Chapter 1876 – 1876. Eternal Eden
Park Hae-gil, having entered Seongak Elementary School, sat blankly in the first-floor medical room of the main building. It was a simple medical room, with no medical equipment, just a desk, some medicines, and a cot.
His right hand, bitten by the bug, was torn in several places. He had received proper medical treatment, but it would be at least a month before he could use his right hand properly.
A month.
It wasn’t a long time. But in the current situation with the zombie virus spreading, a month was very important.
‘If I had ignored him like that man said…’
His right hand wouldn’t have been injured.
The man bitten by the bug would eventually be dragged away and become food for the bug, but even if he had saved him, wouldn’t he have died from excessive bleeding? In the end, it was a meaningless act. All he lost was his hand and the self-satisfaction of trying to save him as a human. No, he didn’t even have that self-satisfaction.
‘If that man had stepped in, I could have saved him.’
That man didn’t step in. He just watched with cold, indifferent eyes as the man was bitten and dragged away by the monster bug.
‘Why does such power reside in a man like that?’
If he had such power, he could use it better. More meaningfully. More helpfully.
Park Hae-gil clenched his healthy left fist. There was no time to be pathetic like this. He had to prepare for the next step. He couldn’t stay here forever.
Click.
The door opened, and Yang Soo-bin, wearing a white gown, entered. Yang Soo-bin looked at him with tired eyes. She smelled of soap, as if she had just taken a shower.
“Soo-bin, did you take a shower?”
“Yeah. It was so hot, I was all sweaty.”
“What’s the occasion? You always shower at night, saying it’s the most efficient.”
“…It’s not like it’s that time anymore. How’s your right hand?”
“The painkiller must be working well. I don’t feel any pain at all.”
“I used a pretty strong painkiller.”
An awkward silence fell for a moment.
Park Hae-gil carefully broke the silence.
“…Didn’t you say you were going to talk to Yoo-jin? What did Yoo-jin say?”
“Fortunately, she agreed to sign a contract with PS Security. However, they can’t pay in money. Instead, they’ll give food and snacks for the work done. They also said that if you do well, you’ll get special privileges as a reward. The problem is, this is the last chance.”
“The last chance. It’s all thanks to you, isn’t it? They need a doctor here. If it weren’t for you, we might have died there. That muscle monster was someone we couldn’t handle. Thank you, Soo-bin. I mean it.”
“If you’re really thankful, grant me a favor.”
“A favor?”
“Please, don’t be so nosy anymore. I know it’s not my place to say this, since I was helped by your nosiness… but watching you from the side makes me so anxious. The reason you were discharged from the military was because of that nosiness, wasn’t it? And this time, you almost lost your right hand because of it. I wish you would act for yourself, not for some stranger you don’t even know. You know what the world is like now, right? Being nosy is not helpful at all.”
“……”
“Answer me.”
“……If I had the power like Yoo-jin, you wouldn’t have said that.”
“Hae-gil!”
“You’re right. My nosiness was reckless and a luxury for someone like me. It always ruined my life. This won’t happen again. I promise.”
“Thank you, Hae-gil.”
Yang Soo-bin approached Park Hae-gil and hugged him. Park Hae-gil smiled faintly and hugged her back, then paused.
The red spot on her neck caught his eye. It wasn’t unusual. July 31st. It was the height of summer. It was common to get bitten by mosquitoes. Even now, if you weren’t careful, mosquitoes would fly around.
‘…A man who doesn’t even bat an eye at a dying corpse is giving me another chance?’
Something was strange. He hadn’t known Sung Yoo-jin for long, but her personality was so unique and straightforward that it wasn’t difficult to predict her actions. She agreed to a contract with him, but she was forgiving even though he disobeyed her orders? Why? Because she was short on manpower? A strong person who could fight and win against a muscle monster?
“……”
No. It couldn’t be. She just desperately needed a doctor. That was all.
Park Hae-gil hugged her shoulder tightly.
Even amidst the unease, time flowed.
• • •
Two weeks had passed.
PS Security had changed its name to the Seongak Elementary School Security Team. More robust men had been added, and now there were about 30 people, divided into three teams.
Park Hae-gil was the security team leader of Team 1. The veteran bodyguards from PS Security were all divided and took a position in each team. They were the real power of the security team.
The people affiliated with Seongak Elementary School basically didn’t receive a salary. Instead, they received food or necessities as compensation for their work. The security team received special privileges. They could use some of the facilities as they pleased. They could just stand and watch while others worked. Zombies were basically stupid, so there was no danger.
‘Most of all, I received weapons now.’
Guns. They even received rifles and bulletproof vests. He wondered where they got the guns, but the research team leader made them herself.
Park Hae-gil had only seen the research team leader, Dr. Na Chae-young, two or three times. She stayed in the main building with Sung Yoo-jin. Even as the security team leader, he couldn’t enter the main building without permission. Only those who were allowed could enter the main building.
‘Unknowingly, ranks are being divided.’
Those with special skills could live in the main building. The man in his 40s who came in last time lived luxuriously in the main building with his wife and children. His job was a mechanic. He was someone who mainly repaired factory machinery.
The rest of the people all lived in container boxes in the playground. Park Hae-gil also lived in one of the container boxes. Thanks to his title as security team leader, he could use a box by himself.
‘This is another world. It’s Korea, but not Korea.’
Park Hae-gil headed towards the front entrance of the elementary school. He could see people playing foot volleyball in the foot volleyball court next to the playground. Even though the outside was a mess because of the zombies, the people here were living normal lives. This was a special place.
“Have you arrived? Then please do your best.”
The security team leader of Team 3 greeted him.
“You’ve done well.”
The shift change was done in an instant without any handover. Security Team 3 leader, who used to be his subordinate, looked at him with a disdainful gaze and passed by. It was because of his right hand that was injured by the bug. It was fatal for Park Hae-gil, who was right-handed.
Now, he just had to monitor the outside with the monitor and occasionally patrol to pass the time. Park Hae-gil exchanged perfunctory greetings with the members of Security Team 1 and sat in the team leader’s seat. The team member sitting next to him naturally took out his smartphone and went to a video site.
Park Hae-gil, who was about to frown and say something, soon widened his eyes. In the video, a man was fighting a variant with a sledgehammer. What was surprising was that lightning sparked every time he swung the sledgehammer. Just like when Sung Yoo-jin swung her sword, electricity sparked.
“…Who is that?”
“That’s the Thunder Emperor, Ban Ho-sung. Don’t you know him? Ban Ho-sung, the guardian of Daejeon. He’s been on the news a few times. Actually, he’s more often called the Daejeon Thor than the Thunder Emperor.”
“He must be amazing. Is the situation in Daejeon better than in Seoul?”
“No. It’s not like that. Zombies are still roaming around, and recently, Iksan in Jeollabuk-do was destroyed by variants and zombies. If you watch the unedited version of that video, it’s no joke. It’s like the zombies are swarming like an ant colony… Oh, and the military unit near there was also destroyed by the D virus.”
“He seems to kill the variants easily in the video.”
“He’s not doing it alone. If you look closely, you can see armed soldiers blocking the zombies. That Daejeon Thor bastard is just getting the last hits. He can only use lightning three times anyway. He’s a premature ejaculator. A premature ejaculator.”
“How is he compared to Yoo-jin?”
“There’s no comparison. If that bastard is the Thunder Emperor, then Yoo-jin is the Thunder God. Zeus! You can tell just by looking at the incident a week ago.”
A week ago, some crazy bastard sped into Seongak Elementary School on a noisy bike, attracting hundreds of zombies and rushing towards the entrance. It was revenge from a guy who was kicked out of Seongak Elementary School for sexually harassing a woman. The guy was beheaded by Sung Yoo-jin. His head was hung on the flagpole for three days, and the atmosphere was terrible.
The important thing was the hundreds of zombies. While the security teams were on high alert, Sung Yoo-jin ran into the zombie horde alone and sliced them all up. The zombies were annihilated in less than an hour.
“…At that time, Yoo-jin took a drug.”
“Are you talking about Bister I? I heard that it’s a stimulant and doesn’t actually increase combat ability. It just makes the pain and fear disappear, but I’ve never used it. Bister II is said to turn you into a fighting machine if you take one pill.”
“Bister II? Is there such a thing?”
“Ah, the new recruits who came in two days ago were talking about it. They say that if you take it, even a normal person can temporarily become a superhuman like an awakened one with enhanced physical abilities. And there’s something called an evolution serum… they say if you get it, you evolve and awaken.”
“Does that really exist?”
“They only heard rumors, so it’s not certain. But it feels like it might exist, doesn’t it? If I just get that, I can become an awakened one and be with all kinds of beauties like Yoo-jin… Ugh! Just imagining it is thrilling!”
“……”
He frowned.
Sung Yoo-jin was known for being a womanizer. She didn’t act openly, but she subtly took care of beautiful women. That must be true. If a beautiful woman of unknown origin came, she would never send them back. It was in stark contrast to how she ruthlessly sent away men.
‘And Soo-bin too…’
No.
Park Hae-gil shook his head.
There was no mention of Yang Soo-bin and Sung Yoo-jin meeting. There were no rumors anywhere. Sung Yoo-jin was busy flirting with different women every day, and Yang Soo-bin was busy treating patients.
“Team leader! Someone’s coming! These guys are wearing black clothes, so they look like gangsters?”
Park Hae-gil quickly turned his gaze to the monitor. People wearing black clothes were pedaling bicycles towards the main entrance. Bicycles. In the current situation where it was difficult to use bikes and cars due to the noise sensitivity and chaotic road conditions, bicycles were the best means of transportation. Bicycles were also much faster than the running zombies.
At the very front of them was a woman.
“…It’s Taewang.”
Park Hae-gil, who was quite familiar with the underworld because he ran a security company, immediately recognized the woman as Gu Tae-hee, the boss of Taewang. Gu Tae-hee pressed the doorbell and looked straight at the camera and said.
-This is Gu Tae-hee of Taewang. I want to meet and talk with Sung Yoo-jin.
