Chapter 16
Chapter 16
Translator: M.N 1391
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Translator : M.N 1391
Title: The Awakened Ones (1)
Chapter: 16
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“Uh… Are you planning to draw the zombies’ attention and reduce their numbers to make an escape?”
Hye-na tilted her head as she replied. Even as she answered, she couldn’t think of any other reason.
“Do you think there aren’t any survivors left in that officetel or nearby?”
Instead of explaining himself, Dae-shik threw another question.
“There··· should be, right? No, there has to be.”
“Then if a swarm of zombies rushes over there, wouldn’t at least some of them have a chance to escape?”
Officetels, apartments, whatever they might be.
In a situation like this, buildings with few exits and hundreds of people living inside them were nothing short of enormous prisons. Long corridors connected one after another, and you’d have to go down the stairs to escape. You couldn’t possibly use the elevator in a situation like this.
“Ah!”
Hye-na unconsciously clapped her hands.
“I see! How did you think of something like that at a time like this... Are you a genius or something?”
Dae-shik gave a faint, wordless smile.
He was confident in his reasoning.
He had a clear basis for it. When the explosion happened, he had seen more than a few people clinging to their windows, looking down below. It hadn’t been long enough for them to run out of food yet. But in a few more days, there would surely be those whose supplies were depleted.
When that time came, what Dae-shik did today might end up saving their lives. Among them, there would definitely be awakened ones.
‘How they use that opportunity is up to them.’
Of course, that was as far as he could go. That was all Dae-shik could do for now.
“So, what should I do from now on?”
Hye-na asked, her eyes sparkling.
In her gaze was an unshakable determination to pull her weight. Her enthusiasm was so overflowing that Dae-shik almost felt pressured.
For a brief moment, an image of Hye-na holding up a bicycle outside flashed through his mind.
‘She would’ve made a pretty good doctor back in peaceful times.’
It was a universal truth that in extreme circumstances, people’s true nature was revealed.
When he thought about what lay at the very bottom of Hye-na’s heart, Dae-shik figured it wasn’t a sewer at least.
‘Still, coming to save someone on a bicycle is a bit much.’
He couldn’t help but worry a little that her overflowing goodwill and pure heart might not always lead to good results.
“While I’m out, things will probably be like today. Depending on the situation, the signals will get more varied. While you’re here, you can help me with making things.”
“What about going to the pharmacy together? You can’t tell the difference between medicines. And we’ll need things like disinfectant and bandages.”
Hye-na asked brightly.
“Well, that sounds a bit too dangerous.”
Dae-shik shook his head.
Having been flatly refused, Hye-na pouted her lips.
“For now, going together is too risky. What if one of us suddenly gets infected?”
Dae-shik gave his reasoning, but…
“Still, if you don’t get bitten, why would you get infected?”
From Hye-na’s perspective, it made no sense. She hadn’t actually seen how an infection started.
She had simply been chased by monsters after work and ended up in this building while fleeing for her life.
“Zombies and infected people are different.”
Dae-shik then briefly explained the traits and the process of infection and zombification.
“Hmm...”
Even after that, Hye-na still didn’t look convinced, resting her chin on her hand and humming thoughtfully.
“You mean, we can’t know when someone will turn into an infected?”
“Yes.”
“Then isn’t that the same for you, Dae-shik?”
At that point, Dae-shik paused to think.
Should he tell her about his ability?
It didn’t take him long to decide.
He remembered her behavior when they first met and how she had risked her life to come save him earlier that day.
He could at least be certain of one thing: she wasn’t the type to betray or stab him in the back when things got bad.
After all, she was someone who had abandoned her own escape just to try to save a stranger from a monster.
“No. I’m not.”
“Why?”
Instead of answering, he pulled a wrench from his vest pocket.
『Activating ability.』
『Transforming shape of Monkey Wrench.』
『The Monkey Wrench becomes stronger.』
He used his ability and altered the wrench’s form.
“Huh?”
Seeing the process of the ability manifesting before her eyes, Hye-na was so shocked that she dropped her spoon.
“Huh? Wh-what is that? Telekinesis? Magic?”
“Someone told me once. People who can see system windows like in a game and use these kinds of abilities, can’t get infected. This is my ability.”
At first, he had dismissed it as nonsense. But once he could actually do things like this himself, there was no way not to believe it.
That was Dae-shik’s explanation.
“I, I see...”
Of course, from Hye-na’s perspective, it wasn’t easy to accept right away.
Not because she thought he was lying, but because what she was seeing was so unrealistic and beyond science that it simply defied comprehension.
After a moment of silence, she finally spoke again. Her expression had brightened compared to before.
“Then that means there must be other people like you out there, right? Other ability users?”
“I haven’t seen any yet. But they’ll appear soon.”
Then Dae-shik warned her with a serious look.
“When you meet people like that...”
“I know, we should be cautious first. Not everyone with powers will be as kind as you.”
Kind person, huh.
That phrase left a bitter taste in his mouth.
“I’m not really a kind person.”
“Well, I think that’s kind enough.”
Dae-shik said nothing more and picked up his spoon again. Whether in Achaia or on Earth, he had never been a good person. He had watched countless people die, over and over again. What he had felt then was not sorrow, but an overwhelming fear and a desperate will to survive.
Any sense of guilt was like an old tool tossed into the corner of a storage room, abandoned in some dark, unseen part of his heart.
And Dae-shik had no desire to dig it up again. Even when he helped others, it was only when circumstances allowed, when their goals aligned with his own.
This time was no different.
First, it was to survive. Second, to increase the survival chances of any awakened ones that might appear in the officetel.
‘I’m not a good person.’
There was no taste in the lunchbox food. It was like chewing rubber, no scent, no flavor, nothing. That same dreadful taste he had grown sick of in Achaia.
Then Hye-na beamed and changed the subject.
“I hope I awaken soon too. I want a flying ability!”
“What?”
“It’s cool, isn’t it? A flying doctor! With my coat fluttering dramatically.”
“Wouldn’t a healing ability be more practical?”
“R-really?”
“Common sense says so.”
“Hmm... You really have no sense of romance, Dae-shik.”
With that, Hye-na picked up her chopsticks and began transferring her side dishes and rice into Dae-shik’s lunchbox.
“Uh? It’s fine.”
“You already finished yours. You look really hungry after running around outside so much.”
Only then did Dae-shik realize his lunchbox was completely empty, so clean it looked licked.
“Hye-na, you...”
“I don’t eat much anyway. Everyone says I’ve got good mileage. I can’t even finish a cup of ramen usually, let alone a convenience store meal.”
Her generosity made Dae-shik involuntarily chuckle.
“You must’ve been really hungry. Or maybe you just like eating that much? You look so happy right now, it’s the brightest expression I’ve seen on you.”
Of course, it wasn’t for the reason she thought.
Thanks to her kindness, he was about to uncover the secret of “power-up.”
“Thank you for the meal.”
And the moment Dae-shik put the food she gave him into his mouth…
『Satiety increases.』
『Current Satiety 80 + 20』
The secret of “Power-Up” was revealed. And once again, an unseen message flowed across Dae-shik’s vision.
『Hidden Message』
『A concealed trait begins to bloom.』
『Trait Manifestation Rate 5%』
* * *
After that, the two divided up the food Dae-shik had scavenged.
“Take more.”
Dae-shik deliberately handed Hye-na the larger share.
At a glance, the ratio was about sixty to forty in her favor.
“Are you seriously doing this after watching me eat earlier?”
As expected, Hye-na immediately handed back nearly thirty to forty percent of her share to him.
Dae-shik had to suppress the grin tugging at his lips.
“Then give me the watch. I’ll take first shift.”
Dae-shik reached out his hand toward her.
Hye-na took the watch off her wrist and handed it over.
“Then I’ll rest for a bit. Please take care.”
With a small bow, Hye-na trotted down to the fourth floor.
Dae-shik moved to the fifth-floor window.
There, he carefully scanned the surroundings, checking for survivors, or whether any zombies were approaching.
Four hours each, alternating shifts of watch duty.
Until a new companion joined them, the two of them would have to guard this safe house in turns.
* * *
The next day, and the day after that.
The two repeated the same routine.
They took turns keeping watch, and during breaks or meal times, Dae-shik even taught Hye-na basic spear techniques.
If she really couldn’t get infected, she would have to go outside someday, and when that time came, she’d need to defend herself at least a little. Aside from that, Dae-shik often went out scavenging for food and clothing. Thanks to the “bombing incident,” the number of nearby zombies had decreased, making looting much easier. Their hand-signal system grew increasingly diverse.
Soon, they could communicate almost everything through gestures alone. And the more accurate and varied the information, the higher the survival rate became.
Today, too, Dae-shik was busy “farming.”
“Oh, this one’s not bad.”
Today’s farming point was an empty house near the safe house.
Though it felt a little like being a burglar, the joy of finding useful items more than made up for any guilt.
In his hands was a portable gas burner, nicknamed a “Blue Star.” They already had pots and frying pans back at the safe house.
The problem had been that they had cooking utensils, but no fire. And now, in this old detached house, he had finally found a Blue Star burner.
‘Ah...’
Dae-shik trembled with emotion, clutching it like some priceless treasure.
Most of humanity’s cooking methods required fire. From that perspective, finding a portable burner was a discovery of incomparable value.
He wrapped it carefully with some clothes he’d found, then packed a few spare shoes into his bag.
He and Hye-na already had enough supplies.
These extras weren’t for them, but for the new awakened ones they might someday take in.
‘Another great haul today.’
Just imagining the growing stash of treasures in the empty units of their safe house filled him with satisfaction.
After finishing his scavenging, Dae-shik started heading back toward the safe house. That was when a white sheet of paper blew in on the wind and caught on his ankle.
He tried to shake it off absentmindedly, but the moment his eyes caught the words written at the top, his body froze solid.
‘Lee Juhun...!’
Translator: M.N 1391