Slave Candidate, Kang Jiyoung
The girl suddenly raised her voice. “Y-you’re that one, aren’t you? The school violence—”
“No! I never did anything like that!”
She was so worked up it was like she’d hit the gas pedal on her emotions. Her name was Kang Jiyoung. She used to be called the most famous non-celebrity in the country. With a face that could rival any idol, a voluptuous body, killer fashion sense, and flawless makeup skills, she had dominated social media. She boasted over six hundred thousand followers on Insta and even gained massive popularity after appearing on an OTT influencer competition. If the school violence scandal hadn’t exploded, she would still be treated like a celebrity.
During her livestreams she would sob uncontrollably, swearing she was innocent, that she had never done anything like that, and that she would sue every single person who exposed her and every anti-fan who attacked her. I have no idea how it all turned out. Regular people like me only knew how to curse and move on. Whether she was truly innocent or guilty didn’t matter to us. It was just another piece of gossip among countless celebrity scandals.
“If you didn’t do it, then you didn’t. Why are you yelling at me? What the hell did you just say to me?”
“Ah, n-no… that’s not… Hic… I’m sorry.”
She quickly tucked her tail between her legs the moment she remembered her position. Given the situation, her attitude shift was lightning fast. I let the silence drag on just long enough to make her anxious, then asked why she was hiding here.
“S-suddenly people started turning into monsters, so we ran into the school building…”
She had come to visit her older sister who had just opened a nail art shop nearby when the apocalypse hit. About twenty people—teachers, students, and civilians—had fled inside the building. After barely managing to kill the zombie in the classroom, they had spent the day here. It must have been around the time I was waiting out my skill cooldown.
“We had water, but there was nothing to eat.”
A few of the men had decided to raid the cafeteria on the first floor. If they could bring back ingredients from the storeroom, they could hold out for at least a few days.
“But… sob… one of the students came back bitten. He didn’t even realize he’d been bitten while fighting the zombies.”
Because of that bitten student, every last survivor left in the classroom had been wiped out. Jiyoung had survived because she had been in the bathroom at the time.
“So the trash you’re covered in was to trick the zombies?”
“Yes. One of the students said he knew a lot about zombies and told us. He said they have a strong sense of smell, so we should cover ourselves in something dirty.”
Strong odors could apparently fool the zombies’ sensitive noses. It wasn’t perfect, but it worked to some degree. She was absolutely caked in filth, to the point that her appearance was unrecognizable. She had looked incredibly beautiful on screen, but right now it was impossible to tell what she really looked like underneath all that grime.
Gurgle~
She probably hadn’t eaten anything. It made sense that her stomach would complain. I pulled a bottle of water, some bread, and chocolate from my backpack and handed them to her.
“Eat.”
Her eyes sparkled. She snatched everything and shoved it into her mouth. She choked, then downed an entire bottle of water in seconds.
“Um… if there’s more…”
Her voice was hoarse. I took out two more pieces of bread and another bottle of water. She devoured them like she was afraid they would disappear.
“Haa… I feel alive again.”
Once her hunger was satisfied, the stiffness in her expression melted away. Not that it made her look any less filthy.
“I saw you fighting that dog on the playground, oppa.”
She naturally called me oppa. She didn’t seem like the type to be intimidated by men.
“How can you fight so well? That dog was huge, its teeth were terrifying, and it was even eating zombies.”
“After the world became like this, I gained special abilities. It’s hard to explain, so stop asking.”
I didn’t actually know who awakened, how, or why. So I simply shut down further questions by saying I had gained special powers. With nothing left to say, she fidgeted with her fingers and kept glancing at me, clearly reading my mood.
How should I take her with me…
The system had told me to treat slaves as fellow human beings with dignity. Scaring or threatening her into following me would be easy, but going full tyrant from the start would only complicate our relationship later. There had to be a reason the system emphasized trust. Before awakening her and turning her into my slave, I needed to give her positive signals—that I was an ally and a protector.
I decided to test her thoughts and give her a chance to choose.
“I’ll clear out all the zombies in the building on the way down. If you hide in the cafeteria, you should be able to hold out for a while.”
There would be ingredients and cooking tools, so I told her to endure until the military arrived.
“What about you, oppa?”
“I’ll grab a few things from the food storeroom and head back. I live nearby.”
“T-then… could you take me with you? I don’t want to be alone. I’ll do anything, please…”
She looked at me with desperate, pleading eyes. I’ll do anything. This was going to be easier than I thought.
“You’ll really do anything?”
“Yes! Yes! I’ll do whatever you tell me to! I’m good at cooking… and cleaning… and I can do nail art too!”
Apparently the reason she had visited her sister’s shop was to properly learn nail art.
“What would I need nail art for?”
“Ah, r-right… Then, um… I’m actually really pretty. The videos weren’t edited. I look like a mess right now, but if I wash up, I’ll look really good!”
“That part I like.”
“Right? If you take me, I swear you won’t regret it! And… I… I’m really, really good at sex too!”
She was crossing every line herself. She was desperately selling herself in case I decided to leave her behind. I almost laughed at how eager she was, but I held it in with a small smirk and opened the classroom door.
“If you have anything to bring, grab it and let’s go.”
She let out a delighted squeal as soon as she understood what I meant.
“Really? You’re really taking me?”
“We don’t have time. Hurry up and pack, come on.”
“Yes, yes! I’m coming!”
I told her she could just come as she was since she could wash up at home. Between clearing out the zombies in the building, looting the food storeroom, and taking a different route back, we didn’t have much time to spare.
“KRRRAAAAAHH—!!”
Thud!
“KYAAAAAHH!!”
Until now, the only sounds had been zombie groans and the impact of my strikes. Now Jiyoung’s screams had been added to the mix. She followed right behind me, shrieking like a chorus every time I killed one. My already sensitive ears were starting to ring.
“I told you to stop screaming every time I kill a zombie.”
“S-s-sorry… But they’re so scary…”
“I’m going to clear the upper floors and come back down. Stay right here.”
“N-no! I don’t want to be alone! If I’m going to die, I want to die next to you, oppa!”
We hadn’t even known each other that long and she was already stuck to me like glue. She might not fully trust me yet, but it seemed she at least believed she could survive if she stayed by my side.
I smashed the head of the last remaining zombie in front of the cafeteria and opened my status window. My level had gone up. The system had said keeping about five points in reserve was fine, but I had left twelve points just in case. If a necessary skill appeared and I didn’t have enough points, it would be a problem.
“Only take things that can be eaten without cooking. Carrots, cucumbers, stuff like that. Stack the canned goods on the cart so they don’t fall over.”
I gave Jiyoung instructions while gathering what we needed. In a few days, every convenience store, supermarket, and shopping center would be completely looted. We had to take as much as we could while things were still relatively untouched.
“I’ve stacked everything, but… can we really carry all this?”
We had taken more from the storeroom than expected. In the past, I would have thought the same thing she did. Whatever. I flipped a barricade earlier.
I tilted the cart and pushed it toward the building entrance. The wheels screamed under the weight, but with my attack stat at 7, it wasn’t particularly difficult. Jiyoung clapped excitedly beside me, her face full of genuine amazement.
“Wow, seriously… If I stay next to you, oppa, I won’t have to worry about zombies at all.”
“It’s not just zombies. You saw me fighting that wild dog earlier.”
“You killed that too.”
“There are other mutants besides that. And they’ll keep getting stronger.”
“But you’ll kill them too, right?”
Her expression begged me to say yes. She had been relieved to grab onto me like a lifeline, but hearing there were even worse things out there had clearly made her anxious again.
“If you help me, I might be able to.”
“Me?”
“Yeah. I’ll explain the details when we get home, so stay sharp and follow me closely.”
All I had to do was awaken her and give her the survival skills she needed. If she didn’t have to worry about food and shelter, she could focus more on leveling up.
We were taking a different route than the one I had come from. If we went further around the outskirts, we would reach a construction site. I planned to pass through there. With some luck, I might be able to find the steel pipe or crowbar the system had recommended. Especially the crowbar—since it wasn’t something you’d find in a normal house, stopping by the construction site was worth it.
As we crested the hill where the construction site came into view, I sensed presences. It wasn’t just the feeling that people were there. It was a messy cocktail of killing intent, hostility, and filthy desire.
“There’s someone here.”
“Huh? Who?”
Jiyoung jumped in surprise, looking around before turning to me. As expected, she couldn’t sense anything. This wasn’t something normal humans could feel—it was the sharpened senses unique to the awakened.
We approached slowly. The bastards inside the construction site noticed us and poked their heads out. They were the same type of lowlife thugs as the muscle pig whose throat I had stabbed at the convenience store. There were three of them. Empty liquor bottles were scattered everywhere nearby. Next to the fattest one, a half-naked woman lay collapsed on the ground.
Fuck.
No matter how much of an apocalypse this was, it had only been two days. What the hell was this, a kingdom of rape?
The moment our eyes met, one of them gave a sleazy grin.
“Keh, we send one off and another comes. Hey boys, there’s another hole over there. Looks like it’ll feel real good.”
The other two snickered at his crude words. Six eyes gleaming with lust turned toward Jiyoung. Unable to endure their stares, she hid behind me.
I had thought today might pass without killing anyone. Guess not. These bastards were digging their own graves.