Even the Mammoth-Slaying Atlatl Can't Stand Its Master's Embarrassing Past
I figured that if I killed zombies, the lottery tickets or points on my status window would increase. I started brainstorming where I could go to hunt some down.
Conveniently, today was Saturday, meaning Minji didn't have to go to work. Keeping her locked up here was perfect—there was no one around to report her missing anyway.
"Hey, Minji. Where can we go that has barely any people, no CCTV cameras, and where the cops won't show up screaming murder if I kill a zombie?"
"Mount Paldal, obviously," she replied. "There are no cameras on the mountain, and barely anyone goes up there. But shouldn't we find a zombie first? If we climb all the way up and there aren't any, it'll just be a waste of time."
Who knew Minji could actually be this smart?
"Then where do you think we can find one?"
"By 'zombie,' you mean the people infected with that new disease, right? If so, wouldn't they be at a hospital?"
She had a point. The zombie that bit me had ended up in a police holding cell, but the woman who got bitten had been taken to the Gyeonggyo University Hospital emergency room with me, and the next day's news reported she had bitten the medical staff. Gyeonggyodae and Suah University Hospital were the two largest hospitals in Suwon, so those were my best bets.
"I checked out Gyeonggyodae last Saturday, so we'll head to Suah University Hospital today."
As I planned our trip to Suah University Hospital, something she said earlier suddenly piqued my curiosity.
"Hey, Minji. Earlier, you said the Emperor of America took a sword and slaughtered a hundred thousand people by himself, right?"
"Not one person killing a hundred thousand. It was a hundred people killing a hundred thousand."
"When did that happen? As you well know, America doesn't have an emperor or a king."
"How should I know? My brother said it happened a really long time ago."
Hmm... something was definitely off. First that mammoth-slaying spear called an atlatl, and now this. Did America become the world's superpower because they possessed weapons like that? Minji was too stupid to even realize how bizarre it all sounded.
"And what's this Dark Elf Sword? Is there some kind of spirit dwelling inside the blade? Was I the only one left in the dark? Were there hunters in this world even before the apocalypse started?"
"Hunters? Of course there were hunters. People who hunt animals."
"No, I mean people with supernatural abilities. Like superpowers."
"I wouldn't know."
Well, if they hadn't awakened some kind of ability, how could a hundred people defeat a hundred thousand? That would mean each person had to take on a thousand enemies. I had no idea, but it seemed supernatural humans and Awakeners had existed in this world all along. Then again, I was literally capable of placing a Brand on any woman I wanted.
Talking to Minji was starting to warp my grasp on reality. It felt like I was losing my mind. No, get a grip. I'm a certified normal person, officially diagnosed by a psychiatrist. I can't let this nonsense shake me. Who am I? The proud owner of a collection of living, breathing fleshlights! I can pump my seed into these brainless bitches without a single care in the world, and all I have to do is pat them on the head like stray cats!
"By the way, why didn't you go to college? Why are you working instead?"
"It's not that I didn't go. I couldn't go."
I decided not to pry further. No need to trigger a landmine.
"So, how was school?"
"It was just normal. I kept my head down."
"Was Jihye the only one who bullied you? Looking at you now, you seem like the perfect target for school delinquents."
Minji fell silent for a long moment.
"Actually, there were others," she admitted softly. "But out of all of them, Jihye was by far the most vicious."
Standing nearby, Jihye glared at her, prompting Minji to quickly lower her head.
"How does a thug delinquent end up as a cop? This country really has gone to shit."
When I said that, the little bitch Minji stared at me with utter disbelief. But please—my raping her was an inevitable, heroic sacrifice to prevent the end of the world in this post-apocalyptic wasteland. Isn't it natural to make minor sacrifices for the greater good? If Minji considered herself a member of society, she should gladly accept the sacrifice of her own body to help maintain it.
Still, a twenty-one-year-old police officer... Even as a bully, the bitch Jihye had clearly planned out her future. She probably targeted only the girls she knew would never report her, skipped college since she didn't have the brains for it, and went straight into the workforce. And she chose a civil service job where it was practically impossible to get fired unless she committed a major crime. On top of that, she likely picked the police force because physical labor suited her far better than pushing papers in some administrative office.
After another brief silence, Minji spoke up again.
"Come to think of it, they weren't school bullies, but there was a family that made life miserable for mine. It's President Lee Baekjin's family, the owner of Baekjin Precision where I work as a bookkeeper. I even worked there briefly in high school with a parental consent form. My parents were working there at the time, too. The president, his wife, and their daughter looked down on my parents and me so much. Though... they were also grateful people who lent us the money for my brother's surgery."
Minji trailed off. Then, as if making up her mind, she began to speak rapidly.
"Our family was going through a really rough patch back then. My dad lost our house after co-signing a bad loan for a friend. That's why we ended up living in a camper van. After work, my dad would get sucked into horse racing and gamble away what little money he made. When he lost, he'd come home drunk and beat my mom, my brother, and me. And the only other male in the house was such a pathetic, spineless coward that he just stood there and took the beatings without ever fighting back. Did you know that useless son didn't even bring home a single cent, yet he was the only one who got to go to college?"
Uh-oh. I think I touched a sore spot.
"By 'president,' do you mean the owner of that massive mansion with the yard we visited last Tuesday?" I quickly changed the subject.
Minji stopped and stared at me intently.
"How do you know I went there that day?"
She was interrogating me. Having nothing to hide, I answered with absolute confidence.
"How could I not check? My woman was going to meet another man."
Minji looked genuinely annoyed.
"Your woman? I didn't even know you back then! Are you a stalker? And how did you even know who I was meeting?"
"Hey, it's just a figure of speech. I was just taking a stroll up Mount Paldal and happened to spot you by chance."
I definitely wasn't backing down. It's just that a real man looks petty arguing with a woman over trivial things, so I decided to let her have this one.
"Jihye, what time does your shift end today?"
"I'm on the day shift today, so I'm on until 7:00 PM."
"Do you start at 9:00 AM like other civil servants?"
"It's a twelve-hour shift starting at 7:00 AM. The night shift is also twelve hours, from 7:00 PM to 7:00 AM."
After dressing Minji, binding her wrists and ankles with rope, and slapping a piece of tape over her mouth, Jihye and I set off for Suah University Hospital.
On our way, we passed a playground where some kids were playing with toy cap guns.
"Hey, this is weird. It's not going off again."
"Mine too. Let's go back to the stationery store and ask for a replacement."
I figured there were just a lot of defective products lately since so much cheap crap was imported from China. Even the decorative pieces on my dagger, which the seller had probably imported from China, were already starting to fall apart.
Having to converse with normal people was always exhausting, filled with nothing but pretense and lies. But walking and talking freely with a slave who could never betray me made the time fly. Before I knew it, we had arrived at Suah University Hospital.
Just like Gyeonggyo University Hospital, this place had a thermal imaging camera set up at the entrance. Learning from my past experience, I had researched online beforehand. Apparently, if you wore thick clothing, the thermal camera couldn't read what was underneath. So, I wore a heavy coat and concealed my dagger inside. Since it was still March, no one gave me a second look for dressing warmly.
Sure enough, people clad in hazmat suits that looked like semiconductor cleanroom gear were bustling about.
"What do you mean we can't go in?" A sudden commotion drew my attention. A sexy housewife dressed in a form-fitting Dongtan Missy Look was arguing with the thermal camera operator, a young boy standing by her side.
"Ma'am, your body temperature is abnormally low, which makes you subject to quarantine. We've contacted our superiors, so please wait just a moment."
"Are you seriously denying me entry for a low temperature, not even a fever? Can you at least have someone look at my son first? Feel his forehead. He's burning up!"
"Please wait. I will relay that to the medical staff as well."
"His name is Kang Jinwoo. He's thirteen. I work at the Gyeonggi Provincial Office, and I took a half-day off this morning, so I really need to get inside quickly."
A nearby nurse walked over and jotted down their basic information. Judging by her son's age, she was older than her youthful appearance suggested. Still, she was hot as hell. I kept stealing glances at her while pretending to look elsewhere. Jihye shot me a look from beside me, but I ignored her.
As a seasoned connoisseur of apocalyptic web novels, I kept a close eye on the commotion to ensure I could react instantly to any sudden developments. But just then, a completely different uproar erupted from another corner.
"Aaargh!" "What is that? Someone call security!" The crowd began to panic. The hot housewife was no longer the priority. My instincts screamed of imminent danger. Beside me, Jihye tensed up as well. As we turned our heads, the people over there spotted us.
"Officer! Over here, quickly! This girl is biting this man!"
The crowd parted as Jihye and I rushed over. A slender, ordinary-looking young woman was savagely biting a chubby middle-aged man. Despite the natural physical disparity between men and women, she was completely overpowering him—no doubt due to the effects of AISS, commonly known as the zombie virus.
"Jihye, what are you doing? Arrest her."
"I only brought my revolver. I left the Taser in the patrol car."
Seeing my woman in a bind, I scanned the area and spotted some folding metal chairs set up to accommodate the overflowing waiting room. The girl currently giving the man's neck a very enthusiastic, bloody hickey wasn't particularly pretty anyway. I grabbed one of the chairs and, not caring whether she lived or died, swung it with all my might, slamming it directly into the back of her head. The girl slumped, twitching weakly, unable to bite the man any further. Instantly, the doctors and nurses who had been standing by watching rushed in to drag the bitten man away. Jihye stepped up, pulled the girl's arms behind her back, and slapped handcuffs on her. As I turned to put the chair back, a sudden chill ran down my spine. Acting on pure reflex, I swung the chair behind me. A young man who had been charging toward us at extreme speed instantly leaped backward to avoid the blow. "Who the fuck are you?"