The Heavenly Demon Goes Zombie Hunting (5)

Surprisingly, Enry was an excellent cook.

Her movements had always seemed endlessly stiff and awkward whenever she moved her body, yet the way her hands wielded a kitchen knife was crisp and precise. As she stirred the food in the pan and hummed a little tune, the sight filled others with quiet anticipation.

“Just how are you so good at this?”

“Huh? I lived alone for a while, so I guess it just came naturally.”

“...Does living by yourself really make you good at it?”

That was rich coming from me. The years I had spent living alone were by no means few. In fact, I had lived far longer by myself than she ever had. So why had my own cooking skills never improved in the slightest?

When I voiced my doubts, Enry simply smiled.

“That’s because you never learned it properly. Isn’t that what you always say, Hwaryeong?”

Hmm. She had a point. Just as misguided effort in martial arts meant nothing, cooking without proper fundamentals was equally pointless.

“If you want, I could teach you later?!”

Hmm. While I had little interest in most things, cooking was different. Back in the old Murim, I had suffered terribly in my obsession with eating delicious food, only to eventually give up and subsist on elixirs. That resentment still lingered.

If she was willing to teach me, I had no reason to refuse.

“Then I shall have to make time for it later.”

“Yes! I’ll teach you really well!”

Was she this excited simply because she finally had something to teach me instead of just getting scolded all the time? The way she bounced around like a child was rather amusing.

As I watched Enry set a plate down in front of me with her nose proudly in the air, I suddenly noticed several unusual flows passing around her.

This body was frail. So weak that I was convinced it was no different from an ordinary person walking down the street. Yet even in such a body, my realm was still my realm. As I used and adapted to it, I was naturally beginning to accept the inner energy of this world. In the process, the paths drawn by the Tao were gradually becoming clearer.

That was probably why I could see it. Starting from the bandage wrapped around Enry’s shoulder, an alien flow had been etched into her. The flows elsewhere were exactly what an ordinary human should possess. I could even explain what they were, thanks to what I had recently learned from Baru.

But that one was different.

It was most likely the sign that she was turning into a zombie. For now, the flow tried to spread but was blocked by other energies and simply circled in place. Still, eventually...

“Here. Let’s eat! You won’t be able to enjoy fresh food like this much longer, you know?”

“Indeed. Let us do that.”

There was no need to worry just yet. All I had to do was obtain the so-called vaccine before it spread. For now, I could simply enjoy the meal Enry had prepared.

*

Two days had passed in-game time. Roughly five hours in the real world outside the game. During that time, we never stopped moving. We scoured the city for everything we needed.

First came food and water. As fresh supplies grew harder to find, most of our meals consisted of canned goods. Next, we searched for a generator, fearing the electricity might cut out at any moment. In the process, I was treated like little more than a tool for dealing with the dead.

Every time I reached for anything related to the generator, Enry would freak out. It was as if she believed I carried some kind of curse that made machines explode. I could admit I was clumsy with such things, but wasn’t her reaction a bit much? I didn’t show it, but I was slightly hurt.

And now we had come to a military base on the outskirts of the city to acquire firearms.

“There’s so much good stuff here! I’m definitely taking this shotgun!”

Thanks to all the shooting games she had played, Enry seemed quite familiar with handling firearms.

“What about you, Hwaryeong? What are you going to use?”

“Hmm. Let me see.”

It was a difficult choice. Everything looked interesting. Although I had wielded every weapon that existed in the Murim, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠these were all new to me.

After examining several options, I settled on a pistol.

“A pistol? That seems a bit weak for a main weapon.”

“This will suffice.”

If we had more breathing room, I might have considered something larger and more complex. But we were hardly in a relaxed situation.

“But still...”

“Enough. Just teach me how to operate it.”

“Right. So...”

Over the past two days, we had wandered without rest, visiting countless places. We encountered many of the dead along the way, and I took the lead in dealing with them. Yet despite all our efforts, we had not found a single vaccine.

We had come across several of the dead carrying yellow bags, but every one of them had been empty. How cruel the world could be when it decided to be stubborn.

At first, Enry had forced a smile and said it was just bad luck. But after the second, third, and fifth empty bag, she had screamed that this made no sense. By the time it happened repeatedly, she had even stopped getting angry.

And so we had reached this point.

According to Enry, tonight was what they called “Zombie Night.” The dead, who already swarmed like maggots, would charge at us like lunatics intent on killing. That was why we had come here. Enry had said we would need at least some proper weapons to deal with that horde.

The limit of the woman currently explaining pistol operation beside me was not far off. The energy that had stayed only in her arm on the first day had now reached her chest, crawling up her neck and heading for her head.

In my estimation, the moment it reached her brain would likely be Enry’s end. She probably sensed that she was in danger as well. The way she spoke brighter than usual made that clear.

“There! Got it now?!”

“Yes.”

“Then let’s head back and get ready! You have to do everything, Hwaryeong! You know that, right?!”

“Yes. I understand. Do not worry.”

After finishing our preparations, we returned to the place we had set up to repel the insane horde of dead that would soon swarm us. We prepared for the night. We checked our weapons, inspected the various defenses we had installed around the house once more, and ate a meal made by throwing in every ingredient we had, just in case it was our last.

We watched the gray sky slowly darken into black.

“One of the countless zombies coming tonight has to be carrying a vaccine, right?!”

“It must be so.”

I had no idea how many would come, but since we had failed to find even one so far, surely this time we would succeed. Assuming, of course, that vaccines actually existed in this world.

“Perfect! We’ll survive the night, find the vaccine, get treated, watch the sun rise, and then end the stream!”

“Alright. Let’s do this!”

The determination radiating from her as she gripped her gun with both hands and stared ahead was unmistakable. Part of me wanted to let her enjoy her moment of excitement. After watching her throughout today’s decisive battle, I understood just how much tension and worry she had endured, and how long she had been looking forward to this moment.

But I could not.

The energy heading toward her head was gaining momentum. From what I had observed of its movement so far, she would die in less than an hour of in-game time. She would turn into a zombie and join the horde swarming this place.

If Enry had considered death in this world trivial, I would have allowed her to meet her end in a desperate, bloody struggle. But she did not welcome death. Even knowing her fate, she had fought desperately to survive until the end.

In that case, as someone close to her, was it not my duty to help fulfill her wish?

“Enry.”

“Yes?”

“Your body is not in good condition, is it?”

“...Yeah.”

“Tell me the truth.”

“...It’s pretty bad, isn’t it?”

“I shall press a few of your acupoints. It should make you feel a little better.”

“You can do that?”

“Of course.”

Enry did not doubt my words in the slightest. Perhaps because of everything I had shown her so far, she offered the back of her neck without hesitation the moment I said I would press her acupoints. I was able to examine her energy pathways clearly.

Hmm. So this was what a body inside a game looked like. It was different from reality. Still, since it was fundamentally the body of an ordinary person, locating the acupoints posed no problem.

I pictured the diagram in my mind and pressed the points. I was not strengthening her body or expelling impurities. Those were things I could not do in my current state. Had I brought my real body, I could have forcibly extracted the poison. If I could use Taoist magic like Baru, I could have drawn the opposing flow to block this one.

But the current me could do none of those things.

Therefore, all I did was prevent the energy that had begun in her arm from reaching her head. I had forcibly stopped her from joining the horde of the dead.

The moment I finished, Enry’s body crumpled forward. It was only natural. I had blocked everything except the bare minimum needed to sustain her life. How could she possibly remain standing?

I caught her and gently laid her down on the ground.

“Oh dear. It seems I made a mistake.”

Hmm. So communication was possible in this manner. I had thought there would be no questions at all, but it seemed the system could still be operated even if the body could not move.

“It appears I pressed the wrong acupoints. This is my mistake, so I shall take responsibility for it.”

“What nonsense. Why would I deliberately harm someone who could be of help?”

The people who had always been suspicious whenever I touched anything even slightly complicated were now unanimously trusting me. It would have been easier if they had simply believed it was a mistake.

“If I hadn’t done this, you would have turned into a zombie before we could even find the vaccine.”

“Wait just a little while. I will save you.”

It would not take long. How much time could it possibly take to deal with mindless trash?

“I shall return shortly.”