22. Cheongju Elementary School (2)
22. Cheongju Elementary School (2)
ㅡTak
ㅡTak
Reached the 2nd floor like that.
Inside the classrooms, I could see people had cleared out the desks and laid down blankets.
In the center, there were old electric heaters and some newer ones.
In the hallway, some people were standing out looking outside, while others were chatting among themselves.
The appearance was...
"!@$!@$"
"!@$!@$!"
'Looks like refugees.'
They are refugees, right.
Not a single lively face, all of them gaunt, looks like they aren't eating well.
Some looked depressed, everyone looked drained.
Still, the External Team members wandering outside looked relatively better off.
"People have no energy."
"...Because no rescue has come. Food is at its limit now, too."
Lee Jin-woo said with a bitter face.
That's how we arrived at the staff room.
ㅡKnock knock
ㅡCreak
ㅡYes.
A woman's voice was heard.
"It's Park Jin-cheol."
ㅡCome in.
Well, not my business.
Opening the door, what I saw was a space that seemed half-divided into living quarters and a workspace.
And I saw a woman who looked to be in her late 20s with gaunt eyes, and two women who seemed to be assisting her.
The two women saw us and called out to the gaunt woman.
"Ah. Yes."
The gaunt woman stood up from her seat and said.
"What's the matter? Jin-woo is here, and, uh..."
The gaunt woman looked back at me.
She's a beauty.
A woman with dark circles and her hair tied back.
Her tone is slightly cold.
Park Jin-cheol said.
"Uh, an outsider came, and we're also preparing to go out. Where are the others?"
"It's not time for everyone yet. Uh, should I call them?"
"No. No need. Uh, Yu-seong-ssi. This is Seong Eun-bin-yang. Our leader."
"It feels a bit much to call me leader."
"Yes. Nice to meet you. I'm Kim Yu-seong."
"Hello. I'm Seong Eun-bin."
"Then, we'll head back down. Please report on our behalf. Jin-woo, let's go."
"Ah, yes. Please be careful."
"See you next time, Yu-seong-ssi."
"Yes."
As we exchanged greetings, Park Jin-cheol went down with Lee Jin-woo.
I shook hands with her. Seong Eun-bin flinched when she saw the gun slung over my shoulder.
"Uh, please come this way. This is my spot."
Seong Eun-bin guided me to a desk in the staff room.
"Were you a teacher?"
Was she a teacher?
But she shook her head.
"No. Uh, I was a resident at Cheongju Eunha General Hospital."
"You were a doctor?"
"Ah. Yes... though I was a resident."
Well, what's the difference if she's a resident.
I don't really know.
As I was thinking that, Seong Eun-bin asked.
"That gun, is it real?"
"Yes."
"Uh, if you don't mind, may I ask where you got it?"
Going straight to the point, are we?
Well, that's not bad.
"I'm a reservist. Eunha High School."
"Eunha High School... Ah, that place... Then, did soldiers come there? If it's guns and bullets, the military must have..."
"That's right."
"Then. That means the military is still alive and well?"
The woman brightened up slightly.
"Everyone except for a few people and me died. I just brought this from the reservist supplies."
"Ah... I'm sorry."
"Nothing to be sorry about."
"Still."
Seems like a kind-hearted woman. Or she's acting like one.
'I'm craving Seo-yoon right now.'
With one Contract, I could extract all the information.
Or should I just kidnap her?
"Uh, you said you came to get information... what kind of information is it?"
I opened my mouth.
The information I asked Lee Jin-woo and Park Jin-cheol earlier.
But the answer was the same.
"I see. You said this is all shared information?"
"Ah, yes. Since there are many people who are anxious, after all."
I suppose so.
However.
Anxiety, huh.
"They say there are over 100 people here."
The woman understood what I was saying.
Seong Eun-bin stroked her hand.
She said in a slightly anxious voice.
"That's true. Everyone says we need to leave, but there are too many elderly and weak people right now. I'm not sure if we can get out by going around the Amusement Park side.
The situation room people are all against it, and they're telling the External Team to get food, but it's too dangerous. Rescue... hasn't come either."
"You might have to take only the necessary personnel."
"Yes?"
The look of someone who heard something they shouldn't have.
"I heard the people called the External Team have a lot of complaints right now, so I'm saying, wouldn't it be better to just take the essential people and get out?"
"I'll pretend I didn't hear that. They are all families, and they are lives."
Ah.
This kind of person.
"I suppose so. My thinking was short-sighted."
"Yes. And by the way, did you come here to live?"
"No. I came because they said there would be a rescue, but when I saw, they hadn't come. Was it February 14th? Or the 13th."
"Then."
"I won't be staying here. And you heard about my ability. It's not even that good, and I feel like this gun will just cause unnecessary trouble. Looking at it, it seems like you're getting along well enough here."
"...I suppose so."
"Also, I have people to take care of."
"....."
There's... nothing left to ask now.
"I'll get going. It was a pleasant conversation. Let's see each other again if there's a chance."
"Ah..."
This isn't a place for me.
I have no reason to be responsible for all these people.
I am tempted by this woman Seong Eun-bin's healing ability, but well. Looking at the state of the people, I don't think they'll live long.
ㅡCreak
The door opened at that moment.
Men who looked to be in their 40s or 50s poured in.
"Eun-bin. We're here."
"You've been well... huh?"
"Who is this? And what's with that gun."
Arrogant middle-aged men.
"Uh, he's a guest."
Seong Eun-bin hesitated.
I passed by them and came out.
"A guest? You mean he came from outside?"
"Hmm..."
They were men who looked like they had bad personalities, but they didn't stop me.
Well, I guess that's why they're running a group.
'I would have preferred if they picked a fight like idiots.'
But because of that, this group was dangerous.
Passing responsibility to the External Team.
The Internal Team is lost in hope.
A group that kept alive a woman who almost wiped out an entire group.
I probably won't come back here again.
'What will happen.'
It's not my business, but I was curious.
I turned my body.
#
After that, I returned to the villa immediately.
Since I had poked around the Green Fresh Market and then gave up.
===================================
Nexus Core : Metallokinesis lv3[2/100]
===================================
'I lack weapons.'
I needed the power to wipe everything out by myself.
Therefore, I packed more tools from the villa that I could carry.
There were dozens of them.
But I wasn't going to go right away.
Because I had to start preparing to move soon.
I didn't go to the market first, but taught Seo-yoon.
Because I thought it would be better to raise Seo-yoon to level 2 rather than raising my ability to 4.
"Infected... you mean?"
"Yeah. You don't want to? If you don't want to, that's fine."
"No. You're helping me, so I can't say no."
"Good."
Seo-yoon full of motivation.
Well, it's true there's nothing to do if you just stay at home.
"Ugh."
Of course, she threw up and made a huge fuss after catching her first Infected.
"Is it hard?"
"...Yes. Still... I'll do more. This is better than just staying still."
"Good."
I kill almost all of them.
Seo-yoon just lands the final hit.
"Ugh...!"
"Shall we stop here?"
"No...!"
Seo-yoon panting while holding a crowbar after catching a Walker.
A woman who doesn't give up.
"Good. Let's catch more."
I killed Infected while going around the villa.
A woman who adapted in just one day.
Well, she said she couldn't even kill a fish, but she did well when she actually did it.
"Oh, it went up."
===================================
Nexus Core : Contract lv2[0/100]
===================================
Like that, on the 3rd day, Seo-yoon's ability went up.
#
Since Seo-yoon's ability needed verification, I decided to spend more time.
"Still, you have stamina, so there won't be a problem moving."
So I also taught the two women from Eunha High School.
"...Like this?"
Yun-ji dealing with an Infected smoothly.
"Ugh... ugh."
"That's it."
"I, I can do more..."
Even A-rin who struggles but manages to catch them.
That's how the women's abilities went up.
After that, the women's lv.2 abilities were confirmed through experiments.
===================================
Nexus Core : Contract lv2[0/100]
===================================
The duration increased to one week.
===================================
Nexus Core : Taming lv2[0/100]
===================================
Taming up to a cat was possible.
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Nexus Core : Improved Arm Ability lv2[0/100]
===================================
A sack of rice with one hand, very easily.
And she could block kitchen knife-like tools with her arm.
Compared to my ability, the growth potential was enormous.
I don't know the reason, though.
'Especially Seo-yoon's ability.'
This, if only mutual agreement is possible, it seemed like I could even use her as a slave.
As expected, bringing her along safely wasn't a wrong choice.
The other women were also fine.
Arm enhancement for workers, and if Taming is for cats... chickens might be possible too.
'...Are they human?'
Now, the importance of human collection has also increased.
In the meantime, I also went to Cheongju Elementary a few times to watch.
The atmosphere at Cheongju Elementary School became strange every day.
Men returning empty-handed.
Commotion happening every night.
The fact that such things happen even though the time I watch is short meant that a bomb would explode someday.
#
And.
Exactly ten days after I visited Cheongju Elementary School.
February 27th.
ㅡTak
ㅡTak
I arrived at the 15th floor of Imedi Apartment.
I confirmed that something had happened at Cheongju Elementary School in front.
ㅡ!@$!@$
ㅡ!@$!@$
Corpses were piled up on the playground.
Countless corpses.
And men were moving the corpses.
To the outside.
Men throwing corpses to where the Infected are.
Looking from afar, it was mostly corpses of women, the elderly, and children.
'......'
It ended up like this, huh.
But it couldn't be helped.
For them, there was no other way but to reduce mouths to feed or move.
'I thought they would leave.'
But it was a bit unexpected that they handled it so definitively.
No, it's this kind of world, so it's natural.
'......'
Because realistic problems couldn't be helped.
Even if they drink tap water, food doesn't come out by digging the ground.
And even so, the External Team there. In other words, with only level 2 muscle enhancement ability, it's impossible to break through marts or places like that.
Yun-ji, who has the Arm Enhancement ability with higher compatibility, is about 1.5~2 times the strength of an adult male, but that can't break through a wave of Infected.
No, it might be possible, but that's only if there are only Walkers or Runners.
If things like Sirens or Mirrors come in swarms, they'll just get defeated due to numerical inferiority. Plus, the Infected rush in without emotion.
In the end, it means hands will turn inward.
'......'
There was no rescue.
People are gradually changing for survival.
ㅡ!@$!@$
ㅡ!@$!@$
Back gate.
Seeing Lee Jin-woo tied up in front, such thoughts come to mind.
In the end, people kill other people to live.
It's like that when I see the External Team smoking while looking at Lee Jin-woo, and the young men Yoon Dae-ho and Kim Seong-min I saw back then.
I went down towards the back gate of Cheongju Elementary School.