Chapter 24

Mo Haein didn’t answer.

I thought perhaps I hadn’t explained myself clearly enough, so I put it more directly.

“I want you to turn me into a zombie.”

Only then did she finally open her mouth.

But instead of replying, she let out a deep sigh.

I had expected that reaction, so I continued defending my idea.

“Once someone becomes a zombie, other zombies stop attacking them first. The same thing happens if the zombification is already in progress. About three hours after infection, zombies recognize you as one of their own.”

I had discovered that in the game after trying every possible strategy to clear it as quickly as possible.

As long as the infected player didn’t attack first, the zombies wouldn’t attack them.

The problem was that, since there was no cure, it could only be used right before the ending.

I had deliberately infected myself many times before the finale.

‘Right now, this is the best option.’

That way, Mo Haein wouldn’t accidentally attack one of her teammates.

And I, the weakest member of the team, would also be able to avoid the boss zombie.

Mo Haein and I would repair the generator while Kwak Hanmuk dealt with the boss.

Surprisingly, Kwak Hanmuk listened to the entire explanation calmly before asking,

“What if we let Lieutenant Colonel Je handle the boss while you and I repair the generator?”

“We need to collect the delivery items as soon as possible. Besides, the generator could be damaged.”

Je Hyuno’s attacks had far too wide an area of effect.

Since the fight with the boss took place right beside the generator, a stray attack could destroy the machinery.

For the same reason, I couldn’t leave the repairs to him either.

When it came to aggression, Je Hyuno was no less dangerous.

He wasn’t the kind of person who would calmly stand by while a boss zombie wandered around just a few meters away.

There was about a one hundred percent chance he would blow the entire underground area apart.

“I see…”

Kwak Hanmuk nodded deeply, as though he completely understood.

Mo Haein looked at him anxiously.

And he replied with exactly what worried her the most.

“Then I should become a zombie too.”

“Kwak Hanmuk!”

“What? It’s actually a pretty good plan.”

Completely unfazed, he continued provoking her.

“If the entire Special Mission Team ends up infected, the Agency won’t be able to execute us either. I don’t think they’ll dare blow the heads off two team leaders.”

“That makes absolutely no sense…!”

“But you can’t die.”

Mo Haein froze completely.

Then she slowly lowered her head.

She stayed like that for quite a while before murmuring,

“…Recruit.”

“Yes.”

“If we fail to achieve the True Ending…”

“We’ll achieve it without fail. Miss Lee Gaon assured us she can finish the vaccine in three days if we restore the power.”

“……”

Mo Haein only had two days left.

Inevitably, she would have to remain a zombie for about one day.

I could keep her under control for one day.

Any longer would be dangerous even for her.

‘She can’t stay a zombie for too long.’

Zombies couldn’t feel pain.

If she completely lost her sanity, she might end up mutilating herself without even realizing it.

Even if the True Ending cured the infection, permanent injuries wouldn’t disappear.

My goal was to finish both the vaccine and the cure within three days and complete Dead Zone Delivery.

“Captain, trust me and bite me.”

“You’re just like Kwak Hanmuk.”

“Thank you.”

“That wasn’t a compliment.”

“Sorry.”

When I immediately corrected myself, Mo Haein let out a brief laugh.

Then she looked at Je Hyuno.

“Lieutenant Colonel Je.”

The final decision was his.

Je Hyuno silently watched me.

Without realizing it, I tensed up.

He was completely unpredictable.

With his goggles and gas mask covering his face, it was impossible to read his expression.

I wouldn’t have been surprised if he suddenly tore me apart with that metallic hand.

I nervously waited to see what emoticon would appear.

But instead, he spoke.

“Goyo.”

Whenever Je Hyuno started by calling me by my name, nothing good ever followed.

I waited for the rest of the sentence.

“If you wanted to die, all you had to do was say so.”

His metallic hand opened completely.

The sharp claws gleamed beneath the light of dawn.

“I could have done it.”

“I want to live, no matter what!”

I answered without wasting a single second.

Je Hyuno slowly tapped his metallic fingers together.

As the sound echoed, I swallowed hard.

His voice, as deep as if it were rising from the bottom of an abyss, pierced my ears.

“Don’t die while I’m not around.”

Kwak Hanmuk, Mo Haein, and I were reflected in his black goggles.

As he continued tapping his fingers together, the killing intent he directed toward the Trials and the Compatibles was unmistakable.

“After all the effort I went through not to kill you…”

It didn’t sound like a simple threat.

No one would have thought he was joking.

“We’ll keep that in mind.”

“We’ll be careful.”

The two captains answered as naturally as if they had already agreed that, if they ever died, it would only be at Je Hyuno’s hands.

Hearing their replies, I had the impression that Je Hyuno smiled for a brief moment.

Although, with his face completely covered, I couldn’t be sure.

“Goyo. Tell me what I need to do.”

“I’ll prepare a list of the required items and their locations for you. It also includes zombie blood samples—but not from Dead Zone zombies, only from ordinary zombies.”

I took some paper and a pen from the laboratory and quickly wrote out the list.

At the same time, I sent him a Message.

I’ll also send you the list through the system window.

Checking a sheet of paper was inconvenient with all his gear.

Besides, I wanted to show him how useful my ability was.

‘Please don’t kill me.’

I had to keep building up merit so that, when we left Dead Zone Delivery, Je Hyuno would decide to spare my life.

After receiving the list and the blood sample collection kit I had brought from the laboratory, Je Hyuno headed toward the emergency staircase.

The windows on the fifth floor, where the laboratory was located, couldn’t be opened, so he had to go up to the rooftop to take off.

Kwak Hanmuk followed him to open the door.

Just before stepping through the stairwell door, Je Hyuno turned to look at me.

~ ~

And what is that supposed to mean now?

I kept telling myself not to get caught up trying to decipher Je Hyuno’s emoticons, but every time a new one appeared on his goggles, I couldn’t stop wondering what it meant.

Since it was a wavy line, I guessed it might mean he’d be back soon.

And while I was still thinking about it, Je Hyuno disappeared into the emergency staircase.

Kwak Hanmuk went with him, leaving Mo Haein and me alone for a moment.

We sat down in a corner of the hallway with our backs against the wall.

“Do you want to bite me before Captain Kwak comes back?”

At my suggestion, Mo Haein let out a disbelieving laugh before grabbing my arm.

“Don’t regret this, Recruit. I’m really going to bite you.”

“…Ah, I’d rather you bite this arm.”

“Aren’t you right-handed?”

I smiled awkwardly when she pointed out how inconvenient that would be.

Fortunately, she switched arms without arguing.

She held my forearm and met my gaze.

“Here I go.”

She opened her mouth.

Her perfectly aligned teeth now had sharpened tips.

Then she lightly rested them against my arm.

The contact tickled.

My shoulders twitched reflexively.

Mo Haein immediately pulled her mouth away.

“Did that hurt?”

I shook my head.

“It just tickled. I’m fine.”

“Got it.”

She took a couple of deep breaths before lowering her lips to my arm again.

This time, she bit down without warning.

Crunch.

The sound of flesh being pierced rang out clearly.

At the same time, my heart began pounding violently.

Thump. Thump.

It felt as though the beats were echoing right beside my ears.

My vision went completely dark, and a system window appeared.

You have been infected!

Zombification has begun. (Current Progress: 10%)

The moment she bit me, I felt my fever begin to rise.

It was different from the game.

Becoming a zombie was far harsher in reality.

I took a deep breath and calmly waited for my vision to return.

Fortunately, it didn’t take long for everything to clear again.

But the pain in my arm remained.

Mo Haein was still gripping it while breathing heavily.

She was fighting the urge to tear a chunk of flesh from my arm.

The veins in her neck bulged prominently.

“Captain.”

“Haa… haa…”

“Captain Mo. I’m fine. Take it slowly.”

“Ugh…”

She squeezed her eyes shut.

After letting out a short groan, she slowly opened her mouth.

With a wet sound, she finally released my arm.

Her mouth completely covered in blood, she muttered with a dejected expression,

“I almost… I really almost ate you…”

“You did well.”

While stopping the bleeding, I quickly moved away from her.

If I stayed beside her, it would only be a matter of time before she bit me again.

I was clumsily bandaging my arm when Kwak Hanmuk appeared.

“What? You already bit him?”

He casually walked over and held out his own arm to Mo Haein.

“Aaaagh!”

Kwak Hanmuk let out a scream.

Mo Haein showed him absolutely no mercy and sank her teeth into him immediately.

It must have hurt terribly, because tears even welled up in his eyes.

“Captain Mo… damn it… that hurts like hell…”

“Stop exaggerating.”

Licking the blood from her lips, she replied coldly.

Then she stared directly at me.

“…I’m going to bandage myself.”

Without saying anything else, I took the opportunity to put a little more distance between us.

***

Before heading into the underground area, I stopped by to see Lee Gaon for a moment.

The instant she saw me, she was about to scream.

I hurriedly spoke first.

“It was intentional. I let myself get bitten.”

“……”

Lee Gaon stared at me speechlessly before exclaiming in a low voice,

“Why would you do that?!”

I briefly explained that it was to avoid the zombies.

And before she could really start scolding me, I pulled out my bribe.

“Here.”

“Is this…?”

It was the portable cassette player Kwak Hanmuk had given me.

I remembered that, in the game, Lee Gaon complained to Lee Seon that she wanted to listen to music.

That’s why I’d brought it.

Since she was an NPC, nothing would happen if she listened to music using a player’s item.

“You might get bored while you’re taking a break.”

Lee Gaon gripped the cassette player tightly.

Her fingers trembled so much that her knuckles turned white.

“If you don’t come back…”

She gave me a rather frightening threat.

“I’ll release every virus in this laboratory.”

“…I’d rather you didn’t do that.”

“Then come back quickly.”

“I will. I’ll come back.”

If Tak Jucheol and Paeng Sangdo found out that I had been infected too, everything would become much more complicated.

For now, I had to keep it a secret.

I quickly said goodbye and left.

But the real reason I practically fled was something else.

A thought had surfaced in my mind.

I wanted to bite Lee Gaon.

I could still suppress the urge without much difficulty.

But the moment that thought appeared, I decided it was better to get away before I made a mistake.

The aggression zombies felt toward humans was an instinct, just like hunger.

‘So this is what a zombie feels.’

Experiencing that was something I had never been able to feel in the game.

With a strange excitement beating in my chest, I opened the emergency stairwell door.

“You’re back already?”

Mo Haein, who had been sitting on the stairs, stood up.

Kwak Hanmuk also got to his feet from where he’d been leaning against the wall.

A small crossbody bag hung across his shoulder.

Inside were the items I’d asked him to bring.

The three zombie us began descending the stairs.

There weren’t many zombies in the emergency staircase, though it wasn’t completely safe.

Starting from the second floor, which Mo Haein and Kwak Hanmuk hadn’t passed through before, a few began to appear.

We silently walked past them and soon reached Basement Level 1.

The staircase leading to Basement Level 2 was blocked by rubble, so we had to access it from inside the first basement.

I planned to use the freight elevator.

In the game, it was necessary to crawl painfully through the ventilation ducts.

But now that we were zombies, we could use the elevator.

Kwak Hanmuk opened the door first and let out a whistle.

“Oh, the cafeteria.”

The stairwell opened directly into the cafeteria.

Since we were zombies now, crossing it shouldn’t be difficult.

“We can take the opportunity to gather food while we cross the cafeteria. We should also thoroughly check the rest of the area. There’s also a freight elevator that connects to Basement Level 2. Inside that elevator, there’s—”

Bzzzt.

The sound of static interrupted me.

I stopped explaining and looked around.

‘That came from the PA speakers…’

I wondered if I’d imagined it and listened carefully.

Then—

WEEEEE-OOO!

A piercing siren suddenly blared.

Every zombie sleeping in the cafeteria opened its eyes at the same time.

Amid their growls, a recorded female voice echoed throughout the underground area.

It was an automatic emergency announcement.

“Attention. All researchers must evacuate the laboratory immediately. The emergency generator’s operational capacity has fallen below 3%. Estimated remaining power: fifteen minutes.”

Kwak Hanmuk and Mo Haein looked at me simultaneously.

The announcement continued.

“In fifteen minutes, isolation bulkheads will activate throughout all areas, and the facility will be completely sealed. We repeat. All researchers must evacuate immediately…”

“Captains.”

I looked at both of them and announced our new objective.

“We have fifteen minutes to repair the emergency generator.”