episode_0027

Sunlight streamed through the gaps in the piled-up cover.

Morning came after a tedious night.

If it had been an ordinary day, it would have been a refreshing morning, but it wasn’t.

Gloomy, but still morning.

To greet such a morning, I was now preparing abalone.

Last night.

It was an unexpected full-time night watch, but it was fine.

A quiet and calm night.

I liked quiet nights that allowed my tired body and mind to rest.

…It would have been better if it weren’t for the zombies.

All the lights in the building were turned off to avoid attracting the zombies’ attention.

Thanks to that, I was able to spend the night without any particular problems.

But aside from that, I couldn’t let my guard down.

It was because of an uneasy feeling that if I relaxed, something big would happen.

It was ironic to be on edge during the night when everyone else was letting go of their burdens and resting.

Ironically, if there were no zombies, wouldn’t people have failed to realize the gratitude of a peaceful night and the morning that followed?

I myself was already worried that I wouldn’t be able to sleep comfortably as long as there were zombies out there.

Of course, I decided to leave the detailed worries to my future self.

For now, I would just solve the immediate problems one by one.

Last night.

After filling my stomach and catching my breath, I charged my drained smartphone.

With the charger connected, I checked the current situation online.

As Shia-ssi said, the connection was a bit unstable.

Still, the information I found by stubbornly refreshing the page was…

“…It’s a complete mess.”

Various parts of the world were in chaos due to the zombie outbreak.

Videos and posts were no longer being censored, showing raw content. Every single one depicted the cruel and heinous present.

It was fortunate if they only showed things; videos that captured the filmer being attacked by zombies and turning into one, in the middle of filming, made me realize anew the seriousness of lacking safety awareness.

If they wanted to throw their lives away, who was I to say anything?

But if one wished to live out their natural lifespan, they had to act cautiously.

Even I, right now, was shattering zombie heads with a single blow.

But what if I was bitten or even grazed by a tooth?

I hoped not, but if that happened, I’d be done for too.

That’s why when fighting zombies, I fought diligently with utmost caution.

From now on, there was nothing to do but be careful, and it seemed best to avoid encountering zombies as much as possible, just like in movies.

Korea, Japan, China, America, Russia, and other countries.

Many countries were almost simultaneously being devastated.

The content was similar.

They all had in common that they were hit first by zombies, and the slow response led to widespread damage.

Stern warnings to never leave one’s home.

Do not give up, as solutions are being sought with the utmost effort.

Lengthy flowery language was attached, but the main gist was all the same.

However, Korea seemed to have been hit harder due to its initial hesitation.

The zombie outbreak seemed to have occurred almost simultaneously in what could be called major cities across the nation. It wasn’t accurate, but gathering the circulating information made it feel that way.

As if they had been simultaneously struck by missiles.

There was also content about military forces stepping in to build shelters and rescue people, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that it was hastily put together.

I didn’t have much trust in it.

Still, I could only hope that the country would somehow be able to resolve this chaos.

Beyond that, most of the content was requests for help or rescue, as people seemed likely to starve to death.

Seeing the details I had missed made my head ache.

Even after looking for a long time, there was no further gain.

The current situation only brought deep sighs.

Forget a happy life; I had to worry about eating, sleeping, and simply surviving from now on.

The bleak reality made me feel down and frustrated.

It seemed like I was doomed in this life.

Other than that, there were videos left by self-proclaimed ‘survival experts’.

Since the hot topic was zombies and survival, these contents were rising to the surface.

Checking the dates, there were old ones and recent ones.

I was very tempted by the videos that seemed to show survival manuals.

It might have been because I was easily swayed, but they seemed quite plausible.

3 minutes without oxygen.

3 hours without a safe zone.

3 days without water.

The claims that it was difficult to endure beyond these limits seemed quite plausible.

Amidst that, even setting aside the miscellaneous knowledge, there was something I could agree with.

*『Stock up on at least half a month’s worth of food and endure at home!』*

Originally, I had planned to raid a supermarket, stock up as much as possible, and endure.

Of course, I still planned to visit supermarkets, but I needed to hurry more.

For now, many people seemed to be enduring at home or inside buildings.

Soon, hungry people would come out to find food.

Some might succeed, but if they failed—

‘It would just mean more zombies.’

Then the situation would become even harsher.

The more I thought about the hopeless situation, the more I wanted to ditch the videos and everything else.

At times like this, it was good to do simple tasks to rest my mind.

So I prepared the abalone.

Preparing ingredients takes quite a bit of effort.

It was a repetition of simple tasks.

The fresh abalone I had packed a whole eco-bag full of from HomePlus before.

Perhaps they had met their end while I was running around carrying them, as they could be stored in my inventory. I took them out and cleaned them one by one until morning came.

Eventually, with my unceasing hand movements, I prepared all the abalone that filled the eco-bag.

That’s how much I didn’t want to think at that moment.

The firm flesh was put aside for storage.

Only the intestines were collected separately, finely chopped, and boiled with powdered rice flour.

I boiled it for a long time.

A little alcohol. A little salt. Plenty of MSG.

It became something between porridge and gruel.

From experience, I knew that adding a lot and boiling it for a long time made it delicious.

However, the color from the excessive abalone intestines was truly…

It didn’t suit the current situation, but it was good for the body, so I let it pass.

I made two large pots, but it was highly nutritious, so my companions would surely eat it.

But the others hadn’t woken up yet.

While everyone else slept, I simply leaned my head against the counter wall.

My mind refused to work.

I really didn’t like the stifling feeling inside.

A zombie outbreak with an unknown cause.

If I knew the reason, I’d rush over and smash whatever caused it.

Annoyance, deeply irritating, began to well up in my usually placid chest.

My stiff mind just kept repeating the question, ‘What should I do now?’

***

Tired from waiting for a long time, I decided to wash up first.

Fortunately, hot water was still available.

I washed away the dried bloodstains clinging in places.

The dirt washed away with the hot water flowing over my body.

After showering, I felt a bit more alive.

As I changed into clean clothes and drank water, my companions began to wake up one by one.

They had slept for a very long time, almost collapsing, but none of them seemed to be in good condition yet. It seemed they were that exhausted.

“Are you feeling a bit better?”

The person whose health I was most concerned about was Dong-woo’s grandmother, Ms. Park Younghee.

She said she was fine, but there was no strength in her voice.

Her complexion didn’t look good either, so it seemed she would need quite some time to recover.

‘If only there was a doctor at a time like this.’

For now, all I could do was ensure she ate well and looked after her…

It was a relief that the other companions at least had a bit more life in their eyes.

Yesterday’s grand festival of tears caused by the zombies.

It seemed they had somewhat recovered from the aftermath.

“It seems everyone got a good night’s sleep.”

At my words, Shia-ssi, who was groaning and stretching her stiff body, spoke.

“Hnnn~ I don’t even remember how I fell asleep. Seonghan-ssi, did you sleep well?”

“No, I didn’t sleep.”

“?? You didn’t sleep?”

“Because someone had to stand watch.”

At the mention of a night watch, the men craned their necks awkwardly.

“So you’ve been awake alone all this time?”

Jihyeok-ssi, asking in a still-sleepy, husky voice, was dry-washing his face to shake off his drowsiness.

“Because my condition was the best. I could endure it.”

I handed out bottled water to my companions and observed their complexions.

Their condition wasn’t great, but there seemed to be no major issues, and they were much better than yesterday.

After confirming, I went out into the corridor and brought in the prepared dishes and pots one by one.

“Where did you get all this?”

I gave a vague answer to the grandfather’s question and immediately offered the gruel (?).

“Let’s eat first. You need to eat well.”

I served gruel to everyone, but perhaps due to its shocking appearance, they didn’t touch it.

‘These people… after I went to all the trouble to make it.’

“It’s abalone intestines. The color was so dark, I wasn’t sure.”

The grandmother, helped by Dong-woo to sit up, seemed to have tasted it in the meantime and stated the correct answer. Was it that hard to tell…?

“It’s delicious. It would be good for us right now too.”

“Did you put alcohol in it? It doesn’t smell fishy.”

Whether it was professional habit or not, the two of them were analyzing it instead of just saying it was edible.

Seeing the two of them eating spoonfuls, the other companions also began to eat.

“Oh! This tastes quite…”

Shia-ssi and Bomi-ssi, who had been hesitant, took a bite and then ate heartily.

The gruel, which everyone started eating without hesitation, quickly diminished.

It didn’t take long to empty the two large pots.

MSG played a big role. I should get a lot more of it.

“Now that you’ve eaten, regarding what comes next….”

Everyone’s gaze gathered on me as I trailed off.

“I have no plan.”

“What?”

“I don’t know what to do either.”

I told them about the thoughts that had been troubling my mind since last night.

Now, a total crisis with no clear reason.

My original plan was to hole up.

The unexpected increase in companions.

Suppressing the subtle fatigue that was creeping in, we talked.

“…So for now, I’ll wait here for you all to recover.”

My companions were silent for a moment after hearing my story.

Even if it was a safe place, it was questionable where such a place would be now.

The only possibility would be a designated shelter by the government.

A shelter defended by soldiers might be alright.

But the problem was that there was no location designated or announcement made yet.

“What will you do, Seonghan-ssi? If there’s a shelter, will you go with us?”

I shook my head at Jihyeok-ssi’s words.

I hated crowded places.

Especially life controlled by soldiers in an emergency situation.

It would be a restricted and lacking life in many ways.

I’d rather go alone than that.

My reaction brought silence again.

“For now, I think it would be good to think a little more.”

It was the grandfather who spoke.

“Seonghan said he didn’t know what to do next, right? Most people are similar. Some might have big, clear goals or plans, but there are more people who don’t.”

The grandfather, speaking calmly, had a somehow benevolent expression.

“My wife and I are just like that. We were busy just living day by day. So we didn’t have any big plans or goals. We just overcame the tasks placed before us, one by one.”

“By accumulating those one by one, we are who we are today, Seonghan-ssi.”

At the grandfather’s call, my gaze softened.

“Seonghan-ssi saved Dong-woo and even allowed us to meet. That accumulated and connected, bringing us safely this far.”

“Our family is already grateful to Seonghan-ssi. Perhaps everyone else in this room feels the same.”

“So don’t feel burdened.”

*『We are grateful to Han-nim. So please don’t feel burdened.』*

“……”

Listening to the grandfather’s words, which diverged a bit from the topic, I felt the gazes of my companions full of goodwill.

“…Let’s talk about it again. I want to rest a bit now.”

I said briefly and got up from my seat.

I wanted to say more, but my mind wouldn’t work.

I just wanted to rest for a moment.

Before leaving the room, I asked the others to be on alert and came to my private room.

My condition was just so-so, but I lay down on a clean bed for now.

I stared at the white ceiling.

“……What do I want to do?”

A useless question that didn’t fit the situation wouldn’t leave my mind.