Make Me a Zombie

Mo Hae-in didn't answer. Wondering if I'd been too vague, I restated it clearly.

"I'd like you to turn me into a zombie."

That finally got her to open her mouth — though what came out first was a long, heavy sigh.

I'd expected as much, so I pressed on with my case.

"Zombies don't attack first if you're one of them. The same applies while zombification is still in progress. Three hours after infection, you're classified as a zombie."

It was something I'd discovered after trying every dirty trick in the book for a speed clear. An infected player wouldn't be attacked by zombies unless they struck first. The only catch was that there was no cure, so it was a tactic you could only use right before the ending. I'd even run playthroughs where I deliberately let a zombie bite me before the finale.

This is the best option we've got right now.

It would keep Mo Hae-in from accidentally attacking a teammate, and it would let me — the weakest member of the party — slip past the boss zombie as well. Mo Hae-in and I would repair the generator. Gwak Han-muk would handle the boss.

Gwak Han-muk had been listening to my explanation with surprising patience. When I finished, he asked a calm, practical question.

"What if we ask Lieutenant Colonel Je to take the boss, and you and I handle the repairs?"

"We need the delivery items as soon as possible, and I'm worried the emergency generator would get damaged."

Je Hyeon-o's attacks had a wide area of effect. The boss fight would take place right next to the generator, and a stray swing could smash the machinery to pieces. For similar reasons, we couldn't leave the repairs to Je Hyeon-o either. When it came to aggression, he had more than enough of his own. There was no chance he would sit quietly and watch a boss zombie loiter a few feet away. The odds of him leveling the entire basement were approximately one hundred percent.

"Riiight..."

Gwak Han-muk nodded slowly, as if that settled it. Then Mo Hae-in looked at him with uneasy eyes, and he said the exact thing guaranteed to confirm every one of her fears.

"Guess I'll go zombie too, then."

"Gwak Han-muk!"

"What? It's a solid plan."

He turned her stomach with perfect composure.

"If the entire Special Mission Team of the Era Bureau turns into infectees, they can't just execute us. They aren't gonna blow two team leaders' heads off."

"That is the stupidest—!"

"You can't die."

Mo Hae-in froze. Then her head dropped. She stayed like that for a long time before calling to me, almost under her breath.

"...Trainee."

"Yes, ma'am."

"If you don't get the True Ending."

"I will. No question. Lee Ga-on confirmed she can produce the vaccine within three days as long as she has power."

"......"

Mo Hae-in had two days left. She would have to spend at least one of them as a zombie; that much was unavoidable. I could help her keep control for a day or so, but any longer than that would be bad for her.

We can't let her stay a zombie for too long.

Zombies couldn't feel pain. If she lost her reason, she might start tearing her own body apart. Even if the True Ending cured the infection, damaged flesh wouldn't regenerate. My goal was to synthesize both the vaccine and the cure within three days and clear DZD.

"Captain. Please bite me. I trust you."

"You're just like Gwak Han-muk."

"Thank you."

"That wasn't a compliment."

"Sorry."

I switched my thanks for an apology without missing a beat, and Mo Hae-in let out a short laugh. She turned to Je Hyeon-o last.

"Lieutenant Colonel Je."

The final decision was his. Je Hyeon-o looked at me without moving, and I tensed up, which felt only natural. This was a man you could ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠never predict, and with the goggles and the gas mask covering every inch of his face, there was no expression to read. It wouldn't have been strange if he suddenly backhanded me with that metal hand and carved me into several pieces.

I was bracing for whatever emoticon he was about to flash when a voice spilled out instead.

"Goyo."

Nothing good had ever followed after Je Hyeon-o started a sentence with my name. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I waited for the rest.

"If you wanted to die, you should've just said so."

The metal hand unfurled wide. Its sharp tips ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠caught the dawn light and flashed.

"I can take care of that for you."

"I want to live! Absolutely."

I answered so fast that Je Hyeon-o clicked his metal fingers together. I swallowed dryly while he tapped them against each other. A voice like something scraping the floor of an abyss drove itself into my eardrums.

Gwak Han-muk, Mo Hae-in, and I were reflected in the black goggles. Killing intent rolled off him as he kept clicking those fingers — intent aimed at the Trial, and at Adaptors.

"I went to all that trouble not killing you..."

He meant every word. Nobody would have taken that as a joke.

"We can manage that much."

"We'll be careful."

The Captains answered with the bored ease of people who'd heard it all before, as if they'd already promised that if they were going to die, it would be by Je Hyeon-o's hand. For a second I thought he might have smiled at their answers. Of course, I couldn't see his face at all, so it was only a guess.

"Goyo. Tell me what I need to do."

"I'll put together a list of the items you need to farm and their locations. One of them is a zombie blood sample — regular zombie blood, not Dead Zombie."

I scribbled the list on paper I'd brought from the lab, and at the same time I sent Je Hyeon-o a Transmission.

"I'll send the list through a system window as well."

Checking a piece of paper one-handed would be inconvenient given his body structure. I also wanted to show him how useful I could be.

Please let me live.

If I made myself indispensable starting now, maybe he would keep me alive when we left DZD.

Je Hyeon-o took the item list and the blood collection kit I'd brought from the lab and headed for the emergency stairwell. The fifth floor, where the lab was, had corridor windows that didn't open, so he would have to go up to the roof before he could fly. Gwak Han-muk offered to open the door for him and followed along to see him off.

Just before opening the stairwell door, Je Hyeon-o looked back at me.

What was that supposed to mean.

I told myself not to get sucked into Je Hyeon-o's emoticons, and yet every time something new appeared on those goggles I ended up turning it over in my head. Tilde marks. Maybe it meant he would be back soon. And while I was still puzzling over it, Je Hyeon-o vanished into the emergency stairs.

Gwak Han-muk went with him, leaving me alone with Mo Hae-in for a while. The two of us sat down in a corner of the hallway.

"Should we do the bite before Captain Gwak gets back?"

Mo Hae-in let out a disbelieving huff of laughter at the suggestion, then grabbed my arm.

"Don't regret this, Trainee. I'm going to bite you hard."

"...Ah. Could you use this hand, please?"

"Aren't you right-handed?"

She was asking if it wouldn't be inconvenient. I gave her an awkward smile. Fortunately, she switched hands without a fuss. She gripped my forearm and met my eyes.

"I'm biting."

Mo Hae-in opened her mouth. The tips of her even teeth had gone sharp. Then she set them lightly against my forearm. The contact tickled. I flinched at the shoulder, and she yanked her mouth away at once.

"Does it hurt?"

I shook my head.

"It just tickled. I'm fine."

"Okay."

She took a breath, then brought her lips back to my forearm. This time she bit down with no warning at all.

A wet crunch — the sound of teeth punching through flesh — rang out with perfect clarity. At the same instant my heart slammed into a wild rhythm. Thump. Thump. The pulse sounded like it was beating right against my eardrums. My vision flooded black, and a system window bloomed in front of me.

The fever started the moment she bit down. Heat rolled through my body. It really was different from the game. Becoming a zombie was no small thing.

I breathed steadily and waited for my vision to come back. Fortunately, the world brightened again before long. The pain in my forearm, however, was still there.

Mo Hae-in still had her teeth in my arm, breathing in ragged gasps. She was holding back the urge to tear the flesh clean off. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠The veins stood out on her neck.

"Captain."

"Hhk— hh..."

"Captain Mo. It's all right. Take it slow."

"Nngh..."

She squeezed her eyes shut. A short groan, and then she opened her mouth with agonizing slowness. A wet peel of a sound, and Mo Hae-in came away from my forearm. Blood smeared her mouth from corner to corner. She muttered in a voice thick with self-loathing.

"I almost actually ate you..."

"Thank you for your hard work."

I clamped the wound and put distance between us immediately. Stay any closer and I was going to lose a chunk. I was fumbling a bandage around it by myself when Gwak Han-muk showed up.

"What the hell. You already bit him?"

He ambled over, stuck his own arm out toward Mo Hae-in, and said, "Me too."

"AAAAAGH!"

Gwak Han-muk screamed. Mo Hae-in had bitten down instantly, with zero mercy. It must have actually hurt, because his eyes even welled up as he whined.

"Captain Mo... that fucking hurts..."

"Don't be a baby."

Mo Hae-in licked the blood off her lips and answered bluntly. Then she gave me a long, pointed look.

"...I'll go wrap this up."

I quietly fled a little farther into the corner.

Before we entered the basement levels, I ran into Lee Ga-on for a moment. She took one look at me and started to scream, so I spoke fast.

"I got bitten on purpose."

"......"

Lee Ga-on stared at me, speechless, then dropped her voice to a fierce whisper-shout.

"Why would you do that?!"

I gave her a rough explanation — that it was to avoid the zombies. Then, before she could really start yelling, I offered a bribe.

"Please take this."

"This is..."

It was the portable cassette player Gwak Han-muk had given me. I remembered that in the game, Lee Ga-on had grumbled to Lee Se-on about wanting to listen to music, so I'd brought it along. She was an NPC here. Using a player's item to listen to music shouldn't cause any problems.

"You might get bored during the short breaks."

Lee Ga-on clutched the portable player tight. Her knuckles had gone white, and her hands were trembling.

"If you don't come back, Gunbam."

She delivered a terrifying threat.

"I'll release every virus in this Research Institute."

"I'd... really rather you didn't."

"Then you'd better come back fast."

"Yes. I'll be back."

If Tak Ju-cheol and Paeng Sang-do found out I'd been bitten by a zombie, things would get messy. I still needed to keep that a secret from them, so I finished my goodbyes quickly and left.

But the biggest reason I fled was something else entirely. It was the thought that had surfaced in my head.

I wanted to bite Lee Ga-on.

I could still suppress it well enough, but the moment the thought appeared I got out of there, afraid I might slip. The aggression zombies showed toward humans was an instinct, the same as hunger.

So this is what a zombie feels.

A zombie's state of mind — something I never could have felt in the game. A little thrill running through me, I opened the emergency stairwell door.

"You're here?"

Mo Hae-in, who'd been sitting on the stairs, stood up. Gwak Han-muk pushed off the wall and got to his feet as well. He had a small sling bag slung diagonally across his body, packed with the items I'd asked him to bring.

Three zombies descended the stairs.

The emergency stairwell didn't see many zombies, but it wasn't a safe zone either. Starting from the unused second-floor landing that Mo Hae-in and Gwak Han-muk hadn't cleared, the zombies appeared. We slipped quietly past them and reached basement level one before long.

The stairs down to B2 were blocked by collapsed debris, so we would have to move from inside B1. I planned to use the freight elevator. Originally you'd have to crawl through the ventilation ducts the hard way, but now that we were zombies, we could take the elevator.

Gwak Han-muk opened the door first, stepped inside, and let out a low whistle.

"Oh, the cafeteria."

The emergency stairs on B1 connected to the cafeteria. And since we were zombies now, it looked like we'd be able to push through without much trouble.

"We should farm food from the cafeteria as we go. Let's take our time checking the other areas too. There's also a freight elevator connected to B2, and inside that elevator..."

A burst of static crackled. I stopped mid-sentence and looked around.

That came from the PA speakers.

I was still listening closely, wondering if I'd imagined it, when a deafening siren suddenly split the air.

WREEEEEEN—!

The zombies sleeping in the cafeteria zone all snapped their eyes open and stood up. Through the gurgling moans of the undead, a recorded woman's voice cut across the basement. It was the automated emergency warning broadcast.

Gwak Han-muk and Mo Hae-in looked at me at the same time.

"Captains."

I told them our new objective.

"We have to repair the emergency generator within the next fifteen minutes."