Slaves and Zombies

Swish. Swish.

Watching Kim Seung-wook sign the employment contract, I finally cast off my mask for good.

"Welcome aboard, slave."

"...What?"

"How foolish of you. You signed it with your own two hands."

"What are you doing? Rehearsing a play?"

"What do you think? You signed, so now you work."

There's no such thing as a free lunch — it's exactly why I pay my employees so well and spoil them with benefits. I wasn't doing it out of the goodness of my heart.

I slid the entire stack of paperwork I'd been handling across the desk to Kim Seung-wook.

"I'll be ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠handling the development work, so you'll be wrapping up all of this."

"By myself? All of it?"

"Yep. All by yourself."

"Goddammit! This isn't right!"

"Tsk tsk. Profanity in a professional setting? Watch your manners, Employee Kim Seung-wook."

Seung-wook clenched his fists and trembled all over, but there was nothing he could do about it. In this office, I wasn't his friend Cho Yihan — I was the owner holding one hundred percent of PlayForge's shares, its CEO, and its Executive Director.

'Can you really punch your own boss?'

From now on, an insurmountable wall of hierarchy stood between us.

"Get to work, slave."

"Haah... Cho. Yi. Han, Director. Isn't calling your employee a 'slave' technically workplace harassment?"

"Then this is a private setting."

"You son of a bitch."

"Back to professional."

After a few rounds of this banter, Kim Seung-wook, who'd been seething and shaking, gave up and hauled the documents away with him.

Such an obedient look. Any director would be pleased to see it.

＊

The day had come for the employees to return from the vacation I'd sent them on to recharge before the next project's development began.

"That goes over here."

"Huff... huff... Hey. Can't we... can't we hire people for this? Do we really have to do all of it ourselves?"

I'd come in early with Kim Seung-wook, and together we turned the second floor — which had basically been serving as a furniture warehouse — into a proper office. We moved in tables, set up chairs, and arranged computers and peripherals. By the time we finished, the second floor was finally starting to look like an actual workplace.

"Phew... done."

"Good work. This really is exhausting every time we do it."

"Then SPEND SOME MONEY and hire people!"

Why pay when doing it myself is free? Every won I pinched here was a won that could go into development resources. That's how you make a god-tier game.

"Wait... you're telling me I get this entire floor to myself?"

Kim Seung-wook said, staring at the freshly organized second-floor office. Plenty of desks, but the only one being used was the spot he'd already claimed. It did feel like a waste of space.

"Use it all for now. Though, thinking about it, it's pretty galling. By any measure, you're occupying the whole second floor alone — that's basically your own private office. A lowly employee getting a bigger office than the Director and owner himself?"

"Who said I wanted it alone? Hire some staff! I don't trust myself to handle that much work solo either!"

"My my. Employee Kim Seung-wook, that's quite the short tongue you've got there. It's past nine o'clock. Business hours. Should you really be speaking so casually to me, a mere employee as you are?"

"...My apologies, sir."

Suppressed. Just like that.

He checked his watch, confirmed it was indeed past nine, and bowed his head while grumbling under his breath. It was a pretty funny sight.

"Gah. Kidding. Just watch yourself in front of the other employees. Daniel's the Sound Team Leader, and he's a friend of mine too, so when it's just the two of us at the office, feel free to talk casual."

"That guy who seemed like he was from overseas? He looked a bit older, but I guess being a foreigner, you just became friends anyway."

"He doesn't really get the whole age-hierarchy culture, so we agreed to just treat each other as friends."

"Fine... I get it. Works for me."

"As for hiring staff... start working, and if it ever becomes more than you can handle, that's when we'll bring people on, bit by bit. You know as well as I do how much of a headache it is to hire recklessly."

In Korea, getting a job was hard, hard work — but once you were in, companies couldn't easily cut you loose. Which meant hiring had to be approached with real care.

"I know... fine. I'll try it myself first, and if it's truly impossible, I'll tell you."

"Good. Counting on you. Pick whatever desk you like — the messenger client's already installed. Approvals for routine stuff go through messenger; only bring the important ones to me in person."

"Got it. And you said I can remake all the forms from scratch, right?"

"Yeah. Do whatever's comfortable for you."

The ones I'd made were thrown together so only I could read them — no reason to show them to anyone else. Whatever Kim Seung-wook came up with would be better.

"I think that about covers it. I'm off. Development meeting this morning."

"Go grind, peon."

"That's a phrase superiors say to subordinates, Employee Kim Seung-wook. Go grind, please."

"Son of a..."

Teasing him right up to the end, I left the second-floor office and headed up to the sixth floor.

"Oh! Director! Good morning!"

My eyes met Mr. Namgung Ung's just as he arrived, shedding his coat and about to sit down at his desk.

"Mr. Ung. How was the vacation?"

"Yes, sir, wonderful! You even gave us separate vacation pay, so I took my parents on a three-day, two-night trip within the country. They absolutely loved it."

"A devoted son. I should take a page out of your book."

"Haha, hardly, sir."

I chatted with Mr. Ung for a few minutes about what he'd done over his break before realizing the meeting started in ten minutes.

"Ah! Mr. Ung. We have a meeting shortly — could you get things ready?"

"On it! Right away!"

"One more thing — the QA team has no assigned duties today. You heard, I assume — we're starting development on the next project. The QA team will have nothing to do for a while, so when you have time, either keep helping me like you have been, or play some other companies' games."

At those words, Mr. Ung's eyes — already bright with life even before his vacation — began to sparkle all the more.

"O-other companies' games, you say? Do you... do you mean for me to simply... play?"

"Yes. Obviously not just to enjoy them, mind you. You'll play while analyzing. No need to write up reports, but jot down rough notes on what worked and what fell short, and I'll review them later."

"N-notes..."

"Don't worry too much. I've played pretty much every game worth playing. The point of the notes isn't for my benefit — it's to sharpen the QA team's skills. That's the whole reason for the assignment."

"I can do this! Playing other companies' games during work hours... I will bury my bones at PlayForge!"

I gave him a thumbs-up as encouragement and pulled my laptop from the Director's Office, carrying it to the meeting room to hook it up to the projector. Setup complete, I waited, and one by one, they began to appear.

"Oh~ Mr. Seokho, Mr. Jaemin. Your faces are practically glowing. Good vacation?"

"Haha, yes sir! My girlfriend and I went to Japan!"

"Japan? Whereabouts?"

"Osaka and Kyoto!"

"Nice. And you, Mr. Jaemin?"

"I-I don't really like going around and sightseeing, s-so I just recharged. Ate good food, played... p-played other companies' games..."

True to form for PlayForge's proud Programming Team Leader, he'd reached the sublime state of devotion where work and leisure were one and the same.

"Hello."

"Morning..."

Ms. Minji arrived, blunt as ever, and so did Cha Juhui, who said good morning in words but looked nothing like it had been a good morning.

"Good morning, everyone~!"

In came Mr. Seongbae, that creature-monster of enthusiasm, having gained a touch of weight over the break.

"Long time no see, Boss."

Last of all, Daniel arrived, and everyone took their seats.

"Now that you're all here, let's begin the meeting."

Today's agenda: the story for the next project, which I'd been drafting while the team was on vacation.

"Let's develop it together."

S# 3.

"So you're telling me... the madmen outside are... something like the zombies from the movies?"

"Yes! Wait, Mr. Minsu. You've seriously never heard of zombies?"

"I don't really watch movies..."

As the young man heard from the female employee what those madmen actually were, he checked the still-connected internet, and his expression hardened. It wasn't just this department store — the whole country, the entire world, was in an uproar over something called zombies.

"Then this is... some kind of disease?"

"That's the usual assumption, yeah."

"Then there must be a cure."

Convincing himself it was a disease of some sort, the young man quietly relaxed — until he saw the woman's grim expression.

"I wish you were right, Mr. Minsu... but usually, there's no cure."

"I'm sorry? You said it was a disease. And now you're telling me it can't be treated?"

"That's... because they're zombies. Generally, once you're infected, that's it."

As the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠young man's face froze over, the woman hastily added:

"B-but that's only in the movies! Reality will be different! Hehe. I mean, where in the world would you find actual zombies?"

"......Then what are the things outside?"

"W-well, if you get bitten you get infected, and you t-turn aggressive toward people, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and you stay alive and walking even with f-fatal wounds... but I suppose they might not be zombies?"

"..."

Everything he could see, everything he could hear, was screaming the word zombie — and yet the young man was not foolish enough to turn his back on reality. However improbable something was, the moment it actually happened, it became reality.

While the two adults talked, a sound of sniffled sobbing drifted from the corner of the staff break room.

"Sob... sniff. Huaaah..."

It was the little girl the young man had rescued.

"Daddy... Mommy... Huaaah..."

"Sua, sweetie. It's hard, isn't it? Come here. Let Unni hold you."

"Waaahhh..."

The little girl squirmed over and buried herself in the woman's arms.

"Can you tell Unni, just Unni, why our Sua is crying?"

"Unni... sniff. So is our daddy... sniff... dead? Now that he's a zombie...?"

"N-no! Zombies! Don't say that! Daddy's just a little sick! R-right, Mr. Minsu?"

Faced with the heartrending look in the little girl's eyes — so like his own younger sister — the young man nodded.

"Sua's daddy has caught a small illness. If you stop crying and listen to the grown-ups like a good girl, he'll get better too. So don't worry too much."

"Really...?"

"......Of course."

He forced a smile to comfort the child, but privately, he thought the chances were vanishingly slim. A few of the madmen — no, zombies — had been walking around just fine despite wounds no human could possibly survive. If a cure were ever developed, would those people still have lives left to save? He'd shake his head.

Listening to the child fighting back her tears and the woman's voice doing its best to soothe her, the young man checked the situation outside on his phone.

'Rescue... is probably too much to hope for.'

The nation had collapsed. Reports were circulating online that zombies had appeared even among the police — and even inside the military.

'What do I do now...?'

He'd managed to get them all to safety, but there was no food in the staff corridor or the break room to hold out on. All they had was a little drinking water, and with no telling how long they'd have to stay here, surviving on water alone was a hard road.

Just then, the department store's announcement system crackled to life.

An announcement: the sixth floor was safe.

The young man resolved that rather than withering away here, they had to reach the sixth floor and join the other survivors.

"Ms. Hayoung. Did you hear that?"

"I did... but, Mr. Minsu. How do we get to the sixth floor...? Have you forgotten? The entrance to the staff corridor... it was crawling with zombies."

As if he could forget the moment they'd survived by a hair's breadth from the horde that had come lunging at them. The young man squeezed his eyes shut and asked:

"Is the corridor really the only way? Even a fire escape...?"

"The fire escape is outside the door we came in through."

"Damn it..."

So they would have to cross a department store infested with zombies to reach the sixth floor. The young man was still reeling from the woman's answer when she spoke again.

"Um... there is one way, actually."

"There's a way? Weren't you just saying there was no entrance...?"

"The freight elevator over there."

Only after the woman pointed it out did the young man notice the elevator at the end of the corridor.

"What a relief! With that, we can get up safely─"

His face brightened at this newly minted hope, but the woman's expression only grew darker.

"The problem is, it doesn't work. It broke down... the day before yesterday."

A crushing setback.

The young man frowned — but before despair could settle in, he strode briskly toward the elevator.

"What are you doing?"

"There's something I need to check."

Creeeak—

Straining to pry open the elevator doors, the young man looked into the dark vertical shaft — and found hope.

'A ladder...!'

There, mounted in the shaft, was a fixed ladder — the kind installed for repair technicians or rescue crews to climb up and down safely.

There was just one problem.

"Ms. Hayoung. When was this department store built?"

"I couldn't tell you... why?"

"Because I'd like to file a complaint."

Fire ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠safety codes be damned, apparently — the condition of the elevator ladder was dire. Even a casual glance revealed rust eating into the rungs here and there, and bolts so loose that parts of the frame had pulled away from the wall entirely.

Creak. Creeeak.

He grabbed the ladder and shook it hard, and his suspicions only solidified.

And still, the young man would have to climb it.

For him, the woman, and the child to live, this ladder was their only hope.