The Return

Ta-aa-aa-ang-

The gunshot was still rolling through the surrounding apartment complex.

"Whew."

I blew out the smoke curling up from the muzzle.

The advertisement had gone off without a hitch, which meant it was about time for the customers to come flooding in.

Welcome, one and all!!

"You absolute lunatic, you psycho bastard! ARGH...!"

Just as predicted, Yu Jin flew into a rage, tearing at her hair. Look at those murderous eyes. They were practically screaming, 'I should've cracked his skull the second I laid eyes on him.'

"Oppa! You need to run, now! They're all going to come swarming!"

Yu Hyeon kept his mouth shut, but his face looked ready to kill someone on the spot.

"Manager. I'd like to know what you're thinking by now — whether there even *is* a plan."

I cleared my throat as the guy strode toward me, looking one second away from grabbing me by the collar.

"Of course there's a plan. Shooting the gun was part of the calculation too, so don't panic."

It wasn't bluster.

When the world ended, the surviving territory had split into three great zones.

The Green Zone — the last paradise of the survivors, where electricity and running water still worked.

Nothing but unverifiable rumors floating around, though. Not a trace of it here at the bottom of this damned Seoul.

Next, the Yellow Zone — a chaotic free-for-all where zombie density was low and various factions fought bloody turf wars over the spoils. That was where we'd met the murderous couple.

And finally, the Red Zone — the zombies' lair, occupying the vast majority of Seoul, half air and half undead.

This 'Paradise Village' we were standing in was Red Zone too. Seoul's last illegal shantytown, wedged between the apartment complexes. Its supplies had run dry ages ago, but every so often, people pushed out of the fight for survival drifted here looking for shelter. Because of its tangled maze of rotten plywood and plastic tarp tents, the zombies couldn't form large hordes and stayed scattered — for a Red Zone, that was saying something.

A cramped, claustrophobic maze where zombie swarms couldn't coalesce. That was the one and only advantage this ruined shantytown possessed.

And just now, I'd blown that one advantage to pieces with my own two hands.

Yu Hyeon ground his teeth and asked, "Then what's the next step of the plan?"

"The sprinters will come charging over here like maniacs any second now, won't they?"

Even among zombies, some were uniquely dangerous.

The utterly vicious variants that gave survivors PTSD — the ones we called 'Sprinters.'

For whatever reason, they'd retained the hardened bodies and reflexes they'd had in the early days of the outbreak. With heightened senses and crushing grip strength, they were the lunatics who came charging out first at the slightest sound.

One or two of them, fine. But if a whole pack of them came swarming from all directions down a cramped alley like this, an ordinary person wouldn't last a minute before being torn to shreds.

"...And you knew that, and you fired the gun anyway?"

I shoved him lightly aside, walked to a suitable spot, and drew a line in the dusty floor with my toe.

"You stand here. That's the plan."

Yu Jin's mouth hung open, dumbstruck.

"What? You scribbled a line on the floor and you're calling that a plan? What, are you going to draw some kind of magic circle here?!"

"Oh, how did you know? Well, since you figured it out, relax and stand right there like a good girl."

"...You've completely lost it!"

Then again, no idiot in this mad world would actually relax just because I told them to.

I checked the remaining time on my skill.

The skill was far more useful than I'd expected. It applied not just to me, but to everything within a one-meter radius of my body.

As long as they stayed glued to my side, the zombies would never find us.

At least, not for the time remaining.

But there was no way the siblings knew any of this. They didn't need to, either.

I had zero intention of explaining my abilities in detail. What I needed were employees to work under me, not business partners.

I don't trust them. And the feeling would be mutual.

But they'd have no choice but to obey. To be precise, they'd have no choice but to obey my *ability*.

Think of it like a woman who married for money gritting her teeth through a shitty marriage, living paycheck to paycheck off one bank account. Even if the husband's personality was garbage, as long as the living expenses kept flowing in on schedule, she'd bite down and endure it.

She could put up with the heartache. What she couldn't put up with was no money coming in.

That was why the spot I'd chosen was the dead-end corner across from the window.

The kind of position no sane person would ever pick — the famous 'back of the cell.' Perfect for spectating the incoming zombie swarm.

The woman, pale as a ghost, couldn't hold it in anymore and shouted. Such an intense reaction. I understand, truly.

"Are you kidding me?! If this ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠is how it's going to be, at least give our weapons back!"

They had no means of fighting ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠zombies at all.

Yu Jin's archery bag and Yu Hyeon's dagger. I was holding both.

Thanks to my skill's restriction, I couldn't carry anything over 8kg, but equipment was fine — so I'd offered to carry their weapons for them. Kind-hearted of me, really.

Of course, in their eyes I was probably some villain who'd strong-armed their weapons away, but what could ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you do.

Yu Jin muttered, her face in full panic mode.

"This isn't happening. This really isn't happening. What do I do. What do I do..."

The woman who'd been glaring daggers at me moments ago was now trembling all over, eyes brimming with tears like she'd burst out crying at any second.

Embarrassing as it is to admit, something stirred down below.

*Clang-!*

The sound of shattering glass rang out nearby.

The commotion spread through the entire alley in an instant. Fast as dominoes.

The corner store sat at the end of the dead-end street.

But that didn't mean the front entrance was the only way in.

*-CRASH-!*

The window at the very back of the store, directly opposite the entrance, exploded into shards.

"GRAAAAGH-!"

Two blood-soaked Sprinters jammed their heads frantically through the gap in the shattered glass. Arms outstretched, they tumbled over the windowsill and dropped into the store.

"Hiiik...!"

Yu Jin gasped, spiraling deeper into panic.

We were standing in a spot that would be visible the moment anyone came over the window — but off to the corner, away from the entrance route.

In other words, prime real estate for watching zombies vault the window. The same went for the zombies, as it happened.

But the zombies ignored us completely and sprinted out toward the entrance.

They weren't the end of it. More came pouring through the broken window one after another.

"UWAAAAAAAH-!"

One, two, three...

The window filled up with a solid mass of zombies in the blink of an eye. The already-dim store interior turned pitch black.

*CRASH-BANG-TANG-!*

The window frame itself got ripped clean out, and the zombie horde swept through the alley like a tsunami.

From outside the store came the screams of the search parties.

"Fuck, you bastards!"

"AAAGH!"

"H-help me! I haven't been bitten yet! Don't leave me behind, you pricks!"

Outside was a living hell.

A pandemonium of people screaming as they were torn apart by the horde.

The siblings stared, souls leaving their bodies, out through the half-shattered window.

"Th-that's impossible... mmph."

Yu Jin hastily clamped a hand over her own mouth. Sprinters had sharp hearing — they'd have caught even that much noise.

I took her hand and pulled it back down.

"You can talk. Even out loud, they won't notice us."

She gave me a look that said she didn't believe a word of it.

At that moment.

"GRAAAAGH...!"

One of them came clambering over the window, late to the party.

I picked up a stone from the floor and hurled it at the zombie.

*Thwack-!*

With a satisfying crack, its head tilted sideways.

"...Guuh?"

The thing glanced our way, then immediately bolted toward the alley where the screams were erupting.

Its target: the man pinned to the ground, kicking and struggling.

"AAAGH! Let, let go of me! Please, spare me—. Gck, gck!"

He couldn't even scream anymore — he was being eaten alive. He'd just gained one more customer.

No more were coming.

I whistled.

"Alright then. Shall we get moving?"

Leisurely, I swept the shattered glass off the ground with the toe of my shoe and cleared a path.

"Come on, let's head over that way. Mind the glass, everyone."

I nimbly clambered over the collapsed window frame first, took the burlap sacks the siblings had been carrying, and then, quite naturally, held out a hand to Yu Jin.

As she hesitated, I took her hand, pulled her along, and whispered.

"If you don't want to end up like that guy back there, you stick to my side and don't let go."

And so we moved, avoiding the narrowest alleys — the zombies ignored us, but that didn't mean they'd let us pass *through* them.

"Guooooh..."

The moan of a zombie crawling out from behind a building's shadow.

They shuffled slowly in the direction the noise had come from.

This was the real headache.

The sprinters shattered the formations, and then a second wave of ordinary zombies came flooding in after them.

A structure in which an ordinary human could never, ever survive.

If God had designed it this way on purpose, He must be one hell of a sadistic son of a bitch.

Yu ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Jin, trailing right behind me like a mouse with its tail stepped on, finally spoke up.

"...Um. About earlier. I'm sorry."

Her voice was barely a crawl.

She was groaning under both arms full of junk sacks, but I had no intention of cutting her slack just because she was a woman.

I'm a feminist, you see. *Girls can do anything.* My favorite phrase.

She shot a sidelong glance at the archery bag slung over my shoulder, then sneakily averted her eyes.

"I panicked. I wasn't in my right mind. I really thought you were trying to get us killed... I'm sorry for doubting you."

"Sure. Let's do better going forward."

Honestly, I'd steered things that way on purpose. The goal had been a battle of wills — I needed the pecking order locked in, plain and simple.

The more the world falls apart, the more the unwritten rules matter.

I didn't particularly enjoy doing it. Everything I did, I did to survive.

Yu Hyeon, who'd been trudging along silently under his load, bowed his head too.

"I apologize as well, Manager."

"You've got nothing to apologize for, Yu Hyeon. Don't waste your breath talking. Your wounds will reopen."

Well — hardly in a position to say that, given I was the one who'd loaded a patient's arms to the limit.

After turning and twisting through the alley's every nook and cranny, we finally arrived at our destination.

We hadn't known each other long, but seeing my own home again after so long — I'd admit it felt good.

A battered old signboard, painted a tacky shade of red.

My base of operations. My invincible domain, where no one could set foot without my leave.

"...THIS is the lodging? You said it was a hotel."

"I never did. I never once called it a hotel."

I'd said 'something like a hotel.'

Realizing she'd been completely bamboozled, Yu Jin's expression was a treat to behold. That indignant, swindled look — and yet, beneath it, she let out a long, relieved sigh that she'd at least survived.

I swung open the rusted iron door.

"Come in. From here on, it's genuinely safe."

The siblings shuffled in, wary and hesitant.

The moment Yu Hyeon crossed the threshold, he tossed aside the burlap sack he'd been hauling, dropped to the floor, and panted for breath.

Yu Jin dashed over to him.

"Oppa, oppa! Are you okay?"

What had he done so well to deserve collapsing like that? If his condition had held up, we could've squeezed in more farming time with the skill.

I did feel a pang of regret over the skill's remaining time, but there was nothing to be done.

His condition came first.

If labor had been pouring out of the woodwork, I'd have cracked the whip and shouted,

*'You can rest when you're dead — rest all you want then!'*

But right now, every single pair of hands was precious.

"Let's get him laid down in a room first. Yu Hyeon, think you can move? This way."

"...Thank you, Manager."

We supported him into a room. Yu Jin fidgeted anxiously and followed us in.

It wasn't that I was being kind because the guy was pretty or anything.

Even a queen ant cherishes Worker Ant Number One, the very first to hatch.

Because if the first ant dies, the whole kingdom — queen and all — pulls down its shutters right then and there.