Just Do One!

This was the first survivor I'd run into besides O Jihye.

That was right.

The guy had attacked me intending to kill me, but I'd never killed a person before. Was I actually ready to take a life? Could I counterattack with the resolve to end him?

No more thinking about it.

If I didn't kill him, I died. And besides, I wasn't someone who belonged in this world—I was a Stranger who'd crossed over from another one. To me, that man wasn't a fellow human. He was just a character from a webtoon.

Kwaak!!!

Dodging the scissors had completely wrecked my stance. I clenched my right hand around the entrenching tool, shoved off the floor with my left, and heaved myself ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠upright. At the same time I swung the tool outward in a counter.

Paat!!!

The wooden stick bounced off the swinging entrenching tool and left him wide open. Two choices sat in front of me now: turn and run for the exit, or swing the tool again and kill the man.

And my choice was—

"W-wait! He's a person!"

"......"

"......"

I already knew that, but Jihye's shout froze the entrenching tool I'd raised over my head.

"Hah...! Hah...!"

"Ah...."

I sucked in ragged breaths and kept staring at the man as he backed away with a startled face. The second he made any threatening move, I was bringing it down. Resolve to kill a person? Plenty. My heart was hammering like it wanted to burst and my arms were trembling, both of them insisting I still wasn't ready—but that didn't matter.

"Jaeyeol!!"

"D-don't come over!!"

An opening. I brought the entrenching tool down.

Pwak!!!

Tak!! Tadadak!!!

The wooden stick in the man's hands hit the floor and the bindings came loose. The sticks that looked like they'd been cleaning-tool handles rolled away, leaving only the scissors lying alone. And as the man bent to snatch them up, I set the surprisingly sharp blade of the entrenching tool against his throat and locked him down for good.

"S-stop!! Don't do that to Jaeyeol!!!"

"Run, Nari! Hurry!!! Ngh..!!"

Listening to them was getting on my nerves. I hooked the upper edge of the L-shaped blade under his neck and gave a light tug. His head snapped back toward me, pupils shaking like an earthquake was going off inside them.

"You attacked first. Why are you making me out to be the bad guy?"

"I-I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠thought a zombie was coming in..."

"Exactly. You mess up, you apologize. Why are you telling her to run? That just makes it look like I jumped you first."

"That's.... it seemed dangerous..."

"I'll apologize! We're both so scared right now... everything's chaos... we don't understand anything... sob... that's why... so please... just forgive us this once... don't kill Jaeyeol.... sob..!"

"Hey...."

"......"

Not that much time had passed yet. Even the survivors the webtoon's protagonists met early on weren't selfish or savage. They were confused and terrified, focused on banding together with other people to stay alive. Only after they'd adapted a little did selfishness, greed, and lust start waking up. So for now, as long as nothing went sideways, neither of us was a threat to the other.

As long as nothing went sideways.

"Keep your voice down. How many people are inside?"

"W-why are you asking that..?"

"I didn't ask you. I asked her. If you don't want to watch this guy die, you'd better answer honestly."

"M-me and Jaeyeol..! And six of our friends, plus three ajummas!"

"The friends—guys or girls?"

"Three guys.. three girls.."

"Couples?"

"N-no! We're not like that..!! Not at all....."

"Ages and jobs."

"Huh??"

"Ages and jobs."

"Ah... we're all twenty-three... friends since high school... still college students... but the ajummas' ages..."

"Forget that. Same university?"

"No, not all of us.."

"Good students?"

"Huh..? Ah.. a-a little.. upper ranks..."

"All of you?"

"Yes..."

Twenty-three, college kids. The type who'd studied hard and gotten into university. Didn't seem like thugs, so there was no real need to keep leaning on them this hard. Of course I still didn't trust them completely.

"Hey."

"Yes.."

"Military?"

"We all... finished our service..."

"You guys cleared out the zombies inside?"

"W-whatever we could see..."

"Just four of you? The girls didn't help, right?"

"Well.... but could we lock the door first..?"

"Don't worry. Unnie already locked it."

"Ah.. thank you... and.. I'm sorry... the door just opened so I really thought it was a zombie... a-are you hurt... ah....."

It was fine. Blood was running down my cheek, but it was only a light scratch. And I understood why the guy was backing away after checking the wound on my face. To kill a zombie you had to hit the brain protected inside the skull, and the scissors he'd been stabbing zombies with had scraped my cheek. Assuming infection was the natural reaction.

But in this world, infection didn't work that way. Still, of course I needed to disinfect and treat it.

The sauna had clean water and a first-aid kit, so we could treat the wound. Before that, though, clearing out the remaining zombies inside and dumping them in the ice room had taken a while.

"Is that true..?"

"It's already been an hour. If I was going to turn, I would've by now."

"Th-that part hyung's right about..."

"Yeah! Everyone else turned right away! Nobody held out like that oppa!"

"But people definitely got infected... why only that hyung..."

"Well, about that..."

"Maybe he's someone with antibodies?? In webtoons there's always one person like that! The only one who can save the earth, and the military comes and drags him off!"

The rest of the high-school friends and the ajummas had all gathered in one place. They sat around tossing out guesses like a debate club, but unfortunately none of them were right.

"A-are you really not turning..?!"

"Want me to just bite you?"

"Kyaa!!! He's gonna bite me!! He's turning into a zombie right now!!!"

"Is that for real..!!"

"Hey, hyung."

"What?"

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"Do you know why you're not getting infected?"

Of course I did. If this had been a normal webtoon or novel setting, I'd already have been infected with the zombie virus and turned into a monster that only screamed. But this webtoon's setting was a little different. Infection didn't happen through blood. That was actually more realistic. To kill a zombie you had to hit the brain directly, so blood was going to splash no matter what. That blood typically entered through the eyes, nose, mouth, or open wounds and caused infection. Or blood under the nails or left on unwashed skin and clothes could seep in without you noticing.

But if that were the setting, the difficulty would be pure hell. I would've already turned while killing zombies at the police station.

"Then.. how do you get infected..?"

This time a girl asked, and I gave her a fairly shocking answer.

"Kiss."

"Huh??"

Her eyes went round as she stared at me. The guy who'd tried to scissor me earlier narrowed his eyes and glared, clearly not liking my joke.

"It is a joke, but it's also really a kiss."

"So.. you have to kiss a zombie.. to get infected..?"

"Saliva. Basically spit."

"Ah...!"

"Then even if you get scratched by nails you don't get infected??"

"As long as the zombie didn't smear spit on its fingers?"

"I see..."

"That doesn't mean getting scratched by nails is safe, though."

"W-why??"

"Because it's filthy. Covered in every kind of person's blood and rotting, rotting finger flesh gets ground in when the nail scrapes you, and who knows what else those hands touched? So whether it's nails or teeth, best not to let them touch you at all."

"Ah....."

"What the hell...!"

The second I finished explaining, a grumbling voice came from behind me.

"What now?"

"When I asked you didn't answer a single thing! Why are you just spilling everything to them!"

"Because she's pretty."

"What..?"

"Because this one's pretty."

"Ah...."

Two reactions hit at once when I casually rested a hand on her head. One was her body curling in on itself as she ducked her head to hide a face that had gone bright red. The other was someone shooting to his feet and yelling at me.

"Hyung!!!"

"You like her?"

"W-what are you talking about?! Why would I like her?!"

"Then why are you yelling?"

"That's... because you keep teasing her..."

"Must be nice~"

"I-I said no!! I really don't like her!"

"Ugh..! I don't like you either, okay?! Why are you making such a big deal by yourself..!!"

"That's...!"

"What!!"

I had zero interest in their fresh little love spat. So I stood up to go find ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠something to fill my empty stomach.

"I'm Han Nari!"

"......"

"My name..."

"Kang Juhan."

"Ah... Juhan oppa..."

"I-I'm Yang Jaeyeol!"

"Yeah, nice to meet you."

Filling my stomach came before introductions. But wait—what did he just say?

"......"

"W-why... are you looking at me like that....."

"He's always like that..! He just stares at people weirdly!"

"You shut up. Hey, you."

"Huh??"

"What did you say your name was?"

"Ah... Yang Jaeyeol.. sir...."

Yang Jaeyeol. Not a name common enough that you'd just casually run into a namesake, right? Then.... could this guy be that Yang Jaeyeol???

Holy shit...

No wonder it hadn't made sense. Even four healthy guys in their twenties shouldn't have been able to clear almost every zombie in here with those crude spears made by tying scissors to sticks. So that was how it was possible. Yang Jaeyeol was a guy who absolutely couldn't die here.

I filled my stomach with two simple boiled eggs and a cup of sikhye, then headed in to wash up. I showered under hot water, drained the tub just in case and refilled it fresh, then sank into the heat and soaked.

"Ahh.... I feel alive..."

The hot water wrapping my whole body peeled the built-up fatigue right off. Anyway—was that guy really that Yang Jaeyeol?

"......"

I stared at Yang Jaeyeol while he horsed around with his friends in the shower, still submerged in the tub. The face drawn in the webtoon and the real face that had been realized from it didn't match perfectly, but if you factored in the scar that ran from above the eyebrow across the left eye down to the cheekbone, the vibe was pretty close. The vibe of the villain Yang Jaeyeol who'd driven the protagonist and his party into near-death crises multiple times after they entered Yeouido.

So how the hell had that guy ended up like that?

"I'm washing my hair! Stop it!!"

"Don't wanna~ Don't wanna~"

"Aigoo~ Look at our Jaeyeol's bouncy ass~"

"Puhahaha!!!"

"I said stop! You crazy bastards!!!"

"Doesn't look like that kind of psycho, though..."

Whether the guy was a psycho or not didn't matter much. If he was the Yang Jaeyeol I was thinking of, I needed to stick with him. That way I'd naturally run into the protagonist's party. Even if it was a bad connection. Then I'd cut him loose immediately and jump over to the protagonist's side.

"Hyung, can we come in too..?"

"Make yourselves at home."

"Thank you."

"Ohh..!! It's tingly..!!"

"Whoa... I'm dying.. I used to hate coming in here..."

"Ahh... this is nice... but hyung. Is it okay outside?"

"What is?"

"You came in from outside. Is it doable to move around??"

"Go check."

"Haha... I'll pass. Gotta hold out here until the rescue team comes~ Ah! My name is...."

I didn't hear it. More accurately I heard it, but it didn't stick. Because every scrap of my attention had been stolen by this.

What the hell was this completely useless-looking quest? And weren't quests supposed to be about overcoming the hardship right in front of you or resolving some incident?

Ah, come to think of it, this wasn't the usual blue quest window. Just like the black quest window that had popped up inside the holding cell, this time it was a white quest window.

Black had been: receive a blowjob and ejaculate.

White was: prevent Yang Jaeyeol's darkening.

Devil and angel, something like that? If that was the concept.....

......

......

......

Just give me one!!!