Worship, or Jealousy (1)

May 11th, 12:10 a.m.

It had been a mere month and ten days since the zombie apocalypse descended upon the Earth.

Zombies and monsters had marched in force through the civilized cities where people once lived, and for the humans who survived without turning, hellish nightmares became reality moment by moment, delivering nothing but suffering.

Dungeons that had swallowed intact buildings whole to spawn themselves. Field Bosses that roamed specific districts as if the land already belonged to them. An Area Boss that strode freely through the former capital of a collapsed nation. And then, on top of all that…

"Kyaaaaaaak!"

Whoosh! Thunk!

"Kraaaagh!"

Flying abominations tore through the world, diving to rip the unprotected heads clean off human beings.

Countless people… truly countless people… died just outside the Sanctuary. Nearly all of them had been the ones camping out, waiting to enter Seoul the moment June 1st arrived. No one had ever asked them their real reasons, but each of them had carried their own private intentions — to get into Seoul and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠confront me, one way or another.

And among those people, the ones gathered at the westernmost edge of Seoul's boundary line were seized like rats by the flying monsters and slaughtered right before the eyes of me and my women.

We were still inside the Sanctuary for now, but I was certain that in a few weeks those same creatures would be circling over our heads as well.

The problem was… even with people suffering in plain sight, we couldn't bring ourselves to do more than watch.

A bleak, pessimistic feeling about the situation of everyone outside the Sanctuary. We could guess why they had come here, and that left us paralyzed — torn over whether we truly ought to save them or not.

And then, in that very moment when our legs had frozen solid at the sight of the massacre…

"E-everyone? J-Jeong Hoon oppa? Seyeon unnie? Seeun-ah? Mina-ya? A-are all of you… hesitating right now? Second-guessing yourselves? W-when you're watching people suffer right in front of you… in real time!?"

The most introverted, most timid woman among us stepped forward.

"W-we… we didn't gather here just to… w-watch a fire burn on the other side of the river! W-we didn't come together just to enjoy our comfort while… w-watching other people's pain from a safe distance… did we? A-at the very least… to save the people suffering right in front of our eyes… i-isn't that why we came together? J-Jeong Hoon oppa… w-weren't we… that kind of people…?"

Han Sora's unflinching resolve slammed into all of our hearts like a shockwave.

Self-loathing. Excuses swept clean away.

…And passion.

"…Of course not."

"There's no way we'd just stand here watching a massacre caused by this shitty, half-assed update…"

"We were never going to just sit and watch, Sora…!"

I raised the National Defense Minister's Pistol I'd obtained from today's dungeon and took aim at one of the flying monsters outside the Sanctuary.

Bang!

The report was far quieter than any ordinary gunpowder explosion.

And the bullet that left the muzzle streaked toward the monster trailing light, as if charging it head-on.

A clean hit.

"Kyaeee…!"

Even at that considerable distance, it struck true.

This pistol is something else. It definitely outranges a normal handgun. With this and the silver longsword I brought along… yeah. This is doable!

Alright… let's get a look at the surroundings… Good. I'll tell the people we rescue to take shelter in that building over there, and that one.

"Seyeon!"

"Uh…"

"Snap out of it, Seyeon!"

Slap!

I grabbed Kim Seyeon by the shoulders. That finally seemed to drag her back to reality. The slightly unfocused eyes behind her glasses locked firmly onto my face at last.

"Listen carefully. Drive the van back to Yeouido right now and call for reinforcements! Grab both guild masters and anyone who can fight, load them up, and bring them here. Pack plenty of relief supplies. Got it? Got it, Seyeon!"

Repeating myself twice jolted her fully awake. She flinched hard, then nodded and answered.

"Understood, Jeong Hoon-ssi!"

Thud-thud-thud-thud!

Kim Seyeon sprinted back to the van we'd arrived in without another second's delay.

"Sora! Mina!"

Next I called the two members of our party with reliable long-range firepower. Sora, already ready, simply ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠nodded. Yun Mina, who had been staring blankly, jumped in a way that was completely unlike her usual self.

"Y-yes?"

"Stay at the Sanctuary boundary line and snipe the flying monsters to cover me! For accuracy, time your shots for the moment the monsters dive on people! Understood?"

"Of course, oppa."

"Huh? O-okay!"

Two people of completely opposite temperaments gave completely opposite reactions. Han Sora answered with a quiet, steady nod, while Yun Mina couldn't quite shake the tremor of tension from her voice.

Why snipe the flying monsters the instant they went for people? Because that was the moment they flew closest to the ground — and the moment they were most defenseless.

In ordinary flight they stayed wary of their surroundings, but the second before seizing prey, their entire focus locked onto the meal alone.

"Seeun, you guard Sora and Mina in case of anything unexpected! I'm going outside the boundary myself… and I'll rescue as many people as I can into safe buildings. That is all!"

"What? Why!? Hoonie oppa! I want to go out and fight with you too!"

Park Seeun's face had lit up the moment her name was called — only to twist into open protest the second she heard her orders.

It wasn't as if I didn't know that competitive fire of hers. Even in today's dungeon, Park Seeun had gone completely wild, as if determined to make up for how little she'd contributed in the previous one.

But this was not the moment to indulge her fighting spirit.

"No. Two reasons. Someone has to stay and protect Sora and Mina! Second… your agility right now can't keep up with mine. No one's could!"

"B-but still—"

I shut down Seeun's request and, without waiting to hear another word, launched myself forward.

Thud-thud-thud!

"Ah…"

Park Seeun's deflated voice drifted from behind me.

Of course it did. In the blink of an eye I had already left my starting position and reached the edge of the Sanctuary.

The Sanctuary boundary. A faintly translucent, colorless membrane cutting across buildings and the middle of the road.

I crossed it without the slightest hesitation.

As if on cue, a notification appeared.

Ah, figured as much. So I'll just keep crossing in and out of the boundary within the time limit and save as many as I can.

I can't afford to burn so much time that I end up locked out of the very Sanctuary I earned…

Huh? Another notification?

…Unbelievable. So the reward I busted my ass for isn't something they'll just snatch away on a whim? Give the disease, then hand out the cure — these bastards have it down to an art. Fucking assholes!

Well, I'll take it!

Bang, bang!

Two rounds — more precisely, bullets formed of mana — burst from the muzzle.

"Kik!?"

"Kurururu…!"

Two flying creatures mid-hunt took direct hits to the head. Screeching horribly, they plummeted from the sky and slammed into the ground.

BOOM!

Five people in the party… so that's at least 750 exp per kill! Not a bad haul at all.

There were easily dozens of monsters hunting people from the sky right now. No — given how thick the darkness of night was, probably more than that!

Perfect. Fresh off the dungeon, and I get to throw another exp party!

Fwoooooosh!

Oh-ho. Of course some of them are coming straight for me!

Shiiing!

Did you bird-brains really think I couldn't handle close combat?

"Kyaaaaaak!"

Slash!

One flying monster that had dived for my throat was cleaved cleanly in two and crashed to the ground.

National Defense Minister's Pistol in my right hand, silver longsword in my left. Dual-wielding two powerful weapons, I was playing the role of some kind of gunblade fighter.

Not exactly the stylish silver-haired protagonist of some demon-slashing action game. Though considering what I was actually doing… maybe not that different!

Bang, bang, bang!

"Come on, then!"

"Kiiiiik!"

"Kueeeeeee—!"

I drew their attention with the pistol. Some of them took the bait. They came screaming toward me with those godawful shrieks.

Seriously, why do undead even make noise? Are they only half-undead? Or ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠are the flying ones a different tier from skeletons? Whatever — the vampires made plenty of noise too, so I'll just let it go.

Since they were already airborne, it didn't take long for the aggro'd flying monsters to close the distance.

The instant they came within a few meters, my longsword carved through the air.

No — it carved through the monsters flying through the air.

Slash, slash!

In an instant one became a corpse, and the other—

Bang, bang!

"Kyaeeek!"

—took point-blank pistol fire the moment my blade finished its arc, tumbled backward, and slammed into the dirt.

A whole swarm might have been a different story, but two at a time I could handle with ease.

Ah — with dozens of flying monsters filling the sky, why were only a couple actually reaching me?

Ping, ping, ping!

Fwoooosh!

"Kyaeeek!"

"Kururururu…!"

Why else? Because Sora and Mina were at the edge of the Sanctuary boundary, pouring everything they had into covering me.

I pulled as much aggro as I could, and a considerable number of monsters took the bait and charged — but aside from a handful, every last one of them became prey for the Han Sora–Yun Mina combo of arrows and magic sniping.

Even the ones that managed to get close were nothing more than easy punching bags ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠against my Agility of 19. A larger group at once would have been impossible, but like this…

…Crap! I didn't come out here just to hunt monsters! I barked at the survivors lying on the ground, staring blankly up at me.

"You there!"

"Eep! Y-yes, sir!?"

"See that building? Get over there and hide, now! You heard about the update, right? Starting today, anyone who dies once — human or monster — comes back as a zombie! Don't just lie there feeling safe. Get inside that building and stay down! The rest of you, stop standing around gawking! Run, damn it!"

Along the boundary line dividing the Sanctuary from everything outside it, several buildings straddled the divide. The membrane didn't slice them in half — it simply passed through them as a translucent film. An unreal sight… though a giant dome-shaped barrier wrapping all of Seoul was already plenty unreal to begin with.

I directed the people I'd rescued toward those buildings on the boundary. Structures that large ought to be fine. Whoops — a few of these bird-brains might already be turning, so better chop the bodies up first just in case!

"Aaaaagh!"

"Help me, somebody help meee!"

"Just a little longer — hang on a little longer!"

While I was busy with the cleanup, a chorus of screams reached my ears.

I fixed my gaze in that direction and found a cluster of people. A sizable group had bunched together — some screaming, some shouting encouragement — somehow managing not to lose their lives to the flying horrors.

Looks like that bunch at least has their heads screwed on somewhat straight. Sticking together and fighting back.

"Grrrrrrrrngh!"

"KuoOOOOOOOH!"

The only problem was that the monster they were facing was so overwhelmingly powerful you could call it broken and no one would argue!