episode_0086

I shook my head.

It wasn’t good at all to take on a dangerous assignment and then be distracted by something else.

Why did Hayura hand this over to me, why didn’t she force it on me when she could have, what did she want me to do with it?

It’s true that I didn’t know anything and felt uneasy, but I wasn’t strong enough like the old man to worry about something that wasn’t happening right away.

Starting with what you can do right now, starting with what’s at hand.

It was a pattern of behavior I had to follow while I was with my uncle.

Because the old man just started doing things without thinking, my job was to solve the tasks that were piled up in front of me one by one and show the old man the way.

We arrived at a national highway. There were multiple barricades there, as if to prove that there had been military operations there for years.

I narrowed my eyes and looked into the distance, and I could see several burnt-out armored vehicles beyond the barricade field.

It was unclear why an armored vehicle would be completely burned down in a fight with corpses, not even in modern warfare.

But it seemed clear that the ordeal that had engulfed the soldiers, including that armored vehicle, would soon befall us as well.

“Mister, but isn’t it strange?”

“What is it?”

Now we know that the mutants are in control of the mutants. We know that they are trying to crawl out of their nests, dragging the corpses under their command, either to increase their power or to find prey.

But was it like that at the beginning of the incident? It took some time for the Screamers to appear, and if their testimonies are true, then the mutants weren’t the ones that appeared right after the incident.

From what my uncle and I have seen, they target living people. They are beings who cannot think properly and they have no way of knowing that the capital is densely populated with tens of millions of people.

You wouldn’t be able to make the decision to go to the capital where there are more fish, let alone sink your teeth into the meat right in front of you…

I told this reasoning to the old man. The old man put his hand on his chin and showed a reaction that it was definitely strange.

“Does Ha Yu-ra even know this?”

“Maybe so. Maybe, since they are more expert on the guys than we are. They might even know why they acted that way.”

“What a wicked bitch.”

Because they even gave me a serum for some unknown reason.

“But that doesn’t mean our job will change right away.”

“What did I say? I just said it was weird.”

As the conversation between me and the old man was coming to an uninteresting end, we heard a voice speaking to us.

“According to the report, they will appear soon. In addition, it seems that there are places where fighting has already begun.”

“That’s why you have to make good friends. If you take out one short story, this is…”

“If it’s the request that the old man chose, then don’t accept it from the beginning if you regret it.”

“Oh my, that’s a very reasonable thing to say.”

“Don’t talk like an old man.”

The old man made a puzzled expression at my words. I said it casually because he was talking in a historical drama tone, but it seemed like the old man heard it differently.

“What did you just say? You’re not saying I look old, are you?”

I thought I misheard, but I heard it correctly.

“Ah, sir, that’s what I meant when I said you sounded like Kwon Do-hoon.”

“Hmm…?”

The old man’s expression grew even more serious. It seemed as if he understood what I meant.

“He’s a total middle-aged man. What are you thinking so hard about? Are you an idiot? You’re an old man now.”

“Hey, isn’t that a bit too much? I’m still too old to be called middle-aged…”

“That’s a strange thing to say, after handing over a carton of eggs a long time ago. Instead, focus instead.”

“Ugh.”

I couldn’t help but smile. It was always fun to tease the old man. It wasn’t so fun when the old man teased me, though.

Well, that’s what a joke is.

It’s good to have a moderate amount of tension, but when I’m with the old man, there are times when that tension just flies away.

Now is the time.

“Came.”

“!!!!!”

Along with the old man’s words, a roar was heard from the other side. It was a sound that was hard to describe. Just hearing it made my ears ring and my heart sink.

‘Bam.’

I felt a weight on my shoulder and turned my head slightly, and the man was nodding slightly while placing his hand on my shoulder.

The previous pressure disappeared and calm returned.

I took out my bow and nocked an arrow. It was for no other reason. It was because a mutant, that’s what they meant, was running towards us through the crowd of corpses.

I thought it would look like this if two armored vehicles were connected and placed vertically.

The arrow flew through the air. The flammable substance planted in it along with the blast of smoke landed where it was thought to be the head of the running man.

‘pop!’

The running guy stopped in his tracks, and all types of firearms were aimed at him as if my arrows were signal flares.

Heavy weapons, including anti-tank guns, unleashed their full firepower.

“Ugh.”

I should have put earplugs in beforehand.

“I don’t think anyone else prepared this?”

The old man smiled and pointed to his ear. When I looked up, I saw that the earplug was firmly in place in the old man’s ear.

My eardrums were quickly exhausted from the loud noise. I rubbed my ears gently and put in the earplugs I had received in advance, albeit belatedly.

My ears were still blocked so I didn’t feel like they were my own, but it seemed to be getting better little by little, perhaps because the additional damage had been reduced.

“Shut up, I forgot because you keep doing stupid things.”

After saying that, he picked up his bow again. The giant monster disappeared from sight along with the scorching heat, but if these people were making such a fuss, it didn’t seem like it would end there.

The zombies were still closing in.

“And do you do some work too, sir? It seems like I’m the only one doing it?”

“The Joker card is supposed to come out last. It’s already…ugh!”

“Be loud and work fast! Who told you to run on two feet? You got shot too. Use it.”

“Yep…”

The arrow tore through the air again. It wasn’t the same explosive bolt as before. Since the smoke had already caused no indication of where the guy was, I didn’t want to waste the arrow.

‘pop!’

The thick smoke cleared in an instant. It was the function of the arrow I shot. The principle was that the compressed air inside would spread out in all directions and push out the smoke.

How did Hyeji make something like this? Whether it was the explosive bolt or this one, if you incorporate this kind of function into an arrow, it would naturally become heavier, but it was really amazing that I could shoot it without much difference from what I was using before.

Of course, I had no intention of using my brain to figure out Hyeji’s know-how. If a non-major stepped into the realm of science and engineering guys, I wouldn’t understand anything and it would just be a headache.

The giant was standing there, completely naked. Its body was on fire and burning fiercely. Pitch-black smoke rose from its body, making the smoke it had expelled pale in comparison.

The smell of burning corpses wafted all the way here.

“Not dead yet! Hit me harder!!!”

The firefight resumed with a signal voice. Just before the smoke rose, the guy moved. What someone had just said was proven true.

“!!!!”

The guy who had been sticking out like an awl from the crowd had already been surrounded by zombies. The guy who had been running on all fours stood up on two legs, or rather, on his hind legs.

The free front legs pointed at the zombies around them. A grotesque sight began to unfold. Even though it had been several years since it had become a zombie, it had lost its original form.

That’s…

The zombies caught by the front legs were clumped together into a single meatball. The rotten blood was pouring out so much that even from a distance, the pitch-black liquid could be seen dripping down at a glance.

“Oh my god.”

“Don’t hit me, I’m going to go and do it!!! You idiots!”

Well, isn’t it already out of the realm of humanity to not be surprised after seeing that?

Are you trying to prey? Like a Screamer? You took damage, so you’re trying to absorb it and recover?

“Everyone, run! Run behind the building, not the barricade!!! He’s throwing the body! ”

The old man’s voice cut through the noise and pierced everyone’s ears. As if to prove the old man’s words, the monster’s arm was stretched back as far as it could.

Aside from the surprise, I was reflexively pulling the trigger, but the old man grabbed me by the hand and sent me flying somewhere.

‘Ugh!’

“Kkaaah!”

The sound of the barricade collapsing, the sound of the thrown meatballs being crushed… or the sound of someone being hit by the meatballs or shrapnel and turned to mush followed my ears.

“Cheer up, cheer up!!!!”

It was a sound that was clearly different from the roar from before, and the epicenter was the same as the variant. I felt like it was a mockery directed at us.

“ The pans are all!

Commander, the lieutenant’s voice burst out again.

Several anti-tank guns flew towards the guy who was laughing. One of them hit the guy’s hand as he was about to throw another meatball, and the meatball that was not thrown fell to the ground, turning the zombies into a mess.

In the midst of all that chaos, the old man was looking at me.

“Are you okay?”

“Uh…yeah…”