Chapter 19
Chapter 19
4. A Winter That Will Someday Pass -1
Kim Sohye had a twin older sister named Kim Sojin.
Sojin had been outgoing and driven from a young age, while Sohye was passive and lacked confidence. It was as if the sun and the moon had been born as a pair.
That was why Sohye leaned heavily on Sojin. The moon, after all, was a spoiled celestial body that could not shine on its own without receiving the sun's light.
"Sohye, hurry up and run! Over here, over here!"
“U-uh, Sis⋯⋯ you’re too fast!”
The image of Sojin's back as she ran toward the sunset, clutching a tree branch, remained etched in her memory as a single scene. Sojin ran as if there were treasure waiting on the horizon.
And young Sohye would run hard along that black carpet, as if Sojin's long shadow stretching across the asphalt road were a path itself.
“Wait, wait, Sis! I-I’m so tired⋯⋯!”
No matter how hard she worked her little feet, she could never catch up. Her sister's back kept getting farther and farther away, until eventually it disappeared from sight.
Then young Sohye would plop down on the spot and cry her eyes out.
But it was not a cry filled with sorrow. Those teardrops contained a hint of a child's cunning. Because young Sohye already knew.
That if she cried like that, her sister would soon come back.
"Oh, fine. Let's hold hands and go together!"
"...Okay!"
That she would reach out her hand like this.
Sohye grew up chasing after her twin sister. Sojin wanted to become a PE teacher, while Sohye dithered over what she wanted to do with her own life.
Then, rather out of the blue, the story of the sun god Apollo that she had once read in the library lingered in her mind, and she ended up majoring in Greek Studies.
Apollo is the god of the sun, medicine, prophecy, and plague.
Sohye and Sojin remained as close as they had been in childhood even after growing up. Sohye tagged along after her sister, and Sojin looked after her. They were always such close sisters that they even lived in the same dormitory after entering university.
Then one day.
Someone said to Sohye: "At your age, aren't you still chasing after your sister too much? Shouldn't you live your own life too?"
Ah, right.
I can't just tag along forever.
Kim Sohye was deeply shaken by those words and began preparing for independence. She moved to a different dorm room, and gradually reduced the number of times she asked her sister for her opinion. She started thinking for herself.
And so she lived. She dated a boyfriend and broke up, sometimes got sick and recovered, challenged herself and failed, went to university, learned a great deal of knowledge, and nurtured her dreams. Before she knew it, time had flown by.
In the blink of an eye, graduation day was approaching.
The time had come to be rewarded for four years of hard work studying. A few days before the degree ceremony, she dreamed of her graduation cap and thought: "What should I do after I graduate?"
“I should ask my sister⋯⋯ no, never mind.”
Sohye shook her head and cast off her childish dependence.
She could put her Greek Studies major to use and get a job at a museum, or go into translation or publishing, or even enter graduate school to study a bit more. Countless branching paths lay open before her.
She would have to think properly on her own, and decide on her own. Worrying about her career path was, in a sense, the first time she had taken hold of the helm on the voyage called life.
If the world had continued on peacefully, she surely would have learned to navigate on her own. Every child eventually becomes an adult, after all.
But,
The seed (木) had already been sown.
Graduation day arrived.
.
"AAAAAAAH—!!"
The scream (悲鳴) was a signal flare.
Crack, craaack. A fissure opened in the sky. It was the omen of the disaster that would be named the "Gate" one week later. And from the fissure, seeds large and small descended toward the surface.
Those seeds took root and grew in an instant, becoming the monsters that would later be called Monster Trees (怪樹). The enormous living monsters killed any organism that entered their detection range.
Ivy sprouting from walls dragged people in and strangled them to death.
A massive pine tree drove its branches through a dormitory window and continuously sprayed toxic pollen into the building. Those poisoned died as roots sprouted from their lungs.
It was utter chaos.
Sohye could not keep up with the situation. Today was supposed to be graduation day. She had even rented a graduation cap and gown. Was this a nightmare? If it wasn't a nightmare, what was she supposed to do?
Even in this emergency, Sohye's sister Sojin was quick.
She came into Sohye's dorm room carrying two large backpacks and shouted. One of the backpacks was soaked in blood. It didn't seem to be her sister's blood.
"Sohye, let's run. I've packed everything, so get up now! Head somewhere with as little green as possible!"
"O-okay...!"
"What are you dawdling for? I said let's go!"
Sohye looked around the room with trembling eyes, grabbed one item, and followed her sister out.
The world had been turned upside down, and the only thing Kim Sohye managed to grab from the university campus that day was the graduation cap she had rented for 30,000 won. Because she thought it was the most valuable thing.
But it was truly meaningless.
The effort she had spent more than a decade learning and building up was worth nothing in the new world that had arrived. All the nosebleeds she had suffered at her desk did nothing to help her survive.
"...I studied so hard."
In the end, she never received her diploma.
The alien invaders leisurely took root, and the world transformed into a new form. The Magic Power they carried in gave rise to superhumans in the world, and the military seized power to control the entire situation.
.
Sohye and Sojin evacuated to a temporary shelter.
They lost contact with their parents. They must not have had the presence of mind to grab their phones. She decided to think of it that way. That was for the best.
The military, which had seized power through a coup, barely managed to endure the world's upheaval. They maintained the minimum order society required and established countermeasures against the Gate.
If they had been given just a little more time, a "hunter society"—a type commonly seen in worlds integrated into the System—might have been established. The form where superhumans called hunters were incorporated into the existing social structure.
But soon, the second shock came.
"U-uhh..."
"Wh-what's wrong? Is-is anyone there?! My family member is acting strange, someone call 119— kyaaah!!"
"Graaaaah—!!"
An unidentified infectious disease that caused the infected to lose their reason, display extreme violence toward those around them, move while consuming almost no nutrients, and spread through physical contact.
The zombie outbreak had begun.
No one knows whether it was caused by the Monster Trees or whether it was a disaster humans created in a laboratory. Only the result was clear. The society that had been barely holding on could not withstand the second shock.
It broke.
The military abandoned all territory except the land they effectively controlled: Camp Ace. Soldiers no longer conducted civilian rescue operations.
Every man for himself (各自圖生).
People were cast into the harsh wild and had to survive on their own. In the verdant concrete jungle, avoiding plants and zombies, fiercely, day after day.
If citizens wanted safety, they had to make the long journey to Camp Ace themselves. But the road there was fraught with danger.
So instead, some people built shelters in provincial cities and survived. They raided convenience stores, plundered others, or farmed, scraping by day after day.
Amid this raging torrent of a world.
Kim Sohye still felt dazed, as if trapped in a nightmare, but her sister Kim Sojin seemed to have adapted to the new world. Sojin spoke with cold eyes.
"We'll die if we stay in this shelter, Sohye. Don't expect anyone to help us. We have to move now. Let's steal the shelter's food and get out."
"B-but then the other people..."
"There are no 'other people.' From now on, it's just you and me."
"........"
At that answer, she finally realized.
The backpack Sojin had been carrying when they escaped the university campus, and the blood on it, had belonged to her sister's roommate.
“⋯⋯Okay, Sis.”
"Good."
Once again, she tagged along behind Sojin's back as her sister ran far ahead.
Survival.
To seize the absolute value of the newly transformed world, Sojin fought ferociously.
Kim Sohye drifted and swayed like duckweed, and before she knew it, she had become a member of some small survival group alongside her sister.
The group consisted of four people including the sisters, and the shelter they had built was stable, with enough stockpiled food to last a good five years. There was no one likely to cause major trouble. Because the group members were all pursuing survival.
There, Sohye discovered a talent she hadn't known she had. Her instincts were excellent, and she was skilled at finding things. She was a great help in detecting Monster Trees and zombies, and in searching for and gathering materials and food.
She could handle two or three zombies on her own, and could kill plants too, as long as they weren't particularly troublesome specimens. Combat still felt awkward, like clothes that didn't fit, but as long as Sojin was beside her, she could somehow push through.
If Sojin pushed her from behind, Sohye could manage to pretend she had adapted to the apocalypse.
Kim Sohye's job was now that of a scout. When she found a suitable building and marked it on the map, Sojin would go out with the group members, a fire axe in hand, and cut through the zombies.
This was the new form of life she had found in the apocalypse. She didn't like it, but she had to do it.
Today, and tomorrow too, Kim Sohye left the shelter to fill in the map. Even as she was nagged about why she had brought that thing along, she clutched the graduation cap she could never bring herself to throw away.
.
Three years since the Gate / zombie outbreak.
Sojin died.
[Normal | -Day | Reinforcement Request | 100 Credits + D-rank Random Box]
Rustle.
“Over here, Noah⋯⋯!”
Sohye's face popped out from the underbrush. I also heard the click of a dagger being sheathed. She had been hiding, and revealed herself only after confirming my identity.
A very sensible precaution. People who had lived through hard times really were different when it came to preparedness.
Hiding in the underbrush was a good choice too. Since the Monster Tree invasion, people have developed a habit of flinching at the mere sight of anything resembling grass. So, conversely, no one would think a person was hiding in the weeds.
If it had been anyone but me, they probably wouldn't have noticed her.
I casually let go of my dagger's hilt and greeted her warmly.
“Good to see you, Sohye. Have you been well⋯⋯ no, you’ll be fine from now on. I’m here now, and I’ve gotten much stronger thanks to the Hidden Piece.”
"Ahaha... that's a relief. Th-thank you so much for agreeing to help. Really...!"
"Save your thanks until after the job is done."
I waved off Sohye, who kept bowing at a 90-degree angle.
It was a bit overwhelming, and while I thought it was unlikely... if things went wrong, I'd feel sorry. Especially since I'd already received a Hidden Piece as an advance payment, no less.
I forcibly straightened up Sohye, who was bobbing like a roly-poly toy, and asked.
"So, what exactly do you need help with?"
"...Escape. Please help us escape."
“I noticed this while we were chatting, but if it’s only a forest that’s just begun to form, you should be able to escape on your own, Sohye. Especially if you use the System Shop.”
"There are two family members. They're from the same group... they're not hunters, just ordinary people. I'd like you to get them... to Camp Ace."
Escorting civilians, huh. I’d done that constantly back in Seoul. I’d need to assess the situation to be sure, but it didn’t seem particularly difficult.
“So⋯⋯ three people including you, Sohye.”
"No, I-I'm fine. You just need to send the two of them."
"...Excuse me?"
I asked back, flustered. The person who had sent the SOS was Sohye, yet she was asking me to evacuate only her two companions and not herself. It was a rather strange request. And there was a part I couldn't understand.
Even if you use the matching system to run a Stage, your return point is exactly the same as your entry point. If you left from the police station, you return to the police station. That means magical spatial movement using the System is impossible.
So what Sohye was saying was essentially that she would just stay in the middle of the forest. That's not much different from suicide. When I tried to press her on this point—Sohye smiled awkwardly and changed the subject.
"First... let's go to the shelter, and talk there? I'll introduce you to the group members, and also... I'll make you a cup ramyeon. Since you came to rescue us."
"...Cup ramyeon, you say."
That precious thing!
"Let's go right now."
"Pfft... hmm, so you have that side to you too. Yes, let's go."
I swallowed. Ramyeon⋯⋯ I had been sick of it when I lived in that semi-basement, but after the world turned upside down, I couldn’t find it anywhere. I could not believe how much I missed something that used to be so ordinary.
It was one of the countless things that had changed as the world changed.
As Sohye said, it would be better to have the rest of the conversation in a safe place. I followed behind Sohye as she led the way.
And soon, traces of human civilization revealed themselves.
It was a fragment of a desolate, deserted city. Broken glass, traces of violence and arson, but no ominous greenery in sight. The plant bastards had apparently only taken root on the outskirts.
It had exactly the atmosphere of an apocalypse city.
There was one difference from my Seoul, though: a terrible stench of decay assaulted my nose. The smell itself seemed to have soaked into the concrete. I wrinkled my nose.
"It's because of the zombies. We've cleared out all the zombies nearby, but the smell won't go away..."
"...Is that so?"
"This way. Just a little more walking and we'll be there."
Sohye made her way through the city's alleys and arrived at an officetel building. When I looked up from below, someone was peering down through a gap in a window. The moment our eyes met, the window slid shut with a rattle.
The look I'd glimpsed for an instant wasn't very friendly. Surely, Sohye. You didn't explain about me, did you.
The answer to that question became clear immediately.
Clank—
Two men aiming guns were watching me warily with fierce expressions from beyond a dense barbed-wire fence.
A man with a bushy beard but no wrinkles on his face—probably in his mid-to-late twenties—asked calmly. Without letting his aim waver.
"Sohye, who's that next to you?"
"U-um... the person I mentioned before, the one who gives us food. He's trustworthy. He came to help us."
"Right, that suspicious... person who's been handing out piles of food with no identifiable brand. Even so, bringing him here is crossing the line."
Then, the blond guy next to him who looked like a thug shouted angrily.
"Yeah, Kim Sohye! What, did you get bewitched by that face or something?! What if he's a raider and you brought him all the way here! I get that things have been hard for you lately, but this is too much—!!"
So she had explained, but the story hadn't been sorted out properly.
From the looks of it, she had apparently explained that I was the source of the food kits she'd gotten from the System Shop. Which meant she hadn't explained about the System and the cosmic hunters to her companions either. I could roughly understand.
I'd kept my mouth firmly shut too, except to Team Leader Park and that bastard Minsik. And even to Team Leader Park, I'd only explained briefly.
[Connection complete. Granting System connection authority to the individual with the most outstanding talent on this planet.]
The System is heavy. It suddenly places a crown on your head saying "you're the best around here," and tells you to become the vanguard fighting the plant bastards.
You've suddenly been saddled with the fate of many people—how could that not be burdensome? If you revealed it without a solid foundation, you'd just get hit with disgustingly heavy gazes of expectation. Knowing Sohye's personality, it would be hard for her.
Me?
I'm used to it. How many years did I lead Seoul?
It was the same even before I took on the quasi-Seoul lordship. Taking responsibility for the hunters under my command, covering for the little shits in my idol group, serving as class president in middle school.
Through all those experiences, I learned how to wear the crown called responsibility. It's simply reciting a magic spell.
'If you're jealous, you do it.'
Good.
Now I was ready to take responsibility for the lives of three people including Sohye, rescue them from the zombie hordes and plant bastards, and transport them to a safe zone.
First, let's clean up this situation.
“I came at Sohye’s request to transport you all to a safe zone. You’re probably having all sorts of thoughts right now. What’s this guy talking about, showing up alone? How can we trust him⋯⋯?”
"D-don't move!"
"I'll wipe away your worries cleanly. Watch from there."
Whooosh—!
Wind gathered in my grasp.
"『Azure Wind Wanderer: Sword』."
The air current, glowing green with Magic Power, took the form of a translucent dagger and shot toward a junked car outside the building. And then.
Fwoosh—
KABOOM—!!
The compressed air was released and blew the junked car apart. The vehicle frame, launched three meters into the air, savored its brief moment of freedom before crashing and tumbling across the ground.
"........"
"...U-uhh."
"I've at least proven I'm not some thug here to plunder you and take your supplies. If I had this kind of power, well, there's a lot more I could do than rob a small group. Right? Ah, and."
I pulled out a military merit medal and showed it to the two dumbfounded men. I got this thing while guarding the president back on Earth.
My world and Sohye's world were similar. This place wasn't the Republic of Korea but the Korean Federation, or something like that, so while the details might differ up close, from a distance this merit medal probably looked about the same. That was the bluff I was going for.
The design would probably be different if you looked closely, but how many people remember the exact appearance of a military merit medal? So I went for it.
"I'm from the government. May I come in?"
"...S-so the military really was making superhumans or whatever, hyungnim! We-we're gonna survive! Nice job, Sohye!"
The blond guy bounced up and down in joy. Unlike his thuggish appearance, the light of hope sparkled in his simple-looking eyes.
But the bearded man, who seemed to be the one leading this group, was different.
He glanced once at my medal with dark eyes, then pushed open the iron gate blocking the passage—and spoke in a flat voice, neither happy nor sad.
"...Come in."
"........"
Feeling suspicious of that dry attitude, I went inside.