Chapter 29: Encounter
Chapter 29: Encounter
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- And that is how I, Survival Man, managed to return after an extremely difficult fight with a zombie. So please, never assume you can smash a zombie's head by yourself! Movies and reality are different. I am sharing this information to explain how infection occurs, not to encourage anyone to hunt zombies. If you face an immediate emergency, you may have no choice, but I sincerely hope every subscriber survives this crisis safely.
Survival Man continued warning his viewers as he recounted encountering and killing a zombie on his trip to the supermarket.
He summarized and presented information identical to what we had already figured out.
Zombies were stronger and faster than ordinary people. The infection was neither airborne nor bloodborne. Scratches and other wounds were survivable, but a bite had to be avoided at all costs.
He said he himself had used traps to restrain a zombie and burned its head to take it down.
He continued by warning that an ordinary person landing a perfect blow to a zombie's head and disabling it in one strike would amount to little more than blind luck, so no one should attempt it recklessly.
He explained that he was sharing this information so people could fight back when they had no other choice, while emphasizing that avoiding zombies safely remained the best option.
Yet Seon-yeong and I had been fighting zombies since the very first day.
Looking back, Seon-yeong and I had been extraordinarily lucky.
And I understood what Survival Man was getting at.
It wasn't like he was wrong, either.
Even so, I didn't think we had done anything wrong.
From the beginning, we'd exploited the zombies' weak point effectively. We survived, and our combat ability had only grown stronger.
Even Survival Man, despite saying all that, had refused to give up scavenging, killed a zombie, and returned alive.
Which response gave the best odds in our current situation?
- Here are the garlic and assorted seasonings I worked so hard to obtain. I'm going to use the remaining meat to make stew, and my mouth is already watering. Shall we begin?
While explaining how he'd used his ability and fought the zombie, the video somehow transitioned into a cooking show and mukbang.
The video ended with him wolfing down appetizing stew and freshly cooked pot rice.
- user1147jonny: First!!!
- dinosaurrrr: Survival Man... I tried to drive home on the first day too, but the car would not start and I ended up stranded ㅠㅠ
- Omnomnomnom: The woman in the apartment across from mine suddenly stopped appearing yesterday... ㅠㅠ
- MalangMalangJjondeukJjondeuk: Sigh... I'm almost out of food. If I go outside, am I just going to die?
- user5032ming: Monster report. Yesterday, I saw a strange creature like a wall-climbing gorilla at the apartment building across from mine. Apartment residents, please be careful. It climbs in through windows!!!
As I scrolled through the comments and read them, I could feel the mood getting bleaker and bleaker.
Food seemed to be the biggest problem.
The survivors were isolated and debating whether they should risk going outside for supplies rather than remain inside and starve.
Two camps had formed and were arguing: those who believed everyone should hold out and await rescue, and those who insisted they had to go outside.
People posted their locations and begged for rescue, searched for women to survive with, and asked about conditions in specific areas. Every kind of desperate comment streamed past in confusion.
There were new videos from other MeTubers after that, so I looked at a few, but there wasn't much information that was particularly helpful.
The comments were grim, and it was difficult to tell truth from rumor.
Still, I hadn't seen anyone else actively hunting zombies as we did.
Most people appeared to be hiding in complete silence.
I turned off MeTube and came out to the living room, where Seon-yeong and Ga-yeong were eating ice cream.
The tidy apartment and the sound of laughter gave me a sense of stability.
I hadn't been wrong.
All I could do was make the best possible choices with the information and circumstances available.
I needed to keep consulting the clever Seon-yeong, preparing for what lay ahead, and growing stronger.
"Seon-yeong, won't your stomach hurt if you keep eating like that?"
"Oh, you came out, Tae-sik? I didn't eat that much."
"Thank you, Mister! We still had plenty of ice cream, but no mint chocolate. I haven't had this brand in ages, and it's delicious!"
"Uh... I'm glad you like it. Seon-yeong, when you're done, let's go practice your Shield. You still have some uses left, right?"
"Yeah, I'm finished. I still have plenty of Shields left today."
"Seon-yeong, I'll clean up. Go ahead."
"Thanks. Let's go right away, Tae-sik. Are you giving me another massage tonight? My shoulders hurt, and my legs feel sore too."
"Heh. Fine. You don't need to make such a pitiful face; I'll do it. Let's finish the practice quickly."
"Whoa, Seon-yeong... Did I hear that correctly? Why am I getting goosebumps?"
"Ga-yeong, you hush!"
Seon-yeong tickled Ga-yeong into submission, then fled the room with her face flushed bright red.
She'd been fine when it was just the two of us, but having Ga-yeong there must have embarrassed her.
I thought nothing of it, but Seon-yeong was sometimes sensitive about her age and wondered whether she was acting too shamelessly for it. Perhaps that explained her embarrassment.
Did age really matter?
She was only cute to me.
In any case, I followed the hurried Seon-yeong out through the front door.
We had made it through today in one piece as well, and a peaceful night was drawing to a close.
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"Seon-yeong, got everything packed?"
"Yeah, I can't carry anything more. We should make a trip home."
"Let's do that. You tell me if it gets too heavy."
The next day.
We had set out at dawn that day.
The midday heat was unbearable, so we'd moved our wake-up time earlier.
We were currently scavenging another convenience store along the route we'd cleared, collecting food ingredients and processed goods.
On the way we had passed the building where Min-su was, but there was no particular reaction—probably because it was still too early.
We easily took care of the zombies left in the small convenience store building.
After clearing the building at dawn, we realized we could now handle fewer than ten zombies without even exchanging a word.
Buildings like this were divided into several interior sections, so we rarely had to fight many zombies at once.
"It's frustrating. I could carry much more, but I only have one backpack. Seon-yeong, can you think of anything?"
On the way home, Seon-yeong and I discussed how to transport more supplies in a single trip.
Even if I packed a single backpack full of heavy items, it was no strain on me at all.
So I needed a more efficient way to scavenge.
"You're gradually leaving human limits behind, Tae-sik. I'm already carrying a lot..."
"It's just because our abilities are different. Anyway, when we're on the routes we've cleared, I think I could manage even if my hands were a little occupied—should I just carry a spare backpack?"
"Hmm... What about a handcart? It wouldn't make much noise, it could hold a lot, and cars aren't using the roads anyway."
"That's Assistant Manager Choi for you. You're an idea machine!"
"Whoa... 'idea bank'? What decade is that expression from? Hehe."
"Hey, look here. You and I, we're only two years..."
At the murderous glare she shot at me, I shut my mouth.
Anyway, a handcart, huh...
Having one would genuinely help.
Where could I get one?
Anything with a cargo bed and wheels would probably work. Once we got home, perhaps I should search for a nearby scrapyard.
We returned home, dropped the scavenged goods off with Ga-yeong, discussed the handcart idea, and then left again.
The map app showed no scrapyard within walking distance, so we had no immediate way to obtain one.
There was no guarantee a scrap yard would have a handcart in the first place, either.
For the time being, we would have to keep making the trips on foot.
Ga-yeong said that while she was organizing supplies she would also think of a way.
We'd simply have to work like ants. What other choice was there?
First, we headed out again to finish emptying the convenience store.
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After filling our backpacks at the convenience store, we were retracing the route we'd traveled twice at dawn.
"Huh? Tae-sik! I think I've had a good idea."
"Hm? What, a handcart?"
"Right. Instead of a handcart, you said there was a fish-shaped pastry machine inside the tarp-covered stall along our route. It was on one of those street-food carts... What should I call it? A cargo cart? A fish-pastry cart?"
"Ah! Right. It was a wheeled cargo cart with the pastry machine mounted on top. Let's hurry and inspect it. If we're lucky, we can use it."
We quickened our pace and arrived at the road in front of the apartment complex.
Inside the green tarp where Min-su had hidden, the fish-shaped pastry cart remained. Perhaps the owner had been unable to retrieve it after the winter season.
Seon-yeong and I pulled back the tarp and stepped inside to inspect it.
"Heh! What do you think, Tae-sik? We can use this, right?"
"That's Assistant Manager Choi Seon-yeong for you! This is perfect—it's big and it has wheels."
"You can praise me more. Hee-hee."
"Choi Seon-yeong! Choi Seon-yeong! Choi Seon-yeong!"
After inspecting the cart and deciding it was perfectly usable, both of us became excited.
I clapped rhythmically and chanted Seon-yeong's praises.
I resolved that whenever anything troubled me, I would tell Seon-yeong first.
"Should we pull it home and sort it out? We don't need the machines mounted on top. Though looking at it does make me want some fish-shaped pastries..."
"Heheh. Then let's tow the whole thing back as is. We might even be able to make some ourselves."
"Ahem. Team Leader Kim, put your back into it!"
Together, the thoroughly excited Seon-yeong and I removed the tarp.
Four removable poles rose from the cart to support the tarp. Pulling them straight up let us detach it easily.
A horizontal metal bar resembling a handle extended from one side, and I took position behind it.
How much could this thing weigh?
A closer look showed that it could either be hitched to a vehicle or pushed by hand.
I gripped the protruding bar like a handle and pushed.
Clank, rattle-rattle.
"Ah... Tae-sik. The wheel's got a lock wrapped around it here."
"Ah, hell..."
A chain lock was wrapped around one of the cart's wheels.
Well, that killed the plan.