11. Gathering of Survivors (3)
Ordinary everyday life! At Choi Yu-na's question, Kim Tae-hyeon felt a pang of melancholy. Her words were surely the deepest wish of any ordinary person in this zombie apocalypse world.
"Ordinary everyday life... Of course I want to get it back."
Naturally, Kim Tae-hyeon wanted the same. Back then, he'd found the 'ordinary everyday life' that had seemed so commonplace utterly boring, chasing the kind of thrilling stimulation straight out of a novel. But when that taken-for-granted normalcy crumbled, replaced by the zombie apocalypse disaster, it brought him immense stress. Without the lifeline of his family to protect, Tae-hyeon's mind might have snapped long ago.
To him, Yu-na's offer to reclaim that ordinary life was... far too tempting.
But...!
"If the Yu-na from the survivor camp had said that, I'd have followed without hesitation... But the Yu-na now? She's not all that different from those doomsday-preaching cultists."
"Heh. So I'm no different from a cult."
But the last threads of his patience and reason detected something off about the current Yu-na. And for good reason—the Yu-na now carried a completely different aura from the one he'd seen at the camp. Back then, she was a kind girl striving to heal wounded survivors. Now? She exuded arrogance, no different from the fanatical cult followers risking their lives to proselytize in the ruins.
I want to think this is just my imagination...
Tae-hyeon desperately hoped his suspicions were wrong. After all, Choi Yu-na had saved his life and his family's. If even his lifesaver turned out to be spouting cultish doomsday nonsense... he'd go mad on the spot.
"Hehe. Tae-hyeon-ssi, do you believe in God?"
"Huh? What's that out of nowhere?"
"Simple question. Before the apocalypse, did you believe in God or religion?"
"...Yeah. I did."
Before the end times, of course he had. His whole family were devout Christians, and Tae-hyeon attended church every weekend. But after the zombies hit, his faith vanished. He'd prayed desperately to the God he trusted at first, but despite his cries, there was no answer.
"Hehe. Some people believe in money. Others in power. But in this futile moment when everything's meaningless... What does Tae-hyeon-ssi believe in that would let you close your eyes in peace?"
"That's... I don't know. I prayed to the God of my religion, but He gave me nothing."
Yu-na's cryptic words unsettled Tae-hyeon, and he answered honestly. He'd prayed, but got no response. Now, all he could trust was himself and his family.
Yu-na smiled brightly, as if in full agreement.
"That's natural. God doesn't see us, after all."
God doesn't watch humanity. That was utterly unlike the claims of the doomsday cults outside preaching apocalypse by divine will.
"So we're not abandoned by anyone. That's why, even without sinning, our lives are this painful... It's not God's trial. We were just unlucky."
"Just unlucky?"
Yes, their misfortune... it was just bad luck. No special sins, just rotten fortune making life hell.
"What? So the zombie apocalypse happened because we were unlucky?"
"Yes. Unlucky enough to face zombies. Unlucky enough to lose close friends. Unlucky enough that... our lives are threatened by them bit by bit."
Tae-hyeon wanted to cry. He ached to lash out at Yu-na's words, to refute them fiercely—but deep down, he agreed. Calling this hell God's trial? Had he and his family sinned that much? Stacked up enough evil to deserve this abyss?
No way.
They were just ordinary, upstanding citizens of Gyeongju. He swore to the heavens they'd never committed sins warranting hell.
"But God's indifference ends now. It's time for us to rebuild the broken order into a new one."
"So what? You expect us to do it with our own power? Even clinging to faint hope in government rescue..."
Tae-hyeon empathized with Yu-na's call to save themselves but shot back at its impossibility. Rebuilding with their meager strength? It sounded too grandiose.
"Clinging to empty hopes like that only lasts a month or two. When there's no response beyond that... Isn't waiting on false hope just a straight path to misery? What changes if we wait another month here?"
Yu-na was resolute. The government showed no signs now. What would more waiting bring?
Tae-hyeon turned his head, forced to face the truth.
"...Ugh."
Under vain hopes of rescue, he and his family scraped by on dwindling resources, clinging to that fraying lifeline despite the pessimism.
"But that pessimism ends now. The foolishness of blaming myself ends now! He commanded me: Grow strong. Use that strength to raise a new city from these ruins. That will be the new world we desire."
"......"
If the government couldn't save Gyeongju, she'd do it herself. Her ambition to revive the ruins made Tae-hyeon's hands tremble with its fervor...
"Is that even possible? I know, but the survivor camps in Gyeongju are all hostile to outsiders."
"I know. 'I've met them all except one.' Most agreed in principle but couldn't believe it. Some even mocked my ideas as delusions."
"If you've already met them, then why..."
He responded skeptically, voice laced with doubt. Fine words, but how to clear the zombies? How to rebuild? Gyeongju was fractured into factions surviving separately, and Yu-na's bitter smile confirmed she'd contacted them.
"So I'll prove it to Gyeongju's survivors. As I said, before you, I met many. They all doubted me. Sad, but natural for camps focused on survival. To them, I was just a girl who could heal."
"Not anymore?"
"Yes. Those powerless days are over. I'll declare it to you as I did the others."
Her face alight with ecstasy, she proclaimed:
"In a few days, I'll prepare a stage for all Gyeongju survivors to witness the power of my god."
Overwhelming might to show the camps and survivors here.
"Power even these camps can't ignore. I'll demonstrate our strength."
"Uh, yeah..."
The power to achieve what she claimed. Before her confident poise, Tae-hyeon nodded unconsciously.
Back in Gyeongju, Yu-na contacted the remaining survivor camps, declaring she'd normalize the city and restore order. At first, no one believed her. Some dismissed it as nonsense, others called her mad.
But as Gyeongju's famed healer, word of Choi Yu-na spread fast through the community. Rumors travel a thousand miles without feet.
Power was out, but satellite internet held, so they still swapped local survival tips, news, and outsider intel online. Naturally, a Gyeongju-specific site thrived, spreading her news to other regional boards.
Community reactions were poor, as expected. Most declared Yu-na doomed, piling on mockery or dark humor.
All agreed: Yu-na would fail miserably and die.
Gyeongju boards were no different.
Most lamented her wasted talent, but none offered help. No one had the luxury; survival was struggle enough. Coldly, posting meaningless comments online showed some camps had breathing room—they just hoarded it selfishly.
"That's not bad. Lives are precious. Acting selfishly to save your own is understandable."
[Is that so.]
It wasn't wrong. Lives mattered; they'd discarded morals and empathy to survive.
But Yu-na believed that nightmare ended here.
"On the promised day for them, a new history will be etched into the world."
[History?]
New history would dawn.
"Yes. The stage of a new beginning. And the name etched in that history... Dragon God Bahamut. My brave and benevolent god."
The history named Bahamut.
[What the hell? Don't know it, sounds scary.]
"Eh? Did you say something?"
[No. Nothing. ...Really drew the short straw here.]
At Yu-na's shameless sincerity, the foolish dragon felt terror, but seeing the cultist prostrated nearby...
Too late already...