Chapter 35
Chapter 35
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 035
Chapter Title: Yohan's Bizarre Vacation (3)
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"The inside is cleaner than I thought."
I looked around the auditorium.
It had your standard wooden floor, and the interior wasn't all that huge.
It felt just like one of those multipurpose rooms used for recreation during a small kids' camp.
That much was obvious at a glance.
Wondering if there might be zombies hiding like the one before, I checked the back of the auditorium and the storage room.
The back area had speakers and other audio equipment.
The storage room was stuffed with mattresses, rec gear, paint, and all sorts of odds and ends.
Nothing that looked useful for barricades.
Still, luckily, no other zombies.
The doors in the auditorium were the main entrance we'd come through, a side door to the adjacent building, an emergency exit with stairs leading to the rooftop, and some ventilation windows.
I had everyone lock the windows tight and draw the curtains.
Then I returned to my spot.
I looked down at the zombie, now just an ordinary corpse.
I'd done it myself, but...
"...Laying it down and chanting the incantation actually worked."
It was a relief, sure, but...
This felt like a serious class difference.
I recalled Ellie smashing a zombie with one punch outside earlier.
Warrior – Hee-hee! Punch goes boom! Zombie smashed!
Mage – Heave-ho! Zombie conveniently topples on its own. Gotta mumble through the spell.
...Still, mages have better utility and higher peaks, right?
As I was thinking that...
Ellie quietly approached and reported in.
"Yohan, all the windows are locked, and so's the side door."
"Thanks. Now keep an eye on the kids in a corner somewhere. Not exactly a sight for them."
I didn't really care if the kids saw it or not, but if they started bawling, it'd be a hassle.
I glanced down at the corpse, and Ellie nodded.
"Lord, grant this soul peaceful rest."
Ellie said a quick prayer and stepped away.
Thinking of hygiene, I pulled some gloves from my coat pocket and slipped them on.
I stripped off the corpse's shirt and examined it.
Pale skin drained of blood, minor scratches, and a massive bite wound on the neck. Since it was in the auditorium...
It must've gotten jumped by a zombie, had its throat torn out...
Managed to flee inside somehow, but turned into one anyway.
The key here was whether it got bitten and turned into a zombie, or died from blood loss first and then turned.
These days, zombie stories usually mean viral infection from bites – your standard sci-fi zombies are mainstream.
But classic occult zombies are walking corpses animated by magic. Undead slaves, basically.
They don't multiply so conveniently.
I know nitpicking zombie tropes is lame, but...
Sci-fi zombies make even less sense than magic ones.
Magic zombie? Made with magic. Done.
Sci-fi zombie? Some parasite or virus whipped up by science? Total BS scientifically. Impossible.
Anyway, since the occult method worked, these were occult zombies.
I pictured the zombie reverting to a normal corpse as smoke poured out after laying it down and chanting.
The fog filling the campgrounds...
".........".
I stood up and said to Ellie.
"Gonna check the situation from the roof real quick."
"Sure. Be careful."
I climbed the emergency stairs to the rooftop, emerging into the foggy outdoors again.
Good, no zombies up here. Hard to see through the fog, though.
I leaned on the rooftop railing and peered down at the campgrounds.
The zombies that had been pounding on the auditorium doors earlier were now shambling around scattered.
"Aaaah..."
Then some sight made my eyes narrow.
'What's that?'
Fog seeped into a fresh corpse that hadn't escaped a charging zombie in time.
"Aaaah..."
And it rose to join the horde of the undead.
Looks like the fog wasn't just jamming signals to isolate the camp.
Sure, that was part of it, but...
The fog itself was magic that turned corpses into zombies.
No way this fog happened naturally.
'...Which psycho pulled this off?'
Obviously a mage.
But even among mages, this one's unhinged.
The only other mage I've met was Kim Mireh, the one whose head Grizzly ate – a cannibal psycho who at least ran a disguise farm because she knew she couldn't get caught.
But this mage shrouded the entire camp – maybe more – in magical fog.
They're gonna get busted for sure. Why? Magic overload?
"Hmm... Or maybe they don't even care about hiding?"
Doing it to show off? To whom? Or just random terror?
I gazed down at the zombies shambling aimlessly.
'...What are they even looking for?'
Whatever. No way I'm figuring out a psycho's mind.
I've got the gist of the cause. Hunker down here, and this incident's done.
I turned toward the stairs.
I haven't been a mage long, but...
Mages aren't invincible, far from it.
A mage's weakness? Bullets kill them.
Chop off their head, they die.
Unless they've got some special trick up their sleeve...
Their body's just ordinary human.
What makes mages dangerous is familiars like my Grizzly...
Or hitting them with something unexpected.
Not bulletproof skin.
To me, this screams self-destruction – whatever happens, happens.
With an incident this big...
The Response Special Task Force won't sit idle.
I pictured Shin Sion's dark eyes watching me.
A calm woman who didn't show much emotion.
Anyway, once time passes, the Task Force shows up, takes out whoever did this...
Just hold out in the auditorium till then.
And as I came back down the stairs into the auditorium...
"Th-this guy! He got bit! He got bit!"
"No! No way! This is—!"
How long was I gone? People were yelling and fighting again.
"Everyone, calm down. Oh, Yohan!"
Ellie, who'd been trying to break it up, spotted me. Everyone's eyes turned my way at her call.
Someone pointed at the guy clutching his wrist and shouted.
"That guy's bitten! By a zombie! He's gonna turn, right? Do something quick!"
Classic. Zombie survival distrust among the living.
Why not just get along?
Super annoying, though.
"These are occult zombies, so bites don't infect."
I gave the panicked crowd a casual explanation.
"If you go smashing the 'infected guy's' head yelling that, he'll turn into a zombie instead. Chill."
I approached the guy clutching his wrist.
"Bitten, huh? Let me see."
".........".
I pulled some bandages from my bag and wrapped it up.
Once things settled, I addressed the survivors.
Current headcount: me, Ellie, Sua, six kids, and ten other camp staff. Nineteen total.
"Checked from the roof. Zombies everywhere outside – can't leave."
"But with something like this, rescue'll come. Let's hold out here till then."
Killing that zombie when we first got here must've helped – they listened and settled into corners.
No telling how long that'll last, though.
As I scanned the group, Ellie approached.
"So glad you're here, Yohan. I wrapped the body in a tarp and stashed it in the storage room... Sorry for deciding on my own. The kids were scared."
"No, you did good. Now let's rest up ourselves."
I wasn't keen on staring at the corpse either.
I went over to where Ellie and her group were.
The kids were huddled together, and Sua was rubbing her ankle.
Guess the sprain's lasting longer than expected.
Whatever... If I leave it, she'll beg for help later, and Ellie's bound to waste time trying to save her.
Time for some magic practice: heal her leg.
I pulled the Grimoire from my bag and checked the spell.
[Magic for sprains, fractures, bruises]
Tons of useless spells buried in there, but since it's from a Crusader Street mage...
Surprisingly handy daily life magic too.
I knelt in front of Sua on one knee.
"Gimme your leg. I'll wrap it tight."
Sua squinted suspiciously.
"Huh? You planning to grope me under the guise of treatment? Ellie sis!"
"..............".
"Okay, okay! Just kidding."
Sua slipped off her sock, revealing a pretty foot – surprisingly dainty for her attitude.
"Don't sniff it. And... thanks."
Her last words were quiet, but audible.
I wrapped her ankle firmly and chanted.
"Bones dislocated, blood congealed, bone to bone, blood to blood, joint to joint."
Gripping the injured spot to finish.
"In the Lord's name, I command thee: be whole."
Sua blinked.
"What was that?"
"Spell to heal it quick. Mom's touch effect, more or less."
"...Don't have a mom. Never felt that."
"Figured."
"What'd you say—!?"
Sua jumped up and checked her ankle.
"Huh? ...Doesn't hurt."
She stared at me in shock.
"Mister, you Jesus?"
"Yeah, right."
I stood up.
"If anything, more like John Constantine."
John Constantine – protagonist of the movie Constantine. Mage and exorcist. Total badass.
Sua tilted her head.
"John? Constantine? Who's that? Talking to yourself like a weeb."
That hit hard.
'Doesn't know John Constantine?'
The movie's plot was meh...
...But the style was killer.
Eh, whatever.
"Forget it. Time to really rest."
I grabbed a few mattresses from storage, laid them out, and said,
"Hop up. Sitting on the floor too long wrecks your back."
Ellie fussed over the kids settling on the mattresses, then sat beside me.
"Thank you. ...What should we do now?"
"Dunno? Nothing pressing, like I said before. Full rest."
"Huh?"
I flopped onto the mattress. Ahh, comfy.
"Sit and zone out, catch a quick nap."
"Or since we're at camp anyway, treat it like an indoor campout – chat and play to keep your head straight."
Waiting for unknown rescue, nothing to do...
Look on the bright side: free downtime.
"No telling what happens next."
That's why rest now.
"Preserve your strength for whatever comes."
I closed my eyes, arms behind my head, comfy pose.
"Wake me in ten. We'll rotate rests."
"Ah... Got it!"
Ellie nodded.
Sua watched in awe as Yohan, looking more relaxed than anyone in the auditorium, rested.
'Whoa... People died, zombies everywhere, and he's chilling like it's camp. Psychopath?'
Unfortunately, Yohan's rest didn't last.
The survivors started sniping at each other, waking him.
"If you hadn't dragged us to this camp!"
"Why's it my fault!?"
I grimaced, half rising to look around.
...Things calm down a bit, and the human drama kicks in.
Then my eyes met Ellie's.
Her blue eyes flinched visibly.
I realized why this woman who could pulverize zombies with one punch was fidgeting.
Her trembling voice rang out.
"Um... Sorry."
Unbelievably, she thought it was her fault we got caught up in this.
"No need to apologize, Ellie. Not your fault. Just an accident no one saw coming."
I meant it.
Who could've predicted a zombie horde hitting the camp?
And this was some crazy mage's doing.
The psycho charging with a knife's at fault, not the passersby who got swept up.
Then Namgung Sua seized the moment and yelled at Ellie!
"Right! All 'cause of you, sis! That's why I said just take the money for a hotel stay instead of camp!"
I stared at Sua in admiration.
'Wow... Ellie saved her after she was gonna ditch her, and she blames her? Heartless much?'
I lightly smacked Sua's head with my palm.
"Watch your mouth."
"Ow! It was a joke. Why hit me?"
Sua grumbled, then to Ellie:
"Just messing with you 'cause you were moping. Like the mister said, not your fault. Cheer up."
Ellie's face softened.
"Thanks."
She smiled gently.
Anyway, time passed like that, and soon...
Despite my call for rest...
Grrrrowl~.
Sua and I sat blankly against the auditorium wall.
Sua glanced at me.
"...Mister, I'm hungry."
I glanced back.
"Me too."
"No! Dammit! Don't relate! Got any food!?"
We had camp snacks, but they were still in the bus since we hadn't unpacked.
Grizzly was tucked in the Grimoire to save energy too.
"If I had food, it'd be in my mouth already. Yours?"
"I'm super cute and pretty, so maybe you'd share with me."
"Nice confidence."
I rummaged in my bag and pulled out the camp map template.
The building connected via the side door had a convenience store.
Yeah, rest is rest, but gotta eat while resting.