26. I’ll Give Myself to You. (1)

The next morning.

I set out with Mr. Hoon, Jun-hyuk, and Tae-young.

Watching the men wave goodbye to the women who were seeing us off made me smile.

The women and Han-tae are mostly in charge of reinforcing the shutters and glass walls with materials from the building, or tending to the vegetable garden.

The men go outside to strip aluminum sheets and bring back useful items from the stores I had previously raided.

They also practice archery in their spare time.

It seems to have naturally fallen into place; no one gave specific instructions, but everyone is doing their part.

The large mart still had an abundance of snacks, pies, ham, sausages, and ramen on display, and the third-floor warehouse was untouched, still full of supplies.

I believe we have enough food to last at least one to two years.

Our raid target today is a medium-sized pharmacy.

The women who arrived yesterday were in poor nutritional and health conditions.

The nurse grandmother said we were short on medical supplies, so we plan to raid the entire pharmacy.

With the three men and myself, strengthened by the Physical Enhancement skill, each carrying a load, we should be able to clear out a medium-sized pharmacy.

What about the cockroaches?

Do we really need to worry about them?

They’ll either starve to death or it won’t be our problem.

There aren’t many left anyway.

On the way to Cheonggyecheon, we passed a large pharmacy on the street, where tall buildings seemed to block the sky.

The road in front of the pharmacy was a mess.

It looked like a severe traffic accident had occurred when the apocalypse hit.

A few trucks and cars were overturned, and debris from the accident was scattered on the road.

However, there were no bodies.

The seat belts in the accident vehicles were either chewed or torn, and the area was soaked in blood, but no one was around.

Just a few severed arms and hands lay on the ground.

It’s unlikely that emergency personnel came to take them away.

They probably turned into zombies.

I brought the men to the back of the overturned truck and said,

“Wait here.”

Mr. Hoon, Jun-hyuk, and Tae-young nodded.

“Yes, sir.”

“Yes.”

With the men behind me, I drew my sword and walked into the pharmacy.

At first glance, there seemed to be four or five of them inside. Considering those lying on the floor, there might be seven or more.

I swung my sword.

And then I walked out of the pharmacy.

Crash, bang!

The sound of things collapsing.

Blood dripped from my chin.

I wiped it off with the back of my hand and sheathed my sword.

Swoosh, click.

“Come in.”

The men looked at me with wide eyes.

Even though they’ve seen it a few times, they still can’t get used to it.

They entered the pharmacy with slightly tense faces.

Over a dozen dead human beasts lay on the floor, their heads sliced or pierced.

“Phew.”

“It’s amazing every time, Seong-hun.”

“That’s our teacher. Let’s start packing. What should we take first?”

The men scattered and began filling their backpacks with medicine.

I chuckled and looked around the pharmacy.

Medicine.

It’s good to have plenty of it, no matter what.

Should I take some?

I unzipped the backpack on my back.

Zip.

The four of us filled our bags, taking about half of what was on display.

There’s probably a storage room in the back, but our bags are already full.

“You three come back later to finish the job.”

“Yes, sir. Don’t worry.”

The men nodded and looked at me.

Their eyes held a firm belief.

Hmm.

It’s a bit unsettling to be looked at like that.

I smiled and left the pharmacy.

“Let’s go.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Yes.”

 * * *

“Phew…”

My hair is starting to grow down to my eyes.

I should get it cut soon.

As I brushed my hair back, blood dripped down.

The moon in the night sky suggests it won’t rain.

“You’re back, Seong-hun hyung.”

It was Han-tae.

He seemed to have been on guard duty on the second floor.

…Hmm?

Smoke was rising from behind him.

…I know what it is.

I couldn’t help but chuckle and looked up at Han-tae.

“You smoke?”

Han-tae rolled his eyes and smiled awkwardly.

Then he ducked his head.

He peeked out again and said,

“No, no. I don’t smoke, hyung.”

“You’re still a kid. How old did you say you were?”

“I… I’m seventeen…”

Oh, well.

Thinking about it, I remember sneaking off to smoke my first cigarette in a corner around that age.

Back then, I thought it was disgusting and quit right away.

But now it’s the apocalypse.

Who’s going to fine a kid for smoking in a corner? Who’s going to make him get beaten by his parents?

With no police, courts, or government.

I shook my head and said,

“Open the door, kid.”

“Yes, hyung. I’ll open it now.”

After a moment, the shutter opened.

Whirr-

Han-tae scratched his head awkwardly.

The smell of tobacco wafted over.

“Hehe.”

I looked at Han-tae, found it amusing, and chuckled before heading up the stairs.

“Anything happen?”

“No, hyung. Nothing happened.”

“Good.”

The sound of thud, thud came from the mart.

When I went to check, people were practicing archery.

The fresh food section, the meat counter, the seafood, and vegetable corners.

They were using the now-empty corridors for archery practice. So-hyeon, Jeong-seo, Jun-hyuk, and Tae-young waved at me with bright faces.

“Bro! You’re back?”

“Seong-hun. Good job.”

I smiled and approached them.

“Practicing?”

Tae-young smiled and said,

“Yes, Seong-hun hyung. It’s really fun.”

I laughed.

“Good. Keep practicing.”

“Yes, hyung!”

I looked at So-hyeon and Jeong-seo and said,

“I’m going up to take a shower.”

“Yes, Seong-hun.”

“Bro, I’ll come up a bit later. Go ahead.”

I waved and turned around, but a surprised voice came from the side.

…A woman I hadn’t seen before.

She has a bruise on her cheekbone.

Ah, one of the new women.

She’s carrying a shopping basket with ramen, snacks, and Fanta.

Her face is pale, and she’s trembling slightly, as if she’s seen something extremely frightening.

Why is she reacting like that?

Thud.

Blood dripped from my chin.

At that moment, I realized.

I’m covered in blood from head to toe.

With two swords at my waist, a bow and arrows on my back, and blood dripping from my body, I must look terrifying and dangerous. Just looking at the woman’s face, I can tell how frightening I must appear.

It’s understandable.

Anyone who hasn’t seen this multiple times would be scared.

I must have become desensitized to the blood after so many days of being drenched in it.

The woman was trembling slightly.

I said,

“…How are you feeling? Are you okay?”

The woman gasped and panted but couldn’t answer.

I smiled and gave a slight nod before walking away.

I doubt my blood-stained face and smile made me look very friendly.

I opened my status window while showering in Ye-eun’s room.

ㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡ

Chosen One

[Specialization – Wilderness Hunter] [Level – 30]

[Title – Growing]

Status

[Health – 89/100] [Perception – 3/19]

[Strength – 3/45] [Agility – 4/4]

[Spirit – 3/75] [Intelligence – N/A]

[Unallocated Points – 8]

Skills

[Passive – Soul Tattoo Lv. 3]

[Passive – Recovery]

[Passive – Limit Break]

[Active – Precision]

[Active – Acceleration] (Auto-cast)

ㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡ

Already level 30.

Choosing the offensive specialization was definitely the right choice.

At this rate, I’ll reach the maximum level in no time.

I put 8 points into Perception, making it 27.

I can feel myself growing.

After showering, So-hyeon and Ye-eun came up, and we had dinner. I hugged each of them before going to sleep.

It’s quite…

Not a bad life, really.

Even though I’ve been killing dozens or hundreds of creatures every day since the apocalypse, and there hasn’t been a day without blood, I still feel this way.

I am alive.

I haven’t felt this alive in a long time.