The Theme of the Next Project
“I-I’m so sorry….”
“Don’t worry about it. Glasses break when people drink, that’s life. Is the food alright?”
“Yes, yes…. Thank you.”
As the broken glass lay scattered across the restaurant floor, one of the staff members came by and quietly swept the shards away.
After a brief stretch of silence, the private room grew as loud as if it had never been quiet at all.
“Director!”
“Yes?”
“Even if ACD is doing really well right now, we still have to keep grinding to hold on to that momentum! When exactly are we supposed to find time to prepare a next project?!”
“It’s been a full month since launch. That’s long enough for the game to have settled in. Outside of patching minor bugs, there’s nothing left to do.”
“A-are we n-not preparing D-DLC? Pre-Preparing DLC before the n-next project would be…. B-better for r-revenue, and the u-users would l-like it too…?”
“Jaemin, I can see right through you. You just think DLC would be easier than a new game, don’t you? It’s only been a month since release — it’s too early to start on DLC. We’ll get to it slowly, later.”
One month after launch basically meant the game had already left our hands. All that remained was maintenance — the server admins could keep an eye on things from here on out.
“Wh-when are we starting development?”
“Hmm…. As soon as we’re ready? The new juniors seem to have settled into their work pretty well, so sometime soon, I think.”
“HUUUUAAGH!”
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Cha Juhui slammed her head against the table and wailed. The reactions from everyone else weren’t much different.
“This is workplace violence!”
“Considering how much I pay you in salary, bonuses, and incentives, isn’t it only fair that I work you a little hard? It’s good for you, too. You’ve been offloading everything onto the new hires and taking it easy, so your bodies must have gotten sluggish.”
“D- does the D-Director truly h-have no human heart at all?”
I was briefly taken aback — I’d never heard Jaemin speak so bluntly before.
What’s gotten into them…?
Compared to our usual workload, preparing for the Gamestar event had been nothing more than a light side quest. And it had been on my orders that the existing staff had lived off honey and cream since we brought on new people — so I knew better than anyone.
“Th-that’s not the problem. It’s that the turnaround is way too short….”
“Oh, come on. When did I ever say we’d start immediately? I told you because I’m still in the planning stage — that’s why I said ‘soon.’ Soon. Not right away.”
“Oh. O-oh, I see. I just assumed you’d start the moment you got back to Seoul….”
“I’m planning to give all staff a short vacation before the project kicks off, so stop worrying so much.”
At the mention of a vacation, the employees’ expressions brightened noticeably, and I couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Let’s finish our meal, everyone.”
The next project could wait. The spicy fish stew was getting cold.
“We’re really going up on our own?”
In front of the station gates, Cha Juhui tilted her head as if asking whether that was truly okay.
“Yes. Don’t worry about me and head up comfortably.”
“It’s just… you’re staying behind to work, and us leaving without you feels a little….”
“Since when did you ever care about that sort of thing?”
“Excuse me?!”
She was already half through the gate when she asked, so the concern didn’t carry a shred of sincerity.
“Hey, Yihan. Should I stay behind too? Busan’s too big to be wandering around alone, isn’t it?”
“I’m fine. I’m just going to walk around and get a feel for the place.”
“Okay. I shall take excellent care of Som-mungchi, so Don’t worry.”
“You have Namgung Ung’s number, right? He’s watching her right now, so just go pick her up.”
I saw the team off as they boarded the KTX at Busan Station, bound for Seoul. I waved until the employees disappearing into the station vanished from view.
Maybe I should take a look around myself.
I pulled a camera out of my bag and looped the strap around my neck. A camera bag on my shoulder, a weighty camera in my hands — I probably looked quite the professional.
First, I explored the station I now found myself alone in.
People bustled in every direction.
A man sprinted through the crowd, sweating despite the winter cold, his train departure clearly imminent; a woman pushed along by the throng frowned in irritation.
Nothing special — just an ordinary, everyday scene. But the moment I layered a zombie outbreak over this mundane routine, everything changed.
—KYAAAAGH!
—Kyaagh! Help me, somebody help me!
The man who had been running in such a hurry just moments ago was now a zombie, lunging at the living. The jostled woman was pinned beneath him, screaming and begging for help.
—Get a grip and hold the line!
—M-manager! The glass is going to shatter!
Crash.
Inside a fast-food restaurant in the station, people had barricaded the doors to hold back the horde — but the floor-to-ceiling glass windows, chosen for their sleek modern interior, gave way and offered the zombies a feast of flesh.
—You bastard!
—I-I’m sorry. A man’s gotta survive! I’m sorry!
—Don’t you dare! Don’t— AAGH! Fuck!
As the situation spiraled, I watched a young man trip his own friend and use him as bait. In reality, it had been a playful low kick between buddies, the friend flying into a mock rage and charging after him — two guys roughhousing and laughing. But that wasn’t what my eyes saw.
The spotless floor of Busan Station stained red, and the desperate screams of people fighting for their lives rang out. I could almost smell the rank stench of iron stinging my nose.
And then—
Tap. Fwump.
The sensation against my leg snapped me back to reality. The moment the fantasy dissolved, the horrific images vanished without a trace, and through the camera lens there was only ordinary daily life again.
“Hm?”
Taking my eye away from the viewfinder, I looked down to find a little girl.
She must have been playing around and bumped into me. She sat on the floor, blinking up at me with an innocent, adorable face dyed pink with embarrassment.
I held out my hand. Taking it, she scrambled up, planted both hands on her belly, and bowed a full ninety degrees.
“I’m solly…….”
She was so cute that I burst out laughing.
“I’m fine. Are you hurt anywhere?”
“I'm otay. Are you otay, mister?”
“I’m sturdy as they come. I’m fine.”
“Phew, that’s a lief…….”
The sight of the little girl exhaling in relief was so endearing that I reached out and stroked her head.
“But still — running around in crowded places, is that okay or not okay?”
“Not otay….”
“Even if I’m fine, you’re the one who gets hurt. Right?”
When I pointed at her reddened knee, she looked startled, as if she hadn’t noticed until now.
“Eeeek! I’m bleeding!”
“That’s right. So you have to be careful from now on.”
There was no bandage in my bag, and I was debating whether I should rush to a convenience store when I spotted a woman sprinting desperately toward us from far away.
“Jinju!”
“Oh? Mommy!”
“I’ve been looking everywhere for you!”
Apparently panicked that her child had vanished without warning, the woman — her face flushed crimson — puffed and panted as she smacked the girl on the bottom.
“Hnnngh.”
“You don’t get to cry after what you did!”
Having finished the brief scolding, the woman glanced at the girl’s knee for a moment, then bowed her head to me.
“Did… did our Jinju cause you trouble?”
At the words of the woman — clearly the girl’s mother — I was reminded, once again, that this was 2011.
In the future, she might well have glared daggers at me over her child’s scrape, convinced her precious baby could do no wrong. Yet here she was, checking her daughter’s fault first.
“Not at all. I’m fine. I think she just didn’t see me while she was running.”
“I’m truly sorry…! I told her over and over to wait right there while I used the restroom, and when I came out she was just… gone….”
“Kids will be kids. Still, I don’t think it’s entirely safe to leave one alone like that, do you?”
“Yes, yes. I’m so sorry….”
She was the most shaken person here by far, so I didn’t say anything more.
“I really am sorry.”
“It’s fine, so hurry along. She’s about to bawl her eyes out.”
“Oh! Yes! Jinju, you need to apologize to the gentleman too!”
“I did it already?”
“Ah-ah! Again.”
The girl’s eyes went round, as if to ask why she had to do it twice, but when her mother fixed her with a stern look, she bowed.
“Mister, I’m solly! I'll be caleful flom now on!”
“Good girl.”
“Bye-bye~”
I watched for a moment as the girl was dragged off by her mother, the woman giving her a light noogie on the way.
After picturing such a horrific, miserable scene inside this very station only minutes ago, seeing something like this made my heart feel warm.
And then — in that instant — a spark of inspiration flashed through my mind.
You can’t have a zombie story without humanity, can you?
The more wretched the situation, the brighter human nature shines.
Just as soda tastes best when you drink it after a mouthful of something dry, before your throat closes up — the humanity that blossoms amid the despair of a zombie apocalypse strikes deeper than anything else.
“It’s decided.”
The theme of my next project’s story would be humanity.
S# 1.
Having been discharged from his service just today and returned to society, the young man stepped off the train and drew in a deep breath.
The salty scent of the sea. The humid wind.
Things he could never feel at his base deep in the mountains — or in Seoul.
Two years, huh.
He’d hated his hometown so much that he hadn’t even visited during his leave, so it truly had been a long time.
Stepping out of the station and glancing around, the young man realized that for all his years away, nothing here had changed.
HOOONK—!
“Hey! Watch where you’re going, fool!”
Gridlocked roads and reckless driving.
Common enough sights in Seoul too, but Busan had a particular talent for this sort of thing.
His face twisted with disgust.
People like him crawling all over Busan — no wonder that accident happened—
Bad memories surging up the moment he set foot in his hometown, the young man shook his head hard and forced the thoughts away.
This was why he hated coming back.
Every familiar street of Busan kept dragging those memories back to the surface, and he simply couldn’t stand it.
Swallowing his disgust, he walked up to a taxi parked near the station, driver waiting for a fare.
“Excuse me. Centum City, please.”
“Centum City? Off to the department store, are ye? Hop in quick, I’ll take the back roads.”
“…Please drive safely.”
The taxi driver’s routine weaving, tailgating, and lane violations — all performed as if they were the most natural thing in the world — curdled the young man’s stomach.
Part of him wanted to yell at the man to learn how to drive properly, but it was his discharge day, and trouble with a civilian was the last thing he needed. Besides, once today was over, he never intended to set foot in Busan again — so he decided it wasn’t worth the attention.
“Here we are, all done. Off ye get.”
“Thank you. I’ll pay by card.”
“Don’t bother. What kind of money does a soldier boy have? I said I’m not taking it, so scoot.”
“No, really, here’s the—”
“You’re just like my own boy, ye know that? My youngest is in the army right now too. Forget the money and get going. Days like this ought to exist for folk like us.”
When the driver, clearly refusing payment no matter what, urged him out of the cab, the young man reluctantly slid his card back into his wallet.
“Thank you.”
“Go on with ye.”
He watched the taxi peel away in a burst of speed, then turned around. The department store he used to visit so often stood before him.
“It’s been a while since I’ve been here too.”
Before he left Busan, this had been one of his favorite places. A department store brimming with happy memories. Which was precisely why he’d dreaded coming here. Those joyful memories of the past had become poison now, and he’d sworn never to return — but there was something he had to do here.
“Welcome.”
He gave the employee’s greeting no more than a curt nod and made his way, by familiar habit, to the department store elevator. Fourth floor. Where children’s toys were stocked.
Arriving on the fourth floor, he drew a short breath, then flagged down a nearby employee.
“Where can I find the toys for girls?”
“Ah! Right over there, sir.”
“Thank you.”
As he walked toward the section the employee had pointed out, his eyes caught the children scattered all around.
“WAAAAH! Buy it! I said buy it for me!”
“Whew…. I told you no.”
“Don’t care! Don’t care! Just buy iiiit!”
“Well, I guess that’s that. You live here now, Seungjun. Mommy’s leaving.”
Not realizing his mother might actually walk away, the boy put on a bewildered face, pushed himself up off the floor, and scrambled after her in a panic.
“Daddy! Is this really mine?”
“Of course! You said you wanted it, sweetheart.”
“Daddy’s the best!”
A girl laughing like the happiest person in the world at that very moment, clutching the toy she’d wanted — and a man smiling fondly as he watched his daughter.
Everyone looked happy.
Crunch.
His hand tightened into a fist.
I need to buy it and get out of here. Fast.
His pace quickened. If he stayed in this place any longer, he wasn’t sure he could hold his emotions in check.
Reaching the girls’ toy section, he scanned the display shelves until he found what he was looking for. A magical girl transformation set. Without a moment’s hesitation, he grabbed the costume with its hefty price tag.
Now he just had to pay and leave.
He would never set foot in this place again.
That was when a sound utterly at odds with the peaceful department store rang out.
“KYAAAAAAAH—!”
Even from a distance, a high-pitched scream brushed past the young man’s ears.
Great. Some kid’s throwing another tantrum.
He tried to tune it out. But then—
*kzzt* We, we bring you an announcement. There is currently a disturbance inside the department store—
“Hey! Nobody’s gonna understand it if you say it like that! Customers! People are going berserk and attacking folks — staff and shoppers alike — so watch yourselves! The first floor especially is a total madhouse, so whatever you do, DON’T come down!”
The young man found the announcement strange for only a moment. He would soon understand exactly why such a broadcast was playing.
“Kraag. Grrrgh. Grrag.”
“H-honey? Honey! Excuse me! Somebody help us! My husband suddenly started convulsing…!”
“….”
“Oh? Honey. Are you feeling better now?”
“KYAAAAAGH!”
“H-honey? KYAAAAAAH—! H-he— someone he—”
The man who had been rolling on the floor, foaming at the mouth in some grotesque fit, had sunk his teeth into his wife’s throat. A bizarre, horrific scene.
The announcement he’d just heard flashed through the young man’s mind, and he judged the situation fast.
Whatever this was — it was anything but ordinary.