Central Library (1)

Central Library (1) — Incheon Central Library

With a brief round of greetings out of the way, the group stepped into the library. Half-shattered picture frames and bloodstains smeared across the walls painted a vivid picture of what this place must have looked like in the immediate aftermath of the apocalypse.

Lee Gyeongmin, who was still dutifully propping me up, noticed me looking around and offered an explanation. "We actually cleaned this up pretty well. In the beginning, the floor was just one solid sheet of red."

"Sounds like you all went through a lot," I replied absently, sweeping my gaze across the entrance hall.

"Sorry, Gaeul. Nothing to show for it."

"It's fine. We've still got a few days of food left. As long as you're back in one piece, that's what matters."

Kang San was filling Gaeul in on what had happened out there when Seo Taesan reached over and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Oh, Taesan."

"I'll take Cheolsu upstairs first. Lee Gyeongmin! You too, get moving."

"......Y-yes? Me?"

"Yes, you. Why have you been clinging to the new guy like a cockroach this whole time? I told you to report immediately if he got hurt."

"H-haha. Sorry, boss."

With an awkward laugh, Lee Gyeongmin limped up the stairs after Seo Taesan.

Off you go, you walking exposition dump. He smelled like ass, but I was a little grateful.

Still, could there really be so few people left in a building this size? For a group occupying an entire structure, the numbers I could account for felt far too thin. I kept my eyes locked on the stairs Taesan's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠crew had climbed, but no one else came down.

"Um... Mr. Guwon?"

Kang San's voice carried over. "Yes. Finished your chat?"

"Haha... Gaeul, uh, wants a word with you."

Behind the sheepishly smiling Kang San stood Seong Gaeul, arms crossed, regarding me in silence.

Hm. Something about this atmosphere feels off. The look in her eyes reminded me of the convenience store owner from my job interview days.

"Yes, what can I do for you?"

"...You said you came from Hanmaum Apartment?"

"That's right."

"As far as I know, rescue teams went there too. Why did you stay behind at the apartment?"

My, someone has a lot of questions. Her large eyes were brimming over with suspicion and doubt.

"Do you watch a lot of zombie movies?"

"......Sorry, what?"

"It's a classic zombie apocalypse trope — everyone who evacuates to a shelter ends up dead."

"...Are you seriously talking about movies right now?"

"I am. Is there a problem?"

"...Hah."

When I asked back with genuine puzzlement, Gaeul let out a hollow laugh, her face full of disbelief.

"G-Gaeul... I'll go check everything myself..."

"San, you stay out of this. We did the Yoon Ayoung thing your way, remember? This kind of thing is exactly what you verify thoroughly."

"...Yeah, okay."

Come to think of it, where had our Ayoung wandered off to? At some point she'd vanished like a ghost.

Seong Gaeul took a single step toward me, arms still folded. The crossed arms pushed her chest up and out, and my eyes kept drifting there despite myself. Now that I looked, her outfit made no sense for the situation at all — a pink blouse, a fluttery white tennis skirt, and black flats. Dark stains and dried blood marked the fabric here and there, but they couldn't dull what lay underneath.

In short: she was fucking gorgeous.

"Hanmaum Apartment is a good distance from here, and yet your clothes look brand new?"

"Yes. I'm friends with the zombies. I said hello and they politely saw me off."

"......Whaaat?!"

I flashed a bright smile at her expression of utter disbelief and went on. "I understand perfectly well what kind of situation this is. Everything must look suspicious to you. I think it's entirely natural to keep your guard up around a stranger you've never met."

I put on the face of a man who understood everything, then continued. "So give me time to earn your trust. Of course, until then — post a watcher on me, or take whatever similar measures you see fit. I'll bear it all without complaint."

"...I was being too snippy. I apologize for that."

Smiling, I watched her give a small bow. The crew neckline of her blouse gaped open for a heartbeat, baring the pale skin of her upper chest.

F-fuck... incredible.

"Hahahaha, Gaeul's just slow to warm up to people. Go on up for ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠now. There are people I need to introduce you to, and places too."

Apparently satisfied that the situation had wound down, Kang San hurriedly took my arm and started up the stairs. Behind us, Gaeul was still watching me with eyes full of unanswered questions, her gaze distinctly unpleasant.

Had anyone else worn that look, I'd have torn the eyes right out of their sockets — but beauty forgives all things. A pretty woman gets a pass.

Ah, of course, with the caveat that she'd be pinned down by me.

"One basement floor, five above ground. The basement used to be a convenience store, but it's been pitch dark since the power went out, so it's useless now. Don't go down there."

The second floor, he added, had no purpose at the moment and sat unused.

"The third floor used to be one big reading room, but when everyone gathered up here we cleared the whole thing out."

The third floor, which by rights should have been packed wall-to-wall with countless shelves and books, had been transformed into a wide open space. In the right-hand corner stood a long table stacked with rations — dried goods, snacks, that sort of thing — and in the center, a long desk surrounded by chairs.

"We used to eat together down in the basement, but now we eat here. Two meals a day — ten in the morning and four in the afternoon."

"Ugh, owwww, it h-hurts! Taesan-hyung! I'm telling you it hurts!"

"Geez, you little shit. Quit squealing like a girl the whole time. What are you, Guan Yu? The man let them scrape the bone without a peep."

Seo Taesan was bending and twisting Lee Gyeongmin's folded-up leg this way and that, examining it. And beside Kim Cheolsu, whose broken arm dangled loosely, another woman was bustling about.

"...Who's that?"

"Oh, that's Kim Eunbyeol, the librarian. Feel free to just call her Librarian."

And here I'd wondered if she was a doctor, seeing her tend to the wounded. Watching her immobilize the dangling arm with a book and bind it in tape — the most old-fashioned splinting method there is — I could safely say she was not. Applying compression like that would probably only make things worse.

Not that it was any business of mine.

Once she'd finished the rough-and-ready first aid, Librarian Kim Eunbyeol came over to us. Between the glasses and everything else, she had an intellectual air about her. Judging by her face alone... early thirties?

"You went out to scavenge food and came back with an extra mouth to feed."

"Haha, I'll try pushing a little farther out tomorrow."

"Whatever. Just don't die. Anyway — I'm Kim Eunbyeol. I'm the one who looks older here, so I'll talk to you casually."

"Oh, I'd only be grateful if you did. I'm Han Guwon."

"Guwon? Religious family?"

"Ah, no, not at all."

"Good to hear. I'm non-religious — especially in a situation like this. Anyway, let's get along."

Having made her acquaintance far more smoothly than with Gaeul, we arrived at the final floor. "The fifth floor is just the rooftop, so you needn't worry about it. Uh... by any chance, how old are you?"

Wow. Straight for the throat. Once again I found myself marveling at the great Confucian order of South Korea, where even in the middle of the goddamn apocalypse your age still mattered. I opened my mouth. "Me? Twenty-seven."

"...Huh. You really don't look it."

"That's a rather predictable compliment. Thank you all the same."

"Hahaha, I'm twenty-three. Speak casually to me, hyung."

Looking at the sweetly smiling Kang San, I decided this guy had absolutely taken a bullet to the head. The leader of the entire group, calling the fresh newcomer 'hyung'? A level of thinking I simply could not comprehend.

"Well then, casual it is."

"Phew. Now I can finally breathe a little. The fourth floor used to be the digital archive, but we cleared it out and turned it into private spaces where people can rest."

"Private spaces?"

"Nothing so grand — just spots to sleep in. The general archive goes to the men, the digital archive to the women."

"Is there anyone else here I haven't met?"

"Nope, the librarian's the last of them. There used to be a lot more of us but... a few, disagreements came up, and they left for one of the shelters."

Watching Kang San trail off vaguely, I did the math.

So the total headcount of this camp, myself included, was eight. Almost laughably small. Well, whatever — the plan was to make believers out of whoever proved useful and farm the rest anyway. If my telekinesis leveled up high enough, I'd be able to lift myself and another person at the same time. Then I could just go flying around and hook whatever humans I spotted like a fisherman hauling in his catch.

"Hmm... this spot can be yours, hyung."

It was clearly a space someone had lived in before — a small nook walled off on both sides by bookshelves, a single blanket strewn about with a book lying there that had evidently been pressed into service as a pillow.

"The, uh... ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠we don't have many blankets to spare. Nothing I can do about it."

"Relax, I'm not the type to fuss over cold rice versus warm."

"Haha, that's a relief. I'll head back down then — see you on the third floor at four. Oh, and there's a clock up there on the wall."

Pointing one last time at the clock hanging in the center of the wall, Kang San waved and disappeared. Undoubtedly giving me time to prepare this and that.

"Alright. Let's get started."

I confirmed the skill on my status window one more time, then activated it.

I gave a nod, and a warning window popped up like an alert box.

Yeah. Like I said.

Ah, here it was — the single most agonizing moment of any RPG. Fuck, nothing annoyed me more than having to come up with a name. The one silver lining was that religion names surely had no duplicates to worry about. Not that I had any grand ambitions for the thing anyway. I just mashed together the name of the apartment I'd lived in with my own.

"Hanmaum Guwon Cult."

The moment the flood of notifications finished barraging my eyes, that familiar interface settled into the upper right corner of my vision.

"Wow, this is... insane?"

At present, everyone except two people was gathered on the third floor. One of those two was me, on the fourth-floor general archive. The other was Yoon Ayoung, who had quietly holed up in the fourth-floor women's restroom.

I could feel it — telekinesis and mana, both doubled in an instant. From this moment on, there was not a soul inside the library who could stop me.

Checking my status window as I went, I set off toward the women's restroom.