Chapter 1873 – 1873. Eternal Eden
“Wait a minute! Just stop for a second!”
As I was heading towards the school’s main gate, Yang Subin grabbed my arm. I looked at her with a puzzled expression.
“What is it? Weren’t you in a hurry?”
“I am in a hurry. But we can’t just go like this, just the two of us. It’s like hell outside right now. What about the others?”
“Others? It’s just us. You and me, that’s 40% of our total power. 40% is being used to go save your boyfriend.”
I had to make a point at times like this. That way, she’d be more grateful.
Contrary to my expectations, Yang Subin didn’t seem grateful at all; her face turned pale.
“The two of us combined are 40% of our total power?”
“No, to be exact, it’s 90%. You’re about 1%, and I’m 89%.”
The remaining 10% is Na Chaeyoung. Since she got the war AI, she’s also been preparing for combat in her own way. The reason I can leave the elementary school for a short time like this is because I trust Na Chaeyoung. I figured she could manage without me for a few hours.
“…There aren’t that many people in this large facility?”
“There weren’t any people I could trust. From the beginning, it was a hassle to bring people in, in case they turned into zombies. And we didn’t have much time either. So we invested in the facility instead of people.”
People would gather eventually anyway. This place is safe and has plenty of resources. It’s natural for people to seek safe places.
Then I realized that Yang Subin and Park Haegil had been misunderstanding all along. Seongak Elementary School. It was too big a facility for just the two of us to occupy and use. They must have thought there would be at least dozens of people here.
In reality, there were so few people that the facility wasn’t even being properly managed.
“So, are you not going?”
“……”
Yang Subin lowered her head. She had even offered her body to me to save Park Haegil. There was no way she could choose not to go now.
“Just follow me. You seem to think this is just a simple zombie virus outbreak… but in reality, it’s a bit more complicated.”
The main gate and the back gate had thick steel doors installed. There was a camera installed at the top of the steel door, and a small reinforced glass window next to the door to see the outside situation.
“This won’t work.”
“What now?”
“Haegil told me a relatively safe route to move, right?”
“Now you want to go the way that guy told you? That way, we’ll go around in circles. It’s too slow.”
“I followed his advice because I thought you had a plan. Haegil told me to do that too. But now you’re trying to go the main road. That’s crazy.”
“I… Ugh, never mind. I’ll show you, just follow me.”
I stood in front of the steel door. There was no way to open the steel door from the inside. It was an electronic lock, so you needed the controller’s permission to open it. The controller right now is Na Chaeyoung.
“Dr. Na, are you watching? Open the door.”
-Be back before 3 PM.
Na Chaeyoung’s voice came from the small walkie-talkie in my left ear.
“I’ll be back before lunch. I can’t miss the lunch special from the Michelin three-star chef.”
-If you see anyone on the way who has nowhere to go, bring them back. We need the manpower.
Since the building was large, there was a lot to do. Cleaning, for example. And organizing logistics, and so on. We were also planning to farm, so we had prepared things like soil, fertilizer, and seeds. It was too unstable to rely only on the food we had stored. And we had also built a livestock pen on one side to raise chickens. And I had no intention of managing the livestock at all.
“Okay.”
Click!
The steel door opened.
Asphalt road. And cars scattered haphazardly. There were zombies slowly wandering between them.
“Huu…!”
Yang Subin gasped behind me. She looked at the wandering zombies with fear in her eyes.
“There are fewer than I thought.”
-It’s a neighborhood with a relatively small population for Seoul.
On the outside, zombies don’t look much different from humans. However, because they vomit blood when they die from the D virus, they have blood on their bodies, and if their eyes are messed up, they are 100% zombies.
Humans wouldn’t walk around like that in the first place.
‘They’re like stray dogs looking for food.’
-Cars are valuable resources. Steel is steel, oil is oil. There’s almost nothing to throw away. Don’t break them unnecessarily.
“I know that much.”
Swish.
I pulled the cutlass from its sheath. The cutlass was glowing silver because it had already accumulated power.
I ran towards the nearest zombie with the sword in my hand. Tatatat! I deliberately made noise, and the zombies nearby all turned their heads towards me and rushed at me. Zombies are generally a bit stronger than ordinary adult men.
‘But they can’t be a match for me.’
Their actions were simple. They were just trying to approach. They didn’t care what kind of weapon I had. Zombies were like wild boars.
I swung the cutlass. A slash using only the sharpness of the blade and my strength, without using lightning.
Swish!
I cut the neck of the zombie in the front.
Swish! Swish!
I then cut the necks of two more zombies that were rushing at me. Blood spurted from the severed necks. Even so, the zombies didn’t stop.
“Why aren’t they dying?”
I took a step back and climbed onto a car. The headless zombies missed me and flailed their arms around, then started tangling with each other.
-I told you before. Aim for the heart to kill a zombie for sure!
“Ah, that’s right.”
Zombies’ hearts beat. But their brains are brain-dead. They’re half alive and half dead. Of course, there’s a 0% chance of turning a zombie back into a human.
Zombies are no longer human; they’ve become different creatures due to the D virus.
The zombies with their heads cut off thrashed around for about three minutes before collapsing. They were dead.
-There are zombies in the nearby cars. Clean them up while you’re at it.
“It’s not a difficult task.”
I walked towards the car that was making thumping noises. The zombie in the driver’s seat was banging on the window and the steering wheel. Upon closer inspection, the seatbelt was restraining it. Even though it was stronger than an adult male, it wasn’t strong enough to break a car with its bare hands.
I thrust the silver cutlass towards the car. Thwack! It easily pierced the car’s armor and the zombie’s heart. The zombie’s body slumped. It died instantly.
I went around and sliced any other zombies I saw without asking questions.
-If possible, stab them in the chest to kill them in one go. It’s easier to clean up that way.
“It’s okay. Other guys will do the cleaning.”
Slicing felt better than stabbing.
I finished slicing all the zombies I could see and looked at Yang Subin. Yang Subin was looking at me with a mixture of awe.
“…I misjudged you. What are you, anyway?”
“I was a college student. Well, I haven’t been to college for a month now.”
I walked ahead confidently, and Yang Subin followed behind me. She had been very nervous, but after seeing my strength, she seemed to have relaxed a bit.
While walking on the road, zombies suddenly popped out of an alleyway.
“Kyaaaaah!”
Yang Subin reflexively screamed. The zombies nearby rushed towards us.
I first sliced and killed the zombie that had popped out and looked around. Since it was a commercial street, over 30 zombies had popped out at once. More than half of them were cases of people who had been bitten by zombies and turned into zombies themselves.
“I-I’m sorry. I couldn’t help it…”
Yang Subin said with a look that made it seem like she was about to pass out. I considered punching her, but I decided against it. That was a genuine mistake.
It wouldn’t be difficult to deal with 30 zombies with a little effort. The problem was Yang Subin. It was hard to protect her and fight 30 zombies at the same time with my strength alone.
‘We have a long way to go. I can’t waste my strength here. I didn’t think I’d have to use this so soon.’
I took out something that looked like a grenade from my pocket and pressed the button. Kwa-ka-ka-ka-ka-kang! A loud noise rang out. More zombies rushed towards us. Zombies react to sound first and most sensitively. So, you can use sound to draw their aggro.
I threw the sound grenade that Na Chaeyoung had made far away. The zombies all rushed towards the sound grenade.
‘I brought eight. Now I have seven left.’
I took one out of my bag and put it in my pocket. I might have to use it again in an emergency.
“Okay. Let’s go.”
“…I’m sorry.”
“Well, you can make a mistake once. Just don’t do it twice. You’re not that stupid, are you?”
“I’ll never scream stupidly again.”
Indeed, even when zombies suddenly popped out, she didn’t scream. I just nonchalantly sliced the zombies that popped out.
There were people walking around the streets cautiously like us. They were desperate people. People who didn’t have anything stored at home. They were heading to the nearest convenience store or supermarket. Of course, the store owners weren’t stupid either. They would close the shutters and try to block them out somehow. There were some convenience stores that distributed food to people, but they were rare.
“U-Um, excuse me.”
A man blocked my path. He looked like a college student.
“What.”
“P-Please, can you share some food? I don’t have anything to eat at home. I think I’m going to starve to death.”
“It hasn’t even been 12 hours since the virus broke out. Starve to death, my ass. If you want food, go to a convenience store or supermarket.”
“All the nearby convenience stores and supermarkets are closed, so I can’t go! Please, just a little! Please share just a little food!”
“Last warning. Get lost.”
I put my hand on the hilt of my sword. The man took a step back and was wary of me.
“That’s not a real sword, is it? It’s like a wooden sword…”
Swish!
The college student’s head fell to the ground. As the smell of blood spread, the zombies turned their bodies towards us.
I grabbed Yang Subin’s stiff hand and ran slowly to minimize the noise. The zombies that had gathered began to devour the corpse.
“Y-You didn’t have to kill him.”
“There was no reason not to kill him either.”
“……”
Yang Subin opened and closed her mouth repeatedly. It seemed like her fear towards me had grown stronger.
