Episode 23

“Why are we going to the second floor? If it’s food you’re looking for, isn’t it on the first floor?”

“Hmm… wouldn’t it be nice to take a look around here first? We went to the third floor yesterday, and we’ll go down to the first floor anyway to gather food supplies. I’m curious about what’s on the second floor, so can we take a look?”

“…If you want that, so be it.”

He answered me with a quaint expression, looking at me as if he thought I were hiding something, but for now, he seemed willing to go along with it. I could only smile awkwardly.

This supermarket was three stories tall, with the first floor being a grocery store, the second floor a general store, and the third floor a clothing store. The survivors mainly stayed here on the second floor, where there was an abundance of items such as bedding, kitchen utensils, books, toys, and various tools, making it a good place to set up a household.

On the other hand, the first floor, where most of the food was stocked, was occupied by a few powerful individuals and was relatively quiet. However, the vigilance was even stricter than on the more crowded second floor. They said it was to protect the food, but it had become excessive, like a fierce beast obsessed with its territory. And unfortunately, the entrance to the supermarket was on the first floor, so people who knew nothing and had barely escaped the zombies often found themselves captured and expelled by these individuals as soon as they entered.

But passing the first floor wasn’t the end of it. Even when you reached the second floor, there was a system of its own. While the first floor, being a grocery store, had plenty of food, the people here were only able to sustain their lives with food stolen from there. So, every day, they lived fiercely, trying to snatch food from each other. In a word, this stage was not about zombies versus humans, but humans versus humans.

That didn’t mean that zombies wouldn’t come out at all, however. In fact, from this stage onwards, zombies played an even more important role. Unlike the first stage, which still had a tutorial feel to it, the main zombies appeared from the second stage onwards, and when you caught one, it would drop something like a gem. Collecting these gems and meeting the god at the tenth stage was one of the conditions for clearing this game. To clear the game and return to the original world, I had to be careful not to miss a single gem.

“…The state of this place is unbelievable as well.”

“Yeah, it looks like it’s been ransacked here too.”

Upon arriving on the second floor and exiting the secret passage, we found ourselves in a small warehouse-like space with boxes scattered everywhere. The boxes had all been opened as if someone had checked their contents, and their contents were spilled out. I kicked away the things that got in my way as I walked and opened the door to go outside. There, I saw an equally chaotic and cluttered interior. It looked like a gathering of people who had brought their belongings to set up their living spaces, resembling a hobo’s den.

“Noona… do you really have to sightsee here?”

“Hmm… there’s not much to see, but follow me anyway.”

As we slowly approached, people began to look at us, as if they’d sensed our presence. The unfriendly stares already made my whole body feel prickly. No, I didn’t expect a warm welcome, but there was no need to be this wary, was there? It was so intimidating I could hardly walk.

With every step I took, the people who glared at me as if they could kill me made cold sweat trickle down my back. Even so, my eyes were constantly scanning the surroundings, looking for ‘her.’

Where was she? The game said she was alone in a secluded corner…

As I looked around the less crowded, more secluded areas, the corner of my lips eventually went up. I found her. She was there, just like the illustration I saw in the game. The moment I found her, I instinctively tried to approach her, but then I realized something important and paused for a moment.

‘But what should I say to her? Just walk up and pretend I know her? That’s too weird… But I do need to get acquainted with her…’

In the game, the protagonist was definitely helped by her when he was being beaten up and chased away by the people. She helped him because she felt sorry for the protagonist and also because she had a rebellious streak against the people of the supermarket that she hated. The problem was that I skipped all those steps. I had only been using the secret passage and had no contact with the people until now. Should I start a fight now?

“Do I really have to?”

“Huh?”

At this point, that was really the only way to get her attention. I stared back at him, who was looking at me with a face that said he couldn’t understand what was going on, and then I made up my mind.

“From now on, no matter how the situation unfolds, just stay put, okay? I’ll explain everything later.”

“…Are you planning to do something again?”

“Why do you say it like that? I’m not the kind of person who causes trouble.”

“…”

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

Hey, it’s you who gets into troublesome situations all the time!

I was about to say something because of his rebellious gaze, but I had to hold back because of the guys who interrupted our conversation.

“Hey, are you new survivors? You’ve managed to get up to the second floor?”

“The guys on the first floor wouldn’t have just let you pass. How did you get up here?”

The gazes of these people, which swept over us up and down as if inspecting us, made my skin crawl, and my face involuntarily crumpled. Moreover, their tone was clearly meant to provoke a fight. I was annoyed by their attitude, but on the other hand, I was glad they were the ones to start the fire.

“But didn’t you just come out from over there? If you came up from the first floor, you shouldn’t have been able to come out from there.”

At that moment, someone pointed behind us and said that. The tip of his finger was pointing at a door with a sign that read “No Entry for Unauthorized Personnel.” That place was connected to a secret passage.

“Well… What are you going to do about that?”

“I’ve been here a long time, but it’s the first time I’ve seen your faces. You’re newcomers, so how did you come out from there instead of coming up the stairs? Isn’t something weird here?”

“Is it? I don’t see anything strange. It’s not like we came by breaking through the window. What’s the problem?”

“Ha! These guys are funny.”

At that moment, the atmosphere turned harsh. The guys approached us slowly, surrounding us, threatening.

“Do you want to die so badly? Can’t you understand what we’re saying?”

“… .”

“You were talking back just fine until a moment ago, but suddenly you’ve gone silent? Scared? Scared, huh? Try talking back some more.”

“Hey, hey. Stop it. That’s not how you treat a woman. She’s scared.”

“But what about the guy behind her? Is he your boyfriend, lady?”

“No way. A guy who hides behind a woman? If a guy like that is a boyfriend, he should just die of shame.”

At that moment, I noticed the shadow at my feet trembling. I looked at him and shook my head. Meanwhile, they started to mock us even more at the sight.

“Pretending to be cool in front of a woman at last since you look like a man, at least?”

Sigh… Even school delinquents wouldn’t play around like this…

Their words were so similar that I had to suppress a laugh. I glanced sideways at where she was, looking at her out of the corner of my eye. It had gotten quite noisy by now, so I wonderd if she would step in.

“Hey, that’s enough. Enough. Stop joking around and get lost. There’s no place for you guys here.”

“This isn’t a place for brats.”

Hmm… Was she not planning to make a move? That’d make things complicated…

While I was distracted by her, I suddenly felt a shock on my shoulder.

“What are you staring off into space for when someone’s talking to you? You brat.”

“Kids these days have no manners.”

Of course guys like these wouldn’t just use their mouths. I turned my gaze towards him in irritation and then saw a palm right in front of me.

“Stop it. Aren’t you guys too old to be acting childish?”

“What, what? Has this brat lost his damn mind? Are you done talking?!”

Not only did he hit my shoulder, but he also tried to slap my cheek. Fortunately, Do-yoon blocked him, so it didn’t happen, but…

“Hey, let go of this hand right now?! Let go, you brat!”

“Do-yoon, just let it go. They’re old enough to know better, yet all they can do is gang up on someone weaker and bully them. And they can’t even do that right, so they’re resorting to violence They’ve aged for nothing. It’s pitiful. Just let it go.”

She showed no signs of moving, unexpectedly, so I decided to slightly adjust my plan. First, I’d deal with these annoying humans…

“Are they both crazy!”

“Look at her, relying on a man to talk big. Should I just rip that mouth of hers apart first?.”

“You two are both finished today.”

Ha, if Do-yoon used his abilities, these guys wouldn’t even be able to make a sound before they were gone. Yes, it was true that I was relying on Do-yoon to talk big, but still, I was better than guys like them. Have you ever risked your life to catch a mutant zombie? Have you ever jumped from the second floor to survive? Have you ever spent a whole day running around a school dealing with zombies? These guys who only managed to survive because they were lucky enough to be near a supermarket when the zombie incident broke out sure had a lot to say.

My anger had been building up from their irritating comments for a while, and I was about to open my mouth with the intention to unleash it.

“Everyone, stop it. Aren’t you tired of doing the same thing every time?”

She was definitely in that corner just a moment ago, but now she was here. When on earth did she come over? I didn’t even notice her presence…

“Damn it! You, interfering again. Do you think you can do whatever you want because we let you?”

“We’ve let you off once or twice, stop meddling in what’s none of your business!”

“Are you the only ones here? It’s not the first time you’re making a ruckus. You should do things in moderation.”

“Tch. Everyone, just calm down.”

“Shit. Consider yourselves lucky. If I see you next time, you’re dead.”

I watched them disappear in disgust and soon turned my gaze to her. She looked so weak that it seemed she might die at any moment. Her dark circles reached her chin, and her eyes semed hollow. Her hair was dull and tangled in all directions. She looked so exhausted that I felt hesitiant to get close, but I knew. I knew who she was and why she was like this. I smiled brightly at her and said,

“Thank you for your help.”

“… “

She stared at me for a moment, then told me to follow her and turned around, heading somewhere. I led Do-yoon and followed her.