Venomous Pursuit
"Agh!"
A green sphere whistled through the air and burst against the floor. The stinging sensation alone told me everything—if I didn't wash it off fast, the burns would turn serious. But of course, I couldn't exactly do that right now. All I could manage was to keep hammering the motionless Cannon Fodder in front of me. Not that it seemed to matter. Even swinging with everything I had, the thing didn't so much as blink.
Behind it, the Toads kept lobbing fresh spheres from the holes along their backs straight into the café.
"Hey, Changhun! How the hell do we kill these bastards?!"
"Just hold on! There aren't any Cannon Fodders on my side—I'll break through!"
"Haaah…"
His side didn't sound much better. He was drenched in sweat just trying to keep the zombies from flooding the café. Whoever planned this ambush had done a damn good job. The Cannon Fodders punched holes in the wall so the Toads could rain poison, while other mutants and regular zombies pushed in through the entrance. It left us with no good options. Focus on the Cannon Fodders and Toads and the zombies at the door would swarm us. Focus on the zombies and those green spheres would tear us apart.
At least we both still had a way out. While he smashed zombie heads, I could tank the poison with my regeneration.
"You look like you're about to play baseball with that bat!"
"Don't bother knocking them away! They don't take damage from their own poison!"
"Why the hell not, you bastard author?! This difficulty is actual garbage!"
"Well, back then I didn't expect to end up inside my own novel."
Noh Changhun laughed as he hurled a zombie toward the terrace. Ignoring the wet, violent sounds behind me, I raised the Beopbong and swatted another green sphere aside. The poison didn't seem to affect me much anymore. It would definitely kill Changhun, though, so I was better off playing meat shield. As long as none of it got on my face, I'd be fine. I kept leaping around and swinging.
One small mercy: the Toads weren't aiming properly. They launched the spheres with their tongues, so accuracy was terrible. Only a few were actually flying straight at Changhun. Getting hit myself didn't matter. My skin stung and grew sticky, my feet stuck to the floor, but I could endure it.
"Why is my clothes melting? Changhun, you got some weird fetish or something?"
It wasn't dissolving completely like in some eroge, but holes were appearing and the fabric was thinning. Even my shoes looked like the soles were going. I knocked another sphere away and glanced at him, but he was clearly too busy to answer.
"Ah, shit! It's all over my face!"
"Shut up and fight!"
"I'm already swatting every single one headed your way!"
Thankfully, Changhun was slowly advancing. Then he spotted an opening and burst out of the café. I moved to follow—only for the Cannon Fodders to suddenly retreat in a group. A single zombie was fleeing in panic, and the Toads and mutants were moving to protect it.
"Hey! Operator! That's the Operator! Go after it!"
"Are you insane?! Can't you see I'm fighting over here?!"
Shrapnel sprayed from the direction of his voice. He'd probably tried to chase the Operator and gotten swarmed. I started forward to help when a sudden chill ran across my stomach. I barely managed to block with the Beopbong before another green sphere exploded. That was when I realized—they weren't targeting Changhun anymore. They were aiming at me.
"…………!"
The sticky liquid didn't matter if it hit anywhere else. My body could handle it; the sting faded almost instantly thanks to my regeneration. But if it got in my eyes or anywhere vulnerable, that would be dangerous. I instinctively covered my face with one arm.
Then I understood.
"This fucking—"
The Toads that had already thrown all their spheres charged straight at me. Their only weapons were tongues and teeth, but that was more than enough to pin me down—especially with the poison still coating the floor and fresh spheres still flying in. I had no choice but to wrestle with them for a while. They stung, scratched, and bit, but I managed to overpower them.
When I finally shoved the last Toad corpse aside and stumbled out of the café, I found Changhun looking worse for wear. One eye was swollen shut, his clothes were torn, and long gashes ran across his back and side.
"You don't look okay."
"I'm fine."
"Ugh. I'm covered in this stuff. And I'm fine too."
"Your clothes don't look fine."
"What? Ah, shit! These were my favorite old clothes!"
They were barely clinging to my body. One shoe was gone entirely, the other had no sole left. The sports bra's left strap had snapped but somehow still held on, probably thanks to sweat and green slime. The jeans had shrunk to hot-pants length. The wounds? Already healed. Blink and they were gone.
"You can still fight, right? Grab your club and follow me. You're on Operator escort duty."
"What are you going to do?"
"Kill the Operator. If you're faster than me, go ahead."
"Fine. I'm used to being the meat shield anyway."
A few bites and punches wouldn't matter. Changhun would finish the job. I headed down the stairs, took a punch from a Boxer—stomach again—and smashed its head in with the Beopbong. A snort reached my ears.
"Idiot."
"Shut up."
The rest of the zombies were easy enough. Once we cleared the shortest path outside, Changhun charged like a wild boar, simply shoving everything aside. At least his overheating body had cooled down. That was something.
"Graaah…!"
"Graaah…!"
"I'm getting used to these groans too."
I crushed the first zombie that opened its mouth. Got bitten once. Scratched and stabbed a few times. I fought as hard as I could until Changhun returned. There were more of them than I could comfortably handle alone, but I wasn't worried. A green head came flying from the distance.
"Graah!"
"Brought you a souvenir. Figured you wouldn't want it, though."
"Who the hell likes zombie heads?"
"Guess not."
Changhun threw a jab. I swung the Beopbong with renewed strength. The fight ended. I looked around for the Operator's head out of curiosity, but it was completely pulverized. Only the fact that it had once been a head remained.
"Found the base too."
"The cart's still fine, right?"
"It's over there, covered with a tarp."
"Oh. I need to change first. These are about to fall apart."
"Go ahead."
"Actually, I need to wash up first. You only got grazed a few times, so you wouldn't know, but this stuff is seriously sticky and burns."
Changhun gave a slow, indifferent nod, then suggested we check the Operator's base first. I figured washing could wait, so we headed over together.
The base was a walkway beneath a bridge. Unlike the others, the plants here had grown into building-like structures.
"Whoa. All of this is edible?"
"Yeah. Green, orange, and blue fruits are safe."
"What about black?"
"Substitute for oil. Tastes greasy if you eat it."
"Oh…"
"Got a lighter? Let's pick the fruit and burn the rest."
"Why? Aren't we taking what's inside?"
"We'll take that too, but we still have to burn everything."
"Got it."
Changhun would handle it anyway. I waded into the river. Surprisingly, the water was clear enough to see the bottom. Maybe the plants had been tended to. After a moment I stripped—more like tore the rags off—and warned Changhun that I'd kill him if he peeked. Then I scrubbed the green slime from my skin. Once it was gone, I felt alive again. The stinging vanished, and washing after so long felt incredible.
"Hey, Noh Changhun! Aren't you washing up?"
"If both of us bathe, we'll be in great shape when the zombies show up."
"Ah."
"I'll wash later, just in case. Or not at all. There's plenty of undrinkable water around anyway."
"Whatever… Ah! Ah!"
"What?"
"My clothes…"
"The ones you took off earlier."
"They're torn beyond repair."
"…………"
Silence stretched from the direction of the base, followed by a quiet curse thick with emotion. Then a long sigh.
"It's just the two of us anyway," Changhun said.
That was true, but still. Even if it was only us, I had no desire to walk through the city naked. Since we had to gather fruit and return to the cart anyway, I asked if he could just bring clothes and a towel. After some persuasion, he walked toward the cart.
"Leave them on the riverbank! I'll come get them!"
"Sure."
I'd told him not to look, but he ignored me. He came back carrying the towel and clothes, then stood just out of reach. I knew exactly what he was doing—teasing me now that the fighting was over.
"……Pervert."
"What? You can just come out and take them."
"…………"
In the end, I had to walk over to him to get the clothes and towel. I'd pay him back properly if the chance ever came. For now, I dried off and got dressed. At least I felt refreshed.