Ramen and Reluctance
I ended up inside a zombie apocalypse novel. For now, I sent Lee Ayoung back downstairs while pretending everything was fine. When I told her I wanted to rest alone, she left without complaint. Once the door closed, I sank onto the bed in a daze. I knew I needed sleep. Today had been far too eventful, and if I wanted to recover, I needed to keep my eyes shut for a good while. Even with my regeneration, it wasn't like my body could heal itself endlessly. It felt more like borrowing strength from my future self. Borrowing. Huh. That was actually a pretty cool setting. Then again, this novel had always been full of abilities based on physical enhancement. The kind you'd see in a martial arts manga. Maybe I could look forward to something like that. Superhuman dynamic vision, lightning-fast strikes, that sort of thing.
"Right. Stupid thoughts."
I already knew the odds were slim. Still, just entertaining the idea made me feel a little better. After a shower, exhaustion hit me hard. I lay down, headset properly on, blanket pulled neatly to my chin. There was no one to hear me, but I still whispered a small goodnight. With that, nothing held me back anymore. Fatigue must have been heavier than I thought, because sleep claimed me quickly.
When I came to, I was standing at a wide-open intersection. I recognized the place instantly. It was right in front of my old officetel. I didn't know why my dream had chosen this backdrop, but it didn't matter. Solid steel knuckles weighed down both hands, and the familiar heft of the beopbong rested on my shoulder. In this state, I felt like I could take on anything. General, Spider King, Baron—didn't matter. It was just a dream, so losing wasn't even an option. And sure enough, that was exactly how it played out. One swing of the beopbong sent zombies tumbling like autumn leaves, and no variant could stand against me. It was the kind of satisfying dream where I flattened every last one of them, just like Noh Changhun's punches.
Then Kang Siwoo suddenly appeared, drew his sword, and killed everyone—including me.
"Hrk?! Ow, ow…"
"You have quite the violent sleeping habit."
"…………"
I heard a male student's voice somewhere, but I couldn't focus on it. I'd rolled off the bed and landed right on the beopbong I'd left lying on the floor. The impact to my stomach knocked the words right out of me. Something had definitely cracked. No bruise would show, but I had to clutch my stomach and wheeze for a while.
Who the hell had come all the way to the girls' dorm? I was about to snap at the laughing voice when I saw Kang Siwoo's face. Now that I thought about it, the voice earlier had sounded familiar too.
"Laugh all you want. Go ahead. Laugh. Damn, that hurts like hell."
"Weren't you about to get angry?"
"Forget it. So, what do you want this time?"
"We need to clear the area around the Hadan 2-dong Administrative Welfare Center. Also, I wanted to ask if you like ramen."
"…Ramen?"
"Thanks to the generator you brought, we can heat water. We've got several kinds of ramen ready, so it should be fine."
"W-what about rice?!"
"We have that too. Ah, if you'd rather rest, that's fine. It just means we won't be able to sneak any over to you."
This bastard. He was way too competent. If he'd been an idiot, I would've just been dragged along. Good thing I had enough sense to read between the lines. It was basically: Ramen and rice, or stay here and rest? He was dangling noodles like bait to recruit another meat shield. Part of me didn't want to go, not knowing what I'd be used for. But how was I supposed to resist ramen?
"One pack probably won't be enough. At least two?"
"Would you like an extra serving of rice as well?"
"That works for me. Wow, you really know how to negotiate."
I was a little disappointed there were no green onions or eggs, but it wasn't bad at all. Felt like I'd been played by a single pack of ramen, but whatever. How was anyone supposed to resist ramen? Even with my eyes closed, the taste lingered in my mind. So I quietly followed Kang Siwoo to a secluded room. Apparently this was where the female students used to sneak ramen past the dorm supervisor. Everything was already prepared—portable batteries, electric kettle, the works.
"If you want rice, you have to ride the bicycle first. That's how we've been building up electricity."
"This… this is happiness…!"
"You really love eating, don't you?"
Kang Siwoo gave me a pitying look. I had plenty to say about that. After going so long without anything decent, of course I'd lose my mind the moment I got the chance. The ramen he cooked was delicious aside from the missing toppings. Green onions, eggs, spices—those would only become available years later. This was already an incredible luxury.
After we finished eating and cleaned up the evidence, I noticed he'd only fed me. That felt suspicious. Then I remembered something. I'd brought a ton of food with me when I came here. Plus the bicycle generator and batteries. So of course asking for ramen wasn't a big deal. I didn't have to get this worked up over a single pack of noodles. I could've just eaten it openly in my own room. But if I'd agreed to go out and fight zombies in exchange…
"You're quite foolish, Yeji-ssi. Or should I say pure?"
"Please say pure…"
"I'll go with airheaded charm. At least your appearance is that of an incredible beauty."
"Whoa, airheaded charm. Airheaded charm…"
"I thought you'd get angry, but you didn't."
"How about you put that goddamn sword down before we talk?"
"For the record, I'm currently Coach Kim Yeonhua."
"What exactly happened earlier?"
Kang Siwoo snorted, then burst into full laughter, not even trying to hide it. He lived to mess with people. Honestly, if I could, I'd have taken off the rank insignia and fought him right there. That was why I'd told him to put the sword down. In a pure endurance match, I wouldn't lose. My toughness had been built up getting beaten by zombies and Noh Changhun. I wouldn't go down easily. With my regeneration on top of that, I planned to keep pounding him until I won. But if he was at Kim Yeonhua's level, I'd definitely lose. Right. This bastard might look like he was in his twenties, but his mind was in his thirties. Ten years of experience meant I had no chance. I could already picture myself getting my hair grabbed and my stomach turned into a punching bag.
"So when does the cleaning start?"
I pretended I hadn't heard anything, smiling as I swallowed my anger. If I could, I'd have smacked him hard. But I couldn't win. So I had to lie low and wag my tail.
"We'll head out with a small elite team about an hour after we eat."
"I suppose I'll have to take the front."
"Of course."
"And from now on, I'll have to keep standing at the front with you, Siwoo-ssi."
"Of—of course."
"If you're going to laugh, just laugh. Don't scratch at people in front of others."
"You really do have that airheaded charm."
"…I'm going to get ready in my room."
"See you in an hour."
Kang Siwoo waved slowly. I wanted to pretend none of this had happened and stay inside. But after eating everything he'd offered, hiding in my room felt wrong. So I prepared thoroughly and stepped out of the dorm. Kang Siwoo was already stretching, probably to warm up. Without a word, I stood beside him and copied the stretches. Up close, this guy really could've made a fortune as a personal trainer. Handsome face, outgoing personality, plenty of real combat experience. With all those advantages stacked, failure seemed unlikely. He could probably just write an autobiography and print money.
"What are you thinking about?"
"Nothing much."
"Really? Your eyes were looking at me a little strangely."
"I was just wondering what you'd do once this is all over. After the situation ends."
"Hmm. I'd probably start with an autobiography. Now then, let's begin the patrol."
The patrol didn't take long. Other teams had already swept through the campus ahead of us. It felt more like a light jog around the grounds to loosen up. If we ran into trouble, we dealt with it and kept moving. At first glance it seemed haphazard, but the system was actually pretty well organized. After warming up for a few dozen minutes, we headed down and found a crowd of familiar faces. Lee Ayoung. Kim Yeonhua. Kim Daehan. And other survivors from Bumin Campus. Kim Kijun wasn't there. Probably busy playing adjutant with Professor Jeong Changhun. Didn't matter. A new student named Kang Seonghwa had taken his place. His massive build was reassuring. With that kind of muscle and a buzz cut, having him at the front would've been ideal. Except this time, I was still the one leading.
And throughout the entire operation—clearing zombies near the Hadan 2-dong Administrative Welfare Center and disposing of the bodies—Kang Siwoo and I never once left the front line.