Chapter 20
Chapter 20
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: The Survivor is the Queen Bee
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"Hello, my name is Han So-young."
The woman who stood up first spoke.
Her face, as she introduced herself as Han So-young, bore a faint smile.
"Actually, we've been trapped here the whole time."
"In the museum?"
"Zombies appeared, so we ran at first, but then this place suddenly turned into a dungeon, and even the dolls started moving, so we couldn't get out."
Dolls that regenerated no matter how many times you smashed them.
An ordinary human couldn't break through.
Of course, it would be different with Pharsa's Amulet.
But they wouldn't have that kind of information unless they were reincarnators too.
"We thought we were done for, trapped with no way out. Then you guys showed up right on time. How on earth did you take them down?"
"I just had a related trait."
"Ah~ I see. You must be really skilled!"
I kept the part about the amulet under wraps for now.
And for good reason—
'They don't exactly look friendly toward us.'
Han So-young, who approached me, was a bit different.
But the expressions of the other survivors weren't great.
There was relief at still being alive.
But no real gratitude.
Above all, the fact that everyone besides Han So-young was male stood out.
It felt strangely familiar somehow.
'Doesn't mean I can just kill them outright.'
Not unless they attacked openly like last time.
I didn't want to kill without reason.
Of course.
As long as they didn't show hostility first.
"So why did you guys come all the way to the museum?"
"Sorry, but that's hard to say."
"Ah! We're not asking you to tell us for free!"
At that moment, Han So-young hopped over to me.
She hooked her arm through mine and subtly pressed her chest against my arm.
Her eyes glistened moistly.
Her lips curved into a sweet smile.
She looked up at me shyly, smiling like that.
Up close, she was quite the beauty.
Not on Yuri or Hye-na's level, though.
'......But her intentions are way too obvious.'
If it was just clinging, I'd let it slide.
But the message floating in front of me said otherwise.
The skill 'Charm'.
Probably exactly what it sounds like—an ability to seduce the target.
Of course, it had zero effect on me.
If anything, it just made my heart turn ice cold.
'Now I get why all the other survivors are guys.'
The classic queen bee type, huh.
No wonder the guys were giving me dirty looks.
Well, it's a survival tactic, I guess.
But being the target myself? It just pissed me off normally.
"Um......"
That's when Hye-na, who'd been watching from the side, spoke up.
"You've been way too close since earlier."
"Oh my, sorry! I just felt so relieved seeing new faces!"
"......"
Even as she spoke, Han So-young didn't pull away from me.
The colder Hye-na's face grew with every second.
Guess that's what they mean by a woman's worst enemy is another woman.
"Anyway, there's something I want to confirm first."
"Eh, what?"
I forcibly pried Han So-young's arm off mine.
Maybe because her skill hadn't worked.
She looked a bit flustered.
"You all got the 'Human Hunt' quest too, right?"
"......"
The murder quest that had popped up for us.
Penalty for failure: death.
And the time limit was still active.
If they hadn't cleared it.
They were nothing but potential enemies.
"......Sniff, that's too much. You're suspecting us."
Han So-young said with a sniffle.
No need to say it—it was all an act.
"I think it's a necessary step. You never know how people change when their lives are on the line."
At my cold words, Han So-young dropped the act.
"Don't worry about that! We've all cleared the quest."
"How can we believe that?"
"Well...... Sigh, fine. It's not a pretty sight, but I'll show you."
Han So-young moved as if leading the way.
The other guys reflexively tried to follow.
But she stopped them.
"It's okay, oppa. I'll just show them real quick and come back."
We followed behind Han So-young.
Yuri, walking at the rear, whispered to me.
"What're you planning?"
"Nothing much. Just think we can use them."
"Use them?"
Yuri tilted her head.
"The museum's bigger than I thought. Searching for the letter with just the three of us would take forever."
"Hmm."
"Looks like there are exactly eight of them. That could be pretty helpful."
"Will they even listen to us?"
"No harm in trying."
Yuri nodded at my suggestion.
She agreed the museum was larger than expected.
"But what if they betray us?"
"Then we get justification to kill them. Might even be better. They probably don't trust us either."
Zombies everywhere.
A world where you had to kill to survive.
Anyone who trusted the first people they met was a fool.
A relationship where we could use and discard each other anytime.
That was more comfortable, honestly.
"......Sometimes you seem colder than me."
"Means I've adapted well."
An ongoing apocalypse novel.
I'd already steeled myself to survive it.
"We're here."
During our brief talk, we arrived at a room.
Han So-young grimaced as she opened the door.
"Ugh!"
"What's this?"
".......These are the people we killed."
I quietly gazed at the scattered corpses.
All of them had crushed heads and bruises on their bodies.
And most were women.
In stark contrast to the survivors, who were all men except Han So-young.
"When the quest popped up at dawn, we panicked."
Han So-young closed the door and began explaining.
"We tried agreeing not to kill each other at first, but it wasn't easy. By the time we came to our senses, a lot of people were already dead."
"So you saying it was chaos and everyone just fought indiscriminately?"
"Sadly, it was unavoidable. Staying still meant death."
I stroked my chin thoughtfully.
Was everything Han So-young said true?
'There are some suspicious parts.'
All the wounds being similar despite the chaos.
The victims mostly being women.
It looked more like they were victims of a group lynching.
And Han So-young, with her 'Charm' skill, playing queen bee.
'Maybe she incited them to kill the women first.'
Charm probably wouldn't work well on other women.
For her, it was a chance to eliminate obstacles.
Well, just idle speculation for now.
I wasn't trusting Han So-young to begin with.
"This proves we've cleared the quest, right?"
We returned to the room with the other survivors.
By then, the men were all holding weapons.
What? Were they planning to threaten us?
They'd been trapped a while, so they probably didn't have many coins left.
"For now, yeah. Can't suspect after seeing the bodies."
"Yay, what a relief! Getting suspected first by such cool people... Honestly, it hurt a little."
Han So-young leaned forward slightly, emphasizing her chest as she spoke.
She still hadn't given up on the seduction.
But doing it right in front of the protagonist, Yuri.
Body or looks.
She was obviously no match.
"Then now you have to prove that you've completed 'Human Hunt'?"
"No thanks."
"Pardon?"
Han So-young's eyes went wide.
As if she hadn't expected that response.
"Why would we bother proving it for you?"
"W-We already proved ours!"
She seemed a bit angry now.
Her voice was raised.
"You asked us to trust you. We don't care if you trust us or not."
"Th-That's—"
"Hey, the more I listen, the more this kid's mouth runs wild."
One of the guys nearby stepped forward.
He was a pretty burly, muscular type among the men.
"I've been holding back, but what? Proof? I was already pissed, and now you're making it worse."
"Hey, calm down, oppa. They're the ones who saved us."
Han So-young pretended to hold him back.
But I didn't miss it.
Her quick wink at the guy.
'What a pair.'
Why was everyone we met so low-IQ?
Because they were novel characters, ultimately.
Still, there were limits.
If anything, me and Hye-na might be top 1% even among extras.
"Hah, I wanna smack you so bad. I'm only holding back for So-young."
The guy cracked his knuckles lightly.
He was even smirking.
Probably thought it was a chance to score points with Han So-young.
"Feel free to hit me."
"What?"
Either way, this wasn't good.
Process didn't matter.
We needed to firmly establish superiority.
"Stop pretending to be tough in front of girls and actually throw a punch. If you're too scared, just shut up."
"This, this little shit!"
The guy swung a wild fist.
I turned my head slightly to dodge easily.
Then drove my fist straight into his solar plexus.
"Guhk!"
A light jab.
But the impact was anything but light.
"Ugh... grk...!"
The guy clutched his chest and dropped to his knees.
His face turned beet red, struggling to breathe.
My current strength was 12.
Enough to smash a zombie's head.
"Y-You little punk... how dare you hit a person......"
"What're you saying after killing people yourself? And to the ones who saved your trapped asses."
Not that we meant to, but still.
You don't pull this on your benefactors.
-Smack!
I backhanded his jaw.
Didn't stop there—kept kicking.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
My feet kept landing on his face.
Even with controlled power.
Blood sprayed from his face.
"W-Wait! Stop it!"
Finally, Han So-young, unable to watch, yelled.
"It was just some trash talk! You don't have to go this far!"
"Nonsense."
The one who answered wasn't me—it was Yuri.
"They attacked first. Any reason to go easy on trash like that?"
"Ugh! Fine! I'll apologize for him! So please forgive us!"
Han So-young shouted in a more desperate voice than before.
She probably couldn't afford to lose one of her own right in front of her eyes.
I stopped my foot.
"We're not forcing any cooperation. And no reason to fight either."
I said it toward Han So-young.
The rest were just her lackeys anyway.
"But if you attack us first, we won't hold back."
That was our way of surviving the apocalypse.