The World Is Not Equal

I ended up inside a zombie apocalypse novel. But the moment I actually needed to loot something, there was nothing worth taking. Most of the stores had already been stripped of anything edible. It made sense—nearly three weeks had passed since the outbreak. The frozen food would be completely inedible in another week or so.

Oh, right. I almost forgot the most important thing.

If I wore this thing, even the zombies would avoid me. But I couldn’t risk losing it, so I decided to turn it into a necklace. Luckily, the big stationery store had a necklace-making kit. I turned it into a pendant, then slipped it deep between my breasts. This was something I absolutely could not afford to lose. I’d even used fishing line for the cord, just to be safe.

Whew. Preparations complete. I had my lighter, food and water packed in my bag, and a headband on. Wait… why was I wearing a headband again?

Oh. Right. To strap the flashlight to my head. Yeah, anything that could hold a flashlight in case of emergencies. Okay, I had everything.

I shouted it out loud with confidence, then pushed open the emergency exit door and stepped outside.

But honestly, I still had no idea where to go. I figured I should start with a big supermarket or convenience stores. I could grab frozen meals, ramen, bottled water… oh, and canned stuff too. As long as the seals weren’t broken, anything in plastic bottles or cans should still be drinkable.

"Weren’t there a ton of convenience stores around here?"

I remembered there being about five. Or was it seven? Yeah, this area had heavy foot traffic, so it made sense there were so many. And right in the center was a massive supermarket. I decided to check that out first and started heading in that direction.

Strangely, there weren’t any zombies around. But something else was growing that gave me a bad feeling—lush, vibrant plants that definitely weren’t dried up. Some of them had completely overtaken the trees planted along the street.

"…………Shit."

A long, ash-gray rubbery tendril hung down like a rope. It looked like it was coming from a window. I knew exactly what this variant was. Gibbon. The English name for a long-armed ape. Nicknamed “Master Angler” by survivors. If an unsuspecting person walked underneath it, the arm would whip around their body in an instant. Then it would dangle the victim in the air until other zombies came to share the meal.

Obviously, I couldn’t just leave it alone.

"Wait, but… hasn’t it only been three weeks?"

There was no one around to answer, but I felt like saying it anyway. I slowly walked over to where the gibbon’s arm had descended and gave it a light tap with Beopbong. The arm instantly ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠wrapped around the iron staff. I yanked hard, and the creature came crashing out of the window.

"……Ki. Kiiiik…?"

Before the startled gibbon could even try to flee, I drove my fist straight into its face. Its head exploded on impact. Once the arm unwrapped from Beopbong, I gave its skull one final smash to make sure it was dead. After taking out three of them like that, I continued forward.

This was the beginning of the power inflation. Normal zombies would get smarter. All kinds of variants would start appearing. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠The Generals would establish their own territories and impregnate strong females. Eventually, individuals with intelligence surpassing humans would emerge. Those would naturally become nobles, and the strongest among them would rise as kings and queens.

So before that happened, I had to get stronger and smash every last zombie I could. If I wanted to survive alone, that was the only way. Because honestly, I had zero desire to join any survivor groups.

The groups described in the novel all had clear strengths and weaknesses. Military factions, democratic communes… there were even cult groups and variant factions. Oh, right. There were cannibal groups too. By the way, in this story, “variant” referred to the aggressive infected—people whose bodies had begun turning into zombies during the initial outbreak but hadn’t fully transformed. They were a terrifying new force that mostly just overate everything in sight.

And every single one of those groups had at least one screw loose. In that case, being a little lonely and going solo was definitely better. Don’t you agree, Beopbong?

You do, right?

Got it.

Of course Beopbong couldn’t actually answer. But it did tremble slightly, so maybe that counted as a reply.

"…………Hmm."

The supermarket doors were wide open. The entrance was completely overgrown with plants. It was a higher variant of the green sticky vine—the brown sticky vine. I tested it by stepping forward. Thanks to all the exercise I’d been doing, I could still move, but it was obvious I wouldn’t be able to run away quickly if I needed to.

So I’d just burn it.

Part of me wanted to joke, “Let’s explode together,” but I held it in and simply watched the vines catch fire and burn away. Looked like today I’d be looting the supermarket. If I could just clear out this one place, I probably wouldn’t have to worry about food for a while.

And since it was almost a full month since the outbreak, the plants were starting to grow properly. I could look for edible varieties among them. Once I found some, I could use the rotting fresh produce as fertilizer. They’d grow fast and bear fruit in no time. The taste and texture might be questionable, but at least I could maintain a healthy vegetarian lifestyle. For protein, I could eat beans. If that wasn’t enough, there was always the protein powder at the gym.

"The inside is bigger than I expected…? And surprisingly clean."

The floor was glossy white. There were no human corpses, and I didn’t see any zombies either. It was pretty dark inside, though. I could guess why—the building’s structure didn’t let much sunlight in. I started walking forward to get a better look.

"That’s weird. Why does it feel like I’m stepping on cloth?"

Something slippery was under my feet. It really did feel like fabric. No… wait. Cloth?

In this novel, the only zombie that could produce something like this was from the spider lineage.

Oh… fuck.

I quickly turned on my flashlight and swept it around. What appeared were things completely covered in white webbing. Every single display shelf was wrapped in the stuff. I knew exactly what this was.

"…………Preservative-laced spider silk."

Among zombie variants, some mimicked animals and plants. The spider lineage was exactly that—a variant modeled after spiders. They moved differently from the Poisoner types. Their ribcages had evolved into eight legs and two fangs. Their top speed was comparable to a running dog, and they could swing from silk produced by mutated organs in their legs. They could spit weak acidic venom from their mouths and inject paralyzing toxin through their fangs.

And if a male zombie became a spider variant, it could lay eggs. The mutated genitals would implant eggs directly into a female’s uterus. …And once the eggs hatched, the female spider’s stomach would burst and she would die.

Still, there was one silver lining.

Male spiders could also implant eggs into human women. And because human women could actually give birth to the offspring, they lasted longer.

Did that make me feel any better?

Like hell it did.

I was screwed. I’d been an idiot for walking in here without thinking. I wanted to set the place on fire, but if I did, I’d burn ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to death too. This stuff was extremely flammable. There was a high chance the exits would be blocked before I could even run. So could I escape?

As if on cue, the entrance was sealed off. Thoroughly, with layers of spider silk. Fine. Let’s think positively, Yeji. If I’m lucky, I can kill every spider in here. And there’s a ridiculous amount of supplies. I could take it all, right?

Yeah. Spider silk was actually traded among survivors because it was so useful. When applied to plastic, it would melt into it and create a new material. It was harmless to the human body and kept food fresh for a long time, so everyone used it. Of course, the preservative effect existed entirely for the spiders’ benefit. They needed the human slaves they captured to stay fresh, after all.

They’d feed the captured humans until they were nice and plump, then strangle them and wrap the bodies in silk. That way, even years later, they could eat perfectly preserved fatty human meat whenever they wanted. That was the entire reason for this evolution.

"I… fuck. I didn’t expect being a woman would help me survive longer."

I pulled the necklace out from between my breasts and gripped it tightly. Spiders were weaker than Generals. And I was carrying the secretion pouch. The spiders would probably mistake me for a General’s bride who had wandered in. As long as I kept my head, I could make it out alive. No matter how many spiders banded together to hunt survivors, they still couldn’t beat a General.

"…………Huh."

Now that I thought about it, something felt off. Why didn’t anyone in the novel ever carry around one of these secretion pouches? All you had to do was roast or dry it and you’d have something that could drive zombies away.

"Wait…?"

With trembling hands, I turned on the flashlight and tied it to my headband with the cord I’d prepared. I attached another one on the opposite side, securing my field of vision. I knew a fight was coming, but my mind kept drifting back to the novel’s contents.

Yeah, I remembered now. The pouch did have an effect. It was short-term, but it worked. Basically, it made the zombies think I was so ridiculously strong that they should just run away. Of course, it didn’t stop them from calling in their friends later.

But to variants that reproduced using human women as hosts, it sounded completely different. It meant I was a female personally chosen by a General. And if that chosen female wasn’t pregnant and was walking around with a General’s secretion pouch? It meant she had succeeded in killing the General.

In other words, it was like broadcasting to the entire neighborhood that I was a female strong enough to kill a General. Which was the same as screaming at every variant in the area to come fuck me.

But even knowing that, I couldn’t throw it away. There weren’t ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that many variants that reproduced through human women anyway. Even a short-term benefit was better than nothing, and in a situation like this, it could buy me a little more time to stay alive.

So, swallowing my tears and forcing myself to endure, I tucked the secretion pouch deep between my breasts so I wouldn’t lose it, then gripped Beopbong tightly.

I missed my mom.