episode_0127

‘That high schooler. He didn’t lie, after all.’

This thought came to mind as I slowly ran, observing the quiet street.

I am currently moving along the course I was previously briefed on.

Perhaps due to the aftermath of the zombie wave, the area is eerily quiet.

There isn’t even a trace of zombie roars.

Nor is there any sign of living things.

The desolate and broken streets are no different from ruins.

A damp wind blows through the neighborhood, filled with nothing but desolation.

The sound of the wind rustling through broken buildings and abandoned cars creates an eerie feeling.

I quickened my steps, feeling an uncomfortable sensation graze my ears.

Everywhere I turned my gaze, the sights were familiar.

Traces that even days of relentless rain couldn’t completely wash away.

Such traces abound in my line of sight.

I strode unhesitatingly down the middle of the road in that street.

The road, with abandoned cars haphazardly pushed to either side, was organized in an unorganized way.

Just enough for one vehicle to pass comfortably.

The Daehan gang, who had attacked the market, apparently struggled quite a bit to bring these vehicles here.

And it definitely shows that they put in the effort.

‘Stupid bastards.’

I wonder if they really needed to go through such hell just to bring a car.

As if I don’t know the convenience of a vehicle, running on two feet.

There’s a reason they say if you’re stupid, your body suffers.

How much better would it have been if they’d fought off the zombies instead of going through all that trouble?

But they’re already dead.

They didn’t seem intelligent enough to think so productively.

It’s just a futile pity.

In any case, I am using the results created by those whom I swept away.

…While I feel no remorse, it’s a slightly strange feeling.

I passed ostentatiously through the haphazardly pushed-aside scrap metal.

Perhaps this is the one good thing those troublesome bastards did.

As I walked, I recalled the high schooler’s explanation.

According to the high schooler, it’s not a long distance.

“Just go straight along this road, and you’ll hit a three-way intersection at the end. You’ll see Sangbong Station right there. Turn right at the intersection, go a little further, and you’ll be right there.”

“Are you sure?”

“Seriously. Swear on it!”

“Swear on what? Do you want to die?”

A simple, easy, and definite optimal route.

Although it’s my first time, the path is so easy it’d be hard to get lost.

But the problem, as expected, is the zombies.

The high schooler said that since the zombies were driven away to other places, there wouldn’t be much of a problem. At least not until around Myeonmok Station.

This also wasn’t wrong.

As I followed Myeonmok-ro and reached Bongu Intersection, roars began to echo from afar.

I stopped running at the sudden turn of events.

It seems there are zombies on the other side of the intersection.

No, there definitely are.

One by one, rotten masses wander aimlessly through the streets.

And the road, cleared by pushing aside abandoned cars, continues beyond that.

Stopping for a moment, I received a strange impression from the sight before me.

It was as if an invisible boundary had been drawn at the intersection.

Beyond that boundary, zombies roamed the ruined streets.

As if they were acting as masters of the street instead of living humans…

For some reason, I truly got that impression.

“…Am I getting weak?”

Anyone hearing me might mistake it for being pushed back by zombies.

Such a thought is sentimental and weak.

I shook my head, clearing away useless thoughts, and gazed at the street.

The street beyond the intersection was an old one, with a history.

Apart from one or two, there were no noticeable tall buildings.

Buildings of two or three stories, densely packed together in rows.

After a rough assessment, I kicked off without hesitation.

Tap- Thud!

I lightly jumped onto the roof of an abandoned car, then began to climb onto the low building rooftops.

The complexly entangled and long-stretching power lines were a nuisance.

I blamed the troublesome power lines as I ran across the rooftops.

Though low, from the building rooftop, the small street came into view at a glance.

At the end of the small street, the described three-way intersection was immediately visible.

And one building stood out.

【Buguk Hospital】

It was a strikingly white hospital building in a dilapidated street.

The hospital I passed by was an utter mess.

All the windows were shattered, and dried, discolored, indelible bloodstains covered the walls and floor. The entrance was broken and blocked by something charred and burnt to a crisp.

The explicit traces of resistance, of trying to hold out inside, remained.

And that was prominently visible throughout this old street.

Efforts to cover and block entrances and windows remained here and there.

And without fail, alongside the traces of effort, were also traces of failure.

There were also traces of failed defense and acts that could be murder or feeding.

Aside from the road cleared by the Daehan gang, there were no signs of successful human activity.

Is that why?

It feels like there are an exceptionally large number of wandering zombies in this old, small street.

Consequently, the roars of zombies wailing from all directions scraped against my eardrums.

A bitter feeling welled up, and I quickly passed through the small street.

【⟸ Cheongnyangni Manguri ⟹】

At the end of the road, I immediately sprinted to the right.

Suddenly, instead of low buildings, taller ones appeared in increasing numbers.

But this much is no problem.

I put strength into my legs and jumped up effortlessly.

From the rooftop railing of the tall building, I briefly scanned my surroundings.

‘There it is.’

In the distance, a very familiar white building was visible.

In the midst of the desolate, ruined city, I felt a strange sense of welcome.

I immediately ran towards the visible destination.

I easily leaped over the rooftops of buildings with varying heights.

After diligently running and traversing several rooftops, arrival was quick.

“Ugh!”

Perhaps because it was raining and cold?

I nearly slipped, stepping on the rooftop floor covered in thin ice.

Taking advantage of the stumble, I paused for a moment and surveyed my surroundings once more.

Leaning against the rooftop railing of the building I was on, the scene I looked down upon was…

“……”

A very familiar layout caught my eye.

It was remarkably similar to the scene I had witnessed previously at Holy Sale Yangjae Branch.

Even my standing position and the angle of my gaze were similar.

The difference was the significantly smaller number of zombies.

“Damn it… What did they do?”

Traces of battle were visible around the entrance.

And a considerably fierce battle at that.

I clicked my tongue, looking around.

According to the high schooler, these guys had set up base in Holy Sale.

It wasn’t wrong, as there were traces of them blocking the entrance and the parking lot.

They had formed a wall with two black buses, like the ones I saw in Sagajeong.

They had constructed a defensive line with vehicles and various covers.

Judging by what they had done, they had not done a bad job of barricading the entrance.

‘What the hell happened….’

From the barricade immediately visible around the entrance, all the way to the entrance itself.

Zombie corpses were piled up in abundance.

There was a considerable number, and significant traces of extensive damage.

It seems they poured considerable firepower, including grenades.

The blackened, shattered floor and building exterior walls, and the black bloodstains and discolored flesh, presumably from zombies, starkly showed that the Daehan gang’s resistance was considerable.

Even so, they’re still guys I don’t like.

‘And they still couldn’t block it….’

The breached entrance area was filled with zombie corpses and what used to be human bodies.

Even from afar, the mixture of putrid blood and fresh red blood was visible.

I briefly turned my gaze to look left and right.

The Holy Sale entrance and parking lot side were relatively quiet.

There were only a few old-looking motel buildings, and no other prominent residential buildings were visible.

However, the main road side was the problem.

The road itself was eight lanes wide.

Unlike the old street in Bongujae, there were many sophisticated commercial complex buildings.

Even Jipplus was visible across from Holy Sale.

And surrounding these were tall apartment buildings standing prominently.

In other words, there was a high probability that zombies were teeming here.

“A busy district… not quite, and it doesn’t seem like there’s a lot of pedestrian traffic either…”

Either everyone nearby turned into zombies, or they gathered from somewhere…

“…Is it a variant?”

I couldn’t confirm anything just by looking.

I don’t know what’s outside, but if I go inside, I might find a living human, perhaps.

I have to go inside anyway.

I immediately unfastened my gaiters and took off my soaked clothes.

My tracksuit pants, with the drawstring removed, had also been bothering me.

For the first time in a while, I’m unifying my attire to black work clothes.

I firmly tightened and wore the ink-black gaiters and shin guards.

I also put on the black tactical vest I had picked up from Express Army.

“I should have put it on earlier.”

Both the vest and the gloves felt more comfortable than expected, which was satisfying.

I wrung out the thoroughly soaked neck warmer and put it back on.

Click-

The sensation of the gloves fitting snugly on my hands was quite good.

Finally, I pulled my black hat down firmly.

After finishing dressing, I felt my mood lift slightly.

As expected, for men, it’s all about the gear; for men, it’s black.

I had a feeling, a feeling that my combat power had somehow increased.

“Hmm~”

Having finished my preparations, I took a deep breath and leaped down from the rooftop.

Thud!

With my landing, a considerable noise was made, and the paving stones cracked and flew up.

I scanned left and right, but nothing reacted to the sound.

I stretched my hands and neck, then slowly began to walk towards the entrance.

As I approached, things I hadn’t seen before became visible.

Numerous chaotic footprints were etched onto the road.

The sides of the buses that formed the barricade were covered in marks.

Marks from rubbing bodies against them, scratching with fingernails, or ramming into them.

As I drew closer to the entrance, the traces desensitized my eyes, and the pungent smell of blood mixed with putrid stench irritated my nose.

Squish!

As I stepped on the bloody water flowing from the pool of blood, I felt stickiness.

‘…….’

I was certain after approaching the entrance.

The pungent, metallic smell of human blood and bloodstains that hadn’t yet solidified.

They hadn’t been dead long.

I raised my head and looked into the dark interior of Holy Sale.

A gentle breeze blew from inside.

A strangely desolate, cold wind blowing from the entrance.

「Still want to come in?」

It was as if the wind, like the wail of a ghost, whispered that in my ear.

I subtly curled the corners of my mouth upwards.

I was the kind of person who even cleared dungeons solo.

This kind of desolate atmosphere, where alarm bells ring, is familiar to me.

Moreover, since dungeons offered immense rewards, I never hesitated.

To me, this place was no different from a modern-day dungeon, fraught with danger.

I didn’t hesitate.

Pushing aside the cold, foul-smelling wind, I entered unhesitatingly.

To clear the dungeon and find those bastards who might still be alive.

It’s time to get to work.