Z Apocalypse #1
It was 8 p.m. Right in the heart of Seoul.
“Step down! Step down!”
“Nam Tae-geon must step down!”
The crowd gathered for the presidential condemnation and impeachment rally lit up every direction with their phone flashlights, turning the entire area as bright as midday.
“Let there be light—”
Opposition Leader Yu Dogwan was muttering a line from the Bible while gazing at the satisfying scene when he noticed several assembly members had brought candles and had to step in quickly.
“Isn’t this a memorial for the N-Mart arson victims who died unjustly! Refrain from open flames. The phone lights are more than enough. More importantly, did you understand what I asked you to do?”
At Yu Dogwan’s question, the assembly members exchanged glances. Then they leaned in and whispered in extremely quiet voices.
“Leader, no matter how you look at it, fabricating evidence that doesn’t exist and manipulating the incident seems problematic, doesn’t it? The wind is already blowing in our favor anyway…”
“Good grief, these people still haven’t come to their senses! The real problem is that murderer and dictator Nam Tae-geon continuing to sit in the president’s seat! This is no time to worry about means and methods!”
The number of people gathering for the impeachment rally grew larger every day. One hundred thousand, two hundred thousand—.
But to Yu Dogwan, these citizens were not actually much help. They merely filled out the numbers. In the current Republic of Korea, ordinary citizens held no real value or power.
‘To drag down that madman Nam Tae-geon, ordinary methods won’t work. I need something more certain. A decisive strike. The current situation is still lacking.’
Yu Dogwan observed the armed state of the police controlling the protesters. The black straps of the submachine guns slung over their shoulders looked particularly striking.
‘Just how violent does the protest need to become before that bastard Nam Tae-geon spits out the order to open fire?’
Just one shot. If the other side would fire just a single bullet first, everything would proceed smoothly. Ideally, the image of innocent citizen protesters being mercilessly massacred by ruthless military and police forces would be perfect. If the journalists and foreign correspondents who had flocked to cover the protest captured that scene on camera, all the momentum would swing over to Yu Dogwan.
Reaching that conclusion, Yu Dogwan felt it was time to execute the operation he had prepared.
“Ahem.”
With a subtle signal, someone in the crowd raised a fist high and shouted.
“We can’t just stand here! Let’s head to the Presidential Office! Let’s show them the power of democracy!”
“Let’s go! To the Presidential Office!”
“Nam Tae-geon must step down!”
Responses erupted from all over as if they had been waiting for the cue. Thus, the crowd of over one hundred thousand began marching toward the Presidential Office.
The sight caused newly elected young assemblyman Kim Min-se to ask in panic.
“Leader, the people seem far too agitated! Shouldn’t you step forward and calm them? If this continues, something terrible will happen! What if the military forces guarding the Presidential Office open fire?!”
The young and righteous assemblyman Kim Min-se imagined people getting hurt or killed and turned pale with fear. Because of that, he failed to realize that Leader Yu Dogwan had deliberately started the march to get people injured and killed.
It was the moment when the furious swarm of hornets marched toward Yongsan to change the fate of the era. While everyone steeled themselves to confront the armed forces, the scene in front of the Presidential Office was completely different from their imaginations. Instead of police or soldiers, only a single man stood guarding the entrance like a totem pole.
Just one man.
At the sight of the man wearing a black military uniform with the Taegeukgi draped over his shoulders like a cape, even the excited members of the protest stopped moving.
“…Isn’t that the Supernova?”
“It’s the real thing. First time seeing him in person!”
“The number one ranked Awakened?”
“That ranking isn’t actually official, though…!”
The seething excitement of the protesters transformed into a different kind of excitement. In Korea right now, there was no one who didn’t know the man called the Supernova.
The hero who had infiltrated North Korea’s nuclear facilities, destroyed the entire site, and saved the Korean Peninsula from nuclear threat. The hope of the 21st century.
He shouted.
“Members of the protest, please disperse now!”
His body radiated light befitting his title.
The light was incomparably more intense than the protesters’ phone flashlights. All the citizens had no choice but to close their eyes and could not advance another step.
Step. Step.
In that situation, someone approached Yu Dogwan and spoke into his ear.
“Leader Yu Dogwan. Would you please withdraw for today? If you continue like this, we will have no choice but to release the recordings and videos we possess.”
“……”
Grind.
In that situation, Yu Dogwan ground his teeth. His plan was ruined because of a single Awakened. This Supernova was Nam Tae-geon’s true power, something that could not even be compared to the gathered citizens.
‘Yu Yeoreum! If only that bitch were here!’
Of course, even Yu Yeoreum would not have been able to face the veteran Supernova head-on, but it was not entirely without options.
Concept Stone. They said that Awakened who consumed it would gain tremendous power. He had heard there were extremely fatal side effects, but that did not matter. She was not his blood-related daughter anyway.
Yu Dogwan thought he needed to find his daughter as quickly as possible.
‘Yu Yeoreum, if you are hiding to avoid the experiments, I will make you come out yourself.’
The convenience store part-timer was watching the news on his phone, but the volume was so loud I thought he had turned on the TV. Still, the fortunate part was that the guy who looked like a college student was only interested in his phone and showed no interest in us.
Thanks to that, Seo Gaeul had been circling around the convenience store for a full ten minutes now, lost in thought. Since she was wearing a hat and hoodie pulled deep over her face, there was no worry of her identity being discovered. However, if she kept wasting time like this, even the part-timer watching the news might start finding us suspicious.
“Hey, are you still not done? You’re the one who suggested coming to the convenience store.”
“I don’t know what to pick! It’s been so long since I’ve been to a convenience store because of someone!”
Seo Gaeul was hesitating in front of the cup ramen. She seemed torn between the most expensive 4,800-won cup ramen and the 4,200-won one. Trying to spend 4,800 won on a single cup of ramen. What was the reason? Because Seo Gaeul was bourgeois? Because I was the one paying anyway? No, both answers were wrong.
“Clumsy, how clumsy! Your way of releasing your desires is so clumsy. Since we finally came out, you think it’d be a loss not to eat the most expensive one, right?”
“What?”
“Does your body really want that 4,800-won cup ramen? I don’t think so. My thoughts are different. You’re Korean, and all Koreans like kimchi. When was the last time you ate kimchi?”
Seo Gaeul’s eyes turned toward the small bowl of noodles.
Kimchi Bowl Noodles. The price was around a thousand won.
Gulp.
Seo Gaeul swallowed her saliva. She put down the expensive cup ramen and picked up the Kimchi Bowl Noodles.
“Hehehe, that’s right. The best part of a kimchi-based cup ramen is the refreshing broth. Then it’s time to pick the triangle kimbap. Since we have refreshing soup now, something with a milder flavor is fine.”
Listening to me, Seo Gaeul chose the Tuna Mayo, which had less intense seasoning. It was an ordinary flavor, but there was a reason it had survived for so long. A convenience store was similar to the ecosystem of a post-apocalyptic world—a ‘survival of the fittest’ environment. If something had survived a long time, it meant it was strong.
Now it was time to choose the long-awaited main dish. I generously picked a convenience-store smoked chicken leg and placed it in Seo Gaeul’s hand. It was a thick, hefty one that included the thigh portion. It was just the right amount of luxury to give her a slight sense of guilt.
Seo Gaeul’s gaze wavered.
“Something this big…!?”
“This is what it means to release your desires without hiding them.”
Kimchi cup ramen, tuna mayo triangle kimbap, and a smoked chicken leg. After paying, Seo Gaeul sat at the convenience store table, poured hot water into the ramen, and ate the triangle kimbap while she waited. Soon the refreshing kimchi-based bowl noodles finished cooking. Seo Gaeul slurped it down noisily while tearing into the hefty chicken leg with her teeth.
It was quite literally a demonic combo meal. Seo Gaeul, who always got irritated whenever she saw me, seemed to have melted in the face of this luxurious menu. Her attitude became as soft as the smoked chicken leg that had been heated thoroughly in the microwave.
“So what exactly is this weakness of mine that only you know about? Why do you think I won’t run away after filling my stomach and report you to the police?”
Yes, Seo Gaeul had a weakness. It was far more dangerous than a “peanut allergy.” In the roughly destroyed world, everyone who possessed this weakness had died. At least, every one I knew had.
Should I show her the evidence?
“Seo Gaeul, if you run away, even I can’t guarantee what will happen to Yu Yeoreum left behind by herself.”
“What? Are you threatening me with Yu Yeoreum right now? How funny. What if I ignore you and run? Do you really think I’d care what happens to her?”
“No, you can’t do that. I can state it with certainty. And even if you run, I’ll catch you again within ten seconds. From that point on, you won’t even have opportunities to go outside like this.”
“…You crazy fucking psychopath!”
There were many things she wanted to say, but it seemed like a good time to get up. The part-timer had started glancing over after hearing Seo Gaeul’s profanity. Her voice really did sound like a nightingale.
Once we left the convenience store, the world had grown dark. It was time to fulfill the real purpose of going out with Seo Gaeul—.
As I was thinking that, Seo Gaeul spoke first.
“I’ll consider not running away. Instead, I want to stop by one more place. It’ll probably be closed at this hour, but I know perfectly well that you have no intention of following laws or anything like that now.”
Having said that, Seo Gaeul headed toward the outskirts of D City.
10 p.m. We arrived in front of a wall covered with photographs at a fairly late hour. It was the columbarium at D City Memorial Park.
Seo Gaeul stood among the countless hanging photos. Then she touched the smiling photograph of a woman who resembled her with her palm.
“This is my mom. Pretty, isn’t she? It was her death anniversary a few days ago. But what is this?”
While looking at the photo, Seo Gaeul’s expression suddenly turned icy. For a second I wondered if she was going to freak out and run. I was about to take out the Shrinking Cage from my bag when she spoke.
“This…”
Seo Gaeul peeled off something that had been taped next to the photo. It was a ring. It looked like a gold ring engraved with a maple leaf pattern, but it was blackened as if scorched.
“What is it?”
“This is my mom’s engagement ring. Nam Sanho took it arbitrarily and I couldn’t get it back… Why is it here? Why…?”
Nam Sanho. I had heard that name before. Who was he again?
“If it’s Nam Sanho, wasn’t he the guy reported missing during the N-Mart fire that day?”
The one who had been swept up in the arson committed by a Grade 3 Awakened and whose body could not even be found—. He was the adopted son of President Nam Tae-geon. Of course, now was not the time to talk about him.
“Euuuaaa—”
“Crunch. Crack.”
Behind us appeared people whose arms and legs were dangling loosely, their skin rotten and festering. Perhaps there had been people who were hastily cremated in this columbarium.
“Seo Gaeul, get behind me.”
“What are these things! Uuk, the smell— Uweeeek—.”
“Never let them bite or scratch you. If you get bitten or scratched by them, you’ll catch a certain disease and turn into one of them in three days. Of course it takes a little longer for Awakened.”
“What the hell are they!”
What were they? Couldn’t she tell just by looking? They were living corpses. Zombies.
They could be called the seasoning of the apocalypse. According to my memories, there should have still been at least half a year left before these things appeared.
Suddenly the news I had heard at the convenience store earlier came to mind.
‘An incident occurred where several excited protesters bit and injured one another. The victims were transported to the hospital—.’
Could that have been the cause as well? Damn it. My plan to train Seo Gaeul looked like it was going to go awry in multiple ways.
But! To me, who knew about the infection cure through future knowledge, this situation was not entirely bad. Rather, it was good. I decided to think of it as enjoying the ruined world with early access.
“Seo Gaeul, since it’s been a while, why don’t you try taking one down yourself? You have to smash their heads.”
It was an excellent opportunity to overcome Seo Gaeul’s most fatal weakness.
Of course, Seo Gaeul was greatly flustered.
“Hey! What do you expect me to do about it!”
Even though they were dead corpses, perhaps it was difficult for her to pour attacks on something that still held a ‘human shape.’ It was the expected result.
“Seo Gaeul, someday that weakness of yours will strangle your own neck. A world is coming where those without the resolve to kill first cannot survive.”
In the ruined world, the most dangerous thing was neither a peanut allergy nor ticklishness, nor evil monsters or villains. It was one’s own altruism.