episode_0025

It was a long walk from there. If you ask me how many hours I walked, well…? I don’t have a watch, so I don’t know the details.

But considering that we saw it from sunrise to sunset, wasn’t it over half a day’s travel?

Since I have short strides, I will actually walk less distance than other people.

Well, I can keep running because I won’t get tired, but I’ll still be mentally tired.

At first I ran and ran, but at some point I just wanted to walk.

” The air is nice.. ”

The breeze was blowing cool and it felt good.

Most of what I’ve seen so far are houses, rice paddies, or fields.

The houses were empty, and the fields and paddies were bare and overgrown with weeds.

Did you say that if nothing happened, it would be peaceful?

You might say it’s lonely, but compared to the situation I was in until recently, I feel better now.

It might be okay to just walk around in the fields and do nothing.

….What on earth was that lab and that monster?

Considering that the monster was using resources within the research facility, it seems certain that it was an insider.

It’s the experimental record… the trailer is fixed… and it’s full of mysteries.

If we look into the internal data, we might be able to find out something, but I’m not sure…?

Since humans prioritize survival over their own work, the data itself may not have been lost, but most of the data will be stored on something like an intranet.

The generator was running, but I couldn’t confirm it because I didn’t know the password and they were trying to kill me without warning, saying I was an unauthorized intruder.

There are definitely experimental records from after the nuclear war, but I don’t know if they have any utility.

Let’s just remember that such a facility existed. There’s nothing I can do about it now.

It was now completely dark, but the night was not pitch black.

Even though all the lights on earth died, there was still moonlight and starlight in the sky.

And my eyes could see through the darkness to some extent, so it was okay.

Still, the night can be more dangerous than the day, so let’s rest.

I went into a nearby house, took a blanket out of the blanket closet, covered myself with it, and went to sleep.

Why do you move so familiarly?

Aren’t you going to search the house?

Of course, I checked each house several times to make sure there was no one there, but I couldn’t find anything useful even after searching.

##########

I don’t know how long I walked.

All that has passed so far are fields, rice paddies, and small villages.

Even though it’s a village, there isn’t a single convenience store. Where is this place…?

I’ve been walking for three days now. I’m really tired.

Once the highway is built, we can take it to go anywhere, but the widest road we’ve ever been on was a two-lane road.

This isn’t the southern region, is it..?

As I was walking along, complaining like that, I sat down on the street to take a break.

bang!

” oh my. ”

With the sound of a gunshot, my head felt warm and I fell forward.

My head hurt so much it felt like it was going to split.. No, it was already split.

Did I just get shot in the head?

Huh? But are you conscious?

I tried to move my hands or feet, but there was no movement.

It seems like I was hit in the cerebellum.

I heard footsteps running from there.

But it seems like there aren’t just one or two?

” Yay! I caught one! ”

” What the fuck. I can’t tell if this kid is a Mongolian or a sniper. ”

” Hey! Kids! Don’t leave me behind! ”

” Yeah, yeah, hey. But what did you catch?? ”

” You can see it now. It was a small white thing, so it must have been a puppy, right? ”

” Uh.. ”

There are three people…

But suddenly there was silence.

I was finally starting to feel better.

” What the heck.. You’re a kid.. ”

” Hey you crazy bastard! What have you caught! ”

” Oh, no! I thought it was an animal..! I knew it was an animal because it was white!! ”

From a distance, I look like an animal, not a human.

I really appreciate your objective evaluation, you little shits.

” Hey.. what are we going to do.. this.. ”

” What should I do.. I should just go.. to eat? ”

” Are you crazy? Are you even going to listen to what I say? ”

” We don’t even have shovels? ”

” Hey, let’s just go. ”

The men left, leaving only those words behind.

I made sure I was a little farther away and opened my eyes to check on the men.

There was nothing special about them. They were just ordinary guys with a dirty look.

I got up and checked my body.

My senses had returned long ago and the bullet in my head had gone out.

This convinced me that I was not human.

Um… yeah… I guess I should think positively…

I started following the men who had moved away.

Since you shot me in the head, I have to get something out of it.

##########

What the fuck..

I slung the gun over my shoulder and reflected on the bitter feelings.

I never thought it would be a person and not an animal.

Because of its small stature and silver hair, it was mistaken for a dog.

I don’t know why there was a child there, but I felt guilty.

I know. In this world, it’s not a crime to kill someone.

So… if necessary, you have to shoot people…

….haha……I feel like drinking soju..

My friends didn’t question or scold me any more after that.

I just said I had no choice.

Honestly, I was really grateful. Thanks to that, my mental health didn’t break down.

After walking for a while, we arrived at the entrance to the base surrounded by abandoned cars.

The gatekeeper guarding the entrance spotted us and waved at us, saying:

” Hey, you troublemakers. Did you catch anything? ”

” No, it’s a waste of time. ”

” I knew it. What are you going to do? ”

” It’s okay. There’s a way. Okay, that’s all. ”

After saying hello, I passed the gatekeeper and went inside. ” Wait a minute. ” I was about to do that when my arm was grabbed.

” What is it? ”

” What the heck. What is that thing behind you? Where did you get it? ”

” Huh? ”

What does this mean?

” Stop making bad jokes. ”

” You’re the one who should stop talking nonsense. It’s so obvious, what are you talking about? ”

After hearing that, I looked at the faces of my friends next to me.

…My friends were equally embarrassed.

I looked back to see the truth.

” Hello? ”

” Huh, huh!!? ”

I fell back in surprise. A silver-haired, blood-stained child was staring at me with a sharp gaze.

##########

It’s chewy.

It was quite funny to see a grown man get scared and fall over.

As I was giggling at the sight, the man next to the fallen man looked at me as if he had seen something he shouldn’t have seen and muttered something.

” He must have died for sure.. ”

” Oh, this? ”

I opened my palm and showed the contents.

It was a slightly pointed bullet. It was covered in blood.

” You guys put a bullet in my head, so I came with you to collect my debt. ”

Yeah. Debt. Let’s get some.

Do you like meat?

” Can you tell me about this town? ”

Meat is good, but information is important. You need to know something to use it or not.

… You may think that I am approaching you so thoughtlessly and defenselessly, but my physical abilities are superhuman, so it’s okay.

In the past, I would have been careful like Seoyeon said, but now that most things can be solved with strength, regeneration, or speed, it would be okay to just go for it.

It’s still too much to deal with a hellish monster-level enemy, but it won’t be common.

I was following the men.

Of course, the gatekeeper gave me quite a bit of trouble before I got in, but the men just introduced me as a kid with a bit of a mental illness, so I just got through.

He’s a bit mentally ill… That’s not wrong.

The village was fairly large. The dwellings were low, no more than four stories high, but there were fields here and there.

Are you farming?

” What are you growing in that field? ”

” Oh, sweet potatoes and potatoes. ”

” Sweet potatoes and potatoes are really easy to grow. Not only do they grow several on one stem, but they also rarely fail. They are like our staple food. ”

” I do grow other types, but compared to those two, what… ”

” Why? Do you want to eat it? ”

I said, glancing at the sweet potato and potato fields.

” No. ”

I didn’t feel hungry or thirsty even though I didn’t eat or drink anything for several days.

But the desire for meat has grown.

But it seemed impossible to find meat here.

People all looked thin, and there was no sign of any livestock, such as cows, pigs, or chickens.

” Where did all the livestock go? ”

” We used it all for food. We didn’t even have enough to feed our livestock. ”

Oh, that’s what happened.

” Where do you get water? ”

” It’s over there. Over there. ”

When I looked where the man was pointing with his finger, there was a well.

” It’s a well that was there a long time ago, but it still hasn’t dried up. That’s why I’m drinking from there. ”

I’m not sure if groundwater is really safe.

I don’t mind eating anything I pick up.

” What about daily necessities? ”

” There’s a logistics mart a little bit away from here, right? They have most everything there… Well, there have been some problems recently, but it’s nothing to worry about. ”

? If you say it like that, I can’t help but be nervous?

I looked at the man with a frown.

” Big.. No. It wouldn’t be good for the kid to know. ”

” Who shot that kid? ”

” Ahem…. ”

Well, that’s fine. I guess there’s no need to bother with it.

By the way, what are these guys’ names? It’s a little uncomfortable to keep calling them guys.

” By the way, what’s your name? ”

” I’m Kim Saejun. ”

” Kang Seo-ha. ”

” Choi Chun-ho. ”

” I am Dacheon Lee. ”

” Hmm… how old are you? ”

… Yeah. I don’t know if it’s a carton of eggs or a bunch of eggs.

” ……..8 years old..will be….. ”

” You’re really young.. Why were you there? You seemed to be walking alone.. ”

” I was just… wandering around aimlessly. ”

I didn’t know the way to Yeoju, so I wandered around.

Kang Seo-ha seemed to have felt something after hearing what I said, so he didn’t ask any more questions.

Instead, Choi Chun-ho began to speak.

” Are you planning to stay here? ”

” Maybe. ”

” I don’t know how long you’ll be staying, but if you plan on staying for a while, you’ll need to take on a role. ”

What role?

” We are a gathering team and an exploration team. We set a destination, go out, explore the surroundings, and catch animals to make food. We are young men, so we are in charge of this kind of work. ”

” Everyone who lives in this village is assigned a job. It’s either housework, farming, processing, repairs, manufacturing, or security work. ”

” Work that requires knowledge, such as processing, repair, and manufacturing, is done by a certain number of people, but other tasks are done in rotation. ”

It was going systematically in its own way.

” What if I don’t want to take on the job? ”

” Banishment. No matter if you are a child or an old person. ”

This might be a bit harsh.

No. In this desperate reality where survival is at stake, perhaps this is a show of mercy?

” What can you do? Even if you’re a child, you might be assigned to a difficult job, so if you have some skills, it would be better to go there. ”

” Hey. What kind of skills does that kid have? ”

” No. This is really like that.. ”

As for skills… there’s nothing like that. What skills would there be in a life where you play games or something like that every day after work?

” Hmm… Is there room for hunting? ”

” ? Hunting? You? ”

Kim Sae-jun looked me up and down and then said this.

” Will it work? ”