Free Web Novel“Ah... so you mean I shouldn’t go in because it’s dangerous?”
Yohan immediately understood the warning and turned away. After trying three buildings, he was finally allowed to enter one. Clutching the straps of his backpack, he stepped inside and cautiously swept the beam of his flashlight across the interior.
The building was practically a ruin. Dust was piled high, and the decrepit furniture looked like it had been abandoned for decades. Everything was so worn-out that even the barely hanging calendar on the wall looked like some kind of ominous symbol.
“This place must be part of an old zone.”
Muttering to himself, Yohan opened a drawer—only to find nothing but a stack of documents crumbling into dust. He stepped back outside. He needed to find the buildings that had fallen into the Abyss with him. Just in case, he asked Hyunmook, but the man was humming cheerfully, not paying attention. So Yohan had no choice but to search on his own. After three hours, he finally found something familiar.
“Ugh...”
It was the corpse of the eyeball monster Hyunmook had destroyed. From the shattered eye, clear tears still streamed down like a little brook. Yohan recalled the sane Hyunmook’s advice: drinking water usually came from the eyes of monsters. Food, on the other hand, was more vague—something about eating anything remotely edible.
Apart from the faint red tint, the liquid looked fairly clean. Still, even if it sounded ungrateful, Yohan absolutely refused to drink anything that looked like eyeball juice. He grimaced and turned away—then his face lit up.
“A convenience store!”
The Abyss wasn’t completely dark—there was a faint, reddish glow from the sky that made it possible to distinguish building outlines. Spotting a familiar convenience store sign, Yohan ran toward it with hope in his chest. Hyunmook followed at a lazy pace, eyes fixed on him.
“There’s food! Real food!”
The refrigerated and frozen goods were rotting and smelled awful, but there were still plenty of dry-stock items. Probably no other survivors had scavenged this area yet. Forcing his anxiety down, Yohan started with the canned goods. His backpack quickly grew heavy, but his heart felt lighter. As he cinched the bulging straps tighter °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° and began gathering high-calorie snacks like candy and jelly—
“Hey, person. Person.”
“...Are you talking to me?”
Startled, Yohan turned around. Hyunmook, who seemed to have forgotten his name entirely, called out to him with a vague “person,” then knocked the snacks from Yohan’s arms. Candy and jelly packs scattered across the floor.
“Dirty.”
“They’re edible!”
Yohan scrambled to pick them up—but Hyunmook slapped them out of his hands again.
“Dirty.”
“No...!”
They repeated this little tug-of-war several times. In the end, Yohan won. As he shoved the snacks inside his clothes, Hyunmook just stared. Clutching his things protectively, Yohan scowled and said:
“And I’m not just ‘person.’ I’m Yang Yohan.”
“......”
Thankfully, Hyunmook didn’t press the issue further. Yohan sighed in relief and moved on. Though he glanced wistfully back at the food-filled convenience store, he turned his attention to finding a safe shelter. Before long, he located a small building—too cramped for monsters to hide in, but suitable enough to live in. It even had a separate area that could be used as a bathroom.
Hyunmook sat down near the only entrance, watching as Yohan excitedly sorted through his haul. Yohan carefully stacked the canned food and, with his bag now empty, headed back to the convenience store. This time his goal was bottled water. As long as the seal was intact, it should be safe to drink.
He couldn’t exactly ask the nearly mute Hyunmook to help carry things, so he transported several liters of water and drinks by himself, sweating the whole way. But seeing the food pile grow on one side filled him with a deep sense of pride. And hunger.
“Shall we have dinner?” freёwebnoѵel.com
Of course, with the sky in the Abyss always dark and red, there was no telling whether it was truly dinner time. But since he was tired from all the labor, Yohan decided to just call it dinner.
“We’ve collected so much—I think I can afford to eat just one can of ham, right?”
Swallowing hard, Yohan opened a familiar brand of canned ham. Then he frowned.
“...Is this chicken breast?”
The meat looked pale—strangely white instead of the usual pink. But with the surroundings so dim, he couldn’t be sure. Worried it might’ve spoiled, he sniffed it. No foul odor. Cautiously, he sliced off a piece and tasted it. It didn’t seem bad. Relieved but still wary, he cut the rest into small pieces.
“It’s not much, but please enjoy.”
He added a bit of humor as he offered half the ham on the lid. Though Hyunmook had happily eaten the emergency rations earlier, this time he seemed more hesitant. After a glance at Yohan, he sniffed the ham closely. He tilted it this way and that, then slowly took a bite.
“...Why are you looking at me like that?”
Nervously, Yohan asked the question while chewing. Hyunmook, wearing an unreadable expression, slowly swallowed the ham—still staring directly at Yohan.
‘Did I do something wrong?’
Knowing how irrational and violent contaminated people could be, Yohan averted his gaze in a panic. He quickly finished his own piece and grabbed a jelly packet to change the subject.
“Want some jelly too?”
Without much thought, he opened the bag—and gagged.
“Ugh, what the hell?!”
It wasn’t just spoiled—it reeked. The stench was so pungent and putrid it couldn’t be mistaken for anything but rot. Eyes watering, Yohan peeked into the bag—then yelped and dropped it. A squashed, eyeball-shaped jelly—or was it a dead bug?—rolled out.
“H-Halloween candy, maybe?”
In the dim light, it looked too much like a real eyeball. He’d thought the sugar content would keep it fresh, but apparently soft jelly spoiled anyway. Appetite gone, Yohan tossed the whole bag outside. When he turned back, he realized thankfully—Hyunmook was no longer staring at him.
Please let the water be fine... Nervous, he opened a bottle. It smelled a little musty, but didn’t seem spoiled. After handing some to Hyunmook, Yohan crouched in a corner, praying he wouldn’t get sick.
The adrenaline from the convenience store run was fading, and the bleak despair returned like a tide. Yohan glanced at Hyunmook, who was still staring off into space. Watching the madman, Yohan curled into himself.
‘I wish I had a sleeping bag.’
But since the Abyss had opened so suddenly, there had been no time to pack things like that. Lying down on the cold, hard floor, Yohan closed his eyes.
And so, another day passed.
* * *
Yohan didn’t know how many hours had gone by when he woke. Rubbing his eyes, he realized, thankfully, the food hadn’t made him sick. He wanted to wash up, but clean water was precious—so hygiene was a luxury he couldn’t afford. Hyunmook, for his part, was still staring into space like the night before. Had he even slept?
“Did you, um... get any sleep?”
Yohan asked cautiously, and finally—Hyunmook’s vague gaze seemed to refocus. As if only now realizing Yohan existed, he stared at him blankly and asked:
“You’re a person?”
“...Yes, but not just ‘person.’ I’m Yang Yohan.”
Not only had Hyunmook forgotten his name overnight, but he seemed to have forgotten Yohan altogether. But Yohan didn’t take it personally. You don’t expect much from a madman. He was just grateful Hyunmook hadn’t hurt him and was still staying close.
‘Even if he’s contaminated, he’s still a person.’
Yohan got up and headed to the makeshift bathroom, thinking that without Hyunmook’s presence in this hellish place, he never would’ve had the strength to keep going. He probably would’ve gone mad instantly.
‘Come to think of it... when does contamination actually begin?’
After relieving himself, he inspected his body under the flashlight, pulling up his clothes and checking for rashes, boils, or discoloration. Nothing alarming. He did find one decently sized wound on his shin he hadn’t noticed before—probably a cut, now scabbed over and crusted with blood. But that was it.
He was anxious and depressed, but considering the situation, that was probably normal. Convincing himself of that, Yohan started digging through his food supplies.
“Hmm... I guess I should start with the emergency rations.”
Compared to canned goods, the emergency food wasn’t ideal for long-term storage. Still, he cooked it up for breakfast and split it with Hyunmook again. Maybe because he kept sharing, Yohan got the feeling he was starting to earn the madman’s favor. Hyunmook still didn’t say anything—but it felt that way...
After they ate, Yohan suddenly had nothing to do. He zoned out, letting time pass, until a crucial thought struck him.
‘Wait, wasn’t there a hospital building in the zone that got pulled in?’
The entire area—including the ground and buildings—had been swallowed into the Abyss. The convenience store still had intact supplies despite shattered windows and broken walls, so there was a good chance the hospital’s medicine might still be usable too.
“Food’s important, but so is medicine. If I get sick, that’s it... right?”
Seeking agreement from the silent madman, Yohan stood up. Honestly, more than the supplies, he just needed a goal—something to keep his mind from drowning in despair. As he stepped outside, Hyunmook got up from his squat at the entrance and silently followed.
