21. Sad Anger. (3)

“Grr…!”

A shiver of pleasure runs up my spine.

Ye-eun tightly embraces me and lets out a moan.

“Haa…”

Slowly moving my hips, I enjoy the warm, tight sensation and let out a long sigh.

After showering together and lying down on the bed to try to fall asleep, Ye-eun whispers in my arms.

“…Brother, when are you going out again?”

I roughly estimate the time.

“Probably before sunrise.”

“…Let’s have breakfast together… okay?”

I stroke Ye-eun’s breast and say,

“I want to, but safety comes first. Understand?”

Ye-eun doesn’t say anything more.

She buries herself deeper into my arms.

I turn her around and hug her from behind.

Slipping my hand between her legs, I close my eyes.

The soft touch under my fingers feels good.

I haven’t been getting enough sleep these past few days.

But I have to endure it.

It’s probably around two in the morning.

I’ll leave at six.

I wake up to the faint vibration of my phone.

It’s time.

Ye-eun is sound asleep.

I carefully get up so as not to wake her and gather emergency supplies from the mart again.

Then I head back to the underground passage and go down.

 * * *

“Phew…”

The fountain is red.

Three bodies in there could make the water this red.

The red is slightly transparent, like strawberry juice.

It’s just a little before three in the afternoon.

“Haa, haa.”

After catching my breath, I bring up my status screen.

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Chosen One

[Specialization – Survival Expert] [Level – 85]

[Title – Empowered]

Status

[Health – 93/100] [Senses – 2/2]

[Strength – 0/35] [Agility – 4/4]

[Spirit – 10/62] [Intelligence – N/A]

[Unallocated Points – 4]

Skills

[Passive – Soul Tattoo Lv. 2]

[Passive – Recovery]

[Active – Acceleration] (Auto-cast)

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I’ve leveled up four times.

Seven levels in nine hours.

Leveling up is getting faster and faster.

Only 15 levels left.

I put 3 points into Spirit to make it 65.

And 1 point into Strength to make it 36.

It’s three o’clock…

After leveling up, I’m quite tired from not sleeping much for a few days.

I feel like I could fall asleep right away if I lie down.

I’ll sleep deeply after today’s raid.

Then, I’ll go back in the evening.

I set an alarm on my phone to wake me up when I’m recovered enough.

Chewing on a blood-tasting energy bar, I close my eyes.

I bolt upright.

Damn, I heard the alarm.

I tried to get up 10 seconds later but ended up falling back asleep.

It’s a waste of time.

My mouth feels dry.

It’s not because of the energy bar; it’s probably because I ate it along with the blood on my lips.

I spit it out and drink some water.

“Phew.”

It’s lukewarm.

But it’s refreshing.

I slap my cheeks and stand up, picking up my sword.

The bookstore and café near the fountain have been completely cleared.

The only thing left is the path leading to the subway station.

There are still shops lined up, and zombies are still gathered in groups.

I roll my shoulders a few times and draw my sword.

Swoosh-

“Phew… Let’s go.”

I’m so sleep-deprived, damn.

My eyes are blurry.

I turn my head from side to side and take deep breaths to clear my head, then stride toward the zombies.

Swoosh.

“Hey! Stop that dog barking!”

Their heads swivel around.

“Grrrrrr!”

They run while barking.

A wave of human beasts.

I pull my sword and crouch down.

Then, I push off the ground.

“Hiss!”

Acceleration!

“Phew…”

I grab the railing at the entrance to the underground passage and bow my head.

I have one use of Acceleration left. I used it 12 times.

Boom!

The sound of beasts barking and mountains collapsing echoes from deep underground.

I’m used to such sounds now.

I leveled up three times and reached Strength 39.

Strength. Good.

The higher it gets, the faster I level up.

I’m already at level 88.

It’s happening so quickly.

It’s good, but… damn, I’m tired.

I’ll go back.

After catching my breath, I head back to the large mart building.

I don’t care if there are any scouts in the alley.

It’s quite dark.

What time is it?

Nine o’clock.

…Oh, So-hyeon sent me a message.

[Brother, something’s wrong. Where are you? Come quickly.]

Something wrong?

I was about to reply but put my phone away since I was right in front of the building and just walked in.

As I enter the building, the shutter opens with a creak.

Hoon and So-hyeon are there together.

“S-Sir, you’re here.”

“Brother! Why are you so late!”

Their expressions are serious.

I ask, slightly surprised,

“What happened?”

So-hyeon’s face falls as she says,

“Jung Han-seo… died.”

…Jung Han-seo?

Who is that?

Jung…

…Oh.

Jung Eun-seo’s brother!

I look back and forth between So-hyeon and Hoon.

Their faces show it’s not a joke.

I ask,

“When? Why?”

So-hyeon shakes her head.

“I don’t know. That nurse, Myeong-jin, said it might be a brain hemorrhage, but she’s not a doctor and didn’t do any tests, so she’s not sure.”

I nod and walk toward the elevator.

“Where is everyone?”

“They’re all gathered in Han-seo’s room.”

Creak.

The sound of Hoon lowering the shutter can be heard.

I get into the elevator, press the 10th floor button, and say,

“So this is what the urgency was about. I didn’t see your message because I was dealing with those guys.”

So-hyeon shakes her head.

“The message wasn’t about that. Han-seo just died.”

I look at So-hyeon, puzzled.

Is there another big issue?

So-hyeon shows me a YouTube video on her phone.

“Look, Brother.”

It’s a video taken by a drone.

The rooftop of a building.

A drone flying through the city.

And the city is filled with zombies.

And…

…Korean signs?

I squint and ask,

“Where is this?”

So-hyeon bites her lip and says,

“…Gangnam.”

…What?

Gangnam?!

“It’s right in front of us. It’s just a few subway stops away, right?”

So-hyeon shakes her head and says,

“Brother, it’ll take a while to reinforce the shutter. Besides, reinforcing only the first floor isn’t enough. If the zombie horde comes here… if they somehow get stuck to this building.”

…That’s serious.

No matter how strong I am, I can’t kill tens of thousands of zombies swarming in groups.

I have excellent abilities, but they come with strong limitations.

Moreover, even if I’m immune to zombies, if I run out of Acceleration and get caught by them, there’s no chance of survival.

I’ll be torn apart.

“…This is a big problem.”

I nod and say that.

So-hyeon nods too.

“I’ll do what I can. Who knows, maybe they’ll go somewhere else.”

…That’s wishful thinking.

If they turn in the wrong direction, we’ll be completely exposed.

We can’t leave it to chance.

As So-hyeon said, we need to reinforce this building.

However, the many windows on the walls.

Even if they are reinforced glass, they are still glass. They will break and shatter when the pressure exceeds the threshold.

…How do we reinforce all the windows?

Damn.

I don’t have that kind of knowledge.

While I’m thinking, we reach the 10th floor.

As soon as the door opens, I know where Jung Han-seo’s room is.

The open door.

And the people standing by the door.

That’s Jung Han-seo’s room.

Where he died.

As I walk in, people recognize me and make way.

In the room, Jung Han-seo is lying on the bed.

He looks like he’s sleeping.

Jung Eun-seo is kneeling beside the bed.

She’s holding her brother’s hand tightly with one hand.

The other hand is on her knee.

Her fist is trembling.

I look at Jung Eun-seo.

She said she felt dizzy.

A healthy person can’t suddenly feel dizzy and collapse and die.

It’s because of those guys.

Because the Cockroaches beat him up in a group.

Even if that’s not the cause, who would tell this woman, holding her dead brother’s hand, that there’s another reason?

The kind-hearted act of helping people, done with good intentions, resulted in the death of her only blood relative.

I can’t imagine how she feels.

Drip, drip.

Tears fall from Jung Eun-seo’s eyes.

So-hyeon and Ye-eun walk past me into the room.

So-eun and Hoon’s wife also go in.

They comfort Jung Eun-seo, telling her to stay strong.

It’s just empty words.

Jung Eun-seo forces a smile and glances at the women.

Then, our eyes meet.

She looks at me, covered in blood, without blinking.

I don’t say anything.

I just look at her.

Jung Eun-seo doesn’t say anything to me either.

I think I know what she wants.

And I think she knows what I know.

I look into her eyes for a moment, then turn around.

“I’m going to clean up.”

I enter So-hyeon’s room, take off my clothes, and go into the bathroom.

Shower.

It’s refreshing.

And, please.

Cockroaches.

Don’t come now.

If I see you, my sword will be faster than my words.

I lie down on the bed and try to catch up on my sleep.

People are discussing what to do with Jung Han-seo’s body.

We can’t bury him in the ground.

We can’t throw him on the road and burn him.

So-hyeon enters the room.

“Brother, are you sleeping?”

I open my eyes groggily and look toward the door.

So-hyeon is leaning against the door frame.

“What?”

“We decided to cremate Han-seo on the rooftop. Brother… do you want to come?”

…Cremation…

…Jung Eun-seo probably doesn’t want a proper funeral and condolences for her brother.

I get out of bed and put on shorts and a T-shirt.

“Sure.”

I walk with So-hyeon toward the rooftop stairs.

So-hyeon says,

“Brother, the women are going to gather and spend some time with Eun-seo… Is that okay?”

She asks cautiously.

She doesn’t want to cling to me in this atmosphere.

Right. That makes sense.

I nod.

“Sure.”

When we reach the rooftop, the cremation preparations are already complete. There are wooden planks from dismantled furniture, and three PET bottles filled with gasoline. That’s all.

Two members of the Inline Skating Club place Jung Han-seo’s body, wrapped in a bedsheet, on the wood.

They try to pour gasoline.

Jung Eun-seo steps forward and takes the bottles.

The men hand her the bottles and step back.

Jung Eun-seo stands there, looking at her brother for a long time.

Then, she pours the gasoline.

There is no eulogy.

As Jung Han-seo’s body burns, the bright flames and black smoke rise into the sky.

People watch in silence as Jung Han-seo burns.

Jung Eun-seo stands a step behind.

I can feel her gaze.

She is looking at me.

Her sad eyes are filled with anger.