The Fallers' Descent
I had ended up inside a zombie apocalypse novel. At any rate, for the survivors right now, the General's Secretion Pouch was more of a gain than a loss. It drove away the weak zombies and only dragged in the strong variants. That must be why Noh Changhun had said that to me. Are you carrying that thing around to farm more experience?
It just so happened that Kang Siwoo had brought two extras along for this reconnaissance mission. Experience points would be important for those two. Besides, my status as dead weight was bound to come out sooner or later. As the situation dragged on, making good calls mattered more than simply holding out. Blocking unexpected threats before they could spiral was far more crucial. But I wasn't very good at making good calls. I had a habit of going uhhh and then getting completely fucked.
And the type of survivor Kang Siwoo hated most was exactly this kind. Setting aside their actual character, they were potential risk factors that could ruin the entire expedition. Still, if the party had an experience point generator, they'd bring along even a dead weight, right? Especially one that doubled as a radar. Figuring I could at least contribute half, I walked beside Kang Siwoo and pretended not to know anything. I just wanted to read his reaction. To see what he was thinking.
As long as he didn't find out that I'd gotten bitten purely out of fear earlier and not because of this pouch, I'd be fine. Fortunately, judging by his expression, the guy seemed to be seriously pondering something. His head was probably busy designing some kind of experience farm that utilized me. Or maybe he was weighing the radar function against everything else.
But something felt off. Why wasn't my body cooling down? Come to think of it, it had been strange earlier too. I wasn't so weak that a mere dog or cat would make me feel like my life was in danger. The reason I'd gotten scared was simply because I'd been bitten by a dog before. So then, who the hell had I actually been afraid of?
Wait. Suddenly it felt like a huge shadow was forming overhead.
"Ah."
"Everyone scatter! It's Fallers!"
Kang Siwoo drew his sword in a flash and sprinted forward. Kim Yeonhua, Kim Kijun, and Kim Daehan naturally spread out as well. Meanwhile I just stood there. I tried to run, but my body was shaking so badly I couldn't move. That, and I was too busy wondering what the hell Fallers even were.
If Noh Changhun had been beside me, he would have protected me on his own, but he wasn't here right now. The others seemed to think I could at least dodge something of this level. The price for that assumption was brutal.
"....................!"
Something that looked like a zombie curled into a ball slammed down onto my back. My legs twisted instantly and my body smashed into the ground. My stomach and chest felt completely numb. Warmth in my nose told me I'd gotten a nosebleed too. But it didn't hurt that badly, so even while trembling I managed to push myself up.
The moment I tried to stand, the weight on top of me vanished. I was about to proudly declare that it was their fault for removing the heavy object when another one dropped straight down, flattening me completely. I'd recover after some time, but right now it looked like I wouldn't be able to move at all.
Still, while the other students fought, I caught my breath and eventually forced myself upright. My head was spinning so I leaned against the nearest person and stared at the Fallers—or were they Rollers?—variant.
"Ugh....."
It was a red-and-white ball. The person's skin had been completely peeled away, leaving muscle and bone curled into a spherical shape. From that state it could apparently roll. But that wasn't all—it unfurled its body and began scuttling forward on all fours with terrifying speed.
Only then did the memory click. That variant only got a few lines in the novel too. It had made a strong first impression but was phased out afterward. Because later on, people could automatically swat down anything falling from above. Even now the students were only slightly flustered, and no one except me had gotten hurt, right? On top of that, they had all regained their composure and were systematically killing the Fallers one by one.
"Tsk. Must've gotten hit pretty hard."
Even though I was just leaning there, my legs wouldn't stop shaking. My ears felt clogged too, which only added to the annoyance. The muffled sounds, the spinning head—yet as time passed, it slowly got better. The heat that had flooded my body was cooling down as well.
Fortunately I had an excuse ready for this incident. I'd said it over and over back at Hyeonlim-gwan. That my ability wasn't all that strong or useful. I'd explained in detail that it was basically at the level of you're going to get beaten half to death from now on, so brace yourself. The one who had insisted on bringing me anyway was Kang Siwoo.
Still, just in case, I let a few tears well up and let out a pathetic groan.
"Yeji, are you sure you're all right?"
"Ah, yes. I think I don't need any more support now."
"I'm sorry. I naturally assumed you would dodge it."
"I... I've never encountered a variant like that before......"
"It is true that your ability is rather ambiguous."
Fortunately it seemed to pass without too much suspicion. The fact that it was an unknown variant, combined with my admittedly vague ability, helped. And I was satisfied that this incident had moved me closer to the center of the group. It meant that if anything happened, I'd be the first one they protected. I was useful in all sorts of ways. No—I was practically a precious asset that absolutely could not be allowed to die.
To link up with Captain Han Daewi and rebuild Busan, there was no one better than me. Given Noh Changhun's personality, he wouldn't slack off even there. Since he'd been written with his older brother's temperament, the two of them might end up treating each other like sworn brothers when they met. Originally I would have wished for that guy to suffer, but not anymore. If Noh Changhun did well over there, my own position as his acquaintance would rise dramatically.
Being a survivor close to both the first- and second-in-command of a major faction? And someone who took the initiative on top of that? That was practically free real estate. Still, just to be safe, I laid some groundwork during the rest of the march. I mostly asked about their combat styles—whether they had set patterns, if we could share techniques among survivors. While listening, I casually offered my own.
"I have excellent regeneration, so I basically fight with a 'you die or I die' mindset. Even if chunks of flesh get torn off, they grow back......"
"You must have gone through a lot. Still, Yeji, it seems like if you put in a little more effort, you'll improve."
"Wow, regenerating even when flesh is torn off... I'm kind of jealous."
Kang Siwoo and Kim Daehan responded decently. But Kim Yeonhua and Kim Kijun acted like they had some complaints. With Kim Kijun I didn't need to worry too much about favorability. He seemed to genuinely believe in and follow Kang Siwoo anyway. Since Kang Siwoo wanted to keep me around, there wasn't much he could do about it. But getting on Kim Yeonhua's bad side would be trouble. That girl played a fairly important role in the original story too. For the sake of a comfortable free-riding life, I needed to put in some effort during this reconnaissance.
Well, the "effort" wasn't anything major. Just confirming when my body was heating up in time and acting as a meat shield should be enough. And sure enough, my thinking proved correct. Simply telling them when my body was heating up let us avoid all sorts of variants without taking any damage under Kang Siwoo's commands. Even when Fallers dropped from above, we dodged them without issue. When a Hunter suddenly appeared or a Cannon Fodder smashed through doors and charged, we blocked and evaded smoothly.
Originally I would have been hit so hard I'd cough up blood, forced to crawl into a building, eat, and sleep the entire day to recover. But this time I didn't get injured once. We simply avoided variants when they showed up, coordinated with the other students to smash zombies, and that was it. It was almost too easy. Kang Siwoo had a full smile on his face the whole time. With the General's Secretion Pouch keeping normal zombies from swarming us, everything felt comfortable.
The reason survivors originally couldn't venture outside easily was the insane coordination between normal zombies and variants. Dealing with the regular ones while moving was hard enough, but variants would frequently join the fray. If you made a single mistake while constantly fighting zombies, that was the end. No matter how desperately you resisted with dwindling numbers, the zombies wouldn't show mercy.
Normally Kang Siwoo would have been swinging his sword nonstop to guard against that threat, but with me here it didn't matter. To the point that this kind of comment came out, it said everything.
"Thanks to you, Yeji, things have become much easier. We have about ten minutes left until Bumin Campus."
"There must be quite a few students still alive at Bumin, right, Kang Siwoo?"
"Yeah. There should be a lot left."
"Let's not let our guard down until the very end. Understood?"
"Of course, Yeonhua."
Kang Siwoo looked back and forth between Kim Kijun and Kim Yeonhua with a smile. Just a little more hardship and it would be over. When he comforted the group like that, my own mood lifted along with theirs.
But there was one complaint. Why did he speak casually to the other students but use polite speech with me? I thought I'd contributed quite a bit too. I wanted to tell him not to draw a line and to speak more comfortably, but it was impossible. It still looked like Kim Yeonhua and Kim Kijun were wary of me. So for now, it was best to be satisfied with the current situation.
Therefore I pretended nothing was wrong, laughed off Kang Siwoo's praise, and readjusted my grip on Beopbong. Since we had arrived at Bumin Campus much earlier than in the original story, there were bound to be far more zombies. There would be survivors, but... honestly, they probably wouldn't be of much help. Because in the original work, both Bumin Campus and Gudeok Campus had been completely wiped out. And the cause was almost certainly an intelligent variant.