The Protagonist Appears
"Hanna unnie!"
Lee Jaemin's full-body slam broke the hold, and Kang Hanna tore herself free. Choi Minhyuk's punch to the gut had done its work, though. She staggered as she tried to rise, and Lee Jia sprinted in to catch her.
"Damn it, grab that bitch!"
"What the hell do you think you're doing!"
"You old bastard!"
The racket dragged Jang Sangcheol out of sleep. Bad leg and all, he hurled himself forward and planted his body in Choi Minhyuk's path.
"Jaemin! Jia! Take Hanna and get out of here!"
"Get off me, you crazy old man!"
"Are you insane?! Where's an old geezer getting strength like this?!"
Jang Sangcheol clamped onto Choi Minhyuk's crew with a monstrous strength none of them had expected. Lee Jaemin, already in motion, threw himself in beside them, and together they started hauling Kang Hanna toward an escape.
"M-Minho hyung—where's he? What's he doing?"
"He was on night watch, and he still hasn't shown. You really can't figure it out? He probably went over to their side."
"What? Hyung would never do that!"
"Shut up and climb. Move."
Before they knew it they were at the barricade they'd piled across the stairwell. Hanna's group dragged themselves over it, every inch a fight.
"S-so where do we go now?"
"…I don't know either."
They were off the second floor, and that was as far as the plan went. Lee Jia and Lee Jaemin stood there blank and lost—until Kang Hanna, mind clear enough at last to think, seized both of them.
"You know the detached house below Hwaseong Middle School?"
"H-Hwaseong Middle School? I don't really know it."
"I went to Hwaseong Middle. I know where it is."
Jaemin shook his head in a panic. Jia nodded and answered, and Hanna's hand locked hard around her shoulder, fingers digging in.
"Hanna… unnie?"
Jia's face tightened at the sudden grip. Hanna didn't care. She drove the words in.
"Listen to me. When the two of you get to that house, some man is going to come out. You tell him, 'I'll do whatever you want, so help us.' He'll know exactly what that means."
"What about you?!"
"If I leave too, there's no telling what those bastards will do to Mr. Jang. I have to buy time until then."
"But unnie—!"
"Jia, you're the only one I can trust. Jaemin, you stay with her and help. It's the middle of the night, so watch out for the zombies. You understand?"
"Noona…"
"Go! Now!"
Under Hanna's urging, Lee Jia and Lee Jaemin broke into a run and fled the store.
"Fuck… I don't even know if this is the right call…"
Kang Hanna watched the two of them vanish through the storefront, then climbed back over the barricade and headed for the second floor.
"Let go of me! Crazy old bastard!"
The blows landed, dull and heavy.
"N-no… you can't… no…"
"Why the fuck is this old man so strong!"
Over the barricade, she found Choi Minhyuk's crew beating Jang Sangcheol while he clung to them. Even as his mind fogged, he kept their pant legs in his fists and refused to let go.
"Hey, you sons of bitches! What the hell are you doing to an old man! Let him go!"
Kang Hanna charged, her voice raw with rage.
"So this pack of thugs you were living with—Choi Minhyuk's crew—stole Hanna's handgun and jumped your group?"
"Yes. Hanna unnie said she'd do anything if you helped."
"Hanna said that?"
"Yes."
Only after I heard Hanna's message did I sit up straight. I'll do anything meant exactly the sort of thing we'd talked about before we parted. That sort of thing.
A real motive locked into place, and I started pulling the details out of the girl.
"How many of them?"
"Four men and one woman. One of the men—we aren't sure if he's on our side or theirs."
"D-do you really think Minho hyung betrayed us, Jia?"
"I don't know. But we have to tell him everything we're sure of."
The boy couldn't keep still, anxiety written all over him. The girl spoke in a calm, level voice, her face cold.
"And you're sure Hanna said she'd do whatever I asked, so long as I helped?"
I asked the part that mattered most a second time, just to be certain.
"…Yes."
"All right. I get it. The store at the intersection—the Got-It-All, you said? You two wait here."
Once I had the situation, I started getting ready in a hurry.
"You're going alone?"
"Yeah. If you come along, you'll just get in the way. If you're tired, rest on the first floor. The second floor is where I live, so don't come up."
"…Okay."
The girl answered with a sulky face, plainly unhappy about being left behind.
Nothing left to say. I grabbed my sword and shot out of the house.
"Fuck… of all people, Hanna had to be the one who stayed."
I'd talked to the students calmly enough. Inside, I was nothing but restless.
Whatever else was true, Hanna had sent them to me because she didn't believe she could take those men herself. That meant she was going to be overpowered by a pack of thugs.
And a bunch of bastards who'd grope a woman in broad daylight in the middle of a store—if they got their hands on Kang Hanna, the kind of beauty who made people turn their heads on the street, what they'd do next was obvious.
"This is basically me getting NTR'd. Fuck."
Either way, the moment I pictured Kang Hanna—the woman I'd already staked a claim on—being taken by some other man, my balls shriveled.
"Kieeeek!"
"Out of the way, you piece of shit! I'm busy!"
The blade sheared through.
You have slain a zombie! 10P acquired!
You have slain a zombie! 10P acquired!
You have slain a zombie! 10P acquired!
Over my dead body was I going to stand there and watch my woman—not mine yet—get NTR'd. Every zombie that blocked the road went down in a single cut, and I drove my pace harder.
"Goddamn, this bitch is strong as hell."
Meanwhile, back at the store, Kang Hanna's group had been fighting a losing battle against Choi Minhyuk's crew. Numbers won. In the end, they were subdued.
Hanna was locked in her own handcuffs, both arms hauled overhead and fixed to a pillar.
"You spineless little shit. Even so, you really latched onto the guy who was screwing your own girlfriend?"
"Kh…"
"Heh heh. What, you treated him so well? They're offering food and safety just to look the other way. Who's gonna turn that down?"
Hanna spat the words at Kim Minho, the one who'd betrayed them. Guilt dropped his head—but Choi Minhyuk stepped into her line of sight and sneered at her.
"So where did you send those brats?"
He pressed her for wherever she'd hidden Lee Jaemin and Lee Jia.
"You think I'm gonna tell you, dipshit?"
"You fucking bitch!"
The blow slammed into her.
"Khk!"
Her mockery set him off. Choi Minhyuk drove a fist into Kang Hanna's stomach.
"Let's see how long this cunt keeps her mouth shut!"
Blow after blow followed. He started beating her where she hung.
"You whelp! Will you not stop! Have you no shame, laying hands on a woman!"
"Shut up, old man!"
Another fist landed.
"Guhk!"
Jang Sangcheol, taken down alongside her, roared at Choi Minhyuk—but Jeong Jinwoo's beating from the side forced his mouth shut.
"Hah… hah. Feeling like talking yet?"
Choi Minhyuk had kept hitting her until her lip split and blood ran. Breathing hard, he asked again.
"…Ptoo! Fuck off!"
Hanna spat, blood mixed in the saliva, and cursed him.
"Haha! Fine, I'll give you that. I've never met a bitch with a spine like yours."
He wiped the spit off his face with the back of his hand, swept his hair back, and laughed like he couldn't believe her.
"Just figuring that out, dipshit?"
"And I know exactly how to handle a woman like you."
"The hell are you saying, you piece of—kh…!"
Choi Minhyuk's hand shot out and clamped her jaw with brutal force.
"Doesn't matter how much spine a bitch has. Fuck her a few times and she starts bawling, tears everywhere, apologizing."
"You little shit, don't you dare—!"
Jaw locked in his grip, Hanna tried to snap her legs shut. Choi Minhyuk drove a knee between her thighs and forced them apart.
"Don't worry. Even the fiercest bitch goes nice and docile after she comes a few times."
"You son of a bitch, let go of me!"
"Heh. Yeah, yeah. Let's see how long that tough act lasts."
She thrashed. He only laughed, and mocked her for it.
"Heh. A cop, and look how soft this skin is. If you'd worked a hostess bar instead of the police, you'd have made a fortune."
"You horny little shit! D-don't!"
Choi Minhyuk seized her face roughly and dragged his tongue across it. His sticky saliva slid down her cheek.
Only then did fear enter Kang Hanna's eyes.
Park Dohyun appeared in the first light of dawn as it broke across the morning.