Empty House Raid
—Rat-a-tat-tat! Bang!
I initially thought it was zombies outside or sniper fire coming our way. Or maybe grenades being lobbed in from beyond the walls. But the gunfire kept ringing out, and it wasn't coming from near the library.
...Over there...
The humanities building? But why?
As I pondered that, Yoo Soyeon, who had been staring at her own hand, shouted at me.
"J-Junyoung-ssi!"
"Yeah?"
"Th-the g-guys d-down below are starting to leave!"
It was true enough. Looking at Yoo Soyeon's radar, I could see the white and red dots down below slipping away. They were vanishing rapidly beyond her 25-meter detection range.
...This is...
—Clack clack.
I spun around and headed quickly to the end of the third-floor hallway at the back.
"W-Wait, I'll come too!"
—Rattle.
"!!!!!!"
"!!!!!!"
The door swung open, revealing chaos on the humanities building atop the hill.
—Rat-a-tat-tat!
Gunfire. And then—
—Kwarung!
The sound of artificial lightning striking down.
"!!!!!!!"
And more noise. The sky flashed bright for an instant.
—Flash.
...What the hell is going on.
Something serious had clearly gone down. They left me behind here and bailed?
The central library was close to the Liberation Army's forward base. They'd been ready to die defending it, even against me—yet now they were abandoning it for the humanities building? Knowing I might track them down and slaughter them all?
This had to mean either the Liberation Army's humanities camp was collapsing, or there was something crucial inside that they needed to protect. Or...
Civil war...?
Not quite a civil war, but close. That artificial lightning ability was almost certainly Kwon Yunhwan's, no matter how I sliced it.
But there was no way to know for sure. Kwon Yunhwan. According to Lee Seoyul, he was a guy clueless about the real world. Was he hiding his true intentions? Or had he sided with the Liberation Army to suppress the survivors?
Or maybe it's some other ability user.
I wouldn't know unless I went and saw for myself. And the same went for them.
Jeong Yena asked with an anxious expression.
"...What do you think happened?"
"Who knows."
"D-Do you think s-something went wrong at th-their base?"
Yoo Soyeon's face wasn't looking great either.
"Probably."
But in my mind, it wasn't a bad thing for us. Honestly, my mana was scraping bottom right now. I'd planned to hold out here for about an hour, clear the lower floors, but this worked out—I could head back right away.
...Gotta reinforce our own base quickly anyway.
Today, I'd integrate Yoo Soyeon and Jeong Yena, then set out for the remnant tomorrow.
I spoke up.
"Yoo Soyeon-ssi. No one's left below?"
"Y-Yeah... They all seem to have cleared out suddenly."
"Alright, let's go then. Safe once we hit the station. Jeong Yena-ssi."
"Yes."
"Send one scarecrow ahead as we move."
"O-Okay."
A perfectly intact scarecrow bounced along.
"And not for Yoo Soyeon-ssi—just Jeong Yena-ssi, this."
I handed her an M16 rifle and two mags.
"...A rifle?"
"Yeah. Take it back and give it to the base folks."
All we'd gained here was remnant intel and two ability users, so this was the least we could bring back. Arming reliable people would shore up our defenses nicely.
"Ah... Okay."
—Click.
Jeong Yena gripped the rifle.
That's when—
"I-I c-can carry one too!"
Yoo Soyeon piped up from the side, insisting she could handle it too. I slung an M16 over my right shoulder and told her—
—Click.
"Soyeon-ssi, you need to watch that."
I pointed at her radar. She could carry it, sure. But—
If she took a gun, her reaction time might lag. She let out an "Ah, ah" and hung her head.
I continued softly.
"Not discriminating, Soyeon-ssi. It's about efficiency. Just me and Yena-ssi will carry. Watch for traps or whatever."
"...Okay."
"Let's move."
Yoo Soyeon finally looked convinced. We headed down with the bouncing scarecrow up front.
"......"
"......"
Passing the empty second floor to reach the first, we pieced together what had happened right here in the central lounge.
...Blood and flesh. And...
Bodies hung upside down, throats slit.
I walked between them, thinking, Yep.
Hung-up corpses. I was certain these were the people from Yuseong University.
Because—
...That one.
The woman at the front, pants stripped off, looked familiar. Red shirt, jeans—the one from the group coming down from the humanities building when I'd infiltrated the library earlier.
They killed her already.
Liberation Army. Livestock pens. This must've been what Seol Juyeong and Seol Minyoung meant.
Work the captives brutally, then slaughter them at dinner time.
"......"
"......"
Silence.
I hid my bitterness, glancing occasionally at the corpses, then at me with wide-eyed shock. To the women, I said—
"Let's go."
What could we do? It was done, and I hadn't saved them. Couldn't have, really. Time to focus on what we could do.
===
"You're back."
The exit was uneventful, as expected. No one around.
We slipped past the humanities chaos and reached Yuseong Station without issue.
"Hoo... Hoo... N-No one's in the station!"
The quiet subway.
"Nngh! N-No, wait! One crawler near the front end!"
—Boom!
A crawling zombie burst from an ice spear. I gave Yoo Soyeon a surprised look.
...She's got a solid head on her.
Not just personality—this was sharp judgment and mental fortitude. She'd puked, been shocked by the dead, but no panic or breakdown after.
She always picked the optimal move.
Better than that Seol Minyoung.
Even when I'd killed people inside Yuseong University, she'd been stunned but still thinking ahead to what to do next.
Yena's solid too.
Jeong Yena had her scarecrows out as ordered, lips pressed tight. Makes sense—she'd survived solo post-apocalypse.
Both have detection abilities too.
Just bad luck with the Liberation Army matchup.
"Keep going."
I scanned around as I spoke. Soon, the underground mall inside Namdong Station came into view.
"We're here."
"Ugh, so close, but it's dark and scary... Blood everywhere..."
Yoo Soyeon fussed over the Namdong Station zombie corpses.
—Urk, dodging the blood like a circus act.
"Anything around?"
"N-No, nothing... Well..."
True enough. Nothing but blue dots—zombies—within her 25 meters.
Blinking, Yoo Soyeon said—
"A few cats and doggos, I think."
"...Why are cats 'cats' and dogs 'doggos'?"
The question slipped out. She made an "oh crap" face.
"Ah, n-no, not doggos—puppies. No, puppies are doggos... Ah..."
"......"
"......"
Yoo Soyeon bowed her head. She wouldn't say "dog" if her life depended on it.
......
Jeong Yena glanced at her; Yoo Soyeon flushed red.
...Talk like this, she seems a bit dim. But she gets shit done... No big deal.
Like a female Jeong Suhyun.
Maybe this type lasts longest in this world. I stretched and said—
"Kidding. Let's go."
"...Okay."
Not unlikable. She'd fit right in with our base crew.
"No loud noises."
"G-Got it!"
I led the women quickly out of Namdong Station.
"......"
"Heek... Heek..."
Passing Dongseong Market, following our old migration route, we reached Gaeseong High School.
Yoo Soyeon gaped at the massive front gate.
"Heek... Th-this is the base?"
"Yep. Thirteen total now, fourteen with me. Sixteen with you two."
"H-How many women...?"
"Ah, three. Kim Yunjin, Choi Yuri, Lee Seoyul, Yoon Mina. Yuri and Seoyul are twenty, the other two twenty-three."
"Ah, a-ah..."
"And you two?"
"I-I'm twenty-two."
"I'm twenty-six."
Yoo Soyeon twenty-two, Jeong Yena twenty-six. Decent age gap with the others, but they'd manage.
"Everyone's chill, no issues."
"St-still worried..."
Yoo Soyeon shivered—exhaustion or nerves?
I sighed and told her—
"Go in, say hi first. Quit shaking already."
"...Wh-when did I sh-shake? Wh-what."
"Stop stuttering too."
"N-No, this is—"
Ignoring her, I floated two ice spears and entered. Puffing her cheeks, she followed.
"You're mean."
"Any other questions?"
"Huh? Oh, n-no... Nothing."
"Speak freely."
I slowly closed the front gate, walking the path from the guard post to the main building.
"S-So, no weird stuff like the Liberation Army...?"
"...Weird stuff?"
I tilted my head. Yoo Soyeon clarified—
"L-Like the Liberation Army..."
Voice shrinking. I got it—probably the bad stuff.
I shook my head.
"If we did, I wouldn't have killed them back there, right?"
"......Ah."
"Pfft."
A blatant sigh of relief from her, a chuckle from Jeong Yena. Smiling, I led them on.
"This way. Now."
"...Yes!"
I opened the main building door for the women.
—Creak.
Quiet front gate.
"Residences are on the fourth floor. First three are empty space. We don't use outside except night watch. Good to know."
"Ah, yep!"
—Tap tap.
Up the stairs. I explained about Jeong Suhyun and the others.
"Besides me, two lead the base. Jeong Suhyun and Kim Jungshik. One's..."
"Uh-uh."
That moment—Yoo Soyeon stared at her hand and froze with a "ding."
Jeong Yena and I stopped too.
"...What's up?"
"Um, uh..."
Yoo Soyeon blinked, sweating coldly. She held out her hand.
—Tap.
I yanked her body back, crouching us both low.
"...Show me."
"J-Junyoung-ssi, it could be someone who was already here..."
Two red dots appeared.
Liberation Army? No, this is...
Faceless ones. Grimacing, I lowered my voice.
"...Quiet. This isn't a false positive, right? Never been wrong before?"
Yoo Soyeon trembled.
"......N-No one's been here except you, Junyoung-ssi."
"...Why didn't you say?"
"I-I held back since you said it was your base."
Fair enough.
Haa...
I sighed. I'd anticipated something like this might happen, planned to rush back and prevent it. But trouble had already hit our base.
Her detection showed eleven white dots and two red ones inside.