episode_0018

The distance from the current location to Times Square is approximately 6km.

The distance itself isn’t far.

However, he didn’t know how many zombies would be teeming along the travel route.

The saving grace was that according to the map checked on his smartphone, there was a good chance of not encountering a zombie horde if they only went a little further.

‘Past the main road, then Gocheok Bridge. There are relatively few residential areas around there.’

Quickly scanning the map, he led Dong-woo to a place where clothes were displayed in abundance.

He tossed a pair of jeans to Dong-woo and began tearing other pairs.

“Hyung-nim. Why jeans all of a sudden…?”

“Minimum armor. Even though zombies look like monsters, they were originally people, you know?”

He briefly explained to Dong-woo, who, despite his confusion, meekly followed his words.

“With a human’s biting power, it’s hard to pierce through things like jeans. It’s a precaution.”

Rip!

As he tore the jeans in his hands into suitable sizes, Dong-woo, who was changing clothes nearby, watched with wide eyes. Perhaps curious, he tried it himself, but only his hands grew numb.

“No, this isn’t tearing. How did you do that?”

Dong-woo’s flustered expression as he shook his reddened hands made him chuckle for no reason.

“I told you. I’m strong. Give me your arm.”

He wrapped the torn cloth pieces around Dong-woo’s body.

Arms, thighs, and calves, and just in case, around his neck too.

After wrapping them haphazardly, he pulled out duct tape from his inventory, pretending to take it from his bag, and finished the job.

“Aren’t you doing it, Hyung-nim?”

“I’m fine. It would just get in my way.”

Since he only applied defensive measures to Dong-woo, Dong-woo seemed to worry about him.

But right now, it would just be cumbersome.

“You might look funny, but it’ll at least be a precaution. Follow me.”

He immediately moved to the camping gear section, and Dong-woo, following behind, flinched in horror.

“Um… did you catch all these zombies, Hyung-nim??”

“To some extent.”

Even if he said he caught them all, it would be unbelievable.

He had the ability to fight, but an ordinary citizen wouldn’t.

Without weapons, pushing them away and running would be the best option.

It wasn’t unreasonable for Dong-woo to be curious.

Since gun ownership isn’t possible like in foreign countries, people’s ability to protect themselves is severely diminished. Not to mention that cold weapons like swords get you arrested for carrying a deadly weapon.

It’s ironic that Korea’s excellent public security has actually nullified people’s self-protection abilities in this situation.

‘Would it have been different if they had weapons?’

It might not have been drastically different, but the situation might have been slightly better.

He shook off his miscellaneous thoughts and rummaged through the items he hadn’t packed.

‘So this is how I end up using this.’

He found the protective gear that came with the bicycle.

Elbow and knee pads. A helmet for the head.

Unless it was higher-performance armor, he had no use for it.

“Hyung-nim… it’s hot.”

“Bear with it. These are what will protect your body, at least. And listen carefully.”

Dong-woo, fully geared up, was quite a sight to behold.

He struck a simple pose and demonstrated defensive movements as if miming.

A pose slightly lowered, with the left arm seemingly blocking forward.

He made Dong-woo imitate him while quickly continuing his explanation.

“Think of it as facing a dog. Block with your left arm and attack with your right.”

He drilled this into Dong-woo, who clumsily mimicked the movements.

“Never make a loud noise. Don’t panic. Stay right by my side. What I’m teaching you now is only for emergencies. I’m not telling you to fight. Understand?”

“Yes. Yes.”

“Then wait here for a moment.”

Dong-woo flinched at his words.

“Just now you were possessed by Lu Bu, but now you’re such a coward?”

“Ah, no, just now…”

“It’s okay, just stay for a moment. Don’t make loud noises. You saw the zombies that died nearby, didn’t you?”

He moved just far enough so Dong-woo couldn’t see and repacked his bag.

Water, electrolyte drinks, and food for people to eat.

He quickly took them out of his inventory and stuffed them into a large bag.

He also took out a crowbar beforehand and securely tied it to the side of the bag.

It was a bit heavy, but he wasn’t going to carry it anyway.

He immediately returned to Dong-woo, who was holding a hiking stick in his hand.

Dong-woo scratched his cheek awkwardly under his gaze.

“Well… I thought it’d be good to have something in my hand, haha.”

“Then use this.”

He handed him a black-painted hand axe and said.

“Aim for the head with it. Nowhere else is effective.”

“…Okay.”

“I’ll handle the zombies. Don’t step forward.”

“Understood!”

“You carry the bag.”

It ended with Dong-woo grunting as he hoisted the backpack onto his shoulders.

As they walked, he told Dong-woo what he had found on the map.

There wasn’t much of a plan, but he told Dong-woo to avoid panicking, and Dong-woo simply nodded quietly after hearing it.

He must have been scared, but seeing him grit his teeth and summon his courage was endearing.

He took out chocolate bars from the front pocket of Dong-woo’s bag and ate them one by one.

“You must be scared, going outside into danger without proper rest, but don’t worry.”

“I’m fine.”

“Okay.”

“By the way, Hyung-nim. Where are your grandparents?”

He must have forgotten to mention it. No wonder Dong-woo had been looking at him cautiously, like a dog needing to go to the bathroom. He’d been so meek that he’d become careless.

“Ah, I didn’t tell you. My bad. They’re at Yeongdeungpo Times Square.”

“It’s not far from here! We can get there quickly!”

That’s right. The distance isn’t far.

The problem is what’s on the streets.

He gave Dong-woo a few instructions and soon approached the Holy Sale exit.

He turned back slightly and scanned the interior of Holy Sale, feeling grateful.

It was truly a shocking supermarket in many ways.

‘Thanks for the encounter, let’s meet again at another branch.’

He said to Dong-woo, who had stopped and was looking at him.

“Once we’re outside, just do exactly as I say. Okay?”

“Okay.”

“Don’t be too scared. Let’s go.”

“Hyung-nim.”

“What now?”

He must have been really scared…

“Thank you. For helping me.”

“……Save your thanks for later. Do it after we’ve safely escorted your grandparents.”

It was too early to accept thanks, and feeling unnecessarily awkward, he looked up at the sky.

The sky was slowly dawning.

He hadn’t slept properly for almost 3 days, but it wasn’t a problem for him.

Dong-woo was the problem, but after a short rest, his condition didn’t look bad.

They diligently walked, bathed in the cool autumn morning air.

Perhaps they were lucky, as there were no zombies immediately visible.

However.

Grooooan- Uuuuuugh-

The distant cries of zombies echoed from all directions.

To him, it was merely annoying, but it seemed to be a significant blow to Dong-woo.

His breathing grew ragged, and his shoulders hunched deeply.

He worried that Dong-woo, glancing around anxiously, might panic.

‘There’s nothing I can do about that. Maybe it’ll be better if I show him how I deal with them.’

He was concerned that Dong-woo might shake until he collapsed from exhaustion.

He wanted to leave Dong-woo in a safe place, but where was safe now?

It was much better to keep him by his side.

It wasn’t a problem that could be solved with mere words of comfort, so they walked in silence.

Fortunately, Dong-woo followed well, and they advanced towards Gocheok Bridge.

As they walked, they emerged onto a street where a main road was visible.

The road was a mess of abandoned cars, and the ground was stained with bloodstains.

The sun was slowly rising, but the city had ceased to function. Instead of noise, the zombies’ cries filled the air, creating a desolate rather than vigorous morning atmosphere.

No zombies were visible yet.

As he continued walking and inspected the ground, he realized that zombies had indeed been there.

On the ground, there were not many, but blood-stained footprints were haphazardly imprinted.

Seeing the scattered traces here and there, he could roughly envision the situation.

‘People abandoning their cars and fleeing. Zombies chasing behind them.’

There were traces of escape in all directions, but he could generally tell.

‘They headed towards the heart of the city.’

People must have run towards places where there were many people who could offer help.

Naturally, the zombies would follow them…

One side was an area with many residential and commercial facilities.

The opposite side had Gocheok Sky Dome and park facilities.

They were lucky.

There were relatively fewer people, and what few there were had congregated on one side.

He felt sorry for the victims, but their movement was much easier.

Walking diligently in silence, he only realized their luck had run out upon reaching the end of Gocheok Bridge.

“Hyung-nim…. What do we do?”

“……”

Zombies, packed densely, visible across the bridge.

It wasn’t enough to create the illusion of overflowing masses like before, but there were many.

‘There’s no time. Is there no other way?’

If his calculations were correct, Dong-woo’s grandparents had already endured three days. He knew that an average adult reaches a dangerous level if they don’t drink water for three days. How much more so for elderly people? He had to hurry as much as possible. He gazed at Dong-woo, who was blinking his innocent eyes and looking at him.

“You want to save your grandmother and grandfather, right?”

“Of course. No matter what, I’ll definitely save them.”

“Then let’s make one more promise.”

“What promise?”

He didn’t speak at length. After all, it was a good deed.

“Promise me that from now on, you won’t tell anyone about what you see or hear.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“No time. Are you going to do it or not?”

“…I don’t know what you mean, but okay. I promise.”

Dong-woo made a bewildered, suspicious expression, but without arguing, he turned his back.

“Get on my back.”

“Huh??”

“Get on my back, quickly!”

He hurried Dong-woo, who was flustered and equivocating at the command to get on his back.

“Use your legs too and hold on tight. Hang on like a cicada.”

“L-Like this?”

“Never let go of me, and don’t let go of the axe either. If you scratch my face with that axe, you’re dead.”

“Okay. Hyung-nim, but are you going to run?”

“Yeah. I’m going to run.”

“Hyung-nim, I’m good at running too. I’m confident.”

He chuckled at that.

Dong-woo~ Dong-woo~

“But you’re probably not as good as me, are you?”

With Dong-woo, who seemed to weigh over 90kg, and a backpack weighing over 10kg on his back, it was no problem.

It felt, one might say, like a light weight.

After confirming Dong-woo was holding on tight, he slowly began to run.

Without another word, he ran towards the zombies filling the path ahead, and he could hear Dong-woo’s breathing grow ragged. As the distance to the zombies shortened, he began to accelerate.

“Huh? Whoa?”

Dong-woo was flustered by the unusual speed.

It was too early to be surprised, what to do?

He quickly estimated the height of the buildings and measured the distance.

“Hyung-nim! Hyung-nim! Zombies! Zombiiiiies!”

“Hold on tight.”

He leaped once, as if kicking off the ground.

The moment he quickly leaped over the zombies and landed.

Thud-!!

“U-Uwaaaaaaaah!!!”

A big jump! Reviving the sensation he’d mastered before, he sprang up like a coiled spring.

He felt the ground shatter from the recoil of his powerful leg strength as he jumped, and in just a moment, he landed easily on the roof of the target building.

“Aaah! Aaah! Aaah!!”

“Ugh! Quiet! Don’t yell into my ear!”

“Nooo!!!”

“Still going!”

“No, wait! Hyung! Hyung! Nghaaaaaah!”

At the jumps that defied common sense, Dong-woo was on the verge of fainting.

But seeing him still holding on tight, he was indeed good at following orders.

Thud-!! Kyaaaaah!

Thud-!! Guaaaah!

Leaping high and feeling the wind split against his entire body was a surprisingly pleasant sensation. It was a pity that Dong-woo couldn’t understand this coolness—

“Kwoooooooh!!”

His eardrums were pitiful too.

Still, thanks to the sacrifice of his eardrums, they were able to significantly reduce travel time.

He landed on a shallow two-story building and set Dong-woo down.

“H-gasp! H-gasp! H-uuuuugh!”

He watched Dong-woo, sprawled on the ground, gasping for breath, and took out a cigarette and lit it.

Phew~

Glare!!

The guy who had been clinging to his back like a cicada just moments ago was now staring at him with oddly cold, disapproving eyes. His gaze was full of unspoken questions and things he wanted to say.

“I know what you want to say, but it’s not like that.”

“You said we’d run! You said we’d run!”

“Ah. That’s what it was. But I did run, didn’t I? Such an exaggeration over that. Wasn’t it fun?”

Dong-woo merely trembled at the sight of him cackling while exhaling cigarette smoke.

Thanks to that, it was a relief to see Dong-woo’s tension had eased somewhat, as he was speaking a little more. It was much better than him being too stiff to do anything.

“…Hyung-nim. What are you?”

“I told you it’s not like that.”

“No, this makes no sense!”

“And zombies walking around makes sense, does it?”

“Ah, Hyung-nim!”

“Enough. Don’t forget your promise not to tell anyone.”

He had no particular excuse, so he cut him off. What if he didn’t keep the promise?

‘My future self will handle it.’

As he changed the subject, Dong-woo, sensing the mood, didn’t ask further and seemed to scan their surroundings, observing the street.

“Hyung-nim, the buildings here are very old.”

“When I came here before, there weren’t many people either. It hadn’t been redeveloped.”

An area filled with old, dilapidated buildings.

A district where redevelopment hadn’t been completed.

It was vastly different from the bustling area and the tall Times Square building right in front of them. Coupled with the zombie apocalypse, the already desolate neighborhood now felt eerie.

【High Crime Area】 – Please refrain from night travel.

A notice hanging on a low utility pole.

They were passing through an alley that was dangerous, yet in another sense, safe.