episode_0178

Even when cooking, preparation comes first. When doing construction, you clear the surroundings and lay out materials beforehand. When going to battle, you must be thorough from beginning to end. Just doing this well means half the battle is won. Therefore, veteran professionals in any field never neglect preparation. Of course, not everyone is like that, but I certainly was. The reason I am diligently working my hands now is also for that reason.

“Slowly. Carefully. Yes, that’s how you do it.” Swish swish— Swoosh— Snap— “Gently shake out what’s inside… Good. Keep doing that.”

Following Sergeant Kim’s instructions, I worked my hands. Inside the top-floor hotel room, a cottage industry was in full swing. Everyone, without exception, sat on the floor, working their hands. They carefully sliced open bullets with knives. They cut off the tip and gently shook out the contents. Gathering and gathering, a pile of black powder. It was gunpowder. Everyone was meticulously scraping together gunpowder.

Lawrence, who was pregnant, was excused. She wanted to help too, but the other women stopped her. Leaving the dejected Lawrence aside, the task, which everyone was dedicated to, proceeded slowly but steadily.

Crack! Rustle—

The amount of gunpowder from small bullets was meager. Gathering it all was unexpectedly hard labor. Still, everyone kept their mouths shut and worked their hands. Collecting gunpowder wasn’t for any particular reason. Just in case, for firepower that might be lacking. In the end, we decided to lure the zombies and set them on fire.

But as always, things don’t always go smoothly. There were plenty of uncertainties. Even with waste oil, there was no guarantee it would ignite. The same went for contaminants. Furthermore, there might not even be any waste oil itself.

“There will definitely be some.” Captain Lee dismissed this concern with hopeful thinking. Given the situation, no one raised an objection. Instead, they brainstormed ideas to increase the success rate, and gunpowder was chosen.

…I was the one who provided the idea. In a movie, the protagonist disassembled bullets, gathered the gunpowder. Then, he carefully wrapped it in a large leaf, attached it to an arrow, and shot it. And with a magnificent bang~ I wondered if it was just an exaggeration for cinematic effect, but it proved to be effective. Thus began the bullet dismantling operation.

The quantity of bullets was sufficient. There was enough for a decent skirmish even with the 2.5-ton truck. We disassembled a portion of them and collected the gunpowder.

‘If I’d known this, I would’ve brought the unusable bullets right away.’ Anyway, we filled a pillowcase with the collected gunpowder and tied it up tightly. ‘…Should this be considered a bomb too?’ It looked exactly like the ‘bean bombs’ I used to play with as a child. A gigantic bean bomb, hundreds of times larger. Instead of soft filling for a comfortable headrest, the pillow, bulging with gunpowder, demanded caution despite its cute appearance. We made four more like that before we finally stopped. More precisely, we stopped because it got dark and dangerous.

“Oh, my hands…” “We somehow managed it.” “If I were greedy, I’d want to make more.” It was already evening when everyone stretched their stiff legs and shook their hands. When it got dark, I pulled out a flashlight, and Heize flinched.

“No! Stop it!” “Why?” “Zombies follow light.” Heize shuddered, saying she had suffered greatly because of lights. Seeing her face turn pale, I decided to follow her advice. There might not have been zombies at the Main Post, but this wasn’t the Main Post. There was no harm in being careful.

As Heize backed away, Captain Lee spoke. “Seonghan. Look at this.” Captain Lee pushed a map towards me, which was hard to see in the dark. “Here and here. These are the locations Miss Heize told us about.”

“…Yes. And?” “This is the bunker, and this is Hospital 121.” “Yes.” “They are, respectively, the Japanese Army Operations Center and the former site of the Joseon Governor-General’s Residence.” “…Ohh?”

I understood why he was specifically confirming the locations. As if my thoughts were correct, Captain Lee gave a meaningful smile. “You can set them off without any hesitation.” “Leave it to me.” I smiled deeply back at him.

I didn’t have any particular ill will towards Japan. I liked sushi, ramen, and Japanese women. Especially, hadn’t I been indebted to countless actors? Just a few minor things here and there that rubbed me the wrong way. Since it was scheduled for demolition anyway, wouldn’t it be a win-win for everyone?

‘It’d be fun if something like this made the news.’ As I chuckled to myself at the silly thought, a stern voice spoke. “…Are you really going to be okay by yourself?” “Yes. We’ve already settled this, haven’t we?” “Haa…” “Don’t worry.”

Captain Lee couldn’t shake his worry. The luring of zombies and the arson had been decided as my sole responsibility. Naturally, the team members caused a ruckus, saying it was absurd. Heize even bluntly asked if I was crazy. Of course, I pushed ahead firmly. They didn’t easily yield, but they entrusted the task to me on the condition that I be extremely careful.

“I don’t know if this is a good decision.” “It’s an excellent decision. And since I’m getting something in return, shouldn’t I do my part?” “Khuhut.” “Since we’re talking about it, I’ll move right away.” “N-Now?” Captain Lee was startled, but since it had to be done anyway, it was better to get it over with quickly. The night sky was clear, and the moon was nearly full. The streets were dark without a single streetlamp, but the moonlight made it manageable.

The atmosphere in the hotel room quietly settled. With everyone watching, I re-checked my gear. I tightened the loosened garters and re-tied my shoelaces. I vigorously shook off the neck warmer with dried bloodstains and put it back on.

‘…I’ll have to throw this away again.’ The faint smell clinging to the neck warmer bothered me. I pushed my gloves on tightly and grabbed the pillow bombs. Preparation was quickly finished.

“Seonghan. At least by car to the vicinity…” “It’s fine.” I looked around at the team members and Captain Lee as I spoke. “You know what I can do, don’t you?” “…….” “Don’t worry.” Captain Lee fell silent. And didn’t persist any further. Leaving the soldiers seeing me off with stern expressions, I left the room.

“Han.” “Why?” “…Good luck.” I liked the native speaker’s crisp pronunciation. Heize, who followed out, was uncharacteristically radiating worry with her eyes. I chuckled at her unsuited appearance and turned my body.

I immediately began descending the stairs quickly. First, I carefully stored the pillow bombs in my inventory. Lightening my body, freeing both hands. I descended directly from the 9th floor to the 1st floor and exited through the hotel’s main entrance.

‘…….’ The night sky was clear, and moonlight poured down. The area around the hotel was quiet. Only the cold night wind rustled faintly. It was perfect for moving.

Pitter-patter! First, I ran south along the road. Unlike the city, the road was deserted. I ran past quickly, without hesitation.

It seemed much demolition hadn’t been carried out in South Post yet. There were quite a few old buildings, emptied and abandoned, yet still retaining their forms. Buildings that held an eerie chill, like haunted houses. The sound of my footsteps on the night road. The sound of wind rustling past my ears. The quiet road’s stillness was slightly broken by me.

As I ran, my vision repeatedly brightened and darkened. Looking up, I saw clouds passing rapidly across the sky. The clouds briefly covered the moon with the wind’s touch. Just when it seemed to obscure the moon, it would swiftly pass by. It felt like it was teasing me, or perhaps urging me to hurry. Was that why?

My extending legs stretched out elastically. My body seemed to loosen, starting to feel lighter. I leaned my torso forward, resisting the wind. Little by little, a little more. Whoosh—

The wind rustling past my ears grew harsher. My leaning torso leaned even further. My arms naturally swung in sync, using the momentum from my lower body. My forelock, fluttering in the wind, was swept back. Thump-thump-thump-thump-thump—! Swish—! Swish—! Swish—!

I had the illusion that the streetlights passing by were cutting off the sound. The distance to the target rapidly decreased. As the distance shortened, faint grotesque noises became audible. As the grotesque noises grew clearer, the unique stench also became noticeable. The sharpening zombie roars echoed like surround sound. The slight, ticklish stench began to pierce my nose. A combination of debuffs that would drive a person insane.

Screech— As the zombies began to appear, I slammed on the brakes. ‘…….’

There were many. Indeed, there were truly many. The feeling was completely different from seeing them from afar and high up. From a distance of roughly 200 meters, the expression “swarming” fit perfectly. A mass of zombies stretching further than the eye could see. A suffocating pressure tightened around me. And an indescribable feeling, if I had to put it into words, a feeling of not wanting to go near them. I temporarily ignored that unsettling feeling. After all, I had to infiltrate that gap.

Before that, I looked left and right and saw a slightly tall building. Thump— Thud— I jumped onto the rooftop of the building that looked like a school. Immediately, I properly surveyed the scene ahead.

‘Hmm…’ I hadn’t realized it when looking at the map, but seeing it like this, it was truly vast. In my sight, a wide open space that seemed to be a helipad was visible. To the left, I could see the general hospital building I’d seen during the day. And the zombies filling that entire area were churning. The zombies slowly wandered, as if moving with a current. In the midst of those zombies, I saw the familiar large one.

‘It’s damn big.’ It was much larger than it had appeared through the binoculars. It seemed to be more than just twice the size of a regular zombie. Due to the distance and darkness, I couldn’t observe its appearance in detail. Still, a palpable sense of danger, like a surging killing intent, was clearly conveyed. It was like it was barely suppressing its rage. A feeling that if you poked it, it would go berserk. It looked like it would be quite tiresome to deal with.

The waddling one moved slowly. It didn’t seem to have a purpose; it just wandered around. Whether big or small, they all just wandered. Their movements awkwardly broke in places. Like flowing water hitting rocks or boulders.

‘That’s it.’ Significant piles of supplies stacked in the open space. Supplies, firmly secured and covered with nets, were visible. They were scattered here and there, and destroyed vehicles were also visible. A few helicopters, seemingly with their rears smashed off, were also seen. Even at a glance, it was a substantial amount. It seemed worth Captain Lee risking his life to come all this way. And behind them, two seemingly intact helicopters were visible. Perhaps they had been obscured by zombies, but car roofs were also visible.

As I continued surveying the area, the moonlight suddenly intensified. My vision smoothly cleared in the darkness. And then, a dilapidated building came into view. ‘Is that the Governor-General’s something-or-other?’ It was blurry, but I had no problem identifying it. I hadn’t found the bunker or whatever it was yet, but thanks to this, I had a rough location. Fortunately, it was some distance from where the supplies were piled. If I could lure them a little further, it seemed like the supplies wouldn’t be engulfed in flames. Burn the zombies and get the supplies.

‘…Good.’ A clear possibility presented itself. Keeping the Joseon Governor-General’s building in sight, I started moving again. I turned left, heading towards an old wall.

Thud— The street I landed on after crossing the low wall and wire fence. I moved as quietly as possible, following the estimated direction.

‘First, find waste oil.’ I was looking for waste materials that would deliver a decisive blow. I moved quietly to search without stirring things up. The familiar asphalt road stretching straight along the wall. With the low wall between them, the scenes inside and outside were completely different. The road was packed with abandoned cars I’d seen countless times. I diligently ran past them.

Unlike the quiet road, the sounds of zombies surged from beyond the wall. With just a wall between us, the zombies weren’t detecting me. I ran between the wall and the abandoned cars, suppressing my presence as much as possible. It was quite a detour, but it was meaningful. The zombies inside the base couldn’t see me. Fortunately, there were no zombies on the street. Beyond the road, various buildings and apartments were visible. Concrete masses remained grotesquely with their lights out. But what remained between them was even more hideous.

‘…….’ Grotesque noises echoed from the building forest on the opposite side of the base. The direction of the subway station, indicated by a fleetingly seen sign, was the same. It seemed the station was closer than I thought. There were hidden zombies on the street. Zombies teeming both inside and outside the base. I confirmed that now.

I forced myself to ignore the grotesque noises and ran. Soon, I saw the gate I had confirmed on the map. A quick scan showed no zombies near the gate. The gate’s appearance was a mess, but I had no time to examine it. Maintaining my running speed, I continued along the wall. Finally, after passing behind the hospital building and running a bit further. Glancing over the wall, I saw the Joseon Governor-General’s building. Currently, there were no zombies near the building or the wall. Immediately after confirming the situation, I quickly took action. Passing through the somewhat unkempt street, I reached my destination.

‘What a building…’ Its appearance was exactly the Japanese colonial style seen in dramas. Why was something like this still left standing? Grumbling, I approached the building and immediately began searching for waste materials.

‘…?’ The waste materials I vaguely expected to find were nowhere in sight. The kind of waste materials I had in mind, or had seen, were those stored in drums. But there wasn’t even a bucket, let alone a drum. I circled the not-so-large building completely but couldn’t find any.

‘Damn it, is it a bust?’ My mouth felt dry at the thought of failure. If I were to set a fire, this was still a good location. The bunker or whatever it was, was too close to the gate I had just passed. If I was unlucky, zombies from outside might also flock in.

“Seriously, is there none? Huh?” As I rummaged around, anxiety subtly creeping up. Something suspicious caught my eye a little distance away. ‘No way… waste materials, just out in the open like this?’ I looked around and cautiously moved forward.

“Damn it! No wonder I couldn’t see it!” Cargo placed on the dirt ground, as if scraped by an excavator. Inside the old, rotting black shading tarp, rusted drums were visible. This tarp was covered in three or four layers, making it inconspicuous. Especially at night, it was even harder to spot. If the moon hadn’t illuminated it, I would have walked right past it without noticing.

“Ugh, damn it…” Sighing to suppress my frustration, I knocked on the drums. Thump— Thump— The dull knocking sound, indicating contents inside, confirmed I had found the right thing. There was no need to open the lid. Waste oil, whether spilled or leaked, was soaking the ground.

‘Got it.’ A foul oil smell, black and thickened clumps of oil. I found it correctly. Heize. If I get the chance, I should treat her to something tasty. Her casually thrown, uncertain information turned out to be true.

‘You bastards, that’s only for a moment now.’ Those rotting lumps of flesh, enjoying their night stroll ahead of me. I hastened my preparations, listening to the zombies’ leisurely groans. It was time to send them up.