± I let loose a throat-rending scream toward the ck tsunami that was rolling toward me. I saw the zombies in the very front hesitate. However, the crush of bodies behind them pushed them toward me, whether they liked it or not. Iunched myself at the iing zombie horde. There was no need to be scared. There was no need to be afraid. There was nothing different about them. Despite their numbers, at the end of the day, they were merely street zombies. It was time to teach them a lesson; to show them what superiority meant. * * * The survivors in the supermarket were silently watching what was happening outside. ¡°Ah, ahjussi, could that man be¡­?¡± ¡°No, he¡¯s not Hyeong-Jun.¡± The man in his twenties was cut off by a man who seemed like the leader of the group. The man who looked like he was in his mid forties clenched his fists and swallowed. His fists seemed like they were holding onto something¡ªsomething called hope. This hope was slender and weak, and kept trying to wiggle its way out of his grasp. The more it struggled, the tighter the man clenched his fists, making them tremble, but not letting go. His breath was ragged with fear. In the midst of nervousness, fear, horror, and despair, this weak glimmer of hope was the only thing that kept his heart beating. This little hope of his was but a small me flickering in the wind, threatening to be blown out, yet doing all it could to resist the wind by curling around itself. Then, a man had appeared out of nowhere, causing his heart to beat strongly again. He heard the voice of the man in his twenties. ¡°Ahjussi, Park Gi-Cheol ahjussi!¡± ¡°What do you want?¡± Park Gi-Cheol was focused on what was happening outside. The lives of theirmunity depended on the man in front of them. The man in his twenties was desperately calling him, though. He frowned as he shifted his gaze toward the younger man. The younger man spoke again, his shoulders shrugged up close to his ears, as though he was intimidated by the older man¡¯s attitude. ¡°Did you get a chance to see his eyes?¡± ¡°What about them?¡± ¡°That person has the same eyes as Hyeong-Jun.¡± ¡°What?¡± The older man opened his eyes wide and stared at the man who was massacring the zombies. Only then did he realize that the man outside the window had glowing red eyes and a murderous re. The man outside was like a ship cutting its way through a storm. His power was almighty. It was way beyond human capabilities. He was stomping his way through every zombie, as if dealing with ants. Park Gi-Cheol smacked his lips nervously and asked the other man, ¡°Ho-Jin, is Hyeong-Jun as strong as that man?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure.¡± ¡°When is Hyeong-Juning back?¡± ¡°Do you think he¡¯ll take three days this time as well?¡± ¡°Three days huh¡­ Isn¡¯t today the third day?¡± ¡°It probably is. He should being back any minute¡­¡± ¡°Hmm¡­.¡± Park Gi-Cheol grunted and looked outside again. He watched the violent scene unfolding in front of his eyes with a sad frown. It was nothing short of cruelty, but it was, without a doubt, a miracle for the survivors in the supermarket. * * * I charged through the overwhelming number of zombies. The ck wave crashed into an unexpected breakwater and dispersed, turning into foam. I thought of the zombie with the glowing red eyes from the high school. I¡¯d torn it to pieces and eaten its brain, but it had been a lot strongerpared to other zombies. It just happened to be facing me. It had just been at the wrong ce at the wrong time. The three hundred or so underlings it had were a lot stronger than the zombies in front me right now. The ones that were charging toward me weren¡¯ting at me of their own free will, but because they were being shoved forward by the others behind them. They weren¡¯t a big threat to me. As they got closer to me and saw my glowing red eyes, all of them grew scared and shuddered. I knew what they must have been feeling. They¡¯d probably expected that they would descend upon a weak and lonely lighthouse. But the sweet lighthouse they¡¯d imagined had suddenly turned into a creature with glowing red eyes, a breakwater that wiped out everything that came into contact with it. They probably only realized that they had been going in the wrong direction after it was toote. ¡®Realize?¡¯ In reality, they didn¡¯t know how to think. They just followed their instincts. That was the difference between me and them. The ones that were charging at me, sensing that they had a numerical advantage, quickly grew hesitant as they saw the others being wiped out. The pile of dead bodies around my feet was a clear signal of danger. GRRR!!! But the ones who couldn¡¯t see did not know any better. They kept on charging toward me. It seemed like the ones without the ability to see had weak senses overall. They didn''t recognize what was standing in front of them, and their attention was solely trained on the instinct to kill. I cracked their heads and added more bodies to my pile. Their heads were crushed like soft tofu and their spines snapped like weak twigs. Eventually, I was standing on a massive pile of dead bodies. Only then did they stop what they were doing. The remaining zombies all had vision. I screamed at the top of my lungs, loud enough that it felt like my throat was about to be torn out. My scream stopped them in their tracks, rooting them to the spot. They stood where they were, bobbing their heads side to side. ¡®Don¡¯t they know what to do? Or are they trembling in fear?¡¯ I unclenched my fists and walked toward them. They started to back away slowly, utter horror written all over their faces. I went ahead and pushed them before they got away. ¡°GRR!¡± I felt a headache as soon as I pushed them. There was a reason why I said recruiting when I got new underlings. Just punching them was nothing more than violence. In order to make them into my underlings, I had toy my palms on them. The moment I touched them like that, I was beset by the worst headache in the world, and the zombie that I touched turned green. That¡¯s how I made them into one of mine. Many people asked meter on why I hadn¡¯t just shoved all the zombies with my palms from the start. At least that''s what most people thought. However, the reason why I only recruited zombies after killing some of them off was quite simple. If I¡¯d started shoving them from the start, I probably wouldn¡¯t be able to fight the ones charging toward me because of the jolting headache that I had to deal with. And it would¡¯ve been difficult to differentiate the ones that had vision from those that didn¡¯t. The ones who only relied on smell or hearing had charged at me thinking they possessed a numerical advantage. It made sense, since they had probably been driven to the supermarket by the instinct to kill and to feast. However, the ones with vision did not charge in mindlessly. Instead, they grew hesitant after watching the situation unfold. They had probably realized that something wasn¡¯t right once they noticed my glowing red eyes. I was nning on only recruiting those with vision. I couldn¡¯t just recruit any zombie I came across, since I now knew that there was a limit to how many underlings I could have. I needed to be efficient, and only recruit the most useful ones. I pressed my temples and blinked hard as my head continued to ring. I felt like my skull was getting hammered. The agony spread through my entire body. But I couldn¡¯t stop. I was nning to recruit all the ones in front of me as my underlings. Even if I had to endure the pain of my brain melting, or my skull cracking in half, I was going to turn all of them. The number of underlings I had corresponded to my people¡¯s safety, ensuring better odds of survival for them ¡°Grr!!!¡± I kept screaming to endure the pain. After thirty minutes, my eyes were greeted by the sight of an endless flock of green creatures. * * * I ordered my newly-recruited underlings to stay put and went into the supermarket. The zombies that went straight into the supermarket might¡¯ve made it to the third floor. Instead, I was greeted by a barricade of dead zombie bodies in front of the travtor leading up from the first floor. My worry had been for naught. I ordered my underlings toe out, and they emerged from within the piles of dead bodies. Some of them had minor injuries, butpared to the ones I had taken out, they were nothing. My underlings looked at me proudly. As I grew stronger, it felt as though I could make out more of what my underlings were feeling. I wondered if my underlings were growing and evolving, the same way that the zombies in the streets were. I couldn¡¯t seem to draw a clear conclusion. Everything was uncertain. However, having feelings toward my underlings was something I couldn¡¯t dare imagine. I ordered my underlings that were guarding the travtor and the esctors out of the supermarket. I lined them up, ten to a row, and did a head count to see how many I had in total. I had a total of one hundred and seventy-eight underlings in front of me. As my physical abilities improved, I was getting better at handling the headaches. I remembered the first time I¡¯d fainted after my body couldn¡¯t handle recruiting thirty-two underlings. Now, I managed to recruit more than one hundred underlings in a single day. ¡®Is my brain gaining muscle mass as well?¡¯ I chuckled at my nonsense. ¡®So, a hundred and seventy-eight plus a hundred and thirty-two is three hundred and ten, right?¡¯ Considering all the underlings I had, both here and back at the apartment, I had a total of three hundred and ten underlings. I was also a zombie leader that had over three hundred underlings. ¡°Hey!¡± At that moment, I heard an unfamiliar voice calling me from behind. I turned around to find the source of the sound. My gaze focused on a middle-aged man, who was sticking his head out from the third-floor window of the supermarket. Chapter 36 Chapter 36 Grr! Kak!! My underlings started howling at the middle-aged man. Smelling a live human and hearing his voice clearly excited them. ¡®Everyone of you shut up and keep your heads down if you want to stay alive.¡¯ I red at them with my eyes open, and their heads sagged. After a moment, another man appeared next to the first. ¡°Ah, ahjussi! Are you out of your mind?¡± The man¡ªwho was in his twenties¡ªgrabbed onto the middle-aged man¡¯s shirt, his face full of fear. The older man flicked him on the forehead, which then escted into a small quarrel. The older man raised his voice and gave the younger man a good scolding, causing the younger man to back off. The man in his twenties, who seemed to be close to tears, disappeared somewhere. After a moment, the man in his forties peeked out of the window and yelled, ¡°You, were you keeping an eye on us?¡± His question took me aback. ¡®Did he know that I¡¯d been observing everything from the building right next to the supermarket? Has he been pretending to be oblivious? No. There¡¯s no way.¡¯ They definitely hadn¡¯t been acting as though they were hunting something. They¡¯d probably been on lookout duty, and not trying to hunt me down. He probably came to the conclusion because I just happened to appear at the right moment. Serendipity, if you ask me. I looked at the middle-aged man, my expression neutral. ¡®I don¡¯t have to answer him, do I?¡¯ At any rate, there was no way for me to answer his question, so I just kept my eye on him. The man told me to stay put, then chuckled and left. After a while, I saw him appear on the first floor. It seemed like he wanted to get closer but was still rather afraid, so he resorted to yelling at me from the ss doors. ¡°My name is Park Gi-Cheol! I know a lot about beings like you! Would you like to talk?¡± My eyebrows twitched after hearing what he¡¯d just said. ¡®Did he just say that he knows a lot about beings like me?¡¯ I ordered all my underlings to stand guard. I took a handful of them and walked toward the supermarket entrance. Park Gi-Cheol swallowed as he saw me walking toward him with my ten underlings. In fact, he swallowed so hard that I could even see his Adam''s apple moving. He was either scared or nervous. When I finally stood in front of Park Gi-Cheol, he was stuttering, barely able to speak. ¡°You¡¯re, you¡¯re a very tall man. Are you about one hundred eighty-three centimeters? Haha!¡± He was trying his best to lighten the mood. I didn¡¯t like the roundabout manner in which he was speaking, but I knew it wouldn¡¯t hurt to hear what he had to say. I continued to stare at Park Gi-Cheol with my mouth closed, and he shed an uneasy smile. ¡°Umm, it seems like you can¡¯t speak. Am I right?¡¯ I nodded slightly. It seemed like he wasn¡¯t lying when he said he knew about beings like us. Since he knew that I couldn¡¯t speak, he probably had experience with beings with glowing red eyes. Park Gi-Cheol cleared his throat. ¡°The¡­mm¡­ reason I came all the way out here is to ask if you knew Hyeong-Jun.¡± ¡®Hyeong-Jun?¡¯ It was my first time hearing the name. I shook my head right away. He smiled uneasily. ¡°Hmm¡­ okay¡­¡± he mumbled to himself. After a moment, he sighed and asked another question. ¡°Then do you know a person by the name of Hyeong-Seok?¡± I shook my head again. From the names Hyeong-Jun and Hyeong-Seok, I could tell that the two he mentioned were brothers. Park Gi-Cheol hung his head and stayed silent for a while, as if thinking about something. After a while, he went through his pockets and handed me a photo. It was an ID photo of a mysterious male. ¡°This man is Hyeong-Seok. Have you never seen him?¡± When I shook my head, Park Gi-Cheol smacked his lips and asked once again, ¡°Aren¡¯t you from Haengdang-dong? Can you nod if you are?¡± I nodded in approval. ¡°But you don¡¯t know who Hyeong-Jun and Hyeong-Seok are?¡± I nodded again. ¡°If you don¡¯t mind me asking, can you tell me when you turned into a zombie?¡± I felt this conversation slowly turning into an interrogation. I red at Park Gi-Cheol without saying anything, and he quickly waved his hands. ¡°My apologies if that question offended you. I had no intention to do so.¡± He trembled violently like a herbivore cornered by a predator, not knowing what to do. Park Gi-Cheol kept on massaging his neck as he talked to ease his nervousness. ¡°I realized that I¡¯ve been asking you questions without giving you much context. I¡¯m just very impatient for some reason. My apologies.¡± Park Gi-Cheol smiled sadly, and then scratched his sideburns. ¡°We have someone like you with us as well,¡± he continued. ¡°Hyeong-Jun and Hyeong-Seok, whom I mentioned earlier, have red glowing eyes like you.¡± I paid close attention to what he was saying. From his earlier question about whether I was from Haengdang-dong, it seemed like something had happened in this part of town. This was a chance for me to get some new information. Park Gi-Cheol cleared his throat and continued, ¡°Hyeong-Jun and Hyeon-Seok are both very nice. They never attacked anyone. In fact, they¡¯re trying their hardest to help other people.¡± It seemed like there were other zombies that were helping people out, just like me. ¡°The photo I showed you earlier is a photo of Hyeong-Seok. You said you¡¯ve never seen him, right?¡± I nodded. I couldn¡¯t help but feel sad that I didn¡¯t know this man. ¡°To be honest, it¡¯s been a while since he¡¯d gone missing. Hyeong-Jun¡¯s been searching for weeks, but he hasn¡¯t been able to find anything.¡± The word ¡®missing¡¯ triggered a bad memory, one that I didn¡¯t want to think of¡ªthe creature that had wiped out everything in its path. It was possible that he¡¯d been eaten by the ck creature. As a matter of fact, if he¡¯d been missing for weeks, there was a high chance that he would have been eaten by the ck creature. My expression must have revealed my mixed feelings, prompting Park Gi-Cheol to sh a bitter smile. ¡°I¡¯m sorry if I asked a question that you felt ufortable answering. I just wanted to know if you knew about Hyeong-Seok, since you have the same glowing red eyes as him.¡± My eyes were half-closed as I avoided Park Gi-Cheol¡¯s gaze. Waiting for someone who wasn¡¯t going to return¡ªthat would slowly kill the person who was waiting. I felt like I could rte just a little to the desperation that they were feeling. I, too, had experienced sleepless nights waiting for my wife, and the rescue team that I had known wouldn¡¯te. It had sucked the living soul out of me. My expression continued to reflect my inner turmoil, and Park Gi-Cheol cleared his throat once again, as though he sensed that I was feeling ufortable. ¡°My apologies if I offended you. I didn¡¯t mean any harm. You saved us from the zombies, so I thought you were simr to the Kim brothers.¡± So theirst names were Kim, and they were known as the Kim brothers. After a moment, Park Gi-Cheol¡¯s face hardened, and I saw his eyes tear up. His speech became slightly slurred. He seemed to be trying to recall a fuzzy memory of his, which was leading him into a realm of indescribable sadness. Such sadness, waiting for someone so desperately¡ªthese were feelings that only humans could experience. Park Gi-Cheol smacked his lips. ¡°Hyeong-Jun told me to run away without turning back if I ever saw anyone like you. But I don¡¯t necessarily think that¡¯s right. I believed that there would be more beings like Hyeong-Jun that cared about people.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Haha¡­ Sorry for dragging out the conversation. But I actually came here to say this.¡± Park Gi-Cheol shed me a smile that I hadn¡¯t seen before. ¡°Thank you for saving us. I really mean it.¡± Park Gi-Cheol bowed deeply toward me from the waist. I could feel his honest gratitude. He was respectful and cared about the Kim brothers, who were both zombies. And he thanked me from the bottom of his heart, despite it being the first time he¡¯d seen me. He looked like a rather senior figure, and was well past the age where he would need to bow to others. It wasn¡¯t easy for a person like him to bow this respectfully. How nice the world would be if there were only people like him. If there were only people like him in this cursed world, it wouldn¡¯t be too bad of a ce to live in. I bowed back to Park Gi-Cheol. I had to show him the same respect that he showed me. Even though I¡¯d done him and his people a favor, I believed that I had to reciprocate his thanks on the same level. Park Gi-Cheol lifted his head and smiled gently. On the other hand, I frowned slightly and reached my hand toward him. He looked at my hand closely and then asked, ¡°You want to shake hands?¡± I pointed to the ID photo he had in his hands. His eyes widened in surprise as he finally figured out my intentions. ¡°You¡¯re going to look for Hyeong-Seok?¡± I nodded in approval. ¡°...¡± Park Gi-Cheol remained silent. He looked at the picture of the man for a while, then took a deep breath and handed me the photo. ¡°I know I¡¯m not the person to ask this, but if you could¡­¡± I nodded again in approval. ¡°Are you also with a different band of survivors?¡± I frowned at his question. It wasn¡¯t appropriate to ask if I had people with me or not. No matter how nice people seemed on the surface, I would never trust them that much. I didn¡¯t respond to his question. Park Gi-Cheol realized that he had asked a sensitive question, and waved his hand violently. ¡°No, no, that¡¯s not what I meant. Forget what I asked you. I¡¯m sorry.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°I was just wondering¡­ If you¡¯re not with anyone else, then perhaps you could join us.¡± For a second, I thought about joining them, but I eventually ended up refusing his offer. Park Gi-Cheol¡¯s group already had a being with glowing red eyes with them. There was no reason for my people to join them. Park Gi-Cheol coughed as though his throat was itching. ¡°Anyway, thank you for helping to look for Hyeong-Seok.¡± He grabbed my two hands and smiled as best as he could. His face was one of many emotions. His smile seemed forced, as though he was trying to cover the sadness he felt deep down. It made me feel bad. I wondered what Park Gi-Cheol was thinking or feeling at the moment. It seemed impossible for me to figure them out and to sympathize with him. Despite that, I knew one thing for certain. He was a warm-hearted person. I felt his honesty through his two hands. * * * I left that group of supermarket survivors and took my underlings back to the apartment. As soon as I entered, everyone¡ªthey had been praying for me to get back safely¡ªcame running toward me, bombarding me with questions. I looked into their faces with an uncertain smile. I wasn¡¯t sure whose question I should be answering first. ¡°Okay everyone, stop!¡± came Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s voice from the living room. Only then did the others move away from the front door, clearing the entrance. As I made my way into the living room, smiling, I saw Lee Jeong-Uk sitting on the living room floor. In contrast to his serious expression, his hands were full of crayons. The children in the group were gathered in front of him. It seemed like they were coloring. Despite his expression and demeanor, he was good with children. Looking at him caused me to smirk, and I ended up bursting intoughter. Lee Jeong-Uk looked at me up and down, thenughed along with me. ¡°Judging by your face, I guess things aren¡¯t as bad as you thought they would be?¡± he asked. I nodded silently. Lee Jeong-Uk stood up with a grunt and stood beside me. ¡°Should we get moving tomorrow?¡± ¡°...¡± Noting myck of a reply, he went straight for the drawing pad on the floor without saying a word. I didn¡¯t need to ask him for much anymore. He knew what exactly I needed when I needed it. I grabbed the drawing pad from him and then started illustrating what I¡¯d seen with drawings and words. - Survivors, glowing red eyes The others who had gathered around looked at my drawings and words and came up with their own interpretations. As always, Lee Jeong-Hyuk was the one who came the closest. ¡°Survivors and glowing red eyes? I think he means there¡¯s someone like So-Yeon¡¯s father at the supermarket as well.¡± My eyes went wide, and I pointed to Lee Jeong-Hyuk in surprise, causing everyone to express their own wonder at his interpretation. In contrast, Lee Jeong-Uk rubbed his chin without saying a word. After a moment, he said calmly, ¡°Well then, there¡¯s no reason for us to step up then, is there? If they have someone like So-Yeon¡¯s dad with them, there¡¯s no reason for them to join forces with us.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk was right. It seemed like Lee Jeong-Uk was thinking along the same lines as me when I refused Park Gi-Cheol¡¯s offer. After a moment, Lee Jeong-Hyuk, who was standing next to him, spoke up. ¡°How about we approach them first and ask if they want tobine forces?¡± ¡°Us? And why would we want to do that?¡± Lee Jeong-Uk arched an eyebrow at Lee Jeong-Hyuk. He didn¡¯t seem to understand why Lee Jeong-Hyuk was even considering this. Chapter 37 Chapter 37 Lee Jeong-Hyuk shrugged and exined himself. ¡°Think about it. The thing we saw at the high school tried to kill us. If So-Yeon¡¯s dad hadn¡¯t been there, we would¡¯ve been wiped out. If those enemies gathered more forces and came back to attack us, don¡¯t you think it would make sense for us tobine forces as well?¡± He had a point. If our enemiesbined forces, we could reach a point where I might not be able to handle all of them on my own. Lee Jeong-Uk stayed silent for a while, then shared his own thoughts on the matter. ¡°I don¡¯t disagree with what Jeong-Hyuk is saying. But if we join up with anothermunity, we might run into some conflicts. We have our way of surviving, just as they probably have their own way of surviving as well. I¡¯m just saying that it¡¯d be pretty easy for the situation to get nasty over the smallest things.¡± Lee Jeong-Hyuk didn¡¯t seem to agree with him. ¡°Well you do have a point, but¡­¡± Lee Jeong-Uk cut him off. ¡°Things will get exponentially worse when the size of the group increases. It seems like there are a good number of survivors at the supermarket, and I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if people began to form their own factions.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk also had a valid point. The rest of the group remained silent since both of them seemed to be right. All eyes were on either Lee Jeong-Uk or Lee Jeong-Hyuk. Everyone was looking unconsciously at the person they agreed with. Noticing the division within the group, Choi Da-Hye quietly raised her hand. ¡°Let¡¯s do this the most democratic way possible.¡± ¡°Like what? You want to vote or something?¡± Lee Jeong-Uk asked, tilting his head slightly. She nodded without any hesitation. ¡®Voting huh¡­?¡¯ I never expected to hear that word in such a day and age. * * * The voting went smoothly. Everyone took a piece of paper from the drawing pad. A circle represented a vote to join forces with the other group, while scissors represented a vote against joining forces. It was rather simple; each person just had to draw either a circle or scissors. Everyone went into the master bedroom to cast their vote. While everyone else voted, the Lee brothers and I sat at the dining table silently, waiting for the results. The three of us did not vote. The two had different opinions, so it was meaningless for them to vote. For me, I chose not to. If I voted, it was obvious that the results would skew toward the option I ended up voting for. Since I had everything required to survive, my presence was more important than anything. Therefore, I nned to quietly go along with whatever the survivors ended up deciding on. I decided that I would never intervene in the decisions of the survivors. After about thirty minutes, Choi Da-Hye stepped out with a pencil case. There were folded papers stacked irregrly inside the pencil case. Judging by how crumpled all the papers were, it seemed like they¡¯d all had a hard time deciding. The Lee brothers exchanged nces, then looked at me at the same time while smacking their lips. Lee Jeong-Uk chuckled. ¡°So-Yeon¡¯s dad, if you don¡¯t mind, could you check the results for us?¡± ¡°Grr?¡± They really knew how to put me in an ufortable position. I couldn¡¯t help but wonder how they would react to the results. I smacked my lips and took the pencil case from Choi Da-Hye. I took out the piece of paper that was on the very top. ¡°Grr?¡± ¡°Why? What shape is it?¡± I could only make weird noises as I twitched my eyebrows. Lee Jeong-Uk couldn¡¯t wait any longer and grabbed the piece of paper out of my hands. After a moment, he reacted in the same way as I did. He then turned the pencil case upside down, poured all the slips of paper out, and went through all of them. None of the papers had any marks on them. The Lee brothers both looked at Choi Da-Hye in surprise. Choi Da-Hye smiled at them. ¡°This is what everyone wants.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡± Choi Da-Hye shrugged. ¡°Well, that¡¯s up to you three.¡± It took me a while to understand what she meant. It was like the time we first met. We all had different opinions back then, but over time, we ended up having the same goal. We were drawn together with this same goal, and relied on each other more and more, eventually developing a sense of trust. At that moment, we realized that the grocery store survivors and the high school survivors all respected our decisions and were willing to go along with whatever we chose to do. The three of us started scratching our heads and smacking our lips. I was embarrassed. I could tell they were embarrassed as well. Without realizing it, the three of us at the table¡ªthe Lee brothers and I¡ªhad be the leaders of our group. ¡°I vote for So-Yeon¡¯s dad.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk seemed as if he¡¯d been waiting to say that line. Lee Jeong-Hyuk nodded in agreement. ¡®Wait, does this mean they want me to decide?¡¯ I waved my hand violently. I wanted the Lee brothers to take care of decisions like this. I didn¡¯t want this sort of limelight. As I vigorously indicated my objections, Lee Jeong-Hyuk smiled a wide smile. ¡°I want hyung and So-Yeon¡¯s dad to deal with this. I¡¯m out.¡± Lee Jeong-Hyuk got up and stood next to Choi Da-Hye, who melted into his arms with a rather bittersweet expression. Lee Jeong-Uk seemed slightly annoyed for a while, then sighed and said, ¡°So we¡¯re back to the drawing board, huh?¡± ¡°Grr¡­¡± I wasn¡¯t enjoying the situation at all. Lee Jeong-Uk sighed twice in a row, then crossed his legs. ¡°So-Yeon¡¯s dad, all of us will follow your decision. After all, you¡¯re the one who got us together. It¡¯s up to you to decide.¡± That made me begin to contemte the situation seriously. Everyone said they trusted and relied on me, but I knew that I had limits as well. I thought of this situation as something outside my control since I was a being with glowing red eyes. I couldn¡¯t defy mother nature, after all. After thinking it through, I pointed my index finger at Lee Jeong-Uk. Lee Jeong-Uk tilted his head as if he didn¡¯t know what I was trying to say. I pointed back and forth between him and the master bedroom and clenched my fists. Lee Jeong-Uk titled his head and asked, ¡°You want me to be the leader?¡± I nodded. ¡°But I¡¯m still going to follow your decisions, right?¡± ¡°Grr¡­¡± ¡°Then we can be co-leaders. But for your information, I am more of a figurehead.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk gave me a cheesy chuckle and then pped me on the back as he got to his feet. ¡°Alrighty then! Since we¡¯ve decided on our leaders, let¡¯s eat dinner.¡± Lee Jeong-Hyuk and Choi Da-Hye beamed and led the others out, who were waiting in the master bedroom. I couldn¡¯t help but snort at what was happening. ¡®Huh, this is definitely something.¡¯ With time, I had grown closer to this group of people. I felt like I could be a leader to these sorts of people. They had not only made So-Yeonugh again, but me as well. They taught me the meaning ofmunity. Just as Lee Jeong-Uk said he was going to go along with my decisions, I would go along with his decisions as well. Today¡¯s dinner would be a memorable one¡ªan inauguration dinner for the human leader and the zombie leader. Lee Jeong-Uk called my name while he was deciding on what side dishes to eat. ¡°So-Yeon¡¯s dad.¡± As I stared at him, he let out a smirk. ¡°You should wash up. A leader can¡¯t have such dirty clothes on.¡± I nodded while smirking back at him. * * * The next day, Lee Jeong-Uk woke up early and told everyone that he was going to the supermarket. Lee Jeong-Hyuk said he¡¯d be going too, and I naturally started getting ready as well. The Lee brothers looked carefully at what I was doing, then stopped me. Lee Jeong-Uk smiled at me gently. ¡°I thought we agreed that we would be in charge of food now. You have to live up to your promise, you know?¡± ¡°Grr¡­¡± That was indeed our agreement, but I couldn¡¯t help but feel worried. The Lee brothers left for the supermarket, and I could stand and watch their backs from the balcony. Choi Da-Hye, who had observed the exchange, came and stood next to me. ¡°If you¡¯re that worried, then you should follow them secretly.¡± ¡°Grr¡­?¡± ¡°If you observe what they do with your own eyes, you¡¯ll have more faith in them.¡± I nodded slightly and jumped off the balcony. I tailed them silently, and finally understood what Choi Da-Hye had been trying to say all along. The two of them made a perfect duo. I thought of intervening when I saw two zombies in front of the supermarket, but what the two of them did next made my jaw drop. Lee Jeong-Hyuk distracted the zombies as Lee Jeong-Uk quickly snuck behind them and shed one of the zombie¡¯s necks. When that one went down, the other one naturally turned its attention to Lee Jeong-Uk. At that instant, Lee Jeong-Hyuk stepped forward and twisted its neck. It seemed difficult enough for people to stab zombies, which is why I hadn¡¯t expected him to twist its neck with his hands, even though he had gloves on. I could tell that they were experienced in carrying out such operations. They were no novices. The reason the Lee brothers had managed to survive outside was down to the trust they had in each other. The Lee brothers retrieved food and blue markers from the supermarket. Later on, as everyone was eating, I sat looking out the window, feeling rather embarrassed about not having had more faith in the two of them. Choi Da-Hye approached me. ¡°So, what do you think about the two of them, now that you¡¯ve seen them in action with your own two eyes?¡± I nodded slowly back at her with a knowing expression. Choi Da-Hye beamed and pped my back, then made her way back to the kitchen. I chuckled out of embarrassment. As the rest continued with their meal, I went outside with the blue markers and started coloring the underlings that had yet to be marked. * * * Just before sunset, I went out with Lee Jeong-Uk. We went to the supermarket with ten of my underlings that were colored blue. The night before, we hade to a conclusion. - Let¡¯s try talking to the people at the supermarket. We need their opinion on this. It¡¯s not something that we can decide on our own. In a way, it was the right and obvious thing to do. For some reason, however, we had been thinking about everything with a rather selfish attitude. Groups had toe together by having conversations. The cool summer breeze tickled the tip of my nose. The cicadas¡¯ chirping grew even louder, as if they didn¡¯t want the sun to set. The bugs and cicadas chirped in a symphony while the red dragonflies danced through the air. With this romantic atmosphere as a backdrop, Lee Jeong-Uk and I made our way toward the supermarket, apanied by ten of my underlings. I had put on fresh clothes and washed my greasy hair the night before. Perhaps it was the atmosphere, or my new clothes, or even the fact that I had washed up, but I felt as though everything would be smooth sailing. It felt like the day was going to be full of good things. After walking a while, we finally saw the supermarket a distance away. I looked at Lee Jeong-Uk while pointing toward the supermarket. He nodded with a serious expression. As we got to the entrance of the supermarket, I realized that all the dead zombie bodies had been cleared away. There were no zombie carcasses anywhere, even when I got to the travtor and esctorndings on the first floor. ¡®Did they spend the whole night cleaning up the ce?¡¯ I headed toward the second floor, my mind upied by the work that they might have done. As I got to the travtor leading to the second floor, I noticed that the barricade that had been blocking the way previously was also gone. I stopped in my tracks, staring nkly into space. A secondter, I felt chills down my spine. Not only were the zombie bodies gone, but the barricade was no longer there as well. All of that had happened in the span of one night. I quickly made my way to the third floor. There were still tes and tents around that seemed like they were being used. However, I didn¡¯t see any survivors. The most important part. Everything was the same, except for the fact that everyone was gone. I lifted the big cloth and checked the inside of the tent. The only thing that greeted me was some dust that hit me in the face as I lifted the cloth. I couldn¡¯t help but be surprised. I still felt some warmth within, and that did not seem to fit with everything else. ¡®Something must¡¯ve happened here.¡¯ Grr¡­ Grr¡­ While I was still checking the tent, some hideous cries came from outside. I dashed to the window and looked outside. What I saw was no different from hell itself. * * * Everything was red. I couldn¡¯t fathom how many there were. I couldn¡¯t see an end to the red wave that was unfolding before my eyes. The zombies I had crossed paths with at the high school were nothing inparison to this. ¡®Five hundred? No, there are at least seven hundred of them.¡¯ There were seven tightly-packed square formations of zombies. Each blob seemed to contain at least a hundred of them. I swallowed, not quite sure what to make of the situation. ¡®Do I have to summon the rest of my underlings, the ones still at the apartmentplex?¡¯ The number of underlings was proportionate with the leader¡¯s strength. I didn¡¯t know how many zombies I could have as underlings, but I knew that whoever was in charge of this red sea of zombies wasn¡¯t weak. The red zombies were standing in formation, perfectly in order, like well-trained soldiers. After a moment, I saw a being that was of a darker color than the others. It had its hands in its pockets and was looking up at me. Its color was noticeably darker, a shade of burgundy, the same color as the zombie I¡¯de across at the high school. I subconsciously looked at its face, and saw that it had glowing red eyes. I met its gaze wordlessly. I didn¡¯t know what to say. I wasn¡¯t sure if it was fear that was preventing me from speaking. ¡®Come out.¡¯ I heard its voice. It was without a doubt, ordering me toe out. Was I supposed to follow itsmand? Or was it better just to run away? Just then, I looked over at Lee Jeong-Uk. His mouth was sealed tight, and he was shivering with fear. His eyes were full of fear and horror that he couldn¡¯t contain. However, I saw a glimpse of hope in his eyes. He was counting on me. I could feel the trust and faith he had in me. The old Lee Jeong-Uk would have assumed that this was a trap. Now, though, he was betting everything on me. I knew it would be impossible to escape with Lee Jeong-Uk in tow. From the zombies¡¯ numbers alone, it was pretty clear that they possessed decent physical capabilities. I already knew that there was only one option for me. I had to confront it. There was no way out. I stood in front of Lee Jeong-Uk and put my hand on his shoulders. He swallowed hard, trying to suppress his rising fear. I saw his Adam''s apple move violently. I could tell how nervous he was. I patted his shoulder and took a deep breath before exiting through the window. Whoosh. I covered the distance from the third floor to the first floor in one leap. I had nothing to be scared of. I couldn''t allow myself to look weak. Despite my first impression of the situation, I could not let it get the better of me. I straightened my back and looked the zombie leader straight in the eye. It stared back at me for a moment, then reached out its right hand wordlessly. I couldn¡¯t figure out what it was trying to do. Then, a cold, deep voice reverberated through my mind. ¡®Don¡¯t you know how to shake hands properly?¡¯ Its arrogance made my eyebrows twitch. Chapter 38 Chapter 38 There was no good in making the situation worse by getting all agitated. I took a deep breath and firmly grasped its hand. Zap. Zap! A jolt ran from my fingertips and up through my entire body. The sudden sensation made my spine stiffen. I couldn¡¯t rx my body. I knew if I rxed, this strange sensation would overwhelm me. I frowned and resisted it with all my physical strength. The other zombie leader¡¯s eyebrows twitched as though it had a cramp. It seemed to be feeling the same sensation as me. We both gritted our teeth as we tried to overpower each other, our hands still locked in a tight grip. We were like mas. We couldn¡¯t break free of each other. Our staring contest continued. After a while, it released its grip and let go of my hand. ¡°Hah¡­¡± It opened its mouth wide and gasped for air. As it opened its mouth, I noticed two rows of teeth, perfectly aligned. It had the same teeth as me. * * * I saw its sharp, jagged teeth glistening. They seemed sharp enough to bite through anything. The sight made me swallow reflexively. It wasn¡¯t any ordinary fellow. The zombie I had crossed paths with at the high school had three hundred underlings, but it still had human teeth. However, the creature in front of me had twice as many underlings and had the same teeth as me. After a moment, I heard its voice. ¡®I can¡¯t believe I was right. I mean, I expected something like this, but I¡¯m still surprised.¡¯ It was uttering some gibberish I couldn¡¯t understand. As I frowned at it, it chuckled. ¡®You don''t have to make a face like that. I¡¯m not an enemy.¡¯ ¡®And what makes you say that?¡¯ ¡®You saved my family, didn¡¯t you? I was waiting for you, hoping you¡¯d return.¡¯ ¡®Family? What family?¡¯ Park Gi-Cheol¡¯s face swam into my memory. At that instant, I recalled the name Park Gi-Cheol had mentioned. ¡®Are you Kim Hyeong-Jun?¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun nodded. He looked like he was in histe twenties or early thirties, but he exuded an inner strength and confidence that was much stronger than what I would expect from a person his age. I cleared my throat slightly. ¡®Where did the survivors in the supermarket go?¡¯ ¡®I moved them to a safe shelter. There was a baby with them, so they couldn¡¯t stay here anymore.¡¯ I knew the baby he was talking about. The baby had begun to cry out of the blue, causing all the zombies nearby to gather like cockroaches. But how could there be another shelter out of the blue? Was there even a shelter around here? ording to the map of Seoul I had, there were no shelters around the area. The closest shelter was this supermarket. Even so, it was hard to tell if this ce was a safe shelter, because the mark was wet. Kim Hyeong-Jun massaged his stiff neck. ¡®Ahjussi, are you staying in Haengdang-dong?¡¯ ¡®That¡¯s none of your business.¡¯ ¡®There¡¯s no need for such hostility. I can already tell we¡¯re on the same side.¡¯ I wondered where this fellow got that impression. He was talking as if he¡¯d known me for a long time. As I frowned, Kim Hyeong-Jun shrugged and continued. ¡®I¡¯m guessing you don¡¯t trust me. What should I do to gain your trust?¡¯ ¡®Bring the survivors out here.¡¯ ¡®I can¡¯t bring them out here right now. There are rules at the shelter, and they have to follow them as well. Of course, if we get closer to the shelter, I can ask them toe out.¡¯ I couldn¡¯t tell if he wanted me to follow him to the shelter. I wasn¡¯t entirely sure if it was safe to follow him. And besides, the whole thing might be a ruse to lure me into a trap. The zombie I¡¯d run into at the high school had been hunting people. How could I be sure that Kim Hyeong-Jun was different? I needed to see Park Gi-Cheol to know whether Kim Hyeong-Jun was telling the truth or not. I needed to see his reactions so that I could properly judge Kim Hyeong-Jun. I looked Kim Hyeong-Jun straight in the eye. ¡®Did youe here because you wanted to talk to me? Since you were waiting for me here, can I take that as a sign that you wanted to have a conversation with me?¡¯ ¡®You¡¯re right, ahjussi. Since you saved my family, I thought you¡¯d be simr to me. And if you were actually simr, I thought you woulde back here for my people. To take care of them, of course.¡¯ ¡®Why, you want to recruit me or something?¡¯ ¡®Yes.¡¯ ¡®Well, I already refused. I¡¯m sure I told Park Gi-Cheol loud and clear.¡¯ ¡®You did. But now you¡¯re back here, aren¡¯t you? Doesn¡¯t that mean you were still thinking about the people here?¡¯ This guy was good at mind games. If he¡¯d been considering attacking me, he would¡¯ve done so the moment I got close to the supermarket. Since he¡¯d brought his underlings after I made it inside, he¡¯d probably been observing me from afar. He was a meticulous fellow. I hadn¡¯t seen any red creatures on my way to the supermarket. Since I hadn¡¯t been able to detect him, it made sense that he¡¯dpletely erased his presence and had been hiding, waiting for me. Not only did he know the characteristics of zombies, but he knew the characteristics of the creatures with glowing red eyes as well. I wondered why he¡¯d been hiding. Did he want to test me? Did he want to see if I was going to bring my army of underlings with me, or if I¡¯d actuallye to talk with the survivors? I smacked my lips. ¡®Some attitude you have, bringing an army with you when you want to talk. Are you sure you¡¯re not looking for a fight instead?¡¯ ¡®This was the bare minimum. I knew that I¡¯d be in trouble if you were one of the gang members, ahjussi. I was thinking about killing you if you were one of them.¡¯ ¡®Gang members?¡¯ The moment Kim Hyeong-Jun mentioned gang members, my memory shed back to the zombie at the high school. - ¡®The next time you see my gang, run for your goddamn life. The other ones aren¡¯t gentlemen like me. You got it?¡¯ I thought it had been bluffing, but I guess there really was a gang. And they were after survivors. That meant that the gang was a group that was hunting humans. I licked my lower lip and posed a question to Kim Hyeong-Jun. ¡®How much do you know about this gang?¡¯ ¡®Are you part of them, ahjussi?¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun clenched his fists, and the blue veins on his arms bulged. I frowned. ¡®No, but I did kill one of them.¡¯ ¡®What? You killed one of them?¡¯ ¡®Why? You got a problem with that?¡¯ As I red at Kim Hyeong-Jun with my head tilted slightly, he unclenched his fists and heaved a sigh of relief, followed by a chuckle. ¡®I knew it. We¡¯re on the same side after all.¡¯ ¡®...?¡¯ ¡®I¡¯ll tell you what I do. I save survivors. But that¡¯s not the only thing I do. I also hunt down gang members.¡¯ ¡®Tell me everything you know about them. Don¡¯t even think about discussing anything else before then.¡¯ ¡®Ha! You¡¯ve got an attitude issue, ahjussi.¡¯ ¡®I¡¯m d you figured that out.¡¯ I put on an arrogant look, and Kim Hyeong-Jun smacked his lips while scratching his head. ¡®Alright then, let¡¯s sit down. It¡¯s going to be a long conversation.¡¯ ¡®Take care of your underlings behind you if you want to talk.¡¯ ¡®Why, are you scared?¡¯ ¡®Before I kill all of them.¡¯ ¡®Oh geez, you¡¯re short-tempered too?¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun snorted and waved toward his hundreds of red underlings. Immediately, they melded into the surrounding buildings. They were almost perfectly hidden, as if they¡¯d never been there. From their movements, I could tell that Kim Hyeong-Jun was superior to me. His underlings moved with more agility than my own. This meant he was above me in the food chain. I sat down and locked eyes with him. He rubbed his chin. ¡®Hmm, where should I start? First, how much do you know about this gang?¡¯ ¡®You have to look into each other¡¯s eyes whenmunicating, and you¡¯re free to attack if someone breaks this rule.¡¯ ¡®Right. And you know that they eat humans?¡¯ I nodded without saying a word. Kim Hyeong-Jun nodded back. ¡®So basically, Gangbuk is their territory. It became theirs after the zombie virus spread.¡¯ ¡®I only saw one of their members once in Haengdang-dong. Are there only a few of them?¡¯ ¡®No. It¡¯s because Haengdang-dong belongs to the ck creatures. That¡¯s why they don¡¯te.¡¯ ¡®The ck creatures?¡¯ My mind drifted to the map that I¡¯d obtained after the confrontation at the high school. There was a big ¡®X¡¯ on top of Haengdang-dong. Now I was certain that the ¡®X¡¯ marked the ck creature¡¯s territory. Kim Hyeong-Jun tilted his head. ¡®Ahjussi, haven''t you seen the ck creatures while you¡¯re in Haengdang-dong? Their entire bodies are ck, and they only have mouths.¡¯ ¡®I¡¯ve seen one.¡¯ ¡®Where?¡¯ ¡®A construction site, not too far from here.¡¯ At that moment, I saw Kim Hyeong-Jun hesitate. There was no reason to tell him about the apartment where my people and I were staying. There was no way of telling if he would attack the apartment with his army. That was why I mentioned the construction site where I killed the ck creature instead. Kim Heyong-Jun¡¯s tone changed, as though he wasn¡¯t sure how to react to what I¡¯d just said. ¡®The ck creature at the construction site. Did you kill it?¡¯ ¡®You don¡¯t believe me?¡¯ ¡®He¡¯s my brother.¡¯ I was taken aback. How could the ck creature have been his brother? What was he saying? I took out the ID photo I had in my pocket and showed it to Kim Hyeong-Jun. ¡®The man in this photo. Is he your brother? His name is Kim Hyeong-Seok.¡¯ ¡®He is. This was when he was still a human.¡¯ ¡®Park Gi-Cheol told me that Kim Hyeong-Seok also had glowing red eyes. But you¡¯re saying he was the ck creature. Which one is correct?¡¯ ¡®Ahjussi, where do you think the ck creaturese from?¡¯ ¡®What are you trying to say?¡¯ ¡®They don¡¯t juste out of nowhere. The ck creatures, they¡¯re just zombies like us.¡¯ My jaw dropped. I couldn¡¯t believe what Kim Hyeong-Jun was saying. How could the ck creature be a zombie as well? Did that mean that I could possibly turn into a ck creature as well? I couldn¡¯t fathom myself turning into that sort of monster. I swallowed hard, then looked Kim Hyeong-Jun straight in the eye. ¡®Alright, tell me more. I want more details.¡¯ ¡®I was curious as to where you got that kind of power. You ate my brother¡¯s brain, didn¡¯t you?¡¯ ¡®What?¡¯ ¡®When we shook hands earlier. Didn¡¯t you feel a jolt go through your body, along with a headache?¡¯ ¡®Yeah¡­¡¯ ¡®Zombies with glowing red eyes gain a lot of abilities that they channel through their palms. They can recruit underlings when they push zombies with them, and just by grabbing onto each other¡¯s hands like we did earlier, we can tell who¡¯s stronger.¡¯ ¡®Then what was the tingling pain we experienced?¡¯ ¡®It means we¡¯re simr, strength-wise.¡¯ ¡®...¡¯ ¡®There¡¯s another ability, but I''ll tell you about thatter. Right now, let¡¯s talk about my brother.¡¯ He was ring at me like a ferocious lynx. I swallowed reflexively. ¡®I, I¡­¡¯ I ended up stuttering. Kim Hyeong-Jun was face-to-face with the being that killed his brother. It would have been perfectly natural if he hated me for what I¡¯d done. I wiped off the sweat beading on my upper lip. ¡®I¡¯m not sure how your brother was when he was alive, but when I saw him, he was nothing more than a monster.¡¯ ¡®A monster, huh¡­¡¯ He nodded, his expression rather uncertain. He used his hands to cover his face. ¡®There is one thing I¡¯m certain about.¡¯ His face was full of mixed emotions. I couldn¡¯t tell what he was feeling or thinking about. In fact, I couldn¡¯t figure out anything. He sighed deeply. ¡®The ck creatures were all people to begin with. They died after being bitten by zombies, and just happened to turn into zombies with glowing red eyes like us. And the ones with glowing red eyes? They are the ones who have the capacity to turn into ck creatures.¡¯ ¡®Did you say ¡®have the capacity¡¯?¡¯ ¡®Ordinary zombies don¡¯t turn into ck ones. Only the ones with red glowing eyes like us can turn into a ck one.¡¯ I didn¡¯t know what to say. My mind went nk. Clearly, that meant that I could turn into one too. I could end up bing a being that tore humans apart with my mouth and ate their brains. I needed to know why Kim Hyeong-Jun was telling me all this. In his mind, I was the one who killed his brother, and even ate his brain. To him, I was nothing but a disgusting abomination. Strangely enough, though, he was still trying to have a conversation with me, as if he had let go of everything in the past. Was it because I wasn¡¯t putting myself down? Because I was being aggressive? Or did he have some other n that he wasn¡¯t telling me about? I couldn¡¯t figure out his intentions. The best I could do right now was keep my mind free of any stupid or meaningless thoughts and just go with the flow. I had to go along with whatever Kim Hyeong-Jun was going to say. He sighed, and stayed quiet for a moment. After that, he began to tell me about the creatures with glowing red eyes, and the ck creatures. Chapter 39 Chapter 39 Kim Hyeong-Jun told me the most unimaginable story. ording to him, those who were bitten turned into zombies with glowing red eyes instead of ordinary zombies depending on their desires. Those that longed for something, something they considered more precious than their lives, would turn into zombies with glowing red eyes. ¡®Ahjussi, didn¡¯t you have a dream before you woke up like this?¡¯ As I carefully traced my memories, I realized that I did experience something like a dream. My wife and So-Yeon were sitting at a dining table in front of me, and I was looking at them through a clear ss wall. The wall had been unbreakable at first, but in the end, my desperate outburst was enough to break through the clear ss wall, and I managed to grab onto So-Yeon¡¯s hand. After that, I returned to my senses. Of course, my body was dead, but my mind was still very much sane. As I nodded, Kim Hyeong-Jun let out a chuckle before continuing. ¡®That¡¯s the reason. The reason our eyes glow red. The reason we didn¡¯t turn into one of the ck creatures. The thing that¡¯s keeping us strong.¡¯ ¡®Are you saying we will turn into a ck creature if that mind and heart of ours disappears?¡¯ ¡®Yup.¡¯ ¡®What happens to the ones that can¡¯t break the ss wall?¡¯ ¡®They just be ordinary zombies. Or, if they got their heads ripped off, it wouldn¡¯t have mattered,¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun answered with a shrug. I rubbed my chin and fell into deep thought. This meant you didn¡¯t necessarily have to get bitten by a ck creature to be a being with glowing red eyes. But then, why weren¡¯t there any beings with glowing red eyes in Haengdang-dong? The zombie I¡¯d run into back at the high school had been surprised to hear that I¡¯d never met another being with glowing red eyes. As the questions began to pile up, I remembered the ck creature¡¯s evil smile. It had looked at me, my whole being filled with horror, with the biggest smile on its face. - Just wait. I¡¯ll kill everyone, and then I¡¯ll get you too. At least that¡¯s what I¡¯d thought it was saying. Once I¡¯d fled with Lee Jeong-Uk and my underlings, it had taken care of the people on lookout duty and hade after me. Everything started to make sense now. The reason the creature with the glowing red eyes that had attacked the high school was scared, the reason the ck creature had left the survivors in the high school behind toe after me. It all led to one thing. I, with my glowing red eyes, was a delicacy for the ck creature. The only prey that satisfied its hunger. The ones with glowing red eyes. Filled with sadness, I took a deep breath. ¡®So your younger sibling¡­ what happened?¡¯ ¡®He had a girlfriend.¡¯ A girlfriend, huh. I didn¡¯t even need to hear the rest of the story. My heart sank, and I smacked my lips. ¡®You can already guess the rest, can¡¯t you?¡¯ continued Kim Hyeong-Jun. ¡®But why? Your younger sibling also had glowing red eyes. He could¡¯ve protected her without any problem.¡¯ ¡®My younger brother and I were leading separate groups of survivors.¡¯ Even though I had only heard the story up to this point, I couldn¡¯t help but frown. Kim Hyeong-Jun continued his story, recollecting what had happened that day. Apparently, Kim Hyeong-Seok¡¯s girlfriend hadn¡¯t been bitten by zombies. Instead, she¡¯d been killed by humans. ¡®While my brother had been out getting food, something so unexpected and unimaginable happened.¡¯ ¡®...¡¯ ¡®After that, my brother just lost it. When I got back, all the survivors had been torn apart. You couldn¡¯t tell who was who.¡¯ I spat out some phlegm that had made its way up, then took a deep breath. The chilly summer breeze made its way deep into my lungs. The air was refreshing, as refreshing as our conversation was heartbreaking. Kim Hyeong-Jun continued with his story. ¡®After that, my brother started tearing up his own body. He was clearly suffering immense pain. But it wasn¡¯t physical pain. It was more like a deep despair.¡¯ ¡®He tore himself apart?¡¯ ¡®It was as though he was going through a metamorphosis. Like a snake shedding its skin. And after a while, he turned into a ck creature.¡¯ ¡®So you witnessed your brother go through a metamorphosis?¡¯ Instead of answering, he looked toward the sky and sighed. It was a lonely, empty, and forlorn sigh. Kim Hyeong-Jun put his face in his hands and stayed silent for a moment. ¡®I should¡¯ve killed my younger brother before he finished his transformation. I still regret not ending his life at that moment.¡¯ ¡®...¡¯ ¡®Not killing my brother was no different from letting him die a second time. I should¡¯ve just ended it all, and let my brother rest in peace.¡¯ I didn¡¯t know how to console him. I could only offer up a sorrowful sigh of my own. As I sat there gloomily, Kim Hyeong-Jun tried to change the topic. ¡®So, ahjussi, how¡¯d you transform?¡¯ Unfortunately, he hadn¡¯t chosen the best topic. I kept my voice calm. ¡®I got bitten by a ck creature.¡¯ ¡®...¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun flinched. I knew he was a clever fellow, and would be able to infer the rest of it. He smacked his lips. ¡®I should¡¯ve just ended everything back then.¡¯ ¡®But he was your younger brother.¡¯ ¡®Well, that¡¯s only when we were both human beings. There¡¯s no such thing as hyung and younger brother when we¡¯re both monsters.¡¯ I wondered if that was the reason why he wasn¡¯t hostile toward the one who had killed his brother. He didn¡¯t seem to bear a grudge. After all, he called himself a monster. He probably thought I was a rational being, since I described his brother as a monster as well. Kim Hyeong-Jun scratched his neck and continued where he left off. ¡®Ahjussi, what are you trying to protect?¡¯ ¡®I¡¯m¡­¡¯ Immediately, I shut my mouth and looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun straight in the eye. I had almost answered his question subconsciously. There was no reason for me to tell anyone what I was trying to protect. After all, you never knew who was willing to stab you in the back. He had willingly helped me out, someone he didn¡¯t know at all. If I was weaker than him, there was a chance that he woulde after me. I remained still, and he nodded. ¡®Not bad.¡¯ ¡®What?¡¯ ¡®Always be careful of this question, since that¡¯s your weakness. No matter what happens, never answer this question. Even if your life''s on the line. Keep your promise, if you made one. Or else, you¡¯ll be like my brother.¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun had a wide grin on his face. At that moment, I realized just how sly the boy could be. He noted my difort with a frown. ¡®You know that we faint when we eat other zombies¡¯ brains right? How long you stay unconscious also differs depending on the zombie¡¯s strength.¡¯ ¡®I know that.¡¯ ¡®The same goes for when we transform into a ck creature. That¡¯s what happened to my little brother. You have to be extra careful then. Cause there¡¯s a lot of zombies waiting for that moment.¡¯ I nodded slowly while listening to his exnation. He was a big help to me. It was invaluable information I couldn¡¯t get elsewhere. ¡®Why are you telling me all of this?¡¯ ¡®Because I think we¡¯re on the same team.¡¯ ¡®Well, that can¡¯t be the only reason. You want something from me don¡¯t you?¡¯ ¡®...¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun looked at me with an unreadable expression. Then, he sighed. ¡®Ahjussi, you really are one of a kind.¡¯ ¡®Enough with that. Cut to the chase.¡¯ ¡®Let¡¯s team up.¡¯ ¡®What? Team up?¡¯ ¡®Before the gang getsrger and all the survivors get wiped out, we have to gather beings like us that live for the sake of humans.¡¯ I didn¡¯t know what to say. I knew he had good intentions. But for me, the safety of So-Yeon and my people was my priority. I didn¡¯t have the time to hunt down gang members or save other survivors. My expression must have betrayed my hesitancy, as Kim Hyeong-Jun chuckled and continued to speak. ¡®Don¡¯t think too much about it, ahjussi. I just asked the question to make sure that you were hostile toward the gang members.¡¯ ¡®What are you saying?¡¯ ¡®Remember that I said that our palms have all sorts of abilities? One of the abilities I didn¡¯t tell you is about teaming up.¡¯ ¡®So you want to write up a contract or something?¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun burst outughing, then cleared his throat. ¡®We make contracts with our palms.¡¯ ¡®Our palms?¡¯ ¡®Right now, we see each other as red beings. But once we team up, we¡¯ll no longer look red to each other. Instead, we¡¯ll see each other as purple beings.¡¯ ¡®So this teaming up thing is a way to tell that we¡¯re on the same side?¡¯ ¡®Right on, ahjussi! Remember when I said that we could tell how strong we are by shaking hands? We just have to do one more thing.¡¯ ¡®What?¡¯ ¡®We have to make a vow while staring into each other¡¯s eyes. As we do so, we need to form a strong belief within ourselves that, no matter what, we willbine forces and won¡¯t attack each other.¡¯ I nodded and offered my right hand to Kim Hyeong-Jun. There was no downside to teaming up. I certainly knew he wasn¡¯t part of the gang, and he had a lot more information than I had. Only a fool would choose to act in an antagonistic way toward him. Kim Hyeong-Jun took a deep breath and grabbed my hand with a slightly nervous expression. As I gripped his hand, I thought only of one thing. I made a pledge to myself that we were now on the same team, and that I wouldn¡¯t attack him no matter what happened. After a moment, I felt a jolt spread from my right hand to my entire body. My head began to hurt, and my face scrunched up instinctively. ¡®What is this horrifying pain?¡¯ The pain felt like it would melt my brain, and was only getting stronger. My eyes were on the verge of bursting. Our hands started shaking violently. ¡°GRR¡­!¡± I gasped and let go of his hand. Kim Hyeong-Jun did the same. He panted and fell on all fours. I closed my eyes and pressed my palms to my temples in an effort to clear away the pain. The red-hot pain slowly dissipated and I slowly opened my eyes again. * * * My mind was blurry. Everything seemed hazy. I felt like my soul was no longer attached to my body. It was a moment of liberation. The sound in my ears was the only way I could tell that I was still alive. After a moment, I noticed Kim Hyeong-Jun on the floor. It seemed like he had suffered more pain than me. Both of his arms were trembling, and he couldn¡¯t seem to get himself up. The one unbelievable thing was the fact that Kim Hyeong-Jun actually looked purple now, instead of red. Kim Hyeong-Jun was trying his best to regain his senses by shaking his head. As he slowly came back, he snuck a glimpse at me. His face was still tight with pain, but he was wearing a smile. I was still panting because of the excruciating pain. The fresh air, which smelled as sweet as sap, entered through my mouth and nose. The fog in my mind cleared up, and I had the strangest feeling, as if my blood had started to flow again after stopping for a while. Then, I heard Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s voice. ¡®We did it.¡¯ ¡®Perceiving each other as purple beings means we¡¯re sessful?¡¯ ¡®Yes. If we still saw each other as red, that would¡¯ve been a failure.¡¯ ¡®What happens if two people still see each other in red?¡¯ ¡®Well, it¡¯s the start of a war.¡¯ I looked at him nkly, trying toprehend what he had just said. After a moment, though, I realized what he was saying. If two zombies still saw each other in red after making a vow, it meant that at least one side was lying. The worst would have happened if we saw each other in red. I didn¡¯t even want to imagine what would have happened if that had been the case. I let out a sigh of relief. All that mattered was that we were sessfully on the same team. Which also meant that we were on the same page. Kim Hyeong-Jun let out a quick breath. ¡®Wee to the Survivor Rally Organization!¡¯ ¡®Wait, what organization?¡¯ ¡®The Survivor Rally Organization. It¡¯s like an anti-gang organization. It¡¯s for us zombies that live for the sake of the survivors.¡¯ ¡®How many members do we have?¡¯ ¡®Right now it¡¯s just me and you, ahjussi.¡¯ ¡®...¡¯ ¡®My brother founded this association on his own.¡¯ After hearing where the name had originated, I smacked my lips and avoided Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s eyes. The Survivor Rally Organization. Just by the name of the organization, I could tell what kind of person Kim Hyeong-Seok was. He probably trusted and genuinely liked people. However, he ended up losing his trust in everyone, and gave up trying to live as a human being. I couldn¡¯t fathom the pain and despair he had to go through. I couldn¡¯t hide my pity for him. I took a deep breath and asked Kim Hyeong-Jun a question. ¡®So, what are you going to do from now on?¡¯ ¡®I¡¯m going to move around in Ttukseom. Since I know that the gang members didn¡¯t get my brother, I have no reason to stay in Haengdang-dong anymore.¡¯ ¡®I¡¯m not sure if I can ask this, but, but are your people in Ttukseom?¡¯ ¡®Is there a reason to hide anything anymore? We¡¯re on the same team now. They¡¯re in Ttukseom. You know where Seoul Forest is, right?¡¯ ¡®Of course.¡¯ ¡®There¡¯s a shelter there. How about you move your people over there as well?¡¯ ¡®We can think about thatter.¡¯ Chapter 40 Chapter 40 I didn¡¯t give him a straight answer, but Kim Hyeong-Jun didn¡¯t think much of it. He got to his feet, and I straightened as well. Kim Hyeong-Jun shed me a satisfied smile. ¡®Do you have anything else you¡¯re curious about?¡¯ I started to think about what else I could ask. I remembered the questions the zombie who attacked the high school had asked me. It had asked me what would happen if we ate human brains, if we ate zombie brains, and the number of underlings we could have. I wasn¡¯t going to let this chance go to waste. I asked Kim Hyeong-Jun all the questions I¡¯d been wanting answers to. He titled his head in confusion, and followed up with a question of his own. ¡®Ahjussi, you¡¯ve never left Haengdang-dong?¡¯ ¡®No.¡¯ ¡®That¡¯s why you don¡¯t know anything, huh?¡¯ I cleared my throat and smacked my lips. Kim Hyeong-Jun chuckled and continued. ¡®We can only have two hundred underlings at a time.¡¯ ¡®You seemed to have a lot more than that, though.¡¯ ¡®Our control extends by fifty more underlings each time we eat a brain. I fought with gang members in Seongsu 1-dong and 2-dong day and night.¡¯ ¡®So basically, the weak get wiped out while the fittest survive.¡¯ ¡®Exactly. And each time we eat a brain, our physical abilities increase as well. So do those of our underlings.¡¯ I slowly nodded as I absorbed what Kim Hyeong-Jun was saying. ¡®The survival of the fittest, huh.¡¯ Haengdang-dong was free from the zombies with glowing red eyes due to the ck zombies, but the other areas were basically warzones. That also meant that Kim Hyeong-Jun had taken down a good amount of zombies. His experience couldn¡¯t be overlooked. I slowly realized why I hadn¡¯t been able to feel his presence earlier on. ¡®What else did you ask?¡¯ ¡®What happens if we eat human brains?¡¯ ¡®Unfortunately, I don¡¯t know the answer to that. You see, I¡¯ve never eaten a person.¡¯ I nodded slowly. To be honest, I wouldn¡¯t have been able to trust him if he¡¯d known the answer to this question. He was right. There was no way to know without trying one. I asked him onest question. ¡®Let me ask you one more thing. Do you know what happens if someone eats a ck creature¡¯s brain, like I did?¡¯ ¡®Just like the previous question, I also don¡¯t know the answer to that. I¡¯m not sure how you defeated my brother, who turned into a ck creature, but it¡¯s almost impossible to beat a ck creature.¡¯ ¡®Did you say it¡¯s impossible?¡¯ ¡®The ck creatures grow stronger when they eat brains, but they can also grow stronger without eating brains, just like we do. But I¡¯m not sure how, or what conditions they need to fulfill to do so. One thing is for sure, though. The ck creatures get stronger and stronger with time. I think it¡¯s fair to say that you got lucky beating my brother, since he transformed rather recently.¡¯ I rubbed my chin as I listened to Kim Hyeong-Jun. As he mentioned, it was possible that I¡¯d been extremely fortunate back then. I wasn¡¯t sure if I was lucky in the sense that I¡¯d been bitten by a ck creature, but given what had happened until now, I realized that I¡¯d indeed been lucky. If I hadn¡¯t eaten the ck creature¡¯s brain, I would¡¯ve been killed by the red zombie at the high school. Suddenly, Kim Hyeong-Jun flicked his finger, as though he¡¯d just remembered something. ¡®Oh, right. Be careful when you meet any creatures that have grown teeth.¡¯ ¡®Teeth? Like you and me?¡¯ ¡®Yeah. These teeth are a sign that they¡¯ve evolved, that their rank has increased.¡¯ ¡®Rank?¡¯ ¡®Hmm, how do I put this? It¡¯s like a symbol of power. Your physical capabilities grow stronger as you grow your teeth, and the connection between you and your underlings grows stronger too.¡¯ I was more than aware of the physical improvements, but the connection with my underlings? At that moment, I remembered what I¡¯d sensed when I¡¯d been locked inbat with the zombie with glowing red eyes back at the high school. - Enemy found. Get rid of the enemy. That¡¯s what I heard. Of course, for the survivors, it had probably been just another throat-rending cry. But to me, I¡¯d received their message loud and clear. The cry hade from the underlings that had been in charge of defending the high school as they had begun to fight red zombies. As I reyed the memory, Kim Hyeong-Jun chuckled. ¡®It seems like you remembered something. You heard your underlings¡¯ voices, didn¡¯t you?¡¯ ¡®Do you know why that happened? In the beginning, I couldn¡¯t hear them. But all of a sudden, I started hearing them.¡¯ ¡®That¡¯s the difference between creatures that have grown teeth and those that haven¡¯t. As you know, our underlings get stronger as we get stronger. In other words, our connection with our underlings bes more intertwined. They grow more sensitive and sophisticated.¡¯ I nodded. Kim Hyeong-Jun nced up at the night sky and then back at me. ¡®Ahjussi, you grew teeth, so that means you can have an army of at least five hundred.¡¯ ¡®...¡¯ ¡®I won¡¯t tell you to get out of Haengdang-dong, but be careful from now on.¡¯ ¡®Be careful of what?¡¯ ¡®Everything. Ever since my brother turned into a ck creature, I tracked down his movements with my underlings. My brother roamed around Haengdang 1-dong.¡¯ ¡®Is there a ck creature in Haengdang 2-dong as well?¡¯ ¡®ording to my scouts, there¡¯s one there too. But it was there way before my brother transformed.¡¯ ¡®What are the odds of iting to Haengdang 1-dong?¡¯ ¡®Well, I¡¯m not sure. Wouldn¡¯t it start moving once it runs out of food?¡¯ ¡®When you say food, are you talking about zombies with glowing red eyes?¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun nodded without saying a word. After a moment, he gasped. ¡®Ahjussi, the gang member you killed. It was from Haengdang 1-dong, right?¡¯ ¡®Yeah.¡¯ ¡®It¡¯s bait.¡¯ ¡®Bait?¡¯ ¡®It¡¯s one of the methods the gang uses. They pick out a weak gang member and send them into Haengdang-dong so that the ck creature stays where it is. I mean, it¡¯s basically a suicide mission for the one who is sent, but they send them anyway and justify it as patrol duty.¡¯ ¡®...¡¯ ¡®They¡¯ll keep on sending bait. Make sure that none of them escape. If a scout escapes, all the officers in the gang will start moving.¡¯ ¡®Officers?¡¯ I tilted my head in confusion, and Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s expression grew serious. ¡®They¡¯re zombies that have grown teeth like us. I have no information on how strong they are or how many underlings they have. All I know is that they never move alone. That¡¯s all I know.¡¯ ¡®So you mean they move in groups?¡¯ ¡®The officers always move in pairs or in groups of three. Individually, their powers are problematic, but the real problem is all the underlings they have under them. So, look out for yourself.¡¯ I acknowledged Kim Hyeong-Jun''s warning. He stretched his body. ¡®Now then, shall we part ways?¡¯ ¡®Are you going to Ttukseom?¡¯ ¡®Yeah. You want toe take a look?¡¯ ¡®Take one of my underlings.¡¯ ¡®Yours? Why?¡¯ ¡®Since we¡¯re on the same team now, we should at least have one underling at each safe haven. That way, we can help each other in case of an emergency.¡¯ ¡®You¡¯re right. I totally forgot about that.¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun sent out his throat-rending cry with a smile of satisfaction, and one of his underlings emerged from the darkness. His underling also looked purple to me. ¡®Take this one,¡¯ said Kim Hyeoung-Jun. I took a close look at Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s underling. I liked how it held itself, like a well-trained soldier. With a satisfied expression, I turned to Kim Hyeong-Jun. ¡®Do you think your telepathy will be able to reach us all the way from Ttukseom?¡¯ ¡®If you¡¯re worried, we can leave a couple of underlings in between to act like cell towers.¡¯ ¡®What¡¯s the range of our telepathy?¡¯ ¡®It¡¯s five kilometers. Oh, you didn¡¯t know?¡¯ ¡®I know now. That¡¯s what matters.¡¯ As I chuckled, Kim Hyeong-Jun roared out augh, then shook his head and grinned. ¡®Ahjussi, you do realize that you can be pretty cheesy sometimes, you know?¡¯ ¡®I¡¯ll take that as apliment.¡¯ I couldn¡¯t help but grin as well. I reached out to the underlings at the supermarket. ¡®I need two of you toe here.¡¯ As soon as I gave orders, two of my underlings jumped out of the window. They made it from the third floor to the first in an instant, and stood at attention in front of me. It was about three kilometers from Haengdang-dong to Seoul Forest. If the range of our telepathy was five kilometers, leaving just one underling in between would be more than enough. However, I nned to send two of my underlings, just in case anything unforeseen happened. Kim Hyeong-Jun also called another underling of his, as if he¡¯d read my mind. He looked me straight in the eye. ¡®Two underlings each. That should be enough, don¡¯t you think?¡¯ ¡®Yup.¡¯ ¡®Then, I¡¯ll see you again, ahjussi. And ask me anything you want to know. I¡¯ll try and answer to the best of my knowledge.¡¯ ¡®Take care.¡¯ ¡®You too, ahjussi.¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun went off toward Seoul Forest with his head held high. At that moment, all of his underlings that were hiding in the surrounding buildings began streaming out. It was quite the view. The creatures, glowing purple in the pitch darkness, caused the ground to rumble. They flowed across the ground like an elegant piece of purple silk. It was aforting sight. ¡®The Survival Rally Organization.¡¯ I finally had an alliance. As I watched my two green underlings trail behind Kim Hyeong-Jun, a slight smile spread across my face. I took a deep breath, then looked at the two purple creatures in front of me. They were staring at me nkly. ¡®Can you hear what I¡¯m saying?¡¯ They didn¡¯t answer. It seemed like I couldn¡¯t give them orders even though we were on the same team. As I headed toward the supermarket, the two purple underlings followed me as well. For some reason, it felt like I had guests. * * * I returned to the apartment with Lee Jeong-Uk, who had been waiting patiently at the supermarket with my remaining underlings. As soon as we got back to the apartment, Lee Jeong-Uk asked me what had happened. Throughout the night, I used letters and drawings to exin what had happened. When I had finished, Lee Jeong-Uky back on the couch. ¡°So, you¡¯re telling me that the zombie you met at the supermarket is now on our side?¡± I nodded. ¡°And the two behind you are his?¡± I nodded. He frowned as though unconvinced. ¡°Those two. Can we tie them up somewhere?¡¯ ¡°Grr?¡± ¡°Honestly, I¡¯m notfortable with them around. I can¡¯t trust them just yet.¡± I nodded without hesitation. I felt sorry for the two purple underlings, but my priority was the safety of my people. I thought about tying them up on the rooftop. They were merely tools formunication, so I only needed them to be on the lookout for gang members while they were tied up on the rooftop. I retrieved some thick ropes and headed straight toward the apartment rooftop. I lined the two zombies up back-to-back and then tied their arms and legs. They didn¡¯t feel any fatigue, so leaving them up there would be no problem. They just needed to carry out their duty. I returned to the living room after taking care of the task. ¡°Daddy!¡± So-Yeon ran toward me as if she had been waiting for a long time. I smiled and took her into my arms. She probably hadn¡¯te out earlier because of the zombies. I was d that I had taken Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s suggestion. Lee Jeong-Uk watched me and So-Yeon closely, then sighed. ¡°You two. It seems like you can¡¯t stand to be away from each other even for a second!¡± Despite his words, he had a gentle smile on his face. After a moment, Choi Da-Hye walked in from the kitchen. ¡°So-Yeon¡¯s father. What¡¯s going to happen to us now?¡± I looked at her questioningly. ¡°You said there¡¯s a shelter in Seoul Forest, right? Are we going there as well?¡± I heard expectation and hope in Choi Da-Hye¡¯s voice. ¡®Does she want to go to the shelter in Seoul Forest?¡¯ Just then, though, someone else chimed in, shattering her hope. ¡°Who knows what kind of people are in that shelter?¡± It was Lee Jeong-Uk. He smacked his lips and sat on the floor, his face glum. ¡°We don¡¯t know anything about that ce. We don¡¯t know how many people there are, what kind of people there are, what they do with food, and what kind of defenses they have set up there.¡± His words brought a frown to Choi Da-Hye¡¯s face. Lee Jeong-Hyuk, who was watching them, spoke up. ¡°Hyung, how about we go and check out the people over there?¡± ¡°You want to go and check? You just want So-Yeon¡¯s dad to go check, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°No, hyung. That¡¯s not what I meant.¡± ¡°You know what? Just stop it. You might as well just go up to So-Yeon¡¯s dad and make him go.¡± Lee Jeong-Hyuk shut his mouth after hearing what Lee Jeong-Uk had said. The older brother must have hit the nail on the head. Lee Jeong-Uk clicked his tongue and looked around the room. The survivors from the supermarket and high school all had gloomy expressions. Lee Jeong-Uk looked at everyone¡¯s faces, then took a deep breath. His voice took on a firm edge. ¡°Everyone, mark my words. No one here should ever ask So-Yeon¡¯s dad to make sacrifices for us. Is that clear?¡± Chapter 41 Chapter 41 Lee Jeong-Uk continued to speak. ¡°I think everyone¡¯s just excited by the word ¡®shelter¡¯ right now, but there¡¯s no guarantee that it¡¯s safer than this ce. To be honest, I can¡¯t tell.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s words were met with silence. After a moment, the principal got up. ¡°I agree as well. We don¡¯t know if the people there will ept us or kick us out. I¡¯m also against the idea of making someone else do things for us.¡± The principal¡¯s voice was trembling. I could tell that the incidents he had endured at the high school still weighed heavily on his mind. The only reason the principal hadn¡¯t lost his resolve was because of the children and elders that had been relying on him. However, he couldn¡¯t have found his feet again without realizing what he¡¯d done wrong. He had probably condemned the younger teachers who had abandoned them at first. But he¡¯d been forcing them to make sacrifices as well. Onlyter did he understand what he had done wrong. After a moment, Han Seon-Hui, who was standing next to the principal, spoke. ¡°Wherever we go, things won¡¯t be too different. There¡¯ll be zombies, and there¡¯ll be bad people. In my case, I don¡¯t want to be disappointed by humans anymore.¡± Han Seon-Hui was clearly speaking from her experiences as a wanderer, and the constantck of trust. Kang Eun-Jeong joined in the discussion as well. ¡°Why don¡¯t we start something ourselves here instead? I don¡¯t think there¡¯s a need to join up with other people, especially a group of people that we don¡¯t know that well.¡± With Kang Eun-Jeong supporting Han Seon-Hui¡¯s opinion, nobody else disagreed with what Lee Jeong-Uk. Everyone seemed to be on the same page. Choi Da-Hye and Lee Jeong-Hyuk slowly nodded as well. It seemed like they were willing to ept the others¡¯ opinion. I opened the drawing pad and wrote down a few words. - This ce. Shelter. Make. I had nned to organize the apartment after returning from the high school in the first ce. I was nning to transform the apartment into a ce where everyone felt safe, a ce like no other in this world. I was going to turn the apartment into a shelter. The only shelter in Haengdang-dong¡ªHaengdang-dong¡¯sst hope. That was what I had in mind. I had already taken care of apartment buildings 103, 104, and 105. Imunicated my ns to everyone, and they all seemed like they were on board with me. After a moment, Lee Jeong-Uk pped his knee as if signaling that things would be smooth sailing from now on. ¡°How about everyone decide on what they want to be responsible for? I¡¯ll be responsible for getting food. I won¡¯t impose any job on anyone, so feel free to say what you are willing to do.¡± Lee Jeong-Hyuk carefully raised his right hand. ¡°In that case, I¡¯ll join you in getting food.¡± Once Lee Jeong-Hyuk had spoken, everyone else started saying what they wanted to do one by one. The principal and Han Seon-Hui were in charge of the children¡¯s education, and Choi Da-Hye and Kang Eun-Jeong were in charge of meal preparation. The white-haired elder wanted to utilize his farming skills which he had picked up a long time ago, and the female students in theirte teens, including Woo Ga-In, said they would help out with chores like farming, cooking, andundry. Kang Ji-Suk and Byeon Hyeok-Jin volunteered to help with getting food, and the remaining male students in their teens offered to guard the apartment. In a sh, everyone had decided on what they were willing to be responsible for. I nodded eagerly at them, then wrote down a couple of words on the drawing pad. - Tomorrow. Start. As they read my words, their expressions grew determined. We had to be united in order to survive. In this moment, each person had chosen their own sphere of responsibility, and hadmitted to it. Humans were creatures of action. This was the natural way of things. After a moment, So-Yeon came up to me and grabbed my hand. I patted her on the head and then thought to myself, ¡®You have to behave yourself and listen to the principal and Han Seon-Hui.¡¯ I wanted everyone to do their best. I prayed that everyone would have a smile on their face, and that So-Yeon would grow up into a bright person. * * * Now that everyone had chosen their individual roles, they all strived to do their best in their respective roles. No one cked off. They weremitted to trying their best. We were making the Haengdang-dong apartmentplex into a safe shelter. The Lee brothers taught Kang Ji-Suk and Byeon Hyeok-Jin how to avoid and hunt zombies on their way to the supermarket. Being youths, Kang Ji-Suk and Byeon Hyeok-Jin absorbed everything like sponges. They grew better and better by the day thanks to the skills the Lee brothers were teaching them. The principal and Han Seon-Hui were passionate about teaching the children. The principal was responsible for teaching children in their early to mid-teens, while Han Seon-Hui was responsible for the children below ten. The children, who had been unhappy to learn at some point in time, were now all happy to have the opportunity. I wondered if they missed the atmosphere of huddling together with their peers in a ssroom and learning. The children were growing brighter by the day. As the saying went, a nation that forgets its past doesn¡¯t have a future, and so their education was oriented around history. The white-haired elder was sessful in growing sweet potatoes and potatoes in the apartment garden. It was an incredible day when we finally found out. The joy was surreal. Everyone hugged one another and danced the night away. The memory of the elder dancing, smiling gently while swinging his cane like a baton, was a memory I would never forget. Although the elder was unsessful in growing carrots and cherry tomatoes, the potatoes and sweet potatoes generated a sense of hope for a better future. The fact that we could grow something on our own was enough to warm everyone¡¯s hearts just a little bit. Each time Lee Jeong-Hyuk went out to get food, he would bring a watermelon back and ask the elder to grow one as well. Lee Jeong-Hyuk sure loved watermelons. Even when I¡¯d brought back food, he¡¯d always looked for watermelons. His love for watermelons was quite something. In the meantime, I took care of all the zombies within the apartmentplex. I recruited the ones who looked sturdy and had bodies that were intact. The other ones, I set them free. I sent them to heaven. The three hundred and ten underlings I had soon grew to an army of six hundred and fifty. At that point, I could no longer find any more zombies in theplex. After wiping out all the zombies within theplex, I went out into the streets in order to increase the safe zone around our shelter. Every now and then, I came across red zombies that seemed to be part of the gang, and took care of them without hesitation. In order to expand my scoutingwork, I sent underlings to every part of Haengdang 1-dong. As long as we stayed in Haengdang 1-dong, we would be safe from the ck creature. And as long as we took care of the scouts sent into Haengdang 1-dong by the gang members, we would be safe from them as well. Haengdang-dong, which had been crossed out with a big ¡®X¡¯ mark, became a safe haven like no other in the world. The male students in their teens stood on guard duty as they promised. The female students got together to take care of theundry. None of the children expressed anyints. They were thankful that they could see a blue sky, breath in fresh air, and chatter away with friends every day. Every now and then, when someone missed their parents or family, themunity would gather around to console them together. Despiteing from different families, we were slowly bing a family of our own. * * * The hectic summer passed, and fall was ushered in by a chilly breeze. A special event was about to take ce. Everyone in apartment block 104, unit 505 had gathered, and all eyes were on So-Yeon. So-Yeon was looking closely at the map of Seoul, which was spread out on the living room floor. I observed her carefully with a gentle smile as I leaned against the wall. After a moment, Lee Jeong-Uk spoke. ¡°So, So-Yeon, have you decided?¡± ¡°Hmm, yes!¡± ¡°Alrighty! Here¡¯s your pen.¡± As Lee Jeong-Uk passed her a pen, she adjusted her grip on the pen over and over again with a rather serious expression. After a moment, she kneeled in front of the map of Seoul and then traced the pen over an apartmentplex located in Haengdang-dong. She then drew a shield on it and wrote the following words in a clear font. - Hae-Yeong. As soon as she wrote down ¡®Hae-Yeong¡¯, the other survivors all looked confused. But I knew what she meant. Hae-Yeong was her friend¡¯s name. Her best friend in elementary school was named Hae-Yeong. Her ce was five minutes away from here. But after this world had fallen, we had been thrown into an era in which it was impossible even to find out how those living five minutes away were doing. All along, So-Yeon had been curious about how Hae-Yeong was doing. I smiled warmly and went to So-Yeon to give her a hug. She stood still in my arms for a while. However, her eyes soon began to well up with tears, and she shoved her face into my chest. As I patted her back, the others looked around and exchanged sad smiles, not knowing how to act. After a moment, Choi Da-Hye, who did not seem to sense the change in atmosphere, spoke up. ¡°Who¡¯s Hae-Yeong?¡± Everyone else clearly had the same question in mind, but hadn¡¯t dared to ask. They all seemed relieved that she had brought up the elephant in the room. After Choi Da-Hye had spoken, all eyes turned toward me. I grasped a pen and wrote down several words on the drawing pad. - So-Yeon¡¯s friend. Small sighs escaped from the lips of the survivors who were gathered around. Lee Jeong-Hyuk scratched his sideburns with a sad expression. ¡°Naming the shelter after her friend Hae-Yeong¡­Does she want her friend toe here as well?¡± Lee Jeong-Hyuk had figured out her intentions right away, like he always did. Everyone understood the sadness that she must have gone through. Their expressions grew gloomy, and several began to sniffle. Lee Jeong-Uk spread out arge piece of drawing paper. ¡°Today¡¯s the inauguration of Shelter Hae-Yeong! Why is everyone crying on a good day like this?¡± He said, trying to lighten up the mood. ¡°Should I write it out?¡± ¡°Sure Da-Hye. Your handwriting is good. Go ahead.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk passed her the blue marker, and Choi Da-Hye began writing on therge canvas. - Shelter Hae-Yeong. Hope for Haengdang-dong. Safe Haven for Humans. Screening Stations on your Right. We were nning to put the canvas up at the entrance to the apartmentplex. Anyone who passed by this canvas would be able to be screened and then weed into the shelter. In this day and age, when allies were necessary, we weren¡¯t going to cut ties with the outside world. We decided that we would ept more people and open ourselves to the world. We had a strong belief in themunity and system that we¡¯d built, and did not think that those who joined us would be able to disrupt it. I recalled the three conditions I thought survivors needed after I¡¯ve turned into a mutant. Now that I had achieved the third condition, the people who were willing to join us had to meet the first and second conditions. This was the purpose of the screening center. This also gave those who wished to enter the shelter no choice but to see me. If the person entering was rational, the sight of me would deter them from trying to cause trouble. But if anyone still tried it, I would get rid of them without hesitation. I knew that people who were standing always wished to sit, those who were sitting wished to lie down, and those who were lying down wished to sleep. It was only natural to seek out a morefortable state. Even if we let people into the shelter, there would be no ce for them here if they didn¡¯t have a sense of humanity or were too selfish. As Iforted So-Yeon, Lee Jeong-Uk led everyone else outside. They were going to hang up the canvas sign and put up a tarp to the right of the apartment entrance. I was blessed to have people like them. They knew what to do on their own, and were thoughtful enough to leave me and So-Yeon alone. I tickled her wrist, and So-Yeon stopped crying. She looked up at me with a smile. As I looked into So-Yeon¡¯s crystal-clear eyes, I couldn¡¯t help but smile. She pretended to act grumpy, burying her face into my stomach and hugging me even more tightly. I slowly closed my eyes, hoping this harmonious peace wouldst forever. * * * After the inauguration of the newly-established Shelter Hae-Yeong, I immediately felt the need to explore the area further. I alerted themunity that I would be on patrol. Lee Jeong-Uk nodded right away. ¡°Thanks for taking extra measures to stabilize the shelter. Take care while you¡¯re out there.¡¯ I knew what he was grateful for. I couldn¡¯t thank him enough. I waved gently at the others and headed toward the front entrance. In the beginning, it had been scary to step out onto this path. It felt like walking on thin ice. But I was no longer the same person. I remembered being trapped inside, unable to take a single step outside. But now, I had made the ce a safe haven for everyone, and had be their leader. It was a feeling I couldn¡¯t express in words. Did it feel like I was flying? No, it was nothing like that. Ordinary words were not enough to express the feeling. It felt like going out on a date on a sunny weekend morning, dressed in new clothes. For some reason, the zombies on the streets didn¡¯t seem hostile at all. I felt like I was standing in the center of the world, as if this path I was taking was the right path to take. I looked at the twenty underlings I brought out with me. ¡®Tell me when you see a supermarket or convenience store.¡¯ GRR! GAA!! My underlings answered with their loud, throat-rending noises. The supermarket where the gang members¡¯ heads were still hanging by the entrance was slowly running out of food. No matter how much food a supermarket had, there would not be enough to sustain more than thirty people forever. I was nning to discover a new stockpile of food, and retrieve weapons that everyone could use. Besides that, the elder had also asked me for a favor. - If you walk by a park, get me some soil. I need some soil for nting flowers. Not sand like this. There was a children¡¯s yground in the center of Shelter Hae-Yeong. The elder remarked that the sand wasn¡¯t suitable for growing crops. The elder¡¯s solution was to dig out all the sand from it and fill it up with soil that was more suitable. There was a lot to take care of. I needed to hurry. My underlings and I picked up the pace. Chapter 42 Chapter 42 As the sun began to set, my twenty underlings and I headed back to Shelter Hae-Yeong with our hands full of items. We returned with trash bags filled with soil and others filled with metal pieces. The Lee brothers checked the metal pieces while the elder felt the soil that was inside the bags. He smiled rather sadly and said that it probably wasn¡¯t enough, but that he would give it a try. Han Seon-Hui brought a wet towel and wiped the soil from my hands. I thanked her, then sat on a wooden bench within theplex. After a moment, Choi Da-Hye came up to me. ¡°So-Yeon¡¯s father, we made a barricade. Could you take a look at it?¡± I nodded and headed toward the side entrance where a barricade had been erected. The barricade was made out of wood, tied together with rope. They had used the dirt from the yground as extra support, to prevent the barricade from being pushed back. It was enough to keep out the zombies who could only smell or hear, but it wasn¡¯t enough to keep the ones with eyesight away. I lifted my right hand and held it to my forehead as I looked at Choi Da-Hye. She tilted her head in confusion. ¡°The barricade has to be this tall?¡± ¡°Grr.¡± ¡°Hmm, then we have to make it again from scratch. The center of gravity won¡¯t be right if we just add on to the existing structure.¡± I wanted to give her a round of apuse for considering the center of gravity. I noticed the stainless steel spears we¡¯d made a long time ago had been incorporated into the barricade. I assumed that the spears could be maneuvered around the barricade, since the haft of the spear was essible from the inside. I took out the notepad and pen I had in my pocket and wrote down a few phrases. - First defensive line, second defensive line, third defensive line. Choi Da-Hye considered my words and nodded. ¡°We¡¯ll try to create a defensive line around the entire apartment. We¡¯ll try to make it as safe as possible.¡± I nodded and then wrote down more words. - Not enough people. Let me know. And then I pointed to my underlings next to us. Choi Da-Hye looked at what I wrote, then looked back and forth between me and my underlings. She tilted her head again and asked for confirmation that she¡¯d understood me correctly. ¡°I should let you know if there isn''t enough manpower?¡± ¡°Grr.¡± ¡°For sure. I¡¯ll let you know.¡± Choi Da-Hye nodded, smiling. She knew how to get stuff done. Probably better than most men. I nodded back to show that I was happy with what she was doing. As time progressed, it had gotten easier and easier to get my message across. Not only did everyone get better at interpreting my written messages, but it was getting easier for me to write out words. I wondered if I was getting used to being a zombie, or if it was because I had gained back some of my forgotten knowledge through consuming my enemies¡¯ brains. I didn¡¯t know the exact reason why, but I knew one thing for sure. It was a change for the better. I always had a pen and notepad on me at all times. They were like a part of my body. They were important mediums through which I couldmunicate with others. Since I was done with all the tasks I had nned for the day, it was time to check out what So-Yeon had been up to the entire day. ording to Han Seon-Hui, So-Yeon liked art ss the most. She said that So-Yeon liked to exin to her what her drawing meant while she was drawing on the drawing pad. I wanted to find out what she had drawn today. I headed toward unit 505 of apartment building 104 with joy. Grr!!! At that moment, I heard a rather disturbing noise. I turned around, my eyes wide. Choi Da-Hye tilted her head, clearly wondering what had made me react so suddenly. ¡°Is there anything else you want us to add?¡± I brought my index finger to my lips and gestured to her to be quiet. Choi Da-Hye sucked in a breath and looked around as well. I focused all my attention on my hearing. I couldn¡¯t figure out the meaning of the sudden cry. GRRR!!! I heard it again. It wasn¡¯ting from nearby. It was a sound that others couldn¡¯t hear. It was something only I could hear. ¡®Found red creature.¡¯ It was a signal from the underlings I had sent out on patrol. I ran toward the Lee brothers, who were sitting on a wooden bench. They saw my agitation and stopped organizing the metal pieces. I quickly took out my notepad and wrote down a couple of words. - Found enemies. ¡°There are enemies here?¡± Lee Jeong-Uk stood up with a frown, looking around. ¡°Where? Where are theying from?¡± - Signal from Wangsimni Station scout. ¡°You can hear your underling from here?¡± I nodded. Lee Jeong-Uk rubbed his chin silently, then looked at Lee Jeong-Hyuk. ¡°Bring whoever¡¯s outside back inside, and have the guards and the foraging team station themselves here.¡± ¡°Roger that, hyung!¡± Lee Jeong-Hyuk got moving the moment he got orders from his brother. Lee Jeong-Uk looked me straight in the eye. ¡°And what are you going to do? Are you going to head straight there?¡± I nodded. ¡°Don¡¯t you think it might be better to stay and defend this location?¡± I shook my head. His point was valid, but I had to see with my own eyes what kind of red creature my underlings had discovered. My underlings could only distinguish if a zombie was red or not. They couldn¡¯t tell if the zombie was part of a group. It was possible to turn into a zombie with red glowing eyes even if you got bitten by one of the normal street zombies. There were no ck creatures in Haengdang 1-dong anymore, and since there were no gang members around, it was reasonable to conclude that the red creature was someone who had been bitten by one of the street zombies. As a countermeasure for situations like this, I had underlings with vision stationed all around Haengdang 1-dong. I was able to determine where the signal wasing from, and which underling was sending it. Now, the underling that was stationed in Wangsimni Station had sent me a signal that it had discovered a red creature. I had to confirm if the red creature was part of the gang, or if it was just an unfortunate person who had been bitten by one of the street zombies. If the red creature was a gang member, I had to get rid of it before it got the chance to survey Haengdang 1-dong. If my underling got caught, the gang would know that there were no ck creatures in the area anymore. Lee Jeong-Uk scratched his head, seemingly not knowing what to do. I took out my notepad. - Stay calm. Lee Jeong-Uk read my message, took a deep breath, and eventually nodded. ¡°Let me take care of things here. Be careful out there.¡± I nodded. I patted Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s shoulder gently, then took two hundred underlings with me to Wangsimni Station. Gang members that were assigned to patrol Haengdang-dong¡ªin other words, the zombies with glowing red eyes known as ¡®bait¡¯¡ªusually had around three hundred underlings. If the intruder was ¡®bait¡¯, they were probably still weak, still possessing their human teeth. Two hundred underlings would be more than enough to take care of them. However, I was worried about the possibility of a two-pronged attack, so I had to keep my defenses strong while only leading the bare minimum number of underlings out to go on the offensive, just in case. During the time the shelter was being prepared, a couple of these ¡®baits¡¯ had entered Haengdang 1-dong. To be honest, I didn¡¯t have to be so cautious towards intruding gang members. However, I was more cautious this time around, not just because I was wary about a two-pronged attack. There was another reason. The gang members all had one thing inmon: they would enter from the west, through Hanyang University. However, this red creature was discovered in Wangsimni Station, which was north of where we were. There was the possibility that the gang members had realized that there were no ck creatures in Haengdang 1-dong anymore. If they were really nning to attack from two directions, it probably meant that the gang realized that there was no ck creature here, and also that there was a zombie that was capable of rational thinking in the area. If such an attack were to ur, it would definitely be the officers who were leading them. ¡®The ones at the shelter: increase the number of lookouts. Tell me right away if you see a red creature around the shelter.¡¯ With that final order, I headed toward Wangsimni Station. * * * I reached Wangsimni Station in three minutes, moving non-stop. Now that the sun had set, I had gotten stronger, and was able to cover ground more quickly. I ordered my two hundred underlings into hiding, then swiftly made my way to the scout on the rooftop. ¡®Where is it?¡¯ My scout pointed. I followed its fingertip and saw five red creatures a small distance away. I titled my head as I looked at them. ¡®Five of them?¡¯ I couldn¡¯t believe there were only five of them. I squinted my eyes to check if there were any zombies with glowing red eyes amongst them. After a moment, my gaze locked onto one of them, a male that seemed rather dazed. He looked rather lost. He was tottering about with his hands pressed against his temples. He had glowing red eyes, and unlike the four zombies around him, he was of a slightly darker hue. I bit my lower lip as a thought came to my mind. ¡®Did he undergo his mutation recently?¡¯ Without a doubt, his actions indicated that he was enduring the headaches that came after pushing zombies with his palms. Since he only had four zombies around him, I assumed he had mutated pretty recently. I headed down to the first floor. ¡®I need to interrogate him.¡¯ However, a sudden, dangerous thought came to mind. ¡®What if he was somebody that only took a couple of underlings with him at a time?¡¯ I knew that Kim Hyeong-Jun and the gang members mostly traveled with a host of underlings. However, there could be others like me who only moved around with small numbers of underlings at a time. ¡®What if he has the same personality as me? If that¡¯s the case, there¡¯s no way of telling if he is dangerous or weak.¡¯ I stopped midway down the stairs and looked out of the window on my right. I had to observe his movements a little bit more. He pushed another zombie, then wailed toward the night sky. ¡®Yeah, your head probably hurts like hell right now.¡¯ The pain that engulfed his entire body was probably more than he could handle. I knew exactly what he had to be going through, since I had fainted during the process of recruiting thirty underlings, back before I¡¯d gotten rid of the ck creature. From his screaming, I assumed that the man wasn''t strong. If he had sharp teeth like me, recruiting five underlings wouldn¡¯t be enough to leave him in such pain. I observed him carefully as I rubbed my chin. He was shaking his head and taking deep breaths, as if he had given up on recruiting more zombies. After a moment, he picked up the ck stic bag that he had put down earlier. The sun was down, and the color of the stic bag hindered my ability to see what was inside. All I saw was the silhouette of a bag. After a moment, the man began to walk off, swaying like a drunk person. I bit my lips as I watched him. ¡®Should I kill him now? But what if he¡¯s not part of the gang? What right do I have to kill an innocent person? What if he was somebody who had devoted his life to helping other people?¡¯ On one hand, it was probably wise to get rid of beings that could be troublesometer on. However, my hope that he could turn out to be a good person suppressed this first instinct. It wouldn¡¯t be toote to take care of him after I confirmed what he was with my own eyes. I gritted my teeth and followed him quietly. We were heading north. After we had walked for a while, I noticed a wall surrounding an elementary school. The man entered the school as if he was entering his own home. ¡®Is he holding captives in there? Or is he protecting survivors like me?¡¯ I couldn¡¯te to a conclusion unless I saw what was going on with my own eyes. I walked around the wall and made it to the rear entrance of the school. There were no lookouts at the entrance. I jumped over the gate and glued myself to the wall. After a moment, I heard footstepsing from inside the building. Someone was climbing up the stairs. As I lifted my head to peek through the school windows, I noticed a broken window on the third floor. A three-storey jump was nothing to me. In one swift leap, I was inside. I quickly hid in an empty ssroom. A momentter, I heard footsteps echoing down the third-floor hallway, I peeked outside to see what was going on, and saw the back of the man I¡¯d seen at Wangsimni Station. He entered a ssroom at the end of the hallway, and after a moment, I heard murmuring. It was people talking. I crept out into the dark hallway and snuck my way toward the ssroom. As I got closer, the voices grew clearer. ¡°Hey everyone, drink slowly. You¡¯re going to get tummy aches!¡± ¡°Thank you, Mr. Kwak!¡± ¡°Shhh. What did I say about making noise?¡± ¡°Keep our voices quiet. Hehe.¡± I heard children''s voices. There were about three of them. ¡°Mr. Kwak, what¡¯s it like outside?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ It¡¯s not good.¡± ¡°Are you safe out there? The monsters out there¡­ No, the zombies out there¡­ Don¡¯t they attack you, Mr. Kwak?¡± ¡°I¡¯m safe. But I learned something rather interesting.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°I can make zombies into my underlings.¡± There was a young woman inside as well. However, there was something odd about what the man being addressed as ¡®Mr. Kwak¡¯ was saying. The words he was spewing did not make sense unless he was a red creature. At the same time, someone who was alive would not be able to make the same statement. It seemed like the zombie who had just entered the room was Mr. Kwak. I peeked into the ssroom to determine the answer to the mystery. What I saw made my jaw drop instinctively. My eyes widened, and my head began to spin. I couldn¡¯t believe what I was seeing. The red creature that had just entered the room was speaking. It was having a conversation with a living person. Chapter 43 Chapter 43 I was taken aback by their interaction. ¡®How¡­ how is he speaking?¡¯ This teacher called Mr. Kwak was doing something that neither I nor Kim Hyeong-Jun could do. I let my head sag as I ran through every possible scenario. ¡®Is he stronger than me?¡¯ That couldn''t be the case. Based on what Mr. Kwak had been saying, he¡¯d only realized that day that he could recruit underlings. ¡®But how is a being like him speaking like a human being?¡¯ He was speaking with a mysterious woman who seemed rather shy, and he smiled every now and then. Thanks to that, I¡¯d been able to see his teeth pretty easily. He had human teeth. This meant that he hadn¡¯t reached the next rank, like me and Kim Hyeong-Jun. That confused me even more. How in the world was a being like him able to speak¡­? I shook my head and let out a quick breath. The best and most certain way was to ask him myself. I stepped out into view and looked at Mr. Kwak and the woman. ¡°GWAAAA!¡± The children in the ssroom started screaming. There was a boy and two girls there who were about early elementary age. They were screaming, and their hands were shaking as if they had gone insane. Mr. Kwak and the young woman whipped around to look at me. The woman was clearly frightened. In an instant, it seemed like her soul had escaped her body. Mr. Kwak stared at me, not knowing how to react. ¡°What¡­ what¡­ what are you!?¡± Mr. Kwak yelled, stuttering. Even in the midst of all this chaos, he pushed the woman and children behind him as he kept his gaze trained on me. I looked Mr. Kwak straight in the eye. ¡®What are you?¡¯ ¡°Yes, yes?¡± ¡®How are you speaking?¡¯ ¡°Wait, no, how¡­? How are you speaking right now?¡± I watched as his eyes moved side to side. His face was a mask of fear, like that of a weak human. He probably had no clue what was going on, now that he could hear a voice ringing inside his head. The woman and children were trembling uncontrobly, their eyes bouncing back and forth between me and Mr. Kwak. I frowned and repeated my question. ¡®How are you able to speak? I¡¯ll spare your life if you answer my question.¡¯ ¡°What, what do you mean by that? I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about.¡± Mr. Kwak kept speaking verbally. The woman behind him grabbed him by his sleeves. ¡°Mr. Kwak, what is that person? That person¡­ Is that person saying something right now?¡¯ ¡°He¡¯s talking to me, but whatever he¡¯s saying is ringing in my head.¡± ¡°What?¡± Color drained from the woman¡¯s face as she looked at me. A voice ringing inside someone¡¯s head. The fact that I was speaking without saying a word might¡¯ve been scarier than my external appearance. The woman looked down, holding the children in her arms. As I watched her biting her lips, I couldn¡¯t help but feel sorry for her. With a sigh, I looked back at Mr. Kwak. ¡®Beings with glowing red eyes. You and I are the same beings. Got that?¡¯ ¡°Oh, yes. Yes!¡± ¡®Don¡¯t open your mouth when you want to speak. Think instead.¡¯ ¡°What? Oh, okay.¡± Mr. Kwak smacked his lips and swallowed. Then, he looked me straight in my face. ¡®Like this?¡¯ ¡®There we go. And look at me when you talk. I¡¯ll kill you if you look away.¡¯ ¡®Yes, yes!¡¯ ¡®Beings like us don¡¯t innately possess the ability to speak verbally. But somehow, you¡¯re having conversations with other people. Tell me how you¡¯re doing that.¡¯ ¡®Hmm? I don¡¯t know¡­¡¯ ¡®Think carefully about how you do it.¡¯ I asked him this question as if I were slowly persuading him to tell me a secret. I asked as clearly and softly as I could, so that he wouldn¡¯t lose himself to fear. Mr. Kwak tilted his head, his face puffing like a goldfish. His eyes were trembling. It didn¡¯t take a rocket scientist to tell that he was scared to death. I flicked my finger at him. ¡®Your eyes! Don¡¯t look away!¡¯ ¡®I¡¯m, I¡¯m sorry!¡¯ ¡®Look me in the eye whenever you think.¡¯ ¡®No, no¡­ Uh, so um¡­ How¡¯d I do it? I was just like this¡­¡¯ ¡®Tell me what you remember when you first opened your eyes.¡¯ ¡®I, I¡­ I only woke up two days ago, so I don¡¯t know anything.¡¯ I couldn¡¯t tell if he was being naive, or if he was just in stupid. He¡¯d just blurted out, with total honesty, that he didn¡¯t know anything. If I¡¯d been a gang member, Mr. Kwak would¡¯ve been long gone. I sighed, then asked again, ¡®What¡¯s the first thing you did after you got up?¡¯ ¡®Oh, um¡­¡¯ His trembling eyes finally locked onto mine. I saw his Adam¡¯s apple twitch violently as he swallowed. I wondered if he¡¯d just remembered something that he did not want to. He was trembling, and his fists were clenched. I waited patiently for Mr. Kwak to speak. Mr. Kwak took a quick look at the woman and the children, then his gaze centered on me again. ¡®The people here¡ªno. The animals here, I killed them.¡¯ ¡®What?¡¯ As I frowned, Mr. Kwak¡¯s breathing grew heavy, but he kept going. ¡®They, they weren¡¯t human.¡¯ ¡®You¡¯d better borate.¡¯ Mr. Kwak let out a heavy sigh and slowly closed his eyes. I¡¯d already given him fair warning that I would kill him if he looked away, but considering the circumstances, I decided to cut him some ck. After a moment, he continued. ¡®There used to be a lot of people here. This ce was one of the two shelters in Majang-dong.¡¯ ¡®Majang-dong?¡¯ Was he saying that we were in Majang-dong? I supposed it made sense that we were no longer in Haengdang-dong anymore, since we¡¯d traveled quite a distance north from Wangsimni Station. Mr. Kwak kept on talking. ¡®If you go east, you¡¯ll find a middle school. It operated as a shelter. However, about a month ago, some people showed up at the middle school. After that, they were attacked by zombies.¡¯ His words made me smack my lips with bitterness. There was a high chance that the gang members had attacked them. Shelters were thest bit of hope for survivors but in the eyes of the gang members, it was like hitting a jackpot full of food. Mr. Kwak continued to share his memories. ¡®When people from the middle school came, those in here started getting nervous as well. Food was running low, there were more people, and most of all, none of the people who came from the middle school were sane. They acted like they had seen ghosts.¡¯ ¡®What¡¯s your point?¡¯ ¡®Then, one of the people that came from middle school¡­¡¯ He then took in a deep breath before he finished his sentence. ¡®That person killed someone else.¡¯ ¡®Kill a person?¡¯ ¡®Do you know what kind of eyes people have after theypletely lose their minds?¡¯ I remained silent. ¡®The person keptughing as he performed the killing. They kept on uttering the same thing over and over again, as if they had gone insane.¡¯ Mr. Kwak¡¯s face started to darken. He was close to tears, and his voice was on the verge of breaking. ¡®¡°Meat, it¡¯s meat!¡±¡¯ ¡®That¡¯s what the person said?¡¯ ¡®That son of a bitch keptughing as he said this. They called a living person meat, and they wereughing about it.¡¯ I was at a loss for words. It would have been difficult for anyone to maintain their sanity after witnessing something like that with their own eyes. Mr. Kwak eventually burst into tears. He continued in a hoarse voice, ¡®After that, the zombies started attacking. They woulde once a week and kidnap people.¡¯ I pursed my lips grimly as I looked at Mr. Kwak. If they came periodically to abduct people, it was difficult to believe that ordinary zombies carried out the attacks. It had to be the gang members. The gang members harassed these people constantly. They didn¡¯t wipe out the people in one go, but came periodically to breed fear and mistrust amongst the people in the shelter. Then the woman behind me red at me. It seemed she believed that things were not going in their favor. The woman got up and strode toward me. With her eyes open wide, she cried, ¡°Eat me instead! Don¡¯t bother him! Take my life instead!¡± Her sudden outburst was unexpected. I scratched my eyebrows. Although her mouth was closed, her jaw was trembling with fear. Her tears were on the brink of flowing. Mr. Kwak was astonished by her sudden outburst as well. He took her arm and dragged her behind him again, but she escaped his grasp. ¡°Eat me, you son of a bitch!¡± I had no idea what I¡¯d done to deserve such vulgarities being hurled at me from someone I didn¡¯t even know. I smacked my lips and then looked at Mr. Kwak. ¡®Calm this woman, would you?¡¯ ¡®I¡¯m sorry. Ms. Koo is a bit¡­ rough, from time to time.¡¯ ¡®Ms. Koo?¡¯ It seemed like they were both school teachers. I wondered if that was the reason why the children followed them so easily. Mr. Kwak tried all sorts of things to calm Ms. Koo. After soothing her for a while, she finally took a seat, then began to cry. All the children around her burst into tears as well. Just watching them made me feel ufortable. After a moment, Mr. Kwak spoke. ¡®She just wanted to sacrifice herself for the sake of the children. Please understand where she¡¯sing from.¡¯ I understoodpletely. They needed Mr. Kwak in order to forage for food outside. She was asking me to take her life instead for the sake of the children¡¯s future. Realizing this made my heart ache. I thought of So-Yeon and the time I¡¯d tried to fight off the zombie attack to protect her. Back then, I¡¯d wished for them to eat me instead, that they would leave So-Yeon in the master bedroom alone. I could still feel the desperation and sense of despair in that moment, and I more than understood her sudden actions. I smacked my lips again then turned my attention to Mr. Kwak. ¡®What happened afterward?¡¯ ¡®Infighting red up amongst the remaining survivors, and their quarreling lured the zombies, who attacked. In the end, everyone except for Ms. Koo and the children died.¡¯ ¡®Didn¡¯t you say earlier that you killed people? Doesn¡¯t that mean some people were still left alive?¡¯ ¡®I don¡¯t want to consider the people from the middle school as people. The people I was referring to were the people that were here from the beginning; the people who were hiding in this elementary school.¡¯ I wondered just how deep his condemnation of them ran, for him to say such a thing. I nodded slowly and prompted him to continue. ¡®What happened?¡¯ ¡®The people from the middle school were hiding in the gym. As if they¡¯d known that the zombies would being at some point. They took early measures and hid themselves.¡¯ ¡®¡­¡¯ ¡®I led Ms. Koo and the children to the principal¡¯s office, and afterward, I was bitten.¡¯ ¡®So after you woke up as a zombie, you went ahead and killed the people hiding in the gym?¡¯ ¡®¡­Yes.¡¯ ¡®Did you kill everyone in the gym and eat their brains as well?¡¯ He flinched when I asked if he had eaten their brains. Mr. Kwak nced at Ms. Koo and the children. It seemed like he hadn¡¯t told them that he had eaten their brains. I understood, since I hadn''t told my people that I had eaten zombie brains either. How in the world could I tell anyone that I ate a human¡¯s brain? From his reaction, I became certain of one thing. If you ate a human¡¯s brain, you would be able tomunicate through speech. You could talk verbally, unlike the way I was right now, where I had to write letters and draw in order tomunicate. If I ate a human brain, I would be able to talk to So-Yeon like I used to. GRR!! GAA!! Distressing throat-rending noises came from outside the window. Surprised shed across Mr. Kwak¡¯s face, and he quickly dashed toward the window. Zombies were racing to our location through the darkness from far, far away. The zombies had been attracted by the children¡¯s crying and Ms. Koo¡¯s scream. ¡°Get to the principal¡¯s office. Hide there!¡± Mr. Kwak yelled at Ms. Koo. Ms. Koo wiped the tears from her face and then led the children to the principal¡¯s office. Mr. Kwak clenched his fists and then looked at the iing group of zombies. I tapped his arms with the back of my hand. ¡®It was good talking to you today,¡¯ I said. ¡®Huh?¡¯ ¡®Since you gave me information, I¡¯ll give you a little something as well. I think I¡¯m at fault for their screaming.¡¯ ¡®I¡¯m not following what you¡¯re saying.¡¯ I beamed at Mr. Kwak so that he could see my teeth. His eyes widened, and he fell backward in surprise. I wondered how my teeth looked like to him, with the moonlight reflecting off of them. I couldn¡¯t tell exactly what he was thinking or feeling, but I knew one thing for certain. He probably sensed the difference between me and him. I looked down at him. ¡®Mr. Kwak, I look red to you, don¡¯t I?¡¯ ¡®Oh yes. Yes, yes.¡¯ ¡®If you see any red creatures like me, just run. No one else will sit and listen to what you¡¯ve got to say.¡¯ ¡®¡­¡¯ ¡®Especially the ones that say they¡¯re part of a gang. Get away from them no matter what.¡¯ ¡®Gang?¡¯ ¡®You heard me right. They¡¯re the ones that turned you into this.¡¯ Mr. Kwak looked dumbfounded. I fixed my eyes on him and spoke from the bottom of my heart. ¡®Mr. Kwak, you¡¯re doing perfectly fine now. Keep at it.¡¯ ¡®¡­¡¯ ¡®Whatever the circumstances are, protect what you want to protect.¡¯ ¡®Yes¡­!¡¯ A different light flickered in his eyes. His lips, which were closed tightly in a line, and his clenched fists showed his determination. I smiled a satisfied smile. ¡®I hope we meet each other once again. I hope you get stronger by then, so that we can be on the same team. Like forging an alliance.¡¯ Even if I wanted to forge an alliance with Mr. Kwak right now, it would¡¯ve been difficult, since he was so weak. It was obvious that he would faint the moment we sped hands. I looked at Mr. Kwak for thest time. ¡®Don¡¯t die until the day we meet again.¡¯ With that, I opened the window and leaped down to the ground. I ran toward the ck tide that was making its way through the main entrance. * * * ¡®Don¡¯t die¡­¡¯ Mr. Kwak watched the man run toward the horde of zombies, his mind churning. He wasn¡¯t sure what to make of hisst words. He knew that he was already dead. For some reason, though, that man¡¯s words hit him differently. They held both warmth and sadness at the same time. He couldn¡¯t hold back his tears. Before he met this man, he¡¯d been wallowing in absolute despair and darkness. However, this man was a ray of hope that hade out of nowhere. He felt alive again, as if his heart had somehow started to beat again, despite having already stopped beating. Mr. Kwak stared at the man making his way through the zombies. ¡®I should¡¯ve at least asked him for his name¡­¡¯ Not asking for the man¡¯s name was the first thing he¡¯d regretted after turning into a zombie. Chapter 44 Chapter 44 After I took care of all the street zombies, I went straight back to Shelter Hae-Yeong. On the way back, I gave orders to all my scouts. ¡®Don¡¯t cry out when you see a red creature. Don¡¯t make any noise. Just inform me through telepathy.¡¯ ¡®Roger that.¡¯ The replies of my underlings ringing through my head made me smile in satisfaction. The incident today reminded me of the first time I¡¯d encountered a zombie scout, back at the high school. Back then, I¡¯d been able to react more quickly because the enemy scout had sent a signal using its throat-rending howl. There was no guarantee that the same wouldn¡¯t happen to me as well. This was why I gave my underlings these orders ahead of time. As I drew closer to the entrance of Shelter Hae-Yeong, I saw Lee Jeong-Uk running up to me. ¡°So-Yeon¡¯s dad! What¡¯s up with all the creatures behind you?¡± I chuckled as I looked at my underlings behind me. Alongside the two hundred zombies I had taken with me, there were several that weren¡¯t painted blue. After I¡¯d taken care of the zombies that attacked the elementary school, I recruited the ones that had vision. There were at least eighty of them. I took out my notepad and scribbled out a note. - New recruits. ¡°So there are no enemies attacking us?¡± I nodded, and Lee Jeong-Uk finally let out a sigh of relief. He patted my back. ¡°Anyways, thanks for the good work. Let¡¯s go inside. Everyone¡¯s been dying to see you.¡± He really didn¡¯t have to thank me for anything. In fact, I¡¯d been able to get some information, and I was also able to figure out that there were more beings that were living for the sake of humans, just like me. I said a prayer deep in my heart, wishing that Mr. Kwak wouldn¡¯t change. * * * As I began to rte the events that had unfolded at Wangsimni Station, everyone started throwing questions at me. They asked me all sorts of questions. Why didn¡¯t I team up with him? Couldn¡¯t I have brought the survivors here? What was it like in Majang-dong? Only after I had answered every question in detail did they return to their rooms. Ourmunity was living in units 501, 503, and 505 in apartment 104. Unit 502 and 504 had broken living room windows, so we didn¡¯t use them. The rooms were divided by gender, while the children lived with Han Seon-Hui. Whenever we called for meetings, we all met in unit 505. However, we were nning to designate a unit on the 4th floor of apartment 103 for meetings. That apartment had a floor area of about forty pyeong.[1] As soon as we consolidated the desks, chairs, and the items we needed for meetings, we were going to move over to apartment 103. ¡°Daddy!¡± So-Yeon turned around and opened the front door, re-entering unit 505. Lee Jeong-Uk let out a sigh and pointed toward the master bedroom. ¡°Go y in the room. We¡¯ll sleep in the living room.¡± I scratched my neck rather sheepishly, then went inside the master bedroom with So-Yeon. Soon after, I heard Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s voice from the living room. ¡°Lights out at two o¡¯clock! Don¡¯t stay up all night talking like yesterday!¡± ¡°Okay!¡± replied So-Yeon energetically. Then, she opened her drawing pad on the bed. ¡°Daddy, daddy. Look at this. This is what I drew.¡± ¡°Grr?¡± ¡°This is Aunt Seon-Hui, and the person here is the principal. Aunt Seon-Hui saw my drawing, and she said¡­¡± She started chatting passionately about her drawing. I smiled as I looked at her, my hand resting on my chin. I wished I could talk with So-Yeon like a normal human being. In order to do so, though, I had to do something inhumane. If I had just one chance to say something to So-Yeon, I would have told her that everything was going to be okay. That there was no need to cry anymore. And that I loved her more than anything in this world. That¡¯s what I wanted to say. * * * When it was past two o¡¯clock, everyone in the shelter went to sleep. I tiptoed outside and sat on a bench within theplex. I was wrapped in total darkness and silence. There wasn¡¯t even a bug chirping. Only loneliness and destion filled the void. At times like this, I wished I had the desire to sleep. The routine of getting ready for the next day. Falling asleep to wrap up the long day. To me, there was no difference between one day and the next. The present-day felt like the one before, and the next day would feel the same as the current one. I looked up at the night sky and let out a deep sigh. Still, it was a peaceful night, something I hadn¡¯t had in a long time. I hadn¡¯t had a single day of rest over the summer, since I had thrown my maximum effort into stabilizing the shelter. I didn¡¯t suffer from physical fatigue, but it still took a toll on me mentally. Everyone followed me well and performed their duties with the utmost effort. However, even with everyone doing their best, my shoulders always felt heavy. During that time, I tried to push aside those useless thoughts and doubled my efforts in order to keep up with the others who were working their butts off. After a long slog, the shelter was finally stabilized. There were still a few things wecked, but thinking of what we had aplished so far, I couldn¡¯t help but smile. ¡®Nice work, man.¡¯ I congratted myself as I stared up at the night sky. There were more stars than I could count. They twinkled as if they were going to fall down any minute. I never imagined that there were so many stars in the night sky above Seoul. The night air tickled my nose. It was warmer and moreforting than ever. I sat still on the bench for a while as I soaked in the thick darkness. The lonely night was passing as slowly as usual. The quiet solitude made me think of someone. ¡®I wonder what Kim Hyeong-Jun is up to.¡¯ I hadn¡¯t seen Kim Hyeong-Jun for months. Now that the shelter had been stabilized, it was probably a good idea to meet Kim Hyeong-Jun to catch up. Since I had gained some information from Mr. Kwak, I felt the need to go to Seoul Forest and talk to Kim Hyeong-Jun, so that we could exchange some knowledge. I got up from the wooden bench and headed toward Seoul Forest. I didn¡¯t forget to make sure my underlings on guard duty were extra vignt. Under the cover of darkness, my physical capabilities were heightened. I leaped from the rooftop of one building to the next with ease. I was moving at a pace that was no longer human; it was as if I were one of the superheroes in movies that had superpowers. After a while, Eungbonggyo Bridge came into view. I just had to cross the bridge to get to Seoul Forest. As I crossed Eungbonggyo Bridge, I glimpsed a dense line of trees. ¡®Alright, let¡¯s enter Shelter Seoul Forest.¡¯ I wondered if it was okay to go in. I hesitated for a moment and came to a halt. There were probably guards at Seoul Forest. They were probably much more organized than Shelter Hae-Yeong, and had more people taking shifts. ¡®Let¡¯s not barge in and cause trouble.¡¯ Now that I thought about it, I¡¯d juste without any proper n. I wasn¡¯t sure how to find Kim Hyeong-Jun. ¡®Wouldn¡¯t I be able to find Kim Hyeong-Jun if I found his underlings?¡¯ I called out to the two scouts that I had sent with Kim Hyeong-Jun. ¡®Scouts in Seoul Forest, do you hear me?¡¯ ¡®Waiting for yourmand, sir.¡¯ It was the first signal we had exchanged in a couple of months. I was relieved to hear that nothing had happened to them. Along with their voices, I could sense their approximate location. I could sense it when we exchanged messages, without them having to tell me exactly where. I smiled gently and sent another order. ¡®Give me your precise location.¡¯ ¡®On the rooftop.¡¯ ¡®Give a short cry so I can identify the correct rooftop.¡¯ I heard two throat-rending cries emanate from an apartmentplex far to the left of me. As I headed over to where the noises hade from, I saw two purple zombies peeking their heads out from the window. It seemed like Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s underlings were here as well. If the purple zombies saw me, they would notify Kim Hyeong-Jun. I just needed to wait there. I leapt onto the building in one go, and encountered the two underlings I hadn¡¯t seen in a while. The two of them were tied to a chair, facing opposite directions. Looking at them, I couldn¡¯t help butugh. It seemed like Kim Hyeong-Jun also had no clue how to take care of my underlings. I¡¯d given them orders to follow Kim Hyeong-Jun, so they probably just followed him wherever he went. Kim Hyeong-Jun had also tied my underlings up on the rooftop so that they were permanently on lookout duty. I had also bound his underlings together on a rooftop, so there was nothing to feel bad about. After a while, I saw a human figure leaping across the rooftops,ing from the direction of Seongsu Station. From this distance, it had a human silhouette, but its movements were no longer human. It was purple. It was Kim Hyeong-Jun. ¡®What¡¯s up, ahjussi? What brings you here?¡¯ ¡®That didn¡¯t take long.¡¯ ¡®I came immediately after receiving the signal from my underlings. So what¡¯s up?¡¯ ¡®I just came to check up on you.¡¯ I snorted, and Kim Hyeong-Jun nodded back with a cheesy expression on his face. We caught up and shared a couple of jokes. It felt strangelyfortable to be talking to someone else who didn¡¯t sleep even in the middle of the night like me. Kim Hyeong-Jun and I shared the same pain. We were both zombies that were living day to day, unable to die. I felt sorry, but at the same time, I was d that Kim Hyeong-Jun was a zombie with glowing red eyes. I asked him a question that had been on my mind as I¡¯d made my way here. ¡®Why are you waiting outside?¡¯ ¡®Hmm?¡¯ ¡®It doesn¡¯t seem like you have underlings inside the shelter.¡¯ ¡®That¡¯s why I made my way here as quickly as possible. Just in case you went inside the shelter.¡¯ As I tilted my head in confusion, Kim Hyeong-Jun sighed. ¡®Shelter Seoul Forest doesn¡¯t allow any zombies nearby.¡¯ ¡®I thought your family was inside?¡¯ ¡®Yeah, but I¡¯m not a human anymore.¡¯ I pondered that silently for a moment. What did he mean? Was he saying that he protected the shelter, but couldn¡¯t enter it himself? I stared at Kim Hyeong-Jun. ¡®Then you can¡¯t see your family?¡¯ ¡®I can. I just have to meet them without the other survivors knowing.¡¯ ¡®How?¡¯ ¡®I send them a signal using the shlight here.¡¯ There was a shlight on the rooftop. When he shed it twice and his family gave him the signal, they would meet at their predetermined location. There were numerous tunnels in Seoul Forest, and many of them were no longer being used. They would meet in one of the tunnels. I probed him further about Shelter Seoul Forest, but he scratched his sideburns and avoided answering my question. I wondered why it was so hard for him to exin. After a moment, he said, ¡®It¡¯s kind ofplicated here. The shelter has gone through a lot.¡¯ ¡®A lot of what?¡¯ ¡®Of all the shelters in Gangbuk, this shelter is probably the one which has been attacked the most.¡¯ Sadness washed over his face, and he hung his head. His expression was as gloomy as it could be. All the vitality seemed to have drained out of his eyes. I wondered what this ce had gone through. I waited patiently for Kim Hyeong-Jun to open up. After a moment, he rested his head in his palms and continued to speak. ¡®I¡¯ll begin from where I left offst time, and tell you the rest of it.¡¯ ¡®How many secrets do you have?¡¯ ¡®No, these aren¡¯t secrets. I have no intention of hiding anything from you. I was just afraid that you¡¯d be confused if I told you everything at once.¡¯ ¡®Go ahead. I¡¯m also here to tell you something today.¡¯ ¡®Oh? So you didn¡¯te here without a reason, huh?¡¯ I smirked. He smirked back at me and then looked up at the night sky. His voice grew calm. ¡®Seoul Forest is a ce where all manner of betrayals happened. Trust was poisoned here. The survivors in themunity were burned by the betrayals, and so earning their trust is a long and arduous process. However, if you do manage to earn the trust of themunity, it¡¯s still possible to live a normal life here. ¡¯ ¡®Did your family manage to earn the trust of the others?¡¯ ¡®They¡¯re trying to.¡¯ He sighed. ¡®I don¡¯t know where to start with this. First off, before I talk about Seoul Forest, you need to know about the story behind Hanyang University Shelter.¡¯ ¡®Hanyang University, the one nearby? There¡¯s a shelter there too?¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun nodded and took a deep breath. After a moment, he smacked his lips and began to speak. 1. Pyeong is a unit used in Korea for households. One pyeong is about 36 square feet. ? Chapter 45 Chapter 45 ¡®It¡¯s not as safe as Shelter Seoul Forest, but until several months ago, there were more than one hundred and twenty survivors living there.¡¯ ¡®What happened there?¡¯ ¡®They were attacked by the gang. To be precise, they were bitten by some ¡®dogs¡¯.¡¯ ¡®Did you say ¡®dogs¡¯?¡¯ I had no clue what he meant by ¡®dogs¡¯. As I twitched my eyebrows, Kim Hyeong-Jun let out a snort and continued. ¡®I¡¯ve never exined anything about ¡®dogs¡¯, have I?¡¯ ¡®Is that also a gang name?¡¯ ¡®They¡¯re people that worship the gang. Most of them had ties to criminal organizations.¡¯ ¡®I had a feeling those kinds of people woulde out sooner orter.¡¯ I frowned, and Kim Hyeong-Jun nodded. ¡®Many who weren¡¯t criminals before have be ¡®dogs¡¯ as well. After all, there¡¯s less to eat, and you can¡¯t even roam around freely. Eventually, even regr people joined up with the ¡®dogs¡¯.¡¯ ¡®Then how did the ¡®dogs¡¯ and gang memberse together? They must¡¯ve had something inmon for the ¡®dogs¡¯ to worship the gang members.¡¯ ¡®That, I¡¯m not too sure of myself. There are a bunch of rumors though. Some say the head of the ¡®dogs¡¯ and the head of the gang members were actually from the same family. Some say the two were friends.¡¯ I spat on the floor after hearing what Kim Hyeong-Jun had said. At that moment, I recalled what Mr. Kwak had told me. Mr. Kwak said the people who joined them from the middle school had sabotaged the system that had been in ce in the elementary school, and caused it to crumble from the inside out. It was possible that these individuals were ¡®dogs¡¯. They could have snuck into the shelter pretending to be survivors, and then leaked information about the shelter to the gang members. Also, Mr. Kwak mentioned that, when the elementary school hade under attack by the zombies, all of the people from the middle school had gone into hiding inside the school gym, as if they had already known that zombies would being. Survivors could not distinguish street zombies from those controlled by gang members. The ones under the gang¡¯s control looked red to me, but to the survivors, they were no different than the street zombies. If these ¡®dogs¡¯ sabotaged shelters from the inside while the gang members attacked from the outside, not many shelters would be able to survive such an onught. I ground my teeth. ¡®They¡¯re worse than animals.¡¯ People who were very much alive, worshiping zombies? And offering live humans as sacrifices? How could anyone do such a thing without being insane? These ¡®dogs¡¯ were no different from animals. They were like wolves in sheep¡¯s clothing. No, in fact, they were worse. They were devils. As my face hardened, Kim Hyeong-Jun nudged my elbow. ¡®Why do you think ¡®dogs¡¯ are called ¡®dogs¡¯?¡¯ ¡®Why?¡¯ ¡®They also eat human flesh.¡¯ I shut my eyes tightly to keep the anger within me. I wanted to get rid of every single one of these ¡®dogs¡¯. They were worse than zombies. In these trying times, when banding together to survive might not be enough, they were clinging to their dear lives by sacrificing others. My face darkened. Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s face took on a sad expression. ¡®Hanyang University fell because of the ¡®dogs¡¯.¡¯ ¡®Why did they use the ¡®dogs¡¯ to attack? They could¡¯ve just attacked the ce themselves.¡¯ ¡®They didn¡¯t want to suffer too much damage. The ¡®dogs¡¯ cause internal divisions. And then the gang memberse to administer the finishing blow.¡¯ I should¡¯ve known better before asking my question. What should I have expected from them? I couldn¡¯t believe I was right. I hammered my fist into the ground as hard as I could. Thud. I couldn¡¯t help it. I had to hit something to release my anger. Kim Hyeong-Jun looked at me, then looked around. ¡®Ahjussi, I get it. I know you¡¯re angry, but don¡¯t draw them to Seoul Forest. It¡¯ll just put me in trouble.¡¯ ¡®Oh, I¡¯m sorry.¡¯ ¡®The same thing happened here in Seoul Forest. We got into trouble a couple of times because of the ¡®dogs¡¯.¡¯ ¡®How¡¯d you make it through?¡¯ ¡®We have guns.¡¯ ¡®Guns?¡¯ My jaw dropped to the ground. I was pretty sure he¡¯d just said ¡®guns¡¯. I couldn¡¯t believe what he was saying. I smacked my lower lips. ¡®Isn¡¯t having guns more dangerous? Won¡¯t the ¡®dogs¡¯ have a chance of taking away your guns?¡¯ ¡®The officers at Shelter Seoul Forest take care of the guns so the ¡®dogs¡¯ can¡¯t get their hands on them no matter what. In fact, they don¡¯t even know where the guns are stored.¡¯ ¡®Where¡¯d you even get guns in the first ce?¡¯ ¡®Well, it¡¯s not like there aren¡¯t any military bases in Seoul, right?¡¯ Was he referring to the Capital Defense Command? I might have suspected such a thing after no rescue teams came, but I had no clue that survivors could have gotten hold of the guns. I looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun in disbelief, and he let out a chuckle. ¡®That¡¯s why I came running. Just in case you went into Seoul Forest and got yourself shot.¡¯ ¡®I thought the military had run into some sort of problem, which was why they couldn¡¯te to save everyone. But I never expected that they would be overrun by zombies.¡¯ ¡®They didn¡¯t have a proper initial response. What¡¯d you expect them to do when zombies came at them and they didn¡¯t have orders to open fire?¡¯ ¡®But they could''ve used bays, couldn¡¯t they?¡¯ ¡®Sure, but what if the zombies came out from the barracks? What if they didn¡¯t have any information about what happened if they were bitten or injured by zombies? Do you think you could handle an ambush like that?¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun was right about this. It was possible that the zombies came out from the barracks, or that an injured soldier in the hospital wing turned into one and went on a rampage. They wouldn¡¯t have been able to contain the outbreak. It was also possible that some individuals had fired without getting the authorization to do so. However, the noise would have attracted the zombies, and without sufficient ammunition, everything would have descended into chaos in an instant. In the army, where the chain ofmand was paramount, a sudden copse of the system would have been catastrophic. It would deny them any hope of organizing properly when things went south. Not having a proper initial response prepared would have resulted in utter chaos. Seoul, which held one-fifth of the poption of Korea, had fallen into the hands of the zombies. This meant that other areas were most likely in jeopardy as well. I wondered if there was still any safe city in Korea. In fact, I wondered if there was any safe city in the world at that point. I couldn¡¯t be certain of anything. My expression turned glum, and Kim Hyeong-Jun sighed. ¡®This shelter holds a geographical advantage.¡¯ I wondered what kind of advantage he was talking about. I went to the railing of the rooftop and scanned the area around Seoul Forest. The line of tall trees probably kept the zombies with sight and smell away. Jungnangcheon flowed from north to west, and the Han River blocked the south side. Seoul Forest was in the center of all of this, so the only defenses needed were on the east side. Putting up barricades and mounting a defense there was good enough. The only disadvantage I could think of was getting food. While defending it was easy, it also meant that people couldn¡¯t leave freely. I wondered if they had a food retrieving team like us. If they did, they really had to put their lives on the line. I looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun. ¡®Are there boats at Shelter Seoul Forest?¡¯ ¡®There are. The survivors there havee up with ns that employ boats.¡¯ Now it made sense. If they opened the shelter gates and let the gang members in, they could escape by boat onto the Han River. The gang members would have no chance against that. ¡®They also made many ns that involved the underground tunnels. However, there are so many underground tunnels, and it seems like gang members also know their way around them.¡¯ ¡®From what you¡¯re saying, it doesn¡¯t seem that safe anymore. I don¡¯t understand why you¡¯d leave your family there.¡¯ ¡®Ahjussi, do you think that any shelter is safe right now? The shelters that have survived up to this point are the only safe ones.¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s voice was calm. I could not refute his statement. As I nodded back with my mouth closed, Kim Hyeong-Jun smacked his lips. ¡®Well, that¡¯s that. Didn¡¯t you say you had something to tell me?¡¯ ¡®Oh, yes.¡¯ I sped my fingers together. ¡®I¡¯ve figured out what happens when we eat people.¡¯ ¡®What?¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s eyes widened. He quickly scooted over and looked up at me anxiously. ¡®How¡¯d you figure it out? Did you eat one, ahjussi? Did you eat a live person?¡¯ I told him to calm down, then rted what had happened at Majang-dong. He listened to my story carefully, then frowned. ¡®That person¡­ Do you think he can make it through this?¡¯ ¡®He didn¡¯t give the best first impression, being clumsy and all, but right at the end, he looked pretty confident.¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun frowned and remained silent for a while. I wondered if he considered Mr. Kwak unreliable. Suddenly, his eyes went wide, as if he¡¯d just realized something important. ¡®Wait, ahjussi. Did you tell him about Haengdang-dong?¡¯ ¡®No, there¡¯s nothing good in telling him about it.¡¯ ¡®No, no. Not about the shelter or ck creatures.¡¯ ¡®What about, then?¡¯ ¡®Did you tell him to note into Haengdang-dong?¡¯ My mouth fell open. I¡¯d first seen Mr. Kwak at Wangsimni Station. If Mr. Kwak came across one of the gang members, it was important that he didn¡¯t speak about Wangsimni Station. If the gang got wind of the news, they would know that the ck creature was no longer in Haengdang 1-dong. I jumped to my feet, and looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun. ¡®I have to get going.¡¯ ¡®Right now?¡¯ ¡®There¡¯s no good in dying this any further.¡¯ ¡®Do you want me to go with you?¡¯ ¡®Stay here. I¡¯ll let you know if I need you.¡¯ ¡®And how exactly do you n on doing that?¡¯ Instead of answering, I pointed to the two underlings that were tied to the chair. ¡®If I need support, I¡¯ll give orders to them. To look up and cry.¡¯ ¡®Wait, even if your underlings cry, how in the world would I know where you are?¡¯ ¡®I¡¯ll be at OO Elementary School in Majang-dong.¡¯ ¡®Geez¡­¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s face darkened. I wondered if he was nervous about me acting on my own. I let my voice grow calm in order to assuage his fears. ¡®It was just a couple of hours ago. And besides, it didn¡¯t seem that dangerous.¡¯ ¡®That¡¯s why it¡¯s even more dangerous. You know that the gang member could have been away when you visited earlier, right?¡¯ ¡®Well¡­¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun had a point. On the map of Seoul I had, Majang-dong was colored orange. Considering the physical abilities of the zombie that had been in possession of the map, orange didn¡¯t seem to be a big threat, but I had to consider the possibility that the gang member in charge of Majang-dong could¡¯ve gotten stronger. I mumbled something unintelligible, and Kim Hyeong-Jun let out a sigh. ¡®You have to take into consideration the possibility that it¡¯s returned. A gang member never leaves their area for more than two days.¡¯ His words hit me differently. At that moment, I remembered what Mr. Kwak had said. - I woke up two days ago, so I don¡¯t know anything. The timing was too perfect. If it was the second day that Mr. Kwak was awake, and if a gang member didn¡¯t leave their area for more than two days like Kim Hyeong-Jun said, then one of the gang members would surely return that day. If the gang member was in charge of the area, it probably had good knowledge about the food situation in its area. If Mr. Kwak was caught, and the gang member noticed the extra food and water that he had, it would only be natural that they would ask him where he¡¯d gotten it from. And the moment he mentioned Wangsimni Station, it would be a catastrophe. I looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun. ¡®Sorry for being arrogant. Let¡¯s go together.¡¯ ¡®Ahjussi, that¡¯s what you should have said from the start.¡¯ ¡®How many underlings can you bring?¡¯ ¡®About half? Maybe four hundred?¡¯ I couldn¡¯t believe half his army was four hundred strong. It seemed like Kim Hyeong-Jun had taken care of more zombies with glowing red eyes in the time since we¡¯dst met. I nodded and headed straight toward Majang-dong. As I headed toward Majang-dong, I sent orders to my underlings that were at Shelter Hae-Yeong. ¡®First to third toon, fall in behind me.¡¯ As I recruited more underlings, I organized them into toons and squads. Each toon had one hundred underlings, organized into four squads. I had about seven hundred and thirty underlings. Twenty underlings were on patrol, which left seven hundred and ten underlings at Shelter Hae-Yeong. Even if I took all the underlings from the first to third toon, there would still be four hundred and ten underlings at Shelter Hae-Yeong. If any ¡®bait¡¯ showed up at Haengdang-dong, they would still be able to take care of them easily. I shook my head and quickened my pace. There was no time to think about ¡®bait¡¯ right now. If I held back because of my concern about ¡®bait¡¯, it could lead to bigger problems. ¡®I should¡¯ve brought him back to the shelter with me when I had the chance.¡¯ I didn''t bring Mr. Kwak back because I¡¯d been thinking about my people and my family. Back then, I couldn¡¯t trust him entirely. However, I had misjudged things. Even if I hadn¡¯t brought him back, I should have exined things to him. I should have at least given him some context about the current situation in Seoul, and about the gang members. Or at least told him a little bit about Haengdang-dong. I had been careless. As I grew more nervous, I picked up my speed as I headed toward Majang-dong. Chapter 46 Chapter 46 We had passed Wangsimni Station and were approaching Seongdong District Office when I saw my underlings running toward me, making their throat-rending cries. My three hundred underlings had found Kim Hyeong-Jun and me, and dashed across the road to reach us. Kim Hyeong-Jun looked at my underlings and then looked at me. ¡®Seems like you¡¯ve gotten stronger since thest time I saw you, ahjussi.¡¯ ¡®What makes you say that?¡¯ ¡®Your underlings are really fast. Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯ve be stronger than me! Haha.¡¯ ¡®It¡¯s not the time for jokes.¡¯ ¡®Geez ahjussi, how many ¡®baits¡¯ did you take care of in Haengdang-dong?¡¯ He chuckled and shed me a smirk. It seemed as though he held some deep-seated jealousy that I¡¯d gotten stronger without doing much work. I half-ignored his joke and tried to recall thest ce I¡¯d seen Mr. Kwak. When we finally entered Majang-dong, I nced over at Kim Hyeong-Jun. ¡®Tell me if you see any red creatures.¡¯ ¡®Ahjussi, let¡¯s just get one thing clear.¡¯ ¡®...?¡¯ ¡®We¡¯re in enemy territory. Don¡¯t report back. Just fight them. That¡¯s the best kind of report we need.¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s red eyes glowed brighter. He was getting himself into the zone. I steeled myself and then nodded once. He was right. This wasn¡¯t the time for reconnaissance, and we couldn¡¯t afford to wait around to try to understand the situation. It was possible that enemy scouts were in position and hiding, or even that our location had been revealed. Anything could happen. It was unlikely that the enemy would attack us in formation. They also had a geographical advantage since they controlled Majang-dong. We knew nothing about Majang-dong. After a moment, Kim Hyeong-Jun spoke. ¡®Where¡¯s the elementary school?¡¯ ¡®Five hundred meters ahead.¡¯ ¡®Ahjussi, head straight for the school. I¡¯ll split my army into two and go around the nks.¡¯ I nodded and headed straight toward the elementary school, and after a moment, it finally came into view. From a distance, I saw candles flickering in a ssroom on the third floor. After a quick look around, I leaped into the ssroom. I couldn¡¯t sense the presence of anyone in the school field or the surrounding buildings. The moment Inded on the third-floor window sill, though, a strange feeling came over me, sending chills down my spine. There was no one in the ssroom. Although there were lit candles in the room, I didn¡¯t see Mr. Kwak, Ms. Koo, or the children. The melted candle wax at the bottom of the candle indicated how much time had passed. Why were they wasting candles when there was no one around? That was impossible. At that moment, I noticed a water bottle on the floor. It still held water, and was rolling across the floor, its lid still open. I clenched my fists. This was clear evidence that Mr. Kwak and his people had been dragged off somewhere else. I wondered where they could have been taken to. I squatted down close to the ssroom floor to examine the tracks left on the floor. Thanks to theyer of dust covering the floor, it was easy to make out footprints. Were there tens? Hundreds? I couldn¡¯t tell the exact number, but I could tell that a lot of people had been here. I followed the footsteps, noticing that there were several small footprints in between the normal-sized ones. I followed the trail of small footprints, which eventually led me to the pantry. After a moment, a soft cry tickled my ears. It was small and weak. Scrape, scrape. As I opened the pantry door, I heard a gasp, as if someone was trying to hold their breath. I moved toward the source of the sound and my eyes fell on three children huddled in a corner. One of the children began to cry at the top of their lungs after seeing my face. The two children next to the crying child quickly covered their mouth. A little boy who seemed to be the same age as So-Yeon came up to me. ¡°Ahjussi¡­ Are you on our side?¡± I was taken aback by the question. ¡°Tell me you¡¯re not a bad person, ahjussi.¡± The child was clearly hoping that I would say ¡®yes¡¯. His statement seemed halfway between a question and a threat. The child looked me straight in the eyes and began to tear up. I nodded slowly, and the child burst into tears. ¡®Is he feeling relieved? Does it mean so much to him to hear that I¡¯m not a bad person, and that I¡¯m on their side?¡¯ The child wiped his tears on his sleeves continually, breathing heavily. I saw some tissues on the pantry table. I grabbed some and squatted in front of the child. I carefully handed the child some tissues. He closed his mouth firmly and took the tissues from me. I took out a notepad and pen and scribbled a few words. - Where did the teachers go? ¡°Some people took them.¡± - Where to? He read what I¡¯d written, then lifted a finger to point. As I titled my head in confusion, the child led me into the hallway. The child was pointing at the rear entrance of the school. The back entrance ss was shattered and the door itself was torn halfway. I wondered what happened in the span of a couple of hours. I made a sad face and wrote down a couple more letters on my notepad. - Stay hidden. ¡°Ahjussi, I want to go too.¡± - I¡¯ll bring the teachers back. ¡°I want to go too!¡± - You. Die. The child¡¯s face turned pale after it saw the word ¡®die¡¯, and he froze. I patted him carefully, and I could feel him trembling through my fingertips. ¡®Did the word ¡®die¡¯ trigger an unpleasant memory?¡¯ He was probably remembering thest time he¡¯d seen the rest of the survivors in the elementary school. I¡¯d unintentionally brought up a traumatic memory. I smacked my lips and then grabbed onto the child¡¯s hands. As I stepped out of the pantry, I wrote my final words to the children. - Don¡¯t evere out. My heart sank as I looked into the children¡¯s eyes. Their eyes were simr to So-Yeon¡¯s when she was keeping her distance from me. I let out a sigh and then gave orders to my underlings. ¡®Third toon, fourth squad, protect the pantry so that the children can¡¯te out. And let me know if a red creature shows up.¡¯ GRR!! I heard my underlings answer and headed toward the rear entrance. ¡®They couldn¡¯t have gotten far. It¡¯s only been eight hours.¡¯ I¡¯d only been away from Mr. Kwak for eight hours, but it felt like what I¡¯dst said to him¡ªthat we would see each other alive again¡ªmeant nothing. I didn¡¯t know the situation would change this drastically in the span of a few hours. Judging by the condition the children were in, it seemed like they¡¯d been attacked less than an hour ago. The fact that they still had the strength to cry meant that fear was still fresh in their minds, which meant the attack had to have been recent, less than an hour ago. Eight-year-old kids couldn¡¯t cry for more than an hour. They would grow tired from all the crying and fall asleep. At least, that was my assumption, based on my own experience. It was now a battle against time. The chance that Mr. Kwak and Ms. Koo were still alive was still pretty high. If the gang members had wanted to take care of the two of them, they could have done so in the ssroom. There was no reason to drag the two of them out. However, instead of doing so, they¡¯d kidnapped the two. There had to be a reason behind that. A reason that I couldn¡¯t think of right now. I had to find the gang members. I had to attack right away if I found any red creatures. That would cause their leader to step in. I made my way to the rear entrance and gave orders to my underlings, pointing toward the pitch darkness. ¡®First toon, go straight. Second toon, go through the alley on the left. Third toon, minus the fourth squad, form up behind me.¡¯ GRR!!! I sprinted into the alley to the right with my fists clenched. * * * I made my way through musty-smelling buildings with broken windows and debris strewn all across the floor. The presence or absence on the floor was an indication of whether a group had moved through the area or not. If the streets were free of debris, it meant that the street belonged to the gang members. I had to find a clean street if I wanted to find the red creatures. Grrr. Ka! At that moment, I heard a voice that I¡¯d been wanting to hearing from the rooftop of an eight-story building on the right. It was a red creature. It was signaling to the others that it had found us. I smirked and raced up to the rooftop. ¡®I¡¯ve found you now. I¡¯ve got a hold of you.¡¯ The scout that had seen me at the high school had thrown itself off the edge once its duty had been fulfilled, but the zombie I was now facing ran toward me without hesitation. Without remorse, I grabbed it by the neck and threw it off the building. ¡®Yeah, you¡¯re right. There¡¯s no need tomit suicide. I can do it for you.¡¯ The zombie leader I¡¯d met at Haengdang-dong had probably been on an information-gathering mission, not even knowing that it had been nothing but bait all along. However, it seemed like the creature in this area had been given totally different orders. It seemed like it had beenmanded to defend Majang-dong, and attack first instead of merely gathering information or running away. It made sense, since I was in the gang¡¯s territory this time, unlike thest time when they were in mine. Very quickly, zombie cries started echoing through the pitch darkness at a constant rate. Following the signal given by the zombie on the rooftop of the eight-story building, all the other scouts that were hiding in Majang-dong were letting their leader know that danger was close. As the red zombies¡¯ cries echoed around the area, I gave orders to all my underlings. ¡®All my underlings in Majang-dong, listen up. Everyone one of you,e here, except for those in the fourth squad of the third toon.¡¯ GRR!! GAA!!! The sound of my underlings¡¯ cries came from the many alleyways of Majang-dong. Thud, thud, thud. The ground rumbled. Tens? No¡ªit was the sound of thousands of beings heading toward the same ce. The massive vibrations sharpened my senses. It felt like I was walking on the tips of swords. All my senses were on edge. In the pitch ckness, I opened my murderous glowing red eyes. At that moment, a realization hit me. This sound wasn¡¯t because of my underlings. At the end of the wide road, a horde of glowing red zombies was hurtling toward me. There seemed to be no end to them. My anxious mind would not calm down. Seven hundred? Eight hundred? No, it seemed like there were at least a thousand of them. I looked at my underlings, gathered below me on the first floor. Without the fourth squad of the third toon, I had a total of two hundred and seventy-five underlings. Right now, I had to fight alongside my underlings. If I didn¡¯t fight, I would be sentencing all of them to death. Finding the leader was paramount, but I had no choice but to trust Kim Hyeong-Jun with that task. He was probably feeling the murderous sensation that I was feeling as well. Even if he wasn¡¯t feeling it, he would probably have heard the rumbling sound that was, at that moment, tickling my eardrums. Kim Hyeong-Jun would eithere to back me up, or I would have to hold on until he found the leader. I looked at my underlings and gave them an order. ¡®Let¡¯s fight.¡¯ GRRR!!! With a thunderous roar, my underlings ran toward the red creatures as one. I leaped across the rooftops to get to the onrushing enemies. I had to get right in the middle of them in order to reduce the casualties to my own underlings. If not, my underlings would find themselves surrounded and isted. When I saw the sea of red creatures beneath me, I leaped down. Whoosh¡ª The wind rushed past my ears, and I felt gravity pulling down on my shoulders. I let myself go andnded right in the middle of the horde of red creatures. Thud! I used two of the creatures¡¯ heads to cushion mynding. Their heads cracked the moment Inded, and they became one with the asphalt ground. The red creatures around me looked dumbfounded after seeing me fall from the sky. I didn¡¯t take a moment to rest. I clenched my fists as hard as I could and started punching whatever was in front of me. Crack! With the sound of a cracking skull, the zombie right in front of my face was blown away. That shook the red creatures out of their stupor, and they came at me with a chorus of throat-rending howls. With eyes wide open, I fought back. I grabbed on the heads of the two closest creatures next to me and used their bodies as nunchucks. Kicking away the one that was blocking my way, I made my way forward. Crack. I heard a creature behind me trying to bite through my shoulder. I couldn¡¯t feel any pain, so even if it had managed to tear away some of my flesh, it didn¡¯t count as an attack. ¡®Should¡¯ve gone for the neck.¡¯ I threw the nunchuck I had in my left hand to the ground and grabbed the zombie that had sunk its teeth into my shoulders. I pulled on its head as hard as I could and its scalp was torn off, leaving me gripping a mass of tangled hair. It had bitten me so deep that I couldn¡¯t even dislodge its teeth from my shoulders. I threw away the nunchuck I had in my right hand and quickly folded my legs under me, getting ready to jump again. Chapter 47 Chapter 47 I put all my effort into the jump, snapping the neck of the zombie who had bitten me in the shoulder. The zombie hadn¡¯t budged when I had torn its flesh apart, but now that its neck had been broken, its jaws lost strength. I plucked its head off me and threw it toward the red creatures below me, and used their heads to cushion mynding again. m! I heard the cries of my underlings from behind me. They mmed into the red creatures, filling the air around Majang-dong with zombie cries. Crunch! There was a strange feeling in my calf, so I twisted my body to see what was going on. A red creature was lying on the ground and biting at my calves. I shattered its spine with my other leg and threw punches at all the other zombies that were surrounding me. I didn¡¯t know the strength of the zombie leader controlling Majang-dong, but I could tell that it was certainly stronger than the ones that were being used as bait. These red creatures were faster and more durable than the other zombies that I had crossed paths with in the past. It was impossible to break their skulls with my grip alone, and their skulls didn¡¯t crack if Inded less powerful punches. Physically, I couldn¡¯t handle them all. I could perhaps handle fifty of them by myself, or perhaps one hundred if I pushed myself. But I knew it would be dangerous for me to keep on fighting like this since I didn¡¯t know how many enemies wereing. I wondered if the leader of Majang-dong had gotten stronger over time, or if the orange areas on the map were this dangerous from the start. I had been naive. Destroying their fighting spirit was not going to be as easy as I had thought. I wondered how well my underlings were doing. I bent my legs under me once more, preparing to jump again. My thigh muscles bulged, and I felt my Achilles heel grow taut. In an instant, I leaped up onto the building in front of me. However, my ability to jump seemed to have been significantly hampered. I wondered if my calf injury was worse than I had thought. I normally had no problem jumping up seven stories, but right now, I struggled to make the fourth floor. I hung from the building window to observe what was unfolding. I saw my underlings being slowly pushed back, but I couldn¡¯t tell if it was because of the enemy¡¯s overwhelming numbers, or because my underlings were weak. It seemed to be fifty-fifty. I scurried into the building to check my calf injury. The flesh on my left calf was partially torn off and pping in the wind. I wondered how deep the zombie had bitten me to cause such damage. I gritted my teeth and looked out the window. As the number of my underlings dwindled, a gap began to form on their right nk. I could tell that if I let them continue the battle in this manner, the red creatures would soon surround my underlings and eventually wipe them out. ¡®The building on the right! Go inside the building on your right!¡¯ Following my desperate order, my underlings broke through the windows of the building and entered it. ¡®Go up the stairs. Hold them there!¡¯ As one, my underlings let out their throat-rending cries and went toward the emergency exit of the building. Once my underlings disappeared from sight, a disturbing cry came from behind me, causing my hair to stand. Grrr!!! It was the sound of the red creatures entering the building I was in. They had seen me enter the building through the fourth-story window. I made for the stairs, hoping to block off the zombies that were making their way up. sh! Shatter! I heard windows shattering from behind. ¡®Wait, they¡¯reing directly to the fourth floor? ¡¯ It seemed impossible to me that they coulde straight up to the fourth floor. I knew that the strength that zombie underlings possessed reflected the strength of their leader, but it was unbelievable that they were capable of jumping to the fourth floor. I quickly gave up on holding the fourth floor and made my way up. I knew I had to get to the rooftop. Even though I had an injured leg, getting to the rooftop of a six-story building was easy enough. I went to the guardrail that ran around the edge of the rooftop and leaned over to see what was happening on the first floor. Only then did I realize how the zombies had gotten themselves to the fourth floor. The narrow first-floor entrance had caused the zombies to slowly pile up in front of it. The pile had slowly grown in size and height, eventually reaching the fourth floor. Observing this, I gave orders to my underlings. ¡®Everyone, get to the rooftop. Get up to the rooftop and hold them off!¡¯ It would be awkward to hold them off at an arbitrary floor of the building. My underlings had to make their stand on the rooftop. They had to fight tooth and nail to hold the entrance to the rooftop. Thud, thud, thud, thud. Soon enough, I heard footstepsing up to the rooftop. I bit my lips and turned around. The red creatures were making their way up to the rooftop with their mouths wide open. They didn¡¯t seem to want to give me a second to rest. I strengthened my resolve and headed for the entrance to the rooftop. Their faces began to appear, and I gritted my teeth and started punching. Their hands reached out to grab my neck. Another pitched battle was about to begin. * * * I couldn¡¯t tell how much time had passed. I had no clue how long the fight had been going on for. It wasn¡¯t really enough to call it a fight. It was, ultimately, a battle for survival. We screamed battle cries and exchanged ferocious blows. My left arm no longer moved. All the flesh on my left arm had been torn away, and I couldn¡¯t raise it anymore. My right arm wasn¡¯t in the best condition either. No matter how much strength I put in, I wasn¡¯t able to crack their skulls. My right shoulder had been dislocated, so I couldn¡¯t use all my strength. My left leg was dragging behind me like a cardigan on the floor. I was barely managing to bnce with my right leg, the only part of my body which was still normal. However, the red creatures kept on attacking, regardless of my injuries. I knew it would be over once they got through the doorway leading out onto the rooftop. I knew it would be the end for me the moment they surrounded me. I let my trembling right hand fall to my side. ¡®So this is all I¡¯m left with, huh?¡¯ I needed to find something to finish them off. I knew I would lose everything if I kept up this increasingly-useless resistance. I was at the end of my rope, and the only way out was to give up on my humanity to make it out alive. I had to reach for myst resort, a weapon that I¡¯d never used before, a weapon that I didn¡¯t want to use. ¡°Grrr!!!¡± I charged toward the ones screaming at me with my mouth wide open. Crunch. I bit the neck of the zombie in front of me. Its neck was sliced through cleanly, as if it had been cut through by a razor-sharp sashimi knife. I spat out the nasty remnants of the zombie, fighting away my nausea and charging headlong into the mass of red creatures. I was like a great white shark making its way through a red ocean, looking for food. My neck was twisted at a strange angle as I kept biting through their necks one by one. Whenever they tried toy their hands on me, I used my trembling right hand to push their bodies, moving deeper and deeper into the swirling mass. I was fighting them like a zombie, and could no longer be considered human. Crack! As I bit off the neck of the red creature in front of me, another creature materialized behind it and bit off my ear. I elbowed its chin with my right arm. I felt a stinging sensation in my earlobe. The creature¡¯s jaw had been knocked out of alignment, but it still charged toward me again with its mouth wide open. I could see half of my ear still in its mouth. With a frown, I twisted my neck and sank my teeth into its forehead. My sharp upper teeth pierced through its skull, ripping its face off of its skull. I was slowly losing my sanity. The zombie instincts that were contained within me were being unleashed as my body was slowly disintegrating. Snap! In an instant, I felt as though I hadpletely lost my sanity. I heard something snap in my mind, and the world seemed to sway from side to side. A split secondter, a feeling of nausea started to well up from within the depths of my stomach. ¡®Hmm?¡¯ I copsed to the floor. My body had lost all its strength. I couldn¡¯t do anything, even though the red creatures were still charging at me. GRR!!! At that moment, a blood-curdling cry echoed through every alleyway of Majang-dong, sending chills up and down my spine. The awful shriek pierced its way through the total darkness and echoed through the lonely night. Almost immediately, the red creatures that had been choking the stairwell stopped attacking. They turned tail and hurried back down to the first floor. The red creatures on the rooftop of the building opposite were doing the same thing. With what little strength I could muster, I dragged my trembling body over to the rooftop guardrail. I saw the red creatures running away at full speed. They were retreating. Or at least they seemed to be retreating. ¡®But, why would they retreat? Or are they on their way to provide extra protection for their leader?¡¯ I couldn¡¯t figure out the reason behind their actions but I assumed that it had to do with Kim Hyeong-Jun showing up. ¡®Everyone, this way.¡¯ Once I had given this order to my underlings, all the ones on the rooftop of the building opposite mine headed toward the stairs. I fell to the floor, breathing heavily. I kept on vomiting ck fluid. I had no clue why I was feeling nauseous. I wondered if it had to do with me biting off zombie flesh. Or perhaps thest bit of humanity within me was resisting what I had done. Beep¡ª Midway through this thought, I suddenly sensed a feeling of weightlessness, and my ears were filled with a piercing whine. I touched my forehead with my trembling right hand and frowned. My body was shaking as though I was having a seizure. Everything in front of me seemed to be swaying back and forth. ¡°Grr¡­¡± I tried my best to haul my upper body upright, but I just couldn¡¯t do it. Everything in front of me started to be blurry. It was the same feeling that preceded the time when I had fallen into a deep sleep after eating an enemy''s brain. I could not resist the fatigue that washed over me, and the urge to sleep that it brought with it. I closed my eyes as my mind became hazy. I felt my worn-out body falling into an endless abyss. ¡®I have to¡­ get back to Kim Hyeong-Jun to help¡­¡¯ His face shed through my mind, but I could not fight off the almighty presence that seemed to take hold of me. I fainted. * * * I couldn¡¯t see anything. I opened my eyes and found myself in a rather unfamiliar ce, a ce of endless darkness. I felt like an asteroid wandering the vast emptiness of space. I looked around, my mind still fuzzy. Ssh, ssh. At that moment, the sound of footsteps caught my attention. The footsteps were enough to bring back trauma that I had hidden deep within my memories. I looked toward the source of the sound, and a strange feeling engulfed my body and caused me to shiver uncontrobly. My jaw fell to the ground. It was the ck creature. It was looking at me. My eyes widened in surprise. I shot to my feet and instinctively took a few steps backward, but I couldn¡¯t escape it. I was like a hamster running on a hamster wheel. ¡®Don''t get near! Don¡¯te!¡¯ My screams were absorbed by the pitch-ck darkness, like a sponge absorbing water. No matter how loud I screamed at it, my screams never reached it. It wasing toward me. After a moment, it opened its mouth and dashed toward me. I covered my face with my hands. Poof¡ª I had no clue what was going on. With a sudden, piercing sound, it turned into smoke, a shapeless being, and disappeared. Although ¡®disappeared¡¯ was probably not the right way to describe what had happened. It was more urate to say that I had somehow absorbed the creature. A split secondter, pain engulfed me, threatening to tear away my sanity. It felt like I had jumped into a fire pit. My entire body felt like it was burning. ¡®Grr!¡¯ My blood felt like it was circting through my body a lot faster than usual. I felt as if my veins were burning up from friction. Despite the burning heat, my body was trembling as if the ice-cold winds of midwinter were piercing through my bare skin. Thump, thump, thump, thump. I heard my heart beat. My heart, which had stopped beating, was beating loud and clear. When I ced my hand on my heart, though, I realized that my heart wasn¡¯t beating at all. Only then did I realize that the sound wasing from my brain. My brain was throbbing as if it was going to burst any second. I felt my eyes, nose, and mouth being torn apart, and my eardrums felt like they were burning. I rolled on the floor to fight off the pain. ¡°Grr, Kwaaaa, Kaa!¡± I gritted my teeth, tensing every part of my body. As I clenched my fists to resist the pain, my muscles tensed up with a strength that I¡¯d never felt before. Psh¡­ Steam wasing out from my body, like a steam engine releasing steam from its pipe. A mysterious smoke was rising out from within me. Thump, thump, thump, thump¡­ The ringing in my head slowly went away. I inhaled and exhaled deeply as Iy on the ground, spread out like a starfish. I broke into a cold sweat. I took deep breaths to get a hold of myself. A ray of light streamed down onto me from the heavens. I squinted to look at the light. It expanded, eventually enveloping everything around me. I kept on squinting toward the source of the light as I covered my eyes with my right arm. - Stay alive. For my brother, and my family. At that moment, a mysterious voice echoed through my mind. It felt like the wind was whispering to me. I opened my eyes wide open and looked around but I couldn¡¯t see anything because of the light. Then, I felt a rather strange force pulling on my body. It was as if I was made of iron filings and I was being pulled by a ma. I couldn¡¯t tell if I was being dragged up or down. I couldn¡¯t tell if it was gravity pulling me down or if I was levitating into the air. Disoriented, I was pulled into the light. Chapter 48 Chapter 48 Cough, cough. I got up and coughed a dry cough. Moonlight shone on the rooftop, and the sound that pierced my eardrums had faded away. The clouds that had been covering the sky had cleared up, allowing the bright moon to light up the night. My underlings were standing around looking at me. I wiped away the sweat trickling down my forehead and got ready to go. ¡®Hmm?¡¯ I opened my eyes wide and looked down at my hands. My torn and broken arms were normal again. My left leg, which I had been dragging behind me, was also fully recovered. I felt warm. My entire body was steaming. I ran my hands down my entire body. Every part of me was hot, like a frying pan that had been left on the stove. My body temperature was way above normal. ¡®Am I dreaming¡­?¡¯ I stared nkly into the horizon, all confused. GRR!!! GAA!!! Zombie cries echoed through the air, pulling me back to my senses. I went to the guardrail to see where the sound wasing from. I squinted my eyes toward the source of the sound, and could just about make out a sign saying ¡®Middle School¡¯ a distance away. Continuous zombie roars wereing from the field in the middle school. I saw a group of zombies all tangled up together in the middle of the field. Purple and red zombies were fighting each other to the death. They were like water and oil, coexisting but not mixing with each other. ¡®Kim Hyeong-Jun!¡¯ I had totally forgotten about Kim Hyeong-Jun. It seemed like he had ambushed the zombie leader¡¯s position. Thanks to him, I¡¯d been able to regenerate my body parts and was ready to fight again. I quickly called in my underlings. ¡®Let¡¯s go!¡¯ As I gave my orders, I leaped down to the ground floor. I felt no jarring impact despite jumping from the sixth floor to the first. In fact, I felt swifter and lighter than ever. My joints felt stronger, and my muscles felt like coiled springs, full of energy. ¡®I feel even better than before!¡¯ I could sense that my physical attributes had improved. However, I shook my head to get rid of these useless thoughts. Now wasn¡¯t the time to assess if my physical capabilities had indeed grown. I had to save Kim Hyeong-Jun first. I folded my upper body and got ready to leap into action. As I propelled myself forward off the ground, the environment rushed past me in a blur. It was as though I were in a high-speed train, looking out. I couldn¡¯t believe what I was seeing. I was running on my own two legs. The biting wind assaulted my eardrums, and I felt the air pushing against my entire body. The strength in my thighs and the sensations I felt through my feet were unbelievable. It reminded me of the physical transformation I¡¯d gone through when I¡¯d eaten the ck creature¡¯s brain. I realized that my physical abilities had altered once again. That moment, I recalled what Kim Hyeong-Jun had told me. - The ck creatures grow stronger when they eat brains, but they can also grow without eating their enemy¡¯s brains. I don¡¯t know how, or what conditions they have to meet in order to do so. But one thing¡¯s for sure¡ªthe ck creatures get stronger with time. I recalled the ck creature I had seen in my dream. In my dream, I had absorbed it, and afterward, a burning pain had engulfed me. It was like a caterpir undergoing metamorphosis in order to be a butterfly. After enduring the pain, I hade back to my senses. After that, my body was stronger than before. I wondered if I held the key to unlock the knowledge behind how the ck creatures grew. GRR!!! GAA!!! As I got closer to the school, I set my eyes on the chaotic battlefield. I charged toward the red creatures without hesitation. * * * ¡®Where are you, where are you, Kim Hyeong-Jun!¡¯ I looked for Kim Hyeong-Jun urgently as I waded through the enemies. Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s underlings were fighting on the right side, while my underlings and I were fighting on the left. The number of red creatures slowly began to decrease, and as soon as they were cornered, they fled into the school. The sound of shattering windows and zombies howling was continuous. It seemed like the fight inside the school building was still going on in earnest. I ordered my underlings to take over the field and then jumped onto the school rooftop in one go. From there, I surveyed the whole situation. Aside from the field, which was inplete chaos, I couldn¡¯t see much else. After quickly assessing the situation, I broke through the door leading to the rooftop and went inside. I knew the first floor was full of red creatures, so I was nning to make my way down from the top. As I entered the fourth-floor hallway, I was engulfed by the nging sounds of desks and chairs shattering. Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s underlings were engaged in a pitched battle against the red creatures. I beat the red creatures to death and looked into every ssroom and bathroom. I checked all the locations where a person could possibly hide. I checked every nook and cranny of the school building. Despite going through every ssroom from the fourth floor to the first, I could not find a zombie with glowing red eyes. Not only did I not find the zombie leader, but I did not find Mr. Kwak or Kim Hyeong-Jun. ¡®Where the hell is this bastard!¡¯ I grabbed the red creature in front of me by its face and mmed it to the ground in frustration. St. Just like a watermelon splitting in half, its face was crushed into an unrecognizable pulp. I looked around with murderous eyes. GRR!!! At that moment, I heard a roaring from the right of the school building. I dashed toward the source of the sound, and saw a kindergarten. I hadn¡¯t noticed it there before, because it was hidden by the surrounding buildings. The entrance to the kindergarten had already fallen apart. I kept hearing the sound of things crashing and breaking apart. Without hesitation, I entered. I finally found Kim Hyeong-Jun, whom I¡¯d been looking for all this time. However, he was covered in blood and facing the enemy leader. It was holding Kim Hyeong-Jun by his neck while celebrating his victory. Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s arms were hanging uselessly by his side, like deted balloons. I almost lost my mind. ¡°GRRRR!!!¡± I roared so loudly that my throat felt like it would rip apart. The enemy leader noticed me. Throwing Kim Hyeong-Jun to the ground, it immediately readied itself to fight. Iunched myself off the ground and charged toward it like a hurricane. My movement seemed to surprise it, but it quickly braced its lower body and fell into a defensive stance, shielding its face with its arms. ¡®Alright, try and block all you want.¡¯ I was so agitated, I was almost overwhelmed by the amount of adrenaline coursing through my veins. Woosh!! I put my full strength behind my punches, breaking the zombie¡¯s arms straight away and knocking it backward. I didn¡¯t give it a single second to realize what had happened to it. I crouched down and grabbed the creature¡¯s hips. Holding onto its legs, I pulled it toward me. As it lost its bnce and fell to the ground, I wrapped my arms around its right leg and folded its knee, twisting it in the opposite direction to which they usually bent. Crack, crack! As I broke its leg, it let out a deadly scream and tried kicking me with its other leg. I avoided its attack by rolling backward swiftly and used the momentum toe around and attack its upper body, aiming for the muscles that connected its arms to its shoulders. I had the upper hand now. It tried to twist its upper body to avoid my attack, but it was impossible for it to break free from my fangs, which had already sunk deep into their target. It tried to turn, trying to right its upper body and just about finding its bnce. However, it didn¡¯t seem about to attack me. The injuries to its leg and upper torso were severe. Its right arm hung uselessly by its side, like twigs being blown by the wind. ¡®Yeah, I bet you can¡¯t lift your arm now, you idiot.¡¯ With the injury it just sustained, there was no way it could use its right arm. Its right side waspletely maimed. ¡®Let¡¯s see how much longer you can keep it up with just your left arm and leg.¡¯ I knew better than to give it time to think. I had no clue what kind of tricks it woulde up with to get me. I charged at it right away. Its eyes went wide, and it hurled its left hand out at me in desperation. I ducked to avoid its punch and mmed my right fist into its jaw. Its jaw twisted with a sickening crunch, exposing the bottom row of teeth. It had sharp teeth like me. I pressed the attack, not giving it time to recover. I swung my left arm, going straight for its face. It lost its bnce andnded on its bottom. As I got on top of it, it started screaming desperately. ¡°Wait, wait, wait up!¡± It¡­ The zombie leader could talk. That meant it had eaten a live person¡¯s brain. I frowned. ¡®You should¡¯ve kept quiet if you wanted to live.¡¯ In an instant, I bit into its neck. ¡°GAA! HUP! KAK!¡± Its two eyes bulged out of their sockets. Rip, tear! As I ripped out its throat, red blood spewed out like a fountain. The creature pressed its broken arm against its ruined neck in a feeble attempt to keep itself alive, staring at me all the while. I stood up and red at it with my glowing red eyes until the moment it died. ¡°GA¡­ YOU¡­ FUCK! GA¡­!¡± ¡®Go to hell.¡¯ I crushed its neck with my right foot. Its arms jerked violently onest time, then stopped moving. Its arms sagged to the ground, and the red glow in its eyes slowly faded away. I took in a couple of deep breaths, then turned around and looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun. He was on the ground, motionless. I squatted down in front of him, and noticed a slight movement in his upper body. He was still breathing. His breathing was faint, but he was definitely still breathing. Despite having been beaten to the brink of death, he was still holding onto his dear life. I looked Kim Hyeong-Jun in the eyes and shouted, ¡®Hyeong-Jun! Kim Hyeong-Jun! Wake up!¡¯ ¡®Ah¡­ Ahjussi?¡¯ He looked at me with his heavy-lidded eyes. I couldn¡¯t believe how relieved I was to hear his voice. He was alive. He wasn¡¯t dead just yet. My voice grew emotional. ¡®Why were you fighting alone? You should¡¯ve let me know!¡¯ ¡®But how would I have known where you were, ahjussi¡­?¡¯ ¡®Still¡­ You fool! There had to be some way!¡¯ ¡®You¡¯re the one who¡¯ste, ahjussi. Why are you putting the me on me¡­¡¯ ¡®...¡¯ He was ming me for all this because I¡¯d shown upte. I didn¡¯t know what else to say. After a moment, Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s mouth twitched into a smirk. It seemed like he hadn¡¯t gotten a good enough beating, since he still had the energy to make jokes. I snorted. ¡®I thought you were dead, you fool!¡¯ ¡®Were you worried about me?¡¯ ¡®That¡¯s not the point. Get up.¡¯ ¡®What do you mean get up, ahjussi? I can barely breathe right now.¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun coughed and ced a trembling hand on his forehead. After a moment, he looked at me with bleary eyes. ¡®Ahjussi, the person you were talking about¡­ Mr. Kwak. He¡¯s in the night-duty room.¡¯ ¡®But what about you? Is there anything I can do for you?¡¯ ¡®Ahjussi, just stop talking to me. I¡¯ll recover if I just lie down like this.¡¯ ¡®Oh¡­¡¯ I¡¯d forgotten for a split second that Kim Hyeong-Jun was also a zombie with glowing red eyes. It meant that he had self-healing abilities just like me. After realizing such an obvious fact, a wave of relief washed over me. ¡®Stay here and recover. Leave the rest to me.¡¯ ¡®Oh, ahjussi, before you go.¡¯ ¡®What?¡¯ ¡®When you go into the night-duty room, don¡¯t be surprised.¡¯ ¡®Huh?¡¯ ¡®You¡¯ll know what I mean when you see it.¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun slowly closed his eyes. Hisst words bothered me a little, but I headed toward the night-duty room anyway. As I walked over, I mentally prepared myself for the worst. The night-duty room was in the corner of the kindergarten. I took a quick breath and opened the door. I was hit with a wave of stuffiness, as well as the stench of a dead body. I frowned reflexively and covered my nose with my hand. There were more dead bodies lying on the floor than I could count. I noticed a zombie with glowing red eyes in the corner. I looked straight into the glowing red eyes and asked, ¡®Mr. Kwak¡­?¡¯ There was no response. ¡®Mr. Kwak, Mr. Kwak, are you alright?¡¯ Not even a sliver of moonlight made it into the room. The night-duty room was basically a darkroom, and I couldn¡¯t feel a single presence. I swallowed hard and made my way slowly toward the glowing red eyes. ¡®Mr. Kwak, it¡¯s me. Can¡¯t you tell?¡¯ Again, I was met with silence. ¡®Mr. Kw¡­!¡¯ At that moment, my jaw fell to the ground. The words left me, and my eyes began to tremble uncontrobly. My legs gave way and I fell on my bottom. The being in the corner of the night-duty room was, without a doubt, Mr. Kwak. But it wasn¡¯t the same Mr. Kwak I knew. It was Mr. Kwak, with his face half torn away. And on hisp, I saw Ms. Koo¡¯s dead body, cold as ice. Chapter 49 Chapter 49 I mustered what strength I could into my trembling body and walked toward Mr. Kwak. ¡®Mr. Kwak, Mr. Kwak, it¡¯s me. Stay with me, Mr. Kwak!¡¯ ¡°Grr¡­ Gaa¡­¡± Mr. Kwak was making strange and bizarre cries. It was a noise thatbined despair, screaming, and wailing all into one. It sounded like a soul burning in hell. Mr. Kwak was slowly tearing off the flesh on his face. He stared nkly into the horizon while he tore off his flesh, wailing horrifically. It seemed like he could no longer hear me. My mouth dried up as I saw Mr. Kwak¡¯s flesh dropping like melted candle wax. This was all my fault. This had happened to him because I¡¯d been too suspicious of him, naive. I wasn¡¯t worthy of being called a person. It was my fault for plunging this man¡¯s life¡ªno two people¡¯s lives¡ªinto despair. I couldn¡¯t get near Mr. Kwak. I couldn¡¯t give him any constion. A sense of guilt crashed over me like a raging wave and constantlyshed my soul. Mr. Kwak¡¯s wail was tearing apart thest bit of humanity within me. - ¡®It¡¯s all your fault. It¡¯s all because of you. This is what you made me into!¡¯ This was what his wailing meant. This was the message he was trying to tell me. I hung my head guiltily. Anything I said now would only be an excuse. I closed my mouth and slowly walked out of the night-duty room. Then I closed the door and chained it up. ¡°Grr¡­ Ga¡­¡± I slid down the door and cried silently. ¡®I¡¯m sorry¡­ I really am sorry¡­¡¯ I covered my mouth and sobbed. * * * I had no clue how many hours had passed. I sat in front of the night-duty room, motionless, as time passed me by. Sometimeter, I heard footstepsing from the hall of the kindergarten. It was Kim Hyeong-Jun. He had recovered, and was walking toward me. He sat down in front of me and scratched his head. ¡®Ahjussi, are you okay?¡¯ I didn¡¯t reply. ¡®Ahjussi?¡¯ ¡®What do you think would¡¯ve happened if I¡¯d taken Mr. Kwak in when I first saw him?¡¯ My face was gloomy. Kim Hyeong-Jun sensed my mood and smacked his lips. ¡®It¡¯s not your fault, ahjussi.¡¯ ¡®But I pretended not to know. How could I be innocent? I ignored him even though I knew he was in danger, because I thought it would put me in a difficult situation.¡¯ ¡®Well, you made that decision while taking your own people into consideration, didn¡¯t you? You made a wise choice.¡¯ ¡®...¡¯ ¡®There¡¯s no reason to feel guilt when ites down to the survival of the fittest. You know, you¡¯ll face numerous situations in which you would have to choose one thing over another. If you fixate on the smallest things, you won¡¯t be able to withstand what¡¯s ahead of you.¡¯ ¡®But still¡­¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun cut me off, addressing me in a calm voice. ¡®Ahjussi.¡¯ He wasn¡¯t using his usual tone, the one that made him sound like he wasining about everything. He looked at me with a rather serious face. I looked at him, and he stared into my eyes as though we were having a staring contest. After a while, he smiled gently to end the staredown and snorted. ¡®Back in the day, my hobby was to watch wildlife documentaries.¡¯ ¡®That¡¯s rather out of the blue. Why are you bringing that up?¡¯ As I frowned, Kim Hyeong-Jun chuckled. ¡®Do you know what people think when they see a lioness hunting down a gazelle?¡¯ I stayed silent, waiting for the rest of his story. ¡®That poor gazelle. The lioness is evil!!¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun was impersonating the people who took pity on the gazelle. I looked at him nkly, and he shrugged and continued. ¡®Do you know what the next scene was, though? It was the lioness failing in her hunt for the gazelle.¡¯ ¡®...¡¯ ¡®Right after that, they showed her little cubs following her, asking for food. All the lioness could do was lick her cubs. She couldn¡¯t do anything else.¡¯ I didn¡¯t say anything but paid attention to what Kim Hyeong-Jun was saying. He then looked at my face closely, then smiled and asked me a follow-up question. ¡®Can you guess what people would say after seeing that?¡¯ ¡®They would probably say something about how pitiful the lion cubs were.¡¯ ¡®Yeah. That¡¯s how people are. People interpret things the way they wish. That¡¯s why I understand why you¡¯re mentally unstable right now.¡¯ ¡®So what¡¯s your point?¡¯ ¡®That whatever happened today was just nature taking its course. A lioness hunting down a gazelle; the weak being hunted down by the strong. I¡¯m saying that you have nothing to feel bad about.¡¯ I contemted for a moment after hearing what Kim Hyeong-Jun had said. After a while, I smacked my lips. ¡®Sometimes, the most unbelievable things get captured on camera. Like a lioness letting a gazelle get away.¡¯ ¡®So ahjussi, you¡¯re the lioness and Mr. Kwak is the gazelle?¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun immediately knew what I was talking about. I nodded without saying a word. He crossed his arms and looked at me straight in the eyes, then clicked his tongue. ¡®That¡¯s up to the lioness.¡¯ ¡®What?¡¯ ¡®The gazelle never had a choice. It had to survive on its own somehow.¡¯ I could say nothing to refute Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s statement. He hadn¡¯t said anything wrong up to this point. ¡®You already saved Mr. Kwak once. Not only did he enter your territory, but you also forgave him for taking your food. Isn¡¯t it up to Mr. Kwak to survive after that?¡¯ ¡®...¡¯ ¡®A lion weeping because he couldn¡¯t save a gazelle¡­ isn¡¯t that kind of ironic? Well, of course, the survivors are out of the picture, since that¡¯s a different issue. I¡¯m focusing on the dynamics between zombies.¡¯ ¡®I¡¯m not that naive. I know that.¡¯ I smacked my lips angrily, prompting Kim Hyeong-Jun to take a deep breath. ¡®Then don¡¯t feel sorry for anything. Why are you acting like someone who doesn¡¯t know how this world works?¡¯ ¡®If I¡¯d told Mr. Kwak about the gang members, he wouldn¡¯t have gone down this easily. You told me all sorts of stuff. I genuinely believe that helped me a lot.¡¯ ¡®You actually think I told you everything?¡¯ My eyes widened as I stared at Kim Hyeong-Jun. I wondered if it was a tacit admission that he was still holding something back, and that he still had secrets that he was keeping to himself. I couldn¡¯t keep the surprise off my face. On the other hand, Kim Hyeong-Jun looked as calm as anyone could be. He scratched his forehead. ¡®Ahjussi, I¡¯ve been dealing with gang members for a long time. Did you really think that I didn¡¯t know what happens to us when we eat human brains?¡¯¡¯ ¡®You knew that if we ate human brains, we could talk?¡¯ ¡®Yeah, of course.¡¯ ¡®Then why¡¯d you keep it a secret, even after we formed an alliance? Why?!¡¯ ¡®Because I needed to be certain of it myself.¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s eyes did not move an inch. He knew that he would get into trouble if I teamed up with the gang members. Which was probably why he prioritized bing allies with me, someone who lived for survivors, so that he could keep an eye on my character. Having reached this conclusion, I could understand where Kim Hyeong-Jun wasing from, but I couldn¡¯t help but feel betrayed. However, I couldn¡¯tsh at him, since what Kim Hyeong-Jun did to me was not that different from what I did to Mr. Kwak. Kim Hyeong-Jun sighed. ¡®You¡¯ve already shown me enough to trust you, ahjussi. You came all the way to Seoul Forest to offer me new information, and you¡¯ve even saved my life. Now I trust you. I trust you with everything.¡¯ ¡®Ha! Are you saying that you¡¯ve been testing me all this while?¡¯ ¡®Well, you were no different from Mr. Kwak.¡¯ ¡®...¡¯ ¡®Ahjussi, I know you haven¡¯t been soiled by the filth of this world. You¡¯ve held onto what you believed was right, and see where you are now. You¡¯re still here, aren¡¯t you?¡¯ ¡®No, I was just lucky. Everything I¡¯ve done so far. It was just pure luck.¡¯ I bowed my head in shame. As I looked back, I felt like everything had been given to me. I knew better than anyone that god had been watching over me this entire time. I had been able to recruit underlings in Haengdang-dong, where there were no gang members. I was able to take my time to steadily grow stronger. I was able to live like a human being by meeting survivors that shared my beliefs, and built up mutual trust with them. I was fortunate enough to defeat the ck creature and obtain tremendous power all at once. I also figured out the existence of gang members by fighting the red creature back at the high school, through which I also obtained the map of Seoul with all the dangerous locations marked on it. I then met Kim Hyeong-Jun, gaining a wealth of information and forming an alliance to make it through this rough world together. Kim Hyeong-Jun noticed my silence and snorted. ¡®Ahjussi, have you ever heard of this saying?¡¯ ¡®What?¡¯ ¡®Luck doesn¡¯te to you. You make your own luck.¡¯ ¡®...¡¯ ¡®Ahjussi, tell me. Were you just goofing around all this time? No, you weren¡¯t. Did you grow stronger, gather people, and establish your shelter just because you were lucky? You know that didn¡¯t just happen.¡¯ ¡®...¡¯ ¡®I know you tried your best every day. I know you¡¯ve been putting in the effort. Are you saying that it was all luck?¡¯ He was absolutely right. Nothing he said was wrong. As I massaged my temples, Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s voice took on a soothing tone. ¡®I¡¯m on your side, ahjussi. And I won¡¯t be hiding anything from you anymore. So cheer up. You¡¯re doing your best.¡¯ ¡®...¡¯ ¡®You¡¯re doing your best¡¯. I never expected these words would touch my heart. Perhaps I¡¯d been subconsciously wishing for someone to acknowledge that I was doing my best, that I was doing good, and that I could do it. Perhaps it had been a little hope of mine that someone would say something along these lines to me, instead of just leaving it to me to reassure myself. I looked away from Kim Hyeong-Jun to hide my feelings, then got up and sighed a deep sigh that came from the depths of my lungs. I immediately felt better. Kim Hyeong-Jun got up as well, patting his bottom. ¡®There¡¯s still more I want to talk about, but let¡¯s eat first before it gets toote.¡¯ ¡®Did you say eat?¡¯ ¡®Yeah, we have to eat that zombie¡¯s brain. It¡¯s already been an hour. We won¡¯t get anything from the brain if we wait any longer.¡¯ ¡®How long will itst?¡¯ ¡®That depends on the zombie. Some canst for up to four hours, but somest only about an hour and a half.¡¯ ¡®In that case, we better get to it.¡¯ We walked toward the corpse of the enemy leader with its ruined neck. Before I could get to it, Kim Hyeong-Jun rushed to block my way. ¡®I¡¯ll eat this one.¡¯ ¡®What?¡¯ ¡®Don¡¯t you have something else to take care of, ahjussi?¡¯ ¡®...¡¯ He was implying that I should take care of Mr. Kwak. I couldn¡¯t help but feel that he was putting me in a difficult situation, but the resolute expression on his face made me think twice. I knew that Kim Hyeong-Jun regretted not being able to end Kim Hyeong-Seok with his own hands more than anything else, and that he still considered it a foolish decision not to have taken action back then. I wondered if he was telling me to prevent any future regret or guilt by dealing with the root cause of it now, so that I would not have to look back on this momentter down the road. I took a deep breath. ¡®I¡¯ll take care of Mr. Kwak. But his brain¡­ I want you to eat it.¡¯ ¡®Hmm? What do you mean?¡¯ ¡®Mr. Kwak is turning into a ck creature. You know what it means to eat a ck creature¡¯s brain.¡¯ ¡®...¡¯ ¡®The debt I have to you regarding your brother is settled.¡¯ This time, Kim Hyeong-Jun didn¡¯t reply. At that moment, I recalled how Kim Hyeong-Jun had been left defeated after fighting the zombie leader. Just as I had entrusted the running of our shelter to my people, I wanted Kim Hyeong-Jun, my ally, to grow stronger, so that something simr to the events of the day would not happen again. I wanted to be able to trust Kim Hyeong-Jun without worrying about what would happen to him. I wanted him to get stronger. He chuckled and nudged my elbow. ¡®Don¡¯t change your mindter on, ahjussi.¡¯ ¡®Of course.¡¯ I chuckled, and we headed toward the night-duty room. I took a deep breath and then unchained the door. I carefully opened the door, and I saw Mr. Kwak¡¯s body. The room was filled with the stench of rotting corpses. Mr. Kwak was curled up, motionless. His flesh was all over the floor, like old skin shed by a snake. His eyes were closed, and it seemed like he was sleeping. I let out a breath and grabbed the steel pipe next to him. I looked at Mr. Kwak¡¯s body one more time. ¡®Rest in peace, Mr. Kwak. I hope you¡¯re happy with Ms. Koo on the other side.¡¯ I channeled thest bit of guilt I had into the steel pipe, and sent Mr. Kwak to a ce where he would be free of pain. Chapter 50 Chapter 50 I fainted for half a day after I ate the enemy leader¡¯s brain. The wall clock in the kindergarten was showing four in the afternoon by the time I got back to my senses. I massaged my temples as I picked myself up and saw that Kim Hyeong-Jun was still in deep sleep, snoring away. I got up to stretch and then trudged toward the night-duty room. Even with the sun up, the night-duty room was pitch ck. I twitched my nose at the musty smell and looked around. There were countless dead bodies on the floor, along with Mr. Kwak¡¯s. I wondered what had happened. As I took a look at the zombies, I realized that all of them had simr facial expressions. I saw blooding out of their eyes, nose, mouth, and ears. The eyes of every one of them had rolled back into their heads. They showed clear signs of being in agony. I didn¡¯t think much of it at first, but the moment I began to move Mr. Kwak¡¯s and Ms. Koo¡¯s dead bodies outside, it hit me. ¡®Traces of pain? From a zombie?¡¯ Zombie¡¯s couldn¡¯t feel pain. But I was certain that the ones on the floor showed expressions of pain, and every single one of them had bloodstained faces. I wondered if something had gone wrong with their brains. ¡®There must¡¯ve been hemorrhaging blood from their eyes, nose, mouth, and ears. But wait, that can¡¯t be right.¡¯ I examined their faces more closely, and felt a flicker of nervousness. Their eyes were no different from those of ordinary zombies. The zombies with glowing red eyes lost the light in their eyes once they died, and their eyes turned pitch ck afterward. They wound up looking like miniature ck holes, an abyss of darkness that filled the entire eyeball. However, there was nothing to indicate that the others lying around were anything else but regr zombies. ¡®Did someone do experiments with these zombies? If they did, what kind of experiments did they do? Was it rted to the zombie brains somehow? Would Kim Hyeong-Jun know anything rted to this?¡¯ That moment, I remembered what Kim Hyeong-Jun had said to me before we went to sleep. - ¡®There¡¯s still more I want to talk about, but let¡¯s eat first before it gets toote.¡¯ Without a doubt, he¡¯d said that there was more he wanted to talk about. Since he knew that Mr. Kwak was here too, there was a fair chance that he knew what had happened in the night-duty room. I spat a gob of saliva on the floor. ¡®Let¡¯s settle Mr. Kwak and Ms. Koo first.¡¯ I carried the two dead bodies on my shoulders and went outside. I had even retrieved a shovel from the night-duty room. I was nning on burying them and sending them off properly. I ordered three of my underlings to join me. There were actually four shovels in the night-duty room. I knew it would take some time to dig two graves by myself, so I called my underlings to help me. We began digging away. Thanks to my underlings, it didn¡¯t take long to dig two graves. After I dug graves for Mr. Kwak and Ms. Koo, Iid them gently into their graves. Once done, I took some twigs and tied them together to make two crosses. I offered up a silent prayer for them. I stood there for a while as I praised the two for acting in the way they did, and for making the decisions to live as proper humans and to act humanely until the end, despite having been thrust into a world in which it was almost impossible to do so. The chirping noises that tickled my ears sounded like a final hymn for them. I took a deep breath after I was done with my prayer. I would bury all my regrets and ruminations with them. I knew I was going to have to make a lot more decisions in the future. I looked up at the sky and prayed that I would make the right decision when the time came, and that my naive mind would not get in the way when things grew difficult. After offering up all my prayers, I went back to the kindergarten. Seeing that Kim Hyeong-Jun was not going to get up anytime soon, I picked him up and carried him on my back. All my underlings, those in the field and inside the school building, stared nkly at me. Unfortunately, Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s underlings were doing the same thing. If I wanted to get going, I had to take all of Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s underlings, but I couldn¡¯t give orders to them. If another gang member came to check up on the one we had just killed, Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s underlings would just stand here nkly like they were doing right then, which would lead the gang back to us. Any gang member would be able to deduce that a third party had gotten involved, given all the zombie bodiesying all over the ce. If Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s underlings were still around when they came, they could find us by tailing his underlings when they started moving. I had no choice but to bring his underlings with me as well. Iid Kim Hyeong-Jun down on the ground and thought about how I could get all of these underlings moving with me. After a moment, I came up with a rather silly but brilliant idea. I directed a thought to the underling in front of me. ¡®Hey, you see the purple guy next to you?¡¯ Grrr! ¡®Piggyback the guy.¡¯ Grrr!!! I watched it nervously, just in case it caused Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s underling to attack it. Thankfully, Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s underling did not resist, and let my own underling carry him. The purple zombie looked at me, confusion written on its face. ¡®Hmm? Huh? What?¡¯ That¡¯s what I saw in its facial expression. I let out a sigh of relief and then gave orders to all of my underlings. ¡®Everyone, piggyback the purple guy next to you!¡¯ Grr!!! With a grand battle cry, my underlings put all the purple zombies on their backs together. I carried Kim Hyeong-Jun off the floor, then issued an order to my underlings. ¡®Let¡¯s get going!¡¯ Grr!!! My underlings answered loudly and followed me. I moved cautiously and shortened my strides, afraid of the worst-case scenario. However, I couldn¡¯t sense any particr danger, probably because I had taken care of the leader who had been in charge of Majang-dong. Interestingly, after devouring the leader¡¯s brain, the map of awork had appeared in my mind. The scouts that the leader had sent out had be my underlings, and I knew where they were located along with how many of them there were. I could always sense where my underlings were before, but now I could even count how many I had. I wondered if I had gained this ability because I had gotten stronger. I no longer had to count each underling I had one by one. I sent an order to the scouts that had been posted around Majang-dong. ¡®Let me know if any red creature shows up.¡¯ - Yes sir. The scouts that had followed the enemy leader¡¯s orders were now following mine. A mutant that could control underlings. At first, I just thought of it as an ability that was alright. But now, I finally realized that it was an ability that others would die to have. Thanks to this ability, it was no different than having a map of Majang-dong inside my mind. The greenwork that I could see in my mind¡¯s eye let me see a map of Majang-dong without me having to see everything with my own eyes. On the way back to the shelter, I stopped by the elementary school to pick up the underlings from the fourth squad of the third toon, along with the kids. The children were horrified, but they followed me without saying a word. They treated me as someone who was on their side. I didn¡¯t let myself rx until we left Majang-dong. We passed the intersection at the Seongdong District Office, and kept on going down the road until I finally saw Shelter Hae-Young from afar. I¡¯d made it back to where my people were, where my family was. This time, though, I saw some new faces at the entrance of the shelter. There were three to four people standing in front of the screening station to the right of the entrance. They were survivors. They weren¡¯t people who had helped build Shelter Hae-Young, but survivors who hade to join up with Shelter Hae-Young. As soon as they noticed me, their eyes grew wide, and they yelled back to someone at the temporary guard post. ¡°Get me a weapon! Quick!¡± ¡°What did you say?¡± came the cid reply. A man walked out from the temporary guard post. It was Lee Jeong-Uk. He beamed at me as he waved. ¡°So-Yeon¡¯s dad! Where¡¯d you go out this early in the morning?¡± I chuckled and went toward Lee Jeong-Uk. All the survivors stared at us, dumbfounded. It seemed like all of them were struggling to understand what was happening in front of their eyes. Lee Jeong-Uk looked over at Kim Hyeong-Jun, whom I was carrying on my back. ¡°Now who¡¯s this? An injured person?¡± ¡°Grr.¡± ¡°Wait a minute. It¡¯s a zombie! Why are you carrying it around?¡± It was an expected response. To him, Kim Hyeong-Jun probably looked like an ordinary zombie. If Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s eyes had been open, Lee Jeong-Uk might¡¯ve noticed that the two of us had formed an alliance, but with his eyes closed, he seemed no different from the zombies that roamed the streets. I shook side to side and gestured with my chin toward the entrance. I wanted to keep this conversation inside. He understood my intentions and went toward the barricade at the entrance. I saw Kang Ji-Suk and Byeon Hyeok-Jin in front of the barricade. The two came running toward me with smiles on their faces. Lee Jeong-Uk gave Kang Ji-Suk a noogie. ¡°Open the door first!¡± ¡°Uncle Lee, why do you always pick on me! How about him?¡± They used to call Lee Jeong-Uk ¡®ahjussi¡¯, but now they were calling him uncle. It seemed like the two of them had grown close as well. The two quarreling and making jokes made me think of a lively boy getting along with an older next-door neighbor. Kang Ji-Suk mumbledints under his breath, but still did everything Lee Jeong-Uk had told him to do. The apartment entrance opened, and my underlings and I walked into theplex. All the sand in the yground had been dug out, and I saw Lee Jeong-Hyuk, Choi Da-Hye, and the white-haired elder in conversation. Lee Jeong-Hyuk noticed me first and walked toward me with a smile on his face, but then he gasped after seeing the zombies that my underlings and I were carrying. ¡°So-Yeon¡¯s father! What¡¯s that on your back?¡± Everyone else had the same reaction. I let out a sigh andid Kim Hyeong-Jun down on a wooden bench, then gave orders to my underlings. ¡®Put down the zombies that you¡¯re carrying.¡¯ The calm, spaciousplex was now full of zombies. The elder shouted at the zombies near the garden. ¡°You fools! Not the garden! Don¡¯t step on the garden!¡± It was so packed that the zombies over there could barely stand. I ordered my underlings next to the garden to carry their purple zombies again. Thankfully, none of the crops were affected. ¡®All of you, carry the purple zombies to apartment 101. The rest of you wait at apartment 102.¡¯ This apartmentplex had a total of eight apartments, from 101 to 108. Apartment 101 and 102 was across from where we were staying, which were apartments 103, 104, and 105. I sent the underlings to an apartment far away from where we were staying so that no one else would cross paths with my underlings. My underlings shuffled off in unison, leaving a mess in the apartmentplex. It seemed as if a tornado had just passed through. There was dust, bits of torn clothing, and zombie blood all over the ce. The three children who were right behind me looked at everyone nkly, and everyone else stared at me in a dumbfounded manner. After a moment, Lee Jeong-Uk spoke. ¡°I¡¯ll go back and finish up screening the people waiting outside. Jeong-Hyuk, don¡¯t let So-Yeon¡¯s dad go anywhere.¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± ¡°He¡¯s obviously going to go see So-Yeon first! Make him at least change his clothes if he wants to see her. And it seems like we¡¯ll have to do another round of spring cleaning again!¡± Lee Jeong-Uk mumbled under his breath and trudged back to the screening station. I chuckled at the way he was acting. Lee Jeong-Hyuk scratched his head and let out a sigh. He then smacked his lips. ¡°So what exactly happened?¡± I scratched my neck, not knowing what to say. Lee Jeong-Hyuk clicked his tongue. ¡°Well, let¡¯s get everyone washed up first.¡± I nodded, and Choi Da-Hye took the three kids to apartment 104. Lee Jeong-Hyuk went back inside to get water, towels, and a change of clothes. I enjoyed the momentary peace as I washed off the filth from my body. * * * When I was done with my shower, I went to the forty-pyeong-sized unit on the fourth floor of apartment 103. It seemed like everyone had been working hard since the morning. The empty living room now looked like a conference room. There was a long table with chairs lined up neatly, and A4-sized paper along with pen and pencils wereid out on the kitchen table. As I looked around the meeting room, the Lee brothers, Choi Da-Hye, the principal, the elder, and Han Seon-Hui came in. Each of them greeted me¡ªfreshly cleaned and changed¡ªand took their designated seats. Lee Jeong-Uk pointed to the middle seat at the end of the table. ¡°So-Yeon¡¯s dad, sit there.¡± ¡°Grr?¡± ¡°The leader has to sit in the center.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk smiled gently and patted me on the shoulder. I scratched my sideburns, not knowing how to react, but eventually smiled as well and walked toward the center seat. As I settled down into the center seat and looked around at everyone, something hit me. Things were different. For some reason, I remembered the first time I had met everyone. No one looked like they were struggling from hunger or engulfed by fear anymore. No one had eyes filled with hopelessness. Instead, everyone was full of life. Han Seon-Hui was watching me with her lips pursed, as if she wasn¡¯t used to or was embarrassed to be in a meeting room. The Lee brothers and the principal, along with the elder, had energetic expressions. Choi Da-Hye had the face of a young girl, full of curiosity. I couldn¡¯t help but smile as I looked into everyone¡¯s faces. No one was perfect, but everyone was now able to live like human beings. I wrote a message out on the A4 paper in front of me, in asrge a font as I could manage, so that everyone could see. - Everyone, good job. The room was all smiles after they read what I had written. And of course, I smiled back at them. Chapter 51 Chapter 51 I fainted for half a day after I ate the enemy leader¡¯s brain. The wall clock in the kindergarten was showing four in the afternoon by the time I got back to my senses. I massaged my temples as I picked myself up and saw that Kim Hyeong-Jun was still in deep sleep, snoring away. I got up to stretch and then trudged toward the night-duty room. Even with the sun up, the night-duty room was pitch ck. I twitched my nose at the musty smell and looked around. There were countless dead bodies on the floor, along with Mr. Kwak¡¯s. I wondered what had happened. As I took a look at the zombies, I realized that all of them had simr facial expressions. I saw blooding out of their eyes, nose, mouth, and ears. The eyes of every one of them had rolled back into their heads. They showed clear signs of being in agony. I didn¡¯t think much of it at first, but the moment I began to move Mr. Kwak¡¯s and Ms. Koo¡¯s dead bodies outside, it hit me. ¡®Traces of pain? From a zombie?¡¯ Zombie¡¯s couldn¡¯t feel pain. But I was certain that the ones on the floor showed expressions of pain, and every single one of them had bloodstained faces. I wondered if something had gone wrong with their brains. ¡®There must¡¯ve been hemorrhaging blood from their eyes, nose, mouth, and ears. But wait, that can¡¯t be right.¡¯ I examined their faces more closely, and felt a flicker of nervousness. Their eyes were no different from those of ordinary zombies. The zombies with glowing red eyes lost the light in their eyes once they died, and their eyes turned pitch ck afterward. They wound up looking like miniature ck holes, an abyss of darkness that filled the entire eyeball. However, there was nothing to indicate that the others lying around were anything else but regr zombies. ¡®Did someone do experiments with these zombies? If they did, what kind of experiments did they do? Was it rted to the zombie brains somehow? Would Kim Hyeong-Jun know anything rted to this?¡¯ That moment, I remembered what Kim Hyeong-Jun had said to me before we went to sleep. - ¡®There¡¯s still more I want to talk about, but let¡¯s eat first before it gets toote.¡¯ Without a doubt, he¡¯d said that there was more he wanted to talk about. Since he knew that Mr. Kwak was here too, there was a fair chance that he knew what had happened in the night-duty room. I spat a gob of saliva on the floor. ¡®Let¡¯s settle Mr. Kwak and Ms. Koo first.¡¯ I carried the two dead bodies on my shoulders and went outside. I had even retrieved a shovel from the night-duty room. I was nning on burying them and sending them off properly. I ordered three of my underlings to join me. There were actually four shovels in the night-duty room. I knew it would take some time to dig two graves by myself, so I called my underlings to help me. We began digging away. Thanks to my underlings, it didn¡¯t take long to dig two graves. After I dug graves for Mr. Kwak and Ms. Koo, Iid them gently into their graves. Once done, I took some twigs and tied them together to make two crosses. I offered up a silent prayer for them. I stood there for a while as I praised the two for acting in the way they did, and for making the decisions to live as proper humans and to act humanely until the end, despite having been thrust into a world in which it was almost impossible to do so. The chirping noises that tickled my ears sounded like a final hymn for them. I took a deep breath after I was done with my prayer. I would bury all my regrets and ruminations with them. I knew I was going to have to make a lot more decisions in the future. I looked up at the sky and prayed that I would make the right decision when the time came, and that my naive mind would not get in the way when things grew difficult. After offering up all my prayers, I went back to the kindergarten. Seeing that Kim Hyeong-Jun was not going to get up anytime soon, I picked him up and carried him on my back. All my underlings, those in the field and inside the school building, stared nkly at me. Unfortunately, Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s underlings were doing the same thing. If I wanted to get going, I had to take all of Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s underlings, but I couldn¡¯t give orders to them. If another gang member came to check up on the one we had just killed, Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s underlings would just stand here nkly like they were doing right then, which would lead the gang back to us. Any gang member would be able to deduce that a third party had gotten involved, given all the zombie bodiesying all over the ce. If Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s underlings were still around when they came, they could find us by tailing his underlings when they started moving. I had no choice but to bring his underlings with me as well. Iid Kim Hyeong-Jun down on the ground and thought about how I could get all of these underlings moving with me. After a moment, I came up with a rather silly but brilliant idea. I directed a thought to the underling in front of me. ¡®Hey, you see the purple guy next to you?¡¯ Grrr! ¡®Piggyback the guy.¡¯ Grrr!!! I watched it nervously, just in case it caused Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s underling to attack it. Thankfully, Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s underling did not resist, and let my own underling carry him. The purple zombie looked at me, confusion written on its face. ¡®Hmm? Huh? What?¡¯ That¡¯s what I saw in its facial expression. I let out a sigh of relief and then gave orders to all of my underlings. ¡®Everyone, piggyback the purple guy next to you!¡¯ Grr!!! With a grand battle cry, my underlings put all the purple zombies on their backs together. I carried Kim Hyeong-Jun off the floor, then issued an order to my underlings. ¡®Let¡¯s get going!¡¯ Grr!!! My underlings answered loudly and followed me. I moved cautiously and shortened my strides, afraid of the worst-case scenario. However, I couldn¡¯t sense any particr danger, probably because I had taken care of the leader who had been in charge of Majang-dong. Interestingly, after devouring the leader¡¯s brain, the map of awork had appeared in my mind. The scouts that the leader had sent out had be my underlings, and I knew where they were located along with how many of them there were. I could always sense where my underlings were before, but now I could even count how many I had. I wondered if I had gained this ability because I had gotten stronger. I no longer had to count each underling I had one by one. I sent an order to the scouts that had been posted around Majang-dong. ¡®Let me know if any red creature shows up.¡¯ - Yes sir. The scouts that had followed the enemy leader¡¯s orders were now following mine. A mutant that could control underlings. At first, I just thought of it as an ability that was alright. But now, I finally realized that it was an ability that others would die to have. Thanks to this ability, it was no different than having a map of Majang-dong inside my mind. The greenwork that I could see in my mind¡¯s eye let me see a map of Majang-dong without me having to see everything with my own eyes. On the way back to the shelter, I stopped by the elementary school to pick up the underlings from the fourth squad of the third toon, along with the kids. The children were horrified, but they followed me without saying a word. They treated me as someone who was on their side. I didn¡¯t let myself rx until we left Majang-dong. We passed the intersection at the Seongdong District Office, and kept on going down the road until I finally saw Shelter Hae-Young from afar. I¡¯d made it back to where my people were, where my family was. This time, though, I saw some new faces at the entrance of the shelter. There were three to four people standing in front of the screening station to the right of the entrance. They were survivors. They weren¡¯t people who had helped build Shelter Hae-Young, but survivors who hade to join up with Shelter Hae-Young. As soon as they noticed me, their eyes grew wide, and they yelled back to someone at the temporary guard post. ¡°Get me a weapon! Quick!¡± ¡°What did you say?¡± came the cid reply. A man walked out from the temporary guard post. It was Lee Jeong-Uk. He beamed at me as he waved. ¡°So-Yeon¡¯s dad! Where¡¯d you go out this early in the morning?¡± I chuckled and went toward Lee Jeong-Uk. All the survivors stared at us, dumbfounded. It seemed like all of them were struggling to understand what was happening in front of their eyes. Lee Jeong-Uk looked over at Kim Hyeong-Jun, whom I was carrying on my back. ¡°Now who¡¯s this? An injured person?¡± ¡°Grr.¡± ¡°Wait a minute. It¡¯s a zombie! Why are you carrying it around?¡± It was an expected response. To him, Kim Hyeong-Jun probably looked like an ordinary zombie. If Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s eyes had been open, Lee Jeong-Uk might¡¯ve noticed that the two of us had formed an alliance, but with his eyes closed, he seemed no different from the zombies that roamed the streets. I shook side to side and gestured with my chin toward the entrance. I wanted to keep this conversation inside. He understood my intentions and went toward the barricade at the entrance. I saw Kang Ji-Suk and Byeon Hyeok-Jin in front of the barricade. The two came running toward me with smiles on their faces. Lee Jeong-Uk gave Kang Ji-Suk a noogie. ¡°Open the door first!¡± ¡°Uncle Lee, why do you always pick on me! How about him?¡± They used to call Lee Jeong-Uk ¡®ahjussi¡¯, but now they were calling him uncle. It seemed like the two of them had grown close as well. The two quarreling and making jokes made me think of a lively boy getting along with an older next-door neighbor. Kang Ji-Suk mumbledints under his breath, but still did everything Lee Jeong-Uk had told him to do. The apartment entrance opened, and my underlings and I walked into theplex. All the sand in the yground had been dug out, and I saw Lee Jeong-Hyuk, Choi Da-Hye, and the white-haired elder in conversation. Lee Jeong-Hyuk noticed me first and walked toward me with a smile on his face, but then he gasped after seeing the zombies that my underlings and I were carrying. ¡°So-Yeon¡¯s father! What¡¯s that on your back?¡± Everyone else had the same reaction. I let out a sigh andid Kim Hyeong-Jun down on a wooden bench, then gave orders to my underlings. ¡®Put down the zombies that you¡¯re carrying.¡¯ The calm, spaciousplex was now full of zombies. The elder shouted at the zombies near the garden. ¡°You fools! Not the garden! Don¡¯t step on the garden!¡± It was so packed that the zombies over there could barely stand. I ordered my underlings next to the garden to carry their purple zombies again. Thankfully, none of the crops were affected. ¡®All of you, carry the purple zombies to apartment 101. The rest of you wait at apartment 102.¡¯ This apartmentplex had a total of eight apartments, from 101 to 108. Apartment 101 and 102 was across from where we were staying, which were apartments 103, 104, and 105. I sent the underlings to an apartment far away from where we were staying so that no one else would cross paths with my underlings. My underlings shuffled off in unison, leaving a mess in the apartmentplex. It seemed as if a tornado had just passed through. There was dust, bits of torn clothing, and zombie blood all over the ce. The three children who were right behind me looked at everyone nkly, and everyone else stared at me in a dumbfounded manner. After a moment, Lee Jeong-Uk spoke. ¡°I¡¯ll go back and finish up screening the people waiting outside. Jeong-Hyuk, don¡¯t let So-Yeon¡¯s dad go anywhere.¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± ¡°He¡¯s obviously going to go see So-Yeon first! Make him at least change his clothes if he wants to see her. And it seems like we¡¯ll have to do another round of spring cleaning again!¡± Lee Jeong-Uk mumbled under his breath and trudged back to the screening station. I chuckled at the way he was acting. Lee Jeong-Hyuk scratched his head and let out a sigh. He then smacked his lips. ¡°So what exactly happened?¡± I scratched my neck, not knowing what to say. Lee Jeong-Hyuk clicked his tongue. ¡°Well, let¡¯s get everyone washed up first.¡± I nodded, and Choi Da-Hye took the three kids to apartment 104. Lee Jeong-Hyuk went back inside to get water, towels, and a change of clothes. I enjoyed the momentary peace as I washed off the filth from my body. * * * When I was done with my shower, I went to the forty-pyeong-sized unit on the fourth floor of apartment 103. It seemed like everyone had been working hard since the morning. The empty living room now looked like a conference room. There was a long table with chairs lined up neatly, and A4-sized paper along with pen and pencils wereid out on the kitchen table. As I looked around the meeting room, the Lee brothers, Choi Da-Hye, the principal, the elder, and Han Seon-Hui came in. Each of them greeted me¡ªfreshly cleaned and changed¡ªand took their designated seats. Lee Jeong-Uk pointed to the middle seat at the end of the table. ¡°So-Yeon¡¯s dad, sit there.¡± ¡°Grr?¡± ¡°The leader has to sit in the center.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk smiled gently and patted me on the shoulder. I scratched my sideburns, not knowing how to react, but eventually smiled as well and walked toward the center seat. As I settled down into the center seat and looked around at everyone, something hit me. Things were different. For some reason, I remembered the first time I had met everyone. No one looked like they were struggling from hunger or engulfed by fear anymore. No one had eyes filled with hopelessness. Instead, everyone was full of life. Han Seon-Hui was watching me with her lips pursed, as if she wasn¡¯t used to or was embarrassed to be in a meeting room. The Lee brothers and the principal, along with the elder, had energetic expressions. Choi Da-Hye had the face of a young girl, full of curiosity. I couldn¡¯t help but smile as I looked into everyone¡¯s faces. No one was perfect, but everyone was now able to live like human beings. I wrote a message out on the A4 paper in front of me, in asrge a font as I could manage, so that everyone could see. - Everyone, good job. The room was all smiles after they read what I had written. And of course, I smiled back at them. 13c3eaca9a381d9d7eed9ddffea4307608287d231fbf98420fde294819d9e484dc99d0a938c704e3f0093db7a642f714 Chapter 52 Chapter 52 Everyone looked at me in bewilderment after seeing what I had written. It was clear to me that they weren¡¯t ¡®dogs¡¯. Unlike them, they weren¡¯t humans that saw others as prey, but people who were willing to sacrifice themselves to protect their family and friends. If I was this certain, there was no reason for me to hesitate any further. I couldn¡¯t let another situation like Mr. Kwak¡¯s happen again. I got up and went back to my seat. Lee Jeong-Uk took a look at my belly. ¡°You good?¡± I didn¡¯t think much of it and just covered the bloody part with my hand. I knew I would recover rather quickly from an injury like this. I wrote down some words as soon as I sat down. - Tell them about this ce. Nicely, though. Lee Jeong-Uk looked annoyed, but he didn¡¯t disagree with me. He just sighed multiple times and then got up. As he stood, Lee Jeong-Hyuk stood as well. The Lee brothers went up to the survivors, and Lee Jeong-Uk spoke to the still-trembling survivors. ¡°Hey young bloods, act like gentlemen.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Who in the world starts stabbing others before even trying to talk? Who did you learn your manners from?¡± ¡°My apologies.¡± Even as the man apologized, he looked dumbfounded. He couldn¡¯tprehend the current situation, even though he was the one who had stabbed me. The Swiss army knife had been incredibly useless to him. Lee Jeong-Uk scratched his head and then said, ¡°Follow me, I¡¯ll show you your rooms.¡± ¡°We¡¯re, we¡¯re going to leave.¡± This was the only woman from the group. Lee Jeong-Uk snorted. ¡°You¡¯re going outside? What for? To pee your pants again after seeing zombies?¡± ¡°Who, who are you using of peeing in their pants?!¡± Lee Jeong-Uk pointed to the man who was on the floor in reply to the woman¡¯s indignant question. The boldest-looking man in the group had peed his pants. I wondered what had passed through his mind when he¡¯d seen my glowing red eyes right in front of him. The woman didn¡¯t know what to say after seeing the yellow liquid. She didn¡¯t know where to look. Her eyes were quivering violently. Lee Jeong-Uk smacked his lips, apparently tired from the pointless conversation. ¡°Just follow me.¡± The survivors helped the man on the floor to his feet, then followed the Lee brothers out. I sighed deeply and wrote out a long message. - In consideration of everyone¡¯s opinion, we will not be epting any more survivors in the meantime. Regarding today¡¯s survivors, we¡¯ll decide what to do with them depending on how they act for the next couple of days. Everyone seemed to be in agreement. I slowly closed my eyes and let out a sigh. After a moment, I opened my eyes again and jotted down several more words. - That¡¯ll be the end of today¡¯s meeting. * * * After the meeting, I went outside, feeling the cool breeze on my cheeks. I could tell that the weather was getting colder. I knew I had to prepare some warmer clothes for everyone. I walked around theplex as I massaged my stiff neck. There was a lot to think about. I was worried about how we would get through the winter. I wasn¡¯t sure if we could hold it off like we were doing right now. I was also worried that there might be food shortage issues. I couldn¡¯t help but sigh as I considered the uncertain future ahead of us. As I kept on walking, a boy and girl standing at the door beside the barricade caught my sight. It was Woo Ga-In and Byeon Hyeok-Jin. On the first day that I¡¯d returned to the high school after taking care of the ck creature, Woo Ga-In had been crying because the teachers hadn¡¯te back. Byeon Hyeok-Jin, who had been sitting across from her, had told the sobbing Woo Ga-In to stop crying. Now, the two of them¡­ there seemed to be something going on between them while the adults were away. While we adults were discussing matters concerning life and death, the adolescents were taking advantage of the time to form rtionships. Byeon Hyeok-Jinughed like a goofball, and Woo Ga-In beamed at him. I couldn¡¯t help but let out augh. The whole situation seemed surprising, bordering on ridiculous. I was amazed at how they could even start a rtionship in this kind of situation. It was truly nice to be young. Byeon Hyeok-Jin turned around as he heard me giggle and looked at me as if he had done something wrong. ¡°Ah, ahjussi!¡± His voice was a little too loud, as though he knew that he should be embarrassed. I shook my head gently and took out my notepad. - You like her, don¡¯t you? ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Byeon Hyeok-Jin¡¯s face reddened quickly and he started scratching his head. Woo Ga-In looked down and yed with her fingers. They were teenagers who should be living life to the fullest, and just wanted to have some fun. I was in no position to say anything to them. I mussed up Byeon Hyeok-Jin¡¯s hair with a gentle expression. Byeon Hyeok-Jin seemed slightly embarrassed by my gesture, but went back to Woo Ga-In with a smile on his face. The two held hands and went back to apartment 104. As I watched them heading away, I remembered my wife¡¯s face. Ever since the world had turned into this, I hadn¡¯t heard a single thing about my wife. Thest time I¡¯d seen her was when she¡¯d left for work in Jamsil, just like any other day. I wondered if she was still alive. I sighed a deep, sad sigh and stashed my hands in my pockets. It was impossible to get to Gangnam right now. Apparently, the Hangang Bridge was blocked. At least that¡¯s what Kim Hyeong-Jun had said. Since the information was from him, it was more than reliable. I knew he wasn¡¯t the type of person to lie, although he¡¯d hidden the fact that he knew that we could talk if we ate human brains. Moreover, on the map that I¡¯d obtained from the gang member, Gangnam remained unmarked. Jasmil now seemed like such a faraway ce. Under normal circumstances, it was just a short trip away on Line 2. The Han River, which was a miracle for Korea, now seemed nothing more than an obstacle.[1] I shook my head and let go of all the useless thoughts I had. It wasn¡¯t the time to get sentimental. I needed to do what I could do, what I needed to do. * * * Two days had passed since the four survivors joined us. Kim Hyeong-Jun was still lying motionless in the security office of apartment 101, and showed no signs of getting up. I wondered if he was going to sleep for a week the way I had after eating the ck creature¡¯s brain. Kim Hyeong-Jun was rather different from the zombie I¡¯d been back then. At that time, I¡¯d been one of the weakest zombies, but Kim Hyeong-Jun, in his present state, was considered one of the stronger ones. I wondered if the hibernation period was still a week, despite the differences. Perhaps the duration was the same, regardless of strength. I had no information about this. I had to wait until Kim Hyeong-Jun woke up. Only then could I be certain. As I sat on a wooden bench, lost in thought, I heard Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s voice. ¡°So-Yeon¡¯s dad, they finally opened up.¡± For some reason, I looked down unconsciously to check my fly. Lee Jeong-Uk roared out augh. ¡°No, I mean the survivors. What are you looking at?¡± I scratched my sideburns in embarrassment and then gestured to him to sit down next to me. Lee Jeong-Uk sat down and continued, ¡°It seems like there¡¯s a gym right beneath Dae Hyun San Park, in Haengdang 2-dong.¡± I grew interested, and Lee Jeong-Uk peered into my face. ¡°Judging by your face, it seems like you¡¯ve heard of Dae Hyun San Park. So, there are survivors there.¡± I took out my notepad to ask him questions. - How many are there? ¡°Eight men and women in their twenties. Including the four here, that makes twelve of them. They¡¯re all college kids. Psychology majors. You get the point, right?¡± - They¡¯re part of the psychology major student association or something? ¡°Yeah. They got together for summer break and wereing up with ns for the uing semester. But, as you know, the world wasn¡¯t on their side, so they basically found themselves trapped there.¡± - Chances of them being in touch with the dogs? ¡°Little to none. They¡¯ve never left Haengdang 2-dong.¡± I rubbed my chin and fell into deep thought. I couldn¡¯t rule out the possibility that they were lying. Even if they weren¡¯t dogs, I wanted to know how they¡¯d made it this far, and how they¡¯d survived to this point. If there were twelve of them, there would have been some food shortage issues. And the fact that they were staying in a gym, made me more suspicious about what they¡¯d been doing up to this point. If they had got together to make ns for the uing semester, they could have met up at someone¡¯s ce, or other ces like a cafe, restaurant, or even a study cafe where they could talk. However, among all the options they had, they had chosen to meet at a gym. It was possible that they had been hiding in Dae Hyun San Park gym to avoid the zombies, since it was rather out of the way, but if food became a consideration, they should have moved. I say this because I¡¯ve seen the gym underneath Dae Hyun San Park. I used to jog over to Dae Hyun San Park when I had been human whenever I felt like I needed to exercise. I often asked myself who in the world would use the gym there, as there was absolutely nothing around it. There were no supermarkets around the area from which to get food. I remembered that I had to look around to find a convenience store to quench my thirst after jogging, and even that had been difficult. Even when I finally found one, it seemed more like a small storage space, rather than an actual convenience store. If it had only been a couple of days since the world had been turned upside down, I would have been convinced by their story. But it had been months. The entire summer had passed, and fall was approaching. I couldn¡¯t trust what they were saying. Enough time had passed for the season to change, and I wasn¡¯t convinced that they could stay in the gym for that long. It was close to impossible for them to have been able to stay there for so long, unless they had a zombie with glowing red eyes like me getting food for them. However, the idea of them having any connections to a zombie with glowing red eyes was close to zero. I remembered the young man who had been full of bluster. At first, he¡¯d seemed bold, but as soon as I walked toward him, he started crying and had fallen on his bottom. He even peed his pants, so it was fair enough to say that he had no information about zombies with glowing red eyes. There were only two possibilities: they had been risking their lives to get food, or they were lying to us. I knew there was only one way to end this issue of mistrust. I had to see things with my own two eyes. I took out my notepad and wrote down a few words. - I¡¯m going on patrol. ¡°I¡¯ll go as well.¡± I arched my eyebrows, and Lee Jeong-Uk continued in a calm voice, ¡°I let those survivors into this shelter. Whether you like it or not, I want to be responsible for them.¡± - We might meet a ck creature. ¡°Is there anyone else that can stay sane if they encounter a ck creature? Well, thest time I didn¡¯t do much, but I did at least experience it once.¡± I smirked and let out augh. As if embarrassed, Lee Jeong-Uk looked at my notepad and changed the topic. ¡°Well, So-Yeon¡¯s dad, aside from that¡­¡± ¡°Grr?¡± ¡°I think your handwriting is getting better! Can you write full sentences now? Is it because you¡¯ve been eating enemy brains?¡± I took a look at what I¡¯d written after hearing hispliment. I could now write sentences. Just a while back, I¡¯d only been able to write down individual words. I wondered when I had started writing this fluently. My writing skills had gotten a lot better without me even noticing. I didn¡¯t know the exact reason why it had gotten better. It might¡¯ve been because I¡¯d eaten enemy brains, or perhaps I had just gotten used to being a zombie. As I shrugged, Lee Jeong-Uk chuckled. ¡°Since the sun¡¯s already setting today, how about we go tomorrow at sunrise? Deal?¡± ¡°Grr.¡± I made a gurgling sound and nodded. I hadn¡¯t heard Lee Jeong-Uk say the word ¡®deal¡¯ in a while. It hit me differently, evoking a sense of friendship for some reason. Perhaps we were more than friends now. We might have be something much closer than that. We weren¡¯t in this together in order to achieve amon goal, or achieve our individual goals. In the beginning, we had bothe together because of the fact that we were both survivors, but we were no longer held together because of such a simple reason. Surviving in this world had be only a small part of why we remained together. Now, we were looking after each other¡¯s safety and happiness, and were creating something beyond an ordinarymunity. We¡¯d gone through moments of life and death, thick and thin, built a ce to live together, and shared happy moments together. We were family. 1. Jamsil Station is a subway station along Line 2 of the Seoul Metropolitan Subway. It is colored green on the Seoul Metropolitan Subway map. ? Chapter 53 Chapter 53 As soon as the sun was up, myself, Lee Jeong-Uk, and the leader of the survivors went outside. The leader of the newest group of survivors was the man who had peed in his pants. His name was Bae Jae-Hwan. He was going to be our guide. I was nning to take my underlings along with us just in case something happened, but Bae Jae-Hwan seemed rather averse to my underlings. He still had a hard time understanding how Shelter Hae-Young, a ce where zombies and humans coexisted, could operate. However, with Lee Jeong-Uk around, I wasn¡¯tfortable moving without my underlings. So I ordered my underlings to tail us secretly, about three hundred meters back. The fourth and fifth toons¡ªabout two hundred in total¡ªwere following us. I used to move around with the underlings from the first to third toons, but these toons suffered serious losses in the Majang-dong incident. I¡¯d recruited the zombies from Majang-dong after taking care of their leader, but I hadn¡¯t been able to color them blue because of a shortage of blue spray paint and markers, which exined why I ended up mobilizing the fourth and fifth toons since they were all painted blue. We moved toward Eungbong crossroad to avoid the ck creature. Eungbong crossroad was on the border of Haengdang 1-dong and 2-dong. We were nning to get into Dae Hyun San Park through Shin Dong-Ah apartments next to Eungbong crossroad. As we neared Shin Dong-Ah apartments, it began to grow hilly. I ordered the underlings that were following us to take over Shin Dong-Ah apartment and wait for my next move. We were almost done cleaning up all the street zombies in Haengdang 1-dong, but 2-dong was a living hell. Every street and alleyway was full of zombies. To my surprise, though, Bae Jae-Hwan adeptly avoided detection by the zombies. He had some empty cans and stic bottles in his bag, and he would throw them far away every time he saw a zombie to lure their attention elsewhere. As I observed him closely, I realized how he had been surviving this whole time. ¡®So this is how he¡¯s survived all this time.¡¯ He avoided physical contact with the zombies as much as he could, taking caution to go around them. I could have taken them out myself, but I wasn¡¯t here to take care of zombies. I knew better than to lose sight of our real reason for making this trip. Coming into contact with the zombies here might just trigger the ck creature to hunt me down. I was more than aware that the zombies with glowing red eyes like me were the best kind of feast these ck creatures could have. We moved through the streets as quietly as mice, and soon, we finallyid eyes on a gym in the distance. As we made our way through the hills, we saw arge number of dust-covered cars. It seemed like this had been an active parking lot before, but now that it was abandoned, it seemed an eerie and foreboding ce. After a moment, Bae Jae-Hwan took out a shlight and shed it in a constant rhythm toward the entrance of the gym. A shlight, in the middle of the day? I thought he was being silly. However, I couldn¡¯t help but smirk as I saw the same pattern of shes in one of the gym windows. ¡®So, they¡¯ve got some system going on huh? Pretty impressive.¡¯ It seemed like they didn¡¯t allow any outsiders in. Now that Bae Jae-Hwan had signaled his return, the gym entrance opened, and several people came out. There were three women and five men. ¡°Hey Jae-Hwan!¡± They came running our way, their faces full of smiles. But after they noticed me and Lee Jeong-Uk, they were taken aback, and halted midway. ¡°Who are the people next to you?¡± they asked Bae Jae-Hwan. ¡°Hey, that person has red eyes.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t he a zombie?¡± ¡°Bae Jae-Hwan! What the hell are you doing man?¡± They began to talk over each other, and the situation quickly devolved into a mess. Bae Jae-Hwan gestured for everyone to calm down, then looked at me straight in the eyes. ¡°Um¡­ leader? No¡­ president?¡± Bae Jae-Hwan didn¡¯t know my name or even how to address me. Lee Jeong-Uk, who was next to me, let out a sigh. ¡°If you have anything to say, say it to me.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ Got it.¡± Bae Jae-Hwan scratched his neck and then addressed his people in front of the gym. ¡°The people here are the officers of Shelter Hae-Young. They wanted to see you in person, so I brought them over.¡± ¡°Hey, the person next to you is a zombie!¡± ¡°Well yeah, but he¡¯s a person too.¡± ¡°What are you saying?¡± This was the smallest girl out of the eight people who were in front of the gym, who was frowning in disbelief. If Bae Jae-Hwan was the leader of the group, then she would most likely be the second-inmand. Bae Jae-Hwan slowly walked to his group of people. ¡°Let¡¯s talk inside.¡± ¡°What are you saying? Say what you need to say out here.¡± The female student didn¡¯t let Lee Jeong-Uk or me in. She was showing extreme hostility. However, her reaction actually gave me a sense of relief. If she had weed us as if it wasn¡¯t a big deal, it would¡¯ve made her even more suspicious. Her hostility toward neers and the fact that she had erected barriers against us made me confident that I had made the right assessment about them. They were not ¡®dogs¡¯ or gang members, but people who reached out to help others. Since my suspicion toward them had now faded away, the only thing left to do was to figure out whether they wanted to join us or not. Bae Jae-Hwan looked back and forth between his people and the two of us from Shelter Hae-Young. ¡°They¡¯re not bad people. They¡¯vee all the way here to help us.¡± ¡°What made you think of bringing a zombie back when you said you¡¯d go look for a shelter?¡± ¡°The two here are officers of a shelter!¡± ¡°You actually think it makes sense for a zombie to be an officer?¡± The woman raised her voice, and the other students around her started whispering. ¡°Hey, keep your voice down.¡± ¡°What are you going to do if zombiese?¡± The female student calmed down after hearing what her friend said, but she still gritted her teeth. Bae Jae-Hwan tried to calm her as well, calling her name in the process. ¡°Ji-Hye, Shin Ji-Hye. Calm down and listen to what I¡¯ve got to say.¡± ¡°...¡± The female student named Shin Ji-Hye frowned and didn¡¯t say a word. Bae Jae-Hwan smacked his lips. ¡°The other three are safe as well. They¡¯re waiting for everyone back at the shelter. Can¡¯t you give these officers a chance, since they made the effort toe all the way here to check on us? Can you show them a little bit of faith?¡± ¡°What if that zombie is trying to create a ce to store away food for itself in the guise of a shelter?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s nothing like that. You¡¯ll understand if you see the shelter for yourself. It¡¯s nothing like that.¡± Bae Jae-Hwan was giving a positive ount of Shelter Hae-Young based on his two-day experience there. After hearing Bae Jae-Hwan out, Shin Ji-Hye considered me and Lee Jeong-Uk with a sour expression. ¡°Alright then,e inside. We¡¯re going to kick you out the moment you try anything funny.¡± Only then did Bae Jae-Hwan sh a smile and gesture for us to go inside. Lee Jeong-Uk chuckled. ¡°So-Yeon¡¯s dad, I think that female student is the leader here.¡± ¡°Grr.¡± I chuckled and nodded. I¡¯d thought Bae Jae-Hwan was the leader all along, but it seemed like the real leader was Shin Ji-Hye. Unlike Bae Jae-Hwan, who only acted all bold and daring, Shin Ji-Hye was truly daring. * * * As we entered the gym, I felt warmth on my cheeks. I wondered if this was the warmth ofmunity. Unlike the outside, which was cold, the inside of the gym was warm enough that one could go around in a t-shirt. As we got to the center of the gym, we saw a couple of tents. Shin Ji-Hye looked at Lee Jeong-Uk and me. ¡°I guess you two are in luck. We were just getting breakfast ready. Let¡¯s eat together.¡± Despite her small physique, and her young, shy-looking face, she had a sophisticated and easygoing personality. We nodded slightly and moved toward the ce Shin Ji-Hye was pointing to. There was a portable gas stove and some mysterious soup boiling away. Next to it, we saw three boiled eggs. Our jaws dropped to the ground looking at the eggs. Lee Jeong-Uk looked at Shin Ji-Hye. ¡°Are there chickens around here?¡± ¡°There¡¯s a henhouse on the hill in the back. We don¡¯t know who made it, but thanks to them, we¡¯re able to eat eggs every day.¡± She seemed to be referring to Dae Hyun San Park. A henhouse in a park. Lee Jeong-Uk let out an energeticugh and asked a question of Shin Ji-Hye. ¡°A henhouse huh¡­ Is that a city-run project or something?¡± I had no clue why he would ask such a question. I couldn¡¯t figure out the point of asking if the city was running any projects in this damned world. Any government policies would have be trash, and it was obvious that city-run projects would have stopped as well. Pushing this initial reaction away, I tried to consider where Lee Jeong-Uk wasing from. He was feeling Shin Ji-Hye out. He was prompting her to lead the conversation, and through that, get insight into how this ce was operating. Shin Ji-Hye didn¡¯t give the question much thought and responded rather quickly. ¡°That, I don¡¯t know either. But there¡¯s a high chance that¡¯s what it is. There was a banner in the back, by the hill. A ¡®farm within a city¡¯ or something like that. Thanks to that, we can get vegetables as well.¡± ¡°Vegetables?¡± ¡°Stuff like potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, and cabbages. I think they were growing easy-to-grow stuff. Well, technically speaking, we¡¯re growing them now.¡± ¡°Well, you¡¯ll probably need water to grow them, don¡¯t you? How are you doing with drinking water?¡± ¡°Jae-Hwan and some other people go to the supermarket every two days. It¡¯s a little dangerous since it¡¯s far away, but we have no other choice if we want to survive.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk nodded as if he couldn¡¯t believe what he was hearing. After a moment, he looked at Shin Ji-Hye straight in the eyes. ¡°I can¡¯t believe you thought of going outside and risking your own lives. Simply amazing if you ask me.¡± ¡°What else can we do? We have to survive too.¡± ¡°Then I bet you were surprised when Bae Jae-Hwan went missing, right? I mean, he was in charge of getting water for everyone after all. Am I wrong?¡± ¡°Well, Jae-Hwan and a couple of others went out to look for a shelter, and then he shows up five dayster with two strangers. In the meantime, the rest of us had to get ourselves water.¡± ¡°A shelter you say¡­ Isn¡¯t this ce a natural fortress, except for the south side? There are trees all along the west, north, and east sides, and there¡¯s even a parking lot on the south side. Is there a particr reason you guys are looking for a shelter?¡± Shin Ji-Hye remained silent. ¡°And there¡¯s even a henhouse and a farm. Why would you abandon such a ce to move yourselves into a shelter?¡± Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s tone was polite, but at the same time, he had cut to the chase. At this point, Shin Ji-Hye would look suspicious if she didn¡¯t answer. I didn¡¯t realize Lee Jeong-Uk had this side to him. Deep down, I was very surprised. Shin Ji-Hye looked at her friends and seemed to hesitate for a moment. Lee Jeong-Uk smiled at her gently, like a friendly next-door neighbor. ¡°You don¡¯t have to tell us if you feel ufortable. We¡¯re just trying to exchange information for the safety of Shelter Hae-Young.¡± Despite the way he had started off his sentence, he was clearly directing them to give us an answer. Shin Ji-Hye frowned and remained silent for a while. After a moment, Bae Jae-Hwan, who was next to her, spoke up. ¡°Well, about that¡­ I can tell you about it.¡± Bae Jae-Hwan looked at Shin Ji-Hye as if waiting for her go-ahead before he shared what he was about to say. She nodded slowly and left us. ¡®Does she not want to talk about it nor hear about it this much?¡¯ I wondered what had happened. Lee Jeong-Uk looked at Bae Jae-Hwan, and he smacked his lower lips. ¡°Long story short, it¡¯s not safe here.¡± ¡°Not safe?¡± Lee Jeong-Uk tilted his head and repeated the words as a question. Bae Jae-Hwan¡¯s expression grew mncholy. ¡°The zombies are evolving.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk frowned and tilted his head side to side again, as if trying to understand what Bae Jae-Hwan had just said. I was startled by his statement. ¡®Is he talking about how zombies are developing naturally? The process of them starting from only having a sense of hearing, to being able to smell, and then having vision?¡¯ Given Bae Jae-Hwan¡¯s choice of words, though, it didn¡¯t seem like he was talking about this concept of growth. Lee Jeong-Uk swallowed hard. ¡°Evolving? borate, please.¡± He was talkingfortably with Bae Jae-Hwan. It seemed like they¡¯d gottenfortable with each other over the course of a couple of days at the shelter. Bae Jae-Hwan sagged his head and croaked out a few barely-audible words. ¡°Sorry for not telling you ahead of time.¡± ¡°No, no. It¡¯s fine. Just tell me what happened.¡± ¡°A lot of my friends¡­ died because of those monsters.¡± We considered this in silence. ¡°Hah¡­ since we¡¯ve brought this up, I might as well tell you everything from the beginning.¡± Bae Jae-Hwan let out a deep sigh and looked at Lee Jeong-Uk and me. He looked haggard. He went through his memories and began to speak. ¡°It was about three weeks ago when I first saw it.¡± We were all ears as we listened to his story. For a split second, I wondered if he was talking about the ck creature, but I could tell as he went on that there was a new mutant out in the wild. Chapter 54 Chapter 54 Lee Jeong-Uk asked Bae Jae-Hwan about the ck creature before he mentioned anything about the mutant. Bae Jae-Hwan repeated the question, his eyes going wide. ¡°Wait, you know about the ck creature?¡± ¡°Of course. When you mentioned the mutant zombie earlier on, you were talking about the ck creature, right?¡± ¡°No, I wasn¡¯t. It¡­ I somehow can¡¯t exin it in words. But, you can tell that it¡¯s a mutant the moment you see it.¡± ¡°Hmm. Okay, we¡¯ll leave that aside for now. Tell me how you survived seeing the ck creature.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t remember exactly how it happened, but we saw it on our way to get drinking water. Its entire body was pitch ck, and it was eating other zombies. We were quite far away from it, so we hurried back without turning back even once.¡± ¡°Seems like you were lucky.¡± ¡°We think so too. Just looking at it creeped me out. Its entire body was pitch ck, and it had glowing blue eyes.¡± ¡°What did you just say?¡± Lee Jeong-Uk had a frown on his face. Bae Jae-Hwan looked puzzled, as if he thought he had said something wrong or unrespectful. ¡°Is¡­ Is there something wrong?¡± ¡°The ck creature had eyes?¡± ¡°Yes. Why would you think it wouldn¡¯t have eyes?¡± Lee Jeong-Uk nced at me in surprise. I was surprised as well. I quickly took out my notepad and wrote down some words. - Draw the ck creature you saw. I handed my pen and notepad to Bae Jae-Hwan, who started drawing away. Once he was done, he stammered hesitantly, ¡°I only saw it from afar so it might be different from what it actually looks like.¡± As I took in his drawing, my expression grewplicated. It was a ck zombie with a big mouth. Of course, this wasn¡¯t new to me. This was the ck creature I knew. But the being Bae Jae-Hwan drew had eyes, a nose, and ears. It had long holes for its nostrils, the same for its ears. It didn¡¯t have a nose bridge, or any defined ears. It merely had holes on its body that existed solely for smelling and hearing. Bae Jae-Hwan had drawn its eyes long and stretched out, and they seemed to be glowing blue. Its pupils were vertical slits, like a cat¡¯s. There was another big physical difference. The ck creature in Haengdang 2-dong was jacked. It had muscr arms and legs. Lee Jeong-Uk examined the drawing of the ck creature as well. ¡°So they can also grow too?¡± I nodded without saying a word. I could already tell that the ck creature in Haengdang 2-dong had gotten stronger, since it had been feasting on the bait that the gang members had been sending. I thought it would be fair to say that, if the ck creature in Haengdang 1-dong was a newborn baby that was able to barely open its eyes, the ck creature here was almost a fully-grown adult. I flipped to a new page on my notepad and wrote out a question for Bae Jae-Hwan. - When did you see it? ¡°I¡¯m not exactly sure. I think it was a month or two ago?¡± Two months. Then it was possible that it had grown even morepared to what Bae Jae-Hwan had drawn. Our faces darkened, and Bae Jae-Hwan¡¯s voice grew nervous. ¡°What¡¯s the matter? Or is there something wrong?¡± ¡°No, no. Can you keep on going with your story?¡± Lee Jeong-Uk tried his best to smile reassuringly. Bae Jae-Hwan looked at him, clearly confused as to why his face had darkened just a minute ago. ¡°After that incident, we¡¯ve tried to avoid the zombies as much as possible. We were all aware that if we made a ruckus, we could attract the ck creature.¡± ¡°Okay, I think we get the gist of the ck creature. Tell us about the mutant.¡± ¡°Well, the thing is, it¡¯s all spection at this point¡­¡± Bae Jae-Hwan hesitated, trailing off. We waited patiently for him to speak. After a moment, he took a deep breath and continued, ¡°I think these zombies evolve as they eat each other.¡± ¡°The zombies are eating each other?¡± ¡°Yes. I used to meet some survivors from time to time whenever I went out for water. But from some point on, I didn¡¯t see any other survivors. For the zombies, this meant that their prey were disappearing. I think that¡¯s when they started to eat each other.¡± I quickly opened my notepad after listening to his theory. - Have you seen a zombie eat another zombie with your own eyes? ¡°I have, yes. Two zombies were looking at each other and growling. Then one of them suddenly attacked the other one and ate its brain.¡± - And then? ¡°It fainted. Well, the one that got attacked was obviously down, but the one that ate the brain also went down.¡± - So both of them died? ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure the one that got its brain eaten was dead. But I¡¯m not sure what happened to the one that ate the brain.¡± As I titled my head in confusion, Bae Jae-Hwan quickly borated. ¡°The one that ate the brain suddenly vomited blood and fainted. We just assumed that it was dead and went back after getting fresh water. But then, when we went to get more water two dayster, there was only one dead body left at that location.¡± - Are you saying that the one that ate the brain was no longer there? ¡°Yes, there were dried bloodstains, but the body was no longer there.¡± - What happened afterward? ¡°Well, after that¡­¡± In the middle of his sentence, his head suddenly sagged. I wondered if he had recalled a traumatic memory. He bit his lips, and he shed a few silent tears. Lee Jeong-Uk patted me on the shoulder and spoke. ¡°Well, I think this is more than enough.¡± I nodded glumly. By his reaction, whatever happened afterward seemed self-exnatory. Bae Jae-Hwan had probably gone out to get fresh water and met a mutant along the way. He¡¯d probably lost a friend to the mutant that had suddenly appeared. I could tell that he was feeling guilty due to the fact that he was one that made it out alive. After that incident, he¡¯d been risking his life to find a safe shelter. For someone who hade all the way to Shelter Hae-Young to avoid zombies, Shelter Hae-Young might not have given him the best impression. I finally understood why Bae Jae-Hwan had been apprehensive after seeing me. Not just toward me, but also toward everyone back at Shelter Hae-Young. Saddened, I patted Bae Jae-Hwan on the shoulder. I felt his shoulders trembling slightly. As I watched him struggling to contain his tears, I felt like I understood just a little bit of the pain he had to be carrying, because of all the ups and downs he¡¯d been through. I sighed and got to my feet. Lee Jeong-Uk looked at me. ¡°Where are you going?¡± - Just going to go around the area. He told me to stay safe while he stayed to console Bae Jae-Hwan. I left the gym and took in the fresh breeze. The cool breeze filled my nostrils, along with the smell of grass, clearing the stuffiness that I felt. I¡¯d stepped outside after hearing Bae Jae-Hwan¡¯s story because I¡¯de up with a theory of my own as well. I just needed some time to organize my thoughts. While I was listening to Bae Jae-Hwan¡¯s story earlier, I recalled the storage room in Majang-dong that had been full of dead zombie bodies. The dead zombies in there had been cold as ice and had traces of dried blood flowing from their eyes, nose, and mouths. I couldn¡¯t help but think that they could¡¯ve ended up that way after eating other zombies¡¯ brains. Either that, or they were zombies that couldn¡¯t mutate and were just thrown away. And finally, it was also possible that the entire process had been designed from the beginning. I wondered if it had all been an experiment. I couldn¡¯t shake the feeling that the gang members were doing all sorts of experiments regarding mutants. The gang members sent their baits out not just on patrol, but also to aplish certain missions. If word regarding mutants reached them, it would be groundbreaking news to them for sure. I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if the gang members had forced each area leader to perform experiments if they wanted results regarding mutants. In fact, it was entirely possible that they already had mutants. I could almost sense some unseen danger heading my way, one that I would not be able to handle. Unfortunately, there was nothing I could do about it at the moment. ¡®I guess I have no choice but to see how everything unfolds, huh.¡¯ I assumed, given the dead bodies in the Majang-dong storage room, that zombies didn¡¯t just turn into mutants by eating zombie brains. Without enough experimental data, I couldn¡¯t just order my underlings to eat other zombie¡¯s brains. That would just lose me a bunch of my underlings. I could only start to experiment on my own once I obtained data from a trustworthy source. ¡®Ha¡­ But where in the world do I get all of this?¡¯ I had to interrogate a gang member with information in order to obtain the data. The most reliable way to obtain data was to capture a leader from another area. However, I was a little hesitant to go ahead with such a n since I wasn¡¯t sure if it would be okay to mount an attack given the possibility that we would run into mutants. The gang had probably noticed as well that they hadn¡¯t heard anything back from Majang-dong for a while. I wasn¡¯t sure if it was the right time to make a move. All these difficult decisions I had to face every day stressed me out. It felt like I never got a break from them. The weight of responsibility was not something I could overlook. * * * Shin Ji-Hye and Bae Jae-Hwan were going to decide on whether they would stay put or go to Shelter Hae-Young after they talked about it with their friends. I¡¯ve noticed that some of the students were still apprehensive toward me. I nodded and stepped outside, since I respected where they wereing from. The students debated for hours. In the meantime, Lee Jeong-Uk and I went up to Dae Hyun San Park and took a look at the farm. Lee Jeong-Uk took a look at the soil. ¡°The soil quality is different here.¡± I titled my head, and Lee Jeong-Uk gestured to me to touch the soil for myself. I squatted down to check. The soil here was fluffy, unlike what one would normally find in the streets. It also felt damp, as if someone had sprayed water on it. I wondered if this was what good-quality soil was. The soil had piqued my interest. I stepped on it with my right foot and smiled gently as I watched my feet sink in. It felt like the soil was holding onto water and oxygen. It was like touching whipping cream, or a sponge. I felt like I was walking on clouds. I was surprised that soil like this even existed. As I beamed at Lee Jeong-Uk like a little child, he looked around and whispered, ¡°Should we take some?¡± I totally understood why he wanted some. But I shook my head and opened up my notepad. - Let¡¯s take care of the students in the gym first. We had to take care of the survivors first. Taking the soil was another issue. Lee Jeong-Uk chuckled. ¡°Of course! What are you talking about? I know you were thinking about taking some too. Is this one of your tricks, trying to make me look like the only bad one here?¡± I smiled and smacked Lee Jeong-Uk on the back. My sudden action surprised him, and he mumbled as he clicked his tongue. After a moment, Bae Jae-Hwan appeared at the gym entrance. He looked around as if looking for us. Lee Jeong-Uk didn¡¯t miss the chance to p me as I was focused on Bae Jae-Hwan. He pped me on the arm to get his little revenge. ¡°Hey, I think they¡¯re done talking. Let¡¯s go.¡± He just had to p me. He could¡¯ve just told me, but he¡¯d pped me pretty hard, as if my smack had actually stung him a little bit. Iughed at his unexpected move. ¡®This guy.¡¯ * * * As we got close to the gym, Bae Jae-Hwan ran toward us with a smile. ¡°We¡¯re done talking!¡± ¡°So, what do you guys want to do?¡± ¡°We¡¯re all going to go.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk nodded and headed straight into the gym. The students were still sitting in a big circle after their discussion. Some of them looked dissatisfied. It seemed like some of them were not happy with the oue. I assumed that they¡¯d taken a majority vote at the end. Lee Jeong-Uk took a look at everyone¡¯s faces. ¡°We won¡¯t let any of you down. Rest assured and don¡¯t worry.¡± Some of the students looked at me cautiously when Lee Jeong-Uk had finished. I could tell that they were still afraid of me, and had their guard up. It seemed like they were staying tactfully silent even though they were dying to ask questions. However, it seemed pointless to try to get them on our side using words alone at this point. I was certain that they would acknowledge that they had made the right decision once we got to the shelter. I took out my notepad and wrote down a few words. - Let¡¯s get going before it gets toote. We have to get there before sunset. After reading my message, all the students started moving in an orderly fashion. Shin Ji-Hye came up to me. ¡°Do we have to move today?¡± - Do you have a lot to pack? ¡°We¡¯re trying to bring everything we have with us here, since we¡¯vee to the decision to move. And I don¡¯t think we can pack everything up today. Can we move tomorrow morning instead?¡± - You can just pack whatever is important. ¡°Well, everything¡¯s important. The reason we were able to survive this long was thanks to all the stuff we have here. We can¡¯t just leave them here.¡± I rubbed my chin as I pondered the situation. I wondered why they would think of packing their tents when they were going to live in an apartment. However, we did have to prepare for the uing winter. I knew we wouldn¡¯t be able to avoid the biting wind in the middle of the winter, no matter how tightly we closed the apartment windows. And the chill that would make it way up from the ground would make a person¡¯s body temperature drop pretty quickly. It was probably the right thing to take the tents with us, and everything else they had seemed pretty essential. Nothing was a waste of space. With some thought, the reasoning seemed pretty simple. These were survivors that had made it this far after the world had turned upside down. They had probably sorted out the items they needed from what they didn¡¯t need. I understood why Shin Ji-Hye was trying to bring everything they had with them. I¡¯d told everyone back at the shelter that we would be back that day, but it seemed like I had to break that promise. I felt ufortable and uneasy thinking that everyone back at the shelter would begin to worry about us, but I knew that taking all the equipment as Shin Ji-Hye was suggesting was the right thing to do. And, to be honest, I never wanted to step foot in Haengdang 2-dong ever again. After all, I was the one that the ck creature wanted to feast on. Chapter 55 Chapter 55 The digital clock in the gym disyed eleven o¡¯clock at night. All the survivors got together once they were done packing everything. I took a look at the situation outside and wrote down a few words. - Let¡¯s get going tomorrow morning right when the sun rises. Lee Jeong-Uk nodded and looked at Shin Ji-Hye. ¡°Do you have any weapons? I think we¡¯ll take turns standing guard.¡± ¡°We have a couple of knives and some spears we made ourselves.¡± ¡°Spears? Do you mind if I take a look?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to act so formally when speaking to us. You seem like you¡¯re old enough to be the same age as my youngest uncle.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk smiled bitterly at me and said in a low voice, ¡°So-Yeon¡¯s dad, being called old¡­ Feels a bit odd, right?¡± I nodded without saying a word. I didn¡¯t want to deal with his joke at the moment. I wanted him to move on. I kept staring into the pitch-ck darkness while Shin Ji-Hye and Lee Jeong-Uk headed toward the storage room. There was no moonlight tonight, and with the mountains surrounding us, it felt rather eerie. The dark and cold energy felt stronger than usual. It was that kind of night in which anything could happen. The survivors decided on their guard-duty shifts and stood next to me. After a moment, Bae Jae-Hwan looked at me. ¡°Umm¡­ So, President sir, I heard you don¡¯t usually sleep. Is that true?¡± ¡®President huh.¡¯ I shed a sheepish expression and wrote down some words. - You guys are on guard duty? ¡°Yes¡­ Sir.¡± - I¡¯ll keep an eye on the front. You guys take care of the back. ¡°Yes, sir!¡± - And let me know right away if anything happens. Bae Jae-Hwan nodded energetically, and he and his two friends went to their respective locations. After a moment, Lee Jeong-Uk came back from the storage room with a sharp spear in his hands. ¡°So-Yeon¡¯s dad, take a look at this. They said they made this themselves.¡± It was a nicely-carved wooden spear that was about ten centimeters in diameter. What stood out to me was the fact that they had taped the handle so that they wouldn¡¯t injure themselves from the wood. I wondered if they¡¯d gotten the wood from Dae Hyun San Park. It seemed pretty easy to get wood out here. Getting wood elsewhere was nearly impossible. I would have loved to make this ce our second shelter if this ce wasn¡¯t in Haengdang 2-dong. Lee Jeong-Uk observed the students covered in nkets. ¡°They¡¯re living every moment to their best.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Do you think there¡¯s a way to filter survivors so that only people who are like these kids join our shelter?¡± It seemed like he was still thinking about the decision we¡¯d made the other day, about not bringing in more survivors into Shelter Hae-Young. Lee Jeong-Uk had done his best and put in all his effort into reaching out to other survivors, starting with the survivors from the local market, high school, and supermarket. Maybe he hade to the realization that these other survivors were his reason for going on. Even though Lee Jeong-Uk didn¡¯t express his thoughts, it seemed like he¡¯d been thinking about how to filter out the ¡®dogs¡¯ from the rest of the survivors this whole time. I wrote out a few words and showed them to Lee Jeong-Uk. - Just think of this as a little break. ¡°A break, huh¡­¡± He smiled as he looked out into the darkness. After a moment, he asked in a low voice, ¡°So, do you have a n?¡± I let out a sigh and scribbled out some words. - I need to expand our buffer zone, with Haengdang 1-dong in the center. ¡°Buffer zone? What buffer zone?¡± - Our safe buffer zone. Lee Jeong-Uk widened his eyes at the words ¡®safe buffer zone¡¯ and stared at me. After a moment, he swallowed and asked, ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that each area has a leader? Are you saying you¡¯re going to take care of all of them?¡± - They¡¯re getting stronger and stronger. I need to expand our safe buffer zone when I can defeat them. ¡°But you could die doing so.¡± - Has there ever been a day where you haven¡¯t thought about death since the world turned out like this? ¡°...¡± Lee Jeong-Uk could find no reply to my question. Perhaps the word ¡®safe¡¯ was longer applicable to this world. As long as there were zombies outside, there was no such thing as safety. At the end of the day, someone had to step up and take care of the zombies. And it was wrong to impose that responsibility onto the survivors. Survivors could take care of normal zombies, but it would be impossible for them to take care of the mutants. They had no chance against mutants that ate other brains, especially ones like me that had eaten a ck creature¡¯s brain. If nobody was willing to step up, or if nobody could step up, it eventually came down to me to step up. I knew it was going to be dangerous. I knew I could die doing this. But I knew I had to do it. So that my family¡ªmy daughter¡ªcould live freely one day. I was not working toward some temporary happiness, but for evesting happiness, so that this world could be a world where people could be excited for the possibilities of the future. I had to fight. I let out a deep breath and closed my eyes tightly. Lee Jeong-Uk looked at me, his expression difficult to read. He probably wanted to stop me. However, just as much as he wanted to stop me, he knew more than anyone that he couldn¡¯t. I slowly opened my eyes and patted Lee Jeong-Uk on the shoulder, looking straight into his eyes. Lee Jeong-Uk pursed his lips as his gaze met mine. ¡®Take care of So-Yeon for me.¡¯ This was the only thing I wanted him to promise me. I could tell that Lee Jeong-Uk knew what I was thinking. His expression seemedplicated and uneasy, but I saw a glimmer of determination in his face. I could see the determination that he would do everything to protect So-Yeon, that he would protect our family no matter what. ¡°Save¡­ me¡­¡± At that moment, I heard a voice that caused my senses to tingle. Both Lee Jeong-Uk and I looked out the window at the same time. It was pitch ck outside. We couldn¡¯t see a single soul out there. Lee Jeong-Uk swallowed. ¡°Hey, did you hear that too?¡± I nodded without saying a word. I wondered where it wasing from. ¡°Is it a survivor?¡± It was begging for its life. Lee Jeong-Uk tightened his grip on the wooden spear he was holding and started peering through the other windows. I squinted my eyes and focused all of my attention on my hearing. ¡°Please¡­ save¡­ me¡­¡± I heard it again. It was a desperate cry. However, its voice was an ambiguous, throat-rending sound that tickled my eardrums. If I stayed inside the gym, there was a limit to how precise I could be in locating the sound. I knew I couldn¡¯t locate where this rather strange voice wasing from unless I stepped outside and had a look for myself. I hurried toward the gym entrance. As soon as I tried to step outside, I heard footsteps scurrying my way. I turned around, my eyes growing wide. Bae Jae-Hwan was right in front of me. He looked at me with unfocused eyes, as if he had seen a ghost. ¡°It¡¯s not a person.¡± I soon realized that Bae Jae-Hwan was holding onto my wrist. I let go of the door handle and looked at the survivors in the gym. All of them had tossed their nkets aside and were looking around nervously. Shin Ji-Hye brought some weapons from the storage room andid them out on the floor. Every student reached out for their weapons in unison. I took out my notepad and wrote down some words. - It¡¯s not a person? ¡°Yes, I¡¯m positive.¡± I tilted my head in confusion, and Bae Jae-Hwan gritted his teeth. ¡°That monster killed my friends.¡± It was a mutant. But wasn¡¯t a mutant a zombie as well? I couldn¡¯t understand how it could speak. I knew that a normal zombie couldn¡¯t talk even if they had eaten a human¡¯s brain. Being able to talk after eating a human¡¯s brain was a privilege reserved for zombies with glowing red eyes. Yet this puny zombie was able to talk just because it had evolved. I didn¡¯t know how to take this in. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ hungry¡­ Mom¡­¡± The bizarre, flesh-rending voice echoed throughout the gym. The students were looking around with terror on their faces. They were still clutching their weapons, but their rounded shoulders gave away their true feelings. Everyone was too scared to even move a single inch. All of them huddled in the center of the gym with their backs to each other, trembling in feral. It seemed as if they couldn¡¯t think of looking outside the windows. Lee Jeong-Uk went up to each student and looked them in the eyes. ¡°Hey wake up, wake up!¡± A female student burst into tears. Her crying echoed through the gym, further highlighting to the other students the situation they were in. ¡°Save¡­ me¡­¡± The female student kept on crying. It seemed like the mutant voice had gotten closer. Its soft footsteps tickled my ears. It sounded like it was just outside the gym. Its speed was much faster than that of regr zombies. The sound, which had beening from the left, suddenly sounded from the right. I wondered for a moment if there was more than one mutant, but I quickly realized that the footsteps belonged to only one mutant, but the direction they wereing from was constantly changing. I sharpened my senses and quickly looked around. ¡°Save¡­¡± Suddenly, the mutant¡¯s footsteps and voice disappeared. I went straight toward where I¡¯d heard itst. In moments, I saw a long shadow outside the window, and I glimpsed something unbelievable. An enormous hand, the size of an adult male¡¯s torso, was heading toward the window as if trying to break it. I roared as I tried to fight off the strange chills that were running down my spine. ¡°GRRR!!!¡± Crash! The arm, at least two meters long, broke through the window. The long arm stopped after I let out my cry. I put all my strength in my legs andunched myself toward it, grabbing onto it and breaking it in an instant. GARRR!!! The creature let out a cry loud enough to shatter eardrums. The broken arm was dragged across the gym floor, and disappeared through the gym window. ¡°So-Yeon¡¯s dad!¡± Lee Jeong-Uk came running. I gestured to him to stop and quickly jotted down some words. - Get the survivors to the storage room. I tossed my notepad to him. Lee Jeong-Uk read what I wrote and rushed to take care of the students. The students were all staring at the broken window with incredulous expressions, as if their souls had left their bodies. Some were staring nkly at me. Patter, patter. I heard it moving. It was moving even more quickly than before. It went over the gym roof and circled around the area. I heard rustling foliage. It was running through the forest. After I confirmed that Lee Jeong-Uk had taken the students into the storage room, I leaped through the broken window. I tried and failed to shake off my nervousness as I followed the creature¡¯s tracks. ¡®It didn¡¯t change.¡¯ I was positive that my palm had touched its arm. In fact, I had gone beyond mere touching. I¡¯d broken its arm with my hands. But it still didn¡¯t turn green. For some reason, I couldn¡¯t recruit it and turn it into an underling. I tracked it through the pitch-ck darkness and ended up at Dae Hyun San Park. I knew that I was extremely quick, and my speed was superhuman. However, despite my physical capabilities, the mutant was still nowhere to be seen. There were traces of it here and there, but I couldn¡¯t see it. ¡®Did I lose it? Can it move this fast?¡¯ Its arms were at least two meters long. If its legs were that long as well, it was impossible for it to hide itself. That meant it was somewhere nearby, but the blinding darkness and lush forest were preventing me from locating it. It was like a stick insect in hiding. I couldn¡¯t differentiate between it and the trees that easily. I shut my eyes tightly and focused all my attention on my hearing and smell. I heard leaves rustling, along with a disturbing sound. I could also smell the fragrance of grass, mixed with a rotting smell that filled up the air and made me nauseous. It wasn¡¯t far away. Huff... puff... Suddenly, I heard it breathing. I looked upward, my eyes going wide. It was holding onto the end of a tree with its long arms and legs, hanging above me like an awning. As our eyes locked, they dropped down toward my head without hesitation. Boom! In desperation, I threw myself to the side to avoid its attack. The world disappeared in a shower of dust, and its arm came hurling straight toward me through the cloud of dust. I avoided its fist on instinct and closed the distance. I finally had it within my view. The creature didn¡¯t have two eyes. Instead, it had multiple eyes, like a spider, and they were all locked on me. Its face was disgusting, triggering a frown from me. I reached out, grabbed onto its jaw and mmed it against the ground. Chapter 56 Chapter 56 Crack! An ordinary zombie¡¯s skull would have been cracked and the creature would be dead by now. But this one didn¡¯t die easily. It twisted its waist in an odd way and wrapped its two legs around my body, and reached out to choke me around the neck with its arms. I wondered how many joints its arms and legs had. I thought I had broken its arms at the gym, but it seemed that wasn¡¯t the case. Its flexible joints allowed it to make abnormal movements. Scrunch. It was choking me harder. My arms weren¡¯t long enough to reach it and I couldn¡¯te up with a n against its unpredictable movements. I was slowly losing consciousness. I knew that I would die if I didn¡¯t do something. ¡®You think you can get me?¡¯ I gritted my teeth and red at it. My glowing red eyes shed, and my pupils contracted into slits, like a cat¡¯s. I could feel my body grow warm as my blood began to flow more quickly. All my muscles tightened, and I felt them increase in strength. Channeling all my strength into my arms, I pushed apart its legs that were wrapped around me. Crack, crack¡­ I heard its joints creak as I strained to push apart its legs. It didn¡¯t possess as much physical strength as me. I grabbed onto its thighs as soon as my hands were free. I knew that a heavy impact wouldn¡¯t be enough to break it, because of all the joints it had. I was well aware that flexible beings were difficult to break. Since I couldn¡¯t break it, I just had to tear it apart. I squeezed its thighs and my fingers pierced through its thick flesh. Once my hands were tightly locked onto its thighs, I used all my strength and ripped its legs out. Crack! Crack! Its bones shattered and its flesh was torn apart. KIAAA!!! Its eyes went crazy, darting all over the ce. ¡®Is it feeling pain? Or is it angry at the fact that its legs got torn off?¡¯ Once its legs were torn off, it released its arms, which had been choking me. It desperately grabbed a tree branch and got ready to swing away like a gibbon, as if it knew that it could not defeat me. Of course, I didn¡¯t miss my opportunity to end the creature once and for all. I grabbed onto its right arm. nting my left foot on its neck, I ripped its right arm free. KIAAA!!! I ripped off every appendage it had like a crazed serial killer. This daddy-long-legs, with all of its arms and legs torn off, shook its head and wailed hideously. ¡°Please¡­ save¡­ Save¡­ me!¡± I really hated the creature¡¯s cry. I frowned and looked straight into its eyes. I wanted to end its life right then, but there was something else I had to confirm. ¡®You, do you hear me?¡¯ ¡°Please¡­ save¡­ me!¡± ¡®You don¡¯t hear me?¡¯ ¡°Please¡­ save¡­ me!¡± ¡®...¡¯ ¡°I¡¯m¡­ hungry.¡± It seemed like it couldn¡¯t hear my voice, but it also wasn¡¯t saying what it was thinking. Its request to be saved wasn''ting from its consciousness. It was unconsciously spitting out these words, the same way the street zombies made their throat-rending noises. I wondered if it was repeating what people had said before they were killed by it. I pursed my lips bitterly. I raised my right foot high as I looked into its horrendous face. Every eye the creature possessed was looking at my foot, but there was nothing that this daddy-long-legs could do anymore, now that its arms and legs had been ripped away. Thud! The blunt, sickening feeling traveled its way from my right foot all the way up to my head as I stomped on its face. The creature stopped moving. I exhaled, releasing the tension within me. I rubbed the soles of my bloody shoes against the ground and walked down from Dae Hyun San Park as if nothing had happened. * * * I knocked on the storage room door, and Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s cautious voice answered. ¡°So-Yeon¡¯s dad?¡± ¡°Grr.¡± I acknowledged him in my throat-rending voice, and the tightly-shut door creaked open. Since Lee Jeong-Uk could tell the difference between my affirmative and negative cries, he probably figured out that the being that was knocking on the door was me. As the door opened, I saw Lee Jeong-Uk and the students. Shin Ji-Hye and Bae Jae-Hwan were calming their friends down. Everyone was curled up, barely making eye contact with me. Bae Jae-Hwan asked me in a rather agitated voice, ¡°So the mutant. What happened to the mutant?¡± I took out my notepad and wrote a few words. - I killed it. Bae Jae-Hwan stared at me in wide-eyed awe after reading what I had written. Shin Ji-Hye¡¯s expression grew surprised, and she examined me from top to bottom. ¡°Did you get hurt anywhere?¡± I shook my head. She teared up but then quickly turned her face to the side. It seemed like Shin Ji-Hye had been going through a lot as well. She was probably worn out by the suffering she endured each time one of her friends disappeared while heading out to get fresh water. As a leader that had to make decisions, she probably felt that she was helpless in the face of the weight of responsibility and of life. I understood how Shin Ji-Hye would be feeling, and so I carefully lifted my hand and patted her on the shoulder. She flinched, but then burst into tears and copsed to the floor. I quickly stashed my hands in my pockets, not knowing how to react. I looked at Lee Jeong-Uk and smacked my lips. Lee Jeong-Uk smiled gently. ¡°How dare you make a girl cry! You¡¯re a bad boy, aren¡¯t you?¡± I couldn¡¯t believe he was making jokes right now. As I took a deep breath and let my head sink, Lee Jeong-Uk came up to me and put his arm around my shoulders, speaking in a low voice. ¡°She¡¯s just loosening up. She¡¯s just relieved, that¡¯s all.¡± I looked at the students grimly. Some of the other students were following Shin Ji-Hye¡¯s example and were tearing up a little. I was proud of what these young students had gone through, having survived to this day, but at the same time I felt bad and sorry for them. After a while, some of the students came up to me and thanked me by bowing deeply toward me. ¡°Thank you very much for saving us. Thank you very much.¡± ¡°If it weren¡¯t for you, we would¡¯ve been long gone. Thank you very much from the bottom of my heart.¡± They were the students that had been in front of the window when the mutant¡¯s arms had broken through it. If I had just screamed without grabbing onto the mutant¡¯s arm, these students would have died in that instant. I nodded slightly to acknowledge their thanks. - I¡¯ll be outside. Please calm the students. I headed toward the gym entrance after showing Lee Jeong-Uk my message, but he grabbed onto my shirt. ¡°So-Yeon¡¯s dad.¡± ¡°Grr?¡± As I turned to look at him, he shed a gentle smile. ¡°Smile, man. You deserve to smile today.¡± I didn¡¯t know why, but his words hit me differently. They went straight to my heart. I bit my lips and frowned, trying to contain my sadness. Lee Jeong-Uk patted me on the back. ¡°You¡¯re doing a great job. Even to the point that I respect you.¡± I could tell that Lee Jeong-Uk wasn¡¯t just mouthing empty words. I nodded slightly and left the gym, going outside. The cool fall breeze and the smell of grass tickled my nose. I took in the fresh air and stared into the pitch-ck darkness. Even when the world was this dark, the air was surprisingly fresh. I knew there were still more people in this world that had the desire to live on, just like the students in the gym. They were probably praying for someone to help them as they waited in safe havens. And it wasn¡¯t because they were weak or useless. As a human, it wasn¡¯t wrong to be afraid in this situation. They could only hope for an almighty figure to save them. I knew this because I, too, had prayed for somebody to save me while I¡¯d been trapped in a room before all this happened. I recalled the sad face Lee Jeong-Uk had made when we decided not to allow new members to Shelter Hae-Young. ¡®A safe buffer zone, huh¡­¡¯ I stared at the night sky nkly and pictured a map in my mind. I wanted to expand our safe buffer zone, but I realized that this was the time to reinforce our shelter internally. I wanted to take care of all the zombies in Haengdang 1-dong and Majang-dong first, and then find the hidden survivors. But after finding them, there was no need to bring them back to Shelter Hae-Young. I could just make a ce for them on their own. It was the only way to protect Shelter Hae-Young from the ¡®dogs¡¯ while saving the survivors. I believed that I could save everyone by creating awork of shelters, instead of being restricted to one shelter. However, I would have to act as a gatekeeper for all of them. Everyone was weak individually, but I knew we could achieve more if we worked together. A reliable alliance would be safer for me and my family and would be the backbone that supported our lives. I could only think about my only ally, the being that I could trust with all my heart. I needed to have a serious talk with Kim Hyeon-Jun once he woke up. * * * The next day, I led all the survivors outside. The cool morning air, heavy with the scent of grass, tickled my nose. After a moment, Shin Ji-Hye spoke up. ¡°We¡¯re ready. Let¡¯s go.¡± I took a quick nce at the students gathered in front of the gym. A lot of students, including Shin Ji-Hye, were staring at my back. After I had taken out the mutant, the way they were looking at me had changed. Just yesterday, everyone was looking at me with distrust. But the way they were looking at me now wasn¡¯t just a simple feeling of relief. It was hope. I saw a glimpse of hope in their eyes. They knew they weren¡¯t heading for a utopia, but I could sense that they believed they could dream of a better future if they followed me. I nodded slightly to Shin Ji-Hye and started walking toward Shelter Hae-Young. I didn¡¯t call in my underlings to reduce the chances of getting caught by the ck creature. I kept an eye on the street zombies and guided the survivors along safe routes. Unfortunately, the breathing of so many survivors together agitated some zombies, and they ended up charging toward the survivors. I knew better than to agitate the attacking zombies, so we just kept walking while I recruited the ones that charged toward us as underlings. Shin Ji-Hye, not knowing what was going on, whispered to me, ¡°Why¡­ Why aren¡¯t they attacking?¡± All the zombies that I touched lost their aggressive instincts and tagged along with the survivors. I guess she was surprised at this interaction. I smacked my lips, and Lee Jeong-Uk, who was next to me, answered in my stead. ¡°So-Yeon¡¯s dad can turn zombies into his underlings.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Shin Ji-Hye gasped, her eyes wide. Lee Jeong-Uk quickly covered her mouth. ¡°Keep your voice down.¡± ¡°Hmm, Hmm, I¡¯m sorry. I was just so surprised¡­¡± ¡°Someone like you getting surprised by something like this? You weren¡¯t even surprised when you saw zombies!¡± ¡°Well yeah, obviously right?¡± Shin Ji-Hye answered bluntly, and Lee Jeong-Uk smirked. ¡°You¡¯re in for a ride if you¡¯re already this surprised.¡± Shin Ji-Hye muttered inaudibly instead of answering and blinked her round eyes. As we made our way down from the hill, avoiding zombies, Shin Dong Ah apartment slowly came into sight. I gave orders to my underlings who were waiting there for me. ¡®Everyone,e out. But don¡¯t answer back. Be quiet.¡¯ My underlings came piling out from the apartments, their footsteps soft. Shin Ji-Hye and the other students grew anxious as they watched the zombiesing out. ¡°It¡¯s a wave. A wave!¡± Shin Ji-Hye gasped and screamed again, and this time Bae Jae-Hwan calmed her down. ¡°Ji-Hye, calm down. They¡¯re on our side.¡± ¡°Huh? What?¡± ¡°Those zombies. They¡¯re on our side.¡± ¡°What in the¡­?¡± Shin Ji-Hye fell to the ground and looked at all the zombies that were piling out of the buildings with a dumbfounded expression. Bae Jae-Hwan wasn¡¯t nervous or on guard when he saw the zombiese out, since he had already heard more than enough about the blue-colored zombies. Lee Jeong-Uk offered Shin Ji-Hye a hand, as he knew exactly how she would be feeling. ¡°Everyone reacts pretty much how you did at first. It¡¯s normal, so there¡¯s nothing to be ashamed of.¡± Shin Ji-Hye got herself together and patted her bottom as if she was embarrassed by what Lee Jeong-Uk had told her. Lee Jeong-Uk quickly stashed his right hand back into his pockets in embarrassment. ¡°Did you say ¡®wave¡¯?¡± ¡°Yeah, the way the zombies gather up in one area.¡± Shin Ji-Hye answered him straightforwardly, and Lee Jeong-Uk grew thoughtful. ¡°Oh, are you talking about resonance?¡± ¡°Is that what you call it, ahjussi?¡± ¡°Is it because you guys are young? That¡¯s why you use English phrases?¡± ¡°It¡¯s more suitable to say ¡®wave¡¯. It¡¯s weird calling it ¡®resonance¡¯.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk kept a straight face. I quickly got my notepad out and wrote: - Why are you trying to talk back to a kid? This was the perfect opportunity to get back at Lee Jeong-Uk. He mumbled something under his breath and strode into Shin Dong Ah apartmentplex first. I followed him, smiling. Chapter 57 Chapter 57 I ordered my underlings to take over the stuff that the students were carrying. We headed straight past Eungbong crossway to get to Shelter Hae-Young. Kang Ji-Suk and Byeon Hyuk-Jin pushed aside the barricade that was blocking the entrance. Lee Jeong-Hyuk and Choi Da-Hye came running out. ¡°Did something happen?¡± I nodded slightly in response to Lee Jeong-Hyuk¡¯s question. I then opened my notepad and asked him to bring the elder over. He acknowledged the request and headed to apartment 104. After a few moments, Lee Jeong-Hyuk came back with the elder. Iid out the vegetables, soil, and chickens I¡¯d brought over from Dae Hyun San Park. The elder¡¯s eyes went wide. ¡°Amazing. Where did you get these precious things?¡± - They were on a farm in Dae Hyun San Park. ¡°Fu fu, I guess god is watching over us after all.¡± - But sir, there¡¯s barely any chicken feed for the chicken. I tried to bring as much as I could, but I know it won¡¯t be enough. ¡°We can get more chicken feed when we go out to get food. I¡¯d say don¡¯t worry about it. We can also give them millet or make stew out of the sweet potato or potato roots that we can¡¯t eat.¡± - They eat that kind of stuff too? ¡°That¡¯s what everybody did back in the day.¡± The elder smiled gently and examined each of the nine chickens closely, mutteringments about each of them¡ª¡®look at this one¡¯, ¡®look at how plump this one is¡¯¡ªclearly still in awe. The Lee brothers and Choi Da-Hye looked at me. ¡°We¡¯re going to have to make a henhouse. Is everyone willing to help?¡± Everyone nodded without showing much objection. The moment Lee Jeong-Uk tried to start working, I grabbed his shoulder and shook my head. ¡°So-Yeon¡¯s dad, what¡¯s wrong?¡± - You should look after the students. ¡°Oh, got it.¡± I was self-conscious, feeling their gaze on me. The students we¡¯d brought over from Dae Hyun San Park gym were just looking at what we were doing, and hadn¡¯t been able to even sit down. We had to show them to their rooms and exin to them how the shelter operated. I thought Lee Jeong-Uk could be in charge of that. ¡°Okay everyone, gather up here.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk had an easy expression as he walked toward the students. He shed a quick smirk. ¡°I hope everyone¡¯s done some shoveling or farming in their lives.¡± I ced a palm on my face and sighed. He wasn¡¯t giving them a single second to rest. In fact, he was subtly pressuring them to help out. However, they did have to do their part now, since they were now part of Shelter Hae-Young. The students were astute enough to know that they had to abide by new rules now. They all nodded and followed Lee Jeong-Uk. Lee Jeong-Uk smiled brightly and called out to the elder. ¡°Elder! The students here said they¡¯d help too!¡± ¡°Huh, huh. I haven¡¯t seen young people like them in a while.¡± I pretended that I saw nothing and started heading toward apartment 104. I wanted to meet So-Yeon as soon as I could. But then someone grabbed my shoulder. ¡°So-Yeon¡¯s father, you¡¯re going to help out too, right?¡± It was Choi Da-Hye. I smiled sheepishly, trying toe up with an excuse. I quickly frowned and acted like I had a headache. I should¡¯ve known that it wouldn¡¯t work on Choi Da-Hye, though. I was sure it would¡¯ve worked if it was either of the Lee brothers or the elder. Choi Da-Hye¡¯s face turned to disappointment after she took a close look at me. ¡°So-Yeon¡¯s father.¡± ¡°Grr¡­?¡± ¡°Even if you have the opportunity to be an actorter on, I don¡¯t think you should be one. You look pretty alright, but your acting is terrible.¡± ¡°...¡± Choi Da-Hye passed me the shovel she was holding as I smacked my lips out of bitterness. ¡°Alrighty, if you could take care of the sweet potatoes, please.¡± ¡°Grr¡­¡± ¡°You know you can¡¯t go to see So-Yeon anyway. She¡¯s studying with everyone else. Remember what Seon-Hui unnie said thest time you tried to do so.¡± ¡®Of course I remember.¡¯ A couple of weeks ago, Han Seon-Hui had smacked my back and shooed me out when the children were busy studying. Back then, I¡¯d been so sad and embarrassed that I couldn¡¯t help but let my shoulders sag on my way out. Thinking about it now, though, it was entirely my fault. It was my fault for bothering their studies, and I also hadn¡¯t thought of the other children. When the world turned into this mess, most of the kids would never see their parents anymore, and I could tell that those kids were probably jealous of So-Yeon deep down. That¡¯s probably why Han Seon-Hui smacked me, since she¡¯d figured it out before me. I grudgingly took the shovel from Choi Da-Hye and helped the elder with his work. * * * As it passed one o¡¯clock in the afternoon, the kids piled out of apartment 104. After the children were done with their sses, we all got together to eat lunch. Theirughter was a kind of reminder for us to get together and take a break. ¡°Daddy!¡± So-Yeon¡¯s backpack swung from side to side as she came running toward me. I beamed at her and got to one knee to wee her into my arms. As I lifted So-Yeon and whirled her about in circles, everyone who was watching burst outughing. The college students that had just arrived looked So-Yeon and I, dumbfounded. I quickly took out my notepad and wrote down some words. - Were you a good girl today? ¡°Yes! Aunt Seon-Hui told me a funny story.¡± - Funny story? ¡°It¡¯s about a turtle and rabbit! They raced against each other. Daddy, do you know who won?¡± - Hmm, Daddy¡¯s not sure. The rabbit? ¡°Nope! The turtle!¡± It seemed like children under the age of eleven were learning about fables as well. It made sense, since these fables held many lessons that the children could understand easily and could eventually help them grow emotionally. So-Yeon kept going on about the race between the turtle and rabbit. I grinned while I paid attention to what she had to say. It felt great just to be able to hear her talk. I was so overwhelmed by joy, and I even wondered if I was allowed to feel so good and happy. Out of the blue, I felt a deep respect for all the fathers that sent their daughters off to get married to other men. I wondered how they could leave their precious daughters in the hands of a different man. I couldn¡¯t imagine it at all. The Lee brothers wereughing cheerfully as they yed with the other children. After a moment, the principal came out with the teenage students. He came up to me and whispered in my ear. ¡°So-Yeon¡¯s father, Ji-Suk didn¡¯te to ss again. He gave the excuse that he had to be on guard duty.¡± I thought of Kang Ji-Suk after I heard what the principal said. ¡®Wait, isn¡¯t Kang Ji-Suk still sixteen?¡¯ I didn¡¯t even realize earlier that he shouldn¡¯t have been manning the barricade. For some reason, it seemed natural for him to be doing that. The principal took a look around before whispering again, ¡°I think Ji-Suk is slowly losing his grip on his emotions.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but be surprised by that. Kang Ji-Suk was a cheerful boy who chattered away every time he saw me. ¡®But if the principal feels this way¡­ Does this mean that Kang Ji-Suk is having a hard time getting along with the other students?¡¯ I titled my head and wrote down a few words. - Do you think he isn¡¯t trying to fit in? ¡°Yes. I think it¡¯s been about a month. I think it has something to do with Eun-Jeong.¡± ¡®Kang Eun-Jeong.¡¯ She was Kang Ji-Suk¡¯s older sister in her twenties. She was a bold woman. Unfortunately, she¡¯d been down with a cold for over a month, but the medicine we brought from the pharmacy hadn¡¯t helped her recovery. She wasn¡¯t able to eat porridge properly, and barely ate at all, constantly saying that she didn¡¯t have any appetite. She was staying by herself in an empty room in apartment 104 for now. Kang Ji-Suk, Han Seon-Hui, and Choi Da-Hye took turns taking care of her. She¡¯d developed a mysterious fever and was dry-heaving at first, but thankfully, she¡¯d gotten a bit better after taking some medicine. Unfortunately, that was it. Although the early, severe symptoms had gotten better, she was still very sick. Despite this, she still insisted on doingundry and cleaning. She could work for at most an hour before her condition deteriorated and she turned pale. At that point, everyone sent her back to her room. Kang Eun-Jeong was growing weaker by the day. We didn¡¯t know her exact symptoms, and we had no way to help since we didn¡¯t have a doctor. The rest of us in the shelter could only wish that she would fight off her mysterious symptoms on her own and get back to her healthy self soon. But it seemed like Kang Ji-Suk¡¯s attitude and personality had changed ever since his sister had fallen sick. He didn¡¯t care much about his studies anymore, and he would spend more than half the day guarding the barricade. I frowned sadly, and a sigh escaped my lips. The principal sighed as well. ¡°I think it¡¯s best if you have a talk with him. He doesn¡¯t seem to listen to us anymore...¡± - Has Ji-Suk threatened anyone or done anything that was disrespectful toward others? Has he crossed the line? ¡°No, he hasn¡¯t. But whatever we say seems to go in one ear ande out the other. He doesn¡¯t even try to listen to what we have to say. I¡¯ve heard he¡¯s like this too when Lee Jeong-Uk talks to him.¡± Kang Ji-Suk called Lee Jeong-Uk ¡®uncle¡¯, showing just how close they were. If he was unwilling to talk to Lee Jeong-Uk as well, this was a serious matter. - I¡¯ll try to talk to him. ¡°Please. Everyone is worried about Ji-Suk. He¡¯s just a child who¡¯s supposed to have fun right now, you know¡­?¡± The principal trailed off and shook his head. I was more than aware that he¡¯d been guiding students onto the right path so that they wouldn¡¯t go astray his entire life. Even for someone like the principal, it wasn¡¯t easy for him to understand the change within Kang Ji-Suk. The world had changed. It almost felt as though the things we were certain of previously were now useless. I wondered if the principal was being more cautious than usual in approaching him, just in case Kang Ji-Suk decided to go down the wrong path. Perhaps this was why he was asking people around for help, and he¡¯d even turned to me, the leader of Shelter Hae-Young, for help. He¡¯d probably considered the situation carefully beforeing to me. Ultimately, it was the principal¡¯s responsibility to take care of the children. He might¡¯ve thought that he wasn¡¯t adequately discharging his responsibility. If he had toe to me with this issue, did it mean that the situation was that severe, or that he was that desperate? Or was it just a sign that he was worried about the students from the bottom of his heart? I nodded and wrote down some words. - I¡¯ll try talking to himter. You should go have lunch first. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I know you¡¯re already so busy, but to bring this up to you¡­¡± - It¡¯s all right. In fact, I¡¯m d that you told me. ¡°...¡± The principal pursed his lips and didn¡¯t say a word. I looked at his face and wrote down more words. - We¡¯re basically a family now. We need to take care of each other¡¯s pain. Let me know anytime. I¡¯ll try my best to help if I¡¯m able to. ¡°Thank you.¡± The principal barely croaked out his thanks. As I patted him on the back, he gave a slight nod and went to join the rest of themunity. So-Yeon looked at me with her head tilted to the side, as if she sensed something wasn¡¯t right. I tried my best to smile at her. - So-Yeon sweetie, you should go eat with everyone else. ¡°Daddy, aren¡¯t youing?¡± - Daddy¡¯s going to go get Ji-Suk oppa. ¡°Okie! Ji-Suk oppa should be at the entrance!¡± - Is that right, sweetie? I don¡¯t have to waste any time looking for Ji-Suk oppa, thanks to you, sweetie. Thank you, darling. I smiled gently and gestured for her to join the others. So-Yeon scurried away to join the others, and told me to be back as soon as possible. I smiled slightly and stared at the crowd of people for a while. Once I saw that So-Yeon was eating lunch andughing along with the others, I headed toward the entrance. ¡®So that¡¯s how Ji-Suk¡¯s been doing these days¡­¡¯ It seemed like there was a strong connection between his current actions and Kang Eun-Jeong¡¯s illness. Despite it being lunchtime, I didn¡¯t see Kang Ji-Suk. I prayed that he wouldn¡¯t go down the wrong path. * * * As I got closer to the barricade at the front entrance, I saw Kang Ji-Suk sitting on the floor with his stainless steel spear. He got up quickly as if he had felt my presence. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, ahjussi. I just sat down.¡± I smiled gently and gestured to him to sit back down. I took out my notepad and wrote down some words. - Aren¡¯t you eating? It¡¯s lunchtime. ¡°Oh¡­ I¡¯m not that hungry right now.¡± - Still, you have to eat so that you can keep going. ¡°I¡¯m okay.¡± Kang Ji-Suk chuckled and looked off into the distance. He had the face of a teenager with a lot on his mind. I let out a breath and then wrote down more words. - Is there something on your mind you want to talk about? ¡°No, ahjussi, nothing at all. What would I be worried about when I¡¯m here thanks to you, ahjussi?¡± - Thanks to me? ¡°Yes¡­?¡± - No. It¡¯s because everyone tried their best. I couldn¡¯t have done anything by myself. ¡°Ahjussi, you don¡¯t have to be so humble. Everyone knows it¡¯s all thanks to you. It¡¯s just that no one here says it out loud.¡± I let my face go nk. Kang Ji-Suk carefully avoided my gaze, although he seemed surprised. I looked at him calmly and wrote down more words. - Do you really think so? ¡°Well, this shelter was built thanks to you, and you even got rid of all the zombies nearby. And thanks to that, everyone canugh this loud in this apartmentplex...¡± I ced my hand on Kang Ji-Suk¡¯s shoulder, and locked eyes with him. He met my gaze for a moment, but eventually swallowed and looked down. After a moment, he smirked and chuckled. ¡°I know, ahjussi. I know that everyone yed a part. But I also know that you¡¯re in the middle of everything. I¡¯ll try my best too. I¡¯m good at working, you know?¡± Looking at Kang Ji-Suk, I began to sense why he was acting the way he was. I wrote out a message slowly. - If there¡¯s anything you feel bad or disappointed about, tell me. I can¡¯t talk with you, but I can surely listen to you. ¡°No, ahjussi, there¡¯s nothing like that.¡± - It¡¯s all right. Spill the beans. ¡°There¡¯s really nothing, ahjussi.¡± Kang Ji-Suk smiled a bitter smile, and his head sank. However, I could tell that he had something on his mind just by the way he was ying with his fingers. Just like his wiggling fingers, I knew that this tangled-up andplicated issue on his mind was slowly eating away at his body and mind. Although he wouldn¡¯t tell me the reason directly, I was now certain as to why he was acting in this manner. I let out a quick breath and wrote down some words. - It¡¯s not your fault. Chapter 58 Chapter 58 ¡°...What?¡± - It¡¯s not your fault. ¡°Why are you suddenly saying this, ahjussi?¡± - Like I said, it¡¯s not your fault. Kang Ji-Seok looked at what I wrote and stayed silent for a while. Perhaps my words offort, reassuring him that he wasn¡¯t to me for this situation, had touched his heart. However, I noticed that his jaw was trembling. He quickly turned away and sniffled once. I quietly patted him on the shoulder. ¡°Oh geez, why am I¡­¡± Kang Ji-Seok put on a bitter smile as he kept on sniffling. His eyes were bloodshot. All the tears he¡¯d been holding back flowed out in a torrent. With sorrow in my heart, I wrote down some words. - Are you worried about your sister? Kang Ji-Suk didn¡¯t say anything after he¡¯d read what I had written. Instead, he frowned and kept his mouth closed. I waited until Kang Ji-Suk calmed down, hoping that he would open up once he organized his thoughts. I sat next to him for a while and looked to the horizon. I knew better than to lecture him about the stuff that he already knew. Sitting with him was the best thing I could do right now. After a while, Kang Ji-Suk let out a deep breath. ¡°Do you think my sister will be okay?¡± - She¡¯ll be all right. ¡°Please don¡¯t kick her out. I¡¯ll take on whatever my nuna is responsible for as well.¡± Despite his calm expression, Kang Ji-Suk¡¯s voice was trembling. However, his eyes looked more determined than ever. Everyone in Shelter Hae-Young was responsible for their own thing and everyone moved in unison, like a set of gears. It seemed like Kang Ji-Suk had been worried for a while, since Kang Eun-Jeong seemed like a malfunctioning gear that wasn''t working together with the other gears. I wondered if thest officer meeting had affected Kang Ji-Suk. I wondered if it had given him the impression that his take on the situation was true. Kang Eun-Jeong hadn¡¯t been able to participate in thest meeting with the other initial members of the shelter as she was sick. He might have thought that everyone was slowly excluding Kang Eun-Jeong, which probably led him to think that, if he didn¡¯t do anything, the two would get kicked from the shelter. Kang Ji-Suk had been doing everything he could, even shouldering his nuna¡¯s responsibilities, in order to stay in the shelter. He was on guard duty day and night, and looked for whatever work he could do. He looked for any ce that seemed short-staffed and helped out withundry, cleaning, farming, risking his life to get food from outside, and did guard duty with his stainless steel spear when there wasn''t any other work for him to do. It was a lot for a sixteen-year-old to handle. Not only physically, but mentally as well. I was proud of Kang Ji-Suk, but felt sorry at the same time that I hadn¡¯t taken care of him as much as I should have. I patted Kang Ji-Suk on the back and let out a sigh. I had absolutely no clue what I should be saying to him. Kang Ji-Suk sighed along with me. ¡°To be honest, I¡¯m confused these days. I get that all the people here are good people, but I feel like there¡¯s this gap opening up between us now. Am I the only one who feels like this?¡± - In this world, forming rtionships with others is one of the most difficult things to do. ¡°For some reason, it seems like, along the way, something got twisted. I¡¯m scared that we might never be able to mend our rtionships.¡± I felt his honesty. I looked up to the sky for a moment and organized my thoughts. The sky was as clear as it could be, unlike ourplicated reality. I took out my notepad and wrote each word as neatly as I could. - On one hand, you don¡¯t want to break ties, but at the same time, you hold a glimmer of disappointment toward them, don¡¯t you? And trying to untie whatever you had in the past seems difficult too, doesn¡¯t it? ¡°...Yes, exactly.¡± - Well, that¡¯s the thing about rtionships. Let me ask you a question. Kang Ji-Suk tilted his head to look at what I had written, then looked at me with a serious face. I smiled gently and wrote down my question. - The cardigan you¡¯re wearing. How was it made? ¡°What?¡± Kang Ji-Suk looked down at his knit cardigan and tilted his head again. I chuckled. - The entire cardigan is knitted together with knots and ties. ¡°¡­Yes.¡± - That¡¯s how rtionships are. You fight, you forgive, but you¡¯ll be left with a sense of uneasiness even after making up with the other person. During that process, you get to learn more about the other person through understanding and consideration. That¡¯s how you get to know each other. ¡°¡­¡± Kang Ji-Suk concentrated on reading what I¡¯d written, but still looked clueless. I peered into his face, then kept on writing. - You wouldn¡¯t have gotten involved with another person if they were someone you didn¡¯t need to get close to. And even if you had, you would have left them behind in the end. But we¡¯re no longer in that kind of rtionship, are we? ¡°Yes, you¡¯re right¡­¡± - The thing is, emotional conflicts are inevitable whenever people are gathered. Even in the best rtionships. Families have conflicts all the time, right? In fact, it¡¯d be strange to not have any conflicts. If there aren¡¯t any issues, that means nobody has talked about their true feelings, ever. ¡°¡­¡± - How about you approach others first? Or are you afraid that people will avoid or ignore you? ¡°¡­¡± - Everyone here knows that your sister is sick at the moment, but there¡¯s really no cure to her sickness right now. No one knows how she will get better, including myself. So you should go up to others first. Go ask them what you could be doing right now. ¡°What if everyone tells me and my sister to both get out?¡± - Do you think the people here are that sort of people? Or am I the only one who has the wrong impression of them? I raised my eyebrow, and Kang Ji-Suk pouted silently. I softened my face and continued writing. - Don¡¯t be afraid to get hurt by others. It¡¯ll be the motivation for you to be a better person. ¡°¡­¡± - Well, at least, that¡¯s what this ahjussi thinks. I cleared my throat and scratched my neck. Kang Ji-Suk just stared at me without saying a word. I let out a quick breath and wrote down more words. - You know, at one point, I came to realize something about people. Whoever gave me harsh advice was someone I could count on, while those who sugar-coated everything turned out to be against me. That¡¯s how every rtionship was for me. ¡°Are you telling me to get scolded by everyone?¡± Kang Ji-Suk¡¯s naive answer caused me to roar withughter. I couldn¡¯t believe he took my message in that way. This naivety was the reason why I missed being young. I patted Kang Ji-Suk¡¯s head and gently smiled at him. His face reddened and he hung his head as if he was embarrassed. - Go show them your true self. And don¡¯t be shy while you¡¯re at it. ¡°¡­ Okay.¡± - I bet everyone is waiting for you to open up first. ¡°Okay, ahjussi¡­¡± Kang Ji-Suk grumbled and got to his feet. He then walked toward the crowd of people that wereughing away. Looking at them made me ponder on the mechanism through which trust was built¡ªthe first step was being disappointed by others and not having our expectations met. I knew that a boy like Kang Ji-Suk wouldter realize that¡¯s what real rtionships were. Full of knots and tangled-up things. * * * Everyone dispersed back to their workces after eating. So-Yeon and the children went to apartment 104 to help with cleaning, under Han Seon-Hui¡¯s supervision. I waved at So-Yeon as she got further away. She raised her right hand high and yelled back, ¡°Daddy! Let¡¯s y again at night!¡± I couldn¡¯t help butugh when I heard her voice. Lee Jeong-Uk, who was next to me, snorted. ¡°If you¡¯re thinking about ying through the night, go y in a different room.¡± I nodded slightly without answering. Lee Jeong-Uk massaged his tight neck and crept closer to me. ¡°What did you tell Ji-Suk to make him open up?¡± he whispered. I shrugged. Kang Ji-Suk had told everyone about his feelings, along with his sister¡¯s story. Everyone listened to him as if his worries were theirs. There was still no n to figure everything out, but I knew for sure that they had grown closer together. Lee Jeong-Uk clicked his tongue at me. ¡°I remember when you told me you didn¡¯t want to be the leader. Why¡¯d you try to put it on me when you¡¯d be doing this good of a job?¡± Lee Jeong-Uk smacked my back and walked toward the college students while chuckling. He was going to wrap up the farming tasks for the day. I looked up at the sky and let out a sigh. ¡®Didn''t even know I was going to say stuff like that.¡¯ I wondered if everything I had said to him came out subconsciously. Or if he¡¯d decided to open up as well since I¡¯d approached him sincerely. Whether it was on purpose or not, I was d that they talked through their misunderstandings. I stashed my hands in my pockets and headed toward apartment 101. I wanted to check on how Kim Hyeong-Jun was doing. It had been a long time since Ist checked on him. I entered the security office of apartment 101 andid eyes on Kim Hyeong-Jun, who was still sleeping. If he was really going to sleep for a week, there were still three more days to go until he woke up. I nned on taking care of the zombies in Haengdang 1-dong and Majang-dong in the meantime. I had to clearly define our borders and work on improving the shelter¡¯s defenses. ¡®Everybody,e out.¡¯ All of my underlings in apartment 102 gathered outside as soon as I gave the order. I looked them over, and began to assign them to new squads and toons. I sent the ones that weren¡¯t yet painted blue back into apartment 102, and assigned the ones painted in blue into new squads and toons. I started with the first toon and made my way up to the fourth toon. I had a total of eight hundred and seven underlings with me. Among them, almost four hundred of them weren¡¯t painted blue. Leaving the unpainted scouts in Majang-dong out of the picture for now, I still had to get the ones with me painted blue no matter what. I needed to look for blue markers and spray paint when I went to clean up Haengdang 1-dong. ¡®Alright, listen carefully to what I¡¯m going to say from now on, and be ready to execute.¡¯ I gave each squad a thick rope and exined how to use ropes. After I finished educating them, I took my underlings to the entrance. Lee Jeong-Uk, who had seen everything, came up to me. ¡°Where are you trying to go again?¡± - It¡¯s about time to work on, you know, safety. ¡°What, the safety buffer zone you were talking aboutst time?¡± When I nodded, Lee Jeong-Uk smacked his lips. ¡°Don¡¯t bite off more than you can chew before Kim Hyeong-Jun wakes up.¡± - I¡¯m going to clean up Haengdang 1-dong and Majang-dong first. It won¡¯t be that dangerous, since they¡¯re both already my territory. ¡°You want me toe with you? You might get in trouble if you meet a survivor.¡± - I¡¯lle back and let you know if that happens. Lee Jeong-Uk smacked his lips and nodded. I looked at Lee Jeong-Uk and asked him to be clear about one thing. - When I¡¯m not here, you¡¯re the leader of Shelter Hae-Young. ¡°Like I said, being a figurehead is my thing.¡± - When I¡¯m not here, you¡¯re the leader. ¡°...¡± - Don¡¯t let the people go astray. This is a favor I¡¯m asking you. I put on a serious expression, and Lee Jeong-Uk stoppedughing. He nodded back, his expression serious as well. I couldn¡¯t let another Kang Ji-Suk incident happen again. If everyone broke down like Kang Ji-Suk, there would be no turning back. I nudged Lee Jeong-Uk in the arm and went outside with my underlings. I then heard Lee Jeong-Uk from behind. ¡°Take care!¡± I waved slightly and addressed all my underlings from the first toon to the fourth toon. ¡®Remember what I told you earlier?¡¯ Grr!! ¡®If you see any zombies, tie them up instead of killing them. Tie them by their waist and bring them back.¡¯ I handed out thick coils of rope to each squad. I was nning to send each squad of my underlings to patrol different parts of Haengdang 1-dong so that the operation could be performed more efficiently. My underlings would tie up and bring back any zombies that were still hidden. ¡®I say this again, but if you see any survivors, do not attack. Inform me first.¡¯ My underlings answered in a lively manner and went to their predesignated locations. No matter how good an idea was, it was no use if it wasn¡¯t put into practice. I was nning to use the remaining time I had effectively in order to realize my n. Since we were just about done taking care of Haengdang 1-dong, I assumed that we would be done cleaning up zombies by the end of the day. Once I was done cleaning up Haengdang 1-dong, I was nning to move on to Majang-dong the next day. I wasn¡¯t sure when Kim Hyeong-Jun was going to wake up, but I wanted to get this done before he did. I was going to make more ns so that once Kim Hyeong-Jun woke up, we could move on to the next n. As the saying goes, - ¡®If there is virtue in the man, there is order in the family. If there is order in the family, the country will be strong. If the country is strong, there will be peace in the world.¡¯ I had to establish the foundation before Kim Hyeong-Jun woke up. Chapter 59 Chapter 59 The zombie hunt went on for four days. I had initially thought it was only going to take a day to take care of Haengdang 1-dong. It ended up being four. I was almost done cleaning up the zombies in the streets, but the problem was the ones that were scattered about and hiding in buildings. Most apartments here were built so that they could house around a thousand individual households each, and Haengdang-dong was one of the densest residential areas in Gangbuk. I had tob through all of these apartments and high-rise buildings carefully. I spent considerable time going through bathrooms, storage rooms, underground parking lots, and boiler rooms. Taking care of zombies afterward was also a problem. Throughout the four-day zombie hunt, my underlings brought me at least seven thousand zombies. I tried to recruit as many as I could, but there was a limit to how many underlings I could control. Once I got to around fourteen hundred underlings, I couldn¡¯t push any more zombies and convert them. My body had grown stronger since the Majang-dong incident, which was why I could even have fourteen hundred underlings. Seong-dong District[1] had a poption of three hundred thousand people. Even if Seong-Dong District¡¯s poption was halved after the zombies appeared, that would leave at least a hundred and fifty thousand people. Even taking into consideration the number of months that had passed, there still had to be at least half of that, or seventy-five thousand people. I couldn¡¯t even fathom how many more zombies were left in the other areas of the district if there were seven thousand zombies in Haengdang 1-dong alone. I didn¡¯t dare picture myself cleaning up Majang-dong. I had to think of something else. I used the apartments next to Eungbong crossway as a zombie prison. I ced one zombie in each prison cell. I blocked all the apartment entrances to keep the zombies under control. I had to prevent the possibility of a mutant from appearing, and I wasn¡¯t sure if the zombies might end up eating each other. ¡®Kill any zombie if they try to attack another zombie or escape.¡¯ That¡¯s what I ordered the underlings I assigned to take care of the prison. I considered the zombies in the cells as a backup in case I lost my underlings. Someone raised the idea of killing all of them during one of our meetings, but that was impossible to do. There was no way we could get rid of all those dead bodies. It was impossible to burn seven thousand zombies when we didn¡¯t even have enough oil for ourselves. There was also a limit to burying them as well. And if an epidemic spread because of it, there would absolutely be no turning back from that. This was why I ended up creating a prison and cing my underlings to take care of them. I decided to call the underlings that were taking care of the prison cells the ¡®barracks troops¡¯. I had fourteen hundred underlings in total, but almost two hundred of them were scouts or stationed as barracks troops. Considering the fact that I had to leave some underlings at Shelter Hae-Young for defense, I could only field around nine hundred or close to a thousand troops in battle. However, getting more underlings wasn¡¯t all good news. My scoutingwork was more extensive, with underlings scattered all over the ce, which seriously jumbled my mind. What sickened me the most, though, was that I hadn¡¯t been able to find a single survivor on my zombie hunt. I¡¯d begun with a glimmer of hope, but this only intensified my disappointment. I wondered if too much time had passed for them to survive. People who tried to survive on their own, or people like me who were waiting for a rescue team had probably been eaten by zombies ormitted suicide by now. I saw plenty of ropes tied to ceilings in the apartments. I also saw bathtubs in which people hadmitted suicide. All these images crippled my mind. ¡°So-Yeon¡¯s dad!¡± Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s voice came from beside me. Surprised, I turned around, and Lee Jeong-Uk tilted his head to one side. ¡°What¡¯s on your mind? You haven¡¯t answered me for a while.¡± ¡®Oh right, I¡¯m in the middle of a meeting.¡¯ I massaged my temples and let out a sigh. Lee Jeong-Uk looked at me closely and announced to the others that the meeting was adjourned. Everyone nodded and left, though they were tactfully keeping an eye on me. I didn¡¯t want to create this kind of atmosphere, but it was hard for me to take in what I had seen over the past four days. Although my body was a zombie, my mind was still very much human. I remained seated as everyone left the meeting room, then slowly closed my eyes. I contemted whether or not I had to give up on my n to expand our safe buffer zone. I was exhausted both physically and mentally after cleaning up Haengdang 1-dong. I wasn¡¯t sure if I was capable or even qualified to think about cleaning up other areas when I hadn¡¯t even touched Majang-dong. I put my head in my hands and let out a deep sigh. Knock, knock. Lee Jeong-Uk entered. He looked closely at my face and smiled sheepishly. ¡°It¡¯s not easy, is it?¡± I chuckled. Honestly, it was tiring. I was afraid that I wouldn¡¯t be able to protect Shelter Hae-Young from an attack from the gang members, that the current system we had was built on my arrogance and bravado, and that the safety we¡¯d built up would be taken away someday. Lee Jeong-Uk stashed his hands in his pockets and walked toward me in a cocky manner. He grabbed my shoulder. ¡°You¡¯re getting too into it again!¡± I looked at him in surprise, and heughed gently. ¡°You think too much. That¡¯s your problem.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°You¡¯ve done well to this point. But there¡¯s just one problem.¡± As I titled my head, his smile widened. ¡°You don¡¯t give yourself a rest, you know?¡± I couldn¡¯t say anything in reply. If I let go of everything we had right now, we could lose everything. I took out my notepad. - We can¡¯t pretend that nothing¡¯s happening around us. ¡°Who told you to pretend anything? I just told you to take a break. Remember when we brought the college students in?¡± I nodded, and he took a seat next to me. ¡°You have a tendency to hold in what you¡¯re really feeling, to the point that it gets unhealthy.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°I said it that day and I¡¯ll say it again. You canugh every once in a while, you know.¡± I nodded slowly as I recalled that day. Lee Jeong-Uk leaned back in his chair. ¡°You know, back when the world wasn¡¯t like this, you know what the first thing I did after I got off work every day?¡± ¡°...?¡± ¡°Drink beer with my wife.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk smiled gently. Despite the softness of his voice, his eyes were full of nostalgia, and it seemed as though he was going to shed a tear any second. Lee Jeong-Uk stared at the ceiling for a while, as though lost in thought. I joined him in staring at the ceiling. After a few moments, he picked up where he had left off. ¡°It felt like all that day¡¯s worries and tiredness went away when I drank beer and talked with my wife. We weren¡¯t even talking about important things. Just ordinary talk, you know? I don¡¯t know why that felt so good.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s words triggered a memory of mine as well. I recalled the time when my wife and I attended So-Yeon''s elementary school entrance ceremony. My wife had made a fuss about that day. On the other hand, I didn¡¯t feel anything. I was just thinking about work. She got fully dressed up in the morning and even took out her branded bag that she treated as her heirloom. She even wore the heels that sheined about all the time, as they made her ankles hurt. In her full suit of ¡®armor¡¯, she said these words to me. - Let¡¯s go! She had looked so heroic, I couldn¡¯t help but smile. The way she strutted about, so that the other parents couldn¡¯t look down on her¡­ It almost seemed like she was getting ready for her inauguration instead of So-Yeon¡¯s ceremony. But once she met up with the other parents, she had no trouble getting along, chit-chatting away. She was the one who had the time of her life smiling andughing with them. After the ceremony, we all went to a family restaurant and the conversation kept flowing. Well, my role was to listen to the two of them talk. My wife listed out everything that happened earlier at school. I liked the way my wife was. I respected her for being emotional and confidently saying what she wanted to say. I was happy when I reacted to whatever she was saying or when I yed along with her, smiling gently as the words tumbled out of her. I would forget how tiring my day had been when I saw So-Yeon and my wife going on non-stop. I sort of understood what Lee Jeong-Uk meant by the little things. Those happy moments with my wife felt like an eternity ago, but realizing that it hadn¡¯t even been a year since this all happened saddened me. Lee Jeong-Uk let out a sigh. ¡°After my wife got pregnant, we continued talking every day after work, drinking ion drinks instead of beer. To be honest, I wasn¡¯t sure if I was going to be able to keep up a conversation with her.¡± - So you were relying on the alcohol all the while, huh. I chuckled as I made myment, but he shook his head in disagreement. ¡°Not at all. In fact, I liked it even more. It felt strange; having serious talks when we were sober, since we were tipsy every time we talked about anything.¡± I looked at him with a straight face, and he let out a loud, heartyugh. ¡°Alright, alright. I''ll stop here.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Anyways, what I wanted to say was¡­¡± Lee Jeong-Uk trailed off and rubbed his chin. As I waited for him, he smirked andughed. ¡°Stop thinking about work after you get your day¡¯s work in. Have some time to yourself.¡± ¡®Time to myself huh¡­ How am I supposed to have time to myself when there isn''t any time at all?¡¯ I let out a sigh and smacked my lips. Lee Jeong-Uk got up. ¡°A long time ago, someone told me this.¡± ¡°...?¡± ¡°That you¡¯re not given time. You make time.¡± He then left the meeting room. I sat motionless and stared at the front door through which Lee Jeong-Uk had exited. I thought about what he had just told me over the past couple of minutes. ¡®You¡¯re not given time, you make time¡­¡¯ He sure knew his quotes. Perhaps I¡¯d tunnel-visioned onto the thought that I had to constantly get stronger, which was why I thought I didn¡¯t have time to myself. Perhaps my obsession had been slowly eating at me mentally. I let out a deep sigh and got up. Maybe whatever Lee Jeong-Uk had said to me was something his wife had told him. * * * The next day, So-Yeon and I spent the day doing whatever we wanted to. I was so busy hunting down zombies the past four days that I hadn¡¯t had any time to spend with So-Yeon. I was nning to take the day off, just like Lee Jeong-Uk had told me the day before. ¡°Daddy, Daddy! Can the other kids join us as well?¡± I looked around after hearing So-Yeon¡¯s question, and my eyes fell on the children on the fifth floor of apartment 104. They were all standing against the window, staring nkly at So-Yeon and I ying. That moment, I remembered Han Seon-Hui smacking my back. I couldn¡¯t ignore her suggestion that I should be considerate of the other children as well. I gestured to the children toe down, but the children just looked at each other, not knowing what to do. Then a woman appeared and said something to the children. She grabbed the children¡¯s hands and came outside. It was Han Seon-Hui. The children wereughing as if they had forgotten the way they were a couple of minutes ago, and started ying around in the apartmentplex. Han Seon-Hui crossed her arms as she came and stood next to me. ¡°That was very nice of you.¡± I smiled gently after hearing herpliment. I shouldn¡¯t just be looking after So-Yeon. As long as I thought everyone here was family, I had to treat the other children just like So-Yeon. After a while, the elder and Lee Jeong-Uk came up to me. Lee Jeong-Uk looked out at the children and said, ¡°Are you letting the kids loose because you cleaned up Haengdang 1-dong? You know there¡¯s no going back from this, right?¡± The elder chuckled loudly as he watched the children, but almost immediately, his eyes widened. ¡°No, no! You kids! Not there! Don¡¯t step there!¡± It seemed like some of the children had stepped on the ce where the elder had nted potatoes. Eventually, the elder, Lee Jeong-Uk, and Han Seon-Hui ran forward to calm the children down, but in minutes, they were ying along with the children as well. After that, Lee Jeong-Hyuk, Choi Da-Hye, and even the principal came outside. We were able to hear childrenughing again in Shelter Hae-Young. This was something I had never imagined would happen. Soon after that, the teenagers and the college students we¡¯d rescued from Haengdang 2-dong all came out to y. The original members and new members got together and bonded, not caring whether they were new or old. The college students, who were experts at drinking games, introduced everyone to fun games that all the children and adults enjoyed. As I watched them with a gentle smile, So-Yeon ran up to me and grabbed my hand. She spoke to me with the most innocent and loveable smile. ¡°Daddy, you should join us too!¡± Then all the others who were gathered there scolded me for not joining in before. Smiling widely, I walked with So-Yeon toward the gathered crowd. I couldn¡¯t help but smile. I was happy. I wanted to cherish this happiness, no matter what happened in the future. - Enemy located. However, god didn¡¯t give me a second to take a break. I stopped in my tracks, halfway toward the others. I heard the signals my underlings had sent me. The signals wereing from Seoul Forest. 1. Seong-dong District is one of twenty districts in South Korea. It is divided into twenty administrative divisions, of which Haengdangdong is one of them. ? Chapter 60 Chapter 60 My face darkened, and the faces of the others grew concerned as well. Lee Jeong-Uk came up to me and asked, ¡°Did the gang members show up?¡± He knew what was going on without me having to exin everything to him. I nodded and took out my notepad. - There are gang members at Shelter Seoul Forest. ¡°Is it going to be dangerous?¡± - We don¡¯t know how many of them there are. But if they¡¯re nning to attack Shelter Seoul Forest, we shouldn¡¯t take it lightly. Shelter Seoul Forest had suffered attacks from the gang members and their ¡®dogs¡¯ multiple times already. But their shelter hadn¡¯t gone down, and the gang members had probably taken notice of that. Clearly, they viewed it as a difficult shelter to take down. This meant that the gang members were going to give it their all if they attacked again. But I wondered why they¡¯d decided to attack the shelter out of the blue. There hadn¡¯t been any activity from the gang members for a while now. ¡®Are they low on food or something? Or are the other areas bereft of survivors just like Haengdang 1-dong?¡¯ At that moment, it hit me. It might have been because of the incident in Majang-dong. If that was the reason they were nning to attack, I couldn¡¯t just stand here doing nothing. It was reasonable for the gang members to think that the survivors of Shelter Seoul Forest had attacked Majang-dong. They were the most probable ones to do so. ording to their data, the closest shelter from Majang-dong, and therefore the ce that had the highest probability of carrying out the attack, would be Shelter Seoul Forest. This meant that I bore some responsibility for this incident as well. It would be easy for me to avoid my responsibility right now. But the price I wouldter have to pay down the road could put me and my family in peril. If Shelter Seoul Forest went down, the gang members might note to Haengdang 1-dong through Hanyang University, which was to the east. Instead, they could juste through Eungbong Bridge to the south. For me, Shelter Seoul Forest was like the first line of defense, almost like a breakwater. If they went down, it would be impossible to block off the waves that woulde rolling into Haengdang 1-dong. My confusion must have shown on my face, since Lee Jeong-Uk grabbed onto my arm. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Go take a look.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Leave this ce to us.¡± I could see his determination on his face. I bit my lip and nodded once. The others then came up to me, each of them grabbing my hand while offering encouragement. ¡°Take care.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll take care of the children.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t bite off more than you can chew.¡± I braced myself for what was waiting for me as I looked into everyone¡¯s eyes. Lastly, So-Yeon came up to me and grabbed my shirt. ¡°Daddy¡­¡± She was looking up at me, her eyes filled with nervousness. I kneeled on one knee and hugged her skinny body tightly. I tickled her wrist and shed a gentle smile. She pursed her lips and looked straight into my face. She then nodded in a lively manner. ¡°Take care, Daddy! I¡¯ll see you soon!¡± It felt like I was on my way to work on an ordinary day before the world had turned into this. I used to hear her habitual farewell every day before heading off to work. If there was something different from before, it was the fact that I wasn¡¯t in a suit. The premise itself wasn¡¯t any different. Just as I used to go to work for my family, I was now going to work for the safety of people at Shelter Hae-Young. I patted So-Yeon on the head and thought to myself, ¡®Sweetie, Daddy will be back.¡¯ I rose and gave orders, looking in the direction of apartment 102. ¡®First and secondpany, follow me.¡¯ Grr! Gaa! I hadbined the first to fifth toons into the firstpany. I formedpanies once my underlings exceeded one thousand. My one thousand underlings from first and secondpany answered in a grand voice and came flooding out like a tide. The blue wave that was rolling out from the entrance of apartment 102 was grand and magnificent. I took my one thousand underlings and headed toward Seoul Forest. I corrected myself¡ªI took my army to Seoul Forest. * * * On my way to Seoul Forest, my mind churned through all sorts of useless thoughts. I was worried that Kim Hyeong-Jun hadn¡¯t woken up even after a week, and if the gang members had gotten their hands on a mutant. I also had to think about the possibility that there could be multiple enemy leaders. If I jumped the gun, there was a chance that the survivors at Shelter Seoul Forest would think that I was their enemy and possibly start shooting at me. I also had toe up with a clever way for me to differentiate between the survivors and the ¡®dogs¡¯ in Shelter Seoul Forest, if there were any. I had to be cautious with everything. I had to think in order to minimize my casualties and take care of the situation. As I passed Eungbong Bridge, a dense forest weed me. The trees looked sturdy like chains, as if warning zombies to stay away, and that they wouldn¡¯t allow them through. I didn¡¯t go to Shelter Seoul Forest, but to a building where I had posted a scout. I hid the first and secondpany in nearby buildings while I headed toward the rooftop. Two of my scouts were waiting for me on the rooftop. I stared at them. ¡®Where are the enemies?¡¯ My scout pointed. As I followed its fingertip, an enormous, endless red tsunami was preparing to attack. I couldn¡¯t close my mouth as I took in their overwhelming numbers. I wondered if one leader alone could control an army thisrge. It seemed impossible. It made no sense to me. Just by eyeballing it, I could tell that there were around three thousand underlings. It was more likely that there was more than one leader. It seemed like the gang members weren¡¯t here to take over Shelter Seoul Forest. I was certain they were here to raze it to the ground. I swallowed hard and fell into deep thought. I felt bad for the survivors, but it wasn¡¯t the time for me to head to their rescue yet. I knew that Shelter Seoul Forest had guns. Even if they had guns, though, they couldn¡¯t shoot them forever. There certainly was a limit, and I knew that that would be the right time for me to intervene. GRR!!! At that moment, fierce cries arose from the boundless red ocean. The army of three thousand split into six blocks. Bang! Bang! Bang! Guns were being fired inside Shelter Seoul Forest. But the bullets weren¡¯t heading toward the six blocks of the gang members. They were heading for the people inside. I heard guns being fired and people screaming. It was the ¡®dogs¡¯. The enemy leader''s cries were like the sound of trumpets signaling the start of a war, and the ¡®dogs¡¯ had moved ordingly. I crouched down as I took a look at what was happening inside Seoul Forest. There were people popping out from the ground. The ¡®dogs¡¯ looked no different from animals. They were dirty, had sunken cheeks, and their clothes were half-torn. I could tell who were the survivors and who were the ¡®dogs¡¯ right away. At that moment, I remembered what Kim Hyeong-Jun had told me. - Shelter Seoul Forest has a lot of different strategies under their belt. One of them was using underground tunnels. Some aren¡¯t even used anymore. But the ¡®dogs¡¯ and gang members were already prepared for these underground-tunnel attacks. In fact, they were making use of the underground tunnels themselves. mes rose across Seoul Forest. I saw people hurriedly running with water jugs. They were throwing the jugs toward the underground tunnels and some of the people that followed threw Molotov cocktails. I btedly realized that they weren¡¯t throwing water, but oil. They were fighting back against the ¡®dogs¡¯ that were trying to get in. The survivors at the shelter had decided to burn down their base in order to protect it. It was a decision that cut off most other possible strategies, but it was the best decision the survivors could make at the moment. As the shelter descended into chaos, the gang members started moving ordingly. Four of the red blocks spreaded out like wings and started banging on the shelter entrance. Chaotic screams and ear-splitting explosions echoed through the air. My hands trembled as I watched the devastation unfold in front of me, but I knew I had to wait for the right moment. I had to wait and wait. As I challenged my patience, my mind grew increasingly anxious, and I could feel my nerves trembling. Just looking at the battlefield made it harder for me to breathe, but I still had to endure all of this. I knew I had to wait until themander that was overseeing everything made a move. I also had to wait until I knew how many enemy leaders there were. The two-thousand-strong vanguard of the gang members came crashing down like a wave, and the first barricade started to break. The pressure from the gang members was relentless, like a raging wave. With the first barricade on the verge of copsing, the survivors that were manning the first defense line all withdrew in unison. I wondered if their barrels had melted, or if they were short on ammunition already. ¡°Get the Molotov cocktails out!¡± ¡°Molotov cocktail ready!¡± ¡°Molotov cocktail ready!¡± I heard loud voices repeating orders from the interior of the chaotic shelter. The survivors gathered in front of the second defense line. As the first defense line went down and zombies piled in, the people behind the second defense line started rotating arge pulley. The floor in front of the second defense line started to sink. They were making the entrance impassable as soon as the survivors that were holding the zombies off at the first defense line had joined the second defense line. The zombies that were following the survivors began falling into the pit. So did the countless Molotov cocktails that were flying toward them. Even from where I was, I could smell the pungent petroleum smell. I clenched my fists and let out the breath I¡¯ve been holding onto. There seemed to be hope. If they kept them off like this, the survivors could fight off their attack. GRRRR!!! With the vanguard stalled, the two other blocks that were being held in reserve started moving. But they didn¡¯t choose to attack from the front. On the left side of the shelter, there was a man-made wall about three meters high. The survivors had concentrated all their defenses on holding the second defense line. They didn¡¯t have enough manpower to take care of the sides at the same time. The bulk of the forces moved to the west side, and the zombies stared up at the tall wall. After a while, four zombies that had seemed to have glowing red eyes started grabbing the other zombies by their cors and throwing them across the wall. I bolted upright as I saw what was happening. I wondered how they could even think of such a strategy. I wasn¡¯t sure if they were being stupid, or if they were taking advantage of the zombies'' infinite survivability. I never imagined that they would resort to throwing zombies over the wall. These four zombies that seemed to have glowing red eyes also had superhuman physical capabilities. These were the leaders. These were the leaders that had decided to bring three thousand of their underlings to attack Shelter Seoul Forest. I couldn¡¯t help but smirk as I looked at them. ¡®There¡¯s four of them?¡¯ If there were only one or two leaders, it would have been much more dangerous. If there were two leaders leading the three-thousand-strong army, that meant the leaders were as strong as me. But since there were four of them, this meant that each of them controlled fewer zombies, which meant that I would be able to deal with them easily. I knew it was time to enter the fray. I reached the first floor in a single leap and gave orders to my hidden underlings. ¡®Everyone, thanks for waiting.¡¯ Grrr!!! Kwaaa!!! ¡®Let¡¯s fight.¡¯ My blue-colored underlings emerged as one, and me and my underlings ran toward the side of the shelter. * * * Grrr!!! The leaders that were throwing their underlings over the wall all stopped at once and started looking around when they heard my underlings cry. They saw my blue colored zombies flowing toward them like the tide. They hesitated for a moment, but quickly got themselves into position to mount a defense. Before they had gotten fully into position, I charged toward the enemy leader, who was slightly out of position and hurled my fist at it. Smack! A wave of ecstasy flooded through me as I felt the impact through my fist. My punch had sunk in deep. The zombie leader¡¯s body twisted strangely and fell to the ground. Seizing the opportunity, I stomped on its face with my right foot while it was still trying toe back to its senses. Crack! The feeling of its face sttering traveled up through my entire body, causing a thrill. I locked eyes with the other enemy leaders. I could sense their bewilderment. ¡®That¡¯s right. Be startled. Be hesitant. Be afraid. I¡¯ll end your lives for you.¡¯ As I stared at them with my glowing eyes, I felt a rush of adrenaline. My pupils contracted. My muscles tightened and my nerves tingled with precision. My murderous aura wrapped around my body like a carefully-sharpened knife. I was in full berserker mode. ¡®That¡¯s one,¡¯ I mumbled to myself. ¡®Kill that motherfucker!¡¯ GRR!!! All the red zombies charged toward me at once. I smirked and tore through the zombies that were in my way. The closest leader kicked out desperately at me. Its movements were terribly slow and pathetic, as though it were moving in slow motion. I grabbed its legs and lifted them. The zombie leader lost their bnce andnded on its back like a turtle. I jumped on top of it right away and hurled my knee into its face. The four leaders had three thousand underlings in total. This meant that each leadermanded at least seven to eight hundred underlings. Seven to eight hundred underlings was not a trivial number. It was good in most situations. They probably strutted about arrogantly most of the time. However, to me, those numbers meant nothing. Even the leader in Majang-dong had around one thousand underlings. The leaders here were even weaker than the leader in Majang-dong, and that one couldn¡¯t even leave a scratch on my body. If there had been only one or two leaders here, it would''ve been difficult. However, since there were four of them, it was good news for me. They were no match for me. ¡®That¡¯s two,¡¯ I thought to myself. ¡®You son of a bitch!¡¯ The remaining two leaders charged toward me, howling death cries. I kicked the one charging straight toward me in its stomach, at the same time grabbing the cor of the one sprinting in from the right. I was used to fighting zombies with red glowing eyes, and I knew I had more than an even chance of winning, especially against ones that were weaker than me. As long as they didn¡¯t pull out a joker like bringing in a mutant, I was going to beat the living hell out of them. I smirked and talked to the one I had grabbed. ¡®This is the end of you. I got you good.¡¯ Without warning, it burst out inughter. ¡®Ha¡­ HAHAHA!¡¯ I wondered if it was going insane. Perhaps it was losing its mind before it died. The creature shed a cunning smile. ¡®No, no. I got you.¡¯ Chapter 61 Chapter 61 I frowned and looked into its eyes. It let out a disturbingugh. ¡®So it¡¯s you. The one that attacked Majang-dong.¡¯ ¡®...¡¯ ¡®I knew it. I knew there was no way a human being would¡¯ve been able to kill a dong leader.¡¯ It seemed like they called the leader of each area a dong leader. I looked it straight in the eyes. ¡®This attack on Seoul Forest. Is this revenge for Majang-dong?¡¯ ¡®Revenge? You¡¯re more naive than I thought. You have your head in the clouds or something?¡¯ It snickered as it made fun of me. I grabbed onto its cor and mmed it to the ground as hard as I could. ¡®Enough of the bullshit! Cut to the chase if you don¡¯t want to die.¡¯ ¡®HAHAHA! If I don¡¯t want to die? Hey ahjussi, you and I are already dead!¡¯ It was right. We were no different from the dead since we were zombies. However, as long as we had our human minds, I could torture it to the point that it would beg for death. I broke its arms and legs without even the slightest hesitation. I thought it would beg for its life once I did so, but instead, it kept onughing. It boggled my mind even though I was the one torturing it. It screamed whileughing like an insane person. ¡°You crazy son of a bitch. You¡¯re no different, you know? You break people¡¯s arms and legs like it''s nothing. Hahaha!¡¯ ¡®Shut it, you bastard!¡¯ ¡®Hey ahjussi, you got baited.¡¯ ¡®... What?¡¯ Smash! My earlobes stung from the impact and my vision grew hazy. The enemy leader I had kicked earlier wasn¡¯t dead. It had gotten back up and had kicked me in the head. Its sudden attack caused me to lose my bnce, but I quickly got myself together and got into a defensive stance. Beep¡ª My ears were ringing. Soon after, my legs gave way under me. It felt as though my eardrums had burst. The one that kicked me was ring at me as it rubbed its lower belly. Its voice came to me, cutting through the constant ringing that I was hearing from its kick. ¡®Oh fuck¡­ I think my intestines are fucked up.¡¯ ¡®¡­¡¯ ¡®Hey, ahjussi, how about we stop it here? I don¡¯t think anyone¡¯s going to benefit from this if we keep at it.¡¯ ¡®What?¡¯ I couldn¡¯t hear its voice clearly because of the constant ringing. It felt like there were multiple voices. I shook my head and squeezed my temples. My vision was blurry and I couldn¡¯t feel my legs. My inner ear felt damaged. I blinked and looked it in the face. It stared at me nkly and then chuckled as it looked down at itsrade with broken arms and legs. Without warning, it stomped on itsrade¡¯s head. My mouth fell open. It had killed itsrade. I knew these gang members didn¡¯t share a sense of camaraderie, but I wasn¡¯t expecting it to crush itsrades'' head in front of me. It looked around and collected itsrades'' cracked heads one by one. I wanted to stop it, but my legs weren¡¯t moving the way I wanted them to. As the condition of my inner ear deteriorated, my lower body slowly grew paralyzed. It was difficult just for me to keep myself standing. After it had retrieved the three skulls, it looked me in the eyes. ¡®I¡¯ll see you again.¡¯ ¡®You son of a bitch¡­¡¯ ¡®Never mind. I don¡¯t think we will be seeing each other again.¡¯ It chuckled and looked around. It wasughing, but its movements were nervous. I wondered if it was waiting for someone. But no, he wasn¡¯t behaving the way that someone waiting for someone else would behave. Instead, it looked like it was being cautious. As I took a shuffling step toward it, it looked at me and spoke up. ¡®Ahjussi, you¡¯re going to die here.¡¯ ¡®Funny. I¡¯m not going to die because of you¡­¡¯ ¡®Haha, not by my hand.¡¯ ¡®¡­¡¯ I frowned, and he slowly stepped back. ¡®Ahjussi, you bit the bait.¡¯ ¡®Are you saying that you baited me?¡¯ ¡®Shelter Seoul Forest was a trophy from the beginning. We thought the creature that attacked Majang-dong would appear if we attacked Shelter Seoul Forest, but we didn¡¯t actually think it would really appear.¡¯ ¡®You son of a bitch¡­¡¯ ¡®Our bosses only issued us onemand: To kill the creature that killed the Majang-dong leader.¡¯ ¡®¡­¡¯ ¡®I¡¯ve got three skulls to take back now. Thanks a lot, ahjussi.¡¯ It vanished an instant after it was done saying what it wanted to say. I tried to follow it, but I copsed to the floor because of my wobbly legs. I gritted my teeth and gave orders to my underlings. ¡®Secondpany! Secondpany, follow it. Run it down and bring me back its head.¡¯ GRRR!!! Secondpany disappeared into the darkness, chasing after the creature. I assumed that it would have suffered injuries to its hip or thigh muscles since I¡¯d attacked it in the abdomen. I knew I had to catch it before it got away, and before it ate itsrades'' brains to grow stronger. The firstpany was taking care of the zombies that were running about like headless chickens after losing their leader. In the meantime, I hid myself in the tall grass. I couldn¡¯t help but swear. Out of all the body parts that could¡¯ve been destroyed, my eardrums had popped. Ordinary zombie attacks weren¡¯t threatening to me. My only weaknesses were if I lost my sight or my hearing. I assumed that the gang member, knowing this, had gone after my ears. I knew I had to wait until my eardrums recovered, instead of chasing it down right now and risking more injury. If whatever it had said was true, their main body would make their move soon. It said the three-thousand-strong army had been bait. I wondered howrge their organization was. Whoever was at the top of the organization might not be someone I could consider taking down. ¡®Damn it!¡¯ I pounded the ground in frustration. As I stared at the holes in the ground, my fists trembled. I wondered how much stronger I had to be. It seemed like whatever strength I gained only served to show me how weak I really was. Thud, thud, thud. After a moment, the ground started to rumble. Even though I couldn¡¯t hear properly because of the constant ringing in my mind, the slight trembling caused all my senses to perk up. I lifted my head slightly and looked in the direction of the vibration. A red tsunami was sweeping down toward me. The main body was making its way toward where I was. * * * GARRR!!! Violent howls filled the air. The zombies were making their way here with the sole objective of getting here as quickly as possible. They were like bulls in a china shop, like wild animals gone insane. They were relying solely on their instincts to get to where I was. Their physical capabilities seemed different from the zombies I hade across up to that point. The underlings were running almost at the same pace as the red zombies that were sent as bait. But they were just underlings. My underlings took care of baits easily now, but they weren¡¯t as threatening as these zombies, and I couldn¡¯t ignore the sheer number of theming this way. I couldn¡¯t count them out exactly as they were running in blocks. I assumed there were around a thousand or even twelve hundred of them. But I was certain of one thing. There were more of them than the number of underlings I had brought over. And judging by their physical capabilities, I was certain that there was just one leader controlling all of them. I could tell that the enemy leader was on the same level as me or possibly stronger than me. A predator. As I watched the wave of red rolling toward me, I asked myself, ¡®Am I afraid?¡¯ No. ¡®Am I scared?¡¯ Also a no. The incident in Majang-dong was something I had started, and it was something I had to put an end to. I wouldn¡¯t have started anything if I wasn¡¯t willing to take responsibility for it. Of course, I didn¡¯t have any intentions in dying here. I had looked So-Yeon in the eyes and made a promise, that I would be back after taking care of work. Pshhh¡ª My body began to heat up. ¡°Kaa¡­¡± My blood started to warm, and began flowing faster. The constant ringing started to fade away, and the muscles in my body started tightening up again. My blurry vision went away, and the red glow in my eyes intensified. My quivering body finally came back to its senses. I had recovered. I got up and looked over at my firstpany. ¡®Everyone¡¯s still good to go, right?¡¯ GRRR!! KAAA!!!! The firstpany was done taking care of the red zombies. Their dead bodies were scattered across the ground. My underlings sent throat-rending cries toward the enemy¡¯s main body as if they were still fired up from their battle. My underlings weren¡¯t howling because they were nervous or afraid. Instead, their cries signaled that they wanted to kill and fight some more. I let out a quick breath and gave them an order. ¡®Let¡¯s get this over with.¡¯ GRR!!!! * * * The interior of Shelter Seoul Forest started to rattle. People started whispering amongst themselves. They were having a hard time seeing what was going on. It was no different for the guard leader. Zombie cries rang out in front of the second defense line, and from every wall around the shelter. But these weren¡¯t cries of zombies trying to get inside. Instead, they were cries being made by the zombies that were colored entirely blue. They were fighting fiercely with the other zombies, wing and biting at them as the other zombies fought back. The guard leader assessed the overall situation and bit their lower lip. After a moment, the guard leader yelled, ¡°Fire!¡± ¡°Shoot? Shoot who?¡± ¡°What do you mean? Zombies are our enemies!¡± Under the guard leader¡¯s orders, the survivors that were holding the second defense line started firing at the zombies in front of the defense line. ¡°Stop!¡± That moment, a man with a desperate voice came running toward them. The guard leader looked at him, their eyes wide. ¡°Gi-Cheol ahjussi? What¡¯d youe all the way here? What about the dogs?¡± ¡°The dogs have retreated. I¡¯m not sure why, but it seems like they¡¯re retreating right now.¡± ¡°How about the zombies on the other side of the wall?¡± ¡°They suddenly became dumb. They stopped moving.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± The guard leader interrogated Park Gi-Cheol about what he meant, and Park Gi-Cheol scratched his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know either. But it seems like there¡¯s something going on with the zombies that we¡¯re not aware of.¡± ¡°Wait, what in the world¡­¡± ¡°I need to speak with the group leader. Where is she?¡± ¡°I think the group leader is checking the rafts.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll go talk to her. Until then, stop shooting.¡± ¡°Huh? What do you mean, stop shooting? There are zombies right in our faces!¡± ¡°How much ammunition do you have left?¡± The guard leader didn¡¯t answer Park Gi-Cheol¡¯s question. Park Gi-Cheol pointed his finger at the guard leader and said in a serious tone, ¡°Don¡¯t shoot.¡± ¡°I¡¯m in charge of the guards!¡± ¡°Then you should be more rational than ever. You don¡¯t have enough bullets, and there are more of them out there. The ones here are totally different from the zombies we¡¯ve faced before. Look at their movements. And you¡¯re telling me you¡¯re just going to shoot when the blue-colored zombies are keeping them away from us?¡± Park Gi-Cheol frowned, and the guard leader shut their mouth, their clenched fists trembling. The survivors that were holding the second defense line had expressions that seemed to agree with Park Gi-Cheol. The guard leader clicked their tongue and swept their gaze over the survivors. All of them were looking at Park Gi-Cheol and the guard leader nervously. None of the survivors had anything left in their vest pockets. They had already used the two magazines they¡¯d been given, and there were tens, even hundreds of bullet casings on the floor. The guard leader bit their lip and ordered, ¡°Everyone, save your bullets! Don¡¯t attack first. Only shoot the ones that approach us!¡± ¡°Yes sir!¡± The guard members moved in unison. They strapped rifles to their backs and took out Molotov cocktails or wielded bamboo spears. The guard leader red at Park Gi-Cheol. ¡°If things go south from here, you¡¯ll be responsible, Gi-Cheol ahjussi.¡± ¡°Ha! Okay,¡± Park Gi-Cheol scoffed, then ran toward the river. * * * When Park Gi-Cheol got to the river bank, he encountered some survivors that were fighting the ¡®dogs¡¯ that hadn¡¯t been able to get away. Some of the rafts had been set aze by the dogs, and the remaining rafts weren¡¯t in good shape either. A distance away, he saw the group leader, who was trying to protect the remaining rafts. Park Gi-Cheol pierced his bamboo spear through one of the ¡®dogs¡¯ and ran toward the group leader. ¡°Group leader ahgassi!¡± ¡°Gi-Cheol ahjussi!¡± The guard leader brandished her hunting knife, keeping the ¡®dogs¡¯ from getting close to her. Park Gi-Cheol helped the guard leader clean up the remaining ¡®dogs¡¯ and yelled in a desperate voice, ¡°We have support!¡± ¡°What did you say?¡± The group leader frowned and stared at Park Gi-Cheol. She knew that they didn¡¯t have any allies. She wondered what Park Gi-Cheol meant by support. The group leader subconsciously looked out into the Han River. Park Gi-Cheol couldn¡¯t help but wonder why she was looking out toward Han River when he said there was support. He was suspicious, but he knew it wasn¡¯t the time to ask her about that. There was something more important at stake. After a moment, the group leader asked Park Gi-Cheol, ¡°You mentioned support? What do you mean by that?¡± ¡°They¡¯re zombies.¡± ¡°Huh¡­???¡± ¡°The support we have are zombies.¡± The group leader looked at Park Gi-Cheol, confusion written all over her face. She had no clue what Park Gi-Cheol was saying. She saw the shelter burning with her own eyes. This was the biggest attack they had suffered since the shelter was founded. They¡¯ve done so well to this point. The group leader tugged her hair as she took in the devastation that wasid before her. Park Gi-Cheol grabbed her by her shoulders and shook her. ¡°Wake up, wake up!¡± ¡°Ha¡­¡± ¡°You have to be the one standing strong. You have to get yourself together to save everyone!¡± As Park Gi-Cheol yelled at her, her eyes slowly regained the vitality they had momentarily lost. After pulling herself together, she calmed her voice and began questioning Park Gi-Cheol. Chapter 62 Chapter 62 ¡°Zombie support? what do you mean by that?¡± ¡°There¡¯s something I haven¡¯t been able to tell you up to now. I¡¯m sorry I kept it a secret. I¡¯m sorry that I¡¯m telling you this right now. But in this world, there are zombies that fight for humans.¡± Park Gi-Cheol let out the secret he had been keeping to himself. The group leader tilted her head and frowned at Park Gi-Cheol¡¯s sudden and unexpected statement. She advanced on Park Gi-Cheol and pointed her hunting knife at his throat. ¡°Ahjussi, have you been lying to us? A zombie that fights for humans? Ahjussi, are you a ¡®dog¡¯?¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m not a ¡®dog¡¯. I just¡­ I just didn¡¯t know when was the right time to tell you this. I just couldn¡¯t bring it up. I know how people here think of zombies. That¡¯s why I couldn¡¯t say anything about this.¡± ¡°What are you talking about, ahjussi? How dare you say something like that when you know how much I¡¯ve trusted you!¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯ll take whatever punishment for my wrongdoingster, and I won¡¯t try to get myself out of it. But for now, you have to listen to what I have to say.¡± The group leader gritted her teeth and then cut the throat of the next ¡®dog¡¯ that approached her. She then looked at Park Gi-Cheol. ¡°If you try anything funny, I¡¯m going to treat you as a ¡®dog¡¯.¡± ¡°I have no time to exin. It¡¯ll be faster if you see the zombies for yourself.¡± Park Gi-Cheol and the group leader ran toward the second defense line together. Zombies were there in a tangle, shedding each other¡¯s blood. The group leader¡¯s jaw dropped to the ground after seeing what was unfolding in front of her eyes. She ced a palm against her face and asked Park Gi-Cheol, ¡°What¡­ what¡¯s going on here?¡± The murderous look she¡¯d had was nowhere to be seen, reced by utter confusion. Park Gi-Cheol swallowed. ¡°They¡¯re the support I¡¯ve been talking about.¡± ¡°Did you ask them for help?¡± ¡°No. I think they knew that we were under attack and came here to help us.¡± ¡°...¡± The group leader frowned and bit her lips. A mixture of emotions whirled up inside her. Resentment, anger, and the desire to kill zombies was what made the current group leader the way she was. But now, there were zombies that fought for the sake of humans. The group leader had never seen these kinds of zombies. She let out a quick breath and asked Park Gi-Cheol, ¡°What in the world are these blue zombies?¡± ¡°These blue zombies, I¡¯ve seen them just once before.¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± ¡°Before I came to Shelter Seoul Forest, a zombie saved me and my people. These are that zombie¡¯s underlings.¡± ¡°Underlings? A zombie can control other zombies?¡± The group leader frowned and tilted her head. In her mind, if these were underlings, that meant there was a chain ofmand, which also meant there was a leader. The group leader ground her teeth and looked at Park Gi-Cheol. She felt a sense of unexinable betrayal. Her teeth were grinding away in anger, now that she was realizing how ignorant she had been. But at the same time, she was rooting for the blue zombies. Maybe that was the cunning side to human beings. The group leader looked at Park Gi-Cheol. ¡°Ahjussi, whatever you know, tell me all of it.¡± ¡°Right now?¡± ¡°If not now, then when? Don¡¯t make me more miserable than I am right now.¡± ¡°Well¡­ First, let¡¯s support them¡­¡± ¡°Support? Are you going to throw Molotov cocktails at them? Or start shooting? There¡¯s nothing we can do that will count as ¡®support¡¯.¡± Park Gi-Cheol shut his mouth and nodded slowly. After a moment, he let out a dry cough and nced at the guard leader. The group leader, noticing Park Gi-Cheol¡¯s actions, called the guard leader over. ¡°Guard leader, move the injured somewhere else while the blue zombies dy the attack. Gi-Cheol ahjussi and I will take care of the situation here.¡± ¡°Yes, group leader.¡± The guard leader called in the medics and ran toward the injured. The group leader watched as the guard leader moved away, then spoke up. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s hear it.¡± ¡°Okay¡­ There are some zombies with glowing red eyes. They¡¯re the leaders.¡± ¡°What!? Glowing red eyes? You knew all of this all along and you never said a word?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± ¡°If I¡¯d known this early on, the people here¡­ the people here¡­! They shouldn¡¯t have died like that. I trusted you, ahjussi. That¡¯s why I put you in charge of the rescue team¡­ God¡­¡± The group leader started to tear up, but her eyes still shed like those of a fierce lynx that was ready to chew up Park Gi-Cheol at any minute. The feeling of betrayal had her gnashing her teeth. Park Gi-Cheol returned her re with a serious expression. ¡°If I had told you earlier, would you have believed it?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°You go crazy every time you see zombies, don''t you? How in the world would I have been able to persuade you that there were zombies in the world that helped others!¡± As Park Gi-Cheol began to raise his voice, the group leader looked at him, uprehending. It seemed like she had a hard time wrapping her head around his nonsense. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself down. It seemed like she couldn¡¯t find a reply to what Park Gi-Cheol was saying. The two of them were getting angry at each other when there wasn¡¯t even enough time to talk. Park Gi-Cheol massaged his temples with a sad expression. After a moment, he let out a sigh. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s alright. Finish your story.¡± ¡°Among them¡­¡± Bang! Bang! Bang! Just as Park Gi-Cheol was about to offer an exnation for the zombies, a huge crash came from the left side of the shelter. Despite the earlier order to conserve their bullets, the survivors manning the left side of the shelter chose to disobey it. The group leader flicked her gaze toward them. She didn¡¯t see any zombies making it over the wall, and wondered what they were shooting at. With a frown, she yelled, ¡°Stop! Stop shooting! Stop shooting¡­!¡± An instantter, arge shadow passed over her, leaving her speechless. There was a gigantic hand on the top of the wall, as though something was trying to climb over it. Arge collection of eyeballs was peering at the survivors inside the shelter. All the survivors, not just the group leader, were astounded. They turned pale, and the shadow of despair loomed over them. ¡°Save¡­ me¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s¡­ okay¡­ son¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m¡­ hungry¡­ mom¡­¡± A mutant had appeared. To make things worse, there were three of them. The group leader tightened her grip on her hunting knife and ran toward the mutants. ¡°Group leader! Wait! Group leader!¡± Park Gi-Cheol yelled at her, but she did not listen to him. The mutants began to attack the survivors indiscriminately using their long arms. The survivors were no match against the strange, twisted bodies and the attacks that wereing from unpredictable angles. Bang, bang, bang! The group leader drew her pistol from her belt and fired at the mutants. The mutants covered their faces with their hands and kept on attacking the survivors. The pistol¡¯s bullets could not prate the mutants¡¯ tough skin. As long as they weren¡¯t struck in the face, none of them would go down. A few breathster, one of the mutants noticed the group leader and dashed toward her. One of its long legs came sweeping toward her. Park Gi-Cheol tackled her from behind, and the two of them fell to the ground. Swoosh! The mutant¡¯s kick missed her by a hair. But the strangely-twisted mutant¡¯s legs were not obeying thews of physics at all. The leg that passed over them twisted around somehow and positioned itself above Park Gi-Cheol and the group leader. Their eyes went wide, and they rolled away in opposite directions, as if they¡¯d nned it ahead of time. Thud!!! A thick cloud of dust was kicked up as the mutant''s foot hit the ground. The group leader quickly got up and took out her hunting knife, striking the mutant¡¯s Achilles heel. The mutant¡¯s foot pped as its Achilles tendon was severed. However, the mutant kicked the group leader with its pping foot, as though the attack had done no damage. ¡°Urgh!¡± The group leader rolled several times on the ground. With just one attack, the group leader was done. Her trembling body betrayed the severe condition she was in. The group leader threw up blood and couldn¡¯t get up. As he watched her go down, Park Gi-Cheol yelled at the other survivors, ¡°What are you all doing? Shoot, shoot it, damn it!¡± The survivors, who¡¯d been running around like headless chickens, desperately mounted their K2s and fired toward the mutant. Bang! Bang! Bang! The survivors who were holding the second defense line joined them, and they concentrated their fire on the mutants. KIAAA!!! The countless bullets flying toward the mutants tore up their flesh. The mutants quickly curled up and covered their faces with their hands and legs. If they had been ordinary zombies, they would¡¯ve run toward the survivors without caring what happened to their bodies. But these mutants had given up on attacking and adopted a defensive stance. This meant that they had the capability to learn. They possessed some form of intelligence. Park Gi-Cheol made his way through the flying bullets and crawled next to the group leader. ¡°Group leader, group leader!¡± ¡°Ahjussi¡­ Ahjussi.¡± ¡°Wake up! Get yourself together!¡± ¡°Hup!¡± The group leader spewed out blood and looked at Park Gi-Cheol. Her vision was turning blurry. Park Gi-Cheol, his face a mask of despair, yelled for help at the top of his lungs. ¡°Medic!!! Medic!!!¡± ¡°Gi-Cheol ahjussi!¡± The guard leader came running with some medics in tow. The group leader was crying out in agony. The medics performed first aid while the guard leader kept calling the group leader¡¯s name anxiously. Roll¡­ Click, click, click. A huge explosion assaulted the survivors¡¯ eardrums, silencing all other sounds. The bullets stopped flying immediately. The cries of the zombies at the second defense line sounded like mere echoes. The cartridge cases rolling on the floor made an eerie sound. The heated muzzles were giving off steam. Most of the survivors were frowning at the smell of gunpowder that stung their noses. Everyone was staring at the same ce. After a moment, several survivors began to speak in uncertain voices. ¡°Are they dead?¡± Everyone was looking at the mutants, silent as mice. Grrr¡­ At that moment, the motionless mutants made an eerie sound. As the mutants uncovered their faces, the countless eyeballs behind their torn-up hands began to look around in all directions. They weren¡¯t dead. Instead, their eyes were now full of hate. Grrr¡­ The mutant in the very front made a throat-rending sound and got up. It did not stand up on its two legs, though. Instead, it crouched close to the ground, on all fours. The mutants next to it did the same. Grrr!!! With deafening cries, they started moving again. They rushed at the survivors in a nightmarish position that brought chills down the survivor¡¯s spines. They were like enormous cockroaches. Their movements were quick, throwing the survivors into confusion. They were moving more quickly and with much more agility than they¡¯d been on two legs. ¡°Fix your bays! Bays!¡± They were at least one hundred meters away, but the mutants were upon the survivors even before they could fix their bays. ¡°AHHH!¡± ¡°No, no!¡± ¡°Let go! Help, help me!¡± The survivors were set upon in an instant, before they even had the chance to get into formation. Despairing cries filled the air, and human blood sttered all over the ground. ¡°Oh my goodness, Mom¡­ MOM!¡± A male student in his uniform was curled up on the floor as if he had lost all hope of surviving. He had his hands over his ears and was looking for his mother as though he had gone insane. In a sh, a long shadow hovered above him. The monstrous hand reached down and ripped off the boy¡¯s head. The mutant chuckled as it chewed on the boy¡¯s head. With a wide grin, it muttered to itself, ¡°Mom¡­ Mom¡­¡± The survivors all turned pale. ¡°Run away! Let¡¯s run away!¡± ¡°Hide!¡± The survivors lost their will to fight and scattered. This was no longer a battle. They were being ughtered. It was nothing more than a massacre. The mutant¡¯s appearance engraved fear into the hearts of the survivors. The glimmer of hope that they had been holding onto before the appearance of the mutants started to fade away, and with the mutant muttering the words ¡®Mom¡¯, theirst ounce of hope had been shattered. The organization of the shelter had copsed, and all the survivors had lost their sanity. The people here were no longer human beings that were rational and had emotions, but prey animals whose only instinct was survival. Park Gi-Cheol yelled and grabbed those who were running away. ¡°Everyone, get back to your senses! We¡¯ll all be wiped out if we don¡¯t stand together!¡± No matter how hard Park Gi-Cheol pleaded, no one stopped to listen. They were all in a rush to get away, their eyes unfocused. Soon after, one of the mutants titled its head, having heard Park Gi-Cheol. The strangely-titled head looked at Park Gi-Cheol right in the eyes, and then the mutant that it was attached to came running at him with a wide grin. Park Gi-Cheol¡¯s eyes went wide as he stared at the mutanting toward him, and he grabbed the bamboo spear lying next to him. He knew that the group leader and guard leader would die if he ran away. He knew he stood no chance, but all he could do was to resist with what he had. ¡°Come at me, you bastard!¡± The veins on the back of his hands popped out as he wielded the bamboo spear. When the mutant was right in front of him, Park Gi-Cheol gritted his teeth and hurled the bamboo spear as hard as he could. But the mutant stopped in its tracks and lifted its right hand high, as if it had already anticipated Park Gi-Cheol¡¯s move. Park Gi-Cheol¡¯s gaze was subconsciously drawn to the mutant¡¯s right hand. The mutant¡¯s arm, two meters long, looked like a scaffold, ready to put an end to his life. ¡®...Fuck.¡¯ Park Gi-Cheol felt all his useless thoughts disappear. He knew he wouldn''t be able to avoid its attack. He knew his end was near. That everything was going to end here for him. At that moment, something shed in between the mutant¡¯s hands. There was something in the night sky that didn¡¯t belong there. It wasn¡¯t a satellite, or a ne with its blinking lights, or even a star. It was a glowing red light, moving swiftly. That red light was dropping like a meteor toward him. Chapter 63 Chapter 63 Thud!!! Something fell on top of the mutant¡¯s head. It dropped so fast that nobody could tell what it was. Park Gi-Cheol covered his face with his hands and coughed constantly. Thick dust flew everywhere. Through the dust, a human figure could be seen. Park Gi-Cheol, the guard leader, and the group leader¡ªwho was frowning¡ªsaw a pair of glowing red eyes piercing through the dust. The mutant took a while to get back to its senses. Kiaaa¡­ The sound drew the attention of the glowing red eyes. There was the sound of a watermelon cracking, and several round marbles rolled toward the trio. The rolling marbles came to a halt as they reached Park Gi-Cheol¡¯s feet. He looked down subconsciously. His jaws dropped to the ground. The marbles were the mutant¡¯s eyes. A bunch of unfocused eyes rolled and came to a rest at Park Gi-Cheol¡¯s feet after the mutant¡¯s head had been smashed in. The figure with glowing red eyes began to walk toward him through the dust. The glowing red eyes in front of Park Gi-Cheol belonged to So-Yeon¡¯s father. * * * ¡°You, you!¡± Park Gi-Cheol¡¯s eyes widened after he saw me. He was clearly startled. The guard leader behind Park Gi-Cheol braced their K2 on their shoulder and pointed their gun at me. Park Gi-Cheol gasped and ced his hand on the muzzle. ¡°What are you doing!!!¡± ¡°Huh, what?¡± ¡°He¡¯s on our side!¡± ¡°What? It¡¯s a zombie¡­?¡± The guard leader spluttered, taken aback by the statement. The guard leader was having a hard timeprehending what was going on. They looked back and forth between me and Park Gi-Cheol, not knowing what to do. The group leader, who was on the ground, spoke up. ¡°Don¡¯t shoot. He¡¯s the man¡­ that Gi-Cheol ahjussi was talking¡­ about¡­!¡± The group leader coughed out a mouthful of blood and fell back onto the ground before she could finish her sentence. Park Gi-Cheol examined her, instructing her to calm down. ¡°Don¡¯t move. You have to rest for now.¡± ¡°Ahjussi¡­¡± ¡°Soldiers without amander are mere remnants to be swept away. There¡¯s no tomorrow if you don¡¯t make it alive.¡± The group leader wiped off the blood around her mouth and looked me straight in the face. Her eyes were a mix of suspicion, distrust, and caution. However, she knew she couldn¡¯t do anything at the moment, so she seemed to make a decision to wait for the situation to develop further. KIAAA!!! The mutants that had made their way to the second defense line howled in our direction. It seemed they had noticed that one of theirrades had been killed. Without a moment¡¯s thought, I clenched my fist and prepared to spring toward them. But then Park Gi-Cheol grabbed my arm. ¡°What are you trying to do? You think you can take on them by yourself?¡± I replied with a sharp nod and charged toward them. For some reason, I felt sorrow toward the mutants. ¡®You guys seem more human than some others I know.¡¯ The enemy leaders that had led the attack with their three thousand underlings had been tripping over themselves to kill each other. They had no sense of camaraderie. But these mutants, who were charging me now that they¡¯d figured out I¡¯d killed one of their own, seemed more human than them. I wouldn¡¯t have been able to save Park Gi-Cheol if they hadn¡¯t made it past the second defense line. I had been fighting the zombies on the other side of the wall, but then I heard shooting from within the shelter. When I saw mutants on top of the second defense line, I entered the shelter without hesitation. I was well aware that the survivors could¡¯ve shot me thinking I was an intruder, but I assumed that they were out of ammunition since they weren¡¯t shooting at the mutant. Everything was just the way I had predicted it. Swoosh¨C The mutant¡¯s long arms swept above my head. Thick blood was dripping from the flesh hanging from it. I grabbed onto one of the loose ps of fresh and vaulted off the ground, aiming for the top of its head. I grabbed its two long arms and swung them like a long jump rope, wrapping them around the mutant¡¯s neck and using them to choke it. Using my momentum, I mmed it onto its back. I smashed my right foot into its face. Its arms and legs went limp and dropped to the ground. KIAAA!!! The remaining mutant ran toward me, howling away. As I red at it with my glowing red eyes, the mutant that was dashing toward me suddenly stopped in its tracks. Its eyeballs began to roam around the area, as if they had lost focus. ¡®Is it thinking? That can¡¯t be. No way.¡¯ As I ran toward it, I saw it hesitate for a moment, beforeying t on the ground and gathering its arms and legs around itself, trying to curl up. ¡®Is it getting defensive?¡¯ I put all my strength in my right leg and kicked it as if I was kicking a ser ball. With a crack, the mutant went flying. I was certain I heard its bones crack. GRRR!!! It wailed and uncurled itself. I wondered why it was suddenly acting in this way. I couldn¡¯t help but be suspicious. ¡°They can learn,¡± came Park Gi-Cheol¡¯s voice from behind me. I whipped around, and Park Gi-Cheol continued to yell in a high-pitched voice, ¡°There¡¯s no time to lose! You have to kill it before it realizes what you¡¯re up to!¡± ¡®The capacity to learn, huh?¡¯ I twitched my eyebrows and looked at the mutant once again. The mutant was writhing on the floor in agony, but it quickly found its feet again and stood staring at me. Its eyes, which had been drifting all over the ce, finally locked on me. ¡®Is it actually thinking? Did it curl up because that defensive stance worked in the past? Did it realize that it shouldn¡¯t be attacking thoughtlessly after seeing its fellow zombie mutants go down?¡¯ From the look on its face, I could only think of it as a being that was thinking of its next move. As I came to this conclusion, it only reinforced the feeling in me that I couldn¡¯t let it live. If it had learning abilities, it meant it gained experience, and experience was closely tied tobat ability. I couldn¡¯t even fathom what would happen in the future if these mutants were able to improve their physical capabilities in the manner that the zombies with glowing red eyes could. I sprung from the ground and charged toward it. Ity on the ground and began to wave its long arms and legs about it. Observing its movements made me more certain that what Park Gi-Cheol had said was true. It most certainly had the capacity to learn. It was executing a strategy knowing that it had an advantage in terms of reach. I could tell that it was trying to keep me away and not allow me to get close. But there was one thing that the mutant had forgotten. No n could survive in the face of overwhelming power. I grabbed onto its arms, which were flying about it like whips, and pulled as hard as I could. The mutant was pulled toward me as if I were a ma and the mutant was made of iron filings. ¡°GRRR!!!¡± I let out a battle cry and then started spinning. The mutant wailed in agony as its arm was unable to withstand the centrifugal force. I heard its muscles tear and rip apart and its joints being dislocated. I spun more and more quickly until it was difficult even for me to keep bnce. The mutant¡¯s arms were torn off, and its body flew into the wall. I massaged my temples to relieve my dizziness and blinked to clear my vision. The mutant¡¯s body was lying in a heap, twitching. I put all my strength in my legs and ran toward the mutant right away. I did not want to give it time to get up. The mutant¡¯s eyes were still unfocused. Crack! I kicked it in the eyes with my right foot. The mutant¡¯s head exploded, leaving arge crack in the wall. I sighed deeply and turned around, staring into the faces of the survivors who had watched me fight the mutants. All of them were staring at me, utterly dumbfounded. I wondered what was going through their minds at that moment. Perhaps they were trying to process whether I was an enemy or an ally. - Exterminated. At that moment, I heard a message from my underlings inside my mind. It was a signal from the secondpany. It seemed like they had taken care of the zombie that had popped my eardrums. I let out a breath and gave orders to secondpany. ¡®Listen up, secondpany. Go back to Shelter Seoul Forest and help the firstpany out. One of you, retrieve the enemy leader¡¯s head and wait for me there.¡¯ I didn¡¯t hear an answer. I smacked my lips and rephrased my order. ¡®Who killed the enemy leader?¡¯ - GRR!!! ¡®You, get the enemy leader¡¯s head and wait for me. Everyone else, get over here as soon as possible and help the firstpany.¡¯ - GRR!!! I realized that, with five hundred of them around, it was difficult for them to decide which of the five hundred should follow the order. Once I received their acknowledgment, I hurried to the second defense line. The survivors moved out of my way, letting out startled gasps or whimpering. They couldn¡¯t attack me, but at the same time, they couldn¡¯t cheer me on. To them, I wasn¡¯t an enemy, but they couldn¡¯t see me as someone on the same side as them. I wondered why I was risking my life for them. Perhaps I was feeling guilty, or at least feeling responsible, since I was the one who had attacked the Majang-dong leader. No, the reason wasn¡¯t that simple. I knew that the gang members, along with the Majang-dong leader, were beings that had to die. As long as there were beings like them in this world, there would be no peace or safety. I only did what I had to do, and I had to be prepared for the consequences. I realized that nothing could be more shameless than sitting around and hoping that the world would be a better ce. I was going to fight for my family and fight for my alliance. The reason I had felt something toward Shelter Seoul Forest wasn¡¯t that I saw them as part of a buffer zone, a breakwater, or I felt petty toward the survivors. It was because this was where Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s family was. Kim Hyeong-Jun had joined me in the battle for Majang-dong for the sake of me and my family. He hadn¡¯t participated because he wanted something from me. He came because we had formed an alliance, and he knew that I could be in trouble. That a wrong decision from me could put my family in Shelter Hae-Young under peril. I knew that I would have no right to live as a human being if I knew all this and still chose to ignore Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s family. I didn¡¯t care if others judged me or called me stupid. I was nning to make it through this rough world in my own way. I was going to fight for a better tomorrow. I reached the second defense line, and going up, I took a look at the whole situation. I saw an endless stream of red zombies. It seemed like my underlings were being pushed back. I wondered if I had wasted too much time taking care of the mutant. The moment I¡¯d left the battlefield, things had taken a turn for the worse. I knew that my underlings would be wiped out if I didn¡¯t do anything immediately. I knew that, even with the reinforcements from secondpany, the situation wouldn¡¯t change much. I was more than aware that the enemy leader that had attacked my eardrums wouldn¡¯t have gone down without a fight. I frowned. ¡®If I don¡¯t get rid of the enemy leader, it¡¯ll just be a war of attrition.¡¯ I knew it would be disadvantageous for me if this war of attrition ground on. I had to think. I needed toe up with a magic bullet to turn the situation on its head. My eyes fell on the molotov cocktails rolling about on the floor. Zombies didn¡¯t feel any pain, but that didn¡¯t necessarily mean that they had resistance toward fire. I wasn¡¯t even hoping to kill them. As long as I got them to stop in their tracks, we would gain the upper hand. I quickly took out my notepad and wrote down some words. - How many Molotov cocktails are left? I showed my notepad to the survivor standing next to me. He spluttered, eyes going wide. Clearly, a zombie trying tomunicate with him was just too much to take in. I clicked my tongue and went over to Park Gi-Cheol. He and the group leader were heading back to the barracks. As I grabbed his shoulder, he jumped and looked at me. ¡°Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?¡± I was thankful that he was looking out for me, but there wasn¡¯t any time for that. I wrote down a few words and showed them to Park Gi-Cheol. ¡°Molotov cocktails?¡± As I nodded, Park Gi-Cheol turned to the guard leader next to him. ¡°How many more Molotov cocktails do we have left?¡± ¡°...¡± The guard leader seemed hesitant to answer. Park Gi-Cheol grabbed the guard leader by their cor and shook them. ¡°How many are there, damn it!¡± ¡°There are still some left in the storage room.¡± ¡°Take them all out.¡± ¡°Huh? Wait, you don¡¯t have the authorization to request things from the storage room¡­¡± ¡°Can¡¯t you understand him? He says he needs them right now! Do you want everyone here to die?¡± Park Gi-Cheol shouted, pointing at me. The guard leader frowned and bit their lower lip. The group leader spoke, taking ragged breaths as she did so. ¡°Open the storage room.¡± ¡°Group leader!¡± The guard leader objected, clearly believing that the group leader had made the wrong decision. The group leader ground her teeth in anger. ¡°Didn¡¯t you hear Park Gi-Cheol? Are you nning to let everyone here die?¡± ¡°Well¡­ No¡­¡± ¡°Then open the storage room.¡± ¡°...Got it.¡± The group leader entered the barracks, guided by the medics. The guard leader red at Park Gi-Cheol. ¡°I¡¯ll see you at the next meeting. You won¡¯t be able to get away with what you did today. You¡¯ll be held responsible for whatever happens today.¡± Park Gi-Cheol snorted and snatched the keys hanging on the side of the guard leader¡¯s clothes. ¡°Meeting? Screw your meeting, man. We¡¯ll die before the next meeting if we don¡¯t do anything right now.¡± Chapter 64 Chapter 64 Park Gi-Cheol clicked his tongue and muttered to himself as he saw the guard leader follow the group leader to the barracks. ¡°That idiot¡­¡± As I watched the guard leader follow the group leader into the barracks, and hearing them say that Park Gi-Cheol would be held responsible for what he did today during a meeting, made me understand why Park Gi-Cheol would call the guard leader an idiot. It seemed that the guard leader had forgotten what they were supposed to be doing. It was difficult to tell if the guard leader was actually a guard leader or just the group leader''s personal assistant. Park Gi-Cheol shook his head, then spoke up. ¡°Let¡¯s get going. It¡¯s this way.¡± I followed Park Gi-Cheol to the storage room. As we approached the Insect Garden in the center of Seoul Forest, I saw a couple of guards on duty. As soon as they saw me, their eyes went wide, and they immediately pointed their guns at me and Park Gi-Cheol. ¡°Stop, put your weapons away! It¡¯s me, rescue leader Park Gi-Cheol!¡± ¡°Who¡­ Who¡¯s the person behind you? Wait, isn¡¯t it a zombie?¡± The Insect Garden was deep in the forest, and those here had no clue what had happened outside. Instead of answering, Park Gi-Cheol showed them the keys he¡¯d obtained earlier. ¡°There¡¯s no time to exin. Let us in.¡± ¡°We can¡¯t let anyone in without the group leader¡¯s orders¡­¡± ¡°The group leader¡¯s in critical condition.¡± ¡°Come again?¡± The guards exchanged wide-eyed looks. Park Gi-Cheol didn¡¯t repeat himself, but barreled on, ¡°It¡¯s the group leader¡¯s orders. She gave orders to open the storage room under this man¡¯s request.¡± ¡°But, that thing looks like a zombie, not a human being¡­¡± ¡°He¡¯s our support!¡± The guards looked at each other in confusion, not knowing whether to open the door or not. I took out my notepad and scribbled a message. - We got permission from the group leader and guard leader. If you could step aside. I shoved my notepad toward them, and the guards looked at me with their mouths open. The fact that I was writing clearly boggled their minds, especially since there was no way that I was anything else besides a zombie. The guards were still hesitant and unconvinced. Park Gi-Cheol pointed a finger and yelled at the top of his lungs, ¡°You¡¯re not going to budge even when there are people dying outside at this very instant? How many times do I have to tell you that these are the guard leader¡¯s orders?¡± ¡°We-we¡¯re sorry.¡± The guards finally made way for us. They put their guns down and stepped aside so that Park Gi-Cheol and I could get through. I wondered if the guard leader had purposely note with us. It seemed like the guard leader was certain that the guards wouldn¡¯t open the doors for us. The guard leader was putting the survivors in peril; leading them to death just to cling to the small and insignificant bit of power that he, as guard leader, possessed. The first person that had to be punished after this incident was settled was the guard leader. Thud. Shoop, shoop. The tightly-shut storage room door opened, and Park Gi-Cheol and I stepped inside. My jaw dropped to the ground as I looked at what was in front of me. Boxes upon boxes of Molotov cocktails were stacked up on the left side of the storage room. On the right side, there were boxes of K2 rifles. Next to these were magazines full of ammunition. There were even boxes of grenades as well. Even with this much stockpiled, the guard leader hadn¡¯t bothered to provide the survivors with enough ammunition, or a single grenade. My heart sank, and my expression fell. Park Gi-Cheol cursed, his clenched fists trembling. He seemed to be feeling the same way. ¡°This fucking son of a bitch. The guard leader only gave out two magazines per person when there¡¯s this much here? And what was the guard leader thinking, not using grenades? Is he nning to give them to charity or something?¡± Park Gi-Cheol ground his teeth and ran toward the guards that were protecting the storage room. I couldn¡¯t let Park Gi-Cheol let his emotions control his actions. No good coulde from him turning on the guards outside. I quickly followed Park Gi-Cheol out. I needn¡¯t have worried, though. The words out of Park Gi-Cheol¡¯s mouth were not what I¡¯d expected. ¡°What are you all doing? Come in and help!¡± The guards entered the storage room sheepishly, following Park Gi-Cheol¡¯s orders. He pped the guards on their backs and yelled at them to move faster. The guards moved the boxes of Molotov cocktails to the second defense line. I secretly took a grenade from the box in front of me and stashed it in my pocket, just in case something unexpected happened. As the boxes of Molotov cocktails were being stacked up at the second defense line, I wrote down some words on my notepad and showed Park Gi-Cheol. - Make sure nothinges over the walls. ¡°What? We¡¯ll help out too.¡± I waved my hand violently and wrote some more. - You¡¯ll just get in the way. ¡°...¡± Park Gi-Cheol frowned after reading what I had written. I wondered if I was being too stern and decisive. I felt sorry for Park Gi-Cheol for my attitude, but at the moment, it was a fight between zombies. If the survivors joined in, the only thing they would be doing would be to hold me back. Park Gi-Cheol, knowing this, remained silent. He let out a breath, then spoke again. ¡°We¡¯ll reinforce our defense until you get back.¡± I favored him with a slight nod and gave orders to my underlings. ¡®Secondpany, fourth and fifth toon, get over here and grab the Molotov cocktails.¡¯ GRRR!!! Secondpany had joined up with firstpany, and they were barely holding off the enemy attack. Fourth and fifth toon came running to the second defense line after receiving my orders. Park Gi-Cheol yelled at a few of the survivors who tried to attack my underlings. ¡°Stop! The zombies painted in blue are not enemies!¡± The survivors looked anxiously at my underlings that were standing in front of the second defense line after Park Gi-Cheol yelled at them. There was no time to exin. I handed the boxes of Molotov cocktails to my underlings and retrieved a zing torch for myself before jumping down from the second defense line. ¡®Follow me. Don¡¯t drop the boxes.¡¯ I led my underlings to the left side. As we reached the walls the mutants hade over, I noticed that my underlings in the first toon were almost wiped out. I desperately helped my underlings to get rid of the red zombies, then gave orders to the underlings that were holding the boxes of Molotov cocktails. ¡®Put down your boxes and go help the first toon!¡¯ As my underlings ran to assist theirrades, I took the torch and lit the Molotov cocktails, throwing them rapidly toward the red zombies that were behind us. Clink! Crash! I had to start a fire on the left-hand side and make it slowly spread on its own. Thanks to the wind blowing toward Han River and the cool fall weather, the leaves caught fire pretty easily. I was nning to block their escape route and push them toward the Han River. It was impossible to fight them just by ordering my underlings to surround them. I knew we were severely outnumbered. I was going to block off the paths to the north and east with mes and push them toward the Han River, eventually blocking off the south side as well. The dry twigs began to crackle, and the fire quickly spread to other dried leaves. The small mes quickly grew in size. I kept on throwing the Molotov cocktails. The wall of me grew bigger and eventually blocked off the north side. The red zombies could no longer attack us from there. To avoid the me, the red zombies now had less room to upy, and the ones from the east side started crashing into other zombies. I saw a glimmer of hope. I doubled my efforts to make the mes bigger. The fight was slowly leaning in our favor. My underlings overcame the numbers disadvantage and slowly made their way forward. ¡®We got this.¡¯ With a small spark of hope within me, I gave orders to my underlings. ¡®Secondpany, fourth and fifth toon, get behind me, and bring the boxes of Molotov cocktails.¡¯ GRRR!!! With their acknowledgment resounding in my mind, I moved over to the north side. The me spread over Seoul Forest Station Exits 2 and 3, past the movie theater and up to Gyeong-Il Elementary school. The red zombies kept moving further south to avoid the mes. They were pushed all the way down to Gangbyeonbuk-ro. * * * A man was standing on a rooftop in the midst of all the zombie cries. The man had glowing red eyes, but the wrinkles around his eyes and mouth showed how old he was. He looked about to turn sixty, or perhaps even older than that. The man was looking at what was unfolding with a frown on his face. Creak. A woman came through the doorway that led to the rooftop. The man flinched when he saw the woman, but then he bowed. ¡°You¡¯ve made it.¡± ¡°How¡¯s the situation?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that good.¡± ¡°Ha! Really? Even with the Seongsu-dong leader personally leading the attack? That can¡¯t be true, can it, Mr. Seongsu-dong leader?¡± ¡°...¡± The dong leader stood there, unmoving. The woman stoppedughing and continued to speak. ¡°Are you saying Majang-dong wasn¡¯t taken down by some nobody? That there¡¯s a valid exnation for the fall of Majang-dong?¡± ¡°We shouldn¡¯t underestimate our opponent.¡± ¡°So you¡¯re telling me you can¡¯t beat them?¡± ¡°...My apologies.¡± The dong leader let his head drop, his face full of mixed emotions. The woman snorted and crossed her arms. ¡°You should know more than anyone what this battle means to you. Don¡¯t you, Mr. Seongsu-dong leader?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°I¡¯m saying there¡¯s a limit to how many times I can let you off the hook. Next time, get the job done.¡± The dong leader¡¯s red eyes red. He lifted his head and stared right into the woman¡¯s eyes. The dong leader had a murderous look on his face. The woman felt the murderous aura and frowned back at him. ¡°Those eyes¡­ Are they supposed to mean something?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Are you trying to pick a fight with me?¡± The woman red back with her glowing red eyes. The dong leader unclenched his fists. ¡°As people get older, they sometimes suffer random spasms.¡± ¡°Are you saying those eyes were caused by a random spasm?¡± ¡°My apologies. It wasn¡¯t intentional.¡± The dong leader smiled slightly, and the woman looked him up and down with a dissatisfied expression. After a moment, the dong leader spoke up. ¡°I¡¯m sure you didn¡¯te all the way here to talk about my promotion.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­¡± The woman looked at the man doubtfully after hearing what he had said, examining his facial expressions. His gentle smile caused her to let down her guard, and she let out a sigh. ¡°You¡¯re aware that the eighth officer position is vacant?¡± ¡°Yes, of course. Isn¡¯t that the reason why the seventh officer came all the way here to meet someone like me?¡± ¡°It¡¯s thanks to your research on mutants, which turned out to be sessful. Thanks to that, we¡¯re a step closer to realizing the Gangnam project.¡± ¡°I¡¯m ttered.¡± ¡°The boss offered you the position of eighth officer in order to honor your contribution.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°However, as you know, being an officer isn¡¯t all that easy. There was a¡­ let¡¯s call it a proposal amongst the officers to check if you would be a good fit for the position of the eighth officer. Just a small test.¡± The dong leader¡¯s eyebrows twitched at the word ¡®test¡¯. Her words made him grit his teeth inside. After a moment, he took a deep breath and asked the seventh officer, ¡°When you say ¡®test¡¯, are you referring to a test rted to the mutants¡¯bat abilities?¡± ¡°Ha!¡± The seventh officer snorted as she looked at the dong leader, knowing how ridiculous and naive he sounded. She walked over to the dong leader and whispered into his ear. ¡°Don¡¯t pretend you don¡¯t know anything. Everyone knows how sly you are. And besides, I don¡¯t trust you.¡± The dong leader swallowed. The seventh officer smiled and went on, ¡°Everyone wanted to put you to the test to see if you¡¯re really one of us, or a spy.¡± The dong leader smiled at the seventh leader¡¯s little threat. ¡°I bet you proposed it, didn¡¯t you?¡± ¡°HAHAHAHA! Is it because you¡¯re sly? Do you think you¡¯re pretty observant as well?¡± ¡°You suspect me way too much. Have I done anything to get on your nerves?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ Let¡¯s see. I¡¯m just bored, that¡¯s all. You know what I mean?¡± The dong leader¡¯s eyebrows twitched. It was the most nonsensical reason he¡¯d heard. But the dong leader didn¡¯t dare let his agitation show. Instead, he steeled his expression further as he looked at her. The seventh officer shrugged. ¡°If you can¡¯t conquer Shelter Seoul Forest, I don¡¯t know what to report to the boss. Should I say something along the lines of, ¡®Test failed, Seongsu dong leader not qualified for the position of eighth officer?¡¯¡± ¡°Is there a reason you¡¯re treating me like this?¡± ¡°Like I said. I¡¯m bored.¡± ¡°I know you¡¯re not someone who would go through all this hassle just because you¡¯re bored.¡± The dong leader wrapped up his sentence with a gentle smile. The seventh officer looked at the dong leader, her expression clearly expressing what she was thinking: ¡®Look at this sly son of a bitch¡­¡¯ After a moment, the seventh officer smirked and nodded. She looked the dong leader right in the face. ¡°You know, I¡¯m just curious." ¡°I¡¯ll ease your curiosity for you, if it¡¯s something I can answer. What are you curious about?¡± ¡°You see, dong leader¡­ Even the strongest and sturdiest shelters fell after three or four attacks. But Shelter Seoul Forest hasn¡¯t fallen even after five attacks.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t you say that it¡¯s quite reasonable to think that there¡¯s someone amongst us that¡¯s looking after Shelter Seoul Forest? Or am I the crazy one?¡± ¡°I believe you¡¯re worrying too much. Nothing like that can happen in Seongsu-dong under my control.¡± ¡°Right? And I know I can count on our dong leader if there was an insider. Right?¡± The seventh officer pouted her lips and nodded. Her expression suddenly turned bloodthirsty and she red at the dong leader. Her voice took on an eerie tone. ¡°But you know¡­ Wouldn¡¯t the whole paradigm change if that somebody that was looking after Shelter Seoul Forest was you, Mr. Seongsu-dong leader?¡± Chapter 65 Chapter 65 The seventh officer shrugged and continued to speak. ¡°Even since the Majang-dong incident, I¡¯ve been going through every piece of information rted to Majang-dong and its surroundings. However, I noticed something rather odd about the Shelter Seoul Forest report.¡± ¡°Was there something wrong with my report?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t think there is? Even when we fail to secure a shelter, zombies with glowing red eyes like us don¡¯t die that easily. But the ones that attacked Shelter Seoul Forest¡­ are apparently all dead?¡± ¡°That¡¯s because Shelter Seoul Forest has guns.¡± ¡°Sure, sure. But you know¡­¡± The seventh officer trailed off and looked the dong leader in the face. The dong leader looked back at the seventh officer, his expressionpletely t. Their short exchange was like the calm before the storm. After a moment, the seventh officer spoke again. ¡°Seongsu dong leader, are you aware that you¡¯re a lot stronger than the other dong leaders?¡± ¡°In terms ofnd area, Seongsu-dong isrger than the other districts. It only makes sense that more zombies with glowing red eyes would appear there, and I just happened to eat all of them.¡± ¡°Look at you go! You sure are a smooth talker. That¡¯s what makes you more suspicious. It even makes me angry at times.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take that as apliment.¡± The dong leader smiled faintly and offered a slight nod. The seventh officer frowned. ¡°That smirk of yours¡­ Let¡¯s see how long you can keep that. It¡¯ll be over for you if you can¡¯t conquer Shelter Seoul Forest.¡± ¡°Well, who has the right to judge me?¡± ¡°What?¡± That moment, the seventh officer¡¯s red glowing eyes widened, and she red at the dong leader with murderous intent. The dong leader replied with a calm smile. ¡°Will you be judging me, seventh officer?¡± ¡°You must¡¯ve lost your mind, huh?¡± ¡°Do you think you can judge me by yourself, seventh officer?¡± ¡°Do you want me to kill you or something?¡± ¡°You can control eighteen hundred underlings while I can control sixteen hundred. And as far as I¡¯m aware, you don¡¯t even have any underlings with you at the moment.¡± The seventh officer clenched her fists at the dong leader¡¯s unexpected statement. She kept her distance from the dong leader and continued to speak. ¡°Do you actually want to get into a serious fight with me?¡± ¡°HAHAHA!¡± The dong leaderughed boisterously, trying to ignore the seventh officer¡¯s question. He watched as his underlings were pushed all the way to Gangbyeonbuk-ro, then said calmly, ¡°How dare I challenge you, seventh officer? I just made a joke, since I¡¯ll be the eighth officer soon. My apologies if you felt insulted.¡± The seventh officer red at the dong leader, full of anger. ¡°...¡± The seventh officer felt uneasy at the dong leader¡¯s constant shift in tone. She wasn¡¯t sure if he was on their side or an enemy. He toed the fine line between an enemy and an ally. ¡®This old rag sure gets on my nerves.¡¯ The seventh officer clicked her tongue and looked at the dong leader¡¯s back. After a moment, the seventh officer let out a deep sigh from the bottom of her lungs. ¡°It seems like I¡¯m just wasting time.¡± ¡°Time?¡± ¡°Meaning, I don¡¯t have time to goof around with someone like you that¡¯s only been in Gangbuk. The boss has given an order to us officers to focus on the Gangnam project.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s a pity.¡± The dong leader let out a sigh, knowing that he couldn¡¯t y any more jokes on her. The seventh officer¡¯s eyes red again. ¡°If you ever get on my nerves again, I¡¯ll make this ce your grave.¡± The seventh officer¡¯s pupils contracted into vertical slits, like a cat¡¯s. This time, it seemed as though she meant it. The dong leader noticed the change in her and held his hands up. ¡°You win. But if the officers focus on Gangnam, who¡¯s going to bring down Shelter Seoul Forest?¡± ¡°You sly oldie.¡± ¡°I do think we¡¯re done talking. Would it be okay if I take my leave first?¡± ¡°What are you trying to do?¡± ¡°As you can see, my underlings are being pushed back. Don¡¯t you think I should go help them out?¡± The dong leader pointed to his underlings, which had been pushed all the way back to Gangbyeonbuk-ro. The seventh officer wasn¡¯t done. ¡°I¡¯m not going to let whatever happened today slide. You¡¯ll be punished for getting on an officer''s nerves¡­ Be ready to be responsible for what you¡¯ve done.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll suffer that punishment if I make it out of this battle alive.¡± ¡°You know, I just want you to die.¡± ¡°I¡¯m d we¡¯re on the same page. But as you know, this body of mine won¡¯t let me die that easily, even if I wanted to.¡± The dong leader chuckled and put his hands on his back. The seventh officer shook her head and muttered to herself, ¡°Geez, I really don¡¯t like that geezer.¡± ¡°Do you have anything else to say, seventh officer?¡± ¡°What happened to the mutants that were with you?¡± ¡°All three of them died.¡± ¡°How about the second-stage mutant?¡± ¡°It¡¯ll be joining me when I enter the fight, which will be now.¡± ¡°Get it done right this time. Ande to me before you report to the boss.¡± ¡°Is there a reason I have to do that?¡± The dong leader tilted his head at her, and the seventh officer mmed her fist against the rooftop door. ¡°Cause you make me mad.¡± The thick steel door was bent with one blow, the misaligned hinge andrge fist-shaped dent showing just how irritated the seventh officer was. The dong leader nodded slightly toward the seventh officer. She stashed her hands in her pockets. ¡°This is going to be the first time a second-stage mutant is going intobat. Write a separate report about the second-stage mutant.¡± ¡°Got it, seventh officer.¡± ¡°Then, break a leg. I don¡¯t care if you die or not.¡± With that, the seventh officer got going. She kicked the bent rooftop door and disappeared, and soon after, the presence of the seventh officer waspletely gone. Only then did the dong leader rub his neck, letting out the breath he had been holding. The dong leader tried his best to stay cool, but deep down, he knew that he could¡¯ve actually died there and then if he and the seventh officer had gotten into a serious fight. The dong leader looked at his underlings, which had pushed all the way back to Gangbyeonbuk-ro. ¡®Is this really the only way?¡¯ The dong leader¡¯s watery eyes swam with all manner of mixed emotions. He looked up at the night sky that had turned dark and slowly closed his eyes. He took in the cool river breeze and let out a deep breath. All the useless thoughts in his mind drifted away. After a moment, the dong leader opened his eyes and muttered, ¡°Hmm, let¡¯s see what they got.¡± The dong leader sent out an order in his mind. ¡®Mutants on the first floor listen up. Attack all the enemies in Gangbyeonbuk-ro.¡¯ * * * ¡®A little more, just a little more!¡¯ I kept on throwing Molotov cocktails toward the red zombies who had been pushed all the way back to Gangbyeonbuk-ro. Some of them had been forced all the way into the Han River, and were floating downstream with the current. I ordered my underlings to keep passing me Molotov cocktails. My n was going smoothly as my underlings were moving in unison. There were now about three hundred red zombies left. I had about four hundred surviving underlings. It was safe enough to say that I had the upper hand. I kept on lighting the Molotov cocktails that the secondpany brought me and threw them toward the red zombies, who were running around like headless chickens. We were on the verge of victory. Sweat trickled softly down my forehead, showing just how hard I¡¯d worked to get to this point. A strange sobbing sound filled the air. At that moment, a disturbing cry tickled my ears. My eyes went wide at the sudden cry and I quickly looked around. It was an eerie and unfamiliar cry. It sounded like a human crying softly. But I had no clue how it could be so loud, since it didn¡¯t sound like the person was wailing. I wondered if it was because my senses were heightened, which made my hearing more sensitive. I couldn¡¯t figure out where it wasing from. I wondered who could be crying so sorrowfully. I put down the Molotov cocktail I had in my hand and peered into the dark city. The sky seemed painted ck, and I was swallowed by the pitch-ck darkness. The traces of Molotov cocktails, along with the gasoline smell, stung my five senses. Sob¡­ Sob¡­ I heard it again. It wasing from behind. I whipped around and peered toward where the sound wasing from. My eyes finally found the figure of a skinny woman. She was tottering in my direction. Her messy hair fell to her waist. She was so unimaginably skinny, and I couldn¡¯t fathom how long she had been starving. ¡®A survivor?¡¯ I frowned and tilted my head. There was a survivor in the middle of a battlefield. I took a step toward the woman, not releasing my suspicion. After a moment, I heard her voice. ¡°Honey¡­ Honey¡­¡± she said, sobbing. That moment, I saw the woman in the shimmering mes of the Molotov cocktails. I couldn¡¯t go any nearer after seeing her. I came to a halt. My legs stopped of their own ord, and I stood there like a statute. It made more sense to say that my mind was engulfed by confusion. The woman kept tottering toward me. Her feet drew my attention. The woman¡¯s hand, which was covering her face, sent danger signals shooting through my mind and chills running down my spine. Her feet were like sharpened des, like sharpened skewers. Her fingernails were no different. And in between her sobbing, I could hear her giggle. I clenched my fists and roared toward the mysterious woman. ¡°GRRR!!!¡± I didn¡¯t do it to threaten her. It was an instinctive cry, like a wild animal crying out at an approaching predator, knowing that it was in danger. The tottering woman stopped in her tracks and looked at me. Her hands were covering her face, but I could see her mouth through her fingers. She was grinning from ear to ear. She was smiling. She wasughing, now that she had noticed me, with my glowing red eyes. A constant, high-pitched beep ran through my mind, like a heart-rate monitor attached to someone that had tlined. The sweat on my brow, which earlier on seemed to be heralding by victory, quickly turned cold. I didn¡¯t need anyone to tell me what she was. She was a mutant. That thing was a mutant. I gritted and threw the Molotov cocktail that I still held in my hand toward her. Clink! I knew I had thrown it with all my strength. But even though I wasn¡¯t that far away from the mutant, the mutant had vanished. ng, ng, ng! A constant nking rang out, irritating my ears. ¡®Left!¡¯ I followed the sound and desperately turned to the left. The moment I turned, I saw the mutant dashing through the mes to get to me. Its arms were wide open, and its mouth was gaping. But above all, it had no eyes. There were no eyeballs in its eye sockets, Instead, they were two pits leading into an endless, dark abyss. Swoosh¡ª The mutant¡¯s right hand came hurtling toward my face. I quickly leaned back to avoid its swipe, but its nails grazed my left cheek. It was fast. Its physical capabilities were beyond any of the other mutants I knew of. I backpedaled quickly, feeling the blood dripping down my cheek. I gritted my teeth as my hand got soaked with my blood. It had cut me pretty deep. Its entire body was a weapon. ng! ng, ng, ng! It didn¡¯t take a single second to recover, and charged at me. I knew I had to be careful. I knew I couldn¡¯t just attack it with my fists. My muscles would be shredded if I made the wrong move. In fact, I was pretty sure that my arm would get chopped off. I knew most swords wouldn¡¯t be able to get through my tough muscles, but this creature¡¯s nails were different. I looked at my underlings and gave them an order. ¡®Kill it!¡¯ GRRR!!! All of my underlings that were fighting the red zombies ran toward the mutant as one. The mutant, which had been closing in on me, titled its head and looked at my underlings, and I witnessed an impossible sight that made my jaw fall to the ground. My underlings¡¯ bodies were being sliced into two. I knew that each of my underlings were capable of handling at least one hundred red zombies that belonged to baits. But right now, they were being ughtered by just one mutant. The mutant moved its arms and legs in a deadly dance as it sliced through my underlings. It resembled a dancing ballerina. It was a killer that only danced to kill others. At least, that¡¯s how I saw it. I couldn¡¯t figure out a way to deal with it. I knew I didn¡¯t stand a chance against a creature like that, since I had not prepared any ns in advance. At that moment, I looked down at my pockets. I remembered the grenade that I had snatched up earlier, just in case anything unexpected happened. I knew this was the right time to use it. I took out the grenade and followed the mutant¡¯s movements with my eyes. It rolled through my underlings, who all went down like bowling pins. The mutant danced away like petals drifting in the wind. Its movements were as smooth as flowing water. I knew I had to be cautious, because I only had one chance and I couldn¡¯t let it go to waste. I was well aware that it was impossible to go back to the shelter to get more grenades. There was a high chance that the survivors would be ughtered by the mutant while I was trying to get more grenades. And no matter how many grenades I had, it wouldn¡¯t be easy to catch hold of a mutant that was moving this fast. It would be impossible for the survivors to pin down a mutant that possessed such agility. I only had one choice. ¡®Let¡¯s count on my regenerative abilities.¡¯ There was no guarantee that a monster like this wouldn¡¯t show up at Shelter Hae-Young further down the road. Given what could happen in the future, I had to get rid of it here. Of course, I wasn¡¯t nning suicide. I wasn¡¯t going to die with it. It was time to gamble on my powers of regeneration and healing that exceeded what humans were capable of. I knew if I ran away right now, I wouldn¡¯t be able to move toward the brighter future I envisioned. I would trick myself into pretending that I was happy with the way things were, rotting away in self-satisfaction and the denial of what was really going on. That was why I wasn¡¯t going to run away. If there was a wall in my way, I would break it down and keep on moving forward. Even though my steps were merely baby steps, I knew that if I kept at it, everything I did would eventually result in the safety of my family. I wasn¡¯t nning to stop until the day both gang members and zombies were no more. Chapter 66 Chapter 66 I ran toward the mutant with the grenade in my hand. The mutant was focused on eliminating my underlings. I had to take care of it before it noticed me, before it chose me as its opponent. I crouched as I dashed toward it and stretched out my left hand toward its neck. sh¡ª A flurry of shes appeared in front of my vision, and blood gushed from my left arm. The mutant didn¡¯t have eyes, but it sensed my presence through sound and smell. Its head turned all the way around and looked at me. ¡°Honey¡­¡± With a frown, I kicked it in the side with my right foot. I heard a solid thud and felt the sensation of its ribs shattering through my shins. I¡¯dnded a solid blow. The mutant flew to the left and rolled along the floor. It twisted its neck eerily and stared at me. It quickly got to its feet and spoke, as if its broken bones had no effect on it. It tilted its head while making an eerie, disturbing sound that I didn¡¯t want to hear. ¡°Honey¡­ Honey¡­?¡± Its smile disappeared, and its face crumbled into a frown. KIAAA!!! It was enraged. It howled and raced toward me. I clenched my fists as I looked at my left arm, which was still leaking blood. My grip wasn¡¯t as strong as it usually was, but it would probably be enough to hold onto it for a short while. As its disgusting face filled my vision, I threw a jab toward its face. It leaned onto its back and pierced my lower stomach using its sharp legs. It was an attack from an unexpected angle, but I¡¯d been hoping for such a thing. I felt my abdomen being pierced, letting the cool river breeze flow into my stomach. I didn¡¯t let the chance slip by and grabbed onto its cor with my half-torn left arm. I let out a murderousugh. ¡®I got you, you bastard.¡¯ I had waited for this moment. The mutant, which had been darting all over the ce, was now in my hands, absolutely still. I pulled the pin on the grenade in my right hand and shoved it into its mouth. As I forced my fist inside, its teeth broke and its jaw was dislocated. I could feel it trembling through my fingers. I could tell it was crying, but there was no sound because its vocal cords were blocked. ¡®This is going to hurt.¡¯ As I tried to pull out my right hand, it tried to w me in the face with its sharp nails. I twisted my upper body and avoided its attack, but because of that, the two legs that were in my lower stomach tore up my insides. ¡®Damn it!¡¯ I grabbed my lower belly and desperately threw myself backward. However, twisting my upper body earlier on seemed to have caused the two legs that had pierced my lower stomach to slice through my spine. My legs weren¡¯t moving. I shoved a grenade down its throat, but now I couldn¡¯t get it anyway. I copsed to the ground as if I¡¯d tripped on a stone. At that instant, I quickly covered my head with my hands and gave a desperate order to my underlings. ¡®Everyone, get on top of me!¡¯ GRR!!! My underlings piled themselves on top of me. One underling, two underlings, three underlings, four underlings covered me, before the world was engulfed in a wave of sound that shattered my eardrums and almost made me lose my mind. Amidst the sudden sensation, I noticed the night sky, the ground in mes, and my underlings¡¯ pping flesh. Everything seemed like it was in slow motion. Every moment was etched into my eyes and my mind like a Proid photo. As my body fell to the ground, I stared through unfocused eyes at the hazy world around me. I had no clue how many times I rolled over on the cold asphalt road. My mind was foggy from the constant ringing. I tried to move but couldn¡¯t. I was like a death-row inmate whose hands and feet were tightly bound. As I tried to lift my head up, my vision spun madly, and I ended up jamming my forehead against the floor. I felt as though I were drifting, as if my senses could no longer perceive anything. My mind was losing a sense of reality. I felt an unexinable sense offort, as if I was on a boat drifting on a gentleke. ¡°¡­!¡± I heard a faint voice. Someone seemed to be shouting toward another person, but I couldn¡¯t make out the words due to the constant ringing and the fogginess that engulfed my mind. I couldn¡¯t tell where the noise wasing from nor who was speaking because my eyes had lost focus. After a moment, my vision began to quiver, and I saw people running toward Gangbyeonbuk-ro. They held guns and were pointing them at me. I wondered if they were trying to shoot me. The muzzles shed, and bullets flew over my head. I blinked and followed the bullets with my eyes, and I saw the red zombies. The survivors at the shelter hade to assist me while the red zombies that had been pushed back to the Han River were trying toe back to Gangbyeonbuk-ro to get me. I saw Park Gi-Cheol¡¯s face among the survivors. He was crouched over and was running towards me. ¡°Hey you, are you alright? Wake up!¡± I heard his voice. I heard Park Gi-Cheol''s voice. My heart grew lighter after hearing his voice. I was alive. I didn¡¯t die. I could still meet my family and my daughter. Park Gi-Cheol examined the condition I was in, his face awash with anxiety. ¡°Hang in there! Leave the rest to us!¡± Park Gi-Cheol crouched close to the ground and grabbed onto my shoulders. While I was being dragged by Park Gi-Cheol, I looked at my body with heavy-lidded eyes. ¡®Huh?¡¯ I didn¡¯t have any legs. I saw pping flesh beneath my knees, and there was nothing below my left elbow. I couldn¡¯t think logically anymore. My mind was swamped with thoughts. I looked at my dismembered body in a stupor, as though my soul had left my body. I could only think of one thing as I took in this unbelievable reality in front of me. ¡°I¡¯ll recover, right? My body should regenerate. Yeah, I know I¡¯ll recover.¡¯ I was agitated, since I had never gotten this injured before. But deep down, I hoped that I would eventually recover, since I was still alive. I trusted in my body¡¯s capabilities and let go of Park Gi-Cheol with my remaining right hand. I crawled over to the survivors myself. Park Gi-Cheol bit his lips after seeing that I hade back to my senses. His eyes were bloodshot and filled with tears. His voice filled the air around me. ¡°Keep at it. We¡¯re almost at the end!¡± Right, we were almost done. This devastating battle was about to end. I crawled toward the survivors with thest remaining strength I had. Thud!!! A thick cloud of dust obscured my vision. I coughed and lifted my head up slightly. A red humanoid figure stood in the middle of the dust cloud. It was blocking the bullets flying its way using a steel door that had been bent. It looked down at me, and its red eyes shed. It was the enemy leader. Of all the moments, the enemy leader had shown up when I was in no position to fight back. He observed me closely and then smirked. ¡°There¡¯s not a single easy day, is there?¡± He was talking out loud. This meant that he had eaten a human¡¯s brain, which also meant that he was letting me know that he was part of the gang. My lips trembled, and I looked at him with eyes filled with ferocity. He tilted his head and looked at me. ¡°Don¡¯t just stare at me. Say something.¡± ¡®You sly bastard.¡¯ ¡°Ha! This young blood¡¯s got a rather foul mouth.¡± The enemy leader stomped on my right hand. My right hand was crushed right in front of my eyes. As my eyes went wide, the enemy leader red at me, his eyes filled with murder. His voice took on a shade of annoyance. ¡°Is this all you¡¯ve got? Is mocking me the only thing you¡¯ve got up your sleeve?¡± ¡®You bastard¡­¡¯ ¡°I know you don¡¯t feel pain anyways. Keep on going.¡± I gritted my teeth and sank them into the enemy leader¡¯s shin. The enemy leader seemed surprised at my sudden attack, and kicked me in the body with his opposite leg. My ribs broke with a firm crack. ¡°GAR, HUP!¡± I spewed out red blood. I felt nauseous and my shattered right arm was barely attached to my body. I coughed violently and my entire body trembled. The enemy leader frowned at my sorry state. ¡°What could a man like you do, with that kind of will?¡± I felt miserable. My arms and legs had been blown severed, and not a single part of my body was unharmed. There was nothing I could do. The enemy leader gritted his teeth and kept on goading me. ¡°Aren¡¯t you here to save people? Don¡¯t you care if I kill everyone here? Are you just going to lie down there while I do that?¡± I was frustrated that I couldn¡¯t do anything. My insides were raging at the fact that I couldn¡¯t do anything. I red at the enemy leader in fury. Then the enemy leader clicked his tongue and went next to Park Gi-Cheol, who was trembling for dear life. Park Gi-Cheol was shaking violently and puffing away like a goldfish. I wasn¡¯t sure if his behavior was because it was his first time seeing a zombie talk, or because he had lost his mind, knowing that there was no more hope. The enemy leader sighed. ¡°It seems like you can''t do anything. Then, is it okay for me to kill this man?¡± ¡°GRRR!¡± I howled at the top of my lungs for him to stop, but the enemy leader merely looked sad. ¡°This young blood is pretty stupid too.¡± He raised his foot. At any moment, he was going to stomp on Park Gi-Cheol. He was abhorrent. I hated him down to his guts. I wanted to rip his legs off and twist his little piehole. But right then, I was nothing more than an insect with its legs pulled off. I yelled, trying to avoid disaster. ¡®What!? What do I have to do so that these people can make it out of here safely?¡¯ ¡°Well said. It¡¯s actually not that difficult. You just have to join the gang.¡± ¡®...What did you say?¡¯ ¡°I¡¯m telling you to stop acting like a superhero. I¡¯m asking you to be one of us.¡± My eyebrows twitched at his offer. I was sure he¡¯d just asked me to be a gang member. What kind of nonsense was he saying? On the other hand, though, it could be wise to temporarily ept his offer. I could act like I was on board with his proposal while I waited for my body to recover. Seeing my silence, the enemy leader snorted. ¡°Don¡¯t try toe up with some shitty n of yours.¡± ¡°...¡± Then the enemy leader looked over at Park Gi-Cheol and kicked him toward me. ¡°Eat this person¡¯s brain in thirty seconds, if you would. That way, I¡¯ll know you¡¯ve epted my offer.¡± ¡®You son of a bitch¡­¡¯ ¡°If you do that, we¡¯ll keep our hands off of Shelter Seoul Forest. Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s a pretty good deal?¡± As I gritted my teeth, my lips trembling, Park Gi-Cheol got up and spoke. ¡°...It¡¯s not your fault.¡± Park Gi-Cheol¡¯s expression was that of a man who had given up on everything. The enemy leader was surprised by his statement. ¡°Seems like he¡¯s a brighter fellow than you.¡± Park Gi-Cheol red at the enemy leader. ¡°It seems like you¡¯re old enough to know how the world goes around. Don¡¯t go back on your word.¡± The enemy leader let out a boisterousugh and looked back and forth between me and Park Gi-Cheol. Seeing my hesitation, the enemy leader let out a sigh and started to count down. His countdown made my head begin to spin in circles. It felt like it was about to explode. My mind was anxiously trying toe up with a n. As my mind grew more and more confused, the thirty seconds felt like a century. I couldn¡¯t think of an appropriate n in such a desperate moment, and I felt my moralpass shift. Everything, including the sounds of gunfire and the enemy leader¡¯s voice, started to fade away. The only thing that was clear to me was Park Gi-Cheol¡¯s scent, which tickled my nose. I wondered if it was really my only option. ¡°Eight, seven, six¡­¡± He was almost done counting. My expression fell, and I gritted my teeth. No matter how hard I thought, there was no way out. I only had one option from the beginning. I stared at Park Gi-Cheol next to me, my eyes filling with tears. Park Gi-Cheol was seated in a lotus position, his eyes closed. He was ready to ept death. ¡°Four, three, two¡­¡± GRRR!!! That moment, I heard a throat-rending cry pierce its way through the pitch-ck darkness. The sudden cry caused the enemy leader to halt his countdown as he looked around. Thud, thud, thud. The ground began to tremble. It sounded like an army of horses were galloping this way. I prayed that this new arrival was the person I was hoping would show up. I couldn¡¯t calm myself. I swallowed, tasting blood mixed in with my saliva, and looked toward where the sound wasing from. From afar, I heard twigs being snapped within the thick, lush forest. The hundreds of trees were shaking, which bolstered my hope. Finally, the beings that appeared through the forest pulled my soul back out from the deep abyss of despair. Like a ship making its way through the storm, like a monstrous tidal wave rushing this way, a purple tsunami was rolling in our direction, preparing to flood this ce. My glowing red eyes red as I fixed my gaze on a man charging toward me like a bullet. GRRR!!! Kim Hyeong-Jun howled at the top of his lungs, charging in like a wild horse on the run. Chapter 67 Chapter 67 The survivors lost their wits, behaving like headless chickens. ¡°Who, who do we have to shoot?¡± ¡°Those aren¡¯t colored blue!¡± ¡°Then are they ene¡­ enemies?¡± In their minds, the newly appeared zombies were enemies. The survivors pointed their guns at Kim Hyeong-Jun and his underlings. Park Gi-Cheol, seeing all of this, yelled at the top of his lungs, ¡°Don¡¯t shoot!¡± All the survivors were taken aback by Park Gi-Cheol¡¯s yell. They still had their guns pointed toward the zombies, still nervous and not knowing what to do. Once the enemy leader noticed that no more bullets were flying his way, he threw away the steel door he had been using as his shield and yelled toward Kim Hyeong-Jun, ¡°Stop!!!¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun hesitated for a second after hearing the enemy leader¡¯s voice, but a frown appeared on his face and he increased the speed of his charge. A zombie that was capable of talking. To Kim Hyeong-Jun, that meant he was part of the gang, and Kim Hyeong-Jun had been hunting down gang members for a long time. He hated gang members with a burning passion. As long as Kim Hyeong-Jun knew what he was, there was no way he was going to leave the enemy leader alone. Kim Hyeong-Jun was enraged. Fearlessly, he charged straight for the enemy leader. The enemy leader desperately fell into a defensive stance, preparing to deal with Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s attack. The remaining red zombies and Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s underlings crashed together. Pshhh¡ª As the battlefield turned into chaos, steam began to emerge from my pping flesh. My blood started circting more quickly, and my entire body began to heat up like a bonfire. My body started to regenerate. ¡°HAAA¡ª¡± As steam gushed out from me, Park Gi-Cheol¡¯s eyes went wide. He was next to me, and ced his hands on my shoulders. ¡°Are you all¡­ Oh, Jesus!¡± Park Gi-Cheol sprung upwards, his hand flying off my shoulder. He looked utterly surprised. After a moment, he stammered, ¡°Are, are you okay? You have steaming¡­ Out¡­ Oh wait¡­¡± Park Gi-Cheol examined me from top to bottom, and his mouth fell open as he watched my legs begin to grow again. He¡¯d lost his ability to form words. I let out more steam than usual, since my injury was far beyond normal. The steam rose in a thick cloud, which wrapped around me and blocked my enemy¡¯s view. I peered with my red glowing eyes through the darkness and assessed the entire situation. Carrying Park Gi-Cheol, I regrouped with the other survivors. I whipped out my notepad and wrote a message. - Go back to the shelter. I tossed my notepad at Park Gi-Cheol, then threw myself back into the battlefield. The remaining red zombies were being relentlessly pushed back by Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s underlings. ¡®Where is he? Where is he!¡¯ As my glowing red eyes shed, my pupils contracted, and all my senses were heightened. In between zombies¡¯ cries, I heard quick, sharp, stato thuds. This sound wasn¡¯ting from the fight between underlings. It has to be from a fight between leaders. It was a sound that only colliding leaders could make. I traced the source of the sound and saw the enemy leader and Kim Hyeong-Jun locked in a fierce battle. Kim Hyeong-Jun was a wild animal, punching and kicking away like there was no tomorrow. He was a beast that had lost its mind, and was trying his best to beat the living hell out of the enemy leader. As the fight went on, he took a few hits from the enemy leader, who hurled counterattacks. I channeled all my strength into my thighs and calves and sprung toward them, kicking the enemy leader in the back of the head. Thud! ¡°GAAAR!¡± The enemy leader¡¯s neck twisted and he let out a despairing cry. He was knocked to the ground, but swiftly picked himself up again. Kim Hyeong-Jun didn¡¯t miss his chance and was on him like lightning, aiming a punch at its sr plexus. The enemy leader was blown off the ground, and his ribs cracked audibly. A stream of red blood spewed from his mouth as he hung in midair. I seized the opportunity and grabbed his body, mming him down. Crack! The enemy leader¡¯s shoulder des and backbone shattered, his bones and joints snapping loudly. Kim Hyeong-Jun flew over the top of me and stabbed a foot into the enemy leader¡¯s stomach like a sharpened spear. As I raised my right hand tond the finishing blow, the enemy leader spewed out a mouthful of blood and yelled, ¡°STOPPP!!!¡± I saw the enemy leader¡¯s hands trembling. It was making desperate gestures for us to stop. I couldn¡¯t help but frown as I looked at him waving his hands. His audacity drove me mad. When I was begging for my life, he¡¯d smirked and toyed with me. But now, he wanted me to spare his life? And he wanted us to stop right now? I couldn¡¯t hold in my anger. I ripped off the enemy leader¡¯s left leg and asked while looking him in the eyes. ¡®Why? Can¡¯t you do anything?¡¯ ¡°Hey, hey!¡± I tore off his right leg this time, shooting him a question as I did so. ¡®Is that all you got? Is begging for your life the only thing you can do now? Huh?¡¯ I quoted what it had said to me earlier as my sweet revenge. The enemy leader¡¯s eyes were wide with fear, now that he was facing this insane version of me. He waved his hand violently and yelled, ¡°I¡¯m, I¡¯m on the same side as you!¡± My hands, which were just about to rip off his arms, stopped in midair. The enemy leader didn¡¯t let his chance for redemption pass by. Words tumbled out of his mouth. ¡°The only reason Shelter Seoul Forest remained safe until this day was all thanks to me!¡± I gritted my teeth and looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun. He met my gaze and frowned. I grabbed the enemy leader¡¯s cor and smashed him to the ground again. ¡®What kind of bullshit are you trying toe up with!¡¯ ¡°God damn! It¡¯s true! My daughter is in Shelter Seoul Forest as well.¡± ¡®Bullshit! You told me to kill another person, and this is what youe up with?¡¯ ¡°I did it to keep my daughter alive! I needed toe up with an excuse, or perhaps a reason, to trick the officers!¡± ¡®An excuse. A reason.¡¯ After hearing what he¡¯d said, I slowly let him down and unclenched my fists. Kim Hyeong-Jun looked at me incredulously. I looked back at him, and he frowned. ¡®Ahjussi, are you really going to fall for this bullshit? You know it''s not even worth listening to.¡¯ ¡®...¡¯ When I remained silent, Kim Hyeong-Jun clicked his tongue and lifted his right leg high. As his foot plunged toward the enemy leader¡¯s head, I stopped him. ¡®Wait up.¡¯ ¡®What do you mean, ¡®wait¡¯? Are you actually falling for his bullshit?¡¯ ¡®I¡¯m going to kill him after I hear all of the nonsense he¡¯s gonna utter.¡¯ ¡®What?¡¯ I got up and broke the enemy leader¡¯s arm. The enemy leader¡¯s elbow and shoulder joints shattered, and the flesh on his arms were twisted strangely. Putting pressure on the enemy leader¡¯s shoulders, I pulled both of its arms free. The enemy leader was finally in the same state I¡¯d been in earlier, a torso without any arms and legs. I squatted in front of the enemy leader. ¡®You¡¯re dead meat if you try anything funny.¡¯ ¡°What am I going to do, now that you¡¯ve got rid of my arms and legs?¡± ¡®I¡¯m not in the mood for jokes.¡¯ As I grabbed his hair and pulled, the enemy leader spat on the floor. ¡°You, mister¡­ You ate a ck creature¡¯s brain, didn¡¯t you?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°That unbelievable healing ability of yours¡­ I know for sure that you ate a ck creature¡¯s brain.¡± ¡®How do you know that? Did you also eat a ck creature¡¯s brain?¡¯ ¡°Only the officers in the gang can eat ck creatures¡¯ brains. Because the boss controls them.¡± What he said made sense, since the gang was throwing zombies with glowing red eyes as bait toward Haengdang-dong. I was well aware that they were keeping the rest under control. I frowned. ¡®Then how do you know about the healing abilities?¡¯ ¡°You think you¡¯re a special snowke or something?¡± The enemy leader chuckled as he looked at me. I sighed and punched the enemy leader in the face. His lips burst, and red blood trickled down. I grabbed his hair and looked him straight in the eyes. ¡®Okay then, how many? How many of the gang members have eaten a ck creature¡¯s brain? Tell me!¡¯ ¡°The officers and the boss.¡± ¡®How many officers are there?¡¯ ¡°There used to be eight officers, but now, there¡¯s only seven. If I die here, someone else will be the eighth officer.¡± ¡®So you¡¯re saying that you¡¯re going to be the eighth officer?¡¯ ¡°Yes, because I gained their trust. Why don''t you believe me?¡± The enemy leader coughed out blood, but his smile remained. I wondered why he seemed so rxed. Perhaps he didn¡¯t know that I was ready to end his life. I frowned. ¡®You said earlier on that you needed a reason to trick the officers, right?¡¯ ¡°Why, what are you curious about?¡± ¡®Tell me everything you know if you want to make it out alive.¡¯ ¡°Well, do you even have any intention of sparing me if I tell you everything?¡± ¡®If you¡¯re cooperative enough.¡¯ The enemy leader raised his eyebrows and stared at Kim Hyeong-Jun, who was still behind me. ¡°I don¡¯t think the one behind you thinks the same way.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun was looking at the enemy leader with anger. I smacked my lips. ¡®Hyeong-Jun, leave this to me. I¡¯ll tell you everything once I settle this.¡¯ ¡®What? No. I want to be here too.¡¯ ¡®Why? Don¡¯t you trust me?¡¯ As I looked Kim Hyeong-Jun in the eyes, his expression turned to one of disgust, and he looked away. After a moment, he let out a deep breath. ¡®Don¡¯t let him get away alive. If you do, I¡¯m going to think that you fell for whatever bullshit he made up.¡¯ ¡®Don¡¯t worry.¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun scratched his head and looked around, then smacked his lips. ¡®I¡¯ll go check on Gi-Cheol ahjussi and the survivors. Wrap up quickly, ahjussi.¡¯ The red zombies were already just cold, dead bodies sprawled all across Gangbyeonbuk-ro. Kim Hyeong-Jun walked toward the survivors, kicking aside the red zombie bodies that got in his way. He met up with Park Gi-Cheol, who started briefing him on what had happened. After I saw Kim Hyeong-Jun and Park Gi-Cheol together, I directed my gaze back at the enemy leader. ¡®Tell me everything you had nned out, and the secrets you know about the gang members.¡¯ ¡°...¡± The enemy leader looked at me silently, then let out a sigh. ¡°How much do you know about the gang members?¡± ¡°Do you think I don¡¯t know anything about the gang members?¡± ¡°Then did you know that the gang members were initially a group for survivors? Did you know that?¡± ¡°...?¡± I frowned at the enemy leader. I wasn¡¯t sure if I¡¯d heard that right. A group of survivors? My face betrayed my confusion. Seeing this, the enemy leader chuckled and continued. ¡°I knew it. You don¡¯t know anything.¡± I frowned and grabbed his cor. ¡®If you¡¯re thinking about getting away by lying, I¡¯ll give you a piece of advice. Don¡¯t even try to y such tricks on me.¡¯ He sighed and shook his head. ¡°What good would it be for me to talk when you¡¯re not even ready to listen? Just kill me already.¡± ¡°...¡± I bit my lower lip and started thinking. To be honest, I didn¡¯t know much about the gang members. First of all, I hadn¡¯t tried to get to know more about them, and the only impression I had of them was that they were a group full of monsters trying to eat survivors. The enemy leader noticed me deep in thought. He looked at me coolly. ¡°Didn¡¯t you ask me earlier to tell you everything I knew about the gang?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°I¡¯ll tell you just once. So you¡¯d better listen up.¡± The enemy leader looked up at the night sky and breathed in deeply. He smacked his lips and continued to speak. ¡°The gang was founded by three zombies. The three of them were best friends, and all of them were zombies with glowing red eyes. They call themselves ¡®the Family¡¯. The name ¡®Family¡¯es from their desire to get along with other survivors.¡± ¡®So what?¡¯ ¡°Their main staging area was Jongno. Their group grew bigger as they continued to protect people from zombies. But then, at one point, the survivors began to quarrel amongst themselves.¡± As I listened to the enemy leader, I couldn¡¯t help but feel sad. Kim Hyeong-Seok, Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s younger brother, had also fought for the sake of survivors, but had eventually turned into a ck creature after feeling betrayed. I could tell what kind of trouble the enemy leader was talking about. Just a little bit. The enemy leader took a quick breath before continuing. ¡°Greed, the desire to have more than others, to stand above others, broke the system.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°And eventually, the survivors messed around with someone they shouldn¡¯t have.¡± ¡®A person they shouldn¡¯t have messed with?¡¯ I tilted my head as I asked the question, and the enemy leader let out a sigh. ¡°A person whose life these red-eyed zombies considered more precious than their own. The son of one of the zombies with glowing red eyes was beaten to death by the survivors.¡± Chapter 68 Chapter 68 The enemy leader continued. ¡°The boy got some extra privileges just because he was the son of one of the members. They weren¡¯t amazing, but stuff like getting an extra egg every meal or getting one more potato than the rest. Nothing really special.¡± ¡®I bet even one potato was precious to them.¡¯ ¡°Ha! They should¡¯ve understood his privileges, though. I mean, he was the son of one of the members that risked their lives to help them survive. I can¡¯t understand what the big deal was of him getting an extra potato.¡± I could find no reply. Every time I tried to say something to defend the survivors, I couldn¡¯t help but feel sad and bitter, thinking about the boy. Before the world became like this, Korea used to rank tenth in the world in terms of GDP. Now, it was a country where people fought over potatoes and boiled eggs. The enemy leader clicked his tongue loudly and continued to speak. ¡°The one that lost their son¡­ They started massacring the survivors in Shelter Jongno, and soon went through a metamorphosis.¡± ¡®Did it turn into a ck creature¡­?¡¯ ¡°Yeah. It wailed horribly as it tore at its flesh. I won¡¯t be able to forget that moment until the day I die.¡± The enemy leader bit his lip, his face full of anguish and bitterness. I could understand what he was feeling, even though he was an enemy. I remembered the time Mr. Kwak had metamorphosed into a ck creature. I could still hear and picture his desperate and hopeless wailing, along with his soulless eyes and his torn-up flesh. I tried my best to calm my expression. ¡®What happened afterward?¡¯ ¡°Like I said earlier, the gang had three bosses. One of them took all the responsibility.¡± ¡®Took all the responsibility?¡¯ ¡°The greediest one ate the brain of the one that had gone through metamorphosis, then kicked the other boss out of Jongno. The Family moved from a three-leader system to a dictatorship.¡± ¡®That¡¯s so reckless. And the survivors followed that boss?¡¯ ¡°The weak have no choice but to follow when faced with absolute power.¡± ¡®What does that supposed to mean?¡¯ ¡°The boss of the Family¡­ let everyone live, on the condition that they would act as ¡®dogs¡¯. The boss ordered the survivors to eat dead bodies. The survivors had to eat human flesh in order to survive and be a ¡®dog¡¯.¡± His words riled me up. I couldn¡¯t believe the boss ordered others to eat human flesh. He basically gave them an ultimatum: to be monsters or die. I frowned and asked, ¡®Then all the dogs I knew so far¡­¡¯ ¡°The ones that made it through Shelter Jongno, the useless people that survived under the protection of the gang; they are where the dogs originated from.¡± I rubbed my chin, lost in thought. The enemy leader said quietly, ¡°Why, you still can¡¯t believe what I¡¯m telling you?¡± ¡®Well, you forgot to mention thest one. You said three zombies came together to form the Family. What happened to the zombie that got kicked out from Jongno?¡¯ ¡°Well, about that boss¡­¡± The enemy leader trailed off, hisplicated expression shaded with bitterness. At that moment, I remembered something that the enemy leader had said earlier. He¡¯d probably muttered unknowingly, but I¡¯d heard him loud and clear. - I won¡¯t be able to forget that moment until the day I die. I recalled the warring emotions on his face after he¡¯d said that. I had to confirm if my theory was correct. ¡®Are you¡­?¡¯ ¡°...¡± The enemy leader nodded without saying a word and closed his eyes. It was him. He was one of the early members of the Family in Jongno. I red at the enemy leader, my eyes shing. ¡®Why, why in the world did you run away?¡¯ ¡°Run away? There wasn¡¯t any hope left there. It was a living hell, full of insanity and despair. My friend that ate the ck creature¡¯s brain? My friend changed the moment they gained power.¡± ¡®And you escaped so that you could spare yourself.¡¯ ¡°You¡­ Do you have any kids?¡± The enemy leader asked me a rather odd question. So I didn¡¯t say anything and instead looked straight into the enemy leader¡¯s eyes. The enemy leader bit his lips and continued to talk. ¡°I lived as a gireogi appa[1] all my life and lived everyday in the hopes that my daughter would be happy. Being the person I am, do you know what I desired the most when I lost all hope in Jongno¡­?¡± ¡®You probably wanted to see your daughter''s face.¡¯ ¡°You¡¯re right. That¡¯s why I left Jongno with no regrets.¡± ¡®Then why¡¯d you stay in Jongno in the first ce? If you wanted to see your daughter that badly, you should¡¯ve gone to your daughter right after you turned into a zombie.¡¯ ¡°I was nervous. I couldn¡¯t think of leaving Jongno when I knew there were zombies and monsters stronger than me all over the ce.¡± ¡®Are you saying you gained confidence after you lost hope in Jongno?¡¯ ¡°I developed the mindset that I had nothing to lose. I took a leap of faith, hoping that I could see my daughter''s face onest time before I die.¡± ¡®You¡¯ve got some nerve to be so shameless.¡¯ ¡°You wouldn¡¯t know. Looking for someone, not knowing if they¡¯re alive or not¡­¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°The anxiety of not knowing what would change in you if you happen to face an unbearable reality. You wouldn¡¯t know.¡± The enemy leader¡¯s shoulders trembled a little. It seemed he was getting emotional. Just like the previous situation, I knew where the enemy leader wasing from. I, too, had wanted to see my wife badly a couple of months ago. I used to mutter to myself questions that I wanted to ask my absent wife, such as how I was supposed to survive through the hard times ahead of me. Each time I grew anxious, I would think about what she would have done. I wondered what would¡¯ve happened if So-Yeon wasn¡¯t with me. Perhaps I would have gone to Jamsil to look for my wife. Or I might have stayed where I was and died alone. I let out a deep, bitter breath. ¡®So, did you manage to find what you wanted in Seongsu-dong?¡¯ ¡°I¡¯d be dead if I didn¡¯t find her, right? My daughter is alive. She¡¯s getting along with the people in Shelter Seoul Forest.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°I had to survive. No matter what it took.¡± The enemy leader frowned and his lips trembled. He looked¡­ He looked like a man trying to contain his rage while keeping his tears in. His reaction made me suspicious. I wondered what made the enemy leader so resentful. I couldn¡¯t figure out what was making him mad. I smacked my lips. ¡®Then¡­ Why did you act as though you were a member of the Family even after leaving Jongno?¡¯ ¡°It was on the fifth day after I¡¯d left Jongno, I believe, when a zombie with glowing red eyes came here, looking for me.¡± ¡®A zombie with glowing red eyes?¡¯ ¡°The zombie identified itself as a member of the Family. Of course, I¡¯ve never seen that zombie before. The current boss was recruiting zombies with red eyes and expanding the gang. That zombie told me about what was going on with the Family.¡± ¡®What changed?¡¯ ¡°The Family was being corrupted.¡± I swallowed and focused all my attention on the enemy leader¡¯s story. He took a deep breath while looking into the night sky, as though recalling memories of that day. With a sigh, he finally began to speak. ¡°After I left Jongno, the Family started to expand their territory. With Jongno at the center, the members of the Family and their ¡®dogs¡¯ turned Gangbuk into a paradise for themselves. The authority of the boss who¡¯d eaten the ck creature¡¯s brain was absolute.¡± ¡®Well, can¡¯t you just eat a ck creature¡¯s brain yourself? Why didn¡¯t you do that?¡¯ ¡°You think it''s that easy? To turn into a ck creature, the one purpose driving a zombie with red eyes has to be destroyed. How in the world would I figure out the desire that drives every individual?¡± ¡®Wait, did you say ¡®desire¡¯?¡¯ My eyes narrowed after hearing the word greed. He said ¡®desire¡¯ instead of ¡®hope¡¯. My expression grew puzzled. The enemy leader sighed and continued. ¡°No one knows the truth about the ck creatures except for the boss and the officers of the gang. The zombies with glowing red eyes who are used as bait just know that ck creatures are dangerous. That¡¯s it.¡± ¡®...Okay, keep talking.¡¯ ¡°Also, the boss controls the ck creatures in Gangbuk. Ordinary zombies with glowing red eyes can¡¯t ever dream of having a ck creature¡¯s brain. In fact, not even a dong leader can.¡± ¡®It¡¯s a secret even to the dong leaders? Aren¡¯t dong leaders considered pretty strong, even within the Family?¡¯ ¡°It¡¯s pretty safe to say that. The boss appoints dong leaders for each area and gives them some authority.¡¯ ¡®What authority?¡¯ ¡°Absolute authority over their respected area.¡± Everything seemed to fit together now. At that moment, I remembered what the enemy leader had said in desperation earlier on. - ¡°The only reason Shelter Seoul Forest has been safe until this day is all thanks to me!¡± I thought that he was making stuff up to survive, but it seemed like this part, at least, was the truth. The enemy leader took slow, deep breaths before carrying on. ¡°In order to survive and protect my daughter. I had to be the dong leader of Seongsu-dong.¡± ¡®Is that why you ate people? In order to gain their trust?¡¯ ¡°You think eating a person is the only thing I¡¯ve done? I did everything I had to do to survive.¡± The enemy leader shook his head, a slight sneer tugging at his face. I looked him in the face, and could not find a retort. I had also vowed to do anything in order to protect So-Yeon. I wondered if I was really that different from the enemy leader. Was it the fact that I had yet to eat a person, while he had? The more we conversed, though, the more we seemed to have inmon. I looked up at the night sky and pushed away the useless thoughts that were cluttering my head with a sigh. ¡®If you¡¯re the dong leader of Seongsu-dong, wouldn¡¯t the boss know you made it out alive as well? The boss kicked you out, right? Yet the boss still trusts you?¡¯ ¡°The boss only gets reports, and never moves on their own. The boss probably doesn¡¯t know that I¡¯m even alive.¡± ¡®Then why are you trying to be an officer? If you be the eighth officer, the boss will know that you¡¯re alive for sure.¡¯ ¡°No. Just because you be an officer doesn¡¯t mean that you have to meet the boss. As long as you report consistently, the chances of meeting the boss are slim to none.¡± ¡®...¡¯ ¡°All I want is a ck creature¡¯s brain. Once you be an officer, you can get one of the ck creature¡¯s brains, which the boss will bestow on you. I¡¯m nning to burn my bridges with the boss after I get a ck creature¡¯s brain.¡± The enemy leader¡¯s firm will was reflected in his eyes. Despite his calm voice, he had a murderous look, as if he was trying to release all the anger and resentment he had umted over time. I wondered what was causing him such pain. Love and hate? Resentment? Betrayal? It was hard to pinpoint just one emotion. Something beyond these emotions was fueling the enemy leader¡¯s need for revenge. Or maybe¡­ He was feeling a sense of guilt over what he had done in the past. Maybe it was anger toward his ignorance, or the fact that he hadn¡¯t gotten rid of the boss of the Family from early on. The boss would have fainted for at least a week when they¡¯d eaten a ck creature¡¯s brain. I wondered if the enemy leader was regretting missing the perfect opportunity to get rid of his former friend. Feeling ufortable, I looked out at the Han River for a brief moment as I organized my thoughts. I now had a clear picture of this so-called organization named ¡®the Family¡¯. I stashed my hands in my pockets and asked the enemy leader, ¡®What was this ¡®reason¡¯ that you mentioned earlier?¡¯ ¡°Reason?¡± ¡®When you ordered me to kill that person. Didn¡¯t you say you needed toe up with a reason to trick the officers?¡¯ ¡°That was because of the seventh officer. She¡¯s a real vixen. She said she would kick me out of the Family if I didn¡¯t destroy Shelter Seoul Forest. She doesn¡¯t trust me.¡± ¡®What does you getting kicked out have to do with me?¡¯ ¡°Why do you think there¡¯s no connection? Everything happens for a reason, and once you fit the missing pieces together, it all adds up to something in the end.¡± I looked down at the enemy leader, my expression calm. He lifted his eyebrows at me. ¡°A zombie came out of the blue and killed the Majang-dong leader. Do you think an ordinary zombie with glowing red eyes could have done that? No, even a fool wouldn¡¯t fall for that. After all, killing a dong leader isn¡¯t as easy as you think. In other words, the only conclusion is that someone out of nowhere had gotten extremely strong, extremely quickly.¡± ¡®So you think it¡¯s rted to the ck creatures?¡¯ ¡°Yes. Deep down, I¡¯d hoped it would be a zombie that had eaten a ck creature¡¯s brain.¡± ¡®How were you certain that that zombie was me? What grounds did you have to suspect it was me?¡¯ ¡°Because you came running to protect Shelter Seoul Forest. That¡¯s why I wanted to know how strong your will was and how strong of a person you were. I was curious if you would be able to keep that mindset of yours when your life was on the line, even when you were forced to go against your own beliefs.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but wonder what kind of n the enemy leader had after hearing all of this. ¡®Your ns. Spit it out.¡¯ ¡°I was going toe up with a treaty to not attack Shelter Seoul Forest, under the condition that you be a member of the Family.¡± ¡®Ha! So you were nning to make me out as the zombie that¡¯s been protecting Shelter Seoul Forest?¡¯ ¡°You¡¯re right. I couldn¡¯t finish you off because you ate a ck creature¡¯s brain, and I was nning to broker a nonaggression pact between the shelter and the Family by recruiting you.¡± ¡®Is that why you ordered me to eat a person? To prove that I was suitable to be recruited as a member of the Family?¡¯ ¡°Right on.¡± The enemy leader answered me with eyes full of determination. His answer caused me to feel ufortable. It seemed like there was a translucent barrier between me and the truth. I could see parts of it, but not the full picture. ¡®Then¡­ what were you going to do if, firstly, I¡¯d gone ahead and eaten a person¡¯s brain, and secondly, if I hadn¡¯t eaten a person¡¯s brain?¡¯ ¡°Is that a difficult question? If you¡¯d epted my offer, you would have be a member of the Family like me, and if you refused, I would¡¯ve just eaten your brain.¡± ¡®I thought you said that you had to report to your superior. If you killed me, wouldn¡¯t that have meant that you¡¯d have to conquer Shelter Seoul Forest?¡¯ ¡°That¡¯s also a no-brainer. I could just make up a report saying that I would be using Shelter Seoul Forest as my food storage since I¡¯d gotten rid of the enemy leader that was protecting it. Pretty easy, if you ask me.¡± 1. A gireogi appa, literally ¡°goose dad¡±, is a South Korean term that refers to a man who works in Korea while his wife and children stay in a foreign country ? Chapter 69 Chapter 69 He was a smart person. In a matter of seconds, he¡¯d made moves while taking into consideration numerous possibilities. I now knew he was a person with a sharp mind. I also knew how worried he was about Shelter Seoul Forest. However, I didn¡¯t like the fact that someone had to be sacrificed in order for his n to work. It would probably start off with just one person, but I was certain that there would be more moments down the line when decisions had to be made in surprising and unexpected situations. There would also be times whenpromises couldn¡¯t be made. If Ipromised, one day, thepromises that I had made would drag me down and prevent me from moving forward. The survivors and I. I knew I couldn¡¯t live as a human anymore the moment the mutual trust between the living and the living dead was lost. I wondered if getting rid of the enemy leader and eating his brain was the right decision at the moment. I felt like there was a better solution than eating the enemy leader¡¯s brain, but I couldn¡¯t think of the perfect solution on the spot. I needed time to think. I looked at the enemy leader and gave orders to my underlings. ¡®Carry the enemy leader in front of me and follow me.¡¯ GRR!!! The few remaining underlings I had came running toward me with their throat-rending noises. The enemy leader grew startled as they picked him up. ¡°What, what are you doing?¡± Looking at his eyes, I could tell he was nervous. I looked him right in the eye. ¡®I believe what you said. But something doesn¡¯t seem quite right. I¡¯m going to tie you up and keep an eye on you while I think about what that is.¡¯ ¡°I¡¯ve told you everything. I¡¯ve only told you the truth. I have no intention of tricking you!¡± ¡®I know. You were honest toward me, and your n was perfect as well.¡¯ ¡°You¡¯re saying that¡¯s the problem? Being too perfect? Are you a believer of lies rather than the truth? ¡®It¡¯s not about believing in lies. Of course, it¡¯s not that I don¡¯t believe your story. I¡¯m just not in agreement with that mindset of yours.¡¯ ¡°What¡­?¡± I tilted my head. ¡®That mindset of yours. Depending on the situation, you have no qualms sacrificing others for your own good, right?¡¯ The enemy leader sighed. ¡°Do you have an inferiorityplex or something? Or are you just jealous of people who are smarter than you just because you¡¯re stupid? I can¡¯t believe what you¡¯re saying. What a fool.¡± The enemy leader snorted and clicked his tongue. His reaction made me even more ufortable. I felt uneasy around him. An ordinary person would have violently waved their hands or firmly denied it. He should have denied it in this situation. But the enemy leader got on my nerves. Instead of refuting my observation, he got on my nerves to furtherplicate my mind. His thought process was definitely abnormal. I kept my expression neutral and continued to ask questions to figure out his real intentions. ¡®Do you know the reason why I can¡¯t trust you, even when I know you¡¯re telling me the truth?¡¯ ¡°...?¡± ¡®Parts of you remind me of myself.¡¯ ¡°What kind of bullshit are you saying now?¡± ¡®I could only think of one word after hearing your n.¡¯ ¡°What is it?¡± ¡®Perfectionist.¡¯ The enemy leader¡¯s eyebrows twitched. I looked at him as I rubbed my chin. ¡®Perfectionists are always upied with their own thoughts, and they always have some secret, hidden intention that they won¡¯t share with others. What I¡¯m saying is, it¡¯s impossible to really know what they¡¯re up to all the time.¡¯ ¡°...¡± ¡®In order to deceive a person perfectly, you have to cover up the truth with numerous lies. Lies on top of lies, until it¡¯s almost impossible to differentiate the lies from the truth. And because you¡¯re just like me, it¡¯s even harder for me to trust you.¡¯ ¡°You¡¯re nuts. So you¡¯re telling me that even you have secrets that you¡¯re hiding from the survivors, huh?¡± ¡®You¡¯re right,¡¯ I answered without hesitation. I hadn¡¯t told them about what would happen if I ate a person¡¯s brain. This was the one thing I couldn¡¯t tell them, even though they believed I¡¯d revealed everything I knew. The enemy leader looked at me, his mouth opening and closing silently like a goldfish¡¯s. He seemed to be at a loss for words. I shrugged. ¡®Now I know what kind of person you are, and I just think that you¡¯re keeping a secret from me. That¡¯s all.¡¯ ¡°You¡¯re very illogical. You can¡¯t even trust me when I¡¯m telling you the truth?¡± ¡®The emotions we have as humans¡­ sometimes make us illogical. We sometimes refer to them as ¡®gut feelings¡¯.¡¯ ¡°You¡¯re going to put the survivor¡¯s lives and your future by following your gut feeling? Are you insane?¡± ¡®I don¡¯t care if you think I¡¯m crazy. But there¡¯s one thing I¡¯ve learned during my lifetime.¡¯ The enemy leader swallowed and looked at me. Although his expression seemed to suggest that he still considered me a fool, there was a slight tremble to his voice. It betrayed his nervousness, as though he were a mouse that had been caught by a cat. I smirked. ¡®Humans have instincts. And out of all the instincts, the strongest one is their survival instinct.¡¯ ¡°What are you trying to say?¡± ¡®That this gut feeling of mine is never wrong.¡¯ ¡°...¡± The enemy remained silent, but his eyes widened. I looked away from him and gave orders to my underlings. ¡®Put him in the apartment right in front.¡¯ ¡°Hey, hey!¡± His voice faded away. My underlings carried him on their backs to the apartment nearby. I then gave another order to my underlings. ¡®Cut off his arms and legs if they¡¯re about to regenerate. Make sure he stays the way he is right now.¡¯ GRRR! Once my underlings disappeared from view, I looked at the Han River, which had now been engulfed in darkness. I pondered over the story the enemy leader had told me. He constantly wanted me to understand his story. He tried to make me understand how he had been kicked out of Jongno, and emphasized the fact that he hade all the way to Seongsu-dong to see his daughter. The way he crafted his story made it persuasive, and it was easy to empathize with his emotions as well. Because of this, I had fallen for it at first. But as I went over his story over and over again, one part of it didn¡¯t sit right with me. Even if I considered the part about Jongno as being true, what got me was the fact that he had dedicated his life to helping others even when his wife and daughter weren''t there. There was something fishy about that. He mentioned that he was a goose dad, and that he wanted to see his daughter before he died. But it didn¡¯t make any sense for someone who was so desperate to find his daughter and wife to stay in Jongno when he knew they weren¡¯t there, didn¡¯t know if they were alive or dead, and wasn¡¯t aware if somebody else was taking care of them. It was unlike my situation, where I had others taking care of So-Yeon. The earlier part of his story did not match with theter parts of it. I couldn¡¯t imagine a father with a child having a mindset like his. The enemy leader and I seemed to be simr to each other in certain aspects, butpletely different in others. Perhaps the difort I had felt as I listened to him stemmed from this. I knew humans were afraid of things they didn¡¯t understand. And I couldn¡¯t understand the enemy leader. * * * I rted the whole story to Kim Hyeong-Jun. Kim Hyeong-Jun fell into deep thought for a moment, then titled his head. ¡®What you said earlier. Is everything true?¡¯ ¡®I think at least what he was saying is true. But I feel like the enemy leader is hiding something.¡¯ ¡®It¡¯d be best if we can use the enemy leader to lead us to the other members of this Family. But we also have to consider the possibility of the enemy leader betraying us as well.¡¯ ¡®You¡¯re right.¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun caught right on. He came up with possible situations and exined his thoughts coherently whenever I gave him information. I was fortunate to have an ally like him. Kim Hyeong-Jun rubbed his chin and continued, ¡®He¡¯s the type of person that doesn¡¯t mind sacrificing others for his own benefit. If anything goes south, he might just use us as leverage and abandon us to the members of the Family.¡¯ ¡®Right. We have to think about the possibility that he could be considering using us as trophies.¡¯ ¡®Well, we didn¡¯t really trust him from the beginning anyway.¡¯ ¡®I¡¯m not sure if it¡¯s because we met him as an enemy, or if something about him was strange from the beginning. I just can¡¯t tell.¡¯ ¡®Hmm¡­¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun sat on the floor, lost in thought. I sat cross-legged in front of him and waited for him to speak. After a while, Kim Hyeong-Jun flicked his fingers. ¡®How about this?¡¯ ¡®Go ahead.¡¯ ¡®Let¡¯s try changing up the topic.¡¯ ¡®Change the topic?¡¯ ¡®I feel like we¡¯re focusing too much on the structure of the Family¡ªthe boss, officers¡ªand the enemy leader¡¯s emotional story. Do you think he¡¯ll let something slip if we speak to him about a different topic?¡¯ I pondered his words deeply. Was he proposing that we ask the enemy leader some leading questions? Perhaps, in the course of the conversation, he would take the bait. I rubbed my chin, then said, ¡®I want to get some data about the mutants if possible.¡¯ ¡®Mutants?¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun arched his eyebrows and tilted his head. A lot had happened while Kim Hyeong-Jun had been unconscious. I told him about the mutants. His expression grew serious as he heard what I had to say. He smacked his lips. ¡®So you¡¯re saying that these zombies are evolving?¡¯ ¡®They¡¯re evolving into apletely different species.¡¯ ¡®Even though their rational minds arepletely dysfunctional?¡¯ ¡®Well, I¡¯m not sure about that. They seem to have the ability to learn. The way they fightpletely changes the longer your fight with them drags on.¡¯¡¯ ¡®Wait, what? They can even do that?¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun didn¡¯t sound convinced. I smacked my lips, since I wasn¡¯t sure myself. ¡®I don¡¯t know either. That¡¯s why we need their data.¡¯ ¡®Then¡­ What happens if we eat the mutant¡¯s brains?¡¯ ¡®I did think about doing that¡­ But I didn¡¯t get the same drooling feeling.¡¯ ¡®Drooling? The drooling feeling when we see the brains of zombies with glowing red eyes?¡¯ ¡®Yeah, exactly. Looking at the mutant¡¯s dead body was like I was looking at an ordinary zombie corpse. I didn¡¯t get the same feeling that I do when I see zombies with glowing red eyes.¡¯ When I killed the ck creature, I couldn¡¯t help but drool as I looked at its body. It felt like my body had taken control of my mind and made me eat the ck creature¡¯s brain. I had simr feelings when I killed zombies with glowing red eyes. Of course, my appetite wasn¡¯t as strong as when I¡¯d taken down the ck creature, but I couldn¡¯t help but think about feasting on their brains. However, I felt nothing whenever I looked at the dead body of a mutant. The reason I hadn¡¯t eaten the mutant¡¯s brain in Daehyeonsan Park even after killing it was because my instincts hadn¡¯t kicked in at all. I could¡¯ve eaten it of my own volition, but I was worried about the aftereffects. I didn¡¯t know what effects consuming the mutant¡¯s brain would bring. It could cause trouble, just as how humans could contract gastroenteritis or get an upset stomach by eating rotten food. Kim Hyeong-Jun massaged his temples gently and stayed silent for a while. I waited patiently, and he soon took a deep breath before speaking. ¡®That person¡­ Where is he?¡¯ ¡®You want to meet the enemy leader?¡¯ ¡®Yeah, I got to see him.¡¯ ¡®What about Shelter Seoul Forest? Is your family safe?¡¯ ¡®All of them are working together to conduct repairs on the interior of the shelter. My family is also safe.¡¯ I nodded slightly and got up. Kim Hyeong-Jun got up as well, his expression taking on a hint of bitterness and embarrassment. ¡®And, ahjussi¡­ Thank you.¡¯ ¡®For what?¡¯ ¡®For saving my family.¡¯ I chuckled and pped Kim Hyeong-Jun on his right arm. He rubbed his right arm and looked at me, dumbfounded. ¡®What are alliances for?¡¯ I said it lightly, as though it wasn¡¯t a big deal. Kim Hyeong-Jun smiled faintly. I snorted, looking at him and shook my head. After a moment, he said, ¡®Once we¡¯ve wrapped up this incident, I¡¯ll introduce you to my family.¡¯ ¡®Sounds good.¡¯ I nodded and began to head toward the apartment where the enemy leader was. At that moment, Kim Hyeong-Jun blocked my way, as if he¡¯d remembered something he wanted to say. ¡®Oh, ahjussi, I almost forgot.¡¯ ¡®What?¡¯ ¡®Did you perhaps¡­ have a weird dream after eating the ck creature¡¯s brain?¡¯ ¡®Dream?¡¯ I tilted my head in confusion, and Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s expression grew puzzled. He seemed unsettled. ¡®No, hmm¡­ How should I say this¡­ I feel like I had a weird dream while I was knocked out. And I got extraordinarily strong after I woke up from the dream.¡¯ ¡®...¡¯ After hearing the word ¡®dream¡¯, I recalled a fading memory of mine. I¡¯d been fighting zombies with glowing red eyes on a rooftop in Majang-dong, trying my best not to die. But then, as the zombies with glowing red eyes retreated, I fainted, and I had this strange feeling of floating across a vast empty space. It was a distant and hazy memory, just like a dream. During this time, I confronted the ck creature and heard it whisper to me: - Make it through. For my brother and my family. I had no doubt that that was what it had said to me. My expression grew serious, and I frowned. Kim Hyeong-Jun also seemed serious, and his expression took on a hint of puzzlement. ¡®I think¡­ I think I met Mr. Kwak in my dreams.¡¯ ¡®...What?¡¯ Chapter 70 Chapter 70 I swallowed and repeated his statement back to him. ¡®You saw Mr. Kwak in your dreams? Did this Mr. Kwak, who appeared in your dreams, try talking to you, by any chance?¡¯ ¡®Huh? How did you know, ahjussi? He muttered that he needed strength, that he needed power to protect Ms. Koo and the children.¡¯ ¡®And?¡¯ ¡®Well, I got into a little quarrel as I spoke to him.¡¯ ¡®...?¡¯ I didn¡¯t know what to say to that. It seemed like Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s prickly personality carried into his dream self. Kim Hyeong-Jun scratched his head and continued to speak. ¡®I won, in the end.¡¯ ¡®Is that important?¡¯ ¡®Hmm¡­ Maybe it was a pointless dream.¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun beamed like a fool and looked at me. I couldn¡¯t help but sigh, seeing just how naive Kim Hyeong-Jun was. Sometimes it seemed like he was extremely smart, but other times, he seemed like a really simple fellow. I bit my lower lip and asked him another question. ¡®Are you saying that Mr. Kwak admitted his defeat? The Mr. Kwak in your dreams?¡¯ ¡®Yeah, he charged toward me while taunting me, in a way, asking me to try if I could. Like he was threatening me, you know?¡¯ ¡®He came charging at you?¡¯ ¡®Yeah, it was like I was absorbing him inside me. It was a very strange dream. After I came back to my senses, I realized that I was lying in the guard room in your shelter. I then heard my underlings'' signals and came running right away.¡¯ ¡®Your brother also appeared in my dreams.¡¯ ¡®What?¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s eyes flew wide open, and he looked me right in the eye. He stuttered a little and asked, ¡®My, my little brother. Hyeong-Seok appeared in your dreams?¡¯ ¡®Yeah, he told me to survive.¡¯ ¡®Why?¡¯ ¡®...¡¯ I didn¡¯t know how to respond to that. Did he want me to die or something? I smacked my lips and stared at Kim Hyeong-Jun. He shook his head, noticing that he had blurted out something wrong, and moved on. ¡®No, no. I¡¯m sorry, ahjussi. I was too shocked, so I just blurted out some nonsense.¡¯ ¡®Do you remember what I said earlier?¡¯ ¡®Hmm? What?¡¯ ¡®The stuff that the enemy leader told me. That it¡¯s not about hope, but desire.¡¯ ¡®Oh¡­ Yeah, I do remember.¡¯ ¡®The reason we were able to turn into zombies with red glowing eyes. It might be because we have stronger desires than others.¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun nodded slowly, clearly paying attention to what I was saying. I scratched my sideburns and continued to speak. ¡®The ck creatures and the zombies with glowing red eyes. The two might be connected by desire.¡¯ ¡®Connected by desire?¡¯ ¡®Once the zombies with glowing red eyes lose their desire, they turn into ck creatures. Well, to say it more exactly, when their desire gets destroyed, they turn into ck creatures.¡¯ ¡®Hmm¡­ Yeah.¡¯ ¡®Then what in the world is a ck creature?¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun pouted his lower lip, his expression still serious. It seemed like he didn¡¯t know. I sighed. ¡®Everything happens for a reason. Every problem has a root. Processes lead to results.¡¯ ¡®Ahjussi, exin it in easier terms.¡¯ ¡®Desires all begin as small wishes. Once small wishes grow bigger, they be desires. And what does desire create in humans?¡¯ ¡®What, hope?¡¯ ¡®You¡¯re right. Even for those living the crappiest lives, humans still strive as long as they have hope. And the ck creatures, they have no hope whatsoever. What do you think is left for a human with no hope?¡¯ ¡®...Despair.¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s eyes went wide, even though he was the one answering. After a moment, he stuttered and said, ¡®Then, then¡­ Is the ck creature a blob of despair?¡¯ ¡®Well, this is all spection, but I think it¡¯s safe to assume so.¡¯ ¡®Then what did the Mr. Kwak in my dreams mean?¡¯ ¡®Perhaps the ck ones¡­ may not have disappearedpletely.¡¯ ¡®What do you mean? Are you saying they¡¯re still alive? We ate their brains, though.¡¯ ¡®I¡¯m saying that we ate their brains and their wills live within us.¡¯ ¡®I don¡¯t know, ahjussi. It seems like you have your head in the clouds with this one.¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun frowned at me. I shrugged and continued to speak. ¡®Like I said. It¡¯s just spection. Nothing¡¯s certain. But the creatures we met in our dreams. Don¡¯t you think there¡¯s something weird about them?¡¯ ¡®What about them?¡¯ ¡®I met Kim Hyeong-Seok after eating his brain. You met Mr. Kwak after eating his brain. If it happened to one of us, I wouldn¡¯t have given it much thought. But the two of us going through the same thing? I think it¡¯s hard to attribute it to chance.¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun shook his head, still unconvinced. I knew what I was saying seemed far-fetched, but at the moment, it seemed like my hypothesis was the closest thing to the truth. We were in a world full of zombies. The logic from the world before this one did not apply anymore. There was no such thing as reason, or doing the bare minimum. It was all about the survival of the fittest, where everyone had to strive to survive. Kim Hyeong-Jun let out a deep breath and posed a question. ¡®Then¡­ What about the things they said in our dreams? Why would these creatures, who are full of despair, tell us to survive, to try to save others if we could? Why would they say anything along these lines?¡¯ ¡®I¡¯m not sure myself¡­ but perhaps they were counting on us to create change.¡¯ ¡®Counting on us?¡¯ ¡®They¡¯re creatures trapped in despair, but I feel like they¡¯re counting on us for some reason.¡¯ I scratched my forehead as I answered, and Kim Hyeong-Jun looked at me with a sour face. ¡®Ahjussi.¡¯ ¡®What?¡¯ ¡®You know, you were really cheesy just now.¡¯ I chuckled and pped Kim Hyeong-Jun on the back. Kim Hyeong-Jun rubbed his stinging back andined, ¡®What happened to you, ahjussi? It seems like someone picked up some bad habits while I was gone.¡¯ ¡®Ohe on. What¡¯s up with you, acting all weak? I know you don¡¯t even feel pain anyway.¡¯ ¡®You¡¯re just doing this because you don¡¯t want it to make it awkward, right ahjussi?¡¯ ¡®Alrighty, let¡¯s just get going.¡¯ I stashed my hands in my pockets and headed toward the apartment where the enemy leader was being held. Kim Hyeong-Jun followed me, still mumbling to himself. ¡®Counting on us¡­?¡¯ But the thing was, I wasn¡¯t even sure about my theory as well. Thinking that a ck creature that was trapped in despair was living within me gave me chills down my spine. Especially knowing that I had eaten its brain. But the message the ck creature gave me wasn¡¯t something that a being in despair would say. - Make it out alive. For my brother. For my family. I wondered if what it had voiced was its wish, its desire, or its hope. Whenever I killed a zombie, even if they were my underlings, they thanked me with a gentle smile. Perhaps whatever the ck creature said¡­ was something along these lines. After all, the saying ¡®every cloud has a silver lining¡¯ didn¡¯te out of nowhere. I wondered if the ck creature was counting on me to fulfill its hope, which it couldn¡¯t do while it was alive. I looked up at the night sky and took a deep breath. I looked up, seeing the stars shining in the pitch-ck darkness, and thought to myself, ¡®I¡¯ll fulfill whatever you want¡­ Help me in return.¡¯ * * * I saw my underlings on the first floor when we got to the apartment where the enemy leader was being held. I made it past my underlings and entered the living room where the enemy leader was. The enemy leader was sitting in the center, his eyes hollow. The enemy leader sneered when he saw me and Kim Hyeong-Jun. ¡°Are you ready to have a serious conversation?¡± ¡®No. We came because we wanted to ask you something.¡¯ ¡°Go ahead.¡± ¡®You have mutants under you. How¡¯d you do it?¡¯ ¡°Mutants huh¡­ Is that why you came to me?¡± ¡®Stop with the bullshit and just answer my question already.¡¯ The enemy leader burst out inughter and shook his head. His eyes red. ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve heard an answer to my offer yet. Don¡¯t you think it¡¯smon sense to respond to my offer first?¡± ¡®Common sense, my ass. You should be thankful that you¡¯re still alive.¡¯ ¡°If you have no intention of epting my offer, just go ahead and kill me.¡± ¡®So you won¡¯t tell us about the mutants no matter what?¡¯ ¡°Well, you gave my ego a big blow, you know? I feel like shit. You don¡¯t answer any of my questions, so I don¡¯t see a reason why I have to answer any of yours.¡± The enemy leader smiled faintly and looked back and forth between Kim Hyeong-Jun and me. I just couldn¡¯t get used to his serene attitude. It wasn¡¯t easy to interrogate him even with his limbs cut off, since he didn¡¯t feel any pain. He also didn¡¯t fear death, so threats would not work as well. However, the enemy leader had made a big mistake from the start. His arrogance had led to a misjudgment. The enemy leader thought too much, and that had created gaps in his perfect story. He¡¯d forgotten about the real problem while considering all the other possibilities. I smirked and posed him a question. ¡®So, you said you¡¯ve been protecting Shelter Seoul Forest all this time, right?¡¯ ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡®If you don¡¯t tell us about the mutants, Shelter Seoul Forest is going to go down.¡¯ ¡°Shouldn¡¯t that make you see my offer in a more positive light? Shelter Seoul Forest will only be protected if I live, and you and I can get rid of the boss together.¡± ¡®But you know what?¡¯ ¡°...?¡± ¡®Everything you say revolves around you.¡¯ ¡°Now, what kind of nonsense¡­¡± ¡®You don¡¯t care for others in the slightest. Youck a sense of selflessness. Even toward your daughter. Don¡¯t you think you¡¯re excessively selfish?¡¯ The enemy leader frowned for a moment, then snorted. ¡°Where are you trying to go with this?¡± ¡®Data about mutants? I don¡¯t have to get them from you. I have plenty of zombies I can experiment with. I wanted to see if you were going to cooperate, or if you were going to be hostile toward me.¡¯ ¡°Ha! So you had no intention of keeping me alive in the first ce, then? Alright, kill me already!¡± ¡®No, no, no. You can¡¯t just die like this.¡¯ ¡°...What?¡± ¡®You said your daughter is in Shelter Seoul Forest, right?¡¯ As I smirked, the enemy leader¡¯s eyebrows twitched. I kept talking, but kept an eye on how the enemy leader¡¯s expression changed. ¡®Unlike you, I genuinely care about the survivors. The gang members might attack Shelter Seoul Forest while research about the mutants is underway. And you probably need power to protect the shelter, don¡¯t you?¡¯ ¡°Cut to the chase.¡± ¡®If I kill your daughter¡­ You¡¯ll turn into a ck creature, right?¡± ¡°What in the world¡­!¡± ¡®I feel like I could easily take on the officers if I eat another ck creature¡¯s brain.¡¯ I stopped talking and looked the enemy leader right in the eye. I saw his eyes trembling for the first time. He seemed to be lost in thought for a second, but then he quickly burst outughing. ¡°You, killing a person? You should have just begged for the mutant data, you stupid idiot.¡± ¡®Funny thing is, I never said I''d be the one eating it.¡¯ ¡°...What?¡± I smiled while I looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun, who was right next to me. Kim Hyeong-Jun looked at me nkly while mouthing the word ¡®why¡¯. I looked at him and told him to nod. ¡®Huh? Okay¡­¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun nodded calmly. The enemy leader saw his reaction and grew desperate. I was well aware that Kim Hyeong-Jun looked as cold as ice when his expression was calm. I knew he couldn¡¯t have heard our conversation, as my eyes hadn¡¯t met his while I was conversing with the enemy leader. The enemy leader ground his teeth loudly enough for us to hear from a distance away. ¡°Hey!¡± ¡®We¡¯re done talking. He agrees with my n.¡¯ ¡°Wait, I¡¯m not done with my story!¡± ¡®Your daughter, what¡¯s her name?¡¯ ¡°What?¡± ¡®Well, we have to at least know her name in order to kill her, right?¡¯ ¡°At this point, why do I have to tell you that?¡± The enemy leader swallowed but smiled slyly. It seemed like he thought his daughter would be safe if he stayed quiet. I gave orders to the underlings standing next to me. ¡®You, carry the enemy leader and follow me.¡¯ Grr. As one of my underlings hoisted the enemy leader onto their back, the enemy leader started rolling his eyes. It seemed like it was trying toe up with a witty n. I pinched his cheeks. ¡®I mean, your daughter will probably recognize you.¡¯ ¡°You son of a bitch!¡± ¡®Remember what you said earlier? A blow to your ego? What will feel worse, appearing in front of your daughter as a zombie without arms or legs, or just telling us about the mutants? Your call.¡¯ ¡°Goddamn it, you bastard!¡± ¡®Oh no, don¡¯t swear. It makes you sound uneducated.¡¯ I left the apartment after saying what I¡¯d nned. My underling followed me, the enemy leader still on their back. Kim Hyeong-Jun looked at me slyly and asked, ¡®Ahjussi, what did you tell him? I haven¡¯t even gotten to my part.¡¯ ¡®I just saved us some time.¡¯ ¡®What do you mean?¡¯ ¡®We¡¯re going back to the shelter. If this man¡¯s daughter is still alive, she¡¯ll recognize him.¡¯ ¡®What?¡¯ ¡®I¡¯m going to use his daughter to threaten him. If the desire driving this man is his daughter¡¯s safety, he¡¯ll turn into a ck creature when his daughter dies before his eyes.¡¯ ¡®Ahjussi...¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s eyes quivered. It seemed like he thought I was cold-blooded. I snorted. ¡®I¡¯m kidding. I have no intention of killing his daughter. I¡¯m just going to threaten him.¡¯ ¡®And what if that doesn¡¯t work?¡¯ ¡®Then I kill the enemy leader.¡¯ As I answered, my glowing red eyes red. Kim Hyeong-Jun swallowed and nodded. Chapter 71 Chapter 71 We headed toward Shelter Seoul Forest¡¯s second defense line. There were a lot of people gathered in front of the defense line. The survivors were hard at work repairing the interior. Not a single one of them seemed to be taking it easy, but none of them were in a good state. This attack had cost many lives, and it seemed like facing the mutants had drained the hope out of them. The dead were covered with cloth, andid out on the left side of the shelter. Mourners were wailing in front of them. I looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun, my expression bitter. He, too, was taking in the devastation with a look of sorrow. ¡°Hyeong-Jun!¡± A man from the second defense line came running toward us, calling Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s name. It was Park Gi-Cheol. Kim Hyeong-Jun smiled gently and went to meet him. The two of them beganmunicating in signnguage. My mouth fell open as I watched them. ¡®The two of them know how tomunicate in signnguage?¡¯ If they couldn¡¯tmunicate verbally, I supposed it made sense to use gestures instead. The two used signnguage to express what they wanted to each other, unlike me, who alwaysmunicated to others through my notepad. After a moment, Kim Hyeong-Jun looked at me. ¡®Ny-two casualties. Among them, fifty-four dead.¡¯ ¡®How many people were there in total?¡¯ ¡®There were two hundred and eighteen, but now there are only a quarter who are fit. If we include the injured, more than half of the people here are immobile. This raid really got them good.¡¯ I nodded, acknowledging Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s report. ¡®What about the group leader?¡¯ ¡®The group leader seems to be in the hospital as well.¡¯ ¡®Hospital? There¡¯s a hospital here too?¡¯ ¡®You know there¡¯s an apartment in Seoul Forest, right? The one up north.¡¯ ¡®Oh, the one upied by the rich?¡¯ ¡®Yeah. They apparently modified that apartment and now are using it as a hospital.¡¯ I couldn¡¯t believe it. A hospital. Did that mean there was a doctor here as well? I couldn¡¯t help but think of Kang Eun-Jeong. She¡¯d been sick for the past couple of months. If I brought Kang Eun-Jeong here, we might be able to figure out what was wrong with her. And she would probably be able to get adequate care. I nodded vigorously and asked Kim Hyeong-Jun a favor. ¡®Can you take care of the enemy leader for a bit?¡¯ ¡®Hmm? Where are you trying to go?¡¯ ¡®To check out the hospital. I want to see how they¡¯re doing.¡¯ As I desperately tried to get going, Kim Hyeong-Jun tugged on my shirt. I turned around and saw him frowning. ¡®Take care of the enemy leader first.¡¯ ¡®...¡¯ ¡®Priorities. Remember?¡¯ I hesitated after hearing what Kim Hyeong-Jun was asking me to do, but I quickly let out a sigh and nodded. Kim Hyeong-Jun was right. I was worried about Kang Eun-Jeong¡¯s health, but the right thing to do was to deal with the culprit behind this whole incident. I saw a small tform next to the second defense line. It seemed like it was the ce from which the guard leader gave orders. For now, though, I was going to use it as a stage to find the enemy leader¡¯s daughter. I ced the enemy leader on top of the tform while Kim Hyeong-Jun called Park Gi-Cheol over and briefly exined to him what had happened up to this point. After getting the whole picture, Park Gi-Cheol called out to gather the others. ¡°Everyone! If I could have your attention!¡± Park Gi-Cheol¡¯s voice echoed around the area, causing everyone who was working in the area to gather around the tform. Once that was done, Park Gi-Cheol asked a question. ¡°Is there anyone, anyone who recognizes the face of this man?¡± The survivors frowned and narrowed their eyes as they caught sight of the enemy leader, with his severed arms and legs. It was rather disgusting and bizarre, seeing a zombie with no arms and legs looking out at them while shaking his head. Park Gi-Cheol continued, ¡°If anyone knows this man, please raise your hand! Please do not hesitate to step up!¡± ¡°Why do we care about him? Is he someone special or something?¡± yelled one of the survivors in the crowd, who seemed to be flustered about the whole dismal situation. Park Gi-Cheol nced at the enemy leader and then announced, ¡°He¡¯s the zombie leader that attacked his ce!¡± Hushed murmuring broke out after the crowd heard Park Gi-Cheol¡¯s answer. ¡°Lead¡­ leader? A zombie leader?¡± ¡°Zombies have leaders too?¡± ¡°Wait, what? Are you saying they¡¯ve been attacking this ce on purpose?¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t know, group leader?¡± ¡°What is all of this going on in one day? And what are those creatures next to Park Gi-Cheol?!¡± The survivors focused their eyes on Kim Hyeong-Jun and me. As I cleared my throat and looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun, he pretended to not notice my gaze. Instead, he smacked his lips and sighed. Park Gi-Cheol seemed to sense where the crowd was staring and pointed to Kim Hyong-Jun and me. ¡°These two are the ones who came and saved us.¡± ¡°They saved us? Aren¡¯t they zombies too?¡± Just like earlier, there were disapproving voices in the crowd. The survivors began to protest louder. ¡°Let¡¯s get them!¡± ¡°We have to kill them all!¡± ¡°The monsters are evolving!¡± ¡°What if they¡¯re mutants as well?¡± ¡°I''d rather bite my tongue and die here instead of being saved by zombies!¡± The survivors picked up stones that were lying on the floor and started hurling them at us. I could tell that these people absolutely abhorred zombies. They hadn¡¯t said or done anything when we helped them, but now that they knew they¡¯d survived, they let their anger and hatred overflow. My blood started to boil at this iprehensible situation, but I calmed myself after thinking about Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s family. ¡°Hahahaha!¡± Harshughter echoed around the area. All the survivors stopped what they were doing, their collective attention drawn to one specific ce. It was none other than the enemy leader that had burst outughing. The enemy leader looked at the survivors and shouted, ¡°You filthy animals!¡± His voice registered in the survivors¡¯ brains and gave them something new to be surprised about. ¡°What? That, that thing¡­ right now¡­ Is it talking?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a talking¡­ a talking zombie¡­¡± ¡°What in the world is going on?¡± ¡°There¡¯s no way this is happening!¡± As the survivors muttered amongst themselves, the enemy leader continued to rail at them. ¡°You idiots! You dare throw rocks at us when you should be throwing yourselves to your knees and begging us for your lives? That¡¯s why you filthy animals have no right to keep on living!¡± ¡°This monster must be crazy!¡± ¡°Kill this bastard!¡± ¡°Get them!¡± The survivors brandished their bamboo spears and unleashed a torrent of curse words, but none of them dared toe up to the tform. They were all looking at each other hesitantly, waiting for someone to make the first move. I shook my head as I watched them. This was the best Shelter Seoul Forest could do. This had happened because they had allowed random survivors in. As a group, they were unable to make rational judgements. I shivered as I recalled I¡¯d almost trusted these people with my family¡¯s safety. I realized that creating a shelter of our own in Haengdang-dong was God''s will. Park Gi-Cheol tried to bring down the simmering tension. ¡°Everyone! Everybody calm down and listen to what I have to say!¡± ¡°Wait, what¡¯s up with you! How dare you team up with zombies, huh?¡± ¡°That bastard might be a traitor. He must be insane to even be teaming up with zombies!¡± ¡°Kill this bastard too!¡± ¡°He¡¯s a traitor! Kill him!¡± As I listened to their screaming, I frowned and couldn¡¯t keep my fists from clenching. I was about to lose my patience. The people here did not satisfy any of the three conditions that I required for survivors. The people here didn¡¯t deserve to live. They were no different from the dogs. Just like the enemy leader had said, they were no different from filthy animals. ¡°Kill them! Kill them!¡± ¡°They have to die!¡± Some of the survivors began hurling stones at us again. A stone whizzed toward Park Gi-Cheol¡¯s head. There was a loud crack, and Park Gi-Cheol fell to the ground. ¡°Hup¡­¡± Park Gi-Cheol put his hand on his bleeding forehead and fell to the ground. My eyes widened as I watched him go down. I felt my vision go blurry. Beep¨C I had lost my grip on whatever sanity remained. Wrath engulfed my body. No matter how hard I tried to keep myself calm, my blood boiled, and I could feel my body quickly beginning to heat up. My body was burning. I felt like I was in a furnace. My flesh was screaming with anger. I felt like I was going to have a meltdown if I didn¡¯t unleash this anger I had right now. ¡°GRR¡­¡± I let out my murderous intent in a throat-rending growl. I noticed the survivors¡¯ looks and the bamboo spears they were holding. As I walked toward them, gritting my teeth, Kim Hyeong-Jun desperately moved to block my way. ¡®Ahjussi! Calm down!¡¯ ¡®Are you¡­ telling me to forgive¡­ those fucking animals right now?¡¯ ¡®Oh, ahjussi? What¡¯s wrong, ahjussi? Are you not feeling well?¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun was pale. He looked at me once over with trembling eyes. He didn¡¯t know how to react to my sudden change. I opened my eyes as wide as I could. ¡®If they¡¯re human, they should be acting like humans. Don¡¯t you see what these bastards are doing?¡¯ ¡®Calm down, ahjussi. They just lost their families today. Look around you. There are dead bodies and broken walls. Do you think the people here can hold on to their sanity as well?¡¯ ¡®Well they''re not willing to talk to us. What do you want me to do?!!¡± As I frowned and red at him with my glowing red eyes, Kim Hyeong-Jun swallowed and blocked my path with his arms spread open. It didn¡¯t seem like he was going to back off anytime soon. I caught my reflection in Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s red eyes. My pupils were dted and my face was wrinkled. Despite my angry expression, though, I had a rather uncanny grin, which took me aback. ¡®Huh?¡¯ I started to calm myself down after seeing myself. The heat and wrath that had engulfed my body started to cool down, like boiling water ceasing to bubble after being taken off the heat. My grin disappeared, and a forgotten memory drifted into my mind. The face I had just then was the same face I¡¯d had when I¡¯d confronted the zombie with glowing red eyes at the high school. I wondered if I would have enjoyed killing right then. I massaged my temples, perplexed by the way I was feeling. ¡®What¡¯s going on with me?¡¯ My head sagged, and I peered at my surroundings through the corners of my eyes. I noticed the faces of the survivors. I saw faces of disbelief, anger, and fear toward zombies, all mixed together. ¡°Do you get it now?¡± Just then, I heard the enemy leader¡¯s voice, off to the side. I blinked hard and stared at the enemy leader. He sneered at me. ¡°Nothinges without a cost. If you gained the powers of the ck creature, it''s only natural that you would have to suffer something in return.¡± ¡®...What?¡¯ I frowned as I red at the enemy leader, and he sighed. ¡°Once you eat a ck creature''s brain, the desire that it carried will dwell inside you as well. And you have to be true to its desire. That''s the price you pay for getting its power.¡± ¡®What do you mean?¡¯ ¡°It¡¯s easy to lose your sanity once your desire gets triggered. I¡¯m not sure what desire the ck creature that you ate harbored, but it seems like it didn¡¯t like people too much.¡± I was struck dumb by what the enemy leader said. Kim Hyeong-Seok, the younger brother of Kim Hyeong-Jun, was a person that loved people fiercely, so much so that he had even founded the Survivor Rally Organization. Although he ended his life because of betrayal and hatred toward the living, he was someone who¡¯d told me to survive, even after bing a ck creature. ¡®Wait, survive?¡¯ At that moment, a rather unbelievable and dangerous thought crossed my mind. There was obviously a condition behind his desire. He¡¯d said: for my brother and my family. He probably hadn¡¯t told me to survive for no reason. By interpreting his words differently, I realized that he wanted me to fight for Kim Hyeong-Jun and his family. And that meant that I was to get rid of anyone who would harm Kim Hyeong-Jun and his family. The survivors here had not only thrown stones at zombies with glowing red eyes, but had struck Park Gi-Cheol as well. They had harmed both Kim Hyeong-Jun and Park Gi-Cheol, which triggered a different desire within me. Cold sweat trickled down my forehead as I came to this conclusion. I wobbled at the sudden dizziness. My theory was being proven correct. The ck creature¡¯s desire was dwelling within me. And when its desire was triggered, I would lose my sanity, and I would go berserk until I fulfilled its desire. A zombie with glowing red eyes trying to sustain itself with its desire, and a ck creature that couldn¡¯t fulfill its desire on its own. The two desires coexisted within me. Now everything seemed toe together. I swallowed and posed a question to the enemy leader. ¡®What if one of the desires gets destroyed?¡¯ The enemy leader smirked. ¡°That¡¯s when metamorphosis starts.¡± Chapter 72 Chapter 72 The more desires that were within you, the more your physical abilities increased exponentially. However, your mind grew weaker in the process. Having just one of those desires destroyed was enough to turn you into a ck creature. It seemed that devouring ck creatures¡¯ brains wasn¡¯t all sunshine and rainbows. In fact, eating a ck creature¡¯s brain was almost like taking a gamble. At least there was some good news. This desire of mine was almost the same as Kim Heyong-Jun¡¯s desire. I wouldn¡¯t have been able to survive even for a day if I had eaten the brain of a ck creature that harbored the desire to kill humans. A chill ran down my spine as I reached this conclusion. However, there were still questions I didn¡¯t have answers to. ¡®When the enemy leader ordered me to kill Park Gi-Cheol as a threat, I was able to remain sane, right¡­?¡¯ I¡¯d been able to hang onto my sanity when I was put in the situation of either eating or killing Park Gi-Cheol. I wondered if some sort of physical trigger had to be involved in order for me to lose my sanity. Now that I thought about it, my entire body had been engulfed in heat only after I¡¯d seen blood trickling down from Park Gi-Cheol¡¯s forehead. Even back at the high school, it was when enemies showed up and my underlings informed me that the Lee brothers were in danger, that I¡¯d gone berserk and gotten rid of all the red zombies on the first floor. There wasn¡¯t any physical contact involved, but it seemed like I had to have direct knowledge. ¡®If I¡¯d eaten Park Gi-Cheol¡¯s brain, would I have turned into a ck creature?¡¯ I knew that, if Kim Hyeong-Jun hadn¡¯t shown up at the right moment, I would¡¯ve died on the spot or turned into a ck creature. I wondered what would happen if I hurt myself on purpose. As I pondered the question, I came to the conclusion that it was considered an exception. When I pped Kim Hyeong-Jun on the back or arm, nothing happened. In other words, it only worked when aplete stranger did something. My head sagged, weighed down by all the thinking I was doing. Kim Hyeong-Jun bent down and looked me in the face, asking me worriedly, ¡®Ahjussi, are you okay?¡¯ ¡®Huh? Yes, I¡¯m fine. Sorry for startling you.¡¯ ¡®What was that face earlier? And what was the enemy leader talking about?¡¯ ¡®Let¡¯s talkter.¡¯ I looked away from Kim Hyeong-Jun and back toward the survivors. They were all frozen, looking back and forth between me, Kim Hyeong-Jun, and the enemy leader. ¡°What are you doing?!¡± At that moment, I saw a group of people making their way through Seoul Forest toward us. The woman walking toward us was on crutches, her upper body wrapped in thick bandages. ¡°Group¡­ group leader! Are you okay?¡± Park Gi-Cheol called out to the group leader as he wiped away the blood trickling down from his forehead. The group leader looked around at the people around her, then back at Park Gi-Cheol. ¡°I asked you what you were doing here.¡± ¡°Well¡­ I heard the enemy leader¡¯s daughter was here, so¡­¡± ¡°The enemy leader¡¯s daughter?¡± The group leader frowned and then looked at the enemy leader, who was still on the tform. The enemy leader, with no arms or legs, met her gaze calmly. After a moment, the group leader frowned and said, ¡°Stop doing whatever you¡¯re doing to sow chaos.¡± ¡°No, but it¡¯s an important matter¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s forbidden to call a gathering here without my permission. Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯ve forgotten this already?¡± The group leader red at Park Gi-Cheol. He smacked his lips, then looked to Kim Hyeong-Jun and me for help. There was silence. The group leader drew her pistol from her waist and pointed it toward the enemy leader¡¯s head. I quickly moved in front of her to stop her. She shifted her aim to me instead. ¡°I¡¯m going to shoot you instead if you don¡¯t step aside.¡± I didn¡¯t share the group leader¡¯s wishes. I¡¯d told the enemy leader that I was going to kill him if he acted funny, but in reality, I needed his data on the mutants. Park Gi-Cheol observed the confrontation with a look of confusion, but he quickly recovered and leaped to my defense. ¡°Hang on a minute, group leader! There¡¯s got to be a reason why these two haven¡¯t killed this zombie yet. They probably need something from him. You can¡¯t kill him right now!¡± ¡°Rules are made to be followed. ording to the Shelter Regtions, Article Two, use One, zombies found within the shelter should be killed the instant they are discovered. Are you ignoring this use as well?¡± ¡°But the situation¡¯s different now.¡± ¡°No. Nothing changed. We made it through this fight, and all the zombies died. The remaining zombies in the shelter have to go.¡± The group leader finished her sentence and pulled the trigger. Bang! The gun went off with a terrific, ear-splitting st, and the bullet flew straight past my cheeks. ¡°This is my final warning. I¡¯ll put a bullet through your skull if you don¡¯t step aside.¡± The group leader¡¯s voice remained icy as she reloaded her gun. I swallowed and looked at Park Gi-Cheol, who seemed out of ideas as well. I caught his gaze and drew a square in midair, then gestured as though I were writing something. He gasped, realizing what I wanted. He swiftly passed me back my notepad and pen. I scribbled down some words and tossed my notepad toward the group leader. She looked at me disapprovingly for a moment, then lowered her gun and picked up the notepad off the ground. - There¡¯s a bigger threat emerging. We have tobine forces in order to make it through. The group leader snorted while reading what I had written down. ¡°Emerging threat? Combine forces? You think you¡¯re some sort of savior or something?¡± Despite her mocking tone, she tossed my notepad back at me. It seemed like she was asking me to borate if I had anything else to say. I sighed nervously and wrote some more. - I¡¯m sure you know why you can¡¯t just go ahead and shoot me. You know that you need our help. The group leader bit her lip after reading what I¡¯d written down. After a moment, she gave orders to the person beside her. ¡°Tell the officers to be ready for a meeting right now.¡± ¡°Huh? Group leader! How could you trust those monsters¡­¡± ¡°They¡¯re saying there¡¯s imminent danger. We can at least listen to what they have to say.¡± ¡°Well¡­¡± ¡°If you don¡¯t have any other solutions, please refrain froming up with excuses.¡± ¡°My apologies¡­¡± ¡°And you, on the tform, I¡¯d like you to take part in the meeting as well.¡± Once she¡¯d said her piece, she went back the way she came without looking back once. The men who had apanied her shouted to the survivors to go back to what they were doing. The survivors red at us disapprovingly, and some spat on the floor while hurling curses at us. Park Gi-Cheol, who observed their actions, looked bitter. ¡°I apologize on behalf of them. The people here are really against zombies.¡± I nodded slightly, keeping my expression calm. Kim Hyeong-Jun walked over to me. ¡®Ahjussi, should we tie up the enemy leader first before we take part in the meeting?¡¯ ¡®Sounds good.¡¯ As the saying went, when in Rome, do as the Romans do. As long as we were in Shelter Seoul Forest, it was probably best to go along with the group leader. * * * We locked the enemy leader in the apartment again and I ordered my underlings to keep an eye on him. When we returned to Shelter Seoul Forest, the guards hurried toward us and led us to the meeting room. The waterfront recreation room on the north side of Seoul Forest was being used as a meeting room. I entered the meeting room anxiously. Eleven people, including the group leader, were sitting in a circle. The group leader took a deep breath as Kim Hyeong-Jun and I entered. ¡°The two folks will be joining our meeting for today.¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t, aren¡¯t they zombies?¡± ¡°They are. But they can think rationally. They also promised to provide us with information that we are not aware of.¡± The meeting room erupted in hushed murmuring. The group leader had clearly expected that reaction. She mmed her hand on the desk and called for silence. The officers exchanged looks, unsure of how to react. The group leader pointed toward a couple of seats that were far away from the meeting table. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but if you two could take your seats over there.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun snorted after hearing her request. ¡®She¡¯s just straight-up keeping a distance from us.¡¯ ¡®I can tell how badly they don¡¯t want to sit with zombies.¡¯ ¡®Hmm, it¡¯s not the best feeling, isn¡¯t it?¡¯ ¡®What other choice do we have?¡¯ I sighed and sat on a chair near the wall. After everyone took their seats, the group leader flipped through her documents before speaking. ¡°There were ny-two casualties in this battle. Among them, there are fifty-four dead. Guard leader, what do you think about this battle?¡± ¡°The problem was the mutants that appeared out of the blue. We should increase the height of the outer walls and conduct more research on these mutants.¡± ¡°How much cement do we have left stored away?¡± ¡°We won¡¯t have much left after we fix the interior of the shelter..¡± The group leader was clearly unhappy at the guard leader¡¯s report. She directed her gaze toward the woman next to her. ¡°The supply team should help out in the hospital after dispatching the minimum amount of people required for food distribution. We have to focus on treating the injured.¡± ¡°Roger that.¡± ¡°The same goes for the facility team.¡± ¡°Got it.¡± The group leader went through her documents again after receiving the officers¡¯ acknowledgments. She then turned to a man in ab coat that had almost turned yellow. ¡°How are the medical staff?¡± ¡°We¡¯re low on painkillers and gauze. Not to mention blood.¡± ¡°What blood type are we talking about?¡± ¡°We¡¯re low on RH+ B-type blood.¡± The group leader seemed lost in thought for a moment, then looked at Park Gi-Cheol. ¡°Rescue leader, please stop all rescue team activities and look into everyone¡¯s blood types.¡± ¡°Yes, Ma¡¯am.¡± ¡°We need RH+ B-type blood. If there¡¯s anyone that has this blood type, we¡¯ll give them meal vouchers in return for their blood.¡± ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am.¡± The group leader and Park Gi-Cheol, who had spoken rather informally outside, tried to keep their conversation as formal as possible during meetings. After a moment, the guard leader, who had remained silent while the rest had been speaking, spoke up. ¡°My apologies, group leader, but if I may?¡± ¡°Go ahead.¡± As the group leader nodded, the guard leader red at Park Gi-Cheol. ¡°I believe rescue leader Park Gi-Cheol has to be held responsible for what happened this time.¡± All eyes fell on Park Gi-Cheol. The group leader arched her eyebrows in puzzlement. ¡°If you don¡¯t mind borating¡­?¡± ¡°Rescue leader Park Gi-Cheol broke the rule regarding ess to the storage room. Only myself, the group leader, and the chief secretary have the right to ess the storage room. He also hid the fact that he had close rtionships with zombies when he entered this shelter.¡± With that, the officers grew agitated. Several gave Park Gi-Cheol sidelong stares, and they began to speak amongst themselves. ¡°Close rtions with zombies?¡± ¡°Then this incident happened because of Park Gi-Cheol?¡± ¡°Whoever it is, if they lied to get in here, we shouldn¡¯t take this matter lightly.¡± Not a single person was taking Park Gi-Cheol¡¯s side. It seemed like most of the officers held negative views toward Park Gi-Cheol. The officers were taking advantage of this situation to settle the grudges they had toward Park Gi-Cheol. ¡°Everyone, stop!¡± The group leader mmed the table. The officers smacked their lips, their faces full of disapproval. The group leader looked at the guard leader. ¡°I gave them authorization to ess the storage room. We were in a dire situation, and thanks to them, we were able to get rid of the enemies. However, regarding this rtionship that you have with the zombies, I¡¯d like you to rify it for us.¡± Park Gi-Cheol let out a deep breath and closed his eyes as if he knew the time hade for him to confess. After a moment, he slowly opened his eyes. ¡°It was two days after the zombie apocalypse broke out¡­¡± Park Gi-Cheol exined the horrific events that followed the emergence of the zombies. * * * I was already aware of most of the things he mentioned. After the world had been turned upside-down, Park Gi-Cheol met Kim Hyeong-Jun and Kim Hyeong-Seok, who were fighting for humanity. He stayed with the two of them to gather survivors. Through Kim Hyeong-Jun, he learned more about zombies with glowing red eyes, and he added that he focused on surviving every day, along with Kim Hyeong-Jun. However, during their journey, a pregnant woman who was part of their group gave birth, which was why they came to Shelter Seoul Forest, as they couldn¡¯t continue their nomadic lifestyle. The group leader asked Park Gi-Cheol the question that was on everyone¡¯s minds. ¡°Why did you hide the fact you¡¯ve been with zombies all this time?¡± ¡°If I told you that I stayed with zombies, it was obvious that I wouldn¡¯t be epted here.¡± The officers seemed solemn when Park Gi-Cheol gave his honest answer. All except one. The guard leader frowned and started yelling, ¡°Well, the bottom line is that he lied to us and deceived us! What else are you lying about? I bet he¡¯s still keeping secrets from us. How are we supposed to trust someone like him?!¡± Most of the officers seemed to agree with the guard leader¡¯s assertions. The group leader ordered the guard leader to calm down and questioned Park Gi-Cheol. ¡°Rescue leader, are there any more secrets that you are keeping from us?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Are you sure? If you¡¯re withholding anything, please tell us right now. If something like this happens again, you will no longer be able to stay in Shelter Seoul Forest.¡± ¡°If you really want me to talk about it, I do have some information about the ck creatures.¡± ¡°ck creatures?¡± The group leader tilted her head, and Park Gi-Cheol went ahead and told them all about the ck creature. He exined in detail how Kim Hyeong-Seok, Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s younger brother, had turned into a ck creature and the violent nature that the ck creatures had. The guard leader could barely contain himself, his mouth frothing. ¡°Isn¡¯t he basically saying that the monsters in the back might turn into ck creatures as well?! God only knows when they¡¯ll turn!¡± ¡°Calm down, please,¡± the group leader demanded in an imposing manner, but the guard leader only shouted even more feverishly, ¡°You want me to calm down? This isn¡¯t the time and ce to be calm. How am I supposed to calm down when these monsters are in the same room as me? God knows when they¡¯ll turn into something else! Aren¡¯t I right, everyone?¡± The officers tried to get a sense of the room as the guard leader finished his tirade. I could tell they were trying to pick which side to be on in order to make it through this situation. Looking at them made me sigh. ¡®These idiots are officers? Come on¡­¡¯ The officers here were nothing like the ones back in Shelter Hae-Young. I sighed and stood. Chapter 73 Chapter 73 As I advanced to the table where the officers were sitting, some of the officers got up and started to back away. The guard leader shouted at the top of his lungs, veins popping out of his neck. ¡°Sit down!¡± I ignored the guard leader and took out my notepad to write. Once done, I tossed my notepad toward the group leader. The group leader frowned in disapproval, but she had no choice but to pick up the notebook I¡¯d tossed her. She started to read the sentences aloud. ¡°I took care of the ck creature. I¡¯m here to lend you a hand, because of your ipetence. Is this what all the fuss is about? I¡¯ll give you two options. Either you go down the wrong path, or you join forces with me to save people. Your call.¡± After the group leader read out what I had written, she carefully put down the notepad. The meeting room was dead silent. They didn¡¯t have much of a choice. My question was formted with a clear and obvious answer to it. There was no better way to handle these people, who were acting based on their emotions and weren¡¯t thinking rationally. My words seemed to state that we would form an alliance, but it was clear who would be in charge. The guard leader pointed a finger at me, ring furiously. ¡°Group leader! Don¡¯t you remember how we made it this far? You think it makes sense for us to join forces with zombies? I hope you make a wise decision after thinking this through. A lot of people have their eyes on you.¡± The guard leader, who was in his thirties at most, continued to prattle on. I red at him with my glowing red eyes. He looked back at me and swallowed hard. He was trying to maintain a cool demeanor, but his quivering eyes and trembling fingertips betrayed his nervousness. After a moment, the group leader spoke. ¡°The reason why I asked you two to join the meeting¡­¡± The group leader trailed off and slowly closed her eyes. Everyone in the room was waiting with bated breath. After a moment, she continued. ¡°...is to have a serious discussion about forming an alliance.¡± ¡°Group leader!¡± As the guard leader cried out, Park Gi-Cheol, who had been sitting still, arched his eyebrows. ¡°Hey, aren¡¯t you aware that your voice has been pretty loud? Don¡¯t you know you¡¯re in a meeting?¡± ¡°You just shut¡­¡± ¡°Everyone, stop!¡± The group leader cut them off with a shout and a frown. The guard leader backed off, gritting his teeth. Park Gi-Cheol leaned against the back of the chair and looked at the group leader, with his fingers interlocked. The group leader let out a sigh before she continued. ¡°The zombies that attacked Shelter Seoul Forest so far¡­ Was there ever a time that there were more than two thousand of them?¡± ¡°...¡± No one dared answer the group leader¡¯s question. The group leader looked at the officers and asked, ¡°Was there a time that they brought mutants?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°We have no clue how many enemies there are and no information regarding the mutants. The zombies are getting stronger and stronger by the day, even as we speak.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°The guard leader is also right. ording to Article Two, use One, we kill all zombies found within the shelter. But, tell me, why do we kill zombies the moment we discover them?¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s because they posed threats to the survivors¡­¡± The guard leader offered the answer cautiously, and the group leader nodded and continued to speak. ¡°Did we create our shelter so that zombies can hunt us down?¡± ¡°No, Ma¡¯am.¡± ¡°The people here, didn¡¯t they build walls and arm themselves with guns and knives to protect their loved ones? Even though they are zombies, they are asking us to work with them to save people. Tell me, then, are they on our side or not?¡± No one dared to answer the group leader¡¯s question. Park Gi-Cheol, who had been keeping silent, answered her question. ¡°They¡¯re on our side.¡± All the officers stared at Park Gi-Cheol. But unlike earlier on, no one argued with him. The group leader nodded slowly and looked me right in the eyes. ¡°Please help us if you can. I want to save everyone here. I want to create a shelter where people feel safe so that incidents like the one that happened today won''t ever happen again.¡± I nodded vigorously at her answer. As she spoke, the guard leader looked back and forth between Kim Hyeong-Jun and me, her eyes glinting with eagerness. ¡°Please tell us about the world of zombies.¡± * * * The meeting went on for another hour. I exined the Family, the dogs and the Survivor Rally Organization to them. Everyone in the meeting room was shocked and terrified at the same time. Once I was done exining, the group leader inteced her fingers and rested her chin on them. Her voice took on a puzzled tone. ¡°Then, are you saying that the enemy leader has information regarding the mutants?¡± I nodded. ¡°Then I made a big mistake earlier. My sincere apologies.¡± The group leader got up from her seat and bowed toward me. She seemed to deeply regret pointing a gun at me earlier. I epted her apology with a slight nod. After a moment, she extended her right hand to me. ¡°My apologies for not introducing myself earlier. I¡¯m the leader of Shelter Seoul Forest, also known as Silence, Hwang Ji-Hye.¡± - I¡¯m Lee Hyun-Deok. The name of Shelter Seoul Forest was Silence. Thinking about how the survivors here were forced to maintain their silence caused me deep sadness. Hwang Ji-Hye took a deep breath then asked, ¡°Regarding Shelter Hae-Young in Haengdang-dong, which you mentioned earlier. I¡¯d like to speak with the leader there. Could you please pass on the word?¡± - I¡¯ll bring him with me next time. I epted her request, and she thanked me with a gentle smile. It seemed like the officers weren¡¯t satisfied with how things were going, but they couldn¡¯t go against their group leader. Hwang Ji-Hye looked like a woman in her early forties. After the world had turned upside down, having makeup or decent skincare were both pipe dreams. Herugh lines and the crow¡¯s feet around her eyes showed how much stress she had been through. Hwang Ji-Hye took her seat and spoke. ¡°With this, we¡¯ll wrap up today¡¯s meeting. Does anyone wish to bring up anything else?¡± The other officers shook their heads and croaked out barely-audible nos. Kim Hyeong-Jun came up to me and caught my shirt. I turned around. His expression was sorrowful. ¡®Did you have to talk about Shelter Hae-Young? I feel bad now¡­¡¯ ¡®About what?¡¯ ¡®I mean¡­ It seems like your family was exposed because of mine, ahjussi.¡¯ ¡®There isn¡¯t a distinction between your family or my family in this day and age. We have tobine forces. You just need to help if my family gets in trouble, you know?¡¯ I nudged Kim Hyeong-Jun in the arm with a chuckle, and he scratched his head, a sheepish grin spreading across his face. To be honest, I hadn¡¯t brought up Shelter Hae-Young casually. I needed Silence¡¯s hospital and weapons. I knew there was only so much I could do to keep Shelter Hae-Young safe just by relying on my underlings. My people were adaptable and had quick minds, and so they needed proper weapons. It would be a big help if we could have ess to Silence¡¯s arsenal and medical facilities. As I stepped outside the meeting room with Kim Hyeong-Jun, I heard a voice calling from behind me. I turned around to see Hwang Ji-Hye. She looked around cautiously. ¡°Can I have a minute?¡± she whispered. ¡°...?¡± I titled my head in puzzlement, and before I realized it, Hwang Ji-Hye had grabbed my arm and dragged me along a narrow path. She took me to a secluded spot within the forest. Swallowing visibly, she said, ¡°Earlier on, you said the enemy leader¡¯s daughter was here, right?¡± I nodded. ¡°Is there any chance I can meet the enemy leader?¡± As I titled my head, Hwang Ji-Hye bit her lower lip, and distress colored her features. After a moment, she took out a crumpled photo from an inside pocket. It was rather faded. Thoughtfully, I took out my notepad and wrote a question for her. - Are you perhaps the enemy leader''s daughter? ¡°What kind of nonsense are you talking about?¡± ¡°...¡± I didn¡¯t think it warranted such a cold response. I smacked my lips out of embarrassment. After a moment, Hwang Ji-Hye spoke again, keeping her eyes locked on the family photo. ¡°The man in this photo¡­ He kind of looks like the enemy leader. I¡¯m not too sure, because I wasn¡¯t able to see him up close, but I feel like I need to examine his face.¡± I took the family photo from Hwang Ji-Hye and looked carefully at the man in the photo. He was a man in an ordinary suit. His wife and daughter were on either side of him. The family in the photo wore the purest smiles. They¡¯d clearly taken the photo tomemorate a special day. As I studied the man, I realized that he did indeed bear simrities with the enemy leader. However, the photo was rather old, and so I couldn¡¯t be sure. It was also hard for me to imagine how the enemy leader would¡¯ve looked like when he was a human being, since I had only ever seen him with glowing red eyes and a big scar on his face. I gave Hwang Ji-Hye back the photo and took out my notepad. - The daughter in the picture looks like she¡¯s in her mid-twenties. Where¡¯s the woman in the photo right now? Hwang Ji-Hye looked startled. I titled my head in confusion, and Hwang Ji-Hye¡¯s expression grew sorrowful. ¡°Well the thing is¡­ You can¡¯t meet her anymore. In fact, no one can.¡± ¡°...?¡± ¡°She¡¯s dead. She¡¯s Soo-Hyun.¡± I flinched reflexively. ¡®Dead? Does that mean the enemy leader didn¡¯t even know that his daughter was dead?¡¯ It seemed like Hwang Ji-Hye knew the woman in the photo. I assumed that the two had known each other before she died. Hwang Ji-Hye scratched her head. ¡°This is a photo of Soo-Hyun with her family when she was twenty-six. It¡¯s already been eleven years. She held onto this old photo until the day she died.¡± - How do you know each other? ¡°She was my friend. We went to college in the same year.¡± I gasped after hearing the word ¡®friend¡¯. I had assumed Hwang Ji-Hye was in her early forties, but she was actually in herte thirties. I felt momentarily sorry, but this wasn¡¯t the time and ce to think about that. I quickly wrote down some words. - I¡¯ll lead you to the enemy leader. ¡°Great. But could you keep it a secret from everyone else? Since this is a personal matter.¡± ¡®Does she have a reason why she can¡¯t tell everyone else?¡¯ However, I didn¡¯t probe her for details since she said it was a personal issue. After a while, Kim Hyeong-Jun approached me and tapped me on the back. ¡®What kind of conversation did you have? You seemed very serious, ahjussi,¡¯ ¡®I think Hwang Ji-Hye might be rted to the enemy leader somehow.¡¯ ¡®What? Are you saying that she''s the enemy leader¡¯s daughter?¡¯ I couldn¡¯t believe that everyone reacted the same way. I chuckled at Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s observation. ¡®Seems like she and the enemy leader¡¯s daughter knew each other. We¡¯ll have to see if that¡¯s true or not.¡¯ ¡®Oh¡­ silly me. Well then, I want to go too.¡¯ ¡®Sure, whatever.¡¯ ¡®Oh, ahjussi. Hold up.¡¯ As I tried to walk over to the enemy leader, Kim Hyeong-Jun blocked my way. ¡®The heads over there, don¡¯t they belong to zombies with glowing red eyes?¡¯ ¡®What heads? Oh¡­ You¡¯re right.¡¯ Only then did I remember the four heads that I¡¯d used for bait earlier on. I had totally forgotten about them, what with the enemy leader, mutants, and the Silence meeting. It¡¯d already been well over three hours, so I assumed that their heads might¡¯ve lost their effectiveness. As I smacked my lips regretfully, Kim Hyeong-Jun beamed. ¡®Help yourself. I told you that some of themst up to four hours.¡¯ ¡®No, right now I have to get to the enemy leader¡­¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun clicked his tongue. ¡®You go help yourself while I take care of the situation. You don¡¯t think I can do that for you after you saved my family, ahjussi? Or do you think I¡¯m unreliable?¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun frowned unnecessarily as he red at me. I snorted and nodded grudgingly. Only then did his smile return. ¡®I¡¯ll go tell the group leader that we should take a couple of days off. I¡¯ll keep an eye on the enemy leader.¡¯ ¡®Thanks.¡¯ ¡®Of course, ahjussi.¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun smirked and nudged me in the elbow. He was right. It was foolish to let four heads go to waste. The right thing to do right now was get ready to hibernate and let Kim Hyeong-Jun take care of the rest. I took the four heads belonging to the enemy leaders and headed toward the building where my scouts were. Chapter 74 Chapter 74 I woke up in the middle of the day. I wondered how many days had passed. As I got up and looked around, I saw two of my scouts still looking toward Shelter Seoul Forest. I massaged my throbbing temples and headed straight to Shelter Seoul Forest. The wall that had fallen was thicker and higher than it used to be. I noticed purple zombies interspersed between the busy survivors. The survivors, who had been so antagonistic toward zombies, were now working side by side with zombies to repair the interior. I walked along the wall to get to the main entrance, where I saw Kim Hyeong-Jun and Park Gi-Cheol. ¡°Huh? Hey! Over here!¡± Park Gi-Cheol saw me first. I bowed slightly and went toward him. Park Gi-Cheol and Kim Hyeong-Jun came running toward me as well, and I quickly attracted the attention of the other survivors. Kim Hyeong-Jun looked at me straight in the eyes. ¡®Did you have a good sleep?¡¯ ¡®How many days has it been?¡¯ ¡®About two days? If you were unconscious for two days, it probably means that all four of the heads were still effective.¡¯ I let out a sigh of relief, apanied by a slight smile. I looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun. ¡®What happened to the enemy leader?¡¯ ¡®We¡¯re keeping an eye on him.¡¯ ¡®Did you tell the enemy leader what happened to his daughter?¡¯ ¡®I¡¯m keeping it a secret for now, since we¡¯re not certain that that¡¯s the case.¡¯ ¡®Good. Let¡¯s go see himter, together with the group leader.¡¯ I smiled slightly and didn¡¯t hold back onplimenting Kim Hyeong-Jun. Kim Hyeong-Jun smiled as if I was stating the obvious, and nodded. After a moment, Park Gi-Cheol looked at me and asked, ¡°I learned everything that happened between the two of you. So you formed an alliance with Hyeong-Jun?¡± I nodded. ¡°Then I should introduce you to everyone. HAHAHA!¡± Park Gi-Cheolughed heartily as he tugged me by my arm. I wondered what he was enjoying so much. I followed Park Gi-Cheol into the shelter and saw that everyone was staring at me. They all seemed vignt, but the hate and resentment they¡¯d shown toward me two days ago seemed absent. As I wondered what had happened over the past two days, Kim Hyeong-Jun walked over. ¡®They¡¯ll see you as someone on the same side now.¡¯ ¡®What happened while I was gone?¡¯ ¡®While you were unconscious, my underlings and I, you know, did some stuff.¡¯ ¡®Did some stuff?¡¯ ¡®We dug graves, carried bricks, and poured concrete to gain some trust from them.¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun smiled widely as hemunicated this with me. I chuckled and pped Kim Hyeong-Jun on the back, acknowledging his good work. After following Park Gi-Cheol for about five minutes, I saw an apartmentplex in the distance. Apartment A on the right was being used as a hospital while Apartment B on the left was being used as a dormitory. I stopped by the hospital before heading toward the dormitory. It was bustling inside. People who seemed to be nurses were flipping through documents and running all over the ce. The two men that were guarding the entrance pointed their guns at me. ¡°Who, who are you!¡± ¡°How¡¯d you get in?¡± I was stunned by the sudden difference in attitudepared to what I had seen outside. Park Gi-Cheol raised his voice and scolded the two guards. ¡°Lower your guns this instant!¡± ¡°Rescue, rescue leader?¡± ¡°How dare you point your guns at the person who saved everyone when you should be thanking him profusely instead?¡± ¡°Huh? Well¡­ We¡¯ve never seen this red-eyed one before.¡± It seemed like they recognized Kim Hyeong-Jun but not me. At least they hadn¡¯t opened fire right away after seeing a zombie with glowing red eyes. It seemed like everyone had gotten a lot morefortable with having zombies around over the course of two days. I gestured that it was no big deal, and Park Gi-Cheol clicked his tongue and lectured the guards. ¡°How many times do I have to tell you that there are two friendly zombie leaders? Didn¡¯t that guard leader of yours tell you that?¡± ¡°Oh¡­ We didn¡¯t receive any information regarding their appearances. Our apologies.¡± ¡°Still, you need to know how to read the situation. Can¡¯t you see that he''s walking into the hospital with me?¡± ¡°Our apologies. This is our job, so¡­¡± The guards didn¡¯t know what to do. After all, they had probably been trained to open fire the moment they saw a zombie. I suppose I had to be satisfied by the fact that they hadn¡¯t fired at me the moment I¡¯d appeared. Park Gi-Cheol looked at me. ¡°Why did youe to the hospital?¡± I took out my notepad. - I want to meet a doctor. And to see the facilities as well. ¡°It¡¯s not the best. But then again, it would be strange to have a properly-run hospital in this day and age, right?¡± - That¡¯s true, but there¡¯s someone who isn¡¯t doing well back at Shelter Hae-Young. ¡°So you want to see for yourself if you can trust this doctor? Hahaha! You sure are on top of everything.¡± With a burst ofughter, Park Gi-Cheol guided me to where the doctor was. There was arge resting area on one side of the first floor. There had been a sign inrge letters, but most of the letters had fallen away. All the other letters except ¡®N¡¯ and ¡®A¡¯ were gone. As I entered, I saw numerous beds with patients lying in them, hooked up to IV drips. Their bodies were all bandaged up. It felt like I¡¯d been warped back in time. Here, the tragedy of two days ago was still fresh. After a moment, a man in a yellowedb coat walked up to Park Gi-Cheol and me. He was the man that had represented the medical staff. I remembered seeing him at the meeting. The man looked at me and Kim Hyeong-Jun with a rather disgusted expression. ¡°Is there anything you wanted to say¡­?¡± Park Gi-Cheol pointed his finger at me. ¡°This fellow wanted to see you.¡± The doctor gave me a once-over, then smiled gently. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but there could be a risk of infection. Could you please wait outside?¡± I understood why he looked at us the way he did. His cold attitude shouldn¡¯t have been a surprise, since we¡¯d entered the hospital wing with filthy clothes. I nodded and went outside without a word. After waiting on a bench outside for a while, the man in theb coat came out. He looked exhausted. He let out a sigh. ¡°Go ahead with what you wanted to say.¡± I assumed he hadn¡¯t slept for two days, since he was taking care of the patients. The dark circles he had under his eyes showed just how much effort he¡¯d been putting in. I quickly took out my notepad, since I knew better than to take any more time than necessary. I wrote down Kang Eun-Jeong¡¯s symptoms. The doctor carefully read what I had written down. After a moment of contemtion, he let out a slight groan. ¡°I think it¡¯s best if I see this patient face to face.¡± - Are they serious symptoms? ¡°I¡¯m not sure, but given the symptoms you¡¯ve listed, it seems like tetanus.¡± - Tetanus? ¡°She should have an infected wound on her. Did you check?¡± - As far as I know, no. I couldn¡¯t help but feel startled. Wasn¡¯t tetanus something that could be prevented with a vine? Well of course, after the world had turned into this mess, getting a tetanus shot sounded like a gift from heaven, but it hadn¡¯t even been a year since the zombie incident. Did that mean that Kang Eun-Jeong hadn¡¯t gotten her tetanus shot before all of this happened? My mind was in overdrive again. I shook the useless thoughts out of my head and followed up with a question. - After we saw her symptoms, we got whatever medicine would fit her needs. It¡¯s been over a month. Will she be okay? The doctor¡¯s eyes widened in surprise, but his surprise was quickly reced by a frown. ¡°Over a month? Bring her here this instant.¡± Park Gi-Cheol¡¯s expression grew serious as well. ¡°Is it that serious?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t take tetanus lightly. It¡¯s a deadly disease with a mortality rate of fifty percent if not treated early on.¡± ¡°What? It¡¯s that dangerous?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not a localized infection. It damages your nervous system as well. It starts off with muscle spasms, paralysis, and fevers, but after that it leads to shortness of breath, then paralysis of the respiratory muscles and a heavy strain on the entire system. You can imagine what could happen next.¡± ¡°You, you die?¡± The doctor nodded without saying a word. My jaw fell open. I was worried about Kang Eun-Jeong, but I was as worried for Kang Ji-Suk as well. I knew he would copse if something were to happen to her. I dashed toward the hospital entrance. ¡°Hey, where are you going!¡± I heard Park Gi-Cheol¡¯s voice calling from behind me, but I had no time to answer every question he had. I had to bring Kang Eun-Jeong over immediately. The roar of the wind filled my eardrums and the surroundings sped past me in a blur. I ran back to the Shelter Hae-Young with all my might. * * * I got back to Shelter Hae-Young in just seven minutes. After I¡¯d absorbed Kim Hyeong-Seok¡¯s desire, my physical abilities were at their peak even while the sun was up. I wasn¡¯t affected by the rules of night and day anymore. I leaped over the shelter¡¯s fence andnded in the yground. Lee Jeong-Uk, who was feeding the hens, fell onto his bottom. ¡°Woah, geez. You surprised me.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk brushed off the dust on his hands and looked at me. I quickly took out my notepad and wrote down a couple of words. - Where¡¯s Eun-Jeong? ¡°Eun-Jeong? Well, she¡¯s in her room of course, in apartment 104.¡± I went straight toward apartment 104. ¡°Wait, what''s going on!¡± I heard Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s voice behind me. I felt bad for leaving him without a reply, but I had no time to answer his questions. If Kang Eun-Jeong really had tetanus, just like that doctor had said, she should¡¯ve gotten treatment within two weeks. However, it had already been a month. That meant that the situation was dire. I was the only one to me. There was nothing we could do at Shelter Hae-Young. We had no medical knowledge or medical facilities. However, the fact that I couldn¡¯t do anything because of our given circumstances made me tremble with anger. ¡®If I was just a little bit smarter. If only I was a bit better...¡¯ As a leader, and as a representative, I should¡¯ve had a better n. All I¡¯d done was hope that she would get better with time, that she would ovee her illness by herself, that it was nothing more than a mere cold. That mindset had caused me to underestimate the danger to her life. I couldn¡¯t forgive my ipetence. Living as a hypocrite. I knew I had already done so much of that while I¡¯d been a human being. I wasn¡¯t going to live this second life I¡¯d been given in the same way. As I entered the living room, Kang Eun-Jeong was drinking some water. Kang Ji-Suk and Han Seon-Hui were there with her. She was as pale as she could be, and sweating even though the weather wasn¡¯t even warm. The dark circles under her eyes and her scrawny arms and legs made my heart ache. Kang Eun-Jeong looked at me worriedly. ¡°Oh, So-Yeon¡¯s father. Are you doing alright? I heard you just came back from Seoul Forest.¡± She should¡¯ve been worrying about herself. She was worrying about me, even though she was the one who needed treatment right now. With her small, weak voice, she had asked how I was doing. I felt so sorry that the tip of my nose stung. I whipped out my notepad and wrote down a sentence. - We have to get going right now. ¡°Huh?¡± - You have to get proper treatment. Kang Eun-Jeong was dumbfounded after reading my sentence. I knew that a month of waiting was long enough. I didn¡¯t want her to wait any longer. I slung Kang Eun-Jeong onto my back and headed toward the front door. ¡°So-Yeon¡¯s father, So-Yeon¡¯s father!¡± ¡°Where are you going, ahjussi?¡± I heard Han Seon-Hui and Kang Ji-Suk¡¯s voices behind me. If I could speak, I would¡¯ve exined the situation, but I knew that I had to take care of my responsibilities immediately. As I stepped outside, I saw Kim Hyeong-Jun gesturing wildly at Lee Jeong-Uk. Kim Hyeong-Jun beamed as he saw me. ¡®Geez! I almost went nuts because I couldn¡¯tmunicate with him.¡¯ ¡®Why¡¯d you follow me?¡¯ ¡®Why¡¯d you disappear all of a sudden? You have to at least tell me what¡¯s going on!¡¯ ¡®I¡¯ll exinter.¡¯ I tried to go over the wall with Kang Eun-Jeong on my back, but Kim Hyeong-Jun noticed what I was trying to do and grabbed onto my shirt. ¡®Take her guardian with you.¡¯ ¡®I¡¯m her guardian.¡¯ ¡®Then what about the people behind you?¡¯ I turned around to see Han Seon-Hui and Kang Ji-Suk looking at me nervously. I had no choice but to ask Kim Hyeong-Jun a favor. ¡®The boy over there, can you carry him?¡¯ ¡®You should have been like that from the beginning, ahjussi.¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun chuckled and gestured for Kang Ji-Suk to get on his back. The boy hesitated for a moment, but eventually climbed onto Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s back. I took out my notepad from my pocket and wrote some words for Lee Jeong-Uk. - I¡¯m going to the hospital. ¡°Hospital? There¡¯s a hospital?¡± I gave him a slight nod and leapt over the wall. Kim Hyeong-Jun followed me, with Kang Ji-Suk on his back. We sprinted toward Shelter Seoul Forest like track athletes. The wind was cold. I could feel Kang Eun-Jeong¡¯s warmth as she clung tightly to me to avoid the cold, stinging wind. Her forehead was boiling. I knew how much she¡¯d been trying to act as if she was okay, that nothing was wrong, to not let others worry about her even though she had a fever this bad. I felt that warm heart of hers. I was so sorry, yet thankful, proud, and in awe of her attitude. I couldn¡¯t hold back my tears. I bit my lower lip and thought to myself, ¡®It¡¯s alright. It¡¯s going to be alright now.¡¯ She probably couldn¡¯t hear what I was thinking. ¡®You don¡¯t have to go through the pain by yourself anymore.¡¯ I kept repeating this as we made our way toward Shelter Seoul Forest. Chapter 75 Chapter 75 I leaped over the defense line of Shelter Seoul Forest and headed straight toward the hospital. As I entered the hospital, I saw Park Gi-Cheol talking with the doctor. The doctor¡¯s eyes widened when he saw Kang Eun-Jeong on my back. ¡°Is she the patient you mentioned earlier?¡± I nodded. ¡°This way please.¡± He led me to a cot. As Iid Kang Eun-Jeong down, he started to examine her condition. He ced his hand on her sides but then lifted her top a little bit while tilting his head. Her wound didn¡¯t seem too deep at first nce, but the area around it¡ªabout the size of an adult male¡¯s hand¡ªwas swollen. She was also terribly pale. The doctor looked serious as he took her pulse. He then looked me right in the eye. ¡°How could you not know how bad her condition was, when you can see that she¡¯s this sick?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°She probably wouldn¡¯t have been able to walk on her own if she¡¯s this sick. Wasn¡¯t someone looking after her?¡± I couldn¡¯t say anything to him. It wasn¡¯t because I couldn¡¯t speak physically¡ªrather, I had no excuses to bring up. As I let my head sag silently, Kang Ji-Suk, who¡¯d followed me in, spoke up. ¡°Ahjussi didn¡¯t do anything wrong!¡± The doctor gave him a sidelong look. ¡°And who is this¡­?¡± Kang Ji-Suk¡¯s reply was fierce, his eyes open wide. ¡°Her guard¡­ guardian!¡± ¡°Is she your older sister?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Your sister has to get into surgery right now.¡± ¡°Huh? Is her condition serious?¡± ¡°Well, she wouldn¡¯t be needing surgery if it wasn¡¯t serious.¡± Once the doctor mentioned that Kang Eun-Jeong would need immediate surgery, Kang Ji-Suk lost the fire that he¡¯d had earlier on. He looked shocked, instead, and hung onto every word that the doctor was saying. Park Gi-Cheol approached us, his eyes clouded with worry. ¡°Do you think she can get better?¡± ¡°Well, we have to give it a try. Her pulse is weak and irregr. We also have to consider the possibility of sepsis. Above all, tetanus is a disease containing strong toxins that can paralyze the nerves. The results will vary depending on her immunity.¡± ¡°Is there anything we can do to help? Possibly more painkillers or anesthetic? Let me know if you need anything from us.¡± ¡°I believe we¡¯re good on antibiotics. We have enough for treatment. If you insist on helping out, get us some painkillers or anesthetic. We¡¯re particrly low on painkillers.¡± ¡°Painkillers? Got it.¡± Park Gi-Cheol nodded. The doctor examined Kang Eun-Jeong, muttering to himself as he evaluated her condition. ¡°Since the wound was left untreated for a long time¡­ Hmm let¡¯s see... Gentamicin? No, ceftriaxone? No¡­¡± The doctor frowned and contemted for a minute, then called in some nurses that were passing by. Two nurses came and he started giving them precise orders. ¡°Please prepare tetanus immune globulin, penicillin, and cephalosporin. I think it¡¯ll be better to disinfect the wound and remove the necrotic tissue first. Let¡¯s get the patient to the operating room.¡± After he briefly exined the surgical procedure, they headed toward the operating room. He asked the nurses to bring muscle rxants as they made their way to the operating room. They were clearly experienced, given their ability to diagnose a patient¡¯s condition so quickly and formte the appropriate response. Very quickly, the nurses wheeled Kang Eun-Jeong over to the operating room. As I watched her being wheeled away, my legs gave out and I copsed to the floor. Kim Hyeong-Jun smacked his lips and looked me in the eye. ¡®Don¡¯t worry too much. She¡¯ll be okay.¡¯ ¡®What if things go south?¡¯ ¡®They say that doctors who are stingy with their words are the best at their jobs. I¡¯d say he¡¯s pretty trustworthy, considering the fact that he could tell she needed surgery right away.¡¯ I let out a deep breath while I slicked my hair back. He was right. There was nothing I could do anymore. I had to leave the rest to the doctor. Kim Hyeong-Jun tapped my forearm lightly. ¡®Cheer up, ahjussi. There are still things we have to deal with.¡¯ ¡®You¡¯re right. By the way, thanks for bringing Ji-Suk.¡¯ ¡®You know that wasn¡¯t a big deal right?¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun grinned and stuck out his hand. I moved to shake his hand, then hesitated. His eyes widened in surprise and he hurriedly put his hands away. ¡®Goodness gracious, old habits are really scary.¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun smiled to brush it off and told me to get up. We both realized that, if we¡¯d gone through with it, we would have both fainted. Even though we had taken vos as allies, we would have triggered a serious headache if we had touched each other¡¯s palms. Iughed along with him and got up. Then I took out my notepad and wrote out a question for Park Gi-Cheol. - Where is the group leader? ¡°The group leader? She should be in the storage room.¡± As I nodded and got ready to leave the hospital, I heard Park Gi-Cheol''s voice behind me. ¡°What do you want me to do?¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun answered him in signnguage. The older man smacked his lips and sighed, then nodded. ¡°Ugh, guess I¡¯ll go repair the defense line.¡± After we got things sorted out, we headed to our respective ces. Kim Hyeong-Jun and I headed to the storage room to meet the group leader, while Park Gi-Cheol headed back to the second defense line. As we got to the storage room, I saw Hwang Ji-Hye going through some documents while doing an inventory of the storage room. She bowed her head slightly when she noticed me and came over to us. I bowed back at her and met her halfway. Hwang Ji-Hye looked around, then took us along a secluded path through the forest. ¡°Are you done taking care of the zombies?¡± I looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun. He shrugged. ¡®I told her that I went on patrol. And of course, the gang members made no moves.¡¯ ¡®You even went on patrol?¡¯ ¡®Well, I¡¯m not the type of person to just sit around idly, you know?.¡¯ I smiled lightly and took out my notepad. Writing down some words, I showed them to Hwang Ji-Hye. - Seoul Forest is safe. ¡°Thank god. Then we should take care of the enemy¡­¡± - Come with us tonight. I scribbled down more words before Hwang Ji-Hye finished speaking. She looked at what I wrote and nodded, a thin smile ying across her lips. I gave her a small bow and turned to go, but her voice stopped me. ¡°Oh, I heard that someone in your shelter is sick.¡± Rumors did travel fast. It seemed like, in the short time since, the guards at the hospital had overheard the initial conversation between Park Gi-Cheol and the doctor and reported it to Hwang Ji-Hye. She smacked her lips. ¡°Silence has a doctor you can trust. How about you bring her here for treatment?¡± I wrote down more words after listening to Hwang Ji-Hye. - We¡¯ve already transferred her to the hospital. ¡°Already?¡± - The doctor said she urgently needed surgery. ¡°Oh¡­¡± Hwang Ji-Hye nodded slowly then trailed off, subtly avoiding my gaze. She seemed to be hiding something. I titled my head and asked her a question to clear the air. - Did you want to say something? ¡°Well, the thing is¡­ We¡¯re not doing well on painkillers ever since this battle. We¡¯re extremely low on them. I¡¯m sorry to ask you this, but I was wondering if you could get us some painkillers. Our current stocks will onlyst us for at most a month.¡± I nodded without hesitation. Kang Eun-Jeong probably needed painkillers as well. There was no need to even think about this. Then Hwang Ji-Hye¡¯s face brightened. ¡°So you¡¯ll get them for us?¡± - Of course. But under one condition. ¡°Condition?¡± Hwang Ji-Hye¡¯s eyes started to tremble. She might have gotten nervous because she was afraid I was going to ask her for something absurd. I pointed to the storage room in the distance and held out my notepad. - I¡¯d like some weapons from the storage room. I want the people at Shelter Hae-Young to have weapons as well, so that they can protect themselves. ¡°For that reason, I¡¯d be happy to.¡± Hwang Ji-Hye answered without the slightest hesitation. Did she need painkillers that badly? But even then, I couldn¡¯t understand why she would hand over firearms so easily, especially since they were so essential for survival. Unless she was getting supplies from somewhere¡­ I thought about asking her about that, but I decided to be satisfied with our deal for the moment. I nodded, and Hwang Ji-Hye led me back to the storage room. She clearly wanted to hand them over since we were already nearby. I received twelve K2 rifles and fifty magazines from her.[1] I also got a box of grenades as a bonus. Hwang Ji-Hye flipped through her documents and spoke up. ¡°Let me know if you need more. We''ll open the storage room for you anytime.¡± - This is enough for now. I showed her my notepad with a satisfied smile, and Hwang Ji-Hye smiled gently. ¡°Oh, we also have crossbows. Would you like any?¡± My eyes widened at the word crossbow. I was hesitant to use firearms unless our lives were really at stake, because it could attract another zombie wave. Just thinking about what could happen if a gunshot went off at Shelter Hae-Young while I wasn¡¯t there gave me chills down my back. Seeing that I showed more interest in the crossbows than the K2 rifles, Hwang Ji-Hye grinned and asked the guard next to her, ¡°How many crossbows do we have?¡± ¡°There are twelve crossbows that we made ourselves.¡± ¡°And?¡± ¡°Well, eight other crossbows were delivered.¡± ¡°Is there a big difference in terms of performance between the ones we made ourselves and the ones that were delivered?¡± ¡°No. The technicians put their blood, sweat, and tears into making them.¡± Hwang Ji-Hye looked at me after hearing the guard¡¯s answer. The guard was extremely confident about their performance. The guard probably did so to forestall anyments I might have about their performanceter on. As I listened to their conversation, however, I couldn¡¯t help but feel suspicious at their choice of words. ¡®Delivered?¡¯ I was pretty sure that the word ¡®delivered¡¯ meant that someone else had passed the items to them. I wondered if Shelter Silence wasmunicating with other shelters. I heard that most of the shelters in Gangbuk had fallen but were there still some shelters left that I wasn¡¯t aware of? I opened my notepad to ask her about this, but then I put my notepad down after hearing Hwang Ji-Hye¡¯s voice. ¡°We don¡¯t have a lot of crossbows for ourselves, so I can¡¯t give you that many. How many do you need?¡± - Honestly, I want all of them. Hwang Ji-Hye burst intoughter at my blunt answer. She regarded me for a moment, then continued with a smile still on her face. ¡°It¡¯s nice of you to be honest. I very much prefer straightforward people like you, rather than beating around the bush.¡± - Then four crossbows with ten arrows each. How does that sound? ¡°I don¡¯t want to be petty or cheap, but let¡¯s agree on three.¡± - Okay then. Three crossbows with twelve arrows for each of them. I figured that arrows wouldn¡¯t break easily unless we fired them into a hard wall or sheet metal. If we used them to take care of street zombies, we could easily reuse the arrows after confirming their condition. Hwang Ji-Hye nodded as if it wasn¡¯t a big deal. ¡°Alright, it¡¯s a deal then.¡± She then instructed the guard behind her to bring the crossbows and arrows. After I checked them out, I held out my right hand to Hwang Ji-Hye. She grinned and epted my handshake. She then whispered so that the guards could not hear us. ¡°Come to the hospital when the sun sets. We¡¯ll exit by a different way.¡± It seemed like she wanted to take care of the matter rted to the enemy leader from Seongsu-dong that day as well. I nodded silently. There was no more time to waste. However, it seemed that even though Hwang Ji-Hye was the group leader, it wasn''t easy for her to leave the shelter. I could sense that she didn¡¯t want to be noticed by the guards when she left either. I figured it was best to follow Hwang Ji-Hye¡¯s lead for now. When she tried to head back to the storage room, I caught hold of her shirt. She tilted her head and looked back at me. I carefully wrote down what I wanted to ask in my notepad. - I¡¯m sorry, but I couldn¡¯t help but overhear your conversation with the guard earlier on. You said that the crossbows had been delivered. Where did you get them from? ¡°Oh¡­¡± Hwang Ji-Hye trailed off and avoided my gaze. It seemed like she¡¯d had no intention of telling me about it, but had identally let it slip while in conversation with the guard. She forced a smile and said, ¡°Well, since you already heard it from us, I can¡¯t do anything about that¡­ But I can''t tell you about it right now.¡± - Is this something more important than the items you have in the storage room? Hwang Ji-Hye had openly given me ess to the storage room. I assumed that this meant that we had some sort of trust in each other. I couldn¡¯t understand what she meant by not being able to tell me about this. I couldn¡¯t help but wonder how important this matter was. I looked at her sadly, and she smacked her lips. ¡°If you put it that way, then there¡¯s nothing I can say. But this is something I can¡¯t tell you without consulting with others first.¡± Hwang Ji-Hye¡¯s answer convinced me of my hypothesis. The fact that it was difficult to make the call alone meant that she had to respect the opinions of others. Which in turn meant that Shelter Seoul Forest, Silence, had established some sort ofwork with other shelters. Having sorted out my thoughts, I did not probe any further. - All right. ¡°My apologies. Then¡­¡± Hwang Ji-Hye gave me a small bow and walked into the storage room. I watched her as she walked away. ¡®She¡¯s not the best when ites to forming rtionships.¡¯ She was afraid to upset people even though she was a cold-blooded person with no mercy toward zombies. I hadn¡¯t heard of reinforcementsing from other shelters to help out Shelter Seoul Forest. Even though I was helping them directly, I still couldn¡¯t gain absolute trust from Hwang Ji-Hye and the people here. Maybe, just maybe, an invisible wall existed between the living and the dead. ¡®Maybe she¡¯ll tell me when she fully opens up.¡¯ I sighed and swallowed the sadness of feeling left out. 1. The Daewoo Precision Industries K2 assault rifle, often referred to as K2, is the standard service rifle used by the South Korean military. It is the Korean equivalent of the M4 rifle. ? Chapter 76 Chapter 76 The moment I returned to Shelter Hae-Young with my underlings, carrying the supplies I¡¯d obtained from Hwang Ji-Hye, Lee Jeong-Uk came running toward me. It seemed he was dying to get an update on the situation. ¡°What happened? Is Eun-Jeong okay?¡± I gestured for us to talk inside. As we walked, Lee Jeong-Uk nced at my underlings. ¡°It seems like you lost a lot of underlings. Was the enemy strong?¡± Unable to continue ignoring his questions, I took out my notepad and scribbled down some words. - A lot happened, and I got a lot of information. Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s expression grew perturbed. ¡°I¡¯m sorry to ask this, knowing that you just got back and haven¡¯t had time to rest, but is it okay if we have a meeting right now?¡± - I don¡¯t get tired anyway. Can you let everyone know? I massaged my neck and went ahead to the meeting room, my underlings in tow. I ced the boxes on the meeting room table and ordered my underlings to wait outside. Soon after, Lee Jeong-Uk came in. Behind him were Lee Jeong-Hyuk, Choi Da-Hye, the principal, the elder, Han Seon-Hui, and Shin Ji-Hye. It seemed like the others decided to include Shin Ji-Hye in the meeting as she was the leader of the university students from Dae Hyun San Park. I¡¯d only been away for two days, but I felt a rather strange feeling offort, as if I¡¯d been transported to another world. This ce was only seven minutes away from where I¡¯d been earlier on, running at top speed, but that ce was a living hell full of sadness and despair, whereas Shelter Hae-Young had maintained its calm and peaceful daily routine. I knew it was a selfish thought, but I felt fortunate that my family was here. Reports of what had happened in the shelter over the past two days were ced on the table, and everyone took their seats. I took a brief look at the documents before we started our meeting. There¡¯d been no major changes at Shelter Hae-Young. Things were still operating steadily, and no bad blood had developed between the inhabitants. The shelter was full of vitality. I assumed it was because we had more younger people than before, thanks to the college students. I put down the documents I was holding and wrote down some words on the A4 paper in front of me. - We¡¯ll begin today¡¯s meeting. * * * Unlike our regr weekly meetings, I couldn¡¯t see this emergency meeting ending any time soon. The main focus of our meeting was about Shelter Silence instead of Shelter Hae-Young. I had a lot to announce, and the fact that I had to write a lot to make everyone understand only served to lengthen the amount of time the meeting would take. When I¡¯d exined everything that had happened, Lee Jeong-Uk was the first to speak. ¡°Then¡­. Shelter Silence and us¡­ Are we forming an alliance with them?¡± I nodded. ¡°Can we trust them?¡± I fiddled with my earlobes and gave some thought to Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s question. ¡®Hmm¡­ Trust¡­¡¯ - It¡¯s too early to talk about trust with them. ¡°Well, you do have a point.¡± - They were people that abhorred zombies, but they aren¡¯t treating me or Kim Hyeong-Jun with hostility anymore. I¡¯d say that¡¯s a win for now. ¡°Well, that just doesn¡¯t rify anything. Just because they don¡¯t treat you two with hostility doesn¡¯t necessarily mean that they consider you two as allies either.¡± - We¡¯ll have to build trust slowly. ¡°There are a lot of people there, right? Do you think everyone there is on board with this?¡± - As long as the group leader of Silence remains the group leader, there¡¯s a good chance that we¡¯ll be able to continue our rtionship with them. I recalled the atmosphere in the Silence meeting room. Some of the officers, including the guard leader, had treated Kim Hyeong-Jun and me like eyesores. But I knew they wouldn¡¯t be able to do anything stupid as long as the group leader and Park Gi-Cheol were there. I had no intention of buttering up the guard leader, when he didn¡¯t like me or Kim Hyeong-Jun. I knew that¡¯d be a waste of time and effort. My purpose was clear from the start. I was teaming up with them to take advantage of what they had to offer. The hospital and the weapons they had were two good enough reasons to form an alliance with them. After a moment, Lee Jeong-Uk spoke up. ¡°Do they know where we are?¡± - I only told them that we were in Haengdang-dong. I didn''t tell them our exact location. Lee Jeong-Uk sighed and crossed his arms, as if he felt ufortable deep down. He then asked cautiously, ¡°You¡¯re not thinking about merging with them, are you? Just asking.¡± - No. We¡¯re just allies because we have what each other needs. ¡°So, we get ess to their weapons and hospital facilities. What did you offer them in return?¡± - Me. Lee Jeong-Uk frowned at my one-word answer. ¡°What do you mean? Are they going to use you as a tool or something whenever anything dangerous urs?¡± - I volunteered to do so. ¡°What do you mean? Are you nuts? They were attacked by the gang members multiple times. Why do you keep on doing this to yourself?¡± - Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s family is there. Lee Jeong-Uk sighed and shook his head after reading what I had written down. It seemed like he understood where I wasing from but wasn¡¯t really happy about it. ¡°So-Yeon¡¯s dad, can I say something?¡± He smacked his lips. ¡°I know that you¡¯re doing your best for us. You¡¯re loyal, have a sense of responsibility, and above all, everyone here knows that you are a good person. But¡­¡± Lee Jeong-Uk trailed off with a frown. He let out a deep breath. ¡°You have to look after yourself too. Think about So-Yeon. She¡¯s still young and she needs a dad.¡± ¡°...¡± I looked around at everyone after hearing what Lee Jeong-Uk said. They all seemed to agree with what he was saying. As I looked into their faces, I began to think deeply. A person¡¯s sense of security could be divided into two parts: one that was provided by their families, and one that could be provided by others. No matter how much everyone treated So-Yeon as their own daughter, there was a sense of security that only I could provide. Lee Jeong-Uk was telling me not to bite off more than I could chew and also to stay by So-Yeon¡¯s side. My head sagged and I closed my eyes. I couldn¡¯te to a decision right away. It seemed like every day presented a new challenge. The Family now not only grew rapidly, but also had mutants. I knew if I took my eyes off of them, even for a moment, I wouldn¡¯t stand a chance against them. I was well aware that I wouldn¡¯t be able to handle them if they expanded, unless I got stronger. But at the same time, if I focused on keeping the gang members in check, I wouldn¡¯t be able to give as much attention to Shelter Hae-Young. I could leave the management of the shelter to Lee Jeong-Uk, but I had So-Yeon to think about as well. I¡¯d gathered people and created Shelter Hae-Young to help with So-Yeon¡¯s emotional stability. It sure wasn¡¯t easy to maintain a bnce between being a father and a leader. The duty I had as a father weighed heavily on my shoulders. No other role was as difficult as being a father. As I stood there silently with my eyes closed, Lee Jeong-Hyuk, who was right across from me, quickly sensed what was going on and switched the topic. ¡°By the way, are there weapons in that box?¡± I opened my eyes and nodded slowly. Everyone turned to the boxes on the table. Lee Jeong-Uk spoke up. ¡°Do you mind if I check them out?¡± I nodded again and Lee Jeong-Uk opened the boxes eagerly, as if he had been waiting to do so. The first box contained K2 rifles. The second one had hand grenades, and thest box had crossbows and arrows. Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s eyes went wide and his mouth fell open. Seeing Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s face, the rest got up to check out the contents of the boxes as well. Everyone gasped and looked at me in surprise. As Shin Ji-Hye reached for a grenade, Lee Jeong-Uk quickly grabbed her hand. ¡°Don¡¯t touch them.¡± ¡°Huh? Why, why?¡± Shin Ji-Hye was surprised by his sudden action. Lee Jeong-Uk frowned at her. ¡°It¡¯s not some toy you can y around with.¡± ¡°...¡± Shin Ji-Hye pursed her lips and stepped back. Lee Jeong-Uk sighed and asked me a question. ¡°So-Yeon¡¯s father, did you sign a ve contract with them or something?[1]¡± When I tilted my head, Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s expression grewplicated. ¡°How much are they thinking of abusing you? Don¡¯t you think you¡¯ll be treated as a ve, given how much they¡¯re willing to give us?¡± - I put down reasonable conditions. ¡°What conditions? You are a weapon, but you¡¯re also a human life. Handing something like this over must mean that the conditions weren¡¯t ordinary.¡± - I agreed to get them some medicine. ¡°Medicine¡­?¡± I told them about the situation that the hospital at Shelter Silence was facing. Lee Jeong-Uk quietly rubbed his chin. It seemed like he was lost in thought. Across the table, the principal offered a statement that helped to ease everyone¡¯s worries. ¡°In simple terms, the leader of Silence handed over these weapons to save their own people. At least that¡¯s what I think.¡± Perhaps that was the best way to summarize the situation at that moment. Everyone nodded, grudgingly agreeing with the principal. It seemed like the principal¡¯s words had made them see Shelter Silence in a slightly more positive light. However, this wasn¡¯t the time to get sentimental. I had to get back to Shelter Silence before the sun went down, so I took a deep breath and got to the point. - Could Jeong-Uk and Mr. Principal sort out the items here? And make sure that you¡¯re extra careful so that the children don¡¯t have ess to them. The two of them nodded after reading what I had written. I continued to write. - Is anyone familiar with crossbows? Everyone remained silent. The result hardly seemed surprising. ¡®Well, how many people in Korea have ever used a crossbow to begin with?¡¯ - Then first of all, I hope you start getting used to using crossbows. I think we should only use firearms when Shelter Hae-Young is under attack. They¡¯re too risky to be used on a daily basis. Everyone agreed with me. I scribbled down another improvement that we had to make to Shelter Hae-Young on a piece of paper. - It looks like we need to adjust the height of the wall. ¡°It¡¯s currently three meters tall. You want it even higher?¡± I could see the surprise in Choi Da-Hye¡¯s eyes. Zombies with red glowing eyes could easily climb over walls due to their extraordinary physical abilities, but normal zombies couldn¡¯t. And from my analysis on how the members of the Family fought, it seemed like the leaders did not lead from the front. The zombie I¡¯d met at the high school and the Seongsu-dong leader were both like that. However, what worried me were the mutants. - The mutants are different from the zombies that we¡¯ve been dealing with so far. Silence¡¯s walls were also two to three meters high, but the mutants went over them easily. And the evolved mutant¡¯s physical abilities are beyond our imagination. ¡°Evolved mutants?¡± Lee Jeong-Uk looked at me with a face that demanded an exnation as to what evolved mutants were. I informed them all about the mutant I had encountered at Gangbyeonbuk-ro. I couldn¡¯t forget how the mutant had ughtered its way through my underlings. Given its quick movements, I had to assume that its ability to jump would be exceptional as well. The best we could do right now was to build higher walls. Once everything had been covered, I asked everyone if they had any more questions. From the silence, I assumed everyone had their questions answered. I nodded slowly and wrote on the A4 paper: - We¡¯ll wrap up today¡¯s meeting here. * * * We left the meeting room as the sun was setting. I walked over to the wooden bench next to the yground and sat down for a while. I wanted to have some time alone. As I looked up at the sky, I felt my head clearing up a little. ¡°Huh? It¡¯s Daddy!¡± At that moment, I heard So-Yeon¡¯s voice behind me. I quickly turned around and saw her head sticking out over the balcony railing, waving her right hand at me. I quickly entered apartment 104. When I entered So-Yeon¡¯s room on the fifth floor, I saw her and the other children ying on the balcony railing. I dashed over and pulled them down. I couldn''t talk, so I had no choice but to use actions. The children looked at me in surprise, then they hung their heads, their faces growing sullen. ¡®Did they think they¡¯d made me mad?¡¯ I quickly took out my notepad and wrote down a message for them. - You can¡¯t y on the railings. You have to y safely in your rooms. ¡°We¡¯re sorry.¡± The children bowed their heads while pouting. I smiled gently and patted the children¡¯s heads. The children looked up at me with bright eyes, then looked sheepishly at So-Yeon. So-Yeon smiled brightly, her gaze going back and forth between me and the other children. ¡°Daddy, when did you get back?¡± - I just got back, sweetie. ¡°Did you rescue a lot of people today too?¡± I heard So-Yeon¡¯s question, and was lost in thought for a moment. As I stayed silent, she ran into the living room and came back with a sketchbook. ¡°Ta-da! Look at this Daddy!¡± So-Yeon showed me a drawing in her sketchbook with a smile. I wondered what she was so excited about. There were a lot of smiling people in her drawing. In front of them, I saw a man standing with his arms folded, a triumphant look on his face. There was arge S drawn on the man¡¯s chest. He also had red glowing eyes. So-Yeon giggled and said, ¡°This is you, Daddy!¡± 1. A ve contract refers to an unfair, long-term contract usually in the context between Korean idols and their managementpanies. However, this term ismonly used when two people sign a contract where one has the upper hand. ? Chapter 77 Chapter 77 I grinned with delight while patting So-Yeon¡¯s head. I took out my notepad and wrote on it again. - Is this Daddy? ¡°Yeah! You beat up bad monsters and save people! Just like Superman. So, Daddy, you¡¯re Superman.¡± I hugged So-Yeon without saying a word. I felt her warmth. I felt like I didn¡¯t deserve this kind of love from her. I closed my eyes and remained there for a long while. I felt So-Yeon squirming in my arms. She wasn¡¯t trying to escape my hug, but was trying to hug me even more tightly. As the subtle scent of her shampoo tickled my nose, I suddenly felt sad. I couldn¡¯t figure out why the shampoo¡¯s scent had triggered this emotion, but my heart felt suddenly heavy. I took out my notepad. - So-Yeon sweetie. ¡°Hmm?¡± - Do you still like Daddy? ¡°Hmm? Why wouldn¡¯t I like you Daddy!? You¡¯re my Daddy!¡± - Well, Daddy¡¯s been too busy to even y with my sweetie. ¡°I¡¯m all grown up now! And the uncles and aunts are nice to me too. I have a lot of friends.¡± - Then, you aren¡¯t lonely even when Daddy doesn¡¯te back after going outside? I followed up with a rather sensitive question. I was worried that she might take it the wrong way. So-Yeon stared nkly at the sentence I wrote, and after a moment, she turned her bright eyes to meet mine. ¡°Why isn¡¯t Daddying back?¡± - Of course I¡¯ming back. I¡¯lle back quickly, since Daddy wants to see So-Yeon. So-Yeon scratched her chin with her fingers, her expression growing perplexed. It seemed like she didn¡¯t know what I was trying to say. I continued to write. - Well, Daddy can¡¯t alwayse back early. When work gets hard, Daddy has to stay outte, maybe even a few days. Is So-Yeon sweetie okay with this? ¡°Hmm¡­ How many nights will you be away?¡± - Unfortunately, Daddy doesn¡¯t know either. It could be a day, two days, or maybe a few months. So that¡¯s why Daddy wants to get permission from So-Yeon to go. ¡°And you won¡¯t leave if I don¡¯t let you go?¡± - Daddy will stay here if So-Yeon doesn¡¯t want me to go. I smiled as warmly as possible so that So-Yeon wouldn¡¯t get upset. She pondered for a moment, then asked with a puzzled expression, ¡°If Daddy doesn¡¯t go out... Can Daddy y with me?¡± - Yes, of course. ¡°Then what happens to the people outside if Daddy doesn¡¯t leave?¡± Her voice was so soft; it was barely a croak. She fidgeted as she waited for my reply. Unfortunately, I couldn¡¯t think of a proper answer to her question. I couldn''t be honest, but at the same time, I couldn''t lie to her. I sighed and wrote down some words. - Daddy thinks my So-Yeon is the most precious thing in the world. You know that too right, sweetheart? "Yeah¡­ But what about the people outside?¡± - Well, they¡¯ll have to figure something out on their own. ¡°Then no!¡± So-yeon pouted her lower lip and turned away from me. As I put my hand on So-Yeon''s shoulder, she shook it off and grunted, as if she was unhappy with my answer. I wondered why she was suddenly acting this way. Was it because I said I wasn¡¯t going to save other people? My eyes fell on the Superman drawing she drew. I wondered if she was proud of me because I was like Superman. I scratched my forehead, not knowing what to do. So-yeon quickly turned around and picked up the sketchbook from the floor. She pointed to the man in the drawing. ¡°Daddy is Superman who beats up bad guys and saves good guys! Why won¡¯t you go and save other people?¡± - Daddy mighte backte or might onlye back after a couple of days if Daddy goes to save others. Is So-Yeon okay with this? "Yeah! I¡¯m okay with it now!" Her anger turned to sadness in an instant. However, her expression soon grewplicated. It seemed that she also didn¡¯t know how she was feeling about the whole thing. It seemed like she wasn¡¯t okay with me going out, but the fact that I wouldn¡¯t be rescuing others was more disappointing to her. I wondered if she was going back and forth between logic and emotion. She clearly understood the situation with her mind, but her heart wasn¡¯t on board. It seemed like she was processing severalplicated feelings. I hugged her again. She looked awfully cute when she was thinking. I was proud that So-Yeon had learned how to be understanding, and to care for others and their emotions. ¡®My So-Yeon is bing a more understanding person by the day.'' I stroked So-Yeon''s head. She finally spoke, her voice filled with regret. ¡°Daddy.¡± I noticed that she was looking at me with puffy cheeks. As I tilted my head, her voice took on a sulky tone. ¡°Can youe back early and y with me after saving a lot of people?¡± It finally felt like she was telling me what she really wanted. It seemed like she couldn¡¯t give up on either one of her options. I was grateful and proud that she had turned into an amazing person who knew how to express her feelings to others honestly. If that was so, I had to treat her as a proper human being, and not as a child. - So-Yeon. ¡°...Yes?¡± - Thank you for being honest. Since So-Yeon was honest with Daddy, Daddy will try to be honest as well. She nodded without saying a word and looked at me in the eyes. I smiled gently and kept writing. - The monsters outside are getting stronger and stronger. If Daddy doesn¡¯t go and defeat the bad guys right now, the bad guys will get too strong for Daddy to do anything. What do you think will happen if that happens? "Hmm¡­ What?¡± - The uncles and aunts that So-Yeon likes will be in danger. "I don¡¯t want that to happen." - Right? Daddy doesn¡¯t want that to happen either. So do you think it¡¯ll be better for Daddy to go and defeat the bad guys before they get stronger? She nodded again. This time, she nodded with a little more vigor. I stroked So-yeon''s hair for a moment, then continued writing. - Then, what should So-yeon do until Daddyes back after defeating the bad guys? "Hmm¡­ I don''t know." - You have to study hard, listen to your uncles and aunts, and if the uncles and aunts get scared, you have to help them feel better. Okay sweetie? Soyeon pursed her lips and nodded. I pinched So-Yeon''s cheeks lightly, admiring her cuteness. She let out a cute little squeal, then hugged me. I patted So-Yeon on the back to soothe her aching heart. I didn¡¯t feelfortable either, knowing that I had to make my young daughter understand this situation. I remembered hearing about how maturing too quickly could adversely affect the emotional development of a child. I hoped that So-Yeon wouldn¡¯t grow up like that. So-Yeon rubbed her face against my chest. ¡°You have toe back in ten nights at the most.¡± I rubbed Soyeon''s back instead of answering. There was a saying that time passed more slowly for childrenpared to adults. Even if you spent the same hour together, the hour would zoom past in an instant for an adult, while it was long enough to make a strong impression on a child. So-Yeon was giving me ten nights. What one learned when one raised children was that ten nights could feel like an eternity for them. Maybe she meant that she wanted me to save that many people during the time I was away. My heart ached once again as I realized just how generous and kind So-Yeon had grown to be. After a while, So-Yeon looked up at me,rge teardrops falling from the corners of her eyes. She held out her pinky finger. I smiled gently and promised her that, whenever I went out from now on, I woulde back before ten nights passed. ¡°And Daddy has to y with me when Daddy gets back.¡± I nodded vigorously. I vowed to myself that I would keep this promise no matter what. * * * I quickly headed to Shelter Silence. The sun had almost set, and darkness was just around the corner. As I got closer to Silence''s hospital, I saw Hwang Ji-Hye and Kim Hyeong-Jun waiting for me. It really seemed like they¡¯d reached as soon as the sun went down, as mentioned earlier. Kim Hyeong-Jun spotted me first and waved gently. ¡®Over here, ahjussi.'' ''You¡¯re here early.'' ''No, you¡¯rete, ahjussi.'' ''Did you have to wait long?'' ''No. Actually, I just arrived as well.'' Kim Hyeong-Jun smirked and scratched his head, as though embarrassed for acting like a jerk. I chuckled and looked at Hwang Ji-Hye, who was standing next to him. She looked slightly nervous. I understood why she would be. After all, even though she was the group leader, she was only human. I could tell that meeting the enemy leader face-to-face would be a nerve-wracking experience for her. I took out my notepad. - Don¡¯t be nervous. We¡¯re here with you. ¡°Who¡­ Who says I¡¯m nervous?¡± Hwang Ji-Hye asserted, frowning at me. She pretended to be bold, but she couldn¡¯t hide the tremor in her voice. I smiled faintly and nodded. She looked around and dropped her voice lower. ¡°Follow me. We have to exit without anyone noticing us. If you see anyone, tell me.¡± I nned on tapping her on the arm instead, since I couldn¡¯t talk. Kim Hyeong-Jun and I followed her lead, walking as quietly as we could. As we headed through the secluded pathway, we passed broken tree branches and tall grass. This definitely wasn¡¯t an ordinary passageway. We followed Hwang Ji-Hye for about three minutes, and found ourselves in front of a tall wall. She looked around, making sure that there was no one nearby. After a moment, she crouched down and began moving branches aside, revealing a hatch that led to a tunnel in the ground, barelyrge enough for a single person to squeeze through. She gave me a once-over and then asked, ¡°Do you think you can get through?¡± I didn¡¯t understand why she would ask me such a question. I was going to dig my way out if I had to. Hwang Ji-Hye entered the hole first, followed by Kim Hyeong-Jun. I gritted my teeth as I passed through the tunnel. It was so narrow that most adult males would have trouble getting through. My physique didn¡¯t help at all getting through it. I struggled using my hands and feet to push myself through. I barely made it through to the other side. Hwang Ji-hye chuckled while brushing off the dirt off my body. ¡°Hyeon-Deok, you can easily jump over a wall this height, right?¡± I nodded. ¡°Should I have just told you to jump over instead?¡± ¡°...¡± This woman had some jokes under her belt. I smacked my lips and forced a smile. Hwang Ji-Hye grinned. "I¡¯m just kidding. If you had jumped over the wall, the guards would¡¯ve noticed. But from now on, you¡¯ll have to lead the way.¡± I walked in front, trying to keep my expression neutral. Kim Hyeong-Jun nced at my face. ¡®She got you good, ahjussi. Hahaha!¡¯ ''Shut up.'' I shushed him out of embarrassment and hurried to the apartment. As we entered the living room, I saw the enemy leader, who looked a little tired. He looked at me, Kim Hyeong-Jun, and Hwang Ji-Hye, then smirked. ¡°You¡¯ve started dating now?¡± I snorted at the enemy leader¡¯s lousy provocation. ''Well, we all know that you won¡¯t be dating for sure.¡¯ ¡°Hahaha!¡± The enemy leader burst intoughter and shook his head. Hwang Ji-hye tilted her head after seeing our interaction. ¡°That guy¡­ Why is heughing all of a sudden?¡± I scribbled an answer for her. - We look into each other''s eyes when wemunicate. ¡°When youmunicate? You can tell what the other person is thinking just by looking into their eyes?¡± I nodded, and Hwang Ji-Hye looked back and forth between Kim Hyung-jun and me, unable to hide her surprise. I figured it¡¯d be pretty fascinating for her. But since I couldn¡¯t exin it in depth, I looked back at the enemy leader. ''So, have you taken your time to think?'' ¡°About what? Did I even have a choice? Or are you asking how I¡¯ve been all this time? If I have to give you an answer, I¡¯m getting used to having no arms and legs since your underlings have been biting them off whenever they begin to regenerate.¡± The enemy leader was acting as though nothing could affect him, just as I expected. I wanted to know how long he could keep his cool. I looked at Hwang Ji-Hye and signaled her to execute our n. After seeing me nod, she took out the photo from her pocket and walked in front of the enemy leader so that he could see it. ¡°The man in this photo, it¡¯s you, isn¡¯t it?¡± The enemy leader looked at the photo calmly, but a frown quickly spread across his face. His brazen attitude and cool demeanor disappeared, and he looked at us with cold, murderous eyes. The enemy leader fixed his glowing red eyes on Hwang Ji-Hye. ¡°Why do you have this photo?¡± Chapter 78 Chapter 78 Hwang Ji-Hye gulped after looking at the enemy leader¡¯s face. After taking a moment topose herself, she spoke. ¡°The woman in this photo¡­ Soo-Hyun and I went to college the same year.¡± ¡°¡­Where is Soo-Hyun?¡± ¡°Well, the thing is¡­¡± Hwang Ji-Hye trailed off and then looked back at Kim Hyeong-Jun and me. We looked at her with encouragement and gestured to her to continue. Hwang Ji-Hye let out a deep breath and continued where she had left off. ¡°She died. In the previous fight.¡± The enemy leader¡¯s eyes went wide, and he stared at the woman in the photo as if his soul had left his body. His mouth opened and closed silently, like a goldfish¡¯s. I wondered if he was too shocked to even say anything. I moved next to Hwang Ji-Hye and gestured for her to step back. I was being cautious, in case the enemy leader decided to go insane. Even though he had no limbs, he still had sharp teeth. We had to be prepared for anything. The enemy leader¡¯s lips twitched like a madman¡¯s. ¡°You¡¯re lying, right? Tell me you¡¯re lying.¡± ''No, it''s all true.'' "Don¡¯t fucking lie to me! Bring Soo-Hyun to me right now!¡± I pped the enemy leader. ¡®Wake up, you bastard. Your daughter¡¯s dead.'' ¡°...¡± The enemy leader looked at the floor, his eyes empty. Then he looked up at me. ¡°Did you kill her?¡± ¡®Is that how you want it to be?'' ¡°So it was you. You¡¯re the only one that wants me to metamorphose into a ck creature.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°No, no. Are you lying about Soo-Hyun¡¯s death so that you can see me turn into a ck creature? Ha, I knew it! So, Soo-Hyun is alive! Did you really think I would fall for this silly trick of yours?¡± The enemy leader was having a hard time epting reality. He grinned at me and Hwang Ji-Hye like a madman, as though he had figured out our machinations and was not going to be fooled by us. Hwang Ji-Hye stepped forward next to me. Her expression seemedplicated. She seemed to feel sorry for the enemy leader and his inability to ept the truth. She looked at him directly. ¡°In thest battle, Soo-Hyun was part of the ammunition distribution team. She wasn¡¯t doing anything dangerous.¡± Despite the sorrow on her face, her voice remained calm. ¡°But zombie bodies started to pile up, and the second defense line was on the verge of copsing. As she tried to get away¡­ She was bitten by a zombie that came over the defense line.¡± "Don¡¯t lie to me. The second defense line didn¡¯t fall in thest battle. I killed the leader controlling the zombies right before the second defense line could fall!¡± ¡°Why didn¡¯t you kill the leader a little earlier? Just because the second defense line didn¡¯t go down doesn¡¯t mean that zombies hadn¡¯t made it over.¡± ¡°Stoping up with all this nonsense!!¡± The enemy leader was yelling at the top of his lungs. The veins on his forehead were popping out, threatening to burst. His jaw was trembling, quivering with murderous intent. It seemed like he was ready to bite Hwang Ji-Hye at any minute. I stepped in front of Hwang Ji-Hye. ''Don''t me others for your foolish behavior.'' ¡°But that bitch is lying!¡± ¡®No, no. Let¡¯s get something straight. You''re the one denying reality.'' The enemy leader looked at me, grinding his teeth together so hard that I could hear them. I frowned, feeling the sadness and theplicated knot of emotion deep in my heart. ''I hate to break it to someone who¡¯s almost the same age as my father, but everything we said is true.¡¯ ¡°...¡± ¡®You should¡¯ve stopped the attack before it happened if you wanted to protect your daughter. You were naive.¡¯ ¡°This can¡¯t be. This can''t be¡­¡± The enemy leader shook his head while repeating the same words as if he had lost his mind. Kim Hyeong-Jun came up to me and carefully looked into my eyes. ¡®Ahjussi, something doesn¡¯t seem right.'' ''What is?'' ¡®He¡¯s¡­ He¡¯s not showing any signs of metamorphosis.'' ''He hasn¡¯t epted the fact that his daughter is dead yet. He thinks we¡¯re lying to him right now. We need something more than just words. Indirect experience isn¡¯t enough to trigger his desire.¡¯ As long as he didn¡¯t see his daughter''s corpse in the flesh, the enemy leader wouldn¡¯t mutate. Kim Hyeong-Seok had lost it after witnessing his girlfriend''s death with his own eyes. Mr. Kwak had also lost his mind when he saw Ms. Koo¡¯s body. And ording to the enemy leader, the former boss of the Family had also lost their mind after seeing their son¡¯s dead body. I figured that he would only ept reality only when we showed him his daughter''s grave. I looked at Hwang Ji-Hye. - Is there a grave for your friend named Soo-Hyun? ¡°It¡¯s inside the shelter.¡± - If it¡¯s okay with you, could we bring the enemy leader inside the shelter? ¡°Well, then the guards would know that we sneaked out.¡± - We will go in through the main entrance with the enemy leader. You can go in through the tunnel first. We can meet in front of the first defense line. I figured the enemy leader would ept reality once he saw his daughter''s grave. Hwang Ji-Hye nodded and left the apartment first, telling us to wait for five minutes before leaving. When she left the apartment, the living room turned dead silent. It was so silent, it felt as though time itself had stopped. Even the bugs had ceased their chirping. Frowning, Kim Hyeong-Jun broke the silence with a question. It seemed like the silence had made him ufortable. ''What are we going to do now?'' ''About what?'' ¡®Well, our priority is getting information about the mutants. If the enemy leader sees his daughter¡¯s grave, he¡¯s going to turn into a ck creature.'' ''Then I just need to eat the enemy leader¡¯s brain.'' ¡®Are you going to eat another ck creature¡¯s brain? You don''t even know what his desire is.'' ''If he turns into a ck creature after seeing her grave, we¡¯ll know that his desire was to protect his daughter. His desire would be perfect for me.¡¯ I answered him calmly, eliciting a sigh. ¡®Huh, ahjussi. Do you know what kind of face you were making while you were saying all of that?'' ¡®...?¡¯ ''Why do you look so sad, ahjussi?¡¯ I made my way into the adjacent bathroom. A zombie with a sorrowful face stared back at me from within the mirror. I wondered if I¡¯d unconsciously thought of So-Yeon after hearing the words ¡®daughter¡¯ and ¡®death¡¯. After listening to Hwang Ji-Hye''s story, I¡¯d tried to imagine thest moments of this woman named Soo-Hyun. I wondered what she¡¯d been thinking when the zombie hade over the wall while she was handing out magazines. I couldn¡¯t help but wonder if she¡¯d been scared, or terrified of her impending death. Or even if she¡¯d hoped that someone woulde to save her. And if her father¡¯s face shed before her eyes right before she died, would she have died resenting him? I knew something like this could happen to So-Yeon any day. My heart sank at the thought that something like that could happen while I was away. I couldn¡¯t help but feel sad that So-Yeon would think of me, and that she could resent me for not being there beside her when death was upon her. My head sagged with the weight of my sadness. Kim Hyeong-Jun walked into the bathroom. ''Let''s go. It¡¯s been five minutes.'' ¡®Okay¡­¡¯ I pped myself on the cheeks and let out a deep breath. We headed toward the first defense line of Silence together with my underlings and the enemy leader. * * * When we got to the first defense line, the guards there pointed their guns at us. ¡°Identify yourselves!¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun put both hands on top of his head and walked toward the defense line. The guards squinted at Kim Hyeong-Jun, then let out a sigh of relief and made way. I followed Kim Hyeong-Jun and showed the guard what I had written down. - Get me the group leader. ¡°Right now?¡± - It''s an urgent matter. ¡°Ah, yes. All right." The guard rushed to where the group leader was. Hwang Ji-Hye should have arrived back at her dorm by this time. In the meantime, we waited between the first and second defense lines for her to make her appearance. ¡°God damn, what are the odds? There goes my day!¡± I heard someone walking toward us from the second defense line. As I looked in the direction of the voice, I saw the guard leader looking at me and Kim Hyeong-Jin, carrying his weapons. He spat on the floor. Dissatisfaction was still written all over his face. I sighed and shook my head. Kim Hyeong-Jun looked me in the eyes. ¡®Ahjussi, can''t we just kill himter and pretend it was a mistake?'' ''What?'' It seemed Kim Hyeong-Jun had also heard what the guard leader had said. I looked at him with my eyebrows raised, and he smacked his lips. ''Okay. Honestly, I don¡¯t like the guard leader. People like them aren¡¯t helpful, no matter where they go.¡¯ ¡®But to kill someone? I can¡¯t believe you¡¯re saying this after you grilled me on whether I was really going to kill the enemy leader''s daughter.'' ¡®No, you¡¯reparing apples and oranges. The enemy leader''s daughter was an ordinary person. But the guard leader considers us as something less than animals. I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if he used my family as hostages one day.'' Taking his family hostage¡­? I knew that the guard leader was the kind of person who would easily do something like that. I pped him on the forearm and smacked my lips. Kim Hyeong-Jun looked at me, not knowing why I¡¯d hit him. ¡®What, why are you hitting me? What are you trying to say?'' ''It means do whatever you want. Is there anything wrong with that?'' A sinister smile crept across Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s face. ''You don''t like that person either, do you, ahjussi?'' Instead of answering, I looked away. To be honest, after listening to Kim Hyeong-Jun, I thought it was right to kill him and disguise it as a mishap. If the guard leader threatened us by holding our families hostage, it was possible that Kim Hyeong-Jun and I could turn into ck creatures. I couldn¡¯t help but think that it¡¯d be nice to kill the guard leader when an opportune moment presented itself, since we couldn¡¯t just kill the guard leader without a reason. It felt like passing the buck to Kim Hyeong-Jun, but since he¡¯d brought it up first, I was hoping that he would take responsibility for it. After chatting for about ten minutes, I saw Hwang Ji-Hye walking toward us, nked by some guards. Hwang Ji-Hye spoke in a calm voice. ¡°What are you doing here thiste?¡± She was acting, even though she knew everything. I cleared my throat and took out my notepad. - There was something I wanted to check. ¡°The Silence cemetery is not open to outsiders.¡± Hwang Ji-Hye spoke loudly, so that everyone around us could hear. All the guards focused their gaze on Hwang Ji-Hye. I wondered if she¡¯d done this on purpose to draw attention. I wrote more words in my notepad and showed it to Hwang Ji-Hye. - You¡¯re¡­ Acting right now, right? ¡°So, you¡¯re saying that the enemy leader''s daughter is here, and that he¡¯s agreed to tell us about the mutants after he¡¯s seen her grave with his own eyes? Okay, got it. If that¡¯s the case, I¡¯ll cooperate.¡± Hwang Ji-Hye continued to speak loudly, as if she wanted everyone around us to hear. The guards started muttering amongst themselves, nodding in agreement. It looked like she was trying toe up with a reason to let me, an outsider, enter the cemetery. Hwang Ji-Hye winked and gestured for me to follow her. I tried my best not to smile and followed her. After walking for about five minutes, I saw the cemetery a distance away. The cemetery was located in the heart of Seoul Forest. I walked around the cemetery, taking a look at the names written on the tombstones. It wasn¡¯t exactly how I¡¯d imagined it. All they had wererge, ordinary rocks that were probably sourced from nearby. As I kept on walking, I finally came upon the tombstone carved with the name ¡®Soo-Hyun.¡¯ I was able to confirm that Lee Soo-Hyun had passed away in herte thirties after seeing her birth date. I looked at Hwang Ji-Hye, who also approached the tombstone and checked the name and birth date. She nodded, her face solemn. What seemed like one of Lee Soo-Hyun¡¯s possessions had been ced beside her tombstone. There were a pair of old sneakers. I ordered my underlings to bring the enemy leader over. My underlings ced the enemy leader in front of the tombstone. He stared at the tombstone, shell-shocked. Her epitaph said the following: - Lee Soo-Hyun, who never lost her smile even when the world wasn¡¯t on her side. Rest in peace. After reading her epitaph, the enemy leader looked at the sneakers next to the grave and teared up. Even though he was an enemy, I thought it was only right to give him some time to himself. I took five steps back and observed a moment of silence for all the souls that were buried there. Kim Hyeong-Jun and Hwang Ji-Hye followed me. Her personal bodyguards also observed a moment of silence. I wondered if there was still a distinction between enemy and ally in the face of death. Death seemed to be the final doorway through which all of us had to pass one day. As I looked at the back of the enemy leader with his severed limbs, a tinge of sadness welled up within my heart. Chapter 79 Chapter 79 I stared at the enemy leader. As soon as I was done observing a moment of silence, I locked my eyes on him just in case he lost his sanity and went crazy. However, the enemy leader remained still as a statue. He didn¡¯t move a muscle. At first, I thought he wasn¡¯t moving because he couldn¡¯t, since his limbs were all severed. But then, I realized that he had even lost the will to make ast-ditch move. Just looking at his back, I could tell he had lost everything he cared about. After a moment, Kim Hyeong-Jun, who was beside me, looked me in the eye. ¡®Something¡¯s wrong.¡¯ ¡®What now.¡¯ ¡®His flesh isn¡¯t melting.¡¯ ¡®...¡¯ ¡®He¡¯s not going through any changes even after he¡¯s confirmed his daughter¡¯s death. You don¡¯t think he lied to us, do you?'' I didn¡¯t have an answer. I wondered if it was because the enemy leader didn¡¯t witness his daughter die in front of his eyes. But at the same time, I realized that it didn¡¯t change the fact that she was no longer in this world. I couldn¡¯t figure out why nothing was happening to the enemy leader. I approached the enemy leader cautiously. He was crying silently. I sat near the enemy leader, about a meter away, and waited for him to speak. The enemy leader, who had been sobbing silently for a while, managed to collect himself. ¡°People are really¡­ cunning¡­¡± I didn''t say anything. I wondered what he was trying to say. The enemy leader sighed and looked up at the night sky, then closed his eyes. ¡°These shoes¡­ These are the shoes I bought for my daughter when she came to visit on a weekend, about four years ago.¡± ¡®...¡¯ ¡°I bought them for her even though she told me she didn¡¯t like sneakers. Back then, she told me she would never wear them unless a war broke out or something. But look at her. She did eventually wear them.¡± The enemy leader smiled a futile smile. ¡°Back then, I was disappointed when she said she¡¯d never wear them. But she eventually did wear them¡­¡± I didn¡¯t say anything to him. It seemed right to just sit and listen. The enemy leader took a deep breath. ¡°How about it? Did I seem like a father who cared about his daughter?¡± ¡®What?¡¯ ¡°I''m sorry to say you¡¯re out of luck. My desire isn¡¯t to protect my daughter. I knew this from the beginning, but I just tried to act like it was.¡± ¡®So you¡¯ve been lying to me this whole time? Then what is your desire?'' The enemy leader did not answer my question. I wondered if he was still embarrassed to reveal his desire, even when we hade this far. I wondered what it would take him to open up. Hitting him? Or just giving him time? I grew extremely annoyed but I knew thetter was the right choice. I knew there was a limit to solving problems through violence. Especially when it came to those who weren¡¯t afraid of death, like him. As I waited patiently, the enemy leader shook his head and smiled faintly. He looked at me with eyes filled with tears. ¡°My desire is¡­ to have a sense of belonging.¡± A tear leaked out from the corner of one eye. The enemy leader bit his lip and continued, "I¡­ I''ve been alone all my life. It was the same when I started my own family.¡± The enemy leader had a mncholic expression. His heart seemed full of sadness. A sense of belonging¡­ That seemed to exin his life as a whole. The enemy leader raised his eyebrows and continued, ¡°I didn¡¯t want to live as a gireogi appa from the beginning. Life passed by, and as I worked every day for a better future¡­ I was a gireogi appa before I even realized it.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°I thought living apart would be temporary¡­ But it soon became my reality.¡± Tears began to fall freely from his eyes. He seemed so pitiful, crying while having no arms or legs. Feeling bitter, I smacked my lips and asked, ''So what?'' ¡°Looking back at my life, I realized that I was a poor, pitiful soul. In fact, I felt so pitiful that I didn¡¯t know what to do with myself.¡± ''Then you should¡¯ve just gone back to your family when you were still alive.'' ¡°If I did go back, who would put food on the table and a roof over our heads? My wife devoted her entire life to looking after our children. I wanted to send my children to good schools, good private academies, good colleges, and hire good tutors for them. I wanted to give them the world.¡± ¡®Is that why you hid and ignored your true feelings? For that long?¡¯ ¡°Time is rtive. For some, it feels like it goes by in an instant, but for others, it feels like an eternity. I got used to being alone, and I just happened to walk down that road in silence, without much thought. The long road came to an end when I died, and only then did I realize my inner desire.¡± ¡®Is that why you couldn¡¯t leave the gang earlier?'' The enemy leader closed his eyes and nodded. After realizing that his desire was a sense of belonging, he fulfilled his desire by being part of an organization, this so-called Family. But that got me wondering why he didn¡¯t mutate when he was kicked out of Jongno. I asked the enemy leader about it right away. The enemy leader bit his lip and hesitated for a moment, but then sighed and said, ¡°It¡¯s not like we wrote up a contract or something. On what grounds would my desire remain fulfilled?¡± ¡®What?¡¯ ¡°My leaving Jongno did not mean that my desire was shattered. I just need to believe that I left of my own will, and that I still was a member of the Family.¡± ¡®And you¡¯re saying that¡¯s possible?'' ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure I mentioned it in the past. There¡¯s no way you can know a person¡¯s desire until you eat their brain after they¡¯ve turned into a ck creature.¡± I nodded, and the enemy leader took a deep breath and continued where he had left off. ¡°There are also desires that cannot be shattered. In fact, it¡¯d be more urate to say there are some that are indestructible. There are more zombies with more fluid standards like me than zombies with absolute standards like you. So you¡¯d better watch out.¡± My mind started to swirl after listening to the enemy leader. The more I learned about these zombies with glowing red eyes, it only got more confusing. I felt as though I were navigating abyrinth. I shook my head. I still had questions for the enemy leader. ¡®Then¡­ Why did you say you wanted to kill the boss of the Family?'' ¡°That was a lie. I had no intention of killing the boss in the first ce. It''s true that I don¡¯t like the boss, but on what grounds would I kill the boss, especially since I hadn¡¯t done anything?¡± ¡®Then why did you keep me alive instead of killing me? Did you really need a reason?'' ¡°I didn¡¯t lie about that. I had to trick the officers, and I needed a reason to protect Shelter Seoul Forest since my daughter was here. But ultimately, I wanted someone who was in the same shoes as me, to stand with me.¡± ¡®In the same shoes?¡¯ ¡°A zombie with glowing red eyes that lived for humans, but one that had also tasted human flesh.¡± His answer shocked me. To live for the sake of humans, but have to taste human flesh as well? I got chills all over my body. How long did this person spend alone for him to be the person he was right then? At that moment, I recalled an early conversation I¡¯d had with the enemy leader back at the apartment. I¡¯d told him that he was too selfish. I finally realized why I thought that way. Because of his loneliness, he had changed into the person he was in order to stay sane. I wondered if the enemy leader knew that what he was doing to stay sane was the most insane thing to do. You didn¡¯t have to be in the same shoes to understand each other. As human beings, being able to understand each others¡¯ differences and being able toe to a consensus when different opinions sh was achieved throughmunication. It seemed like the enemy leader had gotten so used to the loneliness that he¡¯d given up on approaching others first, which caused him to be trapped in his own world. Even then, though, he unconsciously dreamed of a sense of belonging. I looked at the enemy leader. ''It wasn¡¯t your circumstances that made you feel lonely. It¡¯s on you. You didn''t try to understand others. No wonder you had no choice but to live a lonely life.'' ¡°Think whatever you want. You won¡¯t be able to understand it, no matter how much I try to exin.¡± ¡®Look at how you are right now. Who would understand you when you can¡¯t exin your own feelings clearly?¡¯ ¡°Then should I go around telling everyone that I¡¯m lonely at my age?¡± The enemy leader arched an eyebrow. As I looked at him, I began to understand where he wasing from. We had lived in different eras. I''ve lived in an era where I was used to talking and having conversations, but the enemy leader was a man well past his sixties. Men from his era believed that staying silent and stoic was the right thing to do, and were taught that patience was a cardinal virtue. I wondered if the enemy leader had endured loneliness all this time because he didn¡¯t know how tomunicate with his family members. I wonder if he¡¯d been trained, in a way, to keep silent, as that was what he¡¯d learned while growing up. The more I got to know about him, the more I pitied him. But that didn¡¯t give me a reason to spare his life. After all, he¡¯d killed people, lied to me, and even ate human flesh. I looked at the enemy leader. ''I¡¯m sorry, but I don¡¯t see a reason to spare you.'' ¡°I wasn¡¯t expecting you to. Since I now know my daughter¡¯s dead¡­ I don¡¯t have any regrets either¡­¡± The enemy leader closed his eyes, his expression serene. ¡°It¡¯s been¡­ a long, exhausting journey for me. I just want some rest now.¡± ''Isn''t there something you should be telling me before you go?'' ¡°Hehe, yes. What good would it be to hide anything from you anymore?¡± The enemy leader shook his head, as though sensing the futility of life. He offered a faint smile. ¡°If you want to know about the mutants, look carefully into the zombie¡¯s eyes. Some of them won¡¯t look away from your re. Those are the ones that have the capacity to be mutants.¡± ¡®Have the capacity to be a mutant? What are you talking about?'' ¡°They start to realize.¡± ¡®Realize what?¡¯ "Didn''t you have a dream before you turned into a zombie?" ''A dream? I did. In the dream, I felt like a transparent ss wall was blocking my way.¡¯ ¡°The ordinary zombies you see were ones that couldn''t break that ss wall. You can consider the ones out on the streets as zombies in their cocoons, still living out their dreams.¡± When I nodded, the enemy leader sighed and continued, ¡°Those that can be mutants¡­ They are the ones that have realized that they were dreaming all along.¡± ''So you''re saying they¡¯re the ones who snapped back to reality? Like they got themselves together?'' ¡°No. What good would it be to just recognize that you¡¯re in a dream when you can¡¯t even break the ss wall?¡± ''What do you mean? So you''re saying that they¡¯re mutating into ck creatures?¡¯ ¡°Think before you blurt out anything. How can a zombie in a cocoon metamorphose when it hasn''t even broken out from its shell?¡± His nagging infuriated me. I frowned, then asked in a frustrated tone, ''Then what is it?'' ¡°Nothing. If a chick doesn''t break out of its shell on its own, it just dies inside. They are literally walking corpses.¡± ¡®Aren¡¯t they already walking corpses?'' ¡°Have you ever ordered zombies to kill themselves?¡± I couldn''t answer the enemy leader¡¯s question. I never ordered any of my underlings tomit suicide. There were times when I had to kill my underlings, given their circumstances, but I never deliberately ordered them tomit suicide. Noticing my silence, the enemy leader raised an eyebrow. ¡°I know you¡¯re not the type of person to give such orders. If you order them tomit suicide, most of them will thank you. The zombies have terminal lucidity. But the ones that deserve to be mutants just follow orders without any change to their facial expressions.¡± ¡®Those who deserve¡­ Are they the ones that are emotionless and have no hope whatsoever?¡¯ "You¡¯re right. That''s why they don¡¯t look away when you look them in the eyes. They don¡¯t even have survival instincts left in them.¡± The enemy leader looked at me calmly. I didn''t understand clearly what the enemy leader was saying, but I could vaguely piece it together. He sneered and continued, ¡°It seems like whatever I said was a bit difficult to understand. Let me give you an easy example. There¡¯s at least one TV drama or movie that you like right?¡± ¡®A TV drama I like¡­ I used to have one.'' ¡°What do you do after that drama ends?¡± ¡®Umm¡­ I look for another one to watch?'' ¡°That''s what they want. Another new drama. All they do is kill and eat humans and zombies in order to continue their dreams.¡± At that moment, I remembered the mutant I¡¯d seen at Silence''s second defense line. The mutant had eaten the boy who was desperately looking for his mother, and then smiled horrendously while imitating the boy¡¯s voice. The pieces finally started to fit together, one by one. These mutants¡­ They were simr to the ck creatures, but had a different wavelength to them. They were perhaps even more corrupt than the ck creatures. Chapter 80 Chapter 80 I had a lot to think about. The enemy leader chuckled and continued where he left off. ¡°If you want a mutant as an underling, you have to turn it into your underling before it mutates. The ones that are already mutants won¡¯t turn into your underlings, no matter how much you push them.¡± ¡®I already know that.¡¯ ¡°And among the mutants, there are some odd ones.¡± ¡®Odd ones?'' I repeated his words as a question, raising my eyebrows, and the enemy leader continued in a calm voice. ¡°You will encounter some mutants that won¡¯t hunt for new dreams even after bing a mutant. Those are the ones that meet the conditions to be a stage-two mutant.¡± ¡®When you say stage-two mutants¡­ Are you talking about the one that showed up at Gangbyeonbuk-ro?'' "That¡¯s right. Stage-one mutants all mutate into simr appearances, but from stage two onward, their appearances vary. I don¡¯t know what makes them different, but stage-two mutants lookpletely different from each other.¡± ''How many stage-two mutants do you have?'' ¡°I ordered one of them to kill itself, and you killed the other one.¡± ¡®You ordered one of them to kill itself? Why would you do that?'' ¡°I was curious if it would follow my orders.¡± It seemed like he¡¯d been meticulous in his experiments with mutants. In order to have a mutant as an underling, the first and most important thing was to ensure the chain ofmand was intact. One could be killed by one¡¯s own mutant underling if it didn¡¯t obey orders. When I nodded, the enemy leader sighed and spoke for thest time. ¡°Since I told you everything you wanted¡­ Would you let me take myst breath?¡± The enemy leader smiled a faint smile, one I had never seen before. It wasn¡¯t the fake smile he offered when he tried acting cool, but the smile of someone who had found peace and tranquility. It seemed like he¡¯d really let go of everything. What he¡¯d said was true¡ªhe didn¡¯t have any more regrets. I took a deep breath as I watched him. I then wrote down some questions I still had for him. - Your desire hasn''t been destroyed yet. Are you sure you want to give up? Are you sure you don¡¯t have any regrets? ¡°Don¡¯t make me even more miserable than I am right now.¡± I titled my head, not quite catching what he meant. My expression seemed to demand some rification from him, since the enemy leader smiled thinly before speaking again. ¡°I didn¡¯t turn into a ck creature even after I realized that my daughter was dead. Who would forgive a foolish father like me? I can''t even forgive myself.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°This means that the current me values being part of the Family more than the fact that my daughter is dead. How heartbreaking is that?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Desires are only desires. They can¡¯t be a reason to keep living. I don''t want to be controlled by my desires anymore. Let me¡­ At least let me decide how I want to meet my end.¡± The enemy leader slowly closed his eyes and humbly epted his death. I got up and took onest look at the end of the enemy leader. Looking at him made me think about a saying I¡¯d heard a long time ago. - Life is difficult, and sometimes you go down roads that you don¡¯t want to. Sometimes we believe that we''re moving forward. That, by looking backward, we can understand how to move forward. But in the end, we end up retracing our paths, walking in an endless circle our entire lives. I prayed that in his next life, he wouldn¡¯t be tied down to the limits he set for himself. With that, I ended his lonely life. * * * After talking to Kim Hyeong-Jun, I decided to eat the enemy leader¡¯s brain. I slept for a full day after eating it, and finally regained consciousness around sunset the next day. As soon as I woke up, I tried out something I¡¯d been curious about. The Seongsu-dong leader had been a zombie that could talk. Deep down, I¡¯d hypothesized that I would be able to talk as well if I ate his brain. ¡°Grr¡­¡± However, I could still only utter the disturbing, throat-rending noises. It was the same as when I¡¯d taken care of the Majang-dong leader. It seemed like the problemy with them being zombies, not with their powers. I smacked my lips in frustration and rubbed my throat with my right hand. I was getting more certain that the only way to regain my speech was to eat a human¡¯s brain. I sighed in disappointment. I shook my head and got up, then went straight to Shelter Silence to find Kim Hyeong-Jun. I saw him far away, working on reinforcing the defense line. I walked over to him and met eyes with him without saying a word. Kim Hyeong-Jun was startled and jumped into the air when he saw my face. ¡®Oh, what in the world! You surprised me! When did you wake up, ahjussi?'' I chuckled. ¡®It seems you¡¯re more or less done here. Let¡¯s go. There¡¯s something I want to show you.'' ¡®Something you want to show me¡­?'' When I nodded, Kim Hyeong-Jun hesitated and looked at Park Gi-Cheol, who was next to him. The two then exchanged some words in signnguage. I waited for them to finish their conversation. After a moment, Kim Hyeong-Jun smiled. He seemed pleased. ''Let''s go. I¡¯m done talking.'' ''What did you two talk about?'' ¡®I told him I was going away for a while. And I asked him to take care of my wife and son.'' Oh right. He¡¯d told me that he had a son. A newborn who had just turned one. The feeling of going to work and leaving your child behind, when they were the most precious thing in the world¡­ I could definitely empathize with him. I patted Kim Hyeong-Jun on the back without saying a word. He recognized the meaning behind my gesture and smiled sheepishly. ¡®Alright, lead the way. Let''s get going.'' I took him to the zombie prison in Haengdang-dong. He clicked his tongue after looking at the zombie prison. ¡®Did you make this while I was hibernating after eating the ck creature¡¯s brain?'' ¡®Why, you don¡¯t like it?'' ¡®You know, ahjussi, you have a rather vicious side to you. Haha.'' ''I have to do what I have to do to survive.'' I answered him calmly and recruited more underlings. I¡¯d gone to Seoul Forest with one thousand underlings, but after the fight, I had fewer than one hundred remaining. I realized that I had to recruit new underlings slowly, or else my brain wouldn¡¯t be able to withstand the pain. I decided to recruit one hundred a day. Of course, I wasn¡¯t going to recruit just any zombie. I nned on recruiting zombies that had vision, and those that didn¡¯t look away when I looked at them. I knew that I wouldn¡¯t be one hundred percent sessful even if I recruited underlings that met the required condition, so I had to recruit all the ones that didn¡¯t look away in order to increase my chances. Kim Hyeong-Jun and I devoted all our efforts to recruiting underlings and researching mutants. * * * After about a week, we were able to make great progress with regard to mutants. Thanks to the information that the Seongsu-dong leader provided us, our experiments had gone smoothly, We didn¡¯t have any stage-two mutants yet, but we were able to develop six stage-one mutants¡­ Actually, five first-stage mutants. One of the things we learned through our experiments was that one stage-one mutant was as good as fifty underlings. I¡¯d developed the ability to sense where my underlings were and the total number of them after I¡¯d gotten rid of the Majang-dong leader. The moment I created a stage-one mutant, I noticed that my total number of underlings immediately went up by fifty. In that sense, five stage-one mutants would be equivalent to two hundred and fifty underlings. I ordered fifty underlings to fight a stage-one mutant in order to measure the mutant¡¯sbat capabilities. Through this, I learned that mutants had betterbat capabilities than the fifty underlings. The mutant''s ability to learn was demonstrated even when it was fighting against fifty underlings. It seemed like it had decided to go for a brute-force frontal assault at first, but as the battle dragged on, it began toe up with more efficient ways to deal with the zombies. It used its reach advantage, surrounding obstacles, and even utilized geographical features. However, as good as its outstanding abilities were, it came with a price. It had to eat a zombie brain at least once a week, no matter what. If not, it quickly devolved into viciousness. That was the reason why we had initially created six, but were only left with five. We weren¡¯t able to contain the mutant that had suddenly devolved into viciousness. After not eating a zombie brain for a week, the mutant lost its green glow and tried to attack me. I had no choice but to put it down. Once a mutant lost its green glow, it didn¡¯t regain its glow even after it ate a zombie brain. Once it lost its glow, it was free of the chain ofmand. Their superior abilities came at a cost. They were a lot moreplicated to deal with, since they had to be fed constantly, and so having arge number of them would be a burden. It seemed wise to limit the number of stage-one mutants and continue our stage-two mutant experiments with the ones we had. I could currentlymand a total of a thousand, six hundred and fifty underlings. The number of underlings I could control had gone up by two hundred and fifty thanks to the five brains I¡¯d eaten over the course of the Seoul Forest battle. Kim Hyeong-Jun could control one thousand five hundred and fifty. Kim Hyeong-Jun also ran stage-two mutant experiments with five mutants. Of course, he didn¡¯t forget to stop by Shelter Hae-Young to report his progress in between experiments. Lee Jeong-Uk heard about the mutant¡¯s vicious tendencies and urged me to take care of myself. The others at the shelter were getting used to using crossbows while I conducted research about the mutants. Everyone practiced firing the crossbow for three hours a day, and the Lee brothers taught the college students how to handle firearms. The Lee brothers took on the responsibility of being reliable drill instructors to everyone, and offered emotional support as well. In addition, the elder taught the children and college students who¡¯d grown up in the city about edible nts and nts with strong toxins. The elder also taught them about farming. It was just like the saying¡ªlife is an endless journey of learning. The children learned academic knowledge from the principal, strategic knowledge from the Lee brothers, and the means of survival from the elder. Of course, as it was still dangerous for children around So-Yeon¡¯s age to handle firearms, they only learned about farming. The emergence of mutants and the Shelter Seoul Forest battle had reignited the motivation of everyone at Shelter Hae-Young once again. For better or for worse, we were learning and growing through these incidents. * * * Autumn, with its clear blue skies, smell of grass, and colorful leaves weed us. The gentle breeze that only blew at night was now reced with a chill wind that blew day and night. I¡¯d been living every day to its fullest, and hadn¡¯t even realized that a month had passed. In the meantime, I¡¯d bolstered the number of my underlings to the amount that I¡¯d had before the battle, and I even took care of one bait that had entered Haengdang-dong. I also started cleaning up Majang-dong, and brought back the zombies I¡¯d caught there to the zombie prison in Haengdang-dong. It all seemed to be smooth sailing, but there was one exception. It was the experiments with mutants. I continued my experiments, and six stage-one mutants seemed to be my limit. But no matter how hard I tried, I could not get a mutant to turn into a stage-two mutant. I had no doubt that none of them looked away when we met eyes, and none of them had desires. But all of the mutants ended up vomiting blood and then fainting in the process of bing a stage-two mutant. Research regarding stage-two mutants was as hopeless as it could be. However, thanks to that, I learned a new fact about stage-one mutants. It was that stage-one mutants seemed to cease wanting other desires after a certain amount of time. After a while, the stage-one mutants remained under mymand even though they hadn¡¯t consumed any zombie brains in two weeks. Kim Hyeong-Jun and I continued our research on stage-two mutants at the zombie prison located in Haengdang-dong, just like any other day. ¡°GWAAA!!!¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun screamed and kicked the floor while I was concentrating on my research. I looked at him, wondering if he had finally lost it. ''What''s the matter?'' ¡®Why isn¡¯t it working?!'' ''Well, it won¡¯t start to work just because you get frustrated.¡¯ ¡®I made five stage-one mutants within a week, but I haven''t been able to create a stage-two mutant for over a month!'' ''That¡¯s why you have to think calmly and rationally.'' ¡®Ha¡­¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun shook his head and let out a deep sigh. I was not different. Things were frustrating for me too. However, I knew that we wouldn¡¯t be able to just get stage-one mutants to mutate to stage-two mutants just because we got frustrated. After a moment, Kim Hyeong-Jun spoke, his voice colored with frustration. ''Ahjussi, do you think there was something that the Seongsu-dong leader didn''t tell us?'' ¡®Something he didn¡¯t tell us?'' ¡®There¡¯s got to be something. It doesn''t make sense for us to keep failing like this!'' Kim Hyeong-Jun grumbled and sat cross-legged on the floor. I rubbed my chin and recalled the conversation I had with the Seongsu-dong leader. Chapter 81 Chapter 81 - You¡¯re right. Stage-one mutants all mutate with simr appearances, but from stage two onward, their appearances change. I don¡¯t know what makes them different, but stage-two mutants lookpletely different from each other. I was able to easily create stage-one mutants, thanks to the Seongsu-dong leader¡¯s exnation. However, the Seongsu-dong leader also didn¡¯t know much about the stage-two mutants. I massaged my temples as I turned the question over in my mind. ¡®He said that appearances of the stage-two mutants will change¡­ What if this is rted to desire somehow?¡¯ The Seongsu-dong leader mentioned that the stage-one mutants that stopped craving others¡¯ desires satisfied the conditions to be stage-two mutants. Why would they stop craving others¡¯ desires? I massaged my stiff neck and recalled another thing that the Seongsu-dong leader told me. - That''s what they want. Another new drama. All they do is kill and eat humans and zombies in order to continue their dreams. If we equated dreams and desires, that would mean that stage-two mutants had no desires or dreams. ¡®Desires, dreams, dramas¡­¡¯ I tried to think about what the three had inmon. ¡®Wait¡­ Drama?¡¯ My eyes widened. Sensing I was about to unlock the secret, I started to rack my brain. A sudden sh of inspiration struck, and an idea surfaced in my mind. When it came to desires, there were selfish desires and altruistic desires. Everyone had different dreams, and there were different genres of dramas. As I thought hard about it, I realized that I had only focused on the fact that their desires had disappeared, not necessarily on why they had disappeared. The reason they lost their desires; the reason they gave up on their dreams. Normally when a person gave up on something, it started when confronted by a harsh reality. However, I wondered what would make mutants, which were essentially zombies, give up. Something they couldn¡¯t do. Something they couldn¡¯t do on their own. No matter how much I thought about it, the most frustrating thing was not having the ability to speak. But then, why wasmunicating necessary? Because it was necessary to exchange opinions with others. Then what did these mutants want to say? What did they want to gain through acquiring the ability to speak? As I kept on asking myself questions, I finally stumbled upon some answers. ¡®Their opinions, thoughts, or personality traits?¡¯ Since they were dead beings, I removed the concept of opinions and thoughts from the equation. I wondered if I had to take out personality traits as well. ¡®Wait, no¡­ Personality traits could reflect their desires.¡¯ Desires reflected their wishes, and wishes were reflected in their immutable personality traits. But since the Seongsu-dong leader had mentioned that mutants¡¯ appearances changed as they became stage-two mutants, wouldn¡¯t it make sense to understand their personality traits in order to figure out their characteristics? Thinking about it that way, it didn¡¯t seem like the mutants got rid of their desires. Instead, it seemed more like they developed a craving for a specific desire. They probably couldn¡¯t recognize who had simr personality traits as themselves, as they couldn''tmunicate. I wondered why this was the reason for them giving up. Perhaps they got sick and tired of filling up their desires with ones that didn¡¯t fit their personality traits. ¡®Okay, this totally makes sense.¡¯ It was like a person who stopped going to the movies; they only yed romance movies, while the person wanted to watch a mystery. The stage-one mutants that we kept under control by feeding them zombies on a regr basis gradually lost their viciousness over time. It was as though they were getting sick and tired of watching movies that weren¡¯t their type, or having dreams that didn¡¯t fit their personality traits. None of the six stage-one mutants I currently had looked away when I looked at them. This meant that all satisfied the conditions to be stage-two mutants. ¡®There''s no way¡­¡¯ I wondered if these mutants that couldn¡¯t talk didn¡¯t look away from me, not because they were soulless zombies still in cocoons, but because they wanted me to figure out their desires and personality traits. I couldn¡¯t help but wonder if they were waiting for me to discover their overriding personality trait and give them appropriate orders. It wasn¡¯t entirely wrong to think of these zombies as being in cocoons, with nothing inside them, but these stage-one mutants had the ability to learn. The ability to learn was a part of rational thought. Now, this meant that the zombies themselves had the ability to figure out their personality traits on their own. Everything up to this point was pure spection, but my numerous failures had taught me one thing. ¡®I just need to test it out.¡¯ Just thinking about what could happen wouldn¡¯t lead me anywhere. I actually had to put them into action. The phrase ¡®actions speak louder than words¡¯ was what I needed to hear. I also realized that whatever the Seongsu-dong leader said about them wasn¡¯t the answer, since he wasn¡¯t sure about stage-two mutants himself. I suddenly felt like I was a student again, preparing to answer questions in an examination. But before I wrote down anything, I knew I had to read the question first. ¡®Personal taste huh¡­ They¡¯re more demanding than I thought.¡¯ They vomited blood and died if you didn¡¯t respect their individual preferences. I walked over to my mutants, trying to calm my rapidly-beating heart. I approached the mutant in the very front. It stared nkly at my face, unmoving. I looked at it for a while as I pondered over the situation. ¡®So how exactly do I figure out its personality trait?¡¯ As I stared at the mutant, Kim Hyeong-Jun walked up to me. ¡®What are you doing, ahjussi?¡¯ ¡®I think I figured it out.¡¯ ¡®How to get a mutant to its second stage? How?¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun looked at me, eyes bright with curiosity, asking me to spill it out. I told him my theory with an uncertain face because that¡¯s exactly how I felt about my theory at the moment. Kim Hyeong-Jun listened carefully to my theory and then continued with a slow nod. ¡®That seems more than possible. But how do we figure out their personality traits?¡¯ ¡®That¡¯s the part I haven¡¯t figured out.¡¯ ¡®How about we just ask?¡¯ ¡®Ask?¡¯ As I titled my head, Kim Hyeong-Jun shrugged. ¡®I mean, ordinary underlings understand themands we give them through our minds.¡¯ ¡®Uh huh.¡¯ ¡®And the mutants follow our orders.¡¯ ¡®Ok, so?¡¯ ¡®Ask them what they want.¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun said it in an extremely casual manner, as if he didn¡¯t know what the big deal was. I sighed and tried to formte a retort. After thinking about it, though, I figured that his way was the most appropriate way to get what we wanted. I¡¯ve been staring at the stage-one mutants so far. I never tried talking to them. I wondered if it was actually going to work. I looked at the mutant right in front of me and gave it a shot. ¡®You¡­ What do you want?¡¯ The mutant¡¯s upper body started to quiver after it heard my question. I grew cautious at the mutant¡¯s unexpected reaction and carefully backed away. Kim Hyeong-Jun, who was standing next to me, also stepped backward with surprise on his face. The mutant shook for a while, but then it sagged its head. Its facial expression seemed to suggest that it had given up. I looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun. He looked back at me, his expression mirroring mine. ¡®Ahjussi, what¡¯s going on?¡¯ ¡°I don¡¯t know either. I was going to ask you.¡¯ ¡®Can trembling¡­ Be a desire??¡¯ ¡®You actually think that makes sense?¡¯ I clicked my tongue loudly and looked at the mutant again. Judging by the futile expression on its face, it seemed like it didn¡¯t know how to exin or express its desire. I decided to skip this mutant ande back to it after I tried the other mutants. I went ahead and asked the same question to the remaining mutants. One of them showed an unusual reaction. It sat down and stood up repeatedly, and also did sit-ups. I tilted my head at it. ¡®You want to exercise?¡¯ ¡°KIAAA!!!¡± The mutant let out a monstrous cry that pierced through my eardrums, its eyes swiveling all over the ce. I looked at Kim Hyeong-Jin, who chuckled. ¡®Ahjussi, can exercise be a desire?¡¯ ¡®Uh¡­ Wouldn¡¯t you say it¡¯s possible if its wish was to be fit? In good shape?¡¯ ¡®And you¡¯re telling me someone thinks about being in good shape right before they die?¡¯ ¡®I mean, if someone thought they were bitten by a zombie because their body was weak, I¡¯d say it¡¯s more than possible.¡¯ ¡®Hmm¡­ Okay. Let me ask my mutants.¡¯ My underlings and Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s underlings were about one hundred meters apart. We kept them apart for safety reasons, just in case they got into a fight if they were all clustered up together. It wasn¡¯t worth the risk. Kim Hyeong-Jun ran to his mutant underlings and looked at them. It then seemed like he was asking them all sorts of questions. I observed them from a distance. His mutants¡¯ reactions weren¡¯t that different from mine. Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s mutants also shook their upper bodies or repeated iprehensible actions. One of his mutants showed unusual behavior. The mutant sat on the floor with its long legs folded, holding the other zombies around it in its arms. After witnessing this, I rubbed my chin and thought about what I¡¯d seen. ¡®Does it want to hug other zombies?¡¯ I wondered what its behavior meant. I couldn¡¯t understand why it was holding other zombies in its arms. Kim Hyeong-Jun looked at me from where he was. He didn¡¯t seem to know what was going on either. ¡®Ahjussi, can you hear me?¡¯ ¡®Yup. I can hear you pretty clearly when you look into my eyes, even though we¡¯re far apart.¡¯ ¡®What do you think this means?¡¯ ¡®Isn¡¯t it like maternal love? Or paternal love? Something along those lines? Or¡­ Does it like being with others? Since the Seongsu-dong leader also wanted a sense of belonging.¡¯ ¡®Are you saying it has the same desire as the Seongsu-dong leader? Then why did this one turn into a mutant, while he turned into a zombie with glowing red eyes?¡¯ ¡®He probably broke the ss wall, but this one probably failed to do so.¡¯ ¡®Oh¡­ Gotcha.¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun scratched his forehead and seemed to agree with what I was saying. He sighed. ¡®This is¡­ Harder than I expected. It feels like ying charades, back at one of my retreats in college.¡¯ I burst intoughter at Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s joke. It kind of reminded me of my college days as well. I remembered going on retreats and ying all sorts of drinking games as we drank the nights away. Back then, a TV show that aired on one of the channels made a big impact on the college retreat culture for college students. One of the games they yed on the show was charades. It was a game where one person had to act out the meaning of a word or phrase, while everyone else had to guess what the word or phrase was. Kim Hyeong-Jun scratched his head and looked at another mutant. I watched him with a faint smile. After a moment, the mutant next to Kim Hyeong-Jun started doing sit-ups. My jaw dropped to the floor. I dashed over to Kim Hyeong-Jun. Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s eyes darted back and forth between the mutant and me, his face full of surprise. ¡®Wasn¡¯t¡­ Wasn¡¯t this what your mutant was doing earlier?¡¯ ¡®Yeah.¡¯ I looked closely at Kim Hyeong-Jun''s mutant. The purple stage-one mutant finished its sit-up routine and was looking at us serenely. I told Kim Hyeong-Jun and his mutant to wait a moment, and quickly went to retrieve my mutant that had performed the sit-ups and sit-to-stand exercises earlier. I looked at my mutant and gave it an order. ¡®Show me again what you did earlier.¡¯ My mutant rolled its countless eyes, then did sit-to-stand exercise followed by sit-ups again. ¡°KIAAA!!!¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s mutant let out a howl and came rushing toward my mutant. It all happened in a sh. We both looked at our mutants, eyes wide at the unexpected development. Before we even knew it, the two beasts seemed to be ovee with madness and began biting each other viciously. ¡®Stop, stop!¡¯ ¡®Stop!¡¯ But the mutants did not listen to us. Their movements weren¡¯t ordinary. They were biting each other fiercely, and it seemed like they didn¡¯t n to stop until one of them was dead. ¡°KIAAA!!!¡± ¡°KIA, KIA!!!¡± We stood there like statues, observing the carnage, as though time had stopped for us. They seemed like two enormous, vicious dogs tearing at each other. It was impossible to stop fierce dogs from fighting without a leash. I knew that we would get hurt while trying to stop their fight, unless we stopped them with the thought of killing them. After a moment, the most unbelievable thought crossed my mind. Just as Kim Hyeong-Jun was about to dive in to stop their fight, I chimed in. ¡®Just leave them for now.¡¯ ¡®Are you nuts, ahjussi? One of them¡¯s going to die if we don¡¯t do something!¡¯ ¡®That¡¯s how it has to be.¡¯ ¡®What?¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun frowned, at a loss as to what to do. I swallowed, then continued. ¡®This might be the way they evolve. Once they realize that another zombie possesses the same desire, the only way to grow into a stage-two mutant is to get rid of the other and be the sole survivor.¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun took a moment to realize what I meant, then bit his lips and took a step back. Their battle started to get even more intense. Because they had the ability to learn, they began to understand each others¡¯ patterns, and their strategies changed ordingly. Chapter 82 Chapter 82 The mutants used their bizarrely-bent limbs to strangle each other, and use their sharp teeth to tear at the other¡¯s flesh and crush the other¡¯s bones. Kim Hyeong-Jun ordered the other underlings to stand back so that they wouldn¡¯t get caught up in the fight. Their fightsted for twenty minutes and finally ended when one of them suffered a bite on the neck and went down like a tree felled by lightning. The victorious mutant tore off the defeated mutant¡¯s head without the slightest hesitation. ¡°KIAAA!!!¡± It let out a monstrous roar of victory and then started munching on the head. It wasn¡¯t just eating its brain, like what Kim Hyeong-Jun or I would do. It was eating the entire head. Kim Hyeong-Jun and I carefully observed the victorious mutant as we calmed ourselves down. After finishing the head, the mutant smiled widely. Soon after, it twisted its body in an extreme way and curled up. The mutant¡¯s skin started to change. Rip, rip, rip! Tear¡­ Riiiip¡ª Its flesh melted while its bones shattered. Its melted flesh stuck to the floor like molten iron oozing out from a st furnace, and its shattered bones started toe together. After this transformation, all that was left of the mutant was a structure that resembled an egg. Kim Hyeong-Jun observed the entire process, then stuttered, ¡®Is¡­ Is that¡­ Is that an egg? Did the bones form an egg?'' ''You can¡¯t tell what¡¯s going on?'' ''What just happened?'' ¡®What do you mean? Your mutant won.'' I answered in an unamused tone, and Kim Hyeong-Jun raised his eyebrows. ''Ahjussi¡­ You¡¯re salty, aren¡¯t you?'' ''Oh geez,e on. I¡¯m not.'' ¡®No, you¡¯re definitely salty. Is it because my underling won?'' ¡®...¡¯ ''Well, I can¡¯t help the fact that my underling is stronger. I believe I owe you an apology for that.¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun kept up the teasing and let out a giggle. I gave him a stern re, and he smacked his lips and got back to the point. ''Geez ahjussi. It¡¯s a joke. Why¡¯d you gotta be so serious about it?¡¯ ''I know it¡¯s because your underling attacked first.¡¯'' ''Damn, ahjussi, you are salty after all!'' Kim Hyeong-Jun chuckled and nudged me on the arm. I shook my head and smacked my lips. I was hoping to get a stage-two mutant deep down, but Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s mutant won. I couldn¡¯t help but feel slightly bitter. However, his mutant wasn¡¯t done mutating just yet. It was too early to rx. Kim Hyeong-Jun looked me in the eyes. ''How long do you think we¡¯ll have to wait?'' ''I don''t know. I didn¡¯t get to hear about how long it would take.¡¯ Just having the stage-one mutant turn into egg form was already a big sess. It hadn¡¯t vomited blood and died, like the others before it. I wondered what was happening inside the egg. I was curious about how the mutant would turn out. We looked on with nervous excitement as we waited for the egg to hatch. * * * Almost four hours had passed since we first saw the egg. Suddenly, the egg, which had remained stationary throughout the four hours, shook a little. ''Huh? Ahjussi, didn¡¯t it just move?'' ''Yeah, it moved.'' We got up and cautiously walked toward the egg. Soon after, the egg started to crack. Crack¡­ Crack! A thick arm burst out from the right side of the egg. It was thicker than an average adult male torso. Cracks appeared all around the surface of the enormous egg, and a gigantic mutant emerged from within. My jaw dropped to the ground after seeing the mutant in its entirety. It was a whopping three meters tall. Its upper body and arms were as thick as a baobab tree, and its trapezius muscles reached all the way to its neck. Its skin looked hard, so hard that even a knife would not prate. At first nce, it seemed to be purple, but after squinting, I noticed that its skin was a silvery hue. Kim Hyeong-Jun pped, a thrilled expression on his face. ''Ahjussi, check this out!'' ''Yeah, yeah, I hear you. It¡¯s too big for me to ignore anyway.'' ¡®It¡¯s green! This thing is green to me!'' ''Yeah, it¡¯s purple to me too.'' I chuckled at Kim Hyeong-Jun, seeing him grinning with joy as he ran around checking out his stage-two mutant. I could tell how enthusiastic he was about his mutant. After a moment, he started giving his stage-two mutant orders. My jaw dropped to the ground after seeing what it was physically capable of. It performed a vertical jump¡­ that was seven meters high. And its running speed was beyond my imagination. It did a hundred-meter dash in less than five seconds. In addition to all this, its strength was mind-boggling. It pulled out a telephone pole with its bare hands as if it was a mere stick in the ground. I suddenly wondered whether I would¡¯ve survived if the Seongsu-dong leader had brought this stage-two mutant with him when we first met. But of course, no matter how good its overall physical ability was, it paled inparison to mine or Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s. Its movements were sluggishpared to the zombies with glowing red eyes who had specialized movements. On strength alone, though¡­ It was superior to me or Kim Hyeong-Jun. ¡®I bet my bones will shatter instantly if itnds a direct hit on me¡­'' As I was lost in thought, the stage-two mutant suddenly fell to the floor and started muttering to itself. "Losing¡­ Gains¡­¡± I looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun in surprise. Kim Hyeong-Jun looked back at me, his puzzled expression disying the same amount of surprise. He looked at the stage-two mutant again and gave it an order. Then the stage-two mutant stood there and stomped the ground repeatedly in petnt displeasure. Kim Hyeong-Jun looked at me, at a loss as to what to do. ''What should I do, ahjussi?'' ''Why, what''s going on?'' ''This mutant¡­ It¡¯s like a Mustang.'' ¡®Mustang? What are you talking about?'' ''Like the car. Mustang. It¡¯s got good power and all¡­ But its fuel efficiency is awful. It runs out of energy after just a few simple tasks.¡¯ I looked at the stage-two mutant after listening to Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s exnation. It was rubbing its lower belly with a dissatisfied expression. As I looked at it, I thought to myself, ¡®Is it¡­ Asking for food?¡¯ I looked back at Kim Hyeong-Jun. ''What does it eat?'' ¡®The stuff you already know. Zombies or humans, probably.'' ''Is it feeling hungry after that little bit of moving around?'' ''I don¡¯t know either. I¡¯m not sure if its acting this way because it used a lot of energy during its mutation process, or just because it moved around¡­¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun scratched his head, his expression clearly showing his bewilderment. The stage-two mutant picked its bulky body up off the floor and shouted at Kim Hyeong-Jun. ¡°Losing¡­ GAINS!¡± The mutant crumpled in grief. It jumped up and down on the spot and continued to wail out the same phrase. It wasn¡¯t that Kim Hyeong-Jun had lostmand over the creature. The mutant was merely acting like a three-year-old child asking for a toy. The ground shook every time it jumped. It sure was heavy. I now realized why the Seongsu-dong leader had ordered one of his stage-two mutants tomit suicide. Kim Hyeong-Jun unwillingly ordered some of his underlings in front of the stage-two mutant. The stage-two mutant looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun while sucking its finger. It smiled and repeated its phrase as a question. ¡°Losing¡­ Gains?¡± When Kim Hyeong-Jun smiled ufortably and gestured for it to eat the underlings, the stage-two mutant grabbed the zombies with itsrge palms and shoved them into its mouth. I couldn¡¯t help but click my tongue at its behavior. Its existence was a burden. It was a ck sheep. Kim Hyeong-Jun looked like he was about to cry. ¡®What should I do, ahjussi? I think I got myself a glutton.'' ¡®What do you mean? It''s because your mutation¡¯s strong.'' I smiled and stashed my hands in my pockets. Kim Hyeong-Jun narrowed his eyes and smacked his lips. ''Ahjussi.'' ''What.'' ''You really are narrow-minded. You know that, right?'' ''Hey, hey, it was a joke. Why are you all serious?'' I snorted and gave him a lopsided grin. Kim Hyeong-Jun let out a deep sigh and shook his head. The stage-two mutant inhaled three zombies instantly and sat down again, satisfied. It hadn¡¯t just eaten their heads. The zombies Kim Hyeong-Jun gave it were nowhere to be seen. It had eaten every part of them. I looked at the smiling stage-two zombie. I had no idea what to do, or what to do next. Despite its powerful appearance, it acted like an immature child. Kim Hyeong-Jun massaged his temples as if he was having a headache and sighed continuously. * * * Kim Hyeong-Jun spent days in the zombie prison, trying to gain knowledge about the stage-two mutant. The stage-two mutant had some intelligence¡ªthe intelligence of a three-year-old boy. It also jumped up and down in one spot like a mad beast if it wasn¡¯t fed at least once a week. Stage-one mutants also needed to be fed once a week, but after a period of three to four weeks, they stopped asking for food as they prepared themselves to be stage-two mutants. I wondered if it was okay not to feed stage-two mutants after the same period of time. Kim Hyeong-Jun was betting on this possibility because its continuousining exhausted the mind and body of whoever was next to it. It''s damned muscle loss. Listening to it made me feel like I was going to develop a neurosis. The stage-two mutant also asked for food whenever itpleted amand that required it to use its physical abilities. It was like a child asking for a snack after finishing their homework. Long story short, it had to be fed periodically¡ªonce a week, to be precise¡ªand after it followed your orders, you had to give it a treat as a reward. While Kim Hyeong-Jun was growing his knowledge regarding the stage-two mutant, I finished cleaning up Majang-dong. There were no survivors in Majang-dong. Perhaps Mr. Kwak, Ms. Koo, and the children they had been protecting were thest survivors left in Majang-dong. I created a second zombie prison in an unknown apartment located in Majang-dong once we ran out of space at the zombie prison in Haengdang-dong. I didn¡¯t have the capacity to manage two prisons. It took around two hundred underlings to act as guards for a prison, but having four hundred of my underlings as guards was terribly inefficient. So Kim Hyeong-Jun ended up managing the second zombie prison in Majang-dong. While I was organizing the documents for Shelter Hae-Young''s meeting, Kim Hyeong-Jun came up to me. ''By the way, ahjussi.'' ''What?'' ''When are we going to get that medicine?'' ''Oh shoot¡­ I forgot.'' I remembered that I had a deal with Hwang Ji-Hye, the leader of Silence. I¡¯d agreed to get her medicine in exchange for the weaponry I got. I assumed that Silence would be almost out of medicine, since it had already been a month since we¡¯d made the deal. I massaged my neck and asked Kim Hyeong-Jun, ¡®Is there arge hospital around here? I want to get them arge supply while I¡¯m at it.'' ''There¡¯s a university hospital at Konkuk University Station.'' ¡®Konkuk University Station? The one next to Seongsu Station?'' ''Yeah. It¡¯s not even that far from Seoul Forest.'' I knew Konkuk University Hospital. I had totally forgotten about our deal despite there being a university hospital within reach, as I¡¯d beenpletely engrossed by my mutant research. The mutants had upied my mind so much that I hadn¡¯t been able to think of anything else. I nodded and got up, then looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun. ¡®Do you want to go together right now, if you have the time?¡¯ ¡®I¡¯m cool with that. But one thing though; do you think it¡¯ll be okay to leave Mood-swinger by itself?¡¯ ¡®Mood-swinger? Who¡¯s that? You¡¯re not talking about the stage-two mutant, are you?'' ''Yeah. Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s a good nickname?'' Kim Hyeong-Jun sniffed with a hearty smile. I¡­ I couldn''t help but admire Kim Hyeong-Jun''s naming skills. Not in a good way, but not in a bad way either. I refrained from mentioning anything about him naming his underlings. I mean, he had the right to call his underlings whatever he wanted. I scratched my sideburns. ''You fed it yesterday, right? So it¡¯ll probably be quiet for a week, no?¡¯ ¡®Uh-huh.'' ''Then let¡¯s get this done in three days and return.'' ''If we take longer than we anticipate, do you mind if Ie back first? I get nervous even if I take my eyes off it for a split second.'' ¡®Then you should make it wait for you at Majang-dong, like me.'' I had five stage-one mutants on standby in Majang-dong. I¡¯d prepared a ce for them as far away as possible from Shelter Hae-Young, in case the mutants caused a problem while they were in Haengdang-dong. Kim Hyeong-Jun snapped his fingers, and his expression lit up with realization. He gave a quick nod. ¡®Let¡¯s get going.¡¯ Chapter 83 Chapter 83 We put the second-stage mutant in the zombie prison in Majang-dong and hurriedly over to Shelter Seoul Forest. On our way, Kim Hyeong-Jun asked me a question. ¡®Ahjussi, did you see Mood-swinger¡¯s face?'' ¡®What about its face?'' ''Didn''t it look sad?'' When I thought about it, it had indeed made a sad face when we put it in the zombie prison, as if it didn¡¯t want to be separated from Kim Hyeong-Jun. I smacked my lips. ''So what are you trying to say?'' ''That despite the way it acts, it still has a soft heart.'' ''You already feel attached to it, don¡¯t you?'' I asked my question with a slight smile, and Kim Hyeong-Jun replied with a sheepish one of his own. ¡®At first it felt like raising a 3-year-old, but now it feels like raising a puppy.¡¯ ''A puppy?'' ¡®Yeah, it sits when I tell it to sit, stands up when I tell it to stand up, and lies down when I tell it to lie down. And the way it asks for treats; don¡¯t you think it¡¯s kind of cute?¡¯ ¡®...¡¯ I didn¡¯t know what to say. He sure had unique preferences. I wondered if he had forgotten that the ¡®treats¡¯ he had been feeding the mutant were humans in zombie form. Or perhaps he just didn¡¯t think much about that fact, now that the world was like this. I sighed and shook my head. Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s expression grew slightly somber. ¡®I know I sound strange. But I just feel bad for Mood-swinger as well.'' ''Feel bad? Do you even have any idea how many people it¡¯s killed so far?¡¯ ¡®Well, it didn¡¯t kill people of its own will. If you interpret it that way, Mood-swinger is no different from the members of the Family.¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun kept silent after that. I let out a sigh and started running forward again. I knew where Kim Hyeong-Jun wasing from, But it was nothing more than useless sympathy. At the end of the day, zombies were zombies, and there was no way they could coexist with humans. Even a zombie like me who possessed a human mind couldn¡¯t get along perfectly with other humans. It¡¯d be a waste of time to keep going down the list of reasons why zombies couldn¡¯t coexist with humans. After a while, Kim Hyeong-Jun asked another question. ¡®Ahjussi¡­ What are you going to do once the members of the Family are wiped out?'' ¡®Hmm, why are you asking this?'' ¡®I¡¯m just curious. After the creatures that threaten humans disappear¡­ Don¡¯t you think we¡¯ll be the threat?¡¯ I stopped in my tracks and looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun. He stopped as well and met my gaze. My expression grew serious. ''Where are you going with this?'' ''I didn''t mean it in a bad way. I¡¯m just¡­¡¯ ''Then what is it? Are you going to start killing people after all the members of the Family are dead?'' ¡®It¡¯s not that, ahjussi.'' ''Then, what you just said¡­ What¡¯s that supposed to mean?'' I questioned Kim Hyeong-Jun with a frown on my face. His expression grew uncertain, and there wasn¡¯t much confidence in his tone. ''I¡¯m just¡­ I¡¯m just curious about my ending.'' I could find no reply to his reason. So, he was thinking about his ending. Going back to his question, I don¡¯t think I¡¯d ever thought about the end of my life. Not only as a zombie, but even when I was a human. I¡¯d never thought about myst moment. I always put my family¡¯s happiness first, and believed that was the right thing to do. I imagined that I would one day grow old, retire, and end my days with my wife next to me. Of course, I¡¯d always thought of it as something that would happen far, far into the future. I¡¯d never thought about this deeply until this moment. After a while, Kim Hyeong-Jun spoke. ¡®As long as our brains don¡¯t get destroyed, we¡¯ll have eternal life thanks to our bodies. I¡¯m just wondering how it¡¯d be to live like this forever. ¡® ¡®I think¡­ It¡¯s not toote to think about that after we¡¯re done dealing with the gang members.¡¯ ¡®We might even die in the process of getting rid of them.¡¯ ¡®That makes it one less reason to think about it right now.¡¯ I answered him calmly, and Kim Hyeong-Jun sighed and smacked his lips. After a moment, he scratched his head. ''Sorry, I didn¡¯t think it would turn out to be that serious.¡¯ ¡®It¡¯s alright.¡¯ I reassured him, and Kim Hyeong-Jun smiled a bitter smile. ''I¡­ I just want to leave a mark to show that I lived through this world. That I tried this hard, that I fought for the sake of humans, and that, through these marks, others will know what I¡¯ve done.¡¯ I faced Kim Hyeong-Jun squarely without saying a word. He looked away, as though he felt guilty for saying something wrong. His thinking couldn¡¯t be further from the truth. I was so proud of Kim Hyeong-Jun for having such considerations. I pped him on the back pretty hard. He then looked at me, surprise in his eyes. ''Why, why did you hit me?'' ¡®Because I¡¯m proud of you.¡¯'' ''Huh¡­?¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun grumbled and looked away. I followed his gaze with a hearty smile. ''Are you sad that other people won¡¯t be able to remember you?'' ''Well it¡¯s not particrly that¡­¡¯ ''They¡¯ll remember. I¡¯m sure.¡¯ ¡®...¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun looked at me with a sour face. I wasn¡¯t that much older than Kim Hyeong-Jun, but he really was going through a lot at a young age. I favored him with a soft smile. ¡®My daughter and your son remember us. Their memories will be history.'' Kim Hyeong-Jun grinned and pped my forearm as if he felt embarrassed after hearing the word history. He nced at me as if I¡¯d said something unusual and unexpected. ''Ahjussi¡­ So you do know how to say one or two good things too.'' ''No, you¡¯re hearing nice things because you¡¯re a good person yourself.'' ¡®Woah, ahjussi¡­ I wasn¡¯t expecting you topliment me this much. I feel so ttered.¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun cleared his throat while giggling. I snorted and focused on walking again. I could tell that Kim Hyeong-Jun was in a better mood as he followed me. Just like the saying ¡®good people keep themselves close to good people¡¯, there were a lot of good people around Kim Hyeong-Jun. I also wanted to remain a good person to him. Not because I wanted to look good for others, but to be proud of myself, and to be a father that So-Yeon wouldn¡¯t be embarrassed or ashamed of. * * * As we entered Shelter Silence, located in Seoul Forest, Park Gi-Cheol was the first to greet us. After exchanging a few words with him, we headed straight to the hospital. As we entered the rest area, I saw the doctor lying on the couch, his face exhausted. The doctor got up when he saw us. ¡°What brings you here today? How can I help?¡± As I tried to take out my notepad, the doctor gently massaged his temples. "Oh¡­ Of course, you must be here for Kang Eun-Jeong.¡± I nodded. I hadn¡¯t even had the chance to write down the reason I was here. The doctor continued to speak as he massaged his stiff neck muscles. "Well¡­ She¡¯s out of the woods. What¡¯s important now is how strong her immunity is.¡± - Is there any way we can help? ¡°I did hear from the group leader that you two were getting medicine for us. Is what she said true?" - Yes. Please tell us the type of medicine you need. ¡°I¡¯ll go with you two.¡± I was speechless at the doctor¡¯s response. In fact, it was probably more urate to say that I was stunned. Bringing the doctor with us¡­ That would be dangerous. It wasn¡¯t too difficult to protect people when on the defense, but having a survivor with us while we were the ones on the offensive was a different story. I wasn¡¯t sure if I could ensure his safety, since there was no way of telling what would happen in the outside world. Noticing my silence, the doctor smiled gently. ¡°If you walk towards Seongsu Station from here, you''ll find a university hospital. Konkuk University Hospital. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve heard of it. I¡¯m trying to bring back medicine and some equipment from there.¡± - I know where you¡¯reing from and how you¡¯re feeling at the moment, but you should think about the patients here. ¡°There are nurses here as well. And I think it¡¯s only right for me to personally see what medicine we will require from there.¡± - We can¡¯t be responsible for whatever happens outside. ¡°I heard that the dong leader of Seongsu-dong died. If so, there shouldn¡¯t be any threats out there, right?¡± - Konkuk University Hospital¡­ Is part of Hwayang-dong. I showed him my notepad with a serious expression on my face. The doctor scratched his sideburns. "Then¡­ Are you saying there¡¯s a zombie managing Hwayang-dong as well?¡± - I''m not sure, but it''s very likely. The members of the Family have assigned a dong leader for each district. The doctor fell into deep thought, his face troubled. I wasn¡¯t sure why and what he was contemting about. I didn¡¯t see a reason why he had to go. All he had to do was write down the medicine he needed on a notepad so that Kim Hyeong-Jun and I could bring them to him. But then, the possibility urred to me that he might have other intentions in the back of his mind. I wrote down my suspicions and carefully showed my notepad to the doctor. - Do you have other intentions in mind? "Haha¡­ No, that¡¯s the message I was trying to get delivered.¡± The doctor smiled shyly and looked away. The way he acted made me even more suspicious, so I wrote down a follow-up question. - Be honest with me, doctor. I¡¯ll keep it a secret from everybody else. "No, no. I really don¡¯t¡­.¡± - You know that neither Hyeong-Jun nor I can talk. And we¡¯re technically outsiders. We don¡¯t have to report everything back to the group leader, like everyone else here does. ¡°...¡± The doctor seemed to contemte what I had written down. The moment I saw him considering this, I knew he had another reason for wanting to go with us. However, it seemed like his reason wasn¡¯t good enough for him to be allowed to go outside. I didn¡¯t know the ins and outs of Shelter Silence, but I knew that the survivors¡ªin other words, the residents¡ªcouldn¡¯t go outside. The only people that were allowed to go outside were the rescue team and some of the members of the guard team. This restriction also applied to the group leader. I waited for the doctor''s answer. Eventually, he looked around and said in a low voice, ¡°My younger sibling¡­ Is still outside somewhere.¡± I frowned the moment I heard the words ¡®younger sibling¡¯. It must¡¯ve been months since they¡¯ve seen each other. I knew that the chances of his younger sibling being alive was slim to none. I also couldn¡¯t wrap my head around the fact that he woulde to the shelter by himself and leave his younger sibling outside. I wrote out my doubts and showed the doctor my notepad. He let out a deep sigh. ¡°I used to work at Konkuk University Hospital. I escaped the hospital with my colleagues, but I couldn¡¯t go back home for my younger sibling. Back then, my colleagues and I weren¡¯t even sure we were going to make it.¡± - What are the chances that your younger sibling would still be at home? ¡°Well, on that day, my younger sibling was supposed to be having a round of drinks at our ce. I wasn¡¯t going to be home that day because I was on night shift, so I had no problem with my younger sibling doing so.¡± - And you haven''t seen your younger sibling since then? ¡°Yes. I told the group leader several times that I wanted to bring my younger sibling here, but every time I asked about the progress they¡¯d made in retrieving my younger sibling, they would only tell me that they¡¯re trying their best.¡± - Why don¡¯t you trust the group leader and wait patiently? "It''s already been two months!!!" The doctor, who had never lost his cool before, shouted. I stayed silent, and the doctor slicked back his hair. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you don¡¯t know the meaning behind ¡®trying their best¡¯.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°I always tell my patients¡¯ guardians that I¡¯m trying my best when I¡¯m not certain if the patient is going to make it or not.¡± - Then you would know how the group leader feels when she says that to you. "No. Honestly, I don¡¯t know. I really do try my best to treat patients and to take responsibility for what I say. But the group leader? Have you ever seen her send a guard or rescue team to get my younger sibling?¡± The doctor was frowning. I couldn¡¯t tell during the meeting, but the doctor harbored hostility toward the group leader. He bit his lower hip and continued to speak. ¡°My younger sibling¡­ has the body of an adult, but the soul of a child. After our parents passed away two years ago, my younger sibling acted like everything was fine but I knew that they were crying under their covers every night alone.¡± I let out a sigh and wrote down some words after hearing the doctor''s words. - Where is your younger sibling? ¡°Apartment Complex I in Seongsu 2-ga. Apartment 106, unit 1203 is where I lived with my younger sibling.¡± - And what is your younger sibling¡¯s name? ¡°It¡¯s Kim Ga-Bin.¡± I wrote the name Kim Ga-Bin on my notepad. I then showed the doctor another sentence I¡¯d written down. - No matter how much you insist, we can¡¯t take you with us. Please trust me with this and wait here. ¡°...¡± The doctor sighed, his expression glum. The doctor was silent for a moment, then nodded, realizing that there was no way to persuade us to take him with us. After a moment, he started writing down things on the notepad I¡¯d handed to him. He was listing down the medicine he needed. ¡°I¡¯ve written down all the antibiotics, painkillers, and anesthetics we need. You have to bring them back without fail.¡± I wondered if I had offended him by saying that we wouldn¡¯t take him with us. His attitude had turned a little cold. I nodded slowly as I looked through the various types of medicine he had listed down. It seemed like these two sides of him¡ªthe responsibility he felt as a doctor toward his patients here, and his worry about his younger sibling¡ªwere at war with each other. I knew it¡¯d be better to demonstrate my sincerity with action rather than offer him words of constion. I nodded vigorously and wrote onest sentence in my notepad. - Don''t worry and hang tight. I will bear the responsibility of bringing your younger sibling back while you take care of the patients here. The doctor pursed his lips as he read my sentence, then looked at me for a while. After a moment, he let out a deep breath. ¡°This promise¡­ You must keep your word.¡± I nodded instead of answering. When I retrieved my notepad and tried to leave the hospital, I heard the doctor call out to me. ¡°Hey!¡± As I turned around, he smacked his lips. "Now that I think of it, we haven¡¯t introduced ourselves to each other. My name is Kim Beom-Jin.¡± I chuckled while I walked toward the doctor. I then wrote my name on my notepad and showed him. - I¡¯m Lee Hyun-Deok. ¡°Mr. Lee¡­ Please bring back my younger sibling.¡± I looked into Kim Beom-Jin''s face and nodded. Getting medicine was a deal I¡¯d made with the group leader. But it seemed like I¡¯d picked up a side quest along with this quest to obtain medicine. Despite this, I didn¡¯t feel any additional pressure. Instead, I was eagerly hoping for the best. I stepped out from Shelter Silence, praying and hoping that Kim Ga-Bin would be alive, and that I would be able to see Kim Ga-Bin alive with my own eyes. Chapter 84 Chapter 84 Kim Hyeong-Jun asked me a question after we left the shelter. It seemed like he¡¯d been waiting for the right timing to ask it. ''Ahjussi, don¡¯t you think we have to decide where we want to go first?'' I nodded and replied. ¡®Apartment Complex I in Seongsu 2-ga is on the way to Konkuk University Hospital anyway. Let¡¯s stop by the apartment first then go to the hospital.¡¯ ¡®And if this somebody named Kim Ga-Bin is alive? What are you going to do then?'' ¡®We¡¯ll have to take Kim Ga-Bin with us.¡¯ ¡®That¡¯s what I¡¯m saying. So you¡¯re nning to take Kim Ga-Bin to Konkuk University Hospital with us?'' ¡®We¡¯ll just check if Kim Ga-Bin is alive or not. If Kim Ga-Bin¡¯s alive, we can order our underlings to protect them while the two of us go to Konkuk University Hospital.'' Kim Hyeong-Jun nodded and dropped the subject. Then he looked into my eyes again. ''How many underlings did you bring?'' ¡®Four hundred, not including the mutants.¡¯ ¡®Same, I got four hundred too.¡¯ ¡®We should be fine then.'' ¡®What if we get into a fight with the Hwayang-dong leader?¡¯ ¡®Hwayang-dong is smaller than Seongsu-dong. It''s only about a quarter in terms of size.'' ¡®Are you saying the dong leader¡¯s strength is rted to the size of the district?'' Kim Hyeong-Jun snorted, his face suggesting that he found my assertion ridiculous. I didn''t think much of his mockery and replied, ¡®I¡¯m sure.¡¯ ''How sure?'' ''I saw it on the map.'' ''What map?'' Kim Hyeong-Jun tilted his head as though demanding an exnation. I then told Kim Hyeong-Jun about the map of Seoul I¡¯d gotten at the high school. Kim Hyeong-Jun listened intently to my story, then paused before speaking again. ¡®So Hwayang-dong was an area marked in green?'' ¡®Yeah. It was probably pushed back by all the other surrounding neighborhoods since it¡¯s a small district to begin with.'' ¡®And what were the other districts colored?'' Kim Hyeong-Jun asked, slight agitation showing on his face. It seemed like he was nervous deep down. I knew I had to calm him down first before we did anything else. ''Seongsu-dong and Majang-dong were orange.'' ¡®Seongsu-dong was orange? But the dong leader of Seongsu-dong was much stronger than the dong leader of Majang-dong.¡¯ ''It''s a pretty outdated map, so perhaps the information hadn¡¯t been updated. The dong leader of Seongsu-dong was supposed to be the eighth officer. So, it¡¯s probably right to think of Seongsu-dong as a red area. Or perhaps even more than that.'' I tried to speak as calmly as possible to make it seem like it wasn¡¯t a big deal, hoping to relieve some of Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s anxiety. However, his expression remained nervous as he followed up with another point. ''Then it¡¯s possible Hwayang-dong is no longer a green area.'' ¡®Okay, sure, but it¡¯s orange at best. I mean, we got rid of the dong leader of Seongsu-dong, and he was in charge of an orange area. Besides, he was basically an officer of the Family. Orange areas no longer pose a threat to us.¡¯ ''What colors are the surrounding districts?'' ¡®Gunja-dong, which is next to Hwayang-dong, is also green. Both are small in terms of size. The other districts nearby, like Jayang-dong, Guui-dong, and Junggok-dong, were orange.'' Kim Hyeong-Jun considered this for a moment, before he sighed and spoke up. ''I hope you''re not wrong.'' ¡®Just like the members of the Family, we¡¯ve also gotten stronger. So no matter what the map showed, things couldn¡¯t have changed that much.¡¯ ¡®I trust you, ahjussi,¡¯ mumbled Kim Hyeong-Jun. I wondered if anyone would trust his words, given the face he was making right then. I pped Kim Hyeong-Jun on the back andughed lightly. ¡®No matter what happens, you have me. You good now?'' Kim Hyeong-Jun smirked. ¡®I think I should be the one saying that. Have you already forgotten that I saved you when you were struggling against the leader of Seongsu-dong?'' After all I¡¯d done to relieve his anxiety, he was now the one teasing me. I shook my head, disarmed by his yful and joyful mindset. Kim Hyeong-Jun began to walk forward with vigor, calling out, ¡®How long are you going to stay there? Let¡¯s get going!'' ¡®Okay, okay.'' I snorted and followed Kim Hyeong-Jun. He seemed serious at times, but he was also light-hearted and always lively. I was d that I¡¯d been able to form an alliance with him. Having him as an ally helped ease my mind. Perhaps I¡¯d been able to keep moving forward while fighting against the members of the Family because I had Kim Hyeong-Jun next to me. If So-Yeon and everyone back at Shelter Hae-Young were like a lighthouse that shone brightly, reminding me where I belonged, Kim Hyeong-Jun was like apass that pointed me in the direction I had to go next. * * * Kim Hyeong-Jun had already taken care of the zombies around Ttukseom Station. Thanks to him, we were able to get to Seongsu Station in a more rxed manner, without having to care much about our surroundings. However, as we got to Seongsu Station, we saw zombies roaming the streets. We killed them mercilessly and headed for Apartment Complex I in Seongsu-dong. Kim Hyeong-Jun cracked a zombie''s head in front of him and spoke up. ¡®Ahjussi, if the leader of Seongsu-dong was still alive¡­ How strong do you think he would¡¯ve been by now?'' ''And why do you ask that?'' ''Because there are so many zombies around.'' ''Well in that case, how about us? We each have a zombie prison.¡¯ ¡®Hmm¡­ You do have a point¡­'' Kim Hyeong-Jun shrugged and looked around. After a moment, he pointed at an apartmentplex. ''Is that Apartment Complex I?'' ¡®That¡¯s Apartment Complex L. Apartment Complex I is behind it, so keep your eyes open from now on.'' ''The two are next to each other?'' I nodded. Kim Hyeong-Jun nodded back, and his glowing red eyes red. It seemed like he was heightening all his senses to the point where he could sense a mouse squeaking in the dark. He moved forward cautiously, his head moving from side to side. I also heightened my hearing and sense of smell, my own glowing red eyes ring. I was much more sensitive to the air around me. A musty smell wasing from the apartmentplex. If I was able to smell this kind of smell outdoors, I knew that people had been living there until recently. At that moment, I felt something extremely foreign, something new that I hadn¡¯t felt before. I stopped in front of Kim Hyeong-Jun. ''Hyeong-Jun, isn''t it strange here?'' ''Huh?¡¯ I looked around. ¡®There aren¡¯t any zombies here.¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun looked around as well, his eyes widening. There were more than enough zombies wandering outside. But for some reason, there were no zombies within theplex. The difference was stark. It felt as though some unseen force was preventing zombies from entering theplex. Kim Hyeong-Jun leaned against a wall next to him. ''Should we hide for now?'' ''Let''s hide our underlings, at least.'' Kim Hyeong-Jun nodded and sent his underlings to apartment 103, located in Apartment Complex L, which was right next to us. I gave the same order to my underlings. After confirming that his underlings had all gone into apartment 103, Kim Hyeong-Jun asked me a question. ¡®Do you think there are survivors here?'' ¡®There¡¯s no way that the leader of Seongsu-dong would have protected survivors.'' ¡®Well, he did protect Shelter Seoul Forest.¡¯ ''That was because his daughter was there. Besides, do you actually think that was protection? It was more like surveince. He was keeping his eye on them.'' As I clicked my tongue, Kim Hyeong-Jun scratched his sideburns and smacked his lips. After a moment, a possibility shed into my mind. Kim Hyeong-Jun noticed the change in my expression and tilted his head. ''Why, is there something wrong?'' ¡®You wouldn¡¯t think¡­ that this ce is like a dormitory for the dogs, would you?'' Kim Hyeong-Jun nodded, seemingly impressed by my observation. ¡®You have a point, ahjussi. I think that¡¯s a possibility. It even smells like that here.'' ¡®What do you smell?¡¯'' ¡®Can¡¯t you smell something like tap water through the musty smell?'' I wrinkled my nose and sniffed the surroundings. I could indeed smell tap water through the musty smell, but I couldn¡¯t tell if I actually smelled tap water, or if Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s words made me more sensitive to the smell. I wondered if the smell of tap water was an important clue that could lead to something else. I looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun with a serious expression. ¡®No, you¡¯re right. I can smell tap water in the air. Do you think it indicates anything?'' ''That¡¯s the smell that people who don¡¯t wash themselves give off.'' Kim Hyeong-Jun replied with an equally serious expression. I looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun and my face darkened. It was a rather oundish im. I wasn¡¯t sure if he was being serious or not. When I frowned, Kim Hyeong-Jun waved his hand vigorously. ¡®Hey, hey, ahjussi, you were just about to say something bad, weren¡¯t you? I could tell by your eyes.'' ¡®Then don¡¯te up with nonsense that¡¯ll make me say something bad. What does not washing have to do with tap water?'' ¡®Wait, ahjussi¡­ You don¡¯t know?? People who don¡¯t wash regrly smell like tap water.¡¯ ¡®...And how do you know this?¡¯ ''Well, I didn¡¯t really wash myself that often when I was in school.¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun gave me a thumbs-up as if he was proud of his past. I massaged my temples and sighed at his shameless pride regarding his days as a dirty kid. On the bright side, it seemed like we had concrete proof that this ce was definitely being used as a dormitory for the dogs, so I was happy to let this one slide and move on for now. I sat down and thought for a while. Whether this truly was the smell of tap water or not wasn¡¯t what mattered right now. The doctor had said that his younger sibling was in apartment 106 in Apartment Complex I, which was right next to us. And if this ce was actually the base for the dogs, that probably meant that Kim Beom-Jin¡¯s younger sibling had either be a dog, or became their food. I closed my eyes, my expression troubled. Kim Hyeong-Jun sat next to me and shook me by my shoulder. I looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun. He was staring straight ahead, his eyes glowing like a hunter eyeing prey. I looked in the direction he was staring at, and I saw two people who obviously looked like dogs. Both of them were men, grumbling away while scratching their bodies. I sharpened my hearing and eavesdropped on their conversation. ¡°Then what¡¯s going to happen now?¡± ¡°How am I supposed to know? A new dong leader will probablye.¡± ¡°What about Seoul Forest? What¡¯s going to happen to the guys over there?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, you bastard. Are you going to keep on bothering me with these questions? I¡¯m already annoyed that I¡¯ve been losing so much hair." ¡°Isn¡¯t losing hair good for us? It means you¡¯re eating less.¡± As the guy on the left let out a weakugh, the guy on the right started swearing. ¡°That''s why starving to death is the perfect fate for you, you fool. Can¡¯t you see that it¡¯s the perfect timing to change everything up, or even get rid of us? Especially since there are fewer of us now, and the fact that we¡¯re not even aware of what¡¯s going to happen with the dong leader?¡± ¡°Oh snap, I didn¡¯t think of that.¡± ¡°What I¡¯m saying is that our lives depend on whoever is installed as the next dong leader.¡± ¡°Then what should we do now?¡± ¡°We have to pray that the dong leader is alive.¡± The two walked past Apartment Complex L into Apartment Complex I. We stealthily followed the pair. After a moment, they began to converse again. ¡°Hey, aren¡¯t we supposed to get food together?¡± ¡°We are, but¡­ What¡¯s the point of getting food when there¡¯s no dong leader?¡± ¡°We have to get food regardless. What if the dong leader gives us shit for not restocking the food when hees back?¡± ¡°God damn¡­ Maybe I should just kill everyone and kill myself while I¡¯m at it.¡± ¡°Hehe, kill everyone else except me, then.¡± ¡°This fucking idiot. Just go round up some people to help out. And don¡¯t forget to bring rope.¡± As I eavesdropped on them, I looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun. He was looking back at me, and it seemed like there was something he wanted to say. ''Ahjussi, how about we follow them instead of killing them?'' ''I agree.'' ''The food they¡¯re talking about¡­ They¡¯re probably referring to survivors right?'' ''I¡¯d say it¡¯s very likely. This might be the chance for us to figure out where they store their food.'' I kept my eyes on them as I calmed my rapidly-beating heart. After a moment, the guy who¡¯d gone to get help came back with four other dogs. They had long coils of rope slung over their shoulders. They shared several dumb jokes and began to walk. We shadowed them as quietly as we could. They walked over to the dumpster located within theplex and started smearing something all over their bodies. I squinted and noticed that they were smearing zombie blood over their bodies. The dumpster was full of severed zombie limbs, and the dogs were using them to smear blood all over themselves. I didn''t feel sick or nauseous even after breaking zombie limbs, but seeing them smear blood from dead zombie bodies onto themselves made me feel disgusted. Smearing the blood of someone who¡¯d just died onto your own body was disgusting in itself, but these dogs were smearing blood from a dead zombie¡¯s body, a zombie that had died gods knew how long ago. Smearing blood from a decaying corpse onto yourself was something that nobody with a sane mind could do. As I frowned and looked away, I saw Kim Hyeong-Jun retching next to me. Kim Hyeong-Jun wiped his mouth and spoke up. ¡®They¡¯re insane.¡¯ ¡®That¡¯s why they¡¯re dogs.¡¯ ¡®Putting zombie blood on their bodies¡­ That probably means that their food storage is outside, huh?'' ¡®We know for certain that it¡¯s not in either Apartment Complex L or I.'' I frowned and spat foul-tasting saliva onto the floor. I could tell that Kim Ga-Bin was not here. If these dogs had taken control of the apartmentplex, Kim Ga-Bin couldn¡¯t have survived, unless he had turned into a dog himself. Until we surveyed their food storage area, there was no way of telling if Kim Ga-Bin was alive or not. Chapter 85 Chapter 85 We shadowed the dogs as they moved onto the streets. They were moving stealthily along a path with no zombies, which made it likely that they had already secured a safe route to their food storage. I watched their movements and then turned to Kim Hyeong-Jun. ''They¡¯ve probably done this hundreds of times.'' ''I bet they could even do this at night with their eyes closed.'' The dogs that attacked Seoul Forest had entered through tunnels carrying arrows, crossbows, and army knives, but the guys in front of us were casually roaming through the streets with clubs. Nevertheless, they seemedfortable and unruffled. They were probably used to this, having done it over and over again. After about fifteen minutes of following them, the dogs, who had been silent up to then, exchanged a few words. ¡°Are we almost there?¡± "No one died on the way, right?" Making silly jokes, they entered the subway station. I couldn''t help but be surprised when I read the sign above the subway entrance. It said: Line 7 Konkuk University Station Exit 3. Konkuk University Hospital was to the left of the subway entrance. Kim Hyung-jun also looked around, then raised his eyebrows. ¡®Wait, ahjussi. Isn¡¯t this Konkuk University Hospital?'' ¡®Yeah.¡¯ ¡®They kind of led us here, huh?'' Kim Hyeong-Jun smiled faintly, as if we¡¯d marked one thing off our to-do list. However, I sensed something strange. There were countless zombies camping in front of the hospital entrance. The way they had gathered suggested that someone had intentionally blocked off the hospital entrance, as if they were trying to keep survivors away from the hospital. This strangeness made me suspicious. I rubbed my chin and took a closer look at the surrounding terrain. I took in the zombies that were all gathered up together, the subway transit station, the hospital, and the university¡­ After thinking about it for a while, I realized why this ce was being used as a food storage. This ce was basically a maze. Kim Hyeong-Jun walked carelessly toward the subway entrance. I quickly stopped him. ''Wait.'' ''What? Why?'' ''We¡¯re at a geographical disadvantage here.'' ''Huh?'' ''Look at the hospital entrance.'' Kim Hyeong-Jun saw the crowd of zombies, then looked at me with his head tilted to the side. It seemed like he didn¡¯t understand what I was trying to say. I sighed. ¡®Konkuk University Station is a transfer station. Lines 2 and 7 intersect, and you can even enter Konkuk University Hospital via the underground linkway. Can¡¯t you tell by the zombies gathered by the hospital entrance?¡¯ ¡®Uh, no, not really.¡¯ ''This ce is built like an ant''s nest. But they¡¯ve only blocked off one entrance¡­ So it¡¯s probably safe to think that the other entrance is a trap.¡¯ ¡®Trap?¡¯ ¡®Even if the other entrance isn¡¯t a trap, there are way too many entrances through the subway to the hospital, excluding the hospital¡¯s main entrance. There¡¯s no way of telling where the survivors are, exactly, and there¡¯s a high chance that we could either get lost or lose the dogs if we follow them in.¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun nodded with his jaw dropped to the ground as if he had finally caught on to what I was trying to say to him this whole time. I then pointed at one of the entrances for Konkuk University Station Line 2 across the intersection. ¡®It¡¯s difficult to keep your eye on all the entrances to Line 7, and we can¡¯t even see all the entrances to Line 2 from here. There''s even an underground linkway to the hospital, so there¡¯s a chance they might slip away through the rear exit of the hospital.'' ¡®There¡¯s a rear exit as well?¡¯ ¡®Konkuk University Hospital is connected to Konkuk University. If you go out through the rear exit of the hospital, you can also leave through the front or back entrances of the university itself. There¡¯s no way we¡¯ll be able to track down the dogs again once we lose them.'' ''Then why can¡¯t we just follow them and kill them right now?'' ¡®What if they use the survivors as hostages? Are you going to endanger the lives of the survivors as well?'' Kim Hyung-jun scratched his forehead with a troubled expression. I let out a sigh. ¡®Focus Hyeong-Jun. The survivors¡¯ lives are at stake.¡¯ ¡®So what do you want to do?'' ''We shouldn¡¯t be the ones going in. We should wait for them toe out.'' ''So you want to keep an eye on every entrance?'' ¡®As of now, that¡¯d be the safest thing to do. You never know what can happen underground. I¡¯m not sure if there are lights down there, and you can¡¯t see anything in a subway when there¡¯s no light. It''s better to wait here than to lose them in the process.'' ¡®You¡¯re right. If there¡¯s no light, it¡¯ll probably be difficult to tell the survivors and dogs apart too¡­¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun smacked his lips and lost himself in thought for a moment. With another smack of his lips, he continued, ''Let''s get our underlings first.'' ¡®You keep an eye on all the entrances and exits of Line 2. I''ll keep an eye on Line 7 and the back door of the hospital.'' ''Got it.'' We ordered our underlings that were hiding in Apartment Complex L toe to us immediately. After about two minutes, I saw eight hundred underlings appear a distance away, making their way quickly toward us. As per our earlier agreement, Kim Hyeong-Jun headed for Line 2. We both ced underlings with vision on nearby rooftops so that we could keep an eye on each other, and I monitored all the entrances rted to Line 7 and the rear exit of the hospital. Being patient took a toll on me, and the endless waiting made me nervous. During this time, which felt like an eternity, I focused my senses on the entrance of Konkuk University Hospital and Exit 3 of Line 7. I waited and waited for something to happen. After about thirty minutes of waiting, I received a signal from one of my underlings. - Motion detected. I quickly got up and ran to the underling that had sent me the signal. As expected, they hadn''te out of Exit 3. The underling that had sent me the signal was watching the rear exit of the hospital, which faced the university. I went around to the rear exit via the main road instead of going past the hospital''s main entrance so that I could avoid the dogs. As I neared the rear exit, I saw the dogs with six survivors. The survivors were tied up, linked together like a chain of sausages. The dogs were dragging them somewhere. The dogs didn¡¯t take them to either the front or the back entrances of the university. Although they were dogs, they were still human. They took an indirect route that ran along the parking lot and next to the biology department. It seemed they were wary of the street zombies as well. I knew better than to attack them. It was far too dangerous for me to do so. I knew I had to wait until they were further away from the survivors. Thud! The sudden sound of footsteps drew my attention. They were rather loud, as if someone was stomping on the ground to avoid tripping. Startled, I quickly looked to the side. My eyesnded on Kim Hyeong-Jun. ''Sorry. Were you surprised?'' ''Keep your head down.'' I furrowed my brow and refocused my attention on the dogs. They had stopped in their tracks and were looking around cautiously. I wondered if they¡¯d heard Kim Hyung-Jun''s footsteps. Kim Hyeong-Jun quickly crouched down next to me. ''I hope we didn¡¯t get caught because of me.'' ¡®No, we haven¡¯t been caught yet. But we can¡¯t let our guard down. We have to wait until the dogs and survivors are separated enough.¡¯ ¡®Do you think the dogs will move further away from the survivors? I mean, their job is to watch over the survivors.¡¯ ''But it¡¯s not like we can attack them right now either.'' I furrowed my brow. Kim Hyeong-Jun sighed and spoke up. ¡®Ahjussi, I¡¯m going to y a trick.'' ''A trick?'' ¡®Ahjussi, just do as I tell you to do.'' ¡®Okay. What do you want me to do?¡¯ ''Follow me, and look angry.'' ¡®What?¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun got up and took a deep breath, and soon started walking slowly toward the dogs. ''Hey! Hey!!!¡¯ No matter how hard I yelled at Kim Hyeong-Jun, there was no way he was going to hear me. I had no choice but to follow him. I couldn¡¯t figure out why he was acting so rashly today. I wondered if it was because it was his first time rescuing survivors. I knew that Kim Hyeong-Jun wasn¡¯t usually such a foolish guy¡­ ¡°Sto, Stop!¡± The dogs were taken aback when they saw us. All of them raised their clubs and started looking at each other, trying to figure out what they were going to do next. I stopped worrying and decided to y along. I had no choice but to go with his n, since we¡¯d already exposed ourselves. Kim Hyeong-Jun ignored their orders and walked toward them slowly with his hands behind his back. I followed him with a furious expression. When he was about a meter away from the dogs, he stopped walking and looked at me calmly. ''If both sides are in an awkward situation, the side that doesn¡¯t panic wins.'' ''What?'' ¡®Ahjussi, you¡¯re going to act like my superior from now on. You have to act adamant and be angry no matter what.¡¯ ¡®Hey, acting isn''t really my¡­.¡¯ ''Just frown, ahjussi.'' Kim Hyeong-Jun quickly nced at the dogs after he was done talking. They seemed stunned, not knowing how to react. After a moment, one of the dogs¡ªthe most muscr one amongst them¡ªstepped out. The man took a look at Kim Hyeong-Jin and me and then swallowed. He asked Kim Hyeong-Jun a question. ¡°Are you perhaps the new dong leader?¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun furrowed his brow and kicked the man in the shin. He screamed in pain and limped away, then quickly bowed and said loudly, "My apologies, dong leader! I¡¯ll make sure I don¡¯t make the same mistake again!¡± My jaw unconsciously fell open after seeing what was unfolding in front of me. I sensed the other dogs staring at me, and pretended that I was yawning and staying calm. I went back to frowning again, and the dogs looked at each other in confusion. Kim Hyeong-Jun ground his teeth audibly. ¡°GRRR!!!!¡± This caused all the dogs to start apologizing, bowing deeply from the waist. The first dog that had bowed was trembling, his legs quivering visibly. He seemed too scared to even lift his head. Kim Hyeong-Jun ced his hand on the man''s shoulder, and the man took a deep breath and straightened his back. After a moment, Kim Hyeong-Jun looked at me. ¡®Ahjussi, go to the survivors and pretend to examine their faces.'' ¡®You want me to keep this expression?'' ''Yeah. Pretend like you''re examining prey.'' I wasn¡¯t on board with this part of the n, but Kim Hyeong-Jun''s n seemed to be working, so I decided to go along with it. I frowned and walked in between the survivors. Sob¡­ sob¡­ I could hear the survivors crying. Their hands were tied up with rope. None of them even thought of fighting back or escaping. All they did was avoid my gaze and look down. I looked at Kim Hyung-jun after taking a brief look at the survivors. ''What should I do now?'' ''Come here and hit me.'' ¡®Hit you? Where?'' ¡®The face or stomach. Anywhere. Just hit me, and look threatening.¡¯ I couldn¡¯t help but sigh. He was really making me do things I wasn¡¯tfortable doing. But then, I heard the dogs swallowing collectively after they heard my sigh. I wondered if they were nervous. I walked in front of Kim Hyeong-Jun and hit him in the stomach gently, apologizing as I did so. Kim Hyeong-Jun groaned and fell to his knees. ¡®I don¡¯t think I hit him that hard¡­¡¯ I sighed and furrowed my brow, feeling sorry and confused. The dogs each sped their hands tightly together and looked down. I wondered if my expression was evoking even more fear in them. I gave the dogs a sidelong nce then squatted in front of Kim Hyeong-Jun. ¡®Hey, hey! Hyeong-Jun! What do I do now?'' ''Ahjussi, go stand with the survivors.'' I had no clue what kind of n he had in mind. No matter how hard I thought, I couldn¡¯t figure out where this was going. But I walked toward the survivors anyway. Kim Hyeong-Jun stood slowly, his face a mask of pain. He took several deep breaths, clearly trying to control the pain. He then grabbed the dog in front of him by his cor and started shaking him violently. ¡°I¡¯m sorry!¡± The leader of the dogs apologized reflexively. Kim Hyeong-Jun nced at the survivors and shoved the leader again. ¡°GRRR!!!¡± ¡°Dong leader, are you unhappy with the ones we brought? Do you want other ones?¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun widened his eyes in fury and nodded violently. ¡°We¡¯ll bring more of them right now! Please wait a moment!¡± The man gestured to his subordinate to follow him, and they headed toward the rear exit of the hospital. I could hear the dogs speaking in agitated tones as they walked away. ¡°How many humans are there left?¡± ¡°There are seven of them.¡± ¡°Bring them all!¡± "What? Then what about next time?¡± ¡°Then what? Do you want to die here, right now? We have to please the dong leader right now if we don¡¯t want to die!¡± "There''s no proof that those two are dong leaders." ¡°Can¡¯t you tell just by looking at them, you bastard? They have red eyes, and they recognized us right away! And so what if they¡¯re not the new dong leaders? They couldn¡¯t even talk. I bet they¡¯re hungry as hell. We don¡¯t have the time to think about this and that!" As the man who seemed to be the leader berated him, the dog that was trailing behind them snuck a look at us. After a moment, he took a deep breath and said, ¡°You¡¯re right, the dong leader of Seongsu-dong is dead. That¡¯s why they sent two dong leaders this time.¡± ¡°You get it now? You fucking idiot.¡± "Damn¡­ No wonder you¡¯re the leader among us." ¡°You stupid bastards. Can¡¯t even read between the lines. If it weren¡¯t for me, everyone would have died over there.¡± As the two dogs entered the hospital, Kim Hyeong-Jun secretly looked at me. I noticed his gaze and looked at him. His face was serene. ¡®Now this is what you call improvisation, ahjussi.'' Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s n left me speechless. I was amazed by the fact that he hade up with something like this in such a short time. I never imagined that the conversation we¡¯d eavesdropped on at Apartment Complex L woulde in so handy. Kim Hyeong-Jun gestured for the remaining dogs to follow him. All of them followed him obediently, their faces full of fear. He lined them up against the hospital wall and took turns pping them on the head one by one. The dogs all said the same thing when they got hit, even though they had no clue why they were getting hit. "My apologies, dong leader!" At this point, Kim Hyeong-Jun was just bullying them. Chapter 86 Chapter 86 Momentster, the two dogs that had gone back into the hospital came back out, dragging the remaining survivors behind them. There were seven survivors being dragged along, tied up with rope. They all wore dazed expressions. One of the survivors, who was crying, spluttered, ¡°Why, why are we being taken as well? I thought you only needed six?¡± ¡°Hey, say one more word if you want to die.¡± The leader of the dogs pped the survivor on the head. It seemed like they always took six people at a time as food. Now that seven more survivors had been dragged out, the six survivors next to me started muttering amongst themselves. They, too, were taken aback by the fact that seven more people had been brought out, despite there already being six outside. Suddenly, one of these six survivors, a man, grabbed onto my shirt and whispered to me, ¡°Hey, hey. Why are you ordering everyone else out? Huh?" ¡°...¡± ¡°Just take us. I know six people are enough.¡± He appeared to be in his fifties. The man continued speaking while keeping an eye on the dogs. ¡°Just take us. I beg you¡­!¡± ¡°¡­¡± As I stayed silent, the man started looking around desperately. After a moment, he grabbed my hand tightly. ¡°Let me ask you a favor since I¡¯m going to die anyway. My boy is over there. Please save my son. I''ll do anything. Please? I beg you." The man''s face began to darken. It wasn''t because he was angry. He was tearing up. He was begging me to save his son. I took out my notepad and wrote down several words carefully so that the dogs couldn''t see what I was writing. - You said you¡¯d do anything? ¡°Yes, yes! If you can save my son. I¡¯ll do anything if you promise me you¡¯ll save my son.¡± - Are you willing to do anything, no matter how difficult? The man nodded instead of answering. I could see the firm determination in the man¡¯s eyes. It seemed like he was even willing to give up his life if I ordered it. I remained still. The man kept moaning at me to save his son. At that moment, a man in his twenties, who was among the seven new arrivals, shouted. "Father!" The man that was holding my shirt looked at him. The leader of the dogs swung a fist into his face. ¡°How many times do I have to tell you to shut up!¡± The man in his fifties shouted at the leader of the dogs, his eyes swirling with fury. ¡°Hey you son of a bitch!¡± It seemed like watching his son being beaten had caused him to lose it. The leader of the dogs snorted at the man¡¯s insults and walked toward him. The leader offered me a slight greeting, then pped the man in his fifties. ¡°Are you acting out now, now that you know you¡¯re going to die?¡± ¡°I won¡¯t forgive you even after I die.¡± ¡°Hahaha!!!¡± The leader roared withughter and knocked the man to the ground. He began to attack the man, kicking and stomping on him, sending dust flying everywhere. When the man in his fifties fell to the ground, all the other survivors who were tied to him lost their bnce and were dragged to the ground as well. Their brows furrowed in agitation. As the man continued to suffer the abuse, the other survivors seemed unable to take the sight of it anymore, and cried out, letting their frustration out. ¡°Stop please, stop!¡± ¡°That¡¯s enough!¡± ¡°Why do you keep on hitting us? Why, why, why?!¡± Unfortunately, the man wasn¡¯t able to fight back, since he was tied up. All he could do was cover his body with his two skinny arms. The leader of the dogs frowned at the other survivors. ¡°Look at these worms squirming on the ground. You worms need to be taught a lesson as well!¡± He went around and began indiscriminately kicking the six survivors on the ground. As the survivors continued to scream, the man in his twenties, who was witnessing the whole thing, shouted at the top of his lungs. He was so furious, I could see the veins on his neck about to burst. ¡°Don¡¯t hit them, you son of a bitch!¡± ¡°What? Did you call me a son of a bitch?¡± The leader of the dogs ground his teeth and turned around after hearing the man in his twenties insult him. But then the man in his fifties, who was already a wreck, gasped violently and grabbed his ankle. "Please, don''t go after him. He''s still young and feisty, you know? He doesn¡¯t know any better.¡± The leader of the dogs kicked the man in the face and spat on his face. ¡°Shut up. How dare you speak, when you¡¯re nothing more than food?¡± The man in his twenties continued to hurl vulgarities at the leader. The leader of the dogs walked in front of the young man and then snapped his fingers as if he had just had a realization. ¡°Wait a second¡­ I shouldn¡¯t be doing this. If this feisty son hasn¡¯t done anything wrong¡­ That means his father is the one to me for his bad manners, right?¡± The dog leader kicked the man in his fifties lightly to get his attention. ¡°Since the son hasn¡¯t done anything wrong, it¡¯s only right that the father gets hit instead, right?" He made the man in his fifties stand up so that the younger survivor could see him clearly, then started pounding the older man, grinning as he did so. In the end, the man in his twenties couldn''t hold back his tears and begged the leader of the dogs to stop hitting him. Blood was dripping from the lips of the older man, his lips had been split. Despite the severe beating he was taking, he looked at his son and said, ¡°I¡¯m alright, Hyeon-Bin. Dad¡¯s fine.¡± ¡°What do you mean, you¡¯re fine?! How can anything be alright when we know we¡¯re all going to die here?!¡± The son bawled, tears flowing freely down his face. The dogs grinned at each other and howled withughter. They were enjoying this horrific situation, treating it as entertainment. As the man in his twenties kept going, the dog next to him kicked him in the stomach. The man in his fifties ground his teeth audibly. His trembling hands seemed terribly pitiful. I knew he was trembling with fury, but I also knew that he would be feeling pathetic inside, because he knew he couldn¡¯t do anything to change the situation. I knew more than anyone how he had to be feeling right then. I sighed and looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun, who was near the wall. He was watching the whole situation calmly. When he noticed that I was looking his way, he smacked his lips. ¡®Ahjussi, do you have some sort of n or idea in mind?'' ''Why?'' ''I mean, you haven¡¯t done anything even after seeing all of this happen, so¡­ I assumed that you had something else nned.¡¯ I sighed and nodded. He was right on. I felt bad for the survivors, but I wanted to see if they had the will to survive. If they had already epted death and lost all hope, no shelter out there would ept them. Taking them to Shelter Hae-Young would be risky as well. I wasn¡¯t sure what they would do to my people at Shelter Hae-Young if they weren¡¯t willing to pull in the same direction. Leaving these people there with them would only give them more to worry about. Seeing all that had transpired, though, I was now certain of one thing. They all had the will to survive. And they were worth saving. Perhaps it was harsh for me to be the judge of whether their lives were worthy or valuable¡­ But I had to know whether these people were still alive, emotionally and rationally. I let out a quick breath andmunicated with Kim Hyeong-Jun. ¡®Alright, let¡¯s get to work.'' ¡®I¡¯ll take care of the guys standing by the wall. Ahjussi, take care of the two there.'' As I nodded, Kim Hyeong-Jun stretched his tight shoulders. ¡®Ahjussi, whenever you¡¯re ready.'' I nodded slightly and walked over to the leader of the dogs. He was grinning as he went back and forth between the man in his fifties and the man in his twenties. ¡®Is this thing enjoying this situation? Genuinely?¡¯ I tapped the leader on the shoulder with my finger, and he looked back at me with a bright smile. "Ah! My apologies. You see, these ones really don¡¯t listen. They needed some training. Will you be going straight to your dorm?¡± When I nodded, he smiled broadly and spoke to the subordinate next to him. ¡°You, take charge of the seven people over there and bring them along with you. I''ll take care of these six." The subordinate tilted his head. ¡°Just the two of us?¡± The leader looked at me, then whispered, ¡°Can¡¯t you see that those guys are being punished over there? Do you want to go over there and join them?¡± "Oh¡­" The subordinate looked over at his fellow dogs, who were under Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s control, and then nodded. He gripped the rope that tied the seven people together and waited for the leader¡¯smand. The leader clicked his tongue and nced at me as he took hold of the rope that tied the group of six survivors together. He shed another dazzling smile. ¡°Haha, off we go, then, dong leader.¡± I smiled a satisfied smile and patted his head. He looked away with a shy smile, as if surprised by my unexpected gesture. He immediately bowed deeply from the waist and began to spout gibberish like a top-notch bootlicker. ¡°Dong leader! I¡¯ll do my best to serve you from now on!¡± Yes, you should be doing your best. You should always aim to do your best when you have a goal to achieve. But I knew that this guy had never ever tried his best in his lifetime. I could tell that he had lived a life full of excuses in order to survive. He¡¯d probably survived up to this point by mocking others when they were doing their best, while employing his sneaky tricks to survive. So¡­ It was time for him to die for the people who had been trying their best to live. I grab the dog leader¡¯s head with my right hand. He froze, unable to do anything. I could almost hear his eyes rolling, as though he was trying to pull out yet another sleazy trick from up his sleeve. I held his head firmly in my right hand. I knew this creature wouldn¡¯t be able to turn around or move its body. At the same time, he couldn¡¯t get annoyed, get away, or ask me questions. He no longer had the upper hand. I slowly applied pressure to my grip. ¡°Ah¡­ Ahhh! Ahhh!" Only then did he realize that things were terribly wrong, and started tearing at my right arm with his hands. He tried pinching and hitting my arm. He was trying his best to escape my grasp. He was like a cockroach that had been flipped over onto its back, trying its best to get its legs back under it in order to survive. However, I knew that no matter how hard he tried, there was no way a human could ovee the strength of my right arm. I watched him struggle pitifully. ¡®This is what doing your best is.'' I imagined how nice it would be if I could say this to him out loud. ¡°ARGHHH!!! FUCK!!! LET GO!!!¡± He finally started cursing and screaming. I knew he¡¯d be even more terrified because he wasn¡¯t able to straighten up. I could tell that this dog was fearfully staring death in the face as it looked down at the ground. He was probably trying his best to deny reality, thinking that there was no way he would die like this, that this could not be his end. I tightened my grip as slowly as I could, so that this dog leader would die as painfully as possible. ¡°ARGHHH!! ARGHHH!!!¡± Crack! Atst, his skull imploded with the wet sound of a watermelon bursting. His two arms, which had been wing at me for dear life, went limp, and his entire body twitched for a moment. I spat on the floor, furrowing my brow as I felt warm cerebral fluid trickling down my fingertips. All the dogs looked at me in bewilderment. They were the definition of a brain fart. I could tell that their minds werepletely muddled. They probably couldn¡¯t understand or ept what had just happened in front of them, despite seeing the whole thing unfold. Before they got back to their senses, I dashed toward them and punched the dog that was holding the rope in the face. The dog¡¯s face was crushed and he fell to the ground.. Kim Hyeong-Jun moved as though he had been waiting for this. He attacked the dogs who were standing against the wall. We took care of all of them in an instant. The survivors stopped crying, and all of them looked at me as though their souls had fled their bodies. I stared at the survivors, my red eyes shing. None of them had any idea how to deal with this situation. I took out my notepad and slowly wrote down some words. - You can rx now. The survivors stared nkly at what I¡¯d written. No one dared to speak. The man in his twenties looked at me. ¡°Who, who are you?¡± As I continued to write, I tried to smile as warmly as I could to assuage their fear. - I¡¯m part of the rescue team. The eyes of the young man widened in confusion. ¡°Rescue¡­ rescue team?! But you¡¯re a zombie¡­ No matter how hard I look¡­ But rescue¡­ Rescue? Huh?" His reaction was perfectly natural. A zombie saying that he was part of a rescue team was more than enough to boggle the mind. I looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun. ''I''ll calm them down. You go ahead and do some scouting.'' ¡®Got it.'' Kim Hyung-jun smiled happily and leaped onto the rooftop in one go. Only after I¡¯d untied the ropes that were binding them did they finally realize that they had survived. They all started wailing out loud. And I¡­decided to wait until they calmed down. Chapter 87 Chapter 87 The survivors shed tears and began to calm themselves down. I led the survivors to Konkuk University Hospital just in case an unexpected zombie wave came. The man in his fifties held his son in his arms and wiped the tears from his eyes. The son, in his twenties, patted his father on the back and smiled awkwardly, as though embarrassed by the whole situation. I didn''t want to interrupt their father-and-son moment, but I knew better than to forget why I was here. I wrote a short sentence in my notepad and showed it to the man in his fifties. - Is there a Kim Ga-Bin here? ¡°Ga-Bin? Oh, Ga-Bin should be¡­¡± The man in his fifties looked around and then called out one of the survivors. ¡°Hey Ga-Bin! Can youe here for a second?¡± As the man in his fifties called for Ga-Bin, a woman who seemed to be in her thirties stood up, wiping away her tears. I looked at the woman and tilted my head. ¡®Kim Ga-Bin was a woman?'' I¡¯d assumed that she was a man, given the way Kim Beom-Jin had been talking about her. I walked toward her and showed her my notepad. - Is your name Kim Ga-Bin? "Yes¡­ That¡¯s me." Kim Ga-Bin answered while she wiped her tears with her hand. I tried toy the situation out for her as calmly as possible, so she would not be overwhelmed. - I just need to check a couple of things with you, so I¡¯d appreciate it if you could cooperate. "Oh¡­ Yes¡­" - Do you have a brother? ¡°Brother? Yes, I do.¡± - Can I know your brother¡¯s name? "It¡¯s Kim¡­ Beom-Jin.¡± Kim Ga-Bin looked at me nervously, but I let out a sigh of relief and smiled lightly. I¡¯d finally found her. Kim Ga-Bin was alive. With a deep breath, I released my pent-up worries and wrote down some words on my notepad. - Your brother, Kim Beom-Jin, has been desperately looking for you. ¡°... Huh?¡± - I¡¯m here because Kim Beom-Jin asked me to find you. Her eyes widened as she read what I¡¯d written down and quickly covered her mouth with her hands in surprise. Soon after, tears of relief trickled out the corners of her round eyes and rolled down her face. The survivors around us looked back and forth between me and Kim Ga-Bin. "Ga-Bin, what''s wrong, what''s going on?" ¡°My brother is alive.¡± "What?" ¡°He¡¯s been looking for me all this while¡­¡± Kim Ga-Bin copsed to the floor, bawling out tears of joy. It was as though the floodgates had been thrown open. The two of them had probably been unaware if the other was alive or not. It wasn¡¯t that Kim Beom-Jin had been looking for her that made her happy; Kim Ga-Bin couldn¡¯t hide her joy at the knowledge that her brother had been alive this whole time. Looking at her caused my heart to grow sad for some reason. It was said that emotions were often passed from a person to those around them. I supposed that this was no different. Her actions had clearly touched me as well. As I scratched the tip of my nose in sorrow, the other survivors came up to me and started asking if their families were alive or dead. I¡­ I couldn''t answer all their questions. So instead, I opened my notepad. - There is a shelter nearby. Your family may be there but¡­ Don¡¯t bet on it. Given the current situation, it was the best answer I could give them. * * * With the hopes of the survivors buoyed by the fact that they might be able to meet their families again, I went through the entire hospital to get the medicines Kim Beom-Jin had asked me to get. I stuffed my bag full of medicine until it was about to burst, then took several stic bags that were in the hospital and filled them up with plenty of clean gauze and disposable syringes. When I¡¯d gotten everything Kim Beom-Jin wanted, I returned to the central hall where the survivors were. Kim Hyeong-Jun had returned, and wasmunicating with them. The more time Kim Hyeong-Jun spent with me, the more he came to resemble me. He¡¯d picked up my habit of having a notepad and pen on him at all times. He was able tomunicate smoothly through signnguage when he was with Park Gi-Cheol, but whenever he met other people, he couldn¡¯tmunicate unless he had a notepad as well. Perhaps, it was only natural that he would carry one as well. Kim Hyeong-Jun was smiling as he held the notepad and pen in his hands,municating with them. It seemed like Kim Hyeong-Jun was better at talking to strangers than I was. As I watched him, I thought that it would be better to leave the job of reassuring survivors to him. I walked toward him, both hands full of stuff. Kim Hyeong-Jun took a while to get up, as if he hadn¡¯t been aware of my presence. ''What, did you already pack everything, ahjussi?'' ''I went and got everything while you were goofing around.'' I answered him with an annoyed look, and Kim Hyeong-Jun smiled weakly and scratched his head. Heughed. ''I''m not good at finding things. Instead, I was reassuring the survivors.'' ''Okay, okay. Good job.'' I gave him a forced chuckle. Kim Hyeong-Jun took the ck bag from my right hand. ''I''ll carry this. Are we going to head out right away?'' ¡®Yeah, that would probably be best. The sun will set if we wait around any longer.'' Kim Hyeong-Jun nodded vigorously then went to the survivors. He then took out his notepad and told everyone that it was time to move. The survivors seemed to grow nervous at the fact that they were going to go outside. Seeing their anxiousness, Kim Hyeong-Jun smiled warmly and wrote down a few words. Every single survivor looked at me after reading what he had written down. I looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun, wondering what he had written down. He looked back at me with a smirk. ''What did you tell them?'' ¡®I told them you¡¯re the leader, ahjussi. I told them nothing bad will happen as long as you¡¯re here.'' ¡®Oh I see, passing the buck to me as well huh?'' I snorted and shook my head. At the same time, though, it felt reassuring as well, because it meant that I could help everyone feel reassured. We lined up the survivors into three lines and recalled our underlings that were on guard duty. I ced some of my blue-colored underlings in between the survivors and surrounded them with the rest of my underlings, along with Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s underlings. I assumed that this would hide the survivors¡¯ smell. After all the preparations, I looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun. ¡®Ready?'' ''Of course.'' ¡®Alright, let¡¯s go.'' We headed toward the rear exit of the hospital. * * * When we emerged onto the main street, I noticed some zombies walking around. Kim Hyeong-Jun and I sharpened our senses and dealt with them. I¡¯d ordered my underlings to deal with all the zombies that approached the survivors, but they were hard-pressed to deal with zombies who jumped down from the buildings, so we had to keep a close eye on the survivors to make sure they were keeping up with us. We crossed the main street and went through a food street, then came upon a rather clean road. It seemed like this was the route that the dogs used the most, out of all the other narrow alleys around. I looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun. ''We¡¯ll get to Seongsu Station if we keep going straight.'' ¡®We¡¯re still in Hwayang-dong? I can¡¯t tell where the boundary between Seongsu-dong and Hwayang-dong is.'' ¡®A main road will show up if we keep going this way. Once we cross that, we¡¯ll be in Seongsu-dong.'' Kim Hyeong-Jun nodded and heightened his senses, keeping an even closer lookout. It wasn¡¯t easy to guess where zombies would pop out from, with all the narrow alleys around us. Honestly, zombies didn¡¯t pose a threat to us, so it would¡¯ve been safer to walk along the main road. But we didn''t do so because of the dong leader of Hwayang-dong. We would be easily spotted by scouts if we walked along the wide main road. I knew that we would not be able to protect the survivors if the dong leader of Hwayang-dong attacked us in an open space. ''Let''s just quietly leave Hwayang-dong like this.'' I gestured for the survivors to move closer. Even when I¡¯d been cleaning up zombies in Haengdang-dong and Majang-dong, these narrow alleys had been the hardest to clear out, because it was impossible to tell where and how the zombies were hiding. Some of them came out of the sewers, others jumped up after pretending to be dead, and a lot of them hid behind obstacles, so I hadn¡¯t been able to notice them right away. There weren''t that many zombies when we first entered the food street, but quickly, more and more zombies began to approach us. It seemed like we were no longer on the safe path that the dogs used. The survivors had begun to sweat more, and thus the sweet smell of flesh began to get stronger. I could only imagine how strong the smell of the survivors would be for the street zombies, as it was almost the only thing I could smell as well. More and more aggressive zombies gathered as they smelled the sweat of the survivors. Kim Hyeong-Jun and I made our way forward as we took care of more than forty zombies. As we kept on going, we finally came to the Dongil-ro and Seongsu Intersection, which was the boundary between Hwayang-dong and Seongsu-dong. I let out a tense, nervous breath. ''We¡¯ll be in Seongsu-dong once we cross this road.'' ''Why did it feel like such a long time for us to get here? It definitely didn¡¯t feel like it took this long when we first came here.¡¯ Grumbling, Kim Hyeong-Jun let out a sigh of relief as well. I patted Kim Hyeong-Jun on the back and told him that we only had to push on a little bit more. I turned to look at the survivors, and noticed that they were encouraging each other while they watched Kim Hyeong-Jun and me. Everyone was doing their best. I looked at the survivors and smiled gently. I wanted to say the following words to them: ''Everyone, there¡¯s just a little bit more to go. Keep it up, please.'' I assumed that the survivors had been starving for a long time. Their limbs were bony and I could see shadows underneath their cheekbones. However, they were offering thin smiles of support and encouragement to each other, as if they were finally feeling safe. I wanted nothing to happen from that moment until we got to our destination. I just wanted to get to our destination safely and soundly. I knew it was going to be hard on them, but I hoped that they could all rely on each other as they followed me. I looked straight ahead again and set a vigorous pace. Just then, Kim Hyeong-Jun stepped in front of me and started looking around warily. I looked around as well, my red eyes glowing in response to Kim Hyeong-Jun''s sudden reaction. I couldn¡¯t tell why he was acting this way all of a sudden. I wondered if something had appeared. Kim Hyeong-Jun swallowed and gave me a cautious nce. ¡®Ahjussi, you didn''t feel it?'' I tilted my head. Kim Hyeong-Jun sniffed, then spoke. ¡®There¡¯s something strange with the air. There¡¯s a different smell mixed into it.'' I sharpened my sense of smell. A strange scent tickled the tip of the nose, drifting along with the cool autumn breeze. I raised my right hand and ordered everyone to stop. This smell¡­ I could tell there was something off about this smell. The smell of survivors was sweet to zombies but this smell¡­ No matter how much I tried to think of something else, I just knew that it was the smell of perfume. I looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun. ¡®Wait here for a minute. I''ll check the surroundings ande back.'' ''Okay.'' Kim Hyeong-Jun looked at the survivors and pointed to a convenience store right in front of them. The survivors crept into the convenience store. I ascended to the rooftop of the building on my left and looked around, squinting. The smell of perfume, with the world in this state? Were there any perfume stores nearby? No, that wasn¡¯t right. I hadn¡¯t smelled this on the way to Konkuk University Hospital. The senses of zombies with glowing red eyes grew more sensitive as they got stronger. The more they focused, the sharper their senses were, and right now, I could smell people from one hundred meters away. I knew I was correct in thinking that I smelled pungent perfume. After a moment, the cool autumn breeze tickled my nose again, bringing the strong scent of perfume with it. I looked in the direction from which the wind was blowing. My eyesnded on a man and a woman holding iron pipes. They were moving slowly as they looked into nearby stores. ¡®Survivors?'' Out of all ces¡­? They didn¡¯t seem like dogs, nor did they look like survivors that had been captured by dogs. I couldn¡¯t help but wonder where theye from. I crouched at their unexpected appearance and kept my gaze on them. They began to converse. ¡°They don¡¯t have them either?¡± "No. Someone¡¯s already gone through this ce." "Ha¡­ What do we do now? We¡¯re out of the food we brought as well.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s hide first. The sun¡¯s going to set soon.¡± ¡°You want to sleep here? You know it''s too dangerous. You never know when and where zombies will appear¡­¡± ¡°Then what? How are we supposed to get back to the shelter?¡± I furrowed my brow as I listened to their conversation. ''Shelter?'' I was positive that they¡¯d said the word ¡®shelter¡¯. I was also positive that they weren¡¯t people from Shelter Silence, since Shelter Silence strictly monitored their people and restricted them from going out. The way they were speaking, it seemed like these two could enter and exit their shelter easily. ¡®Wait, does that mean there¡¯s another shelter around here?¡¯ I smacked my lips and paid close attention to their conversation. The man holding the iron pipe sighed and slicked his hair back. Chapter 88

Chapter 88

¡°How much of the perfume do we have left?¡± ¡°We¡¯re almost out.¡± "Ha¡­ I guess we can¡¯t use perfume to hide our smell anymore.¡± ¡°All the more reason why we should go back to the shelter! You know that zombies are even more active at night.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I mean! How do you think the two of us will make it back? Think before you speak, alright?¡± As the man raised his voice, the woman teared up. ¡°Then what?! I don¡¯t want to die like this!" "Ha¡­¡± The man let out a sigh and gently massaged his temples, then slightly opened his bleary eyes. ¡°Soo-Hyun, I know you¡¯re very scared right now, but you have to listen to me. We can¡¯t go back right now.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°The rest of the food team has probably gotten back by now. Han-Sol must¡¯ve noticed that we¡¯re missing.¡± ¡°And what if Han-Sol notices? How would Han-Sol know toe here and find us?¡± ¡°... Everyone with us was killed. Han-Sol will be able to track us down by following the dead bodies.¡± I was able to get a rough idea of their overall situation after listening to their conversation. The two belonged to the food team of some shelter, and it seemed like their group had been attacked by zombies on their way to get food. The rest of the people in their group were killed, but these two were able to escape and end up here. I rubbed my chin and thought for a moment. ''They might be useful. I¡¯ll keep them alive.¡¯ I believed the next step toward survival would be sharing whatever information we had with each other, but I knew better than to jump in front of them right now. It was obvious that they would start attacking me before I even had the chance to write down anything in my notepad. People who were agitated were hardly reasonable or logical. I started to explore whether there was another way to approach them. ¡®How can I talk to them peacefully so that nobody gets hurt?¡¯ KA!!! KAAA!!! Just then, a cry rang out, piercing my eardrums and causing my head to ring. I looked at where the cry wasing from, and my eyesnded on a zombie that looked red standing on a rooftop about three hundred meters away. It had noticed the two survivors and was sending out a signal. I felt cold sweat trickle down my forehead. They¡¯d been caught. They¡¯d been caught by one of the Hwayang-dong leader¡¯s scouts. The two started panicking after hearing the zombie¡¯s cry. ¡°What¡­ what is that?¡± "It¡¯s¡­ it¡¯s a zombie!" ¡°No, that¡¯s not what I meant! Why in the world is it howling like that!?¡± I watched the two of them with a furrowed brow. I should¡¯ve known that they would get caught the moment they raised their voices at each other. I hadn¡¯t paid as much attention as I should''ve to the surroundings, as I was absolutely focused on their conversation. Stomp! I heard footsteps right next to me. As I quickly turned my head, I saw Kim Hyeong-Jun looking at me. ¡®What¡¯s going on, ahjussi?¡¯ ¡®There are survivors here.¡¯ ¡®What?¡¯ As I pointed toward the survivors, Kim Hyeong-Jun furrowed his brow. ¡®So the two of them got caught, huh?'' ¡®I should¡¯ve known it would happen when they raised their voices¡­ I let my guard down.¡¯ ¡®Stupid bastards. Let¡¯s get into hiding. They¡¯re none of our business.'' Kim Hyeong-Jun tried to walk away from them immediately. When I grabbed a hold of his shirt, he looked at me in confusion. ¡®Ahjussi, are you going to put our people at risk for these useless bums?¡¯ ¡®The two of them said that they came from a shelter.¡¯ ¡®What¡­?¡¯ ¡®There must be another shelter nearby.¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun seemed to hesitate after I mentioned the shelter. He sighed. ''Shelter, huh? Where is it?'' ''I don''t know either. But I do know that there¡¯s no harm in keeping those two alive.¡¯ ¡®Saving those two when we don¡¯t even know what kind of zombie the Hwayang-dong leader is? No way, ahjussi. Have you forgotten that we didn¡¯t bring many underlings with us?¡¯ Thud, thud, thud. The sound of rumbling footsteps came from the direction of the Konkuk University entrance. Both Kim Hyeong-Jun and I immediately looked in that direction. There were about seven hundred zombies making their way toward us through Achasan-ro. The enemy could mobilize seven hundred zombies that were ready to fight. If they had one to two hundred underlings posted as scouts or performing other duties, that meant the enemy leader probably had a limit of controlling nine hundred underlings. As I looked at the enemy forces calmly, Kim Hyeong-Jun looked at me. ¡®Is that all they have?¡¯ ¡®I told you we¡¯re in a green area.¡¯ ¡®But still, the enemy¡¯s too weak. They¡¯re too weak. It feels like a trap.¡¯ ''There''s the enemy leader over there.'' I pointed at the zombie with glowing red eyes amongst the zombies. Kim Hyeong-Jun looked at the enemy leader silently, then smacked his lips. ''It¡¯d be stupid to back away even after seeing the enemy leader right?¡¯ . ¡®Make up your mind. Are we going to save those two or not?¡¯ ''Honestly, I think I can take care of the enemy leader on my own.¡¯ ¡®Ha! Where¡¯d the scaredy cat Kim Hyeong-Jun from earlier go?'' ''Who said anything about being scared?¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun looked at me as though I¡¯d said something ridiculous and quickly jumped down to the street below. I snorted and followed him. With the two of us blocking the main road, the seven hundred zombies that were running in our direction stopped in their tracks. After a moment, the zombie with glowing red eyes walked out from the crowd. The enemy leader looked at me and Kim Hyeong-Jin with a sour face. ¡°Who the heck are you guys?¡± ''Damn, even you can speak?'' I chuckled as I offered the enemy leader a provocation. The enemy leader seemed taken aback by my unexpected reaction, but then furrowed their brow. ¡°Hey, it seems you¡¯re misunderstanding something. Are you just letting your mouth run without knowing what this ce is?¡¯ ¡®Hwayang-dong.¡¯ Realizing that I knew exactly where we were, the enemy leader continued in a boastful tone, ¡°So you¡¯re attacking me even though you know I¡¯m the dong leader of Hwayang-dong?¡± I looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun after listening to the enemy leader. ''It¡¯s confessing that it¡¯s the dong leader right off the bat, Hyeong-Jun.¡¯ ''Well, ahjussi, this just makes things a whole lot easier.¡¯ ''Then there''s no possibility that these are decoys, or that there are reinforcementsing.'' ''Can I kill it?¡¯ ¡®Let¡¯s keep it alive for just a little bit. You know, just in case it lets slip some information.¡¯ I shrugged at the enemy leader¡¯s boastful and arrogant attitude. ¡®You¡¯re the dong leader of Hwayang-dong?'' "Ha! You idiots. I¡¯ll ept your apology if you get down on your knees at once.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°What? Are you too scared to even say anything now? It seems like you guys also found prey as well, but unfortunately, since you met me, you¡¯re gonna have to hand them over to me this time. The thing is, I¡¯m not a big fan of zombies with glowing red eyes.¡± The enemy leader was performing a monologue while aiming pathetic threats at us. I scratched my head at this absurdity. ''I think you¡¯re the one with the misunderstanding¡­ I¡¯m doing this because I know you¡¯re the dong leader of Hwayang-dong.'' ¡°¡­Do you want to die?" ¡®Boo-hoo. Why should I be scared of you?'' I snorted and looked at the enemy leader. With clenched fists, the enemy leader walked toward me. It got right in my face, standing with its weight on one foot as if it was some bad-ass gangster. ¡°What group are you part of?¡± ''I¡¯m not sure if you¡¯re aware of the Survivor Rally Organization.¡¯ ¡°Survivor what?¡± The enemy leader tried to act cool, picking at its ears. Then the enemy leader titled its head and red at me, looking like an absolute scumbag. I smirked and offered up a warning. ''Remember this, big pal. The Survivor Rally Organization is going to rece the Family in the future.¡¯ ¡°This son of a bitch, how dare you talk shit about our Family¡­¡± ''You know what? Nevermind. You won¡¯t even have to remember that.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡®¡¯Cause you¡¯re going to die here.¡¯ ¡°You bastard!¡± The enemy leader¡¯s eyes shed, sending a punch flying at my face. I turned my head to easily avoid the iing fist and then kicked my opponent in the stomach with my right foot, putting all my strength behind it. The enemy leader¡¯s spine snapped like a twig. The enemy leader copsed helplessly to the floor and looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun, its face a mask of confusion. ¡°Huh? HUH???¡± It made stupid and iprehensible noises as it tried to get off the ground, as though it had momentarily lost its mind. With its spine snapped, its lower body wasn¡¯t functioning properly. I could tell that the enemy was confused by this strange feeling, one they had never felt in their lifetime. As I walked in front of the enemy leader, it looked at me like a deer in the headlights. I wondered if it had just started to feel fear. ¡°Hey, hey, hey! Wait, wait¡­ wait a minute!¡± ''Wait? Have you ever seen a thief stop when they¡¯re told to stop?'' My eyes shed and I clenched my fists. With one blow, I broke his skull. Kim Hyeong-Jun scratched his cheeks as he watched the enemy leader¡¯s pathetic demise. It must have seemed utterly absurd to him. ''How did a guy like this be a dong leader?'' ¡®I told you. We¡¯re the ones that got stronger.¡¯ ''I think the baits you took care of in Seoul Forest were stronger than this.¡± ¡®Seoul Forest was like an advancement test for the dong leader of Seongsu-dong. Only the areas that are marked red will be a challenge for us. In fact, the areas marked in red might not even be that challenging for us anymore. I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll face any worthwhile enemies unless the officers of the Familye after us.'' I calmly wiped the blood staining my right hand on my clothes. Kim Hyeong-Jun smacked his lips. ¡®Well, there goes another one for me.¡¯ ¡®Wait, do you want to eat their brain?¡¯ ''It¡¯s fine. You should eat it since you took care of it, ahjussi.¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun stashed his hands into his pant pockets and looked at the seven hundred zombies in front of him. After a moment, he looked back at me as if a question had popped into his mind. ¡®Ahjussi, do you know what happens to these guys?'' ''What about them.'' ¡®The total amount of underlings you can have. Aren¡¯t you already at your maximum?'' Only then did I understand what Kim Hyeong-Jun was talking about. At that point, I could control a maximum of one thousand and seven hundred underlings, and I had already recruited the maximum number of underlings from the zombie prison. I would only be able to recruit fifty additional underlings if I ate the enemy leader¡¯s brain here, However, the enemy leader had more than seven hundred underlings. I wondered how many of them woulde under my control when I ate the enemy leader¡¯s brain. As I thought about this, Kim Hyeong-Jun smiled. ¡®What are you so worried about, ahjussi? Just go for it.'' ''What if something goes wrong with my body?'' ¡®Well¡­ Yeah, you have a point¡­'' Kim Hyeong-Jun scratched his head, his expression growing confused. So far, I had never faced a situation like this. After every hard-fought battle, I¡¯d grown stronger by eating the enemy leader¡¯s brain. This was the first time I had ovee one this easily, so I wasn¡¯t exactly sure how to view this situation. Kim Hyeong-Jun sighed and spoke. ¡®Let¡¯s take care of the survivors first. Besides, these guys¡­ They¡¯ll probably stay like this until tomorrow anyway.¡¯ ''How do you know that?'' ¡®The first time I killed a zombie with glowing red eyes, I left its zombies as they were because I didn¡¯t feel like eating a brain.¡¯ ¡®And then?¡¯ ¡®The next day, they all turned into street zombies again. Their physical abilities also decreased as well.¡¯ I was lost in thought for a moment after hearing about Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s experience. I knew that brains couldst between an hour and thirty minutes and up to four hours. On the other hand, themand instinct that the leaderless underlings were under seemed tost for a whole day. I wondered what the reason behind this was. It seemed only right that thismand instinct should disappear when the brain¡¯s efficacy wore off. As I stood there, deep in thought, Kim Hyeong-Jun wandered in front of me. ¡®Hello, ahjussi? Can you hear me?'' ¡®You¡¯re distracting me. What?'' I furrowed my brow, and Kim Hyeong-Jun mirrored my expression. ¡®Let¡¯s get the survivors to the shelter already! The sun¡¯s about to go down. Are you just going to stay here and think all day?¡¯ ¡®...Okay.¡¯ I sighed and cleared away the useless thoughts in my head. I took a deep breath to relieve the tightness that I felt, then walked with Kim Hyeong-Jun toward the ce I¡¯dst seen the mysterious survivors. As we reached the ce where I¡¯d first seen them, I saw them still holding onto their iron pipes. The two of them were whispering as they looked at the motionless scout on the rooftop. ¡°Hey, why do you think it stopped all of a sudden?¡± ¡°How am I supposed to know? It just started doing that out of the blue.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that the signal that calls a zombie wave?¡± ¡°The cry was different. If it was a zombie wave signal¡­ The cry would sound more like a resonance. But the sound it made earlier wasn¡¯t like that at all.¡± ¡°You never know. If it actually was for a zombie wave...¡± ¡°Then what? Should we wait here until the zombiese?¡± The two of them argued nervously, their bodies stiff. In fact, they were so nervous that they didn¡¯t even notice me and Kim Hyeong-Jun walking toward them. The man shook his head and spoke to the woman next to him. ¡°Let¡¯s hide for now. Staying here won''t do us any good.¡± ¡°Where exactly should we go?¡± "Just follow me. Let¡¯s go back the way we came¡­¡± The man took the woman''s hand and turned around. Atst, our eyes met unintentionally. The man¡¯s eyes widened and with a whimper, he instantly copsed to the floor, his eyes rolling to the back of his head in shock. He¡­ fainted¡­ when he saw my face. The woman next to him stood as still as a statue, unable to look away. I scratched my head in embarrassment and showed the woman the sentences I had written on my notepad. - I¡¯m part of Shelter Hae-Young and Shelter Silence. If I could have your cooperation for a moment, please. Chapter 89 Chapter 89 Her name was Choi Soo-Hyun. I couldn¡¯t help but feel a sense of heartache because the Seongsu-dong leader¡¯s deceased daughter also had the same name, even though they had differentst names. It wasn¡¯t easy exining to Choi Soo-Hyun about us, given her flustered and frightened state of mind. I tried to calm her down as I attempted to exin everything to her. I just barely managed to, and she was on the verge of fainting when I was done. With a hand resting against her forehead, she asked me a question. "So¡­ You¡¯re saying that you two are zombies that are fighting for the sake of humans, right?¡± I was surprised at how quickly she understood what we were trying tomunicate to her. When I nodded, Choi Soo-Hyun sighed and spoke. ¡°You mentioned something abouting from a shelter earlier. Are you two managing shelters as well?¡± - Let¡¯s say we¡¯re cooperating. "Cooperating¡­¡± Choi Soo-Hyun pulled her bangs back with her right hand while fanning herself with her left hand to calm herself down. She pointed to the man who had fainted. "So this person is¡­Hwang Deok-Rok. He¡¯s the team leader of the food transportation team.¡± - Team leader? ¡°That¡¯s how we address him.¡± I wondered why he was called the team leader for a second, but then realized that each shelter probably had its own system of rank and decided to move on. Shelter Hae-Young also had teams for everything, but none of that meant anything because Shelter Hae-Young¡¯s system was one where everyone worked together. On the contrary, Shelter Silence used the term ¡®group leader¡¯ instead of ¡®team leader¡¯. The differences between each shelter were quite surprising. The sun began to fall below the horizon. We asked Choi Soo-Hyun if she was willing to continue our conversation at our shelter, since talking on the streets was dangerous. She nodded vigorously and tried to get Hwang Deok-Rok up. However, there was only so much a woman like her could do to get someone as chubby as Hwang Deok-Rok up by herself. Eventually, I hoisted Hwang Deok-Rok onto my back. Choi Soo-Hyun looked at me. "I¡¯m sorry¡­ I hope he¡¯s not too heavy for you.¡± I replied with a forced smile. In the meantime, Kim Hyeong-Jun retrieved the survivors who had been hiding in the convenience store, and we resumed our journey to Shelter Silence. When we arrived at Silence, the golden sun hadpletely set, and the dark blue sky weed us. The days were getting shorter. When we reached the gates of Shelter Silence, the guards noticed we had survivors with us and quickly opened them. The guard leader looked at us with a rather bitter and dissatisfied expression. In moments, Hwang Ji-Hye, the group leader, and Kim Beom-Jin, in his yellowedb coat, came running toward us. Kim Beom-Jin and Kim Ga-Bin shared a tearful reunion. As Hwang Ji-Hye kept her eyes on them, she asked us what had happened outside. Iid Hwang Deok-Rok down on the floor and began to write in my notepad. - I retrieved the medicine as promised. We found survivors in the process and brought them back here. ¡°There were still survivors in Seongsu-dong?¡± - They were taken hostage by the dogs. I found them in Hwayang-dong. Hwang Ji-Hye nodded slowly, her lips pressed together tightly. I wondered what she was thinking. Despite not being able to urately deduce her thoughts, I noticed the subtle smile on her face and assumed that she didn¡¯t have any negative thoughts on the matter. After a moment, Hwang Ji-Hye looked down at Hwang Deok-Rok, who was lying next to me. ¡°There are two surprisingly clean-looking people among the survivors. Were those two also held hostage by the dogs?¡± - We found these two on our way back. And¡­ There seems to be another shelter nearby. ¡°A shelter? No way. The shelters we have been in touch with¡­¡± Hwang Ji-Hye trailed off and looked at Choi Soo-Hyun, who was standing beside Kim Hyeong-Jun. She strode toward Choi Soo-Hyun and asked, ¡°What¡¯s the name of your shelter?¡± ¡°Sorry?¡± I could tell that Choi Soo-Hyun was clearly taken aback by the unexpected question. Hwang Ji-Hye looked at Choi Soo-Hyun from head to toe. ¡°If you can¡¯t tell me the name and location of the shelter you¡¯re from, I¡¯ll have to ask you to leave.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you think that¡¯s pushing it a bit? Even the sun¡¯s down.¡± ¡°Answer my question if you don¡¯t want to get kicked out.¡± Hwang Ji-Hye was trying to intimidate Choi Soo-Hyun, who looked away in the hopes of getting away without answering her question. However, it didn¡¯t take long for her to speak. ¡°Shelter Barrier¡­ It¡¯s in Gunja-dong.¡± Hwang Ji-Hye¡¯s eyes widened when she heard Choi Soo-hyeon''s answer. She drew the pistol from her belt and pointed it at the other woman¡¯s head. Her sudden action rmed me, and I tried to stop the situation from escting further. However, Hwang Ji-Hye shouted at the top of her lungs, ¡°Don¡¯t move!!!¡± I was taken aback by the sudden change in her attitude. Her brow furrowed in anger, and she asked Choi Soo-Hyun a question. "You¡­ You¡¯re a dog, aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Dog¡­ Dog? No! No way!¡± ¡°Shelter Barrier disappeared two months ago.¡± My jaw fell open when I heard what Hwang Ji-Hye had said. In contrast, Choi Soo-Hyun¡¯s face grew dark. ¡°You don¡¯t even know what happened,¡± she mumbled. ¡°What¡­?¡± Hwang Ji-Hye raised her eyebrows, and Choi Soo-Hyun frowned at her. "Don''t just blurt things out when you have no idea what happened." ¡°Okay then, how about you exin what happened with that mouth of yours? I¡¯ll blow your head off right here right now if you try anything funny.¡± Hwang Ji-Hye didn¡¯t seem like she was going topromise unless she got the answer she wanted. Kim Hyeong-Jun snuck a nce at me. ¡®Ahjussi, don¡¯t you think we should stop those two?'' ¡®I think the group leader is being reasonable. We did bring them here without permission¡­ I think the right thing to do is to just observe what happens for now.¡¯ I answered him calmly, and Kim Hyeong-Jun smacked his lips and shrugged. After a moment, Choi Soo-Hyun spoke up. ¡°Two months¡­ You¡¯re right. We were raided by zombies two months ago. And a lot of people died.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Most of the officers, including the leader of the shelter, died, and those who survived were scattered. I, too, had to leave the shelter in order to survive. I was able to get away with a couple of others.¡± Hwang Ji-Hye was focusing intently on Choi Soo-Hyun''s story, but her finger that was resting on the trigger didn¡¯t seem like it was going to rx anytime soon. Choi Soo-Hyun¡¯s expression soured at Hwang Ji-Hye''s cold reaction, but she continued. "At that time¡­ One of the people I¡¯d escaped with was bitten by a zombie.¡± ¡°So what?¡± ¡°The person who was bitten was Do Han-Sol. Before the world became like this¡­ Do Han-Sol was my coworker. The people I¡¯d escaped with had different opinions about what to do with Han-Sol.¡± The fact that they had taken sides on this issue showed just how disastrous the situation must¡¯ve been at the time. I assumed that there were two opinions: either kill Do Han-Sol, or try to save him. It was already a difficult world just to survive in. And besides, it would¡¯ve been even more difficult to make up your mind if you were being chased by zombies. Choi Soo-Hyun sighed and continued talking. ¡°I chose to try to save Do Han-Sol. In the end, we couldn¡¯te to a consensus, so we were further split up.¡± ¡°What does this have to do with Shelter Barrier? Just cut to the chase. If you''re trying to get away with some bullshit story, today¡¯s not the day." Hwang Ji-Hye showed no sign of backing down. Instead, she pressured Choi Soo-Hyun even harder. She pressed the muzzle of her gun against Choi Soo-Hyun''s forehead, who closed her eyes tightly and took a deep breath. ¡°Do Han-Sol¡­ He awoke as a zombie with glowing red eyes, just like the two of you. After we saw him in that state, we thought we were goners and regretted not killing Do Han-Sol when we had the chance. But Han-Sol was different from the other zombies.¡± Hwang Ji-Hye bit her lower lip and stopped asking her questions. It seemed like she knew what wasing next. I also knew what she was going to say next. Choi Soo-Hyun smacked her lips. ¡°Han-Sol¡­ He could turn zombies into underlings. After that, Han-Sol gathered the scattered survivors again and fought to reim Shelter Barrier.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°And we won. We killed the dong leader of Gunja-dong and reimed our home. That¡¯s the current Shelter Barrier.¡± Hwang Ji-Hye finally lowered her gun and let out a breath. Despite putting her gun down, her frown still remained. It seemed she still harbored suspicions regarding Choi Soo-Hyun. After a moment, she asked the other woman the question that was on her mind. ¡°So, are you saying that this person named Do Han-Sol is managing Shelter Barrier right now?¡± ¡°These two used the word ¡®cooperating¡¯, but in our case, managing seems like the right word. Without Han-Sol, our shelter would probably copse in no time.¡± ¡°And when did Do Han-Sol start managing the shelter?¡± ¡°Less than a month. I heard that our old shelter had been in contact with other shelters before it copsed¡­ But I never knew this shelter would be one of them.¡± Choi Soo-Hyun sighed and let her head sag. Hwang Ji-Hye stayed silent for a few more heartbeats, then rubbed her stiff neck and spoke. ¡°Then why were you in Hwayang-dong when you should be in Gunja-dong?¡± ¡°Because we¡¯re short on food.¡± ¡°Then what is this person named Do Han-Sol doing? Shouldn¡¯t Do Han-Sol be looking for food for you people?¡± ¡°Han-Sol¡¯s busy dealing with these guys who call themselves members of the Family, who are constantly attacking Gunja-dong. There¡¯s no way we could ask Han-Sol to search for food on top of that.¡± I found myself lost in thought as I listened to Choi Soo-Hyun. Kim Hyeong-Jun approached me and said cautiously, ¡®Ahjussi, I think Gunja-dong is¡­¡¯ ¡®Yeah I know. It¡¯s in danger.¡¯ I cut him off because I knew the answer. He nodded, his expression dark. If Gunja-dong hadn''t gone down after several attacks¡­ It was only a matter of time until the members of the Family joined forces to take over Gunja-dong. The members of the Family¡­ I wondered what they would be doing. They had attacked Seoul Forest in order to solve the Majang-dong incident. It was possible to consider Shelter Silence in Seoul Forest and Shelter Barrier in Gunja-dong as being in the same situation. I couldn¡¯t help but think about the possibility of a full-scale invasion of the Gunja-dong shelter by the members of the Family. And since the dong leader of Seongsu-dong had been mobilized for the invasion of Shelter Seoul Forest, it was most likely that forces from Junggok-dong would act as the advance party, since they were north of Gunja-dong. The concern was that Junggok-dong wasn¡¯t a small district. ording to the map I had, Junggok-dong was an orange area. On top of that, Myeonmok-dong, located just north of Junggok-dong, was red. I wasn¡¯t sure how strong this person named Do Han-Sol was, but if the dong leader of Junggok-dong joined forces with the dong leader of Myeonmok-dong and attacked Gunja-dong, they would be wiped out in no time. I opened the notebook and quickly wrote a message. - This person named Do Han-Sol. I''d like to meet them. Choi Soo-Hyeon nodded as she read the message on the notepad I handed to her. Hwang Ji-Hye, who was standing next to her, frowned. ¡°You can''t do that without my permission. Since you brought survivors from Shelter Barrier to Shelter Silence, I see this as an issue between survivors. Don¡¯t you?¡± - Did I say I was going to meet the survivors there? ¡°...¡± Hwang Ji-Hye seemed to hesitate after hearing my question. Do Han-Sol was a zombie. I wasn¡¯t going to meet survivors. I was going to meet a zombie. Which made this an issue between zombies. I felt sorry for Hwang Ji-Hye, but I had no intention of backing off. I opened my notebook and wrote some more. - I¡¯m not part of Shelter Silence. You have no right to give me orders. ¡°Then what are you trying to do by meeting Do Han-Sol? I¡¯d at least like to hear your reasoning behind this.¡± Hwang Ji-Hye crossed her arms and stared hard into my eyes. I started writing in my notepad without hesitation. - I¡¯m going to meet Do Han-Sol, and if Do Han-Sol meets my standards, I¡¯m going to form an alliance. ¡°An alliance? This person named Do Han-Sol¡­ No, this zombie named Do Han-Sol¡­ You¡¯re thinking about forming an alliance without knowing anything about this zombie beforehand, and without any ns?¡± - If Do Han-Sol is fighting against the members of the Family, we have nothing to lose by forming an alliance. It¡¯s just like the saying¡ªthe enemy of my enemy is my friend. Especially when ites to zombies that protect survivors. ¡°It¡¯d be different if Do Han-Sol is holding the survivors at Shelter Barrier as hostages. What if these two are controlling the survivors with this zombie named Do Han-Sol supporting them? Or, what if these two were scouting all the way to Hwayang-dong?¡± There was nothing wrong with her argument. But to me, this was nothing but Hwang Ji-Hye''s imagination. I couldn¡¯t criticize her for thinking in such a way, or say anything against her spection. As the leader of a group, it was only right to consider every possibility. I calmly showed Hwang Ji-Hye the sentences I¡¯d written down in my notepad. - Isn¡¯t that all the more reason to meet Do Han-Sol? We can¡¯t jump to conclusions without seeing Do Han-Sol first. Hwang Ji-Hye sighed, her face a mask of disapproval. I wondered if Hwang Ji-Hye¡¯s caution and her tendency to prioritize safety at all times helped her be the group leader of Shelter Silence. I knew where she wasing from. I could tell that she was trying to avoid any missteps. However, there was a saying that not being willing to make mistakes was being irresponsible, as it merely led to inaction. Being overly cautious was no different from living under a rock. Chapter 90 Chapter 90 After wrapping up, we parted ways. Choi Soo-Hyun and Hwang Deok-Rok moved to Shelter Silence''s amodations while Hwang Ji-Hye headed to the meeting room to inform the others. The survivors filled out some simple paperwork in order to join Shelter Silence, then followed Kim Beom-Jin to the hospital. Kim Hyeong-Jun and I went back outside to take care of unfinished business. ''What are you going to do? It''s already been an hour.'' ''I think it¡¯s safer if we don¡¯t eat it.'' I stared at the head of the dong leader of Hwayang-dong that my underling was holding, lost in thought. Kim Hyeong-Jun rubbed his chin, then clenched his fists as if he had made up his mind. ''I''ll eat it.'' ''And what if something happens to you?'' ''If anything happens, kill me, ahjussi.¡¯ ''What kind of nonsense are you talking about?'' I frowned at him, and Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s expression soured. ¡®Something like this can happen anytime. Are you really going to overthink it and get anxious every time?¡¯ ''Well, risking your life for something that¡¯s not worth it is the stupidest thing to do.¡¯ ¡®And what if nothing in particr happens? If we don¡¯t take the chance, we might be losing our opportunity to get stronger.¡¯ ¡®Ha¡­ Let¡¯s just throw it away. Please?'' ¡®Well then, why¡¯d you even bring it in the first ce? Didn¡¯t you bring it because you still wanted to eat it, ahjussi?'' I kept on telling him to throw it away instead of eating it. Kim Hyeong-Jun avoided my gaze, acting hesitant. Suddenly, he snatched the enemy leader¡¯s head away, giving me no chance to stop him. ''Hey!'' My eyes widened as I tried desperately to stop Kim Hyeong-Jun. But he gulped the enemy leader¡¯s brain down, and just like that, it was already in his stomach. Kim Hyeong-Jun smirked as I looked at him. ''I''m going to sleep now.¡¯ ¡®You idiot! You crazy bastard!'' As I peppered him with swear words, he started swaying from side to side, as if he was about to fall asleep any second. In moments, he copsed to the ground helplessly. I got to Kim Hyeong-Jun before his head hit the ground and started pping his cheeks. No matter how hard I pped him, he showed no intention of waking up. ¡®Now what am I supposed to do if you just go to sleep like this all of a sudden?¡¯ We were supposed to meet Do Han-Sol the next day. He really knew how to make things moreplicated than they had to be. ¡®You foolish bastard¡­¡¯ I sighed and looked around. Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s underlings were standing motionless in front of the first defense line of Shelter Silence. I sighed continuously out of frustration. There was only one reason why I was frustrated with Kim Hyeong-Jun''s unexpected behavior. It was because of the stage-two mutant in Majang-dong, a.k.a. Mood-Swinger. I had no clue how Mood-Swinger would react if something happened to Kim Hyeong-Jun. I resented Kim Hyeong-Jun for making such a foolish choice without even considering the possible risks. Left with no other choice, I hoisted Kim Hyeong-Jun onto my back and carried him to the building where my scouts were. Afterying him down on the rooftop, I gave orders to my underlings. ''You two, let me know when Hyeong-Jun wakes up.¡¯ GRRR!! The scouts answered with their throat-rending cries, and I hurried over to Majang-dong. Instead of watching over Kim Hyeong-Jun, I knew my priority at that moment was to observe Mood-Swinger. If Mood-Swinger went through any changes, that would majorly disrupt everything I¡¯d done so far. * * * On the same day, sometime in the night, seven people sat in a meeting room in a building in Jongno. After a moment, a man opened the meeting room doors and stepped in. The others rose from their seats and bowed deeply from the waist. The man walked over to the seat at the head of the table and gestured for everyone else to take their seats. As the seven people sat down, the man seated at the head of the table spoke in a low voice. ¡°Reports?¡± A woman among the seven stood. ¡°The Gangnam Project is going smoothly. The mutants are currently gathered in Bamseom, and are scheduled to enter Yeouido two days from now, on October 31st, at six o¡¯clock in the evening.¡± ¡°And who¡¯s in charge?¡± ¡°Officers one, two, and three have been assigned as the advance party. Officers four and five will form the reinforcement team and arrive on the following day, November 1st.¡± The man nodded silently, then sighed. ¡°And the mutant research?¡± ¡°All dong leaders have fullymitted their efforts to making stage-two mutants.¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t the dong leader of Seongsu make two of them?¡± ¡°The dong leader of Seongsu-dong ordered one of them tomit suicide in order to figure out if he couldmand it, and the other one was confirmed dead along with the Seongsu-dong leader during the battle of Shelter Seoul Forest.¡± The man sitting at the head of the table put his head in his hands and remained silent for a while. The other officers in the meeting room swallowed and waited for him to speak. After a while, the man in the head seat sighed. ¡°And the Seongdong-gu situation?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry too much about¡­¡± Bang! The man at the head of the table mmed the desk, ring across the room. The other officers quickly lowered their heads. The man ground his teeth audibly. ¡°You¡¯ve been repeating the same damn words over and over again for months now, that they''re a bunch of wussies, and yet you still haven¡¯t taken care of them?¡± "My apologies. We will deal with it as soon as possible.¡± ¡°How many dong leaders have you lost contact with?¡± ¡°Majang-dong, Seongsu-dong, and Gunja-dong.¡± ¡°Except for Gunja-dong, all the dong leaders were strong. The dong leader of Seongsu-dong was supposed to be the eighth officer. But you¡¯re saying he got wiped out by a nobody? You expect me to believe this?¡± The man seated at the head furrowed his brow, and the woman who had been making her report smacked her lips. "Then¡­ I¡¯ll take care of this nobody¡­¡± ¡°Seventh officer.¡± The man at the head of the table cut the seventh officer short. The woman swallowed and looked at him. He tilted his head with a frown. ¡°Do you think you can handle this nobody alone?¡± The seventh officer¡¯s eyebrows twitched. She clenched her fists as if he had wounded her ego. The man massaged his temples gently, then looked at the man sitting across from the woman. ¡°Sixth officer, which area are you managing?¡± ¡°Myeonmok-dong.¡± ¡°Myeonmok-dong¡­ Then you¡¯re close to Gunja-dong, no?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take care of this nobody.¡± The sixth officer replied with a bow, but the man at the head of the table waved his hand in opposition. ¡°No. Go with the seventh officer.¡± ¡°With the seventh officer? That might dy the Gangnam Project¡­¡± ¡°And?¡± The man at the head of the table narrowed his eyes, and the sixth officer swallowed and fell silent. The man at the head of the table stood. ¡°I¡¯ll join up with the reinforcement team for the Gangnam Project. Sixth and seventh officers, focus on Seongdong-gu. We can¡¯t let any internal problems arise while our full focus is on Gangnam.¡± The officers acknowledged him vigorously with faces full of determination. The man at the head of the table looked at the officers and continued to speak, his eyes open wide. ¡°Proceed without any setbacks. Whoever makes a mistake, just kill yourself on the spot. If not, I¡¯ll find you and kill you myself.¡± No one dared to offer a retort. Unlike the officers, whose eyes glowed red, the man in the head seat had eyes that glowed blue. However, it wasn¡¯t a clear or bright blue. Looking into his eyes¡­ was like falling into a never-ending hole. The man''s eyes were like mirrors reflecting an endless abyss. * * * I observed Mood-Swinger all night, but nothing significant happened. I wondered if I¡¯d been overreacting earlier. Mood-Swinger had been staring at the sky the entire night, its mouth hanging open like an idiot, and nothing changed when the sun rose either. Mood-Swinger didn''t ask for food or harass the other zombies. It stared nkly at the sky as if amazed by the flow of time, as if it was watching a movie. It didn¡¯t make significant movements other than asionally scratching its back or bottom. - He¡¯s up. The sun was at its zenith when I finally got the message I¡¯d been waiting for. I headed to Seoul Forest at once. After about twelve minutes, I caught a glimpse of the building in which Kim Hyeong-Jun was resting. When I got to the rooftop, I was met by Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s startled face. ¡®Jeez¡­ You surprised me, ahjussi.¡¯ I looked at him calmly, and Kim Hyeong-Jun put his hand on his aching forehead. ''How many days has it been?'' ''Half a day.'' Kim Hyeong-Jun nodded his head and stretched, clearly happy with how little time had passed. He then smacked his lips. ''Did anything happen?'' ¡®That¡¯s what I wanted to ask you. Do you notice any special changes in your body?'' ¡®Hmm, not really? It feels pretty simr to when I¡¯d eaten other brains.¡¯ After a moment, he gasped in surprise. I tilted my head, and Kim Hyeong-Jun said in wonder, ''Sixteen hundred.'' ''What are you saying?'' ¡®Fifteen hundred and fifty was my maximum number, but now it feels like I can control sixteen hundred.¡¯ It made sense that the total number of underlings he could control would increase by fifty after he ate the enemy leader¡¯s brain. However, the real question was what had happened to the rest of the enemy leader¡¯s underlings, since it had had more than seven hundred underlings. Realizing that I could check on this myself, I ran towards Hwayang-dong. When I arrived at Hwayang-dong, I saw zombies blocking Achasan road. Some of them were purple, while some of them were colorless, just like regr street zombies. Kim Hyeong-Jun, who had followed me, looked at me. ''So it seems like my underlings are randomly chosen ording to the maximum number of underlings I can control.¡¯ ¡®Well, in that case, what a relief. But check if there are fifty underlings in purple here.¡¯ ¡®Wait, why?'' I couldn¡¯t help but get annoyed at Kim Hyeong-Jun''s stupid question. ''If there are more than fifty underlings here, that means some of your underlings back in Haengdang-dong have turned back to ordinary zombies!¡¯ ''Oh¡­ Okay¡­'' Kim Hyeong-Jun responded to my anger with a puzzled expression and started checking. I pressed a hand against my aching forehead and took a deep breath. After a while, Kim Hyeong-Jun came back, rather exhausted. ''There¡¯s fifty here.'' ''Are you sure?'' ''I checked three times.'' Kim Hyeong-Jun gave me a sidelong nce. It seemed like he had no clue why I was angry. Although I admired his determination to get things done, I thought it was a good time to lecture him about the need to consider all the possibilities and risks before making a move. He used to think everything through, but with the Konkuk University Hospital incident and now this one, things had changed. I had to say something about his strategy of just going for it. I knew it¡¯d be dangerous for me and him in the long run. It was a relief that everything had worked out, but the unimaginable would have happened if he¡¯d lost hismand and control of the second-stage mutant. When I finished telling him what was on my mind, Kim Hyeong-Jun sagged his head in silence. I could tell that he was sincerely sorry for his mistake. I looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun, all wilted, and sighed. ''Let¡¯s just move on since nothing bad happened.¡¯ ¡®I¡¯m sorry, ahjussi.¡¯ ''It¡¯s alright. I¡¯m the one who left the option of eating the brain on the table anyway.¡¯ I was the one who¡¯d brought the enemy leader¡¯s head, so I was also at fault. People who did drugs were a problem, but the people who sold drugs were a problem as well. As I smacked my lips, Kim Hyeong-Jun came up to me, pouting. ''I¡¯m sorry.'' ¡®You¡¯re good.'' ''Please ept my apology.'' Kim Hyeong-Jun looked at me, his eyes as round as Puss in Boots. He was truly acting like a baby at this point. I snorted in disbelief and shook my head.[1] Kim Hyeong-Jun suddenly smirked. ¡®You¡¯re really not angry anymore?'' ''You little¡­ YES!¡¯ ¡®Alright, alright. I¡¯ll make sure to be more careful in the future. I''ll make sure nothing like this happens again.'' I clicked my tongue and headed back to Seoul Forest. I thought Kim Hyeong-Jun was following me, but he quickly stepped in front of me. ''Shouldn¡¯t we take care of the zombies here? Are you just going to go?'' ''Wait, why?'' ¡®Cause¡­ That¡¯s what we should do?'' ¡®...¡¯ He did have a point. I didn¡¯t feel toofortable leaving zombies gathered together like how they were. They could pose a threat to the remaining survivors in Hwayang-dong, and there¡¯d be nothing good for us if another zombie with glowing red eyes recruited them. Kim Hyeong-Jun and I walked toward the zombies blocking Achasan road. I stared at the zombie in front of me, and it looked nkly back at me. ¡®Rest in peace.¡¯ I clenched my fists and hurled a punch toward its face. Just before my fist smashed into its face, though, I couldn¡¯t help but stop. A chill went down my spine, and my upper body shivered involuntarily. I looked straight into the zombie¡¯s face. ¡®Why isn¡¯t it looking away?'' The zombies that were blocking Achasan Road¡­ they weren¡¯t looking away from me or Kim Hyeong-Jun. We were not inmand of them, and yet they were staring at us with empty eyes. 1. Puss in Boots is a cat from the movie series Shrek. He has a famous scene where he looks at Shrek with round, watery eyes. ? Chapter 91 Chapter 91 I looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun. ''Stop.'' Kim Hyeong-Jun set his right foot down and moved over to me. ''Why did you stop all of a sudden?'' ¡®These zombies¡­ They¡¯re not looking away.¡¯ That caused Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s eyes to widen, and he examined the zombies. Zombies that didn¡¯t look away were primed to be mutants. Which meant that all six hundred and fifty zombies here could turn into mutants. With the chain ofmand broken, the zombies here had be soulless beings. Kim Hyeong-Jun swallowed. ''Should we move them to the zombie prison?'' ''Yeah, let¡¯s do that.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t every day you could get your hands on zombies that didn¡¯t look away. The reason Kim Hyeong-Jun and I had struggled with the mutant experiments for over a month was that it was difficult to find these kinds of zombies. I snuck a nce at Kim Hyeong-Jun. I¡¯d scolded him for what he had done just a while ago, but somehow, he¡¯d managed to procure us some good samples. For now¡­ I knew the best thing to do was to keep my mouth shut. * * * After getting my underlings to move zombies that were blocking Achasan road to the zombie prison, I told my prison guards to keep an eye on them. By the time we finished all our work, it was already four in the afternoon. Kim Hyeong-Jun and I entered Shelter Seoul Forest ratherte. Choi Soo-Hyun, who had been anxiously waiting for us, came running toward us as soon as she saw us. She looked back and forth between Kim Hyeong-Jun and me. ¡°Why¡¯d youe sote?¡± ¡°...?¡± Her anxiousness told me that something had happened. I tilted my head, and Choi Soo-Hyun sighed. ¡°Han-Sol was here. Han-Sol came all the way here alone!¡± - Where is Han-Sol? ¡°Han-Sol¡¯s is tied up right now. The group leader said I couldn¡¯t meet Han-Sol until you came¡­¡± - Lead the way please. Choi Soo-Hyun ran off after reading my notepad. I followed Choi Soo-Hyun and saw a group of guards gathered outside the warehouse. The guard leader spat on the floor when Kim Hyeong-Jun and I appeared. ¡°Where have you been?¡± - I had something to do. ¡°I bet you did.¡± The guard leader sneered and rolled their eyes. My eyebrows twitched reflexively. Then Kim Hyeong-Jun stopped in front of me. ¡®Let¡¯s not listen to that bastard. We only need to talk to the group leader.¡¯ ¡®Hyeong-Jun.¡¯ ¡®Yeah?¡¯ ¡®Make sure¡­ You kill that bastardter.¡¯ I furrowed my brow as I spoke, and Kim Hyeong-Jun smirked and patted my back. Soon after, Hwang Ji-Hye, who was in front of the warehouse, spotted us. ¡°Over here, Lee Hyun-Deok!¡± As I walked toward Hwang Ji-Hye, the guards who were blocking the way stepped aside. Hwang Ji-Hye looked around and whispered to me, ¡°My apologies if you were offended by what we did. But this is what we came up with during our emergency meeting¡­ So I had no choice but to tie Do Han-Sol up and keep him here.¡± Hwang Ji-Hye was being unexpectedly gracious, which made me suspicious of her. Just the day before, she had been screaming furiously. I wondered what had gone through her mind to cause such a change in attitude. I stared at her calmly, and she smacked her lips. ¡°You told us not to intervene in problems between zombies, right? This is the best we could do to cooperate.¡± I¡¯d sensed this in her before, when she gave me the crossbows and firearms, but she sure did value rtionships. I nodded and wrote in my notepad. - So what happened? ¡°Do Han-Sol came to the shelter this morning. The guards at the gate didn¡¯t open it, as instructed. But then, Do Han-Sol climbed over the wall.¡± I couldn''t say anything after listening to Hwang Ji-Hye. There was nothing to chastise her for. There was a use in Shelter Silence¡¯s regtions that any zombies found within the shelter would be shot immediately. Considering this, Do Han-Sol was lucky enough not to have been shot. I scratched my forehead, momentarily lost in thought. ¡®Jumping over the wall without permission¡­ Seems like Do Han-Sol has quite the personality.¡¯ I could kind of guess what kind of person Do Han-Sol was. I sighed and wrote in my notepad. - Could you open the doors? I¡¯ll talk to Do Han-Sol. Hwang Ji-Hye read what I¡¯d written and then gave the order to the guards guarding the warehouse. ¡°Open the doors.¡± The tightly-shut doors swung open, and I saw Do Han-Sol inside, tied to a wooden chair. Do Han-Sol raised his chin and stared at my face. He hardly seemed perturbed. Instead, he smirked as though he¡¯d been expecting me all along. ''So you¡¯re the captain?¡¯ ¡®I¡¯m definitely not their captain. An alliance would be a better word.¡¯ He was a man who appeared to be in his early to mid-thirties. Do Han-Sol looked me up and down, then sighed and let his head sag. He shed his red glowing eyes and got up from the chair. The ropes that were tying him down snapped like flimsy threads, and the back of the chair splintered. The guards, who were observing the exchange, quickly aimed their guns at Do Han-Sol, but I raised my right hand to signal them to stop. Hwang Ji-Hye saw me and quickly issued her own orders. ¡°Lower your guns. Whoever opens fire¡­ There¡¯s no way for me to help you out.¡± Do Han-Sol snorted as he watched their exchange, then looked at me. ''You¡¯re allied with these people?'' ''What do you want?'' ''What do I want? These people took my friends. I¡¯m here to take them back, of course.¡¯ I peeked behind me and saw Choi Soo-Hyun standing beside Kim Hyeong-Jun. I gestured for the two of them to move closer. Choi Soo-Hyun observed Hwang Ji-Hye¡¯s reaction then quickly ran to Do Han-Sol. On the other hand, Kim Hyeong-Jun looked me in the eyes. ''I¡¯ll look after the people here just in case.'' I nodded without speaking. Do Han-Sol looked at Choi Soo-Hyun. ¡°You¡¯re not hurt anywhere, are you?¡± "I¡¯m okay. How did you get here? How did you know we were here?¡± At that moment, my eyes widened and I stepped between Do Han-Sol and Choi Soo-Hyun. This man¡­ He could talk. Do Han-Sol furrowed his brow as I stepped in front of Choi Soo-Hyun. ''What do you mean by this?'' ''You¡­ You ate a human, didn¡¯t you?'' ¡®So?¡¯ I grabbed him by the cor. I couldn¡¯t stand his audacity. He looked at me as if I was being ridiculous. ¡®Woah, woah, we¡¯ve got a noble in the house. Why? Do I look like a member of the Family to you?'' ¡®Why¡¯d you kill that person? What was the reason?'' ''Should I have done nothing when a man¡¯s going around with a knife in his hand?¡¯ ''I¡¯m sure there was a reason the man was holding a knife.¡¯ I frowned at him. Do Han-Sol narrowed his eyes and shook my hand off. ''Don''t bark as though you know everything when, in fact, you don¡¯t know anything. Before I kill you.'' ¡®Then tell me why. Otherwise, I won¡¯t help you.'' ''Help? Who, you? Help me?'' Do Han-Sol raised his eyebrows condescendingly. He looked at me from head to toe. ¡®You seem like you live under a rock. I can¡¯t be patient forever, you know.¡¯ ¡®A rock?¡¯ ''Why, are you getting mad?¡¯ Iughed. This man was being ridiculous. Do Han-Sol pointed at the rope on the floor. ¡®I cooperated as much as I could, and I don''t want you to disturb me anymore. What do you think?'' It seemed like he¡¯d cooperated by letting the survivors tie him up even though he could have easily snapped them. While I thought his gesture was praiseworthy, I couldn¡¯t let that attitude of his slide, especially if he wasing at me like this right from the get-go. I reached out my right hand, offering to shake hands. Do Han-Sol snorted at my gesture. ¡®What¡¯s this all of a sudden? You want to make up for something?'' I shrugged, and Do Han-Sol clicked his tongue. ''What a weird ahjussi.'' With that, he went for my hand without thinking twice. That moment, a stinging current passed through my fingertips and up into my brain. I furrowed my brow and looked at Do Han-Sol''s face. I felt a dull ache, but it wasn¡¯t painful. It was a slight tingling feeling, like being pricked by a needle. On the other hand, Do Han-Sol screamed, his eyes rolling toward the back of his head. ¡°AAAHHH!!!¡± He then fell on his knees and his entire body started to tremble. ''Let¡­ Let go¡­!¡¯ Do Han-Sol gritted his teeth, barely able to look up at me. He writhed in pain and pulled at his hair with his left hand. I didn¡¯t let my frown slip. ¡®Living under a rock?¡¯ ¡®I¡¯m, I''m sorry! Please¡­ Please let¡­ Go of me¡­!¡¯ ''Are you willing to cooperate?'' Do Han-Sol nodded violently with his eyes tightly closed, as if he didn¡¯t even have the energy to answer. I released my grip and let out a deep breath. As I took in slow, deep breaths, the tingling feeling in my fingertips faded away. Do Han-Soly t on the floor, sucking in deep, ragged breaths. I heard the survivors discussing what had happened amongst themselves. ¡°What are they doing all of a sudden?¡± ¡°I have no clue, but I think Lee Hyun-Deok just knocked him down with his grip?¡± ¡°You fool, how could anyone cause that to happen to another man by using grip strength alone?¡± After a moment, Kim Hyeong-Jun came over and tapped my shoulder with his finger. ''How is he? Can you tell, vaguely?'' ¡®I can¡¯t tell exactly¡­ But I think he¡¯s weak.¡¯ ''Ahjussi, you know that was a bit too much for him.¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun looked at Do Han-Sol, who was having trouble even straightening his back. His face was contorted in a grimace. Choi Soo-Hyun shook Do Han-Sol''s upper body anxiously, not knowing what to do. ¡°Han-Sol, Han-Sol! Wake up!¡± Choi Soo-Hyun, all flustered, shouted at me. ¡°What did you do? Huh? What in the world did you do to him?!¡± - He was getting worked up so I calmed him down. Choi Soo-Hyun read my words while on the verge of bursting into tears. There was nothing more I could tell her at the moment. ¡°Han-Sol!¡± A familiar voice came from the entrance to the warehouse. It was Hwang Deok-Rok, who had regained consciousness. Hwang Deok-Rok slid in front of Do Han-Sol and looked at me straight in the eyes. ¡°Don''t do this to him! He''s not a bad guy! He¡¯s a good guy!¡± I didn¡¯t know how to exin this situation. I wished that Do Han-Sol would get up and say something. I looked at the two humans and smacked my lips. After a moment, Do Han-Sol supported his upper body up. Do Han-Sol coughed and rubbed his aching forehead. He widened his eyes and blinked, shook his head vigorously, then looked at Hwang Deok-Rok and Choi Soo-Hyun. The woman hugged him and burst into tears, while Hwang Deok-Rok patted him on the back repeatedly while asking if he was alright. Do Han-Sol nodded nkly then looked at me in the eyes. ''Just now¡­ What did you do to me?'' ¡®I don¡¯t know how much you know¡­ But this world isn¡¯t as straightforward as you think.¡¯ ¡®...¡¯ Do Han-Sol looked at me with fear in his eyes, his lips tightly closed. There was a lot to teach him. I sighed and looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun. ''He¡¯s short on manners, but I think it¡¯ll be fine to form an alliance with him. What do you think?'' ''I think it¡¯ll be fine as well. Judging by the way Choi Soo-Hyun and Hwang Deok-Rok are acting¡­ He doesn¡¯t seem like a bad guy, although he does have an attitude problem, like you said. And you know that people don¡¯t lie through their actions.'' We seemed to be on the same page. I nodded instead of answering. Kim Hyeong-Jun stashed his hands into his pockets and looked at me. ¡®I¡¯m going to let you decide, ahjussi. In the meantime, I¡¯ll send everyone else away.¡¯ ¡®Wait, why?¡¯ ''Just in case the alliance fails. You never know, right?'' He had a point. If the alliance failed, it was safe to say that Do Han-Sol had no intention to live his life for the sake of humans. I told him to usher everyone else outside. Kim Hyeong-Jun nodded slightly and walked in front of Hwang Ji-Hye with his notepad. After a brief exchange, the guards went away. As the guards dispersed, Hwang Ji-Hye approached me cautiously. "I know this is a zombie thing so I don¡¯t have a say in this¡­ But I¡¯ll be waiting with my guards, fifty meters away. I hope you understand.¡± If that helped her feel better, I wasn¡¯t about to deny her her request. I nodded. Hwang Ji-Hye bowed lightly and left the warehouse. When Kim Hyeong-Jun finally closed the warehouse door, I looked at Do Han-Sol. ¡®Listen carefully to what I¡¯ll be saying from now on.¡¯ I saw his Adam¡¯s apple move violently. He looked at me nervously. I took a deep breath and sighed. ''I¡¯m willing to form an alliance with you, based on how you react from now on.¡¯ ¡®An¡­ alliance? Why would I form an alliance with you when I don¡¯t even know what kind of person you are?¡¯ ''Do you want to protect people from the members of the Family?'' ¡®Yes¡­ Of course.'' ''Do you want to protect your family?'' Do Han-Sol nced at Choi Soo-Hyun, who was next to him, and nodded. His expression reflected his determination. I looked at him with a satisfied smile. ''Then answer my questions as honestly as you can from now on.¡¯ Chapter 92 Chapter 92 I looked into Do Han-Sol¡¯s face. ¡®Why did you eat a human?'' ¡®The guy¡­ was a traitor.'' ''Don''t beat around the bush. Tell me exactly what happened.¡¯ I furrowed my brow as I put the question toward Do Han-Sol, who grimaced and mumbled under his breath. After a moment, he sighed. ''The reason I was bitten by a zombie was because of that traitor. When we escaped Shelter Barrier¡­ I was guarding the escape route, making sure that everyone got out. It was thest emergency exit left for us.¡¯ Do Han-Sol calmed his voice before continuing. ''I couldn''t hold the zombies back any longer, so I tried to close the emergency exit. That¡¯s when the traitor appeared.¡¯ My full attention was on Do Han-Sol. He put his right hand on his forehead and gritted his teeth, as if the traumatic memory of that day hade to mind. He began to grow emotional. ''I¡­ I had to make a choice. Either give up on him and close the emergency exit, or draw the zombie¡¯s attention elsewhere.'' ''And you choose thetter?'' ¡®Yeah. I don¡¯t know why I made that decision back then, but at that moment, all I could think about was saving the others. I¡­ For some reason, I was running toward the zombies before I knew what I was doing.¡¯ It was definitely not an easy thing to risk your life to save others, especially in a dangerous and uncertain situation. Do Han-Sol''s decision was praiseworthy, but realistically speaking, it wasn¡¯t the best choice. Do Han-Sol took a quick breath. ''If we¡¯d dealt with the zombies around me, we all could have made it out alive. But the traitor¡­¡¯ ¡®The traitor just ran without assisting you?'' Do Han-Sol nodded, his expression difficult to read. I rubbed my chin and fell into deep thought. I now understood why he bore so much hatred toward this traitor. However, to wake up as a zombie and eat the traitor¡­ That was uneptable. Some could question what the issue was, now that we were in a world where there were nows, rules or morals. However, in the world where I chose to put my faith in, there was still morality. Even though this traitor¡¯s actions were wrong, in the end, it was still Do Han-Sol''s choice to run toward the zombies. I crossed my arms. ''You said earlier that you killed the traitor because they were holding a knife, but it sounds to me like you just killed the traitor out of hatred for their betrayal.¡¯ ''I''m not done talking.'' Do Han-Sol red at me. His earlier words surfaced in my mind. - Don''t bark like a dog as if you know everything when in fact you don¡¯t know anything. It seemed like a lot had happened to him, even after waking up as a zombie with glowing red eyes. I closed my lips and nodded. I was being impatient. I calmly told him to continue, and Do Han-Sol closed his eyes and took a deep breath. His fists were still tightly clenched as he recalled what had happened to him. Clearly, his anger regarding the incident had yet to abate. After a moment, he slowly opened his eyes. They were full of hatred. ''That bastard¡­ Sold my people to the dogs.'' My brows knit together when I heard his words. I expected him to say that the traitor attacked his people, but selling them to the dogs was way beyond my imagination. I tilted my head in confusion, and Do Han-Sol ground his teeth and continued with his story. ¡®That traitor bastard never trusted me in the first ce, and maintained a connection with the dogs. However, to be a dog, you have to eat human flesh¡­ This traitor didn¡¯t want to do that.¡¯ ¡®Wait a minute, let¡¯s get this sorted out before we move on. So you¡¯re saying¡­ The traitor stayed with you even though they had no trust in you and your people?'' Do Han-Sol nodded. ¡®The traitor didn¡¯t want to eat human flesh, but was reluctant to rely on me as well. They see-sawed back and forth between both positions.'' ¡®...¡¯ ¡®After a while, the number of people who went out to get food started to decrease steadily. Four people disappeared every week. That made me suspicious.'' ''Well, you can¡¯t discount the possibility that they could¡¯ve been taken down by the zombies on the streets.¡¯ ¡®I took care of all the zombies in Gunja-dong and Neung-dong. However, even after doing so, I didn¡¯t feelfortable, so I drew up my own map and instructed them to take the safest route possible.'' ¡®...¡¯ ¡®After doing all this, it still made no sense to me that four people could disappear every week. Not just once or twice, but every time!¡¯ I couldn¡¯t find a counter to his argument. If Do Han-Sol had drawn up this map himself and plotted a safe route, he would¡¯ve set up escape routes where his people could hide in case of an emergency. However, if four people continued to disappear each time¡­ It wasn¡¯t wrong to believe that there could be a traitor within. Do Han-Sol let out a deep breath. ¡®You know the saying, give someone enough rope and they¡¯ll hang themselves? The traitor finally dug their own grave. Unanimously, the rest of the people in the shelter decided to publicly execute the traitor bastard.'' ''And that¡¯s when the traitor started swinging away with the knife?¡¯ ¡®Exactly. If I hadn''t killed him¡­ Other people would¡¯ve gotten hurt.'' Having heard all that had happened to Do Han-Sol, I felt the urge to throw up. Some individuals were just that despicable. I finally understood why Do Han-Sol had mocked the guards of Shelter Silence. Do Han-Sol... He had no faith in anyone except for his own family and friends. It didn¡¯t matter if they were humans or zombies. He had closed his heart to anything else that was alive, in order to protect Shelter Barrier. Now that I had a better understanding of Do Han-Sol''s experience and background, I knew I couldn¡¯t treat him roughly. I gently closed my eyes and thought for a moment. After a little while, I squatted in front of Do Han-Sol. ''I know I might not be in the position to ask you this, but do you have any intention of trusting people again?¡¯ ''You want me to trust people?'' Do Han-Sol snorted and looked away. He then frowned and looked at me. His face¡­ It was not one of anger or hatred. Through his furrowed brow and trembling eyes, I saw a glimpse of unknowable sadness. After a moment, Do Han-Sol continued to speak. It sounded like he was trying to get something off of his chest. ¡®You have to be suspicious of people. Humans¡­ you can¡¯t trust or rely on them.'' ''Then what about Choi Soo-Hyun and Hwang Deok-Rok?'' ''Those two are exceptions.'' ¡®And the reason is?'' ¡®Because those two¡­ They tried to save me until the end.¡¯ ''So in the end, you¡¯re saying that they have to make sacrifices for you.'' I smacked my lips, and Do Han-Sol frowned at me. He started to get riled up, and seemed to think that I was being ridiculous. ''Me, forcing them to make sacrifices? That was not my intention at all.¡¯ ''Aren¡¯t you saying that you¡¯ll only treat those who tried to save your life as humans?¡±¡¯ ''You can''t interpret it that way. I just¡­¡¯ ''Tell me if I¡¯m wrong.'' My tone grew firm, and his lips trembled. I slicked my hair back and continued. ''I''m not trying to save everyone either.'' ''Then what are you trying to do?'' ¡®I¡¯m fighting for those who don¡¯t give up on their lives, those who don¡¯t feed off others, those who don¡¯t lose hope, and those who don¡¯t force others to make sacrifices for them.¡¯ ¡®...¡¯ Do Han-Sol bit his lips and remained silent. After a while, Do Han-Sol let out a long, protracted sigh. ''If¡­ If my misjudgment puts my people¡¯s lives in jeopardy¡­ I¡­¡¯ ¡®We will help.¡¯ I looked into his eyes seriously. Do Han-Sol hesitated for a moment after hearing my answer, then nced at Kim Hyeong-Jun, who was standing in front of the warehouse door. Kim Hyeong-Jun, who had his arms crossed, tilted his head at the sudden nce. Do Han-Sol looked closely at Kim Hyeong-Jun then smacked his lips. ¡®That person... Is he trustworthy?'' ¡®We don¡¯t prove such things through words. We demonstrate it through actions.¡¯ ¡®If I ally with you¡­ What happens afterward?'' ''I''ll be honest with you.'' I took a deep breath, then sighed. ''We¡¯re going to erase all traces of the Family.'' ¡®Do you think these members of the Family are the root of all evil?¡¯ ¡®The root of all evil? That¡¯s not the right expression. Especially since no one knows what other kinds of beings there might be in this world. But if I had to decide what ¡®the root of all evil¡¯ meant to me¡­ I¡¯d say it would be any being that tries to pose a threat to my family.¡¯ ''Then¡­ If I form an alliance with you, will I have to fight against these members of the Family as well?'' ''They won¡¯t leave you alone, even if you don''t want to fight.¡¯ ¡®...¡¯ Do Han-Sol looked at Choi Soo-Hyun and Hwang Deok-Rok as he listened to what I had to say. The two of them were looking at us nervously. Their eyes betrayed their anxiety. A flood of emotion ran across Do Han-Sol¡¯s face. After a moment of hesitation, he took a deep breath and gave me his answer. ''I¡­ I want to form an alliance with you.'' I saw the determination in his eyes. I looked at him and smiled gently. ''Starting from now, hold my hand and think of only one thing.'' ¡®What?'' ¡®That you will fight to protect your family. That you¡¯ll fight for those who are willing to live as human beings.¡¯ Do Han-Sol swallowed and nodded, his eyes bouncing back and forth between Kim Hyeong-Jun and me. We met eyes and held each other''s hands. * * * We opened the firmly-closed warehouse door, and Hwang Ji-Hye, who was with the guards, ran toward me and Kim Hyeong-Jun. ¡°So what happened?¡± Hwang Ji-Hye looked back and forth between Kim Hyeong-Jun and me, urging one of us to answer her. I smiled lightly and opened my notepad. - We formed an alliance. "Oh!" Hwang Ji-Hye finally smiled and let out a sigh of relief. After a moment, she looked around and asked, ¡°Where¡¯s Do Han-Sol?¡± - He¡¯s inside, speaking with Choi Soo-Hyun and Hwang Deok-Rok. ¡°I need to see him.¡± The moment Hwang Ji-Hye tried to walk toward the storage room, I grabbed her arm and shook my head. - Leave him alone for now. He probably thought that Choi Soo-Hyun and Hwang Deok-Rok were dead. He must be feeling relief at finally being able to speak with them again. I don¡¯t think it¡¯s the right time to confront him with questions. ¡°...¡± Hwang Ji-Hye¡¯s expression was troubled, but she acquiesced to my point of view without reply. After a moment, Kim Hyeong-Jun asked, ¡®How¡¯d you do it, ahjussi?'' ''Do what?'' ''What do you mean? Form the alliance of course.¡¯ ''I just did what I learned from you.'' ''But why did I also be allies with him as well?'' This was something beyond my ability to exin. When I formed an alliance with Do Han-Sol, I experienced the throbbing headache again. It seemed as if it was something we had to go through every time. However, Kim Hyeong-Jun, who was guarding the storage room entrance, had begun to tug at his hair, as though he too was suffering from a throbbing headache. When I forged the alliance with Do Han-Sol, Kim Hyeong-Jun had automatically be a member of the alliance as well without having to go through the process himself. I couldn¡¯t figure out the reason behind this. Kim Hyeong-Jun smacked his lips. ¡®Geez¡­ I don¡¯t like where this is going.'' ¡®What?'' ''The fact that you seem like the leader now.'' ¡®...¡¯ I rolled my eyes at Kim Hyeong-Jun. I thought something was truly troubling him when he said he didn¡¯t like where this was going. Kim Hyung-Jun stashed his hands into his pockets and mumbled under his breath, ¡®But I¡¯m the president of the Survivor Rally Organization¡­¡¯ ''Are you salty about that?'' ''Not at all ahjussi, not at all.¡¯'' Kim Hyeong-Jun got all grumpy and tried to walk away. I snorted and moved to block his way. ''Hey, you have to at least tell me where you¡¯re going.'' ¡®I¡¯m going to go see my son. You happy?'' ¡®Didn¡¯t you say you were going to introduce me to your family the other day? I haven''t seen them yet.'' ¡®I haven¡¯t introduced you to my family?'' ''Yeah.'' Kim Hyeong-Jun scratched his sideburns, staring nkly ahead. Then he smacked his lips. ¡®Alright, then let¡¯s go together.'' ''Yes, dear leader.'' Kim Hyeong-Jun red at me sullenly. ¡®You¡¯re making fun of me aren¡¯t you?'' I shrugged and pretended that I didn¡¯t know what he was talking about. Kim Hyeong-Jun pped my forearm and started grumbling again. When he acted like this¡­ He seemed like nothing more than a naive, innocent child. I couldn¡¯t understand why bing the leader was such a big deal. We chatted as we headed toward Shelter Silence''s dormitories. Chapter 93 Chapter 93 Kim Hyeong-Jun had eight people who were close to him, including his wife, son, and Park Gi-Cheol. All of them took turns holding my hand and expressing their gratitude. They all bowed to me, thanking me for protecting Shelter Silence, for taking care of Hyeong-Jun, and thanking me in advance for what I would do in the future. I returned their bows, feeling embarrassed and awkward. While I was exchanging greetings, Kim Hyeong-Jun was holding his son in his arms, a vibrant smile on his face. Looking at him, I couldn¡¯t help but recall a memory of mine, from the time I was still alive. It was a memory of a time I was smoking with my office manager. - Oh, so I heard through the grapevine that you became a father. - Did you also hear the news? - Hyeon-Deok, you were quite the guy before you got married, but now you¡¯re done for good! - Haha¡­ - Did you say it was a daughter? - Yes, that¡¯s right, sir. - You¡¯ve got quite a future ahead of you, don¡¯t you? My office manager slightly smiled and patted my shoulder. As it was awkward for me to smoke with my office manager, I kept on nodding with my back hunched down. Not caring if I wasfortable or not, my office manager looked up at the blue sky and continued. - Have you ever heard of the saying that a person is strong because they have nothing to lose? - Yes, I have. - That''s why I''m not getting married. That way, I¡¯ll have nothing to lose and nothing to be afraid of. Hahaha! My expression was confused, but I forced a smile and went along with my office manager. However, my office manager, who was usually ill-mannered, tapped his cigarette on the ashtray and grimaced. He lost his usual demeanor, and spoke to me in a low voice devoid of confidence. - But the thing is¡­ When you¡¯re young, the saying is true. You¡¯re stronger if you don¡¯t have anything to lose. But when you turn fifty, it¡¯s no longer true. - Yes? - Just looking at the people around me proves it. Even though I feel sorry for the guys who get whipped by their wives¡­ At times, I¡¯m kind of jealous. Maybe the saying that a man matures when he gets married is true. - ¡­ - That¡¯s how I feel, the older I get. I have nothing to lose, which ironically made me weaker. I feel empty¡­ And no matter what I do, there¡¯s no joy to it. I studied my office manager¡¯s face carefully. That face that drove me mad every day¡­ For some reason, it seemed terribly lonely that day. The officer manager chuckled. - Congrattions with all my heart on bing a father. - Thank you, sir. * * * I don''t know why I recalled my office manager¡¯s face when I saw Kim Hyeong-Jun. Perhaps it was because their expressions were so contrasting that I felt sympathy for him, even though I hadpletely forgotten about him until now. I didn¡¯t know if my office manager was dead or alive, but he wouldn¡¯t be able to feel what Kim Hyeong-Jun was feeling until the day he died. I looked nkly ahead and sighed. ¡®You¡¯re not strong because you have nothing to lose, you¡¯re strong because you have something to protect¡­¡¯ The reason people were strong was because they had nothing to lose¡­ Perhaps it came from the spirit and confidence they had while they were young. Everyone in their twenties was full of energy, and it could even boil over into arrogance. However, everyone was equal in the face of the passage of time, and everyone grew old. Maybe my office manager¡­ Perhaps he needed a ce to go back to every day. Not to a dark, lonely apartment after work, but to a family that weed him with open arms. Perhaps the reason Kim Hyeong-Jun and I continued to endure without dying in this miserable world, the reason why we hadn¡¯t lost our hearts or mindset after witnessing all these terrible moments, was because we had a ce to return to. * * * After a brief meeting with Kim Hyeong-Jun''s inner circle, I left the dormitory to meet Do Han-Sol. ¡°Lee Hyeon-Deok!¡± At that moment, someone called me from behind. I turned around and saw Kim Hyeong-Jun''s wife running toward me. She went through her pockets eagerly and then handed me several things that were wrapped up. ¡°You said your daughter¡¯s name was So-Yeon, right? Give these to So-Yeon, please.¡± I carefully looked at the things Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s wife was giving me. There were eight candy balls and three lollipops. I wondered why seeing candy, which I¡¯d never cared about before, could make me so happy. I could already imagine So-Yeon''s face, smiling brightly at the candy. I smiled wholeheartedly and bowed to her, expressing my gratitude. She offered me a bow in return, smiling softly. Then, she grabbed my hand as though she¡¯d just remembered something. ¡°Oh I almost forgot, Hyeong-Jun said something about meeting at a prison in an hour? He said some prison¡­¡± I nodded continuously, signaling to her that I knew what she was talking about, and that she did not have to exin any further. I had already spoken with Kim Hyeong-Jun, and made ns to meet at the zombie prison in Haengdang-dong in an hour¡¯s time. Kim Hyeong-Jun had insisted on going over right away, but I¡¯d stopped him. I wanted to give him time to spend with his family, just for a little bit. I offered Kim Hyeong-Jun''s wife one final bow, then headed straight to the warehouse where Do Han-Sol was. When I reached the warehouse, I saw Do Han-Sol conversing with Hwang Ji-Hye. As I approached the two, Hwang Ji-Hye called out to me as though relieved that I had arrived in the nick of time. ¡°Perfect timing. We were actually looking for you.¡± I tilted my head, and Hwang Ji-Hye pointed at Do Han-Sol. ¡°Han-Sol has something to say to you¡­¡± Just yesterday, she¡¯d shouted his name in agitation, but now she was saying it with calmness. I smiled and looked at Do Han-Sol, assuming it was just a regr conversation. But when I saw Do Han-Sol¡¯s serious expression, I quickly put away my smile. ''What''s going on?'' ''There''s another zombie that lives for the sake of humans.'' My eyes widened of their own ord when I heard his statement. A zombie living for the sake of humans. Didn¡¯t that mean that there was another zombie with glowing red eyes that was taking care of another shelter? I wet my dry lips and asked, ¡®And where is this zombie?'' ¡®Do you know Gwangjang-dong?¡¯ ¡®Gwangjang-dong¡­ Are you talking about the Gwangjang-dong that you enter after crossing Cheonho Bridge?'' ¡®Yeah, that¡¯s the one.¡¯ I listened to what he had to say and got lost in thought for a moment. I wondered how Do Han-Sol hade across this information. As I looked at Do Han-Sol suspiciously, he sighed and said, ''They¡¯re one of the people that escaped with me when Shelter Barrier went down.¡¯ ''And they became a zombie too?'' ''We were both bitten around the same time¡­ They wanted to escape Gunja-dong even before being bitten. After turning into a zombie, that person said that they would go to Gwangjang-dong.'' ¡®How likely is it for that person to have established something in Gwangjang-dong? If they left right after they turned into a zombie, they were probably killed by one of the gang members.¡¯ ¡®No, they¡¯re alive. I met them on my way to find Soo-Hyun and Hwang Deok-Rok.¡¯ ¡®If you met them on your way¡­ You mean you met them this morning.¡¯ ¡®Yeah.¡¯ I tilted my head and furrowed my brow. No matter how I looked at it, I couldn¡¯t shake the feeling that something was wrong. To the east of Gunja-dong was Neung-dong, and to the east of Neung-dong was Guui-dong. Assuming that Gunja-dong and Neung-dong were safe since Do Han-Sol had them under control¡­ He couldn¡¯t simply ignore Guui-dong, as Gwangjang-dong was surrounded by Guui 1-dong, 2-dong, and 3-dong. There was no way for anyone to get to Gwangjang-dong without entering the Family¡¯s territory. It was highly likely that anyone trying to get to Gwangjang-dong would be noticed by the dong leader of Guui-dong. Just getting to Gwangjang-dong was a tall order, but returning seemed unimaginable. In addition, there had to be a dong leader in Gwangjang-dong¡­ Clearly, something wasn¡¯t matching up. As I continued to eye him suspiciously, Do Han-Sol smacked his lips. ¡®I know you don¡¯t believe me. But they¡¯re alive, and they¡¯re not part of the Family.¡¯ ''How can you be sure of that?'' ¡®They told me to prepare for an attack by the Family.¡¯ ¡®That makes it even more suspicious.'' ''Huh?¡¯ Do Han-Sol furrowed his brow while looking at me. I took in a quick breath and sighed. ¡®How would this person know this, unless they have connections with the Family?'' ¡®I was told that the troop deployments in Guui-dong had changed. All the troops were moved to the border with Neung-dong and Hwayang-dong.¡¯ ''Hey, I can''t even understand why that person went to Gwangjang-dong in the first ce. You said that they left the moment they turned into a zombie. How did they get through Guui-dong?¡¯ ¡®...¡¯ Do Han-Sol seemed lost in thought, perhaps only just realizing that something was indeed amiss. After a while, he said skeptically, ¡®If they went around Ttukseom Hangang Park¡­¡¯ ¡®When you say Ttukseom Hangang Park, do you mean Jayang-dong? Jayang-dong, south of Hwayang-dong, facing the Han River?¡¯ ¡®Yeah.¡¯ ¡®Escaping Gunja-dong, then going to Jayang-dong through Hwayang-dong? That¡¯s even stranger. You think the scouts that the dong leaders of Hwayang-dong and Jayang-dong posted were just standing around twiddling their thumbs?¡¯ As I questioned his theories, Do Han-Sol smacked his lips and looked away. After a moment, he grimaced. ¡®Alright, I surrender. You¡¯re right. That¡¯s more than suspicious. However, when I met this person back at Hwayang-dong, they still had a good heart. They really cared and were worried about Shelter Barrier.¡¯ ¡®You guys met in Hwayang-dong?'' ''Yeah.'' ¡®That¡¯s also suspicious. Why would someone who was going off to live on their own in Gwangjang-dong make their way all the way to Hwayang-dong...¡¯ I trailed off, my eyes going wide. An unbelievable thought had just appeared in my mind. I tilted my head and asked Do Han-Sol, ''This person had information about the Family and was worried about you?'' ''Yes.'' ¡®This person¡­ Were they close to anyone when they escaped Gunja-dong?'' ''No. Does that matter?'' I nodded with certainty after he said they were alone. ''Where is this person now?'' ''Why, what is it?'' ¡®We have to kill this person.'' ¡®Huh?¡¯ Do Han-Sol¡¯s eyes went wide and his mouth fell open. I scratched my forehead, still slightly puzzled, and continued, ''This person¡­ is a bait.¡¯ * * * Most of the baits that were members of the Family were low-level associates. They were in charge of reconnaissance, and scouting areas, and served as food for the ck creatures. Of course, the baits didn¡¯t know they were considered as food. There were no ck creatures in Hwayang-dong, but there were plenty of reasons to send scouts. Kim Hyeong-Jun had eaten the brain of the dong leader of Hwayang-dong. Even though it had only been twenty-four hours, the Family was already trying to figure out how they had lost contact with the dong leader of Hwayang-dong. They sent a bait to check out what was going on in Hwayang-dong, and it seemed like this bait had somehow run into Do Han-Sol. The bait had probably lied to get out of the situation. It was probably easier for the bait as they knew Do Han-Sol. It seemed like this bait had mixed a little bit of truth into his story to throw off any suspicion. This little nugget of truth¡­ It was probably the attack that the Family was preparing tounch. They were moving faster than I had expected. In fact, it wasn¡¯t just about the speed at which their n was being executed. It was the scale of it, and the unpredictability as well. I thought that it would be enough to pay attention to the dong leaders of Junggok-dong and Myeonmok-dong, but it seemed like the dong leader of Guui-dong was also taking part in this attack. Which also meant that I couldn¡¯t take Jayang-dong, which was to the south and facing the Han River, out of the picture as well. If Jayang-dong and Guui-dong also took part in the attack, it didn¡¯t seem like the attack was going to be limited to a single dong. This sign heralded a bloodbath that was soon to happen in Gwangjin-gu. [1] Cold sweat trickled down my forehead, despite the cool weather. If the dong leaders of Guui-dong and Jayang-dong took part, they would surely have their eye on Shelter Seoul Forest, and judging by the fact that they were mobilizing baits, it seemed like the officers had already received their orders from the boss. We were going to have a full-scale war with the officers of the Family. And we had no way of figuring out the number and quality of their troops, and whether or not they had mutants. I swallowed and looked at Do Han-Sol. ''Listen carefully to what I say from now on.'' ¡®Why¡­ Why are you suddenly being so serious? What¡¯s a bait?'' My expression hardened, and Do Han-Sol sensed the situation and backed off a little. I knew I didn¡¯t have the time to go through everything, so I decided to talk in an assertive,manding tone. I knew we had to move faster than the Family. I looked directly at Do Han-Sol in the eyes. ''Bring all the survivors in Shelter Barrier over here before the sun goes down.'' ''What?'' ''Bring them here, since we can¡¯t stop the Family there.'' ''What do you mean?'' It was almost impossible to defend Gunja-dong. The Jungnangcheon blocked off the west side of Gunja-dong, making it impossible to secure an escape route that way. And if the gang members attacked from the north, east, and south at once, they was absolutely no chance of surviving their attack.[2] I opened my mouth wide and screamed in frustration. ''Hurry up! If you want to save them, hurry!'' GRRRRRRR! Hwang Ji-Hye, who was standing next to me, stared nkly at my face, startled by my sudden roar. 1. A gu is the equivalent of a district in Korea. In the case of Seoul, Korea, each guprises multiple dongs, or wards. ? 2. Jungnangcheon is one of the tributaries of the Han River, which passes through Seongdong-gu, Geumho-dong, and Seongsu-dong. ? Chapter 94 Chapter 94 Do Han-Sol quickly got back to his senses and ran to Gunja-dong. I ordered some of my underlings to follow him, remembering to order them to signal me if they came across any red zombies. Hwang Ji-Hye looked around at the unfolding situation, not understanding what was going on. "What¡¯s going on? Why¡¯d you send Do Han-Sol away when we¡¯re not even done talking?¡± - Do Han-Sol will bring the survivors of Shelter Barrier here. "Okay? Wait, no¡­ How many survivors do they have? Hmm¡­ We''re actually good when ites to food¡­ But why¡¯d you make a decision without even consulting me, Mr. Lee Hyeong-Deok?¡± She seemed stunned, but I had no time to answer all of her questions. I opened my notepad and scribbled as quickly as I could. - The Family will conduct arge-scale raid in a few days. Not only against Gunja-dong, but Shelter Silence as well. Hwang Ji-Hye swallowed hard after seeing what I had written, then asked me in a flustered tone, ¡°What do you mean? A massive raid?¡± - The members of the Family in Gwangjin-gu are gathering. I assume it¡¯s because of the death of the Seongsu-dong leader. ¡°Regardless, I can¡¯t let you get away with making decisions regarding issues like this on your own without even discussing it with me.¡± - Either join forces so that we can fight off the Family, or perish fighting alone. Your call. Hwang Ji-Hye bit her lips and stayed silent. She probably realized it wasn¡¯t the time to argue about who was right or wrong. Hwang Ji-Hye brushed her bangs aside and sighed. With a scowl, she asked, ¡°What do you want us to do?¡± - Do you have any explosives? ¡°...¡± Hwang Ji-Hye hesitated for a moment after she read the word ¡®explosives¡¯. I kept my gaze on Hwang Ji-Hye, who crossed her arms and looked away. However, it didn¡¯t take long for her to reply. ¡°You asked about the crossbows before, right?¡± I nodded, and Hwang Ji-Hye took a breath and continued. ¡°We got them from the survivors in Gangnam.¡± I couldn''t help but be surprised to hear her mention Gangnam. Survivors, in Gangnam. The Han River Bridge was down. I thought all the bridges had copsed, and there was no way to get into Gangnam anymore. Hwang Ji-Hye bit her lip and continued. ¡°We, Shelter Silence, used rafts in the past in preparation for attacks by the members of the Family. Some people rendered us assistance back then.¡± - And those people were survivors who were in Gangnam? Hwang Ji-Hye nodded in answer. She looked around quickly, then whispered, ¡°This is a secret. Please don¡¯t let anyone else hear about this.¡± - May I ask why? ¡°The survivors of Gangnam¡­ They have no intention of letting us join up with them. If the others find out about this, it¡¯ll only create more chaos.¡± - Yet they provided you with weapons, despite their intention not to ept other survivors from here? ¡°It was because the situation in Gangbuk was worse than in Gangnam. The people in Gangnam¡­ They don¡¯tpletely trust us. They think of us as a buffer between the infected and the uninfected.¡± I was so dumbfounded, I was at a loss for words. I couldn¡¯t believe that I¡¯d been in the dark all along. I found myself getting unreasonably angry. Something had seemed rather odd. All the K2 rifles and magazines, grenades, and crossbows piled up in the warehouse felt like objects from another world. I should have noticed it earlier¡­ I massaged my temples and let out a heavy sigh. Hwang Ji-Hye grimaced. ¡°My apologies for not telling you earlier. However, I do have some rather unhelpful information as well. The survivors in Gangnam have plenty of weapons. If we try to cross the river, they¡¯ll fire upon us.¡± - Then, the weapons. How did you get the weapons? ¡°On the third Saturday of every month, I go out into the Han River on a raft, between one and three in the morning. The survivors in Gangnam send out a boat as well. That¡¯s when I receive the weapons.¡± I mulled over Hwang Ji-Hye''s story in silence. I wasn¡¯t sure if humans were naturally selfish, or if this selfish situation had corrupted humanity. I couldn''t me the people of Gangnam for anything. They weren¡¯t epting people from Gangbuk for the sake of their own safety. But they were supplying weapons out of a guilty conscience. It would¡¯ve felt far better to be able to denounce them freely, but the weapons they provided were so precious in our current situation that I couldn¡¯t say anything bad about them. I shook my head violently to banish my emotions, then desperately scribbled into my notepad. - So are you saying you can get explosives? Do the Gangnam survivors have explosives? ¡°These are the people who blew up the Han River Bridge. They¡¯ll have some.¡± - Can you get them by tomorrow morning? ¡°That¡¯s impossible. At all times other than the third Saturday of every month, they consider any living creature floating on the Han River as an enemy. The third Sunday of this month passed justst week. We¡¯ll have to wait for another month at least.¡± Since we were in an emergency, it probably wasn¡¯t worth risking our lives for something that wouldn¡¯t work. I had to scrap the n that employed explosives ande up with another one. I flipped to the next page of my notepad and wrote down a question. - Do you have a map? ¡°A map of Seoul?¡± When I nodded, Hwang Ji-Hye told me to follow her and led me to the third defense line. There was arge tent set up in front of the third defense line. As we entered the tent, I saw the guard leader, along with a couple of guards. They quickly got on their feet when they saw Hwang Ji-Hye. She ordered them to vacate the tent for a moment, and the guards obediently followed. However, the guard leader narrowed their eyes and asked, "What¡­ What is going on, group leader?¡± ¡°Do you have a map of Seoul?¡± The guard leader retrieved arge map from the corner and spread it on the desk. They then crossed their arms and gestured at the map with their chin, subtly hinting that they would be staying to listen in on what was going on. There was no time to fight this battle, so I looked at the map of Seoul and opened my notepad. - Shelter Silence is well-hidden. However, it¡¯s not suitable as a defensive base. ¡°What do you mean?¡± - Look at the terrain around the shelter. There are wide roads, single-story buildings, not enough ces to take cover, and nothing to block the enemy''s line of sight once theye into range. This means that they¡¯ll have an advantage when theyunch a full-scale attack. ¡°We¡¯ve made it up to this point¡­¡± - Well, this attack will be on a totally different scale. How long do you think this ce can hold them off when they¡¯re crashing in from all sides like a tsunami? "Then what¡¯s your n?¡± - We have to deploy all our forces outside. Hwang Ji-Hye¡¯s eyes widened as she read what I had written. The guard leader gave my note a sidelong nce, and immediately flew into a rage. ¡°What kind of bullshit n is this?!¡± I schooled my features and looked at the guard leader. The guard leader grew hesitant and backed off slightly. However, their re remained, as if their anger hadn¡¯t totally abated. All the guard leader could do was get angry, since they didn¡¯t have the courage to dispute me. The guard leader was pathetic. I pointed to Seongsu 1-ga, 2-dong and Seongsu 2-ga, 3-dong with my finger. Hwang Ji-Hye looked at the areas I had pointed out and asked, ¡°Are you saying we should mount our defense in these areas?¡± - I scouted the terrain in these areas on my way to get medicine. Zombies are physically different from humans. Also, the physical abilities of underlings change depending on the strength of their leader. Hwang Ji-Hye nodded as she carefully read the sentences I wrote. - The areas I pointed out are suitable for urban warfare. They won''t be able to run at full speed in cramped alleyways. They''ll get tangled up, scraped, and squashed together, and ultimately get in the way of each other. ¡°Hmm¡­ You do have a point¡­.¡± - The surrounding vis are also extremely close to each other, so the rooftops can be used as an escape route for survivors to escape. ¡°How likely is it for them to take over the rooftops? If they take over the rooftops¡­ The tables will turn right away.¡± I raised my eyebrows at her. - Have you forgotten about me, Hyeong-Jun, and Do Han-Sol? Hwang Ji-Hye quickly nodded in acknowledgment. I continued to write in my notepad. - You and Hyeong-Jun will be in charge of Seongsu 1-ga, 2-dong and Seongsu 2-ga, 3-dong. ¡°And what are you nning to do?¡± - I will be in charge of Seongsu 2-ga, 1-dong in the south with Do Han-Sol. "Got it. Is there anything else you needed?¡± - I''d like to have some grenades. If the Family brings mutants, there¡¯s no way of getting rid of them other than grenades. Hwang Ji-Hye wet her dry lips. ¡°Are the mutants that strong?¡± - Zombies with red eyes are like radar stations. They have zombies as underlings and have excellent mobility. And the mutants¡­ You can think of them as armored vehicles advancing into enemy lines. Hwang Ji-Hye nodded and let out a sigh. It seemed like her mind was slightly overwhelmed. The guard leader who had been listening in to our conversation closely, approached me with a rather strange expression, as though he¡¯d figured out some secret n that I¡¯d been hiding, even though I really didn¡¯t have any. ¡°Hold it right there." The guard leader carefully examined the map, then frowned. ¡°You want to use us as human shields?¡± This guard leader had clearly dropped all pretense of being respectful, and was merely blurting out whatever came to mind. I frowned in disagreement and tilted my head, and the guard leader pointed to the map with a finger. ¡°They¡¯ll stop by Gunja-dong and then enter Seongsu-dong. Then, of course, all the forces will be concentrated on Seongsu 1-ga, 2-dong and Seongsu 2-ga, 3-dong located in the north. And you¡¯re saying that you will be in charge of Seongsu 2-ga, 1-dong in the south?¡± I nodded calmly. The guard leader clicked his tongue violently. ¡°So you¡¯re saying your underlings are more important than our lives? This son of a bitch¡­.¡± The guard leader grabbed my cor, and Hwang Ji-Hye shouted, "Stop!" Her voice was truly unique. It boomed like a foghorn. She closed her eyes gently and took a deep breath. After a moment, she opened her eyes and looked at the guard leader, then at me. ¡°Lee Hyeon-Deok, you¡¯ll have to exin this part of your n.¡± I appreciated her calmness. Shelter Silence was fortunate to have her as a leader. I picked up my notepad again and wrote down my exnation. - I¡¯ve calcted how fast zombies move. In the case of my underlings, it takes them around ten seconds to run a hundred meters. Since my underlings aren¡¯t limited by their physical abilities, it¡¯ll take them less than two minutes to get from Jayang-dong to Seongsu-dong. The guard leader swallowed and frowned. Judging by the look in the guard leader¡¯s eyes, they didn¡¯t seem dissatisfied with my exnation. Rather, it seemed like the speed at which zombies could move had scared them. Considering that the national record for the men''s hundred-meter dash was just over ten seconds¡­ These zombies were moving at incredible speeds. - The first enemy leaders to enter Seongsu-dong will probably be the dong leaders of Jayang-dong and Guui-dong. Where do you think they¡¯ll be entering from? ¡°It has to be from the south, where you¡¯re in charge.¡± Hwang Ji-Hye¡¯s reply was immediate, as though she¡¯d been waiting for the question. She already knew what my ns were. However, it seemed like she had asked me to exin it to her and the guard leader one more time, because the guard leader couldn¡¯t help antagonizing me. I nodded and continued to write. - We cannot let them surround us. If that happens, we won¡¯t stand a chance against them. I¡¯m nning on getting rid of the dong leaders of Jayang-dong and Guui-dong first, then make my way around the south. ¡°Make your way around the south, as in go through Gunja-dong to intercept the members of the Family entering through Seongsu-dong, right?¡± I nodded at Hwang Ji-Hye''s question. - The dong leaders of Junggok-dong and Myeonmok-dong will scour through Gunja-dong and go through Hwayang-dong to get to Seongsu 2-ga 3-dong, where you¡¯re in charge. While you buy time using a full-scale battle, I¡¯ll go after their leaders. Hwang Ji-Hye nodded and looked at the guard leader, who was next to her. The guard leader kept silent, clearly left with nothing to rebuke me with. ¡°How long are you going to stay like that?¡± asked Hwang Ji-Hye. ¡°Sorry?" ¡°Did you not hear the n?¡± "Oh¡­ I did." ¡°Then get on it!¡± Hwang Ji-Hye bolstered her order with a fierce re, and the guard leader rushed out of the tent. As the guard leader disappeared, Hwang Ji-Hye sighed and ced her hand on her throbbing forehead. I knew this was a good opportunity to ask the question that had been lingering on my mind for so long. - Why did you choose that person as the guard leader? ¡°There weren¡¯t that many people here when I made my decision. And if I removed the guard leader now¡­ All the officers loyal to them will probably go against me.¡± I smacked my lips and patted Hwang Ji-Hye on the shoulder. She seemed to be going through a lot. Chapter 95 Chapter 95 As the days got colder, the sun began to set earlier. It began to go down by five in the afternoon, and it would be pitch-ck by six o¡¯clock. Do Han-Sol arrived at Shelter Silence around eight o¡¯clock with the survivors from Shelter Barrier in tow. All of them made it safely to Shelter Silence, thanks to Do Han-Sol¡¯s protection. He had brought a total of thirty-eight survivors to be housed at Shelter Silence temporarily. When Kim Hyeong-Jun and I received news of Do Han-Sol¡¯s safe return, we went out to deal with the remaining zombies in Seongsu-dong. Kim Hyeong-Jun had taken care of most of the zombies on the streets, but there were still some hiding in the buildings. Our cleanup operation in Seongsu 1-dong and Seongsu 2-ga, 3-dong went deep into the night, as thest thing the guards at Shelter Silence needed was zombies sneaking up behind them while they were inbat with the forces of the Family. The guards of Shelter Silence were on full alert, as no one knew when the Family wouldunch their full-scale raid. They put extra effort into reinforcing the guard forces and increased the number of sentries at night. Kim Hyeong-Jun and I returned as the tense darkness gave way to the rising dawn. Hwang Ji-Hye greeted us with exhaustion on her face. It seemed like she hadn¡¯t been able to sleep at all. ¡°Are the streets clear now?¡± When I nodded, the guards of Shelter Silence, who had been preparing overnight for the battle toe, formed up behind me. There were fifty guards with me, all armed with plenty of magazines and grenades secured to their belts. With that, we headed out. Kim Hyeong-Jun matched my pace and asked me a question. ¡®Ahjussi, aren¡¯t you being a little bit too demanding today? You already seem to be going so hard on everyone.¡¯ My face hardened. ''Then when do you think is the proper time to go hard on them?'' Kim Hyeong-Jun smacked his lips. ''I just think that everyone¡¯s going to be exhausted before the fight even begins.'' ¡®Well, there¡¯s nothing we can do to make the situation better, is there?¡¯ ¡®They¡¯ve got us.¡¯ I furrowed my brow. ¡®No, they don¡¯t. It¡¯s not like we¡¯re responsible for their lives. Stay focused. We¡¯re no heroes.¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun looked straight ahead again, his expression growing bitter. How could I even think of taking a break when I hadn¡¯t been able to see my baby girl, So-Yeon, in such a long time? I¡¯d wanted to meet So-Yeon after dealing with the dong leader of Hwayang-dong. But because Kim Hyeong-Jun ate the dead leader¡¯s brain, I had to go and watch over the mutant in Majang-dong, then head back to meet Do Han-Sol. I dearly wanted to see So-Yeon. The pieces of candy that Kim Hyeong-Jun''s wife had given me were still in my pockets. I scrunched the candy wrappers. ''I can''t bete.'' I¡¯d promised So-Yeon that I would return within ten days, but I had no clue how long we had to keep up our vigil. I went to my designated location, hoping that everything would be resolved within a week. * * * I turned on the walkie-talkie Hwang Ji-Hye had given me as I waited in Seongsu 2-ga, 1-dong, and her voice came over the walkie-talkie. - We¡¯re not detecting any movement from this side. How¡¯s the situation over there? I handed the walkie-talkie to Do Han-Sol. I¡¯d deliberately brought Do Han-Sol with me instead of Kim Hyeong-Jun, as he could speak. ¡°Nothing here too.¡± Do Han-Sol handed the walkie-talkie back to me, then looked into my face and spoke cautiously. ¡®My apologies¡­ For yesterday.¡¯ ¡®It¡¯s okay.'' I waved it off. His respectful tone, which he hadn¡¯t used before, seemed to suggest that he was opening up to me. I matched his respectful tone. Do Han-Sol smacked his lips, as if there was something still bothering him. ¡®Your name¡­ You said you were Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok, right?'' ¡®Yes.¡¯ ¡®Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok¡­ Do you remember what the world was like before all of this happened?'' ¡®...¡¯ I couldn¡¯t help but let out a sigh. I wondered where he was going with such a question. I looked at Do Han-Sol calmly. ''I don¡¯t believe it¡¯s the best idea to talk about something like that in our current situation.¡¯ ¡®But it¡¯s not like there¡¯s anything else we can do at the moment, is there?'' ''We cannot let our guard down, even for a split second.¡¯ ¡®You seem to be a bit on edge. I see you¡¯re not much of an entertainer.¡¯ Do Han-Sol smacked his lips and looked away. A sensitive person? A boring person? I supposed it was true that I wasn¡¯t really a funny guy. I didn¡¯t talk much, nor did I enjoy hanging out with others. I was the type of person who found joy in staying at home on the weekends, and I brushed off the loneliness that I felt by going to the movies alone, or by reading a book. The person who had changed me was my wife. When I first met my wife, I thought she was a noisy and annoying person. She would send me daily text messages at eight o¡¯clock, as regr as an rm clock, causing my phone to beep and frustrating me to no end. Whenever I picked up my phone out of annoyance, I always saw the same message: - How was your day today? Her message didn¡¯t say much, but before I knew it, this message slowly became what I looked forward to. I couldn¡¯t sleep at night, worrying if something had happened to her, if she was busy, or imagining the worst when my phone didn¡¯t beep at eight o¡¯clock. My wife was loving and sincere, and soon she became my everything. When I started to date her, my perspective on the world began to change. Everything that I thought of as useless began to seem alive, and glow with a gentle pastel light. My days began to be full of smiles. And after I married my wife, I was showered with continuous days of happiness. When we had So-Yeon, I learned, for the first time in my life, what tears of joy were. Every day was busy, hectic at times, and I barely had time to rest. However, whenpared to the life I¡¯d had before, going to the movies alone¡­ The hectic life I was living was much more valuable, beautiful, and full of happiness. And this wife of mine¡­ She was in Gangnam. My wife who taught me what life was all about¡­ She was in Gangnam. Gangnam, which I¡¯d thought had been destroyed for good, was a ce with survivors, and in fact, they¡¯d established a safer system of living aspared to Gangbuk. With all this in my mind, it was hardly strange that I would be slightly on edge. I furrowed my brows and let out a sigh. Do Han-Sol swallowed and spoke up. "Are you okay?" I looked over at him, and he cleared his throat and asked silently, as though whispering, ¡®I didn¡¯t mean to make you ufortable. The reason I asked if you remembered what the world was like¡­ The survivors, they all look exhausted. I wonder if you remember that we both would feel fatigue when we were both human.¡¯ ¡®...¡¯ ¡®The leader of Silence stayed up all night. There¡¯s no way everyone can give their all.¡¯ When I heard Do Han-Sol''s words, Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s face swam into my mind. Previously, when I¡¯d been grinding away without taking the time to rest, he¡¯d said something to me while the two of us were alone in the meeting room. - Your body doesn¡¯t naturally tell you that it needs to rest. You have to make time to take a rest. Take it easy. There¡¯s a saying that, even in the midst of war, flowers bloom and love would fill the air. Perhaps I was taking out my nervousness and frustration on others. I realized that I might¡¯ve forgotten the realities of human living, even while I was wishing to live in harmony with others, now that I had gotten used to this zombie body of mine. I pressed my fingers gently against my temples, momentarily lost in thought. I needed a moment to clear my mind. I handed the walkie-talkie to Do Han-Sol and asked him to pass on my words to the others. ¡®Tell everyone to rest, but tell Kim Hyeong-Jun to be extra vignt.¡¯'' ''Got it.'' Do Han-Sol nodded, and a smile finally broke across his face. I had totally forgotten about what I had promised myself, even though I was the one who¡¯d said that I would be fighting for the sake of others. My head sagged dejectedly, and Do Han-Sol spoke up. ¡°We still think and have the hearts of humans, despite the fact that we look like this. I understand where you¡¯reing from.¡± ¡°...¡± I looked at Do Han-Sol without saying a word, and he smiled thinly. ¡°I know how difficult it is to stick to your original convictions. I don''t know if I have the right to say this¡­ But it¡¯s nice to see you contemting. It makes you seem like a person that tries their very best, even though they know they¡¯re not perfect.¡± I nodded slowly as I listened to Do Han-Sol. I¡¯d figured him as an emotional person, but now, looking at him, it seemed like he had a mature side to him as well. I was fortunate to have formed an alliance with Do Han-Sol. * * * There were zombies packed on Bamseom, in the middle of the Han River.[1] The northern end of Sogang Bridge, which led toward Bamseom, was also teeming with zombies. The blue-eyed zombie that was overlooking everything from a distance away, looked at the first officer next to him and asked, ¡°How many mutants are there?¡± ¡°There are eighty stage-one mutants and one stage-two mutant.¡± ¡°One, huh¡­¡± The head of the Family furrowed his brow, then sighed. ¡°And the n?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll lead my underlings to the southern end of the Sogang Bridge, and the second and third officers will follow behind me. After that, we will unleash the mutants and go after their weak spots.¡± ¡°And did you secure the way to Sogang Bridge?¡± The first officer pointed to the stairs on Bamseom. ¡°As you can see, sir.¡± It was an enormously tall stairway. Both the northern and southern ends of all of the bridges across the Han River had been destroyed. However, when it came to Sogang Bridge, the part that connected it to Bamseom was the only part that had been destroyed. It seemed like there hadn''t been enough explosives to get the job done. Because of this, Sogang Bridge became ground zero, theunching pad for the Gangnam Operation. The head of the Family crossed his arms. ¡°The stairs will decrease our mobility. I told you loud and clear to build a mound¡­ Why¡¯d you bother to make stairs instead?¡± ¡°A mound might not be able to withstand the weight of our underlings, and would eventually copse. But with stairs, we don¡¯t have to worry about that.¡± ¡°And are you sure you can keep your word?¡± "Yes, sir." The first officer answered without the slightest hesitation. The boss took a deep breath and nodded slowly, then looked over at the second officer. ¡°Second officer, have you received any reports on the situation in Gwangjin-gu?¡± ¡°It seems that the sixth and seventh officers are mobilizing in an orderly manner. They have already gathered the dong leaders together, and mobilized the baits as well.¡± ¡°It seems like someone did their preparations. Did they say they¡¯d be fine without mutants?¡± ¡°Yes, but it seemed like only the seventh officer¡¯s lures were mobilized, because the sixth officer¡¯s lures were wiped out during the battle at Shelter Seoul Forest.¡± The lures were units that reported directly to an officer. And this was the reason why the seventh officer had intervened in the Seongsu dong leader¡¯s business, since her own units had been part of the Shelter Seoul Forest raid. That was all the more reason for her to bash him for not getting the job done. The boss of the gang crossed his arms and nodded, then muttered to himself, "Today¡­ is going to be one hell of a day.¡± The first, second, and third officers, who were beside him, remained silent. The boss looked at them. ¡°And at the end of a hard day, we should smile, am I right??¡± Although the boss was smiling, there was an icy edge to his voice, frigid enough to send chills down the spine. The officers shivered. The boss had no intention to coddle orfort. There was nothing but ice in his voice. The other officers swallowed and answered vigorously, "Yes, sir!" ¡°If I ever get to the stage where I can¡¯tughfortably, I''m not going to feel very good. So everyone, do your best. Am I clear?" The officers bowed deeply from the waist. A proud,cent smile spread across the boss¡¯ face. Failure was not a possibility for him. ¡°Let¡¯s roll out.¡± * * * The sun was a tiny sliver of light above the western horizon, and the sky was already a dark, inky blue. I took out my walkie-talkie and looked at Do Han-Sol. ''The sun¡¯s starting to set. If you could tell everyone to get focused, that¡¯d be great.'' ¡®There¡¯s no need to be so formal.'' ¡®...¡¯ I nodded without saying a word. Do Han-Sol smiled and checked the status of the walkie-talkie. ¡°Do you hear me? Do you hear me?¡± There was the sound of static, followed by a reply. - I can hear you. Go ahead. It was Hwang Ji-Hye''s voice. Do Han-Sol wet his parched lips and continued to speak. ¡°Has anything happened over there?¡± - Nothing major to report. ¡°Lee Hyun-Deok has requested that wemence the operation.¡± - All right. After hearing Hwang Ji-Hye''s answer, I looked at Do Han-Sol. ''I don''t know what¡¯s going to happen once I go into Jayang-dong and destroy their camp. What did I tell you to do if the gang members ignore me ande here instead?'' ''I have to push this fellow over here, right?'' As he answered, Do Han-Sol pointed at my underling, who was next to him. Do Han-Sol couldmand a total of nine hundred underlings, which was a lot less than what Kim Hyeong-Jun and I could control. I was leaving an underling with Do Han-Sol in case the enemies broke through his lines. If Do Han-Sol was unable to keep the enemy at bay, he would push my underling, who would then send me a signal. I nodded vigorously and got up. I had no intention of ying along with their games from the beginning. I wasn¡¯t going to wait for them toe. Instead, I was going to make the first move. The Family was the one sparking the war, but the start and finale of the battle belonged to the Survivors Rally Organization. We would be the ones remembered as victorious. 1. Bamseom is a pair of islets located in the Han River in Seoul, Korea. It means ¡°Chestnut Ind¡± in Korean. ? Chapter 96

Chapter 96

There was no way of telling how many forces the members of the Family had gathered up in Gwangjin-gu. Considering that there were four dong leaders and an officer, and all the underlings they could control¡­ I assumed there would be well over five thousand of them. I knew that we would be overwhelmed by their numbers if all of them raided Seongsu-dong at once. That¡¯s why I nned to wear them down a little by attacking their camp before they could attack us. I was certain that the dong leader of Guui-dong would react first if I attacked Jayang-dong. Counterattack, or bolster their defenses? That was the question. I nned on making sure the dong leaders had to make tough decisions at each juncture. I wanted to sow chaos. The dong leader of Guui-dong would have to adapt to the new situation. And just like a zombie should, the dong leader had better live up to the nasty fight I was bringing him. I took a deep breath, then gave orders to the underlings behind me. ''Everyone, advance.'' GRRR!!! All of my underlings, who had been hiding in the surrounding buildings, poured out into the streets, filling the air with their throat-rending cries. I walked into the middle of the main road, over a thousand zombies at my back. One thousand and two hundred and fifty zombies.? Among them were five stage-one mutants. I had all my underlings with me, except for one hundred that were managing the zombie prison, and another one hundred that were defending Shelter Hae-Young. I had no clue what this dong leader of Jayang-dong was like, but I knew that they had to brace themselves for what was about toe. * * * As I approached the border of Jayang-dong, I began to sense a chill in the air, whichplemented the dreary atmosphere. Amongst the thickyers of dust and shards of broken ss, unrecognizable objects were scattered all over the ce. There were absolutely no traces of people, and all I could see were marks of pain, indicating just how much devastation this ce had gone through. My glowing red eyes red, and I heightened my senses. I became acutely aware of my surroundings. I leaped onto the rooftop of a four-story building in front of me to get a better vantage point, crouching down as I scanned the area. My eyesnded on a crowd of zombies that were about four hundred meters away. A thousand? No¡­ Fourteen hundred of them? The zombies that filled the street were all glowing red, and two zombies of a different build were conversing in the middle of the crowd. Although I couldn¡¯t hear their voices, they were nodding and exchanging hand gestures, which suggested they were zombies with glowing red eyes. ''One must be a dong leader¡­ But then what about the other one?¡¯ I assumed that there would only be one zombie with glowing red eyes, but an expected guest was there as well. I decided to monitor the situation instead of attacking. I guessed that the other one might be a signaller, who was reporting back to their officer. I crept as silently as I could into the darkness, trying to get close enough to hear their voices. After passing a pile of stinking garbage, I headed further into the dark alleyways of the city. I made it as close as fifty meters,ying t on the ground and focusing all my attention on my hearing. ¡°Said¡­" "Then¡­ When they¡­ We should¡­¡± Even though I had heightened my hearing as much as I could, their conversation was notpletely audible. The only thing I could hear clearly was when either one of themughed at the top of their lungs. Judging by the way they wereughing, I assumed that they weren¡¯t preparing an imminent attack on Seongsu-dong. I couldn¡¯t help but grin as I watched them with their guard down. I entered the building on my right and examined the surrounding terrain. To the north was a middle school, and at the southern end, I saw Ttukseom Park, which was at a lower elevation. The fact that they were waiting on the southern side of Neungdong-ro made it clear that this was the vanguard that would be attacking Seongsu 2-ga, 1-dong. There were two enemy leaders,manding about fourteen hundred underlings. I was surprised that there were two zombies with glowing red eyes, but it wasn¡¯t too much of a hindrance to my n to intercept the vanguard before they attacked. I gave orders to my underlings that were waiting at the border of Jayang-dong. ¡®Stage-one mutants: move south to Ttukseom Park. First, second, and thirdpany: wait for my orders.¡¯ After giving them orders, I could sense and visualize them moving along their respective routes. When my mutants arrived at Ttukseom Park, I gave them additional orders. ¡®Mutants, advance north along Neungdong Road. Kill all the zombies that look red along the way.'' After receiving the order to advance, the mutants roared out throat-rending cries and advanced along Neungdong-ro.[1] The building I was in gave me an overview of the whole area. I noticed the two members of the Family looking toward Ttukseom Park once they heard the monstrous cries. The mutants leaped over buildings using their long limbs and crashed into the enemy lines, moving swiftly on all fours. Having been caught off-guard, the forces of the Family tried to respond to the threat without even having the time to get into formation. Even though I was the one who gave them the order to attack, I was still surprised by the amount of force these stage-one mutants could bring to bear. Since one mutant could easily take on fifty zombies, it was difficult to envision just how overwhelming it would be for the enemies to handle five mutants together. Zombie limbs flew into the air, and the main road was sttered with zombie blood. I quickly snapped my attention back to what I had to do, and urgently gave orders to the rest of my underlings. ¡®Firstpany, join the mutants and secondpany head north, all the way to Achasan-ro. Tell me when red zombies appear from the east side. Thirdpany, stay where you are and kill all the zombies that try to enter Seongsu-dong.¡¯ As I gave the orders, eachpany moved off in unison. I had five hundred underlings in eachpany, but the thirdpany was only at half-strength. Therefore, instead of throwing the thirdpany into battle, I used them as guards to secure my territory. I held back from entering the fray and continued to observe the situation. As soon as the firstpany joined the fight, The forces of the Family rapidly began to decrease. My five hundred underlings, with the mutants leading the charge, easily overwhelmed the one fourteen hundred enemy underlings. When I noticed that the scales were tipping in my favor, I snuck in behind the enemy¡¯s main forces. If the leaders knew what they were doing, they¡¯d probably order the retreat at any second. I was nning to go after the leader¡¯s head as they pulled back. GRRR!!! KWAAA!!! KWA!!! KIAAA!!! The cacophony of zombie war cries echoed through the dreary streets. Neungdong-ro, which had been covered in dust, began to flood with zombie blood. The two zombie leaders noticed that they were fighting a losing battle and started to flee. It seemed like they were abandoning their underlings and retreating before it was toote. I did not let this chance slip by, and raced out of cover to stop them. The two of them halted as I appeared in front of them, blocking their path. They exchanged uneasy nces. I charged toward the enemy leader to my right. As I hurled a punch toward the enemy leader, it reflexively bent its upper body backward. ''It avoided my punch?'' Doubt crept into the corners of my mind. I quickly stepped back and observed their movements. The two of them controlled a total of fourteen hundred underlings. If that were the case, then given their physical capabilities, it would be difficult enough for them to even follow my movements with their eyes. But how in the world¡­ The two looked back and forth nervously. Then the zombie on the right spoke to the zombie on the left. ¡°Report back to the seventh officer.¡± "Roger." The zombie on the left quickly jumped onto the roof of a building. The signaller. I couldn¡¯t let that zombie go. As I tried to chase the fleeing zombie, the zombie on the right shed toward me. It reached me in an instant, and I quickly dodged to the side, my eyes widening at its sudden movement. Smash! Its fist went through the wall behind me. Its arm didn¡¯t break even after destroying the wall, which meant it had to be a leader that couldmand at least a thousand underlings. Right then, I finally understood the situation. One zombie was here to act as a signaller, and was not apanied by any of their own underlings, while the zombie in front of me was the dong leader of Jayang-dong, and was controlling the fourteen hundred underlings. I looked straight into its eyes and asked, ''So you¡¯re the dong leader of Jayang-dong, eh?'' ¡°Ha! This bastard shows up from the middle of nowhere and tries to fuck me up?¡± It looked me up and down. ¡°Wait a minute. It¡¯s you, huh. The one that killed the dong leader of Majang-dong and Seongsu-dong.¡± ¡®Don¡¯t you worry, you¡¯ll be joining them soon.¡¯ ¡°Judging by your movements¡­ I don¡¯t doubt that.¡± It epted its death somewhat easily. I furrowed my brows at its reaction, and it continued with a smile, ¡°It¡¯s kind of obvious, if you think about it. The dong leader of Seongsu-dong was stronger than me. And if you beat the dong leader of Seongsu-dong¡­ I don¡¯t really stand a chance, don¡¯t you think?¡± ''Then stop trying to fight back.¡¯ ¡°No, no, no. Given how things stand now¡­ I think the only chance for me to survive is to keep you in check for as long as I can.¡± As I frowned and red at the dong leader of Jayang-dong, it sneered at me. ¡°The guy that just ran away is going toe back with the dong leader of Guui-dong and the seventh officer. Till then, you¡¯re gonna have to deal with me.¡± ''Well, that¡¯s not part of my n.¡¯ I sprung from the ground, my red eyes shing. I charged toward its torso in an instant and shattered its ribs. It coughed up blood and flew into the building behind it. I followed up with punches to the face and chest. The zombie leader coughed out dark red blood and hurriedly covered its face with its arms. I tightened the muscles in my legs and kicked its arms. Crack! My strike shattered its arms, and my shin drove straight into its Adam¡¯s apple. The zombie leader let out a strangled cough, and its pupils dted as if its eyes were going to burst. Tears of blood flowed out the corners of its eyes. It slumped against the wall of the building, croaking out a final few words. ¡°You¡­ You¡­ Bastard.¡± As I raised my right fist, it looked at me with eyes full of fear. "Ate¡­ ck¡­ ck creature¡­¡± The zombie leader slumped to the side before it could finish its sentence. It died before I could evennd my final blow. I wondered how it could tell that I had eaten a ck creature without having seen my regenerative ability. I shook my head violently and stomped on its lower body with my right foot. I knew that it wasn¡¯t the time to be distracted by these useless thoughts. I let out a deep breath and gave orders to my underlings. ¡®Firstpany and mutants, hide yourselves in Ttukseom Park. Everyone else, hold your position.¡¯ KRRR!!! I jumped onto the roof of a building, hearing my underlings¡¯ confident replies. As I looked around, my eyes fell on the signaller, who was already a fair distance away. I had to catch it. I couldn¡¯t let it escape, no matter what. I ground my teeth audibly and channeled all my strength into my legs. I felt my Achilles tendon lengthen, and my thigh muscles bulged as if they were about to pop. My focus was totally on the signaller¡¯s back. The surroundings around me blurred. My eyes were locked onto my retreating prey. My pupils narrowed, and my zombie instincts, which had been suppressed by my rational mind, took over. Crack! I leaped forward instantly, using the guardrail on the roof as a tform. The more I focused on my prey, the faster my blood began to circte throughout my body. All my senses sharpened like never before. Whoosh¨C The sound of wind rushing past my ears got louder and stronger, and each step I took was filled with such force that it seemed as if I was trying to smash a hole in the ground each time. Even though I wasn¡¯t injured, steam leaked out from my mouth. I felt a tingling shudder run through my body. This feeling, this thrill¡­ It felt like joy to me. Before I knew it, I had caught up to the signaller, and its head was in my palm. It took in a sudden breath and screamed at the top of its lungs. I smashed its face against the outer wall of the building in front of me, steam streaming out from my lungs. Crack! The dreadful sound of a human skull being crushed echoed through the dreary streets. I¡­ I could not calm myself. Even though I had gotten rid of the enemy, the tingling feeling inside me had no intention of going away. Instead, my zombie instincts cried out for more prey to hunt and ughter. Unable to shut off this thrill I felt inside, I began to feel angry. I clenched my fists to regte my emotions, but it was difficult to tamp down on the heightened emotions in me, and the constant ringing in my head only amplified my killer instinct. I covered my mouth with my trembling hands. I had to calm down somehow. I had to suppress my zombie instincts. I had relied too much on my instincts to catch the signaller. I bit into my right arm with my sharpened teeth. My flesh tasted fishy. I ground the bones in my hand between my sharp teeth. I tightened my grip and closed my eyes tightly. Only then did my heightened emotions slowly begin to subside. I sighed and slumped to the ground. Descending into madness to kill my enemies¡­ That was something I could do when the officers showed upter on. But right now, I had to stay rational and hold on to my consciousness. The real fight was just about to start. 1. The suffix ¡®-ro¡¯ indicates a road or street in Korean addresses. In this case, they are advancing along Neungdong Road. ?? Chapter 97

Chapter 97

I hoisted the corpse of the signaller onto my back and returned to my underlings. Iid its body next to that of the dong leader of Jayang-dong, then took a deep breath and stretched. I checked on my remaining troops and realized that I had lost nearly one hundred and fifty underlings from the firstpany. All of my stage-one mutants were alive, but one of them was seriously injured. One of its arms had fallen off, and the flesh covering its abdomen had been torn to shreds. I wondered if mutantscked regenerative abilities. I tried to keep my mind open to possibilities, and looked around at the motionless zombies that littered the area. The dong leader¡¯s underlings had lost theirmander, and were all looking up at the sky nkly. I pointed to them and gave orders to the injured mutant. ''Eat.'' Ki¡­ Ah¡­ The mutant tottered toward the zombies. Using one good arm, it grabbed onto one head after another and stuffing it into its mouth. The mutant showed no signs of stopping. I wondered if it was because I hadn¡¯t given it specific orders on how many to eat. After eating about ten zombies, a dark red-colored bone started to grow from the stump of its missing arm. The more brains it ate, the more the bones continued to grow. As the bone took form, ligaments, muscles, and flesh began to grow around it as well. After it had finished eating about thirty brains, its woundspletely disappeared, as if it had never been injured in the first ce. KIAAA!!! The mutant let out a raspy cry and looked me straight in the eyes. The mutant that had just regenerated seemed triumphant, unlike the other mutants. Its skin color was also darker than the others. It was miles away from being a ck creature, but I could vaguely tell that it had grown stronger than before. I looked at the newly-strengthened mutant. ¡®You¡¯re the mutant leader from now on.¡¯ Kia¡­ It rolled its countless eyeballs and looked at me from top to bottom, theny t on the floor and wentpletely still. I wondered if this was its manner of showing that it had epted its role as the mutant leader. As I watched its behavior, the gears in my mind began to turn. ''I need to make more mutants.'' So far, I had limited the number of mutants because of the potential threat, and pressure of having to constantly feed them zombies. But the stage-one mutants hadn¡¯t asked for zombies for over a month, and yet I was still able to maintain mymand over them. And since they regenerated any body parts they lost after eating zombies, they were superior in every aspectpared to regr zombies, especially when it came tobat. If normal zombies were just ordinary soldiers, these mutants were like generals. I organized my thoughts and headed to the rooftop again. The city was engulfed in darkness, and it was impossible to tell anything apart. I jumped across the rooftops and found a vantage point that overlooked Jayang-dong. It was possible that other zombie leaders had hidden their underlings nearby, just as I had left my underling with Do Han-Sol. After an hour-long search of Jayang-dong, however, I did note across any red zombies. I let out a sigh of relief and headed for Seongsu-dong with my underlings in tow. When I got to Seongsu 2-ga, 1-dong, I saw Do Han-Sol¡¯s face peeking out from a rooftop. He jumped down to the first floor in an instant and approached me. ''How did things go over there?'' ''It went as nned.'' ''Did you take care of the dong leader of Jayang-dong?'' I nodded, and Do Han-Sol let out a burst of admiration. ''Wow¡­ You, sir, are really amazing. You¡¯ve earned my respect.'' ¡®Well, things aren¡¯t looking too good though.¡¯ ''Pardon?¡¯ ¡®I assumed that all the officers would head toward Gunja-dong¡­ But it seems like they¡¯re at Guui-dong.¡¯ I recalled the words the dong leader of Jayang-dong had said before I killed it. - The guy that just ran away is going toe back with the dong leader of Guui-dong and the seventh officer. Till then, you¡¯re gonna have to deal with me. This meant that the seventh officer was close to Jayang-dong, and since the leader had specifically mentioned Guui-dong¡­ The seventh officer was most likely stationed in Guui-dong. Do Han-Sol Do scratched his sideburns and thought for a moment, then smiled sheepishly. ''Umm¡­ I¡¯m sorry but I¡¯m not following¡­'' ¡®The forces from Jayang-dong and Guui-dong were supposed to be the vanguard for this attack. However, there are officers involved in these areas. Something doesn¡¯t add up.¡¯ I looked up and tilted my head, and Do Han-Sol mirrored me. It seemed like he had no idea what I was talking about. I sighed and continued to speak. ¡®They¡¯re targeting Gunja-dong first. But why is there an officer taking part in the Seongsu-dong raid? There¡¯s clearly something fishy about this.¡¯ ¡®Then¡­¡¯ Do Han-sol swallowed, as if he had finally understood what I was trying to say. ¡®Then there are¡­¡¯ I nodded. ¡®Yeah, probably. There are at least two officers.¡¯ Do Han-Sol¡¯s mouth opened and closed like a goldfish, and he put his right hand on his forehead. For someone like Do Han-Sol, who had barely been able to handle a dong leader, officers were beings that he didn¡¯t dare challenge. And there were two of those beings taking part in this attack on Gwangjin-gu. This was also the reason why I hadn¡¯t gone to Guui-dong after dealing with the dong leader of Jayang-dong. I would¡¯ve been in trouble if I had advanced all the way to Guui-dong and encountered the seventh officer. If the dong leader of Guui-dong snuck behind my back while I was dealing with the seventh officer, it would have been a piece of cake to take me down. I had to get stronger. I had to get stronger somehow to win this battle and turn Gwangjin-gu into a safe zone. I looked at my underlings behind me and spoke up. ¡®If any red zombies show up, hold them off at all costs. Make sure not a single one makes it through.¡¯ GRR!!! Satisfied by my underlings¡¯ answering cries, I grabbed the two corpses on the ground. Do Han-Sol watched me pick the two corpses up and came up to me. ''What are you trying to do?'' ''I''m going to eat a brain.'' ¡®Pardon? What if theye in the meantime?'' ¡®The earliest they¡¯lle is tomorrow night. They¡¯ll probably notice that the dong leader of Jayang-dong is dead tomorrow morning.¡¯ ''I don''t know¡­ I have a bad feeling about this.¡¯ ¡®I¡¯m only going to eat one. It was weaker than me, so I¡¯ll probably pass out for half a day at most.¡¯ Do Han-Sol swallowed as he listened to my answer. He then pointed to the two corpses in my hand. ¡®Then the other one... Do you mind if I eat its brain?¡¯ ¡®There¡¯s no way you can.¡¯ ¡®I¡¯m sorry¡­¡¯ Do Han-Sol¡¯s head sagged, his expression growing bitter. I wondered if I¡¯d answered him too forcefully. He seemed dejected. I chuckled and spoke. ''It''s not because I don''t trust you.'' ''No, not at all. I was the one who crossed the line. I didn¡¯t have any ill intentions in mind when I asked¡­ I thought it would help if I became a little stronger.¡¯ ''Thank you, but you can¡¯t eat this one¡¯s brain. In fact, no one should right now. This one had underlings with them, but the other one was just a signaller. I didn¡¯t have the chance to identify the signaller¡¯s underlings.¡¯ ¡®Oh¡­¡¯ ¡®Judging from the signaller¡¯s movement speed, I¡¯m guessing that it probably had at least seven hundred underlings. What do you think will happen if its underlings are in enemy territory when we eat its brain?¡¯ ''They''ll know that Jayang-dong was attacked.'' I smiled lightly and nodded. Do Han-Sol returned a smile of his own. ¡®I didn¡¯t know you were thinking that far ahead. I¡­ I still have a long way to go to catch up to you.¡¯ ¡®I wasn¡¯t any different. If Hyeong-Jun hadn¡¯t helped me, I would¡¯ve already been dead.¡¯ ¡®Haha¡­¡¯ ¡®Anyway, double your efforts in keeping a lookout for the enemy. I ordered my underlings to kill any red zombie that appears¡­ But they can¡¯t make decisions for themselves, so¡­¡¯ ¡®Got it!¡¯ Do Han-Sol straightened his back. His reply was full of vigor. I chuckled, then took the corpse of the dong leader of Jayang-dong and disappeared into the darkness. * * * The next day, I woke up squinting. The sun was right above me. I tossed and turned on the old couch that I¡¯d found on a random rooftop to get back to my senses. As I awoke, I noticed the cool breeze blowing gently on my cheeks. I massaged my stiff neck and headed straight to Seongsu 1-ga, 2-dong. When I returned to where I¡¯d left Do Han-Sol the night before, I saw him holding a walkie-talkie. ¡°Then what would you like to do?¡± - I think it¡¯d be better for us to strike first. "Pardon? That¡¯s a no-go. I¡¯m currently waiting for Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok¡­¡± I poked him in the shoulder with a finger, and he turned around in surprise. ''Oh, did you sleep alright?'' ''What¡¯s going on?'' ¡®Well, the thing is¡­¡¯ Do Han-Sol filled me in on what had happened the night before. He told me that the gang members¡¯ underlings were deployed along the borders of Seongsu-dong. It seemed to be a reaction to losing contact with their signaller. They seemed to be quick on their feet with everything, and now that they seemed to have raised their DEFCON level, they were moving at a speed that exceeded my expectations.[1] I furrowed my brow as I looked at Do Han-Sol. ¡®How many zombies do they have?'' ''About that¡­ I don¡¯t think it¡¯ll be an easy fight.¡¯ I asked him to exin the situation in detail. Do Han-Sol sucked on his lower lip for a moment. ''I think they have well over four thousand zombies.¡¯ ''What?'' My jaw dropped to the ground. That number was beyond belief. I swallowed. ¡®Are the ones heading to Gunja-dong with them as well? Are all the Family¡¯s forces together?¡¯ ¡®Well¡­ There¡¯s no way of knowing that¡­¡¯ I clicked my tongue and gestured at the walkie-talkie. ''Pass on my words.¡¯ Do Han-Sol nodded, looking into my eyes while picking up the walkie-talkie. ¡°Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok is telling me that we shouldn¡¯t attack hastily. We need to wait.¡± - Is he up now? ¡°Yes, he just joined me.¡± - Then tell him this. That there aren¡¯t any zombies with glowing red eyes among them, so we''re going to go ahead and attack them first.? I waved my hands furiously after hearing what she said. Hwang Ji-Hye had gotten the situation all wrong. It was theplete opposite of what she presumed. Not being able to identify any zombies with glowing red eyes didn¡¯t mean it was okay. In fact, it meant theplete opposite. In order to know how strong the zombies were and what they were capable of, it was essential to first determine how many zombies with glowing red eyes were controlling them. I told all of this to Do Han-Sol. He nodded, then spoke into the walkie-talkie again. ¡°He¡¯s asking if there are any mutants.¡± - There are no mutants in sight. I clenched my fists when I heard that there weren¡¯t any mutants. This changed the entire situation. The opponents had a lot of zombies, but we had mutants. I had mutants, but Kim Hyeong-Jun had even stronger mutants, since Kim Hyeong-Jun had five stage-one mutants, along with Mood-Swinger. I tapped Do Han-Sol on the shoulder. ¡°Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok is looking for Kim Hyeong-Jun.¡± - Go ahead and speak. He¡¯s right next to me. "Uh¡­ Hmm¡­ He¡¯s looking for a person named Mood-Swinger¡­?¡± - I beg your pardon? I could tell that Hwang Ji-Hye was bewildered. Judging from the fact that there was silence on the other end, I assumed Hwang Ji-Hye and Kim Hyeong-Jun weremunicating through his notepad. A littleter, I heard Hwang Ji-Hye¡¯s voice. - He said that Mood-Swinger is still in Majang-dong. ¡°Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok is asking Kim Hyeong-Jun to bring Mood-Swinger to him.¡± - He¡¯s asking if that¡¯ll be okay¡­ But who is this Mood-Swinger? I could tell that Hwang Ji-Hye was annoyed by this jargon that only me and Kim Hyeong-Jun could understand. But I had no time to exin everything to her. I looked into Do Han-Sol¡¯s face, and he briefly summarized what I¡¯dmunicated to him to Hwang Ji-Hye. ¡°He¡¯s saying that the fate of this war depends on Mood-Swinger.¡± - Alright, I¡¯ll let this pass for now. But Kim Hyeong-Jun is telling me to ry to you that he won¡¯t take the me for whatever happens. I do have a question¡­ This person named Mood-Swinger¡­ They won¡¯t happen to hurt us in any way, right? ¡°...¡± Do Han-Sol didn¡¯t reply. Because I didn¡¯t say anything. Grr¡­ Gaaa¡­ I heard zombies howling from Achasan-ro, far far away. Their cries echoed around the area, causing my five senses to prick up. I looked straight ahead. Do Han-Sol, who was next to me, had a puzzled look on his face. ¡°What, what is it? What is this sound?¡± I headed toward the rooftop of the building to my right. I stood atop the eight-story building and looked out, and my eyes were greeted by a sight that made my jaw drop. An enormous, endless wave of red zombies was advancing our way. The war had started. I anticipated that they would move when the sun went down, but instead, they¡¯d initiated the war while the sun was still at its zenith. I cried out to Do Han-Sol, who was on the rooftop of a five-story building across from me. ¡°GRRR!!!¡± Do Han-Sol gave me a startled expression. I looked into his eyes. ''They¡¯reing. Get ready.'' Do Han-Sol nodded vigorously and shouted into the walkie-talkie, ¡°Prepare for battle!¡± 1. DEFCON refers to defense readiness condition, an alert state used by the United States Armed Forces. It has five levels of readiness, each level corresponding to a different readiness level. The lower the number, the lower the readiness. ?? Chapter 98

Chapter 98

Stomp, stomp, stomp. I heard their footsteps approaching. The ground rumbled and my senses started to tingle, stimted by the overwhelming sound. I could hear Do Han-Sol swallow. I saw him trembling, the walkie-talkie still in his hand. When I touched his shoulder, he jumped in surprise. I wondered how nervous he had to be, to react so sensitively to even the slightest touch. ''Don''t be nervous. I¡¯ll take care of the strong ones.¡¯ ¡®Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok¡­¡¯ Do Han-Sol trailed off, then schooled his features into an expression of determination and gave me a sharp nod. Four hundred meters¡­ Three hundred meters¡­ Two hundred meters¡­ One hundred meters. The moment they came within our reach, I looked at Do Han-Sol and nodded. Do Han-Sol shouted into the walkie-talkie as if he¡¯d been waiting eagerly for it. ¡°Fire in the hole!¡± Momentster, explosions rocked the northern side of Achasan-ro. The guards in Seongsu 2-ga, 3-dong were hurling grenades toward the zombies. We didn¡¯t have explosives to nt on the streets, but grenades were enough to hold them off. However, the zombies entering Seongsu 2-ga, 1-dong showed no signs of surprise, and rushed toward me and Do Han-Sol after hearing the explosions. I gave my underlings a signal to attack as I jumped down to the first floor. Since we were outnumbered, I couldn¡¯t just sit around on the rooftop and give orders. I had to reduce the number of zombies somehow. Or I had to kill the enemy leader. GRRR!!! A zombie came running toward me, waving its arms madly. I grabbed its head at once and smashed it into the ground. Crack! The enemy leader hadn¡¯t shown up yet, but I couldn¡¯t go easy on them. I knew that restraint would only cost me more of my underling¡¯s lives. My eyes shed, heightening all my senses. In order to be stronger and faster, I increased the rate of cirction of my blood. My inner instincts were stimted by my heightened senses and rapidly flowing blood. Pshhh¡­ ¡°Kia¡­.¡± Steam poured out from my mouth. My pupils constricted, and a constant ringing inside my head triggered a feeling of ecstasy throughout my body. The thrill I felt in the midst of this intense situation caused joy to erupt within me. My glowing red eyes shed. ¡°GRRR!!!¡± I roared at the enemies and charged toward them like a raging bull. I cracked the heads of the zombies in front of me as if I was splitting apples in half. The tremors shooting up from my fingertips into the rest of my arms no longer felt abhorrent. I''d been through many simr situations, and each of those instances had contributed to making me the monster I was. The adversities I¡¯d suffered became the foundation for my growth as a zombie, but like a double-edged sword, it had also slowly carved away the humanity within me. I bore down on the enemy forces like a raging wave. No matter where I turned, all I could see were zombies. A zombie reaching out its hand toward me; a zombie charging at me with its mouth wide open; a zombie with severed limbs. I twisted my upper body at an angle that was impossible for any other living being, and tore their limbs apart. ¡®More, more, more! More!!!'' I wanted more to ughter. I wanted more deaths. I wanted to move faster. My zombie instincts were nothing but pure violence, and they started to take over my body. I tore off the street sign at Seongsu intersection and swung it toward the zombies. I had no time to deal with these zombies one by one, zombies that believed they held the advantage purely because of their numbers. The smell of fresh zombie blood made my nose twitch, further stirring up the madness inside me. I hit everything and everyone that came my way. I didn¡¯te up with a reason, didn¡¯t care to justify my actions; I was only concerned with smashing everything that stood in my way. Thud! Something blocked the street sign that I was wielding. My gaze fell on a zombie with glowing red eyes, who was holding the tip of the sign with its hand. "It¡¯s you, you motherfucking bastard.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but smile after hearing its voice. The enemy leader had made their appearance, drawn by the chaos that I¡¯d created. I rushed toward it like a beast that was starving to death. Its eyes grew wide, and it twisted its upper body aside. I noticed early on that it had nted its right foot behind as it twisted its upper body, and was able to anticipate the direction in which it was going to dodge. I quickly twisted my head, stretching my neck and baring my sharp teeth. It gasped and grabbed onto my face with its hands. It was dead. I reached out to grab its arms, pulling it toward the ground. It lost bnce and fell to the ground. I didn¡¯t let the chance slip by, sinking my teeth into its neck. ¡°Dong leader!!!¡± A voice cut through the chaos, calling for the dong leader. I turned to see where the voice wasing from, and saw two zombies with glowing red eyes. Their frightened faces almost made me drool with anticipation. I straightened my upper body and stared at them. My thirst was insatiable. I always knew that the zombie vanguard had to be decimated before the real, tense fight could begin. I couldn¡¯t be more thankful that the enemy leaders had appeared in front of me of their own ord. They seemed to hesitate for a brief moment, but quickly looked at the zombies around them and began to give out orders. All the surrounding zombies converged on me at once. I lowered my upper body and clenched my fists. This was exactly what I wanted as well. Whoosh¨C At that moment, I sensed a murderous re fixed on me. I looked up instinctively and saw a pair of glowing red eyes shooting toward me like a falling meteor. I realized that it was aiming straight for my head, and quickly threw myself backward. Bang!!! The impact threw up a huge cloud of dust, and pieces of asphalt exploded outward in all directions. I squinted, trying to make out the unknown being hidden within the cloud of dust. The killing intent that was trained on me sharpened my five senses, and cold sweat trickled down my forehead. The madness that had peaked within me was quickly wearing off, and I tried my best to hold on to my sanity. This brief moment felt like an eternity. The sudden surge of emotion wore off, and I could hear a constant, high-pitched whine in my mind. I knew intuitively that the being that had crashed into the ground in front of me was not to be taken lightly. I saw a pair of red eyes sh within the thick dust cloud, and before I knew it, the beingunched itself toward me. My eyes went wide, and I quickly twisted my body. The lethal attack that had been aimed at my stomach shed inches wide. I knew it would¡¯ve gotten me if it hadnded. As I lost my bnce and stumbled, the zombies nearby stretched out to grab me in unison. I was like a fly caught in a spider¡¯s web, being tugged around left and right. I quickly braced my lower body to regain my bnce, and before I knew it, a pair of glowing red eyes were right in front of me, the arms of the zombie that they belonged to shing toward me. It was a woman. Her pupils were thin vertical slits. She wore thick makeup in an attempt to cover up her bluishplexion, and she was grinning widely. ¡°Hup!¡± I took in a breath and pulled the zombies that were biting my arms in front of me. Her fingertips pierced through my two makeshift meat shields and speared into my sr plexus. I fell backward, my eyes wide with shock. Reddish blood oozed from the deep cut just below my chest. I got up and wiped the blood off my stomach. Now I was certain. This woman was an officer. As soon as I was injured, the ringing inside my head had intensified, and the high-pitched whine was even clearer than before. I couldn¡¯t let this fight drag on. In fact, there was no way that I could continue the fight under these circumstances. I couldn¡¯t fully focus on the officer, not with all these other zombies grabbing onto me left and right like leeches. The odds of defeating the officer here were slim to none. The wise move would be to momentarily retreat from enemy-held territory. I knocked aside the zombies around me and flicked my gaze across the area, taking in my surroundings. I didn¡¯t see any tall buildings, but I saw the tracks of Line 2 passing right above my head. Crouching down, I sprang into the air. The officer, who was watching my every move, followed me instantly. Inded on the rail tracks and saw a train leaning halfway over the tracks, suspended by wires. The scene perfectly depicted the world that we¡¯d inherited. I looked into the officer¡¯s face, and she smirked. ¡°You¡¯ve got some moves under your belt. Pretty impressive.¡± ¡®Are you an officer of the Family?'' ¡°I¡¯m the seventh officer.¡± The seventh officer¡¯s tone was cold, and she was no longer smiling. She seemed to have an authoritative side to her. We were fifty meters apart. Judging from her movements I¡¯d seen, she seemed to be roughly as strong as me. I kept an eye on her, slowly feeling the tension growing between us. My hair stood on end, and my nerves were on the edge of fraying. I knew that letting my guard down even for a split second or giving her the slightest chance, would end with my death. Wham! The seventh leaderunched herself off the ground and hurtled toward me. I braced my lower body and kicked out at the seventh officer¡¯s face as though trying to kick away a mad dog. The seventh leader leaped into the air to avoid my strike. I tracked her with my eyes, trying to calcte where she wouldnd. No matter how strong her physical abilities were, I knew it was impossible for her to switch directions midair. I intercepted her as shended, grabbing her by the waist and mming her to the ground. She tried to kick me, hurling a stream of vulgarities in the process. As her right foot flew toward my chest, I grabbed it and mmed my shin into her knee. There was a strange pop, and her leg bent in a rather bizarre way. Pressing my advantage, I tightened my grip on her broken leg and threw her across the tracks and into the derelict train. Crash! The train flipped over as she crashed into it, and her body was thrown to the ground below. I pondered whether to jump down after her. However, I realized there was little point in doing so, with all the zombies down there. Thud! The seventh officer leaped back onto the tracks and began to tie up her messy hair. "You¡¯re dead meat.¡± The seventh leader gnashed her teeth and spewed hot steam out her mouth. The dong leader of Seongsu-dong was right. The officers had eaten the ck creatures¡¯ brains, and so they also had amazing regenerative abilities. Her broken leg had already healed itself, and steam wasing out from her body. My red eyes shed, and I forced my blood to circte more quickly. Pshhh¡­ We both could sense that there was no going back. Spewing steam, we charged at each other. Her fingertips, nails painted red, brushed my jawline. I twisted my head aside and went for her left leg, tripping her up. The seventh officer stumbled, but she quickly grabbed me by the cor and dragged me down. My upper body was pulled downward mercilessly, like an iron bar drawn to a ma. Her knee crashed into my face. Pain blossomed from the tip of my nose, knocking me senseless. The seventh leader kept at it, raining punches down on my face, my sides and my abdomen. sh! I gasped as a vicious stab pierced through my stomach. I grabbed onto the arm that had gone through me and gritted my teeth. I twisted her elbow so that it bent in the opposite direction, but she leaned to the left to prevent her right arm from breaking. I saw the opening and raised my right foot. I locked the seventh leader¡¯s neck between my calf and thigh and mmed her to the ground. I could hear the bones in her neck crack as her face was hammered into the tracks. Her forehead mmed against the metal tracks with a clear ringing sound. I raised my right foot again and mmed it down into her shoulder as I pulled her right hand out from inside my stomach, ripping up my insides further. The seventh officer was still down. I threw away her right arm and kicked her in the face. Even with all the blood gushing out of her forehead, she instinctively twisted her head to the side and bit down on my ankle like a crocodile trying to kill off its prey. Like a piece of meat on the butcher¡¯s block, my foot was sheared off at the ankle. I limped and fell over, and the seventh officer threw herself on top of me, her teeth closing in on my neck. * * * Bang! Bang, bang! Bang! Bang! ¡°Cover them!¡± Gunfire filled the air around Seongsu 2-ga, 3-dong. The guards had upied the high ground, but a mound had formed as the dead zombie bodies piled up. Fear was rising in the hearts of the guards that were shooting at the zombies. The pile of dead zombie bodies slowly grew as tall as a four-story building, and the zombies began to spill over the balcony railings and into the buildings. Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s underlings had split off to the nks, trying to hold off the zombies from advancing as much as they could, but the zombies charging in from the front were too much for the survivors. Hwang Ji-Hye, who was observing the situation, shouted to her guard team, ¡°Retreat, retreat! Everyone, up onto the roof!¡± Hwang Ji-Hye held the exit as the other guards flooded past her to safety. Three guards hadn¡¯t heeded her order, and were still defending the windows. It was possible that they¡¯d been unable to hear her because the constant explosions had dulled their hearing. Hwang Ji-Hye nailed the zombies trying to get through the window in their heads and ran toward the three guards. "What are you doing? Didn''t you hear the order to retreat?" ¡°Come! Now!¡± One of the guards shook off her hand and shouted something. Immediately, Hwang Ji-Hye noticed the telltale marks of zombie bites on them. All three men who were still defending the windows had been bitten by zombies. As Hwang Ji-Hye looked at them in stunned panic, one of the men grabbed her by the cor and dragged her to the exit, shoving her through the door. ¡°Go, damn it!¡± Bang! The man mmed the door shut. Chapter 99 Chapter 99 Hwang Ji-Hye stared at the tightly-closed iron door, her hands trembling. ¡°AAAHHH!¡± ¡°Stay away, stay away!!¡± The others on the other side of the door were going through a living hell. The people she hadughed alongside just a few hours ago were having their lives ripped away from them. She knew that going up to the rooftop was the logical thing to do, but she could not shake the intense emotional desire to save the others. Shey there, frozen, as her mind and heart warred on. ¡°Group leader!¡± Park Gi-Cheol¡¯s shout came from behind her. He grabbed Hwang Ji-Hye, hauling her off the floor and helping her up the stairs to the rooftop. Tears flowed down her face, and she muttered constantly to herself along the way. ¡°I couldn¡¯t save them. I couldn¡¯t save any of them¡­ I couldn¡¯t do anything¡­¡± Park Gi-Cheol furrowed his brow and yelled, ¡°Get back to your senses!¡± GRRR!!! Zombies were rapidly advancing on them from the other hallway. The first and second floors should¡¯ve been securely barricaded to prevent such a thing. It seemed that they hade into the building through the third-floor windows. Park Gi-Cheol pushed Hwang Ji-Hye toward the emergency exit and desperately picked up the gun he had put down earlier. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! His rounds blew through zombie foreheads with his gun in semi-automatic mode. However, the zombie horde showed no signs of stopping, stepping over their deadrades as they raced toward him. Park Gi-Cheol quickly lowered his gun and headed for the emergency exit. Once through, he immediately shut the door. The sound of scratching, pounding and snarling could be heard through the iron door. Park Gi-Cheol, his back braced against the iron door, shouted at Hwang Ji-Hye. ¡°How long are you going to stay like that?¡± Hwang Ji-Hye finally straightened and wiped away her tears. She tightened her grip on her K2. "Let¡¯s go.¡± Her eyes were full of determination. Park Gi-Cheol nodded, his lips pressed tightly together. They ran toward the rooftop, clearly knowing what to do next. They made their way up the fifth, sixth, and seventh floors. The door leading out to the rooftop was beckoning them. Standing just outside, the guard leader was giving orders. Once the guard leader heard footsteps making their way up the stairs, they took a look behind, and closed the door without any hesitation. Hwang Ji-Hye hammered her fist against the iron door, utterly astonished by the absurdity of the situation. ¡°Guard leader, guard leader!!!¡± However, no one responded. Park Gi-Cheol noticed what was going on and joined in as well. He yelled so hard that the veins in his neck were popping out. ¡°You fucking bitch!!!¡± But no matter how much the two of them shouted, the guard leader didn¡¯t open the door. It was as if the guard leader had been waiting for this moment. GRRR!!! The zombies were now only one floor below them. It seemed like they had taken down the iron door and made their way into the emergency stairwell. Park Gi-Cheol tightened his grip on his K2 with his trembling hands and aimed his weapon down the stairs. His fear and anger were almost overwhelming. Hwang Ji-Hye unclipped something from her belt. ¡°Cover your ears.¡± "What?" Hwang Ji-Hye pulled the pin on the grenade and tossed it down. The two of them instinctively ttened themselves against the ground. BANG! The entire building shook as if an earthquake had struck, and cement dust was blown everywhere. Hwang Ji-Hye coughed as she peered down to the floor below. There was a thick cloud of dust, almost too thick to see anything through it. Park Gi-Cheol just about managed to stay conscious, and joined her in looking for the zombies. Most of the stairs had been sted away, and the zombies that were trying to make it to the rooftop had fallen all the way to the ground floor. However, some of the zombies had jumped across therge gap and were crawling up to the other side of the sted stairs. Despite the damage done to the stairs, it seemed impossible topletely cut off the zombie advance. Hwang Ji-Hye pointed her gun at the zombies and fired desperately at them. Bang! Bang! Bang! Her muzzle shed incessantly, and the echoes of her shots were deafening within the enclosed space. Firing in a tightly-closed area like this stairwell was harmful to the survivors. The desperate fight for their survival had begun. * * * Thud, thud, thud, thud. A stage-two mutant came walking in from Ttukseom Station. Once Kim Hyeong-Jun saw Mood-Swinger, he beamed as if he already knew something good was about to happen. ¡®Mood-Swinger!¡¯ ¡°Losing¡­ Gains¡­?¡± Mood-Swinger¡¯s expression grew puzzled as it saw all the zombies gathered at the intersection of Seongsu Station. Mood Swinger sucked its fingers and stared nkly at Kim Hyeong-Jun. Kim Hyeong-Jun pointed to the red zombies that were within range and gave it an order. ¡®Mood-Swinger, knock down all of them.¡¯ When it was given orders, its eyes suddenly changed. Mood-Swinger reached its right arm out and began to move. Thud, thud, thud, thud!!! Each time Mood-Swinger¡¯s foot hit the ground, it cracked the asphalt and sent chunks of debris flying in all directions. As it stormed forward, it started to pick up speed. The sight of it was terrifying. It was an enormous, hulking monster that was three meters tall, but was capable of covering one hundred meters in five seconds. Crack, crack!!! "Losing¡­ Gains!!!" Mood-Swinger¡¯s penchant for destruction was out of this world. It swept its arms about, leaving almost nothing behind wherever it struck. With its arms, thick as baobab trees, it crushed zombie bodies, smashed their bones to bits, and sted them to pieces. Zombies were flung mercilessly left and right, smashing into buildings and sttering like mosquitoes at the impact. Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s jaw fell open as he took in the destructive power of Mood-Swinger. It was like an armored tank, wading into a horde of enemies that were only armed with bamboo spears and crushing them. Kim Hyeong-Jun smiled. ¡®Eat as many red zombies as you want.¡¯ Having received the go-ahead to gorge itself, Mood-Swinger¡¯s smile widened, and it began to swipe away at the zombies even more vigorously. With that, Kim Hyeong-Jun scaled a tall building to survey the situation elsewhere. As he redistributed his forces, he noticed two survivors running across the rooftops. He saw the guard leader and a mysterious man running for their dear lives, not daring to look back. ¡®Where are they going?¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun ran toward them. When Kim Hyeong-Jun leaped in to block their way, the guard leader fell backward in surprise, as if they had seen a ghost. Kim Hyeong-Jun took out his notepad and quickly wrote down some words. - Where¡¯s the group leader? ¡°De.. Dead!¡± the guard leader stammered. Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s eyes grew wider, and he continued to ask questions. - Where¡¯s Park Gi-Cheol? He was with the group leader. ¡°He probably died with her!¡± - And where are you going? What about the others? ¡°There¡¯s no hope. We have to get back to the shelter right now!¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun frowned as he listened to the guard leader. He looked over at the other unknown man, who shifted his eyes and looked away. Kim Hyeong-Jun could tell that they were lying to him. He looked at the unknown man and asked him a question instead. - Are the others dead as well? ¡°Oh, no¡­ We¡¯re¡­¡± - Are the others dead? Yes or no. ¡°No¡­¡± - Then you¡¯re telling me that you two are leaving everyone else behind to die while you two bastards are running for your lives? Kim Hyeong-Jun gritted his teeth, and the unknown man pointed his K2 rifle at him. ¡°Don¡¯t¡­ Don¡¯t get in our way! Step aside if you don¡¯t want your head blown off!¡± The muzzle of his rifle was shaking violently. The mysterious man had lost his sanity, and was now like a startled dog running around in circles. Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s body trembled violently as he realized how pathetic this man was. He leaped in front of the man and nted a fist into his abdomen. ¡°Fu¡­.!¡± The man vomited blood and copsed on the spot. Kim Hyeong-Jun bit off the man''s head without the slightest hesitation. He crunched down on the man¡¯s skull, and his Adam¡¯s Apple moved violently. ¡°Ha¡­¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun smiled at the guard leader, as if he had just eaten a sweet, fluffy pancake. The guard leader screamed at the top of their lungs. ¡°AHHH! You killed a person! This bastard killed a person!¡± ¡°Ha¡­ This motherfucker.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun crouched in front of the guard leader. ¡°I never did like you.¡± ¡°HEEK!¡± ¡°You should thank Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok. If it weren¡¯t for him, you would¡¯ve been dead a long time ago. By my hand, of course.¡± ¡°...!¡± ¡°If you want to make it through this alive, tell me where the group leader is right now. I would like to see her body to verify if she¡¯s dead, at least.¡± * * * My eyes went wide, and I hurriedly raised my right arm to block the seventh officer¡¯s mouth with my elbow. As she sank her teeth into my right arm, I smacked her across the temple with my left hand. Her pupils quivered and I felt her grip loosen for a split second. I kept at it and punched the seventh officer in the face once again. The seventh officer leaped back, her left hand going to her forehead. I knew that hitting her in other areas of her body would not cause pain, but the temples were adjacent to the brain, so my strike must have made her feel something, at least. The seventh officer shook her head violently as though trying to regain some sense ofposure, then she red at me, panting heavily. I propped my upper body up and spat, trying to rid my mouth of the fishy taste. I had trouble focusing my vision. I couldn¡¯t tell if it was because my nose had been shattered earlier. Pshhh¡­ Steam began to gush from the stump of the seventh officer¡¯s right arm. Simrly, my injuries also began to emit steam. I wondered who had the upper hand if we weren¡¯t able to regenerate, and had to continue to fight in our current states. The seventh officer, with no right arm? Or myself, missing one foot at the ankle, a ttened nose, a mangled right arm, and a hole through my stomach? I had to buy time somehow. Given the state of things, I knew that continuing the fight would be terrible for me. The seventh officer, realizing that she had the upper hand, rushed toward me before my body had the time to regenerate. With both of us still a mess, she obviously held the advantage, as her body was less of a wreck than mine. I gritted my teeth and sent out orders to my underlings through my mind. ¡®Mutants, to the rail tracks this instant!¡¯ I realized that I didn¡¯t have to fight the seventh officer one-on-one. I had to make use of my mutants to regain the advantage. The enemy¡¯s vanguard did not have any mutants amongst their ranks, and the ordinary ones couldn¡¯t climb up to the tracks that were fifteen meters above the ground. I had mutants, and it was time to use them to my advantage. Before I knew it, the seventh officer was in front of me. Her glowing red eyes shed, and she threw a punch at my stomach. I knew that if I got punched in the stomach again, my ribs would shatter, and my breathing would be severely hampered, especially on such a cold and windy day. I quickly turned to avoid her attack. It didn¡¯t help that I was missing a foot at the ankle. I was barely able to move around. I just managed to sidestep her attack, but I lost my bnce again and copsed to the ground. Without the slightest hesitation, the seventh officer raised her left foot and mmed it toward my face. Thud! I hurriedly rolled aside to avoid the deadly stomp. However, I could not hold off the attacks that followed. The seventh officer fastened her legs to my upper body to hold me still, and used her left arm to rain blows onto my head and chest. I tried my best to avoid her attacks, as though she were ying whack-a-mole. However, it was impossible to dodge all of her attacks. The seventh officer¡¯s fist connected with my face again, and I could feel my vision and mind grow blurry. ¡°Ka¡­!¡± I coughed up blood, trying to follow her movements through my blurry vision. With each hit, I lost some ability to dodge the subsequent ones. My face was bing numb. My mind and body began to sink into a deep abyss, devoid of pain and despair. I wondered if I would die if I fainted right then. KIAAA!!! At that moment, my five mutants made their way up to the tracks and came running toward me at once. Their appearance gave the seventh officer some pause, but then she started hitting me harder, getting even more worked up. ¡°Die already, you bastard!!!¡± She was right. If I died, she wouldn¡¯t have to deal with the mutants. Perhaps she believed she¡¯d made a wise decision¡­ But in the current situation, hers was miles away from being the right one. If she couldn¡¯t kill me within ten seconds, she would have to retreat and buy time for herself to regenerate. I stopped trying to defend myself and stared directly at her fist, which was aimed right at me. The seventh officer smiled, probably thinking that I was exhausted, and drove her fist straight down into my face, trying to put an end to our fight. Ding! I twisted my head and avoided her punch. Her fist hit the solid metal tracks below my head. I wasn¡¯t about to let the opportunity slip, and mped my jaws around her wrist. Her eyes went wide, and she desperately tried to pull her hand away. But the harder she tried, the deeper my teeth sank into her flesh. I looked at her through the corner of my eye, my mouth still mped onto her wrist like a vise. The seventh captain raised her right foot and let out a monstrous scream, as if she had lost her mind. She was about to crush my face. Just then, my mutants arrived and bit into her upper body. ¡°GWAAA!¡± The seventh officer was now dealing with five mutants. I propped my upper body up with my trembling left arm. I knew my mutants were strong, but once her body regenerated, I knew the tables would turn right away. After all, I¡¯d been able to easily take care of three stage-one mutants back in Shelter Seoul Forest. My blurry vision barely swam into focus, and I flew toward the seventh officer. The seventh officer was busy dealing with my five mutants, and she seemed to miss the fact that I was racing toward her. She exposed her vulnerable side to me. Without the slightest hesitation, I bit into the seventh officer''s neck. She screamed at the top of her lungs and went into a panic, twisting her entire body around and trying to fight back. I bit down even harder, my glowing red eyes shing. I was never going to let go, no matter what. Sszak! I was finally able to rip out her neck. ¡°GAAA! KA! KAAA!!!¡± The seventh officer copsed and began to squirm and struggle. The mutants stopped their attacks and looked at the seventh officer twitching. Blood gushed out of her neck like a fountain and soon soaked the rusty train tracks. I spit the bitterness from my mouth and wiped away the blood smeared across my lips. Even with my nose in the state it was, I could smell the pungent blood. As I limped toward the seventh officer, my mutants made way. I panted while I looked at the seventh officer¡¯s face. The seventh officer¡¯s eyes were full of hate, even in herst moments. I wondered where this hatred was directed at. Me? Or the world that had gone mad? Or to the people in general, who had adapted to the madness of this world? But all that didn¡¯t matter anymore. I was thest one standing. ''Farwell.'' I clenched my fists and sent the seventh officer to her eternal rest. Chapter 100 Chapter 100 ¡°How much longer do we have to wait?¡± Hwang Ji-Hye yelled as she put a bullet through yet another zombie¡¯s head. ¡°You think unlocking a door is that easy?¡± Park Gi-Cheol threw the hairpin he¡¯d been using to the floor and started hammering at the doorknob with the stock of his rifle. The two of them were trapped, unable to go up or down, and they were growing increasingly anxious. To make matters worse, they were starting to run out of bullets. Click¡ª Click¡ª With her rifle now empty, Hwang Ji-Hye mounted a bay on her rifle and started bayting the zombies hanging onto the stairs in their eyes. GAAA!!! A zombie jumped on top of Hwang Ji-Hye. Her eyes grew wide, and she swung her bay to intercept it. The de pierced directly through its chest, causing it to squirm and struggle. The zombie¡¯s weight bore Hwang Ji-Hye to the ground. Its slimy, sticky saliva dripped onto her face. ¡°Group leader!¡± Park Gi-Cheol, btedly recognizing what was going on, ran to assist Hwang Ji-Hye. He smashed the stock of his rifle into the zombie¡¯s temple, and the creature swayed side to side before copsing to the floor. Hwang Ji-Hye quickly propped herself up and stabbed the zombie in the eye with her hunting knife. The zombie¡¯s body jerked once, then stopped moving. ¡°Are you alright? You didn¡¯t get bitten, did you?" Hwang Ji-Hye shook her head to indicate that she was unharmed, and turned around. Immediately, she realized something was wrong. The zombies were no longer moving. The zombies that were trying to leap across the broken stairs seemed to have instantly turned into ster statues. Hwang Ji-Hye shook her head vigorously and blinked multiple times, trying to make sense of the scene in front of her. Thinking that her mind was ying tricks on her, she examined the zombies over and over again. However, no matter how many times she looked, the zombies remained still as stone. Park Gi-Cheol was no different. He was taken aback by the unbelievable situation. He couldn¡¯t understand why these zombies that only knew ughter had stopped moving. Rattle¡ª The iron door leading out to the rooftop opened. Hwang Ji-Hye and Park Gi-Cheol both turned toward the door at the same time, not knowing how¡¯d they would react to another unexpected surprise. Thankfully, it was Kim Hyeong-Jun looking for them. He snorted while looking at them. "I knew you two were alive.¡± Park Gi-Cheol¡¯s eyes widened as he saw Kim Hyeong-Jun walk toward them. ¡°Hyeong¡­ Hyeong-Jun?¡± ¡°Yes, ahjussi.¡± ¡°How are you speaking¡­¡± As Park Gi-Cheol looked at him in puzzlement, Hwang Ji-Hye, who was next to him, spoke up. ¡°Let¡¯s talk about thatter. First and foremost, do you know why these zombies stopped moving all of a sudden?¡± ¡°I think the enemy leader got killed,¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun replied with a shrug. Hwang Ji-Hye ced her hand on her forehead as if she had trouble understanding what was happening. ¡°If the enemy leader is down, does that mean Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok¡­¡± ¡°¡­killed one of the leaders.¡± When Kim Hyeong-Jun finished her sentence for her in an affirmative tone, she let out a sigh and sat down on the floor. Park Gi-Cheol swallowed to soothe his dry throat and croaked out a question. ¡°Does that mean the war is over now?¡± ¡°We can¡¯t be sure at the moment. It¡¯s possible that there are more enemy leaders.¡± ¡°More enemy leaders?¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s what Hyun-Deok ahjussi told me.¡± ¡°There is a possibility that the enemy has more cadres.¡± ¡°Where is Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok?¡± ¡°We have to go look for him. Let¡¯s get going. There¡¯s a lot to take care of.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun gestured for them to get moving, and disappeared out onto the rooftop. Park Gi-Cheol helped Hwang Ji-Hye up and they followed Kim Hyeong-Jun. A cool breeze weed the three of them as they stepped outside. Park Gi-Cheol took a deep breath and smiled gently. The clean air felt like refreshing dew. As the two of them followed Kim Hyeong-Jun to the other side of the rooftop, they saw the guard leader tied up with a length of rope. Hwang Ji-Hye narrowed her eyes at the guard leader. Park Gi-Cheol ran to the guard leader and hurled a fist at them. ¡°You bastard! How dare you call yourself a human being! You¡¯re no different from an animal!¡± Park Gi-Cheol spat and gritted his teeth as the guard leader fell onto their side. Hwang Ji-Hye calmed down Park Gi-Cheol and asked Kim Hyeong-Jun what had happened. ¡°I caught them as they were getting away with one of their men, their sessor.¡± ¡°Then where¡¯s this sessor¡­¡± Before Hwang Ji-Hye finished her sentence, Kim Hyeong-Jun pointed a finger at his lower belly. Hwang Ji-Hye hesitated at his gesture, then asked cautiously, "You¡¯re¡­ You¡¯re not saying you ate him?¡± ¡°What was I supposed to do when he pointed a gun in my face?¡± ¡°...¡± Hwang Ji-Hye smacked her lips and stopped. She knew Kim Hyeong-Jun had a sound reason to do what he did. She brushed her bangs away from her forehead and looked down at the guard leader. ¡°Why''d you do that earlier?¡± ¡°Do¡­ Do what?¡± ¡°What? I¡¯m asking why you closed the door to the rooftop earlier.¡± The guard leader trembled, and tried to avoid answering Hwang Ji-Hye¡¯s question. She clicked her tongue and looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun, but managed to calm herself down and continued, ¡°You will no longer be the guard leader from now on. You will also be banned from entering Shelter Silence. I¡¯ll leave you to them.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun shook his hand and stashed his hands in his pockets. To the guard leader, her words were no different from a death sentence. The guard leader¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Group leader! You can¡¯t do this to me! Don¡¯t you know how long we¡¯ve known each other? Is this really what you want to do to me?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°We went through thick and thin together! We were at death¡¯s door! Don¡¯t you remember? You surely can¡¯t do this to me! Please?¡± ¡°At death¡¯s door my ass.¡± ¡°You damn bitch! Do you think you¡¯re almighty or something? Do you think you¡¯re going to get your¡­¡± Hwang Ji-Hyeshed a foot out, catching the guard leader in the groin and cutting off his tirade. The guard leader gasped and started rolling on the floor. Hwang Ji-Hye asked the remaining guards around them, ¡°We¡¯ll take a vote. Those who think we should forgive the guard leader¡¯s wrongdoings and ept them back to the shelter, raise your hands.¡± Just as she expected, no one raised their hand. Hwang Ji-Hye red at the guard leader, who was rolling on the floor. ¡°Well, it seems like this is the end for you. No one has faith in you.¡± ¡°Hey, hey! Group leader! Hwang Ji-Hye!!!¡± Hwang Ji-Hye headed to the opposite side of the rooftop without looking back even once. Even though she¡¯d spoken harshly to the guard leader, it was easy enough to see that she wasn¡¯t fully ufortable with what she¡¯d just said. Park Gi-Cheol read her mind and tapped Kim Hyeong-Jun on the shoulder. ¡°She¡¯ll need some support, don¡¯t you think?¡± ¡°You go ahead, ahjussi.¡± When Kim Hyeong-Jun nodded, Park Gi-Cheol went off after Hwang Ji-Hye, his mind full of worry, trying toe up with a way to console her. Kim Hyeong-Jun crouched in front of the guard leader. ¡°Now¡­ How should I take care of you?¡± ¡°Hey, hey. I didn¡¯t close the door on purpose¡­ I swear!¡± ¡°So it¡¯s okay to kill people if it wasn¡¯t on purpose?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t kill anyone!¡± ¡°Standing aside and doing nothing is just as bad.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun chuckled. "Don''t worry. I¡¯m not going to kill you.¡± ¡°You aren¡¯t? Really?¡± "Of course. Even shit like you can still have a use, you know?¡± ¡°Wait, what?¡± The guard leader looked around, confusion in their eyes. At that moment, arge shadow passed over the rooftop. A man was flying toward them. Bang! The mannded on the rooftop, cratering the ground beneath him and throwing up the smell of musty cement. Kim Hyeong-Jun looked at the man¡¯s face and grinned at the guard leader. ¡°Talk to him, not me.¡± * * * I looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s eyes. ¡®What happened to the other members of the Family?¡¯ ¡°Do Han-Sol took care of one, and I took care of the other.¡± I recalled the two enemy leaders who¡¯d been looking around cluelessly before the seventh officer osted me. Judging by the fact that the surrounding zombies weren¡¯t moving, it seemed like they had lost their connection to the two leaders. I nodded, but suddenly realized something wasn¡¯t quite right. ¡®But hey¡­ You¡¯re¡­ You¡¯re talking out loud right now¡­?¡¯ ¡°Oh yeah, something happened in between.¡± ¡®borate.¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun filled me in on the incidents that had happened while I was gone, and my brow began to furrow. After I listened to everything, I let out a deep breath, then looked over at the guard leader, who was all tied up. The guard leader looked at the other guards and shouted, ¡°Are you guys really just going to watch? They¡¯re zombies! Do you think it makes sense to join forces with zombies? Wake the fuck up, you bastards!¡± The guards looked back at the guard leader with nk expressions. A few spat on the floor while swearing. Looking at them, I took another deep breath, then looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun. ¡®So you have the guard leader tied up like this so that I can eat them?¡¯ "I mean, I¡¯ve caused you some nuisance, so consider this as a gift from me.¡± I chuckled and shook my head. Kim Hyeong-Jun sure was a funny fellow. I picked the guard leader up and went over to the next building, which was empty. I had to eat a brain that belonged to someone who was alive. And I didn¡¯t want to show the survivors what I was about to do. I thought this was the least I could do for the survivors that were risking their lives to defend this ce. After I confirmed that there was no one around, I threw the guard leader to the ground. The guard leader moaned in pain and immediately began begging for their life. As I looked at the guard leader¡¯s face, covered in tears and snot, the shred of humanity left within me suffered a deep blow. I looked at the guard leader with pity in my eyes. The guard leader quickly realized that my conviction was wavering, and tried to take advantage of it. ¡°Hey, you don¡¯t want to do this either, do you? You¡¯re a person, after all. Do you know how wrong it is to kill another person? I do. If you give me a minute, I¡¯ll tell you all about it.¡± I frowned and pped the guard leader on the cheek. The guard leader cried out in pain and copsed on the floor, blinking at me in surprise and looking back at me with a bewildered expression. It was indeed heartbreaking for me to lose some of my humanity. I would have to deny myself and trap myself in an endless abyss of despair. However, after all that hade to pass, I had formed another clear belief, a creed of sorts. Just like at the end of a tunnel, I saw a ray of hope in the pitch-ck darkness. My creed was this: to save humans that were actually human. I wasn¡¯t going to go against this belief of mine until the day I closed my eyes. And anyone who went against my belief, whether that someone was a human or zombie, would not be spared. Without hesitation, I bit off the guard''s head. * * * When I returned to the rooftop again, Kim Hyeong-Jun spoke up while looking at the blood stains around my mouth. "How did it taste?" ¡°Knock it off.¡± My tone was cold, and Kim Hyeong-Jun clicked his tongue as if I was being a party-pooper. There were no red zombies around. All the other zombies were still as stone, as if they were robots that had run out of juice. Despite this, I knew better than to let my guard down, because the dong leader of Gunja-dong hadn¡¯t shown up yet. I knew we had to strengthen our lookouts until the Family¡¯s reinforcements showed up. Soon after, Hwang Ji-Hye and Park Gi-Cheol returned to the rooftop. It seemed like they¡¯d managed to calm themselves down after having faced such a tense situation. Hwang Ji-Hye asked for an exnation of what had happened, and I answered as much as I could. I told her about how I¡¯d taken care of the dong leader of Guui-dong and the seventh officer. After Hwang Ji-Hye heard what I had to say, she said, "Then¡­ You¡¯re saying that their attack isn¡¯t over yet, right?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure, but that¡¯s most likely.¡± ¡°Do you have an estimate of how long it¡¯ll take? For the reinforcements to show up.¡± "Well, that all hinges on how fast they get through Gunja-dong.¡± Hwang Ji-Hye¡¯s expression grew confused, and she seemed lost in thought for a moment. Finally, she looked me in the eye. ¡°So, Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok¡­ Is this your actual voice?¡± ¡°¡­Yes.¡± ¡°It¡¯s nice to hear it. Your voice.¡± I gave a slight nod. She was subtly implying that she understood that I¡¯d eaten a human brain. And that she would be acknowledging me as a person and not a zombie anymore. Shelter Silence, which had been extremely hostile toward zombies, had finally let me in. I looked back at the zombies around us. "I think it''s better if we clean these up first." ¡°The zombies?¡± ¡°It''s dangerous to leave so many zombies out like this. They¡¯ll turn into ordinary street zombies and roam the streets again after a day.¡± ¡°Then should we kill them right now?¡± "No. We have to eat the enemy leader¡¯s brain, which will let us recruit more underlings. I think it¡¯s best to move the remaining ones to the zombie prison of ours.¡± Hwang Ji-Hye nodded, her lips tightly closed. It seemed like she was going to go along with whatever I put forward, since she knew she didn¡¯t have a say in the affairs of zombies. I watched the sun setting, then spoke to Kim Hyeong-Jun. ¡°I think it¡¯s best if we eat them as soon as possible. There¡¯s no point in postponing it.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun shook his head. ¡°Nope, I¡¯m not going to eat anything.¡± His reply was unexpected. I raised an eyebrow at him. ¡°Give my part to Do Han-Sol.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°The vanguard of the Family¡¯s forces were wiped out. The Family lost contact with them, and the reinforcements would notice this soon. I bet the attack will begin either this evening at the earliest, or tomorrow at thetest. What if we are both still sleeping then?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°At least one of us has to be ready.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun smiled widely and pped my forearm. I looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun with a mixture of gratitude and apology. Kim Hyeong-Jun frowned and continued. ¡°Oh no, don¡¯t look at me like that. After all, I¡¯m a married man.¡± ¡°I swear I¡¯m going to hit you someday.¡± ¡°Try me. I dare you.¡± I burst outughing at Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯stest attempt to get on my nerves. I smiled lightly, and Kim Hyeong-Jun smiled back. ¡°You go ahead and eat. I¡¯ll go and get Do Han-Sol.¡± "Thanks." ¡°But don¡¯t wake up toote, you know?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll try.¡± I looked at my mutants, who were on the first floor of the building. ''Carry the corpses and follow me.'' My mutants followed me, carrying the heads of the seventh officer and the dong leader of Guui-dong. Chapter 101 Chapter 101 The next day,te in the evening, zombies with glowing red eyes started appearing at Shelter Barrier in Gunja-dong. One of them, sitting on a chair, opened its mouth. ¡°How¡¯d it go?¡± "Well¡­ It seems like the seventh officer has failed us.¡± ¡°Is she dead?¡± ¡°We haven¡¯t confirmed her death, but her underlings aren¡¯t moving anymore. The enemy we¡¯re dealing with seems to be moving these immobile zombies elsewhere.¡± ¡°That means the seventh officer is dead.¡± The sixth officer, who was sitting in a chair, clicked his tongue vigorously and furrowed his brow. The dong leader of Junggok-dong, sitting next to the sixth officer, spoke up. ¡°Sixth officer, I feel like we should change our ns.¡± ¡°Do you happen to have any good ideas?¡± ¡°Yes, in fact, there¡¯s no need for us to go through Achasan-ro.¡± ¡°What do you mean? Then how are we going to move this many zombies?¡± asked the sixth officer, pointing at the zombie underlings around them. There were well over five thousand zombies. There was the sixth officer, the dong leader of Junggok-dong, and three decoys, also known as the penal units, under the sixth officer. That made it five zombies with glowing red eyes, with five thousand underlings under their control. Even with this many underlings, though, they were hesitant to move, now that news had reached them of the vanguard¡¯s annihtion. The defenders of Shelter Seoul Forest seemed impossibly formidable. They didn¡¯t dare to move hastily, since they had no idea how strong their opponents were. The vanguard had consisted of five thousand and five hundred zombies. Of course, the dong leader of Jayang-dong and one of the decoys had been wiped out early on in an ambush, but the seventh officer still had the dong leader of Guui-dong and two decoys provided by the sixth officer. Nevertheless, they had failed to capture Seongsu-dong. This battle, which they had assumed would end in a day, was stretching out. The sixth officer¡¯s n of taking care of Gwangjin-gu quickly and joining the Gangnam Operation had just been dealt a big setback. The sixth officer clicked his tongue vigorously and mumbled, ¡°I knew I shouldn¡¯t have given the seventh officer a penal unit as a signaller. She just made thingsplicated for me.¡± The sixth officer sighed, cing a hand on his forehead. He then stared at the dong leader of Junggok-dong next to him and asked, ¡°So, what¡¯s your n? I¡¯m all ears for now.¡± ¡°As I mentioned earlier, we really don¡¯t have to enter Achasan-ro through Dongil-ro.¡± ¡°Weren¡¯t you paying attention earlier? How do you expect us to move this many troops around? That¡¯s the only route we can take with this many troops.¡¯¡± ¡°Gunja-gyo is west of Gunja-dong. We can cross into Songjeong-dong via that bridge.¡±[1] ¡°Songjeong-dong? The neighborhood with the sewage treatment facilities?¡± The sixth officer raised his eyebrows, and the dong leader nodded. ¡°Jangan-gyo is southwest of Songjeong-dong. If we cross that, we can reach the border between Seongsu 1-ga, 2-dong and Seongsu 2-ga, 3-dong. That¡¯ll make it possible for us to hit them from behind.¡± ¡°Oh geez, give me a break. That bridge is terribly narrow. Half of our forces will be killed before they even get to the southern end.¡± ¡°That¡¯s why Jangan-gyo will be a decoy. The bait.¡± The dong leader of Junggok-dong smiled mysteriously. Puzzled, the sixth officer tilted his head and stared at the dong leader. The dong leader of Junggok-dong took a deep breath and continued to outline the n. ¡°I¡¯ll draw their attention. In the meantime, you can move to Seongdong-gyo, sir.¡± ¡°Seongdong-gyo? You mean the bridge under Hanyang University?¡± "Yes, sir." ¡°Listen up fe, there¡¯s no way to enter Hanyang University. Cheonggye-cheon and Jungnang-cheon flow along the south and east, and you have to pass through Majang-dong to enter the north entrance. You do realize that the enemies killed the dong leader of Majang-dong, no? You seriously think they won¡¯t have any scouts in Majang-dong?¡±[2] ¡°Sir, I¡¯m sure you haven¡¯t forgotten how we sent our bait into 1-dong before?¡± The sixth officer looked at the dong leader in confusion. The dong leader of Junggok-dong shed a thin smile. ¡°There¡¯s a bridge into Hanyang University to the west of Songjeong-dong.¡± ¡°There¡¯s a bridge?¡± The sixth officer repeated the statement as a question, and the dong leader nodded. ¡°This is something that only locals know. There¡¯s a small little bridge that doesn¡¯t even have a name. It¡¯s sometimes used by residents to go on walks.¡± ¡°And you want to move this many troops through there?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure it¡¯d be much better than getting caught by the enemy.¡± The sixth officer gently rubbed his chin as he listened to the dong leader. The sixth officer realized that time was on their side. He realized that he had been preupied by his desire to join the Gangnam Operation and had ignored other possible options he could¡¯ve been taking to make sure everything worked out. After all, the sess of this attack was a matter of life and death. The correct approach was to think everything through and move carefully. The sixth officer nodded slowly. He seemed fully on board with the dong leader¡¯s proposal. He posed a follow-up question. ¡°Alright then. And the final destination must be Seoul Forest, right?¡± "Yes sir. Judging by the fact that they¡¯re protecting the shelter at all costs, the shelter seems to be linked with their desires somehow.¡± ¡°Desires? Are you saying that the zombies at Shelter Seoul Forest have desires?¡± ¡°Yes, I know it¡¯s somewhat absurd, but I believe their desires have to do something with protecting humans. Destroying the shelter will probably destroy their desires as well. And I¡¯m sure you can imagine what happens afterward.¡± ¡°They¡¯ll turn into ck creatures.¡± The sixth officer smiled, enjoying what he was hearing. The dong leader of Junggok-dong smiled back and continued to outline the n. ¡°Judging by the fact that they defeated the seventh officer, there must be more than one or two enemy leaders with zombies.¡± ¡°Perfect. Once we¡¯re victorious, I shall reward you like never before.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± The dong leader of Junggok-dong bowed deeply toward the sixth officer. He smiled a viinous smile and muttered to himself, ¡°All of them are dead meat.¡± * * * It was past two in the morning in Seongsu 2-ga, 3-dong. Kim Hyeong-Jun focused his attention on keeping a lookout as he waited for Lee Hyun-Deok and Do Han-Sol to wake up. He¡¯d ordered his troops on guard to prepare for a second sh, and had moved all the immobile zombies to the zombie prison. "Losing¡­ Gains¡­¡± ¡°You¡¯re doing well. Just a little more.¡± Mood-Swinger came up to Kim Hyeong-Jun, looking tired. The zombie did not feel fatigue, and so whenever it acted as though it were tired, it meant that it was hungry. Kim Hyeong-Jun patted Mood-Swinger on the back and ordered it to eat one of the zombies around it. Mood Swinger beamed and shoved a zombie that was not under anyone¡¯smand into its mouth. ¡°What breed of dog is it?¡± Hwang Ji-Hye asked in a sarcastic tone as she observed what was going on. Kim Hyung-Jun scratched his head in embarrassment. ¡°If you keep observing it, it¡¯s actually got a cute side to it.¡± "I don¡¯t know¡­ No matter how you look at it, its size doesn¡¯t exactly make it seem cute... ¡± ¡°Despite its size, it acts like a three-year-old.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun smiled heartily and patted Mood-Swinger on its side as it tore through the unfortunate zombie. Mood-Swinger was so abnormallyrge that even when Kim Hyeong-Jun stretched his arms up, he could barely touch its waist. Mood Swinger gave a little jerk and smiled when Kim Hyeong-Jun touched it, as if his touch was ticklish. Hwang Ji-Hye brushed away some dirt from the floor with her hands and sat down. Kim Hyeong-Jun ordered Mood-Swinger to keep moving the zombies into the prison, and sat down next to Hwang Ji-Hye, turning to look at her as he did so. ¡°You should go inside and get some sleep.¡± ¡°It¡¯s alright.¡± ¡°I know it¡¯s not. Your dark circles are as dark as the night sky right now.¡± As Kim Hyung-jun chuckled, Hwang Ji-Hye smiled faintly and gently touched the hunting knife at her side. Kim Hyeong-Jun looked at the knife and asked where she had gotten it from. ¡°It¡¯s a memento my boyfriend left me.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ You didn¡¯t mean to say husband, right?¡± Hwang Ji-Hye chuckled, noticing that Kim Hyeong-Jun had tried to make a subtle joke. ¡°You weren¡¯t trying to be funny, were you?¡± ¡°Sorry if it wasn¡¯t funny.¡± ¡°Well, it was kind of funny.¡± Hwang Ji-Hye smiled sadly as she looked down at the long-ded hunting knife. After a moment, she turned her attention back to Kim Hyeong-Jun. ¡°I feel like¡­ You would¡¯ve been really popr back in the day.¡± ¡°No way. Don¡¯t you think Hyun-Deok ahjussi would¡¯ve been more popr than me? He¡¯s got a bad-boy vibe to him. But at the same time, he¡¯s good at taking care of his people. He¡¯s like someone who only looks out for the people that he cares about.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s true to a certain extent.¡± Hwang Ji-Hye''s smile finally blossomed wide. It seemed like this was the first ordinary conversation she¡¯d had in a long time, and it had helped to clear away some of her worries. Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s own face brightened as he saw her expression. "Huh? You just smiled, didn¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± "It''s the first time I''ve seen you smile." "Is that so?" Hwang Ji-Hye smacked her lips, her smile growing sad. Her gaze seemed to be far away, as though she were missing someone or something dearly. Kim Hyeong-Jun remained silent, letting her reminisce alone. A littleter, Hwang Ji-Hye spoke. "In the past¡­ People used to be surprised when I didn¡¯t smile, but nowadays, it¡¯s theplete opposite.¡± ¡°So you were popr as well.¡± ¡°Of course! I could make men line up for me if I wanted to. In fact, they would form a line all the way down to Busan!¡± ¡°Puhaha!¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun pped his knee and burst intoughter. Hwang Ji-Hye smirked. "What is it? You don¡¯t believe what I¡¯m saying?" "No. No. I just like the choice of words you used.¡± ¡°Those were the good old days. My glory days, my heyday.¡± Hwang Ji-Hye actually had a funny side to her. It seemed like she had shown only the stiff, rigid side of her because of the pressure she faced as the group leader of the shelter. Hwang Ji-Hye smacked her lips. ¡°I can¡¯t believe I¡¯m telling you all this nonsense. It might be because I¡¯m with you. You got some tricks for making people open up or something?¡± ¡°Haha, I don¡¯t really have any other tricks up my sleeve. But this one trick I have was all it took for me to meet my wife.¡± "Oh, I''m so jealous, you know." ¡°Are you mocking me!?¡± ¡°No, it was apliment.¡± Hwang Ji-Hye shrugged with a goofy expression. Kim Hyeong-Jun let out a breath and nudged Hwang Ji-Hye on the shoulder. She snorted. ¡°Oh wow, now you¡¯re hitting people now?¡± ¡°What do you mean by ¡®hit¡¯? I just shoved you lightly.¡± Hwang Ji-Hye smirked and put down the hunting knife she was holding. She then looked up at the night sky and sighed. Kim Hyeong-Jun gave Hwang Ji-Hye a sidelong look, then asked his next question carefully. ¡°Do you miss him? Your boyfriend?¡± ¡°Of course. I miss him.¡± ¡°What kind of person was he?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­¡± She brought her knees together and ced her hands on her knees, taking a moment to think. She then buried her face in between her knees and spoke up. ¡°He was the type of man who always put others¡¯ lives first before his.¡± ¡°Was that why you liked him?¡± "Hmm¡­ You could say it was one of the attractive sides to him. He was a mildeok, which made it frustrating back then, but thanks to him, I was able to make Shelter Silence into what it is.¡±[3] Kim Hyeong-Jun looked down at the hunting knife on the floor. If she¡¯d been in a rtionship with a mildeok, that would exin where she had gotten such a weapon from. Hwang Ji-Hye sighed. ¡°The original group leader of Shelter Silence was my boyfriend. He went through all the hard and dirty work¡­ But he died with the original founding members.¡± If he had died with the original founding members, it must¡¯ve meant that he¡¯d been killed during one of the zombie raids before the shelter was fully established. Kim Hyeong-Jun frowned, then asked a question. ¡°Correct me if I¡¯m wrong¡­ But most of the time, if something like that happens, don''t the original founding members usually make it out alive? Not the other way around?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s just like you said. But he was a selfless person. He put the survivors and shelter first until the very end. He deserved the respect he had gotten.¡± Hwang Ji-Hye tried her best to maintain her smile as she looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun. Kim Hyeong-Jun nodded slowly with his lips pressed together. After a moment, he smacked his lips. ¡°You¡¯re amazing. The other survivors are amazing as well.¡± ¡°Is that so?¡± "Of course. The reason I joined the Survivor Rally Organization was because of my younger brother. I didn¡¯t really think about saving anyone else, except for my family.¡± Hwang Ji-Hye was all ears, now that Kim Hyeong-Jun had begun to share his own story. Kim Hyeong-Jun scratched his sideburns, as though embarrassed to be put in the limelight. ¡°When I first met Hyun-Deok ahjussi¡­ I honestly had no intention of forming an alliance with him. I was just curious. I wondered what was on his mind. I wondered why he¡¯d saved my family even though he didn¡¯t know me or my family. I didn¡¯t approach him with any intentions. I just wanted to see him.¡± ¡°And how was it when you met him?¡± "He felt like someone¡­ He was someone who was living in a different world from the one I was in. I knew back then that he was weaker than me and knew less than me¡­ But I couldn¡¯t stop thinking about him when I saw him trying his best to save others with whatever he had been given.¡± ¡°And you probably thought that that was worth learning from him, right?¡± ¡°Yes¡­¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun smiled while avoiding Hwang Ji-Hye¡¯s gaze. She smiled heartily at his reaction. ¡°There are people like that. People who don''t care if they¡¯re going to gain or lose something in a given situation. They sometimes look foolish to us; in fact, those people sometimes act foolishly because of their beliefs and try their very best.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°And we often call those kinds of people heroes. So, you and Lee Hyun-Deok, you¡¯re both heroes to us.¡± "No, absolutely not.¡± ¡°There is no need to be humble when stating the obvious.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun waved his hands vigorously. ¡°I¡¯m serious. If you say anything like that to Hyun-Deok ahjussi, you¡¯ll get in trouble.¡± Hwang Ji-Hye tilted her head as she looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun, not understanding why he was being so humble. 1. The suffix -gyo refers to bridges in Korean addresses. In this case, the dong leader is referring to Gunja Bridge, located in Gunja-dong. Not all bridges have names that match the dong they are located in. ? 2. In Korea, -cheon is a suffix that refers to a stream or smaller tributary that flows into arger body of water. The cheons in Seoul, Korea usually flow to the Han River. ? 3. Mildeok is the equivalent of a military otaku. Someone who is obsessed with anything rted to the military. ? Chapter 102 Chapter 102 Kim Hyeong-Jun smacked his lips. "To be honest¡­ I¡¯m not sure how I would¡¯ve turned out if I hadn¡¯t been bitten by a zombie.¡± ¡°...?¡± ¡°This one time, Hyun-Deok ahjussi told me that he did nothing but stay in his house when he was a human, even though he would hear people screaming outside every now and then. Every time he heard something, he would just pretend that he hadn¡¯t heard anything.¡± ¡°Well... That¡¯s¡­¡± Hwang Ji-Hye trailed off, suddenly lost in thought. No words came to her mind, either of constion or admonishment. Kim Hyeong-Jun continued to speak. ¡°But after turning into a zombie, I heard he no longer felt restricted from doing anything outside. From that point forward, he was able toe up with ns. He prioritized the safety of his daughter first, then started looking for other survivors that met his standards so that they could help his daughter grow emotionally stable.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ I guess whatever his intentions were, it was good news for the survivors.¡± ¡°But then he said that his attitude toward survivors changed.¡± ¡°What was his attitude?¡± Hwang Ji-Hye tilted her head, and Kim Hyeong-Jun nodded. ¡°That in this crazy world, just clinging onto your sanity as a human being was impressive enough. That those people should be the ones deserving respect. And then he said that we weren¡¯t the heroes.¡± ¡°Did Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok say that?¡± "Yes. He added that we shouldn¡¯t be boastful in front of others. That we¡¯d look pathetic if we paraded around town on a high horse with this dead body of ours.¡± After hearing about Lee Hyun-Deok, Hwang Ji-Hye gave a faint smile. ¡°He¡¯s more down to earth and more assertive with his beliefs than he looks.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun chuckled softly. ¡°I think his beliefs sway from time to time, but he never gives in. He¡¯s a great person who keeps on trying. I don¡¯t know why¡­ But for some reason, he makes me want to give it my all as well.¡± Hwang Ji-Hye silently patted Kim Hyeong-Jun on the shoulder. Kim Hyeong-Jun chuckled and continued, ¡°If you were speaking to Hyun-Deok ahjussi right now, he would¡¯ve hit you on the forearm already by now, saying that he¡¯s embarrassed.¡± ¡°Well, he¡¯s manly, then.¡± ¡°No, he¡¯s just violent.¡± As soon as Kim Hyeong-Jun finished his sentence, he looked around quickly and let out a sigh of relief. Clearly, he knew that he would¡¯ve gotten pped for thatment. Hwang Ji-Hye burst intoughter at his exaggerated reaction. Kim Hyeong-Jun took a deep breath and then got up. "Alrighty then! Before I say more that would annoy ahjussi, I¡¯ll get to work.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll go check on the progress of the trap instation.¡± ¡°Trap?¡± ¡°There¡¯s a limit to the effectiveness of just chucking grenades at zombies. I thought it¡¯d be nice to have a couple of boxes lined up on the ground to use them to block the road.¡± ¡°That sounds nice.¡± ¡°That means we¡¯ll have tomit a lot of our resources at once, though¡­¡± ¡°Well, they¡¯ll all go to waste if you don¡¯t use them anyway.¡± When Kim Hyeong-Jun chuckled, Hwang Ji-Hye smiled heartily and nodded back. Then Kim Hyeong-Jun looked at the zombies on the street. ¡°Then those zombies over there¡­¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun cut off suddenly, a look of hesitation on his face. After a moment, his eyes widened and he looked toward Shelter Seoul Forest. Hwang Ji-Hye tilted her head at his sudden change. "What''s wrong?" ¡°The Family.¡± "What about them?" ¡°It¡¯s the Family.¡± Hwang Ji-Hye looked around urgently as she listened to Kim Hyeong-Jun. However, she couldn¡¯t see any zombies rushing toward their way with her naked eye. Hwang Ji-Hye looked at him doubtfully. Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s red eyes shed. ¡°It¡¯s Seoul Forest.¡± "What?" ¡°I¡¯m heading out.¡± ¡°Wait, wait! What about Lee Hyun-Deok and Do Han-Sol?¡± ¡°There¡¯s no time to wait!¡± With that, Kim Hyeong-Jun crouched down and sprung off the ground, steam trailing from his mouth. Crack! The asphalt floor cracked as Kim Hyeong-Jun disappeared in a sh. Just like that, Hwang Ji-Hye lost track of him. She stared nkly at the horizon for a moment, but quickly collected herself and took out the walkie-talkie hanging on her front pocket. ¡°Do you copy? Is anyone there?¡± Chsuuhh¡­ Chsuuhh¡­ After several bursts of static, someone replied to her. - Yes, group leader. ¡°Stop making the trap and retrieve all the grenades.¡± - Pardon? ¡°We don¡¯t need the damn trap! Retrieve all the grenades right now!¡± As Hwang Ji-Hye yelled into the walkie-talkie, she retrieved her hunting knife from the floor. * * * Grr¡­ Grr¡­ Kim Hyeong-Jun whipped his head to the right, looking in the direction of the zombie calls, as he ran toward Seoul Forest. Red-colored zombies were flooding in like a tidal wave from Seongsuil-ro on the right. If they wereing from Seongsuil-ro, they had to have crossed Jangan-gyo. He furrowed his brow and gave orders to his underlings. ¡®Mood-Swinger and the other mutants, move to block Seongsuil-ro. The rest of youe to Seoul Forest!¡¯ His underlings moved immediately and precisely to follow his orders. However, it would take at least ten minutes for his underlings to travel from the zombie prison in Majang-dong to Seoul Forest. Until then, he had to stop the enemies by himself. When he reached Seoul Forest, he saw that the red-colored zombies had breached the first line of defense, and were trying to get over the second line of defense. Kim Hyeong-Jun began to increase the cirction of his blood, causing the veins in his temples to pop. ¡°Grrr¡­¡± With his mouth spewing steam, Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s red eyes shed and he rushed forward like a raging wave. Crack!!! He grabbed the zombies that were trying to breach the second line of defense and smacked them against the wall. GRRR!!! As one, the zombies surrounding him let out their throat-rending cries and charged toward Kim Hyeong-Jun. He began to dispatch them in rapid session. ¡°AHHH!! Help me!!!" ¡°AHHH!!!¡± He could hear the wails of the inhabitants of Shelter Seoul Foresting from behind the second line of defense. With the guards away, the first and second line of defense served little to no purpose. Kim Hyeong-Jun crossed the second line of defense and tried to get a sense of the situation inside. Some of the people who were on guard were fighting zombies with bamboo spears. They had thrown molotov cocktails to stop the zombies from advancing and were fighting with their dear lives to prevent them from getting to the third line of defense. Kim Hyeong-Jun shed a path through the zombies and rushed toward the survivors. He snapped the necks of the zombies that had been stabbed by bamboo spears and grabbed the ankles of the zombies that were trying to make it across the third line of defense, crushing them against the ground. ¡°Everyone, to the third line of defense!!!¡± yelled Kim Hyeong-Jun. The remaining survivors gathered at the only entrance to the interior of the shelter. The narrow path grew congested as they tried to make their way through. Kim Hyeong-Jun bought time for them, snapping and crushing any zombies who approached. After everyone had made it through the third line of defense, Kim Hyeong-Jun stood in front of the only entrance, his glowing red eyes shing. ¡°You guys won¡¯t be able to make it through.¡± Hundreds of zombies rushed at Kim Hyeong-Jun at once. * * * The sixth officer, who was about to begin his attack from the northern end of Seongdong-gyo, stopped in his tracks when he saw red zombies running toward Seoul Forest. After a moment, one of the decoys with him spoke up. ¡°Sixth officer, it seems like Shelter Seoul Forest is receiving support from another shelter nearby.¡± ¡°Those zombies¡­ Are theying from Majang-dong?¡± "Yes sir." ¡°So they killed the dong leader of Majang-dong and made themselves a shelter there¡­?¡± The sixth officer snorted and stashed both of his hands into his pockets. Clicking his tongue once, he looked at the decoy next to them. ¡°Is there a bridge to Seoul Forest in the direction that they¡¯re running to?¡± ¡°Eungbong-gyo is there.¡± ¡°Interesting¡­¡± The sixth officer smiled as if he found the whole situation fascinating. "Did you know that, when you give zombies orders, they instinctively take the path they¡¯re most used to?¡± "Is that so, sir?" ¡°That¡¯s why, when you give your underlings orders, you have to tell them exactly which path to take. Or else, they¡¯ll just take the most familiar path to them.¡± ¡°Then does that mean those guys¡­¡± ¡°It means that they¡¯ve been going back and forth across Eungbong-gyo.¡± The sixth officer smacked his lips and smiled happily. Another decoy on the other side of him spoke up. ¡°But sixth officer, in order to cross Eungbong-gyo, they would¡¯ve had to pass through Haengdang-dong. But we all know that Haengdang-dong¡­¡± ¡°A ck creature lives there.¡± ¡°Then how¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you get it? It''s making sense to me.¡± The sixth officer lifted an eyebrow. ¡°I wondered who in the world killed the dong leader of Majang-dong¡­ Now we know there¡¯s a bastard out there who¡¯s eaten a ck creature¡¯s brain.¡± ¡°Then the baits we sent to Haengdang-dong¡­¡± ¡°They were probably killed by that bastard. It¡¯s more than possible that he grew stronger while eating their brains as well. What an amazing guy.¡± The sixth officer couldn¡¯t help but be amazed by this zombie who had eaten the ck creature¡¯s brain. He looked at the decoy next to him. ¡°Order your underlings to attack Seoul Forest, while you go straight to Yeouido.¡± ¡°Pardon, sir?¡± ¡°Go and tell the boss that the zombie behind all of this killed the ck creature in Haengdang-dong.¡± ¡°Yes, sir! Got it.¡± With that, one of the decoys ran toward Yeouido. The sixth officer gave orders to the remaining decoys. ¡°You two, cross Seongdong-gyo right now. Annihte Seoul Forest.¡± Then the remaining decoys looked at each other hesitantly. One of them spoke up cautiously. ¡°Sixth officer¡­ Do you happen to have another n in mind?¡± ¡°I need to go to Haengdang-dong.¡± ¡°Right now?¡± ¡°Why? You don¡¯t think you¡¯ll win without me?¡± ¡°No. Not at all, sir.¡± The decoy smiled nervously and made a cating gesture. The sixth officer frowned and spoke up. ¡°Then get going already, and don¡¯t let yourselves be tracked down.¡± ¡°Yes, yes!¡± With that, the two decoys bowed deeply at the waist and headed straight for Seongdong-gyo. * * * The flood of zombiesing over from Jangan-gyo began to diminish. Mood-Swinger and the mutants were doing exactly what they were ordered to do. With Kim Hyeong-Jun now certain that victory was on their side, he headed to the first line of defense to deal with the remaining zombies. GRRR!!! GRRR!!! The moment he arrived at the first line of defense, he heard more zombie cries from close by. A horde of zombies had crossed Seongdong-gyo and were running through Wangsimni-ro toward Seoul Forest. There were at least two thousand of them. ¡°You guys really don¡¯t give me any time to take a break.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun sighed and clenched his fists. As the zombies closed in, though, he saw his own underlings running across Eungbong-gyo from the west. Kim Hyeong-Jun sighed in relief and gave them their orders. ¡®Crush all the enemies in Wangsimni-ro!¡¯ All of his underlings that were rushing toward Seoul Forest turned and started advancing on Wangsimni-ro. First toon, second toon, and third toon¡­ His underlings continued to cross over Eungbong-gyo. Soon enough, all of his underlings¡ªexcept for the hundred he had left at the zombie prison¡ªwere in Wangsimni-ro. Even though he had suffered heavy casualties in the previous battle, he still had a thousand underlings under him. Kim Hyeong-Jun took a deep breath and braced his lower body. ¡°Gaaa¡­¡± Steam spewed out of his mouth, and his rapidly-circting blood heightened his five senses, awakening the zombie instinct within him that enjoyed killing. Kim Hyeong-Jun rushed toward the enemy, his glowing red eyes shing. He kicked the zombie in front of him in the chest, its ribs caving in with a sickening crunch. The zombie vomited dark red blood and copsed to the ground. The impact sent a thrill through his entire body. The killing left him in a euphoric state, stimting his senses further. Kim Hyeong-Jun started sweeping through the swathe of enemies, relying solely on his instincts. It was nothing less than a massacre. Soon, he noticed zombies with glowing red eyes. Kim Hyeong-Jun rushed toward them instantly like a fierce and vengeful wind. The enemy leaders¡¯ eyes went wide, and they looked around for a ce to escape from the onrushing Kim Hyeong-Jun. They hesitated slightly, and by that time, Kim Hyeong-Jun was already upon them, shredding through all the zombies in his way like a frenzied hound. "Jesus!" The enemy leader on the right sighed as if it knew what was about toe next. Without the slightest hesitation, Kim Hyeong-Jun grabbed the enemy leader¡¯s head and mmed it down to the ground. These decoysmanded about six to seven hundred underlings. To them, Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s power was overwhelming. As the first enemy leader went down, frothing out its mouth, the other enemy leader desperately turned around and began to flee back to Seongdong-gyo. Kim Hyeong-Jun sprung from the ground in a sh. The moment their eyes met, Kim Hyeong-Jun smirked. ¡®Die.¡¯ He stabbed his right arm into the enemy leader¡¯s chest, red blood streaming down his hand and arm. Kim Hyeong-Jun flexed his muscr arms and let out a triumphant roar. The enemy leader¡¯s flesh was torn apart, and its organs started to spill out. Even though Kim Hyeong-Jun had taken out two enemy leaders at once, his madness showed no signs of calming. Instead, he was searching for a stronger enemy, an enemy so strong that facing it could make his heart beat again. At that moment, he got a signal from one of his underlings. - Enemy detected. Thankfully, his rational mind returned the moment he got the signal. But the signal¡­ It wasing from a scout that he had long forgotten about. It was the scout in Haengdang-dong. Chapter 103

Chapter 103

Kim Hyeong-Jun found himself torn between two difficult choices. He couldn¡¯t decide whether he should protect Seoul Forest, where his family was, or go to Haengdang-dong, where Lee Hyun-Deok¡¯s family was. He pictured the older man¡¯s face. The memory of himughing and pping his forearm joyfully weighed heavily on his mind. He could feel the energy draining from his body and mind. Loyalty or family? He couldn¡¯t bring himself to give up on either one. He was rooted in ce by his indecisiveness, unable to move in either direction. He vacited back and forth, his mind full of anguish. The zombies that filled Wangsinmi-ro stood motionless, now that their connection with their leader was irrevocably severed. However, there were about six hundred zombies still on their way to Seoul Forest. The only logical conclusion was that there was another enemy leader somewhere nearby. On top of that, the zombies that wereing across Jangan-gyo were still fighting against his mutants. This meant that there were at least one or two more enemy leaders remaining in Seongsu-dong. Kim Hyeong-Jun couldn¡¯t think about leaving for Haengdang-dong while the enemy leaders were still here. He knew that the future hinged on whatever he decided to do at the moment. Kim Hyeong-Jun bit his lower lip and frowned. This merciless decision that had been thrust upon him suddenly was almost too much to bear. Bang! An ear-piercing explosion came from Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s right. He crouched down reflexively and looked in that direction. Hwang Ji-Hye and her guards were advancing toward Seoul Forest steadily, their rifles braced against their shoulders. Kim Hyeong-Jun looked at Hwang Ji-Hye and shouted, ¡°Hwang Ji-Hye!!¡± She heard his voice and ordered the guards to provide cover for her as she made her way straight toward him. When the two finally met, Kim Hyeong-Jun said urgently, ¡°Hyun-Deok ahjussi¡¯s family is in danger.¡± ¡°Pardon?¡± ¡°Haengdang-dong¡­ Shelter Hae-Young is under attack!¡± ¡°I thought the gang members didn¡¯t know the whereabouts of Shelter Hae-Young?¡± ¡°I think they¡¯ve caught on. I have to head over to Haengdang-dong right now.¡± Fear, nervousness and worry were painted all across his face. Hwang Ji-Hye brushed her bangs to the side. ¡°Leave this area to us.¡± ¡°My family¡­ Please protect them.¡± ¡°Everyone who is a part of Silence is family. And it¡¯s my job to protect them.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun nodded while biting his lips, and Hwang Ji-Hye smiled back at him. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about this ce. Get going. I¡¯ll try to stop them somehow.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll leave the mutants here just in case. I think the enemy leader is over at Jangan-gyo.¡± "All right." Hwang Ji-Hye took two grenades from her belt and handed them to Kim Hyeong-Jun. Kim Hyeong-Jun epted them with a nod. Hwang Ji-Hye then shouldered her rifle again and spoke. ¡°Get going.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun raced off toward Eungbong-gyo, giving orders to his underlings as he moved. ¡®First and secondpany, follow me. We¡¯re going to Haengdang-dong this instant!¡¯ GRRR!!! The underlings that were defending the outer walls of Shelter Silence immediately started moving toward Eungbong-gyo. Hwang Ji-Hye saw them move and shouted at the guards, ¡°Advance toward the first line of defense! Give everything you¡¯ve got!¡± ¡°Yes, group leader!¡± The forty guards walked past the motionless, leaderless zombies and made their way toward the first defense line. * * * ¡°Get the kids first!¡± Lee Jeong-Uk''s urgent voice echoed through the apartmentplex. All of Lee Hyun-Deok¡¯s underlings that had been deployed to defend the shelter had been incapacitated by enemy forces. Bang! Bang! The teenagers and university students in charge of guarding Shelter Hae-Young fired nonstop at the invading zombies, the smoking barrels of their guns filling the air with the strong smell of gunpowder. Choi Da-Hye, the principal, the elder, and Lee Jeong-Hyuk thrust their stainless-steel spears through the small openings in the lower sections of the walls, trying to impale the iing zombies. Others were throwing Molotov cocktails at the invading horde, along with what few grenades remained. They were doing their best to mount a desperate defense of Shelter Hae-Young. Han Seon-Hui led the children who had been ying in the yground to apartment 104. She hid them in an empty room on the top floor. As she tried to leave, the children grabbed at her clothes. ¡°Don¡¯t go, Auntie!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t leave us behind!¡± ¡°Mommy¡­ Mommy!¡± The children bawled, trying their utmost to make Han Seon-Hui stay with them. She calmed the children down as best as she could, and tried to calm her own emotions as well. ¡°It¡¯s okay, everyone. Your uncles and older brothers and sisters will protect you. It¡¯s going to be alright. It¡¯s going to be alright.¡± Despite her attempts to console them, the children didn¡¯t stop crying. Then So-Yeon jumped up and shouted, "Don¡¯t cry! My daddy¡¯s going to save us!¡± She clenched her two cute fists, admonishing the other children who were shedding tears. Han Seon-Hui looked at So-Yeon and nodded. ¡°So-Yeon is right. Uncle Hyun-Deok is going to save us. So don''t worry. Don''t cry." ¡°When? When is Uncle Hyun-Deoking?¡± ¡°He¡¯s not here! He left us behind!¡± Some of the children, who had already been abandoned once before, couldn¡¯t hide their fear of being abandoned again. So-Yeon let out a scream. ¡°Daddy said he¡¯de back! He said he¡¯d be back within ten nights!¡± Bang! Bang! The incessant sound of explosions outside only served to make the children more fearful. Han Seon-Hui bit her lower lip and hugged the children. With her eyes, closed, she thought to herself, ''So-Yeon¡¯s father¡­ Please make it back soon.¡¯ She continued to calm down the children, her own skinny arms trembling slightly. She was afraid as well. Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s voice rang out from outside. ¡°Retreat!!! Abandon the wall!!!¡± She got up and rushed to the balcony. The pile of zombie corpses in front of the wall was so high that it was about to flood over into the apartmentplex at any minute. The defenders of Shelter Hae-Young abandoned theplex wall and began to gather around the first floor of apartment 104. Lee Jeong-Uk stayed outside until everyone went inside, firing at the onrushing zombies. ¡°Everyone go up through the emergency exit!¡± he ordered. ¡°We¡¯ll mount our defense at the fourth-floor barricade!¡± Lee Jeong-Hyuk, who was kneeling beside him and firing at the zombies as well, shouted in reply, "There¡¯s more of them than the barricade can handle! The barricade won¡¯t be enough!¡± ¡°We have to hold them off somehow! Hold them off with everything you¡¯ve got, until So-Yeon¡¯s father arrives!¡± Once everyone had made it to the emergency exit, the principal shouted down to the Lee brothers, ¡°You two,e in quickly!¡± Lee Jeong-Uk threw a Molotov cocktail at the apartment entrance and broke for the emergency exit. The Lee brothers squeezed themselves into the emergency exit and made it up the stairs without a backward nce. Cold sweat trickled down his brow. Even though it wasn¡¯t a hot day, he felt incredibly stifled, as if he was stuck in traffic after a long day¡¯s work. At the same time, he felt chills running up his spine, almost as though the zombies that were chasing him would bite his head off any second. He wanted to look back, but he was afraid that, when he did so, the zombies would overwhelm him and tear him apart. When he finally made it to the fourth floor, he saw the defenders had taken up positions behind the barricade, ready to hold off the zombies. Byun Hyeok-Jin and Woo Ga-In closed the barricade once the Lee brothers made it safely through, knowing that there was no one elseing up. A momentter, the cries of the zombies trying to make it into the emergency exit echoed through the apartment. GRRR!!! GAAA!!! GRRR!!! Woo Ga-In shuddered, and Byun Hyeok-Jin, who was next to her, squeezed her hand. Choi Da-Hye stood right next to Lee Jeong-Hyuk, her crossbow aimed toward the stairs. The wait felt like an eternity. Lee Jeong-Uk swallowed and raised his rifle, preparing himself to face the zombies. When the zombies finally came into sight, Lee Jeong-Uk screamed at the top of his lungs, ¡°Fire!¡± Bang! Bang! Bang! Ting! Ting! The sound of crossbows and rifles firing echoed inside the stairwell. The horrific cacophony overwhelmed the eardrums of the defenders, causing a dull, constant ringing in their ears. As Lee Jeong-Uk took in the endless waves of zombies piling in, he shouted, "Grenades! Throw grenades!¡± "We don¡¯t have any!" "We¡¯re out!" ¡°We have Molotov cocktails!¡± The constant ringing brought on by the non-stop firing made it impossible to tell who was shouting. Lee Jeong-Uk gritted his teeth and shouted, ¡°Throw a Molotov cocktail at the stairs!¡± A Molotov cocktail arced over the barricade andnded on the stairs connecting the fourth and fifth floors, right on top of the zombies. There was the sound of shattering ss, and the smell of gasoline filled the stairs, along with a sudden, intense heat. As the mes began to melt away at zombie flesh, the zombies threw themselves toward the barricade, swinging their arms violently. The sharpened stakes along the barricade pierced through their flesh. The rough sound of their flesh grating against the solid barricade was terrifying. The zombies were throwing themselves against the barricade to their deaths. GRRR!!! A fierce zombie cry came from above the emergency exit. Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s eyes went wide and he looked up. A mysterious being was making its way down, hopping along the railings. Lee Jeong-Uk quickly raised his rifle and aimed it at its head. When the creature had made it about to the eighth floor, it threw itself into the hollow center of the stairwell. Whoosh¨C A pair of glowing red eyes hurtled down through the empty space. Lee Jeong-Uk locked eyes with the mysterious being for a split second, and he realized that the reinforcements that he could count on had arrived. ¡°Hang in there! Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s here!¡± Kim Hyeong-Junnded on the first floor and immediately tore into the zombies blocking the entrance. * * * Kim Hyeong-Jun left the defenders of Shelter Hae-Young to deal with the zombies that were clogging up the stairs while he took care of the zombies blocking the entrance. The zombies that were racing toward the entrance were being funneled into the narrow entrance to the emergency exit, causing them to get all tangled up. Kim Hyeong-Jun cleared a path by crushing their faces and trampling on them. ¡®First and secondpany, block the entrance to the apartmentplex. Stop them from entering!'' After crossing Eungbong-gyo and reaching Haengdang 1-dong, his underlings had shed with the foot soldiers of the Family that were surrounding Shelter Hae-Young. Zombie howls echoed far and wide as Kim Hyeong-Jun battled the ones that had made it into the apartmentplex. The continuous waves of zombies took their toll, and soon the flesh on his forearms, thighs, and sides were torn up. The zombies were slowly wearing down his body, and he felt like his bones were about to snap at any minute. ''I need time to regenerate.'' He knew better than anyone that he needed to take a break to regenerate. However, the zombie horde around him did not seem willing to give him one. Despite being unable to feel pain, zombies would lose their capacity to fight once their bones broke, just like humans would, although the humans would feel pain as well. Kim Hyeong-Jun gritted his teeth and focused on the current situation. The physical abilities of these zombies were different from the zombies he had faced so far. He knew that, if there was an officer amongst these reinforcements, they had to be here. At that moment, the zombies that had been trying to make their way into the first floor of apartment 104 stopped moving, and began to retreat slowly. Kim Hyeong-Jun took several steps back as well, feeling uneasy at the sudden change in their behavior. The zombies peered at Kim Hyeong-Jun, then slowly split left and right, parting like the Red Sea. At the very end of the pathway that they had created, a man appeared, walking toward Him Hyeong-Jun with his hands stashed in his pockets. The man tilted his head. ¡°So you¡¯re the leader?¡± he asked Kim Hyeong-Jun. Kim Hyeong-Jun swallowed and examined the man from head to toe. He didn¡¯t even feel the need to turn the question back around. He knew that this person was an officer. The sixth officer looked at his underlings around him and gestured with his chin toward the apartment wall behind him. At once, his underlings began to stream out of the apartmentplex, their cries ringing in Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s ears thanks to his heightened sense of hearing. Kim Hyeong-Jun swallowed as he tried to still his trembling limbs. The sixth officer gave Kim Hyeong-Jun a close look, then smirked. ¡°Regenerate.¡± ¡°...¡± When Kim Hyeong-Jun furrowed his brow, the sixth captain smiled and continued, ¡°What''s the point of finishing off someone who¡¯s already dying?¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun frowned. ¡°Don¡¯t regret thister,¡± he retorted angrily. Gritting his teeth, he forced his blood to circte more quickly. He focused on his wounds, and new flesh began to grow and knit together as steam burst forth from his wounds and leaked out of his mouth. The steam that enveloped his entire body soon turned into a thick fog, with a pair of red eyes glowing from deep within. Chapter 104 Chapter 104 ¡°Daddy, look!¡± So-Yeon was twirling around in a clean dress. I was sitting on the couch in the living room, pping at her moves with a foolish smile on my face. She seemed to like this dress that I¡¯d bought for her, a dress that resembled the one worn by a character from an animated film. ¡°Let it go! Let it go!¡± So-Yeon sang the song as well, acting all cute. I couldn''t stop smiling at her. After she was done singing, she sat on myp. As I stroked her hair, I called her my princess and told her how pretty she was. I didn¡¯t forget to ask who she took after, who taught her to be such a sweetheart. So-Yeon waved her legs back and forth and giggled. As I looked at her, I prayed that the happiness I was feeling right now wouldst forever. I also prayed that my family would remain healthy and that we would all live happily for years toe. ¡®Wait¡­ Family?¡¯ The people I¡¯d forgotten about shed through my mind. Their faces were blurry, like scattered puzzle pieces. I stared nkly into space as I tried to recall their faces. I saw a nk TV screen in front of me. On that screen, I saw a reflection of me and So-Yeon. As I looked at our reflections, cold sweat began to form on my forehead. This clean living room, the warm weather, and a happy house full of warmth andughter. I¡­ I was dreaming. This world no longer existed. As I stroked my fingers through So-Yeon¡¯s hair, I saw a clump of hair tangled around the fingers of my right hand. A handful of her long hair had been pulled out. My eyes widened in surprise, and So-Yeon called out to me, her voice muffled and indistinct. "Daddy¡­¡± ¡°So¡­ So-Yeon.¡± ¡°Da¡­ ddy¡­¡± ¡°So-Yeon!¡± Her head slowly turned toward me. Her face turned all the way to face mine. It no longer resembled that of a living being. Her two eyes were soulless orbs set within a pale, shriveled-up face, and tears and blood made streaks across her withered skin. My face grew red as I saw So-Yeon the way she was. Tears welled up in my eyes, and my emotions threatened to go out of control. ¡°No, no. No, So-Yeon. No!" Not my daughter. I couldn¡¯t let anything happen to my daughter. I got up, holding So-Yeon in my arms. The pristine wallpaper lining the walls melted away, and musty mold began to bloom in every nook and cranny. The hinges of the front door fell to the ground, and the firmly closed door disappeared like a mirage. I didn¡¯t know what was going on. I didn¡¯t know where I had to go. I hugged So-Yeon even tighter as she continued to sob. "Da¡­ ddy¡­¡± ¡°So-Yeon, So-Yeon!¡± "It¡­ hurts..¡± ¡°Wake up, So-Yeon!¡± I wailed, unable to suffer the heartbreaking pain. So-Yeon began to disappear as well, like a mirage. As I felt the weight of her disappearing from my fingertips, my mind fell into an abyss so deep that not even god knew where it ended. ¡®A dream¡­ This is a dream!¡¯ I had toe back to my senses. I had to get myself together for So-Yeon¡¯s sake, and for my family¡¯s sake, when they got in trouble. I barely managed to calm myself down and gently closed my eyes, only letting one repetitive thought fill my mind. ¡®I have to get up. I have to get up! I have to get up!!!¡¯ I hypnotized myself over and over again. My heavy eyelids fluttered open. * * * My eyes swam into focus. I was staring at an unfamiliar ceiling. Grrr¡­ Grrr¡­ I heard zombies crying from afar. Bang¡­ Bang¡­ Bang¡­ There was the sound of distant gunfire, punctuated by sporadic explosions. I picked myself off the floor of the cramped rooftop room and headed out to the rooftop terrace. All I could see was my underlings in Achasan-ro. Hwang Ji-Hye, Kim Hyeong-Jun, the guards, and Do Han-Sol¡­ No one else was in sight. - Enemy detected. - Enemy detected. - Enemy detected. After a short dy, signals from my underlings began to flood in continuously. I opened my eyes wider, trying to figure out where the signals wereing from. They wereing from two ces¡ªShelter Silence in Seoul Forest, and Shelter Hae-Young in Haengdang-dong. Both ces were simultaneously requesting reinforcements. I felt chills run down my spine, as though I was being brushed by a ghost. I shivered at the ufortable feeling. I finally returned to my senses, feeling fresher than ever before. While I¡¯d been asleep, Shelter Hae-Young had fallen under attack. I didn¡¯t know what was going on, but my body reacted first. I leaped across the wide main road and headed toward Shelter Silence. ¡®Huh?¡¯ I felt lighter than ever before. In fact, I felt so light, I almost believed that I could fly. Instead of me moving forward, it felt as though the world around me was going backward. It felt like I was warping my way forward, as though I were folding space in order to move forward. My physical abilities have grown, even without me having to circte my blood more quickly. I reached Shelter Silence in the blink of an eye. The guards were lined up along the first line of defense, and Do Han-Sol''s underlings were surrounding the outer wall. I bounded over the first line of defense in one leap. Hwang Ji-Hye, who had been shooting at the approaching zombies, looked at me in surprise. ¡°Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok!¡± ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°Oh, hmm¡­ Are you okay, Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok?¡± Hwang Ji-Hye stared at me with a rather puzzled expression. ¡®Why is she asking if I¡¯m okay? I mean, of course I¡¯m okay. Why is she asking me this sort of question?¡¯ When I tilted my head, Hwang Ji-Hye shook her head vigorously and continued, "No, no. There¡¯s no time to waste. Get yourself to Haengdang-dong right now!¡± ¡°I received signals from my scouts in both Seoul Forest and Haengdang-dong. What¡¯s going on?¡± ¡°Obviously, both of them are under attack!¡± When I heard Hwang Ji-Hye''s answer, a spark went off inside my head. ¡®So-Yeon.¡¯ So-Yeon¡¯s face, the face that I¡¯d seen in my dream earlier on, shed through my mind. My expression darkened, and Hwang Ji-Hye quickly continued, ¡°Don¡¯t worry about us and get going. Now that Do Han-Sol has woken up, the battle is leaning in our favor. Hurry up and help Kim Hyeong-Jun.¡± My eyes lit up. Hyeong-Jun was in Haengdang-dong. He was protecting my family on my behalf. Despite the fact that his family was here, he¡¯d gone to Haengdang-dong to protect my family. My eyes shed, and I quickened the cirction of my blood. ¡°Grrr¡­¡± My whole body grew hot, like the inside of a volcano. My muscles contracted tightly and gradually began to increase in volume. My tightly pulled thighs began to grow thicker, and my veins and tendons felt about to pop. This was a sensation I¡¯d never felt before. My body¡­ It was changing. I sprung into the air. Crack! My departure left a deep crater in the ground, sending dust flying everywhere. Hwang Ji-Hye frowned reflexively and covered her face with her right arm. Coughing, she opened her eyes. Lee Hyun-Deok, who had been right in front of her just a moment ago, had disappeared. The guard next to her spoke up, his voice quivering slightly with fear. ¡°Group leader?¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°That person just now¡­ Was he really Lee Hyun-Deok?¡± ¡°I believe so¡­¡± replied Hwang Ji-Hye, her voice slightly uncertain. The guard swallowed. ¡°But then why were his eyes¡­¡± ¡°That, I don¡¯t know either.¡± Hwang Ji-Hye clicked her tongue vigorously. ¡°Let¡¯s take care of the Family¡¯s forces first. We¡¯ll wonder about the restter.¡± ¡°Got it.¡± The two of them hurriedly returned to the first line of defense. * * * ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we help?¡± ¡°How in the world are we supposed to help?¡± The Lee brothers were hiding in the security room of apartment 104, watching Kim Hyeong-Jun fighting the sixth officer. The two of them were barely able to follow their movements. It was the exact situation in which not helping out was the best way to help. The principal approached the two of them. "Let¡¯s stay put for the moment. We¡¯ll step in to assist Mr. Kim Hyeong-Jun if things aren¡¯t looking good.¡± ¡°Things are already looking bad for him,¡± answered Lee Jeong-Uk, squinting. He couldn¡¯t be absolutely sure, but it seemed like the fight was leaning the sixth officer¡¯s way. Kim Hyeong-Jun was gradually taking more and more hits from the sixth officer. Choi Da-Hye wet her lips and spoke up. ¡°If it weren¡¯t for Kim Hyeong-Jun, we would¡¯ve been dead already.¡± No one rebutted her. In a fight with a man that had the physical abilities he had¡­ It would¡¯ve been pointless to point a gun or knife at him. Shooting him was impossible, let alone tracking his movements with the naked eye. Bang! Kim Hyeong-Jun''s body flew into a wall with such an impact that it caused the wall to crack. The sixth officer was in front of him in a sh, crushing his chest with his knee. Crunch! Kim Hyeong-Jun vomited blood and copsed to the ground. The sixth officer hauled him up by the cor. ¡°Not bad. Yousted pretty long.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun trembled as he spoke, ¡°God damn it¡­ You fucking bastard." ¡°Now, how should I finish you off? Shall I rip your neck out? Or should I just eat your brain now?¡± The sixth officer smirked, clearly reveling in Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s agony. Kim Hyeong-Jun groaned, and his eyes began to roll back into his head as if he was having trouble breathing. Bang! An ear-shattering noise echoed through theplex. The bullet flew straight and true, prating the sixth officer¡¯s cheek. The sudden attack took the sixth officer by surprise. He swayed back and forth, both hands clutching his cheeks. Kim Hyeong-Jun copsed to the ground and looked in the direction from which the sound hade. His eyes fell on Lee Jeong-Uk, Lee Jeong-Hyuk, and Choi Da-Hye, standing at the first floor of apartment 104. They immediately began to fire on the sixth officer. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! The sixth officer shielded his face with his arms, trying to block the bullets. They had only one goal in mind: to assist Kim Hyeong-Jun. Tick, tick, tick. However, they were out of bullets before they even realized it. Lee Jeong-Uk quickly reached for a fresh magazine, but he didn¡¯t have any magazines left. The other two were in the same boat. Seeing that the three of them were out of magazines, Kim Heyong-Jun shouted at the top of his lungs, ¡°Everyone take cover!!!¡± Pshhh¨C Steam was escaping from the sixth officer¡¯s body. Dong leaders could punch through walls with their bare fists without breaking a bone. When it came to the officers¡­ Their bones were hardy enough to withstand bullets. The bullets might tear through their flesh, but they didn¡¯t have enough power to pierce through the officer¡¯s skull to damage their brain. The three humans began to panic as the sixth officer spoke through the thick cloud of steam surrounding him. ¡°You puny things¡­ How dare you¡­¡± His red eyes glowed from within the thick fog. Kim Hyeong-Jun got up before he regenerated and rushed toward the sixth officer. The sixth officer, sensing Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s killing intent, quickly looked to his left. As Kim Hyeong-Jun opened his mouth, aiming for the sixth officer¡¯s side, the sixth officer quickly backpedaled and swiped at the top of Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s head with his elbow. Crunch! ¡°Hup!¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun went down. His eyes could no longer focus. He fainted, a tingling feeling spreading through his entire body. The sixth officer gritted his teeth as he watched Kim Hyeong-Jun copse helplessly to the ground. ¡°I''ll finish you first.¡± The sixth officer raised his right foot high and focused on Kim Hyeong-Jun''s head. Shoosh, shoosh! Crossbow bolts whistled through the air from the fourth-floornding of the emergency exit, heading directly for his stomach. The college students had fired their crossbows at the sixth officer. The sixth officer didn¡¯t seem to feel a thing. He kicked Kim Hyeong-Jun right in the head. Lee Jeong-Uk quickly fixed his bay and ran toward the sixth officer. With his speed, there was no way he could even get close to the sixth officer. ¡°No!!!¡± Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s cry echoed throughout theplex. Bang!!! The ground shook, dislodging a thickyer of dust that filled the air in the apartmentplex. Lee Jeong-Uk coughed, furrowing his brow. Before he could react, a thick arm wrapped itself around his waist and he was flying into the air, defying gravity. Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s eyes went wide, but he let his body go with the flow. In moments, he was on a balcony on the fifth floor. He looked around, dumbfounded. Almost immediately, Kim Hyeong-Jun was next to him. Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s mouth opened and closed like a goldfish as he looked up at the figure in front of him. His astonishment was in to see. In front of him was a being with a wide back and muscr limbs. He couldn¡¯t believe what he was seeing. ¡°So¡­ So-Yeon¡¯s dad¡­?¡± The man on the railing turned around. Clear blue light was shimmering in his eyes. Chapter 105 Chapter 105 I let out a sigh of relief when I saw Lee Jeong-Uk and Kim Hyeong-Jun. Thank goodness. I wasn¡¯tte. I looked down at the first floor again, seeing the sixth officer lying there with his lower body crushed. He was looking at me in utter confusion. ¡°No, there¡¯s no way. How does he have those eyes¡­¡± I clenched my fists, my blue eyes shing. I jumped down andnded in front of the sixth officer. His jaw fell open. It seemed like he couldn¡¯t believe what was in front of his eyes. I looked straight into his eyes and asked, "Listen carefully. Where¡¯s your boss?¡± ¡°What¡­ what?¡± ¡°Where¡¯s the boss of the Family?¡± His eyes swam about as he tried toe up with a way to divert my attention. I stepped on his chest and slowly applied more pressure. "Answer me." ¡°God! Wait, hold on!¡± ¡°Wrong answer.¡± ¡°Fuck!¡± Crack. Crack! Now that his ribs were crushed, he began to breathe heavily while coughing continuously. He vomited a mouthful of blood and looked at me with eyes full of fear. This time, I ced my right foot on his neck. ¡°This is yourst chance. Answer me.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll tell you. I¡¯ll tell you! Get your foot off of me!¡± I slowly put more weight on my right foot, which was pressed against his neck. The sixth officer grabbed onto my leg with his hands and squirmed. However, at his current level of strength, there was no way he could snap my leg or break free. I frowned down at him. ¡°Stop thinking about trying to bullshit me and answer my question.¡± ¡°The boss is in Gangnam!¡± ¡°Where in Gangnam?¡± ¡°Yeouido! The boss entered Yeouido! Yeouido is theunching point of the Gangnam Operation!¡± I furrowed my brow. ¡°All the bridges spanning the Han River and leading to Gangnam have copsed. How did you guys get over?¡± ¡°Sogang Bridge! Sogang Bridge hasn¡¯t copsed! Sogang Bridge, which connects to Bamseom Ind, is only partially destroyed!¡± I applied more pressure with my right foot, causing the sixth officer to squirm even more. There was still something I didn¡¯t understand. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, you guys should have been focused only on Gangnam. Why did you attack Gwangjin-gu?¡± ¡°Seoul¡­ upying Seoul¡­ is the boss¡¯s goal. Please get your foot off of me¡­!¡± ¡°And what are you trying to gain by upying Seoul?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t fucking know! The boss¡¯s desire is probably that he wants to be the mayor of Seoul city or something!¡± ¡°Then why did you be part of the Family?¡± ¡°Because¡­ Because I wanted to survive.¡± The sixth officer looked at me, his eyes trembling. As I took my right foot off of him, the sixth officer coughed and massaged his neck with his hands. I looked down at the sixth officer. ¡°Let me ask you one more question.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°How did you know there was a shelter in Haengdang-dong?¡± ¡°I¡­ I saw zombies running into the Seoul Forest and assumed that there would be a shelter here.¡± ¡°Did you tell your boss about this?¡± ¡°...¡± The sixth officer averted his gaze and didn¡¯t answer my question. I let out a deep breath. ¡°So these forces won¡¯t be the end of it.¡± "No, no! No one knows. No one knows that there¡¯s a shelter here! There won¡¯t be any more reinforcements!¡± ¡°If you¡¯re going to lie, you should¡¯ve done it properly.¡± Using all the strength in my thigh, I kicked him squarely in the face. His neck bones snapped in a weird way, and he copsed helplessly. He moved no more. Everything was over. The long battle has finallye to an end. ¡°So-Yeon¡¯s father!¡± Everyone who was on the ground floor of apartment 104 came rushing to me at once. They all swallowed as they nced at the dead sixth officer, then asked me, ¡°Is, is he dead?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± I answered in a low voice. Choi Da-Hye gasped in surprise. ¡°So-yeon¡¯s father, you¡­ you can speak¡­¡± ¡°There¡¯s a whole story behind it. I¡¯ll tell you all about it once we get everything settled down.¡± ¡°Oh¡­¡± Choi Da-Hye nodded and trailed off. Lee Jeong-Uk yelled down at me from the fifth floor. ¡°So-Yeon¡¯s dad! This fellow doesn¡¯t seem to be doing so well!¡± I leaped up to the fifth-floor balcony at once. Kim Hyeong-Jun was struggling. His breathing was heavy. I furrowed my brow and examined him once over. HIs broken arms and crushed chest were not regenerating. As I looked at him, I felt my heart sink. I¡¯d never felt so afraid. The thought that I could lose Kim Hyeong-Jun made me extremely anxious. "What the hell are you doing!¡± I yelled. ¡°Regenerate already!¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun smiled bitterly at me. ¡°I can¡¯t seem to do so. It¡¯s not working.¡± ¡°What do you mean? What¡¯s the problem?¡± ¡°I think it¡¯s my skull¡­ I think it''s broken.¡± I quickly hoisted him onto my back as I listened to him talk. He was still breathing. Even though he wasn¡¯t regenerating right now, he might have been able to do so after taking a rest. For zombies with glowing red eyes, the only way to rest was to consume an enemy leader¡¯s brain. I approached the sixth officer¡¯s corpse on the first floor, carrying Kim Hyeong-Jun on my back. Without the slightest hesitation, I tore off the sixth officer¡¯s head and shattered his skull. When I pulled out his brain, everyone around me frowned. I looked around at them and said, ¡°Everyone¡­ if you don¡¯t mind giving us a moment.¡± There was some grimacing, but they all headed back to apartment 104. Iid Kim Hyeong-Jun on myp and shoved the sixth officer¡¯s brain into his mouth. After he ate the sixth officer¡¯s brain, he smiled and spoke up. ¡°Hahah¡­ I never thought I¡¯d ever rest my head on my guy¡¯sp.¡± ¡°You¡¯d better wake up. If you sleep forever like this¡­¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s not really up to me, is it?¡± He slowly closed his eyes, as if the fatigue had kicked in right away. I bit my lower lip and said, ¡°You better not die. I¡¯m going to drag you up out of your grave if you do.¡± ¡°Ahjussi, stick to one thing, please, whether that¡¯s cheering me on or cursing me¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯ll see you when you wake up.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s eyes fluttered and closed, as if he couldn¡¯t fight off the drowsiness tugging at him. I released a bitter sigh. Someone came over and put a hand on my shoulder. When I turned around, I saw Lee Jeong-Uk standing behind me. Lee Jeong-Uk smacked his lips and looked away. He then patted my shoulders a couple of times and went back into apartment 104. Kim Hyeong-Jun''s skull was cracked. His neck was twisted awkwardly, and his chest was caved in. Both of his arms were broken. He looked worn out and his body wasn¡¯t regenerating on its own. Even though he had eaten an enemy leader¡¯s brain, it was difficult to say if he was dead or alive. I prayed over and over again that he would make it through alive. I no longer cared about the way he got on my nerves, or how manyme jokes he tried to pull on me. My only wish was that he would wake up and ask me, with that cheesy face of his, if I had been worried about him all along. * * * Hwang Ji-Hye and Do Han-Sol handled all the remaining zombies left in Seoul forest. Kim Hyeong-Jun''s mutants, along with Mood-Swinger, took care of the zombies that had made their way across Jayang-gyo, and Mood-Swinger and Do Han-Sol came together to defeat the dong leader of Junggok-dong. I gave the brain of the dong leader of Junggok-dong to Do Han-Sol. I assumed that everyone would rejoice at the end of the long battle, but the survivors weren¡¯t all that happy. Their focus was on survival, rather than winning a war. For the survivors, there was no greater relief than surviving. Some of the survivors couldn¡¯t shake off their anxiety, knowing that this peace was only temporary. They knew that it could disappear at any second. Those who had adapted to this damned world¡­ They were slowly forgetting the feeling of happiness. Or maybe they were getting tired of all their friends dying. I exined to everyone at Shelter Hae-Young what had happened over the past few days, and everyone seemed to understand why I had done the things I did. No one asked in detail about the reason why I was able to speak. They all seemed to trust me, and epted me for who I was. The more I thought about it¡­ I was grateful to be surrounded by such people. Now that the situation had settled down, at least temporarily, I invited the leaders of Shelter Silence and Shelter Barrier to Shelter Hae-Young for an emergency meeting. With the sun about to set, the leaders of the three shelters gathered in the meeting room in Shelter Hae-Young. I sat at the head of the table. I looked around at the shelter leaders, then began the proceedings. ¡°Let¡¯s begin the meeting.¡± * * * We started off the meeting with a small icebreaker, with the leader of each shelter giving a small introduction about their own shelter. Everyone seemed to know about Shelter Silence, but not many had a clear idea about Shelter Hae-Young or Shelter Barrier. Hwang Deok-Rok and Choi Soo-Hyun, the two representing Shelter Barrier, seemed slightly ufortable at first, but then soon loosened up and were able to speak more freely. The Lee brothers represented Shelter Hae-Young and gave the others a brief rundown of our history. After everyone had developed a basic understanding of each shelter, I got straight to the point. ¡°Each of us is different, but I think we all have the same goal. A shelter for humans, am I right?¡± Everyone seemed to be in agreement. I took a quick breath and continued, "I believe¡­ We should join together as one.¡± ¡°Join together?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± What I was proposing was rather abrupt and out of the blue. Hwang Ji-Hye seemed especially troubled, and Lee Jeong-Uk was no different. He wet his lips several times, then eximed, ¡°How could youe up with such a proposal without discussing it with us beforehand?¡± ¡°I came to this conclusion over the course of this battle. I¡¯m confident that there¡¯s absolutely no advantage for any of us if we remain split up.¡± I offered my reply calmly, and the others all exchanged silent looks. After a moment, Lee Jeong-Hyuk raised his right hand and spoke up. ¡°So-Yeon¡¯s father, if I may?¡± ¡°Of course, go ahead.¡± ¡°Do you have an area in mind?¡± ¡°I actually do have a safe area in mind.¡± I offered my answer immediately, and all eyes turned to focus on me. I spread out the map of Seoul that I had previously obtained in front of me and pointed to a specific area on the map. Hwang Ji-Hye was the first to speak. ¡°Grand Walkerhill Seoul.¡± I nodded. ¡°I was thinking of turning Grand Walkerhill Seoul, located in Gwangjang-dong, into a shelter.¡± Hwang Ji-Hye rubbed her chin gently. It didn¡¯t take her long to step in. ¡°The area is geographically advantageous. It¡¯s impossible to enter via the north or west because of the presence of Achasan[1], and the Han River blocks off ess from the east. We¡¯ll be safe as long as we defend the road leading in from the southwest.¡± The white-haired elder spoke up in support of Hwang Ji-Hye. ¡°If we take advantage of the ridge along Achasan, we can cultivate nts on a muchrger scale.¡± With that, the discussion began in earnest, focusing on the advantages of Gwangjang-dong. It was more than possible to renovate the basement of the hotel so that the technicians had a ce to themselves, and the hotel suites could be used as hospital wards. Not only that, but the defensive line to the southwest was narrow, which would make it easier to defend. The wide view from above would make it easy to detect enemy movements. The hotel was alsorge enough of a space to amodate everyone. After I listened to all the leaders, I spoke up. ¡°I think it¡¯d be best to head over as soon as possible, since we cannot rule out the possibility of another attack by the Family.¡± "But wait. There¡¯s a problem.¡± Hwang Ji-Hye cut me off, and everyone in the meeting room turned to look at her. When I gestured to her to speak, Hwang Ji-Hye hesitated for a moment, biting her lower lip. I stared at her lips, hoping that she wouldn¡¯t bring up what I was thinking. Eventually, though, I heard exactly what I¡¯d been expecting. ¡°There are survivors in Gangnam.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°In Gangnam?¡± "What do you mean?" Questions and rebuttals flew left and right. I calmed everyone down and gestured to Hwang Ji-Hye to exin more. Hwang Ji-Hye sighed and continued talking. ¡°The weapons our shelter was supplied with¡­. They were supplied by the people in Gangnam.¡± Kim Beom-Jin, the head of Shelter Silence''s medical team, seemed utterly bewildered. "And you¡¯ve been hiding that from us all along?" he asked. Hwang Ji-Hye grimaced, then continued, ¡°The survivors of Gangnam weren¡¯t willing to ept us. The most they were willing to do was to supply us with goods. Nothing more, nothing less. My apologies for keeping this a secret¡­ But I knew that this would only heap more uncertainty on top of what we are already facing.¡± ¡°Then how are the people of Gangnam managing to survive? Are there no zombies in Gangnam?¡± Kim Beom-Jin was needling Hwang Ji-Hye for details. The shelter leader shook her head. ¡°There are zombies in Gangnam as well. However, the humans seem to be operating more safely than over here in Gangbuk. That''s why they aren¡¯t willing to bring us in. Because they¡¯re afraid we could tear their perfect system apart.¡± No one seemed to doubt Hwang Ji-Hye¡¯s answer. The expressions of those in the room grewplicated. Some gnashed their teeth, and others calmed themselves down in their own way. I tried to change the atmosphere in the room by bringing everyone back to the original topic. ¡°Ms. Hwang Ji-Hye, what was the problem that you were about to bring up?¡± ¡°This battle has left us low on supplies. It¡¯ll be difficult for us to resupply if we move to Gwangjang-dong.¡± ¡°What if we¡¯re able toe back here when necessary? We can form a supply team and prepare a route in advance. That should solve this problem.¡± ¡°If we were off by one day, our supplies would bepletely cut off. Moreover, there¡¯s no guarantee that there won¡¯t be another attack by the Family. The risk is too high. ¡° ¡°Well, there¡¯s me, Hyeong-Jun, and Han-Sol. We can cover the supply team. Besides, I think we should be more concerned about what¡¯s going on on the other side.¡± ¡°The other side?¡± ¡°There¡¯s no guarantee that Gangnam is safe anymore.¡± I inteced my fingers together. Hwang Ji-Hye tilted her head at me. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°The boss of the Family has entered Yeouido via Sogang Bridge.¡± 1. The suffix -san means mountain in Korean. ? Chapter 106 Chapter 106 ¡°Yeouido?¡± Hwang Ji-Hye frowned, repeating the word. I sighed. ¡°The sixth officer of the Family told me that the gang members were focusing on the Gangnam Operation.¡± ¡°Gangnam Operation? What exactly is that?¡± ¡°The boss of the gang is trying to take over the whole of Seoul. I¡¯m guessing it has something to do with their desire.¡± "Then¡­ Are you saying that the folks in Gangman are also at war with the Family?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± I nodded, and Hwang Ji-Hye¡¯s expression went nk. Lee Jeong-Uk, who was next to me, spoke up. ¡°Wait¡­ Doesn¡¯t this mean that we won¡¯t be able to get supplies in the future? Do you think they¡¯ll provide us with weapons while they¡¯re dealing with an immediate threat?¡± ¡°I¡¯m on the same page as you. That¡¯s why I came to the conclusion that we had to move, and also why we had to band together.¡± ¡°So, what¡¯s the situation in Gangnam? Are they being pushed back?¡± ¡°I have no way of knowing. But that doesn¡¯t change the fact that we have to move.¡± "But then¡­ Why do you want to move so quickly? Are there more forcesing our way?¡± ¡°I believe the sixth officer informed the boss about the location of Shelter Hae-Young. There¡¯s no way of telling what¡¯s going to happen next.¡± I ryed thisst bit of information with a grimace. Hwang Deok-Rok, who was behind me, spoke up. ¡°Can''t we all just defend Shelter Seoul Forest? If we get ambushed while we¡¯re on the move, it¡¯ll be the end of us.¡± ¡°If the boss makes a move, there¡¯s nothing we can do. It¡¯s best to get into hiding as soon as possible.¡± ¡°Do you think the boss woulde all the way here, despite their attention being focused on Gangnam?¡± ¡°Haengdang-dong is¡­ This is an area that means a lot to them as well.¡± ¡°And why do you say that?¡± I told the leaders about the ck creatures in Haengdang 1-dong and Haengdang 2-dong in detail. I told them that I¡¯d taken care of the ck creature in Haengdang 1-dong, but the one in Haengdang 2-dong was not a creature to be trifled with. Just a few months ago, the ck creature had been a blue-eyed being. I assumed that it had gotten a lot stronger since then. I was also worried about whether the Family had been constantly feeding the creature since the onset of the war. If they had stopped feeding it sufficient bait, it was possible that it would leave Haengdang 2-dong to look for prey. Seongdong-gu was no longer safe. When I had finished exining all of this, Hwang Ji-Hye spoke up. ¡°Then when do you think it is the right time to move?¡± ¡°We will move the moment Kim Hyeong-Jun wakes up. Please make the necessary preparations.¡± ¡°This may be a rather sensitive question¡­ But what¡¯s the probability that Kim Hyeong-Jun will actually wake up?¡± ¡°He¡¯ll wake up. I still perceive his underlings as allied with me.¡± ¡°So what if his underlings are being recognized as allies?¡± ¡°If Hyeong-Jun dies, his underlings would turn into normal zombies. However, his underlings still look purple to me, which means that our alliance is still intact. I can assure you that Hyeong-Jun is still alive.¡± I made this statement as firmly as I could, and Hwang Ji-Hye nodded silently. I rose to my feet. ¡°If anyone disagrees with the n that we¡¯vee up with, please speak up now.¡± The leaders looked at each other, but they all remained silent. No one expressed any objections. I nodded slowly. ¡°Then we¡¯ll get going when Hyeong-Jun wakes up. Please make the necessary preparations so that you¡¯ll be able to move out at any time.¡± The leaders nodded in unison and left the meeting room. I remained in the empty meeting room. I stared at the ceiling and sighed. I couldn¡¯t be at peace, even though this battle was over. I wondered how much more blood we had to shed in order to restore true peace. Even before that¡­ I questioned if peace had even existed in this world. I let out a deep breath and closed my eyes. Rattle. Soon after, the closed front door opened and Lee Jeong-Uk came in. Following him were So-Yeon and the other children. I got up from my seat and walked toward So-Yeon. She seemed to hesitate after seeing my face. I wondered if she wasn¡¯t used to my eyes glowing blue. I wet my lips. ¡°So-Yeon.¡± "Da¡­ddy?" My face broke into a gentle smile, and she rushed toward me, tears about to fall from her face. I knelt down and held So-Yeon in my arms. She pressed her face against my chest and cried. My heart was so heavy that I couldn¡¯t speak. I knew how she must¡¯ve felt. I couldn¡¯t fathom the emotional pain she had gone through. As I bit my lip and took a deep breath, the other children who had followed Lee Jeong-Uk peered at me. I looked back at them, then held out the candy I had in my pocket. It was the gift Kim Hyeong-Jun''s wife had given me. The children stared hungrily at the candy but still hesitated. They weren¡¯t sure what was the right thing to do. Surviving in this damned world meant following rules and restrictions, which also meant that they were ustomed to suppressing their emotions. I looked at the children and spoke up. ¡°It¡¯s a gift from Uncle Lee.¡± Only then did the childrene running toward me with broad smiles on their faces. As they got closer, I noticed tear stains on their cheeks. Just seeing these poor children like this threatened to make me tear up as well. So-Yeon cried for a while before she finally calmed herself down. She looked up at me with eyes sparkling with tears as she sucked on her lollipop. I stroked her hair and asked her, "Is it good?" "Hehe¡­ Daddy, you can talk now?¡± ¡°Daddy practiced really hard because Daddy wanted to talk to So-Yeon.¡± ¡°Is that why your eyes turned blue too?¡± "Hmm¡­ Yes sweetheart." I smiled and nodded. So-Yeonughed and pressed her face against my arm. I patted her on the back. ¡°One moment you¡¯re crying, and the next moment you¡¯reughing? So-Yeon, you little goofball.¡± As I teased her, she smiled brightly and retorted, "No! I¡¯m not a goofball!¡± Just looking at her smiling made me smile as well. I patted So-Yeon on the back. ''I''m sorry I''mte, sweetie. I''lle back sooner from now on.'' After the children had calmed down, Lee Jeong-Uk spoke up. ¡°Alright everyone, let¡¯s go to Aunt Seon-Hui now. Everyone¡¯s got to wash up and get ready for bed, am I right?¡± ¡°Yes, Uncle!¡± The children left through the front door, still sucking on their candy. After all of them had left, Lee Jeong-Uk sighed. ¡°If we go to Gwangjang-dong¡­ Do you think it¡¯ll be safe?¡± ¡°Honestly, I¡¯m not sure myself.¡± The temporary happiness had disappeared, and we found ourselves back on the same topic we¡¯d been discussing earlier. Lee Jeong-Uk stashed both hands into his pockets. ¡°How about we evacuate to an ind instead?¡± "Ind?" ¡°We don¡¯t have to fight the boss of the Family, you know. If we have to move the shelter regardless, don¡¯t you think it¡¯ll work out better for all of us to move south? For the time being, and for the future as well.¡± "An ind in the south¡­ You want to go to Jeju Ind? Do you think it¡¯s so easy to walk all the way to Busan?¡± ¡°We don¡¯t have to walk. We can take a boat, or travel by ne.¡± ¡°And where would we get a ne? And even if we did get one, we don¡¯t have a pilot with us.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk pouted his lower lip and shrugged. Of course, he wasn¡¯t wrong. However, moving to Gwangjang-dong itself wasn¡¯t an easy task, and moving many miles south seemed more than impossible. I sat down, pondering this question. Rattle. Hwang Ji-Hye came in through the front door. She hesitated, looking at me and then at Lee Jeong-Uk. "I¡¯m sorry for interrupting. I can step out again.¡± ¡°No, pleasee in.¡± As I pointed to the seat next to me, Hwang Ji-Hye gave a slight nod and sat down. Lee Jeong-Uk also took a seat and started tapping the desk with his fingers. Hwang Ji-Hye looked at him, her eyebrows twitching. ¡°Do I make you ufortable?¡± she asked. "Huh? Not at all." ¡°Then could you keep your fingers still? It makes you look anxious.¡± ¡°Oh, sorry. I¡¯m just thinking about something.¡± ¡°About what?¡± ¡°I was just talking to So-Yeon¡¯s dad about it¡­ I was wondering how it would be if we all moved to Jeju Ind.¡± Hwang Ji-Hye listened to Lee Jeong-Uk and then slowly crossed her arms, as if lost in thought. After a moment, she lifted his eyebrows and spoke up. ¡°I think it¡¯s a good idea. Jeju Ind¡­ As long as there aren¡¯t any zombie infections within the ind, it¡¯d be perfect.¡± I sighed and moved to rebut her. "You know that''s impossible, right?" ¡°Why is it impossible? There are lots of nes at Gimpo Airport. There¡¯ll be plenty of fuel, since the world sank into chaos all of a sudden¡­ The only problem would be finding a pilot.¡± Her words caught me off-guard. I wondered if she was just being optimistic. Gangnam was being invaded by the Family, and we had no clue when they were going to attack Gwangjin-gu again, but for some reason, Hwang Ji-Hye and Lee Jeong-Uk had their heads in the clouds. As I gently pressed my hands to my temples in frustration, Hwang Ji-Hye tilted her head and asked, ¡°Why do you think it is impossible?¡± ¡°Do you actually think there¡¯s a possibility?¡± ¡°Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok.¡± Hwang Ji-Hye sat up straight and looked me right in the eyes. Her seriousness made me focus. I smacked my lips and met her gaze. ¡°Everything we¡¯ve done to this point, was it all because there was a possibility?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°If you had to take care of something on your own, you would¡¯ve hit some limits, no doubt. But you¡¯re not alone anymore. You have us. Together, we¡¯re capable of defending, attacking, reconnaissance, spying, you name it.¡± ¡°Then you want to send scouts to Gimpo Airport? Do you think that¡¯s actually possible, when we can¡¯t even cross over to Gangnam at the moment?¡± ¡°It''s not like I¡¯m asking us to do it right now. After we move the shelter to Gwangjang-dong, we can ask the technical team to build a boat, and we can use it to get ourselves to Gimpo Airport via the Han River.¡± Her n left me speechless. At this point, I wondered if I was the only one who was despairing in the face of reality. I knew Hwang Ji-Hye was optimistic, but she was not a naive person who did not make any ns. I couldn¡¯t help but agree with her n. I let my head sag, and Hwang Ji-Hye smiled softly. ¡°Let¡¯s give it a try. The people here¡­ These people made the impossible possible.¡± I nodded at her words. I remembered the saying that emotions were contagious. Her positive energy encouraged me to think more positively. Lee Jeong-Uk burst intoughter after observing our interaction. ¡°Wow, I guess not anyone can be a group leader. I can¡¯t believe you convinced So-Yeon¡¯s dad so quickly!¡± Hwang Ji-Hye chuckled in a joking manner. ¡°No, no. I¡¯m thankful that he let himself be persuaded by me.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk roared withughter, a satisfied smirk on his face, and I added a gentle smile of my own. I wasn¡¯t a match to these two. But I sure was d that I was on the same side as them. Rattle! The front door swung open and a panicked Park Gi-Cheol shouted into the room, ¡°Group leader!¡± Hwang Ji-Hye seemed startled for a moment as she looked back and forth between me and Lee Jeong-Uk, before asking Park Gi-Cheol what the issue was. ¡°It¡¯s Gangnam. We¡¯re getting a strange signal from Gangnam.¡± "Come again?" Hwang Ji-Hye got up from her seat, her eyes growing wide. Park Gi-Cheol gasped for breath and continued, ¡°I just got the news myself. The patrol team said that there were lights flickering at regr intervals in Gangnam. They told me that you would know. That¡¯s all that they told me.¡± ¡°Did the patrol leader tell you this?¡± "Huh? How did you know¡­?¡± Hwang Ji-Hye left the meeting room before Park Gi-Cheol could even finish speaking. I looked at Lee Jeong-Uk in puzzlement. He stood up as well. ¡°Let¡¯s go too.¡± I followed Hwang Ji-Hye and Lee Jeong-Uk out of the room. We left Shelter Hae-Young in a hurry, heading to Shelter Silence. When we reached, I saw a man bouncing from foot to foot nervously. Hwang Ji-Hye, still panting, went up to the man. "What¡¯s happening? A signal from Gangnam?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure myself, group leader. The third Saturday is still quite a ways off¡­¡± ¡°Is it still blinking?¡± ¡°Yes. Please follow me.¡± The patrol leader led Hwang Ji-Hye south. Soon, theyid eyes on a building across the Han River that was constantly shing its lights. Hwang Ji-Hye¡¯s eyes went wide. ¡°The shlight, where is the shlight?¡± she demanded from the patrol leader. ¡°Um¡­ Here¡­¡± Hwang Ji-Hye snatched the shlight from the patrol leader and hurriedly sent a sh out. I looked at Hwang Ji-Hye, my surprise at the sudden situation reflected in my eyes. ¡°What exactly is going on?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a signal from Gangnam, requesting an exchange.¡± ¡°An exchange, you say?¡± ¡°Sending a signal even though it¡¯s not even the third Saturday of the month means that there¡¯s a problem in Gangnam. We might be able to get some information rted to the Family.¡± Hwang Ji-Hye quickly ordered the others to prepare a raft. I hesitated, and Lee Jeong-Uk spoke up. ¡°You probably can¡¯t go, right?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll probably get shot.¡± ¡°Then I¡¯ll go. We can¡¯t let her go by herself.¡± ¡°This is totally unexpected. Something about this doesn¡¯t feel right.¡± ¡°Well, how many things in life go ording to n? All we have to do is to go for it.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk pped me on the back and ran to Hwang Ji-Hye. I watched the two of them leave, biting my nails nervously. I was anxious, but right now, I had to trust the two of them and wait for them toe back. As I waved the two of them off, I prayed that they would make it back safely. Chapter 107

Chapter 107

I couldn¡¯t make out Hwang Ji-Hye and Lee Jeong-Uk in the pitch-ck darkness. The only things I could see were two boats floating on the Han River. They stood out against the Han River, as if they weren¡¯t supposed to be there. I sat down and interlocked my fingers, praying for their safe return. After some time had passed, the two boats that were floating next to each other split up, and the raft that was carrying Hwang Ji-Hye and Lee Jeong-Uk returned. I got up and let out a sigh of relief. It wasn¡¯t just the two of them, though. There was someone else with them. Unlike the survivors in Gangbuk, he had clean clothes and neat hair. I subconsciously tried to hide myself from the mysterious man. The moment I tried to run into the building, Hwang Ji-Hye got out of the raft and shouted. ¡°It¡¯s alright!" As I looked back, I saw Hwang Ji-Hye, Lee Jeong-Uk, and the mysterious man approaching me with cid faces. Feeling embarrassed, I massaged my neck and walked towards them. The mysterious man looked at me and swallowed, then quickly bowed from the waist and said, "Nice to meet you! I¡¯m Kwak Dong-Won, the team leader of the facility maintenance team!¡± This Kwak Dong-Won person left me speechless. He was screaming at the top of his lungs thiste in the night. Perhaps he¡¯d never encountered a zombie threat before. I couldn¡¯t understand how he could behave like this. The only exnation was that he was someone who had traveled forward in time. I held out my right hand with a calm expression and spoke. ¡°You don¡¯t have to yell. I can hear you. It¡¯s Lee Hyun-Deok.¡± ¡°Oh, my, my apologies. It¡¯s my first¡­ My first time talking to a zombie¡­ So I¡¯m a little taken aback¡­ Aback¡­¡± ¡°Low¡­ Low¡­ Lower your voice.¡± I mimicked his tone and furrowed my brow. Kwak Dong-Won quickly bit his lower lip and looked at me, his eyes trembling. Instead of turning down his volume, he muted himselfpletely. I wondered why they had brought someone like him back with them. I looked at Hwang Ji-Hye questioningly, and she smacked her lips. ¡°When we told them we were moving our shelter¡­ They told us they had the perfect person for that, and sent him with us.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°This person used to work at a sr power nt. They said he took part in some sr park project or something. Apparently, he can make sr panels as well.¡± I stared at Kwak Dong-Won, who gave a surprised look and said, "Oh! Sr power generation refers to a system that uses sr cells to collect sr energy and produce electricity. It provides unlimited power, easy maintenance, and is arge-scale photoelectric¡­¡± I sighed and raised my right hand. ¡°Stop.¡± Kwak Dong-Won bit his lip again and avoided my gaze. So, he was intelligent, but not exactly smart. One could say that he was an intelligent fool. He would be helpful in many ways¡­ But he would only be helpful once we had the proper systems established. He wasn¡¯t helpful in our current situation, in which our safety wasn¡¯t guaranteed. It would¡¯ve been better to have been supplied with weapons instead. My confusion must have shown on my face, since Lee Jeong-Uk spoke up. ¡°It seemed like Gangnam wanted to build a friendly rtionship with us.¡± "Why?" ¡°They saw our fight against the Family through their telescope.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Now, the people in Gangnam also know that there are zombies who have dedicated their lives to humans. It seemed like they wanted to know more about them.¡± ¡°So they want to swap this intelligent fool for me?¡± I asked with a frown. Lee Jeong-Uk shook his head. ¡°No, the exchange won¡¯t be that simple. Surprisingly, the people in Gangnam have no information at all. Even I was taken aback by this.¡± ¡°What do you mean by no information?¡± ¡°They don¡¯t know anything about the Family or their dogs. They don¡¯t know about zombies with glowing red eyes that can control other zombies, and have no clue about the ck creatures.¡± ¡°Then how have they survived until now?¡± ¡°There¡¯s a military unit guarding Gangnam. They said the military unit is keeping the people in line while closely monitoring the danger zone. Unfortunately, they suffered a significant defeat this time.¡± I rubbed my chin as I listened to Lee Jeong-Uk. After a moment, I smacked my lips and asked, ¡°Then the people of Gangnam¡­ Have theye under attack by the Family, or are they still holding on?¡± ¡°Half of them were wiped out by the Family¡¯s attack. It seems like the Family has upied some areas of Gangnam, starting with Yeongdeungpo-gu, Yangcheon-gu, Geumcheon-gu, and Dongjak-gu. However, I think they managed to hold them off at the border between Dongjak-gu and Seocho-gu. I imagine it¡¯s because of the presence of Gwanak-san to the south and the National Cemetery to the north. It¡¯s easier to set up a defensive position there.¡± "Then¡­ Are you saying that they¡¯re safe, at least in the meantime?¡± "Yeah. There¡¯s one more thing¡­ But I¡¯m not sure if this is good news or not. They made us an offer.¡± I crossed my arms and looked at Lee Jeong-Uk. ¡°What¡¯s the offer?¡± ¡°It seems like there are Coast Guard boats and cruise ships in Gangnam.¡± ¡°The Coast Guard? Isn¡¯t that in Mapo-gu?¡± ¡°I think they moored in Gangnam while on patrol, right before the zombie apocalypse. If we use one of those, we can use the Han River to our advantage. And if we can get our hands on a cruise ship, it¡¯ll be easier to move a lot of people at once.¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t the cruise ships in Yeouido? I thought the gang members had taken over Yeongdeungpo-gu?¡± "There¡¯s one in Jamsil too, old man.¡± I smacked my lips and looked away. I would¡¯ve known too, if I¡¯d had the time and money to go on a cruise while I¡¯d been a human. I scratched my sideburns idly. ¡°A cruise ship is extremely inefficient in terms of fuel. Do you think the people of Gangnam will lend us a cruise ship?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t most cruise ships that operate along the Han River use diesel?¡± ¡°Does that make a difference?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. It¡¯s not like I¡¯m a captain or anything.¡± We stared at each other nkly. Hwang Ji-Hye shook her head and intervened. ¡°This is why men can¡¯t get things done. The fuel efficiency of the cruise ship isn¡¯t important right now. You might as well ask for the blueprints while you¡¯re at it.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk and I both smacked our lips in embarrassment. I didn¡¯t know why¡­ But as I grew older, I seemed to get curious about the most trivial things. Lee Jeong-Uk coughed a dry cough, then looked at me again. "Anyway, they told us they would lend us a cruise ship if we met their conditions.¡± The word ¡®conditions¡¯ left a bitter taste in my mouth, even before I heard what the conditions were. I wondered what kind of unreasonable demands they had made of Lee Jeong-Uk. He seemed hesitant to tell me what the demands were as well. I sighed. ¡°What are the conditions?¡± Lee Jeong-Uk tried to speak several times, but cut himself off each time. It seemed like he had a hard time articting the demands. Eventually, he said with a bitter expression, ¡°They wanted us to tell them how to¡­ raise¡­ a zombie with glowing red eyes¡­¡± "What? Raise?" I couldn''t help butugh. Iughed because their word choice seemed utterly hrious to me. As I thought about it, it seemed more and more true that a military unit was controlling Gangnam. Raising a zombie unit. They had their heads in the clouds. No¡ªin space. I shook my head and let out a sigh. Lee Jeong-Uk smacked his lips. ¡°What do you think we should do?¡± "What do you mean? It''s not like we can teach it to them, nor can it be learned.¡± ¡°Then, should we make our way over bynd?¡± ¡°Yup.¡± When I nodded, Kwak Dong-Won, who had been eavesdropping on our conversation, spoke up. "Umm¡­ Sorry for interrupting, but you can¡¯t do that.¡± When I looked at Kwak Dong-Won, he gasped and looked away. Lee Jeong-Uk noticed our interaction and said, "What do you mean?¡± "Well¡­ Aren¡¯t you supposed to give us information about zombies in exchange for bringing me over here¡­ No?¡± ¡°We already did our part. We told you about the Family, and the zombies with glowing red eyes that control other zombies. Are you asking us for more information?¡± "Huh? Well¡­ The Major wanted to know how to raise zombies with glowing red eyes¡­¡± Hearing the absurdity in his words, Lee Jeong-Uk pointed at me and asked Kwak Dong-Won, ¡°That¡¯s not how things work. Look at him. Do you think he¡¯s a robot that moves at ourmand?¡± Being treated as something other than human made me ufortable, but there was no better way to exin the current situation. Kwak Dong-Won looked at me from head to toe, then said, ¡°He¡¯s definitely not¡­ Not a machine¡­¡± ¡°So, then, what else do you want us to say? Humans can¡¯t just raise up zombies with glowing red eyes just because they want to. It all depends on the individual¡¯s ego and will.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°One can only be a zombie with glowing red eyes if they have a strong will. But to raise a being like that and turn them into a soldier? Do you actually think that¡¯s possible? How are you going to manage and lead a being that basically refuses to die?¡± Kwak Dong-Won stayed quiet as Lee Jeong-Uk rattled off facts about the zombies with glowing red eyes. I snorted as I watched Lee Jeong-Uk go. Lee Jeong-Uk looked at me in annoyance. ¡°What are youughing for?¡± ¡°You should be the leader now. You seem to know more about zombies than I do.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk smacked his lips and stashed his hands in his pockets. Hwang Ji-Hye, who had kept silent, spoke up. ¡°I think it¡¯d be best to reconnect with the survivors of Gangnam first. We have to make this part clear to them so that we can borrow a cruise ship or receive further supplies.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± I agreed with her without adding anything else. When Hwang Ji-Hye took out the shlight and signaled Gangnam again. After a moment, the people in Gangnam responded in kind. With that, Hwang Ji-Hye and Lee Jeong-Uk went back onto the raft. * * * I stared nkly into the Han River as I waited for the two to return. Kwak Dong-Won, who was next to me, seemed to hesitate for a moment, then said carefully, "Um¡­ Did you say your name was Lee Hyun-Deok?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°You look around the same age as me¡­ Would it be okay if I ask your age?¡± ¡°What good would it be for you to know a zombie¡¯s age?¡± ¡°Haha¡­ You have a point.¡± Kwak Dong-Won looked away with a sour expression. He then smacked his lips and tried again. ¡°When did you turn into a zombie?¡± ¡°It¡¯s been several months. I turned into one early on.¡± ¡°Did it hurt a lot?¡± ¡°...¡± I couldn¡¯t help but stare at his face. He¡¯d asked me a very unexpected question. He waved his hands vigorously. "Oh, what am I thinking! Of course, it would¡¯ve been painful. I shouldn¡¯t have said that¡­ Forget what I asked you!¡± ¡°Did anyone in your family turn into a zombie?¡± "Huh? Oh¡­ Yes." Kwak Dong-Won grimaced, and his head sagged. I looked at him for a moment, then smacked my lips. ¡°The physical pain is temporary. Unless they were a zombie with glowing red eyes like me, they¡¯d probably be having sweet dreams right now.¡± ¡°Oh¡­¡± Kwak Dong-Won nodded slowly, but his expression quickly grew despondent. I sighed as I saw his face. It seemed like he needed some constion. ¡°Do you mind if I ask about the situation back then?¡± ¡°Oh, yes.¡± Kwak Dong-Won yed with his fingers for a moment, hesitating, but then he took a deep breath and said, ¡°I¡­ I¡¯d been living with just my older brother since high school. My parents died early on.¡± ¡°That must¡¯ve been tough for you.¡± ¡°My brother went through a lot. He was nine years older than me.¡± ¡°You were bornter, huh.¡± ¡°Yes, no doubt about it. If it wasn¡¯t for him, I would¡¯ve been long gone.¡± ¡°Was your brother bitten by a zombie?¡± I got straight to the point. Kwak Dong-Won frowned and nodded once. His eyes twitched and his fingers trembled as he recalled that day. He let out a deep sigh and continued, ¡°That day¡­ My brother and I were on our way to the safe zone. That was when the Capital Defense Command started to mobilize, after the zombie apocalypse happened.¡± ¡°But at least the army was still there. There was nothing like that in Gangbuk. In our case, it seemed like there was a zombie outbreak within the military units. I couldn¡¯t find any military personnel, no matter how hard I looked for them.¡± I chuckled at that, and Kwak Dong-Won responded with a nod and a shy smile. I coughed, then said, ¡°Sorry for cutting you off. Please continue.¡± ¡°No, no, not at all.¡± Kwak Dong-Won looked up at the night sky and organized his thoughts. After a moment, he found his voice again. ¡°We were moving together with a group of survivors. However, among the survivors¡­ There was someone who was infected.¡± ¡°Did they hide the fact that they had been bitten?¡± ¡°Yes, it was an ahjumma, and her child had been bitten by a zombie.¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t anyone check for such things, when you were traveling as a group? How could you not check for such a thing¡­?¡± ¡°We never expected a five-year-old to be bitten by a zombie. Even if one of them had been bitten, we would have assumed that the ahjumma was the one who had been bitten, not the child.¡± I smacked my lips bitterly. He had a point. They probably hadn¡¯t thought about the children in the chaos of the evacuation. Kwak Dong-Won furrowed his brow and continued with his story. ¡°It waste at night, when everyone was asleep. The child mutated into a zombie. Some were bitten by the child while they were sleeping, and others who were in the group just lost their minds¡­ It was a living hell.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°My brother tried to deal with the zombies and save the remaining humans. He was the sort of person who never got to enjoy his own life because he went out of his way to help others when he didn¡¯t need to¡­ I wanted to give him the life he had missed out on after I became sessful¡­¡± Kwak Dong-Won bit his lower lip and forced back his tears. I patted him on the back without saying a word. Kwak Dong-Won wiped his tears away and continued with the story. ¡°He¡¯s the type of guy who told me that he wouldn¡¯t want to buy a new car even though he¡¯d been driving the same one for ten years, even though I used to tell him everyday to get a new model since he loved to drive around. But then, he¡¯d go on used car websites to look for his dream car¡­¡± ¡°You had a good brother.¡± ¡°He¡¯s the guy that worked his butt off to pay for my college tuition. My dream was to buy him a new car¡­¡± Kwak Dong-Won could not hold back his tears anymore. With a sad expression, I put an arm around Kwak Dong-Won. A strong brotherhood. It would¡¯ve been nice if the two of them were both still alive and able to live a happy life¡­ But reality was a harsh mistress, and was not one to conform to our wishes. I patted Kwak Dong-Won on the back as he sobbed. ¡°I¡¯m sure your brother is having a sweet dream right now. I bet he¡¯s in his dream car, having the best trip of his life. So don''t put it all on yourself.¡± His sobbing echoed across the dark waters of the Han River. In this damned world, everyone probably had their own story. In this age, every single person had their own tragic story. I stared at the ripples along the surface of the Han River, shimmering in the moonlight, trying to soothe away the sadness within me. Chapter 108 Chapter 108 I wondered if something wasn¡¯t going as nned. Well over thirty minutes had passed, but Hwang Ji-Hye and Lee Jeong-Uk still hadn¡¯t returned. While I waited anxiously, Kwak Dong-Won spoke up. ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry so much. The people there aren¡¯t bad people.¡± ¡°Is that so¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s different when they see zombies¡­ But they¡¯re nice to people.¡± ¡°...¡± His words did little to improve my mood. The idea of raising zombies had probablye from their mindset that they couldn¡¯t coexist with zombies. Swoosh¨C While I was engrossed in my own thoughts, I felt a presence behind me. I quickly got up and turned around. "Ahjussi." Kim Hyeong-Jun was standing in front of me. ¡°Hyeong-Jun!¡± I bit my lip out of happiness and ran toward him. He chuckled and raised his arms. I was just about to high-five him when I came back to my senses. It seemed like Kim Hyeong-Jun had the same thought. He quickly stashed his hands in his pockets. ¡°We almost knocked each other out. What a relief.¡± "Definitely." Just touching each others¡¯ palms would¡¯ve sent a strong, tingling flow throughout our entire bodies. We were so caught in the moment that we almost zapped each other. Kim Hyeong-Jun snorted. ¡°Seemed like someone was really worried, huh?¡± he asked. ¡°Yeah, man. I thought you were done for.¡± ¡°How could I die? I have to live longer than you, ahjussi.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun was right back to making jokes from the moment he regained consciousness. I couldn''t help but smile at his corny jokes. It had only been a couple of days, but I missed hisme jokes. I gave him a cursory examination. He hadn¡¯t changed much physically¡­ Except for the fact that he also had blue eyes now. Kim Hyeong-Jun stared at my face, his expression growing rather serious. ¡°So I wasn¡¯t dreaming after all.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Your eyes, ahjussi. They¡¯re blue.¡± ¡°Like yours aren¡¯t?¡± There was a moment of silence. I hadn¡¯t had the time to think about my eye color, since I¡¯d spent the aftermath of the battle overseeing the cleanup, helping to stabilize the shelter and making ns for the move. Kim Hyeong-Jun cleared his throat lightly, then asked, "Umm¡­ Ahjussi." ¡°What?¡± ¡°Did the number of underlings you could control increase rapidly as well?¡± I nodded without speaking. I could originally control seventeen hundred and fifty underlings. However, after eating the brains of the seventh officer and the dong leader of Guui-dong, the number went up to two thousand two hundred and fifty. Based on my experience so far, it should¡¯ve only gone up to eighteen hundred, but for some reason, I could control four hundred more underlings than expected. The only usible reason I could think of¡­ ¡°Ahjussi, I think the officers¡¯ brains¡­¡± "I think you¡¯re right. They don¡¯t grant us fifty, but four hundred and fifty.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun nodded, his expression difficult to read. Perhaps there was a lot going through his mind. We both rubbed our chins, engrossed in our own thoughts. Zombies with glowing red eyes that had eaten a ck creature¡¯s brain. The sixth and seventh officers both had approximately eighteen hundred underlings under their control. Each time we consumed a dong leader¡¯s brain, we only increased our control by fifty underlings. But to be able to increase our control by four hundred and fifty at once¡­ The only conclusion I could get to was that this rapid increase had to do something with the ck creature. I looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun and asked, ¡°How many underlings can you control now?¡± ¡°Two thousand and fifty underlings.¡± "Could you originally control only one thousand and six hundred underlings?¡± "Yeah, I can control four hundred and fifty more after eating the sixth officer¡¯s brain.¡± ¡°When I ate the ck creature¡¯s brain, I got to control four hundred more underlings. Which means¡­¡± ¡°That this is rted to the ck creature somehow.¡± I nodded my head at his conclusion. Then, Hyeong-Jun Kim shrugged and continued talking. ¡°I mean, is there any other way to exin this?¡± I scratched my forehead and thought for a moment. The amount of control granted by eating an officer¡¯s brain would have to take into ount the ck creature¡¯s brain that the officer had eaten previously. Since the brain of the ck creature granted control over four hundred underlings, it made sense that the amount of control granted by the officer¡¯s brain would go up to four hundred and fifty, if one took into ount the number of underlings a regr red-eyed zombie could control. Given the information we had to work with, this was the best conclusion we could reach. After a moment, Kwak Dong-Won, who had been listening to our conversation, came up to us and said carefully, ¡°Is, is he¡­ A zombie who fights for survivors¡­¡± "Yes." When I nodded, Kwak Dong-Won grabbed Kim Hyeong-Jun''s hand. "Nice to meet you. I am Kwak Dong-Won, leader of the facilities management team in Gangnam.¡± Hyeong-Jun Kim frowned and tilted his head. "Gangnam?" I filled Kim Hyeong-Jun in about all that had happened so far. After hearing the whole story, Kiim Hyeong-Jun sat down on the floor. ¡°So you¡¯re saying that there are survivors in Gangnam too?¡± "Yup." ¡°And Hwang Ji-Hye and Lee Jeong-Uk went out on the Han River to borrow a cruise ship from the survivors of Gangnam.¡± When I nodded, Kim Hyeong-Jun scratched his nose. ¡°Is it absolutely necessary for us to get on a cruise ship?¡± ¡°What¡¯s the alternative? Do you want us to walk?¡± ¡°I think that would be the safer option.¡± ¡°Wait, what?¡± "Listen to what I have to say." Kim Hyeong-Jun gestured to me to take a seat next to him. I sat down next to Kim Hyeong-Jun. Kwak Dong-Won, who was across from me, sat as well. Kim Hyeong-Jun looked disapprovingly at Kwak Dong-Won, but smacked his lips and proceeded anyway. ¡°The people of Gangnam have no intention of forming an alliance with us. That¡¯s pretty clear, since they never epted or weed survivors from this side.¡± ¡°Then what about the supplies they gave us?¡± ¡°I think they¡¯re just trying to feel good about themselves. Nothing more, nothing less. They¡¯re just trying to show us that they at least have some sort of conscience. Can¡¯t you tell? The survivors of Gangnam are treating us likeb rats.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°You said they were watching us through a telescope? Well, thanks to that, they learned that there are zombies that fight for the sake of humans.¡± I nodded quietly as I listened to Kim Hyeong-Jun. He sucked his lower lip, then continued with his theory. ¡°Have you ever thought about why all they¡¯ve done is watch, instead ofing to help early on?¡± ¡°I assumed they were also under attack and that they didn¡¯t have enough to help us out.¡± ¡°No, they had no intention of helping us in the first ce. Didn''t you say that the military unit held off the Family¡¯s forces at the border between Dongjak-gu and Seocho-gu? They were able to halt the advance because they had already given up on the west side, and doubled up on their defenses in Seocho-gu. It¡¯s a simple strategy that¡¯s even written in history books.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Sacrificing territory which is difficult to hold, and blocking off an enemy¡¯s path of retreat. These are the fundamental tactics of every war. They made the wise decision to give up on Dongjak-gu and Yeongdeungpo-gu rather than trying to hold onto those two areas, and therefore they were able to reinforce the defenses in Seocho-gu.¡± "That''s too far-fetched." ¡°Who blew up the Han River bridges?¡± ¡°...¡± I couldn¡¯te up with a good rebuttal. Gangnam was controlled by a military unit, and they most likely had explosives. It had to be them that blew up the Han River bridges. Kim Hyeong-Jun had more to say. ¡°In fact, the survivors of Gangnam had no intention of helping anyone. Giving out supplies under the guise of having a conscience¡­ That¡¯s no different from feedingb rats so that they don¡¯t starve to death.¡± ¡°And you¡¯re saying that we¡¯re the test specimens?¡± ¡°Yeah, and since they got the results they wanted, now they¡¯re curious about how we did it. And that¡¯s why they¡¯re interested in finding out how they can raise zombies with glowing red eyes.¡± ¡°And they¡¯re luring us in by using the cruise ship that they have?¡± Hyeong-Jun Kim snapped his fingers. ¡°Exactly.¡± His theory was convincing. It made it even more convincing because the forces in charge of Gangnam were military units. As I sat there, still trying to puzzle things out, Kwak Dong-Won¡ªwho had been sitting across from me the whole time¡ªspoke up. ¡°That¡­ That¡¯s probably not the case.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun frowned and looked at Kwak Dong-Won. His eyes shed once, a crystal clear blue light zing where his pupils would have been. Kwak Dong-Won took a breath. ¡°Oh, um¡­ No, no. They¡¯re not such terrible people¡­¡± ¡°I hate soldiers.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun blurted this fact out of the blue, throwing a stone into the Han River. It seemed like he¡¯d had a rough time in the military.[1] Kwak Dong-Won swallowed, but pressed on. ¡°The people in Gangnam¡­ Everyone works hard, striving to make it through together. The Major is trying their best to keep everyone safe. The Major is also considerate of everyone¡¯s situation.¡± I listened to what Kwak Dong-Won had to say, then called Kim Hyeong-Jun as I fiddled with my earlobe. ¡°Hyeong-Jun.¡± ¡°What, ahjussi?¡± "You have a point¡­ But, just by looking at Kwak Dong-Won here, it seems like the people over there aren¡¯t that cold-blooded.¡± ¡°Well, you¡¯ll never know until you see them face-to-face.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s voice carried a shade of annoyance. I shrugged. ¡°Yeah. Just like you said, we won¡¯t know until we see them face-to-face, right? They might be genuinely curious about the data we have.¡± "Ugh¡­ Fine. I''m the bad guy here, doubting them all the way.¡± ¡°I have doubts about them as well. I know how difficult it is for you to trust people as well.¡± ¡°Are you bothered by that?¡± ¡°No. In fact, I think it¡¯s for the better. You can see the situation from a different point of view than I do. There have been times when we achieved better results when we went along with your n.¡± I kept my tone even as I spoke. Kim Hyeong-Jun pressed his lips together and nodded, and I patted him on the shoulder. ¡°This is why I need you. And that¡¯s why I want to be as helpful to you as you are to me.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun clicked his tongue, a dissatisfied expression on his face. I patted Kim Hyeong-Jun on the shoulder again. ¡°Let¡¯s wait a little and see what happens, for the sake of Hwang Ji-Hye and Lee Jeong-Uk. We don¡¯t have to move right away, do we? Let''s talk when the two of them get back." ¡°Ahjussi¡­ You¡¯re just making me into the bad guy.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun smacked his lips and pouted. I never thought I''d see this face of his again. This face of his used to make me sigh, but now I was overjoyed to see it. Thank goodness Kim Hyeong-Jun hadn¡¯t perished. I smiled lightly and pped Kim Hyeong-Jun on the back. He gave me a bewildered look. ¡°You¡¯re hitting me again? Ahjussi, you have quite the temper. You really have to do something about it!¡± ¡°Did it hurt? I didn¡¯t hit you that hard.¡± ¡°You know how surprised I get when I get hit out of the blue! You have to think about my emotional suffering too!¡± This time, he really seemed upset. Kim Hyeong-Jun got up and walked toward the Han River. He stashed his hands in his pockets and stared nkly out at the Han River. I picked up some t stones that were around me and walked up to Kim Hyeong-Jun. When I handed the stones I had picked up to Kim Hyeong-Jun, he shook his head, turning down the offer. I watched Kim Hyeong-Jun as I skipped the stones across the surface of the Han River. After a moment, Kim Hyeong-Jun said, "I¡¯m just worried, that¡¯s all." "I know." ¡°There¡¯s nothing wrong with being careful.¡± I walked over to Kim Hyeong-Jun Kim and put a pebble in his hand, and shed a gentle smile. ¡°No matter what decision we make, nothing bad will happen to us. We have you. And me. And of course, we have Do Han-Sol.¡± "Wait? Come to think about it, I haven¡¯t seen Do Han-Sol. Where¡¯d he go?¡± ¡°He ate the brain of the dong leader of Junggok-dong and is sleeping right now.¡± I looked around. Kim Hyeong-Jun flicked the stone I¡¯d given him out into the river, sending it skipping across the surface. ¡°Well, he''s a pretty amazing fellow. I¡¯m pretty sure he doesn¡¯t have the strength to fight a dong leader by himself. Where¡¯d he get the courage to take on a dong leader?" ¡°It seemed like Mood-Swinger helped.¡± ¡°Oh, shoot!¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s expression grew anxious, as though he had just remembered that he had mutants under his control. He began to pepper me with questions. ¡°Mood-Swinger! Where is Mood-Swinger?¡± ¡°Mood-Swinger¡¯s with the stage-one mutants in Jayang-gyo.¡± ¡°How long has it gone without food? When was thest time I fed it?¡± "Don''t worry. It''s only been two days. Besides, it probably had a good feast during this long battle. I don¡¯t understand why you¡¯re so worried.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun nodded and brushed the dirt off his hands. After a moment, he chuckled. "Well, I should still go check up on it anyway, just in case.¡± ¡°Whatever helps you sleep at night.¡± ¡°Let me know when Hwang Ji-Hye and Lee Jeong-Uke back!¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun waved his hand lightly and took off toward Jayang-gyo without looking back. I smiled faintly as I saw his figure grow further away. If the first person I¡¯d be friends with after turning into a zombie was Lee Jeong-Uk, then the first zombie I¡¯d be friends with was Kim Hyeong-Jun. Before I realized it, he had be such a big part of my zombie life. Doing all this zombie stuff without him was unimaginable. He was no longer my friend, my battle buddy, or my ally. Kim Hyeong-Jun was basically my family. 1. All Korean males who are physically suitable to join the military are conscripted byw to serve for a minimum of eighteen months. The duration of service depends on each branch of the military. The main character assumed that Kim Hyeong-Jun had served in the military. ? Chapter 109 Chapter 109 About an hourter, Hwang Ji-Hye and Lee Jeong-Uk returned. They woreplicated expressions. It seemed like the conversation with the representatives from Gangnam hadn¡¯t gone so well. I looked at Lee Jeong-Uk. ¡°How¡¯d it go? Do you think we can get a cruise ship?¡± ¡°No matter how many times we tell them, they don¡¯t seem to believe us. They said they can¡¯t lend us a cruise ship unless we tell them how to raise a zombie.¡± ¡°That¡¯s ridiculous.¡± ¡°They¡¯re a lot more stubborn than I thought.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk clicked his tongue vigorously. He seemed worn out. Hwang Ji-Hye, who was next to him, rubbed her neck and let out a deep sigh. I looked at both of them, then let out a small sigh. "Don¡¯t worry. There wasn¡¯t a cruise ship in our original n anyway.¡± ¡°We never knew that we¡¯d have ess to a cruise ship in the first ce.¡± ¡°Then what, we¡¯re really going to make the journey on foot?¡± ¡°Now that Hyeong-Jun¡¯s awake, it should be more than possible. There aren¡¯t any members of the Family in Gwangjin-gu. All we have to do is watch out for zombies on the streets.¡± ¡°What about the reinforcements that the Family will send?¡± ¡°That bothers me a little¡­ But we can¡¯t just sit around, you know?¡± Both of them nodded, grimacing. I had scouts stationed in Haengdang-dong and Majang-dong, so we would be able to take care of anyone from the Family that followed us. I looked at Hwang Ji-Hye. ¡°If you could handle the survivors of Shelter Silence, that¡¯d be great. Please get them prepared to move as early as tomorrow morning if we have to.¡± "All right. But I¡¯m not sure how everyone will react when I tell them out of the blue to prepare for another journey right after surviving a war¡­¡± ¡°Regardless, we still have to move. We can¡¯t just sit around, not knowing when we¡¯ll get attacked again.¡± "Got it." Hwang Ji-Hye offered me a slight bow and headed toward Shelter Silence¡¯s third line of defense. I watched her make her way back, then turned to look at Lee Jeong-Uk. ¡°We need to pack everything so that we can leave tomorrow morning if we have to.¡± ¡°Okay. We just need to pack the essentials, right?¡± ¡°Yeah. But don¡¯t forget to pack the tents we brought from Da-Hyun Sun Park.¡± ¡°I never would have thought we were going to utilize the tents like this. Got it.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk went back to Shelter Hae-Young, already thinking about what to do first when he got there. As I saw him go, I slicked my hair back and thought of my own responsibilities. Firstly¡­ I needed to paint my newly-recruited underlings blue. I had lost a lot of underlings during the fight in Gwangjin-gu, and my newly recruited underlings looked exactly like the zombies roaming in the streets. In order to move with such arge group of people, I had to paint as many of my underlings blue in order to match the number of survivors in our group. I knew that the survivors would feel morefortable the more zombies I painted blue. ''It¡¯s gonna be a really busy night.¡¯ I sucked my lower lip and walked toward Jayang-gyo, where Kim Hyeong-Jun was. ¡°Oh right, So-Yeon¡¯s dad!¡± At that moment, I heard Lee Jeong-Uk calling me. When I turned around, he ran right up to me and looked around. I wondered if he was trying to tell me something secretive. ¡°Uh¡­ Hmm¡­ Don¡¯t tell anyone else about this.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°It¡¯s about Jeong-Hyuk and Da-Hye.¡± When I nodded, Lee Jeong-Uk smiled awkwardly. ¡°They¡¯re having a baby.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°A baby. They¡¯re having a baby.¡± ¡°Oh, she¡¯s pregnant?¡± ¡°Keep your voice down.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk hurriedly covered my mouth and looked around. I stared at Lee Jeong-Uk, my eyes wide open in surprise. He took a deep breath before continuing. ¡°I only found out recently as well. It seemed like Da-Hye was having morning sickness¡­ Are you familiar with the pregnancy tests that the convenience stores sell?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Her test kit showed two lines.¡± ¡°...¡± My mind went absolutely nk. I didn¡¯t know what to say. There was a saying that, even during the hardest times, such as in war, flowers bloomed and love found a way to endure, but I couldn¡¯t believe what I had heard. I was well aware that the two of them were lovers early on, since Lee Jeong-Uk had called Choi Da-Hye ¡®sister-inw¡¯ from the day I met their group. Even knowing that, though, them getting pregnant right now was unbelievable. I was happy that a new life was about to enter this world, but at the same time, I worried about how it would be able to survive in this damned world. As a human, I couldn¡¯t help but consider what its future held. A thought came to me, causing my eyebrows to lift. ¡®Were the two of them married?¡¯ I cleared my throat and asked Lee Jeong-Uk, "Uh¡­ I don¡¯t remember them mentioning it to me¡­ But are the two of them married?¡± ¡°Well, they were nning to have their wedding this winter. Nobody could have known that the world would turn upside down in the summer.¡± I smacked my lips and looked away from Lee Jeong-Uk. Just then, Lee Jeong-Uk snapped his fingers. ¡°Oh goodness, So-Yeon¡¯s Dad!¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°How about we have a little ceremony for them once we¡¯ve moved to the new shelter?¡± ¡°For Lee Jeong-Hyuk and Choi Da-Hye?¡± "Yup. I''m sure a lot of people would enjoy it as well. Don¡¯t you think it¡¯ll give people a glimpse of what normal life was like, even just for a moment?¡± ¡°You want people to feel nostalgic?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± I quietly rubbed my chin, lost in thought. A wedding ceremony¡­ It didn¡¯t seem like a bad idea. After the move, everyone would be exhausted, and adjusting to a new ce would have its fair share of difficulties. They would need something to give them some peace of mind, and to help them feel safe in the new shelter. Having a wedding ceremony would be a great way to help them adjust to the new shelter, and make them feel like it was just as safe as the previous shelter. I nodded, agreeing to his proposal. ¡°Got it. But for now, don¡¯t tell anyone.¡± ¡°Should we keep it a secret from Jeong-Hyuk and Da-Hye too?¡± ¡°That¡¯d be ideal.¡± ¡°What about the ring and wedding dress?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you think there will be at least one dress store along the way? As for the ring, we can always stop by a jewelry store.¡± ¡°Are you saying we should steal them?¡± I raised my eyebrows. ¡°I mean, is it still stealing when there¡¯s no owner?¡± Lee Jeong-Uk smirked and patted my shoulder. I smiled back at him and tapped his forearm lightly. His expression seemed rather satisfied. ¡°For now, this will be a secret between you and me. Let¡¯s focus on the move for now.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± ¡°Okay, deal.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk headed straight back to Shelter Hae-Young. I smiled gently as I watched him go. ¡°A wedding huh¡­¡± Memories I had forgotten about shed through my mind. I recalled the days I went on dates with my wife as a couple before our marriage, and the day I walked into the wedding hall, my heart beating nervously. Lee Jeong-Hyuk and Choi Da-Hye¡­ Their wedding would help everyone reminisce about the good times, and reinforce the message that the world we were in was still worth living for. * * * The officers of the Family were gathered inside a rundown building located in Yeouido. They sat around a round table, silent as mice. The boss was looking out the window with a serious expression. After a moment, the boss spoke up in a low voice. ¡°So, you¡¯re telling me that the sixth and seventh officers failed?¡± ¡°Yes¡­ Yes boss,¡± stammered one of the sixth officer¡¯s decoys in reply. Theckey didn¡¯t dare meet the boss¡¯ eyes. The boss sighed, his brow furrowing. The first officer looked around at the other officers that were present, then said to the boss, ¡°Boss, if it¡¯s not toote, we¡¯ll go take care of them right now.¡± ¡°Am I the only one that heard that the sixth and seventh officers failed?¡± His statement was met with silence. ¡°What do you think you could do if you went right now? Aren¡¯t you an officer? Are you stronger than the sixth or seventh officer? Aren¡¯t you about as strong as the two?¡± ¡°Well....¡± ¡°The fourth officer, whom I shouldn¡¯t even be calling an officer, was killed by andmine the moment they set foot in Yeouido, and the fifth officer, who was no different from the fourth officer, was killed by an artillery shell two days ago. And now, you want to leave as well?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Have you thought about the consequences if you die at the hands of the ones in Seongsu-dong? If you keep running your mouth without thinking about the consequences, I¡¯m going to get really disappointed.¡± The boss¡¯ tone was crystal clear, like the surface of a frozenke, sending chills down the officers¡¯ spines. Each and every word that the boss had spoken dripped with killing intent. Think before you speak. The boss red at the officers with eyes full of murder, as though ready to kill the next person who said something stupid. The officers kept their mouths shut. The boss looked out the window at the darkness that had engulfed the world, then spoke again. ¡°I should have finished them off with my own hands. I should¡¯ve cleaned up Seongdong-gu before turning my focus to the Gangnam Operation¡­ I grew impatient because of the suspicious activity in Yeouido.¡± ¡°No, our apologies, boss.¡± ¡°It¡¯s all our fault, boss.¡± ¡°I can go to Seocho-gu right now¡­¡±[1] The officers tripped over one another to offer up ingratiating responses, but the boss gestured for them to be silent. ¡°Stop trying to suck up to me. I¡¯m already pissed. Have you guys considered how I would feel to hear shit like that?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°We got it wrong from the beginning¡­ But we can make things right from now on.¡± The first officer swallowed before asking a question. ¡°If it¡¯s okay with you boss, would you mind telling us what you have in mind¡­?¡± The boss took a deep breath, then said slowly, ¡°I can only think of one thing.¡± ¡°What is it boss?¡± ¡°We have to give up Gangbuk.¡± "Boss, you must be joking!" The first officer looked at the boss with his eyes wide. The other officers also stared at the boss, their mouths opening and closing silently like goldfish. The boss pursed his lips and looked out the window for a while. A momentter, he turned back to face the officers. ¡°It''s time to make a decision. If we give up Gangnam right now, we¡¯ll never be able to set foot in Gangnam ever again. The moment we leave, there¡¯s no way the people in Gangnam will leave Sogang Bridge as it is.¡± ¡°Then what about the guys in Seongdong-gu¡­?¡± ¡°There¡¯s no need to get blood on our hands.¡± ¡°...?¡± ¡°There are three ck creatures left in Gangbuk, right? Stop feeding them.¡± "Huh?" All three officers got up from their seats and looked nkly at their boss. They weren¡¯t merely taken aback; they were seriously dumbfounded. Unlike the officers, though, the boss remained perfectly calm. ¡°Do you see any other way?¡± ¡°The ck creatures left in Gangbuk are beyond our ability to deal with. We¡¯re barely controlling them at the moment, but to let them roam free, given the current situation¡­¡± ¡°Stoping up with excuses and give me another n, then.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Gather all the dong leaders and their baits in Gangbuk and bring them to Gangnam. And let¡¯s take advantage of this move and rece any members if necessary.¡± ¡°Rece?¡± ¡°We have no need for weaklings. In this current situation, where even officers are losing their lives, weaklings have little to no value to us.¡± ¡°...¡± The officers all looked rather disturbed. The boss smirked at them. "What''s wrong with everyone''s faces?" ¡°I think it would be best to keep all of them alive,¡± responded the first officer, clenching his fists. The first officer had barely mustered up the courage to contradict the boss¡¯ orders. The boss tilted his head, unsure about the first officer¡¯s motives. "And the reason for this is?" ¡°Even if we eat them, we will only increase our control by fifty underlings. Don¡¯t you think it¡¯d be better to have the numbers on our side, in the current state? It would be beneficial to have more zombies with glowing red eyes under ourmand.¡± "Oh crap! Is that so? I hadn¡¯t the slightest clue. I was stupid. So, first officer, you¡¯ve been thinking all along that I¡¯ve been executing a different n, one that didn''t involve us trying to outnumber our opponents? Is that right?¡± ¡°Bo¡­ Boss¡­ That¡¯s not what I meant¡­¡± ¡°Hey, you guys there, next to the first officer. Second and third officers, do you know why my eyes are blue?¡± The second and third officers looked at each other and shook their heads. He took note of their ignorance and raised an eyebrow. ¡°Do you want to know the condition for your eyes to change color? There¡¯s really nothing to it.¡± The second and third officers stayed silent. The first officer straightened up and answered in their stead. ¡°Don¡¯t they change once you eat two or more ck creatures¡¯ brains?¡± The boss nodded. ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right. You just need to eat the brains of two or more ck creatures. But there¡¯s another way. A better way, in fact.¡± ¡°A better way?¡± ¡°There¡¯s a way to obtain the powers of a ck creature without having to deal with its overwhelming power.¡± ¡°What way would that be, boss?¡± ¡°You just have to deal with the zombie that absorbed the ck creature¡¯s brain.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± The boss walked to the door leading out of the meeting room. He opened it slowly, then looked back at the officers in the room. ¡°Do you know why the eighth officer died back then?¡± ¡°Yes. The eighth officer died in order to put into motion the initial steps of the Gangnam Operation¡­¡± ¡°No. I ate the eighth officer¡¯s brain.¡± The boss grinned at them, and the officers turned pale. The boss looked at each officer in turn. ¡°I¡¯m going to leave you guys to fight each other. And don''t even think about leaving until one of you has been killed. My scouts are stationed around the area. so don¡¯t even think about escaping.¡± ¡°Pardon, boss?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll give you exactly one hour.¡± With that, the boss left the meeting room. The meeting room went dead silent. The second and third officers exchanged looks. They seemed toe to an agreement, and looked at the first officer at the same time. The first officer looked back at them, not knowing how to react. ¡°Don¡¯t¡­ Don¡¯t look at me with those eyes.¡± "I¡¯m sorry first officer.¡± ¡°First officer, I''m sorry." ¡°Hey, hey! You crazy bastards¡­ How could you even think about doing this to me, after all I¡¯ve done for you?¡± ¡°Well, there¡¯s nothing we can do. It¡¯s not like I can die for you.¡± ¡°We can band together and kill the boss! Why didn¡¯t you think of that?¡± ¡°That¡¯s because you don¡¯t know the power differential between us and the boss. This difference is the same as the difference between us and the dong leaders. We don¡¯t stand a chance against the boss.¡± ¡°Are you guys out of your mind? Are you really being fooled by his bullshit?¡± ¡°What¡¯s bullshit is the world we live in right now. I¡­ I don¡¯t want to die like this.¡± The second and third officers moved closer to the first officer. The first officer gritted their teeth, letting out an audible crack. His glowing eyes shed, and he let loose a battle cry. Immediately, the silence in the meeting room was reced by a cacophony of zombie cries. The desperate wailing didn¡¯tst long. 1. Seocho-gu is a district within Gangnam. ? Chapter 110 Chapter 110 Early in the morning, with the chill of dawn making us sniffle, nearly three hundred survivors gathered in front of Shelter Silence''s first line of defense. Kim Hyeong-Jun, Do Han-Sol and I were organizing the preparations, arranging our underlings around the survivors. I ordered my underlings to pull the carts loaded with heavy, bulky items, so that the survivors would be able to travel as lightly as they could. Hwang Ji-Hye, Lee Jeong-Uk, and Hwang Deok-Rok reassured the survivors and let me know that we were ready to depart. Kang Eun-Jung wasughing with Kang Ji-Suk and the other members of Shelter Hae-Young. She seemed to have recovered. So-Yeon, standing next to me, looked up at me curiously. ¡°Daddy, where are we going?¡± I smiled happily and held her in my arms. ¡°We¡¯re moving to a new home.¡± ¡°A new home? Like the time you brought the principal over?¡± Her question brought up some memories. I remembered the early days when I¡¯d been fighting desperately, not yet able to speak, and too weak to take care of the ck creature in order to save the principal, the elder, and the teens from the high school. Back then, I¡¯d told So-Yeon that we would be moving to a new ce so that she wouldn¡¯t have to be nervous even when I wasn''t around. To me, these memories were in the past, but it seemed like they held a special ce in her heart. So-Yeon remembered everything I¡¯d said. I realized why people always said that one had to be careful of what one said in front of children. I smiled warmly back at her. ¡°So-Yeon¡¯s right. It''s just like when Daddy brought the principal over.¡± ¡°Then will there be more friends to y with, and more aunts and uncles?¡± "Well, I think we¡¯ll know once we move!¡± ¡°Hehe, I like moving to new ces.¡± ¡°My So-Yeon likes moving to a new ce?¡± ¡°Yeah! My heart races when I think of moving to a new ce!¡± So-Yeon giggled and buried her face in my chest. Her cuteness melted away the anxiety that I felt regarding this move. While I was beaming at So-Yeon, Kim Hyeong-Jun, who had just seen meughing like a fool, spoke up. ¡°Ahjussi, you¡¯re also a fool for your daughter.¡± ¡°Fool? Watch what you say in front of children!¡± ¡°A fool isn¡¯t necessarily a bad thing, is it?¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s not apliment either.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun jutted out his lower lip and shrugged. Do Han-Sol, who was next to Kim Hyeong-Jun, smiled broadly. ¡°You have a cute charming daughter. A smart one too.¡± ¡°Right?¡± ¡°What¡¯s your name, sweetheart?¡± I looked at So-Yeon. ¡°So-Yeon, it seems like Do Han-Sol ahjussi is asking for your name. Can you go ahead and tell Do Han-Sol ahjussi your name?¡± ¡°Is he a nice ahjussi?¡± ¡°He¡¯s daddy¡¯s friend.¡± So-Yeon hesitated for a while, then nced at Do Han-So and answered with the tiniest voice, ¡°Lee So-Yeon¡­¡± ¡°So-Yeon? What a pretty name.¡± Do Han-Sol chuckled and went through his pockets. After a moment, he took out a green grape-vored candy and handed it to So-Yeon. Her eyes lit up as she saw the candy, but then she quickly looked at me. ¡°It¡¯s alright sweetie. Go ahead and take it.¡± As I let her go for the candy, So-Yeon bit her lower lip and reached for the candy, as if she was embarrassed. As So-Yeon tore off the wrapping with her cute, tiny hands and popped the candy in her mouth, she puffed her cheeks. Do Han-Sol looked at her puffy cheeks andughed heartily, the way a child would. After I sent So-Yeon to Lee Jeong-Uk, I looked over at Do Han-Sol. ¡°You seem to be good with children.¡± ¡°Oh, I used to volunteer to read to children.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t know they had that kind of volunteer work.¡± ¡°If you look around, you can find all sorts of volunteer work. Daycare teachers used to look for volunteers when they had more children to take care of.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t think they would¡¯ve epted anyone to do that. Especially men.¡± Do Han-Sol smiled awkwardly and scratched his head. ¡°It¡¯s probably because I majored in early childhood education.¡± I realized once again that one shouldn¡¯t judge a book by its cover. At first, I thought Do Han-Sol had an attitude problem, but after getting to know him, he was polite and kind-hearted. He strongly believed in protecting his own people, and he knew how to distinguish between enemies and allies, and treat them differently. I realized how fortunate it was for me to have formed an alliance with Do Han-Sol. Kim Hyeong-Jun squeezed himself between us and spoke up. ¡°Hey ahjussis, shouldn¡¯t we get going?¡± I nodded and headed for the first line of defense. At the first line of defense, thousands of zombies were gathered, surrounding the almost three hundred survivors. They were huddled together, with no gaps in between. I looked over the formation onest time, then took a deep breath and shouted, ¡°We¡¯re moving out!¡± The survivors looked at me nervously. I looked at them one by one. ¡°There are some rules to follow when we begin to move. Firstly, no screaming, no matter what happens. Second, don¡¯t break formation. Third, trust each other.¡± None of the survivors said anything. They looked at me with eyes filled with determination. I continued to scan the group as I spoke. ¡°As long as you follow these three rules, we¡¯ll all make it safely to our new home!¡± A woman in the group of survivors spoke up. ¡°Is the new home safe?¡± I looked in the direction where the voice hade from, and saw a woman quaking in fear. The woman held a boy in her arms, simr to So-Yeon in age. I gave her a vigorous nod. ¡°It¡¯s safe. Kim Hyeong-Jun, Do Han-Sol and I will make sure to protect you at all costs.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°My daughter and family are part of the crowd here. And those that are trying to survive together with my family¡­ Are no different from my family.¡± I pointed at Lee Jeong-Uk, who was carrying So-Yeon in his arms. All eyes turned to face them. Lee Jeong-Uk must have felt embarrassed by the sudden attention; he smiled shyly and offered everyone a slight bow. I continued to speak. ¡°We¡¯ve made it this far together, and we will continue to do so in the future. So don''t lose hope. If webine forces, we can look forward to a better tomorrow.¡± ¡°Right on!¡± My promation was met by a sea of nods, and cheers that matched my energy. However, some still seemed unconvinced. I looked at those who were still doubtful. ¡°Who was responsible for everything we''ve built so far? Was it God? No. Everyone here has a share in that responsibility. You¡¯ve created everything with your own hands. I believe in every single one of you. I believe that each and every one of you has the potential to do greater things.¡± Many survivors nodded along with me, their faces alight. I nodded slowly, taking in their determination. ¡°So, I ask you to put faith in me too. Let''s get through this together. Let¡¯s trust each other and keep moving forward.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± A thunderous roar filled the air,ing from the survivors. I gave them a final nod, then gave an order to my underlings. ''Let¡¯s go.¡¯ GRRR!!! The zombies surrounding the survivors began to move as one, filling the air with their throat-rending cries. The survivors started walking to match their pace. Kim Hyeong-Jun was in charge of the rear, Do Han-Sol was in charge of the left nk, and the guards were in charge of the right nk. Over five thousand beings, including all the zombies and survivors, began to advance along Achasan-ro, moving toward their destination. * * * After walking for a couple of hours, I heard Do Han-Sol shout from the left, ¡°I hear howling from the left!¡± My eyes red as I heightened my senses. Just as Do Han-Sol had said, the zombie howling from the left spread outward like an echo. Even though we had put the survivors in the center, the smell of flesh was strong, and every breath the three hundred survivors let out filled the air around us with the scent of life. Their scent would undoubtedly attract other zombies. Clearly, zombies had taken notice of us and were moving toward us. I ascended to the roof of a tall building nearby and gave orders to my underlings. ¡®All toons, get in position.'' The first, second, thirdpanies surrounded the survivors, while the fourthpany got ready to go intobat. After a moment, I spotted a wave of zombies rolling toward us. ¡®Fourthpany, hold off the zombiesing from the left.¡¯ At my order, the underlings in the fourthpany charged toward the zombies, letting out their throat-rending cries. An ordinary street zombie didn¡¯t stand a chance against one of my underlings. However, their numbers were overwhelming. The size of a zombie wave usually depended on the number of survivors. In the past, there were at most a few hundred of them. Now, though, it seemed like every zombie in the neighborhood was charging toward us. ¡°Second wave iing from the rear!¡± I heard Kim Hyeong-Jun call out and rushed to the railing on the opposite side to see what was going on. A thousand zombies were making their way toward us, their bodies bent in a grotesque manner. Kim Hyeong-Jun looked at me. ''Leave this area to me.'' Kim Hyeong-Jun opted tomunicate telepathically instead of verbally, perhaps because of the distance. I nodded back at him, and Kim Hyeong-Jun rushed at them in a sh. Thud, thud, thud. I heard zombie footsteps approaching from the front. I looked at the slope in front of us and issued an order to my underlings. ¡®Mutants, move to secure the front.¡¯ KIAAA!!! The stage-one mutants used their long arms as scythes, mercilessly tearing through the zombies that were trying to make it up the steep slope. I¡¯d assumed that we would be able to make it to our destination before the day was over, but if zombies kepting at us like this, it would take more than a couple of days to reach our objective. We had children and the elderly with us, which meant that we had to move slowly. The anxiousness that the survivors were feeling also took a toll on their stamina. The guard in charge of the right nk cried out in rm, ¡°A group of zombies approaching from the right as well!¡± I leaped down at once, my blue eyes shing. I made my blood circte more quickly, and hot steam spewed from my mouth. I clenched my fists and spoke to the guards behind me. ¡°Leave this area to me. Deal with the zombies that make it through the sides.¡± ¡°Yes, yes!¡± The guards took a step back and got into a defensive formation. Crack!!! I sprung from the ground and charged toward the zombies. I tore off zombie limbs and broke their skulls, thinking only about the route we still had to take before we reached our destination. ¡®I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll make it before the end of the day. We need to find a ce where three hundred people can set up camp.¡¯ It was impossible to tell what would happen if we crammed three hundred survivors into small buildings, only for zombies that were hidden in it to ambush them. It was far better to camp out in a t, open area where we could watch over all the survivors at once. We would probably have to fight zombies all night long, but that was the safest option we had, given the current situation. * * * ¡°I think it would be best to camp here for the night and move again tomorrow.¡± I was speaking to Hwang Ji-Hye, Lee Jeong-Uk, and Hwang Deok-Rok as I wiped the zombie blood off of my face. Hwang Ji-Hye spoke up, her expression difficult to read. ¡°This is Grand Children''s Park. There¡¯s no ce to hide.¡± ¡°That makes it easier to spot the enemy''s movements. If a zombie appears inside a building, it¡¯d be difficult to pinpoint their exact location, and it would be difficult for me, Hyeong-Jun, and Han-Sol to react immediately.¡± ¡°But camping outside in this weather¡­ Some folks might suffer from hypothermia. I''d rather sleep in the university across the street...¡± ¡°I also feel the same way. However, this is the safest way to protect ourselves from the street zombies.¡± ¡°Do you think the attacks will continue throughout the night?¡± ¡°Zombies were constantly attacking us while we were on the move. It¡¯s because there¡¯s no way of hiding the survivor¡¯s scent.¡± ¡°But¡­¡± Hwang Ji-Hye trailed off, grimacing. I ced my head in my hands. ¡°If we go into the university building, the street zombies will gather around the building all night long and surround it. It''ll be a bit safer to camp here, where there are a lot of trees.¡± ¡°I¡¯m just worried about the cold.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll try to get whatever I can from the nearby convenience store. I''ll try to find as many hand warmers as possible. I¡¯ll also try to uproot a couple of trees so that we can use them as firewood.¡± ¡°You¡¯re going to uproot some trees?¡± Hwang Ji-Hye looked at me as if she had no clue what I was saying. I called Kim Hyeong-Jun, who was ying with his son a distance away. He let his wife take their son, who hadn¡¯t yet learned to walk, and quickly came to my side. ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± ¡°Can you get Mood-Swinger to pull out some trees?¡± "Trees? How many are we talking about?¡± ¡°Six, just to be on the safe side.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun walked over to Mood-Swinger and ordered it to uproot the trees. Hwang Ji-Hye clicked her tongue while she saw Mood-Swinger at work. "How in the world is it going to uproot a tree that big with brute force¡­¡± Crack, crack! Before she knew it, a tree was uprooted with a dull crack. Hwang Ji-Hye shook her head. She seemed to have had her fill of these impossible urrences. She was at a loss for words as well. After a moment, Lee Jeong-Uk asked me what he and the others could do. ¡°While I go look for hand warmers, help Hyeong-Jun. We need to find arge area for a campfire.¡± "Okay." Lee Jeong-Uk, Hwang Ji-Hye, and Hwang Deok-Rok went straight to Kim Hyeong-Jun. Mood-Swinger seemed scary on the outside¡­ But it waspletely loyal, and had never disobeyed Kim Hyeong-Jun. Do Han-Sol came back a momentter, having finished scouting the surrounding area. ¡°It¡¯s quiet for now. I didn¡¯t see any zombie movements.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a relief. Is Grand Children''s Park part of Neung-dong?¡± "Yes. I cleared out the zombies here and in Gunja-dong a while back, so I think it¡¯ll be safe tonight.¡± I nodded slowly. ¡°Strengthen the number of guards, just in case. I¡¯m going to go around the nearby convenience stores to look for hand warmers.¡± ¡°Got it. We¡¯ll be waiting for you.¡± I told him to keep up the good work, then headed toward the entrance of the Grand Children¡¯s Park. Chapter 111 Chapter 111 As the sun went down, the chilly breeze soon grew into a vicious, howling gale. The hand warmers were essential for the survivors to keep their body temperature up. I ran around nonstop, checking inside every convenience store I saw. Since the chaos had erupted in the middle of the summer, the stores weren¡¯t stocked with many items that could provide protection against the cold. It was difficult to find arge quantity of hand warmers, and there weren¡¯t many items that could shelter the survivors against the howling wind. As I ran around looking for convenience stores, I saw a store that made me stop in my tracks. It was a small store that specialized in wedding dresses, and next to it was a store selling bedding. I was in luck. I hadn¡¯t been thinking about any other forms of protection against the cold, as I had my mind focused on hand warmers. I could provide the survivors with fresh, clean covers if I went through the bedding store. Not only that, but they would be able to protect themselves against the biting wind as well. A small smile spread across my face, and I called to my underlings through my mind. ¡®Third and fourthpany,e at once.'' While my underlings made their way to me, I went into the bedding store to look for which items would be useful to us. Most of the covers were thin, to be used during the summer. However, the thin covers would be better than nothing, and the survivors could wrap themselves in multipleyers to warm themselves. I went into the storeroom in the back of the store to see what other inventory they had. When I moved the dusty stic wrapping away, I saw many thick covers stacked on top of each other. Thank goodness. It seemed they¡¯d had a lot of inventory left over from the previous winter. As soon as my underlings arrived, I pointed to the covers in the store and ordered, ¡®All of you, carry as many of these as you can.¡¯ GRRR!!! My underlings cried out furiously and quickly grabbed as many of the covers as they could. The more nkets and covers they hauled onto their arms and shoulders, the better I felt about the situation. While my underlings were busy in the bedding store, I went into the dress store next door. There were some itemsmonly used by wedding nners strewn about. Arge rack of dresses had fallen over, and the wedding dresses were lying in a pile on the floor. All the white dresses were covered in footprints, smudges, and dirt. Wedding dresses that used to make people¡¯s hearts flutter were now useless items that served no purpose. I smacked my lips bitterly and searched every nook and cranny of the store. As I looked around, I saw a booth that wasmonly used to take wedding photos. Grrr¡­. Krrr¡­ I heard a zombie growling on the other side of the curtains. I gulped and carefully opened the curtains. A woman in a clean, white wedding dress was sitting there, staring at the wall and growling. Instead of the beautiful, happy woman that she¡¯d dreamed she¡¯d be, she had be a zombie, a being with no soul. One side of her dress was torn up, and her flesh hung from her bones in ribbons on that side. I let out a sigh and walked toward her. She turned around to look at me as though she¡¯d heard me breathing. She saw my clear blue eyes and immediately dropped her gaze to the floor. As I looked at her, I clenched my fists. ¡°I hope you meet good people and have a happy life in your next life¡­¡± I furrowed my brow and punched the zombie in the face. Her dark red blood flowed down, drenching the clean, white wedding dress. With that, she left this world and went to one in which she wouldn¡¯t have to wait an eternity for the wedding she would never be able to have. I took a deep breath and left the booth through the curtains. I saw five different wedding dresses on the wall opposite me. I wiped my bloodied hands on my pants, then took one of the wedding dresses with me and left the wedding store. The cold, eerie wind weed me back as I emerged back out onto the streets again. I felt the cold wind blowing against me, clearing away the tension that had built up in me. While I¡¯d been hunting through the wedding store for a wedding dress, my underlings had finished packing up everything from the bedding store. I looked at my underlings. ¡®Let¡¯s go back home.¡¯ * * * When we approached the fountain in Children''s Grand Park, I saw the survivors all huddled up like penguins, trying to share their bodily warmth. Seeing them in this state, I immediately issued orders to my underlings. ''Put the covers down in front of the fountain.'' Grrr... My underlings walked toward the fountain in unison. The survivors¡¯ faces brightened when they saw the thick nkets. ¡°So-Yeon¡¯s dad!¡± Lee Jeong-Uk was calling me. I turned around and saw himing up to me, pulling arge suitcase. I had no clue where he had gotten it from. He looked around to make sure nobody was around before speaking. ¡°Where did you get that?¡± ¡°There was a wedding store next to the bedding shop.¡± ¡°Why didn¡¯t you bring it secretly? Go ahead and put it in here already. I bet you¡¯re a party pooper huh?¡± ¡°...¡± Silently, I put the wedding dress I¡¯d brought back with me into therge suitcase. Lee Jeong-Uk wore a wide grin, as though he was the one who was about to get married. ¡°I bet Jeong-Hyuk and Da-Hye are both going to be so surprised when they see this.¡± "Right now, it seems like you¡¯re the one who¡¯s going to get married.¡± I said it as a joke, but I immediately regretted my words. Lee Jeong-Uk stiffened momentarily, his face going nk. I smacked my lips and spoke up. ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­¡± ¡°No, no, it¡¯s not a big deal. You¡¯re all good.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Alrighty! Let¡¯s get going. We were just about to start the campfire anyway.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk smiled widely and walked toward the survivors. As I watched him go, I couldn¡¯t help but feel even worse about how I had hurt him. ¡®Out of all the jokes I could¡¯ve made, I just had to make that one, huh?¡¯ I wondered what had crossed his mind the moment I¡¯d blurted out my joke. His wife? Or his dead daughter? He tried to pretend that everything was alright, but I couldn¡¯t forget the expression on his face, or the way he¡¯d stiffened awkwardly. I could tell by his expression that he deeply missed both of them. I buried my face in my hands and let out a breath. I figured that, since Lee Jeong-Uk was pretending to be okay, it was not my ce to ask him whether he was actually okay or not. It was best to not bring the topic up again. I walked toward the survivors as well, maintaining the illusion that everything was perfectly okay. A couple of nearby tents caught my eye. I went up to Shin Ji-Hye, whom I¡¯d rescued from Dae Hyun San Park. ¡°Shin Ji-Hye.¡± ¡°Hey, Uncle Hyun-Deok.¡± ¡°There aren¡¯t that many tents around; a lot less than I thought we had. Are these all the ones we brought?¡± ¡°Oh, it just didn¡¯t feel right that we were the only ones to sleep in tents.¡± ¡°Oh¡­¡± She had a point. There were over three hundred people camping outside. It was obvious that there would be someints if only the people from Shelter Hae-Young got to sleep in tents. I patted her on the shoulder and nodded, affirming her wise decision. Then Shin Ji-Hye pointed to the couple of tents that had been set up. ¡°The tents over there were set up for the kids. It¡¯s alright, since I already asked everyone about it and they all said it was okay.¡± ¡°You sure?¡± "Yes, yes. I actually got scolded for asking. They said that putting the children in the tents first was the right thing to do, before we decided on who else got to sleep in the tents.¡± ¡°...¡± I looked at the survivors around the fountain while I listened to Shin Ji-Hye. They were all staring at the campfire worriedly. The survivors here still had some humanity left in them. They tried to do what was best for the group, even though they had to make sacrifices sometimes. This reminded me of the day I¡¯d gone up to the tform when trying to find the daughter of the dong leader of Seongsu-dong. The survivors had thrown stones at me, Kim Hyeong-Jun, and Park Gi-Cheol back then, and their eyes had been full of hatred. Back then, I¡¯d been resentful toward the survivors of Shelter Silence and frustrated by their actions, but when I thought about it now, it was only right that they¡¯d acted that way. They had strong feelings of distrust and antipathy toward zombies, and many had lost their family overnight because of the Family and their dogs. The survivors had needed someone to vent their anger on. Feeling disheartened, I rubbed my neck and smacked my lips. After a moment, Bae Jae-Hwan came up to me and bowed, then called to Shin Ji-Hye. ¡°Hey Ji-Hye, you have a second?¡± ¡°Huh? Yeah¡­¡± Shin Ji-Hye bowed lightly and got up. I chuckled as I watched the two of them walk away. It was so obvious that even the most oblivious person would be able to tell that there was something going on between the two of them. It seemed like Bae Jae-Hwan and Shin Ji-Hye had developed feelings for each other and were now in a rtionship after I had rescued them from Dae Hyun San Park. My mind drifted from this pair to the two I¡¯d rescued from the high school, Byun Hyeok-Jin and Woo Ga-In, who were also in a rtionship. I wondered if their rtionship was still going strong. I looked around, trying to find them, and saw the two of themughing and chatting away in the back row, just like any lovers would do. I snorted when I saw the two. ¡°Oh, those two lovebirds never seem to be apart from each other.¡± After a moment, I heard Lee Jeong-Uk approaching me from the side. He sat right next to me, chewing on some jerky. Hwang Ji-Hye looked at us for a moment, then came and sat on the other side of me. ¡°It seems like everyone is having a good time.¡± As I chuckled, Park Gi-Cheol, the principal, and even the white-haired elder joined us, sitting close to each other. Before I knew it, all the older folk had gathered together. Park Gi-Cheol offered up a hearty smile. ¡°I feel like I belong here, for some reason.¡± ¡°What about Hyeong-Jun?¡± "He¡¯s over there ying with his son and his wife." I looked in the direction Park Gi-Cheol was pointing and saw Kim Hyeong-Jun holding his son in his arms while talking to his wife. They looked like any other happy family. Park Gi-Cheol clicked his tongue. ¡°There¡¯s no way I can join them. I¡¯ve never been so sure of anything in my life.¡± ¡°You can hang out with us.¡± ¡°Hahaha. Of course, of course.¡± Park Gi-Cheol roared out a joyfulugh, and the principal and the elder contributed their own silly jokes, lightening the mood and creating a jovial atmosphere. ¡°It¡¯s such a pity that there¡¯s no soju right now.¡± Everyone nodded and felt slightly disappointed. It was the perfect time to have some soju. ¡°Daddy, what¡¯s soju?¡± So-Yeon walked up to me, yawning. It seemed like she¡¯d been sleeping in the tent, but had woken up. I smiled broadly at her. ¡°So-Yeon sweetie, what are you doing up? You can¡¯t sleep?¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ It¡¯s hot inside.¡± It was a relief to hear that it was warm inside. It seemed like the thick covers were truly proving themselves. So-Yeon sat on myp and rubbed her eyes, iming myp as her territory. Everyone smiled warmly when they saw So-Yeon. Park Gi-Cheol barked out augh. ¡°Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok, I think So-Yeon is waiting for something. Perhaps a luby?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not good at singing.¡± Hwang Ji-Hye, who was on the other side, smirked. ¡°What do you mean you¡¯re not good? Just go ahead and pick a song.¡± I smacked my lips in embarrassment. I looked down at So-Yeon, nestled in myp. She smiled silently and buried her face in my arms. I smiled and started singing slowly. ¡°Twinkle, twinkle, little star¡­¡± The crackling campfire, the people sitting around, and So-Yeon sleeping soundly in my arms. Although it was chilly, my heart was as warm as it could be. I figured that this small embarrassment would one day be a good memory down the road. I stroked So-Yeon''s small back and sang a luby in a quiet voice. Before I was even done, So-Yeon had fallen asleep. The sound of her breathing and her heartbeat, which I could feel through my fingertips, gave me a sense of relief andfort. I smiled gently and stood up, with So-Yeon cradled in my arms. ¡°I¡¯ll be back after putting So-Yeon back in the tent.¡± The others all smiled and nodded. As I opened the tent, a warm breeze weed me. The children were in deep sleep, and the covers were all over the ce. It seemed the children had kicked them away because they were too hot. Iid So-Yeon down in an empty spot and tucked the children in again. As I looked at the children who were trying to sleep, I said something I wouldn¡¯t have normally said. ¡°Stay strong and healthy. Don¡¯t get sick.¡± I smiled and went back out. Just as I was about to rejoin the others, I spotted a man urgently running from the front gate. The man had glowing red eyes that were shing in the darkness. It was Do Han-Sol,ing back from patrol. The moment he saw me, he yelled, ¡°Zombies iing!!!¡± As his voice echoed through the park, the people gathered near the fountain all looked at me at once. The people I¡¯d just been talking to got up right away, their expressions growing stiff. I looked at them. ¡°Gather those who have wandered away and bring them to the fountain.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk quickly left to find Bae Jae-Hwan and Byun Hyeok-Jin. Hwang Ji-Hye, Park Gi-Cheol, the principal, and the elder quickly gathered the other survivors closer to the campfire. A momentter, Kim Hyeong-Jun appeared. He asked Do Han-Sol how many zombies there were. "I don''t know. I couldn¡¯t get an exact number because it was too dark. But I didn¡¯t see an end to them.¡± I clenched my fists after hearing his answer. ¡°Well, we have no other choice but to kill all of them.¡± ¡°But there¡¯s a slight problem.¡± ¡°Problem?¡± Do Han-Sol furrowed his brow at my question. "There are mutants mixed in with the regr zombies.¡± ¡°Mutants? How many are we talking about?¡± ¡°I couldn¡¯t get a number because it was too dark.¡± ¡°Too dark to figure out how many there are? Then are you saying that they¡¯re not part of the gang?¡± ¡°Yes, I believe so. I didn¡¯t see any red beings.¡± I put my hand on my forehead and let out a deep breath. This was the first time we¡¯d encountered mutants in zombie waves. I looked at Do Han-Sol and Kim Hyeong-Jun. ¡°Han-Sol, you¡¯re in charge of the forest section, while Hyeong-Jun takes charge of the pathway that leads to the back entrance. I¡¯ll take up a position at the front entrance. And get your underlings to surround the survivors.¡± ¡°Got it.¡± ¡°Yes, roger that.¡± We all went our separate ways and rearranged our underlings. I focused my mind, trying to keep calm. ¡®I can¡¯t lose anyone, absolutely anyone today.¡¯ My blue eyes red in the pitch-ck darkness. With my senses heightened, I walked toward the front entrance. Chapter 112 Chapter 112 GRRR!!! Krrr¡­ KAAA!!! The zombies¡¯ howling tickled my ears. It was rougher and more monstrous than usual. I spewed out hot steam as I held off the zombies pouring into Children¡¯s Grand Park. I knocked down a tree, wielding it like a cudgel to hold off the iing zombies more effectively. As I swung my weapon about, the zombies that were rushing through the front entrance of the park were sent flying, like baseballs being hit out of a stadium. ¡°Hup!¡± I took a deep breath and threw the tree I was holding toward the entrance. The zombies squeezing their way through were swept away like bowling pins. KIAAA!!! I caught sight of some mutants trying to make their way over the fences to the left. I knew I had to prevent them froming over. I forced my blood to circte faster and tensed my limbs. My muscles grew bigger and stronger, increasing my strength further. Crack! Iunched myself off the ground and flew toward the mutants. I wasn¡¯t afraid because I knew they were only stage-one mutants, and I¡¯d wiped out three stage-one mutants in an instant before. On top of that, now that I had blue eyes, the stage-one mutants were no longer a match for me. Smash! I grabbed the mutant¡¯s face in my hands, and its eyeballs seemed to grow whiter as it stared at me. I lifted my right thigh and stomped on its neck. With a crunch, its spine snapped and its Adam¡¯s apple was pushed clean through its neck. I tossed away the mutant¡¯s corpse, feeling adrenaline rushing through my entire body. As I ughtered my way through the zombies, my inner zombie instincts tried to take over. But I knew better than to let them take over me. I was more than aware that I could be a threat to the survivors here if I lost control. Every time my zombie instincts kicked in, I reassessed the situation and grabbed a firm hold on my sanity. All the survivors gathered around the campfire had their backs to the fountain and were holding weapons. They were prepared to attack if a zombie happened to get to them. Do Han-Sol and his underlings were taking care of the zombies making their way through the forest, while Kim Hyeong-Jun and Mood-Swinger were guarding the back entrance like two sturdy gatekeepers. ¡®This should be enough.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t difficult to deal with the zombies, thanks to the surrounding terrain. I was d that I had convinced the others to make camp in an open area. All we had to do was kill whatever came running toward us. ¡°Let¡¯s¡­ y¡­¡± An eerie call sent chills down my spine. I turned around, but I couldn¡¯t locate what had made the sound. I dropped into a crouch and started looking around. My blue eyes shed as I heightened my senses, and I finallyid eyes on a being that was making its way rapidly through the thick, lush forest. ¡®A being?¡¯ The being looked humanoid, but was smaller in size. ¡®Is it a mutant?¡¯ I narrowed my eyes, trying to follow the creature¡¯s movements. As my eyes hunted for the creature, I issued orders to my underlings. ¡®Mutant squad, block the front entrance of Children¡¯s Grand Park. Don''t let any of them get through!¡¯ KIAAA!!! All the mutants that were protecting the survivors headed toward the main entrance of the park. I continued my hunt through the lush forest, trying to chase down the mysterious mutant. I finallyid eyes on the mutant. It seemed to notice that I had caught up, and abruptly stopped in its tracks. I quickly halted as well, and took a couple steps back. I didn¡¯t back off because I didn¡¯t want to attack it. My instincts were warning me of imminent danger. The ringing in my head was telling me to get away. I could tell that this was a stage-two mutant, since it looked different than the other mutants. I had no clue what kind of abilities it had. I knew that a hasty attack would only backfire. I had to keep an eye on its movements and figure out what its desire was. After a moment, the stage-two mutant slowly turned around. ¡°Let¡¯s¡­ y¡­ Da¡­ ddy¡­¡± It was a little boy. It was about a meter tall, with a baby face, but its pale skin and abnormally big mouth were enough to give me the creeps. It looked at me, giggling, then ran at me with its two arms wide open. Surprised, I kicked it, sending it flying toward a tree. It flew for a while before hitting the tree, and it howled in pain at the impact with the thick tree trunk. Its wailing was no different from the other mutants. ¡®What in the world¡­?¡¯ It wasn''t threatening at all, neither in its defense nor its attack. In fact, all of its abilities seemed harmless. The only advantage I could see was its movement speed¡­ But to me, a zombie with blue eyes, it was nothing. I swallowed, keeping my eyes firmly fixed on it. The stage-two mutant cried for a while, but then its cries went through a strange, subtle change. ¡°Ha¡­ Haha¡­. HAHA¡­ HAHAHA!¡± Its crying turned intoughter. I took a step back, sensing something eerie about the creature. The stage-two mutant slowly lifted its upper body and looked me straight in the eye. ¡°It¡¯s¡­ My¡­ Turn¡­¡± It opened its mouth and charged toward me. My eyes went wide, and I hurriedly twisted my upper body, barely avoiding its grasp. Its speed had increased dramatically. Steam spewed out of my mouth as I increased the strength in my legs. After boosting myself, Iunched myself into a spinning kick. The mutant was small and agile, able to change directions quickly. It leaped up into a tree to avoid my attack. ¡°Hehe¡­¡± It began swinging through the trees like a monkey. I tried to follow it by leaping onto a tree as well. Snap! However, the branches were unable to take my weight, and snapped. As I fell to the ground, the stage-two mutant grinned at me. ¡°Shit!¡± I got up and tried to resume my hunt, but the creature had vanished from my sight. I wondered where it had disappeared to. It was impossible to track down a meter-tall boy in a pitch-ck forest. ¡°Mood-Swinger!¡± I heard Kim Hyeong-Jun cry out from my left. I looked left and saw the stage-two mutant holding onto Mood-Swinger¡¯s head. Mood-Swinger was wailing in pain. The moment Kim Hyeong-Jun tried to detach the stage-two mutant from Mood-Swinger, Mood-Swinger¡¯s eyes changed, and he flung a fist at Kim Hyeong-Jun. Kim Hyeong-Jun gasped. Mood-Swinger¡¯s unexpected attack sent him flying twenty meters away. I watched Mood-Swinger¡¯s movements¡ªwith the stage-two mutant still attached to it¡ªwith a dumbfounded expression. Mood-Swinger¡¯s innocent, clear eyes had turned ck, and so had the eyes of the stage-two mutant. The stage-two mutant¡­ It was mind controlling Mood-Swinger. I knew that I had to contain Mood-Swinger immediately. I didn¡¯t even want to imagine what would happen if the giant zombie decided to run toward the survivors. Steam spewed from my mouth as I raced toward Mood-Swinger. It saw me closing in, and swiftly flung an arm out. I leaped off the ground and over Mood-Swinger, sending a kick toward the stage-two mutant that was on top of its head. The small creature quickly dodged behind Mood-Swinger¡¯s head to avoid my attack. Thud! I mistakenly kicked Mood-Swinger right in the face. Mood-Swinger swayed side to side and fell on its back. However, it was quickly back on its feet, frowning. I knew Mood-Swinger was strong, but I was surprised that it hadn¡¯t died from that kick to the face. I swallowed as Mood-Swinger got worked up. ¡°My¡­ Turn!!!¡± Mood-Swinger charged toward me, yelling out a phrase totally foreign to it. Mood-Swinger was basically a puppet, unable to exercise an ounce of free will. I wasn¡¯t sure if I had to kill Mood-Swinger. I was more than confident that I could kill Mood-Swinger if I gave it my all, but losing it would be a big loss to us. I had to figure out a way to subdue Mood-Swinger somehow without killing it. Shhh¡­ Steam spewed from my mouth as I concentrated on increasing the strength in my right arm. My muscles doubled in size, stretching and growing with even more power. It wasn¡¯t possible to enhance my entire body at once, but ever since I¡¯d turned into a zombie with blue eyes, I became capable of strengthening parts of my body temporarily. I concentrated all my might in my right arm and hurled a punch toward Mood-Swinger¡¯s chest. Mood-Swinger let out a thunderous howl and swung its right arm, thick as a baobab tree, toward me. Crash! Our fists collided with such force that it seemed to blow away the air around us, leaving us in a vacuum. The wave of air hammered into my chest, and I felt the shockwave from the collision make its way to my entire body. A tingling sensation traveled up from the tips of my fingers all the way into my skull. My eyes lost focus for a moment, and my mind went nk. The rebound had knocked me back. Mood-Swinger fell to its knees, its fist crippled. Mood-Swinger was able to deal damage to me, but I was still superior in terms of strength. I quickly regained bnce by nting my right foot on the ground, then charged toward Mood-Swinger, gritting my teeth. The stage-two mutant that was on top of Mood-Swinger¡¯s head was wide-eyed with surprise. It quickly moved down to attach itself lower on Mood-Swinger¡¯s body. Mood-Swinger swung its left arm out without even knowing where I was. Mood-Swinger was clearly the stage-two mutant¡¯s marite. I ducked down and got close to Mood-Swinger, sending a fist flying towards its chest. Mood-Swinger vomited a mouthful of blood. It swayed side to side for a moment, but then quickly turned around and started running away. Shoosh¡ª The moment I tried to block its way, something tore through the air on my right, flying past me in a rush of wind. It left a brint, blue trail as it went straight past me. I immediately halted in surprise. The being shot past me and nted a foot right smack in the middle of Mood-Swinger. Thud!!! With the sound of a brick walling down, Mood-Swinger¡¯s spine shattered. The being was no other than Kim Hyeong-Jun. Kim Hyeong-Jun red at Mood-Swinger with a furrowed brow, spewing steam from his mouth. Gritting his teeth, he said, ¡°Can¡¯t you recognize your own father?¡± He seemed emotionally outraged at what had just happened. The stage-two mutant tried its best to control Mood-Swinger, but Mood-Swinger¡¯s back was shattered, and it could do nothing but wail in agony. I didn¡¯t let the opportunity pass by and charged toward the stage-two mutant, my blue eyes shing. I hammered a knee into its face, shattering its skull. Only then did Mood-Swinger¡¯s trembling body droop to the ground like a wet towel. The ck color flowed out of its eyes, and its eyes returned to their usual innocent state. I removed the corpse of the stage-two mutant from its head as Kim Hyeong-Jun examined Mood-Swinger¡¯s condition. ¡°Losing¡­ Gains¡­¡± I assumed that it was no longer being mind controlled, since it was talking about losing gains with its exhausted voice. Kim Hyeong-Jun massaged his temples and let out a sigh of relief. I tossed the stage-two mutant¡¯s head into the forest. ¡°You okay?¡± I asked Kim Hyeong-Jun. ¡°I thought we were going to lose Mood-Swinger.¡± ¡°Try giving orders to Mood-Swinger. We have to see if you still control it.¡± ¡°Mood-Swinger, raise your left arm.¡± Following Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s orders, it raised its left arm about ten centimeters off the ground, trembling with effort. Kim Hyeong-Jun put his head in his hands. He couldn¡¯t take the sight of Mood-Swinger in such a weak and helpless state. I grinned at his reaction. ¡°Why would someone who cared about Mood-Swinger so muche flying in and break its back?¡± ¡°Well, Mood-Swinger isn¡¯t the easiest to take down as an opponent.¡± ¡°You have a point. But all of this¡­ I was honestly surprised. I didn¡¯t even imagine that you would attack Mood-Swinger.¡± ¡°Mood-Swinger is important, but the survivors are even more important.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun clicked his tongue vigorously and spat on the floor. I pped him lightly on his forearm. ¡°You should feed it now. It¡¯s going to lose gains if you don¡¯t.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun sighed and looked at the path leading to the back entrance. His first-stage mutants were holding back the zombies. He ran over and brought some zombies back, and pushed their heads into Mood-Swinger¡¯s mouth. The big zombie wailed in pain but still ate the zombies¡¯ heads. As I watched Mood-Swinger eating quietly, I sucked my lower lip and said, ¡°Hyeong-Jun.¡± "Hmm?" ¡°Have you seen¡­ zombies controlling other zombies?¡± ¡°Are you talking about us?¡± ¡°No. The one that just mind-controlled Mood-Swinger.¡± ¡°...¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun seemed lost in thought. His expression suggested that he found the previous incident rather disturbing. ¡°AHHH!!¡± "Watch out!!!" Screaming erupted from where the survivors were. I looked in the direction of the screams and saw a stage-one mutant charging toward the survivors. Chapter 113

Chapter 113

I wondered how the mutant had made it inside. We were blocking the front entrance, back entrance, and even the forest path. I had no clue how it could have made its way inside. But then, one possibility came to mind. ¡®Was Do Han-Sol defeated?¡¯ It was the only scenario I could think of, considering the direction from which it hade from. I clicked my tongue and said to Kim Hyeong-Jun, ¡°We¡¯ll talk after we¡¯ve dealt with this situation. You go to Do Han-Sol. I''m going to the fountain.¡± "Okay." We both sped off in our respective directions without saying another word. I was able to reach the survivors just as the mutant swung out an arm toward them. I grabbed its arm and snapped it instantly. However, the mutant seemed to disregard the fact that its arm had been broken, and swung its other arm at me, trying tond a punch. It probably wasn¡¯t concerned about the state of its arm because its joints were flexible. I lowered my upper body into a crouch and kept on twisting and bending its arm. I dragged it toward me as if it was being pulled into a grinder. In moments, the mutant was right in front of me. The moment it lost its bnce, I lifted my left foot and nted it against its spine, in between its shoulder des. A nasty, unpleasant sensation crept up from the base of my feet, as if I had just crushed an insect with a hard shell. KIAAA! It screamed and swung its other arm toward me like a whip. I knew that the longer I left it alive, the more of a threat it would be to the survivors. I tensed my right arm and leaped toward the creature¡¯s skull. Crack! My fist cracked its skull like an apple splitting in half. I felt its cerebral fluid dripping down my arm. The stage-one mutant copsed helplessly, and the survivors who were weidling bamboo and stainless steel spears stared at me with dumbfounded expressions. I wiped the mutant¡¯s blood from my face with my sleeves. ¡°Reinforce the lookouts,¡± I said to them. ¡°We have to keep an eye on the other side of the fountain as well.¡± ¡°Yes, yes.¡± The guards moved to secure the other side of the fountain as well. Hwang Ji-Hye distributed ammunition and K2 rifles to several other survivors to bolster their forces. Lee Jeong-Uk gathered up the survivors that had been scattered, and Hwang Deok-Rok took care of those who were in panic after what had happened. I looked in the direction that Kim Hyeong-Jun had gone and saw Do Han-Sol surrounded by mutants. It would have been difficult for ordinary zombies to enter through the forest, but the tall mutants with long limbs were mbering over the fence and making their way inside. I¡¯d ended up putting Do Han-Sol in charge of the most dangerous area within the park. Mypse in judgment had almost cost the lives of the survivors. I let out a deep breath and ran toward Do Han-Sol. ¡°God! Damn it!" Do Han-Sol was surrounded by five mutants, unable to finish them off. I ran to the mutant that was biting his forearm and twisted its neck. He noticed my blue eyes and his own eyes widened in surprise. ¡°Mr. Lee Hyeon-Deok!¡± ¡°Are you hurt?¡± ¡°I¡¯m alright for now!¡± ¡°Fall back and recover!¡± I had to buy time until Do Han-Sol fully regenerated. I looked to my right and saw Kim Hyeong-Jun locked in a fierce fight with several mutants as well. I realized that there would be absolutely no advantage in dragging this fight out. I had to get rid of them quickly. Hot steam spewed out of my mouth as I forced my blood to circte more quickly, releasing my inner zombie instinct to ughter. ¡°Ka¡­¡± My brilliant blue eyes glowed brightly as I dashed toward the mutants. The mutants seemed to hesitate for a split second, but then quickly fell into a defensive posture as they saw me racing toward them. I focused all my strength into my right arm and mmed my right fist into a mutant¡¯s arm as it tried to curl the arm around itself to protect its head. Crack. Crack!!! Its bones shattered instantly. My fist made it all the way through and connected with the mutant''s skull, cracking it as well. ¡®One mutant down.¡¯ I used the recoil tounch a roundhouse kick at the head of the mutant next to me. The mutant hurriedly raised both arms to defend its face, but it didn¡¯t stand a chance against my strength or my eleration. Both of its arms snapped, and its neck was dislocated. KIA!!! It gasped vainly for air. I didn¡¯t even give it a second to catch its breath. I immediately jumped toward it, sending a knee flying into its face. Crack! ''Two down.'' The pack of mutants seemed to hesitate further, and then started to backpedal. Since they were capable of learning, it seemed as if they had realized now that they couldn¡¯t defeat me no matter what they did. I clenched my fists and rushed at them. I¡­ I had no intention of letting them get away. One of them tried to escape through the forest by swinging from tree to tree like gibbons. But with their speed, they had no chance of getting away. I grabbed hold of the lower body of the mutant as it made its way through the trees and hauled it down to the ground with all my strength. Thud!!! As soon as it fell to the ground, I jumped on top of it and dropped my body down on its face like a guillotine. As I mercilessly crushed the mutant¡¯s face, all the other mutants around trembled in shock and started running away. I gritted my teeth and ran after them. ¡°AHHH!¡± At that moment, a faint echo tickled my ears, bringing me back to sanity. I opened my eyes wide and looked behind me. About two hundred meters away, a little girl was running away from a tent. The zombies had approached the tents, drawn by the smell of human flesh oozing out from them. My anger exploded as I watched her fleeing from the zombie. The little bit of sanity I¡¯d had went away, leaving only fury and outrage. Without even thinking twice, I rushed toward the girl. I couldn¡¯t figure out where these other zombies hade from. I¡¯d been so preupied with halting the mutants¡¯ advance that I had forgotten about the ordinary zombies. I wondered what in the world the survivors were doing. Why hadn¡¯t they been able to check the children that were asleep? Or had they gathered at the fountain without taking care of the children?! The zombie that was making its way through the tent let out a throat-rending cry as it caught sight of the little girl running away. It had realized that there weren¡¯t any humans left in the tents, and began running down the little girl. Just as the zombie was about toy its hands on the girl¡¯s back, I managed to reach her and gathered her into my arms. The zombie wed my back instead, but that didn¡¯t matter. I kicked the zombie, still holding the girl in my arms. Then I looked at the crying girl and asked, ¡°So-Yeon. Where¡¯s So-yeon!¡± ¡°I don''t know,¡± she replied, sobbing. ¡°Get back to Uncle Jeong-Uk.¡± I patted the girl on the back and sent her off to where the survivors were gathered. The children had been sleeping in a total of three tents. The zombies were approaching the other two remaining tents. I didn¡¯t know if there were any children left in them or not. I couldn¡¯t be sure that the children were safe unless I checked the tents with my very own eyes. I clicked my tongue and ran to the closest tent, the one on the left. After dealing with the zombies surrounding the tent, I took a look inside. Fortunately, there was no one still sleeping inside. ¡°Mom¡­ Mommy!¡± Just then, I heard a boy cry out from the tent on the right. I turned toward the sound and saw a boy crying, almost face-to-face with a zombie. I wondered if the child was too afraid to move or think properly. He didn¡¯t even seem to consider running away. Looking at the boy, I felt like my heart was about to stop beating. I knew what was going to happen next. The zombie''s hands were already outstretched, on the verge of grabbing the boy''s head. My legs felt heavy, as if I was wading through a swamp. I was gasping for air. Cold sweat poured down my forehead. That one moment felt like an eternity. "No!!" Iunched myself at the boy, screaming at the top of my lungs. But I was too far away from the boy. I couldn¡¯t reach the boy. I¡­ I couldn¡¯t save the boy. KIAAA! Arge hand came flying toward them at tremendous speed. Therge hand grabbed onto the zombie that was reaching out for the boy, crushed it, and tossed the shattered zombie into the air. I was stunned by what had just unfolded before my eyes. A green mutant was standing beside the tent, angrily tearing into the remaining zombies. It was the stage-one mutant that I had appointed as the leader. It hade all the way to the tents and rescued the child. I wondered when it had made its way here. I clearly remembered giving it orders to guard the front entrance. The mutant took care of all the nearby zombies and looked nkly at the crying boy. Then, it began to speak. ¡°It¡¯s¡­ o¡­ kay¡­¡± My jaw dropped to the ground when I heard my mutant speak. The mutant that had just been screaming incoherently was now talking to the boy. It rolled its numerous eyes, then focused on the boy. It croaked out a few more words, its voice sounding dry. ¡°Mo¡­mmy¡­ is¡­ here¡­¡± The mutant held the boy in its arms and made an eerie cry. I swallowed and gave orders to the mutant. ¡®Let go of the boy.¡¯ My tone was firm. The mutant looked at me, hesitating. That mutant¡¯s face, which had seemed gross all along, somehow looked forlorn that day. The mutant looked at me with eyes full of sadness, and then slowly moved away from the boy. It seemed like the boy had fainted in fright. I quickly moved away from the tents, cradling the boy in my arms. I carried the child to the fountain. Lee Jeong-Uk called out to me, eyes wide in surprise. ¡°So-Yeon¡¯s dad!¡± ¡°What did you do? Why didn¡¯t you take care of the kids!¡± I was yelling at him, my brow furrowed in anger. Lee Jeong-Uk bit his lower lip, but did not offer a reply. I passed the boy in my arms over to him. ¡°How about the other children? Have you checked on them?¡± ¡°Everyone¡¯s here. So-Yeon¡¯s here too.¡± "Sigh¡­ Okay then.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I was so preupied that I didn¡¯t check on the ones who¡¯d been asleep¡­¡± I cut him off quietly. "No. Just stop.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk swallowed and bit his lips. I took a deep breath. ¡°It was hectic for everyone.¡± ¡°...¡± Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s expression grewplicated, and his head sagged. I patted him on the shoulder and checked our surroundings again. The mutants were ughtering zombies at the front entrance. Mood Swinger was shoving zombies into its mouth at the rear gate, while Kim Hyeong-Jun and Do Han-Sol were working together to fight off the mutants in the forest. I could sense that the zombie wave was about to end pretty soon. All of a sudden, I noticed the mutant leader next to the copsed tent. It held the title of leader despite it still being a stage-one mutant. It looked nkly at the tent where the child had been, but soon after, it crouched down and remained still. I couldn¡¯t help but think of what it had said earlier on. - It¡¯s okay, mommy¡¯s here. I wondered if it had to do anything with desires. I walked up to the mutant, wetting my dry lips. The mutant still seemed dejected, just as it had been when I¡¯d told it to get away from the boy. ¡°You¡­ What do you want?" The mutant looked at me with sad eyes, then looked at the children gathered near the fountain. I frowned. ¡°Do you want to eat children?¡± I asked. ¡°Kia¡­¡± The mutant shook its head and looked at the children with worry in its eyes. I¡¯d asked my mutants this same question once before. Back then, most of my mutants had been unable to exin what they wanted, and were only able to stand there quivering. However, one of them had known what it wanted, and began to do sit-ups. It had fought with another mutant, and that other mutant eventually became Mood-Swinger. Maybe, just maybe¡­ The mutant in front of me desired to keep children safe. Perhaps it was a desire that it hadn¡¯t been able to fulfill in its lifetime. I quietly rubbed my chin and got lost in thought. wread . ''How can I satisfy this desire?'' If maternal love was its desire, I had to let it fulfill something rted to it in order for it to transform into a stage-two mutant. I assumed that the easiest way would be to make it fight another stage-one mutant with the same desire, just like how Mood-Swinger had. At the same time, though, I wondered if mutants that desired to show maternal love would be willing to fight each other. They would want to protect the same things, but would they be willing to fight each other to do so? I concluded that it was probably impossible. In Mood-Swinger¡¯s case, it had been two mutants who had wanted to get stronger, to gain physical strength. I wondered if there were mutants that couldn¡¯t be stage-two mutants, just as there were zombies with red eyes that didn¡¯t turn into ck creatures. I let out a sigh, feeling both relieved yet frustrated. I had to revisit my thoughts on the mutant¡¯s desires rted to maternal loveter on. For now, it was time to think about organizing the surroundings and preparing for the journey ahead of us the next morning. Chapter 114 Chapter 114 The survivors were finally able to sleepte at night, after the zombie wave had been dealt with. While the survivors were fast asleep, Kim Hyeong-Jun, Do Han-Sol, and I reinforced our lookouts and gathered in front of the campfire. Kim Hyeong-Jun, staring at the faint sparks that scattered from the burning firewood, spoke first. ¡°Ahjussi, the little mutant we saw¡­¡± "Yeah." ¡°What do you think it was?¡± "Judging by the way it looked, I¡¯m assuming it¡¯s a stage-two mutant.¡± I kept my expression nk as I stared into the fire. Kim Hyeong-Jun sighed toward the night sky and smacked his lips. His expression grew bitter. ¡°Do you really think it was a kid? I think it kept on saying ¡®It¡¯s my turn¡¯ as if it was the tagger.¡± ¡°It¡¯s possible. If its desire is to y tag.¡± ¡°...¡± No one spoke for a while. Although the creature it had turned into was a monster, the fact that its essence was a child¡¯s made me question the way I was supposed to feel about it. Do Han-Sol chucked more firewood into the fire and muttered to himself. ¡°Double-ie¡­¡± ¡°Double-ie?¡± I raised my eyebrows, repeating his words as a question. Do Han-Sol smacked his lips and spoke up. ¡°There were a lot of kids like that when I used to volunteer at daycare. Both of their parents worked, and they were left alone with us after all their friends went back home early.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°What I noticed when I observed those children¡­ They tended to y tag a lot, because they wanted someone to find them.¡± ¡°Oh¡­¡± ¡°Those kids used toe up to me and hit my arm out of the blue. They would shout that I would have to find them and then go off to hide. They were asking me to y with them. Back then, that just broke my heart.¡± As I listened to Do Han-Sol, I sensed a huge hole opening up in my heart, filled with bitterness and the sense of the futility of life. I felt stifled and frustrated, as if I were stuck in a traffic jam on the highway. These children had grown bitter over their endless waiting, and had to ovee this feeling through hide and seek. I wanted someone to find them. I wanted someone to y with them, even though that person might not be their friend. I couldn¡¯t help but feel sad as I imagined the lives of those children. My head sagged with sadness. Kim Hyeong-Jun, who sat across from me, clicked his tongue vigorously. ¡°I don¡¯t want to even think that far. Whatever it was when it was alive, it turned into a mutant in the end. It wouldn¡¯t have been a big deal if it had been a stage-one mutant, but it was a stage-two mutant.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ You¡¯re right.¡± ¡°No. It¡¯s not something we should be taking lightly. We have to be more vignt. It¡¯s easy to see how terrifying human desires are when you look at stage-two mutants.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± I looked at him calmly. Kim Hyeong-Jun scratched his forehead before continuing. ¡°You don¡¯t know what can happen when one¡¯s desire reaches its peak. The mutants might go crazy. Mood-Swinger is simply obsessed with its muscles and with working out¡­ But like the kid we saw earlier, it might transform into a being with abilities.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Who would have known that the desire to y tag could make it possible to manipte others and cause delirium? When Mood-Swinger attacked me¡­ I really was taken aback.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun frowned and looked at Mood-Swinger, who was a distance away. Therge zombie was listening to the cries of turtle dovesing from the forest. I looked at Mood-Swinger¡¯s back and my face grew glum. Mood-Swinger wasn¡¯t much of a threat now, but if I¡¯d had to face it without having eaten the seventh officer¡¯s brain, I knew that I wouldn¡¯t be sitting in front of this campfire. I might¡¯ve lost my family and probably would have regretted my decision. I pressed my temples and let out a sigh. Do Han-Sol, who had been watching me, spoke up. ¡°What are you thinking about?¡± "Nothing¡­ I was just thinking about what would¡¯ve happened if Mood-Swinger here decided to attack the survivors.¡± ¡°Do you regret camping outside?¡± ¡°I just imagined how it would¡¯ve been if we fought inside. It was just a thought.¡± I looked into the campfire, my eyes half-closed, Kim Hyeong-Jun and Do Han-Sol also lowered their gazes, not knowing what to say. Shoosh¨C At that moment, I sensed a presence approaching me. Startled, I looked to my right and saw Lee Jeong-Uk, whom I¡¯d thought was sleeping,e over and sit right next to me. ¡°What¡¯s up with the eyes?¡± ¡°When did you wake up?¡± "Just now." As soon as he sat down, he picked up some of the firewood from the pile next to him and tossed it into the fire. ¡°I didn''t mean to eavesdrop, but somehow I did." ¡°...¡± ¡°So-Yeon¡¯s dad.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk regarded me rather seriously. When I looked calmly back at him, he smiled and continued, ¡°If we¡¯d taken shelter inside the university beside us, I¡¯m pretty sure we would¡¯ve lost a lot of people tonight.¡± ¡°Well, you can¡¯t be sure of that.¡± ¡°Have you forgotten what happened at Dae Hyun San Park?¡± ¡°...?¡± I didn¡¯t recall any casualties or injuries from the incident in Dae Hyun San Park. In fact, I didn¡¯t have any remarkable memories from that ce. The only thing I remembered from that day was that it was the first time I¡¯de to know about the existence of mutants. My confusion showed on my face, and Lee Jeong-Uk chuckled. ¡°Do you remember anything from when we were locked in that gym?¡± ¡°Oh¡­¡± The moment he mentioned the gym, some of my forgotten memories returned to me. While we¡¯d been trapped in the gym, trying to figure out where the mutant was, we almost lost someone because the mutant had sent its arm flying through one of the gym windows. Lee Jeong-Uk stared at the campfire before he continued. ¡°Remember how hard it was to handle one mutant back then? But to protect nearly three hundred survivors in a small space against dozens of mutants¡­ I¡¯m sure we would¡¯ve given them at least one opening while dealing with all the attacksing in from left and right.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Just like you said, making camp outdoors was the right thing to do. It''s true that people feel uneasy because of the fact that they¡¯re staying outdoors¡­ But you thought it was safer out here.¡± I felt embarrassed at his words. I couldn¡¯t even remember thest time I heard apliment from someone else. It felt rather awkward to sit and listen to someonepliment me. Lee Jeong-Uk took a breath. ¡°And I wanted to sincerely apologize.¡± ¡°About what?¡± ¡°That I wasn¡¯t able to take care of all the children.¡± ¡°It was chaotic. It''s not like the zombies announced that they wereing beforehand." ¡°Still, I should¡¯ve thought about the ones who were still asleep. Since that¡¯s my job.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk furrowed his brow. He stared into the bonfire with his fingers inteced together. It seemed like he had a lot on his mind. I wondered if he was ming himself for what had happened. I patted Lee Jeong-Uk on the back and spoke up. ¡°Then reflect on it. Don¡¯t beat yourself up, though.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk snorted and shook his head. I slowly rose to my feet. ¡°Since it seems like we¡¯re just about done talking, let¡¯s start to get ready.¡± With that, Kim Hyeong-Jun got up as well. He brushed off the dirt from his bottom and walked over to where Mood-Swinger was. Do Han-Sol headed for the front entrance while I headed for the dark forest. ¡°So-Yeon¡¯s dad,¡± called Lee Jeong-Uk from behind. When I turned around, Lee Jeong-Uk looked around to see if anyone was around before talking. ¡°About the wedding.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s think about that when we arrive at the hotel.¡± ¡°No, I just thought it would be nice to tell some people.¡± "Oh¡­ Okay." ¡°Don¡¯t worry too much about it. I¡¯ll take care of it. I just felt sorry after seeing you bring the wedding dress over earlier today¡­¡± I stared nkly at Lee Jeong-Uk. He smiled back at me. ¡°I just realized that I¡¯d asked someone who already didn¡¯t have enough time to do me a favor.¡± "It¡¯s alright." ¡°You¡¯re doing it again. A person should know when to say no when they¡¯re tired. Just saying okay all the time makes others rely on you.¡± I pressed my lips together into a thin smile. He was right. The more things I did, the harder it was to organize myplicated mind. The only person who knew how I felt without me having to tell them was Lee Jeong-Uk. I scratched my head. "I¡¯m sorry I couldn¡¯t be more helpful.¡± ¡°You¡¯re already helping out enough, which is why I¡¯m telling you to take it easy. Besides, I should be the one who should feel sorry. I¡¯m the one asking for favors.¡± I chuckled and patted Lee Jeong-Uk on the back. He returned the gesture. "I''ll figure out the other things, like the ring and whatnot. You just focus on getting us to the hotel.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± ¡°No, thank you.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk walked back to the fountain where the survivors were gathered, a hearty smile ying across his lips. As I looked at him walking away, I resolved that I would create a world where people like him could live with smiles on their faces. * * * As the dawn broke over the eastern sky, the survivors folded the covers neatly and prepared to set off on the road again. They put out the campfire, then put the covers and food on the carts they had brought and got into formation. I knew that they must have been tired after the events of the previous night, but many of the survivors wore faces full of determination. As I surveyed the survivors, Hwang Ji-Hye came up to me and whispered in my ear, ¡°Everyone has faith in you, Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°The people of Shelter Silence have epted you as well.¡± I didn¡¯t know what to say to her. Instead of saying anything, I scratched my head and smiled at her. After a moment, Lee Jeong-Uk came up to me. ¡°So-Yeon¡¯s dad, we¡¯re ready to go.¡± ¡°Got it.¡± I walked up to the survivors. ¡°We only have a little left until we get to Gwangjang-dong. I ask you to give your best until we reach our destination!¡± ¡°You got it!¡± came the reply, their voices full of determination. I knew they would be more tired than yesterday, but unlike their worn-out bodies, their eyes were full of hope. I gave a sharp nod and shouted, ¡°Off we go!¡± As I took the first step, more than five thousand people and zombies followed me. I had a lot of weight on my shoulders but I felt better than ever. People had opened up to me, and more and more people were trusting in me and following me. The past, in which I was trapped in my apartment waiting for a rescue team toe¡­ That past no longer existed. I had people willing to protect my family, and move forward together by my side. Our history was just beginning. Kim Hyeong-Jun opened a map of Seoul and came beside me. He ced his finger on the map and traced out the route we were going to take. ¡°If we go out the back entrance, we¡¯ll end up at Achasan Station. From there, we can make our way along Cheonhodae-ro.¡± ¡°How long do you think it will take to get to Gwangjang-dong?¡± ¡°At our current speed¡­ We should be able to get there before sunset.¡± ¡°Did you have a chance to check if there were any zombies still lingering around?¡± ¡°There hasn¡¯t been much going on after the zombie wave.¡± ¡°Can you and Han-Sol check our route again for zombies? Just in case.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun nodded and called out to Do Han-Sol, who was on the left. The two of them ran ahead of us and toward the back entrance. Do Han-Sol had said that he had taken care of all the zombies in Neung-dong. Nevertheless, we still had to fight off a massive zombie wavest night. There was no safe zone for us since we were traveling with this many survivors. Every path we took was potentially dangerous. Everyone¡¯s lives depend on me, Kim Hyeong-Jun, and Do Han-Sol. It was only right to keep our senses heightened as we moved, and to continuously be prepared for the unexpected. My blue eyes shone as I intensified my sense of hearing, smell and sight. I wasn¡¯t going to let even a single ant get near us unnoticed. * * * I wondered how far we had walked. Unlike the day before, nothing had happened to us yet. The day¡¯s journey had been quiet and uneventful. We didn¡¯t get ambushed by any zombies on the way, and there weren¡¯t that many zombies that stood out as well. I wondered if it was because Kim Hyeong-Jun and Do Han-sol had already cleared out the path early on. Strangely enough, no zombies detected the scent of the survivors and tried to attack from the right or left. There weren¡¯t any zombies chasing us, and we didn¡¯t hear any of the throat-rending noises that the zombies made. It was like the calm before the storm. The surroundings were almost too quiet, so much so that it became suspicious. As we passed through Guui-dong and slowly entered Gwangjang-dong, I saw Kim Hyeong-Jun and Do Han-Sol rushing back. Kim Hyeong-Jun pointed his finger in the direction in which we were advancing and stammered, ¡°There¡­ there¡­ there¡­ there¡­¡± I wondered what was making him act this way Despite the desperation I sensed in his voice, he didn¡¯t raise his voice. I frowned. ¡°Calm down and speak slowly. What did you see?¡± ¡°There¡­ There are some crazy people living there.¡± "What?" ¡°I can''t put it into words. You have to see it for yourself, ahjussi.¡± I smacked my lips and looked at Do Han-Sol, who was next to Kim Hyeong-Jun. He was expressionless, as if his soul had escaped his body. I knew that these two were unaffected by seeing the dismembered body parts of zombies, and their reaction to whatever they¡¯d seen was startling to me. I took a breath. ¡°Han-Sol, follow me. Hyeong-Jun, you stay here and protect everyone.¡± I entered Gwangjang-dong with Do Han-Sol. After walking past Baesuji Sports Park, I saw a middle school in the distance. Do Han-Sol tapped my shoulder and pointed to the roof of the school. I focused my gaze on the rooftop and saw several mysterious structuresid out. There were dozens of long antenna-like structures erected on the rooftop. There were also hundreds of flies flying around them. As I squinted to get a better look, I saw countless beings pinned to the pirs. I was looking at a massacre. Chapter 115 Chapter 115 ¡°Follow me,¡± said Do Han-Sol in a low voice. ¡°There¡¯s something you should see.¡± I swallowed and followed Do Han-Sol. The moment I walked around the school and saw the field with my own eyes, my jaw dropped to the ground. There were corpses hanging from every window of the school building. They were strung up on long ropes, swaying in the wind. They¡¯d been left hanging, as if somebody had left them there on purpose for others to see. I wet my lips and looked at Do Han-Sol. ¡°Those aren¡¯t¡­¡± "Huh?" ¡°Those aren¡¯t¡­ zombies being hung outside¡­¡± "No, they¡¯re not zombies. Nor were they corpses.¡± Their appearances¡­ I couldn¡¯t put them into words. Their tongues, drooping out of their mouths, along with their eyes, which had rolled back into their heads. The only possible exnation for this was for the people to have been tied up and thrown out of the windows while they¡¯d still been alive. I furrowed my brow and clenched my fists. Who in the world¡­? Who in the world had done such an insane thing, something even an animal would not have done? Do Han-Sol nodded and signaled me to follow him. I didn¡¯t want to think there was more than just this. I didn¡¯t want to believe that there were more horrific sights for me to see. I let out a deep breath and followed Do Han-Sol. We headed to the roof of the building on the right, where I could see all of Gwangjang Intersection at a nce. Do Han-Sol pointed at the middle of the intersection. "Take a look for yourself." I saw survivors gathered in the middle of the cross junction. There was something covered in ck in the midst of the survivors, which I assumed was some sort of object at first. But after taking a closer look, I realized that it was a person. He was in the middle of the crowd, proiming something to them. ¡°Everyone has to prove their faith. We must dispel the wrath of God!¡± He was preaching to the crowd with his fists clenched. After a moment, two men tied up in rope were dragged out. The two of them were impossibly skinny, and their ribs were protruding out from their bodies. They had pale faces and cleanly shaved heads. Their eyes were full of fear as they looked around at the crowd. The man d in ck pointed to the bound men and cried out, ¡°The men in front of you tried to defy God and leave this ce! Their sins against God are grave. How do you think we should wash away the dirty sin of heresy from their bodies?¡± ¡°Kill them!¡± ¡°Hang them!¡± ¡°They must die for their sins!¡± The man in the center calmed the crowd and continued with his speech. ¡°Yes, you are right! They deserve death! Shouldn''t we dispel God''s wrath?¡± ¡°YES!!¡± replied the crowd in one voice. The preacher nodded excitedly. ¡°Let us kill the heretics. Any further betrayals will lead all of us to death! Every single one of you must fear the wrath of God!¡± ¡°YES!!!¡± The preaching man nodded enthusiastically and kicked the men who had been tied up. After that, several men who appeared to be guards dragged the bound men away, like pigs being dragged to a ughterhouse. When the preacher tried to leave the stage, a woman in the crowd of survivors around him spoke up. ¡°Dear sir!¡± As the woman moved forward, the preacher put his hands behind his back. "Is there a question?" ¡°The daily bread that we offer up to God is getting smaller and smaller. Could God''s wrath have something to do with the food?¡± The preacher quietly rubbed his chin as he considered the woman¡¯s question. A momentter, he seemed to find an answer. ¡°Good question. God had epted us with a generous heart. He epted us foul beings as his children and gave us a new life.¡± As the man went back up to the podium, the survivors put their hands together and shouted, ¡°So it shall be!¡± The man spread his arms and continued to speak. ¡°As children of God, we must continuously offer up our daily bread to God, who has epted us with a generous heart. Isn¡¯t that right?" "Absolutely!" ¡°What is the difference between us and the daily bread we offer up?¡± When the leader on the podium asked, the woman who had asked the question earlier answered in a powerful voice, ¡°God epted us as his children, and gave us his food as well. He is also watching over us, to save us from this troubled world!¡± ¡°Yes, yes, you¡¯re absolutely correct. And that is God''s will. In order to be loved by God who takes care of us, we must offer Him food as well. Am I wrong?¡± ¡°You¡¯re absolutely right!¡± ¡°Dear Sir, you¡¯re absolutely right!¡± ¡°So it shall be!¡± answered the survivors in unison, cing their palms together as they did so. I watched them for a moment, then turned to Do Han-Sol. ¡°Han-Sol, what¡¯s your opinion?¡± "About?" ¡°These people.¡± ¡°They seem like some kind of cult.¡± After hearing his answer, I rubbed my face with my palms and fell into deep thought. After a moment, I took a deep breath. ¡°I think they¡¯re dogs.¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± ¡°Gwangjang-dong was cut off from the outside because of the presence of the Family in Jayang-dong and Guui-dong. There¡¯s absolutely no reason for the gang members to leave Gwangjang-dong alone.¡± "Oh¡­ You do have a point.¡± ¡°Perhaps their hideout, their base, might be Gwangjang-dong.¡± "Huh?¡± "Think about it. Looking at the world from their perspective¡­ The world was turned upside down, and there are zombies swarming in Guui-dong and Jayang-dong. What choice do you think they would have, cut off from the outside world, with less and less food to eat, and more zombies roaming around?¡± Do Han-Sol considered my question for a moment. After a little while, he offered an answer. ¡°You¡¯re saying that those people had no choice but to be dogs?¡± ¡°If they don¡¯t join up with the dogs, they would only end up bing one of those ¡®daily breads¡¯ that they keep on mentioning.¡± "Then¡­ What do you think about the corpses hanging on the wall earlier?¡± ¡°They called the two bound men heretics. Those two had been trying to escape this ce.¡± ¡°Are you saying that they¡¯ve been publicly executing heretics?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a perfect way to disy power. The fact that they leave the dead bodies hanging on the border of Gwangjang-dong really bothers me as well. What would be the first thing thates to your mind if you saw bodies like that while you tried to escape from here?¡± ¡°Fear¡­ Right?¡± ¡°I bet they¡¯re trying to use fear to erase any desire of the people here to escape. I mean, I can¡¯t seem to think of any other exnation for this situation.¡± Do Han-Sol rubbed his chin quietly, momentarily lost in thought. He kept scratching his sideburns as though trying his best to find any other exnation. "So¡­ What do we do now?¡± ¡°Well, there¡¯s no need to let these dogs live. They¡¯re humans that eat human flesh.¡± ¡°Are you going to kill them all?¡± ¡°How else will we be able to pass through unless we kill them all? In their eyes, our family is just prey.¡± Do Han-Sol frowned and bit his lower lip. I wondered if his reluctance stemmed from the idea of having to kill humans. I looked directly into his eyes. ¡°When you have to get it done, don¡¯t hesitate. Just remember that your hesitation will kill your family.¡± ¡°Got it¡­¡± Just as I was about to get up, Do Han-Sol grabbed onto my shirt. I looked at him, and he smacked his lips and spoke up. ¡°Mr. Lee Hyeon-Deok.¡± "What." ¡°The two men that were dragged off earlier¡­ Do you think we can save them?¡± ¡°Have you even been paying attention to¡­¡± ¡°No, that¡¯s not what I meant.¡± Do Han-Sol cut me off midway. When I tilted my head and looked at him, Do Han-Sol took a deep breath and spoke up. ¡°They were trying to get out of this ce. I think they¡¯ll cooperate if we rescue them. Perhaps we¡¯ll be able to get some information about how the dogs are scattered around Gwangjang-dong, and whether or not they¡¯re armed.¡± ¡°...¡± I slowly considered Do Han-Sol¡¯s proposal. After thinking it through, I realized that his n had merit. Obtaining information from the two captives would be much safer than just barging in unaware. I walked over to the rooftop railing and looked around for the men who had been dragged off. Four men were dragging them toward the middle school located near the border of Gwangjang-dong. If they were being led to the middle school¡­ That meant that they were going to die. Do Han-Sol came up next to me. ¡°I think it¡¯d be best to ambush them the moment they enter the middle school.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± We descended to the first floor of the building and shadowed them. A littleter, the party walked through the main gate of the middle school, crossed the field and entered the first floor of the building. Do Han-Sol and I jumped up to the third floor of the building, waiting for them toe up. After a while, they finally made it to the third floor. We dealt with the four guards in an instant. The two bound men gasped as they watched the guards being taken down, then tried to make their way down the stairs. I grabbed onto the rope that was tying them together, causing them to fall backward at the same time. They began to stammer in fear. ¡°Spa¡­ spare¡­ spare us!¡± "Calm down." "We¡¯re sorry. Spare us!" They stared at me, confusion and panic written all over their faces. I sighed and let go of the rope. The two of them got up awkwardly and looked at me carefully. They couldn¡¯t run away, nor did they seem to want to get closer. I looked them straight in the eyes and spoke up. ¡°We¡¯ll spare you if you cooperate with us.¡± ¡°Huh¡­?¡± ¡°Tell us what happened here in detail.¡± The two bound men exchanged confused looks. I knew it would be difficult for them to understand what was happening. I waited patiently for the two of them to calm down. After a while, the man on the left¡ªthe shorter one¡ªspoke up. ¡°Ex¡­ Exin what happened here¡­ What do you mean by that?¡± ¡°Was my question difficult to understand? Just exin what happened in Gwangjang-dong.¡± ¡°Pardon¡­?¡± ¡°The cult outside. Are they dogs?¡± The moment the word ¡®dog¡¯ came out from my mouth, the man¡¯s eyes went wide, and his mouth began to open and close like a goldfish. The man on the right spoke up instead. "They''re just crazy bastards. What else would they be?" "Didn¡¯t I ask you to exin in detail?¡± ¡°...¡± The man on the right furrowed his brow. The man on the left gave a surprised start and elbowed the man on the right in the side. The two of them exchanged several whispers, before one of them spoke out loud. "So you¡¯re saying¡­ You¡¯re saying you¡¯ll let us go if we exin what happened here?¡± "That''s right." ¡°And you¡¯re¡­. You¡¯re not part of the Family?¡± ¡°Since you know what the Family is, I¡¯m assuming you''re a dog?¡± ¡°Technically speaking¡­ Yes, we are.¡± The man on the left nodded in agreement. On the other hand, the man on the right smacked his lips and gave us a look of annoyance. Do Han-Sol seemed to be bothered by him, so he walked right up to him with a frown. ¡°Great attitude toward somebody that just saved your butt¡­ Don¡¯t you think you¡¯re being a bit rude?¡± ¡°Savior my ass. You came here to scout this ce out, didn¡¯t you?¡± The man punctuated his statement with a snort, causing Do Han-Sol¡¯s eyes to widen further. ¡°This bastard¡­¡± The moment Do Han-Sol clenched his fists, I raised my voice. "Stop!!" As my voice echoed through the hallway, Do Han-Sol gnashed his teeth and backed down. I then sat down on the stairs. ¡°Do we look like we¡¯re part of the Family?¡± I asked the men. ¡°What else could you be?¡± The man on the right looked at me with a rather condescending face. I sighed and opened my mouth. ¡°We¡¯re part of the Survivor Rally Organization.¡± "Survivor¡­ What?" ¡°Think of us as the ones going after the Family.¡± ¡°...¡± The man on the right seemed to hesitate after hearing my words. On the other hand, the man on the left spoke up quickly, now that he¡¯d heard that there was a force opposing the Family. "So you''re saying that there are other zombies that are capable of rational thought besides those from the Family?" ¡°Currently, we¡¯re the only ones.¡± ¡°Then, how did you get past Guui-dong and Jayang-dong?¡± ¡°If you¡¯re talking about the dong leader, I killed it.¡± "Pardon?" The man¡¯s eyes widened and his jaw dropped to the ground. I got up and cut the rope that tied the two of them together. The two men looked at me with bewildered faces. I sighed deeply. ¡°Exin what happened here." The two men looked at each other, uncertain whether or not to share what they knew, but when they looked back at me, their expressions had changed from earlier on. For some reason, it seemed like they had a sense of expectation. The man on the left swallowed and spoke up. ¡°It¡¯s a long story. I¡¯m not even sure where to start¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay, we have a lot of time.¡± ¡°...¡± The man on the left took a deep breath and began. Chapter 116

Chapter 116

¡°Gwangjang-dong¡­ was a ce where people who had survived the zombie apocalypse lived together. There were five people at first, then twelve, then more and more people came. It soon became a paradise where one hundred and fifty people lived together.¡± The man¡¯s expression grew bitter, and his head sagged. I crossed my arms, listening intently to his story. He sighed and continued. ¡°Then the survivors from Jongno came here.¡± "Jongno?" ¡°Yes. At first they tried to adapt to our lifestyle, but at some point, they suddenly changed.¡± ¡°And was that because of the Family?¡± ¡°How do you know¡­?¡± The man on the left widened his eyes and trailed off. His question made me feel bitter inside. The situation they had gone through was simr to that of Mr. Kwak and his people, whom I¡¯d met in Majang-dong. At first, the dogs infiltrated the shelter and slowly perverted the shelter to their ways. Then the gang members would make their move and oppress the original survivors, establishing a kingdom of their own. It seemed like Gwangjang-dong had suffered a simr fate as Majang-dong. Perhaps their situations had been exactly the same. I smacked my lips. ¡°So what happened after that?¡± ¡°They told us that we had to be dogs. They told us they¡¯d kill us if we disobeyed¡­¡± ¡°And?¡± ¡°At first, everyone was against the idea. Everyone thought they were out of their minds and few of us got angry. However, after we watched the rebellious ones being ughtered by the members of the Family¡­ The rest changed their minds.¡± ¡°So you became a dog?¡± ¡°No, I nned to escape at first.¡± The man¡¯s expression grew somber, as though remembering the events of that fateful day. I waited patiently for him to continue, and after a while, he did. ¡°Those who made their way to Guui-dong and Jayang-dong were caught and killed by the Family, and those who tried to go to Guri-si via Achasan-ro were caught by the dogs that were lying in wait ahead of time.¡± ¡°Has anyone made it past Achasan?¡± ¡°Some escaped into the mountains, but we lost contact with them a long time ago.¡± I rubbed my neck as I listened to himy out the situation. I realized that they had been backed into a corner, forced there against their will. They had no other way to survive, besides bing dogs. I looked into the man¡¯s face. ¡°So, did you be a dog?¡± ¡°I had no choice. I had to, in order to survive.¡± ¡°Then let¡¯s just go over one thing before we continue our conversation.¡± ¡°Go ahead¡­" ¡°Did you kill and eat a human being?¡± The man did not answer my question. Instead, he bit his lower lip, and his expression fell. I furrowed my brow at his reaction. ¡°Why did you do that?¡± ¡°Are you telling me that I should have died instead?¡± ¡°Why did you have to survive at the cost of sacrificing the lives of others?¡± ¡°Busan¡­ I wanted to go to Busan.¡± "Busan?" I raised an eyebrow and tilted my head. It was an unexpected answer. I wondered if he was lying to get out of this situation. I looked him in the eye and repeated my question. ¡°Why Busan?¡± ¡°My parents are in Busan. There¡¯s no guarantee that Busan is safe¡­ But I wanted to see it with my own two eyes before I die. What happened to Busan¡­ I wanted to see it onest time.¡± Having heard him out, I turned to the tall man next to him. ¡°Are you trying to get to Busan as well?¡± I asked him. The tall man nodded instead of answering. It seemed like they were two people with the same objective, and they hade up with a n to escape this ce. However, their n failed, and the price they had to pay was death. These people had eaten human flesh in order to survive. I couldn¡¯t tell if they were the architects of their own situation, or if the current state of things had forced them to act this way. This series of events had happened very recently, and I wasn¡¯t able to ascertain the truth behind this question. I rubbed my face with my palms, then looked at the two men again. They looked at me tactfully, seemingly intimidated. I looked at the man on the left. ¡°The bodies here. Who were they?¡± ¡°They were people who questioned their life as a dog.¡± "So you''re saying that everyone who got caught while trying to escape was executed here?" ¡°Whoever sees these dead bodies quickly loses their desire to escape. We were supposed to join them as well.¡± The man¡¯s voice was calm. It seemed like he had already epted death earlier, as they were being dragged away. I looked at the man dead in the eye and asked him onest question. ¡°When you ate human flesh¡­ Did you eat it willingly?¡± ¡°Have you ever starved for three weeks?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°If you starve yourself for three days, you realize that there are so many different kinds of smells in this world. If you starve for a week, everything starts to smell sweet. And if you starve yourself for three weeks¡­ You lose your ability to think properly. You lose your sanity.¡± I could tell that the man was speaking nothing but the truth. In his furrowed brow, I could sense his guilt and remorse. I examined the man up and down. His bony frame and protruding ribs told me that he¡¯d been starving for a long time. In fact, he was skinny enough that I could see his heart beating in his chest with my naked eyes. His pale skin and sunken cheeks made me feel sorry for him. I wondered who had the right to judge them for what they¡¯ve done. It was up to God to decide. I put my head in my hands and let out a deep breath. After I processed all that I had heard from them, my mind grew calmer. ¡°Where''s their base?¡± I asked them. ¡°Pardon?¡± ¡°Tell me where their base is. I¡¯ll spare the two of you once I verify that you haven¡¯t lied to me. If your information is true, I will spare you.¡± ¡°Over¡­ Over there! There¡¯s a hotel over there!¡± answered the man on the left immediately, looking rather excited. I wondered how much he had longed to hear the word ¡®spare¡¯. I quietly rubbed my chin and said in a low voice, ¡°A hotel¡­? It can¡¯t be the Grand Walker¡­¡± "Yes, yes! You¡¯re right! It¡¯s right there.¡± Iughed out loud because I didn¡¯t know how else to react. It was a moment that proved the truth in the saying that whatever looked pretty to me looked pretty to others as well. Clearly, our views and thoughts were very simr. The enemy had established a base in the very hotel that I wanted to use as our shelter. I let out a short breath. ¡°How many of them are there?¡± ¡°The only people who cane and go freely from the hotel are the leader and the twelve Believers. There are guards¡­ But most of them are armed with maces or knives.¡± ¡°There are only thirteen people, yet they¡¯ve imed the whole hotel to themselves?¡± ¡°That¡¯s why they¡¯re bastards.¡± The man had a rather foul mouth. I couldn¡¯t tell if he was releasing his pent-up anger, or if he was just excited. I nodded slowly. ¡°Then what about the rest of the dogs?¡± ¡°There is arge apartmentplex beneath the hotel. The remaining dogs live there.¡± ¡°And are there any others who share the same thoughts as you two?¡± "Um¡­ What do you mean¡­?¡± The man didn¡¯t understand what I was getting at. I snorted and rephrased my question. ¡°Is there anyone in there that you want to save?¡± ¡°...¡± I wondered if I had asked my question too forcefully. The man bit his lower lip and mumbled to himself. When I tilted my head, the man¡¯s expression grew bitter. ¡°The people I want to save¡­ they''re all in this school.¡± His answer left me speechless. The sight of the countless corpses hanging on the school walls shed through my mind. I nodded slowly, then turned to Do Han-Sol. ¡°Han-Sol, take these two and head back.¡± "Huh? What are you going to do?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll go take care of the dogs.¡± ¡°Alone?¡± ¡°If we all go, who¡¯s going to protect the survivors?¡± I asked, tilting my head. Do Han-Sol furrowed his brow, then his head sagged. I could tell that he didn¡¯t like the idea, but at the same time he knew that this was the best we could do at the moment. I chuckled lightly. ¡°Keep an eye on the two here. Tell Hyeong-Jun to increase his vignce, and to get ready to set up camp at Baesuji Sports Park.¡± ¡°Got it.¡± ¡°Then let¡¯s get going. We don¡¯t have much time.¡± Do Han-Sol took the two men back to the ce where our group of survivors had gathered, as I¡¯d asked him to. I went up to the rooftop of the building and looked down at the intersection again. I assumed that the preaching was over. The dogs that had packed the intersection earlier on were no longer to be seen. My blue eyes shed as I increased the cirction of blood throughout my body. I held only one thought in my mind. ¡®They¡¯re not human. If these beings are potentially dangerous to my family¡­ I¡¯ll kill every single one of them.¡¯ I headed to the apartmentplex, steam leaking from my mouth. * * * Ssh, ssh. With the sun at its zenith, a ck figure entered the deserted Children¡¯s Grand Park through the front entrance. It sshed its way to the fountain in the center of the park, the sunlight glinting off its strong muscles, thick limbs and shiny skin, which seemed to have been oiled. It walked over to the remnants of therge campfire and sniffed it, then wrinkled its nose and shook its head vigorously. After looking around, it walked over to where the tents had been set up. It lingered around the area for a while, then took the hilly pathway that led to the back entrance. It looked around once again, sniffing, and slowly began to grin. It seemed like it was tracking its prey through their scent, trying to determine the direction in which they had gone. Its grin widened even further, revealing its sharpened teeth. GWAAA!!! It let out an ear-numbing roar. Its howl seemed like it could destroy every living soul around it. Ssh. The ck creature headed to the rear entrance to the Children''s Grand Park, its blue eyes shining. * * * I stepped out of the apartment where I¡¯d just taken care of business, feeling the sticky blood on my fingertips. I tried to wipe away the blood on my clothes, but it didn¡¯te off easily, since my clothes were already covered in blood as well. I let out a deep sigh and closed my eyes. I¡¯d ughtered my way through every wing of the apartment, and it was beginning to be too much. It had to be done for the safety of my family, but the humanity inside me was slowly being ripped away as I constantly killed off humans that weren¡¯t zombies. I clenched my fists and slowly opened my eyes. I couldn¡¯t let weakness overtake me. I couldn¡¯t let any of this change my mindset. My daughter, my people, my family¡­ They were out on the streets at this very moment, shivering from the cold. I had to clear this ce as quickly as possible and bring the survivors here. I breathed in the cold winter air and moved on. As I got closer to the hotel, I noticed several guards in front of the entrance. I counted them briefly, then rushed toward them without the slightest hesitation. "Je¡ª!" I didn¡¯t even give them the time to scream. I chopped through their necks before they could react. The human body¡­ It was much weakerpared to the bodies of the zombies that I¡¯d been dealing with so far. I easily took care of the two guards and hid their bodies. I covered the bloodstains on the ground with sand and headed straight to the first-floor lobby. There were a couple of dogs waiting for me with baseball bats in the lobby. Humans, guarding thirteen fanatics. I wondered what their sins were. Honestly, though, I couldn¡¯t care less. But I knew what I had to do. ''I''m going to kill all of you, and go to hell as well.¡¯ I sighed and strode toward the guards. The guards quickly noticed me. Their eyes went wide, and their expressions grew uncertain. ¡°So it shall be!¡± yelled one of the men, and prostrated himself on the floor. Immediately, all the guards echoed his promation and fell to the floor as well. As I looked at them, I unclenched my fists and gave myself a moment to think. Suddenly, I remember what had happened at Konkuk University Hospital. When Kim Hyeong-Jun and I had pretended to be the dong leaders of Seongsu-dong, the dogs had let their guard down right away. None of them suspected that we weren¡¯t part of the Family. Instead, they had tried to butter us up in order to leave a good impression. They probably didn¡¯t know what the boss of the gang looked like. I bet that they¡¯d never seen the boss face-to-face before. ¡®Wait, doesn¡¯t that make these dogs simr to the dogs from the Konkuk University Hospital?¡¯ I cleared my throat and walked forward, standing in front of the man who had first made the promation. Unlike the guards around him, he was dressed in pure white. I wondered if he was one of the twelve Believers. ¡°Are you one of the twelve Believers?¡± "Yes! You are correct.¡± ¡°Which one are you?¡± ¡°The ninth Believer.¡± I wondered why there were twelve Believers. Perhaps they were a cult, trying to imitate Jesus and his twelve Apostles. I slowly put my hands behind my back. ¡°Where is your leader?¡± ¡°He¡¯s in the chapel!¡± ¡°Guide me there.¡± "Of course!" Things were turning out to be easier than I¡¯d thought. I¡¯d been thinking about how I would torture the guards in the lobby, but I was able to avoid all the dirty work and reach their leader in one go. Chapter 117

Chapter 117

As I passed the first-floor lobby and made my way up to the second floor, I saw the restaurant that had once served breakfast to the hotel guests. There was a bizarre symbol drawn on therge ss doors of the front entrance. On the other side of the doors, I saw the leader and his followers praying. The ninth Believer carefully opened the ss door and entered the chapel. The leader who was praying turned around and looked at the ninth Believer and me. When the leader saw my face, his eyes went wide, and he ordered the other Believers around to leave at once. As soon as all the Believers had left, the leader came up to me. As he moved closer, the smell of raspberry grew stronger. The leader opened his arms in wee. ¡°Heavenly Father,¡± he asked, ¡°what brings you to a ce like this?¡± ¡°...¡± I looked into his face, speechless. It wasn¡¯t because he was familiar. It was because he was weing me. And I had to chop this person¡¯s head off. The fact that I had to kill someone who had weed me like this made me feel uneasy. It would¡¯ve felt better if he¡¯d just attacked me with no reason or hesitation instead. I was probably a god in their eyes. I wet my lips and yed along with him, lowering my voice as far as I could. ¡°The supply of food has been pathetictely. I¡¯vee to take a look at the situation myself.¡± When I was done speaking, the leader hesitated slightly, then knelt to the ground. ¡°I will quickly get some sacrifices ready and offer them to the gods at the temple.¡± ¡°That¡¯s rather frustrating to hear. Are you saying there is no food here?¡± I changed the topic subtly, trying to find out if there were any survivors in the hotel. The leader hesitated again, then looked down at the floor. ¡°They are of low quality, and unsuitable to offer as sacrifice¡­ They are merely food prepared for us to consume.¡± ¡°Bring them.¡± "What? How can we offer low-quality food as a sacrifice?¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. Just bring it. I will determine the quality of the food with my own two eyes when I see it.¡± "If that¡¯s the case¡­ I will make the preparations." The leader got up, bowed deeply from the waist, and headed toward the entrance of the chapel. He took one step beyond the door, then turned around, his face full of suspicion. "Heavenly Father,¡± he said questioningly. "Go ahead." ¡°This may be a presumptuous question, but¡­ can you change your appearance as well?¡± My eyes twitched when I heard his question. I wondered if the leader had met the boss of the Family before. Since the two men earlier said that the dogs from Jongno had taken over this ce, It was possible that someone who was familiar with what had happened in Jongno was here as well. I knew that if I reacted to such probing questions, he might figure out my real identity. Therefore, I tried to answer as nonchntly as I could. "It¡¯s more than possible." "Oh, oh! Of course. I was surprised that your eyes have turned blue as well.¡± ¡°It¡¯s all thanks to your prayers and sacrifices. Hurry up and get the food.¡± "Yes sir." The leader left the chapel. ¡®Hmm¡­ Something¡¯s not quite right...'' I started to have doubts because of how easy things were working out. After the leader disappeared, I looked around the chapel to figure out what was actually going on. It was almost impossible to tell that the ce used to be a restaurant. It held no traces of its former use. It looked like it had been converted into a chapel for the Believers a long time ago. I looked at every single item on the podium, then walked over to the desk in the corner and went through all the drawers. Once the leader brought the survivors to me, I was nning to save them and kill the dogs here. Before that, though, I needed to find clues rted to the survivors. If they were a cult, they would have kept a list of followers, along with a list rted to the survivors. Despite searching high and low, though, I couldn¡¯t find the list I was looking for. Suddenly, a door in the corner caught my eye. It led to a confessional. When I went in, I noticed a false wall made out of wood dividing the room. I carefully removed the wooden nk, revealing another door behind it. I wondered if this room used to be a kitchen. I had no clue why there was a door here, but I went ahead and slowly turned the doorknob anyway. Unfortunately, the door was tightly locked. I looked back out into the chapel again, then quietly closed the door to the confessional. Channeling my strength into my right hand, I shattered the secret door. Crack! I passed through the splintered wooden door and entered a small study. Judging by the faint scent of raspberries tickling the tip of my nose, I assumed that this study belonged to the leader. . I went through the drawers in the study intently. There were several documents rted to the dogs and the members of the Family. There was also a map of Seoul right next to them. This map had clear differencespared to the map of Seoul that was in my possession. The areas controlled by members of the Family were marked with an X, and the locations of the remaining Shelters in Seoul were clearly marked. There were much fewer shield symbols on the map than before. It seemed that many survivors had already be food for the dogs and the Family. The map also showed the size of the Family¡¯s forces that had crossed the Sogang Bridge into Yeouido. I assumed that the map had been made just before the Gangnam Operation. I wondered if they¡¯d been abandoned after the Gangnam Operation had beenunched. I couldn¡¯t find any further information about the Gangnam Operation. It seemed like the Family had abandoned this group At that moment, I recalled the incident that had happened at Gwangjang Intersection. - Everyone has to prove their faith. We must dispel the wrath of God! They believed that God¡¯s wrath was the reason they¡¯d been abandoned by the Family. If they knew that the gang was focusing on the Gangnam Operation, they would have known why the members of the Family had left this ce alone recently. Why were they using God¡¯s wrath as an exnation? Weren¡¯t they referring to the Family when they said God, and sacrifices when they mentioned daily bread? I felt like I was close to the truth, and yet it was so far out of reach. It was as if there was a piece of blurry, opaque ss in between me and the truth. I couldn¡¯t grasp the essence of it, the truth of what was happening with this cult. Then, all of a sudden, an interesting thought crossed my mind. ¡®The fanatics here¡­ What if they don¡¯t know about the Family?¡¯ Until that moment, I had only looked at the fanatics from my perspective. However, in order to know one¡¯s enemy, one had to put oneself in their shoes to fully understand them. If the fanatics here didn¡¯t know everything about zombies, and if they didn¡¯t know about the Family¡­ There was a high chance that they were masquerading their ways as a religion in order to survive. If the dogs disguised themselves as the children of God and showed the ordinary people that they didn¡¯t get eaten by zombies¡­ It would be more than enough to convince the people that was God¡¯s n. Once that happened, they could ept any future inhuman acts as God¡¯s n, and live their lives with a wrong set of beliefs. My jaw fell open as I came to this conclusion. I couldn¡¯t believe that people would willingly deceive others so fully. It was astonishing to realize that people could weave such borate deceptions on others. The dogs here had deified the members of the Family and fed the survivors of Gwangjang-dong with false beliefs, earning their trust along the way and turning all of them into fanatics. And these fanatics had no clue that everything they were doing was no different from the inhuman acts of the dogs, since they believed that all they were doing was part of God¡¯s n. I couldn¡¯t help but wonder why the other fanatics didn¡¯t know anything about what was happening behind the scenes when there was this much information rted to dogs and the Family in this study. ¡®Wait. Doesn¡¯t that mean that only the leader knows about the dogs and the Family?¡¯ When this conclusion hit me, chills went down my spine and cold sweat trickled down my forehead. I quickly left the study. I noticed that the leader was still not back. I saw some guards patrolling outside the chapel. Hurrying over to them, I asked them, ¡°Where¡¯s the leader?¡± "Pardon?" ¡°When is the leadering back with the daily bread?¡± ¡°What¡­ What do you mean by that?¡± "Answer me!" I furrowed my brow, and they knelt hurriedly, their faces painted with terror. ¡°My apologies!¡± ¡°No, no. It''s alright. Just exin what¡¯s going on. Where did the leader go?¡± ¡°He went to get some spirit of Achasan.¡± ¡°What¡­?¡± Now, what kind of bullshit was this? I guessed a cult wasn¡¯t called a cult for no reason. I¡¯d been offered nonsense after nonsense from the moment I¡¯d set foot in this ce. I clicked my tongue vigorously and descended to the first floor. There, I noticed twelve men and women wearing clean clothes standing at the entrance of the hotel, holding each others¡¯ hands and singing a hymn I could not understand. They seemed to be the twelve Believers. I walked up to them. ¡°Where did the leader go?¡± ¡°So it shall be!¡± They didn''t answer my question, but fell to their knees once they saw my face and began to recite some prayers. ¡®These people are crazy. They¡¯re perfectly possessed. These people can¡¯t be saved.¡¯ The absurdity of the situation made me raise my voice. ¡°Where did the leader go?!¡± ¡°ording to God¡¯s n, he went to seek spiritual energy.¡± ¡°My n? What the hell is spiritual energy? Is your daily bread the spiritual energy?¡± ¡°Spiritual energy is the source of all things, and makes our lives as human beings insignificant¡­¡± I put my hands to my face as I listened to their prattling. The dogs here¡­ No, the fanatics here were impossible to talk to. Suddenly, I remembered what the two men I¡¯d rescued from middle school had said. - The people I want to save¡­ They¡¯re all in this school. The countless bodies that were hung helplessly along the school¡¯s walls shed through my mind. I thought about what they had said and realized that the people?that they wanted to save were all already dead. There were no survivors in this ce left to save. All the people that were left were just fanatics who ate human flesh and worshiped zombies with their entire being. I ced my hand on my forehead and let out a sigh of despair. My gut feeling was never wrong. The leader had already run away. I quickly left the hotel. ¡°Heavenly Father!¡± ¡°You must not abandon us!¡± I heard the fanatics shouting after me. I ignored them and scanned the surroundings. No matter how hard I looked, I could not locate the leader. My blue eyes shed as I concentrated on my sense of smell. When I¡¯d met with the leader in the chapel, I¡¯d smelled a hint of raspberry on him. However, it was nearly impossible to detect that same scent outdoors. I couldn¡¯t think of a way to locate him. It was a dead end. I quickly climbed up to the rooftop and surveyed the area below. ''If he¡¯d sensed that something funny was going on, he wouldn¡¯t have gone to Guui-dong or Jayang-dong.'' The leader had been in touch with the gang members until themencement of the Gangnam Operation. But once the Gangnam Operation kicked off, the battle in Gwangjin-gu had begun as well, and he probably lost contact with the dong leaders of Guui-dong and Jayang-dong. He probably noticed that the two of them had fallen, and would have chosen a different route. That narrowed his possible escape routes to two. He would have either fled to Achasan, or gone up the northern end of Achasan-ro that led to Guri-si. Judging by his knowledge about zombies, however, he probably wouldn''t have taken the main road. He would have taken a route that led through an area in which he could conceal his body or his body odor. An area where he could n out what to do next. ¡®Bingo.¡¯ I looked over at Achasan. The path led past Achasan and into the ridges of Yongmasan. Once one crossed over Yongmasan, one would end up in Myeonmok-dong. He probably hadn¡¯t considered that even the dong leader of Myeonmok-dong had fallen as well. I knew he would try to get to Myeonmok-dong to n out his next move. I headed for Achasan without looking back. I had to catch him before he got away. If he made it out alive, the Family would eventually discover our whereabouts, which would render our move meaningless. If the reinforcements sent by the Family made their way to Gwangjang-dong, another war was inevitable. I entered Achasan and quickly made my way through the bushes. I could smell the scent of raspberry tickling the tip of my nose as I made my way through the long grass. ¡®Bingo.¡¯ The leader was here somewhere. I made my way up Achasan with a smirk¡­ KAAA!!! A cry echoed through the air, stopping me in my tracks. It resonated through the air, making me feel dizzy. A nerve-wracking memory shed through my mind, and chills ran up and down my body. It was a cry I could never forget. The unforgettable feeling of death that came upon me awoke the fear inside me. I found myself unable to move, as if my two feet had sunk into a swamp. I could feel my blood cirction begin to fail, and I grew dizzy with the symptoms of low blood pressure. My mind started ringing, and a constant high-pitched whine rang in my ears. I was barely able to turn around to see where the sound hade from. It was quite a distance away. I assumed it wasing from the border of Gwangjang-dong. My mind immediately went nk, and my eyes began to tremble. ¡°So-Yeon,¡± I muttered. The ck creature had appeared. It had appeared in the very ce where So-Yeon and my family were. Chapter 118 Chapter 118 ¡°Move everything!! Right now!!" yelled Kim Hyeong-Jun toward Hwang Ji-Hye and Lee Jeong-Uk, his blue eyes shing. Hwang Ji-Hye stared straight ahead, her face a mask of terror. Kim Hyeong-Jun''s underlings were being torn apart by the ck creature like straw dolls. The ck creature was like no other opponent they¡¯d faced before. Its power was overwhelming, and it swept away Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s underlings in an instant. After carving through the zombies, the creature ran toward him. The ck creature¡¯s fist flew out like a bullet fired from a gun, breaking through the sound barrier and sending out a sonic boom as it hurtled toward Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s chest. Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s eyes went wide, and he quickly raised his hands in front of his chest. Thud! Despite his defense, Kim Hyeong-Jun was blown back twenty meters. KWAAA!!! The ck creature¡¯s cry caused the survivors at Baesuji Sports Park to cover their ears, wailing in pain. People everywhere were screaming, and all the children started crying at once. Hwang Ji-Hye blinked, trying toe back to her senses, and ced her right hand on her forehead. She knew that it was just people screaming, but her eyes started to quiver, and it was getting harder and harder for her to breathe. At that moment, Lee Jeong-Uk seized Hwang Ji-Hye''s arm. ¡°Everyone run to Gwangjang-dong!!¡± he yelled at the other survivors. ¡°Don''t look back and run!" Although his face had gone pale, Lee Jeong-Uk was assessing the situation more rationally than anyone else. Lee Jeong-Uk had already experienced the fear of facing a ck creature back at the high school. He knew more than anyone how dangerous the current situation was. With his guidance, the survivors hurriedly moved onto Achasan-ro. Do Han-Sol moved to help Kim Hyeong-Jun, but Kim Hyeong-Jun warned him away, his blue eyes shing. ¡°Don¡¯te here! Take care of everyone else! Hurry up and get ahjussi!!!¡± Do Han-Sol looked at the ck creature and then at Kim Hyeong-Jun, then bit his lower lip and shouted to Kim Hyeong-Jun, ¡°Don¡¯t die!¡± He realized that he would only get in the way if he tried to help Kim Hyeong-Jun, and ran toward the survivors instead. Seeing him go, Kim Hyeong-Jun snorted and muttered to himself, ¡°If only it was that easy.¡± Steam spewed from Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s mouth as he increased the speed of his blood cirction. His broken arms soon regenerated, and the endless amount of steam that he was releasing started to nket his entire body. ¡°Ha¡­¡± His pupils constricted and his eyes lit up. Bang! Kim Hyeong-Jun surged toward the ck creature like a raging wave. The ck creature twisted its waist to avoid Kim Hyeong-Jun''s counterattack and countered with a fist of its own. Crack! Their fists collided with an unsettling explosion of noise. Kim Hyeong-Jun almost stumbled, but he gritted his teeth and quickly got to his feet. ''Now Mood-Swinger!'' GRRR!!! As soon as the order was transmitted, Mood-Swinger went for the ck creature¡¯s side as if it had been waiting for the chance to pounce. The ck creature noticed Mood-Swinger and pivoted, nting its right foot on the ground for bnce andunching its left foot out to catch Mood-Swinger in its side. ¡°Losing¡­!¡± It broke Mood-Swinger¡¯s ribs and sent the massive mutant flying. It had almost taken down the hefty zombie with just one kick. As Mood-Swinger tried to get up, the ck creature leaped into the air, taking aim at Mood-Swinger¡¯s face. Kim Hyeong-Jununched himself from the ground and rushed to intercept it. His kick just managed to catch the ck creature on the shoulder. It gasped and flew sideways, crashing into a tree and going down. GWAAA!!! The ck creature let out its anger with a roar. Or, more urately, it unleashed its killing intent. Its eyeballs contracted, and its entire body began to steam. When Kim Hyeong-Jun saw the change, he burst outughing. ¡°Are you telling me you haven¡¯t been giving me your all until now?¡± Despite his bravado, Kim Hyeong-Jun could not hide his discouragement. The fight seemed impossible to win now. Mood-Swinger wasn¡¯t much help. In fact, Mood-Swinger was getting in the way. He knew that if he made one wrong decision, that he could lose Mood-Swinger. He clenched his fists. ''Ahjussi, where are you? Come quickly.¡¯ He desperately needed Lee Hyun-Deok. * * * I smashed through the obstacles in front of me as I made my way in a straight line toward the Baesuji Sports Park. When I imagined So-Yeon¡¯s face, the madness inside me spewed out endlessly, like sewer water flowing out from a broken sewage pipe. ¡°KWAAA!!!¡± I wasn¡¯t even sure how far I¡¯d run, but I heard a woman¡¯s screaming from the border of Gwangjang-dong. I turned my gaze toward the source of the scream and saw Do Han-Sol running breathlessly toward me, leading the survivors. When they saw the corpses hanging along the walls of the middle school, they all began to panic. I calmed myself and went over to them. I noticed that Do Han-Sol was carrying several children on his back. ¡°Han-Sol, Han-Sol!¡± I called out anxiously. His eyes widened, and he greeted me in return. ¡°Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok!¡± ¡°What the hell is going on? I heard a ck creature¡¯s howl from nearby.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right, there¡¯s a ck creature. Kim Hyeong-Jun is fighting it right now.¡± "What? By himself?" ¡°He said toe find you and bring you back as quickly as I could¡­¡± ¡°Where is he?¡± ¡°Baesuji Sports Park.¡± I nodded and quickly set off. I heard Do Han-Sol call to me from behind me. ¡°We¡¯ll go to the hotel!!¡± Knowing that the hotel wasn¡¯t safe yet, I turned my head and shouted back to Do Han-Sol, ¡°Go to the apartment! There are still dogs in the hotel!¡± With that, I headed to Baesuji Sports Park. I knew Do Han-Sol was capable of taking care of the dogs. However, the survivors coulde to harm if they entered the hotel while the dogs still roamed it. It seemed a safer bet to stay in the apartments and hold off any dogs that dared approach. As I got further away, Do Han-Sol looked at Hwang Deok-Rok, who was beside him. ¡°What did Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok just say?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t hear him.¡± ¡°He told us to go somewhere...¡± ¡°It must be the hotel. That was our destination in the first ce.¡± Lee Hyun-Deok''s voice had been lost in the screams that filled up Achasan-ro. Do Han-Sol felt uneasy, not knowing what Lee Hyun-Deok had said, but he knew that he couldn¡¯t go back to ask him about it. So instead, he shouted at the survivors around him, ¡°Let¡¯s get to the hotel as quickly as we can!¡± The survivors followed Do Han-Sol, running toward the hotel in unison. * * * As I got closer to Baesuji Sports Park, I saw Kim Hyeong-Jun trying to hold on in a one-sided fight. Kim Hyeong-Jun was unable to counter the ck creature''s attacks, and was busy avoiding its attacks by dodging as best he could. I felt cold sweat trickle down my forehead as I looked at the ck creature that was attacking Kim Hyeong-Jun. It was terribly familiar. Its appearance was simr to the ck creature that Bae Jae-Hwan had drawn, back in Dae Hyun San Park. Blue eyes, with a muscr body. The ck creature in Haengdang 2-dong hade after us. ''Did they cut off its food supply?'' The ck creature, which hadn¡¯t left its territory before, was suddenly lurking around a different area. This probably meant that the gang members had cut off its food supply, and that all of the gang¡¯s forces were concentrated on the Gangnam Operation. That would mean all the ck creatures left in Gangbuk¡­ would naturallye here. Where the only zombies with glowing red eyes in Gangbuk were. The most prized prey for these ck creatures. The ck creatures wereing to eat my, Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s, and Do Han-Sol¡¯s brains. I shook my head vigorously and tried to clear these useless thoughts from my mind. I knew that it wasn¡¯t the right time to be concerned over all that. We had to dispatch the enemy in front of us first. I tracked the ck creature¡¯s movements with my eyes as I forced my blood to circte more quickly. My pupils constricted, and my eyes shimmered a bright blue. Iunched myself from the ground, steam spewing out of my mouth. Bang! I bore down on the ck creature like a frenzied gale. It whipped around when it sensed my presence. As I hurled a punch with all my might, the ck creature dropped into a fighting stance and lifted its left foot. ''A roundhouse kick?'' Its movements flowed naturally, and itunched its attack in one fluid stroke. I could tell that it had been in several fights before. I tried to halt my advance and raised my left arm to block. Thud! ¡°God!¡± My eleration was too much, and the creature¡¯s attacknded with devastating force. My left arm broke, along with my ribs. "Ahjussi!!" Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s eyes went wide and he quickly grabbed onto me. Putting some distance between us and the ck creature, heid me on the ground. ¡°That son of a bitch is fucking strong!¡± he yelled. ¡°Watch¡­ Watch out! Behind you!¡± The ck creature had already appeared behind us, aiming a kick at Kim Hyeong-Jun. Its movements were clean, precise, and there was deadly power behind each strike. Kim Hyeong-Jun threw himself to the floor and rolled away, barely avoiding the attack. KIAAA!! GRRR! The ck creature let out a monstrous roar, as if it were enjoying the situation. Its eyes shed as it spied me lying on the ground. Kim Hyeong-Jun darted forward before the ck creature could get to me. I knew I had to quickly regenerate my damaged body while Kim Hyeong-Jun bought us what time he could. I furrowed my brow and focused on my broken left arm and ribs. Tshh¡­ Very quickly, I was enveloped in a cloud of steam as my broken bones returned to their proper positions. I now had a good idea of the ck creature''s physical abilities. It hadnded a solid hit on me because I had let my guard down for a second, but I wasn¡¯t going to let it get another chance. I clenched my fists and channeled more strength into my arms, then threw myself at the ck creature once again. The creature was just about to punch Kim Hyeong-Jun in the face, but it quickly turned its body, sensing the killing intent behind it. I wasn¡¯t going to fall for the same trick twice. I wasn¡¯t aiming for the back of the ck creature''s head. I was going to sever its Achilles tendon the moment it tried to counter my attack with a roundhouse kick like before. Just as I expected, it tried kicking me in the face with its left foot. I grabbed its leg with my enhanced arms, pulling it to the ground and twisting it as hard as I could. GRRRAAA!!! The ck creature took a step back, screaming in response to my unexpected attack. However, it didn¡¯t realize that its left leg was damaged. It had cried out in surprise rather than in pain. Just like any other zombie, its body was numb to pain. The ck creature lost his bnce and stumbled. Kim Hyeong-Jun wasn¡¯t about to let the chance slip away. He went straight for the creature¡¯s face. The ck creature twisted its upper body to avoid the iing fist, and swiped at Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s lower body with its damaged left foot. Even though its foot was broken, the power in its thigh was extraordinary. The blow sent Kim Hyeong-Jun staggering, and hended on his right knee. When the ck creature tried to punch Kim Hyeong-Jun in the head, I leaped onto its back, grabbing its right arm and using my body weight to push it to the ground. Kim Hyeong-Jun, knowing that he couldn¡¯t miss this opportunity, rose quickly and grabbed the creature¡¯s left arm. The ck creature squirmed, trying to escape as we held it down by its arms, but it only seeded in grinding the bones in its arms the harder it struggled. ¡°Break them!¡± I yelled. Kim Hyeong-Jun roared and twisted the creature¡¯s left arm as I used my strength to crush its right arm. Even though both of its arms were broken, it still managed to throw us off with a vigorous shake. Since both of its arms were now useless, it twisted its body about to lift its upper torso. We knew better than to give it time to regenerate. On all fours, I rushed toward it as quickly as I could. I tackled it, grabbing it around the waist with my arms and hammering it down to the ground. GWAAA!!! Its shriek echoed around the sports park. Pressing my advantage, I leapt onto its stomach and rained punches on its face. It tried its best to cover its face with its broken arms, ring at me from under them. I wondered if it was still trying to find a way to counterattack. Tshh¡­ In moments, I felt the surface of broken arms grow incredibly hot, like water that had reached boiling point. Steam rose from them in great clouds. It was already starting to regenerate. Unlike us, who had to buy time to regenerate, the ck creature was able to regenerate its body even while it was fighting. I had tond a fatal blow. A blow so strong that it would stop any chance of the creature fighting back. I stabbed my sharpened fingertips straight into its sr plexus. However, I couldn¡¯t pierce through its tough skin and muscles. I punched it in the face repeatedly as I tried desperately to pierce the flesh over its sr plexus. ¡°Die already!¡± I yelled in desperation. Sploosh. My fist plunged through its sr plexus. Grasp! At the same time, two ck hands reached up and began to strangle me. It had regenerated its broken arms. Chapter 119 Chapter 119 Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s arms shed forward, his hands locking around the creature¡¯s wrists. Kim Hyeong-Jun pulled with all his might, and the ck creature''s grip began to loosen. I coughed and barely managed to shake the ck creature off of me. As I was about to punch the ck creature again, I noticed the grenade hanging on Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s side. There was nothing to gain by letting this fight drag on. The creature could regenerate much more quickly than me or Kim Hyeong-Jun. The longer the fight went on, a single mistake could mean the end of either of us. This was the way to end the fight. This one blow would end this fight once and for all. I grabbed the grenade from Kim Hyeong-Jun''s side. Pulling the pin, I stuffed the grenade into the ck creature¡¯s chest. Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s eyes widened in surprise, and his eyes met mine. "Take cover!!" I yelled. Kim Hyeong-Jun let go of the creature''s arms and fled immediately. I twisted my upper body about and prepared to leap into cover. Grasp! With its remaining strength, the ck creature threw itself at me and grabbed my ankle. I struggled to escape its grasp, but it was holding onto my ankle as if its final wish was to make sure that I died along with it. Desperation rose within me as I tried harder and harder to escape¡­ But my body was growing even more sluggish. Cold sweat poured down my forehead. I felt as though I were trapped in that single moment, which was stretching out into eternity. ¡°Fuck¡­¡± BOOM! The explosion deafened me, sending dust flying everywhere. I was thrown into midair as well. Everything seemed like a distant dream. I felt a strange sensation, as though my soul was leaving my body. "Ahjussi!" I could hear Kim Hyeong-Jun yelling at me, but I couldn''t figure out where he was shouting from. My body hit the cold ground and sank into it, and I felt my limbs flop like wet towels. I saw someone running toward me from far away. The man¡¯s face resembled Kim Hyeong-Jun''s face, but it seemed all blurry, as if there was a panel of opaque ss between us. Kim Hyeong-Jun lifted my upper body up, shouting at the top of his lungs. Unfortunately, the endless high-pitched ringing in my ears made it impossible to grasp what he was saying to me. It felt like I had earplugs on. His voice lingered around the periphery of my earlobes, unable to make it into my eardrums, and eventually scattering into the air. After a few moments, my eyes fell on the ck creature. The ck creature was a lifeless corpse. Only its head was intact, its eyes still wide open. As I stared nkly at it, the adrenaline that was coursing through my body drained away like melting snow. As my body began to rx, the thought arose in me that everything was over. ¡®We¡¯re safe now. Everyone is safe now.'' My eyelids were like iron weights. I wanted to rest for a while. Just like this, for a while. My skull was ringing so badly that I couldn¡¯t move. Just as I was about to close my eyes, I saw arge figure approaching the ck creature with its hands on its hips. It stared nkly at the ck creature for a moment, then opened its mouth wide open and swallowed the ck creature¡¯s brain. I felt sparks go off in my brain as I watched the figure munching on the ck creature¡¯s brain. I came back to my senses instantly, as if someone had sshed cold water on me. My eyes widened, and my mouth opened and closed like a goldfish¡¯s. "Swing¡­ Mood¡­ Swinger¡­!¡± "Ahjussi, ahjussi! Are you okay?¡± Tears fell from Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s eyes as he pped me hard on the cheek. I frowned and looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun. I waved a floppy arm in midair and pointed behind him. "What''s wrong, ahjussi? Wake up please!¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun shook my upper body, his face covered in tears and snot. I wondered what he was so sad about when I was right there in front of him. I furrowed my brow and tried to croak out a few words. ¡°Mood-Swinger¡­!¡± ¡°Mood-Swinger?¡± Only then did Kim Hyeong-Jun turn around. His eyes fell on Mood-Swinger, who had already eaten the ck creature¡¯s brain. Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s eyes went wide. ¡°Spit it out!!!¡± he yelled at the giant zombie. But Mood-Swinger just burped and stared at us nkly. * * * ¡°Step back!¡± yelled Do Han-Sol toward the survivors at the hotel entrance as he saw the dogs pour out from the hotel''s emergency exit. The survivors were thrown into a panic as they saw the dogs streaming out. The dogs immediately rushed at the survivors, wielding maces in their hands. Do Han-Sol and his underlings stepped in to deal with them. Therge lobby was quickly engulfed in chaos. ¡°AIEEE!¡± A dog wasing perilously close to where the children were gathered. Just as it was about to swing its baseball bat at them, a bony man hurriedly threw himself at the dog. He was the man who had been taken from the middle school earlier. As the man engaged in hand-to-handbat with the dog, another man who had been watching him hurriedly came to the rescue. The short man and the tall man from the middle school put up a fierce fight against the baseball bat-wielding dogs, doing all they could to protect the children. Do Han-Sol btedly noticed them and dashed over, cracking the skulls of the dogs. Gasp, gasp. ¡°Jesus¡­!¡± The two bony meny on their backs, breathing heavily. Do Han-Sol looked down at them. ¡°Why¡¯d you do that?¡± "Huh?" ¡°Why¡¯d you help?¡± ¡°Because the kids were in danger,¡± replied the man, looking confused. He¡¯d answered right away, as though it was obviously the correct thing to do. His response caused a swell ofplicated feelings within Do Han-Sol. These two were dogs themselves that had eaten human flesh. However, they had also been willing to sacrifice themselves to save the children. Do Han-Sol had no clue what to think about these two. He scratched his head and clicked his tongue vigorously, then rejoined the fight against the dogs. The dogs themselves weren¡¯t threatening, but the fact that they had to fight indoors bothered him. It was difficult to protect the survivors, since it was impossible to tell when and where the dogs would appear. Do Han-Sol looked at the survivors that had entered the hotel and yelled, ¡°Everyone get out! I''ll call you when I''m done dealing with them!" The survivors made their way to the front door of the hotel, shoving away the dogs that tried to approach them. Hwang Ji-Hye, who was behind the first group of survivors, frowned as she saw them streaming out of the hotel. ¡°What¡¯s going on? Why are youing back out? We have to get in quickly!¡± Hwang Ji-Hye couldn¡¯t understand why the survivors were leaving the hotel since she didn¡¯t know what was going on inside. After a moment, Hwang Deok-Rok made it out of the hotel. ¡°It¡¯s full of dogs inside!¡± he answered, wiping away the blood around his mouth. ¡°Dogs?¡± ¡°Do Han-Sol is holding them off. We have to keep an eye on the situation for now and concentrate on taking up a defensive position!¡± After listening to Hwang Deok-Rok, Hwang Ji-Hye turned to the survivors following her. ¡°Everybody stop! Everyone stop!!!¡± she yelled. The survivors, who were fleeing for their dear lives, raised their voices at her. ¡°What are you doing? Why aren¡¯t you going in?!¡± ¡°There are monsters following us!¡± ¡°We have to hide, quickly!¡± The panicking people were preupied with the thought of having to hide themselves somehow. Bang!!! A single gunshot rang out, its crack echoing around the area. The survivors crouched down in unison and covered their heads with their hands. They looked toward the source of the sound and saw Lee Jeong-Uk standing there. ¡°Everyone, wake up!!!¡± he yelled. Lee Jeong-Uk red at them, and the survivors responded with bewildered looks. The principal, who was standing next to him, spoke up in support of him. ¡°What are you afraid of?!¡± he asked the survivors. "Didn''t you see the monster earlier?" shouted one of the survivors, directing his question at Lee Jeong-Uk. It was a middle-aged man with fear on his face. The principal strode toward the man and grabbed him by the cor. ¡°Didn¡¯t you see Mr. Kim Hyeong-Jun and Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok stop the ck creature? What are your eyes for?!¡± Even the principal, who always spoke in a measured manner, had raised his voice. The panicking survivors began to talk amongst themselves as they witnessed the principal¡¯s change of attitude. Lee Jeong-Uk lowered his gun. ¡°Are you still in doubt after seeing, hearing, and experiencing it firsthand?¡± he asked loudly. ¡°Do you think Kim Hyeong-Jun and Lee Hyun-Deok will lose?¡± ¡°You¡­ You never know what can happen!¡± came the angry replies. Lee Jeong-Uk gnashed his teeth. ¡°If you want to run away, get lost already, you son of a bitch! Those who don''t believe in Kim Hyeong-Jun and Lee Hyun-Deok, leave us! You surely won¡¯t be of any help to us when we form our new shelter!¡± In response to his tirade, the survivors began to mutter amongst themselves, eyeing each other to see how others would react. Hwang Ji-Hye quietly crossed her arms and fixed her gaze on Lee Jeong-Uk. She had no intention of stopping him. He was taking a rather forceful tone, but she knew that it was necessary to make his point at least once. Lee Jeong-Uk pointed at the survivors. ¡°The people behind us are putting their lives on the line. Not for anyone else but for us! Think about what you did to get here. Nothing, huh? Do you think their sacrifice is something you¡¯re entitled to? Do you think that their protection is some right of yours?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°If you¡¯re thinking about surviving without contributing, leave right now. I¡¯m not willing to have anyone here who I can¡¯t trust! You fucking parasites that can¡¯t even breathe without someone¡¯s help¡ªthose bastards can leave right now!¡± None of the survivors dared to talk back to him. All of them stayed silent. It wasn¡¯t because Lee Jeong-Uk had a gun in his hand, or because he was all worked up. It was because he hadn¡¯t said a single wrong thing. The survivors were repenting over how pathetic they¡¯d been. Lee Jeong-Uk let out a breath. When he spoke again, his voice was tinged with resignation. ¡°You people, let me ask you something. Do you still think that Kim Hyeong-Jun and Lee Hyun-Deok, those two who are fighting the ck creature, and Do Han-Sol¡ªwho is fighting the dogs in the hotel¡ªare zombies?¡± The survivors, who had calmed down now, sagged their heads in remorse. Lee Jeong-Uk slicked his hair back. ¡°Wake up, you people! Why are you trying to pin the me on someone else when we should being together to get through this? Don¡¯t you feel sorry for the three of them who are fighting for us? Don¡¯t you feel ashamed?¡± He frowned at the remaining survivors. His appeals seemed to reach them, and they finally got back to their senses. Park Gi-Cheol, who was in the crowd, shouted in a loud voice, ¡°Everyone, get into a defensive formation!¡± The survivors moved into a defensive formation in unison, following Park Gi-Cheol¡¯s order. They couldn¡¯t go back, nor could they move forward. The best thing to do right now was to get into a defensive stance and trust in Kim Hyeong-Jun, Lee Hyeon-Deok, and Do Han-Sol. The survivors shook off the fear that had been troubling their minds and began to focus on what they could do at the moment. Lee Jeong-Uk moved among the survivors, reinforcing the perimeter. Hwang Ji-Hye came up to him. ¡°Once this ce bes stable¡­ I think you should be the group leader,¡± she said in a low voice. ¡°So-Yeon¡¯s dad is the group leader. I¡¯m not sure what you mean.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t trust Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok. But the people here need a human leader. Someone equally vulnerable, empathic, and one who has a beating heart. They need someone like you.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk sighed and didn¡¯t say a word. He knew that being human meant being weak and being imperfect. But he also knew that, as humans, they could make up for each others¡¯ shorings and grow stronger together through change. Lee Jeong-Uk looked up into the sky and let out a deep breath. Unlike life on this miserable earth, the sky above was spotlessly clear. The juxtaposition seemed stronger than ever. * * * ¡°Ahjussi, what should we do now?¡± ¡°How would I know?¡± I massaged my temples gently, my annoyance showing on my face. Steam was rising from my body as my injuries slowly repaired themselves. Regarding the changes Mood-Swinger had gone through in the meantime¡­ Mood-Swinger had morphed into a spherical object again, just like it had when it turned into a stage-two mutant. Kim Hyeong-Jun and I sat down and waited for Mood-Swinger to wake up. I wanted to run to the survivors right now, but I decided that the right thing to do was to trust Do Han-Sol, and observe Mood-Swinger¡¯s change. It was impossible to predict what would happen to Mood-Swinger. It was possible that Kim Hyeong-Jun would lose his authority over Mood-Swinger once the transformation waspleted. Kim Hyeong-Jun bit his nails as he watched Mood-Swinger¡¯s transformation process nervously. ¡°Hyeong-Jun.¡± "Huh?" "What if¡­ what if you lose yourmand over Mood-Swinger when it¡¯s done transforming?¡± ¡°What do you mean? We¡¯ll have to kill it.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s expression remained neutral. He tried his best to not make it sound like a big deal, but he couldn¡¯t hide the trembling in his eyes from me. I sighed. ¡°I know you¡¯ve grown fond of it. You really think you can kill it?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± ¡°Let me know if it¡¯ll be too hard on you. I¡¯ll take care of it for you.¡± ¡°...¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s expression fell, and his head sagged. Chapter 120 Chapter 120 If we had to fight Mood-Swinger¡­ I knew Kim Hyeong-Jun would not hesitate to put in his best effort. But killing Mood-Swinger was apletely different story. If he hesitated at thest minute¡­ That moment of hesitation would cost him his own life instead. I stayed by Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s side in order to prevent this from happening. Kim Hyeong-Jun sighed. ¡°No matter how important Mood-Swinger is¡­ My familyes first.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°If I lose mymand over it because of this¡­ I¡¯m going to fight solely for my family.¡± I let out a breath after hearing his answer. Crack, crack, crack. Soon, the huge egg in front of us began to wiggle. The surface of the egg started to crack open, apanied by the unpleasant sound of bones being crushed. We both got up, clenching our fists, as if we both knew that we had to be prepared for what might happen next. Kim Hyeong-Jun wet his parched lips. ¡°Did you see it move?¡± ¡°Get ready.¡± I swallowed anxiously. Since Mood-Swinger had eaten the ck creature¡¯s brain, I knew it would be a much stronger being than before. When we both had eaten a ck creature¡¯s brain, we were knocked out for a week. But Mood-Swinger was already entering the final stages of mutation in a matter of minutes. Mood-Swinger may have grown beyond our ability to handle it. Crack! A copper-colored arm burst through the eggshell. The giant zombie had lost its previous tree-trunk thick arms. The arm that burst through the shell was very human in form. Of course, while it seemed normalpared to how they were before, it was still miles away from being considered skinny. This arm was thicker than most women¡¯s thighs. It was as thick as an obsessive gym rat¡¯s, one who chugged protein shakes and lived to work out. Mood-Swinger''s arm was shining with a copper hue. I always used to see it as purple, but no matter how hard I looked at it now, it had no hint of purple. I frowned and asked Kim Hyeong-Jun. ¡°What color do you see it as?¡± ¡°Copper..." ¡°Do you see any green?¡± "Not yet." His Adam¡¯s Apple twitched violently. I could tell he was nervous. I took deep breaths and began to increase my cirction. Tshhh¡ª My blue eyes shed as steam began to pour out of me. At the same time, my pupils constricted. I prepared for battle as I waited for Mood-Swinger to emerge. Crack. Crack. Tear! The hard shell finally cracked open, and Mood-Swinger, copper in color, appeared in front of us. Mood-Swinger, who used to be about three meters tall, had shrunk down to about two meters. It was probably most apt to describe it now as a tall bodybuilder. Mood-Swinger checked out its body and smiled as though in awe of its transformation. Kim Hyeong-Jun called out to it nervously. ¡°Mood-Swinger.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Do you understand me? Mood-Swinger!¡± ¡°Ar¡­ no¡­ ld¡­¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun seemed to hesitate after hearing Mood-Swinger¡¯s voice. Mood-Swinger had always talked about losing gains, but now it was uttering something else. I looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun. ¡°What¡¯s ¡®Arnold¡¯?¡± ¡°I thought it was trying to say almonds, no? I mean, you eat a lot of nuts when you work out.¡± ¡°You gotta be kidding me right now.¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m dead serious.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun furrowed his brow and looked at Mood-Swinger again. Mood-Swinger admired its body for a long time, then slowly raised its head. My jaw dropped to the ground. I looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun in surprise, and I saw that his mouth had fallen open as well. ¡°Ah, ahjussi. That face¡­ Isn¡¯t it him?" he stammered. "You gotta be kidding me right now.¡± I looked at Mood-Swinger with shock on my face. I finally realized what Mood-Swinger meant when it said ¡®Arnold¡¯ earlier. One of the movies I enjoyed watching was ¡®The Terminator.¡¯ And right at that moment, the main character of the movie was standing in front of me. Kim Hyeong-Jun wore a bewildered expression as he took turns looking at me and Mood-Swinger. When he next spoke, his tone was impatient. "What should we do? Shall we attack first?¡± ¡°Does it still only look copper to you?¡± ¡°There isn¡¯t a hint of green.¡± ¡°Try giving it orders. You never know, right?¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun rubbed his eyes with his left hand and looked at Mood-Swinger. He then spoke in a low voice. ¡°Mood-Swinger, can you hear me?¡± "Ar¡­ no¡­ ld.. Sch¡­¡± Mood-Swinger smirked as it muttered the same words over and over. Its smile sent chills down my spine. I wondered how much its physical abilities had improved. Although it was smaller than it used to be, it was easy to tell how much it had grown just by looking at its tough, shiny skin and taut muscles. Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s tone grew confused, as though he wasn¡¯t sure what to do. ¡°Why do you think Mood-Swinger turned into that person? Do you think there¡¯s a reason?¡± I wet my dry lips after hearing his question. I racked my brains, going over everything I knew, and finally remembered what the dong leader of Seongsu-dong had said. - That''s what they want. Another new drama. All they do is kill and eat humans and zombies in order to continue living their dreams. Mood-Swinger was a mutant that loved muscles. If Mood-Swinger¡¯s idol was Arnold Schwarzenegger¡­ Perhaps it had achieved its final goal by eating the ck creature¡¯s brain.[1] Mood-Swinger was no longer a dreamer, but a being that had made its dreame true. I assumed that it had transformed into the idol it had always dreamed of. Taken aback at this absurd situation, my voice took on a rather awestruck tone. ¡°This guy, its dreams came true.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Do you remember what we discussed during our mutation experiments?¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°The dramas, movies, personality traits, or preferences? Doesn¡¯t somethinge to mind?¡± ¡°Are you saying that Mood-Swinger liked movies that Arnold Schwarzenegger was in?¡± ¡°Exactly.¡± I burst outughing at the absurd situation, and Kim Hyeong-Jun frowned. ¡°So what, are you saying that that¡¯s the most important thing right now? Mood-Swinger won¡¯t listen to me!¡± ¡°Let¡¯s just let it be for now. If you look at things from its perspective, it finally made its dreame true. I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll want to enjoy this moment.¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t you being too naive? What if it starts attacking us?¡± "I mean, it¡¯s not as if we can run away anyway. I don¡¯t know how I¡¯d feel about leaving Mood-Swinger like this, and we don¡¯t have the guts to attack it first. I think the only option we have is to wait to see if you reestablish control over it.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun frowned and clicked his tongue vigorously. He knew that there was nothing else we could do but wait. After our conversation, we patiently waited for Mood-Swinger. During our wait, we noticed Mood-Swinger adopting various poses, as if it was participating in a bodybuildingpetition. As we stared at it nkly, it slowly walked toward me and Kim Hyeong-Jun. We prepared ourselves by circting our blood more quickly and getting into a defensive stance. Mood-Swinger stopped in front of Kim Hyeong-Jun and began to speak slowly. "Did¡­ I¡­ do¡­ a¡­ good¡­ job?¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun flinched after hearing its words. He looked at me once then spoke up. ¡°Oh, of course. Mood-Swinger was the best out of everyone.¡± "Do¡­ you¡­ think¡­ I¡¯ll¡­ be¡­ first¡­ ce?¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun seemed taken aback by its question. He nodded continuously as though trying to curry favor with it. I assisted Kim Hyeong-Jun by piling on my ownpliments. ¡°I think Mood-Swinger is good enough to win the grand prize at the Arnold ssic! Aren¡¯t I right, Hyeong-Jun?¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah! Of course, Mood-Swinger is definitely one of the favorites to win the Arnold ssic.¡± I deliberately talked about a bodybuildingpetition named after Arnold Schwarzenegger, knowing how much Mood-Swinger liked him. We continuously ttered it withpliments, trying to get on its good side. Kim Hyeong-Jun punctuated his words with a gentle smile, and Mood-Swinger smiled like a little child and scratched his head. Despite the change in its appearance, it still had the intelligence level of a three-year-old boy. Soon, a purple mist began to spread outward from its heart. The mist wrapped around Mood-Swinger''s entire body, and finally, Mood-Swinger¡¯s copper body returned to its original color. The chain ofmand had been reestablished. Kim Hyeong-Jun looked at me with wide-open eyes. ¡°It¡¯s back! It¡¯s back, ahjussi! Mood-Swinger¡¯s back!¡± ¡°It looks green to you now?¡± "Yup. How about you?¡± ¡°Same. It looks purple to me.¡± We let out a sigh of relief and sat back down on the floor. What a relief. I was d that Mood-Swinger was back, but I was even more d that we hadn¡¯t had to fight the stronger version of Mood-Swinger. After a moment, Kim Hyeong-Jun looked at me. ¡°Ahjussi, should we test out Mood-Swinger¡¯s physical abilities?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s do thatter. Han-Sol should be waiting for us.¡± ¡°Oh, you¡¯re right.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun nodded and gathered his underlings behind him. I also gathered the underlings I¡¯d sent out to secure our surroundings. With that, we both headed for Gwangjang-dong. As we walked toward the apartmentplex, I turned to Kim Hyeong-Jun. ¡°By the way, where did you get your grenade from?¡± ¡°Hwang Ji-Hye gave me some.¡± "When?" ¡°When you were knocked out after taking care of the seventh officer. When I told her that I had to go to Shelter Hae-Young.¡± I never thought the grenade woulde in so handily. We were able to take care of the ck creature thanks to the grenade Hwang Ji-Hye had given Kim Hyeong-Jun. If it hadn''t been for the grenade, we would have still been fighting the ck creature. Kim Hyeong-Jun looked back at Mood-Swinger, who was following us, and raised a question. ¡°You don¡¯t think my control over it will disappear, do you?¡± "I mean, it''s never happened before.¡± ¡°I¡¯m just worried because it ate a ck creature¡¯s brain. If it ever develops a desire of its own¡­ Some strange things might happen, you know.¡± ¡°I think the best we can do is to keep an eye on it. There¡¯s nothing else we can do.¡± We conversed on our entire journey to the apartmentplex in Gwangjang-dong, and arrived at our destination before we knew it. However, we didn¡¯t see any sign of the survivors. Kim Hyeong-Jun looked around. ¡°Did Do Han-Sol say that he would wait here?¡± ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure I told him toe to this apartmentplex.¡± ¡°But there¡¯s nothing but dead bodies here. All of them are bald, so I¡¯m assuming they¡¯re all dogs. Did you happen to do this, ahjussi?¡± I nodded and looked around. I didn¡¯t sense the presence of any humans. I was confident that I had told Do Han-Sol to wait at the apartmentplex, yet he and the survivors were nowhere to be seen. Kim Hyeong-Jun scratched his forehead. ¡°What if they went straight to the hotel?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I think you said that we were going to the hotel when we first set off.¡± My jaw fell open. Perhaps he hadn¡¯t heard me clearly when I¡¯d said to head to the apartmentplex. I sighed and rushed to the hotel. I headed straight to the hotel without even thinking about giving orders to my underlings. I was praying that nothing had happened to them. When I got to the entrance of the hotel, I saw a mass of footprints on the ground. They were scattered all over the ce, and I could tell instantly that something had happened there. I hurriedly opened the ss door and went inside. What I saw next¡­ I was greeted by the sight of rows and rows of survivors in front of me. ¡°So-Yeon, So-Yeon!¡± I squeezed my way through the survivors, desperately searching for So-Yeon. ¡°So-Yeon¡¯s father!¡± I heard Han Seon-Hui¡¯s voice. I turned and saw Han Seon-Hui holding So-Yeon in her arms. I hurriedly headed over to her and looked over So-Yeon first. Her eyes were shut and she was sound asleep, as if exhausted from the long journey. I looked at Han Seon-Hui. ¡°So-Yeon¡­ Is So-Yeon hurt anywhere?¡± ¡°She¡¯s okay, she just seems very tired.¡± "Thank goodness¡­!¡± I thanked the lord and looked down at So-Yeon. Her soft cheeks were covered in dust. I saw tear marks tracing their way through the dust on her face, as though she had cried at some point. And judging by her bruised knees and palms, it seemed like she had fallen down on her way here. Han Seon-Hui smiled softly. "Don¡¯t worry. She¡¯s fine.¡± I took a deep breath and ced my hand on my forehead. When it finally sunk in that So-Yeon was okay, I teared up before I knew it. Kim Hyeong-Jun came through the crowd. ¡°What about the survivors? Is everyone okay?¡± he asked. Han Seon-Hui looked around at the survivors. ¡°Yes, but some were injured¡­ Fortunately, none of them are in a critical state.¡± I took a deep breath and calmed my raging heart, then looked at Han Seon-Hui. ¡°What about Do Han-Sol? Where are Han-Sol, Jeong-Uk, Hwang Ji-Hye, and the other leaders?¡± ¡°They¡¯re scouting the upper floors. Just in case there might be some dogs left.¡± ¡°Did you say that the leaders went as well?¡± "Yes. Everyone wanted to scout the upper floors with the leaders. So many of them were so eager to help out that I had a tough time stopping them all. It¡¯s just the leaders and Han-Sol upstairs.¡± After hearing her exnation, I turned to Kim Hyeong-Jun. ¡°Hyeong-Jun, can you check the first floor again? There might be some dogs hiding away, so you have to really check every nook and cranny. Scout around outside after you¡¯re done.¡± "Okay. What are you going to do, ahjussi?¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to help the people upstairs.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun nodded and headed out. He checked every storage room, bathroom, and basically any possible ce where a person could hide. I headed toward the emergency exit leading to the second floor. 1. Arnold Schwarzenegger is an Austrian/American actor and former governor of the state of California, United States that is known for his role in the Terminator series. Prior to his acting career, he was a professional bodybuilder known for his intense focus and workout routines. ? Chapter 121 Chapter 121 It took an entire day to clean up the hotel. The hotel had many floors that we had to go through, and the number of rooms that we had to go through on each floor made things so much harder. We carried out our workte into the night, going through every bathroom¡ªeven the bathtubs¡ªthoroughly. Fortunately, there were not that many dogs left over. The dogs who had lost the will to go down to the first floor to fight had hidden themselves in the guest rooms, and we dealt with them as we made our way up. We encountered fewer dogs as we ascended. Most of the dogs we found in the guest rooms were guards, and it seemed like they didn¡¯t have the stamina to go further up when they needed to. When we got to the sixteenth floor, I was able to figure out why they only had thirteen people managing this ce. There was an enormous lounge on the sixteenth floor, filled with dry snacks and all sorts of drinks, ranging from hard liquor to wine and beer. The leader and the twelve followers had separated themselves from the ordinary dogs in order to enjoy a life of luxury. They deserved to be torn to pieces. Or perhaps even a more painful death. While we dealt with the dogs, the survivors in the main building acted as lookouts to keep watch on the surroundings, while most relied on each others¡¯ warmth to fight off the cold. After going through all the floors up to the top, we gathered back on the first floor of the main building. In the meantime, Kim Hyeong-Jun surveyed the parking lot and the surrounding buildings before joining us. There were many nearby buildings and facilities that needed to be scouted out, which I assumed was because this hotel was a five-star hotel. Kim Hyeong-Jun checked out the bloodstains on my face. ¡°I¡¯m guessing there were a lot of dogs?¡± he asked. ¡°Actually, there weren¡¯t that many. But we had to fight in close quarters, so some blood sttered on me.¡± I tried my best to wipe off the blood stains on my face, then turned to Do Han-Sol and the human leaders. ¡°Let¡¯s begin to assign rooms to the survivors, starting from today. After that, we can gather separately for a meeting.¡± Hwang Ji-Hye came up to me. ¡°How many people should we assign per room?¡± she asked. ¡°Let¡¯s put at least four people in each room.¡± ¡°Even though we have this many rooms?¡± ¡°It¡¯s best to avoid the bloodstained rooms. Even if we get rid of the dogs¡¯ corpses, we can¡¯t wash the bedcovers right now.¡± Hwang Ji-Hye nodded and walked toward the survivors. Lee Jeong-Uk, who was next to me, rubbed his hand on his face. ¡°So-Yeon¡¯s dad, there are three hundred survivors here. Even if we put four people in a room, we¡¯ll need more than seventy rooms. Do you think there will be enough clean rooms?¡± ¡°We can fit twenty people in therger rooms on the upper floors. The Family Suite, Premier Suite, and Royal Suite can probably amodate up to twenty people.¡± "Then I''ll ask the survivors and put those who want to stay in groups in those rooms.¡± ¡°Perfect.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk nodded and walked off after Hwang Ji-Hye. I scratched my forehead and called Hwang Deok-Rok to me. Hwang Deok-Rok jumped in surprise and came up to me. ¡°Yes, do you have something to say to me¡­?¡± ¡°Hwang Deok-Rok, please check with Choi Soo-Hyun how much food we have left. I¡¯ll give you an escort of underlings.¡± "Got it." Hwang Deok-Rok bowed lightly and went to recover the cart he had left behind at Baesuji Sports Park, bringing Choi Soo-Hyun with him. As I watched them go, I gave orders to my mutants. ¡®Mutants, follow Hwang Deok-Rok and Choi Soo-Hyun. Guard them and let me know right away if the two meet with any danger.¡¯ - KIAAA. I heard the mutants roar inside my head. I looked around for the other leaders. I found Kim Beom-Jin sitting in the corner, breathing heavily. ¡°Kim Beom-Jin.¡± ¡°Ah, yes.¡± Kim Beom-Jin was the only doctor here. When I called his name, he grunted, seemingly in pain, and got to his feet. He was also a leader, so he had also gone with us to clear the upper floors. I felt bad to ask him for a favor since I could tell that he was tired, but there was no time for anyone to take a breather. ¡°Kim Beom-Jin, could please check on the casualties?¡± "All right." He walked off grunting, with his younger sister¡ªKim Ga-Bin¡ªsupporting him. After a moment, Park Gi-Cheol approached me. ¡°Lee Hyeon-Deok, what should I do?¡± ¡°As far as I¡¯m aware, we used up a lot of ammunition during our fight in Gwangjin-gu and the Children¡¯s Grand Park. Could you please take the principal and check on our remaining supplies?¡± With that, Park Gi-Cheol moved over to the principal, who was leaning against the wall, eyes closed. The two talked for a little bit and got going. After the two were out of sight, I looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun. ¡°How is the situation outside?¡± ¡°There are more hotels around here. I think it¡¯ll take some time to clear their interiors.¡± ¡°What about the dogs? Did they relocate?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure about what might be happening inside the other buildings, but nothing¡¯s happening outside. There didn¡¯t seem to be any zombies or dogs left on the streets. If there are any left, they¡¯ll probably be hiding somewhere.¡± ¡°We¡¯re going to wipe out any remaining dogs when the sun rises tomorrow. Station your underlings around this hotel for now.¡± ¡°Oh, one thing. Can you use your underlings instead?¡± When I tilted my head and looked at him, Kim Hyeong-Jun scratched his neck. ¡°A lot of my underlings died when the ck creature showed up. I don¡¯t think I have enough underlings to secure this hotel.¡± ¡°Okay, then just station them at the front entrance. I¡¯ll set my underlings to guard the other areas.¡± "Okay." Kim Hyeong-Jun walked straight to the front entrance and called in his underlings. Finally, I looked at Do Han-Sol. ¡°Han-Sol, have you seen any dogs that appear different?¡± ¡°Appear different?¡± "Oh¡­ Like those with suspiciously clean clothes, or something like that.¡± "Oh¡­ I killed them as soon as I entered. There were twelve of them, right? They were singing some strange song at the entrance.¡± ¡°...¡± It seemed like he had mercilessly killed the twelve members who had been singing hymns by the entrance. I smacked my lips after hearing his answer. ¡°Did you check their belongings?¡± ¡°Belongings?¡± ¡°Yeah. I need information rted to the gang. Those twelve people were called the twelve Believers. They might have items that contain information rted to the dogs, the Family, or the survivors that were here.¡± ¡°What sort of things are you looking for?¡± ¡°Something like a list, or a journal. Any sort of documents would do as well.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll try looking for them.¡± Do Han-Sol walked over to where he had killed the twelve Believers. But then he hurriedly turned around and made his way back. ¡°Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok, there¡¯s something I forgot to mention.¡± When I tilted my head, Do Han-Sol leaned in and whispered, ¡°What are you going to do with the two men that we rescued from the middle school?¡± "Oh¡­¡± My expression grew troubled, and I thought about it for a moment. As I was thinking, Do Han-Sol smacked his lips. ¡°The two of them¡­ They saved the children.¡± "What?" ¡°When we entered the hotel lobby, some dogs attacked the children. Those two stepped in and saved the children.¡± ¡°Why¡¯d they do that?¡± ¡°I also asked them that¡­ I think they saved the children subconsciously.¡± ¡°...¡± I sighed and gently massaged my temples. I found it impossible to forgive any dogs, and it would be difficult to have them live alongside us. I knew that the survivors here would be strongly against the idea of living under the same roof with them. After contemting the matter, I let out a deep breath. ¡°We have to kick them out.¡± "That''s the same thing as telling them to go outside and die.¡± ¡°They were trying to escape Gwangjang-dong anyway.¡± ¡°Still, I¡­ I can¡¯t help but think about them, for some reason. I can¡¯t stop thinking about their faces when they saved the children.¡± Do Han-Sol¡¯s head sagged, and his expression grew hard to read. As I looked at him contemting the matter, I scratched my head. A sudden intriguing thought shed through my mind. But since it was just a theory of mine, I thought that it would be better to meet with the two men and talk about it. I scratched my forehead and spoke up. ¡°Let¡¯s talk again at the meeting. We need to consider everyone¡¯s opinion.¡± ¡°All right¡­" Do Han-Sol made his way toward the twelve dead believers. After I was done assigning tasks, I stared at the lobby ceiling and let out a deep breath, releasing the unpleasant tension within me. I¡­ I killed a lot of people today. But they were no different from animals. They were wolves in sheep''s clothing. They were no different from zombies. Nevertheless, the humanity inside me was torn to shreds. I wasn¡¯t sure if I could continue to impose my justice over others. I gently closed my eyes and repented my sins to God, though I wasn¡¯t sure if God even existed. ¡®I will pay the price¡­ For the sins, for the actions that I have taken today.¡¯ I wasn¡¯t asking for forgiveness. I only wanted to dy the punishment for my sins until, and only when, I felt that my child and family were safe. I had no clue when that would be, or if I was being greedy, but I couldn¡¯t die right now. That was all I wanted from God. * * * Late in the evening, when everyone had gone back to their rooms, the leaders gathered in the lounge on the sixteenth floor. We sat around a long table to have our meeting. I inteced my fingers and addressed the leaders. ¡°We¡¯re nning to go around Gwangjang-dong and wipe out the remaining dogs and zombies¡ªif there are any left¡ªtomorrow. Han-Sol will be in charge of defense while Hyeong-Jun and I will do the cleaning up.¡± The leaders nodded silently. After a moment, Kim Beom-Jin, who was sitting across from me, spoke up. ¡°We¡¯re currently short on bandages. We¡¯ve suffered more casualties since the fight in Gwangjin-gu.¡± ¡°Do we have enough antibiotics?¡± ¡°We do. We also have enough anesthesia. We¡¯re just short on bandages and disposable syringes.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll look for a nearby university hospital after I¡¯m done cleaning up Gwangjang-dong.¡± Kim Beom-Jin nodded and shed an okay sign. After he was done talking, Hwang Ji-Hye next to him, spoke up. ¡°The person in charge of managing our facilities passed away during the fight in Gwangjin-gu. If there is someone from Shelter Hae-Young or Shelter Barrier who used to manage facilities, I would like them to take their spot.¡± ¡°Could you borate on the main tasks of facility management?¡± ¡°You must know how to do various maintenance work and welding.¡± I looked over at Lee Jeong-Uk, who scratched his sideburns. ¡°My brother knows how to weld,¡± he said. ¡°But he always acts humbly about it because he didn¡¯t learn it properly. He picked it up from his fellow co-workers.¡± Hwang Ji-Hye gently rubbed her chin, then looked into my eyes and again. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, how about appointing Kwak Dong-Won from Gangnam as the leader of the facility management team?¡± ¡°That seems like a good idea. Does anyone have any other opinions on this?¡± The other leaders exchanged careful nces, then quickly went with the flow. Park Gi-Cheol, who was in the corner, spoke up. ¡°We also need to reorganize the guards as well. The guards feel rather disorganized without a proper leader.¡± ¡°I think you would be a good fit as the guard leader. From now on, Park Gi-Cheol will be the guard leader.¡± Just as before, no one objected to my words. After looking around at the other leaders, I spoke to Park Gi-Cheol. ¡°Park Gi-Cheol, from now on, you will have authority over anything rted to the guards. This means that you will also have the authority over ess to the weapons room.¡± Park Gi-Cheol smiled heartily and nodded. ¡°Just leave it to me.¡± After that, I massaged my temples and gave myself some time to think. There were three leaders of each shelter here. I had no idea what positions I was going to appoint them to. As soon as my worry showed on my face, Hwang Ji-Hye spoke up. ¡°Lee Hyeon-Deok, this is just my opinion¡­ But I just wanted to get your opinion on this.¡± "Go ahead." ¡°Regarding Shelter Gwangjang-dong, I want Lee Jeong-Uk to be the leader.¡± I looked at Lee Jeong-Uk after hearing her rmendation. Lee Jeong-Uk was looking back at her, his eyes wide. Judging from Lee Jeong-Uk''s expression, it seemed like Hwang Ji-Hye had gone ahead and put his name up before they had finished discussing this. Lee Jeong-Uk stared at Hwang Ji-Hye. ¡°I haven¡¯t given you a definite answer yet. You can¡¯t just say what you want to say.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve spoken at length with the other leaders. Everyone agreed.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve already told you multiple times that So-Yeon¡¯s dad¡­ No, Mr. Lee Hyeon-Deok is the leader of this shelter.¡± ¡°Like I said before, it¡¯s not because we don¡¯t trust Lee Hyun-Deok. The survivors need a human leader. You saw what happened during the day yesterday.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk gritted his teeth but stayed silent. It seemed like something had happened yesterday that I wasn¡¯t aware of. I wondered if something had happened between the survivors while Kim Hyeong-Jun and I had been fighting the ck creature. Judging from the fact that everyone supported Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s nomination to be the leader, it seemed like he was the one who had quelled the chaos that had erupted yesterday. I sighed and spoke up. ¡°I agree.¡± ¡°So-Yeon¡¯s dad!¡± Lee Jeong-Uk looked at me, raising his voice. I met his gaze. ¡°Even when we were at Shelter Hae-Young, we were co-leaders. Without you, I wouldn''t be where I am today.¡± ¡°...¡± Lee Jeong-Uk stared at my face for a while, then clicked his tongue vigorously and looked away. I kept my gaze on him and softened my tone. ¡°The survivors need a human leader. A leader with emotions, a beating heart, and someone they can rte to.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°I think Hwang Ji-Hye is right to suggest that you be the leader.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk slowly opened his eyes and let out a sigh. He then smacked his lips and spoke up to everyone. ¡°You can¡¯t me me for not getting the job properly der on. I had no say in this.¡± All the leaders broke into smiles. I smiled along with them as I looked at Lee Jeong-Uk. I knew that Lee Jeong-Uk would do well in the future, just as he had done so far. Chapter 122 Chapter 122 I looked over at Hwang Ji-Hye. ¡°I want you to serve as the deputy leader. Will you be okay with that?¡± "Yes." ¡°And Mr. Hwang Deok-Rok, if you could please take charge of the headquarters.¡± Hwang Deok-Rok, who had been sitting still, widened his eyes at my sudden request and pointed to himself. He seemed to be having a hard time believing that I was speaking to him. "Pardon? Me?¡± ¡°Yes. Please organize documents that each department prepares every month and give them to Hwang Ji-Hye and Lee Jeong-Uk here.¡± "No¡­ I don¡¯t think I¡¯m a good fit for this¡­¡± ¡°Weren¡¯t you the leader of Shelter Barrier?¡± Hwang Deok-Rok scratched his eyebrows, looking extremely ufortable. ¡°The leader of Shelter Barrier is Do Han-Sol.¡± I smiled gently at him. ¡°From what I¡¯ve heard, the survivors of Shelter Barrier seem to follow you as well. It¡¯s never easy to make people believe in you and follow you during tough times like this. I think you¡¯re more than qualified.¡± "Is that so¡­¡± Hwang Deok-Rok scratched his head, not knowing how to react. However, it wasn''t long before he nodded and replied that he would give it a shot. I then looked over at the principal, who was sitting on the left. ¡°If you could please take care of the children, as you¡¯ve been doing so far. You¡¯ll be in charge of the children from Shelter Silence and Shelter Barrier as well.¡± ¡°In that case, we¡¯ll need more teachers.¡± ¡°Please select those who you think will be suitable.¡± "All right." The principal bowed slightly after giving his reply. I then directed my gaze over to the white-haired elder seated next to the principal. ¡°It would be great if you could cultivate some crops on Achasan.¡± ¡°I noticed somend that would be suitable for farming on our way here. I think I¡¯ll need some youngsters to help me level the ground.¡± ¡°I''ll hang official sign-up documents for each department in the lobby on the first floor tomorrow morning. We¡¯ll allow survivors to choose which departments they want to work in.¡± All the leaders nodded energetically. I quietly rubbed my chin and went back over the things we discussed to see if I had left anything out. Suddenly, I remembered something that had almost slipped my mind. ¡°Onest thing. I wanted to hear everyone¡¯s opinion about the two dogs we picked up from the middle school.¡± ¡°Dogs?¡± All the leaders blurted out the word ¡®dogs¡¯ at the same time, as though it had been pre-nned. I nodded and continued. ¡°You must have seen the middle school at the border of Gwangjang-dong on the way here.¡± The leaders furrowed their brows ufortably as the image of the unspeakable atrocity that they had seen came to mind. I briefly exined the incidents that led us to finding and rescuing the two of them, and also how they had saved the children¡¯s lives, ording to Do Han-Sol. The leaders exchanged looks that were full of worry and concern. I knew that this would be a difficult issue, and it would take time to resolve. Everyone was probably on the same page; kicking them out was ufortable, especially since they had saved the children¡¯s lives, but living under the same roof with them seemed unimaginable. I smiled with satisfaction as the leaders contemted this issue. I could see the humanity left in them. As the leaders continued to hem and haw, Lee Jeong-Uk looked around at them and spoke up. ¡°Let¡¯s hear what they have to say first.¡± ¡°I agree.¡± ¡°Same here.¡± ¡°That¡¯d be a good idea.¡± All the leaders agreed with Lee Jeong-Uk. I nodded and called Kim Hyeong-Jun and Do Han-Sol in. The two of them had been chatting quietly in a corner. I asked them to bring the two men over. Do Han-Sol asked us to wait a bit and left the lounge. After a moment, the two men entered the lounge. The two men looked around the lounge in awe, their mouths falling open as they took in the sight. After a moment, the taller man spoke. "So that''s why they didn''t let anyone in. Those damn bastards.¡± The leader and the twelve Believers had ordered the other dogs to stay in the apartments nearby while they hoarded all the food to themselves. I knew more than anyone else how angry the two of them would be, now that they realized what had been happening behind the scenes. The men stood at the end of the long table, staring nkly at us. The taller man seemed to stand rather stiffly. The short man swallowed before speaking. "Are we¡­ Even allowed to be here¡­?¡± ¡°We¡¯re going to keep our promise,¡± I told him. "Pardon?" I inteced my fingers together. ¡°I told you, I¡¯d spare you if you cooperated.¡± The two men looked at each other with rather shocked expressions. I slowly rested my chin on my hands. ¡°We have two options for you to consider. You may choose the freedom that you¡¯ve been desiring, or you may live with us.¡± ¡°Can I have a minute with my friend?¡± "Of course." The two men walked over to where the liquor was on disy and started whispering. After a moment, the two of them returned, determination on their faces. The short man wet his lips and began to speak. ¡°To be honest¡­ We don''t think we deserve to be here. None of you here gave up on your humanity, but the two of uspromised ours in the face of our own reality.¡± ¡°...¡± My eyebrows twitched as I listened to his statement. He sure knew how to talk. The man looked around tactfully. ¡°I also know that if we choose to be set free, we¡¯d most likely die before we even get to Busan. But¡­ If we choose to stay here, I know that we¡¯ll get into conflicts with others.¡± ¡°That¡¯s something you¡¯ll have to face. Is that the reason why you want to part ways with us? Because you¡¯re afraid of conflict?¡± I let my tone grow serious. The shorter man offered a bitter smile. ¡°I don''t want to cause any more trouble. I''m afraid to have to live with others again. This is our¡­ answer.¡± ¡°It sounds like the two of you have given up on your lives. Or am I misinterpreting what you¡¯re saying?¡± ¡°We have no intention of giving up our lives.¡± ¡°So you¡¯re really going to walk all the way to Busan?¡± "Yes." I crossed my arms and leaned my back in my chair. I looked around at the other leaders¡¯ faces. They all seemed to be in deep thought, but none of them seemed to know what to say. My eyes met those of Lee Jeong-Uk. He saw my face and clicked his tongue, then put a hand on his face. ¡°You two young fellows.¡± "Yes?" ¡°Enough with the clumsy acting.¡± ¡°Pardon?¡± Lee Jeong-Uk frowned, taking the two men by surprise. Lee Jeong-Uk clicked his tongue again, more strongly this time. ¡°You don''t want to cause trouble? And you¡¯re afraid to have to live with other people? So you want to die?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Close your eyes and speak the truth. Tell me you want to live here. Don¡¯t blurt out some stupid answer that you¡¯ll regretter on.¡± As the two men listened to Lee Jeong-Uk, their heads sagged. Lee Jeong-Uk looked at the two dispirited, disheartened men and continued to speak. ¡°The two of youmitted a sin, there¡¯s no doubt about that. Don¡¯t speak as if you¡¯re some person of great significance. But do you think we¡¯re some saints or something? Hwang Ji-Hye here is a woman whose first reaction is to point guns at people¡¯s heads.¡± Hwang Ji-Hye, who was sitting quietly, frowned as though she felt insulted by him. She looked over at Lee Jeong-Uk. ¡°Why do you have to phrase it like that?¡± she said incredulously. ¡°And when did I point a gun at anyone¡¯s head first thing when I met them?¡± Hwang Deok-Rok, who was behind her, let out a roar ofughter. "Haha! I also heard that you pulled a gun on Soo-Hyun in Shelter Silence before anything else. That¡¯s when I thought I¡¯d better be careful around you.¡± "Excuse me? Hwang Deok-Rok!¡± Hwang Ji-Hye sighed and red at him, and he shrugged his shoulders and avoided her gaze. Lee Jeong-Uk gestured at the two men with his chin and continued where he had left off. ¡°Everyone here has killed at least one person. Do you actually think that we made it this far while keeping our hands clean? Hmm?¡± ¡°...¡± The two men swallowed as Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s words sank in. Lee Jeong-Uk stashed his hands in his pockets. ¡°Everyone here knows that you have been living as dogs. But the two of you still deserve a chance. Either live here like a human being, or go outside and die. Your choice.¡± ¡°And what if we don''t get along¡­?" ¡°Keep trying. Keep trying until the day you die. Keep trying to live like a human being and to get along with others. Instead of doing something stupid like going outside and dying, live like it¡¯s yourst day, every day.¡± ¡°And if we still fail¡­¡± ¡°If that were to happen, I¡¯ll use my authority to kick you out. If you cause trouble, I¡¯ll kill you with my own hands.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk red at the two men with a serious frown. Their Adam¡¯s apples shuddered violently. After a moment, the taller man, who had been standing stiffly, started to cry. As I watched his tears trickle down, I wondered how much they¡¯d had to go through to survive amongst the other dogs, acting tough so that the other dogs wouldn¡¯t look down on them. Lee Jeong-Uk''s words had been rather rough and blunt, but thanks to him, they were able to open up to us. The shorter man patted hispatriot on the back,forting him. The taller man only cried even harder. All the leaders around the table watched him bawling his eyes out with expressions of sorrow. I nced over at Do Han-Sol and asked him to escort the two men out. He smiled in satisfaction as he did so. When the two men had gone, Lee Jeong-Uk began to grumble. ¡°One man crying, and neither of them saying what they really want¡­¡± Lee Jeong-Uk trailed off with a click of his tongue. I tilted my head and looked at him. ¡°What if the two of them were actually up to no good?¡± I asked him calmly. ¡°What would you have done?¡± Lee Jeong-Uk looked at me in surprise. ¡°You don¡¯t actually think they¡¯ve eaten human flesh, do you? They probably pretended to eat only because they¡¯re trying to act like dogs.¡± ¡°And how do you know that?¡± ¡°You couldn¡¯t tell? Their eyes, their expressions¡­ They don¡¯t have the same crazy eyes as the other dogs I¡¯ve met so far.¡± ¡°So you don¡¯t know for yourself, huh?¡± I smiled and gently raised my eyebrows. Lee Jeong-Uk saw my smirk and clicked his tongue vigorously. His expression grew annoyed. ¡°Can you stop teasing me? I know you¡¯re an expert on these kinds of things. Do you really think that I haven¡¯t noticed you watching everyone¡¯s reactions almost since the start of this meeting?¡± ¡°Hahaha!¡± I burst outughing, and Lee Jeong-Uk shook his head. The officers gave the two of us bewildered looks. I took a breath and said to Lee Jeong-Uk, ¡°I wasn''t certain. But now that I heard them speak, I¡¯m certain. I¡¯m certain that the two of them haven¡¯t eaten human flesh.¡± ¡°I knew it. You were feeling them out.¡± ¡°I did think that they seemed too skinnypared to the other dogs¡­ But then, how¡¯d they survive until now?¡± ¡°They probably survived by eating all sorts of things, probably things that were beyond questionable.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk punctuated his answer with a smack of his lips. Hwang Ji-Hye, who had been listening to our conversation, spoke up. ¡°No, wait a minute. Then why didn''t those two deny that they hadn¡¯t eaten human flesh? That makes it even weirder.¡± ¡°Would you have believed them if they¡¯d said that they hadn¡¯t eaten human flesh? Especially when we found out they were dogs?¡± I phrased my answer calmly, and Hwang Ji-Hye stayed silent. She knew that everyone would have just frowned at them if they¡¯d insisted that they hadn¡¯t eaten human flesh. I softened my expression with a smile. ¡°Those two wanted to stay here from the beginning. However, as long as we viewed them as dogs, there was no way they could juste out and say that they wanted to stay here.¡± ¡°But still¡­¡± ¡°Instead of hiding their past as dogs, they chose to reveal their past and join us. They¡¯ve put their lives in our hands. That''s how desperate the two of them are. And how honest they are.¡± That was my cold, honest reading of the situation. Hwang Ji-Hye crossed her arms, her lips pressed together in a thin line. Lee Jeong-Uk, who was seated next to her, continued the discussion. ¡°If they really had eaten human flesh, they would¡¯ve separated themselves from the group as soon as we got away from the hotel. They would have had absolutely no reason to stick around until now.¡± Hwang Ji-Hye nodded slowly. All the leaders seemed to agree with Lee Jeong-Uk. Lee Jeong-Uk sighed. "They are a bit stubborn¡­ But the way they talk and act, they¡¯re no different from normal college kids,¡± he said in a low voice. "They¡¯re probably twenty? Twenty-one? That seems about right,¡± I added. Lee Jeong-Uk nodded, his expression rather neutral. After a moment, Park Gi-Cheol spoke up. ¡°What would we have done if you weren¡¯t the leader, Lee Jeong-Uk!¡± Everyoneughed in agreement. Lee Jeong-Uk scratched his head and smacked his lips, probably feeling embarrassed. I smiled heartily as I looked at Lee Jeong-Uk. ''I''m d I have you here with me.'' Someone that was on the same page as me, someone that knew what was going on without me having to tell him everything. Lee Jeong-Uk was that somebody to me. I sighed and got up from my seat. ¡°A big thank you to all of you who attended the first meeting of the Survivor Rally Organization. I¡¯ve been able to make it this far thanks to all of you.¡± As I rose to my feet, all the officers stood as well. Their faces were full of life. I could sense the firm determination in their faces. We had finally arrived at our new home. I smiled a satisfied smile. ¡°We¡¯ll wrap today¡¯s meeting here. I¡¯m looking forward to spending time with every single one of you.¡± ¡°Same here!¡± The leaders pped in unison, ushering in a new beginning. We still had a long way to go, but with these people, I was confident that we could ovee anything that got in our way. Chapter 123 Chapter 123 The next day, at the break of dawn, Kim Hyeong-Jun, Do Han-Sol and I went outside. We¡¯d been busy all through the year, and winter was just around the corner. The air we were breathing had gotten colder, and we realized that it was chilly enough that we would need thicker winter clothes. Of course, it was impossible for us zombies to feel the cold when we felt no pain. Despite this, our physical abilities were still slightly hampered by the cold, since our bodies were still primarily human. I took a deep breath, then looked at Do Han-Sol. ¡°Han-Sol, can you reinforce the security of the hotel while we¡¯re away?¡± "Will do." ¡°Hyeong-Jun, if you can take charge of the Dous Hotel on the right. I¡¯ll check the Vista Hotel on the left.¡± "Okay." Once our roles were assigned, we prepared to move out. As I began to head toward Vista Hotel, Do Han-Sol called out to me from behind. ¡°Oh, Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok!¡± I nced back. Do Han-Sol looked worried. ¡°What if the ck creature shows up again?¡± When I heard his question, I realized that I¡¯d forgotten to bring something up during the discussion the night before. I had forgotten to tell everyone that the Family had stopped feeding the ck creatures. As I stood there, feeling slightly stunned, Kim Hyeong-Jun came up to me. ¡°What is it, ahjussi? It seems like you know something.¡± ¡°I forgot.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°There¡¯s something I forgot to tell everyone during the meetingst night.¡± I sighed and massaged my temples gently. I had so much on my mind that I kept on forgetting things. Kim Hyeong-Jun crossed his arms and looked at me. ¡°Tell me. What is it?¡± ¡°I think the gang members stopped feeding the ck creatures bait.¡± "What?" Kim Hyeong-Jun stared at me, his eyes going wide. His expression grew troubled. ¡°Wait, what is that supposed to mean? Are they low on bait?¡± ¡°Follow me. I have something to show you.¡± I led the two of them back inside the hotel lobby again. As we entered, I saw Lee Jeong-Uk and Hwang Ji-Hye attaching the official documents along the lobby wall. Lee Jeong-Uk tore off some tape and said to me, ¡°Back so soon? Did you find the dogs?¡± "No. But there''s something everyone has to see." "Huh? What?¡± ¡°The two of you should finish up what you¡¯re doing right now ande up to the restaurant on the second floor as well.¡± ¡°Okay¡­¡± Hwang Ji-Hye whispered something to Lee Jeong-Uk. He shrugged and quickly tried to wrap up what they were doing. I entered the restaurant on the second floor and pointed to the room in the corner that had been used as a confessional. ¡°That¡¯s a study that used to belong to the leader here. Go ahead and check it out. I¡¯ll join you after Lee Jeong-Uk and Hwang Ji-Hye get here.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun and Do Han-Sol entered the study while I sat in an empty seat in the restaurant, absorbed in my own thoughts. ''Did they choose to withdraw?¡¯ If they had stopped supplying the ck creatures with food, that meant that the survivors of Gangnam were holding them off more strongly than they¡¯d anticipated. I wondered if that meant that they''d brought the baits in to augment their forces. Or maybe the boss had given up on Gangbuk after suffering the defeat in Gwangjin-gu. If they returned to Gangbuk to retaliate, there was no way that the survivors of Gangnam would leave Sogang Bridge alone. The gang boss may have been faced with the difficult decision of holding on to Gangbuk or not, and had chosen to give up Gangbuk to focus on the Gangnam Operation. If they considered Gangbuk a ce that they could take back anytime, this possibility was more than likely. When I reached this conclusion, a wave of nervousness swept through my body. I even felt as though my dead heart had begun to beat again. At that moment, I had no clue how to calm myself down. I wondered if this meant that there weren¡¯t any members of the Family left in Gangbuk, and it was just the ck creatures remaining. If the Family had to incorporate the baits into the main body of their forces, there was little to no chance for there to be any dong leaders left in Gangbuk. There was no doubt that the ck creatures were superior to us in terms of strength. But the members of the Family were much more terrifying than them, because the members of the Family had the ability to think. Perhaps¡­ This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to im Gangbuk in the name of the Survivor Rally Organization. If we upied Gangbuk and pushed toward Sogang Bridge, we¡¯d be able to annihte the Family. It would be more than possible if we were able to forge an alliance with Gangnam. They had the firepower, and we had the numbers. I clenched my fists and put on a determined face. I saw a ray of hope shining on me. * * * After Lee Jeong-Uk and Hwang Ji-Hye examined the study, we sat around the center table of the restaurant. We had the map that belonged to the Family in front of us. Lee Jeong-Uk looked at the map and spoke up. ¡°This map doesn¡¯t have Shelter Hae-Young¡¯s location marked out yet. Do you think this is reliable?¡± ¡°They found out Shelter Hae-Young¡¯s location during the Gwangjin-gu battle, so it¡¯s only right for it to not be there.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk gently rubbed his chin as he sucked on his lower lip. Hwan Ji-Hye took the opportunity to speak. ¡°There are a total of four scissors marks left on the map. Yeonnam-dong in Mapo-gu, Eungam-dong in Eunpyeong-gu, Itaewon in Yongsan-gu, and Haengdang-dong in Seongdong-gu.¡± ¡°The ck creature we took care of a few days ago came from Haengdang 2-dong. It was simr to the ck creature that Jae-Hwan drew for us a while back.¡± "Then¡­ Does that mean there are still three more of them left?¡± ¡°Yes, Mapo-gu and Eunpyeong-gu are out in the west, so they aren¡¯t too big of a threat at the moment, but I can¡¯t get my mind off of the one in Itaewon.¡± ¡°How are we going to find and take care of them? It¡¯s not like they have locators on their bodies or anything.¡± ¡°Oh, you don¡¯t have to worry about that,¡± I said calmly. ¡°We won¡¯t have to go looking for them. They¡¯lle to us.¡± Hwang Ji-Hye¡¯s expression grew troubled, and she massaged her temples. Kim Hyeong-Jun, who had been listening quietly, pointed to the shield markings on the map. ¡°What should we do with the remaining shelters?¡± ¡°Honestly, I have no clue.¡± I knew that we couldn¡¯t move hastily, since none of the information we had was certain. We had no information on how many survivors each shelter had, let alone if they were even any left. In response to my honest and realistic answer, Kim Hyeong-Jun scratched his forehead and continued, ¡°Most of the shelters drawn on the map are outside of Seoul. Those areas are managed by the weaker dong leaders. I¡¯d think the survivors would still be alive. Don¡¯t you think so?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Do Han-Sol is also from Gunja-dong, which is marked as green on this map. I¡¯m sure there¡¯ll be shelters that are still up, just like Shelter Barrier.¡± ¡°No, you¡¯re right. There¡¯s a high chance of them still being there. The problem is, we can¡¯t get to them. If the ck creaturese here while we¡¯re gone, do you think everyone else left here will be able to stop it?¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun smacked his lips as I listed out my doubts, and his expression grew puzzled. It seemed like he couldn¡¯t think of a reasonable answer to my question. Fighting the ck creature had been difficult, even with both Kim Hyeong-Jun and I fighting it together. If we weren¡¯t together when faced with the next one, it would mean the end of the Survivors Rally Organization. Kim Hyeong-Jun sat there with his arms crossed, lost in thought, but after a moment, he snapped his fingers as if he had just realized something. ¡°Ahjussi, we have Mood-Swinger!¡± I also snapped my fingers when he brought up his idea. He was right. We had Mood-Swinger. And we still didn¡¯t know how strong Mood-Swinger was, now that it had turned into a stage-three mutant. It was possible that it was on par with us, zombies that had blue eyes, or even stronger. I looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun. ¡°Hyeong-Jun, could you go and evaluate Mood-Swinger¡¯s physical capabilities? And Han-Sol, can you check for any other clues in the study?¡± ¡°Okay.¡± ¡°Will do.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun and Do Han-Sol went their respective ways. I looked over at Lee Jeong-Uk. ¡°Jeong-Uk, if you could work on organizing and stabilizing the shelter, the survivors will probably need some time to adjust to their respective responsibilities.¡± "Okay." Lee Jeong-Uk nodded without saying anything. After a moment, he gave myself and Hwang Ji-Hye a sidelong look. ¡°Then, about Jeong-Hyuk¡¯s and Da-Hye¡¯s wedding¡­ Should we postpone it a little?¡± ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s do that for now. We still need some time to fully understand the current situation. We¡¯re not a hundred percent certain that the Family has given up on Gangbuk just yet.¡± ¡°¡­Okay.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk sighed and nodded. It seemed like he was looking forward to the wedding. I could imagine the depth of his disappointment right now, since I knew how deeply he cared about Lee Jeong-Hyuk and Choi Da-Hye. It was obvious from his voice alone. I patted Lee Jeong-Uk on the shoulder. ¡°Let¡¯s keep it up. Just a little more. The good days wille soon.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk rose to his feet with a gentle smile. Hwang Ji-Hye stood as well, and gave Lee Jeong-Uk a p on his back. ¡°The group leader can¡¯t go around looking this glum. Cheer up!¡± ¡°Haha¡­ Alright.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk forced a smile and apanied Hwang Ji-Hye to the lobby. After everyone had left the restaurant, I took another look at the map of Seoul that wasid out on the table. There were three ck creatures roaming freely, and five shelters left in Gangbuk. I wondered whaty ahead of them. I sighed and scratched my forehead. ¡®Now isn¡¯t the time to think about others. I should be thinking about myself and about us first.¡¯ I got up and headed for the front entrance of the hotel. My priority was to go through the surrounding hotels first, and then make sure that Gwangjang-dong was safe. * * * It¡¯s often said that time is rtive. Fifteen days, which would pass like nothing when I was human, was now a long enough stretch of time to make significant changes. A lot had changed for the Survivor Rally Organisation over the past fifteen days. Kim Hyeong-Jun and I finished cleaning up Gwangjang-dong and were able to put up a fence along the border. Park Gi-Cheol had reorganized the guards and began to teach them professionalbat techniques, and even organized a patrol unit to strengthen the surveince of Gwangjang-dong. The facilities management team used the hotel''s underground parking lot as their work space, and slowly but surely started working on making sr panels. There was a tiny issue in regards to the batteries, but Kwak Dong-Won assured us that it was an issue that could be solved. The farnd at the foot of Achasan started to look like actual farnd. The farming team plowed the soil, sweating despite the cold winter, since the elder had emphasized that it was essential to take care of the soil during the winter in order to have better crops the following year. The children were able to get back to studying. Thanks to the library on the second floor of the hotel, the ssroom experience got better by the day. Theundry team started to use the water from the Han River to do theundry. I was worried that they might get frostbite from washing clothes with the ice-cold Han River water while enduring the chilly wind. However, the team brushed off the cold wind and frigid water as if they were nothing, warming their hands with their breath as they chatted andughed amongst themselves. The medical team had converted the third floor into a hospital, as was trying their best to work with the supplies they had. It seemed like everything was slowlying together. The survivors were creating miracles out of nothing. Everyone was working together to create a better tomorrow. As I observed the survivors in delight, Kim Hyeong-Jun came up to me. ¡°What¡¯s making Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok ahjussi so happy, I wonder?¡± ¡°When did you get here?¡± ¡°A while ago. How¡¯d you not notice?¡± I chuckled and shook my head. Kim Hyeong-Jun looked around, as though looking for someone. ¡°What about Han-Sol?¡± ¡°Han-Sol¡¯s on guard duty.¡± Not too long ago, Kim Hyeong-Jun had been calling him ¡®Mr. Do Han-Sol¡¯, then ¡®Do Han-Sol¡¯, but now, he was calling him Han-Sol. It seemed like the two had grown closer. They were finally calling each other on a first-name basis. Kim Hyeong-Jun nodded. ¡°Surprisingly enough, Hwang Ji-Hye is runningte.¡± ¡°She¡¯ll be here soon.¡± I stashed my hands in my pockets and sniffled as the cold winter air tickled the tip of my nose. I looked over at the end of Achasan-ro that led to the hotel and saw Hwang Ji-Hye approaching from afar. She was bringing an empty cart, along with ten guards. I saw Kwang Dong-Won next to her. I looked around at their faces. ¡°Are you all ready?¡± I asked. "Yes." As she answered, Hwang Ji-Hye double-checked if she had her shlight with her. I took a breath and spoke up. ¡°I¡¯ll give a briefing before we move on. We¡¯ll meet with the survivors in Gangnam, and we¡¯lle back right after we get the things we need.¡± ¡°Understood!¡± The guards looked at me and responded energetically. They were answering as if they had nothing to be scared of, but their expressions were saying something different. They were stiff, and seemed very nervous. I let a smile y across my lips as I looked at them. ¡°Nothing dangerous will happen. It¡¯s good to be a little nervous, but don¡¯t get too nervous.¡± ¡°Yes, yes.¡± The guards smiled shyly, letting some of their anxiety slide away. It was the third Saturday of the month. It was the designated day to receive updates on what was happening in Gangnam, along with fresh supplies. We nned to reach Seoul Forest before sunset to meet the survivors of Gangnam. I took a look at the survivors¡¯ faces. ¡°Make sure you follow me and don¡¯t fall behind. And please, try to put in your best effort until the end.¡± "Understood!¡± After we went through the individual assignments, we headed to the border of Gwangjang-dong. When we got to the border, we came upon a tightly closed iron door. Thanks to the hard work of the facilities management team from day one, we had managed to install an iron gate that made it possible to enter and to leave Gwangjang-dong. There were still several things that could be improved, such as the fence not being high enough, but it was more than enough to give everyone a sense of safety and stability. I knew that things would only get better from now on. Unless we decided to stop with what we were doing, the world would soon be a better ce to live. I let out a breath. ¡°Off we go.¡± nk, nk. The tightly-shut iron door slowly opened, and the dreary, eerie street greeted us. I started walking out into the fallen world with my blue eyes shimmering. Chapter 124 Chapter 124 "On your left!" shouted Hwang Ji-Hye as she got her crossbow ready. I turned to my left and saw zombies running toward us from Jayang-dong. Even though we had faced many zombie waves on our way to Gwangjang-dong, there were still thousands of zombies roaming the streets. As I ran to my left, Hwang Ji-Hye and the guards fired crossbows at the zombiesing from the front. As I shattered the first zombie¡¯s bones, I regretted that I hadn¡¯t brought enough underlings with me. I¡¯d only brought the firstpany with me. The rest of my underlings were defending Gwangjang-dong. Although Kim Hyeong-Jun had brought his mutants, I was afraid that the zombies would be able to ovee our weaknesses if we continued to face such arge number of them. Kim Hyeong-Jun took care of the zombiesing in from the right as he spared a few sporadic nces toward the survivors. Since our priority was to keep Hwang Ji-Hye and the guards safe, Kim Hyeong-Jun and I couldn¡¯t let ourselves be separated from the survivors. Grrr¡­ GWAAA! I saw the second wave of zombies rushing toward us from the end of Achasan-ro. I counted the number of zombies that were approaching as I dealt with the zombies around me. As the number of survivors left in Gangbuk decreased, the zombies became more and more aggressive and ferocious. There were sixteen survivors with us, including Hwang Ji-Hye. Back when there were more survivors in general, this number of survivors gathered together would attract at most one to two hundred ravenous zombies. Now, though, there were more than six hundred zombiesing after sixteen people. ¡°Call in Mood-Swinger!¡± I shouted toward Kim Hyeong-Jun. Instead of responding to me, Kim Hyeong-Jun gave orders to Mood-Swinger. ¡°Push them back, Mood-Swinger!¡± "Ar¡­ no¡­ ld!¡± Mood-Swinger started making throat-tearing noises while getting down on all fours. ¡°Krrr¡­¡± Hot steam began to rise from its body. Its light copper-colored skin gradually grew darker, until its entire body turned dark brown. Mood-Swinger let out a thunderous roar and charged toward the zombies. ¡°KRRR!!!¡± Bang! Asphalt fragments were sent scattering like fragments from a grenade. Before we knew it, Mood-Swinger had disappeared before our eyes with a loud boom. I remembered how, fifteen days ago, Kim Hyeong-Jun hadmented on how crazy Mood-Swinger¡¯s body was after it had transformed. He had told me that there was no other way to describe its body than the word ¡®crazy¡¯. I finally realized what he meant by that. We had brought a unique monster into this world. My jaw fell to the ground when I saw Mood-Swinger¡¯s movement. If Mood-Swinger attacked us, it would be thest day of our lives. Mood-Swinger appeared in front of the approaching zombies in an instant, as if it had gained the ability to teleport. I wondered if it moved at the same speed as me. Perhaps it was even faster than me. Above all, though, its strength was way beyond mine. Mood-Swinger had lost its intelligence, but it was able to obtain power that couldn¡¯t be described in words. ''It shouldn¡¯t have a problem dealing with a ck creature.¡¯ Mood-Swinger was no longer an ordinary mutant. It was safe to say that he was like the T-800 that appeared in movies. In fact, it just might be stronger than that.[1] Thanks to Mood-Swinger, we were able to easily take care of the street zombies. While Mood-Swinger munched on the dead bodies of the zombies, I looked around and addressed Kim Hyeong-Jun. ¡°Over there is the front entrance of Konkuk University Hospital. Can you go get some bandages and disposable syringes while we meet the survivors of Gangnam?¡± "No worries. Should I go to Seoul Forest after I get everything?¡± ¡°If you doe,e via Achasan-ro. So that we don¡¯t miss each other.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± After I was done talking with Kim Hyeong-Jun, I walked toward the guards. I noticed that the sun had begun to set, slowly dipping under the horizon to the west. We had no time to lose. A momentter, Hwang Ji-Hye came up next to me. "We should get going before it gets toote." ¡°Everyone, stay close, now that Hyeong-Jun isn¡¯t around anymore.¡± ¡°Will do.¡± Hwang Ji-Hye ordered the guards who were retrieving their arrows to prepare to move. We made our way to Seoul Forest with the sunset. * * * By the time we arrived at Seoul Forest, it was already pitch dark. Even though we had cleaned up Seongsu-dong a while back, we were still attacked by zombies. It seemed like zombies from other areas hade in and upied Seongsu-dong. Thanks to their attack, though, I became more certain that my hypothesis was true. The Family had given up on Gangbuk. It seemed like the street zombies were roaming around searching for food now that the dong leaders had been relocated to Gangnam. There was no way that the dong leaders would have left zombies to roam around; it¡¯d be stupid for them to leave potential underlings alone. Since I also managed the street zombies by creating prisons, it would be questionable if the dong leaders just let street zombies roam free under their watch. Knowing how these members of the Family were, they would¡¯ve tried harder than I to keep more potential underlings to themselves. I sat at the guard post at the third line of defense in Seoul Forest, sorting through my thoughts. After a moment, Hwang Ji-Hye entered, rubbing her hands together. "Geez¡­ It¡¯s getting colder.¡± ¡°What are you guys eating for dinner tonight?¡± Hwang Ji-Hye had just returned from the apartment we used to stay in. She¡¯d told me earlier that she had left something there. Her attention shifted to the contents boiling within a pot nearby, and a broad grin quickly spread across her face. The smell of ramen had filled the guard post, making her mouth water. The guards and Hwang Ji-Hye wolfed down the eight bags of ramyeon that they had brought in the blink of an eye. The portion wasn¡¯t enough for the sixteen people to eat their fill, but they were grateful that they could even eat a bowl of ramen. I looked at Hwang Ji-Hye. "Stay put. I¡¯m going around to scout for a little bit.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ Got it.¡± Hwang Ji-Hye sniffled and smiled brightly. I was worried that the guards and Hwang Ji-Hye might get frostbite. The guard post had been erected to offer some shelter from the wind, but there were only four nkets avable for them to keep them warm. Four nkets for sixteen people. They had created a small fire to cook the ramyeon, but they couldn¡¯t keep the fire going in the guard post, especially since the ce was not so well-ventted. The cold wind blowing in from the river swept past my body and continued on as I left the guard post. It was one of the worst days to be on guard duty. I couldn¡¯t help but worry about how much further the temperature would plummet. I looked at my underlings and gave them several instructions. ¡®First toon of firstpany, look around the third line of defense. Second toon, check the paths that lead into the forest. Third toon, patrol the north bank of the river. Fourth and fifth toons, stay put and guard the tents here.¡¯ Grrr. My underlings responded in unison, filling the air with their throat-rending cries. I stared at Gangnam, whichy beyond the Han River. Gangnam was pitch-dark, with no lights to be seen, which reminded me of a ghost town. It definitely felt new and foreign. I assumed that there were a lot of survivors on the other side who had to be at war with the Family at the moment. Gangnam and Gangbuk were going through slightly different situations, just because of the fact that we were divided by the Han River. I wondered if the people of Gangnam had felt like this in the past. I wondered if they shared simr thoughts as mine, back when we were desperately fighting for our lives. I let out a deep breath. The clear, white mist that emerged seemed to carry with it all my worries. Back when I was a human, I used to hate how my life was so dull and monotonous. I felt like my life couldn¡¯t get any more boring. Now, though, I felt more than ever that boring, uneventful lifestyle was never going to be part of my life ever again. sh. At that moment, there was a sh of light from Gangnam. I quickly ran to the guard post. ¡°There¡¯s a light shing.¡± Hwang Ji-Hye¡¯s eyes widened, and she hurried out with her shlight in her hands. When she saw the flickering lights from Gangnam, she responded with several shes of her own shlight. The two sides sent signals about three or four times, then stopped;. Hwang Ji-Hye looked at me. ¡°Could you get the raft ready?¡± I walked to the riverside and prepared the raft. After Hwang Ji-Hye and Kwak Dong-Won got on, I gave it a hard shove. The raft shook once, then floated out into the Han River. Several of the guards approached me. ¡°Do you think we¡¯ll get anything from them?¡± one of them asked. ¡°I heard that Gangnam was at war with the Family¡­¡± ¡°We¡¯ll have to wait and see.¡± Hwang Ji-Hye and Kwak Dong-Won rowed further into the Han River. I watched the raft getting further away with a calm expression. I had done my part. Getting information regarding the Family, the situation in Gangnam, and securing supplies was now in the hands of Hwang Ji-Hye and Kwak Dong-won. I prayed that the negotiations would go well, and that we could obtain all the information we wanted. * * * About an hourter, Hwang Ji-Hye and Kwak Dong-Won returned. Judging from Hwang Ji-Hye''s bright expression, it seemed like they were able to get what we wanted from them. With some effort, I pulled the raft back to shore using the rope attached to it. ¡°Could youe over and take these?¡± Hwang Ji-Hye called out as she handed the supplies that were on the raft to the guards. While they quickly unloaded the supplies, Hwang Ji-Hye rubbed her cold hands together. ¡°Please push us out again.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°We still have more supplies to bring back. Could you push us out again?¡± ¡°They¡¯re suddenly giving us this much¡­?¡± Despite my doubts, I pushed the raft containing the two of them out again, then began to question the motives of the people in Gangnam even more. The two of them disappeared into the darkness of the Han River again, and I went through the supplies that they had brought over. There was canned food and dried food, along with all sorts of seasonings. Another box was full of rifle magazines. I frowned at the supplies. ''Something doesn¡¯t seem right. How can they give us so many supplies when they¡¯re in the middle of a war with the Family?¡¯ I couldn¡¯t wrap my head around this. I scratched my forehead and stared out at the pitch-dark Han River. I had no clue what their discussions could have contained. No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn¡¯t find an answer. I sat by the river and stared out at the Han River for a while. After a moment, I saw Hwang Ji-Hye and Kwak Dong-Won returning, covered in sweat. As I pulled the raft in again, Hwang Ji-Hye called for the guards. This time, there were threerge boxes. I looked inside. They were full of magazines. I looked toward Gangnam. This totally boggled my mind. ¡°They must be insane,¡± I muttered. ¡°Pardon?¡± Hwang Ji-Hye had overheard me talking to myself. I looked over at her and tilted my head. ¡°What did you tell them? What did they tell you?¡± ¡°They said that the survivors of Gangnam are easily holding off the Family¡¯s attacks.¡± "Even if that¡¯s the case, they¡¯re giving us all of this?¡± ¡°This isn¡¯t even all of it. I have to go back and get more.¡± ¡°More?¡± I repeated the word as a question, staring at her with wide-open eyes. Hwang Ji-Hye wiped off the sweat that was dripping down her forehead. ¡°There are still three more boxes to bring over,¡± she answered. ¡°Two of them contain food.¡± ¡°...¡± My expression grew troubled. Kwak Dong-Won, who was next to me, spoke up. "Is there a problem?" "No, I don¡¯t¡­ I just feel like there¡¯s something fishy about this.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you think we should get whatever we can when we can? No?¡± Kwak Dong-won punctuated his reply with a burst ofughter. It seemed like Kwak Dong-Won, who hade from Gangnam, was feeling rather superior. His tone seemed to suggest that whatever was going on merely highlighted the vast differences between Gangnam and Gangbuk. Just a few weeks ago, he¡¯d been stuttering and trembling, but now he was bursting with excitement, unable to contain his joy. I was feeling reluctant, but I pushed the out raft again, since only a fool would refuse what they were giving us. Once the three round trips werepleted, we had eight boxes piled up in front of us. Four of them were full of magazines, and the remaining four were full of food. I looked over at Hwang Ji-Hye. ¡°Have they ever given you this much?¡± "Pardon?" ¡°The supplies that were piled up in Shelter Silence''s storage room. Did they ever give you this much at once?¡± ¡°No. It was usually about half of this.¡± ¡°So you¡¯re saying that this is the first time they¡¯ve given you eight boxes at once?¡± "Yes." Hwang Ji-Hye was already so preupied with the boxes in front of her that she didn¡¯t catch the meaning behind my words. My eyes continued to reflect my doubt. Kwak Dong-won, who was next to me, spoke up. ¡°Why¡­? Is there something wrong?¡± I let my tone of voice grow serious. ¡°It¡¯s like giving a bucket of water to your neighbor when your front yard is burning just because some smoke was blown in their direction. Am I the only one who feels weird?¡± Hwang Ji-Hye finally realized that something didn¡¯t seem quite right, and fell into deep thought. On the other hand, Kwak Dong-Won merely smirked. ¡°Don¡¯t you think that just means that Gangnam has this much to spare for others?¡± ¡°That¡¯d be great if that¡¯s the case¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯d say not to worry too much about it. If they ask for them to be returnedter on, then we¡¯ll deal with that issue when it arises.¡± Kwak Dong-Won stared at the supplies in the boxes with a satisfied smile. He then gestured to the guards. ¡°If you could help us move these, that¡¯d be great. Let¡¯s move them to the cart!¡± The boxes were so heavy that it took two or three people to move them. And they had given us eight of these boxes. As I smacked my lips out of suspicion, Hwang Ji-Hye walked over to me. ¡°After hearing what you said¡­ It definitely does seem strange.¡± ¡°It seems like there¡¯s something else behind their generosity.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s have a meeting once we get back.¡± I nodded and looked out at the Han River, shrouded in pitch-ck darkness. Even though we had received more than enough supplies, I was not at ease. 1. The T-800 is from the movie Terminator, which is Sk¡¯s first cybeic human-like organism. Arnold Schwarzenegger portrayed the T-800 in the Terminator movies. ? Chapter 125 Chapter 125 Once the business was taken care of, we set off on the journey back to Gwangjang-dong. Almost immediately, I saw a couple of mutants that looked purple walking toward us from afar. In front of the mutants, Kim Hyeong-Jun had his hand raised up high and was waving toward me. ¡°Did you get the stuff?¡± ¡°Yup. We have plenty now.¡± As I pointed to the boxes on the cart, Kim Hyeong-Jun tilted his head. ¡°This much?¡± he asked. ¡°There¡¯s something fishy about them¡­ But I can¡¯t quite exin it. I¡¯ll go into the detailster.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun pouted his lower lip and nodded. As soon as I got the survivors and my underlings in formation, Kim Hyeong-Jun spoke up urgently, as though he¡¯d just remembered something. ¡°Oh, ahjussi.¡± ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to check on my zombie prison ande back.¡± ¡°Right now?¡± When I raised my eyebrows at him, Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s expression grew uneasy. ¡°Did you check on yours, ahjussi?¡± ¡°My jailer zombies are taking care of it.¡± I had assigned one hundred of my underlings to manage my zombie prison. I called those underlings jailer zombies. Kim Hyeong-Jun cleared his throat and looked at me, then sucked on his lower lip. ¡°Umm¡­ About Majang-dong.¡± ¡°What about Majang-dong?¡± ¡°Well, do you remember that I created a zombie prison there as well?¡± ¡°And¡­?¡± I furrowed my brow at him. His head sagged, and his expression grew troubled. I became speechless and put my right hand on my forehead. I was taking care of the zombie prison in Haengdang-dong, while Kim Hyeong-Jun was taking care of the one in Majang-dong. However, it seemed like Kim Hyeong-Jun had called in all of his underlings, including the ones that were taking care of the zombie prison, over to Gwangjang-dong. That meant that the zombies in Majang-dong were currently not under guard. I wet my dry lips and followed up with another question. ¡°When¡¯s thest time you checked on the prison?¡± ¡°When Shelter Hae-Young was attacked¡­ I called in all my underlings from Majang-dong back then. When I did that, I think I also called the ones at the zombie prison as well.¡± ¡°And you haven¡¯t checked on it? Not even once since then?¡± ¡°My bad, ahjussi. Ipletely forgot about it until now.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun bit his lip, a troubled expression on his face. I gently massaged my temples and let out a sigh. I knew there was no point in ming Kim Hyeong-Jun now. The battle in Gwangjin-gu had been an uninterrupted series of urgent and unexpected events, and Kim Hyeong-Jun had done his best bymanding his underlings to the best of his abilities. It seemed like he had called in his underlings at the zombie prison in the process. The problem was that the zombies in the zombie prison weren¡¯t just ordinary zombies. They were zombies that had the possibility of bing mutants. I let out another sigh. ¡°I¡¯ll head back with Hwang Ji-Hye and the guards first. You go check on your zombie prison ande back right away.¡± "Okay. What if there are mutants all over the ce?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t think about handling them by yourself. Don¡¯t push yourself.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine. It¡¯s not your fault.¡± I smacked my lips and pped Kim Hyeong-Jun lightly on the forearm. He didn¡¯t grumble back as he would¡¯ve normally, but lowered his head in apology. I looked him straight in the eyes. ¡°Don¡¯t feel guilty. Whatever happens, we can go through it together.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°And don¡¯t push yourself too far. And keep an eye on Mood-Swinger.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± I lowered my head slightly and patted Kim Hyeong-Jun on the shoulder. Kim Hyeong-Jun took his leave, promising to be back in a bit, and headed toward Majang-dong with his mutants. After he left, Hwang Ji-Hye came up to me with a question. ¡°A zombie prison? Could you borate?¡± ¡°We have zombie prisons in Haengdang-dong and Majang-dong where we manage zombies.¡± ¡°You created these prisons? Why would you do that? You could¡¯ve just killed all of them¡­¡± ¡°We would be left with tens and thousands of dead zombie bodies if we killed them all. Have you thought about how we could handle those? Besides, when we created the prisons, it was in the middle of the summer.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°And if we lose underlings during our fights, we needed a way to make more underlings. We need to maintain a supply of underlings.¡± Hwang Ji-Hye bit her lower lip and stayed silent. She didn¡¯t seem to have a response. I slicked my hair back and tried to move on to another topic. ¡°How about we head back first? We can talk about the prisons again when Hyeong-Jun gets back.¡± ¡°All right¡­¡± I gestured to everyone to move and led the way. I tried to brush off the zombie prisons as not a big deal when I¡¯d spoken about them to Hwang Ji-Hye, but in truth, my mind was moreplicated than I wished it was. At the zombie prison in Majang-dong, there were hundreds of zombies that were not under the direct control of either me or Kim Hyeong-Jun. That¡¯s why we needed to assign jailer zombies in order to keep apart any zombies that tried to fight each other. It¡¯s been a while since we had made the prisons, so I was more than certain that a mutant had been born in the Majang-dong zombie prison. Considering how Mood-Swinger had turned into a stage-three mutant in a matter of minutes, I couldn¡¯t even imagine how chaotic Majang-dong was right now. I prayed that the prison zombies hadn''t made their way out of the prison. And if there were any stage-two zombies¡­ I hoped that none of them had run into a ck creature. * * * On our way back, not a single zombie attacked us. Maybe it was because I¡¯d already dealt with a lot of zombies on our way to Seoul Forest earlier. In contrast to the ominous atmosphere on Earth, the twinkling stars and moonlight shone brightly in the sky. The light made it easier for me to see. When I arrived at the entrance to Gwangjang-dong, a jewelry store that I hadn¡¯t seen before caught my attention. As I stared at it, Hwang Ji-Hye smiled and asked me a question. ¡°Are you thinking of a ring?¡± ¡°I think we need to find rings for them pretty soon.¡± The people at the shelter were preparing a wedding for Lee Jeong-Hyuk and Choi Da-Hye. Ironically, the two of them had no clue that it was happening. The lounge on the sixteenth floor was being decorated to serve as the wedding hall, in preparation for the wedding day. A wedding was just around the corner, and the bride and groom were the only ones in the dark. Hwang Ji-Hye looked around. ¡°It seems pretty quiet right now,¡± she said. ¡°Shall we go inside and look at rings?¡± I nodded. It was ratherrgepared to an ordinary jewelry store. As I opened the ss doors, the motion kicked up a thick cloud of dust. I waved away the dust and went through the rings that were on disy. The sparkling rings were still clean, thanks to their ss casings. I looked over at Hwang Ji-Hye. ¡°What kind of rings do women like?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ Small and shiny ones?¡± ¡°Then¡­ How about this one?" When I pointed at one of the rings, Hwang Ji-Hye shook her head andmented on my choice. ¡°The gem is too big. Look for something smaller.¡± ¡°Smaller, huh¡­¡± As I went over more rings, muttering to myself, Hwang Ji-Hye let out a squeal. I looked over at her urgently, thinking that a zombie had appeared out of nowhere. However, in contrast to my prediction, Hwang Ji-Hye was staring at the rings on disy, her eyes glittering. I went over to her and asked her what was going on. She gasped and covered her mouth with her hands. ¡°It¡¯s those, those!¡± When I looked at what she was pointing at, two rings caught my eye. I could tell right away that they were wedding rings. And it was rather obvious that they were diamond rings. The rings were from a brand named John Paul Jewelry. I looked back at Hwang Ji-Hye, confused at her overreaction. She took a look at my face and snorted. ¡°How can you call yourself a married man when you don¡¯t even know this brand?¡± ¡°I never heard of this brand before.¡± ¡°The rings made by thispany are often used as wedding rings. They¡¯re also not that expensive.¡± I snuck a look at the price. The price tag had a lot more zeros than I expected. They weren¡¯t affordable at all. I was about to smack my lips when Hwang Ji-Hye drew her pistol from her side and aimed it toward the ss case. My eyes went wide and I caught her hand. ¡°What are you doing?¡± ¡°We have to break the ss to get the rings. How are we supposed to retrieve them when we don¡¯t have the keys?¡± ¡°And shooting the ss is the answer to that?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you think a store of this size would use tempered ss? No? Or do you think they would use bulletproof ss?¡± ¡°Either way, no guns. Calm down.¡± Her eyes were glued to the rings as she smacked her lips again. She¡¯d cultivated the image of a strong female warrior until now, but I realized that she was also a woman inside. I sighed and mmed my palm against the ss. Thud¡ª I couldn''t believe that they were actually using tempered ss. It was a lot harder than I thought. I wondered if it was still intact because I hadn¡¯t hit it hard enough. I could feel a strong desire to end this piece of ss once and for all. I clenched my fist and hit the ss case as hard as I could. It shattered into pieces, showering the rings with shiny ss fragments. ¡°That¡¯s what you get for making me go through this hassle twice,¡± I muttered to myself. I snorted and plucked the rings out. The crystal-clear diamonds shimmered brightly as they caught the rays of moonlight shining down into the store. The gems weren¡¯t too big, giving the rings a simple yet beautiful elegance. Evesting love. I knew the meaning behind diamonds, and I couldn¡¯t think of a better jewel for their wedding. I looked over at Hwang Ji-Hye, and saw that her sparkling eyes were still glued to the rings on disy. I smiled when I saw her expression. ¡°You should pick out a ring for yourself as well,¡± she said. ¡°Oh¡­? Hmm¡­ Can I?¡± I smirked at her. ¡°It¡¯s on me.¡± Hwang Ji-Hye burst intoughter and went through the rings on disy. After a moment, she seemed to find one that was to her liking, and reached deep into the disy case. The ring she chose had a transparent sky-colored gem embedded in it. I tilted my head, not recognizing the gemstone. ¡°What kind of gem is that?¡± I asked. ¡°It¡¯s aquamarine.¡± ¡°Aquamarine?¡± ¡°It¡¯s the birthstone for March. It represents eternal youth and happiness.¡± I chuckled at her exnation, and she raised her eyebrows at me. ¡°What¡¯s up with theugh? I think you¡¯re making fun of me.¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s just that eternal youth¡­¡± I didn¡¯t bother to finish my sentence, still full of disbelief. Hwang Ji-Hye snorted and pped my forearm. I smiled awkwardly and scratched my sideburns. A gentle smile spread across her face. ¡°Aquamarine has other meanings as well.¡± ¡°What meanings?¡± ¡°Hope and health.¡± I took a closer look at the aquamarine gem. ¡°Hope huh¡­¡± It surely was a beautiful gem. For some reason, I couldn¡¯t help but smile. Hwang Ji-Hye slipped the ring onto her finger and held her hand out to check out how it looked on her. ¡°It kind of feels like we¡¯re thieves.¡± ¡°It¡¯s quite the experience for sure.¡± We smiled gently and stared at the aquamarine crystal for a while. Hwang Ji-Hye took a deep breath and broke the silence. ¡°So, since it seems like we have everything we need, shall we get going?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± When I looked her in the eyes, I caught a glimpse of nostalgia in them, although it disappeared almost instantly. I wondered if the boyfriend she¡¯d lost had crossed her mind. The aquamarine gemstone that she¡¯d picked out¡­ Perhaps it had another meaning to her. As I left the jewelry shop, I took another quick look around the room, covered inyers of thick dust. I couldn¡¯t help thinking about just how useless these valuables were in this forsaken world. We were living in an era where a bowl of ramyeon was more precious than a diamond ring. Our time in the jewelry store had been a nostalgic trip back into the past world that had forever been lost to us. We made our way back to the shelter in Gwangjang-dong. * * * When we passed through the iron gates and entered Gwangjang-dong, all the leaders who had been waiting for our return came out to meet us, despite thete hour. Their jaws fell open as they saw the supplies piled onto the cart we had brought. Lee Jeong-Uk came up to me and asked about Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s whereabouts. ¡°He went to Majang-dong for a bit. There was something he needed to check on.¡± ¡°Was it okay to let him go alone?¡± ¡°He said he¡¯d be back after doing some reconnaissance.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk nodded slowly, and didn¡¯t ask any further questions. He knew about the zombie prisons in Haengdang-dong and Majang-dong. His intuition and awareness seemed to clue him in on what was going on. I nced at the leaders to make sure no one noticed, then secretly grabbed Lee Jeong-Uk''s hand. He was taken aback by my sudden gesture, but his eyes widened the moment he felt the object that I was trying to hand him. Lee Jeong-Uk looked at the two diamond rings on his palm, then looked at me. ¡°Where¡¯d you get these?¡± ¡°We passed by a jewelry store on the way.¡± ¡°I was just thinking that everything would be set if we just had rings¡­¡± Lee Jeong-Uk smiled happily and patted my back. "You know, I¡¯m always thankful for what you do.¡± ¡°For what? It¡¯s nothing.¡± I chuckled and patted Lee Jeong-Uk on the shoulder. His shoulders felt icy cold. It seemed like the leaders, including Lee Jeong-Uk, had been waiting outside in the cold weather for us. Lee Jeong-Uk looked around at the leaders around him, then spoke. ¡°Everyone, let¡¯s go inside and have a further chat. It¡¯s very cold outside.¡± "All right!" All the leaders had noses that were red from the cold. Even though my body was cold, I could feel the warmth emanating from these leaders. The way they carried themselves moved me. I promised myself that I would not forget the effort that everyone had put in to make it thus far. And in order to make up for what they¡¯d done so far, I was going to do better. Chapter 126

Chapter 126

All the leaders that had gathered on the second-floor restaurant looked out the window, waiting for Kim Hyeong-Jun to return. Even though all the windows were closed, the howling wind outside still rattled them, and the leaders all seemed worried. I sat at the desk and gently massaged my temples. He was taking longer than expected. I thought he¡¯d be back in an hour, but he still hadn¡¯t returned. In fact, it had already been three hours since he¡¯d gone to Majang-dong. I got up and paced around nervously. Lee Jeong-Uk came over to me. ¡°Don¡¯t sweat it.¡± ¡°How can I not be worried?¡± ¡°You know he¡¯s not someone that would go down easily.¡± ¡°What if he ran into a ck creature?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°What if there¡¯s a bunch of stage-two mutants in Majang-dong?¡± I frowned worriedly, and Lee Jeong-Uk patted me on the shoulder. ¡°You know he¡¯s not a clueless, helpless blockhead. He¡¯ll make it back no matter what.¡± ¡°I¡¯m worried because I know he can be reckless sometimes.¡± When we encountered the dogs at Konkuk University Hospital, we were able to handle the situation thanks to his skill at improvisation. Ultimately, no one got hurt and we got what we wanted, but if the dogs we had encountered had been just a bit smarter, the situation would¡¯ve spiraled out of control. As I continued to pace anxiously, the people at the windows began to shout. ¡°He¡¯s here, he¡¯s here!¡± ¡°Hyeong-Jun¡¯s here!¡± I dashed toward the windows immediately. I saw him rushing toward the hotel, leading a host of underlings, more than he¡¯d had before he left. I knew he had only taken the mutants when we¡¯d first left, so I had no clue why he wasing back with more underlings. ¡®Did he go to recruit more underlings beforeing back?¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun had lost a lot of underlings during the battle in Gwangjin-gu and the subsequent fight against the ck creature. It seemed like he¡¯d recruited more from the prison in Majang-dong before returning. I let out a sigh of relief and sat down in my chair. He sure knew how to cause others to worry. Kim Hyeong-Jun waved at the leaders on the second floor as he made his way directly toward the hotel. He came straight up and started looking for me as soon as he entered the restaurant. ¡°Ahjussi!" His voice was full of urgency. I looked over at him, and he swallowed before speaking. ¡°Ahjussi, I think we need to reinforce our defenses here.¡± I tilted my head questioningly. ¡°Why, did something happen?¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun moved closer. ]. ¡°There¡¯s something about Majang-dong¡­ It seems like there¡¯s something more to Majang-dong.¡± ¡°Something more?¡± ¡°There are traces.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun bit his lips, looking rather distressed. I didn''t understand what he was saying. Traces? What could he possibly mean? When I tilted my head and asked him to borate, Kim Hyeong-Jun sighed. ¡°There are traces of mutation.¡± "I knew it¡­ Do you know how many?¡± ¡°Definitely more than one or two. Probably a lot more.¡± Why did it seem like everything bad that could happen had to happen? I clicked my tongue and let out a sigh. The ck creatures were already causing me to feel nervous, and now I had to start paying attention to mutants as well. This was not good. I stroked my chin gently. ¡°Any signs of stage-two mutations?¡± ¡°I couldn¡¯t tell the difference between stage-one and stage-two mutations just by the tracks they left behind. They¡¯re just too many variants amongst the mutants. Remember the stage-two mutant in Grand Children¡¯s Park? It was small. It¡¯s impossible to tell the mutants¡¯ stage by their tracks alone.¡± ¡°Then, assuming that all of the tracks were made by stage-one mutants, how many do you think there are? Just give me a rough estimate.¡± "I have no clue¡­ There were just too many¡­ I couldn¡¯t even count them all.¡± When I killed the dong leader of Hwayang-dong, hundreds of zombies lost their link to him. All of them were zombies that were primed to mutate, so Kim Hyeong-Jun and I had them moved into our zombie prisons. But that wasn¡¯t the end. The zombies that had been left over after our fight with the dong leaders of Guui-dong, Jayang-dong and the remaining enemies in the vanguard were there as well. The zombie prisons in Haengdang-dong and Majang-dong had been swarming with zombies. If even a third of the zombies in the Majang-dong zombie prison had be mutants¡­ That meant that there were well over three hundred of them. And if these mutations had urred in a confined area, it was safe to assume that a lot of them had turned into stage-two mutants as well. I couldn¡¯t help but sigh. A single mistake had resulted in an irreversible situation. I felt my mind going nk. I looked over at Kim Hyeong-Jun. ¡°What¡¯s up with the underlings that you brought with you? Where¡¯d you get them?¡± ¡°I had to get more underlings from Haengdang-dong. I felt like I didn¡¯t have enough, so I had to get more somehow. Sorry for going there without giving you notice.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s tone was dispirited. He knew that the situation had gotten worse because of him. I sighed and slicked my hair back. I had no clue how to make myself feel better. I chewed on my lower lip as I pondered the situation. ¡®I won¡¯t get anywhere thinking about this by myself.¡¯ I let out a breath and spoke to the leaders around me. ¡°If everyone could take a seat, we¡¯ll begin today¡¯s meeting." * * * The meeting went smoothly. Between the ck creature and the mutants, we had all the reasons in the world for us to strengthen our vignce. We decided to assign the underlings belonging to Kim Hyeong-Jun, Do Han-Sol and I to keep a close watch on the outskirts of Gwangjang-dong. The guards who had been patrolling the outskirts of Gwangjang-dong, would be pulled back to the perimeter of the hotel. As for the supplies that we¡¯d received from the survivors in Gangnam, we decided to keep an eye on them for the time being. If they had given us the supplies with any ulterior motives in mind, they would be the ones to make the first move. There was no reason for us to make the first move when we didn¡¯t have any concrete evidence of their intentions. After all of this, we discussed Lee Jeong-Hyuk and Choi Da-Hye¡¯s wedding. Lee Jeong-Uk suggested that there was no reason to dy any further, and that it should be held the next day. Most of the leaders seemed to agree with this suggestion. I knew that Lee Jeong-Uk wanted Lee Jeong-Hyuk and Choi Da-Hye to have a perfect wedding. However, in the world that we inhabited, it was impossible to have a day that was free of worry. In the end, we decided to move forward with the ceremony before it got dyed any further. After the meeting, I left the hotel. The howling wind from the Han River flowed over and around me. The cold air seemed to soothe my troubled heart. I wasn¡¯t sure how to express the feelings within me. It was impossible to describe. All the survivors were trying their best to live each and every day, dedicating their lives and sacrificing themselves for the sake of others. They were protecting my daughter while providing her with the experience of living as a human being and having emotional security. I felt fortunate that there were so many survivors, but at the same time, their expectations of me weighed me down. Their lives depended on what I did. It was a tremendous burden for a single person to bear. There was Kim Hyeong-Jun, Do Han-Sol, and the guards¡­ But they were also depending on me. My choices directed their thoughts and their actions. I was getting tired¡­ Tired of the fact that each choice I made had to be the right one. I sighed and pressed my fingers gently against my temples. "Oh? It¡¯s daddy! Daddy!¡± I heard So-Yeon¡¯s voice, looking for me. I turned around and saw So-Yeon dressed in thick winter clothing, walking toward me, apanied by Han Seon-Hui. It seemed just yesterday when she was toddling around, but she had grown a lot taller over the past few months. I greeted So-Yeon with a gentle smile as she ran toward me. ¡°So-Yeon, why are you outside? You should get some more sleep.¡± ¡°Daddy, I had a scary dream.¡± So-Yeon grabbed my thighs and made a sad face. I stroked her hair and looked at Han Seon-Hui. Han Seon-Hui smoothed her clothes as she walked over to me. She looked very groggy, as if she had just woken up. ¡°Did you wake up because of So-Yeon?¡± ¡°She came crying, saying that she¡¯d had a scary dream.¡± ¡°My apologies.¡± Han Seon-Hui smiled gently in reply.

Chapter 129 Pitter, patter. It was pouring cats and dogs as I emerged outside. The sky was as dark as it could be, and visibility was limited to just one mile because of the pouring rain. I wondered if I would be able to tell the survivors and zombies apart in this terrible weather. I gritted my teeth and gave orders to my underlings. ''Firstpany to fourthpany, follow me.¡± GRRR!!! All the underlings that were guarding Gwangjang-dong started running toward me at once. I ordered my mutants to defend the shelter. Very soon, my two thousand underlings formed up, and I made my way to Sinnae-dong. I passed through Guui-dong to get to Junggok-dong, then on through Junggok-dong to get to Myeonmok-dong. My physical capabilities were well beyond that of humans, and fifteen kilometers felt like nothing at all. Running at full speed, I was able to get to Myeonmok-dong in twenty minutes. I couldn''t tell if the thick fog around me was mist, or just the steaming off my body. In contrast to the cold air around me, my body was all worked up. I wandered the ominous streets, looking for survivors. I couldn¡¯t see and smell much because of the pouring rain. The sound of the rain was so loud that it would even cover the sound of people screaming. There were no survivors on the streets. Judging from theck of zombies as well, it seemed like a zombie wave had been triggered, and they had all been drawn to the medical center. I imagined the map in my head and made my way north along Yongmasan-daero. I needed to take a look at the Seoul Medical Center with my own eyes ande up with a n on the fly. I passed an LPG gas station on my left and kept going, and quickly saw Seoul Medical Center in the distance. Grrr¡­ Gaaa¡­ I heard zombies howling through the heavy rain. I squinted and looked at the medical center. I saw a mass of zombies gathered at the entrance, howling away. ¡®But where are the survivors?¡¯ My blue eyes shed as I focused on the buildings. I tried to use my eyesight to pick out any traces of human movement. It seemed like there were only zombies on the first floor and in the surrounding area. However, I saw some lights flickering on the fifth floor. ¡®Lights?¡¯ There had to be survivors. I wondered if they had lit candles. I could tell that there were survivors trapped in there, waiting for a rescue team that would never make it. I shed a tight smile, knowing that I hade to the right ce. I walked toward the building. Just then, I heard a dull thude from the inside of the building. That sound¡­ It didn¡¯t sound like an ordinary zombie. The fact that the surrounding zombies weren¡¯t colored red meant that there weren¡¯t any members of the Family around. That meant that it had to be a mutant¡ªor several mutants¡ªfrom the streets. I considered if a stage-one mutant could make this sort of sound. I knew it was impossible. The sound I just heard was the sound of something smashing through a wall of the building. That meant that there was a stage-two mutant here. I swallowed and gave an order to my underlings. ¡®First to fourthpany, gather up and get rid of the zombies on the first floor.¡¯ GRRR!!! My two thousand underlings let out throat-rending howls as they surged toward the hospital in a rolling wave. The ground rumbled, and a green wave smashed through the fragile, delicate breakwater. After observing the majestic scene unfolding in front of me for a moment, I looked at the roof of the medical center. It was about twelve stories high. With my current physical abilities, I could make it to the top in one leap. I bent my knees and put all my strength into my jump, keeping my eyes fixed on the rooftop. Whoosh! Defying the force of gravity trying to pull me down, I made it to the rooftop in one smooth motion, savoring the sound of the wind rushing past me. In contrast to my prediction, the rooftop was empty. There were no survivors or zombies to be found. I wondered if the survivors were unable to get out onto the rooftop somehow. I looked around and saw a thick iron door in one of the corners. It was the door leading into the building. I increased the cirction of my blood to enhance the muscles in my arm. I grabbed the iron door, took in a deep breath, and pulled. The solid iron door pulled free of its hinges with a screech of tearing metal. I took a step inside and stopped, unsure how to react. Dozens of survivors were standing right in front of me, where the iron door had just been, staring at me in astonishment. I looked back at them in surprise. ¡°AHHH!!!¡± A woman amongst the survivors let out a wail. She seemed to be in a state of panic. Her eyes were full of fear and despair. Taken aback by the sudden situation, I raised both of my arms and waved violently, trying to gesture to her that I wasn¡¯t there to hurt them. ¡°ARGH!!!¡± A young boy charged out of the crowd of survivors, wielding a hatchet. He seemed like he was in his mid-tote teens, about the same age as Kang Ji-Suk. Humans wielding weapons were way too slow for me. I wasn¡¯t an ordinary being. I had the dynamic visual acuity to track down monsters that could run a hundred meters in five seconds. I grabbed the hatchet that was arcing toward me and brought the boy under control. The survivors on the stairs either screamed or sighed. A couple of male students¡ªwho seemed to be friends of the boy¡ªscreamed and came rushing toward me. I wondered if the thought that their friend would die had crossed their mind. Their eyes were full of hatred and anger. It seemed like they were no longer thinking straight. I gritted my teeth. "Enough!!!" I yelled. My loud voice cut through the constant drumming of rain and thunder. My blue eyes shed, and the boys gasped. Their expressions grew confused. I took a breath and let it out. ¡°Are you survivors from the medical center shelter?¡± I asked. No one answered my question. They were looking at me in bewilderment, their mouths opening and closing like goldfish. After a moment, a woman¡ªwho seemed to be in her mid-tote thirties and was dressed in business attire¡ªmoved forward and spoke up. ¡°Who are you?¡± I wasn¡¯t sure what to say. The Survivor Rally Organization? I wasn¡¯t sure if they would even believe me. I smacked my lips. ¡°I heard the broadcast,¡± I said instead. ¡°...!¡± The survivors sitting on the stairs flinched the moment I mentioned the broadcast I had heard on the radio earlier. The survivors began to whisper amongst themselves. The woman in business attire spoke up once again. ¡°When you say broadcast¡­ What broadcast did you hear?" ¡°I heard a broadcast warning people not toe to Sinnae-dong, and that it was no longer safe.¡± ¡°And why did youe despite that?¡± ¡°Because I¡¯m the rescue team you¡¯ve been waiting for.¡± I blurted out the words rescue team unconsciously. The survivors on the stairs began to mumble again. The woman in business attire tilted her head. "Are you¡­ Are you a person?¡± she asked. ¡°My body looks like a zombie¡¯s¡­ But my heart is human.¡± I frowned and let go of the male student that I was restraining. He dropped the hatchet he had been holding and crawled backward. His expression¡ªfull of fear¡ªbroke my heart. No matter how well-intentioned I was, I was only a zombie to them. It was about time for me to get used to such treatment¡­ But it always left me uneasy, and it was something that I found difficult to ept. I slicked back my wet hair. ¡°Are all of the survivors here?¡± I asked. ¡°Oh, no. There are more below.¡± The woman in business attire seemed to be their leader. She was speaking to me on behalf of the rest of them. I looked at the woman. "What is your name?" "Yes? Oh¡­ It¡¯s¡­ Kim Jin-Ju.¡± ¡°I¡¯m Lee Hyun-Deok. Are the survivors downstairs holding off the zombies?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Lead me to them.¡± As I strode between the survivors, they all made way for me. They were all trembling and holding their breath, terror on their faces and their eyes engulfed in fear. Kim Jin-Ju swallowed. ¡°How can I trust that you¡¯re the rescue team?¡± she asked. "If I wasn''t the rescue team, you''d all be dead." ¡°...¡± I realized that I¡¯d phrased it harshly, but this was the most appropriate answer in the current situation. Kim Jin-Ju took a deep breath before she spoke again. ¡°Follow me, then. Everyone else, please wait here.¡± With that, she hurried down the stairs. I followed her as I gave the survivors a quick once over. There were about twenty survivors. Most of them were seniors over sixty and students in their teens. As I followed Kim Jin-Ju down the stairs, the screams and roarsing from the fifth floor began to grow clearer and louder. After a moment, I heard men shouting. "Stand back!! We have to give up the fifth floor.¡± Thud!! The sound of a wall copsing echoed through the stairwell, and the musty smell of cement tickled my nose. When I entered the fifth floor through the emergency exit, I saw about fifteen men blocking the long hallway. They were fighting zombies. They were poorly armed and none of them seemed to have firearms. Almost at once, a zombie pushed one of the men to the ground. ¡°Mr. Kim!!¡± All the men who were retreating ran back toward Mr. Kim. The man named Mr. Kim shoved the zombie away with the back in his hand. ¡°Just go!!!¡± he yelled. ¡°They''re going to get you!!!¡± ¡°Shut up and get up already!¡± Thud!!! The moment the men lifted Mr. Kim up, a portion of the wall behind them came down in a thick cloud of dust. I frowned and stared at the hole. I saw a human figure through the cloud of dust. . Its appearance was human, but it was a stage-two mutant with a grotesquelyrge right arm. ¡®Arm¡­ wrest¡­ ling¡­¡± The stage-two mutant approached the men, spinning its massive arm. My blue eyes shed and I began to circte my blood more quickly as I watched it move. ¡°Grrr¡­!¡± Steam leaked out of my mouth. Kim Jin-Ju, who was next to me, went wide-eyed. ¡°What, what are you?¡± she asked. ¡°Step back.¡± ¡°...!¡± Kim Jin-Ju gasped and went back into the emergency stairwell. I crouched down and channeled strength into my lower body. My thighs and calf muscles grewrger, almost to the point of bursting. I took in a deep breath and flew toward the mutant. Crack! I pushed off the ground like a sprinter pushing off their starting blocks, leaving two deep cracks in the ground and sending debris flying. The windows on each side of the hallway shook violently, and a sonic boom echoed along the hallway. I got up close to the mutant¡¯s back and shattered its scap. Crush! Its upper body folded as the skin on its back tore and its ribs were crushed. The mutant went flying out of the window right in front of it, without even time to cry a death cry. The men who had been fighting looked at me nkly, their mouths puffed out like a goldfish¡¯s. ¡°What, what¡­ You.¡± "Get up. It¡¯ll be back soon.¡± I had no intention of merely sending it flying out of the window. I had to damage it enough, then crack its skull to finish it off. It was lucky that it had flown out of the window. It would be able to regenerate its broken bones by eating the zombies outside. For a moment, I considered whether or not to follow it outside and finish it off. But I knew better than to do that. I had yet to fully grasp what was going on. There were still many variables that I wasn¡¯t sure about, such as how many stage-two mutants remained, and how many survivors were still making their way up. I could kill zombies anytime I wanted, but I could not take my own sweet time when it came to saving the survivors. I looked toward the emergency exit. ¡°Kim Jin-Ju!!!¡± I shouted. Kim Jin-Ju poked her head out into the hallway, then ran toward Mr. Kim. "Hey!" ¡°Jin-Ju!¡± Kim Jin-Ju hugged Mr. Kim and wept. It seemed like the two of them were siblings. Mr. Kim soon came back to his senses and looked at me. ¡°Who are you? The monster that was just here... Is it dead?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not dead. It¡¯lle back up again. Let¡¯s get to the rooftop before it does.¡± Mr. Kim stared at my face. "You¡­ You¡¯re a person, right?¡± he said in a serious tone. ¡°I¡¯m whatever you think I am. There¡¯s no time to exin.¡± Mr. Kim swallowed and got up. I apanied the fifteen men toward the emergency exit and escorted them up. As I made our way up, I looked over at Kim Jin-Ju. ¡°Are there more survivors?¡± I asked. "Pardon?" ¡°I asked if there are any more survivors.¡± ¡°Uh¡­ No.¡± It seemed like she wasn¡¯t being honest with me. I could tell that she was lying from the way she avoided my gaze. I furrowed my brow. ¡°I¡¯ll ask you again. Are there more survivors?¡± ¡°They don¡¯t need to be saved.¡± ¡°That¡¯s up to me to decide.¡± When I frowned at her, Kim Jin-Ju bit her lower lip. Her expression grew bitter andplicated. It seemed like they¡¯d had their share ofplications. However, I couldn¡¯te to a conclusion without hearing from the other side. Since I showed no signs of backing down, Kim Jin-Ju suppressed the rage in her heart and spoke up. ¡°If you want to save animals, then go look for them. I¡¯ll have nothing to do with them.¡± Chapter 130 Chapter 130 Kim Jin-Ju showed no signs of backing down. Mr. Kim, who was next to Kim Jin-Ju, sniffed. "They¡¯re on the third¡­ the third floor,¡± he said. ¡°Hey!¡± ¡°He¡¯ll see them for himself, then make his decision.¡± Mr. Kim looked at the people around him with a bitter expression. ¡°Let¡¯s hurry upstairs!¡± ¡°All right!¡± The men replied as one and headed toward the rooftop. Kim Jin-Ju¡¯s reluctance showed on her face, but in the end, she clicked her tongue vigorously and headed up toward the rooftop as well. After I saw them go up, I gave orders to my underlings. ¡®All of you from the first to fourthpany,e up the stairs.¡¯ GRRR!!! Close to two thousand of my underlings roared in unison and began squeezing through the emergency exit on the first floor. The zombies on the first floor were no match for my underlings. As I got stronger, the physical abilities of my underlings increased exponentially. When I controlled fifteen hundred underlings, one hundred of my underlings were enough to take out the baits sent by the Family. In my current state, even fifty of my underlings could take care of one bait. The zombies on the streets were nothing but toy soldiers to my underlings. As my underlings poured into the emergency exit, I stepped out into the hallway and gave them an order. ¡®Stop any zombies from getting through here. If a mutant or ck creature appears, tell me right away.¡¯ After giving them their instructions, I looked around outside and saw the arm-wrestling mutant regenerating. Its broken bones were setting themselves, and its twisted flesh was returning to its original state. I had no intention of giving it the time it needed to recover. I grabbed the window frame as hard as I could with my arms. My target was an arm-wrestling mutant. I was going to deal with it before it had the chance to fully recover. Whoosh! I flew at its back like a bullet. The arm-wrestling mutant took up a defensive stance with its thick right arm in front of it, as if it had sensed my killing intent. As it did so, I realized that the only thing strong about it was its right arm. It didn¡¯t have the perfectly bnced physique like Mood-Swinger did. I channeled strength into my arms. ¡°Try and block this,¡± I muttered. Crack! The sound of bricks shattering filled the air as its right arm snapped in a bizarre fashion. At the same time, it lost its bnce, and its upper body tilted like the Leaning Tower of Pisa. The rebound sent me off-bnce as well, but I was used to such a situation. My physical abilities were beyond human, and I was also an apex predator amongst the zombies. I nted my hands on the ground andshed a roundhouse kick toward the mutant, the way a capoeira practitioner would. With the sound of an apple being crushed, my foot connected with its jaw. It fell to its knees as though it had lost its ability to bnce. Despite this, I knew better than to stop. I pressed on, mming my knee into its face. Its nose broke, and red blood trickled down its face, washed away by the rain. It went down in a heap without even a wail. I bore it down to the ground and rained punches down on it. It brought its arms up to its face to protect itself, but as Inded more hits, its arms slowly started to droop. The more I hit it, the more its fists began to twitch. Finally, its arms fell to the side. With a sh of my blue eyes, I punched it straight in the face. Crack! My fist went through its skull and mmed into the cold asphalt ground. An unpleasant sensation made its way up from my fingertips and into my right arm. The mutant didn¡¯t even have the chance to resist. It was now nothing but a limp corpse. I then took a deep breath and got up. Pitter, patter. Now that I was at peace, having taken care of the mutant, I could hear the sound of the rain again. When I¡¯d been focused on the fight, I¡¯d tuned out everything else, and all my concentration had been on catching the mutant. The cold rain caressed my body and cooled the madness within me. As I wiped away the mutant blood on my fist, my heightened emotions gradually began to subside. I took a breath and let it out, then looked at the medical center. I could still hear the faint sound of zombies howling. It wasn¡¯t over just yet. It was now time to check on the survivors on the third floor. * * * When I finally made my way to the third floor, easily taking out the zombies on the way, I noticed that it was surprisingly quiet. In fact, it was almost too quiet. I had an ominous feeling, and the sound of rain outside seemed strangely distant. I wondered why the third floor was the only quiet floor. There had been zombies on the fifth floor as well, but the third floor seemed like it was in a totally different world. ¡®Did the zombies avoid the third floor on purpose?¡¯ ¡®If so, why?¡¯ I shook my head violently. I knew better to get lost in spection. What I needed to do was to look for survivors. ¡°Pre¡­ tty.¡± As I crept through the third floor, slowly opening each door along the way, I heard a rather grotesque voice. I stopped in my tracks and focused on my hearing. The voice belonged to a mysterious woman. She was repeating the same thing to herself in the hallway across from me. "Pre¡­ tty? Pre¡­ tty. Pre¡­ tty.¡± Just as I had expected, there was more than one stage-two mutant. I hunched down and moved toward the sound. ¡®Let¡¯s get rid of that thing first and see what¡­¡¯ ¡°Hey.¡± Just then, I heard a human voiceing from the gap in the door to my right. As I turned my gaze toward the door, I saw a man¡ªwho seemed to be in his fifties¡ªcovering his mouth in fright. He was a survivor. When I tried to open the door to get in, the survivors trapped inside wailed and tried to block the door with all their might. It seemed like he had called out to me, thinking that I was a person. But when he saw my blue eyes, he was startled as though he¡¯d seen a ghost, and was trying desperately to close the door on me. "Calm down, please." ¡°No, no, no!¡± The survivors inside heard my voice and grabbed onto the doorknob even harder. I frowned at them. ¡°I said calm down.¡± Just then, one of the survivors said a word that got on my nerves. ¡°He¡¯s¡­ He¡¯s one of the Family.¡± They were whispering amongst each other, but the word ¡®Family¡¯ stood out. I furrowed my brow. ¡°How do you know about the Family?¡± ¡°We¡­ We did everything that you asked us to do. We swear!¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°We¡­ We sent you food! Don¡¯t do this to us. You promised to save us!¡± I let go of the doorknob, and the door closed with a dull thud. ¡°Pre¡­¡± With that, the mumbling on the other side of the hallway stopped. When I looked across the hallway, I saw a woman with her head sticking out into the hallway. She had long hair falling down her face, and she was staring at me. A woman? No, it was just another mutant. But as I looked at the mutant, another thought came into my mind. ¡®These bastards¡­ They were dogs?¡¯ Now I understood why the survivors on the rooftop had reacted the way they did. I recalled what Kim Jin-Ju had said. - If you want to save animals, go look for them. I¡¯ll have nothing to do with them. No wonder she called them animals. Those trapped inside were dogs. And it wasn¡¯t just one or two of them. There were dozens of them. There weren¡¯t that many survivors on the rooftop, inparison to the number of dogs. And most of them were either elders or teens. Given the numbers and the sheer strength of the dogs, I couldn¡¯t help but imagine the days of oppression they¡¯d had to go through. Just thinking about the pain they¡¯d had to endure made my blood boil. I assumed that the threat of the dogs had ended after cleaning up Gwangjang-dong, since Gwangjang-dong was their base of operations. However, the Family¡¯s influence was still present in Gangbuk. I had no clue how far the dogs had spread throughout Gangbuk. Even though the Family no longer had a presence in this area, the dogs were still spreading evil with their uwful acts. They were controlling and oppressing the survivors, just like what the Family had done. They were fucking bastards, no different from zombies. "Pre¡­tty!¡± The mutant, whose head was sticking out into the hallway, rushed toward me, her eyes shing. I clenched my fist and hurled a fist into her face, putting all of my strength behind my punch. Crack! The mutant¡¯s face caved in with the sound of a watermelon bursting. I frowned at the stage-two mutant. ¡°Well, I¡¯m not pretty.¡± I raised my left foot and stomped on the mutant''s face, crushing its skull. A tingling feeling traveled through my foot and up my leg. The sensation, as well as the fishy smell, intensified my frown. The sound of the mutant¡¯s skull exploding drew the attention of the dogs, who emerged from the room. ¡°Boss¡­?¡± When I turned around, the middle-aged man, who was terrified by me earlier, was staring at me. Judging by the way he was bowing at me, he¡¯d managed to tactfully piece together the situation. I suddenly realized that he had called me ¡®boss.¡¯ I wondered if the boss of the Family also had blue eyes. After that, I wondered if he somehow saw me as a savior that hade all the way to this ce to save him. I considered the middle-aged man silently. He swallowed, then continued to speak. ¡°We thought you went to Gangnam, boss. About the food¡­ We had some trouble contacting the dong leader, so¡­¡± I gritted my teeth while I looked at the man. His excuses caused me to feel even more disgust than stomping on the mutant¡¯s head did. I took a deep breath to calm myself, then posed him a question. ¡°You¡­ Are you the leader?¡± ¡°Yes, yes! I¡¯m the leader here. My name is Gwang Deok-Bae.¡± Gwang Deok-Bae bowed deeply from the waist, and a subtle smile graced his face. Gwang Deok-Bae. There was no point in remembering his name. He was going to die by my hand that day. I red at him. ¡°When did youe to this shelter?¡± ¡°Oh, hmm, I came a month ago. I got a call from the dong leader to check out the outskirts of Gangbuk as well, so¡­¡± ¡°Which dong leader?¡± ¡°The dong leader of Myeonmok-dong¡­ Oh, never mind. It¡¯d be more correct to call him the sixth officer. I came here because the sixth officer ordered me to.¡± ¡°Is the dong leader of Myeonmok-dong the sixth officer?¡± ¡°Pardon¡­?¡± I wondered if my question was too difficult for him. Gwang Deok-Bae tilted his head and smiled awkwardly. He swallowed then said again, ¡°Isn¡¯t the sixth officer¡­ The dong leader in charge of¡­? If this isn¡¯t the case, please let me¡­¡± ¡°How did you know there was a shelter here?¡± ¡°Well¡­ It¡¯d be impossible to not know, since the idiots were broadcasting all over town about this ce. They sent the broadcast to gather other survivors.¡± Clearly, he hade to kill the innocent, kind people on the rooftop after hearing the broadcast. Killing him and the others wasn¡¯t enough to teach them their lesson. Gwang Deok-Bae was boasting about what he had done, without realizing what was soon going to happen to him. ¡°So I took over this ce and contacted the sixth officer.¡± ¡°How many people did you kill?¡± ¡°You don''t have to worry, boss. There is still plenty of food.¡± ¡°How many people did you kill?¡± I asked again, frowning. The dog¡¯s eyes darted around, and his voice took on an edge of surprise. ¡°Kill¡­?" ¡°Is my question difficult to answer?¡± ¡°Oh, no. My apologies. It¡¯s not that. But¡­ I had a hard time understanding why you kept on saying killing when we eat meat.¡± He smiled sheepishly and scratched his head. His answer was really pushing me close to my limit. I just barely stopped myself from swearing at him, and asked him another question instead. ¡°Where are the other dogs?¡± ¡°Everyone is hiding. That mutant that you just took care of caused us a lot of trouble, boss.¡± ¡°Gather everyone.¡± "Oh? Of course!¡± Gwang Deok-Bae called the other dogs,ughing as if he expected something good to happen. ¡®Firstpany only, get down here.¡¯ GRRR!!! I heard their footsteps as they came down the stairs in the emergency exit. In moments, there were about eighty dogs lined up in the hallway, and my underlings had blocked their way back up the stairs. As I examined each dog closely, I saw one of them trying to sneak away. My eyes shed. In an instant, I was behind the man. I grabbed the back of his head. ¡°Ahhh! Help, help me!¡± ¡°...!¡± When I saw his face, my eyes widened as well. It was the leader of the church. The leader hade to Sinnae-dong after escaping Gwangjang-dong. Gwang Deok-Bae, who had been watching my interaction with the leader, noticed the surprise on my face. "Boss¡­ Do you happen to know this person?¡± he asked cautiously. ¡°When did this bastard get here?¡± ¡°I found this guy on the streets yesterday while I was out on patrol. He was on the verge of death. He said he was a dog, then fainted immediately after. I¡¯m not sure which area he belongs to.¡± ¡°Is that all?¡± ¡°Yes, boss. He just came back to their senses during the day. However, a zombie wave suddenly manifested, so I couldn''t get a proper exnation from him.¡± Gwang Deok-Bae did his best to exin the situation to me. I couldn¡¯t help but smile as I listened to his story. I¡¯d been wondering all along where the leader had gone, and vo, here they were. "Why¡¯d you run away when you knew all along that you were going to get caught anyway?¡± ¡°Please, please let me go,¡± he pleaded. ¡°I don¡¯t like¡­ I don¡¯t like it either. I didn¡¯t be a dog because I wanted to!¡± Gwang Deok-Bae, who had been listening quietly, widened his eyes. ¡°How dare you say those words in front of the boss!¡± he yelled. ¡°You fucking idiot! He¡¯s not part of the Family!¡± ¡°What¡­?¡± ¡°This, this bastard...¡± The leader wasn¡¯t able to finish. Because I had crushed his head in my hand. Chapter 131

Chapter 131

The church leader¡¯s tragic end was met with dead silence. All the dogs stared at his corpse with eyes full of bewilderment. It seemed like they were incapable of processing the current situation. ¡®There we go. I want you to panic.¡¯ I wanted to shock them, make them question what was going on, and let their fear slowly eat away at their souls. Because the only thing they deserved right then was despair. ''Kill them.'' GRRR!!! The moment I gave my underlings the order, the ones that were blocking off the escape route started attacking the dogs at once. The third floor, which was totally silent just a moment before, was plunged into chaos. I strode through the chaos and headed toward the emergency exit. I was interrupted by Gwang Deok-Bae, who grabbed onto my shirt in panic. ¡°Wait, boss! Why are you doing this all of a sudden? Why? Boss!¡± I wondered if he hadn¡¯t heard what the church leader had said. Then again, there was no way he could¡¯ve missed it. He was probably denying the truth, trying to convince himself that he¡¯d heard wrongly. I grabbed his head. ¡°Why? Why???¡± I asked him forcefully. ¡°Yes¡­ Yes, boss!¡± ¡°You shouldn¡¯t be asking that question.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry?" ¡°You should know better than anyone. And now, you¡¯re going to die because you don¡¯t know why.¡± Crush. I crushed his skull in my grip, and warm cerebral fluid oozed between my fingers. I shook off the filthy blood from my hand and headed toward the rooftop without looking back. I couldn¡¯t care less about these animals, but as I made my way up the stairs, doubt began to seep into my mind. As I carefully considered them, one question remained. ¡®Why don¡¯t I feel guilty?¡¯ They were people, after all. They weren¡¯t even dead. They all had beating hearts, knew how to think, and had feelings. But I couldn¡¯t figure out why I felt no guilt. I couldn¡¯t help but wonder if the incident in Gwangjang-dong had stripped thest of my humanity away. I let out a deep sigh, and as I did so, I figured out the reason why. They had already given up being human. If they had emotions, I wouldn¡¯t have considered them as prey. But because they had already given up being human, I killed them the same way I killed zombies. I sighed and headed up toward the survivors, who were surely trembling in fear on the rooftop. As I walked quietly out onto the rooftop, I noticed the survivors standing in the pouring rain, doing nothing to shelter themselves from it. I wondered why they were willingly exposing themselves to the elements when they could¡¯ve stayed inside the stairwell. Perhaps¡­ perhaps they¡¯d had enough of the zombies¡¯ howls. Perhaps they were already so physically exhausted, and did not want to expose themselves to any mental suffering. After a moment, the man who went by the name Mr. Kim walked out from among the group of survivors. ¡°What¡­ What happened? Are all of the zombies dead?¡± Before answering him, I took a look at the survivors. They were huddled together like penguins, sharing their bodily warmth to protect themselves from the cold. Even though they were in a terrible situation, with rain pouring down on them, I could see their will to survive burning in their eyes. I couldn¡¯t help but wonder how long they had been living in such conditions. They had probably been oppressed, pushed around, fighting for survival as the weakest beings in the food chain. Nevertheless, they still hung on to their will to survive. I let out a bitter sigh. ¡°I took care of all of them. Come on in." Mr. Kim sighed in relief and bit his lips. His furrowed brow reflected how he felt inside. It wasn¡¯t anger that fueled his expression. It was because he was thrilled by the news, and relieved that he had survived once again. Some of the other survivors could not hold back their emotions and burst into tears. As the anxiety gnawing at them finally drained out of their systems, they started crying. I scratched my forehead as I looked at the survivors. ¡°It¡¯s cold outside. Everyone, pleasee in.¡± The survivors followed Mr. Kim¡¯s guidance and began to shuffle into the stairwell. Some of them moved with trembling legs. Others couldn¡¯t stop their teeth from chattering, and some were shivering so hard that their upper bodies seemed to be caught in some sort of bizarre earthquake. The survivors were all trembling in their respective ways. But to me¡­ This trembling was a sign that there was still humanity left within their souls. I looked at Mr. Kim. ¡°Do you have anything that can keep your people warm?¡± I asked. ¡°We have some nkets. There¡¯s a heater¡­ But since there¡¯s no electricity, we can¡¯t really say that we have one.¡± ¡°Go and grab all the nkets you have. And please light all the candles as well.¡± ¡°Got it.¡± I was worried that the survivors would suffer from hypothermia. They¡¯d been standing in the pouring rain in such cold weather, and there was no doubt that dozens of them were going to catch a cold. It was probably a good idea if none of them fell asleep. I knew that they were all exhausted, but the best thing they could do was stay awake, since their body temperature was bound to drop if they fell asleep. With their immune systems already so weak, they would surely catch a cold if they went to sleep. I had no more time to waste. For me, So-Yeon was my number one priority. I felt pity for the survivors¡­ But the moment the rain stopped, I wanted to leave for Gwangjang-dong. When Mr. Kim went down the stairs, I called out to Kim Jin-Ju, who was across from me. ¡°Is there any food here?¡± Kim Jin-Ju silently shook her head silently. I wondered if they didn¡¯t have enough food. They had to recover their stamina somehow¡­ ¡°We have some hard biscuits¡­¡± Kim Jin-Ju trailed off with a hopeless sigh. Her expression was terribly downcast. I assumed that the dogs were still on her mind. ¡°In that case, please make some porridge with the biscuits. It won''t taste good, but for now, getting warm is priority.¡± ¡°Got it.¡± ¡°One other thing, Kim Jin-Ju.¡± She gave me a tired, nk look. I wondered if her eyes were like that because of the miserable reality she was facing. Or perhaps it was because she didn¡¯t trust me. I couldn¡¯t figure out why her eyes were so nk. I wet my lips, then spoke. ¡°The animals you mentioned¡­ All of them died.¡± Her eyes went wide. ¡°Did you kill them?¡± she stammered out. ¡°...¡± I hesitated, unable to answer her immediately. I wasn¡¯t sure if telling her that I¡¯d killed them with my own hands was the right thing to do. Kim Jin-Ju hadbeled the dogs on the third floor as animals. She probably felt only hatred and spite toward them. In order to help her let go of all this hatred and spite, I knew I had to give her the answer she wanted. I figured that she would let her guard down only if I told her that I hadn¡¯t killed them with my own hands. I brushed a hand through my hair to avoid eye contact with her as I spoke. ¡°They were bitten to death by zombies. They were so mangled that I couldn¡¯t even recognize that they were people. They died painfully, while totally aware.¡± As I offered up the lie about how the dogs had died, her eyes began to tremble. She bit her lower lip, and her breathing began to grow heavy. Soon after, tears started to roll down her cheeks. I could tell just how much suffering she¡¯d had to endure up to this point. It was as though a dam inside her had burst, and all her emotions were flooding out. The tears flowed out freely, telling the story of her suffering. Kim Jin-Ju sat helplessly on the ground and cried for a long time. As she cried, she mumbled one phrase over and over. ¡°Thank you, thank you, Lord.¡± I questioned myself before if a person¡¯s death could bring someone else joy. I thought it was arrogant for me to judge what was right or wrong. At that moment, I realized that all of the choices I¡¯d made so far were not wrong. The words of the people I saved showed me what was right and wrong. * * * As dawn broke, the survivors warmed their bodies by eating the soup made from biscuits. As they did so, the stronger men went around to collect medicine and other supplies from the medical center. There were former doctors and nurses among the seniors who were in their sixties and older. Mr. Kim was also a doctor. Apparently, Kim Jin-Ju had stopped by the medical center to see Mr. Kim, and ended up being trapped because of the zombie outbreak. ¡°Thank you for saving us. I know it¡¯ste¡­ But my name is Kim Seok-Won.¡± ¡°Lee Hyun-Deok.¡± Mr. Kim¡¯s name was Kim Seok-Won. After some brief introductions, I was able to learn about what had happened. After the zombie apocalypse broke out, the survivors here began to broadcast on the radio, hoping to gather other survivors. The survivors here tried their best to survive, working together to deal with the zombie threat. However, about a month ago or so, the dogs infiltrated the shelter, and it all went downhill from there. At first, they were suspicious of the dogs, but once the dogs started using force, the original survivors could do nothing about it. Some of the survivors were even hurt in the process. In the end, the dogs forcefully overwhelmed them and took over, making the survivors follow their orders. They were made to suffer unimaginable things, but they made it through in the end. The most suspicious part was that the ones who went out on patrol at night were attacked by zombies every time. The ones who returned alive were always the dogs, and those that didn¡¯t were the original survivors of the shelter. ''Did they sell the survivors over to the Family each time they went on patrol?¡¯ There was no need to mention this to Kim Seok-Won. Speaking about this would only renew their pain. I¡­ I cooled myself down and closed my eyes. Kim Seok-Won¡¯s expression grew bitter as he continued to recount his story. The thing that broke his heart the most¡­ It was the fact that he had no choice but to watch the survivors who¡¯d been drawn in by their broadcast get beaten up by the dogs. He told me that the guilt he felt had cost him many sleepless nights. However, the sudden zombie wave caused the dogs to let their guard down, and he had seized the opportunity to take back the radio and change the contents of the broadcast, warning others not toe. Kim Seok-Won''s thoughtfulness, and the fact that he¡¯d been thinking of the safety of others in that short span of time, made me trust him. I was d that I¡¯d been able to save such good people. I was moved by the fact that I hadn¡¯t wasted my time, and that my efforts had been worth it. When I told the survivors about the shelter in Gwangjang-dong, they seemed hesitant at first. I could tell that they had a hard time trusting me since I was a zombie. However, Kim Seok-Won stepped up and tried to persuade the remaining survivors. ¡°Instead of living like this, shouldn¡¯t we take a leap of faith, and believe in even this small possibility?¡± His speech moved the hearts of the survivors. The survivors gathered all the remaining supplies in the medical center and decided to leave at sunrise. Kim Seok-Won looked out the window. ¡°The sun¡¯s starting to rise. It seems like the rain¡¯s stopping too.¡± ¡°The air¡¯s pretty chilly as well¡­ It sure did rain a lot.¡± The thunderstorm had passed, and the sky was clear. I looked over at the survivors. ¡°Let¡¯s go. Everyone, wake up.¡± Several grunts came from around the room. All the survivors looked tired, as they hadn¡¯t gotten any proper sleep that night. Of course, if they¡¯d fallen sound asleep and woke up with a cold, the walk over to the shelter would¡¯ve been even harder. Even if it was hard on them, the right thing to do was to head over Gwangjang-dong before their situation got worse. I ordered my underlings to carry the supplies from the medical center as I lined the survivors up in front of the entrance on the first floor. ]. The smell of grass tickled my nose. The ripples in the puddles left over by the storm reflected the sunlight that shone down on them. The filth that had covered the world had been washed away. It was a new morning. As I got my underlings into formation, Kim Seok-Won cleared his throat. "Um¡­ The blue zombies here¡­ Are they allies?¡± he asked. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°They won¡¯t suddenly attack or anything¡­ Right?¡± ¡°They¡¯ve never done so before, so you don¡¯t have to worry.¡± Kim Seok-Won nced at my underlings and back at me, his eyes full of unease The other survivors were no different. They were probably afraid. However, the world was different now, which meant that humans also had to change and adapt ordingly. Even if they didn¡¯t fit in right away, I hoped that the survivors here would eventually grow into it and get used to life as a member of the Survivor Rally Organization. After a moment, Kim Jin-Ju, who was next to Kim Seok-Won, poked her head out. "Umm¡­ Don¡¯t you think the people in Gwangjang-dong would feel ufortable epting us?¡± She smiled awkwardly while scratching her nose. I knew that moving to a new home would be a foreign experience to them, but they had to embrace the uncertainty and fear to move forward. That was the only way they could grow stronger and reach a better future. I favored her with a gentle smile. ¡°Everyone there will wee you, and everyone else here. You have goodwill within you; trust that it still exists elsewhere in this world.¡± Kim Jin-Ju nodded slowly and took a deep breath. It seemed like the fear in her heart had turned into excitement. I looked over at the forty-odd survivors. ¡°Let¡¯s move. Even if it gets tiring, please don¡¯t give up.¡± The survivors responded with spirited voices. ¡°Will do!¡± I took a deep breath, let it out, and began walking in the direction of Gwangjang-dong. Chapter 132

Chapter 132

Kim Hyeong-Jun was in the meeting room of the hotel, anxiously awaiting my return. The other leaders were no different. ¡°So, what you¡¯re saying is that Lee Hyun-Deok ahjussi went to Sinnae-dong without saying a word to us?¡± ¡°I couldn¡¯t stop him, since the situation was urgent. I tried as well¡­ I tried to stop Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok. ¡° Lee Jeong-Uk paced back and forth, biting his nails. He paced without stopping, and his frustration at the situation was evident to everyone else in the room. Kim Hyeong-Jun addressed the other leaders, but his calm expression seemed forced. ¡°He left his mutants behind. I don¡¯t think we should be this worried.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m more worried because he didn¡¯t take his mutants with him!¡± yelled Hwang Ji-Hye with a frown. Lee Hyun-Deok¡¯s presence made a big difference to the shelter¡¯s atmosphere. His current absence was making everyone nervous. Even though Lee Hyun-Deok denied every time, he was the center and cornerstone of the Survivor Rally Organization. Kim Hyeong-Jun scratched his head, unsure of how to proceed. ¡°If something were to happen to Lee Hyun-Deok, the chain ofmand between him and his mutants would disappear. Since they¡¯re acting fine, it means that Lee Hyun-Deok is safe.¡± ¡°I heard that even if the chain ofmand disappears, the underlings remain still for twenty-four hours. How can you be so sure if Lee Hyun-Deok is safe or not?¡± ¡°When you form an alliance with another zombie¡ªin my case, me and Lee Hyun-Deok¡ªwe can distinguish each other¡¯s underlings by color. His underlings look purple to me. I can tell that he¡¯s still safe.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s reasoning helped to calm the other leaders down, and nobody else brought up any further objections, other than a handful of heavy sighs. Kim Hyeong-Jun sighed along with the others. Do Han-Sol, who was across from him, stared into his eyes and sent him a telepathic message. ''Do you still want to be the leader of the Survivor Rally Organization?¡¯ ''Forget it. I''m not in the mood for jokes.'' ''But I thought you said you were the leaderst time?¡¯ ¡®Ugh¡­¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun sighed and shook his head. At that moment, Park Gi-Cheol, who had been sitting by the window, got up and muttered something to himself. "Huh? What¡¯s that?¡± After a moment, he looked over at the other leaders and yelled, ¡°Hey, everyone, look! Everyone,e over here and take a look!¡± All the leaders hurried toward the window where Park Gi-Cheol was and looked at where he was pointing. Kim Hyeong-Jun got up as well and went to take a look at what was going on outside. What he saw made his mouth fall open. The other leaders also began to mutter amongst themselves with flustered faces. Kim Hyeong-Jun was at a loss for words, unable to make sense of what he was seeing with his own two eyes. There was a cruise ship floating on the Han River. In fact, there were three huge cruise ships, and they were all making their way toward Gwangjang-dong. Do Han-Sol swallowed and turned to Kim Hyeong-Jun. ¡°Now what?¡± he asked. "Huh?" ¡°What do we do now?!¡± ¡°Umm¡­¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s mouth was still wide open, and he had ced his right hand on his forehead. The sudden arrival of the ships had taken him aback, and this moment felt like it was stretching out into eternity. Attack? Strengthen our guard? No¡­ our defenses? Attack them first before they get the chance to attack us? His mind was all over the ce, and he couldn¡¯t settle on a way forward. He didn¡¯t even know who or what could be on those cruise ships. Kim Hyeong-Jun couldn¡¯t keep his anxiety in check. Lee Hyun-Deok had always been next to him when situations like these broke out. Now that Lee Hyun-Deok was absent, the Survivor Rally Organization was being shaken to its core. "Everyone, silent!" A loud, thunderous voice pierced through the leaders¡¯ collective panic. The muttering stopped in an instant, and Kim Hyeong-Jun snapped back to reality as well. When he looked behind him, he saw Lee Jeong-Uk. Lee Jeong-Uk looked around at the other leaders¡¯ faces before he continued. ¡°Everyone, let¡¯s calm down and maintain a defensive posture in our respective positions.¡± Hwang Deok-Rok spoke up, an obvious tremble in his voice. ¡°What if they¡¯re the Family¡¯s forces?¡± Lee Jeong-Uk sighed. ¡°We¡¯ll sink them by throwing all of the remaining grenades we have,¡± he replied. ¡°Then what if there are survivors from Gangnam on board?¡± ¡°We can¡¯t let them disembark until So-Yeon¡¯s dades. We have keep them on the cruise ships.¡± After Lee Jeong-Uk was done talking, all the leaders took up their respective positions. Kim Hyeong-Jun looked at Lee Jeong-Uk, and then looked back at what was happening in front of him. ''This is why ahjussi cares about Lee Jeong-Uk.'' The two of them were simr in many ways. To be able to make quick judgments, along with the necessary urgency to get things done. These two talents made them leaders of this shelter. However, the way Lee Jeong-Uk was acting made Kim Hyeong-Jun strangely ufortable. He was also giving instructions to Kim Hyeong-Jun and Do Han-Sol. ¡°Do Han-Sol, ce your underlings around the hotel and check the borders of Achasan. Kim Hyeong-Jun, you¡¯reing with me.¡± ¡°Got it!¡± ¡°All right¡­¡± In contrast to Do Han-Sol¡¯s energetic reply, Kim Hyeong-Jun answered rather quietly. Kim Hyeong-Jun had never been vocal about it, but he still dwelled on the fact that he wasn¡¯t the leader of the Survivor Rally Organization. When the zombie apocalypse broke out, he was the one who had been saving people from the beginning. He was the one who filled the clueless Lee Hyun-Deok in on everything and made him the man he was. His younger brother had alsoe up with the name Survivor Rally Organization, and he was the one who kept the legacy going so that the organization wouldn¡¯t fade away. Kim Hyeong-Jun¡­ He harbored a deep desire to be acknowledged by others. Until now, he had kept his feelings to himself, convincing himself that that was not what he wanted, that he was fine with how things were. That he did not want a title. However, Lee Hyun-Deok''s absence reminded him once again where he stood within this group. A being treated less than the leaders. A being that just followed orders. An uneasy feeling began to gnaw at Kim Hyeong-Jun. He wondered if ying second fiddle to the protagonist was supposed to be like this. Or perhaps, he wasn¡¯t even that. Kim Hyeong-Jun headed toward the dock with a frown on his face. * * * Kim Hyeong-Jun''s underlings, along with Mood-Swinger, gathered at Gangnaru in Gwangjang-dong. Behind his underlings, the guards of the Survivor Rally Organization had raised their K2 rifles, pointing them toward the cruise ships. As the cruise ships got closer to the docks, Lee Jeong-Uk asked Kim Hyeong-Jun a question. ¡°Are there any zombies that look red?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think there are any members of the Family on board.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun squinted as he scanned the decks of the cruise ships. He didn¡¯t see any zombies that were colored red. Every now and then, he saw human-looking silhouettes every now through the windows. He squinted even more, trying to figure out what these human silhouettes were, and finally came to a definite conclusion. ¡°There are people on board. Survivors.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk, Hwang Ji-Hye, and Hwang Deok-Rok stiffened as they heard what Kim Hyeong-Jun had said. If they were people on board, that meant they were survivors from Gangnam. Lee Jeong-Uk looked over at Hwang Ji-Hye. ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that the survivors of Gangnam were holding off the gang members rather handily?¡± ¡°That¡¯s what they told me. I¡¯m certain. But¡­¡± ¡°Well¡­ As of now, it seems like they¡¯ve abandoned Gangnam.¡± ¡°...¡± Hwang Ji-Hye remained silent. After a moment, Hwang Deok-Rok, who was next to Hwang Ji-Hye, tilted his head and spoke up. ¡°Could it be that the supplies we gotst time¡­¡± ¡°What about the supplies?¡± Hwang Ji-Hye looked over at Hwang Deok-Rok, her eyes filled with anxiety. Hwang Deok-Rok offered her an uncertain smile. ¡°Perhaps the supplies were like some kind of¡­ bribe, to ask for a favor.¡± ¡°Bribe? Favor?¡± ¡°They might have been pretending that everything was okay on their side, while in reality, nothing was. They could have been nning to escape Gangnam from the moment they sent us those supplies¡­¡± Hwang Ji-Hye frowned and red at Hwang Deok-Rok. ¡°Are you telling me to believe that nonsense?¡± It seemed like he was uttering nonsense without providing any facts to back up his theory. Lee Jeong-Uk, who was next to him, calmed Hwang Ji-Hye down. ¡°I don¡¯t think what he¡¯s saying is out of this world.¡± ¡°Lee Jeong-Uk!¡± ¡°The survivors in Gangnam have always turned away survivors from Gangbuk. But even though their situation has changed and they¡¯re nowing over to Gangbuk, there¡¯s no reason for us to ept them, is there?¡± ¡°But shouldn¡¯t we repay them for all the supplies we¡¯ve gotten from them all this while¡­?¡± ¡°That only applies to Shelter Silence.¡± ¡°...¡± Hwang Ji-Hye couldn¡¯t rebut that statement. Lee Jeong-Uk quietly rubbed his chin before continuing. ¡°Maybe they needed to find a reason. A reason to make it such that we Gangbuk survivors have to ept the survivors of Gangnam.¡± ¡°So are you saying that they sent all of their remaining supplies to us?¡± ¡°Can you think of any other reason why they would do so?¡± ¡°...¡± Hwang Ji-Hye swallowed, then clicked her tongue vigorously and looked away from Lee Jeong-Uk. She knew that their actions had been suspicious. It didn¡¯t take a rocket scientist to realize this. However, she couldn¡¯t wrap her head around the fact that they had been providing her with supplies all this while, yet still lied to her about what was happening to them. They had even sent Kwak Dong-Won to help them out by providing the expertise required to make sr panels¡­ Hwang Ji-Hye¡¯s eyes went wide. ¡°Kwak Dong-Won,¡± she muttered to herself. Lee Jeong-Uk raised his eyebrows and looked at her. ¡°What about Kwak Dong-Won?¡± ¡°When¡­ When did Kwak Dong-Wone over from Gangnam?¡± ¡°After the fight in Gwangjang-dong .¡± ¡°And at that time, the gang members had seized control of the western part of Gangnam, right?¡± "Yes." Hwang Ji-Hye massaged her temples and let out a deep sigh. She¡¯d finally put together all the pieces that had been scattered around in her mind. ¡°Kwak Dong-Won¡­ He knew about everything from the beginning.¡± ¡°Pardon?¡± ¡°He knew that the people from Gangnam wereing over to Gangbuk. He was sent here as a forerunner.¡± Hwang Ji-Hye frowned and bit her lip. The survivors in Gangnam didn¡¯t care where the survivors in Gangbuk went. But, the fact that they had handed over Kwak Dong-Won, someone with vast practical expertise¡­ It could only mean that they had the intention to make this ce their second shelter. She couldn¡¯t believe that she hadn¡¯t foreseen this. She gritted her teeth at her own stupidity. She realized that she had been too naive. She¡¯d been viewing the survivors of Gangnam through rose-tinted sses because they had been providing her with supplies, even when the survivors of Gangnam were suspicious of everything the survivors of Gangbuk did. After all, they hadn¡¯t even epted a single survivor. Lee Jeong-Uk sneered as he realized the situation that they were in. ¡°These bastards¡­ Do they think we¡¯re fucking stupid?¡± Soon, the cruise ships docked. Lee Jeong-Uk moved forward, readying his K2 rifle. "Come out!" he shouted. A man in a military uniform appeared on the second deck of the cruise ship. He seemed to be in histe forties. There was a rank insignia on his shoulder identifying him as a major. The man stared at Lee Jeong-Uk. ¡°Who¡¯s the leader here?¡± he asked in a deep voice. ¡°That¡¯s none of your business. What the hell are you? Are you cosying as a soldier or what?¡± ¡°...¡± The man looked at Lee Jeong-Uk rather worriedly, then sighed. ¡°I¡¯lle down, and then we can talk. We should have this discussion somewhere else¡­¡± ¡°You can continue speaking from up there. Because we have no intention of epting soldiers.¡± The man on the ship pointed to the first deck. ¡°Do you think the people here are soldiers?¡± Lee Jeong-Uk lowered his gaze slightly and saw a crowd of people through the windows on the first floor. There were women, children, the elderly and the injured. Every single one of them looked fearful, and they all seemed terribly weak. Lee Jeong-Uk felt a second of guilt for the way he was treating them, but then he frowned and pointed his gun at the second floor again. ¡°We cannot let anyone disembark until our leader gets back.¡± ¡°So you¡¯re saying that you came forward even though you¡¯re not the leader?¡± ¡°We¡¯re not like you guys. We avoid dictatorship at all costs. In fact, we have two leaders here.¡± ¡°Then at least get rid of the monsters in front of us. Threatening us won¡¯t get you anything.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun, who had been listening to the two of them conversing, was infuriated by the man¡¯s words. He strode closer to Lee Jeong-Uk and pointed at the man in his forties. ¡°I¡¯ll kill you first when you get off that boat.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t you see the faces of the survivors?¡± ¡°Can¡¯t you see mine?¡± "Blue eyes¡­ You¡¯re a monster too.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun crouched, ring at the arrogant, condescending little man with his blue eyes. He seemed about to jump onto the cruise ship at any moment. When he saw Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s reaction, Lee Jeong-Uk remembered what Lee Hyun-Deok had told him. ¡®I like everything about Hyung-Jun¡­ But sometimes, he acts before considering the consequences.¡¯ He hurriedly hit Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s hamstrings with the butt of his rifle to prevent the worst-case scenario from happening. Kim Hyeong-Jun stumbled at the unexpected attack, and immediately red at Lee Jeong-Uk as though he couldn¡¯t believe what absurdity had just happened. ¡°Lee Jeong-Uk¡­ Are you nuts?" ¡°Calm down. Are you going to kill a person in front of everyone?¡± ¡°So it¡¯s okay for you to give me shit in front of everyone?¡± The feelings that he¡¯d been suppressing, as well as the major calling him a monster, had driven Kim Hyeong-Jun over the edge. Lee Jeong-Uk seemed to hesitate for a second, then he frowned. ¡°Are you going to attack me too?¡± he asked. ¡°If you wish.¡± The two stared at each other. Hwang Ji-Hye, who had been watching the two of them getting all worked up, hurriedly ran over to the two of them to intervene. ¡°What are you two doing right now?¡± There was anger on her face as well, as she could not understand why the two of them were acting in this manner. When he saw Hwang Ji-Hye''s face, Kim Hyeong-Jun tilted his head and asked a question. ¡°If I attack Lee Jeong-Uk¡­ Whose side will you be on? Huh, Hwang Ji-Hye?¡± "Pardon? Kim Hyeong-Jun, you should calm down. You¡¯re¡­ You¡¯re not thinking straight right now.¡± ¡°...¡± The words ¡®not thinking straight¡¯ made his eyebrows twitch. Chapter 133

Chapter 133

Dead silence reigned on the dock. No one dared to speak up. One slip of the tongue would be enough to snap the tense atmosphere and plunge the dock into chaos. Even the survivors from Gangnam could sense what was going on, and were being as tactful as they could. Clomp, clomp, clomp. At that moment, what sounded like the thundering of horse hooves began to grow more audible, as though approaching them. Kim Hyeong-Jun and Lee Jeong-Uk, who had been ring at each other unflinchingly, both turned to look at where the sound wasing from at once. Hundreds¡ªeven thousands¡ªof zombies were crowded at the entrance of Gwangjang-dong. After a moment, their howls reached the humans. GRRR!!! KWAAA!!! The zombies had made their way to Gwangjang-dong as the number of prey in other regions decreased. Kim Hyeong-Jun''s underlings were gathered at the dock, while Do Han-Sol¡¯s underlings were stationed at the hotel. And since the guards were also gathered at the dock, no one was guarding the border of Gwangjang-dong. Kim Hyeong-Jun gnashed his teeth and ran toward the zombies. Lee Jeong-Uk nced up at the major, then shouted orders to the guards around him. ¡°Everyone, gather at the hotel! Go to the barricade at the main entrance!¡± The guards made their way to the hotel at once. The survivors on the first deck of the cruise ship began to wail in fear. They hade to Gangbuk to avoid zombies, but they now realized that it wasn¡¯t safe either. A captain, who was standing behind the major, swallowed and offered a suggestion. ¡°Sir, I think this is the time to disembark.¡± ¡°And why do you think that?¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t it the perfect time to do so? This is our chance, since all the zombies by the docks have disappeared.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think so.¡± The major let a small smile y across his face, and the captain gave him a look of confusion. ¡°Is it because of the zombies that are approaching? They¡¯re only street zombies, sir.¡± "I¡¯m aware." ¡°So this is our chance to rush in and overpower the guards. We can take the survivors hostage¡­¡± ¡°Hold it.¡± The major cut him off, and the captain pressed his lips tightly together. The major sighed, then continued to speak. ¡°I haven¡¯t met the real leader yet.¡± ¡°Sir, didn¡¯t you see them earlier? These guys are nothing but a ragtag bunch. Didn¡¯t you just see with your own eyes that zombies and humans cannot coexist?¡± ¡°Have you considered how this ragtag bunch of people made it to this day?¡± ¡°...¡± The captain stayed silent, unable toe up with a reason. The major wet his lips, then continued. ¡°I think the one who pointed his gun at me was the leader of the people. But he wasn¡¯t the leader of the zombies.¡± ¡°But¡­¡± "Don¡¯t you get it, even after witnessing how strong blue-eyed zombies are?¡± The major looked at the captain calmly. The captain smacked his lower lip and furrowed his brow. He recalled what had happened back in Gangnam¡ªthe chaos and devastation unfolding in front of their eyes. The major sighed and continued to speak. ¡°The guy who got into a fight with the human leader also had blue eyes.¡± ¡°Pardon, sir?¡± The captain¡¯s eyes went wide and his mouth fell open. The captain hadn¡¯t seen Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s face, but only because he had been behind the major the entire time. The major looked up at the blue sky and continued to speak in a gentle voice. ¡°The reason he couldn''t attack the man even though he had blue eyes is probably because there¡¯s another zombie stronger than him here. And that zombie¡­ That one is probably close to the human leader.¡± ¡°Then what should we¡­¡± ¡°If we want to survive, the correct thing to do is to follow what the human leader said. From their point of view, we¡¯re just wanderers with no ce to go.¡± ¡°Do you think they¡¯ll consider us that way, even after all the supplies we provided them?¡± ¡°Providing them with supplies and living together is a totally different matter. We¡¯ve considered the people of Gangbuk as no different from zombies so far. Do you think they¡¯ll ept us that easily?¡± The major smiled a thin smile, and the captain¡¯s head sagged, weighed down by a bitter expression. The major patted him on the shoulder. ¡°Officers don¡¯t drop their heads.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t let it happen again, sir.¡± ¡°If you drop your head, the heads of the soldiers behind you will drop as well. Do you understand?¡± ¡°Yes, sir.¡± The major calmed himself, then shouted in a thunderous voice that could be heard by all the soldiers on board. ¡°Snipers, to position!!!¡± ¡°To position!!!¡± The soldiers shouted their acknowledgment and pointed their guns out of the windows of the cruise ship. The major looked at the captain next to him. ¡°Stand fast.¡± ¡°Stand fast!!¡± In contrast to the entrance to Gwangjang-dong, which was filled with the roaring of zombies, the cruise ship was dead silent. Tension was building up on board. * * * ¡°Mood-Swinger, attack the front!¡± "Ar¡­no¡­ld¡­!!!" . Mood-Swinger began to erge its muscles, and hot steam spewed from its body. Crack! It charged up Achasan-ro, sending pieces of asphalt flying. Kim Hyeong-Jun arranged his underlings in lines that spanned left and right to prevent the street zombies from getting close. Although his forces were superior in terms of strength, he could not overlook the approaching zombies¡¯ numbers. There weren¡¯t thousands of them. There were at least ten thousand of them running toward him. It felt as if all the zombies in Gangbuk were making their way to Gwangjang-dong. His underlings were in good physical shape, but he knew they would get pushed back in an instant if their bodies were destroyed. KIAAA!!! Kim Hyeong-Jun heard wild mutants howling. They were mutants within the iing zombie wave. Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s blue eyes shed, and hot steam rose from his body. His blood began to circte more quickly, and the zombie instinct that he had been suppressing all along slowly began to emerge. And since he¡¯d had to respond to this crisis without resolving his disagreement with Lee Jeong-Uk, his madness was at its peak. Kim Hyeong-Jun leaped into the air, darting straight for the crowd of mutants. When Kim Hyeong-Jun¡ªwho had been right in front of the mutants just a second ago¡ªdisappeared from their sight, the mutants rolled their multitude of eyeballs to track him down. Screech! Even before the stage-one mutant had the chance to locate Kim Hyeong-Jun, his right arm had already punched through its chest and grabbed a hold of its heart. With a grunt, Kim Hyeong-Jun mmed the mutant¡¯s upper body to the ground. Its neck snapped, and he crushed its skull without the slightest hesitation. Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s eyes narrowed, making deep furrows in his brow. Kim Hyeong-Jun took his anger out on the mutants,unching a torrent of attacks. He was madness itself, and he was bringing a massacre with him. * * * Do Han-Sol sensed fear running through his body as he saw the zombies make their way down from Achasan. The street zombies have never climbed over the mountains before. But now¡­ There were an impossible number of them racing down through the forest. Do Han-Sol summoned his underlings that had been at the hotel to the foot of Achasan. Since Kim Hyeong-Jun was taking care of the entrance of Gwangjang-dong, he lined his underlings up along the foot of Achasan. GRRR!!! Finally, when the street zombies got close enough, Do Han-Sol raced toward them with a sh of his red eyes. He fought desperately against the endless wave of zombies, breaking their faces, crushing and stomping on them. The zombie attack felt different this time, perhaps because he was now on the low ground,pared to before, when they engaged the zombie hordes on t ground. He gritted his teeth as he fought off the pressure that was trying to overwhelm him. KIAAA!!! Just when he thought that things couldn¡¯t get any worse, he caught sight of a stage-one mutant approaching swiftly, using its long arms to swing through the trees. He realized that there were multiple mutants approaching, and his face turned pale. There were three, four¡­ No. Seven stage-one mutants were making their way toward him. Back in Children¡¯s Grand Park, facing off against five stage-one mutants had been enough to spark the fear of death in him. He knew better than anyone that handling seven mutants on his own was beyond his abilities. ¡°Fuck¡­¡± Do Han-Sol cursed under his breath and tried to channel strength in his relentlessly trembling limbs. As the grim reaper-like zombies closed in, a woman''s face crossed his mind. Choi Soo-Hyun. He was secretly in love with Choi Soo-Hyun. From the days when he was still a human being, and until now, even though his heart no longer beating, his love for Choi Soo-Hyun had not wavered. She was the reason he¡¯d been able to endure the tough days at work. - Good morning, how¡¯s your day so far? Her ordinary greeting had breathed life into each and every day. Even after the world turned upside down and he experienced his own death, his love for her hadn¡¯t changed. The reason Do Han-Sol had been able to find his way to Shelter Silence when he¡¯d lost contact with Hwang Deok-Rok and Choi Soo-Hyun was because he¡¯d remembered Choi Soo-Hyun''s scent. The perfume that the two of them had been using was the one that Choi Soo-Hyun used often. He had tracked her scent to reach Seoul Forest. Even though his body was already dead, his feelings for Choi Soo-Hyun were still steadfast. Whenever he thought about her, he missed her so dearly that he would begin to tremble. He even missed her when she was in front of him. The desire that had allowed him to resurrect as a zombie with red eyes¡­ It was to save Choi Soo-Hyun. He had no intentions to pursue a serious rtionship now, as he was well aware that he was a zombie. But he wanted to protect her so that she would be able to keep smiling. He wanted to keep her safe until someone worthy of her appeared, even if others pointed fingers at him and told him that whatever he was doing was a waste of time. This was his desire. And he knew that if he couldn¡¯t hold the zombies off here, her life could be in peril. Do Han-Sol clenched his fists and once again, reminding himself of what he was fighting for. He would fight for Choi Soo-Hyun until the day he died. ¡°GRRR!!!¡± Do Han-Sol let out a roar, his red eyes shing. His bloody battle with the seven stage-one mutants began. * * * I was trapped, surrounded by zombies. I could get to Guui-dong if I went forward a bit further, and if I took a diagonal route, I could get to Gwangjang-dong. However, I was trapped because of the sudden zombie wave that had been triggered at the border dividing Junggok-dong and Guui-dong. Zombies were running through the streets, and more were making their way down from the foot of Achasan, blocking my advance. Zombies were swarming around me from all directions, messing up my mind. ¡®If the zombies areing down from Achasan¡­ Gwangjang-dong is going to be in danger too.¡¯ I couldn¡¯t keep my anxiety down. I had to get going to Gwangjang-dong, but dealing with all these zombies would only waste my time. - Enemy detected. Just when I thought that things couldn¡¯t get any worse, I received a signal from my mutants. As they say, when it rains, it pours. Before I left Sinnae-dong, I¡¯d ordered my mutants to defend the hotel. If the mutants were sending me a signal, it meant that the zombies had reached the hotel. I had to make a decision. Staying here did absolutely nothing. I had to take the shortest route back. ¡°Let¡¯s head into the mountains.¡± "Pardon? The mountains?¡± Kim Seok-Won¡¯s eyes had gone wide. There was no time to waste. I informed the survivors that we had to go through the mountains. ¡°We have to go across the mountain to enter Gwangjang-dong.¡± The streets were full of zombies. It would be safer for the survivors to move through the mountains anyway. There seemed to be a handful of zombies littering Achasan, but not that manypared to the number of zombies on the streets. ¡®Firstpany, second toon, intercept the zombies heading to Achasan. Third toon, protect the survivors. Fourth toon, take care of the zombiesing down from Achasan.¡¯ GRRR!!! As one, they let out their throat-rending cries and moved into their respective positions. Finally, I gave orders to my mutants. ¡®Take care of the zombies around the hotel. Mutant leader, protect the survivors from inside the hotel.¡¯ Junggok-dong and Gwangjang-dong were less than four kilometers apart. Since the maximum distance I could get signals was five kilometers, it didn¡¯t take long for my mutants to send a reply. I took the lead, checking on the survivors every now and then. Grotesque, eerie throat-rending howls echoed within the lush forest. The heavy rains had turned the mountain paths almost into swamnd, and the cold, howling wind did the survivors no favors. Many had stayed up all night, and they were at the limits of their stamina. I was extremely reluctant to have to resort to this, but I couldn¡¯t afford any more time. ¡°Everyone stop!!¡± All the survivors stopped when they heard my voice. I addressed the thirdpany of underlings that was escorting the survivors. ¡°I¡¯m going to call some of you out. Step forward when I do.¡± After examining my underlings, I chose forty of them that looked the most normal. Once done, I gave them orders. ¡°Each one of you will carry a survivor on your back until we get back.¡± The survivors turned pale with fear. Chapter 134

Chapter 134

I knew that, if I were in the survivor¡¯s shoes, I wouldn¡¯t feelfortable being carried by a zombie. That was not the only reason I¡¯d been holding off on employing such a method, though. It was also because of my underlings. No matter how strong the chain ofmand between me and my underlings was, I couldn¡¯t know what would happen if zombies and humans made physical contact. Instincts were called instincts for a reason. And in the case of zombie instincts¡­ It was one of indiscriminate destruction and violence. I had never had an opportunity to test such a thing out, nor had any survivor agreed to try. Even Lee Jeong-Uk had been against my idea, saying that I was crazy. When I asked him why, Lee Jeong-Uk exined his reasoning to me, which was based on his past memories. - Back then¡­ Your underlings red at us like prey. When I¡¯d rescued Lee Jeong-Uk, Lee Jeong-Hyuk and Choi Da-Hye from the street zombies, I¡¯d ordered my underlings to bring them to me. At that time, my underlings had carried the Lee brothers and Choi Da-Hye to the first floor of the apartment and left them there. Back then, I¡¯d assumed that they¡¯d made their way up to see me of their own ord, but that wasn¡¯t the case. - At that time¡­ I thought your underlings would kill us if we didn¡¯t go up. That¡¯s why we went up. Lee Jeong-Uk told me that that day sometimes would sh through his mind like a nightmare. Of course, it could have been because his hatred toward zombies was at its apex back then, but there was nothing wrong with being careful. After that, I did not allow any contact whatsoever between the survivors and my underlings. There had been no reason to take risks just to observe a result. But things were different now. ¡°I know you may feel reluctant to do so, but this is the only way right now.¡± ¡°But¡­ Climbing onto a zombie¡­¡± ¡°If not, you¡¯ll all die.¡± ¡°...¡± I wasn¡¯t exaggerating when I said that everyone would die. I knew that if even one person in Gwangjang-dong died¡­ I would turn into a ck creature. I had already made up my mind that if anyone in this group refused to climb onto a zombie¡¯s back, I would abandon them all and head back to Gwangjang-dong on my own. I knew I had to think more rationally in situations like this. I was aware that I was forcing them to do something, but I had no other choice. For me, So-Yeon would always be my number one priority. The survivors made no further objections. I assumed that they were on board with my idea, so then, I gave orders to my underlings. My underlings began to carry the survivors onto their backs as I had ordered them to do so. The survivors moaned and squeezed their eyes shut. Grrr¡­ KWAAA!!! The underlings who were carrying the survivors began to act strangely, letting out throat-rending sounds. My underlings were drooling as they stared at the survivors¡¯ arms, which were hanging on either side of their heads. I looked at my underlings. ¡°Go straight to the hotel in Gwangjang-dong,¡± I ordered them. ¡°Do not turn around; go straight to the hotel." Grrr¡­ My underlings raced toward the hotel in Gwangjang-dong. We made it through the lush forest and hills with the first, second, and fourthpanies escorting us. * * * We raced through the forest for a while. After going in a big loop around the foot of the mountain, I saw Gwangjang-dong unfold in front of my eyes. The first thing that caught my eye was Mood-Swinger, overwhelming all the zombies around it. It was having a good time biting into, tearing apart, crushing, and throwing around countless zombies, reveling in its mass ughter. Behind it, I saw another zombie with blue eyes darting in between the street zombies. It was Kim Hyeong-Jun. I yelled as loud as I could, the veins in my neck popping out. ¡°Hyeong-Jun!!¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun turned and seemed to hesitate, but then quickly focused on me. He had a big smile on his face. I realized that the smile on his face¡­ It wasn¡¯t a smile to greet me. He had let his zombie instincts take over his body, relishing the ughter. I looked into his eyes. ''Hyeong-Jun¡­ Are you sane?¡¯ ¡®Why do people keep on asking if I¡¯m sane or not? It¡¯s getting annoying¡­¡¯ His attitude surprised me. I wondered if something had happened between him and the others while I was away. He seemed oddly sensitive. Or were his zombie instincts inhibiting his rational mind? Whatever the reason was, there was nothing to gain from making him even more worked up. ''What about the others?¡¯ ''At the hotel.'' ''Will you be okay here alone?'' ''Of course. Did you bring the survivors back?'' I pointed at my underlings. The survivors were still draped across their backs, trembling. Kim Hyeong-Jun chuckled and gave me a small bow of acknowledgment, then went back to ughtering the zombies. It seemed like he had a lot of pent-up stress within him. He didn¡¯t seem to be fighting the zombies so much as taking his stress out on them. I had no clue what was going on, but I knew I had to have a chat with him once the situation was taken care of. Leaving him to it, I led my underlings and survivors along the path that led to the hotel. We continued to move along the foot of Achasan, and the Dous Hotel appeared in the distance. I took a closer look and saw Do Han-Sol fighting. The Walkerhill Hotel, where everyone else was staying, was behind the Dous Hotel. ¡°Thirdpany, drop off the survivors at the Walkerhill Hotel and report back,¡± I ordered. ¡°Everyone else, go help Do Han-Sol right away.¡± GRRR!!! Just as my underlings were about to leave, I heard Kim Seok-Won¡¯s voice. ¡°What should we do at the hotel?¡± ¡°Hide. And don¡¯te out until we¡¯ve taken care of the zombies.¡± ¡°Huh? We want to¡­¡± Before he could finish his sentence, my underlings had run off with him and the others to the hotel. I understood that they wanted to help, but staying put and keeping still was the best way for them to help at the moment. ¡°AHHH!!!¡± A scream cut through the air,ing from the Dous Hotel. I whipped my head around, looking for the source of the scream, and saw Do Han-Sol¡¯s right arm being torn off by the mutants. With a sh of my blue eyes, I crashed into the mutants like a raging wave. Smack! A mutant¡¯s hand was flying toward Do Han-Sol¡¯s face. My fistnded first, right smack on the mutant¡¯s face. ¡°Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok!!¡± Without replying, I shoved Do Han-Sol back as hard as I could. My unexpected push sent him tumbling backward, and he rolled a couple of times. The mutants that had been surrounding him went momentarily nk. They looked at their fellow mutant, its skull now shattered, and their heads began to twist in bizarre angles. They had the capacity to learn. They must have noticed that the tables had turned. I had to deal with them before they learned enough to outsmart me. Tshhh¡­ Hot steam gushed forth from my body as I forced my blood to circte more quickly. I channeled strength into my arms, and my forearms became twice as thick. The steam began to wrap around my body. I was like an active volcano on the verge of erupting. Even the cold winter wind could not cool the heat from the steam that wasing off me. My eyes fell on the mutant that was chewing on Do Han-Sol¡¯s right arm. ¡°Oh no, you can¡¯t have that for free.¡± As I darted toward it, it hurriedly brought its arms up to guard its face. The bones of a stage-one mutant were harder than most bricks. But as for me¡­ My fists could shatter reinforced concrete with ease. Crack! My fist smashed into its arms, bending them like soft stic, then burst past them and connected with the mutant¡¯s skull. Its tough teeth shattered as its face caved in. The other five mutants that had been observing let out death cries and charged toward me all at once. I crouched down, targeting their lower bodies. They managed to bend their bodies in bizarre ways and avoided my attacks. And at the same time, they swung their arms toward my head. I grabbed onto one of the arms that was flying toward my head and swung the mutant around like a windmill. The stage-one mutant instantly transformed into a whip that I could swing around. Its long body and numerous flexible joints made it the perfect whip. The mutant in my hands couldn¡¯t resist the centrifugal force and began to flutter like a leaf being tossed about by wind and rain. I advanced on the remaining mutants, twirling my whip about. They quickly dropped into a defensive posture. Since I could swing my whip faster than they could react, they had no choice but to take a defensive stance. From their reactions, it seemed like they were nning on stretching out the fight until the joints on my mutant zombie whip broke. After all, they were able to learn and react ording to the situation. Fortunately, they weren¡¯t all that smart. They¡¯d figured out one thing, but did not consider the next step, as they should have done. I threw my whip in the direction of Achasan and leaped in front of the mutants that were crouched in their defensive postures. All their attention had been on the whip, and they had forgotten about me. Crack! Smack! Rip! I shattered their skulls one by one, swinging my two enhanced arms like axes and crushing their bones like tofu. I dealt with the mutants in an instant, and went to check on Do Han-Sol. Do Han-Sol¡¯s breathing wasbored, and he was clearly in pain. I¡¯d thought that it was just his right arm, but his abdomen was injured as well. ¡°Han-Sol, Han-Sol!¡± He coughed out a mouthful of blood. ¡°It¡¯s okay. I won¡¯t die.¡± He was asserting that he was all right even when he was clearly coughing out blood. Fortunately, he had no visible head wounds. He was also smiling as if his injuries weren¡¯t a big deal, which led me to believe that he wasn¡¯t in fatal danger. After a moment, Do Han-Sol pushed himself up and looked at the zombiesing down from Achasan. I wondered if he was still trying to fight the zombies in his current state. I grabbed his shirt and pulled him down again. I knew I was being slightly violent, which was perhaps not the best thing, but it was the only thing I could think of, since I knew that he wouldn¡¯t listen to me otherwise. Do Han-Sol looked at me with a puzzled expression. ¡°Don¡¯t even think about moving until your body regenerates.¡± ¡°I can still fight.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve done your part. I can''t let you overexert yourself. Wait for your body to regenerate.¡± I needed to buy him time while he regenerated in a safe ce. Do Han-Sol hadn¡¯t eaten a ck creature¡¯s brain, and so his ability to regenerate was significantly lower than mine or Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s. After I ordered my underlings to block off the zombies that wereing down from Achasan, I grabbed Do Han-Sol by his cor and dragged him to the entrance of the hotel. I had no other choice, since it was best not to have physical contact with him. As we approached the entrance, I saw the guards manning the steel barricade. ¡°So-Yeon¡¯s dad!¡± Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s eyes were wide with surprise as he called out to me. He seemed to piece together what was going on as he saw me dragging Do Han-Sol. The tightly-closed barricade opened, and Iid Do Han-Sol down inside our shelter. All the leaders who were there came to check on Do Han-Sol''s condition. ¡°Don¡¯t let him do anything until he regenerates,¡± I said to them. Lee Jeong-Uk looked at me worriedly. "Is he okay? Will he make it?¡± I nodded. ¡°He¡¯ll be okay as long as he doesn¡¯t push himself. So keep an eye on him.¡± ¡°Got it¡­¡± Just as I was about to head back to Achasan, I saw something unfamiliar at the docks of Gwangjang-dong. ¡°Jeong-Uk¡­¡± "Huh?" ¡°What are those?¡± I frowned as I stared at the three cruise ships. Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s expression soured. ¡°Survivors, from Gangnam.¡± ¡°I know that, but why are they here?¡± It hadn¡¯t even been a week since we¡¯d received the supplies from them. They probably hadn¡¯te all this way to give us supplies, or start a war with us. That left only one reason. ¡®They gave up on Gangnam?¡¯ I was confused. I thought their fight against the Family was going well. Lee Jeong-Uk smacked his lips and told me what had happened while I was gone. Long story short, the survivors of Gangnam had lost the war against the Family. They had been lying about holding the Family off, and the supplies they had given us were basically bribes so that they could stay with us. The absurd situation left me speechless. I gently massaged my temples to clear my head. I looked at Lee Jeong-Uk. ¡°Why aren¡¯t they disembarking?¡± I asked. ¡°I told them not to. I wanted to speak with you instead of making a decision on my own.¡± ¡°...¡± It seemed like Lee Jeong-Uk also sensed something fishy about the situation. The sudden zombie attack should have given them the opportunity to disembark, but the survivors of Gangnam still seemed to be following Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s request. I couldn¡¯t figure out what they were really up to. Or perhaps¡­ Perhaps they really wanted to get along with us. I saw dozens of guns sticking out from the windows of the cruise ships, all pointed toward Gwangjang-dong. If they were aiming for my family, I would kill them all in a heartbeat. I couldn''t help but feel nervous. Since they weren¡¯t attacking us right away, I assumed that they were waiting to see what was going to happen. I clicked my tongue, then spoke up. ¡°Guard, keep an eye on the cruise ships. Leave the zombies to me and Hyeong-Jun.¡± ¡°Oh, by the way.¡± ¡°What.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk wet his parched lips and hesitated. ¡°Umm¡­ About Kim Hyeong-Jun...¡± He trailed off, and his expression grew bitter. ¡°Never mind. I¡¯ll tell you about it after we get through this.¡± ¡°Okay¡­¡± He wasn¡¯t usually the sort of person to leave things hanging. I couldn¡¯t tell why he was acting this way. At that moment, I remembered the way Kim Hyeong-Jun had been when I¡¯d seen him at the entrance to Gwangjang-dong. It seemed like there had been some conflict between Lee Jeong-Uk and Kim Hyeong-Jun. I felt uneasy leaving something like that unresolved, but at the moment, taking care of the zombies was the priority. I pushed aside my uneasiness and headed toward Achasan. Chapter 135 Chapter 135 Fortunately, there weren¡¯t any stage-two mutants amongst the zombies making their way down from Acahsan. Some of them were stage-one mutants, and the rest were ordinary street zombies. When I was just about done dealing with the zombies from Achasan, I heard gunfireing from the Han River. My first thought was that the survivors of Gangnam had opened fire on our shelter guards. I ordered my underlings to wrap up and dashed toward the docks. ¡°Fire!!¡± A series of loud cracks filled the air after the man yelled hismand. Dozens of bullets flew toward the zombies, ripping through their bodies. They were shooting at the zombies streaming in from Guri City, at the northern end of Achasan-ro. The howls of tens of thousands¡ªperhaps even hundreds of thousands¡ªof zombies had drawn attention to us, and even the zombies in Guri-si were making their way to Gwangjang-dong. The survivors of Gangnam were taking care of the zombies that wereing at us from behind so that we could focus on the zombies in front of us. ¡®Do they actually want to live together with us?¡¯ Lee Jeong-Uk hadn¡¯t even let them disembark yet. Our fate¡ªwhether we got wiped out or not¡ªhad nothing to do with the survivors of Gangnam. But nheless, they were supporting us¡­ I wondered if this was their way of expressing that they wanted to stay here with us. My eyes met with those of a man on the second deck of the cruise ship. He seemed to be in his mid tote forties with the insignia of a major on his shoulder. He looked straight at me for a moment, then gave a slight nod. Unlike his face, which was carved from stone, his eyes seemed gentle. Even without speaking to him, I knew that he was the leader of Gangnam. After that unexpected exchange of greetings, I headed to the rooftop of the building on the left. I looked over toward the border of Gwangjang-dong in the distance and saw Kim Hyeong-Jun as a tiny dot. He was popping up here and there like a fly, constantly flitting around as he ughtered the zombies that crowded the streets. Since Kim Hyeong-Jun didn¡¯t feel any physical fatigue, I knew he wouldn¡¯t stop his massacre unless his body suffered significant damage. Victory was on our side. Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s underlings were spread left and right, pushing the zombies out of Gwangjang-dong. We had almost taken care of the zombiesing from Acahsan as well, and the zombie wave was slowlying to an end. Bang! Bang! Bang! Just then, gunfire erupted at the entrance to the hotel. I whipped my gaze toward the sound and saw dozens of guards firing toward the hotel. The veins in my forehead almost popped. ¡°Stop shooting!!¡± I yelled with all my might. I couldn¡¯t understand why they were firing toward the hotel. I couldn¡¯t help but think that they had gone insane. The survivors¡ªour families¡ªwere inside. One mistake could lead to the death of our survivors. Hwang Ji-Hye, who btedly noticed their actions, yelled at the guards to stop as well. ¡°Cease fire! Cease fire!¡± The guards seemed as stumped as me and Hwang Ji-Hye. Why in the world had they started shooting toward the hotel? Were Lee Jeong-Uk and Park Gi-Cheol just standing there watching while the guards fired away? I scanned the barricade, and saw that neither Lee Jeong-Uk nor Park Gi-Cheol were there. The two of them had somehow disappeared in a situation like this. Clink, nk¨C A series of unpleasant metallic noises disturbed my eardrums. As I looked about, trying to find the source of the sound, I saw a stage-one mutant climbing up the hotel walls. The guards hadn¡¯t been firing into the hotel, but at the stage-one mutant that was scaling the hotel wall. However, some of them had been off the mark, and ended up hitting the hotel windows instead. The mutant was already on the seventeenth floor. My blood boiled as I watched it make its way up. My people were there. My daughter. ''So-Yeon.'' Without the slightest hesitation, I sprinted for the hotel. * * * ¡°What floor are you on?!¡± - Tenth¡­ tenth floor right now! Lee Jeong-Uk desperately made his way up the stairs as he spoke to Hwang Ji-Hye through his walkie-talkie. Park Gi-Cheol trailed behind him, breathing heavily. ¡®Fuck, fuck, fuck!!!¡¯ Lee Jeong-Uk gritted his teeth and furrowed his brow. By the eighth floor, his thighs felt like they were about to burst at any moment, and by the ninth floor, he could feel his heartbeat growing irregr. By the eleventh floor, his eyes began to tremble, and by the twelfth floor, he began to feel slightly woozy. Nevertheless¡­ He couldn¡¯t stop. If the mutant made its way to the fifteenth and seventeenth floors, it would be a total disaster. If the survivors here were attacked by the mutant¡­ There was no way he could face Kim Hyeong-Jun and Lee Hyun-Deok when they returned from their fight with the zombies outside. Lee Jeong-Uk continued his ascent, his mind awash with thoughts. Hwang Ji-Hye¡¯s voice broke the silence. - It¡¯s reached the seventeenth floor! It¡¯s broken through the window and is about halfway in!!! The mutant¡­ It had already made it to the seventeenth floor. Lee Jeong-Uk and Park Gi-Cheol were still on the thirteenth floor, and their bodies were already at their physical limits. But the mutant didn¡¯t care about them. It had one thing to do: hunt down prey. Lee Jeong-Uk ran up the stairs with all his strength. When the two of them finally reached the seventeenth floor, he noticed the door leading to the suite dangling from its hinges. At the sight of the damaged door, the remaining strength in his legs drained away. He knelt down on the floor, staring nkly at the broken door. ¡°No, no, no¡­¡± He didn¡¯t dare move any closer. He did not wish to face the horrific scene that would greet him inside the suite with his own eyes. To him, Lee Jeong-Hyuk and Choi Da-Hye¡¯s wedding seemed like it had been just the day before. ¡°Mr. Lee Jeong-Uk, Mr. Lee Jeong-Uk!¡± Park Gi-Cheol called his name repeatedly, but he didn¡¯t move a single inch. It was almost as if he had lost his mind. Park Gi-Cheol frowned and grabbed his cor. ¡°Get up!!¡± ¡°...¡± Lee Jeong-Uk heard Park Gi-Cheol¡¯s call and managed toe to his senses. He pushed through his weakened muscles and mind and got up. ¡®I have to check, even if they¡¯re dead.¡¯ Lee Jeong-Uk widened his eyes and desperately raised the gun he had put down earlier. The two of them entered the suite. The biting wind howling through the broken window pane felt and sounded like a ghost rushing through the room. KIAAA!!! Through the howling of the wind, they heard the mutant¡¯s cry. But to their surprise, the scene unfolding before their eyes was totally different from what they¡¯d imagined. There were two mutants tangled up with each other, engaging in a bloody battle. Lee Jeong-Hyuk, Choi Da-Hye, and Han Seon-Hui were desperately evacuating the children. As the mutants fought in the center of the living room, they were hiding the children away in the master bedroom, which was adjacent to the living room. Lee Jeong-Uk pointed his gun at the mutants, his face a mask of confusion. Park Gi-Cheol, who had caught up, reacted in the same way. ¡°Which one¡­ which one should we shoot?¡± ¡°...¡± Lee Jeong-Uk was as clueless as Park Gi-Cheol. He had no idea why there were two mutants here, and why the two of them were fighting. He was certain that he had only seen one mutant climb up the walls. He wondered if the two of them were fighting over their prey. Han Seon-Hui¡¯s scream broke through his thoughts. ¡°Shoot the zombie on top!!¡± The battle between the two monsters was almost over. One of them was already lying t on the ground, trying desperately to fight back, while the other one was straddling the one on the ground and biting it mercilessly. Lee Jeong-Uk pulled his trigger without the slightest hesitation. Rat-tat-tat-tat!!! There was no need for Lee Jeong-Uk to use the semi-automatic mode when the enemy was this close. He knew just how strong the bones of stage-one mutants were. He emptied the clip into the zombie. He and Park Gi-Cheol pumped all their bullets into the mutant¡¯s skull. The mutant¡¯s head exploded before it could even let out a death cry. The acrid smell of gunpowder wafted along the wind and tickled Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s nose. When he lowered his gun and looked at the mutant, it was dead still. Kia¡­ The mutant next to the dead one seemed worn out. As Lee Jeong-Uk examined it more closely, he realized that ¡®worn out¡¯ was the wrong way of describing it. It was more urate to say that it was dying. Lee Jeong-Uk btedly noticed blue markings on the mutant''s body. He hadn¡¯t even noticed the blue spray paint on its body earlier on, because of all the blood from the battle. It was one of Lee Hyun-Deok¡¯s underlings. * * * ¡°So-Yeon!¡± I made it to the seventeenth floor in one leap. To my surprise, I didn¡¯t see the mutant I was looking for. Instead, I saw Lee Jeong-Uk and Park Gi-Cheol there, covered head-to-toe in dark red blood. I looked at Lee Jeong-Uk. ¡°Where¡­ Where¡¯s So-Yeon?¡± I asked. ¡°She¡¯s in¡­¡± I barged into the master bedroom before Lee Jeong-Uk could finish. Inside, I saw Lee Jeong-Hyuk, Choi Da-Hye and Han Seon-Hui, along with all the children. So-Yeon was with the other children, her eyes tightly closed. Everything in front of me became a blur. My hearing seemed to fade away, and the world was turning yellow. It felt like the world was quaking while time stood still. An intense feeling of relief flooded through me, draining away my energy. I fell to my knees and called out to So-Yeon in a gentle voice. ¡°So-Yeon.¡± ¡°...¡± So-Yeon slowly opened her tightly-closed eyes and looked over. When she saw my face, her frown instantly turned into a smile. ¡°Daddy! Daddy!!¡± ¡°So-Yeon.¡± She dashed toward me, crying. As she approached, I opened my arms, and she fell into my embrace. My breathing grew heavy. Her warmth flowed into my heart, and it felt like time started to flow again. ¡®Thank you, God. Thank you so much!¡¯ I instinctively offered my thanks to God. This time, it had been much too close. If Lee Jeong-Uk and Park Gi-Cheol hadn''t ran all the way up to the seventeenth floor¡­ Something awful¡ªsomething that I didn¡¯t want to imagine¡ªwould have happened. Realizing that her life was no longer at risk, I carefully examined her from head to toe. "Sweetheart, are you okay? Did my daughter get hurt anywhere?¡± "I''m fine! But Auntie Zombie¡¯s injured.¡± ¡°What?¡± Auntie Zombie? I knew she wasn¡¯t talking about Choi Da-Hye or Han Seon-Hui. So who in the world was she talking about? As I looked at her in confusion, So-Yeon ran into the living room, wiping the tears from her eyes. I followed her back into the living room and saw two mutants lying helplessly on the ground. One of them was the mutant that had climbed up the hotel. The other was the stage-one mutant I had appointed as the mutant leader. I wondered why the mutant leader was here. I looked over at Lee Jeong-Uk, my expression demanding an exnation. He shrugged at me. "I have no clue why it¡¯s here either. When we got here, the two of them were fighting.¡± I went over the orders I¡¯d given to my underlings earlier on, and realized why the mutant leader was here. - Take care of the zombies around the hotel. Mutant leader, protect the survivors from inside the hotel. The mutant leader¡­ it had been at the hotel from the beginning. Even before the wild mutant had climbed up the hotel, the mutant leader had been in the hotel, protecting the survivors. Lee Jeong-Hyuk came out into the living room. ¡°That mutant saved us,¡± he said. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Everyone grew nervous when we heard the gunfire¡­ Then suddenly that mutant broke the door and entered.¡± ¡°That mutant broke the door?¡± ¡°Yes, I think it was following the mutant that was climbing up the hotel wall. I think it broke the door because it didn¡¯t know how to open it.¡± I looked closely at the mutant leader. It was breathing heavily and staring at So-Yeon, who was next to me. It croaked out a phrase in a hoarse, dry whisper. ¡°Mom¡­my¡­ is¡­ here¡­¡± Its voice filled me with sadness. My heart ached. I wondered how much this mutant regretted not being able to save her own child while she¡¯d been alive. All she could think about was saving a child, even when she was on the verge of death¡­ I knew exactly how she felt. Because I was no different. In contrast to its hollow eyes, which were devoid of emotion, its voice was full of sadness. It reminded me of the first time I¡¯d seen it, at Children''s Grand Park. It had saved the child who had been trapped in the tent, and had said the same exact words. And as it held the boy in its arms, it had even shed a gentle smile that I¡¯d never seen before. The memory faded, and I saw the mutant in front of me again. ¡®Thanks¡­ For everything.¡¯ Its limbs were already torn to shreds, and dark red blood was oozing out from its stomach, chest, and even the nape of its neck. It had taken too much damage, and would not be able to recover even if it ate other zombies. It might have had a chance if it was a stage-two mutant, but a stage-one mutant did not have the ability to fully regenerate its limbs. It was time to set the mutant leader free from its duties. "Auntie!" At that moment, So-Yeon ran toward the mutant. My eyes went wide, and I hurriedly grabbed onto her upper body. I had no clue what would happen if a human being got into contact with its blood. And if its blood got into So-Yeon¡¯s mouth or eyes, I knew there was no turning back. ¡°Let go, let go! Let go of me!¡± ¡°So-Yeon¡­¡± ¡°Let go of me!¡± So-Yeon tried to bite my hand. I was a zombie too. If all zombie blood was potentially dangerous, that included my blood as well. I quickly took my hand away. Without the slightest hesitation, So-Yeon reached out and held onto the mutant leader¡¯s hand. Chapter 136 Chapter 136 "Don''t die, don''t die!" So-Yeon wailed and cried as she held onto the mutant¡¯s hand. In truth, almost no one truly wanted to die. However, for all beings, whether human or zombie, death meant eternal peace. I knew that the mutant leader didn¡¯t want to live on like this. Regardless. So-Yeon wailed out loud as she held on tightly to the mutant¡¯s hand. I couldn¡¯t help but wonder if any other human being would be so distraught over the death of a zombie. Unlike adults, who were able to maintain their calm, children were more emotional and less able to regte their feelings, especially toward a friend or guardian who protected them from dangerous situations. Now that I thought about it, from their point of view, they would probably feel morefortable and familiar with the zombies painted in blue aspared to me. After all, these blue zombies were reliable guardians who stood at attention, constantly guarding the shelter from external threats. They were also heroes who were the first to dash forward to meet any approaching enemies in order to keep the shelter safe. The children were probably curious about the underlings. They probably want to interact with them and talk to them as well. They would have developed a pent-up curiosity toward these underlings that might have contributed to feelings of intimacy or familiarity. Perhaps the underlings painted in blue¡­ Perhaps the children saw them as family. From this perspective, it was not surprising that So-Yeon¡¯s reaction to the zombie¡¯s death was so different from my own. After all, we thought about them differently. I patted So-Yeon on the shoulder. ¡°So-Yeon, it¡¯s time to let Auntie Zombie rest.¡± ¡°No! No!!!¡± So-Yeon shed tears as she hugged the mutant leader¡¯s arm. The mutant leader spoke, its voice barely audible. "You¡¯re¡­ safe¡­ now¡­¡± ¡°Don''t go, don''t go! Don''t die!¡± As tears continued to stream down So-Yeon¡¯s face, the mutant¡¯s lips began to tremble. Then, the mutant asked an unexpected question. "Do¡­ you... love¡­ mom¡­ my? Mom¡­ mind¡­ love¡­ sun?" "I love you! I love you! So don¡¯t go! Don¡¯t die!¡± So-Yeon wailed out loud, and tears flowed freely down her cheeks. Then, the mutant slowly raised its arm and began stroking her hair. When So-Yeon looked into the mutant''s face, it smiled gently. ¡°Mommy¡­ loves¡­ you¡­ too.¡± Crack, crack. With that, its bones began to distort. I hurriedly pulled So-Yeon back by her waist. Inded on my bottom, holding So-Yeon in my arms. Lee Jeong-Uk, who had been watching everything, pointed his gun at the mutant leader. ¡°What is it, So-Yeon¡¯s dad? What¡¯s happening to it? What¡¯s going on?¡± My mouth fell open as I looked at the mutant leader. Its bones began to deform, and in a few moments, it had morphed into a sphere. I smacked my lips in confusion. Lee Jeong-Uk grabbed my cor and shook me. ¡°What the hell is going on?! Should I shoot it right now?¡± ¡°No, no. Don¡¯t.¡± ¡°Then exin what¡¯s happening.¡± ¡°Its¡­ It¡¯s evolving.¡± "What?" Lee Jeong-Uk looked at the mutant. Deep furrows creased his brow. The mutant was now an egg, and had gonepletely still. I stared nkly at the mutant leader¡¯s new form, trying to work through the confusion in my mind. ¡®So they can evolve without eating the opponent?¡¯ The mutants that had be stage-two mutants so far had evolved by eating another stage-one mutant that shared the same desire as them. By eating the other mutant, they fulfilled their desire and met the conditions to evolve into a stage-two mutant. However, the mutant in front of me¡­ it hadn¡¯t eaten an opponent. In fact, it hadn¡¯t eaten anything. I couldn¡¯t figure out why it was bing a stage-two mutant. ¡®No¡­ It can¡¯t be¡­¡¯ A fresh thought crossed my mind, one I¡¯d never considered before.. Satisfying its desire. What if it could satisfy its desire without having to eat another zombie? What if eating another zombie was an optional step, rather than an essential step in fulfilling one''s desire? The mutant leader''s desire was maternal love. I thought about what words a parent would never tire of hearing from their children. I figured it would be their children saying that they loved them. It seemed like So-Yeon saying ¡®I love you¡¯ had stimted the mutant leader¡¯s desire. With these words, its desire was satisfied, and now it was evolving into a stage-two mutant. I got up and spoke to Lee Jeong-Uk. ¡°Evacuate everyone here to the lounge.¡± ¡°Why? Does something bad happen when mutants evolve?¡± ¡°Because I don¡¯t know what¡¯ll happen. We have to be prepared just in case something happens.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk nodded and headed to the living room. He gathered Lee Jeong-Hyuk, Choi Da-Hye, Han Seon-Hui and the children and headed straight to the lounge on the sixteenth floor. After thest person, Park Gi-Cheol¡ªhad left, I bit my nails and observed its transformation. As a stage-two mutant, it didn''t pose a threat to me. However, since it was the first mutant I knew of that had satisfied its desire without eating another mutant, I couldn¡¯t let my guard down. I couldn''t even predict what form it would transform into. I kept my eye on the mutant for about fifteen minutes. The wait felt like an eternity. Eventually, the egg began to shake as the mutant inside began to wiggle about. My blue eyes shed as I elerated the cirction of my blood. I nned on killing it right away if I lost my control over it. Crack, crack! The stage-two mutant finally broke through the shell and emerged from the egg. It looked like a human. Even more surprising, it looked like an ordinary woman. It seemed like it was in itste thirties to early forties. However, its pale skin, hollow eyes and bloodless lips, together with its prominent,rge and twisted veins, reminded me that the being in front of me was a zombie. ¡°Do you hear me?¡± The stage-two mutant looked around for a moment, then looked me right in the face and nodded. ¡®Can you also hear me when I talk like this?¡¯ ¡°Grrr¡­¡± It seemed to be able to hear me, no matter whether I spoke aloud or through telepathy. I looked at the mutant and spoke up. ¡°Wait here. And don''t walk around.¡± Even though it was a zombie, it still had a female body. It needed clothes to cover itself. I went into the master bedroom, picked out some clothes and came back into the living room. I wasn¡¯t sure if they were Choi Da-Hye''s clothes or Han Seon-Hui''s clothes, but it probably didn¡¯t matter since the mutant¡¯s body shape was rather simr to theirs. I ordered the mutant to put on the clothes, and it hesitated. I wondered if it didn¡¯t know how to put the clothes on. I waited patiently for it, and eventually, the mutant grabbed the t-shirt in front of it and started flipping it around. It seemed like it still remembered how to dress. It slowly started wearing the clothes I got it, wriggling her arms side to side and furrowing its brow. It seemed like the clothes were too tight for it. But since it was just enough to cover its body, it was time to confirm if it was still under my control. When I gave it some orders, the mutant followed mymands without the slightest hesitation. Fortunately, she was still subordinate to me. I now had a stage-two mutant as well. It looked weakpared to Mood-Swinger when it had been a stage-two mutant, and even less intimidating than a stage-one mutant¡­ But it was still a stage-two mutant. I looked at it and asked it a question. ¡°So what exactly is your desire?¡± ¡°...¡± It stayed silent. Even when it had been a stage-one mutant, it hadn¡¯t answered me directly. Instead, its entire body had trembled. That hadn¡¯t changed, even though it was now a stage-two mutant. Since it didn¡¯t give me a definite answer, I had no choice but to assume that maternal love was its desire. I wondered if it could still fight properly on the battlefield with such a weak-looking body. I looked at it from head to toe, then asked another question. ¡°Do you have a name? If you have a name, tell me.¡± ¡°...¡± "You don¡¯t have one?¡± ¡°Ji¡­ Eun.¡± ¡°Ji-Eun? Is that your name?¡± The mutant nodded. It didn''t matter whether the mutant¡¯s actual name was Ji-Eun or not. It didn¡¯t matter if it was the name of some main character in a drama that it had enjoyed watching, or the name of its friend that it had admired when it was human. I had no interest in knowing its actual name. I just thought it¡¯d be nice to be able to call my mutant by some name. I knew that it¡¯d be more effective to call it by a name that it liked, rather than giving it a new name. I slicked my hair back. ¡°Follow me,¡± I said to Ji-Eun. ¡°This is where people live, not where you belong.¡± ¡°...¡± Ji-Eun nodded slowly and followed behind me. I looked back at Ji-Eun once, then made my way down to the first floor. * * * When I went outside, I saw Hwang Ji-Hye and the guards. Hwang Ji-Hye¡¯s eyes widened when she saw me, and she approached me right away. ¡°Did you take care of the mutant?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s all over for now.¡± ¡°Is anyone hurt?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure. If you could please take the guards and check on how the survivors are doing, that¡¯d be great. You can check in with Lee Jeong-Uk and Park Gi-Cheol. They should be in the lounge on the sixteenth floor as well.¡± ¡°Got it.¡± Hwang Ji-Hye offered up a sigh of relief and headed to the lobby with the guards. It seemed like she¡¯d been anxious about the survivors even while waiting down here. I could empathize with her, since she¡¯d had no way of telling if the mutant had been taken care of, or whether or not the survivors were safe. It was only natural for the deputy leader to worry. I turned to Ji-Eun. ¡°Go to Achasan and wait alongside the other mutants.¡± Ji-Eun bowed lightly and headed toward Acahsan. Despite its frail appearance, it had excellent mobility. Unlike Mood-Swinger, who possessed tremendous destructive power, its strengthy in its agility. As Ji-Eun disappeared from my sight, I leaped onto the rooftop of the tallest building around me and took a look around Gwangjang-dong. Kim Hyeong-Jun was returning with his mutants after having taken care of the remaining zombies. My underlings were just looking around nkly. It seemed like they were done cleaning up the zombies from Achasan. We had handled the unexpected zombie wave pretty easily, especially considering the massive number of zombies that hade our way. Without a stage-three mutant or a ck creature, the zombies would never be able to get past our defenses in Gwangjang-dong. I hopped over the rooftops, heading toward Kim Hyeong-Jun. ¡°Are you done cleaning up?¡± ¡°Yeah¡­¡± I could tell from his face that something was bothering him. It was rather odd to see such an expression on his face, especially after he¡¯d taken care of all the zombies. "What''s the matter?" I asked carefully. "Huh?" "We¡¯ve dealt with all the zombies, and there are no longer any threats around. So why the long face?¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun lowered his gaze but kept his lips shut. I wondered what secrets he was keeping from me. I grabbed Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s hand out of the blue. The numbing, tingling currents began to travel up through my body. It felt as though a sharp de was slicing away my flesh. Kim Hyeong-Jun shook off my hand in annoyance. His blue eyes shed. ¡°Ahjussi, are you crazy?¡± he yelled. ¡°What¡¯s up with this all of a sudden?¡± ¡°You good now?¡± "Huh?" ¡°Why do you still look so serious? Whatever¡¯s on your mind, don¡¯t wait for me to take notice. Speak up, you know?¡± I chuckled, but he avoided my gaze and clicked his tongue furiously. I assumed that he wouldugh along, but he only frowned and bit his lip. I wondered if there was something more serious on his mind. After a moment, he sighed. "I''m not in the mood tough. I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m a bit confused at the moment.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± "My¡­ My body feels weird.¡± ¡°What do you mean by ¡®weird¡¯?¡± My brow furrowed instinctively. Whatever changes he might go through would have a direct impact on the safety of Gwangjang-dong. I thought he¡¯d been offended somehow during his argument with Lee Jeong-Uk, but it seemed like there was something else going on as well. I looked at him, my expression demanding an exnation from him. Kim Hyeong-Jun scratched his head. ¡°It¡¯s getting harder for me to control my emotions.¡± "What are you talking about?" ¡°You don¡¯t have problems, do you ahjussi?¡± I hadn¡¯t felt any changes. When I tilted my head, Kim Hyeong-Jun sat down on the floor and gently massaged his temples. I brushed away some dirt and sat down as well. ¡°Take your time and tell me about it. There¡¯s no one here to say anything to you.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun put his face in his palms and remained silent. Then he looked up at the blue sky and let out a deep sigh. From his expression, it seemed like there was something serious going on. He wet his lips again, then began to speak. ¡°I¡­ I feel like the zombie instincts within me are taking over.¡± My eyebrows twitched subconsciously at his answer. His zombie instincts were taking over. Didn¡¯t that mean that he was being overwhelmed by the instincts for hunger and destruction? I swallowed. ¡°When did this start happening?¡± I asked. "I¡¯m not sure. I''ve never been like this before... I was speaking to Lee Jeong-Uk earlier today, and it was difficult to control my emotions.¡± ¡°How difficult?¡± ¡°If there hadn¡¯t been a zombie wave¡­ I might have attacked Mr. Lee Jeong-Uk.¡± Him, attack Lee Jeong-Uk? This wasn¡¯t something I could brush aside. If he did attack Lee Jeong-Uk, he would¡¯ve crossed the line for sure. It wasn¡¯t just killing a human being that was the issue. It would mean the fall of Kim Hyeong-Jun altogether. And this fall, of course, would result in his transformation into a ck creature. The desire of Mr. Kwak, the ck creature whose brain Kim Hyeong-Jun had eaten, was to protect one¡¯s loved ones. I was speechless. I couldn¡¯t just ignore this change in him. Chapter 137

Chapter 137

I made a puzzled face, and Kim Hyeong-Jun scratched his forehead. ¡°Ahjussi, I don¡¯t know what I should do,¡± he continued. ¡°I don¡¯t know why¡­ Why I felt hungry when I saw Lee Jeong-Uk.¡± ¡°You felt the urge to eat when you looked at Lee Jeong-Uk?¡± ¡°Lee Jeong-Uk hit me in the hamstrings with the buttstock of his rifle. I felt myself go insane. I almost thought about killing him.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun frowned and tugged at his hair with his hands. It seemed like he was having a mental breakdown, and he couldn¡¯t understand why he was thinking and acting the way he was. With Kim Hyeong-Jun acting this way, I knew I had to remain rational. I tried to remain as calm as possible and continued to ask him questions. ¡°Why did Lee Jeong-Uk act out like that? There must¡¯ve been a reason why he hit you.¡± ¡°I was about to kill the leader of Gangnam. He tried to stop me.¡± I wasn¡¯t sure if I¡¯d heard him right. ¡®About to kill the leader?¡¯ Of course, Kim Hyeong-Jun had mercilessly killed dogs and other individuals who had shed their humanity. However, the leader of Gangnam wasn¡¯t a dog, nor did he seem to behave like an animal. I kept my expression neutral. Kim Hyeong-Jun smacked his lips, then continued. ¡°At the time¡­ I¡¯m not sure why I acted that way. I felt strangely excluded and got angry. And after that, it became difficult for me to control my emotions. It felt like all of my emotions had turned into anger.¡± ¡°And this is the first time you¡¯ve ever experienced anything like this?¡± "Of course, I¡¯ve never felt this way ever before. At the time, it felt as if someone was deliberately trying to get me angry¡­ Looking back now, what I did and how I acted makes no sense.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Ahjussi, do you think I¡¯m bing a monster? What if I turn into a ck creature? What are my son, my wife and my family to do?¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun looked at me with eyes full of fear. Tears were brimming in his eyes. I didn¡¯t know what to say to him. I couldn¡¯t just give Kim Hyeong-Jun a half-assed answer because my family¡ªeven the shelter¡ªwould be in peril if he lost it. I couldn¡¯t even tell him that everything was going to be alright. I sighed deeply. ¡°Let¡¯s bring this up when we talk to the leaders. This isn¡¯t something we can resolve between the two of us.¡± "What if¡­ What if I act up again during the meeting?¡± "Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m here for you. I¡¯ll stop you if I think you¡¯re doing something you shouldn¡¯t be doing.¡± "Ahjussi¡­ I¡¯m scared. I¡¯m scared of myself.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun bit his lower lip, clearly ovee with emotion. He was having a hard time epting the sudden changes within his body. I was no different, because I knew that, if his body was going through such changes, mine could as well. No matter how much we wanted to coexist with humans, even if we believed that our hearts and minds were no different from humans¡­ It felt like one day, we would be proven wrong, and that day was soon approaching. * * * Fortunately, there weren¡¯t any casualties in the hotel. The leaders checked on the survivors¡¯ conditions and began sending those who had pulled themselves together back to their rooms. We prepared a separate suite at the Vista Hotel¡ªlocated south of the Walkerhill Hotel¡ªfor Kim Seok-Won and his people from Seoul Medical Center. The people from Shelter Hae-Young were also allocated a suite at the Vista Hotel because of the damage sustained by their original suite on the seventeenth floor during the attack. The leaders looked extremely exhausted after having dealt with the zombie wave. It was already deep into the night, and the mist that was exhaled with every breath of cold air that the leaders took merely served to highlight their tiredness. Meetings were normally held in the lounge on the sixteenth floor, but that day¡¯s meeting was held in the restaurant area on the second floor. We joined several square tables together to fashion it into a makeshift meeting room. I sat at the head of the table, and the other leaders went ahead and took seats at their respective spots. ¡°Let¡¯s start today¡¯s meeting.¡± When I announced the start of the meeting, most of the leaders let out small sighs, blinked to open their eyes, or pressed their temples gently. I could tell that they all wanted to rest. Their eyes were full of exhaustion. Kim Hyeong-Jun hung his head and had his eyes closed, as if he had done something wrong. I wondered if he was thinking about the conflict between him and Lee Jeong-Uk. I knew that their conflict was the first thing I had to address. I looked at the leaders one by one, then began to speak. ¡°I heard that there was a feud between Kim Hyeong-Jun and Lee Jeong-Uk earlier today. For those of you who witnessed or heard about the situation¡­ Would you mind borating about what happened?¡± Lee Jeong-Uk flinched when his name was mentioned, and he tried to shift the topic. "Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok, that''s something for Kim Hyeong-Jun and I to discuss separately." The leaders seated around Lee Jeong-Uk looked at him in surprise. After a moment, Hwang Deok-Rok broke the silence. ¡°A quarrel between Mr. Lee Jeong-Uk and Mr. Kim Hyeong-Jun? Could you borate, Mr. Lee Hyeon-Deok?¡± Lee Jeong-Uk answered him with a thin smile on his face, doing his best to drift away from the issue. ¡°We had a slight disagreement. I don¡¯t feelfortable sharing the reason for our disagreement with others.¡± Judging from the facial expressions of the leaders, it seemed like Hwang Ji-Hye and Park Gi-Cheol were the only ones who knew about their feud. While the other leaders seemed disconcerted, both Hwang Ji-Hye and Park Gi-Cheol were grimacing. I nced over at Kim Hyeong-Jun, who had his eyes tightly shut and was biting his lower lip. It seemed like he was feeling grateful for Lee Jeong-Uk''s consideration while still harboring a feeling of guilt. Since Lee Jeong-Uk did not seem to wish to air their dirtyundry in public, I chose not to press on with the matter. I moved to the next issue on our agenda, which were the cruise ships docked by the waterfront. I looked over at Lee Jeong-Uk. ¡°Please tell us what the leader of Gangnam said earlier on.¡± ¡°The leader of Gangnam asked us if they could join us. However, he forcefully called Mr. Kim Hyeong-Jun a monster. I also banned him and his people from disembarking.¡± ¡°And he said nothing after that?¡± ¡°Nothing. We decided to talk again when you came back.¡± In other words, the lives of the survivors of Gangnam were in my hands. I felt a sudden pressure on my shoulders, and the atmosphere in the meeting room grew ufortably oppressive. On top of this, it felt like the meeting was not progressing as freely as usual, because everyone was being extremely careful with their choice of words so as not to get on each other¡¯s nerves. I massaged my temples and looked at Lee Jeong-Uk. ¡°The survivors of Gangnam stopped the zombies that were approaching from Guri City.¡± ¡°I saw that too.¡± ¡°They didn''t have to support us, but they did. I think they¡¯re more than ready to live alongside us.¡± ¡°Then they can¡¯t be calling Kim Hyeong-Jun a monster. Isn¡¯t the word ¡®monster¡¯ a word that goes against the foundations of the Survivor Rally Organization?¡± Lee Jeong-Uk had calmly pointed out the core problem. The survivors of Gangnam did not seem to be in alignment with the core fundamentals of our organization, which in turn meant that they couldn¡¯t join us. That was Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s reasoning. I took a deep breath before continuing. ¡°I¡¯m on the same page with you on that. What I mean when I said we could live together is that we teach them our ways, and then listen to what they have to say. From there, we may be able toe to an agreement. We should not rush into a decision without hearing what they have to say first.¡± ¡°Well, I believe there wouldn¡¯t have been any friction in the first ce if they hadn¡¯t called Mr. Kim Hyeong-Jun a monster. They don¡¯t believe in coexisting with zombies.¡± ¡°The survivors of Gangnam don¡¯t know the difference between us and the Family. They are also the people who came up with crazy ideas like wanting to raise zombies with glowing red eyes. I believe it¡¯s because theyck information.¡± When I finished my point, Hwang Ji-Hye, who had been listening quietly, raised her right hand. ¡°They know that there are zombies that help humans.¡± Hwang Ji-Hye looked around at the leaders, then continued to speak. ¡°I believe the survivors of Gangnam had different intentions from the beginning.¡± I tilted my head. ¡°Could you borate?¡± Hwang Ji-Hye looked over at Kwak Dong-Won, who was seated in the corner. ¡°Mr. Kwak Dong-Won, you knew about this from the beginning. Am I wrong?¡± Every single one of the leaders turned to look at Kwak Dong-Won. His eyes went wide, and he looked back at them in confusion, as if he had no clue what Hwang Ji-Hye was saying. ¡°Pardon?¡± Hwang Ji-Hye furrowed her brow and spoke to him again. ¡°I should¡¯ve known when I first heard the words ¡®sr power¡¯. I was naive.¡± ¡°Do you mind exining what you mean by that?¡± ¡°You already know what I¡¯m talking about. You came over first to build a power supplywork for the survivors in Gangnam because you and all the people in Gangnam knew that Gangbuk, in its current state back then, was not capable of supporting more people.¡± Kwak Dong-Won vigorously waved away Hwang Ji-Hye¡¯s theory. ¡°I had no such intention. I came here after receiving orders from the major in charge of Gangnam to try my best to stabilize the shelter in Gangbuk.¡± ¡°So, Mr. Kwak Dong-Won, are you telling me that you didn¡¯t know anything? And that you just came here under orders? Gangnam was better off in every way, in terms of shelter, safety, food, and survivors, and yet, you risked your life toe over and help us out?¡± ¡°Yes, Ms. Hwang Ji-Hye. Really. My only intention foring here was to help Gangbuk.¡± Kwak Dong-Won sounded almost as if he was begging others to believe him. Hwang Ji-Hye frowned at him, staring at him with eyes full of suspicion. Suddenly, she mmed a trembling hand on the desk. ¡°Stop lying!¡± she yelled. ¡°I¡¯m not lying! I mean it!¡± ¡°Everything changed since you arrived! The survivors of Gangnam, and the situation with the Family as well!¡± Hwang Ji-Hye had lost it. Something in her had snapped, robbing her of her calm. She wouldn¡¯t be able to make any reasonable judgements for the time being. It was only natural for life to be unpredictable, and things could take a turn at any moment. But when unexpected things happened one after another like a chain reaction, it made it difficult for people to keep their anger and violence in check. This was the danger that anxious minds could lead to. I knew I had to intervene in order to bring down the temperature. I looked at Hwang Ji-Hye and Kwak Dong-Won in turn. ¡°Hwang Ji-Hye, Kwak Dong-Won, please calm down. There¡¯s no good in raising our voices at each other.¡± ¡°Then, Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok, do you have any ns?¡± asked Hwang Ji-Hye in a sharp tone. ¡°What are you going to do with the people outside, the people on the cruise ships? Have you considered the possibility of the members of the Family returning?¡± She was still agitated, and hadn¡¯t been able to calm herself. She was naturally forting and honest with her feelings and emotions, but was usually able to keep her cool during our meetings. I was a little surprised that she wasn¡¯t able to control her heightened emotions this time. I wondered if she was ming Kim Hyeong-Jun and Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s feud on the survivors of Gangnam. After all, everyone knew that, if the cruise ship hadn¡¯t appeared in the first ce, the two of them wouldn¡¯t have fought. She was cing the me for this internal conflict on the survivors of Gangnam. Or, perhaps¡­ Perhaps she resented me for going to Sinnae-dong without telling the others. I took a deep breath and let it out. ¡°I¡¯ll go talk to the leader of Gangnam.¡± ¡°Right now¡­?¡± I nodded. Hwang Ji-Hye¡¯s eyebrows twitched, but she remained silent. I looked over at the rest of the leaders who were sitting down. ¡°Let¡¯s go sort this out while we¡¯re at it. We might as well go all together.¡± Hwang Ji-Hye still seemed dissatisfied. ¡°And what if they don¡¯t leave?¡± I forced out a bitterugh. ¡°Ms. Hwang Ji-Hye, it seems like you already have no intention of epting them.¡± ¡°Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok, it¡¯s difficult to live in harmony with people who have treated us wrongly from the start.¡± I finally understood why Hwang Ji-Hye was so worked up. She had hated the survivors of Gangnam from the very beginning. I chuckled. ¡°Ms. Hwang Ji-Hye, I don¡¯t know what to say. You were the one who trusted the survivors of Gangnam the most.¡± ¡°...¡± Hwang Ji-Hye silently avoided my gaze. I knew where she wasing from. The higher one¡¯s expectations, the deeper the disappointment, and the more one trusted someone else, the worse it felt when one was betrayed. I knew Hwang Ji-Hye felt extremely betrayed by the lies that the survivors of Gangnam hade up with, and she believed that they had crossed the line. She was furious at their pathetic disy. All our ns had been made under the assumption that Gangnam was safe, but now that news reached us out of the blue that Gangnam had fallen, all our ns were instantly useless. It meant we had to go back to the drawing board. We also had toe up with possible scenarios regarding the members of the Family that were now in Gangnam, and what they were nning against us. All of this was overwhelming enough, and with Lee Jeong-Uk and Kim Hyeong-Jun''s feud being the cherry on top, she was having a hard time hiding her frustration and irritation. As the deputy leader, she was probably under the maximum amount of stress. I sighed. ¡°For now, let¡¯s go meet them,¡± I said quietly. ¡°Whatever happens, we need to talk to them first.¡± I rose after saying my piece. The other leaders got up as well and followed me out. All of them wore worried expressions. I wondered if speaking with the leader of Gangnam would be enough to ease some of their worry. Just then, I suddenly remembered what Lee Jeong-Uk had suggested a long time ago. - Let''s go to an ind. Jeju Ind. As long as we took care of the zombies in Jeju Ind, it would be the safest area in the world. The most obvious problem was transportation. Even if we made our way to Gimpo Airport and boarded a ne without a single survivor getting injured, we wouldn¡¯t be able to do anything without a pilot. And if we traveled by boat, we had to make our way all the way to Incheon. Given the number of times we¡¯d faced danger while moving from Haengdang-dong to Gwangjang-dong, it seemed almost impossible to get from Seoul to Incheon safely. The inability to solve our problems once and for all frustrated me. There was a great weight on my shoulders, as though someone had piled a stack of wet towels on me, and my legs felt useless, as though they had sunk knee-deep into a muddy swamp. So many lives were riding on my decisions. I sighed and headed for the riverside, where the cruise ships were. Chapter 138 Chapter 138 When we arrived at the waterfront, a man who had felt our presence appeared on the second deck of the cruise ship. It was the captain. He looked at my face carefully then took a deep breath. ¡°How can I help?¡± ¡°Where¡¯s your leader?¡± ¡°He¡¯s asleep. Come backter.¡± ¡°I believe I need to meet him right now.¡± ¡°...¡± The captain¡¯s expression grew annoyed. After a moment, he gave a strong click of his tongue and disappeared inside the cruise ship. I wondered if he¡¯d been taken aback by my blue eyes. Or perhaps he didn¡¯t like the manner in which I¡¯d demanded to see their leader. Of course, none of it mattered at all, since they weren¡¯t the ones who had the upper hand. The ones that weren¡¯t wee here were the survivors from Gangnam, not us. There was no need for us to humble ourselves when speaking with them. A whileter, a man who appeared to be in his early to mid-forties appeared at the railing of the second deck, rubbing his stiff neck. It was the major that I¡¯d seen during the day. The man took a look at the leaders next to me and slowly nodded. ¡°Are you finally ready to talk now?¡± I got right to the point. ¡°What is your reason foring here?¡± The major wet his lips and took a moment to think. After a minute or two, he forced a smile. ¡°We came here because we wanted to survive. We don¡¯t have any other intention.¡± ¡°Did you think we would ept you without any conditions?¡± ¡°No, of course not. Just as we didn¡¯t ept you, we assumed that you wouldn¡¯t ept us either.¡± ¡°So, if you already knew the answer, why did you make the journey all the way here?¡± He looked me straight in the eyes, not even blinking as the cold river wind swirled around him. ¡°Because I wanted to at least save my family,¡± he said calmly. I could hear the determination in his words, which were mirrored in his eyes. I stashed my hands in my pockets and continued to ask my questions. ¡°And what if I told you that we have no intentions in epting you?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve seen the number of survivors here grow. I thought that you were gathering other survivors, so I believed that you would ept my family¡­ Have I wasted my timeing here?¡± ¡°It seems so. Please go back.¡± My words were a bluff. If he sincerely wanted to join us, he would humble himself and let go of his ego. And if he had other intentions¡­ He would probably aim his guns at us. I assumed that the leader of Gangnam would take the first option, because he did not seem to harbor any hostility towards other humans. His reluctance stemmed from the presence of zombies like myself and Kim Hyeong-Jun. He did not seem like the type who would kill everyone here and im this territory as his own. The major put his hands behind his back and stared at me. After a moment, he tore off the rank insignia from his shoulders. He gripped the railing of the cruise ship tightly. ¡°You¡­ Are you confident that you won¡¯t change?¡± he asked. I wasn¡¯t sure what to make of his question. ¡°One of the members of the Family who attacked Gangnam told me that one day, you¡¯ll turn into one just like them,¡± he said. The major tossed aside the rank insignia he had been holding. ¡°Let¡¯s forget about our ranks, our positions for a bit,¡± he continued. ¡°...¡± ¡°I¡¯ll consider you as a person and ask you a question. Are you sure you won¡¯t change?¡± I furrowed my brow. ¡°Changing isn¡¯t an issue. I can¡¯t change.¡± I had So-Yeon and my family. I couldn¡¯t, no I knew that I could not change, for their sake. The only option I had was to keep moving forward. The major smirked at my answer. "I wonder how long that will of yours willst.¡± ¡°If you don¡¯t want to believe me, then leave immediately. I have no time to joke around with you.¡± ¡°No, I believe what you¡¯re saying. But you, you must have zombie instincts too, am I right?¡± I tilted my head. "Instincts?" The major took in a breath and let it out slowly. ¡°There was a zombie like you in the Family, one who had blue eyes. He said that, in the end, you¡¯d change and fall. And that when your zombie instinct awakens, you¡¯ll realize that you can¡¯t live with humans anymore.¡± ¡°Did you meet the boss?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know if that was the boss or not¡­ But he had blue eyes like you.¡± ¡°borate.¡± ¡°...¡± The major looked at me calmly without saying a word. I wondered if he was considering how much information he should be sharing with me. If he was¡­ I clenched my fists, and my blue eyes shed. I wanted to let him know that I¡¯d kill him mercilessly if he didn¡¯t answer. The major looked at me carefully, then sighed at the night sky. "This zombie from the Family said that zombies like you will eventually be taken over by your zombie instincts and you¡¯ll lose the ability to think rationally if you don¡¯t eat zombie brains or a live human brain. They said that that¡¯s your fate.¡± My eyebrows twitched when I heard what he¡¯d said. I wondered if this was the reason why the dogs kidnapped humans. Eating one human brain made it possible for zombies to talk. And if this was the only reason to eat a human brain, it would¡¯ve been unnecessary to capture a lot of people. I finally realized that the reason they¡¯d been kidnapping survivors was to consume their brains. This sudden revtion left me speechless. I carefully looked over at Kim Hyeong-Jun. He was staring at the major with a straight face. The feud between him and Lee Jeong-Uk earlier today, and why it was getting more difficult for him to keep sane¡­ The reason behind it finally hit home. Our zombie''s instincts were slowly eating us inside out, without us even realizing it. I furrowed my brow and bombarded the major with questions. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then how did you survive after hearing all of this? Something¡¯s not right. The moment you hear something like that, you should be dead meat. There¡¯s no reason for the head of the Family to spare you.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you think that something¡¯s not right as well? Did the gang boss escort you onto the cruise ship or something? If whatever you¡¯re saying is true, they have no reason to let any of the survivors go. Am I wrong?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°If you were going to lie, you should¡¯ve thought it through beforehand.¡± ¡°They spared us so that we could tell you what I just told you.¡± His words left me speechless. ¡®They were spared just so they could pass this message to us?¡¯ ¡®Was the head of the Family that confident?¡¯ The major continued to speak. ¡°The zombie¡­ They seemed to be enjoying the situation. They said they wanted to see what happened to you after your fall¡­¡± ¡°Shut it!¡± I yelled, frowning. I knew what the boss wanted. All the leaders had already heard what the major had said. I looked carefully around at the leaders. All of them were engulfed in fear. Some were swallowing hard, and others were looking back and forth between me and the major, not knowing how to react. Despite having gone through thick and thin together, I could sense the distrust and anxiety they now felt toward me and Kim Hyeong-Jun in their eyes. We had no clue when and how we¡¯d change. The uncertainty that the major¡¯s words had introduced had already begun to shake the foundations of our firmly established rtionship. I looked back at the major. ¡°So, they let you go for this puny reason?¡± ¡°You¡­ You think I had a choice? I would¡¯ve died if I didn¡¯t get on the cruise ship. And getting on the cruise ship gave me the slightest probability of surviving.¡± ¡°...¡± I bit my lower lip and clenched my fists. I couldn¡¯t think of a reply or a rebuttal. I hated myself for not being able toe up with something. Lee Jeong-Uk, who was next to me, put his hand on my shoulder and spoke up. ¡°Leave the rest to me.¡± ¡°...¡± I was furious. I felt furious at the thought that the boss was ying around with me, and at the possibility that my zombie instincts could take over me eventually, just like the boss had said. I had no clue how to wash away the dirty feeling I had within me. Lee Jeong-Uk took a deep breath and stepped forward. He then looked right at the major. ¡°Alright, this is how it¡¯s going to be.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Your family will disembark,¡± he said calmly. The major sighed in relief and bowed. However, Lee Jeong-Uk didn¡¯t stop there. His words that followed were heartless, cold as ice. ¡°But you can¡¯t get off.¡± ¡°Better than nothing¡­¡± ¡°Only the other survivors and your family can disembark. You, return to Gangnam.¡± When he was done, Lee Jeong-Uk walked back to my side, grimacing. The captain, who had been standing next to the major all along, suddenly yelled at the top of his lungs. He was straining so hard that the veins in his neck were popping out. ¡°You bastards!!!¡± The captain raised his K2 rifle and aimed it at Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s head. Seeing that, I hurriedly shielded Lee Jeong-Uk with my body. The major¡¯s eyes went wide, surprised by the captain¡¯s rogue actions. ¡°Put your gun down.¡± "I can¡¯t sir. In fact, I don¡¯t want to¡­ I can¡¯t stand those motherfuckers giving you shit anymore, not when they don¡¯t know a thing about you.¡± ¡°Put down the gun Captain Park. That¡¯s an order.¡± The major kept his voice low. The captain hesitated for a moment, biting his lower lip. However, it seemed like he¡¯dmitted himself to this dark path. He blinked rapidly, but kept his gun trained on Lee Jeong-Uk. The muzzle of his K2 started to tremble. He spoke, his voice sounding as though he was on the verge of tears. ¡°If it weren¡¯t for you, toon leader, we would¡­ We would have already died. How in the world do you think I can leave you behind, sir?¡± "Calm down, Captain Park. Nothing is going to change even if you act like this.¡± ¡°Why, sir? Why are you giving up? Weren¡¯t you the one who told us to survive till the end?!¡± ¡°...¡± The major grimaced at the captain and approached him slowly. He ced his hand on the captain''s rifle and brought the muzzle toward his forehead. The captain was taken aback by his superior¡¯s actions. The major stared firmly into the captain¡¯s eyes. ¡°What did I say are the virtues of being amander?¡± he said quietly. ¡°Keep¡­ Keep a cool head, and have ice in your veins.¡± ¡°Do you think you¡¯re behaving in such a manner right now?¡± The captain¡¯s trigger finger began to shake violently. Eventually, he let go of the trigger and slowly lowered his rifle. The remaining strength flowed out of his legs, and he fell to the ground and wept silently. His sorrowful sobbing made it past the bow of the cruise ship to Gwangjang-dong, where I was. The captain stayed crumpled on the deck, and cried for a long time. The major stood there, the sparse moonlight reflecting off of his eyes. ¡°Survivors! Disembark now!!¡± hemanded. The ship¡¯s doors, which had been closed tightly, began to open. The survivors, who had been shivering in the cold, began to disembark one by one. The leaders, including Hwang Ji-hye, Park Gi-Cheol and Hwang Deok-Rok, escorted the survivors from the cruise ship to the hotel lounge. Kim Hyeong-Jun, Lee Jeong-Uk, and I stared at the major in silence. The major stared at my face for a long time, then took a deep breath. ¡°Please take good care of my friend here. He¡¯s not perfect, as you can tell.¡± ¡°Any regrets?¡± "I wouldn¡¯t be human if I didn¡¯t have any regrets.¡± ¡°We can give you some time to say goodbye to your family.¡± The major seemed to hesitate at the suggestion, but it didn¡¯t take long for him to reply. ¡°The people from this cruise ship, all of them are my family,¡± he said with a thin smile. ¡°Although I¡¯m a failed leader... I hope you don¡¯t turn out to be like me.¡± ¡°My zombie instincts might take over me someday. Do you still think it''s okay to leave your family in my hands?¡± ¡°Well, it might sound ridiculous to say this now¡­ But you seem different.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°You¡¯re different from those guys from the Family, or the blue-eyed zombie next to you.¡± Hisment made me look over at Kim Hyeong-Jun, who was standing next to me. He was taking deep, controlled breaths with his eyes closed. It seemed like he was trying his best to regte his emotions. The major chuckled. "I''m d to see someone sane.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Being a toon leader didn¡¯t suit me anyway. I couldn¡¯t even get promoted, even though I¡¯m well into my forties and I¡¯ve lost so my men along the way¡­ I¡¯ll rest in peace knowing that I did my best in protecting Gangnam.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°I hope you don¡¯t think badly of the survivors from Gangnam. I¡¯ll take all their sins with me.¡± With that, he reached down to help the captain¡ªstill on the floor next to him¡ªto his feet. The captain wiped away his tears, unable to lift his head. The major gave him a benevolent smile. ¡°I think I told you this earlier today.¡± ¡°Sir¡­ I¡­¡± ¡°Officers don¡¯t bow their heads.¡± The major held out his right hand, and the captain, biting his lip, reached out to grip it in a firm handshake. The captain kept his head up this time. ¡°From now on, you are the leader of the survivors of Gangnam,¡± the major told him simply. ¡°Yes¡­ Sir¡­¡± "It¡¯s¡­ It¡¯s only right that I will be buried along with the other men who made their sacrifices to get us to where we are. It''s ridiculous for a toon leader to beg for his own life.¡± The majorughed as though he was making a joke and patted the captain on the back. Then the major looked me straight in the eyes. ¡°I trust you to take care of my family.¡± With that, he drew his pistol from his side and ced it against his temple. Chapter 139 Chapter 139 I immediately leaped onto the second deck of the cruise ship. Bang! The heavy smell of gunpowder tickled the tip of my nose, and my ears still rang with the deafening sound of the gun going off. The major looked at me with his eyes wide open. I was holding his arm and had bent it behind him. ¡°Stop,¡± I said. ¡°What¡¯s the meaning of this? Let go of me.¡± ¡°That¡¯s enough.¡± ¡°Do you think I¡¯m joking?¡± The major frowned and grabbed my arm. No matter how hard the major tried to escape my grip, he could not, since I had no intention of letting go of his arm. I tightened my grip slightly, and the major frowned and dropped his pistol. The captain had a look of confusion on his face, unsure how to process everything that had happened in the blink of an eye. After a moment, he pointed the muzzle of his K2 toward my head. ¡°Let¡­ Let go of his hand!¡± he shouted. ¡°Do you think I¡¯m trying to kill the major right now?¡± ¡°Oh¡­ No¡­¡± The captain hesitated and then lowered his muzzle. He really was a jittery coward, waving his gun around at the slightest thing. I looked over at Lee Jeong-Uk. ¡°Jeong-Uk.¡± "What?¡± ¡°I want to keep an eye on this person. Can I do so?¡± Lee Jeong-Uk shrugged and chuckled. "If you wish." I looked back at the major. ¡°I won¡¯t let you die.¡± ¡°...¡± The major red at me, his face flushed red. I couldn¡¯t tell if he hated me for not letting him take his own life, or if I had damaged his ego somehow. I flicked my gaze over to the captain next to him, then addressed the major again. ¡°I don¡¯t think that captain of yours will survive long if you die.¡± ¡°...¡± The major slowly turned his head to look at the captain. The captain looked back and forth between myself and the major, confusion apparent on his face. He didn¡¯t seem to know what to do next. The major gently closed his eyes and sighed. When he opened them again, he looked straight into my eyes. ¡°This decision of yours you¡¯re making right now might hold you back. Will you be okay with that? ¡°Who¡¯s going to hold me back? You?¡± Heughed. ¡°That¡¯s rather arrogant.¡± ¡°And that¡¯s how I made it this far.¡± The major took a deep breath. ¡°I admit that you are different from the other zombies. But I¡­ I still don¡¯t believe that humans can genuinely coexist with zombies.¡± ¡°You¡¯ll find out sooner orter if it can be done or not. I won¡¯t ask you to fight alongside us. You¡¯ll just protect the survivors.¡± ¡°If that¡¯s the condition¡­ I¡¯d be more than willing to do so.¡± The major stared directly into my eyes with his lips tightly closed. I liked his mindset, his attitude, and willingness to sacrifice himself. He was willing to give up his life for everyone else¡¯s. There was nothing better than having someone like him willing to fight for the survivors. Moreover, we needed him to take care of the captain. We could¡¯ve killed both of them, but that would have caused considerable friction between us and the survivors from Gangnam. We didn''t create the Survivor¡¯s Rally Organization to oppress anyone. We made it so that all survivors could coexist together, and to bring everyone together in order to live like human beings. I knew that the major was going to y an important role in helping us to achieve this. I figured we would slowly get to know the major. I was nning to have him under guard so that they could keep an eye on him and learn about how he survived in Gangnam. I looked at the major and the captain in turn. ¡°Wee to the Survivor Rally Organization. Follow me." As the three of us disembarked from the cruise ship, Lee Jeong-Uk came up to us and spoke to the captain. ¡°Hey, Captain.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°How old are you? Thirty?¡± ¡°...¡± The captain didn''t even look at Lee Jeong-Uk. Lee Jeong-Uk frowned and pped the captain on the back of the head. He didn¡¯t p him too hard, just hard enough that it made a sound. The captain gave Lee Jeong-Uk a startled look. Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s eyebrows twitched, and heunched into a tirade. ¡°Not responding to your elders when they ask you a question? Someone¡¯scking some discipline!¡± ¡°It¡¯s none of your business¡­¡± ¡°Anyway, since I¡¯m older than you, I¡¯m going to go ahead and speak to you informally.¡± ¡°...¡± The captain hesitated for a moment, then walked in front to apany the major. Lee Jeong-Uk, thinking that the captain was acting like a little kid, ran over to him with a big smile on his face and pped him in the back of the head again. * * * The survivors of Gangnam stayed at the Vista Hotel, located south of the Walkerhill Hotel. Muchter that night, all the leaders gathered in the restaurant on the second floor to wrap up the unfinished meeting. Unlike earlier on, however, both the major and the captain joined us, representing the survivors from Gangnam. The major''s name was Bae Jeong-Man, while the captain¡¯s name was Park Shin-Jeong. Hearing their names, Lee Jeong-Uk smiled and asked. ¡°Is Park Shin-Jeong¡¯s older sibling named Park Gu-Jeong?¡± No oneughed at Lee Jeong-Uk''s joke.[1] I could see that he was trying to lighten the mood, but it wasn¡¯t a very good joke. I sighed, then began to speak. ¡°I¡¯m assuming everyone is aware of the situation in Gangnam, since we¡¯ve just heard about it. I would like Mr. Bae Jeong-Man to exin exactly what happened, and how the Family invaded.¡± ¡°Can I start off with the Family and how they invaded?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Bae Jeong-Man gently closed his eyes, taking a moment to sort through his thoughts. He went through the memories that he didn¡¯t want to recall, and after a moment, he began to tell his story. ¡°The Family¡¯s forces came over¡­ Probably about a month ago. We saw zombies gathering at the northern end of Sogang Bridge, so we took up defensive positions early on.¡± I already knew about this, because the sixth officer of the Family had told me about it before he died. Bae Jeong-Man smacked his lower lip. ¡°At first it seemed like only zombies were gathering on Bamseom Ind¡­ But then, creatures we¡¯d never seen before started appearing as well. They were creatures with extremely long limbs and dozens of eyes.¡± ¡°How many were there?¡± ¡°I couldn¡¯t count all of them. I think there were about seventy to eighty of them. There were other creatures mixed in as well.¡± It seemed like there were multiple stage-one mutants, with a couple of stage-two mutants here and there. It would have been difficult to hold off the mutants without having any information about them. I inteced my hands as I listened to Bae Jeong-Man describe his experience. He let out a deep sigh and continued to recount his memories. ¡°I had turned Yeouido into a minefield, but¡­ They came at us with overwhelming numbers. There was no end to them, no matter how many we killed. Their attacks started to get stronger, while we were just wasting our bullets.¡± ¡°How long did it take for your forces to be pushed out of Yeouido?¡± ¡°It took less than three days for us to get pushed back to Gwanak-gu and Dongjak-gu. It was only then that we learned the zombies with glowing red eyes coulde up with tactics.¡± ¡°When did you see the zombie with blue eyes?¡± ¡°Around the time they broke through the defenses at Seocho-gu and entered Gangnam-gu. I saw two zombies with blue eyes.¡± I twitched my eyebrows after hearing what he said. ¡®Two zombies with blue eyes? Is he saying that there are two zombies with blue eyes within the gang, not just the boss?¡¯ If one of the two was the boss¡­ Then the other would have to be one of the officers. To be a blue-eyed zombie, you¡¯d need to eat the brains of more than one ck creature. Or you¡¯d have to eat the brain of a zombie with glowing red eyes that had themselves eaten a ck creature¡¯s brain. To me, this meant that one of the officers in the Family had eaten the brain of another in order to break through Seocho-gu. It sounded like Bae Jeong-Man wasn¡¯t lying when he described how the Family was making their way through Gangnam. Bae Jeong-Man grimaced, then continued with his story. ¡°Eventually, even Gangnam-gu fell into their hands, and we mounted our final resistance in Songpa-gu. The Tancheon stream flowed along one of our nks, and fought them off as hard as we could. But then, something we¡¯d never seen before, something we couldn¡¯t quite understand, happened.¡± ¡°Something you didn¡¯t understand?¡± ¡°A ck creature that we¡¯d never seen before appeared¡­ And it started killing the zombies.¡± ¡°A ck creature?¡± I couldn''t help but be surprised. All the leaders around the table flinched as well. Some of them swallowed audibly. Bae Jeong-Man looked around at the leaders. ¡°Did I say something I wasn¡¯t supposed to¡­? "No. Please continue. Did you see how many ck ones there were?¡± ¡°One creature showed up¡­ It attacked the gang members. Even the blue-eyed zombies had a hard time dealing with the ck creature.¡± ¡°What color were the ck creature¡¯s eyes?¡± ¡°They were blue.¡± ¡°Are you saying that the gang members took care of the blue-eyed ck creature?¡± "Yes. They were fighting alongside a bizarre-looking creature. The fight took a huge toll on the Family¡¯s forces, but they eventually dispatched the ck creature.¡± It seemed like even the Family had had a hard time taking care of this mysterious ck creature. The bizarre-looking creature he was mentioning was probably their mutants which meant that they were barely able to take care of the ck creature with the mutants. I suddenly wondered if Kim Hyeong-Jun and I could take on the Family and wipe them out in our current state. Bae Jeong-Man noticed my silence and inteced his fingers. ¡°Is something bothering you?¡± he asked. ¡°If you think I¡¯ve been lying¡­¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s nothing like that. I actually have a follow-up question. Did anyone from the Family eat the brain of the ck creature?¡± Bae Jeong-Man tilted his head and looked off into the distance. It seemed like he hadn¡¯t been able to verify this. His expression grew troubled. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but as far as eating¡­ I wasn¡¯t able to confirm this.¡± ¡°Not a problem. What happened afterward?¡± ¡°After that, another ck creature appeared.¡± ¡°And it had blue eyes as well?¡± ¡°No, the one that cameter had red eyes. It looked weaker than the blue-eyed one.¡± I quietly rubbed my chin as I pondered this development. Two ck creatures appearing in Gangnam. I couldn¡¯t think of a reason why a ck creature would appear in Gangnam when there weren''t any mutants in Gangnam. No matter how much I thought about it, the only conclusion I coulde to was that the creatures from Gangbuk had crossed over to Gangnam using the Sogang Bridge, the same way the Family¡¯s forces had entered Gangnam. The creatures had most likely followed the members of the Family. The ck creatures feasted on zombies with red eyes, and their actions were consistent, since the dong leaders of the Family were zombies with glowing red eyes. Since Sogang Bridge was to the west, the ck creatures in the west would have been the ones from Mapo-gu and Eunpyeong-gu. This also meant that there was only one ck creature left in Gangbuk. ''Itaewon.'' The ck creature in Itaewon. But there was no guarantee that it was still in Itaewon. A memory suddenly surfaced in my mind, one that was from the time when I was still a human being. It was the time when I was face-to-face with death, with zombies barging in through the front door of my apartment. Back then, the zombies at my front door had fled after hearing the ck creature¡¯s cry. The ck creature who had taken my life was a weakling, one that hadn¡¯t yet discovered its true power, but still, all the zombies had gotten scared and ran away. The fact that the street zombies had gathered in Gwangjang-dong in broad daylight¡­ Perhaps they had been fleeing the ck creature in Itaewon, and had made it all the way to Gwangjang-dong. I grew more and more confident of my theory when I realized that I hadn''t seen a zombie wave with over ten thousand zombies before. From all this, I came to the conclusion that the ck creature in Itaewon was now close to the border of Gwangjang-dong. Of course, there was no way of knowing if it had managed to ess its true power, or if it had red eyes, or even blue eyes. As I sat there quietly, lost in thought, Lee Jeong-Uk, who had been looking at me, spoke up. ¡°So-Yeon¡¯s dad, do you have any ns?¡± "Yeah. Everyone, listen up.¡± I told the leaders about the theory I¡¯de up with. I was greeted by a sea of worried faces once I was done. All of them seemed to have difficultying up with anything to say. Even though all of it was still hypothetical, my theory seemed toe closest to exining the current situation. After a moment, Hwang Ji-Hye, who had been massaging her temples, spoke up. "Then¡­ Doesn¡¯t that mean we have to fight the ck creature in Itaewon in order to fight the Family?¡± Hwang Deok-Rok gave her a disapproving look. ¡°How are those two things rted?¡± he asked. Hwang Ji-Hye leaned back in her chair and began to exin herself. ¡°Well, look at it this way. The gang members took care of two ck creatures. Unless they¡¯re idiots, they probably ate their brains. I can¡¯t fathom how strong the officers are by now¡­¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think so,¡± I said, cutting Hwang Ji-Hye off. Everyone turned to look at me. I rested my chin on my hands. ¡°While it¡¯s true that you gain enormous strength at once when you eat a ck creature¡¯s brain, the risk is too big. The desires you have to control increase.¡± "So you''re saying the gang members threw away the ck creatures¡¯ brains?" Hwang Ji-Hye asked with a frown. I figured it would be better for Kim Hyeong-Jun to exin this. I looked over at Kim Hyeong-Jun for help, and he smacked his lips and spoke up. ¡°They probably fed them to the mutants.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s statement caused a ripple of murmuring to spread amongst the leaders. I calmed them down and looked over at Kim Hyeong-Jun again. He gave a small nod, and continued to speak. ¡°A stage-two mutant needs a ck creature¡¯s brain in order to be a stage-three mutant.¡± "Then¡­ Are you saying that it¡¯s possible that the gang members also have a stage-three mutant?¡± ¡°Yes. They must have at least two stage-three mutants.¡± Hwang Ji-Hye¡¯s mouth puffed like that of a goldfish after hearing about the existence of more stage-three mutants. Most of the leaders seemed to be mirroring her expression. Having witnessed Mood-Swinger with their own eyes, they were all well aware of the destructive power that a stage-three mutant possessed. I was also more than aware that our chances of winning were slim. However, I also knew that we had gotten all the way to where we were by risking it all and taking whatever slim chances we had. We¡¯d made it this far through sheer grit, with the confidence that we would make it through to the other side of the tunnel. I knew that we would survive and make it through despite our slim chances, just like we always had. I took a deep breath and let it out. ¡°In the worst-case scenario, we¡¯ll take care of the ck creature in Gangbuk, then attack Gangnam first.¡± 1. The word Shin in Korean is often used to refer to something that is new. The word Gu in Korean is often referred to as something that is old. Lee Jeong-Uk is making a joke about ¡®new¡¯ and ¡®old¡¯ Jeong. ? Chapter 140 Chapter 140 The leaders all seemed bewildered by my n. They all seemed at a loss for words after hearing my sudden decision. Lee Jeong-Uk quietly crossed his arms. ¡°So-Yeon¡¯s dad,¡± he said. ¡°Yeah?¡± Usually, when we were in meetings, we tried to watch ournguage and addressed each other respectfully. This time, however, he had addressed me as informally as he would normally do outside of meetings. Hearing him speak so informally made me wonder if he was against my idea. Lee Jeong-Uk sucked on his lower lip and remained silent for a while. I waited patiently for him to speak up. Eventually, he did so while scratching his forehead. "So, you''re saying we should go hunting for this ck creature in God-knows-where in Gangbuk, and then cross over into Gangnam?¡± "Exactly.¡± ¡°And we¡¯re going to get across via Sogang Bridge?¡± "Yup." ¡°You know that if we fail, there¡¯s no more Survivor Rally Organization, right?¡± When I nodded, Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s expression grew distraught, and he buried his face in his palms. Hwang Ji-Hye grimaced at me. ¡°The risk is too high.¡± ¡°Then what do you think we should do? Should we move north to avoid the Family? Do you think we can relocate with this many survivors?¡± ¡°You have a point, but¡­¡± ¡°Or should we watch the survivors deteriorate physically and mentally while we prepare for them to attack us? I can¡¯t imagine how long the survivors willst, since the survivors are getting weaker by the day, and especially since we don¡¯t even know when the Family will attack us.¡± Hwang Ji-Hye¡¯s expression grew bitter and her head sagged. It seemed like she couldn¡¯te up with an eptable alternative. I sighed. ¡°In any case, I did say that that would be the worst-case scenario.¡± ¡°Then are you saying that there are alternatives?¡± Everyone turned their heads toward me. I addressed Bae Jeong-Man in a quiet voice. ¡°Mr. Bae Jeong-Man.¡± "Yes?" ¡°Are there any pilots among the survivors in Gangnam who could fly a ne?¡± Bae Jeong-Man gently rubbed his chin. ¡°A pilot?¡± Park Shin-Jeong, who was seated next to him, spoke up. "Huh? Yes, yes there is!¡± Bae Jeong-Man tilted his head and looked at Park Shin-Jeong. "Who?" Park Shin-Jeong tried to reply to him, stuttering in excitement. ¡°Gee, who was it¡­ The man¡­ The man from Airline A whose name starts with Choi¡­¡± Bae Jeong-Man muttered the name ¡®Choi¡¯ to himself a few times, then snapped his fingers and said the man¡¯s name out loud, as if he just remembered the man¡¯s face. "Oh! Mr. Choi Kang-Hyun?¡± I clenched my fists when I heard his name, and also because of the fact that we now had a pilot who could maneuver an aircraft. We were picking up more individuals with technical experience as we gathered more survivors into our group. We now had a chance to make the impossible happen. In the current situation, the best defense was a solid offense. I was thinking of meeting the Family¡¯s forces head-on in a war of attrition at Sogang Bridge. But having a pilot changed the whole ball game. We could now head to Gimpo Airport and make use of a ne. I calmed the excitement in my heart and spoke to Park Shin-Jeong. ¡°Park Shin-Jeong, please bring Choi Kang-Hyun over right now.¡± "Got it.¡± Park Shin-Jeong got up from his seat and saluted. [1] Right after he left, Lee Jeong-Uk, who was next to me, spoke up. ¡°So-Yeon¡¯s dad, do you actually think there¡¯s a solution?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not impossible anymore.¡± ¡°What¡¯s not impossible anymore?¡± ¡°What you spoke to me about a few days back. Going to an ind.¡± At the word ¡®ind¡¯, Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s eyes went wide, and he looked around at the rest of the leaders. They all looked back at me with surprise in their eyes, and they began to bombard me with questions all at once. ¡°Ind? What are you talking about?¡± "What do you mean?" ¡°Are we going to an ind?¡± ¡°Where is this ind?¡± I calmed the leaders down and told them about the conversation that I¡¯d had with Lee Jeong-Uk. After filling them in on the backstory, they sighed in relief, their anxious expressions reced with gentle smiles. Turning the impossible into something possible seemed like a ray of hope for the leaders. * * * After a while, Park Shin-Jeong returned and ushered Choi Kang-Hyun into the meeting room. Choi Kang-Hyun trembled with fear when he saw me, Kim Hyeong-Jun, and Do Han-Sol. He entered the room and stood right next to Bae Jeong-Man. ¡°toon Leader¡­ Is it¡­¡± "It''s alright,¡± Bae Jeong-Man said. ¡°There¡¯s no need to be nervous.¡± Despite his attempt to soothe Choi Kang-Hyun, the pilot still couldn¡¯t help but feel suspicious of everyone else in the meeting room, especially the three of us. I looked at the neer. ¡°Are you Mr. Choi Kang-Hyun?¡± "Yes¡­ I am.¡± ¡°I heard that you used to be a captain for Airline A. Is that correct?" Choi Kang-Hyun looked around, then nodded. ¡®Perfect. All we need is a pilot.¡¯ A smile yed across my lips as I realized that we now had a chance. I asked him another question. ¡°If we escort you to Gimpo Airport, will you be able to fly an airne?¡± ¡°An¡­ An airne? Getting one to fly is a lot harder than it sounds.¡± ¡°Could I ask why?¡± ¡°How do you expect someone to fly an airne that hasn¡¯t been inspected in a long time? Besides, I have no clue as to the condition of the runway¡­ Not only that, I also need to know the fuel status of the airne. On top of everything, since the weather has been rather cold, I¡¯m pretty sure we need to perform some de-icing on the ne.¡± ¡°De-icing?¡± ¡°De-icing is the process of removing any snow or ice umted on the aircraft. With the weather we have right now, I¡¯m pretty sure that most of the aircraft are frozen solid.¡± I should¡¯ve known that it wasn¡¯t that easy to hop into an airne and get it flying. I scratched my head. ¡°These processes you mentioned¡­ How long do they take on average?¡± I asked. ¡°That depends on the type of aircraft and its current condition. Certain types of aircraft require several hours just for de-icing. Since weck the necessary manpower, it¡¯ll take longer for sure.¡± ¡®A couple of hours?¡¯ I could already foresee that the Family would take notice if we went to Gimpo Airport. Considering their mobility, even if we managed to get to Gimpo Airport, every minute and every second would be chaos. But a couple of hours? This was basically a suicide mission. I remained silent. Choi Kang-Hyun hemmed and hawed for a moment, then spoke up again. ¡°Above all else, even if we manage to take off, we won¡¯t be able tond unless the runway at our destination is clear.¡± "Can¡¯t the airne justnd and sweep away any zombies in its path?¡± ¡°That¡¯s only possible in movies. A military aircraft might be able to do that, but in amercial aircraft? That would just kill everyone on board.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve seen nes make emergencyndings on highways and stuff like that¡­¡± ¡°Well, they only do that when everyone¡¯s lives are at stake. You really are ying with fire.¡± He was speaking ratherfortably now, in contrast to his hesitant attitude from earlier on. Perhaps it was because he was now having a conversation about matters regarding his profession. I smacked my lips and looked at Lee Jeong-Uk. He rubbed his neck but maintained his silence. It seemed like he couldn¡¯t think of what to say to the former pilot. As we both stayed silent, Hwang Deok-Rok, who had been sitting still, spoke up. ¡°We can talk about thister. I don''t think we cane to an answer right now.¡± Hwang Deok-Rok was right. Right now¡­ It was better to organize our thoughts and reconvene to discuss this matter againter on. I sighed deeply and addressed the leaders. ¡°Let¡¯s ponder over this matter individually and meet again at this time tomorrow. Since the hour is already veryte, we¡¯ll wrap up today¡¯s meeting.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± The leaders got up from their seats, offered me slight bows, and went back to their rooms. I sat at the head of the table, cing my chin in my palms as I let my thoughts take me. I¡¯d assumed that everything would be solved once we found a pilot, but in reality, it wasn¡¯t that simple. I wondered if I¡¯d taken this matter too lightly, and if I was being too naive about this. After a moment, Kim Hyeong-Jun sat next to me. "Ahjussi." "What is it?" ¡°Can I have a word with you?¡± He looked rather grim. I could tell that he was able to share something that I wasn¡¯t ready to hear. I massaged my neck as I looked at him. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°About Gimpo Airport.¡± ¡°What about Gimpo Airport?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll go.¡± I knew he was going to say something absurd, but I couldn¡¯t believe I had guessed correctly. Saying that he¡¯d go to Gimpo Airport was no different from voluntarily putting himself in enemy territory. "Are you insane?" ¡°I¡¯m very sane right now.¡± ¡°Do you think that¡¯s possible? You know well enough what the situation is in Gangnam right now. To go to Gimpo Airport alone¡­¡± ¡°Ahjussi.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun cut me off and looked into my eyes. His expression was dead serious. ¡°I don¡¯t know about you, ahjussi, but my zombie instincts are awakening.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°I¡¯d rather go to Gangnam, check how Gimpo Airport is, and at least eat some weaklings like the Family¡¯s baits or some dong leaders. If not, I¡¯d probably lose my sanity.¡± ¡°You¡¯re still okay.¡± ¡°Well that doesn¡¯t matter. Didn''t you see the faces of the leaders?" Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s expression had turned bitter. His question left me speechless. It sure wasn¡¯t easy to forget the looks that the leaders had when they stared at Kim Hyeong-Jun. They all seemed tense, as though assessing a potential threat. No one knew what would happen to Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s underlings if he lost his temper. And if Mood-Swinger lost his sanity, it would be the end of the Survivor Rally Organization. As I took my time to think before giving Kim Hyeong-Jun an answer, I heard footsteps at the entrance of the meeting room. ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s a bad n.¡± It was Lee Jeong-Uk. Lee Jeong-Uk had his hands stashed in his pockets. His voice was calm. I furrowed my brow at his answer. ¡°Do you know how irresponsible of an answer that is?¡± ¡°Then what are you thinking of doing? If Hyeong-Jun loses his sanity, are you going to stop him? What about Mood-Swinger?¡± ¡°Are you saying that you¡¯re willing to kick Kim Hyeong-Jun out just because he can¡¯t be of help anymore? That kind of sounds like you¡¯ll kick me out if I lose my sanity too. Am I wrong?¡± "If necessary, yes.¡± I got up from my seat, my blue eyes shing. Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s upromising answer had touched a nerve. Lee Jeong-Uk grimaced. ¡°Can you think of any other way out? If Kim Hyeong-Jun loses his sanity and attacks the survivors here, he¡¯ll turn into a ck creature. Not only him, but you as well.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°You know it¡¯s too risky. And Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s volunteering because he doesn¡¯t want that to happen either.¡± I couldn¡¯t hide the pain in my voice. ¡°But¡­ How could you out of all the people¡­¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun stood up and spoke up. ¡°It¡¯s okay, ahjussi. Mr. Lee Jeong-Uk is right.¡± ¡°Hyeong-Jun.¡± ¡°Your family isn¡¯t the only one here, ahjussi. My wife and son are here as well. I don¡¯t want to be in front of my family when I lose my sanity.¡± ¡°...¡± I looked at him quizzically, and he smiled back at me. ¡°This isn¡¯t a decision I came up with on the fly. I¡¯ve been thinking about this for a while. And after all, I¡¯m the enforcer of the Survivor Rally Organization. Ahjussi, you focus on defense.¡± ¡°Hey¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯ll leave one of my underlings here so that you can hit it in the case a ck creature appears. I¡¯ll give it orders to call for me when you hit it.¡± ¡°Are you insane? How can the Survivor Rally Organization be the Survivor Rally Organization without you?¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun chuckled and pped my forearm. ¡°Stop talking as if someone¡¯s died, ahjussi. You¡¯re making it sound like I¡¯m already dead when I have my two eyes fixed on you.¡± I bit my lip, feeling a sharp pain in my chest. I couldn''t stop Kim Hyeong-Jun, but at the same time, I couldn''t let him go. I had no clue how to release this sudden tightness within me. In the silence that followed, Lee Jeong-Uk, who had been watching me, spoke up. ¡°So-Yeon¡¯s dad.¡± ¡°What¡­?¡± He fixed his gaze on me, and his attitude grew colder. ¡°The irresponsible person right now is you, not me.¡± His words left me unable to breathe for a second. ¡®Irresponsible? Me? After all that I¡¯ve been through?¡¯ I remained silent. Lee Jeong-Uk looked at my face carefully, then slicked his hair back and sighed. ¡°You¡¯re trying to have the best of both worlds,¡± he said, ¡°trying not to let go of anything. That¡¯s called being greedy and irresponsible.¡± "But I¡­¡± I trailed off. Lee Jeong-Uk was right. Having recognized the iron-d truth in his words, I couldn¡¯t help but feel powerless. I knew that, if I had been a bit better, or a bit smarter, the situation wouldn¡¯t have turned out like this. I closed my eyes tightly and gently massaged my temples. I slid back into my seat, sighing. Kim Hyeong-Jun looked at me. He seemed rather emotional. "You know it''s not your fault." ¡°...¡± ¡°This isn¡¯t a choice. It¡¯s inevitable. This was awaiting us the moment we became immortals, the moment we pledged to save people.¡± ¡°Hyeong-Jun¡­¡± I had no clue how to deal with the wave of emotions buffeting me. The resentment that made my hands and feet tremble¡­ I couldn¡¯t figure out what was causing me to feel like that. I couldn¡¯t help but think if I was feeling resentful because I was weak, and not just because I was being pushed to make such a difficult decision. I closed my eyes and let out a sigh. Kim Hyung-Jun smiled gently. "Geez¡­ The problem with you, ahjussi, is that you like people way too much. Don¡¯t worry, ahjussi. I¡¯ll go do some scouting ande back without losing my sanity. I¡¯ll be back before you know it.¡± ¡°You¡­ You¡¯d bettere back.¡± My face grew flushed. Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s smile broadened. ¡°Do I look like someone who will die easily?¡± He took a deep breath. "But before I go, I¡¯ll have onest look at my son,¡± he said with a sheepish grin. ¡°No matter what happens, don¡¯t push yourself. I mean it.¡± ¡°Okay, ahjussi. Stop worrying about me and take good care of the people here.¡± With that, he smiled and left the meeting room. I watched him go, then put my hands on my face and let out a deep sigh. No matter how many deep breaths I took, and no matter how much I sighed, I couldn''t push away the tightness in my chest or the jumbled thoughts in my mind. Lee Jeong-Uk came over and patted me on the shoulder. I looked at him, my eyes full of sadness, and he nodded back. We could understand each other''s feelings without saying anything. His small nod meant more than any words he could have said to me. 1. In Korea, military personnel salute indoors as well. As long as there is someone of a higher rank present, military personnel are required to salute when they greet and excuse themselves. ? Chapter 141 Chapter 141 I closed my eyes and sat alone in the meeting room with only my thoughts forpany. The night deepened. The river wind howling outside sounded like a ghost wailing. Kim Hyeong-Jun was making his way through that howling wind to get to Gimpo Airport. He¡¯d probably take Gangbyeonbuk-ro and cross over into Gangnam via Seogang Bridge. I already knew that it was inevitable that Kim Hyeong-Jun woulde across the Family¡¯s forces. I wondered if it would be a good idea to draw their attention, even for a little bit, just to help him. However, I also knew that such a move would only serve to provoke them. I kept feeling as though I should be doing something, and that feeling gnawed away at me. My mind was filled with a jumble of incoherent thoughts. I knew I had to do something to shake off my nervousness, even if it meant pushing through the strong winds outside. I left the meeting room and headed toward the entrance of the hotel. A purple-colored zombie was standing outside. It was Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s underling. As I looked at it, I wondered if I would be able to stay sane if it lost its color. I assumed that, if that happened, the unbearable grief and sudden burst of emotion would cause me to copse to the ground. I smacked my lips bitterly and looked out over the jet-ck Han River. As I breathed in the cold wind from the river, the tightness within my chest seemed to ease just a little. ¡°No¡­ So¡­ Because¡­¡± ¡°Does¡­ Work?¡± "I¡¯m also¡­ The leaders¡­¡± My ears picked up something that piqued my curiosity. I could barely hear it through the howling wind, but I was certain that I heard something. I looked around and noticed people on the fifth floor of the hotel having a conversation. I assumed that they were in a room that was no longer being used because its windows were broken. Many rooms at the Walkerhill Hotel were now left empty because of the damage caused by the mutant as it scaled the walls. However, the sound of voices wasing from one of these empty rooms. I leaped into the room in which the people were conversing, and looked around. ¡°Jesus!¡± "Holy smoke!" The survivors inside were frightened by my sudden entrance through the window. There were four women and three men sitting in a circle around a candle, chatting away. It seemed rather unusual to me. "It''ste at night,¡± I said to them. ¡°Why aren¡¯t you sleeping?" A woman who seemed to be in her mid-tote fifties covered her mouth and forced a smile. "Pardon? Oh¡­ Haha¡­ I couldn¡¯t fall asleep for some reason.¡± She forced another chuckle. I eased myself down next to them. ¡°Perfect. I, for obvious reasons, couldn''t fall asleep either, and so I was pretty bored. You don¡¯t mind if I join, do you?¡± ¡°Ooh, no problem. You don¡¯t think we¡¯d kick you out, do you?¡± replied the woman in her fifties. She gave herpanions a few sidelong looks, as though she was trying to read their reactions. The others who were sitting in the circle looked at each other and smiled awkwardly. There weren¡¯t any young people in the room. Most of them were in their forties and fifties. I took a deep breath. ¡°What were you talking about?¡± I asked. The woman in her fifties snorted. ¡°Nothing much. We don¡¯t have things to talk about, you know? Just ordinary, trivial stuff, if you know what I mean.¡± Her snorting got on my nerves. I could tell she was the leader of the group, and she was taking the lead in gossiping about others. She was a typical gossipmonger. I replied with a thin smile. ¡°Is there anything regarding our stay here that is making you ufortable?¡± ¡°Of course not! We¡¯re all grateful for everything you¡¯ve done for us, Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok.¡± ¡°If there¡¯s anything that¡¯s making you feel ufortable, please take this opportunity to let me know. I¡¯ll make sure the leaders know about it.¡± ¡°Well then¡­ Since we¡¯re on the subject¡­ I¡¯m not saying that we¡¯re ufortable to the point we can¡¯t bear it, but¡­¡± The woman in her fifties quickly showed her true colors. From the fact that she was so quick to open up when I said that I¡¯d pass on her words to the leaders, it seemed like she¡¯d been waiting for this moment. I looked around at the other survivors with a nonchnt expression. The woman in her fifties hesitated for a bit, then nced over at the other survivors as she spoke. "Uh¡­ About Mr. Kim Hyeong-Jun. Mr. Kim was saying something about thest time he saw him. Right, Mr. Kim?¡± The woman in her fifties had her eyes on the man across from her, who also seemed to be in his fifties. ¡°Huh? Oh, yeah, yeah.¡± The man in his fifties nodded, a puzzled expression on his face. He seemed surprised that his name had been mentioned out of the blue. The woman sucked on her lower lip, then continued. ¡°Well, the two of them, Kim Hyeong-Jun and our leader¡ªI¡¯m referring to Lee Jeong-Uk¡ªtried to, you know, fight? I¡¯m not sure if that¡¯s the right word, but it definitely seemed like one. We were wondering if you had any idea about what happened between the two of them.¡± ¡°It seems like you folks saw their interaction as well. I was going to tell everyone about it at tomorrow¡¯s meeting, but long story short, they made up.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± The woman in her fifties stared at me nkly with a bewildered expression. I smiled softly at her. ¡°It seemed like the two of them were involved in a feud.¡± ¡°It seemed more serious than just a feud¡­ It sounded like Lee Jeong-Uk had hit Kim Hyeong-Jun with his gun, and Hwang Ji-Hye had to step in to try to stop the two of them¡­ I heard it was a mess¡­¡± ¡°Who¡¯s spreading such nonsense?¡± "Huh? Well, I thought it was true because Mr. Kim said so...¡± She quickly turned the me onto the man in his fifties. She was good at reading the room and was extraordinarily gifted at ying innocent. The spotlight instantly shifted to the man in his fifties. His eyes went wide and he smacked his lips. ¡°Hey Mrs. Kwak! You know that¡¯s not what I said,¡± he said in annoyance. ¡°Everyone else is going to get the wrong message if you put it that way.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t yell at me. I¡¯m just repeating whatever you told me.¡± "You know I didn¡¯t mean that!" Mr. Kim¡¯s voice slowly started to rise in volume. I raised my right hand and intervened. ¡°Please stop. Don¡¯t raise your voice. Zombies have good ears.¡± ¡°Ahem...¡± "What in the¡­!" Mr. Kim sighed and pressed his lips together, while Mrs. Kwak snorted and made a rather sassy face. I btedly realized that the seven people gathered here seemed to be the floor leaders of each floor of the hotel and had gathered after roll call and started gossiping away. I chuckled at their little feud and spoke up. ¡°I think you misunderstood what happened.¡± ¡°I thought so too, Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok. I knew it. See Mr Kim? I told you that you didn¡¯t see it correctly.¡± Mrs. Kwak quickly began to act respectfully to curry favor with me. She, together with the rest of them, started to look ridiculous to me, but I knew dispatching them wasn¡¯t an option. I knew I had to figure out a way to coax them forward so that they could focus on stabilizing the shelter. I sighed. ¡°Hyeong-Jun said he was leaving Gwangjang-Dong to go to Majang-Dong to bolster the ranks of his underlings. Jeong-Uk tried to stop Hyeong-Jun.¡± ¡°Wait, why?¡± Mrs. Kwak had been listening intently to my story, her glittering eyes full of curiosity. I knew better than to tell people like her the truth. All I had to do was tell her just enough, just the things she wanted to hear. I gave a thin smile and continued to lie. ¡°He knew that it would be difficult to hold out against the mutants while Hyeong-Jun was gone. They both had very valid points, so the two of them got into a bit of an argument.¡± Mr. Kim, who had been listening carefully, frowned. ¡°Then what about Lee Jeong-Uk hitting Kim Hyeong-Jun with his gun? I saw him hit him with my own two eyes.¡± I scratched my sideburns. ¡°Did you see where Jeong-Uk hit Hyeong-Jun?¡± I asked. ¡°I think it was on his shins¡­?¡± ¡°It was because Hyeong-Jun said he was going to go, without thinking about the consequences. Lee Jeong-Uk hit him to stop him from taking off. The two of them eventually got worked up, and Hwang Ji-Hye stepped in to say that it wasn¡¯t something to fight over.¡± "Oh¡­ Is that what happened?¡± Mr. Kim seemed to be on board with my story. The other survivors were nodding along silently as well. After a moment, Mrs. Kwak clicked her tongue. ¡°See, Mr. Kim? I¡¯ve been telling you that what you saw was probably wrong. You know how hardworking all of our leaders are, and Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok, Mr. Kim Hyeong-Jun, and Mr. Do Han-Sol as well¡­¡± ¡°Well, I said it the way I said it because it looked like they were fighting from afar.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯m saying. You shouldn¡¯t jump to your own conclusions before you actually hear what happened. Now we know that both Mr. Kim Hyeong-Jun and Mr. Lee Jeong-Uk were right.¡± As she spoke, Mrs. Kwak waggled her finger at the people sitting around the candle, as if she was scolding them. Despite being the chattiest one, she was the first one to back down. This conversation helped me to realize the trouble that this shelter would be in if these people stopped trusting the leaders and started rebelling. However, as long as they relied on me and the leaders, I knew that they would never do so. With that, I knew that there was no need to get rid of them or admonish them. However, I also knew that I needed to make them recognize Lee Jeong-Uk and the leaders as the absolute authority, and hammer home the fact that these people wouldn¡¯t be able to do anything without their leaders. I knew that it wasn¡¯t a good solution, and was eerily simr to how the leader of Gwangjang-dong had gone about it, but it was necessary in order to bring stability to the Survivor Rally Organization. It was essential to prevent conflicts between survivors. I shed a hearty smile. ¡°I¡¯m d that there aren¡¯t any more misunderstandings.¡± Mrs. Kwak addressed me in a cautious voice. "Um¡­ Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok?¡± From her facial expression, I could tell that she was hesitating over whether or not to ask her question. I smiled gently at her. ¡°Go ahead. I¡¯ll answer anything you have on your mind.¡± "Umm¡­ About what you said earlier¡­ You said Mr. Kim Hyeong-Jun is heading out with his underling soldiers¡­ Does that mean he¡¯sing back from Majang-dong now?¡± ¡°He¡¯s going to Majang-dong to get more underlings, and he¡¯ll return after scouting Sogang Bridge.¡± ¡°Sogang Bridge?¡± ¡°Yes. The survivors from Gangnam stated that the forces of the Family were going toe over via Sogang Bridge.¡± I knew that a lie wouldn¡¯t be perfect without some truth mixed in with it. I went back and forth between truth and fiction, giving them what they wanted to hear. Mrs. Kwak pped her hands together. ¡°So that was what happened,¡± she eximed. ¡°I wondered where he was going with all of his underlings.¡± ¡°He¡¯s been risking his life for all of us all along. It seems like you¡¯ve doubted him¡­ I can¡¯t say I¡¯m not disappointed. I¡¯m going to let Hyeong-Jun know about all this when he gets back.¡± I chuckled as though I were making a joke, and Mrs. Kwak smirked. ¡°Oh, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok. We weren¡¯t thinking straight. Keep it a secret from Hyeong-Jun, please? I¡¯m so sorry that I don¡¯t know what to do!¡± ¡°No need to worry. There have been a lot of incidentstely, so we¡¯ve been behind in keeping all of you updated on what¡¯s been going on. Who am I to me for this misunderstanding?¡± ¡°Who to me¡­ Well, of course, you¡¯d have to me the zombies on the streets! They¡¯re the bad ones! I know I said some ridiculous stuff. I''m sorry, Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok." I nodded and gave her a benevolent smile. "It¡¯s alright.¡± Mrs. Kwak grabbed my hand, seemingly on the verge of tears. I flinched at her sudden physical contact, but quickly quieted my facial expression. ¡°The survivors from Gangnam and the survivors from the medical center are doing their best to cooperate with us, so please take good care of them,¡± I said. ¡°Oh, of course. Did you ever see us being unweing toward the neers?¡± "I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m d I can rely on you folks.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll try even harder. Keep it up as well, Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok.¡± Mrs. Kwak patted my forearm and smiled happily. I offered her a hearty smile in return. ¡°If that¡¯s all, I''ll go and scout about. Get some rest before it''s toote. Tomorrow¡¯s waiting for us.¡± ¡°We were about to wrap things up as well.¡± ¡°Oh no, my apologies if I came barging in and acted as a party pooper. You are more than wee to talk more and go to bed.¡± "No, no. All our questions have been answered, and there¡¯s nothing more to talk about now. We should go to sleep soon so that we can get through tomorrow.¡± With that, Mrs. Kwak blew out the candle and rose to her feet. She urged the other floor members to head to bed as well, and all of them stood. When the floor leaders left the room, Mrs. Kwak hurried over to my side and took my hand. ¡°Give this to your daughter.¡± "Oh¡­ It¡¯s alright. I¡¯m not sure how I could take¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay, it¡¯s okay. Keep this as a secret between you and me.¡± With that, she handed me some candy. I smiled warmly and gave her a slight bow to thank her. She waved as she stepped out into the hallway. Then, through the half-opened door, I heard Mrs. Kwak¡¯s voice again. ¡°See? Don¡¯t you realize now how nice they are? How could you be suspicious of people like that!¡± ¡°No, it was you who made it awkward.¡± ¡°It was because you said something out of the blue.¡± Mrs. Kwak and Mr. Kim continued their argument down the hallway. She sure was a gossipmonger, but she was nothing more than a typical ahjumma who loved to talk. I sighed and looked out the window. Just as I¡¯d known all my life, managing rtionships was the hardest thing to do. I realized that I had to bring up the floor leaders during tomorrow¡¯s meeting. I had to let everyone know that they had to pay more attention to the floor leaders, listen to their opinions, and pass on necessary information to them from now on. I knew better than to let conflict between the survivors brew while Kim Hyeong-Jun was gone. It was my responsibility, as the person in charge of the shelter¡¯s defense, to manage the atmosphere of the shelter and to prevent conflict. I had no time to mope around just because Kim Hyeong-Jun wasn¡¯t around. I had to get ready for the next step while he was gone. ¡®It sure is going to get busy.¡¯ I took a deep breath, let it out, and put the candy into my pocket. Chapter 142

Chapter 142

Early in the morning the next day, I began to reinforce the number of underlings I had. From what Bae Jeong-Nam had told me, I assumed that the members of the Family weren¡¯t in the best condition either. The weaker ones had probably been eaten or killed off, and the stronger ones were probably recovering from their losses. It seemed like they had lost a significant number of the mutants they had initially brought over Sogang Bridge, and the only creatures that actually posed a threat to us were the stage-three mutants they had. We had about a week, or perhaps five days if they really pushed it. That was the amount of time I thought it would take them to get to Gangbuk. I was nning on making more mutants while the members of the Family worked on gathering up more ordinary zombies. In a fight against overwhelming numbers, having more stage-one mutants was the priority. Fortunately, my underlings were already zombies that were ready to mutate into stage-one mutants. However, the one thing I wasn¡¯t sure about was how many of them would actually turn into stage-one mutants, since they had to prey on each other in order to do so. My assumption was that I¡¯d be able to turn all of my underlings into stage-one mutants if I used the zombies at my zombie prison. I ordered my underlings, more than two thousand of them, to gather at Gwangjang Intersection. ¡°Starting now, fight therade next to you. Whoever wins, eat the loser''s brain!¡± GRRR!!! My underlings howled and tore into each other. Although mutants were well-suited forbat, they weren¡¯t the best defensively. Because of this, I couldn¡¯t rule out the possibility that the gang member¡¯s ordinary zombies could sneak past our forces and go after the survivors. This was something I¡¯d discussed with Do Han-Sol. I was in charge of increasing my number of mutants and fighting on the front lines while Do Han-Sol would deploy his one thousand and fifty underlings tightly across the ess road to the hotel. By doing this, even if the Family¡¯s forces made it through my own, Do Han-Sol and his underlings would be in position to block them off. We also made changes on where we were going to deploy our defenses, since Kim Hyeong-Jun was absent. We decided to pull back our defensive line from the boundary of Gwangjang-dong to the area just around Walkerhill Hotel. If we deployed our forces this way, we¡¯d quickly go down if our first line of defense fell, but I knew that it was wiser to focus on one line of defense rather than building up several lines of defense. As soon as the sun rose, Lee Jeong-Uk and Hwang Ji-Hye processed the neers from Gangnam and the medical center. In the six months since the dawn of the zombie apocalypse, those who survived had been split into two groups. They either became dogs that lived like animals, or continued to live as survivors who held onto their humanity despite the difficult circumstances. The survivors from Gangnam and those from the medical center were closer to thetter. As long as the iing survivors didn¡¯t have any attitude problems, I was willing to ept them. Because that was what the Survivor Rally Organization stood for. * * * Seventy kilometers north of divostok, Russia. Heavy snowfall over the past twenty years had turned the area into a snow-coveredndscape. In this deste ce was a fenced-up military facility with several research buildings. Armed soldiers patrolled both inside and outside. A man sat at the guard post, looking at a map. He sighed and turned to the signaller next to him. ¡°How many ces have we lost contact with now?¡± ¡°Just Canada and Korea¡­ No more, sir.¡± ¡°And what¡¯s the situation in Canada and Korea?¡± ¡°We have no way of knowing. About Korea¡­ Thest time we had contact was three days ago. We¡¯ve lost contact since then.¡± ¡°If they get back on, let me know right away.¡± ¡°Yes, sir." The man sighed and left the guard post. The howling wind assailed him from every direction, and it was impossible to see anything but snow. The blizzard numbed his nose and earlobes, and it was extremely difficult to even keep his eyes open. With another sigh, he broke into a swift run, heading toward theboratory. He passed through security at the entrance to theb. The interior of theb was bustling. Researchers scurried about the area. After a moment, an Asian man approached him. ¡°Commander, what brings you here?¡± ¡°Hey, Tommy Park. Any progress on the experiments?¡± ¡°We haven¡¯t gotten any results that are significant enough to report yet.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Themander sighed and nced around theboratory. Everyone was working hard and no one hadined about anything yet¡­ But he wasn¡¯t sure how much longer things could keep going the way they were. As the blizzard intensified, their sr panels became unusable. The facility was facing severe power issues, and the little remaining power they had was being funneled to theboratory. The soldiers outside were barely surviving day to day, fighting off the cold with vodka and whiskey. Themander fixed his gaze on Tommy again. ¡°Tommy Park¡­ No¡­. Should I call you the research director now?¡± ¡°Whatever you feelfortable with, sir.¡± ¡°The soldiers outside are shivering, struggling against the cold. If we allocate some of theboratory''s power to the military facilities¡­ Will that result in any disruptions to our ongoing research?¡± Tommy answered without the slightest hesitation. ¡°Yes, no doubt about it.¡± To the researchers, nothing was more important than their research and experiments. They had given up their families, their happiness, and their ordinary lives toe here to find a solution to the zombie virus. To the researchers, insufficient power to theboratory was equivalent to death. Themander¡¯s expression grew troubled. ¡°Tell me, why in the world do you need all this power for?¡± ¡°It¡¯s for the centrifuge.¡± ¡°Centrifuge?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a machine that rapidly rotates the blood samples so as to separate the variousponents in the blood. We¡¯re identifying the characteristics of the zombie virus and conducting antibody research ordingly.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°But, if we can¡¯t use centrifuges, there¡¯s no way we can conduct our research. It¡¯d probably be better for me¡ªand for everyone else¡ªto go back home to our families and peacefully await death.¡± Themander stayed silent, and the tense silence stretched out. The two were at an impasse. The militarymander valued the safety of his men first and foremost, while the research director valued the antibody research more than his own life. "Oh? Oh, oh! Ohhhh!!¡± Just then, a man in the corner of theboratory started cheering. His sudden exmation drew the eyes of everyone in theboratory. The man¡¯s bald head shone as it reflected the bright light of theboratory. He was peering into a microscope and cheering. The other researchers frowned at him and started murmuring amongst themselves. ¡°That madman¡­¡± ¡°Here we go again.¡± ¡°This is, what, his hundredth time or something? I can¡¯t even remember. Who in the world brought him here?¡± ¡°He came with Tommy from Europe.¡± ¡°From the Frenchboratory? The one that disappeared a month ago?¡± ¡°Yeah. He said his wife died during their attempted escape. I bet that¡¯s why he¡¯s gone crazy.¡± Themander, having eavesdropped on the conversation between the researchers, turned to Tommy. ¡°What is his name?¡± he asked. ¡°That¡¯s Alyosha¡­. He escaped from the Frenchboratory with me.¡± ¡°Alyosha¡­ Judging by his name, is he Russian?¡± "Yes." "I haven''t heard anything about madmen here. What the researchers are saying¡­ Is it true?¡± ¡°...¡± Tommy hesitated, staring bitterly at Alyosha¡¯s back. Oblivious to the concern around him, Alyosha was looking through the microscope and pping his arms like a bird. At one point, he used to be known as a genius who only came around once every hundred years. But after he¡¯d witnessed his wife being eaten alive by zombies in the Frenchboratory, he was never the same. Even while he slept, he would give briefings about his research results. He was now a madman with a singr obsession to solve the zombie virus, and he was so immersed in his research that there were times he would not go to the restroom to relieve himself, but do it on the spot instead. Because of this, no one would talk to Alyosha except for Tommy. Tommy gave themander a small bow and went over to Alyosha. ¡°Alyosha, did you get any exciting results this time? Some results we can look forward to?¡± ¡°Ohh, my best friend Tommy! Look at this! Look at how cute this zombie blood is!¡± "What?" ¡°Each virus has its own will, and is unique. That¡¯s why people can walk even when their hearts stop beating! The virus first takes over their brain, then spreads throughout the body.¡± ¡°What do you mean? Are you saying that the viruses can manipte humans like parasites? With their own will and thoughts?¡± ¡°Yes, yes, they¡¯re quite amazing. Their movements are active, and they can cause thergest reactions with the smallest of stimuli.¡± Alosha beamed as he extolled the wonders of the zombie virus. Tommy grimaced. ¡°Alyosha, have you forgotten the purpose of our research?¡± he asked. "Huh? Isn''t it the eradication of the virus?¡± ¡°But you¡¯re now saying that the viruses are cute.¡± ¡°Why¡­ Why¡­ They can be cute, no? Cute is cute, and eradicating is eradicating. Those are two different things.¡± ¡°...¡± Tommy sighed and gently massaged his temples. Alyosha smiled like a little child and went back to his microscope, muttering to himself. ¡°And now, how do I kill these cute guys painfully?¡± Tommy smacked his lips and gave themander a sidelong look. Themander heaved a deep sigh. ¡°We need to produce antibodies within a month. One month from now. We can¡¯t hold on any longer. This isn¡¯t a spur-of-the-moment decision; it¡¯s because of the power supply.¡± ¡°Commander!¡± Tommy eximed. ¡°The future of this institute depends on you folks,¡± replied themander in a serious tone. ¡°No¡ªthe future of humanity is in your hands. Keep that in mind. You have one month.¡± ¡°...¡± Tommy closed his eyes tightly and clenched his fists. It had only taken six months for the zombie virus to flip the world upside down. In contrast, vine development was very slow, and the results of their experiments so far had been utterly fruitless. Tommy opened his closed eyes and red at themander. ¡®There¡¯s no fuel here to fly to Canada. If this ce disappears, he¡¯ll probably go to Korea. It¡¯s impossible to know how the virus could have mutated in a ce like Korea, where the four seasons are clearly distinct.¡¯ There was no way that themander could know what Tommy was thinking, and even if Tommy tried to exin it to him, he would likely notprehend. In fact, he might not bother to listen properly in the first ce, because the only thing themander cared about was his men and the power supply. Tommy scratched his head, his expression turning sour. ''Korea¡­ No one can predict what kind of living hell they¡¯re in right now.¡¯ The Korean Brain Research Institute was located in Daegu, in the southeast region of Korea, and Tommy hadn¡¯t heard back from them for three days. There wasn¡¯t enough fuel to fly to Canada, and there was no guarantee that Korea was safe. And if the Russian research institute closed... There would be no future in Asia and Europe. * * * Two days had passed since I¡¯d begun reinforcing the strength of my underlings. I was sitting on the floor, gently massaging my temples. My mind felt hazy, and the headaches that I¡¯d not experienced in a while were threatening to overwhelm me. Long story short, I¡¯d been able to transform my force of two thousand regr underlings into forty stage-one mutants. With my current abilities, I was capable of controlling two thousand two hundred and fifty regr underlings. But since stage-one mutants counted as fifty ordinary zombies, I could have a total of forty-five of them. I already had four stage-one mutants and one stage-two mutant in my mutant unit. Now, I had forty stage-one mutants in ce of the two thousand ordinary zombies I used to have. I had sessfully turned all my underlings into mutants. And I knew that they would be an overwhelming force if they all attacked at once. I couldn¡¯t help but feel excited. Of course, the two-day process had been by no means easy. In order to be a mutant, my underlings had attacked each other, and the original two thousand underlings had only yielded thirty stage-one mutants. In order to quickly rece my missing underlings, I retrieved the zombies from my zombie prison. I ordered the jailer zombies to help me transport the zombies over, after which, I went through the tedious process of converting them. I had no clue how many underlings I recruited over the course of two days. Moreover, I had to kill off any of the first-stage mutants that expressed the wrong desires without a second thought. Whenever a mutant that tried to attack a friendly zombie or a human appeared, I smashed their heads in without the slightest hesitation. I didn¡¯t need any underlings that could not obey mymands, or any that harbored the wrong desires. The process took two straight days and nights, causing the Gwangjang-dong intersection to be covered in zombie bloodstains and pieces of zombie flesh. I looked over my forty stage-one mutants. ¡°Starting now, I¡¯ll group you in tens. Every ten of you will be in one squad.¡± Now that I only had forty stage-one mutants, I no longer needed to separate them into differentpanies. For some reason, this brought up some old memories. I remembered pushing zombies out of curiosity on the way to the high school when I first turned, and how I had recruited zombies for the first time. It hadn¡¯t even been a year since then, but so many eventful incidents had happened in between. I felt different. I took a deep breath and gave orders to my mutants, who were now separated into four squads. ¡°Let¡¯s start with cleaning up this ce. A fresh start needs to be kicked off by a good cleaning.¡± KIAAA!!! My zombies cried out in unison and began collecting the dead zombie bodies. ''I''ll have to look for some spray paint again.¡¯ In fact, I had no clue how much blue spray paint we had left. I tried to look on the bright side of things. This would be the perfect opportunity to check on our supplies and head out to patrol Gwangjin-gu. Chapter 143

Chapter 143

I headed back to the hotel after cleaning up Gwangjang crossroads and burning the dead zombie bodies. Lee Jeong-Uk gasped as he saw me covered in zombie blood. ¡°So-yeon¡¯s dad, you should wash up and change your clothes first.¡± I just nodded and went along with what he said. There was no way I could attend the meeting with zombie blood all over my body. As I entered the shower booth, I saw three washbasins, soap and towels had been prepared for me, along with a fresh set of clothes. I felt refreshed after washing the zombie blood off of my body. It had been a while since I¡¯d felt such a sense of tranquility. Unconsciously, I caught a glimpse of my reflection through the half-shattered ss of the shower booth. Even though I had a zombie body, I was taking a shower, just like any other person. I wasn¡¯t sure how to express my feelings. There was a deep sense of joy and peace, yet tinged with a sense of bitterness. When I pressed my lower stomach area, it felt hollow. The internal organs that I¡¯d had when I¡¯d been alive were still missing. They still hadn¡¯t regenerated. My body was dead, yet undead. I stared at my face in the mirror as I wiped off the zombie blood that stained my face. I realized that I had changed a lot over the course of six months. My pupils had turned blue, and I¡¯d grown sharp teeth. Along with my appearance, my beliefs also changed slightly. ¡®Fight for people who are worthy as human beings.¡¯ At one point, my initial conviction that I would do anything as long as I could save So-Yeon had morphed into the desire to protect the survivors worth saving. I now believed ining together and working as a group to strive formunal happiness and stability. I knew this was the kind of mindset that people had to have in order to make it through this damned world, and I was willing to fight for the people who shared such a mindset, because I knew that it would be best for So-Yeon. When I stepped out from the shower booth, the vividly glowing sun was dipping under the horizon. The purple twilight was perfectly beautiful. The cool air, the refreshing feeling within me, the beautiful scenery, and the fragrant smell of clothes¡­ I couldn¡¯t have asked for a more peaceful ending to the day. I took a deep breath and headed to the second floor of the hotel. When I entered the meeting room, I saw that the leaders had already taken their seats. All of them had smiles on their faces. It seemed like they¡¯d been able to regain a sense of peace over the past two days. I walked toward the head of the table and shed a gentle smile as I took a seat. ¡°Let¡¯s start today¡¯s meeting.¡± * * * We started the meeting by talking about the survivors. Lee Jeong-Uk and Hwang Ji-Hye told us about the changes the shelter had gone through so far. They informed us that the survivors from Gangnam and those from the medical center were doing their best to integrate into their positions, and were getting along with the existing survivors. The two of them also added that the existing survivors had weed the neers and were telling them about the shelter¡¯s history as if they were passing down legends. Hwang Deok-Rok gave a briefing on the reports that each team had prepared. As I listened to him, I asked him to check on the teams that werecking manpower, and to make sure that people from other teams that were overstaffed could be transferred over to them. Hwang Deok-Rok scratched his sideburns. ¡°As of now, the teams with the most survivors are the kitchen,undry, and cleaning teams. However, the facility management team iscking the most manpower.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°There seems to be more women in teams rted to food, clothing, and shelter¡­¡± ¡°Well, even if they can¡¯t help with the manufacturing of equipment since that requires professionals, don¡¯t you think they can take on auxiliary roles?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll look into it. If things don''t work out, I''ll let you know again.¡± ¡°Please.¡± The need for professionals with practical skills grew more pressing as we gathered more and more survivors. However, finding engineers in these circumstances was like asking for the moon. I quietly rubbed my chin and looked at Lee Jeong-Uk. ¡°Mr. Lee Jeong-Uk, what do you think about training professional technicians?¡± ¡°That¡¯d be a pretty good idea, he answered immediately. I nodded slowly and looked over at Kwak Dong-Won. ¡°Mr. Kwak Dong-Won, could you apany Mr. Hwang Deok-Rok to visit the teams in charge of food, clothing, and shelter and recruit those who are interested in learning technical skills?¡± ¡°Are you trying to train engineers instead of assistants?¡± "Yes." ¡°Well, that won¡¯t be as easy as it sounds. And it¡¯s also dangerous.¡± I raised my eyebrows. ¡°Are you saying that, since facilities management is dangerous, women aren¡¯t suitable for the role? Then are the women in the guard team chosen because they¡¯re fearless?¡± Kwak Dong-Won remained silent. I sped my hands and turned to Lee Jeong-Uk again. ¡°One more thing, Mr. Lee Jeong-Uk.¡± "Yes." ¡°When was thest time you spoke to the floor leaders?¡± ¡°...¡± Lee Jeong-wook scratched his head and looked away, as though he had nothing to say. From his mannerisms, it seemed like he hadn¡¯t kept in touch with the floor leaders for the past few days. It made sense, since all his attention had been focused on processing the survivors of Gangnam and the medical center for the past two days. I pressed my lips together. ¡°Please take Hwang Ji-Hye and meet with the floor leaders. We need to share essential information with them so that they don¡¯t get nervous about what''s going on within the shelter.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°If the floor leaders get anxious and nervous, it¡¯ll only be a matter of time before that same feeling spreads to the rest of the survivors. They¡¯re the bridge between us and the survivors. It¡¯s essential for them to stay strong.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk gave a small nod and exchanged nces with Hwang Ji-Hye. After going through the shelter-rted agendas, Hwang Ji-Hye looked around at the other leaders as if she was going to say something sensitive. She then brought up the real reason for the meeting that day. ¡°By the way, Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok¡­¡± "Yes?" ¡°So, what exactly is happening with Mr. Kim Hyeong-Jun? I heard he went to Gimpo Airport.¡± I leaned back into my chair and sighed. I wasn¡¯t sure how to exin his situation. I knew that Lee Jeong-Uk was aware of this part of the story, so I assumed that the leaders had a rough idea about what was going on. However, I also knew that Hwang Ji-Hye wasn¡¯t just asking about this. I could tell that she and the other leaders wanted to hear my opinion on his situation. I scratched my forehead. ¡°We¡¯re going to get ourselves a ne somehow, and go to Jeju Ind.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that too dangerous? ording to Choi Kang-Hyun, there could be problems with taking off andnding¡­¡± "You''re absolutely correct. We''ll discuss that again when Hyeong-Jun returns, since we don¡¯t even know if there¡¯s an operational aircraft at Gimpo Airport.¡± ¡°Ultimately, going to Jeju Ind is our current objective, right?¡± ¡°Yes, I believe that¡¯ll be our best bet to ensure our safety. Even though it won¡¯t be easy, it¡¯s the best thing to do for the sake of our future.¡± Hwang Ji-Hye smacked her lips and nced at the other leaders. They seemed to be pondering over the word ¡®future¡¯. Park Gi-Cheol raised his right hand. ¡°Well, if there¡¯s going to be a problem with thending, what¡¯s the point of discussing the future? Didn¡¯t Mr. Choi Kang-Hyun say that it¡¯d be impossible tond if there are zombies on the runway? Besides, I don¡¯t think we should consider an airne as our only option.¡± "You''re right. We¡¯re still making ns for that.¡± ¡°Could you tell me about this n of yours? I want to know at least a little bit.¡± All eyes fell on me as he finished his question. I took a deep breath and began toy everything out. ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll first go over the flight we¡¯ll be taking. When everyone gets on board, we¡¯ll be flying to Gimhae International Airport, not to Jeju Ind.¡± ¡°Gimhae?¡± Park Gi-Cheol tilted his head in confusion. He clearly had no clue why I had mentioned Gimhae International Airport out of the blue. Lee Jeong-Uk gasped in surprise and asked me a follow-up question. ¡°Are you saying that we¡¯re going to go by boat? So-Yeon¡¯s dad?¡± ¡°Mr. Lee Jeong-Uk, remember that we¡¯re in a meeting right now.¡± ¡°Ah, yes. Are you proposing that we go in by boat?¡± I wondered how taken aback he was for him to even forget using honorifics. I nodded and continued with my point. "However, this method will only work if everything aligns together perfectly.¡± ¡°What do you mean by everything aligning?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll hold off the Family while everyone gets ready to take off. Once you folks seed in taking off, I¡¯ll leave some of my underlings behind as bait and run to Gimhae.¡± Their eyes widened and their mouths fell open when I said I¡¯d be making my way on foot. I continued to speak before anyone could ask any questions. ¡°Given my current physical abilities, if I sprinted all the way to Gimhae¡­ I assume it would take about nine hours. I¡¯ll make my way down the highway.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk seemed to think my n was absurd. ¡°Well if that¡¯s the case, wouldn¡¯t it be better for us to go by car?¡± I shook my head. ¡°The highways are probably blocked with vehicles that were trying to get out of Seoul, which, in turn, makes it better to run than to drive,¡± I responded. ¡°And since I don¡¯t feel fatigue, I¡¯ll be able to make the journey in nine hours if I run nonstop.¡± "So you''re telling us to circle in the air until you get to Gimhae?¡± ¡°Exactly. When I arrive at Gimhae International Airport with the rest of my underlings, I¡¯ll clean up the surrounding zombies. So all in all, this n will only work if we have the right amount of fuel, and if nobody from the Family chases me down.¡± Having heard my n, Lee Jeong-Uk scratched his forehead and sighed. It seemed usible, but it was still far from perfect. The other leaders seemed to share the same feelings as Lee Jeong-Uk, either sucking on their lips or sighing. After a moment, Bae Jeong-Man, who had been sitting still, spoke up. ¡°And what¡¯s your second n?¡± ¡°Going west. To Incheon.¡± ¡°Incheon?¡± ¡°We can take a boat down to Jeju Ind. It probably seems the safest¡­ But it¡¯s actually the most dangerous.¡± ¡°Heading over to Incheon with the survivors¡­ That won¡¯t be easy.¡± "You''re right. There¡¯s no guarantee that there aren¡¯t any ck creatures in Incheon, and it¡¯d be a disaster if the Family discovers us along the way.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk got lost in thought after hearing my second n. He then sighed and asked. ¡°And is there a third n?¡± ¡°The safer way would be to move east to Yangyang. From there, we could either take a boat to Jeju Ind or get on a ne at Yangyang Airport.¡± ¡°Yangyang? I believe that¡¯s too far. Marching all the way to Yangyang in this weather would be too much to handle. It¡¯ll take at least a couple of months.¡± "And that''s why I wasn¡¯t considering it as a n.¡± ¡°Then how about we look for cars?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think there are any guarantees that the roads are clear,¡± I said calmly. ¡°Besides, if we ever end up trapped somewhere, it will be utter chaos. Also, have you thought about what we¡¯d do if zombies came running toward us from both sides of the highway?¡± Lee Jeong-Uk grimaced and massaged his temples. The other leaders were quiet. It seemed like no one could think of any other usible alternatives. I knew that the best thing to do right now was to make sure that the survivors didn¡¯t get more confused than they were right now, and to wait for Kim Hyeong-Jun to return. "Huh?" Just then, Do Han-Sol, who had been sitting across from me with his arms folded, widened his eyes as though he had just realized something. I wondered if he¡¯de up with something brilliant. I looked at him eagerly. ¡°Do you have any good ideas?¡± I asked. Do Han-Sol strode over to me without saying a word. But, to my surprise, he walked past me and headed to the window. I was expecting him to whisper something to me. ¡°Mr. Do Han-Sol?¡± I asked, tilting my head. Do Han-Sol swallowed and looked out the window. He wet his dry lips. "Over there¡­ There¡¯s something over there.¡± ¡®Huh? What was he talking about?¡¯ I looked at him, my head still tilted to one side. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°I just received a signal from my underlings stationed outside the hotelplex.¡± "My underlings didn¡¯t send me anything.¡± ¡°Where are your underlings?¡± ¡°...¡± Now that I thought about it, I remembered that I hadn¡¯t brought my forty underlings with me. I realized that they were probably still watching the dead zombie bodies burning at Gwangjang intersection. I got up and looked out the window. ¡°What¡­ What is it? Zombies?¡± I asked Do Han-Sol. "Well, that¡¯s the thing¡­ I can¡¯t tell what it is.¡± ¡°What do you mean you can¡¯t tell?¡± ¡°The signal cut off midway.¡± I couldn¡¯t fathom how that was possible. From what Do Han-Sol was saying, his underling¡¯s head had been chopped off before it had the chance toplete its signal. Do Han-Sol swallowed. ¡°I¡¯m assuming¡­ It¡¯s a ck creature,¡± he said in a low voice. Realizing that a ck creature might be close by, all the leaders in the meeting room stood up at once. All of them knew what they had to do and rushed out of the meeting room to carry out their respective responsibilities. Lee Jeong-Uk came up to me. ¡°Leave the survivors to us.¡± "Please." Just as Lee Jeong-Uk was about to leave the meeting room, Bae Jeong-Man, who was still in his seat, stood up awkwardly. ¡°What should I do?¡± he asked Lee Jeong-Uk. ¡°Please help Mr. Park Gi-Cheol.¡± ¡°Is Mr. Park Gi-Cheol the guard leader?¡± When Lee Jeong-Uk nodded, Bae Jeong-Man unclipped his walkie-talkie from his side and radioed for Park Shin-Jeong. ¡°Park Shin-Jeong, do you copy?¡± - Roger, sir. I¡¯m here. ¡°Don¡¯t call me sir. Call me hyung-nim from now on.¡± - Oh¡­ Yes, hyung-nim! ¡°Get everyone to retrieve their weapons and take up positions outside the hotel.¡± - Outside the hotel? Got it! Bae Jeong-Man left the meeting room, his face full of determination. As I watched him leave, I called my mutants at Gwangjang intersection, then looked at Do Han-Sol. ¡°Han-Sol, bring back all of the underlings you¡¯ve distributed around the outskirts.¡± "Pardon?" ¡°When the guards set up a barricade at the front gate, ce your underlings in front of it. Both the Grand Hotel and Walkerhill Hotel.¡± ¡°Oh, got it!¡± Once I gave Do Han-Sol his instructions, I left the hotel immediately. When I got to the entrance, I saw Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s underling, which still looked purple. I stared at it, wondering if this was the time to give it a nudge. However, I realized that the immediate priority was to figure out what was going on, and that there was no need to call in Kim Hyeong-Jun right away. I ran out into the pitch-ck darkness that covered Gwangjang-dong, my blue eyes shing. Chapter 144

Chapter 144

The zombies¡¯ howling grew even more ferocious as it got deeper in the night. The dark blue sky gave way to inky ckness, making it even harder to locate where the enemies were. I sharpened my hearing and my sight as I made my way around the hotel, searching for threats. Rustle¡ª There was a noise to the right, as though something had disturbed the foliage. I turned toward the source of the sound and saw a couple of stage-one mutants making their way over to me. I sighed to expel my nervousness and gave orders to my underlings. ¡®First squad and second squad, defend the hotel. If any enemies appear, let me know. Third and forth squad, follow me.¡¯ KIAAA! First and second squad took a loop around the Grand Walkerhill Hotel to search for any nearby threats. As they did so, I led third and fourth squad to the Vista Hotel, which was to the southeast. As I got closer, I noticed a barricade in front of the hotel. The soldiers from Gangnam were arrayed in formation behind it, and were on the lookout. There were a total of one hundred and twenty survivors from Gangnam, and half of them were soldiers. As I approached the entrance, a couple of soldiers pointed their guns at me. "Stop! Identify yourself!¡± they shouted. Their absurd question left me speechless. After an awkward silence, Park Shin-Jeong smacked the soldiers on the head. ¡°You fool! He¡¯s the leader here!¡± he admonished the soldier. ¡°My, my apologies!¡± The thought crossed my mind that the survivors of Gangnam hadn¡¯t yet had the chance to properly see my face until now. The only other time they¡¯d seen me was when they had disembarked from their cruise ship. I suddenly wondered if I should¡¯ve been thankful that they hadn¡¯t shot me. I entered the hotel and moved over to Park Shin-Jeong. ¡°Did you detect any other movement around the hotel?¡± The soldier gasped, surprised by the speed at which I had appeared in front of him. ¡°Hmm¡­ We didn¡¯t identify any particr movements,¡± he reported, while keeping his eye on the surroundings. ¡°There¡¯s something out there, and it managed to lop off a zombie¡¯s head in one blow. It definitely won''t be a normal zombie. Don¡¯t let your guard down, and keep an eye out. If it happens to be a ck creature¡­ It¡¯ll be very difficult to detect with your naked eye.¡± Park Shin-Jeong nodded vigorously and peered out beyond the barricade. I noticed Bae Jeong-Man approaching from the rear of the hotel. He looked at me and asked in a calm voice, ¡°The man named Do Han-Sol¡­ Is he someone we can trust?¡± ¡°Why, is something wrong?¡± ¡°No, nothing¡¯s wrong. I was just wondering if there might have been nothing to worry about, especially if there are issues with zombiesmunicating with one another.¡± My eyebrows twitched as he made his suggestion. Underlings couldn¡¯t lie. They couldn¡¯t lie because the only thing they knew was to follow orders. I assumed Bae Jeong-Man had said what he¡¯d said because he didn¡¯t know exactly how the chain ofmand worked between zombies. I brushed aside his suggestion, then took a calming breath and let it out. ¡°Have you ever had the experience of facing a ck creature?¡± ¡°I saw one fighting the members of the Family.¡± ¡°If you¡¯ve faced one yourself, you won¡¯t be able to say what you just said.¡± ¡°...¡± Bae Jeong-Man remained silent. After a moment, he loaded his K2 rifle and headed back toward the rear of the hotel again. When he left, I positioned the third and fourth squads around the Vista Hotel, then entered the hotel as well. I saw Lee Jeong-Hyuk and the principal in the lobby. The two of them were armed and were running toward me. ¡°So-Yeon''s father, what¡¯s going on all of the sudden?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure yet¡­ But it seems like a ck creature has appeared.¡± ¡°A, a, ck creature?¡± Lee Jeong-Hyuk¡¯s eyes went wide, and looked at the principal, who was next to him. It seemed like the two of them had realized how serious things were, and were trying to help the survivors from Gangnam. However, this wasn¡¯t their time to step up. I looked over at Lee Jeong-Hyuk. ¡°What about So-Yeon?¡± I asked him. ¡°She¡¯s on the fifteenth floor with Han Seon-Hui. Da-Hye is there too, with the rest of the children.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t go outside. Look after those inside the hotel.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Lee Jeong-Hyuk seemed taken aback at my unexpected answer. He looked back and forth between the principal and myself. The principal, who was beside him, grabbed his arm. ¡°Let¡¯s go back.¡± ¡°What do you mean? There are people outside,¡± he objected. I put my hand on his shoulder with a frown. ¡°Let¡¯s wait on the fifteenth floor. Listen to So-Yeon¡¯s father,¡± said the principal. "Huh? Then what about the people outside...¡± Lee Jeong-Hyuk trailed off and swallowed. I picked up where he¡¯d left off. ¡°The creature in Gwangjang-dong right now¡­ It¡¯s different from the zombies we¡¯ve encountered so far. There¡¯s nothing wrong with being careful.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Go back for now. Go and stay with the others.¡± Lee Jeong-Hyuk looked at the soldiers outside the front entrance and bit his lower lip. After a moment, he clicked his tongue vigorously and went back to the stairs inside the emergency exit. The principal did not follow him right away. Instead, he sighed and turned to me. ¡°Is the situation that bad?¡± he asked. ¡°I¡¯m also now sure what the exact situation is. One of Do Han-Sol¡¯s underlings, which was stationed outside the hotel, was attacked. Whatever did that should have reached us by now¡­ But I haven¡¯t felt its presence yet. I can feel that something isn¡¯t right.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll keep So-Yeon safe.¡± ¡°Thank you." I gave the principal a small bow, then hurried up the stairs of the emergency exit. When I got to the rooftop, the howling, raging wind buffeted me. I had gone all the way up to get a good view of the entire city, but it was difficult to concentrate because the force of the wind seemed to muffle all other sounds. In the distance, I saw guards and purple-colored zombies stationed in front of the Grand Walkerhill Hotel. They were clustered near the entrance, keeping a lookout. In front of them, I saw Do Han-Sol. I waved toward him. He quickly noticed me and waved back. Even though we were far apart, we couldmunicate by looking into each other¡¯s eyes. I looked at him in the eyes and asked. ¡®How¡¯s the situation over there?'' ''Nothing yet.¡¯ ''What exactly did your dead underling say?¡¯ ¡®Enemy. That¡¯s all it said.¡¯ ''Just enemy? How many times have you gotten signals like that?¡¯ ¡®They usually sent signals like ¡®enemy detected¡¯ or ¡®enemy approaching¡¯. They¡¯ve never sent me single-word signals before.¡¯ This lent significant weight to the hypothesis that his underling¡¯s head had been lopped off immediately after detecting the enemy. I couldn¡¯t fathom what kind of creature could have done such a thing. Once zombies became stage-two mutants, each zombie acquired unique abilities ording to their desires. Knowing this, I knew I had to take into consideration that it could be a stage-two mutant that had the ability to erase its presence, or a stage-three mutant that was superior in every aspect. It would be great news if it were a stage-two mutant¡­ But if it was either a stage-three mutant or a ck creature, we were almost guaranteed to suffer additional casualties. I¡¯d been running through several scenarios, trying to imagine what this creature could be, but I still couldn¡¯t figure out what it could be. I also couldn¡¯t figure out why it wasn¡¯t making the first move to attack us. I couldn¡¯t help but suspect that it was watching us. If it had the ability to think, there was the possibility that it could be a scout sent by the Family. As I was lost in thought, I heard footstepsing from the entrance of Gwangjang-dong. Despite the howling wind, I heard it loud and clear. My blue eyes shed as I stared at Gwangjang intersection. I focused fully on sharpening my eyesight, and I saw a purple blob making its way toward us. It was a being, colored entirely purple. It was Kim Hyeong-Jun and his underlings. A broad grin spread across my face, and I leaped over to the rooftop of the next building over. I couldn¡¯t help but smile at the fact that Kim Hyeong-Jun had returned alive. I crossed from rooftop to rooftop and made my way toward him. ¡°Hyeong-Jun!¡± I called to him, as loudly as I could. He looked up at me and raised his right hand up high. "Ahjussi!! I brought survivors!!¡± he yelled back. There were several people behind Kim Hyeong-Jun. There were about fifteen trembling survivors, each hanging onto the back of a purple-colored zombie, with about four hundred underlings escorting them. He had lost over half of his two thousand underlings. His remaining forces showed me clearly just how fierce it was in Gangnam. Despite that, Kim Hyeong-Jun had a smile on his face, so I assumed that he had eaten the brains of some zombies with glowing red eyes. Suddenly, a ck shadow darted toward him, from the direction of Achasan. It shed toward him, giving him no time to react properly. My eyes went wide as the ck shadow continued its approach. ¡°Duck!¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun sensed the desperation in my voice and immediately dropped into a crouch. The ck shadow had swooped past his underlings and disappeared into the darkness. I hurried to Kim Hyeong-Jun and dropped into a defensive stance. Kim Hyeong-Jun seemed confused by the sudden and unexpected turn of events. ¡°What¡­ What in the world? Ahjussi? What just happened?¡± ¡°Get everyone inside. Quickly.¡± Steam leaked from my mouth as I spoke. Kim Hyeong-Jun swallowed and nodded. The survivors realized the severity of the situation and burst into tears. ¡°But, but you said it was safe here¡­!¡± I heard the survivors all around me sobbing and sighing. It seemed they were shaken by what had just happened, having believed that they had already reached a safe haven. My teeth ground together audibly as I addressed the survivors. ¡°Get yourselves together if you don¡¯t want to die. Don''t make a sound.¡± The survivors fell silent immediately, although silent tears still leaked out. Kim Hyeong-Jun gave orders to the remaining underlings behind him. ¡°Everyone, get to the hotel as quickly as possible.¡± The closest hotel was the Vista Hotel. Kim Hyeong-Jun and I ran toward the barricade, keeping our eyes on the surroundings. When we reached the barricade in front of the hotel, Park Shin-Jeong opened the entrance. ¡°Who¡­ Who are these people?¡± he asked. ¡°They¡¯re survivors from Gimpo Airport.¡± As Kim Hyeong-Jun answered, he counted the number of survivors. Park Shin-Jeong looked at their outfits, and his eyes went wide. ¡°Are they airline employees?¡± ¡°They¡¯re valuable people. Put them in the lobby first.¡± "Wait¡­ Then you should go to the Grand Hotel instead of bringing them here. Lee Jeong-Uk is in charge of new survivors¡­¡± ¡°Let them in first!¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun shouted. Park Shin-Jeong nodded without saying a word. Kim Hyeong-Jun frowned. ¡°What happened while I was gone?¡± he asked me. ¡°A few minutes ago, something attacked one of Do Han-Sol¡¯s underlings that had been on guard duty outside of the hotel. And I think the underling died even before it could finish sending Do Han-Sol a signal.¡± "Then¡­ It''s got to be a ck creature, no?¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯m thinking. The thing that just attacked you also had ck skin.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun slicked his hair back, and his expression grew nervously. ¡°Ahjussi, have you ever seen a creature that fast?¡± His voice was trembling. ¡°...¡± I couldn¡¯t find anything to say. I felt the same way as he did. This opponent was on a different level, one that I hadn¡¯t encountered before. I couldn¡¯t picture us defeating it. It was difficult just to track its movements. The thought of attacking first did not cross my mind. I didn''t even have the confidence that we would be able to hold it off if it attacked us. It seemed impossible to surpass its speed. And considering that it was a ck creature¡­ I already knew that its power would surpass ours. Even more disturbing, I didn¡¯t see the eyes of the ck creature that had just attacked Kim Hyeong-Jun. I knew it would be impossible for a newly transformed ck creature that couldn¡¯t even open its eyes to move so quickly. And if it had red or blue eyes, I should have been able to see them. But¡­ It has just shed past us earlier, like a shadow. Kim Hyeong-Jun wet his parched lips. ¡°Ahjussi, I think this ck creature¡­¡± ¡°Is a stronger one.¡± I frowned as I finished his sentence. A being stronger than a blue-eyed ck creature. I couldn''t even fathom its abilities. We¡¯d barely managed to defeat a blue-eyed ck creature before. If this other creature was stronger than it, I knew we stood no chance. It also seemed like this ck creature had some level of intelligence. It almost felt like it was thinking. It wasn¡¯t the sort of being that attacked impulsively. Rather it seemed wary of its surroundings, and was looking for an opening. Just like a hunter waiting for their prey to get caught in their trap, it was waiting for us to let our guard down. I couldn¡¯t help but wonder if stage-three Mood-Swinger would be able to handle it. But if Mood-Swinger went down¡­ That would be even more terrible. If our underlings went down trying to fight it, that would affect our ability to hold off the Family¡¯s forces in the future. Nothing was in our favor. I gently closed my eyes and took in a deep breath. I knew better than to waste time like this. Whether I was ready or not, I had to make a decision. I looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun. ¡°How¡¯d you manage to escape Gangnam?¡± I asked. ¡°I abandoned my underlings at the southern and northern ends of Sogang Bridge and left. I forced the survivors to get onto my underlings¡¯ backs, and we ran here nonstop.¡± ¡°Are the members of the Family still there?¡± ¡°They¡¯re still fighting with my underlings. I keep getting signals. It seems like the boss is making his way through my underlings, though.¡± I sucked on my lower lip and gave him a determined look. ¡°Let¡¯s make ourselves bait.¡± ¡°What?¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun stared nkly at me with his eyes wide open. His mouth fell open, clearly unable toprehend the absurdity of my statement. Chapter 145 Chapter 145 I rubbed my chin quietly. ¡°ck creatures want to eat us,¡± I said. ¡°We¡¯re their favorite prey. And it had you in its sights earlier on.¡± "Wait¡­ You¡¯re not saying that we should drag the ck creature all the way to Sogang Bridge, are you?¡± I nodded and continued. ¡°We don¡¯t have to deal with the ck creature ourselves. We¡¯ll go all the way to Sogang Bridge and let the ones there mess with it.¡± ¡°Do you think it¡¯ll be possible, at the speed that we can move? It¡¯s so fast¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s why we have to go together. We have to get over there while distracting it.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s bring Mood-Swinger along, just in case anything happens. You¡¯ll be okay with that, right?¡± I nodded, then turned to address Park Shin-Jeong. ¡°Mr. Park Shin-Jeong.¡± "Yes." ¡°Don¡¯t let your guard down until Hyeong-Jun and I return.¡± "Pardon?" ¡°If we aren¡¯t back by tomorrow morning, discuss with Mr. Lee Jeong-Uk about what to do next.¡± "What in the¡­ How could you talk so irresponsibly?¡± Park Shin-Jeong seemed terribly restless, like a dog that was just about to poop. I smacked him on the back and continued to speak. ¡°Keep yourself together. Besides, if we deal with the ck creature here, the chances of us all surviving are slim.¡± ¡°No, but still¡­¡± ¡°If we manage to attract its attention, take the survivors that are in the Vista Hotel and bring them to the Grand Walkerhill Hotel. Join forces with the guards there, either as additional lookouts, or just to bolster the defensive forces.¡± ¡°Will Lee Jeong-Uk be on board with this n?¡± ¡°He¡¯ll most certainly be against it. But I''d rather endure some of his hatred than letting everyone here die.¡± When I said what I¡¯d wanted to say, I looked over at Kim Hyeong-Jun. ¡°Where¡¯s Mood-Swinger?¡± ¡°In front of the barricade.¡± "When we take off, we¡¯ll go at full speed and keep going. I¡¯ll go to Gangbyeonbuk-ro. You should head through the city and keep a distance from me.¡± ¡°What if it doesn¡¯t follow us?¡± ¡°Well then, we¡¯ll have to make it follow us.¡± My blue eyes shed and I leaped over the barricade. As soon as Inded, I sprung off the ground again and made my way to the outskirts of the hotelplex. Through the howling wind, I could sense the ck creature¡¯s murderous intent. I tensed up from nervousness. I stopped in my tracks and roared in the direction from which I was sensing the killing intent. ¡°GRRR!!!¡± My senses were more heightened than usual. My senses were extremely sensitive to the subtle sounds within the forest. Unseen death was lurking in the darkness. Whoosh¨C I heard it. The moment I felt a glimmer of a strange presence, I immediately twisted my upper body. As I did so, a long shadow brushed past me. The ck creature¡¯s hand had just barely missed me. Having missed its prey, the creature turned around and red at me. I wondered if it was surprised that it hadn¡¯t been able to catch me in one move, or if it was angry. In that fleeting moment, I saw the entirety of the ck creature with my naked eye. It had a well-proportioned body, with strong-looking muscles. Its skin was shiny, as though covered in oil, and the veins on its forehead were bulging out, clearly visible under its skin. Unlike the other ck creatures I¡¯d seen before, its mouth was firmly shut. It also had ck eyes that seemed hollow, causing me to tremble in fear. It stoodpletely still, its ck, empty gaze boring into me. Its eyes were fully ck, without the slightest hint of white. Just looking at it gave me the chills. I could tell right away that it wasn¡¯t afraid of anything. That it stood on top of the food chain. In fact, it probably existed outside of the food chain. "Ahjussi!" I heard Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s voice from my right. Before I had the time to even look, Mood-Swinger came charging toward the ck creature, steam rising from his body. Since I knew that Mood-Swinger was able to cover the distance of a hundred meters in three seconds, I was hoping for something to happen. However, the ck creature easily avoided Mood-Swinger¡¯s head-on attack. Kim Hyeong-Jun shed past me. ¡°Run!¡± he shouted. As I saw him go, I forced strength back into my stiff limbs and elerated the cirction of my blood. Mood-Swinger seemed momentarily surprised. but he quickly ran away as well, following Kim Hyeong-Jun. I strengthened my leg muscles, and ran desperately toward Gangbyeonbuk-ro, which was on my left. I nced behind me and saw the ck creature staring at me. I was about a hundred meters away from it. I knew I had to maintain a certain distance from it so that it would chase us. After a moment, the ck creature smirked. With a chuckle, it sprung off the ground. Bang! I wondered if it was enjoying this situation. It was acting like a predator, licking its lips as it watched its prey fleeing for dear life. The expression it wore confirmed my supposition that it was enjoying what it was seeing. I was a monster that could run one hundred meters in three to four seconds. But this ck creature¡­ It caught up to me before I knew it and took a swipe at my neck. Eyes wide, I tried to duck. I lost my bnce and rolled across the cold asphalt floor over and over again. ''Shit!'' I picked myself up quickly and looked around, but the ck creature that was just behind me was no longer in sight. Whoosh¡ª The murderous intent creeping toward me made my hairs stand on end. I instinctively twisted my upper body, trying to get into a defensive stance. Sure enough, its arm was arcing toward my face. Even though I held my arms up to protect my face, I was sent flying a couple of meters back, andnded hard on the ground. The heat in my body quickly dissipated, and I felt like I was losing energy. I could only think of one thing at the moment. ¡®I¡¯m going to die.'' I felt something beyond fear and despair. My mind went nk, and the word ¡®death¡¯ began to echo in my mind. A high-pitched whine began to ring inside my head, forcing my senses into focus once again. My arm bones had been shattered by a single blow. I knew it was fast, but I wasn¡¯t expecting it to be this strong. Its strength was immense. This ck creature was truly a powerful, almighty being. The ck creature didn¡¯t give me a second to rest. It closed the distance between us in a sh andshed a foot out. ¡°Arnold!!!!¡± At the same time, Mood-Swinger threw his body forward, crashing into the ck creature¡¯s upper body. The two tumbled along the ground, and in an instant, they were back on their feet and squaring off against each other. ¡°Can you move, ahjussi?¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun appeared in an instant and helped me up. I spat on the ground as I tried to channel as much strength as I could into my wobbly legs. ¡°I had the wrong idea.¡± "Why." "It¡¯s not that easy to run away from it.¡± ¡°Then what should we do?¡± "Let''s think while we fight." My arms trembled as I spoke, like a boxer on the ropes. Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s blue eyes shed, and steam rose from his entire body. He raised his eyebrows. ¡°Alright,¡± he said. ¡°Let¡¯s give it a try.¡± The ground cracked as Kim Hyeong-Jun sprang forward, sending bits of asphalt flying. I elerated the cirction of my blood as well, my blue eyes shing. Hot steam rose from my body as I restored my broken arms. ¡°Grrr¡­ Phaw¡­!¡± I strengthened every muscle in my body and got down into a crouch, cing my hands on the ground. I had one target. The ck creature in front of me. Bang!! I raced toward the ck creature, tearing up the ground under my feet with every step. The ck creature was enjoying itself, dancing its way between the attacks that Mood-Swinger and Kim Hyeong-Jun were raining down on it. I knew that it wasn¡¯t prepared to deal with me, and I knew better than to let this chance go to waste. Itched onto its waist and kicked out at its hamstrings. ¡®There we go!¡¯ Now, if I could just roll it over and get on top of it¡­ Thud!! The moment I tried to raise my upper body, all the air inside of my lungs disappeared, and I went flying several meters into the air. The ck creature had tucked its legs in as it fell backward and kicked me in the chest. I kept my eye on the ck creature, struggling to stay conscious. The moment the ck creature tried to get into a crouch, Kim Hyeong-Jun rushed in from behind and caught it in a chokehold. As it began to fall backward again, Mood-Swinger grabbed its lower body from behind. I gritted my teeth and used my height advantage to smash my elbow into its face. Crack!!! I got it right on its jaw. Kim Hyeong-Jun kept at it, pulling on its neck as if he was trying to pull out its spine. Mood-Swinger smashed its knees as hard as he could, breaking both of its legs. KRRR!!! Only then did the ck creature cry out. I wondered if it had given up, and was letting out a death cry. KRRR!!! KWAAA!!! For some reason, though, its wails sounded strange. It wasn¡¯t the same noise that the other ck creatures had made when facing death. It almost sounded like it was mocking us. Hoping I was wrong, I nced down at the ck creature as I put my hand on my shattered chest. Instead of fear¡­ It was smirking. Even though it was being strangled, even though its legs were broken¡­ It was smirking. In an instant, its jaw¡ªwhich was hanging half-off¡ªreturned to its original position, and a small red dot appeared inside its jet-ck eyes. The red dot fixed upon Kim Hyeong-Jun, who was straining against its neck, and its mouth opened wide. Drool began to flow from its open mouth. I tried to imagine what it was thinking, what it was going to do next. "Look out!!!" I yelled at the top of my lungs as I realized what it was about to do. The moment I cried out, the ck creature¡¯s head spun all the way around, and the creature sank its teeth into Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s shoulder. Kim Hyeong-Jun leaped backward as his shoulder de was torn off. However, the ck creature didn''t stop there. It twisted its back and kicked Mood-Swinger in the neck. Mood-Swinger was unable to defend himself in time. He took the full force of the unexpected attack and crumpled to the ground. Crack, crack, snap! The flesh and bones of its mutted legs were slowly knitting themselves back together. It¡­ It wasn''t afraid of suffering physical damage to its body. Perhaps it believed that it could defeat the three of us even without the use of a couple of its body parts. Kim Hyeong-Jun pressed a hand against his ruined shoulder de. ¡°Ahjussi, we¡¯re no match for it.¡± ¡°We have to run before its legs fully regenerate. Now that we¡¯ve definitely got its attention, I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll keep following us.¡± ¡°So, back to the original n?¡± I nodded and elerated the cirction of my blood. The damage to my chest was notpletely repaired yet, but I channeled strength into my legs and sprinted toward Gangbyeongbuk-ro again. Kim Hyeong-Jun and Mood-Swinger were right behind me. The ck creature still had its eyes fixed on us. I nced behind me and saw that its legs were almost fully regenerated. When its crooked legs finally snapped back into ce, the ck creature crouched down, emitting hot steam from its entire body. It flew forward, breaking the sound barrier with a sonic boom, its murderous intent fully focused on the three of us. No matter how hard I tried to open up the distance between us, the ck creature was quickly closed in. It seemed amused by my miserable attempt to flee. I¡­ I wasn¡¯t sure anymore if I could make it to Sogang Bridge alive. I gritted my teeth and looked ahead, running as hard as I could. * * * The sun had already set. The head of the Family and the other officers were speaking on the observatory of Building 63. ¡°Where¡¯d they escape to?¡± ¡°They went over Sogang Bridge, sir.¡± "Ha! Those bastards! How dare they use our roads without permission?¡± The boss and the second officer were sitting on a couch in front of a transparent ss wall. ¡°Are you sure we¡¯re tracking them down? I don¡¯t want those bastards messing up things anymore.¡± ¡°The surviving dong leaders are going after them right now. We¡¯ve gotten reports that they¡¯re fighting them on Sogang Bridge,¡± the second officer answered calmly. The boss sighed and leaned back against the couch. "Can¡¯t I get a more definitive answer?¡± he asked, sounding disappointed. ¡°I don''t want a half-assed answer.¡± ¡°Should I go and take care of them myself?¡± "Oh really? You want to give it a shot?¡± ¡°There wasn¡¯t anyone reliable to begin with, sir.¡± ¡°Hahaha! You¡¯re absolutely right. You¡¯re the only officer here now. Who else would I give orders to? Hahaha! Dong leaders? Baits? Not in a million years.¡± The boss let out a boisterousugh as he looked out through the transparent ss wall. A littleter, the boss sneered. ¡°What¡¯s going on with them?¡± he asked. ¡°The dong leaders are still in the process of recovering, since you and I were the first ones to let our underlings recover.¡± ¡°How many dong leaders are there left?¡± ¡°After taking over Gangnam, we had eight¡­ But the guy from Gimpo Airport killed two of them.¡± ¡°He killed two of them by himself?¡± ¡°Yes, sir,¡± the second officer replied immediately. The boss gently rubbed his chin. ¡°Is he¡­ Is he the leader of the bastards? Taking care of two dong leaders by himself¡­ He should receive a round of apuse. So, the rest of the dong leaders are chasing him down?¡± "Yes, sir." ¡°How many mutants are there left?¡± ¡°There are fifteen stage-one mutants, three stage-two mutants, and two stage-three mutants left.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­¡± The boss pouted his lips for a moment, lost in thought. After a moment, he smacked his lips and began to speak. ¡°Hurry up and go take care of them. I bet whoever is following that bastard will give up when the bastard dies.¡± ¡°When you say give up¡­ What are you talking about, sir?¡± ¡°What do you mean? Of course I¡¯m talking about the will to survive.¡± The boss smirked, beginning to grow excited. "Hah¡­ This is going to make everything so interesting¡­ I can¡¯t wait to see what happens when humans give up on survival. Do you think they¡¯ll try to fight back, ore to me and beg?¡± ¡°But no matter what they do, it won¡¯t change anything. Isn¡¯t that right, sir?¡± ¡°Hahaha! That''s the answer, officer! Food doesn¡¯t deserve to have a say in anything!¡± "Then¡­ I will hurry up and take care of the bastards for your entertainment, sir.¡± "Okay. Run along already.¡± The second officer bowed deeply from the waist and headed straight for the emergency exit. The boss smiled to himself in satisfaction. ¡°Fufu¡­ Now, how will I have a good time fucking you up?¡± he murmured in a low voice. He was looking into the future, not knowing the imminent danger that was approaching. Chapter 146

Chapter 146

Red blood trickled down from my forehead, interfering with my vision. I couldn¡¯t breathe properly because of my crushed lungs. My lower body was trembling constantly. My vision was blurry, and a constant high-pitched whine filled my eardrums. Gangbyeonbuk-ro, which was supposed to stretch out into the horizon in a straight line, seemed as though it was curving in all directions, constantly growing shorter, then longer. I could barely keep my eyes focused, and kept moving forward like someone possessed by a ghost. At that moment, someone grabbed my cor. I turned my head, and saw Kim Hyeong-Jun through heavy-lidded eyes. His left arm was missing. He had lost his right arm earlier, but now it was his left arm. I could tell he wasn¡¯t in great shape. Dark, red blood was oozing out non-stop from the stump of his left arm, and his internal organs were spilling out from his torn sides. ¡°Ahjussi¡­ Cha¡­ Gaaa¡­ Cha¡­ Change!¡± ¡°Hey, wake up! Hey!¡± We were taking turns holding off the ck creature and distracting it as we ran along Gangbyeonbuk-ro. However, we hadn¡¯t been able to do it for long. Our rhythm broke when we ran across five stage-one mutants from Yongsan-gu. I had to hold off the ck creature while dealing with the stage-one mutants. To make things worse, we were umting physical damage, and our injuries were getting worse, which made us have to switch ces even more frequently. We made it to Mapo Bridge somehow, but Sogang Bridge in the distance felt like a mirage. We were so close. We only had a little more to go, but Kim Hyeong-Jun and I were already at our limits. We needed to buy time to regenerate our destroyed bodies. "Ar, Ar!!! Ar¡­ nold¡­!!!¡± Mood-Swinger let out a scream from roughly one hundred and fifty meters away. I looked back, panting, and saw Mood-Swinger¡¯s arm flying toward Han River. We could not match the speed at which the ck creature¡¯s body regenerated. It didn¡¯t matter how strong Mood-Swinger was; the odds would grow more and more in the ck creature¡¯s favor the more we dragged out the fight. Kim Hyeong-Jun bit his lower lip and forced his blood to circte more quickly. However, his blue eyes didn¡¯t sh, and he fell to the ground while coughing out blood. . ¡°Hyeong-Jun!¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun coughed even more violently. His whole body shook as he vomited more blood. I¡¯d figured something out over the past six months. We couldn¡¯t regenerate our bodies indefinitely. After we regenerated about ten to twenty times in a short span of time, our ability to regenerate gradually got weaker, and after a certain point, our bodies would no longer regenerate. I wondered if it was because our blood evaporated when we elerated our cirction. Steam no longer rose from our bodies, and our minds began to drift away from time to time. Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s entire body trembled. It seemed as though he couldn''t get up anymore. ¡°Ahjussi¡­ Go ahead.¡± ¡°Shut up and get up!¡± ¡°My body isn¡¯t moving.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not like mine¡¯s working too!¡± I grabbed his cor and forced him up. However, Kim Hyeong-Jun groaned in pain and copsed to the ground. His lower limbs were entirely limp, like a jellyfish. It seemed like he couldn¡¯t even take one more step. But we had to get to Sogang Bridge somehow. We were in a sink-or-swim situation; our only chance of survival depended on us reaching Sogang Bridge. As I dragged Kim Hyeong-Jun toward Sogang Bridge, I saw the ck creature eyeing us from afar. Mood-Swinger was sprawled helplessly on the ground next to it. The ck creature looked at me closely, then picked Mood-Swinger up. It hurled Mood-Swinger with all its might, sending the mutant flying one hundred and fifty meters tond right next to me. THUD. Mood-Swinger crashed to the ground, motionless. ¡°Mood-Swinger, Mood-Swinger!¡± Even though I called his name desperately, he showed no sign of moving. Mood-Swinger was no longer saying ¡®Arnold¡¯ like a little child. It seemed like he waspletely knocked out. Mood-Swinger looked at my face with his sunken eyes and spoke in a dry, raspy voice. "Losing¡­ Gains.¡± Mood-Swinger sounded so weak,pared to how he usually was. He¡¯d normally flex his massive muscles and say ¡®Arnold,¡¯ but it seemed like he was too exhausted to do anything. My mind went nk when I saw his reaction. I knew we were cornered, and I desperately wanted to get out of this situation somehow. But I couldn¡¯t see a way out. Giving up was certainly not an option. At the same time, though, we couldn¡¯t continue to fight. We needed onest, Hail Mary attempt. I closed my eyes and fell back on myst resort. ¡®Everyone except for the fourth squad, get over here. Right now!¡¯ There was no point in saving my underlings for the war with the Family when I was about to die now. Since we were already past Mapo Bridge, I figured that the survivors would be safe. Besides, Do Han-Sol was at the shelter as well. However, I still left the fourth squad behind just in case anything unexpected happened. All I had left to do¡­ was to buy time until my underlings reached us. I clenched my fists and gritted my teeth. I was going to give it my all, even if it was going to cost me my life. Just as the saying went, those who seek death shall live, and those who seek life¡­ Thud! ¡®Huh¡­?¡¯ Just as I was trying to steel myself for battle again, I was hit in the face. Light shed before my eyes, and I felt as though I was floating. The world flickered as though someone were rapidly flipping through a stack of proid photos. The fleeting moment felt like an eternity, and I felt a strange sense of warmth. I felt like a ship floating through space, but the feeling offort didn¡¯tst long. I couldn¡¯t resist the pull of gravity dragging me down. I crashed to the ground and felt the cold, cold asphalt through my fingertips. My vision swam out of focus, and I lost my ability to judge distances. Through the foggy haze, I saw the ck creature in front of me. The ck creature had closed the distance in a blink of an eye, and had punched me in the face without the slightest hesitation. My mind was telling me to get up, but my body wouldn¡¯t listen. I felt like I¡¯d sunk neck-deep into a swamp. The harder I tried, the further I was sucked down into the abyss. The ck creature reached for my throat. Its fingers wrapped tightly around my neck, and it lifted me into midair. The moment my legs left the ground, my entire body went limp like a wet towel. I didn¡¯t even have the strength tosh out against my impending death. I had already punched the ck creature¡¯s face several times in my mind, but in reality, my arms were hopelessly motionless. I wondered if it knew that its hunt was over. The ck creature wasn''t grinning anymore. It merely considered me with a face devoid of emotion. It was looking at me as if I was just a piece of meat. ¡®Fuck¡­¡¯¡¯ I couldn''t help butugh, feeling the futility of life. ¡®What is life¡­¡¯ Even though I had tried my best to endure and survive up to this point, I was pitifully weak when faced with a being with absolute power. Its ck eyes were fixed on me. Its gaze focused on my face, and it slowly began to open its mouth. I couldn¡¯t help but wonder if the survivors of Gwangjang-dong would be able to survive if I left a monster like that alive. And if the survivors¡¯ safety wasn¡¯t assured, that meant So-Yeon¡¯s safety wasn¡¯t guaranteed as well. ''So-Yeon¡­¡¯ I frowned and pictured So-Yeon in my mind. At that moment, I suddenly remembered the time when So-Yeon had finally opened her heart to me after all those days staying locked away inside the bedroom. The moment she had called me daddy again after I had turned into a zombie with glowing red eyes shed through my mind. I remembered exactly how I¡¯d felt back then. It felt like just yesterday when she opened up to me. Just thinking about that moment made my eyes well up with tears. I bit my lower lip and opened my eyes. I couldn¡¯t give up like this. Even though we were all destined to die at the end, if this creature wanted to take my life away, it was going to have to try as hard as I had tried to make a life for myself all this while. I wasn¡¯t willing to give in that easily. The ck creature smirked at the sudden change in my eyes, as though it found the whole situation hrious. Its head flew forward as itunched its wide-open jaws toward my head. I desperately pulled my left arm up and shoved my forearm into its mouth. ¡°Tryughing now, you son of a bitch.¡± Without the slightest hesitation, my right arm flew toward it. I wasn¡¯t trying to cause physical damage to its body. Instead, I was going for its eyes. KWAAA!!! The ck creature screamed and mmed me to the ground. My shoulder des hit the asphalt, and both the ground and my shoulders broke on impact. The ck creature became a whirlwind of chaos once it lost its sight. It wailed and screamed and kicked out randomly. I quickly rolled over to Kim Hyeong-Jun. ¡°Hyeong-Jun¡­! Hyeong-Jun!¡± I said, coughing. ¡°Ahjussi.¡± "Wake up. We have to move right now!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think I can¡­¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s eyes were fixed on the night sky, as if he was counting the stars. On second thought, though, I wasn¡¯t sure if he was actually looking at the night sky. His eyes were unfocused; he was just staring nkly upward. He was so exhausted that all he could do was look up. Mood-Swinger was in the same boat. The two of them couldn¡¯t move at all. ¡°Get up right now!!¡± I yelled as I grabbed onto his cor. As I tugged on his shirt, the ck creature stopped screaming and wentpletely still. It began to look around. ¡®Did its eyes finish regenerating?¡¯ Fortunately, they hadn¡¯t. It still wasn¡¯t able to see, but it was changing its strategy. It seemed like it was trying to focus on its hearing and sense of smell. I held my breath as I watched the ck creature. I knew I would probably die if it managed tond another punch on me. ¡®Please, please, please.¡¯ Rumble, rumble, rumble¡­ Just then, the ground slowly began to shake. I looked toward where the sound wasing from, and saw a bunch of purple zombies running toward us. GRRR!!! I finally realized why the ck creature had stopped screaming and was now looking around. Kim Hyeong-Jun had called his underlings to him even while on the verge of unconsciousness. His underlings, who had been holding off the northern end of Sogang Bridge, hade to offer support. ¡®Wait. Then what about the gang members they were holding off¡­?¡¯ I squinted toward Sogang Bridge, and saw a red wave rushing in behind the purple-colored one. Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s underlings had drawn the Family¡¯s forces as well. I knew we had to hide ourselves before they got here. We were exhausted, and we wouldn¡¯t be able to survive even for a second if this ce was plunged intoplete mayhem. I grabbed Kim Hyeong-Jun by his cor and dragged him to the side of the road with all my remaining strength. Forty meters, thirty meters, twenty meters, and finally ten meters. KWAAA!!! GRRR!!! The purple zombies surrounded the ck creature in an instant like a herd of angry buffalos. Before I knew it, the Family¡¯s forces, the ck creature, and Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s underlings were all tangled up. Gangbyeonbuk-ro had been plunged intoplete chaos in the blink of an eye, and it was impossible to tell friend and foe apart. I hadn¡¯t been able to get off Gangbyeonbuk-ro on time, so I hurriedly covered Kim Hyeong-Jun''s upper body with my own instead. My ribs broke as the zombies stampede washed over me. I coughed painfully and vomited blood, but didn¡¯t shift my body. In fact, I couldn''t change my position. I knew that if I shifted, Kim Hyeong-Jun would be trampled to death by the zombies. The zombies mercilessly kicked the back of my head, pelvis, sides, back, and shoulders, breaking more bones. "Losing¡­ Gains!" Mood-Swinger came over to us and covered my body. Even though he was missing an arm, he was able to block the zombies¡¯ kicks. I looked down at Kim Hyeong-Jun, who was having trouble breathing. ¡°Don¡¯t push yourself ahjussi¡­ You¡¯re going to¡­ die.¡± It seemed like he knew that I was shielding him, and had ordered Mood-Swinger to shield both of us in turn. I looked down with a pained expression. ¡°Hey! Are you okay?¡± I yelled. ¡°You¡¯re okay, right? Tell me you are! Answer me!¡± ¡°I can¡¯t¡­. see in front¡­ of me¡­ ahjussi.¡± ¡°What about your body? Huh? You still can¡¯t regenerate?¡± ¡°Ahjussi you can¡¯t either¡­ Why are you nag¡­¡± ¡°Hey! That¡¯s because you¡¯re about to die!¡± ¡°Haha¡­.¡± Even in the midst of this chaos, Kim Hyeong-Jun wore a smile on his face. Dark red blood was oozing out from his sad-looking smile. I furrowed my brow as I looked back and forth between Mood-Swinger and Kim Hyeong-Jun. I couldn''t tell how much longer the two of them could hold on like this. I knew there was a limit to what Mood-Swinger could do because he wasn¡¯t in good shape. As for Kim Hyeong-Jun¡­ He couldn¡¯t even move his fingers. To make matters worse, my condition was no different. I was having difficulty controlling my body as well. I knew we would be doomed if the gang boss or any of the dong leaders figured out where we were. My initial n of creating havoc had been sessful, but getting trampled like this wasn¡¯t part of the n. Kim Hyeong-Jun was quickly losing his underlings, since they had to deal with the ck creature in front of them and the Family¡¯s forces behind them. A thought struck me, and I realized that there was only one way to get out of this mess. I had to rely on my underlings, whom I had called in a few minutes ago. KIAAA!!! Just as the thought crossed my mind, my thirty-four stage-one mutants and stage-two mutant¡ªJi-Eun¡ªswept toward us like an onrushing wave. I looked at my underlings and gave them orders through my mind. ''Here! Save Hyeong-Jun and Mood-Swinger first!¡¯ KIAAA!!! The first-stage mutants changed direction in unison and ran to the side of Gangbyeonbuk-ro, where I was. Chapter 147 Chapter 147 While the stage-one mutants were holding off the zombies, Ji-Eun grabbed us by our cors and ran into the city. The stage-one mutants carried Mood-Swinger and followed us. Ji-Eunid Kim Hyeong-Jun and me in an abandoned house that was falling apart and looked at me with a sad, gloomy face. I was too tired to speak, and gave them orders telepathically. ¡®They might have figured out where we are. Don¡¯t attack first. Just block off the escape route that the Family¡¯s forces might use along Gangbyeonbuk-ro. Stay undercover and attack them when they head over to Sogang Bridge.'' KIAAA!!! ¡®If you see any zombies with glowing red eyes among the ones that are retreating, kill them at all costs, and bring their heads to me.¡± The mutants responded enthusiastically and ran toward the enemies. When Ji-Eun tried to follow them, I grabbed the stage-two mutant¡¯s arm. ¡®You, stay here. If the Family¡¯s forces noticed us earlier¡­ They mighte to investigate.¡¯ Ji-Eun looked at me and Kim Hyeong-Jun nkly, then sat cross-legged on the floor. I heard the zombies roaring outside. I had no clue what was going on outside. I wanted to see what was going on and give orders to my underlings, but I could barely keep my eyes open. I knew that the best thing to do right then was to trust my underlings and wait patiently. * * * ¡°Request support, request support!¡± ¡°Wait, second officer! Shouldn¡¯t we just run away?¡± "We¡¯re asking for support because we can¡¯t run away, you idiot!" The second officer screamed in horror at the ck creature and the chaos that it was causing. The second officer had no clue what had happened; his forces had been chasing the zombies that had been retreating when all of a sudden, they were facing a ck creature that had appeared out of nowhere. Now that the ck creature had discovered them, running away was no longer an option. No matter how hard one tried to run away, it would be mere seconds before the ck creature caught up. Even if the second officer was lucky enough to make it all the way to Gangnam, there was no guarantee that the ck creature wouldn¡¯t follow them all the way. And besides, the ck creature here¡­ It was on a totally different level from the other ck creatures the second officer had faced in the past. Tears and blood were trickling down from its pitch-ck eyes. Within its eyes were two red dots, full of madness, and they were darting around as if the ck creature was trying to track something down. The second officer could tell that it was desperately trying to locate something. Its eyes were full of anger and murderous intent. The second officer watched it and couldn¡¯t help but wonder what had made that ck creature so angry. The ck creature was shing through all the zombies around it like a grinder, and it didn¡¯t look like it was going to stop. The second officer shook his fists. ¡°You two!¡± ¡®Yes!" ¡°Go across Sogang Bridge and tell the boss about this!¡± "Sorry¡­ Sir¡­? You know we don¡¯t have the right to talk to the boss¡­¡± ¡°Just shut up and get moving! Request support from the mutant unit!¡± The two dong leaders with glowing red eyes hurried off to the Sogang Bridge. The second officer elerated the cirction of his blood, his blue eyes shing. He knew that they had to hold the ck creature off somehow before support came. The second officer locked eyes with the ck creature. The ck creature seemed to hesitate for a second, but then it opened its eyes wide and grinned. Its eyes were those of an explorer that had finally discovered the treasure that they were looking for. The look made the breath catch in the second officer¡¯s throat. Something didn¡¯t feel right. KWAAA!!! The ck creature made an eardrum-piercing sound and appeared in front of the second officer in an instant. The second officer¡¯s eyes widened in surprise, and he covered his face with his arms as the ck creature flew toward him. Thud!!! Even though the second officer had blocked its kick with his arms, he was still pushed back fifty meters. He wasn¡¯t just pushed back; he went flying backward. The impact rattled the second officer¡¯s brain around in his skull, and shattered the bones in his arms. His mind went nk. ''Huh?'' The second officer couldn¡¯t think of anything else. He was shocked by the ferocity of the blow. As the saying went, everyone has a n until they get punched in the face. This was the perfect quote to describe the second officer¡¯s situation. Fwoop¨C The ck creature jumped high into the air, casting a long shadow on the second officer. The second officer straightened quickly and tracked the ck creature¡¯s movements. He quickly figured out where it wouldnd and quickly twisted his body to avoid it. Crash!! A thickyer of dust obscured the area, and a spider web of cracks spread out from the creature¡¯snding zone. The second officer had barely avoided the ck creature¡¯s attack. Steam wasing off the second officer¡¯s body, and he was grinding his teeth. His broken arms had healed themselves, and all of his senses were heightened, ready to fight. Two red dots appeared through the dust. Before the two locked eyes again, the second officer¡¯s blue eyes shed, and he enhanced his physical strength. ¡®Here ites¡­!¡¯ The second officer relied on his animal instinct and twisted his upper body. At the same time, the ck creature¡¯s hand passed over the second officer''s head. The second officer twisted their back to evade its attack, and used the momentum to drive into a solid uppercut. Crack! Despite being the one to hit the ck creature, the second officer¡¯s fist shattered as if he¡¯d just hit a solid steel te. The ck creature looked at the second officer and grinned at his bewildered expression, then chomped down hard on the second officer''s fist. The second officer gasped out of fear and took a couple steps back. He had lost his fists in a single attack. ''So the gap between this creature and me is this big?¡¯ After he had acquired his blue eyes, even the gang boss had stopped treating him dismissively. The second officer was nning to be the boss¡¯s right-hand man and dominate Seoul, andter on, even the whole of Korea. But what was this? The second officer couldn¡¯t believe the gap between him and the ck creature. This was like a professional ser yer ying in a local pickup game. He was a blue-eyed zombie, after all. The second officer¡¯s blue eyes shed in a burst of frustration, and his severed right limb quickly regenerated. ¡°You filthy beast! You¡¯re only a beast after all!¡± He yelled, straining so hard that the veins in his neck were popping out. The second officer thought about how he¡¯d gotten to his current position. He had killed humans who had begged for their lives, and ruthlessly chewed up zombies that disobeyed orders. He¡¯d killed all of the dong leaders that acted arrogantly, and had secretly eaten the brains of others that were supposed to be baits. And in the end, he had eaten the first and third officers to get himself to where he was. He could control two thousand four hundred underlings, and had three stage-two mutants under him that the boss hadn¡¯t given him permission to have. Yet even with all this authority and power, the second officer felt as though he was going up against an almighty being, one that was impossible to beat. Tear! In a sh, the ck creature tore off the second officer¡¯s right leg. It all happened so quickly that the second officer hadn¡¯t even noticed. The second officer only understood what had happened after he lost his bnce. Only then did the idea of death creep up on him. ¡°Hey you bastards! Don¡¯t just watch, help me!!¡± he yelled toward the remaining dong leaders. He had led four dong leaders over to Gangbuk. Now that two had gone back to Gangnam, there had to be two others left. But to his surprise, no matter how hard he tried to look for them, he didn¡¯t see any dong leaders. ¡®They abandoned me?¡¯ The second officer trembled in anger, realizing that the dong leaders had betrayed him. He gritted his teeth and promised himself that, as long as he was alive, he would hunt them down to the very end. And that he would kill every single one of them once he got back to Gangnam again. Ssh, ssh. He heard the wet footsteps approaching, and licked his parched lips. He turned toward the sound, and saw the ck creature with a wide grin on its face. ¡°You crazy bastard¡­¡± The second officer gritted his teeth, and the light in his blue eyes red up again. Even though the other dong leaders had ran away, he knew that two of the dong leaders had crossed over Sogang Bridge. He knew the tables could turn at any moment, once the dong leaders had secured support from the boss. The second officer tried to stay optimistic and bolstered his fighting spirit. He regenerated his severed leg, calmed his nervous heart with deep breaths, and clenched his fists. He tried to focus on the ck creature again, but something roughly four hundred meters away caught his attention, and he could hardly believe what he was seeing. It was the dong leaders who were making their way to Sogang Bridge, and they were being massacred by unknown stage-one mutants. There were dozens of stage-one mutants mercilessly shing the dong leaders into pieces. And all of them were colored red. The second officer was taken aback. Cold sweat trickled down his forehead. ¡®It was a trap?¡¯ A ck creature in front of him, and dozens of mutants behind him. The second officer couldn¡¯t think of any possibility other than this being a trap to lure them in from the start. They had gotten caught in the trap that those bastards had set up. There was no way out, and struggling so hard to survive only made things more painful. The second officer¡¯s face turned red with fury. "I see¡­ So this is how it¡¯s going to go.¡± The second officer clenched their fists and sent out an order through his mind. ''All troops, gather here.'' It was all or nothing. If death was the only option, there was no other choice than to fight till the end. * * * I continued to talk to Kim Hyeong-Jun so that he wouldn¡¯t lose consciousness. If Kim Hyeong-Jun stayed quiet or trailed off in the middle of a sentence, I woke him up, even if it meant that I had to p him. Rustle, rustle¨C Just then, I felt a presence outside the building. I wondered if it was the stage-one mutants returning with the dong leaders¡¯ heads. With the slightest sliver of hope, I turned my head toward the direction from which the footsteps wereing. Bang! Contrary to my expectations, the wall of the building folded with a loud crash. Cement dust flew across the room. Through the dust, I heard a blood-curdling voice. ¡°Ha, these fucking bastards. I wondered where you had gone. Sorry, we couldn''t find you sooner.¡± Red eyes shed through the thick dust. The four red eyes were locked on Kim Hyeong-Jun and me. It was the dong leaders. They had tracked us down. I frowned and tried to get to my feet, but the world grew hazy and seemed to twist in front of me. ¡®Is there something wrong with my inner ear?¡¯ Both of my legs were trembling helplessly. I was in no shape to fight. As I toppled helplessly to the ground, the dong leaders hesitated, looking puzzled. After a moment, the dong leader who was standing behind asked hispatriot a question. ¡°Hey, aren¡¯t those eyes the same as the officer¡¯s?¡± ¡°They¡¯re the same color¡­ But aren¡¯t they a little different?¡± ¡°His eyes aren¡¯t glowing. They look like the eyes of a dead fish.¡± The two of them whispered to each other for a while, then grinned. "These bastards¡­ I bet they¡¯re done. They¡¯re probably exhausted.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t believe this day has finallye. If we eat the brains of these two, won¡¯t we be officers too?¡± "Hey, I call dibs on the one that fell down." ¡°Then I¡¯ll eat the one who¡¯s swaying from side to side.¡± The two of them slowly approached us with grins on their faces. There was no way I could let these puny dong leaders have the best of us. It wouldn¡¯t be fair to let a dong leader take my life after I had survived ck creature after ck creature. The dong leaders came closer like hyenas circling their prey, making slurping sounds as they approached. Swift¡ª At that moment, a woman who was sitting in the corner got up. The dong leaders quickly turned toward the corner when they felt the presence of a third being. Then they saw Ji-Eun. When they saw Ji-Eun, their expressions grew puzzled, and they began to whisper to each other again. ¡°Hey, what is that?¡± ¡°How would I know? Isn¡¯t it just a zombie?¡± ¡°Are you sure it¡¯s just a zombie?¡± "It doesn¡¯t seem like a mutant." The dong leader wasn¡¯t wrong. Ji-Eun looked no different from an ordinary street zombie. In terms of size, her intimidating presence, and in every other way, she was pretty simr to the zombies on the streets. Ji-Eun seemed shy, approaching the two of them with timid footsteps. The dong leadersughed out loud. ¡°I got scared for nothing! What the fuck.¡± ¡°Was she infected by blood? I don''t see any bite marks.¡± "It doesn''t matter whether she¡¯s clean or not. Let''s not waste any more time and get this over with. I bet the second officer is going to give us hell again.¡± The dong leader clenched his fists tightly, his red eyes shing.. He rushed toward me, and I desperately raised my limp arms to defend my face. sh¨C Unexpectedly, I didn¡¯t feel anything hit my arms. I doubted myself as to whether or not I had properly defended myself. I knew the dong leader couldn''t have missed from this distance. When I slowly opened my tightly closed eyes, I saw a sight that defied exnation. The dong leader that had been rushing toward me, brimming with killing intent, was standing motionless. One other thing was different about him¡­ His head was no longer there. After a moment, red blood spurted from his severed neck. The room went dead silent at the sudden fountain of blood. The other dong leader blinked slowly, staring at hisrade who had just lost his head. Someone was standing motionless right next to the surviving dong leader and ring at him. It was Ji-Eun. I slowly lowered my gaze and looked at her hands. Her fingers had grown about thirty centimeters longer than before. They had turned into sharpened des, and the blood trickling down from them glistened in the moonlight. "My¡­ child¡­¡± She was frowning, but the depth of her sadness seemed indescribable. Her usual calm face was nowhere to be seen, and the way her brow was furrowed sent chills down my spine. Hers was a woman¡¯s face, full of regret. Chapter 148

Chapter 148

Ji-Eun fixed her eyes on the dong leader. He trembled, his eyes darting all around. All this time, I¡¯d been overthinking it. There was a rather simple solution to my worries. I didn¡¯t have to fight. I, too, hadn¡¯t been a match for stage-two mutants until I got blue eyes. It was only natural for such a thing to happen to a dong leader. A dong leader who was barely able tomand one thousand underlings and had not eaten a ck creature¡¯s brain had no chance of tracking a stage-two mutant¡¯s movements with their naked eye. ¡°Fuck!!!¡± The dong leader let out a grotesque scream and ran for his life. Seeing this, I gave Ji-Eun an order. ''Go kill it.¡¯ Ji-Eun seemed to flinch, but she didn''t follow my order. Her expression grew nk again as she stared at the fleeing dong leader. I frowned at her and repeated myself. ¡°Go kill it.¡± "Child¡­ My¡­ child.¡± Ji-Eun came to my side, her expression growing sad. After that, she looked over my entire body, then smiled gently. Even though she was still supposedly under mymand, Ji-Eun disobeyed my orders to attack. As I considered her reactions, a rather interesting thought crossed my mind. Ji-Eun¡¯s desire was rted to maternal love. Which in turn meant that she prioritized her child¡¯s safety. Safety, maternal love. Through all the research I¡¯d done on mutants to this point, something else stood out to me. Certain mutants would not follow the chain ofmand, depending on the type of desire they had. And because of this, I¡¯d taken care of those kinds of mutants with my own hands. There was something within them that superseded the chain of themand. Something that made them go against absolute orders. And to them, they prioritized their desires over following orders. Their mindsets went against absolute desires. And this was their desire. In the case of Ji-Eun, she was a being who loved peace and didn¡¯t harm others. She was a mutant who fought for people that she considered her family and her children. If Mood-Swinger was the spear that could break through any shield, Ji-Eun was the shield that could block any spear. ¡°AHHH!!!¡± I heard the dong leader running for his life, followed by the cries of stage-one mutants. A littleter, my stage-one mutants entered the building after their fight with the dong leader. They had three heads with them. I asked my underlings for the heads, and the stage-one mutants tossed the heads toward me. I cracked open the dong leaders¡¯ skulls and took out their wet brains. I then helped Kim Hyeong-Jun up. Kim Hyeong-Jun coughed and furrowed his brow. His condition was abysmal. I knew I might lose him if I didn¡¯t do something quickly. I put the brain next to his mouth. ¡°Come on, eat,¡± I said. "Ahjussi¡­¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun looked at my face with heavy-lidded eyes. I forced his mouth open and shoved the dong leader¡¯s brain inside. This wasn¡¯t the time to be having emotional conversations. He had to eat and recover first. Kim Hyeong-Jun chewed the brain and just barely gulped it down. He blinked his eyes like a sleepy calf. I observed his reaction, then broke another skull and offered him another one. ¡°Eat.¡± "Wait no.. Ahjussi, how about you?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you worry. You eat first.¡± I shoved the brain in front of Kim Hyeong-Jun, and he frowned like a picky eater who did not want to eat. I had no choice but to force open his mouth again. But as soon as I shoved the brain inside his mouth, he did a good job of chewing and swallowing it down. He grimaced painfully as he swallowed, as though his throat wasn¡¯t functioning properly. He looked like he was forcing down hardtacks without any water. But once he was done eating, his arms sagged helplessly to the ground. He¡¯d fallen asleep after finishing the dong leader¡¯s brain. I looked at my underlings around me. ¡°Stealthily scout the surroundings so that the ck creature doesn¡¯t notice you and make sure that nothing, absolutely nothing, gets close. Ji-Eun, you stay here and just wait. Nod if you understand.¡± All the mutants nodded. Ji-Eun sat cross-legged again and stared nkly at me. I wanted to stay awake as well¡­ But I had to eat the dong leader¡¯s brain too. After all, I had to survive as well. I figured that the Family¡¯s forces were fighting the ck creature, which would buy me enough time to close my eyes for a little bit. Before I closed my eyes, I broke another skull and went over to Mood-Swinger. ¡°Mood-Swinger. Mood-Swinger.¡± When I pped Mood-Swinger on the cheek, he looked at me sullenly. ¡°Lo¡­ sing¡­ gains¡­¡± he muttered. Mood-Swinger sounded like he was almost crying. I wet my lips and held out the dong leader¡¯s brain to him. His eyes went wide, and he looked back and forth between me and the brain. "Losing¡­ gains?" ¡°Yes, it¡¯s yours.¡± ¡°Losing gains!¡± He grinned like a child that had just gotten a toy they¡¯d been eyeing for a long time, and quickly gulped down the dong leader¡¯s brain. I patted Mood-Swinger on the back. ¡°You did some good work,¡± I said. ¡°Now that I gave you the dong leader''s brain, you have to protect Hyeong-Jun. Got it?¡± Mood-Swinger nodded a couple of times and smiled gently. I wondered if he understood what I¡¯d said. Even though he wasn¡¯t my underling, I¡¯d grown fond of him. Mood-Swinger neverined when Hyeong-Jun gave him orders, even if they weren¡¯t ideal. I knew it was overkill to give him a dong leader¡¯s brain to regenerate his damaged body, but I knew it was good to treat him with healthy food like that every now and then. I chuckled and broke the remaining dong leader¡¯s skull, fishing out the brain inside. I licked my lips. "Don¡¯t mind if I dig in,¡± I muttered. * * * The battle between the second officer and the ck creature continued between Sogang Bridge and Mapo Bridge. The three stage-two mutants and two thousand two hundred and fifty underlings that were under the second officer¡¯smand were ganging up on the ck creature. The countless number of underlings yed a huge role in holding back the ck creature. The second officer was a zombie with blue eyes, and so his underlings boasted superior physical abilitiespared to ordinary zombies. They were strong enough that fifty of them could easily handle a single bait. And if five hundred of them attacked, a dong leader would probably go down. Now that two thousand two hundred and fifty of those zombies had ganged up on the ck creature, its advance was slowed considerably. The three stage-two mutants were also doing a good job, living up to their names. They were targeting the ck creature from behind and were dealing good damage to it. However, they still weren¡¯t overpowering the ck creature. They were like dwarfs going up against giants; they were just barely preventing the ck creature from advancing forward. The second officer bit his lower lip as he regenerated his damaged body. ''I¡¯m out of time.'' The second officer noticed that his rate of regeneration was much slower than before. He could fully regenerate two or three more times, and that would be it. He clenched his fists and crouched down. He had to finish off the ck creature before all of his underlings were wiped out. ¡°Kaaa¡­!¡± Hot steam spewed from his mouth as he charged toward the ck creature in an instant. He poured strength into his arms and punched the ck creature in the chest. The sound of something hard mming into reinforced concrete echoed across the battlefield. The second officer noted the dent that his punch had formed on the ck creature¡¯s chest. Gritting his teeth, he continued to attack. He twisted his lower body and kicked the ck creature in the face, then followed up with a roundhouse kick. The ck creature stumbled and fell back, the second officer¡¯s underlings clinging onto it like leeches. The stage-two mutants started kicking the ck creature¡¯s weak spots as the regr underlings bit into its flesh. However, the ck creature¡¯s skin was rock-solid, and most of the underlings ended up with broken teeth instead. KWAAA!!!!! The ck creature roared and straightened its upper body, shaking its body vigorously. The zombies attached to its body were thrown off, rolling across the ground like jockeys falling off their horses. The stage-two mutants that had momentarily retreated crept up from behind the ck creature. Its eyes darted about as it sensed their presence. It twisted its body in a bizarre way, and with its sharp teeth, bit clean through one of the stage-two mutant¡¯s heads. At the same time, it grabbed onto the mutant on its left and hammered it into the ground as hard as it could. Crunch!! The ck creature was momentarily bent over. The only surviving stage-two mutant went for its neck and bit into it. The ck creature screamed and began to struggle. The second officer did not let this opportunity slip by. In a sh, he was in front of the ck creature, and mmed a foot into its side. Crack!! The second officer felt its ribs break beneath the impact of his toes. ''There we go!¡¯ The second officer wondered if the ck creature was growing tired. Even though a ck creature, the second officer assumed that it would have limits on how much it could regenerate and strengthen itself. The ck creature¡¯s skin, which had seemed imprable earlier on, had begun to soften. Realizing this, the second officer kept up his offense. The ck creature stumbled several times before finally losing its bnce and falling to its knees. The second officer didn¡¯t miss their chance and kicked it in the face as hard as he could. Its teeth shattered, and it finally copsed to the ground. The stage-two mutant that had been biting its neck finally pierced its skin. All of the other underlings ran toward the ck creature and started biting into its flesh. "Ha¡­ You fucking monster.¡± The second officer smiled a satisfied smile, breathing heavily. Steam no longer rose from his body. He had pushed his body to its limit, and his bones were no longer regenerating. He sat on the ground and gave orders to his underlings. ''Stop eating the ck creature¡¯s body. Bring me its brain.¡¯ The second officer let out a sigh andid down spread-eagled on the floor. They knew that everything would be over once they ate their brains. ¡®Wait, if I eat its brain right now¡­? Wouldn¡¯t I grow stronger than the boss?¡¯ The second officer started to get greedy. He never once thought about surpassing the boss, but right now, he could already picture himself as the new boss. He questioned why he hadn¡¯t ever thought about surpassing the boss. Previously, he¡¯d been afraid because the boss had blue eyes, and now, he was afraid because the boss had two stage-three mutants under his control. But if he ate the ck creature¡¯s brain right now¡­ It would be more than possible to be the new boss. The second officer¡¯s eyebrows rose as he considered this n. He picked himself off the floor and shouted at his underlings. ¡°Go get the brain, you bastards!¡± Tear¡ª The second officer¡¯s jaw dropped to the ground as he witnessed what was unfolding in front of his eyes. The ck creature that he¡¯d thought was down for the count was eating his underlings. The second officer couldn¡¯t understand why it was still alive despite having its neck torn out. His eyes roamed the area, searching for the stage-two mutant that had been biting the ck creature¡¯s neck. To his surprise, that mutant was already dead. The ck creature was a freak. Despite its body being torn to shreds, it was still tearing the second officer¡¯s underlings to pieces. The second officer was taken aback. He tried to consider who would emerge victorious if he engaged the ck creature again. But no matter how much he thought about it, he could not imagine a scenario in which he won. He couldn¡¯t enhance his body¡¯s strength, nor could he regenerate his broken bones. It didn''t matter how tired and exhausted the ck creature was. The second officer didn¡¯t even have the strength to clench his fists. ''I have to get away.'' The only thought that upied his mind was how to get away. He knew that he¡¯d probably go down like the dong leaders if he went back to Sogang Bridge, but he also knew that he couldn¡¯t go forward. There was only one option left. The second officer gathered his remaining strength and ran toward the city. As he ran, he did not forget to give orders to his remaining underlings. ¡®Stop the ck creature at all costs. Block its way no matter what!!¡¯ His legs trembled violently, and his broken arm dangled uselessly by his side. He ran through the darkness, his eyes darting about, searching his surroundings. . He didn¡¯t have the courage to look back. He felt a rather strange gaze, as if some unknown being was pulling him toward it. The second officer shuddered with fear and nced backward. Fortunately, the ck creature wasn¡¯t following them. When the second officer arrived at the city, a rather eerie, dreary atmosphere weed him. He entered a shabby building, muttering to himself like a person possessed by a ghost. The only sound he could hear in the dusty building was his own breathing. The second officer knew that he could not let himself get caught, even if it cost him all his underlings. ¡°I can''t die. I can''t die. I cannot die here.¡± The second officer sat down on the floor, cradling his broken right arm. It didn¡¯t matter if he had to stay here for days, just breathing. He was ready to endure anything, as long as he could get away from the ck creature and return to Gangnam. However, there was one thing that the second officer hadn¡¯t thought through. Because of the fear that had engulfed his mind and body, he hadn¡¯t bothered to look around. And because all his attention had been focused on the ck creature, he hadn¡¯t scouted out the city properly. Stomp, stomp. The second officer heard footsteps from outside the building. His eyes widened in surprise, and he covered his mouth with his arm. The footsteps quickly came to a stop just outside the half-open window, and after a moment, a long shadow appeared, blocking the moonlight that shone in from the window. The second officer closed his eyes tightly and prayed that nothing would happen. However, he sensed a presence on the other side of the window, and had no choice but to open his eyes. Kiaaa¡­ A red-colored stage-one mutant had its eyes fixed on him. The second officer let out a wail. ¡°These motherfuckin¡¯ bastards!!¡± he cried. KIAAA!! Without hesitation, the stage-one mutant attacked the second officer. The second officer was already at his limit, and stood no chance against the stage-one mutant. Very quickly, more stage-one mutants started pouring in through the window, each one looking like a grim reaper. ¡°ARGHHH!!!¡± An unknown man¡¯s death cry echoed throughout the empty, dead city. The ck creature on Gangbyeonbuk-ro heard the man¡¯s loud wail as well. Chapter 149 Chapter 149 The second officer''s underlings that were mobbing the ck creature trembled in unison. Then, like robots that had run out of battery power, they all stopped moving. The ck creature, with its torn-up body, looked around. After the death cry, all the zombies around it had gone still. It looked carefully at the zombies, then squinted toward the city, where it could feel death. To the ck creature, which had the ability to learn, it was a rather interesting experience. When a zombie leader died, the chain ofmand between the leader and its underlings was broken, and the underlings became living corpses. Kwaaa¡­ The ck creature made its way toward the city, a low growl in its throat. Judging by the way it was limping, it was at its limit as well. * * * The stage-one mutants came back with the second officer¡¯s dead body. The moment they arrived, they tore off the second officer''s head and shook it vigorously in front of Lee Hyun-Deok. However, Lee Hyun-Deok was fast asleep, so he didn¡¯t acknowledge the stage-one mutants for their hard work. The stage-one mutants calmly waited for Lee Hyun-Deok to react, but after a moment, they threw the second officer''s head at him. The head bounced off Lee Hyun-Deok''s chest and rolled onto the floor. Mood-Swinger came running over. He picked up the second officer¡¯s head and started drooling. ¡°Kaaa.¡± Ji-Eun, who had been watching Mood-Swinger, let out a low growl, as though she were hissing. Mood-Swinger looked at Ji-Eun nkly, then tilted his head. "Ar¡­ no¡­ ld?¡± he muttered. ¡°My¡­ child¡­¡± ¡°Arno¡­ ld?¡± ¡°Child¡­¡± The two of them looked each other in the eyes and continued their iprehensible conversation. Perhaps it wasn¡¯t right to call it a conversation¡­ It seemed like they were wary of each other. Mood-Swinger scratched his head with a troubled expression, then tossed the second officer''s head at Ji-Eun. Ji-Eun took the head and brought it near to Lee Hyun-Deok''s mouth. However, Lee Hyun-Deok didn¡¯t bother to bite into it because he was fast asleep. Ji-Eun looked at the head again and grimaced. Mood-Swinger red at the head as he wiped away the saliva drooling out from his mouth. Ji-Eun didn¡¯t seem happy with Mood-Swinger¡¯s appetite. After hesitating for a moment, she ate the contents of the head herself. ¡°Arnold!!¡± Mood-Swinger began to jump up and down frantically. Ji-Eun growled quietly again and kept a wary eye on Mood-Swinger, but then she grabbed her chest with her hands as if she were in pain. Mood-Swinger seemed to flinch at her reaction, and then started backing away in fear. After a moment, Ji-Eun¡¯s bones dislocated, and she slowly began to melt into a sphere again. Mood-Swinger shook Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s arm vigorously as he watched Ji-Eun transform. ¡°Ar¡­ nold, Arnold!¡± Even though he had mutated in the same way as Ji-Eun was doing right now, he had no clue about the mutation process. Ssh, ssh¡ª Just then, he heard footstepsing from outside the building. All the stage-one mutants and Mood-Swinger turned their attention toward the direction from which the sound wasing. The ck creature limped through the wall that the dong leaders had knocked down earlier. Mood-Swinger frowned when he saw the ck creature, then clenched his fists. Steam rose from his body. He had already regained his energy after eating one of the dong leader¡¯s brains. He propelled himself off the ground and rushed at the ck creature without thinking twice. The ck creature hurriedly raised its arms to defend itself. Thud!! Its right arm broke, and its upper body swayed. Mood-Swinger didn¡¯t let his chance slip by and continued to punch it. The ck creature was having a hard time fighting off Mood-Swinger, as its ability to defend itself had fallen drastically. KIAAA!!! At the same time, dozens of stage-one mutants charged toward the ck creature. It was surrounded by mutants, and in the blink of an eye, its escape route was blocked off. The mutants continued to apply pressure on all sides. The ck creature braced its lower limbs and leaped to the roof of the five-story building on the other side. Kwaaa! The ck creature copsed on the roof, coughing up dirty blood. It was panting heavily due to the damage it had taken so far. To make matters worse, it no longer could regenerate its body. ¡°Arnold!!¡± Mood-Swinger wasn¡¯t about to give it time to get away. He followed the ck creature and leaped onto the rooftop as well. He had lost round one, but there was an eager glint in his eye. He wasn¡¯t about to lose round two to it. The stage-one mutants on the ground floor also scaled the building walls as they pursued the ck creature. It tried desperately to lift its upper body off the floor, but Mood-Swinger came swinging in and kicked it in the stomach. It flew through the guardrail along the roof with the sound of a balloon popping and smashed into the outer wall on the third floor of the neighboring building, where it stuck. Mood-Swinger jumped over the rooftop and kneed the ck creature in the chest. Crash, Crash! Mood-Swinger pummeled the defenseless ck creature. The ck creature spurted out thick liquid from its mouth that came from its internal organs. The two of them were now inside the building, still continuing their fight. They smashed through the support pirs, sending cement dust flying. Meanwhile, the stage-one mutants had finally scaled the first building that the ck creature had escaped to, and were now observing the fight. The constant sound of crashing came from the second and third floors of the building that Mood-Swinger and the ck creature were in. After a moment, the towering building began to shake. With an ear-piercing roar, the building shook, and it began to copse. Boom, boom, boom!!! Mood-Swinger walked out from within the thick cloud of dust. The ck creature was nowhere to be seen. It was still trapped in the copsed building, crushed into the earth. Mood-Swinger was still huffing and puffing in anger. He looked up at the night sky and roared. He found it difficult to cool his anger because of all the hatred he felt toward it after the first fight. After howling, Mood-Swinger ran back into the copsed building and started looking for its body. He threw lengths of and chunks of cement wall into the air as he made his way toward the ce where he hadst seen the ck creature. When Mood-Swinger finally found the ck creature, its body was all torn up and broken, and a rusty length of rebar was sticking out of it. Mood-Swinger grabbed the ck creature by the neck and forcefully pulled out the rebar. Kwaaa¡­! The ck creature let out a death cry. The flesh from its lower abdomen and the bones from its pelvis came free as the rebar was pulled out of its body. Mood-Swinger mmed its upper body to the ground and continued to kick it, like an animal that had lost control. After kicking it for a substantial amount of time, Mood-Swinger finally calmed down. The stage-one mutants on the rooftop started to return to their ces. Mood-Swinger gave the ck creature a final nce, then snorted and headed back to where Kim Hyeong-Jun was. The ck creature was crying, tears of blood leaking from its drooping ck eyes. It had tried its tenacious best to survive, but in the end, it seemed, was all for naught. Kwaaaa¡­ Kwa¡­ The ck creature barely croaked out a weak, soft cry. A red dot appeared in its jet-ck eyes. It fixed its gaze on Mood-Swinger as he was walking away. Squelch¡ª The ck creature''s lower body was slowly regenerating. It was squeezing out every little bit of strength it had. It seemed like it was focusing on regenerating its legs and right arm. All of its other body parts were torn up and useless. Despite its condition, it still had one goal. To get to Lee Hyun-Deok and Kim Hyeong-Jun, who were asleep. Thanks to its countless battles, the ck creature had learned one thing. It didn¡¯t have to fight everyone and everything; it could just hop past opponents and achieve its goal when the enemies let their guard down. However, it had also learned something else through the death of the second officer. When the second officer had died, his underlings had instantly stopped moving. It had realized that, when the leader died, the underlings were reduced to nothing more than living corpses. Kwaaa¡­! The ck creature squeezed out everyst drop of strength and sprinted toward the building where Lee Hyun-Deok and Kim Hyeong-Jun were. As it shed past Mood-Swinger, the stage-three mutant¡¯s eyes went wide, and he hurriedly gave chase. The stage-one mutants also screamed as the ck creature raced past them. It was impossible for Mood-Swinger and the stage-one mutants to catch up with the ck creature, now that it had already elerated to such a speed. The ck creature was well aware that things could change in a single second, or with a single attack. It was already toote for Mood-Swinger and the stage-one mutants. There was no way they could get back in time to save the two that it had targeted. In the blink of an eye, Lee Hyun-Deok and Kim Hyeong-Jun were on the verge of death again. It would only take the ck creature one single attack to aplish what it had desired from the beginning. Despite its sunken face, it was smiling. Grinning widely, it entered the building where Lee Hyun-Deok and Kim Hyeong-Jun were. It saw the two of them lying on the floor, and stretched out its right arm without hesitation. sh¡ª Blood spurted from its throat like a fountain. Thud. The ck creature¡¯s head fell to the floor, rolling about helplessly. Mood-Swinger and the stage-one mutants were still trying to catch up. They flinched when they witnessed what had happened. The ck creature¡¯s head was between Lee Hyun-Deok and Kim Hyeong-Jun. And in front of it, ten des hung under the moonlight. The des, which were each about a meter long, gradually began to shorten and turn into normal-looking fingers again. Ji-Eun had finished mutating and had cut off the ck creature¡¯s head. Mood-Swinger looked at Ji-Eun and opened his mouth out of surprise. ¡°Arno¡­ ld." He was wary of Ji-Eun, now that she had changed. Ji-Eun stared nkly at Mood-Swinger, then sat cross-legged on the floor. She looked at Lee Hyun-Deok with a gentle smile on her face. Ji-Eun had the face of an actress in her sixties. This actress starred as a benevolent mother in many movies and dramas. She was recognized as Korea¡¯s favorite motherly figure. She was the actress who inspired the image that all mothers were strong. Kiaaa¡­ The stage-one mutants began to stare longingly at the ck creature¡¯s head on the floor. When two stage-one mutants approached, drooling, Ji-Eun red at the mutants. Mood-Swinger blinked like a cow when he saw her re, then squatted down on the floor and smacked his lips. * * * I opened my eyes and straightened my upper body. My head was throbbing terribly. I massaged my temples constantly, breathing heavily. I had no clue how many hours had passed. I nced at my watch. The hour hand indicated four in the morning. I¡¯d been asleep for about five hours. The stronger I got, the length of time I needed to sleep for after consuming the brains of weaker beings grew shorter. After checking the time, the first thing that came to mind was the ck creature. ¡®The ck creature¡­ Is it still battling the forces of the Family? Or did it move to Gangnam?¡¯ Just as I was about to turn my head with these questions in mind, I saw the corpse of the ck creature right next to me. I almost screamed. The ck creature¡¯s corpse was growing cold. Its head had been sliced off. I looked around, surprise in my eyes. It seemed like much had changed. There were traces of mutation on the ground, and hardened, muddy bloodstains. And in front of it was Ji-Eun. Ji-Eun looked at me and smiled gently as I slowly got back to my senses. I knew she was Ji-Eun¡­ But it seemed like her appearance had changed since thest time I¡¯d seen her. I looked at Ji-Eun''s face carefully. ''Isn¡¯t she¡­ an actress?'' She had the face of a famous actress in Korea. The fact that she had the face of a celebrity meant that she had also mutated into a stage-three mutant like Mood-Swinger. ¡®Did she eat the ck creature¡¯s brain while I was asleep?¡¯ I suddenly realized that there was another dead body on the ground, and next to it was the ck creature¡¯s head. I wondered how Ji-Eun had mutated even though the ck creature¡¯s brain was still here. ''It can¡¯t be¡­ Is that the officer¡¯s body?¡¯ It made sense for the headless corpse to be the officer¡¯s, because their brains would have the same effect as the ck creatures¡¯ brains. I tried to piece together what had happened, and realized that Ji-Eun had eaten the officer¡¯s brain, while the ck creature''s brain was still there, getting cold. ¡®But how did they win?¡¯ I couldn''t help but doubt my conclusion. I couldn¡¯t believe how my underlings could beat both an officer and the ck creature. ¡®How in the world did they win?¡¯ I looked at Ji-Eun. ¡°Can you exin what happened here?¡± I asked. Ji-Eun hesitated for a moment, then pretended to eat the corpse of the officer lying on the floor. Just as I had expected, the body on the floor seemed to be the officer¡¯s body. Ji-Eun had eaten the officer¡¯s brain and had mutated into a stage-three mutant. After that, Ji-Eun picked up the body of the ck creature next to me and began to mime something. With her bodily gestures, she showed me how the ck creature hade barging in and how she had taken care of it. Chapter 150 Chapter 150 It seemed like the officer had made a run for the city when he reached his physical limits and was caught by my stage-one mutants that had been out scouting the surroundings. I wasn¡¯t surprised that he had fallen to my stage-one mutants. Even I had a hard time dealing with dong leaders when pushed to my limit. If he¡¯d had to deal with multiple stage-one mutants¡­ He probably wouldn¡¯t havested long. It seemed like the ck creature had expended all of its energy fighting the officer and had probablye into the city as it tried to finish off the officer. And in the process, Ji-Eun had killed it after eating the officer¡¯s brain. I wondered if it was right to say that I was lucky. Perhaps it was better to say that everything had lined up perfectly, one after another. Although the entire process had been grueling and miserable, in the end, we were able to hit two birds with one stone, since we¡¯d gotten rid of both the ck creature and an officer. I sighed in relief, offering up a prayer. ''Thank you.¡¯ I wasn¡¯t sure if there was a God, but at the moment, I couldn¡¯t help but thank Him. Kim Hyeong-Jun and I had made it alive through this grueling fight, and the gang members had lost a valuable member. Plus, I now had a stage-three mutant undermand, so I couldn¡¯t ask for more. I had lost three stage-one mutants, butparing the gains and losses, I had obviously gained a lot more. Now, the question that remained was how to deal with the ck creature¡¯s head. It would be a waste to throw it away, but at the same time, I couldn¡¯t eat it. I also felt uneasy giving it to either Ji-Eun or Mood Swinger, who were already stage-three mutants. The only option I seemed to have was to give it to a stage-one mutant. But I wasn¡¯t sure if a stage-one mutant would be able to handle a ck creature¡¯s brain. A stage-two mutant would probably be okay, but I wasn¡¯t certain about stage-one mutants. I grabbed the ck creature¡¯s head on the floor and looked at the stage-one mutants. ¡°Who wants to eat this?¡± Two mutants came forward. I took a breath and let it out. ¡°You two, go outside and fight each other. The winner gets this.¡± KIAAA!!! The two mutants screamed and went outside. I watched the two of them fight from a distance. If the winner still remained under mymand after eating the brain and turning into a stage-two mutant, I could safely mutate it into a stage-three mutantter on. After about ten minutes, only one mutant remained standing, and the winner ate the loser¡¯s brain. However, the winner didn¡¯t mutate into a stage-two mutant. I assumed that their desires didn¡¯t match. I couldn¡¯t imagine what would happen if I fed a stage-one mutant a ck creature¡¯s brain. The ck creature¡¯s brain was almost like a sacred object to a stage-one mutant, something that it could never get its hands on. ''Let''s just feed it to the mutant and see what happens.¡¯ The proof of the pudding is in the eating. I gave the winner the ck creature¡¯s brain. The mutant¡¯s eyes glittered as it fished the creature¡¯s brain from its skull. Without hesitation, it bit into the brain, and in moments, it had morphed into a sphere. I couldn''t imagine the results of this mutation. I forced down my nervousness and watched the mutation process. I had Mood-Swinger and Ji-Eun with me, and I was going to take care of it if it lost its subordinate status when it emerged. After about five minutes, the sphere began to wiggle. This was way too fast. Even the fastest mutations so far had taken at least ten minutes. Soon, a thick arm broke its way out the egg. KWAAA!!! Half of its body was out of the shell. Its upper body was convulsing, like someone drowning. Chills ran down my entire body as I looked at it Its cry was simr to the ck creature. The being that made its way out of the egg began to scream and wiggle its body. Flesh and red blood trickled down its body like candle wax. It seemed like it was wailing in pain. I wondered if its body wasn¡¯t able to withstand the pain. I could clearly see its white bones underneath its melted flesh. It trembled and fell to the ground. It was acting just like a premature chick that hatched early, dying the moment it came into the world. I swallowed and licked my parched lips. I wasn¡¯t sure if what I was seeing could be considered disgusting. I wasn¡¯t sure if I should have been feeling pity toward it. A wave of emotions swirled within me. I cautiously walked over to stand in front of it. Even its bones had begun to melt, as if it had been covered in hydrochloric acid. I could see its brain beating like a heart. Its brain wriggled a couple of times, then the right hemisphere burst, spraying thick liquid all over the ce. After a moment, the left hemisphere burst as well, leaving the skull a hollow cavity. The stage-one mutant hadn¡¯t been able to handle the ck creature¡¯s brain. ¡®Hmm¡­ I don¡¯t even think a stage-two mutant would be able to handle one¡­¡¯ The scene had been as horrifying as it could¡¯ve been. Up till now, all of the unsessful mutations had eithere out frantic, or had broken the chain ofmand. But none of them had died from the fact that they couldn¡¯t handle the power that they had eaten. I wondered if this indicated the power held within the brains of a ck creature, or specifically, the brain of a creature with ck eyes. The musty smell stung my nose, causing my eyes to narrow. I took a step backward. The disgusting smell lingered, picked up by the cold, piercing wind. The stench permeated the area, like a room filled with the smell of rotten milk. I gathered up some soil around me and sprinkled it over the melted stage-one mutant. After that, I looked at Ji-Eun and the remaining mutants and gave them orders. ¡®We¡¯re going back to the shelter. Stage-one mutants, carry Hyeong-jun. He¡¯s sleeping, so be careful.¡¯ Since Kim Hyeong-Jun had eaten two brains, it would be at least three more hours before he awoke, and I knew I couldn¡¯t wait around for him to wake up. The ones back at the shelter¡ªthe guards, leaders, and Do Han-Sol¡ªwere probably still on alert. Besides, I¡¯d said I¡¯d be back before sunrise. I had to hurry back to everyone at the shelter and inform them that the situation was over. I also had to go back and begin nning for the future, since one of the officers of the Family had died. I had no clue what strategy the Family would employ against us next. ''Let''s go.'' I led the mutants and headed back to Gwangjang-dong. One of the stage-one mutants carried Kim Hyung-Jun on its back, and Mood-Swinger got up and followed me too. * * * The guards¡ªwho had been staring into the darkness while shivering in the cold¡ªcalled Lee Jeong-Uk the moment they sensed a presence approaching the entrance to Gwangjang-dong. ¡°Leader, leader!¡± As Lee Jeong-Uk approached them, the guards let out the breaths they had been holding, and pointed to the entrance to Gwangjang-dong. ¡°It seems like someone¡¯sing.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk squinted and looked at where the guards were pointing. He tilted his head, feeling slightly unsure, and called Do Han-Sol over. ¡°Mr. Do Han-Sol, Do Han-Sol, are you there?¡± "What¡¯s happening?¡± Do Han-Sol, who was on the other side of the barricade, came inside at once. Lee Jeong-Uk pointed at the entrance to Gwangjang-dong. ¡°Can you make out those people approaching with your eyes?¡± Lee Jeong-Uk had called Do Han-Sol, since he could distinguish friend and foe by color. Do Han-Sol looked carefully at where Lee Jeong-Uk was pointing, and his eyes immediately went wide. ¡°It¡¯s Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok!¡± he eximed. ¡°Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok ising!¡± Do Han-Sol hurried to the entrance to Gwangjang-dong. The guards inside let out a collective sigh of relief. Lee Jeong-Uk shared their relief as well. He rubbed his stiff neck and took out his walkie-talkie. ¡°Mr. Bae Jeong-Man, Mr. Bae Jeong-Man, do you hear me?¡± Chsuuhh¡­ ¡°Do you hear me, Mr. Bae Jeong-Man?¡± - I hear you. Please, go ahead. ¡°The situation is over. Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok is returning. You can stand down.¡± - Got it. Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s face belied his exhaustion, and he blinked his tired eyes. Hwang Ji-Hye, who was wrapped in a nket, came over and put a hand on his shoulder. Only then did his lips part in a gentle smile. He had been waiting in the cold for several hours, standing motionless despite the piercing wind blowing in from Han River. He felt a sudden rush of exhaustion as he released the tension he¡¯d been holding for the past couple of hours. He addressed the guard around him in a loud voice. ¡°Situation¡¯s over!¡± All the guards broke into smiles. Even though some of them had blue lips because of the cold, they were beaming with joy. Lee Hyun-Deok¡¯s return meant a lot of things to the survivors. Relief and stability. A ray of hope. That was what Lee Hyun-Deok was. * * * As soon as I arrived at the shelter, I took a quick shower and headed to the meeting room on the second floor. The leaders who were gathered in the meeting room were all dozing off in their chairs. All of them looked exhausted. I understood that they would feel dizzy and their muscles would be sore from staying up all night and being on watch. When I knocked gently on the desk, the leaders who had their eyes closed opened their eyes and smacked their lips. I looked at the leaders and chuckled. ¡°I¡¯ll fill you all in with the details tomorrow when Kim Hyeong-Jun wakes up. For now, I¡¯ll give a brief summary of what happened.¡± "Yes." The leaders straightened their backs and tried to concentrate. After I briefly exined the incidents that had happened in Gangbyeonbuk-ro, they all let out sighs of relief. They offered up variousments: what a relief it was, how good of a job we did, and that we owed it to God. Bae Jeong-Man, who had been listening quietly, spoke up. ¡°I think this is the right time to attack the Family.¡± Bae Jeong-Man''s sudden suggestion drew the suspicion of all the other leaders. I found his opinion interesting, so I asked Bae Jeong-Man to borate. ¡°Why do you think so?¡± "Didn''t you say that the one who died today had blue eyes?" ¡°Yes, I did.¡± ¡°I only saw two blue-eyed ones in Gangnam. If one of them died today, and a lot of the so-called dong leaders died as well¡­ There probably aren¡¯t that many forces left defending Gangnam.¡± My eyebrows twitched reflexively. He was right. I didn¡¯t even think about striking first since I had gotten used to defending. Now that the Family¡¯s forces had been thinned out, it was the perfect time for us to take over. Nothing good coulde of letting this drag out. We had a fairly good chance against the Family if we attacked before they could fully recover. I looked around at the leaders. They were nodding at Bae Jeong-Man¡¯s proposal, apparently impressed by it. This was the peace we¡¯d spent such a long time searching for. The possibility of achieving this peace was gradually increasing. With just a little bit more effort, we would be able to reach our goal. Once we got rid of the boss, there would be no one left in Seoul who could challenge us. Hwang Ji-Hye, who had been keeping an eye on the other leaders¡¯ reactions, took a sip of warm water and spoke up. "Then¡­ What¡¯s going to happen to our n?¡± ¡°What n are you talking about?¡± I asked, tilting my head. Hwang Ji-Hye put down the cup she was holding. ¡°The n to go to Jeju Ind.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk, who was next to me, responded to Hwang Ji-Hye''s question. ¡°All the ck creatures are dead, and once we take care of the boss, there will no longer be a reason to go to Jeju Ind.¡± ¡°No, I beg to differ. I believe a situation will arise that willpel us to go.¡± Hwang Ji-Hye¡¯s statement elicited a frown from Lee Jeong-Uk. "What do you mean?" ¡°I¡¯m talking about zombie instincts.¡± Her sentence hung in the air. I could hear people shifting in their seats. I wondered if they were feeling uneasy at the ufortable topic that Hwang Ji-Hye had just brought up. I rested my chin on my hands quietly and thought about it. Hwang Ji-Hye was right. Me, Kim Hyeong-Jun, and Do Han-Sol would be the next issue, after we took care of all the threats that faced us, because we were zombies. Having no threats meant that there wouldn¡¯t be any zombies for us to eat. This would lead to us being overwhelmed by our zombie instincts and losing our sanity. The survivors would begin to grow nervous at that, not knowing when we would turn our backs on them. I sighed and spoke up. ¡°Let¡¯s take care of the gang members in Gangnam, and get Gimpo Airport cleaned up.¡± ¡°What are you going to do about the issues we face regarding takeoff andnding?¡± I inteced my fingers before responding to her. ¡°When everything¡¯s ready, I¡¯ll run to Gimhae and get the airport set up. Everyone can wait on the aircraft until after being prepared.¡± ¡°How do we know if Gimhae is safe?¡± ¡°When I leave for Gimhae, please prepare for takeoff in ten hours. I will do whatever it takes to clean up Gimhae International Airport, so please depart once the ten hours is up.¡± ¡°And what if zombies gather up at Gimpo Airport¡­?¡± ¡°Hyeong-Jun and Han-Sol will protect Gimpo Airport.¡± Hwang Ji-Hye listened to my n, then quietly rubbed her chin as she considered it. After a while, she sighed and spoke up. ¡°That seems like the best option as of now.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll look for a ferry after I clean up Gimhae International Airport. I¡¯ll get everything prepared so that, once everyone arrives, everyone can get on right away.¡± Hwang Ji-Hye nodded. ¡°All right.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk, who was next to her, tilted his head. ¡°Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok, when we¡¯re done cleaning up Jeju Ind¡­ What do you n on doing afterward?¡± he asked. Everyone¡¯s eyes turned to me. I took a deep breath and looked up at the ceiling of the meeting room. ¡®Afterward¡­?¡¯ Suddenly, everything I had gone through to get to where I was right then shed through my mind. The reason I¡¯d been able toe this far¡­ It was because I had So-Yeon¡¯s safety, stability, and happiness in mind, and the desire to obtain peace for the rest of the survivors. All this had been possible thanks to the survivors who looked after So-Yeon, people who were like family to me now. I smiled gently as I recalled the past. There was a lot I wanted to say, but I knew the meeting would go on forever if I started right then. I let out a deep sigh and looked at everyone¡¯s faces, one by one. I smiled gently. ¡°Please¡­ Continue to take good care of So-Yeon for me.¡± I only wished for one thing from the leaders, which, in turn, was everything to me. Chapter 151 Chapter 151 After the meeting was over, I headed to the lobby to check Kim Hyeong-Jun. A roway bed was set up in the corner of the spacious lobby. It was originally set up to treat emergency patients who couldn¡¯t be moved to the hospital rooms in time. Mood-Swinger was sitting next to him. As I approached Kim Hyeong-Jun, Mood-Swinger stood up and made a sad face. ¡°Ar¡­ no¡­ ld¡­¡± "Don¡¯t worry. There¡¯s nothing wrong with your master.¡± I chuckled and patted Mood-Swinger on the back. The moment I nced at Kim Hyeong-Jin, his fingers twitched. ¡°Ugh¡­¡± He frowned and began toe back to his senses. ¡°You okay now?¡± I asked. ¡°Where¡­¡± ¡°What do you mean, where? You¡¯re at the shelter, of course.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun propped his upper body up and looked around. After a moment, he gently massaged his temples with his right hand as if he was having a headache. ¡°Don¡¯t push yourself. Everything¡¯s been taken care of.¡± ¡°What about the ck creature and the guys from the Family?¡± ¡°We took care of all of them.¡± ¡°Did you kill them, ahjussi?¡± ¡°Mood-Swinger and Ji-Eun had a hard time.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun looked at Mood-Swinger next to him, then pped him on the arm while chuckling. ¡°Arnold!¡± Mood-Swinger hugged Kim Hyeong-Jun, shedding tears. After Mood-Swinger had be a stage-three mutant, his emotions had changed even more drastically. And it seemed like he had gotten smarter. He was a lot better at understanding situations than before. It seemed like his nervousness had gone away as soon as he realized that Kim Hyeong-Jun was safe. Kim Hyeong-Jun coughed and spoke to Mood-Swinger. ¡°Let go, let go, Mood-Swinger. It hurts." ¡°Arno¡­ ld.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun stroked Mood-Swinger¡¯s hair and smiled heartily. After that, he hopped off the bed and started stretching. ¡°Ahjussi, what did you do with the ck creature¡¯s brain?¡± I told him in detail what had happened along Gangbyeonbuk-ro. Kim Hyeong-Jun listened to everything I had to say while he gently rubbed his chin. After I was done, he tilted his head. ¡°Why do you think Ji-Eun ate the officer¡¯s brain?¡± he asked. ¡°I think she did it to protect us.¡± ¡°So you¡¯re saying she killed the officer and ate his brain?¡± ¡°Probably.¡± ¡°Then why didn¡¯t she eat the ck creature¡¯s brain?¡± I hadn¡¯t even considered this part. After giving it some thought, I realized that Kim Hyeong-Jun was right. I wondered why she¡¯d eaten the officer¡¯s brain but not the ck creature¡¯s brain. As I pondered over it, Kim Hyeong-Jun sucked on his lower lip, then spoke up. ¡°Perhaps she knew?¡± ¡°Knew what?¡± ¡°That she¡¯d die if she ate a ck creature¡¯s brain.¡± ¡°How would Ji-Eun know that?¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s not really the case where the proof of the pudding is in the eating, you know? I think they just know.¡± I listened to Kim Hyeong-Jun and nodded slowly. Even Mood-Swinger hadn¡¯t eaten the ck creature¡¯s brain, despite his appetite. I wondered if stage-three mutants knew that they shouldn¡¯t eat brains from beings with ck eyes. Perhaps it was instinctive. I made a little theory of my own. Perhaps they knew that they could get stronger after eating the brain of a being with blue eyes or any weaker being than that, but considered beings with ck eyes as almighty creatures and just left them alone. I wondered if he¡¯d given up on the ck creature¡¯s brain, knowing that he couldn''t handle its power. Stage-three mutants were superior to stage-one mutants in every aspect¡ªphysically, intellectually, and in terms of their senses. It was more than possible that they would know such things. ¡®Then I also shouldn¡¯t eat the brains of a being with ck eyes¡­¡¯ After I organized my thoughts on this matter, I asked Kim Hyeong-Jun a question. ¡°What¡¯s the situation at Gimpo Airport? Did you manage to check out everything?¡± ¡°There were two zombies with red eyes guarding Gimpo Airport.¡± ¡°And you took care of them?¡± ¡°I killed them both. I got caught while rescuing the survivors there. That¡¯s why I was being chased by the members of the Family.¡± ¡°What about the conditions of the ne and the runway?¡± ¡°I only managed a cursory look, but there seemed to be a lot of airnes that we could use, and the runway didn¡¯t seem to be in a poor condition.¡± I ced my head in my hands and began to think. We killed four dong leaders in Gangbyeonbuk-ro, two dong leaders at Gimpo Airport, and a blue-eyed officer also lost his life¡­ Which meant all that was left of the Family¡¯s forces was the boss and a bunch of weaklings. I told Kim Hyeong-Jun about the topics that hade up during the meeting. After he listened to my briefing, Kim Hyeong-Jun stashed his hands in his pockets and chuckled. ¡°The tables have turned, no?¡± he said. ¡°We have to put an end to it.¡± ¡°When are we going to attack?¡± ¡°How many underlings do you have left?¡± "Uh¡­¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun looked away and counted the number of underlings he had left. It was a simple task, since we could tell where and how many underlings we had left in our heads. Kim Hyeong-Jun smacked his lips as if he hade up with the answer. ¡°I have six hundred and fifty in total.¡± ¡°How about your mutants?¡± ¡°Mood-Swinger and four stage-one mutants.¡± ¡°How many underlings can you have in total?¡± ¡°I ate the two dong leaders at Gimpo Airport; did you give me two brains at Gangbyeonbuk-ro?¡± "Yeah." ¡°Then okay. I can control two thousand two hundred and fifty underlings in total.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun scratched his head as he answered, and his expression grew troubled. ¡°Geez, how am I going to get back to my maximum?¡± he said with a grimace. ¡°I think it¡¯s going to take a couple of days.¡± ¡°That¡¯ll be toote. The boss has probably figured out what¡¯s going on by now.¡± ¡°Then what do you want to do?¡± ¡°We have to kill the boss before he gets away.¡± "Huh?" Kim Hyeong-Jun tilted his head and looked at me in puzzlement. He didn¡¯t seem to understand what I was saying, so I continued to exin my thoughts. ¡°It¡¯ll be difficult to board with a lot of underlings. It¡¯s probably better¡ªand probably the right thing¡ªto take care of the gang members first before going to Gimpo Airport.¡± ¡°Well, we don¡¯t have an idea of howrge their forces are.¡± ¡°I think my mutants will be enough to take on the ordinary forces. And Gangnam will probably have two stage-three mutants; we¡¯ll just leave Ji-Eun and Mood-Swinger to take care of them.¡± ¡°And we take care of the boss?¡± "Yeah. Even if the surviving dong leaders try to sneak up on us, we¡¯ll be more than prepared if Han-Sol takes care of the defense.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun looked surprised for a moment, then nodded. I peered into the darkness that shrouded Gwangjang-dong and continued to speak. ¡°We need to take care of the boss before he gets away.¡± ¡°Then¡­ When should we attack?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s head straight to Sogang Bridge after the sun rises. We¡¯ll let the leaders know.¡± ¡°Okay¡­" There was nothing good about dragging this out. We had to make hay while the sun shone. The boss was a capable strategist, so the more time we gave him, the more dangerous it would be for us, since we couldn¡¯t predict what sort of n he might throw at us. We had to take care of him before he came up with a detailed, concrete n. The sun would rise in two hours¡¯ time. And in just two hours, the long fight with my archenemy that I¡¯d been putting off for six months was about to reach its conclusion. I couldn''t help but feel a surge of excitement. * * * ¡°So what, they¡¯re all dead?¡± ¡°Yes¡­ yes, sir.¡± The dong leader who hade back from his patrol was on his knees, trembling. The boss furrowed his brow and ced his head in his hands. He seemed extremely angry. He sighed and looked up at the ceiling. ¡°How many of us are left now?¡± ¡°Besides me and the dong leader of Seongsan-dong¡­ No one, sir.¡± ¡°And the mutants?¡± ¡°There are fifteen stage-one mutants and two stage-three mutants.¡± The boss grimaced and sighed a couple of times in a row. He threw the wine ss he was holding against the wall with all his might, smearing dark red blood all over the wall. The dong leader¡¯s face paled, and he began to tremble. The boss slicked his bangs back. ¡°Five stage-one mutants, two stage-three mutants¡­ Those belong to me.¡± ¡°Yes, yes sir¡­¡± ¡°So then, are you and the dong leader of Seongsan-dong each controlling half of the remaining stage-one mutants?¡± "Yes, sir." The boss gritted his teeth and gazed out at the world beyond the observatory. ¡°Fucking bastards¡­¡± he muttered in a low voice. ¡°I should¡¯ve taken care of them on my own.¡± The boss clenched his fists, and his blue eyes shed. The tables had turnedpletely. Giving up Gangbuk and moving to Gangnam had been their mistake. The boss realized that, instead of trusting the ck creatures, they should¡¯ve attacked Gangnam after restoring stability in Gangbuk. A saying swam unbidden into his mind¡ªthat the strength of a nation came from the integrity of the homnd. The boss¡¯ dream of conquering the world with Seoul as the stepping-stone was thwarted by a small fire that had spread within his own home. The boss cursed in anger, then spoke to the dong leader. ¡°You, and the dong leader of Seongsan-dong. How many underlings have you recovered?¡± ¡°Well, well the thing is¡­¡± ¡°Stutter one more time, and I¡¯ll kill you.¡± ¡°...!¡± The dong leader¡¯s eyes flew wide open, and he swallowed. He wet his parched lips before continuing. ¡°I need to acquire four hundred more, and the leader of Seongsan-dong needs three hundred more.¡± ¡°Why are you missing so many? Have you been goofing around?" "No sir. The second officer and the other dong leaders had priority¡­ We were waiting for our turn.¡± ¡°Other dong leaders? The dong leaders in charge of the red areas?¡± ¡°Yes. We were assigned priority in ordance with our strength¡­ We had no authority.¡± The boss frowned and gently massaged his temples. The dong leader looked down quietly, still trembling in fear. The boss took a deep breath before speaking again. ¡°Replenish your underlings by tomorrow. When you¡¯re done, we¡¯re heading to Daejeon.¡± "Pardon, sir? I¡¯m not sure if I can get that many in a single day¡­¡± "Well then, you can die instead.¡± "No sir. I¡¯ll make sure to replenish all of them!¡± "If you don¡¯t, you¡¯ll die by my hand. I¡¯ll give you one day.¡± ¡°Yes sir!¡± The boss stared into the pitch-ck darkness beyond the observatory, lost in thought. ''I just have to stop being greedy. I don''t have to take on all the risks and struggle so hard. I just need to go back to the drawing board.¡¯ If Seoul didn¡¯t work out, they could just move to Daejeon and start there. The boss decided to acknowledge the existence of the Survivor Rally Organization. He also acknowledged that the Survivor Rally Organization had the upper hand, and he made the decision to go back to the drawing board and focus on recruiting more forces. * * * Grrr¡­ GAAA!!! At a research center seventy kilometers north of divostok, Russia, zombies were beginning to gather. Themander who had been defending the institute hurriedly kicked open the door of the institute. ¡°We must move now! Everyone out!¡± he yelled. The researchers quickly gathered up their research and followed themander''s order. But one researcher, a bald man in his thirties, couldn''t take his eyes off his microscope. Tommy, who had his eyes on him, shouted, ¡°Alyosha,e out now! We don¡¯t have time!¡± ¡°Hooray! Hooray! I¡¯ve finally found the antibody!¡± ¡°Get out now!¡± ¡°Tommy, do you see these beautiful colors? This damn virus is finished, finished!!¡± Alyosha smiled happily as he peered at the antibody. Tommy frowned and ran to Alyosha, then grabbed his cor. ¡°Wake up you idiot! This ce is finished as well!¡± ¡°Antibodies! We have to get the antibodies!¡± ¡°We don¡¯t have time for that. Fuckinge!¡± ¡°I¡¯m not leaving without the antibodies!¡± Alyosha grinned as he hurriedly collected the antibodies. To him, the antibodies in front of him were more important than his life. Bang! GRRR!! The door to the research center was sent flying, and zombies poured in. Bang! Bang! Bang! The Russian troops started firing at the zombies, Tommy and Alyosha crouched down and headed for the back door. As soon as they went outside, the piercing wind blew across their necks and wrapped around their bodies. divostok, home to one of the ice-free ports in Russia, was covered in white snow, thanks to the snowy conditions that hade once in twenty years. For quite a while, it had been enveloped in a whiteout. GRRR!!! Despite the conditions, Tommy and Alyosha tried with all their might to open their eyes and advanced into the blizzard, the zombies¡¯ howling sending chills down their spines. The zombies were climbing over the fence and surging toward theboratory like an enormous tidal wave. There were too many zombies to even count; the horde of zombies looked like a horizontal ck line that crossed through the world of white. "Run!!" In the distance, they saw an An-26, a Russian military transport aircraft. Themander was inside, shouting at them. The two of them ran toward the aircraft with all their might. KYAAA!!! "Ahh!!" Red blood sttered onto the pure white snow as another researcher running toward the aircraft was bitten by zombies. The soldiers were firing their guns, but it made no difference. There were just too many, and even a machine gun wouldn¡¯t have been helpful. Tommy and Alyosha continued to run, leaving their dying colleagues behind. They closed their eyes and sprinted through the never-ending hell of white snow and red blood toward the aircraft. They managed to board the aircraft by the skin of their teeth, and themander, veins popping out of his neck, shouted at the top of his lungs. ¡°Take off! Take off!!¡± The only surviving researchers were Tommy and Alyosha. All the other researchers that had left the building before them had been overwhelmed by the zombies. The two of them owed their survival to the fact that they had escaped through the back door instead. After pulling themselves together, themander looked at the two and spoke up. ¡°Both of you, take off your clothes.¡± ¡°Yes¡­ yes?¡± ¡°Take off your clothes so that I can check if you¡¯ve been bitten!!¡± Without the slightest hesitation, Tommy and Alyosha took off everything except for their underwear. After checking their bodies, themander let out a sigh of relief and sat down. There were only about ten people on board the aircraft, including Tommy and Alyosha. Out of the four hundred people at the researchb, only ten had made it out alive. Alyosha adjusted his sses, then asked themander a question. ¡°Where are we going now?¡± ¡°To a ce of possibility.¡± ¡°Where¡¯s that?¡± ¡°Korea.¡± When themander mentioned Korea, Alyosha¡¯s eyes widened, and he looked over at Tommy. ¡°Tommy, isn¡¯t Korea your mothend?¡± "Yeah." ¡°Oh, thank you, Lord! We won¡¯t have to worry aboutmunication!¡± Alyoshaughed cheerfully, and even pped with joy. Tommy, on the other hand, was panting heavily. He looked at themander. ¡°The research institute in Korea is in Daegu, located in the southeast. Can we get there?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°I¡¯m asking if there¡¯s enough fuel.¡± ¡°We¡¯re short on fuel.¡± The cabin fell silent. Alyosha tilted his head and posed a question to the survivors. ¡°Am I short on vocabry or what? When did ¡®possibility¡¯ start to mean ¡®death¡¯?¡± He was openly mocking themander. Chapter 152 Chapter 152 As dawn broke, I gathered the leaders in the meeting room for an emergency meeting. The leaders'' eyes were sunken, as most of them had been awoken from catnaps. They did their best to cover their mouths when they yawned. To begin, I brought up the thoughts that I¡¯d had the night before. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for calling you all urgently in the early morning. I¡¯m aware that everyone must be tired.¡± ¡°It¡¯s alright. Please share what you have on your mind,¡± Lee Jeong-Uk replied in a calm voice. Since the leader had stepped up and said that it was okay, all the other leaders straightened their backs and tried their best to school their emotions. I looked around at them, then began to speak. "Then¡­ I¡¯ll get right to the point. Hyeong-Jun and I are thinking of going over to Gangnam right after this meeting to attack the Family.¡± "Sorry? Right now?¡± Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s eyes went wide, and he gave me a look of surprise. The other leaders offered simr reactions. He knew that this fight wasing to an end, but he seemed to be taken aback when I¡¯d mentioned how soon it would be. I looked over at Kim Hyeong-Jun, who was seated next to me, then spoke again. ¡°I talked to Hyeong-Jun all night. Mr. Kim Hyeong-Jun.¡± "Yes." ¡°Please tell the leaders about the conversation we had.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun let out a breath and began to speak. ¡°We¡¯re assuming that the boss has also killed a ck creature. And we also think that, in the process of dealing with the ck creature, many of the officers and dong leaders probably lost their lives. Given the forces they have right now, they stand no chance against us.¡± "So you''re saying you¡¯re going to attack right now? Before they make another move?¡± repeated Lee Jeong-Uk. Kim Hyeong-Jun nodded. "Exactly. The boss is a cunning guy, full of tricks up his sleeve. He would surely be revising his strategy anding up with new ways to get at us.¡± ¡°But we don¡¯t know what they are.¡± ¡°Exactly, and that¡¯s why I wanted to ask you folks a favor.¡± The leaders all swallowed stared at Kim Hyeong-Jun. He took a deep breath. ¡°Let¡¯s all go to Gangnam together.¡± "Pardon?" Lee Jeong-Uk looked back and forth between Kim Hyeong-Jun and me, his eyes full of surprise. The other leaders started protesting. ¡°How will we move all of our survivors?!¡± ¡°Are you saying we should split the survivors into groups? Like advance parties and secondary parties?¡± ¡°How long do the secondary parties have to wait?¡± I calmed the leaders down and addressed Bae Jeong-Man, who was sitting in the corner. ¡°Mr. Bae Jeong-Man, what is the maximum number of people that can board the cruise ships?¡± ¡°If we fill all three ships¡­ I think we can fit everyone somehow.¡± ¡°Is there enough fuel?¡± ¡°Where are you trying to get to?¡± ¡°Banghwa-dong.¡± Bae Jeong-Man leaned back in his chair and quietly crossed his arms. While Bae Jeong-Man was organizing his thoughts, Lee Jeong-Uk asked me a question. ¡°Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok, is there a reason why you want all of us to go together?¡± ¡°If we attack Gangnam, they won''tst long. The leader might throw the dong leaders at the shelter as a diversion to secure an escape route.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ a diversion¡­¡± ¡°When Hyeong-Jun and I enter Gangnam, the remaining dong leaders might attack Gwangjang-dong. That would make it harder for Hyeong-Jun and I to focus. And it¡¯ll be difficult for Do Han-Sol to handle them all by himself.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s expression grewplicated, and he touched his lips. Bae Jeong-Man spoke up. ¡°I think it¡¯ll be doable. Banghwa-dong is the neighborhood north of Gimpo Airport, right?¡± "Yes." ¡°There¡¯s a park at the southern end of Banghwa Bridge, so we can disembark there.¡± "And you''re saying that everyone can move at the same time?" "About that¡­ I don¡¯t think I¡¯d be able to tell until everyone boards. There are over four hundred survivors here.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s have Do Han-Sol¡¯s underlings carry the remaining survivors that can¡¯t get on board. We have to move as one, no matter what.¡± Do Han-Sol, sitting in the corner, raised his right hand. "So you¡¯re saying that I take on a defensive role, while you and Mr. Kim Hyeong-Jun focus on offense?¡± ¡°Yes. The guys that belong to the Family would probably be more confused once they see cruise ships on Han River.¡± ¡°The boss probably hasn¡¯t considered that we would attack first. If we confuse him enough, we might be able to avoid any bloodshed.¡± Do Han-Sol nodded slowly and made a satisfied expression. I then looked over at Lee Jeong-Uk. ¡°The decision is in your hands, Mr. Lee Jeong-Uk.¡± ¡°The survivors will probably protest against the idea of relocating out of the blue. They just started getting used to life here¡­¡± ¡°Everything is difficult the first time, but it¡¯s a lot easier the second time. Please consider this carefully and let us know.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk pressed his hands against his temples and fell into deep thought. All eyes were focused on Lee Jeong-Uk. I knew it was a hard decision to make. What I wanted from Lee Jeong-Uk¡­ was for him to believe in me. Lee Jeong-Uk used to rescue survivors with me back in the day. He probably knew deep down that what I was proposing was the most appropriate n, given the current situation. Lee Jeong-Uk remained silent for a while, thinking long and hard about the best course of action. After a while, he sighed and broke the silence. ¡°Mr. Kwak Dong-Won.¡± ¡°Yes, sir.¡± ¡°Tell the facility management team to pack the equipment they need and organize thepleted sr panels. Tell them to throw away any unnecessary things and bring only the essentials.¡± "Got it!" ¡°Let¡¯s get going.¡± Kwak Dong-Won got up from his seat and headed straight for the basement. Lee Jeong-Uk then looked over at Park Gi-Cheol. ¡°Mr. Park Gi-Cheol, please assemble the guards at the riverfront and pack all the remaining supplies, bullets, and firearms.¡± "As you wish." ¡°Mr. Principal, could you take Ms. Han Seon-Hui with you and take care of the children first? Please tell Jeong-Hyuk and Da-Hye to gather the food, clothing and shelter management teams.¡± "All right." ¡°Mr. Kim Beom-Jin, along with Ms. Ga-Bin, please gather the medical staff and pack up all the medical supplies. Ask Mr. Kim Seok-Won and the neers for help. It¡¯ll be easier that way.¡± "Got it!" Lee Jeong-Uk gave all of them the appropriate orders. The leaders got up one by one. Hwang Deok-Rok, who had been reading the room, spoke up. ¡°What should I do?¡± he asked Lee Jeong-Uk. ¡°Mr. Hwang Deok-Rok, please inform each floor leader to get ready to move. We need everyone at the riverfront within ten minutes.¡± ¡°Got it!¡± ¡°And, sir¡­ Please pack some food and seed varieties.¡± "All right." Lee Jeong-Uk had taken just a few moments to sort the situation out. He looked at me. ¡°This operation¡­ You¡¯re sure about this, right?¡± "I¡¯m sure.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t let one thing go wrong. One mistake will bring us all down.¡± "Don''t worry." Lee Jeong-Uk nodded vigorously and left the meeting room with Hwang Ji-Hye. I got up and went outside the hotel. After a moment, Do Han-Sol followed me. ¡°Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok.¡± "What is it?" ¡°The dong leaders have to cross Sogang Bridge to get here. If you and Mr. Kim Hyeong-Jun are going across Sogang Bridge, doesn¡¯t that make it virtually impossible for them to enter Gwangjang-dong?¡± ¡°Their men died on Sogang Bridge. I¡¯m not sure if the boss will use Sogang Bridge again.¡± ¡°Then how do you think they¡¯ll enter Gwangjang-dong¡­?¡± ¡°The boss is probably aware of what happened at Gangbyeonbuk-ro. They might be already preparing a n to attack us from a different direction.¡± Do Han-Sol listened to my reasoning, then nodded slowly and gently rubbed his chin. I scratched my head, then continued. ¡°They might have already sent the dong leaders to Hanam City and entered Guri City either through Gwalli Bridge or Paldang Bridge. The dong leaders don¡¯t feel fatigue, so they can move around all night.¡± ¡°But didn¡¯t you say that all the Han River bridges were down?¡± ¡°That¡¯s only with regards to Seoul. I¡¯m not aware of the conditions in Hanam City or Guri City.¡± "Then¡­ Considering every possible scenario, it¡¯s best to move together?¡± ¡°Exactly.¡± "Then¡­ I¡¯ll do as you say.¡± Do Han-Sol nodded and gathered his underlings. I straightened out my clothes and headed toward where my mutants were. I had lost five stage-one mutants, so I reorganized my underlings again. Each squad had ten zombies except for fourth squad, which had nine. I didn¡¯t include Ji-Eun in any squad. Instead, JI-Eun only had one order. ¡°Prevent anyone from getting to the survivors.¡± I knew Ji-Eun wouldn¡¯t follow my orders if I asked her to attack. Since she was a mutant that specialized in defense, I gave her orders that she would probably follow. Soon, hundreds of survivors began to pour out from the hotel en masse. They started muttering amongst themselves with eyes full of fear. Shortly, some of the survivors ran up to me, full of questions. "What happened? Are the zombiesing again?¡± ¡°Is it the ck creature?¡± ¡°Is it the gang members?¡± I took a breath, then raised my voice toward the survivors. "Everyone!!" When I called for their attention, all the survivors that were mumbling fell silent and looked at me. I raised my right arm high and clenched my fist as I spoke. ¡°From this moment, we¡¯ll begin moving to Gimpo Airport!¡± The mumbling restarted. A woman who seemed to be in her mid-tote fifties stepped out from the crowd. ¡°Gimpo Airport? Are we finally going ahead with the n that you talked about the other day?¡± She was one of the floor leaders. She was the gossipmonger that had been gossiping away with the other floor leaders deep into the night. I knew that the floor leaders had the most knowledge about the grievances that the survivors were facing and that I had to take advantage of that. I knew I¡¯d be able to calm the agitated survivors down if I won over the hearts of the floor leaders. And besides, since she knew about the Gimpo Airport n, it would work to my advantage to get the n rolling more quickly. I nodded in response to her question. "That''s right, we''re moving now." ¡°I heard that Mr. Kim Hyeong-Jun will be back after scouting¡­ Is it safe now?¡± ¡°Yes, this is our chance.¡± "Oh hmm¡­ But everything just happened out of the blue. Everyone is still groggy after waking up¡­¡± The floor leader in her mid-tote fifties adjusted her sses as she spoke. I put my hand on her shoulder. "Floor leader, what''s your name?" ¡°Jeong Mi-Hye..." Jeong Mi-Hye answered while ncing at my thick hand resting on her shoulder. I looked straight into her eyes and spoke in a low voice. ¡°Jeong Mi-Hye, listen to me carefully. From now on, I¡¯m going to ask you a favor. You¡¯ll have to do well in order for everything to work out smoothly.¡± ¡°Sorry? Oh yes, yes.¡± Jeong Mi-Hye licked her lower lip and looked into my face, her eyes sparkling. She seemed to grow nervous at the fact that I was giving her a mission. I took a deep breath, then began to speak again. ¡°You know that there are members of the Family in Gangnam, right?¡± ¡°Oh, yes. Of course I know.¡± ¡°Hyeong-Jun and I killed their officers. Now, all there¡¯s left is the boss. The odds are in our favor.¡± ¡°Oh, yes.¡± ¡°Today, we will put an end to the six-month war. But if Hyeong-Jun and I are away¡­ I don¡¯t know what kind of nasty n the boss mighte up with when they get cornered.¡± "Yes, yes." Jeong Mi-Hye nodded vigorously, her eyes shining. It felt as though her heart was pounding with excitement. Clearly, she found all of the things that I was telling her very interesting. I could already tell that Jeong Mi-Hye had had a taste of how sweet power could be¡ªthough it might¡¯ve been just a small taste¡ªas the floor leader. And since I, the ultimatemander of the Survivor Rally Organization, was giving her something to do, she would feel several times more anxious than usual. I let some confusion seep into my expression. ¡°While I¡¯m away, what do you think will happen if theye here?¡± "Of course it¡¯ll, it¡¯ll be dangerous¡­" ¡°That¡¯s why all of us have to move together. While Hyeong-Jun and I hold off the boss, you have to get to Gimpo Airport and board the ne.¡± ¡°Oh, then what about you Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll follow after. Everyone else is more important than me.¡± Jeong Mi-Hye covered her mouth with both hands. The thrill she felt was clearly written on her face. I gave her a slight smile. ¡°I need you to bring everyone together so that others don¡¯t panic. Can I count on you?¡± "Yes, yes." ¡°The most important thing about this operation is for everyone to stay calm.¡± Jeong Mi-Hye nodded vigorously with her lips tightly closed. I patted her gently on the shoulder. ¡°I believe that you¡¯ll do a good job.¡± ¡°...!¡± ¡°As the floor leader, could you please lead everyone else?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know if I can¡­ Mr. Lee Jeong-Uk is here¡­¡± Jeong Mi-Hye cleared her throat as she looked around at the people around her. She was subtly letting everyone know her role. I continued to smile at her. ¡°Lee Jeong-Uk has to be with the guards to protect you and everyone else. All the leaders will give their all to fight for you. It¡¯s up to you to make sure the survivors move calmly. Do you understand?¡± ¡°Okay, just count on me.¡± "Please." I nodded vigorously, and Jeong Mi-Hye opened her eyes. She looked around and addressed the survivors in a loud voice, ¡°Everyone! We will be moving to a safe ce from now on!¡± ¡°And where is that?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s first get to Gimpo Airport first! No one panic, no rushing, and act like cultured beings, everyone! Please move calmly!¡± ¡°Where are we going after Gimpo Airport?¡± ¡°Hey, ahjussi! What are you going to do even if you knew the answer to that? Are you doubting our leaders?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not that¡­¡± Jeong Mi-Hye¡¯s demeanor changed suddenly, and she began to shout furiously. ¡°Did any of us die after the leaders took charge? No, right? And has anyone starved? No, there wasn¡¯t! How dare you talk back when you should be thankful that you get to live like a human being!¡± All the survivors immediately looked at the person who had expressed his doubts. That person just happened to be a survivor from Gangnam. The survivors from Gangbuk clicked their tongues and began to whisper amongst themselves. ¡°How dare he say stuff like that to our leaders¡­ ¡° ¡°Why is that man talking so much... Just listen to the leaders, geez. It¡¯s not like the leaders ever made us do something bad for us.¡± ¡°Why is he talking back when he¡¯s going to follow the leaders anyway¡­¡± Perhaps the survivors were too devoted to us. I wondered if their gossiping sessions had increased their unity. Kim Hyeong-Jun had made it back alive from his previous mission, and had even brought more survivors. I had also rescued survivors from the medical center and stopped the ck creature and the Family¡¯s forces. And even when we encountered zombie waves, the survivors had been well-protected, and did not have to do anything to survive. And this wasn¡¯t all. Not a single person had fallen in our march over to Gwangjang-dong. All these incidents had built up the faith and trust that the survivors of Gangbuk had in us. I understood all too well that they must¡¯ve been tired from moving around so frequently. But this time, they were trying their best and following the leaders in order to show their appreciation toward the hard work the leaders had put in. Their faith in us was so strong that it felt as though they were almost worshiping us. It also seemed like the floor leaders felt guilty about the fact that they doubted us for a moment. Jeong Mi-Hye grabbed my hand. ¡°We trust Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok and the leaders,¡± she said. ¡°I will do my best so that no one gets hurt,¡± I answered from the bottom of my heart. Chapter 153 Chapter 153 I looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun as the survivors started boarding. ¡°Ready?¡± ¡°There¡¯s nothing to get ready for, ahjussi. I¡¯ll get ready when I have to get ready.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun chuckled and stashed his hands in his pockets. I chuckled back and looked at the survivors. After a moment, Do Han-Sol came up and briefed us on what the major had told him. ¡°He said that he has room on board for all, except for about one hundred people.¡± ¡°Okay. The rest of them will have to be carried by your underlings. Do you think they¡¯ll be willing to let that happen to them?¡± ¡°Yes. Thankfully the guards have stepped up, so we¡¯ve gotten that part settled.¡± ¡°These hundred people; they¡¯re all guards?¡± ¡°Yes. The soldiers from Gangnam and guards that were originally with us.¡± I looked at Bae Jeong-Man and the soldiers from Gangnam, carrying their weapons. Park Shin-Jeong was next to Bae Jeong-Man. Park Gi-Cheol was also with them, getting the guards into formation and performing a headcount. I knew it wouldn¡¯t have been easy to volunteer, but thanks to them stepping up, we didn¡¯t have to go through another messy situation to sort out who would be allowed on the ships and who would not. I let out a breath and looked over at Do Han-Sol. ¡°Keep an eye on the cruise ship, and proceed to Sogang Bridge via Gangbyeonbuk-ro. After you get to Gangnam, move to the southern end of Banghwa Bridge.¡± "Got it. You want me to move ahead of the cruise ships and clean up the southern end of Banghwa Bridge, right?¡± I nodded and tapped his forearm lightly to let him know that he was all set. After that, Lee Jeong-Uk came up to me. ¡°So-Yeon¡¯s dad, we¡¯vepleted our preparations.¡± ¡°Did you check to see that we didn¡¯t leave anything behind?¡± ¡°We got everything. I double-checked.¡± I nodded vigorously and breathed in the cool river air. Lee Jeong-Uk looked me in the eyes. ¡°Don¡¯t push yourself,¡± he said. ¡°Okay¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯ll see you there.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk patted me on the shoulder and ran toward the cruise ship. We were ready to get going. We were ready to wrap up our long journey here in Seoul and head toward a new home. To a ce where we wouldn¡¯t have to wander anymore. To our Eden. I massaged my neck and reminded myself of the n. I had to clean up the members of the Family that remained in Gangnam and make my way to Gimhae. Once I got to Gimhae International Airport, I had to clean up the zombies there and find boats to get everyone over to Jeju ind. I could already tell it was going to be a long day. "Daddy!" I heard So-Yeon calling me from the second floor railing of the cruise ship. She smiled brightly and waved her arms excitedly. Maybe it was because it was her first time being on a boat. She seemed happy and thrilled, as if she was looking forward to this journey. I waved back at her with a smile. ¡°Sweetheart! Make sure you listen to Uncle Jeong-Uk, okay?¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to get on, Daddy?¡± ¡°Daddy is going to go ahead first and wait for So-Yeon toe!¡± "Why, Daddy? Daddy should go with us!¡± I wanted to go with So-Yeon¡­ But I knew I couldn¡¯t. I tried to keep my smile on as I spoke. ¡°Daddy has to go ahead and take care of the bad zombies first!¡± So-yeon pouted and made a sad face. I tried to tamp down on the pain rising within my heart. ¡°Sweetie, make sure you listen to Aunt Seon-Hui! Don¡¯t go around running on the boat and behave yourself!¡± I said. ¡°Will Santa give me a present if I¡¯m nice?¡± Her question reminded me that Christmas was right around the corner. I smiled gently. "Of course sweetie!¡± I yelled back in reply. ¡°Santa will be bringing you presents since it¡¯s Christmas soon! So don¡¯t fight with your friends and behave yourself!¡± Her eyes lit up at the word ¡®Christmas¡¯. My family used to spend time together in our living room while enjoying Christmas cakes. A bitter sadness rose up within me as I recalled the days that I knew would never happen again. My wife hadn¡¯t been amongst the survivors of Gangnam. I¡¯d had the feeling that it would be so, and I had prepared myself for it¡­ But I¡¯d be lying if I said I hadn¡¯t had my hopes up slightly. After confirming that my wife wasn¡¯t one of them, I couldn¡¯t help but feel dejected. I couldn¡¯t share the feelings I¡¯d had the day I¡¯d met all the survivors of Gangnam with anyone. All I did that day was look out onto the Han River alone, weeping silent tears. It was only natural for my disappointment to be greater as my expectations were high, and the sudden loss of every bit of hope was terrible and indescribable. I looked up at the blue sky and took in a deep breath, then looked back at So-Yeon. ¡°Listen to your aunts and uncles!¡± I said. ¡°Daddy will be back to check on how well So-Yeon behaved in a little bit!¡± "Okay!" So-Yeon hesitated a little, then asked in a rather unconfident tone, ¡°The other kids said that Santa us doesn¡¯t exist¡­ That isn¡¯t true, is it?¡± ¡°Who said that, sweetie?¡± ¡°The kids at kindergarten!¡± Kids these days. I couldn¡¯t believe they already knew about the true existence¡ªorck of it¡ªof Santa. I shook my head vigorously. "No, sweetie. Daddy just met Santast week!¡± "Really?" "Really! I told Santa that So-Yeon has been behaving and listening to Aunt Seon-Hui and Uncle Jeong-Uk, and so Santa told me he¡¯d give So-Yeon a nice present!¡± "Oh, oh! I have something I want!¡± ¡°What do you want? Daddy will pass it on to Santa us!¡± "I¡­!¡± Puh-puh-puh¨C With a st of its horn, the cruise ship departed. Because of that, I couldn¡¯t hear what So-Yeon wanted for her present. I repeated the question again, but the three sts of the boat horn covered my voice. ¡°Promise me!¡± With that, I couldn¡¯t hear her anymore. Thest words she¡¯d said were full of anticipation, reflected in her bright, shining eyes. I¡­I tried my best to keep a bright smile on my face and waved back at her. ¡°Ahjussi, are you okay?¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun, who was next to me, asked me cautiously. ¡°Hmm?¡± ¡°Why are you crying?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± A teardrop rolled down my face, catching me by surprise. I hurriedly wiped it off and looked away. Kim Hyeong-Jun must¡¯ve felt a twinge of pity when he looked at me. He smacked his lips and said in a gentle, low voice, ¡°My son looks just like my wife.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°And So-Yeon¡¯s pretty, maybe because she doesn¡¯t look like you.¡± Iughed softly and shed a shy smile. ¡°You¡¯re such a joker¡­¡± ¡°Ahjussi, why are you acting like you won¡¯t ever see her again?¡± continued Kim Hyeong-Jun. ¡°You know you¡¯ll see her again. You shouldn¡¯t act like you won¡¯t, you know?¡± "It''s the wind, I swear.¡± Hearing my lousy excuse, Kim Hyeong-Jun smirked and scratched his sideburns. ¡°Ehhh, here we go again, ahjussi, lying again.¡± He clenched his fists and crouched down. ¡°I¡¯m heading off first. Calm yourself down, then follow me.¡± With that, Kim Hyeong-Jun headed over to his underlings, who were gathered along the riverside. I warmed up by doing some squats and stretching my shoulders and neck. I shook off the thoughts that kept me upied, allowing me to focus on what I currently had to do with a much clearer mind. ¡°Han-Sol.¡± "Yes?" ¡°We¡¯ll take the lead and clear anything in the way. Keep a reasonable distance from us. Don¡¯t forget to match the pace of the cruise ship as you move towards Sogang Bridge.¡± Do Han-Sol nodded calmly. "All right." I took a deep breath and let it out. ¡°Let¡¯s get going.¡± * * * I carved a straight path to Sogang Bridge. Kim Hyeong-Jun was already dealing with zombies as I passed Mapo Bridge. The underlings of the officers and the dong leaders that we had taken care of earlier in the morning were still in their exact same spots, standing motionless. What we were doing might¡¯ve seemed like an unnecessary massacre, but considering Do Han-Sol and the guards that were following us, it was the right thing to do. Following Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s lead, I took care of the zombies along Gangbyeonbuk-ro. ¡°Ahjussi, over there.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun stopped what he was doing and pointed. I hadn¡¯t noticed earlier, but with the sun now up, I saw some members of the Family moving around Building 63. Judging by the fact that they were moving towards Sogang Bridge, it seemed like they had taken notice of us. I thought that their headquarters was in Jamsil, but they were gathered in Yeouido. It seemed like all of their forces had gathered in Yeouido when Kim Hyeong-Jun attacked Gimpo Airport. I clenched my fists. "Let¡¯s go. I think they noticed us.¡± ¡°Go on first. I''ll deal with the remnants here and follow you.¡± I nodded lightly and gritted my teeth. As I elerated the flow of my blood, steam began to rise from my body. ¡°KAAA!¡± I took off toward Sogang Bridge, with steaming off my body. As soon as I reached the northern end of Sogang Bridge, I noticed that the southern end of the bridge was packed with the Family¡¯s forces. Taking the lead, I ordered my underlings to annihte the gang members. I glimpsed Bamseom in between the copsed bridge, and saw a set of stairs in front of it. It seemed like the Family had erected it as a temporary structure. I leaped to the top of the stairs at once and made my way through the gang members. ¡°Stop¡­ Stop him, you fools!!¡± I heard a dong leader shout from within the crowd. I focused my gaze on him, and I saw the dong leader¡¯s terrified face. Whoosh¨C I leaped into the air and arrowed myself downward in a straight line, aiming for the dong leader¡¯s head. I began to elerate as gravity pulled me down. My senses were more focused than ever. The dong leader stared at me, wide-eyed, then hurriedly threw his body to the side to avoid me. Crash!!! Dust flew everywhere, and a spider web of cracks radiated outward from where I hadnded. I channeled all my strength into my lower body and threw myself toward where I¡¯dst seen the dong leader. As I flew through the thick cloud of dust, I saw the dong leader frozen to the spot, as if too scared to take another step. Without the slightest hesitation, I hurled my fist into his. Crash!!! The loud crash of the dong leader¡¯s body hitting reinforced concrete echoed through the neighborhood. The dong leader copsed to the ground, their face crushed. ''One down.'' I whipped my upper body around to look around, and saw a zombie trying to escape, slipping in between the regr zombies who had lost their chain ofmand. I rushed toward the zombie like a wave, and the enemy leader looked back. ¡°Jesus!¡± he screamed when he noticed my presence. This zombie leader had red eyes. I leaped forward, grabbing his waist and using momentum to knock him down. I smashed his face into the ground, making him vomit out blood. ¡°You fucking bastard¡­!¡± He immediately twisted his upper body and tried punching me in the face. I easily side-slipped his punch and mbered onto his upper body like a spider trapping its prey, then hammered my fists into his face. Bang! Bam! Whack! Bang! His skull shattered in two after four hits. Slimy liquid oozed out of it, pooling on the ground. The dong leader¡¯s trembling fingers slowly stopped moving. Once the two dong leaders died, the approximately one thousand zombies under their control that were defending the southern end of Sogang Bridge became living corpses. Strangely enough, I didn¡¯t feel the presence of any other zombies around me. ¡®Is the boss buying himself time?¡¯ Did the boss just throw the dong leaders out as bait and made a run for it? I gently closed my eyes and heightened my senses. I knew that he couldn''t have gotten far. No matter how fast the boss could move, he couldn''t mask the smell that he gave off. I soon noticed a rather sour smell. ¡®Left.¡¯ My eyes shed as I looked over to the left. About four hundred meters away, I saw an unknown man making his way through the buildings in the city. ¡®Is he heading to Gwanaksan?¡¯ I had no time to waste. I couldn¡¯t wait for Kim Hyeong-Jun. I knew that if I waited, the boss would make it out of Seoul. My blue eyes shed as I channeled strength to my legs. The muscles on my legs grewrger, almost to the point of bursting, and my achilles tendon tightened. Bang!! The asphalt below me cracked as I took off toward the unknown man. The sound of the wind blowing past me awakened my instincts, and the blur of the surroundings whizzing past me heightened my five senses. I didn¡¯t bother to calm myself down. With my eyes fixed on the man¡¯s back, I let the madness within fully engulf me. The unknown man nced behind as if he had noticed my presence. He saw the madness in my face, and his eyes went wide. In that fleeting moment, I caught a glimpse of his blue eyes. It was the boss. This being had made me and my family go through constant hardship. I was finally able toe face to face with the boss of the Family. Steam quickly rose from his body. But what he didn¡¯t realize was that it was already toote for him to escape. I was already elerating, so it was impossible for him to get away. I closed the distance to the boss very quickly; he was within arms¡¯ reach. In that fleeting moment, which felt like an eternity, I smirked and stretched out my right hand. ¡®I got you.'' At that moment, I felt a strong killing intenting from my left, making my hair stand on end. I quickly twisted my upper body out of the way. Bang!!! Something shed over my head. At first nce, it had the shape of a rock. But I didn¡¯t have enough time to figure out what it was. I couldn¡¯t withstand the sudden change of direction and tumbled to the ground. I could still sense the killing intent behind me, which made my hamstrings tremble. I spun around and saw a fist centimeters from my eyes. I bent my neck away at a sharp angle and barely avoided it. At that moment, a cold voice whispered in my ears, ¡°Pretty fast, eh?¡± I quickly dropped into a defensive stance, but I took a blow from the side, sending my body flying sideways and bursting through the wall on my right. Bang, bang!!! Three beings were attacking me at once. When my trembling eyes finally refocused, I saw the boss smirking, his blue eyes shing. Chapter 154 Chapter 154 The boss looked at me carefully and spoke up. ¡°I was wondering who the leader of those damn bastards was. It¡¯s you, huh?¡± ¡°...¡± I remained silent as I regenerated my broken ribs. The boss raised his eyebrows and broke the silence. ¡°Oh man, what do we have here? A pair of blue eyes? How dare you eat my men and grow stronger?¡± ¡°Frankly speaking, they weren¡¯t that helpful.¡± ¡°Hahaha! This guy¡¯s got guts!¡± The boss smiled cheerfully and stashed his hands in his pockets. I couldn¡¯t help but be surprised. Putting his hands in his pockets while facing me was thest thing I thought he¡¯d do. I wondered if he was mocking me. When I frowned, the boss scratched his head. ¡°You sure have courage, following me. I¡¯ll give you that. Did you hunt me down alone?¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t take a lot of people to catch a rat, does it?¡± ¡°A rat? Who¡¯s calling who a rat?¡± ¡°You¡¯re acting like a rat, without the slightest clue what¡¯s going to happen to you next. ¡° His mouth twitched as though he was trying to stop himself fromughing. Then he snorted and he put his right hand on his face. Between his fingers, I could see his blue eyes sh. Bang! The wall on the left went down and arge figure appeared. My jaws fell to the ground as I fixed my eyes on it. The rock that I¡¯d seen earlier was a mutant. I could tell with one look what its desire was. It was one of the main characters of a foreign fantasy film¡ªthe hero whose body was made out of rock. I couldn¡¯t help but think that the mutant had a unique taste, as that particr hero was the least popr one among the main characters in that movie. I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle. ¡°I see you got yourself a cute underling,¡± I said to the boss. ¡°Those guts of yours¡ªlet¡¯s see how much longer you can stay that way.¡± Thud¨C Another mutant appeared next to the boss. From the way it stared at me the moment itnded, I could sense that things were going to get ugly. I swallowed reflexively when I saw its face. It had the face of the being who had wiped out an entire organization just because one of them had killed his dog. The mutant had the face of Keanu Reeves from the movie John Wick. But then I came back to the realization that, despite its appearance, its essence was still that of a zombie. ¡®Don¡¯t be afraid and stay focused.¡¯ I clenched my fists and shed my blue eyes. After a moment, the boss spoke. ¡°Kill him.¡± The stage-three mutants rushed toward me at once. I could barely take care of one stage-three mutant; two stage-three mutants were too much for me to handle. But there was a reason I¡¯d been buying time by chatting with the boss. ¡®Now!¡¯ The moment I gave the order through my mind, the ceiling copsed, and a thick cloud of dust obscured my view. The stage-three mutants approaching me covered their faces with their arms and furrowed their brows. "My child¡­¡± The low, eerie voice drifted through the dust, sending a small tingle through my feet. Next to Ji-Eun, the dozens of eyeballs belonging to each of my thirty nine stage-one mutants were rolling around as they scanned the surroundings. Ji-Eun narrowed her eyes at Keanu in front of her, frowning so hard that her face was covered in wrinkles. Her ten fingers elongated to almost a meter each. All of my mutants let out throat-rending cries as they got ready to fight. The boss was taken aback by the sudden appearance of my mutants. I could tell he had been focusing solely on me while blocking off all of his other senses. And besides, it would have been difficult for him to notice my mutants, since they hadn¡¯t let out their killing intent as they approached. I looked directly into the boss¡¯ eyes. ¡°Let¡¯s put an end to this.¡± KIAAA!!! The thirty-nine stage-one mutants rushed toward the rock mutant while Ji-Eun stretched out her hands and closed the distance with Keanu. I gritted my teeth and shed toward the boss, steam rising from my body. The boss¡¯ eyes widened, and he quickly dropped into a defensive posture. Swoosh¨C I swung my clenched fist towards his face. He blocked with his left arm, steam rising from his body as his own eyes shed. His right foot came flying toward my side. I knew I had to stay close to him because the tip of his foot would strike with the most force. Since it was toote to avoid his kick, I knew there was only one option for me. Instead of backing away, I moved toward the boss. As I got closer, the boss¡¯ eyes widened. He wore a puzzled expression, as if he couldn¡¯t figure out my intentions. As his right leg came toward me, I wrapped my left arm around his thigh. Using centrifugal force, I mmed his body to the ground. Bang!!! The asphalt cracked, sending debris flying. I pressed on, raining punches down on him. ¡®Faster, faster! Faster, damn it!¡¯'' I attacked nonstop while biting my lower lip. He kept taking my punches as I slowly hammered him down to the earth. Grasp! The boss, who had been defending himself so far, reached out his right arm and grabbed my cor. He pulled on my upper body as hard as he could. I couldn''t withstand his power, and my face mmed against the ground. I lost focus for a second, and the brief moment felt like an eternity. The piercing whine ringing through my eardrums strained my consciousness. I shook my head and blinked. Fortunately, the blurriness quickly went away. The bossunched himself up off the ground and came at me with a kick. A kick from a blue-eyed zombie that was letting out steam¡­ The amount of force behind it would be enough to shatter most pirs. Thud!! I hurriedly protected my chest with my arms, but the strike shattered my left arm. I flew a couple of meters back, as if I was defying gravity. The impact left a constant ringing in my head, but I snapped myself out of it and focused on the boss again. I red at him. When I straightened, I saw the boss panting. He was gritting his teeth and holding onto his chest, as though my rain of punches earlier on had injured him. It seemed like the punches that hadnded around his ribs and chest, damaging his lungs. I knew better than to give him time to regenerate. I also knew that, if his lungs were damaged, his bnce would be off as well. ¡°GWAAA!¡± Iunched myself off from the ground as I let out more steam. Using my eleration to increase my momentum, I punched the boss with all my might. He saw my fisting his way and pulled his right foot back to lower his center of gravity. He twisted at the waist to return the punch. POW!!! His fist was crushed, and his upper body rocked backward. Despite all the swaying, he managed to stay on his feet. Unfortunately, the impact had crushed my right arm as well, and my shoulder de was dislocated. However, I harnessed the momentum and eleration that I still had and went for the still-reeling boss. My eyes were locked on his neck, and I revealed my sharp teeth. The boss quickly twisted his upper body and came at me with a roundhouse kick. Smack! His kick connected squarely with my temple. Thankfully, there wasn¡¯t much force behind it because he hadn¡¯t been able to generate much momentum, but it had struck me in a weak spot nheless. Everything in front me flickered for a second. My mind grew hazy and began to sink into a deep abyss, as if I was on a rollercoaster that only went down. To make matters worse, I couldn''t even nt my hands on the ground because my arms were broken. However, even though I was rolling on the ground, I continued to elerate my blood flow. ¡°GWAAA!!!!¡± I let out a roar that dragged my mind out from the abyss it had sunk into, and quickly took in the air around me. Boing¨C A human shadow flew overhead, apanied by a sonic boom. ''Above.¡¯ I could sense him even without seeing him with my own two eyes. My senses were telling me that the boss had jumped into the air and was freefalling straight toward my head. Fighting against the boss sent chills that went down my spine and heightened my senses, so that I could pick up things I would not have normally felt. I could tell where the boss was without having to see him, as if every single cell within me was alive. I quickly rolled my body aside and avoided the boss. Thud! The impact blew out a huge cloud of dust, obscuring my vision as dust drifted into my mouth, eyes, and ears. Although we were both blue-eyed zombies, I could sense the power difference between me and the boss. The maximum number of underlings I could control was two thousand three hundred. Given his strength, I assumed that the boss could control more, almost close to three thousand. I realized that I was no match for his strength. The fight was leaning toward one side, but not mine. ¡°You fucking bastard¡­ How dare you¡­¡± Steam rose from the boss¡¯ body as he slowly regenerated his damaged chest. Steam was rising from me as well, but the boss wasn¡¯t willing to wait. He raised his right foot and mmed a heel into my head. ¡°GAAA!¡± I reflexively let out a wail. My face, along with the back of my head, was stuck into the ground. To make matters worse, shards of asphalt pierced my left eyeball, making me lose my sense of perspective. I stared at the boss with my one good eye. He frowned and clenched his fists. After a moment, his right arm began to grow bigger. Once his forearm grew to about one-and-a-half times its usual size, he let out more steam and pronounced my fate. ¡°Die, you fucking bastard.¡± Hisrge, strengthened arm came flying toward my skull. I knew I had to avoid his attack. Getting hit head-on would mean instant death. Despite the thoughts in my mind, the only thing my body did was flop about like a salmon leaping out of the water. My body wasn¡¯t moving the way I wanted it to, and I couldn¡¯t help but think that my brain wasn¡¯t functioning properly because of the damage to my head during this fight. The moment felt like an eternity; my whole life began to sh before my eyes. ''No, no.'' Although I was denying what was happening to me in my head, I couldn''t do anything to change the tragic reality. The only thing I could do was to grit my teeth and hope that I could withstand his attack. Bang! The boss in front of me disappeared, and my eardrums rang with the sound of a sonic boom. My eyes could barely focus on the being that had taken the boss¡¯ ce. It was Kim Hyeong-Jun, his body wrapped in thick clouds of steam. His brow was furrowed in anger. He gave me a sidelong nce, and in the midst of all this, he smirked. ¡°Did someone call for a hero?¡± he said. I couldn¡¯t believe that I was that happy to see his face. Of course, being the person I was, I hid my feelings and bit my lower lip instead. I merely looked at him. ¡°I was wondering when you were going to show up, youter,¡± I said. He snorted. ¡°I arrived earlier than I would have when I was still a student,¡± he joked. Clink, clink. Pieces of the fallen wall went flying left and right as the boss freed himself from the rubble. His flesh had been mercilessly torn away. He red at Kim Hyeong-Jun with eyes full of anger. ¡°There are¡­ two of you with blue eyes?¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun sneered and gave the boss the middle finger. ¡°Why? Do you have a problem with that?¡± The boss didn¡¯t know anything about the Survivors Rally Organization. He had regarded us as puny beings, like bugs that were trying their best to break down the impossible. He was soon going to pay the price for his arrogance andck of information. The boss gritted his teeth and roared, the strain of it making the veins in his neck pop out. Thud, thud, thud. The ground started to rumble, and I saw thousands of zombies making their way toward us from the direction of Gwanak-san. Honestly, I wasn¡¯t surprised at all. I knew that he must have had other underlings with him. I could tell that he was nning on preserving his underlings and leaving Seoul, since that would make it much easier for him to be the leader of a different region again. However, now that the unexpected had happened, he was going all-in. To match his efforts, I elerated the flow of my blood, causing more steam to rise from my body. Thankfully, I had regenerated my damaged body, and I could use my arms again. I pushed myself up from the ground with a sigh. As I let out the tension within me, my body¡ªwhich had lost its coordination earlier¡ªfelt lighter, almost as if I had entered a state of tranquility. Kim Hyeong-Jun nced over at me. ¡°How many underlings do you have left?¡± he asked. I rubbed my stiff neck and looked around. Mood-Swinger was still fighting the rock mutant, and the other stage-three mutant was battling Ji-Eun in a deadly contest of individual mobility and flexibility. As for the stage-one mutants, there were only half of them left. I had brought thirty-nine of them with me in the beginning. The remaining neen stage-one mutants were assisting Mood Swinger and Ji-Eun in their fight. Thanks to their support, the battle between the stage-three mutants was leaning toward the side of the Survivors Rally organization. I looked over at Kim Hyeong-Jun. ¡°I¡¯ll have my underlings take out the other ones,¡± I said, ¡°All we need to do is catch him.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± I ordered my neen stage-one mutants to block off the zombies that wereing our way. They screamed and ran toward Gwanak-san. I crouched down and clenched my fists. Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s eyes were also locked onto the boss as he elerated the flow of his blood. The boss gritted his teeth as he saw everything leaning toward the side of the Survivors Rally Organization. He looked nervous. It seemed like he had implicitly acknowledged that he had no chance of winning. There was only one option left for the boss. Either fight to the bitter and disastrous end, or humbly ept his fate. But it didn¡¯t matter what he was going to do. His fate wasn¡¯t going to change. Chapter 155 Chapter 155 ¡°Let¡¯s go! Hurry up!¡± The three cruise ships approached Gangseo Wend Ecological Park. Once they docked, Lee Jeong-Uk looked around as he disembarked the survivors. Far away in the distance, Do Han-Sol, the guards, and the soldiers from Gangnam were holding off the zombies. When Lee Jeong-Uk set foot on drynd, Do Han-Sol ran over to him. ¡°There are more than we anticipated,¡± he said urgently. ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯ll be possible to get through them.¡± ¡°Are they part of the Family?¡± "No. I don¡¯t see any of them as red. They all seem to be street zombies.¡± ¡°Then we have to go through them.¡± As Lee Jeong-Uk shouldered his K2 rifle and tried to move forward, he noticed that one of the cruise ships was having trouble anchoring itself. He shouted for Lee Jeong-Hyuk. ¡°Hey! Jeong-Hyuk! Check the cruise shiping in on the right!¡± "Got it!" Lee Jeong-Hyuk got right on it and guided thest cruise ship to dock safely. Choi Da-Hye, who was beside him, loaded her rifle and provided cover for him. ¡°GRRR!!!¡± All the zombies from the city center tried to run toward them. The wends made it easier to block them off, preventing them from getting closer. At the same time, though, there wasn¡¯t a way out for the survivors as well. After a moment, the principal approached Lee Jeong-Uk. ¡°We have to go somewhere else. There are too many zombies here.¡± "We can¡¯t do that. This is the only ce we can dock. There are less ces to hide as we get further away from Gimpo Airport. Besides, it¡¯s also difficult to get all these people to move elsewhere.¡± ¡°Then what do you have in mind?¡± Lee Jeong-Uk bit his lower lip with a troubled expression. He hadn¡¯t thought about the street zombies at all, as his mind had been upied with the members of the Family. Unsure of what to do, Lee Jeong-Uk furrowed his brow and took a deep breath. The pressure he was under and the nervousness that he felt was making him more sensitive than usual. He shouted for Park Gi-Cheol and Bae Jeong-Man, who were a distance away. ¡°Mr. Park Gi-Cheol! Mr. Bae Jeong-Man!¡± Lee Jeong-Uk gestured with his right hand for them toe closer. Park Gi-Cheol and Bae Jeong-Man led the guards and soldiers back to where the survivors were. ¡°There¡¯s a lot more than we anticipated,¡± said Bae Jeong-Man as he wiped off the zombie bloodstains on his face. ¡°How many are we talking about?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t see an end to them. I think there are around four thousand.¡± ¡°Did you say four thousand?¡± Lee Jeong-Uk knew that they stood no chance against those numbers, even if they were just street zombies. Do Han-Sol had around one thousand underlings, but it was impossible to fight against all of those zombies in an open field while trying to protect the survivors at the same time. After all, they weren¡¯t merely ying defense; they had to advance to Gimpo Airport. He was well aware of their situation. He surveyed the surrounding terrain as though trying toe up with a way to get past the wends. Finally, his eyes locked onto Bae Jeong-Man. ¡°Mr. Bae Jeong-Man.¡± "Yes?¡± ¡°Do you have a grenadeuncher?¡± Bae Jeong-man raised his eyebrows, then smirked and turned to Park Shin-Jeong, who was next to him, to give him orders. The moment Lee Jeong-Uk mentioned grenades, he knew what Lee Jeong-Uk had on his mind. ¡°Hey, Park Shin-Jeong.¡± ¡°Yes, sir¡­ No¡­ Hyung-nim." ¡°Tell each squad to equip K201 grenadeunchers.¡± [1] "Got it!" ¡°And get the two K3 shooters to the two-story pavilion in front.¡± "Got it!" Park Shin-Jeong gathered each squad leader and got what they needed. Bae Jeong-Man looked around the surrounding terrain as he spoke to Lee Jeong-Uk. ¡°You should move the survivors to where the K3 shooters and spotters are going to be.¡± ¡°And you can make it out yourself?¡± Bae Jeong-Man¡¯s eyes burned with a fiery determination. ¡°You have nothing to be worried about.¡± His eyes betrayed no signs of nervousness or fear. It seemed as though he was going to kill every zombie that came into his sight. In moments, four K3 gunners with machine guns weighing seven kilograms ran up to the second storey of the pavilion, with three hundred rounds of ammunition slung over their shoulders. The spotters ran together with them, carrying a handful of magazines and even extra barrels. Seeing this, Lee Jeong-Hyuk went up to Bae Jeong-Man. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t the survivors move in the opposite direction of the K3 shooters?¡± he asked. ¡°You can only kill so many zombies with grenades. We have to make a way for all of us to escape at once.¡± "Hmm?¡± ¡°We¡¯re going to use the grenades to change the direction the zombies are headed toward. The K3 gunners will offer us fire support once we clear the road right in front.¡± Lee Jeong-Hyuk scratched his head and let out a sigh. It seemed like a risky n to him, but he couldn¡¯t think of any other n that could be put into action immediately. Once all the preparations had beenpleted, Bae Jeong-Man called out to Do Han-Sol. ¡°I¡¯m going to break through the front. The zombies will move to the side once we fire the grenades. You¡¯ll have to protect our nks for us.¡± ¡°Got it.¡± Do Han-Sol nodded and went toward the survivors. Bae Jeong-Man shouted at the top of his lungs, ¡°Fire grenades on the targets one hundred fifty meters ahead!!¡± Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh¡ª The grenades arced through the air in perfect parabs. Boom!! Boom!! Boom!! The survivors crouched down in fear at the thunderous explosions that followed. Bae Jeong-Man had his eyes glued to the movements of the zombies. After a moment, he nodded at Lee Jeong-Uk. Lee Jeong-Uk saw his nod and shouted a single word to the survivors. "Run!!" Almost instantly, all the survivors ran as hard as they could, only looking forward. The adults held the children in their arms, and everyone was running straight ahead as if their lives depended on it¡ªwhich they did. It was only natural for them to be scared. However, the survivors were willing to risk their lives by putting their trust in the guards, Do Han-Sol, and each other. The guards were in front of the survivors while Do Han-Sol had ced his underlings along their nks. The whole group was moving forward in a cone-shaped formation. There were soldiers interspersed between the survivors, each with twelve grenades strapped to their shoulders. They constantly threw grenades outward, until they ran out. Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh¨C Boom!! Boom!! Boom!! Bae Jeong-Man was overseeing the operation, and noticed that the zombies were taking a detour to the right. He yelled orders at the K3 gunners. ¡°First and second squad, get ready!¡± ¡°Ready!!¡± GRRR!!! When the zombies came within firing distance, Bae Jeong-Man¡¯s eyes shed. ¡°Fire!!¡± Bang! Bang! Bang!! The roar of the machine guns filled the air, and the detouring zombies were instantly riddled with bullets. ¡°Fire in rounds of fifty! Don¡¯t burn through all your ammo at once! First and second squad, cease fire!! Third and fourth squad, open fire!!¡± Even though the K3 could technically handle three hundred rounds in one burst, it was also a gun that malfunctioned pretty often. Bae Jeong-Man was taking into consideration how the barrels would heat up, as well as the possibility of them getting jammed. He had divided the squads into two groups to keep the zombies from getting closer. Meanwhile, Lee Jeong-Uk was firing bullets nonstop into zombie heads as he pressed forward. The constant grenade explosions that were going off about one hundred meters out were preventing the zombies from getting close. And fortunately, most of the zombies approaching from the front had had their limbs blown off, or were pretty much dead already. Do Han-Sol and his underlings were taking care of the zombies that were going around, while the survivors that were in the center of the cone formation were doing their best to keep up with the group, despite their faces being smeared with tears and snot. Thankfully, none of the survivors were panicking or falling behind. Even though they were scared, they were fully focused and giving their all, as they knew what would happen to them if they didn¡¯t. When the survivors finally emerged from Gangseo Wend Ecological Park, Lee Jeong-Uk got onto the Olympic Highway and pointed at Chihyeon-san, which was in front of him. ¡°Everyone, let¡¯s go that way!¡± There was a narrow road in between Chihyeon-san and Banghwa Neighborhood Park. Since the zombies were running in from Banghwa 2-dong, which was on the right, it seemed a good idea to hide out in Chihyeon-san, located in Banghwa 3-dong. Lee Jeong-Uk knew that they needed to regroup and prepare themselves again before they made their way to Gimpo Airport. Chihyeon-san seemed to be the perfect ce to do so. While Do Han-Sol and his underlings held off the zombies from the right, the survivors sprinted toward Chihyeon-san. However, as Lee Jeong-Uk watched the survivors running, he felt something rather strange. He didn¡¯t see Bae Jeong-Man or the K3 gunners. They had disappeared from his sight. ''Where are they? They didn¡¯t follow us?¡¯ When Lee Jeong-Uk tried to turn back to the wend park, Lee Jeong-Hyuk, who was following him, grabbed his arm. ¡°Where are you going?¡± he asked. ¡°You told us to go to Chihyeon-san!¡± ¡°Bae Jeong-Man. I don¡¯t see Bae Jeong-Man!¡± "Huh?" Lee Jeong-Hyuk btedly realized what his brother was talking about and began to look around as well, a troubled expression on his face. Just like Lee Jeong-Uk had said, he didn¡¯t see Bae Jeong-Man, the K3 gunners, or the spotters. A chill ran down Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s spine. He thought back to when they first reached the Olympic Highway, and he realized that the number of zombies that were following them had decreased, which could only mean that Bae Jeong-Man had voluntarily let himself be bait. When Lee Jeong-Uk got to the entrance of the wend park, he saw Bae Jeong-Man and the soldiers trapped in the pavilion in the distance, fighting off the zombies as if they were ready to give up their lives. He quickly called out to Do Han-Sol. ¡°Do Han-Sol! Mr. Do Han-Sol!!¡± Do Han-Sol dashed over to Lee Jeong-Uk after hearing his shout. "Is there a problem?" "Over there." Lee Jeong-Uk pointed at Bae Jeong-Man, trapped in the pavilion. Seeing this, Do Han-Sol¡¯s eyes went wide, and he looked back at his underlings. They were lined up in a straight line, not allowing anything to get through them. But then he realized that even one underling leaving their formation would render all their efforts up to this point meaningless. Do Han-Sol gritted his teeth. ¡°I can¡¯t think of anything I can do. If I move my underlings, the survivors will be in danger.¡± Having heard what Do Han-Sol had to say, Lee Jeong-Uk shouted toward Park Gi-Cheol, who was a distance away. As Park Gi-Cheol came running over, Lee Jeong-Uk checked the remaining bullets in his K2 rifle and spoke up. ¡°Mr. Park Gi-Cheol, we have to rescue Bae Jeong-Man.¡± "Come again?" ¡°Just bring the guards over here, please.¡± Park Gi-Cheol shook his head violently as he saw the number of zombies in the wend park. ¡°No, absolutely not! Do you think we can get through that number of zombies?¡± Lee Jeong-Uk furrowed his brow. ¡°Then do we just let them die like that?¡± he yelled back. ¡°They can escape as long as we distract the zombies!¡± ¡°...¡± Park Gi-Cheol scratched his eyebrows, and his expression grew bitter andplicated. He bit his lips as he looked back and forth between Bae Jeong-Man, who was trapped in the pavilion, and the survivors making their way to Chihyeon-san. He sighed. ¡°As of now, there¡¯s nothing we can do. Nothing.¡± Park Gi-Cheol clicked his tongue vigorously, his face a mask of bitterness. Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s face fell as he looked at Park Gi-Cheol. Lee Jeong-Hyuk also bit his lower lip and let his head sag. Everyone had given up without even trying. Lee Jeong-Uk had no choice but to look back at Bae Jeong-Man from a distance away. ¡®Why didn¡¯t you follow us? Why? Why did you decide to be bait?¡¯ As Lee Jeong-Uk kept on asking himself why the major hadn¡¯t followed them, he wondered if Bae Jeong-Man had assumed that the survivors would be in peril if the K3 gunners stopped firing. But then, it hit him. ''No way¡­ Was he nning to do this from the beginning?'' Perhaps Bae Jeong-Man must¡¯ve realized early on that it¡¯d be impossible for everyone to make it through the zombies. It seemed that he had intended to clear the way for the survivors to escape, then be bait for the zombies. The K3 gunners and spotters had probably understood the gist of what was going to happen when they¡¯d received their orders. The gist of it was that it would be their final order. Lee Jeong-Uk gritted his teeth and ran toward the wend park alone. Lee Jeong-Hyuk¡¯s eyes went wide, and he grabbed a hold of his clothes to pull him back. Recognizing that Lee Jeong-Uk was going to do something reckless, Do Han-Sol and Park Gi-Cheol also grabbed him and pinned him to the ground. Lee Jeong-Hyuk pressed a hand against his chest and shouted, ¡°Wake up, Hyung-nim!¡± "Shut up! We can¡¯t leave them behind like this! Is everyone out of their minds?¡± ¡°Then what, do you want everyone to just die? You should be thinking about the survivors over there!¡± ¡°Sacrificing others so that we can live? Let go of me, let go!¡± "Hyung-nim! Please!" While Lee Jeong-Hyuk begged his brother to calm down, Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s eyes filled with tears as he got all worked up. Looking up at Lee Jeong-Hyuk, who was holding him down, he couldn¡¯t help but recall what had happened just a couple of months ago. Back then, Lee Jeong-Hyuk and Choi Da-Hye had held him down with all their might when he tried to save his wife and daughter, who were trapped in the apartment they¡¯d been staying in. They told him that he couldn¡¯t go, and shouldn¡¯t go back. They also told him that there was nothing he could do. All the emotions he¡¯d felt back then welled up inside him. Lee Jeong-Uk gritted his teeth and punched Lee Jeong-Hyuk in the face. As Lee Jeong-Hyuk fell to the ground, Park Gi-Cheol grabbed Lee Jeong-Uk by the cor and shook him vigorously. ¡°Are you nuts?¡± He shouted. ¡°Wake up, you bastard!¡± "I¡¯ll just go by myself! Happy?¡± ¡°You¡¯re the goddamn leader!¡± ¡°If I don¡¯t give my all for the survivors as the leader of the Survivors Rally Organization, what kind of leader am I! Huh? Goddamn it!¡± Lee Jeong-Uk sounded as though he were straining to find justification for his actions. Park Gi-Cheol stayed silent. It seemed like Lee Jeong-Uk had already made up his mind. Park Gi-Cheol slowly let go of Lee Jeong-Uk. Lee Jeong-Uk didn''t let the chance slip by him and pped Park Gi-Cheol away. He dashed toward the wend park, where Bae Jeong-Man was. Lee Jeong-Hyuk, who had been lying face down, spat on the ground as he watched him go, then followed his brother. Park Gi-Cheol considered all this for a moment, then looked at Do Han-Sol, who was next to him. ¡°Han-Sol, you lead the survivors.¡± "Pardon?" ¡°Twenty minutes. If we don''te back in twenty minutes, leave first.¡± ¡°Mr. Park Gi-Cheol!¡± Do Han-Sol looked at him in surprise, and Park Gi-Cheol sighed. "Don''t worry, I''ll take care of those stupid Lee brothers.¡± With that, Park Gi-Cheol chased after the Lee brothers. Do Han-Sol¡¯s expression soured as he stood there scratching his head, not knowing what to do. If he followed them now, he wouldn¡¯t be able to maneuver his underlings ordingly, which would leave a gap in their formation and allow the zombies to get to the survivors in Chihyeon-san. Do Han-Sol found himself between a rock and a hard ce. 1. The K201 is an under-barrel grenadeuncher simr to the American M203 40mm. You attach it to a K2 rifle to use it. ? Chapter 156 Chapter 156 Bang! Bang! Bang! Lee Jeong-Uk made a big loop to his right as he shot the zombies in their heads. He was moving along the Han River, fully aware that he might get surrounded by zombies if he cut through the middle. After a moment, Lee Jeong-Hyuk caught up and stood shoulder-to-shoulder with his brother, firing at the approaching zombies. Some of the other zombies that were surrounding the pavilion heard the Lee brothers¡¯ approach and turned to stare at them. In an instant, they charged at the Lee brothers. Lee Jeong-Uk watched them approach, then pulled out a grenade from his belt and threw it at the t ground. Bang!! The explosion created a thick cloud of dust as torn zombie limbs went flying everywhere. However, it was impossible to stop all the zombies with one grenade. The remaining zombies moved into the wends and continued to advance on the Lee brothers. The moment they stepped into the wends, though, their movements slowed significantly. Perhaps it was because their legs were stuck in the mud that covered the wends. The Lee brothers, realizing that this was their chance,posed themselves and carefully picked off the zombies. Bang! Bang! Bang! Tick, tick, tick¨C Out of all the things that could¡¯ve happened, Lee Jeong-Uk ran out of rounds. He quickly reced his magazine, but the zombies were already across the stretch of swamp. Things were not going his way. Bang! Bang, bang! Bullets whizzed in from the left nk of the approaching zombies, piercing through their temples. ¡°Get down!¡± yelled Park Gi-Cheol. Park Gi-Cheol pulled the pin out of the grenade he was holding and threw it toward the swamp. The Lee brothers threw themselves to the ground at once. Boom!!! Muddy water shot up into the air, along with an explosion of zombie limbs. The Lee brothers scrambled into a kneeling position and continued firing. Bang, bang, bang, bang¨C The K3 gunners in the pavilion noticed the Lee brothers and began offering fire support. It seemed like the impossible was slowly bing possible. A gap began to form between the zombies surrounding the pavilion. If they held on just a bit longer, they¡¯d be able to get to the pavilion. Crack! However, the pavilion wasn¡¯t willing to wait for them. Its pirs began to crack, and it didn¡¯t take a rocket scientist to figure out that the pavilion wouldn¡¯t stay standing for much longer. It was a matter of time before the entire pavilion copsed, and it would be over for Bae Jeong-Man, the K3 gunners and their spotters. Sweat trickled down Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s forehead. He was beginning to think that he wouldn¡¯t make it to them in time. Zoom¨C Just then, a loud drone filled his eardrums. It was so loud that it felt as though the earth was shaking. Through the ringing in his ears, though, he heard a rather familiar noise. He instinctively looked up at the sky. A sound he¡¯d never expected to ever hear again wasing from up in the sky. Zoom¨C! A huge transport ne was descending towards Gimpo Airport. All the zombies in the wend park stopped moving as the sound of the ne¡¯s engines filled their ears. They stared at the ne, then began chasing after the ne at once, as if hypnotized. They were like iron filings being pulled toward an extremely strong ma. Just like that, they all rushed straight toward Gimpo Airport,pletely disregarding the people who were still in the wend park. Lee Jeong-Uk stared wide-eyed at the zombies, then looked at Bae Jeong-Man. Bae Jeong-Man¡¯s eyes met his, full of surprise as well. His soldiers quickly ran to safety. Lee Jeong-Uk took care of the remaining zombies and approached Bae Jeong-Man. As the two got closer, Bae Jeong-Man started swearing at the top of his lungs. ¡°Why did youe back, you fucking idiot?!¡± ¡°I never ordered you to die!¡± The two hurled vulgarities the moment they met, but then exchanged a firm hug, as if they were both relieved that they were alive. Bae Jeong-Man regarded the Lee brothers and Park Gi-Cheol silently, his face full of emotion. It was easy to see that he was moved by their actions. The K3 gunners and spotters teared up as they realized that they were still alive. After a moment, Lee Jeong-Hyuk, who was standing next to Park Gi-Cheol, pointed toward the ne that was flying away. ¡°Isn¡¯t that a military cargo ne?¡± he asked. "Yeah.¡± ¡°I wonder where it came from all of a sudden.¡± ¡°How should I know? But one thing¡¯s for sure. Now we know there are other survivors in this world besides us.¡± Regardless of where the military cargo ne hade from, who was flying it, or how it hade here, Bae Jeong-Man and his men were saved because of its sudden appearance. However, since the ne had dragged all the zombies to Gimpo Airport, they had to change their destination. Lee Jeong-Uk took a deep breath and let it out, then spoke up. ¡°Let¡¯s get back to the survivors first. We can think about whates next afterward.¡± * * * Thud! Kim Hyeong-Jun coughed out blood and fell to the ground. The boss didn¡¯t let the opportunity slip by and charged toward Kim Hyeong-Jun. Recognizing what he was going to do, I shot toward him and kicked him in the knee. The boss copsed to the ground, apanied by the sound of a log breaking. I pressed forward, twisting my upper body to kick him. He quickly brought his hands up to his chest to protect himself. Pow! His ribs broke and he flew twenty meters to the right. However, he coughed out some blood and immediately got to his feet. ¡®Man, just die already.¡¯ He was clinging on for dear life. Despite the beating he was receiving, he kept on getting up. I looked over at Kim Hyeong-Jun. "How are you holding up?¡± "Ha¡­ That bastard¡­ He¡¯s like a cockroach, damn it.¡± I couldn¡¯t agree more. Despite our concerted attacks, he kept on getting up over and over again. I wondered if he had more blood than we did, since he was able to constantly get back on his feet. Steam rose from the boss¡¯ body again as he regenerated his damaged knees and ribs. He red at the two of us. ¡°Why? Are you two tired already? Is this all you¡¯ve got?¡± "Nah, I mean, we can¡¯t seem to stop. It''s fun bullying you,¡± I said with a sneer. The boss clenched his fists and prepared to attack. He was holding on longer than I expected, but he was regenerating more slowly now. When Kim Hyeong-Jun saw the boss getting ready to fight, he spat out some phlegm and got up as well. ¡°Ahjussi, don¡¯t you think he¡¯s pretending to be okay? Like on purpose?¡± he whispered to me. "Why?" ¡°Look at his legs. He¡¯s shaking.¡± His words prompted me to take a closer look at the boss¡¯ legs. It seemed like he hadn¡¯t been able topletely regenerate his broken legs. I tilted my head. ¡°I wonder why he¡¯s trying so hard to stand up again?¡± I asked Kim Hyeong-Jun. ¡°He wants us to feel afraid. That way, we¡¯ll expose our weaknesses, and he¡¯ll go after them.¡± I snorted. "Huh. Us, getting afraid? Of what? Him?¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun smiled. ¡°I mean, it seems like his strategy¡¯s worked so far.¡± ¡°That¡¯s ridiculous.¡± Come to think of it, though, what Kim Hyeong-Jun was saying was something rather simple. The Family operated under a strict hierarchical system. The low-level zombies were afraid of the dong leaders, while the dong leaders were afraid of the officers, and the officers were afraid of the boss. Because of this, everyone in the organization probably trembled in fear at the boss¡¯ slightest frown, since more of them had probably joined up in order to survive, and not because they genuinely wanted to be part of the Family. They were the perfect example of how a vertically-structured organization could go wrong. On the one hand, his useless intimidation didn¡¯t work on us, since we¡¯d started from the bottom and made our way up by relying on our own efforts to grow stronger. And since we gave our all every time and always believed in the smallest possibilities when going through hardships, his meager threats were meaningless to us. I looked over at Kim Hyeong-Jun. ¡°Let¡¯s finish him already. I thought he was holding on because he had something up his sleeve, but he didn¡¯t have anything prepared. All he has is some guts.¡± "Okay.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun gritted his teeth and his blue eyes shed. Steam rose from my body as I elerated my blood flow as well. Bang!!! We bothunched ourselves toward the boss at the same time, as though we¡¯d made some sort of unspoken agreement. The boss¡¯ eyes widened, and he quickly crouched down and jumped into the air. I tracked him with my eyes, then grabbed Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s clothes and spun,unching him at the boss as though throwing a shotput. Kim Hyeong-Jun flew toward the boss and crashed a knee into his face with all his might. ¡°GWAAA!¡± With a cry, the boss lost control of his body and began falling in a straight line toward the ground. I squatted, my body folding like a frog¡¯s as I channeled strength into my legs. At that moment, I only had one goal in mind. The ground beneath me cracked as Iunched myself in the air. In a sh, I was in front of the boss. I clenched my right fist tightly and punched him in his crooked face with all my strength. Smack!!! I pummeled his face continuously as he fell toward the ground like a balloon losing air. As soon as Kim Hyeong-Junnded back on the ground, he positioned himself underneath, where he judged that the boss wouldnd. Just as the boss was about to touch the ground, Kim Hyeong-Jun, who had been rushing toward him like a raging wave, kicked him right on the temple, using all the force he had built up on his approach. It was pretty much a one-sided assault. The boss couldn¡¯t do anything; not even the guts he had could help him. Mood-Swinger and Ji-Eun had taken care of his stage-three mutants, and my other underlings had mercilessly swept aside the thousands of underlings that he had. As soon as Inded, I ran to Kim Hyeong-Jun. He was looking down at the dying boss. I looked down at him, taking in his crumpled face. ¡°Anyst words you want to say?¡± I asked. ¡°...¡± The boss red at us with eyes full of resentment, not saying a word. I crouched down in front of him. "Hmm, it seems like you can¡¯t even talk with that twisted jaw of yours, huh?¡± I asked again. ¡°He¡­lp¡­ me¡­¡± The boss finally opened his mouth and pleaded for help. He spoke extremely slowly, in a tone full of despair. Kim Hyeong-Jun stood over him, his fists shaking. ¡°This bastard thinks he can blurt anything out of his damn mouth¡­¡± I cut off Kim Hyeong-Jun and red at the boss. "Hey, that¡¯s enough man.¡± With a sigh, I said, ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have said that if you wanted to live.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°You should¡¯ve considered all the people you¡¯ve killed. Don¡¯t you feel any guilt whatsoever?¡± ¡°They¡¯re¡­ species¡­ evolving¡­ That¡¯s all." ¡°So humans are just beings that haven¡¯t evolved?¡± His body began to give out a faint bit of steam. Even in the midst of all of this, his body was regenerating. I clenched my right hand and smacked him in the jaw. Whack!!! His jaw shattered to pieces, and steam stopped rising from his body. I looked him directly in the eyes. ¡®Everyone you¡¯ve killed is waiting for you to go to hell.'' He finally realized how helpless he was, and his eyes began to tremble in fear. I stared down at him, with bitterness, anger, and a million other feelings on my face. ¡®You¡¯re going to have to go through what they¡¯ve gone through.¡¯ When I had said all that I wanted to say, I got up. I looked over at Kim Hyeong-Jun, who was ring at the boss with the same, unmoving expression. I asked him for a favor. ¡°Could you take care of him?¡± ¡°Happily.¡± I got up and walked over to where my underlings were. Thud, thud, thud! I heard Kim Hyeong-Jun stomping on the boss¡¯s head a couple of times behind me. He crushed the boss¡¯ head over and over, as though letting out all the stress he had umted. I turned back around. ¡°Hey, hey, don¡¯tpletely destroy his head. You¡¯re going to damage his brain,¡± I said. ¡°Wait, ahjussi, did you want the brain?¡± ¡°No, but I think we should give it to Han-Sol.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun stopped stamping on the boss¡¯ head and retrieved the half-damaged brain. Do Han-Sol had yet to eat a ck creature¡¯s brain, so the speed of his regenerative abilities was pretty slow. It would be good if he could ingest the boss¡¯ brain and increase his rate of regeneration in the future. Since it was impossible to know what the state of things on Jeju Ind was like, it was important to make sure that Do Han-Sol got stronger as well. I stared nkly into the blue sky and let out a deep breath. I thought I¡¯d feelfortable and at peace after taking care of the head of the Family. I thought I¡¯d feel relieved that everything was over. However, I still felt uneasy and ufortable, and there was an unexinable tension within me. I felt like I had gained nothing from his death; he didn¡¯t feel the slightest remorse for what he had done. His death was futile and pointless. Even though I¡¯d killed him, I still felt as though I wanted to kill him even more. I wanted to kill him over and over again until he broke down and offered a tearful apology. Perhaps only then would I feel better, knowing that he¡¯d gotten what he deserved. Kim Hyeong-Jun noticed my bitter expression and walked over to me. ¡°Maybe you should¡¯ve finished him off, ahjussi.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Because you don¡¯t look satisfied.¡± I burst intoughter. I shook my head, and Kim Hyeong-Jun pped me lightly on my forearm. ¡°We did it.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°There aren¡¯t any bastards left in Seoul.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± I nodded and offered him a small smile. Kim Hyeong-Jun smiled back. ¡°I¡¯m going to check on Mood-Swinger. You should do the same with your underlings, ahjussi.¡± "Okay, yeah. Go ahead.¡± As I watched Kim Hyeong-Jun walking away, I took a deep breath and let it out. I exhaled forcefully, slowly dispelling the uneasiness within me. He was right. Everything was over. We had to be happy with what we¡¯d achieved. I then recalled the thing I¡¯d wanted the most ever since I¡¯d woken up as a zombie. Above all, I desired for my daughter''s safety. I had to be content with the fact that my family was safe now. All we needed to do was to get to Jeju Ind and build our own Garden of Eden. I sighed and walked over to where Ji-Eun and the stage-one mutants were. Three stage-one mutants had died fighting the boss¡¯s underlings. I offered thanks for the mutants that died fighting. I then ordered all the surviving mutants to feast on the zombie corpses around them. Ji-Eun had been injured in her fight against the stage-three mutant, so I fed her the brain of the dong leader we¡¯d encountered at the southern end of Sogang Bridge. I gave the other dong leader¡¯s brain to Mood-Swinger. Just as I had wrapped things up and was about to leave for Gimpo Airport, Kim Hyeong-Jun pped me on the arm. The sudden p caught me off-guard. ¡°What was that?¡± I asked him, rubbing my forearm. ¡°Why did you hit me all of a sudden?¡± ¡°Ahjussi, what¡¯s that?¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun was pointing at something with a flustered expression. I looked calmly in the direction he was pointing, but quickly rubbed my eyes, as I couldn¡¯t believe what I was seeing. There was something floating in the blue sky, like a fly floating in a ss of milk. Something was in the air that shouldn¡¯t have been there in that day and age. A ne was descending toward Gimpo Airport. Chapter 157 Chapter 157 Once the survivors arrived at Gimpo Airport, they headed straight to the passenger terminal, avoiding the zombies that were filling up the runway. Lee Jeong-Uk, Park Gi-Cheol, Bae Jeong-Man, and Park Shin-Jeong stood guard at each entrance to prevent zombies from approaching, while Do Han-Sol took his underlings to the runway. Hundreds¡ªor even thousands¡ªof zombies swarmed in front of the military transport ne. The people trapped in the ne could do nothing but watch as death approached them. Do Han-Sol saw the zombies swarming the aircraft, and angrily let out the zombie instincts he had been containing within him. It had been a while since he¡¯d been able to unleash his zombie side. It was because he was no longer on defense; he was now the aggressor. ¡°Kill them all.¡± When they received Do Han-Sol¡¯s orders, all one thousand of his underlings ran toward the runway, growling deep in their throats. Do Han-Sol led the charge as he raced toward the street zombies, his red eyes shing. His underlings swept through the street zombies like a tidal wave and wiped them out, like a tank corps sweeping away infantry soldiers. Tommy, who was watching all of this happen from the aircraft, called themander. ¡°Commander, Commander! I think you should look at the situation outside.¡± Themander cupped his face with his palms. "What seems to be the problem?¡± He seemed ready to ept his fate, but then realized that Tommy¡¯s expression seemed curious. The anxiety that had been present earlier on was gone, and his expression was nowpletely different. Fear had been reced by confusion. Themander looked out at the world beyond the ss windows of the ne. His eyes went wide, and he was stunned for a moment. ¡°Uh¡­ Those¡­ What are those?¡± he finally managed to stutter. ¡°What do you mean? They¡¯re a new type of zombie.¡± ¡°So zombies are attacking zombies?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve told you several times that it was impossible to know how the virus may have mutated in Korea, since there are four distinct seasons here. What do you n on doing now?¡± Themander stared outside the window for a while, then swallowed and clenched his fists. ¡°Wait. Isn¡¯t this better for us?¡± Tommy looked over at themander, hoping that whatever was going through themander¡¯s mind wasn¡¯t what Tommy suspected. ¡°No¡­ You''re not thinking about going out to fight, are you?" ¡°This is our chance. We have to get to the terminal and get supplies while the zombies are fighting each other.¡± ¡°The ones that just arrived are different from the zombies we''ve dealt with. They have far superior physical abilities. Going outside is a death sentence.¡± "Then what? Are you just going to wait here until you die?¡± Themander red at Tommy, and he looked down at the floor, his expression growing troubled. Just then, Alyosha, who had been peering out the window as well, yelled out like an excited little child. "Oh, oh! It¡¯s red, red!¡± Tommy sighed. ¡°Alyosha, please get back to your senses. Please? I¡¯m begging you.¡± Alyosha shed a broad smile and pointed toward a zombie. ¡°It¡¯s red! The zombie has red eyes.¡± Tommy tilted his head and followed Alyosha¡¯s finger. He saw the zombie Alyosha was talking about ughtering other zombies as its red eyes shed. Just looking at it sent chills down his spine. It was a mutant. ¡®A mutant zombieing out of nowhere starts ughtering other zombies¡­?¡¯ At that moment, the zombie with red eyes shouted, the veins in its neck bulging. ¡°Protect the aircraft! Make sure it doesn¡¯t get damaged!¡± Tommy couldn¡¯t help but gasp in shock when he heard it speak. His eyes went wide and his mouth fell open. Alyosha, who was next to him, burst intoughter as though he were enjoying the situation. ¡°The zombies here make some unusual cries, don¡¯t they?¡± ¡°It¡¯s speaking anguage.¡± "Huh?" ¡°It¡¯s Korean. That zombie is speaking!¡± yelled Tommy in confusion. Themander approached the two of them. ¡°What was that? Zombies speaking?¡± ¡°That zombie is speaking!¡± "Is it speaking Korean?" "Yes! It just said to protect the aircraft so that it doesn¡¯t get damaged!¡± "Then¡­ Are you saying that it¡¯s a zombie that possesses some sort of intellect?¡± Tommy wet his parched lips before answering. ¡°I''m not sure. But assuming that it does possess some type of intellect, and judging from the way its giving orders to other zombies¡­ It seems like it can control other zombies. And I think its trying to protect us.¡± ¡°What if they¡¯re just after what we have?¡± "Then it wouldn¡¯t have said to protect the aircraft from getting damaged.¡± ¡°...¡± Themander remained silent as Tommyid out his reasoning. Tommy swallowed, then continued. ¡°Let''s watch what happens. If we go out now, it¡¯ll just make matters worse.¡± Themander frowned. ¡°Are you saying we should stay put and rely on this zombie when we don¡¯t even know what it is or what it wants? I''m sorry, but I can''t ept that.¡± Tommy raised his voice. ¡°I¡¯m telling you, you can¡¯t go out! The zombie with red eyes has some sort of intellect; it knows how to think. We have to observe the situation from here, and when the situation settles down, we have to talk our way through!¡± ¡°And what if it¡¯s not willing to talk to us?¡± "If conversation doesn''t work, then you''ll end up just like your men who lost their lives in theb." Tommy stared unflinchingly at themander. Themander¡¯s eyebrows twitched, and his expression grew dangerous. "Say that again,¡± he growled in a low voice. ¡°Anyway¡­ I can¡¯t let you go out.¡± Tommy backed away, realizing that he had said something he should¡¯ve not said. However, it was toote. Themander¡¯s mind was clouded over. He grabbed Tommy¡¯s cor. "I told you to say that again.¡± ¡°My apologies¡­ My emotions ran high.¡± ¡°Without them, you wouldn''t even be here on this ne. They¡¯re the ones who sacrificed their lives, shivering in the cold, enduring sleepless nights, all so that you and all the other folks in theb could have a warm ce to do your research. Don¡¯t act so high and mighty.¡± ¡°My sincere apologies¡­¡± Themander pushed Tommy away and took a deep breath. Alyosha, who had been watching the two of them, scratched his head and spoke up. "Excuse me¡­ Tommy? Commander?" The two looked at Alyosha, who was pointing out the window with his thumb. ¡°The red-eyed zombie is staring at us.¡± Do Han-Sol¡¯s face was glued to the window. He was trying to figure out what was inside the aircraft. Themander quickly pulled out his pistol and aimed it toward Do Han-Sol. ¡°Don''t shoot!¡± Tommy yelled quickly. He knew that if the window shattered, the ne would no longer be useful. The bullet might ricochet around inside the fusge as well, which could cause serious damage to them. But of course, themander had no intention of firing his pistol either. He had just reflexively pulled it out in surprise. Themander looked at Do Han-Sol''s face and slowly lowered his gun. Tommy swallowed and took a deep breath, and walked cautiously to the window. He looked at Do Han-Sol and cautiously opened his mouth. "You¡­ Can you hear me?¡± "Huh? Huh!?¡± Do Han-Sol¡¯s eyes went wide as he looked at Tommy, then a grin spread across his face. "Do you speak Korean?" he asked Tommy. ¡°...¡± After hearing his question, Tommy turned slightly and gave themander a careful look. Themander sucked on his lower lip, pondered for a little bit, then gave the order to the soldier next to him. ¡°Open the hatch.¡± "Yes, sir!" The tightly-sealed aircraft finally opened, and the people in the aircraft came face-to-face with hundreds of zombies right in front of them. The zombies were staring nkly at them. Step by cautious step, Tommy exited the aircraft. Do Han-Sol walked over to him and began to speak. "Thank goodness. I thought I wouldn''t be able tomunicate with you all because there would only be foreigners on board.¡± ¡°What are you¡­?¡± "Pardon?" ¡°Are you a zombie or a human?¡± Do Han-Sol smiled sheepishly. ¡°I have a zombie body, but I have a human mind.¡± His ambiguous answer made Tommy¡¯s brow furrow. After a moment, dozens of Russian soldiers piled out of the aircraft, guns at the ready. Do Han-Sol looked at them and scratched his head. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but why don¡¯t you lower your guns? I mean, I did just save your lives,¡± he said. Tommy looked at themanding officer behind him and asked him to order his men to lower their guns. The soldiers lowered their guns, but themander still looked at the zombies around them nervously. After a moment, Tommy and themander began conversing in Russian. Do Han-Sol waited for them to finish. A littleter, Tommy turned to face Do Han-Sol again. ¡°So¡­ What exactly happened in Korea?¡± ¡°Well, as you can see, there are zombies everywhere. What¡¯s the situation like in other countries? Are there even any safe countries out there?¡± Tommy remained silent, allowing Do Han-Sol to infer the answer on his own. ¡°So, the other countries¡­ Their situations are as hopeless as ours?¡± Tommy nodded silently, and Do Han-Sol grimaced. ¡°Then why did you evacuate to Korea?¡± ¡°We have to get to ab.¡± "Pardon? Ab?¡± ¡°The Korean Brain Research Institute, located in Daegu.¡± Tommy¡¯s expression was serious. Do Han-Sol¡¯s eyes went wide. ¡°Are you saying Daegu is safe?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure about that. But I was in contact with theb there until recently.¡± ¡°Are you saying that you¡¯ve been in touch with other research institutes as well?¡± ¡°We assume that thebs located in Canada are the safest, but¡­ We don¡¯t have enough fuel on our aircraft to get there.¡± After hearing the rough rundown of their situation, Do Han-Sol looked Tommy up and down. ¡°Judging by the way you¡¯re dressed, I assume you¡¯re a vine researcher?¡± he said. "Yes. I can''t tell you the details because it''s confidential." ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯d understand what you say anyway. I''m not interested. Do you think there¡¯s any potential for the research to bepleted?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t tell you that either.¡± ¡°...¡± Do Han-Sol smacked his lips, and a bitter expression shed across his face. He chuckled and continued to speak. ¡°Anyway, consider yourselves lucky. You got here just in time while I was around.¡± ¡°Do you have some sort of outpost at Gimpo Airport?¡± "No. Not at all. But I can¡¯t go into the details, because it''s confidential,¡± Do Han-Sol said with a smirk and augh. Tommy raised his eyebrows and red at Do Han-Sol. But thinking about it, he didn¡¯t need to know whether or not Do Han-Sol was staying at Gimpo Airport. He brushed the matter aside, slicked his hair back, and cut to the chase. ¡°We¡¯re nning on securing some jet fuel to get to Daegu Airport. If you don¡¯t mind, do you think we can get some jet fuel?¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s beyond my knowledge. I don¡¯t know anything about that either.¡± "Pardon?" "It¡¯s not like I¡¯m the manager of this ce, nor do I control this ce. I just got here, so I don''t know." Tommy tilted his head. ¡°If you¡¯re not the manager¡­¡± Do Han-Sol looked back toward the passenger terminal and waved his right hand. Lee Jeong-Uk and the guards came out, holding K2 rifles. Lee Jeong-Uk looked nervously at the Russian soldiers and researchers. It was a different kind of nervousnesspared to what he felt when he faced zombies. Lee Jeong-Uk looked at Do Han-Sol. ¡°Who are these people?¡± he asked. ¡°They say they have to get to the Korean Brain Research Institute in Daegu.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s eyes went wide. "Daegu? Is Daegu safe?¡± Tommy replied by smacking his lips. ¡°I¡¯ve already told him about it. Do you think we can go somewhere inside and talk?¡± ¡°Nope. It doesn¡¯t work that way. Besides, there¡¯s no guarantee that you really are researchers.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Just tell us what you want,¡± Lee Jeong-Uk said in a no-nonsense tone. Tommy looked over at Alyosha, who was beside him. They conversed in Russian for a brief moment, then Alyosha pulled out a small syringe. It was filled with a bright blue liquid. Tommy pointed at the syringe. ¡°Do you know what that is?¡± Lee Jeong-Uk saw the liquid in the syringe and swallowed. He could tell what it was without Tommy having to exin. "It can¡¯t be¡­ Is it a vine?¡± ¡°It¡¯s the future of mankind,¡± Tommy replied resolutely. Lee Jeong-Uk stared at Alyosha for a moment, lost in thought. He realized that, even though he had no clue what was going on, there was nothing to lose by getting some information from them. Besides, there was no point staying outside any longer. There will still be zombies left; it was only a matter of time before they would pick up the scent of humans ande after them again. Lee Jeong-Uk looked at the Russian soldiers behind Tommy. ¡°No one can carry firearms. Tell the soldiers in the back to disarm.¡± Tommy ryed Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s demands back to themander and the soldiers behind him. Themander frowned, and shouted furiously in Russian. Do Han-Sol moved in front of Lee Jeong-Uk, his red eyes shing. If violence broke out, he would kill all the soldiers without thinking twice. Tommy noticed Do Han-Sol, and quickly mediated the situation, doing his best to persuade themander. Themander spat on the floor with an unsatisfied expression, but then he put the rifle that he was holding down on the floor. He thenid down all of his other weaponry, including his knife and pistol, on the floor. After patting down the new arrivals, Lee Jeong-Uk guided them to the terminal. Chapter 158 Chapter 158 As they headed toward the passenger terminal, themander said to Tommy, ¡°Tommy, your decision might cost the lives of every single one of us.¡± ¡°What are you talking about?¡± ¡°The beings over there, they¡¯re too kind.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s not a bad thing, is it? And the person who was addressed as the leader was wary of us and ordered us to disarm. I don¡¯t necessarily think that¡¯s being too kind.¡± Themander frowned. ¡°He only showed kindness after realizing we had a vine,¡± he muttered. ¡°What if they¡¯re just ruthless animals going after our vine? And we can¡¯t even fight back since we¡¯ve disarmed ourselves just like they asked us to.¡± Tommy thought for a moment as he scratched his sideburns, then forced a smile. ¡°They knew we were stuck on the runway and came to help us. If they were going after what we have, they would¡¯ve waited until we died.¡± ¡°Well¡­ I¡¯m not on board yet. A zombie that can speak? I think this is our one and only chance. Let¡¯s attack it from behind.¡± ¡°Please, don¡¯t be reckless.¡± ¡°If we can take down the red-eyed zombie somehow¡­¡± Themander¡¯s eyes were glued to the back of Do Han-Sol¡¯s head. Do Han-Sol felt a subtle wave of killing intent and looked back. Themanding officer hurriedly averted his gaze and sighed. Noticing that something fishy was going on, Do Han-Sol tilted his head and addressed Lee Jeong-Uk, who was next to him. ¡°Mr. Lee Jeong-Uk, do you think we can trust them?¡± he asked. "Why?¡± ¡°They keep babbling in Russian, and it¡¯s bothering me for some reason.¡± ¡°In my eyes, they just look like cornered people. It¡¯s probably hard for them to ept what is happening. They came all the way to Korea, fleeing for their lives from zombies, and now they/ve just been saved by zombies.¡± ¡°Well, if you consider it from that angle, then¡­¡± ¡°Let''s get into the details when Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok gets back. This isn¡¯t something we can decide on our own.¡± As the two were in conversation, a couple of human-shaped shadows flew across them, blocking the sun. Lee Jeong-Uk and the guards quickly snapped their K2 rifles to the ready position and looked around, but they didn¡¯t see any zombies approaching. ¡®Oh shit, above!'' Lee Jeong-Uk hurriedly raised his gun and looked up to see two men falling from the sky. He squinted, then immediately yelled out to the guards around him, ¡°Lower your guns!¡± Bang!!! A thick cloud of dust shot up in front of Lee Jeong-Uk, and a spider web of cracks appeared on the ground. The guards were still tense, and still had their guns pointed at the two men who had fallen from the sky. Lee Jeong-Uk and Park-Gi Cheol grabbed onto the guns of the guards near them. ¡°Did you not hear me say lower your guns?¡± they yelled. ¡°We¡¯re sorry!¡± replied the guards, their faces filled with puzzlement. A thick palmnded on Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s shoulder. When he turned around, the man with blue eyes in front of him smiled gently. ¡°Don''t be too harsh on them. It¡¯s natural for them to be wary.¡± ¡°So-Yeon¡¯s dad.¡± Lee Hyun-Deok was back, holding a mysterious brain in his right hand. Stage-one mutants, along with Mood-Swinger and Ji-Eun, were running toward them from the far end of the runway. * * * There was still arge amount of food left in the passenger terminal, and the food that was not yet past their expiration date could still be eaten. Of course, the first thing that caught everyone¡¯s eyes was the ramyeon. The survivors tore open bags of ramyeon and put the noodles in a clean pot, then added canned tuna for added vor. They finished off by adding the eggs that the hens hadid, making themselves a luxurious pot of ramyeon. After such a long time, the survivors could finally enjoy a hearty meal. The savory smell of ramyeon wafted through the terminal, washing away the anxiety that the survivors felt. They were also able to drink as much clean water as they wanted to, since the terminal was full of bottled water. I sat down and listened to the sounds of everyone having a good time. It felt just like the good old days, when zombies didn¡¯t exist. Everyone was enjoying the brief moment of freedom andfort. After a while, Lee Jeong-Uk came up to me. "What are you doing here?" I chuckled. ¡°It seems like everyone is having a good time,¡± I replied. ¡°But¡­ It''s just that¡­ This feels rather strange.¡± ¡°You¡¯ll have to get used to this. Think about all the trouble you¡¯ve been through.¡± I smiled gently. ¡°We all made it through together, not just me.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk snorted. ¡°Well, why don¡¯t you join the others and eat ramyeon? Oh that¡¯s right, I forgot that you can¡¯t have ramyeon,¡± he teased. ¡°What should we do? What should we do?¡± ¡°Oh please. You¡¯re teasing me, aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Haha. How¡¯d you know?¡± Lee Jeong-Uk smirked and sat down next to me. He looked around to make sure no one else was nearby, then began to whisper. ¡°The researchers from Russia, they have a vine.¡± ¡°Huh? Are you sure¡­?¡± "They only had one syringe, so I¡¯m not a hundred percent sure if it''s really a vine or not." ¡°Why did theye all the way here? Did you get to hear anything?¡± The soldiers from Russia were wary of me, Kim Hyeong-Jun, and Do Han-Sol. They told us that they would never talk about what happened in Russia as long as we were around. I knew they were trying to act as though they were strong¡ªin other words, they were arrogant¡ªbut I decided to y along with their game. I understood where they wereing from, so I always waited outside. But after Lee Jeong-Uk gathered the information from them, he came to me right away. Lee Jeong-Uk sighed. ¡°It seems like there were a lot of researchboratories in the beginning, studying the viruses,¡± he said. ¡°As time passed, though, they gradually started to copse. Now, there are only three ces left: Russia, Korea, and Canada.¡± I nodded slowly with a grimace. Lee Jeong-Uk scratched his sideburns, then continued. ¡°So, yesterday, the Russian research institute was attacked by a group of zombies, and they had no choice but to flee to Korea. They said they couldn''t go all the way to Canada because they were short on fuel. They came to Gimpo Airport because they needed more jet fuel; basically, they performed an emergencynding.¡± ¡°The Korean Brain Research Institute in Daegu. Do you know if it¡¯s safe there?¡± ¡°Funny thing is, they¡¯re not even sure themselves. They were thest institute that these researchers were in contact with, but they haven¡¯t been able to reach them for the past couple of days.¡± I rested my chin on my hands and thought about the situation. The original n was to head to Jeju Ind. But if Daegu was safe, going to Daegu would be the right choice, since it was impossible to tell at that point in time if Jeju Ind was safe or not. Besides, if some vestige of civilization remained in Daegu, there was no need to go all the way to Jeju Ind. However, there was one thing that bothered me¡­ The fact that the Russians had lost contact with them. Lee Jeong-Uk smacked his lips and sighed, then scratched his forehead. ¡°What do you think we should do?¡± ¡°Where are the Russians?¡± ¡°They¡¯re eating ramyeon with the survivors.¡± I quietly stroked my chin as my mind began to work. Daegu and Jeju Ind¡­ If they really had a vine like they imed, it meant that the future of mankind was in our hands. I sighed. ¡°Gather up the leaders, if you can,¡± I said. I''d like to hear everyone¡¯s opinion on this.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll see you at the employee lounge over there in ten minutes.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk rose and left. I massaged my temples gently and sighed. I couldn''t help the stress that came with this sudden development. ¡®If the researchers aren¡¯t lying about their vine¡­ Perhaps I could turn back into a human again.¡¯ This possibility¡­ It was different from the other ones that I¡¯de across. This time, it wasn¡¯t a possibility for So-Yeon or the other survivors, but something that had a bearing solely on my future. * * * We sat around in a circle to have our meeting. Lee Jeong-Uk brought all the leaders up to speed with his briefing, and they began expressing their opinions. ¡°But there¡¯s no guarantee that Daegu is safe,¡± said Hwang Ji-Hye. All the other leaders nodded. Lee Jeong-Uk seemed to agree as well. "You''re right. However, Jeju Ind isn¡¯t guaranteed to be safe either.¡± ¡°If there are zombies on Jeju Ind, all we have to do is take them out. Once we take care of all of them, we¡¯ll bepletely safe.¡± ¡°Well, we don¡¯t even know why the zombie apocalypse broke out. We cannot guarantee that we would bepletely safe under any circumstances.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s answer carried a rather definitive tone. Hwang Ji-Hye grimaced and looked away. I knew Lee Jeong-Uk was right. There was no way of knowing if the apocalypse had been caused by an airborne infection, or whether it was spread through a deliberate act of evil. If it was an airborne infection, that meant that the survivors had developed an immunity to it, which would¡¯ve made it easier for the researchers to develop a vine. However, the reality was that the survivors would be infected whenever they were bitten by zombies. If they had developed immunity to the virus, they should not be infected, even if they were bitten by zombies. The possibility of infection via infected droplets couldn¡¯t be ruled out, since a survivor would turn into a zombie one hundred percent of the time if they were bitten. I rubbed my hands over my face and spoke up. ¡°Everyone, we didn¡¯t get together to have a fight. Let¡¯s put aside the discussion of the original infection and focus on our destination.¡± Hwang Deok-Rok, who had been listening to everyone silently, raised his right hand. ¡°I think it¡¯s better to go to our initial destination, Jeju Ind,¡± he said. I looked over at Hwang Deok-Rok. ¡°May I ask why?¡± ¡°I find it highly suspicious that they only have oneplete dose of vine. Think about it. They imed that they just happened toplete this one dose of the vine while they were escaping theirboratory. That¡¯s something you only see in the movies.¡± ¡°So you think that their vine is a lie?¡± "Yes. I think their intention is to head to the research center in Daegu to do additional research. Or, they¡¯re just lying to survive.¡± I nodded slowly and sighed. He madeplete sense. Park Gi-Cheol made a gesture of agreement and backed up Hwang Deok-Rok¡¯s position. ¡°Now that I think about it, I¡¯m on the same page as Mr. Hwang Deok-Rok. I think it¡¯d be best to keep our distance from them. If we say we¡¯re going to Jeju Ind, they might follow us.¡± I tilted my head in confusion. ¡°Then can¡¯t we just tell them about it and see if they actually try to follow us or not?¡± I asked as though it wasn¡¯t a big deal. Park Gi-Cheol furrowed his brow. ¡°And what if they say they want to follow us?¡± he asked. My blue eyes shed. ¡°They don¡¯t really have the choice to follow us just because they want to,¡± I answered. Park Gi-Cheol quickly understood my meaning and nodded. If the researchers gave up on going to Daegu and chose toe to Jeju Ind with us, I was prepared to physically stop them from doing so. The most important thing was to figure out if their goal was actually the research institute or not. I looked at the leaders. ¡°I¡¯ll tell them that we¡¯re going to Jeju Ind and observe how they react.¡± ¡°What if they ask us to apany them down to Daegu?¡± asked Do Han-Sol, who was sitting across from me, while scratching his head. ¡°Then they¡¯re on their own,¡± I answered without hesitation. ¡°We¡¯re the Survivor Rally Organization, not some heroes protecting Earth.¡± ¡°But if their vine is developed and released to the world, it¡¯ll definitely be a benefit to us too.¡± ¡°We have over four hundred survivors with us. To take all of them to Daegu¡­ I think that¡¯s a rather dangerous n.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you think that it¡¯d be much safer for the researchers if just one of us¡ªme, you, or Mr. Kim Hyeong-Jun¡ªapanied them?¡± ¡°Then what do you have in mind if there happens to be a ck creature on Jeju Ind? Having even one of us missing could put everyone¡¯s safety in peril.¡± I exined the worst-case scenario, after which Do Han-Sol stopped asking questions. Kim Hyeong-Jun, who had stayed quiet so far, spoke up. ¡°So, as of now, there are two important possibilities we have to discuss, right? The possibility that Daegu still has traces of civilization and the possibility of a ck creature on Jeju Ind. Am I correct?¡± Everyone nodded at Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s statement. He folded his arms. ¡°Then I propose an experiment.¡± ¡°What experiment?¡± I asked, hoping that he wasn¡¯t thinking of some reckless n. ¡°We can test whether or not the drug they have is really a vine. I¡¯ll take it for the team.¡± ¡°Hyeong-Jun,¡± I said, slightly annoyed. I had no clue how to deal with his overly simplistic thinking. Despite voicing my worry, Kim Hyeong-Jun shrugged and continued to speak. ¡°Am I wrong? I don¡¯t think so. If they made their own vine, they could probably reproduce it. If I take the vine and revert to being a human, it would mean that their vine works.¡± ¡°What about your underlings? Who¡¯s going to stop Mood-Swinger after the chain ofmand between you and him is severed?¡± ¡°Oh. I didn¡¯t think of that,¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun said with a grimace, scratching the back of his head. I let out a sigh and shook my head, and this time, Do Han-Sol spoke up. ¡°How about vinating one of our underlings?¡± ¡°Do you think they¡¯ll hand over the vine? If it really is a vine, they¡¯ll probably value it more than their lives.¡± "Then¡­ Let''s do this. I¡¯ll run over to Daegu ande back. Isn¡¯t it just a matter of checking if there are traces of civilization there anding back?¡± ¡°So, if there are still traces of civilization, you think we should take the survivors to Daegu?¡± ¡°Yes. But if it''s a civilized ce, we probably won''t be able to enter.¡± I recognized that, given our current circumstances, this was the surest way forward. Once Do Han-Sol was done talking, all eyes were on me and Kim Hyeong-Jun. The word ¡®we¡¯ was like the elephant in the room. I knew exactly what everyone was thinking. The word ¡®we¡¯ meant me, Kim Hyeong-Jun, and Do Han-Sol. ¡®Not being able to enter¡­¡¯ That meant that I could no longer see So-Yeon. I could tell that the leaders had a lot on their mind, but were trying their best to keep it to themselves. I knew they were thinking exactly what I was thinking as well. Zombies and humans. We¡¯de together under the firm belief that we could be together forever, but that belief wasing to an end. I let my head sag and clenched my fists. ¡®How long will Do Han-Sol take to go to Daegu ande back?¡¯ I quickly came up with the answer. Even if he took his time, it wouldn¡¯t even take a day. That meant that I had less than twenty-four hours to be with So-Yeon. Chapter 159

Chapter 159

I tried to act as nonchntly as possible. ¡°Let''s do that then,¡± I said. ¡°It seems to be the best way forward. Let¡¯s wait here until Do Han-Soles back.¡± ¡°Mr. Lee Hyeon-Deok.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk had called my name in a low voice. I chuckled and continued to put my best face forward. ¡°Does anyone have a better idea? The rest of us should inspect the aircraft while Mr. Do Han-Sol goes to Daegu. We should be ready to go at any time.¡± ¡°So-Yeon¡¯s dad, calm down.¡± ¡°If there is some remnant of civilization left in Daegu, that¡¯ll be good for the survivors, and also for the researchers from Russia. What else could we possibly ask for?¡± I offered up a gleeful smile. Lee Jeong-Uk let out a deep sigh and looked at the other leaders. ¡°Everyone, let¡¯s end today¡¯s meeting here.¡± "Excuse me, I''m not done talking yet." ¡°You. Calm down and follow me. I have something I need to speak with you about.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk frowned and left the meeting room. I put on a bewildered expression, and the leaders looked away with bitter expressions. When I saw their faces, I realized that something wasn¡¯t right. Steam wasing off my body. I realized that I¡¯d gotten worked up and had been rattling out words non-stop. The thought of not being able to see So-Yeon had taken over me for a second. Realizing how I was the one who was sticking out, I got up with a grimace. I gave the other assembled leaders a slight bow, then followed Lee Jeong-Uk outside. As I headed toward the main entrance of the terminal, I saw Lee Jeong-Uk with his hands in his pockets. He looked at me with a frown. "Are you okay?" "Of course I am." ¡°Hah. I¡¯m d you didn¡¯t be an actor. Your acting is really awful, you know?¡± ¡°...¡± "In fact, I know you¡¯ve never been alright. Not once." I smacked my lips. I tried to pretend that I was okay, but I¡¯d ended up running my mouth and unwittingly causing my body to heat up and release steam, letting the whole world know how I truly felt about the proposed idea. The other leaders probably caught onto the fact that I was all worked up, just like Lee Jeong-Uk had. Lee Jeong-Uk slicked his bangs back and spoke up. ¡°Let¡¯s go out and take a walk.¡± ¡°It¡¯s dangerous to go outside. The sun¡¯s down.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk snorted and put his hand on my shoulder. "I''m with you; what could possibly be a danger?" I had no choice but to follow Lee Jeong-Uk out of the terminal. I took a deep breath, taking in the cool night air. For some reason, I felt incredibly empty as I walked down the runway with my hands in my pockets. Lee Jeong-Uk looked up at the dark night sky and spoke up. ¡°I can¡¯t believe I¡¯m walking on a runway. I never imagined I¡¯d do such a thing.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­¡± ¡°So-Yeon¡¯s dad.¡± I looked over at Lee Jeong-Uk, and he continued to speak while looking up at the night sky. ¡°Do you know what my daughter''s name is?¡± ¡°...¡± For some reason, I wasn¡¯t able to reply. Unlike Lee Jeong-Uk, who was looking up, my head was bowed down. Lee Jeong-Uk gave me a sidelong nce. ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you?¡± ¡°So-Jin.¡± "Huh? How¡¯d you know? I don¡¯t remember telling you.¡± ¡°When we first met, I heard Jeong-Hyuk say her name.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk pouted his lower lip and nodded slowly. The events of that day suddenly floated into my mind. - There was nothing you could do about that. So-Jin had a burning fever. I would¡¯ve done the same. I clearly remembered Lee Jeong-Hyuk patting Lee Jeong-Uk on the shoulder while thetter sobbed. Lee So-Jin. She was Lee Jeong-Uk''s deceased daughter. Lee Jeong-Uk sighed and stayed silent for a while. "I¡­ I actually know,¡± he finally said. ¡°Know what?¡± ¡°That you tried to save my wife and daughter when they were locked inside.¡± My eyes widened. I stared at Lee Jeong-Uk in shock. I couldn¡¯t take a single step forward, as if someone had suddenly grabbed both of my legs. Lee Jeong-Uk offered a small smirk. ¡°What are you so surprised about?¡± he asked. ¡°Umm¡­ How long have you known?¡± ¡°The day my wife died¡­ I saw someone in the apartment across from us reflecting light with a hand mirror. I also saw my wife follow the reflected light and run into another room.¡± My jaws fell open as I stared stupidly at Lee Jeong-Uk. Lee Jeong-Uk noticed my dumbfounded face and continued to speak. ¡°When you went out to get food, I spoke about this with Jeong-Hyuk and Da-Hye.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°That perhaps we could trust this zombie. Stuff like that.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°I sometimes think about whether I could¡¯ve done the same thing as you. Jeong-Hyuk and Da-Hye said that they wouldn¡¯t have been able to.¡± My head sagged as my expression grew more confused. Deep inside, I knew that his wife had died in despair, and that their child had died before them because of my arrogance. Getting bitten to death by zombies, or ending one¡¯s life through one¡¯s own will. I couldn¡¯t tell which was worse. But one thing was for sure¡ªthey both led to the same ending Lee Jeong-Uk patted my shoulder. ¡°When we were stranded at the convenience store,¡± he continued, ¡°we hadn¡¯t eaten for two days.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°And you came and gave us canned food and water, right?¡± When I nodded silently. Lee Jeong-Uk broke into a hearty smile. ¡°That¡¯s why I decided to trust you,¡± he said, ¡°So-Yeon¡¯s dad, someone who was more human than other humans. At that time, you were a zombie who couldn''t speak, but that heart of yours, it was more human than any other human¡¯s.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk smiled innocently and tapped my shoulder. He looked at me with eyes full of determination. ¡°So-Yeon¡ªI¡¯ll think of her as my daughter and take responsibility for her until the moment I die.¡± ¡°Jeong-Uk¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s not like I¡¯m trying to rece So-Jin with So-Yeon. I just¡­ I also want to give you peace of mind, just like you did for us.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°The belief that So-Yeon will be safe no matter what.¡± I bit my lower lip and looked at Lee Jeong-Uk. He looked at me and chuckled. ¡°Oh jeez, why are you tearing up?¡± ¡°Me? Do you think I¡¯m crying?¡± ¡°Alright, alright. But I knew you had a soft side to you. Maybe this is just the way thoughtful people are?¡± ¡°Cut it out, man.¡± I looked away and sniffed once. Lee Jeong-Uk patted me on the back. ¡°We¡¯re not sure if Daegu is safe yet, but if it¡¯s really safe there, you should figure out what¡¯s best for you too.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Stop worrying about us and think about how you¡¯ll live your future.¡± Hearing his advice, I realized that I had never once thought about my own future. My mind was fully upied with the safety and happiness of So-Yeon and everyone else that I didn¡¯t have room to think about anything else. Lee Jeong-Uk scratched his head. ¡°Human beings should live in the present while they think about tomorrow. That¡¯s why I hope youe up with a new goal in life. Not one for the sake of others, but something for yourself. Like figuring out the meaning of life.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡®The meaning of life, huh.¡¯ I wondered what would happen to my life after all the people I had to protect finally left me. I looked up at the night sky and let out a sigh. Lee Jeong-Uk nced over at me. "It¡¯s getting cold,¡± he said, ¡°I¡¯m heading inside first. Think about what I said, thene back inside.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Lee Jeong-Uk walked back toward the terminal, but I could tell from his footsteps that he was feeling empty inside. As I watched him go, I couldn¡¯t help but wonder how he¡¯d found a meaning to his life after losing his wife and daughter¡ªhis everything. Was it making sure that Lee Jeong-Hyuk and Choi Da-Hye were safe? Rescuing survivors? I wondered what was on his mind. However, no matter how hard I thought about it, I couldn''t figure out the answer. But there was one thing for sure¡­ That Lee Jeong-Uk would make it through any hardships that came his way. He was someone that I could trust. And that someone said that he would do everything for my daughter. Lee Jeong-Uk probably had no clue howforting his words were. I felt the remaining shreds of guilt dissolve after speaking with him. The guilt that had been on my mind all this time¡ªnot being able to save the woman and child trapped on the balcony¡ªshattered to pieces. I breathed in the cold winter air as I saw him get further and further away. Lee Jeong-Uk was right. There was no reason to feel nervous and anxious over something that hadn¡¯t happened yet. Hisforting words helped to get me back on my feet. I took a calming breath and thought about what I had to focus on at the moment. ¡®Let''s focus until the end, and only when peacees, then we¡¯ll think about my future.¡¯ * * * When I collected myself and returned to the passenger terminal, Kim Hyeong-Jun came up to me, rubbing his neck. ¡°Ahjussi.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I got us two extra days.¡± When I tilted my head, Kim Hyeong-Jun smiled. ¡°Han-Sol¡¯s sleeping.¡± "Oh¡­¡± It seemed like Do Han-Sol had eaten the boss¡¯s brain. Eating a ck creature¡¯s brain would put you to sleep for about a week, but eating the brain of an enemy leader who had eaten a ck creature¡¯s brain would knock you out for two days maximum. After giving me the news, Kim Hyeong-Jun walked over to his son and wife. I watched him walk away, lost in thought.. I couldn¡¯t help but wonder what was on his mind at the moment. He probably didn¡¯t want to be separated from his family either. I wondered if he had already epted the fact that he would have to eventually, and he tried to enjoy thesest moments with his family as much as possible, since there was nothing he could do about it. Even though he was pretending that everything was fine, I could tell from his bodynguage that he was feeling down as well. His stride, his shoulders, his back; every part of him showed his reluctance. We were all handling the uing separation in our own respective ways. I sighed and went to find So-Yeon. ¡°Huh? It¡¯s Daddy!¡± So-Yeon, who was ying Gonggi with the other children, stopped and ran toward me.[1] I smiled lightly and hugged So-Yeon. She smiled and buried her face in my chest. I felt her warmth reach my dead heart, making me feel as if my heart was beating again. I knelt down and looked at So-Yeon. ¡°So-Yeon?¡± I said. "Yeah?" ¡°Do you miss the world we used to live in?¡± So-Yeon wiggled her upper body. ¡°Hmm¡­ A little?¡± she said. I wondered if she was too shy to tell the truth. Even though everyone had adapted to this fallen world, both adults and children were still longing for the world they¡¯d lived in before. I stroked her head. ¡°In a little while, we can go back to the world we used to live in.¡± "Really?" ¡°Yes, really. Do you see the Russian ahjussis over there?¡± So-Yeon looked around. After seeing the Russian soldiers sleeping in the corner, she nodded. I pointed at them and continued. ¡°The ahjussis over there made a cure.¡± ¡°Then can Daddye back?¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s something Daddy doesn¡¯t know yet.¡± ¡°Daddy, you don¡¯t have to be Superman. Just stay with me.¡± So-Yeon took my arm and smiled brightly. Seeing her grabbing my shirt with her tiny hands made me feel sad inside. She wanted a dad who would be by her side, rather than a dad who was strong like Superman. I didn''t know what to say. If she knew that she would have to say goodbye to me in order to go back to the world that we hade from¡­ I wasn¡¯t sure if So-Yeon would be willing to do that. There were so many things I wanted to say to her, but I tried my best to keep them to myself. Since I couldn¡¯t say anything, I smiled and nodded instead. So-Yeon looked at me with her big, round eyes while biting her lower lip. It seemed like she wanted a definitive answer from me. But¡­ I didn¡¯t dare make a promise that I knew I couldn¡¯t keep. So, instead of answering, I held her in my arms and closed my eyes gently. I then repeated to myself that it won¡¯t be long, and that I¡¯d return to how I used to be. So-Yeon¡¯s face said that she had no clue what was going on. She didn¡¯t look sad, but she also didn¡¯t look happy. Rather, she seemed to be questioning my actions. It was often said that children are quick-witted. So-Yeon must¡¯ve sensed the looming separation without even realizing it. As the silence wore on, it felt as though she was beginning to feel some indescribable awkwardness. Her expression hinted that she couldn¡¯t figure out what was exactly going on. I took a deep breath. ¡°So-Yeon, do you want a piggyback ride from Daddy?¡± I asked her. As soon as she heard the word ¡®piggyback,¡¯ she started jumping up and down in excitement. "Hehe, yes, yes! I like piggyback rides.¡± I smiled and lifted So-Yeon up. I piggybacked her and walked around the passenger terminal. We talked about things we hadn¡¯t had the chance to talk about and made memories that we would never be able to make again. As we wandered around, I hid my emotions and hoped that So-Yeon would remember these sights that we were seeing together for a long time toe. My daughter, So-Yeon. So-Yeon, my pretty daughter, who I missed even while we were together. I was afraid that she would catch on to the fact that we would be parting ways if I said I loved her out loud, so instead, I thought to myself, ¡®So-Yeon, Daddy loves you a lot.¡¯ 1. Gonggi is a Korean children¡¯s game that is yed with five or more small pebbles or stic stones. It is simr to Jackstones. ?? Chapter 160 Chapter 160 Two dayster, around dawn, Do Han-Sol came back to his senses. While Do Han-Sol was sleeping, the survivors had finished inspecting the aircraft. Kim Hyeong-Jun mutated his few remaining underlings into stage-one mutants; he now had Mood-Swinger and ten stage-one mutants. After getting caught up with what he had missed, Do Han-Sol came up to me. ¡°I¡¯ll get going right away. I¡¯ll leave one of my underlings here just in case. If I don''te back, or if my underling changes color, assume that something¡¯s gone wrong with¡­¡± ¡°I already know how everything works, so you don¡¯t have to exin everything word by word. Just don¡¯t go too deep; just scout out Daegu Airport ande back.¡± "Got it." I reminded him again and again to not push himself, and he smiled happily and nodded vigorously. It seemed like he was feeling more confident than ever, now that his physical abilities had increased. When Do Han-Sol had left for Daegu, I called for all the survivors to gather. Our food stockpiles were getting low, and we had to begin preparations to leave for our next destination, whether it was Jeju Ind or Daegu. "Everyone! Please get on board the ne now and wait!¡± ¡°Can we wait here until Mr. Do Han-Sol returns instead?¡± It seemed like the survivors didn¡¯t want to wait in the ne. I knew where they wereing from since it would be ufortable for them on board, but I thought it was best to be prepared to leave at any time. I thoroughly exined my reasons, and the survivors started nodding in agreement. It seemed like everyone was going along with what I said because I hadn¡¯t made any misjudgments so far. Hwang Ji-Hye and Jeong Mi-Hye guided the survivors to their respective nes. We were able to utilize several nes thanks to the survivors Kim Hyeong-Jun had rescued at Gimpo Airport, and the best part was that there were enough captains and co-pilots. Lee Jeong-Uk came up to me. ¡°There¡¯s nothing we can do now, huh?¡± ¡°Everything¡¯s going to depend on what Do Han-Sol sees.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve done your part. It¡¯s about time you get some time to rest and rx.¡± ¡°It''s not over yet. Don¡¯t let your guard down,¡± I said with a rather serious expression. Lee Jeong-Uk nodded and patted my back. ¡°You should head on board as well,¡± I said to him. ¡°Have you thought about the order for take-off?¡± ¡°Yeah. The Russian military transport ne should get on the runway first, then the rest of the nes should line up behind them. We¡¯ll take off the moment Do Han-Sol gets back.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk nodded and went to the captains and co-pilots of each aircraft. He went ahead and ryed what I had told him. Tommy, who was acting as the interpreter, tranted Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s words to themander. Once they had heard the n, they dispersed quickly. Kim Hyeong-Jun and I loaded all of our underlings into thest ne. The n was simple. Once Do Han-Sol came back and confirmed that Daegu was safe, the survivors here would head to Daegu. Kim Hyeong-Jun and I would fly to Jeju Ind and make sure the ind was safe and to find if there were any other survivors spread out around Jeju Ind. This was our first goal. After all the survivors got on board, I walked out onto the runway and guided each ne into ce. Kim Hyeong-Jun stood nkly next to me and sniffed. ¡°Ahjussi, why aren¡¯t we getting on?¡± ¡°The engine noise at take-off might attract some zombies. We need to take care of them.¡± "So you''re saying that thest ne might not be able to take off if zombies attack?¡± ¡°Yeah, that''s why we¡¯re putting our underlings on thest ne. We¡¯ll deal with the zombies and then take off.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun nodded and kept on sniffling. He sat on the ground. ¡°Once we leave¡­ I wonder what¡¯s going to happen to the survivors left in Seoul,¡± he said. ¡°Survivors?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you remember that there are shelters left in Gangbuk?¡± I thought about the map we¡¯d found in the cult leader¡¯s study, which had markings that indicated the remaining shelters in Gangbuk. I massaged my neck. ¡°The Family doesn¡¯t pose a threat anymore,¡± I said. ¡°If the survivors there haven''t lost their humanity, they''ll be able to maintain the shelter and protect it.¡± ¡°Do you think helping them out¡­ Would that make us busybodies?¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s impossible to do anything now. We don¡¯t even know how many of them there are. We don¡¯t have enough nes or food. There¡¯s no reason to add more things to our to-do list.¡± ¡°Once the survivors on the nes get to Daegu¡­ What are you going to do?¡± ¡°What would you like to do, Mr. Kim Hyeong-Jun, the founder of the Survivor Rally Organization?¡± I asked with a smirk. Kim Hyeong-Jun grinned back at me. ¡°Of course, we¡¯ll have to save more people.¡± ¡°I couldn¡¯t agree more.¡± "Then¡­ I guess we¡¯ll still be a team?¡± ¡°At least I know I won¡¯t be bored,¡± I replied with a light smile. Kim Hyeong-Jun smiled brightly and sprang up from the ground. He took a deep breath. "Let¡¯s go!" he shouted. I burst outughing at his vigorous, lively attitude. He was a little rascal who acted up from time to time, but at the same time, he was honest and right-minded. I was d that Kim Hyeong-Jun was by my side. * * * Before we knew it, the sun was already dipping below the horizon when I saw Do Han-Sol returning to Gimpo Airport. He looked all worn out, and as exhausted as he could be. I ran toward him. "What''s the matter? Was there a zombie attack?¡± I asked. ¡°My feet are burning.¡± Do Han-Sol breathed heavily andy spread-eagled on the ground. As he collected himself, he told us what happened. He told us that, while running full speed toward Daegu, his feet were torn up a few times. Each time that happened, he had to regenerate them before running again. Although we did not suffer any physical burdens, we still had physical limitations because the structure of our bodies was still human. It seemed like running a distance of six hundred meters at full tilt on our own two legs was too much for us, regardless of how hard our skin was. From what he was telling me, it seemed like the soles of his feet had been ripped up over and over again because of the friction with the ground. Even though Do Han-Sol had been lying down for a while, he still breathed heavily, lying there as if his damaged soles were no longer regenerating. After a moment, Kim Hyeong-Jun joined us. ¡°What¡¯s the situation in Daegu? Is it safe?¡± he asked. "That¡¯s the thing¡­ I¡¯m not sure.¡± The answer caused Kim Hyeong-Jun to furrow his brow. Kim Hyeong-Jun then scratched his head and asked a follow-up question out of confusion with a mixture of frustration. ¡°What do you mean you don¡¯t know? You went there to check it out.¡± ¡°It was too quiet. Strangely quiet.¡± ¡°Are you saying it¡¯s quiet because there aren¡¯t any people, or because there aren¡¯t any zombies?¡± ¡°Neither. I only scouted Daegu Airport and came back, just as Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok told me to. But there was nothing at the airport. Even the surroundings were quiet.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun looked at me with a puzzled face. I quietly rubbed my chin and considered the situation. ¡®No people and no zombies¡­¡¯ There was a possibility that the survivors had moved to a hideout after taking care of the zombies, since no zombies equated to excellent security. Kim Hyeong-Jun tilted his head back and forth, as though he was thinking along simr lines. ¡°Ahjussi, should we go too?¡± he proposed. ¡°Where, to Daegu?¡± ¡°It sounds safe for now, since Han-Sol said there aren¡¯t any zombies¡­ But the fact that there aren¡¯t any people kind of gets to me. Shouldn¡¯t they at least have someone on lookout duty or something?¡± He was right. I totally forgot about lookouts. I crossed my arms and thought about it some more. After organizing my thoughts, I looked over at Do Han-Sol. ¡°Han-Sol, were there any artificial walls or barbed wire set up on the borders of Gyeongbuk when you got there?¡± [1] ¡°There were a couple of them. I saw some when I entered Chilgok and some when I entered Buk-gu, in Daegu.¡± ¡°And you didn¡¯t see any more than that?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure because I didn¡¯t have a look around the city. I went following the mountains east of Buk-gu to get to Daegu International Airport.¡± Feeling troubled, I couldn¡¯t help but sigh. I could already sense that the people with us might be treated as zombies if the survivors in Daegu saw us with them. I couldn¡¯t see a clear solution to this, and wanted to hear the other leaders¡¯ opinions on this. I walked over to their ne and raised my arms high to make an ¡®X¡¯. The middle door of the ne opened, and Lee Jeong-Uk poked his face out. "What''s going on, So-Yeon¡¯s dad?" ¡°There aren¡¯t any people or zombies in Daegu!¡± "What? What do you mean!¡± ¡°Take a step back!¡± I yelled, then crouched down. Lee Jeong-Uk took a couple of steps back to make space for me. As soon as I entered the aircraft, Hwang Ji-Hye and Park Gi-Cheol came running over. We went to the back of the aircraft and began to discuss the situation in low whispers. I passed on what I¡¯d heard from Do Han-Sol. Lee Jeong-Uk smacked his lower lip. ¡°So you¡¯re saying that it seems safe since there¡¯s nothing there, but you¡¯re just not sure?¡± he said. ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Then why don¡¯t youe with us?¡± ¡°I¡¯m just worried that the survivors there are hiding, and that they mighte out of nowhere once our nesnd. And if they find me, Hyeong-Jun, and Han-Sol, I¡¯m pretty sure they¡¯ll shoot us mercilessly.¡± ¡°Well, the ne with your underlings is going tondst anyway. If any survivors emerge, I¡¯ll exin the situation to them.¡± I had a bad feeling about it, but I couldn¡¯t pinpoint where my unease wasing from. If they had taken care of the zombies, they should have at least posted some guards on lookout duty. The fact that Do Han-Sol hadn¡¯t seen any lookouts only contributed to the number of question marks I had with regards to the whole situation. Hwang Ji-Hye leaned against the wall and crossed her arms. ¡°I agree with Mr. Lee Jeong-Uk,¡± she said. ¡°Are you sure you¡¯ll be okay? Even if I go as well?¡± ¡°To be honest, leaving you behind bothered me even more,¡± Hwang Ji-Hye said with a soft smile. Park Gi-Cheol, who was next to her, nodded in agreement with her words. After we made new ns, we headed back to our respective positions again. When I jumped out of the ne, Kim Hyeong-Jun dashed in front of me, eager to hear what we had decided upon. ¡°So?¡± ¡°We¡¯re going to Daegu too.¡± ¡°So we¡¯re postponing our takeover of Jeju Ind?¡± ¡°Yeah. We have no other choice.¡± ¡°Hehe, so that means you get to spend more time with your princess So-Yeon, huh?¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun teased,ughing out loud. I stashed my hands in my pockets. ¡°It¡¯s too early to feel relieved. We¡¯ll modify our ns once we figure out what¡¯s going on in Daegu.¡± "Okay." Kim Hyeong-Jun looked over at Do Han-Sol and told him to get on thest ne. I positioned myself on the runway and signaled the captain of the military cargo ne to take off. The captain started up the ne¡¯s engines and began to move off slowly. Once the cargo ne had taken off, the rest of the nes lined up in order and made their way onto the runway. Kim Hyeong-Jun and I remained vignt until every aircraft had taken off. Fortunately, not that many zombies appeared at Gimpo Airport. I assumed it was because we had taken care of most of them a few days ago. There was no zombie wave, just a few isted zombies running toward us. I easily smashed their heads as I counted the remaining nes. Once all the nes containing the survivors had taken off, the final remaining ne rolled onto the runway. The ne door opened and I saw an unknown airline employee, Lee Jeong-Hyuk, and Choi Da-Hye. I boarded the ne at once and looked over at Lee Jeong-Hyuk. ¡°Why are you on this ne?¡± ¡°The employee here said that being all alone here made him feel anxious.¡± I looked over at the airline employee, who swallowed and flinched. I more than understood why he would feel nervous. He was one of the people who had been hiding at Gimpo Airport until Kim Hyeong-Jun arrived to rescue them. He was probably still wary of zombies. I gave him a gentle nod. ¡°Thank you for what you¡¯re doing.¡± "Pardon? Oh, not a problem.¡± He bowed his head awkwardly and looked away. I looked over at Lee Jeong-Hyuk again and spotted him fooling around with Choi Da-Hye. I couldn¡¯t help butugh. ¡°The two of you, sit down. We¡¯re going to take off soon.¡± ¡°Yep!¡± As the three of them took their seats, the roar of the aircraft engine began to grow louder. I ordered my underlings to stay still no matter what happened. My stage-one mutants used their long limbs to brace themselves against the sides of the fusge, making an effort to stay still. Kim Hyeong-Jun and Do Han-Sol sat down and put on their seat belts. ¡°Arnol¡­ d." Mood-Swinger stared nkly at Kim Hyeong-Jun, then sat down next to him and smiled like a little child. Kim Hyeong-Jun then looked over at the mutant. ¡°Why are you trying to sit next to me when there are plenty of seats?¡± heined. ¡°You¡¯re taking up too much room! Go sit somewhere else!¡± ¡°Ar¡­ nol¡­¡± Mood-Swinger sulked and moved to another seat. I idly wondered how Mood-Swinger knew he had to sit down in a chair. I couldn¡¯t tell if he knew it instinctively, or if he was just imitating what Kim Hyeong-Jun was doing. It seemed like his intelligence had increased after eating one of the dong leader¡¯s brains¡­ Or not. It was difficult to tell from his behavior. I walked over to Mood Swinger and checked if he had fastened his seat belt. He made a puzzled expression when he felt the seat belt wrapping around his waist. ¡°It¡¯s okay. Stay still.¡± Mood Swinger stared nkly at my face, then looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun, a couple of seats away from him. He only stopped moving after Kim Hyeong-Jun ordered him to. After I checked that Ji-Eun had taken her seat, I walked over to the window seat on the right and sat down. The whine of the engines grew louder and sharper, indicating that the aircraft was beginning to elerate down the runway. We were finally leaving the ce where we had gone through so much, and heading for a new home. ¡®Goodbye, Seoul. Thank you for all this¡­¡¯ ¡°Arrrnooold!!!¡± Just as I was about to feel sentimental, I heard Mood-Swinger scream at the top of his lungs. It seemed like he was surprised by the sudden sinking feeling. Our first flight began with Mood-Swinger screaming. 1. Gyeongbuk is an abbreviation of Gyeongsangbuk-do, or North Gyeongbuk Province. Provinces in Korea are simr to states in the United States and the provinces in Canada. ? Chapter 161 Chapter 161 To my surprise, we arrived at Daegu Airport in the blink of an eye. Do Han-Sol unfastened his seat belt. ¡°Geez¡­ It only takes this long?¡± he mumbled to himself. He had a clear reason to say this, since he¡¯d left Gimpo Airport for this ce at dawn and had only returned at sunset. In contrast, the journey by ne from Gimpo Airport to Daegu only took an hour. Do Han-Sol walked over to me, scratching his head. ¡°Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok.¡± "Huh?" "I.. I don¡¯t have that many underlings left. What should I do?¡± ¡°How many do you have left?¡± ¡°Most of them died on my way back from Daegu. I think about three hundred of them died on my way there.¡± There was no way his underlings would¡¯ve been okay if his feet had suffered so badly. It seemed like he¡¯d taken care of the ones that got injured, since they couldn¡¯t regenerate their bodies like he could. It made sense, since he and his underlings had made the round trip of twelve hundred kilometers at full speed. In the end, bringing his underlings to Daegu with him in case anything unexpected happened had turned out to be a waste. Of course, ruminating over what had already happened helped nobody. I frowned, then said, ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem like there are any zombies in Daegu, so don¡¯t worry.¡± ¡°I¡¯d be overjoyed if that¡¯s the case¡­¡± ¡°How many do you have left?¡± ¡°I have about two hundred left.¡± Do Han-Sol had a total of one thousand and fifty underlings under his control before. He had wasted three hundred of them on the Daegu journey, and it seemed like he had lost the other five hundred and fifty of them while protecting the survivors during the relocation to Gimpo Airport. ¡°Where are the remaining two hundred?¡± ¡°I have them loaded in the luggagepartment.¡± I was surprised that he¡¯d mentioned the luggagepartment. I couldn¡¯t understand why he¡¯d loaded them in the luggagepartment when there was this much room on board. Perhaps he¡¯d assumed that there wouldn¡¯t be enough seats after seeing the nes on the runway. I felt a bit ashamed for not telling him beforehand, now that I realized that his underlings could¡¯vee on board with us. I scratched my head and looked away. What¡¯s done was done, and there was nothing I could do about it now. ¡°Well, let¡¯s get off the ne first. Let¡¯s get off and sort things out.¡± ¡°Got it.¡± I headed to the terminal with my underlings and the others who had been on the ne with me. Lee Jeong-Uk, who hadnded earlier, came up to me. ¡°It¡¯s as still as a grave.¡± ¡°Is there any food in the terminals?¡± ¡°No. There must¡¯ve been survivors here. The ce has nothing.¡± ¡°Are there any other tracks?¡± ¡°Nothing. No dead zombie bodies, nor any traces of survivors.¡± I noticed that Lee Jeong-Uk didn¡¯t seem too happy while he was speaking. I couldn¡¯t tell if he was disappointed that Daegu was different from what he¡¯d expected, or if he wasn¡¯t used to this Daegu, which was quiet and empty. I wouldn¡¯t have been surprised if it was thetter, since it was suspiciously calm and untouched. Seoul had been littered with the debris of copsed buildings and filled with the stench of dead zombie bodies clogging up the city, reminding everyone there of the world we were living in. But Daegu, as I mentioned, was different. ¡®Eerie¡¯ wasn¡¯t quite the word to describe Daegu; instead, it seemed like we were in a distant world, and it was difficult to believe that we were still in the same country. I couldn''t hear any zombies, and the external walls of the buildings were clean as well. The interior looked even better; there weren¡¯t any overturned disy cases or bloodstains on the floors or walls. In addition, not a single zombie appeared when wended, despite the noise that we made whilending. It was hard to believe that a world like this existed merely an hour¡¯s journey away by ne. I looked out the terminal window. ¡°For now, let¡¯s spend the night here,¡± I said. ¡°We¡¯ll discuss the details tomorrow. I need to have a look around and gather some information.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll scout around the terminal with the guards and find a ce for everyone to get some sleep.¡± With that, I checked every entrance and exit of the terminal. Thankfully the airport wasn¡¯t too big, so I only had to ce a handful of my underlings on guard duty. Kim Hyeong-Jun noticed me running around here and there and came up to me. ¡°How far are you going to go?¡± ¡°There weren¡¯t any zombies, even when wended. I need to have a look around this town.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun nodded and stationed his underlings around the area. My underlings stood guard indoors, while his underlings stood guard on the outskirts of the airport. Then Do Han-Sol came over to us. ¡°What should I do in the meantime?¡± ¡°You stay with the survivors. There might be zombies in the terminal, so make sure you follow the guards.¡± ¡°Got it.¡± ¡°And if anything happens, push any one of my underlings. I''lle running right away." Do Han-Sol nodded vigorously and returned to the terminal. Before we did anything else, Kim Hyeong-Jun and I jumped up onto the roof of the passenger terminal to have a look at the surrounding terrain. There was a stream flowing to the north, and arge river wrapped around the airport to the west and south. It was a perfectly defensible ce. As I marveled at how advantageous this ce would be as a fortress, I noticed a couple of low-rise buildings between the river and the airport. There was a building that looked like a school, but all of its windows were pitch-ck. As I kept on looking for any signs of life, the only thing I could think of was the phrase, ghost town. I sighed and turned to Kim Hyeong-Jun. ¡°Do you see anything?¡± I asked. ¡°No, I don¡¯t see anything. No people, no zombies, no living things.¡± ¡°How is this possible?¡± "You wouldn¡¯t think¡­ That someone set this up on purpose? Like a trap?¡± ¡°Trap?¡± I repeated, raising my eyebrows. Kim Hyeong-Jun wet his parched lips. ¡°It feels like the people out here, whoever they are, are just waiting to catch us off-guard. I mean, there are no zombies around, so any outsider would easily let their guard down. And since it''ste at night, it¡¯s perfect for an ambush.¡± ¡°You mean you think there¡¯s people here somewhere?¡± ¡°Yeah. In fact, they might be watching us at this very moment.¡± I nodded slowly and clenched my fists. I heightened all of my senses with a sh of my blue eyes. I heightened my senses until my hairs stood on end, pushing my instinctive ability to detect motion further than ever before. Despite it being pitch-ck, I could detect movement hundreds of meters out due to my senses. ¡°Ugh!¡± Just then, I heard someone grunt, along with the sound of someone tripping over something. I raised my head and looked over to where the sound hade from. My gaze fell on the gap between the low-rise buildings. Just like Kim Hyeong-Jun had said, someone was observing us from the darkness. Kim Hyeong-Jun frowned. ¡°Ahjussi, did you hear that too?¡± he asked me. ¡°It seemed like someone tripped over some rocks or something.¡± ¡°It seems like they were so focused on us that they didn¡¯t even notice what was on the ground.¡± ¡°Are they watching us from a distance, like perverts? I wonder if they have a telescope or something.¡± ¡°It¡¯s impossible to see us through a telescope right now. It''ste at night, so it¡¯ll be hard to tell without some form of night vision.¡± "So you''re saying there''s a chance that the person watching us is a soldier?" I looked over at Kim Hyeong-Jun without saying a word. I wasn¡¯t sure if it was because we¡¯d been working together as a team for a while, but we were now able to assess the situation ande up with a n with very few words exchanged. Kim Hyeong-Jun smirked at our chemistry. ¡°I¡¯ll break through the front,¡± he said. ¡°Do you want to go around ande from the other side?¡± ¡°Wait, you want to make the first move?¡± ¡°Even if we don¡¯t attack, don¡¯t you think we should at least see the other party¡¯s face? I hate the feeling of being watched.¡± When I nodded, Kim Hyeong-Jun grabbed onto the railing around the roof and dropped into a crouch. That¡¯s when I realized what he meant by breaking through the front. Bang! Kim Hyeong-Jun flew through the darkness, using the railing as aunch pad. To me, he wasn¡¯t breaking through the front¡­ He was creating a new front. I clicked my tongue at his audacity and hurried down to the runway. I made a big loop to the left as I made my way toward the city. Bang-! A single gunshot rang out. The sound made me regret not going first; I had no clue how I was going to catch up to someone who was flying while running on my own two legs. Regardless, I furrowed my brow and focused on the situation. When I finally got to the ce where I¡¯d heard the gunshot, I saw Kim Hyeong-Jun with an unknown man. The man was on the floor, while Kim Hyeong-Jun was in front of him, scratching his side. "What happened? I heard someone shoot a gun.¡± ¡°Oh, you¡¯re here?¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun smacked his lips and pointed to the right. I turned and saw a man holding an iron pipe and a woman holding a pistol about forty meters away. As I looked at the two of them, the woman with the pistol began pointing at me and Kim Hyeong-Jun alternately. I could tell she was bewildered by our appearance. After a moment, the man holding the iron pipe spoke up. ¡°Who¡­ Who are you?¡± This question was so worn-out that it meant nothing to me. It was like just another routine. Instead of answering right away, I remained silent and briefly examined their outward appearance. Their clothes weren¡¯t torn. They were a bit yellow from wear, but still rtively clean. Once I¡¯d gotten a general idea of what they were, I spoke in the softest voice possible. ¡°Calm down and lower your gun.¡± ¡°What are you?!¡± ¡°The Survivor Rally Organization¡­ We¡¯re the rescue team.¡± At the words ¡®rescue team,¡¯ the man holding the iron pipe began to hesitate. On the other hand, the woman holding the pistol frowned, and her arm began to tremble. ¡°Stop with the bullshit!¡± she yelled. She squeezed her eyes shut and pulled the trigger. Bang-! Fortunately, her pistol wasn¡¯t very threatening, since all my five senses were heightened. I could see the bullet flying toward me with my naked eye. However, I could only follow the bullets¡¯ trajectory; it was still impossible for me to avoid them like in the movies. I had to make sure that I didn¡¯t get hit in the head. Still, even if I did get hit in the head, it would be impossible for something like a pistol round to pierce my skull. Thankfully, the bullet merely brushed past me. However, I wasn¡¯t sure if ¡®passed¡¯ was the right word to describe its trajectory, or if it was more urate to say that it couldn¡¯t make it through my flesh. I looked over at Kim Hyeong-Jun with a puzzled expression, and Kim Hyeong-Jun pointed at his side with his finger. I then realized that he was scratching his side earlier because he¡¯d been shot as well. The distance between us and the woman was a good forty meters. When stage-one mutants were hit by the rounds fired by K2 rifles at a hundred meters, the bullets would tear through their flesh, but that would be all. The K2 rifles couldn''t prate their bones. And since we were blue-eyed zombies¡­ Our bones had no problem dealing with pistol rounds, even from a closer distance. Of course, it depended on the type of pistol as well. As long as it wasn¡¯t the 12.7mm round fired by a Desert Eagle, which was known to be able to down elephants, there was no way anyone could take us down, not with the sort of pistols you could get in Korea. The woman looked me up and down, all flustered. I stayed exactly where I was, and she widened her eyes and pulled the trigger again. Bang-! Despite her efforts, she wasn¡¯t able to do much damage to me again. As if Kim Hyeong-Jun had grown tired of her pointless endeavor, he sighed and spoke up. "Hey¡­ Hey theredy, we¡¯re telling you we¡¯re the rescue team. You can''t just shoot us.¡± ¡°Shut up!¡± ¡°You should listen to what people have to say first.¡± ¡°What do you mean by ¡®people¡¯? Are you saying you''re a human?¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun looked silently at me. I scratched my forehead and addressed the woman. ¡°We have no intention of hurting you. We¡¯re here to help you.¡± ¡°Why would someone who¡¯s willing to help us knock Hyun out like that?¡± ¡°Pardon?¡± As I tilted my head, the woman looked at the man lying in front of Kim Hyeong-Jun. Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Wait, I¡¯ve never hit him!¡± he said. ¡°He just fainted in front of me. Why are you ming me for that?¡± ¡°Anyway, you¡¯re not human. Am I wrong? Can a human jump that high? I mean, who wouldn¡¯t be surprised if something suddenly falls down right in front of your eyes?¡± ¡°So back to my point, how¡¯s it my fault that he fainted after being surprised?¡± "Shut up!" She wasn¡¯t willing to have a rational conversation. It seemed like she had already lost herposure. She was terrified, and the only thing she could think of was to kill us. The man next to her swallowed and spoke up. ¡°Min-Jeong, calm down.¡± ¡°Ahjussi, you head back first. I''ll take care of them." ¡°These people don¡¯t seem to have any ill intentions. Let¡¯s just go back and discuss this.¡± ¡°These ¡®people¡¯? Ahjussi, do you think they¡¯re human?¡± ¡°Then how about Jin-Young? Is Jin-Young a monster too?¡± The woman named Min-Jeong frowned and didn¡¯t say a word. From their conversation, I assumed that they had someone like us amongst their group as well. I quickly tried to steer the conversation toward something we had inmon. I took a deep breath. "If I may¡­ Does this person named Jin-Young have red eyes?¡± I asked. ¡°...¡± The man and woman remained silent, but a momentter, the man holding the iron pipe spoke up. ¡°Which group do you belong to?¡± ¡°I told you that Ie from the Survivor Rally Organization.¡± "And what¡¯s that?" ¡°We¡¯re a group of people who banded together to get away from the zombies.¡± ¡°And you¡­ Came via the nes?¡± "Yes." When I nodded, the man wet his parched lips. ¡°Guide me to where your group is. I¡¯m not willing to discuss anything until I see your people.¡± "Ahjussi!" ¡°Min-Jeong, take Hyun and head back. That¡¯s an order.¡± ¡°...¡± Min-Jeong gritted her teeth and red at me and Kim Hyeong-Jun. She then looked straight into my eyes. ¡°If you do anything to Jeong-Ho ahjussi¡­ I won¡¯t let you leave in peace,¡± she threatened in a low voice. Kim Hyeong-Jun looked at me with his eyes half-open, as if annoyed by her attitude. I looked back at him, and realized that he was already angry. Chapter 162 Chapter 162 The man holding the iron pipe went by the name Yoon Jeong-Ho. He seemed to be in histe thirties. I noticed that he kept a wary eye on us as we walked. After a moment, he cleared his throat. ¡°Where are you guys from? Huh?¡± he asked. ¡°We¡¯re from Seoul.¡± ¡°Leaving Seoul anding to Daegu¡­ So you¡¯re telling me that Seoul¡¯s done for?¡± I nodded. Seoul used to be home to about ten million people. A lot of people loved Seoul for its excellent infrastructure, but after the zombie virus spread, it turned into a living hell. It used to be the most populous city in Korea, and therefore the number of zombies there was second to none. The appearance of the virus had turned the ce into a zombie nest. Yoon Jeong-Ho grimaced. ¡°You probably came down with some hope, but as you can see, things aren¡¯t that much better here,¡± he said. ¡°Just letting you know, just in case you haven¡¯t noticed.¡± ¡°It doesn''t matter. The fact that it¡¯s safer than Seoul doesn¡¯t change.¡± ¡°Is the situation in Seoul really that bad? How bad are we talking about? It can¡¯t be that bad.¡± ¡°Everything¡¯s bad there.¡± ¡°Well, it''s the same when you go to downtown Daegu. It just so happens that Daegu Airport is one of those ces without a lot of people, you know, so it didn¡¯t suffer so much damage.¡± I¡¯d assumed that an airport would have been a crowded space, but it seemed like the rural areas of Korea were different from Seoul. I nodded slowly. "By the way, I noticed that you guys have a pistol. Where did you get it?" I asked him. ¡°I nicked it from a police station. Don¡¯t you think that we should at least all have weapons to protect ourselves?¡± The pistol which the woman named Min-Jeong was holding was a revolver used by the police. It was a Smith & Wesson revolver, a .38 caliber handgun. I wasn¡¯t sure if it was the m10 or m60 model, but I knew it was an extremely practical revolver. Yoon Jeong-Ho looked me and Kim Hyeong-Jun up and down, then asked in a rather cautious tone, "By the way¡­ The bullets earlier, did you manage to dodge ¡®em?¡± ¡°No, we both got hit.¡± ¡°Then howe you aren¡¯t hurt, huh?¡± I frowned, unsure of how to answer his question. Kim Hyeong-Jun, who was next to me, snorted. ¡°If we died to those kids¡¯ toys, we wouldn¡¯t havested a day in Seoul.¡± ¡°How serious is it in Seoul? Huh?¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun raised his eyebrows, looking ufortable. "Well¡­ Before that, what¡¯s up with the attitude? Why are you talking to us like you¡¯ve known us for a long time?¡± Yoon Jeong-Ho puffed out a breath and looked away. I red at Kim Hyeong-Jun, who pouted his lower lip and shrugged. ¡®That personality of his¡­ He probably won¡¯t be able to fix it until the day he dies.¡¯ ¡®Wait, no. He still hasn¡¯t been able to fix it even though he¡¯s dead.¡¯ I smacked my lips, and Yoon Jeong-Ho swallowed. ¡°If you don¡¯t mind¡­ Mister¡­ We¡¯ll go over the details when we arrive,¡± he said in a more docile tone. ¡°There¡¯s a lot of things I want to hear about as well.¡± * * * When I arrived at the passenger terminal with Yoon Jeong-Ho, the leaders approached me, looking serious. I could tell that Yoon Jeong-Ho was surprised by them. He looked at my face. ¡°Are you coexisting with humans as well?¡± he asked. "Yes." ¡°Perfect. That¡¯ll certainly speed things up.¡± It seemed like my prediction about the man named Jin-Young was correct. He seemed to be a zombie fighting for humans, like us. I btedly realized that Yoon Jeong-Ho was speaking in a much more formal tone than when we¡¯d first met him. It seemed like Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s words had gotten stuck in his mind. We all headed to the waiting room located in the corner of the terminal. We told him what had transpired in Seoul in order to make him feel morefortable around us. He took in the whole story, then grimaced. ¡°I don¡¯t know if I should be saying this¡­ But I feel fortunate to be in Daegu,¡± he muttered. I inteced my fingers. "It¡¯s more than okay,¡± I assured him. ¡°Now, tell us about what happened in Daegu.¡± Yoon Jeong-Ho sucked on his lower lip as he thought about his response. After a moment, he sighed and began to speak. ¡°Daegu was safe until just about a month ago. All thanks to the air base next to Daegu Airport.¡± I finally realized what the metal fence next to the airport was. They were the fences that surrounded the military base right next to the airport. Yoon Jeong-Ho¡¯s expression grew bitter. ¡°Everyone could¡¯ve stayed safe if we stuck together,¡± he continued. ¡°Everyone would''ve stayed safe together¡­ But some people got greedy and caused everything to burn down.¡± ¡°Was there some sort of inter-faction fighting?¡± ¡°Yes. The more our colony grew, the more the core ideals of the group began to fracture, and ultimately, some people became more greedy.¡± I knew exactly what he was talking about. Fortunately, when I was with Shelter Hae-Young, there wasn¡¯t trouble amongst the survivors. However, the current state of Survivor Rally Association¡ªwith all the survivors from Shelter Hae-Young, Silence, and Barrier together¡ªwas far from that. Fortunately, I¡¯d managed to ease the tension between the survivors before it became an issue, but I knew that if the Survivor Rally Organization grew bigger, it¡¯d be difficult to keep everyone under control. Yoon Jeong-Ho sighed. ¡°The soldiers with power started everything,¡± he continued. ¡°At first, it was food distribution, and then thebor force. After that, the remaining survivors in Daegu began to band together.¡± ¡°You mentioned that Daegu copsed a month ago; are you saying it was safe before then?¡± ¡°Yes. From Chilgok to Daegu Buk-gu, Jung-gu, Seo-gu, Dong-gu, and Gyeongsan¡­ We built barbed wire fences and defensive lines for each region. And we were able to suppress the virus fairly quickly, and were able to contain its spread.¡± ¡°Then why¡­¡± ¡°The survivors¡¯ anger continued to simmer and boil over, and a war broke out. It only took a single shot¡­ After that, it was the soldiers with power versus the survivors.¡± Daegu was simr to Seoul in that it followed thew of the jungle, the survival of the fittest, but there were subtle differences. Unlike Seoul, where everyone tried to survive on their own, Daegu had broken out into a civil war. Lee Jeong-Uk, who had been all ears, spoke up. ¡°Even if there were far more survivors¡­ I don¡¯t think the survivors would¡¯ve stood a chance against the firepower of the military.¡± "You¡¯re absolutely right. It was one-sided, and we were continually pushed back.¡± Yoon Jeong-Ho bit his lip and frowned, as if remembering the past. I leaned back and crossed my arms. At the crossroads of life and death, the ability for humans to think reasonably was like a bonfire. Once the fire died out and darkness reigned, the only thing left wasplete chaos. Yoon Jeong-Ho closed his eyes gently, took a deep breath, and continued where he had left off. ¡°Then about ten days ago¡­ Something¡­ Something happened.¡± "What happened?¡± ¡°The zombies came.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Since Daegu is a natural basin, we all thought that we¡¯d be safe from any big external threat once we got rid of the zombies inside. But if you think about it¡­ Being a basin means that, once they get in, there¡¯s no way out for us as well.¡± ¡°So you¡¯re saying that the survivors got into a conflict, and sometime during that the zombies invaded, and it all went downhill from there.¡± "Yes. The zombies established themselves in Downtown Daegu, and the remaining survivors had no choice but to flee to the outskirts.¡± Yoon Jeong-Ho¡¯s story made me tilt my head in confusion. Something wasn¡¯t adding up. I expected that the survivors here would¡¯ve been run over the moment the zombies came, but they had somehow managed to survive and escape to the outskirts of Daegu. ¡°Tell me in detail how you escaped,¡± I asked with a serious expression. ¡°There¡¯s no way ordinary survivors could¡¯ve survived even for half a day against a zombie wave. It would have been different if there were military troops, though.¡± ¡°The troops abandoned us early on and fled. We fled to the subway and just barely got out.¡± "Subway?" ¡°I believe most of the survivors are staying in the subway. Those who escaped like me are staying at Ansim Station, thest stop on Line 1.¡± When I heard the word ¡®subway¡¯, I instinctively looked over at Kim Hyeong-Jun. He looked back at me and smirked, as though something had crossed his mind as well. ¡°Ahjussi, do you remember the incident at Konkuk University Station?¡± ¡°I was thinking about the same thing too.¡± Previously, when we visited Konkuk University Station, the dogs were using it as a food warehouse. But in Daegu, the subway station had been repurposed into a safe haven for the survivors. I nodded slowly and turned to Yoon Jeong-Ho. ¡°Then how did you get to know this person named Jin-Young?¡± I asked. ¡°Jin-Young is one of my dongsaengs I used to get along with before all of this zombie stuff happened. He was bitten by a zombie while we were escaping.¡± [1] ¡°Among the zombies that attacked Daegu, were there any zombies that had red eyes like Jin-Young?¡± ¡°I was too upied back then, so I don¡¯t remember. Everyone was busy trying to survive.¡± ¡°You mean the zombies were just attacking whoever they could?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Since the zombies had attacked indiscriminately, the possibility of it being a zombie wave was high. If the zombies were following orders, they wouldn¡¯t have killed all the survivors thoughtlessly. Instead, they would have tried to capture them and store them as food forter. I scratched my eyebrows and asked him a follow-up question. ¡°I want to meet this person named Jin-Young. What¡¯s hisst name?¡± ¡°Jeong Jin-Young. He¡¯s leading the survivors at Ansim Station.¡± ¡°Could you tell me how many survivors there are over at Ansim Station and what¡¯s your role or title there?¡± ¡°...¡± Yoon Jeong-Ho looked at me nervously. He seemed to be wary now that I was asking him to provide me with details. It seemed like he was trying to figure out the intention behind my question. I offered him a small smile. ¡°I don¡¯t have anything nefarious in mind. If you feel ufortable with my question, you don¡¯t have to answer.¡± ¡°The number of people there¡­ I don¡¯t feelfortable sharing that information. And I don¡¯t have a role or title. If you really want to push it, I guess I could be considered the enforcer,¡± Yoon Jeong-Ho replied as he rubbed his neck. Lee Jeong-Uk, who had kept silent, threw a question at him. "Then I¡¯m guessing you aren¡¯t aware of the current whereabouts of the soldiers?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. We¡¯re not exactly sure where they are as well. We evacuated via the subway, but the soldiers managed to get away without using the undergroundwork.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ If they retreated as soon as the zombie wave started, it¡¯s possible that they survived and managed to make it out of the city.¡± ¡°But given the number of zombies in the city¡­ I don¡¯t know if they could¡¯ve made it out of the city alive. There were so many of them, as if they¡¯de from somewhere else¡­¡± ¡°Do you have a rough estimate?¡± "I wish I knew, but I honestly have no clue. I couldn¡¯t see an end to them. I¡¯m pretty sure that the soldiers were trapped by zombies as well.¡± I rubbed my chin quietly as I considered the situation. Judging from what Yoon Jeong-Ho was telling me, the survivors at Ansim Station seemed like they still had some humanity left in them. Since it had only been about a month since they¡¯d begun to experience the realities of the zombie world, they wouldn¡¯t have fallen apart unless they were mentally weak. However, I still wasn¡¯t sure if I should take them in or not. I was sure that I¡¯d have a better idea after I met this man named Jeong Jin-Young to get more details, but I wanted to get a rough estimate of how many people were in their group. At least I finally realized why the woman named Min-Jeong had reacted so sensitively earlier on. She¡¯d probably lost someone special just ten-or-so days ago. It was only natural for her to have a hostile, aggressive attitude toward zombies. While I was lost in thought, Kim Hyeong-Jun frowned and got up from his seat. Without saying a word, he ran out into the terminal building. It seemed like his underlings had detected movement within their range. I got up and looked at Lee Jeong-Uk. ¡°Evacuate everyone.¡± ¡°What do you mean? There¡¯s nowhere to evacuate to.¡± ¡°Gather them here so that they aren¡¯t scattered all over the ce.¡± With that, I followed Kim Hyeong-Jun outside. Beyond the jet-ck runway, I saw a faint red light. There was a red-eyed zombie, surrounded by Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s underlings. I could already tell who he was. I was pretty sure that the woman named Min-Jeong had told Jeong Jin-Young about Yoon Jeong-Ho¡¯s trip to Daegu Airport. The man being beaten up right then had to be him. Kim Hyeong-Jun seemed toe to the realization as well, and btedly stopped his underlings from attacking. However, the man was already lying on the ground, covered in blood. I made my way over to where he was, and Kim Hyeong-Jun gave me a troubled look. "Ahjussi,¡± he said. "What is it?" "This person¡­ He hasn''t even grown his teeth yet.¡± If his teeth hadn''t grown out, it meant that the maximum number of underlings he could control was less than five hundred. He was covered in blood, just barely breathing. He¡¯d taken a serious beating in that short moment of time. I looked down at the man. ¡°Can you speak?¡± I asked. The man remained silent as blood dripped from his flesh. He was arching one of his eyebrows. It seemed he was amused that I was talking to him. I looked at him right in the eyes. ''Look into my eyes andmunicate with your mind.¡¯ ¡®What, what is this¡­?¡¯ ''I''ll exinter. Let¡¯s cut to the chase. Are you Jeong Jin-Young?¡¯ Jeong Jin-Young red at me, all flustered. ¡®How do you know me? You, you¡­ You¡¯d better not have done anything to Jeong-Ho hyung!¡¯ Judging by the fact that he still has the strength to get angry, it didn¡¯t seem like there was anything wrong with his brain. Feeling relieved, I brushed his anger aside. ''Can you walk?'' I asked. ¡®...¡¯ ''Follow me if you can walk.'' ''Just kill me, you son of a bitch.¡¯ ''I''ll lead you to Mr. Yoon Jeong-Ho. Just follow me.¡¯ Jeong Jin-Young pressed his lips tightly together. His expression seemed to suggest that he was itching for a fight. It didn¡¯t take him long to limp to his feet. He looked into my eyes. ''What¡­ What the fuck are you, you bastard?¡¯ he asked. ''I swear, if you curse one more time, you¡¯re going to get schooled.¡¯ ¡®...¡¯ Jeong Jin-Young swallowed and stared nkly at my face. He spat a mouthful of blood onto the ground. ''If you¡¯re lying¡­ I¡¯m going to kill you.¡¯ I sighed and shook my head. All the people I¡¯d encountered in Daegu¡­ What was this thing about wanting to kill me the first time they met me? The woman named Min-Jeong, and now Jeong Jin-Young¡­ Everyone seemed to have a rough mouth. ¡®Do I really look like a viin or something?¡¯ I brushed away the bitterness in my heart and headed back to the airport. 1. Dongsaeng is a gender neutral term to refer to someone who is younger than oneself, mostmonly one¡¯s younger brother/sister. In this case, it is being used for someone who is just younger than the speaker, so the speaker is not referring to a family member. ? Chapter 163 Chapter 163 Only after seeing Yoon Jeong-Ho did Jeong Jin-Young let out a sigh of relief and sit down. On the other hand, Yoon Jeong-Ho got all flustered when he saw the other man¡¯s condition, and started yelling at us. Kim Hyeong-Jun scratched his head while he exined what Jeong Jin-Young was, and why he was like this. However, Yoon Jeong-Ho was at a loss of words even after hearing his exnation. ¡°He¡¯ll be alright,¡± I said. ¡°He¡¯ll regenerate with time since his head wasn¡¯t damaged.¡± ¡°Pardon?¡± ¡°A being with red eyes regenerates the physical damage it sustains over time. I¡¯m not sure how long it¡¯ll take¡­ But don¡¯t worry; it¡¯s nothing life-threatening.¡± Yoon Jeong-Ho looked back and forth between me and Jeong Jin-Young with a doubtful expression. It seemed like Jeong Jin-Young had never sustained such physical damage before. To me, he seemed like he hadn¡¯t had to do any dirty work growing up, or perhaps he¡¯d had a sheltered upbringing. Of course, this was all pure spection. Deep down, I knew they had probably tried their best to survive each day. However, to those of us who had survived Seoul, they were nothing more than weak herbivores. ¡°What the hell are we doing here?!¡± someone suddenly yelled out from behind me. It was none other than Tommy. Tommy red at us and continued to speak in a raised voice. ¡°How many times have I told you that we have to get to the research center? We have absolutely no time to waste!¡± ¡°Tommy, there are survivors here too. We¡¯ll go after we check on their safety.¡± ¡°This isn¡¯t the time to act like some superhero when we don¡¯t even know what¡¯s happening at the Brain Research Institute.¡± ¡°Then you can go right now,¡± I said calmly. Tommy seemed taken aback. His mouth was open, but not a single word came out. ¡°Pardon?¡± he finally managed. ¡°We¡¯ll get going after we check on the survivors. Like I said, if you¡¯re in a hurry, you can take the Russian soldiers and go on first.¡± Tommy closed his mouth and stayed silent. I was not going to let anyone give me orders. The Survivor Rally Organization considered problems by listening to everyone¡¯s opinions and making ns ordingly. If they didn¡¯t like the way things were run, they could bugger off. I sighed and walked toward Tommy and outlined the situation with a serious expression. ¡°The reason we came all the way to Daegu with you is because there was a high chance that this ce still maintained the trappings of civilization. The vine¡ªor whatever you¡¯re talking about¡ªis none of my business.¡± ¡°How¡­ How could you say that, despite knowing that the vine is the future of mankind?¡± ¡°Stop talking about the future when you can¡¯t even predict what¡¯s going to happen today. To me, the survivors here are more important than you folks going on about this vine.¡± ¡°...¡± Tommy clenched his fists, his lips trembling. It seemed like he was angry, but he couldn¡¯t think of anything to refute my argument. And whether he liked it or not, I could tell that Tommy knew that he and his people couldn¡¯t do anything without us. He probably also knew that they had no right to give us orders, and that we had no obligation to cooperate with them. And since we had already saved them once, we had even less reason to feel responsible for them. Tommy clicked his tongue and went back to Alyosha and the Russianmander. I let out a deep sigh and made my way back to the leaders. I looked over at Yoon Jeong-Ho. ¡°Is there no zombie threat around here?¡± I asked him. ¡°It¡¯s suspiciously quiet around here. Do you mind sharing with us where the zombies are gathered?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure if you are aware, but the Geumho River is south of Daegu Airport. A bunch of zombies are gathered to the south of Geumho River. There are fewer zombies on the northern bank of the river, where we are.¡± "Then is it safe to assume that this part of town is perfectly safe?¡± ¡°The threat is minimal. If you take a right, you¡¯ll get to Ansim Station, and past that, you¡¯ll see Gyeongsan. There are plenty of zombies in Chilgok, Dalseong, and Gyeongsan. The zombies probably came through there.¡± I rubbed my chin silently and looked around at the leaders. It seemed like no one was familiar with Daegu¡¯s geography. I scratched my head as well, since I was in the same boat. I asked Yoon Jeong-Ho for a favor. ¡°This is all great, but¡­ If you don¡¯t mind, do you happen to have a map of Daegu, or do you know how to get one?¡± ¡°There should be one in the subway station. Ayanggyo Station is the closest station from here, but it¡¯ll be dangerous since it¡¯s south of Geumho River. We can go to Dongchon Station instead, even though it¡¯s a bit of a walk from here.¡± ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go. Lead the way, please, if you don¡¯t mind.¡± ¡°You want to leave right now?¡± ¡°I want to take care of them while we¡¯re at it.¡± Yoon Jeong-Ho¡¯s face grew troubled. ¡°It¡¯s dangerous to go out at this time¡­ It¡¯s too deep into the night. Let¡¯s go tomorrow.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun snorted. ¡°Mr. Yoon Jeong-Ho, you¡¯re talking to the most dangerous person in the world right now,¡± he said. ¡°Pardon?¡± ¡°There¡¯s nobody stronger in this town than this ahjussi.¡± The leaders smiled and nodded as Kim Hyeong-Jun pointed at me. I rubbed my neck in embarrassment, and Yoon Jeong-Ho titled his head in confusion. ¡°He doesn¡¯t seem that threatening¡­¡± he muttered to himself. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s stop ying around and get going. We don¡¯t have much time.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ Yes. If you could follow me.¡± ¡°Get on my back. That¡¯ll be faster.¡± I turned around and gestured to him to get on. Yoon Jeong-Ho looked around, his embarrassment showing on his face. The leaders gestured to him to hurry up and get on my back, smiling as though they found his actions amusing. Once Yoon Jeong-Ho got on my back, Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s expression grew yful. ¡°Mr. Yoon Jeong-Ho, hold on tight. And uh, keep your head down. You¡¯re going to snap your neck if you face me.¡± ¡°...¡± Yoon Jeong-Ho still had confusion written all over his face. It seemed like he couldn¡¯t tell if Kim Hyeong-Jun was joking or not. I chuckled. ¡°We just have to go straight over there, right?¡± I asked him. "Yes. The buildings here areid out like a maze, so it might be difficult to find your way around if you¡¯re new here. Just follow me as I direct you¡­¡± Gasp! The rest of his sentence was cut short as he let out a terrified wail. I was already outside the terminal, dashing my way through the pitch-ck darkness. I hopped diagonally over the rooftops, and in no time at all, we came upon the main road. As I ran through the city, I felt Yoon Jeong-Ho grabbing onto me tightly. In fact, he seemed to be holding his breath in fear. After running for about three minutes, I saw the subway entrance that Yoon Jeong-Ho had mentioned earlier. I came to a stop and let Yoon Jeong-Ho get off. He fell to the ground right away, his entire body trembling. ¡°What, what the hell are you?¡± he said after a moment. His voice was full of fear, as though he was looking at a ghost. "Get up. We have no time to waste.¡± Yoon Jeong-Ho stumbled a couple of times as he just about managed to get to his feet. He swallowed, then asked another question. ¡°So in Seoul¡­ There¡¯s only people like you?¡± ¡°There aren¡¯t anymore.¡± ¡°I finally understand why Seoul copsed¡­¡± I smacked him firmly on the back and chuckled. Yoon Jeong-Ho wet his parched lips and walked stiffly into the subway station. After making our way through the subway station for a while, we finallyid our hands on a small map of Daegu. Yoon Jeong-Ho insisted that we should walk back to the terminal, but I forced him to get onto my back and took off at full speed back to the terminal. I did not want to face the possibility of being attacked by zombies on the way back. ¡°Ahhh!!!¡± wailed Yoon Jeong-Ho again. * * * The leaders who were gathered in the waiting room of the airport terminal stood around the map of Daegu and started making ns. I wasn¡¯t sure if it was coincidence or destiny, but the Korea Brain Research Institute was near Ansim Station, where Yoon Jeong-Ho¡¯s people were. The Korea Brain Research Institute was in Daegu Innovation City, just north of Ansim Station. As Tommy studied the map, his face lit up with joy. ¡°So we can get going tomorrow, right? We can stop by Ansim Station on the way to save the people there, and then check on the research center as well, no?¡± Unlike Tommy, who was all excited, Lee Jeong-Uk didn¡¯t seem too happy. He closed his eyes gently, considering the situation. After a while, he let out a sigh. ¡°What do you think, Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok?¡± he asked. ¡°There are four hundred survivors here alone. It¡¯s impossible to move everyone over there at one go.¡± ¡°I agree. I think it¡¯ll be wiser to have a look at the people at Ansim Station first, to see if they¡¯re rational enough to bring over here.¡± Most of the leaders seemed to agree with Lee Jeong-Uk. Hwang Ji-Hye, who had remained silent until then, spoke up. ¡°What are you nning to do if the survivors at Ansim Station are hostile toward us?¡± ¡°Well then, they can¡¯t join us,¡± he replied calmly. Yoon Jeong-Ho frowned. ¡°Are you treating us like pariahs?¡± ¡°No, that¡¯s not what I meant. The survivors here have been through thick and thin together, and in the process, they¡¯ve built trust and faith toward one another. If it seems like the survivors at Ansim station aren¡¯t able to get along with the survivors here, it¡¯d be best for both parties if we did not join up together.¡± ¡°Well, we¡¯ve gone through our own ups and downs. I find your statement pretty insulting.¡± ¡°Like I said, that¡¯s not what I meant. I¡¯m just saying that we¡¯ve had different experiences, and we each have our own way of living.¡± ¡°Exactly. So you think you¡¯re the heroes here, while we¡¯re the burden that you¡¯ll be taking care of.¡± It was obvious that the two of them were already on different pages. I massaged my temples gently and let out a sigh. One group was wailing at the top of their lungs that they needed to get to thisb, while another group was getting triggered by the fact that they felt like they were being looked down upon. I knew that if we took in all their opinions, though, it would be difficult to maintain the system that we¡¯d established for running the Survivor Rally Organization. Even though the organization had held firm against the impacts of external factors, allowing these two factions to have it their way could jeopardize the whole organization. Things began to turn sour as Lee Jeong-Uk and Yoon Jeong-Ho grew more heated. Yoon Jeong-Ho got up from his seat and started pointing his finger at Lee Jeong-Uk. Their quarrel escted, and I couldn¡¯t hold it in any longer. "Everyone stop!!!" I yelled, furrowing my brow. I shouted so loud that the windows shook. All eyes in the meeting room turned toward me. I let out a deep breath and spoke up. ¡°Mr. Yoon Jeong-Ho.¡± ¡°Yes¡­¡± ¡°We¡¯re not ignoring you. But you have to follow our process.¡± ¡°What do you mean ¡®your process¡¯? You came here out of the blue and¡­¡± ¡°Out of the blue?¡± I repeated, frowning. Yoon Jeong-Ho swallowed and looked away. I let out a bitter sigh. ¡°We tried approaching you like gentlemen a couple of times. It seems like you don¡¯t remember that you shot at us out of the blue.¡± ¡°Min-Jeong lost a friend a couple of days ago to some zombies. It¡¯s only natural that she would act that way¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m telling you, that¡¯s not natural,¡± I cut him off, letting my eyes widen. Yoon Jeong-Ho gasped and looked around at the leaders who were gathered in the room. All of the leaders were looking at him with serious expressions. Overwhelmed by the atmosphere, he bit his lip and sat down. After everyone calmed down a little, I let out another sigh, then continued on. ¡°We fought zombies before we got to Daegu. And we¡¯ve all survived until now because we stood back-to-back through adversity, without losing our senses.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Do you really think we¡¯ll just wee you folks if one of you is trigger-happy just because she lost a friend?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°All the survivors here have their own stories and are trying their best to put them in the past. There¡¯s not a single person here who hasn''t gone through their own trials and tribtions. Our focus as a group is to keep our individual emotions in check while cooperating with the others to make it through together.¡± Yoon Jeong-Ho didn¡¯t say a word. He was taking in all that I had to say. Even the leaders of the Survivor Rally Organization and Tommy from Russia were concentrating on what I had to say. I looked around the room. ¡°If you can¡¯t control your emotions, you cannot join us,¡± I continued. ¡°If you¡¯re going to let your emotions control you, then I¡¯d ask you to leave right now.¡± I delivered thest sentence in as firm a tone as I could. Tommy and Yoon Jeong-Ho let their heads sag without saying a word. I furrowed my brow at them. ¡°Don¡¯t whine if you¡¯re going to ask for help. We don¡¯t have the time to listen to your whining.¡± Quickly, Tommy figured out what he had done wrong and spoke up. ¡°My apologies.¡± Unlike Tommy, though, Yoon Jeong-Ho remained silent, his fists still shaking as if he was still angry at something. I took in his agitated appearance and raised my eyebrows at him. ¡°And you, Mr. Yoon Jeong-Ho, do you have anything to say?¡± I asked. ¡°Why did youe to Daegu¡­?¡± ¡°Pardon?¡± ¡°You came here out of the blue and started telling us to do this and that. You don¡¯t think that¡¯s funny? And it¡¯s not like we didn¡¯t cooperate. Well, in fact, we¡¯ve never asked for help in the first ce.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Jin-Young got hurt because of you guys. I provided you with a map since you said you needed one, and told you where the research center is because you said you didn¡¯t know where it was. So what?¡± His eyes were bloodshot, and welled up with tears. At that moment, I understood where he wasing from. I realized that I¡¯d only been looking at things my way. I didn¡¯t consider what Yoon Jeong-Ho and his people wanted. I just assumed that they would want our help. Chapter 164 Chapter 164 I nodded. ¡°You¡¯re absolutely right,¡± I said. ¡°It turns out that we are the ones who should be apologizing.¡± Yoon Jeong-Ho remained silent, still looking at the floor. I rubbed my neck in embarrassment. ¡°My apologies, Mr. Yoon Jeong-Ho,¡± I said softly. ¡°It looks like I crossed the line.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°When the sunes up, I will escort Mr. Jeong Jin-Young and Mr. Yoon Jeong-Ho to Ansim Station. After that, we¡¯ll continue to survive on our own.¡± Yoon Jeong-Ho had his fists clenched but didn¡¯t say anything. He merely bit his lower lip and frowned. It seemed like he was lost in thought, now that he had let out all the words that he¡¯d been holding back. Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s expression seemed slightly confused. He must have sensed it as well. ¡°We¡¯re going to have a Survivor Rally Organization meeting now,¡± he said. ¡°Mr. Yoon Jeong-Ho, Tommy, please leave the waiting room.¡± Tommy nodded and walked out in a good mood. On the other hand, Yoon Jeong-Ho seemed rather empty inside as he left the waiting room. I felt bad for him for some reason. After they left, the atmosphere in the waiting room was awfully heavy. It was dead silent. Lee Jeong-Uk looked around at everyone¡¯s faces and broke the silence with a sigh. ¡°Let¡¯s go ahead and organize our ns.¡± I nodded and put my hands on my face. Lee Jeong-Uk took another deep breath. ¡°When the sunes up tomorrow, Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok, the Russian researchers, and Mr. Yoon Jeong-Ho will go to Ansim Station.¡± ¡°Will it be alright if I don¡¯t go?¡± ¡°It¡¯d be nice if you could talk about it again with them. I think we got emotional earlier on and weren¡¯t thinking straight. In the meantime, we¡¯ll inspect the aircrafts and get ready to leave.¡± I looked at him in puzzlement. ¡°What do you mean by getting ready to leave¡­?¡± Lee Jeong-Uk smiled and replied with a question of his own. ¡°Do you remember our initial n?¡± ¡°Are you saying that we¡¯ll all go to Jeju Ind together?¡± Lee Jeong-Uk nodded, then continued. ¡°Mr. Kim Hyeong-Jun and Mr. Do Han-Sol, I¡¯d like you two to focus on defense in case anything unexpected happens. I will take the facilities management team and security team to try to secure more jet fuel.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun and Do Han-Sol, who were sitting in the corner, nodded and voiced their acknowledgment, after which Lee Jeong-Uk continued on with his briefing. ¡°Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok, please take Yoon Jeong-Ho and Jeong Jin-Young to Ansim Station, and escort the Russian researchers to the Korea Brain Research Center.¡± ¡°And then I¡¯ll return afterward?¡± "Yes. Depending on the current situation at the research institute, certain situations may crop up, but everything that happens after they leave us is up to them to take care of.¡± The sense of bitterness within me made me sigh. I wanted to help the survivors of Daegu somehow, but I also knew that they probably had their own ways and ns for survival. I would be selfishly crossing the line if I tried to step in and take more care of them. I nodded and got up from my seat. "Got it. Since it''s alreadyte at night, let¡¯s end today''s meeting here. I¡¯m sure everyone must be tired, so please get some rest before it grows eventer.¡± The leaders yawned and stretched as they stood up. I went outside and stared into the pitch-ck darkness. ¡®Let¡¯s just focus on what I can do.¡¯ Making the right choices, and focusing on what I should. These were the things I needed to keep my mind on. * * * The next day, when dawn broke across the dark blue sky, Jeong Jin-Young, whose body had finished regenerating, came up to me. ¡®I heard through the grapevine that you¡¯re heading toward the Brain Research Institute.¡¯ ''Yes.'' Jeong Jin-Young bit his lower lip and looked hesitant for a moment, then looked into my eyes. ''Take care, sir.'' ''Is there anything dangerous there?'' ''Jeong-Ho hyung over there and the others don''t know this¡­ But the reason we sought shelter at Ansim Station isn¡¯t because it¡¯s thest stop of the subway.¡¯ ''Then what''s the reason?'' ¡®Gyeongsan, you see, is beyond hope. The same goes for Innovation City, which is on the border between Gyeongsan and Daegu.¡¯ It seemed like the reason the Korea Brain Research Institute had lost contact with the other research institute was because of the zombies. Of course, I¡¯d more or less expected this, but I couldn¡¯t help but feel a sense of bitterness. Deep down, I was hoping that it was a problem with the power supply, or that they had lost radio reception due to a whole list of different problems. But if they had lost contact because of the zombies¡­ It meant that the ce was done for. I nodded, then asked a question. ''Why are you telling me this when you''re keeping it a secret from others?'' ''Since you insist on going, sir; I thought you should be aware of the risks.'' I wasn''t sure what kind of person Jeong Jin-Young was, but I could tell he wasn¡¯t a bad person. He¡¯de running to Daegu Airport on his own to save Yoon Jeong-Ho and he was now informing us, the Survivor Rally Organization, about the dangers in Daegu even though we¡¯d beat him up. I quietly crossed my arms. ¡®I¡¯m going to ask onest time, just in case. Would you like to join us?¡¯ ¡®I just had a conversation with Jeong-Ho a few minutes ago¡­ But¡­ I don¡¯t think we¡¯re ready yet.¡¯ ¡®Do you believe there will ever be a day when you¡¯re ready?¡¯ ¡®I¡¯m not sure either. But one thing for sure, we have no intention of leaving right now.¡¯ I nodded slowly, shaking off the worries that had been on my mind. After that, Jeong Jin-Young asked me a question. ''Where is the Survivor Rally Organization heading to?¡¯ ¡®We¡¯re going to Jeju Ind.¡¯ Then Jeong Jin-Young smiled wistfully. ¡®Jeju Ind, huh¡­ As long as the zombies there are taken care of, it¡¯d be an ind where safety is guaranteed.¡¯ I wondered if he¡¯d said all he¡¯d wanted to say, or if he was muttering to himself. But then, he continued on. ¡®But there will be limits as well. How long do you think you can survive there?¡¯ ¡®Hmm¡­ I¡¯m not sure what to say to that.¡¯ ¡®Jeju Ind is an ind, after all. Do you think it will remain safe in the next fifty or a hundred years?¡¯ His question made my brow furrow. I looked him in the eye, but to my surprise, his eyes weren¡¯t trembling at all. He seemed like he had some sort of firm belief, and he was clearly looking at the current situation from a different perspective than I was. I nodded slowly, then asked him a question. ¡®Then what are the chances that the street zombies will survive until then? No one can tell what¡¯s going to happen in the future.¡¯ ¡®It¡¯s up to humans to change the future. It¡¯s also up to humans to destroy it.¡¯ ¡®...¡¯ ''Humans are the smartest and yet the most stupid creatures in the world. Don''t try to deny it. Humans have always been this way.¡¯ I wasn¡¯t sure what I could say to this. I couldn¡¯t think of anything to refute his statement. Despite the fact that everyone was trying their best to get along with everyone else now¡­ It was impossible to predict what could happen after ten or twenty years on Jeju Ind. Anything could happen in the span of ten to twenty years. After all, as the saying went, even the mountains and rivers would change in ten years. However, there was one fact that Jeong Jin-Young had overlooked. I pressed my lips into a thin smile. ¡®I tend to think about those matters after making sure we survive. If we can¡¯t make it through today, it¡¯s futile to even worry about what could happen tomorrow.¡¯ ''That''s also true.'' Then Jeong Jin-Young smiled and offered a small nod. I returned with a bow of my own, after which Jeong Jin-Young walked back to Yoon Jeong-Ho. I heard Tommy approaching from behind me. As I turned around, I saw him in a rather excited mood. ¡°Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok, when are we leaving?¡± ¡°Are you folks ready?¡± ¡°Yes, we¡¯re ready to go.¡± There were about fifteen Russian soldiers with him, wearing stern, determined faces. It seemed like they¡¯d had a good night¡¯s rest in a warm environment, and they had now recovered their stamina. Next to them, I saw Lee Jeong-Uk and the leaders. Lee Jeong-Uk was looking straight into my eyes without saying anything. Instead of saying goodbye, he merely nodded. I offered him a bow in return, then walked toward the entrance of the terminal. I then looked over at Yoon Jeong-Ho and Tommy. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± * * * The Russian soldiers left the terminal as soon as they got their weapons back. I gathered my underlings that had been ced at each entrance and positioned them next to the Russian soldiers, and escorted Tommy and Alyosha from behind as we moved. Yoon Jeong-Ho and Jeong Jin-Young were in front, leading the way When we arrived in front of Dongchon Station, which was where we¡¯d retrieved the map the night before, Yoon Jeong-Ho looked back and spoke up. ¡°From now on, we¡¯ll be moving along the rail tracks. It''s dark, so follow me carefully so you don''t lose us.¡± Tommy tranted his warning to the Russian soldiers. The Russianmander said something I couldn¡¯t understand, and a couple of the soldiers took out their shlights. As we took the stairs down to the railroad tracks, a musty smell and dust particles tickled the tip of my nose. The light emitted by the shlights illuminated the shadows of the city¡ªparts of the city that humans no longer used. Alyosha wrinkled his nose and began to speak in Russian, while Tommy tried his best to calm him down. It sounded like the Russian researcher was cursing in Russian at the repulsive, disgusting smell. As we ventured deeper into the railroad tracks, we saw dead zombie bodies scattered here and there. Next to them was a scorched train, leaning halfway off the tracks. When I took a look inside the train, I could see the terror and urgency of the day that the event had happened. The corpses of adults and children, men and women of all ages were preserved in time. It was a sight I couldn''t bear to see with my own eyes. ¡°Everybody stop.¡± Yoon Jeong-Ho, who was in the front, stopped walking, raising his right hand to signal to us to stop. We were at a fork in the rail tracks. Yoon Jeong-Ho swallowed as he looked at the rail tracks on the left and right. I walked over to him. ¡°Are we lost?¡± I asked in a low voice. "Shh." Yoon Jeong-Ho covered his lips with his index finger and crouched down. Jeong Jin-Young, who was right next to Yoon Jeong-Ho, looked me in the eyes. ¡®This ce is different from when I passed by yesterday.'' ''What¡¯s different?'' ''There are signs that someone was here.¡¯ I had no clue what he was talking about. I couldn¡¯t make out what traces he was talking about, since all I saw were dusty railway tracks. Only Yoon Jeong-Ho and Jeong Jin-Young could tell that something was amiss, since they used this path often. Clomp, clomp. Just then, I heard footstepsing from the end of the tracks. My blue eyes shed as I quickly peered in the direction from which the sound wasing from. I knew it hade from somewhere in front, but I couldn¡¯t tell if it wasing from the tracks on the left or the right. I heightened my senses. ¡°Which way is it?¡± I asked Yoon Jeong-Ho. "Pardon?" ¡°Which way do we have to go to get to where the survivors are?¡± ¡°It doesn''t matter either way. This is a temporary split, because the next station is Gaksan Station.¡± ¡°If that¡¯s the case, please follow me slowly, and keep a close watch on the surroundings.¡± I clenched my fists and dropped into a crouch. I elerated the flow of my blood, and steam began to rise from my body. The Russian soldiers and Yoon Jeong-Ho stared wide-eyed and took a couple of steps back. ¡°You, you¡­ You have steaming out from your body right now¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯ll go ahead first.¡± Bang!! Iunched myself forward, kicking up the dust and loose bits of cement that covered the rails. I looked ahead and ran while trying to figure out what the footsteps could be. I knew it wasn¡¯t human footsteps. It sounded like it was limping, and it did not seem like the cadence fit those of human footsteps. Perhaps it was someone who was injured, but if it wasn¡¯t, then I was sure that it was a zombie. In the blink of an eye, I passed Gaksan Station and saw a zombie with a severed arm walking along the rail tracks. The zombie heard my approach and turned around. The moment it turned around, I mmed a fist into its face. Its face caved in as it rolled on the ground several times. With that, I headed to Ansim Station without looking back. ording to Yoon Jeong-Ho, the next station after Gaksan Station was Ansim Station, thest stop on Line 1. If there were zombies between Gaksan and Ansim Station, it was safe to assume that they had already made it to Ansim Station. I pressed on toward Ansim Station, and just like I had predicted, I saw a couple of dead zombie bodies on a wooden barricade. Some of the zombies were still wiggling around, despite having their bodies pierced through by logs. I took care of them and kept on going. Soon, I saw a bunch of zombies on the tracks that led up to the tform. The survivors were defending the barricade with all their might, trying to prevent the zombies from mbering up onto the tform. ¡°Right nk! Don''t lose ground! Hold on!¡± The survivors were moving in unison to stop the zombie attack. They were trying their best, hurling bamboo spears at the zombies on the tracks and swinging baseball bats. However, their makeshift barricade was slowly copsing as the zombies kept pressing forward. Bang! Bang! Loud pops echoed along the tracks. The survivors, who were armed with revolvers, started shooting at the zombies that had made their way over their barricade and onto the tform. At this rate, I knew that they wouldn¡¯t be able to hold on for long. I crouched down and elerated my blood flow. I channeled strength into my arms, and my forearms grew bigger, my muscle fibers straining. Like a bullet fired from a gun, I flew forward to meet the zombies. Chapter 165 Chapter 165 My fist crashed into the back of the head of the zombie in front of me. Its skull caved in and the ones behind it copsed to the ground like bowling pins. After seeing their fellow zombies go down, the remaining zombies directed their gazes at me. However, all of them seemed to hesitate after noticing my blue eyes, which were shimmering brightly. This wasn¡¯t a problem. If they didn¡¯te to me, I just had to make the first move and go to them. I punched the zombies in the face nonstop. I kept up my chain attacks, and soon the zombies that were on the railroad tracks were knocked off their feet. I crushed, trampled, broke, and smashed the zombies, and helped them end their lives. The survivors looked at the zombies and then at me with puzzled faces. After I had easily taken care of the zombies, the survivors let out shouts and sighs of relief. But then one of the survivors who met my eyes screamed in fright. ¡°Zom¡­ zombie! That guy is a zombie too!¡± The survivor¡¯s cry rekindled the anxiety in the survivors, and some of the survivors started pointing their revolvers at me. However, it seemed like they couldn¡¯t pull the triggers. Fear, horror, hesitation. I could tell what they were feeling just by reading their faces. They were probably thinking something along these lines: - What if ites after me if I act out? Instead of making a move toward them, I cleaned up all the zombies on the tracks, my heart full of bitterness. I knew that, even if they did shoot me, the revolvers they had wouldn¡¯t be able to hurt me. Just like the ordinary street zombies, their guns posed no threat to me. After I had taken care of the remains of the zombies, I spat on the railroad tracks and looked at the survivors. There were fourteen people on each side of the track, staring nkly at my face. "Huh? You, you¡­¡± I heard a familiar voice amongst them. When I turned toward where the voice wasing from, I saw Min-Jeong. ¡°The wounded,¡± I said to her. "Huh? Pardon, sir?¡± ¡°How many are injured?¡± ¡°Uh, uh¡­ No one, sir.¡± She answered me using honorifics all of the sudden, and looked back and forth between me and the survivor next to her, as if she had no clue who she should be looking at. After a moment, some of the survivors approached Min-Jeong and began to whisper. ¡°Do you know this person?¡± ¡°No. I saw him for the first time yesterday.¡± ¡°Is he on the same side as us?¡± ¡°If you have to ask¡­ He¡¯s not an enemy.¡± I didn''t mean to eavesdrop, but their whispering was just loud enough for me to hear. I sighed as I wiped away the zombie blood from my face with my hand. ¡°Min-Jeong, Kim Min-Jeong!¡± I saw Yoon Jeong-Ho running along the rail tracks, approaching us. His arrival was a littlete. As soon as Yoon Jeong-Ho arrived at Ansim Station, he looked for Kim Min-Jeong. Kim Min-Jeong came down from the tform onto the tracks, her eyes open wide. The two held each other in their arms and thanked God that they were alive. They weren¡¯t thanking me, but God, whose very existence was questionable. I wiped the zombie blood on my hands onto my clothes and looked around. I¡¯d taken care of the zombies on the tracks, but I had to figure out why they hade down to the tracks in the first ce. I looked at the survivors on the tform. ¡°Did the zombiese from Gaksan?¡± I asked. "Pardon? Are you talking to me?¡± ¡°Anyone. Answer.¡± "Oh¡­ Yes. They suddenly appeared thirty minutes ago.¡± If they had showed up thirty minutes ago, that would¡¯ve been around dawn. Unless the zombies were the underlings of a zombie that could control over one thousand zombies, there was no way they could have been immune to the effects of the sun. And since they were street zombies, this was out of the question. That meant that the street zombies hade underground to avoid the sunlight. Since the people here had told me that Daegu had only fallen to the zombies about a week ago, it seemed like the zombies here had finally realized that there was an underground system, and were nowing here to avoid the sunlight and be part of the eternal darkness down here. I sighed and checked on the weapons that the survivors had. Everyone was pretty much weaponless. This was no different from the early days of Shelter Hae-Young, when everyone risked their lives and wielded stainless steel spears. I knew that, at this rate, Ansim Station Shelter would notst long. Only two to three hundred zombies had attacked Ansim Station. Over time, it was obvious that the zombie numbers would grow. Just like how there had been a zombie wave in the tens of thousands in Gwangjang-dong, Seoul, the zombies in Daegu would sooner orter begin to move together in search of food. I had no clue what I was to do with them. The leaders of the Daegu survivors, Jeong Jin-Young and Yoon Jeong-Ho, had already expressed that they did not wish to join us. My expression grewplicated as I stood there, alone in my thoughts. Jeong Jin-Young, who had been keeping an eye on me, approached me. ''Is there a reason behind the zombie attacks?¡¯ he asked cautiously. I knew he was sharp, but I was surprised to see that he had assessed the situation just from the questions I¡¯d asked the survivors. I nodded and told him what I was thinking about. He listened carefully, and immediately asked a follow-up question. ¡®Then¡­ What do you suggest we do next?¡¯ ''Well, that¡¯s up for you folks to figure out.¡¯ Jeong Jin-Young looked at me silently, seemingly taken aback by my response. His head sagged, as though he were feeling a sense of bitterness. It seemed like a lot was going through his mind. I could already tell that the survivors here would be ovee with fear every time the sun went down. I couldn¡¯t imagine that they wouldst long if they kept on living like that. When Jeong Jin-Young raised his head again, I looked him straight in the eyes. ''Listen to what I¡¯m about to say right now.¡¯ ''Pardon?'' ''I''ll tell you about all the abilities that zombies with red eyes have.'' Jeong Jin-Young nodded with a rather serious expression. Even though I wanted to take them in, I knew that it would be impossible, since I did not wish to do so by force. However, for the sake of the survivors, and to honor what the Survivor Rally Organization stood for, I was willing to help them out as much as I could. I sat down with Jeong Jin-Young and taught him everything about red-eyed zombies. He seemed in awe as I listed out their characteristics, and eximed several times. It seemed like he was greatly shocked by the fact that he could push zombies and make them into his underlings. The most shocking thing to him, though, was probably the fact that he would be able to speak verbally once he ate a human brain. ¡®Does that mean¡­ You ate a human brain as well?¡¯ ¡®As you continue to live on as a zombie, you¡¯lle across many crossroads, and face a lot of questions and choices along the way. In each case, think about the survivors first. If you let your emotions sway you, you¡¯ll put the ones who trust you in peril.¡¯ ¡®I¡¯ll keep that in mind¡­¡¯ Jeong Jin-Young nodded vigorously, a determined expression on his face. After a while, Yoon Jeong-Ho came up to us. ¡°Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok?¡± "Yes?" ¡°I know I¡¯mte, but I wanted to say thank you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.¡± Yoon Jeong-Ho bowed deeply from the waist, keeping his pose. I looked at him, then smiled gently. "It¡¯s alright. Please raise your head.¡± "I¡¯ve¡­ I¡¯ve been suspicious of you all this time.¡± ¡°It¡¯s only natural to be wary when people first meet. I also want to apologize for being so forceful.¡± Yoon Jeong-Ho kept his lips closed and slowly raised his head. I looked around at the survivors. ¡°How many survivors are here?¡± I asked. ¡°There are thirty-eight in total.¡± ¡°Are there children and the elderly as well?¡± ¡°Yes. With the exception of the personnel guarding the railroad tracks, they¡¯re all children and the elderly.¡± I could already smell danger. I quietly rubbed my chin as I considered the situation. There weren''t many zombies around the area, and since I had just taken care of the remaining zombies in Gaksan, this ce wouldn¡¯t be that dangerous as long as the zombies in Daegu Innovation City¡ªthe city on the border between Gyeongsan and Daegu¡ªwere taken care of. And since the Korea Brain Research Institute was in Daegu Innovation City, it made sense for me to go ahead and take care of the zombies there first. I called Tommy, who was behind me. ¡°Tommy, please wait here.¡± "Yes?" ¡°I¡¯ll head out first and deal with the zombies in the Innovation City. I''ll be back when I''m done taking care of them. In the meantime, please remain with the survivors here.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t it better for us to go with you? That¡¯d make it easier to deal with the zombies.¡± I tilted my head, and Tommy shed a sheepish smile. ¡°We need to be there in order for the zombies to gather up,¡± he said, ¡°If you go by yourself, you¡¯ll have to find them one by one.¡± ¡°The risk is too high.¡± ¡°I know it''s dangerous. But it¡¯ll save you time.¡± I knew where he wasing from. However, I was asking him and everyone else to wait at the station because I was afraid that a zombie wave could arise out of nowhere. The possibility of more zombies entering the subway to avoid the sunlight was still there. But since the Russian soldiers were armed with rifles, they¡¯d be able to deal with the zombies even while I was gone. I chuckled. ¡°I¡¯ll be back after I clear the way to the Brain Research Institute. It¡¯s for your safety, so please do as I say.¡± ¡°It¡¯s really okay¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m not okay with it.¡± Tommy had no choice but to agree. After ordering Ji-Eun to protect the survivors, I left the station with my stage-one mutants. The once-dark city was now brightly lit, with the sun high high up in the sky. I took the map out of my pocket, located the Korea Brain Research Institute, and gave orders to my underlings. ¡°All of you, spread out to the left and right. Kill any zombies that you see along the way. I don¡¯t care if you eat or kill the zombies you find. Just make sure they stop breathing.¡± KIAAA!!! "Go." My stage-one mutants let out mighty howls and made their way toward Innovation City like hungry hyenas. I followed them, keeping an eye on the map. * * * The roads in Innovation City wereid out in arge-scale grid, just like the other newer cities in Korea. Thanks to this, it made it a lot easier to take care of the zombies. Each block had a park, so that there was open space in all directions, and the spacing between the buildings was wide enough that I didn¡¯t need to rely on my hearing or sense of smell to hunt zombies down. The city was in good condition, just like Daegu Airport, which tracked with what Jeong Jin-Young had said about most of the zombiesing from Gyeongsan. There weren¡¯t that many buildings with broken windows, and the trees and nts were still in good shape. There were traces of several beings within the city, but it was difficult to find traces of fierce fighting within the city itself. As I made my way up north, taking care of zombies along the way, I got to a cluster of government offices. There was a statue in the shape of a brain in the middle of the cluster. ¡®Korea Brain Research Institute¡¯ was engraved at the foot of the statue. I had finally made it to the Korea Brain Research Institute, the ce that the Russian researchers had been going on and on about ever since they¡¯d got to Korea. Conveniently, there was a topographical map of the area next to the statue. There were three buildings in total. Building A was located in front, Building B to the right, and the Animal Lab to the left. Grrr¡­ Just as I had finished patrolling the institution and was about to return to Ansim Station, I heard a throat-rending noiseing from theboratory. I saw hundreds of zombies in the spacious za in front of Building A. In fact, there were so many of them that I had mistaken them for a wall for a second. The zombies had all gathered up, but were standing still as they faced theboratory, as if someone had ordered them there. However, the zombies there did not look red to me. They were ordinary zombies from the streets, and not under any individual zombie¡¯s control. ''Why are they gathered there?'' I couldn''t help but be suspicious. Since I didn¡¯t have any survivors with me, I wanted to get closer to check out what was going on. I looked behind to check on my stage-one mutants. Some were licking zombie blood that stained the corner of their mouths. We¡¯d taken care of about five hundred zombies on our way here, and I assumed that all of them were full. ¡°All of you wait here,¡± I ordered. ¡°Come running to me when I call you.¡± KIAAA!!! My mutants made throat-rending noises in acknowledgment, but their expressions suddenly changed.. It seemed like they had smelled something. I let out a breath and put the map back in my pocket and approached the square. Grrr, Kaaa, Krrr!!! The zombies turned their heads in a bizarre manner as I got closer. As soon as I saw their faces, my mouth fell open. The zombies gathered in the za had blood vessels that protruded all over their bodies, as if they were suffering from serious varicose veins, and their faces were scrunched up in deep frowns as if they were in intense pain. They were drooling thick saliva, and not a single one of them looked away in fear when they saw me. GRRR!!! The zombie in the front let out a thunderous roar from deep inside its throat, and the other zombies around it looked at me and began to make the same growling sound as well. Then, just like mad wild beasts that couldn¡¯t control themselves, they all charged toward me at once. Chapter 166 Chapter 166 Hyenas tend to back down when they see apex predators. The street zombies I¡¯d met so far were like that, which made me assume that the ones I¡¯d meet in the future would be the same. However, the zombies gathered in the za charged toward me without the slightest hesitation, as if they did not care about the hierarchy of the food chain. As I saw them get closer, my blue eyes shed as I hurriedly elerated my blood flow. While I was still channeling strength into my arms, the mad zombies were right in front of me before I realized it. I urgently twisted my lower body and waist and punched the zombie in front of me. Pow! Their defenses were no different from the ordinary street zombies. ''I guess the only thing different about them is their appearance?¡¯ They only seemed to be more violent and hideous-looking than the ordinary zombies. Their defenses were weak, so I figured that I could take them out easily if I just strengthened my lower body and core so that they wouldn¡¯t be able to bear me down through sheer weight of numbers. I concentrated on keeping my bnce as I continuously hurled punches at the iing zombies. GRRR!!! A zombie running in from the left reached out its hand toward me, spitting out thick saliva. As I twisted my back and tried to kick it, I felt something grab my ankle. I reflexively looked down at the ground and noticed that the zombie I had hit earlier had grabbed onto my lower body. Even though I had caved its face in earlier, even though I had felt its skull disintegrate under my fingers¡­ It was holding onto my ankles like a leech. A disgusting, uneasy feeling sent chills down my spine and through my entire body. The madness within them was out of this world. I¡¯ve never experienced anything like it. I wondered if another type of mutant had emerged. Chomp! Before I knew it, a zombie from the left bit me on the shoulder. I¡¯d let my guard down for a second and allowed a zombie to get to me. I couldn¡¯t believe that this street zombie had left a clear bite mark on my shoulder de. It had managed to pierce through my flesh, the flesh that pistol rounds couldn¡¯t even pierce. Their defenses were weak, but they had incredible vitality, and their attacks were far superiorpared to the other zombies. I quickly stepped back and called in my underlings. ¡®All of you, gather up.'' KIAAA!!! The fifteen stage-one mutants who had been waiting for my orders started running toward me at once. I realized that, if the zombies were still alive after their heads got crushed, all I had to do was topletely destroy their bodies. I knew it would take some time, so I called in my mutants to quickly wrap up the situation. I gave my underlings orders as I elerated my blood cirction. ¡°Crush them all.¡± * * * Yoon Jeong-Ho told the survivors what had happened at Daegu Airport, and the survivors gathered on the tform began to mutter amongst themselves. ¡°It¡¯s only right for us to join them!¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t they too cold-hearted?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s not think so much about it and follow them to Jeju Ind. We¡¯ll think about the rest of it after that. I¡¯m sure Jeju Ind will be safe.¡± ¡°I bet those people won¡¯t even blink an eye if their family members die. What? Go to Jeju Ind with them? Jeju Ind my ass! Do you think they¡¯ll protect us?¡± ¡°Then what? Do you want to die here? If it hadn¡¯t been for the blue-eyed zombie, we''d all be dead. Wake up you fool!¡± As the chaotic atmosphere continued to bubble, Jeong Jin-Young approached the survivors with a sketchbook and a ballpoint pen. He began to write in the sketchbook, and the survivors all grew quiet and paid attention to the sketchbook, as if they had agreed to do so beforehand. - I understand where everyone ising from. It is natural to view the survivors from Gangnam both positively and negatively. ¡°Jin-Young, do you have any good ideas? You¡¯re the leader, so you have to decide on something so that we can follow!¡± The survivors howled out for Jeong Jin-Young toe up with a n. He asked for calm amidst the chaotic atmosphere, and wrote some more in the sketchbook he was holding. - I also think we should join them. ¡°See? Jin-Young says it¡¯s right to follow them.¡± ¡°No, listen up. How can you trust this man who suddenly shows up and says he¡¯s part of this Survivor Rally Organization or whatever nonsense?¡± The survivors began to raise their voices again. Jeong Jin-Young sighed, his expression growingplicated. Yoon Jeong-Ho, who was next to him, spoke up. ¡°Jin-Young, this isn¡¯t something that you should take lightly.¡± - We shouldn¡¯t spend so much time on it either. There¡¯s no point in thinking about it some more. ¡°The way we¡¯ve survived and our experience of this zombie apocalypse is too different from theirs. I have no doubt that we¡¯ll get into conflicts with them.¡± - Even if we do get into a conflict, don¡¯t you think we can just let it slide? I don¡¯t see a reason to fight with them. ¡°What if we get mistreated when we do that? Think about it. Even the soldiers in Daegu weren¡¯t like this from the beginning. They weren¡¯t this reckless, remember?¡± Jeong Jin-Young hesitated a moment as he listened to Yoon Jeong-Ho. Jeong Jin-Young remained still, and Yoon Jeong-Ho grimaced and continued. ¡°Daegu is now in this situation, and it all started with a single can of canned food. Once the people of Gangnam start drawing a line between us and them, we¡¯ll be inferior in terms of numbers and power¡­ So¡­¡± Jeong Jin-Young put his hand on Yoon Jeong-Ho''s shoulder to cut him off. He flipped to the back page of the sketchbook and started to write. - Hyung-nim, Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok saved everyone here. ¡°I know, I know. And it¡¯s really something we should be thankful for. But there is no guarantee that the survivors at the airport have the same mindset as Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok.¡± - I honestly don¡¯t see any difference between them and Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok. The people at the terminal, they all had faces full of hope. Even in this damned world, they didn¡¯t seem exhausted or tired. ¡°It¡¯s also possible that he forced them to follow him using his power¡­¡± - He didn¡¯t say or do anything when we told him that we wouldn¡¯t join him. That shows that the rtionship between the survivors of Gangnam and Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok is built on trust, rather than oppression. Yoon Jung-Ho could not refute Jeong Jin-Young''s observation. He stayed silent as Jeong Jin-Young continued to write in the sketchbook. - I think Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok¡¯s mindset is such that he doesn¡¯t care about people who aren¡¯t on the same page as him, and that he more than wees those who are willing to join him. He probably got all the way here by incorporating what he thought would be useful and helpful, and abandoning whatever was opposite. "So?" - He seems like someone who would seek to weed out the bad early on, and take in those with the same values as him. And if there are any signs of conflict, he would step in to resolve it quickly. Don¡¯t you think so? "What exactly do you mean by signs of conflict?¡± - I think he has a thing against selfish people, and people who have lost their humanity. And I believe the survivors of Gangnam at the terminal share Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok''s beliefs. Yoon Jeong-Ho read the letters written in the sketchbook and gently rubbed his chin, lost in thought. As the two fell silent, Kim Min-Jeong joined them. "I¡­ I also think that it¡¯d be a good idea to join them,¡± she said. ¡°Wait, Min-Jeong. You too?¡± Kim Min-Jeong frowned. ¡°At first I was surprised and got all worked up, but now that I think about it, I think I overreacted,¡± she said, her expression rather downcast. It was hard to tell if she was sad, or if she was feeling bad for what she¡¯d done. Regardless, it seemed like she was still thinking about how she¡¯d shot Lee Hyun-Deok and Kim Hyeong-Jun without asking the two of them anything, assuming that they were mindless zombies. Kim Min-Jeong¡¯s expression remained troubled, and Yoon Jeong-Ho sighed and scratched his head. Even Kim Min-Jeong, who had been against Lee Hyun-Deok, had changed her mind. It seemed like the incident that had just happened had changed her mind. Lee Hyun-Deok had brought Yoon Jeong-Ho and Jeong Jin-Young back from Daegu Airport to Ansim Station in good condition, and had also saved the survivors there as well. His actions may not have been enough for the survivors in Ansim Station to develop full trust toward him and the Survivor Rally Organization, but it was enough for them to take an interest and to thank him and the organization. Yoon Jeong-Ho sighed as he ced his hand on his forehead, and before long, he slicked his bangs back and spoke up. ¡°So you¡¯re saying following them is the best for our future?¡± - Yes, now¡¯s not the time to be arrogant. We have to ensure our survival first. ¡°Surviving on our own¡­ Do you think that¡¯ll be impossible?¡± - Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok told me earlier that we would have to be wary, even during the day. He said that zombies evolved much faster than humans could adapt. Yoon Jeong-Ho¡¯s expression grewplicated, and he smacked his lips. He then calmed the survivors down and raised his voice. ¡°Everyone, please pay attention!¡± When the survivors looked at him, he took a deep breath and continued. ¡°We¡¯ve decided that it would be beneficial to join forces with the Survivor Rally Organization. If anyone is against this idea, please speak up now.¡± A man who appeared to be in his early forties raised his voice. ¡°I¡¯ve been saying this all along! How can we live with such cold-blooded people?!¡± It was Kim Min-Jeong¡¯s turn to frown and speak up. ¡°Then what do you want to do? We¡¯re all going to die to the zombies on our own. What do you suggest we do?¡± ¡°Well, hmm¡­ That''s not what I meant.¡± "What do you mean, that¡¯s not what you meant? If you''re going to speak, don¡¯t beat around the bush and especially, don¡¯t just blurt out the first thing thates to your mind.¡± ¡°Are you saying it¡¯s wrong to even give an opinion?¡± Kim Min-Jeong¡¯s eyes widened in anger. ¡°What I¡¯m saying is, stop saying things without thinking them through first. If you just blurt something out without offering another solution, you¡¯re just being an idiot. Am I wrong?¡± The man in his forties snorted but remained silent. Even though she had hurt his pride, he knew he had nothing to refute her with, and so all he could do was snort. Kim Min-Jeong looked around at the rest of the survivors, then continued to speak. ¡°Honestly, there¡¯s no hope for us. Jin-Young oppa is always the one bringing us food, and there¡¯s nothing we can do to help him. What do we do here, besides eat and go to the bathroom?¡± ¡°What do you mean, we don¡¯t do anything? We defended ourselves when the zombies came, and we fought them off with all our might!¡± "You fought for the first time today; stop talking as though you¡¯ve done something great.¡± "What¡¯s that?" ¡°I saw it all. I shouted to reinforce the barricade on the right, but ahjussi, you stepped back so that you could ensure your own survival. Am I wrong?¡± Kim Min-Jeong red at him as she spoke, and everyone¡¯s eyes immediately turned to the man in his forties, their eyes full of hatred and disgust. The man began to yell, almost foaming at the mouth. ¡°What is that crazy bitch talking about!? Hey! Did you fight them off alone? Huh? Why are you going on as if you did something amazing? You¡¯re only speaking because that blue-eyed zombie saved you too. Don¡¯t you dare speak as though you¡¯re different, you little bitch!¡± "Yes. Ahjussi, you¡¯re right. I¡¯ve lived my entire life like this, justifying myself. Fine, then. I¡¯m going to leave.¡± Although her words were harsh, her fists were shaking. Judging by the redness around her eyes, it seemed as though she was barely holding herself back from crying. Yoon Jeong-Ho realized what was going on, and his expression grew somber. ¡°Min-Jeong, calm down for a bit¡­¡± ¡°I hate everything. I hate everything about this ce! Aren''t we just waiting to die here? You know I¡¯m right. What kind of future do we have here? Wake up everyone!¡± ¡°Min-Jeong.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want to live in a smelly subway like this, never being able to see sunlight for the rest of my life, waiting for death!¡± Kim Min-Jeong copsed to the ground and began to sob. While Yoon Jeong-Hoforted Kim Min-Jeong, the survivors that shared her viewpoint moved to join her. The man in his forties puffed his cheeks forcefully, as if he thought that whole situation was ridiculous. ¡°What? You guys, are you going to follow them, work like dogs, breathe like ves and die? Yes, if you want to go, go. I won¡¯t stop you either. So stop messing around and get out!¡± The survivors of Ansim Station were divided into two groups. Seven men and women joined the man in his forties, while the rest asked to join up with Yoon Jeong-Ho. Yoon Jeong-Ho sighed deeply. ¡°I don¡¯t see a point in persuading you to join us and go with Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok, the man who saved us,¡± he said forcefully. ¡°After all, even he said that everyone should live ording to what they believe.¡± "Ha! There¡¯s no use giving me a lecture. Get lost. Go on your way already.¡± The man in his forties clicked his tongue vigorously. Yoon Jeong-Ho helped Kim Min-Jeong up and looked over at Jeong Jin-Young. Jeong Jin-Young nodded and stepped off the tform and onto the tracks. Tommy, who had been watching the survivors of Ansim Station with anxious eyes, hurried over to Yoon Jeong-Ho. ¡°You¡¯re going to go right now?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Wait¡­ Then¡­ What about the people over there?¡± ¡°They''re not our business anymore.¡± ¡°But still, I don¡¯t think this is going to solve the problem¡­ Didn¡¯t you already get off on the wrong foot with the Survivor Rally Organization?¡± Tommy seemed restless and nervous. ¡°That¡¯s why the least we can do is show them our will,¡± Yoon Jeong-Ho replied in a calm voice. ¡°I know I¡¯m shameless for doing this¡­ But the least we can do is get to where they are on our own and beg them to ept us.¡± Tommy scratched his head and smacked his lips. "Ha¡­ You¡­ You really do know how to put people in a difficult position.¡± His expression grew bitter. ¡°What should I say when Mr. Lee Hyun-Deokes back? If you choose to act like this out of the blue, I won¡¯t know what to do either. Think about this from my perspective.¡± "I''m sorry. But I¡¯ve finally realized what he meant. I now understand why Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok doesn¡¯t cling onto people who wish to leave.¡± Yoon Jeong-Ho gritted his teeth and nced at the man in his forties. Abandoning someone who would be a burden early on. Being a burden had nothing to do with a person¡¯s abilities. It was about their mentality. Thanks to this man in his forties, he was able to understand and sympathize with Lee Hyun-Deok and Lee Jeong-Uk. Yoon Jeong-Ho gave Tommy a small nod. ¡°Your vine research¡­ I hope you get good results.¡± "Ha¡­ Take care,¡± replied Tommy with a bitter smile. With the exception of the eight survivors, including the man in his forties, the remaining thirty survivors, along with Jeong Jin-Young, made their way along the dark rail tracks. They walked, hoping that a bright future awaited at the end of the pitch-ck tunnel that seemed to continue on forever. They acted as each other¡¯s eyes and ears as they moved forward. Their destination was Daegu Airport, where the Survivor Rally Organization was. Chapter 167 Chapter 167 ¡°I guess that¡¯s it?¡± I said with a sigh. My entire body was covered with zombie blood from taking care of the mad, frenzied zombies. It took more than just crushing their skulls to deal with thempletely; their chopped limbs still wriggled like earthworms. I had to crush every bone in their body to make them stop moving. As I collected myself, I counted the number of zombies I had taken care of. I noticed that I had taken care of about two thousand or so. And in the process, I¡¯d lost five stage-one mutants. Most of the stage-one mutants had gone down when they let their guard down. Since the zombies didn¡¯t die even after their skulls were crushed, there had been many times when the zombies on the ground would grab onto our lower bodies. Once any of my mutants lost their bnce and fell to the ground, they would not be able to resist the pressure from the attacking zombies and would eventually sumb. I had only lost three stage-one mutants while dealing with the two thousand zombies that were under the control of the boss of the Family. This time, though, I¡¯d lost five of them merely fighting street zombies. These new zombies possessed a madness that gave them overwhelming strength, stamina, and intelligence. This was a tragedy borne from mine and my mutants¡¯ carelessness. As the fight dragged on, the remaining ten mutants began to understand the characteristics of these new zombies, along with what they were capable of. Thanks to their ability to learn, they eventually learned how to take care of them. After that, we managed to pick up our pace, but it still seemed like we¡¯d fought non-stop for about an hour. I wiped the blood of the in zombies from my face and checked on how my underlings were doing. The surviving stage-one mutants were shoving the wriggling zombies into their mouths. As they ate the zombies, they restored their damaged body parts and seemed to get stronger than before. Their muscles thickened, and the color of their skin turned grayish brown. Just as Ji-Eun had be stronger after eating zombies in Jayang-dong when she was still a stage-one mutant, the ten surviving mutants also became stronger. Unfortunately, none of them looked like they would evolve into a stage-two mutant. Perhaps there weren¡¯t any zombies that shared the same desire as them. I took a deep breath and let it out, then gave orders to my underlings. ¡°All of you wait here.¡± Kiaaa- The stage-one mutants growled from their throats and looked up into the sky. I made my way through the dead zombie bodies and headed for the Brain Research Institute. Given the number of zombies gathered in the za, I assumed that the situation inside wouldn¡¯t be any better. I¡¯d been thinking of going back to Ansim Station after clearing the area outside, but now that I was here, I had to check the interior as well. Since a new type of zombie had appeared around the Brain Research Institute, there must have been some rted research being conducted here. I needed to figure out what kind of research the researchers here were conducting and get to the bottom of it. * * * Just as I expected, the new breed of zombies were present inside as well. I searched every nook and cranny and beat all of them to death, since they mercilessly attacked anyone they saw. All of a sudden, a room that wasbeled ¡®Researcher''s Rest Area¡¯ caught my eye. I carefully opened the door and saw two coats and a desk. Next to that, I saw a coffee maker, and traces that someone had used it rather recently. Until about fifteen days ago, Daegu had still been a civilized ce. Theb seemed to be littered with objects and items that showed traces of recent use. I went through the desk and the cabs, pulling out every document that seemed to contain useful information. I picked out a notebook and a thick stack of papers from a half-open drawer. The notebook was so worn out that I couldn¡¯t even imagine how many times it had been used. When I sat down in front of the desk and opened the notebook to the front page, I knew at once what this notebook was. It had a name on it. The name was Choi Seong-Won. It was his journal. I noticed that his diary contained entries from the past couple of months. Since the stacks of papers that were with the journal contained a lot of medical jargon that I couldn¡¯t understand, I decided to put them aside in the meantime and read through the journal first. The first part of the journal went back to May, when the virus first spread. - I can tell that something¡¯s going on from the conversations the soldiers are having. Word went around that the Central Disease Control¡¯s attempt at a quarantine failed. I never thought I would hear that Seoul would fall in my lifetime. I wonder where Korea is headed to. In concise sentences, he wrote out his thoughts for each day. In fact, he had written something every day, and did not miss out on any details of that particr day¡¯s situation. - I lost contact with my graduate school ssmate in Daejeon. He was the guy that teased me a lot when I first got assigned to Daegu. Does this mean that Daejeon has fallen as well? He was a smart guy. Hopefully he''s alive. - I think Daegu is still safe. Soldiers are checking on the survivors day and night. They¡¯ve set up barbed wire fences and dered istion from the outside world. But I¡¯m curious how they¡¯ll act once food runs out¡­ - No significant progress with the research. I wonder if there¡¯s a problem with the conventional approach? I¡¯ll try a different approach tomorrow. - In the process of obtaining samples, a young soldier got infected with the virus. He took twelve seconds to transform. I cannot forget the look the young man had as he struggled in pain and cried out for help. All I could do was strap his limbs to theb bed. At the end of thest sentence, the words ¡®I¡¯m sorry¡¯ had been erased away, but the marks were still slightly visible. I wet my parched lips and continued reading. - The young man¡ªwho was a human yesterday, but is now a research sample¡ªis ring at me. I wonder if he resents me or hates me. The longer I stay human, the more sinful I feel. - Cells died overnight. It¡¯s definitely different from growing cancer cells. They¡¯re more contagious than cancer cells, but they die easily without any stimtion. - Does this virus have an Rt value (Effective Reproduction Number)? I can¡¯t figure out why it spread in the first ce. Nothing¡¯s certain; neither the pathogenesis, the host, nor the environment. How are we supposed to measure its propagation capacity? - Abnormal symptoms appeared in cells that I thought were dead. They¡¯re dead, but they¡¯re showing behavioral patterns. I don''t know how to assess this situation. The first part of the journal contained more information rted to the situation in Daegu than the virus research. Since I wanted to know more about the new zombies, I quickly flipped through the pages to find the part where he actually started talking about the research. ording to the dates he had listed, it seemed like the overall research n had started toe together only in September. - The changes in serotonin have been identified as the source of the virus. Serotonin is involved in emotional changes, appetite, sleep, and muscle contraction functions, and is closely rted to one¡¯s thinking. It affects the memory and learning ability, and is involved in hemostasis and blood-clotting reactions. It also acts as an important regtor for one¡¯s appetite and food selection; when serotonin levels decrease, one¡¯s appetite increases. Serotonin... I had a vague memory of hearing it before. I think the best way to describe it was that it was a happypound. I remember hearing that serotonin was secreted when humans felt happy. Reading that the zombie apocalypse was caused by serotonin seemed rather contradictory. I scratched my sideburns as I continued to read the journal. - An infected individual faces difficulties using their cognitive functions and tends toward violence, and seems to experience endless hunger. In addition, they undergo changes in muscle contraction and have sleep function disorders. I believe this has to do with the change in the levels of serotonin. It¡¯s baby steps right now, but there seems to be potential in this. - I found another clue besides serotonin. The endogenous opioid peptide produced in the pituitary nd and hypothmus of vertebrates, is an endorphin that acts as a neurotransmitter. - Endorphins are released during exercise, excitement, and pain, and exist as neurotransmitters in the pain transmission pathway of the brain. It has the same analgesic effect as morphine, which improves moods and reduces pain. - Endorphins are natural opioids produced in the body. In the case of the B-endorphin, it travels to the spinal cord and brain, and when it is excessively secreted, it leads to theplete numbing of pain. This is why the infected do not feel pain. All of the infected are secreting excessive amounts of endorphins even when they aren¡¯t exercising. I then wondered if the reason why we zombies could elerate our blood flow was because of the endorphins within us. I also realized that reading about the zombie virus from a scientific perspective was pretty interesting. I quietly rubbed my chin and continued to flip through the pages. As I neared the end of the journal, though, I noticed that the contents had changed. - The expected happened. The soldiers have begun distributing the food unequally now that we are facing a shortage. I was given more food than others because I¡¯m a researcher. I wonder if this is morally right. - The children are starving. When I handed one of my canned food to a crying child, the militarymander dragged me away. He told me this: ¡°Don¡¯t feed them.¡± Are you treating people like livestock? - Giving out food to the children became the trigger. The people stood up, protesting that the researchers and soldiers were taking abnormallyrge portions of food. I don¡¯t know what to do. I think this is all because of me. People are fighting because of me. - There¡¯s been shooting for the past couple of days. The researchers have been divided into two groups. Those that followed the soldiers, and those that side with themon people. I¡¯m being treated as an ipetent researcher, and do not belong anywhere. - What¡¯s the point of working like a dog? World peace? The future of mankind? After seeing what¡¯s been happening outside theboratory with my own eyes, I¡¯m just more confused. Everyone¡¯s crazy. Humans were their own enemy, not the zombies. I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m not sure what virus I¡¯m fighting against anymore. - Professor Kang went out of theb to calm everyone down. We told Professor Kang to not go out, but Professor Kang insisted. I hope Professor Kanges back safely¡­ - I don''t know how many days have passed. We¡¯ve already waited for so long, and it doesn''t seem like Professor Kang is going toe back any time soon. There are only four researchers left here now, including myself. What should we do? When I tried to turn to the next page, the pages did not want to separate. They seemed to be stuck together, as though wet. I opened the pages carefully so that I wouldn¡¯t tear the journal. The pages were covered in scribbles written in ink. It was also covered with blood stains. I swallowed and read the page with the blood stains. - All beings that go against thews of nature must die. Everyone, whether human or zombie, is evil. They shouldn¡¯t exist in the future. They''re all bastards. The further into the journal I got, I began to see drawings of demonic figures. He had traced over the drawings multiple times, and ink was sttered all over the page. Vulgarities were scrawled all over the pages, which were stained with blood. The more I flipped through the journal, the more of the same vulgarities I saw, scribbled closer together, word after word. These were the traces of a man who had gone insane, and was engulfed in madness. I closed the journal, feeling bitter and confused. My chest felt abnormally tight. After calming myself down, I opened it to thest page. It was written about fifthteen days ago. - Human emotions are sometimes irrational, so I fear the iprehensible. I understand everything, and I now have a solid foundation, sound logic. When humans disappear, the zombies will disappear, and when the zombies disappear, a new cycle of nature will begin. Unlike the previous pages, the writing on this page was neat, and the thoughts wereid out in proper sentences. But instead of feeling relieved, I felt chills run down my spine at his sudden change. When someone who had gone half-mad came back to their senses¡­It was reason to worry, rather than to feel relieved. I let out a deep sigh and continued reading. - I will not fight against the foolish humans. They are not willing to talk, and those who have lost their ability to reason are no different from zombies. I will go beyond them and give them the rest they need. - My colleagues have agreed. The research is done, as Professor Kang is gone. - We realized the meaning of this research only after Professor Kang''s death. - Completed the vine. Something else was written beneath thest sentence, something that I couldn¡¯t quite understand. It seemed like he had marked out the research process, but I couldn''t understand it because of myck of knowledge. However, I could vaguely tell that the stack of papers I¡¯d put aside earlier was rted to thisst section of the journal. I took everything with me and left the Brain Research Institute. I nned on showing all of this to Tommy and ask him if he could figure out the work this person had done. If their research had given birth to a new type of zombie, there could still be new types of zombies somewhere in Daegu. And if these symptoms that the new zombies had were contagious to the ordinary zombies, we could not brush it aside. If their madness spread like a virus... It would change not only Korea, but the entire Asian continent. And if that were to happen, the survivors would no longer be able to survive on their own. I hurried back to Ansim Station, hoping that the worst was not ahead of us. Chapter 168 Chapter 168 After entering Ansim Station, Tommy, who had been sitting around nervously, came up running to me with a smile. When he saw the blood on my clothes, his eyes widened. ¡°What¡¯s all that blood? Were there that many zombies?¡± ¡°I¡¯m done cleaning up the outside area around the Brain Research Institute.¡± ¡°Did you get hurt anywhere? Are you okay?¡± "I¡¯m alright. Please have a look at this instead.¡± When I handed over the journal and papers I was holding, Tommy looked at them nkly. "What¡¯s all this?" he asked. ¡°I found them at the Brain Research Institute. Find out what¡¯s written on these documents and let me know.¡± Tommy nodded, and began to go through the documents. As I looked around, I noticed that the number of survivors had decreased significantly. When I asked Tommy about this, he grimaced and told me what had happened half an hour ago. My mind reeled as I got caught up on what had happened. I had no clue why they would act so recklessly when their lives were at stake. I sighed. ¡°Where did they go?¡± I asked Tommy. ¡°They followed the tracks.¡± ¡°Please wait here for a while. I¡¯ll check on the survivors, then escort you to the research center.¡± "That¡¯s alright. Since you cleaned up the area, we can take care of the rest." ¡°Wait for me, I¡¯ll be back soon. Please go over the documents I gave you.¡± Tommy¡¯s expression grew troubled, as if he was unhappy with the fact that I¡¯d asked him to wait again. ¡°Is something wrong with theb? I want to hear why you¡¯re holding us back.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t you tell, given the state I¡¯m in? I haven¡¯t been able to take care of all the zombies inside the Brain Research Institute yet.¡± Tommy looked me up and down, swallowed, and nodded. ¡°Pleasee back as soon as possible,¡± he said as he scratched his head. I gave him a small bow and ran to the subway tracks. Tommy said that they¡¯d left thirty minutes ago, so if they hadn¡¯t been attacked by any zombies along the way, they should¡¯ve already arrived at Dongchon Station. The remaining eight survivors at Ansim Station were all young adults, except for the man who seemed to be in his forties. That meant all the children and the elderly had followed Yoon Jeong-Ho to Daegu Airport. I wasn¡¯t sure if they would all be able to make it from Dongchon Station to Daegu Airport on foot. Even though there weren¡¯t as many zombies near the airport, it would be difficult for Yoon Jeong-Ho and his people to survive if even just ten zombies ganged up on them, since they weren¡¯t properly armed. Ignorance is bold, and knowledge reserved.[1] They were leaving Ansim Station even though they weren¡¯t used to fighting. ''What a stubborn guy. He should¡¯ve just begged me to take him in.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t that they were uptight, or had an attitude problem. It was just that they were too upright, and they needed time to adapt to change. My blue eyes shed as I sprinted down the tracks like an arrow. I assumed that he and his people were walking slowly and keeping a watchful eye on their surroundings. I knew I could catch up if I ran at full speed. After running for a while, I saw a candle shimmering like a mirage at the end of the pitch-ck tunnel. The survivors were gathered on the tform of Dongchon Station. I was relieved to see them. They hadn¡¯t left yet. As I got closer, Kim Min-Jeong drew her pistol from her side and pointed it at me. It seemed like she got extremely nervous as she heard footstepsing from the tracks. Fortunately, she didn¡¯t pull on the trigger this time. Instead, she looked over at Yoon Jeong-Ho in surprise. Yoon Jeong-Ho put down the metal pipe he was holding and called out my name. ¡°Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok!¡± The moment I saw his face, my anger boiled over, and Ished out at him. ¡°Why are you so reckless?!¡± I had mistakenly raised my voice. Yoon Jeong-Ho hesitated for a second as puzzlement shed across his face, then he looked down at the ground. He was acting as if he had done something terribly wrong, as though he were a criminal. I furrowed my brow. ¡°Was it that hard to apologize? What were you nning to do if there were still zombies at Gaksan Station? Why did you bring all these people here when you didn¡¯t even know if there were zombies at the other stations or not?¡± ¡°...¡± He wasn¡¯t talking back to me like yesterday. Instead, he was now acting like a puppy that knew it had done something wrong, quietly listening to me as I berated him. I let out a deep sigh and continued to nag him. ¡°Is it more important to earn brownie points from me? Or do the lives of the survivors here matter more?¡± ¡°My apologies¡­¡± ¡°Please, please think about whates first.¡± He was the prime example of the saying ¡®ignorance is bold, and knowledge reserved¡¯. He was underestimating how strong the zombies were. Back at Ansim Station, the damaged train had blocked off more than half of the railroad tracks, leaving only a six-meter gap. But beyond the safety of the station, things were different. It was their territory everywhere, and to lead the children and the elderly out had been a careless decision. When I sighed and massaged my temples gently, Yoon Jeong-Ho grimaced. "We¡­ We wanted to fight,¡± he said. ¡°What do you mean by fight? If you fight out there, even if ten zombies rushed toward you, you wouldn¡¯tst¡­¡± "I''m not talking about fighting zombies." ¡°Then what?¡± ¡°I wanted to fight against this damned reality.¡± I frowned at Yoon Jeong-Ho¡¯s unexpected statement, and his expression grew bitter. ¡°Do you think we¡¯re afraid of zombies, or of the lethargic everyday life that we¡¯ve been living?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°We were more afraid of our reality, which had no future. We hated the reality that we couldn''t get food for ourselves without Jin-Young, and that we couldn¡¯t go outside by ourselves.¡± I slicked my hair back as I listened to him. Living day by day, with no future to look toward. The thought that the next day didn¡¯t seem to exist, but at the same time, not knowing what to do to change that. I was familiar with that feeling more than anyone, since there was also a time when I¡¯d been stuck in a room with So-Yeon as we waited for a rescue team that never showed up. Despite all this¡­ He had made a very reckless decision. It would¡¯ve been slightly better if he¡¯d had a clearer n. I sighed. ¡°What was your n?¡± I asked him. ¡°Jin-Young went outside to scout. Once Jin-Young cleared the path ahead, we were nning to follow the path he made.¡± ¡°And after that, what were you going to do if my people back at the airport weren¡¯t willing to ept you?¡± ¡°...¡± Yoon Jeong-Ho remained silent. I had posed the question merely to see if he had any backup n, but it seemed like my question already felt like a rejection to him. His lips began to tremble. "I¡­ Should I get down on my knees?¡± he said. ¡°Or take off my clothes? Or should I pretend to die?¡± Yoon Jeong-Ho fell to his knees in front of me and looked up into my face. When I stayed silent, he immediately started taking his top off. I grabbed his arm and told him to stop. He got all flustered and tried to take his top no matter what. When I yelled at him to stop, Yoon Jeong-Ho yelled back at me with bloodshot eyes. ¡°Please, I¡¯m begging you to help us! I know you¡¯re strong. I know you can protect us. If you don¡¯t want to protect me, at least protect the others over there. If you don¡¯t want to protect those people either, please, I beg you, at least protect the children for us!¡± Then, even Kim Min-Jeong, who was next to Yoon Jeong-Ho, got down to her knees and shouted. "Please help us!" "Get up. Don¡¯t do this¡­¡± When I tried to help Kim Min-Jeong up, she fell t on the floor and refused to budge. She beat her forehead against the ground as she pleaded with me in a voice close to weeping. ¡°I''m sorry, I''m really sorry. I must¡¯ve gone crazy for a second yesterday¡­ I can¡¯t believe I just shot you without even trying to speak with you first¡­ I¡¯m really sorry.¡± ¡°I said it was fine. Don¡¯t do this. Please get up.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll do whatever you ask me to do. I¡¯ll work really hard¡­ Please, please take us in.¡± Her fists were trembling. Looking at her bowed head and slumped shoulders made me feel sad somehow. The other survivors behind her started getting on their knees as well. The children stared nkly at the grown-ups, and their faces grew tearful. Even the quick-witted children could sense what was going on.. I put my head in my hands and let out a sigh. This wasn¡¯t my intention, but desperation made people abandon their pride. The fear of not knowing when the zombies would attack, the anxiety from the dwindling food supplies, the worry that each day could be thest, and the sense of utter futility of life had alle together, and had been wearing them down every single day. And I knew that they probably didn¡¯t want to lose the one hope that hade their way. I continued to remain silent, and Yoon Jeong-Ho bit his lip and spoke up. "I¡­ I was arrogant. At first, I couldn''t trust the Survivor Rally Organization. I wanted to keep my distance from outsiders. But I realized what I¡¯d done wrong only after you had given up on us.¡± ¡°Get up, then, and we¡¯ll all talk this through. Please get up.¡± ¡°What happened yesterday¡­ That has nothing to do with the people here. That was something I did as an individual, not as a leader or representative. So please, please take the others with you.¡± I realized that they weren¡¯t going to listen to anything I had to say right now. Even if I told them they could join us, they still wouldn¡¯t believe me. To them¡­ I wasn¡¯t a saint that brought everyone together and epted everyone. I was a being that they had to beg to in order to survive. To them, I was at the top of the food chain. I smacked my lips. ¡°If you insist¡­ Please talk to Mr. Lee Jeong-Uk at the airport,¡± I said. ¡°Mr. Lee Jeong-Uk and Ms. Hwang Ji-Hye are in charge of taking in new survivors. ¡± "Then¡­ Does that mean you¡¯re willing to ept us?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that simple. Once you alle back to your senses and reach the airport, Lee Jeong-Uk and Hwang Ji-Hye will have the ultimate decision. You will need their permission.¡± Only then did Yoon Jeong-Ho, Kim Min-Jeong, and the survivors behind them get to their feet. Once I led the survivors to Daegu Airport, Lee Jeong-Uk would lead them through the induction process, if and only if he and Hwang Ji-Hye were willing to ept them. However, since Lee Jeong-Uk had told me to speak to the survivors back when I first left for Ansim Station, it was obvious that he¡¯d be more than weing to the survivors. If Lee Jeong-Uk and Hwang Ji-Hye epted them, they would be known as the good ones, and I¡ªsince I had denied them¡ªwould be remembered as the bad guy. But all that didn¡¯t matter, because the people who would live on Jeju Ind would be the survivors that made up the Survivor Rally Organization, not me. I let out a breath, then continued on. ¡°We¡¯ll be leaving as soon as Mr. Jeong Jin-Young arrives. All of you, collect yourselves and get ready.¡± "Yes, thank you." ¡°Thank meter when it¡¯s over.¡± "All right." Yoon Jeong-Ho nodded vigorously, a determined look on his face, and began taking care of the other survivors. I knew it was presumptuous for me to decide what was good and evil, but I could answer one thing with certainty. I could tell that Yoon Jeong-Ho was merely clumsy, and that he could never be evil. I was no different; I was also a person full of questions and doubts. In the past, I¡¯d been suspicious of Kim Hyeong-Jun. Yoon Jeong-Ho and I seemed to have a lot inmon. * * * ¡°Tommy, how much longer do we have to wait?¡± ¡°Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok said he¡¯d be back soon, so let¡¯s wait a little longer.¡± Tommy sighed as he calmed Alyosha¡¯s grumbling. Then, themander of the Russian troops, who had his arms crossed silently, spoke up. ¡°I can¡¯t wait any longer. Let''s head out on our own.¡± "No. Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok told me to wait.¡± ¡°Since when did he be themander? I¡¯m your guardian. Don''t forget that.¡± "But¡­ He said there¡¯s still zombies left inside the Brain Research Institute.¡± ¡°How many do you think there will be? If they¡¯re street zombies, we can take care of them as well. And it seems like this man named Lee Hyun-Deok has already paved the way. Let¡¯s just go on our own.¡± Themander picked up his rifle and got to his feet, and the fifteen Russian soldiers joined him. Tommy waved his hands vigorously. ¡°Please don¡¯t. There¡¯s no point in going on ahead when he told us to stay put.¡± ¡°We don''t need his help. We just need to go to the Brain Research Institute and restore the power grid, and then we¡¯d be able to run the centrifuge or whatever, no? Am I wrong?¡± ¡°But still, we don¡¯t have to take the risk¡­¡± ¡°Weren¡¯t we going to go our separate ways once we arrived at the Brain Research Institute anyway? We just need to make the vine, and those people are going to go to an ind called Jeju Ind, right?¡± ¡°...¡± Tommy bit his lower lip and remained silent. Themander was right, but for some reason, he still had an uneasy feeling. It was hard for him to forget the image of Lee Hyun-Deok when he¡¯d returned, with zombie blood all over his body. And there was something about the documents he had brought back. They had ¡®suspicious¡¯ written all over them. The journal and documents Lee Hyun-Deok had given him had nothing to do with vines. The document stated something about increasing the kic energy of the virus. Tommy couldn¡¯t help but wonder if the research had been to drastically increase the activity of the virus and bring about self-destruction. The documents were full of research and data that he couldn¡¯t understand. To him, everything would be much clearer if the Brain Research Institute had samples rted to this study. As Tommy was pondering all of this, themander loaded his rifle. "Let''s go,¡± he ordered. Tommy stood there, not knowing what to do. Themander grabbed his shirt and dragged him outside. As Tommy got further away from the tform, he couldn''t help but recall thest time he saw Lee Hyun-Deok; running along the tracks toward the survivors as he told him to wait there for him. 1. This saying is attributed to Thucydides, an ancient Athenian historian and general. ? Chapter 169 Chapter 169 It was dead silent when they emerged from Ansim Station. There wasn¡¯t a single soul around. The Russian soldiers kept a close eye on the surroundings as themander led them to Innovation City, navigating using the map they had. Tommy followed themander, his expression still bitter. Alyosha, who had been walking beside him, poked him in the shoulder and. ¡°Tommy, look behind you.¡± When he turned around, he saw a woman with a sad face following them. She was Lee Hyun-Deok¡¯s underling, the mutant called Ji-Eun. Alyosha looked at Ji-Eun nkly, then grinned at Tommy. ¡°Why is she following us?¡± he asked. ¡°Maybe Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok ordered her to protect us? No¡­ He clearly ordered her to protect the survivors.¡± ¡°Maybe it¡¯s because she¡¯s more familiar with us than the people in the subway?¡± He had a point. Lee Hyun-Deok had ordered Ji-Eun to protect the survivors. But when the Russian group decided to leave, she probably had to make a decision to either protect the people from Russia, or the survivors from Daegu. Since Ji-Eun had seen the people from Russia longer, it only made sense that she would feel a stronger sense of familiarity toward them. Tommy looked over at Ji-Eun again. ¡®That mutant¡­ I wonder if she¡¯s strong.¡¯ The Russian group had no information about the mutants whatsoever. Themander who was in the lead broke the silence. "Ha! He sure did a good job cleaning up. I knew it. There''s nothing dangerous here at all.¡± As they entered Innovation City, they were greeted by dead zombie corpses. They moved forward, avoiding the dead zombies. Thanks to Lee Hyun-Deok, they were able to reach the Brain Research Institute easily, without any of them having to fire their weapons. When they got to the za near the main entrance of the Brain Research Institute, however, themander stopped in his tracks and pinched his nose. There were thousands of corpses strewn about the ground. Tommy felt sick to his stomach at the unfathomable number of dead bodies. Unable to hold it in, he grabbed onto a utility pole and threw up. Alyosha rubbed him on the back, grimacing. Even the ever-cheerful Russian researcher looked nervous, as he had realized how serious things were. Themander cleared his throat and gave an order to the soldiers. ¡°Fix bays.¡± ¡°Fix bays!¡± responded the soldiers in unison as they fixed their bays to their rifles. ¡°Keep an eye on the ground as we move,¡± themander said with a frown. ¡°If you happen to find one that¡¯s alive, don''t hesitate. Stab it.¡± ¡°Yes sir.¡± The soldiers moved slowly, ncing down at the ground every now and then. There were so many zombie bodies that it made it difficult to distinguish where the road was. Every now and then, a soldier groaned as they stepped into a puddle of zombie guts. Tommy and Alyosha frowned as they kept up with the soldiers. As they walked, Alyosha studied the dead zombie bodies carefully. After a moment, he looked over at Tommy. ¡°Tommy, don¡¯t these ones look different?¡± he asked. "Don¡¯t speak to me. It¡¯s already hard enough just trying to breathe.¡± ¡°Look at them closely. Their blood vessels are protruding out way too clearly.¡± Alyosha pointed toward one severed zombie limb. Tommy squeezed his nose even harder with his right index finger and thumb and peered at the zombie leg. Just as Alyosha had said, the veins on the zombie limb were protruding excessively. Their veins were twisted about, like the veins of someone suffering from varicose veins. All of the sudden, something bizarre started to happen. Even though this leg was clearly separated from the head and body¡­ Blood was still flowing within it. The veins were still moving. Tommy focused on the zombie''s leg like a child watching ants. Alyosha, who was next to him, asked with a smirk on his face, ¡°Should we try touching it?¡± ¡°Should¡­ should we?¡± repeated Tommy, an uncertain smile ying across his lips. Alyosha touched the zombie''s leg with his toes. Like a salmon jumping out of the water, the zombie''s leg began to jump up and down. Tommy and Alyosha freaked out and took a couple steps backwards, eventuallynding on their bottoms. That one zombie leg seemed to trigger a chain reaction, and all the zombie corpses across the za began to jump up and down. Tommy was so confused that he couldn''t even move. His mouth fell open and his eyes widened as he took in what was happening in front of him. Alyosha¡¯s reaction was no different. "What are you doing?!" yelled themander from behind them. He then grabbed the two of them by their cors and dragged them into the brain research institute, then mmed them against the wall. ¡°Don''t touch anything without my orders! You understand?¡± he yelled. Tommy and Alyosha nodded, still in shock. Themander clicked his tongue vigorously and turned to his soldiers. ¡°There are zombies remaining within theb. Nobody let their guard down,¡± he ordered. ¡°Yes sir!¡± Themander and soldiers continued down the hallway of Building A. Tommy stared at themander nkly as he walked away, but for some reason, he couldn¡¯t move. He was so shocked that he had lost the strength to move. Alyosha, who was next to him, swallowed. ¡°Tommy, just now¡­ Have you ever seen anything like that?¡± he asked. ¡°No.¡± "Their limbs were jumping up and down like fish.¡± ¡°We shouldn¡¯t havee.¡± "Then what should we do? Should we just stay here?¡± ¡°I think it¡¯d be best to wait until Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok returns.¡± While the two were lost in their own conversation, themander, who was in front of the group, looked back. ¡°Why aren¡¯t you following us?¡± he shouted. ¡°Do you want to die there?¡± Tommy wet his parched lips. ¡°We¡¯ll¡­ We¡¯ll stay here,¡± he said. "What¡¯s that?" ¡°Could youe back for us after you finish cleaning up the zombies?¡± ¡°You¡¯re kidding me, aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°We¡­ We have the vine! Your role is to protect us, isn¡¯t it? It makes no sense for us to go with you right now!¡± Tommy¡¯s lips trembled as he replied, as if he didn¡¯t want to be told what to do anymore. Themander snorted. "Ha! All right. We don''t want our precious researchers to die.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Get some rest with that zombie next to you.¡± When Tommy and Alyosha heard that there was a zombie next to them, their heads snapped around so quickly that audible pops were heard. Ji-Eun was sitting right next to Alyosha. The two gasped and fell to the floor, all frightened and scared. Even though they knew she was an ally, she was still a zombie to them. Being this close to a zombie¡­ They couldn¡¯t help but feel creeped out. As the Russian soldiers got further away, Tommy gulped and looked at Ji-Eun nkly. She was looking back at them with a neutral expression. Tommy cleared his throat lightly. "Umm¡­ Excuse me¡­ Can you speak as well?¡± he asked Ji-Eun. ¡°...¡± ¡°Hmm, I guess she can¡¯t speak.¡± ¡°Child¡­¡± ¡°Pardon?¡± ¡°My child¡­¡± Ji-Eun croaked in a dry voice. Her low, grim voice sent chills down his spine. ¡°Tommy, it seems like you¡¯re able tomunicate with this zombie? No?¡± asked Alyosha. ¡°What do you mean?¡± "Didn''t you two just speak to each other?" ¡°She said ¡®my child, my child¡¯ to me! Nothing else!¡± ¡°Oh, shit.¡± Alyosha distanced himself from Ji-Eun and put his face in his hands. Thud, thud, thud. They heard a sudden knocking noise. It sounded like something was hitting a thin iron te. Tommy looked around. ¡°Alyosha, do you hear that too?¡± he asked. ¡°I do. Perhaps it¡¯s the soldiers breaking down a door?¡± ¡°Well if that¡¯s the case, it should be louder. Where¡¯s this noiseing from?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go check it out.¡± As Alyosha tried to get up, Tommy¡¯s eyes went wide and he tried to yank him back down. He stared at the Russian, his eyes reflecting his own surprise. "Are you nuts? Where do you think you¡¯re going?¡± "It¡¯sing from somewhere nearby. We should check it out, just in case there are zombies that are still alive.¡± ¡°No, no, no! Don¡¯t go! I¡¯m scared. And what if it¡¯s actually a zombie?¡± In addition to his heightened emotional state, there was another reason why Tommy was acting like this. Tommy was quite the coward. He got frightened very easily. Since he was easily scared, it was easy to think that he would be extremely cautious at all times, but it also meant that he was easily persuaded by others as well. Whether it was following Lee Hyun-Deok¡¯s instructions and waiting at Ansim Station, or following themander to the Brain Research Institute, nothing he did was of his own will. Alyosha saw Tommy fidgeting, and scratched his head. ¡°Let¡¯s just go and check it out,¡± he said. ¡°We don¡¯t even have to get close.¡± ¡°It must¡¯ve been the sound of the wind. You hear the same kind of sound when wind hits a ss window, you know?¡± ¡°Well if that¡¯s the case, lucky us. But we still have to check it out.¡± Tommy shook his head violently and begged him to stay. ¡°No, no, no, no. You know the ones that are the most curious in the movies? They¡¯re the ones who die first! Just stay here, please.¡± Despite that, Alyosha got up and offered an unnecessarily benevolent smile. Even though Tommy anxiously called out to Alyosha, he didn''t look back once as he headed toward where the sound wasing from. Tommy scratched his head furiously, a swirl of emotions on his face, then cursed in Korean and got to his feet. Alyosha headed to the cleaning supply closet located in the corner of the lobby of Building A. It sounded like someone was banging on the closet doors from the inside. Tommy saw his gaze fall on the closet, and hurriedly grabbed his arm. ¡°I¡¯m telling you, it¡¯s a zombie! I¡¯m a hundred percent sure that it¡¯s a zombie. I don¡¯t even think it¡¯s necessary to open the door to figure this out. It¡¯s a zombie, I can tell. They locked a zombie inside the closet. What else would they lock up? Right?¡± ¡°Hmmm¡­¡± Cold sweat trickled down Tommy''s forehead. His nervousness was increasing, causing his breathing to grow irregr. Alyosha seemed to agree with Tommy. He nodded and took several cautious steps backward. Bang-! At that moment, the sound of gunshots echoed through Building A. Tommy and Alyosha crouched down reflexively and looked around. Bang, bang, bang! The gunfire intensified. It seemed like the Russian soldiers had encountered some zombies. The two of them covered their ears with their hands and closed their eyes as the gunfire continued. Thud! Thud! Thud! At the same time, the being trapped in the cleaning supply closet started banging on the door even more forcefully. Tommy¡¯s eyes went wide and he hurried back to the entrance of Building A. Alyosha, on the other hand, ran to the cleaning supply closet and held the door closed with his hands, and then his upper body. Ini that brief moment, the two of them had made different decisions. Tommy stopped in his tracks and called out to Alyosha. ¡°Alyosha! Just leave!¡± ¡°If this opens, we won¡¯t be able to make it! Zombies are faster than us!¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay, juste!¡± It was getting harder for Alyosha to hold the door closed. The banging inside was only getting stronger and stronger. The hinges twisted, and Alyosha started to stumble. Tommy frowned and ran over to Alyosha. Thud!! GRRR!! Before Tommy could get to Alyosha, the zombie trapped inside the closet had made its way out. The door went down, along with Alyosha. Tommy looked the zombie right in the eye. The brief moment felt like an eternity to him. The two of them were only two meters apart. Tommy could only think of one thing. ¡®I¡¯m fucked.¡¯ His heart felt like it had stopped beating, like his blood had stopped flowing throughout his entire body. Just like the zombies out in the square, the zombie that had emerged from the closet had bloated blood vessels. Tommy quickly turned around and ran toward the front door without looking back even once. He could tell that the zombie was chasing him down with all its might. Chills went down his spine as he ran as if there was no tomorrow. However, the zombie had caught up, and shoved him down by his neck. As he fell to the floor, he quickly turned his body around. He was out of luck. The mad zombie was right in front of his face. ¡°AHHH!!¡± He instinctively screamed at the top of his lungs. The moment its teeth went for Tommy''s face, a long object shed its head off. However, the zombie didn¡¯t stop moving even after its head was sliced off. Ji-Eun frowned and started shing at the zombie with her elongated fingers. Tommy stared nkly at the ceiling, like someone who had just seen a ghost. He was slowly losing his consciousness; he could barely hear the gunshot noises anymore. The fear and shock got the better of him and he fainted on the spot. ¡°To¡­ Tommy¡­!¡± Alyosha, who had been squished underneath the door made his way out, holding onto his throbbing head. For some reason, his chest was wet. Alyosha reflexively tried to wipe away the liquid on his clothes with his palm, only to find his hand smeared with blue liquid. When he saw his palm, his mouth fell open, and his eyes flew wide with shock. There was no need to exin what had happened. Anyone could have known it just by looking at his face. The vial of vine he¡¯d been carrying had broken. Chapter 170 Chapter 170 With the sinking feeling in his heart as if he had lost everything, Alyosha tried his best to mop up the remaining liquid from the floor. ¡°No, no, no!¡± There was no use crying over spilled milk. There was no turning back. Alyosha clenched his fists and trembled; then punched the floor with all his might. He swore in Russian and med himself for his foolish judgment. Ji-Eun looked at Tommy and Alyosha nkly for a bit. But then she turned to the front and spread her ten fingers wide. The gunshots were getting closer, and the screams of soldiers echoed throughout the building. A momentter, themander reached the stairs that connected the first and second floors. He was covered in zombie blood, and was making his way down, his face a mask of terror. A zombie jumped down from the second floor and crushed him from above. ¡°GAAA!!!¡± His scream echoed through the building lobby. Even the soldiers, who had all been full of confidence, hadn¡¯tsted a minute against the crazy, frenzied zombies. It wasplete annihtion. Ji-Eun swiveled her head continuously as she looked back and forth between the zombies and Alyosha. She frowned hard, scrunching up her features and causing her face to wrinkle severely. Steam rose from her body as her ten fingers began to elongate and sharpen. Ji-Eun rushed toward the zombies, her expression more frenzied than the mad zombies themselves. * * * When I finished escorting the survivors of Daegu safely to the airport, I headed straight for Innovation City with my stage-one mutants. I knew something had happened at Ansim Station, since I knew where my underlings were located through my mind. Ji-Eun, who¡¯d been at Ansim Station, was now at the Korea Brain Research Institute, and she had sent me a signal that they had encountered zombies. Even though I¡¯d told the Russians to wait, it seemed like they¡¯d taken matters into their own hands and went ahead to the Brain Research Institute. Time wasn¡¯t on my side. The frenzied zombies weren¡¯t zombies that the armed Russian personnel could handle. It was impossible to take care of them with guns and knives; burning them would be the surest way to get rid of them. I ran non-stop and finally reached the Brain Research Institute. Screams and gunfire filled my eardrums and echoed through the air. All this ruckus would surely draw the street zombies. ¡°You guys, secure the entrance.¡± KIAAA! I stationed ten stage-one mutants at the entrance of Building A and went into the research center right away. When I got inside, I saw Ji-Eun ughtering zombies. Her flexible body bent this way and that as she shed her way through them with her fingers as if she was dancing. She wasn¡¯t just cutting their heads off; she was chopping up their entire bodies. It seemed like she had realized that they didn¡¯t die even when their heads were cut off. I looked away from Ji-Eun and saw Alyosha and Tommy next to her. Tommy was already on the floor, still as a stone, while Alyosha was looking up nkly. I hurried over to Alyosha. "What happened? Why is Tommy like this?¡± ¡°§°§ß §á§à§ä§Ö§â§ñ§Ý §ã§à§Ù§ß§Ñ§ß§Ú§Ö (He passed out).¡± I had no clue what he was saying. Without Tommy, there was no way I¡¯d be able tomunicate with him or the other Russians. Alyosha continued to mutter in Russian that I couldn''t understand. He was acting as if his soul had left his body. I clicked my tongue vigorously and checked on Tommy. His shirt was soaked with zombie blood, but I didn¡¯t see any bite marks. It seemed like he¡¯d just fainted. I carried Tommy on my back and headed toward the entrance of Building A. No matter how vicious and frantic the frenzied zombies were, they were no match for Ji-Eun. I knew I had to take Tommy and Alyosha back to the airport while Ji-Eun bought me time, but the moment I tried to leave via the entrance, one of the stage-one mutants at the entrance sent me a signal. - Enemy detected. Just as I had expected, the street zombies hade to the institution. Earlier, I¡¯d been able to clear out streets that connected Ansim Station and Innovation City, but not the other streets. I kept receiving signals, and realized that there were hundreds, even thousands of zombies flooding in from the government offices across the street like a tide. The gunshots had set off the silent city, the noise echoing endlessly throughout the city. I knew that I wouldn¡¯t be able to protect Tommy and Alyosha if I got surrounded by the zombies outside. I figured it would be better to clean up the zombies inside theboratory and keep the two somewhere safe until the situation outside cleared up. I frowned and headed to the researcher''s rest area that I had seen earlier. There were two cots there, so Iid Tommy on one of them and spoke to Alyosha. "Stay here." ¡°§±§à§é§Ö§Þ§å? (Why? What?)¡± I then spoke in English, hoping that he¡¯d understand. ¡°Stay! Wait!¡± Alyosha nodded vigorously. Apparently, he understood my poor English. I left the rest area, my blue eyes shing. I elerated my blood flow and rushed toward the frenzied zombies. * * * Lee Jeong-Uk and Hwang Ji-Hye were processing Yoon Jeong-Ho and his people to let them join the Survivor Rally Organization. In the meantime, Park Gi-Cheol and Lee Jeong-Hyuk were helping the airline employees to inspect the aircraft. As Park Gi-Cheol conversed with the airline employees, though, he began to frown. Park Gi-Cheol looked around as if looking for someone. Once he saw Kim Hyeong-Jun on the roof, he shouted out his name. ¡°Hyeong-Jun! You shoulde down here and see this!¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun jumped down without saying a word. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± he asked. ¡°We have a problem. They¡¯re saying we¡¯re short on jet fuel.¡± "Huh? Didn¡¯t fuel them up fully back at Gimpo Airport?" ¡°I guess there wasn¡¯t that much fuel at Gimpo Airport. They said they filled every ne evenly so that all of them could make it to Daegu Airport.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ Then what should we do? Does that mean we can¡¯t go to Jeju Ind?¡± It seemed like they barely had enough fuel to make it to Jeju Ind. Kim Hyeong-Jun scratched his head, his expression growing troubled. He ran over to Lee Jeong-Uk, who was a distance away. ¡°Mr. Lee Jeong-Uk.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk stopped midway through Yoon Jeong-Ho¡¯s physical examination and turned around. "Is something going on?" ¡°Gi-Cheol ahjussi said we¡¯re low on jet fuel.¡± ¡°Jet fuel?¡± Lee Jeong-Uk raised his eyebrows and looked out at the nes on the runway. He didn¡¯t know how to react. They had already made the decision and moved the nes onto the runway. He couldn¡¯t believe that jet fuel would be the thing that was holding them back. Lee Jeong-Uk scratched his forehead, a troubled look on his face. Yoon Jeong-Ho, who had been involuntarily eavesdropping, spoke up cautiously. "Umm¡­ If you¡¯re talking about jet fuel, I know a way to get some.¡± ¡°Where?¡± ¡°There¡¯s a fueling station past Bangchon Station.¡± The moment Lee Jeong-Uk heard the words ¡®fueling station¡¯, he gave a small exmation and looked over at Kim Hyeong-Jun. Then Kim Hyeong-Jun turned to Yoon Jeong-Ho. ¡°Is Bangchon far from here?¡± he asked. ¡°It''s nearby. Do you want me to guide you?¡± answer Yoon Jeong-Ho excitedly. Kim Hyeong-Jun smirked. ¡°Sounds good. Doing something for the Survivor Rally Organization right after you join.¡± Yoon Jeong-Ho smiled awkwardly and rubbed the back of his neck. ¡°I need to help somehow too.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk nodded and spoke up. ¡°Then, Mr. Kim Hyeong-Jun, please decide on who will apany you to the fueling station. I still have to process more people.¡± There was a long line of survivors waiting in front of Lee Jeong-Uk to finish their induction into the organization. Kim Hyeong-Jun nodded and ran over to Do Han-Sol. He exined the situation to him. Do Han-Sol titled his head. ¡°Should I go?¡± he asked. ¡°No, I¡¯ll go. I''ll leave one of my stage-one mutants here just in case.¡± ¡°Got it. Please be careful.¡± Do Han-Sol nodded happily. Kim Hyeong-Jun went around to find members that he could take to the fueling station. After a while, Park Gi-Cheol, Yoon Jeong-Ho, and the airline staff were all gathered together. The airline staff had joined them, since the other three didn¡¯t know exactly what kind of fuel the nes used. One thing that bothered Kim Hyeong-Jun was that they couldn¡¯t move underground, since Mood-Swinger had to carry around therge fuel tank. He knew that the march over to the fueling station would carry a small risk, but he wasn¡¯t too worried because he had nine stage-one mutants and Mood Swinger with him. ¡°Everyone, protect the survivors at all costs.¡± KIAAA! The nine stage-one mutants surrounded Park Gi-Cheol, Yoon Jeong-Ho, and the airline staff. Kim Hyeong-Jun heightened his senses and spoke to the ones gathered behind him. ¡°Now that we¡¯ve had a good rest, let¡¯s get to work. Everyone, stay alert and keep up.¡± ¡°Got it!¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun let out a breath and stepped into the outside world. The streets were filled with one-storey buildings standing right next to one another. He started walking, focusing his concentration on his hearing and vision as he walked thirty meters in front of the group. He led the group safely to their destination. Whenever he saw a zombie, he handled them before the survivors needed to do anything. Yoon Jeong-Ho, amazed at what was happening in front of his eyes, turned to Park Gi-Cheol. ¡°Did you folks do this often?¡± he asked softly. ¡°It used to be our daily routine.¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t you scared¡­?¡± Park Gi-Cheol burst outughing. ¡°I am. How could I not be?¡± he replied. ¡°But still, I had to survive, and this was the only way to do so. After all, it wasn¡¯t like I had a choice.¡± Hearing his answer, Yoon Jeong-Ho nodded with a serious expression, then spoke with his eyes full of passion, as if he had made up his mind. ¡°All my respect goes out to you and everyone else here. Please help me to learn your ways from now on.¡± ¡°What do you mean by respect? If your colleagues are reliable, you just want to try harder, that¡¯s all.¡± ¡°...¡± Park Gi-Cheol gestured toward Kim Hyeong-Jun with his chin. ¡°Just look at him. He¡¯s definitely someone you can rely on.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun was moving forward with purpose as he cleaned up the zombies in front of him. As Yoon Jeong-Ho watched him leading the way, he began to feel an unknown sense of relief and confidence. It was the first time he had realized that he could feelfortable just by watching someone do what they do. Yoon Jeong-Ho looked over at Park Gi-Cheol. ¡°That person in front¡­ May I ask what his name is?¡± he asked. ¡°Hyeong-Jun. Kim Hyeong-Jun.¡± ¡°What kind of rtionship does he have with Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok? He also seems to have blue eyes.¡± ¡°What do you mean? They¡¯re colleagues.¡± ¡°Have they ever fought over the leadership position? They both seem extremely strong.¡± Park Gi-Cheol¡¯s eyes twitched when he heard Yoon Jeong-Ho¡¯s question. Noticing Park Gi-Cheol¡¯s reaction, Yoon Jeong-Ho quickly apologized, afraid that he had asked something inappropriate. "My apologies. I think I just said something I shouldn¡¯t have again.¡± "No, it¡¯s alright. It¡¯s just that¡­ I¡¯ve never thought about that. I was just surprised that you would ask something like that.¡± ¡°Oh¡­¡± ¡°Why would they think about that when they don¡¯t even know if they would be able to survive to see tomorrow? I mean, why would they fight when they know that we can¡¯t live without each other? Don¡¯t you think so?¡± Yoon Jeong-Ho nodded continuously at his answer and eximed in admiration, as if he had gained some sort of enlightenment. Kim Hyeong-Jun, who was in front, looked back. ¡°Gi-Cheol ahjussi, you¡¯re not allowed to chit-chat like that,¡± he shouted. ¡°The zombies are going toe if you talk like that!¡± ¡°Hyeong-Jun, your voice is louder than mine!!¡± Park Gi-Cheol smiled heartily and put an index finger to his lips. Yoon Jeong-Ho couldn¡¯t help but smile at Park Gi-Cheol¡¯s cheerful, yful mood. He couldn¡¯t help but think how lucky he was to have joined the Survivor Rally Organization. It had been such a long time since he could smile so genuinely, even his facial muscles felt awkward doing so. After walking for a while, Yoon Jeong-Ho finally began to see the silhouette of the fueling station. He called Kim Hyeong-Jun and pointed toward the fueling station. Kim Hyeong-Jun signaled the others to stay put, then went inside theplex to check on its condition. Bang! Just as Kim Hyeong-Jun disappeared from their view, a gunshot rang through the air. The gunshot hade from the fueling station. Park Gi-Cheol, Yoon Jeong-Ho, and the airline staff all crouched down at the sudden gunshot. Park Gi-Cheol¡¯s eyes widened as he looked at the fueling station. He seemed to sense something fishy, and grabbed Yoon Jeong-Ho by his cor with eyes full of rage. ¡°You! You didn¡¯t say there were people here.¡± "Pardon? I, I didn¡¯t know either. Trust me.¡± ¡°Are you sure you didn¡¯t lure us into some kind of trap?¡± ¡°Why would I do that? Do you think I¡¯m crazy? Stop being ridiculous! It¡¯s not like I don¡¯t know what Mr. Kim Hyeong-Jun and Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok are capable of!¡± Yoon Jeong-Ho made a puzzled face and waved his hand vigorously, trying his best to prove his innocence. Park Gi-Cheol looked into his eyes for a while, then let go of his cor and clicked his tongue vigorously. He could tell that the other man wasn¡¯t lying. Instead, his eyes were full of bewilderment. This meant that other survivors had taken over the fueling station. After a moment, they heard a man¡¯s voiceing from the fueling station. "Hey! Since I killed this bastard, tonight''s prize is mine, right?¡± ¡°What are you talking about, bitch? I found it, so it''s mine.¡± Two men walked out of theplex, exchanging curse words. As soon as they came out, they stuck cigarettes in their mouths, puffed out smoke, and started talking in a vulgar manner. Yoon Jeong-Ho took a look at their faces and covered his mouth with his hands. Park Gi-Cheol noticed his unusual behavior right away. ¡°Do you know them?¡± he asked. ¡°It¡¯s those bastards. How are those bastards¡­ How are they alive?¡± As Yoon Jeong-Ho became more and more flustered, Park Gi-Cheol tried his best to calm him down. ¡°Take a deep breath,¡± he said. ¡°Calm down and tell me who they are.¡± ¡°They¡¯re soldiers. The soldiers who defended Daegu.¡± Chapter 171 Chapter 171 At the word ¡®soldier,¡¯ Park Gi-Cheol frowned and looked toward the fueling station. Soon after, another man came out, dragging Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s body. He checked Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s condition by kicking him, then put a cigarette in his mouth and began to chat away. Park Gi-Cheol bit his lower lip nervously, praying that Kim Hyeong-Jun was still alive. At that moment, Kim Hyeong-Jun''s left arm twitched. Kim Hyeong-Jun lifted his head subtly and looked at the three men, then turned his gaze toward Park Gi-Cheol. Park Gi-Cheol let out a sigh of relief as he saw him moving. He was alive. Kim Hyeong-Jun was alive. But what he did next surprised Park Gi-Cheol. He¡­ He gave Park Gi-Cheol a thumbs up, then pretended to be dead again. Park Gi-Cheol¡¯s face went nk. "What should we do? Shouldn¡¯t we help him?¡± whispered Yoon Jeong-Ho. "No. He¡¯s¡­ He¡¯s trying to pull off something again.¡± Park Gi-Cheol couldn¡¯t help but smirk. He knew Kim Hyeong-Jun better than anyone else. It seemed clear to him that Kim Hyeong-Jun had found something the moment he''d gone inside, and figured out that there was no point in going on a rampage. So instead, he was pretending to be dead. After throwing their cigarette butts on the ground, the soldiers looked closely at Kim Hyeong-Jun. One of the soldiers aimed their K2 rifle at his back. Bang! The loud gunshot rang out, and thick blood sttered from his back. The soldiersughed when they saw the stter of blood. "Hey! Where is the captain now?" ¡°I don¡¯t know, probably in his bedroom.¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to im this bastard, okay?¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m not going to help you. You carry him by yourself.¡± "Ha! You salty bastards! If you help me move this bastard, I''ll give you some of tonight¡¯s prizes.¡± "Really? You¡¯d better keep that promise.¡± The three soldiers carried Kim Hyeong-Jun and entered theplex. It seemed like they could only get these so-called prizes if they showed the captain that they¡¯d killed a zombie. Little did they know that they were dragging a Trojan Horse inside with their own hands. After Yoon Jeong-Ho witnessed what had happened, he turned to Park Gi-Cheol with a restless look. ¡°What should we do?¡± he asked. ¡°Just wait.¡± "Really?" Yoon Jeong-Ho couldn¡¯t believe how calm Park Gi-Cheol looked. He was surprised that the older man wasn¡¯t panicking like he was. Park Gi-Cheol scratched his eyebrows. ¡°If there''s a problem, these mutants would head toward the fueling station,¡± he said, ¡°The fact that these guys aren¡¯t moving means that Kim Hyeong-Jun knows what he¡¯s doing. When the mutants here move, we¡¯ll move as well.¡± "But¡­ Kim Hyeong-Jun got shot. And it wasn''t even a pistol; he took a round from a K2 rifle at close range¡­¡± Yoon Jeong-Ho chewed his nails, his expression ratherplicated. Park Gi-Cheol snorted. ¡°As long as he doesn¡¯t get shot in the temple or something, it won¡¯t do a thing to him. Only certain types of beings that can kill Hyeong-Jun and Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°They can¡¯t be killed by humans.¡± ¡°He did go down after he got shot.¡± ¡°He probably found something. He¡¯s not someone that¡¯ll go down to something like a K2 rifle. Even though Hyeong-Jun is rather hasty sometimes, he¡¯s a smart guy. Trust me and wait.¡± Park Gi-Cheol swept the floor lightly with his hand and took a seat. He saw that Yoon Jeong-Ho still looked nervous, and patted the ground next to him. ¡°You take a seat too. Don¡¯t think about doing anything. You¡¯ll just ruin Hyeong-Jun¡¯s n.¡± ¡°...¡± Yoon Jeong-Ho hesitated for a moment, then sighed and sat down next to Park Gi-Cheol. * * * GRRR! Pow! I punched the zombie that was trying to bite me, then grabbed its arm and mmed it on the ground. Without the slightest hesitation, I ripped off his limbs. Silence descended once I took care of thest zombie in theboratory. The wriggling zombie limbs slowly began to grow still. I let out a deep breath as I wiped away the zombie bloodstains on my face. I¡¯d taken care of most of the zombies that hade swarming in and torn apart every zombie inside theboratory. I wasn¡¯t even sure how many hours had passed while I fought off the formidable zombie attack. Once I finished cleaning up Buildings A and B and the Animal Lab, I headed toward the researcher¡¯s rest area. When I entered, I saw Tommy and Alyosha sitting on the cots with nervous expressions. Fortunately, they¡¯de back to their senses. As soon as Tommy saw my face, his eyes widened, and he looked on the verge of tears. ¡°Thank you, Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok. I really thought I was going to die this time.¡± ¡°What happened? Why did youe all the way here when I told you to wait at Ansim Station?¡± ¡°About that¡­¡± Tommy exined everything in detail. I sighed after hearing his side of the story and sat down helplessly. It seemed like all the Russian soldiers had been annihted. I wasn¡¯t sure what led them to their death; their greed, or their arrogance. But I was sure of one thing; their hasty judgment had led them to their demise. After thinking about the Russian soldiers, I rubbed my neck and asked Tommy a question. ¡°Did you get anything from the documents I gave you? Was there any helpful information in there?¡± ¡°Oh yes! I was just discussing them with Alyosha since we were stuck here.¡± ¡°What were they about?¡± "I would¡¯ve been able to answer more definitively if I had samples, but just by the documents here, it seems like they¡¯vee up with a drug that stimtes the violent side of zombies.¡± ¡°Stimte violence?¡± ¡°It¡¯s difficult to clearly exin what it is, even for me.¡± I looked at Tommy and tilted my head. He wet his lips before going on. ¡°The researchers here had arrived at the final stage of the vine. However, just like this person wrote in his journal, I think he and the researchers here made a wrong turn as their distrust toward humans got stronger.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°The researchers here were the reason zombies came to Daegu.¡± I couldn''t help my surprise at Tommy¡¯s statement. When I looked at him with a puzzled face, Tommy gulped and continued to speak. ¡°It seemed like the researchers here were focused onbining viruses.¡± ¡°Combining viruses?¡± ¡°Just like how the north and south poles of a ma are attracted to each other. The new zombies, simply put, are flowers full of nectar. In this analogy, the ordinary zombies would be the bees.¡± ¡°And what happens when those bees touch the flowers?¡± ¡°They¡¯ll pollinate the flowers. In other words, they¡¯ll spread the virus. But then, the bee would also be a flower, and another bee that was attracted to that scent would also be a flower. And this process will repeat infinitely many times as long as they are within the nectar-sensing radius or range.¡± After hearing his metaphor, I recalled the new zombies I¡¯d seen in the za. I remembered them gathered up in the za, standing motionless, as if someone had ordered them to gather. This was why my underlings had frowned and begun to sniff the air when we first arrived. It seemed like my underlings had also sensed a strange smell emanating from the new zombies. However, my underlings stayed sane, while I couldn¡¯t smell a thing. It seemed like this drug¡¯s effectiveness was limited only to ordinary street zombies. I rubbed my chin quietly as I considered my thoughts. I assumed that the range of this thing wasn¡¯t that big. Given the number of zombies that had gathered after hearing the gunshot, the radius was probably smaller than the distance that the sound of a gunshot could travel. I scratched my head. "Then¡­ How did the researchers summon the zombies here?¡± I asked Tommy. ¡°You said that the zombies that attacked Daegu came from Chilgok, Dalseong-gun, and Gyeongsan right? These three ces?¡± "Yes." ¡°There were four researchers here in total. Each person must¡¯ve carried the virus and spread it at the borders of Chilgok, Dalseong-gun, and Gyeongsan.¡± ¡°How about the remaining one?¡± ¡°It looks like they released it within thisb. They must¡¯ve wanted to cover up this research.¡± Did that mean that they wanted to cover up their sins? Well, since there were about two thousand zombies gathered at the entrance of theb... There would¡¯ve been no way any survivor could get close. After hearing all this, I realized that these so-called researchers deserved to die. I assumed that, as the soldiers and survivors in Daegu geared up to fight each other, both sides grewx in their vignce toward the outer borders of the city. The zombies gathered in Dalseong-gun, Chilgok, and Gyeongsan must¡¯ve heard themotion caused by the divisions in Daegu, and made their way over the barbed wire fences to get to downtown Daegu. I massaged my temples gently. ¡°This drug. How harmful is it to humans?¡± I asked. ¡°I¡¯m not sure about that either. But seeing how normal me and Alyosha are¡­ I don¡¯t think there are any major symptoms.¡± ¡°Are you sure?¡± ¡°I cannot give you a definitive answer. It could have been harmful to humans at the time when the drug was released, but in the end, a virus that can''t find itself a host just destroys itself. As long as the drug isn¡¯t released in front of humans, it should be okay.¡± I leaned my back against the wall and thought for a moment. A human who cursed other humans. They¡¯d sided with the zombies. I couldn¡¯t believe a person could perform such research. I was even more surprised by the fact that they¡¯d been able to achieve something like that scientifically. I looked at Tommy with my eyes half-open. ¡°This theory you just told me¡­ How valid is it?¡± ¡°Zombie viruses grow and multiply by feeding on the serotonin and endorphins secreted by the human body. The virus that gets to the brain first takes control of the host¡¯s body, and lives and breathes like a living organism.¡± ¡°Are you saying that the very first virus that gets to the brain acts as the boss?¡± "Yes. The virus that spreads afterward throughout the body is unable to make decisions on its own. You can think of a soldier following theirmander''s orders.¡± ¡°Then how are these new zombies able to move without their heads intact?¡± I looked at him in puzzlement, still unable to understand how these new zombies worked. Tommy scratched his sideburns, then continued. ¡°They¡¯re beings that exist beyond our conventional concepts. Every part of them lives and breathes as a separate organism. That¡¯s what the vine in the journal is talking about. They¡¯re zombies that don¡¯t die even when they aren¡¯t connected to their boss, the host¡¯s head. This vine is not a vine for humans, but a vine for zombies to make them invincible.¡± ¡°Is there any way to kill them?¡± ¡°Burn them. There really isn¡¯t any other way.¡± I nodded. My prediction was correct. The new zombies had to be burned to death, and couldn¡¯t be killed by guns or knives. I slicked my bangs back. "Up¡­ Up until now, I thought it had something to do with human desires,¡± I said. "Human desires? What¡¯s that got to do with it?¡± ¡°I thought that being bitten by a zombie would transform most people into an ordinary street zombie, but a being with some kind of desire would transform them into a red-eyed zombie.¡± I grimaced, then continued toy out my theory. It wasn¡¯t a scientific approach, like what the researchers did. Rather, it was purely based on what I¡¯d heard, seen, and experienced throughout my life so far. After Tommy listened to my theory in whole, then quietly rubbed his chin and fell into deep thought. After a moment, he nodded. "I believe you¡¯re right,¡± he said. "Pardon?¡± ¡°What are human desires? Aren¡¯t they wishes or dreams that humans have? Thinking about these things releases serotonin. Excessive desire means continuous oversecretion of serotonin, so it¡¯s more than possible for the virus to mutate after too much serotonin.¡± ¡°Are you saying that I was created by this mutated virus?¡± "Yes." Basically, he was saying that I¡¯d be a zombie capable of rational thought because I¡¯d excessively thought about the things that made me happy. That was unexpected. I was taken aback by this rather bizarre conclusion. Tommy crossed his arms. ¡°I¡¯m amazed,¡± he continued. ¡°Or perhaps, the overproduction of serotonin may have killed the virus.¡± ¡°What do you mean by that?¡± ¡°Well, if serotonin is secreted at a level that the virus cannot handle, it¡¯s possible that the virus, which is supposed to dominate the host, would no longer be able to survive, and in the end, destroy itself.¡± ¡°And is that possible?¡± ¡°All research begins with a question. The virus that absorbed serotonin disappears, and the remaining virus in other parts of the body survives, since they y the role of endorphins.¡± I snorted. "So what, you''re saying that that makes it possible to have the powers of a zombie, but still think like a human?" Tommy nodded. ¡°It''s just a hypothesis, but it¡¯s more than possible, since every experiment leaves all possibilities open, and sess onlyes after repeated failures.¡± After he was done talking, Tommy looked up at the ceiling, momentarily lost in his own thoughts. After a moment, he looked at Alyosha and asked him a question. The two of them began to converse in Russian for about ten minutes. Tommy looked back at me, excitement on his face. ¡°Alyosha told me that the vine he¡¯d developed relied on simr principles. He says that blocking off serotonin and endorphin was the first step in making the vine. I''m not as smart as Alyosha, but if the principles are simr, his vine should work.¡± But then, Alyosha said something in a rather gloomy, dejected tone, one filled with futility. ¡°What? What did you just say?¡± Tommy freaked out and looked back at me with his mouth wide open. I tilted my head. ¡°Why, what¡¯s the problem?¡± I asked. ¡°The v¡­ vine¡­¡± "What about the vine?" ¡°He said that the vine¡¯s vial broke.¡± Chapter 172 Chapter 172 My jaw fell open. ¡°What do you mean the vine vial broke?¡± ¡°The vial of vine is literally broken.¡± ¡°The syringe containing the vine?¡± ¡°It must''ve broken when Alyosha got crushed by the door earlier.¡± Tommy¡¯s expression grew startled, and he began to converse with Alyosha. I could not intervene in their heated discussion. After a moment, Tommy scratched his head, his expression puzzled. ¡°Alyosha is saying that without the research data, he won¡¯t be able to reproduce the vine,¡± he said. ¡°Didn¡¯t Alyosha make the vine? If the Brain Research Institute has the necessary functioning equipment, can¡¯t you make it here too?¡± ¡°It''s not that easy. We barely seeded after hundreds and thousands of attempts. It¡¯s difficult to recreate those countless cases without any foundations.¡± ¡°Then what do we have to do?¡± "There¡¯s one way¡­¡± Tommy didn¡¯t finish his sentence. Instead, he sighed and bit his lip. I waited patiently, and Tommy sighed once again. ¡°We need to go back to the Russianb,¡± he said. ¡°Is that the only way?¡± ¡°As of now, yes, that¡¯s the best solution I can think of.¡± The best solution, huh. I slicked my bangs back. ¡°That vine of yours, are you sure about it?¡± I asked Tommy. ¡°Were any zombies administered the vine and then came back as humans?¡± [1] ¡°We¡¯re not sure. It works, theoretically, but we¡¯ve never done any biological experiments.¡± Despite their confidence, they were telling me that they¡¯d never conducted trials with their vine before. The absurdity left me speechless. Alyosha, who was sitting in the corner, came over to me and held my hand. He started speaking in Russian, so I had no clue what he was saying. Tommy tranted what he was trying to tell me. ¡°He said he can make it again. He¡¯s asking you for a chance.¡± ¡°Is he asking me to go with him? To Russia?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°It¡¯s impossible for me to go to Russia right now. As I said before, the survivors are my priority.¡± When Tommy finished tranting my stance to him, Alyosha nodded and continued to speak. Tommy scratched his sideburns and tranted what he had said. ¡°He says that, even if it¡¯s not right now, he¡¯d like you to go to Russia with him. And that you¡¯re the only person he can rely on at the moment. He usually doesn¡¯t ask favors like this¡­¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°I also want to ask you this favor. Alyosha has¡­ Alyosha has bet everything on this vine research. He witnessed his wife bitten by a zombie in front of his eyes. He¡¯s been more passionate about developing this vine than anyone else.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but feel bitter when I heard the word ¡®wife¡¯. I also wasn¡¯t there to protect my wife in herst moments. I couldn¡¯t tell who was more miserable; me, who wasn¡¯t able to protect my wife in herst moments, or Alyosha, who could do nothing even though he saw his wife being attacked by zombies. But then I questioned if measuring the depths of our misery was even worth it. In the end, we were both just pathetic husbands who couldn''t protect their wives¡­ I ced my hand on my forehead as I got lost in my own thoughts. Suddenly, I remembered what Lee Jeong-Uk had told me back on the runway, before we¡¯d left Gimpo Airport. - Human beings should live on while they think about tomorrow. That¡¯s why I hope youe up with a new goal in life. Not a goal for the sake of others, but something for yourself. Like figuring out the meaning of life. As I pondered the idea, Tommy continued to speak. His expression grew bleak. ¡°I¡¯m serious¡­ Alyosha¡­ After his wife died, he stopped eating and drinking, and focused fully on research. Even when those around him called him a maniac, he devoted himself to research until he fainted from overwork. I¡¯m sure he can make the vine again.¡± ¡°Why are you trying so hard to save the world?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not trying to save the world.¡± Just the other day, he¡¯d told me that the future of mankind depended on that vine of theirs. Now, he was saying something else. ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that the vine Alyosha had held the future of mankind?¡± I asked with a frown. "That¡­ That was an excuse I hastily made up out of fear. I thought you were going to attack us.¡± For some reason, I couldn¡¯t figure out why they were so desperate to create this vine. In this day and age, it was impossible to predict what was going to happen the next day. Also, if the only other research institute they¡¯d been in contact with was in Canada¡­ That meant that the situation in all the other countries was already hopeless. It¡¯d been six months since the virus first began to spread, and Seoul''s poption of ten million was probably down to less than ten thousand. This probably meant that the world''s surviving poption would be less than ten percent of what it used to be. Maybe even just one percent. Of the seven billion people that existed before the virus, there were probably at most seven hundred thousand people left on the. If that was the case, I couldn¡¯t figure out why they were still trying to develop a vine. Even if theypleted the vine, I had no clue how they would spread it across the globe without any distributionworks. ¡°Then why are you willing to risk your life for this vine?¡± I asked with a frown. Tommy¡¯s expression grew bitter. ¡°When I was at the Russian Research Institute¡­ Well, all the researchers there determined that the current virus was incurable. But Alyosha always smiled and said this.¡± ¡°Said what¡­?¡± ¡°That no one should have to lose their family like he did. That you should reach out when you can. I admire Alyosha for that.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Everyone said Alyosha was crazy and cursed at him. But¡­ But I believe that people like Alyosha should be the ones to survive. People like him, who¡¯ve been through the pain. Since they know how heartbreaking it can be, I knew that they would try even harder so that others would not have to go through the same pain they did.¡± I sighed in confusion and looked at Alyosha. Only then did I notice his white skin and skinny limbs. He was bald and had rather funny-looking sses, but I could tell that he was a deeply genuine person. I let out a breath and looked at Tommy. ¡°If we go back to the Russianb, will it be possible to recreate the vine?¡± "Yes! I will help Alyosha. I¡¯ll make sure we make it.¡± ¡°If that¡¯s the case¡­ I can¡¯t say I won¡¯t go.¡± ¡°Real¡­ Really?¡± ¡°But the survivorse first. We¡¯ll go after we get the survivors at Daegu Airport safely to Jeju Ind and make sure that Jeju Ind is safe.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure how to thank you. Thank you, thank you very much!¡± Tommy smiled and told Alyosha the good news. Alyosha opened his eyes wide and hugged me, his eyes welling up with tears. I smiled awkwardly and patted him on the back. He was hugging me like a younger brother, even though his face looked a lot older than mine. I knew that when my zombie instincts finally took over, I couldn¡¯t be with So-Yeon. If I had to leave Jeju Ind anyway, it was probably a good idea to go to Russia with them to create the vine. The new goal that Lee Jeong-Uk had talked about, a life for tomorrow¡­ Even though it was like squeezing water from a stone, I was willing to devote myself to this small possibility, to create a vine to ovee this damned virus. I got to my feet, and Tommy followed suit. "Before we head back, I''d like to take some research data and samples from this ce,¡± he said. ¡°Would that be okay?¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°I feel like they coulde in handy someday. Every drug has its own side effects. A drug that strengthens zombies could be the same drug that kills them.¡± I nodded slowly at his exnation. "All right. Let¡¯s head back after you get the data that you need.¡± * * * The soldiers who carried Kim Hyeong-Jun inside threw him into some room. He cracked his eyes half-open to check out the room. It seemed like an office, but it had all sorts of things in it, like a couch, a bed, and a desk. The man lying on the bed got up. ¡°What the hell is that?¡± he asked. ¡°We hunted down a zombie that was trying to get inside the fueling station, sir,¡± the three soldiers answered triumphantly. ¡°Who got it?¡± ¡°I did, sir.¡± ¡°Then you should¡¯vee alone. Why did you bring those two next to you?¡± ¡°They were in charge of the quarters. They came to report what happened, sir.¡± The soldiers tactfully praised one another so that the man wouldn¡¯t kick them out. The man on the bed scratched his head. ¡°Did you check if it¡¯s dead?¡± he asked. "Yes, sir! I dragged it outside and killed it.¡± ¡°Okay, keep in mind that whoever opens fire within the fueling station, I¡¯ll kill them myself.¡± ¡°Yes, we¡¯re aware, sir!¡± The man on the bed stood up and rubbed his sore neck. He walked over to the desk, fully naked, then grabbed a ballpoint pen, and began writing on a piece of paper. ¡°Take this and go to the prize manager.¡± "Yes sir!" The soldier, who was wearing a hat, smiled broadly and happily took the paper from the naked man. However, when he read the words on the paper, his head began to tilt. He smiled sheepishly and looked at the captain. "Excuse me¡­ Sir?¡± he said. "What?" ¡°You only wrote down one prize¡­ Is this correct, sir?¡± ¡°Then what? You wanted three?¡± ¡°There are three of us¡­¡± ¡°Then go get me three zombies,¡± the captain answered calmly. The soldiers looked at each other, sharing startled expressions. ¡°Sir, you know there aren¡¯t any zombies left here. You know this ce is barren.¡± ¡°Then go to Gyeongsan and hunt them down,¡± said the captain with a smirk. The soldiers seemed to hesitate for a moment, then the one with a shirt on spoke up. ¡°Sir, this zombie is no ordinary zombie. So I think you should give us three prizes.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± The captain¡¯s brow furrowed when he heard the soldiers say that Kim Hyeong-Jun wasn¡¯t an ordinary zombie. The soldier noticed the change in the captain¡¯s facial expression and swallowed, but continued to speak. ¡°This one has blue eyes. Don¡¯t you think it¡¯d be a good addition to your zombie collection, sir?¡± ¡°It has blue eyes?¡± ¡°Yes sir, and it was really hard to catch, because it didn¡¯t go down in one shot. We all worked together and just barely managed to get it.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun barely kept himself from bursting intoughter as he listened to the soldiers make up their fake story. He wanted to give them a round of apuse for their efforts to somehow secure three prizes. And, the fact that this captain or whatever had some sort of zombie collection¡­ Kim Hyeong-Jun couldn¡¯t help but think that this man was insane in his own way. The captain contemted this for a moment, then looked at the soldiers. ¡°Dig that bastard¡¯s eyes out.¡± "Pardon, sir?" ¡°Dig its damn eyes out so that I can see for myself if they¡¯re actually blue. If they¡¯re really blue, I¡¯ll give you three prizes.¡± ¡°Yes, sir.¡± The soldier wearing a hat drew the sword that hung from his side and crouched down beside Kim Hyeong-Jun. Just as he was about to flip Kim Hyeong-Jun over, the man in the shirt spoke up in a rather dubious tone. "Huh? Hey, wait up.¡± The man crouching in front of Kim Hyeong-Jun looked back at the man who had expressed his doubt. ¡°What?¡± "Didn¡¯t¡­ Didn''t you shoot it in the back earlier?" ¡°What about that?¡± ¡°There¡¯s no wound on its back.¡± At his words, the soldiers around him all looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s back. There were traces of blood, but his wound had gone away. The man wearing a hat tilted his head and turned Kim Hyeong-Up over anyway. As they turned Kim Hyeong-Jun face-up, they saw his blue eyes shimmering. The man wearing a hat eximed in surprise. ¡°Hey, did this thing have its eyes open earlier?¡± he asked. "Uh¡­ I think they were closed¡­?¡± ¡°...¡± The room fell dead silent, as if time itself had stopped. Kim Hyeong-Jun rolled his eyes slightly and looked at the man wearing the hat, who was right in front of him. ¡°Jesus!!¡± The man in the hat freaked out andnded on his bottom. At the same time, the man in the shirt reached for his pistol. Kim Hyeong-Jun noticed that he was going for his pistol, and with a sh of his blue eyes, he quickly dashed toward the man. In seconds, the silent room was thrown into chaos. But the screaming that filled up the room¡­ It didn¡¯t evenst ten seconds. After that brief moment, Kim Hyeong-Jun stood there, licking the red blood off his hands as he stared at the captain, who was trembling in front of the desk. The captain was staring at Kim Hyeong-Jun with his eyes wide open. Kim Hyeong-Jun lowered his gaze slightly and looked at the man¡¯s lower body. ¡°Not much of a shower, huh?¡± he said with a snort. ¡°Or are you scared? Is that it?¡± ¡°You¡­ you¡­ you¡­ What the hell are you? Are you a zom¡­ zombie? No, are you human? Wait, no. You can¡¯t be human. What are you?¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun sneered at the captain. "What the hell are you saying, man? Rx. Chill.¡± He sat down in the captain¡¯s chair with a confused expression. Just then, He heard someone on the bed sob and give a low moan. He looked toward where the crying wasing from, and saw a mysterious woman, trembling in fear. Judging by the bruises on her body, it seemed like she¡¯d been physically abused. He sighed and addressed the woman. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. The rescue team¡¯s here for you.¡± 1. Lee Hyun-Deok makes themon mistake of regarding a vine as a cure that will let him return to his human form. More toe about his confusion on vines inter chapters. ? Chapter 173 Chapter 173 Kim Hyeong-Jun stared at the captain. ¡°The survivors here, where are you hiding them?¡± he asked. "What?" ¡°Come on now, I saw everything at the entrance. I saw a couple of survivors tied up in rope being dragged away.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun slowly approached the captain, who backpedaled, trembling all the way. ¡°Hey hey, wait, how about we both just calm down first and talk this through?¡± he said. "You keep avoiding my question, man. If you keep doing that, I¡¯ll have no choice but to kill you the hard way.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun frowned and tilted his head, and the captain gulped. His eyes swam about. It seemed like he was trying toe up with a way to get himself out of this situation. In an instant, Kim Hyeong-Jun was in front of the captain. His hands locked around the captain¡¯s neck. ¡°If you don¡¯t answer in ten seconds, your neck¡¯s going to break.¡± ¡°Gaaa! Wait, wait¡­¡± ¡°Ten, nine, eight¡­¡± As Kim Hyeong-Jun started counting down, the captain squirmed about. ¡°Hey, let go. Let¡¯s talk this through¡­¡± he tried to say. ¡°Three, two, one, zero. You¡¯re up.¡± "The kitchen. I hid them in the kitchen!¡± The captain shouted as he tapped Kim Hyeong-Jun''s arm. The pain around his neck was causing his eyes to narrow into slits. Kim Hyeong-Jun grinned. "Did you know?¡± he asked. ¡°What? What?¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun tilted his head and made a cheerful expression. ¡°When Koreans give you a ten-second countdown, they always give you extra time by saying ¡®you¡¯re up¡¯ after counting down to zero.¡± The captain didn¡¯t know how to respond. Instead, he swallowed and stared at his tormentor¡¯s face. Kim Hyeong-Jun smiled and continued to speak. "Wait¡­ That means I just gave you twelve seconds, didn¡¯t I?¡± The captain turned pale after he heard that he¡¯d been given twelve seconds, not ten. Then Kim Hyeong-Jun clenched his teeth to the point that the captain could hear them grinding. ¡°You went over ten seconds, you son of a bitch," he said, furrowing his brow. Pow!! The captain''s limbs went limp as the bones in his neck shattered. Kim Hyeong-Jun was furious. He couldn¡¯t believe that the captain was keeping the survivors in the kitchen. It could only mean that the people here were using the survivors as food. They were no different from the dogs in Seoul. Kim Hyeong-Jun clicked his tongue vigorously as he tossed the captain¡¯s corpse¡ªwith its neck broken¡ªto the floor. The woman in the bed squirmed. When Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s eyes fell on her, she cried her eyes out and began to beg for her life. ¡°Please, please spare me. I don¡¯t know anything.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun gave the woman a sidelong look, then ruffled through the clothes on the floor. There was torn women¡¯s clothing scattered under the desk. Kim Hyeong-Jun scratched his head and sighed, then walked over to the corpse of the soldier with the shirt and stripped him of his clothes. He tossed the clothes to the woman. ¡°Put those on for now so that we can get going.¡± "Please spare me. I¡­¡± ¡°Why do you keep asking me to spare you? I have no intention of killing you.¡± "Really?" ¡°The soldiers here. How many of them are there?¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun asked her, his voice growing slightly annoyed. The woman looked at him, her eyes full of confusion. "Wait, who¡­ Who are you?¡± she asked, her voice tinged with bewilderment. ¡°I told you, I¡¯m the rescue team.¡± ¡°The, the rescue team? How, how in the world did the rescue team¡­¡± ¡°Enough with this. Let¡¯s go save the rest first. Get dressed quickly. I don¡¯t have all day.¡± The woman hesitated as she looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun. It seemed like she wanted him to do something. Realizing what it was, Kim Hyeong-Jun sighed and turned around. Only then did the woman begin to put on the clothes. After she was done, she approached Kim Hyeong-Jun hesitantly, and repeated her earlier question. ¡°Are you really the rescue team?¡± ¡°Yes. I¡¯m part of the Survivor Rally Association. I''m from Seoul. Ask your questionster, and answer my questions first.¡± "Oh¡­ Yes.¡± ¡°Tell me everything. How many soldiers are here, where the other survivors are, what are these prizes the soldiers were talking about earlier, and how much food there¡¯s left here.¡± The woman seemed to hesitate as Kim Hyeong-Jun fired off questions at her, but then began to fold her fingers one by one. She then said that there had been forty-two soldiers in total. She gave him other details about the soldiers as well. She added that, among the forty-two soldiers, twelve of them had fought on the side of the survivors during the rebellion, so the captain killed them himselfter on. That meant that there were twenty-six soldiers left, since he had just killed four of the remaining thirty. And since the man, the so-called captain, was an idiot with no future, the guys serving beneath him were probably the same, or even less. The woman then said that there were twenty-two survivors in the station. They had escaped from the zombies, but ended up running into the soldiers. Since the people and the soldiers were already in a bloody conflict, they were like water and oil, unable to mix together. The men became food, and the women were set aside as prizes for the soldiers. Hearing this, Kim Hyeong-Jun closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh. Once again, it was clear that in a world where there were no rules, humans behaved even worse than animals. They fell back to their base instincts, which made him feel nothing but disgust. Kim Hyeong-Jun looked at the woman. ¡°What is your name, miss?¡± he asked. ¡°Shi¡­ Shin Soo-Jeong.¡± ¡°Shin Soo-Jeong, from now on, we¡¯re heading out there together to find the other people. Got it?¡± From her appearance, she seemed like a woman in her mid-tote twenties. Shin Soo-Jeong nodded vigorously as she wiped away tears from her eyes. Kim Hyeong-Jun knew that it would have been perfectly normal for her to have been half-insane at this point. After all, she and everyone else in this ce had gone through more hardship than should¡¯ve had. However, Shin Soo-Seong seemed confident and strong-spirited. Giving her one more look, Kim Hyeong-Jun took a deep breath. ¡°Let¡¯s go to the kitchen. Lead me there.¡± ¡°Yes!¡± The two of them opened the door and headed to the kitchen. * * * While Tommy and Alyosha gathered the documents and samples they needed, I gathered the bodies of the new species of zombies. I retrieved some gasoline from the cars on the streets and burned their bodies. Since I wasn¡¯t able to fully understand their characteristics, I couldn¡¯t rule out the possibility of zombie infection passing on through their severed limbs. After I burned all the zombies, I went to look for Tommy. ¡°Let¡¯s get going. Did you get the samples you need?¡± ¡°Yes, I have them here.¡± Tommy opened his bag to show me the samples he had obtained. Now that he knew Alyosha had broken the syringe containing the vine while carrying it on him, Tommy was now handling the samples with more care. Ji-Eun and my stage-one mutants escorted Tommy and Alyosha while I cleared a straight path back to the airport for us. To my surprise, not many zombies attacked us. Perhaps it was because we¡¯d taken this path earlier on as well. After walking for a while while keeping a wary eye on the surroundings, something tickled my ears. I signaled Tommy and Alyosha to stop and focused on my hearing. ¡°Isn¡¯t he taking too long?¡± "What''s with the hurry? Our job right now is to wait.¡± It was a familiar voice, but since I wasn¡¯t a hundred percent sure and that there was nothing wrong with being cautious, I jumped onto the roof of the building on the left. I looked toward where I¡¯d heard the conversation and saw Park Gi-Cheol and Yoon Jeong-Ho conversing. I also saw the airline staff and Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s underlings behind them. When I whistled, Park Gi-Cheol hurriedly grabbed his K2 rifle and looked around. When he saw me, he smiled and gestured to me toe down. When I jumped down next to him, he looked at the zombie bloodstains on me. "Looks like you''ve had quite the fight,¡± he said. ¡°Yes. There were actually a lot of zombies in Innovation City,¡± I answered with a chuckle. Yoon Jeong-Ho, who was next to Park Gi-Cheol, looked away and scratched the back of his head hesitantly. When I looked at him, he nced down at the ground. "I¡­ I joined the Survivor¡¯s Rally Organization,¡± he mumbled. "Congrattions." It seemed like he was struggling to befortable around me. The way he was reacting made sense, since ourst encounter hadn¡¯t been the best. I then smirked and patted Yoon Jeong-Ho on the shoulder. He wet his parched lips and looked me in the eyes. ¡°You don¡¯t have to act so disheartened. If Lee Jeong-Uk and Hwang Ji-Hye have epted you¡­ I¡¯ll consider you as one of my people too.¡± ¡°I''m sorry for all the trouble I put you through¡­¡± I smiled gently and patted him on the back. After I called Tommy and Alyosha to join us, I asked Park Gi-Cheol why they were here in the first ce. When Park Gi-Cheol exined everything to me, I clicked my tongue. ¡°Is Hyeong-Jun doing something on his own again?¡± I asked. "It doesn''t seem like things have gone wrong yet, since there haven''t been any gunshots." I clicked my tongue loudly and sighed. ¡°I can¡¯t tell if he¡¯s good at improvising or he¡¯s just reckless¡­¡± I looked at Park Gi-Cheol, then swept my gaze over everyone else. ¡°Everyone, please wait here. I¡¯ll go take a look.¡± ¡°If anything happens, call in your underlings right away. We¡¯ll follow when we see your underings move.¡± I nodded once and stealthily entered theplex. I heightened my five senses by elerating my blood flow, and heard some faint screaminging from within theplex. The screams were apanied by the smell of blood floating through the air. I could tell that a massacre was taking ce. It seemed like Kim Hyeong-Jun was going at it. I crouched down as I followed the screams. As I made my way through the long passageway, some soldiers with K2 rifles appeared in front of me. It seemed like they hadn¡¯t noticed me in the passageway, since they were fixated on their right nk. I approached them swiftly and kicked the first one in the leg. "GAAA!!" The man in uniform let out a scream and fell down. I kept on going; I grabbed the man''s gun and smacked the other two with the buttstock. Having swiftly taken down the three soldiers, I looked over at where they had been aiming their guns. I saw a woman covering herself with a ragged cloth running down the passageway, along with several men. The soldiers had been pointing their guns at survivors. ¡°Ahjussi!¡± I heard Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s voiceing from the direction in which those people were running. When I turned to my right, I saw Kim Hyeong-Jun, his body covered in red blood. I tossed the K2 rifle I was holding onto the floor. ¡°Who are those people?¡± I asked him. ¡°The survivors who were trapped here.¡± Suddenly Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s blue eyes shed, and he rushed toward me like a raging wave. I quickly dropped into a defensive stance in response to his unexpected behavior. ¡°GAAA!¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun went straight past me and kicked the soldier behind me. It seemed like the soldier whose gun I¡¯d taken had tried to attack me with his sword, aiming for my head. Kim Hyeong-Jun mercilessly stamped on the other two soldiers on the floor, then looked me in the eyes. ¡°Kill all the soldiers. They¡¯re not considered survivors.¡± "What happened?" He was telling me to kill people. I needed a reasonable exnation, some sort of justification for why he was saying this. I gave him a serious look, and Kim Hyeong-Jun smacked his lips. ¡°You can think of the soldiers as dogs,¡± he said. "Dogs? Are you saying that they ate human flesh?¡± "Yeah. The naked ones are the survivors, and the people in uniform are just dogs.¡± That was enough reason to get rid of them. I took a breath and let it out. ¡°Did you get a tally of the number of survivors and soldiers?¡± I asked Kim Hyeong-Jun. ¡°We still have to find four more survivors, and since we just killed three soldiers, we still have six left.¡± ¡°You haven¡¯t checked this area yet, right?¡± I said, pointing to my left. Kim Hyeong-Jun nodded. My blue eyes shed. ¡°I¡¯ll check this area. Go ahead and get the other survivors out first.¡± ¡°The remaining survivors are all men.¡± ¡°How do you know that?¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun pointed at the woman behind him. ¡°Shin Soo-Jeong told me.¡± A fair distance behind him¡ªabout twenty meters away¡ªa woman in a shirt was staring at me and Kim Hyeong-Jun. She was looking at us with a rather nervous expression, as if she was still a little afraid of me and Kim Hyeong-Jun. We were, after all, two zombies covered in blood. That was probably how she saw us. My voice took on a tinge of bitterness. ¡°See you outside. Go ahead first.¡± ¡°ording to Shin Soo-Jeong, the remaining men are most likely in the torture chambers. She said they were at the end of the hallway. Let me know when you¡¯re out.¡± With that, Kim Hyeong-Jun led the survivors out. I focused my mind on sharpening my vision and hearing as I elerated my blood flow. As I moved along the passageway on the left, I came across several doors. I opened every door and checked to see if any survivors were inside the rooms. When I got to the end of the left passageway, I noticed that the passageway split into two directions¡ªleft and right. I examined both passageways, and noticed that a door on the right passageway had more handprints than the other doors. It was more worn than the other doors, and there were brown palm prints on the door. They seemed to be made of dried blood. Above the door was a dusty window. I wiped away the dust and carefully peeked through the ss. There were four men inside, tied up with rope. I wet my dry lips and cautiously opened the door. Chapter 174 Chapter 174 The four men were in their underwear, and their heads were sagged. I quickly elerated my blood flow to get them out. By concentrating on my enhanced hearing, I detected the sounds of some people breathing from the closets to the left and right. Even though I had the mind of a human, I still had a zombie body. I couldn¡¯t help but feel tempted by the sound of their breathing. ¡°Help¡­ help me.¡± One of the four men who were tied up was pleading for help. My eyes shed, and I crouched down in front of them. The men btedly swallowed in fear when they saw my eyes. They seemed taken aback by the fact that there was a zombie in front of them. I remained still, but their fear still made them try their best to squirm away from here. I stared at them struggling for a little bit, then headed for the closets on the left. The people hiding in the closet on the left seemed nervous, given their heavy breathing. I opened all four closets, and was confronted by four men with pistols. Their hands were trembling as they looked at me. However, it seemed like they weren¡¯t trembling just out of fear. Their eyes seemed to say that they wanted to live and get out of this ce. I carefully lowered my gaze, and saw that their ankles were tied together with thin wires. I couldn¡¯t figure out why they hadn¡¯t shot me, given that they had pistols in their hands. However, it didn¡¯t take me long to find the answer. The reason they didn¡¯t pull the trigger on me was because they didn¡¯t have any ammunition. ''Huh¡­ Out of all the reasons¡­¡¯ Still unable to grasp the absurdity of the situation, I turned around and looked at the men tied up with rope. When I took a closer look at them, I noticed that none of them had any wounds or scars on their bodies. Something didn¡¯t feel right. I remembered that this was supposed to be a torture chamber, and that should¡¯ve meant that the people being detained here should have marks on them showing that they¡¯d been beaten. However, none of the tied-up men had any scars on their bodies, while the four men in the closets had bruises all over their faces. I couldn¡¯t believe that they¡¯d thought I would fall for this kind of joke. Given how urgent the situation was, they could¡¯ve ended up with an ordinary rescue team. But I was far from that. I had no reason to be nervous or feel a sense of urgency. I had all the freedom of an apex predator. I looked at the men in the closet again. Tears were rolling down their faces. They continued to cry silently. I couldn¡¯t even fathom how frightened they were. They were probably even more frightened than usual because they couldn¡¯t figure out if I was on their side or not. I tried tomunicate with them through my eyes. When I gestured with my chin toward the men tied up with rope, one of the men in the closets nodded back as if he understood me. At that moment, I remembered what Kim Hyeong-Jun had told me. - We still have to find four more survivors, and since we just killed three soldiers, there are still six left. Since there were four survivors in the left row of closets, that meant that there were more soldiers in the closets on the right that I had yet to open. The four soldiers tied up with rope had no weapons on them, since they were trying to act as the survivors. ¡®This means that the soldiers with weapons are¡­ on the right.¡¯ I clenched my fists and, without hesitation, hurled my fists at the four closets on the right. Pow! Pow! Pow! Pow! To someone who could easily break reinforced concrete, these closet doors felt like sponges. Red blood started to ooze out of the smashed-up closets. Only then did the four soldiers kneeling on the floor realize the seriousness of the situation, and they looked up at the same time. I looked back at them. ¡°You should¡¯ve done a better job.¡± ¡°You¡­ You motherfucker!¡± They easily untied themselves and charged at me. It seemed they had tied themselves loosely just in case. At least this part of their n wasn¡¯t clumsy. However,ing after me was the same as banging their heads against a brick wall. Their endeavor meant absolutely nothing to me. I crushed the four soldiers in the blink of an eye, and the survivors in the left closets copsed to the ground and started crying. I wiped away the sticky blood from my hands. ¡°I¡¯m from the Survivor Rally Organization. You¡¯re in safe hands,¡± I said to them. ¡°Thank you, thank you¡­¡± When I checked their pistols, just as I had expected, none of them had bullets. On the other hand, when I opened the dented closet doors on the right, I saw two dead soldiers helplessly clutching their K2 rifles. Just by their appearance, I could tell what they were about to do once I¡¯d opened the doors. However, it seemed like they hadn¡¯t expected me to smash the closets even before opening them. I slicked my hair back and sighed. I removed the wire that tied the survivors together and escorted all four of them out of the fueling station. As he saw mee out, Kim Hyeong-Jun, who had been waiting outside, started walking toward me with Shin Soo-Jeong in tow. She btedly saw the men I had escorted out with me, and her eyes widened. She ran toward them, looking as though she might burst into tears at any second. The four men and Shin Soo-Jeong hugged each other and wailed, ovee by the fact they had made it out alive. As he looked at the five people crying at the top of their lungs, Kim Hyeong-Jun smirked and spoke up. ¡°And this is why we save people. Right, ahjussi?¡± I smiled faintly and nodded. Park Gi-Cheol and the airline staff approached us and said that they would get down to work. Instead of following them, Yoon Jeong-Ho stopped in his tracks with a look of surprise when he saw the four men from the fueling station. ¡°Hyung-nim!¡± ¡°Are you Jeong-Ho? It¡¯s Jeong-Ho!¡± Yoon Jeong-Ho and the four men who had juste out from the fueling station exchanged warm embraces while calling each other by their names. It seemed like they had known each other from before. They had probably been separated when the zombies invaded the city. They clearly hadn¡¯t expected to see each other in a ce like this. While Park Gi-Cheol and the airline staff carried on with what they hade to do, Kim Hyeong-Jun and I continued to converse with the survivors from the fueling station. * * * After we aplished our task, we returned to Daegu Airport, where I saw dead zombie bodies piled up in front of the airport entrance. I hurried into the passenger terminal. The survivors were all gathered together, and Do Han-Sol was wiping off blood from his face. I rushed over to him. "What''s the matter? What¡¯s up with the zombies outside?¡± I asked him. ¡°Oh, you¡¯re here.¡± Do Han-Sol wiped off the remaining blood on his face, then continued to speak. ¡°There was a zombie attack.¡± "When?" ¡°About thirty minutes ago. A handful of zombies came over Ayang Bridge.¡± ¡°Did anyone get injured? Is everyone okay?¡± ¡°Yes, there weren¡¯t that many of them, and there weren¡¯t any that were threatening. It seems like there aren¡¯t any mutants in Daegu yet.¡± I let out a sigh of relief and put my right hand on my forehead. I was thankful for Do Han-Sol¡¯s presence. Judging by the amount of dead bodies piled up outside, it seemed like at least five hundred zombies had attacked. The fact that zombies hade meant that they had started to pick up the scent of humans, which ultimately meant that Daegu Airport was no longer safe. I looked around, trying to find Lee Jeong-Uk. Do Han-Sol figured out who I was trying to locate. ¡°Mr. Lee Jeong-Uk is at the rear entrance of the terminal,¡± he said. ¡°Did you take care of the zombies on that side as well?¡± ¡°Yes. He said he¡¯d be back after scouting that side of the airport.¡± I nodded and headed for the back entrance after thanking him for what he had done. When I reached the rear entrance, I saw Lee Jeong-Uk and the guardsing back with firewood. Lee Jeong-Uk saw me and smiled brightly. ¡°Is anyone hurt?¡± he asked. ¡°That¡¯s something I was going to ask. Are you okay?¡± ¡°You know me, I¡¯m fine. And with Do Han-Sol here, what could pose a danger?¡± Lee Jeong-Uk smiled lightly and said that we should take the conversation inside. It seemed like he and the others had brought firewood for the survivors, who were shivering in the cold. After they distributed the firewood to the survivors, I looked at Lee Jeong-Uk. ¡°Gather the leaders so that we can have a meeting.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk left to find the other leaders while massaging his stiff back. Then Kim Hyeong-Jun stashed his hands in his pockets and asked me a favor. ¡°Ahjussi, can you let me skip this meeting?¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°We need someone to be on guard. I think the zombies know that we¡¯re here.¡± He was right. If the zombies hade across Ayang Bridge, it meant that they were picking up the scent of humans from afar. I thanked Kim Hyeong-Jun for stepping up and went ahead to the meeting room. Soon, all the leaders entered, along with Lee Jeong-Uk. The waiting room at the passenger terminal had somehow be our meeting room. ¡°I¡¯ll give you all a quick briefing about what¡¯s going on, and we''ll get going.¡± ¡°Is the situation bad?¡± asked the principal, his face full of worry and doubt. It seemed like my anxiousness was showing on my face. I gave the principal a quick nod and told the leaders everything I¡¯d seen at Innovation City. When I told them of the existence of the new breed of zombies and the reason why Daegu got upied, their faces hardened. After a while, Lee Jeong-Uk spoke up. ¡°So all the Russian soldiers are dead?¡± ¡°Yes, everyone¡¯s dead except Tommy and Alyosha.¡± The leaders¡¯ faces fell when they heard the unfortunate news of the Russian soldiers. They remained silent for a while, before Hwang Ji-Hye finally broke it. ¡°Then, with the vine gone, what are we going to do now?¡± ¡°It would be best to go ahead with our n and move to Jeju Ind. After I make sure Jeju Ind is safe, I¡¯m nning to go to the Russianboratory with Tommy and Alyosha.¡± "Pardon? You¡¯re going to go to Russia?¡± Hwang Ji-Hye repeated, her eyes wide open. I offered her a sad smile in return. ¡°There¡¯s a limit to how long me, Hyeong-Jun, and Han-Sol can stay around. When our zombie instincts emerge, we¡¯ll eventually pose a harm to everyone here.¡± My reply to her was met with silence. It seemed like everyone had a lot on their mind, but they had decided to stay quiet since none of them could think of an alternative. Lee Jeong-Uk rubbed the back of his neck and smacked his lips in difort. ¡°We all knew this was going to happen someday. I said all of this at Gimpo Airport, so everyone, please, there¡¯s no need to look so gloomy.¡± ¡°Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok¡­¡± Hwang Ji-Hye couldn¡¯t finish her sentence. She could only bite her lips and keep her head down. I looked around at the leaders. ¡°I know better than anyone how hard all of you have worked until now,¡± I said. ¡°Please stay with me until the end.¡± The leaders furrowed their brows with their lips tightly closed. They seemed overwhelmed, feeling sad, bitter, and regretful about what was going to happen in the future. After a moment, Lee Jeong-Uk spoke up, his voice tinged with annoyance. ¡°What¡¯s up with this? Did someone die or something? Don¡¯t put on sad faces, everyone.¡± Lee Jeong-Hyuk, who was next to him, spoke up as well. "He¡¯s right. If they seed in developing the vine in the Russianboratory¡­ Lee Hyun-Deok, Kim Hyeong-Jun, and Do Han-Sol will be able to return to their original selves.¡± This brightened the leaders¡¯ spirits a little. The Survivor Rally Organization had been betting on the word ¡®possibility¡¯ up until now. No matter how slim or insignificant the chances were, we as an organization would make it possible this time as well, just as we had done so far. I was sure that I¡¯d be back after developing the vine. And at that time, I¡¯ll be standing in front of So-Yeon as a human being, not as a zombie. I took in a deep breath and addressed the leaders again. ¡°When the nes are fueled up, we¡¯ll leave for Jeju Ind. Please get everything organized.¡± ¡°Are we going to stop by Gimhae as we originally nned?¡± ¡°Yes, let¡¯s do that,¡± I answered with a nod. Bae Jeong-Man, who was in a corner, raised his hand. All eyes fell on Bae Jeong-Man at once. He then took a deep breath and spoke up. ¡°If we use the military transport ne, we don''t have to stop by Gimhae Airport. There¡¯s no need to make things more cumbersome than they are.¡± "What do you mean?" Lee Jeong-Uk asked. Bae Jeong-Man quietly rubbed his chin. ¡°Unlikemercial nes, military transport nes can take off andnd even if the runway surface isn¡¯t perfect, since they have to operate in any sort of condition during wartime.¡± ¡°You mean we cannd even if there are zombies on the runway?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell us about this until now?¡± ¡°The military transport ne belonged to the Russian army, so it wasn¡¯t something that I could just suggest.¡± I leaned back in my chair as I listened to Bae Jeong-Man. If we had just dropped off the Russian troops in Daegu and headed to Jeju Ind by ourselves... There was no way that they would¡¯ve handed over their ne, since it was their most prized possession, and they valued it perhaps as much as their own lives. Because of this, if we had tried to take it by force, there would¡¯ve been bloodshed. It seemed like Bae Jeong-Man hadn¡¯t brought up any military transport-rted matters to prevent any of that from happening. Chapter 175 Chapter 175 He must have thought it would¡¯ve only caused more chaos if he had told us about it earlier on. Now that I understood where Bae Jeong-Man wasing from, I nodded. ¡°Thank you for telling us, even now,¡± I said. ¡°So are you saying that there won¡¯t be a problem if we go straight to Jeju Airport?¡± ¡°Yes. We cannd the transport ne down the runway first, thennd the other nes after seeing how things are.¡± Bae Jeong-Man said it as if it wasn¡¯t a big deal. Park Gi-Cheol, who was across from him, raised a question. ¡°What if we can¡¯tnd the nes? I get that we cannd the military transport ne somehow. But what if there are other conditions preventing the other nes fromnding?¡± ¡°When the military transport nends, Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok, Mr. Kim Hyeong-Jun, and Mr. Do Han-Sol can take care of the zombies on the runway.¡± "Well then¡­ Okay¡­ But what if we can¡¯tnd because of some other problem?¡± ¡°There are several methods tond an aircraft. As long as the runway is serviceable, we¡¯ll be able tond them somehow.¡± Bae Jeong-Man turned to Choi Kang-Hyun, who was next to him. He was the captain of Airline A. ¡°Isn¡¯t that right, Mr. Choi Kang-Hyun?¡± "Ummm¡­ I suppose it¡¯s possible,¡± Choi Kang-Hyun answered with his arms crossed. The leaders looked at him doubtfully, as if demanding a further boration of what he meant. I verbalized the question to him on behalf of the leaders. "Exin to us what you mean. About this method you¡¯re talking about.¡± ¡°When we fly nes, we prefer softndings. Just like the name suggests, it meansnding softly on the runway. However, when the conditions are bad, we have to switch to a different kind ofnding.¡± I inteced my fingers. ¡°And what is this method?¡± I asked. ¡°A firmnding or a hardnding.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the difference?¡± ¡°A firmnding is when the aircraft shakes and makes a thump when itnds. It usually happens when the air currents are bad, or the headwind is strong. Think about when passengersin or feel afraid when an aircraft shakes.¡± ¡°And what about a hardnding?¡± ¡°For hardndings, the wheels may be damaged. But it¡¯s not life-threatening. As long as everyone has their seat belts on, we should be fine.¡± I remained silent, and Choi Kang-Hyun cleared his throat and looked around at the other leaders. ¡°Well¡­ Some individuals may develop trauma towardsnding and taking off after experiencing hardnding of course,¡± he added. "Sorry?" "But don¡¯t worry. Korean pilots are known as being among the best in the world. Being good at taking off andnding of course!¡± Choi Kang-Hyun concluded with a boisterousugh, but the leaders didn¡¯t seem too happy with his answer. * * * After all the nes were inspected, the survivors began to board. In order to arrive before sunset, we decided to give the survivors simple meals while they were on the nes. Kim Hyeong-Jun, Do Han-Sol, and their underlings boarded the military transport ne. I tasked Kim Hyeong-Jun and Do Han-Sol with cleaning up Jeju Airport while I decided to get on thest ne so that I could ensure every ne could take off safely. As the survivors were boarding, So-Yeon came up to me with Han Seon-Hui. ¡°Daddy, where are we going now?¡± So-Yeon was holding Seok-Hui¡¯s hand tightly. It seemed like the two had gotten closer since thest time I¡¯d seen the two together. I smiled gently. ¡°So-Yeon, you¡¯ve never seen the ocean, have you?¡± I said. ¡°The ocean?¡± ¡°Daddy will show you a really pretty ocean.¡± So-Yeon looked up at me with pure, innocent eyes. "Really? I¡¯m going to go see the ocean?¡± I hadn¡¯t been able to show her the ocean before. I¡¯d always had some sort of excuse, some reason why I was busy, and always put it off to the next time¡­ Which had eventually turned out to be never. I also wasn¡¯t sure when thest time I¡¯d seen the ocean. Since it was before So-Yeon was born, it must¡¯ve been over eight years ago. Seok-Hui stared nkly at me as he hid behind So-Yeon, as if he was still awkward around me. I got down on one knee and spoke to him. ¡°Look at you Seok-Hui! It seems like you¡¯ve been doing well.¡± ¡°Yes¡­¡± He was Han Seon-Hui¡¯s son, and So-Yeon¡¯s age. When I first rescued him from the supermarket, he couldn¡¯t even open his eyes properly due to malnutrition. Since then, he¡¯d put on more weight and looked a lot healthier. I stroked his head. ¡°Since Seok-Hui¡¯s a boy, you have to protect So-Yeon, okay?¡± I said. Seok-Hui hesitated for a second, then slowly nodded. Han Seon-Hui, who had been watching the three of us, smiled heartily. ¡°So-Yeon is more like a son than Seok-Hui,¡± she said. "Is that so?¡± I burst intoughter at herment. Han Seon-Hui patted So-Yeon and Seok-Hui as she continued to speak. ¡°Among the children, So-Yeon¡¯s like the king of the hill.¡± "Haha! I¡¯m not sure if I should feel happy for her or worried that she¡¯s just being fearless.¡± ¡°It means that she¡¯s growing up properly, so I think you should take it in a positive way.¡± I smiled lightly and nodded slowly. So-Yeon grabbed Han Seon-Hui¡¯s arm and shook it back and forth while giggling. I couldn¡¯t imagine So-Yeon being the way she was right now if it weren¡¯t for Han Seon-Hui. I just hoped that she wasn¡¯t disappointed in me for being busy all the time, regardless of me being human or zombie. I then looked at Han Seon-Hui and gave her a bow of gratitude. "Thank you for everything you¡¯ve done. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.¡± ¡°No, I''m more grateful. I wouldn''t have been able toe this far without you.¡± As we were thanking each other, I heard someone call me from behind. ¡°Uncle Hyun-Deok!¡± When I looked back, I saw Kang Ji-Suk running toward me. Kang Eun-Jeong was beside him. Kang Eun-Jeong, who had toed the line between life and death due to tetanus, was now fully recovered, and looked better than she had been thest time I¡¯d seen her. Kang Ji-Suk shed a big smile. ¡°I heard we¡¯re going to Jeju Ind. Are we going to settle down on Jeju Ind now?¡± he asked. ¡°Yup. Once Jeju Ind is safe, there¡¯s no reason for us to move anymore.¡± "Wow¡­ That¡¯s amazing. Jeju Ind?¡± ¡°Why? Have you never been to Jeju Ind?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯ll be my first time.¡± Kang Ji-Suk couldn¡¯t hide his excitement. Kang Eun-Jeong came up to him and gave him a noogie. ¡°It¡¯s not like we¡¯re going on a vacation, are we, Kang Ji-Suk?¡± ¡°Nuna!¡± Kang Ji-Suk frowned and rubbed the top of his head with his hand. As I looked at the two of them, memories of them passed through my mind. I remembered the time when we were all in Room 505 of Shelter Hae-Young, and Kang Eun-Jeong had given Kang Ji-Suk a noogie when heined that he didn¡¯t like the pink underwear that he got. They¡¯d been through thick and thin, but I was d that they hadn¡¯t lost their positivity along the way. I kept reying the moments I had with them, and gave Kang Ji-Suk a noogie on his forehead. ¡°Hey Ji-Suk, don¡¯t make your sister worry about you and take care of yourself, huh?¡± ¡°Uncle, you¡¯re going to nag me too?¡± he whined. Kang Ji-Suk frowned as if he wasn¡¯t expecting me to say something simr to him as well. I smiled brightly for the first time in a while. ¡°Are you okay now? You¡¯re not sick still?¡± I asked Kang Eun-Jeong. ¡°Yes. Thanks to you, I¡¯ve gotten a lot better.¡± ¡°No, I didn¡¯t do anything. It¡¯s all thanks to Mr. Kim Beom-Jin¡¯s diligent treatment.¡± ¡°I¡¯m always grateful to Doctor Kim.¡± I smiled and addressed Kim Ji-Suk, who was beside her. ¡°Ji-Suk.¡± ¡°Yes, Uncle.¡± He still had a sullen look on his face, but he answered quickly. ¡°From now on, you have to take good care of your sister and the people of our shelter, Hae-Young. okay?" ¡°Oh yes, of course. It goes without saying uncle. I¡¯ll always¡­¡± At that moment, someone came running behind him and put him in a headlock. ¡°This guy! Were you causing trouble again?¡± It was Lee Jeong-Uk. Kang Ji-Suk pped Lee Jeong-Uk on the butt. ¡°Ah, let go of me! This is Uncle Jeong-Uk again, isn¡¯t it?¡± he yelled. Lee Jeong-Ukughed cheerfully, loosened his headlock, and tousled his hair. Kang Ji-Suk pouted as he smoothed his messed-up hair. I burst intoughter at the cheerfulness the people of Shelter Hae-Young possessed. Lee Jeong-Uk clicked his tongue with a yful expression. ¡°I¡¯m always worried about this guy, Ji-Suk. I¡¯m always worried, you know?¡± "Why?" ¡°The principal¡¯s always worried because Ji-Suk doesn¡¯t study.¡± "What? Ji-Suk, is this true?¡± I said, with an overly serious expression. Kang Ji-Suk subtly avoided my gaze. ¡°Nuna, let¡¯s get on board quickly. I think it¡¯s our turn,¡± he said. ¡°Ha, this guy.¡± This young boy knew when he could make jokes. I smiled happily. Kang Eun-Jeong replied with a warm smile of her own and bowed to me and Lee Jeong-Uk. Then Lee Jeong-Uk spoke up while we saw the two walk away and board the ne. ¡°Pretty nice to see them well, huh?¡± ¡°Brings me joy just looking at them.¡± ¡°I just hope Jeju Ind is safe.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk seemed to be worried about the situation on Jeju Ind. I was no different. I just didn¡¯t show others that I was worried. Then again, it wasn¡¯t like we had any other choice. The new breed of zombies in downtown Daegu were threatening, and we couldn¡¯t return to Seoul. There were still too many areas and neighborhoods in Seoul that we had yet to clean up. On top of that, I couldn¡¯t leave the shelter to clean up the other areas because of the threat of wild mutants. I assumed that the situation would be the same in Jeju Ind, but I also knew that once we cleaned up the entire Ind, there wouldn¡¯t be any more zombie threats. My expression grew hard to read. Lee Jeong-Uk noticed that something wasn¡¯t right, and frowned. ¡°Why? Is there something on your mind?¡± he asked. ¡°Of all the things we could encounter, I just hope that there aren¡¯t any ck creatures.¡± ¡°I was thinking the same as well.¡± "What if there is a ck creature?¡± ¡°If you think we can handle it, we¡¯ll handle it, and if not, we¡¯ll have to move again.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but wonder if we could finally end this sickening nomadic lifestyle this time. Jeju Ind originally had a poption of six hundred and seventy thousand people. Its poption was one-tenth of Seoul¡¯s and one-seventh of Daegu¡¯s. However, since the zombie apocalypse had broken out during peak tourist season, it was likely that there would have been more people on the ind than the recorded poption. I was curious about how the people on the ind were doing. I couldn¡¯t know if they had be zombies, or if there was still civilization left. Everything was up in the air, but we had made it all the way through countless uncertainties, just like adventurers exploring the unknown world. As I sighed and slicked my hair back, Lee Jeong-Uk patted my shoulder. ¡°We¡¯re almost there. Let¡¯s keep doing our best until the end.¡± I nodded vigorously and clenched my fists. * * * After the survivors boarded, I walked out onto the runway and signaled to the captain of the military transport ne to take off. The captain started the engine, and in moments, it thundered down the runway. With that, the remaining nes entered the runway in order. The ne that entered the runway first, the B737, began moving down the runway, its engines roaring. Suddenly, though, a loud noise pierced its way through the rumble of the engines. GRRR¡­! Zombie cries echoed from all around us. Since the zombies had made it over Ayang Bridge a couple of hours ago, that meant that the zombies were gathering close to us, and could hear us departing. There were still two nes waiting to depart. I urgently gave them the signal to take off, then crossed the runway and looked toward Ayang Bridge. There were hundreds of zombies approaching Daegu Airport. Judging by their speed, it seemed that the two nes could just about take off in the nick of time. KIAAA!!! Then my underlings responded to the zombies by letting out throat-rending noises of their own. At that moment, I thought about abandoning my underlings. But then, I thought it¡¯d be more than possible to get everyone on board without having to leave my underlings as bait. Besides, if some emergency were to ur in Jeju Ind, it would be easier to deal with it if I had my underlings with me. I ordered my underlings to get on the board as I checked the runway conditions. Before I knew it, thest remaining aircraft had entered the runway. I dashed in front of the aircraft and raised my hands high, waving them side to side while shouting at them to open the door. Lee Jeong-Hyuk opened the door after seeing me, and I kept a wary eye on the surroundings until all my underlings got on board. GRRR!!! The throat-rending noises were getting closer. ¡°Start the engine!¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t you getting on?¡± ¡°I will. Hurry!¡± My stage-one mutants were still boarding. As the aircraft engine started, the street zombies began to climb over the walls. Once my underlings had all boarded, I boarded immediately and shouted at the top of my lungs, ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± The airline employee hurriedly closed the hatch, and another airline employee quickly ran to Choi Kang-Hyun to update him on the situation and instruct him to take off. Choi Kang-Hyun started to move the ne toward the long, straight runway. Once I heard the roar of the engines, I gave orders to my underlings. ''Everyone, hold tight so you don''t fall!'' KIAAA!!! The survivors, who firmly belted up in their seats, let out moans and groans at the hundreds of zombies rushing onto the runway. I could feel myself being pushed into my seat as the aircraft began to elerate down the runway. The roar of the engines reached their peak, and with the momentary feeling of weightlessness, the ne finally took flight. I hadn¡¯t managed to sit down in time, so I rolled across the floor of the ne. I gritted my teeth and raised my upper body to look at the situation outside. I saw that the zombies had made it to the runway and were screaming as they watched us departing. Fortunately, there weren¡¯t any zombies clinging onto the aircraft. I let out a sigh of relief, made my way to an empty seat, and sat down. Many things had happened during our short stay in Daegu. But we¡¯d made it through all of it, just like we always had, and were now leaving for Jeju Ind, hoping that it¡¯d be ourst stop. Chapter 176 Chapter 176 About thirty minutester, I heard an announcemente on. - Ournding has been temporarily dyed due to problems with the runway. When I looked out the window, I saw a couple of nes circling Jeju Airport. I looked down at the ground and saw Kim Hyeong-Jun and Do Han-Sol fighting zombies on the runway. They looked like dots, but they were a vivid purple to me. Kim Hyeong-Jun and Do Han-Sol had to deal with the zombies and remove their bodies from the runway. But the sun was setting. If they weren¡¯t able to clear the runway in the next thirty minutes, we¡¯d be left in a rather dangerous situation. In a world without any electricity, it would be pitch-ck when night fell. That meant there¡¯d be no lights on the runway, which would mean that the pilots would have tond using just their instincts and senses. It was virtually impossible. As I looked out the window nervously, Lee Jeong-Hyuk came up to me. ¡°So-Yeon¡¯s father, do you think we¡¯ll be okay?¡± he asked. ¡°There¡¯s nothing else we can do but have faith and wait. What else can we do?¡± ¡°The sun will soon set, and there might be more zombies at night. Do you think we¡¯ll be able tond safely?¡± I didn¡¯t know what to say. I was now doubting my decision to leave early. I couldn¡¯t help but think that dying the departure to the next day might¡¯ve been the wiser decision. However, I¡¯d grown impatient as I considered how the new strain of zombies in Daegu could¡¯ve attacked the terminal overnight. The fact that I hadn¡¯t been able to figure out what kind of threat the new zombies posed toward humans fueled that decision. I sat down in an empty seat and closed my eyes. Lee Jeong-Hyuk realized that I didn¡¯t have an answer to his unanswered questions. He went over to Choi Da-Hye instead and held her hands tightly. All the survivors on the aircraft seemed to be praying and holding each other''s hands. The best and only thing we could do right now was to wait and have faith in Kim Hyeong-Jun and Do Han-Sol. Believing inrades who had been beside you through life-or-death situations was the right thing to do. After all, who else would you trust? Ding¨Cdong. Soon, the fasten-seatbelt lights came on, and Choi Kang-Hyun''s voice came across the inte. - It seems like all the zombies on the runway have been dealt with. Our ne will bending in Jeju Airportst. Until then, please refrain from moving and keep your seatbelt on. I took another look at the situation through the window. It seemed like Do Han-Sol¡¯s underlings were defending the sides of the runway while Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s underlings were blocking off the zombies at the terminal. I assumed that the two of them had noticed that we were running out of time. It seemed like they nned to let the nesnd first since we didn¡¯t have too much fuel, and the sun was setting. I clenched my fists in excitement. I wanted to apud them for their wise judgment. Soon, the nes that had been circling around began tond on the runway one by one. It seemed like the nes werending in the same order as they¡¯d taken off from Daegu Airport. The wings of the descending aircraft seemed to p while they were making their approach, suggesting that the wind was strong. The ne I was on also started to shake violently. Moans and groans began to escape the survivors in the ne. I gripped the armrest with my hands and gritted my teeth. I looked outside the window and saw nesnding on the runway one by one. We were the only ne left. All we needed to do was tond safely. Our aircraft stopped circling and began to descend slowly toward Jeju Ind. Rattle, rattle, rattle!!! My eardrums were filled with the sounds of the ne shaking. The aircraft descended as if it was going to crash down any moment. We were descending against the headwind, and the winds that were being whipped up around the sea seemed very strong. The ne deployed all its ps and spoilers, and the whole aircraft and its wings began to shake as if they were going to fall apart. The wildly descending aircraft finally began to center toward the runway, and with a crushing impact, its wheels touched the ground. Screech! Screech!! The aircraft shook violently, leaving skid marks as it screeched down the runway. Rattle, rattle, rattle! My upper body was thrown about as though I had gotten into a car ident, and the force of the wind hitting the windows seemed almost strong enough to shatter them entirely. My entire body tensed up, and the veins in my neck threatened to burst. I was holding my breath before I realized it. It felt like all the air around me had momentarily been sucked away. After we made contact with the ground, the aircraft bounced again. Only then did it start to stabilize and slow down again. The aircraft finally came to a halt, leaving long, dark skid marks on the runway. I didn¡¯t need anyone to exin to me that this had been a hardnding. Choi Kang-Hyun¡¯s voice came over the internal speakers. - Our aircraft has safelynded at Jeju Airport. Please rest easy. I couldn¡¯t believe how good it felt to hear Choi Kang-Hyun¡¯s calm voice. Although he had always been a blunt fellow, all I wanted to do right then was to give him a big hug. Once he finished his announcement, the survivors on board immediately gave him a round of apuse. Everyone was cheering at the fact that they had made it out alive. As the cheering continued, I got up and headed to the control room. I saw Choi Kang-Hyun covered in cold sweat and breathing deeply. Although he had made the announcement calmly, it was no surprise that this hardnding had taken a toll on him. ¡°Mr. Choi Kang-Hyun, are you okay?¡± ¡°Oh, Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok.¡± His face was pale. He hadn¡¯t considered hardnding to be a big issue, but it seemed like the bad weather had caused him much anxiety while executing the maneuver. I patted him on the shoulder. "Thank you for all you¡¯ve done.¡± He then collected himself as much as he could and offered a small, gentle smile. ¡°I¡¯ll leave the rest to you, Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok.¡± I gave him a sharp nod and turned to the airline staff behind me. ¡°Could you open the door?¡± I asked them. ¡°Pardon?¡± ¡°I have to clean up the zombies outside.¡± ¡°Ah, yes!¡± The airline staff opened the hatch, and I ordered all of my stage-one mutants to disembark. I gave Ji-Eun separate instructions from the ones I gave my stage-one mutants. ¡°Ji-Eun, protect the survivors.¡± Ji-Eun nodded without saying a word. I jumped off the ne and immediately took off toward Do Han-Sol. The sky had grown much darker thanst I¡¯d seen, and I realized that we wouldn''t have managed tond on the runway if it had been just a littleter. ¡°Han-Sol, where¡¯s Hyeong-Jun?¡± ¡°He¡¯s at the terminal, holding back the zombies. There are a lot more zombies than we expected.¡± ¡°Any mutants?¡± ¡°We haven¡¯t seen any mutants with our own eyes yet. Not even any ck creatures. Did every nend?¡± I nodded. ¡°Clear out the zombies near the runway,¡± I instructed him, ¡°and tell the survivors to wait. Make sure they don¡¯t get off the nes.¡± ¡°What are you going to do?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll go help Hyeong-Jun clear the zombies in the terminal. If you see any zombies approaching any of the nes, don¡¯t think twice. Just kill them right away.¡± ¡°Got it. Take care, Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok.¡± With that, we went to take care of our respective responsibilities. When I arrived at the passenger terminal, I saw Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s underlings blocking the entrance to the terminal from the runway, but I didn¡¯t see Kim Hyeong-Jun anywhere. Bang!!! The sound of something being smashed came from inside the terminal. I could tell that Kim Hyeong-Jun was causing a scene inside. I ordered my stage-one mutants to continue to defend the entrance with his underlings, then made my way through the zombies and entered the terminal. After passing through the entrance and moving past the gate, I came across Mood-Swinger ughtering zombies. But I still couldn¡¯t locate Kim Hyeong-Jun. GRRR!!! My eyes shed as I turned to the left, where the zombie cries wereing from. All the zombies seemed to fall back at once. The zombies here were ordinary zombies, like the ones I was used to seeing in Seoul. I crushed their heads and continued my quest to find Kim Hyeong-Jun. However, even after looking around the entire terminal, I still did not manage to find him. ''Did he go outside?'' That wouldn¡¯t have made any sense, because there were still zombies inside. There was no reason for him to go outside when he hadn''t even taken care of all the zombies inside. I couldn¡¯t possibly think of where he could¡¯ve disappeared to. Shatter!! At that moment, two blobs came rolling in through the pane of broken ss. As soon as the two blobs flew into the terminal, they continued to engage in hand-to-handbat. It was Kim Hyeong-Jun and an unidentified zombie. However, this unidentified zombie¡­ It looked red to me. It seemed Kim Hyeong-Jun had found it first and had been chasing it down. Just as Kim Hyeong-Jun was about to punch the zombie in the face, it fell on the floor and yelled in desperation, "Wait!! Let¡¯s talk this out!¡± The moment Kim Hyeong-Jun heard the zombie speak, he flinched. He knew immediately that the zombie in front of him had eaten a human brain. Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s brow furrowed as he ground his teeth. He seemed ready to crush this zombie¡¯s skull at any moment. Steam rose from my body as I put myself in between Kim Hyeong-Jun and the unidentified red zombie, pushing the former aside in the process. Kim Hyeong-Jun rolled out of the way and quickly got himself back up. ¡°What are you doing, ahjussi?!¡± he yelled. "Calm down." ¡°That bastard ate a person!¡¯ ¡°What about us?¡± I replied, keeping my expression neutral. In response, Kim Hyeong-Jun made a disapproving face and clicked his tongue vigorously, then took out his anger on the zombies around him. When I looked at the red zombie lying on the floor, I saw him ring at me with red eyes. Judging by the fact that his body wasn¡¯t letting out any steam, though, it seemed like he had no intention of attacking me. If this zombie had any hostile intent, it would have resisted or acted out in desperation when I pushed Kim Hyeong-Jun aside. "What are you?¡± I asked, frowning. The zombie turned his head and spat out a mouthful of blood. ¡°What are you?¡± he responded, throwing my question back at me. ¡°Answer my question if you don''t want to die." ¡°Where are you from?¡± ¡°Wrong answer.¡± Without the slightest hesitation, I pressed my open palm against the zombie¡¯s forehead. ¡°Ouch!¡± His body began to tremble violently, and he tried to grab my right arm to stop himself from shaking. Judging by the fact that I felt some tingling pain as if I was receiving a static shock, I could tell that this zombie couldmand around one thousand underlings. He let out an agonizing scream. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll talk, I¡¯ll talk!¡± When I slowly removed my hand from his forehead, he coughed and spoke up. ¡°It¡¯s only natural to be curious when an airne arrives, given the era we¡¯re living in! I just came to see who these people were.¡± ¡°What good does that do for you? Were you trying to sneak up on us?¡± "A surprise attack? Have you ever seen anyone trying to execute an ambush without bringing their troops?¡± This zombie had a point. He could control about one thousand underlings, but he was here all alone. I grabbed his cor. ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± I demanded. ¡°You want to know my name in this situation?¡± I decided that I would cut off his limbs since he wasn¡¯t cooperating, and ripped his limbs off. ¡°You crazy bastard¡­!¡± he yelled, his eyes going wide. ¡°Answer the question. What¡¯s your name?¡± ¡°Kim Dae-Young¡­¡± Of course, there was another reason why I had torn off his limbs. This was, in fact, the main reason why I did so. I wanted to know Kim Dae-Young¡¯s regenerative abilities, and see whether he¡¯d eaten a ck creature¡¯s brain or not. Judging by the fact that his damaged body did not regenerate after waiting for a while, it seemed like he had not eaten a ck creature¡¯s brain. I wiped the blood from my face and questioned him again. ¡°Why were you spying on us?¡± ¡°Because I wanted to know what kind of madman woulde this far.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°...¡± Kim Dae-Young remained silent. I wasn¡¯t sure if he was being sarcastic, or if he was literally saying that we were crazy foring all the way here. If he was being sarcastic, that meant that he hade here to spy on whoever hade to this dangerous ce, and if he was being straightforward with his words, it meant that he was wary of us and had decided to attack us. ¡°Where are your underlings?¡± ¡°Why do you want to know?¡± He still wasn¡¯t cooperating. I wondered where his arrogance, his useless confidence, wasing from. I sighed. ¡°If you don¡¯t want to talk, then don¡¯t,¡± I said. ¡°But did you know that if you die, your control over your underlings will be severed as well?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°If you have other people with you, they probably know that you came to Jeju Airport.¡± ¡°What are you trying to say, you bastard?¡± Kim Dae-Young¡¯s tone was harsh, but his eyes were trembling. I raised my eyebrows. ¡°If you die, the chain ofmand that you have over your underlings will disappear,¡± I said. ¡°Then your people wille here on their own. Meaning, there¡¯s no reason for us to keep you alive.¡± ¡°Hey, wait.¡± "Toote." My fist was mere inches away from Kim Dae-Young¡¯s face when he closed his eyes and yelled, ¡°People are going to get hurt!¡± My fist brushed the tip of Kim Dae-Young''s nose and stopped. If he¡¯d waited just a tenth of a second more, his skull would have been turned to mush. ¡°borate,¡± I said with a frown. ¡°People?¡± ¡°I, I¡­¡± Kim Dae-Young trailed off hesitantly. Before long, however, he looked me in the eyes again. ¡°Who¡¯s on the ne? People? Zombies?¡± he asked me. ¡°You don¡¯t get to say anything. I don¡¯t have to answer.¡± Kim Dae-Young smirked. ¡°I knew it. Humans, huh? I bet I¡¯m right; if you''re looking for prey, there¡¯d be no reason for you toe to Jeju Ind.¡± Despite his arrogant expression, his trembling eyes were having trouble focusing, giving away the nervousness he was feeling inside. Chapter 177 Chapter 177 Kim Dae-Young was a quick-witted guy. However, his expression betrayed his anxiety. I grabbed him by the cor and repeated my question. ¡°Answer my question. What did you mean when you said someone¡¯s going to get hurt?¡± ¡°Before that, let me ask you one more question. If you answer my questions properly, I¡¯ll tell you everything.¡± ¡°Some guts you have there. I¡¯d cut it out if I were you.¡± ¡°Now I see. I should''ve known it when you stopped that guy over there from killing me, and from the fact that you¡¯re acting all strong yet keep on listening to me talk¡­ Are you fighting for the sake of people too?¡± My eyebrows twitched at his question. I massaged my temples with my left hand. ¡°You¡¯re digging your own grave.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Since you¡¯ve noticed that, now there are fewer reasons to keep you alive.¡± ¡°If I told you that I was on the same side as you, would you still kill me?¡± Kim Dae-Young looked into my eyes. His expression had grown serious. I frowned. ¡°How can I believe what you¡¯re saying?¡± ¡°You can go and check it out for yourself.¡± ¡°And what if it¡¯s a trap?¡± I asked, raising my eyebrows. Kim Dae-Young shrugged. ¡°Well, there¡¯s nothing I can do if you won¡¯t believe me,¡± he said calmly. ¡°But if you want to kill me instead¡­ Can you just wait ten minutes?¡± ¡°Why do you need ten minutes?¡± ¡°I have to order my underlings toe here. I¡¯ve ordered them to protect my people. And if I die now¡­ My chain ofmand is going to disappear, and they¡¯ll probably attack my people.¡± Kim Dae-Young had a point. He wasn¡¯t an easy opponent, and I couldn¡¯t manipte him the way I wanted to. I couldn¡¯t threaten or kill him right now. He wasn¡¯t the nervous one, I was. I thought about the situation and considered my priorities. Kim Hyeong-Jun could handle the zombies in the terminal alone, and since Do Han-Sol was defending the aircraft, the Survivor Rally Organization was safe. As I thought all of this through, I wondered if killing Kim Dae-Young, a potential threat, was the right thing to do right now. I also questioned if I should be the one deciding if the survivors that he imed to have were going to die or not, assuming that he was telling me the truth that he was in league with the survivors of Jeju. As I stood there, lost in thought, Kim Dae-Young''s limbs began to regenerate. ¡°Ahjussi, what are you doing?!¡± yelled Kim Hyeong-Jun from behind me. I closed my eyes and ced my hand on my forehead. I had to make a choice. I never thought that I¡¯d have to make a decision like this the moment I arrived in Jeju Ind. I took a breath and looked at Kim Dae-Young. ¡°Lead me to where your people are. I want to see them for myself.¡± ¡°There¡¯s no guarantee that you won¡¯t attack my people. Shouldn''t you be showing me the survivors you brought first?¡± Kim Dae-Young''s question caused me to clench my fists and gnash my teeth. ¡°Don¡¯t try to cross the line. You get on my nerves just a bit more and I¡¯ll kill you and all those survivors you keep talking about.¡± ¡°What¡­?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t think you have the upper hand. Get your priorities straight. My family is my priority. I couldn¡¯t care less about your people.¡± My frown was as deep as it would go, betraying the depth of my anger. Kim Dae-Young swallowed and stayed silent. His body had fully regenerated by now, and he picked himself off the floor and looked at me. I shoved him in the back. ¡°Now lead me there,¡± I demanded. ¡°Hey, calm down a little¡­¡± p! I pped Kim Dae-Young in the face. ¡°You say one more goddamn thing, and you¡¯ll be dead before you know it.¡± Kim Dae-Young ced his hand on his tingling cheeks and ear, looking bewildered. I wondered what kind of being Kim Dae-Young saw me as at the moment. Kim Dae-Young probably had no clue that I was on the same side as him. However, the more I dilly-dallied, the more danger my people would be in. Whether I liked it or not, I had no choice but to show force. I had to think things through thoroughly, but also had toe to decisions and act quickly. I never hesitated, which was what kept me and my family safe. Kim Dae-Young seemed to hesitate for a moment, but then he took a deep breath. "Follow me." When I moved to follow Kim Dae-Young, Kim Hyeong-Jun, who had been taking care of the zombies, hurriedly grabbed my shirt. ¡°Ahjussi, where are you going?¡± he asked me. ¡°Do you actually believe what that bastard¡¯s saying?¡± ¡°He said that there are survivors. I''ll check it out ande back. Just take care of the zombies.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s just kill this fe, ahjussi. We don''t have to take care of everyone.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right, we don''t have to take care of everyone. But we also don''t have the right to kill regr human beings.¡± When it came to killing zombies or humans, I wanted to make sure if they were good or evil before I killed them. Kim Hyeong-Jun studied my face closely, then finally sighed, his face difficult to read. He looked me straight in the eyes so that Kim Dae-Young couldn''t overhear us. ''Take your underlings, just in case.'' ¡®...¡¯ ¡®If you don¡¯t take your underlings with you, ahjussi, I won¡¯t let you go. My underlings and I can handle this area, so take your underlings with you.¡¯ ''I''ll leave Ji-Eun behind, then.¡¯ Kim Hyeong-Jun nodded and went back to cleaning up the zombies again. I ordered my stage-one mutants to follow me at a distance of three hundred meters. Kim Dae-Young was a step ahead of me, taking the lead. It was nowpletely dark outside, unlike what it had been when I first entered the terminal. I heightened all my senses as I followed Kim Dae-Young. ¡°Where are we going?¡± ¡°To a rental carpany.¡± Kim Dae-Young guided me to an area where there weren¡¯t that many zombies. I asked him a question as I examined the surroundings. ¡°Are you saying that your people are at a rental carpany?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a good ce to do defense. It''s in a corner, and the car rms go off when the zombies hit them, making them good guards.¡± ¡°What if zombies gather after hearing the cars go off? Have you not thought that through?¡± ¡°There¡¯s an escape route, of course. And, about the rms¡­ It¡¯s more of a means of guarding against other beings than zombies.¡± ¡°Other beings?¡± I asked, with my eyebrows raised. Kim Dae-Young frowned. ¡°The Hounds,¡± he said. The Hounds. The slight emphasis that Kim Dae-Young ced on that word made it sound like some sort of group. If Kim Dae-Young was really a zombie fighting for the sake of other survivors, then this group called The Hounds had to be a group that hunted humans. I wondered if it was simr to Seoul, where there had been the Family on one side and the Survivor Rally Organization on the other. Perhaps this was happening on Jeju Ind as well. ¡°Are these Hounds a threat to humans?¡± I asked him, scratching my eyebrows as I did so. "That¡¯s right.¡± ¡°Are they zombies or humans?¡± ¡°They¡¯re zombies. They can think, just like us.¡± ¡°How many of them are there?¡± ¡°I haven''t figured that out yet. But I''m sure there are quite a few zombies with red eyes among them.¡± It seemed like this group had quite a lot of members. However, more members didn¡¯t mean anything to me. Numbers were meaningless to me. They probably had a boss, and it was important to figure out what their boss was capable of. I looked over at Kim Dae-Young. ¡°Is there a zombie with blue eyes like me in this group called The Hounds?¡± ¡°I haven¡¯t seen one. By the way, I wanted to ask you that; why are your eyes blue?¡± "You don¡¯t need to know.¡± I couldn¡¯t and didn¡¯t want to exin everything word by word. I still had my doubts regarding Kim Dae-Young, so I couldn¡¯t give him too much information. Besides, he had yet to eat a ck creature¡¯s brain, which was another reason not to have to tell him about it. He stopped in his tracks and looked at me, as though this bothered him. ¡°I know you¡¯re wary of me. But, as I said before, I¡¯m also fighting alongside humans.¡± ¡°That¡¯s still up for debate.¡± ¡°Why are you so suspicious about everything?¡± ¡°If I wasn¡¯t, I would¡¯ve died a long time ago,¡± I replied calmly. Kim Dae-Young stopped asking questions. After we passed through several narrow alleys and got onto the main street, I saw the zombies on the streets gathered up in one ce, crying out and resonating. When they resonated like that, it was a signal that a zombie wave was about to happen. I wondered where they were headed to. We were quite far from Jeju Airport. Kim Dae-Young squinted at the zombies and noticed that something wasn¡¯t right. ¡°Do you mind if we walk a bit faster?¡± he said. ¡°Are your people around this area?¡± ¡°The first line of defense is around here.¡± First line of defense¡­ There were a lot of rental carpanies concentrated around Jeju Airport. It seemed like Kim Dae-Young had used the cars from the car rentalpanies to buildyers of defense. Kim Dae-Yong clicked his tongue vigorously. ¡°Since the street zombies were gathered at Jeju Airport, I expected them to be here as well¡­ But there are just too many of them,¡± he said. ¡°...¡± "And this is because of you folks.¡± Kim Dae-Young frowned and red at me. ¡°I have one question for you,¡± I asked him, staying calm. ¡°What.¡± ¡°Do you know anything about ck creatures?¡± ¡°...!¡± Kim Dae-Young¡¯s eyes widened as soon as I mentioned a ck creature, and his expression grew puzzled. Judging by his face, it seemed like there was a ck creature on Jeju Ind as well. It made sense. In fact, it¡¯d be strange for there not to be a ck creature, given the six hundred and seventy thousand people who had resided here before the virus spread. Kim Dae-Young wet his parched lips before speaking. ¡°And what if I told you that I did? What are you going to do about that?¡± ¡°What color were they?¡± ¡°A ck creature is ck. Does ite in different colors?¡± ¡°Its eyes. Were even its eyes ck?¡± Kim Dae-Young nced to the side as though thinking, then answered after a moment. ¡°Thest time I saw it was a month ago, so I don¡¯t remember exactly¡­ But they were the same colors as yours.¡± "Are you sure?" "I am, since I realized that ck creatures had blue eyes because of it. But the bad-tempered guy that was with you at the airport also had blue eyes. What''s the difference between me and him?¡± ¡°What do you mean? It¡¯s your strength.¡± Kim Dae-Young flinched and asked nervously, "You¡­ How many underlings can you control?¡± "You don¡¯t need to know.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t you tell me?¡± ¡°If the zombie at the airport earlier had considered you as an enemy and gone after you seriously, you would¡¯ve died without knowing it.¡± Only then did Kim Dae-Young finally realize where things stood between the three of us, and closed his mouth. It seemed he had realized just how easy Kim Hyeong-Jun and I had been going at him. After a moment, Kim Dae-Young cleared his throat and spoke up again. ¡°If you¡¯re that strong¡­ Can you deal with the Hounds?¡± ¡°Can you fight the Hounds on equal footing?¡± ¡°I can go toe-to-toe with their officers.¡± If their officers were of the same strength as Kim Dae-Young, who controlled one thousand underlings, they couldn''t harm the Survivor Rally Organization even if they attacked us with everything they had. Kim Dae-Young looked at me cautiously. "You¡­ Where are you from?¡± he asked. ¡°Seoul.¡± "Seoul? Did Seoul fall as well?¡± Kim Dae-Young didn¡¯t know anything about what had happened, or what was going on. Well, to be fair, I also hadn¡¯t known anything before meeting Tommy from Russia, so perhaps his reaction was natural. I looked at him in pity and sighed. ¡°There¡¯s no country in the world where humans are guaranteed to be safe,¡± I replied, ¡°except for Canada.¡± ¡°The whole world is done for?¡± ¡°Why do you think I came all the way to Jeju Ind?¡± ¡°...¡± Kim Dae-Young¡¯s mouth dropped open, and he seemed lost in thought. After a moment, he shed a warm smile. ¡°You truly are a zombie that lives for humans.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°You¡¯re trying to clean up the zombies on Jeju Ind, aren¡¯t you? Since it¡¯ll be a safe haven as long as you get rid of all the zombies.¡± I said nothing in reply. However, Kim Dae-Young continued to speak with a satisfied smile. ¡°Can my people join yours?¡± ¡°That depends,¡± I answered bluntly. Kim Dae-Young looked me right in the eye. ¡°Please lend me your strength. I¡¯m actually¡­ not too confident.¡± ¡°About what?¡± ¡°It¡¯s been difficult, handling everything alone. The Hounds, people¡¯s expectations.¡± I frowned at the absurd notion, and tilted my head. ¡°You mean you¡¯ve been fighting the Hounds alone?¡± Kim Dae-Young replied with a bitter smile. ¡°What else was I supposed to do, with no other zombies around to help me?¡± His bitter smile hit me differently, making me reconsider his words. ¡°Crowd psychology sure is scary,¡± he continued quietly. ¡°...¡± ¡°It doesn''t matter what kind of person someone was before the world was turned upside down. When the world falls into a state like this, any beings that exist in such a world would also go crazy. Regardless of whether they¡¯re human or zombie.¡± I considered Kim Dae-Young with a calm expression. It seemed like he was in his early thirties. I could understand the weight he had been carrying on his shoulders all this time. No matter how hard the people at Shelter Hae-Young had worked and tried, my shoulders were always heavy with all the responsibility. As their expectations grew, there were moments in which I became all that they ced their hope in, which made it harder for me to live every day without worrying. This didn¡¯t mean that their expectations toward me were bad. It just made it more difficult to be nice all the time. I just had to be called stupid by people who were messed up and hear criticism that I wasn¡¯t doing a good enough job of taking care of my own interests. Despite all this, though, I still had to get the job done. And people like us were oftentimes called heroes. I smacked Kim Dae-Young on the back fairly hard, so that the sound of my p echoed. Kim Dae-Young looked at me in bewilderment, and I couldn¡¯t help butugh at his dumbfounded face. ¡°Chop, chop, let¡¯s go. We don¡¯t have time.¡± ¡°Huh, really? You really had to hit me? You couldn¡¯t say it in words?¡± Kim Dae-Young smacked its lips and looked away as though he were feeling slightly miffed, and kept leading the way to his people. As I watched him walk off, I thought to myself that I¡¯d found someone pretty decent. If whatever Kim Dae-Young had said was true, he would be weed in our organization. I just hoped that his group of people were logical, rational humans since that was the ultimate factor in joining the Survivor Rally Organization. The ability that made people people. I just hoped that they hadn''t lost their humanity. Chapter 178 Chapter 178 I carved a straight line through the gathered zombies. I went through them instead of going around because leaving them alone could result in the size of the zombie horde increasing and triggering a zombie wave, which would cause a problem further down the line. As I cleaned up the zombies, sending zombies flying left and right, I tried to assess Kim Dae-Young¡¯s strength. He was coasting through the street zombies. If he and Do Han-Sol focused on defense, Kim Hyeong-Jun and I would be able to attack freely. It took us just ten minutes to get rid of the zombies in front of the first defense line, during which I considered what the best scenario would be. I wiped away the zombie blood covering my face and considered moving forward past the dust-covered cars that were scattered along the street. Kim Dae-Young put his index finger and thumb into his mouth and whistled as hard as he could, and the survivors hiding behind the vehicles appeared one by one. ¡°Dae-Young!¡± A man who had covered his mouth and nose with a brown handkerchief ran toward us, calling Kim Dae-Young¡¯s name. However, when he saw me behind Kim Dae-Young, his eyes widened. He tightened his grip on the steel pipe he was holding, and took a swing at me without the slightest hesitation. Grasp! My blue eyes shed as I grabbed the steel pipe that wasing toward my head. The man holding the steel pipe seemed bewildered. Kim Dae-Young hurriedly interposed himself between the man and me, looking at me in surprise. He swallowed. ¡°You know it wasn¡¯t malicious,¡± he said. ¡°Calm down. It''s natural for a person to attack when they see a zombie¡­¡± As Kim Dae-Young made his excuses, a thought swam unbidden into my mind. ¡®Did Kim Dae-Young think I¡¯d get mad at this?¡¯ I didn''t care too much about getting hit with a steel pipe. I just pretended that it didn¡¯t happen. "It¡¯s alright,¡± I said. ¡°People have shot at me without saying anything first.¡± Getting attacked by a steel pipe reminded me of what had happened back in Daegu. To other humans, I was nothing more than a zombie. The man wielding the steel pipe seemed surprised. ¡°Oh, a talking zombie!¡± he eximed. ¡°Seong-Min, calm down. He¡¯s not a Hound.¡± The man named Seong-Min stared nkly at my face as if he was still confused about what was going on. I snatched the steel pipe from his hands. ¡°Everyone makes mistakes,¡± I said. ¡°I understand." I handed him back the steel pipe, adding, ¡°But doing the same thing twice is uneptable.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m sorry.¡± The man named Seong-Min quickly apologized as he took the steel pipe from my hands. The other survivors began to approach us one by one, and Kim Dae-Young began to exin to the survivors what had happened. When he was done, the survivors, who had been listening quietly, looked at me in surprise. "So you''re an ally?" ¡°Nice! That¡¯s good news.¡± ¡°God helped us. God surely helped us.¡± ¡°I told you! With a positive mindset, even the impossible can happen.¡± They were talking in a very positive manner. I couldn¡¯t pinpoint why, but it seemed that despite the fact that the world had turned upside down, they seemed to be surviving rather joyfully. They weren¡¯t pretending, and it seemed like they were honest with one another. After a moment, the man named Seong-Min strode up to me and bowed deeply from the waist. ¡°Sorry for what I did earlier,¡± he said.¡± "It''s okay. Everyone reacts the same way at first.¡± "Did you say¡­ Everyone?¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t Kim Dae-Young exin earlier? That I¡¯m from the Survivor Rally Organization?¡± ¡°Oh, yes!¡± Seong-Min smiled in embarrassment and scratched his forehead. I wasn¡¯t sure if he was a bit naive, or if it just showed how down-to-earth he was. Either way, he had made a decent first impression. Seong-Min held out his right hand. ¡°I¡¯m Heo Seong-Min, the representative or leader of the Jeju Defense Unit,¡± he said, ¡°Nice to meet you.¡± ¡°I¡¯m Lee Hyun-Deok.¡± The representative was defending the first line of defense. He wasn''t just hiding behind everyone else and worrying about his own safety; he was risking his life with the rest of the survivors. I shook hands with Heo Seong-Min and looked around. There were about nine men and women staring at me with clumsy, lousy weapons. I turned to Heo Seong-Min in confusion. ¡°Are these all the survivors?¡± I asked. ¡°No. This is the first line of defense. There are others stationed along the second and third lines of defense. There are also people in the hideout.¡± ¡°How many are there?¡± ¡°Um¡­¡± Heo Seong-Min looked at Kim Dae-Young as he trailed off. I understood that talking about specific numbers would be somewhat ufortable for them. However, when Kim Dae-Young nodded, Heo Seong-Min scratched his neck and spoke up. ¡°Eighty people, including the people here.¡± ¡°Eighty people? It must be difficult to get food for everyone. Are you doing alright?¡± ¡°Oh, it¡¯s difficult, of course. We loot supermarkets, go out fishing, and do other stuff like that. We¡¯re barely holding on, making ends meet.¡± ¡°And do you have any weapons other than maces?¡± "Hmm¡­ That¡¯s a rather sensitive question to ask upon meeting for the first time, don¡¯t you think?¡± Heo Seong-Min said, avoiding my gaze with a sheepish smile. He had a point. I would have found it difficult to talk about the number of survivors and the food situation as well. But then Heo Seong-Min cleared his throat and continued to speak. ¡°But since Dae-Young brought you over here, you must be someone that we can trust¡­ Right?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°We have pistols. The people holding the second and third lines of defense have pistols.¡± ¡°Why are you folks defending the first line of defense without pistols?¡± ¡°We don''t have enough pistols, and we only deal with the few zombies that creep in from time to time. When zombie waves hit us, our job is to run to the second line of defense.¡± In other words, they were also in charge of reconnaissance. I nodded slowly. ¡°Can you guide me to your hideout?¡± I asked him. ¡°Right now?¡± ¡°I want to check on your people.¡± ¡°This is kind of out of the blue¡­ We don¡¯t know you Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok¡­ So that¡¯s kind of¡­¡± Heo Seong-Min stammered as he looked around, gauging everyone else''s expressions. I understood where he wasing from. It was definitely something I¡¯d be ufortable sharing with someone I¡¯d just met. I was basically asking him to share everything about the Jeju Defense Unit with aplete stranger. Nevertheless, they had shared with me the number of survivors in their group, as well as how they were doing with regard to weapons and food, which meant that the survivors here had a deep bond with Kim Dae-Young and trusted him. I knew exactly where they wereing from, and I was pretty satisfied with the fact that they had some suspicion toward me. Kim Dae-Young cleared his throat and spoke up. "So¡­ You said your name is Lee Hyun-Deok?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°We don¡¯t know anything about you; shouldn¡¯t you share something with us too?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not hiding anything. I fight for humans, that''s all.¡± ¡°I need you to tell us what happened in Seoul, how you became blue-eyed, how many survivors you have, what weapons you have, and something about the Survivor Rally Organization.¡± He had a point. Since they had opened up and told me a bit about themselves, it would be a good idea to tell them about me and my people. I took a quick breath and started to speak. ¡°We have K2 rifles that were used by the army as weapons. I¡¯ll give a brief exnation about what happened in Seoul¡­¡± Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Just then, a car rm went off, over the hill on the left. Heo Seong-Min, who was next to Kim Dae-Young, shouted orders to the survivors behind him. ¡°Everybody, get into the rental car building!¡± Heo Seong-Min and the other survivors moved in perfect order. Kim Dae-Young¡¯s red eyes shed. ¡°When did they get this close¡­¡± he muttered to himself. His legs were shaking even though the enemies had yet to appear. I looked at him and tilted my head. ¡°Are they zombies?¡± ¡°No. It''s the Hounds.¡± ¡°How do you know?¡± ¡°Because I cleaned up that area already.¡± Kim Dae-Young, a zombie with one thousand underlings, was trembling. He said he was as strong as the officers, but he was clearly nervous. I sighed and stepped forward. Kim Dae-Young hurriedly grabbed my clothes. ¡°Where are you going? Are you crazy?¡± he demanded. "Didn¡¯t you say it was a hound? I¡¯m going to kill it.¡± ¡°Hounds don¡¯t move alone. They move in groups.¡± ¡°Are you saying there are a lot of guys with red eyes?¡± Kim Dae-Young nodded, a rather concerned expression on his face. I couldn¡¯t help but smile at his reaction. Jackpot. ¡°This is good news.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I was thinking of going out to look for some prey. This is great. Everything¡¯s working out perfectly.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun, and Do Han-Sol and I hadn¡¯t been able to eat the brains of red-eyed zombies for a while, and it was likely that one of us might lose control of our zombie instincts at any moment. However, if there were a lot of red-eyed zombies around¡­ I had to be grateful for that, since I wouldn¡¯t have to make the effort to go hunting for one. They were convenientlying to me. Kim Dae-Young looked at me as if he couldn¡¯t understand why I had a grin on my face. Heo Seong-Min came over to us. ¡°What are you doing there?¡± he hissed urgently. ¡°Get inside already!¡± Kim Dae-Young was torn, unsure what to do. I looked over at him and suggested a course of action. ¡°Go protect the people inside, and watch what I do.¡± ¡°What?¡± "Didn¡¯t you say you wanted me to tell you something about the Survivor Rally Organization?¡± ¡°Yeah, what about it?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll personally show you whose side I¡¯m on, and how I¡¯ve made it through up to this point. Pay close attention.¡± Kim Dae-Young¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°You¡¯re¡­ you¡¯re not saying you¡¯re going to deal with them alone?¡± he stammered. ¡°By yourself? Right? No, that can¡¯t be it.¡± ¡°Why, you don¡¯t believe me?¡± ¡°The hounds travel in groups of three minimum. Do you think you can handle them on your own?¡± GRRR!!! I heard zombies howling from the left. Soon after, I saw a red zombie wave making its way here through the hills. I then looked at Kim Dae-young and Heo Seong-Min. ¡°Go inside and enjoy the show. Don¡¯t get in the way.¡± As I waited, holding my breath for the hounds to appear, I gave orders to my underlings, who were four hundred meters away. ¡®All of you, gather here.'' KIAAA!!! Kim Dae-Young and Heo Seong-Min turned to the right as they heard the eerie howling from over there, surprise showing on their faces. When they saw the eleven stage-one mutants that looked like daddy-long-legs running toward me, they panicked and rushed inside. My blue eyes shed as I elerated my blood flow. My five senses sharpened, and steam began to rise from my body. ¡°Ga¡­¡± I channeled strength into my arms as steam continued to spew from me. Thud, thud, thud, thud¡ª Zombie footsteps echoed in my ears, and the red wave of zombies began to appear in front of me. I felt adrenaline rising in me for the first time in a while. ¡°If you find the enemy leader, tear it apart, but leave the head.¡± KIAAA!!! "Let''s go." I rushed forward to meet the oing red wave. One hundred meters¡­ Fifty meters¡­ Then finally, ten meters. I hammered my fists into the faces of the zombies in the front row. Each blow sounded like bricks being shattered, and the zombies fell like bowling pins being knocked down. I made my way through the wave like a mad beast. My stage-one mutants were spread out and were using their long arms to smash through the zombies as well. Zombie limbs were flying about like baseballs being hit for home runs. ''Faster! Even faster!'' I gritted my teeth and continued to elerate my blood flow. My zombie instincts were slowly kicking in, and at the same time, I was filled with an overwhelming sense of joy. GRRR!!! A zombie to the left made a throat-rending sound and threw itself toward, its upper body twisting in a grotesque manner. I bent backwards and sent a kick toward its face. It went down in a heap, its back twisted in the opposite direction. ¡°Stop that¡­ Stop that guy!¡± In between the zombie screams, my ears picked up an urgent voice. When I turned toward where it wasing from, I saw a red-eyed zombie staring straight at me, giving orders to its underlings. I sliced my way through the zombies in front of me in a straight line as though I was parting the Red Sea and rushed toward the enemy leader. The enemy leader¡¯s eyes went wide, and he tried to run away. But little did he know that there was no point in running away. I leaped off the ground andnded right in front of him, noticing his rather tempting neck. With my sharpened teeth, I bit through the hapless creature¡¯s neck in one go. Thick blood fountained out, giving off a fishy smell. I spat out the flesh in my mouth, the spicy aftertaste lingering inside, and looked around. Now that one leader had been taken care of, about a quarter of the zombies had lost theirmander, or about six hundred of them. Six hundred zombies meant nothing to me. I wiped the blood from the corners of my mouth, and my blue eyes shed again. I wanted to get this over with. I didn¡¯t want to drag this out. Now that one of them was dead, I knew that the other leaders would begin to react as well. I swept my eyes around the area, taking in the overall situation. A few zombies caught my eye. They had red eyes, and they were staring at me with hesitant looks. It seemed like they were deciding whether to fight or run away. They should¡¯ve known that their hesitation would only bring death. I crouched down, locking onto them. Bang! I pushed myself off the ground, flying like an arrow toward them. Chapter 179 Chapter 179 Kim Hyeong-Jun, finished cleaning up the zombies in the passenger terminal, then joined up with Do Han-Sol. Do Han-Sol looked out at the darkened world. ¡°What shall we do?¡± he asked Kim Hyeong-Jun. ¡°Let''s wait until Hyun-Deok ahjussies back. Didn¡¯t he tell you to wait with the nes?¡± ¡°That¡¯s probably the best thing to do, right?¡± ¡°You take charge of the defenses around here. And make sure you fill up your number of underlings.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take my time to replenish my missing underlings. My body won¡¯t be able to take it if I suddenly amass arge number of underlings. Oh. By the way, Mr. Kim Hyeong-Jun, where are you going to go?¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun looked around, and then pointed to the roof of the passenger terminal. ¡°I¡¯ll look around the area from above ande back. I''ll leave one of my stage-one mutants here, so if anything happens, give it a shove, alright?¡± ¡°Got it. I¡¯ll see you soon.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun nodded and headed straight to the terminal. After sealing the entrance with dead zombie bodies, he jumped up to the roof and took a look around. He saw half-broken palm trees, dented airport buses, copsed buildings, and a damaged signboard that exined the local way of saying hello. Jeju Ind was in a state of devastation. After the tourists stoppeding and the existing civilization was destroyed, Jeju Ind had be a hell on earth. Kim Hyeong-Jun squinted and surveyed the surrounding terrain. ¡®Since that is north¡­ The west is to my right, while the east is left?¡¯ You could generally divide Jeju Ind into the North and South, which were Jeju-si and Seogwipo-si. More than seventy percent of Jeju Ind¡¯s poption lived in urban areas. In order to leave Jeju Airport and find a less-habited area, passing through a city was inevitable. In other words, the Survivor Rally Organization was stuck in Jeju Airport until they finished cleaning up Jeju-si, since the airport was located close to Jeju-si. With a sh of his blue eyes, Kim Hyeong-Jun heightened his body¡¯s senses. He was about to examine the area with his heightened sense of hearing and vision, when he noticed a red dot moving to the right. He quickly hid himself behind a railing and tracked down the red dot with his eyes. He saw five red dots walking toward the airport. ''Enemies?¡¯ Lee Hyun-Deok had scolded him earlier for being hasty with Kim Dae-Young. So this time, he decided to keep his eye on them beforemitting to a course of action. He then realized that there weren¡¯t any other zombies around them. He decided that it would be wise to check if those red dots were zombies with red eyes, or if they were zombies that were following orders. Kim Hyeong-Jun held his breath and waited patiently. Then, he heard them speaking. ¡°Hey, are you sure? A hundred percent?¡± ¡°Yes, I saw it. I¡¯m not kidding. A ne came from that way.¡± ¡°No. I mean, did it actuallynd on Jeju Ind?¡± ¡°The zombies probably gathered because itnded, you idiot.¡± They were arguing as they approached Jeju Airport. ¡°Hey, if nes are able to fly, doesn¡¯t that mean it¡¯s safe on the maind?¡± "Safe? Hey, do you think we¡¯re human? Do you think we can go to ces where people live?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, maybe there¡¯s a vine.¡± ¡°Vine my ass. Do you think vines juste out from thin air or something?¡± Their conversation had been rather ambiguous so far. There wasn¡¯t enough to determine if they were zombies that fought for humans, or whether they were ones that hunted humans. Kim Hyeong-Jun chewed his nails as he continued to eavesdrop on them. ¡°By the way, did all the zombies from Jeju City gather here or something? There sure are a lot of them.¡± ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right. I bet everyone on the nes died when the zombies came to greet them.¡± The red zombie in front turned around and addressed the guys muttering behind it. "It doesn''t matter if people died or not. Didn''t you hear what your hyung-nim said? Focus on the mission, you puny ones.¡± ¡°As if you¡¯re not puny yourself! I know, you fool! He ordered us to bring the ones that mutated into red-eyed zombies.¡± ¡°We need to find live humans and bring them back as well. Hyung-nim said that they also help us to keep our sanity.¡± ¡°Really?¡± "They¡¯re not as good as red-eyed zombies, but hyung-nim said that we¡¯ll be able to hang onto our sanity even if we eat human brains.¡± ¡®Hang onto their sanity? Are they talking about zombie instincts?¡¯ However, Kim Hyeong-Jun quickly realized that it didn¡¯t matter what they were talking about. A grin had spread across his face after overhearing their conversation. ¡®So I can kill them all, huh?¡¯ While he was still in the middle of his thoughts, the zombies had made it all the way to the first floor. "Hmm? Shit¡­ Some bastard painted the passenger terminal ck.¡± ¡°What are you talking about?¡± ¡°Look at the windows. They¡¯re all ck.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right. Does that stuffe off?¡± One of them ran up to the windows. Kim Hyeong-Jun gritted his teeth and elerated his blood flow. He was getting himself fully prepared so that he could pounce on them at any second. The fellow in front of the windows gave a startled exmation, as though he¡¯d fallen on his bottom. ¡°Zom¡­ Zombies! It¡¯s not painted. It''s a pile of zombies!" ¡°What gibberish are you uttering¡­¡± Whoosh¨C Something cast a long shadow over them as it crossed the moonlight, originating from the roof of the terminal. All five of the zombies looked up at once as they noticed another presence, but none of them put up their guards. Pow! Smack! Pow! Smack! Before they even had the chance to observe Kim Hyeong-Jun, he had crushed their skulls and torn up their bodies like rags. The zombie sitting in front of the window froze, trying to make sense of what had just happened in front of its eyes. Kim Hyeong-Jun had killed four zombies in an instant, and was closing in on thest one. "Greetings." ¡°Spare¡­ spare me.¡± The remaining zombie instinctively asked to be spared. Kim Hyeong-Jun shed him a grin. ¡°That depends on how you do.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun cut off the limbs of thest, trembling zombie, then took its body and the heads of the other four zombies and returned to the runway. Do Han-Sol, who was waiting on the runway, looked at what Kim Hyeong-Jun had brought with him, and his eyes went wide. ¡°What¡¯s this all of a sudden?¡± he asked. ¡°They were snooping around the airport.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Give these four heads to Mr. Jeong Jin-Young. He can¡¯t even be allies with us because he¡¯s so weak. He needs to get stronger just so that we can shake hands.¡± Unlike Kim Hyeong-Jun, who was feeling all ted, Do Han-Sol was looking at Kim Hyeong-Jun with his mouth open, as though he was seeing something ridiculous. Kim Hyeong-Jun chuckled, thinking that Do Han-Sol was doubting him. ¡°Why are you looking at me like that? You don¡¯t believe me? I made sure of everything, man. These guys use humans for food. And it seems like they¡¯re moving in groups. I heard them say ¡®hyung-nim¡¯ this, ¡®hyung-nim¡¯ that earlier.¡± ¡°And what¡¯s about the one that¡¯s still alive?¡± ¡°We have to interrogate this one, since we need to learn about this organization.¡± "Then where are their underlings?¡± "Huh?" Kim Hyeong-Jun tilted his head and looked at Do Han-Sol. After a moment, he gave a start and his mouth fell open, as if he had just realized that he¡¯d acted hastily again. Do Han-Sol sighed and ced his hand on his forehead. ¡°Didn¡¯t you find out the location of their underlings?¡± he asked in a voice close to a sigh. "Oh¡­ I didn''t think of that.¡± ¡°If their underlings are at their main base¡­ And if they¡¯re part of an organization¡­ You¡¯re basically announcing to them that we killed one of their men! How could you just attack them when we don¡¯t even know how strong they are?!¡± ¡°...¡± Do Han-Sol let out a deep sigh. ¡°What are you going to do now?¡± he asked. Kim Hyeong-Jun tossed the body of the living zombie¡ªstill missing its limbs¡ªon the ground. ¡°Did you hear everything we just said?¡± he asked the zombie. "Pardon? Oh, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry.¡± ¡°There¡¯s nothing to apologize for. Where are your underlings? Did you leave them at your main base?¡± ¡°Yes¡­?¡± ¡°Where¡¯s your main base?¡± The remaining zombie looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun and Do Han-Sol with a puzzled expression, unsure how to answer the question that hade out of the blue. Several expressions shed across Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s face in quick session, and he asked the zombie another question. ¡°Are there more of you?¡± ¡°Oh¡­ Umm¡­¡± When the zombie hesitated, Kim Hyeong-Jun pointed at the four heads and offered a threat. ¡°Okay,¡± said. ¡°Your stuttering gave it away. Thanks. From now on, if you don''t answer within five seconds, you¡¯re going to join that pile of heads over there.¡± He seemed about to eat the zombie at any second. ¡°Emart! Emart at Nohyeong Junction!¡± the zombie stuttered loudly.[1] "Are you sure?" ¡°Yes, yes! I¡¯m sure." ¡°Where do we have to go to get there?¡± ¡°Head south, along the main road. It¡¯ll be right there.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun carried the red-eyed zombie¡¯s torso and headed for the roof of the passenger terminal. He ordered the zombie to point to where Emart was. The red-eyed zombie, still missing his limbs, looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun incredulously. Kim Hyeong-Jun btedly realized that he¡¯d chopped off the zombie¡¯s limbs earlier. He let out a yell and flew into a sudden rage. "If you don¡¯t have arms, use your chin!¡± ¡°Ah, yes!¡± The zombie eagerly repeated the phrase ¡°over there¡±, gesturing in a particr direction with his chin. ¡°Are you absolutely sure about this?¡± "Yes. Why would I lie to you when my life is on the line?¡± ¡°There we go.¡± "Then¡­ Are you going to spare me?¡± ¡°What? Me?" Kim Hyeong-Jun tilted his head and furrowed his brow. The zombie¡¯s eyes widened, and his mouth fell open in surprise. After a moment, he began to beg for his life again. ¡°You¡­ You said you¡¯d spare me earlier! You have to keep your word!¡± ¡°Okay, okay. Since I said I¡¯d spare you, I guess I have no choice but to spare you.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun nodded and returned to the runway. Do Han-Sol looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun disapprovingly. He could tell that Kim Hyeong-Jun was trying to make up for his mistake somehow, but knowing this only made him more anxious. Kim Hyeong-Jun threw the limbless zombie in front of Do Han-Sol. When Do Han-Sol raised a questioning eyebrow and tilted his head, Kim Hyeong-Jun scratched his own head. ¡°Han-Sol, you kill this zombie.¡± ¡°Hey, man! You said you¡¯d let me go!¡± The zombie on the ground was shouting desperately at Kim Hyeong-Jun. He ignored their desperation. ¡°I let you live,¡± he said calmly. ¡°Now ask him to let you live. Beg for your dear life.¡± ¡°You bastard!!¡± the zombie cursed in anger. Crack! Do Han-Sol stepped in front of Kim Hyeong-Jun and crushed the zombie¡¯s skull, as though he did not want to hear the zombie cursing. He frowned at Kim Hyeong-Jun. ¡°What are you nning on doing?¡± he asked. ¡°I¡¯m going to invade.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think you should do anything reckless. I can¡¯t just let you go around creating havoc.¡± ¡°Then what shall we do? Should we go on the defense? I''ve already killed all of them. Do you think we can protect the aircraft in this wide open area when we don¡¯t even know how many of them there are? We don¡¯t even know howrge their organization is.¡± ¡°What I¡¯m trying to say is, why did you do something this reckless in the first ce? Did you really have to kill five of them?¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun smacked his lips and avoided Do Han-Sol¡¯s question. He had already admitted that he¡¯d made a mistake. He just wanted to make up for what he had done somehow, before the situation got worse. He sighed. ¡°Then what should I have done?¡± he asked Do Han-Sol. ¡°There were five of them. Do you think it would¡¯ve been possible to take down and keep five of them captive at the same time? I¡¯m sure I would¡¯ve missed one or two of them.¡± ¡°You could have lured them to the runway, and we could have taken them down together.¡± ¡°They had already noticed what was going on after seeing the pile of dead zombie bodies at the terminal entrance. They wouldn¡¯t have even checked the runway.¡± ¡°Regardless, there¡¯s no changing the fact that you acted out without a proper¡­¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun cut him off abruptly. "Please! Han-Sol!¡± Do Han-Sol bit his lower lip, and his expression grewplicated. Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s expression grew bitter. ¡°Don¡¯t you trust me?¡± he asked Do Han-Sol. ¡°This isn''t a matter of trusting you or not. I just¡­¡± ¡°They¡¯re probably targeting Jeju Airport at this very moment while we waste our time arguing about this.¡± ¡°And that¡¯s why you¡¯re saying that you¡¯re going to barge into their territory without having a n?¡± ¡°All of this is their territory. They probably have a good understanding of the terrain around here. That being said, we should be attacking, not defending.¡± Do Han-Sol thought about what Kim Hyeong-Jun had said. He sighed and slicked his bangs back, then clicked his tongue vigorously. ¡°What should we tell Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok when hees backter¡­?¡± he said. ¡°We¡¯ll tell him the truth. There¡¯s nothing else we can do about what happened, or what¡¯s going to happen.¡± "Sigh¡­ When I see you sometimes¡­ You¡¯re really smart sometimes, but sometimes you make me extremely frustrated, you know?¡± ¡°People aren¡¯t supposed to be consistent, you know? That¡¯s my charm.¡± ¡°Charm? You just go back and forth all the time.¡± Do Han-Sol shook his head and let out a sigh. Kim Hyeong-Jun smiled. ¡°I¡¯ll leave one of my stage-one mutants behind¡­¡± ¡°I know. Just be careful out there. I know you won¡¯t even listen to me even if I tried to stop you.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun chuckled and gave Do Han-Sol a thumbs-up. Do Han-Sol sighed as if he couldn''t stand Kim Hyeong-Jun, then went off to reorganize his underlings. Do Han-Sol knew that Lee Hyun-Deok and Kim Hyeong-Jun both had a stubborn streak. However, their stubbornness had saved everyone so far, so he couldn¡¯t say no to them. He did his best to assist them, so that their stubborn decisions would end up being the right ones. Lee Hyun-Deok, Kim Hyeong-Jun, and Do Han-Sol. The Survivor Rally Organization was in perfect bnce because the three of them did their best in their given roles. 1. Emart, also known as E-Mart, is thergest retailer in South Korea. It is simr to an H-Mart or a Walmart. ? Chapter 180 Chapter 180 I returned to the rental carpany with four heads. Kim Dae-Young and Heo Seong-Min looked at me with dumbfounded expressions. Their jaws were almost to the ground, with no sign of closing any time soon. ¡°Why do you look so surprised?¡± "You¡­ What are you?¡± Heo Seong-Min asked while sniffing. I wasn¡¯t sure how to answer his question. ¡°I¡¯m a zombie, as you can see,¡± I shrugged and said nonchntly. ¡°You¡¯re a bit different¡­ From the zombies I know. Are all the zombies from the maind like you?¡± I scratched my forehead. ¡°All you need to know is that the situation on the maind isn¡¯t that good,¡± I replied. ¡°Now that this situation has been dealt with, can you guide me to where the rest of the survivors are?¡± Kim Dae-Young and Heo Seong-Min were still staring at me with dumbfounded faces. I titled my head. ¡°Is there something on my face?¡± I asked in response to their expression. ¡°Or do you still have questions about me? Shall I tell you the history of the Survivor Rally Organization?¡± At my question, Heo Seong-Min waved his hand violently. "Pardon? Oh no. Come this way.¡± He led me to the rear exit of the rental carpany. After a moment, Kim Dae-Young, who was next to him, cleared his throat and spoke up. "If I may¡­ You said you go by Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok, right?¡± ¡°Why are you being polite all of the sudden?¡± ¡°I should watch my manners when I¡¯m addressing someone that I view as a hyung-nim. Of course I should be polite and respectful.¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s awkward. Please speak like you did before.¡± ¡°No, no, hyung-nim. Haha!" I frowned and looked at Kim Dae-Young. He was grinning widely as he scratched the back of his head. It seemed like he wanted something from me¡­ I couldn¡¯t help but wonder what he was hiding from me. ¡°Just go ahead and tell me what you want. Don''t say something elseter on.¡± ¡°Oh no, what could I possibly ask from you? I just wanted to wee you to Jeju Ind, that¡¯s all.¡± ¡°...¡± "When I feelfortable, I¡¯ll go back to how I was earlier.¡± It seemed like watching me tearing the zombies apart had made him view me as a different person. He surely felt differently toward me now. I assumed he was behaving this way because he wanted something, but now it seemed like he was merely trying to tter me, because I could help steer the Jeju Defense Unit toward a brighter future. ¡°This way!¡± called Heo Seong-Min from up ahead. I smacked my lips and went over to him. He examined the surroundings carefully, then began to exin everything to me. ¡°If you head slightly north of Hancheon, you¡¯ll end up at Yongyeon Valley. The 119 Safety Center is right next to it.¡± ¡°Is that the second line of defense?¡± ¡°Yes. And if you keep going north from there, you¡¯ll reach a hotel.¡± ¡°Which is the third line of defense, I suppose?¡± ¡°It¡¯s the third line of defense, and the Jeju Defense Unit hideout.¡± At the word ¡®hideout,¡¯ I tilted my head and raised my eyebrows. I recalled them saying that they had a separate hideout. Heo Seong-Min seemed to notice the discrepancy, and offered a sheepish smile. ¡°To be honest, I couldn¡¯t trust you one hundred percent earlier,¡± he said. ¡°I didn''t want you to know where our hideout was, at least.¡± ¡°So you¡¯re saying that the situation has changed?¡± "Of course. You saved us from the hounds, so now you¡¯re on our side. No, in fact, the Survivor¡¯s Rally Organization is on the same boat as us, the Jeju Defense Unit.¡± These guys were extremely talented at buttering people up. I could clearly see their intentions, but there was no malice to it. So I smiled and headed for the second line of defense. When Heo Seong-Min and Kim Dae-Young reached the edge of the second line of defense, the survivors that had been hiding there began to poke their heads out one by one. There were zombies that looked red to me as well, but they were all Kim Dae-Young¡¯s underlings. I did a rough estimate of the number of red zombies. ¡°There aren¡¯t as many as I expected,¡± I said to Kim Dae-Young. ¡°What¡¯s the maximum number of underlings you can have?¡± ¡°I can control up to eleven hundred underlings.¡± ¡°There are only about three hundred of them here. Where are the rest?¡± ¡°There¡¯s another section to this second line of defense. If you go along the road to the right of the hotel, there¡¯s an Emart. I have another three hundred there, and the rest are at the third line of defense.¡± This meant that there were five hundred of them protecting the hotel. The way he had deployed his underlings wasn¡¯t too bad, but I still felt that the survivors holding the first line of defense didn¡¯t have enough support. They weren¡¯t in the best condition. There were about twenty people defending the second line of defense. This also meant that there would be around twenty people defending Emart. There was probably another part to the first line of defense, which meant that a total of sixty survivors were guards. Since they had told me that there were a total of eighty survivors in the Jeju Defense Unit, the remaining twenty survivors in the hotel were probably responsible for taking care of everything else, such as tasks rted to food, clothing, and shelter. I quietly rubbed my chin and called Heo Seong-Min over. He came over with a smile on his face. ¡°Did you have something to say?¡± ¡°Mr. Heo Seong-Min, could we take a look at the hotel first?¡± "Pardon? I¡¯ll briefly go over the second line of defense.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t have time.¡± ¡°Oh, then follow me.¡± I had to take a look at their hideout first because I had to get back to the airport before the four heads lost their potency. As we moved north along the main road, arge hotel came into view at the end of the road. The ocean blocked off the north and west sides, and there were many single-story buildings along the south and east sides, making it easy to spot enemy movements. "Sweetie! Honey!¡± Heo Seong-Min called out to his wife as soon as he entered the hotel lobby. ¡®He¡¯s already married?¡¯ He looked to be in his early thirties at most, but it seemed like he was already married. Four women hiding behind the counter poked their heads out. They were carrying pistols, and had the look of heroines. "Oppa?" When they saw Heo Seong-Min, one of the four women ran out with a smile on her face. Heo Seong-Min and his wife hugged each other in an overtly public show of affection. I cleared my throat and looked away, and Heo Seong-Min looked embarrassed. ¡°Honey, can you gather everyone in the hotel?¡± he said. ¡°Everybody here?¡± ¡°Yes, we¡¯ve got some very strong support joining us today. I wanted to introduce everyone to him.¡± She nodded vigorously and ran to the people at the counter. After she exchanged a couple of words with them, they scattered to find the others in the hotel. After they left, I chuckled and asked Heo Seong-Min a question. ¡°Are you married?¡± ¡°Yes, two months ago.¡± His answer surprised me. ¡°Two months ago? Then¡­ Did you get married after the zombie apocalypse?¡± Heo Seong-Min offered a hearty smile. ¡°No matter how the world is, the living must live. No matter how miserable the world may be, I believe that an individual''s happiness is still important.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°We didn¡¯t get to have a grand ceremony, but I¡¯m still happy.¡± Happy, huh. I wondered how many people could say that they were happy in this upside-down world. His expression told me that he was speaking honestly, from the bottom of his heart. Despite the harsh reality, I could see his strong will to survive in this world. After a while, the people in the hotel streamed in one by one and started gathering in the lobby. Most of them were children and women. Most of the men and a couple of women were on guard duty, while the rest took care of the things necessary for daily life. Unlike the Survivor Rally Organization, the majority of them were younger adults. Also, unlike the Survivor Rally Organization, where there were unspoken rules, it felt like the Jeju Defense Unit operated with much more freedom. Everyone was trying their best to help each other out. It might¡¯ve been because they had a small number of people, but to me, it seemed like they somehow managed to gather people that one couldn¡¯t really find elsewhere in this day and age. It made a kind of sense since it had already been six months. Someone who had lost their sense of humanity would have be prey to the zombies early on, or kicked out of whatever groups they might have been in. Heo Seong-Min sniffed and asked a question. ¡°The Survivor Rally Organization¡­ What kind of group is it?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a group that you¡¯ll blend in perfectly with.¡± ¡°What do you mean by that¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s a group where people live like people. It¡¯s a group that aims to create a world like that,¡± I replied with a small smile. Kim Dae-Young and Heo Seong-Min shared a look. After some hesitation, they asked me, ¡°Can we¡­ Can we also be part of that group?¡± ¡°I¡¯m more than willing to allow that, after seeing everyone here. I know it must¡¯ve not been easy for you to lead me to your hideout. Thank you for considering my unreasonable request.¡± "Then¡­¡± I nodded vigorously. "Let''s move forward together. Until the day Jeju Ind bes peaceful.¡± Heo Seong-Min clenched his fists and bit his lip. I looked over at Kim Dae-Young, who was next to him. ¡°Kim Dae-Young. You said you can control eleven hundred underlings, right?¡± "Yes!¡± ¡°I want to form an alliance with you.¡± "Pardon? What do you mean by that¡­?¡± "This isn¡¯t an alliance between the Survivor Rally Organization and the Jeju Defense Unit. It¡¯s an alliance between us zombies.¡± Kim Dae-Young tilted his head, looking confused. It seemed like he had no clue about forming alliances, since he mentioned earlier that he¡¯d never teamed up with any other zombies so far. I chuckled and held out my right hand. Then Kim Dae-Young hesitated and gulped. He was probably afraid of the paralyzing feeling he had felt earlier on at the airport, when I had touched his forehead with my right hand. His expression soured as he seemed to recall that experience. "You¡­ You want me to hold your hand right now?¡± he asked. ¡°This is the most important thing.¡± "Oh¡­¡± Despite his words, he kept on hesitating. Deep down, I wanted him to find the courage to put his traumatic experience in the past so that we could form an alliance. This was a necessary step to confirm the beliefs that we each held, that we were zombies that lived for humans. I looked him right in the eyes. ¡°Just think of one thing,¡± I said. ¡°That you¡¯ll fight for humanity, no matter what. That you¡¯ll do whatever it takes for the sake of human happiness and peace.¡± Kim Dae-Young took a couple of deep breaths, savoring the cool, chilly air, then held my right hand. * * * After arriving at Nohyeong Ogeori, Kim Hyeong-Jun stared at the Emart with his blue eyes. He saw red glowing figures moving hastily inside. It seemed like the zombie from earlier hadn¡¯t been lying when they said that the Emart was their main base. Kim Hyeong-Jun took a look around the surrounding area and gave orders to his underlings. ¡°Stage-one mutant, wait in the first floor of the building opposite where we are. Mood-Swinger, wait on the first floor of the building across from the Emart.¡± ¡°Kiii¡­¡± When Kim Hyeong-Jun''s underlings tried to answer with their throat-rending noises, he hurriedly shushed them. ¡°No one answer. Keep quiet.¡± His underlings nodded and moved to their respective positions. Kim Hyeong-Jun stealthily blended in with the darkness. He moved forward like a shadow, and reached the front entrance of the Emart without incident. ¡°What¡¯s everyone doing? Keep moving! You¡¯re not moving fast enough!¡± yelled someone from within. Kim Hyeong-Jun crouched down and listened in to what was going on inside. ¡°Hyung-nim, five died. That¡¯s not a small number. Shouldn''t we be more careful and coordinate with the Northeast Gang?¡± ¡°You want to join hands with those scums from the Northeast? Are you nuts?¡± ¡°Well, I don¡¯t think we have a choice. It¡¯s only me, hyung-nim, and that dude over there for the Northwest Gang. All five of our scouts are dead. How do you n on fighting?¡± ¡°Fuck¡­ It¡¯s only been a day since we celebrated the fact that we had one more scout than the Northeast bastards. How in the world could we lose all five of them in one day?¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun tilted his head as he listened to their conversation. The Northeast Gang, the Northwest Gang¡­ They sounded like the names of gangster organizations. There was nothingplicated. In fact, the naming was rather straightforward. The Northeast Gang was located in the northeast, and the Northwest Gang was located in the northwest. This also made it possible that the Southwest Gang and Southeast Gang existed. But Kim Hyeong-Jun wasn¡¯t sure if they hade up with these names while considering Jeju City as the center of the ind itself. If they were talking about the ind as a whole, that meant that the southwest and southeast gangs were located in Seogwipo-si. One thing was certain; even though they were all on the same side, each region seemed to be jockeying against each other for power. And the scouts that they mentioned seemed to be the five zombies that Kim Hyeong-Jun had taken care of earlier at Jeju Airport. ''Since I killed the five scouts of the Northwest Gang, does that mean the Northeast Gang has four scouts?'' Kim Hyeong-Jun raised his eyebrows, momentarily lost in thought. Bang! A sudden crash came from within the Emart, and the boss of the Northwest Gang, unable to contain his anger any further, yelled at the top of his lungs, ¡°Then what do you want us to do?! Are we going to let the Northeast bastards take Jeju City away from us? I want all the bastards at Jeju Airport gone this instant!¡± ¡°What if the guys at Jeju Airport are stronger than us? Even though they were scouts, five of them died at the same time! We can¡¯t overlook that!¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun carefully raised his head and looked inside the Emart. There were hundreds, possibly thousands of zombies in red, with a bunch of others standing there with nk faces, having lost theirmanders. At the top of the flight of stairs, which spanned two floors, stood the red-eyed man who had raised his voice, and two other red-eyed individuals stood in front of him, seemingly at a loss as to what to do. Chapter 181 Chapter 181 It seemed the three at the top of the stairs were the officers of the Northwest Gang. Kim Hyeong-Jun assumed that the zombies on the first floor were their underlings, and the underlings of the zombies he had taken out earlier. He tried to formte a n. ¡®Since they¡¯re all together, there¡¯s no need to dy things.¡¯ This was exactly what Kim Hyeong-Jun had hoped for. He¡¯d thought about sending some of his underlings over to Jeju Airport in case any of the gang members were there. However, judging by the fact that they were still arguing over Jeju Airport, it seemed like the gang members hadn¡¯t made a move yet. Fortunately, none of those inside had blue eyes, so even if they did attack at the same time, Kim Hyeong-Jun had no fear of getting hurt. ¡®Mood-Swinger, eliminate everything on the first floor. Stage-one mutants, head to the second floor.¡¯ KIAAA! As soon as he gave orders, his underlings marched inside, letting loose throat-rending cries. The moment the enemies heard his underlings¡¯ cries, they all started to panic. Instead of going in with his underlings, Kim Hyeong-Jun stayed outside and tracked the movement of the enemy leaders with his eyes. He knew that they would try to find an escape route once his underlings wrecked the first and second floors. Kim Hyeong-Jun was waiting to take advantage of that moment. Bang!! ¡°Arnold!!¡± Mood-Swinger smashed the front door and went inside. Shards of ss scattered all over the ce, and the zombies at the entrance were beaten so badly that their faces were no longer recognizable. Glowing red zombies tried to threaten Mood-Swinger, letting loose grotesque cries of their own. But to Mood-Swinger, they were nothing but rascals making death cries, rascals that did not yet know what their fate was going to be. Mood-Swinger¡¯s expression was a blend of mischief and excitement. It looked as if he couldn¡¯t wait to enjoy the zombie feast that he¡¯d been missing out on for a long time. Steam rose from his body, and he started massacring the zombies around him. ¡°What¡­ What are you all doing?! Stop that thing this instant!¡± ¡°What¡­ What is that thing, hyung-nim?¡± ¡°How the fuck am I supposed to know? Get rid of it already!¡± ¡°Let¡¯s¡­ Let¡¯s go upstairs first!¡± KIAAA!!! The moment the officers tried to head up to the second floor, zombie corpses rolled down the esctor. The stage-one mutants were using their long limbs to sweep away the zombies on the second floor like dust. As the officers watched their underlings rolling down, they became frantic. They didn¡¯t know how to react to this unexpected ambush. The only thing they could do was watch as their main base was turned upside down. They were on the losing side of a one-sided battle before they knew it. At this rate, it was only a matter of time before they fell. The leader of the Northwest Gang looked around desperately, his eyes wide open like a meerkat¡¯s, as though his mind had gone nk. He noticed that every time Mood-Swinger took a step, five or six of their zombies were horribly disfigured and thrown out of the supermarket. The mutant zombie¡¯s speed was incredible, and it seemed like it was a heavily armored vehicle making its way through the supermarket at full speed. The leader realized that his zombies were nothing but a swarm of mosquitoes in their attempts to attack Mood-Swinger. He finally realized that they had no chance of winning, and used his underlings as sacrifices as he ran for the back door. Kim Hyeong-Jun quickly made his way to the back door when he saw the enemy leaders trying to escape. Rattle! As the iron door swung open, three zombies with red eyes dashed out like bullets. ¡°What was that monster? Were they the ones on the ne?¡± ¡°We¡­ We¡¯re not sure ourselves. We¡¯ve never seen anything like it.¡± ¡°Then who piloted the ne? Are you trying to say that those monsters piloted the ne? Do you even think that makes any sense?¡± The leader was clearly dumbfounded by what he had just seen. Frustrated that he did not have the slightest clue on what was happening, he tugged at his hair as he tried his best to understand the situation. One of the other red-eyed zombies spoke up. ¡°For¡­ for¡­ for now hyung-nim, where¡­ where do you think¡­ think we should go?¡± he stuttered. ¡°How in the world should I know?¡± ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we go to Seogwipo and let Senior Hyung-nim know about this?¡± ¡°Is there any guarantee that senior hyung-num is in Seogwipo? How are we supposed to know where he is when he hasn¡¯t shown himself for the past fifteen days?¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun crept out of the darkness as he listened in on their conversation. He called out to them in a confident, arrogant voice, with both of his hands in his pockets. ¡°Hey, thugs.¡± The leader of the Northwest Gang looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun in surprise. However, it did not take him long to recognize who he was, and he gritted his teeth. ¡°It¡¯s you, isn¡¯t it? You¡¯re the one that brought all those monsters.¡± "Bingo. Greetings, my Jeju Ind friends.¡± Unlike the enemy leader, who was clearly nervous, Kim Hyeong-Jun was asid-back as he could be. He spoke with a satisfied smile. ¡°Gang-Cheol! You take care of him!¡± ordered the enemy leader. ¡°Yes, hyung-nim!¡± With a battle cry, the zombie with red eyes on the left leaped toward Kim Hyeong-Jun. Kim Hyeong-Jun locked his gaze on this man named Gang-Cheol. With a sh of his blue eyes, he swept his right foot out at him. His leg drew a diagonal arc as it rose from the ground and smashed Gang-Cheol in the face. With the sound of a watermelon being smashed into pieces, Gang-Cheol copsed to the ground helplessly. Within a couple of seconds, Gang-Cheol was down. The leader of the Northwest Gang blinked rapidly, his mouth open wide in surprise. He hadn¡¯t even seen Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s lege up. He couldn¡¯t keep up with Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s speed. Kim Hyeong-Jun took his hands out of his pockets with a smirk. ¡°You. We¡¯re going to have a little talk.¡± ¡°Heeck!¡± The leader of the Northwest gang ran off, not even thinking about looking back. He instinctively knew that he¡¯d met someone he should not have met, and that he had to run for his life if he wanted to make it out alive. Crack! The enemy leader heard the sound of bricks shattering behind him. It seemed like his other subordinate had gone down as well. A chill went down his spine, and he held his breath as he tried even more quickly to get away. However, he soon began to slow down, as if he was wading through a swamp. The fear that had engulfed him was slowing him down. He couldn¡¯t seem to get his legs moving; the sheer panic he was feeling seemed to have put them to sleep. At that moment, a sh of blue appeared in front of him. "Peekaboo." ¡°Fuck!¡± The enemy leader shrieked in fear andnded on his bottom. Kim Hyeong-Jun stared at the enemy leader as he held out his right hand. ¡°Come on, I¡¯ll help you up. Grab my hand.¡± ¡°Go, go away! Go away, you fucking monster!¡± ¡°A monster calling another monster ¡®monster¡¯? What is this?¡± ¡°Hiiiiick!¡± The enemy leader sprang to his feet and began running in the opposite direction. As Kim Hyeong-Jun watched him running away, he sighed. ¡°Geez, why are youplicating things?¡± he muttered. Steam rose from his body, and he shed toward the enemy leader, kicking him in the back. The enemy leader groaned and fell forward. But Kim Hyeong-Jun didn¡¯t stop there. He twisted the enemy leader¡¯s legs and ced his hands on the enemy leader¡¯s face. ¡°GAAA!!!¡± The enemy leader screamed at the top of his lungs and his body shook as if he had been zapped. Kim Hyeong-Jun frowned at the stinging current that was passing through his fingertips. ¡®One thousand¡­ Twelve hundred at most? Is this guy really an officer?¡¯ The dong leaders that had been in charge of the red areas in Seoulmanded fifteen hundred underlings. Compared to the members of the Family that he had faced a couple of months ago, the officer in front of him was nothing. Kim Hyeong-Jun slowly took his palms off him and let out a deep breath. A shiver ran through the enemy leader¡¯s body as he stared at Kim Hyeong-Jun with eyes full of horror. ¡°Hey, where¡¯s your leader?¡± asked Kim Hyeong-Jun. ¡°Par¡­ pardon, sir?¡± He had lost the air of bravado he¡¯d had a moment ago. He was even referring to Kim Hyeong-Jun as ¡®sir¡¯ out of fear. Kim Hyeong-Jun smacked his lips and repeated his question. ¡°Where¡¯s the strongest guy on Jeju Ind?¡± ¡°I, I¡­ I don¡¯t know¡­¡± ¡°What?¡± The enemy leader looked away, but his body kept on shaking. Kim Hyeong-Jun nted a foot on his chest and tore off his arms. ¡°It¡¯s going to be your head next.¡± ¡°Please¡­ Please spare me! Why are you doing this to me? I haven¡¯t done anything wrong!¡± ¡°You were going to attack Jeju Airport. Am I wrong?¡± ¡°That¡­ that was just empty words! I had no intention of actually attacking!¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun tilted his head. ¡°Where¡¯s your boss?¡± The enemy leader¡¯s expression grew pitiful, and he began to beg for his life. ¡°I¡­ I only joined them because I wanted to live. I''m sick of this life too! I just took part because I wanted to live!¡± ¡°So, where is this person that you joined forces with?¡± ¡°Seogwipo, you can find him at Seogwipo.¡± ¡°Is Seogwipo your backyard or something? Where in Seogwipo?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know the exact location either. Senior hyung-nim always moves around! Besides, it¡¯s been over fifteen days since I lost contact with him!¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun scratched his forehead as he considered the zombie¡¯s words. ¡®It seems like the southwest and southeast gangs are in Seogwipo¡­ Does that mean their boss isn''t there?'' Kim Hyeong-Jun snorted. ¡°You guys think you¡¯re the Four Symbols or something? Like the ck Tortoise of the North, Azure Dragon of the East, Vermillion Bird of the South, and the White Tiger of the West? Are you all trying to model yourselves as the under-bosses that sit just below the final boss?¡±[1] ¡°That¡­ That¡¯s because Jeju City and Seogwipo City have the most zombies and people. It wasn¡¯t intentional¡­¡± ¡°Okay, enough of that. Then your boss should be in the center, huh?¡± "Uh¡­ Uh¡­ Possibly? Like I said, I don''t know his exact location either.¡± ¡°He¡¯s got to be at Mt. Ha. Does he think he¡¯s some mountain god or something?¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun said with a smirk, mocking the boss. The enemy leaderughed as well, pretending to y along with Kim Hyeong-Jun. He tried to get on Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s good side by parroting his words in a sycophantic tone. ¡°Haha, right? He¡¯s one foolish guy, thinking he¡¯s some mountain god or something. Haha!¡± "Why are youughing?¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun asked with a frown. The enemy leader quickly shut his mouth and looked away. Kim Hyeong-Jun sat on his chest and posed another question. ¡°Tell me all about your organization.¡± "Pardon?¡± ¡°Tell me the name of the organization, the number of officers, and how strong this guy at the top is.¡± The enemy leader sucked on his lower lip and gulped, then looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun slyly. ¡°If I tell you all of this¡­ Will you spare me?¡± he asked cautiously. ¡°It depends.¡± "Well.. If you promise to spare me, there¡¯s nothing holding me back from telling you¡­¡± ¡°You know what? Just die. I¡¯ll find another guy and ask him.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun clicked his tongue vigorously and shed him a look of annoyance, as if he was done dealing with him. The enemy leader¡¯s eyes went wide. "No, no! Wait a second. I''ll tell you! I¡¯ll tell you!¡± he cried out. Kim Hyeong-Jun crossed his arms and looked at him calmly. ¡°Let¡¯s hear it.¡± The enemy leader wet his dry lips and hesitated for a second. However, now that the possibility of making it out alive had materialized, it didn¡¯t take him long to clear his throat and speak up. "Well.. First of all, our organization is called The Hounds.¡± He began to speak. Kim Hyeong-Jun was all ears. * * * After determining the current state of the Jeju Defense Unit, I spoke to Heo Seong-Min. There were many empty rooms in the hotel that the Jeju Defense Unit was using as their hideout, but I wasn¡¯t sure if there were enough rooms to amodate everyone from the Survivor Rally Organization. When I mentioned the number of people in the Survivor Rally Organization, Heo Seong-Min¡¯s eyes went wide, and his mouth fell open. ¡°Did¡­ Did you say five hundred people?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± The Survivor Rally Organization, which had begun with four people in Haengdang-dong, had expanded to Seongdong-gu, Gwangjin-gu, Gimpo Airport, and finally Daegu. The survivors from Ansim Station and Bangchon had joined us during our trip to Daegu, and we now had five hundred people with us. Heo Seong-Min rubbed his chin calmly as he collected his thoughts. It wasn¡¯t long before he spoke again. ¡°Even though we have a lot of empty rooms, it¡¯ll be difficult to amodate five hundred people.¡± ¡°Are there any other hotels nearby? I¡¯d like our people to be as close to each other as possible.¡± ¡°There is another hotel next door, but¡­ it hasn¡¯t been cleaned up.¡± ¡°How far away is it?¡± ¡°It¡¯s in front of the E-Mart, the one that we¡¯re using as the second line of defense on the east side.¡± ¡°And it¡¯s before the supermarket, right?¡± Heo Seong-Min nodded at my question, then snapped his fingers and got up. He hurried over to the front desk and started rummaging around. After a moment, he came back, holding arge piece of paper that pped in his hand. It was a map of the entire Jeju Ind. Heo Seong-Min dragged his finger along the map as he began to brief me. ¡°This is the hotel we¡¯re in, the L Hotel. If you go into the alley right next to this ce, you¡¯ll find Hotel O.¡± This other hotel was extremely close by. It was near enough that it could possibly be seen from the upper floors of the L Hotel. I nodded as I estimated the distance on the map. "Then¡­ Can I move my people over there?¡± I asked. ¡°Right now? To this hotel?¡± "Yes. I feel ufortable leaving them on the airport runway, because there aren¡¯t any surrounding buildings for them to take cover in. I want to bring the survivors in my group over here.¡± Heo Seong-Min pouted his lower lip, organized his thoughts for a moment, then spoke. ¡°Why of course. That won¡¯t be a problem. It¡¯ll be alright since the zombies have already been taken care of.¡± As I got up from my seat, Heo Seong-Min spoke again, his voice full of nervousness. "It¡¯s just that¡­ I''m just worried about the Hounds.¡± ¡°What about the Hounds?¡± ¡°I think the guys who attacked us just now were scouts sent by the Hounds. Now that our position has been exposed, there¡¯s a high chance that they will attack us here.¡± He had a point. I nodded to acknowledge his worry, and he grimaced. ¡°The Hounds have never patrolled this far out before,¡± he said bitterly. ¡°I think they only came all the way here after seeing the zombies gather at Jeju Airport.¡± ¡°My apologies for that.¡± "No, not at all. Since you¡¯ve joined forces with us, we also have reliable allies now. It¡¯s just like the saying: in the midst of every crisis, lies great opportunity.¡± Heo Seong-Min smiled happily and wished me a safe journey back. Now that I thought about it again, if I had killed Kim Dae-Young at the airport, I would never have been able to get any information about the Hounds or the Jeju Defense Unit. I was d that I had made the right choice earlier. 1. The Four Symbols are four mythological creatures that appear in Chinese constetions that are regarded as guardians of each cardinal direction as stated above. The author uses this analogy as there¡¯s a gang located in the four perpendicr directions of Jeju Ind. ? Chapter 182 Chapter 182 When I got to Jeju Airport, I found Do Han-Sol sitting on the runway, sulking. I ran toward him as I looked around. ¡°Han-Sol, where¡¯s Hyeong-Jun?¡± I asked. ¡°Oh, you¡¯re back¡­¡± Do Han-Sol sighed and smacked his lips, then scratched his head. ¡°He went to the enemy base,¡± he said. "What?" ¡®He ran into enemy territory¡­?¡¯ I had a hard time understanding what he was saying. It all seemed so incoherent. As I titled my head in confusion, Do Han-Sol told me in detail what had happened while I¡¯d been away. My jaw fell open once I heard the whole story. He was taking the saying ¡®keep your friends close, but your enemies closer¡¯ literally. But no matter how strong he was, it wasn¡¯t smart of him to venture into enemy territory without having any information about their strength. I grimaced. ¡°Where¡¯s the enemy base?¡± ¡°He said it was the E-Mart in Nohyeong Ogeori¡­ But I don''t know exactly where that is either. He just ran over that way.¡± I set down the four heads I was holding and ran to the passenger terminal at once. I jumped up onto the roof and looked in the direction where Do Han-Sol had pointed. As I did so, I saw a purple figure in the distance, running toward Jeju Airport through the pitch-ck darkness. It was Kim Hyeong-Jun. I frowned and ran toward him. ¡°What were you thinking, running to the enemy base!¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun looked at me sullenly. ¡°Ahjussi, you don¡¯t have to raise your voice right away,¡± he said. However, he looked away as he spoke, as though he knew he¡¯d done something wrong. I massaged my temples gently and let out a deep sigh. When I opened my eyes again, I saw three heads in his hands. ¡°What are those?¡± ¡°What do you mean, what are these? I took care of them.¡± ¡°You killed all three of them by yourself?¡± ¡°There weren¡¯t even any zombies with blue eyes. They all had red eyes. Oh right, I also learned something about the Hounds. How about we speak inside?¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun gave a sly smile and strutted over to Jeju Airport. I grabbed his shirt. ¡°Don¡¯t do something like this again,¡± I said, ¡°If you do, I¡¯m not going to forgive you.¡± "My bad,¡± he replied, grimacing and hanging his head. ¡°But I really couldn''t help it. If I hadn''t attacked them first, I''m sure they would¡¯ve surrounded us.¡± I took another deep breath and smacked my lips. "Well¡­ Let¡¯s go back and talk for now.¡± ¡°So, you¡¯re not mad anymore, right?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not in the mood for any more jokes.¡± I clicked my tongue and headed for Jeju Airport. When Kim Hyeong-Jun took care of things his way, it always turned out well, but it also always left others worried. Perhaps calling him impulsive would be a better way to exin his actions. I¡­ I couldn¡¯t scold him for what he¡¯d done, but at the same time, I couldn''tpliment him about it either. He sure knew how to tire people out. Despite this, Kim Hyeong-Jun was walking toward Jeju Airport with a spring in his step. I wondered if he thought I¡¯d forgiven him. I narrowed my eyes and pped him on the back. ¡°Ow! Ahjussi! Why¡¯d you hit me?¡± ¡°Watch how you¡¯re walking! Don¡¯t bounce around like that and fall down.¡± ¡°You could¡¯ve just said it without hitting me, ahjussi.¡± ¡°I gave you a smack because I can¡¯t hate you, but I also can¡¯t just praise you for what you did, you fool.¡± ¡°Huh? You¡¯re acting like an ahjussi¡­¡± ¡°You call me ahjussi all the time anyway.¡± I shook my head and kept on walking toward Jeju Airport. * * * "Hyung-nim! It looks like the scouting party got wiped out!¡± "What?" In a dimly lit room, a man sitting on a couch frowned at the unexpected report from his subordinate. The subordinate smacked his lips and continued with his report. ¡°They were gone for a long time, so I went to check, but all I saw were zombies standing still on the street, looking into the distance.¡± ¡°What do you mean? What¡¯s wrong with zombies just standing there?¡± "It''s a problem because those zombies were their underlings!¡± The man on the couch frowned and raised his voice. ¡°What kind of nonsense are you saying? They had over two thousand underlings; are you saying that they¡¯re all dead?¡± The subordinate looked back in confusion. ¡°I saw them crystal clear. I¡¯m certain that the zombies were their underlings. No doubt about it. And why would zombies be standing still at this time of the day? They should be running aroundte at night.¡± ¡°Where¡¯d you find them¡­?¡± ¡°I saw them in front of the rental carpany before Yongyeon Valley.¡± ¡°Are you sure they''re part of our forces? You know we don¡¯t control that part of the ind.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t see our guys within our territory, so I went all the way out there to look for them.¡± The man on the couch gently rubbed his chin as he pondered the situation. A littleter, he spoke up. ¡°Perhaps it was the Jeju Defense Unit?¡± "I¡­ Personally, I don''t think so.¡± "Why." "Remember how I fought them when I was in Songnanpo-gu, out in the east?¡± ¡°Of course I do. You almost died back then,¡± replied the man on the couch with a smirk. His subordinate shed a sheepish smile. ¡°At that time, if it hadn¡¯t been for you, I would really have died. I know they got away because you were trying to save me. I¡¯m forever grateful and sorry when I think about what happened back then.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay, man. So what are you trying to say?¡± ¡°At that time, the red-eyed zombie from the Jeju Defense Unit was strong¡­ But I don¡¯t remember him being strong enough to take down four of our people at once.¡± "Then¡­ You think someone else intervened?¡± "Exactly.¡± The man on the couch scratched his head, momentarily lost in thought. After contemting for a bit, he spoke up. "If he¡¯s that strong, it¡¯ll be dangerous for us to make a move right now.¡± "Pardon? Hyung-nim, I''m sure the Northwest Gang will try to creep up on us once they find out that we¡¯ve lost our scouts. I''d rather go to the rental carpany right now and take care of him.¡± ¡°No, Mung-Tae, you stay and be on guard. Tell Jjang-Dol to conceal himself near the rental carpany at six in the morning tomorrow to prepare for an ambush.¡± The man named Mung-Tae tilted his head. ¡°Six in the morning, hyung-nim?¡± he asked. The boss of the Northeast Gang scratched his neck and began to exin why he specifically mentioned six in the morning. ¡°Think about it. Whoever it was, whether it was the Jeju Defense Unit or someone else who intervened, they''ll pass by the same road again. Now, do you think they¡¯ll move at night or in the morning?¡± "Ah!" ¡°If they fought the scouts¡­ They must be very nervous by now. We¡¯ll wait until the sunes up, and once they get tired, that¡¯s when we get them.¡± The boss of the Northeast Gang delivered his speech with a smirk on his face. ¡°Hyung-nim! I knew you had a n,¡± said Mung-Tae, his voice full of admiration. ¡°I¡¯ll do as you say!¡± ¡°Alright, then go speak to Jjang-Dol now. Make sure that Jjang-Dol finds a ce to hide before dawn.¡± ¡°Yes, hyung-nim!¡± As Mung-Tae disappeared, the boss of the Northeast Gang scratched his nose and muttered to himself, ¡°Whoever you are, I¡¯ve got you in the bag.¡± His confidence was through the roof. * * * All the leaders were gathered inside the military cargo ne. I told them what Heo Seong-Min had said. The leaders looked at one another, then looked at Lee Jeong-Uk at once. Realizing that all the focus was on him, Lee Jeong-Uk scratched his forehead. ¡°The decision¡­ Is up to me, I assume?¡± he said. ¡°Yes. The leader should make the final call.¡± Hwang Ji-Hye smiled as she sat down on the ground. Park Gi-Cheol, who had been leaning against the window, spoke up. ¡°Whatever choice you make, we¡¯ll follow. Don¡¯t overthink it. Just let us know what you think, just like how you¡¯ve been doing until now.¡± ¡°If I¡¯m being honest¡­ I agree with Lee Hyun-Deok¡¯s opinion. And besides, they have already expressed their desire to join forces with us.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk answered as if joining forces with them wasn¡¯t a big deal. Bae Jeong-Man, who had been listening quietly, spoke up. ¡°Have you considered the possibility that they¡¯re just acting? Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s more than possible that they¡¯re acting considerate, or pretending to be human? I say we just keep an eye on them in the meantime ande to a decisionter on.¡± No one spoke up in opposition to Bae Jeong-Man. They all seemed to be mulling over his words seriously. Lee Jeong-Uk looked around at the leaders and spoke up. ¡°Who do you think chose the people in our group so far?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Think about it. Who¡¯s judgment have we relied on?¡± Bae Jeong-Man nced at me as he cleared his throat. ¡°We¡¯ve mostly followed¡­ Lee Hyun-Deok¡¯s judgment so far.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk nodded slowly. "Yes, exactly,¡± he continued. ¡°So far, his judgment hasn¡¯t been wrong. If Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok made the decision to join forces with the Jeju Defense Unit, I¡¯ll wager they are reliable people.¡± At Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s words, the leaders all took deep breaths, and their bodynguage suggested that they agreed with him. Choi Da-Hye, who was standing by the hatch of the ne, spoke up. ¡°So in short, we go to Hotel L, meet the Jeju Defense Unit there, and stay with them, right?¡± "Exactly,¡± Lee Jeong-Uk said with a nod. Choi Da-Hye shrugged. "Then everything¡¯s sorted out. Is there more we have to talk about?¡± No one spoke. Instead of refuting her, Kim Beom-Jin nodded and offered words of support. ¡°There¡¯s only so much we can do when ites to sleeping on the nes. Also, it¡¯ll be difficult to defend against a zombie attack, since there isn¡¯t much we can use as cover around here.¡± Everyone seemed to be in agreement. Hwang Deok-Rok, who was standing in the corner, raised his right hand. ¡°Well then, the question is, can we move this many people at the moment or not?¡± Lee Jeong-Uk inteced his fingers. ¡°Is anyone among us sick? If there¡¯s anyone who has difficulties moving at the moment, please let me know right now. We can make ns ordingly.¡± Hwang Deok-Rok shook his head. ¡°That¡¯s not what I mean,¡± he said. "Then?¡± ¡°Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok and Mr. Kim Hyeong-Jun turned all of their underlings into mutants, and Mr. Do Han-Sol only has two hundred underlings left. But there are five hundred survivors here. There¡¯s bound to be a gap when we move.¡± After listening to Hwang Deok-Rok, Lee Jeong-Uk looked over at me. ¡°Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok, what are you going to do about this?¡± he asked. ¡°I knew this would happen, and so I brought some reinforcements from the Jeju Defense Unit.¡± I told them to wait a second, then opened the hatch and went out onto the runway. Immediately, my eyes fell on Kim Dae-Young, who was standing on the runway. I could tell he was waiting for the meeting to end. ¡°Kim Dae-Young!¡± ¡°Ah, yes!¡± Kim Dae-Young quickly came to my side when I called him. When I went back into the military transport ne with Kim Dae-Young, all the leaders looked at me. Their expressions seemed to demand an exnation. I looked around the room, meeting each person¡¯s gaze, then sighed and began to speak. ¡°This is Kim Dae-Young. I formed an alliance with him just a while ago. If everyone could please greet him.¡± ¡°Oh, hello! My name is Kim Dae-Young.¡± Kim Dae-Young smiled awkwardly as he stared at the others. He seemed embarrassed to be in the limelight. Kim Hyeong-Jun noted his stiffness and raised his eyebrows. ¡°It seems like we automatically formed an alliance with him, just like when you formed an alliance with Do Han-Sol, ahjussi. Is it because you¡¯re the strongest or something?¡± he asked. ¡°Hyeong-Jun, we¡¯re in a meeting.¡± ¡°Oh, yes.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun smacked his lips and nodded. Do Han-Sol, who was next to him, spoke up. ¡°Did the alliance seed?¡± ¡°Does he look purple to you too?¡± "Yes." ¡°Then yes, it seeded.¡± The sessful alliance meant that Kim Dae-Young was on the same team as us. If he had other intentions, he would appear red, not purple. Lee Jeong-Uk quietly crossed his arms and looked at me. ¡°So, Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok, are you saying that Mr. Kim Dae-Young will escort us?¡± "Yes. Alliances between zombies are not that simple. We have to have the same goals in order to recognize each other as purple beings.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk nodded at my exnation and addressed the other leaders. ¡°Then it seems like we have a n.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go to the L Hotel immediately. Gather the survivors on the runway.¡± "Got it!" The leaders responded vigorously and opened the hatch of the military transport ne. The cold winter wind, driven by the sea breeze, was blowing strongly. I couldn¡¯t tell the difference in temperature, but the survivors'' noses quickly turned red. The children blew on each other as they tried to fight off the cold using each other''s warmth. As I saw them shivering, I called Do Han-Sol and Kim Dae-Young over. As the two came to my side, I looked at the survivors. ¡°The night wind¡¯s chilly,¡± I said. ¡°Let¡¯s have your underlings carry the survivors on their backs and move.¡± Do Han-Sol¡¯s eyes widened. "Pardon? You want our underlings to carry the survivors on their backs?¡± It seemed like he still didn¡¯t trust his underlings. However, despite his worry, we already had sessful instances of them carrying survivors safely, and we also knew that we could control them. The pitch-ck darkness would also hinder the survivor¡¯s movements. I knew it would be better to make the underlings carry the survivors on their backs and be able to move quickly. I nodded. ¡°Although the zombies show some aversion, they''ve never attacked the survivors,¡± I said. ¡°You already know that, since you¡¯ve seen it with your own two eyes in Gwangjang-dong.¡± ¡°How about heading out tomorrow morning?¡± ¡°The Hounds must¡¯ve figured out where the Jeju Defense Unit is already. It¡¯s best to move before theye up with a counterattack. There¡¯s no good in wasting time.¡± Iid out our current situation calmly, which seemed to convince Do Han-Sol. He and Kim Dae-Young gathered their underlings together and ordered each of them to carry one survivor. The zombies that disyed any excessive reaction were swapped out. We paid peculiar attention to each zombie as we made them carry the survivors, and finally got each of the five hundred survivors onto a zombie. I gave individual orders to Kim Hyeong-Jun, Do Han-Sol, and Kim Dae-Young. ¡°Hyeong-Jun, you look after the survivors from the rear. If you see any zombie that shows any sort of reaction to carrying the survivors, it¡¯s up to you to decide what you want to do with it. Han-Sol, you take the right side, and Dae-Young, you take the left.¡± The three acknowledged in firm voices, and moved to their respective positions. After checking on the survivors and zombies one more time, I took a deep breath. ¡°We¡¯re leaving!¡± I shouted. When we made the trip from Seoul forest to Gwangjang-dong, the survivors had to walk on their own because we weren¡¯t certain what was going to happen, however, as we gradually umted information on what worked and didn¡¯t, it made it possible to move more efficiently. My blue eyes shed as I heightened my five senses. I had to stay alert, since I was leading the entire group, and because I had to keep an eye out for any potential zombies that could pop out from nowhere. I was going to lead the Survivor Rally Organization along the best and safest route. Chapter 183 Chapter 183 I killed about three hundred zombies on the way to Hotel L. To my surprise, there weren¡¯t that many zombies along the way. I assumed that it was because we had just experienced a zombie wave. Heo Seong-Min, who hade out to greet me at the front entrance of the hotel, took in the survivors in disbelief. Not only was he shocked by the number of people, but also by the amount of stuff that the survivors had. Boxes of grenades, K2 rifles, sr panels, and other misceneous items were piled up in front of the hotel. Heo Seong-Min stared at the boxes in awe as he scratched his head. ¡°I¡¯m not sure if we can handle all of this,¡± he said. "Don¡¯t worry. We¡¯ll clean up Hotel O tonight and move the supplies tomorrow.¡± As I conversed with Heo Seong-Min, the leaders of the Survivor Rally Organization came up beside me. Lee Jeong-Uk offered his right hand to Heo Seong-Min. ¡°I¡¯m Lee Jeong-Uk, the leader of the Survivor Rally Organization.¡± ¡°Ah, it¡¯s a pleasure to meet you. I¡¯m Heo Seong-Min, the leader of the Jeju Defense Unit.¡± ¡°How about we continue this conversation inside?¡± ¡°Yes, pleasee in. I forgot how cold it is outside.¡± With that, Lee Jeong-Uk and the leaders followed Heo Seong-Min Heo into the restaurant located to the right of the hotel lobby. In the meantime, Heo Seong-Min''s wife led the other survivors into the lobby and took out the room assignment sheet they had made in advance. As she informed the survivors of their room assignments, Kim Hyeong-Jun, Do Han-Sol, and Kim Dae-Young moved the boxes outside into a corner of the lobby. As the survivors went to their respective rooms, the crowded, bustling lobby gradually became quieter, until it was as quiet as the first time I¡¯d entered the hotel. Only then did I feel relieved. Heo Seong-Min''s wife put the room assignment sheet on the counter and walked over to me, smiling faintly. ¡°My apologies; I couldn''t even greet you properly earlier.¡± "That¡¯s alright.¡± She held out her right hand to me and smiled. "It¡¯s nice to meet you. I¡¯m Park Hye-In.¡± She had a genuine smile, the sort of smile that gave her the look of a cheerful, energetic heroine. I could tell she had a frank, open-hearted personality. After we shook hands, we continued to converse. ¡°If you ever need anything, feel free to let me know.¡± "Thank you.¡± "Of course. Then may I ask you to follow me?¡± With that, Park Hye-In led me to the restaurant, where the meeting was in full swing. Right before I entered the meeting room, I called out to Jeong Jin-Young, who was behind me. ¡°Jin-Young.¡± ¡°Yes, Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok?¡± ¡°Go take care of those zombie heads over there and thene in.¡± ¡°Pardon?¡± Jeong Jin-Young looked at me, dumbfounded. Kim Hyeong-Jun pped him on the back. ¡°Mr. Jeong Jin-Young has to get stronger too!¡± he said. ¡°Oh¡­¡± Jeong Jin-Young rubbed his neck, seemingly unsure of how to react. Kim Hyeong-Jun looked at me. ¡°Ahjussi, should we give all twelve of them to Mr. Jeong Jin-Young?¡± "Sure. There seems to be many red-eyed zombies on Jeju Ind. And besides, none of us are showing any weird, abnormal symptoms at the moment. I think the most urgent matter is to form an alliance with Mr. Jeong Jin-Young.¡± Jeong Jin-Young was still a red-colored zombie to us. It felt uneasy that he was still red, despite the fact that we were on the same team. I knew that if we ever found ourselves in an emergency, there was a chance that we might attack Jeong Jin-Young by mistake, because we attacked any red zombies without a second thought. I stopped at the cart outside with Jeong Jin-Young and examined the enemy leader''s heads. Jeong Jin-Young looked extremely nervous as he stared at the heads. It was only natural for him to be anxious and nervous, because he had never eaten a zombie brain before. I looked at Jeong Jin-Young, who was hesitating to reach out for a head. ¡°I¡¯ve already exined what happens, right? When we eat brains,¡± I said. "Yes, I remember you exining it to me.¡± ¡°Ok. Then you¡¯re going to eat them one by one, starting now. Eat as many as you can before you fall asleep. When your body reaches its limit, you¡¯ll pass out even if you want to eat more.¡± "I¡­ I¡¯ll be okay, right? Even if I eat these.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle at his question. ¡°Before you ask any more questions, try one first. It¡¯ll feel like you¡¯re eating pudding.¡± ¡°Pudding? Eating a human¡¯s brain feels like eating pudding?¡± ¡°Remember, our appetites are no longer human. They¡¯ve turned into zombie appetites as well. Drinking water makes us nauseous, but brains are a delicacy.¡± Jeong Jin-Young wet his parched lips and stared at the heads. Five of the heads belonged to the scouts of the Northwest Gang, four belonged to the scouts from the Northeast Gang, and the other three heads were the ones Kim Hyeong-Jun had brought and added to the cartter on. I looked at Jeong Jin-Young carefully. ¡°Can¡¯t you feel it already?¡± I asked him. "I¡­ I feel something¡­ I feel like I¡¯m strangely drawn to them.¡± "That¡¯s our zombie instinct. The urge to eat an enemy¡¯s brain. When we form alliances, we don¡¯t feel that urge toward each other. And that¡¯s why it¡¯s essential for us to form an alliance.¡± ¡°Then Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok¡­ Do you want to eat my brain now?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll tell you one thing; I¡¯m trying my best not to.¡± I answered with a hearty smile, and Jeong Jin-Young gasped and grabbed the heads of the enemies in the cart in his hands. Without the slightest hesitation, he started stuffing the brains into his mouth. One, two, three, four¡­ Jeong Jin-Young opened his eyes wide and tried his best not to fall asleep. However, as soon as he swallowed the eighth one, he was knocked out. When Kim Hyeong-Jun saw him copse, he pouted his lips. ¡°I¡¯d say he did a pretty good job holding on,¡± he said. ¡°He ate eight brains! I¡¯m amazed by his mental toughness. Someone with a weak mind would not be able to do that.¡± ¡°Well, I did say that I was resisting the urge to eat his brain. That probably made him try even harder to shove more into his mouth.¡± ¡°But I mean, what can we do about that, ahjussi? It¡¯s the truth, you know?¡± I chuckled at his answer, then nced back at Do Han-Sol, who was behind me. ¡°I know. Well then, let¡¯s move Jeong Jin-Young to the lobby and let Han-Sol have the remaining four.¡± Do Han-Sol pointed at himself with his index finger and made a puzzled face. I snorted at his reaction. ¡°Didn¡¯t you say you only had two hundred underlings left? If you eat the remaining four, you should be able to recover your losses at once,¡± I replied. ¡°Thank you¡­¡± Do Han-Sol couldn''t help but smile at the thought that he would get stronger. And since he leaned more toward defense than offense, it was important for him to increase the number of underlings he could have under him. I smiled softly. ¡°We need to get stronger to ensure the safety of the survivors,¡± I said. ¡°From now on, let¡¯s try to take over Jeju Ind.¡± "Got it!" Do Han-Sol gave a firm acknowledgment and swallowed the remaining four heads on the spot. His eyes went wide for a moment, then he copsed to the floor next to Jeong Jin-Young. Kim Hyeong-Jun and I moved Jeong Jin-Young and Do Han-Sol into the hotel lobby. Weid the two of them down on cots and finally went into the meeting room with Park Hye-In. When I entered, all eyes turned to me. I nodded slightly. ¡°My apologies for the interruption,¡± I said. Heo Seong-Min pointed to an empty seat and smiled lightly. "Oh, no worries. Please have a seat.¡± After taking a seat, I listened intently to what was being said in order to catch up. But it seemed like they had only been sharing what each group had gone through up to this point. Only then did I realize why the meeting had been going on for such a long time. Realizing that it was going to take a while to get to the topic I wanted to get to, I quietly folded my arms and waited. Just like the Survivor Rally Organization, it seemed like the Jeju Defense Unit had been wandering around for a long time. They had roamed around the outskirts of Jeju Ind to avoid the Hounds, and it was only recently, about a month ago, that they finally settled down in the L Hotel. Heo Seong-Min pointed at Kim Dae-Young, who had joined the meeting with me. "I don''t know if I¡¯ve already introduced him, but that fellow over there is Kim Dae-Young." The leaders of the Survivor Rally Organization looked at Kim Dae-Young, who got up from his seat, seemingly rather confused, and greeted each leader one by one. Once he finished, Heo Seong-Min picked up from where he had left off. He directed everyone¡¯s attention to a map on the wall. ¡°We stayed at a ce called Songnanpo-gu before we came here.¡± He exined how they had faced several dangerous situations in Songnanpo-gu, but were fortunate enough that they managed to avoid the Hounds, and eventually made it to the L Hotel. He added that they had headed north, pushing through many sleepless nights in order to avoid the eyes of the Hounds. After all of this, they had finally decided to make L Hotel their hideout, and they cleaned up the surrounding zombies and built defensive lines for themselves. It now made sense why Kim Dae-Young had been so flustered when the Hounds appeared at the rental carpany. I remembered him muttering these exact words, looking agitated. - When did they get this close¡­ Now that I thought about it, he was probably nervous at the thought of having to move to a different hideout once again. Once he¡¯d given us the history of the Jeju Defense Unit, Kim Hyeong-Jun, who had been sitting still and listening to everything, got up from his seat while raising his right hand. Heo Seong-Min gestured for him to speak. Kim Hyeong-Jun strode forward to the podium and looked at the map carefully. ¡°Mr. Heo Seong-Min.¡± "Yes?¡± ¡°How much do you know about the Hounds?¡± He was basically asking the head of the vige how much he knew about his vige. His question may have seemed somewhat absurd, but Heo Seong-Min didn¡¯t think too much about it. ¡°The Houndsprise four officers, centered around a captain called Hyung-nim. And they have scouts underneath them.¡± ¡°Have you figured out their location, or how many of them there are?¡± ¡°The officers areparable to Mr. Kim Dae-Young in terms of strength. We confirmed this when we were in Songnanpo-gu, so I¡¯m almost certain about this, unless they¡¯ve grown stronger within the past month.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun walked over to the map and posed a follow-up question. ¡°This person that goes by ¡®Hyung-nim¡¯¡­ Have you ever seen him with your own eyes?¡± Heo Seong-Min scratched his forehead, looking troubled. Kim Hyeong-Jun stopped in his tracks and looked him straight in the eyes. ¡°Have you ever seen him with your own eyes?¡± "No, I haven¡¯t. No one is quite sure where the boss is, and not a single person has imed to have seen the boss with their own eyes. I¡¯m sure only the officers would know where the boss is.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun began to pace in front of the map again. ¡°Well, the officers didn¡¯t even know that,¡± he said. Heo Seong-Min tilted his head in confusion. "Pardon?" Kim Hyeong-Jun swept his gaze across every person in the meeting room. ¡°It seems like each officer has their own territory or sector that they take care of. If we take Jeju City as the base point, this sector is controlled by the Northwest Gang, and this sector by the Northeast Gang. With Seogwipo City as the base point, this sector is controlled by the Southwest Gang, and this is the Southeast Gang¡¯s sector.¡± As Kim Hyeong-Jun spoke, he drew circles on the map with his finger. Heo Seong-Min looked at him in puzzlement. "Even we haven¡¯t been able to figure this out¡­ Where¡¯d you get this information from?¡± ¡°I heard this from the boss of the Northwest Gang. He told me all this before I killed him.¡± The meeting room instantly turned dead silent, so silent that you could hear a pin drop. His words had been extremely shocking, and out of the blue. Unable to believe what I¡¯d just heard, I got to my feet. ¡°What do you mean by that?¡± I asked. ¡°Are you saying that, among the twelve heads that were in the cart just now, one of them belonged to the boss of the Northwest Gang?¡± "That¡¯s exactly what I¡¯m saying. Didn¡¯t Han Sol tell you that I was going to the enemy base?¡± I¡¯d heard that he had headed for the enemy base, but I wasn¡¯t aware that he¡¯d gone inside. I burst intoughter at the absurdity of all that I was hearing. "So you''re saying you killed one of the four officers?" "Yeah." ¡°And did you assess how strong the officers were?¡± ¡°The boss of the Northwest Gang was able tomand between a thousand and twelve hundred underlings. His first and second lieutenants could control about nine hundred to a thousand each.¡± ¡°Then did you find out where the boss of the Northeast Gang is as well?¡± ¡°That, I don¡¯t know. It seemed like the two didn''t get along. They seemed busy fighting each other over territory.¡± After listening to everything Kim Hyeong-Jun had said, Kim Dae-Young cleared his throat. "But¡­ Is it possible for there to be bad blood between the two of them?¡± he asked. ¡°I just can¡¯t imagine the boss of the Hounds just watching and not intervening¡­¡± ¡°Oh, I asked about that too, but it seems like the Hounds¡¯ boss is missing in action at the moment.¡± ¡°Pardon?¡± said Kim Dae-Young, his eyes wide with surprise. Kim Hyeong-Jun shrugged. ¡°He said they lost contact with him over a month ago. He also said that if I¡¯m that curious about his whereabouts, I should go to Seogwipo, because the officers over there might know. He said that the bossst showed himself in Seogwipo.¡± Everyone in the meeting room was open-mouthed at all the information Kim Hyeong-Jun was spitting out. They couldn¡¯t help but stare at Kim Hyeong-Jun with surprise in their eyes. Starting from day one on Jeju Ind, Kim Hyeong-Jun had caused quite the scene. Not in a bad way, but in a good way. As everyone stared at him in awe, Kim Hyeong-Jun scratched his head with a puzzled face, then forced a smile. ¡°Did I¡­ Did I make another mistake?¡± ¡°No, no! Not at all!¡± Heo Seong-Min grabbed his shoulders and continued in a high-pitched voice, full of excitement. ¡°You¡¯ve given us some really important information!¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun gave me a sidelong nce. ¡°All I did was beat up the Northwest Gang, and they spat out all this¡­¡± he grumbled. I understood why Heo Seong-Min was full of excitement. In the eyes of the Jeju Defense Unit, this was something they could never have imagined. And it was all because Kim Hyeong-Jun had taken care of one of the officers within a couple of hours. I quietly rubbed my chin, lost in thought. We were in the clear, but I couldn¡¯t help but think about an unpleasant being. The boss of a gang disappearing, and the ck creature in Jeju Ind thatst showed itself a month ago. The boss of the Hounds moved his hideout all the time. He seemed to consider Jeju Ind his backyard. But I knew that he wasn¡¯t the real boss of Jeju Ind. The real boss was the ck creature with blue eyes. As I thought about it, it was possible that the boss of the Hounds had been eaten by the ck creature. And if so, the color of the ck creature¡¯s pupils might just have changed. Chapter 184 Chapter 184 After the introductory meeting between the Survivor Rally Organization and Jeju Defense Unit came to an end, Kim Hyeong-Jun and I went out into the lobby before everyone else did. After I made sure that no one else was in the lobby, I looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun. ¡°Hyeong-Jun, keep this to yourself for now,¡± I said. ¡°Huh? What is it, ahjussi?¡± ¡°You said that even the officers didn¡¯t even know where the boss was, right?¡± "Yeah." ¡°I think there¡¯s a high chance that he¡¯s been eaten by a ck creature.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s eyes widened as I mentioned the ck creature, and he gave me a look of surprise. He grabbed my sleeve and dragged me out of the hotel. We stepped out from the L Hotel into pitch-ck darkness, as if someone had painted the world ck. It was impossible to tell the difference between the ocean and the sky. Kim Hyeong-Jun looked around to see if there was anyone around before speaking. "A ck creature? What do you mean?¡± ¡°I heard about this when I first came here with Kim Dae-Young. There¡¯s a ck creature here as well.¡± ¡°What color are its eyes? Did you ask what color they were?¡± ¡°Blue.¡± As soon as I said blue, he slicked his hair back, and his expression grew serious. I knew how smart he was, and he seemed to have realized what I was trying to get at right away. He wet his parched lips. ¡°If the boss of the Hounds was eaten by a ck creature¡­ its eyes may have turned ck¡­ That¡¯s what you¡¯re trying to say, right?¡± "Exactly." ¡°Hmm, that does seem possible, since they hadn¡¯t been in touch with the boss for fifteen days. But don¡¯t you think that the others should know about this as well?¡± ¡°Why do you think I¡¯m only telling you this?¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun hesitated a little. ¡°So that we can keep it a secret¡­?¡± he said with a grave expression. ¡°Even the people of the Jeju Defense Unit know the presence of the ck creature, which means that it¡¯s impossible to keep its existence a secret.¡± ¡°Then what should we do?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s keep the knowledge that the ck creature in Jeju Ind is not any ordinary ck creature to ourselves.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun scratched his forehead and sighed. He was lost in thought for a moment, but then took a deep breath. ¡°Are you trying to prevent any unnecessary chaos?¡± he asked. I nodded silently. Kim Hyeong-Jun clicked his tongue and avoided my gaze, shaking his head before speaking again. ¡°I thought we were cruising, but here we are, having to deal with another ck creature.¡± ¡°The officers said that their boss wasst near Seogwipo. I¡¯m guessing he probably got eaten by the ck creature somewhere in that area.¡± "And?" ¡°If the ck creature hunts down red zombies¡­. It wouldn¡¯t being here first, since it¡¯s too far up north. Instead, it¡¯ll go to Seogwipo.¡± ¡°But it¡¯s already been more than half a month. I would think that Seogwipo has already been cleaned up, if you know what I mean. Just tell me what you want to say, ahjussi. Don¡¯t beat around the bush.¡± I was trying to skirt around the issue, but Kim Hyeong-Jun had asked me directly. I ced my face in my palms. ¡°Let¡¯s attack first.¡± ¡°You want to go to Seogwipo¡­? The two of us?¡± ¡°You know how threatening and overwhelming a ck creature bes when its eyes turn ck. We¡¯ll all die if we fight it here.¡± ¡°But ahjussi, just because we go to Seogwipo doesn¡¯t mean we stand a chance against it. You know we can¡¯t beat it.¡± ¡°Well, we have Ji-Eun this time. Back then, Ji-Eun wasn¡¯t as strong as she was now, nor did she do much. It¡¯ll be different this time.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun shook his head. His expression seemedplicated, as if it wasn¡¯t buying into my n. ¡°No, this is¡­ Even though we have Ji-Eun¡­¡± ¡°Then what do you think we should do?¡± "Well, first of all, we¡¯re not even certain that its eyes turned ck.¡± ¡°So what, you want to stay here and wait? Think about who¡¯ll benefit if we do that.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun let out a deep sigh. He already knew the answer to my question. He sat down on the floor, scratched his head, then clicked his tongue. ¡°Let¡¯s finish talking about this when Han-Sol and Mr. Jeong Jin-Young both wake up,¡± he said ¡°For now, let¡¯s focus on cleaning up Hotel O.¡± ¡°How many Survivor Rally Organization survivors are there per room at the moment?¡± ¡°There are six people for each two-bedroom suite. The thing is, there isn¡¯t any heating at the moment, so I bet everyone¡¯s immune system is going to grow weak, and the whole hotel is going to be full of ill survivors within a week.¡± I nodded slowly. ¡°Wait here for a minute. I have something I want to discuss with Mr. Heo Seong-Min.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun closed his eyes and grimaced. "Okay." As I headed back inside, the eerie sound of the crashing waves hammered against my eardrums. They seemed to be trying to tell me to feel nervous about what was going to happen in the future. I breathed in the cool night air to rx myself. It helped a little, but not enough to push away the feeling that had grown within me. I went back into the meeting room and called Heo Seong-Min and Kim Dae-Young over. They excused themselves from their conversation with Lee Jeong-Uk and came over to me. After organizing my thoughts in my head, I began to speak. ¡°Mr. Heo Seong-Min, please call in the guards who are stationed on the first and second lines of defense.¡± Heo Seong-Min tilted his head in confusion. "Pardon?" He looked at me as though had no clue what I was trying to do. I slicked my hair back. ¡°Since we¡¯ve wiped out the Northeast gang¡¯s scouts, the officers must¡¯ve noticed that something isn¡¯t right by now,¡± I continued. "Then¡­ Shouldn''t we post more guards?¡± "No. The underlings that the scouts controlled are still standing in front of the rental carpany. They¡¯ll probably start from there and make their way here.¡± ¡°Then what do you n on doing?¡± I knew he had every reason to be taken aback by my sudden request, but he still calmly asked for my opinion. I scratched my eyebrows, then continued. ¡°Hyeong-Jun will hide near the rental carpany.¡± ¡°The rental carpany that¡¯s full of zombies that are no longer being controlled by anyone?¡± ¡°Yes. Even the Hounds probably don¡¯t want to leave those zombies stranded. They¡¯ll probably drag those zombies back to their hideout so that they can replenish any zombie underlings that they lose.¡± ¡°Are you saying that Mr. Kim Hyeong-Jun is going to attack them when that happens?¡± When I nodded, Heo Seong-Min rubbed his chin, then spoke. "Then¡­ What can we do in the meantime?¡± ¡°Please focus on defending the hotel.¡± I then pointed to Kim Dae-Young. ¡°Kim Dae-Young, position your underlings around the hotel as well.¡± He nodded in acknowledgment. I looked at Heo Seong-Min and Kim Dae-Young in turn. ¡°Have you two ever seen mutants?¡± I asked them. ¡°When you say mutants¡­ Are you referring to the zombies that were with you in front of the rental carpany?¡± ¡°Yes. Have you ever seen zombies with long, gnat-like limbs, or any that looked different from the others?¡± Heo Seong-Min shook his head and looked over at Kim Dae-Young. Kim Dae-Young shook his head as well. Clearly, he didn¡¯t know what I was speaking of. That seemed both questionable and shocking to me at the same time. It had already been six months, yet the two of them were saying that not a single mutant had appeared here. I couldn¡¯t help but wonder why that was. Seoul had been overrun by zombies, but there were also countless zombies that had red eyes. Whenever a zombie with red eyes died, the underlings it had under its control would no longer be considered underlings, since they lost the chain ofmand. Those zombies wouldn¡¯t be scared or run away, even when they saw other zombies with red eyes. I wondered if such an incident had yet to happen in Jeju Ind. It seemed hard to believe. At the same time, despite my currentck of knowledge, I knew I wouldn¡¯t be able toe to a reasonable conclusion by delving into this any further. Instead of asking them more questions, I asked them to apany me outside. Heo Seong-Min looked back and forth between Kim Dae-Young and myself. ¡°Are we bringing them in right now?¡± he asked. ¡°Yes, and I think it¡¯d be a good idea to shut down the first and second lines of defense for the time being.¡± ¡°So you want us to protect just the hotel? Wouldn¡¯t that be rather dangerous? It¡¯ll be difficult to evacuate if zombies suddenly attack.¡± ¡°You can count on us. I¡¯d like the survivors to focus on securing food. It¡¯ll be difficult to keep up with the rate of consumption, since there¡¯s more people now.¡± "Then¡­ How about we reorganize the guards into the supermarket search team? There are a couple of hypermarkets in Jeju City that we haven¡¯t checked out yet.¡± I could tell that if I said no to this as well, the people of the Jeju Defense Unit would feel trapped inside the hotel. I knew there¡¯d be a tremendous bacsh if their safe haven began to feel to them like a refugee camp. Knowing that I didn¡¯t have much of a choice, I nodded. ¡°We¡¯re going to clean up the zombies in Jeju City starting tomorrow,¡± I replied. ¡°I think it should be okay to send out the guards once the area is cleared out.¡± ¡°Well if that¡¯s the case, we¡¯d greatly appreciate that.¡± Heo Seong-Min smiled brightly and offered me a small bow. I returned the gesture. ¡°Then let¡¯s get moving,¡± I said. ¡°Let¡¯s get things done before it grows toote.¡± ¡°Got it!¡± With that, Heo Seong-Min and Kim Dae-Young headed to the front gate of L Hotel. Lee Jeong-Uk came up to me when he noticed the two of them running off. "What''s going on?" "Oh, just getting prepared for the Hounds in case they attack.¡± After a brief moment of silence, Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s voice took on a note of calm. ¡°So-Yeon¡¯s dad.¡± When I looked at him, he smiled thinly. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure I¡¯ve told you before that your acting isn¡¯t very good,¡± he said. ¡°...¡± I remained silent, and he continued in the same, calm tone, ¡°I can tell that you have something on your mind. You always grow sensitive when something¡¯s up.¡± Despite hisposure, I could sense a hint of concern in his tone. I wondered if it would be better to tell him the truth; what was actually on my mind. As I contemted, I cupped my face with my palms and sighed. I tried my best to smile. ¡°I¡¯m just thinking about the possibility of people getting hurt,¡± I said. ¡°That¡¯s why I wanted to pull back the guards. It isn¡¯t going to be the same as it used to be. We have to start fighting the Hounds for real.¡± ¡°Is that really the only reason? No other reasons?¡± I chuckled and lightly pped his forearm, hoping that he wouldn¡¯t try to dig any further. ¡°No, that¡¯s all.¡± Despite my reassurance, I could tell that Lee Jeong-Uk still doubted me. However, it didn¡¯t take him long to shrug. ¡°Well, if you say so, then what more can I say?¡± he said. I knew he was letting this one slide. I could tell that he knew there were other reasons why I was acting the way I was. I couldn¡¯t help but feel bad for not telling him everything. At the same time, though, I didn¡¯t want him to have yet another thing on his mind, as I knew how exhausted he was. I was more than aware that everyone who was part of the Survivor Rally Organization would be slightly on edge as they adjusted to their new surroundings. Because of this, it was only right for the leaders of the organization to have their minds fully on taking care of the survivors. For them, making sure that everyone felt safe and was settling down here had to be their number one priority. The whole ck creature thing could wait until Kim Hyeong-Jun and I took care of it. I took a deep breath. ¡°You should go and rest,¡± I said. ¡°In the meantime, I¡¯ll clean up Hotel O next door ande back. Everyone, please go ahead and get some rest. I know how tired everyone must be from the long trip.¡± I smiled heartily as I spoke, and they nodded as if they knew they had no other choice. I could tell that Lee Jeong-Uk was feeling ufortable, but for now, it seemed like he would go along with my suggestion. With that, all the leaders¡ªincluding Lee Jeong-Uk¡ªfollowed Park Hae-In as she led them to the empty rooms that had been prepared for them. As I watched them go, I prayed that the Survivor Rally Organization would never have to find out about the ck creature. I wanted the ck creature to be a being that Kim Hyeong-Jun and I could take care of on our own. I organized my thoughts, then walked through the hotel lobby and headed for the front door. Kim Hyeong-Jun, who was on the stairs outside, sniffed. ¡°What took you so long?¡± he asked. I told him about the conversation I had with Heo Seong-Min. Kim Hyeong-Jun put on a rather petty expression and smacked his lips. ¡°So, you want me to go to the rental carpany?¡± he asked while scratching his neck. ¡°Stay hidden there. If the Hounds show up, you take care of them, however you like.¡± ¡°Oh, interesting. You¡¯re letting me be in charge?¡± I chuckled at his response. "I mean, even though your ways are rough and crude, you''ve never been wrong," I replied. Kim Hyeong-Jun shed a big smile and pped my forearm. He took a deep breath and stretched. ¡°Alrighty! All the hounds are dead!¡± ¡°I know I always say this, but I¡¯m going to say it again. Don¡¯t push yourself.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun smiled brightly at me and gave me a thumbs-up. ¡°Did you ever see me push myself? Even if it seems like I¡¯m pushing myself, just remember that I always have a n, a trick up my sleeve.¡± I burst intoughter at his absurdity. I couldn¡¯t help but wonder how he could be so ingenuous. But I knew that nothing I did would change the way he was. I gestured to him to get going, and Kim Hyeong-Jun gave a big wave with his right hand as he headed off toward the rental carpany. ¡°Watch where you¡¯re walking!¡± ¡°Take care of yourself too, ahjussi!¡± answered Kim Hyeong-Jun with a bright smile on his face. With that, he leaped onto the roof of the building in front of him. I watched Kim Hyeong-Jun with a gentle smile on my face. He was a rascal who didn¡¯t listen to me and acted goofily from time to time, but he was someone that I needed next to me. As Kim Hyeong-Jun got further away, I saw Mood-Swinger trying to catch up to him. I wondered if he¡¯d only called Mood-Swinger to him. His other stage-one mutants were gathered at the front entrance of the hotel. I no longer had toy out everything step by step for him. He was cing his underlings in the right ces on his own. I stretched my body as well, which had grown stiff from the intense cold, and let out a quick breath. I ordered my stage-one mutants and Ji-Eun to guard the rear entrance of the hotel as I headed to Hotel O, located through the alleyway. I knew that I wouldn¡¯t need them to take care of the zombies in the hotel. Going alone would be more than enough. Chapter 185 Chapter 185 I took a red dry-erase marker from the lobby of Hotel O and went through every room in the hotel. I marked a circle on the doors to the rooms that were clean and safe, while I drew a cross on the doors to the rooms that had shattered ss or were stained with zombie blood. It took me around three hours to check every pantry, bathroom, supply room, parking lot, and all the nearby buildings. I gathered all the dead zombie bodies in front of Hotel O afterward and counted all of them. There were about two hundred and forty of them. In order to protect myself and my family from the ck creature, I had to recruit more underlings. I couldn¡¯t help but look back on the four heads I¡¯d given to Do Han-Sol earlier. Perhaps I should have given out the enemy leaders¡¯ heads only after the meeting was over. At the moment, I could control up to twenty-three hundred underlings. With the eleven stage-one mutants and Ji-Eun, I had the equivalent of six hundred underlings. I knew that I had no time to sit around and rx, and had to replenish my remaining seventeen hundred underlings. I tried to recruit the zombies in the hotel as my underlings, but there weren¡¯t any decent ones there. Most of them were either missing an arm or leg. If they had all their limbs, bits of their flesh had been torn off. I needed underlings that were fit for battle; I wasn¡¯t looking for weaklings to make up the numbers. I slicked back my bangs and sighed. Even if I recruited one hundred underlings a day, it would still take me more than fifteen days. It seemed to me that the fastest way to get more underlings was to get rid of the enemy leader. I breathed in the sea breeze and reminded myself of what I needed to do. I cracked my knuckles. ''Let¡¯s have some fun.¡¯ From the current moment, everything was a race against time. There were a limited number of red-eyed zombies on Jeju Ind. Either I would secure more of them, or the ck creature would. I knew I had to get to them first and sweep away these enemies before the ck creature¡¯s eye color changed. After making up my mind, I telepathically called in two of my stage-one mutants. After giving them orders to block the front and back entrances of Hotel O so that street zombies couldn¡¯t get close, I moved off to scout out the location of the Northeast Gang. Since they hadn¡¯t made any moves so far, I knew they had to be up to something. I had no clue what they were up to, but if they weren¡¯t willing to make the first move, I was willing to get to them first. Since it seemed like none of their officers were blue-eyed zombies, it was probably okay to face them on my own. Having made up my mind, I headed toward the northeast part of Jeju City, hoping that I wouldn¡¯t meet the ck creature along the way. * * * Kim Hyeong-Jun let out a yawn as he sat back in a chair on the roof of the rental carpany. He hadn¡¯t seen any enemies for the past couple of hours. ¡°Arnol¡­ d¡­¡± Mood-Swinger, who was sitting on the ground next to him, had been staring at Kim Hyeong-Jun nkly for some time. Realizing that he probably felt the same way as him, Kim Hyeong-Jun chuckled. ¡°Are you bored too?¡± he asked Mood-Swinger. ¡°Arnol¡­d¡­¡± ¡°I hope something appears soon. I don¡¯t care if it¡¯s a human or a zombie. Sitting around like this isn¡¯t my thing.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun scratched his neck and squinted. All he could see was total darkness. Darkness to his right and left, and in front and behind him. He couldn¡¯t see a single thing. Waiting alone in the darkness for hours and hours on end for something to appear in this empty world wasn¡¯t as easy as it sounded. Kim Hyeong-Jun got up and stretched his body, beginning with his stiff shoulders. Just as he was doing his neck exercises, he suddenly heard a rustle next to him. When he turned to the left, he saw Mood-Swinger with his eyes wide open, focusing on where the sound hade from. As Kim Hyeong-Jun looked in the direction where Mood-Swinger was looking, he saw a bunch of red zombies getting closer. Kim Hyeong-Jun quickly crouched behind the railing that ran around the roof of the building, and gave Mood-Swinger an order. ¡°Sit down, Mood-Swinger.¡± Mood-Swinger crouched, hunkering his big body close to the ground, and stared nkly at Kim Hyeong-Jun. The killing intent that had been in his eyes had disappeared instantly; he was looking at Kim Hyeong-Jun with the eyes of a puppy begging its owner to y with it. Kim Hyeong-Jun chuckled but kept his eyes on the approaching zombies. There were about a thousand zombies approaching, with a red-eyed zombie in the lead. However, they were tiptoeing their way over to where Kim Hyeong-Jun was. ¡®Wait, why are they moving like that?¡¯ If they were nning to attack this ce, they should¡¯vee running and letting out their throat-rending cries. However, they were moving stealthily, as if they were trying to assassinate someone. Kim Hyeong-Jun tilted his head. ''Did I get caught?¡¯ he thought to himself. He wondered if the red-eyed zombie was moving stealthily because it was wary of him. After examining this thought, though, he realized that it didn¡¯t make any sense, because, in a normal situation, the zombie would have run straight for him, or at least tried to talk. He kept his eyes glued to the approaching zombies in confusion, not knowing what their intentions were. After a moment, the one thousand zombies behind the leader began to behave in an unexpected manner. Completely out of the blue, they began to dig. They dug for about thirty minutes, then proceeded to hide themselves in the ground. He was surprised by the speed at which they dug. It was almost as if the soil in the area was pretty soft. However, they weren¡¯tpletely hidden; they had to crouch down to hide themselvespletely. Interestingly enough, the area they had chosen to dig themselves into was precisely the area where the zombies from earlier had lost their chain ofmand, when their scout leaders had been killed. After observing them for more than half an hour, Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s eyebrows climbed up in disbelief. ''Are they thinking about ambushing us when wee back for the zombies?¡¯ Even though it seemed like they were trying to take advantage of the zombies¡¯ ability to survive in ces with very little air to breathe, their method was too crude; in fact, it merely seemed stupid to Kim Hyeong-Jun. ¡®What an idiot.¡¯ In addition to all of this, they¡¯d left traces of their digging everywhere. Kim Hyeong-Jun couldn¡¯t possibly think that anyone would fall for something like this. He chuckled at their absurdity and started looking around just in case this silly n was to trick him into another trap. But no matter how hard he looked, all he saw was the pitch-ck darkness and the red-eyed zombieing his way with their one thousand underlings. Kim Hyeong-Jun rubbed his chin gently, then a smirk widened across his face, as if he¡¯de up with something funny. He couldn¡¯t keep his prankster mind in check as he looked at them. ¡°Mood-Swinger, do you want to y whack-a-mole?¡± "Ar¡­ no¡­ ld?¡± ¡°You just need to hammer the zombies that poke their heads out of the ground. Doesn¡¯t it seem like fun?¡± Mood-Swinger beamed at his suggestion and nodded continuously. In an instant, Kim Hyeong-Jun leaped off the roof, his blue eyes shing. He ran over to where the enemy leader was hiding and waited for him to make a move. The earth underneath him wriggled slightly, but the enemy leader didn¡¯t reveal himself right away. Kim Hyeong-Jun almost burst intoughter when he saw the enemy leader trying his best. But he managed to keep himself in check. ¡°Ugh, ahjussi, how could you ask me to move all these zombies here at night?¡± he muttered to himself instead. ¡°Ahjussi, you sometimes ask for way too much¡­¡± ¡°...¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun continued to speak, his voice full of disappointment toward Lee Hyun-Deok, as he tried to bait the enemy leader. ¡°Does he think he¡¯s the shit or something? How am I supposed to move all of these by myself?¡± At that moment, just as if it was scripted, the enemy leader popped out from the ground. As soon as his upper body broke through the soil, he hurled a fist at Kim Hyeong-Jun. However, the enemy leader was surprised by his quarry¡¯s reaction. Kim Hyeong-Jun didn¡¯t seem to be surprised. He didn¡¯t even flinch a little. Instead, Kim Hyeong-Jun was smirking, his blue eyes fixed on the enemy leader like a bear eyeing salmon in the river. He had the face of a predator-seeking prey. A chill went down the enemy leader¡¯s spine. His eyes widened, and he yelled at his underlings. ¡°Everyone out right now!!¡± he cried desperately. All his underlings came out of the ground at once. However, something started smashing them back down at the speed of light, apanied by the thud of footsteps that shook the ground. ¡°Arnold! Arnold! Arnold!¡± Mood-Swinger smiled brightly as he crushed and trampled the zombies popping out of the ground with his hands. He wasn¡¯t just whacking them. He was crushing them to death. The enemy leader¡¯s eyes bulged as he saw his underlings being mercilessly trampled. His eyes flickered from side to side, utterly confused at what was happening in front of him. A pair of blue eyes appeared in front of him. ¡°What took you so long?¡± someone whispered in a low voice, and he gasped. ¡°I almost died waiting for you.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun grabbed the enemy leader¡¯s face in his hands and mmed it against the ground. However, his head didn¡¯t burst right away, probably because the ground was soft. Instead of mming it down once more, Kim Hyeong-Jun broke both of the leader¡¯s arms instead. ¡°Where is the Northeast Gang based?¡± he asked. The enemy leader already looked like they were knocked out. They were so shocked that it seemed like they were going through a panic disorder. From the enemy leader¡¯s perspective, Kim Hyeong-Jun was already a demon that happened to be on Earth. As the enemy leader stayed silent, Kim Hyeong-Jun smacked the enemy leader and asked again. ¡°The headquarters. Where is it!¡± ¡°Hwa¡­ Hwabuk. Hwabuk! Hwabuk.¡± ¡°Huh? Hwabuk?¡± ¡°Hwabuk-dong, Hwabuk Industrial Complex¡­ Hwabuk Industrial Complex, sir.¡± ¡°Can you lead me there?¡± The enemy leader was trembling violently, like a tree in a vicious rainstorm. His body was all tensed up, as though ovee with fear. Kim Hyeong-Jun had a unique and rather reckless way of handling situations, which often made his allies nervous, but stirred absolute confusion and terror in his enemies. Kim Hyeong-Jun forced the enemy leader upright. ¡°Guide me to theplex. I¡¯ll spare you if you do.¡± ¡°Pardon?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll spare you. I¡¯ll let you go.¡± ¡°Ah, ah, ah.¡± The enemy leader couldn¡¯t even formte a proper reply, merely nodding over and over. Kim Hyeong-Jun pped him on the back and told him to get going. The enemy leader¡¯s underlings stood still, staring nkly at Mood-Swinger and Kim Hyeong-Jun. It seemed like the enemy leader had ordered them to stop moving after recognizing that any resistance was futile and would only get on his adversary¡¯s nerves. Mood-Swinger sucked his finger as he stared at the motionless zombies. It seemed like he was contemting on whether or not he should continue ¡®whacking the moles¡¯ or not. Kim Hyeong-Jun shed him a hearty smile. ¡°Mood-Swinger, keep an eye on them. Catch the ones that move. Those are the moles.¡± ¡°Arnold!¡± Mood-Swinger replied happily, shing a hearty smile. The enemy leader headed east, and Kim Hyeong-Jun followed. After a moment, he heard the sound of something copsing about five hundred meters ahead of them. Feeling suspicious, Kim Hyeong-Jun grabbed the enemy leader by the cor. ¡°Are we near the industrialplex?¡± he asked. ¡°Oh, no, no. We still have a long way to go.¡± ¡°Then what was that sound?¡± ¡°I-I don¡¯t know. I really don''t know...¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun frowned and red at him, but the enemy leader merely shrugged, looking as though he were about to burst into tears at any moment. Kim Hyeong-Jun recognized that the enemy leader was clueless as to what that sound had been. He spat on the floor as if unhappy with the unexpected situation, and peered carefully toward where the sound hade from. After a moment, he was able to spot a purple figure shing through the darkness. Feeling relieved, Kim Hyeong-Jun finally rxed. ¡°Ahjussi!¡± he shouted at the top of his lungs. The figure that was making its way through the zombies stopped. It was Lee Hyun-Deok. * * * I tilted my head and arched my eyebrows as I noticed Kim Hyeong-Jun. I was pretty sure that I had told him to conceal himself at the rental carpany. I had no clue why he was all the way out here. Grrr¡­ A zombie with only its upper body crawled over, letting out a throat-rending cry. After I smashed its skull, I went over to Kim Hyeong-Jun. ¡°Why are you here? What about the rental carpany?¡± I asked. ¡°I¡¯ll exin in a moment. But just like you said, ahjussi, the Hounds are nning something against us.¡± I looked at him, waiting for him to exin further, and he filled me in on what had happened a little while ago. After hearing the whole story, I smacked my lips and looked at the red-eyed zombie next to Kim Hyeong-Jun. ¡°So you¡¯re saying that this fellow is leading you to the Northeast Gang?¡± I asked with a sigh. ¡°That¡¯s right, ahjussi. The question is, what are you doing here, ahjussi?¡± ¡°I was going through the hotel and the surrounding buildings, and I thought I might as well replenish some of my underlings while clearing up some more zombies.¡± ¡°And you¡¯re creating all this ruckus just to do that?¡± ¡°Well, I have to be loud in order to draw the Northeast Gang out. But it¡¯s been quiet so far.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun smiled and pped my forearm. "Ahjussi, you¡¯re quite the macho man sometimes, you know?¡± he said with a smirk. ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°I bet you¡¯ve been wanting to kill zombies for so long. I can tell.¡± I shook my head and let out a sigh. Noting my resigned expression, Kim Hyeong-Jun cleared his throat. ¡°Anyway, how many underlings have you recruited?¡± he asked. ¡°Eighty.¡± ¡°And you¡¯re recruiting underlings¡­ Because of the ck creature, right?¡± ¡°It¡¯d be good for you to get more underlings as well. You know, just in case.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun didn¡¯t really take what I¡¯d said seriously and continued to speak. ¡°Well, if we take care of the Northeast Gang¡¯s headquarters, we¡¯ll get their officers as well as their lieutenants. It¡¯ll be a piece of cake to recruit new underlings then.¡± The enemy leader next to Kim Hyeong-Jun howled at the top of his lungs, his eyes bulging out of his head. ¡°I-I thought you were going to spare me!¡± he yelled. ¡°Oh! What the hell! You surprised me! Why¡¯d you scream?¡± asked Kim Hyeong-Jun in annoyance. The enemy leader burst into tears. ¡°You, you said you were going to spare me earlier!¡± he cried, sobbing. ¡°Why did you just say that you¡¯re going to kill everyone?!¡± ¡°No, I only said that I¡¯d spare you. When did I ever say that I¡¯d spare the officers there as well?¡± "Well, I-I''m one of the lieutenants." Kim Hyeong-Jun scratched his head and frowned in annoyance, then looked over at me. I sighed and addressed the enemy leader. ¡°Okay. Just shut up and take the lead so we can get going.¡± Chapter 186 Chapter 186 It would¡¯ve been better if the enemy leader had stayed quiet. The enemy leader was basically asking to be killed by revealing himself to be one of the lieutenants. Of course, I was still considering killing him, whether he was a lieutenant or not. The enemy leader led us to Hwabuk Industrial Complex, and I could immediately sense the presence of other beings in the building a hundred meters in front of us. I could hear footsteps as well as the cries of zombies. The world we were in was surprisingly quiet, and so the smallest and tiniest sounds could be detected across long distances. While the two of us had our eyes on theplex, the enemy leader, who had regenerated both arms, took small, quiet steps backward. ¡°So um¡­ Can I go now?¡± he asked. Kim Hyeong-Jun frowned. "Where are you going?¡± he asked. ¡°You need to tell us where the boss is.¡± The enemy leader¡¯s jaw quivered. ¡°Every¡ªeveryone should be in the building over there,¡± he replied. ¡°Then, if I may¡­¡± ¡°Are you breaking your promise right now? Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re breaking your promise right now.¡± "Pardon? I-I kept my promise! I led you two all the way here!¡± ¡°I told you to lead me to where the boss is; when did I ask you to stop after leading me here?¡± ¡°Oh, no, no. I¡¯ll really, really die if I do that! If hyung-nim finds out, I¡¯m dead meat for sure!¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun scratched his sideburns and looked over at me. ¡°What do you think we should do, ahjussi?¡± ¡°You know, you can be really evil sometimes.¡± "Me? How?" I grimaced. ¡°I feel bad for that guy. You know, you could just kill him so that he can rest in peace.¡± The enemy leader¡¯s face turned blue. He knew I¡¯d just proimed that he should die immediately, so that we could be on our way without wasting any more time. I looked him in the eye. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but your life ends here. Live your next life well.¡± The enemy leader grabbed Kim Hyeong-Jun by the cor. ¡°Hey, hey! You fucking bastard! You said you¡¯d spare me!¡± I wondered if he realized that hitting Kim Hyeong-Jun would do absolutely nothing. He began to curse and hurl vulgarities, but it was no use. After the enemy leader stopped screaming, Kim Hyeong-Jun grimaced. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I¡¯m sure you understand that when you get orders from above, the people below follow. I hope that rings a bell.¡± ¡°You fucking bastards!¡± The enemy leader shoved Kim Hyeong-Jun aside, his eyes bulging out of their sockets. He turned toward the North Hwabuk Industrial Complex. "Hyung-nim! Run away!¡± he yelled. Kim Hyeong-Jun closed the distance between himself and the enemy leader. ¡°Yeah, nope. No one¡¯s getting away.¡± He silenced him by breaking his neck. At the same time, I gritted my teeth as steam rose from my body. ¡°GAAA!¡± My blue eyes shed as I elerated my blood cirction. The muscle fibers all over my body contracted tightly like Venom¡¯s.[1] In moments, two red-eyed zombies came out from Hwabuk Industrial Complex, escorted by some zombies. They¡¯d probably been drawn out by the enemy leader¡¯s scream, and hade out to investigate. This was good news for us. Bang!! Iunched myself from the ground and crashed toward them like a roaring wave. The officers of the Northeast Gang quickly hid themselves behind their underlings. I assumed they knew about the ck creature, and that the ck creature had blue eyes. Just as Kim Dae-Young had been surprised after noticing my eyes, I figured these enemies would also be surprised, and that they would figure out their fate sooner orter. Their fate that seeing a pair of blue eyes meant death. I locked my eyes on the back of the escaping enemy leader¡¯s head and pushed my way through the zombies like a bulldozer. ¡°You fucking monster!¡± came a voice from my right. I quickly turned, my blue eyes shing. A red-eyed zombie had thrown a fist at me. But this zombie was too slow. So slow, in fact, that I almost yawned. I shifted, pivoting on my left foot and slipping close to the approaching zombie, and punched him in the sr plexus. Crack! I could feel his ribs shatter beneath my fist. My punch made its way deeper into his flesh, boring a hole through his body and eventually reaching his spine. I grabbed his spine without the slightest hesitation and pulled it out as hard as I could. My eyes bore witness to this cruel and terrifying sight. The smell of iron filled my nose. At that moment, I wondered if I could still consider myself as someone who still possessed a shred of humanity. But I knew one thing for sure; there was no going back for me, nor could I go back. I had already made up my mind that I would be a monster, if that were what it took to ensure the safety of the Survivor Rally Organization. A long shadow fell over me, blocking the moonlight for a second. Kim Hyeong-Jun had leaped over the zombies that were blocking the road, angling straight for the boss of the Northeast Gang. I swung the spine in my hand like a whip to keep the zombies around me from getting closer as I nced down at the ground and stomped on the enemy leader¡¯s neck. With that, the red light in its eyes disappeared, and the zombies around me stopped moving at once, like robots that had suddenly lost power. Right after that, the underlings of the Northeast Gang¡¯s boss also stopped as well. When I looked over at where Kim Hyeong-Jun had gone, I saw him walking toward me with the head of the boss of the Northeast Gang in his hands. Once he got closer, he blew his nose. ¡°I guess that¡¯s it?¡± he asked. I looked around and nodded slowly. I turned my gaze to the sun rising in the distance. ¡°Let¡¯s go back.¡± * * * When we got back to Hotel L, the members of the Survivor Rally Organization had already begun their day, helping out the people of the Jeju Defense Unit to discharge their respective duties in their respective areas. The moment he saw us, Lee Jeong-Uk put down the documents he was looking at and came running over to me and Kim Hyeong-Jun. ¡°Did you spend all night cleaning up the hotel?¡± ¡°No. We cleaned up Jeju City.¡± "Huh?" ¡°We cleaned up the Northwest and Northeast Gangs.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s eyes went wide, and he gave us a dumbfounded expression. Then Kim Hyeong-Jun smiled and showed him the heads of the enemy leaders. Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s mouth fell open, and he was silent for a while. After a moment, he pulled himself together and desperately called for Heo Seong-Min, who was at the entrance of Hotel L. Heo Seong-Min, who was busy assigning people to their respective groups, immediately stopped what he was doing and ran over. As he was catching his breath, he noticed the heads that Kim Hyeong-Jun was holding, and he looked at us in disbelief. ¡°Is that head perhaps¡­?¡± "Yeah, it¡¯s what you¡¯re thinking. These are the heads of the Northeast Gang boss and his lieutenants.¡± Heo Seong-Min swallowed as he stared at the heads of the enemy leaders again in disbelief. It seemed like he knew their faces. ¡°Yes, yes, it¡¯s them!¡± he stammered in shock. ¡°These bastards, it was these bastards! These are the ones we saw in Songnanpo-gu.¡± ¡°I guess we got the right ones then.¡± "What exactly happenedst night¡­?¡± ¡°All of you here can continue living like nothing happened,¡± I said calmly, reluctant to share the details. ¡°Leave the zombies'' problems to the zombies.¡± I gave a small nod and headed to the hotel lobby. Heo Seong-Min was still standing where he was, in shock. Lee Jeong-Uk ced a hand on his shoulder. ¡°Leave the zombies to him,¡± he said. ¡°Let¡¯s do whatever we can do to help.¡± ¡°Ah. Yes!¡± The two returned to their original tasks, trying their best to hold back their excitement. They could sense that a bright future was just within their grasp. As I entered the lobby of Hotel L, I checked on how Do Han-Sol and Jeong Jin-Young were doing. However, neither of them showed any signs of regaining consciousness just yet. Of course, the amount of time they¡¯d be sleeping depended on the strength they possessed and the type of brains they had eaten. I knew it would take Jeong Jin-Young a while, and since Do Han-Sol ate four at once, I assumed that we¡¯d have to wait at least another day for him to wake up. Kim Hyeon-Jun checked on them as well, then approached me ¡°What should we do, ahjussi?¡± he asked. ¡°If we fall asleep, there won¡¯t be anyone to defend the survivors.¡± ¡°We have Mr. Kim Dae-Young.¡± ¡°We do¡­ but¡­ What if the ck creaturees while we¡¯re asleep? Right now, we¡¯re just assuming that the ck creature went to Seogwipo. We both know that that might not be the case.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but sigh. I wasn¡¯t sure what to do. I couldn¡¯t let the enemy leader¡¯s head go to waste, but at the same time, I didn¡¯t feelfortable eating it. At that moment, I suddenly remembered the method Hwang Deok-Rok and Choi Soo-Hyun had employed in the past. When I came across them at the Konkuk University Station, they had covered themselves with perfume. The smell of perfume was effective in keeping the zombies away, which allowed them to mask their presence from the zombies temporarily. As soon as I organized my thoughts, I went over to Hwang Deok-Rok and Choi Soo-Hyun. The two of them were checking the supplies with Park Gi-Cheol. ¡°Mr. Hwang Deok-Rok.¡± Hwang Deok-Rok put down the papers he was holding and looked back at me. ¡°Ah, Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok. Did you want to ask me something?¡± He seemed busy, so I went straight to the point. ¡°Do you happen to have any perfume left?¡± Hwang Deok-Rok tilted his head. ¡°Perfume?¡± he answered quickly. ¡°Hmm, I¡¯m not sure. I don¡¯t remember having any of it thest time we moved.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t happen to have any? You didn¡¯t see any when you checked the supplies?¡± ¡°Unfortunately, I didn¡¯t. If I remember correctly, we were already out of perfume when we got together with Shelter Silence.¡± I sighed and nodded. I wondered if I should head to Jeju City to find a perfume shop, or if it would be better to head back to Jeju Airport and check the duty-free stores. At the same time, though, I wondered how long the perfume wouldst if I sprayed it all over the hotel. On top of that, it was also dangerous for the survivors to go outside every hour to spray perfume. After examining it thoroughly, the only conclusion I coulde to was that using perfume would not be that helpful for this many people, and that it was only useful when a small number of people wanted to move stealthily. I knew I had to think of some other way¡­ But at that moment, I just couldn¡¯t think of one. As I was lost in thought, I heard Kim Hyeong-Jun speak up. "Ahjussi." "What?" ¡°You should eat all of them, ahjussi.¡± "No, that¡¯s not an option.¡± I answered without the slightest hesitation. I knew it had been quite a while since he¡¯d eaten any brains. This meant that he might lose control over his zombie instincts at any time. It felt like we could hold on longer when we had red eyes, but after our eyes turned blue, the duration seemed to have gotten shorter. The stronger we became, the more zombie-like we became, and the human side of us was whittling away, little by little. Kim Hyeong-Jun grimaced and thought for a brief moment before speaking again. ¡°Well, even if you eat all three of them, you¡¯ll wake up in a day, ahjussi. In fact, it might not even take a day for you.¡± "No. And if that''s the case, I think I¡¯d rather you eat them." ¡°I¡¯m okay, ahjussi. Don¡¯t you trust me? Even if the ck creaturees, as long as I have Mood-Swinger and Ji-Eun, I¡¯ll be able tost for at least an hour or two. Besides, I can eat the brains of the ones in Seogwipo.¡± ¡°What if the ck creature had already eaten the ones in Seogwipo?¡± As we traded hypotheticals, Kim Dae-Young, who had been listening in quietly, came up to us. He hesitated a little, scratching his sideburns, but he eventually spoke up. "Sorry to bother you two¡­ But I¡¯ve been listening to what the two of you have been saying.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°I¡¯ll do my best to guard this ce. Trust me, and go ahead and eat the brains.¡± ¡°We can¡¯t deal with this ck creature,¡± I said in a serious tone. ¡°And if its eyes have turned ck¡­. It would mean instant death on contact.¡± Kim Dae-Young grimaced. ¡°Well, I don¡¯t think there¡¯s any other way. If the ck creature shows up, I''ll make sure to drag out the fight, even if that costs me my life. I want you two to eat the brains.¡± I stared at his face as I contemted what he was saying. He was being naive, because he had never experienced how overwhelming the ck creature was. I couldn¡¯t forget the way it moved, hiding in the dark and hunting down its prey. It was truly traumatic. In addition, even when Kim Hyeong-Jun and I had fought it together, we were still no match for it. It was superior in every aspect; mobility, power, and stamina. As I continued to ponder the matter, Kim Hyeong-Jun pped me on the back. When I looked at him in surprise, he smiled. ¡°Ahjussi, sometimes if you can¡¯te up with an answer, the right thing is to take action,¡± he said. ¡°...¡± ¡°And besides, Kim Dae-Young is one of us now. Wouldn¡¯t it be better to eat the brains quickly and regain our consciousness more quickly, rather than waste time like this?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but sigh because I knew he was right. The Survivor Rally Organization had made it this far by taking action first when we didn¡¯t have a suitable n. Perhaps we¡¯d be able toe up with a nter down the road. With that, I slicked my hair back and looked out the window. In the distance, the morning sun was peeking over the horizon. As I watched the sunrise, I felt reassured to go along with his n, since the ck creature had never shown up in broad daylight before. I nodded. ¡°You eat the brain of the boss of the Northeast Gang,¡± I said. ¡°Okay, then you eat the remaining two, ahjussi.¡± ¡°You¡¯ll wake up first. When you wake up, don¡¯t make any hasty moves, but work on defense. If the ck creature appears, don''t fight it. Just work with Mood-Swinger to distract it.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun nodded and handed me two heads. I looked over at Kim Dae-Young. ¡°Where is the tallest building around here?¡± I asked him. ¡°If we¡¯re only considering building heights, this one is the tallest.¡± ¡°Make sure that nobody goes outside today. As for you, survey the surroundings from the top floor. Don¡¯t go outside no matter what, since we are what the ck creature wants.¡± "Got it! I¡¯ll keep that in mind.¡± Kim Dae-Young nodded vigorously. With that, I headed to the pantry with Kim Hyeong-Jun. I saw a dusty coffee pot and water purifier. It seemed like the Jeju Defense Unit didn¡¯t use the pantry. I then took a deep breath and ate the two brains in front of me. Even if it were just a nap, I¡¯d at least be able to sleep like a baby for the first time in a while. 1. Venom is aic book character by Marvel Comics with superhuman powers. ? Chapter 187 Chapter 187 Kim Dae-Young followed Lee Hyun-Deok¡¯s orders, sealing every door and banning the survivors from going out for the day. No one raised an objection to this since Lee Hyun-Deok and Kim Hyeong-Jun were like saviors to the Jeju Defense Unit, having taken care of the officers of the Northwest Gang and the Northeast Gang as soon as they had arrived on Jeju Ind. In fact, the Jeju Defense Unit took the lead in locking all the doors and examining every window. Fortunately, this curfew period became a time for the Survivor Rally Organization and the Jeju Defense Unit to catch up with their families after a long time. The Jeju Defense Unit opened their supplies, which had been thoroughly managed, and handed out a little bit of the ramyeon and canned tuna that they had stocked up. Since they had to feed six hundred people, though, it ended up being an enormous amount of food. Park Hye-In, who was managing the food, seemed rather disappointed at the amount of food that was disappearing, but Heo Seong-Min held her hand tightly to reassure her. ¡°The Survivor Rally Organization brought seeds for nting,¡± she said. ¡°Once Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok and Mr. Kim Hyeong-Jun wake up, we¡¯ll be able to start farming.¡± Park Hye-In was surprised by this news. She calmed herself down, then asked Heo Seong-Min, "Then¡­ Then can we plow our fields, grow rice, and live like we used to?¡± "Of course. And they¡¯ll clean up all the zombies outside as well.¡± Park Hye-In teared up and hugged Heo Seong-Min. His eyes also turned red, and he couldn¡¯t help but smile gently. As the two hugged each other, many othersforted them and made jokes to lighten up the atmosphere. Lee Jeong-Hyuk and Choi Da-Hye joined in as well. Heo Seong-Min sniffed and smiled happily, then stood up. "Everyone! Let¡¯s eat to the point we can¡¯t eat anymore and work hard again tomorrow!¡± "Let¡¯s go!" All the survivors cheered and apuded as they began to enjoy the time they had. Both the members of the Survivor Rally Organization and Jeju Defense Unit mingled together as they sat around and enjoyed the food. It seemed like they were growing closer to one another. However, there was one person¡ªone person who couldn''t blend in with the rest. Lee Jeong-Uk leaned against the wall alone as he watched the others, his eyes clouded with emotion. After a moment, his head sagged, and he quietly slipped away to the pantry. He saw Lee Hyun-Deok and Kim Hyeong-Jun fast asleep. In fact, both of them were in such a deep sleep that they probably wouldn¡¯t even wake up if someone had piggybacked them and took them somewhere else. Lee Jeong-Uk looked around the pantry, but eventually wiped off the dust from a chair in the corner and sat down. He looked at Lee Hyun-Deok. ¡°I hope you¡¯re not having a nightmare,¡± he said in a rather weak voice. He knew he wouldn¡¯t get a reply, but he didn¡¯t care, and continued to speak. ¡°So-yeon¡¯s dad, am I the weird one?¡± In contrast to his soft voice and thin smile, his eyes were about to tear up. ¡°I don¡¯t know why I feel sad when¡­ when other people have smiles on their faces.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk let out a deep sigh and took out a crumpled photo from his chest pocket. In the photo, Lee Jeong-Uk was wearing the brightest smile, standing with his wife and his newborn, who couldn¡¯t even walk. He snorted and continued with his monologue. ¡°I remember, on days like this, my wife would rush over to me with a can of beer in her hand. Everything else seems hazy, but that can of beer¡­ Geez¡­¡± Lee Jeong-Uk wet his parched lips as he ran his finger over the faces of his wife and daughter in the photo. ¡°Oh, did I ever tell you that my wife really likes beer? I mean, she really liked it. We¡¯d drink everything while talking about serious stuff,ughing together, and have a good time together. And this one time¡­¡± Lee Jeong-Uk sat in the chair in the pantry and continued to share his memories one by one as if flipping through Proid photos, despite the fact that no one was listening. He could never reveal his weakness to anyone since he was the leader of the Survivor Rally Organization. That person was someone who had to think about the others constantly and had to be strong in front of the survivors. This applied to Hwang Ji-Hye, and even to his younger brother, Lee Jeong-Hyuk. He couldn¡¯t and didn¡¯t share his feelings with Lee Hyun-Deok, the person who probably understood him best. He had always figured out a way to brush off the loneliness and sadness alone, while he kept his eyes on the future thaty ahead for the group. However, seeing Heo Seong-Min and Park Hye-In triggered the deep sense of longing he had for his missing loved ones, just like the day when Lee Jeong-Hyuk and Choi Da-Hye had gotten married. ¡°And I almost forgot. This one time, my wife¡­ So my wife was at work, right?¡± Lee Jeong-Uk couldn¡¯t bear to continue, and bit his lower lip instead. After that, he sniffed once, looked up at the ceiling, and sighed. The corners of his mouth trembled. He closed his eyes and furrowed his brow. His aching heart was throbbing beyond his control. He couldn¡¯t help but burst into tears because he missed his loved ones, because he couldn''t enjoy this time of fellowship, and because nothing in the world could fill up the emptiness within him. He grabbed his bangs with his hands, bit his lips, and sobbed. "You know that¡­ that these¡­ these days¡­ I can¡¯t stop myself from thinking that I feel dead yet happy at the same time. I know how much of a blessing it is that everyone trusts and follows me¡­ I know it¡¯s something that I shouldn¡¯t take for granted, and that I should be thankful for it¡­ But I just feel dead inside. It¡¯s like I¡¯m a happy corpse, or something.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk cried silently for a long time. The ragged, heaving breaths that he took every now and the way his shoulders trembled pitifully made him seem like the saddest person in the world. His crying was in stark contrast to the people outsideughing; it was a testament to the weight that he bore on his shoulders. Click. At that moment, the tightly-shut pantry door swung open and he heard a child¡¯s voice. ¡°Uncle¡­?¡± It was So-Yeon. Lee Jeong-Uk hurriedly wiped away his tears and sniffed. ¡°Ah, So-Yeon, why aren¡¯t you eating your ramyeon? Or have you already eaten?¡± "Uncle Jeong-Uk¡­ Are you crying?¡± "No! Why would uncle cry? Uncle didn¡¯t cry at all.¡± ¡°Uncle, why are you crying?¡± He wondered if she knew he was lying. She looked at him sadly. He put on a bright smile. ¡°Uncle wasn¡¯t crying, So-Yeon. No one was crying here.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t cry, uncle.¡± Tears began to brim in So-Yeon¡¯s eyes, and she burst into tears. She rushed over to Lee Jeong-Uk and hugged him. He burst intoughter and held So-Yeon in his arms. However, unlike the fake smile that he¡¯d put on, he felt a real kind of warmth, and he couldn¡¯t stop himself from tearing up as well. Lee Jeong-Uk remained silent as he held So-Yeon in his arms with his eyes closed. ¡°When uncle cries, I want to cry too,¡± said So-Yeon, who was sniffling in his arms. Every time she sniffed, Lee Jeong-Uk patted her on the back as he tried his best to soothe his aching heart. As he patted her, he looked at the photo clutched in his hand. He saw his wife and daughter beaming in it. However, So-Yeon¡¯s warmth and her sympathetic crying made Lee Jeong-Uk look away and focus on her instead. Lee Jeong-Uk put the photo he was holding back into his pocket and silently stroked So-Yeon¡¯s hair. He then looked up at the ceiling as if he had no other choice. ¡®Honey, I¡¯m sorry, but I think you¡¯re going to have to wait a bit more. Just until this child is all grown up.¡¯ Lee Jeong-Uk lifted So-Yeon and held her in his arms. He led them out of the pantry ¡®If you can wait for me until then¡­ I¡¯ll-I¡¯ll make sure to bring all your favorite beers when I go see you,¡¯ he thought silently. Lee Jeong-Uk took a deep breath and got himself together, then looked at So-Yeon. ¡°Is So-Yeon crying alone now?¡± he asked. ¡°Uncle¡¯spletely fine. In fact, I don¡¯t feel anything right now.¡± ¡°I saw you crying earlier, uncle.¡± "No, no! Uncle¡¯s sure that So-Yeon¡¯s mistaken. So I guess So-Yeon is a crybaby?¡± "No! I didn''t cry either." So-Yeon wiped her tears away with her right hand and jutted her lower lip out. Lee Jeong-Ukughed heartily and pinched her cheek gently. ¡°How did you know uncle was here?¡± he asked. ¡°I saw youe this way alone, so I stopped eating and followed you.¡± ¡°Oh no, so you didn¡¯t even get to finish your ramyeon because of me? Shall we go and eat together?¡± ¡°Yes!" she said with augh. She immediately beamed at the word ¡®ramyeon¡¯ as if she had forgotten that she had been crying just a few seconds ago, and wrapped her arms around Lee Jeong-Uk. Lee Jeong-Uk cradled So-Yeon in his arms as he led her back to the group. * * * It was nine o''clock. The sun had already set a while back. Kim Hyeong-Jun slowly awoke in the pantry, massaging his stiff neck. His nose itched at the smell of ramyeon that hit him as he exited the pantry. From the hotel lobby and all the way to the restaurant, there were countless people gathered, chatting away. As Kim Hyeong-Jun stared nkly at the scene in front of him, his wife waved at him from within the crowd, gesturing to him to go over. He walked toward his wife as he yawned and rubbed his eyes. She was sitting next to the Lee brothers, Choi Da-Hye, and Park Gi-Cheol. When Park Gi-Cheol saw Kim Hyeong-Jun, he burst outughing. ¡°Did someone get a good nap or what?¡± "It''s been a while since I slept... My mind is still hazy. But apart from that, why is everyone down here on the first floor?¡± ¡°Heo Seong-Min and Park Hye-In opened their stockpiles inmemoration of cleaning up Jeju City.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun went nk for a second, but then nodded slowly. ¡°Oh¡­¡± Inmemoration of cleaning up Jeju City. He knew that they weren¡¯t aware of the ck creature¡¯s existence. He assumed that, even if they knew its existence, they¡¯d only be thinking about the one in Jeju Ind, which had blue eyes. To Kim Hyeong-Jun, it seemed like everyone here believed that things were working out in their favor. Kim Hyeong-Jun grimaced as his gaze drifted toward the pantry. Lee Hyun-Deok was still fast asleep, and Do Han-Sol and Jeong Jin-Young, who were in the corner, showed no signs of waking either. He rotated his stiff shoulders. ¡°Is anyone upstairs?¡± he asked. ¡°Mr. Kim Dae-Young should be on the roof.¡± It seemed like Kim Dae-Young was following Lee Hyun-Deok¡¯s request exactly, keeping an eye on the surroundings of the L Hotel. Lee Jeong-Uk, who was beside Park Gi-Cheol, spoke up. ¡°Mr. Kim Hyeong-Jun.¡± ¡°Feel free to speak informally. You¡¯re older than me, and it¡¯s not like we¡¯re in a meeting right now, right?¡± "Haha! You¡¯re right, okay then.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun scratched his forehead and smiled softly as he looked at Lee Jeong-Uk. Lee Jeong-Uk scraped the remaining bits of tuna off his te, then asked his question. ¡°What do you n on doing after cleaning up the remaining zombies in Jeju City? Are you going to Seogwipo?¡± ¡°Well, we haven¡¯t set any ns yet.¡± ¡°So-Yeon¡¯s dad didn¡¯t tell you either?¡± The question made Kim Hyeong-Jun look closely at his face. Lee Jeong-Uk looked back at him, his gaze not wavering in the slightest. Kim Hyeong-Jun felt like he was pressuring him to spill the tea, as if he knew everything. Kim Hyeong-Jun couldn¡¯t help but scratch his sideburns and avoid his gaze. It seemed like he was trying to feel him out while Lee Hyun-Deok was still asleep. Kim Hyeong-Jun realized that Lee Jeong-Uk would know what was going on, no matter how well they tried to keep their secret. Based on his experience so far, it seemed like his instincts were telling him that something rted to the ck creature was probably happening behind the scenes. To be frank, letting Lee Jeong-Uk in on what was happening wouldn¡¯t be a problem. He wasn¡¯t the type of person to go around spreading rumors. However, if it happened to reach one of the survivors, it wouldpletely destroy the harmonious atmosphere that they were currently sharing. If Lee Jeong-Uk showed any hint of difort or deep thought, the leaders around him would start asking questions. Kim Hyeong-Jun knew better than anyone that there was no such thing as a perfect lie in this world, and that no liested forever. The truth always came out in the wrong ce and at the wrong time, contrary to one¡¯s intention. But he knew that right now¡­ That moment wasn¡¯t and shouldn¡¯t be that day. Even Kim Hyeong-Jun didn¡¯t want the harmonious atmosphere to be shattered into pieces. He sighed and smacked his lips, but it didn¡¯t take him long to reply. ¡°We decided to look for some farnd after cleaning up Jeju City. We assume that we¡¯d have gone through our stockpile of food by the end of winter. That''s all Hyun-Deok ahjussi told me.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk nodded. "Hmm¡­ Is that all?¡± He looked at the food on the floor. It seemed like he didn¡¯t like the answer Kim Hyeong-Jun had given him. He started chewing on some peanuts, then looked Kim Hyeong-Jun straight in the eyes. Kim Hyeong-Jun had tried to beat his way around the bush, but Lee Jeong-Uk went straight to the point. ¡°What did you decide to do with the ck creature?¡± Chapter 188 Chapter 188 After listening to Lee Jeong-Uk, Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s expression grew serious. "Well, of course we¡¯ll deal with the ck creature. If Hyun-Deok ahjussi and I move against it at the same time, we¡¯re sure we can defeat it.¡± "Are you sure?" ¡°Oh, yes. Of course.¡± ¡°I heard that its eyes were blue just a month ago. You don¡¯t know if they¡¯ve changed color or not, do you?¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun grimaced at the onught of questions from Lee Jeong-Uk. ¡°Thest ck creature we ran across in Seoul had ck eyes. Did we lose then?¡± ¡°...¡± "You don¡¯t need to worry,¡± said Kim Hyeong-Jun with a faint smile as he tried to calm Lee Jeong-Uk down. The people from the Survivor Rally Organization thought that Kim Hyeong-Jun and Lee Hyun-Deok had taken care of the ck creature they had encountered in Seoul. However, that wasn¡¯t the truth. They didn¡¯t know anything about the second officer of the Family and the countless dong leaders that the ck creature had wiped out. Even though Lee Jeong-Uk sensed something amiss, he didn¡¯t follow up with any other questions, since there was nothing concrete to his suspicions. ¡°Ugh¡­¡± At that moment, Do Han-Sol groaned from his bed as he awoke. Kim Hyeong-Jun quickly took the chance to get up and walked over to Do Han-Sol. ¡°How are you feeling?¡± he asked. Do Han-Sol looked around at everyone gathered in the lobby in surprise, then looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun. "Huh? What¡¯s this? Why is everyone here?¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun smiled. ¡°Would it be sufficient to say that we¡¯re promoting friendship between the Survivor Rally Organization and the Jeju Defense Unit? But aside from that, how are you feeling? Do you feel like anything¡¯s wrong with your body?¡± "Oh, yes. No, there isn¡¯t anything wrong with my body.¡± ¡°What about your physical abilities?¡± ¡°I think they¡¯ve improved.¡± ¡°Can you tell where your underlings are in your head?¡± Do Han-Sol stared at the ceiling and spaced out for a moment. After a while, he spoke again. ¡°The brains I ate¡­ They belonged to the Northwest Gang¡¯s scouts¡­ right?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. Why?" ¡°All of my underlings seem to be in the northwest.¡± It seemed like the four brains he had eaten were the brains of the Northwest Gang¡¯s scouts. That meant that Jeong Jin-Young had eaten the brains of the Northwest Gang¡¯s officers and the Northeast Gang¡¯s scouts. That told Kim Hyeong-Jun that Jeong Jin-Young would be sleeping like the dead for at least the next three days. Kim Hyeong-Jun nodded and called out to Lee Jeong-Uk, who was behind him. ¡°Mr. Lee Jeong-Uk! Han-Sol and I are heading outside for a bit.¡± "At this time? Where are you going?¡± ¡°We¡¯ll go figure out where his underlings are and do a little patrol of the area outside.¡± ¡°Are you sure that¡¯s okay? So-Yeon¡¯s dad told everyone to stay inside.¡± "It should be okay. Besides, Hyun-Deok ahjussi should wake up soon as well.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun went outside with Do Han-Sol, smiling heartily. He knew that, if he¡¯d stayed in the lobby any longer, he¡¯d have had to talk some more about the ck creature. As the two of them peered into the darkness, Kim Hyeong-Jun looked over at Do Han-Sol. ¡°You know where the Northwest Gang is located, right?¡± ¡°Yes, I can tell where my underlings are in my head. I think I just have to follow this road. Where are you nning to go, Mr. Kim Hyeong-Jun?¡± ¡°I have to go get my underlings as well. I ate the brain of one of the Northeast Gang officers.¡± "Huh? When?¡± "This morning." Do Han-Sol¡¯s eyes went wide as he ran his gaze over Kim Hyeong-Jun from top to bottom. ¡°But you¡¯re up already?¡± he asked in amazement. ¡°Hey, you¡¯re the one who woke up after just one day after eating four brains. That¡¯s more amazing.¡± ¡°Well¡­ They were just weaklings,¡± Do Han-Sol said with a sheepish smile. Kim Hyeong-Jun returned the smile. ¡°That¡¯s still pretty impressive. Anyway, check on your underlings. See if there are any other movements around the region where the Northwest Gang was and thene back.¡± ¡°Got it. What do you want me to do afterward?¡± ¡°Come back to the hotel, of course¡­ Oh, shoot! Wait a second.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun snapped his fingers as if he¡¯d just remembered something he¡¯d forgotten. ¡°How many underlings can you have now?¡± "Let¡¯s see¡­ I think my limit is seventeen hundred.¡± Back in Seoul, his control only extended to a thousand and fifty underlings. His control had increased to fifteen hundred after eating the brain of the boss of the Family, and now, with the brains of the four scouts, it had increased to seventeen hundred. He was going through tremendous growth in a short period of time. Kim Hyeong-Jun quietly rubbed his chin. ¡®The Northwest scouts¡­ Each one of them had six to seven hundred underlings. Does this mean there must be at least two thousand four hundred zombies at their headquarters?¡± Since Do Han-Sol only had two hundred underlings before eating the four brains, he must have regained all of his underlings at once. The remaining nine hundred zombies who didn''t be his underlings would have turned into street zombies by now. The remaining nine hundred underlings... They¡¯d lost their chain ofmand, and had probably turned into street zombies because of the limit to the number of zombies that Do Han-Sol could control¡­ which meant that all of them were ready to mutate into stage-one mutants. The moment he got to this conclusion, Kim Hyeong-Jun gasped and touched his forehead with his right hand. Do Han-Sol, who had observed his sudden gasp after a period of contemtion, tilted his head. ¡°Why? Is there a problem?¡± ¡°I have to go too.¡± "Pardon? I can head there on my own.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that. Let¡¯s just go!¡± said Kim Hyeong-Jun with a note of urgency. Do Han-Sol nodded unwillingly and headed off to the Northwest Gang¡¯s location. Kim Hyeong-Jun furrowed his brow and clicked his tongue vigorously. It had btedly urred to him that Do Han-Sol¡¯s return to consciousness meant that the zombies that had been standing still would have begun to move again. Among them were nine hundred that were ready to mutate into stage-one mutants. The moment they ate each other and left the enemy base¡­ There¡¯d be mutants all over Jeju Ind. Kim Hyeong-Jun couldn¡¯t believe that it hadn¡¯t urred to him earlier. He med himself for not thinking the situation through as they made their way toward the Northwest Gang¡¯s base. They got to the base as quickly as they could, without stopping along the way. As they reached it, they heard zombies¡¯ criesing from the EMart. Kim Hyeong-Jun felt a weight in his chest. It seemed like the zombies that were ready to mutate had already begun to fight. Kim Hyeong-Jun pointed to the front entrance of the Northwest Gang¡¯s base. ¡°Go through the front door!¡± he shouted to Do Han-Sol. "Got it!¡± Steam rose from Do Han-Sol¡¯s body as he charged toward the front door. He ran in, red eyes shing. The inside situation had already descended into total chaos. His green-colored underlings were fighting tooth and nail against the zombies that had already mutated. There were several zombies that had morphed into spheres as well. Kim Hyeong-Jun entered through the back door and started mercilessly attacking the zombies that weren¡¯t Do Han-Sol¡¯s. When he saw Kim Hyeong-Jun go on the offensive, Do Han-Sol quickly snapped back to his senses and gave orders to his underlings as he rushed toward the other zombies. ¡®Kill all the zombies here! We can''t let a single one of them mutate.¡¯ GRRR!!! His underlings let out their throat-rending noises at once, and started fighting the zombies with all they had. As Do Han-Sol moved through the first floor, Kim Hyeong-Jun locked the back door and headed straight to the second floor. The situation on the second floor was no different from that of the first floor; it was full of zombies all tangled up together, engaged in hand-to-handbat. Kim Hyeobg-Jun saw three spheres that were already wriggling. His blue eyes shed as he ran toward the spheres. He quickly destroyed the stage-one mutants before they had the chance to emerge. KIAAA!!! At that moment, he heard a mutant cry from above. ''There¡¯s more mutants? And there¡¯s a third floor?¡¯ When he¡¯d tackled the base earlier on, he¡¯d only wiped out the first and second floors. He hadn¡¯t checked the third floor. Now that he thought about it, it made sense, since they had gathered all of their forces in this ce. Kim Hyeong-Jun made a beeline for the third floor. The stage-one mutants were gorging themselves on the zombies that weren¡¯t moving. These zombies seemed to be the underlings belonging to the Northwest Gang officer and his lieutenants. In other words, they were zombies that were soon to be Jeong Jin-Young¡¯s underlings. Kim Hyeong-Jun channeled strength into his arms and rushed toward the mutants. The stage-one mutants btedly noticed his approach, and their dozens of eyes rolled about in their sockets as they rushed toward him. Fortunately, these mutants didn¡¯t have anybat experience yet. And since they didn¡¯t have any data onbat, they had no fear toward beings with blue eyes. Kim Hyeong-Jun knew he had to get rid of them before they began to learn. Pow!! Kim Hyeong-Jun punched a mutant with his strengthened right arm, and its head exploded instantly, as if an artillery shell hadnded on its face. The other stage-one mutants quickly transitioned into a defensive stance, curling up by pulling their heads toward their chests. Mutants that had a lot of experience would¡¯ve chosen to run away after seeing his blue eyes, but since they had no clue as to how strong he was, they chose to continue the fight. Kim Hyeong-Jun ughtered the other mutants rapidly before the remaining ones began running away. Even though their bones were strongerpared to those of regr zombies, breaking their bones was nothing more than breaking a couple of pine boards to Kim Hyeong-Jun, who had blue eyes. He kept on going until he was down to thest one. Thest mutant finally realized that it stood no chance and ran toward the window. Grasp! Kim Hyeong-Jun quickly grabbed its neck from behind, hauling its body back inside and throwing it to the floor. KIAAA!!! It let out a scream as its dozens of eyes rolled about in their sockets. Crack! Kim Hyeong-Jun stomped on its face without the slightest hesitation. Once he was done taking care of the third floor, he checked the fourth and fifth floors. Only then did he let out a sigh of relief. Now that he finally had the chance to do so, he sat down, panting. Up until this moment, he had only focused on the Hounds and the ck creature, and he had almost forgotten about the existence of mutants. He heard someone calling his name from the esctor. ¡°Mr. Kim Hyeong-Jun, Mr. Kim Hyeong-Jun!¡± He made his way over and saw Do Han-Sol walking up, drenched in zombie blood. ¡°Are you done with the first floor?¡± ¡°Yes. Did you clean up all the other floors?¡± ¡°Yeah, but I don¡¯t think we should leave the zombies here like this. The same thing will happen when Mr. Jeong Jin-Young wakes up.¡± "Then¡­ Should we build a zombie camp, like we did in Seoul?¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun nodded as he blew his nose. He used his clothes to wipe away the zombie blood on his face as he continued to speak. ¡°How many underlings do you have right now?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve reached my limit; I have seventeen hundred underlings.¡± ¡°Okay, so the rest of the zombies that aren¡¯t moving are the ones that were under the control of the Northwest Gang officer and his lieutenants, right?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun looked around and then back at Do Han-Sol. ¡°Since this is a hypermarket, there has to be something like rope somewhere. Find some and tie up all the zombies here. We¡¯ll clean up again once Mr. Jeong Jin-Young wakes up.¡± ¡°Got it.¡± Do Han-Sol went through the hypermarket to look for rope so that he could tie the zombies up, just as Kim Hyeong-Jun had told him. In the meantime, Kim Hyeong-Jun sat on the stairs and organized his thoughts. When Jeong Jin-Young was in Daegu, he didn''t have a single underling with him. It was only natural because he didn''t even know that he could recruit them. The number of underlings he could initially control was two hundred. Ever since he hade to Jeju Ind, though, he had eaten eight brains, which meant that he¡¯d be able to control six hundred underlings when he woke up. He would be able to control over five hundred underlings, which meant that he would grow a set of sharp teeth, and most importantly, be able to form an alliance with the rest of them. The only thing left to consider were the remaining zombies that would no longer be under anyone¡¯s control. The remaining zombies at this hypermarket used to be underlings of the Northwest Gang¡¯s officer and his lieutenants. Then the remaining five brains¡­ Kim Hyeong-Jun stood. ¡°The guys in front of the rental carpany,¡± he muttered to himself. When Jeong Jin-Young woke up, there¡¯d be thousands of zombies without any chain ofmand. It was dawning upon him just how important it would be to set up a zombie camp and get the zombies inside. He knew that they still had about two days before Jeong Jin-Young regained consciousness, but he also knew that the unexpected could always happen. When he came to a conclusion, he startedbing the hypermarket with Do Han-Sol. They quickly found the rope they were looking for, and the two of them hurriedly tied up the zombies by their waists and arms. Once they were finished, Do Han-Sol looked over at Kim Hyeong-Jun. ¡°Where would be a good ce to set up a camp?¡± he asked Kim Hyeong-Jun. ¡°Apartments are the easiest ces to manage. Did you happen to see any apartments nearby?¡± ¡°No. The area seems to be dominated by single-storey buildings, since the airport is nearby.¡± ¡°Then I guess there¡¯s only one ce we can use as a camp.¡± ¡°Where?¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun smiled as he checked the ropes. ¡°What do you mean, ¡®where¡¯? The notorious kid¡¯s prison. A school. Where else?¡± After making sure that the zombies were tightly tied up, Kim Hyeong-Jun took a deep breath. ¡°I saw a ce on the way here,¡± he said. ¡°Let''s head there for now.¡± "Got it." With that, the two of them led the zombies to the nearby school. Chapter 189 Chapter 189 Namnyeong High School. This was the name printed on the front gate of the school. It was a rectangr building with four floors, and the cafeteria and gym was located next to the main building. After Kim Hyeong-Jun confirmed that there weren¡¯t any survivors in the school, he pushed the zombies into an empty ssroom. He put one hundred and twenty zombies in each ssroom, taking up a total of fifteen ssrooms. In order to keep the zombies under control, Do Han-Sol ced four of his underlings in each ssroom as guards. Once they had more or less settled them in, Kim Hyeong-Jun turned to Do Han-Sol. ¡°We¡¯re done here, right?¡± he asked. ¡°Yes. What else do we have left to do?¡± ¡°We have to go to the rental carpany. We have to bring all the zombies that are there back here as well.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll go with you.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun nodded, and the two of them headed to the rental carpany. Kim Hyeong-Jun was able to recognize the surroundings and the shapes of the buildings more clearly this time,pared to before. Perhaps it was because the moon was shining more brightly. While Kim Hyeong-Jun made his way to the rental carpany, he tried to identify which of the buildings he passed could be useful in the future. Next to Namnyeong High School, which was being used as a zombie camp, was Jeju Ha Hospital. Perhaps they could get medical supplies or equipment from there if they ran out. One thing Kim Hyeong-Jun noticed was that Jeju City had a lot of hotels, living up to its reputation as a tourist destination. He could get the survivors extra nkets and pillows from these other hotels when the weather got colder. He also saw a couple of apartments on the way, but he simply decided to ignore them because it would be troublesome to relocate the zombie camp. Also, he waszy. He saw gas stations almost everywhere, so it seemed like they wouldn¡¯t face a problem with gasoline if they ever needed it urgently. He passed at least ten gas stations from the Northwest Gang¡¯s base to the rental carpany. Suddenly, Kim Hyeong-Jun stopped in his tracks and looked back. ''Wait. Gas stations?'' Do Han-Sol looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun, wondering why he had stopped. "Why, was there something behind us?¡± he asked. ¡°Han-Sol, go ahead and tie up the zombies first.¡± ¡°Where are you going off to again? What if you get caught by the ck creature?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be back before you know it. I¡¯m just going to go check out the gas station over there ande back, so wait for me.¡± Do Han-Sol raised his eyebrows and tilted his head when he heard him mention the gas station. Kim Hyeong-Jun said that he¡¯d exin everythingter and headed straight for the gas station. When he got there, he noted that there was plenty of gasoline left. Kim Hyeong-Jun assumed that, when the zombie virus spread across Jeju Ind, the survivors on the ind must¡¯ve been possessed by the idea of having to leave the ind. It would have only been natural for them to head straight to the airport or a port to leave the ind, and it would not have urred to them to loot a gas station. His assumption proved to be correct. After Kim Hyeong-Jun confirmed that there was plenty of gasoline left, he ran back to Do Han-Sol. ¡°Did you find what you needed?¡± asked Do Han-Sol. ¡°Yeah. Just give me one second,¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun answered vaguely. He walked over to the zombies that were now free from their chain ofmand. The soil they stood on top of was soft and easy to dig into. He didn¡¯t have to do any more analysis, since the Northeast gang lieutenant and his underlings had been able to dig into the ground in thirty minutes and bury themselves in it. Kim Hyeong-Jun continued to walk around, pressing his feet against the ground. Do Han-Sol, who had been eyeing him curiously, spoke up. ¡°What¡¯s this all about? Are you looking for coins or something? Don''t bezy and just help me.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s start digging here and make a trap.¡± "Huh?" Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s voice took on a note of confidence. ¡°For the ck creature, I mean. Let¡¯s dig a hole in the ground to trap it, pour oil on it, and finally burn it to ashes.¡± It was a rather simple problem, once he thought about it. The ck creature''s overwhelming power and mobility was threatening, but more terrifying was its regenerative ability. In other words, it had endurance and stamina like no other. Even if Kim Hyeong-Jun and Lee Hyun-Deok took turns fighting, there was no way they could keep up with the regenerative abilities of a ck creature with ck eyes. Since that was the case, Kim Hyeong-Jun had thought of the possibility of exhausting it; in other words, slowly weakening its limited regenerative power by burning it. That would give them a decent chance of winning, even if their opponent were a ck creature with ck eyes. All of this went through his head as he began to imagine the scenario in his mind. But Do Han-Sol, who had been waiting for him, sighed. ¡°Juste on and help me,¡± he said. ¡°Let''s hurry up and head back. We¡¯ve been out for so long already. What if we actually run into the ck creature? We don¡¯t even have Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok with us.¡± ¡°Okay, okay, Mr. Broken Recorder. I got you,¡± grumbled Kim Hyeong-Jun as he helped Do Han-Sol tie up the zombies. In all, they tied up over two thousand zombies. Kim Hyeong-Jun scratched his head with a troubled expression. He knew that it was a little much to bring all of these zombies back to Namnyeong High School. Do Han-Sol noted his expression and spoke up. ¡°There¡¯s a school between the airport and Hotel L. Should we go there?¡± he offered. ¡°Between the airport and hotel? Wouldn¡¯t that be too close to the hotel? I don¡¯t know how I feel about having a zombie camp near the survivors.¡± ¡°It''s much closer to the airport than the hotel. And besides, these guys are all tied up with rope, and my underlings will be there to watch over them. I¡¯m not sure what you¡¯re so worried about.¡± Do Han-Sol¡¯s voice rang with confidence. Kim Hyeong-Jun scratched his forehead and considered the situation for a moment. After a little while, he let out a sigh and nodded. ¡°Okay. Let¡¯s do that, then. Besides, if we get back toote, Mr. Lee Jeong-Uk will probably ask us all sorts of questions. Let¡¯s wrap things up quickly.¡± ¡°Are you ufortable around Mr. Lee Jeong-Uk?¡± "No, it''s not that I¡¯m notfortable... I don¡¯t know. I prefer fighting zombies to talking to people.¡± Do Han-Sol smirked at Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s half-assed answer. ¡°Is it because he hit you with the butt of his rifle back in Gwangjang-dong?¡± ¡°Geez, you still remember that?¡± "It¡¯s not? Oh, nevermind. I know you¡¯re not someone who dwells on the past like that.¡± ¡°Whatever, man. Let¡¯s just get going to school already.¡± Do Han-Sol led the way with a yful smile. ¡°Alrighty, it¡¯s this way.¡± One of Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s charms was that he could make the people around him crack jokes. Not in a bad way, but just harmless mischief. Kim Hyeong-Jun followed Do Han-Sol as he made a note of the position of the moon. It had changed a lot from thest time he had seen it, which suggested that a lot of time had already passed. That also meant that Lee Hyun-Deok would regain consciousness soon. Kim Hyeong-Jun scratched his head and for a moment, hesitating. He made a mental note of the number of underlings he had. He registered eleven hundred underlings at the Northeast Gang¡¯s base. After eating the brain of the Northeast Gang officer, he had takenmand of eleven hundred underlings at once. Kim Hyeong-Jun sent them an order via telepathy. ¡®Soon, some zombies that are purple will arrive. Once they show up, kill the rest of the zombies that aren¡¯t purple.¡¯ Lee Hyun-Deok had eaten the brains of the Northeast Gang leader and his lieutenants. Assuming that they controlled about two thousand underlings in total, there would certainly be some that would note under Lee Hyun-Deok¡¯smand. The maximum number of underlings Lee Hyun-Deok could control was twenty-three hundred. He already had eleven stage-one mutants and Ji-Eun, which meant that he could exert control over another seventeen hundred underlings. That left roughly three hundred zombies that would turn into street zombies without any chain ofmand. In order to prevent the situation at the E-Mart in Nohyeong Ogeori from urring again, Kim Hyeong-Jun chose to order his underlings to get rid of the zombies that did not eventually fall under Lee Hyun-Deok¡¯s control. The school that Do Han-Sol had mentioned was Jeju National University High School. It was located on the east side of Jeju Airport, and there was arge gym across from the main building. Kim Hyeong-Jun went into the gym¡¯s storage room and came out with a shovel and some jump ropes. Do Han-Sol looked at the things Kim Hyeong-Jun brought out with him and tilted his head. ¡°I kind of get why you took the shovel; but what¡¯s up with the jump ropes?¡± he asked. ¡°I want to give them to the kids. They¡¯re cooped up in the hotel, so I thought they¡¯dck exercise.¡± Do Han-Sol snorted. ¡°You know, you¡¯re very meticulous at times.¡± He suggested that they get going, and with that, Do Han-Sol and Kim Hyeong-Jun pushed the zombies into the first floor of the school, and ced four underlings in each ssroom, just like they had done at Namnyeong High School. Once they wrapped up and got back to Hotel L, the survivors who had filled up the hotel lobby earlier on were packing up and returning to their rooms. Lee Jeong-Uk saw Kim Hyeong-Jun and Do Han-Sol return. ¡°I thought you said you¡¯d be back after some scouting,¡± he said, raising his eyebrows at them. ¡°It seems like you got yourselves into something else as well.¡± ¡°We had several things to take care of.¡± Do Han-Sol and Kim Hyeong-Jun were covered with zombie blood. Lee Jeong-Uk didn¡¯t bother to ask for details; he sighed instead. ¡°You two should take a shower first, then let me know what happened.¡± ¡°There are showers here?¡± ¡°They say that they pump groundwater up, but I don¡¯t know how it works either.¡± ¡°Are they pumping up Jeju Samdasoo?¡± [1] Kim Hyeong-Jun chuckled at his lousy joke, and Do Han-Sol sighed. On the other hand, Lee Jeong-Uk smirked. ¡°Don¡¯t joke around,¡± he said, ¡°and go wash up.¡± ¡°Ah, you guys are boring,¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun grumbled as he headed to the shower room. * * * I looked around with bleary eyes. Kim Hyeong-Jun was nowhere to be seen, and the pantry was as quiet as it could be. I hurriedly got myself up and left the pantry. I saw Lee Jeong-Uk in the lobby, a distance away. He looked back at me and smiled. ¡°Did you have a good night¡¯s sleep?¡± he asked. ¡°Where¡¯s Hyeong-Jun?¡± ¡°He¡¯s with Han-Sol, washing up.¡± ¡°Washing up? Did they go somewhere?¡± ¡°They went outside to scout, but came back with zombie blood all over themselves.¡± I knew that I never asked them to go scouting. In fact, I had told them to reinforce the defenses while I was gone. Kim Hyeong-Jun and Do Han-Sol must have had a valid reason for going out scouting, but I needed to know why they¡¯de back from fighting zombies thiste at night. ¡°Where are the showers?¡± ¡°There¡¯s a beach shower area next to the beach over there.¡± I headed to where Lee Jeong-Uk pointed. The beach was right on the other side of the hotel, across the fourne road. Just like he said, there were beach showers there. When I entered the men''s shower room, I heard Kim Hyeong-Jun and Do Han-Sol. ¡°Oh geez, this feels nice.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you think the water¡¯s too cold? It¡¯s like ice.¡± The two of them were washing themselves by pouring water into washbasins and pouring the cold water on them with scoopers. I took a deep breath. ¡°Where did you two go?¡± I said. "Huh? Ahjussi, when did you wake up?¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun asked as he put his scoop down. I gave him a rather serious expression, which Kim Hyeong-Jun took note of. He smiled lightly and exined all they had done that night. Their exnation left me with nothing to say, not because I was dumbfounded, but because they had taken care of everything perfectly while I¡¯d been unconscious. The ck creature was a threat, but more mutants would also be annoying and difficult to handle. If even a stage-two mutant appeared, it would be difficult to leave the hotel and focus on offense. I realized that I had underestimated them, and coughed in embarrassment. "Good work,¡± I said. ¡°Great job." ¡°Woah ahjussi, are youplimenting us? What¡¯s happening?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not like I nag you and give you a hard time because I want to. It¡¯s because you guys make me nag you.¡± ¡°Anyway, ahjussi, you can wait at the hotel. I''ll wash up and be there right away." ¡°Okay. You did a good job too, Han-Sol.¡± Do Hansol nodded and smiled heartily. With that, I left the two of them and went back to Hotel L. The moment I returned, Lee Jeong-Uk called my name from the lobby. ¡°Hey, So-Yeon¡¯s dad.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°I¡¯m thinking of moving everyone to Hotel O tomorrow morning. That¡¯s okay, right?¡± ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s do that. Where is Kim Dae-Young?¡± ¡°Still on the rooftop, keeping a watch on the surroundings.¡± Kim Dae-Young was still on guard, just as I¡¯d told him to before I¡¯d gone to sleep. He was doing his best to follow me. To be frank, I was worried if we would be able to gel since we¡¯d never done anything all together. As of that moment, though, I was satisfied with the fact that he¡¯d followed my orders and was doing his best to carry out his duties. Relying on each other while in a fight against enemies was a whole different story, but in terms of coordinating as a team on these organizational matters, I was satisfied. I nodded slowly and asked Lee Jeong-Uk another question. ¡°What about So-Yeon?¡± ¡°She¡¯s in her room sleeping. Why? Do you want to see her?¡± I nodded with a faint smile, and Lee Jeong-Uk smiled in return. ¡°She¡¯s upstairs. Room 1608.¡± "Thanks.¡± As I headed toward the stairs, Lee Jeong-Uk grabbed my sleeve. ¡°Uh, wait.¡± "What?" ¡°You want to meet So-Yeon looking like that?¡± I looked down to see what he was talking about, and realized that I had dried zombie blood stains all over my body. I scratched my forehead and asked Lee Jeong-Uk for a favor. ¡°Do you have an extra pair of clothes and a towel?¡± "Yeah, wait here. I''ll bring them to you.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk took care of So-Yeon more meticulously than I did. Back when I was still working, my wife would p me on the back and say that I smelled like alcohol every time I tried to hold So-Yeon in my arms after apany dinner. She would always yell at me to wash up first. I had no clue why this memory of mine suddenly came into my mind. Perhaps it was because I felt relieved by his family-oriented actions. Seeing him and the way he acted, I was growing more and more certain that he would take good care of So-Yeon even if I disappeared one day. He thought of things that I didn¡¯t even think of, and every time he showed his attention to detail, my trust in him grew stronger and stronger. Since I¡¯d gotten a good rest after eating the enemy leader¡¯s brain, I was going to give it my all until the day came when we could all live in peace. That was the right thing to do for the people here, and it was the only thing I could do for the people who were protecting So-Yeon. 1. Jeju Samdasoo is a mineral water brand produced by Jeju Province Development Corporation. It is simr to Fiji water. ? Chapter 190 Chapter 190 When everyone was asleep, Kim Hyeong-Jun and I headed toward the hotel restaurant. Once there, we discussed the ck creature in secret. Kim Hyeong-Jun exined his strategy of digging a hole and then slowly weakening its regenerative power. It sounded like apelling and effective strategy, but there was one problem with it. ¡°Do you think the ck creature will just stay in the hole?¡± "Hmm¡­ Now that I think about it, you do have a point, ahjussi.¡± ¡°It¡¯s impossible to counter its power with human-made weapons. In the end, we have to be the ones to capture it and prevent it from moving.¡± Trapping the ck creature in a hole was pretty much an impossible strategy. Kim Hyeong-Jun scratched his head andid out another n. The idea was to set up a trap that would pour gasoline on the ck creature in an instant and then set it on fire to melt the creature. But there was a w in this n as well. ¡°Well, you know how fast the ck creature is.¡± ¡°So do you think it¡¯ll be impossible?¡± ¡°Do you think the ck creature will stand still while it sees gasoline being poured on it? Also, we have no idea how far it can move at once. How are we supposed to make a trap that can cover its entire range of movement?¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s expression fell after listening to my feedback. He crossed his arms and leaned back on his chair. I ced my hands on my face and was lost in thought for a moment. In order to make his ns work¡­ There was only one way. I sighed deeply. "Well, there¡¯s only one of them, but we¡¯re a team, right?¡± "Uh-huh. What about that?¡± ¡°How about one of us gets beaten up while carrying the gasoline?¡± I said seriously. Kim Hyeong-Jun gave me a nk look. After a moment, he swallowed and scratched his forehead. "So, what you¡¯re saying¡­ Once the ck creaturees, somebody pours gasoline on it while getting beaten up, then runs away?¡± "Exactly. Don¡¯t you think it¡¯d be more realistic for someone else to hold a torch and set the ck creature on fire after that person pours gasoline?¡± ¡°Well, the problem is, if that somebody gets it wrong, the person who poured the gasoline might catch fire as well.¡± ¡°That¡¯s why that somebody has to do a good job.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun looked at me as though I was proposing something absurd. I¡¯d brought this option up because it seemed like the most realistic solution for the current situation, but of course, the ability to execute it was limited to zombies with excellent regenerative abilities. Kim Hyeong-Jun considered this for a while, then slowly nodded. ¡°I¡¯m not entirely on board with it¡­ But it sure would be the most certain course of action,¡± he said. ¡°Well, if we can¡¯t chase it down or capture it, sacrificing our bodies like this would be the only way.¡± ¡°Or we could use sound.¡± "Sound?" I tilted my head, and Kim Hyeong-Jun shrugged. ¡°Its senses are extremely sharp. Don¡¯t you think it¡¯ll get distracted if it suddenly hears a loud noise out of the blue while it''s fighting?¡± ¡°So what, let¡¯s distract the ck creature by banging drums or something?¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m saying that we should make loud noises to lure the ck creature in once ites within the radius of our trap.¡± ¡°What if it goes straight to where the sound ising from?¡± ¡°That¡¯s why we have to time everything perfectly. We have to pour gasoline on top of it the moment it hears the sound and panics.¡± The more I listened to this n, the more I thought that it was an idea that only Kim Hyeong-Jun coulde up with. He had a lot of brilliant, original ideas. However, unless everything worked out perfectly, it would failpletely. One wrong move could also leave the person who was making the loud noises in danger. While I rested my chin on my hands and thought about it, Kim Hyeong-Jun scratched the bridge of his nose. ¡°Since the person making the sound¡ªin our case, the drummer¡ªmight be in danger, it¡¯ll be better for Han-Sol to be in charge of that.¡± ¡°Well, that puts Han-Sol in danger¡­¡± ¡°Ahjussi, if there really is a ck creature with ck eyes on Jeju Ind, we need everyone¡¯s help in getting rid of it. Me, you, Mood-Swinger, and Ji-Eun won¡¯t be enough to deal with it.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°If even one of us goes down, its game is over. Jeju Ind has no future.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun was right. This wasn¡¯t the time to put anyone¡¯s safety orfort first. When I nodded slowly, Kim Hyeong-Jun sighed. ¡°Han-Sol, Mr. Kim Dae-Young, and Mr. Jeong Jin-Young¡­ None of them know if the ck creature in Jeju Ind is dangerous or not,¡± he said. ¡°Don¡¯t you think that at least the zombies should know about it, even if the survivors don¡¯t?¡± ¡°If we¡¯re going to go with your n, then yes,¡± I replied. I took a deep breath and sighed. ¡°Go and tell Do Han-Sol, Kim Dae-Young, and Jeong Jin-Young about this. Don''t forget to tell them to keep it a secret from the others.¡± "Okay. Since Mr. Jeong Jin-Young is still sleeping, I''ll let him knowter on when he wakes up. Should we get to work, starting tomorrow?¡± I nodded and got up from my seat. Kim Hyeong-Jun got up as well and let out a battle cry. Seeing Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s bravado, I burst intoughter right away. * * * The next morning, at dawn, Kim Hyeong-Jun left Hotel L to clean up the zombies in Jeju City. Do Han-Sol was informed of Kim Hyeong-Jun''s n, and went around to every gas station to get gasoline. Meanwhile, Kim Dae-Young took charge of the hotel¡¯s defenses, while Lee Jeong-Uk moved some of the survivors to Hotel O, which was right next to Hotel L. He gave me a troubled look when I asked him to make arge drum, but he eventually told me that he¡¯d look into it with Heo Seong-Min. While everyone was working on their own thing, I ran to the duty-free shop at Jeju Airport and came back to Hotel L with all sorts of perfume. When I returned with bags full of perfume, Lee Jeong-Uk grimaced. ¡°Are you going to be okay? Going by yourself?¡± he asked. "I¡¯ll be alright. I¡¯m just going to scout ande back anyway.¡± ¡°Do you know your way around? Do you have an exact route of where you¡¯ll be going?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry. I¡¯ll be back before sunset tomorrow.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk smacked his lips and scratched his head. ¡°At least tell me your exact route so that if you don''te back by tomorrow evening, I can send Hyeong-Jun,¡± he said reluctantly. ¡°I¡¯m going to enter Seogwipo along the eastern coastal road. I''ll just have a look to see how many zombies there are, take a peek at the Hound¡¯s base, ande back along the west coastal road.¡± ¡°Are you saying you¡¯re going to make a loop around Jeju Ind? If you don''te back before the sunset tomorrow, I¡¯ll send Hyeong-Jun out to the west.¡± I wanted to tell him not to let Kim Hyeong-June looking for me, but it seemed like agreeing with him was the only way I could set him at ease. I nodded slowly and sprayed perfume all over my body. I sprayed myself until all I could smell was perfume. I basically poured perfume over myself. Since I had to nullify the ck creature¡¯s sense of smell, I packed some spare perfume with me. I also took a map to mark the conditions of the coastal road. When I was done with my preparations, Lee Jeong-Uk looked me right in the eyes. ¡°Take care of yourself.¡± ¡°Please take good care of So-Yeon and the others.¡± I patted him on the shoulder and headed for the eastern coastal road. In order to fight the ck creature, I knew that I needed to have a good understanding of the situation in Seogwipo. There was a good chance that the Hounds had moved north to avoid the ck creature, or had evacuated to a more mountainous area. In order to protect myself from unexpected attacks, it was necessary for me to figure out where they were located. With a sh of my blue eyes, I headed toward Seogwipo. * * * On the map I brought along with me, I marked the areas that seemed safe, and those that had zombies lurking around. I meticulously marked ces that had zombie footsteps, and even marked ces that seemed to show tracks of many people moving about. The sandy beaches of Jeju Ind, which were once crowded with people on summer vacations, were as cold as they could be. The winter wind that blew across them seemed harsher than usual. The overturned vehicles, copsed buildings, dust and ss shards were all traces of previous human habitation. But now, without any traces of life left, Jeju Ind looked like a warzone. There were uncollected clothes hanging on clotheslines that had either turned yellow or were stained with zombie blood. As I took in Jeju Ind¡¯s horrific conditions, I felt like I was stuck in time. Grrr¡­ Kaaa¡­ Just then, I heard zombies crying from the cottage on my right. I looked toward the sound, and saw five zombies trapped in the cottage. There was an adult man, a woman, and three teenagers inside. They started banging their heads against the ss wall as if they had heard my footsteps from afar. The zombie apocalypse had broken out just as summer had begun. Judging from their attire, it seemed like they were infected as soon as they arrived on Jeju Ind to enjoy their vacation. I took a deep breath and walked toward the cottage. Grr! Gaaa!! As I got closer to the cottage, their throat-rending cries intensified. I brushed the dirt off the window with my palm and took a look inside. I saw a zombie lying on the floor, and a knife plunged into its head. From what I could see, it seemed like the father of this family had been bitten while fighting off an infected person who had barged into their room. Although it seemed like the father had sessfully taken care of the infected person, it was probably the father who had infected his family afterward. GRRR!!! The zombie, who seemed to be the father, red at me while making throat-rending noises. His cry¡­ It seemed like he was screaming in pain at me. Although this wasn¡¯t part of my n, I felt like I had to give them the rest they needed. When I broke the window and entered, the zombies hesitated at the disgusting smell of perfume that came from my body. When they noticed my blue eyes, they began to take several steps backward. ¡°Enjoy the rest of your family vacation in your afterlife.¡± I sighed softly andid the entire family to rest in peace. I carefully closed their eyes for them and continued on with my way, wiping off the bloodstains on my fingertips. I walked for quite a while along the quiet coastal road and passed Songnanpogu, the ce where the Jeju Defense Unit had stayed before moving over to Hotel L. All I could see around me were regr fields and fields of rice paddy, along with damaged greenhouses. But then, I saw a unique sight to my left that made me stop in my tracks. The stone at the entrance of the vige read ¡®Shinyang Vige.¡¯ Beyond Shinyang Vige, I saw breakwaters and the beach. Past those, I saw somend that was shaped like a rhombus. It seemed like an ind, but I wasn¡¯t too sure. As I took a closer look, I saw a couple of hotels centered around an enormous hotel called Phoenix Seopjikoji, all built on pretty tnd. There were also oreums[1] on the seaside, which I figured would be able to block some of the sea wind. I wondered if this ce could be our shelter. There was only one road connecting this rhombus-shapednd to Shinyang Vige, and it was surrounded by the ocean in all directions. To me, it seemed like the best ce for defense. In addition, there would be no need to go far to get food since there were a lot of rice paddies around Shinyang Vige. ¡®Let¡¯s mark this ce for now.¡¯ I unfolded the map I had in my pocket, marked the ce with a circle, and even drew an asterisk next to it. I realized that the smell of perfume had begun to fade from my body. Perhaps it was because of the harsh sea breeze. I knew what I had to do. I put on more perfume and continued moving along the coastal road. I kept going, passing by Dongpo-gu, Onpyeong-ri Port, and a couple of other small viges. By the time I reached Hyodon-dong¡ªafter passing Sinchon-ri, Pyoseon-ri, Taeheung-ri, Namwon-ri, and many other oreums¡ªmy heightened senses began to pick up the cries of zombies. I dropped reflexively into a crouch. I couldn''t tell how many zombies there were exactly, but by the sound of their cries, it was more than five hundred. Their howling echoed through the clear Jeju sky. I took out my map and determined my current location. Once I passed Hyodon-dong, I would be in Seogwipo City. I couldn¡¯t believe that I¡¯d stumbled on an obstacle right before my final destination, considering that nothing else had happened along the entire way. I lifted my head slightly to see where the sound wasing from. I saw a group of zombies about three hundred meters away. When I took a closer look, though, my mouth fell open. I¡¯d been thinking about recruiting them if they were just a bunch of regr zombies that were gathered together. To my surprise, though, the zombies looked red to me. I couldn¡¯t help but wonder if they were part of the Southeast Gang. After all, from my information, taking Seogwipo as the center, the Southwest Gang was to the west, while the Southeast Gang was to the east. At least, this was my initial thought. But then, however, I heard the sound of a door being smashed, apanied by a barrage of vulgarities. ¡°Hey, you useless bastards! Shut the fuck up!¡± When the man shouted, the group of zombies slowly fell silent. The man had red eyes. I didn¡¯t see any other red-eyed zombies around, except for that one man. I heard that the Hounds moved in groups of at least three, but he was all alone. I couldn''t help but wonder if he had been left behind or something. I slowly elerated my blood flow as I tracked the man''s movements with my eyes. I could feel my body tingling, dying to know why he was alone. And I knew exactly how I could get the answers I needed. I was going to ask him directly. 1. Oreums are small rising defunct volcanoes only found in Jeju. The word itselfes from the Jeju dialect. They aremonly understood as hills to outsiders. ? Chapter 191 Chapter 191 Bang! I pushed off the ground and rushed toward the enemy leader. He btedly felt my presence and turned his gaze my way. Before he could react, though, I grabbed him by the cor and threw him to the ground. ¡°Gaaa!¡± The enemy leader gasped and closed his eyes tightly. I pressed my advantage and broke both of his arms, then red at him with my blue eyes. ¡°Where are your other buddies?¡± I asked him. ¡°What¡­ what are you?¡± "Answer me,¡± I said, pressuring him further. ¡°Where are the Hounds?¡± He started looking around. I wondered if he was trying to signal his underlings for help. However, the surrounding zombies didn¡¯t seem to move. Unexpectedly, the enemy leader spoke. ¡°You stupid bastard. If you want to live, hurry up and hide.¡± My eyebrows twitched reflexively at his unexpected reaction. ¡®Asking me to hide all of the sudden¡­¡¯ GWAAA!!! Just then, an unpleasant roar echoed through the air, sharpening all my five senses at once. I opened my eyes and looked around, trying to determine where the sound wasing from. I realized that it wasing from the north. From the way it was reverberating, I assumed that it wasing from quite far away. I grabbed the enemy leader by the cor and hid in a single-story house right in front of us. I pushed him against the wall. ¡°Tell me everything that happened in Seogwipo,¡± I demanded. "What are you talking about? We¡¯re all dead anyway. It''s over now. The devil¡¯s going toe after me.¡± ¡°Where are the bosses of the Southwest and Southeast gangs?¡± I asked through gritted teeth. The enemy leader snorted and shook his head. At this point, he should¡¯ve been frightened and trembling in fear, but this guy merely twitched his lips silently, as if he had lost his sanity. My threats weren¡¯t working on him. I kicked him in his left knee as hard as I could and repeated myself. ¡°Answer my question if you don¡¯t want to die! Where are the Hounds?!¡± The enemy leader only sneered at my threat, as if he didn¡¯t care about the fact that he was being threatened. ¡°Hey, you fucking idiot, I already told you that you and I are already dead meat, so whether you kill me or not, just do whatever you feel like doing,¡± he replied. I was silent for a moment. ¡°What happened to the other bastards?¡± I asked. ¡°They¡¯re all dead,¡± he replied after a moment of silence. ¡°The demon that¡¯sing? That demon ate them all.¡± The enemy leader smirked. "I knew it,¡± he continued. ¡°I fucking knew it. Hyung-nim¡­ I knew it would happen the moment that bastard started walking around alone. I told you, hyung-nim, that we should¡¯ve killed the ck creature early on. We should¡¯ve known the moment that bastard started walking around by itself, like it owned the entire town.¡± ¡°Are you saying that the Southwest Gang and the Southeast Gang have all been wiped out?¡± ¡°A scout from the Southwest Gang came by yesterday. The scout seemed like he had almost lost his mind and was spewing all kinds of crap, begging for his life. When I saw him, I thought, ah, we finally have a crazy one.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°But that wasn¡¯t the case. That fucking bastard! That fucking scout bastard brought the ck creature here. It''s all because of that bastard!!" His eyes went wide, and he began to scream at the top of his lungs like a wild animal that had gone insane. I quieted the enemy leader by choking him. I felt a tingling pain through my fingertips, and the enemy leader¡¯s entire body began to twitch as if he were being electrocuted. When I let go of him, he fell to the floor and coughed for a while, struggling to get himself upright again. I crouched down in front of the enemy leader. ¡°Onest question,¡± I said. ¡°When was thest time the ck creature attacked the Southeast Gang?¡± ¡°The devil tracks us down using its sense of smell. We can¡¯t escape no matter what we do. The devil can smell you, even from four kilometers away. You¡¯ll eventually get eaten, no matter how hard you try to escape.¡± The enemy leader lost his sanity and was muttering to himself, his limbs trembling uncontrobly. I pped the enemy leader with all my might and repeated my question. ¡°Answer the question. When?¡± ¡°This¡­ this morning. We followed the exact same path the scouts took.¡± ¡°Then why is the ck creature¡¯s crying from the north instead of the west?¡± ¡°Because the leader of the Northeast Gang escaped with me and fled to Mt. Ha. The cry earlier on was the devil cheering after a sessful hunt. Now it''s my turn. I¡¯ll¡­ I¡¯ll die as well!¡¯ ¡°...¡± ¡°I¡¯ll die, you¡¯ll die, we¡¯ll all die!¡± The enemy leader cried at the top of his lungs, as if he had gone insane, then looked me right in the eyes, a wide smile stered on his face. I wasn¡¯t sure how to describe him; he seemed like he was already gone. His eyes had already lost focus. I slicked my hair back as I considered the situation. I knew the enemy leader was right. The ck creature must have smelled the enemy leader and realized that the enemy leader was here. I grabbed him by the cor and forced him upright. Without the slightest hesitation, I kicked him out of the house. ¡°Open the door! Open the door, you bastard!¡± It seemed like he wanted to live now, contrary to how he¡¯d been behaving earlier on, as though resigned to being dead meat. With both of his arms broken and his left leg wobbling, he couldn¡¯t even break down a door. I ignored the enemy leader and counted the remaining bottles of perfume I had. I still had five unopened bottles. I figured that if I sprayed myself with perfume and moved west as fast as I could, the ck creature would go after the enemy leader instead of me. Ironic as it sounded, I had to keep the enemy leader alive and use him as bait so that I could survive. I opened the cap of one of the perfume bottles and poured its contents over my head. The strong perfume scent made my nose tingle, and the liquid soon trickled down my face. Just as I was about to open up my next bottle of perfume and spray it on my body, I heard footsteps that sent chills down my spine. Ssh, ssh¨C ¡®It¡¯s already here?¡¯ I widened my eyes and concentrated on my sense of hearing. When I¡¯d heard its cry earlier on, it seemed pretty far away. I couldn¡¯t figure out how it had gotten to us so quickly. I wondered if it had made its way over while I¡¯d been going back and forth with the enemy leader. Perhaps it had caught onto us more quickly because the enemy leader had been shouting the whole time. I tore open two more perfume bottles and poured their contents all over my body. It was no longer a fragrance; it had begun to feel more like a stench. I leaned against the wall and carefully peered out the window. I saw the enemy leader limping away. He was about one hundred meters away from where I was. Almost instantly, a figure covered in tar shed toward the enemy leader. "GAAA!!!¡± The enemy leader let out a death cry. He only stopped screaming when his head was lopped off. The ck creature tore off his head in an instant and began chewing on it. I gulped and stared at the horrific scene. I knew it was already toote to run away. I knew that going out the front door would only mark me as its next target. I tried my best to keep myposure as I observed the ck creature¡¯s movements. I tried my best to see its eyes, because its eye color was the most important thing I had to know. I opened my eyes wide and stared straight at its back, hoping to see blue eyes. The ck creature licked the fresh blood from the corner of its mouth and sniffed continuously. It turned to look at the building I was hiding in. My eyes went wide, and I crouched down. ''I have to hide.'' I couldn¡¯t think of anything else other than to hide myself. I tiptoed my way through the house and entered the bedroom, then hid myself underneath the bed. I pulled theforters from the bed to plug the gaps around me and focused my mind on my hearing as I covered my mouth and nose with my hands. Ssh, ssh¨C I heard its footsteps. My limbs were shaking violently, as if I was in the middle of an earthquake. I focused all my strength into them to stop them from trembling and prayed with my eyes tightly closed. ¡®Please, please let nothing happen.¡¯ I knew I had to keep calm in situations like this. I had to calm down and understand what I could do to make the situation better. I took out the remaining three perfume bottles in my pocket and poured the contents of each of them onto my chest, stomach, and head. I rubbed my hands against my wet clothes and smeared the perfume over my entire body. Bang! The front door came crashing down, and I heard the creature''s eerie footsteps echo loudly against my eardrums. KWAAA¡­ KA!!! GWA¡­ KA!!! It blew its nose a few times like a sneezing cat, and it started to enter the master bedroom through the living room. Ssh¡ª The sound of its footsteps came closer and stopped beside my head. It felt like the air around me had disappeared, and time had stopped. My head was ringing like crazy, my mind screaming at me to get away. However, I felt as though I was drifting in the middle of a vast, endless ocean that stretched out in every direction. I couldn''t move. I couldn¡¯t move in the face of the almighty, absolute fear. I couldn¡¯t move in the face of death. KWAAA¡­ Only theforter was between myself and its eerie cry, which pierced through my eardrums from thirty centimeters away. I held my breath, engulfed in fear that sent chills down my spine and my entire body, and prayed that it would go away without noticing me. Rustle¡ª Contrary to my prayers, the ck creature slowly lifted up theforter. Just like wind that makes its way through the smallest crack in a slightly-opened window, death rushed in through the tiny gap; a gap so small that my palm could barely fit through. I bit my lower lip and stared at the small gap. KWAAA! KA!!! GWA! KWAA!! To my surprise, the gap closed swiftly, and the ck creature started to backtrack while blowing its nose continuously. It seemed like the ck creature had backpedaled at the mysterious stench that had oozed out from the cracks as soon as it lifted up theforter. Perhaps the stench was too strong for it, like the awful stench of rotten fish. The ck creature kept blowing its nose repeatedly as it hissed and howled at the bed. I plugged my ears with my hands and prayed that it wouldn¡¯t attack the bed. Ssh, Ssh, Ssh¡ª The ck creature seemed to wander around the master bedroom desperately, then broke the window next to the bed and jumped out. I heard the ck creature moving further away. After it left, though, I could still hear it blowing its nose and letting out its throat-rending cries. I hid under the bed until the ck creature''s presence waspletely gone. It wasn¡¯t because I had a choice. I knew I couldn''t fight the ck creature, nor could I run away from it. The moment the ck creature had fixed its gaze on this house¡­ Looking into its eyes was like looking into an abyss. I couldn¡¯t fathom the depths of its pupils. Its eyes seemed like endless holes of despair. To make matters worse, the thing I had feared had turned out to be true. The ck creature in Jeju Ind already had ck eyes. * * * ¡°Hyeong-Jun! Kim Hyeong-Jun!¡± Lee Jeong-Uk called out to Kim Hyeong-Jun, who had juste back from cleaning up the zombies. Kim Hyeong-Jun walked over to Lee Jeong-Uk as he wiped away the blood on his face with his sleeve. ¡°Yes? Were you looking for me?¡± ¡°The drum that So-Yeon¡¯s dad was talking about. They said that they don¡¯t have any big ones, but they do have a lot of small ones. Will a small one be okay?¡± ¡°Well, how big are they?¡± Lee Jeong-Uk titled his head and spread his hands about sixty centimeters apart. "Let¡¯s say¡­ This big?¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun scratched his sideburns, but asked almost instantly, ¡°How many are there?¡± ¡°It seems like there are about fifty of them.¡± ¡°Fifty? Where did they get all those drums from?¡± ¡°That¡¯s what Mr. Heo Seong-Min told me. He said that they still have the kkwaenggwaris, janggus, and other drums they used for traditional cultural and artistic performances in the past.¡± [1] Kim HYeong-Jun¡¯s eyes went wide, and he snapped his fingers, nodding vigorously. ¡°Could you get me all of them?¡± he asked. ¡°Wait, no. In fact, I''ll go get them. Where are they?¡± ¡°Mr. Heo Seong-Min should know. Should I ask?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll go ask him. Thank you, though.¡± ¡°But why the janggu and the drums? What are you trying to achieve by making loud noises? And why is Do Han-Sol looking for gasoline?¡± "I''ll tell you about it when Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok gets back.¡± With that, Kim Hyeong-Jun shed a sheepish smile and ran off to where Heo Seong-Min was. ¡°There¡¯s something going on for sure,¡± Lee Jeong-Uk muttered to himself as he watched Kim Hyeong-Jun go. He still couldn¡¯t help but think that they were hiding something from him. However, since neither Lee Hyun-Deok or Kim Hyeong-Jun were willing to let him in on it, he sighed in resignation and walked over to where the officers were. The leaders of the Survivor Rally Organization had a mapid out on a desk. It seemed like they were discussing how they were going to divide Jeju Ind. ¡°So are you saying that you want to usend starting from here all the way to here as rice fields?¡± the principal asked the white-haired elder as he rubbed his chin. ¡°Thend there is the most even, and since the waterway there is open, there¡¯s no better ce.¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be too far from the shelter?¡± ¡°Once the zombies are cleaned up, distance won¡¯t be an issue.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk rubbed his neck as he listened to their conversation. Since everything about the ck creature was based on his assumptions, it seemed unnecessary to share the information about it with the other leaders. Lee Jeong-Uk moved next to the principal. ¡°Mind if I join?¡± he chimed in. ¡°Ah, Mr. Lee Jeong-Uk. Of course. We were just discussing solutions to our food problem.¡± ¡°Even if we start nting rice, it¡¯ll take a whole year for us to harvest. Don¡¯t you think that it¡¯d be better to scrounge around the nearby supermarkets or go out to sea and fish until then?¡± ¡°Actually, Mrs. Choi Da-Hye brought up something regarding that.¡± The principal looked over at Choi Da-Hye, who was across the table, and gestured for her to speak. Choi Da-Hye pointed at the right side of the map. ¡°Here. Udo has been known for its fish,¡± she said. ¡°There are a lot of coral reefs in the area as well, which makes it easy to get different kinds of seafood.¡± "Oh really?" ¡°Yes. And in terms of safety, it¡¯s much safer than Jeju Ind. In fact, there used to be close to two thousand people living in Udo. Of course, I don¡¯t know the current situation.¡± When Choi Da-Hye finished, the white-haired elder spoke up. ¡°As I said before, over seventy percent of ??Udo is specifically used for growing garlic or peanuts. It¡¯s very windy, and thend there is barren, making it difficult to grow other crops.¡± ¡°But it¡¯s also a ce where there¡¯s plenty of seafood,¡± Choi Da-Hye countered. Knowing that there might not be an end if they kept on going back and forth like this, Lee Jeong-Uk calmed the two of them down and posed a question to Choi Da-Hye. ¡°By the way, Da-Hye, do we have any boats to go to Udo in the first ce?¡± 1. Kkwaenggwari and jangus are traditional Korean instruments. ? Chapter 192 Chapter 192 Lee Jeong-Uk smacked his lips. ¡°Well, I¡¯ve heard that it is difficult just finding fishing boats, let alone airnes, on Jeju Ind these days,¡± he continued. "Well¡­ We¡¯ll have to look around for themter. After the zombies are all cleaned up, we¡¯ll be able to roam the entire ind, so I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll easily find some. I can¡¯t imagine that there isn¡¯t a single boat on Jeju Ind.¡± ¡°Okay, let me ask this, then. Why are you obsessed with seafood?¡± ¡°For nutrition, of course. Do you know how nutritious seafood is? We should think about the children who need nutrition right now. We should be feeding them blue-backed fish, sea cucumbers, sea squirts, sea anemones, whatever.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk rubbed his chin as he considered this. Choi Da-Hye did have a point. The children had been eating ramyeon, spam, and canned food as meals. She was meticulous enough to consider what nutrients the children were getting through their food. Men were not often used to calcting or understanding the amount of calories or nutrients that something had, since most men had the mindset that being full was all that mattered. This is exactly how Lee Jeong-Uk thought. ¡°Let¡¯s talk about this when Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok gets back,¡± he said with a sigh. ¡°It¡¯s still dangerous to go around Jeju Ind, and just like you said, it would be faster to get seafood.¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m not in a hurry either. I just wanted to let everyone know this.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk smiled faintly and nodded. Just then, Tommy called him from behind. ¡°Mr. Lee Jeong-Uk, Mr. Lee Jeong-Uk!¡± When Lee Jeong-Uk turned around, Tommy took Lee Jeong-Uk by the hand and dragged him to the lobby of Hotel L. ¡°Where are we going?¡± ¡°It¡¯s about the ck creature. The ck creature,¡± Tommy said, his eyes shining. Lee Jeong-Uk shook his hand free. "What do you mean? How do you know about the ck creature¡­?¡± ¡°I heard about it from Mr. Heo Seong-Min. There seems to be a ck creature with blue eyes on Jeju Ind, right? I also heard a few things from Lee Hyun-Deok a while back, so Alyosha and I put some thought into it.¡± ¡°Pardon?¡± ¡°The sample that we brought from Daegu might be lethal to the ck creature.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s eyes went wide when he heard what Tommy said, and quickly scanned the surroundings. Thankfully, there was no one around. Lee Jeong-Uk swallowed and looked at Tommy again. ¡°Where is Alyosha?¡± ¡°Follow me.¡± He followed Tommy to the restaurant in Hotel L, where he saw Alyosha ying with yarn and paper. ¡°What is he doing?¡± he asked when he saw what Alyosha was doing. ¡°It¡¯s a paperfuge.¡± "Huh? A what?" Lee Jeong-Uk tilted his head, and Tommy smirked. ¡°Don¡¯t you know what a paperfuge is?¡± ¡°A paperfuge?¡± ¡°It is a centrifuge designed by Manu Prakash. He developed it for people suffering from mria in Africa, where it¡¯s difficult to get electricity.¡± ¡°Are you saying this is a centrifuge?¡± Lee Jeong-Uk asked as he looked at Alyosha, his eyebrows raised. The Russian was concentrating on the straight piece of string in his hands, pulling it back and forth while maintaining the tension. Lee Jeong-Uk couldn¡¯t help but wonder why he was so focused on this paperfuge. When Lee Jeong-Uk tried to catch Alyosha¡¯s attention, Tommy quickly grabbed his arm to stop him. ¡°Don¡¯t touch him. He has to concentrate.¡± ¡°On that?¡± ¡°See the circr piece of paper in the center of the thread?¡± "Yes." ¡°If you look at the side of the paper, you can see a thin ss tube. Do you see it?¡± Lee Jeong-Uk had a hard time seeing it because it was spinning so fast that it seemed invisible. However, Tommy didn¡¯t care if Lee Jeong-Uk understood or saw what he was talking about. He just kept on talking. The sample from Daegu is in that thing. What do you think will happen if the thread breaks, or it¡¯s just slightly thrown off-bnce?¡± Lee Jeong-Uk swallowed when he heard his question. "I beg your pardon?" He could feel his mouth getting dry. He knew that if the thread broke off or the thin ss tube attached to the paper broke¡­ No one could predict what would happen next. Now that he realized that they were doing something dangerous, Lee Jeong-Uk frowned. ¡°Why are you doing such a dangerous experiment here?¡± he asked. ¡°Everyone here will die if you make even the slightest mistake!¡± "Calm down. We¡¯ve prepared a simple contingency n.¡± Tommy had collected a bunch of old clothes and wrapped them around everything nearby. In addition, there wereyers of towels stacked under Alyosha¡¯s feet, so that the samples would not break if they did detach from the thread or paper. Tommy wet his parched lips again. ¡°And this¡­ We prepared this for the worst-case scenario.¡± Tommy showed him the revolver that he carried on his belt. It was the revolver that belonged to Kim Min-Jeong in Daegu. There were two bullets in it. Tommy pressed his lips into a thin line. ¡°Research is life itself for us researchers,¡± he said. ¡°We gave up everything we had and immersed ourselves in research, going fromb tob all over the world. I¡¯ve been prepared to give up my life a long time ago.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk grimaced silently. After a moment, he asked another question. ¡°Anyway, that paper¡ªwhat was it? Oh¡ªpaperfuge. What does that have to do with the ck creature?¡± ¡°Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok told me, back in the Brain Research Institute in Daegu, that the ck creatures were beings whose desires had been destroyed.¡± "Uh, yes.¡± ¡°I¡¯d like to approach that rather absurd theory in a scientific way. As you may know, viruses be powerful when they feed on serotonin. But a ck creature doesn¡¯t secrete any serotonin.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk scratched his sideburns and nodded. Tommy scrutinized Lee Jeong-Uk to judge whether he roughly understood what he was saying, then continued to speak. ¡°Well then, how do you think the ck creature stays alive? How do you think it sustains itself?¡± ¡°I believe that has to do¡­ with a mutation of the virus. Perhaps a mutation that makes it possible to stay alive without serotonin?¡± "Exactly. What kind of virus do you think is in that sample?¡± ¡°A virus¡­ that¡¯s been overdosed with serotonin?¡± ¡°Yes, yes. With this in mind, what do you think will happen if we inject this sample into the ck creature?¡± Lee Jeong-Uk scratched his head and sighed, then he smacked his lips. ¡°The virus would go after the other virus¡­ They¡¯d end up fighting each other, no?¡± ¡°Two viruses with the same properties but different behaviors will begin to fight over a single body. What sort of changes do you think will ur within the ck creature¡¯s body?¡± ¡°That, I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°And that¡¯s exactly what Alyosha is looking into.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk looked at Alyosha and swallowed. He was concentrating on paperfuge so intensely that he seemed to be on the brink of bing cross-eyed. Lee Jeong-Uk looked at Alyosha more closely and noticed that he was holding his breath while delicately adjusting the thin piece of string so that it wouldn¡¯t break. After a while, he stopped the paperfuge and began to carefully observe the sample in the ss tube. Alyosha called Tommy over to him, and the two of them started conversing in Russian. Lee Jeong-Uk sat on the floor and waited for the two of them to finish their discussion. After Tommy listened to Alyosha exin his findings, he nodded and looked over at Lee Jeong-Uk. ¡°Lee Jeong-Uk, do you happen to have a sample of the ck creature?¡± ¡°Does it seem like I would have such a thing?¡± "Hmm¡­ I¡¯m not too sure what kind of state the ck creature is in, but you said that its skin turned ck, right?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Well, this is all just hypothetical, but I believe that the virus that isn¡¯t consuming serotonin is probably consuming other skin tissues in order to continue to survive within the ck creature.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk quietly crossed his arms and pressed his lips together. He wasn¡¯t a hundred percent sure of what Tommy was talking about, but his simplified exnations helped. Tommy noted Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s silence, and continued with his exnation. ¡°The viruses in the sample are still exhibiting aggressive traits. If we can inject that sample into the ck creature¡­ The ck creature¡¯s body will reject it, causing a reaction.¡± ¡°What do you think will happen then?¡± ¡°Death or paralysis would be normal, but if the virus in this sample gets consumed¡­ The ck creature might grow even stronger.¡± "Hmm¡­ I¡¯m no expert on this, but how is this different from using AIDS to treat leukemia?¡± ¡°Scientists in Ennd actually conducted experiments with regard to that. Even if the world rejects us, it¡¯s our job to experiment.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk nodded, his expression growing serious. He got to his feet and looked at Tommy. ¡°First of all, thank you for the information. But¡­ Is it really necessary to do experiments with that sample here?¡± ¡°If you feel ufortable, we¡¯ll stop. We also have no intention of disobeying you, the leader.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk forced a smile. ¡°I would appreciate it if you could do that. Despite what I think about it, I don¡¯t think I can allow you to carry out an experiment that poses a threat to the survivors here.¡± Tommy nodded. It seemed like he understood to a certain extent where Lee Jeong-Uk wasing from. Lee Jeong-Uk sighed and stared nkly at the ceiling and prayed for Lee Hyun-Deok¡¯s swift return. * * * Once I could no longer feel the ck creature''s presence, I carefully removed theforter and crawled out from under the bed. When I looked out the window, I noticed that the ck creature was long gone. I checked every window in every direction and tiptoed my way out the building. When I exited the building, I saw a bunch of zombies that were not under any chain ofmand staring up into the empty sky. The ck creature had taken care of the enemy leader, but not his underlings. It seemed like the ck creature had spared the underlings since it had filled its stomach up with their boss. I contemted on whether I had to kill all the zombies here, or just be on my way. I knew that mutants would begin to appear if I just left them like this. Another thought urred to me then. If the ck creature had left the zombies at the bases of the Southwest and Southeast Gangs like this¡­ I couldn¡¯t fathom just how many mutants would begin to appear. However, I knew I didn¡¯t have the time to clean up all these zombies. I was in the ck creature¡¯s territory, and I had to get back to Jeju City before the smell of the perfume wore off. The ck creature would surelye back for me if I dyed any further because of these zombies, since that would only weaken my scent¡ªor stench, from the creature¡¯s perspective. ¡®Let¡¯s think about the mutantster.¡¯ The most important thing was that I had seen that its eyes were ck. With a sigh, I took the western coastal road back to Jeju City. This time, instead of doing what I¡¯d done on the way over, I stashed the map that I had brought with me deep inside my pocket and headed straight for Jeju City. * * * The sun was about to set over the western sky horizon when I saw Jeju Airport shimmering in the distance. Only after seeing this did I let out a sigh of relief and shorten my stride. I had heightened all my senses just in case the ck creature followed me, but I didn''t have the courage to look back, so I looked straight ahead as I ran for my life. Now, though, I found the strength to have a look around. I didn¡¯t see the ck creature. Instead, I saw Kim Hyeong-Jun beating up some zombies in the distance. As I plodded toward him, Kim Hyeong-Jun felt my presence and looked back. "Ahjussi!" Kim Hyeong-Jun came over with a big smile on his face. I copsed to the ground as the worry that I¡¯d been holding onto all this while drained out of me. The ringing inside my head slowly began to go away. Kim Hyeong-Jun examined me once over, then quickly covered his nose and frowned. ¡°Did you spill the perfume? What the heck is this smell?¡± ¡°We need to inform everyone.¡± "Huh? About what?¡± ¡°We need to tell everyone to be ready. The ck creature¡­ It has ck eyes.¡± When he heard me confirm the color of the creature¡¯s eyes, his mouth fell open. He ced his right hand on his forehead, and his expression grew worried. ¡°Are you sure?¡± ¡°I saw them for sure. I almost died.¡± ¡°Did you make it alive because of the perfume? It might help to put some perfume on when we fight the ck creature.¡± ¡°No, the perfume is only good for numbing its sense of smell. No matter how much perfume we spray, the moment it locks its gaze with ours, it¡¯ll consider us as enemies.¡± I told Kim Hyeong-Jun about my terrifying encounter in Seogwipo City, and he trembled and rubbed his arms as if he had goosebumps. ¡°Ahjussi¡­ You know, you''re not the person to tell me not to push myself.¡± ¡°I encountered it in a totally unexpected ce. The leaders of the Hounds have already been wiped out and only the underlings with no chain ofmand remain.¡± "So you''re saying there''s a risk of them bing mutants?¡± ¡°I should¡¯ve taken care of them, but I just couldn''t. I was scared that the ck creature mighte after me again once the smell of the perfume wore off.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun scratched his head and sighed, his expression growingplicated. ¡°Geez, what a pain in the butt. Do you think the ck creature wille to Jeju City? No, that¡¯s not the right question. When do you think it will get here?¡± ¡°It¡¯ll probablye here once it figures out that there aren¡¯t any more red-eyed zombies in Seogwipo. It¡¯ll probably realize it once it¡¯s dealt with all the zombies there. Wouldn¡¯t you think so?¡± ¡°What should we do about the mutants?¡± I let out a deep sigh. ¡°Some of them will be killed by the ck creature, and some of them will survive and make their way here. Everything is up in the air. Nothing is certain.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun bit his lower lip as worry momentarily clouded his face. Then he scratched his temples. ¡°Let¡¯s go back to the hotel for now,¡± he said. ¡°I think it¡¯d be better to head back and discuss this with the leaders.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s discuss this with the leaders, and when things are organized, let¡¯s recruit more underlings.¡± ¡°Haven¡¯t you hit your limit, ahjussi? Twenty-three hundred underlings?¡± ¡°I have to make mutants. There¡¯s no way normal zombies can stop the ck creature.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun nodded vigorously and took off toward Hotel L before me. I got up, took a deep breath, and followed him. We were done gathering information. We were heading toward the final fight to ensure the safety of the Survivor Rally organization. The war that would mark the end, and signal the beginning of everything we had hoped from the start, was just around the corner. Chapter 193 Chapter 193 All the leaders looked grave as they gathered in the Hotel L restaurant. I¡¯d finished telling them about the ck creature, and it seemed most of the leaders could not ept the dire situation that we were in. Lee Jeong-Uk massaged his temples gently as he looked around the room at the others who sighed or moaned. ¡°Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok,¡± he said. "Yes?" ¡°Did you know about this from the beginning? That the eyes of the ck creature in Jeju Ind had changed color?¡± ¡°It was all hypothetical to me as well. I had no hard evidence. I never gave anyone a definitive answer because I knew that rushing to a conclusion could put unnecessary mental and physical strain on the survivors,¡± I said,ying it all out honestly. Lee Jeong-Uk sighed deeply and remained silent. Hwang Ji-Hye, who was beside me, crossed her arms and looked at me. ¡°If you¡¯d told us in advance, we could¡¯vee up with a countermeasure together.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°By making the judgment alone¡­ I can¡¯t say that I¡¯m not disappointed.¡± I wasn¡¯t expecting her to actually say that she was disappointed, but I understood where she wasing from. She grimaced and looked away. Kim Hyeong-Jun looked at me, then at the leaders, and went up to the podium. When Kim Hyeong-Jun took the podium, all the leaders focused their attention on him. ¡°Please ept our apology for not being open with everyone. But we¡­ we just wanted everyone to have one less thing to worry about, especially in a new environment.¡± Hwang Ji-Hye raised her eyebrows. ¡°Are you saying that you knew about this as well?¡± she asked. Kim Hyeong-Jun nodded. ¡°The original n was for myself and Hyun-Deok ahjussi to take care of the ck creature,¡± he said. ¡°We were going to tell everyone about it after we got rid of the threat.¡± ¡°Then why didn¡¯t you carry out the n?¡± ¡°We couldn¡¯t move hastily, as we didn¡¯t know its whereabouts or the color of its eyes. On top of that, it wasn¡¯t possible to stray too far away from the shelter because of the Hounds on Jeju Ind.¡± Hwang Ji-Hye smacked her lips without saying anything. It had been less than three days since we¡¯d arrived on Jeju Ind. In this short time, however, Kim Hyeong-Jun and I had wiped out the Hounds in Jeju City, and had even figured out the situation of Seogwipo City. Getting things done any more quickly was utterly impossible, unless we were omnipotent gods. Park Gi-Cheol, who had been keeping quiet, raised his right hand and spoke up. ¡°I totally understand the position that Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok and Mr. Kim Hyeong-Jun was in. I know for a fact that you two are far more concerned about the safety of the survivors than anything else, which is why you didn¡¯t share the information that you weren¡¯t confident about. You didn¡¯t want to cause unnecessary confusion amongst the survivors.¡± I looked at Park Gi-Cheol and offered him a small bow, thanking him for his understanding. Lee Jeong-Uk silently covered his face with his hands for a moment, then spoke up. ¡°I won¡¯t lie that I was also disappointed, but I don¡¯t want to get unnecessarily emotional over it. It¡¯s foolish for us to dy matters by going on about what happened in the past. Let¡¯s hear what you have in mind going forward.¡± In response to his request, I opened the map I had in my pocket. ¡°We are currently here, in Hotel L and Hotel O,¡± I said, moving the discussion forward. ¡°It¡¯s a good ce to hide, but it¡¯s also difficult to mount a counteroffensive if we¡¯re discovered by our enemies. The terrain here also blocks off our escape route.¡± ¡°Well, that only makes sense, since the south and east sides are wide open. What is the star on the right side of the map?¡± ¡°This is where the Phoenix Jeju Seopjikoji Hotel is located. There¡¯s no escape route because it¡¯s surrounded by the ocean on all sides, but only one road leads up to it, making it an excellent ce for defense.¡± ¡°Are you suggesting we move there?¡± I shook my head at his question. ¡°That was my initial thought, but I don¡¯t think that¡¯ll be possible,¡± I replied. ¡°We might get caught by the ck creature on our way there.¡± ¡°Will it be dangerous even if we¡¯re carried there by zombies?¡± ¡°The zombies are also just food for the ck creature. Besides, we don¡¯t have enough perfume to spray on every person and every zombie.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk rubbed his chin quietly, looking troubled. Hwang Deok-Rok raised his hand. "So, you¡¯re saying that there is no n?¡± he asked. "There is. If everyone could please pay attention over here.¡± I ced my finger on the north side of the map. Port Jeju was about two kilometers from where we were. Hwang Deok-Rok squinted as he examined the location of Port Jeju. He tilted his head, a question forming in his mind. ¡°Are you saying we should head to Port Jeju?¡± he asked. ¡°Is there anywhere to hide there?¡± ¡°You¡¯d be able to avoid the sea breeze and the cold inside the Port Jeju Passenger Terminal.¡± "So you¡¯re saying we should just wait at Port Jeju even though there''s no guarantee when the ck creature will appear?¡± ¡°Oh no, absolutely not. We have to turn Port Jeju into a fortress. We have a maximum of three days to do so.¡± I put my point across rather forcefully, and Hwang Deok-Rok sighed. His expression suggested that he found my idea absurd. Lee Jeong-Uk noted the expression on his face and decided to speak up. ¡°Mr. Hwang Deok-Rok, I hope you haven¡¯t forgotten how we¡¯ve gotten to this point. I also hope you remember the ce you¡¯ve been able to stay in for the past couple of days.¡± "I know, I know. But¡­¡± ¡°Have you gotten used to sleeping in a bed or something?¡± asked Lee Jeong-Uk sarcastically. Hwang Deok-Rok frowned at Lee Jeong-Uk, not appreciating his mockery, but I was certain that he knew where Lee Jeong-Uk wasing from. The fact that he was offended by his sarcastic tone meant that he acknowledged what Lee Jeong-Uk had said. He grimaced and let his head sag. Lee Jeong-Uk got to his feet and continued to speak, meeting the eyes of each of the leaders. ¡°These two did not get a single day of rest, while we filled ourselves up and restedfortably, totally ignoring the situation that we were in.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°As soon as Mr. Kim Hyeong-Jun arrived on Jeju Ind, he wiped out the Northwest Gang¡¯s base and took care of the Northeast Gang¡¯s base with Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok. Think about it¡ªwhat did we do during that time?¡± asked Lee Jeong-Uk with a frown. The other leaders didn¡¯t dare to speak. In fact, they knew that there was nothing for them to say. When the entire room remained silent, Lee Jeong-Uk let out a deep sigh. ¡°To be frank, the fact that Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok and Mr. Kim Hyeong-Jun kept quiet about the ck creature¡­ It disappointed me a little as well. However, just look at how everyone¡¯s reacting right now. I think I know why Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok kept quiet about the ck creature.¡± On the way from Gimpo Airport to Hotel L in Jeju, none of the leaders had ceased worrying. They also had to be alert at all times. However, all of the fatigue and stress they had umted along the way had gone away as soon as they arrived at Hotel L. They had spent thest two days going about their business as if everything was over, as if there were no more threats. When Hwang Deok-Rok inadvertently implied that he had gotten used to this lifestyle, it made the other leaders rethink the situation they were in. They realized that, unbeknownst to them, they were in the same boat as Hwang Deok-Rok. It seemed like none of them knew what to say, now that Lee Jeong-Uk had brought everyone back to earth. Whether they were looking back on their actions or feeling guilty for what they¡¯d done, it was now up to them to take in the bitter feeling they were feeling right now to make a change. Lee Jeong-Uk looked at me directly. ¡°What¡¯s the reason for fortifying Port Jeju?¡± he asked. I took a deep breath. ¡°There¡¯s a high chance that the zombies in Seogwipo City will mutate,¡± I replied. ¡°If Kim Hyeong-Jun, Do Han-Sol and I are to stop the ck creature, we have to throw all of our underlings at the ck creature.¡± "So you¡¯re saying that there won¡¯t be any zombies for defense, right?¡± ¡°Yes. Kim Dae-Young and Jeong Jin-Young will certainly help with the defense¡­ But if there are mutants with the zombies, they won¡¯t be able to stop the zombies by themselves. Everyone has to arm themselves and fortify the base.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk pursed his lips and nodded, then turned around and looked at the other leaders. ¡°What are you all going to do?¡± ¡°Pardon?¡± The leaders looked at Lee Jeong-Uk with dumbfounded expressions. Lee Jeong-Uk looked at each of them in turn, with steel in his eyes, as he spoke in a low and powerful voice. ¡°An enemy that Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok and Mr. Kim Hyeong-Jun will have trouble dealing with ising after us. I¡¯m asking if you¡¯re going to sit around waiting to die, or if you¡¯re going to go out and fight.¡± The leaders began to stand up one by one. Park Gi-Cheol smiled as he saw the leaders get to their feet. ¡°We have to tell the survivors as well,¡± he said. ¡°To get ready for war.¡± When Lee Jeong-Uk nodded, the leaders left the meeting room and ordered the floor managers of each floor to gather all the survivors in the lobby. Lee Jeong-Uk looked me straight in the eyes. ¡°I want you to give a speech in front of the survivors.¡± ¡°What? Me?¡± ¡°This news will be out of the blue for everyone. I bet it¡¯d be easier for everyone to ept the news if you told them about it instead of me. Don¡¯t you think so?¡± I grimaced and smacked my lips, and Lee Jeong-Uk smiled. ¡°So, we have a deal?¡± he asked. ¡°Deal¡­¡± I couldn¡¯t help myself from smiling, as I hadn¡¯t heard the word ¡®deal¡¯ in a while. It was such a relief that Lee Jeong-Uk was the representative of the Survivor Rally Organization. In order to get a heavy wagon moving, the person at the front pulling it was naturally important, but to be frank, the person pushing it from behind was as important, and perhaps even more important. Lee Jeong-Uk had always been a supportive partner, and we as a group hade this far thanks to him. I took a deep breath and left the meeting room with Lee Jeong-Uk. * * * A littleter, the hotel lobby and restaurant were filled with survivors. I let out a small sigh and climbed on top of the concierge desk in the lobby so that I could see all of them. Everyone had their eyes on me. I took another deep breath, then began to speak. ¡°I¡¯m Lee Hyun-Deok, and it''s nice to meet every single one of you. Thank you everyone who believed in us to lead all of us to where we are now.¡± The survivors returned my greeting, then looked at me nkly. It seemed like they were wondering why I¡¯d summoned them out here at this time, when the sun had already set. I offered a faint smile. ¡°Everyone, how is life on Jeju Ind?¡± I asked. "Very good." ¡°It¡¯s veryfortable.¡± "I''m happy here." There were positive responses left and right. Their voices were full of hope and excitement, conveying their hope for a brighter future. I waited for the crowd to grow quiet, while the survivors started giving mepliments and thanking me for what we had done for them so far. Not a single person brought up something negative. Everyone was invested in a shared vision for a brighter future. But¡­ But now I had to tell them the bad news and ruin everything they had on their minds. ¡°Great. When I look at all of you, all cheerful and positive, I can¡¯t help but recall the memories we¡¯ve had together. I still remember everything, as if it had all happened just yesterday. The moment when everyone gathered at Shelter Silence to repulse the Family¡¯s attack, the long march thatsted for days as we made our way to Gwangjang-dong, and the courage you all showed me as we made our way through the zombies to escape the wends and get to Gimpo Airport. ¡± I could tell that the survivors shared my feelings as I went over what we had gone through together. I saw heartwarming smiles, eyes full of determination, and expressions that showed that people had been touched by what I¡¯d said. I swept my gaze over the crowd again, then continued to speak. ¡°I know that every situation we¡¯ve gone through was really bad. The guards had to engage in closebat and fierce battles against the Family and their forces, and the ambush at the Children''s Grand Park at night was desperate and nerve-wracking. And I don¡¯t even have to mention the battle in the wends, with bullets flying everywhere and zombies howling all around us.¡± I gently closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Every anxious moment from that day shed through my mind one after another like Proid photos. I opened my eyes again and continued. ¡°But, everyone, we¡¯re still very much alive in this tragic and hopeless reality. Many of you thank me and say that it''s because of me, but I¡¯ve never thought of it that way.¡± I paused, noticing that the lobby had gone dead silent. The only thing I could hear was my own voice; I couldn¡¯t even hear a single soul breathing. Everyone was fully focused on what I had to say. ¡°You all survived together by bing each other¡¯s eyes and ears, hands and feet in this damned world. I want to ask the guards a question. When you were fighting the Family and its forces, was I there?¡¯ "Uh¡­ No.¡± ¡°Yes, exactly, I wasn¡¯t there. I was at the enemy¡¯s base, and never offered you any help on the front lines.¡± The guards nodded vigorously, their gaze locked on mine. I looked around at the other survivors and. ¡°Let me ask all the survivors who were at the fountain in Children¡¯s Grand Park,¡± I continued. ¡°Was I there with you while you were all gathered at the fountain?¡± The moment I asked my question, I heard voices here and there, defending my actions. ¡°You were holding the front entrance. We totally understand.¡± ¡°You came to the fountainter on!¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t youe back after dealing with the zombies elsewhere with Mr. Kim Hyeong-Jun?¡± I also heard some survivors giving each other encouragement andpliments for holding off the zombies back at the fountain. I nodded vigorously and continued to speak. ¡°And how about in the wends? It was you who held the children in your arms and made it to Gimpo Airport, braving your way through the endless wave of zombies. And not a single person gave up. Everyone ran on their own, fighting to the end.¡± Every survivor, from the front of the hotel lobby to the rear of the restaurant, had eyes full of life and energy. None of them showed a hint of fear. I could feel their emotion, their determination. I clenched my fists. ¡°This damned world keeps on telling us to die, but we cried out for life to triumph over death,¡± I continued. ¡°And just as you can see, we are still very much alive.¡± The survivors shouted in unanimous agreement and apuded. I quieted everyone down and continued with my speech. ¡°But, everyone, there¡¯s still a threat that¡¯sing after us at this very moment. In fact, it¡¯s right here, on this very ind. It¡¯s here, at our final destination, Jeju Ind, which will be the new starting point of human history! This is a being that we have note across yet, by far the worst being that we¡¯ll ever face, and it ising for our very lives.¡± The survivors swallowed collectively as they took in what I¡¯d just said. I looked across the crowd of survivors, wondering if anyone would grow scared or terrified now that I¡¯d mentioned that we would now be confronted with the worst thing we could ever face. But to my surprise, none of the survivors, including the ones from the Survivor Rally Organization, even flinched. Instead, they all gritted their teeth in determination, standing together with me. I looked at the survivors one by one. ¡°No one, not even myself, can predict what will happen in the final battle toe,¡± I continued. ¡°Nothing is guaranteed. Not even my life, Hyeong-Jun¡¯s, Han-Sol¡¯s, Dae-Young¡¯s, Jin-Young¡¯s, or yours. But I can tell you one thing with confidence.¡± My blue eyes shed. ¡°I can tell you with confidence that I won¡¯t be afraid of anything while I¡¯m with you. If we work together, we can ovee any adversity, just as we¡¯ve done so far. Let¡¯s survive to the end! We will survive to the end, tenaciously, and make this Jeju Ind a paradise!¡± "Let¡¯s go!!! Let¡¯s fight!!" The survivors clenched their fists and pumped their fists in the air, shouting in unison. I nodded vigorously. ¡°Let''s fight! Let''s fight for our home, for our children''s future!!¡± I cried. "Let¡¯s fight!!" ¡°Let¡¯s go!!¡± A determined roar echoed around the space like thunder. Lee Jeong-Uk saw their energy and gave me a thumbs-up, a wide, warm grin on his face. I looked back at Lee Jeong-Uk and nodded, then I exined my n to the survivors. Chapter 194 Chapter 194 The next morning, the survivors loaded all of their supplies onto carts and made their way to Port Jeju. Once we arrived, all the survivors assigned themselves tasks and moved into action as one. Everyone exercised their own judgment and did whatever work was required on their own, even without the leaders telling them what to do. Since Port Jeju jutted out into the ocean, it was safe from the zombies as long as the southern entrance was blockaded properly. The facilities management team began to reconstruct the iron wall that we¡¯d used back in Gwangjang-dong at the intersection of Pier 6, which was located at the southern end, and the guards began to build their encampment between Pier 6 and Pier 9. Kim Dae-Young and his underlings helped with the heavy lifting. The team in charge of food, clothing, and shelter moved tforms into position behind the iron wall so that the guards could brace their K2 rifles, and made Molotov cocktails using the gasoline that Do Han-Sol had retrieved. Since Port Jeju wasrge and mostly t, Park Gi-Cheol and Hwang Deok-Rok built a guard post along the first line of defense, made out of objects that people could take cover behind. Bae Jeong-Man and Park Shin-Jeong armed the men and constructed a second line of defense at Piers 7 and 8, north of the first line of defense. Because the passenger terminal was located to the right of Pier 7, it was almost impossible for the survivors to stay alive if the second line of defense went down. While Lee Jeong-Uk observed everyone at work, he directed a question at Hwang Ji-Hye, who was beside him. ¡°What¡¯s that over there? The thing that¡¯s touching the ocean? Is it a breakwater?¡± ¡°It looks like a breakwater. There¡¯s also a lighthouse at the end.¡± To the north of Pier 8, which was north of the second line of defense, was Jeju Outer Port. There were two narrow bridges in front of Yuhwang Wharf, and a long diagonal breakwater that looked like a walkway. Lee Jeong-Uk quietly rubbed his chin as he scrutinized the breakwater, then he looked at Hwang Ji-Hye. ¡°How many do you think can fit on that walkway?¡± ¡°If we fill it uppletely, I think we could fit up to about a thousand. I¡¯m not sure about the width, but the length itself is mindblowing.¡± ¡°In the worst-case scenario, we can use it as the third line of defense.¡± Hwang Ji-Hye gave him a confused look, as if he was making no sense. "Huh? There¡¯s nowhere to take cover.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s expression remained serious. ¡°If the second line of defense goes down, we¡¯re pretty much done for,¡± he replied. ¡°We have to hold on until Lee Hyun-Deok, Kim Hyeong-Jun, and Do Han-Sol take care of the ck creature ande to our aid.¡± ¡°Hold them off from there, when we don¡¯t even know how long they¡¯re going to take? There¡¯s another worst-case scenario to consider as well. If Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok, Mr. Kim Hyeong-Jun, and Mr. Did Han-Sol die¡­ We¡¯re going to be trapped on that breakwater.¡± ¡°Once the second line of defense goes down and we are forced onto the breakwater, that already means that we¡¯re betting everything on them. Going there basically means that we¡¯ve failed in holding off the zombies on our own.¡± Hwang Ji-Hye grimaced, and after a moment, she nodded. Then she called Lee Jeong-Hyuk, Choi Da-Hye, and the principal over and asked them to begin to construct a third line of defense along the bridge that would lead to the walkway along the breakwater. Lee Jeong-Uk took a deep breath and looked out over Port Jeju. As he observed everyone at work, he couldn¡¯t help but wonder if this ce was going to be their grave, or if it could be the starting point of the future of mankind. In truth, nobody knew what the future held. * * * While the survivors were building their encampments in Port Jeju, Kim Hyeong-Jun and I focused on converting our underlings into mutants. We did our job outside of Jeju City, since we thought that it could pose a danger to the survivors. In order to make a mutant, we had to force our underlings to fight each other, which meant that we would lose one of our underlings on the spot. In other words, once we ordered all our underlings to fight, we would lose half of the number of underlings we currently had. Since we¡¯d be losing arge number of underlings very quickly, Kim Hyeong-Jun and I recruited new underlings non-stop, by pushing whatever zombie we saw. The throbbing headache, which I hadn¡¯t felt for a while, made me feel like I was still alive. The headache was not apanied by physical pain, and so it did not cause me much suffering. In fact, it gave me a sense of freshness and vitality. The thing that could possibly count as pain¡­ was the pressure of not knowing when the ck creature was going to attack. It was extremely nerve-wracking, far outweighing the sensation of the headache. Do Han-Sol insisted on making mutants, but I explicitly told him not to. Although it was true that mutants were specialized forbat, it was important to overwhelm the ck creature with numbers. The ck creature would wipe out dozens of underlings, but if enough underlings managed to attach themselves to the ck creature, it would be enough to divert the ck creature¡¯s attention, even for a little bit. On top of that, I wasn¡¯t sure if Kim Hyeong-Jun and I would be able to keep the ranks of our underlings full as we made more mutants, since Jeju Ind was running out of zombies. We kept on making mutants throughout the night, and after just two days, we finally converted all of our underlings into mutants. In the span of just those two days, Jeju City was wiped clean of zombies. We had run out of zombies because we¡¯d already gone about cleaning up Jeju City a couple of times beforehand. Kim Hyeong-Jun still had to create five more mutants to fill his ranks. We decided to create the remaining mutants when Jeong Jin-Young regained consciousness, and moved on to step up the trap for the ck creature. * * * On the morning of the third day of our preparations, I heard Kim Dae-Young calling me just as I was just about to leave the passenger terminal to patrol the area. ¡°Mr. Jeong Jin-Young has woken up.¡± When I heard the news, I went to the rest area of ??the passenger terminal, where I hadid Jeong Jin-Young down. His hand was on his throbbing forehead, and it seemed like he wasn¡¯t able to get up at the moment. He was fiddling with his gums with his right hand, as if his gums were itchy. I sat down beside Jeong Jin-Young and looked at him. ¡°Mr. Jeong Jin-Young. Mr. Jeong Jin-Young?¡± "Ahhh¡­ Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok, you¡¯re here.¡± "Are you feeling unwell?¡± ¡°My body is too hot. My mouth is itchy too.¡± ¡°Then you¡¯re okay. Just hold on for a moment. It will go away soon.¡± Jeong Jin-Young continued to move his mouth about as he bit his lips. I knew exactly how he was feeling because I also hadn¡¯t been able to bear the pain just before my sharp teeth grew out. After waiting for about thirty minutes, Jeong Jin-Young, with all of his sharp teeth grown out, slowly raised himself up from the bed. I gave him a once-over. ¡°How are you now?¡± I asked. ¡°Do you feel any changes in your body?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure if this is right¡­ But I feel strong, full of energy.¡± ¡°Can you tell where your underlings are through your mind?¡± ¡°Pardon?¡± Jeong Jin-Young asked, looking at me in confusion. Kim Hyeong-Jun, who was next to me, tilted his head. "Ahjussi, didn¡¯t that only happen once we were able to control over a thousand underlings?¡± he asked. ¡°Oh, was that the case?¡± Honestly, it had been such a long time ago that my memory was hazy. After thinking about what Kim Hyeong-Jun had said, it did seem like I could only tell where my underlings were after the number of underlings I could control had hit one thousand. It was only natural for me to feel this way, since it had been a long time since I had taken care of the dong leader of Majang-dong. I scratched my sideburns and asked Kim Hyeong-Jun a question. ¡°What else was there, besides knowing where your underlings are?¡± ¡°Checking how many underlings you have?¡± ¡°You¡¯re right. Was that also something that happened only after reaching one thousand underlings?¡± ¡°I think so.¡± I scratched my head and looked at Jeong Jin-Young. He was still staring at me nkly. I knew he¡¯d be unfamiliar with what was going on and was afraid of everything that was happening, since he didn¡¯t know what time it was or how many days had passed since he¡¯d fallen asleep. Jeong Jin-Young fiddled with his sharpened teeth with his right hand, and only snapped out of his daydream after cutting himself. Jeong Jin-Young swallowed and asked me a question. ¡°What¡¯s happened to Jeju Ind?¡± ¡°I''ll tell you along the way. Follow me.¡± ¡°Uh, where are we going?¡± ¡°We¡¯re going to go see your underlings. Your first underlings.¡± As I chuckled, Jeong Jin-Young looked at me, Kim Hyeong-Jun, and Do Ha-Sol, his eyes trembling. He swallowed again and got to his feet. We headed to Jeju National University High School, which was east of Jeju Airport. When we got there, I saw some zombies¡ªsome that I saw as red, and some without any color¡ªtied to ropes, trying to squirm their way out. Kim Hyeong-Jun, who had tagged along, offered me a smirk. ¡°Ahjussi, you form an alliance with Jeong Jin-Young first,¡± he said. ¡°I''ll be recruiting those zombies over there.¡± "Okay." With that, Kim Hyeong-Jun started pushing the zombies that weren¡¯t governed by a chain ofmand and recruited them as his underlings. I told Jeong Jin-Young exactly what I¡¯d told Kim Dae-Young when the two of us had formed an alliance. He seemed a bit nervous, but he quickly gave me a sharp nod and opened his eyes. I held out my right hand and looked at Jeong Jin-Young. ¡°It¡¯s going to be a little painful.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t imagine it being worse than the pain after waking up.¡± ¡°It depends on the person. For you¡­ It¡¯s going to be pretty painful.¡± Jung Jin-Young took a big sigh and took my hand. "GAAAAAAA!!" His scream echoed through the first floor of the school. * * * We began with Jeju National University High School, then we checked Namnyeong High School, which was located within the base of the Northwest Gang. Kim Hyeong-Jun created the five mutants that he was missing, and we decided that Do Han-Sol could have ten stage-one mutants, because there were so many zombies left. I had forty-five stage-one mutants and a stage-three mutant, Ji-Eun. Kim Hyeong-Jin had forty-four stage-one mutants and Mood-Swinger, and finally, Do Han-Sol had ten stage-one mutants and twelve hundred ordinary underlings. With this amount of zombies, I was convinced that we could go up against the ck creature. After a moment, Jeong Jin-Young, who had just joined our alliance, spoke up. ¡°Did you say that I should focus on just defending?¡± ¡°Yes, please.¡± ¡°You can speak to me informally as well. I think that will help me feel like we¡¯re on the same team.¡± "Okay,¡± I replied with a smile and a nod. Jeong Jin-Young had passed out momentarily at Jeju National University High School. To be honest, I¡¯d felt rather anxious that he might have just died. However, his red body had slowly turned purple, and it hadn¡¯t taken him long before he opened his eyes and regained consciousness. Thankfully, Jeong Jin-Young had ovee the pain, and we formed an alliance without any issues. He looked at the underlings that were following him, then tilted his head. "Then¡­ Should I mark my underlings the same way you did?¡± he asked. "Mark them? Did you mean painting them blue?¡± ¡°Yes. Don¡¯t you think it¡¯d be nice for the survivors to distinguish my underlings from the other zombies?¡± ¡°Yeah. In that case, let¡¯s stop by the supermarket first.¡± Next to the Northwest Gang¡¯s base was a hypermarket. We walked over and grabbed some blue dry-erase markers, paint, and spray paint, before heading straight toward Port Jeju. * * * While Kim Hyeong-Jun and I headed toward the survivors, Do Han-Sol and Jeong Jin-Young said that they would lead their underlings in front of the first line of defense to paint them blue. I gave them a small nod and went over to where Lee Jeong-Uk was, apanied by Kim Hyeong-Jun. Lee Jeong-Uk was having an important conversation with the leaders in the passenger terminal. He weed me with a bright smile after noticing me. ¡°So-yeon¡¯s dad, how¡¯d your underling situation go?¡± ¡°We¡¯re all prepared. How are things here?¡± ¡°We¡¯re done building the lines of defense, and now I¡¯m considering any other variables or situations that might ur.¡± ¡°I¡¯d say that we need to make some countermeasures against the stage-one mutants. I think the most likely surprise that could happen would be a mutant appearing.¡± ¡°We have ns for stage-one mutants.¡± I looked at him quizzically, inviting him to borate. Lee Jeong-Uk gestured for me to head outside of the passenger terminal. Dozens of drums were lined up in a row between the first and second lines of defense, and there was a basic guard post above one of the drums. Lee Jeong-Uk pointed to the rope connected to the drum. ¡°Can you guess what would happen if you pulled that?¡± he asked. ¡°What?¡± ¡°If you pull that rope, the guard post will copse and the drums are going to fall like dominoes. And of course, all the drums have gasoline in them.¡± ¡°If you pull that rope huh¡­¡± I took a look around the area surrounding the guard post. I noticed an impressivelyrge pit spanning the distance between Pier 6 and Pier 9. It seemed like the survivors had made it to keep the zombies at bay. Lee Jeong-Uk grinned. ¡°We also have a steady supply of Molotov cocktails,¡± he continued. ¡°I don¡¯t think any zombie will be able to withstand the fire. If they do¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure the stage-one mutants will.¡± ¡°And that¡¯s why Mr. Kim Dae-Young will be in charge of pulling the rope. I¡¯m confident that any mutants that make it past the mes won¡¯t be ordinary. That¡¯s when Mr. Kim Dae-Young will take care of them.¡± I rubbed my chin quietly, and Lee Jeong-Uk gestured to me to follow him. ¡°I still have a lot more to show you. We¡¯ve made enough preparations so that you¡¯ll feelfortable leaving us here, so look forward to what you¡¯re about to see.¡± I nodded in response and followed Lee Jeong-Uk. Rumble, rumble, rumble¡­ At that moment, I felt a subtle shakinging from the ground beneath my toes. I remained still, and Lee Jeong-Uk turned around. "What are you doing?¡± he asked. ¡°Why aren¡¯t you¡­¡± "Shh." I put my finger on my lips, my blue eyes shing. I sharpened my hearing and concentrated fully on it, as well as the vibration I sensed beneath my toes. The ground was shaking like a foreshock that heralded an earthquake. Soon, the ground began to rumble even more, and I could hear heavy footstepsing from afar. ''This can¡¯t be.'' I hurried to the first line of defense and jumped onto the roof of the tallest building I saw, opening my eyes wide as I did so. Just as I¡¯d expected, I saw an endless zombie waveing toward us. Chapter 195 Chapter 195 ''This many?¡¯ There were a lot more than I had anticipated. An endless horde of zombies was descending upon us from the northwest. They were like raging waves driven by a storm; rolling in like a fierce tsunami hell-bent on taking down anything that was in its way. No matter how well the survivors had prepared their defenses, it would be like infantry trying to stand up against a legion of cavalry. As I saw them approaching, I yelled with all my might towards Port Jeju, straining so much that the veins on my neck could be seen. ¡°Prepare for battle!!¡± Lee Jeong-Uk dashed back to the passenger terminal, where the survivors were. Soon, the survivors emerged in perfect order. It seemed like they were heading to their respective positions. They seemed to me to be more nervous than ever. Kim Hyeong-Jun came over and stood next to me, examining the approaching enemies. ¡°How many are there?¡± he asked. ¡°How do they know toe here? Did they know that the survivors were here? Or did we make some kind of mistake?¡± I said, slightly confused. Kim Hyeong-Jun bit his lower lip, then muttered in a low voice, ¡°It¡¯s the ck creature.¡± "What?" ¡°The zombies over there aren¡¯ting here to attack us.¡± "What are you talking about?" ¡°They¡¯re running away from the ck creature.¡± A chill ran down my spine and spread throughout my entire body. An event in Gwangjang-dong came flooding into my mind. We had faced a zombie wave of about twenty thousand zombies. We had never experienced any zombie wave of that size before. And at the end of a massive zombie wave¡­ was the ck creature. I frowned and turned to Kim Hyeong-Jun. ¡°We have to slow them down first,¡± I said. If they crash into the first line of defense at their current speed, they¡¯ll sweep past it like a tide.¡± ¡°What about the ck creature?¡± ¡°We¡¯ll think about thatter, once we stop the zombies. If you do find the ck creature, lure it toward the trap.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun gave me a sharp nod, his blue eyes shing. Do Han-Sol, who had btedly appeared on the roof of the building, quickly grasped what was going on. ¡°So, should we start fighting?¡± he asked. ¡°Don''t forget to look around when you fight. And when the ck creature appears, don¡¯t forget to inform each other no matter what and lure it to the ce where we¡¯ve set the trap.¡± "Got it." With a sh of his blue eyes, Kim Hyeong-Jun gradually elerated his blood flow. I did the same. My pupils narrowed, and the zombie instincts I had been suppressing awoke. ¡°GRRR!¡± Steam leaked from my mouth as I gave orders to Kim Hyeong-Jun and Do Han-Sol. ¡°Kill all of them.¡± With that, the three of us rushed toward the enemies. * * * Crack!! My fist met the face of the zombie in front of me, crushing its skull instantly, sending it copsing like a tree going down in a storm. The first wave of zombies running toward Port Jeju began to slow down as Kim Hyeong-Jun, Do Han-Sol and I appeared. However, due to the pressure behind them, they were swept forward anyway, and continued to rush toward us as if intent on wiping us out. I strengthened my arms and hit them continuously. My legs were slowly crushed into the asphalt, sending cracks spiraling out on the ground, and the zombies spewed out blood like fountains, drenching my entire body with their blood. However, the three of us were not enough to prevent them from getting closer to our base. I knew that if we didn¡¯t bring up our underlings, the zombies that made their way beyond us would wipe out Port Jeju. I sent orders to my underlings through my mind. ¡®Kill all the zombies that made it into Port Jeju. Make your way here as you clean them up.¡¯ With that, I focused on the zombies in front of me. KIAAA!!! There were stage-one mutants mixed in amongst the ordinary zombies. It seemed like some of the underlings of the Southwest and Southeast gang members had mutated after being freed from their chain ofmand. I knew that they were a lot more dangerous, and ignored the ordinary zombies as I quickly oriented myself to where the mutants were. Kim Dae-Young and the guards could handle the ordinary zombies, but a significant amount of mutants would be dangerous to them. There was no time to think. Iunched myself off the ground, flying toward the mutants. I relentlessly demolished the zombies standing in my way and found myself face-to-face with a mutant in an instant. The eyes of the stage-one mutant rolled about as it swung its gigantic arm at me. I grabbed the arm, which was flying toward me like a bat, and used centrifugal force to swing it around as hard as I could. I twirled the mutant that was over two meters tall like a h hoop, knocking out a bunch of zombies as they were hit by the mutant¡¯s sturdy bones. This was much more effective than trying to stop the zombies with my own two fists. However, the zombie¡¯s arm could no longer withstand the centripetal force and the constant impact of hitting the zombies, and it slowly began to separate from the rest of the mutant¡¯s body. When I saw that its shoulder des were getting dislocated, I threw it to the ground with all my might before its muscles tore offpletely. KIA!!! The mutant wailed in pain. I stomped on its face and continued to search for more mutants. I knew I had to do my best to reduce their numbers, even if I couldn¡¯t take care of all of them. GRRR!!! A couple of zombies attacked me from behind. However, they were only ordinary street zombies. I spun around from my waist and shook them off like bugs. However, whenever I brushed off a zombie, another would take its ce, jumping onto my body and sticking to it like a leech. I was slowly being overwhelmed, and my legs started to feel heavy and stiff, as if I was stuck in a swamp. I knew I had to keep my bnce. Even if I couldn''t move forward, I couldn¡¯t let them make me lose my bnce, because it would be almost impossible to get back up again if I did. Chop¨C A sharp de appeared in front of me. Ji-Eun appeared next to me, her long hair fluttering about as she performed her sword dance. She spread her ten elongated fingers and began slicing up the zombies. Her way of dealing with zombies was quicker and much more effectivepared to beating them to death with my fists. KIAAA!!! The forty-five stage-one mutants soon made their appearance, spreading out in a fan-shaped formation and sweeping the zombies aside like dust. The mutants that belonged to Kim Hyeong-Jun and Do Han-Sol were next to them. In an instant, the tide turned in our favor. The underlings spread out left and right in a long line and began to push back the endless wave of zombies. The mutant crashed through the zombies with their overwhelming power like bulldozers, and the zombies that had made their way into Port Jeju were swept away like leaves on the streets. ¡®We¡¯ll be okay now.¡¯ The underlings were now in perfect formation. Despite the numbers advantage that the oing zombies possessed, there was no way that zombies mindlessly pushing their way forward could beat the stage-one mutants that were pushing them back with a n. If only we could keep this up we could bring this to an end¡­ KWAAA!!! The sharp cry pierced my eardrums, and all my hairs stood on end. I heard a constant ringing in my head, and my eyes were instinctively drawn toward the source of the sound. In moments, I saw the being that was making its way through the zombies, heading directly for us. ¡®It¡¯s here.¡¯ It was a wild beast, running full tilt toward its newly-found prey. The ck creature was already insane; it seemed like it had lost its mind a while ago. I assumed that Kim Hyeong-Jun and Do Han-Sol had also heard the ck creature cry, but I also figured that it would be hard for them to locate it, since they were surrounded by zombies. If the ck creature suddenly appeared out of nowhere while the two of them were fighting off zombies, they could suffer fatal injury. I had to let them know where the ck creature was, then move toward the ce where we¡¯d set our trap. Since the ck creature¡¯s eyes were on me, I assumed that leaping into the air would be enough to lure it toward me. I got ready to jump, hoping that Kim Hyeong-Jun and Do Han-Sol would be able to see where the ck creature was with their own eyes. Bang! Iunched myself off the ground and into the air. Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s shing blue eyes and Do Han-Sol¡¯s shing red eyes turned skyward as a long shadow fell over them. ¡®Thank goodness. The two of them saw me.¡¯ ¡°Ahjussi! Behind you!!¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s cry pierced through the cacophony. I sensed a pair of eyes focused on me, full of murderous intent, sending chills down my spine and eventually settling on my neck. I twisted my body sharply and covered my face with my arms. A thick fist hurtled through the air in front of me, and a heavy blow mmed against my arms. I coughed, my eyes going wide. If I had been even a secondte, the ck creature¡¯s blow would havended on my neck, not my arms. In that brief moment, I was able to glimpse its face. It¡­ It had apletely different aura from the ones that I hade across before. Unlike the previous ck creatures that smirked as they cornered their prey, the one in front of me seemed terribly anxious for some reason. Its eyes were full of obsession and madness, as if it had been starving for a long time. It desperately wanted more prey to eat, and that it was going to consume me no matter what. It was determined to eat me. It craved desperately for more prey, like a beast that had suffered from hunger for a long time. Madness and obsession swirled in its eyes. Swoosh¨C After our brief exchange, a sharp whistling filled my ears as gravity pulled me thest couple of meters down toward the ground. Bang!!! ¡°GAAA!¡± The impact pinned me to the ground, sendingrge cracks radiating through the asphalt. The ck creature¡¯s attack had prevented me fromnding safely, and I found that I couldn¡¯t feel any strength in my legs. I couldn''t help but suspect that my spine had been damaged. ¡®Is my lower body paralyzed?¡¯ I frowned and stared into the sky. The ck creature was descending toward me. I had to avoid it somehow, even if that meant crawling along the ground. I knew that my chances of survival were terribly slim if I took its attack head-on. My eyes widened and I clenched my teeth, straining to lift my upper body. GAAA!!! Unfortunately, I hadnded right in the middle of all the other zombies, who began to surround me once they saw me falling from the sky. My mind went nk for a moment as the zombies came flying at me from all directions. I could not find a way to get out of this situation. Cold sweat dripped down my forehead, and the constant ringing in my eardrums began to intensify. I¡­ I couldn¡¯t help but wonder why, of all the days, had my spine decided to shatter right then, leaving me unable to even dodge the zombies¡¯ attacks. That fleeting moment felt like an eternity. Whoosh¡ª At that moment, a streak of blue light passed above my head, helping me get back to my senses. Just before the ck creature got to me, Kim Hyeong-Jun used all the momentum he¡¯d built up on his run to kick the ck creature with all his might. Pow!! nk!! The blownded apanied by the sound of steel bending. The ck creature wasunched into the horde of zombies like a bowling ball knocking over an endless number of pins. I heard Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s voice. ¡°Can you walk, ahjussi?¡± he asked me. ¡°My spine is broken.¡± ¡°Han-Sol! Carry ahjussi on your back and go ahead!¡± At Kim Hyeong-Jun''s shout, the surrounding zombies separated like the parting of the Red Sea, and Do Han-Sol came running through them. He didn¡¯t even take the time to answer; he just grabbed me by the cor and instantly ran in the direction of our trap. ¡°Move your underlings to the trap,¡± I said as I looked at him. ¡°Since we¡¯ve slowed down the zombies, we¡¯ll leave the remaining ordinary zombies to the survivors.¡± ¡°What about my ordinary underlings?¡± ¡°Did you get all the instruments?¡± "Yes. Should I order all of my mutants and zombies toe?¡± I nodded as steam rose from my body. My broken spine regenerated, and my blue eyes shed again. Do Han-Sol let go of my cor and looked behind us. Kim Hyeong-Jun was running for his life, with the ck creature chasing him down. I got to my feet and looked at Do Han-Sol. ¡°Listen carefully to what I say from now on. If the ck creature attacks you, don''t think about fighting it; just run away no matter what. Just distract it and lure it toward our trap. Got it?¡± The moment Do Han-Sol nodded, Kim Hyeong-Jun flew past me, gritting his teeth as hard as he could. "Run!!" he yelled. Do Han-Sol and I dashed toward our trap, running for our dear lives. KWAAAAAA!!! I heard the ck creature screaming behind me. I turned my head slightly to look behind us. The ck creature was already so close to us. It almost seemed like it was teleporting its way to us, instead of running along the same ground as we were. As soon as the ck creature¡¯s right food touched the ground to propel it forward, I stopped in my tracks and threw my right elbow at it. Pow!! My elbownded a solid blow on its face. I wondered if the thought that we would retaliate hadn¡¯t crossed its mind. My unexpected attack hadnded what seemed like a fatal blow. The speed that it was running at,bined with the power from my elbow, crushed its face in. For a second, it seemed like the ck creature was going to fall onto its back, but it righted itself instantly as it mmed the ground with its arms. I kept running, but my eyes widened instinctively at what they had just seen. I couldn¡¯t believe that such movements were possible. They were utterly absurd. It seemed to defy gravitypletely. I sent out orders to my underlings. ¡®All of you,e to me. From now on, focus on wiping out the ck creature.'' I turned my head to track the creature¡¯s movements. The ck creature was chasing me, its face a mask of anger. Its crushed nose had already regenerated, and this time, it began to scrutinize my movements. It wasn¡¯t going to suffer another blow from me. Chapter 196 Chapter 196 The ck creature was hunting me down, its eyes locked onto the back of my head. I exchanged looks with Kim Hyeong-Jun, then crouched and turned to the left. Kim Hyeong-Jun didn¡¯t miss his chance and kicked the ck creature in the face. It seemed like the ck creature¡¯s eyes were fully on me, but when it noticed Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s shin flying its way, it quickly leaned backward. Its movements were almost divine. The flexibility, sense of bnce, situational awareness, and instantaneous reaction speed it possessed were close to neither human nor zombie. It seemed even more focused than earlier after getting hit in the face. The moment it leaned back, I took a series of quick, small steps, going around and trying tond a blow on its forehead. Its eyes suddenly flicked to the left, and ity t on the ground to avoid my punch. With a twist of its waist and lower body, it aimed a kick at Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s left leg, which was supporting all of his weight. Kim Hyeong-Jun lost his bnce and fell backward, but he quickly rolled across the ground and used his hands to regain his bnce. I could feel the murderous intent through its eyes. The ck creature took its time as it considered both me and Kim Hyeong-Jun. It didn¡¯t move hastily; it was thinking about what to do next. KWAAA¡­ A red dot appeared within its ck eyeballs. It fixed its eyes on Kim Hyeong-Jun as it let out a throat-rending cry. The ck creature, which had been fully focused on me, was now conscious of Kim Hyeong-Jun as well. It no longer considered me or Kim Hyeong-Jun as easy targets. I could tell that the creature was surprised, since we were superior in terms of strength, speed, and basically in every aspect whenpared to the enemy leaders it had faced so far. However, it showed no sign of being afraid, as if it knew that it was physically superior to us. Rather, it seemed as though it was contemting the best way to hunt us down. I wet my parched lips as steam rose from my body. Steam was rising from Kim Hyeong-Jun as well, and he gestured with his head. He was signaling to me not to fight but to lead the creature to where the trap was since we were almost there. At his signal, I channeled strength into my lower body and rushed toward the ck creature. Its eyes widened, and it raised its right foot. ¡®Is it aiming for my left side? My right side? Or my head?¡¯ Its stance made it possible for it to attack and defend itself at the same time, but that was something that would only work against ordinary humans. Besides, I had other things in mind. Bang! Iunched myself off the ground and leaped over it, only to keep on running afternding. The ck creature followed my movements, but its face contorted into a frown when it saw Kim Hyeong-Jun already far, far away. It seemed as though it had believed that we were seriously going to go head-to-head with it. KWAAAAAA!!! I wondered if it realized that it had been tricked. The ck creature let out a ferocious roar and rushed toward me like a raging wave. When we finally reached the ce where we had dug our trap, Kim Hyeong-Jun grabbed the rope that was on the ground and ran even harder. I felt the murderous intent intensify, and I turned around to see where the ck creature was. Its jaws were wide open, and it was aiming for my neck. ¡°Ahjussi, now!¡± At his signal, I jumped onto the roof of the building right next to me. When I pulled the rope that had been installed on the roof, the temporary wooden nk that we¡¯d put up fell down, and gasoline began pouring out. The ck creature stared up at the sky. When it saw the gasolinee pouring down over his head, it quickly folded its body into a crouch. Crack, crack¨C The ground beneath it broke apart, and it sank into the ground in an instant. The rope that Kim Hyeong-Jun was pulling triggered the wooden nk under the creature to break apart; we had covered the wooden nk with soil in order to fool it. The ck creature sank six meters into the ground, as more gasoline poured over it. Do Han-Sol, who had been waiting, grabbed the torch he had prepared and threw it into the pit where the ck creature was. Kim Hyeong-Jun and I grabbed long iron rebars used in construction sites and stabbed them as deeply into the creature as we could to keep it from climbing up the hole. The ck creature could have easily snapped the rebars if they were the only things it had to deal with, but at that moment, it was losing its mind as its entire body was on fire. KWAAAAAA!!! The ck creature wailed as mes engulfed it. Kim Hyeong-Jun and I stabbed at it, forcing it back down into the hole every time it tried to climb its way out, and whenever it tried to crouch down to jump, its melting skin prevented its muscles from moving in the proper way. Do Han-Sol grabbed a length of rebar that was on the ground to stab the ck creature. ¡°This is easier than I thought,¡± he said. ¡°Don¡¯t let your guard down. There¡¯s no way it''s going to die like this.¡± The ck creature squirmed about like a cat thrown into a body of water. The unrelenting fire made its skin melt and regenerate continuously, and with time, it eventually slowed down. Soon, it stopped moving, and its skin no longer regenerated. Kim Hyeong-Jun frowned at me after noticing the change in the ck creature. ¡°Ahjussi, it¡¯s not regenerating anymore,¡± he said. "There¡¯s no way.¡± ¡°So attacking it with chemicals was the way, huh?¡± ¡°There¡¯s no way it¡¯s already done. This has to be something else.¡± Since it had the ability to learn from its battles, I was sure that it was thinking of something. At that moment, just when I thought it was going to fall over helplessly, it submerged itself in the gasoline totally and disappeared from my sight. The mes made it impossible to see where the ck creature was. Soon, though, I noticed that the amount of gasoline in the hole was slowly decreasing. ''Oh shit, this can¡¯t be¡­!¡¯¡¯ My eyes went wide, and I started poking the rebar into the pit randomly. Kim Hyeong-Jun copied me as well, perhaps sensing that he had underestimated the ck creature. However, Do Han-Sol didn¡¯t understand what was going on and turned to me with a puzzled face. ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡± he asked. ¡°Why is the gasoline disappearing? I thought we''d waterproofed the hole and had prepared it thoroughly.¡± ¡°Just keep stabbing!¡± I yelled at him. Do Han-Sol nodded continuously and started to stab at the hole, just like the two of us were doing. No matter how many times I stabbed the rebar toward the mes, though, I only felt as though I was hitting the ground. It did not feel like I was making any contact with the ck creature, as I had been earlier. Then, unexpectedly, my rebar sank deep into the ground. I let go of the rebar in an instant in order to keep my bnce. I had almost fallen into the pit of fire. The rebar, which was more than six meters long, kept sinking further into the ground. ¡®Is it digging a tunnel?¡¯ ¡°Get back!!!¡± I yelled at Kim Hyeong-Jun and Do Han-Sol. The two of them stepped away from the hole. I stepped back as well and heightened all of my senses. ¡®This sly bastard.¡¯ Since it couldn¡¯t go up, it had decided to go down instead. I couldn''t help but wonder if it would be able to hold its breath as it dug a tunnel for itself. However, what perplexed me the most was how it was going toe back up again. Despite it being a ck creature, it was already six meters underground. I couldn¡¯t predict where or how it woulde back up. Kim Hyeong-Jun swallowed, his eyes fixed on the hole. It seemed like he was thinking along the same lines as me. ¡°Ahjussi, can you tell where the ck creature is?¡± he asked, his eyes wide. ¡°No, I can¡¯t tell at all. There¡¯s no way to tell what¡¯s happening underground.¡± No matter how heightened my senses were, there was no way for me to sense what was happening six meters underground. Right at that moment, the ck creature came flying out from the trap that we had dug, its entire body on fire. My jaw fell open as I saw it above us. It hadn¡¯te out from somewhere else; it hade out from the same hole. It seemed like it had chosen to dig deeper in order to drain the gasoline before jumping back out. Kim Hyeong-Jun looked at the ck creature, a smirk on his face. "It¡¯s trying to be a smart aleck, huh?¡± he said with a sigh. I, for some reason, had assumed that it woulde out from a different location. It managed to throw me off-guard, even though its skin was melting and it was having trouble breathing. Perhaps this feat was only possible because it was a ck creature. KWAAA¡­ Its skin slowly began to regenerate as the fire that engulfed it slowly died out. Steam was now slowly rising from its body. Of course, I never expected that our first trap would be enough to kill the ck creature. The trap was only meant to reduce its regenerative capacity. I elerated my blood flow, just like what the ck creature was doing, and looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun. ¡°Let¡¯s move on to our next n.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun loosened up his stiff shoulders and gritted his teeth. ¡°Alrighty. Let¡¯s have some fun until then.¡± I looked over at Do Han-Sol, who nodded and went ahead to the next location. ¡°Arnold!!¡± At that moment, Mood-Swinger, Ji-Eun and the stage-one mutants arrived. They were a littlete, but at least they had arrived. The ck creature scrutinized the mutants, then shed toward us in an instant as it channeled strength into its muscles. ¡°Kill it!¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun and I rushed toward the ck creature with our underlings, our blue eyes shing. * * * Rat-a-tat-tat!!! The survivors at the intersection of Pier 6 were firing away. Lee Jeong-Uk and Hwang Ji-Hye had their eyes fixed on the zombies approaching the first line of defense as they fired nonstop. The facilities management team pushed shovels and bamboo spears into the holes at the bottom of the iron wall to prevent the zombies from getting closer. The food, clothing, and shelter teams behind the defense line threw Molotov cocktails over the iron wall to prevent the zombies from grouping up. As time wore on, however, mounds of zombie corpses began to form on the other side of the iron wall. Kwak Dong-Won, the head of the facilities management team, shouted orders to the people at the bottom of the iron wall. ¡°Don¡¯t stab ¡¯em! Push ¡¯em! We can¡¯t let any more zombies pile up on each other!!¡± The facilities management team did their best to break apart the mounds of zombie corpses by pushing long, thick and round tree trunks through the holes. However, the mounds were growing faster than the survivors could push the corpses aside. Lee Jeong-Uk pulled the safety pin of a grenade and threw it into an area where the mes were dying out. ¡°Molotov cocktails!! Keep throwing the Molotov cocktails!!¡± he yelled toward the survivors behind him. Lee Jeong-Uk, Kim Hyeong-Jun, and Do Han-Sol had taken care of countless zombies, but there were still thousands of zombies trying to w their way into Port Jeju. Kim Dae-Young, who was fighting alongside the survivors at the first line of defense, noticed that the iron wall was on the brink of copsing and shouted toward Lee Jeong-Uk. ¡°Mr. Lee Jeong-Uk! I¡¯m going down to buy us some time. Get everyone to replenish their ammunition! We also need to make more Molotov cocktails!¡± Lee Jeong-Uk listened to what Kim Dae-Young said, then turned to see what they had left. They¡¯d started out with boxes of Molotov cocktails, but now they were almost out, and there were empty magazines everywhere, piling up as the zombie mounds grew. They hadn¡¯t had that many grenades to begin with, and the K3 gunners that were providing cover were recing their barrels. Lee Jeong-Uk clicked his tongue and looked at Kim Dae-Young. ¡°I¡¯m counting on you.¡± Kim Dae-Young nodded sharply and led his underlings around the mound of zombie corpses and toward the approaching enemies. Some of his underlings held the approaching zombies at bay, while others helped Kim Dae-Young clear out the corpses that had piled up in front of the iron wall. ¡°Mr. Kim Dae-Young!¡± Jeong Jin-Young and his underlings came to provide support as well. When Kim Dae-Young saw Jeong Jin-Young, his eyes went wide. ¡°Why did youe all the way here?¡± he shouted. ¡°I told you to stay at the second line of defense!¡± ¡°How could I just stand by and watch, knowing that all this is happening? I need to help as well.¡± Kim Dae-Young stared at Jeong Jin-Young for a bit, then clicked his tongue vigorously. ¡°Then move these bodies aside. Hurry!" ¡°Got it!¡± Jeong Jin-Young and Kim Dae-Young kept an eye on their underlings, who were fighting the street zombies as they cleared away the piles of corpses. KIAAA!!! At that moment, two stage-one mutants forced their way through Kim Dae-Young¡¯s underlings. When Kim Dae-Young saw the two of them charging their way, he seemed taken aback, but quickly got back to his senses and looked over at Jeong Jin-Young. ¡°I¡¯ll get the one on the left, you take the one on the right!¡± Without waiting, Jeong Jin-Young rushed toward the stage-one mutant on the right. The eyes of that stage-one mutant swam about as it searched for suitable prey, and then it swung its right arm as hard as it could when it noticed Jeong Jin-Young charging at it. Jeong Jin-Young¡¯s eyes went wide, and he dropped into a defensive stance as he saw the huge arm flying toward him. Whack!! The impact shattered the bones in his left arm, and he was sent flying as he experienced a strange feeling of weightlessness. Jeong Jin-Youngnded on the mound of corpses, and the stage-one mutant rushed forward to continue its attack. A stage-one mutant posed a difficult challenge for Jeong Jin-Young. Kim Dae-Young was barely holding on; he could not spare any energy to give Jeong Jin-Young a hand. KIAAAAAA!!! The mutant howled and threw itself in front of Jeong Jin-Young. Thud, thud, thud!!! Just as the stage-one mutant jumped on top of Jeong Jin-Young to punch him, a series of gunshots came from the iron wall. ¡°Die, you fucking monster!!¡± Yoon Jeong-Ho fired at the stage-one mutant in a state of frenzy. The other guards nearby btedly noticed what was going on with Jeong Jin-Young, and started firing toward the mutant at once. Chapter 197 Chapter 197 The stage-one mutant screamed and curled up. Jeong Jin-Young didn¡¯t let his chance slip away. He bit his lips and punched the mutant. Pow!! His fist connected squarely with the mutant¡¯s temple. However, some of the bullets fired by the guards raked down his left arm and side. The guards¡¯ eyes went wide. ¡°Are¡­ are you okay?!¡± they yelled down at Jeong Jin-Young Jeong Jin-Young didn¡¯t answer, kicking the mutant in the head instead. He kept kicking it until it was almost mush. Kim Dae-Young saw Jeong Jin-Young going berserk and yelled at him to stop him. "Stop! It¡¯s already dead!¡± Only then did Jeong Jin-Younge back to his senses, panting heavily. His left side was a mess from shoulder to hip. Kim Dae-Young looked him up and down, then asked, ¡°Can you walk?¡± Jeong Jin-Young ced his trembling right hand on his forehead, and after a moment, he nodded. It seemed like he¡¯de face to face with the fear of death. He looked around the battlefield, breathing heavily as he managed to hold onto his consciousness, which threatened to slip away at any moment. Stomp, stomp, stomp!!! Heavy footsteps came from the direction of the mass of zombies. A three-meter tall giant was pushing its way through the zombies that were rushing into Jeju Port like a bulldozer. Thinking that it might be Mood-Swinger, Jeong Jin-Young took a closer look at the giant that was approaching him, but it didn''t take long for his hope to turn into despair. Jeong Jin-Young went nk, and Kim Dae-Young grabbed him by the cor and jumped behind the first line of defense. Lee Jeong-Uk also spotted the giant rushing towards their way, and he shouted to all the guards, ¡°Evacuate to the second line of defense!!!¡± The guards¡¯ eyes, full of fear, were locked on the gigantic figure. The leaders of the Survivor Rally Organization hurriedly evacuated to the second line of defense, grabbing every nk-faced guard that they could as they did so. Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s face was a mask of terror. His eyes had lost focus, as if he had seen a ghost. Han Seon-Hui, who was with the food, clothing, and shelter team, put down the Molotov cocktail in her hand and shook him. "Where are you going? The first line of defense is still up!¡± ¡°Ms. Han Seon-Hui, go to the second line of defense right now!¡± "Huh? I can¡¯t. We¡¯re still short on Molotov cocktails...¡± Thud! nk!! The crash of something heavy hitting the iron wall echoed through Port Jeju. Han Seon-Hui looked at the first line of defense in surprise, but Lee Jeong-Uk grabbed her hand and started running to the second line of defense. The K3 gunners manning the guard post saw the guards evacuating and hurriedly gathered their weapons and mbered down. ¡°What¡­ What¡¯s happening? Are we abandoning the first line of defense?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Park Gi-Cheol shouted to the K3 gunners as headed toward the second line of defense. ¡°We¡¯re moving on to our next n!¡± The K3 gunners seemed surprised by his words, but they quickly gathered their wits about them and grabbed onto the ropes that were connected to the lower section of the guard post, then ran along each side of the base toward the second line of defense. They exchanged looks, then pulled the ropes as hard as they could. The ropes were connected to the safety pins of the grenades that they had installed on the underside of the guard post. Bang!!! The guard post went down with a roar. The guard post copsed onto the power line in front of it, and the wooden nks connected to the power line between Pier 6 and Pier 9 popped open. Bang! Bang! Bang! The moment the nks were opened, barrels full of gasoline started pouring out left and right. nk!! The iron wall crumbled, and zombies poured in through the first line of defense. The three-meter tall figure from earlier, the stage-two mutant, was in the center. It looked just like Mood-Swinger when he was a stage-two mutant. It had huge arms that looked like baobab trees, and it had abnormally developed trapezius muscles. However, it had a strange body. It wasn¡¯t bnced at all. Its lower body had almost no muscle whenpared to its upper body. GRRRRRR!!! Lee Jeong-Uk reached the second line of defense as the zombies poured in. ¡°Throw the Molotov cocktails!!¡± he yelled. The guards holding the Molotov cocktails began throwing them toward the barrels in unison. The sound of the explosions was enough to rattle the survivors¡¯ skulls, and the heat from the first line of defense made it all the way to the second line of defense. The survivors frowned and coughed as cement and dust rained down upon them. Even before the smell of gasoline and gunpowder had the chance to dissipate, Lee Jeong-Uk had taken up a ready position, pointing his gun toward the zombies. ¡°Open fire!!¡± he yelled towards the survivors. ¡°Open fire!!¡± The guards repeated his order and began to pepper the approaching zombies with bullets. KRRR!!! The muscr stage-two mutant waved its arms as it roared at the mes wrapping around its body. Due to its weak lower body, it struggled to make its way through the mes and kept on falling down. However, unlike the ordinary zombies around it, it kept on getting up every time it fell down, screaming at the top of its lungs as it slowly approached the second line of defense. ¡®It¡¯s just a matter of time before ites,¡¯ thought Kim Dae-Young as he watched the mutant. It would¡¯ve been nice if the mes got the better of the mutant, but judging by the way it was moving, it seemed like it would eventually reach the second line of defense. Kim Dae-Young wet his parched lips and looked at the guards. They were all trembling with fear. Even though they were firing nonstop, it didn¡¯t seem like they would be able to shake off their fear anytime soon. Kim Dae-Young called out to Choi Da-Hye, who was next to him. ¡°Mrs. Choi Da-Hye, can you tell Mr. Jeong Jin-Young to stay still until he recovers?¡± "Pardon? Where are you going off to, Mr. Kim Dae-Young?¡± Kim Dae-Young got up and smiled gently at her. ¡°Only a monster can take down a monster.¡± He knew that he stood no chance against the stage-two mutant, but he knew that if he didn¡¯t do anything, some of the survivors might lose their minds and start running. He could hardly fault them if they did. Running would merely be following their instincts, their human instinct to survive. But if the survivors fled one by one, only utter chaos would remain. Kim Dae-Young clenched his fists, and with a sh of his red eyes, he leaped over the second line of defense and dashed toward the zing battlefield where the stage-two mutant was. As Lee Jeong-Uk saw him go, he shouted at the guards, ¡°Hold fire!! Don¡¯t shoot Kim Dae-Young!¡± The stage-two mutant eventually made its way through the mes but suddenly seemed to hesitate. Its eyes had been damaged while it escaped the mes, but it seemed to grow nervous after sensing Kim Dae-Young¡¯s presence. With a sh of his red eyes, Kim Dae-Youngunched himself off the ground without hesitation and punched the stage-two mutant in the face. Pow!! Arge fist-shaped scar formed on the stage-two mutant¡¯s burnt face, and it fell into the mes again. KIAAAAAA!!! Stage-one mutants poured out from the mes and ran straight ahead, spinning their arms around, not caring what was happening around them. Kim Dae-Young let loose a scream loud enough to make the veins in his neck pop, to alert the mutants to his presence. ¡°GRRRRRR!!!¡± His roar was enough to grab their attention. They stopped in their tracks and started looking sideways. Interestingly enough, they weren¡¯t curling into their defensive stances even though they were being shot at. It seemed like they¡¯d only stopped because they¡¯d heard Kim Dae-Young. Perhaps their senses had grown dull now that their skin had been burnt to a crisp. It seemed like most of the mutants had already lost their sense of smell, touch, and even sight. All they were left with was their hearing and their instinct to kill. With the guards providing cover for Kim Dae-Young, he gritted his teeth and jumped into the battlefield. Soon after, the few remaining underlings he had started running toward the mutants, and Jeong Jin-Young ordered his underlings to help Kim Dae-Young as well. A battle between the survivors who longed for peace and the zombies who desired ughter continued, and the air around Port Jeju was filled with wails and screams. * * * ¡°Gaaa!!!¡± I went down, groaning as my skull rang from the impact. As the ck creaturended its punch, Mood-Swinger hurriedly grabbed the monster by its waist and lifted it up. Ji-Eun didn¡¯t miss her chance and began shing at its legs and waist. ¡°Are you okay, ahjussi?¡± "How about you?¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun came next to me while he regenerated his missing arms. I tried to buy us time somehow, but I¡¯d let itnd a solid blow. I ced my hand on my throbbing head and pushed myself up. ¡°Arnol¡­ d!" I heard Mood-Swinger gasp and saw him falling backward with Ji-Eun in the air. The ck creature had its eyes locked on me and Kim Hyeong-Jun as it regenerated its missing lower body. The parts Ji-Eun had sliced off had regenerated swiftly, and the ck creature was dashing toward us in a frenzy. The ringing inside my head became a steady, high-pitched whine, and the constant banging in my eardrums grew louder and clearer. I took a deep breath and brought my arms up to defend my face. Crack! My arm bones shattered, and its blownded on my face. Just as the ck creature was about tounch into abo, Kim Hyeong-Jun hurriedly twisted from his waist and kicked it in the neck. However, the ck creature sensed his threatening intent beforehand and avoided his roundhouse kick. Kim Hyeong-Jun had yet to regain his sense of bnce because he was still regenerating his arms. The ck creature turned its head all the way around and looked at him. ¡°Fuck¡­!¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun frowned and desperately tried to find his bnce again. However, before he could even touch the ground again, the ck creature had already sunk its teeth deep into his side. I knew that if Kim Hyeong-Jun went down like this, the ck creature¡¯s next bite would not be aimed at his side. It would sink its teeth into his neck. I barely managed to gather my focus and threw myself at the ck creature again. When I climbed onto its back and tried to bite its neck with my sharpened teeth, it bent its left arm behind itself to protect its neck. I bit its arm while my blue eyes shed. I felt it trying to push me away forcefully, but I also knew that if I were shoved aside, Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s lower body would be sliced clean off, and he would soon die. No matter what happened, I couldn¡¯t let it straighten its back. I wrapped my legs around its waist and pulled its center of gravity backward. The three of us were all tangled up as we continued to battle fiercely. I knew we had to get to the ce where Do Han-Sol was waiting for us, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn''t shake off the ck creature. Half of my stage-one mutants were already gone, and the ones left weren¡¯t in the best state either. I had to use the remaining stage-one mutants as bait to buy Kim Hyeong-Jun and me time when we needed to regenerate. Kim Hyeong-Jun and I had almost died twice already, and we had lost a lot of underlings in the process. Finding an answer to a problem that had no answer. That was what surviving meant to us. Kim Hyeong-Jun let out a battle cry as he red at the ck creature. His arms had fully regenerated in the nick of time, and he stabbed the ck creature in the eyes with his regenerated arms. It seemed he wanted to pierce all the way into its brain. The ck creature let go of his side andnded a right hook onto his jaw. The three of us all flew apart instantly and rolled on the ground. KWAAA!!! The ck creature was rolling around on the floor, blood streaming from its eyes. Both of my arms were already shattered, and it seemed like Kim Hyeong-Jun had lost consciousness after getting hit. I knew this was our chance to run; we had to get going if we wanted to execute the next part of our n, but Kim Hyeong-Jun showed no signs of regaining consciousness. But there was no time to waste. Even if it was going to cost us all of our underlings, Kim Hyeong-Jun and I had to buy time to regenerate our bodies. ¡°Kill it!¡± KIAAAAAA!!! I still had twenty-three stage-one mutants left. But they were either missing an arm or a leg, so I figured that this order might be thest order I gave them. After ordering my few remaining underlings to kill the ck creature, I carried Kim Hyeong-Jun by his shoulder des like a dog would carry its child, and headed to where Do Han-Sol was. Ji-Eun and Mood Swinger were also helping the stage-one mutants attack the ck creature, whose sight was still impaired. However, even though the ck creature had lost its sight, it used its other senses to deal with the mutants. The ck creature was a being that did not belong in this world, this world where thew of the jungle was supposed to be everything. It was a transcendent being that almost seemed almighty. At that moment, Kim Hyeong-Jun let out a groan. ¡°Ugh¡­¡± Fortunately, Kim Hyeong-Jun had taken less than a minute to get back to his senses. "Are you okay? You good?¡± I asked as I let him go. "Did I¡­ pass out?¡± ¡°Yeah. I thought you were dead.¡± ¡°I guess we can pass out even without eating brains.¡± ¡°Geez, is that important right now? Get up! Now!¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun frowned and massaged his temples, and barely got himself upright on shaky legs. We made our way to where Do Han-Sol was, with Kim Hyeong-Jun following me and shaking his head violently. He kept on stumbling from side to side and falling to the ground, as if he couldn¡¯t focus. Whoosh¨C Something flew toward us, casting a long shadow over us. I was still in a heightened state of paranoia, and quickly twisted from my waist and kicked out. ¡°Woah! It¡¯s me! Me!¡± shouted Do Han-Sol as he barely dodged my kick. ¡°I thought you two were dead because you hadn¡¯te after all this time!¡± ¡°Get Hyeong-Jun. Hurry!" I said urgently. Do Han-Sol grabbed Kim Hyeong-Jun by the cor and carried him on his back. My agitated tone was enough for him. With that, we immediately headed to our next destination. Chapter 198 Chapter 198 We were so close to our next destination. For some strange reason, though, it felt as though I was wading through a muddy swamp. My hair stood on end, and a sudden wave of murderous intent sent chills down my spine. I ducked instinctively without looking backward. Whoosh¨C The ck creature¡¯s fist passed right above my head. I ced my palms on the ground, raised my legs, and kicked it in the lower abdomen as hard as I could. Inded a solid hit on its belly; a thick wad of saliva flew out of its mouth as it wasunched about ten meters off the ground. I elerated my blood flow and continued to follow Kim Hyeong-Jun and Do Han-Sol. When we finally reached our next destination, I saw Do Han-Sol staring straight ahead with a futile expression as if something had gone wrong. ¡°What are you doing? Why aren¡¯t you making the preparations?¡± ¡°Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok¡­ Look over there¡­" When I turned to look at where he was pointing, my jaw dropped to the ground at the absurd sight in front of me. All of the traps we had prepared were broken. Instead of empty, ready-to-use traps, the traps that we had prepared were filled with hundreds, even thousands of zombies, squirming and struggling to get out. Zombies were caught in the tunnels and thes we had prepared. To make matters worse, the rocks we were nning to drop on top of the ck creature had already fallen to the ground. Now that I thought about it, if the zombies running from the northwest side of Jeju had rushed to Port Jeju to avoid the ck creature, it only made sense for the zombies from the northeast to do the same as well. Perhaps why the northeast front had been quiet so far was because of the traps in front of us, the traps that we¡¯d prepared in advance to catch the ck creature. I couldn¡¯t believe I hadn¡¯t thought this through. Do Han-Sol spoke up in a bewildered tone. ¡°No, no. They weren¡¯t here earlier. It was quiet when I was here earlier¡­¡± Do Han-Sol had been standing by in this area previously, but he¡¯de back to help when we didn¡¯t appear like we were supposed to. In that brief moment, the street zombies had sent our n down the drain. I took a moment to clear the confusion from my mind, then looked behind me. The ck creature was racing towards us, steam rising from its entire body. Behind it, I saw Mood-Swinger and Ji-Eun trying their best to catch up. However, I didn¡¯t see any stage-one mutants. I could tell that all of them had died. All forty-five of them were dead. At that moment, Kim Hyeong-Jun, who was still on Do Han-Sol¡¯s back, spoke up. ¡°I¡¯m done recovering. Put me down please.¡± When Do Han-Sol put Kim Hyung-Jun down, he stood on his own two feet and took a deep breath. ¡°Ahjussi, the rocks are blocking the escape route,¡± he said as he looked at me. ¡°We can get over them. It shouldn¡¯t be a problem.¡± ¡°What if there are zombies on the other side of the rocks? Do you think we¡¯ll be able to take down the ck creature while we¡¯re busy handling them?¡± I remained silent, and Kim Hyeong-Jun looked at Do Han-Sol. ¡°Han-Sol, how many underlings do you have left?¡± he asked him. ¡°I have six stage-one mutants and nine hundred ordinary zombies left.¡± ¡°Wait¡­ then¡­ Ahjussi only has Ji-Eun, and I only have Mood-Swinger. So I think there¡¯s only one way to get through this.¡± I frowned after listening to Kim Hyeong-Jun. ¡°So you want to go the distance?¡± ¡°Can you think of any other way?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure that the ck creature¡¯s regenerative abilities are already at their limit. It¡¯s already killed eighty-nine stage-one mutants by itself. And think about the damage it¡¯s already taken. The damage that Mood-Swinger, Ji-Eun, and you and I have dealt to it.¡± I remained quiet, and Do Han-Sol broke the silence. ¡°It must¡¯ve taken a lot of damage while in that hole earlier. It probably pushed itself to its limit to regenerate its melting skin. I¡¯ll fight alongside you two as well.¡± ¡°There¡¯s another way to fight it rather than attacking it impulsively,¡± I said with a grimace. Kim Hyeong-Jun and Do Han-Sol titled their heads and looked at me, as if wanting me to borate. I slicked my bangs back and continued to speak. ¡°We could inject it with the sample that Lee Jeong-Uk spoke about.¡± ¡°I thought we weren¡¯t going to use that method,¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun frowned, objecting to my suggestion. It made sense for him to say that since injecting it with the sample could make the already difficult-to-kill ck creature immortal. It was also the reason why we¡¯d gone for the n of making traps instead of using the samples in the first ce. Given the situation we were in, however, it was the only way for us to increase our odds, even by a little. I knew that my regenerative ability was at its limit, and the same could probably be said for Kim Hyeong-Jun. I guessed that I¡¯d be able to regenerate about two to three more times, and that would be it. Do Han-Sol was still pretty functional, but since he was a zombie with red eyes, I wouldn¡¯t have been surprised if the ck creature wiped him out in one blow. I continued to keep an eye on the ck creature that was making its way toward us. ¡°We have to decide now,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯d rather take a leap of faith, than die without giving it a shot.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun bit his lower lip and hesitated a little, but it didn¡¯t take him long to speak up. ¡°Well, if you say so, ahjussi, then I guess that¡¯s what we¡¯re going to do. I mean, I can¡¯t think of anything else.¡± Do Han-Sol grimaced. ¡°I¡¯m assuming you don¡¯t think we stand a chance of taking it down in a head-on fight. I¡¯d say we roll the dice.¡± When I nodded, Do Han-Sol¡¯s red eyes shed. ¡°I¡¯ll go get us a sample,¡± he said. ¡°Hold it off until I get back. Don¡¯t die.¡± Do Han-Sol took off toward Port Jeju. Six stage-one mutants approached us,ing over the hill. I knew they were Do Han-Sol¡¯s underlings, since they looked purple to me. My blue eyes shed as I elerated my blood flow, and I looked over at Kim Hyeong-Jun while heat and steam rose from my body. ¡°You ready?¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun nodded, and his blue eyes shed as well. I pushed myself off the ground and rushed toward the ck creature, an odd mix of nervousness, nausea and unexinable joy welling up within me. * * * ¡°Covering fire!!¡± Lee Jeong-Uk leaped over the second line of defense and started running toward the soaring mes. As he made his way through the fire, Hwang Ji-Hye, Park Gi-Cheol, Bae Jeong-Man, and Park Shin-Jeong took out the zombies approaching him as they kept their eye on the dying mes. When the mes diedpletely, the hesitant zombies began to rush at them, letting out throat-rending noises. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Lee Jeong-Uk fired, his bullets piercing their heads as he approached Kim Dae-Young. ¡°Mr. Kim Dae-Young, Mr. Kim Dae-Young!¡± Kim Dae-Young¡¯s entire body was an utter wreck. His cheekbones were sunken in, making it difficult to tell if he was even alive or not. Lee Jeong-Uk slung his K2 over his shoulder, lifted Kim Dae-Young¡¯s body, and ran with all his might toward the second line of defense. GRRR!!! The stage-two mutant that everyone assumed was dead suddenly let out a roar and raised itself up. Even though its left foot had been shattered to pieces and it no longer had a right arm, it had still managed to survive. Lee Jeong-Uk looked back and gasped, and without the slightest hesitation, ran toward the second line of defense with all his might. Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! The second-stage mutant slowly found its bnce and began chasing Lee Jeong-Uk by using its right foot and left arm. The survivors could not keep despair from their faces as they observed the mutant¡¯s unusual movements and tenacious vitality. Jeong Jin-Young gave Lee Jeong-Uk a sidelong nce as he fought off the stage-one mutants. There was no way for him to help the man since he was still fighting the zombies in front of him. It wasn¡¯t that he didn¡¯t want to. He just couldn¡¯t, because the stage-one mutants were already overwhelming him, and he wasn¡¯t even sure that he would be able to survive their onught. The guards began to grow nervous as they realized that they were quickly running out of bullets and Molotov cocktails. However, no one dared to leave the battlefield. Despite their fear, they were willing to fight until the end, their thoughts firmly on the families and children that were counting on them. ¡°Get your bays ready!!¡± Hwang Ji-Hye shouted as she stepped up to the second line of defense. ¡°Bays ready!!¡± The guards repeated hermand and quickly got their bays ready. ¡°Stab every zombie that tries to make their way up!¡± Hwang Ji-Hye continued, shouting so loudly that the veins on her neck stood out. ¡°Don''t let even a single ant get through!¡± ¡°Yes, Ma¡¯am!¡± replied the guards, their voices full of vigor. Hwang Ji-Hye hopped over the second line of defense and started running toward Lee Jeong-Uk. She crossed over to the other side even though she knew she was risking her life, because she knew it was only a matter of time before Lee Jeong-Uk and Kim Dae-Young were finished off if no one helped them. Bang! Bang! Bang! Hwang Ji-Hye fired three-round bursts at the stage-two mutant¡¯s face to draw its attention so that Lee Jeong-Uk and Kim Dae-Young could escape safely. The sudden attack made the mutant cover its face with its left arm, and it quickly lost its bnce and fell to the ground. However, a gun wasn¡¯t enough to bring a being like this stage-two mutant down. Hwang Ji-Hye slid in a fresh magazine and shot the stage-two mutant in its right foot. It didn¡¯t seem like she was trying to take it down in a serious fight. Rather, it seemed like she was desperately trying to buy time for the other two. As she fired away, the stage-two mutant hesitated a little, but it didn¡¯t take it long before it started screaming and charging toward Hwang Ji-Hye. Her eyes widened, and she began to run for her life. She knew that one punch from that creature would kill her instantly. She kept running, believing that she could get away since the creature had lost its ability to see. Unfortunately, she¡¯d miscalcted. She had overlooked the fact that such logic only worked on humans or beings close to humans. The stage-two mutant focused all its attention on her footsteps and began chasing her down mercilessly. Despite the fact that the mutant was missing a leg, she was not fast enough to shake it off. GRRR!!! Before she knew it, the stage-two mutant was an arm¡¯s length from her. It roared and swung its fist. She heard its roar from behind her and instinctively threw herself to the ground without looking back. Pow! The mutant barely missed Hwang Ji-Hye, and struck the ground instead. KIAAA!!! A stage-one mutant next to her on the ground let out a cry. Her eyes went wide, and she turned around, only to find a stage-one mutant in front of her, its mouth wide open, aiming for her neck. ''This is it.¡¯ She decided that if this were going to be her end, she would at least make sure that herst moments would not be a waste. Just like the saying that even a worm will turn, she was going to fight like hell before her life was taken away from her. She desperately raised the gun she had put down. Click¡ªClick¡ª She was out of bullets. In her mind, the cold, empty clicking heralded her death. ¡°Ah¡­¡± A short sigh unwittingly escaped her half-open mouth. A strange sensation came over her, and all the noise around her seemed to disappear. The brief moment felt like an eternity to her. She even pictured her own head getting cut off. "Oppa¡­¡± She recalled the face of her boyfriend, who had passed away a while back. He had tried his best to save others, even when he was being eaten alive by zombies. He was the person who had cleaned up all the zombies in Shelter Silence and even shot himself in the head while smiling gently right in front of Hwang Ji-Hye. To her, he was the man who was in charge of the Survivor Rally Organization. He was her everything. The thought that she could finally meet him shed through her mind. She looked up at the stage-one mutant, close enough that she could reach an arm out to touch it, and thought to herself, ''I¡¯ll get to see you soon, oppa.¡¯ Hwang Ji-Hye smiled gently and closed her eyes. Wham! Hot, musty blood sttered over her face. She slowly opened her eyes to see what was going on in front of her. When she finally processed what she was seeing, her mouth fell open. The face of the stage-one mutant was sunken in as far as it could go, and a man was standing on top of it. He had glowing red eyes, and steam wasing off his body. Do Han-Sol looked back at her. "Are you okay?" he asked her. She stared nkly at Do Han-Sol, like a person who had just seen a ghost. The moment that had felt like an eternity passed. Time began to tick again, and the cacophony of the battlefield quickly filled her ears again. At the same time, she felt her heart beating like crazy. Hwang Ji-Hye had humbly epted death, but only at thest moment did she feel her heartbeat, her longing for survival. She bit her lower lip, and tears welled up in her eyes, threatening to leak out at any second. Mixed feelings warred within her¡ªregret about the fact that she had not been able to die, and relief that she was alive. Hwang Ji-Hye sniffed once and got to her feet. As she turned around, she saw red blood gushing out like a fountain from the nape of the stage-two mutant. Do Han-Sol had taken care of the stage-two mutant within a matter of seconds and had saved her as well. GRRR!!! Do Han-Sol¡¯s underlings threw aside the janggis and gongs that they were carrying and came rushing in like a violent wave. The survivors manning the second line of defense began to cheer at the top of their lungs when they saw them. They couldn''t control the adrenaline that rushed into their systems when they realized that reinforcements had arrived. The survivors started jumping up and down and hugging each other, feeling relieved that they had survived and thinking that they¡¯d won. However, there was one person, just one person, who did not share the same feelings. ''Where¡¯s So-Yeon''s dad and Kim Hyeong-Jun?'' Lee Jeong-Uk looked around as he wiped the zombie blood off his face. As Do Han-Sol passed through the second line of defense with Hwang Ji-Hye in his arms, Lee Jeong-Uk approached him. ¡°What happened?¡± he asked. ¡°Did you take down the ck creature?¡± ¡°Where are the samples?¡± "Samples?" Lee Jeong-Uk asked, tilting his head. ¡°I¡¯m talking about the samples from Daegu!¡± shouted Do Han-Sol in desperation. Only then did Lee Jeong-Uk grasp the situation, and he led Do Han-Sol to the passenger terminal. Chapter 199 Chapter 199 Tommy and Alyosha were in the waiting room of the passenger terminal. Some of the elders were soothing the children that were crying, while others were praying. When Lee Jeong-Uk and Do Han-Sol entered the terminal, everyone¡¯s attention fell on them. Tommy, who had been sitting in the corner, rushed over to Lee Jeong-Uk. ¡°What happened? Is everything over?¡± ¡°Where are the samples?¡± asked Lee Jeong-Uk urgently. Tommy gestured to him to follow and headed for the tool cab in the passenger terminal. He opened the tool cab to reveal a briefcase inside. Tommy punched in the code for the lock and showed him the samples inside. Lee Jeong-Uk checked the status of the samples and turned to Do Han-Sol. ¡°Is So-Yeon¡¯s dad and Kim Hyeong-Jun okay?¡± he asked him. ¡°...¡± Instead of answering, Do Han-Sol held out his right hand. Tommy gave him one of the samples. Lee Jeong-Uk fixed his eyes on Do Han-Sol. ¡°Is there anything we can do to help?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll leave my underlings here. Evacuate to Jeju Airport once the situation in Port Jeju is resolved.¡± ¡°What do you mean, go to Jeju Airport?¡± asked Lee Jeong-Uk, looking confused. Do Han-Sol looked out the window, a bitter expression on his face. He realized that the world was turning darker; dusk was falling in front of his eyes. It was as if the world was informing them of their fate. Do Han-Sol kept staring into the darkness as he let out a small sigh. ¡°If we don¡¯te back within the next four hours, you have to leave Jeju Ind,¡± he said. ¡°What¡­?¡± Lee Jeong-Uk repeated, his eyes going wide. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if you return to Seoul or Daegu,¡± replied Do Han-Sol calmly. ¡°The decision is yours.¡± ¡°What are you saying? Did So-Yeon¡¯s dad and Kim Hyeong-Jun fall?¡± ¡°Not yet. But we¡¯re not in the best situation, and there¡¯s not much we can do.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk didn''t bother to ask any more questions. He knew that using the samples they had was theirst resort. And the fact that Do Han-Sol came all the way back to get the samples¡­ It meant that Lee Hyun-Deok and Kim Hyeong-Jun were cornered by the ck creature. Do Han-Sol held Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s arm and broke the silence. ¡°Do you understand what I just said?¡± Lee Jeong-Uk remained still, and Do Han-Sol had no choice but to leave the passenger terminal feeling bitter. When he returned to the front of the second line of defense, he noticed that his underlings had taken care of most of the zombies in Port Jeju. ¡®First toon, second toon, follow me. The rest of you, protect the survivors.¡¯ GRRR!!! His underlings, who were beyond the second line of defense, let out their throat-rending noises at once, showing that they understood what they had to do. With that, Do Han-Sol made his way back to where the ck creature was. As he dashed back through the forest, he couldn¡¯t help but feel nervous. He had already lost his connection to his six stage-one mutants already. It was obvious that the ck creature had already taken down all six of his underlings. However, that also meant that Lee Hyun-Deok and Kim Hyeong-Jun had used their lives to buy themselves time to regenerate their damaged body parts. ''I hope the two of them are still alive. They have to be.¡¯ Do Han-Sol picked up the pace, his red eyes shing. * * * "Catch it!¡± I shouted to Kim Hyeong-Jun, just as the ck creature was about to lose bnce. Kim Hyeong-Jun charged toward the ck creature like a raging wave, his blue eyes shing. Our fight continued in the pitch-ck darkness, devoid of even the slightest bit of moonlight. Kim Hyeong-Jun quickly choked the ck creature and knocked it to the ground by stepping on its other leg. But the ck creature wasn¡¯t going to wait around for Kim Hyeong-Jun to finish it off. It opened its jaws wide and bit off Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s left arm while twisting its right arm around to pull at his hair. The head was one of the ces where we still felt pain, so Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s face couldn¡¯t help but twist as the creature continued to pull, and he eventually let go of the ck creature. The ck creature twisted its upper body almost parallel to the ground. Then itunched itself up from the ground using its left arm, its jaws yawning wide as it went for Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s face. Kim Hyeong-Jun desperately raised his right arm and grabbed its face. Gnash! Gnash! Gnash! Gnash! Its sharp teeth ground violently as Kim Hyeong-Jun maintained his grip. Ssss¨C Once my severed lower body regenerated, I dropped to all fours and charged toward the ck creature like a bullet fired from a muzzle. Just as I was about to kick it in the stomach, it noticed my presence and scuttled aside like a cockroach. Bang! The ck creature just barely avoided my attack. As it tried to regroup, Kim Hyeong-Jun took the chance to create some distance between himself and the creature. I nced back at him. "Are you okay?" I asked him. ¡°How about you, ahjussi?¡± "Don''t worry about me. Do you think you can regenerate?" Kim Hyeong-Jun couldn¡¯t keep a frown off his face. ¡°I think this is going to be thest time I can,¡± he replied. Steam gushed from his left arm, and it reformed into its usual shape. He moved next to me. ¡°How about you, ahjussi? How many more times can you regenerate?¡± "Just once." ¡°Where are we with Han-Sol¡¯s underlings? Are all of them dead?¡± ¡°The one that died earlier was thest one.¡± ¡°Oh, shoot. Even Mood-Swinger¡¯s knocked out.¡± I looked over to where therge rock had fallen. Mood Swinger was t on the ground, missing both of his arms. Ji-Eun was limping her way over to us. I turned to look at where the ck creature was, and it let out a frenzied, rage-filled scream into the pitch-ck darkness. I could tell that the speed of its regeneration was also slowing down. I wanted to believe that it had reached its limit. Kim Hyeong-Jun red at it. ¡°That fucking bastard. It¡¯s about time it dies,¡± he muttered to himself. ¡°I think it¡¯s almost there.¡± ¡°How many times do you think it can continue to regenerate?¡± ¡°Given its hesitation, I¡¯m guessing less than ten times.¡± The ck creature, which used to attack us recklessly when it didn¡¯t have to worry about the number of times it could regenerate itself, was now wary of us. Since it had the ability to learn, I assumed that it was assessing its physical limits along with ours. Back when Kim Hyeong-Jun and I had fought another ck creature in Gangbyeonbuk-ro, we had no information about them, so we had no choice but to go for an all-out attack. Because of that, we were put at a disadvantage, as our limbs were torn off and we suffered multiple attacks to our vulnerable stomachs. This time, we¡¯de up with a thorough n to make up for our mistakes, but the traps we had set up in the second area had been destroyed, and we had no choice but to go on an all-out offensive again. Thankfully, due to the sacrifices of the stage-one mutants and the trap that we¡¯d set up in the first area, we were on par with this ck creature. I wet my parched lips. ¡°When I run toward the ck creature, cover my nk,¡± I said. "What nonsense are you talking about? You already know that the two of us running at it isn¡¯t enough.¡± ¡°Well, you did say that you can¡¯t regenerate anymore. If you fall, it¡¯s only a matter of time before I fall as well. And you know that we can¡¯t rely on Mood-Swinger or Ji-Eun to help us right now.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun shed a disapproving expression as he clicked his tongue vigorously. It seemed like he was going to go with my n, since he couldn¡¯t think of another n. ¡°Oh, ahjussi. Just one thing: be careful with your arms and legs. If they break, or something gets chopped off, there¡¯s no going back.¡± KWAAA!!! Just as I was about to nod, the ck creature roared and dashed toward us. I clenched my fists and elerated my blood flow yet again. My pupils constricted as I channeled strength into my arms. ¡°Go for the legs,¡± I said to Kim Hyeong-Jun. Kim Hyeong-Jun gave me a sharp nod, strengthened the muscles in his lower body, and took a couple steps back. The moment he stepped back, the ck creature came straight for my face, swinging its fist. I ducked immediately, but it seemed to have expected this, and brought its knee up to crush my face. The catch was that I had also anticipated its movements. Having gone up against its ridiculous physical abilities tens, even hundreds of thousands of times, I knew what to do. Instead of protecting my face, I backpedaled. The ck creature twisted its upper body and waist, using the momentum it had gained from the attempted knee to my face to swing its leg around in a kick aimed at my temple. I knew better than anyone to give it space when it made such big moves. Since the force would be stronger at its toepared to its thigh, I leaped off the ground and closed the distance with the ck creature. I used my left arm to block its thigh andnded a punch on its jaw. It twisted its neck in an impossible way to avoid my attack, but it quickly lost its bnce and wobbled from side to side. Kim Hyeong-Jun took notice and dashed toward the ck creature, closing in on its lower body in a sh. Before it even had the chance to ce its left foot on the ground, Kim Hyeong-Jun tackled its right leg. Even in the process of falling down, though, the ck creature sent its fist flying toward his skull. "Ahjussi!" cried out to me, his eyes wide open. I knew what I had to do even before he called me. I bit off the ck creature¡¯s right arm and rained punches on its face. The back of its head began to sink into the ground, and its face began to cave inward. I punched it in the face continuously, trying to turn it into mush. I was biting down on its right arm so hard that I sliced clean through it, and the metallic taste of blood filled my mouth. ''I can kill it, I can kill it, I can kill it!¡¯ My eyes grew wider as I continued to hammer its face with my fists, until my arms felt like they were about to fall off. Crack. Blood began to spout out like a fountain from where my left wrist was. I assumed that my left hand was covered with its blood, but it was actually the other way around. I realized that my left hand was no longer there. My fist, which was supposed to be connected to my wrist, was nowhere to be seen, and red blood was gushing out from the stump. As I tried toprehend what was going on, the ck creature used its left hand to choke me and pressed deeply against my vocal cords. ¡°Gaaa!¡± "Ahjussi!" Kim Hyeong-Jun quickly grabbed its left arm to aid me. Once he let go of the creature¡¯s lower body, though, it realized that nothing was holding it down anymore, and it started to struggle. Kim Hyeong-Jun chewed off its left arm with his sharpened teeth, then yanked me away by the cor, dumping us both on our bottoms. ¡°Ahjussi, are you okay?¡± he asked, his voice full of urgent desperation. ¡°Gaa!¡± I gasped, unable to say anything. The ck creature had pierced my throat with its thumb, so I could only make hissing sounds. I hurriedly regenerated my body, stopping the bleeding from my neck. Kim Hyeong-Jun looked at me worriedly, trying to assess how I was doing. ¡°Is your neck okay? Did it snap? How about your bones?¡± I coughed and nodded. He seemed shaken by the fact that my neck had been attacked, since he knew that the neck was a particrly vulnerable spot that could determine life or death. Ssss¨C Soon after, hot steam began to rise from the ck creature¡¯s upper body. Its severed arms regenerated, and its face, which was an unrecognizable mess, slowly reformed. Despite hitting it continuously, its skull hadn¡¯t broken. I knew it would¡¯ve died if we were on asphalt ground, but the rtively soft dirt here had helped it survive. It sure was one lucky bastard. Kim Hyeong-Jun stood in front of me and stared straight at the ck creature. The moment it recovered, it tried to dash toward Kim Hyeong-Jun, but then it seemed to hesitate at the sound of footstepsing from its left. Thud, thud, thud, thud. GRRR!!! It was Do Han-Sol''s underlings making their way over. The ck creature looked back and forth between Kim Hyeong-Jun and Do Han-Sol. It frowned and channeled strength to the muscles of its entire body. I knew that it wasn¡¯t trying to put up a fight, though. The murderous intent that it had been exuding earlier was long gone. It was strengthening its body in order to get away. ¡°Don¡¯t let it get away!¡± I yelled as loudly as I could, once my vocal cords were regenerated. Kim Hyeong-Jun rushed toward the ck creature, his blue eyes shing. It leaped, but it didn¡¯t even manage to make it one meter into the air. Kim Hyeong-Jun had caught it right before it could make a full jump. Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s eyes bulged as he mmed the ck creature to the ground. KWAAA!!! The ck creature let out a wail. It had started out as a predator, but it was now the prey. The tables had turned in our favor. As it approached the limits of its regenerative abilities, it seemed to attack emotionally rather than rationally. I could tell that it was nervous and that it wanted to get out of the situation it was in as soon as possible. It clearly wasn¡¯t thinking straight. Which meant that this would be our chance to take it down. As we pinned it to the ground, Do Han-Sol''s underlings leaped onto its upper body, smothering it. The creature, outraged, tore them to pieces. Do Han-Sol was hiding among his underlings, trying to inject the sample he was holding into the ck creature¡¯s back. However, even while it was being bitten by Do Han-Sol¡¯s underlings, the ck creature sensed his murderous intent and quickly twisted its body to grab his arm. At the same time, it opened its jaws wide, going for his face. Do Han-Sol¡¯s eyes went wide and he quickly avoided the attack, allowing the ck creature to tear off his shoulder des in an instant. His arm was neatly sliced off as well, like a b of meat sliced up at a butcher shop. Do Han-Sol ignored the blood gushing out from the stump of his right arm like a fountain and shouted at Kim Hyeong-Jun instead. ¡°Grab the sample!! It can''t break!!¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun leaped toward the sample with his eyes wide open. Grasp! He barely managed to grab Do Han-Sol''s flying arm, and retrieved the sample out of it. At the same time, he plunged the needle toward the ck creature''s neck. Just as it tried to avoid the needle, five sharpened fingers pierced through its chest. "My child¡­¡± Red blood was gushing from Ji-Eun¡¯s mouth, but she was nowhere near death. In fact, she was ring at the ck creature with eyes full of murderous intent. Even with half of her body malfunctioning, Ji-Eun had followed my orders to kill the ck creature. Kim Hyeong-Jun didn¡¯t let the opportunity slip away, and jabbed the needle into the ck creature''s neck. KWAAA!!! The ck creature trembled and let out a death cry. Both of its arms waved about wildly as it continued to struggle. The underlings that had glued themselves onto the ck creature were sent flying left and right, while Ji-Eun took a blow right to the face and rolled a couple of meters across the ground. Kim Hyeong-Jun raised his arms to defend himself against its kicks, but the creature was cornered, and its kicks were packed with desperate strength. Both of Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s arms were crushed, and he stumbled once before falling to the ground. Kw¡­ Kwa! Kwaaa! KWAAA!!! The blood vessels all throughout the ck creature¡¯s body began to bulge. It dropped to its knees, scratching at its neck with its hands and screaming continuously. The sounds it made became hoarse and irregr as if it had trouble breathing. I wondered if it was confused by what was going on. It trembled nonstop, like a leaf in the wind. It seemed unable to understand what was going on in its body, or how it was reacting to being stabbed. Two viruses with different properties were fighting each other inside its body, which eventually paralyzed its movements. I knew that we had to finish it off the moment that it stopped struggling. I got up and channeled all my strength on my right arm. My right arm bulged as if it was about to burst, and hot steam gushed from it. ¡°Go to hell, where you belong.¡± My eyes bulged and I gnashed my teeth as I punched the ck creature in the face. Crack!!! Its face caved in and it fell to the ground. With the sample inside it, its bones had softened as if it was suffering from osteoporosis, and its previous iron-like defenses were nowhere to be seen. Instead of stopping, I decided to hit the ck creature in the face nonstop until its skull was smashed to pieces. Smack! Pow! Whack! Squish! I finally managed to crush its brain. As soon as I felt the cerebral fluid coating my fingers, I copsed to the ground, breathing heavily. As I slowly collected myself, I looked around, licking my dry lips. Kim Hyeong-Jun and Do Han-Sol were staring straight at the ck creature, which was finally immobile. They seemed to be focused on itpletely; in fact, it seemed like they were so focused that they had forgotten about the blood leaking out of their own bodies. I could tell that they were nervous, unsure whether it was truly dead, afraid that it could start moving again any second. But I knew that it wasn¡¯ting back. I had destroyed its brain with my very own hands. Unless it was some manner of god, there was no way it was going to move again. A strange stillness came over the ck creature, which had now turned into a cold corpse. No one dared to move or be the first to speak. There was no celebration, no roars of joy, nor any tears of tion. Nothing but silence floating around, reminding us of the death that awaited all living things. In that moment, we were all keenly attuned to the silence of death. After being immersed in that silence for a long time, I finally realized it. This bloody, devastating war was over. Chapter 200 Chapter 200 Kim Hyeong-Jun double-checked that the ck creature was dead beforeying down spread-eagled on the ground with a deep sigh. Do Han-Sol hobbled over as he regenerated his missing right arm. ¡°Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok, that bastard¡­ It¡¯s dead for sure, right?¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s dead. It¡¯s finally over.¡± I joined Kim Hyeong-Jun, lying down on the ground. It was over. Everything was over. This damned, bloody fight, the constant worrying over what the future would hold, all of it was over. I sighed in relief as I looked up at the night sky, which was adorned with stars. Do Han-Sol scratched his head as he looked at the underlings around us. ¡°Wow¡­ Look at the number of underlings we have left. I can¡¯t think of any other word but ¡®devastation.¡¯ I can¡¯t believe it took us this many underlings to take down one ck creature¡­¡± I nodded in response and pointed up to the sky. ¡°Let¡¯s burn some incense for the dead and the underlings we lost once we clean up Jeju Indpletely. Hopefully, when that¡¯s done, they¡¯ll be able to rest peacefully up there.¡± "Of course." Do Han-Sol nodded slowly and fell silent. The cold winter wind, drifting in with the smell of nature, washed away the tension in our hearts. I gently closed my eyes, enjoying the peace in the moment. The sound of the leaves rustling and waves crashing had never sounded so sweet. We¡¯d made it past the darkness of despair and reached the end of the tunnel, where hope had been waiting for us. I only began to recognize the beauty of life after having that hope in my grasp. Thud, thud, thud. The sudden sound of footsteps tickled my ears, bringing back the sense of dread. I hurriedly got to my feet, my blue eyes shing. I looked in the direction from which the sound wasing from, and saw a sea of people making their way to us. These were people running toward us, not zombies. I squinted to get a better look, and saw Lee Jeong-Uk in the very front. He was running as hard as he could, a bay affixed to his K2 rifle, his face full of determination. ¡°AHHHHHH!!!¡± Lee Jeong-Uk let out a yell, and the guards behind him joined in as well. I waved both of my arms vigorously at them. ¡°Stop, stop!! Stop everyone!¡± I cried. The people from the Survivor Rally Organization heard my voice and came to an uncertain halt, all looking bewildered. Lee Jeong-Uk looked at me with surprise in his eyes, clearly unsure of what was going on. "What happened? What about the ck creature? Are you okay?¡± he asked. "First, calm down. Take a deep breath.¡± It seemed like Lee Jeong-Uk and the guards had run non-stop. Everyone was gasping for air. Do Han-Sol interpose himself between Lee Jeong-Uk and me. He seemed annoyed by the fact that Lee Jeong-Uk was here instead of at Jeju Airport. ¡°I thought I told you to go to Jeju Airport earlier. Why¡¯d youe here?¡± ¡°How are we supposed to leave you three behind?¡± cried Lee Jeong-Uk. ¡°Come on!¡± Do Han-Sol flinched as Lee Jeong-Uk looked around, panting. Kim Hyeong-Jun was on the ground, resting his chin on one arm as he watched Lee Jeong-Uk and the guards. In contrast to the guards, who had risked their lives and run all the way here, Kim Hyeong-Jun was in a state of utter peace. Only then did Lee Jeong-Uk gently press a hand against his temples and let out a sigh of relief. ¡°I thought you were dead, man!¡± he wailed at me, sorrow on his face. ¡°...¡± I was taken aback at his reaction, unsure of why he was acting this way. I shifted my gaze slightly, looking at Do Han-Sol. He scratched his head with a puzzled look, then exined what had happened at Port Jeju, sounding as though he was trying toe up with an excuse. ¡°Oh um¡­ About what happened earlier¡­ Well, since the sample could¡¯ve made the ck creature stronger¡­ I told Lee Jeong-Uk to take everyone to the airport.¡± ¡°Well, you told him the right thing.¡± I turned back to Lee Jeong-Uk. ¡°Han-Sol did say the right thing. Why are you here?¡± ¡°What? Where do you think we¡¯d go, man? It would probably be quicker if we took down the ck creature together." Lee Jeong-Uk looked at me up and down with his red, bloodshot eyes. ¡°Are you okay? You¡¯re not dead, are you?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t think you¡¯re talking to a ghost right now, do you?¡± "Haha, very funny.¡± He bit his lower lip and hugged me tightly. I was taken aback by his unexpected behavior. I always guessed that he had a soft spot on the inside. I forced a smile and patted him on the back. The guards then noticed the ck creature¡¯s corpse and threw me, Kim Hyeong-Jun, and Do Han-Sol up into the air to celebrate. It finally sank in that we had won and were done with this devastating war. * * * We cleaned up the surrounding area, and then finally returned to Port Jeju. Everyone who was there cheered in unison and weed us back. Heo Seong-Min came up to me, shedding tears of joy. ¡°Thank you! Thank you very much. Thank you very much for all you¡¯ve done.¡± I smiled lightly and held his hand tightly. All the people around were either crying tears of joy or smiling at the fact that we had regained peace for ourselves once and for all. My heart grew warm as I looked around at all of them. "Daddy!" While I was still in awe of the moment, I spotted So-Yeon running to me through the crowd. I got on one knee, spread my arms wide, and held So-Yeon in my arms. She cried andughed at the same time, letting out the mixed feelings within her. Her expression and her gestures betrayed every single feeling that was running through her body. I gently closed my eyes as I felt her warmth. She was as warm as could be. Her pounding heartbeat sent an indescribable shock of thrill and joy through my dead heart. ¡°My sweetheart, were you a good girl to your aunts and uncles?¡± So-Yeon wiped her tears away and nodded vigorously. She was acting all pretty and cute, and I couldn¡¯t help but smile. As we kept on hugging each other, the folks of Shelter Hae-Young¡ªthe principal and the elder, Han Seon-Hui and Seok-Hui, Lee Jeong-Hyuk and Choi Da-Hye, Kang Eun-Jeong and Kang Ji-Suk, Byeon Hyeok-Jin and Woo Ga-In, Bae Jae-Hwan and Shin Ji-Hye¡ªall stopped by to congratte me and celebrate my safe return. I¡¯d finally made it back to where So-Yeon and my people were, after crawling through what seemed to be a long, never-ending tunnel. I was back home. I turned my head slightly and looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun and Do Han-Sol. They were no different from me. Kim Hyeong-Jun was holding his wife and son in his arms, while Do Han-Sol wasughing together with Hwang Deok-Rok and Choi Soo-Hyun. The three of us, who had been fighting on the front lines, were finally reunited with our families. Lee Jeong-Uk swept his gaze across me and everyone else with a gentle, satisfied smile. His eyes quickly found Heo Seong-Min. ¡°Mr. Heo Seong-Min, shouldn¡¯t we be celebrating this victory in a grand way today?¡± he said. ¡°Of course! No doubt about it! Please wait here. I¡¯ll soon have everything prepared.¡± Heo Seong-Min sniffled and smiled brightly, then headed to the food storage area with Park Hye-In. * * * As we took in the peace that we¡¯d finally obtained, the discussion quickly turned toward what we would do with the bright future ahead of us. Some expressed their desire to do some farming on Jeju Ind, while others talked about looking for houses with sr panels installed on them. Others even brought up the idea of wind and hydroelectric power generation facilities. So many were in deep discussion, brainstorming on how to return this ruined, damned world back to how it used to be. I left them to talk amongst themselves and took a step back to spend some free time with So-Yeon at the red lighthouse, located to the north. We both sat down to enjoy the view of the vast, endless ocean. As I looked out into the ocean, So-Yeon buried her face in my arms. ¡°Are you cold, sweetheart?¡± "No? I¡¯m okay!¡± So-Yeon giggled as she buried her face in my chest. I smiled gently as I wordlessly looked out at the calm sea. I couldn¡¯t help but think how much time I¡¯d have with So-Yeon from now on. I knew I had to clean the streets of Jeju Ind of the remaining zombies and leave for Russia before my zombie instincts awakened. All this would take just over a month at most, or so I thought. However, it was all just spection. In fact, I wasn¡¯t sure how much time I actually had left. However, I knew that even if I could spend the rest of my life here with So-Yeon, it wouldn¡¯t be enough. So, in order to not look back on this moment with regret, I nned on spending all the time I had with So-Yeon, until the others and I had to clean up Jeju Ind. "What are you doing here?" Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s voice came from behind us. He was walking over Han Seon-Hui. So-Yeon smiled brightly and waved at them. He looked at us and scratched his sideburns. ¡°I think I¡¯lle backter. Don''t want to disturb your moment, you know?¡± he said. ¡°Why, what¡¯s up?¡± Lee Jeong-Uk smiled lightly as he drew closer. ¡°Oh nothing. I just thought I¡¯d stop by, you know. I didn¡¯t have anything else to do, so, yeah.¡± He then pinched So-Yeon''s chubby cheek. ¡°Sweetie So-Yeon, are you happy that you¡¯re with Daddy?¡± "Yeah! It¡¯s great!¡± So-Yeon looked up at me and smiled, her eyes shining bright. Right then, she was the cutest thing to me. Every single word she said, every face she made, they were all so precious to me. I couldn¡¯t help but smile gently and pat her head. With that, Lee Jeong-Uk and Han Seon-Hui waved goodbye and walked away. I looked back at So-Yeon. ¡°So, does my sweetheart have anything she wanted to say to Daddy? Anyints?¡± I asked gently. "Huh? Hmm¡­ No!¡± "Oh, really? Well, Daddy thinks So-Yeon has something on her mind, no?¡± I tickled her sides with a big smile on my face, and So-Yeon wriggled about, smiling cheerfully. ¡°Sweetheart, you can let it out today. I¡¯ll listen to whatever you have to say today.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Of course. Have you ever seen Daddy lie to you?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ Then¡­¡± So-Yeon touched her lips and mumbled under her breath. After a moment, she finally found the courage to speak up. ¡°I want a dog.¡± "Huh? A pup¡­ a puppy?¡± "Yeah! I want the three of us to live here together!¡± I didn¡¯t know what to say to her. I had no idea where I would be able to get a puppy. And besides, I¡­ I knew that I couldn¡¯t stay on Jeju Ind forever. However, I wasn¡¯t sure if it would be better to tell her a white lie, or to be straight with her. So-Yeon¡¯s expression slowly grew serious, and her tone of voice grew cautious. ¡°The other uncles said that we don¡¯t have to go anywhere anymore and that we¡¯ll be safe here from now on¡­ Can we get a dog, please?¡± ¡°Of course we can! Daddy was just wondering where we¡¯d be able to find a puppy, that¡¯s all.¡± In reality, though, I knew that I couldn¡¯t live with So-Yeon anymore and that there was no way I could get her a puppy. Putting the puppy aside, I urgently needed a cure in order to be with So-Yeon. However, since I didn¡¯t have a good enough answer to give her, I pointed to the stars that filled the night sky instead. ¡°So-Yeon, look up in the sky. Look at all those stars up there. Aren¡¯t they amazing?¡± I said. So-Yeon didn''t reply. Kids these days caught on to what was happening right away. It seemed she¡¯d noticed that I was trying to move on to another topic. The slight part in her lips, as she stared up into the night sky, showed her true feelings. I could tell that she didn¡¯t like the fact that I hadn¡¯t answered her question, but at the same time, she was awed by the tens, even hundreds of thousands of stars glittering away in the dark night sky. I was grateful and proud of So-Yeon, since I knew she was just pretending not to know what was going on. I looked into So-Yeon¡¯s eyes. ¡°So-Yeon.¡± "Huh?¡± ¡°Do you remember what I used to look like?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­¡± So-Yeon looked away withoutpleting her sentence. I wondered if she was used to seeing me as a zombie with sharp teeth and blue eyes. It seemed like she had a hard time remembering how I used to look as a human being. I pressed my lips together into a thin smile, then continued. ¡°You know Uncle Tommy and Uncle Alyosha from Russia, right?¡± "Yeah!" ¡°Well, they said they can change me back, so that I can look the way I used to, in the past.¡± "Really?" I pointed toward the horizon. ¡°But to do so, I¡¯d have to travel across the ocean, to a ce far, far away.¡± Her expression grew puzzled. ¡°Can¡¯t you just transform here?¡± ¡°There''s a machine that will transform Daddy, but it¡¯s somewhere far, far away. Can So-Yeon wait for Daddy for a little while, until he¡¯s done transforming andes back?¡± So-Yeon seemed to contemte this, and after a while, she replied with a question of her own. ¡°How many nights do I have to wait?¡± How long did she, did I, have to wait¡­? That really was the important question. I wondered if So-Yeon would be able to understand. So, instead of answering, I patted her head and held her in my arms. ¡°So-Yeon knows how much Daddy loves you, right?¡± I said quietly after a while. ¡°...¡± So-Yeon didn¡¯t say a single word. An eight-year-old wouldn¡¯t have trouble understanding what I was trying to say. I was certain she understood what I was trying to tell her. That I was saying goodbye to her. * * * The next day, the survivors at Port Jeju returned to Hotel L and Hotel O, while Kim Hyeong-Jun, Do Han-Sol, Kim Dae-Young, Jeong Jin-Young and I began cleaning up the remaining zombies on Jeju Ind. Kim Hyeong-Jun and Do Han-Sol took charge of the east, while Kim Dae-Young, Jeong Jin-Young and I dealt with the west. Cleaning up Jeju Ind wasn¡¯t too difficult, because there weren¡¯t any other big cities apart from Jeju-si and Seogwipo-si. The other cities were more akin to small viges. Compared to what we had to go through in Seoul,bing through the concrete jungle full of high-rise apartments, Jeju Ind was a lot easier to handle. As we took care of the zombies, I was able to replenish some of the underlings I¡¯d lost during the fight. Since there were also zombies in Russia, I recruited the bare minimum number of troops that I thought I needed in order to fight them. Mood Swinger and Ji-Eun mercilessly chewed through and swallowed the street zombies like beasts that had been starving for a long time. Thanks to the zombie fodder, the two of them quickly regenerated their damaged body parts. The zombies were no threat, but because we had to clean up the entire ind, it took us the better part of half a month to get most of the clean-up done. During this time, we took care of the main streets, coastal roads, and buildings in the cities. It took us another half a month to thoroughlyb through Mt. Ha and the countless forest trails, hills, caves, and other ces that were not frequented by people. Finally, after a month of constant hard work, Jeju Ind became a perfectly safe ind, free of zombies. As the sun crawled toward the horizon far, far away, all the remaining zombies on Jeju Ind, including myself, gathered at Seongsan Ilchulbong and congratted each other for all our efforts and the hard work we had put in. Kim Hyeong-Jun stretched his sore shoulders as he looked at me. ¡°Ahjussi, did you see the meadow in front of Baengnokdam Lake?¡± ¡°What about it?¡± ¡°I saw some horses there.¡± "Horses?" His randomment took me off-guard, but the fact that there were animals here made the wheels in my mind start to turn. If there were horses, there could be pigs around as well. Before the world had turned upside down, Jeju Ind had been known for its horses and ck pigs. Pigs could be a good source of meat for the survivors, while the horses could help plow the fields since horses were the first animals humans used to plow fields when cows weren¡¯t avable. In contrast to me, who was all serious about what to do next, Kim Hyeong-Jun shed a hearty grin. ¡°You should at least see So-Yeon Baengnokdam Lake before we leave. It¡¯d be nice to see some horses and trees together, wouldn¡¯t you say?¡± ¡°...¡± He had a point. Perhaps¡­ Perhaps it was time to let go of all the responsibilities I¡¯d been carrying all this time. Even though it had been a month, whenever I heard some new information, I automatically thought of it through the lens of how the survivors could use the information to improve their survival. As the saying went, old habits die hard. I smiled lightly and nodded. ¡°So, when are we leaving?¡± asked Do Han-Sol. ¡°Tomorrow evening.¡± ¡°The flight¡¯s already been arranged?¡± ¡°Choi Kang-Hyun said he¡¯d be joining us.¡± Choi Kang-Hyun was the pilot who had been part of the survivors from Gangnam that hade over to Gwangjang-dong. He told us that he would join us willingly, even if it cost him thefortable life on Jeju that was in front of him. - Well, it¡¯s not like I have a family to take care of, and I¡¯d be more than happy to contribute to saving this world with this rather insignificant ability of mine. That was what he¡¯d told me when I asked him about it. I was really grateful that he¡¯d made such a decision. I knew how much courage it took to make such a decision. Do Han-Sol looked at me and hesitated as if there was something he wanted to say. I chuckled and met his gaze. "What is it?¡± I asked. ¡°If there¡¯s something you want to say, say it now.¡± "Oh¡­ Um¡­ Did you tell So-Yeon about this? That you¡¯ll be leaving tomorrow?¡± ¡°Not yet¡­¡± ¡°So-Yeon looked very happy over this past month. Watching you spend time with her whenever you had the chance¡­ Now that you¡¯re leaving, I just feel a little bit¡­¡± His head sagged, and he grimaced. I knew where he wasing from, and gazed toward the sunset, my lips pressed together in a thin line. I didn¡¯t feel the need to add on to what he¡¯d said, because I was feeling the same way. I also didn¡¯t want the time I had with So-Yeon to end, but it was something that had to be done. Kim Hyeong-Jun wiggled his eyebrows up and down. ¡°Hey, hey, what is this?¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s not like we¡¯re going off to die or something, right? We¡¯re going to save people, you know?¡± ¡°Well, I can say the same to you too. Aren¡¯t you worried about your wife and son?¡± ¡°Why are you worried about my wife and son?¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun replied with a smirk. ¡°Let me ask you this; why are you not telling Ms. Soo-Hyun regarding how you really feel about her?¡± he continued, teasing Do Han-Sol. Do Han-Sol blushed and pped him on the forearm, probably feeling embarrassed. Kim Hyeong-Jun rubbed his stinging arm and looked at me. ¡°Ahjussi, did you see that? Even Han-Sol¡¯s hitting me these days. I think there¡¯s an issue with the hierarchy among us, don¡¯t you think?¡± ¡°Since when did we have a hierarchy? It seems to me like you got pped because you deserved to get pped.¡± "Wow, wow, wow¡­ There¡¯s no one on my side. Absolutely no one.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun clicked his tongue and looked at Kim Dae-Young and Jeong Jin-Young, who merely shrugged. "Whatever! Let¡¯s move on,¡± grumbled Kim Hyeong-Jun as he kicked a rock on the ground. ¡°If we¡¯re going to bring down the mood by talking about this sad stuff, I¡¯d suggest that every one of you go back and spend more time with the ones you wish to before it¡¯s toote. I¡¯m going to go see my handsome son and my pretty wife.¡± With that, Kim Hyeong-Jun headed back to Hotel L. The others hurriedly got to their feet to cheer Kim Hyeong-Jun up while I looked up at the red, glowing sky, letting myself feel the full weight of the sadness that I couldn''t possibly share with the others. To be honest, I didn¡¯t want to leave, just like the others. Thest thing I wanted to do was to leave my baby behind. However, if my existence itself was a nuisance, a burden to my child, and to the people I loved so much¡­ then perhaps leaving was the right thing to do. * * * The next day, I climbed Mt. Ha with So-Yeon. We walked through the forest, surrounded by trees, climbed Baengnokdam together, and made memories that would forever stay with us as we took in the scenery of Jeju Ind. Just as Kim Hyeong-Jun mentioned, we saw horses grazing in the meadow on our way down. So-Yeon smiled more cheerfully than ever,menting that it seemed like we were at the zoo. I took in her innocent smile, trying to engrave it into my memories, and tried all the more to keep the unknown sadness from getting the best of me. I knew I should beughing at her having a good time, but I couldn¡¯t keep my brow from furrowing. I hoped that my pretty daughter So-Yeon, my daughter whom I never got sick and tired of, would not end up crying because her father wasn¡¯t with her, and that she would listen to her uncles and aunts, and grow up to her full potential. I couldn''t bear to say goodbye to So-Yeon. The two of us sat on a wooden bench, talking and spending time together until dust darkened the once bright-blue sky. She eventually fell asleep as we looked into the sunset. I assumed it was because of all the walking we had done throughout the day. I carried So-Yeon on my back and headed back to Hotel L with a feeling of emptiness as I tried to store everything that had happened that day in my memories. As I approached Hotel L, Lee Jeong-Uk and Han Seon-Hui were there to wee me back. ¡°Did you get to tell her about it?¡± I shook my head without saying a word. My face was terrible, and Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s expression grew sorrowful as well. I passed So-Yeon over to Han Seon-Hui, who had been standing behind Lee Jeong-Uk. ¡°Please, please take good care of her for me.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll raise her as if she was my own daughter.¡± Han Seon-Hui teared up, as she bit her lower lip and held So-Yeon in her arms. ¡°Hmm¡­ Daddy¡­¡± So-Yeon called me in her sleep. I mped down on my trembling heart and gently caressed her cheeks. I brushed her bangs and gave her a kiss on the forehead. With that, I closed my eyes and walked toward Jeju Airport. I knew that if I stayed any longer, I would lose the courage to leave, and be overtaken by the desire not to be separated from her even more. Lee Jeong-Uk followed me to the airport. ¡°You have to make her wishe true,¡± he said. ¡°What wish?¡± ¡°Her Christmas present.¡± When I raised my eyebrows and tilted my head, Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s expression grew puzzled. ¡°Didn¡¯t you hear what So-Yeon said in Seoul? When we were on the cruise ship?¡± ¡°No, I didn¡¯t.¡± ¡°She said that you didn¡¯t have to be Superman, and that she wanted you toe back as the old you and spend time with her. She said this a couple of times. You really didn¡¯t hear her?¡± I remembered that I hadn¡¯t been able to hear her properly because of the boat horn. I looked at him in bewilderment, and Lee Jeong-Uk patted my shoulder. ¡°Pleasee back,¡± he said. ¡°The day you return¡­ I¡¯ll make sure you receive a very warm wee.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°I¡¯ll light up all the streetlights and roll out a carpet for you as a way of congratting you.¡± I bit my lower lip and nodded slowly. * * * Once I got to Jeju Airport, I saw Kim Hyeong-Jun, Do Han-Sol, Kim Dae-Young, and Jeong Jin-Young in front of the military transport ne. They all seemed rather calm on the outside. However, I knew that they were bottling up their emotions just like I was. I took a deep breath and spoke up. ¡°You¡¯ve done a fantastic job so far. For our children, our friends, and our families. I¡¯m proud of each and every single one of you for trying your best. Thank you.¡± ¡°Ahjussi, we¡¯re not getting deployed, you know,¡± said Kim Hyeong-Jun with a grin, finding a joke for the moment. ¡°Come back down to earth, ahjussi. Literally.¡± Everyone around him coughed dry coughs, trying their best not tough. I couldn¡¯t keep a grin from spreading across my face. We¡¯d been through long, hellish days together, and there really wasn¡¯t any need to say much more. I cleared my throat and continued where I had left off. ¡°From now on, we won¡¯t be fighting for our families, but for ourselves. Let¡¯s survive until the end, to reach the day that we can live like human beings again.¡± We exchanged sharp nods and boarded the military transport ne. I was thest one to board, and exchanged a final nce with Lee Jeong-Uk. He nodded back, his lips tightly closed. Without saying a single word, we both knew how the other was feeling, and could understand and sympathize with the other. I let out a deep breath and made it into the ne, knowing that if I had stopped to say something, it would have been followed by something else, and something after that as well. A momentter, the ne¡¯s hatch closed, and the roar of the engines started to pick up. I sat down in my seat and took a deep breath. ¡®Let''s not be sad.¡¯ ¡®Let''s not look back.¡¯ ¡®I''m not leaving So-Yeon behind. I¡¯m leaving for So-Yeon¡¯s sake, and I¡¯m leaving for my own good.¡¯ For me, this was all part of the journey, one that led to the day that I would be able to see So-Yeon face-to-face as a proud human being again, and to be able to experience my end as a human being someday. The only way to aplish these things was to move forward. I spent all my life chasing what was waiting for me because I couldn¡¯t look back. And since I couldn¡¯t look back, I knew I had lived a life with no regrets. All of us, myself included, had been like that up to this point, and I knew we would continue to live the same way. Because that was the only thing that this zombie life had taught me, ever since I¡¯d been trapped in my apartment, all those months ago. Everything I¡¯d done, and all that I would be doing, was for the sake of a better tomorrow, for a day where we could once again dream about the future. Just like any other day, I prepared myself for the next day thaty ahead of me. [ Walking Daddy, the end ] Chapter 201 Chapter 201 Epilogue: So-Yeon¡¯s POV - Daddy, Daddy! Don¡¯t go¡­! Don¡¯t go!!! No matter how much I shouted, my father didn''t look back. Even though I tried my best to catch up to him, he only got further and further away from me. I wanted him to hug me onest time so that I could feel his warmth. I wanted him to pat me on the head with his rough hands. I wanted him to say my name in his soft voice. However, my father just kept on walking away, as if he had no reason to turn around. Whenever he left me like this, I would sit on the floor and cry, yelling at him not to go, and throwing tantrums directed at him. I would sob at the sorrow I felt as I watched him walk away, feeling stuffy, afraid that I wouldn¡¯t be able to ovee everything ahead of me, overwhelmed by the thought of the loneliness of surviving in this pitch-dark world by myself. Only after crying and letting out my emotions to the brink of losing consciousness was I able to escape from this terrible nightmare of mine. When I slowly opened my eyes, I noticed warm sunlight streaming through the window. The chirping of the sparrows and the fresh spring breeze drifted through the cracks around the window and made their way through my cozy nkets, caressing me. I slowly got myself up and looked at the world outside the window as I wiped away my tears. ¡°Ha¡­¡± It was the same dream again. I wondered if I could ever escape from this damned nightmare. I was still struggling with the same nightmare, about something that had happened ten years ago. My father had left me on Jeju Ind while I was asleep. At that time, I couldn¡¯t ept the fact that he had left me. When I¡¯d awoken, I¡¯d gone around the entire neighborhood, desperately looking for my father. However, the only thing that I found was the hollow, eerie winter wind. There was no trace of my father. It felt like I¡¯d been left alone in the world. Even though I had a lot of uncles and aunts by my side, not having a father always left me with a sense of loneliness, as if I was in a foreignnd. That day left a traumatic mark on me. I didn¡¯t talk to anyone for a while, and spent many sleepless nights crying alone. Despite the fact that there were a lot of good people around me, the loneliness I felt while being with them made me even more miserable, and made me miss my father. I knew the true meaning of painful longing at an early age. I sat on my bed for a while, my hand against my forehead. Then a knock came at my door. Knock, knock. Han Seon-Hui¡¯s voice drifted in. ¡°So-Yeon, are you inside?¡± I brushed my bangs aside. ¡°Yes, pleasee in,¡± I said. "It looks like someone got up early.¡± ¡°I just got up,¡± I answered with a gentle smile. Han Seon-Hui examined my face carefully, and her expression grew concerned. ¡°Did you have the same nightmare?¡± she asked. "Oh¡­¡± It seemed like the tears that had run down my cheeks had left marks on my face. Embarrassed that I had greeted her with a tear-streaked face, I quickly hid my face in my palms, but my own expression couldn¡¯t help but grow bitter. Han Seon-Hui sat down next to me, scrutinized me, and then hugged me without saying a word. ¡°Auntie also misses your father.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°And trust me, it¡¯s not just me. Everyone here also misses him. Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok, Mr. Kim Hyeong-Jun, Mr. Do Han-Sol, Mr. Kim Dae-Young, and Mr. Jeong Jin-Young. Everyone here misses all of them dearly.¡± I bit my lower lip but couldn¡¯t think of anything to say. Her hugs were always warm, and I could feel that she was always trying tofort me. However, no matter how much love I got, the hole inside my heart remained, one that never seemed to get filled. I couldn''t figure out how to fill that hole. At least, that¡¯s what I thought right then. Han Seon-Hui touched my cheek. ¡°Shall we eat breakfast first?¡± she asked. When I nodded, Han Seon-Hui smiled happily. "I''ll wait outside. Get ready ande on out.¡± "Okay." With that, Han Seon-Hui left, and I took a deep breath before getting up. I knew why my father had left, and since it had already been ten years¡­ I knew more than anyone that it was safe to say that his n hadn¡¯t worked. I knew better than to dwell on the past; I needed to focus on the present, the reality that I was living in. I walked to the bathroom and got ready to start the day. * * * I was part of the food, clothing, and shelter team. As I entered the hotel restaurant, I was greeted by the aunts and unnies[1] who had already started eating. ¡°So-Yeon, you¡¯re up!¡± Choi Da-Hye, who was sitting with everyone else, called to me first while holding up her spoon. She was always the center of the team, thanks to her excellent way with words. But of course, she wasn¡¯t perfect. She wasn¡¯t as good of a cook as Han Seon-Hui, and so the two were often mentioned in the same breath. I gave her a small nod. ¡°Aunt Da-Hye, you¡¯re up early as well. What¡¯s for breakfast today?¡± ¡°Seaweed soup with fried egg. And leftover side dishes.¡± ¡°How much food do we have left?¡± ¡°We can check on thatter. Go ahead and eat first. The quicker we eat, the faster we can feed the others.¡± Mornings for the food, clothing, and shelter team started an hour earlier than the other teams. We ate breakfast first, then prepared food so that everyone else could get equal portions of food. I nodded, then put some food on my te and walked over to the table where Choi Da-Hye was. Kang Eun-Jeong, who was next to me, pinched my cheek. ¡°Seems like you¡¯re getting prettier by the day! Right, everyone?¡± she said. ¡°Huh¡­?" ¡°I¡¯m just jealous, that¡¯s all. Look at how firm your skin is!¡± Kang Eun-Jeong was a friendly aunt. My memories of her were a bit fuzzy, but I kind of remembered that she¡¯d been on the verge of death after contracting tetanus at one point. Fortunately, she made it through thanks to Kim Beom-Jin¡¯s extensive and sincere care. Choi Da-Hye, seated on the other side of the table, nced at Han Seon-Hui before whispering a question to me, as though afraid that it might get on my nerves. ¡°By the way, So-Yeon, how are things with you and Seok-Hui these days?¡± "Huhhh?" When I widened my eyes in surprise, Choi Da-Hye shed a rather mischievous smile. ¡°Is Seok-Hui treating you well?¡± she asked. ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know what you mean by that. I¡¯m just friends with Seok-Hui¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay, it¡¯s okay. Auntie knows everything. Aren¡¯t you and Seok-Hui in that kind of rtionship?¡± ¡°Oh, no, no.¡± ¡°Then does our sweetie So-Yeon have a crush on him?¡± Smack! Someone pped Choi Da-Hye on the back of her head. She looked behind her with a bewildered face, only to see Han Seon-Hui standing behind her with a gentle smile. Han Seon-Hui tilted her head and looked Choi Da-Hye in the eyes. ¡°You sure are teaching So-Yeon something very useful, huh?¡± ¡°Oh, unnie!¡± ¡°Finish up your food already!¡± ¡°Oh, nevermind, So-Yeon. Don¡¯t go for Seok-Hui. Having a mother-inw like her? Geez.¡± All the women gathered in the restaurant burst intoughter at her joke. I blushed and ced the back of my hands on my cheek, squeezing my lips tightly shut. They were quite the mischievous bunch when it came to jokes like this. But still, thanks to Choi Da-Hye, I was able to start the day on a high note. * * * I finished my work around four in the afternoon. The food, clothing, and shelter team operated in two shifts. One shift took care of breakfast and lunch, while the other shift was responsible for dinner. So after cleaning up after lunch, I was free to go. I rode my bike along the quiet coastal road. Port Jeju appeared in the distance, along with the fish farms that had been built next to it. As I drew closer, I saw Seok-Hui working, wearing a work apron. Ring, ring. I signaled to him, and he looked around and saw me before anyone else did. "Uh? So-Yeon!¡± Seok-Hui smiled brightly, took off his rubber gloves, and began to run over, but Lee Jeong-Hyuk grabbed him from behind. ¡°I won¡¯t let you go if you try to run off by using So-Yeon as an excuse again,¡± he said, holding Seok-Hui by his shirt. ¡°What? Run off?¡± A man with a shaggy beard approached Lee Jeong-Hyuk. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± he asked. ¡°Hyung-nim, it''s Seok-Hui. This guy is trying to run off again.¡± ¡°Run off? Is So-Yeon here?¡± Lee Jeong-Uk looked around, then smiled brightly at me, waving his right hand. I got off my bike and bowed to Lee Jeong-Uk. He gestured to me to approach. As I walked toward him, I nced at Seok-Hui. I saw him smiling as if he couldn¡¯t hold in his happiness. Seeing him, I couldn¡¯t help but smile as well. Then, Lee Jeong-Hyuk, who still had a fistful of his clothes, gave him a noogie. "Hey, Seok-Hui!" he yelled. "Oww! Why are you hitting me!¡± ¡°I almost went blind because of how brightly your eyes lit up!¡± Lee Jeong-Hyuk let out a boisterousugh, and Seok-Hui blushed and his head sagged. Then Lee Jeong-Uk joined in theughter as he observed the two of them. ¡°Why are you teasing him?¡± he said. ¡°Do you want to get in trouble with Mrs. Han Seon-Hui again?¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s why I¡¯m teasing him when she¡¯s not around. Don¡¯t you get it?¡± ¡°You¡¯re the worst, man.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk snorted and shook his head. He scooped a fresh fish out of the water and started to make sashimi on the spot. Once he finished preparing a te of fresh sashimi, Lee Jeong-Uk dipped arge slice of it into some chogochujang[2] and offered it to me. ¡°So-Yeon, say ¡®ah.¡¯¡± "Huh? Won¡¯t you get in trouble again for doing this, Uncle Jeong-Uk?¡± ¡°Me? With who?¡± ¡°I know you got in trouble with Gi-Cheol ahjussi the other day after secretly preparing some sashimi the other day.¡± He let out augh. ¡°Do you think I prepared this sashimi because I want to eat it? You know it¡¯s for you So-Yeon,¡± he said. There really was no way of stopping Uncle Jeong-Uk. I happily took a bite of the fish he offered. I tasted its freshness and savored the soft melt-in-your-mouth texture, as though the fish were still alive. The fresh fish, chogojuchang, and my watering mouth were in perfect harmony; fresh sashimi never seemed to disappoint me. ¡°You, you¡­ Lee Jeong-Uk!¡± Someone shouted out his name from behind. Lee Jeong-Uk looked behind him, his eyes wide open. Park Gi-Cheol was running our way with a kitchen knife. Running next to him was Kang Ji-Suk, who was in histe twenties. The two ran over, huffing and puffing, pointing at Lee Jeong-Uk. ¡°How many times have I told you not to slice sashimi by yourself! Are you abusing your authority as the leader?¡± ¡°No, Gi-Cheol hyung-nim, you have to listen to me. Do you think I¡¯m making sashimi for myself to eat? So-Yeon came all the way out here; how could I just let her leave without giving her some sashimi?¡± It seemed like ten years had been enough to erode the previous hierarchy. Park Gi-Cheol and Lee Jeong-Uk used to speak respectfully to each other, but now they were more like a pair of brothers, sharing an older brother-younger brother rtionship. Now, even the guard leader couldfortably point his finger at the leader. When Lee Jeong-Uk tactfully inserted me into the conversation, Park Gi-Cheol clicked his tongue and stabbed the kitchen knife he was holding into the cutting board. He then put some of the remaining sashimi straight into his mouth. "Geez! I¡¯ll let this one slide because the sashimi¡¯s good!¡± he said as he chewed. Kang Ji-Suk, who was next to him, furrowed his brow. ¡°Uncle Gi-Cheol!¡± he cried, ¡°I thought you said you were going to teach Uncle Jeong-Uk a lesson today!¡± Kang Ji-Suk had been put through a lot because of Lee Jeong-Uk and Lee Jeong-Hyuk, so he¡¯d chosen to stay right next to Park Gi-Cheol to make it through the past ten years. Of course, everyone knew they were joking and ying around, but deep down, Kang Ji-Suk actually enjoyed seeing Lee Jeong-Uk and Lee Jeong-Hyuk get scolded by Park Gi-Cheol. Park Gi-Cheol swallowed the piece of fish in his mouth, looked at Kang Ji-Suk, then dipped another thick piece of sashimi in chogojujang and stuffed it into his mouth. Kang Ji-Suk¡¯s furrowed brows eased as the sashimi melted in his mouth. Before he had the chance to say anything, Park Gi-Cheol quickly picked up another piece of sashimi and put it in his own mouth. ¡°Well, I guess we¡¯re partners in crime now,¡± he said with a hearty smile. "Huh? You shoved it in my mouth!¡± ¡°Well, who told you to eat it? You should¡¯ve said you didn¡¯t want it if you really didn¡¯t.¡± ¡°Wow, okay. So that¡¯s how it is?¡± ¡°Hahahaha!¡± Everyoneughed and had a good time. * * * Some time passed, and Lee Jeong-Uk checked what time it was. "It''s already past five. I think it¡¯s time for dinner soon.¡± ¡°Then, hyung-nim, let¡¯s just finish what we were doing earlier and wrap up.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Lee Jeong-Uk, Lee Jeong-Hyuk, Park Gi-Cheol, and Kang Ji-Suk headed back, and Seok-Hui followed them as well. But Lee Jeong-Uk turned around. "What are you doing?" he asked. "Huh?" ¡°Why are youing?¡± "Sorry? I have to help too, of course,¡± replied Seok-Hui, looking bewildered. Lee Jeong-Uk nced behind him, his gaze falling on me. ¡°You¡¯re going to leave So-Yeon alone?¡± he said, his tone of voice suggesting that he thought Seok-Hui needed much more work learning how to read situations. ¡°Oh¡­¡± Seok-Hui couldn''t help but smile after he heard his question. When Seok-Hui tossed aside his apron and rubber gloves, Lee Jeong-Uk smiled softly. ¡°Seok-Hui,¡± he said in a low voice. ¡°Yes, uncle?¡± Lee Jeong-Uk brandished the kitchen knife he was holding. ¡°If you try to do something stupid to So-Yeon, you¡¯re dead meat.¡± Seok-Hui swallowed and nodded quickly. ¡°Get going.¡± "Yes uncle!" ¡°You guys are going to Seongsan Ilchulbong again, aren¡¯t you? Make sure to stop by the hospital on the way and sanitize your hands.¡± Seok-Hui nodded vigorously and walked over to me. I tilted my head, wondering what Uncle Jeong-Uk was talking about. ¡°Sanitize? Did you get hurt somewhere?¡± ¡°Oh, it¡¯s not a big deal. I got a small cut on my hand while working.¡± ¡°Let me see.¡± I grabbed his right hand to take a look at his bandage. "Ow! That hurts!¡± Even though I had only lightly touched his wound, he quickly snatched his hand back, shaking it violently as though he was being electrocuted. I took note of how much pain he was in, and frowned at him. ¡°I remember telling you to be careful, no?¡± ¡°It¡¯s really just a small cut¡­¡± ¡°Hey, what if you actually got tetanus from that? You know what Aunt Eun-Jeong went through.¡± ¡°Sorry¡­¡± ¡°I swear, if you keep on getting hurt¡­¡± I frowned, ring at Seok-Hui, and he avoided my gaze with a sheepish smile. That was when I realized that I was truly worried about his well-being. "Okay, nevermind. Let¡¯s go to the hospital already.¡± ¡°Are you mad?" "As if!¡± I got on my bike and pedaled away, one step ahead of him. ¡°So-Yeon! Hey! Lee So-Yeon! Don¡¯t leave me behind!¡± Seok-Hui btedly got on his own bicycle and tried his best to catch up. * * * While Seok-Hui was being treated at the hospital, I asked how Kim Ga-Bin, Kim Seok-Won, and Kim Jin-Joo were doing. I rarely saw their faces except for when we ate, so it was awkward to start a conversation with them at first. Creak. Soon after, Seok-Hui and Kim Beom-Jin emerged from the medical room. ¡°If your flesh gets cut, you should get it treated right away. You¡¯re going to be in trouble if something like this happens again.¡± "I¡¯m sorry. And thank you.¡± Seok-Hui nodded at Kim Beomg-Jin and shed a childish smile at me. Kim Beom-Jin smiled happily when he saw me, then spoke to Seok-Hui with a mischievous, yful expression. ¡°I wonder how Seok-Hui¡¯s going to survive without So-Yeon, huh? Seok-Hui can¡¯t even tell when he¡¯s sick on his own.¡± "It¡¯s not that¡­ I just didn¡¯t want to worry her.¡± I leaped out of my seat when I heard Seok-Hui''s words. "Hey! Who said I was worried about you?¡± I said quickly. ¡°I brought you here because you were being stupid and not getting any treatment. That¡¯s all.¡± After my outburst, Kim Beom-Jin cleared his throat and looked at the other doctors. ¡°Ummm, everyone? Let¡¯s go get dinner while we leave these two to make up.¡± With that, everyone in the room got up, smiling warmly. On the other hand, I left the hospital grumpily and got on my bicycle. It was around sunset, and the sun was slowly sinking beneath the horizon. Feeling all annoyed, I pedaled nonstop toward the peak of Seongsan Ilchulbong. After pedaling for a while, I reached the peak of Seongsan Ilchulbong and saw the statues that had been erected there. I crouched under one of the statues and looked at the horizon as twilight grew. As I got lost in thought, I heard Seok-Hui¡¯s voice behind me. ¡°I knew you¡¯d be here.¡± He was fiddling with his bandaged right hand as if he had desperately tried to catch up to me. It seemed like he¡¯d done a pretty good job catching up, considering how difficult it had to be for him to ride his bicycle with one hand. Instead of offering a reply, I brought my knees together and buried my face in them. Seok-Hui sat down next to me. "Are you mad?" he asked. ¡°I don¡¯t like it.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°How people are treating us.¡± As I confessed how I felt, Seok-Hui stroked his chin. ¡°Well, I like it,¡± he said. ¡°That¡¯s why I like it when you¡¯re grumpy,ining, and throwing tantrums.¡± "Huh??" He was being ridiculous. I couldn¡¯t believe he was enjoying how others were treating us when he didn¡¯t even have the courage to confess his feelings to me. I looked at him contemptuously, but he had his eyes fixed on the sunset, with a serious look on his face. He didn¡¯t seem like his usual self. As I looked at his face glittering in the sunset, my heart began to beat frivolously. The reason I was angry at him was because¡­ I knew I had feelings for Seok-Hui, and it seemed like Seok-Hui had feelings for me as well¡­ but I couldn¡¯t stand his timidity, his inability to express his feelings for me. I continued to look at Seok-Hui with a puzzled expression, and after a moment, he stood up. ¡°I¡¯m not going to ask you out,¡± he said. ¡°What the he¡­¡± I almost blurted out something inappropriate, but it seemed he hadn¡¯t quite heard what I¡¯d said. He continued to speak, his eyes on the statue behind us. ¡°I don¡¯t have the courage¡­ the courage to ask you out before I be someone that I can be proud of.¡± ¡°What are you talking about¡­?" ¡°Let me ask you this. Why do youe here?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. I guess the scenery is nice.¡± ¡°Ie here to pay a visit to the ones here.¡± I turned around to look at the statues behind us. Some of the folks on the facilities management team who were good at creating things had sculpted statues to honor the Five Heroes. In the center was a statue of my father. On one side of him were statues of Kim Hyeong-Jun and Do Han-Sol, while statues of Kim Dae-Young and Jeong Jin-Young nked him on the other side. The statues had be discolored over the years, perhaps because they were next to the ocean, but they still possessed their original dignity and majesty. Seok-Hui stared at the statue of my father and continued to speak. ¡°Your old man once told me to grow up into a good, proper man and protect you.¡± ¡°You¡¯re being cringe¡­¡± In truth, I didn''t want to talk about my father. I didn¡¯t know why, but whenever I talked about my father, one side of me felt stuffy, and I was always ovee with an indescribable feeling of loneliness. Regardless, Seok-Hui continued to talk about him. ¡°I can¡¯t forget his eyes. When everyone hesitated to take even one step forward, your father would always step up like a man with no fear, with the most determined face I¡¯d ever seen.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°All of us here were only able to get this far because Uncle Hyun-Deok paved the road for us. He protected us from the storm. And this somebody¡­ He looked me in the eye and said I had to protect you.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be honest with you. I like you, So-Yeon.¡± At his sudden confession, I widened my eyes and looked at him. I was confused at his sudden confession, especially since he¡¯d just told me earlier that he had no intention of confessing. I didn¡¯t know how to take this. ¡°Hey, didn¡¯t you say you weren¡¯t¡­¡± ¡°Yeah, but right now¡­ I¡¯m clumsy at everything, and weak. I¡¯m going to try my best until I be proud of myself, until I be the man that your father would approve of.¡± ¡°...¡± Seok-Hui¡¯s eyes met mine, full of determination. ¡°When that happens, I¡¯ll confess my feelings to you again. As a better, more confident man.¡± It seemed to me that he was being unnecessarily serious. ¡°How is this different from confessing already¡­ You idiot¡­¡± I mumbled, trying to calm my beating heart. I suddenly remembered a phrase from a book I read that said teenage love was always clumsy, and that it was never perfect. That phrase described Seok-Hui perfectly. Or perhaps, the others saw me in the same way as they saw Seok-Hui. I wondered if that was why they kept on setting us up together. I didn¡¯t know the answer to my question. Instead of pondering over this some more, I stared out beyond the horizon without saying a word. Seok-Hui remained silent as well. Our eyes were fixed on the same thing as we allowed the wind to blow over us, tickling us. Whirr, whirr, whirr. Just then, a faint, sputtering sound made its way through the clouds and disappeared. It was a strange yet exhrating sound. I jumped up and looked around to see where it wasing from. Then, far away, I saw a flying object, a small dot streaking across the sunset as if it was flying along the darkening horizon. The moment I saw that dot skipping along the sky, my heart, which had skipped a beat, began to rumble like a mighty wave. I didn''t even look back; I went straight back to where I¡¯d left my bicycle. Seok-Hui¡¯s reaction was no different. I could just tell by his face that his heart was racing as quickly as mine. We exchanged a nce, then hurriedly pedaled back to the hotel. My ears were filled with the sound of the wind rushing by me. My thigh muscles tightened, and my beating heart tried its best to keep up with my heavy breathing. Despite all this, I didn''t feel tired or exhausted at all. The rush of adrenaline and the thought that something good was waiting for me spurred my muscles to keep going. As I pedaled along the coastal road, My eyes were fixed on the ne in the air. In the distance, the ne that had been circling began to descend slowly toward Jeju Airport. The ne, which had begun its descent, looked just like the ne I saw in my childhood dreams. It looked familiar, and yet it was like something I¡¯d never seen before. It looked rusty, and had lost the shine it once had¡­ But I was certain that it was the Russian military cargo transport. Perhaps I¡¯d seen this in my dreams at one point. Everything felt like d¨¦j¨¤ vu. My mind nked, and all I could feel was the pounding of my heart, along with an indescribable feeling of sadness. I was gasping for air, and I couldn¡¯t stop myself. I knew I still had a long way to go. But the sun had already set, and the sky was already pitch-ck. It waspletely dark. I knew I had to go faster. Faster, to where the ne was. But it felt like my worn-out body, my lungs that were about to burst any second, my mind¡ªboggled by all sorts of thoughts¡ªand the darkness around me were all trying to stop me from reaching my happiness. Flick, flick, flick. The streetlights that went along the coastal road began to turn on one by one. Lee Jeong-Uk had lit up a series of brilliant, vibrant reddish-yellowish lights¡ªsomething he had never done, because he usually thought that any lights except for those around the hotel were a waste of energy. These lights, which I had not been able to see in the past ten years¡­ They were so beautiful that it was hard to believe that human beings had made them. As the street lights came on, the feelings within me intensified. I gritted my teeth and pedaled even harder. Then, in the distance, at the end of the coastal road, I spotted a man running nonstop toward me. Four hundred meters¡­ three hundred meters¡­ two hundred¡­ one hundred.. and finally, fifty meters. I stopped pedaling and looked at him. He was staring at me as well, breathing heavily. "Ah¡­ Ah¡­¡± ¡°So-Yeon.¡± The man spoke in a soft, soothing voice. His voice gave me the chills and made me tremble. Even though he had only called out my name, I immediately started to cry as the emotions within me got the best of me. The tears I had been holding in finally came out in a flood, washing the loneliness that had made a home in my heart. The tears in my eyes made it difficult for me to see clearly. I covered my mouth with my hands and ran toward the man as I tried tofort my aching heart. The man, whose face was red and flushed as he looked at me, bit his lower lip and spread his arms wide. "Daddy¡­!¡± ¡°So-Yeon!¡± ¡°Daddy, Daddy!!¡± I never knew that the word ¡®daddy¡¯ could be this desperate and thrilling. The father, who wouldn¡¯t even hold my hands in my dream, had finally stopped walking to listen to me. I buried myself in his arms and soaked his shirt with my tears. As I sobbed, the reddish-yellowish lights from the streetmps soon turned to warm sunlight that drove away my nightmares. After ten years of waiting, the hole in my heart was finally gone. 1. ¡®Unnie¡¯ is a Korean term for someone who is seen as an older sister figure. ? 2. Chogochujang is a spicy, sweet, tangy Korean dipping sauce often used to eat sashimi. ? Side Story 1: Stories of Russia (1) Side Story 1: Stories of Russia (1) The zombie cries hit my ears as wended at divostok International Airport at twilight. ¡°What¡¯s the poption here?¡± I asked Tommy as I opened the hatch to get out. ¡°divostok¡¯s poption?¡± "Yes." ¡°About six hundred thousand.¡± Six hundred thousand. It had approximately the same number of people of Seongdong-gu and Gwangjin-gubined, but thend area was about twice asrge, which meant that the possibility of mutants wasn''t that high. ¡°Where¡¯s theb?¡± ¡°There¡¯s a city called Artyom, south of here. From there, head further south, and you¡¯ll reach a mountainous area. Theb is located in that area.¡± ¡°Artyom? Aren¡¯ we in divostok?¡± ¡°divostok Airport is located next to Artyom. Theb is between divostok and Artyom.¡± After hearing his exnation, I gave orders to Kim Hyeong-Jun, Do Han-Sol and Kim Dae-Young, who were behind me. ¡°Han-Sol and Dae-Young, split up and look around the airport. Hyeong-Jun, go to Artyom and looked for survivors and zombies. Jin-Young, stay here and protect Tommy and Alyosha.¡± They all acknowledged my orders, and went about their assigned duties. I went up to the roof of the passenger terminal and looked around at the surroundings. Unlike Korea, the area wasn¡¯t mountainous. It was mostly t, and even the mountains seemed like hills to me. After taking a good look, I approached Tommy and Alyosha. ¡°Did you say that the research center suffered a zombie attack?¡± "Yes." ¡°And were there mutants back then?¡± "Hmm¡­ I didn¡¯t have a chance to take notice. I was busy running away then.¡± ¡°What about a ck creature?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t see any of those ck fes, nor did I hear its unique cry.¡± If there was no ck creature, then nothing here would pose a particr threat to us. To be frank, I wanted to head to theb right then, carrying Tommy and Alyosha on my back, but since the sun was already setting, I figured it would be better to stay put for the night, and head to theb the next morning when the sun rose. I knew if I tried to get too much done at once by heading straight to theb, I might end up drawing the street zombies into theb, and it would be more difficult to deal with the zombies inside theb at night. While I was considering all of this, Jeong Jin-Young, who was next to me, asked me a question. ¡°Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok, what if there¡¯s a ck creature in theb? I mean, you never know.¡± ¡°It¡¯ll be alright, since the sample from Daegu works on the ck creature. However, if we go right now, it would be difficult to see the ck creature. I think it¡¯s better if we head out in the morning, when the sun rises.¡± ¡°Got it!¡± Jeong Jin-Young nodded as he answered enthusiastically. Kim Hyeong-Jun and I could withstand a ck creature¡¯s surprise attack, but I wasn¡¯t sure if the others could. There was nothing wrong with being extra careful. We would only be staying put for one night, and once dawn broke, we¡¯d head over to theb. * * * As dawn broke over the eastern sky, we gathered at the airport and looked at the map we¡¯d found in the airport. The divostok travel brochures in the airport were pretty helpful. Do Han-Sol, Kim Dae-Young, and Jeong Jin-Young carried Tommy, Alyosha, and Choi Kang-Hyun on their backs as we made our preparations to head out. Kim Hyeong-Jun and I determined the shortest route to theb by consulting with the map, and came up with a n. ¡°Hyeong-Jun, is this area safe?¡± ¡°The bridge that was supposed to be over there wasn¡¯t there; it seemed someone destroyed it. But if we head east, we¡¯lle to a road that¡¯ll lead us to the mountains.¡± ¡°Are there zombies on this side?¡± ¡°We didn¡¯te across any because it¡¯s a mountainous area. But I''m not sure, since I didn''t get to check out every part of Artyom." It was possible for us to make it through this area if it was free of zombies. In Korea, it had been difficult to get from ce to ce since there were zombies everywhere we went. However, if there weren¡¯t that many here, Kim Hyeong-Jun and I could take them down as we moved. I let out a quick breath.. ¡°Han-Sol, tag along with Hyeong-Jun,¡± I said. ¡°Tommy, you¡¯ll have to give us directions.¡± "Of course." ¡°I won¡¯t be with the group, but I¡¯ll be a few steps away, monitoring for any zombie waves. Everyone else, look ahead and keep running.¡± After finalizing our n, we got going immediately. I had recruited enough underlings while cleaning up Jeju Ind, so things would go as nned, as long as we didn¡¯t encounter anything unexpected. I currently had five stage-one mutants. Kim Hyeong-Jun also had five, and Do Han-Sol had three. And of course, we had Ji-Eun and Mood-Swinger. And since Kim Dae-Young and Jeong Jin-Young each had two hundred and fifty underlings, it would not be difficult to protect Tommy, Alyosha, and Choi Kang-Hyun. We moved at Jeong Jin-Young¡¯s pace, with Kim Hyeong-Jun in the lead. I followed behind, taking care of the street zombies. We did not run into any difficulties along the way. Everything went smoothly, ording to our n. It was hard to believe that ab guarded by soldiers would fall to a zombie wave that urred in a neighborhood like this. Once we got to theb, however, I realized how wrong I had been. GRRR¡­ GWAAA!! There were thousands of zombies swarming around theb¡¯s outer walls. Dozens of zombies even roamed around within thebs walls, making their throat-rending cries. Kim Hyeong-Jun smirked as he saw the zombies. ¡°Ahjussi, should we recruit all of those zombies?¡± ¡°There¡¯s no need to get more underlings. Just kill them all.¡± ¡°Kill them all?. Don¡¯t you think that¡¯s a waste? At least I do.¡± ¡°Kill all the ones that are outside. We¡¯ll use the ones inside as research samples.¡± We no longer had to be obsessed with the number of underlings we had. Even if a ck creature did appear, we could easily take care of it by using the samples we had brought from Daegu. And if we ever had to move betweenbs, we¡¯d have to get rid of most of our underlings anyway, because we couldn¡¯t fit all of them into the ne. It was unnecessary to recruit more underlings. It was best to live with the bare minimum, since there could be a zombie with red eyes in Russia. If we recruited more underlings and got caught¡­ That would only bring us more trouble. All we had to do was to create a safe environment as quietly as possible so that Tommy and Alyosha could concentrate on their research. I briefly exined my reasoning as to why we shouldn¡¯t get more underlings to Kim Hyeong-Jun, and he nodded, his blue eyes shing. He led Mood-Swinger and his stage-one mutants into theboratory. I addressed Do Han-Sol, Kim Dae-Young, and Jeong Jin-Young, who were behind me. ¡°You guys stay put and protect everyone else. Hyeong-Jun and I will clean up the area.¡± ¡°Got it.¡± ¡°Tommy, how many zombies should I keep alive?¡± ¡°Just like you said earlier, I think the ones inside should be enough.¡± With that, I headed to theboratory with Ji-Eun and my stage-one mutants. I wasn¡¯t a big fan of ughter, but if I couldn¡¯t recruit them or manage them somehow, it was best to kill them. This situation reminded me of the saying: to go beyond is as wrong as to fall short. Steam rose from my body as my blue eyes shed. I breezed through the weak zombies and started cleaning up theb. * * * After cleaning up the zombies, we set up a zombie prison in the building that was once the Russian soldiers'' dormitory. We gathered up all the zombies that were inside theb and locked them up in the zombie prison. I asked Jeong Jin-Young to keep an eye on them. Tommy examined the condition of theb, and he sounded rather positive. ¡°Fortunately enough, all the equipment is still intact. Did you happen to check the greenhouse in the basement as well?¡± "A greenhouse? There¡¯s a greenhouse in this facility?¡± ¡°We kept various animals and nts in the underground greenhouse. Did you miss it?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think I missed any rooms while cleaning up¡­¡± ¡°Oh, you should follow me.¡± I nodded and followed Tommy. ¡°Ahjussi, what should I do in the meantime?¡± asked Kim Hyeong-Jun. Kim Hyeong-Jun, Do Han-Sol, Kim Dae-Young, Choi Kang-Hyun, and Alyosha were sitting around a table in theb, all looking at me nkly. The problem was, I didn¡¯t have any orders to give them. Tommy spoke into the silence. ¡°Mr. Choi Kang-Hyun, do you happen to be good with handling machines?¡± "Machines? What sort of machines are we talking about? I¡¯m pretty good with most machines.¡± ¡°Then could you check on the ground station with Alyosha? We have to get the satellitemunications up and running again.¡± ¡°Satellitemunications? Are you saying you¡¯re going to usemunication satellites tomunicate with other countries?¡± ¡°Alyosha¡¯s an expert on them. If you could please follow him and get whatever that¡¯s broken working again, that¡¯d be great.¡± Choi Kang-Hyun gave Alyosha a bewildered look. Tommy exined the situation to Alyosha in Russian, and Alyosha stood up with a hearty smile. I looked at the two of them, then at Kim Hyeong-Jun. ¡°Hyeong-Jun, can you go with them?¡± "Okay." ¡°Han-Sol and Dae-Young, could you clean up while we¡¯re gone? Collect all the dead zombie bodies outside and burn them. And could you wipe away the bloodstains in theb?¡± ¡°On it.¡± Once everyone had a task toplete, I headed down to the basement greenhouse with Tommy. As I followed him, I cautiously brought up the issue we¡¯d discussed earlier. ¡°Tommy?¡± "Go ahead." ¡°Satellitemunication. Is that really possible?¡± I was bad with electronics. I couldn¡¯t even fix a radio by myself, so satellitemunication seemed incredibly foreign to me. I tilted my head, and Tommy offered me a small smile. "It¡¯s possible for sure. I observed that the cassegrain antenna was intact on our way here, and there weren¡¯t any zombies around the ground station. Alyosha will have to check the status of the transponder and satellite repeater, but I assume they¡¯ll be intact, since zombies aren¡¯t interested in machines.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Satellitemunications use microwaves above 1 gigahertz, since they have to pass through the ionosphere. And since themunication and GPS satellites are in mid-orbit, we use microwaves above 2.5 gigahertz, which is the S band, to tune the frequency. Once we can get all of this working, we can startmunicating with the remainingboratories on Earth.¡± ¡°Tommy.¡± "Yes?" ¡°I can¡¯t understand a single thing you¡¯re saying. Can you exin it in a way that I can understand?¡± ¡°This was the easiest way of exining it.¡± I was left speechless. If what he¡¯d just rattled off was the simple way of exining it¡­ I knew I wasn¡¯t really a tech person at all. I smacked my lips. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for not understanding it,¡± I said. ¡°There¡¯s no need for you to apologize¡­¡± I cleared my throat and looked away, and he did the same. I realized that I had brought up something I shouldn¡¯t have, and had just made things awkward between us, but I couldn¡¯t help but wonder how Tommy knew all of this. ¡°By the way, how do you know all this?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been to severalbs. The ones in Ennd, France, Germany, and even Russia. I had to learn in order to make up for theck of researchers as I movedbs.¡± ¡°And thosebs¡­ Are they all gone now?¡± ¡°Yes. Canada was the only ce we were in contact with at the end.¡± We made our way down, making some small talk along the way, and finally came upon an enormous iron door that I had missed earlier. I¡¯d assumed that it was a wall when taking care of the zombies earlier on, but now that I took a closer look at it, I realized that it was a door. ¡°We¡¯re here,¡± said Tommy, letting out a quick breath. ¡°I¡¯m not sure if there¡¯s still power. I hope that the animals and nts are still alive.¡± ¡°Something else might be alive. Just swipe your keycard and stay behind me.¡± Tommy nodded and fished out his keycard from his pocket. We exchanged nces, and he unlocked the door and stepped back. Pshhh¨C A st of thick mist and warm heat weed us as the door opened. The warm air meant that the system was operating properly, which also meant that the sr panels and batteries were fine as well. As we made our way through the thick mist, we stumbled upon another door. Tommy swiped his keycard again, and the tightly-sealed door opened. When we finally entered the greenhouse, the strong smell of grass tickled my nose. The mist slowly cleared, revealing a wide open space. My mouth fell open as I took in the enormous room, which could easily have beenrger than sixteen hundred square kilometers. I was surprised by the fact that something thisrge could be underground, but I couldn''t help but be amazed at the fact that there were this many animals and nts alive in here. Crops that could be cultivated were situated in the center of the greenhouse, and beyond the ss walls on the left and right, there were animals such as chickens and pigs, living in separatepartments. Each of them were in pairs, male and female. They were still alive, despite the fact that it had been several months since anyone had set foot here. But then Tommy spoke up. ¡°Something¡¯s not right.¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± ¡°There aren¡¯t any traces of animal feces.¡± After hearing his words, my blue eyes shed as I elerated my blood flow. I heightened all my senses and quickly scanned the interior of the greenhouse. There were other beings in here besides us. Tommy continued to peer into the pigpen right next to us. ¡°The livestock are fed at set times that are entered into the system, but there are no automatic processes to remove their waste. It has to be cleared by manually pressing a switch.¡± "A switch? What switch?¡± ¡°There¡¯s a pipe that takes care of the excrement. Someone has to be alert when they press the switch, so that the animals don¡¯t get sucked in as well.¡± Rustle¨C Just then, I heard footsteps in front of us. I couldn¡¯t locate where they wereing from exactly, but they were definitelying from the end of the greenhouse. ¡°Wait here. Don¡¯t move.¡± Before the other being had the chance to react, I rushed toward the source of the footsteps. Side Story 2: Stories of Russia (2) Side Story 2: Stories of Russia (2) In the corner of the greenhouse, behind a mysterious tree, I saw a woman holding an iron pipe. As soon as she saw me, her eyes widened and she swung her iron pipe. Grasp! I grabbed the iron pipe flying toward my temples with my right hand, then grabbed the woman by the cor and pushed her down. ¡°Stop!¡± yelled?? Tommy urgently as he ran toward us. I looked back at him as I calmed myself down, and my eyes went back to normal. ¡°El¡­ Elena?¡± Tommy stuttered, looking utterly surprised. Elena shared his surprise. ¡°Tommy?¡± I took a closer look at her, and noticed that this woman named Elena had a coat on. Even though her gown was stained with coppery bloodstains from the zombies, I could tell that she was a researcher. I knew because Tommy and Alyosha had worn the same sort of coats when I first met them. Tommy approached me cautiously. ¡°Calm down,¡± he said. ¡°She¡¯s not an enemy.¡± "That''s for me to judge." ¡°No, let me make the judgment. Please let go of her.¡± ¡°...?¡± I frowned at Tommy, and he gulped. ¡°We have to at least give her a chance to exin,¡± he said. ¡°Please, let go of her for now. Please.¡± Instead of answering, I looked at the woman¡¯s face. She was nervous and breathing heavily. For some reason, though, her human flesh smelled sweet to me. Perhaps it was because her heart was beating violently. I frowned and let go of Elena. She crawled across the floor like a cockroach to the corner of the greenhouse and then looked warily back and forth between Tommy and me. Tommy slowly moved toward her with both of his arms raised as he gestured to her to calm down as well. It seemed like Elena had an English background, since the two of them started talking in English. Unlike myplete ignorance of Russian, I could at least say a couple of things in English. However, she babbled on and on because she was terrified, which made it hard for me to understand what she was saying. The only words I could hear clearly were all swear words. Tommy approached Elena in a non-threatening manner and spoke in a soft, calm voice, as if he was pacifying a crying child. Suddenly, Elena¡¯s eyes flew wide open, and she started swinging the iron pipe all over the ce. She screamed vulgarities so fiercely that the veins in her neck seemed about to burst. She looked like a cornered animal letting out a final death cry, trying to fight back. When I tried to intervene, Tommy shouted and stopped me from getting any closer. Tommy spoke to Elena in a calm, subdued voice. ¡°Calm down Elena. I''m here. You can calm down now.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that zombie behind you? How are you with a zombie? Was your research sessful? What about the vine? What about the cure? What¡¯s going on outside?¡± ¡°Calm down. I¡¯ll exin everything. So put down the pipe and listen to me.¡± "No. Get rid of the zombie behind you.¡± Tommy bit his lower lip and turned to me with a troubled look. ¡°Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok, could you step outside for a moment?¡± ¡°No. I don¡¯t know what she¡¯s going to do, so I don¡¯t think that¡¯s going to be possible.¡± ¡°She¡¯s just in shock. She¡¯s been stuck here for two full months. By herself.¡± ¡°...¡± I didn¡¯t feelfortable leaving Tommy alone. I had absolutely no clue what that mad woman would do to Tommy. However, as I looked at Tommy¡­ I just couldn¡¯t attack the woman. He was looking at Elena with eyes full of pity. I wondered if it was because of the camaraderie they¡¯d developed by devoting their lives to vine research together. Or perhaps there was some kind of kinship that I didn¡¯t understand. I clicked my tongue. ¡°I¡¯ll wait for you at the entrance,¡± I said. ¡°If she happens to cause any trouble¡­ Let her know that I¡¯ll kill her without remorse. Make sure she knows.¡± ¡°Thank you¡­¡± Tommy gave a small nod and started talking to Elena. I walked toward the entrance, eavesdropping on their conversation. The two of them began to discuss me. After he exined everything to her, I heard her crying. She seemed to have developed a habit of crying quietly, and hearing her crying made me feel sad and bitter. I couldn¡¯t tell if she was crying because she was relieved at the fact that she was alive, or because she missed human interaction. She continued to cry for a long while, even after they were done talking. * * * A couple of hourster, Elena approached me as she wiped away her tears. ¡°My apologies for what happened earlier.¡± ¡°It¡¯s alright.¡± "So¡­ You¡¯re a person, right?¡± ¡°A human-like zombie.¡± Although it wasn¡¯t easy for me to speak in English after a long time, I felt proud of myself speaking in a foreignnguage. Elena hesitated for a moment, then took a deep breath and continued. ¡°I heard what happened. You said you saved Tommy and Alyosha?¡± "Now it''s their turn to save me." "Maybe our meeting was meant to be.¡± When I tilted my head at her ambiguous words, Tommy spoke up. ¡°Elena was on the team in charge of developing a cure.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that what a vine is?¡± ¡°The two arepletely different. A vine is used for prevention, and a cure literally means healing someone who is already sick.¡± ¡°Then¡­ In simple terms, are vines like flu shots?¡± ¡°That would be a suitable example. You get flu shots to prevent the flu, right? You can think of the cure as medicine for someone who already has the flu.¡± As Tommy exined this to me, Elena¡¯s demeanor seemed to change. Just like she had said, rescuing her seemed like the hand of fate working. God was helping me to be human again, so that I could see So-Yeon as a human again. Even though we didn¡¯t have any results yet, I couldn''t help but feel excited for what was toe. Tommy looked at me carefully, then forced a smile. ¡°It¡¯s too early to be celebrating. The treatment hasn¡¯t gone through clinical trials yet.¡± ¡°How long will it take?¡± ¡°Even with all the equipment and personnel perfectly prepared, we¡¯re thinking at least two years. Given the current situation¡­ I¡¯m not sure if I can give you a definitive answer.¡± ¡°But still, the vine development was sessful, wasn¡¯t it? Doesn¡¯t that make it more than possible for this to be sessful as well?¡± ¡°Well, the vine wasn¡¯t officiallypleted either. The virus did seem to grow weaker, but we¡¯re not at the point of testing it on humans.¡± So he was saying that the vine was effective, but iplete. His words seemed a little ambiguous to me. However, I had no other choice than to bet everything on them. I got to my feet and looked at the two of them. ¡°How about we take this outside. We also have to introduce her to some new friends.¡± ¡°New friends?¡± When Elena tilted her head, Tommy gave her a soft smile. ¡°They¡¯re people who¡¯ll help us with research,¡± he said. ¡°They¡¯re from Korea.¡± "Korea! Are they Korean researchers?¡± ¡°No. Korean zombies.¡± Elena stared nkly at Tommy, looking puzzled. Looking at her, I couldn¡¯t help butugh. ¡°I will do my best to ensure that your research does not get dyed. Please ce your trust in us, and immerse yourself in research.¡± * * * When I introduced Elena to the rest, they all weed her with joy. Kim Hyeong-Jun, Do Han-Sol, Kim Dae-Young, and Jeong Jin-Young were delighted that Elena was researching a cure, and Choi Kang-Hyun chuckled, joking that she was the token woman in our group. Alyosha was overjoyed that Elena was alive. It seemed like Alyosha and Elena were on good terms. It seemed like she was one of the few researchers that did not give Alyosha a hard time by pointing fingers at him and calling him insane. Tommy observed Elena and Alyosha with a smile on his face, then came over to me. ¡°Elena¡¯s past is simr to Alyosha¡¯s,¡± he said. ¡°Pardon?¡± ¡°Elena was also utterly consumed by her research, just like Alyosha. She¡¯s one of the few people Alyosha gets along with.¡± When she had spoken with everyone, Elena smiled brightly. ¡°Has everyone eaten?¡± she asked. Tommy was the first to answer her question. ¡°Do you have any food stockpiled?¡± ¡°Hey, I was left alone in ab that used to house hundreds of people. There¡¯s enough food in the greenhouse, but shall we start with what we have in the cafeteria?¡± We all followed Elena to the cafeteria. Fortunately, the food had yet to spoil. Perhaps it was because of the cold weather. Even if the food had rotted away, though, the existence of the greenhouse meant that the ce was more than self-sufficient. Food didn¡¯t seem like it would be a problem while we were here. Elena filled up tes with food and ced a generous amount of food on the table. I looked at all the food in front of us and forced a smile. ¡°Regarding meals, only Tommy, Alyosha, you, and Mr. Choi Kang-Hyun will have to eat.¡± "Why? Aren¡¯t you guys eating?¡± ¡°We can¡¯t.¡± ¡°Then what do you eat?¡± ¡°We eat brains¡­¡± I was nervous that she would freak out again, just moments after regaining her stability. To my surprise, however, her eyes glowed with curiosity, and her voice took on a spark of enthusiasm. ¡°How is that possible?¡± she asked. ¡°I¡¯m not sure myself.¡± ¡°If you don¡¯t mind, could I cut open your abdomen?¡± "Pardon?" ¡°I thought you said you¡¯ll regenerate anyway? At least that¡¯s what Tommy told me. Am I wrong?¡± ¡°He¡¯s not wrong, but if you ask something like that out of the blue¡­¡± ¡°It was a joke, a joke. Haha!" Elena wasn¡¯t the one that was taken aback. It was me. I had a hard time understanding how asking to cut someone¡¯s abdomen open in front of others could be a joke. I didn¡¯t know what to say, because her behavior now was so different from the way she¡¯d been acting at the greenhouse. I stared stupidly at her, and Tommy smirked. ¡°I told you, didn¡¯t I?¡± He said. ¡°She¡¯s just like Alyosha.¡± ¡°Oh¡­¡± No wonder Tommy said that the two of them got along so well. I guess she wasn¡¯t crazy, just totally into her research. Still in shock, I shook my head, came back to my senses, and looked at Tommy. ¡°We¡¯re going to head outside and check on the sr panels first. Let me know if you need anything after you¡¯re done eating.¡± "All right." I asked Kim Dae-Young to stay and protect the others while I led the others out and headed to where the sr panels were installed. As soon as Jeong Jin-Yong left theb, he said that he¡¯d go check on the zombie camp, and headed to the dormitory. That left me, Kim Hyeong-Jun, and Do Han-Sol to examine the sr panels. Countless sr panels had been erected across a small field. Kim Hyeong-Jun clicked his tongue as he looked at the sr panels. ¡°It¡¯s going to take forever to check all of them.¡± ¡°We don¡¯t sleep at night anyway. Let¡¯s not rush it.¡± Before leaving Jeju Ind, we¡¯d taken a month-long crash course on sr panels and batteries with Kwak Dong-Won, the leader of the facilities management team. Even though we weren¡¯t professionals and probably couldn¡¯t get the job as neatly done as one, we were at least able to identify any issues. Do Han-Sol shrugged his sore shoulders. ¡°It¡¯s rather nice to have something to do,¡± he said. ¡°Shall we stop chatting and get to work?¡± "Ugh¡­ I¡¯d rather beat up zombies,¡± grumbled Kim Hyeong-Jun as he followed Do Han-Sol. He alwaysined copiously about everything, but he also handled everything meticulously. I couldn¡¯t help but smile as I looked at the two of them bickering as they examined the sr panels. I took a deep breath and got myself together as well. I wanted to push away the regrets I had about what had happened in Korea and do something to prepare for the future. I knew there had to be something I could do here to help that wasn¡¯t rted to beating up zombies. I had to find something to help with, and not be a burden to the others. After reminding myself of what I wanted to achieve while I was here, I walked over to Kim Hyeong-Jun and Do Han-Sol. * * * It took us a good two weeks to examine all the sr panels. It would¡¯ve taken just a couple of hours to take care of thousands of zombies, but when it came to machines, it wasn¡¯t as easy. Whenever we encountered a problem, we had to figure out why there was a problem, consider the problem carefully, and work through it until we figured it out. We welded and repaired broken panels in the building that the Russian soldiers used to use as a garage. It was also difficult to make sure that we¡¯d fixed them correctly. At one point, I really wished that we¡¯d brought Kwak Dong-Won along. Still, thanks to everyone''s hard work, we repaired all the defective sr panels in a span of two weeks. The remaining sr panels that still had issues were not functioning properly due to the heavy snowfall. We were fortunate enough that we could easily take care of the issues, since they did not rte to either the energy conduction or the state of the batteries. When we got back to theb after finishing our work, I saw Kim Dae-Young looking somewhat ufortable. It seemed like he couldn''t stand still. I titled my head and looked at him. ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Are you sick?" I asked. ¡°Please¡­ please tie me up.¡± ¡°...?¡± That was an unexpected request, and I looked him up and down. But then, one specific thought crossed my mind. I realized that Kim Dae-Young hadn¡¯t consumed an enemy brain in a long time. "Don''t tell me that you¡¯re¡­¡± He was breathing heavily, and his pupils were constricted like a cat¡¯s. The zombie instinct inside him was taking over his mind. Side Story 3: Stories of Russia (3) Side Story 3: Stories of Russia (3) All the while, when we were hunting Hounds in Jeju Ind, Kim Dae-Young hadn¡¯t gotten to eat a brain. Me, Kim Hyeong-Jun, Do Han-Sol, and Jeong Jin-Young had eaten the enemy leaders¡¯ brains and slept, but Kim Dae-Young had been busy standing guard, and had not had time to eat one. ¡°When was thest time you ate a brain?¡± I asked as I looked at him. ¡°It¡¯s been several months.¡± ¡°When, specifically?¡± ¡°I¡¯d say¡­ At least four months.¡± Four months. His current state seemed to be more severe than Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s when he¡¯d grown aggressive in the past. ¡°When did your symptoms appear?¡± I asked with a frown. "A week¡­ Maybe more than that.¡± "Then you should¡¯ve told us right away. Why keep it to yourself?¡± As I raised my voice, Kim Hyeong-Jun, who was next to me, spoke up. ¡°Ahjussi, calm down. This is the first time Mr. Kim Dae-Young is experiencing this.¡± ¡°You, stay here and keep an eye on Dae-Young.¡± With that, I headed to theb where Tommy and Alyosha were. When I barged in, Tommy took his eyes off the microscope he¡¯d been looking through and turned around. ¡°Is something going on? Why does it seem like something¡¯s going on?¡± ¡°Tommy, I need some drugs that can suppress zombie instincts.¡± "Pardon? What are you talking about all of a sudden?¡± After I briefly exined what was going on, Tommy¡¯s face grew troubled. He quietly rubbed his chin and got lost in thought. It seemed like he didn¡¯t have any proper solutions for me. I waited patiently, and after a moment, Tommy spoke up. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s start with bringing him here,¡± he said, his voice slightly timid. ¡°We need to get his blood and diagnose it to do any experiments or anything.¡± ¡°If it''s possible, I¡¯d like Alyosha and Elena to put their research on hold for a while, until we sort this issue out.¡± ¡°Of course, for sure. Someone¡¯s life is at stake right now.¡± After hearing his answer, I went back out again. When I came back with Kim Dae-Young, Tommy expertly collected a sample of his blood and gave it to Alyosha and Elena. The three of them examined his blood through their microscopes, then began to discuss what they¡¯d observed. In the meantime, I looked for Kim Hyeong-Jun and Do Han-Sol. ¡°It¡¯s very unlikely that the drug will be developed in time. We¡¯re going to have to go outside and look for red-eyed zombies.¡± ¡°How are we going to find any red-eyed zombies in this vast, vast country? There aren¡¯t any densely popted areas around here.¡± ¡°divostok is the most populous city in the Primorsky Krai area. There has to be at least one red-eyed zombie out there.¡± ¡°Free what?¡± ¡°No, Primorsky Krai.¡± "Oh." It seemed like Kim Hyeong-Jun didn¡¯t know the names of the ces around this area. I didn¡¯t me him, since I¡¯d also had a hard time learning them at first. ¡°But¡­ didn¡¯t you hear what Tommy said the other day?¡± he said, smacking his lips. ¡°divostok was the first ce where the Russian army wiped out the zombies.¡± ¡°There¡¯s a high chance that they came up with that to calm the popce. I can¡¯t imagine the zombies that attacked thebing from somewhere other than divostok.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun clicked his tongue loudly and gave me a disapproving look. Tommy, who was peering into his microscope, spoke. ¡°There might be one in Ussuriysk, but I can¡¯t be certain.¡± ¡°Ussuriysk? What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a city located about one hundred and ten kilometers north of divostok. It¡¯s the second most populous city in the Primorsky Krai area.¡± One hundred and ten kilometers was about an hour''s distance, if we ran at full speed. I took a quick breath and gave everyone orders. ¡°Let¡¯s do this. Hyeong-Jun, you check out divostok. Han-Sol, you stay here and keep an eye on Dae-Young. Where¡¯s Jin-Young?¡± ¡°Probably at the zombie camp.¡± I nodded. ¡°Okay, then. Let¡¯s get going. We have no clue how much time we have left.¡± ¡°Ahjussi, there¡¯s something I want to talk about before we go.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°What if we find a red-eyed zombie, but it¡¯s a red-eyed zombie that lives for humans?¡± For a split second, I didn¡¯t know what to say. I had no clue what would be the right thing to do if we ran into such a situation. I wondered if it was alright to sacrifice others so that my people would be safe. I remained silent, contemting the question. Tommy let out a sigh. ¡°Let¡¯s leave that up to everyone¡¯s individual discretion. What¡¯s the point of thinking about that when we¡¯re not yet faced with such a situation?¡± ¡°Tommy, how long do you think it will take to develop the new drug?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t give you a definitive answer. However, it¡¯s a much more approachable issue,pared toing up with vines or cures. Doable, in a way.¡± ¡°Are you saying that such a thing is possible?¡± ¡°Yes. As long as we¡¯re trying to suppress the virus, instead of destroying it¡­ We might just be able to make it, given the research data we have so far.¡± I was d that Tommy was saying something positive. His words helped to soothe my anxious, frazzled mind. ¡°I¡¯ll go ahead and give one of my stage-one mutants to each of you,¡± said Do Han-Sol. ¡°If theb is in danger, or if Mr. Kim Dae-Young gets better, I¡¯ll let you know.¡± ¡°Ussuriysk is one hundred and ten kilometers from here. It¡¯ll be difficult to signal across such a long distance.¡± ¡°The stronger we are, the deeper our bonds with our underlings be, which in turn means that the distances across which we are allowed to transmit signals increases.¡± Distance. I hadn¡¯t thought about this since the first time I¡¯d met Kim Hyeong-Jun because I never had to think about it. The maximum distance I was aware of was five kilometers. I also knew that, if we stationed an underling every five kilometers, they¡¯d be connected like beacons, which could help us to send our signals across further distances. I looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun, who looked at Do Han-Sol. ¡°Han-Sol, how¡¯d you figure this out?¡± he asked. It seemed like he hadn¡¯t figured this out either. ¡°I¡¯ve always been in charge of defense. What else did you think I¡¯d do besides just standing around? I did my fair amount of experimenting with my underlings.¡± ¡°Then what¡¯s the maximum distance that you can transmit?¡± ¡°My maximum range increased dramatically after eating the ck creature¡¯s brain. Thest time I checked before leaving Jeju Ind, my range was forty kilometers.¡± ¡°Forty kilometers? Is that even possible?¡± Do Han-Sol chuckled. "Well, I wouldn¡¯t be lying to you, would I?¡± With that, Kim Hyeong-Jun snorted and looked at me. I never thought his trivial experiments coulde in this handily. The idea that five kilometers was the limit was also something Kim Hyeong-Jun had figured out before he¡¯d eaten a ck creature¡¯s brain. Back then, he couldn¡¯t even exert control over one thousand underlings. The distance of forty kilometers mentioned by Do Han-Sol seemed absurd, but if we considered the physical changes we had gone through between then and now, it made a certain kind of sense. All this time, I¡¯d thought that eating a ck creature¡¯s brain only increased our regenerative powers and physical capabilities. I just realized that it also increased the distance across which we could transmit signals as well. It was great to have more people tackling the same problem. We¡¯de up with a solution to a problem that had almost seemed impossible. I nodded vigorously and looked over at Do Han-Sol. ¡°Yes. Make your mutants shout or something if anything happens.¡± "Got it. I''ll send one mutant to follow Mr. Kim Hyeong-Jun, and three will follow you. I''ll order them to station themselves at the point where the maximum range is reached, so don''t be surprised if you start to see fewer mutants following you. They¡¯ll know where to stop.¡± I gestured to show that I understood, then looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun. ¡°Do you agree with this n?¡± ¡°Oh, why would you think that I¡¯d disagree now?¡± Just like that, we all came together with the goal of saving Kim Dae-Young. When Tommy saw us unite, he handed me the travel brochure that he was holding. ¡°Here, take this map with you. The way to Ussuriysk is marked in blue.¡± ¡°It looks like there are a couple of viges on the way.¡± ¡°There aren¡¯t that many people outside the big cities. It won¡¯t matter if you stop by them on the way¡­ But I¡¯m pretty sure you won¡¯t find much there to help you.¡± I put the map Tommy gave me in my pocket and immediately looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± "Okay." * * * I looked around as I ran at full speed along the highway. Unlike the highways in Korea, the roads here were not as well-maintained. There were several buildings along the highway that seemed like rest stops, but almost all of them were just small, shabby stores that looked like shacks. They might have been mistaken for hotdog stands. Whenever I came close to a town, I slowed down for a bit and focused my hearing and my vision to see if there were any people around. Unfortunately, though, I heard nothing except for the throat-rending cries that zombies made. The eerie zombie cries that filled this damned world¡­ They made it feel as though I was living in hell. Every now and then, I would mistake the deer that I saw as humans. Their cautious, vignt movements were simr to what humans would adopt. The more I grew wary of my surroundings, the more anxious and sensitive I got. In the end, I was filled with anxiety. It felt like time itself was chasing me. In fact, it felt as though some unexpected death was approaching me. After moving nonstop for about an hour in this manner, all I had forpany was Ji-Eun, five stage-one mutants, and one of Do Han-Sol¡¯s stage-one mutants. I¡¯d started off with three of his underlings, but one of them would stop and position itself every forty kilometers we traveled. I examined the brochure Tommy had given me as I let my torn-up soles regenerate. ording to this map, I was about toe across a big city pretty soon. Suddenly, I spied a road sign about one hundred meters away. I ran to the sign and looked at the letters written on it. ¡°Oh darn¡­¡± I couldn¡¯t help but sigh. How was I supposed to read signs written in Russian? I opened the guidebook and startedparing all the letters and shapes one by one to see if they were the same or not. It felt as though I were ying Where¡¯s Waldo.. - Ussuriysk. I was surprised to realize that Tommy hadbeled every area on the brochure clearly in Korean. Each area had their Korean names written beneath them. I was surprised that he¡¯d been able to foresee this situation. I couldn¡¯t help but feel sorry yet so thankful for his considerate nature. I couldn''t read the letters, but I could definitely read the numbers. I ended up looking back and forth between the brochure and the sign, and finally realized that I was only a kilometer away from Ussuriysk. ''So it¡¯s this way.¡¯ My blue eyes shed once again, and I continued along the empty highway. * * * Buildings began to appear in the distance. I couldn¡¯t believe that I hadn¡¯t been able to locate where Ussuriysk was from a kilometer away. I couldn¡¯t help but think that my eyesight had deteriorated. However, it wasn''t until I got to the main part of Ussuriysk that I realized that there was nothing wrong with my eyes. Most of the buildings in Ussuriysk were single-story or three-story buildings. There were a couple of unfinished apartmentplexes, but those were also hidden behind the mountains. On top of that, the gaps between the buildings were wide, unlike in Korea, and the ce was sparsely dotted with trees and grass. Kudzu-like vines covered the buildings, and mysterious-looking grass that grew up to my waist had begun popping up all over the ce. Within a span of less than a year, the world was rapidly giving up the fa?ade of civilization. I heightened my five senses and increased my vignce toward my surroundings. I walked through the eerie streets of Ussuriysk, channeling strength into my legs so that I could react instantly by moving away if I sensed someone or some sort of murderous intent. To my surprise, though, the wind that was blowing through this abandoned city felt strange to me. The wind that blew against my cheeks seemed to carry a strong smell. It felt as though the concentrated smell of grass was purifying my rotten lungs. Rustle¨C At that moment, I sensed movement from the bushes on the left. I crouched, using the abandoned, derelict cars as cover. I turned my gaze to where the sound hade from, and saw a pair of deer grazing there. A strange feeling tickled the back of my mind as I saw the deer enjoying a peaceful moment. I wasn¡¯t exactly sure how to express the feeling that hade over me. It was a vague, ufortable sadness, a sense of missing, longing. There was something poetic or lyrical about the way I was feeling. I had thought that everything was over, that the end of mankind would be the end of the world, but nature was diligently going on with its cycle. For a brief moment, I forgot why I hade to this ce as I stared at the wonders of nature in front of me. It felt as though nature was taking in all the broken moments of humanity that I faced every day and was purifying them. Twang! A sharp arrow whizzed by out of nowhere, piercing the deer in its neck. Blood leaked out of its wound as the surprised deer began to hop around frantically. It quickly copsed to the ground as if in a state of panic, struggling. It twitched a couple of times, and finally stopped moving. I took a closer look at the deer¡¯s neck and realized that the object sticking out of it was a crossbow bolt. In an instant, I snapped back to reality, my eyes open wide as I scanned my surroundings. I spotted a man wearing a hood on the roof of a three-story building to my left. I heard some Russian, and another man and a woman appeared next to the man with the crossbow. I looked at them, wondering if this was their way of life. The man holding the crossbow gave out orders, and the two neers scattered left and right at once, moving toward the deer. The man pulled out a hunting knife that had been strapped to his side and crouched down close to the deer¡¯s head. The deer was still alive; its heart was beating faster than ever, but very faintly. The man closed the deer''s eyes and muttered in a low voice, ¡°Amen.¡± Then, without the slightest hesitation, he stabbed the hunting knife through the deer¡¯s heart. Side Story 4: Stories of Russia (4) Side Story 4: Stories of Russia (4) There were survivors. There were people living here. I wondered what kind of people they were; whether they were people who lived for others, or people who harmed others. I swallowed and kept an eye on them. The man holding the hunting knife pulled out his right hand, which was covered in blood, and asked a question of the woman next to him. The woman handed the rope that was slung across her shoulders to him. After the man tied the deer¡¯s legs together with the rope, he hung the carcass on a long wooden pole. The man holding the crossbow came down to help as well. The two men grabbed one end of the pole each and moved off, carrying the pole with the deer on their shoulders. The woman covered up the puddle of deer blood that had been sttered onto the cold earth by kicking some dirt over it. They hunted neatly, and left no traces behind. I could tell they were being cautious of zombies. I kept my gaze on them, asking myself if it was okay for me to follow them. But then I reminded myself not to forget the reason I¡¯de in the first ce. Saving Kim Dae-Young was my priority, not these survivors. The part of me with a sense of humanity, the part that wanted to save people, had been left behind on Jeju Ind, with the Survivor Rally Organization. I took a deep breath and moved in the opposite direction of the survivors. I made my way around Ussuriysk, hoping that a zombie with red eyes would appear. * * * The pungent smell of blood still lingered in my nostrils, but I wasn¡¯t sure if it was the smell from the deer, or if there was another victim around. Grrr¡­ A couple of Russian zombies saw me and became wary. I couldn''t tell if they were wary because they hadn¡¯t met a foreign zombie before, or if it was because of my blue eyes. I only took care of the ones that make exceptionally loud throat-rending noises and went on my way, trying to find areas with a high concentration of zombies. As I moved north, I found arge number of zombies clustered around a building that seemed to be a hospital. A cluster of zombies meant that there was a high chance that a zombie with red eyes would be around. To be frank, at this point, I didn¡¯t even care if I came across a ck creature instead; I just wanted someone to show up. I looked at my underlings and gave them telepathic orders. ¡®Wait here. Hide in the building next door.'' As one, Ji-Eun and the stage-one mutants followed my orders. However, Do Han-Sol''s underling didn¡¯t seem like it was going to move a single inch from my side. I wanted to move stealthily, but that wouldn¡¯t be possible with this underling right next to me. I grabbed it and ced it on the first floor of the building opposite. When I emerged from the building, though, it merely followed me out again, doing nothing to conceal itself. I wondered if I had to tie it up to a pole or something. As I thought about it, though, these underlings would follow orders no matter what, since they were bound to their master and followed the chain ofmand. I had no clue what would happen if they couldn¡¯t follow the orders they were given, but I was sure that nothing good coulde from it. If this underling signaled to Do Han-Sol that it couldn¡¯t execute his orders, I knew things would getplicated. I wasn¡¯t sure what to do with it. I was stuck with it in the meantime. I went into the building opposite and tried toe up with something, because I didn¡¯t want to cause any unnecessary trouble. The golden sunset that had been zing across the horizon was long gone before I had a chance to notice. The sky was now dark blue, indicating the start of another night. However, this was good news, since the zombies on the streets became more active at night, which in turn meant that it would be easier to find any zombies with red eyes. Since I couldn¡¯t think of a n, I decided to hide in the building facing the hospital and observe what was going on through the window. That¡¯s when I remembered the phrase: haste makes waste. It was probably futile to wander around restlessly. GRRR¡­ GWAAA! The street zombies began to act violently. They¡¯d been shambling around slowly during the day, but now that the sun had gone down, their movements grew faster. I enhanced my sight and hearing as I observed what was going on outside. Just like that, ten, twenty, and thirty minutes passed by. Time kept passing by, but I did not see any other beings besides the street zombies. I took out the brochure to determine where I was. Getting my bearings using the hospital, the intersections, and the nearby shops, I figured that I was at the northern end of Ussuriysk. Unfortunately, it didn¡¯t seem like there were any zombies with red eyes around this area. I felt bitter, thinking that I had wasted all this time to find nothing. I tugged at my hair in frustration as the tension inside me got the better of me. After calming myself down, I took out the map again and tried to determine where thergest cities close to Ussuriysk were. There were norge cities withrge numbers of people in the vicinity. Even the brochure only introduced three regions: divostok, Ussuriysk, and Nakhodka. Taking theboratory as the reference point, Ussuriysk was located to the north, and Nakhodka to the east. It was faster to go back to theboratory than to the other regions. I scratched my head and sighed as I pondered what we¡¯d talked about earlier. ''Should we just tie up Kim Dae-Young and keep an eye on him until we develop the inhibitor?¡¯ However, I knew this n would go down the drain if either Kim Hyeong-Jun or I couldn''t hold off our zombie instincts before the team could develop the inhibitor. We had to find red-eyed zombies somehow. Bang, bang, bang! Just as I was thinking about what to do next, I heard explosions outside. I couldn¡¯t help but flinch at the sudden noise. I looked out the window, wide-eyed, as the explosions faded away into the background like a gentle echo. I realized that they were gunshotsing from a distance away, and so I closed my eyes and concentrated on my hearing. Bang, bang, bang!!! The gunshots wereing from the south. GRRR!!! The zombies around the hospital filled the air with their throat-rending cries after hearing the gunfire. Soon, all of them swarmed to the south like moths attracted to fire. As I watched them go, I remembered that the survivors who had hunted down the deer were also to the south of my position. Realizing this, I couldn¡¯t help but wonder if they were battling zombies on the very road I had passed through earlier. I got up and gave orders to my underlings. ¡°Everyone, follow me.¡± Now that the sound of gunfire had echoed across the area, I was certain that the red-eyed zombies in Ussuriysk would also be heading toward the source of the sound. They would surely be drawn to themotion, and I was prepared to move on if no zombies with red eyes showed up this time. I followed the zombie wave, moving south with my underlings. * * * Bang, bang, bang!! I was getting closer to the gunshots. I pushed forward as I gave orders to my underlings. ¡®All of you, spread out left and right. Tell me if you find a zombie with red eyes.'' As I ruthlessly bulldozed my way through the zombies blocking my way, I noticed several survivors on the rooftop of a four-story supermarket in the distance, shooting at the zombies. They seemed trapped, as their escape route was already cut off by a swarm of zombies. Zombies had also gathered on the rooftops of the nearby buildings, waving their arms in the air. Several zombies fell off the ledge, pushed off by other zombies, and some were breaking through the windows and making their way into the supermarket. I could hear the sound of zombies scratching and pounding against an iron door through the gunfire. It seemed like the door leading to the rooftop was the only thing separating the zombies from the survivors. I¡­ I felt really awful, and my heart was full of sorrow, but I couldn¡¯t save the survivors at the moment. I was ready to give up on the survivors on the rooftop if no red-eyed zombies showed themselves, because I knew that there was no way I could go looking for a red-eyed zombie while I took care of them. I knew that promising them safety that I could not guarantee would be a hypocritical and arrogant thing for me to do. I leaped onto the rooftop of the two-story building on the right and looked around. I looked into every nook and cranny, trying to find a red-colored zombie. Therge za in front of the entrance of the supermarket was full of zombies that were crawling around like cockroaches. ¡®How many are there? Twelve hundred? Fourteen hundred?¡¯ I had reached the point where I could roughly determine the number of zombies at a nce. All the zombie killing I¡¯d done so far probably yed a part in it. For some reason, when the man on the roof saw the zombies gathered in the za, he stopped shooting. He merely stood on the railing that went around the rooftop and stared nkly at the zombies. It seemed like he was either out of bullets, or that he had given up on his life out of despair. A momentter, the man tossed the rifle he was carrying into the za. He was done for. He had given up on his life. Just as I was about to take my eyes off the man, something caught my eye. I saw children clutching the man¡¯s legs and crying. They seemed terrified to death, and were crying and begging to the man to save them and protect them until the end. The man seemed to hesitate after seeing the children crying. Eventually, he climbed back down from the railing and held them in his arms. As I watched them, a memory shed through my mind. - It¡¯s alright, Daddy¡¯s here. It¡¯s alright. I remembered saying that while holding So-Yeon in my arms, trembling in fear and muttering those soulless words of reassurance when, in fact, not a single thing was alright. Back then, I¡¯d been scared to death and had known that nothing was okay, but those were the only words I could say to her. I remember it as a moment when I couldn¡¯t help but feel furious at how weak I was as a human being, as a father. ¡°Fuck¡­¡± I gritted my teeth and cursed. Even though I had only a few shreds of humanity left within me, I couldn¡¯t just ignore children begging for their lives. I made up my mind and waded through the zombies that filled the za, heading toward the supermarket. After all, if there weren¡¯t any red-eyed zombies in Ussuriysk, there was nothing else I could do than to return to theboratory. I couldn¡¯t keep on going, because I would eventually go beyond the range of Do Han-Sol¡¯s underlings. The best thing I could do in this situation¡­ was to save them. Crack! I flew off the ground, creating a pit in the old asphalt ground and sending dust and debris flying. I was on the rooftop in an instant. The man holding the children in his arms stared at me in bewilderment. ¡°...!¡± ¡°...!¡± The other survivors on the rooftop were shouting in Russian, and I couldn¡¯t understand them. I looked at them, my blue eyes shing, and all of them fell silent, as if they thought that they were done for. Fear, despair, and death. I could just tell from their faces what was going through their minds. And yes, I knew exactly how they were feeling right now. In fact, I knew better than anyone else. That no matter how many nice and kind things I did for them, at the end of the day, I would just be a zombie to them. Thud!! The iron door began to warp. A hinge fell off, and zombies were going to flood the rooftop at any second. The Russian survivors that had been staring at me, quaking, looked at the iron door at once. They were so scared that they couldn¡¯t even take action. They looked back and forth between the iron door and me, not knowing what to do. Since speaking with them wasn¡¯t an option, I knew I had no choice but to demonstrate my intentions to them through my actions. I clenched my fists and headed toward the iron door. I ground my teeth and elerated my blood flow. Ssss¨C Steam rose from my entire body, and my arm muscles clenched and rxed repeatedly. ng!!! The iron door finally flew off its hinges, and zombies with the most disgusting-looking faces came charging toward me. Most of their faces were disfigured, which made me wonder how forcefully they¡¯d been banging their heads against the iron door as they tried to get through. ¡°GRRR!!!¡± I roared at the approaching zombies, and the zombies that had been waiting for their feast seemed to grow hesitant. But it was already toote. I hadn¡¯t meant to interrupt the feast that they¡¯d had in mind, but I wasn¡¯t in the good mood, and so all the zombies here were going to die for me. I mowed down the zombies like a frenzied bull. The Russian survivors copsed to the floor as if thest of the strength had drained out of their legs, as they watched the unbelievable scene unfolding in front of them with bewildered faces. * * * I wiped out the zombies that filled the stairs as if they were fish in a barrel. I was like a relentless bulldozer, squashing the zombies without the slightest hesitation. From the fourth floor to the third, the second, and finally, the first floor. I gave orders to my underlings as I zapped my way through the zombies that were filling up the stairs. ¡®All of you, gather up here. The one that gets here first, clear out the third floor, the next one clear out the second floor, and then the next one, take care of the first floor. The fourth and fifth ones, guard the supermarket entrance. Ji-Eun, you stay with me.¡¯ KIAAA!!! I heard my underlings¡¯ screams from outside. A full-scale zombie massacre began. Just as I was about to go up the stairs again, I noticed that Do Han-Sol''s underling, the one that was supposed to be right behind me, was no longer with me. I raced up the stairs, my mind filled with the worst-case scenario. At that moment, I imagined it identifying the survivors as prey and shoving them into its mouth. However, as I grabbed the handrail and used it to leap up thest few steps and reach the rooftop, I was met with an unbelievable sight. Do Han-Sol''s underling, a stage-one mutant, was holding a human figure in its left hand. It was roaring as it held onto the mysterious creature¡¯s head. The creature was struggling and squirming, trying to get away. Instead of falling into despair, though, I couldn¡¯t help but smirk. Unlike the underling in front of me, which was purple, the struggling creature was red. It was a zombie, not a person. There was a red-eyed zombie in Ussuriysk. Side Story 5: Stories of Russia (5) Side Story 5: Stories of Russia (5) The Russian survivors huddled together in the corner of the rooftop, shuddering with a fear they had never experienced before. I took a tally of how many survivors there were. There were two adult men, two women, and five children, which was the same number of people as when I first appeared on the rooftop. It seemed like no one had fallen prey to the zombies. I wondered if the group was made up of two families with their children. They were speaking to me in Russian, but I had absolutely no clue what they were saying. However, it didn¡¯t seem like they were thanking me; perhaps they were telling me to go away? After eyeing them for a moment, I approached the zombie that Do Han-Sol''s underling was holding. I grabbed the underling¡¯s arm. ¡°Let go,¡± Imanded. The stage-one mutant¡¯s eyes rolled about in their sockets, but it refused to obey mymands. That made sense, since it was under Do Han-Sol¡¯smand, and not mine. Left with no choice, I grabbed its huge left hand and broke its fingers to release the zombie trapped in its grip. This zombie had jumped up to the roof of a four-story high supermarket in one leap. It was probably not any normal zombie. Just like I¡¯d thought, it was a zombie with red eyes. It stared into my eyes with a confused look, its red eyes shing. ¡°Do you understand what I¡¯m saying?¡± ¡°...!!¡± The zombie shouted something in Russian. I had a feeling that it was swearing at me, but I wasn¡¯t a hundred percent sure. However, I was certain of one thing. This zombie had eaten a human brain. I could tell it was trying to say something aloud, even though we were speaking differentnguages. But then, I wondered if it would be possible tomunicate with it telepathically. I looked the zombie right in the eyes and repeated my question. ''Can you hear me?¡¯ ¡®...! ¡­?¡¯ I guess I¡¯d expected too much. All I could hear was more Russian. With that, my little experiment was over, and it was time to get down to business. Without the slightest hesitation, I tore off the zombie¡¯s limbs and peered at its teeth. The zombie was a weakling with human teeth. It began to scream and struggle the moment I tore its limbs off, as if it was the first time it had happened. I snorted at how puny and weak this zombie was. ¡°What are you so surprised about? You¡¯re not going to die, you bastard,¡± I said. I knew that if I killed it here, its brain would lose any effectiveness long before I returned to theboratory. I had no choice but to drag it back to theboratory alive. Even before I went back to theboratory, though, I had to find out where their underlings were, and see if they had anyrades as well. In case it hadrades¡­ Just keeping it alive would pose a threat to ourboratory. I didn¡¯t want to bring a Trojan Horse into theboratory. With that, I decided to camp overnight to confirm if this zombie had anyrades. * * * After taking care of the zombie wave, I returned to the rooftop, wiping away the blood on my face with my sleeve. The survivors were still huddled in the corner of the rooftop, sharing their warmth to keep the cold at bay. I had no clue what to do because I couldn¡¯tmunicate with them. I cleared my throat lightly and walked toward them. As I approached, the survivors groaned and cowered even more. After a moment, a man with a shaggy beard drew a hunting knife from his side and pointed it at me, threatening me. His hand was trembling madly, as if he was about to lose it. I wasn¡¯t sure what to do. I knew better than to get closer to them just to get stabbed. Of course, getting stabbed wasn¡¯t the part that worried me. Rather, I was worried that it would scupper any chances of forming any sort of rtionship with them. I scratched my head and headed for the emergency exit. I went into the supermarket and searched every nook and cranny to see if there were any snacks or food to eat. However, the supermarket had been thoroughly looted, and there was nothing resembling food left. Then, all of a sudden, some lollipops on the shelves caught my eye. I realized they were just what I needed. I knew that kids loved lollipops, no matter where in the world they came from. With that, I grabbed a handful of them and went back up to the rooftop. The man holding the hunting knife was judging how far it was from the building next to us. At first, I wondered if he was trying to jump over to the next building, but when I thought about it again, I knew that it would be nothing but a suicidal attempt for a human being, since it seemed like it was at least four meters away. The man seemed to sense my presence again. He wrapped both hands around the hilt of his knife, and threatened me with it again. I was amazed that he was still so wary of me. It made sense from a survivor¡¯s perspective, since it was only natural to be wary of me, but from my point of view, I couldn¡¯t help but feel a sense of grief. I showed him the lollipops I had in my hand. The man seemed to hesitate, just like he did when we first met. I could tell he was having a hard timeprehending what was going on. He looked back and forth between my face and the candy in my hand, I gestured toward the children behind him with my chin, and offered him the candy. The man took several cautious steps toward me and snatched the candy from my hand. He passed the children the candy one by one, and said something to me in Russian. I ignored what he said because I couldn¡¯t understand him, choosing instead to look at the children enjoying the candy with a gentle, pleased smile on my face. At that moment, the man with the hunting knife blurted something out in English. "Who are you?¡± I couldn¡¯t understand why he hadn¡¯t spoken in English right away, since he knew how to speak English. When it came to his question, though, I couldn¡¯t think of a proper answer. I wasn¡¯t sure how I was supposed to describe myself. I no longer had to¡ªor could¡ªcall myself part of the rescue team. I rubbed my neck and tried a different approach. ¡°I¡¯m here because I have business to take care of in Russia.¡± ¡°Business? Where are you from?¡± ¡°Korea.¡± ¡°Which Korea? South or North?¡± ¡°South Korea." I never could understand why foreigners always asked which Korea I was from whenever I told them I was from Korea. I could tell that he was still wary of me, but when I mentioned South Korea, the woman with the tangled-up hair, who was with the children, spoke up. "South Korea? K-Pop! I know K-Pop. I like South Korea and South Korean culture. Kimchi!" Sheughed awkwardly as she tried her best tomunicate with her poor grasp of English. When I looked at her face, my heart ached. I could tell from her face that she was desperate for my help. She was trying to tter me, trying to get me to empathize with her. She was doing everything she could do to survive. My expression grew bitter when I realized what was going on. ¡°There¡¯s no need to tter me. I have no intention of killing anyone.¡± With that, I stopped speaking and sat down on the ground. When I turned around and looked at the zombie with red eyes, it looked back at me, limbless, with eyes full of fear. Its regeneration seemed really slow, probably because it was still a zombie with human teeth. When I looked back at the survivors, the man with the hunting knife asked me a question. "Why¡­ Why did you save us?¡± ¡°Because I saw the children,¡± I answered immediately and honestly. ¡°...¡± To be frank, if I hadn¡¯t known that there were children on the rooftop¡­ I would have just ignored them. When I offered my answer, though, the man let go of his knife and sat down, as if relieved by my honest answer. Perhaps he felt that I was not a threat now, and that he was going to make it out alive. After a moment, his eyes reddened, and he covered his face with his hands, crying silently. "Thank you¡­¡± he croaked, his voice barely audible. I looked at the man and sighed. "It¡¯s getting cold. Let¡¯s go inside.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°The children are going to catch a cold.¡± * * * We spoke at length in the supermarket. The survivors informed me of the situation in Primorsky Krai. I learned that this group of survivors came from a small vige in the north. They¡¯d constantly been wandering in search of food, and eventually came to a big city for their safety. They probably assumed that people would have survived in the bigger cities, and that there would still be some vestige of civilization, perhaps under the protection of the military. However, their hope had probably turned to despair once they found out what had really happened, and by then, it was toote to turn back. They told me that they¡¯d arrived in Ussuriysk about a month ago. The cold made it impossible for them to travel long distances, and they had run out of food as well. That¡¯s when they came across the deer, which I¡¯d seen them hunt down earlier. For some reason, I felt sad thinking about how much they must have smiled after finally taking down that deer, having been without food for so long. They probably never expected that deer tond them in such danger. The zombies had probably picked up the scent of the animal¡¯s blood while the survivors were gutting the deer to cook it. It was probably the same smell of blood that had tickled my nose during my trek north in search of a red-eyed zombie. My sense of smell was a lot keener than that of the street zombies, so I couldn¡¯t help but constantly sniffle at the lingering smell of blood. The man with the shaggy beard asked me a question. ¡°So, the business you were talking about earlier¡­ What kind of business do you have in Russia?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­¡± I wasn¡¯t sure if I wanted to tell them the truth, or even if I should. I grew worried when I considered that they perhaps wanted to follow me back to theboratory. My doubt must have been evident on my face, since the man grimaced. ¡°Is it something difficult for you to bring up?¡± he asked. It wasn¡¯t, really. It wasn¡¯t difficult to mention, nor something to bring up or to brag about. However, I wasn¡¯t sure if I could refuse them if they asked to stay at theboratory as well. Not knowing what to say, I examined his face. There seemed to be no ill will behind his question. He was asking out of pure curiosity. I let out a sigh. ¡°There¡¯s a research institute in Russia,¡± I said. ¡°They¡¯re working on vines and treatments.¡± ¡°Are you a researcher?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not. Perhaps the best way to put it is that I¡¯m taking on the role of the military for them.¡± The man chuckled. "The military? Did the Russian military get wiped out or something?¡± he asked. I returned his gaze calmly, and his smile began to fade away. ¡°The Russian¡­ The Russian army was wiped out?¡± ¡°As far as I know, they¡¯ve been wiped out. Of course, I don¡¯t know the situation in Moscow.¡± ¡°...¡± I wasn¡¯t even sure about the state of the military in the United States, the country that had the best military in the world. I would have been utterly surprised if any of the countries in the world were doing okay. After a moment, the man rested his face in his hands. "Umm¡­ Not to be rude or anything¡­ But is there enough food in theboratory?¡± he asked. I knew it. I knew that this question woulde up. My expression soured, and the man chuckled nervously. ¡°I don¡¯t want much,¡± he said. ¡°Can you just take our kids?¡± ¡°...¡± "Hmm¡­ Maybe that¡¯s too much to ask for. I''m sorry if I made you ufortable. My apologies.¡± ¡°You¡¯re going to leave your children with me? Someone you only met today? If you leave your children with me, you''ll never see them again. Unconditional trust is dangerous, you know.¡± ¡°This isn¡¯t about trust. I just know that, at the very least, the monsters outside won¡¯t be able to kill the children if they¡¯re with you.¡± I frowned. "You didn¡¯t consider the possibility of me attacking the children, did you?¡± I asked. Instead of looking worried, the man smiled. ¡°You really think a guy who gives children candy would kill children?¡± he replied. ¡°I''ve never heard of a killer who does that.¡± ¡°...¡± "I don''t think you''re a bad guy." I cleared my throat and looked away. ¡°Just the fact that a zombie saved people is strange enough, but if the reason they did so was to save children¡­ That makes it difficult to see them as just a zombie, don¡¯t you think?¡± said the man with a forced smile. ¡°...¡± "I think you''re more human than the other fucking humans that I¡¯ve met while wandering about." I sighed, feeling confused. He knew my weakness. He had me right where he wanted me, and I couldn¡¯t find it in me to refuse him this favor. Being soft-hearted when children were involved¡­I was pretty sure that any parent with children would feel the same way that I was feeling. I smacked my lips. ¡°I was just¡­¡± GRRR!!!! A thunderous cry came from outside the window. The Russian survivors froze instantly, and I hurried up to the rooftop. I ran to the railing at the edge of the rooftop and looked toward the source of the sound, and my jaw dropped to the ground. There were well over two thousand red zombies filling up the za, their eyes fixed on my position. In front of the sea of zombies were three red-eyed zombies, looking right at me. Three of them, with two thousand underlings. I couldn''t help but smile when I saw them. I knew these red-eyed zombies hadrades. My prize had shown up on its own. * * * I jumped down immediately and approached the red-eyed zombies. When they saw my face, they raised their eyebrows and began to talk among themselves in Russian. After that, they looked me up and down with a sneer on their faces. They seemed to know nothing about zombies with blue eyes. They seemed so sure of themselves, but it was a case of teaching a fish how to swim. Since I didn¡¯t have any information about them yet, though, I asked them calmly, "What brings you here?¡± ¡°Oh, an Asian speaking English.¡± This was the first thing they said. After that, they mimicked my awkward English pronunciation and started smirking among themselves. That was when I realized there was no need to ask them any more questions. The way they acted reminded me of the saying, ¡®Little wit in the head makes much work for the feet.¡¯ I was grateful that they¡¯d shown me early on what terrible people they were. I smirked, and they looked at me disapprovingly, with condescension in their eyes. They smiled to reveal their sharpened, yellow teeth. ¡®So they¡¯ve graduated from human teeth, huh?¡¯ I assumed that they were telling me not to feel arrogant just because I¡¯d taken down one of their weakestrades. At least, that seemed to be the case. After a moment, the one on the left shoved his dirty face toward me. ¡°Repeat after me. Repeat after me. I¡¯m fucking Asian,¡± he mocked. I couldn''t believe how arrogant they were. I couldn¡¯t tell if this guy was genuinely stupid, or if he just wasn¡¯t educated enough. His racistments were neverending. I¡¯d had enough of this bullshit. My blue eyes shed as I strengthened my right arm. I closed the distance between us like a bullet fired from a muzzle, and exploded the guy¡¯s face before any of them could do anything. Pow!! The racist died in a matter of seconds. The other two zombies were utterly bewildered. It seemed like they couldn¡¯t believe what they¡¯d just witnessed. It was a pity that I couldn¡¯t eat the fallen zombie¡¯s brain, but I justified it by telling myself that it was better off not eating a brain full of crap like that one. ¡°You don¡¯t need your brains anyway. No?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but smirk as I tore off their limbs in an instant. Side Story 6: Stories of Russia (6) Side Story 6: Stories of Russia (6) I tied up the limbless red-eyed zombies on the rooftop and left Ji-Eun to keep an eye on them. The one whose head I¡¯d blown apart was already dead, so there was no need to take it back to theboratory. As for my underlings, I ordered them to feast on the two thousand zombies in the za. After taking care of everything, I headed to the fourth floor of the supermarket. The survivors were staring at me with puzzled, dumbfounded faces. It seemed like they had witnessed everything through the windows. ¡°What the hell are you? Are you a zombie?¡± asked the man with the shaggy beard. ¡°What else could I be?¡± ¡°You¡¯re like a different being. So unique and superior. Are you sure I¡¯m not dreaming up all of this?¡± I stretched my sore shoulders. ¡°Yeah, yeah, just go ahead and pack your things,¡± I said. Instead of moving, the bearded man merely stared nkly at me. I returned his gaze with a frown. ¡°Didn¡¯t you say you wanted to go to theboratory? Pack your things so we can get going.¡± ¡°Can¡­ Can we go with you?¡± ¡°Yeah, as long as you get ready before I change my mind. However, you have to promise me that you¡¯ll stay quiet and not cause any trouble. That¡¯s a rule you have to follow.¡± ¡°Of course, of course! I¡¯ll, in fact, we¡¯ll never disturb you. I swear!¡± I chuckled at his answer. ¡°Then get everyone ready and gather on the first floor,¡± I replied. With that, I went up to the rooftop to see how my trio of prisoners were doing. They hadn¡¯t¡ªand couldn¡¯t¡ªcause any trouble because they were tied up. I hung them across my shoulders as I prepared to head down to the first floor. But then, they started screaming and making a big fuss, and slinging racially discriminatoryments without even thinking twice. To keep them quiet, I had no choice but to shove rocks in their mouths and tie their heads up so that they couldn¡¯t shake them. I tied them up so tightly that blood wasn¡¯t flowing to their heads. At least I knew that these limbless zombies would never be able to untie themselves. A littleter, the Russian survivors gathered on the first floor. I ordered my underlings to carry them in their arms. I made each adult carry one child, then ordered a stage-one mutant to carry each couple. Lastly, I ordered one of my stage-one mutants to carry the remaining child, and we were ready to go back to theb. I pushed Do Han-Sol¡¯s underling as hard as I could to inform the people back in theb that I had found red-eyed zombies. The man with the shaggy beard looked at me nervously, as if he felt it weird for him to be held by a mutant. ¡°Is it really necessary for us to move like this?¡± he asked me. ¡°You¡¯ll know why in a little bit. Why we have to move like this.¡± I smiled and my blue eyes shed. ¡°Nothing can happen to those people,¡± I ordered my underlings. ¡°I¡¯m going to kill anyone that drops them.¡± KIAAA!!! ¡°I¡¯m going to take it slow. Make sure none of you fall behind.¡± I was afraid that some of the underlings might lose their bnce and fall if we ran at full speed, because they couldn¡¯t use their arms. With that, I headed back to theb at a speed that would not damage the soles of my feet, my heart feeling lighter than when I¡¯d firste to Ussuriysk. * * * It had taken me about an hour to get to Ussuriysk, but it took us almost four hours to get back to theboratory. It took us more time because I had to retrieve Do Han-Sol¡¯s underlings, who had been standing about in the middle of nowhere every forty kilometers to receive and transmit signals. I also had to cut off the limbs of the red-eyed zombies every time they regenerated, as though I was pruning trees. We arrived at theb around dawn. Elena, who had woken up early, saw us during her morning walk. The research center was spread out across arge space, and it was more than possible to exercise within the perimeters of the protective walls that surrounded the research center and its apanying military facilities. The research center was right next to military facilities, which also had a runway that allowed transport nes to take off andnd. Debating the size of thepound was moot. Elena waved when she saw me. ¡°Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok!¡± I took a closer look at her, and noticed Alyosha behind her, breathing heavily. It seemed that he¡¯d joined her for some morning exercise, but was having a hard time because of his poor stamina. Alyoshaid down spread eagle next to Elena and muttered something in Russian. I couldn''t quite understand what he was saying, but I could read him perfectly well from the exhaustion on his face. Soon, Tommy and Do Han-Sol emerged from theb. It seemed they had heard Elena''s voice. Tommy noticed the zombies I was carrying and ran toward me with his eyes wide open. ¡°Did you find them? The ones with red eyes?¡± "Yes. And¡­ I also found some people as well.¡± I ordered my mutants trailing behind me to put down the survivors they were carrying. All of them had haunted eyes, since they hadn¡¯t gotten a good night''s sleep. Then again, it might not have been entirely because of ack of sleep. The overnight journey must have been bumpy for them. Tommy took a look at the survivors, then smacked his lips. ¡°Are they survivors from Ussuriysk?¡± "Yes." "I don''t know if it¡¯s the right decision to bring survivors here, given the current situation we¡¯re in.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry for making the decision on my own. However¡­ I just couldn''t leave them behind.¡± He had a point. I wasn¡¯t the leader anymore, since we weren¡¯t in Korea. My role was to assist Tommy, Alyosha, and Elena so that they could focus on their research. I looked away with a grimace, and Tommy sighed and studied the survivors behind me. The man with the shaggy beard threw his weapons on the ground and spoke. ¡°If you let us stay here, we will do anything you ask,¡± he said. ¡°Please don''t kick us out.¡± He seemed to havee to the conclusion that Tommy was the leader of this ce. When the man disarmed himself, the other survivors behind him did the same, and they all began to entreat Tommy in unison. Tommy looked at them and began scratching his head, not knowing what to do. Elena, who had been observing what was going on silently, walked over to Tommy. ¡°Tommy, let them stay,¡± she said. "Huh?" ¡°What else can we do? Are you going to kick them out? Leave them outside to die?¡± ¡°How are we supposed to trust those¡­¡± ¡°They have children, Tommy. I can tell that they aren¡¯t bad people just by the fact that they have children with them, even in this world we live in right now.¡± Tommy smacked his lips and his expression grewplicated. Elena noticed that he was contemting it, and she kept trying to persuade him. ¡°It''s not like we¡¯re short on food like before,¡± she continued. ¡°There''s no reason to kick them out. The riots led by the victims are part of the past now.¡± ¡°Victims?¡± I repeated instinctively. She nodded. ¡°One of the buildings was previously used as a shelter. However, it was shut down because the survivors rioted.¡± ¡°A riot, you say?¡± ¡°Yes. The shelter was built to amodate three hundred people, but when the poption swelled to eleven hundred, it became difficult to manage the facility.¡± It was only natural that issues would arise when eleven hundred people were squeezed into a ce that was meant to hold three hundred. In fact, it would have been more strange and suspicious if nothing had happened. The inhabitants would haveined about the food, the confined space, theft, and interpersonal conflicts. I frowned as I imagined the conditions within the shelter. ¡°Those people, what happened to them?¡± I asked. ¡°All of them were shot.¡± Elena was surprisingly calm. I looked at her with my mouth agape, and Elena furrowed her brow and shared the past with me. ¡°The reason this ce exists is to develop vines and treatments. The shelter was an add-on. However, when the survivors rioted... Did you think the soldiers would merely stay back and watch?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°They killed every single one of them, because they simply couldn¡¯t risk anything from leaking out. However, I think karma caught up with them. Zombies showed up two days after they massacred the survivors.¡± Finally, everything seemed to fit together. I remembered the first time I¡¯d met Tommy and themander of the Russian army at Gimpo Airport. He¡¯d demonstrated a fanatical obsession with vines, so much so that he wasn¡¯t going to forgive anyone who tried to get their hands on his vine. Back then, I¡¯d seen his behavior as perfectly natural, because the future of mankind was in their very hands. Now, though, I finally understood why he¡¯d acted that way. To them, the vine was what they used to justify the massacre they¡¯d carried out. I frowned and asked Tommy, ¡°Tommy, what Elena just said¡­ Is that all true?¡± Tommy stayed silent. I stared at him, not moving a single inch, and he finally spoke, a confused look on his face. ¡°We didn¡¯t have a choice back then. We knew that gunning them down was less brutal than kicking them out.¡± ¡°Did you have any influence on that decision? Or was this something that the Russianmander decided on his own?¡± ¡°I agreed to it.¡± I was taken aback by his answer. I could not believe it. Immediately, I wondered whether this person in front of me was the same person that I¡¯d known all this while. He seemed like a different person to me now. I felt betrayed. When Elena noticed my bewildered expression, she chimed in. ¡°Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok, please don¡¯t make that face. If I¡¯d been in his shoes, I would¡¯ve made the same decision as well.¡± "I beg your pardon?" ¡°Tommy was the research director, and he was just doing his job. Our goal was, and still is, the extermination of the virus, and the survivors who got in the way with our goal were the same as the zombies. ¡° ¡°...¡± ¡°Imagine what would¡¯ve happened to this ce if we hadn¡¯t killed all the survivors who rioted?¡± Her question was difficult to answer. I couldn¡¯t just condemn them for killing others. Thepound would have turned into awless ce, with no clear hierarchy. I knew that, since I¡¯d experienced this first-hand in Seoul. In this world, where thew of the jungle was everything, humanity was almost non-existent. I knew that this ce would¡¯ve turned into one of the ces that the dogs in Seoul used to inhabit. Still, I didn¡¯t know how to push away theplicated feelings that were swirling about in my mind. As I gently massaged my temples, Do Han-Sol, who had been quietly listening to everything, spoke up. ¡°Let¡¯s head inside for now. I think all of us should take a moment to organize our thoughts, then gather to discuss it again tonight. I¡¯ve asked Mr. Kim Hyeong-Jun to return. Let''s resume this discussion again when everyone is back.¡± I handed over the bound red-eyed zombies to Do Han-Sol and headed back to the dorms first, before anyone else. Just then, I remembered the phrase: the opposite of justice was not evil, but another form of justice. It seemed to me that the line between right and wrong was more blurred than it had ever been. The person I trusted, the person who was trying to turn me back into a human, seemed like ice to me. ¡®What exactly is the best thing one could do?¡¯ ¡®And what exactly is the worst?¡¯ That was something I could answer. * * * Kim Hyeong-Jun returned to theboratory when the sun was at its peak. I observed his arrival through my window, thenid down on my bed again and stared nkly at the ceiling. I knew I wasn¡¯t angry; however, an iffy feeling was still lingering within me from earlier. Click. The click of the doorknob announced Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s entry. I looked at him, and he shed a hearty smile. "What are you doing here?" he asked. "What do you mean? I¡¯m resting.¡± ¡°Wow, okay. You¡¯re just going to chill because you brought back three zombies with red eyes? Is that what this is?¡± ¡°Did you find any?¡± ¡°Of course. In fact, I found four of them.¡± When I heard that he¡¯d brought back four of them, I jumped up, my eyes wide open. Kim Heyong-Jun sat down on the chair across from me. ¡°The soldiers can kiss my ass for saying that they cleaned up divostok,¡± he said. ¡°They couldn¡¯t have cleaned up more than a couple of street corners. The city was full of zombies. I had to spend some extra time out there just to catch the red ones.¡± ¡°Did you get hurt anywhere?¡± ¡°Why? Are you worried? I had Mood-Swinger with me. And it¡¯s not like there were any blue-eyed ones out there either.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°By the way, ahjussi, Han-Sol told me there was a little fuss this morning while I was away.¡± I sighed and looked away, not wanting to talk about it. Kim Hyeong-Jun examined my face before speaking again. ¡°Come on, I heard everything,¡± he said. ¡°Am I being weird?¡± "No, not at all. You¡¯re normal, and Tommy¡¯s normal as well.¡± ¡°...¡± I raised my eyebrows at him, and he shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s a riot,¡± he continued. ¡°Someone has to take care of it.¡±¡¯ ¡°They shot people. And not just any people; they shot survivors. How do you justify that?¡± ¡°Why can¡¯t you? We live in a world where you die if you don¡¯t kill others. And I know you know that better than anyone else, ahjussi.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°So, are you saying that it would have been fair for the soldiers and researchers to lose their lives?¡± he asked. I couldn¡¯t answer his question. Instead, I bit my lip and let my head sag. Kim Hyeong-Jun sighed. ¡°See? It¡¯s not that simple,¡± he said. "I just don¡¯t know the answer to that. There¡¯s something iffy about all this¡­ But I can¡¯t pinpoint what it is exactly.¡± ¡°What do you mean? You¡¯re just not trusting him as much as you should be.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°You¡¯re not trusting Tommy as much as you should be, ahjussi.¡± I stayed silent. Me, suspicious of Tommy? I knew that wasn¡¯t the case. I felt a little nervous and anxious when it came to him¡­ But did that trante to not trusting him? I covered my face with my hands and stayed silent for a while. A littleter, Kim Hyeong-Jun broke the silence. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll ask you a question that could make it easier to understand. Were the victims here survivors or dogs?¡± ¡°Well, I can¡¯t answer that. I never even met the survivors who were here.¡± ¡°That¡¯s why I said you don¡¯t trust him.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°The thing is, ahjussi, you didn¡¯t see what happened here, so you don¡¯t have any right to criticize Tommy¡¯s judgment.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°I bet you thought of the Survivor Rally Organization first when you heard the word ¡®victim¡¯. But think about it this way. What if they were dogs? Would you still think Tommy was in the wrong?¡± I didn¡¯t know what to say. I finally realized that the iffy feeling within me stemmed from the fact that I tried to judge something that I hadn¡¯t witnessed with my own eyes. I wasn¡¯t sure why I hadn¡¯t been able toe to such a simple conclusion more quickly. It seemed like a bad habit that I picked up after having to lead others for such a long time. I developed this habit while under the pressure to need to know everything and to be the first to pronounce judgment in any given situation. I thought I¡¯d left my past self on Jeju Ind when I left, but the habits I¡¯d picked up along the way had be a part of me. I chuckled when I realized that this was a no-brainer. I got up with a heartyugh, and looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun. ¡°You know, Ms. Hwang Ji-Hye told me to speak with you if I ever had any problems. I now understand why she said that. Thanks, man.¡± "You¡¯re wee." I smiled and headed for theb. I had to apologize to Tommy first before I did anything else. Side Story 7: Stories of Russia (7) Side Story 7: Stories of Russia (7) When I entered theb, I saw Tommy in front of the centrifuge. Feeling sorry, I rubbed my neck and called his name. ¡°Tommy?¡± "Yes?" ¡°Can I speak with you for a minute?¡± "Please, go ahead.¡± He seemed calmer than ever. It seemed like he was ready to humbly ept whatever I was going to say. I cleared my throat gently. ¡°I¡¯m sorry about earlier,¡± I said. His eyebrows twitched. I wondered if he hadn¡¯t expected an apology from me. He smiled at me. ¡°There is no need for you to apologize,¡± he replied immediately. ¡°No. I did something I shouldn¡¯t have done. I crossed the line. I judged you as a murderer, when I was the one who knew nothing. It was hypocritical of me.¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s true that I had a hand in killing those people, and it¡¯s also true that I ughtered them. I don''t think there''s anything to apologize for." ¡°Are you angry, perhaps¡­?¡± I asked cautiously. Tommy shook his head. "No. What I¡¯m feeling¡­ It¡¯s guilt. Not a single day has gone by where I don¡¯t remember the screams that I heard that day. The image of people begging for their lives still appears in my dreams, crystal clear.¡± ¡°I know how you feel.¡± ¡°I don''t deserve an apology. It¡¯s true that I prioritized the vine over those people.¡± Tommy sagged his head, his expression a jumble of emotion. I walked over to Tommy and put my hand on his shoulder. ¡°I know how hard it must¡¯ve been.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Did you question yourself over and over again, and consider why you were researching these vines, and for who?¡± ¡°Yes¡­¡± Vines were supposed to be developed as a means to save people. But in this case, many had already died in the process. This brought into question what exactly this vine was for. Reality truly seemed a mass of contradictions at times. As the saying went, life is a tragedy when seen in close-up, but aedy in long-shot. I knew Tommy had been ced in a situation where he could neither cry orugh. He also probably spent many days in agony, ming himself for what he had done. Just like how I did when I killed people. I¡¯d been able to endure those days of agony thanks to So-Yeon, but I couldn¡¯t imagine what gave Tommy the strength to live for the next day. I looked at his face without saying a word, and he took a deep breath. ¡°I¡¯llplete my research no matter what,¡± he said. ¡°Could you please wait until then?¡± "Yes." "I¡¯ll pay for my sins then.¡± With that, Tommy went back to the centrifuge. Everyone had their own kind of pain. And regardless of what kind of pain it was, I knew that the amount of suffering each person went through was different. The guilt Tommy had in his heart was a weight he would have to bear until the moment he died. Because of that, I wasn¡¯t going to me Tommy anymore. Whether it was intentional or not, the guilt weighing him down was equal to the amount of bloodshed on my own hands. After all, I had used them to take away lives as well. ¡°Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok.¡± I heard him call my name as I stood there. Tommy stared nkly at the centrifuge, then continued in a timid voice, ¡°Thank you for apologizing first.¡± I nodded slowly. ¡°Of course. It¡¯s nothing.¡± His shoulders dropped, and he continued, ¡°And about what happened at the shelter¡­ My apologies for not telling you ahead of time.¡± "I understand. I want to apologize for crossing the line.¡± With that, the room went silent for a while. Who could me the other, and who was to tell the other that they were in the wrong? The silence was a silence of sinners. Then Tommy turned around with a bitter smile on his face. His eyes were bloodshot. "Do you think we¡¯ll¡­ we¡¯ll be alright?¡± I tried my best to smile, and nodded. ¡°We¡¯ll be fine. As long as we don¡¯t forget what we just spoke about.¡± Tommy bit his lower lip and shook his head. I looked at him, not knowing what more to say. It seemed like he needed time to think. I stashed my hands in my pockets and left theb. The sun was at its highest, and a cool breeze brushed my cheeks. But the sunlight was warm, and the cool breeze carried the faint scent of flowers. The long winter wasing to an end. Unbeknownst to us, Mother Nature constantly cycled through the seasons, bestowing her life-energies on us. Spring had arrived. * * * One day in April, when the cherry blossoms were in full bloom, Kim Hyeong-Jun returned from his reconnaissance and started talking to me. ¡°Ahjussi, there are cherry blossom trees in Russia too.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m not surprised. divostok is close to Korea.¡± ¡°Should we go on a pic?¡± ¡°Pic? We have other things to do.¡± ¡°Do you think I¡¯m asking because I want to go? Let¡¯s let the kids get some fresh air and enjoy the sights of nature. Don¡¯t you think that¡¯ll be a good idea? No?¡± He was a typical dad, using the kids as an excuse to do what he wanted to do. I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle at the way he was acting. ¡°So, where are these cherry blossom trees?¡± "Not too far south from here. They¡¯re on the outskirts of divostok." ¡°What about the zombies?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve already taken care of them.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s bring it up to Tommy, and if he says it¡¯s okay, then we¡¯ll go.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun smiled happily and nodded. I headed to the promenade within thepound and found Tommy, Alyosha, and Elena. They were sitting down, resting after their run. Research was important, but there was nothing more important than staying healthy. When I mentioned Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s idea to them, Tommy nodded. "Sounds good. Let''s go.¡± "Are you sure? You¡¯ll have to leave theb behind and go outside as well.¡± ¡°Well, there aren¡¯t any survivors and zombies around here anyway. And I have some business to take care of in divostok.¡± I tilted my head at the mention of business in divostok, and Tommy smiled gently. ¡°divostok has a lot of hospitals,¡± he said. ¡°Along the main street, there¡¯s a hospital called the Primorsky Region¡¯s Clinical Hospital. I have to get a couple of things from there.¡± ¡°A clinical hospital?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s a hospital that specializes in clinical pharmacology. I need to retrieve some medicine. Do you mind keeping a lookout while I do so?¡± "Of course. All right. I¡¯ll tell others to get ready as well. We meet in front of theb in an hour.¡± We would be able to kill two birds with one stone with this trip to see the cherry blossoms. When I entered the shelter where the Russian survivors were, I saw the children huddled up in the auditorium. ¡°Hi, uncle.¡± ¡°You¡¯re here, uncle!¡± I¡¯d taught the children Hangul, and now, they were waving at me and greeting me in Korean. They couldn¡¯t use honorifics yet, but they were capable of saying simple greetings in Korean now. I smiled heartily, patted their heads, and asked them a question in simple Korean that matched their grasp of thenguage. ¡°Where is mom and dad?¡± ¡°Where food to, at, is made? There.¡± These cutie-pies. The way they tried their best tomunicate in Korean was pretty admirable. However, it didn¡¯t take them long before they started wandering around the auditorium again, chatting amongst themselves in Russian. I couldn¡¯t help but smile as I heard theirughter. Whenever I saw them like that, though¡­ my heart ached. I missed my sweetheart So-Yeon, I worried about her, and wondered if she was doing okay. I left the children to y and headed to the restaurant. I brought up the idea of having a pic under the cherry blossoms to the survivors, who were busy washing dishes after lunch, and they all agreed to it with hearty smiles. An hourter, everyone had finished their preparations, and were gathered in front of theb. * * * Kim Hyeong-Jun even packed a pic nket. I could tell he¡¯d been ready to go even before he asked me about it. He led the way to divostok. I could feel his excitement just by looking at him from behind. I chucked and turned to Do Han-Sol, who was behind me. ¡°Are Dae-Young and Jin-Young really okay?¡± I asked him. ¡°Yes, both of them said they wanted to rest. Even though they said that, they probably knew that someone had to stay behind and defend theboratory.¡± ¡°He does have a point, since we still have two zombies with red eyes left.¡± Out of the seven zombies with red eyes we¡¯d captured as prey, two were left. We kept them around because we wanted the zombie instincts in them to awaken. Tommy, Alyosha, and Elena had seeded in developing a new drug that could suppress the zombie instincts. But they wanted to confirm the efficacy of the drug, and so they suggested that we experiment on the captive zombies first. I agreed in a heartbeat, as I was reminded of the saying, ¡®Look before you leap.¡¯ I knew that the zombies we had tied up had been starving for months, and that their zombie instincts would awaken in the next few days. With Jeong Jin-Young and Kim Dae-Young on lookout duty, there was nothing to worry about. I knew that the two of them would have also enjoyed leaving theb for some fresh air, but they¡¯d volunteered to stay behind. I nned on repaying their sacrifice some time in the future. ¡°Ahjussi, it¡¯s this way!¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun, who was ahead, was standing under the cherry tree and waving his hands. The cherry blossom petals fluttering in the wind were as beautiful asrge snowkes falling on a spring day. The view was spectacr. Just watching them made me feel at ease, and awakened a sense of excitement that I¡¯d long forgotten. Kim Hyeong-Junid out the pic nket on a sunny spot, and the survivors who were right behind him put down their bags and took out their sandwiches. While I was watching them with a warm smile, Tommy, who was next to me, touched my arm. ¡°Let¡¯s go to the hospital,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s okay to take a break. I know you haven¡¯t taken a break in a long time. Why not eat a sandwich? We can head off after that.¡± "Hmm¡­ If that¡¯s the case, may I?¡± Tommy smiled faintly and settled down on the nket as well. The children were sprinting through the dirt path,ughing cheerfully. They were taking full advantage of this pic to let loose the feelings that had built up within them, the feeling of being trapped in theb. Even the Russian couples enjoyed this time of leisure, watching their children y with big smiles on their faces. Regardless of which country you were in, children were always a source of muchughter and happiness. I never thought I¡¯d hear the familiar sounds I¡¯d heard in Korea in a foreign country, the friendlyughter and noise of children ying. I feltforted and consoled as I listened to theirughter. Even though I had a zombie¡¯s body, I could feel that I was still alive. And this sense of ease was not part of a dream¡ªa realization that overwhelmed me with emotion. There were no threats around, thanks to Kim Hyeong-Jun clearing up the area ahead of time. But just in case the unexpected happened, Kim Hyeong-Jun, Do Han-Sol and I had spread out our underlings in a one-kilometer radius around us to stand guard. It might¡¯ve been an unexpected pic, one that might seem like a luxury in this damned world. Nevertheless, it was a very precious time for us. * * * As the sun began to set in the distance, I whispered to Tommy, ¡°Let¡¯s get going now.¡± ¡°Oh, yes.¡± Tommy swallowed the sandwich he was chewing and stood. I looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun, who was too busy ying with the children to return my nce. I had no choice but to tell Do Han-Sol that I was heading off to run some errands before returning. He nodded, then asked, ¡°Will you be fine going by yourself? Do you want me to wrap things up here and go with you?¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay. Enjoy it when you can. You never know when the next time will be that we cane out and enjoy ourselves like this.¡± ¡°Then we¡¯ll head back before the sun setspletely. When you''re done with your business, don''t stop by this ce, but head directly to theb. I¡¯ll see you at theb.¡± I nodded, and with that, I quietly took my leave. Tommy checked the map that he was carrying, and said, ¡°We have to go all the way to the southern coast to reach the clinical hospital. We should gather some supplies on the way, since there are several general hospitals along the way.¡± ¡°Do you think we¡¯ll have time to check all of them? The sun is already setting. How about we just stop by the clinical hospital?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ That¡¯s why I was so anxious to get going earlier on¡­¡± He was putting it all on me now. After he¡¯d had the most fun. And also after eating the most number of sandwiches. I looked at him sullenly, and Tommy smiled a sheepish smile. "Alright. I¡¯m the one to me, so don''t look at me like that.¡± ¡°I almost hit you, you know?¡± ¡°Please don¡¯t hit me, even as a joke. If someone like you hits me, I¡¯d be dead before you know it.¡± ¡°Who said I was going to?¡± ¡°What may be a sport to you is death to me, Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok.¡± I burst outughing and shook my head. Tommy also couldn¡¯t help butugh, as if he knew that his joke was ridiculous. ¡°Okay, enough with the jokes. Let¡¯s get going before it¡¯s toote.¡± ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go.¡± After the small spat I¡¯d had with Tommy about the shelter riot, I was worried about how our rtionship might turn out. After we cleared the air, though, and perhaps because we now understood each other more, we¡¯d grown closer than before. Before all of this, I assumed he was just someone who only thought about research all the time, but Tommy liked to crack jokes, and he seemed friendly with the children as well. His words and actions encouraged me to open up to him, little by little. It took me a while to understand the trust that Kim Hyeong-Jun had told me about. I realized that I¡¯d been keeping my distance from everyone, except for the members of the Survivor Rally Organization, and even then, I¡¯d only opened up to the people who¡¯d survived Seoul together with me. I wasn¡¯t friendly nor hostile to the others. I had a mutual, transactional rtionship with them, as we were all working towards the same goal, but there was no trust in those rtionships. With Tommy¡¯s people, who hade from Russia, it was strictly business. Looking back, I wondered if my rtionship with them hadn¡¯t developed into something more because I had set up a wall around my heart, keeping away anything that I considered unnecessary. Now, though, thanks to the incident concerning the shelter, we were able to sincerely approach each other with honesty and trust. I made a good friend that day.` Side Story 8: Stories of Russia (8) Side Story 8: Stories of Russia (8) After taking care of matters, we were able to check out the nearby general hospital on the way back, thanks to the bright moonlight. Ji-Eun and I took care of the approaching zombies while Tommy went about looking for what he needed. Overall, he seemed satisfied, as he was able to retrieve a handful of supplies. ¡°I think we¡¯ll be able to speed up the research,¡± he said. ¡°Was there anything in the clinical hospital that would help with the research?¡± ¡°Yes. The institute was located in divostok because of its proximity to other hospitals. That made it convenient for us to restock on medical supplies and other things when we ran low.¡± ¡°I¡¯m d to hear that you got everything you needed,¡± I replied with a faint smile. Tommy gave a sharp nod. ¡°You can look forward to the future. I will make sure to bring you back.¡± ¡°Your words alone give me hope.¡± His confident answer energized me. It felt like my future, which was all blurry, was clearing up little by little. We hurried back to theb. * * * Even before I realized it, spring, which was full of vitality, had passed. The intense summer heat went by as well, leading us into autumn. The changing foliage weed us into the new season. As the leaves changed color and began to fall, the cold wind started to blow again. Once again, Mother Nature was cycling through her seasons. Just like that, four years passed, and the research slowly began to bear fruit. A drug that can suppress zombie instincts had been developed, and we were able to see the effects of the vine with our very own eyes. We faced many setbacks during the process, but thanks to the data that had been umted through the long years of research, we were able to sessfully inocte once, without failing. When we prepared to test the vine on a human, Tommy tried to volunteer himself, but the Russian survivors came forward and offered to be subjects for the clinical trials. The man with the shaggy beard had approached us with a look of determination. - If something goes wrong with any one of you¡ªTommy, Alyosha, and Elena¡ªthere¡¯ll be no future for any of us. I will be the test subject. Tommy, though, refused his proposal. It seemed like he didn¡¯t want to sacrifice anyone else for the sake of the vine development. He said that he wanted to be responsible for whatever happened, whether or not the vine was a sess. However, the Russian couples didn¡¯t give up that easily. - We will do anything for the research if you promise to take care of the children until the end. If it weren¡¯t for Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok, we would¡¯ve died already. He¡¯s already saved us once, so please let us do this, to repay all of you for what we¡¯ve received. While Tommy hesitated, unsure what to do, Elena quickly stepped in and sorted out the situation. She injected the vine into the arm of the man with the shaggy beard before Tommy could do anything. When Tommy cried out in surprise, Elena shrugged and said the following: - I did you a favor. Thank meter. She was a very unpredictable woman, unless it came to her research. We waited for about a day after vinating the man to see if he developed any side effects. Thankfully, he didn¡¯t suffer any problems except for feeling bloated. The next day, I gently bit his right arm, and everyone else watched the man to see if anything was going to happen to him. His wife prayed constantly, with tears in her eyes. She was praying desperately that the vine would counteract the virus so that her husband wouldn¡¯t turn into a zombie. At first, his right arm turned bluish. Kim Hyeong-Jun, who had been observing, took an ax and tried to cut off his arm. However, Tommy held his arm to stop him. - Not yet; let¡¯s wait a bit more. - He¡¯s going to die if we don¡¯t cut it off right now. - The virus isn¡¯t spreading. His skin is still intact. He was right. The part that I¡¯d bitten was the only part of his body that was bluish, and the virus wasn¡¯t being carried by his blood to the other parts of his body. So we waited to see what was going to happen next. The next two minutes seemed like an eternity. The man broke out into a cold sweat and screamed in agony, but it didn''t take him long to calm down again. Soon after, his right arm began to return to its original color, and pus oozed out from the wound that I made when I bit him. The vine research turned out to be sessful. His wife, who had watched him suffering, hugged him as hard as she could, covered in tears and snot. The man said that he felt like his right arm was on fire. He took some painkillers, and after an hour, he reported that some tingling pain remained, but it was definitely not as painful as it was before. After dozens, even hundreds, of animal experiments, the perfect vine had finally been developed. That day, we ate and drank like it was thest day on earth, enjoying ourselves to celebrate our achievements. The vine that we had worked on together would be the springboard from which mankind could get back on its feet. When we reported our achievements to the Canadian research center, they were ted, and congratted us on our sess. They also mentioned their desire to leave Canada and relocate to Russia. The reason behind it was rather simple. They expected that, someday, just like the other research institutes, they would face a zombie attack that they couldn¡¯t handle. They expressed their intention to join us when they weren¡¯t at their most vulnerable. At first, I was hesitant, because I didn¡¯t know if I could trust them. However, I ended up agreeing because their research into a cure had shown promising results, and Elena was familiar with the Canadian researchers. Moreover, since I was prepared to kill them if they tried anything funny, there was no reason to turn them down. Of course, the biggest reason that prompted the Canadian researchers to want to join was safety. For the past four years, Kim Hyeong-Jun, Do Han-Sol and I devoted every single day we had to eradicating zombies. And in order to establish a zombiework, we recruited underlings to top up our ranks and basically took care of every single zombie in the southern Primorsky region. We¡¯d even begun taking care of the zombies in the Korean penins, along the border of North Korea. I¡¯d never thought that I would set foot in the northern part of Korea in my life. Whenever we ran across a ck creature during our cleanups, we used the samples from Daegu to take it down, and captured zombies with red eyes as prey. After four years, the maximum number of underlings Kim Hyeong-Jun and I couldmand reached twenty-nine hundred, while Do Han-Solmanded twenty-eight hundred. Kim Dae-Young could control twenty-one hundred, while Jeong Jin-Young managed eighteen hundred. We limited the number of underlings we could control to under three thousand, because we came across some information in Yanbian, a prefecture in Panzhihua, which was in the Sichuan province of China. We learned that, once our control extended to three thousand underlings, our pupils would turn ck, and we would eventually lose our sanity. This information was obtained from one of the red-eyed zombies that we took care of in Yanbian. Their organization had a leader, but the moment that leader acquired the ability to control three thousand underlings, that leader turned into a beast. A zombie with ck eyes was almost the same as a ck creature. Zombies with ck eyes exhibited the same reactions when they were dosed with the samples from Daegu. Based on this information, we began to expand the safe territory for humans from Primorsky all the way to the Korean Penins. Four years since we left Korea, a ne from Canadanded at divostok Airport for the first time. * * * The Canadian researchers arrived in three military transport nes, which were loaded with tons of supplies. They had everything from research equipment to guns, food, and even livestock. They seemed to have pretty much everything. Elena weed the four researchers who got off the ne and introduced them to us one by one. The leader of the Canadian researchers was a researcher named Jack. He was almost sixty years old. He introduced himself as an experienced brain researcher. Jack smiled brightly at Tommy and Alyshoa and gave them warm hugs. He then readjusted his sses as he looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun and I, standing behind Tommy. ¡°I¡¯m assuming you two folks are the zombies that they told me about. Wait no, my apologies for calling you zombies. You two are the highlight of their story.¡± I held out my right hand to return his greeting. "Nice to meet you. I¡¯m Lee Hyun-Deok.¡± "It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you. I¡¯m Jack Richards, the director of the therapeutics research team. Feel free to call me Jack. But before that, I almost forgot.¡± Jack looked back and forth between me and Kim Hyeong-Jun, and a smile spread across his face. ¡°I¡¯ve heard that humans are able to survive in Asia thanks to your sacrifices. I¡¯ve heard you¡¯ve had to give up a lot for humanity.¡± ¡°I agreed that you could join us in order to regain what I¡¯d given up.¡± Jack listened to my answer, then nodded. ¡°I will do my best to help you get back what you¡¯ve given up. The supplies over there are the ones we deemed necessary for the time being. We¡¯ll be bringing in more supplies in the future.¡± ¡°There are still more supplies?¡± "Yes, of course. We also need to bring over the survivors from Canada.¡± ¡°How many are there?¡± My question caused Jack to raise his eyebrows. ¡°May I ask why you wish to know that?¡± ¡°Well, we need to know the number of survivors so we can make the necessary preparations.¡± Jack smiled awkwardly and tried to avoid the question. Just as I was implicitly wary of them, they were wary of me as well. I could tell that they didn¡¯t fully trust me. I continued to look at Jack with a neutral expression, and he finally put his hands behind his back and gave me an answer. ¡°There are two hundred and twenty survivors, and one hundred and fifty military personnel.¡± ¡°There are fewer troops than survivors.¡± ¡°There used to be a lot more. It¡¯s not like we just hung around for the past four years. We¡¯ve been through a lot as well.¡± He was hinting that they¡¯d sacrificed much to hold off the zombie attacks. My expression remained neutral, and Jack sighed. ¡°Thankfully, we have healthy young men among the survivors who are helping out the military right now,¡± he continued. ¡°We¡¯re grateful for them stepping up.¡± ¡°It seems like they realized that they won¡¯t be able to make it just by being under someone else¡¯s protection.¡± "You¡¯re absolutely right. Now do you fully understand why we wanted toe here and join up with you?¡± ¡°Yes, I understand. By the way, were there any zombies with red eyes in Canada?¡± "There are. No, there were. Unfortunately, none of the red-eyed zombies in Canada chose to live for the sake of humans.¡± I noticed that his eyes were trembling as he spoke. It seemed like his mind had shed back to the events of the past. Just from his face, I could tell that he must have gone through a lot more than he was exining to me right now. His expression seemed simr to Lee Jeong-Uk¡¯s, when he was staring at his family photo in Seoul. The others were unloading all the supplies from the transports as we spoke. Once they were done unloading, a man in uniform approached us. ¡°We¡¯re done here. We¡¯ll head back.¡± "Oh, okay. Do you have enough fuel?¡± ¡°Yes, we should have enough.¡± ¡°Thank you for your service.¡± When Jack gave him a small nod and a warm smile, the man in uniform saluted and returned to the transport. ¡°Should we go to theb and continue this conversation?¡± he said. "Could you please wait a moment?¡± My underlings were hidden away near divostok airport, just in case anything unexpected happened. When I called in my underlings, zombies popped out from all around, making their throat-rending cries. The Canadian researchers screamed in fright when they saw my underlings. Tommy calmed them down. ¡°These are the zombies you¡¯ll be spending time with here,¡± he said. ¡°I hope everyone gets used to them.¡± My underlings soon filled the runway. I looked over at Jack. ¡°If you could get on,¡± I said. ¡°Uh, what exactly do you want me to get on?¡± At his question, I called over one of my underlings. An underling, with all of its arms and legs, came to my side, crouched down on the floor, and gestured to Jack to get on its back. I pointed at my underling while looking at Jack. "Are you asking me to get on a zombie''s back right now?" he asked in a dumbfounded tone. When I tilted my head and looked at him, as though wondering what the problem was, he seemed to hesitate. However, when Tommy, Alyosha, and Elena took the lead and got onto the backs of the zombies, the Canadian researchers also mounted the zombies one by one. When Jack finally got onto the back of the zombie in front of us, I looked over at Kim Hyeong-Jun. ¡°Hyeong-Jun, you handle the supplies. Take your time returning.¡± ¡°Is there anything fragile? Can''t I just pick them up and run with you?¡± ¡°Take your time, just in case, you know?¡± ¡°If I¡¯d known, I would¡¯ve made Han-Sol do it. Eh, how troublesome.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun continued to grumble as he walked over to where the supplies were. Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s underlings showed up on the runway as well, filling divostok airport with zombies. I chuckled at the nervous Canadian researchers. ¡°Everyone hold on tight,¡± I said. ¡°We¡¯re going to go now.¡± Side Story 9: Stories of Russia (9) Side Story 9: Stories of Russia (9) The Canadian researchers adapted quickly to their new environment. Some admired the organization of the Russian research institute, while others were interested in its smooth power supply. Jack couldn¡¯t contain his excitement after checking out all the facilities in the Russianboratory. ¡°To be frank, we¡¯ve been looking down on Russia from a technical perspective until now. However, having seen this facility, I think that we were the foolish ones.¡± Tommy met his frankness with a smile. ¡°It¡¯s really quite amazing. Honestly, though, if we¡¯re just talking about technology... Do you think there¡¯s any country that could surpass Korea? Dr. Jack, have you ever been to Korea?¡± "I have not. But I¡¯ve often heard that Korean technology is excellent. Do you think it¡¯s better than what we have here, though?¡± ¡°You would be amazed if you saw it for yourself. If it weren¡¯t for the vine research data, I would¡¯ve continued my research in Korea.¡± I eavesdropped on their conversation with my arms crossed. My expression soured, prompting Kim Hyeong-Jun toment, ¡°Ahjussi, why are you making that face again? What¡¯s bothering you now?¡± "What?" ¡°You look like you just swallowed a lemon. There¡¯s got to be something bothering you right now.¡± ¡°It¡¯s just awkward now that there are so many people here.¡± ¡°Oh ho, I definitely know that¡¯s not why you have that face. Is it because of the cure?¡± I smacked my lips and looked away. After being together every day for several years, it was impossible to hide our feelings or thoughts from each other. We could tell just by seeing the other¡¯s facial expressions. He knew exactly what was on my mind. I wanted to know how far the Canadian researchers had progressed with the cure. Kim Hyeong-Jun snorted and continued, ¡°I mean, if you¡¯re that curious, just go ask.¡± "I¡¯m good. Besides, what good would it be to act all uptight? I¡¯m sure they won¡¯t be happy if I ask them to share their research data right now when they just got here.¡± ¡°No, that¡¯s not being uptight at all. You have to remember that we¡¯re the ones who epted them. I¡¯d say that asking them about the cure is perfectly eptable.¡± "Well then, if you''re that curious, you go ahead and ask.¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun smiled at me. ¡°Ahjussi, you know I can¡¯t speak English.¡± He caught me off-guard, and I couldn¡¯t help butugh. This sly dude. He¡¯d led me on, then dipped out at thest minute. But he was right. It wouldn¡¯t hurt to ask them directly. With that, I sighed and walked over to interpose myself between Tommy and Jack. ¡°My apologies for cutting you two off,¡± I said, cutting their conversation off, ¡°but I wanted to know how far you¡¯vee with the cure.¡± Jack shed a puzzled look at my unexpected question, but his smile quickly returned. ¡°What do you want to know?¡± he asked. ¡°We know that the virus has something to do with serotonin. I want to know what you Canadians have discovered about the virus.¡± Jack gently rubbed his chin after hearing me out, then gave me an answer a momentter. However, there was a lot of jargon that I couldn¡¯t understand, and his rapid-fire English didn¡¯t help at all. His answer merely left me speechless. Tommy stepped in, scratching his sideburns. ¡°Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok, do you understand everything Dr. Jack is saying?¡± he asked. ¡°Honestly¡­ No.¡± ¡°Since I don¡¯t know the details of the cure myself, I¡¯ll go sit down with him, then trante what he tells meter on. Will that be okay?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± With that, Tommy interrupted Jack and invited him inside to talk. Jack shrugged and smiled happily. He seemed to have the face of a warm-hearted next-door neighbor. * * * Tommy briefly exined what he¡¯d learned from Jack. He told me that, in order to develop a cure, it was necessary to understand the cause of fibrosis. Fibrosis. I¡¯d heard the terms lung fibrosis, liver fibrosis, and skin fibrosis quite often, so I knew what kind of disease it was, and the symptoms associated with them. ¡°So, are you saying that my body is undergoing fibrosis?¡± I asked Tommy as I massaged my temples. "Exactly. He told me that the reason why developing the cure is difficult at the moment is because of fibrosis. And as you may know, there¡¯s no cure for fibrosis.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t fibrosis¡­ a disease that develops in people who smoke a lot?¡± ¡°Precisely speaking, most cases are caused by exposure to radiation, or when your lungs harden after getting filled with fluid. However, some ordinary people might get lung fibrosis as well.¡± I sighed and scratched my head. I wasn¡¯t sure how to deal with the bitterness in my heart. There wasn¡¯t a cure for fibrosis before the world was irreversibly changed, which meant that, right now, a cure for the virus and for fibrosis had to be developed at the same time. I couldn¡¯t help but resign myself to it being impossible. ¡°Is there a way?¡± I asked Tommy as I slicked my hair back. ¡°No, let me ask it this way. Is this research worth doing?¡± ¡°In the case of the vine, we can utilize serotonin and endorphins to revert the body to the state before fibrosis sets in. But of course, it won¡¯t be easy to treat those who are already infected with fibrosis.¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that I can be cured? You told me to believe in you,¡± I said, frowning at him. Tommy looked back at me in confusion. "I¡¯ll make it possible. No matter what happens, I willplete the cure before I die.¡± ¡°How much longer do we have to wait?¡± ¡°That¡­¡± ¡°My daughter is on Jeju Ind. I came to Russia without even saying a proper goodbye to her. And it¡¯s already been four years. How much longer do I have to wait?¡± Before I knew it, I ended up confronting him emotionally, out of frustration. Tommy wet his parched lips and looked away, not knowing what to say. The eight-year-old So-Yeon I¡¯d left behind was already twelve now. The people I trusted were protecting So-Yeon and staying by her side¡­ But the constant dy was too painful for me. The reason I¡¯d started cleaning up the zombies was to get my mind off these gloomy thoughts. I had to move around, or at least do something, so that I could get my mind off the thought of wanting to go back to Jeju Ind. As I tugged at my hair silently, Tommy cleared his throat and spoke up. ¡°Fibrosis also urs when one ingests poison. It also gets more serious with exposure to oxygen.¡± ¡°Oxygen elerates the disease?¡± "Yes, that''s why some doctors stop giving oxygen to patients who are in the final stages of fibrosis." ¡°They cut off the oxygen supply? Are you saying that they euthanized them?¡± ¡°Well, they¡¯ll die if they don¡¯t breathe, but they¡¯ll die even if they do. It¡¯s as though they¡¯re alive but not alive at the same time.¡± I sighed and stared nkly at his face. I couldn¡¯t understand why he was telling me this. Did he want me to die or something? Tommy saw my face, waved a hand vigorously, and continued, ¡°Of course, I¡¯m not asking you to undergo euthanasia. My words weren¡¯t clear. My apologies.¡± ¡°Then what were you trying to say?¡± ¡°What I was trying to say¡­ The fibrosis we know and the fibrosis that you are suffering from may be different.¡± ¡°Could you borate? I don¡¯t¡­¡± ¡°Fibrosis is elerated by additional oxygen. But how about you and all the rest? You run better than anyone else, and have good lung capacity.¡± His answer calmed my anxious mind little by little as I thought about it. The symptoms I had were very different from those caused by ordinary fibrosis. I couldn¡¯t help but wonder what kind of fibrosis Jack and Tommy were talking about. I swallowed and looked at? Tommy, who continued to speak. ¡°The ck creature¡¯s skin tissue turned ck. That means that the virus that consumed serotonin can also ingest human skin tissue, which in turn means that the organs shouldn¡¯t react differently.¡± ¡°And¡­?¡± ¡°Maybe the fibrosis that is happening to you and all the others could be due to the toxicity of the zombie virus. And that fibrosis is simr to the fibrosis we know so far, but is also distinctly different.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°By examining you and the others, we might even be able to develop a cure for fibrosis that we¡¯ve never been able to before.¡± ¡°Wait. So, it¡¯s not like being punched then getting a kiss to remedy the situation, but more like getting punched twice, in order toe up with a cure? Two wrongs don¡¯t make a right, no? What sort of situation is this?¡± I looked at him with a puzzled expression, and Tommy nodded his head with a determined look on his face. If I was following what he was saying correctly, the zombie virus was taking on the role of a poison, which resulted in a fibrotic reaction. And because of that, it was now possible toe up with a cure for the virus and for fibrosis at the same time. To an ordinary person like me, this all sounded like ridiculous nonsense. I put my face in my hands and asked another question. "I''ve said this before¡­ But how is this different from saying that you can treat AIDS with leukemia?¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯splete nonsense. However, based on that nonsense, we developed a sample that can take down ck creatures.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°There¡¯s no right answer in this world. When research is conducted with the intention to find the answer, unintended viruses may emerge, while cures for other diseases might get developed.¡± I closed my eyes. I reminded myself that he was someone who was trying to cure me somehow. The way Elena looked at me, as if she was looking at a research subject, creeped me out, but she was also trying toe up with a cure for the disease. I let out a deep sigh. ¡°Then what do you want me to do?¡± I asked Tommy. ¡°Well, first things first. We should take an X-ray and examine the progress of fibrosis.¡± ¡°Can we take X-rays? We don¡¯t have the equipment.¡± "We can. There¡¯s equipment in the general hospital in divostok.¡± ¡°Then let¡¯s go. Let''s get it over and done with while we¡¯re at it.¡± When I got up ready to leave, Tommy nodded vigorously and started getting ready as well. Jack, who had been watching us conversing, looked back and forth between me and Tommy in bewilderment. It was only natural that he would be puzzled that we were suddenly getting ready, since Tommy and I had been speaking in Korean the entire time. Tommy calmed the Canadian researchers down and briefly exined why we were going to head outside. Jack¡¯s face lit up in understanding once he realized why we were getting ready, and told us to be careful. Elena and Alyosha offered to guide the Canadian researchers to their amodations and show them the cafeteria. "Ahjussi," Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s voice came from behind me. When I turned around, Kim Hyeong-Jun was walking toward me, rubbing his neck. ¡°Ahjussi, you¡¯re missing some organs,¡± he whispered in my ear. ¡°Do you think they already know that?¡± ¡°Let''s talk about thatter. My head¡¯s already throbbing from everything Tommy just told me. And besides, once they take my X-ray, those people will know that I¡¯m missing some organs.¡± "Which ones are you missing again?¡± ¡°Everything between my stomach and small intestine.¡± ¡°Oh, then you still have your lungs, huh? No wonder you were good at running.¡± ¡°Oh man, did you really have to make a joke right now?¡± I frowned at him, and Kim Hyeong-Jun smiled. ¡°Ahjussi, there¡¯s no way things are going to get worse from here,¡± he said. ¡°And besides, if you have to do it anyway, you might as well do it with a smile on your face.¡± ¡°...¡± There was nothing I could say to that because he and I were in the same boat. Just as So-Yeon was on Jeju Ind, his wife and son were also on Jeju Ind. Now that four years had passed, his son, who had not learned to speak when Kim Hyeong-Jun had left, probably knew how to walk, run, and speak. I couldn¡¯t fathom just how much Kim Hyeong-Jun had to want to see his son. However, Kim Hyeong-Jun never seemed to show his weak side. He had always been a strong pir of support, and took care of me so that I didn¡¯t break down. Sometimes, I couldn¡¯t help but think that he was more mature than me. I calmed myself down and took a deep breath, then looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun. ¡°I¡¯m d you¡¯re here,¡± I said. ¡°Oh man, I can¡¯t believe you¡¯re saying stuff like that without even flinching.¡± ¡°Whatever, man. Did you get any messages from the others?¡± ¡°I heard they just finished cleaning up North Korea a few days ago? They¡¯re probably preparing to move down to South Korea soon.¡± ¡°Make sure to tell them to be careful of thendmines in the DMZ. And that they should send their underlings in first, before they do anything down there.¡± [1] Up until the previous year, Kim Hyeong-Jun and I had been taking care of the zombies, but we decided to take turns, thinking of Do Han-Sol, Kim Dae-Young, and Jeong Jin-Young. While we¡¯d been away, they had been focusing on defense. They needed to get some fresh air as well, and give their stiff bodies some work to do. We exchanged duties, and now Kim Hyeong-Jun and I were on defense, while the others were busy cleaning up the zombies on the Korean Penins. Kim Hyeong-Jun nodded. ¡°Once you get back from the general hospital, I¡¯ll go check up on the others,¡± he said. ¡°Don¡¯t take too long, ahjussi.¡± ¡°Oh, I almost forgot. Check in on the scouts on the way to the penins. Check the border between North Korea and China again.¡± ¡°Alright, alright. Off you go, ahjussi.¡± I chuckled and pped his forearm lightly, then looked over at Tommy. "Let''s go. We have a cure to make.¡± 1. The DMZ stands for demilitarized zone. In this context, it refers to the one that divides South and North Korea, which was created due to the Korean War. ? Side Story 10: Stories of Russia (10) Side Story 10: Stories of Russia (10) All of the researchers were shocked when they found out that I was missing some organs. Even Tommy couldn¡¯t help but be surprised. ¡°How are you alive when you¡¯re missing these organs?¡± asked Elena in astonishment as she examined the X-rays. ¡°I¡¯m not sure. How would I know?¡± I answered calmly. ¡°I used to joke about this before, but now I seriously want to see what¡¯s inside your stomach,¡± said Elena, her voice dripping with curiosity. ¡°Just don¡¯t touch my brain,¡± I answered with a chuckle. Tommy cleared his throat. ¡°Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok, this isn¡¯t something to take lightly. It¡¯s a serious matter.¡± "I¡¯m aware of that.¡± ¡°Even if we develop a cure, you¡¯ll die if the virus is eliminated from your system while your body is in this state.¡± ¡°I¡¯m also aware of that.¡± ¡°Regarding Mr. Kim Hyeong-Jun and Mr. Do Han-Sol¡ªare they also missing organs like you?¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun had already left for Pyongyang. I was the only zombie around, and there was no way to check if the others still had all of their organs or not. I shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m not sure, but the others should still have all of their organs. I should be the only extraordinary case.¡± ¡°What exactly happened? Can you tell me about the time you mutated into a zombie?¡± At Tommy¡¯s request, I walked over to an empty seat and sat down, then filled all of them in on what had happened while I¡¯d been trapped in the apartment in Haengdang-dong. Talking about it reminded me of how miserable and hopeless those days were. All the researchers listened to my story with rather serious faces. When I was done telling them my story, Tommy quietly rubbed his chin. ¡°This is just a hypothesis, but it seems like the regenerative ability of yours only manifested from the moment the virus took control of your brain,¡± he said. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°In simple terms¡­ The virus is having trouble recognizing your missing organs as part of your body.¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t recognize them?¡± ¡°From what you¡¯ve told me, I believe that the ck creature caused you to suffer a hernia, and you were subsequently infected with the virus through its saliva. In other words, when the virus took control of your brain, it recognized that state of your body as normal, when, in fact, it was your body while suffering from a hernia.¡± So Tommy was simply saying that the virus that made it to my brain believed that my body, with its missing organs, was in its proper state, which was why it only regenerated the skin over my stomach, instead of regenerating everything. I looked at him with a dumbfounded expression, and Tommy scratched his head, a puzzled look on his face. It seemed like he had no idea where and how to start. Then Jack, who had been listening quietly, snapped his fingers and spoke up. ¡°Let¡¯s first check on the condition of your lungs.¡± Tommy shook his head at Jack''s suggestion. ¡°His lungs aren¡¯t the problem. Right now, Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok is alive, despite missing several organs. Don¡¯t you think the priority should be to find out why?¡± ¡°That¡¯s why we need to check the progress of his fibrosis. I¡¯m sure the answer lies down that path.¡± ¡°No. I think we should examine his brain waves first. We discovered that the zombie viruses were closely rted to brain function when we were developing the vine. I say that we should focus on figuring out how the virus works within the human body first¡­¡± Jack mmed his fist on the desk and raised his voice. ¡°We¡¯re the ones developing the cure! I say that checking for pulmonary fibrosis should be the first step.¡± His unexpected reaction caused Tommy to fall silent. Alyosha, who had been listening quietly to them arguing, spoke up tactfully. ¡°Sorry everyone, but Tommy is the director of the Russian Institute. Please follow Tommy¡¯s opinion.¡± Elena chimed in as well, ¡°He¡¯s right Jack. I''d appreciate it if you followed Tommy¡¯s lead for now.¡± The other Canadian researchers each spoke up and stood behind Jack. In an instant, the Russian researchers and Canadian researchers were taking sides. I looked at them, massaging my temples. ¡°Did youe all the way from Canada to Russia to fight?¡± I said, trying to defuse the situation. ¡°Everyone, please calm down and take a seat.¡± The researchers rolled their eyes and sat down. Jack turned to meet my gaze. ¡°Did you say your name is Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Listen carefully to what I¡¯m going to say to you from now on. This virus you have, it has the capability to save people, even those who are on the verge of death. If the virus recognizes your missing organs as a part of you, you¡¯ll be able to regenerate them.¡± ¡°And how do you think it¡¯ll learn to recognize organs that are already gone?¡± ¡°By transnting someone else¡¯s organs into you, of course.¡± My eyebrows twitched when I heard his reply. He was basically saying that the first step toward making me human again was to transnt someone else¡¯s organs into my stomach. ¡°That¡¯s nonsense!¡± Tommy eximed with a frown. ¡°It¡¯s too dangerous.¡± "What exactly is dangerous about it?" ¡°Even if we find the most suitable organs and transnt them into Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok, we won¡¯t know whatplications might arise, since he¡¯s already infected with the virus. Also, if his body rejects the organs, or if the new organs don¡¯t adjust to the virus¡­ His body might self-destruct.¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s our job as researchers to prevent that from happening. And the zombie virus is immune to any type of disease. There¡¯s no need to worry aboutplications.¡± ¡°How can you be sure that it¡¯s immune to everything? The Korean Brain Research Institute developed a drug that stimtes the violence of zombies by causing the body to over-secrete serotonin. Ultimate immunity, perfect immunity, whatever you want to call it, doesn¡¯t exist.¡± ¡°...¡± Jack didn''t bother to respond to Tommy, but just looked at me instead. It seemed like everything depended on my decision. Tommy looked at me as well, his face growing red. All the researchers shared the same expression, giving me the same look that doctors gave their patients while waiting for them to make a decision. I ced my right hand on my forehead and considered the matter. I knew that Tommy was probably right when it came to the surgery itself. But, when it came to the surgical process, and the possibility of being treated, I knew that I had to go along with Jack, since the Canadian researchers had been conducting research on the cure for a long time. I sighed softly. ¡°Let¡¯s first examine how much the fibrosis has progressed, then conduct the research rted to brain waves.¡± ¡°Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok!¡± ¡°Tommy, there¡¯s no use in developing a cure if I can¡¯t restore my organs. I think, for now, it¡¯d be better for me to restore my organs, before shifting focus to developing a cure.¡± I tried to answer as neutrally as possible, but Tommy still clenched his fists and bit his lip. He red at Jack with eyes full of animosity. Instead of returning the re, Jack just shrugged at Tommy and smiled. ¡°I¡¯m sure you won¡¯t disagree, since the infected person wants it to be this way, right?¡± With that, Tommy grabbed the papers on the desk and stormed out. Theboratory was dead silent as Alyosha and Elena followed Tommy out of theboratory. Then Jack got up and offered me a broad smile. ¡°Alright then,¡± he said, ¡°let¡¯s examine your lungs first. Let¡¯s move over to the animal testing ward.¡± I gave Jack a small nod in return and followed him. As I walked out, I saw Tommy¡¯s silhouette in the distance. Unfortunately, I had no other choice. The most pressing thing to do was to get my organs back. I also wanted to find out what the Canadian researchers really had in mind. Ever since they¡¯d arrived, they¡¯d been going on and on about pulmonary fibrosis day and night. To be honest, they seemed more interested in this fibrosis than developing a cure for the zombie virus. It seemed something fishy was going on. And Jack acted like a next-door neighbor, greeting me every morning with a smile on his face, rather than being wary of me, considering the damned state of the world. That in itself was all too strange and suspicious. Perhaps I was being slightly paranoid, but my intuition told me that something wasn¡¯t quite right. My intuition had never failed me. Not only that, but I¡¯d been able to avoid cing myself in jeopardy so far because I was overly sensitive and cautious about everything. That was why I wanted to volunteer myself as a test subject, to find out what their true intentions were. I wouldn¡¯t have suspected the Canadian researchers if they had been wary of me, cursed me out, or threatened me from the start. In fact, their excessive kindness seemed much more suspicious. I felt bad that I had disappointed Tommy, but I had to fool the ones on my side in order to fool the others as well. * * * When we entered the animal testing ward, ab on the right caught my attention. It was shielded by thick tempered ss, and there was a bed in the middle. Iy down on the bed, and a Canadian researcher came up to me. ¡°I¡¯ll go ahead and sedate you.¡± She was a female researcher with short blonde hair. I gave her a small nod. To be honest, I didn¡¯t need anesthesia because my body didn¡¯t feel any pain anyway. I wondered if the Canadian researchers didn¡¯t know that zombies were not affected by pain, or if they wanted to put me to sleep for a different reason. I gently closed my eyes and let them do as they wished. I felt the anesthesia start to work, and pretended to be asleep. Of course, with this body of mine, I could never fall asleep unless I took medicine to suppress my zombie instincts or if I ate a zombie brain. The blonde Canadian researcher at my bedside made sure that I was asleep, then spoke to Jack. ¡°He¡¯s asleep,¡± she said. "Are you sure? It¡¯s hard to tell if he¡¯s asleep since we can¡¯t detect his heartbeat.¡± ¡°His pupils are dted.¡± ¡°Are you sure? A hundred percent?¡± "Yes. He¡¯s not reacting to light.¡± I was able to get away with reacting to light because my blue eyes would sh when I elerated my blood flow. Jack sighed, then addressed the researchers next to him. ¡°Alright then. Let¡¯s start. Make the incision.¡± I closed my eyes, fully focused on their conversation. The researcher on the left began to speak as he peered into my stomach. ¡°Wow¡­ Hmm¡­ The fibrosis is already serious. His organs have stopped functioning properly.¡± Jack asked for some human blood. Once they dropped a drop of human blood onto my fibrotic lung, my zombie instincts began to awaken. I began to feel a hunger for human flesh, and the smell of fresh human flesh began to tickle my nose. It was just one drop of blood, and my body wanted more. I channeled strength into my trembling limbs as I struggled to suppress my raging heart. Then I heard Jack¡¯s voice. ¡°I knew he¡¯d react to this. Everyone, look; his lung fibrosis is disappearing.¡± ¡°Doctor, take a look at this. His heart has also started to beat slightly.¡± When I heard that my heart was beating, my eyebrows couldn¡¯t help but twitch. To be honest, it was impossible not to be surprised. My heart, which I had believed to be dead, was still very much alive. Of course, it wasn¡¯t performing its role of supplying blood throughout my body, like the heart in an ordinary human being. Instead, it was responding to external stimtion. It seemed like my heart only beat when I found prey, or when I was in battle. And its movements were so miniscule that it was difficult to detect with the naked eye. I continued to eavesdrop, unable to even swallow the saliva collecting in my mouth, since I had to pretend that I was asleep. I heard Jack¡¯s voice again. ¡°See, what did I say? We can surely develop a cure for this virus.¡± ¡°And if we do develop a cure for it, the fight against fibrosis will be over.¡± "Of course. And that¡¯s not all. Once we develop a cure for the zombie virus, we can cure many chronic diseases that we never thought were curable throughout human history.¡± ¡°Congrattions, Doctor.¡± ¡°It¡¯s still too early to celebrate. We have to turn this guy back into a human in order to say that we seeded.¡± I could hear the excitement in his voice. His voice was triumphant, as though everything was going as nned. After a moment, a different researcher spoke up. ¡°Doctor. The incision is already closing. Shall I open it up again?¡± ¡°What incredible powers of regeneration. Open it up again. We need to look at the severed parts of the organs.¡± With that, the researcher cut me open again, and Jack examined the area where my organs had been severed. ¡°The blood vessels in the area where the organs were severed are already healed. The blood coagted without any internal bleeding, even without any suturing. How is this possible? His powers of regeneration are more amazing than I¡¯d anticipated.¡± ¡°Where should we get organs from?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s begin the operation when the transport brings over the organs. Tell them to load the organs on the second transport.¡± "Yes sir. By the way, Doctor, do you think this will be okay? It¡¯s all unnned, after all.¡± ¡°If the experiment is sessful, we¡¯ll develop the means to regenerate severed body parts. We¡¯ll be making history for mankind.¡± Something strange urred to me as I continued to eavesdrop on their discussions. Perhaps they were speaking in this manner because they had dedicated their all to research, but to me, it sounded as though they were trying to make use of the virus rather than to cure it. Soon after my incision healed, the researchers removed their gloves and put them in the trash. Jack looked around at the other researchers. ¡°Did you bring your research materials?¡± he asked them. ¡°Yes, I did.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t let their contents leak out. Hide them well, so that the Russians don¡¯t get their hands on them.¡± I narrowed my eyes and scrutinized the researcher who¡¯d said that he had the research materials. He was a male researcher with dark brown hair. The researcher asked a follow-up question. ¡°But, Doctor, shouldn¡¯t we share a little bit of what we found out? They¡¯ll be suspicious of us if we don¡¯t share enough information.¡± ¡°Hmm, good point. In that case, just give them the research data rted to fibrosis and skin tissue. Keep the rest to ourselves. They''re the ones who made the vine after all, so we can¡¯t underestimate their abilities.¡± ¡°It would be nice if the Russians coulde up with a cure as well.¡± ¡°We have to develop it together. Shouldn¡¯t we also leave our names in history, so that the future will remember who we were?¡± As I continued to listen to them my thoughts began to growplicated, and I had trouble organizing them. I understood that they were trying to develop a cure, but I couldn¡¯t prevent the strange feeling that welled up within me. It felt as though the person who had developed the zombie virus was trying to cover up what they¡¯d done. Side Story 11: Stories of Russia (11) Side Story 11: Stories of Russia (11) After undergoing a brief examination and some experimentation, I left theboratory to see Tommy. I found Tommy in the dorms along with Alyosha and Elena, who wereforting him. As I entered, rubbing my neck, all three pairs of eyes focused on me. Tommy spoke, his voice rather cold. "What brings you here?¡± ¡°Tommy, can I talk to you for a minute?¡± ¡°Go talk to Jack. The Russian Institute is now in Jack''s hands.¡± ¡°Pardon? What do you mean? You¡¯re here, Tommy." ¡°Don''t you know what you''ve done? The moment you sided with Jack, the Canadian researchers took over all the rights to this institute.¡± At that moment, I suddenly remembered what Alyosha and Elena had said earlier. - I''m sorry everyone, but Tommy is the director of the Russian Institute. Please follow along with Tommy¡¯s opinion. - He¡¯s right, Jack. I''d appreciate it if you followed Tommy¡¯s opinion for now. That was what they were talking about. It seemed like their hierarchy was determined by who had the right to conduct research. When I realized this, I realized as well that there was no way the Russian researchers were going to be as weing as they used to be, because I¡¯d stripped away their authority and given it to the neers. Now I understood why Tommy had frowned so angrily and raised his voice when I¡¯d sided with Jack. In this day and age, though, power and strength meant authority. Even if the Canadian researchers had the authority, I could force them out any time I wanted to. It seemed like the Russian researchers had gotten used to my human side. I was ready to drive them out if they tried to do anything funny. Still, I knew that an apology would be the best thing to offer in order to move past this. I grimaced, then looked them in the eye. ¡°I don¡¯t know how things are handled when ites to research¡­ But it seems like I¡¯ve crossed the line.¡± ¡°It¡¯s already happened. And it¡¯s not as though we cane up with a way to sort it out.¡± Tommy sighed and smacked his lips. He was trying his best not to meet my gaze. I wondered if he was feeling disappointed in me. However, I knew that there was no good in beating around the bush. I had to make my intentions clear to them. I slicked my hair back. ¡°I volunteered for this because I wanted to figure out their real intentions,¡± I said. ¡°Figure out what¡­?¡± Tommy raised his eyebrows at me. I nodded, then continued. ¡°Ever since they got here, they¡¯ve only been talking about fibrosis, as if the cure was secondary. My n was to go to theb with them and figure out what they really had in mind.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ So did you find out anything?¡± ¡°They asked me to let myself be sedated.¡± ¡°Sedated?¡± Tommy furrowed his brow and tilted his head. He knew that I wouldn¡¯t need to be sedated, and that I couldn''t fall asleep anyway. However, the Canadian researchers didn¡¯t. Alyosha and Elena sat down next to Tommy and started to pay attention as well. I continued to speak while scratching my sideburns. ¡°It''s been close to five years since this all started. The fact that the people who have been conducting research rted to the cure seem to know nothing about zombies with red eyes... Is it weird for me to be suspicious?¡± ¡°No, I understand. What happened afterward?¡± Tommy¡¯s sullen, disappointed expression turned into a rather serious one. I guess he was finally convinced enough to listen to me again. ¡°I pretended to be asleep,¡± I replied with a shrug. ¡°I wanted to eavesdrop on their discussion, whatever it was.¡± ¡°So did you find anything out?¡± ¡°They¡¯re hiding something from you folks. They say it''s research¡­ But I¡¯m pretty sure I know what kind of research they were talking about.¡± Tommy quietly rubbed his chin, and his expression grew somber like the grave. It seemed like he suddenly had a lot to think about. However, it didn¡¯t take long before he looked over at Elena. ¡°Elena, what kind of research was Jack''s team working on before?¡± he asked her. ¡°They were conducting brain-rted research. They were studying the changes in the immune system of the human body when the human brain was utilized at one hundred percent of its capacity.¡± "When was thest time you contacted them?¡± "Let¡¯s see¡­ A good eight years ago, I believe. I used to conduct research rted to sleep disorders caused by brain waves. At the time, Jack¡¯s team was working right next to mine.¡± "Since it¡¯s been about five years since the zombie virus first spread, it¡¯ll be hard for you to know what sort of research they were doing in the three years prior to that, right?¡± ¡°Well yes, since I came to Russia eight years ago. The zombie virus began its spread three years after I arrived in Russia.¡± Tommy¡¯s eyes went wide and his mouth fell open, as if he had juste to a sudden realization. ¡°What is it?¡± I asked, noting his sudden surprise. ¡°The immune system changing ording to brain functionality. Doesn¡¯t that ring a bell?¡± I frowned and tried to rephrase what he was trying to say. ¡°Are you saying that they developed the zombie virus?¡± ¡°It¡¯s still up in the air, but I do think it¡¯s a possibility. I mean, think about it. All the otherbs around the world were taken out by zombie attacks. But the Canadianb has been fine for the past five years. ¡° ¡°...¡± ¡°How could I have missed this? I was too careless. I should¡¯ve known that something was fishy¡­¡± Tommy bit his nails, and his expression grewplicated. I quietly crossed my arms, then said calmly, ¡°Calm down. You can¡¯t get all worked up over something that we¡¯re not certain about yet.¡± ¡°But just think about it. Everything lines up perfectly. The zombie virus spread because of the cell mutation that came up during their research on the changes in the immune system with regard to brain functionality. I can¡¯t think of another scenario other than this one.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°No wonder they wanted to check out the extent of your pulmonary fibrosis as soon as they came to Russia. They probably wanted to see the virus in action, but their main goal was probably to examine the immune system of someone who was already infected.¡± He had a point, but there was nothing concrete to back it up with. And the only way for us to obtain proof of this was to get our hands on the research material that the brown-haired researcher had hidden away. As I sat there, quietly rubbing my chin and lost in my own thoughts, Tommy jumped up from his seat and spoke up. ¡°Let¡¯s get going. You mentioned earlier that the Canadian researchers have data they¡¯re hiding from us. I need to know what exactly they¡¯re hiding.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t act too rashly, Tommy.¡± ¡°What¡¯s holding you back? Let¡¯s go right now and¡­¡± ¡°Tommy, sit down.¡± I fixed Tommy with a rather serious re. He saw my face and swallowed, then sat down, looking bewildered. ¡°What exactly are you afraid of?¡± he asked me with a frown. ¡°Even if we don¡¯t have any concrete proof, don¡¯t you think we¡¯re right about this?¡± ¡°Tommy, if I tell you not to rush into things, don¡¯t rush into things. Have you forgotten what happened when you ignored me and went to the brain research institute in Korea?¡± Tommy bit his lower lip, clicked his tongue vigorously, and looked away. I knew he was trying to act based on his emotions. In times like this, though, it was important to think and act logically. Elena, who was next to Tommy, inteced her fingers together and asked me a question. ¡°Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok, do you have a n?¡± ¡°We can expose what they¡¯ve der on. The correct thing to do right now is to focus on the second and third transport nes that¡¯ll being over from Canada soon.¡± ¡°Why are you bringing up the transport nes all of a sudden?¡± ¡°Do you think they¡¯ll hand over the data if I threaten them? They¡¯ll probably try to kill us once they figure out that we know about what they¡¯ve done. It¡¯s best to avoid unnecessary quarrels with them.¡± After I exined my reasoning to her calmly, Elena sighed. ¡°Then what do you want to do?¡± ¡°We¡¯ll be able to understand what kind of people these Canadian researchers are by observing the survivors they¡¯re bringing over in the second and third transports. By observing the way they act around them.¡± ¡°What if the survivors support the Canadian researchers?¡± ¡°We¡¯ll figure out whether they¡¯re genuinely supporting them, or if they¡¯ve just blinded to the truth over time. Besides, I have to restore my missing organs as well. I¡¯m sorry to say this to you all, but please go along with their instructions for the time being.¡± Elena seemed to take my request calmly. She looked over at Tommy and Alyosha. Tommy said something in Russian to Alyosha, then sighed. ¡°So, Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok¡­ Are you saying that everything will be alright, and that we should wait until we have everything we need before we make a move?¡± he asked. ¡°Yes. Regardless of what they might have done, we still need to develop a cure. And, the fact of the matter is that they¡¯re trying their best to help me regenerate my missing organs.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°If they¡¯re really guilty, they¡¯ll suffer the punishment for that in the future. For now, the wise thing to do is to wait for the results of the study, and focus on the second and third transports that will soon arrive from Canada.¡± ¡°Did they say two hundred and twenty survivors, and one hundred and fifty soldiers?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Tommy crossed his arms and stared nkly at the ceiling. Judging from his rxed expression, it seemed like he was finally starting to see the bigger picture I had in mind. He looked me right in the eye. ¡°And what if there are no survivors on the second and third transports?¡± he asked. ¡°We¡¯ll have to consider what they have in mind as well. After all, even if they tell us that all the survivors in Canada got wiped out by zombies, there¡¯s no way of telling if they¡¯re actually giving us the truth or not.¡± ¡°Then, if there aren¡¯t any survivors, are you going to kill all the Canadian researchers? Even if what they¡¯re saying might be true?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t have the time nor the capacity to dig into every little detail. But we do have to keep one researcher alive.¡± ¡°Are you going to leave Jack alive?¡± "No. I''m going to kill everyone except the brown-haired researcher who hid the research data.¡± When I answered without hesitation, Tommy wet his parched lips. ¡°Will you be okay?¡± he asked cautiously. ¡°After all, you¡¯ll be killing people¡­¡± ¡°How many people do you think I¡¯ve killed so far?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°And if what we¡¯ve concluded is actually true, then keeping Jack alive would be a mercy. Tearing him to pieces wouldn¡¯t be enough to justify what he¡¯s done.¡± Tommy¡¯s face brightened at my honest answer. "I''m sorry,¡± he said with a smile on his face. ¡°I assumed that you had different intentions.¡± ¡°Different intentions?¡± "I thought¡­ I thought you were abandoning us, since the Canadian researchers are closer to developing a cure than we are.¡± I chucked. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t be so easily trusting of others, nor should you throw away the trust you¡¯ve built up with others so easily. You might get punished in the afterlife.¡± Tommy responded with a thin smile of his own. "I¡¯ll do my best not to disappoint you or anyone else.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t act too quickly, though. To be honest¡­ I wanted to apologize, because it felt like I put too much pressure on you.¡± "Absolutely not. When I think of everything you¡¯ve done for us¡­ We should be giving you some tangible results. Some actual results.¡± ¡°You came up with a vine, and a drug that suppresses zombie instincts. You¡¯ve already given me actual results. I want to ask you not to push yourself too much,¡± I said with sincerity. Tommy nodded silently, with his lips tightly closed. I knew that he had yelled at the Canadian researchers earlier on and was reacting so sensitively to all the uncertainty because he was nervous. He was probably feeling some internal pressure, since it had already been four years since we¡¯d left Korea. This pressure had built up, causing him to be anxious and sensitive toward just about anything. I was also at fault, because I hadn¡¯t given them any words of reassurance, even though I knew they were doing their best and that it was impossible for them to try any harder. I couldn¡¯t help but feel sorry for them. I also reflected on myck of consideration toward them since we arrived in Russia. I patted Tommy on the shoulder. ¡°Take your time,¡± I told him. ¡°It''s the Canadian researchers who are nervous right now.¡± "All right." ¡°For the time being, stop being so wary of the Canadian researchers, and try to cooperate with them so that they don¡¯t notice our suspicions. Thest thing we want is for them to be suspicious of us.¡± Tommy nodded slowly. ¡°Then, in the meantime, I¡¯ll try to go along with whatever they have nned.¡± "Yes. Let¡¯s speak again when the next transport arrives.¡± ¡°What do you have in mind if a bunch of soldiers arrive? What if they try to take over theb by using their superior numbers¡­?¡± ¡°Do you think that¡¯ll be possible?¡± I answered with a sh of my blue eyes. Tommy pressed his lips together and nodded. Soldiers and civilians were essentially the same to me. They were both human, and posed no threat to me. And for me, there were only two types of people in the world. Those who lived for others, and those who tried to harm others. Tommy took a deep breath and stood up. ¡°Let¡¯s get going then. If we keep sticking together, the Canadian researchers might think we¡¯re up to something.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right. You go ahead. I''ll scout around and then head back.¡± Tommy gave a small nod and left the dorms. After a while, Elena and Alyosha followed him out with heartwarming smiles on their faces. I opened the window and jumped out instead of using the door. In order toe up with an alibi, I went on a patrol of the outer walls that surrounded theboratory. Side Story 12: Stories of Russia (12) Side Story 12: Stories of Russia (12) Even after a year, the research did not produce any significant results. The second and third transports brought over various supplies, along with human organs. There were significantly less supplies whenpared to the first transport. Aside from the organs, the supplies seemed simr to those that had been brought over before. Most of the supplies were firearms, as well as necessities that pertained to survival, such as food, clothing and shelter. When I asked Jack about the survivors that were supposed toe, he gave me a half-baked answer. ¡°I don¡¯t think the survivors were ready to ept you folks. I¡¯m guessing¡­ That they were scared to live amongst zombies. I heard this directly from the soldiers, so you can trust me on this.¡± ¡®Trust me, huh¡­¡¯ Trust was something that couldn¡¯t be forced on others; it was something that others naturally developed toward you. Something you gained from others. To make matters worse, Jack didn¡¯t even have a concrete n about what he was going to do. All he did was parrot the word ¡®trust¡¯ over and over again, which made me slowly lose faith in him. In the end, it was forecasted that five trips would be needed to transport everything from Canada over. Initially, everything and everyone was supposed to be in Russia by the third trip. Jack guaranteed that the survivors would be here on the fourth and fifth transports. I wasn¡¯t too happy with the way he was handling things, but since he hadn¡¯t done any harm to me and the others, I went along with it. Like I mentioned to the others, there was no need to pick a fight with him and the other Canadians. After the third transport arrived in Russia, I held a meeting with the Russian researchers in the dorms. ¡°Don¡¯t you think they¡¯re dragging this out?¡± Tommy asked with a sigh. I had the same thought in mind. It seemed anyone could tell that they were dying things on purpose, but it was hard to confront them because we didn¡¯t have any concrete evidence to show. And it seemed like the Canadian researchers already had all sorts of excuses prepared. It was clear that they had run through every possible scenario in their minds, just by the calm way that they answered questions that were meant to throw them off. Elena, who was next to Tommy, scratched her head. ¡°Did they uncover some oil reserves or something? They¡¯re just wasting time and fuel.¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t we just kill them all and take all of their research materials?¡± Tommy suggested with an impatient grimace. He was clearly being extreme. I shook my head at his suggestion. "I don¡¯t agree with killing people without having concrete proof.¡± ¡°Is it because of the Canadian survivors? Are you afraid that they won¡¯t be able toe here if we kill Jack and his people?¡± "That too, but also, they¡¯re focusing on transnting the missing organs into me, so there''s no need to kill them now." ¡°Well, they¡¯re not doing anything.¡± ¡°We did learn that human organs can¡¯t be transnted into me directly. Don¡¯t rush this; I¡¯ll try toe up with something. Can you wait until then?¡± Tommy massaged his temples gently and let his head sag. He let out the deepest sigh and looked at me with bleary eyes. ¡°Do you know what¡¯s going on in theb these days?¡± ¡°Are there any problems?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t move forward with my research into a cure. As soon as I get some results, they take the data and samples away from me.¡± ¡°The Canadian researchers?¡± ¡°Do you think that those humans who only care about organ transnts are actually interested in a cure? These guys are trying to steal the show somehow. We¡¯re not sharing information; they¡¯re just taking mine away.¡± Tommy frowned, and Alyosha, who was next to him, chimed in with his awkward, shoddy Korean. ¡°We are not trying hard either. Research.¡± Alyosha shrugged, and Tommy smacked his lips and grimaced. It was now almost six years since the virus had begun its spread. Within that time, Alyosha had studied Korean, and was now able to have simple conversations with the others. The drive to discover a cure that would save humans had turned into a factional fight between two research teams. I buried my face with my hands. ¡°We¡¯re not going to get anywhere by talking amongst ourselves right now. I¡¯m scheduled to undergo my seventh organ transnt this afternoon. Let¡¯s talk again after that.¡± ¡°Whose organs are you transnting into you this time?¡± ¡°Do Han-Sol¡¯s.¡± "Pardon? Is he back in divostok?¡± ¡°He said he would stop by to report on how things are out in the penins, and to say hello to the Canadian researchers.¡± Tommy tilted his head. ¡°Is there any reason they¡¯re transnting his organs specifically?¡± ¡°It¡¯s because we have the same blood type and simr body types. Whether or not my body will ept his organs is a different story.¡± ¡°Does Kim Hyeong-Jun have a different blood type from you?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°But then again, do blood types even mean anything to you?¡± ¡°When they tried to transnt human organs into me, I showed different reactions based on the blood types of their original owners. The Canadian folks told me that they would have a higher chance in transnting if the organs had the same blood type as me.¡± The virus inside me would attack the transnted organs if their original owners¡¯ blood type differed from my own. Even when our blood types matched and the virus was less aggressive, the transnted organ never survived because of the toxicity of the virus. Tommy quietly rubbed his chin and fell into deep thought. He seemed lost in his thoughts for a while, but then he began to mutter, ¡°If the blood type affects the reactions, that means his DNA structure is simr to that of a normal human being¡­ Then, does the difference lie in bone density?¡± I wondered if he had stumbled upon another hypothesis for developing the cure. Tommy kept on muttering for a long time, then suddenly jumped up from his seat. ¡°I have something I want to test right now. I¡¯ll be heading off first.¡± I nodded, and Tommy pulled Alyosha and Elena outside. I opened the window again and threw myself over the railing. I always exited via the window, just to avoid crossing paths with others while I was with Tommy, Alyosha, and Elena. I wanted to avoid unnecessary encounters with others. The moment Inded on the ground, I met someone I shouldn''t have met. ¡°Oh, what a surprise.¡± ¡°...!¡± My eyes fell on the Canadian researcher called Ruin. She was the researcher in charge of administering anesthesia. Her short, bright blonde hair was her distinctive feature, which made it easy to remember who she was. Ruin stared nkly at me, then looked up at the window of the dorms and curled up in fear. ¡°Why¡­ Why did youe out from there?¡± ¡°Oh, I¡­ I came to meet Tommy. There was something I needed to discuss with him.¡± ¡°Do you usually leave through the window instead of the door?¡± ¡°...¡± I was taken aback and didn¡¯t know what to say. I knew I had to y this situation smoothly, but being the poor actor I was, it wasn¡¯t easy for me to change the subject. "Oh? Tommy? Even Alyosha and Elena are here¡­¡± To make matters worse, she had even caught a glimpse of Tommy and the others walking away. Her bewildered expression deepened, as if she didn¡¯t know what to make of this situation. I was panicking slightly, and stretched out my hand. "Ruin, no, that¡¯s not¡­¡± Her eyes widened, and she started running back to theboratory. My blue eyes shed, and I grabbed her, covering her mouth so that she couldn¡¯t scream. This wasn¡¯t what I had in mind. I regretted it as soon as I did it. I had acted impulsively. I looked behind me and saw Tommy running toward me as he scanned the surroundings. ¡°Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok, let¡¯s head back to the dorm first.¡± ¡°And then what?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. But let¡¯s take care of the situation at hand first, then think about what¡¯s going to happen next.¡± Tommy nodded toward the dorms. And that¡¯s how, for the first time in my life, I unintentionally kidnapped someone. * * * I tied Ruin¡¯s legs and arms to a chair and covered her mouth with tape. Tears ran down her face as she struggled to escape. I sat across from her and tugged at my hair,miserating over how pathetic I was. I should¡¯ve been more careful. I¡¯d instinctively sprung out of the window like I¡¯d done so many times, without thinking about it. I should have taken a look around before I¡¯d done it, but had almost be a habit of mine, something I did unconsciously. I looked at Ruin. ¡°I¡¯ll take off the tape,¡± I said. ¡°Don''t scream.¡± "Mmph¡­ Mmph!" ¡°If you understand, nod your head.¡± Ruin nodded multiple times while sniffling. After tearing off the tape, Ruin trembled as if she had seen a ghost and looked at Tommy, Alyosha, and Elena. After a moment, she stammered, ¡°Why¡­ Why are you doing this to me? What did I do wrong?¡± I had grabbed her instinctively when she¡¯d tried to run, which then ended up in me kidnapping her. Ruin swallowed and continued, ¡°Didn¡¯t you say you were going on patrol with Mr. Kim Hyeong-Jun? And Tommy, why are you here at this hour? Aren''t you supposed to be in theb? The same goes for you two.¡± ¡®We were discussing you and your people; that¡¯s why we were all here.¡¯ This was the only thought that crossed my mind. But of course, I knew I couldn¡¯t say it. Because of that, I wasn¡¯t sure how to exin what we were actually doing. I wondered if she would believe us if I told her that we were just fooling around. Of course not. I closed my eyes and let out a deep sigh. Then I looked at Ruin and began to speak slowly. ¡°Well, Ruin¡­ The thing is¡­ Right now, we are¡­¡± ¡°...¡± I noticed that her eyes were trembling, but I couldn¡¯t tell if she was nervous or afraid. Observing her only made me feel more anxious, as I couldn¡¯t tell what was going on in her mind. I couldn¡¯t help but think that being honest with her was going to be the best way to make her understand us. Since we were already past the point of no return, I decided to bepletely honest with her and tell her everything. I took a short breath. "Ruin, I¡¯ll be honest with you.¡± ¡°...¡± "I¡­ I¡¯ve never gone under when you put me on anesthesia. So I''ve heard all your conversations. We know that you guys are hiding data from us.¡± I told her everything, not lying about any of it. I felt somewhat guilty, but when I nced at her face, her expression seemed surprisingly calm. I frowned and tilted my head, and Ruin bit her lower lip and looked me straight in the eyes. She then said something that caught mepletely off-guard. "I know.¡± ¡°What¡­?¡± I looked over at Tommy with a puzzled face. Tommy also seemed taken aback. He looked back and forth between Ruin and myself with a dumbfounded expression, then he tilted his head and asked Ruin, ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°I wasn''t sure either. I also wasn¡¯t sure¡­¡± ¡°Then you knew about all this from the start? Are you saying that the Canadian researchers intentionally leaked information to Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok? To deceive us?¡± ¡°No, they don''t know. It¡¯s just me¡­ Only I know.¡± Her ambiguous words seemed to confuse Tommy even more. His mouth was open as if he wanted to say something, but he seemed to have run out of questions. ¡°You knew I was awake every time you guys cut me open?¡± I asked her, scratching my forehead. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Then why did you still proceed with the act of sedating me then let me eavesdrop when you knew that I wasn¡¯t asleep? Why did you do that?¡± ¡°...¡± Ruin hesitated. I wondered if her mind had be clouded by everything that had just happened. It seemed like she had no idea where to begin or how to word her exnation. I waited patiently, but Ruin still didn¡¯t speak. She just frowned and bit her lower lip constantly. Soon, I heard a familiar male voice calling her name from outside. ¡°Ruin! Ruin!¡± It was Jack. It seemed like he¡¯de looking for her since she¡¯d been gone for quite a while. I grew nervous, and Ruin spoke in a quiet voice, ¡°Let me go.¡± ¡°Pardon?¡± ¡°I want you to let me go. I won''t tell anyone about what happened today. Just let me go already.¡± Tommy waved a hand vigorously. "No, no. That''s not going to happen. How can we trust you?¡± he countered. "You¡¯re not gaining anything by holding me captive like this. You¡¯re just wasting time.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°In return, I want you folks to keep my secret. Jack¡¯s research team cannot know about it.¡± ¡°What secret?¡± ¡°What I just told you about the anesthesia.¡± Tommy paced about the room in circles as though frustrated that he couldn¡¯t get the information he wanted from her. I organized my thoughts quickly, then took a deep breath and stood up. ¡°Take care. Don¡¯t do anything stupid,¡± I said as I loosened the ropes. ¡°...¡± ¡°If the Canadian researchers find out about what happened today¡­ I don¡¯t know what¡¯s going to happen. Mark my words.¡± With that, Ruin got up, massaged her stiff limbs, and left, her head bowed low. I went to the window and eavesdropped on the conversation outside. ¡°Ruin, you said you were going to the bathroom. How far away did you go?¡± ¡°I felt all stuffy, just being in theb all day. I wanted to take a walk.¡± ¡°You should¡¯ve said so. Right now, though, there¡¯s something I need to tell you about the fourth transport, so follow me.¡± As the two of them walked away, Tommymented, ¡°Why¡¯d you let her go? What were you thinking? What are you going to do now?¡± ¡°That person named Ruin¡­ There¡¯s something suspicious about her.¡± ¡°No, no¡­ We¡¯re the suspicious ones in her eyes!¡± Tommy pounded his chest and sighed continuously, as if he wanted the whole world to know just how frustrated he was. I fell into deep thought as I watched Ruin walking away. I could tell that she¡¯d been conflicted about telling us what was really on her mind while tied to the chair, probably because she could not fathom the consequences. She knew from the beginning that the anesthesia wouldn¡¯t put me to sleep. However, as soon as she arrived in Russia, she proceeded to use anesthesia on me, and did not inform the other Canadian researchers that I wasn¡¯t actually asleep. This truth about the anesthesia that she kept to herself¡­ Perhaps it was herst bastion. But, at the end of the day, ast bastion could only do so much. We needed something strong, a weapon that we could wield to strike a blow at them. To me, it felt like Ruin was bing that weapon even before I had the chance to say no. It seemed like she was signaling to me for help, leaving everything to me. Ruin seemed like a whistleblower to me. Something big must¡¯ve happened in Canada, something so big that she needed my help. I wondered why she¡¯d never opened up to me until now. Perhaps it was because she didn¡¯t trust me? Or perhaps she didn¡¯t trust the Russian researchers? To be frank, there were tons of reasons not to trust any of us. And it made sense, because whistleblowers only survived by maintaining a strong distrust toward others. As a whistleblower, trusting others easily would most likely be catastrophic. I thought that all that we¡¯d nned had gone to waste, but it seemed like kidnapping Ruin was a godsend. I had to keep a more watchful eye on Ruin. Side Story 13: Stories of Russia (13) Side Story 13: Stories of Russia (13) My operation began at night, as soon as Do Han-Sol returned to the research institute. I looked at Ruin as I entered theboratory and saw her preparing for the surgery with a nk expression. I wondered if she¡¯d already put aside what had happened earlier. I swiveled my eyes to look at Jack. He finished his own preparations, then addressed Do Han-Sol and myself. ¡°It¡¯ll be done before you know it. Trust us with your heart and lie down please.¡± "Thank you.¡± There was nothing to be worried about, since Ruin was pretending that nothing had happened. I greeted her as I always did, thenid down on the operating table. She stood by the side of the operating table and spoke without looking at me. ¡°I¡¯ll start with the anesthesia by counting backward from ten to one¡­¡± She was preparing to anesthetize me just like she always did. I looked over at Do Han-Sol. He looked more nervous than me as hey on the operating table. Soon, I felt the anesthetic enter my system, and I closed my eyes naturally and listened as the researchers spoke to one another. When they performed surgery, they weren¡¯t ying around. They were serious about the operation. They demonstrated perfectly the professionalism required from a researcher, from a surgeon. After they performed an abdominal incision on Do Han-Sol, they examined the status of his organs, along with theirpatibility with my physiology. ¡°The size is appropriate, and there¡¯s no sign of rejection,¡± Jack said as he examined the virus¡¯ reaction. ¡°Let¡¯s continue.¡± "Beginning the operation.¡± As they began the organ transnt operation, Jack eximed in surprise, ¡°Are you seeing this too? It¡¯s not just me, right?¡± He was observing Do Han-Sol¡¯s abdomen. ¡°I see it very clearly,¡± someone else responded. ¡°The organ is regenerating.¡± Jack¡¯s voice climbed in pitch as he grew excited. ¡°He''s basically a being that can donate an infinite amount of organs for transnts. This¡­ This is unbelievable.¡± They werementing on the fact that Do Han-Sol¡¯s body was quickly regenerating the organ that they had removed from him to transnt into me. While they were still expressing their surprise at his bodily function, they quickly transnted his organ into my abdomen. Once the organ was ced in my stomach cavity, my blood flow began to elerate. The virus in my body was reacting to the transnted organ in order to determine if it was toxic or not. After a while, the researcher who had transnted the organ stammered, ¡°Doc¡­ Doc¡­ Doctor! You have to see this!¡± Jack sighed, but otherwise stayed silent. There was a strange feeling in my stomach which was difficult to describe. I could not find the right words to exin what I felt. It was like the sensation of touching your own skin after being administered an anesthetic. It was surreal. I felt like I was touching someone else, even though everything was happening inside my abdomen. This feeling persisted for a while. The Canadian researchers held their collective breath as they observed what was happening inside my abdomen. The transnted organs came into contact with the clotted blood vessels in my abdomen, and the thick blood and the virus began to circte about as they tried to adapt to the new conditions. ¡°What¡¯s changing?¡± Jack asked as he kept his eye on the changes that were urring within my body. ¡°He¡­ He¡¯s showing surprisingly quick adaptability. On second thought, I don¡¯t even know if it¡¯s correct to describe what¡¯s happening as adaptation.¡± ¡°What¡¯s his pulse?¡± ¡°His pulse is still faint, and beating in the same cycle. No signs of rejection.¡± ¡°I guess zombie organs were the way to go from the beginning?¡± ¡°I wonder if it¡¯s because of the indescribable connection that the zombies have?¡± ¡°Are you talking about the alliance that these leader zombies have?¡± ¡°Yes. If I had to make a guess¡­ I believe this is the result of having the right organs, the same blood type, and an established alliance. Of course, this is all very unscientific.¡± What the researcher was saying sounded ridiculous, but considering what was happening in front of them, there really was no other way to exin this phenomenon. After a moment, Jack burst outughing, as though he found what the researcher had said to be rather intriguing. ¡°Oh ho¡­ Look, everyone,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s moving. I wondered if his body is already adapted to this new organ.¡± ¡°It¡¯s reacting as if it¡¯s been in his body all this time.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s keep an eye on it just in case. We still have a lot of organs to transnt.¡± Instead of seeing me as a patient who needed treatment, the researchers stared at my stomach in awe, as if they were watching fireworks. * * * The organ transnt was a sess. They took every organ I needed from Do Han-Sol, and the transnted organs adapted to my bodypletely, without showing any sign of rejection. The Canadian researchers congratted themselves on their sess,menting that they¡¯d never seen two people with such simrly-sized organs before. However, it seemed like they were celebrating a victory, rather than celebrating a sessful operation. It was literally a celebration of their own victory, because they¡¯d done everything without having to bring in the Russian researchers. Even though the surgery was sessful, I couldn''t help but feel bitter about it. ¡°Should we leave?¡± asked Do Han-Sol as he prepared to leave theb. ¡°It¡¯s not very fun seeing them celebrate.¡± "Same. Where¡¯s Tommy?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll go find him. You stay here.¡± I gave a slight nod, and Do Han-Sol rushed out of theboratory. I stood there and massaged my lower belly with my fingers, feeling the soft organs in my abdomen. Earlier on, the Canadian researchers hadn¡¯t been sure if my adjustment to the transnted organs was merely temporary, and so they performed a second operation on me. They moved forward to determine if the transnted organs would regenerate. To do so, they started off by removing my transnted liver with a knife. Thick blood gushed out from the severed blood vessels like a leaking water tap, but it didn¡¯t take long for my body to regenerate the liver that they had removed, and it looked exactly like the one that had been transnted. That got me thinking if it could even be considered regeneration. It almost seemed like an act of creation. The Canadian researchers pped and cheered when they saw the regenerated liver. They didn¡¯t even have to administer any other drugs like in previous experiments. The liver adapted very quickly to my body, as if the virus that remained in Do Han-Sol''s organs had the same properties as the virus I had. I could control a maximum of twenty-nine hundred underlings, while Do Han-Sol could have twenty-eight hundred. I wondered if the fact that Do Han-Sol had blue eyes and was of almost equal strength yed a role in this smooth operation. Of course, this was all spection. Rattle. Theboratory door behind me opened, and Ruin walked out. She made eye contact with me and flinched reflexively. "Thank you,¡± I said with a shy smile. ¡°Oh, no. I didn¡¯t do anything. You overcame everything on your own.¡± Awkward silence filled the room for a while. After I made sure that the door to theb was closed, I asked her, ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to join them?¡± ¡°Pardon?¡± ¡°The Canadian researchers seem to be in the mood for celebration after the sessful operation.¡± ¡°Oh. I told them I was heading back first because I was tired. Besides, it¡¯s already past twelve.¡± ¡°If you don¡¯t mind, do you think we can talk?¡± I got straight to the point, and Ruin hesitated, looking at me right in the eyes like a vignt cat. I wasn¡¯t sure why she was acting like that. It wasn¡¯t like I was going to eat her alive. Whatever it was, I shrugged and continued, "I believe¡­ We still have some things that need to be sorted out, wouldn¡¯t you say?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Why are you being so wary? Are you being threatened by them?¡± I asked cautiously. I tried to act as naturally as possible, to ease Ruin¡¯s wariness. She wriggled her fingers as if she was hesitating over saying something. After a moment, she opened her tightly closed lips. "I don''t know,¡± she said. ¡°What?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ what I should do.¡± Ruin¡¯s head sagged, and she didn¡¯t bother to finish her point. I let out a deep sigh. ¡°I''m ready to listen to whatever you have to say,¡± I said softly. ¡°If you¡¯re worried because you¡¯re guilty of something, don¡¯t be. Everyone here is guilty of something.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not because I feel guilty.¡± ¡°Then what is it?¡± Ruin slowly raised her head, looked at me straight in the eyes, then said in a low, hoarse voice, ¡°I just want to die.¡± "Pardon?" ¡°I don¡¯t have the courage to kill myself¡­ I just want someone to kill me.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but wonder what had happened in Canada to make her say this. Do Han-Sol returned and saw Ruin and me, and said without thinking twice, "Let me when you two are done talking. I¡¯ll be waiting outside.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay, Han-Sol,¡± I said, stopping him. ¡°Stay here.¡± He swallowed and looked at Ruin. Do Han-Sol was wary of her. Ruin wasn¡¯t a part of us, in his dictionary. I let out a small sigh and said, ¡°Ruin¡¯s going toe with us as well.¡± I made the first move, before she could have second thoughts. Ruin hesitated, but it didn¡¯t take long before she nodded. With that, I brought Ruin to where the Russian researchers were. * * * The survivors and Russian researchers who had gathered in the shelter to wait for me looked puzzled when I showed up with Ruin. When she hesitantly approached the others, Tommy jumped up from his seat and walked over to me. ¡°What the hell do you think you¡¯re doing?¡± ¡°We have to listen to her story.¡± Tommy nced over at her. ¡°How can you make such a decision on your own without telling us about it beforehand?¡± he demanded. Ruin gently closed her eyes and let out the deepest sigh I¡¯d heard in a while. After a moment, she opened her eyes and looked squarely at Tommy. ¡°I have something to tell everyone.¡± ¡°...¡± Tommy still had his guard up. He chewed on his lower lip while keeping an eye on Ruin. She looked around at the people gathered in the shelter, then began to speak. ¡°I¡¯ll share with all of you what actually happened in Canada.¡± Tommy¡¯s eyes widened at her unexpected statement. I gestured with my head for him to go back to his seat, and he cleared his throat and did so. Kim Hyeong-Jun, who had been sitting on the floor with his legs crossed, rested his chin on his right hand. ¡°Ahjussi, what is that nuna saying?¡± he asked me. ¡°How about you go out and take a walk? I¡¯ll tell you everything afterward.¡± "Wow! Ahjussi! How¡¯d you know what I was gonna say?¡± Kim Hyeong-Jun¡¯s gloomy, dissatisfied expression faded immediately, reced by a bright smile. He was telling me that he didn¡¯t want to be around because the conversation was going to be in English, which made sense because he didn¡¯t speak English. With that, Kim Hyeong-Jun left the room to stand guard while everyone else took a seat. Then Ruin started to speak. ¡°The beginning of it all¡­ Dates back to nine years ago.¡±¡¯ Nine years ago was around the time Elena left the Canadianboratory toe to Russia. Ruin was saying that what was happening in the present day had its roots in the Canadianboratory. She shared that several departments in the Canadian research institute had been dissolved because researchers were leaving for other locations, which ultimately led to the institute struggling to remain operational. Jack was the director of the research institute at the time. However, before he even got to finish his research into the science of the brain, the Canadian government had ordered him to shut down the institute. Jack somehow had to obtain R&D funding to continue his research, and that¡¯s when a secret project from the United Statesnded on his desk. The project was a top-secret project that was being conducted by military research institutes in the United States and Europe. It was codenamed Project Z. Jack joined Project Z because of the data he had that was rted to the human brain, and this ultimately allowed him to continue his research. Do Han-Sol was listening quietly to her story, and when she reached this point, he raised a hand. "You mentioned Z¡­ Does this Z refer to zombies? A zombie experiment?¡± he asked. ¡°Not quite. This was a top-secret project; it was hidden from the rest of the world. ¡®Z¡¯ was chosen because it was thest letter of the alphabet. It meant the end of everything.¡± ¡°The end? Are you talking about death?¡± ¡°Yes, but it was named ¡®Z¡¯ not because it was bringing about death. Rather, it was to defy and deny death.¡± ¡°Well if that¡¯s the case, they should¡¯ve called it A, alpha¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s because there has to be an end before there can be a new beginning. The goal of the project was to train soldiers that didn¡¯t die. And we found out that the answer to this was closely rted to the human brain.¡± Ruin wet her lips and fell silent for a while. She was leaking out top-secret information to civilians. I wondered if she¡¯d suddenly begun to think about the consequences. At least now I understood why she¡¯d said that she wasn¡¯t certain of herself. Then again, we were already living in a world where the concept of nations was no longer applicable. In this world, top secret meant nothing. I quietly rubbed my chin. ¡°You said that Jack''s research team conducted research rted to the brain, right? What kind of research was your team involved in, exactly, in order to get scouted by a militaryb?¡± ¡°We conducted research on the treatment of chronic diseases. Jack believed that the answer to thaty in the brain.¡± "A cure for chronic diseases¡­ Were you thinking of making immortal soldiers or something?¡± ¡°...¡± Ruin remained silent, and Do Han-Sol, seated next to me, grimaced. ¡°Looks like you¡¯re right Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok. Were you trying to grow a zombie army? Isn¡¯t that why the military research institute recruited you folks?¡± Ruin¡¯s head sagged, and she offered an uncertain answer. ¡°I honestly don¡¯t know the exact process. Jack got the project on his own.¡± She cleared her throat again, and continued to speak. Side Story 14: Stories of Russia (14) Side Story 14: Stories of Russia (14) Instead of getting the results they expected, the research process threw up several mutated viruses, and as a result, many of the clinical trial subjects suffered mutations. Ruin shared that the mutants showed simr symptoms to people who contracted rabies, and they grew more violent by the day. The most violent ones ended up attacking the researchers, and those who were bitten began to exhibit simr behaviors as the original infected. Do Han-Sol tilted his head as he listened to her exnation. ¡°Then why did the virus spread when the military units tried to take them down?¡± "That¡­¡± Ruin bit her lower lip and didn¡¯t finish her sentence. It seemed like she was hesitant to mention the reason in front of me. After a moment, though, she brushed her bangs back and continued. "It was because of the people that supported Jack. His followers.¡± "Followers?¡± ¡°There was an order to scrap the research data on Project Z. But Jack didn¡¯t follow it.¡± Do Han-Sol frowned. ¡°He did that even after seeing zombies with his own eyes?¡± He seemed to want to pick a fight with Ruin. I felt the exact same way as Do Han-Sol. The way Jack had handled things was beyond my understanding. ¡°Jack was not interested in the zombies,¡± Ruin said with a sigh. ¡°He was only interested in their ability to regenerate.¡± I raised my eyebrows. ¡°Did he think that the zombie virus was a necessary step to take in order to find the treatment for chronic diseases?¡± Ruin nodded. ¡°Yes, exactly. Jack fled to Canada with his research materials, and continued his research in a sealed-offboratory.¡± ¡°It¡¯s impossible for him to have done all that alone. Ruin, did you help Jack as well?¡± Ruin swallowed, knowing that all eyes were on her. ¡°Yes, I helped as well,¡± she answered, her expression growingplicated. "Ha!" ¡°Why would you even¡­¡± ¡°Crazy bastards.¡± The Russian survivors growled and gnashed their teeth furiously. The world had turned upside down all because of one researcher¡¯s greed. I calmed the Russian survivors and continued to question Ruin. ¡°But the zombie virus popped up all over the world at the same time. How did that happen?¡± ¡°Well, there was another way to get funding for R&D.¡± ¡°Who the hell was funding this kind of research?¡± ¡°There were a lot of people interested in Jack¡¯s research. Terrorist groups, the Bio Association, rich crackpots, and families who had members that were chronically ill.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°The virus spread simultaneously all over the world because of his followers. They wanted to attract public attention. Of course, they didn¡¯t know that it would cause a pandemic.¡± Tommy, who had been listening to her exnation with a look of disapproval, leaped up from his seat. "You¡¯re lying!¡± he yelled, raising his voice and pointing fingers. ¡°You had to have predicted that a pandemic would ur. If you knew about the cases in the military research institute, there¡¯s no way you could be oblivious to its ability to be transmitted!¡± Alyosha grabbed his arms and tried to calm him down repeatedly. Elena covered her face with her hands while listening to this unbelievable story. Where did things start going wrong? Was this the price for trying to imitate God? Or was this simply a result of human greed? I brought order back into the chaotic room and asked Ruin, ¡°So, what happened after that? Did Jack get what he wanted?¡± "No. The strength of the virus exceeded Jack¡¯s predictions, and even the United States was destroyed. Zombies even began to appear in Canada.¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t he say that there are survivors in Canada?¡± Ruin frowned. ¡°You actually believe that?¡± she said, looking incredulous. I facepalmed myself. ¡°The organs that you tried to transnt in me. Were those from the Canadian survivors?¡± ¡°There were no survivors from the beginning. The people who fled to the Canadian research institute were all used in human experiments to develop the cure.¡± When we heard Ruin¡¯s exnation, even Do Han-Sol, who had been barely holding on to his anger, got to his feet, his fists trembling. ¡°These fucking bastards,¡± he said to me. ¡°I¡¯m going to go kill every single one of them.¡± ¡°Han-Sol, calm down.¡± ¡°Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok, this isn¡¯t even about them crossing the line. Even after they did that, they went way past it.¡± The rest got to their feet as well in support of Do Han-Sol. "Everybody, sit down!!¡± I shouted so forcefully that the veins in my neck bulged. When my blue eyes shed, everyone in the room held their breath and looked back and forth between me and Do Han-Sol. His blue eyes were shing as well. I wondered if he was going to attack me now that he had be stronger. ¡°What¡¯s holding you back?¡± Han-Sol asked through gritted teeth. ¡°You heard everything she said. I don¡¯t see a reason to hold back anymore. Am I wrong?¡± ¡°We''re not done talking yet." ¡°What else could we possibly hear!?¡± ¡°Are you going against me now?¡± I frowned and red at him, and he met my gaze without flinching. However, a momentter, he swallowed and looked away, then went back to his seat. When Do Han-Sol sat down again, the others took their seats as well. I then let out a deep sigh and looked at Ruin. ¡°I¡¯ll ask you one more question.¡± ¡°Go ahead¡­¡± ¡°Are there any other Canadian researchers like you? And who are the soldiers that have been traveling back and forth between here and Canada with the military transport ne?¡± ¡°They¡¯re terrorists. They were originally from Iraq. Regarding your question about any other Canadian researchers like me¡­ How am I supposed to interpret that question?¡± ¡°I know you know the answer to that,¡± I said, looking at her calmly. Ruin frowned and tilted her head, then snorted. "I hope you¡¯re not trying to ask if there¡¯s someone with a conscience or something like that, are you? Do I look like someone with a conscience to you?¡± "Conscience? I want to know what else you''re hiding, and I want to know if there are more traitors like you that Jack is controlling.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Did you really think that I wouldn¡¯t know? You were acting like an outlier from the start, acting all nervous and suspicious. I know you¡¯re hiding something from me. Am I wrong?¡± I red at her, and Ruin swallowed, unable to even look at me. Her lips were trembling. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll be really honest with you.¡± I stashed my hands in my pockets and observed her carefully. She took a deep breath. ¡°I have a son,¡± she said. ¡°Are you saying your son is a hostage?¡± ¡°No, in fact¡­ My son is like you.¡± At her words, I couldn¡¯t help but twitch my eyebrows. She was saying that her son was a zombie with red eyes, and that she was helping Jack in order to turn her son back into a human. The secret behind the anesthesia started to make sense now. I tilted my head and asked, "Is your son rted to why you didn''t tell the Canadian researchers about the effects of the anesthesia?¡± ¡°I needed a reason to save my son and live on as well.¡± ¡°A zombie with red eyes could be well worth saving. Why did you go through all of this?¡± ¡°My son was infected at the very beginning. When the zombie virus started to spread around the world, the zombies with red eyes were no different from the ordinary zombies.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°I went around and told everyone that the zombies with red eyes still had the ability to think. But no matter how many times I told them, they wouldn¡¯t listen.¡± It made sense that people would act in that manner at the beginning of the outbreak. They probably pointed their guns at any zombie without thinking twice back then. And even if she had pleaded with them to convince them of the fact that her son still had the ability to think, the military and Canadian researchers wouldn¡¯t have cared. If her son hadn¡¯t eaten a human brain, it would¡¯ve been even more difficult to defend her stance because of his inability to properlymunicate. ¡°So tell me what you did,¡± I asked Ruin. ¡°I came up with a n. I told my son to obey my words while ignoring others.¡± ¡°Are you saying you made him act as though you were controlling him?¡± ¡°Yes, and because he¡¯s my son, I came up with a hypothesis thatmunication between zombies and humans was possible, depending on their rtionship. And Jack went right along with it.¡± I listened to her story with my arms crossed. Ruin let out a sigh and continued, ¡°I told my son to make a fuss whenever someone else tried to sedate him. So that I could show everyone else that I had to be by his side in order to control him, because he was my son.¡± Ruin slouched in her chair and put her right hand on her forehead. However, there was something in her story that was still unclear. "I''m sure you folks did experiments on normal zombies,¡± I asked her. ¡°What did you do to them?¡± ¡°We captured them by force and anesthetized them.¡± ¡°I¡¯m assuming anesthesia works on those zombies, am I right?¡± ¡°Yes, the ordinary ones are affected by anesthetics, but the effects don¡¯tst very long.¡± Tommy tilted his head. ¡°Anesthetics work on ordinary zombies?¡± ¡°If you administer a lethal amount, an amount that would be enough to kill an elephant. But zombies with red eyes are immune to anesthesia.¡± Tommy gently rubbed his chin and began to mumble to himself. I wondered if he had thought of some other theory regarding the effects of sleep on zombies that he wanted to research into. Since his mind was upied with developing the cure, I could just tell by looking at his face that all manner of thoughts were running through his mind. After a moment, Ruin continued, ¡°It was research that was supposed to save people. It was a study that began with good intentions¡­ But it eventually killed too many.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t forget that you were part of the project as well.¡± Ruin looked at me straight in the eyes and said in a serious tone, ¡°I know. That¡¯s why I¡¯m leaking all this information to you.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but frown. ¡°Leak? What exactly are you leaking?¡± ¡°The researchers from Canada, those fucking bastards¡­ Once the cure is developed, I want you to punish them.¡± I didn¡¯t know what to say to her request. Ruin had joined hands with Jack and his people and taken part in human experiments in order to survive. She probably hated herself for doing what she was doing, and Jack as well. But she needed Jack to cure her son, and the only way for her to do so was to hope that his research was sessful. She harbored two emotions toward Jack: hope and hatred. She probably lived every day with the two emotions in her mind, not realizing it as her mentality grew weaker and weaker. At that moment, I remembered what she¡¯d said to me before. - I just want to die. The reason she couldn¡¯t die of her own will. The reason she couldn¡¯t die or let anyone kill her. It was her son. I took a deep breath to clear the tension that had built up within me. ¡°Why did Canadian researcherse to Russia?¡± ¡°We didn¡¯t lie about that. The Canadianb was having trouble dealing with the zombies, just like we told you. We were also running low on food.¡± "What''s on the fourth transport?" ¡°My son. He¡¯s only nine years old.¡± I nodded. "Let¡¯s begin when your son arrives." "Begin what? What do you mean by begin?¡± ¡°What do you mean? The day of judgment, of course.¡± * * * Tommy was confident that he could hasten the development of the cure if he got his hands on the research material that the Canadian researchers had hidden away. Elena also chimed in, saying that there wouldn¡¯t be any problems with the research even if the Canadian researchers weren¡¯t around. Alyosha merely shrugged, happy to follow their lead. We wrapped things up and let Ruin return to her dorm before it got toote. As Do Han-Sol watched Ruin walking away, he said with a puzzled look, ¡°I¡¯m sorry about earlier. I got emotional¡­¡± "It¡¯s alright. I know how hard it is to control your emotions when the color of your eyes changes.¡± Do Han-Sol bowed to me. ¡°How far are we in regards to the cleanup of South Korea?¡± I asked him after a quick breath. ¡°Mr. Kim Dae-Young is in Jeonbuk, and Mr. Jeong Jin-Young is in Gyeongbuk.¡± ¡°Are they moving separately? They¡¯re not together?¡± ¡°The zombies tend to escape our siege if we give them time. We had no other choice but to do so, in order to speed things up.¡± I nodded slowly. ¡°In that case, Han-Sol, go and help Jin-Young. There will be some drugged-up zombies once you get to Daegu. Jin-Young might have a hard time dealing with them alone.¡± ¡°Got it.¡± ¡°Are you going to go right now?¡± "Yes." ¡°Then take Hyeong-Jun with you.¡± Do Han-Sol tilted his head and looked at me, and I offered him a small smile. ¡°Tell Hyeong-Jun to check up on the underlings that are stationed along the border of Mt. Baekdu. We can¡¯t have any underlings leave their position.¡± ¡°Will you be okay by yourself?¡± "What do you mean?¡± ¡°I¡¯m asking if you¡¯ll be okay here alone. I just thought that it might be overwhelming for you to handle the Canadian researchers alone...¡± Do Han-Sol trailed off with a grimace. I pped him lightly on the forearm. "I¡¯ll be alright,¡± I said. ¡°Besides, the ending is already written.¡± ¡°Pardon?¡± ¡°Hyeong-Jun told me that things can¡¯t get any worse than they are right now.¡± ¡°What¡­?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s get through this with smiles on our faces.¡± Side Story 15: Stories of Russia (15) Side Story 15: Stories of Russia (15) Even though Ruin had spoken with sincerity, I couldn''t trust herpletely. I didn¡¯t know what kind of curveballs she would throw at me, given how worn out her body and mind were. And just like how she had leaked information about the Canadian researchers to us, I had to consider the possibility that she could expose information about us to Jack. She was a smart woman, so she probably knew that ying both sides could increase her chances of survival. I considered all the possibilities as I waited for the arrival of the fourth transport. * * * One sunny summer¡¯s day, I headed to divostok Airport to be in time for the fourth transport¡¯s arrival. As I waited near the runway for the ne to arrive, Jack and a group of Canadian researchers ambled up next to me. "Why don''t we give the soldiers a day''s rest after this transport arrives?" he said with his uniquely faint smile. ¡°A break?¡± ¡°These people have been crossing the Pacific for us nonstop, without taking a proper break. I want to treat the soldiers to a good dinner tonight.¡± ¡°Okay,¡± I answered, as though it wasn¡¯t a big deal. Jack smiled heartily. ¡°And the Canadian survivors will being on the fifth transport.¡± My eyebrows twitched involuntarily in the face of his audacious and brazen lie, but I¡¯d known all along that this fourth transport would determine if he was telling the truth or not. I turned my head, pretending not to know anything about the situation in Canada. ¡°Didn¡¯t you decide that you would bring the survivors over on the fourth transport?¡± I asked him instead. ¡°I wanted to, of course. However, there¡¯s a being on board this transport that I didn¡¯t get the chance to tell you about¡­ A being that the survivors said they weren¡¯tfortable getting on board with.¡± ¡°A being that you didn¡¯t tell me about? What is it? A ck creature, perhaps?¡± ¡°Oh certainly not. But do you remember the time you asked me if there were any zombies with red eyes in Canada? Does that ring a bell?¡± Of course I knew what he was talking about. At that time, he¡¯d told me that all the zombies with red eyes in Canada had been wiped out. Even though I remembered everything, I acted as if I couldn¡¯t pinpoint what he was talking about. ¡°Did I ever ask such a question?¡± ¡°Yes, and back then, I told you that there weren¡¯t any zombies with red eyes in Canada.¡± ¡°So¡­?¡± ¡°In actual fact, though, we have one. We kept one alive for the purposes of our research.¡± "Then are you saying that it¡¯s on the transport that¡¯sing right now?¡± "Yes. We can continue to speak about it once the ne arrives.¡± I gave a small nod and waited for the transport ne to arrive. A littleter, a transport ne appeared, gliding through the distant white clouds toward us. Itnded in front of us, and the tightly closed hatch opened. A bunch of desperate, hopeless-looking soldiers poured out of it. The highest-ranking soldier ran over and stood in front of Jack, then collected himself before speaking. "Doctor, there¡¯s been an emergency.¡± "What¡¯s the problem?¡± ¡°The Canadian Institute¡­ The zombies have taken over.¡± "What?" His eyes had gone wide, and his mouth was open in shock. He wobbled and ced his hand on his forehead, like a patient suffering from vertigo. ¡°Doctor!¡± The Canadian researchers nearby helped Jack back up. He assured them that he was alright, then returned his attention to the soldier. ¡°The survivors,¡± he asked. ¡°What happened to the survivors?¡± "About that¡­¡± The soldier grimaced and looked at the ground. Jack began to tear up and heap me on himself. "It¡¯s¡­ It¡¯s all my fault. I should¡¯ve brought them here first. I don¡¯t know why I was in such a rush toe over first¡­¡± Jack continued to sob, and the other researchers around him seemed disconste as well. I was speechless, surprised by his acting. There was never going to be a fifth transport. There was no other reason for them to talk about the Canadian research institute going down, or the fact that all the survivors had perished. As I watched them, I almost wanted to give a round of apuse from the bottom of my heart. Their acting skills were truly impressive. As I observed Jack and the Canadian researchers, I couldn¡¯t help but wonder if Run might¡¯ve lied as well. I gave her a sidelong nce, and noticed that she was the only one who looked perfectly calm. ¡°Where''s my son?¡± she asked the soldier as she looked him right in the eye. At her question, the soldier gestured to the other soldiers behind them. The soldiers wheeled over a rectangr object that was a meter and a half wide and two meters tall. Judging from the cold air surrounding the object, it seemed like they had frozen her son¡¯s body using some modern technology. However, even if they did manage to freeze his bodypletely, there was no way he would wake up again. As I took a closer look at the capsule, Jack began to speak again, wiping the tears away from his eyes. ¡°The zombie I was talking about earlier is in there.¡± ¡°Did you freeze the zombie?¡± ¡°An ordinary human being would have died of cardiac arrest, but beings like you folks won¡¯t die. The viruses to life as soon as the body thaws.¡± This virus, with the exception of turning its host into a zombie, was immortality itself. Jack took a couple of deep breaths to collect himself, then smiled faintly. "My apologies,¡± he said. ¡°I can¡¯t believe I shed tears in front of all of you, despite being this old.¡± ¡°It¡¯s alright.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure if you heard Ruin earlier, but the zombie inside this thing is her son.¡± ¡°Is that why you didn¡¯t kill him, but spared him to be used as a research subject?¡± ¡°I had no other choice. Themander-in-chief of the military who was defending the research center at the time would¡¯ve killed him otherwise. I saved that child. Literally.¡± He was so good at lying that he scared me. I wondered if his calmness was a result of the wisdom he¡¯d acquired during his lifetime. Or maybe he was just a typical sociopath, and I should¡¯ve known it earlier. I gave a small nod. ¡°Let¡¯s go to theb for now.¡± * * * There were a total of fifty soldiers on the transport ne. Jack had mentioned that there were one hundred and fifty when he first got here, so perhaps the soldier wasn¡¯tpletely lying about the Canadianb going down. I let my mind wander as I led the soldiers from Canada to their dorms. Even if the fifty soldiers here had barely made it out of theb alive, not a single one of them had zombie blood on them. And I was pretty sure that they hadn¡¯t washed off the blood in the transport ne. This was another thing that gave weight to Ruin¡¯s story. No matter how urgent and desperate they were, I couldn¡¯t wrap my head around the fact that soldiers would leave the survivors behind and escape. It was only natural for the soldiers to get on board only after all the survivors. The more I thought about it, Ruin¡¯s assertion that there were no survivors from the beginning grew more convincing. I wondered if Jack knew that what he said wasn¡¯t adding up. His approach of trying to get at me emotionally was worse than doing nothing. I¡¯d survived to this day by thoroughly considering each situation and making rational judgments, always making decisions based on the best oues. Useless emotional appeals only triggered me. Once we got to the dorms, I thanked the soldiers for all their work, and told them to take a shower and have a good rest. They thanked me and went in. After making sure that all of them were inside, I ran back to the shelter where my people were. When I entered the shelter, Tommy, who had been waiting impatiently, immediately spoke up. ¡°Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok, is it just the soldiers this time? No supplies?¡± ¡°I think Jack¡¯s noticed,¡± I said in a rather serious tone. Tommy tilted his head and looked at me nkly. I took a deep breath. ¡°It¡¯s¡­ It¡¯s going to happen today.¡± "Pardon? What¡¯s going to happen?¡± ¡°The soldiers that arrived today are going to kill you.¡± Tommy looked dumbfounded. ¡°Wait, why?¡± asked Elena, who was next to him. ¡°It¡¯s so out of the blue. What makes you think that that will happen?¡± ¡°Have you ever heard of a murderer that gives warnings before they kill somebody?¡± The Russian survivors in the back, who were listening to me, frowned as well. They seemed to have a hard time understanding why I would think of such a thing. ¡°Well, killing us would be the same as digging their own graves. Do you really think they would kill us?¡± "No, you¡¯re wrong about that. Even if you folks die, Jack won¡¯t. He knows he won¡¯t die.¡± ¡°Well, we have you¡­ Are you nning on abandoning us?¡± ¡°No, that¡¯s not what I meant. Think about it. Who can develop the cure if you folks die?¡± I asked them calmly. They all sighed and nodded as if they finally got what I was trying to say. If the Russian researchers and survivors here died¡­ I would be left with only one option. Tommy rubbed his chin as if he¡¯d finally grasped Jack¡¯s master n. ¡°Are you saying that the Canadian researchers have been building trust with you to get you to lower your guard, and now, since they think they have your trust, they¡¯re going to show their true colors?¡± ¡°Yes. If it weren¡¯t for Ruin and her faking the effectiveness of the anesthesia, we would¡¯ve been yed.¡± Tommy pursed his lips tightly and furrowed his brow. He sighed, then said, ¡°Okay, what¡¯s your n? I¡¯ll help.¡± ¡°For now, go back to your dorms. My underlings will be there. Don¡¯t be surprised, and just hide in a closet or some other ce.¡± ¡°And then? Whates next?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t evere out until I arrive.¡± ¡°You want us to stay inside? It¡¯ll just make us look more suspicious.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the point. We have to make you folks seem suspicious, so that they¡¯ll speed up their n.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t we just go and kill them all right now?¡± asked Tommy as he scratched his head. ¡°No. Think about it. If they know they¡¯re going to die, what do you think they¡¯ll do?¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s something¡­¡± ¡°What if they blow up a grenade in theb? They also have mortars. Do you think research will matter to them if they¡¯re about to die?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°We have to get all of them at once. We have to eliminate them in a way that they can¡¯t do anything to us,¡± I said seriously. Tommy nodded. ¡°So you¡¯re saying we have to make them attack first, right?¡± "Yes. So go back to your dorms right now.¡± ¡°Then¡­ I¡¯ll leave the rest to you, Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok.¡± As everyone left the shelter¡¯s auditorium, I took a deep breath and got myself ready for thest supper. * * * I even took the effort to butcher some pigs to serve the soldiers. I was furious that I was serving meat to these people who were going to be dead soon, but I thought that it would at least prevent the quick-witted Jack from noticing what was going on. Jack seemed to be very excited by the fact that we were having an outdoor barbeque, since he hadn¡¯t been able to enjoy one for a very long time. "By the way, where are Tommy and the others?¡± ¡°He said he wasn¡¯t feeling too good. I just spoke to him in the dorm beforeing here.¡± ¡°Hehe, I wonder if he¡¯s struggling with side effects from that vine?¡± Jack chuckled as he watched the pork crackle and sizzle, the smoky aroma filling his nostrils. He was smiling, but the way his fingers were fidgeting betrayed his nervousness. It seemed like he couldn¡¯t give the soldiers the order tomence his operation because I was next to him. I figured that I needed to give them time so that they could go ahead with their n. I walked over to the grill and spoke to the soldier holding the tongs. ¡°Give me the tongs. I¡¯ll cook.¡± When I held out my right hand, the soldier stared nkly at my face and refused to give me the tongs. It seemed like the soldiers didn¡¯t speak English. Well, everyone supposedly imed they were soldiers. They were actually just a bunch of terrorists. When I pointed my finger at the tongs, the soldier gave an exmation and handed me the tongs to let me do the cooking. ¡°I¡¯ll make sure this gets cooked deliciously,¡± I said to Jack, my voice full of delight. Jack quickly turned his head when he heard my voice and exchanged nces with another Canadian researcher. Then he nodded with a smile on his face. I knew that his n was being put into motion since he¡¯d exchanged signals with his people. With that, I gave orders to my underlings through my mind. ¡®All of you in the dorms, listen up. Kill any human that approaches with a weapon. Only protect the people I told you to protect.¡¯ When I heard their replies, I gave orders to the stage-one mutants and Ji-Eun. ¡®Wait in front of the outer wall. When I give you the signal, jump over.¡¯ This was the reason why I was holding the barbecue party in front of the outer wall of the research institute, rather than having it somewhere more spacious. I had told the Canadian researchers and soldiers that this was the best ce to see the stars, but in reality, it was a good spot for an ambush. It was pretty far from theboratory, and thanks to the wide-open view, it was easy to spot any humans moving. Now, all I had to do was wait for them to make a move. The moment they moved, I was going to kill every single human being here. Since I had already marked out where everyone was, I would get them all in one go when my underlings gave me the signal. However, if the Canadian forces didn¡¯t execute their surprise attack that night¡­ I¡¯d have no choice to suspect Ruin. I hoped that Jack¡¯s impatience would lead things to y out as I envisioned them. I looked at the male researcher with dark brown hair, seated next to Jack. I intended to keep him alive, even if I went ahead and killed everyone else. He was the one who was hiding the data rted to the cure, so I was going to torture him little by little until he turned over the data. Bang¡ª! At that moment, the sound of distant gunfire reached the barbeque. ¡°WAAA!!!¡± ¡°GRRR!!¡± A cacophony of zombie cries and human wails echoed throughout the premises of theboratory. Just like I had anticipated, it wasing from the Russian survivors¡¯ dorms. My blue eyes shed as I gave orders to my underlings. It was time to roll out our operation. Side Story 16: Stories of Russia (16) Side Story 16: Stories of Russia (16) Ji-Eun and the stage-one mutants leaped over the outer wall and into the barbeque area in an instant. They were like demons from hell. The soldiers were caught off-guard, but quickly grabbed their rifles and began firing away at the stage-one mutants. I was honestly surprised to see that they had brought loaded rifles to a barbeque party. They were clearly prepared for a fight that night. With my shing blue eyes, I cut through the soldiers blocking my way and hunted down the Canadian researchers who were running for their dear lives. However, it was impossible for a human being to outpace me. I caught up to the fleeing people and took them to theb. There, I grabbed Jack and the brown-haired researcher in my hands. Jack gasped, staring at me as the color drained from his face. ¡°You murderer! You murdering son-of-a-bitch!¡± ¡°You¡¯re no different from me.¡± "You won¡¯t be able to develop a cure if you kill me!¡± I raised my eyebrows. "No. You¡¯re wrong. We¡¯ll make the cure. We¡¯re going to prove you wrong.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t understand! I¡¯m the future of mankind and the cure itself, you fool!¡± ¡°No, you¡¯ll go down in history as the worst scumbag ever.¡± I clenched my fist and punched Jack in the face as hard as I could. I felt warm cerebral fluid flowing in between my fingers. I couldn¡¯t help but wonder what had turned him into the demon he was, despite the fact he was still a human being, the same as all of us. His desire for research had turned into an obsession, which then turned into madness. For a human being engulfed in madness, the distinction between good and evil was blurred, and the only thing left to do was to turn his body into a cold corpse. With him gone, I directed my attention to the brown-haired researcher. ¡°Where are the research materials?¡± I asked him as I wiped Jack¡¯s blood from my hands. ¡°Yes¡­ yes?¡± ¡°The research materials from Canada. The ones you¡¯ve been hiding this whole time.¡± He shook as though he was seeing a ghost, and his face was a mask of chaos. It seemed like he was too scared to even think properly. I mmed my right hand into the space between his shoulder des and his neck, and he let out a yelp and copsed to the ground. He was knocked out. We would continue to question him again once he woke up. Ruin came running over to me. She looked at me, then at the researcher with the brown hair, and asked, ¡°Did you kill him as well?¡± ¡°I just knocked him out.¡± ¡°Jack. What about Jack?¡± Ruin looked around, her gaze falling on a corpse missing its limbs. She gasped and covered her mouth. "Did you¡­¡± Her voice was trembling. ¡°Let¡¯s go find a rope to tie this man up with.¡± Ruin swallowed and seemed to hesitate for a moment, but then we were both running to the storage room. Iy the man down and made my way back to the ce where the barbeque had been going on. The stage-one mutants had already taken care of all the military personnel. Since the outdoor area was taken care of, it was time to check on the dorms. When I got to the dorms where the Russian survivors and researchers were, a couple of soldiers came running out, fleeing for their lives. They were screaming at the top of their lungs, confused and dazed. They were panicking over the zombies that were chasing them down. I shed my blue eyes and took care of the soldiers¡ª¡®No, terrorists.¡¯ I went into the master bedroom to check if anyone was injured, and heard someone whimper from within the closet. When I opened the closet door, I saw the terrified Russian children hugging each other in fear. "Uncle!" Tears streamed down their faces when they saw me. The other Russian survivors came out from the closet across from them with sighs of relief. ¡°Is it over?¡± they asked me. ¡°Yes. Where¡¯s Tommy?¡± ¡°He should be in the next room.¡± I gave them a small nod and headed to the next room. When I opened all the closets in the next room, I saw Tommy, Alyosha, Elena, and Choi Kang-Hyun crouching within, with their eyes tightly closed. Tommy opened his eyes and flinched as if he were surprised by the sight of me suddenly opening the closet door. ¡°Mister¡­ Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok.¡± "It''s over. Come on out.¡± It seemed like being in a crouch for a prolonged period had caused some problems with their blood cirction. Tommy crawled across the floor, massaging his thighs and calves. All in all, the Canadian researchers'' ns had failed. But¡­ while I was taking care of them, I didn¡¯t feel any sort of guilt. Just like the time I was hunting down dogs in Seoul, there was nothing human about me. It seemed like there were fewer and fewer things that could make me feel guilty. * * * I came across a couple of soldiers who had mutated into zombies while taking care of the dead bodies. It didn¡¯t feel good to have to kill them twice in the span of a couple of hours. I continued to clean up the area, spending a good amount of time cleaning up theb. Ruin approached me. ¡°He¡¯s up.¡± I followed Ruin to the storage room and saw that the brown-haired researcher was awake. His limbs were tied to the chair, and he was struggling and squirming, trying to escape. He gasped, then freaked out and started screaming as soon as he saw my face. I then ced my hand on his shoulder. ¡°The research materials,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you everything! I promise. Please, please let me go.¡± There was no need to torture him since he was willing to cooperate. He led us to where he had stashed the materials, and Tommy took his time to look everything over. His brow furrowed as he looked at all the materials. After a while, he began to tremble in anger and mutter to himself. ¡°These fucking bastards¡­ They think this research is for the future of mankind?¡± ¡°What is it about?¡± I asked cautiously. Tommy slicked his hair back. ¡°It¡¯s so reprehensible that it¡¯s difficult to describe with words. Reading all of this reminds me of the atrocities of World War II.¡± ¡°Is there enough content in there rted to the cure?¡± ¡°Yes. I think we¡¯ll be able to speed up the research.¡± After hearing his answer, I looked at the Canadian researcher. His jaw was shaking uncontrobly. ¡°I¡¯m, I¡¯m a victim too,¡± he whined. ¡°I only went along with it because I wanted to survive!¡± ¡°Whose life do you think is more valuable? Yours, or the lives of the ones who died?¡± The man¡¯s eyes darted about as he seemed to think for a minute, then swallowed as he came up with an answer. ¡°I, I can cure this virus, and they¡¯re of no help¡­¡± ¡°Wrong. You¡¯re no different.¡± ¡°No, no¡­ I just¡­¡± ¡°Since you extended your life by trusting Jack, it¡¯s time you paid the price for it.¡± I stared at him and clenched my fists. "I-I''ll help too! I¡¯ll help with the research for the cure!¡± he cried, his eyes going wide. "We don¡¯t need you. You just follow Jack, like you¡¯ve always done.¡± Without the slightest hesitation, I punched the researcher in the face. I let out a deep sigh and turned around, and saw Ruin standing still, looking at the ground. As I looked at her, she smiled bitterly. "I¡­ I also have to pay my dues,¡± she said. "Of course." Ruin sat cross-legged on the floor and gently closed her eyes. It seemed like she had given up, and was ready to leave this world. Instead of punching her in the face, I carefully ced my hand on her shoulder. She flinched, but after a moment, she opened her eyes and looked up at me. ¡°Pay for your sins over the course of your lifetime.¡± ¡°Pardon¡­?¡± ¡°Do everything you haven¡¯t been able to do for your son as atonement for your sins.¡± With that, I left the storage room. I heard Ruin sobbing as I walked away. * * * Tommy, Alyosha, Elena, and Ruin put their all into researching for a cure. Ruin¡¯s son volunteered to be the subject of the clinical trials. We were all strongly against the idea, but he insisted on helping. When I exined in detail how dangerous the experiments were, he said: - I had no choice but to be on the research table because I was afraid, afraid that my mother might die. But now, I want to fight too. I want to be of some help. Even though he had written all of this out with sloppy handwriting, his eyes were full of determination. He was a quick-witted and smart young boy. In the end, we had no choice but to let him do as he wished. While he stayed in theb as a test subject, Kim Hyeong-Jun, Do Han-Sol, Kim Dae-Young, Jeong Jin-Young and I devoted ourselves to taking care of the zombies in the neighboring countries. We didn¡¯t bother dealing with the ordinary street zombies. Instead of dealing with every type of zombie, we only went after the zombies with red eyes, ck creatures, and mutants. We took care of the ones that were a threat to humans and quickly made our way out west. This allowed us to clear out more areas quickly. We were still confronted with dangers big and small every now and again, but none of them were life-threatening. We¡¯d dealt with a ck creature with godly power before, and we weren¡¯t afraid of anything when we worked together. One day, about four years after the Canadians had been wiped out, Tommy''s research finally came to fruition. We got word that Ruin¡¯s son, a zombie with red eyes, hade back as a human. We were out in Europe at the time, and when we heard the good news, we hurried back to divostok with excited hearts. When we arrived at theboratory, Ruin¡¯s son greeted us in human form. I have no clue how to describe the feeling I felt that day. Impressive? Thrilled? Overwhelmed? None of these seemed to perfectly describe how I felt. A strange,plicated mixture of thoughts and emotions was swirling within me. The thought that I could return to my human form. The thought that I could stand in front of all of them, proudly, as a human being. The thought of finally meeting So-Yeon. However, before I became human again, there was still some unfinished business I had to take care of. It was time to say goodbye to my underlings. All of us gathered our underlings within theboratorypound. In just a couple of hours, thepound was filled with ten thousand underlings. Before we said goodbye, we each took a close look at each of our underlings who had given us everything. There were no words to describe just how much Ji-Eun and the stage-one mutants had done for me. I bowed deeply to Ji-Eun and the stage-one mutants to show them my respect, then intoned in a low, soft voice, ¡°Thank you for everything you¡¯ve done. I¡¯ll let you¡­ I¡¯ll let you rest in peace, in a ce where pain doesn¡¯t exist.¡± This was the first andst time I paid respect to my underlings. For some reason, it felt strange to think that they would no longer be with me, and that I didn¡¯t want to say goodbye to them. Perhaps ¡®bittersweet¡¯ was the way to describe how I was feeling. It felt as though I was saying goodbye to a good colleague of mine. When I ordered my underlings tomit suicide, their final thoughts echoed in my mind: ¡®Thank you.¡¯ As their thanks echoed through my mind, I bit my lower lip and bowed to them again. To be frank, they were the ones who were deserving of thanks, not me. That day¡­ That day would be a day that I would never be able to forget until the day I died. * * * One winter¡¯s day, with the cold wind blowing against my cheeks, we followed Choi Kang-Hyun to divostok airport. It felt awkward to be so slow, and I wasn¡¯t used to my weakened physical strength and athletic abilities. As we got to the runway, Choi Kang-hyun sighed right away.. ¡°Ugh, when are we finally going to be done moving all of this?¡± he said. ¡°How many times do we have to go back and forth?¡± ¡°Once we get to Jeju Ind, it¡¯ll only take one more round trip, since there are other captains there.¡± Choi Kang-Hyun burst intoughter. ¡°Man, I miss the days when So-yeon¡¯s father was strong,¡± he said jokingly. ¡°It¡¯s such a pain to have to load all this stuff into the transport ne.¡± I chuckled at his joke. As I turned around, I saw Kim Hyeong-Jun, Do Han-Sol, Kim Dae-Young, and Jeong Jin-Young all working hard to move the sr panels. As I watched them struggling with sr panels, it came upon me once again that we were all human now. As I watched them with a warm smile, Kim Hyeong-Jun shouted in frustration, ¡°Ahjussi, what are you doing! Help us!¡± ¡°Okay, okay. Geez.¡± I chuckled and helped them move the sr panels with a satisfied smile. Then, Tommy¡¯s team, along with the Russian survivors, walked over to me hesitantly. "Can¡­ Can we really follow you?¡± they squeaked in uncertainty. ¡°Everyone will like you folks.¡± When I¡¯d asked them to apany us to Jeju Ind the night before, they had smiled awkwardly and hadn¡¯t given me a definite answer. They had only started packing their belongings when I demanded that they join us. When we were prepared, Choi Kang-Hyun headed to the cockpit and announced to all of us to take our seats. As I fastened my seat belt, I tried to calm my rapidly beating heart and gently closed my eyes. It had been ten years. Ten years was an age; it was so long that anything could¡¯ve happened. I already knew that So-Yeon would have grown a lot. I wondered if she would be able to recognize me. In fact, I wondered if I would recognize her. I couldn¡¯t help but imagine how her cute face had to have changed. I wondered if Lee Jeong-Uk had been okay all these years. The questions I¡¯d pushed aside for the past ten years began to sh through my mind one by one. Soon, the ne¡¯s engines fired up, and we were on the runway. I sighed and put my right hand on top of my pounding heart. The beating of my heart felt awkward, but I realized that this was how a body filled with life was supposed to be. Pshhhh-! The transport ne shot down the runway, and I felt butterflies collecting in my stomach. This feeling¡­ It felt like excitement to me. As I thought about what was waiting for me, I couldn¡¯t help but smile. I was finally human again, and I was going back home after this long journey of mine. I was going back to the ce where my family was, where my So-Yeon was. To the ce I¡¯d left behind, to the ce I¡¯d long dreamed of going back to. To my hometown, which I had dearly missed for the past decade. There were so many things I wanted to hear from everyone from the Survivor Rally Organization on Jeju Ind, and there were so many things I wanted to share with them as well. To tell them everything that had happened over the past ten years¡­ I knew one night wasn¡¯t going to be enough. I didn¡¯t know what to say first. All sorts of greetings floated in my mind. But no matter how much I thought about it, I always came back to the same greeting. I wanted to tell everyone that I was back home. Walking Daddy ¨C Stories of Russia Fin. The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!