episode_0093

Sometimes, there are days when time flies by in an instant.

Today was one such day for me.

It was a series of tasks that required a lot of legwork and fiddly details.

By the time I returned to the shelter, washed up, and ate dinner, it was late at night.

Looking at the routine alone, it was no different from a diligent day for any office worker.

If it were an ordinary day, I would have fiddled with my phone until I fell asleep, but it wasn’t time to sleep yet.

I, who had been lying quietly on the bed, sat up.

In the dark room with the lights off, a pleasant warmth rose from the soles of my feet.

‘The power generation system is quite good.’

What I learned from wandering around today was that power was gradually being cut off.

Even two hospitals and a pharmacy had lost electricity.

Street signs, which had never turned off day or night due to lack of maintenance, also lost their light.

Outside, civilization was being lost, but inside this building, it was different.

Thanks to the supplied electricity, heating and hot water were available.

While others shivered in the cold in the dark, I enjoyed a quiet tea time under bright lights.

I was literally enjoying the full functionality of the shelter.

‘Should I thank CEO Choi?’

A shelter obtained from a father I couldn’t call father.

As long as they were inside this building, the group could maintain and use a minimum level of civilization.

And as long as they didn’t do anything foolish, they were safe.

As proof, the sick and tired group was resting their bodies with peace of mind.

There was no special night watch, yet they were sleeping soundly.

The group was safe.

I had just confirmed that.

With my mind considerably lighter, I was preparing to go out.

Though it was late, I dressed properly.

I put on comfortable clothes and arm guards on both arms.

I pulled up my neck warmer and pulled down my hat.

I put on gloves that fit snugly and had a good grip.

This was no simple outing.

I intended to go destroy the thugs.

The destination was the hideout these guys had confessed to.

It was the brand “Zip Plus,” which held memories.

While I was showering and contemplating, this thought came to me.

‘Why do I have to bother with such thoughts?’

The cause was these local thugs.

It was because of the thugs that I got emotional and covered in blood.

The thugs were also the ones who made me worry unnecessarily.

The thugs also made me endure inconvenience.

And it was because of them that unpleasant memories surfaced, leaving me with a dirty, uncomfortable feeling.

They were the cause.

So, I decided to get rid of them.

Without anyone knowing.

They say if there are no witnesses, it’s an assassination.

I realized the simple truth: if I dealt with them without the group knowing, that would be that.

So I waited patiently until everyone fell asleep.

Now that night was sufficiently deep, I finished my simple preparations and stepped outside.

The night air was quite chilly, but it wasn’t a problem.

Because tonight, after a grand exorcism, it would get much hotter.

When I left the fake house and came out onto the street.

I briefly turned on my flashlight and looked around.

All the thugs I had dealt with during the day were dead.

A few seemed to have regained consciousness and struggled to live, as they were visible a short distance away. It was truly a fitting sight for them.

‘…Should I take them?’

I didn’t like touching dirty things, but feeling as though I was clearing away trash abandoned in front of a house, I crammed the corpses into my inventory. Not a single one was left.

Recyclables go in the recycling bin, trash in the trash can.

Now it was time to dispose of the trash back in its original place.

After cleaning the street, I slowly picked up speed and began to run.

All the streetlights were off.

All the buildings were dark.

The streets at night, akin to a blackout, felt somewhat eerie.

At least, thanks to the faint moonlight, I could see ahead.

The combination of the pitch-black night and the sole illumination of the moonlight created a mysterious atmosphere.

In such an atmosphere, it would have been nice to whisper sweet nothings with a beautiful woman, but all that reached my ears were the groans of zombies.

In the familiar alleyways I had traversed several times, a definite increase in zombies writhed. I instinctively tried to leap onto a building and bypass them, but then I stopped.

‘There’s no one watching, is there?’

With the power cut throughout the entire area, CCTV wouldn’t be working either.

Since I was here anyway, I decided to reduce the number of zombies and began preparations.

On the rooftop, relying on the flashlight’s beam, I made Molotov cocktails.

Having made a few before, I was somewhat accustomed to it and could make them quickly.

Conveniently, there weren’t many wrecked cars on the road.

…I vowed not to repeat the same mistakes as before.

The streets were swarming with zombies, so there was no need to gauge the distance.

I just tossed them casually where a large number of them were clumped together.

Smash! Whoosh!

With the dull sound of a bottle breaking, the Molotov cocktail began to do its job.

The stubbornly clinging flames soon spread to the zombies rubbing against each other.

I threw Molotov cocktails one by one, spaced out.

Perhaps because it was effective, the spreading fire soon began to burn fiercely.

I immediately threw Molotov cocktails without reservation at the zombies packed in front of Sagajeong Market. Since there were no vehicles to explode on the quiet road, I could throw them without concern.

The incendiary attack had a very good effect.

The zombies burned powerfully, as if they were well-dried firewood.

With the electricity cut and all streetlights off, the road felt like a giant bonfire.

The flames burning brightly on the road illuminated the surroundings.

There were no vehicle explosions like before.

It would have been quite a sight to behold, if not for the creeping smell of burning rotten flesh.

Somehow, the cries of the burning zombies seemed to intensify.

Perhaps because it was a dark night, the burning zombies stood out even more.

Regrettably, I did not watch the spectacle but immediately took action.

Running across the rooftops towards my destination, I scattered all the Molotov cocktails.

I only confirmed that the fire spread to the zombies and kept moving.

‘…Not bad, huh?’

Dealing with the zombies that the thugs had so painstakingly herded together, I felt good, as if I was disrupting their plans.

Enjoying that feeling, I descended to the road and ran.

As I headed toward my destination, no zombies were visible.

Instead, human corpses lay abandoned everywhere.

The path I was running on now was the one we first entered and walked on when we arrived in Myeonmok-dong.

Their hideout was in the middle of it, and we had passed by it before.

Only after arriving at the destination did I understand why I hadn’t recognized it.

‘No way… it was a single story?’

Zip Plus Myeonmok branch was strangely a single-story building.

That’s probably why I didn’t pay much attention and just passed by.

Anyway, having walked all this way and returned, now that I’ve arrived.

The building faintly visible in the dark was exactly as they described.

Large vehicles were barricaded at the building’ entrance.

There were also thugs, few in number but definitely stationed as guards.

‘A rooftop… there isn’t one.’

Its roof-like finish was a bit different from other buildings.

To enter, one had to go in openly, whether through the front or back entrance.

“Good.”

I liked the situation where the answer was simply decided, without needing to rack my brain over various things.

I felt the corners of my mouth rise slightly as I began to walk towards the building.

The parking lot had walls built using abandoned cars.

It seemed they had prepared defenses quite thoroughly in their own way, but it meant nothing to me.

An ordinary person would have had a headache, but.

Thinking that, I quietly leaped over the wall of abandoned cars.

The moment I landed on the ground, what I saw were faint bloodstains.

It wasn’t just blood spilled on the ground; there were traces of dragging and struggles everywhere. The sides of the cars were also messily splattered.

It was impossible to tell if it was from zombies or humans.

But everywhere my eyes reached was disorderly stained.

Other than that, it was clean.

Looking at the situation, it was highly likely that the thugs were gathered here.

I slowly walked through the area that the thugs had meticulously ‘decorated’(?).

‘…Where did these guys go?’

From the inside, they had even made stairs to climb onto the vehicles.

From the looks of it, they seemed to have prepared it for standing guard, but there was no one there.

However, at the building’s entrance, there were guys on guard.

The four thugs, instead of standing guard as they should have, were gathered together, chatting idly.

At that familiar sight, I chuckled and approached without hesitation.

“…Huh?”

“What’s wrong?”

“Hey, isn’t that a person?”

“What nonsense… What is that?”

As I got closer, the thugs, noticing me, immediately started shouting.

“Hey!! Who are you! How did you get in here?!”

“I walked.”

“This crazy bastard! Does he know where he is?!”

“It’s a supermarket, isn’t it?”

The thugs, who were pouring out rough words at me for just stating facts, naturally took up their weapons.

“Where did this lunatic bastard come from—”

“Where’s Yeom Seongjin?”

“……What?”

“I asked where Seongjin is.”

“……”

The thugs were flustered, hearing the name casually spoken from my mouth.

One of them cautiously asked me a question.

“…Are you acquainted with our leader?”

“No.”

The thugs, momentarily dumbfounded by my words, soon came to their senses and began to rage.

“This crazy psycho!”

“Seriously, I tell you honestly, and you still curse.”

“…Ha… crazy bastard.”

The thug, perhaps dumbfounded, slightly turned his head and suddenly attacked.

In his hand, he held a crude-looking knife similar to a sashimi knife.

Thwack!

But I was faster.

Before he could fully swing his knife, I slammed my fist into his jaw, then struck the jaws of the two thugs standing right next to him.

Crack! Wham!

A simple right straight punch.

The effect was certain; the guys who were hit in the jaw rolled their eyes and collapsed limply.

Now, only the guy who had first shouted at me remained.

I calmly asked the guy, whose pupils were trembling.

“Yeom Seongjin. Where is that guy now?”

“Th-th-that is…”

Thump!

“Urgh—”

I got close and uppercut his abdomen, making him groan and collapse with a thud.

The thug, clutching his stomach with both arms and kneeling, drooled.

He seemed unable to process the sudden situation, still disoriented.

I grabbed the sputtering thug’s head and pulled it up.

I met the gaze of the guy who was screaming that he was going to die.

And calmly asked again.

“Yeom Seongjin. Where’s your leader?”

The thug was flustered by my earnest question, spoken without any change in tone.

And for some reason, the thug trembled violently.

He didn’t look hurt, but it didn’t matter.

I planned to treat him politely until he spoke.

There was plenty of time.

The night was still long.