The Walls Have Ears (4)
There was a mammal flying through the daytime sky.
It was no bird. It was a creature that had thoroughly mixed the traits of a rat and a bird — a bat.
Despite being a nocturnal animal, the creature flew freely through the broad daylight of Seoul. Then it hung upside down from a utility pole and fixed its gaze on a stretch of street somewhere below.
Several humans were there. Among them was the party the bat had taken in with its own two eyes the night before — one male and three females.
And that male had, in an instant, subdued the various other males fawning in front of him and slammed them into the ground. After that, he seized one of them by the arm and, with a display of monstrous strength, hoisted him into the air so that he dangled like a hanging ornament. When the strong male then bellowed a warning at them, the weak ones scattered in every direction in utter panic.
Having watched the entire sequence, the bat took to the sky once more.
Its destination was set. It beat its wings not toward Gangnam, but toward the skies of Gangbuk.
It had information it needed to deliver to its master.
After delivering a thorough bit of "justice" to the bandits, we pressed on.
An hour later, we arrived at a park built along the banks of the Han River. Naturally, the Han River Park of a ruined world was deserted even at midday.
Aside from a scant few zombies and monsters shambling about, it was desolation itself.
"There it is. The building that's practically the symbol of Yeouido. The ST Building."
The landmark we would use as a guide on our way to Yeouido stood there in plain, imposing sight.
That tall golden building completed in the 1980s, the ST Building, had once been as much a symbol of Yeouido as anything. Of course, there was another symbol of similar stature but different height — the National Assembly Building. Either way, so long as we kept it in mind and followed the Han River west, we would be fine.
We hurried our steps with the easy air of people out for a stroll through the park.
Thwack! Thud!
Fwoosh! Crack!
"Kieeeeek!"
"Uwoork!?"
Of course, anything that caught our eye along the way, we destroyed outright… clearing every obstacle from the path ahead as we advanced.
Monsters like goblins that happened to pass nearby all met sudden, screaming deaths at the hands of Han Sora's bow.
Wearing the Master's Work Gloves and drawing whatever bow she pulled out, Han Sora was almost reminiscent of a professional archer.
No — she was better than that. She sniped monsters and zombies that had to be more than five hundred meters away and blew their heads clean off in an instant.
Close range? With me and Park Seeun taking the lead, nothing could stop us. Not zombies. Not monsters. No one!
…Even so, we couldn't afford to run wild without restraint.
"Mom, why are you covering my ears?"
"Because there's a loud noise, Minji."
There was a child with us. Fighting at close quarters would mean putting the sight of filthy zombie and monster heads bursting open on full display right in front of a little girl's eyes. Back when we'd rescued the survivors from Daengdaeng Elementary School, we'd done our best to avoid zombies and monsters for the same reason.
If the children startled and started crying or screaming, that only made things worse. Adults could at least keep their wits about them and clap a hand over their own mouths — kids couldn't manage that so easily. Especially not in an age when even the grown-ups were too busy looking after themselves.
"Kururuk! What the hell are these humans!? Disgustingly reckle— kuheeeeek!"
"Kuiiiiiigh!?"
Thanks to all that, Han Sora's contribution to the journey toward Yeouido was enormous. A few orcs had been bold enough to try approaching us.
Their fate was a single ending: necks blown clean off at considerable range by the rapid-fire arrows Han Sora loosed.
"There are still quite a few monsters and zombies left in this area. Could they be… clustered around Yeouido, maybe?"
"Mm. I only hope an Area Boss hasn't taken up residence there."
Just as Kim Seyeon said, the closer we drew to Yeouido, the more suddenly the appearances of monsters and zombies increased.
There had always been some wandering the surroundings, but relatively few, and not particularly aggressive. The nearer we got to Yeouido, though, the more frequently monsters and zombies began to show themselves and close in.
As a result, my anxiety only grew heavier. One wrong move and the entire plan could be wiped clean off the board. And yet the one who pushed back against that anxiety of mine was none other than Kim Seyeon.
"No, I don't think that's the case. An Area Boss is far more likely to be in Gangbuk — across the river — than in Yeouido or Gangnam."
"Hm? Why is that?"
"Let's assume what those bandits said was true. If most of the monsters and zombies crossed over into Gangbuk, that means something over there is exerting an influence that draws them north, doesn't it? Second reason… those bandits earlier. They may have been thieving, but they were roaming around Gangnam fairly freely, weren't they? If an Area Boss were nesting in Gangnam or Yeouido, that would have been absolutely impossible. Do you remember? When that Skeleton King appeared in XX District. Even though it was early in the collapse… no one even thought about stepping out onto the streets. Honestly, even now, anyone who values their life wouldn't dare. The level gap is night and day."
She was right. Aside from lunatics like me, no one would casually wander the streets. Even when the Skeleton King had properly made its presence known, the other survivors who'd taken shelter in our villa had tried to stop me, calling me reckless — that said it all.
Kim Seyeon's words, which propped up my plan, left me feeling quietly pleased. To have a woman with judgment this sharp at my side…
…Seo Jeonggu, thank you! I can't say it out loud because of Lawful Good, but I'll say it on the inside. Thank you!
What? How dare a homewrecker like me make shameless jokes about a dead man?
Oh, for fuck's sake! You were the one who cheated and died, you bastard!
You should count yourself lucky it ended this well! Go ahead and stick yourself naked to that golf-course owner's daughter up in heaven and screw yourselves silly to your heart's content, you son of a bitch!
Almost nothing remained that could stand between Kim Seyeon and me. I had no hard evidence, but I was instinctively certain of it.
For some reason, I felt sure I could get a kind of permission for two-timing from Han Sora — who was, after all, my lover — far more easily than I'd imagined.
No basis for it at all, but Sora clearly felt jealousy and yet was surprisingly soft on Kim Seyeon and Park Seeun, so if I worked that angle carefully—
"O-Oppa… what are you thinking about right now?"
Huk!?
Suddenly Han Sora pressed herself right up against me.
It wasn't a casual lean. She twined her own arm through mine. Ah — Sora's breasts… were touching my arm…!
N-No! That wasn't the point!
"You."
I fired off the answer instantly, leaving everything in the hands of Lawful Good.
I-It wasn't a lie! It was true! I really had been thinking about Han Sora! The motive was impure, sure, but I'd been thinking about Sora! Not guilty!
"Huum… r-really?"
Uheok!? J-Just now… did her eyes narrow a little? They definitely did, right? She's suspicious. Han Sora is — suspicious of me! How outrageous of you, Han Sora (though she has every right to be)!
Could it be that so-called woman's intuition had kicked in? Had she somehow seen through my underhanded desire to build a harem?
"A-Actually… Oppaa… I… walking through the Han River Park like this… I-I suddenly felt like we were on a date…"
Huh? W-What was this…?
Sora started leaning into me quite openly.
A-Ah. Sora. I'm incredibly grateful, but… we're not staying indoors right now. We're walking through a wide-open place like the Han River Park, you know?
Suddenly setting a lovers' mood like this is a little… o-of course I want a proper date as a couple too, but—
"Oppa… listen carefully."
In that moment, Han Sora's whisper reached me — dry, stripped of her usual speech quirks.
Goosebumps shot up my arms. Why — why are you suddenly changing the atmosphere, Sora? This is seriously terrifying!
"On top of a building about five hundred meters southwest of here… someone is watching us. No — they're surveilling us."
My fantasies had been far too simple and narrow-minded.
Han Sora had put on a lovers' mood, but in reality she had approached me with serious business.
It was the moment Sora's fantastic professional instincts truly shone.
"Where are they watching from?"
"Southwest. The upper floors of the hospital at JU University."
JU University. A private university in the northern part of DJ District that you could pass on the way to Yeouido.
Very carefully, I flicked a glance in the direction Sora had indicated. A hospital with a university sign came into view. It was a considerably tall building.
Certainly… from that height, watching us would be more than possible.
"On the floor just below the rooftop of that building… I caught a faint glint of something. At first I thought it was light reflecting off a window… but I spotted what I believe is a telescope."
The fact that Sora had been granted the Sniper subclass under the Archer job was, at this point, fair to call a divine stroke of genius. To pick up even details this fine…
"Can you tell who it is watching us, Sora?"
"That much is hard. They're only sticking a telescope out between the windows."
Even so, it was clearly a suspicious presence. For now they seemed to recognize us as human, but for all we knew it could be a monster attempting reconnaissance.
I carefully called Kim Seyeon and Park Seeun over and whispered the information to both of them. When the two of them startled, I urged them to stay composed.
"For now, it would be best if we take care not to let them know we've noticed the surveillance. Something about this feels off."
"Ah, okay. Hoon Oppa."
"Could there be a group of survivors at JU University too? A university campus would actually be a decent place to live if you fortified it properly."
It was possible. A long time ago — right before I enlisted, actually — I'd read an apocalypse novel where survivors centered themselves on a university and weathered the zombie apocalypse. I was pretty sure there had been a movie along similar lines too.
At any rate, for the moment I decided not to take any action against that watcher. Not that there was much I could do anyway.
What would turning toward JU University even accomplish? March over, occupy the campus, and just make it our base?
Hm? That was a plan I'd just spun up on the spot, but it was more tempting than expected.
…No. I couldn't do that. I wasn't heading to Yeouido simply to claim a base — or just to fulfill the desire I'd been nursing in my heart.
Minsu.
Son Minsu.
I recalled the name of the friend I'd forgotten while my head was full of everything around us.
It had already been nearly ten days since I'd seen that message.
I wasn't asking for much. I only hoped he was still alive.
And a short while later—
"We're here!"
"Hoo…"
The ST Building we'd used as a landmark while walking along the riverbank now stood quite close. To the north, a railway bridge spanning the Han River came into view.
"Where did you say your friend was hiding?"
"Finance Road. Basement level two of the ◆◆ Bank building."
Taking in the sight of the XX Building, which still maintained a remarkably intact exterior without having collapsed, I answered Kim Seyeon's question.
JU University. One of the well-known private universities in DJ District, Seoul.
On the floor just below the rooftop of JU University Hospital — the tallest building on that campus — silence hung thick. Despite being a hospital, there were almost no people, and it served no function as a shelter.
The stairwells had been packed tight with hospital beds, equipment, and university lecture tools so that climbing up from the lower floors would be difficult.
Inside that space — far too large for a single person to occupy — someone lingered alone, peering through a telescope past the window, and let a voice slip out.
"Huum~ No matter how I look at it, I think I've been made."
A woman with short black hair, the ends lightly waved, curled the corner of her mouth. It was a smile unmistakably laced with delight.
In this wretched, ruined world, the number of people who could wall themselves into a high-rise alone and still wear a cheerful smile would be vanishingly small. And yet, remarkably, she was alone — occupying the top floor of the hospital by herself — even whistling as she savored her enjoyment.
She wore a doctor's coat that had once been white but was now rather yellowed and worn in places. Beneath the coat she had on a seductive black dress with a rather deep plunge at the chest.
Mischief danced in her red eyes. After watching the scene beyond the telescope, she sprang up from where she'd been sitting with a pak, showing off the smooth thighs beneath her short skirt (though there was no one there to see).
"Heheheung~ In that case… I guess I'll just go find them myself!"
Yun Mina, the uninvited guest who had seized the upper floors of the university hospital, was a woman who knew how to reach a refreshingly decisive conclusion.
It was thanks to that same refreshing decisiveness that she had parted ways with her companions and ended up staying alone on the hospital's top floor — but that was another matter entirely.