Another Awakener
"Why did you act on your own? I'm sure I clearly told you not to give Bora anything to eat."
It was a sweet voice, but it gouged into the man's ears like sharp thorns. It possessed an absolute dominance that could make one hold their breath with a single word.
"P-Please spare me... I made a mis... No, I was wrong. Please, Queen-nim...."
Rising from the sofa, Seo Yeji lightly tapped the man's head with the front tip of her high heel.
"I'm only sparing you because you're still of some use. Don't you ever go near Bora again."
"Uh, ugh... I under, stand.... I'll never go near her... kkeueuk."
She lightly caressed the cheek of the man who was on the verge of suffocating. As the black veins constricting his neck subsided, the man struggled to exhale.
It was a shackle like the fate of any male who gave in to temptation and shoved his cock into Yeji's hole.
Seo Yeji spoke to the man standing next to her.
"Let's go to Bora."
"Yes, Queen-nim."
Going up one floor, Yeji and the man walked toward the room at the end of the hallway. Before the apocalypse, it was a place used as the mountaineering club room.
As she opened the door, the sticky air made Seo Yeji frown. The further they went inside, the more the groans of pain seeped through the hot air.
A woman whose hands and feet were bound lay collapsed on the floor. Her hair was a messy bird's nest, and streaks of grimy dirt dripped down, showing she hadn't been able to wash for days.
Furrowing her brow, Seo Yeji lifted the woman's head.
Meeting Seo Yeji's eyes, the woman's eyebrows trembled slightly as she struggled to open her mouth.
"Yeji eonni... I'm, hungry... thirsty...."
"Yes... our Bora is hungry, right? That's why you need to use your ability now. Your nosebleed has stopped too."
"I want to use it, but... it hurts again. I'm bleeding... My vitality keeps going down...."
"How many times do I have to tell you that I'll replenish it? I have many places to use my abilities too, so I just can't pay attention to that right away. I'll make sure to replenish it before your vitality runs out completely. You trust me, right?"
"Yeah... I trust you... But, give me something to eat... I have no energy, so I can't picture it well in my head."
"All right. I'll bring some later, so start picturing it now. It takes time to make, after all."
"Yeah... I will...."
"It's a bigger generator than last time. Without it, the people on the top floor are having such a hard time. Our Bora can't bear to see people suffering, right? You're a good girl, aren't you?"
"Yeah... I'll do my best...."
With those final words, the woman lowered her head. A groan leaked out from between her parched, chapped lips.
Opening the door and stepping outside, Seo Yeji spoke to the man.
"Only bring her things that have expired. And just one cup of water."
"Yes, Queen-nim."
"If there's any insect sneaking things to her like last time, you die along with them. Keep proper watch."
Leaving behind the man whose face had turned ashen, Seo Yeji made her way toward her sanctuary. Today as well, a marionette anticipating her royal grace would be warming her bed.
*****
In the room Seo Yeji had left, the woman struggled to tear off a piece of moldy bread and put it into her mouth.
"It's delicious...."
She had to focus her mind to create the generator. Knowing this fact, the woman tore at the bread and quenched her thirst with unidentified water, trying to muster her strength by any means.
Although she was currently eating rotten food looking like a beggar, this woman was Blue Eyes' main vocalist Yeon Bora, who was never left out when choosing the top visual member among girl groups.
The reason Yeon Bora ended up in this state was because she had told Seo Yeji about her awakening.
When the apocalypse broke out, the person who found Seo Yeji being chased by zombies and hid her in the corner of the snack bar was Yeon Bora.
While holding her breath and surveying the situation so as not to get caught by the zombies, something suddenly appeared before her eyes.
[Yeon Bora-nim has met the awakening condition of making the worst move to survive. A status window containing related skills will be granted.]
'The worst move... Why am I seeing letters? There's nothing here.'
Frightened, Yeon Bora told this to Seo Yeji. Even under normal circumstances, Yeon Bora often relied on Seo Yeji, who was two years her eonni.
Hearing Yeon Bora's words, Seo Yeji spoke with an intrigued expression.
"What does it say? I can't see it, so read it to me."
At Seo Yeji's suggestion that they think through what it meant together, Yeon Bora read aloud every time letters appeared in the air.
Name/Age: Yeon Bora/20 years old
Class: Shop Master
Level: 1
EXP: 0/10
Vitality: 1000/1000
Skills:
— Apocalypse General Store Lv.1
— Apocalypse Suggestion Box Lv.1
— Vitality Defense Lv.1
[The Master can purchase necessary items from the Apocalypse General Store. Vitality will be reduced by the value assigned to the item.]
[The Master can level up through items purchased from the General Store. When the user is satisfied with the item, EXP increases, and when EXP reaches MAX, the level increases.]
[All skill levels increase equally with the Master's level.]
[As the General Store skill level increases, the items available for purchase will increase.]
[If the Master loses her virginity, the awakening will be invalidated.]
[Through the Apocalypse Suggestion Box skill, items needed by survivors can be identified. Upon reaching a certain level, items requested by survivors can be stocked in the General Store.]
[Through the Vitality Defense skill, depleted vitality can be restored. At higher levels, it replenishes faster, but please be aware that the recovery rate is relatively slow compared to the rate of consumption.]
Having heard the explanation, Seo Yeji said with a grave expression.
"This is an incredible ability. You've heard of a general store, right? It's a shop where you can buy anything. Now that the world has gone to ruin like this, what better ability could there be?"
"I-Is that so?"
Yeon Bora didn't really understand what was what, but when Seo Yeji, whom she normally relied on, said so, she nodded her head.
The two hid in a deserted place and decided to test the ability.
"If you open your status window and select the skill, what you can buy should appear. First, let's try buying some food."
"Wow, how do you know so well, eonni? You can figure all that out just from my explanation?"
"Actually... I did it too. That thing called awakening. It seems this is an ability given to people as the world changed."
"R-Really? Then can you buy things too, eonni?"
"Mine isn't the ability to open a general store. Instead, I can replenish your vitality bit by bit. I received an ability to increase vitality."
Taking advantage of the fact that they couldn't see each other's status windows, Seo Yeji deceived Yeon Bora. Completely unaware of this, Yeon Bora believed her eonni's words implicitly, just as she always did.
When Yeon Bora opened the General Store, a massive list of items appeared. From bottled water worth 1 vitality to a galbi spread worth 10 vitality, there were all kinds of daily necessities and even equipment like water tanks and generators.
"Just trust me. I'll win over all the people here to our side and build a place where we can live well together. You just have to trust only me and buy whatever I tell you to buy."
"Y-Yeah. I got it, eonni."
Munching on the bread obtained by deducting 2 vitality, Yeon Bora spoke. Since eonni would take care of how to use everything, she felt all she had to do was dutifully buy the items.
Seo Yeji caressed Yeon Bora's head and said.
"Don't worry about your vitality decreasing. Even if it's tough right now, eonni will definitely replenish it for you."
Of course, this promise was never kept.
After seizing control of the student union building with her venom skills, Seo Yeji confined Yeon Bora to a secluded corner under the pretext of safety, and Yeon Bora had to provide the items Seo Yeji wanted while filling her starved belly with barely enough food to keep from dying.
Whenever she anxiously asked if this was right, when her vitality would be replenished, or asked to meet other people, gaslighting ensued.
"Eonni is using vitality to save other people besides you. You still have plenty to spare, so just hold out a little longer."
"If you don't buy this, the people outside will die. Water and electricity have all been cut off, so you're the only person they can rely on now. How could you turn your back on people like that?"
"Endure something like a nosebleed. I constantly vomit blood when I share vitality too. Even so, I keep going to save people."
"People are dying left and right because of zombies and terrifying monsters. You're safe because you're here. The men are guarding right in front of the door, so don't worry."
"No matter what anyone says, all you have to do is trust my words. Got it?"
At Seo Yeji's affectionate words, Yeon Bora braced herself. Outside, people were dying, and eonni was also risking her life to share vitality.
Thinking such hardship was only natural, she focused her mind. The item eonni mentioned wasn't on the list, so she had to summon it from somewhere unknown. This too was a task requiring vitality, but she couldn't ignore eonni's request.
Her headache grew severe, and blood dripped steadily from her nose. However, thinking of Seo Yeji suffering outside, Yeon Bora gritted her teeth to bring a larger generator.
*****
"Leader-nim, the central plaza is strange. I think you need to see it for yourself."
An enhancement body who had been keeping watch over the surroundings from the rooftop reported the abnormal phenomenon. Han Gijin sprinted up to the rooftop in a single bound to check what was going on.
"That's...."
The light mist that had blanketed the plaza had completely vanished. Whatever had been spewing the mist revealed its identity, but because of the distance, only a faint silhouette could be seen.
The problem was the fact that the countless zombies that had packed the plaza were now swarming toward the student union building.
He didn't know how many were inside, but with human wave tactics of that scale, holding out would be difficult. The awakened individual Han Gijin was targeting had fallen into crisis.
"Hey! Gather all the guys. Pack all the weapons!"
Though it was a desperate crisis, now—with neither the overwhelming number of zombies nor the fog that lured people in—was the golden opportunity to advance into the student union building.