Save Cha Suho

Just because this world is a webtoon come to life doesn't mean I can pick out every character at a glance.

I didn't even recognize Jaeyeol until I heard his name, after all.

But this guy? This one I know for certain.

The de facto second-in-command of the protagonist's party. The hot-blooded real man who always charges headfirst into danger, staking his life without hesitation whenever things get dicey.

Cha Suho.

A soft scrape of movement—

The reason I recognized him instantly was the spear in his hand and the gauze covering his left cheek.

"I'm Kang Juhan."

"...Cha Suho."

Called it.

But why is Cha Suho here at this hour?

In the original story, Cha Suho is crossing Seogang Bridge with the people he's survived with when he runs into the protagonist's party. Midway across, he volunteers to act as bait alone to save the rest of his group, gets driven into a situation where death is inevitable—and right then, the protagonist and his companions appear like heroes and pull him out.

That encounter becomes the bond that binds him. Straightforward, stubborn Cha Suho declares he owes them his life and joins the younger protagonist's group, throwing himself in front of every threat and earning strength and screen time nearly equal to the lead himself.

What bothers me is the timing. The protagonist's party meets Cha Suho on Seogang Bridge in broad daylight.

Right now it's past ten at night.

They wouldn't march all the way to Seogang Bridge—less than four hundred meters from here—through the entire night. So why is he standing here at this hour?

Then that question stopped mattering.

Because of the black quest window that bloomed in front of my eyes.

This crazy fucking pervert of a god...!

Do you have any idea how hard I worked for those stats? And now you're trying to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠snatch them back?!

More than that—a twenty-minute time limit??

He's fine right now. He's safe. What the hell am I supposed to rescue him from?

And I just saved him from getting his skull caved in by Jaeyeol, didn't I?!

"If that was a misunderstanding just now, we'll be on our way."

"Ah..."

I needed to get my thoughts in order before Cha Suho's wariness climbed any higher.

If I walked away from him like this, three points of stats were gone for certain. Whether he actually ended up in danger or not didn't matter.

So what was I supposed to do?

Tell Jaeyeol to attack him again and then save him?

Or use the drone to lure zombies this way, put him in real danger, and then pull him out?

No. This is Cha Suho.

Right. Use his personality against him.

"We're headed for Seogang Bridge right now. We plan to cross and make for Yeouido. If it's not too forward of me—may I ask where you're going?"

"Ah—! We're also headed for Seog—"

"We're just out checking whether the area's safe."

Cha Suho cut her off with a hand slipped behind his back, eyes sharp with suspicion as he fixed me with a hard stare and hijacked the answer.

His guard was still high.

But there was a way to break it down.

Hyung! What is this, a blind date?! We've only got fifteen minutes left!

"Got it. Moving now."

"What was that?"

"Ah—"

I turned toward Cha Suho, who clearly thought I'd been talking to him, and pointed at the wireless earbud in my ear.

Then I delivered a clean, casual goodbye.

Cha Suho would figure it out. He'd decide which choice kept the people with him safer.

"We're short on time, so we'll be going. The drone luring the zombies is almost out of battery."

"Wait!"

There it is.

"Go ahead."

"The zombies making all that noise right now... is that because of the drone?"

"Yes. We're drawing the ones above with a drone. We're moving while their attention is locked on it. And as I said, we plan to cross Seogang Bridge into Yeouido. If your destination or route overlaps, you're welcome to follow. Let's go, Jaeyeol."

"Yes."

"What are you waiting for? You lot, get out too. Battery's only got fifteen minutes left."

"Fifteen minutes??"

"We're fucked...!"

"We can still make the bridge, right?"

"Use that mouth to move instead of asking, you idiots."

Gihun shoved the ones blocking the underpass entrance outside, and Jaeyeol and I stepped out after them.

"Hyung, isn't this dangerous? We don't even know these people..."

"Relax. They're not bad people. Hey—did you get a quest?"

"A quest??"

"This is exactly the kind of situation that spawns one."

"Ah... no. I didn't get anything."

As expected—black quests seem to be exclusive to me. White ones too, for that matter.

Anyway. Will they follow?

"We need to be up on that bridge in fifteen minutes. Move fast."

If they didn't come after us, I was ready to turn around and try something—anything. I wasn't about to lose three stats standing around doing nothing.

Fortunately, Cha Suho's group emerged from the underpass and started tailing us.

Being together was step one. Now—how the hell was I supposed to put Cha Suho in danger?

Within a few minutes we reached the underside of Seogang Bridge.

A handful of zombies showed up, but nothing truly dangerous happened.

"Juhan. Over there."

"I see it. Let's go."

First priority: ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠get up onto the bridge.

Climb the embankment, cross one road, and we'd hit the stairs and elevator that led up onto Seogang Bridge.

The problem was that road.

Four-lane Gangbyeonbuk-ro. An intersection feeding into the city center sat right there, which meant a massive concentration of zombies. Even flying the drone every which way wouldn't be enough to handle numbers like that. The moment a single one spotted us and screamed, the rest would come pouring in like a tidal wave.

But there was a way around crossing Gangbyeonbuk-ro entirely.

A rapid patter of footsteps—

Hidden beneath Seogang Bridge was another span. A pedestrian-only walkway built so people who couldn't cross the expressway—no crosswalks—could still use the riverside path. Follow that side route and you reached the stairs and elevator up onto Seogang Bridge.

Right there.

I raised a fist, halted the group, and pressed myself behind a bridge pillar. After confirming my people crouched low behind me—and Cha Suho's group joining up at the rear—I carefully edged my head out past the column.

"Krrgh...!!"

"Kraaaah...."

"Grrraah..."

Several zombies were milling near the stairs, but that number wasn't a problem. The real issue was the wide-open space. Any delay at all and hundreds of them would close in and surround us. The zombies already up on Seogang Bridge were another threat. Even if we made it up the stairs, a surge of them pouring down from the bridge deck would trap us instead.

"Seongho. Start drawing the ones on the bridge."

Got it.

The zombies were getting louder—he'd started.

"Jaeyeol, you and I punch straight through the front. Don't worry about the rear."

"Yes."

"Gihun."

"Leave it to me. I'll keep them safe no matter what."

"No—just keep up. You're the slowest one here."

"Hey, come on—!! Worry about yourself!! Don't show off and get yourself killed...!!"

A little banter to bleed off the tension while I waited for Lee Seongho's signal.

But the nerves kept climbing.

Barely ten minutes left.

Lee Seongho, hurry the hell up.

I needed to get onto that bridge before I could do anything useful.

Hyung, now! I didn't pull all of them, but this is as good as it gets! Hyung! Are you hearing me?!

I hear you.

No—I'm already at the foot of the stairs.

"KRAAAAH!!!!"

"KRAAH!!"

"KRAAAAAH!!"

"KRAAAH!!"

The distance from under the bridge to the stairs was just long enough that zombies spilled out first, spotted Jaeyeol, and started screaming. Beyond them, under the sweep of streetlight, a mass of zombies was already surging this way.

Didn't matter.

Thwack!! Thwaaack!!!!

Shunk— Slice!!

My combat shovel sent two zombies flying. Jaeyeol's jungle knife punched through a skull and sheared through a neck.

A rapid thunder of footsteps—

We punched a hole through them in an instant and sprinted up the stairs. The moment I cleared the landing where the stairs folded back a hundred and eighty degrees, I checked the group coming up behind me.

Cha Suho's people were still right on our heels.

I hit the top of the stairs and immediately cut along the path that bent toward the bridge deck. A narrow, short stretch—barely ten meters. Clear that and we were on Seogang Bridge.

"Jaeyeol!!!"

At my shout, Jaeyeol triggered his Acceleration skill and shot toward Seogang Bridge. Zombies were already toppling over the guardrail, bellies catching on the metal as they flopped forward—he met them with sweeping arcs of his jungle knife.

I arrived in the gap he opened, blew past his side, planted a foot on the guardrail, and launched myself into the air.

"KRAAAAH!!!"

I drove a kick into the chest of a zombie screaming from the roof of a sedan right in front of me and landed on the car's roof.

A heavy thud—

No time to rest.

I sprang to the car in the next lane, hopping across them like stepping stones, then put everything I had into a final leap toward an SUV in the far lane.

"KRAAAAAH!!!!"

This time I brought the combat shovel down instead of a kick.

Thunk!!!

The blade buried deep in a zombie's forehead. Its body went limp. I wrenched the shovel free, flung the corpse off the side, and roared at the top of my lungs.

"Over here! You zombie bastards!!!!!!"

"KRAAAAH!!!"

"KRAAH!!!"

"KRAAAAAH!!!"

"KRAAH!!"

"KRAAAAH!!"

"KRAAAAAAAH!!"

Standing on the high roof of the SUV, I screamed to pull in as many as possible. Meanwhile the rest of the group, who had entered Seogang Bridge from the opposite side, tore toward Yeouido like their lives depended on it.

The path they were running would be cut off soon enough—zombies were already starting to climb the guardrails. But all of this was unfolding exactly according to plan.

Even the SUV I was standing on was a position I'd chosen in advance. Drone footage. Road-view maps. Every step planned and executed with the full force of modern civilization.

The only variable was Cha Suho's group.

A heavy thud—

I dropped onto the car stuck behind the SUV, then vaulted the guardrail down onto the pedestrian walkway.

"KRAAH!!"

Thwack!!!

I twisted and smashed the skull of a zombie reaching over the rail, then started running hard, hugging the bridge railing as close as I could.

Hyung! Don't die!!

"I'm not dying!"

I can't keep up anymore!

"Recover the drone! Don't you dare drop it!"

Send a rescue team! Promise me!!!

Call ended.

I pulled the wireless earbud from my ear and shoved it into my pocket. From here on the movement was going to get violent—it might fall out.

"KRAAAAH!!!"

"KRAAH!!"

"KRAAAAAH!!!"

Three zombies were charging from the opposite direction. I wasn't going to fight them.

I was going over them.

A burst of speed—then another—

I spotted an empty stretch, vaulted onto the guardrail, planted a second step, and cleared all three like hurdles.

I hit the ground running.

But I'd be stopping soon. There was no way I could keep sprinting the remaining kilometer and a half like this. That was why everyone—myself included—was moving toward a prearranged position.

"KRAAH!!"

"KRAH!!"

I ducked the hands snatching at me from the side and vaulted the guardrail back onto the roadway.

A heavy impact—then a sliding scrape—

I slid across a car hood into the next lane, cut around the trunk of a vehicle blocking the path, crossed another lane, and pressed up against the front of an SUV sitting in the first lane.

"Hold them!!"

"Yes!"

"Ugh...!!"

"Push!!"

"I am pushing...!!!"

"Leave this side to me!"

Everyone moved exactly as planned. I took the right-side approach to the car; Jaeyeol took the left. Mingu covered my back; Gihun covered Jaeyeol's. Yeonghun, Jaemin, and the women arriving one after another shoved the SUV we were escorting like a living shield wall.

Without Cha Suho's group, we would have been in serious trouble. We never would have held on our own.

Shunk!!

Thwack-thwack!!

Thud!!

Cha Suho thrusting and sweeping with his spear, the others swinging whatever weapons they had—somehow we held the line against the zombies squeezing through the narrow gaps between cars.

A long, grinding scrape—

And then, finally, the front bumper that had been jammed into a taxi's trunk tore free. The wheels started to roll.

Toward the bus behind us.

Boom!!

The moment the SUV's rear bumper slammed into the bus's front, Yeonghun, Jaemin, and the women scrambled up onto the hood. Cha Suho's group sent their women up first as well.

Thwack!!!

I smashed a charging zombie's skull with the combat shovel and shot a glance toward Cha Suho.

Damn it. He didn't look remotely in danger.

"Get down, now!"

I kept turning the head that had been looking at Cha Suho a little further and shouted up at Yeonghun and Jaemin on the SUV roof.

"Yes!"

"Use them as steps and climb!!"

Yeonghun and Jaemin dropped flat, becoming footholds, and the women started climbing onto the bus one by one.

The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠problem was this: if everyone made it safely onto that bus, my stats were gone.

Still enough time.

So think. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠From this moment on—how do I put Cha Suho in danger?

No. I already know the answer.

I'm just looking for another way.

I can't do something like that over a few measly stats.

"KRAAAAH!!"

"......"

But is that really the only option left?

Thwack!!

I smashed another lunging zombie and climbed onto the hood—already packed solid with people.

I could see them. Feet carefully finding empty space, stepping around each other so no one would fall.

"Gihun! Get up here!!"

"How am I supposed to climb that?! Get them onto the bus first!"

"Shut up and get up here! You're going to die down there!!"

My stats are about to vanish, so do what I tell you!!!!

One hundred eighty-two centimeters, eighty-eight kilos. When big-framed Gihun hauled himself onto the hood, the people already planted there shifted, feet searching for new empty spots to rebalance.

And I offered a silent, sincere apology—and a promise.

I'm sorry. But I will save you. I swear it.

A subtle shift—

I slipped my foot under a descending shoe.

"Ah..!"

The man who'd stepped on me flinched, pulled his foot back just a fraction, and half-stepped awkwardly away.

And then—

A soft bump—

His back shoved the woman behind him.

"Ah...."

"Uh...?"

Both of them froze in shock. The man, for pushing someone with his back. The woman, for the foot she'd thrown back to catch herself finding nothing but empty air.

"Yeonju..."

"Kyaaah!!!!"

I hated myself for doing this over stats.

But what choice did I have?

It was three whole points.

"Someone fell!!"

You heard that, right, Cha Suho?

Go on. Dive into the danger.

It's what you're best at.