Chapter 12. Traveling Together
Chapter 12. Traveling Together
The girl, who had been walking in silence for a while, carefully opened her mouth.
"Um... oppa. What's your name?"
"...Seo Ji-han."
"I'm Kim Han-byeol. I'm seventeen."
Seventeen. Older than I thought.
With her small frame and baby face, I thought she was definitely a middle schooler.
Still, she was young enough that it was impressive she'd survived alone in this hellish world.
"...I see."
A blunt, tossed-off answer.
But Han-byeol nodded slightly, as if that was enough for her.
It was an attitude that suggested she had already expected my prickly reaction.
Han-byeol was a strange kid.
She wasn't the talkative type, but whenever the silence became too heavy, she would toss out a word or two, as if by appointment.
Trivial questions like what might be over that mountain, or where oppa used to live.
But she never crossed the line.
She knew how to cleverly stop at the boundary just before it became annoying.
It wasn't hard to tell she was walking on eggshells around me.
If a look of annoyance crossed my brow, she would shut her mouth like a knife, and if my expression softened a little, she would sneakily start talking again.
She seemed to be carefully expanding her space, examining the grain of my emotions one by one.
It was a clever survival method.
To stay by the side of the 'Slaughterer' in this crazy world, that level of awareness must be essential.
She was following me because she judged me to be safer than being among the mysterious monsters, but she wouldn't be able to erase her instinctive fear.
The kid was sharp. Maybe even sharper than me.
I knew from my social life that having someone quick-witted by your side was quite convenient.
On the other hand, I was just grateful that this kid following me wasn't a villain.
We crossed the ruined streets.
Collapsed shopping districts, burnt and overturned vehicles, and dark red, dried bloodstains all over the asphalt.
Han-byeol didn't bother to take in the carnage.
She had already become as numb as she could get.
The fact that those young eyes had become accustomed to such a landscape of ruin pricked at a corner of my heart, making me feel uneasy.
Just then, a Mutated Wild Dog popped out from a street corner.
It was a monstrosity with bloodshot eyes, foaming blood from its maw.
The thing's target wasn't me, but Han-byeol.
Han-byeol's body froze at the sudden attack.
No matter how clever she was, she was ultimately just a young girl.
I waved my hand.
Pajijik—!
A streak of blue lightning tore through the air and pierced straight through the thing's brow.
It didn't even have time to yelp before it just collapsed with a thud.
I didn't even need to use much power.
"...Are you startled?"
"Ah... thank you."
Han-byeol smoothed down her pounding chest.
Then, she stared blankly at the corpse of the wild dog sprawled on the ground and muttered very quietly.
"...My parents, too, by a monster like that...."
I was speechless for a moment.
I didn't know what to say.
Comfort or encouragement were fields that didn't suit my aptitude at all.
Instead of answering, I silently moved on.
Han-byeol didn't open her mouth again either.
I just thought to myself that it was terribly selfish of me to feel relieved that it wasn't my lightning that had taken her parents from her.
How long had we walked? A massive airfield appeared in the distance.
It was definitely the US Air Force base that was supposed to be in Okinawa.
But there wasn't a single ant on the runway.
Aircraft like fighters and transports had long since evaporated.
The one or two wrecks visible here and there were either burnt black or turned into piles of scrap metal.
Come to think of it, the gunshots and artillery fire I'd heard on the first day hadn't been heard for some time.
'Did they withdraw to the mainland?'
I made a vague guess and kept watch on my surroundings.
Since it was a military base, you never knew where a stray bullet might fly from.
While climbing over collapsed concrete debris, my palm was scraped long by a sharp stone.
It was a trivial scratch.
But Han-byeol rushed over and placed her hand gently on it.
"Please stay still for a moment."
Seuuuu—
A soft, warm white heat rose from her fingertips.
The stinging pain subsided in an instant.
It wasn't to the level where the wound disappeared completely like in the movies, but I could see with my naked eye the red, torn flesh healing rapidly.
"...A healing ability?"
"Something like that. People where I was called it a 'Healer'. Although the status window says 'Cleaner'."
"Unlike other healers, the speed at which I treat wounds or regenerate bones is slow, but it says I remove various debuffs, including poison. I don't really know what that means yet, though."
She chattered on, telling me her information as if trying to appeal her usefulness even a little.
It was definitely beyond just useful; if you were to rank the tiers of abilities, it was a top-tier ability.
It was the exact opposite of me, who only killed. It was a power that saved and protected.
The most precious and most dangerous thing in a world like this.
The reason it was precious was obvious.
Because in a world where you can't even guarantee your survival tomorrow, there's no luxury to lie around for months wearing a cast.
At the same time, the reason it was dangerous was also obvious.
Every faction would covet it, and if they couldn't make it an ally, they would try to eliminate it as a top priority.
The fact that such a weak child had survived safely until now must be because no significant factions had formed yet.
"I'm planning to go to Korea."
I said that suddenly. Han-byeol's eyes went wide.
"Me too! I want to go to Korea too...! But how are we supposed to cross this sea?"
"We'll need a boat."
In truth, I was just vaguely walking north, but this place was 2 hours and 30 minutes away from Seoul even by plane.
I didn't have a concrete way to get from Okinawa, a remote island in the Pacific over a thousand kilometers away, to Seoul either.
If I used water or ice abilities, maybe, but I couldn't exactly swim across.
Han-byeol, who had been thinking seriously for a moment, clapped her fists together as if something had crossed her mind.
"Ah! I heard a rumor that a large passenger ship is tied up at the northern port. If we go there, wouldn't there be some way to make it work?"
"Really? Do you know the exact location?"
"Roughly. But... they say a fairly large group of survivors has taken control of it. Will they just hand over the ship?"
It was a sharp point. I was also worried about exactly that part.
"...We'll know when we get there."
If they won't lend it, I'll have no choice but to take it by force.
Han-byeol took out a crumpled tourist map from her bag and unfolded it.
"Since the hill we were at earlier is here...."
I finally learned the name of the beach where So-hee and I were at the moment the beams of light fell from the sky.
'Araha Beach'. It was a beach located on the southwest side of the main island of Okinawa.
It was definitely a place name So-hee must have told me until my ears got calloused, but it was information I hadn't cared about at the time.
I ended up confirming it through this strange kid.
Han-byeol tried to figure out our current location by comparing the terrain.
I also looked around, but soon withdrew my gaze and looked at Han-byeol.
This was Japan, and the system didn't translate the text.
I was practically illiterate.
"Our current location is probably around here."
Perhaps thanks to walking diligently along the coastline, we had come up quite a bit further north than I thought.
A deep sense of relief washed over me at the fact that at least we weren't heading in the opposite direction.
"If we take the main road from here and go straight up, we'll reach the port. It's quite a distance, though."
"Yeah... let's go."
We started walking in silence again.
As I walked silently, my attention naturally shifted to the state of my body. A distinctly alien change was being felt.
Even when I wasn't discharging current, blue electricity was swirling calmly inside my body.
Every time that energy flowed through my blood vessels, my body became as light as a feather and my gait gained spring.
It wasn't my imagination.
Even when I stopped the mutated wild dog earlier, the reaction speed of my fingertips was completely different from usual.
It seemed this 'Electric Shock' ability wasn't just about bombarding the outside with lightning.
I tried focusing the current inside my body slightly toward my lower body as a test.
Pajijik.
In a split second, I had only taken a single step, but my body surged forward, covering two or three times the distance of a normal step.
"Whoa, oppa, why are you suddenly going so fast?!"
Han-byeol panted as she trotted to catch up. I awkwardly slowed down.
"...It's nothing."
What would happen if I could fully control this energy?
A vague sense of expectation washed over me, but for now, I decided to be satisfied with using it just to lighten the burden of walking.
Darkness had already settled heavily all around.
The sky was still shimmering with a mysterious aurora-like veil, so it wasn't pitch black, but we needed to get enough sleep.
We slipped into a two-story house abandoned by the roadside.
Perhaps because it was a house in the outskirts, fortunately, there were no traces of it having been touched by others.
It was an empty house now, but it must have been a home where people lived until just a short while ago.
The electricity had been cut for a long time, so all the ingredients in the refrigerator were rotten and mushy, but when I searched the kitchen, a few canned goods and instant foods caught my eye.
I handed Han-byeol a can of tuna, and I cracked open a can for myself as well.
The oily tuna meat went down my throat.
"Oppa, why did you come to Okinawa? A trip?"
"That's right. Though I do regret it."
Perhaps because Han-byeol had seen So-hee's grave, she seemed to be trying not to talk about it further.
Han-byeol hesitated, reading my mood, and then very carefully brought up her own story.
"I came on a trip with my family too. The three of us, Mom, Dad... but now I'm alone. That day, we were all at the resort together."
Her tone was so calm that the weight of the tragedy hidden behind it felt even heavier.
I didn't pry any deeper.
Because I, too, hate it when someone picks at my wounds.
Even without asking, it was as clear as day what the carnage of that day must have been like.
"...Go to sleep early. We have to move at the crack of dawn to reach the port tomorrow."
"Okay."
Han-byeol emptied the can clean, leaned against the corner wall, and closed her eyes.
Her small, exhausted body soon fell into sleep, letting out regular breathing sounds.
It was the first time she was letting her guard down and seeking deep sleep.
'She must not have been able to sleep at night because she didn't know when I might abandon her and disappear.'
A feeling of pity washed over me, and I couldn't easily close my eyes.
To think that with hands that had taken thousands of lives, I was staying up all night just to protect the sound sleep of one child.
A self-deprecating laugh leaked out, but it wasn't such a bad feeling.
The next day at dawn, we set out on the road again.
Toward the northern port, stained with ash-colored ruins.
A small shadow was walking side-by-side, matching my stride.