Mapo Bridge Collapsed

The moment morning arrived, I checked the thing I'd been most curious about first: Jaeyeol's status window.

And once again, I felt just how unfair it all was.

Strength, Agility, and Stamina were identical. Mental was double mine and Durability was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠one point higher, but it still felt ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠completely unfair.

I had completed more quests, received extra rewards, rolled that one-in-six cursed die, and opened two random skill boxes just to build the stats and skills I had now. Jaeyeol, on the other hand, had done fewer quests, received no extra rewards, and simply opened random boxes—yet he walked away with a random stat die and two skills.

If I'd gotten rewards as good as his, I would have just beaten that mutant to death yesterday when it came after us.

Still, looking at the others' status windows gave me a little comfort.

Yeah. This was normal. These were ordinary status windows—plain stats, no skills. This was how it was supposed to be. Hell, even this was pretty good growth. They'd each eaten five stat points, after all.

Jaeyeol was the abnormal one. Well, I was abnormal too, but still.

But why hadn't Mingu appeared in the webtoon? With stats like his, shouldn't he have shown up as Jaeyeol's right-hand man instead of Kwon Suhyeok?

Mingu had at least patched up his weak Agility and Stamina somewhat. But Gihun, that dense bastard—did he not have a single thought in his head?

Getting lucky enough to pull a skill box like me and actually obtain a skill was fine. But he'd eaten four stat points back at the apartment and three more this time, and this was the unbalanced mess he built? An Agility of 3 put him at or below the girls' level now. The complete absence of an Intelligence stat was genuinely tragic.

If he didn't know what to do, he could've at least asked me like the others did.

Yesterday Jihye, Nari, and the other girls had all eventually taken my advice and poured their points into Agility and Stamina. They still couldn't survive alone, but with people around to fight for them, they could at least keep up without becoming dead weight. Of course the women needed to be able to protect their own bodies eventually—but that could wait until we reached Yeouido.

Speaking of which, what a goddamn spectacle we were. I wasn't the only patient here with a forearm full of staples.

"Can you even see in front of you?"

"I can see, but... do I look really bad...?"

"Not bad, exactly. Just like you're in a lot of pain."

"Haa..."

Jaeyeol's eyes, which had only been a deep purple yesterday, had swollen up massively overnight. Not from me hitting him—from the mutant. The side I'd punched was just a big bruise; it didn't hinder his movement at all.

The real problems were Mingu and Gihun.

"Aaaah...!! It hurts, damn it...!!!"

"Stop being a baby."

"You crazy bastard...!! Does this look like I'm faking it?!"

Mingu, who'd been slammed into the bus, had thrown out his back so badly he couldn't even walk on his own. Gihun, the "healthier" one, still had a wrecked right leg and left shoulder. We'd faced a mutant that hadn't even fully matured for barely a minute, and the party had nearly been wiped out.

We needed to get stronger. If we wanted to survive.

"Nari, where are you going?"

"I was going to give the soldier uncles some food."

"Hey, you should talk that over first~"

"Should I...? Oppa, is it okay if I give the soldier uncles some food?"

Food, huh.

They were our lifesavers, so sharing was the decent thing to do—but we didn't carry bags as a rule. Handing over food would raise questions about where it came from. Even if we refused to answer, they could still figure out that someone among us had a skill for carrying items.

They didn't seem like bad people, but in this world you had to be as careful of humans as you were of monsters. We still couldn't trust them completely, so caution was the right call.

"Let's just watch for now. They didn't look like they were starving."

"Ah... okay.."

"Soldiers or not, let's feed ourselves first. I'm hungry.."

"Should we cook some ramen then?"

"Ramen sounds good!"

"No. Something we can eat without cooking, like yesterday."

Boiling ramen here would send the smell all the way downstairs. Better to stick with bread or canned goods like last night—easier to claim they'd just been in our pockets.

Meanwhile, Jihye's unease still hadn't faded even after morning came. What the hell was it? What kind of danger could even happen inside this building? The place wasn't about to collapse, and if a mutant were still hunting us nearby the quest wouldn't have cleared...

Was it related to the soldiers after all?

"What's this? Everyone's already eating well, I see?"

Speak of the devil—Lieutenant Kim Mihi, the one who'd treated us yesterday, walked into the office.

"I brought this for nothing, then. But where did you all get the food?"

"It was in our pockets."

"All of this was in your pockets..?"

Yeah, the amount was a little much for pockets. I quickly changed the subject.

"Is there something you needed?"

"Ah, I came to check on the patients. How's everyone feeling?"

"I think I'm worse than yesterday.. I can't even get up now.."

"My shoulder and ankle are throbbing worse too."

"Jaeyeol! His eyes are huge, soldier unnie!"

Lieutenant Kim Mihi checked Mingu first, then the others in turn, and finally unwrapped the bandage on my arm to inspect the wound.

"Did you move around too much yesterday?"

"I moved a little, but.."

"Doesn't look like 'a little.' The flesh is completely torn here. I'll have to pull a few staples and put them back in."

"A-again..?"

"If you were going to hate it this much, you should've been more careful."

"Ah..."

I let out a deep sigh and looked over at Jaeyeol. He scratched the back of his neck, looking awkward. Last night he'd cried his eyes out and spilled everything he'd been holding in. Because of that, we were actually closer than before. Of course he still liked Nari, and he'd still threatened to kill me if I made her cry—but still.

"Aaaah..!!"

"All done. Just need to disinfect now."

"Hoo... thank you."

"It's nothing. But will you all be okay on your own?"

"Sorry?"

"We've received orders to return."

The soldiers were leaving this place? So Jihye's unease had nothing to do with them? Or was it that the soldiers leaving would put us in danger?

"Where are you headed?"

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

"Yeouido."

Same destination as us. That left two options: drag the barely-mobile Mingu and Gihun along with the soldiers to Yeouido, or wait until the two of them recovered and move on our own.

"Don't push yourselves. Once we return, we'll request a rescue helicopter be sent here. We might even come pick you up ourselves."

"What time are you leaving?"

"Hard to say. The team leader will decide that. Want to come ask him together?"

"Sure. Jaeyeol."

"Yes. We'll talk it over among ourselves."

"For the record, I'm fine~"

"Hyung! I'm fine too— aaagh!!"

"You're not fine."

"Hyung~ he's not fine at all~"

"I said I'm fine..! Hyung, if you're going with them I can go too! Don't worry about me!"

Gihun and Mingu both claimed they were fine, but they looked anything but. Still, their condition and opinions mattered less than what the soldiers thought.

I went downstairs with Lieutenant Kim Mihi and found Captain Son Gijun.

"I heard you're heading to Yeouido."

"Yes, that's correct."

"We have two people who can't move properly. Would you be able to match our pace?"

"That's impossible. And Kang Juhan-ssi, you already know why."

Maybe that was the obvious answer. If I were in his shoes and some random survivors made the same request, I'd refuse and move with my own people. Babysitting the wounded could get everyone killed.

But there was a way to travel with the injured.

"Lieutenant Kim Mihi said a rescue helicopter would be sent here once you arrive. Can't you call that helicopter now?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Rescue helicopters are being used to save citizens."

"We're citizens too."

"Our military is currently conducting rescue operations according to principles and regulations. Kang Juhan-ssi is asking for preferential treatment simply because we happened to meet. Do you want the military's rescue operations to prioritize that kind of special treatment?"

"......"

I had nothing to say. If special treatment became the priority, the helicopters would obviously head for the high-ranking and the wealthy—not us.

"It's not just us. There are many survivors in the apartment we stayed in as well."

"Kang Juhan-ssi."

"Just pass that fact along. Please."

"....Understood."

"Then I hope you return safely."

I finished speaking and started to turn away, but Captain Son Gijun's voice stopped me.

"Kang Juhan-ssi, do you still intend to go to Yeouido?"

"Yes. Once my ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠companions recover, we'll set out."

"......"

"Is something wrong?"

"We'll leave most of the food we have with you."

"Ah... thank you."

"So I recommend you stay put and wait at your current location. Don't push yourselves."

"Sorry?"

"You might miss the rescue team otherwise."

Was that really the only reason? Something about Captain Son Gijun's words felt like it had a hidden meaning. There was no way to find out what it was, though.

They had already left.

"That's what they said for now. But don't get your hopes up too high. All I did was report that we're alive here."

Was sending a rescue team really that obvious, the way Seongho put it? Was I just being too distrustful of the military?

"Ah, right. That thing's still alive. Stay as quiet as you can over there too. Don't turn on lights at night if you can help it, and barricade the entrances even tighter."

"Kwon Suhyeok-ssi?"

"I see. What about the ajummas at the sauna?"

I wasn't doing anything myself, but as thanks for saving us I'd asked Seongho to use the drone to lure zombies away from the soldiers heading for Mapo Bridge. And maybe it was because they were soldiers—even with a female officer among them, their movement speed was insanely fast.

"Why?"

"Fighting??"

"Did a zombie get her?"

"Can you see how many zombies are stuck under the drone? If there are too many, don't. The soldiers could be in danger."

The two soldiers went down under the bus, and the rest started shooting at the approaching zombies from on top of it, according to Seongho. What the hell were they doing?

"Lieutenant Kim Mihi.. no, the female officer?"

Good. Lieutenant Kim Mihi had been a good soldier who'd worried about us and helped us right to the end. But what had they been doing under that bus for over five minutes?

Confusion filled my head—and then it happened.

KUUUUUUUNG..!!!!!!

An explosion so massive it could be heard even from the windy rooftop of a high-rise building. In the distance, a pale plume of smoke rose into the air.

"......"

From here the buildings blocked the view, so I couldn't see it clearly. But I knew exactly what had happened. That pale smoke was rising from the direction of Mapo Bridge.

Fuck...

So this was it..? The true identity of the unease Jihye had been feeling...

No. Protective Instinct wasn't a skill that foresaw misfortune. It foresaw an imminent crisis of death right in front of you.

It had been waiting. Waiting for the soldiers to leave.

"KRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!!"