Chapter 4: Survivors (1)

Seo Ha-eun, a first-year student at Jingwang High School.

Ha-eun had started living alone in an officetel near her new school since the beginning of this year. It was because family circumstances made commuting difficult.

Unlike her old neighborhood, this was a new and unfamiliar environment.

Still, she had adapted relatively quickly. She was often told that she had excellent adaptability.

However, this time was an exception.

“Wh-what is this…?”

The appearance of monsters reminiscent of zombies. People bitten by them, turning into the same zombies.

Beyond adapting, it didn’t even feel real. As she stood there dazed, another strange phenomenon occurred before her eyes.

[Congratulations.]

[You have been chosen.]

[Class: Shadow Assassin]

A message that looked like something you’d see in a game.

Following the subsequent message, when she muttered “Status,” a new window appeared.

[Name]: Seo Ha-eun

[Class]: Shadow Assassin

She couldn’t understand any of it.

Ha-eun stared blankly at the horrific scene beyond the window. It was a full day later when she finally emerged from her confusion.

Waking up to find the scenery unchanged, Ha-eun finally decided to accept reality.

‘This isn’t a dream.’

Having accepted that this situation was real, she immediately sprang into action. First, since she had gained a few skills yesterday, she decided to try them out.

[Active: Shadow’s Eye (Lv.1)]

-See through doors and walls.

▷Effective Range: Within 10m radius

▷Activation Time: Constant

▷Command: Shadow’s Eye

The fortunate thing was that there seemed to be a skill that could be helpful. So she placed her palm on the front door and softly muttered.

“Shadow’s Eye.”

Then an amazing thing happened.

The front door and walls became semi-transparent, revealing the scene in the corridor.

In this process, Ha-eun discovered five zombies wandering the corridor.

‘It’ll be difficult to go out right away.’

Having assessed her situation, Ha-eun pondered how long she could hold out in this room.

First, the presence of food.

A moment later, Ha-eun found a bag of snacks and a bottle of water that could barely be called provisions, and frowned.

“If I’d known this would happen, I should have developed more of a snacking habit…”

This amount would last three days at most, even if rationed carefully. That meant that by the third day, she would have to go outside, whether she lived or died.

After completing this survival-critical check.

The next thing she did was try calling her family and friends.

“…No answer.”

The call connected, but no one picked up. An ominous feeling crept up. Ha-eun shook her head vigorously.

Surely they must be safe. They probably lost their smartphones while fleeing, or the power was off so they couldn’t answer.

Thinking this way, she was about to move on when.

“Ah!”

Suddenly Ha-eun’s eyes widened.

Along with the thought of smartphones being turned off, she remembered something she had forgotten. So she hurriedly connected her smartphone to the charger.

The charging notification that followed.

Ha-eun breathed a sigh of relief.

“Charging still works, at least.”

Was it because only a day had passed since the world went strange? The electricity was still working normally.

Ha-eun plugged the charger into a power bank as well and launched the map app on her smartphone.

She had only one goal.

To capture as many screenshots of the enlarged nearby map as possible while the communication network was still alive.

‘I need to save as much as I can.’

She captured not only this area but also the route to her family home, one by one. The busy work finally ended late at night.

On the morning of the second day.

Ha-eun began making concrete plans.

First, procuring food directly linked to survival was the top priority. The method she came up with was to visit the convenience store near the back entrance on the first floor of the officetel.

‘Going out empty-handed is suicide.’

Of course, Ha-eun wasn’t empty-handed.

She had various skills at her disposal.

[Passive: Shadow Walk (Lv.1)]

-Move while erasing your presence.

Though the explanation was extremely simple, if this was true, it meant that within the effective range, no one would be able to detect Ha-eun’s presence.

So she decided to test it.

Zombies wandering the corridor.

At a glance, they all seemed to be within the effective range, so Ha-eun opened the front door without hesitation.

Gulp!

Swallowing dryly, she carefully stepped out into the corridor.

And indeed, the zombies did not detect Ha-eun, and having successfully verified the skill, she immediately returned to her room.

“Huff, huff!”

Though she had only gone out and come back briefly, cold sweat beaded on Ha-eun’s forehead. Taking deep breaths to shake off the tension, Ha-eun clenched her fists.

‘Alright. With this…!’

Somehow, it seemed possible to make the trip.

Next, Ha-eun recalled the information about the skill given as a tutorial reward.

[Assassination: Shadow Smash (Lv.1)]

-Secretly crush the target’s weak spot.

▷Attack Power: +500%

▷Energy Consumption: 20

▷Cooldown: 15 minutes

This meant a skill that could perfectly subdue a target, whether zombie or human, limited to one at a time. The explanation was much more intuitive than Shadow Walk.

‘I should use this in an emergency.’

If by any chance she was detected by a zombie or cornered, it would be used as a last resort.

Ha-eun made this resolution.

After meticulously planning further, she finished the second night. And finally, the day of execution was right around the corner.

‘Now there’s no food left.’

No water, not even crumbs of snacks.

She had to go outside and obtain food somehow to be able to make the next plan.

Ha-eun put on the motorcycle helmet her sister had forgotten when she visited last week.

Though it had the disadvantage of narrowing her field of vision, it could protect against zombie attacks.

‘Next, I need to pack…’

Smartphone, power bank, charger.

She packed all her underwear and socks.

In case she got caught up in trouble and couldn’t return.

Finally, after changing into comfortable gym clothes, she stood in front of the front door.

The door becoming transparent in an instant.

Beyond it, the sight of a single zombie standing blankly in the corridor.

‘Huh? Why is there only one?’

Until yesterday, there were at least five.

Ha-eun tilted her head in confusion.

But only for a moment, she steeled her resolve once again and opened the front door to go outside.

‘If there are fewer, that’s even better.’

Carefully tiptoeing to avoid the zombie, Ha-eun turned towards the emergency stairs leading to the first floor. But at that moment.

Ha-eun’s eyes widened in shock.

The moment she turned towards the stairs, she came face to face with a zombie leaning against the wall. She even made physical contact in the process.

The zombie rolling its eyes to recognize Ha-eun.

At this moment of extreme crisis, a message of salvation appeared before Ha-eun’s eyes.

[Activation conditions have been met.]

[Skill: Shadow Smash]

[Do you want to activate the skill?]

There was no reason to hesitate.

Ha-eun immediately activated the skill, and simultaneously her arm moved on its own. It grabbed the zombie’s head and twisted it right off.

Crack! Crunch!

Ha-eun tore off the zombie’s head.

The grotesque scene that unfolded made her feel nauseous, but she barely managed to hold it in.

If she revealed her presence here, it would truly be the end.

‘…Move. I have to move!’

Forcing strength into her trembling legs, she went down to the first floor. A message about acquiring a coin appeared along the way, but she completely ignored it.

‘Just a little further…!’

The back entrance will appear. From there, it’s only about ten meters to the convenience store, where she can get water and food and return to her room.

Recalling the plan she had reviewed countless times in her mind, Ha-eun continued to move forward.

But then.

“Graaaaaaah!”

From the direction of the first-floor bathroom, something pounced on Ha-eun with a terrible roar.

It aimed for Ha-eun’s head, but thanks to wearing the helmet, it fortunately didn’t grab her. Ha-eun pushed it away with all her might and then opened her eyes wide.

Because she had confirmed the identity of what had attacked her.

‘Z-zombie…!?’

Why? How?

Shouldn’t it not have detected me since Shadow Walk was activated? Ha-eun wanted to argue, but there was no time to voice complaints.

“Grrrr! Aaaaah!”

Because the zombie lunged at her again.

Wh-what should I do? I can’t use the skill yet. Should I run away? As all sorts of thoughts raced through her mind like a torrent, at that moment.

Thwack!

The zombie’s head burst open.

No, more precisely, something that looked like an arrow shot out of thin air and pierced the zombie’s head.

The body staggered and collapsed.

Ha-eun stared at this blankly.

‘What just…happened?’

Ah, could it be someone else’s skill?

Making this judgment, Ha-eun looked around. But there was no sign of anyone nearby, and as her mind was starting to go blank again.

Whoosh!

The shining arrow that had pierced the zombie’s head earlier appeared once more. The arrow-like object pointed towards the side door to the left of the bathroom.

‘What is this? Does it mean there’s a zombie there?’

No, if that were the case, it would have attacked the zombie instead.

Then what’s the intention? As she tilted her head in confusion, a sudden guess occurred to her.

Ha-eun took out a notebook and pen from her backpack and wrote something. Then she held it up towards the direction the arrow had appeared from.

-Do you mean for me to go that way?

Soon, an answer came.

A shining arrow appeared once again in that direction. Ha-eun nodded and turned not towards the back entrance, but towards the side door.

‘I don’t know what the intention is, but…’

For now, she had no choice but to follow.

There was no guarantee that the entity capable of blowing off a zombie’s head in the blink of an eye wouldn’t do the same to a human head.

Besides, judging by how it had saved her from danger, it didn’t seem to have bad intentions.

A moment later, when she opened the side door and went outside, a shining arrow appeared once again. This time, the arrow pointed to a huge building directly in front of the side door.

‘Ah, come to think of it…’

Wasn’t a new shopping mall supposed to open here?

As she looked at the building that seemed particularly new compared to others, a guess flashed through Ha-eun’s mind.

‘Could it mean there are survivors inside?’

That was probably highly likely.

A building that had just been completed and was about to open would have fewer people compared to other places. In other words, it meant there wouldn’t be many zombies.

Or maybe the person using the shining arrow was also in that shopping mall.

‘Let’s go check it out.’

Though it deviated somewhat from the original plan, surviving was more important right now. Ha-eun approached the shopping mall, avoiding zombies scattered throughout the streets.

The shutters were down on the first floor.

On the other hand, the escalator leading to the second floor had no barriers. The entrance on the second floor also seemed to have no shutters down.

Ha-eun crouched low and walked up the non-functioning escalator. Then, as she turned her head towards the second-floor entrance.

‘Huh?’

She saw a person. A girl who looked about the same age as Ha-eun. The school uniform even looked quite familiar.

‘That uniform is definitely…’

From Kangil Girls’ High School?

She knew it well because it was a school near Jingwang High School where Ha-eun was attending. It was also known for having a prettier uniform design compared to other schools.

Meanwhile, the girl at the entrance seemed to have spotted Ha-eun and startled, went inside.

“W-wait! I’m…”

Ha-eun also hurriedly moved to follow the girl.

Just as she was about to enter the shopping mall, suddenly someone grabbed the back of her neck.

“Who are you? Where are you from?”

A low voice followed.

The one who had grabbed Ha-eun was a large man. The man, who looked to be about thirty, frowned with his nose and mouth covered by a black mask.

“Were you sent from the underground shopping center? Or…”

“I-I came from that officetel over there!”

Ha-eun hastily answered.

The man looked surprised to hear her voice. As if he hadn’t realized she was a girl. However, he didn’t loosen his grip on Ha-eun.

At that moment.

“Uncle Mincheol.”

A new voice was heard.

A voice coming from inside the shopping mall. A moment later, a boy wearing the uniform of Jingwang High School appeared.

“Let’s talk about the details inside.”

“Z-zombies are coming…!”

The Kangil Girls’ High School girl whose eyes had met Ha-eun’s earlier also spoke urgently. At this, the man called Mincheol nodded.

“Follow me. And don’t try anything funny.”

Though his tone was somewhat forceful, his attitude had softened compared to before. Finally freed from restraint, Ha-eun followed behind Mincheol while keeping an eye on her surroundings.

Clang! Click!

Soon after, with the sound of shutters coming down, the entrance leading outside was sealed off.

The empty streets devoid of survivors were quickly filled with wandering zombies.