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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Xrecker
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I shrugged and said, “Well, I’m not a doctor. But their faces were pretty messed up.”
The elderly woman hung her head and rocked back and forth.
Guilt emanated from her posture.
Her eyebrows and the corners of her mouth drooped. She looked incredibly distraught.
She must have also asked for food.
She seemed timid, probably swept up in the fervor of the crowd as everyone clamored for food.
…Tsk.
She wasn’t talking, and I wasn’t a psychiatrist.
I should watch some YouTube.
See what was happening in the world.
“…Are they… dead…?”
…This was driving me insane.
“You feel sorry? Then go downstairs and apologize.”
I looked her up and down.
My gaze was cold.
I couldn’t help it; seeing such a passive person made me feel frustrated.
What did she want me to do?
Did she think everything would magically resolve itself if she just sat there with her head down, rocking back and forth without saying a word?
Should I have just left her to commit suicide?
Shit.
This woman’s behavior was ruining my mood. I put down my phone.
“What do you want to do? Die? Then I’ll take you outside. This is a place for people who want to live. There are ferocious things outside trying to bite people, I don’t have the time to take care of someone who wants to die. Got it?”
Tch.
I lit another cigarette.
“I brought you here because I thought you were the only sane one in that group, not to comfort or counsel you.”
This was so frustrating.
I stood up, opened the door, and went outside.
“If you want to die, go somewhere else. Don’t die in my room. I don’t want to clean up after you.”
Slam.
I closed the door.
Just try committing suicide in my room, you bitch.
Just looking at her made me feel frustrated. This woman was out here alone without her husband. Maybe she drove him insane with her passivity and ended up alone.
I couldn’t even communicate with her, shit.
Ah, the sunlight felt good.
It lifted my spirits.
“Phew-”
The cigarette smoke was pleasant.
The streets were quiet.
No sign of that survivor group.
I’d rest, clear out a house, and then move the inline skaters there.
…Wait.
I looked up and gazed at the street in the distance.
Beyond the low-rise single-family homes.
Tall buildings lined the eight-lane road.
The street stretched to the right.
And there, a building so tall it dwarfed the others.
A hypermarket.
The first and second floors were the supermarket. The third floor was probably offices, maybe also a storage area for the supermarket.
There was no reason to use the entire floor for offices.
That meant supplies were piled up on the first, second, and third floors.
Not just food, but also all sorts of electronics, bathroom supplies, clothes, bedding, tools, and hardware.
The ultimate survival jackpot.
And it was at least ten stories tall.
…Quite…
…not bad?
“Hmm…”
The ultimate survival jackpot.
And a tall building.
If I could utilize the resources on each floor…
And more importantly,
That ultimate survival jackpot building.
I was the only one who could claim that unoccupied building, just go in and take everything.
No one else could get close.
One step, and they would become prey for the massive horde of human beasts.
Or join them.
No living person could approach that building.
Only me.
I inhaled the cigarette smoke and exhaled slowly.
“…Not bad.”
I’d have to call a meeting later.
Clearing out one house and splitting into two made it difficult to protect everyone if that group attacked again.
Besides, if a horde of human beasts appeared on this street, being separated and running out of food would be the end.
Then using this house as a temporary base for a few days was the right answer.
The hypermarket.
The hypermarket was the solution.
…Good.
I was smiling contentedly, smoking my cigarette, when I sensed someone next to me.
It was the elderly woman.
She was standing behind me, her head bowed.
“Are you leaving?” she asked.
“…Before I go… I want to… apologize to them…”
…Hmm.
Had I been outside for too long?
Oh, come to think of it, I was starting to feel hungry.
Lost in thought, it was already lunchtime.
The elderly woman must have been thinking too.
“Okay. Let’s go downstairs.”
We went downstairs, and I knocked on Soo-hyun’s door.
Jung Eun-seo opened the door.
“Yes… ah, Sung-hoon.”
Jung Eun-seo glanced at the elderly woman, head bowed next to me, and ignored her.
She must have been feeling upset.
I peeked inside the room and saw six legs lying on the floor.
I could also hear moans of pain.
“How are they doing?”
Jung Eun-seo sighed heavily. “They’re badly injured. Cuts near their eyes, bruises all over their bodies. Sung-hoon, do you know how to stitch wounds?”
…Ugh.
I shook my head.
Just then, the elderly woman lifted her head. “…I can…”
…Huh?
This woman, she could treat injuries?
Jung Eun-seo looked at the elderly woman.
Her gaze was cold.
“How can I trust you? After what we went through… working so hard…”
Choking up, Jung Eun-seo closed her mouth.
The elderly woman lowered her head and bowed. “…I’m sorry.”
“No, there’s nothing to be sorry about. I’m not going to do anything for you, so you know.”
…Hmm.
Jung Eun-seo was very angry.
The elderly woman apologized even though she wasn’t the one who hit them.
And I didn’t care.
I asked the elderly woman, “Ahjumma, can you stitch up those cuts?”
The elderly woman still couldn’t look at us. She just said, her head bowed, “…Yes. I used to be… a nurse.”
Oh.
A nurse?
Not bad, ahjumma.
I looked at Jung Eun-seo.
With a look that said, “How about it?”
Jung Eun-seo glared at me.
With a look that said, “Fuck off!”
I shook my head.
Come on, give her a chance.
Jung Eun-seo also shook her head.
Get lost, asshole.
…We were communicating through gestures, trying to guess each other’s intentions, but it was better to just talk.
“If you leave those wounds untreated, they might get infected. What if they lose their eyes? This ahjumma is a nurse. Let’s save them first. Okay?”
A woman inside the room, having heard me, asked, “Who was a nurse?”
Jung Eun-seo’s face darkened.
I gestured towards the elderly woman and said, “It’s not like this ahjumma was the one who hit them. She’s offering to help. Those people are in pain.”
Jung Eun-seo rolled her eyes, looked up, and sighed deeply.
There we go.
I smiled and gently pushed the elderly woman’s back. “Go on in. Take care of them.”
The elderly woman bowed to me and entered the room.
Jung Eun-seo glared at me, then closed the door.
And I was amused.
Oh yeah.
Putting people who were uncomfortable with each other in the same room.
This was entertaining.
I chuckled as I went upstairs, and then it hit me.
Wait.
…Did we just get a healer in our party?
Grandma Nurse Healer!
Hmm…
Not bad.
As I went upstairs with that useless thought, a delicious smell wafted from the main house.
…It smelled like jjajangmyeon.
I opened the door and went inside.
“Something smells good.”
It really was jjajangmyeon.
Ye-eun and Soo-hyun, who were cooking in the kitchen, and So-eun, holding out a spoon as if to taste it, all turned to look at me at the same time.
“Oh, oppa.”
They were making a huge pot of jjajangmyeon.
Well, the number of mouths to feed had doubled from 7 to 14.
We couldn’t let Grandma starve.
Everyone had to eat.
14 people…
That was a lot of food for one meal.
I smiled. “I’m hungry.”
Soo-hyun smiled and replied, “It’s almost ready. Just wait a bit.”
Yes!
Jjajangmyeon for lunch!
After lunch, I gathered everyone on the rooftop for a meeting.
The people on the first floor asked me to wait, saying it would take some time.
Hoon had to feed his baby, and the injured men in Soo-hyun’s room also needed to eat, so it would take a while.
I sat and listened to Grandma, Ye-eun, So-eun, and Soo-hyun – my fuck buddy/girlfriend, I wasn’t sure – chattering on the rooftop.
Grandma seemed quite happy.
She must have missed the sunlight.
Now that the TV was out, she must have been bored staying inside all the time.
After about an hour, Hoon, his wife, the inline skaters, and the nurse, Grandma 2, came up to the rooftop.
…Wow…
Eleven people.
Fourteen, including the three injured men downstairs.
Fifteen, including the baby.
…That was a lot.
I didn’t know how I ended up leading this large group of people.
I just killed a lot of things.
Anyway.
I flicked my cigarette butt away and smiled. “The jjajangmyeon was delicious. Ye-eun’s cooking is great. And Soo-hyun too.”
I gave Soo-hyun a thumbs-up.
But Soo-hyun, maybe because I didn’t mention her name first, frowned and glared at me.
She was practically my girlfriend.
I chuckled and said, “I called this meeting because I have something important to discuss.”
“What is it?” Soo-hyun asked curtly.
Was she jealous? Cute.
I smiled and said, “There’s nothing left at the supermarket. That’s why I called this meeting.”
The people’s expressions changed.
We hadn’t mentioned the supermarket during the meal.
It meant they were avoiding the topic.
I continued, “We have some food stocked up at home, but it’s not nearly enough, as you all know. We need to eat to survive, we need toilet paper, we need diapers.”
Their eyes were fixed on me.
Focused on my words.
It was natural, since I was talking about survival.
I turned and pointed at the tall building. “That hypermarket. Everything we need is there. Plenty of food, daily necessities, tools, materials. Everything.”
Everyone’s gaze shifted to the hypermarket.
I waited for their attention to return and then said, “Let’s move there.”
Their eyes widened.
I heard gasps of surprise.
Grandma, in particular, seemed shocked. “How can you suggest we abandon this house and go there, young man?”
I smiled. “It’s for the best. Look. It’s spacious, sturdy, and it has everything. It’s much safer and more abundant than here.”
I looked up at the rooftop of the building. “…We could even grow crops up there. We can collect rainwater when it rains.”
Their expressions gradually changed.
Even Grandma’s eyes wavered at the mention of farming.
She couldn’t hide the flicker in her eyes, even though she was trying to look displeased.
Farming would be much more interesting than sitting around doing nothing.
For Grandma, that was.
Grandma 2, the nurse, was also listening intently.
She was still huddled in a corner, unfamiliar with everyone, but her eyes never left me.
A flicker of…
…hope appeared on their faces.
…Good.
…I suddenly became curious.
The people in front of me had a glimmer of hope in their eyes, a hint of a smile on their faces.
…What was the atmosphere like in other survivor groups?
Probably not good.
Idiots.
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