episode_0003

I put only the things I could take out and use right away in my backpack or pockets and stuffed the rest into my carrier.

And when I came outside, the sun had set a lot lower.

So… around 5 o’clock..?

” Ah… This is difficult… What should I do? ”

Should I search for clothes tomorrow? Right now, the city is already ruined enough in this bright light, and now, if it becomes night like this? Then, won’t I hear the cries of ghosts?

I need to find a place to stay nearby.

Then a sign caught my eye.

” Ganada Motel..? ”

I just gave it a name.

It felt like it was easy to remember.

” If we keep going around to different places from now on, the sun will set.. Then it’ll be really difficult.. Since there’s no electricity, the streetlights won’t come on.. In the end.. ”

No choice. Let’s go to this motel.

Luckily, I’ve been to a lot of motels in the past.

He, not his girlfriend… because of work… when they gave me a package at the counter, there was always a condom… even though I don’t have a girlfriend…

Anyway, I opened the relatively intact sliding door and went to the counter.

There was no one at the counter. All the room keys hanging on the wall were locked, except for a few.

Fortunately, I was wondering what to do since all the motels these days use card-based electronic devices. For some reason, the electronic devices were not working at all these days.

I saw something like a radio being sold at the mart, so I put batteries in it and tried turning it on, but it didn’t make any sound, so I just threw it away.

I opened the counter door, grabbed one of the many keys, and went up the stairs to the room.

But there’s a strange creature kicking the door over there?

” Chew.. ”

This is the third time I’ve encountered these strange monsters.

But what was even more terrifying was that the monster only had the lower half of its body.

Could that be the lower half of the monster that was in the mart..? My head was spinning because of the unusual situation within the dream-like, unusual situation.

” But how do I kill that..? ”

Yeah. That’s the problem. What’s the point of that vital spot on the lower body?

Calf..? But if you kick there, will you die? Isn’t it just a brief stun?

Tear the lower body in half? No, I don’t have the strength or tools to do that.

” …. Achilles tendon ”

That’s it. Let’s break it. Then the guy won’t be able to walk anymore.

I sneaked up behind the guy.

If only I could cut the Achilles tendon of that guy who’s holding a cutter knife and stopping for a moment…!

” Ouch! ”

Suddenly, my lower body was kicked backwards and I was hit in the arm.

The cutter knife didn’t miss, but a sharp pain arose in my arm.

No, how does this guy know?! He only has the lower half of his body, but he can hear?! How?!

While I was thinking about that, I saw the lower body of the monster getting ready to run.

I quickly took out the baton hanging from my waist and prepared to beat the guy.

The surprise attack was a failure. But there was nothing to worry about. The guy only had his lower body, so it would be difficult for him to land a critical hit on me. On the other hand, I had a baton to beat him up, and a cutter to cut him up.

Let’s calm down. Let’s just hit that guy in the groin and incapacitate him for a while. I see he has testicles, so he’s probably in pain there too.

As soon as the guy ran towards me, I ran towards him too. Then, when he put his left foot on the ground and tried to lift his right foot, I struck his right foot with the baton I was holding in my right hand.

The power of the police baton has already been proven in the mart.

The guy’s right leg buckled, and I took advantage of the gap to kick him in the testicles.

In an instant, I kicked the guy’s left foot, who had stopped moving, and then cut his Achilles tendon with the cutter knife I was holding in my left hand.

I immediately subdued the guy as he was struggling with his bent right leg and cut his remaining Achilles tendon.

I felt a sense of accomplishment just watching him tremble.

But was I originally this good at fighting?

Squeak

The door in front of me opened slowly.

I’m talking about the door that the lower body monster was kicking open.

What the?! Why is it opening?!

I was so flustered that I didn’t know what to do, and then the person who opened the door spoke to me.

” Hey…? Who are you…? ”

The other person looked at me.

I also looked at the other person.

The other person was a woman who looked to be in her late teens. She had black hair in a ponytail and black eyes.

A bit of a snobbery person, but a common person you see in everyday life.

” I.. I.. ”

I couldn’t speak properly. I had been talking to myself until I came here.

The joy of finally meeting someone and the unfamiliar wariness of meeting someone for the first time.

And then, the embarrassment of suddenly meeting someone I hadn’t expected left me speechless for a moment.

” How did you get here? And that monster… is that you..? ”

I just now started to think about how I appear in other people’s eyes.

The silver-haired Anroly with the baton and cutter knife that neutralized the lower-body monster…?

(Ahhh..! What should I do? What should I do?! How can I convince myself of this? It’s the very definition of imbalance! )

Even if I were to say that the kid in front of me defeated a monster, I think he’d probably look at me with a strange look!

” That.. I did that.. ”

There is nothing I can do. I have no excuses. My whole body is covered in blood from the mart, and I am holding a bloody cutter knife and a police baton. No one will believe me when I pretend not to know this. If you believe that, you should seriously question your intelligence level.

” Really..? ”

The other person looked at me with a strange gaze.

I expected it, but it was a bit burdensome to experience it directly.

” Are you alone? ”

Feeling burdened by those gazes, I changed the subject.

” Huh.. Huh? ”

..Huh? Why are you like that? Did I say something weird..?

The other person’s pupils trembled slightly.

….No, really, why are you doing that?

” I’m not saying anything weird, but if you’re alone, I was wondering if you’d like me to come with you… I’m a little scared to go alone, so… ”

I got to the point. After meeting people like this, I didn’t want to walk alone in this ruined city anymore.

I just held on because I was forced to be alone, not by choice. It’s not that I went around alone because I liked it.

” I’m alone, just like you said… Yeah… Do you want to come in? ”

I took my luggage and went into the room she was staying in as she suggested.

And we started explaining things to each other.

” I’m Ha Seo-yeon. I’m 18 years old. I was a high school student until recently, but… the world has become this messed up, so I’m a homeless person who doesn’t know how to live each day. I live my life robbing a mart while avoiding the monsters outside. ”

There seemed to be nothing wrong with her introduction. Maybe it was because she said so many obvious things. Her condition was a bit shabby.

” My name is Idacheon. I’m 8 years old. I was evacuating with my parents when I got swept up in a crowd and fainted. I woke up abandoned on the side of the road. I felt like I had to do something, so I went around and collected various things. ”

8 years old? Parents? Evacuation?

Of course it’s a joke.

Think about it. I’m a man with this loli look and my age is like a pack of eggs! Who would believe that?

You’re going to hear me say crazy things? Oh, now that I’m a woman, I guess I’m going to say “bitch” instead of “guy.” What the hell?

” Oh my… I miss my parents… ”

Yes. I really want to see them. My parents are living in the countryside and are farming, but I can’t contact them right now because they don’t have a phone. I wanted to go see them somehow, but going to the countryside without any preparation would be suicide.

We don’t have enough food, spare clothing, or transportation. We’re heading out onto bare ground?

” But how did you kill that monster outside the room? ”

Oh, I see you’re asking. If possible, I wish you hadn’t asked.

What 8 year old kid would think that they would kill someone like that?

” I sneaked up on him from behind and pushed him. Then I stabbed him in the leg with a knife. ”

Let me just say this much. The more I say in detail, the more I will lose.

No, even I find it strange when I think about it again. Could it be that a battle mania has been implanted in this small body?

” Hey.. You must have been really scared. You’re amazing. Couldn’t you have just avoided it? ”

” That’s true, but I was a little worried about this locked room. ”

I never thought there would be a mountain man.

” Hehehe. Your choice was not wrong. ”

Looking at her with her chest puffed out in pride, I wondered. Was something really going on?

” Was there really something? ”

” Then! Look at this! ”

What she handed me were several maps.

Yeah. A map.

When you have a cell phone, it’s just a common, ordinary map that appears when you turn on the app.

But now, maps have become almost essential for recording the current situation.

” Hey, look. Do you see this X here? That means the search is over. I’ve been here for quite some time. ”

Looking at the map of this area, I saw roughly 20 or so X-marks.

Most of them were food-related. I guess food is hard to get.

” And do you see these star marks? These mark places where there are still a lot of items left. ”

The star-marked stores were places that sold various items, such as hardware stores and Daiso.

People seem to prioritize food over places like this.

” This skull sign is a place you should never, no matter what, go. ”

The skull and crossbones signs were mostly placed in places where people would likely gather.

It was a place like an auditorium or a school hospital.

” Why did you put a mark like this? ”

” There are a lot of monsters there. ”