Free Web NovelChapter 17: Chapter 17
I almost didn’t recognize her. It seemed Kwak Hanmuk was in the same boat.
"Whoa, shit, I almost ran you over...."
Kwak Hanmuk, who had barely stopped himself from plowing straight into her thinking she was a zombie, muttered a curse.
Mo Haein slowly lowered the thumb she had raised.
Since she hadn’t been bitten long ago, she still retained much of her human appearance.
But drenched in blood as she was, in the split second the headlights hit her in the darkness, she really did look like a zombie.
Kwak Hanmuk and I hurriedly unbuckled our seatbelts and got out of the car. Kwak Hanmuk stared at Mo Haein with a twisted expression.
"Captain Mo...."
Mo Haein’s eyes widened slightly at his trembling voice. Kwak Hanmuk whispered seriously.
"This is the first time someone I know has turned into a zombie."
Me too...!
I secretly voiced my agreement internally.
"You think I have?"
Mo Haein asked, sounding dumbfounded, and Kwak Hanmuk hid behind me.
Then, giggling, he made a machine-gun firing gesture at Mo Haein with his hands.
I meekly raised both hands to signal my surrender.
At the sight, a deflating laugh escaped Mo Haein. She murmured bitterly.
"Still, it’s a relief we met before I turned completely."
Kwak Hanmuk stopped his machine-gun barrage and asked.
"Your condition?"
"Bite location is the left forearm. High fever started immediately upon infection. No pain. Aggression is at a tolerable level."
Mo Haein’s eyes glinted blood-red even in the darkness.
Bloodshot eyes, skin so pale the blue veins were clearly visible. All were classic signs of zombification.
In three days, she would become a complete zombie.
By protocol, she should be shot. But neither I nor Kwak Hanmuk aimed a gun at her.
If we just clear the True Ending.
Everyone can get out safely.
Kwak Hanmuk briefly filled her in on what we had been through. Hearing of Je Hyun-oh’s atrocities, Mo Haein gritted her teeth and cursed.
"That fucking psychopath...."
"Did you get bitten by a zombie while doing something, Captain? Was it the Lieutenant Colonel?"
"Half of it is because of the Lieutenant Colonel. The other half isn’t."
Kwak Hanmuk, who had been firmly convinced it was all Je Hyun-oh’s fault, raised an eyebrow.
Mo Haein hesitated for a moment. It was an uncharacteristically unconfident attitude.
"The researchers... there are four of them."
It was an impossible situation.
Originally, in DeZonDeal, there was only a single, final researcher developing the vaccine.
Mo Haein explained the details to us.
"I opened my eyes at the border of the Yellow Zone, close to the Red Zone."
While moving to find me and Kwak Hanmuk, she had discovered a survivor being chased by zombies in the Yellow Zone.
Mo Haein couldn’t believe her eyes.
"They were wearing a lab coat."
With a researcher’s ID card dangling from their neck, no less.
Mo Haein rescued the researcher from the zombies. And then she heard a shocking story.
There were more researchers who had survived in the laboratory.
Since Mo Haein had also memorized the entire strategy guide, she knew the fact that there was only one researcher.
She set aside the incomprehensible situation and first tried to bring the researcher to join us.
"But the researcher begged me, saying they had to return to the lab immediately."
There was another injured researcher at the lab, and their condition was so critical that they had risked coming all the way to the Yellow Zone to find medical supplies.
Mo Haein had no choice but to agonize over it.
What if the injured person at the lab was the researcher who would develop the vaccine?
The researcher she had rescued didn’t match the personal details of the vaccine researcher recorded in the DeZonDeal strategy guide.
She didn’t know how long it would take to regroup, and if the vaccine researcher died in the meantime, it would be a disaster.
If the vaccine researcher died, forget the True Ending — clearing the Trial itself would be impossible.
Left with no choice, Mo Haein headed for the lab with only the Black Moon Blade in hand, without even having farmed properly.
She passed through the Red Zone safely, but in the Dead Zone, the lab’s boss zombie tripped her up.
She succeeded in diverting the boss zombie’s attention and getting the researcher safely inside, but in the process, her strength bottomed out, and she ended up getting bitten by a zombie on her way back.
"And that’s how I ended up in this sorry state."
Mo Haein assessed her own condition cynically.
But she had absolutely no reason to put herself down. Quite the opposite.
Insane.
Knowing the game’s difficulty, all I could think was how incredibly amazing it was.
She’d gone into the lab alone, protecting a survivor without any decent items, and even faced off against the boss zombie.
Even if she had pulled out the Black Moon Blade, it was absurd. This was something only Mo Haein could have pulled off.
"Captain Mo. You’re truly incredible."
My overflowing admiration slipped out before I knew it.
At my heartfelt words, Mo Haein leaned back slightly. Then she glanced at Kwak Hanmuk.
"Goyo wasn’t bitten."
Even after hearing Kwak Hanmuk’s reply that his brain was perfectly fine, she didn’t withdraw her skeptical gaze.
Her staring at me with those bloodshot eyes was a little scary.
"How did the researchers survive?"
Fortunately, thanks to Kwak Hanmuk’s question, I was able to escape zombie Mo Haein’s stare.
"The Lieutenant Colonel was the cause."
Je Hyun-oh had entered DeZonDeal ten days earlier than us.
Normally, he would have progressed through the clear route in a standard way, but for some reason, this time he had slaughtered zombies the moment he entered.
Not just the Red Zone and Dead Zone, but he even went inside the lab and killed every zombie there.
Thanks to that, four researchers survived, when originally all but the last one should have been wiped out. ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com
And one of them had escaped the lab before the zombies respawned, made it all the way to the Yellow Zone, and met Mo Haein.
I had a feeling Je Hyun-oh was up to something weird....
I just didn’t know he was causing this much large-scale havoc.
If he was going to rampage, I wish he’d just keep rampaging and make a zombie-free world. I had no idea why he’d stop halfway and create such an ambiguous situation.
The most troublesome part was that he might have blown away the True Ending conditions.
Mo Haein looked at me, a faint anxiety showing. Kwak Hanmuk also stared at me silently.
Under their combined gazes, I slowly opened my mouth.
"I think we need to check the lab. As quickly as possible."
We had to enter the lab immediately and confirm whether the researcher developing the vaccine was intact, and whether the other True Ending conditions were in place.
The problem was how to enter the lab.
With our team’s current stamina and held items, it wasn’t even certain we could pass through the Yellow Zone.
Even if we were lucky enough to get through the Yellow and Red Zones safely, we’d be blocked in the Dead Zone.
Since everyone was thinking the same thing, the mood became slightly gloomy.
But there was a way to solve all of this.
In theory, it was a perfect method.
"I do have a good... well, a bad method."
I explained the method I had come up with. At that, Mo Haein threw out a heartfelt remark.
"Trainee, are you insane?"
It seemed to be a pure, unfiltered emotion she couldn’t hold back, just like I had earlier.
With that, it was already the second time she had called me a madman.
In the calmest, most composed voice I could muster, trying not to look insane, I persuaded her and Kwak Hanmuk.
"Because there’s no other way. I want to try it."
Kwak Hanmuk nodded as if deeply empathizing, then said something completely unrelated.
"Captain Mo. From now on, let’s call him Crazy Chestnut."
"Haaaaa...."
Mo Haein let out a long sigh. But she knew, too.
That right now, there was no other sharp solution, and if we delayed any longer here, a situation could arise where we all ended up as zombie infectees.
"Fine. Let’s give it a shot."
In the end, my opinion was accepted.
I had my own reasons for going through with this.
Of course, since I couldn’t tell Mo Haein and Kwak Hanmuk everything, it was a method that made me look like an absolute madman....
Anyway, as long as the result is good, that’s all that matters.
I stood in the middle of an eight-lane intersection, scraps of newspaper and trash swirling around me.
The wind blew between the collapsed buildings.
The night breeze was quite chilly, making my body shiver involuntarily. It was because my stamina was low.
If I lost a bit more stamina here, my heart would probably start pounding, and my vision would darken.
Still, seeing as no warning notification about a near-death state had popped up, it seemed I could hold on for now.
I need to manage my hunger and thirst, too.
In DeZonDeal, you died if you didn’t eat or drink for a certain period, so I had to pay attention to managing that.
It looked like I’d have to put something in my mouth as soon as I dealt with this.
I took a deep breath.
And then I shouted with all my might.
"LIEUTENANT COLONEL JE HYUN-OH!!!"
The quiet street rang with my voice.
A couple of zombies that were still around came rushing over, but before they could even get close to me, their heads and bodies were separated by a flashing spear blade.
Not long after, a chilling sensation washed over me. It was a killing intent so sharp it stung my skin, not just making it tingle.
I clutched the bead rosary wrapped around my waist tightly, like a lifeline.
At some point in the quiet night street, a metallic sound could be heard.
The sound of metals lightly clashing against each other was cold.
I focused my hearing.
The slow, continuous sound drew closer.
A little more, and a little closer still.
The instant the sound abruptly cut off, a gust of wind slammed into my face.
The bead rosary tied around my waist twitched.
I reflexively closed my eyes, and when I opened them, I flinched in surprise.
Black goggles were shoved right up to the tip of my nose.
o O
An emoticon of one eye opening wide filled my vision.
I reflexively felt around my neck.
Thankfully, it was still attached....
Seeing as Kwak Hanmuk’s bead rosary hadn’t pulled me away, it seemed there was no intent to kill.
I shifted my pupils slightly to look beside the goggles.
The tips of the sharp metal feathers were all pointed at me.
If he swung even one of the six wings, my limbs would probably go flying off like nothing.
"I called you because I wanted to talk."
’Message.’
"First, let me introduce myself. I am Han Goyo, enlisted as a trainee in the TRA."
While I was saying whatever with my mouth, I was busy inputting a Message internally.
A System window appeared in front of Je Hyun-oh.
Event Quest: Protect ’Han Goyo’.
It was a Message disguised as a quest window.
To secure my safety, I had fired off the quest name first, then hurriedly inputted the contents.
You have demonstrated astonishing martial prowess.
Perhaps you could be the one to end this horrific zombie world.
’Han Goyo’ is the sole hope who will create the True Ending with you.
You must protect him and create the True Ending.
"Lieutenant Colonel, you seem to have some misunderstanding about me. If there’s anything wrong, please let me know. I’ll correct it immediately."
Reward: <Dead Zone Delivery> True Ending Clear.
However, if ’Han Goyo’ dies, Bad Ending.
I sent the Message, making it roughly similar to how a System window would prattle on.
I wondered if I shouldn’t be able to give out real quests if I was supposed to be the System....
Well, I’m probably just lacking in ability still.
So, I made a fake quest window.
Honestly, who’s to know if it’s fake or real?
A System window pops up right in front of your eyes, going ding-ding. No Adaptee would ever suspect it was fake.
I subtly observed Je Hyun-oh.
The light on his goggles was off. As if he were deep in thought about something.
After a long silence, a question mark floated up on the goggles.
? ?
I was hesitating, not knowing what it meant, when—
A terribly low voice reached me.
"It’s you, isn’t it?"
A rough, deep bass that resonated so low it was hard to believe it came from a human.
It took a few seconds to realize that the sound, close to a monster’s cry, was a voice.
To me, frozen by the eeriness hammering at my eardrums, Je Hyun-oh spoke.
"You’re the one who told me to stay still."
