Emergency Quest

"You there."

At the sound of my voice, the man holding Kang Hanna turned his head.

"Get your hands off my woman."

"What?! Where the hell did you come from?!"

He stared at me, thrown by how suddenly I'd appeared.

"The entrance."

I pointed behind me.

"I walked in."

"That's not what I asked! Why are you here?!"

"I heard someone put their hands on what's mine."

I raised the sword and leveled it toward Kang Hanna.

"So let her go."

"Ha!"

The man snorted.

"Crazy bastard. Who the hell do you think you are?"

"Do I really have to spell it out?"

I looked him in the eye.

"You're holding someone I care about."

"Wow. When did this whore start spreading her legs and leading that guy around?"

He sneered at Kang Hanna.

"All that high-and-mighty act, and she was nothing special after all."

Smack!

His hand cracked across Kang Hanna's cheek.

"Ghk!"

Something in my head went ice-cold. I didn't say a word. I just looked at his arm, then lifted the sword.

"...That arm."

"What?"

"I'm cutting it off."

"What?"

"For what you just did."

My voice was flat. That seemed to bother him more than shouting would have. His face twisted.

"What are you standing around for?!"

Choi Minhyuk, still gripping Kang Hanna, shouted.

"How long are you gonna let that bastard talk down to you?!"

At that, Kim Hyunjun and Jeong Jinu raised their spears.

"Hey, buddy."

Kim Hyunjun leveled his spear at me.

"You really gonna throw your life away over one woman?"

Jeong Jinu lifted his spear too, sneering.

"You're alone. Quit the hero act and get lost."

"Or you wanna play with us?"

Confidence filled both their eyes. I studied the spears in their hands. The stances were a mess. Neither of them had his weight set.

"Heh."

"What? You laughing?"

"You're gonna kill me with that?"

The moment I let out a short laugh, Kim Hyunjun's face hardened.

"You son of a bitch!"

Kim Hyunjun charged first. The spearhead shot toward my chest. I didn't draw. I brought the scabbard up and knocked the shaft aside.

Thwack!

"What...?"

The spear cut nothing but air, and Kim Hyunjun pitched forward with it. I didn't waste the opening. I swept his foot out from under him.

Thud!

"Whoa—?"

Balance gone, he ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠flew forward and planted himself face-first in the floor.

Boom!

"Ghk!"

He braced his hands and tried to push himself up. I walked over slowly and set my boot on his neck.

"Stay down."

"Ghk...!"

"Unless you want to get hurt worse."

Kim Hyunjun thrashed like a man drowning. I looked down at him, then turned my eyes to Jeong Jinu.

"Next."

"..."

Jeong Jinu's face went stiff.

"What."

I tilted my head.

"You not coming?"

"You bastard!"

In the end he spat the curse and charged, thrusting the spear out long in front of him again. I sighed.

"Same move twice."

Thwack!

I batted the spear aside and cracked the scabbard across his skull.

Crack!

"Guhk!"

Jeong Jinu swayed and dropped to the floor. I watched him for a moment. He didn't move.

"Out cold."

Under my boot, Kim Hyunjun made one last struggle.

"L-let... go...!"

"Shut up."

I put a little more weight into the foot.

"Ghk!"

The strength drained out of him.

"You two are done."

I straightened and looked at Choi Minhyuk. His face had locked up.

"..."

"What."

"You..."

Choi Minhyuk ground his teeth.

"What the hell are you?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing."

I glanced around the room.

"Three of you, pinning down one woman. Looked like you were having a real good time."

"Fuck..."

Choi Minhyuk spat the word, then pulled something from inside his clothes.

Click.

A revolver. My eyes widened.

"Oh."

It was the gun Kang Hanna had been carrying. I'd already heard how it ended up in their hands.

"So you had a gun too."

I lifted both hands a little.

"You even know how to shoot that?"

"Shut up!"

Choi Minhyuk aimed the muzzle at me.

"Move and I shoot!"

"Fine."

I stopped without a fuss.

"Then let me ask you one thing."

"What."

"First time holding a revolver?"

Choi Minhyuk's eyes flickered. I didn't miss it.

"Thought so."

"Don't talk shit!"

"You've fired a rifle in the army, I'm sure."

I looked at the muzzle.

"This isn't the same."

"I said shut up!"

"Close range. You're tense."

I took one step back.

"You sure you can land the first shot?"

"You think I can't hit you from here?"

Choi Minhyuk clenched his jaw.

"Shoot and find out."

I lowered my hands.

"Go on. Try."

"Die!"

Choi Minhyuk pulled the trigger.

Click!

Nothing happened.

"...What?"

His face locked. I threw myself forward.

"Fuck!"

Panicking, he yanked the trigger again.

Bang!

The shot cracked—too late. I kicked his wrist.

Thud!

The muzzle jerked upward. In the instant the report hammered into the ceiling, I drew.

The blade sheared through.

"Gyaaaaaah!"

The wrist came off clean. The revolver hit the floor with a clatter. Choi Minhyuk clutched the stump and rolled across the floor.

"My arm! My arm!"

"I told you."

I looked down at the blood on the blade.

"That arm was coming off."

He writhed in pain. I watched him a moment, flicked the blood off the sword, and slid it back into the scabbard.

First chamber's empty.

I'd seen Kang Hanna check that gun at home. She kept the first chamber clear when she maintained it. The moment I knew ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠he hadn't fired it once, all I had to do was move first. A man holding a gun for the first time, with the first round left ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠blank. More than enough for me.

I walked over to Kang Hanna.

"You okay?"

When I undid the cuffs, she stared at me, dazed.

"You... you..."

"What."

She opened her mouth, then closed it again. What had just happened in front of her didn't seem real. I looked at her face.

"If you've got something to say, say it."

"Th—..."

"Th?"

"Thank you!"

Kang Hanna flushed and shouted.

"Dumbass!"

"Ah."

I let out a short laugh.

"You stalled that long just to say that?"

"Don't laugh!"

"I'm not."

"You are laughing!"

"A little."

"I swear...!"

Kang Hanna ground her teeth. Beside us, the bound middle-aged man cleared his throat.

"Heh heh. Hanna sure knows how to pick a man."

I looked at him.

"You her father?"

"Mr. Jang!"

Kang Hanna snapped at once.

"Don't say weird things!"

"So you're not."

I nodded.

"Then we're good."

"Good how?!"

"Nothing."

I looked around and found a man and a woman huddled in the corner. The moment my eyes landed on them, both flinched.

"And them?"

Kang Hanna looked at the pair. She was quiet for a moment, then shook her head.

"...Forget it."

"You sure?"

"They're not worth dealing with."

She turned her gaze away.

"Just leave ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠them."

"All right."

I gave them no more attention. They hadn't come at me with spears, and they didn't look like an immediate threat. No reason to waste the effort. I unlocked the cuffs on the middle-aged man.

"Much obliged."

He rubbed his wrists and let out a breath of relief.

"Thought we were done for... We made it."

"Yeah."

I looked around.

"But it isn't over yet."

"What?"

Kang Hanna stared at me.

"What are you talking about?"

I didn't answer. A system window had risen in front of my eyes.

I stared at the quest window for a while.

An Ability Draw Ticket. A pretty good reward. The problem was that the condition was just as nasty. Survive one hour. Hold out blind, with no idea how many zombies would come pouring in. One thing about it bothered me.

"My party didn't even fire the gun."

I muttered it under my breath. Choi Minhyuk had pulled the trigger. The system was treating it as if I had.

"Why do I have to answer for it?"

"What?"

Kang Hanna frowned.

"What have you been muttering about this whole time?"

"Nothing."

I looked out the window.

"You'll see soon enough."

She watched me, puzzled.

Then—

Kieeeeeek!

A skin-crawling shriek rolled in from outside the building.

"...!"

Kang Hanna froze where she stood. I looked out the window. Something was moving at the far end of the street. One. Two. Then the numbers started climbing, obvious even at a glance. From the alleys. From the road. From between the buildings. Zombies poured out, and every one of them was coming this way.

"Wh-what is this..."

The color drained from Kang Hanna's face. The confidence she'd worn a moment ago was gone. The middle-aged man stared out the window and shut his mouth. You couldn't even count them. Zombies carpeted the whole street. I watched, and quietly closed my hand around the sword.

"They're here."

"Don't just say they're here!"

Kang Hanna shouted, her voice shaking.

"What is all of that?!"

"Zombies."

"I know that!"

I looked at the system window again.

"One hour."

I murmured it.

"We only have to last one hour."

Kang Hanna looked at me.

"...Last?"

I raised the sword.

"Yeah."

Outside, the zombies' cries were drawing closer.

"So pull yourself together."

I turned and looked back at the others.

"We're about to get busy."

Kang Hanna couldn't get a word out. The middle-aged man only stared through the window, his face bloodless. And the man and woman in the corner—the ones who had betrayed her—were already shaking, clinging to each other. I looked at them one by one.

Everything I can use, I use.

There were a lot of zombies. But the system wasn't asking me to wipe them out. Just to stay alive. If that was the goal, there was a way. The question was how fast I could get ready. I rested the sword on my shoulder.

"One hour."

The zombies' howls shook the whole building.

"That's enough."