.

At the entrance of the first floor, there was a barricade made by stacking multiple layers of furniture. Brown dried bloodstains could be seen, possibly from several encounters with zombies.

Inside the barricade, two men, appearing to be in their early twenties, were on guard.

“Oh, noonim! Who are these people?”

“Guests. Open the gate.”

“Yes!”

The men responded robustly and opened the barricaded door. It seemed that within the ranks of these survivors, Jin Serim held a significant position.

In this changed world, a higher rank signified a strong power. Jin Serim was likely a high-ranking individual, perhaps around a D-grade.

Entering inside revealed a department store scene full of signs of life.

The originally open first floor of the department store now had curtain-like dividers creating separate sections. There were clothes like panties and T-shirts hanging everywhere. There was also a place with a curtain that had ‘Dong-gyu’s Room♡’ written on it.

“…Dong-gyu is a man, right?”

“Yes. He’s a bit of a fool, but he’s great at lifting spirits.”

…It probably wasn’t a trap. The details of everyday life were too well represented for it to be a fabricated trap.

As we followed Jin Serim, we passed by quite a number of people. Most of them nodded in greeting toward Jin Serim and stared in awe at Serena, regardless of their gender.

Jin Serim, leading the way, spoke up.

“We don’t really have a guest room here. We never thought we’d have guests in this kind of world. Let’s go to my room for now.”

“Okay.”

Jin Serim’s room was on the second floor. The three of us huddled together at a small table, and she poured water from a bottle she fetched from the refrigerator.

“I’ve boiled some tap water for you. It might be hot, but have a sip.”

I just stared at the glass of water. Seeing that I wasn’t drinking, Serena patiently waited as well.

“…We have our own water with us. We appreciate the gesture, though.”

Hearing this, Jin Serim raised an eyebrow, seemingly surprised, and looked at me.

“I thought you were some naive kid trailing behind, but you do have some sense of caution, huh?”

“…”

I was confident that we could handle a sudden attack by enemies since both Serena and I were quite strong.

However, if something had been added to the water, drinking it could have been the end of us.

I would have considered drinking the water if it came straight from the tap, but I couldn’t trust the water she had already poured into a bottle.

Even if this place didn’t seem like a prepared trap, drinking prepared water blindly was risky.

Jin Serim chuckled and commented,

“You wouldn’t be easy to deceive, huh? Traveling around on bicycles alone means you’re quite confident in your abilities.”

She then took our glasses and drank from both, gulping down their contents.

“Ah, refreshing! Now do you believe me? It’s just water, so go ahead and drink.”

She refilled our glasses. I took the cold glass, took a sip, and replied,

“Thank you for the refreshing water.”

“Thank you!”

Serena also expressed her gratitude and drank.

Our suspicions were valid. However, we didn’t want to offend someone showing goodwill.

So, we intentionally showed more gratitude, hoping it might lighten the mood.

Seeing this, Jin Serim laughed out loud, a hearty laugh that suited her.

“I really like you both. Why don’t you settle down here?”

“We appreciate the offer, but we already have a shelter in Seoul. We’ll be returning there.”

“Oh? Then what brought you all the way here?”

“We are looking for something in Paju.”

“Oh, dear…”Jin Serim held her forehead as if she had a headache and sighed deeply. Her reaction made it clear that the news wasn’t good.

“If you keep going the way you were heading, you’d end up at Daehwa Station, right? It’s the terminus of Line 3. The area is tightly controlled by forces that have taken over the military. But Paju is even worse. The further north you go, the more military units there are.”

I had anticipated this to some extent.

Paju was a region close to North Korea.

Therefore, it was filled with military bases, and I assumed that the survivors in Paju had taken control of these military units.

Slowly, I brought up the main reason for our visit.

“Do you happen to have any information on the factions occupying the military bases further north? Like their size, security status, and main ability users’ abilities – anything would be helpful.”

I had no intention of clashing with these guys directly. However, the more information we had to prepare for any situation, the better.

“Yes, I do have some information. We have an ability user on our side who directly fought with those from Daehwa Station.”

“Oh, can we meet them?”

“They’ll be back soon. They go on external reconnaissance once a week, and today is that day. They’re currently out.”

“I see… We’ll wait until they return then.”

I replied and was about to take another sip of the refreshing water when,

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

Urgent footsteps could be heard coming up from the first floor.

“Noona—! Serim Noona—! We have a big problem—!”

The sense of urgency was palpable in that voice.

Something was happening.

.

The man who came up to the second floor shouted at Jin Serim that they needed to hurry to the first floor. We quickly ran downstairs.

The entrance of the first floor was already swarming with people as if a cloud had formed. Jin Serim immediately pushed through the crowd and moved forward.

I followed her, keenly listening to the voices of the people.

“What, what happened… Byungho? What’s all this about?”

“What did he get hurt by? It’s not a bullet, is it…?”

“What about the others? Where did the other patrol members go, and why did he come back alone?

“Byungho oppa. Where’s our brother? He’s still alive, right? Please, please answer me…”

Finally, after pushing through the crowd, a man referred to as Byungho appeared.

He was in a horrible state.

One of his eyes was missing, its empty socket filled with tears of blood.

The armor he wore when he left was torn to shreds, barely hanging on, and his exposed skin was covered in various scratches and bruises.

Most alarmingly, he was missing his left arm. The stump looked hastily bandaged. A nasty burn scar with dried blood clung to the top of his left shoulder.

“……”

Upon seeing him, rage filled Jin Serim’s eyes.

“Everyone, be quiet———!”

At Jin Serim’s command, the chaotic atmosphere was instantly subdued.

She softly asked Byungho,

“Quickly report only what you need to and then get your wounds treated. What happened?”

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry, noona…”

Tears began to flow from Byungho’s remaining eye.

“What are you apologizing for? Describe the situation.”

“…Strong, odd zombies appeared. Mutant zombies… At first, we thought they were the usual weak ones and fought them… Their attacks barely affected them, and they were too fast and strong…!”

“How many of these mutant zombies were there?”

“About 10… We managed to kill two of them. All the other patrol members… all of them are dead… I’m sorry…”

“Ugh—!”At the same moment Byungho finished speaking, a sharp inhale sounded from behind us.

When everyone turned around, a high school girl was holding back her sobs, tears soon spilling uncontrollably.

“Bro-brother… My brother… sniffle!”

Silence engulfed the crowd at the sound of the girl’s mournful cry. Amid the eerie quiet, only her occasional sobs echoed.

Byungho, seemingly unable to bear the sight, bowed his head deeply.

I asked Jin Serim,

“How many were there in the patrol team?”

“…6.”

She immediately began to organize the situation.

People were dispersed, and Byungho was taken to the medical room for treatment. Likely, along with his treatment, they would question him in detail about the characteristics of the mutant zombies.

I remained in my place, lost in thought.

…6 members.

gifted individuals combined their strengths, yet of the 10 mutant zombies, they managed to kill only 2. This meant that the strength of the mutant zombies was incredibly powerful.

Was it truly possible for only one to escape after facing such powerful foes while the other five perished?

There were still eight mutant zombies alive. Had they simply watched the fleeing man, Byungho, and let him go? Would zombies, which notoriously chased any living human, do such a thing?

I re-evaluated Byungho’s condition.

He didn’t seem in good enough shape to have run away quickly. He probably couldn’t even run but limped his way back here.

With the myriad of wounds, blood must have dropped as he walked. Following that trail of blood would have made it very easy for anything or anyone to trace him.

‘If those creatures let Byungho go on purpose, it means they possess some intelligence. If the remaining eight have figured out our location, the time of their attack would probably be… around dawn.’

I hoped against hope that my grim suspicion would prove incorrect.

.

I shared my speculation with Jin Serim. She had already accepted that it was a highly plausible scenario, given the appearance of the mutant zombies.

I decided to spend the night here. Although finding a new Real Doll was urgent, I felt uneasy about leaving these people in danger.

In the gloomy atmosphere of the department store, we had dinner together. Later, I opened my phone’s messenger and sent a message to Baek Seona.

[Seona, everything okay?]

It seemed she saw it immediately as the ‘1’ notification beside the message disappeared.

[I’m fine. It’s only been a day.]

[I’ve found another group of survivors in Ilsan. It looks like mutant zombies are around. Be cautious on your end too.]

[Really? We have a protective shield here, so we’re safe. You be careful, Doha.]

[I’m fine. I’ve got Serena. I’ll contact you later.]

[Please do. I’m worried, so try to send updates. At least once a day!]

[If possible.]

It seemed that no mutant zombies had appeared near the D-Mart shelter yet.

However, I felt uneasy.

The mere fact that mutant zombies had appeared signified a new change. Just as the zombie virus had surged before, a new problem was added.

I stayed up with Serena on the department store’s rooftop, on the lookout. We had to be ready for a potential attack.

At around 3 AM?

“Master. They’re here.”

With her overwhelmingly superior physical abilities, Serena was the first to notice.

“How many?”

“There are eight entities moving differently from regular zombies. But they’ve brought regular zombies with them. It looks like there are about 100 in total.”

I started to see them too.

The horde of zombies approaching from afar.

“I’ll go inform Miss Serim. Prepare for battle, Serena.”

“Yes, Master.”

Why did my ominous feelings always turn out to be right?

The fight for survival had begun.