Victory on the Verge of Death
I had ended up inside a zombie apocalypse novel. “Ah, ugh!!” “Groooaaar!”
Our fists collided once more. I shook off my right hand, which had instantly turned a mottled blue, gritted my teeth, and drove my knee forward. The monster’s massive size meant it had a correspondingly huge frame. That much mass also meant heavy weight, and the strain on my knee was no joke. Which was why, in the original story, the standard tactic against monsters was to hammer their knees until they couldn’t move.
“If it’s going to be now, then now!”
“Gr—groar!”
I must have caught it square in the chest; all the air exploded out of it at once. I hadn’t been able to put much power behind the kick, so the impact wasn’t devastating, but it still made movement agony. Luckily the monster was struggling just as badly. We had reached a point where either of us could land a meaningful blow. Both of us instinctively understood that the first one to move carelessly would lose.
“…Kuh!”
A shadow suddenly fell over me, so I crossed both arms and caught the monster’s descending foot. Normally I would have been crushed flat, but right now I could brace and hold. I tried to shove it backward and topple the creature, yet the thing was smarter than it looked. The instant it realized its attack was blocked, it yanked the leg back and fired off a short kick. I wasn’t in any condition to dodge gracefully, so I rolled with the momentum and charged in again with my opposite leg.
“Groooaaar…!”
“…!”
This time I managed to set my stance before it was too late. Teeth clenched, I poured everything into one heavy strike. A sound like a drum being beaten rang out as the monster’s knee crumpled inward. Of course, that alone wouldn’t stop it. Zombies were creatures that could ignore bodily pain. The knee would have to be completely shattered—practically torn off—before its movement would cease.
“…Kup!”
It seemed ready to trade flesh for bone; I broke into a cold sweat just blocking the fist hammering down from above. The moment I thought I’d stopped it cleanly, the monster began flailing one arm wildly. The intent was obvious: if it grabbed me, it would end me on the spot. Swing all you want. While you’re busy, I’ll smash that knee again.
But the monster was kneeling on one leg, which made targeting it awkward. Since it was already down on the injured knee, landing another solid hit would require a proper kick. And I had never been confident in my kicks.
“You son of a—!”
I hastily opened the distance and waited for it to stand. The instant I retreated, the monster’s expression changed. The face that had been tight with anxiety suddenly brightened, as though it had found a hidden trump card. I understood what that card was almost immediately. The monster snatched up a roadside tree with its other hand and brought it crashing down.
“Ah, ugh…!”
I wasn’t struck directly, but the shockwave still swallowed me whole. The tree must have been swung with monstrous force; splinters exploded outward and battered my body. Still, I could move, so I forced myself upright. The tree had probably snapped from that last blow, so if I just gained some distance again—
The broken trunk came hurtling at me as if it had been waiting for exactly that thought. Somehow I managed to dodge it too.
“Ah.”
The moment another shadow fell over me from above, instinct screamed. My posture was ruined from the desperate evasion; there was no way I could avoid this one. An impact stronger than anything I had ever felt slammed through my entire body. Pain burst in my ears—eardrums probably ruptured. Countless ringing sounds overlapped, and something warm trickled down my face, pooling at my chin. I seemed to be lying prone. The shock must have knocked me out flat.
Of course I had to get up. If I stayed down, I would die. Trembling, I clawed at the ground and tried to lift myself. The next attack came immediately, as though the monster had been waiting for exactly this. It pounded me with the tree over and over, smashing the trunk to splinters against my body. When I still lived through it, the creature let out a terrified whimper, clearly frightened that I could survive such a beating.
Truthfully, I hadn’t expected to survive it either. I had been certain I would die long before this point. Yet my damnably tenacious life refused to quit. Since I didn’t want to die anyway, I slowly coughed up the blood rising in my throat and forced myself to stand.
By now I could barely see. One eye refused to open at all, and the other was so clouded I could only make out the monster’s blurry silhouette. My nose was clogged with blood; the only smell was the metallic tang of gore. Blood pooled in my mouth, leaving a constant slimy discomfort. The ringing in my ears never stopped, and the pain had numbed my whole body. I genuinely couldn’t understand how I was still alive. I was little more than a moving corpse. The only thing keeping me upright was pure spite, yet the fact that I was on death’s doorstep had not changed.
Still, my body was obeying me for the moment. It was almost over. The other zombies must have been slaughtered while the monster rampaged. Once I killed this thing, the threat here would essentially be finished.
“…Ah.”
“GRROOOOOOAAAAAAAAAR!!!!!!!!!”
The terrified monster laced its fingers together and brought both fists down with all its strength. Dodge? Block? Did I even have the stamina left for either? In the end I simply caught the blow with my left arm. I couldn’t catch it properly, of course. The pale shards that burst from my forearm told me that much. Guess I won’t be using this arm for a while. I clenched my right fist with everything I had left and smashed it into the monster’s hand.
“Gr—grok!?”
The monster’s entire hand spun through the air before hitting the ground. I hadn’t thought I’d hit it that hard, but apparently I had. Or maybe it really had been a full-power punch. There was no time to wonder. I could feel, without exaggeration, that my remaining time was almost gone. So I moved.
Thrusting my relatively intact right arm forward, I charged. The monster’s knee exploded against my shoulder and the creature toppled. Naturally I was pinned beneath it, but I had anticipated that much and slipped free easily. During those few seconds the monster seemed to have lost all will to fight. I couldn’t blame it. If I were facing someone like me, I’d probably run away in terror too. It was honestly hard to believe I was still standing.
“Gr… groar…”
“Stop… moving… you bastard.”
I leaped from where I stood, stretched out my right hand, and yanked the Beopbong free from where it had been half-buried. Then I hurled it straight into the monster’s remaining knee, shattering it. With the iron staff embedded there, it wouldn’t be moving anytime soon. At this point the monster seemed to reconsider its approach. That made sense. We were both cornered rats with nowhere left to run.
“You’re annoyed too, right…? Then let’s settle this with one strike.”
“GRROOOOOOAAAAAAAAAR!!!!!!!!!”
The monster planted its severed wrist against the ground and lunged, jaws wide. It clearly meant to tear into my upper body and finish me. My response was simple. I planted my feet, drew back my still-functional right arm, and unleashed a Yeji Uppercut.
One second that felt like an hour passed. The result was obvious: my victory. Whether it was fair to call it “obvious” was debatable. My right arm had been half-chewed off by the monster’s front teeth, but half of the monster’s own head had vanished.
“…Whoa… haa.”
Thinking it was truly over now, I collapsed spread-eagled. For a long while I simply breathed, trying to pull myself together. But the situation wasn’t finished. As if on cue, another variant appeared. The bones sliding out from its wrists marked it as a Swindler. It must have been waiting for the right moment, hoping to scavenge the spoils after the monster and I had torn each other apart.
“But you little shit…”
I finished vomiting the last of the blood rising in my throat and slowly rose once more.
“I’m still… alive… Even now… I’m alive…”
I had no real stance left. Both arms were on the verge of total collapse; simply standing was my limit.
“If you came alone… do you really think you can handle me?”
“Groaaar!”
“Groar…!”
“Ah, fuck.”
Hunters that had been hiding somewhere burst out and tried to overwhelm me. The fact that they were reaching to grab rather than slash told me everything. They had suffered heavy losses and now wanted to drag me away to make up for it somehow. In that case they should have torn at least one of my limbs off first.
My consciousness cut out for a moment. When I came to, I was standing on a Swindler’s neck. Is this what they call fighting on pure instinct? The thought felt like something out of a story, and I let out a dazed laugh as I crushed the life from the creature. Then my consciousness cut out again.
This time I was walking slowly down the road, using the Beopbong as a cane. I don’t know how I had found it. My awareness faded for a long stretch. When I woke once more I was lying on a pile of ashes. The final time consciousness returned, the sun was just rising and I was leaning against Jeokro.
I could roughly piece together what had happened. I had finished off the Hunters and the Swindler, squeezed out the last of my strength to cremate the monster’s corpse, then tried to ride Jeokro back to campus before passing out. The fact that the quad-cycle, which should have been on the road, was now parked on the sidewalk suggested I had managed to move it a few meters at least. During that time my body had steadily regenerated; I could move without too much trouble. But having eaten nothing, I had no strength left. I was in a state where movement was possible, nothing more.
If a zombie or a survivor with dark intentions appeared now, I would be helpless. Even at this moment my vision was hazy and the river seemed to shimmer before my eyes. No joke—I could see the road to the afterlife.
I had fought so desperately to survive, and this was the result. Honestly, part of me felt wronged. But then again, it wasn’t as if my own sins were few. Dying alone and lonely on the roadside like this might actually be a fitting end.
“Still… I wish someone could have heard my last words.”
First I missed my family. We didn’t have many warm memories, but they were family. Next I longed to see Noh Changhun. If it were now, I thought I could even laugh when he called me a thick-headed idiot. After that came Kang Siwoo. That damn protagonist bastard. I had no idea where he was or what he was doing, but maybe he would at least dispose of my corpse later.
“Usually in moments like this someone shows up to save the day. The protagonist rescuing the heroine.”
It was half a joke, but if anyone came for me right now—Noh Changhun, Kang Siwoo, whoever—I felt like I could fall for them on the spot. Of course no one was coming.
Deciding to at least meet the end comfortably, I laid the Beopbong down as a pillow and stretched out spread-eagled. And then my consciousness cut off for good.