Free Web Novel“Junho? The Lee Junho you were talking about? That guy?”
Still unable to process what he had just witnessed, Shin Hocheol stared wide-eyed as he asked the question.
Choi Hyunwoo, his face pressed tightly against the train window, nodded excitedly.
“I-I think so. No, it’s definitely him. That motorcycle suit is exactly the same as mine.”
“Really?”
“It kinda looked similar....”
“I’m telling you, it’s identical. The titanium protectors on the shoulders and elbows come standard. That thing costs 2.2 million won. Even the helmet and night vision goggles were the same as mine.”
“Holy shit....”
Not only Shin Hocheol and Kang Juyoung, but even the other former special forces reservists looked stunned.
First, they were shocked that the suit—which looked like nothing more than a dark leather jacket at first glance—was actually insanely expensive.
And second—
“Wait, didn’t he just jump almost two meters into the air?”
“No, forget that. Didn’t he literally fly toward the front of the subway just now? That means he came from behind us.”
“What? Don’t tell me... he killed all the zombies back there before coming here?”
The reservists whispered among themselves in disbelief.
Out of all of them, Shin Hocheol was the most shaken.
Lee Junho.
The man Choi Hyunwoo and Kim Taeyoung never stopped talking about.
They always avoided specifics, as if deliberately hiding something, but whenever the topic of fighting or combat came up, the stories those two told about Lee Junho sounded completely insane.
A guy who hadn’t even trained in MMA for half a year reaching near semi-pro level already.
And on top of that, learning Krav Maga simultaneously and somehow dropping former Special Forces and UDT personnel within only a few months?
It sounded ridiculous.
But even if Choi Hyunwoo exaggerated, it was hard to dismiss the words of Kim Taeyoung, a former MMA coach.
Still, every time Shin Hocheol heard stories about their landlord Lee Junho, he had simply assumed the man was just some civilian who could fight a little.
At the end of the day, how useful could fighting skills really be in a world like this?
At least, that was what he had thought before tonight.
“Fuck, but he really shouldn’t go too far forward. There’s the Alpha, sure, but those MZ-whatever motherfuckers at Bucheon Station are there too. And the tracks are blocked.”
At Kang Juyoung’s words, everyone’s expressions hardened instantly.
The reason they were practically trapped inside this subway train in the first place was because of the piece-of-shit raider gang called the Bucheon Station MZ Family faction, the bastards occupying the D-Mart near Bucheon Station and blocking the tracks with piled-up obstacles.
“...Let’s help him.”
“What?”
Everyone turned toward Kim Taeyoung, the oldest among them.
“We were already planning to move at 0500 anyway, right? We’d just be starting a little earlier. What’s the problem?”
“......!”
The reservists flinched and exchanged looks.
Aside from the fact that all of them had been conscripted on Jeju Island before ending up here, they didn’t actually have much in common.
But one of the few things they did share was that every single one of them possessed enough skill and judgment to survive this long and eventually gather together even after becoming separated.
“Alright. Let’s do it. Fuck it, check all your gear.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Juyoung, hand me the duct tape.”
None of them hesitated.
They wrapped duct tape tightly around exposed areas like their necks and wrists—places where violent movement might expose skin.
Then they rapidly checked their firearms, magazines, and other equipment before exchanging steady looks and moving into action.
***
Slash! Crackcrack!
Now that the Alpha’s location had been confirmed, Junho no longer held anything back.
The distance between them was down to barely twenty meters, and Junho cut, hacked, and carved through the zombies in his path as he rapidly closed in.
The moment he saw the Alpha’s face—clearly panicked like any creature capable of emotion—Junho sheathed the commando dagger and reached for his Glock 17.
But at that exact moment, the Alpha abruptly lowered its body.
Kraaaaaah...! Kyaaaak...!
The slave zombies surged forward once again to protect their master.
It was obvious what they intended.
They were trying to overwhelm him through sheer numbers and mass.
And then—
KWOOOOOOOO...!!!
A low-frequency roar blasted through the night air.
The Alpha’s trump card.
A sonic attack difficult to block even with soundproof headphones.
An ordinary person hearing it would immediately suffer minute vibrations through their body tissues, freezing in place for several seconds from fear, anxiety, and confusion.
But aside from the goosebumps that instantly erupted across his skin the moment the Alpha got close enough, Junho felt no effect whatsoever.
If anything—
“Hup!”
Drawing in a sharp breath, Junho raised the arm holding the machete to shield his face and hurled himself directly at the front line of zombies with full force.
BOOOOM!
Several sets of teeth sank into his arm and helmet, but none managed to penetrate.
Instead, the zombies at the very front collapsed all at once, unable to withstand Junho’s monstrous strength.
But he couldn’t see the Alpha’s fluorescent-looking head anymore.
Wrapped in its slave zombies, the creature was already sprinting down the tracks.
—The Alpha is retreating! Manager!
—Almost there.
Kim Jimin’s urgent voice was immediately followed by Yoon Seolhee’s calm response.
Kiiiiiiing...!
The sharp buzzing noise of the A2 drone flying low overhead sliced past Junho.
Pang! Pang! Pang!
The distinctive compressed-air shots of the A2 rang out in rapid succession.
The target was the fleeing Alpha.
But no matter how much the drone had been modified, landing headshots under these conditions was nearly impossible.
The Alpha was moving quickly, surrounded by countless zombies, in the middle of total chaos.
Even so, Junho had still ordered Yoon Seolhee to attack the identified Alpha with the A2.
Because there was something about Alphas that probably only he knew right now. freewebnøvel.coɱ
—Ah! The zombies’ behavior is changing! They’re all over the place now!
The Emotional Contagion Theory.
Or group hysteria theory.
When a leader becomes consumed by negative emotions like fear or anxiety, those emotions spread throughout the group.
And the same principle applied to Alphas and their slave zombies.
Of course, mindless slave zombies themselves didn’t actually experience fear.
But when an Alpha became panicked or anxious, its “control” temporarily weakened—whether from reduced concentration or something else—and the slave zombies began behaving like ordinary infected again.
Meaning they stopped coordinating tactically or attacking in groups.
Instead, they reverted to nothing but mindless frontal charges.
And that was exactly what Junho had been aiming for when he told Yoon Seolhee to keep attacking the Alpha with the A2 even if she couldn’t land a killing shot.
Pang! Pang! Pang!
Because the A2 had shorter flight time than a surveillance drone, it continued firing without pause.
Meanwhile, the zombies—now charging so blindly that they collided with one another or tripped over each other—became noticeably easier for Junho to kill as he continued sprinting forward.
‘Car One now!’
The lead driver’s car was right ahead.
And beyond it, he could see the Alpha still running under the protection of its slaves.
Then suddenly, the Alpha stopped.
Kraahk!!! Kraahk!!!
It let out a short roar before starting to run again.
And the moment it did, something astonishing happened.
The zombies that had been mindlessly charging toward Junho suddenly turned around in unison as if they had made a prior agreement, then began sprinting back toward the Alpha instead.
“Hah!”
Watching the zombies completely ignore him and show him their backs instead, Junho unconsciously let out a laugh of amazement.
That horrifying cannibal monster.
An Alpha commanding at least a thousand slave zombies.
It was feeling fear toward him and trying to run away.
The sight sent a thrilling surge through Junho’s entire body.
Strength flooded naturally into his limbs.
They are humanity’s enemy.
But I am their natural predator.
Of course, this was only possible because every condition had lined up perfectly.
If even three or four more Alphas suddenly appeared right now, he would be the one forced to flee.
“Hoo... hoo... huuuup!”
Junho ran.
Tonight’s operation wasn’t just about rescuing the survivors trapped inside the subway train.
There was another reason he had personally thrown himself alone onto the tracks to fight the zombies.
He intended to kill two birds with one stone.
And that objective was—
***
“Ugh... fuck, it’s loud as hell. Creepy too.”
“What’s creepy about it? Those zombie bastards are taking care of those idiots for us. We should be grateful.”
“True enough.”
Two raiders from the group calling itself the MZ Family faction snickered behind the barricades.
“Once those dumbasses all die, let’s just grab their guns. Fuck, guns really are king. If I’d had a K2, I’d have killed all those motherfuckers already.”
“Bullshit. Everybody knows you did public service instead of military duty.”
“Fuckhead, even public service guys go through boot camp. You draft-dodging bastard should keep your mouth shut.”
“Fuck....”
The two laughing idiots weren’t actual gangsters or organized criminals.
They were livestreamer BJs who had done trashy internet broadcasts around Bucheon Station.
When the apocalypse broke out, they happened to be staying at a nearby motel and eventually wound up joining the MZ Family faction after various incidents.
Now they had transformed into textbook apocalypse raiders, committing crimes ranging from robbery and murder to acts that would’ve earned life imprisonment—or even the death penalty—in the old world.
“Still, what the hell are the guys upstairs even thinking? We’re almost out of food. How long are we supposed to stay here?”
“No clue. But Jisoo said we might move to Jung-dong Station soon.”
“That bitch cried her eyes out when we rescued her, and now she’s selling her body like— huh?”
“What?”
“Hey, th-that... that over there!”
One of the former BJ raiders pointed frantically through a gap in the barricade.
“What is it— holy shit!?”
Both men’s eyes widened enormously.
GWOOOOOOO...!!!
Far down the tracks, hundreds upon hundreds of zombies were charging toward them.
“Motherfucker....”
“A-aren’t we fucked?” fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm
The two raiders panicked.
They had piled up barricades to block the tracks, but never—not even once—had they seen a horde this large come through here before.
Especially not at night, when visibility was this bad.
Up until now, the zombies had mostly stayed within their assigned “territories” and barely moved at night.
They had assumed that pattern would continue forever.
But now that rule had shattered.
“R-Run!”
The sight of countless silhouettes rushing through the darkness was pure terror, and the two abandoned all thought and immediately decided to flee.
KWOOOOOOOORK...!!!
“Gah!”
The moment the Alpha’s roar echoed out, both raiders clutched their ears and staggered.
“Ughhh....”
Their heartbeats accelerated violently, and strength drained from their legs.
Half crawling, they desperately moved toward the underground shopping mall entrance.
CRASHCRASHCRASH! BOOOOM! KRAAAASH!
The incoming zombies slammed into the barricades like a tidal wave.
Dozens became crushed between the shattered structures and the bodies of their own kind.
But the ones behind them kept pushing forward through sheer mass, trampling over the others.
Some even used the piled-up bodies as stepping stones to climb over the barricades.
KRAAAASH! RUMBLE!
Before long, the monsters’ fearless, mindless assault shattered part of the barricade.
“Aaaaah!? AAAAAAH!”
The raiders guarding the area immediately fled in terror.
Straight toward the D-Mart and underground shopping district of Bucheon Station where the rest of their group was hiding.
***
“...!?”
Following the zombies from a moderate distance away, Junho narrowed his eyes.
Two heat signatures—clearly human—were sprinting frantically across the platform.
And those two humans—
“They’re going underground?”
At this point in time, the D-Mart and underground shopping district at Bucheon Station were occupied by the MZ Family faction.
Those brainless bastards were easily the worst raiders operating in Bucheon, which was why Junho had expected it would take quite a while to eliminate them.
Even if he ignored the D-Mart itself, the underground shopping district was enormous.
Hunting down dozens of raiders hiding in there wouldn’t be easy.
But now a variable had appeared.
Those obvious MZ Family faction members had run underground with an entire swarm of zombies trailing behind them.
In other words, Junho’s original intention had only been to use the zombies to destroy the barricades blocking the subway tracks.
But those two idiots had just done something that might end up offering the rest of the raiders to the zombies as sacrifices instead.
