An Gyeongsu Disappears

"Mingu!!!!!!!!!"

Seonye's raw, desperate scream tore through the air.

Tears streaming down her face, she pounded and shook the chest of Mingu, whose eyes had fallen shut, screaming for him to open them.

"Open your eyes!! Hey!!!! Don't you die on me!!!!! Don't you leave me behind..! Please...!! Hic... huuh..."

The Zombie Queen was still alive. Zombies could come pouring out of the tunnels riddling the ground at any moment. And yet not a single person urged the others to get out of there.

Some squeezed their eyes shut to hide their tears. Others clenched their fists so hard their hands shook.

All of them locked in shock and grief.

"Hey... Cha Suho.. Hey, you bastard! Get up!! Juhan! This asshole's just messing around, right?! Hey!!!"

Gihun, who could barely even walk, finally spotted Suho collapsed on the ground and crawled across the floor until he reached his side.

"Jaeyeol..! Yang Jaeyeol..!!! Why are you like this!!!! What do I do...! Hic!!"

Nari was wailing over Jaeyeol, her childhood best friend, unable to even bring herself to touch him.

That was how horrific his condition was.

"I love you..! I love you...!! I've liked you since high school..!!! So open your eyes..! Stay by my side...!! Mingu... hic....!!"

Meanwhile, the strength was draining from Seonye's hands as she pounded Mingu's chest and shook his body, pouring out a desperate confession of love.

Seonye was accepting it too.

Mingu's death.

"......"

Can I save them?

What if it just ends up being a waste?

Don't overthink it.

Even if it does nothing, I have to try.

I can't just let these guys go like this.

"Nari."

"Jaeyeol.. hic.. Jaeyeol.. huuuh.."

"Han Nari!!"

At my shout, Nari lifted her head, her face a mess of tears.

"Oppa... Jaeyeol is...."

"Get a grip and pull that out."

"......"

"The thing I left with you back then. The Recovery Potion."

"Ah..!!"

The reward for completing a hidden condition while administering the cure to Kim Soyeong, Kim Jincheol's daughter, as he screamed over the burning hospital.

The Recovery Potion.

"Will that save them?!"

"Just get it out already. Their conditions are critical."

"Yes!"

Nari pulled every Recovery Potion from her inventory — red liquid sealed in potion-like vials.

We'd received three as a reward back then, and right now three people were unconscious.

Starting with Mingu, who was in the worst shape.

Thud!!

First I set the arm where bone had torn through the skin and jutted out, then grabbed his crushed nose and straightened it.

I had no idea if this was the right way to do it, but feeding him the potion with a broken arm and a smashed nose just felt wrong.

Pop-

I pulled the little cork free, pried Mingu's mouth open, and poured the Recovery Potion down his throat.

"Oppa! Is Mingu going to make it?!"

"We'll see."

It was the best answer I could give.

In the webtoon, the Recovery Potion only showed up two or three times and did bring people back from the brink of death — but Mingu's condition looked worse than any of those cases.

Then again, Jaeyeol was just as bad.

"Hoo... You did good, Jaeyeol."

I'd never felt anything like this before.

His jawbone must have been completely pulverized — the jaw I gripped to open his mouth felt soft and mushy under my hands.

Maybe Jaeyeol was in even worse shape than Mingu.

Glug-glug-

I took the last remaining Recovery Potion and went over to Suho.

And then, to my surprise, Suho came to.

Grab-

He caught my hand as I tilted the potion, barely managing to crack his eyes open, and muttered in a whisper as he looked up at me.

"Isn't that... important...?"

"Bullshit. You're more important, you idiot."

I lifted my hand, peeled his fingers off, and poured the Recovery Potion into his mouth.

Then Suho lost consciousness again.

"Hey! Is he okay?! Did you ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠get all of it in him?! Shake the bottle out a little more!"

"If you can talk like that, you're fine. So get up and get ready to run."

"What..?"

Suho would probably be able to stand. Mingu and Jaeyeol, I wasn't so sure about.

But more important than whether they woke up was getting out of here safely.

"KIYAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!!"

"KRAAAAK!!!"

"KRAAAAAH!!!"

"KRAAAAK!!"

"KRAAAH!!!"

"KRAAAAAAK!!!!"

As if it had instinctively sensed that its soldiers had arrived to protect it, the Zombie Queen roared — and the howls of zombies began pouring out of the tunnels riddling the ground on every side.

Accompanied by the thunder of footsteps shaking the earth.

"Oppa..!!"

"......"

"......"

Seo Hayun glanced around with a tense expression, eyeing the tunnels punched through the ground in every direction, while Seo Hamin and Yu Eunseol adjusted their grips on their weapons and prepared for combat.

"Hey, carry him! Hurry!!"

"Got it!"

"I'll take Suho!"

"Augh..!"

"Gihun hyung! Just hop on my back!"

Yeonghun hoisted Mingu, Jaemin took Jaeyeol, Lee Jeongcheol took Suho, and Choi Junseok took Gihun — all of them ready to run.

But where were we supposed to go?

This vast chamber had no fewer than fifteen tunnels bored out in every direction.

Did we punch through one of the five tunnels we'd come out of?

Or did we have to find an exit among the other ten, excluding those five?

Getting this far, we'd already gotten lost plenty of times because tunnels connected back to the same places.

If the tunnels here worked the same way, we'd just end up right back in this chamber.

That was when it happened.

"Kang Juhan! Over there!!"

Jihye pointed at a distant wall and shouted.

"We have to go that way! That one! I saw it!"

"Everyone, douse the place in gasoline as ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you follow!"

"Nari, give us the gas!"

"Here!!"

"Everyone get over here and grab a can!!!"

While everyone took the gasoline cans popping out of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Nari's inventory and started splashing them in every direction, I sprinted toward the wall Jihye had pointed out.

No need to doubt her.

I trusted her.

Destruction.

KRAAAANG!!!!!

I swung Mook and smashed the wall. A ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠deafening boom erupted and a cloud of dust billowed up.

As the wall crumbled and rained down in chunks, a tunnel gaped open behind it.

The Information Gathering skill that let her watch past events like CCTV footage was more useful than I'd expected.

Even more impressive was Jihye's instincts — using the skill on the spot to find the exit.

"Let's get out of here."

"Yes!"

But then another problem cropped up.

"Wait! I don't see Gyeongsu!"

It was true.

An Gyeongsu was nowhere in sight.

"He definitely came with us..!!"

At Choi Junseok's shout, even Jihye looked panicked and turned toward the tunnels we'd come out of.

But it was already too late.

Zombies were already spilling out of those tunnels.

"KRAAAAAK!!!!"

"KRAAAK!!!"

"KRAAH!!!"

"KRAAAK!!"

"KRAAAAAH!!!"

"Run!!!"

Everyone started running.

But I ran in the opposite direction from the group.

Even if I go, I go after finishing the job.

"Gotta wrap this up properly."

"KIYAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!"

I smashed down on the Zombie Queen's skull as it left its final howl, then pulled a lighter from my pocket and lit it.

Whoever it was, someone had already doused the Zombie Queen's body in plenty of gasoline.

FWOOOOSH!!!!

Just as expected.

The cellular tissue clinging to the walls, floor, and ceiling began to swell, and zombies started popping out one by one.

With that final sight, I chased after the others and escaped the Spawning Ground — and at the same time, three quests completed, flooding my vision.

But had An Gyeongsu really died in there?

Thud-thud-thud-

Thud-thud-

Thud-thud-thud-

On Kim Jaemin's call, they had left Yang Jaeyeol behind fighting the Guard Zombies and were running to request help from Kang Juhan.

"Out of the way! You sons of bitches!!!!"

"KRAAAAK!!!!"

Kim Jaemin was desperate.

Furious at himself for being too weak to help his friend. Terrified for a friend who could die at any second. Ashamed of the way he looked, running off and abandoning that friend no matter what the reason.

But Choi Junseok and O Jihye felt the same way.

They tore through the zombies that kept lunging into their path with everything they had, racing toward the Zombie Queen's sanctuary where Kang Juhan would be.

Which was why the three of them, running without looking back, never noticed.

"......"

That An Gyeongsu, who had been falling farther and farther behind, quietly turned around.

Sliip-

Thud-thud-thud!!!

Had he decided there was no chance of winning even if he went to where Kang Juhan was?

Or did he have some other purpose?

An Gyeongsu started retracing the path he had come down with such difficulty.

But before long, he ran into a situation he hadn't wanted.

"KRAAAAAK!!!!"

"Damn it..!!"

In the relatively narrow tunnel, he came face-to-face with a Guard Zombie charging from the opposite direction.

And then he did something very strange.

Whoosh-

He tossed aside the knife in his hand — his only weapon.

Not just the knife. He also took off his glasses, which for people with bad eyesight were as good as their eyes themselves, and threw them aside as well.

Then An Gyeongsu closed his eyes, let out a deep breath, slowly opened them again, and took a step toward the charging Guard Zombie.

And then.

"KRAAAAAAAK!!!!"

"......"

The roaring Guard Zombie treated An Gyeongsu like he was invisible and simply ran right past him.

Yang Jaeyeol, who was chasing after it, did the same.

"......"

A startled An Gyeongsu turned and watched the Guard Zombie and Yang Jaeyeol's backs rapidly receding into the distance for a moment, then picked up the knife and glasses he'd thrown aside and started running again.

The place where An Gyeongsu finally stopped after running without rest was that chamber with the multiple tunnels where the quest had been issued.

And he entered the third tunnel that Kang Juhan had gone into.

"Hah.. hah.."

Having gone in fairly deep, An Gyeongsu caught his somewhat ragged breath and looked around.

"He killed all of these by himself..?"

Looking at the countless corpses of ordinary zombies and special zombies strewn across the floor, An Gyeongsu furrowed his brow.

But only for a moment.

Step- step- step-

An Gyeongsu walked between the countless corpses and came to a halt in front of one of them.

Right in front of a Guard Zombie's corpse.

Then he murmured under his breath.

"Predation."

The hand stretched down toward the Guard Zombie's corpse transformed into a massive mouth at the soft murmur of his voice and began to chew and devour the corpse.

"Ugh..!!!!"

An Gyeongsu let out a groan of apparent agony, twisting his face as he rolled a neck thick with bulging veins and tendons this way and that, then slowly opened the eyes he had closed.

"Yang Jaeyeol.... I wonder if he'll remember running into me?"