episode_0013

I remember seeing in a manga once that semen acted as a vaccine or cure for the zombie virus.

Since this is also a world from a novel, could it be possible? That was my simple thought.

While dealing with the ordeal, the generator seemed to have been fixed as the lights came back on.

Hajiyu, sprawled out with arms and legs spread out like a frog, still sporadically convulsing.

Despite just receiving that huge load, semen was still oozing out from between her legs, pooling on the floor. It was a massive amount.

Despite the lewd and obscene sight, what I felt was anxiety.

Fuck, is this going to turn out well?

After sustaining an injury from a zombie, after 30 minutes, the body would convulse violently, eyes turning completely red and skin rapidly decaying.

So, I still didn’t know the meaning behind the convulsions. Gradually, my trembling body regained its composure.

Hajiyu, who had suddenly sat up, stared at me with vacant eyes.

Startled, I instinctively moved back.

Empty pupils. Could it be… she doesn’t recognize me?

Carefully approaching, I peered into her eyes.

Fuck…

My legs gave out, and I slumped to the floor.

Her eyes were filled with red.

Despairingly, I covered my face with my hands.

Did our intimacy deepen with that one act? Or is it just guilt from fulfilling my desires?

In the endless sinking feeling, I muttered to myself.

“I’m sorry, Hajiyu… I couldn’t save you in the end…”

Even as I said that, the transformed Hajiyu continued to make a rustling sound.

“No, no need to apologize…”

“What?”

As I looked up, Hajiyu was fully dressed, buttoning up her shirt.

For a moment, I wondered if my desires had caused a hallucination and rubbed my eyes, but Hajiyu was still there, buttoning up her shirt with missing buttons.

“Your methods were a bit… extreme, but… it seems like I didn’t turn into a zombie. Thank you.”

Blushing, Hajiyu bowed deeply in gratitude.

She didn’t turn into a zombie? I saved her?

“Hajiyu!”

Overwhelmed with emotions, I tried to embrace Hajiyu, but was met with a knee to the stomach.

-Oof!

“Ow!”

The pain in my stomach made me double over.

Why did she suddenly attack me? She must have turned into a zombie after all. No, if she’s a zombie, she shouldn’t be able to attack me, right?

“W-what…?”

“I-I’m sorry! To my savior. B-but it’s not the right time now. My body feels weird…”

Weird how?

Enduring the pain, I stood up.

“What’s wrong with you!? Are you still feeling feverish, skin decaying, or wanting to bite people?”

“W-wait! Don’t touch my body for now…”

As I approached to check her condition, Hajiyu recoiled, shivering and stepping back.

Her breathing was rough, and her cheeks were flushed. Could it be that the treatment didn’t work properly?

“N-no, it’s not that. I do have a fever, but it’s not from the zombie virus…”

“Then what is it? Tell me properly, I’m worried.”

Hesitating, Hajiyu suddenly exploded in anger.

“N-no, my body is… sensitive right now…”

“Sensitive? Is it because of the virus…?”

“N-no! It’s because… my body is in heat right now!”

…

In the silence, we both froze.

“You clueless idiot! Fool! Die!”

“Wait, don’t hit me, let’s talk!”

In my opinion, after enduring several bone-rattling attacks, I was finally able to calm Jiyu down.

After carefully selecting clothes from the lounge closet and dressing Jiyu, we began to assess the situation.

“Y-Your pupils are red?”

I nodded solemnly. It was true. It was also a reason for the misunderstanding that Jiyu was infected.

It wasn’t a zombie-like bright red color emitting from her eyes. Instead, it was a dark crimson, close to burgundy.

“Do you feel anything different from before in your body?”

Jiyu pondered for a moment. Suddenly, her face flushed red, she bowed deeply, then vigorously shook her head.

“N-No, nothing in particular.”

Then, as if something came to mind, she quickly raised her head, examined her palms, and looked around her body.

“Ah… the wounds… the wounds have disappeared.”

It was true. The abrasions from being rolled on the ground during the battle with Beta and the self-inflicted cuts from grabbing the blade with her hand were all gone.

However, no matter how much I racked my brain, I couldn’t figure out what was happening.

“More importantly…”

Jiyu narrowed her cat-like eyes and stared at me.

“What happened? When you rushed at the zombie horde earlier, the zombies treated you as if you were invisible…”

“Oh, that… well…”

“And you prevented infection through… intimate contact…”

She was referring to the close combat, and I tried to gauge how much I should reveal. Since she had already witnessed everything, there was no point in hiding it any longer.

“That’s… actually, I’m immune.”

“W-What!?”

Jiyu’s eyes widened, and she seemed unusually excited.

“If that’s true, then we could develop a vaccine through your serum…!”

I shook my head firmly. Jiyu’s expression became as if she had been hit.

“W-Why?”

Because I couldn’t bear to experience what the only immune person in the original work had gone through.

“That’s actually the reason why I kept it a secret. It would be great if a vaccine could be developed quickly. But what if we keep failing? What will happen to me?”

The world was in chaos. If sacrificing one person could save humanity, anyone would make that choice, regardless of the individual’s will.

Upon this not-so-difficult inference, Jiyu’s face stiffened.

“H-However, you won’t know until you try, right? Maybe developing the vaccine could be easy…”

Once again, I shook my head firmly.

“It’s definitely not easy. And I can’t stay confined as a test subject. I have other things to do.”

In reality, survival was my only goal, but I weighed it as if there were lofty principles behind it.

“Uhm, if that’s how you feel, then I guess that’s it.”

Perhaps she understood easily because of the way I had shown myself so far. Although she looked disappointed, Jiyu seemed to easily accept my words.

While still keeping it a secret from others, Jiyu nodded at my request.

Now it’s time to deal with the situation outside.

As I prepared my weapons to leave, Jiyu, who had been swinging her sword a few times, said,

“Is it just me, or do I feel lighter than before?”

“Um… maybe it’s just a feeling? After all, I died and came back to life…”

“Maybe…”

“Shall we go out now?”

***

At the moment when Yoon Siwoo and Jiyu were doing their best to hold off Beta,

“F-Fuck, don’t close it!”

As the building went into quarantine mode, all the doors were locked, and people crowded into the only working elevator.

Inside the elevator, Kim Munhyuk and his henchmen, including Kim Yeorum, were the only ones riding. The thugs swung their clubs at the people pushing in, but it was not enough.

Zombies invaded the building. The safe haven they thought they had is now in ruins.

In a panic, people with blood dripping from their cracked heads rushed into the elevator. That moment.

-Bang! Bang!

The thunderous sound of two gunshots rang out, and the two people at the front pushing their way in fell to the ground.

As if time had stopped for a moment, Kim Mun-hyuk shouted through the frozen crowd.

“Don’t fucking move!!”

With bloodshot eyes, Kim Mun-hyuk immediately loaded the next bullet. His appearance overlapped with that of a zombie ready to tear into a human at any moment.

It’s scarier to face death right in front of you than the death that was planned. Now, people fled backward to avoid the fangs of the bullets coming at them.

-Thud!

With a heavy sound, the elevator doors closed.

Ian and his group, who arrived a step late after hearing the gunshots, froze.

They had managed to evacuate without a single casualty after so much effort, only to have a victim fall to human gunfire.

Despair filled the air. From those who had resigned themselves to their fate, to those sobbing and cursing, the scene was chaotic.

What they witnessed was a zombie unlike anything they had seen before, instantly melting people away. They had no idea that Alpha was dead and that the remaining ones were fighting another mutant.

Ian, too, hung his head in despair.

The elevator had already left, and it no longer functioned. The escalator was closed from the start, and the doors were securely locked.

Ian was still in disbelief. Even if Ha Ji-yoo swung her katana like a demon, even if Yoon Si-woo calmly resolved the situation, it didn’t seem like they could handle the horde of zombies and the giant mutant zombie alone.

In that situation, Yoon Si-woo had told Ian that he had to stop Kim Mun-hyuk from detonating the bomb. As if he could do it. It was an overwhelming expectation.

Of course, Ian knew. He knew that his innate physical abilities were far superior to others. He had survived this far because of it. But in the current situation, he had no idea what to do…

Lost in his own thoughts, Ian felt someone tug at his sleeve.

There stood a child with a lifeless expression beyond his years. The outcast brought by Do-ah. He had been sticking with Do-ah since yesterday. Was his name Tae-oh?

Ian reflexively smiled. Even in such a desperate situation, he didn’t want to show a despondent look to a child.

“Are you scared? Don’t worry. Hyung will figure something out.”

Looking at the child, Ian gathered his resolve. He had to find a way to save this little boy, to save everyone, no matter what.

But to his surprise, the child remained silent and only tugged at Ian’s sleeve. With eyes that seemed to convey something, like a small animal trying to communicate with a human.

Realizing something, Ian followed the child’s lead without a word.

They arrived at a door that was the only one that could move between floors besides the elevator.

A reinforced door that couldn’t be easily broken down. They had tried several times, but the opening method seemed elusive.

In front of that iron door, Tae-oh took out a card. A blank white card with nothing drawn on it. He placed it on the door lock.

Click- a sound was heard. The lock was released.

The expressionless child handed the card to Ian. It was the master key that Yoo Min-ho had secretly left for Tae-oh, the leader before Kim Mun-hyuk took over this place, who had laid the foundation, broadcasted messages to gather people, and tried to create a community for survival.

Why this child has the key, Ian couldn’t know, but the message was clearly conveyed.

Ian smiled silently towards Tae-oh and accepted the key.