A Familiar Kind of Pain
I ended up inside a zombie apocalypse novel. That said, I didn't cry about it. By now I'd been hit so many times it barely registered. There was no avoiding it, but I could tell this one was going to land hard enough to cave my stomach in. The fact that my body recovered ridiculously fast helped too. If I could have, I would've just pretended none of it happened. At least Kim Yeonhwa hadn't smashed my skull in. Getting off with nothing but a gut punch was actually pretty lucky, all things considered.
Still, the situation was completely fucked. There was no getting around that. So a sigh slipped out naturally.
"........Haa."
"I-I'm so sorry......"
Kim Yeonhwa bowed her head in a panic. I knew she felt bad, but an apology wasn't going to fix anything. So I just told her it was fine and moved on. The most important thing right now was getting out of this building. Looking at the situation, though, that didn't seem likely. I'd cracked the door open and peeked outside only to see zombies already trying to push their way into the building. They were probably planning to use this place as a base to lock down the campus more thoroughly.
I slammed the door shut and scanned the room for something to barricade it with. Since it used to be a club room, there were plenty of useful things lying around. Long desks, several chairs, that kind of stuff. We frantically dragged them over and piled them against the door, then covered every window together. Thankfully the blinds still worked. If they'd been broken and refused to come down, covering them would've been a nightmare.
"Ha, fuck."
"......Ugh."
Kim Yeonhwa hung her head completely. Then she wrapped her arms around her knees and hugged them to her chest. I'd read about that habit in the novel. It was what she did when she had no good options left. Apparently she'd stayed curled up like that for three whole days after the outbreak while trapped in this very room. Seeing something from the book play out in real life felt strangely fresh. I wondered if Noh Changhun had felt the same way.
But......... even if I wanted to let it slide, it was hard to be generous. Honestly, part of me wanted to snap at her and ask what the hell she'd been thinking. If I'd cracked her head open instead, maybe I'd feel different. I'd kept my cool and just taken the hit. Then again... sigh. Yeah, it's not like she had any clear options either. Right now the priority was for both of us to get out of here in one piece. Kang Siwoo wasn't an idiot. He'd definitely come looking for us. And he'd be thinking about how to deal with the zombies blocking the path too. He was the protagonist, after all. It was obvious he'd come running with his sword drawn like it was the most natural thing in the world. If the heroine was trapped somewhere and he didn't rescue her, he wouldn't be the main character anymore.
Ah, but it'd be nice if I could be excluded from that heroine category.
Alright, Yeji. Let's think this through. You always think well in situations like this.
"I think we need to attempt an escape after all."
"Huh?"
"And since I'm older than you, I'm dropping the honorifics. Call me whatever you want—unnie, whatever."
"........Huh?"
Kim Yeonhwa stared at me with a look that said she had no idea what I was talking about. Then her gaze slowly drifted downward, straight to my stomach. The bruise that had been there just moments ago had already faded away like nothing had happened. Of course, it only looked fine on the surface. It still stung like hell if I touched it. But this was the time to act tough. Besides, it probably wouldn't hinder me much while running or fighting.
"Starting now—ugh, the clock's broken. Anyway, in ten minutes we're jumping out that window."
".......Will you really be okay, unnie?"
"Yeah. What, you think I'd have made it all the way from Jangyu to here if I collapsed from an injury like this? I'd have been eaten alive ages ago."
"Eaten... alive?"
"There's... that kind of thing. You don't need to know about it."
"Ah."
I hadn't exactly raised her morale, and it looked like I'd made a verbal slip. Still, any survivor who'd clashed with zombies and learned about the variants' behavior would probably understand what I meant. I always mess up like this right when things are going well. I was trying to pick my words carefully to smooth it over when Kim Yeonhwa suddenly took off her brass knuckles and loosened her hands. She slipped the knuckles back on tightly, stood up, did a few hops in place to warm up her body, and then spoke.
"It's fine. Actually, this gives me even more reason to survive."
".......What?"
"There's a reason. You don't need to know it."
"Well... alright. Got it....."
"So, unnie. What should I do?"
It wasn't much of a plan. Once my body felt a bit better, I'd jump out the window first to draw their attention. While they focused on me, Kim Yeonhwa would land, get ready to fight, and run straight toward the building where Kang Siwoo was. After that I'd just follow right behind her and run like hell. That was it.
"Will... that actually work?"
"It will. Because there aren't any variants specialized in pursuit around here."
"Specialized... in pursuit?"
"Yeah."
Pointers. Runners. Markers. Hunters. Those were the variants specialized in chasing prey at this point in the story. But right now, this university might have Pointers and Markers, but there were no Runners or Hunters. The reason I could be sure was simple. It came down to necessity. University campuses usually only have a limited number of exits. You could say there were basically no other ways in or out besides the front and back gates. If the campus backed onto a mountain you could flee that way, but that was basically the same as saying you only wanted to live a little longer. Naturally, zombies here tended to mutate into variants specialized for small-scale skirmishes rather than pursuit. Boxers, Witches, Cannon Fodder, stuff like that. Throwers were also good for small fights in open spaces. And these kinds of zombies and variants were perfect for blocking paths and laying siege. Since they specialized in close-quarters combat, they were also effective at preventing a few survivors from escaping. Just stretch out and block the entrance and it's over. So naturally, their pursuit abilities tended to be relatively weak. If Kim Yeonhwa and I clenched our teeth and ran for it, they'd have no choice but to fall behind.
"But unnie, can you really say for sure there aren't any pursuit variants...?"
"Even if there are some around this building, there won't be many."
"Then if those variants come after us.....?"
Kim Yeonhwa looked genuinely worried. I couldn't blame her. She should've been heading to meet up with Kang Siwoo after coming to save me. Instead she'd given me back-to-back gut punches and nearly killed me. Her conscience had to be stabbing her right now. Part of me wanted to tell her it wasn't her fault just to score some points, but maybe it was okay to dig into that guilt a little here. So I slowly clenched my fist and held it out toward her.
"I'll be the meat shield."
"......What?!"
"My recovery is fast anyway, and even if my flesh gets torn off I can heal it."
"Ah. B-but..."
"It's fine. Just share some of your food with me later. That'll be enough for me to recover quickly."
"........................"
Kim Yeonhwa stayed silent. Then she walked over slowly and bumped her fist against the one I'd extended. So far so good. The mood felt right, and we'd both raised our morale a decent amount. But there was one problem. In the original novel, Kim Yeonhwa's ability hadn't been explored in much detail. She gained beast-like senses. She distinguished friend from foe by smell. That was all I knew. There'd been nothing written about how she actually registered allies. So I had no choice but to ask. I put on a smile and said,
"Hey Yeonhwa. You said you distinguish by smell, right? So you identify allies and enemies through scent?"
"Huh? Yes. That........"
Kim Yeonhwa quietly averted her eyes. She looked exactly like someone who'd been caught doing something she absolutely shouldn't have been doing by her family. You know, like getting caught watching porn. It was fascinating to see her forced to say something embarrassing. It wasn't like the situation was impossible to talk about. We had to survive together. And I soon understood why she was hesitating.
"It's through bodily fluids. I identify allies and enemies by the smell of bodily fluids."
"...........Bodily fluids?"
"Blood, sweat, dried saliva... things like that......."
"W-wait. So you're saying you're going to smell me right now?"
"Yes."
Kim Yeonhwa nodded with a stiff expression. Normally that would be fine. Offering my body made sense. But some inexplicable physiological anxiety crawled slowly up my spine. Still, I'd worked hard to set the mood. I couldn't ruin it now. So I closed my eyes tight, spread my arms, and entrusted my body to her.
Thankfully, nothing weird or erotic happened like I'd feared. She just gave me something like a back hug and sniffed the nape of my neck. It seemed I'd misunderstood on my own because of the endorphins still lingering in my system. At least Kim Yeonhwa seemed to understand that it was possible. I mean, if she identified people by the smell of bodily fluids, it would be awkward to explain that properly to someone she'd just met. I hadn't told her about my own endorphin radar either, so it was only fair.
After some time passed, Kim Yeonhwa nodded and said,
"I've completely memorized it. I don't think I'll attack you again, unnie."
"Really? For real?"
"You... must have been in a lot of pain."
"I thought I was going to die."
"I'm sorry......"
"It's okay."
I rolled the blinds up again and checked outside the window. Fortunately there still weren't many zombies out there. Only a few at most? I'd thought there would be some since they'd blocked the entrance and surrounded the place. I immediately opened the window, gripped Beopbong, and jumped outside. It was a bit high, but that was all.
"Here we go."
"Groooaaan!"
"Grooo.....!"
A few zombies let out groans and came running like it was the most obvious thing in the world. I gripped Beopbong tightly and prepared to meet them. Behind me, I saw Kim Yeonhwa land carefully.