The Uninvited Guest
Shelters are, by nature, competitors.
Perhaps it was only natural that no one showed up, but I couldn't help the wave of disappointment that washed over me.
“Maybe they didn't see the posters?” Han Jiyoung suggested.
Small and medium-sized shelters never reveal their locations. It was a sensitive issue—so sensitive that if a location were leaked, it would often trigger an immediate relocation of the entire base to avoid the risk of attack.
Because of this, we had only posted the notices near the perimeters of their suspected activity zones. There was no way to know if they had read them and ignored them, or if they simply hadn't seen them at all.
“Just getting them to show their faces is a hurdle in itself.”
“I’ll go put up more. If they read them, surely at least one person will come, right?”
“Let me see the text on the poster again.”
[Notice from XX Shelter. We are hosting a meeting for representatives of each shelter. Weapons are prohibited, and attendance is limited to two people per group.]
[Location: 1st Floor, Jeil Plaza, Exit 3, Ibong Station]
[Time: May 17th, 1:00 PM]
“Hmm… looking at it again, I don’t think I’d come either.”
“Why not?”
“It doesn’t say which shelter is hosting, weapons are banned, and there’s a two-person limit. Just reading the text, it sounds incredibly suspicious.”
“But it was the best we could do.”
Han Jiyoung was right. Because the posters were visible to the general public, we couldn't write anything too specific. We couldn't include details like proposing an alliance or offering supplies—anything that Gusan shouldn't see.
The reason we couldn't reveal our shelter's name was for the same reason.
“Is an alliance really impossible? Why don’t we think of another way?”
“No. To keep both the Alpha and Gusan in check at the same time, an alliance is our only option.”
“But…”
Han Jiyoung thought for a moment, then clapped her hands together as if a brilliant idea had struck her.
“Kang Jinho! Why don’t we just ask that guy? Gusan knows the locations of all the small and medium shelters.”
“It’s been a while since he last answered the radio.”
“Really? Is that bastard cutting us off?”
“I don’t think he’s in a situation where he can answer.”
Whenever Kang Jinho answered the radio, he was always outside the shelter. It would be difficult for him to receive secret transmissions while inside the base. As long as I held his weakness, he wouldn't be able to cut ties with me; it was more likely that he was currently unable to conduct any outside activities.
‘That means the reset operation worked to some extent.’
We had to complete the alliance while Gusan was in chaos. Considering their firepower and scale, we didn’t have much time.
In the end, there was only one option left.
“I have to track their locations.”
“Excuse me…? Senior, you’ll get shot if you do that.”
“I just have to make sure they don’t notice.”
“Even small shelters have decent security systems. Look at us—we’d be fried to a crisp if we tried to sneak in.”
Right on cue, Hwang Gyunam walked into the main auditorium. I approached him and asked point-blank.
“Tell me everything you know about the other shelters.”
“Huh? Why?”
“Just tell me.”
“I haven’t seen them myself, but these are just things I heard around Gusan.”
“That’s fine.”
“Hmm. Well, for starters, they say the Solarium Shelter is on top of a high-rise apartment complex. It seems they have limits on how much electricity they can generate with solar panels. The size is roughly 15 people?”
I could start there.
As I turned to leave, Han Jiyoung quickly followed.
“Then take me with you.”
“Will you be of any help?”
“Someone has to clean up your corpse, Senior.”
“That’ll be a huge help.”
I left the shelter with Han Jiyoung. Ahead of us, Do-jin trotted along with his tail held high. Once we were a fair distance from the shelter, Han Jiyoung asked in a worried tone.
“But, Senior. You know what this implies, right?”
“What?”
“The act of trying to find their locations is, in itself, a declaration of war.”
“Let them think what they want.”
“…You really didn’t know.”
“You can go back now if you want.”
Han Jiyoung quickened her pace, as if to say that wasn't happening.
We didn’t know the exact locations of the shelters, but we knew their general operational ranges. It was an unspoken rule for shelters to set search zones so they wouldn’t overlap. As Han Jiyoung said, we hadn't tried to find them because the act itself was seen as a provocation, but if we put in the legwork, we could find them easily—just like Gusan had.
“It’s around here, right?”
“Yes, that’s right. What are you planning to do now? You can’t climb all these apartment buildings.”
We had arrived at a densely packed apartment complex. Since the buildings were at least 15 stories high, even someone with superhuman stamina couldn't check more than a few in a day.
“I’m going to narrow down the candidates after a preliminary screening. You understand, right?”
“Well, mostly.”
“From now on, we need to minimize our exposure. There’s probably a guard post on the middle floors. We don’t know who might be watching.”
Han Jiyoung nodded. It’s convenient being from the same training facility; she can easily grasp what I’m thinking.
After hopping over a wall and entering the first apartment building, Han Jiyoung signaled me.
“Not this one.”
“Good.”
The method for narrowing down candidates was simple. First, we checked the dust on the stairs and railings. Dust, like sedimentary layers, is a record of time and doesn't lie. Areas with frequent movement wouldn't have dust buildup, and places visited recently would have relatively clear marks.
“This one’s a bust, too.”
“Next.”
That was how we began our primary classification. Thanks to Do-jin, we didn't have to worry about zombie ambushes, which made the difficulty feel significantly lower.
“Senior.”
At the eighth apartment building, Han Jiyoung lowered her voice. The dust was wiped away in patches, and there were muddy footprints visible.
“Let’s do a secondary screening here.”
“Understood.”
I installed a tripwire in the middle of the stairs. It was set at a height where it would inevitably be triggered by anyone passing through. I peeled back the tape and attached it thinly so there was no tension, securing the wire. If I were to set a booby trap, I would use the same method to attach the wire to a grenade pin so that it would pull out when triggered.
“Done.”
“Let’s move to the next one. We have a long way to go.”
Apartment complexes have clear pros and cons as shelter sites. They are advantageous for defense because they can become concrete fortresses, but they are vulnerable to enemies sneaking in like us because visibility is severely limited. Above all, while living on high floors reduces the chance of being attacked, it requires several times the effort to scavenge for supplies and conduct searches.
Considering these aspects, the character of a shelter can be inferred just by their choice of location. The leader of Solarium was likely a cautious type. Conversely, leaders like Oh Junghwan, who openly chose ground-level sites, were likely aggressive and highly competitive.
That meant persuading Solarium would be the most difficult of the four shelters.
“Senior, slow down a little.”
“We don’t have time. We have to hurry.”
Before we knew it, the sun began to set. The clock read 4:30 PM. We had only completed secondary screening on five locations, and in terms of the entire complex, our progress was less than 30 percent.
Han Jiyoung was rubbing her lower back, fully realizing the hell that was Seoul’s apartment landscape.
“I’m seriously going to die of exhaustion. I’ve been walking hunched over so much I think my spine is going to snap.”
“I’ll tape it up for you.”
“We have to do this tomorrow, too, right? No, wait, we have to do this for at least two more days.”
“You’re the one who said you’d do it. You die if you’re absent.”
“…So annoying.”
It was just as hard for me. I was jumping around the exterior walls like a ninja, checking for traces, and running again. If you didn't get tired from a forced march without even a break, you weren't human.
“Eat this.”
“Huh?”
On our way back to the shelter, Han Jiyoung handed me a chocolate bar the size of a finger. It was the two chocolate bars issued by the shelter for outside activities, and this brief moment of eating was our lunch break.
Han Jiyoung was chewing on hers, having already popped one into her mouth.
“I’m giving this to you as a special favor, Senior. We’re in a relationship where we share even a single bean, right?”
“I already ate earlier.”
“Huh? When? We didn’t even have a lunch break.”
“I just ate in between.”
“Wow, you starved me and ate by yourself?”
“You should have been observant. Why are you so dense?”
“…So damn annoying.”
Han Jiyoung grumbled and snatched the chocolate back. She shoved it into her mouth, threw the wrapper on the ground, and took the lead.
***
“Instructor, the shelter leader said to come to the main auditorium as soon as you arrive.”
“Ah, okay.”
As soon as I arrived at the shelter, the sentries spoke to me. When I entered the auditorium, Oh Junghwan, Hwang Gyunam, and the search team members who had arrived earlier all had grim expressions on their faces.
‘What happened now?’
Oh Junghwan was staring intently at a piece of paper, and when he saw me, he handed it over.
“What is this?”
“The search team found it. They said it was at the spot where we put up the poster.”
“Hmm?”
It was a crumpled A4 sheet with words written in black permanent marker. The handwriting was so atrocious that it took me a moment to understand the content.
[I am the leader of Koisa. Let’s see the face of the guy who stuck this up. Same place, tomorrow at 1.]
“Stuck…?”
“I’ve never heard of Koisa.”
“Is it a new shelter?”
“I don’t know. Sometimes they come over from other regions. The Gwangmyeong Shelter you’re trying to contact is one of those cases.”
If being able to exude ignorance in a single sentence is a talent, then they certainly had it. I looked at the paper once more and shook my head.
“I can just ignore this, right?”
“That’s your choice. I’m still against the idea of forming an alliance.”
Within Osori Shelter, Han Jiyoung was the only one who supported the alliance. Hwang Gyunam supported it on the surface but didn't provide active help. He seemed to think that while he wanted to save face for his partner, the odds were slim.
I understood that perfectly, so I had no intention of holding a grudge.
What mattered now was that all the authority and responsibility for forming the alliance rested with me.
“We’re in a situation where every single person counts. I’ll go meet them.”
“It might be a trap.”
“You weren’t going to help me anyway, right?”
“Being against the alliance doesn’t mean I won’t help you. No one here will refuse your request. The same goes for me.”
“I appreciate the sentiment, but I’ll go alone. It’s not like having more people will change anything.”
I said my goodbyes and was about to leave when Han Jiyoung chased after me. Her eyes were sparkling, as if asking if there was anything she could do. It worked out well, as I had intended to call her anyway.
“Jiyoung.”
“Yes, Senior! It’s Han Jiyoung, the one who shares even a single bean! I’m so excited about this new shelter!”
“Go to the apartment complex alone tomorrow.”
“…Excuse me?”
“You can do it alone. I’ll specially let you take Do-jin, so take him with you.”
“Are you going alone, Senior? Who’s going to clean up your corpse?”
“My corpse? Or yours?”
Han Jiyoung glared at me with all her might as I walked away, but I lightly ignored her and returned to my hideout. The next day, when I arrived at the meeting spot, I felt a strange sense of crisis. It was a wide-open indoor plaza, but it was pitch black, as if they had deliberately covered the windows so not a single ray of light could enter.
“Hey! You’ve got guts! Did you come alone?”
I looked toward the voice. A sturdy man wearing a motorcycle helmet and goggles was waving from behind a pillar.