Ability Enhancement
So-hye stared blankly at the screen. She slowly raised her head until our eyes met, then smiled awkwardly and held out her hand.
“Aren’t you going to take it?”
I’d expected her to snatch it up right away, but to my surprise she hesitated.
“I’m just so flustered… I hoped we’d get through, but I never thought it would be this fast. And it’s a little scary, too.”
“Scary?”
“…The world’s like this now, so Hyo-jin unnie must have changed to survive. And honestly, there’s no guarantee this call is even from her.”
She had a point. Whoever was on the other end of the line, it almost certainly wasn’t the person So-hye remembered.
“Still, you should answer, right?”
“Yes. That would be best.”
She moved her finger and pressed the call button, then carefully brought the phone to her ear.
“…Hello?”
So-hye’s eyes widened again. She beamed and nodded at me.
“Unnie. You’re alive…! Me? I suddenly thought of you and sent the message.”
I felt like I ought to give them space, so I quietly rose from the chair. As I began preparing dinner, So-hye bowed her head apologetically.
“Just for today, please.”
“Yes.”
She looked so happy I couldn’t make her hang up over something as trivial as dinner. More than anything, So-hye—who had seemed so fragile ever since we’d been cut off—was finally looking a little more stable.
“So at first I really thought I was going to die… It was so scary I stayed home for over a week, you know?”
Even when dinner was ready she still couldn’t hang up. Instead, like a carefree child, she barely touched her food while the conversation rolled on.
“Huh? I’m currently…”
Her hand suddenly froze. Then her gaze swung to me. So-hye hesitated a moment, held the phone away, and asked in a small voice,
“She’s asking where I am right now. Is it okay to tell her?”
Even with a close unnie she was being careful. I raised my internal evaluation of So-hye another notch and shook my head.
“It’s best not to reveal our location any more than necessary. Especially since there are a lot of useful things here.”
Of course she might have asked out of pure goodwill. Still, sharing information here was a bad idea.
“…Okay.”
So-hye nodded and resumed the call.
“Uh, I’m still in the studio apartment you visited once. Is it dangerous? Well, since it’s the Studio Apartment Area, there are quite a few zombies on the streets. Yeah, yeah.”
I shoveled kimchi fried rice into my mouth and half-listened. Not that I had a choice; the conversation was impossible to ignore.
“Someone I’m with?”
As I continued eating in silence, So-hye’s eyes found me again. I gave a small nod, and she smiled as she answered.
“Of course there is. Someone who shared food with me and even gave me a weapon. Yeah. Naturally, a lifesaver!”
Hearing her put it that way left me a little proud. In truth it had been a trade of food for sex, but So-hye clearly had no intention of mentioning that part either.
“Where are you right now, Unnie? Huh? E-Mart?”
E-Mart?
She was in a place I never would have guessed.
“There’s only one E-Mart near here. Are you really there? Seriously? Wait, why? That place is packed with people on weekdays and weekends. Yeah, yeah.”
From the snatches I overheard, it sounded like she’d gone to buy blackout curtains and gotten trapped.
Impressive.
Studio Apartment Area versus E-Mart. Which had the higher survival difficulty? No contest—E-Mart.
After all, the place had been swarming with people. Probably on par with, or only a little less crowded than, the department store we’d considered and then abandoned.
Surviving somewhere like that means good initiative, sharp instincts, and a healthy dose of luck on top.
I hadn’t given a single thought to this Han Hyo-jin person before, but the moment I heard she’d made it out of E-Mart alive, curiosity flared hard.
Of course I couldn’t meet her right away, so the interest stayed manageable.
“Yeah. Okay, I’ll hang up. You take care too, Unnie.”
The call stretched on after that and only ended late into the night.
“Satisfied?”
She smiled brightly and nodded.
“Yes. I was so worried about what might have happened to Unnie. But confirming she’s alive like this… I feel a bit relieved. Though the fact that she’s at E-Mart bothers me a little…”
“Is she living alone, or with a group?”
“It’s a bit ambiguous. They’re cooperating, but they don’t all share sleeping quarters. It seemed like each of them has their own zone, and they find food on their own.”
Every man for himself, in other words.
“Have they completely taken over E-Mart?”
“They’ve only secured some of the areas. Even those are held with makeshift barricades, so it’s still unstable.”
“Still, their situation is probably far better than most places. E-Mart has everything you need, and more importantly, food is the last thing they’ll ever worry about.”
“Yeah, that’s true.”
But abundant resources meant greater danger. One loud noise and every zombie packed into the store would come running.
“Do you think we can meet Unnie later?”
“If it’s E-Mart, it’s about an hour and a half from where we originally were, so it’s not impossible.”
Longer than I’d like, but not so far we couldn’t walk it. Of course how we got there mattered more than the raw distance, yet the physical gap was manageable.
“I hope we can meet her someday.”
“Yeah.”
So-hye stood up and began clearing the trash from the camping table. I moved to help, but she firmly shook her head.
“I was originally going to make dinner, but you prepared it, Seong-won. So I should handle this.”
“If that’s how you see it, alright.”
Once the area was cleaned, we headed for the tent pitched in the corner. We spread mats on the floor, brought over pillows and sleeping bags, and lay down.
I stretched out side by side with So-hye. She kept fidgeting, clearly awkward.
“I’ll turn off the lights then.”
“…Okay.”
I switched off the lantern set to one side and slowly closed my eyes. Just as sleep began to pull me under, a soft warmth pressed against my body.
So-hye was clinging to me, eyes locked on mine. She mumbled for a second before whispering,
“I’m a little scared… Can I sleep like this just for today?”
“It’s fine.”
“…Thank you.”
With my permission she burrowed a little closer, and eventually we fell asleep like lovers.
“I think we can escape today.”
We spent two more days at the camping specialty store.
More zombies had wandered into the shop, and once in the early hours the automatic doors had suddenly opened and nearly given us heart attacks, but we made it through unscathed.
And today the crowd of zombies that had clogged the street finally thinned.
“There wasn’t any particularly loud noise, so why did they leave this street?”
“Who knows. They must have behavior patterns we don’t understand yet. From the start, the fact that they keep moving without any energy source doesn’t make sense.”
“That’s true.”
“Let’s eat breakfast and leave right away.”
“Yes.”
We filled up on the usual combat rations, then put on the clothes and gear we’d gathered over the past three days one piece at a time. Finally we shouldered our packs and were ready.
“Let’s move.”
I took the felling sword in one hand and the axe in the other, then walked slowly toward the store entrance.
Whirr—
The automatic doors slid open and a different rotten stench stabbed my nose. Several zombies were visible on the street. There was no real need to engage them, but I wanted to test how much stronger I’d become.
“Wait here a moment.”
“Huh?”
I strode toward the nearest zombie. Before it could turn its head I swung the blade at its neck.
Crack!
A clean, satisfying impact as the edge sank more than halfway through. I hadn’t severed it in one stroke, but the result was still impressive.
Slash!
I tapped the felling sword with the axe; the blade drove deeper and finally took the head clean off. Blood sprayed in every direction as the skull hit the ground.
Nice.
The corners of my mouth lifted and my heart hammered. The vivid sensation still lingering in my fingertips sent a jolt of excitement through me.
Kyaaaaah—!
Maybe it was the noise of the head striking pavement. Two nearby zombies charged at once—one running hard, the other shambling.
A wildly swinging arm. Before, I would have seen it and dodged. Now my body moved first.
Whoosh—
I stepped back a single pace. Watching the hand whistle past by a hair’s breadth, I thrust the felling sword upward.
Thud!
The blade punched under its chin. Confirming it was buried halfway, I brought the axe down on its forehead. The felling sword sank even deeper; I wrenched it free.
Thud!
The corpse didn’t so much as twitch. I spun and brought the axe down in a diagonal arc.
Crack!
The blade sank precisely into the neck. It had been a rough calculation, yet it landed dead-on.
Kyaaaaaah—!
The zombie’s will hadn’t broken; it still stretched out an arm to grab me. I shoved its abdomen hard, yanking the axe free. The body crumpled. Gripping the felling sword reverse-handed, I slammed it straight down.
“Hoo.”
As the zombie died I felt an unidentified power flow into me. I shuddered at the pleasant rush.
I slowly raised my head and scanned the surroundings.
My vision had sharpened. The rotten stench hit even harder, and I could hear the distant cries of zombies farther down the street.
My senses have sharpened.
A change different from anything before.
If I had to guess, killing a certain number of zombies had triggered it. Like a class change in an RPG, maybe?
“Seong-won. Are you okay?”
I turned at the voice beside me. So-hye had somehow drawn close without my noticing and was watching me with a worried face.
“I’m fine. Let’s move again.”
“Yes!”
The brief disorientation from the suddenly heightened senses faded, and anticipation slowly rose in its place.
How much stronger could I still become? What ability would appear next? Would killing humans grant the same power?
I had no answers yet, but one thing was certain: from now on I would not simply walk past anyone who came at me.
Who ate the rat poison?
Suddenly I was burning with curiosity about returning to the studio apartments.