Road Movie (2)

Our last day in XX-gu flew by.

In front of the former male dormitory of ◆◆ University—now transformed into the guild headquarters—we loaded our gear into the minivan and shared a final farewell with the former villa survivors, who watched us with regretful eyes.

The perfect stronghold, won through a string of coincidence and luck: that was the former male dormitory Kim Suhyeok had left behind, so to speak. And now, a mere two days after settling into that comfortable base, we were walking away of our own free will.

"At this rate, we should have no trouble reaching Seoul."

"I suppose... so."

Kim Seyeon nodded heavily beside me. She had taken the wheel. As a Cleric whose primary role was buffing, it was a natural fit—and more importantly, with her Class 1 ordinary license, she was a far better driver than I was. (I only had a Class 2.)

At the same time, she wore the heaviest expression of anyone in the party heading for Seoul. Now that departure was finally upon us, the thought must have come rushing back.

The family she had left behind in Seoul.

"It's such a shame you're really leaving, Jeong Hoon..."

In the moonlight, people had gathered at the dormitory entrance to see us off as we prepared to drive away. On the faces of Seo Hyejin and the other ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠former villa survivors, regret and sorrow were plain.

"She's right, Jeong Hoon!"

"Seyeon unnie... do you really have to go?"

"Seeun-ah...!"

"Sora-ya... you lucky little—"

"I wanted to stay by God Hoon-nim's side and serve him too..."

That guy still hasn't dropped the cultist act?

Kim Seyeon, Park Seeun, and even Han Sora(!) were busy exchanging lingering goodbyes with the survivors they had grown close to.

"How fare the other survivor groups? Is their recruitment secure?"

Before leaving, I put one last question to Seo Hyejin about the guild's status. Call it the burden of being the man of the house.

"Yes, well... I think the fact that you, uh, vaporized that Kim Suhyeok guy and his gang last time played a big part. Everyone came in with their heads down, like they'd gotten a threat that said, 'Disobey us and you'll end up like them.'"

Ugh... that was never my intention. Somehow I've become an object of terror, but the results are good, so I'll take it. (And more importantly, the guy responsible is leaving.)

The taller buildings near the male dormitory—the mixed-use residential complexes Seo Hyejin had originally wanted to move into—now housed the other survivor groups. Even without the Clean Zone, those buildings would still be safer than most others in XX-gu.

The Lord's guild-creation and territory system granted every building within the domain a defense bonus, along with a buff that blocked access by non-guild players and monsters. Seo Hyejin had barely passed level 10, yet she could claim every structure within a 500-meter radius of the male dormitory as her territory.

Those people, however, were only allowed to stay in other ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠buildings like the mixed-use complexes. Residence in the male dormitory itself was reserved exclusively for Seo Hyejin and her retainers—the entire former villa survivor group.

The dormitory's defenses, stability, and buff effects were also vastly superior. Think of it like the difference between an associate member and a full member of a portal-site café, and it made perfect sense.

Once I heard that explanation, my lingering worry that the other ragtag survivor groups might try something against Seo Hyejin and the villa survivors melted away like snow.

Besides, the average level gap between her people and the nearby survivor groups was enormous. Even if they tried to overwhelm her with numbers, it would be useless. They probably couldn't even breach the wooden palisade the Blacksmith had built around the dormitory—and a single explosive potion from the Alchemist would send them scattering in panic.

"Do not neglect hunting and growth. And should conditions outside worsen, I recommend stockpiling gold and relying on emergency rations rather than scavenging convenience stores for supplies. Hold out for one month, somehow. In that time, we shall establish a foothold in Seoul and find a means of contacting you."

"Thank you for worrying about us. I'm the Lord now, so I'll figure it out somehow. But, Jeong Hoon..."

Seo Hyejin looked glad to hear it, yet regret still colored her expression. Hmm? Had I been too businesslike? Then again, I didn't really have anything else to say.

"Jeong Hoon, even though... we promised we'd meet again... you never know how things will turn out in this world..."

As she mumbled on, a faint flush rose in Seo Hyejin's cheeks.

What is this, really? She looks so hesitant—

Smack!

Wha—?!?!

"Y-y-you...!"

Sora's voice, thick with outrage, seeped into my left ear.

But I had no room to react to it.

I myself had gone blank for a moment at Seo Hyejin's sudden move.

"Oh my...!"

"Hyejin, that girl... she's been waiting for a chance!"

"That's only going to make it harder to let go. Sigh..."

It was only on the cheek—but she had kissed me.

I had already decided Seo Hyejin was not someone to take lightly, and she had just proven it again.

"Don't get too comfortable settling down in Seoul, okay? You have to think of us too~"

I had no idea what kind of weird aegyo that was supposed to be.

We were going to come back eventually anyway.

Barely managing to soothe a teeth-grinding Han Sora, we climbed into the minivan.

"Take care!"

"We have to meet again!"

"Unnie, stay healthy!"

"Bring ice cream when you come back!"

"Do you seriously have to say crap like that right now?"

"What? I really want some!"

Hearing that made me want some too.

April 20th, 12:20 a.m.

Following the main road out of XX-gu, we finally crossed the boundary of the Clean Zone completely.

At last—twenty days after the end of the world began—I was free of XX-gu.

The road ahead stretched wide open.

More precisely, zombies were sparse, and monsters were almost nowhere to be seen. Even with the minivan's headlights on full blast, the fact that they only appeared here and there meant their numbers had dropped significantly.

"Looks like clearing out the nearby monsters and zombies over the past few days really paid off."

"Indeed. It seems certain they do not spawn infinitely."

I had heard that zombies rose from human corpses, while monsters were summoned from some other dimension.

In other words, there was a limit to their numbers. If that weren't the case, this road would already be crawling with freshly "respawned" monsters and zombies raising hell all over again.

"That's a relief, unnie! Getting to Seoul might be way easier than we thought!"

"I see..."

Park Seeun spoke to Kim Seyeon with a deliberately bright face. Part of it was focus on the road while driving, but Seyeon only answered briefly, her expression deeply solemn.

She hadn't had the luxury of dwelling on it while buried in work these past days—but now that we were actually heading there, the worry was clearly catching up to her.

Her feelings for her family. Were they safe and well? Was the house all right? It was a hollow, helpless kind of anxiety—the kind you couldn't casually point out.

She had endured more than a week by deliberately refusing to imagine anything worse. In a way, it had been something close to unconscious self-hypnosis.

A truth she didn't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠want to accept—not until she saw it with her own eyes.

"I just hope we don't run into any unexpected monsters on the way."

"I can only agree."

Park Seeun leaned back into her seat and voiced the wish; I seconded it.

I sat in the passenger seat beside Kim Seyeon, while Han Sora and Park Seeun took the back. Sora was, of course, staring out the window in sulky silence, not saying a word.

Yeah. She's still furious about Seo Hyejin's little stunt earlier.

I was just starting to plan how I'd properly soothe her once we reached Seoul when—

"S-S-Seeun-ah... I th-think you jinxed it!?"

Han Sora looked back and forth between me and Seeun with a faintly horrified expression as she spoke.

She was pointing somewhere outside the window.

Clop, clop...!

I heard it. A sound I'd heard not long ago. The sound of hooves striking the earth.

For a second I thought another Skeleton Knight might be nearby, and my eyes snapped around.

...No. It wasn't. Just several horses with manes ablaze and eyes gleaming red, galloping toward us. What, is that all?

...But why the hell are they so fast? And why are they charging this way?!

"Sora!"

"D-don't worry, oppa!"

Sora already had her bow leveled through the narrow gap of the window. Park Seeun had instantly scrambled into the rearmost seat, freeing up space—though it was still cramped from Sora's perspective!

Even as I called out to Sora, I quickly prepared a cast.

My eyes flicked to the dashboard. We were already past 70 km/h.

And yet those blazing horses—the Hellhorses—were matching the minivan's speed without the slightest sign of fatigue.

Oh, for fuck's sake! I get that they're fantasy horses, but still...! Aren't they cheating?! How are they this fast and full of energy?!

"Arrows, punish my foes!"

With the cast complete, I loosed Magic Arrows. At Mage level 7, the spell fired four bolts at once.

"Hiiiihiiing!"

One horse took all four Magic Arrows in rapid succession and went down hard.

But the rest simply raced past their fallen comrade without a second glance and closed in on our minivan until they were practically under our chin.

Fucking beasts with zero camaraderie!

"Take this!"

Right after me, Sora fired arrows out the window from her cramped seat. It must have been the Archer skill Multi-Shot—several shafts streaked toward the horses.

Thud, thud, thud!

"Hiihing!"

"Hiiiing!"

Three more went down in an instant.

The problem was that the rest still closed on our minivan without a shred of fear.

No—they had already reached the windows.

WHAM! THUD!

"Kyaaak!"

"Kyak!"

Lurch, lurch!

The chassis shook violently. The bastards were body-slamming the minivan from both sides.

Are you kidding me? Consecutive ramming attacks at this speed? In the real world, a collision like that would wreck both sides.

Thankfully, Kim Seyeon never let go of the wheel and smoothly dropped our speed below 30 km/h, minimizing the impact!

I had no choice. I shoved my hand into the Feather Bag and pulled out a shop-bought iron sword.

Ugh, this seat is way too narrow! Not that I planned to fight from inside it. Physically impossible anyway.

Without hesitation, I rolled down my window.

Fwoooosh!

"Kh...!"

Oh, for fuck's sake! That mane is actually on fire!

These absurdly fantasy-ass horses were something else. Not that I had any right to complain, being a magic-user myself!

"Kim Seyeon, reduce speed as much as you can. But do not stop."

"W-what are you planning to do!?"

"Just do as I say for now."

Trusting she would follow orders, I leaned out the window. Screams of "Oppa!?" and "Jeong Hoon!?" erupted inside the car, but I ignored them and hauled myself up onto the roof.

On the dark nighttime highway, with no obstacles in sight, only us and a pack of horses raced along the moonlit road. As our speed dropped, the horses closed in from front, back, left, and right, surrounding us.

Good. Thanks for gathering yourselves up so nicely!

I glanced at my shoes. Decent quality sneakers from a sports shop near home—but if I landed on those flaming manes in these, they'd burn right through.

But...!

"Mysterious armor of power, protect me!"

A soft blue-white light wrapped around my entire body, then faded. The instant it did, I kicked off the roof and leapt.

Agility 18—put to full use.

First, the right side. The moment my foot landed on the first horse, I swept the iron sword across its neck.

Slash!

Then I stepped straight onto the back of the horse beside it. Another slash!

The instant my foot touched the last remaining horse on the right, I pushed off hard, spun backward, and vaulted.

Thud—I landed back on the roof. From start to finish, the whole sequence had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠taken exactly five seconds.

Thud! Whump!

The two horses whose throats I'd cut crashed down behind us.

Even at a mere 10 to 20 km/h, they fell away in an instant. Ah—and the one left on the right—

"Sleep!"

I sent it to join its friends with a Sleep spell.

Thud!

It wouldn't die, but it wouldn't be chasing us anytime soon either.

Now then...

"Exactly eight remaining."

The horses ahead, behind, and to the left seemed rattled; I could see them pulling back. Moonlight and the car's headlights made it clear.

But—

"It's already too late...!"

These horses were irritating, but they had also taught us a valuable lesson.

Outside the Clean Zone, there was no room for leisure.

...

Fifteen Hellhorses slain! 938 EXP and 75 gold per person!

And a Mage class level-up on top of it!

Thanks, you horse-brained bastards!

Never show your faces again! Please!