Chapter 84: Siblings
Chapter 84: Siblings
20. Siblings
I carried the bastard who had fainted in the street into a cool ice-cream shop.
I sat him in a chair and chose some ice cream.
I untied him, since even an ambush didn't seem particularly threatening.
Besides, my instincts said he wasn't a bad person.
Deok-hun woke shortly after I selected the ice cream.
"Yo. You up?"
"Eeek!"
Crash-bang
What was wrong with him?
His reactions were nothing like those of an ordinary guy.
The instant he saw my face, he toppled his chair, scrambled upright, and put up his guard.
I silently ate my ice cream and watched him. Before long, he approached and sat across from me.
"You want some? My treat."
"Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. Thank you."
Deok-hun laughed stiffly while cautiously examining the ice-cream display.
He kept watching my reaction, apparently finding the situation awkward.
"Now, how about we calmly talk this through? Don't be so tense. Oh, and I'm more than ten years older than you, so don't speak informally to me."
"Hweh? Seriously? Absolutely unbelievabubble..."
"What's 'unbelievabubble' supposed to mean? What the hell is wrong with the way you talk?"
"Ack, ack, ack... I'm sorry. Talking to myself has become a habit."
I had no idea what talking to himself had to do with speaking that way.
"I'm Kim Tae-sik, thirty-four. Eat while you tell me what happened. I'll share what I know in return."
"Ah, yes. I'm Kim Deok-hun, twenty-two. Um... my hobby is watching anime, and my special talent is identifying an anime from the opening bars of its soundtrack! And cosmic..."
"Is this guy seriously insane?"
I had meant to keep that thought to myself, but it slipped out.
"Are you introducing yourself on a blind date? You said some bastards threw zombies at you. Tell me about that."
"Ah, so that's what you were curious about. You should've said so sooner..."
My fingers itched. I desperately wanted to flick his forehead.
But the lump already swelling there convinced me to restrain myself.
"Ooh! Oishii! Fufu... may I have a bit more?"
"Haah... sure. Eat up."
"Thank you. So this is the financial power of an adult. Fufu."
The kid seemed slightly unhinged.
Deok-hun's insistence on moving at his own pace was exhausting me.
Still, he looked so blissful eating the ice cream that I tried to remain patient.
"Those villains were clearly targeting watashi. However, overlooking this body's outstanding a.bil.i.ty was their mis.take, I suppose. Against the charging zombies, I unleashed a Colossal Spatial Slash..."
Flick
Crash-bang
His speech pattern and tone were extraordinarily distinctive.
His gestures and expressions were equally theatrical.
Most importantly, he took far too long to reach the point.
When his digressions continued, I finally lost patience and deployed another forehead flick.
I'd already restrained myself three times, so Deok-hun would surely understand.
"Tell me when, where, who, how, and why. Stick to the relevant facts instead of constantly going off on tangents."
"I'm sorry. I'll speak a little slower. Ah... is my forehead bleeding, by any chance?"
Was he simply bad at understanding people?
I kept wanting to give up and go home.
"Boss, by the way, are you really thirty-four? Perhaps merging with the isekai caused a bug..."
"Who said you could call me Boss? And for Christ's sake, talk only about what matters. Are you deliberately trying to piss me off?"
"No. Then what should I call... Ah, I see. Very well. Commencing now!"
According to Deok-hun, the group consisted of one man and two women.
He'd encountered them about five blocks inside Zone B.
"But what do you mean they threw zombies?"
"I don't know. It looked as though they were directly controlling the zombies."
A zombie horde had apparently followed behind them.
It had not run, but simply walked along in silence.
Deok-hun had been hiding, yet the zombies somehow knew exactly where he was and suddenly rushed him.
"You're certain? The zombies followed those three, passed straight by them, and charged you instead?"
"Yes, I'm certain. They went right past them. And when I ran, the bastards didn't chase me."
"Were you actually hidden properly?"
"Yubp. Are you doubting watashi right now... eep. I was definitely hidden properly."
Were they truly controlling the zombies?
In a world overrun with zombies, would an ability like that not be absurdly powerful?
The only detail shared by my sighting and Deok-hun's encounter was the presence of two women. Beyond that, his information wasn't particularly useful.
He hadn't seen their faces either.
In return for his story, I told him about Mutated Zombies and animals transformed into monsters.
They must not have been very common, because the news genuinely shocked him.
"All right, thanks. Let's call the hitting even, since you attacked me too."
"But, Boss... are you alone?"
"Uh, yes. I'm still single."
"Ha. Ha. Ha. That's not what I meant. I was wondering whether you'd consider joining forces with me..."
"If it's not funny, just don't laugh. Join forces? How?"
I rose from my seat, but Deok-hun stopped me, so we talked a little longer.
When discussing what he actually wanted, he spoke perfectly smoothly.
So he really had been messing with me until now.
"So you're telling me to come to your base, right?"
"That's right."
Deok-hun had survived with a much younger sibling.
They'd looted several convenience stores and held out until now, but their food was running low and the surrounding danger was growing, making it increasingly difficult for him to manage alone.
That was why he wanted to recruit me after seeing how strong I looked.
"And what makes you trust me?"
"You bought me ice cream... and after talking for a bit, I got the sense you're not the type to do harm."
I couldn't understand Deok-hun's reasoning.
What had he seen in me to reach that conclusion?
Was the kid just young and naive?
Or had today convinced him that surviving alone would be too difficult from now on?
I studied him closely, wondering whether he had another motive.
His odd speech and behavior had made me suspect he was a junkie, but the sharp intelligence in his eyes made me feel ashamed of that assumption.
He didn't appear stupid or distracted.
"Sorry, but that won't work."
"Of course. For someone of Boss's caliber, we'd be nothing but dead weight."
"That's not why. I already have a lot of people depending on me. And why do you keep calling me Boss?"
I ran through the possibilities in my head.
Deok-hun was a young man with a powerful offensive ability.
He also had a younger sibling to protect.
Our raid party lacked offensive abilities, and having a young sibling with him would make it difficult for Deok-hun to attempt anything reckless.
He seemed good-natured as well, so the conditions for bringing him in were favorable.
Was this a good recruitment opportunity?
"I can't join your group, but if you're willing to join our raid party, I can accept you."
"Eeek! Yatta!"
He suddenly sprang up, sang in Japanese, and performed some dance I couldn't identify.
Was this really a good recruitment opportunity?
#
Once we finished talking, we immediately headed to Deok-hun's hideout.
Deok-hun's base was a villa in a housing complex.
He had cleared all the nearby zombies, leaving the street quiet.
I sent him upstairs first to explain matters to his sibling, then lit a cigarette outside.
Before I could finish it, the younger sibling came down alone and greeted me.
"Hello. I'm Kim Ji-yu, a second-year student at Sangsan Middle School."
"Uh... nice to meet you. I'm Kim Tae-sik, thirty-four. I hope we get along."
Deok-hun's younger sibling was a little sister.
The thought that he might genuinely be insane crossed my mind again.
He had a young sister, yet he had readily agreed to join me. What if I harbored ulterior motives?
"Sorry, but I've already been delayed quite a while. I can come back later, so could you take only what you urgently need for now?"
"You can leave right now. We've already packed so we can leave at any time."
Unlike Deok-hun, Ji-yu spoke precisely and clearly.
Their only obvious similarities were their pale skin and thin builds.
"I grabbed everything."
While Ji-yu and I introduced ourselves, Deok-hun came down carrying two enormous bags.
Now that was preparedness.
"Then let's move out right away. Give me both bags."
I took both siblings' bags and shouldered them.
We alternated between walking and running as I matched their pace back to the apartment complex.
"You've got more stamina than I thought."
"Yes. Huff... I like dancing and moving around."
"Whoa... Boss. This is incredible."
The siblings stared at the barricade in amazement.
Seeing it through their eyes made me appreciate how remarkable it was.
Although built from wrecked cars, the enormous barricade possessed a certain majesty.
"Oh, it's you. Huh? Who are the kids?"
"I'll explain once we're inside."
I climbed over the barricade first and opened the gate for them.
During the latest repairs, I'd made the gate easier to open than before.
I'd also cleared part of the furniture-packed inner stairway to create a passage.
Of course, it wasn't a proper gate.
It was merely a steel plate secured from inside by sliding an iron pipe into place.
When someone moved it from inside, a person outside could enter through the gap by the truck's window.
The entrance was invisible from outside and could be opened or closed only from within.
It remained inconvenient, but entering and leaving was easier than before.
The largest drawback was that moving the Bungeoppang Cart still required us to push the truck aside.
"Could you step aside for a sec? I need to push this truck."
The person on watch must have spotted us approaching, because every woman inside the barricade had gathered in combat gear.
When the siblings entered, curious gazes converged on them.
"Hello. I'm Kim Ji-yu, age fifteen."
"Guh... Boss's harem?"
Thwack
Without missing a beat, Ji-yu—who had boldly introduced herself first—drove a hard punch into Deok-hun's ribs.
Her form made it clear that she had practiced that strike for far longer than a day or two.
"Urgh... Hello. I'm Kim Deok-hun, twenty-two."
"Uh... welcome, I suppose? I'm Choi Seon-yeong, Vice Raid Leader of Kim Tae-sik's Raid Party. Let's go inside and talk."
"Wha? Kim Tae-sik's Raid Party... Jeeeesus Christ, that's so totally cool."
Thwack
Haah...
Embarrassed by Seon-yeong's introduction, I felt my face heat up.
Deok-hun looked delighted, while Ji-yu's face reddened much like mine.
Ji-yu was probably embarrassed by her older brother too.
We all went up to the house and sat around the living room.
I explained how I'd met Deok-hun.
We spent an awkward few minutes introducing ourselves.