Separate Paths
I'd ended up inside a zombie apocalypse novel. The whole "don't do anything weird" thing had been a joke. What I was actually worried about was getting ambushed or something. Sure, Baron was dead, but the zombies that bastard had collected weren't just going to vanish into thin air. It'd be insanely unfair to pull off all that hard work only to get killed by some random mooks. Thankfully Noh Changhun had apparently taken care of it, because when I regained consciousness, I was inside a convenience store.
A few cans of food had been left out like a silent "eat if you're hungry," along with a note. He'd blocked all the doors before leaving and written that if anything happened, I should pull the mop handle he'd rigged as a makeshift latch. As if I wouldn't know how to open a damn door. It was a little insulting, but the logic was sound. When your body's in bad shape, thinking straight gets surprisingly hard. It wasn't that he didn't trust me or anything.
Anyway, I cracked open a can and ate, then checked my condition. No pain, no injuries. My body felt so good I could probably claim I'd fully resurrected. Not bad.
The problem was... what came next. I had no clue whether I should head toward Seomyeon where the original protagonist was, or toward Haeundae where Captain Han Daewi had gone. Or maybe I was supposed to move to take down that cult. No answer seemed right. I was just a Chamdokchung who'd only read the thing once, and sloppily at that. This was the author's job. Readers had their own role to play.
"And that role is obviously gathering food."
I didn't know what Noh Changhun was thinking, but we needed supplies. Both of us had burned through a ton of calories fighting and recovering. So while the place was still empty, I figured I should grab everything useful. I left the door ajar and kept sorting through canned goods and ramen, stacking them on the floor.
That's when Changhun pushed the door open.
"You're back?"
"I didn't even tell you to, but here you are hoarding food already."
"Well, we've got two mouths to feed. This might not even be enough, right?"
"No. It's one mouth now."
".........What?"
A bad feeling hit me like a truck. And my bad feelings were never wrong.
"From now on, we'll move separately."
"Why!?"
"Because it's necessary. That's why we're splitting up."
"No, I mean why!"
I needed to know the reason. How else was I supposed to decide what to do? At minimum, I needed information. Changhun, realizing he hadn't actually explained anything, finally started talking.
Taking down Baron was good, but there were still way too many zombies left. Their sheer numbers were enough to threaten the surrounding survivors. We had to wipe them out before the nobles showed up again, and for that, help from survivor groups was essential. So he was going to meet Captain Han Daewi and try to form an alliance between factions. Plus, there were other people who'd been sucked into this novel besides me, so we had to prepare for them too. He wasn't sure how well he'd manage it, though.
"But, Changhun."
"Yeah?"
"How do you even tell if someone's from our world or not?"
"Their hair color's different from the start."
".......Come again?"
"People who entered the novel don't have normal hair colors."
"What about you?"
"I'm the author, so I get special treatment."
".............."
I had a lot I wanted to say, but I kept my mouth shut. I'd spent years as a Chamdokchung cursing the author to hell and back dozens of times. I wasn't in any position to talk. Still, I got the general idea. So if anyone saw me with my silver hair and red eyes, they'd immediately know I wasn't from this world. To normal people I'd probably just look like a regular Korean.
"Anyway, I'm heading to Haeundae first."
"You? To Haeundae?"
"Yeah. I'll link up with Captain Han Daewi there and start the operation to clean up Busan."
"Then what about me?"
"You head to Seomyeon and join up with the original protagonist."
".............For real?"
I narrowed my eyes at him, giving him a hard stare. Because this novel was straight-up erotic fiction. The protagonist was a regressor who knew exactly how to manipulate women's hearts. He was also well aware of how to use romance to form alliances in situations like this. If you'd been sucked into a novel and turned into a woman, the golden rule was to stay as far away from the original protagonist as possible. This was Yellowy's intuition talking. For real.
Even if everything went perfectly, it was obvious I'd end up with at least one deeply unpleasant experience. And he still wanted to send me alone? I kept staring, but Changhun's expression remained dead serious. In the end, I had no choice but to give up.
Fine. Whatever. He said he needed me. I didn't know what would happen, but apparently he couldn't do it without me. I broke into a smug grin and immediately got scolded for it. He told me to take this seriously because it was important.
"I'll manage just fine! I can pump out adrenaline like you now."
"Sure."
"What? After I saved your life multiple times, this is how you act? I'm disappointed, seriously."
"Fine. If it goes well, I'll give you some money."
"...........Money?"
"Yeah. Money. More than you could ever spend."
I took a deep breath and did some quick mental math. A popular apocalypse novel serialized for five years on a paid platform, completed, with 19+ content that was tame enough to run on other sites too. If I calculated how much that bastard had earned and would continue to earn...
"Hey, Changhun."
"What."
"Even if I leave with you, I'll still come out as a beautiful girl, right?"
"Yeah? Yeah. You'll come out as a silver-haired, red-eyed beauty."
"Then... can I get my hopes up?"
A sly grin spread across my face. It was ridiculous to be running happy circuits right after taking down Baron, but thinking about escaping together gave me hope. And hope gave me the strength to keep moving forward.
"What are you hoping for?"
"Since I saved your life, maybe enough money to coast through life without working?"
"Good grief."
"What! You got a problem with that? If you don't like it, take responsibility forever! I know I did stuff that deserves punishment, but that's all there is to it!"
I had no choice but to be shameless right now. Besides, we were too important to each other to throw away easily. I couldn't escape without him, and he'd be exhausted without me. The fact that he was listening to this nonsense was proof enough.
Noh Changhun quietly nodded, then spoke.
"I can give you a few hundred million."
".......A few hundred million?"
"Why? It was a pretty successful novel."
"No, I know that, but... just casually offering hundreds of millions..."
"I already earned enough in five years to last a lifetime."
I wanted to ask why he was still going to college, but I held back. It was his life to live. Yeah, if I earned that much, I'd just do whatever I wanted too. Make a cat bed out of ten-thousand-won bills. Give relatives allowance only in fifty-thousand-won notes. Stuff like that.
"Oh, should I start calling you Master from now on?"
"Don't. You're not being sincere anyway. No point in hearing empty flattery."
"Yeah, true! Whew, what a relief. Still, there's a future after all. Way better than I expected."
"What exactly were you expecting?"
Changhun sounded genuinely curious. Well... if we couldn't get out, I'd planned to pick a deserted island and live with him. Depending on the mood, we could have kids or not. It'd work out somehow. If we could get out, I'd become an internet streamer. Honestly, at my level I'd be one of the top beauties in Korea. Just acting cute would set me up for life. There were plenty of advantages to being a woman, too.
But... those were just hopeful delusions. Just thoughts.
"............It's bleak. Without you, Changhun, my future looks hopeless."
"I'm the idiot for expecting anything from you."
"What the hell were you expecting?!"
"Yeji, your brain only works properly in situations like this."
"All I thought about was doing internet broadcasts and writing essays!"
"Huh. You think you can write?"
Noh Changhun smiled. Honestly, even I found it funny. A former Chamdokchung wiping their slate clean and debuting as an author? It was the kind of farce that would make a passing dog laugh.
"Well, I'll guide you on whether you write well or not."
"Yes, yes, Author-nim. I understand perfectly. So what exactly am I supposed to do?"
"Even as a Chamdokchung, you should at least know the general flow."
"I mean... I guess?"
"Protect the protagonist."
"That's... it?"
"Yeah. Keep him alive by any means necessary until Captain Han Daewi and I come find you."
It was so easy it was almost insulting. Like, had this guy forgotten the protagonist's setup? The guy was a regressor who'd returned to ten years in the past. From the start, he occupied a university campus—a natural fortress—and with ten years of leadership experience, he saved most of the people there. After that, he grew even faster than in his previous life by slaughtering every zombie in sight. Since it had only been about a month since the outbreak, he had probably already gotten his hands on a real sword by now.
A young body rediscovered after regressing ten years. Swordsmanship refined by all those accumulated experiences. Survivors willing to fight and die for him. It was the perfect trinity. In other words, he was in a state where nothing could stand in his way. Keeping someone like that alive? It was so easy it made me want to laugh.
So why did I feel this inexplicable sense of unease? I couldn't figure it out at all.