Ch.1010. Gathering Survivors (2)

“Kim Tae-hyun, a teaching assistant in the Department of Food Service and Culinary Arts at Seorabeol University, sighed after another unchanging day.

“Again today…”

Kim Tae-hyun had been an ordinary student with no special abilities.

But that was only before the zombie apocalypse happened.

Now, Kim Tae-hyun was just a pitiful, unfortunate young man living each day in fear with his family.

“No news again today.”

Tae-hyun was relatively lucky, all things considered.

As a teaching assistant in the Food Service and Culinary Arts department, he had been picking up large quantities of ingredients by truck for lectures right before the zombie apocalypse occurred.

Even on the day the zombie apocalypse broke out, Tae-hyun had woken up early to load food ingredients into a refrigerated truck, and was on his way to the university when he quickly realized what was happening.

“Even Mr. Park from the neighborhood finally left.”

Tae-hyun had been driving a refrigerated truck loaded with food supplies prepared for lectures, so he had relatively abundant food resources. Thanks to this large quantity of food, he didn’t have to leave his beloved home.

The neighboring survivor who used to share survival news with him had finally run out of food at home and was forced to leave, becoming a wanderer searching for daily sustenance.

With a house he could fortify and some remaining food supplies, Tae-hyun was considered well-off among the survivors in this area.

“Damn. I’d like to smoke a cigarette.”

Even cigarettes, once commonly found at convenience stores, had become luxury items in this era.

Self-deprecatingly thinking he was asking for too much, Tae-hyun wondered how long his luck would last.

Though he had been lucky enough to survive comfortably so far, he didn’t think that luck would continue forever.

“Oppa, are you okay…?”

“Yeah. Um. I’m fine. Stay inside. It’s dangerous outside.”

“Okay.”

At least he still had family to protect.

His father, mother, and younger sister were all safe.

Considering how many neighbors had abandoned their homes in despair after failing to protect their families, Tae-hyun had weathered the disaster relatively well.

“If I had been even a little late in making decisions, I wouldn’t be here.”

Moreover, on his way home after recognizing the zombie apocalypse disaster, he had luckily Awakened by killing zombies with his truck.

Thanks to that, when Tae-hyun returned home, he had the strength to save his parents and sister from attacking zombies.

“I was really lucky. To Awaken at just the right time. And that my family members were just about to leave for work or school.”

He truly had been fortunate.

He had gone out early in the morning to prepare for lectures and noticed the zombie apocalypse situation on his way to the university.

If he had been even slightly delayed, while early-rising Tae-hyun might have been fine, his family members who were about to leave for work or school would have likely perished.

“I wonder if the department students and professors are okay.”

After saving his family, Tae-hyun unloaded all the food from the truck and stored it at home.

He felt somewhat guilty toward the university professors and students in his department, but he thought it couldn’t be helped.

By now, going back to the university was impossible with zombies filling the streets.

Rationalizing that it was too late to return to the university with the food truck, Tae-hyun sorted the ingredients, calculated their shelf life, and created a meal plan to last as long as possible.

“When will the government rescue we’ve been waiting for finally arrive?”

Tae-hyun and his family had just one goal.

To wait for government rescue until their food ran out.

Of course, he had thought about using his Awakened powers to make a difference, but he soon realized that the brutal scenes of the zombie apocalypse they had witnessed were etched into their minds, becoming trauma for Tae-hyun and his family.

“Social media and the internet weren’t to be trusted.”

Besides, Tae-hyun’s judgment hadn’t been entirely wrong at the time.

Despite the zombie apocalypse, city gas hadn’t been cut off, water and electricity were still working properly, and the internet was functioning, allowing them to get news from outside.

So even in the sudden zombie apocalypse situation, they could maintain faith that the country was responding appropriately.

Of course, it took over a month or two to realize that this faith was an illusion.

“Now the gas is cut off, and the electricity too. Water’s gone as well. At least for water… I collected some just in case.”

First the gas was cut off, then the electricity, and finally the water.

Tae-hyun hadn’t just been sitting around; he had worked with other survivors to clear zombies around the house, and the internet itself hadn’t been cut off yet, allowing contact with the outside world.

However, the fact that he could still contact the outside world seemed to make Tae-hyun more desperate.

“Ha. The survivor camp was completely wiped out?”

He had heard through the internet that the largest survivor camp in Gyeongju city had been attacked and annihilated.

While there was a good chance it was false information circulating on internet community boards, subsequent evidence photos and testimonies proved it to be true.

The news that a relatively large camp in Gyeongju had fallen gave Tae-hyun a great sense of despair.

“Is it possible to hold out any longer?”

His family was gradually becoming exhausted.

The food brought by the refrigerated truck was running out, and if they didn’t find food elsewhere, they might starve to death.

To get more food, they would have to raid houses with canned food or ramen, or take it from someone else.

Tae-hyun didn’t have the heart to raid other people’s homes or attack others, and even if he steeled himself to do so, other people would have also Awakened through the zombie apocalypse, making it no easy task.

As he sighed at the invisible future ahead…

“Then, let’s all work together. To rebuild the collapsed order.”

A mysterious girl appeared before him.

“Is this some cult thing? Not interested.”

At first, hearing only those words, he thought she was a member of a cult that had been proselytizing based on apocalyptic theories.

Kim Tae-hyun didn’t turn to look at the source of the voice, just gesturing for her to go away, but the girl who heard his words spoke to Tae-hyun in a somewhat angry voice.

“A cult? Ha. I’m completely different from those incompetent people who just preach empty apocalyptic theories. I… sincerely want to normalize Gyeongju.”

“Normalize…? But who are you…?”

Seemingly interested in the mention of normalizing Gyeongju, Tae-hyun looked toward the voice, and soon understood the reason for her confidence.

She looked like someone from a completely different world than the zombie apocalypse.

Until she arrived, even cult members who risked their lives to proselytize around the neighborhood were in poor condition like Tae-hyun, with greasy hair and dirty clothes stained with sweat and oil.

Since the city’s water supply had been completely cut off, clean water had become a precious resource, and naturally, water for grooming and laundry had to be conserved.

‘Clean clothes and clean hair. Even a smile full of composure… Does she really have resources to spare?’

But the girl before him was different.

Her mysteriously shining platinum blonde hair wasn’t greasy like Tae-hyun’s, but glossy like a YouTube model’s.

Her face was clean and neat as if freshly washed, and the clothes she wore weren’t dirty and oil-stained but clean, well-laundered, and well-dried.

Tae-hyun knew best how much effort it would take to maintain such an appearance and attire in the current situation.

‘With that appearance, I might be willing to be deceived just once.’

If all this was to deceive Tae-hyun, he felt like he wanted to be deceived just this once.

There were almost no survivors in Gyeongju city with such composure.

Among rumors circulating outside, there were groups of Awakened who exploited ordinary people and other Awakened, but even they were just as dirty.

‘Wait? Her hair and eye color are different, but.’

Moreover, the girl before him happened to be someone Kim Tae-hyun knew.

With an expression of disbelief, Tae-hyun stared at the girl’s face and called her name.

“You’re… Ms. Choi Yu-na? Yu-na?”

The kind healer girl who belonged to the largest survivor camp in Gyeongju city.

The only one in Gyeongju who had Awakened with healing abilities, she had provided free treatment not only to ordinary people and Awakened in the survivor camp but also to those who came to her.

Before the survivor camp split up, Kim Tae-hyun had also been treated by Choi Yu-na, and his family had recovered from injuries thanks to her treatment.

When they lacked medical supplies at home, Yu-na’s treatment was nothing short of a miracle, and Kim Tae-hyun sincerely appreciated Yu-na for treating him and his family for free.

That feeling seemed unchanged even now.

“I’m glad you’re safe.”

“Yes, I’m safe.”

With a genuinely relieved expression, he was comforted by Yu-na’s safety.

When the survivor camp collapsed, Tae-hyun had prayed to God that Yu-na would be safe, so this was truly fortunate for him.

Although he was concerned that her originally black hair had changed to platinum blonde, when Tae-hyun had met Yu-na, her hair was already in the process of turning completely white due to extreme stress.

So he could think that her stress-bleached hair had been dyed platinum blonde, but.

‘But can an amateur dye such beautiful platinum blonde hair? Moreover, was Yu-na’s eye color… blue?’

Kim Tae-hyun felt that the Yu-na before him looked mysteriously different from before, wondering if mere hair dye could create such vivid platinum blonde.

If before she was a kind girl with healing abilities, now she seemed to possess transcendent powers.

‘A saint?’

Yes, she was like a saint commonly depicted in subculture.

As if entranced by Yu-na’s appearance before him, Tae-hyun asked her:

“By the way, what are you talking about? Normalizing Gyeongju? What exactly…?”

“It’s simple. Restoring order. I’m asking if you want to reclaim our ordinary daily lives.”

And the kind healer who had treated countless survivors in Gyeongju asked him if he wanted to find his ordinary life again.