Episode 15.
Episode 15.
She looked at me for a moment, then nodded. She quickly approached the corpses.
She didn't hesitate. She crouched down next to a fallen body, grabbed the embedded arrow with both hands, and pulled with all her might.
Puck. The arrow came out, and blood splattered onto her face. But she didn't even wipe it off; she just ran to the next corpse.
She moved quickly, darting between the corpses. Pulling out arrows, searching the bodies, checking pockets. Her movements were agile. As expected of an idol dancer, her footwork was light and fast.
In less than a minute, she was back after searching all the bodies.
"Haa, haa... I brought them here."
She was panting slightly. Her arms were full of items. I checked, and she had retrieved every single arrow.
Even the broken ones. And she had also grabbed the weapons the bastards were carrying, a few small knives, and even some snacks.
Good. This is enough ability for an Automatic Looting Pet.
I thought for a moment and said,
"Since you and I aren't exactly balanced in terms of combat power anyway, I'll just think of you as an employee I'm hiring. Your salary will be food, shelter, and protection. I might even make you work without any regard for labor laws."
I reached out my hand to her.
She looked at me with wide eyes. She looked like she couldn't believe it. A moment later, she awkwardly took my hand and shook it.
"Thank you. Boss..."
I threw away the useless weapons and only kept the crossbow and the small hand axe.
The crossbow looked crude since it was handmade, but it seemed like it would work. I could teach Jung Ye-rin how to use it later.
I handed the hand axe to her. She had a small hammer strapped to her waist.
"Use this instead of the hammer. It'll be better for cracking zombie heads."
"Ah, yes. Thank you."
She held the axe in her hand, swung it a few times as if to gauge the weight, and then strapped it to her waist.
Then I handed her my duffel bag.
"Put the luggage in this."
"Yes, understood."
We started moving again. Now that I had a porter, it was time to loot the mart.
We approached a small local mart. It was a one-story building, and the sign was half-broken.
Dozens of zombies were visible around the mart. They were gathered near the parking lot and the entrance, soaking up the sun. There seemed to be more of them than I had seen with the drone.
I kept my distance and observed. If they all rushed at once, I wouldn't be able to handle it.
If I shot from afar and only about 20 or fewer came running, I could handle it, but if it was more than that, I'd have to run.
I said to Ye-rin,
"Keep a close eye on the kickboard. We might have to run away."
"Yes, I understand. Be careful."
I raised my bow and nocked an arrow. Using my Hawk's Eye ability, I pulled my vision in and aimed for the head of the closest one.
Shook.
The arrow flew and pierced the creature's head. The surrounding zombies reacted to the sound of it falling. Their heads turned toward me, and screams erupted.
"Kuaaaagh!"
The zombies came running. Just as expected, about 10 to 20 of them. They didn't all swarm this way. It seemed the ones further away hadn't reacted yet.
I activated Hawk's Eye. Time slowed down.
I started firing continuously without rest.
Shook, shook, shook.
Every time I fired a shot, one went down.
I kept backing away, maintaining my distance. When they got close, one shot, step back, then another shot.
Ten, fifteen, twenty. Twenty-one...
The last one fell 5 meters in front of me with an arrow embedded in its forehead. It was a close call.
Time returned to normal. I panted and scanned the surroundings. There were no more zombies running toward me.
There were still some left near the mart, but perhaps because of the distance, they weren't reacting.
"Ye-rin-ssi, go pull out the arrows. Quickly."
"Yes!"
She ran out carrying the duffel bag.
She moved quickly between the corpses, pulling out the arrows. Just in case other zombies attacked, I stood there with my bow, keeping watch toward the mart.
In less than a minute, she returned. She really is an Automatic Looting Pet.
"Here, I brought them all."
She panted, having run back quickly.
I took the blood-stained arrows and put them back in the quiver. Two were broken. The rest were all fine. Good.
I headed toward the mart again. There were still about a dozen left.
I started hunting again using the same method.
Shoot one from afar, and when the reacting ones come running, back up and fire in succession.
This time there were about fifteen. It was fewer than before, so I handled them easily.
Once the last zombie fell, the area around the mart became quiet. The parking lot and the area near the entrance were littered with nothing but zombie corpses. Over thirty corpses.
"I'll go retrieve the arrows."
Before I could even say it, Ye-rin was already running out. She's fast. And she adapts well, too.
After retrieving all the arrows, I stood in front of the mart entrance. The glass door was broken, and a few zombies were visible inside.
I entered slowly with my bow raised.
I shot and killed a few zombies that came into view near the mart entrance.
The creatures that had been wandering around in the dark interior were hit by arrows and fell.
It's dangerous to just blindly enter a confined space.
I tapped the door lightly near the entrance to make some noise. Tak, tak, tak.
Screams came from inside. The creatures that had been hiding in unseen places reacted to the sound and rushed out.
Three, four. I activated Hawk's Eye and shot them one by one in the head in slow motion.
I waited for a moment, but no more came rushing out.
"I'm going in. Stick behind me."
"Yes."
I entered slowly, bow in hand. Ye-rin followed, holding the hand axe.
We carefully passed between the dark shelves, checking to see if there were any more zombies.
I checked every corner, but nothing was moving. It seemed everything was cleared out.
"It's okay now. Let's grab some food."
I looked around the shelves. They were quite empty, but there was more left than I thought.
Ramen, canned goods, snacks, drinks, bottled water. The refrigerated food had spoiled because the electricity was cut off, but the preserved food was fine.
I guess the zombies attacked while people were grabbing food from the mart, and the zombies filled the place before they could take everything.
The overturned carts and scattered items on the floor spoke of the chaos back then.
I opened my backpack and started filling it with food.
Ye-rin also put items into the duffel bag. She found another shopping basket and filled that one up, too.
She ended up carrying the duffel bag and the shopping basket in both hands. It was quite a lot of luggage for her build.
"Is it heavy?"
"It's fine. I can handle this much."
She answered bravely. Indeed, her expression didn't look strained.
She has a thin frame, but it seems she has quite a bit of strength and stamina.
I didn't bother to carry it for her.
I need to be able to shoot my bow with both hands at any time. I don't know what might happen when we go outside.
She and I, both filled with food, carefully headed to the mart entrance.
When we came out, I saw a group of people approaching from afar.
Reflexively, I raised my bow. But Ye-rin spoke to me first.
"Those people are from the Subway Shelter."
"Are they more like looters?"
"Not really... at least. They're just... an average group of humans."
At her words, I lowered my bow and watched them.
There were about a dozen people. They were quite well-armed with armor and weapons. Helmets, guards, steel pipes, baseball bats.
They looked like they were reasonably equipped to fight against zombies.
The group approached, then hesitated.
They had seen the zombie corpses strewn around the mart. Over thirty corpses. All of them had arrow holes in their heads.
"W-what is this..."
"So many zombies..."
"Who did all this...?"
I heard them murmuring. They looked terrified.
A man who looked to be in his 40s stepped forward. He seemed to be the leader. Forcing his expression to steady, he said to Ye-rin,
"Ye-rin-ssi, so you were here. What happened? Disappearing without a word..."
"Don't act so innocent, Kim Tae-ho-ssi."
Ye-rin replied coldly.
"I know that you, along with the people you call the search team or security team, are sexually exploiting the women there."
The expression of the man called Kim Tae-ho twisted for a moment. But he soon forced a smile and waved his hand.
"What is that... It's a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding. That was a consensual relationship. In a world like this, when you rely on each other, things like that naturally..."
"Consensual?"
Ye-rin's voice rose. Her eyes were filled with anger.
"Not coercion and threats? You threaten not to give food, to kick them out, and you call that consensual? Do you have relationships with multiple men like that by consent?"
Kim Tae-ho's face hardened. The people behind him also looked at each other, looking uncomfortable.
Kim Tae-ho cleared his throat and changed the subject.
"Th-that... Let's go back and talk about it again. It's dangerous on the surface. An underground shelter where sunlight doesn't reach is the only way to survive for a long time."
I stepped forward instead of Ye-rin and said,
"If you came to find food, go in quietly and scavenge what's left. There's still some left. Don't pester us anymore."
Kim Tae-ho glared at me. His eyes sharpened.
"Who the hell are you to butt in?"
"Her employer."
"...What?"
"Exactly what I said. She's my employee now, so it has nothing to do with you."
Kim Tae-ho's gaze shifted to the bow in my hand, and then to the zombie corpses strewn about. He seemed to have realized that all these corpses were my doing.
His expression hardened slightly.
The people behind him also looked at each other with anxious eyes. No one dared to step forward.
Kim Tae-ho stepped forward one step and said,
"Do you think you can handle all of us by yourself?"
The people behind him gripped their weapons and tensed up. There were over ten of them. They were overwhelming in number.
Kim Tae-ho looked at Ye-rin and continued.
"Ye-rin-ssi, you'll need a safe place eventually... There's no place safer than the underground shelter. Think about it rationally."
I chuckled.
"Rationally?"
Shook.
Like lightning, I raised my bow, nocked an arrow, and fired. It was one motion.
In the blink of an eye, the arrow flew and pierced Kim Tae-ho's hat. The hat was knocked off his head and flew backward.
"Wh-what the?!"
"Y-you just...!"
The people behind him screamed in shock. Some reflexively stepped back, and the hands holding weapons began to tremble.
Kim Tae-ho was frozen in place, his eyes wide open. He looked like his brain couldn't keep up with what had just happened.
I was already nocking a second arrow and said nonchalantly,
"Uh, since you don't have a hat now, what should I shoot next?"
A silence fell for a moment. Someone could be heard swallowing. Kim Tae-ho's face turned pale, and fearful sounds flowed from among the people behind him.
"Is, is that guy crazy...?"
"The zombie corpses... really, that guy did all that..."
Whispers filled with fear spread. It seemed they had only now noticed the over thirty zombie corpses scattered around. And that all of them had arrow holes in their heads.
Ye-rin stepped forward one step and said,
"This person alone is safer than all of you. We have no intention of going back, so back off."
Her voice was cold and firm.
Kim Tae-ho gritted his teeth. His face was full of anger and humiliation, but he couldn't do anything.
His fearful eyes were fixed on my bow.
"Fine..."
Kim Tae-ho said, stepping back.
"We'll back off for today. But you'll regret it. Both of you."
Kim Tae-ho glared at me and turned around.
At his gesture, the group followed him into the mart. A few looked back at us, but no one spoke.
After they had completely entered the mart, I lowered my bow.
"Let's go."
Ye-rin nodded and picked up the luggage. A sense of relief flashed across her face.
As we walked to where the kickboard was parked, Ye-rin said in a small voice.
"Thank you. Truly."
"You're working. What's there to be thankful for."
"Still..."
We both got on the electric kickboard.
She rode in front, and I stood behind and held the handlebars.
It's that posture where couples used to get criticized for riding kickboards together before the world ended.
We started to ride slowly toward the camping car.
From her body and hair... it didn't smell like a fragrant woman, but rather a musty smell.
Yeah... she probably hadn't been able to wash for a few days.