Mapo Bridge Did Not Collapse
Lee Seongho's voice blared noisily inside my earpiece.
"H-hyung!!!"
"What?!"
"The woman didn't jump..!"
"What??"
"S-some crazy bastard is lining women up in front of the window and kicking them out!!!"
"That son of a bitch!!!!"
"But I'm out of battery now—I have to pull the drone back!"
"Got it!"
I poured on even more speed.
The apartment entrance. A revolving door jammed with a fallen zombie, and a closed glass door beside it.
Don't tell me... they didn't even barricade the entrance?!
"Kraaaaaagh!!!!!"
"Fuck...."
"Kyaaak!!!"
"Huijin!!"
The second I smashed the zombie in front of me across the skull with the entrenching shovel, I spun around.
It wasn't because of Choi Huijin's scream.
Splat—
Again.
Another naked woman hit the ground and burst open like a lump of clay.
"Ugh!!"
"Run!!"
"N-no time to puke..!"
"Wait..."
"Kraaaagh!!!"
"Kraagh!!"
"Kraaaaaagh!!!!"
"Kraaaaaaaagh!!!!"
It wasn't just the zombies pouring out of the apartment. The ones that had been chasing us were closing the distance fast.
"You punch through! Kang Juhan!!!"
"Kraaaagh!!!"
"Kraagh!!!"
Gihun charged toward the rear with the riot shield up front, bouncing the nearest zombies back. Park Mingu and Lee Yeonghun sprinted to help him, while Kim Jaemin shoved the women from behind and yelled at them to run.
I was worried.
But right now there was only one thing I had to do.
Punch a hole through the front.
Thwack!!!!
I swung the entrenching shovel into a zombie's head and shouted.
"Pick up the pace!!!"
"Yes!!"
I swung the shovel; Yang Jaeyeol swung his machete. We weren't focused on clean kills—just clearing a path to the entrance.
Thud! Thud! Thud-thud!! Thwack!!
Slash! Slash! Slash!!
Just that far. If we could open that door and get one foot inside, that was enough.
"Gihun!!!!!"
"Fuck! Move your asses!!!!"
"Uwaaagh!!!"
"We're coming with you!!!"
At my shout, Gihun, Park Mingu, and Lee Yeonghun came tearing toward the entrance like madmen. They didn't even think about jumping the woman's corpse stuck to the floor—they just stomped right through it as they ran.
But this was no time to dwell on that.
"Kraagh!!!"
"Kraaaa!!!"
"Kraaaaagh!!!!"
"Kraagh!!!"
"Kragh!!"
"Kraaaaagh!!"
Because the inside was crawling with zombies too.
"Hyung!!!"
"Kragh!!"
"Kraaaagh!!"
"Kraagh!!"
"Jaeyeol!!"
"You hold here!"
I snagged Kim Jaemin by the shoulder just as he was about to charge out with a baseball bat and shot forward myself.
I could see it. Crystal clear.
I twisted left to dodge a zombie's reaching hand, shoved another in the chest with my left, and stomped the head of one crawling along the floor with my right foot.
Crunch!!
Yang Jaeyeol's eyes went round as he checked the zombie face-down at his feet; he drove his machete straight through the forehead of the one he was wrestling by the neck and kicked it hard.
In that same beat I slammed the shovel sideways into a zombie's temple and yanked it toward me.
"Kraagh!!"
"Kragh!!"
"Kraaaa!!"
"Pulling free!!"
"Yes!"
While the zombie I was using as a shield got chewed on in my place, I lifted the foot pinning its head and Yang Jaeyeol's machete came down on the back of its skull.
"Left!"
"Hyung..!"
"Left!!"
"Yes!"
"Kraaaagh!!"
"Kraagh!!"
I left the two zombies charging from the elevator side to Yang Jaeyeol. Then I yanked the shovel free from the temple, discarded the zombie shield I'd been shouldering, and stepped back.
Thud-thud-thud!!
Three zombies that had been leaning forward collapsed with the suddenly limp corpse. I brought the shovel down and around on them.
Bang!!!
Thwack!!
Crunch!!
Two got smashed and clubbed; the last one I drove the thin edge of the blade straight into the crown of its head.
I planted a foot on its shoulder, wrenched the shovel free, and was checking the two that still weren't dead when Gihun's voice rang out.
"Hey!! We can't hold anymore!!!!"
"This is gonna break!!!!!"
"Hyung!!!!"
"Hurry!!!"
"Do something!!!!"
"Oppa!!!!"
"Kragh!!"
"Kraaaa!!!"
Everyone except me and Jaeyeol was bracing the glass door that served as the apartment entrance with their bodies. Outside, a massive swarm of zombies was pressed against it, and the inside still wasn't clear.
Crunch!!! Crunch!!
I finished the last two zombies in a hurry and brushed past Yang Jaeyeol.
Bang!!
I yanked open the emergency stairwell door next to the elevators.
Slam!!
I shut it again.
"Fuck, that was almost a disaster..!"
In that split second, more than four zombies locked eyes with me. If it had only been four I would've opened the door and beaten them down, but my eyes flicked upward and scanned the stairs packed solid with zombies, so I abandoned the idea without a second thought.
Tap-tap-tap!!
I hammered the elevator call button and sprinted over to where Yang Jaeyeol had just finished the last zombie.
"Hey, pile these up!"
"Huh?"
"Stack them on the floor!! And get the girls out that way!"
"N-no way!! They'll push straight through! We're barely holding as it is!!"
So the girls pressed in behind the guys were the only reason they were still holding?
Then we wait for now.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Yang Jaeyeol and I stacked the dead zombies on the floor, leaving a gap wide enough for two people to slip through beside it.
"O Jihye! Peel off and hold the elevator!"
"B-but..! Okay!!"
"Thirty-second floor!"
"Got it!!"
I had O Jihye grab the elevator that had just arrived, then Yang Jaeyeol and I joined the others at the door.
And they'd been holding this?
Even with me and Jaeyeol bracing, our feet were sliding backward??
"Do something, fuck!!!!!"
"......"
"......"
"......"
"......"
"......"
I wasn't the only one stunned, right? Everyone was shocked, right?
Kim Seonye—normally so quiet, calm, and timid—had just bellowed a full-throated curse, which threw me for a second, but I snapped out of it and started barking orders.
"Everyone focus and listen!! When I give the signal, take exactly three steps back!"
"Back?! Are you insane?!!!"
"The second we pull away the zombies will fall forward!! We use that gap to make the elevator!!"
"Bullshit!!!"
"Let's try it!!!!!"
"Yeah! It's not like we've got another option!!"
"No! I don't want to! I can't!!"
"Then you die!!"
"On three! One! Two! Three!!"
On my signal we all shoved off the door and stepped back in unison.
The door that had been packed with zombies flew open and a tidal wave of them poured in.
"Kraaaaagh!!!"
"Kraagh!!!"
"Kraaaa!!!"
"Kraaaaagh!!!!"
"Kraagh!!!"
"Kragh!!"
"Kraaaaagh!!"
"Kraaaa!!"
"Kraaaaaaa!!!!"
"Run!!!!"
"Kyaaaaagh!!!!"
The girls screamed and bolted through the gap we'd deliberately left open; the rest of us men vaulted over the knee-high wall of zombie corpses.
"Hurry!!!!"
"......"
One by one they started piling into the elevator, but I stopped dead behind the zombie wall I'd just jumped.
"Hey! What are you doing?!!"
"Kang Juhan!!!"
"Oppa!!!"
"Hyung!!!!"
"Huff.. huff.. Just close it!! I'll get there on my own!!"
"Are you actually crazy?!!!"
Elevator doors take time to close. If I didn't stall these things even for a second, something horrible could happen.
So.
"Keep tumbling, you bastards!!!"
"Kraaaagh!!!"
Thwack!!!!
I smashed the face of a zombie diving into the gap the girls had used. The one in front toppled backward, the ones behind it lost their balance and poured into the open doorway just like the first wave. The rest tripped over the corpse wall and went sprawling. In that window I sprinted like a madman for the elevator that was already starting to close.
Is it gonna make it? Is it? Is it?!!!!
Whoosh—
Thud!
It did.
My body slipped through the closing doors a split second before they sealed.
"Whew.... Almost died.. Ow! Why are you hitting me?!"
"Stop doing dangerous shit!! Are you trying to give people heart attacks?!!"
"Ugh, you crazy bastard..! Just come already!!"
"S-still.. thanks to hyung buying us a little time, we made it.."
"Yeah.. if he'd messed up, the zombies might've stuck their hands in before the doors closed.."
"Hic.. huuk.. I thought we were gonna die...!"
"Me too... hic... hwaaang..."
Jihye crouched beside me and started whaling on my forearm; the guys caught their breath; the girls clung to each other and sobbed, still terrified.
And in the middle of all that, Han Nari had a death grip on my hand, which was awkward enough.
More precisely, it wasn't the hand-holding that was awkward—it was Yang Jaeyeol staring blankly down at the hand she was holding that made it extremely awkward.
"......"
"......"
Let go already..!!
I twisted and tugged, but Han Nari clung on for dear life and refused to release me.
Then my eyes met Yang Jaeyeol's. I looked away for no good reason, tapped Gihun's thigh, and asked,
"You hurt anywhere?"
"Nope. You?"
"Me neither."
"Why don't you ask me?!"
"What would you get hurt for? You moved the safest out of all of us."
"Shiiit..!!"
Anyway, Jaeyeol.
Can you stop staring now?
I feel like my face is about to get a hole drilled through it.
Thirty-second floor.
We'd already checked the floor with the drone, so the elevator went straight to the destination.
"Doors opening."
The second the welcome chime sounded I was the first one out of the elevator.
Don't tell me he's still star— he is!!
Is he gonna darken because of me at this rate?!
"P-please save me!! Please save me!!!!"
A woman's scream rang out at the perfect moment, letting me turn my head forward naturally. Without a second's delay I sprinted for the slightly open front door.
Come to think of it, this wasn't a bad method in its own way.
If there was plenty of food and it was safe, there was no real need to force a barricade at the apartment entrance. As long as you kept the emergency stairwell doors shut, the zombies weren't a threat, and people could ride the elevators freely between every floor.
And the people who might be even more dangerous than zombies in this world would be naturally blocked by the swarm filling the first floor.
But that only bought a little extra life. Hiding in one place meant the quests you could take were limited. It was the last resort for people who'd given up on getting stronger, people who weren't thinking about the future.
People like that crazy bastard.
"Kyaaaaagh!!!!!"
The naked woman who'd been standing on the blood-smeared glass shards vanished.
She fell out the shattered living-room window.
No—that crazy bastard kicked her out.
"Hey, you crazy fuck!!!!"
"......"
The guy turned his head, confirmed me charging into the living room, and grabbed a fistful of hair belonging to a woman crouched trembling on the floor with a kitchen knife in his right hand.
"Kyaak!!"
"Who the hell are you?"
"S-stop! Why are you killing people?!!"
"These bitches tried to kill me first. I gave them food, I even killed the other guys for them. Ungrateful little insects."
I had no choice but to try and talk down the crazy bastard who was pressing the kitchen knife to the throat of the woman whose hair he was gripping, face twisted with rage.
Because the only woman I could still see was her.
If she died too, the quest failed.
So I had to calm this lunatic down no matter what.
"Just cool it for a second. If you kill that woman too, what are you gonna do here all alone? You'll need someone to fuck just to keep going, right!"
"Hey..!"
"Hyung!"
"What the hell are you even—"
I twisted my middle and index fingers behind my back with my left hand. Only Jihye and Han Nari would recognize the signal, but those two were enough.
"Hand that woman over to me."
"Why would I?"
"In exchange I'll give you one of the women here—whichever one you want."
"......"
"Let's trade."
"Hyung!!"
"What the hell are you talking about right n—"
"Shut up!!!"
I spun around and barked at the guys, deliberately contorting my face every which way. Then I faced forward again and spoke to the lunatic.
"You said they tried to kill you anyway, right? Keeping her around would make you nervous. Swap with me."
"What's the reason? You know this bitch?"
"No. She just looks tastier than the ones over here. And in a world where every single woman is precious, just killing her would be a waste, right? Even if you're gonna kill her, you should at least get a taste first."
"......"
It landed.
After a moment of hesitation the guy pulled the kitchen knife away from her throat.
"I get to pick?"
"Of course."
"Then that one."
"M-me..?"
"Don't you own a mirror? Not you. The one next to you."
"......"
I figured as much.
Lee Jeongyeon might've been a little hurt, but if he was picking from here it was always going to be Han Nari or O Jihye.
"Nari..."
"It's okay. Do I just go over there?"
"Come here."
"......"
Han Nari walked toward the lunatic, shooting me a quick glance; I gave a small nod.
I'll save you.
He's almost here.
"Hyung! Ten seconds!"
If he's late, she dies.
"What are you doing? Come all the way over."
"Send that person over here first."
"Ha... this bitch is bold enough to negotiate. For a slave."
"P-please...."
"Fine. Then strip."
"Huh..?"
"I don't know what you've got hidden under those clothes. So take it all off. Like this bitch."
"Kyaak!!"
"......"
"Don't want to? Then forget it."
"No. I'll take them off."
"Nari!!!!"
I stretched a hand back and calmed Yang Jaeyeol. Then I grabbed his arm.
Squeeze!!!!
Hard.
"......"
"......"
I turned my head for a second, locked eyes with Yang Jaeyeol, then fixed my gaze on Han Nari as she undid the buttons of her checkered shirt.
Rustle—
The checkered shirt slid down her arms.
The lunatic's face twisted even harder.
"Wearing a lot for this weather..!"
"......"
It wasn't just Han Nari.
All of us, myself included, were in long sleeves with an extra T-shirt underneath. To protect against even the light scrapes and bruises you could pick up from bumps and scrapes.
Once it got hotter we'd have no choice but to strip them off, but for now...
"What are you doing? Take the rest off too."
"......"
"Never mind. Just stay still."
The lunatic took a step toward Han Nari and started lifting her T-shirt from the bottom with the tip of the kitchen knife.
That was the moment.
"Just ram him."
"What?"
"I said just ram him."
"What the hell is this crazy bastard saying. Why? You want me to stick this in your gut?"
"Ram him!!!!"
"Ah, shit!! If it falls we're done!!!!"
The lunatic's eyes went wide.
He must have heard it too.
The vigorous whir of the approaching drone.
Wiiiiiiing!!!!!
Thwack!!!!
The drone slammed into the back of the lunatic's head at the same instant I activated Stat Amplification and jacked my Agility all the way to 10, shouting,
Stat Amplification
Agility raised to 10
"Yang Jaeyeol!!!"
I kicked off the floor, scooped Han Nari around the waist with my left arm, and snagged the falling drone with my right hand after it bounced off the back of his skull.
And right beside me—
Slash!!
Yang Jaeyeol's machete sheared the lunatic's arm clean off.
Which meant that whether this crazy bastard fell or not, the woman whose hair he'd been holding was safe.
"Die, you crazy bastard."
"Spare me..."
"Bullshit."
I kicked him hard in the gut.
Thud!!!!
It was taking a while, though.
Ah, there he goes.
No sound, though.
Success rewards granted.
🎁 Reward: Random Weapon Box acquired.
Anyway, that's a lot of blood.
Drip—