The World I Live In
I heard that once upon a time, human civilization had reached an ultra-high-tech level. Something about building bases on the moon? 'Humans? On the moon?' Honestly, it's hard to believe. I once saw a video on the Intranet of some old guy named Armstrong wearing this weird spacesuit and hopping around on lumpy ground... apparently that was the moon. I laughed my ass off watching it. The comments were even funnier—people actually believed it was real. The way he floated when he walked or jumped was kinda neat, sure, but the video quality was total garbage. It was obviously fake! If they were advanced enough to fly to the moon, why was the footage so crappy? And why does every ghost video look like it was shot on a potato? 'You gotta believe in the right things, man.'
Thinking about it again, that scene of him stepping on gray dirt and yelling 'That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind!' or whatever was ridiculous. At least make the ground glow or something. Talk about zero effort. And come on... everyone knows the moon is yellow!
"Sigh... let's just drop it."
Anyway, the reason I'm bringing this up is because human civilization collapsed about a hundred years ago. Not total extinction, but close enough—half-destroyed, maybe? It all started with a virus. Symptoms included a racing heart and full-body fever. Random people everywhere suddenly started complaining of high fevers. No one could figure out where it came from or how it spread. It hit people on the opposite side of the planet at the same time, for crying out loud.
Every time you turned on the TV, it was all about infection numbers in this country or that. Our ancestors decided to call this mysterious illness the 'common cold.' More precisely, a 'high-fever body-ache cold.' Since tests showed nothing unusual, they figured popping some medicine and resting at home would fix it. Living in an era where full-body fever means immediate quarantine, I can't help but think my ancestors were complete idiots. I get that back then the cold was a common thing and the actual treatment really was fever reducers and bed rest... but what they didn't know was that this wasn't a normal cold at all. The incubation period for this mystery virus was only about twenty-four hours. And their biggest mistake? Not isolating anyone.
When I learned about this in elementary school history class, I thought humanity's downfall was inevitable from that point. Looking back, I was pretty mature for my age. Some kids my age were straight-up crying. 'Waaah! Idiots, idiots, they're all idiots!' and stuff like that.
Sure enough, the real problem hit the very next day. After just one day, the infected started dying. They collapsed in grotesque spasms, veins bulging purple and red all over their bodies, then went completely still. Before the people caring for them, the ones calling 119 for strangers who collapsed in the street, or the countless witnesses to these sudden deaths could even process the shock—something even worse happened.
The dead came back to life.
And these 'living corpses' began attacking people indiscriminately, their eyes glowing with a gray light. They bit, tore, scratched. They even chewed and swallowed chunks of flesh. Anyone who got even a small wound from them would die within a day, only to rise again and attack others. Apparently, the horror genre called 'zombies' was popular back then. It was exactly like that. They lost all reason and bit to death anyone—family, lovers, children, everyone. It was the beginning of the catastrophe.
The virus got the official name Zombie Virus, and every country sealed its borders and declared a national emergency. But the chaos had already become an uncontrollable wildfire, raging out of control. The reason? Our enemies weren't just the zombies.
All kinds of criminals. People who'd been bottling up their resentment toward society. Wolves who'd been wearing sheep's clothing within the fences of civilization. In the face of humanity's most primal desire—'survival'—laws and order lost all meaning. The conscience of survivors who'd barely escaped both zombies and other humans became thinner than a single piece of candy. In an era where trust and faith had no value for personal survival, people killed each other to take what they could and avoid being taken from.
Amid all that, looters who specialized in murder, hunting, and rape ran wild. In the end, our once-glorious civilization crumbled at terrifying speed...
...is what I picked up from history class.
Now, a hundred years later, humanity has found a stable footing. We're coexisting with the zombies and living somewhat like proper people again.
Rustle. Rustle.
Trash scattered everywhere crunched under my feet along with pebbles. I was walking past intact buildings and ones half-destroyed into grotesque shapes.
"Jeez... who the hell dumped this here? It's dangerous."
Whoosh—clang!
I picked up an empty can that had been stomped flat and torn open with sharp edges poking out, then chucked it into a corner. After that, I kept walking straight toward the back gate.
My destination was visible up ahead. A three-story building standing tall by itself among the single-story structures around it. That was what we commonly called the 'guard post'—the security team's duty station. The reason it's way out here on the outskirts is because this is the edge of town. The security team's main job isn't keeping order among the townspeople. It's monitoring and clearing out zombies beyond the town walls.
Just then, someone walked out the entrance.
"Oh? Jack."
I raised my hand in greeting to the familiar-looking young man. Jack, the youngest member of the security team, had his hands in his pockets and was trudging out. When he saw me, he spoke in a pleased tone.
"Hey—look who it is. Woojin? I hadn't seen you in a while and thought you might be dead. Guess you're still kicking?"
"What kind of depressing thing is that to say... Jack."
I put on a faint smile and walked over to him. Like always when we met, we bumped fists in greeting. My childhood friend Jack is Caucasian. When the zombie apocalypse broke out, Westerners and people of various nationalities who were in Korea couldn't return home. Every country was the same, and at the time, worrying about family back home came second to just staying alive. Everywhere was hell, after all.
The survivors of other races eventually settled in whatever country they were in, and Korea was no exception. Koreans make up the majority, but a small number of other races live mixed in with us. Strictly speaking, we're all just Koreans with different ethnicities. 'If you've lived in Korea for generations, you're Korean, right?'
Even though Jack's white, his English is worse than mine, and I only know basic words. He says he hates how it makes his tongue feel twisted.
"Woojin. Today's my last day on guard duty."
"Why?"
"Heh heh. Starting tomorrow, I'm joining the exploration team."
"...Hmm. Wouldn't it be better to just keep doing guard work? The pay's stable, and there's no danger."
"How long are we supposed to live like this? There's no future here. Out there, the ground is littered with valuable stuff. Finder's keepers. I'm definitely gonna make a ton of money and move to D-Sector with my mom."
The place we live isn't the Shelter itself, but a district right next to it. And we're at the very edge of it. About ten years after the zombie outbreak, just when humanity was starting to adapt and survive, an even greater threat appeared.
The birth of mutant zombies.
These mutants were faster and stronger than regular zombies. Some were extremely violent, others cunning. For the survivors in Korea—where guns had been strictly prohibited—they were an unbeatable nightmare. And even guns weren't all-powerful. Zombies don't feel pain, and unless you destroy their brains, a couple of bullets to the body won't kill them. The mutants were even worse. Ones with offensive traits could tear through protective suits, and ones with defensive traits could shrug off rifles. Humanity's future could only grow darker.
That's when the Awakeners appeared.
With their superior physical abilities and magic-like powers, the Awakeners led the charge to drive back the zombies, and Shelters were built in every major city. Over time, towns formed around the Shelters. To classify them:
The official parts of the Shelter are A-Sector. That's where the S-class Awakeners—treated like royalty—and A-class Awakeners—treated like nobles—live, along with their families and irreplaceable experts in various fields. It's the most prosperous and safest city. They say A-Sector is even more advanced than the old civilization in some ways.
Next is B-Sector, which surrounds A-Sector. This is where B-class Awakeners—considered semi-nobles—and highly respected technicians and top-tier experts crucial to regional development live. They have various factories. Notably, they control nuclear power and all the essential power plants.
C-Sector is mainly home to C-class Awakeners and specialists in livelihoods, including agriculture and fisheries.
Finally, D-Sector. This is where D-class and E-class Awakeners, promising technicians, and potential talents live together. Since anyone can move in for just 100 million coins, it's called the city of dreams for ordinary people like me.
'Why is this the last one?'
The E-Sector where I live doesn't have an official name. Its real name is the City of the Abandoned. Survivors with no abilities or skills clung to the area near the Shelter, and as their numbers grew, it naturally formed into a city. 'I heard cities used to be huge, divided into districts the size of counties back in the day.'
These days, if five of those old 'whatever-dong' districts are stuck together, it's enough to call it a city. And the E-Sector where I was born and raised has no choice but to rely on the 'mercy' and 'welfare benefits' of the upper sectors. It's not a self-sustaining city. That's why everyone wants to leave this place. For somewhere more stable. For a more abundant district.
Jack standing in front of me is the same. I wanted to stop him. It wasn't like I'd only seen people go out there and come back as nothing but a handful of belongings once or twice.
"Sigh... Jack. Why don't you think about it again? Your mom might be happiest just having you by her side. The exploration team has to go into the Undeveloped Land crawling with zombies. What if something goes wrong? I think it'd be better to keep doing what you're doing—collecting valuable stuff from the Developed Land outside the town walls."
"Hey, Kang Woojin. You think I'm a coward like you? Besides, there's nothing around here worth much money anymore. Only junk left. How long would it take to save up 100 million coins like that? Come on... you should just congratulate me. Are you jealous or something?"
"Ugh. Jealous of what?"
"You want to join the exploration team too, don't you? I know you sneak up to the guard post rooftop and pretend you're part of the scouting team, you idiot."
'This is driving me crazy.'
I try to act like a friend and give some advice, and I get all this crap. Even though we were close as kids, we're not as tight now that we're grown. This guy has a subtle superiority complex. His tone always has this faint hint of looking down on me... Tsk. Let's just finish my business and leave.
"Whatever, forget it. Is the rooftop door open?"
"See? Look at you. Now that I called you out, you're embarrassed, huh? Heh heh. It's open, so go ahead."
It's been a regular thing since I started living alone a year ago—going up to the guard post rooftop to look outside. Getting misunderstood by people who see me is nothing new either. I walked past Jack and entered the guard post. As I started up the stairs, I heard Jack shout from behind.
"Hey—Woojin! If you look hard enough, there'll probably be a team that takes scrawny weaklings like you. I'll head out first and make a name for myself, so you keep practicing your scouting—!"
There he goes again. I half-heartedly waved my hand at him and continued up the stairs. Contrary to what Jack assumed, the reason I looked outside wasn't because I wanted to join the exploration team or dreamed of becoming a scout.