episode_0008

Mutation.

It refers to an organism whose existing DNA has been mutated due to various factors.

Usually, for us humans, the recovery period is longer depending on the severity of the injury. There may be individual differences, but if the muscle and ligament damage is severe like mine, the recovery period will take several weeks even with suture surgery.

But me?

It must have been about an hour. In that short period of time, it was completely clean, as if it had never been hurt in the first place.

Honestly, I didn’t think it was bad.

No, I like it.

In a situation where hospitals and everything else are closed, you’re the only one using a bio-medkit? That would be profitable.

” Hmm. That’s good, but don’t show it off too much, and try to hide it as much as possible. People may have different opinions, but I think some people would think that drinking your blood would heal them? ”

That’s kind of creepy. Even monsters that are trying to kill me wouldn’t do that.

” This isn’t all that good either. ”

” Yeah. Rather, with this ability, you should avoid getting hurt as much as possible within the group. It’s optimal for living as an individual, but that won’t be possible forever. ”

Is this ability known within the group?

Then I will automatically be assigned to the role of gathering supplies outside.

Since they recover quickly even if they get hurt, wouldn’t they try to send them to dangerous areas? They even put guards there.

This is child abuse. Since it looks like this, we should actively use it if something like this happens.

##########

We slept and ate at a nearby place that served as a home and arrived at Highway 50.

The highway was jam-packed with cars.

I guess it was an evacuation procession.

I had to take a detour here and there because of cars stuck in each other, but I was still going smoothly.

Since it was a highway, I didn’t have to worry about getting lost. I just went straight.

Riding a bicycle around here… Life is truly unpredictable, a world where cars are becoming obsolete and bicycles are given priority.

As I was running like that, I saw a sign.

It said 1km from Immok-dong.

” You said there was a shelter nearby? ”

” Yes. I don’t know what condition the shelter is in, but it’s worth a look. ”

There are two things I wish for.

One has a friendly survivor, the other is an empty house with supplies.

The former might be difficult. In the first place, it is common for shelters to be wary of outsiders who come to visit.

The latter is when you leave your shelter and go out to farm, but for some reason you cannot return.

This will leave you with a small amount of supplies, if not a significant amount.

If we had enough supplies, we wouldn’t have bothered going outside.

We checked the road leading to Immok-dong marked on the map and the location of the X mark.

The location seems pretty close, so you should be able to find it quickly.

############

I couldn’t find it right away.

This place is full of grass and trees. There’s a five-story building nearby, so I went up to the rooftop to check the area, but I couldn’t see it very well. ” Oh, it’s over there. Isn’t that it? ” But it looks like Ha Seo-yeon found it.

By the way, my eyesight has improved a lot since I became this body. I can even read the signs that are far away. So it’s not that my eyesight is bad. I just found it later than Ha Seo-yeon. That’s it.

” There’s something strange in the middle of the grass over there, like a manhole cover? ”

” I think it’s probably a hatch. ”

The hatch was tightly shut. It was about 1m2 in size.

Judging by its size, it doesn’t seem to be a very large shelter.

We approached the hatch, picked up a large rock nearby, lifted it high over the hatch, and dropped it.

The stone, affected by gravity, hit the hatch with a loud noise.

Hmm… Is there no response after just one try?

I tried it several times, but there was no response, so I grabbed a rock and hit the hatch with it.

Bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang

” … Who are you? ”

A voice was heard from inside.

” I’m a survivor passing by. Do you happen to know what shelter this is? ”

” There is no reason to tell you. ”

” Oh, really? Hey, you. Give me some explosives over there. ”

I pretended to have explosives. Ha Seo-yeon noticed this and went even further.

” Dynamite? Or homemade? ”

” …. Let’s use dynamite this time. ”

So we pretended to set up dynamite.

To be precise, he deliberately moved around busily and made noises by hitting the hatch with rocks.

If you do this, you will hear a sound inside too.

” Wait, wait a minute. Think about it for a minute. ”

I heard that and threw a large stone down on the hatch.

” Okay, detonate in 10 seconds~. 10, 9, 8. ”

” Ah! I see! Just open it!! ”

There was a sound of the hatch unlocking.

When I heard that sound, I took out my revolver and loaded it with three live rounds and three blank rounds.

The other person seemed to be in a hurry, but just like we act, he might be acting too.

The hatch opened slowly. Ha Seo-yeon sneaked up and tried to hold the hatch shut so it wouldn’t close again.

Then a man popped his head out of the hatch.

” …. Huh? ”

The man was confused. He thought there would be dynamite, but he was confused when he saw there wasn’t.

” Oh, a child? ”

Oh, is it you?

” Don’t move. ”

I pointed my gun at that man.

” Huh, what the heck is this? Are you trying to threaten me with that fake gun? ”

Is this gun really that crude?

Or is it because guns are rare in Korea?

” Does this look fake? ”

” There’s no way a little kid like you would have a gun. ”

Are you fatally tripping over common sense?

Taang!!!!

I turned the gun towards the sky and pulled the trigger.

” Is this still fake? ”

Of course it’s a blank bullet. Why use real bullets? It’s a waste.

” Oh my. If I do something stupid, there’ll be a hole in the back? ”

Ha Seo-yeon, who was behind the man, loaded a bolt into her crossbow and aimed it at the man’s head.

” Ah.. Okay. I won’t do anything. ”

The man raised both hands in a surrender pose.

” Take the lead. Let’s get a taste of the old man’s shelter. ”

Ha Seo-yeon and I followed the man, aiming our weapons.

The shelter entrance was stepped, although it was hatched.

When I got all the way down, there was a door.

Then suddenly the door opened wide and a small figure appeared.

” Wow! It’s a person! ”

There was a little child approaching quickly, shouting like that.

Ha Seo-yeon and I quickly hid our weapons. It was such an instinctive movement that we didn’t know why.

Perhaps it was because he had such a bright smile that he felt pricked by his conscience.

” What’s your name? ”

But this kid. He’s about the same height as me.

” Idacheon. ”

” Hey, that sounds like a guy’s name! ”

Well, because I’m a man.

No, because it was. F*ck.

And then you stop? You’re going crazy.

I motioned to the man to take the child away.

” Daughter. This kid is in trouble. Let’s talk later, not now. ”

” Chii, yes~. ”

I sighed and said.

” Was this guy there? ”

” Yes. She is my precious daughter. So please, don’t hurt us. ”

” No, that’s not true. ”

However, it is not that he has fallen to the point where he would touch a family like this.

” What we want is information. ”

” Information? ”

” Yes. ”

Actually, I wanted the supplies, but I didn’t want to take anything from that child.

” Valuable information you know. ”

I got some information by meeting this man and that child.

Owning this shelter means you have significant capital.

What most people do with life-changing money like lottery winnings, stocks, and coins is to buy a house, a car, save money, or travel. Or, they make bigger investments.

Yeah. Usually, we don’t build shelters for the end of the century.

Just from what I saw while walking here, this shelter felt strongly like private property.

This man may have the assets to build a shelter, the money to do so, and the job or connections to know in advance that the end of the century was coming.

Maybe it’s possible that it’s a connection? Since the map comes from real estate.

Looking at the child’s cheerful appearance, it seems that there is no problem with his diet or environment.

There must be at least one adult female member of the family.

” It seems to me that you are someone in a pretty important position or have connections that are similar to that. Then you could get some pretty good information, right? ”

” … Wow, you have quite the observational power. You don’t look like a child at all. ”

” It’s an ability you gain while struggling to not die outside, even if you don’t want to. ”

If not, wouldn’t I have become a side dish for monsters?

” It might be a bit awkward to stand here and talk, so let’s go in and talk first. ”

As the man spoke, he went inside the door.

And we also went in and followed the man.

The man entered a room and sat us down.

The man also sat down and spoke.

” Can I ask you a question? ”

” What is it? ”

” How did you find out about this place? ”

” What are you talking about? I thought you said you were just passing by. ”

” In a world where roads still function as roads, who would bother to go through a forest of grass? And in such a remote place? ”

I know, I bounced off it once.

” I got a map of this from Real Estate. ”

” Real estate…. Wasn’t there anyone there? ”

” It wasn’t there. ”

” I see. Got it. ”

The man closed his eyes with regret. Perhaps that map was the one he had given to his friend?

Well, I don’t know though.

” Now, answer my question. What was your occupation? ”

” I’m a reporter. ”

“….. What? ”