Reorganization and the Makeshift Bicycle
Noh Changhun began his explanation slowly. After a short reorganization period, we would head to Sasang as originally planned and part ways at the intercity bus terminal. I would continue on to Seomyeon and link up with the original protagonist, while he would walk the rest of the way to Haeundae. Honestly, the plan itself sounded reasonable.
"What about the cart?"
"You're taking it. I was planning to modify it during the reorganization anyway."
"How the hell are you going to do that!?"
"I'll make it light enough for one person to pull. That's the modification."
"So I won't have to struggle with it anymore!?"
"Don't use the word 'struggle.'"
Changhun frowned. He knew it was hard work, but apparently the phrasing rubbed him the wrong way. Still, the fact that he was willing to modify it so I could manage it alone made me grateful. He'd told me not to trust his shady handiwork, yet moments like this made him seem reliable.
"By the way, how long are you thinking for this reorganization period?"
"Still deciding."
"Hah."
Changhun rubbed the corner of his eye. For a second he'd thought I was spouting nonsense, but apparently not. He let out a long sigh instead of immediately cursing and started explaining.
"The situation isn't ideal right now. It's ambiguous. You could even call it a transitional phase."
"Transitional phase...?"
"Yeah. We can't predict how many zombies will gather under the intelligent variants."
"Aren't you the author?"
"I am, but that doesn't mean I know everything."
"Then what are we supposed to do?"
"Three days. Then I'll extend it gradually depending on how things look."
"Well... I guess you'll handle it."
Yeah, leaving the headache-inducing stuff to this guy was the right call. My brain only worked well when I was backed into a corner. Otherwise, it was better to just do what I was told. So I quietly picked up the mop handle rolling on the floor and fitted it onto the Beopbong.
Changhun watched me for a moment before asking me to focus on gathering food and eliminating zombies.
"Got it. Leave it to me. I'll poke around everywhere, grab some food, and—huh? Kill some zombies too."
"You idiot."
"Now what?"
"What do you think you're supposed to be doing?"
"Huh? Finding food and killing zombies, right?"
"So do you think you'll be fighting in wide-open spaces or relatively narrow ones?"
"Narrow ones?"
"Then should you keep the handle attached or take it off?"
"Oh."
Changhun sighed heavily and told me to put the mop handle down and go. He warned me not to carry it around and lose it, which annoyed me a little. Even so, I wasn't so thoughtless that I'd forget something that obvious. I'd already started detaching the handle anyway.
Since I had to get to work, I checked my condition once more and prepared to head out.
"Hey, Changhun. Where should we meet again?"
"Here."
"Here? This convenience store?"
"Yeah."
"Alright. See you later then!"
Changhun nodded and crouched down. I didn't know exactly what he was about to do, but it would probably help me somehow. Whenever he got like that, he always ended up making something useful. So I figured he'd handle it this time too.
With that settled, I looked around for a decent convenience store nearby. Even finding one decent store would solve half our problems. Well, at least the food-gathering objective would be taken care of. So I kept searching, treating it like scratching a lottery ticket.
But why was there nothing? There were places that could pass for convenience stores, sure, but most of them were either completely trashed or picked clean.
"Yeah, it's been too long."
Over a month had passed since the outbreak. Obviously the people who lived around here would have thought things through. They would've realized they needed to eat to survive, so they'd have risked danger to find food. Still, it was frustrating that there wasn't a single scrap left.
Well, what could you do? Everyone was just trying to stay alive. In the end, I had no choice but to move somewhere else. I could still check convenience stores or buildings that other people might have missed. PC bangs usually stocked food, and there were bound to be supermarkets too.
But there wasn't anything. Really. Nothing worth taking. Everyone must have had the same idea as me, because the PC bangs I'd cleared of zombies only had spoiled food left. You could technically eat spoiled food, but since I needed it right now, it wasn't worth carrying. So I had to keep searching other places.
"This sucks."
At least one thing went right—the burrito was still barely edible. A little cold, but it tasted good enough. I grabbed a few more things to heal my wounds, ate them, and came down from the building. While I was at it, I killed the zombies that had gathered and kept killing more as I moved. The difference between having intelligent variants around or not was huge. Otherwise, there was no way I'd be able to slaughter zombies this easily.
"Well, if things keep going this smoothly, that's all that matters."
I adjusted my headset, feeling oddly proud. Because after that, the lucky streak continued. I took a few wrong turns, but none of the zombies I encountered were dangerous variants. They didn't attack intelligently—they just mindlessly opened their mouths and charged, so I killed them all. I didn't get anything useful, but at least it was safe. That counted as a lucky day, right?
Still, I managed to grab a few packs of ramen later on. When I finally trudged back to the convenience store, I spotted a strange bicycle. It looked so bizarre I had to wonder if it even worked. The wheels were just tires, and the frame looked like several bikes had been welded together. There weren't enough chains, so two were overlapped and wrapped around. Honestly, it didn't look like it would roll properly. The words "Are you seriously making me ride that thing?" almost came out of my mouth.
"You're the one who's going to ride it."
"What kind of bullshit is that?"
"I made it for you to ride, Yeji."
"You—fuck. Even I'm not reckless enough to ride something like—"
"Something like what?"
Changhun raised an eyebrow. But I had things to say too. He'd literally called his own work "shady." If it was shady enough that he couldn't even make a proper cart, how was I supposed to trust a shady bicycle to get me all the way to Seomyeon? There was a limit to how much nonsense I was willing to listen to.
"At least make it roll properly. What even is this? It's not a chimera."
"Isn't that a bit harsh?"
"Did you even test-drive it?"
"Nope."
"You crazy bastard! Ah, my blood pressure—"
My nape was grabbed so naturally I almost admired it. I hadn't wanted to feel the sensation of my neck muscles tightening so vividly. Still, since I had to ride it, I needed to check it properly. So I deliberately tapped it hard here and there to test its durability. Surprisingly, it was pretty sturdy. Looked like he'd attached everything properly. I was still doubtful, but I test-rode it anyway.
"Wait, why is this actually rolling?"
"Because I made it roll."
"Whoa, that's impressive. You said it was shady!"
"Stop being surprised. I haven't even finished it yet."
".......What?"
I'd just been happily pedaling a second ago. Part of me wanted to smack his back and demand why he hadn't said that earlier. But thinking about it, there was no need. Yeah, this guy had probably been wrestling with the bike all day too. Letting it slide this time was the right move.
So I quietly got off and handed the bicycle over.
"Yeji."
"Yeah?"
"Clean up a bit. Pick a suitable store."
"Got it. Are we staying here for a while?"
"Yeah."
"Alright."
There happened to be a decent café nearby. It looked like the kind of place that used to sell red bean shaved ice—I wasn't sure—but it was spacious, zombie-free, and relatively clean. So I spent a while cleaning it out, then brought down blankets and pillows from the cart and laid them out. I was about to lie down and rest when my conscience pricked me, so I went back down. I wanted to ask Changhun's permission before resting. I didn't want to get yelled at while trying to relax.
"Can I rest first?"
"Do whatever you want. You worked hard today."
"Oh........"
"What do you mean 'oh'? If anyone heard you, they'd think I treat you harshly all the time."
"You do treat me harshly. You curse at me the moment I mess up."
"That's because you make it obvious how stupid you are."
"If anyone heard that...... Ah."
I was the failed engineering student who'd aimed for a prestigious university but ended up at a mediocre one. My greatest talent was stirring up trouble on internet communities with multiple sockpuppet accounts and taking down named users. But the guy in front of me was an engineering student who had a completed novel under his own name. Someone who could casually hand me hundreds of millions of won. A winner in life.
Realizing that made the self-loathing hit all at once. I wanted to argue back and charge at him, but... yeah, that wouldn't work. Barking at him would only make me look pathetic.
"I'm... gonna rest."
"Sure."
"Ah, stop looking at me like I'm pathetic!"
"I wasn't."
"That bastard......"
Changhun gave a faint smile and crouched down again, starting to fiddle with the stockings. Probably making another flail by stuffing rocks into them. I made a mental note to ask for one later, adjusted my headset, and went upstairs to lie down. I'd originally planned to rest with just a light blanket over me, but after wandering around all day, I was exhausted. So I dozed off without even closing the door. Normally you'd close it properly before sleeping, but I figured nothing would happen. So I just slept. Snore. Ignoring all the sounds around me.