The Frontline and the Catfight
I ended up inside a zombie apocalypse novel. It didn’t take long for the situation to settle down. For now, the whole “we’re in a situationship” story would have to wait for a proper talk later. Right now, it was better to look around and get a feel for the place.
Apparently there was one squad stationed here. Their main job was to protect and monitor survivors around the BEXCO area. In reality, they were mostly just escorting survivors and doing reconnaissance, so their numbers were pretty low. A standard squad was supposed to have ten soldiers, but right now there were only five actual military personnel. The other five were civilians, so that said everything. Still, aside from two of them, everyone was carrying a gun, which made them look somewhat reliable. Even so, for the military—the force that should’ve been in the best shape—to be this shorthanded… I started wondering if I’d really done anything useful while I was out there rolling around.
“We’re splitting people up because there’s a lot to check on.”
“Yeah?”
“Yep. Besides this spot, we’re responsible for two more locations. Each has its own squad.”
“I see.”
“And more than anything, this is the front line. It’s hard to pull in anyone who isn’t military.”
“Huh? So the other places have more people?”
“They’re divided into the first, second, and third defensive lines. You’ll see more personnel once you get to the second or third.”
“That’s interesting.”
Still, it looked like they had established a pretty solid system. Given how many places they had to defend, this level of organization was impressive. In a world where every country had been overrun by zombies, holding out this long despite severe shortages of supplies was practically a miracle. Plus, now that I was looking, it seemed like there weren’t even any zombies inside the defensive line.
“Did you clean them all out?”
“Every last one.”
“For real?”
“We do it on a regular schedule.”
“Whoa.”
Noh Changhun snorted, clearly proud of himself. Seeing that made me regret being impressed, but I held it in.
“By the way, what are you doing?”
“What do you think I’m doing, Changhun? I’m here to stand guard with you, obviously.”
Since I had things to talk about with Noh Changhun anyway, and since I was already here, I figured I might as well score some points with the others. I slowly slung Beopbong over my shoulder and stared in the direction I’d come from. Noh Changhun let out a disbelieving laugh, but he must have liked the idea because he soon came to stand beside me.
So, to kill some time, I asked him for more details. About the current military situation, specifically. Honestly, the novel hadn’t described it in much detail, so I didn’t really know anything. Maybe the author realized that too, because Noh Changhun started explaining right away.
“Our division currently has 1.5 times the usual peacetime troop strength. Around 15,000 personnel.”
“Really? That’s more than I expected. Did a lot of people gather from all over?”
“…More than seventy percent of that force consists of reservists.”
“What’s the problem with that?”
“You absolute idiot.”
“Hey, I’d have to have actually served to know this stuff!”
“They’re not active-duty soldiers. They’re ordinary civilians. People who already completed their service and returned to society.”
“Right.”
“Obviously their quality is much lower than active-duty troops, right?”
“I… guess so?”
“That’s why, normally, when reservists are incorporated into a division, they only make up about ten to twenty percent.”
“So is that dangerous?”
“No. This division is the one responsible for defending Busan, so the reservist ratio is around fifty percent.”
“…Then what’s the problem? You said it’s 1.5 times normal strength. So the number of actual soldiers is still about the same… isn’t it?”
I at least knew that reservists had lower combat effectiveness than active-duty soldiers. The novel had described it plenty. Except for a few exceptions, reservists simply couldn’t match the performance of active troops. That was why even Han Daewi, the captain, had personally mentioned that he could only assign them to guard duty or patrols. So I understood that much, but I still didn’t get why it was such a big issue.
Noh Changhun let out a frustrated groan. Then he sighed deeply and continued.
“They scraped together every available soldier from several divisions near Busan. And even after doing that, over seventy percent are reservists.”
“Ah.”
“It’s not just people from here. Get it? They pulled in every single person who could possibly be gathered in the early stages of the outbreak.”
“They did all that and still don’t have enough soldiers… so it’s a manpower shortage, right?”
“Yes. You finally understand?”
In a situation like this, reliable troops were essential if they wanted to kill zombies and reclaim territory. Naturally, the number of active-duty soldiers capable of fulfilling that role was critical. And if they’d had to scrape forces together from other divisions and still ended up like this, the burden had to be enormous. Above all, Noh Changhun knew there was a Baron lurking up there. If left alone, it would mutate into an even higher stage and become a massive threat. He probably wanted to reclaim the surrounding areas as quickly as possible and take it down.
But that was that, and this was this.
The explanation itself was fine, but being treated like an idiot was something I couldn’t let slide. So I immediately shot back.
“You’re the one who didn’t explain it properly.”
“This little shit, seriously.”
“What? You gonna hit me? Go ahead, try it. I can take it now.”
“You think you can beat me in a fight? Want me to make you beg for your life?”
“Weren’t you the one who almost died fighting hunters? I saved your ass once, remember?”
“You wanna go?”
“If you didn’t understand, then let’s settle it right now.”
Noh Changhun immediately started cracking his knuckles. He reached into his pocket, slipped on his brass knuckles, and glared at me. I put on the knuckles Kim Yeonhua had given me and tossed Beopbong far away. The atmosphere grew so tense it felt like we were about to throw down any second… or at least it should have.
Instead, I could feel people around us giving us looks that said we made a great pair. Like they’d finally found a match made in heaven. And those looks were all aimed at that bastard.
“Hey, hey. Operation timeout.”
“…Fine.”
I hurriedly grabbed Noh Changhun’s hand and dragged him off. My head was full of thoughts about beating the crap out of him. I mean, sure, I’d only said that stuff to avoid getting caught in a catfight. But why the hell had this guy lied and told everyone we were in a situationship?
“If you don’t confess properly, it’s all-out war. I’ll go get my bat and we’ll really fight.”
“Wait, that’s—”
“Give me a reason I can accept and I’ll let it go.”
“What about you? What was your reason?”
Noh Changhun deliberately put on a serious face. I tried to stay calm too, but it was impossible. Goddamn it! Why did I have to get stuck in the middle of a catfight between heroines?
“Kim Yeonhua got jealous of me.”
“Pfft.”
“Don’t laugh, you asshole. I’m pissed right now.”
“Ah, yeah. Yeah. I get it.”
“She suddenly asked if I liked Kang Siwoo. I mean, seriously…”
“Catfight Yeji? Hmm.”
“You fucking bastard.”
And it wasn’t just Kim Yeonhua. At the time, even Lee Ayoung had been keeping an eye on me. Noh Changhun chuckled, then his expression turned serious again.
“Do you really think only those two were wary of you?”
“…What?”
“Didn’t you read my novel? There’s one more in the cafeteria.”
“Ah. Baek Seol-ah.”
She was another yandere type. When her mind was shattered and she had no one to rely on, Kang Siwoo had taken her in. Her role wasn’t that big, so I’d completely forgotten she was technically a heroine. That made sense—after the later parts of the story, she stayed in a safe place so she didn’t get much spotlight. No wonder I’d felt strange stares every time I went to the cafeteria with Kang Siwoo.
“Wow, she’s still alive? Didn’t die?”
“…Shut up. You think I wanted to get dragged into a catfight? At least things have gotten a little better now, but…”
I trailed off. Because I had definitely told Kang Siwoo that I didn’t actually like Noh Changhun and had only said I did to avoid getting involved in annoying drama. So how would that sound to the others who had let their guard down thinking I really liked him? The ditzy heroine who followed him around all day, bantering and acting cute.
“Fuck…”
I wanted to die. Kang Siwoo probably wouldn’t say anything, but… I was currently in the middle of going from the military base back to the campus. Since I’d gone to see the person I supposedly liked, people would naturally expect some kind of emotional change. The balance game had officially begun.
Either I could brag about how Noh Changhun and I had been all lovey-dovey, or I could admit I got rejected and say it was nothing. Saying nothing happened at all was only a temporary fix. Why had I gone to the campus in the first place? Why was this bastard even here? The plan was to merge the two largest survivor forces in Busan and begin full-scale reclamation. Naturally, that meant I’d have to keep talking with both Kang Siwoo and Noh Changhun constantly. If I kept pretending nothing was going on, I’d end up buried under misunderstandings.
Sis, were you lying to us this whole time and actually dating Siwoo oppa?
Wow, I could hear the voice so clearly in my head.
“Didn’t you plant a flag last time…?”
“What flag?”
“You asked Kang Siwoo if your hair wasn’t pretty. You said white hair is beautiful.”
“Ah, wait a second.”
Noh Changhun pretended to choke, then burst out laughing. Here I was, seriously contemplating whether I should just die from embarrassment, and this bastard was cracking up like it was the funniest thing ever.
But that was fine. Now it was judgment time. I had roped him into this “liking Noh Changhun” thing out of sheer necessity, but—
“Your reason wasn’t something like that… right?”
“Ahem.”
Noh Changhun avoided my eyes.
“I hate annoying things. So I said I was already in a situationship with someone.”
“Exactly—there it is!”
The frustration I’d been holding back finally exploded. My heart raced, adrenaline surged through my body. Even if it was pathetic, I was going to land at least one gut punch. No, two. But punching him with the knuckles on would probably hurt him too much, so I took them off and charged straight at him.
“…!”
And because the bastard instantly tensed his muscles, I ended up clutching my reddened hand and writhing on the ground for a while. It felt like I’d punched a rock. No—a damn iron block.