Free Web Novel“Co, coo, coo-coo....”
“Do you really have to do that to chickens? It’s not like they’re pigeons.”
“But it’s cute, isn’t it? Right, Hayoon?”
Park Sunhee and Kim Hayoon shook their heads at Jo Yuna, who was giggling.
“I’m scared of chickens. Chicks are cute, though. I’m going to go check the chicken coop and see if there are any eggs left.”
Kim Hayoon, who had been looking at the chickens with fed-up eyes, vanished like the wind.
“But chickens are cute....”
Until she had gone to school in Japan, Jo Yuna had been in a club activity that raised chickens, ducks, and rabbits, and she spoke with regret as she looked around at the chickens.
Of the shelter’s five greenhouse buildings, one was always left fallow, and that one served as the playground where the chickens spent their days.
The nearly hundred chickens wandered leisurely through the wide greenhouse, but every so often they busily scratched up the soil and pecked at little bugs and clover-like grass.
“I brought all the eggs. A few of the chickens had hidden some.”
“Good job. Then let’s go.”
If they left the chickens alone for a couple of hours, they would entertain themselves, so the three of them headed out carrying a box full of eggs.
They washed their boots clean with the hose outside the greenhouse, loaded the egg box into the cargo bed of the multipurpose electric cart, then entered another greenhouse where leafy vegetables were grown.
- Residents Kim Hayoon, Park Sunhee, and Jo Yuna entering Greenhouse Building 3. Interior temperature, 22.4 degrees. Humidity, 68 percent. Photosynthetic light intensity optimal.
- Lettuce, bok choy, spinach, kale, crown daisy, water parsley, young radish, onions, mini paprika. Average growth rate, 83 percent.
- Partial harvest possible for all items. Estimated harvest today is approximately 20 kilograms.
As they entered the greenhouse, AI Akina’s report sounded, and the distinct scent of leafy greens and herbs reached them.
The three of them picked up baskets and began harvesting the vegetables whose sign dates were the oldest first.
“Sunny, dinner tonight is pork belly, right?”
“Yeah! Lunch is soybean paste stew and bibimbap!”
Carefully placing the broad green lettuce leaves and spinach into her basket, Jo Yuna smacked her lips.
Park Sunhee glanced over at her and said,
“By the way, Yuna. I think you’ve gained a little weight.”
“What? R-really?”
Jo Yuna flinched in shock, and Park Sunhee nodded.
“Yeah. Really. It’s been a while since you exercised, hasn’t it?”
“But I’m tired because I work so much every single day....”
“Then you need to eat a little less.”
“Hiiing. Hayoon, do I really look like I gained weight?”
“Yes.”
“Ugh.”
At the answer that came without a second of hesitation, Jo Yuna clutched her chest as if in agony, then said with a gloomy face,
“I don’t have the confidence to eat less, so I’ll start exercising today. The food Aunt Haneul makes is just too delicious.”
“That’s true. But how does she cook something different every day?”
Park Sunhee tilted her head.
Then Kim Hayoon, who was carefully picking brightly colored mini paprika, said,
“She makes it using meal plans from a few schools. Aunt Haneul picks the menu, and then the AI calculates the nutrients and calories too.”
“Wow....”
As the two idols marveled, having had no idea it went that far, Kim Hayoon walked toward the area where the bok choy and young radish were growing and continued.
“And all those meal plans were downloaded ahead of time by Uncle Junho. The cooking videos too.”
“I see. He really is amazing.”
“.......”
Jo Yuna was impressed, but the moment Junho came up, Park Sunhee closed her mouth.
It had already been almost a week since Junho and her brother, Park Deokcheol, had left the shelter.
He had said there would be no problem, and even in Park Sunhee’s opinion, her slightly clumsy brother was one thing, but if it was Junho, there was no need to worry.
'Why is my heart beating like this...?'
For some reason, the unease would not go away, so Park Sunhee lightly steadied her breathing.
“I’ll handle Building 4. Sunny, you and Hayoon go to Building 5 and harvest onions, green onions, and radishes. Oh, right. Aunt Haneul said we’re almost out of onions, so bring a lot.”
“Okay.”
“Yes.”
Park Sunhee went to Greenhouse Building 5 with Kim Hayoon.
As they harvested green onions with a sharp scent rising from them and onions with gleaming white bulbs, Kim Hayoon glanced at Park Sunhee and said,
“Are you worried about Uncle Junho, Sunny?”
“...Huh? N-no. What do you mean, worried? I was thinking about Ducky. My brother.”
“I don’t think so....”
“It’s not not true. I’m really not thinking anything.”
“Okay, then. But Sunny, do you know this?”
“Huh? What?”
When Park Sunhee showed interest, Kim Hayoon, who was familiarly trimming the tops of the green onions a little before putting them into the basket, went on as if she were being casual.
“You know the women staying at the karaoke bar in the Moku-ri building? Apparently they ask how Uncle Junho is doing every day.”
“What? H-how do you know that?”
“Uncle Youngsu told me. He talks to the building owner there every day, remember? He said the karaoke-bar women keep butting in and asking every time.”
“.......”
“He said one of them even asked where this place was and whether she could come here. She said if there weren’t zombies, she would’ve definitely come already. And she asked what kind of type Uncle Junho likes, and said her chest was a C-cup and everything....”
“Mine are bigger....”
“What?”
“Ah, n-no. L-let’s just work.”
Park Sunhee, who had muttered without realizing it, hurriedly spoke and worked hard at shaking the dirt off the onions.
Watching Park Sunhee slowly edge away from her, ears and nape flushed red, Kim Hayoon giggled.
“Sunny’s cute. Hehe.”
She thought she finally understood why Choi Haneul and Baek Sua teased Park Sunhee like she was some kind of toy whenever they had the chance.
But Park Sunhee, who had no idea that even a ninth-grade girl had seen right through her feelings now, only muttered,
“Should I class-change too...? Then I’d be able to go around with him often. But nothing really happened, right? I’m worried....”
And in her head, Junho’s face floated up a little larger than that of her own brother, Park Deokcheol.
***
“I’m sorry I can’t go with you.”
“You’re injured. There’s nothing for you to be sorry about. Just rest properly and hurry up and heal.”
When Yoon Seolhee, whose shoulder was wrapped in bandages, looked apologetic, Junho touched his ear, which had suddenly begun to itch, and spoke.
“They said it went in shallow, so I should be able to go about daily life within a week. Going to the Namyangju shelter won’t be a problem.”
“I trust you. And you’ve picked everyone who’ll be going with you?”
“Yes. One person from Mr. Kang’s bodyguards. The other two are Cops employees, former reconnaissance unit soldiers from a front-line division. All of them are fifth dan or higher in martial arts, and they handle firearms extremely well. With just a little training from me, they’re people who will pull their own weight.”
“If you chose them, Manager Yoon, I’m sure you chose well. I trust only our Manager Yoon Seolhee.”
Junho knew and trusted Yoon Seolhee’s skill without question, almost as much as Kang Baekho, her employer, and Park Cheolwoo, who had been her direct superior since her active-duty days, so he grinned at her.
But at Junho’s smile, Yoon Seolhee’s expression suddenly stiffened, and she subtly avoided his gaze as she said,
“By the way, if my employees and I are dispatched to Namyangju, what will happen with equipment?”
Wondering inwardly about her sudden change in expression, Junho answered.
“Basically, you’ll be issued replica KP9s, replica air guns, and the Chinese-made pistols we recovered from the Daeseong syndicate gangsters. If you want, you can keep using the firearms you’re using now too.”
They were Chinese-made, so their reliability was a little low, but they did have several firearms seized from the Daeseong syndicate gangsters.
“As for combat uniforms, tactical vests, and other equipment, you can think of it as the same kind I’m wearing now. Is there anything else you need? I have most things, so feel free to ask.”
“I think I’ll only know for certain once I go to the Namyangju shelter and inspect the site myself. Then, Mr. Lee Junho, please return safely.”
At Yoon Seolhee’s words, Park Cheolwoo, who had finished checking the weapons and gear nearby, including the K2C1, cut in with a grin.
“Manager Yoon. Are you worrying about Mr. Lee Junho right now? You’re not going to worry about me?”
Yoon Seolhee answered with a straight face.
“I’m not worried about Mr. Lee Junho at all. Same goes for you.”
“What?”
“Why would I worry when neither of you is someone I need to worry about?”
Yoon Seolhee meant it.
That went without saying for Park Cheolwoo, with whom she had served in the military, and now Junho was the same.
Honestly, she even thought Junho might be better than Park Cheolwoo when it came to marksmanship alone.
That was how deeply and shockingly impressed she had been by the sight of Junho suppressing the gangsters who had ambushed her with mobile shooting.
“...Well, damn. You really know how to leave a man with nothing to say.”
Clicking his tongue, Park Cheolwoo nodded, then looked around at the personnel selected for this operation.
“Everybody ready?”
“Yes, sir!”
The expedition combat team of over ten answered powerfully.
Armed with existing air guns and various gunpowder firearms acquired from the gangsters, they were brimming with morale.
Because Junho had dealt with the bastards so quickly, they did not exactly have abundant ammunition, but they did have enough for each person to carry three or four magazines.
“By the way, where the hell did you get this?”
Holding up a tablet with downloaded aerial maps—most regions updated as of April 2024, and even the slowest-updated areas from around 2015—Park Cheolwoo continued as if dumbfounded.
“No, we were finding our way with old-ass traffic maps from the eighties. This feels unfair. Good grief....”
“Trade secret. Anyway, most residential areas and villages in the greater capital region are the latest versions, so finding routes shouldn’t be difficult.”
“Of course not. As long as we don’t get into pointless fights with zombies, we’ll be fine. And with this, we can avoid those places entirely. All right, then. Let’s move.”
“Yes, Manager.”
Their enemy numbered in the hundreds, while their allied side had more than ten people participating, and the operation site was not Gahyeon-ri or nearby, but an entirely new area.
Because of that, Junho had decided to take command from Park Cheolwoo, a real former special-forces soldier and a true “combat professional,” someone impossible to compare to Junho, who had only learned combat skills through a short crash course.
“Manager Cheolwoo, and my little brother Juno-Juno. I’m counting on you two. Bring our people back safe.”
“Yes, sir.”
“I’ll do my best.”
After shaking hands with the stern-faced Kang Baekho, Junho moved out with the Kangho Resort combat team led by Park Cheolwoo.
“Ducky, you really, really can’t get hurt, okay? Okay? You promised me.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll be back.”
Giving Cherry Ahn Yujeong a thumbs-up, Park Deokcheol pulled his mask up and followed behind Junho.
In five days if they were quick, ten at the latest, they would be fighting the core of the Daeseong syndicate to the death.
***
After reaching the wetland ecological park in half a day with the resort combat team led by Park Cheolwoo, Junho was able to confirm that the hidden rubber boat was safe, unchanged from when he had left it.
“It seats ten, but the gear is heavy, so we can split into two groups and shuttle across.”
“Let’s do that.”
After rapidly charging the boat battery with the generator they had brought, Group 1 went up the Gyeongan Stream first and entered Paldang Lake.
Junho dropped the combat team at the ecological park where he had spent the night ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) before entering Gwangju, then returned and brought Group 2, including Park Cheolwoo.
After finishing a meal in a secluded spot in the ecological park, they rested briefly, then moved along the lakeshore and riverside.
Paldang Lake was a water-resource protection zone where access was prohibited, so there had not been many people in the area to begin with.
Thanks to that, they were able to pass Paldang Dam and enter the Han River basin without encountering zombies.
But from here onward, not just the combat team but even Junho had never been there since the apocalypse began, so they had no choice but to frequently send up drones and reconnoiter the riverside and national roads as they moved.
In the end, it took about two hours just to reach the area near Paldang Station on the Gyeongui-Jungang Line, roughly four kilometers away.
“Tch. Of course.”
“Why? Something there?”
When Junho clicked his tongue while checking the drone controller screen, Park Cheolwoo came close and asked.
“Yes. The station plaza and the area around it are packed.”
On the screen, hundreds of zombies were wandering around Paldang Station plaza.
“You see the parking lot next to the plaza?”
“Mm. Why the hell are there so many tour buses... Ah, right. That day was a holiday.”
In the parking lot attached to the station were more than ten brightly colored tour buses. It seemed the zombies in the plaza were probably people who had arrived at the station early in the morning and were going to take buses from there.
“Can’t be helped. We’ll have to detour and take the route that passes over the tracks.”
“No, Manager. I think it would be better to deal with them while we have the chance. If we take this place, it’ll make things easier for us later.”
“Hm? Is that necessary?”
To kill that many, they would have to use at least half the ammunition they had, so Park Cheolwoo narrowed his eyes. frёeωebɳovel.com
“Most of the individuals are in their sixties or older. There aren’t many residents around here either, so they probably haven’t eaten much, which means their physical abilities will be even lower. I can handle them alone.”
“......!!!”
At the sight of Junho calmly tapping his machete, Park Cheolwoo had no choice but to stare wide-eyed.
