The Parasite Suspect
I had ended up inside a zombie apocalypse novel. Naturally, there hadn’t been any problems. Honestly, I’d expected a few zombies to show up on the road. But strangely enough, there were none in sight. At this point, zombies rarely moved alone unless it was an exception—they had started acting in groups. In areas where humans held the upper hand, they would quickly retreat and regroup elsewhere. Probably heading north in a massive horde.
“Shit.”
By now I should’ve already reached Haeundae. No zombies, roads relatively clean. I’d been pedaling nonstop without any obstacles. It felt like I’d been riding for at least an hour, yet the same stretch of road I’d seen earlier appeared again.
“Was I always this bad with directions…?”
I hadn’t realized how inconvenient it would be without a phone. If I still had one, I could’ve found my way ages ago with a map app. But there was no map app now—only a physical map. So for a while I sat on Jeokto, staring holes into the map and racking my brain. Still, it wasn’t that difficult. As long as I roughly knew the direction, all I had to do was keep pedaling.
“…”
The complete absence of zombies the entire way was unsettling, but I endured it. There were two possibilities: either they had moved north to prepare for a large-scale war with humans, or the survivors had wiped them out.
“Alright, so this is the place?”
After spotting the sign for Gyodae Station, I checked the map. If I kept going straight down from here, I’d run into the church faction. Since they were expanding their influence around Yeongdo and Nam-gu at this point, it shouldn’t be a problem getting through. I memorized the surrounding scenery so I could turn south later, then climbed back onto Jeokto and pedaled on.
Even as I rode, I saw nothing. At the very least, I would’ve liked to spot either a survivor or a zombie. Maybe I just couldn’t see them because I was stuck on the road. The city center should’ve been busier than this, yet the silence only made me more nervous. I had no idea when or where zombies might suddenly swarm out. This was definitely something I needed to report to Kang Siwoo. No matter how you looked at it, this area had hundreds of apartment complexes clustered together. There should’ve been at least tens of thousands of zombies, yet it was this quiet. Whether they were hiding inside the commercial buildings or somewhere else, something had clearly been done about them. They were probably moving past Dongnae-gu toward Geumrae-gu.
“And I should tell our dear author about this too.”
If it was Noh Changhun, that bastard would’ve already predicted this situation. He’d probably even thought of a way to handle it without casualties. He must be desperately waiting for my arrival so he could make use of his future knowledge. Besides, my position now was completely different from back at the campus. When I first joined, I was just some unknown survivor. The only thing that made me credible was that I’d fought my way through zombies from afar. But the version of me from the military base was someone far more impressive. I’d helped Captain Han Daewi evacuate people to Busan and even saved the lieutenant general’s son. Kang Seonghwa was still alive and well, too. Just mentioning that should’ve been enough to earn me some respect.
“No, shit—”
“Mouth on the ground!”
I had no idea why I was being forced to lie face-down by soldiers. I hadn’t done anything wrong. I’d just been pedaling Jeokto when I spotted them. They were in a Retona, keeping watch over the area. When I tried to talk to them, this happened. We’d been having a perfectly friendly conversation just moments ago.
“…”
They even used a radio—apparently electricity was still working. I already knew the reason from the original setting. The military in this world was a bit more competent than the real one. That was why some units had responded quickly in places like Busan. A few of them had even secured power plants, and miraculously, they could still supply electricity. Of course, with limited manpower and materials, only a handful of plants were operational. They were just grateful the nuclear plants hadn’t exploded. Still, some hydroelectric and wind power stations were running, and with solar generators added in, the military bases at least had power. Seeing even low-ranking soldiers using radios made me realize the situation was more stable than I’d thought.
But my own situation wasn’t stable at all. I could feel suspicious gazes from somewhere, and from the snippets of conversation I caught, they were wondering if I was a newly appeared variant. A variant called Parasite—one that took over a survivor’s brain, kept them active for a while, then killed them. It had appeared a few months earlier than in the original novel, but it wasn’t impossible. And right now, they seemed to suspect me of being that Parasite. Otherwise, there was no way I could’ve made it here through all those zombies.
So I stayed silent and just put on an aggrieved expression. They looked like they’d shoot if I spoke. I could understand that the situation was serious. The military faction had grown far too quickly compared to the original story, so it made sense. That Baron up north would definitely be on guard and accelerating his variant production. Still, no matter how you looked at it, keeping someone pinned down like this for several minutes was excessive.
“The second lieutenant is on his way. Sir, I need to use the restroom.”
“Go ahead. I’ll keep an eye on things, Gwangil.”
“I’ll go with Suhyeok.”
The soldiers’ relaxed atmosphere only made it worse. I was sweating bullets, terrified I might actually die, while they were casually standing guard like it was nothing. Still, I figured once the second lieutenant arrived, I might get a chance to explain myself. So I stayed quiet and waited face-down.
How long had I been waiting like that? Suddenly I heard the sound of wheels, and a bicycle tire came into view.
“Hah, you dumb bastard.”
I recognized that voice. The unique accent, the pitch. Slowly lifting my head, I saw a familiar face.
Grinding my teeth, I asked, “Since when were you a soldier? Second lieutenant?”
“A while now.”
“Then I don’t have to stay down anymore, right?”
“Yeah.”
Noh Changhun got off the bicycle and looked down at me with a pitiful expression. Ignoring that gaze, I stepped back and took a stance. Following the footwork Kang Siwoo had taught me, I threw a body blow with my right hand.
“Y-you son of a bitch!”
“Hmph.”
“…Aagh!”
“Idiot.”
“Why the hell is your stomach harder than a rock!?”
“Muscle, dumbass.”
Staring at his glowing red hand, I gritted my teeth and headbutted his chest a few times. Honestly, how much trouble had this guy put me through? He’d dragged me to the campus without any explanation and told me to help Kang Siwoo. Did he expect me to figure everything out on my own? But even so, it didn’t matter.
“Does this mean I win now?”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“It’s true, though? I’ve gotten so much stronger! If we fight for even a few minutes, you’ll be the one panting and losing for sure!”
“You think you’re the only one who’s gotten stronger?”
Noh Changhun shot me a pitying look. Sure, he’d probably gotten stronger in his own way. But he hadn’t gone through the same hell I had. His experience might’ve increased, but he hadn’t actually grown stronger. Why else would the soldiers be fighting in close combat instead of shooting? Even if they had fought up close, they wouldn’t have killed many zombies. Circumstantially, it was obvious he was weaker than me.
“Go ahead and hit me!”
“…What?”
“Scared? Huh? Don’t want to admit it?”
“You little—”
Noh Changhun’s fist slammed into my stomach without hesitation. It hurt more than I’d expected, but not enough to bring me down. So I stood my ground and grinned triumphantly.
“Hah, you’ve gone soft while I was gone, huh?”
“What did you say?”
“Ah.”
Noh Changhun’s skin flushed red. It wasn’t just that—his body started emitting a hazy heat along with a crimson glow. Getting hit by that fist would definitely hurt like hell. My body was warning me that it was as dangerous as facing a Monster. This was the moment to back down.
But I could beat a Monster. Looking closer, it didn’t seem like he could maintain that state for long. When I touched his arm, it was burning hot—perfect for cooking meat. Now I was certain. I could win against Noh Changhun.
So I smiled casually and asked the nearby soldiers if I looked human enough. While I was doing that, the soldier named Gwangil who had gone to the restroom earlier asked cautiously, “Um, is this the person Second Lieutenant Noh mentioned…?”
“The dumb but kind one. Yeah.”
“Who are you calling dumb!?”
“Well then, Yeji’s friend. Why do you think your friend had to lie down over there earlier?”
“Uh, because they suspected her of being a Parasite variant?”
“Good answer, Yeji’s friend. Are there a lot of zombies in the city center, or a few?”
“No, when I came through, there weren’t any zombies in the city center. I told you I was innocent!”
“Moving past that, what month is it right now?”
“October. Ah.”
Only then did I understand. Everyone else was bundled up in layers because it was getting cold, yet here I was in just a sports bra and shorts. Like someone who didn’t feel the cold at all, and far too clean for a survivor.
“Plus, riding something like that, of course they’d be suspicious.”
“Something like that, my ass! Watch your mouth!”
“Well, it is something like that. It’s not a motorcycle, not a bicycle—what the hell even is it?”
“Jeokto! My precious ride! The bicycle we rode all the way from Jangyu together!”
“Then why the hell does it look so ridiculously modded!?”
“The engineering students poured their souls into it, that’s why!”
At this point, I realized something else. Until we properly beat each other up a few more times, neither of us was going to calm down. We’d only just reunited after so long, and we were already itching for a fight. We stared at each other with exasperated expressions when a curious voice came from the side.
“You two get along really well. I’ll be rooting for you.”
“Gwangil!”
Noh Changhun hurriedly tried to stop him.
Understanding the situation, I slowly closed my eyes. Birds of a feather. He’d probably been selling the story that we were dating. And it seemed like he’d been selling the same story about himself to me, too.