The Regressor's Interrogation
I ended up inside a zombie apocalypse novel. The break didn’t take nearly as long as I’d expected. I’d always recovered quickly anyway, and all I needed was food. So I simply wolfed down an energy bar, scraped a tuna can clean with biscuits, and called it a meal. After that and a glass of water, all my wounds had healed completely. And Kang Siwoo hadn’t even been injured to begin with. The bastard was just acting for the sake of plausibility. He could have wiped out all those zombies single-handedly. It was obvious. I still remembered the awakening scene Noh Changhun had written.
“Yeji. If you’ve rested enough, shall we head out?”
“Ah, let me wash my hands first.”
“Yes. I’ll wait.”
I checked my watch. There was still plenty of time. It was only around one or two in the afternoon, so we had more than enough time to go and return. As long as nothing unexpected happened, we’d be able to have dinner together. I washed my hands thoroughly, removing all debris so my grip wouldn’t slip, and picked up my Beopbong.
“Are you ready? Then let’s go.”
“Okay.”
I left the Bumin Campus with Kang Siwoo. There were no threats around, so we could wander as much as we wanted. Even if more zombies showed up, the others would handle them. Any zombies we encountered along the way? Kang Siwoo would take care of them. All I had to do was quietly lap up the honey.
He had no choice but to shower me with it anyway. Honestly, if Kang Siwoo wanted to share his pre-regression knowledge, he had to feed me information too. That way I could pick up on things and play along with him. In the process, he’d probably give me a few more things—more comfortable clothes, tastier food, that sort of thing. I couldn’t aggressively latch on and devour the honey, but licking it from a reasonable distance should be fine.
“Yeji.”
“Yes?”
“Do you know the name of the variant we captured today?”
“Um… I’m not sure. It was my first time seeing one.”
There had been a few more variants like that, but I couldn’t recall them clearly. That was to be expected. That bastard Noh Changhun had always wrapped up unimportant zombies with a single line of description. There are variants like this. Something like that. Still, it wasn’t a complete shot in the dark. There was one called a Swindler. The provoking and the deceiving of survivors matched.
“Maybe… a Swindler?”
“Is that so? You’re quite sharp, Yeji.”
“Hehe, it’s nothing special.”
“You even took down a Baron. You must be an incredible survivor.”
“Oh come on, you’re the one who created the opportunity.”
Kang Siwoo kept praising me after that. It was so much that my face started burning up. I couldn’t help but be surprised. After walking for another several dozen minutes, we arrived at the completely razed Gudeok Campus. It was practically devoid of survivors. Actually, now that I thought about it, there was no way there were zero survivors. Looking around, there weren’t even any zombies. Someone had burned all the corpses, leaving only piles of ash.
“Someone cleaned up nicely. Doesn’t look like there’s anything worth salvaging.”
“You seem used to this, Yeji.”
“Yeah, well. I did come all the way from Jangyu.”
“It must have been hard.”
“Aish, how many times are you going to say that? I’m fine.”
“Shall we take a look around?”
“Sure, why not.”
After circling the campus once, I understood. Someone had already killed all the zombies at Gudeok Campus and taken the survivors away. Not only that, quite a bit of time seemed to have passed since then. The plants in the park were arranged so neatly that it looked like someone had deliberately planted them. They had even gone to the trouble of throwing the corpses into the park. And because they’d been maintained, all of them were bearing fruit.
“Yeji.”
“Yes?”
“You’re acting as if you’re familiar with all this.”
“Ah, why have you been saying that since earlier…”
My body grew incredibly hot. Far more than when I had faced the Baron. It was so intense that I couldn’t help but breathe heavily. Steam was literally rising from my body. I didn’t know what kind of variant this was, but running seemed like the best option. The moment I tried to speak to Kang Siwoo, goosebumps erupted across my skin.
When we had circled the campus earlier, we had checked everywhere. There were no zombies at Gudeok Campus. It was completely empty, so no one paid any attention to this place. In other words, the endorphin radar wasn’t detecting a variant. It was sounding the alarm at the Kang Siwoo right in front of me.
The instant I realized that, I couldn’t stay still.
“You seem familiar with this. Or perhaps I should say talented?”
“Eek!”
“But what do you hope to accomplish with just that bat?”
I was genuinely shocked. I had only tried to channel strength into the Beopbong, but he noticed immediately. With a hand like a blade, he struck my hand, forcing me to drop it. Then, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, he kicked the Beopbong away. I wanted to bawl my eyes out. No, I was probably already crying. I could end up slashed by that sword or killed.
Fortunately, it didn’t seem like he planned to kill me—his eyes weren’t calm. According to the novel, when that bastard was about to kill someone, his gaze would sink deep and cold.
“Yeji. Let me tell you one thing. No one uses the term ‘Baron’ at this stage.”
“T-then…?”
“It only appears at least a year from now, from the line ‘That zombie seems like a noble ruling its territory, doesn’t it?’”
“.........Ah.”
“You should have been more careful with your words. If you get excited and spill information everywhere, you’ll find yourself in serious trouble.”
“Haha, y-yeah… I guess so…”
For now, escaping was the right move. Whether I could actually escape was another question, but I needed time to explain. If I had to explain anyway, I wanted to do it while still in one piece. The moment I looked for a chance to run, I felt an impact in my stomach.
“Keuk!”
“Where do you think you’re running off to?”
Kang Siwoo said with a gentle smile. In my heart, I wanted to smile back and put on a brave front, but I couldn’t. I had no idea where I’d slipped up, and my body wasn’t in a normal state. My body was screaming that I’d die if I didn’t run right now, but my head was telling me that running now would definitely get me killed, so I had to stay put. It was a complete dilemma. Only after being kicked and staggering back a few steps did I realize there was a wall behind me. Kang Siwoo was blocking the only exit with his sword drawn. Essentially, I couldn’t escape without his permission. And of all places, there were no windows here.
When I raised both hands to show I had no intention of fighting, there was a wet thunk.
“.............Huh? Aaaaauuuugh?!?!??”
“To think someone like this made it from Jangyu all the way here.”
“I-I’m telling you! I don’t want to fight!?”
The center of my right hand was impaled by Kang Siwoo’s sword. If it had just been stuck there it might have been okay, but the fact that the blade was slowly sliding downward made it even more terrifying. Plus, the bastard knew I could recover, which was why he was doing this. It was like he was telling me to submit before I got hurt worse.
“W-what do you want me to do……?”
“Raise both hands above your head. Then overlap your palms.”
“Huh? Okay. O-okay…”
Maybe it was because I had experience. Even with a hole in my right hand, I didn’t completely lose it and start bawling. When I overlapped my bleeding hands and raised them, the sword stabbed through as if it had been waiting. Naturally, it pierced both hands and pressed them firmly against the wall.
“Kyaaaaaaaagh! Kuuuugh…! Th-this…!”
“You can swear if you want. It’s fine.”
“I-I don’t know what I did wrong, but I’m sorryyyy…..”
I understood clearly now. If I didn’t go completely submissive, I would die. Seeing how calm his eyes were, it looked like he was fully prepared to kill me if necessary. So when he slowly ordered me to kneel, I knelt. I carefully looked up at Kang Siwoo. No matter how I thought about it, what he was wary of was obvious. How a non-regressor like me had obtained that knowledge. Especially since he had never seen me before the regression, his wariness must have been even stronger.
“Still, it’s good that you didn’t foolishly resist.”
“Th-thank you.”
“To think a person like this is a survivor… Did you perhaps leech off someone to get here?”
“That’s not it…. Look at my bat. I fought too, you know…”
“So, what is your true identity?”
“...........Pardon?”
The moment I hesitated, Kang Siwoo kicked my upper body. It wasn’t a light kick—he put his full strength into it, making my body shake violently. And if my body shook, my impaled hands would get torn up too, so I frantically grabbed the sword to steady myself. Fortunately my hands didn’t suffer more damage, but it still hurt like hell. Kang Siwoo slowly withdrew the sword, let out a deep sigh, and asked again.
“I asked what your identity is, yet you don’t answer?”
“Th-that, aaack! Kuuuugh, it hurts! It hurts!”
“The sword came out.”
“H-here! Please stab it through the back of my hand here…!”
“No, I merely said it came out. If that’s what you want, I’ll oblige.”
“….Pardon? N-no…! There’s no need for th—kyaaaaaaaagh!”
Because it went through both arms, the pain was even worse. The thought of resisting didn’t even cross my mind. No matter what I did, death seemed certain. Fortunately, it didn’t seem like Kang Siwoo intended to torture me in earnest. After pulling the sword from my arm, he lightly kicked my head a few times, then tossed a string from his pocket.
“Use this to bind your arms. Can you assume the position?”
“L-like this? Face down on the ground with my arms behind my back… right?”
“I like how cooperative you are. I’ll tie it rather tightly.”
“Kuuuugh……!”
It wasn’t “rather” tight. It was brutally tight. Tight enough that I worried my blood flow might be cut off. Kang Siwoo seemed satisfied. He grabbed my hair, pulled me to my feet, and smiled brightly.
“I won’t kill you. Instead, let’s go inside and have a little chat.”
“Y-yesss…..”
“Originally I planned to handle this with words alone…”
“With words…?”
“Yeji, how should I describe it? You give off the feeling of a parasite.”
“Para…site?”
“Yes. Something that gnaws at a community from within, creates factions, and makes people fight each other. That’s why I intend to treat you roughly like this.”
“B-but I don’t know how to do any of that!”
“Really? You have the distinct scent of a queen bee. And who told you to speak?”
“Huh? A-ack! I-I’ll walk by myself…!”
“I don’t like that idea.”
Kang Siwoo tripped me with his foot, so I ended up being dragged by my hair. At least it seemed he wasn’t going to kill me. That bastard had a habit of ignoring pre-regression events if the person turned out to be useful in the future. Since I hadn’t done anything yet, I might survive this time. But right now, it looked like I’d have to crawl on the ground like a dog and bark if necessary.
After being thrown onto the floor of the building, he stepped on my stomach as if it were the most natural thing. If I answered wrong, all kinds of cruel punishments would come flying my way. The way he’d been staring at my stomach since earlier was ominous too. It was truly unfair, but everything he said was right, so there was nothing I could do about it. All I’d learned in life was causing chaos in online communities and using multiple accounts to terrorize people with hateful images. It was self-inflicted karma, but I was still pissed off.
That son of a bitch Noh Changhun. If that motherfucker had written one less line about the protagonist’s setting, I wouldn’t be in this mess. Anyway, he’s no help. No help at all.