Complications and a Horror Movie Night
I ended up inside a zombie apocalypse novel. I'd grabbed everything useful and played it cool the whole way back, but my head was still a mess. It felt like someone had taken the picture I'd been carefully painting and splashed a bucket of ink all over it. My original plan was to slice the cult out with surgical precision before it could spread. That would let Busan's three major factions join forces. From there we'd reclaim more territory starting with Busan, push all the way to Seoul, take down the King and Queen, and be done. But with the cult already running wild like this, the whole story had twisted into a complete disaster.
The guy had always been an over-immersed idiot who dumped his brainrot takes into every comment section, but he wasn't completely brainless. He used to post pretty solid plans and analysis. He'd probably used that as a foundation to manipulate people and build himself a base. And he'd gathered the very followers who would become the core of Yahweh's Paradise. Otherwise the other transmigrators wouldn't have any reason to work with him. Even I was laughing in disbelief, so I could only imagine how the others felt.
Plus, the condition for getting sucked into the novel was having downloaded the text version from that site. To download from a chamdok site you had to rack up a ton of points through activity. Sure, you could buy them, but who the hell pays money after joining specifically to read for free? Pretty much anyone who'd been around long enough knew that over-immersed loser. Unless they were total newbies.
Yet he'd still managed to recruit at least two others. "Ha." A sigh slipped out on its own. Nothing was going right. I'd thought things would improve once I reached the campus, but then Kang Siwoo worked me half to death. I'd thought things would improve at the military base, but without Noh Changhun I would've ended up in a fate worse than death. This level of cosmic bad luck was actually depressing. Now that I had to head to Nam-gu in Busan for work, I was half-convinced they'd burn me at the stake for being a witch.
At least there was one bright spot. When I glanced sideways, I saw Noh Changhun's face had gone rigid as he stared into space, clearly deep in thought. He was obviously trying to come up with a solution. Otherwise he wouldn't be concentrating this hard. Yeah, well. Leaving the thinking to someone else was always the most comfortable option. I'd just ask him about his plan later when we were alone.
"As expected..."
"What?"
"Didn't I look pretty cool back there?"
"Ah."
Of course. I'd wondered what he could possibly be thinking about for so long, but it turned out to be his own appearance earlier. Well, sure. To him, the other transmigrators probably looked pathetic. He was actually insanely strong and knew more about this novel than anyone. They wouldn't register as a real threat. Still, he didn't seem like the type to live completely thoughtlessly. Maybe he'd give me a useful answer if I asked later. For now, I should just give him the response he wanted.
And honestly? It had been fucking cool.
"Do you even need to ask? They probably pissed themselves."
"True. They ran off like their tails were on fire."
"Changhun, are you gonna get a ghost tattooed on your back later or something?"
Instead of answering he gave me an embarrassed laugh. He said if I wanted to show off later he'd break one off for me. Honestly I did want to look cool like that, but our bodies were just too different. Noh Changhun was a hulking mass of muscle. If a guy like that said one word, everyone around him would tremble. But me? I was a beauty. A healthy, athletic one, sure, but that was it. No one was going to shake in their boots if I struck a pose holding a sign. Unless I was rolling around covered in blood, maybe.
So I nudged his side and explained.
"You think so too, right?"
"Yeah. If you tried to look cool it'd probably just come off as cute."
"Exactly. This is why it's so annoying. If I had that strong older sister vibe, it'd be perfect."
"Why don't you look for some protein powder then?"
"No thanks. Putting on muscle is hard for me. My regeneration is so strong my muscle fibers won't even tear."
"..."
Noh Changhun made a face like he'd just heard the most horrifying thing in the world. It was so funny I couldn't even walk straight and ended up cackling for a while. I mean, seriously. Of course the muscle-obsessed guy would react to something muscle-related. But then I wondered if this idiot really wasn't thinking about anything else. We'd just been attacked, and he'd watched me wipe out those bounty hunters.
"Hey, Changhun."
"What?"
"You're not actually not thinking about anything, right? Those transmigrators earlier. The chamdokchung."
"I'm not thinking about them?"
"Why not!?"
"Who's standing right in front of you? The author. If we want to return to the real world..."
"Ah."
"Do you really think even one of those bitches doesn't want to go back?"
"Well... when you put it that way."
"Even rolling in dog shit is better than staying in the afterlife. Even if their bodies changed, reality's still better."
Noh Changhun smirked darkly and continued right away.
"They'd probably spread their legs or get on all fours naked and beg."
"That'd actually be pretty entertaining to watch."
With that, my worries vanished. After all, the reason I'd started working with him was because I wanted to return to reality. Even if I had to go back as a woman, it didn't matter. Living in constant fear among zombies for the rest of my life was way worse than going back and just streaming or something. Wait, hold on.
"Oh, right. Changhun."
"What?"
"Is that promise still valid?"
I remembered the promise we'd made back in Jangyu before coming to Busan. Noh Changhun had said he'd give me enough money to live like a king. He'd earned more in five years of serialization than most people made in a lifetime. I was pretty sure he'd mentioned giving me a few billion won outright.
"You said you'd give me money. A few billion at least."
"I did say that."
"Still valid?"
"Of course."
Noh Changhun grinned. Then he ruffled my hair and said he'd give me even more if I wanted. He seemed to think I was pretty cute, but I had things to say too. Unlike him, once I returned to reality I had no idea how I'd make a living. The whole streaming and writing thing was half a joke. I was clearly going to end up a shut-in who still didn't know how to do anything. So I needed to build a good relationship with him while I still could.
Completely unaware of my calculations, Noh Changhun just kept making that how cute face. I closed my eyes for a moment, then opened them and glared at him. So he had so much money he didn't need to worry about anything, huh? I had a feeling I'd be seeing a lot of this guy even after we returned to reality.
"Tch. Let's go watch a horror movie or something."
"Yeah, yeah."
When we got back to the high school it was around eleven at night. Naturally, almost everyone was asleep except for a few people. But that was actually better. It would be a surprise. When they woke up to comics and toys in front of them...
"Don't you think they'll like it?"
"Definitely. They haven't been able to play properly this whole time."
"Because it's dangerous?"
"Yeah."
It made sense. Sure, we'd cleaned up, but that didn't mean zombies couldn't get into the city at all. Plus the place was full of all kinds of abandoned hazards left over since the outbreak. Even an adult like me could get badly hurt if I wasn't careful. For kids it would be even worse. The thought made me feel a little sorry for them. They should still be growing up seeing only bright things, but the world had already ended.
"Hey, Changhun."
"What?"
"We'll be able to end this before they become adults, right?"
"We have to. No matter what it takes."
Noh Changhun spoke firmly. Watching him, I smiled in satisfaction. He really was reliable. The kind of friend you couldn't find just anywhere.
"Anyway, I'll think about that later. For now let's just watch a movie."
Noh Changhun grumbled like he just wanted to rest. I nodded. I wanted to rest too. I wasn't physically tired, but my mental energy was completely drained. I could force myself to keep moving if I had to, but that was about it. So without hesitation I laid out some bedding, asked Changhun for input, and finished setting up the horror movie.
I don't know where he got them, but there were snacks too.
"Done!"
After struggling for a few minutes, I had a pretty decent setup. I'd placed a desk I'd found somewhere with the laptop on it, laid out seating around it, and positioned the snacks so they could be easily reached. It had become a cozy little movie theater. The fact that we both had to sit on the floor was a bit unfortunate, but it was fine.
"I don't know where this chair came from, but... it's great!"
There were two chairs with backrests that looked like they belonged in a restaurant where people sat on the floor. Once I brought them over and arranged everything, it looked pretty convincing. If we covered ourselves with blankets it'd be perfect. I spread both arms wide to show off my masterpiece.
But Noh Changhun just chuckled softly and sat down quietly.
"Good work."
"...Yeah."
"So, is there a movie you want to watch?"
"Obviously a horror movie!"
"There are a lot of genres though."
"Huh."
When I looked at the folders on the USB, there really were tons of different kinds. From what I'd heard, a movie-loving soldier had collected them. Now that I looked closer, there were even star ratings indicating how scary each one was. I guess he'd rated them himself after watching...
"This one looks like the scariest. It has ten stars!"
"Really?"
"Let's watch this one."
Noh Changhun asked if I wouldn't regret it, but I didn't care. I could think about that when the time came.