episode_0035

Joining the party successfully, I slowly looked around inside the building.

Only four people in such a large commercial building in the bustling downtown area.

The spaciousness made the atmosphere feel strangely eerie with just four people.

Perhaps that’s why even the three of them usually lived in the math academy they attended.

“Still, it feels a bit safer with oppa joining us!”

Soyoon chuckled and playfully nudged my side.

Soyoon had a very bright and friendly personality.

Completely opposite to Sua.

Should I say she was like a puppy?

As for Minhyuk…

He had a protagonist-like personality.

Righteous and kind, but sometimes said chilling things.

“You seem like you could handle other weapons well too, do you have any other weapons?”

“…No.”

I couldn’t help but avoid Minhyuk’s gaze as he spoke as if he knew about the weapons in my inventory.

Our eyes meeting seemed like he could read my mind.

“How about it?”

“There’s nothing.”

In this building, there were only numerous books, chairs, and desks, to the point where finding anything meaningful was useless.

It was good for recording, but terrible for survival.

If I had started a quest here, I might have ended up fighting zombies without even making decent weapons.

In that sense, the protagonist was definitely different.

Hunting zombies with an umbrella handle in a place like this.

“So this is it.”

There was a back door in the building.

I heard that they hunted zombies here and bought food from the store.

There were roughly 20 zombies.

If it was just the three of them, it would be an impossible number, but with me joining, the situation would change.

“That’s right! With oppa here, we’ll be fine—”

“…It won’t be that easy, we might even be a hindrance. Sooyoon, stop being naive,” Sua calmly replied as Sooyoon was about to cheer.

I agreed with Sua’s words.

Protecting three people while fighting was more difficult than fighting alone.

Moreover, even though there were only about twenty zombies now, if we made noise during the battle, the zombies scattered around the main entrance and the downtown area would gather.

There was no guarantee that I could protect three people even if I gave it my all.

It also seemed difficult to move without making any noise.

If I made a mistake and made a sound after falling from the building, or if a zombie approached and heard even a small noise, it would be over.

The risk was too high to try.

“Yeah… we need to think of a more concrete plan.”

Minhyuk also agreed with Sua’s words and fell into thought.

In fact, I couldn’t think of a better solution myself.

It didn’t seem easy to protect three people while moving.

The protagonist suggested one idea.

“What if we gradually lure them to a distant place?”

The idea was simple.

Lure the zombies that react to sound little by little and drop them far away from the academy building using a ladder made by breaking the desks here.

“But how?”

“Since there are many desks here, we can break them to make a ladder. And then use that ladder to move to the adjacent building.”

“To the adjacent building?”

Minhyuk answered Sooyoon’s question.

It was actually a plan that had been considered before.

But it couldn’t be executed.

There was no guarantee that there were no zombies in the adjacent building they moved to, and the risk was too high as they had to lure zombies by making noise, so they gave up.

But then I appeared.

“Wait, isn’t that too risky?”

“Huh? Oh, right… but if it’s hyung— I mean, I’m sorry. I said something unreasonable.”

“No, it’s fine.”

Sua, who had been silent, unexpectedly rebuked Minhyuk.

Minhyuk was flustered, even reiterating what he had said, and seemed embarrassed.

However, I felt that Minhyuk’s plan was quite reasonable.

First of all, it didn’t seem like we would lose in a fight against zombies, and since it was a downtown area, the buildings here were all closely packed together, with similar heights.

If we could make a ladder, it didn’t seem difficult to move to the neighboring building.

Without any other plans coming up, it was a plan worth trying.

Of course, since my role in this plan was quite risky, no one was actively speaking out about it.

“Alright, let’s do it.”

“Um, really? Are you sure, oppa?”

“Yeah, I’m sure.”

Once I approved the plan, we began dividing roles and fleshing out the plan.

“Then Minhyuk and I will make the ladder.”

“I’ll hunt zombies around the area.”

“…I’ll go with you.”

And so, teams were formed to make the ladder for the operation and to gather supplies.

I honestly preferred being alone, so I told Sua to join the ladder team.

“No, I have to keep watch. …And it’s better if I’m not between you two…”

Sua hesitated on her words, hinting at some complicated situation.

It was strange.

Even though Sua was probably the one dating Minhyuk, she was following me to watch over their relationship.

I wanted to subtly ask about the relationship between the three of them, but Sua’s guard had not yet been lowered enough for that.

It seemed like I would have to show a bit more trustworthy behavior before I could hear about it.

“Here, take this.”

Sua handed me a machete.

It was a given that we had to fight zombies.

Although she casually handed me the machete, her hand was trembling.

Was she scared of me ruthlessly killing zombies?

Or was she worried that I might retaliate?

Her behavior was somewhat pitiful.

She seemed scared on the inside, yet she volunteered to watch over the two of them.

There was a deep-seated fear, but at the same time, there was a hint of regret.

I accepted the machete.

Just holding it seemed to invigorate me.

It was time to earn points.

When I opened the back door, there was a metal staircase leading down, and below the stairs, zombies were groaning and bumping into each other.

Originally, the three of them would lure a couple of zombies towards the stairs with their fingers and hunt them.

Of course, that had nothing to do with me.

With the machete in hand, I descended the stairs.

Just that caused a clanging sound on the metal staircase.

Grrr.

The zombies flocked as I approached, and I swung the machete down towards the zombie in front of me.

As I had felt before, hitting the head straight on or too deeply made it difficult to pull out, so I came up with a method using the weight of the machete to crush the head.

The zombie whose head was crushed in one blow fell back, pushing away the other zombies.

With momentum, I continued to take down zombies one after another.

“…”

Sua was also speechless, staring blankly in this direction.

The clashing sound of the machete against the zombies’ heads drew more zombies towards us, but before they could surround me, I broke through them.

I was dispatching zombies at a faster pace than they could advance.

I continued to eliminate zombies like a machine, and by the time I had almost finished off the zombies gathered at the back door, the moment arrived.

“The zombies at the front gate are coming.”

“Yeah.”

I considered facing them for a moment, but the number of zombies approaching was concerning.

Unfortunately, I decided to stop here.

I didn’t want to take any risks.

I carefully selected the zombies blocking the path to the stairs, smashed their heads, and quickly ran up the stairs, rushing into the building.

With that, Su-a calmly closed and locked the door.

Without stopping there, Su-a quickly ran towards the main gate, banging on the door loudly and making noise.

As a result, many zombies that were heading towards this direction turned back towards the main gate.

“Phew…”

“You’ve been through a lot.”

“The one who went through… was you.”

Su-a replied, breathing softly.

Then, a moment of silence fell upon them.

Since there had been a lot of noise from banging on the door earlier, this silence felt even longer.

“…It ended very early.”

“Did it?”

“Yes, really. Thank you. For hunting for us.”

Being praised after being on guard made her feel somewhat touched.

Of course, even though she praised him verbally, it seemed like he still kept his distance from her while speaking, as if he was still wary of her.

“I just thought you’d leave.”

“Why?”

“…This plan. It wasn’t like Min-hyuk. It was too harsh towards him.”

“…”

“No matter how well he fights, luring zombies alone to the rooftop of the building…”

If Min-hyuk had done something wrong, it was because he was the protagonist.

To survive until the end, Min-hyuk actively tried to use me.

Because that was probably the best way to survive.

However, it seemed that Su-a didn’t like Min-hyuk’s plan.

“…Please tell me why you’re helping. If there’s anything I can do, I’ll do it.”

“…”

Su-a still doubted me.

It was as if she was hoping that I had some hidden agenda.

Seeing that, I used a skill that I hadn’t used in a long time.

[Wall of Sacrifice]

The words “Wall of Sacrifice” appeared on Su-a for the first time.