The Quest Begins
"KRAAAAAAAAH!!!!"
THWACK!!!
I buried my axe in the face of a charging zombie, then reached out with my left hand, grabbed a chair, and swung it hard.
CRACK!!
I smashed the skull of another zombie lunging from the side, then bent down and wrenched the axe free from the first one's face.
"Jaeyeol, let's head back."
"Yes, sir!"
"KRAAAK!!"
"KRAAAAAAAH!!!"
"KRAAAK!!!"
"Doesn't look like they're planning to let us go easy."
At a glance it looked like we were trapped inside the restaurant — but if we wanted out, we could leave whenever we felt like it.
THUD!!!
First, block the narrow entrance with a table. Keep planting the axe in the heads of zombies trying to climb over, and sooner or later a new exit opens itself up.
CRASH-SHATTER!!!!
Just like that.
"Hyung!!"
"Let's go!"
Yang Jaeyeol hurled a chair through the glass wall, and we slipped out into the corridor through the broken pane.
CRUNCH-CRACKLE!!
We ran toward the stairs, glass shards grinding under our feet, constantly glancing back and scanning our surroundings.
Not to check on the zombies chasing us.
To look for any Mutant that might be mixed in among them.
"Don't see any…"
Not seeing one now meant that someone among the people who'd come back down here to retake the underground mall would turn into a Mutant. The odds pointed heavily at Gihun — but he wouldn't be coming down here. That was exactly why we'd tied him up.
"Hyung! You go in first!"
Yang Jaeyeol grabbed the open back panel of a piece of furniture and shouted.
That was something Kwon Suhyeok's group had set up the first time they came down to retake this place. They hadn't just punched a hole through the back panel for an entrance — they'd torn the panel free, attached a handle, and made it so you could hold it like a shield to hold off zombies.
THUD! THWACK-THWACK! THUD! THUD-THWACK!!
The moment I got inside, Yang Jaeyeol followed me in and used the panel in his hands to block the zombies that had chased us. Up ahead, a door swung open.
"Hurry!"
"Perfect timing."
I went out first, and Yang Jaeyeol — still holding the panel — quickly let go and slipped out after me. The second we were clear, Kwon Suhyeok's people waiting on the other side slammed the furniture door shut and shoved a refrigerator across the entrance to seal it.
And behind the refrigerator, they'd lined up desks and other furniture all the way to the wall at the top of the stairs — a double layer of security.
"Are you all right?"
"Yeah. If you're worried, feel free to check."
"No, sir. I'll take your word for it. But… how are things down below…?"
"A lot of zombies. Jaeyeol and I killed quite a few, but it's still too many to just charge down there blindly."
"I see…"
"So are you planning to keep thinning their numbers like this going forward?"
"It's the safest and most reliable method — as long as we aren't short on time. The zombies aren't still pouring into the underground mall, are they? Is there a separate entrance they could be coming through?"
"Ah… they might be coming in through the underground parking garage. I'm not certain, though."
"Hmm…"
That changed things.
If new zombies kept flowing in, whittling down their numbers like this was pointless. The noise the zombies made would just keep drawing more of them in anyway.
"Hrm…"
As things stood, I had two options.
Find and seal every possible entrance to the underground mall first, then clear the zombies — or go down all at once, clear the shops as fast as possible, and seal any entrances we found along the way.
"Hyung, if there is an entrance connecting to the underground mall, isn't that actually better?"
"Why?"
"You could use the same method you used before."
"The method I used before…? Ah! Lure them outside?"
"Yes."
"And who's going to do that?"
"I'll do it."
"No. You need to fight. If you drop out, our combat strength gets cut almost in half."
"Then…"
"Mingu, Jaemin, and Younghoon are out too. One wrong move and those kids could actually die. And we don't even know for sure whether there's an entrance connecting the mall to the outside."
"Ah… so we have to find the entrance first?"
"Let's try a few more runs first. If the zombie numbers visibly drop, there's no entrance. If they don't drop — or keep increasing — then there is one."
"Got it."
If we'd had time to spare, we could have paced ourselves and checked carefully. But with time running short, Yang Jaeyeol and I kept going back down into the underground mall at roughly one-hour intervals.
I felt like I was going to die of exhaustion — but at least one thing was now certain.
"There's an entrance."
"Yeah… hah… hah…"
The zombie numbers weren't dropping.
They were increasing.
Somewhere, an entrance connected the underground mall to the outside world.
Wait a second.
I'd forgotten to ask the most important question.
"Kwon Suhyeok."
"Yes, sir!"
"How much time is left on your quest? We've got about sixty-six hours remaining."
"Ah… we have eighteen hours left…"
"Does the penalty have a question mark on it, with the words 'growth acceleration' attached?"
"Yes, that's right. Do you know what that means?"
"……"
As expected, the word Mutant never came up.
But then — did that mean two Mutants would appear? Or would one Mutant receive two rounds of growth acceleration?
Either way, failure meant death.
Or… was the real answer just to give up and run?
One Mutant or two. One growth acceleration or two.
The moment a Mutant appeared in the underground mall, everyone in this apartment complex was as good as dead. There was no reason to feel guilty about running.
But the rewards were sweet enough that walking away felt like a waste. Especially since this one would let me raise the stats I actually wanted.
"I'll do it."
Kwon Suhyeok suddenly volunteered.
"Do what, exactly?"
"The luring."
Kwon Suhyeok would draw the zombies outside while the rest of us went down as a group and wiped out whatever was left in the underground mall in one clean sweep.
Not a bad plan.
Kwon Suhyeok was probably the strongest person here besides us — but losing him was still better than losing me or Yang Jaeyeol.
Still, even if we went with the lure plan, it would have to wait until tomorrow.
Because the sun was about to set.
Fighting zombies that got stronger at night was a terrible idea.
Somehow I'd only just gotten around to checking the date.
Today was June 3rd. Sunset at 7:38 p.m., sunrise tomorrow at 5:05 a.m.
They'd said eighteen hours remaining about an hour ago, so if we started the operation the moment the sun came up, we'd have at least seven hours to spare. More than enough time to retake the underground mall.
But we still needed a contingency plan in case things went wrong.
"Listen up, everyone. Tomorrow morning, early, we're going down into the underground mall."
"Yes."
"We're going with you, right?"
"No. Just me, Jaeyeol, and Mingu."
"We can handle it too!"
"Yeah!"
"I know. That's why I'm leaving something to you."
"Huh?"
"Leaving what?"
"While we're doing the quest, Jaemin and Younghoon — you two get ready to leave this place. The noise is definitely going to draw every zombie in the area around the apartment complex, so figure out which way we can escape."
"Leave?? Why?"
"Because of the old men and ladies??"
"Different reason. If we fail the quest, this place gets extremely dangerous."
If someone turned into a Mutant and I could kill it, we wouldn't have to leave. But if I failed to stop the transformation, we were running — no question. Right now, fighting one was a losing bet.
"Mmmph!!! Mmph! Mmmph!!!"
"What?!"
"Mmmmmph..!! Mmph…!!!!"
Gihun, trussed up like a caterpillar, was begging with tears streaming down his face. Fine — he needed to eat anyway.
RRRRIP!!!
The second I tore the tape off his mouth, Gihun spat out the soggy sock that had been stuffed inside and let out a desperate howl.
"I—I need to take a shit!!!!! Please, just let me use the bathroom!! You bastards…"
What the hell? What was that look on his face?
"Ugh..!!"
"Bleeeegh!!"
"Wh-what is that smell?!"
"Kyaaaaah!!!!"
"Hey… you didn't…"
"N-no! It was a fart! I didn't shit myself! Just a fart!!!"
"You filthy little shit-stain!!!!"
"I DIDN'T SHIT MYSELF!!!!!!!!!!!"
These kids were something else. If he'd been about to crap himself, he must have been thrashing and begging for all he was worth — and they still hadn't untied him? Well, at least they followed orders. That was something.
But just how much had this little shit-stain let loose?!
"Stop crying and go wash up already!!!"
"You have to untie me first!!! You son of a bitch… you bastard… sob…"
"Jaeyeol, go untie that asshole…"
"Sorry, hyung. I've got a weak stomach."
"Me too…"
"Bleeeegh!!!"
"I… I don't think I can…!!"
"N-no way!! He's your friend, oppa!"
"Hurry up and go untie him!!"
"Fuck…!"
"Sob… I'm gonna kill you… sob…"
In the end, I had to be the one who untied the sniveling shit-stain formerly known as Gihun.
And after that, I couldn't eat a single thing.
God… the smell was burned into my nose… This wasn't a chemical warfare drill…!!
Morning arrived.
The sun hadn't risen yet, but everyone was already awake. Even the adults who'd declared yesterday that they'd fight if it came to going down into the underground mall.
Surely they hadn't actually come to fight…?
We still had time, but not enough to waste.
Clomp— clomp— clomp—
The middle-aged man from yesterday — the one who'd lost both his sons — came walking over with deliberate steps. Looking at his face, he really did seem ready for a fight. Though it didn't look like we were the ones he intended to fight.
"I'm coming with you."
"Are you sure you'll be all right?"
"Like you said — a father has to do right by his children."
"When I said that, I wasn't—"
"I know. I know you weren't trying to condemn me. That's why I'm coming."
"Thank you for understanding."
"Save your thanks. Like you said — for after this is over."
"Fair enough."
After that, no one said much of anything. We simply waited for the sun to climb into a sky that was already beginning to brighten.
And then the sun that would mark our beginning showed its face.
"We'll be counting on you."
"Be careful."
While the women shouted from the windows overlooking the center of the complex to draw the zombies' attention, Kwon Suhyeok climbed down a rope ladder and sprinted toward the road closest to the underground parking garage exit — the entrance we suspected the zombies were using.
He climbed up onto a car and started shouting at the top of his lungs.
"Handsome!! Men!! There are so many of them!!! But I am!! A man!! A handsome man!!"
Is military cadences the only music this world has left? Why does everyone only ever sing military songs?
Still — the effect was undeniable.
"KRAAAAAAAAH!!!!"
"KRAAAK!!!"
"KRAAAAAH!!!"
"KRAAAAAAAAH!!!!"
"KRAAAAAH!!!!"
I watched from the window. Zombies pouring in from every direction toward Kwon Suhyeok, belting out a military song from the top of a delivery truck with a cargo bed. And an enormous number of zombies streaming out through the underground parking garage exit, running full tilt.
"S-Suhyeok hyung… he'll be okay, right…?"
"Juhan-ssi!"
"Shouldn't we be going down right now?!"
"Wait. Not yet."
He'd already risked his life going outside. We might as well squeeze every last bit of advantage out of it.
Just a little more.
Just a little more.
Just a little more.
Now.
"Let's go."
When the zombies surrounding the delivery truck had packed the road so densely there wasn't room left to take a single step, we started moving toward the underground mall.
All right then. Shall we begin?
"KRAAAAAAAAH!!!!"
THWAAAAACK!!!!!