30. Green Fresh Market (2)
30. Green Fresh Market (2)
"Are you okay?"
Seo-yoon came up to me and asked.
"...No."
It hurt like hell.
I felt like throwing up, and my head was spinning. I barely suppressed the pain that made me want to scream.
ㅡGurgle
ㅡGurgle
Blood kept pouring out of my stomach.
I endured the pain and took off my outer jacket.
"I, I'll do it for you."
"...Yeah."
ㅡPress
ㅡPress
I endured the pain while receiving first aid from her.
Of course, I didn't think that would stop the bleeding. I need to move to the villa quickly.
ㅡKieeeee
Because the Variant's noise earlier was attracting Walkers and Runners.
'That thing wasn't in the information the Sergeant gave me.'
I was complacent.
It was stupid of me to think those were the only Variants.
'I'll have to be more careful from now on.'
Getting distracted by food and letting my guard down for a second came back to bite me.
It's fine.
I didn't die, after all.
Of course, in this state, I felt like I might die, but I had Seong Eun-bin.
"...Yun-ji, you packed everything, right?"
"Yes."
Yun-ji, with anxious eyes, put down her bag.
"I'll support you."
"No."
Her bag contained several months' worth of food.
If we dump that, the plan falls apart.
"...Let's head out the same way we came."
"Yes."
"...Okay."
Inside the first floor of the mart.
The white lights kept flickering.
#
ㅡThud
ㅡThud
The distance that wouldn't have been much when my body was fine felt incredibly far now that I was injured.
ㅡCrunch
A Walker's head was smashed.
"Seo-yoon. Shoot it."
"...Yes."
ㅡPop
ㅡPop
Seo-yoon sniped the one at mid-range.
The one close by.
ㅡThwack
ㅡSquish
Yun-ji smashed it with her tool.
My hammer helped her out too.
The hammer caved in the Walker's head.
The thing crawling in human form, attacking like a beast.
The one with glowing white eyes and a red body.
It's crawling.
Let's just call it a Crawler.
"Are there any around?"
"Yes. But they aren't attacking."
"That's serious."
A Variant with glowing white eyes, a form that blends in with the flickering white lights of the mart.
These things seemed to have intelligence.
"They're testing the waters right now. Because their comrade died."
"......."
I can see their sharp claws in front of us.
They're aware of us, but they know we have combat capabilities, so they're testing us.
Because one of their comrades kicked the bucket.
I threw a hammer at them.
ㅡScuttle
The thing dodged.
I threw two, attacking with a time delay.
ㅡCrunch
One Crawler's head was smashed.
A Crawler pops out from the other side.
"Kieeeee!"
ㅡRat-tat-tat
Seo-yoon's rapid fire turns it into a beehive.
ㅡScuttle
Seeing that, they look at us for a moment before retreating.
Of course, they soon slinked back nearby.
They aren't attacking together; they're being extremely cautious.
Even the ambush on us seems to have been one of them attacking experimentally after testing the waters.
The guys are just peeking their heads out, looking at us.
Just looking at the numbers... there aren't even ten of them.
'Still, it's doable.'
Of course, since my stomach is injured, it's not really doable.
I'll deal with those guys later; I need to retreat quickly.
Because I was starting to get dizzy.
"I broke through."
"...Let's go."
#
"Ugh."
"Oppa."
"What about those bastards?"
"They didn't come out."
"Good."
Fortunately, it didn't seem like they were the type to pursue us outside the mart. For now, we quickly entered the pharmacy next door.
"This, I think we can wrap it with this."
Yun-ji found and brought an elastic bandage.
I loosened my outer jacket and wrapped the bandage.
"...The bleeding isn't stopping."
Seo-yoon said, looking at him.
Yeah, the bleeding isn't stopping. It seems I got pierced in a really bad spot.
"...Let's go."
My body sways.
Seo-yoon grunts as she supports my body.
We moved.
Past the underground mall, to Eunha High School, and from Eunha High School to Hope Villa.
The distance is definitely too far.
It seemed like I'd need to decide on a place to move to around the 6th, using only the hospital's extractor.
"Ugh."
It was only when I was about to throw up that we returned to Hope Villa.
"Eun-bin-ssi!"
Seo-yoon went up quickly and called Eun-bin.
"You're back? ...Huh?"
"Come down quickly. It's urgent right now."
"What?"
The women come running down.
"Oh..."
Seong Eun-bin, surprised to see me injured, approaches me and uses Healing.
The pain and dizziness all disappear.
It was definitely a good choice to get Healing.
Because emergency situations like this can happen.
If she weren't here, I would have suffered quite a bit for a while.
Or I might have died.
'So that's why the Cheongju Elementary School guys lived so carelessly.'
Well, as long as you don't die, Seong Eun-bin will keep you alive.
I lifted my clothes.
The injury was nowhere to be seen, and my complexion had improved as well. Well, does she do blood transfusions too? I don't know.
"What happened?"
"A Variant appeared."
"...A Variant? If it's a Variant..."
"One I didn't know about."
Eun-bin asks with a slightly surprised expression.
A-rin, who had come down at some point, also asks with worried eyes.
"A, are you okay?"
"Yeah. Let's go up."
I'm living the high life. Having women who worry about me.
Everyone using polite language.
Come to think of it, it's funny; even when I tell them all to drop the formalities, not a single woman does.
"Oppa, let's go."
We headed upstairs.
#
Seong Eun-bin stepped up to examine me.
Even if her mindset changed after getting hit in the back of the head, it seems her true nature hasn't gone anywhere.
"...I think you're fine. You didn't lose that much blood."
"Well, is it dangerous if you lose blood?"
"You can die if you lose about 20% of your blood."
"......"
"Even at Cheongju Elementary, there were people who died even though their injuries were healed."
"You said there were critically injured people back then."
"That was only because I was right next to them, so they could be saved. I saved them before they lost too much blood."
It seems blood doesn't get restored.
"Phew."
I let out a sigh.
And Seo-yoon, who was next to me, did too.
"...That was dangerous."
"Yeah. Still, I achieved the goal."
I brought back food that the five of us can survive on for several months.
If we ration it strictly, we can last even longer.
We can just cook rice.
'...As long as the water doesn't get cut off. And electricity.'
If that gets cut, it'll be reduced a bit, but.
That's not something to think about right now.
For now, it was right to rest today.
#
Seo-yoon and Yun-ji went to sleep.
I didn't bother them today.
'I can't sleep.'
Since I've been living with my days and nights flipped for a while, I was wide awake at night.
Before I knew it, it was the dawn of March 3rd.
Seo-yoon told me before going to sleep.
That the ability gauge had gone up.
I also checked and confirmed that the number had gone up by 4.
Since I had confirmed it went up to 11 after catching the Siren. It's correct that it went up by 4.
'4 for two of them at lv.3.'
===================================
Nexus Core : Metallokinesis lv3[15/100]
===================================
Seo-yoon caught one with a gun, and it went up by 5 from lv.2.
===================================
Nexus Core : Agreement lv2[5/100]
===================================
I learned that catching a Crawler at lv.3 increases it by 2.
Catching a Crawler at lv.2 increases it by 5.
Crawler: 5 at lv.2, 2 at lv.3.
Mirror: 2 at lv.2, 0 at lv.3.
Siren: 1 at lv.3.
The criteria for collecting Nexus Cores seems to be the strength of the Infected... it seems correct.
'I don't know for sure, though.'
It seems the Nexus Core judges Crawlers to be stronger than Sirens.
'More than that, is it a Variant?'
Crawlers, not the Variants the Sergeant identified; I can consider them new Variants.
The reason the military didn't identify them seems to be because they are territorial creatures.
Then Green Fresh Market is a den of monsters with Crawlers, Sirens, Walkers, and Runners.
And we just went in there.
'......'
As for humans, those IN Company bastards are doing something while killing civilians.
The Infected are increasing by type and trying to kill humans.
'Well, it's natural, I guess.'
It would be a tiny minority, but there's no way there isn't a surviving military, like the 32nd Division.
Then that military would use state-of-the-art firearms, use things like drones, and if all else fails, they could even fire missiles.
But the fact that none of that is even visible.
'Especially since, no matter how incompetent the Korean military is, it's strange that they were completely wiped out.'
Walker, Runner, Siren, Mirror, Abomination, Flower.
These are the Infected the Sergeant told me about.
Seeing as they built a defense line in Seoul and killed an Abomination, no matter how many Infected there are, the Korean military, being a country at war, should be able to sufficiently hold them back.
The fact that it was breached, that the Seoul defense line was breached, suggests a high possibility that IN Company or other Infected intervened.
No, it's certain.
'......'
So, the more that's the case, the more I need to raise my superpower.
Because there might be things that are hard to deal with using modern machinery.
And against both humans and the Infected, superpowers are indeed more powerful than guns.
'IN Company.'
Especially since those bastards are there.
I don't know what kind of bullshit they're pulling, but they're also collecting superpowers.
Since they're guys who use things like special forces, there must definitely be something at the regular Cheongju Branch.
It was a company focused on pharmaceuticals and semiconductors anyway.
'I'm getting sleepy.'
#
March 3rd, afternoon.
Mirae Middle School. - Remaining survivor group.
Cheongju Eunha General Hospital. - Guys like special forces.
Green Fresh Market. - Need to catch the Siren.
Amusement Park. - Place where the 32nd Division helicopter is supposed to come.
Sejong Special Self-Governing City. Check 32nd Division. - Too far.
Apartments. Supply gathering.
I started to cross out number 3 but stopped.
What's left are the Amusement Park, Sejong City, and Green Fresh Market.
From there
I erased everything.
It got messy.
I wrote it again.
IN Company.
Sejong Special Self-Governing City.
Eunha University.
Green Fresh Market.
Number 3 is a memory I had forgotten.
'Was it Kim Min-jun before, that bastard said something.'
That he killed a division commander in front of Eunha University.
He said the remaining regimental commanders and soldiers were all killed by the Abomination there.
'I should check Eunha University once too.'
Green Fresh Market was, of course, because of the superpower,
Sejong City is because of the 32nd Division, and I don't think I need to check the Amusement Park.
IN Company is..
'There's the Cheongju Branch.'
I don't think there would be a problem going in my current state.
The special forces those guys sent.
The superpowers... don't seem to be that good.
However, the priority has been pushed back.
"..Are we going again?"
"Yeah."
"Okay."
Surprisingly, Seo-yoon didn't stop me.
She's a strong woman.
Instead, Yun-ji next to me had a slightly anxious expression.
She must know too.
IN Company's strange antics, the infection, and the Variants.
That for that, increasing superpowers is necessary.
Even if it's dangerous, it's necessary for us to get stronger.
"Let's go."
#
March 3rd, night.
Just like that, we cleared the first floor of Green Fresh Market.
In the first place, it was dangerous because we were ambushed without knowing, but since Crawlers have a cautious personality, they were actually easier to deal with.
ㅡThwack
ㅡThwack!
"Grrr."
For now, I deal with the ones I see with my hammer.
ㅡRat-tat-tat
"Kieeeee!"
Seo-yoon keeps the ones at long range in check with her gun.
ㅡWhack!
Yun-ji handles the ones that pop out suddenly or any potential dangers.
Especially, because of the characteristic that they must get close, they were vulnerable to Yun-ji.
Of course, Yun-ji was also in danger.
ㅡThwack!
"Kie!"
If I supported her with my ability, there was no problem.
ㅡScuttle
"Kieeeee...!!"
ㅡThwack
When Yun-ji swung her crowbar, there was a clatter sound of it rolling.
The Crawler got hit in the head with the crowbar and fell over in that state.
Yun-ji tries to retrieve the crowbar.
"Kieeeee!"
"Kieeeee!"
"Wait."
"Yes."
"......"
Of course, even so, the sheer number of Walkers and Runners was dangerous.
Because a weak many were stronger than a powerful few.
Especially, the second floor of Green Fresh Market was impossible to go up to, and the upper floors only gathered by the windows due to outside noise, they didn't come down.
'Tsk.'
I'll have to give up.
To break through there, I'd have to waste bullets, and bullets aren't a resource that can be replenished.
However, breaking through the first floor of Green Fresh Market was a big harvest.
"...Is this frozen meat?"
"Yeah."
"I think we can take it."
"Let's take just a little. We don't know when the freezing will cut off."
Because we were able to resupply food one more time.
Now we have enough to eat for several months even if we eat generously.
Of course, it doesn't seem like a place we can keep coming to.
'...The first floor is manageable against Crawlers because the Walkers and Runners have left.'
If a Crawler appeared and ambushed us while Walkers, Runners, and Sirens were swarming in, it would be quite dangerous.
ㅡScuttle-scuttle
"Kieeeee!"
ㅡThwack
ㅡCrunch
ㅡClatter
"Kie!"
"Kieeeee!"
And, in reality.
"...It seems like they've increased a bit, right?"
"Yeah. It seems like they came in from outside, whether because of the noise or something else."
Because the number of Walkers and Runners was increasing again,
It seemed best to pull out of Green Fresh Market as of today.
Unless I reach a point where I can handle both offense and defense on my own, a large mart is definitely dangerous; although it's wide open on all sides,
there are too many blind spots.
"Seo-yoon, how many magazines do you have left?"
"Uh... one."
"Okay. Save this one."
"Ah, yes."
There are no bullets either.
One magazine loaded.
64 rounds for the K7, 40 rounds for the K2 left at the villa. 1 round for the revolver.
This is cutting it close.
Since we have enough food, I won't be greedy.
We returned quickly.
#
"Ugh. Ugh.."
ㅡSquish
ㅡSquish
We have sex.
With Seo-yoon.
When I'm bored, I go to room 402 and fuck Yun-ji and A-rin.
"......Hut."
ㅡThrust
ㅡThrust
"Hiiit.."
It became March 6th.
Cheongju Eunha General Hospital.
I narrowed my eyes, looking inside the Infectious Disease Department.