Tracking the Remaining Idols
Time rewound to not long ago.
A dark night. Near the stadium.
*Grrrrr—*
Countless zombies wandered the area around the stadium.
*Crunch. Crunch.*
Yet cutting straight through them without a single hindrance was a group of survivors.
At the very front of that group stood a chubby man with a backpack, guiding the way.
It was none other than **Oh Deok-su**.
"Huff… huff…"
Breathing heavily as he led the way, right behind him followed me, **Lee Ji-hye**, and **Seo Ji-soo**.
Since he knew the stadium’s layout and passages like the back of his hand, I had put him in charge of guiding us.
*Shhh—*
The reason we could strut so boldly through a sea of zombies was, of course, thanks to my stealth skill.
Normally, maintaining stealth for three people should have drained my mana dry long ago.
But with **Oh Deok-su**’s *Mana Support*, I could just barely recover enough to slip inside before time ran out.
Thanks to his guidance and mana assistance, we safely reached the concourse inside the stadium.
It was a long, circular hallway lined with ticket booths, concession stands, waiting rooms, and a media center.
As we walked down the extended corridor, we soon spotted people standing guard and glaring at one another.
“…”
Fan club sentries and biker gang lookouts were eyeing each other across the looping circular hallway, while bodyguards stood watch near the stairs.
They had dragged over chairs and desks to form barricades blocking the corridor.
Just as **Oh Deok-su** had said—it was a three-way standoff.
They weren’t fighting yet because they were all wary of each other and the zombie hordes, but the tense deadlock meant a brawl could break out at any moment.
‘Perfect.’
The firewood was already stacked. All I needed to do was light the match.
Creating chaos would make infiltration much easier.
Having assessed the situation, I gave **Lee Ji-hye** an order to turn the place into a battlefield.
“Hey. Over there. Fireball at the biker barricade.”
“…Okay.”
*Boom—*
A sphere of flame shot from her fingertips and exploded in the distance.
The sudden fiery blast sent the wary sentries into immediate panic.
“W-who attacked?!”
“The enemy struck first!”
“Return fire!”
*Flash—*
*Ka-boom—*
Skills began flying at each other.
The fight escalated quickly, and casualties started to appear.
“Damn it, they’re moving!”
“Hyun-su’s hurt!”
“Fall back and get treated first!”
In the middle of the sudden battle, the injured bodyguards hurriedly retreated toward the waiting room.
The direction where the healer **Eun Ye-rin** was located.
“Follow those guys.”
At my signal, the party nodded silently and trailed after me.
We arrived at the waiting room door right behind the bodyguards.
We were now on the verge of entering the waiting room where our target **Eun Ye-rin** and the bodyguards were staying—without spilling a drop of blood.
All that remained was to open that closed door, deal with everyone inside, and extract her.
‘But before that.’
I grabbed the shoulder of **Oh Deok-su**, who was cautiously stepping toward the door.
“You stop here.”
“H-huh? Aren’t we going in together? I want to help rescue Ye-rin and Seol-ah noona too…”
The flustered **Oh Deok-su** pushed up his glasses and asked urgently.
I snorted and warned him.
“Know your place. There’s about to be a knife fight in that cramped room. If you go in with zero combat skills, you’ll just die.”
“…W-well, that’s… true.”
Unable to argue with the obvious, **Oh Deok-su**’s shoulders slumped.
His stats and *Mana Support* skill wouldn’t be any direct help in combat anyway.
In fact, he would only get in the way of rescuing **Eun Ye-rin**.
I gave my orders to the frozen man.
“Instead of going in, there’s something you need to do properly out here.”
“M-me?”
“Yeah. Even if I manage to rescue **Eun Ye-rin** and **Cha Seol-ah**, if the bikers outside are blocking the parking lot, it’ll be hard to get out of the stadium.”
“That’s true. The bikers are guarding the van.”
I jerked my chin toward the area where the brawl was unfolding.
“So while they’re busy fighting, create some kind of explosion to draw their aggro and clear the path to the parking lot as much as possible. That way we can get Ye-rin into the van and save her. The fan club’s main base or whatever—doesn’t matter. Just do it.”
**Oh Deok-su**’s face turned deathly pale after hearing the operational instructions.
The fan club members fighting in the stands were comrades who had cheered for the idols with the same passion as him.
Telling him to deliberately draw aggro there to lure in more bikers and zombies meant using them as cannon fodder and shields.
“B-but…”
**Oh Deok-su**’s hands trembled as he clutched the hem of his pants tightly.
“No matter how much it’s for saving Ye-rin… I can’t bring myself to lead zombies toward the fan club members I used to enjoy the hobby with…”
I grabbed him by the collar.
“Urk.”
“Enjoy the hobby together? Don’t delude yourself. Yesterday, when you were kidnapped and beaten half to death by those thugs on the building’s rest floor—did even a single one of those so-called fan club members come looking for you?”
**Oh Deok-su**’s pupils shook violently.
“You were abandoned. Even if you’d been dragged off by looters and killed, no one would have come for you.”
While he was beaten bloody and forced to act as a pack mule, not a single person from the fan club had come to rescue him.
The only one who had smashed the looters’ heads and pulled him out was me, standing right in front of him.
I didn’t miss the tremor in his eyes and threw out the bait.
“If you clear the parking lot like I told you, I’ll clean out the waiting room, pull **Eun Ye-rin** and **Cha Seol-ah** out, and bring them straight to the van in the parking lot.”
**Oh Deok-su**’s breath caught in his throat.
“We’ll meet up there. Got it?”
The promise that he would play a key role in the operation to rescue the idols he worshipped, and that he would get to meet them.
His loyalty to the fandom crumbled before that promise.
**Oh Deok-su** nodded fiercely, eyes bloodshot.
“I-I’ll do it! I’ll definitely clear the path!”
I smirked and released his collar.
Then I rummaged through my coat and pulled out a gun.
*Shing—*
Seeing the pistol revealed in the darkness, **Oh Deok-su** swallowed dryly. The appearance of a firearm clearly terrified him.
I tapped the barrel with my finger and said,
“When you hear this gun go off inside the waiting room, it means I’ve taken care of everyone inside and rescued Ye-rin.”
“…”
“Take that as the signal and start drawing aggro. Understand?”
**Oh Deok-su** nodded with firm resolve.
He no longer hesitated. He turned and disappeared into the dark passage leading toward the stands.
Once his back was completely out of sight, I gripped my collapsible baton tightly and turned toward the waiting room door.
Then I gave orders to the remaining party members.
“**Seo Ji-soo**. You can use your illusion skill, right? Prepare one of me. **Lee Ji-hye**, hit the door with a fireball. We’re going in.”
***
And now.
After thoroughly educating **Cha Seol-ah**, we had left the waiting room.
While **Oh Deok-su** drew aggro, I led the entire party and safely reached the parking lot.
Most of the bikers who had been guarding this place had moved to join the fight, so there weren’t many left.
*Thud— Thwack—*
*Shwoosh—*
With **Seo Ji-soo**’s arrows, **Lee Ji-hye**’s attack skills, and my collapsible baton, we beat them down and finally succeeded in seizing the van.
*Vrrrrm—*
The key we had taken from the manager turned smoothly, and the engine started without issue.
“Load the gear.”
We also loaded the hiking backpacks we had hidden near the stadium during our infiltration.
With departure preparations complete, I didn’t leave immediately. I waited a moment.
“What are you doing? Why aren’t we going?”
Even though everything was ready, I still hadn’t moved. **Cha Seol-ah** shouted in annoyance.
“Don’t tell me you’re actually planning to take that pig who helped us?”
“I have no intention of taking him. But I still need to do what needs to be done.”
I had no plans to add a man to my team. Men couldn’t be controlled with *Flesh Subjugation*, and there was no telling when they might stab me in the back and steal my females.
In the apocalypse, any uncontrollable variable was a threat. Adding him to the team was impossible.
I couldn’t bring **Oh Deok-su** into the team, but simply abandoning him without a word also didn’t sit right with me.
I still had to keep my promise to let him meet the idols, and there was one more request I needed to make before we left.
After waiting a short while, a man’s voice echoed from afar.
“Ye-rin! Seol-ah noona! You’re safe!”
A chubby man came huffing and puffing toward the van, dragging his heavy body.
It was **Oh Deok-su**, who had perfectly carried out every order I had given him.
**Cha Seol-ah** looked at him and sneered.
“So that’s him? The otaku who supposedly helped us.”
It was only natural for a woman who had once reigned like a queen to not even spare a glance at an ordinary otaku.
But **Eun Ye-rin**’s reaction was different.
She had gone through hell and should have felt nothing but disillusionment toward men, yet she didn’t avoid the fan running toward her.
She was an idol who had spent her entire career smiling and working hard for her fans.
She stepped down from the van and greeted **Oh Deok-su**.
“Deok-su-nim!”
“Wha— You remember me?”
“Of course. You came to our fan meetings often.”
When Ye-rin said she remembered him, **Oh Deok-su** broke into a goofy grin and asked how she was.
“Y-Ye-rin-nim, are you hurt anywhere?”
“No. I’m glad you’re safe too, Deok-su-nim. And… thank you for opening the path outside. I survived thanks to you.”
**Eun Ye-rin** gave a faint smile. It was a sincere greeting without a trace of pretense.
The moment his favorite idol personally thanked him, **Oh Deok-su**’s face flushed bright red.
Overcome with emotion, tears welled in his eyes as he took her hand.
I also gave an order to **Cha Seol-ah**, who was acting all high and mighty.
“You too. Go thank Deok-su. Hurry.”
“…Tsk.”
**Cha Seol-ah**, who had been sitting inside the van, also got out and expressed her gratitude.
“Thanks to you, I survived. Thank you.”
“Even Seol-ah noona!”
“…Who the hell is your noona?”
And so we exchanged greetings in front of the van.
“S-so, shall we get going?”
The moment **Oh Deok-su** tried to climb into the van after the greetings, I blocked his path.
“Who said you could get in? You’re not coming.”
At the rejection, **Oh Deok-su**’s face turned deathly pale.
“Huh? B-but you promised! If I drew the aggro, we’d escape together…”
“I said I’d let you meet us in front of the van. I never said we’d go together.”
“…!”
**Oh Deok-su** looked utterly shocked by my words.
He looked back and forth between Ye-rin and Seol-ah, seeking help, but both of them avoided his gaze.
I spoke to the dazed **Deok-su**.
“Don’t take it too hard. We don’t have the capacity to look after you too. Instead, I have a reward for you and one last job you need to do.”
I felt a little bad about abandoning him so coldly, and since he still had some use, I gave him information.
“According to the manager, the other *Angelic* members—**Yeon-hwa** and **Yoon-seul**—escaped right after the incident in a different van. They might still be alive out there.”
“**Yeon-hwa** and **Yoon-seul**?”
“That’s right. I’ll take responsibility for protecting Ye-rin and Seol-ah. But those two don’t have any men left to protect them.”
At those words, I gave **Eun Ye-rin** a meaningful look.
Understanding what my gaze meant, she cautiously stepped forward.
She gently took **Oh Deok-su**’s rough hands in hers.
“Deok-su-nim.”
“Y-yes, Ye-rin-nim.”
“I’m begging you. Please save **Yeon-hwa** and **Yoon-seul**. You’re the only one who can find those girls trembling out there and protect them. Please.”
Her voice was desperate, filled with genuine worry for her members. **Cha Seol-ah** chimed in from the side as well.
“…You call yourself a fan, right? If you’re a real man, you should take responsibility and find our remaining members too. Don’t you think?”
“…”
The earnest plea from his idols. The illusion that he alone was the only hope capable of saving the other members.
After a brief silence, a flame of sense of duty burned behind **Oh Deok-su**’s glasses.
“I-I’ll do it! I’ll definitely find them and save them!”
The moment the sasaeng fan’s chest swelled with righteous passion.
I snapped my fingers at **Lee Ji-hye**.
“Good. **Ji-hye**.”
“Y-yes.”
“Use the skill on him. The one you got from killing **Kim Tae-ho**.”
At my command, **Lee Ji-hye** stepped forward. She reached out toward **Oh Deok-su**.
*Zzt—*
Blue mana flowed from her fingertips.
*Ding—*
Player 'Lee Ji-hye' has activated the ability Team Covenant.
Target 'Oh Deok-su' has consented. Registered as a team member.
Physical and magical attacks that cause harm between team members are now restricted.
**Oh Deok-su** blinked at the system window that had appeared in midair. I patted him on the shoulder.
“This covenant is a mark that prevents us from accidentally fighting each other due to misunderstandings when we meet again outside. You are now officially part of our team—the *Angelic* Rescue Squad.”
“Ah…”
**Oh Deok-su** was so moved by the sense of belonging as a member of the rescue team that he couldn’t close his mouth.
Of course, at level 1, *Team Covenant* could only prevent team kills. It had no other effect besides giving him that sense of belonging.
But if he later gathered points and raised the skill’s level, the situation could change.
Just as my stealth skill had evolved, if *Team Covenant* was upgraded, there was a chance it would unlock features like locating team members or communication functions.
By sending him out like this, **Oh Deok-su** would wander in search of **Yeon-hwa** and **Yoon-seul**, eventually becoming an excellent source of information who would provide me with their locations in the future.
‘Assuming he survives, that is.’
I took one of the large hiking backpacks we had loaded in the van and handed it to him.
It was a heavy pack filled with survival gear and food—gas burner, ramen, bottled water, and more.
“Take it. It’ll help.”
“…Thank you. Then I’ll be going now. I’ll definitely find **Yeon-hwa** and **Yoon-seul** and bring them back!”
**Oh Deok-su** hugged the backpack to his chest and burst into tears.
Then, swearing he would bring back the remaining members, he ran off toward the darkened outskirts of the stadium.
*Tap tap—*
The sight of **Oh Deok-su**’s back grew smaller and smaller until it disappeared from view.
“…”
**Eun Ye-rin** watched him leave with sad eyes before climbing into the back seat of the van.
“…He seems a little pitiful.”
**Seo Ji-soo**, sitting in the back, also sighed as she watched **Deok-su** disappear.
It seemed she felt sorry for him—he had helped us but couldn’t join the team.
Then **Lee Ji-hye**, sitting in the passenger seat, shrugged.
“What’s so pitiful about him? He was supposed to die anyway. Thanks to Siwoo, he got freed and kept his life. He even got a backpack full of food.”
She wasn’t wrong. **Oh Deok-su** had been dragged off by the group occupying the building and was being used as a meat shield until he died.
Thanks to me, he had survived, met and rescued the idols he worshipped, and even obtained supplies.
On top of that, he had gained a new purpose in life—tracking down the remaining idols. There wasn’t much to feel wronged about.
Then **Cha Seol-ah** in the back seat snorted.
“Isn’t he an idiot? If it were me, I’d never step aside even if it killed me. I’d cling to him and beg to be taken along. I’d even summon zombies if I had to.”
**Cha Seol-ah** claimed that even if it meant throwing a tantrum and drawing zombies, she would have demanded to be taken.
I chuckled.
“That only works because it’s you.”
If it was a pretty girl with a nice hole between her legs, there was a chance she’d be taken along. But a man’s world was different.
It was a world that operated on strict necessity, usefulness, and hierarchy. Without power, you simply died.
So thinking **Oh Deok-su** was just a fool who got tricked would be a mistake.
‘He instinctively realized he couldn’t join our group and chose the next best option.’
If he had thrown a fit here or gotten angry and fought me, he would have lost his life.
Rather than facing that worst-case scenario, it was better to take the survival backpack and team membership even if it felt a little unfair.
He was sharper than he looked—he knew how to read the situation.
“Then let’s go.”
*Vrrrrm—!*
With a heavy engine roar, the large van’s engine started. Bright headlights sliced through the darkness of the parking lot.
“Where are we headed?”
As the van picked up speed down the empty city roads, **Cha Seol-ah** asked. I answered confidently.
“The convenience store.”