I Just Wanted to Rest
I ended up inside a zombie apocalypse novel. A while ago I got pummeled by zombies and barely dragged myself inside a building to rest. And now? They wanted me to go on reconnaissance with them? It felt unfair, but there was nothing I could do about it. After all, I’d said those things myself. I’d run my mouth about how much I loved rescuing survivors and how quickly I recovered. This was my own fault, and since I was stuck on the misunderstanding route, there was no escape. The second that misunderstanding shattered, I’d be finished. I couldn’t even hide behind Noh Changhun and beg for help, so even though I felt like crying, I had no choice but to get ready.
I genuinely wanted to stay put and rest, but there was no way Kang Siwoo would let me off the hook. That guy was the Sejong the Great type. Once he decided he liked someone, he worked them to the bone without mercy. I’d lost count of how many times the novel repeated the scene of him nursing fallen heroines back to health and raising their favorability. At least the others recovered stamina slowly and needed time to recuperate… but I just happened to be specialized in regeneration. If I lay down for even a little while, I’d be back to full strength in no time. There was no one easier to throw into the meat grinder than me. In the end, the result was the same whether you avoided injury through skill and experience or just tanked the hits and healed. Besides, with the General’s Secretion Pouch detecting dangerous variants through endorphins? If I were in Kang Siwoo’s shoes, I would have tied me down even if I had to make it a done deal. For real. I would have seduced and pinned them until they couldn’t possibly leave.
And there was one more reason Kang Siwoo had to bring me along. This was the most important part—it gave him the perfect chance to freely unload all his knowledge as a regressor. Why single me out instead of anyone else? It was obvious he planned to manipulate the situation while we were out. At this point, knowing a lot of information was power. He’d probably find some suitable corpse, point at it, and say “This is that thing,” and the moment I answered “Ah, yes,” he’d unpack his entire bag of knowledge.
“Perhaps you dislike the idea?”
Kang Siwoo smiled with genuine-looking kindness. His lips curved into a gentle arc, but his eyes told a completely different story. The message was loud and clear: It’s fine if you don’t come along, but I’d be very disappointed. The sheer force of that image made my blood boil. No, he really was gaslighting me.
“N-nooo… I was just a little tired, so my words came out slow… that’s all…”
I staggered to my feet as if burdened by something I’d been hiding. It was a desperate signal screaming Please take someone else instead, but Kang Siwoo naturally took my arm to support me and gave me a warm-eyed smile. It really was a perfect no-win situation. Lee Ayoung was already half-smitten and spacing out. Kim Yeonhua kept shooting me subtle glares like something was bothering her. I’d tried to rest, but now I had to head out again. God, I missed Noh Changhun. In front of him I didn’t have to keep up this fake act. I could rest when I wanted and play when I wanted.
“Oh, right. How much has your body recovered?”
“Ultimate—no. It’s perfect. I can fight just fine.”
“Is that so? Understood. Then we’ll head out shortly.”
Kang Siwoo nodded, said he’d be waiting on the third floor, and left first. I bought myself some time by saying I’d drink some water before following, then leaned against the wall. By now Lee Ayoung had completely fallen for him; she went upstairs with a goofy grin on her face. Well, that made sense. If she hadn’t been brainwashed, she was just a regular college girl who’d enjoyed campus life. She was allowed to act that way, and I didn’t need to stay on guard around her. But what was going on with Kim Yeonhua?
In the end, that stare got on my nerves so much I had to speak up.
“Yeonhua. What is it?”
“Unnie, I’m not good at being fake, so I’ll just ask. I have one question.”
“Yeah?”
“Do you, by any chance… like Siwoo oppa?”
Kim Yeonhua let out a small scoffing laugh. She merely adjusted her grip on her knuckles, but my brain went into overdrive. Come to think of it, this girl did seem a little too fixated on the protagonist. Still, regardless of what was going on, clearing up the misunderstanding seemed like the best move. Whether she was a yandere or not, it was obvious she liked Kang Siwoo. And she was valuable combat power we’d have to fight alongside in the future. I didn’t want her thinking of me as some vixen chasing after her ideal type.
“No, I already have someone I like. I never even got to confess, though.”
“Eh, really?”
“Yeah. There’s a friend who came to Busan with me, but he headed off to Haeundae.”
“Aha…”
“You like Siwoo, don’t you, Yeonhua? Unnie knows all about it.”
I smiled kindly as I stuffed the empty water bottle into my bag. Then I held both hands out in front of me, emphasizing that I really had zero interest. So could she please stop touching her knuckles with those dead eyes? My stomach that got beaten earlier was throbbing like crazy.
“Ugh, I got caught.”
Kim Yeonhua gave an awkward laugh, then slowly placed her left hand on my stomach. She pressed close to me and let out a quiet laugh right next to my ear. I wondered what the hell she was doing, but it didn’t seem to be the worst-case scenario I’d imagined. She said my scent was unique and made it hard to tell me apart from zombies, so she just wanted to smell me one more time before leaving. She walked off with a satisfied expression.
Still, just to be safe, I waited until she was completely out of sight before heading up to the third floor. Once I got there, I understood why the location had been chosen. There was something like a terrace that made it easy to look outside. The height was just right, and since it jutted out beside the building, it seemed like I’d be able to see areas hidden from the roof. The walls would also protect us from anything strange hitting us.
I was thinking he’d picked a good spot when I suddenly heard someone clear their throat. I whipped my head around and saw Kang Siwoo looking at me with an awkward smile.
“Yeji. We’re about to begin the meeting, so please focus a little.”
“Ah, yes. I was checking to see if there were any strange variants… It’s become a habit.”
“Then it can’t be helped. I’ll begin now.”
He called it a meeting, but there wasn’t actually much to discuss. There were only eleven of us. The conversation basically amounted to deciding which direction we should break through. Still, it seemed to be enough—the faces of the students from Bumin Campus brightened considerably. Honestly, when I thought it over again, it did sound like a pretty solid plan. After all, the only thing I knew how to do was charge forward mindlessly. Kang Siwoo would just use me however he saw fit.
“Then we’ll end the meeting here. I’d appreciate it if everyone follows the plan.”
Kang Siwoo smiled kindly and nodded. Something seemed to be bothering him, because he took one last look outside before heading downstairs. I figured he’d handle it and followed him down, gripping my Beopbong and making sure my headset was properly in place. By the time I finished preparing, everyone else was ready. They opened the door.
“Groaaan…!”
“Groaaan……”
“Groaaan…!!!”
We hadn’t been outside long before zombies came running from all directions, letting out their grotesque moans. Now that I looked closely, something was off. Their movements had gotten sloppy. About half of them were waiting as ordered, but the other half were rushing straight at us. That’s when I realized—the zombie I’d killed in anger earlier must have been the one relaying commands. Without it, the horde was falling apart. Of course, there was no way we couldn’t handle zombies that were moving purely on instinct.
The one Lee Ayoung impaled with her spear collapsed with a final death rattle. Kim Yeonhua cleanly smashed a zombie’s jaw off. Kim Daehan and Kim Kijun switched positions smoothly, fighting well. Kang Siwoo was performing so spectacularly it would be exhausting to even describe it. Everyone else was handling the zombies decently, so I thought maybe I could take it easy for once. But then, far off in the distance, I saw that bastard again. He pointed straight at me, laughed, and with a crude gesture raised his middle finger.
The moment I saw that, rage exploded inside me. I couldn’t stay still. Yeah, I recovered stamina quickly. And what did fast stamina recovery mean? It basically meant I had near-infinite endurance. Since I wouldn’t die even if I got bitten, I figured I’d just kill that thing and then pass out afterward.
I smashed the heads of the zombies in front of me, then kicked one hard enough to collapse their formation. The normal ones would be taken care of by the others, so I ignored them and charged straight ahead.
“Groaaan!”
“Won’t work!”
It was a ridiculous sound, but I’d been hit so many times that my body instinctively tensed up. If I focused only on that sensation, I could dodge decently. The signals were faint, so I still got hit more often than I avoided, but it was still better than nothing. I swung my Beopbong like a madwoman, cracking zombie skulls left and right. Since I was a regeneration specialist and already used to pain, I plunged deep into their midst. A boxer’s fists. Claws from some variant. Rocks thrown by another. I dodged, deflected, blocked, and took them all. By the time I pushed forward, my body was a wreck, but that zombie was right in front of me. I had no idea what it was thinking, standing there.
“Out of courtesy, I’ll finish you in two hits.”
“Grrrk.”
The zombie slapped its own knee and laughed. Then it slowly pressed both thumbs to its cheeks, spread its hands wide, and wiggled its fingers. When it stuck its tongue out and taunted me, the thin thread of sanity I’d been clinging to finally snapped. I couldn’t swear out loud for the sake of my image, so I grit my teeth, but I fully intended to vent every last bit of frustration.
I swung my Beopbong with all my strength. The strike was so powerful I could hear the air tearing and my arm screaming in protest.
“…Huh?”
“Grrrk!”
But it missed. The zombie bent low like some kind of assassin and dodged. Then, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, it showed off the sharp bones extending from its hands and giggled. I already knew where it would stab. My stomach was already burning with phantom pain.