Chapter 42
Chapter 42
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 42
Chapter Title: 14. Faction Currents. (2)
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Back at the boarding house, An Su-hyun was waiting out front.
"Hey, bro. The inline skaters are in my room."
"Your room?"
I'd told them to lay the guys out in the rooftop room.
An Su-hyun nodded and explained.
"Yeah. They were total mush—how were they supposed to climb the stairs? I just had them put in my room. Six people crammed in there, it's packed."
Hmm.
Stairs.
Yeah, that'd be tough.
An Su-hyun grinned and gave my butt a light tap.
"I took your clothes to your room, bro. Gonna crash there for a bit."
"Sure, okay. But..."
I glanced back over my shoulder.
The old lady was standing outside the front gate, staring blankly into space with a dazed expression.
An Su-hyun looked startled.
"Who's she?"
Hmm.
How to explain this?
Looking at the old lady...
...man, words failed me.
She'd lost all spark, like life held no meaning for her anymore.
I turned back to An Su-hyun.
And gave a slight shake of my head.
She didn't press.
She just nodded a couple times, smiled, took the old lady's hand, and led her inside.
"Come on in. It's hot out there, right?"
"...Where... is this...? I need to... go home..."
...Jeez.
I leaned in close and whispered to An Su-hyun.
"Take her up to the rooftop room and stay with her."
An Su-hyun glanced back and forth between the old lady and me, looking troubled.
"Bro, what now? The house is already packed. What are we gonna do?"
I already had a plan for that on the way back.
I whispered.
"Don't worry. I've got an idea. Where's Uncle Hoon?"
"Oh, in his place. He heard the baby crying and went right in."
"Got it. You head up. I'll talk to Uncle Hoon."
"Okay."
I watched her lead the old lady up the stairs, then knocked on Uncle Hoon's door.
After a moment, he opened up.
"Oh man, teacher—what a mess. Everyone's crammed into Su-hyun's room."
"Yeah, I heard. Can we talk for a sec?"
"Sure thing, teacher."
Uncle Hoon gestured reassuringly inside, nodded, shut the door behind him, and stepped out.
"What'd you want to say, teacher?"
I let out a sigh and got to it.
"Place is too cramped right now. There's that standalone house across the alley. I'm gonna clear it out."
Uncle Hoon's eyes went wide as he nodded.
"Whoa, that's a great idea."
I nodded back.
"I'll rest up and handle it later. Help me haul out the bodies then. Stick around, don't go anywhere."
"Of course, teacher. You bet."
"Good. See you then. Oh, and sorry to ask..."
"Yeah, teacher?"
I cleared my throat and lowered my voice.
"Those inline club folks probably don't have any food. Could you ask your wife to help out?"
Uncle Hoon waved it off like it was the most natural thing in the world.
"No worries at all. Teacher, we're the ones in your debt—can't even do that much? Don't sweat it. Just call if you need anything."
I smiled.
Hmm.
Good call bringing this guy along.
Reliable pack mule, and his wife's got a solid personality too.
I clapped him on the shoulder with a grin and headed up the stairs.
Still a ways off before Acceleration recovered.
Guess I'll kill time smoking on the roof.
The rooftop was bathed in pleasantly warm sunlight.
Downstairs, the inline girls were probably smearing ointment on the guys' faces and bodies, wrapping bandages, fussing over them.
And in my rooftop room, the old lady had checked out of life entirely.
Not exactly prime timing to bask in the sun and feel good.
But what can you do?
Sun felt nice.
I lit a cigarette, leaned on the railing, and took in the view.
Ah, perfect.
Made me regret all that time wasted lying around waiting for Acceleration to recharge.
Two reasons I was up here on the roof.
First, figuring a horde of human beasts—like those zombie swarms I'd seen on YouTube—might show up out of nowhere.
Second, to watch for any desperate survivor groups swarming over without food.
I wandered the rooftop, soaking in the sun, smoking lazily.
Nothing happened.
Except for the occasional bloodcurdling scream echoing out—otherwise, the streets looked just like always.
Wonder what those survivor groups beating people for food scraps were up to now.
If they busted into some random store, the human beasts inside would infect them chain-reaction style.
Then hell would break loose, screams like a concert gone wrong.
No such screams.
Just faint echoes from somewhere far off, now and then.
Why not?
No way those folks had guns.
If they did, they'd have gotten out on their own somehow.
But they were the types who only escaped after the inline club fed them.
Hard to imagine they had weapons.
Maybe armed with kitchen knives or something?
...Who knows.
Once they realized the inline club's milk depot had nothing left, they'd look for another way out.
Target: small shops.
But from experience, even the tiniest stores had two or three human beasts lurking.
Human beasts are vicious.
Fast.
Don't care if limbs get lopped off or they take fatal wounds.
Can't stop those maniacs charging with just a kitchen knife.
How do you block something that barrels in, bites regardless of getting stabbed?
This ain't fantasy or wuxia. No acrobatic flips to hit vital spots—that's impossible in real life.
Especially against mindless beasts charging head-on. Waving a kitchen knife around as a regular person? Straight-up suicide.
If that worked, no army in the world would've been overrun helpless.
So, the survivor group that got help from the inline club isn't raiding unfamiliar shops right now.
That's the only conclusion.
...Which means...
...they know.
About me.
They saw the inline club's burned corpse pile.
Know whose bodies those were, how the mart got secured.
Heard it from the inline club folks.
And they know which houses are safe to beg food from, which are infected.
Just passing by, you'd hear the growls.
...Tricky.
What to do with them?
Not my problem if they get bit and turn, or whatever. Hell, if they turn into human beasts, that's a favor to me.
More to kill for levels.
But wasting Acceleration on trash that barely gives EXP is annoying, and they're a hassle overall.
See, I'm no savior.
No reason to feed every last one, and I don't want to.
Sure, I've ended up with more people under my wing lately, but damn, I don't want even more.
Plus, these are the jerks who beat up the inline club folks I kinda liked.
No reason to help at all.
So, don't wanna waste Acceleration, don't wanna help—only stance left is ignore them.
Damn, inconvenient.
Just let 'em starve in their houses or whatever. Why'd the inline club have to be such bleeding hearts and complicate things?
...Not really their fault, though.
Man.
Just ignore 'em.
Eh? Starving to death over there?
Then do what I do.
I smirked, shrugged my shoulders.
What can ya do? That's what it meant.
My own little gesture.
Do this.
Eh? Starving?
Oh dear, whatever shall we do?
Not my problem.
Shrug.
Like Marie Antoinette and that cake nonsense.
Shrug.
"Bro, what're you doing?"
Shr—ugh...
Hmm.
Cough.
"Oh, uh, shoulders were stiff."
I rolled my shoulders pointlessly and turned around.
An Su-hyun furrowed her brow at me, then burst out laughing.
"I'm heading down to help Ye-eun with food prep. Keep an eye on the lady, okay?"
"Yeah. How's she doing?"
An Su-hyun gave me a troubled look and shook her head.
No communication possible, huh.
"Got it."
I nodded and headed into the rooftop room.
There sat the old lady, prim and proper.
You know, that ladylike pose—knees together, legs tucked to the side. Looks awkward and weird, but on a woman, it's kinda nice to see.
...Not so much on the old lady.
I grabbed a 500ml bottle of soda from the fridge, cracked it open, and plopped down on the bedding.
Crackle. The sheaths clinked together.
"Whew."
Gulp, gulp.
Ooh, refreshing.
Glanced over—the old lady stared blankly at the wall.
...Almost like...
She couldn't accept the apocalypse at all.
Lady, this is the end times now.
The world you knew is long gone.
Wanna tell her that.
"What'd you do for a living, ma'am? Just a housewife?"
She blinked slowly and muttered.
"...It's over now... all over..."
What a trip.
Looks about Mom's age.
"You in touch with your kids?"
No answer.
I took another swig of soda.
"Can't reach mine either. Parents, little sister, friends. Nothing."
Hiss.
Lit another cigarette.
"But I'll keep looking. Won't believe they're dead till I see the bodies myself."
The old lady blinked slowly.
I said.
"Don't you wonder if your kids are dead or alive? Maybe they got infected and turned, or maybe they're fine. Could be alive out there."
No response.
Makes sense why An Su-hyun had that look.
Feels like talking to a wall.
I clicked my tongue.
"People can be such jerks. Why beat up those nice folks? We gave 'em food too. Pisses me off."
The old lady slowly turned to look at me.
"...Those people... what are they like...?"
...Oh.
Maybe we can talk now.