Exiled from the Shelter

I stood inside the iron fence the survivors had built around the shelter. A group of us had been herded together, surrounded by armed men. I was one of them. At the front, a man holding a megaphone began calling out names.

The two men beside me immediately bristled, pointing accusing fingers at him.

"What?!"

"What kind of bullshit is this?!"

I frowned as I watched them. After all, my name was Choi Han. Seeing our confusion, the man smirked viciously and continued.

Just because there were two options didn't mean there was any real choice. A low groan escaped me.

"Damn it... If I'd known this would happen, I should've joined the other side..."

The man looked down at us with contempt and tossed something our way. It was a backpack.

Oh, how generous. You piece of shit. Still trying to act like a saint, huh?

We silently shouldered the backpacks and turned around. The iron gate creaked open with a long, painful groan. Outside air rushed in—rotten stench, dust, and something else. A smell that was hard to name. Death seemed like the most fitting word for it.

Once we were fully outside the shelter, the gate slammed shut behind us with a heavy thud. I didn't bother looking back. That door would never open again.

We glanced at each other.

"So... what are you guys planning to do now?"

"I'm thinking of wandering around first, looking for another shelter. What about you?"

The man asking me had that look in his eyes—the one that said he wanted us to stick together. But my answer was already decided.

"I'm going to look for some acquaintances."

In truth, it was a lie. These two were ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠trash. I'd been politically ousted from the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠shelter, but these guys were different. They slacked off on every task, lazed around, and even sexually harassed the women. They were the worst kind of scum. So I made up an excuse.

"Then how about we travel together until then?"

He asked casually, but my response had been set from the beginning.

"Sorry, but no."

"Hah... seriously. How do you expect to survive alone in a world like this? Come on, let's go!"

"Yeah, sure..."

One refusal and their true colors came out. The two men spat on the ground with disgusted expressions and walked off. I headed in the exact opposite direction, walking without any particular destination in mind.

"Fuck."

The curse slipped out before I could stop it. No matter how I thought about it, it was unfair.

"You bastards abandoned me? Then you ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠don't deserve to survive either."

The reason for my exile still sounded ridiculous even now. Kicked out just because I refused to get involved in their petty politics. I knew that wherever people gathered, politics were inevitable. But I'd deliberately stayed away from all that because I hated it.

"Being neutral sure is a lonely business."

There had been two factions inside the shelter. They fought, one side won, and they took complete control. The leader changed. The system changed. Along with purging their rivals, they also expelled anyone from the neutral faction who had gotten on their bad side. I was one of those people.

"Sigh..."

I trudged along with a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠dirty face, backpack slung over my shoulder. I didn't know how far I'd go. For now, I planned to walk until I found a place that could serve as a hiding spot.

Crack.

Broken glass crunched under my foot. I stopped instinctively and scanned my surroundings. Nothing. I let out a breath.

"Grrrrr..."

Then I heard the strange sound from the side. A zombie.

"You sons of bitches."

I quickly dodged to the side. Holding my breath, I stayed perfectly still and only moved my eyes to track its path. The zombie sniffed around for a moment, then continued on its way.

The reason modern society collapsed wasn't just because of zombies. It was because of the other monsters that spawned from them. Though if you traced it back to the root, the zombies were still the cause.

"Hoo..."

Only after the zombie disappeared from sight did I finally exhale. "Let's keep moving."

After walking a bit further, I reached a road. Following it should lead me to the city.

"Cities are high risk, high reward though..."

Since there used to be so many people in cities, there were now that many zombies. The same went for variant zombies. If I were an Awakened, it might be different. I'd never seen one myself, but I'd heard they were basically superhumans who transcended normal human limits. I'd only heard that a few existed in government-run shelters or massive survivor groups. Rumors said they could do things that were impossible for ordinary humans.

"Guess I'll head there for now."

High risk, but high reward. In my current situation with nothing to my name, it was the most realistic choice. I started walking along the road.

Roughly a few hours later.

"This must be it."

I followed the signs and arrived. Daejeon Metropolitan City. The atmosphere was terrible right from the entrance. Hanging corpses dangled from every streetlight pole. The ropes creaked whenever the wind blew. I had no idea how long they'd been there, but the bodies were heavily decayed.

"I need to be even more careful here."

The presence of those corpses meant that violent survivors had taken over this area. I couldn't be seen. Not under any circumstances. I was good at sneaking around. If I just stuck to the blind spots, I should be fine.

I stepped into the city. Most of the buildings were on the verge of collapse. The outer walls were heavily rusted and cracked, the sky was a dull gray, and the air was thick and stale. Abandoned cars lined the roads. In several places, there were blackened scorch marks. The faint smell of old fires still lingered.

It was eerie. Fortunately, most of the zombies seemed to have moved somewhere else in a group, so there weren't many in sight. The ones that remained were easy enough to avoid.

Then I spotted it. A TU Convenience Store.

"Let's check it out."

It had probably already been looted, but I figured I might as well see if there were any scraps left. The glass windows were covered in dust and bloodstains, making it impossible to see inside. I carefully cracked the door open just a little. Most convenience store doors had paper notices taped to them.

I peered through the gap at the top. There was paper there, but it was old and rusted—probably wouldn't do its job anymore.

"Lucky me."

I opened the door fully and stepped inside. The shelves were completely empty. Just as I'd expected. Someone had already swept through here before me. I turned on my flashlight at its lowest setting and moved deeper inside. I couldn't let the light leak out.

Oh, what's that? A bag of snacks. Still unopened. But it would make noise if I touched it. The crinkling of the wrapper would be more than enough in this silence. Pass.

I moved to the canned goods section. Oh ho. A few small tuna cans were tucked away in the corner. The size was disappointing, but it was much better than nothing. I slipped them one by one into my bag.

Might as well check the storage room. I found the door and tried the handle. It didn't budge. It was locked. Even better. A locked door usually meant it hadn't been looted yet. Now, where was the key?

I slowly and silently scanned the area, moving as quietly as possible. Thankfully, no other zombies were in sight. That corpse over there... A body wearing a convenience store part-timer vest lay slumped in the corner. It looked old and almost completely dried out.

I approached carefully. But then—

"Uuuuugh!"

"Fuck!"

It was still alive. Or more accurately, it was in a dormant state. Like hibernation—a system zombies entered when they couldn't find food. I didn't have time to think. I smashed its head with everything I had.

A zombie's weakness was the head. One hit. Two hits. Three hits. With a final kick—crunch!—I finished it off. Rotten blood and brain matter splattered across the floor.

"Shit."

The noise had been too loud. Thud, thud, thud... Something was running this way. And it wasn't just one or two.

"Hurry, hurry!"

I frantically searched the dead body's clothes. Pants pockets—nothing. Upper pockets—the part-timer vest. Jingle!

"Found it!"

I sprinted to the storage room door, jammed the key in, and turned. Click... click... The key was rusty and wouldn't go in properly. My hands were shaking.

"Kiaaaaak!"

"Kraaak!"

The sounds were right behind me now. There were even variant zombies—their cries were different. Crash! Glass shattered. Sunlight from outside poured into the store.

Click! The storage door opened. I threw myself inside. Right where I'd been standing, a variant zombie slammed into the wall with a heavy crash. The whole room shook.

Bang! I slammed the metal door shut. Through the gap, I saw dozens of zombies pouring in through the broken glass.

The moment the metal door closed, I locked it. Immediately after—

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

The sound of zombie hands pounding on the metal door filled the storage room.

"F-fuck..."

The situation was bad enough to make me curse out loud. First things first—I stood up and checked the inside of the storage room. If there was a zombie in here too, I was screwed.

"Phew..."

No one was inside. But the narrow space made it hard to breathe. Damn it... With the place swarming with zombies outside, leaving anytime soon was completely out of the question. I'd have to eat, sleep, and shit right here.

But maybe I was lucky after all?

"Whoa..."

The convenience store storage room was packed with all kinds of food. Drinks filled square boxes, and there were just as many canned goods. The reason it had felt so cramped was because it was stuffed with inventory.

"Haaa..."

A deep sigh escaped me. I finally felt a sense of security. But right at that moment—

"Huh?"

A blue window suddenly appeared before my eyes. This... was this a status window? The kind I'd only seen in manhwa and novels! And now it was appearing right in front of me? Did that mean I was an Awakened?

As joy surged through me, the window updated.

"Whoa! What the hell is this?!"

Name? Level? Stats? None of that mattered. The unique ability was what counted!

"What the hell is a Trading Gallery?"

I could only stare blankly at the mysterious ability. But then—

"I should try using it right away."

It clearly wasn't an active-type ability. The important thing was that it looked like a growth-type skill, especially with the level attached to it.

I activated Trading Gallery.

"...What?"

Dimensions? What kind of nonsense was this? Still...

"Let's just pick one."

There was only one real choice anyway.

"Fantasy."

"Uh..."

My eyes widened the moment I saw the options. I could trade with places like this? So that's why it was called the Trading Gallery.

"Interesting..."

I had to choose. But this one was obvious. There was no question about what I should pick.

"Number four. Necra."

Zombies were basically the most basic undead that appeared in necromancy. And this place was apparently crawling with them. It would be strange not to choose it.

The moment those words appeared, the gallery window opened. It looked strangely familiar, like a website I'd seen before. At the same time, comments began flooding in.

"What the hell is this?"