To the Department Store
To the Department Store
I even killed the bastard I'd left alive until the end.
Because he didn't have any information different from what I already knew.
Well, even if he had given me good info, I would've killed him anyway.
Anyway, based on what the bastard said before he croaked, I learned that there are quite a few survivors around this neighborhood.
And though the dead bastards probably didn't know, it looks like I'll be getting some new information, too.
Because the exclamation mark inside the circle that appeared after I disabled the notification function is blinking.
"Should I check it out?"
When I pressed the exclamation mark at the bottom right of my vision with my finger, a mandatory notification that supposedly displays at the bottom popped up in front of my eyes.
[You have killed a player.]
[You acquire 16 coins.]
[You have killed a player.]
[You acquire 9 coins.]
[You have killed a player.]
[You acquire 27 coins.]
[You have killed a player.]
[You acquire 13 coins.]
Kkwak!!
"That's it!!"
After killing a whopping four people, I unconsciously clenched my fists and cheered.
But what does it matter? I've already killed them.
And though my biggest objective was taking their weapons, I actually got the bonus I was hoping against hope for, so how could I not cheer?
As expected, in a world like this, you can't help but commit murder, and there's no way there aren't perks that come with it.
Anyway, if someone commits murder, they'll find out that they can steal the opponent's coins, and the bastard who finds that out won't be able to stop killing.
The higher people's stats get, the more coins they'll accumulate, so killing people will net you an incomparable amount of coins compared to what you get from killing zombies.
And I might end up like that, too.
Anyway....
"I need to wash up a bit."
My face and body were splattered all over with blood that had splashed from the bastards I killed.
Should I have just slit their throats with the Chinese cleaver?
No, would more blood have splashed if I did that?
I don't know what would've happened to my body, but if I had slit their throats with the Chinese cleaver, this store definitely would've been a bigger mess.
At least more than right now.
Then, before washing up, let's deal with the corpses first.
Because while cleaning these up, I'll just get dirty again.
Ah, shit! Why is there so much shit to do?
"Hey, you come help too."
"......"
"Why are you just standing there like an idiot? It's not like it's your first time seeing a dead person."
"Th-That is.. well...."
"Sigh..."
She's out of her mind.
Not only me, but Kim Minseo also saw the two petty thieves get bitten and killed by zombies.
And she said she saw other employees and several customers in this store get bitten and killed by zombies.
And yet, seeing me, a human, beat a person to death with a bat must have been shocking to Kim Minseo, as she was sitting dejectedly on the floor, completely unable to move out of her wits.
Well, it is a bit different from getting bitten and killed by zombies.
But is there really that big of a difference to make her turn into such an idiot?
Or am I just a bit of a psycho for not feeling that difference?
Sseuuuk-
Leaving the stupidly sitting Kim Minseo alone, I grabbed the dead zombie's legs and dragged them away, throwing the corpses to the zombies that were holding their heads up high and reaching out their hands.
Like a zookeeper feeding animals.
"Krak!"
"Kraak!!"
Ujigeuk! Ujigeuk!
Kwadeuk!! Kwadeukdeuk!!
"They eat well."
Briefly watching the zombies rushing in like crazy to bite and tear at the corpses, I dragged the remaining corpses over and dropped them outside, then started wiping the blood-stained floor by pouring bottled water—desperately needed by someone—using a mop I brought from the bathroom.
If I need water, I can just take a short stroll to the convenience store right in front.
But....
"Ah, shit! Why the hell should I be cleaning this up?!"
Realizing at that moment how idiotic my actions were, I shouted, throwing the mop I was holding down onto the floor, and at my action, Kim Minseo flinched and awkwardly stood up.
Then she hurriedly ran over to where I was and picked up the mop.
"I-I'll do it!"
"Don't."
"No! I'll do it! I'll clean it up cleanly!"
A chuckle leaks out at the sight of Kim Minseo suddenly starting to mop aggressively.
Because I know why she's acting like that.
But I should definitely keep laughing... why is my expression like this?
My face reflected in the mirror is gradually hardening.
Why? Why? Why on earth?
Unlike the overflowing questions, a single remark popped out indifferently.
"Are you scared of me?"
Flinch!
Flinching at my question for a moment, Kim Minseo hesitated briefly, then turned around to face me in a hurry and shook her head.
Desperately.
Fuck, why is she denying it so violently?
Making someone feel like shit.
"No! Why would I be scared of oppa?! Not scary at all!"
"......"
Not scary, my ass.
As if you're about to wet your pants.
"It's true! I'm really not scared!"
"Then what is that?"
"W-What??"
"Look at the mop."
"......"
The mop shaking violently due to her trembling hands.
Kim Minseo tries to grab her trembling right hand with her left hand to stop the shaking, but glancing at me warily, she starts trembling all over her body, not just her hands.
And seeing that made me feel like shit again.
"W-Why is this shaking..? I'm not scared of oppa at all.. truly..."
"Bullshit. Just say you're scared. When was I ever not scary?"
"......"
Kim Minseo's trembling, blinking at my words, gradually began to subside.
Because as she thought about it herself, there had almost never been a time when I wasn't scary.
"......That's true. Oppa was originally a scary person...."
"Now your true feelings are finally coming out."
"Ah! No! These aren't my true feelings!"
"It's fine. It doesn't matter if you're scared. No, it's actually better. Because our relationship is bound by exactly that kind of connection. Isn't that right?"
Kim Minseo might feel otherwise at my words, but I wasn't upset or disappointed at all.
Not at all.... Absolutely.... Not even a speck....
Dammit! Why the hell am I disappointed!!
"Fuck, I feel like shit."
"......Oppa.."
"Shut up."
"......"
Yeah, to be honest, after spending the past few days together, I've grown attached.
It would be weird not to get attached.
Screwing each other like we couldn't live without it—if you don't get attached after that, are you even human?
Fuck, maybe because of that, I feel hurt and disappointed toward Kim Minseo, whose gaze and attitude toward me have changed.
Because she looks as if she has a monster right in front of her eyes.
But right there. Any further emotion is a luxury.
Because I must be able to abandon and use her for myself at any time.
Because we are simply together for mutual necessity.
My feelings toward this woman must not deepen any further.
Because that could cloud my judgment and hold me back.
Then....
"I'm leaving. Do whatever you want, whether you follow me or not."
If my feelings for Kim Minseo deepen, I can just find another woman and replace her.
As the frequency of mixing bodies decreases and I hold other women, my slightly deepened emotions will shallow out, just like stagnant water draining away.
"Pardon..? What do you mean by that..?"
"Are you deaf? I'll let you go if you want, so stay here or go somewhere else, do whatever you want."
"W-Why are you suddenly acting like this..? Is it because I was scared?? No! I'm not scared of oppa at all! So please don't do this.. I'll die without oppa.."
"So what? I live fine without you."
It sounds like she's talking to me.
To become ruthless like at first. Not to soften up.
Then, since I've made up my mind, let's leave right away.
But where should I go?
For now, two places come to mind.
The department store where the helicopter crashed and that place where the people the dead bastard told me about gathered.
"Hmm.... I gotta go there."
After a very brief deliberation, I decided on my next destination.
To go to the department store across the street.
Because it's better to stop by the nearby place first.
And while I'm at it, grab some clothes to wear.
Designer brands, at that.
Adding the coins I previously had to the 65 coins acquired from killing those four bastards, I purchased Level 6 Agility for 100 coins.
[Name: Kang Hajin (27)]
[Height: 183cm, Weight: 77kg]
[Traits: -]
[Coins: 9]
[Strength Lv. 4] [Agility Lv. 6] [Stamina Lv. 3] [Luck Lv. 1]
Level 5 Agility and Level 4 Strength were already raised while Kim Minseo adjusted her own stats to 2.
So right now, unlike at the beginning, my stats are up by 2 levels in Strength, a whopping 4 levels in Agility, and even 1 level in Stamina.
But it hasn't changed dramatically just because of the increased numbers.
I don't know how far these stats will make me strong, but right now, should I say it's just to the extent that I still haven't broken free from the limits of physical abilities a human can display?
The expression is a bit vague, but since there's no particular subject to compare to.
Ah! To give an example, I could say I've become able to move like the protagonist of an action movie who nimbly dodges incoming attacks and effortlessly counters.
Like this.
Kugugung!
"Kraak!!"
"Krak!!"
One is stepping on a car roof from the 2 o'clock direction, hurling its body toward me, and another is running toward me from the 9 o'clock direction.
Then first.
Sseuk-
Tteok!
Using the claw part of the crowbar held in my right hand, I hooked the neck of the flying bastard and slammed it down onto the floor, then stabbed the baseball bat in my left hand sideways to push away the chest of the lunging bastard.
Then leaping up onto the hood.
Kugugung!
Ppaak!!!
After kicking the face of the bastard below, I jumped forward and smashed down the crowbar held in my right hand with all my might.
Peogeok!!
Letting go of the crowbar that was jammed about 7cm deep into its shattered crown, I swung the baseball bat gripped in both hands with all my might.
Peok!!
Ppajik!!
The moment I struck the head of the zombie rushing from the front, I shoved the broken bat right into the eyeball of the bastard rushing from the side.
"Oppa!"
"......"
Wearing a backpack, Kim Minseo is clinging close to my back before I even knew it, pulling out the crowbar stuck in the zombie's head and handing it to me.
Perhaps lacking confidence in surviving alone, despite my words that I would let her go, Kim Minseo is following me toward the department store.
And even without me specially helping her, she's not dying and is following along quite well.
Well, there's no reason she couldn't keep up when I handle everything like this and move while appropriately slowing down my pace.
Anyway, it was already a confirmed fact that the department store doors were locked.
Therefore, to get inside, we have to break the door and enter... would that be okay?
If the department store is also full of zombies, there's a chance we'll get isolated....
"Oppa, behind you!!"
"Don't use informal speech."
Grab- Hwi-ik!!!
Peogeok!!!
Turning my body and swinging the grab-snatched crowbar to strike the head of the lunging zombie, I reached out my hand behind my back where Kim Minseo was.
Grab!
"...What are you doing?"
"Aren't you telling me to hold hands..?"
"Did you come for a walk? The bat."
"......I'm sorry.."
Letting go of my hand she had grabbed and handing her own weapon, the baseball bat, into that hand, Kim Minseo pulled out a Chinese cleaver from the backpack she wore in front.
As if she'll even use it anyway.
"Krak!!"
"Kyaak!!"
Cheok!!
"Haa..! Haa..! Haa..!"
"Looks like there is a use for it after all."
Driving the Chinese cleaver gripped in both hands into the forehead of a zombie rushing from the side before I could even move, Kim Minseo pulled the cleaver out of the collapsing zombie's head and stared at me with wide-open eyes.
"What?"
"......Can't you praise me just once.."
"I told you not to use informal speech."
"It was talking to myself!"
"Still, don't do it."
"Ssh..!"
Glancing at Kim Minseo, who bit down hard on her lower lip with wrinkled eyes, I smashed down the crowbar in my right hand with all my might.
Peogeok!!
"Ah......."
"Shut up now."
"......"
Shivering her body at the zombie's corpse collapsing against her left shoulder, Kim Minseo nodded her head vigorously without answering.
And raising the bat held in my left hand.
Hwi-ik!!
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Lashing out mercilessly at the trunk of the car right beside me to lure the zombies, I started running around the car on the opposite side.
Of course, Kim Minseo also agilely chased after my back.
Having safely crossed the road like that, I tried to swing the crowbar in my right hand toward the locked door, but.
"Oppa!"
Grab- Dadadadak!!
Kim Minseo grabbed my wrist and started running.
"What are you doing?"
"If you go around to the back, there's a side door! It'll be better to open and enter that door than smashing that door!"
"Is it an iron door?"
"Yes!"
"Is it open?"
"It's... locked, right?"
"Then how are we gonna open it and get in?"
"Doesn't it open if you break the knob? That's how they open in movies."
"......"
Movies and reality are different things.
Of course, movies are made reflecting reality to some extent, so the possibility of the door opening like that is high, but....
The problem is Kim Minseo's action of dragging me and running blindly when we don't know how many zombies might be in the unseen back, rather than the front which can be confirmed with our eyes.
"Hey, do you know how many zombies are in the back and heading there?"
"Won't it be similar to here..."
Tak!
Peogeok!!
Shaking off the hand of Kim Minseo in the middle of answering, running forward and smashing a zombie's head with the crowbar, I glanced back at Kim Minseo and said.
"If there are too many zombies and it's hard to run away, I'm going to throw you and run away alone."
"......"
"And if you act arbitrarily one more time, I'll abandon you and go."
"Yes...."
Including this situation, in dangerous situations, you must unconditionally follow my control.
If I lose my life due to a decision and choice I made, it wouldn't feel unfair, but if I were to die because of someone else's choice, there's nothing more unfair than that.
Still, for now, it seems like a not-so-bad choice.
Turning the corner and coming out to the back of the building, the number of zombies was much smaller than on the road side.
And right behind, there was an apartment complex, so if we couldn't enter the department store, a place to serve as a backup plan was also very close.
Still, I won't praise her.
Because if I praise her for no reason, she'll start grinning foolishly again, and seeing that expression, I feel like I'd grow even more attached.
"Oppa! It's that way!"
Turning my head following the outstretched finger at Kim Minseo's voice breaking my thoughts, the iron side door she mentioned came into view.
Running up the stairs without delay and striking the head of a wandering zombie, I left the cleanup of the fallen bastard to Kim Minseo, then ran straight toward the side door.
Then sticking closely to the door, turning my body sideways, I lashed out with my raised right foot.
Peok!!
Tak- tak- tadadak-
The handle breaking off in one go.
Looking at things like this, it really seems like my strength has gotten quite a bit stronger than it feels.
Well, that's not what's important right now.
Sseuk-
Sticking my fingers into the round hole created where the handle broke off, I pulled the door.
Deolkeok-
"Fuck! It won't open!"
"Poke it, oppa!"
"Poke what?!"
"The thing oppa is good at! Jam it into the hole!!"
"......"
That girl really knows how to phrase things..!
Her choice of words is extremely displeasing, but as Kim Minseo told me to, I jammed the back part of the crowbar into the hole with all my might.
Kki-ik-
The door opened.
What is she? Is she a thief by any chance?
Kim Minseo's identity briefly became suspicious, but I went inside the department store anyway.
And....
"......"
"Kyaaaak!!!!"