Chapter 147. Uninvited Guests at the Mountain Cabin.
As morning broke, the Demon God's people began stirring one by one, clutching their heads in obvious pain. Cassius, as ever, was perfectly composed.
"Mwaaah..."
Reni yawned so wide it looked like her mouth might split, and stretched languidly. She glanced around and woke Chaeyeon and Jia.
"Reni?"
"Mm... Unnie, wake up."
Once everyone had washed up and eaten, I gave them free time to do whatever they liked. I told them to be back around dinner and handed out packed lunches and walkie-talkies to match.
I left Reni with Cassius. Today, I planned a cozy date with just the two of them. Whether it would stay cozy depended on what Jeju Island had in store for us, though.
The three of us came out carrying nothing but light backpacks. Honestly, I questioned whether we even needed backpacks, but they'd slung them on saying they wanted to get in the mood, for the feel of it.
"Been a while since it was just the three of us."
At that, they threw themselves into all the physical affection they'd apparently been holding back. They buried my arms against their chests and linked theirs tightly through mine.
We'd set out full of enthusiasm, but I wasn't sure where we ought to go.
'More precisely, where would there be no zombies...?'
While I mulled that over, Chaeyeon pointed far off into the distance.
"Want to go up into the mountains...?"
"...?"
"We wouldn't have to look at anything weird, and it seems like it'd be quiet?"
Chaeyeon had a point—there likely wouldn't be any zombies in the mountains. And since we were on Jeju Island, we might as well see Hallasan.
The only problem was, getting from the beach where we'd been all the way to Hallasan meant a fair bit of walking.
"Oppa, I'm fine with walking. Think of it as part of the date."
"Me too."
"Alright. Then let's just go for it."
I'd thought we'd picked a beach in a fairly deserted spot, but after walking a little while, we came across what looked like a reasonably bustling neighborhood.
'Well, I guess it's never completely zombie-free, but this much is nothing.'
By now, zombies were utterly inconsequential to our group, so we dispatched them effortlessly as we went. Being a tourist area, the commercial district had plenty of hotels, as expected.
Jia spotted something, tugged Chaeyeon's arm, and whispered into her ear. I could have listened if I'd wanted to, but I chose not to. Whatever Jia said made Chaeyeon's face flush red as she gave a small nod.
"What were you two talking about?"
"We just need the bathroom for a moment...!"
"...?"
Jia had clearly whispered something right after seeing something, but I filed it under I'll just wait and did exactly that. Roughly thirty minutes later, they returned.
'Was that really a bathroom trip...?'
"Let's hurry!"
From the moment they got back, they oddly couldn't meet my eyes. As if they were hiding something...
At the trailhead leading into Hallasan, several tour buses and a good many cars were parked. What surprised me upon arrival was that most of the zombies were already dead.
"Did other survivors clear them out and head up the mountain?"
"Or they might've gone up trying to avoid them."
Past the entrance and the parking lot, a small clearing came into view, along with a barricade crudely constructed from wood.
"Oppa, I think there really might be people up there."
'Getting tangled up with survivors for no reason is always a hassle...'
I checked the signs installed at the entrance, looking for places where survivors were likely to be.
"Let's head somewhere without any, as much as possible."
They nodded without much thought, and we started the mountain trail. That's when I spotted something and made them stop.
"Hold on."
"Why?"
Several traps for catching animals came into view—things that would've been annoying if we'd stepped on them carelessly. I examined the traps more closely. Something was off.
"Are there animals on Hallasan big enough to get caught in traps like this?"
"I don't know for sure, but maybe water deer or roe deer?"
"You think...?"
They were camouflaged so thoroughly that only whoever set them could easily find them. I imagined how they'd trigger if someone stepped on one or tripped the line. The spot where the sharpened wooden stake would hit was none other than the heart. And positioned for a human heart, not a four-legged animal's.
'Did they set these because of zombies?'
Even that reasoning was strange. Anyone who'd survived this long would surely know you have to strike a zombie's head.
'If they set them for food supply...'
No meat offers a better cost-efficiency ratio than human. Weight aside, the sheer overwhelming population is unmatched. I glanced at the girls. They didn't seem to have caught on yet. Of course, this was all just my speculation.
"Sihu, let's just head up for now."
We took a route that would be punishing for anyone who wasn't a veteran mountaineer. The slope was less about climbing and more about crawling. When we pushed past the overgrown brush, a wide-open space emerged, and there were other survivors in it.
"Oh my, you're survivors. Come over this way!"
A middle-aged man and woman. If we'd met them before the apocalypse, they would've looked exactly like a perfectly affectionate married couple. Even the girls, who'd been on guard at the thought of survivors here, let their wariness drop a little after seeing their faces.
"You all must have had a hard time climbing all the way up here to escape those monsters. Please, have some water."
They pulled out a thermos and cups, poured water, and handed them to us. I accepted mine and quietly signaled the girls not to drink.
"Go on, gulp it down nice and cool."
At the woman's insistence, as if urging us to hurry up and drink, Jia deflected smoothly.
"Heehee, we came up so fast that if I drink right away I'll just gag, so I'll sip it slowly~"
"Yes, of course. Better be careful."
Unlike the woman who kept trying to make conversation, the man said nothing and just quietly observed us.
"Are you all Jeju locals?"
"No... we came here on a trip, and then this all happened, and we've been surviving here ever since."
"Good heavens... you poor things..."
I set the cup down on the ground, as if I had no intention of drinking, and nudged it slightly aside. In that instant, I caught the middle-aged man's eyes flicker faintly.
"Anyway, where did you two come from?"
"Oh dear, we were at a lodge just below here and came out for a bit to gather some edible wild greens."
"Ah, the lodge just down there?"
When I asked knowingly, deliberately playing along, the woman brightened and jumped right in.
"You probably didn't see it. It's tucked away quite out of the way~"
"Oh, you mean that Bilberry Lodge?"
"Oh my! Looks like you young folks did see it. That's right. That's where we're staying."
Before coming up, I'd seen a signboard about bilberries growing on Hallasan and made up the lodge name on the spot. Except...
"Bilberry Lodge is a name I just made up."
At that, the woman's expression, which had been all smiles the entire time, slowly hardened. A brief silence stretched out. The atmosphere became hair-trigger tense, a single spark away from exploding.
"Hup!"
Without a word, the middle-aged man yanked a kitchen knife from his chest and lunged at Jia, who looked the weakest. But no one in our group panicked. Not even Jia, despite the sudden attack.
—Whack!
I drove a perfectly aimed kick into the charging man's temple. I must have put a fair bit of force into it, because he flew sideways along with his knife and promptly lost consciousness. The fruits of teaching them hand-to-hand combat—so they wouldn't lean too heavily on magic and bows—were beginning to show.
"Lady. What the hell is going on?"
With the man she'd been counting on disposed of in a single blow, the woman was trembling uncontrollably, unable to say a word. I walked over and picked up the knife that had flown off.
"We don't have a lot of time. Talk. Fast."
Shaking like a leaf, the woman spilled everything. The people who'd gone to check the traps had found our tracks and reported it over the walkie-talkie. They'd been waiting here to catch us, and the plan was to have us drink the drugged water and, once we passed out, take us away.
When I spoke again, letting a murderous aura bleed into my voice, the woman couldn't hold out any longer and fainted as well.
"They were seriously thinking of us as food?"
"Jia, grab that old man's backpack for me."
We rifled through their bags and checked the contents. Rope, knives, unidentified mushrooms and drugs, water bottles, and the like.
"Unnie, there's jerky in here."
"Did they catch some mountain animal and make it...?"
I picked up a piece of jerky wrapped up in a plastic bag and smelled it. Nothing particularly off about its appearance or smell. I brought the jerky to my mouth, tore off a little, and chewed. It was unbelievably tough, and a vile, rank taste rose up so fast I spat it right back out.
"Must be from some wild animal. Tastes so foul it's unbearable."
I tore off a bit and offered it to the girls, who were watching me eat with curious expressions.
"Ugh... I'll pass..."
"Yeah, I really don't want any either..."
Anyway, we had no reason to clash with these people, and if we did, it would only add to our annoyances, so I decided to just move on without giving them any more thought.
"Urrghh..."
The man who'd been knocked out was groaning and coming to. Resentful that he'd lunged at Jia, I gave him one more kick to the head and put him back to sleep.
"We're leaving anyway. As long as they don't make a nuisance of themselves..."
The girls nodded as if they agreed.
"Alright. There's a house around here, somewhere a bit out of the way. Let's settle our meals and lodging there."
"Okay."
I'd assumed Hallasan was all state-owned land, but there turned out to be private property. Before, we couldn't have gone in, but now the concept of private property had basically become meaningless.
We sorted out dinner at the house, a cleanly built log home, and then lit a fire in the yard and just sat there, staring vacantly into the flames. The chirping of crickets and the cries of mountain beasts sounded familiar and comfortable in my ears.
In the pleasant mood, I took their hands. Their faces—I wasn't sure if it was because of the firelight or the mood—looked especially red in the glow.
They leaned their faces against my shoulders.
"Shall we go inside now?"
"..."
"..."
Without a word, they rubbed their faces against my shoulders and nodded. We went into the house and continued with sweet, lingering kisses.
Sharing deep, intimate caresses over our clothes without yet taking them off. The heated mood showed no sign of cooling, and we were just on the verge of undressing when—
I sensed uninvited guests approaching the lodge from quite a distance.
And they were radiating a thoroughly malignant aura.