episode_0040

That’s where the old man’s story ends. There must be more to the story, though.

When they measured his stamina again, he had become several times stronger. Ordinary people would become indifferent to him, but he began to obsess over the stronger man.

There should be a story about the main character of such a munchkin novel…

Just feeding them a bunch of sweet potatoes and pretending like nothing happened…

This is too much.

To me too. To yourself too…

“What I said at first wasn’t a complete lie. I never knew my body could jump that far?”

“Mr.”

“Anyway, after becoming a test subject, I continued my military life, but then I felt like this wasn’t the path for me, so I was discharged…”

It’s so random. That’s why I’m spitting up so much black blood.

“Mister!”

“Huh?”

The old man’s eyes turned to me. For someone who had brought up a dark past, his eyes were cheerful. There was no trace of worry. It was hard to believe that he was the one who had just lost a lot of blood. Those were the eyes.

The question, ‘What happened?’ rose to the tip of my tongue. If I wanted to, I could probably corner the old man and get the rest of the story.

“Thank you for your hard work. There’s nothing special… uh. I think you should just answer one last question. ”

But I didn’t deserve that. I didn’t share my past story with you either. You can’t force someone to make a choice you didn’t choose.

“Isn’t this a fatal disease?”

“No, would you do something like this when you have a limited time?”

My pounding heart began to calm down as soon as I heard the old man’s answer.

“I think that’s what Mr. Oh would do.”

“Ugh… Danhwa, you tend to make fun of me. I’m a more thoughtful and responsible person than you think.”

Isn’t that the funniest thing I’ve heard all year? How can someone who is so thoughtful and responsible break promises and go down a different path every day?

“What a pity.”

I jumped up from my seat. I wasn’t here to argue with you or anything.

Anyway, if it’s not a fatal disease, then it’s fine. I wouldn’t lie about something so important.

“Shorts! Where are you going! It’s dangerous to go out alone!”

*

Do-hoon felt his heart sink. Do-hoon could immediately feel that Dan-hwa’s eyes looking at him had changed since he had vomited blood.

The pupils, which were trembling incessantly, despite their seeming surprise, told Danhwa that he was gripped by anxiety.

It was forcibly suppressed to minimize side effects, but to someone who didn’t know anything, it was something that could be taken quite seriously.

Since it was something I did as part of my daily routine with the unit members I was with, I ended up doing it out of habit.

Do-Hoon sighed inwardly.

I have to admit, this was honestly a lack of consideration for the short story. Let’s see… how much should I say?

Let me just tell you about where my life started to go wrong.

However, this is what happened when I was experimented on.

Do-hoon made up his mind. That was the level at which he could tell Dan-hwa.

Danhwa seemed to be asking Dohoon to explain why he was spitting out black blood, but honestly, Dohoon didn’t really know.

Although Do-Hoon is an officer, he is still just a non-commissioned officer.

How can we not know the structure and principles of the strange experiments carried out by the smelly military personnel and horse dung called researchers, senior researchers, and research institute directors?

I just diligently use the long-lasting skills I learned from my comrades who rolled around with me at the time.

Later, he wore a strange armband called a special sergeant or something, but even if a sergeant put a badge in front of his rank, he wouldn’t be able to hear the opinions of the officers and generals.

Of course, excluding that, there was the effect of the life insurance and conservation allowances filling up the bank account.

Thinking about money, Do-Hoon couldn’t help but sigh.

What’s the use of saving up a lot of money? You can’t use it all, and the world is ruined. It’s bitter.

“Mister!”

As I came to my senses while rambling on and on, Danhwa was calling me desperately.

‘Hmm, yeah. The old man is here.’

Do-hoon thought that Dan-hwa had a bad personality. When she was gentle, she had many cute aspects. Do-hoon smiled to himself as he watched Dan-hwa looking for him.

‘A cat-like guy.’

Do-hoon looked at Dan-hwa’s sad eyes. The story was so strangely interrupted that it felt like he had just taken a shit, but it seemed like he had let his imagination run wild and reconstructed the tacky stories that he had not necessarily told her.

“Thank you for your hard work.”

The way he turned his head slightly and spoke reluctantly was so special and cute that I wanted to stroke his hair until it became a mess, but that was impossible.

If I did that, it was clear that the black cat in front of me would immediately reveal its claws and smash my shins or wherever.

When he asked if it was a fatal disease, Do-Hoon almost patted Dan-Hwa’s head without realizing it, thinking that he had not raised her in vain.

It seemed that I answered well and chicly thanks to the inner strength I had accumulated while living with Danhwa. Danhwa also regained his original form, got up from his seat, and started to go somewhere.

‘Hey, but you’re not walking alone! This place was just swarming with Screamers and Zombies.’

“Shorts! Where are you going! It’s dangerous to go out alone!”

Do-Hoon was startled by Dan-Hwa’s actions and thought as he hurriedly followed after her.

‘Honestly, raising you is harder than taking care of the people I put in the shelter.’

*

“Where did those people come from?”

I looked around the room and asked a question to the man who was following me diligently.

“I guess I’ll have to start looking for it now. It’d be better if I could catch the tails of the guys who committed such crazy things in the process.”

“What are you going to do if the pastor who entrusted this work to you is the culprit?”

This guy is talking nonsense. If that happens, who are we going to get paid by?

“Wow, I can’t help but cry after suffering like this in the middle of winter and not getting paid.”

I said it sarcastically, a silent protest to myself, asking why I was asking such a crappy question.

“Ugh… But Danhwa ate a lot of fruit. So it’s not like he’s completely free…”

I glared at the old man, full of doubts as to whether or not that made sense.

“Haha! Just kidding. Let’s put aside our worries about not getting paid. We’ve already completed the request, so this feels like a bonus.”

“They say that if you eat dirty money, you’ll get a stomachache later. You’d better think carefully about how to avoid getting sick.”

“Yeah! Fighting!”

“?”

The old man suddenly looked at me and clenched his fist.

“If I get the fruit, I’ll give you all the shoes, so I won’t have to worry about getting hurt, right?”

“This guy…”

I kicked his shin hard. Instead of talking nonsense like that, I want you to come up with a proper method…

“Uh… That side seems to be an entrance too.”

The old man, who was busy rubbing his shins while walking diligently, suddenly blurted out those words. I followed the old man’s fingers and, indeed, I saw a corridor similar to the one we had entered from.

The old man who had been busy following behind started to take the lead. He looked around here and there and quickly moved forward, and soon stopped in his place.

“You came this way.”

“How do you know that?”

“There are fingernail marks on the door. And there are nail fragments on the other side.”

As I squatted down on the floor following the old man’s instructions, I found that my fingernails, which had been decorated with blue nail polish, had fallen off.

“So they put him in here alive?”

“I don’t know. Hah!”

The old man tried hard to open the door, but the handle wouldn’t budge, and all that was left was the old man’s reddened face.

“There are things that even Mr. Uncle can’t do.”

“It seems like something is stuck in the handle. It won’t budge.”

“Of course. If there was no lock, I wouldn’t have scratched the door until my fingernails fell off.”

“Oh… indeed.”

“Real rice… Ha, let’s stop talking.”

The old man took something out of his pocket and began to check it diligently. I glanced over and saw that he had even taken out a compass and was diligently drawing something.

“What are you doing?”

“If the door is locked from the outside, you should come and check there too. Let’s look here…”

I don’t think there’s much evidence to be found by looking for another entrance. It’d be faster to find clues in the arms of the zombies we killed earlier.

Moreover, I also wondered if I had been in the bunker for too long.

Maria is guarding the entrance alone, so even if Maria doesn’t betray you, there’s a chance that something will happen if someone sees you coming down here.

“Go out and do it. I feel like I’m leaving Maria alone for too long.”

“Okay!”

My voice just keeps getting louder… Ugh.