The Worst Choice

The soldiers blow the bridge.

Had that happened in the webtoon?

"Hyung!!"

Right. That wasn't what mattered right now.

"Seongho! Don't fly the drone this way—take the long way around and recover it. Otherwise the mutant might head in that direction."

"—Yes!"

"And Kwon Suhyeok, once you recover the drone, go get the aunties. The zombies should thin out quite a bit."

"—The zombies thinning out… what do you mean by that?"

"They're going to swarm this way. Watch the timing carefully and make your move. I'm hanging up—we're busy here."

From the rooftop, I checked the movement of the zombies nearby.

No major activity yet.

Which meant we still had some time to prepare.

Time to prepare for the mutant's arrival.

The worst-case scenario isn't the mutant charging straight into this building to kill us.

Of course, if it barged in without giving us any time to prepare, that would be a pretty bad scenario.

But the absolute worst is if the mutant goes somewhere else.

For example, if it headed toward Kwon Suhyeok's apartment complex, gorged itself on enough people to grow stronger, and then showed up in front of us again—that would be the worst-case scenario of all.

But whether its intelligence was lacking or it was simply burning with revenge—

The mutant chose the worst option available to it.

"Ugh…!! At this rate I'm gonna die of exhaustion before we even fight…"

"Hah… hah… So… hyung… do we still have to keep going…?"

"I… I can't do any more…"

"Me neither…"

"Just a little rest…"

"Haa…! Haa…!"

Everyone was wiped out.

From packing the emergency stairwell full of desks and chairs from inside the building.

I sat that job out, though. Same for Jaeyeol, and for Gihun and Mingu who were injured, and for Jihye who still wasn't in good shape.

Yeonghun, Jaemin, and the college girls had pulled it off together.

"Oh—it's coming…!! My… my whole body's shaking…!!"

"Check outside the window."

"Augh…! Hyung… that's the bastard, right…?"

"Where is it?"

"On that bus from yesterday. It's standing on top of it, staring right at us."

"Then it's about time we went down to greet it."

We took the elevator down to the first floor.

The wide lobby was still peaceful.

But this place was about to become hell.

Crash!!! Crash!!! Crash!!!

The sound of glass doors shattering reached us.

Entrances the zombies could pour through were being made.

They weren't open yet, of course.

Thud!! Thud!! Thud!!

Heavy impacts began to boom through the space.

From the outside, a solid barricade that wouldn't budge no matter how hard you shoved it was a different story once someone started dismantling it piece by piece from the other side.

Desks that had been staggered and braced so they wouldn't give easily were being flung one by one out of the building, and the entrance gradually opened.

And then, at last, I faced the bastard again.

"Mind giving me a hand? Waiting's getting boring."

"Krrrrr…!!!! KRAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!!!!!"

The roaring mutant shoved the remaining desks aside with raw ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠force and punched through, and the zombies that had finally found an opening came pouring in.

"KRAAAHK!!!"

"KRAHK!!!"

"KRAAAAA!!!"

"KRAHK!!"

"KRAK!!"

"KRAAAA!!"

"KRAHK!!!"

I didn't care how many of them came in.

"Come on up."

"KRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHK!!!!!!!"

I tossed the line off casually and rode the elevator up.

"Wow… looks like someone just moved in."

The floor the elevator arrived at was completely empty.

Odds and ends were scattered across the floor, but the desks and chairs that had once filled the offices were now jammed solid into the emergency stairwell.

Thud!!! Thud!!!

They were still piling more on even now.

Click—

The emergency stairwell door, still ringing with noise, swung open and Jaeyeol appeared.

"But will it really take the elevator up?"

"The only ways up are the stairs and the elevator, and this thing is itching to kill us. It's not going to spend all day clearing desks out of the emergency stairwell."

"What if you're wrong, hyung?"

"Then we die here."

"I'll hope you're not wrong."

"Same."

"Hooo…"

"Tell them to stop now."

"Got it. Stop!! No more noise—stay quiet!!"

Jaeyeol shouted it loud, let go of the door he'd been holding, and came over to stand beside me in front of the elevator.

"Here."

"Thanks."

Damn, these were actually really good.

Can't I just keep them for myself?

Clench!!

Clench!!

Even though the gauntlets were hard enough to crack a wall if you punched one, curling a fist or moving my fingers didn't feel awkward at all.

And the weight wasn't as heavy as I'd expected either.

"That caveman bastard… his luck is disgustingly good…"

"Why is Gihun-hyung's nickname Caveman, anyway?"

"Because he thinks simple."

"Ah…"

"And because of how he looks."

"Ahh~"

Only after hearing the second reason did Jaeyeol nod hard in understanding. I glanced at him and snorted a laugh, and he managed a faint smile of his own—apparently not completely locked up with tension.

"Hyung. About Nari."

"Didn't we finish that conversation last night?"

"Not that."

"When she sticks her lip out, it means she's got a complaint. She won't say anything until you ask."

"What??"

"I figured at least one of us should know."

"……"

"……"

Jaeyeol turned his head and looked up at the floor indicator above the elevator. I followed his gaze.

"You're not going to die."

"I'd like that."

He wasn't going to die.

Not because Jaeyeol was an important character—because I was confident.

If I hadn't been, I never would have even considered a plan with no way out.

"It's moving."

"I see it too. Get ready."

"Yes."

The floor numbers started changing.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5….. 13, 14, 15….. 20, 21, 22, 23, and 24.

—Floor 24. Doors opening.

The elevator doors began to part with the announcement.

And through the widening gap—the mutant's face.

If I could see it, it could see me.

"Kraaaa…"

"This is a gift."

CRUNCH!!!!!

Before the doors were even halfway open, the fist I drove through the gap punched clean into the roaring mutant's snout.

THUD!!!

The mutant slammed into the wall back-of-the-head first and crumpled to the floor like its legs had given out. I shoved my body inside at once and snapped my right foot straight at its face.

THUD!!!!

Missed. Shame.

"Two gifts too much for you?"

"KRAAAAAAA!!!!!!"

I shoved hard off both walls and threw myself backward.

The mutant surged up and charged out of the elevator, ready to tear me apart—

Without realizing it had just stepped into a crocodile's jaws.

Whoosh!!!!

Jaeyeol's machete stabbed in from the side, aiming for the temple of the mutant as it burst out.

Slash!!

Whoa… it only nicked the cheek, but it actually reacted and jerked its head back.

You're good. I'll give you that.

But you don't look sideways when I'm standing right in front of you.

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

WHAM!!!

I drove another fist into the cheek of the mutant that was looking at Jaeyeol and shoved it back into the elevator.

It had to be pretty rattled right now.

With what little intelligence it had, the situation unfolding in front of it was nothing like what it had expected.

These guys had been nothing. Nothing at all.

As long as those bullets from nowhere weren't flying, it could kill them whenever it wanted.

So why?

Why?!

WHY!!!!

It couldn't wrap its head around the fact that it was the one getting beaten.

And if you don't understand—you take the hits.

Thud!! Thud-thud!! Thud-thud-thud!!!

Pinned against the elevator wall, arms thrown up over its head, the mutant took the relentless barrage of fists until it couldn't hold it in and roared.

"KRAAAAAAAAAHK!!!!!!!!!"

I watched its thrashing arms—like it was begging me to stop—then calmly slipped a hand through.

Grab!!

It probably never even imagined this.

That I'd grab it by the hair.

"Come out, you bastard."

"……"

The mutant's pupils darted left and right in panic.

Dumbass.

You're the one who's stronger, you idiot.

YANK!!!

I hauled on the fistful of hair and dragged the mutant out of the elevator.

Too stunned to put up a proper fight, it dove face-first and skidded across ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the floor—and Jaeyeol brought the machete down on its neck like an executioner.

SWISH!!!!

Not quite in full panic, though.

Somehow—like a frog jumping—the mutant flung itself sideways, barely keeping its life, and looked back and forth between me and Jaeyeol with uneasy eyes.

But I'm not the kind of nice villain who waits around for the protagonist to transform.

Dash!!

I sprinted forward and threw a punch.

Thok!!!

The mutant's open palm casually caught my fist.

It was too early for this.

If my cards were already showing, this was going to get messy!!

Whoosh!!!

I twisted my body and drove my left fist into the mutant's side.

But once again, the mutant casually dropped a hand and caught my wrist, shutting the attack down.

"KRAAAAAAAHK!!!!!"

A roar of rising confidence burst from the mutant's mouth—and I dropped my head like I was apologizing for not noticing sooner.

So Jaeyeol's machete could swing through the space where my head had been.

Whoooosh!!!!

Against a swinging blade, there are only two ways to dodge.

Duck your head like I did—or step back.

You're not a bird. You can't just fly up.

Tap—

Apparently my lowered head was too much pressure. The mutant chose to retreat.

My two hands came free on their own, and it was my turn to attack again.

Whip!!!

This time a clean left hook aimed at the face.

A punch built for speed over power, and the mutant scrambled backward.

It wouldn't be able to adjust.

The me it fought yesterday and the me today would feel like completely different people.

Yesterday, I'd used Stat Amplification to boost my Strength for the mutant.

Today, I'd boosted Agility instead.

On top of that, the quest clear rewards had raised my Strength, Agility, and Stamina by +1 each compared to yesterday.

Which meant the mutant was now facing a version of me that was 57.14% faster than before.

WHAM!!!

I drove another fist into the face of the retreating mutant.

Even yesterday I'd felt like I could hang with it to some degree—and with four more stat points than yesterday, tracking its movements wasn't that hard.

The attack ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠power I'd lost from the lower Strength was made up by these solid gauntlets, and Jaeyeol—free to move through the wide office instead of the cramped space on top of a van—kept inserting himself at the perfect moments, gifting the mutant variables it didn't want.

Whoosh!!!!

The mutant tried to counter the machete dropping from the side and had to give ground again.

Grab—

Whoosh!!

I snatched a monitor off the floor and hurled it.

Crack!!

While the mutant swung its left arm to bat the flying monitor away, I closed the distance and flicked a light jab with my left.

Grab!!!

Just like a moment ago, it raised a hand and casually caught my fist.

Throw out the bait and it bites right down.

Now its left hand was tied up with me.

Stealing the remaining right hand was Jaeyeol's job.

Whoosh!!!!

It went to catch the machete flying at its face… and didn't.

Slip—

WHOOSH!!!

It twisted its head to dodge the blade and threw a counterpunch.

An unexpected variable—but so what?

Jaeyeol could make variables of his own.

He had a skill now that he didn't have when he fought you.

Whip—

Jaeyeol—almost certainly using Acceleration for an instant—twisted his body, slipped the incoming fist, then raised his free left hand and swung it.

SMACK!!!

The mutant's head snapped sideways from the sudden slap.

Did you do that on purpose?

This was almost unnervingly perfect.

Just a moment ago, a faint red light had bloomed right across the front of the mutant's face.

Anyway—thanks.

I'll hit it well.

WHAAAAAM!!!!!!!!

I drove my right fist into the face that had so conveniently rotated back into range.

Whoa. What was this feeling?

Even with the gauntlet wrapped around my fist, I could feel every bit of it burying into the mutant's face.

The Critical Strike that detonated like that sent the mutant flying sideways—nearly colliding with Jaeyeol.

Normally, in a moment like this, you'd stand there marveling at the power you'd just produced, or get cocky and wait for the enemy to get back up.

Dash!!!

I am not that kind of merciful person.

WHAM!!!

I kicked the mutant's face as it lifted its head first, trying to push its body up from where it had fallen on its side.

Its head bounced again, its body flattened against the floor—and I drove a fist straight down into its cheek.

Putting as much of my full body weight into it as I could, almost like diving.

CRUNCH!!!!!!

At this point, though… maybe I was allowed a little something.

Just a little leisure.

"You're not dying because you're weak. You're dying because you're stupid. If you'd gone and eaten even ten people somewhere, you wouldn't be getting your ass kicked like this. Dumb bastard."

"Kraaa…"

"Shut up. You don't get speaking rights."

Leisure was for me alone.

Monsters just die.

Thud!! Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud!!!! Thud!! Thud-thud!!!! WHAAAAAM!!!!!!

I hammered one side of its face without mercy until the other side was ground into the floor.

For how long?

Until the skull cracked and brain matter started leaking out.

"Hah…! Hah…! Hah…! Hah…!"

"Hy—hyung… stop… ugh..!!! Stop hitting it… bleagh!!!"

"….Bleagh!!!!"

I followed Jaeyeol and emptied my stomach at the horrific scene I'd created myself.

Still—silver lining.

Throwing up on the mutant's face covered up most of the pulverized, nightmarish mess.

Come to think of it, I'd forgotten the most important thing.

"Right. This."