episode_0081

Fire is one of the quintessential symbols marking the beginning of human civilization.

With winter fast approaching, the value of a small, living flame is immeasurable.

Fire, a natural phenomenon for which humanity is deeply grateful.

How wonderful it would have been if fire had only ever been used for good…

But whether intentional or not, crimes and accidents caused by fire were nothing short of horrific.

Globally, the damage from fire accidents is colossal.

In Korea, fire accidents are terrifying and intense.

A single carelessly discarded cigarette butt could burn an entire mountain to ash.

There are many cases where buildings have been completely incinerated due to forgotten heating appliance power.

Sometimes, young students enjoying themselves at a karaoke room have needlessly perished before their lives could even blossom, all because the owner fled without taking any action to save themselves.

Or a single malicious person could effortlessly burn down a subway train, causing a historic accident that left unhealing scars.

And now.

I, who had caused an accident potentially on par with major past incidents, was now being flooded with belated worries.

I repeatedly rubbed my face dry, cold sweat trickling down my spine.

“Damn it…. Am I going to get caught?”

That was the first thought that came to mind while watching the video.

It was an unexpected situation, neither intentional nor planned.

It was oddly jarring that the police station, specifically the traffic department, had posted the video, and seeing the results of my mistake from a third-person perspective hit differently.

“…I didn’t know it was that bad.”

At the time, I couldn’t see properly because I was hiding, but looking at it now, the scale of the accident was quite large. I buried my head in my hands, feeling like a child who had caused trouble with fire.

A startling jolt of unease, felt after a long time.

As I racked my brain trying to figure out how to resolve the situation.

Still, burning all those zombies was refreshing, that’s good. ⌞I admit that. ⌞It’s good that the zombies burned to death, but what did the cars do wrong? ⌞Oh, if you valued the cars, you shouldn’t have abandoned them, lol. ⌞Weren’t there many foreign car brand stores around there? ⌞OMG, lol, you’re right, lol. What’s the arson villain gonna do? lol. ⌞The smell of zombie meat cooking must be delicious. ⌞Crazy, lololol. ⌞You crazy bastard, lololololololololol. ⌞Setting fires and burning zombies~ The arsonist’s big picture~ ⌞They tried to do a fire attack but just started a fire. ⌞This concludes my statement. ⌞Dude… ⌞Anyway, that area seems a bit safer now? ⌞Safety and revived police force at the same time, lolololol. ⌞Damn it, lololololol. ⌞They hid until the zombies burned to death, then popped out, right? ⌞Those bastards know how to time it. ⌞Can you guys time it like this normally, lololololol.

One particular comment and its replies caught my eye.

The content was dizzying, but mostly, the consensus was that wiping out the zombies was satisfying.

And then, a comment that indirectly represented my current feelings:

So, is the Molotov villain guilty? Or innocent? ⌞Damn it, in this situation, lololol, aren’t they innocent? ⌞Considering they wiped out so many zombies, innocent. ⌞Definitely innocent. ⌞Making Molotovs is illegal, though? And they set a fire with them? ⌞Motherf*cker, so hitting zombies with a bat is also guilty, you damn moralist. ⌞This guy would probably arrest and investigate every single zombie. ⌞Oh, zombies have human rights too~ Please save them~ ⌞Damn it, lololololololololol, human rights, my ass, lolololol. ⌞But what if there were civilian casualties? ⌞They already burned, lololololololol. ⌞The only good zombie is a dead zombie. ⌞Damn, that comic line is actually true. ⌞Dead men tell no tales. ⌞Hey, lolololololol, you crazy bastard, lololol. ⌞I wish the Molotov villain would set another fire. ⌞Wait, wasn’t this Photoshopped? ⌞Of course it’s Photoshopped. How could a person fly like that? ⌞Maybe an Awakened one? ⌞You should’ve shouted ‘Status Window’ too. ⌞Yeah, nothing happened. ⌞Crazy, lololololol, nothing happened for me either, lololol. ⌞You guys, lololololol, me too, lolololol. ⌞I really wish the Molotov villain existed to burn all the zombies to death. ⌞Since there are zombies, wouldn’t it be okay for someone like that to exist? ⌞How about I give you a cigarette too? ⌞There’s already too much fire, lolololol.

The content was impossible to keep up with while sane.

Comments continued to grow beneath them.

Commonly, they found my actions innocent.

And there was an atmosphere of joy regarding the burning of a large number of zombies.

‘…Now that I think about it, shouldn’t I be praised instead?’

With both the government and the military having fled, is there anyone else who has killed as many zombies as I have?

Thinking this, my mind felt at ease.

Furthermore, my identity and face were not revealed.

I was momentarily shaken by the unexpected video, but there was no real problem.

“I got scared for no reason….”

Still, I should be careful in my future actions.

Should I say that their intelligence network is alive and well, more than I expected?

Korea might be a CCTV paradise, but I never imagined it would be this extensive.

The electricity still hasn’t cut out, and some infrastructure is still active.

It seems I shouldn’t ignore the technology that is still functioning because of it.

I tried to approach the cause of the zombie apocalypse, but it only made my head spin.

I had intended to go outside if necessary, but…

‘For now, I need to be careful not to draw attention.’

It was just as I was trying to sort out my thoughts.

“Oppa!!”

“…?”

Shia came rushing in, calling out to me in an urgent voice.

She looked haggard and sickly from being severely ill.

“When did you wake up? Are you—”

“Byeongsu Oppa! Byeongsu Oppa is!!”

Without even hearing the rest of Shia’s tearful, urgent words, I shot up. I quickly ran to the room where the two managers were.

Click-

In the room I reached in an instant, a few conscious individuals were present. In particular, Bomi, whose body hadn’t fully recovered yet, was weeping profusely.

Clutching the hand of Byeongsu, who was gasping unconsciously.

In the somber atmosphere, everyone was silent.

Only Bomi’s sobs, as she choked out Byeongsu’s name and wailed, filled the room.

I quietly entered the room and approached Byeongsu.

“Se-Seonghan! Please save our Byeongsu! Please save him! *Sob*.”

“…Let me take a look.”

I gently pushed Bomi, who clung to me the moment she saw me, away.

As the people by her side began to comfort Bomi, I started examining Byeongsu, who was gasping heavily.

I have no medical knowledge whatsoever.

At best, I only know simple first aid or folk remedies.

Even to me, Byeongsu looked to be in danger right now.

It was similar to the phenomenon just before one’s breath leaves their body.

I placed my fingers near Byeongsu’s neck.

‘His pulse is weak but fast.’

It felt like he was squeezing out his last bit of strength for a final sprint.

His haggard appearance and traces of cold sweat dampening the bedsheets.

The precarious gasps and exhales from his mouth.

His skin, though not bleeding, was exceptionally pale.

His darkened, lifeless eyelids and lips.

Byeongsu was slowly approaching death.

“…Why did it turn out like this?”

He was in a serious condition, along with Young-cheol, but not to this extent.

As proof, Young-cheol had now regained consciousness and was watching us.

Could there have been an injury I hadn’t noticed?

Just as a myriad of thoughts began to flood my mind.

“Byeongsu Oppa wasn’t naturally healthy.”

“Uh, he used to say he had frequent minor illnesses when he was little! He’d catch colds pretty easily too!”

Listening to the two women, I couldn’t draw any other conclusion.

Just in case, I meticulously examined Byeongsu, but there were no other signs of injury.

A constitution that wasn’t healthy.

Severe injuries and a difficult journey.

The psychological pressure and sense of crisis felt until now.

…He simply couldn’t overcome all of these.

In the ecosystem of the strong preying on the weak, the feeble do not survive.

Though not entirely comparable, now that we can’t rely on doctors or hospitals.

There was no other way to save him.

The medicines I had were merely over-the-counter products from a pharmacy.

Simple, ready-made drugs.

Nothing could handle such a severe illness.

As I stood silently, Bomi spoke in a trembling voice.

“Se-Seonghan…? Is it, is it going to be difficult?”

Her voice, thick with tears, was painful to hear.

Bomi also knew that I was far from a medical professional.

She was merely clutching at a thread of hope.

If so, I would become an incredibly strong thread.

I exhaled slowly and deeply.

I chose a posture in front of Byeongsu.

“From now on, don’t touch me and don’t make a sound.”

I instructed somewhat coldly, fixing my gaze on the patient before me.

I ripped open Byeongsu’s T-shirt.

I placed my left hand over his heaving chest.

Feeling his breath, I slightly lowered my hand.

‘…Here.’

Near his solar plexus.

A crucial spot also used during CPR.

I placed my remaining right hand over his lower abdomen, below his navel.

What I was about to do was a kind of trick.

An emergency treatment that, when I had mana, forcibly circulated energy to temporarily induce an awakened state, buying time for healing.

It was a derivative technique based on CPR.

Now, I only had a pea-sized amount of mana left, so it should have been unusable, but.

‘I can do it. No, I will do it.’

Until now, I had been using mana-requiring techniques by converting my stamina into mana.

With the same feeling, I would attempt emergency treatment on Byeongsu using stamina instead of mana.

‘This isn’t the time to be picky. First, save him….’

I would infuse him with my vitality to buy time.

I half-closed my eyes and regulated my breathing.

I felt the patient’s breath and faint energy conveyed through my palms.

Within my body, my entire stamina was transforming into an unprecedented energy.

Swish-

A small, strange sound emanated from my motionless body.

‘?!’

I felt the mana, which had been hardened like a pea, gently loosening.

Though faint, it formed a small harmony with the converted stamina energy.

I set aside my surprise for a moment and focused on the situation at hand.

Chest and lower abdomen.

I poured my energy in, feeling it circulate through both palms. Very little by little, cautiously and slowly.

The minuscule mana that had suddenly awakened was acting like a lubricant in between, as if wrapping my unfamiliar energy so it wouldn’t feel threatening to Byeongsu.

Before long, I felt Byeongsu’s body accepting my energy.

The amount of energy being poured in gradually increased, and the circulation speed quickened.

The circulation speed matched his breathing rate, maintaining a constant size.

After repeating it for a while, Byeongsu’s condition visibly stabilized.

As his breathing calmed, the energy circulation speed also slowed, and soon his breathing became regular and stable.

‘…It’s done.’

Seeing my hands naturally fall away, I knew I had successfully stabilized him.

“Hoo….”

Quite a bit of cold sweat beaded on my forehead.

I exhaled deeply and relaxed my posture.

Looking down at Byeongsu, he was simply lying there peacefully.

His appearance had markedly improved from looking half-dead.

Everyone wore puzzled expressions, but I had no time to explain.

“Seonghan. Is Byeongsu okay?”

Seeing his noticeably stabilized appearance, Bomi, surprised in a different way, asked with a tear-soaked face. Her expression showed great hope, but…

“I merely bought some time.”

“…What? He’s not okay?”

“Young man. Isn’t he fully recovered? He looks perfectly fine!”

“What do you mean, you bought time?”

While everyone expressed their doubts, Hyuk hyung hit upon the core issue.

“Exactly as I said. I temporarily boosted his vitality; he’s not recovered.”

“Th-That can’t be….”

“Seonghan Oppa. Then what should we do?”

Everyone looked worried.

Bomi, in particular, must have felt like she was going back and forth between a cold bath and a hot bath.

“…You must have something in mind, right? What do you need?”

Meanwhile, Hyuk hyung was grasping the situation and trying to move on.

He himself must have been tired, having only recently gotten up.

He truly was a man of excellent mental fortitude.

Towards the calmly questioning handsome man, I spoke without hesitation.

“Having other people enter this place. Will that be alright?”

At my words, everyone held their breath.

I felt everyone’s gaze turn towards me and Hyuk hyung.

The atmosphere grew heavy.

Within it, Hyuk hyung and I looked at each other.