Chapter 115: They're Coming
"Aaaagh!"
"Wow, that hurts quite a bit, doesn't it? Just bear with me a little longer."
The elderly dentist carefully scraped the area around the tooth where the filling had fallen out, using a probe, explorer, and forceps by hand.
The sharp grinding and scraping sounds filled the air. It would have been over in moments with an electric drill, but doing everything manually made it just as painful while dragging the process out far longer.
"Hmm. I should take an impression, but I don't have the materials right now. We'll have to use flour instead."
"Ugh... ah..."
Do Kyung kept her mouth open the entire time she received the dental treatment. She had always brushed thoroughly three times a day after returning home, but she silently vowed to increase that from now on.
Creak—
"Up we go!"
Meanwhile, Kim Jun stood in front of the car with Gaya and Monk Seong Jeong, loading rice and flour into a cart.
"We are truly grateful."
"It'd just attract rats if we let it pile up at home."
Kim Jun's house already had more rice and flour than they could ever use, so there was plenty to spare for bartering at places like Myeong Guk's house or Jeongto Temple.
Thanks to the rice and wheat in the cart, the temple, which had been boiling porridge for today's meal, immediately served it and began cooking fresh rice in a new pot.
"Hehe, our benefactor has offered alms once again."
When the Head Monk bowed his head with a kind smile, both Kim Jun and Gaya quietly pressed their palms together in response.
"Um..."
"Yes?"
"Could the two of you come with me for a moment?"
Hajun's Mom asked Kim Jun and Gaya to follow her. Inside the room, a much bigger Hajun was bouncing around energetically. When the child ran toward Gaya, she gently stroked his head.
"My goodness, he's grown so much already?"
When the baby charged at her, Gaya subtly dodged until Hajun's Mom scooped the child up and held him.
"He's been eating well lately, and his baby teeth are coming in nicely."
"He's three years old now, right?"
"Ah, yes."
Kim Jun held the baby and kept stroking his head, but although Gaya smiled at the sight, she seemed reluctant to hold the child herself and simply watched from the side.
"Miss, what do you think of these?"
"Oh my, what are these?"
What Hajun's Mom pulled from the wardrobe were sweaters, socks, gloves, and even a hat, all knitted from yarn.
"Wow, these are beautiful."
"Aren't they? They're perfect for a young woman like yourself."
"Did you make all of these yourself?"
"Yes... I used to run a shop that sold handmade children's clothes."
Hajun's Mom showed Gaya the items she had personally knitted and handed them over.
Even back home, Eun Ji was skilled with knitting and had worked on projects together, but it still took considerable time just to make a single pair of socks.
"If you like them, take everything."
"What? No, you've worked so hard on these..."
"You gave us rice and flour. This is the least I can do."
"Oh my, thank you so much."
Kim Jun chuckled, thinking they had gained more goods to use for bartering inside the temple.
Thanks to that, Gaya was able to gather a large bundle of clothes to wear back home.
Afterward, Kim Jun stepped outside. In one corner of the temple, monks were chopping wood with axes.
"Hup!"
Thwack!
Seong Jeong brought the axe down with perfect accuracy, splitting the log cleanly.
Beside him, someone quietly stacked the split firewood.
"Monk Myeong Jin. Has Monk Younggi still not returned?"
Thwack!
After splitting another piece, Seong Jeong asked about the other monk.
"He said he was harvesting from the greenhouse."
"You're still farming?"
"Haha. The weather isn't cold at all, so the crops grow well inside the vinyl greenhouse."
"I see."
While watching the monks work, Kim Jun performed maintenance on the firearms nearby.
He disassembled the internals, applied grease, thoroughly cleaned every part of the rifling, and then reassembled them.
By then Do Kyung had finished her dental work. She emerged clutching her swollen cheek.
"Oh, all done?"
"Ow, it hurts so much."
Do Kyung opened her mouth wide for Kim Jun to see. The old fillings had been completely removed, the decayed sections scraped clean, and temporary fillings placed.
"Come back in two weeks. Oppa gave me a ring and some silver to make proper fillings."
"You're gonna end up with gold teeth at this rate."
"Ugh, it hurts."
Next was Gaya's turn.
She looked nervous about the scaling and the slight decay on her upper molar. The elderly dentist smiled gently and asked her to open wide.
"Ah—"
"Hmm. It's only a little decayed. Temporary filling should be enough for this."
"Uh..."
"Let's start with scaling first."
The dentist picked up the probe, the nurse assisting at his side.
Thwack!
"You're pretty good at that."
"I used to chop a lot of wood."
Kim Jun swung the axe and split the firewood with ease.
Before his current house had been renovated, they had used a charcoal boiler. Whenever his grandfather brought back trees, chopping them into firewood had been Kim Jun's responsibility.
Even during his military days, he would return home and chop a massive pile of firewood for his grandfather in advance. All of it was now just a memory.
Kim Jun decided that once the dental treatments finished, today's work would be done.
But at that exact moment, someone came running in a panic.
"Monks!! Monks!!!!"
"!?"
"Wait, isn't that..."
"Isn't that Monk Younggi's voice?"
Both Monk Myeong Jin and Seong Jeong frowned when they saw Younggi—who had gone to harvest crops—running toward them with all his strength, basket still in hand.
Kim Jun reflexively grabbed his shotgun and gathered his weapons.
"Monk Younggi! What happened?"
"Th-those evil spirits are climbing the mountain!"
"Evil spirits...?"
"It's those things!"
"I see. Zombies must have shown up."
Kim Jun loaded his shotgun and prepared to move out with two pistols ready.
"Which direction?"
"They're coming up from one side. Toward the main gate!"
"Then we monks will go!"
"Monk Younggi, please evacuate the Head Monk and the female devotees inside. We'll handle this!"
"Y-yes!"
Monks Seong Jeong and Myeong Jin each picked up a long hoe and a pitchfork.
While Buddhists were not supposed to take life, labeling the zombies as evil spirits was the bare minimum defense they allowed themselves.
"Let's head to the wooden barricade!"
"I'll come too."
"There's no need for you to..."
Click—
Instead of replying, Kim Jun pumped the shotgun with a smile.
"...Let's go together."
They headed for the wooden barricade built to stop the zombies.
Fortunately the car was parked nearby. Kim Jun opened it first and pulled out equipment from inside.
"Monks! Use these!"
"It's fine."
"I said use them!"
Kim Jun tossed the two high-quality helmets that had been meant for Gaya and Do Kyung to the monks.
Monks in robes, motorcycle helmets, and carrying hoes and pitchforks looked ridiculous, but it was practical gear for survival.
"Coming from the front..."
While Kim Jun waited, zombie figures appeared in the distance.
"Kyaaaaaaaah!!!"
"Here they come!"
Kim Jun spotted a runner charging up the mountain at frightening speed, foam dripping from its mouth.
Bang—
The shotgun slug fired.
The runner's head exploded instantly and it collapsed. As he loaded the second round, the tense atmosphere in the forest continued to build.
The horrifying shrieks of the undead tore through the trees.
"Benefactor! Left side!"
"!?"
The moment Kim Jun swung the muzzle around, more zombies were rushing in from another direction.
There were more than just one or two, and unluckily every single one was a runner.
Click— Bang! Click— Bang!
After firing all three rounds, two zombies dropped with destroyed heads, but more kept coming from behind.
With no time to reload, he switched weapons instantly. The revolver at his waist roared.
Bang— Bang—
One shot, one kill.
With machine-like accuracy, he followed the shotgun by blowing apart zombie heads cleanly with the revolver as well.
"Monks! We need to push forward and take them down!"
"Benefactor! It's too dangerous!"
But Kim Jun advanced exactly as he always had, gripping the pistol properly and shooting every approaching zombie in the head.
After emptying all six rounds, the fallen zombies lay still, their brains pierced.
He would have preferred to burn the corpses, but this was a mountain.
"Whew—"
Thinking this exchange had been a net loss and wondering if he should get his own dental work done while he was here, another zombie suddenly ambushed them from behind.
"Uuuugh!!"
The rotting jaws snapped hungrily through the air.
"You bastard! Get off!"
"!?"
When Kim Jun turned his head, a zombie had already lunged and was attacking the monks.
"Damn it!"
Click—
He tried to fire immediately, but the gun was empty.
In a rush, Kim Jun drew the other pistol from his waist and pulled the trigger. Blood sprayed in every direction.
Bang!
Crunch—
After blowing its head apart, he kicked the corpse away.
"Monk Seong Jeong!"
"..."
Seong Jeong's robe was soaked in zombie blood. The monk staggered from the sudden assault.
Kim Jun examined the situation and let out a long sigh.
"What did I tell you?"
"Ugh..."
"What would have happened if you hadn't worn the helmet?"
Clear bite marks from the zombie's teeth were visible on the motorcycle helmet Kim Jun had given him. Without it, they would have been cremating a monk today.
Kim Jun took out a bottle of soju from the car and poured it over Seong Jeong's body to wash away the blood.
"Ah~ Can a monk even smell like alcohol?"
"...It's fine."
They had nearly been overrun by the surprise attack of the running zombies, but Kim Jun's intervention had miraculously stopped the disaster.
"Are you alright, Monk?"
"Yes... I'm still fine for now."
After repelling the zombie attack, Kim Jun reinforced the wooden barricade thoroughly. Once Seong Jeong entered the small one-pyeong meditation room, Kim Jun locked the door from the outside and stood guard.
Although the helmet had prevented a bite, Seong Jeong had been covered in blood. To prevent any chance of infection, he would spend the night inside the temple's meditation room practicing Zen meditation.
And if infection did occur, Kim Jun had promised to handle the end himself.
The other monks and devotees could raise no objections.
The Head Monk simply repeated, "It is merely the Buddha's will..." and practiced Zen in a separate spot from Seong Jeong.
It seemed every monk in the temple would stay up through the night, praying for Seong Jeong.
"If you feel even slightly unwell, tell me immediately."
"I've caused trouble for our benefactor once again."
The monk had asked to be killed immediately if he became infected.
But after everything Kim Jun had seen so far, he figured the odds were about fifty-fifty.
"Excuse me..."
"Ah, dentist?"
The dentist approached Kim Jun and handed him both tea and a book.
"The two young ladies have finished their treatments. We'll take impressions in about two weeks and fit them with proper fillings then."
"Understood. We'll have to come again. But what's this book?"
"My daughter and I wrote down everything we've observed about those creatures."
"Really?"
Kim Jun's interest was immediately piqued upon learning it was research on the zombies that the dentist and nurse had compiled during their travels.
"If you want it, please take it with you."
"Thank you. Looks like I'll be reading this tonight."
The dentist bowed quietly and left. Kim Jun decided to drink the tea the temple had offered.
While sipping it, he shone an HD light on the pages and began reading the book beneath the moonlight.