The First Rescue
Thankfully, my expression management held up well enough that neither Kim Yeonhua nor Lee Ayoung pressed me for answers. Actually, thinking about it, it would have been unfair if they had. If I'd admitted to liking someone, Kang Siwoo would have been the one acting all creepy and deserved a beating. The reality that I had to worry more about the heroines than the zombies was depressing, but I decided to ignore it. After all, no one was going to take my side anyway. So, with a heavy sigh, I quietly offered my arm to Kang Siwoo.
Fortunately, nothing dangerous happened until the operation was complete.
"This is a good sign. The number of zombies appearing is significantly lower than last time."
Kang Siwoo used that as a starting point to encourage the students for a while. It was something he would never have done in the original story, but I could roughly guess why he was doing it now. Since I was with him, he could handle any situation that arose. The faces of the students receiving his impromptu praise were bright. And thankfully, he didn't praise me this time. At most, just a single line. Well, since I was stuck right next to him helping out, there was no need to praise me. So if he just kept things like this instead of praising me in public, I wouldn't ask for anything more.
Anyway, the first cleanup was over. We'd killed most of the zombies visible on the streets and burned the bodies. All that remained was to thoroughly search the buildings for any zombies left inside. If we found survivors along the way, we'd rescue them too.
But in my opinion, there probably weren't any survivors in this area. If they could have come out earlier, they would have. While we were struggling to kill zombies, they would have judged this to be the perfect opportunity...
"Seonghwa! Behind you! Behind you!"
"What?!"
Something was emerging near where Kang Seonghwa stood. Since its skin wasn't green, it seemed to be human at least. Only after seeing my pointing did Kang Seonghwa belatedly realize and whip around, clenching his fist. Thankfully, Kim Yeonhua, who was beside him, grabbed his arm and prevented him from hitting the survivor. Kang Siwoo had already let go of my arm and was running over.
Then chaos erupted. The students were excited about realizing the need to clean the surrounding area and moved by the fact that they'd rescued a survivor. Kang Siwoo wanted to take care of the survivor and extract information. The survivor wanted to find out where the other survivors were. In any case, everyone was shouting and making a racket, so I had no choice but to step in.
Let's see, a way to naturally draw their attention...
"Hey!"
I approached and slammed Beopbong into the ground, and naturally, everyone's eyes turned toward me. With a playful smile, I rested Beopbong on my shoulder and slowly walked toward the survivor before crouching down. Whether from exhaustion or relief, they had collapsed. Normally, when talking, you should match eye levels, right? So I ignored the gaze directed at my chest and smiled.
"I think you mentioned other survivors earlier. Is that correct?"
"Y-Yes. I was the only one who managed to escape."
"Ah, I thought so. Do you know which floor you were on?"
"The building I came out of was on the fifth floor. The zombies from the other floors blocked the way."
"That's what they said, Siwoo."
Kang Siwoo immediately gave orders. He assigned Kang Seonghwa and one student to escort the survivor, while the rest would enter the building. Since things had turned out this way, he probably wanted them to gain experience fighting inside buildings too.
After watching the two escort the survivor back to the university, Kang Siwoo grabbed my arm.
"We're taking the lead again."
"So, do you dislike it?"
"If you're saying you find me reliable, then I have no choice."
"Your confidence is refreshing. Well then, let's head in."
The building the survivor had come from was like any ordinary commercial building. About six to eight stories tall, with various shops inside. Given the circumstances, it was obvious that survivors had been coming out continuously. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to feed the other survivors. That meant the number of zombies wouldn't be too high. At least enough for one person to break free and escape? So it seemed like we could rescue the survivors without anyone getting hurt.
Just as I'd predicted, when we moved according to Kang Siwoo's instructions, there were no casualties. Not just almost none—there were none at all. I'd thought at least one person might get bitten or injured. It was a narrow building, after all. Even if you stayed on high alert, you couldn't maintain that level of tension every moment. If zombies kept appearing, your sharp nerves would eventually dull. Just when you started to relax, thinking there was no one left—
"I've taken care of two. Everyone, stay alert and watch your surroundings. We're moving to the third floor."
This overpowered bastard.
"Four in total. I'll handle two, so please take care of the other two, Yeji."
"No, that's—"
"Focus, please."
"Aren't you being way too reckless?!"
One zombie that had Beopbong's tip shoved into its mouth fell backward. I shouldered the other one aside and crushed its head with the tip of Beopbong. Kang Siwoo had already killed his two zombies and sheathed his sword. Then he grabbed my arm and answered the question I'd asked earlier.
"As long as there aren't any dangerous variants, I can kill them all. As for how to maintain vigilance, I'll gradually turn it into a manual."
"So I'm the one who judges whether those dangerous variants are present?"
"Variants that deliberately hide are extremely rare. And I'll make a manual for that too."
"How convenient for you."
"I'll take that as a compliment. We're moving to the fifth floor."
There were no problems on the fifth floor either. Kang Siwoo simply let go of my arm, walked forward at a steady pace, and cut down all the zombies in front of him. Soon the floor was littered with what used to be zombies, and Kang Siwoo pointed at me with a smile.
"I'll leave meeting the survivors to you."
"Huh?"
"They were on the eighth floor."
"I mean, I could do without— Actually, never mind. Yeah, that's fine."
Kang Siwoo didn't respond and simply headed up the stairs. From above came the sound of zombie groans and something being sliced, making it clear he'd been holding back because of us until now. So he was probably planning to deal with everything himself and come back down while we focused on the survivors. Thinking he must have been incredibly frustrated, I knocked on the only locked door of what seemed to be an academy.
"We're from the nearby university. We've come to rescue you."
As expected, there was no response. I'd anticipated this, so I had a few more lines prepared. Like mentioning that we'd seen a survivor come out earlier, or something along those lines. Thankfully, after persistent persuasion, a reply came telling us to wait a moment. They said they'd piled up a lot of furniture in front of the door and it would be hard to move. When I said we'd help if they just unlocked it, the locked door clicked open.
Still, just in case, I went in first. You never know what might happen, after all. If the students got hurt, I'd have no face to show Kang Siwoo. Besides, I'd regenerate quickly even if I got injured, so it didn't matter.
Fortunately, nothing happened. Inside were students and a couple of teachers. The students looked like middle or high schoolers, about six in total. There was one male teacher and one female teacher. All eight of them seemed to be in decent condition, thankfully.
"Everyone, come in and help move this!"
Since I'd been fighting with Kang Siwoo on the way up, I figured I could skip work this one time. So I slipped away and watched the students clearing the furniture. But since I couldn't just do nothing, I quietly walked over to the stairs. It was under the pretext of checking for other zombies, but since there wouldn't be any left, it was basically just spacing out.
Thankfully, no one seemed to notice, and they were diligently clearing the furniture. Kim Yeonhua was working the hardest. After they'd mostly cleared the furniture, we checked if everyone could move. Except for one first-year middle school girl, everyone said they could walk, so we told them to prepare to descend.
And right on cue, Kang Siwoo came down the stairs.
"I've killed all the zombies in this building. So it should be safe."
"Should we deal with the bodies later?"
"Let's do that. Rescuing the survivors takes priority for now."
"Right."
By now, we were so in sync that I offered my left arm before Kang Siwoo even had to ask. Maybe because I'd been grabbed so many times. Ah, he was going to ask for my arm again. That kind of feeling. After offering my arm to Kang Siwoo, I watched the other students bring the survivors down. If any zombies appeared, Kang Siwoo and I would have to fight first anyway. As always, it was convenient that I was exempt from everything except combat. Except for always being at the front. That part was scary.
Anyway, we successfully brought the rescued survivors safely back to Seunghak Campus. They'd looked so starved that I wondered how they'd manage the walk, but they followed along steadily, even if slowly. After assigning the survivors to the dorms and providing them with food and water, more time passed.
And during that time, Kang Siwoo didn't rest for a single moment. It was as if he couldn't feel at ease unless he had a hand in almost everything. I wondered if he'd die from overwork, but it didn't matter. After all, that bastard could work hard all night and still be perfectly fine during the day. As long as he didn't bother me when I was trying to rest in the dorm, everything was fine.
So after killing some time, I casually slipped into the dorm and slowly lay down on the bed to rest.