The very evening after Seongho left the island, after all members were done with todayâs task and had eaten their fill of dinner, Sooyeon used the water allotted to her to wash her face and even brushed her teeth. As a doctor, she took cleanliness very seriously.
âLetâs sleep.â For the entirety of today, most of the members of the group, except for Jimanâs group, were walking around the mainland to look for whatever they find useful. Therefore, as of now, Sooyeon was quite battered. Thankfully, thanks to the ropes the two students had installed, nothing to write home about happened.
Seongho, who told them to install those things in advance, must have had some kind of foresight. Thus, it felt even more pitiful to let him go alone. Well, technically, heâs not alone because Dingo was with him. But no matter what, a human will always need another human to not feel lonely.
âDIdnât I say I was going to force my way to him?â However, Sooyeon had realized it wouldnât work well as heâs not the type of person who would allow anyone to get too close to him. It was due to the fact that he had many secrets.
Sooyeon went under the blanket and closed her eyes. When she was fiddling with her tomorrowâs to-do list, she heard someoneâs voice calling her name. âExcuse me, Unnie.â
âIs that you, Mikyung?â
âCan I go inside the blanket for a moment?â
How can a 22-year-old woman say such easily misunderstood words like that?
Sooyeon gently lifted the blanket covering her body and let her in. Even though it was only for a mere moment, she could feel the cold night air on her skin vividly. Thereâs no doubt that the upcoming winter will be freezing. Even if she had a strong man by her side, it would still be difficult for him to keep her warm.
âUnnie, somethingâŚhappened this morning.â
If itâs in the morning, it was before Seongho leaves. Could it be related to him? Without uttering any words, Sooyeon waited for Mikyung to elaborate..
âI think I make Ahj-no, Seongho oppa angryâŚâ Mikyung starts to explain the situation.
When did Seonghoâs title change from Ahjussi to Oppa? But that wasnât the point.
Mikyung proceeded to reenact what had happened with a quivering voice.
âOuchâŚmy head.â Sooyeon touched her forehead and pushed Mikyung with her butt. She reciprocated with a whine and clung to her side.
âSeongho oppa told me that it was okay, but is it really okay?â
âDid he really say it was okay?â
âYesâŚâ
âThen itâs fine. Seongho⌠he had many things to hide, but he didnât hold grudges.â However, Sooyeon guessed that, rather than holding grudges, it was more likely for him to sever all of their ties altogether.
âThen Iâm relieved. I also told oppa that I was wrongâŚâ
A sigh leaked out of Sooyeonâs mouth as she remembered the time when the three of them, including Yoohyeon, got together and talked about Seongho.
âWhy did you cross the line? didnât Yoohyeon warn us to stop trying to pry into Seonghoâs business before?â
âI know⌠But when I thought about Oppa leaving us, I want to leave an impression on himâŚâ
âI also want to leave an impression on him.â Sooyeon couldnât help but think so as well. But she didnât say it. Instead, she just hugged Mikyung tightly.
âWeâre like a family now, arenât we? We are inseparable.â
âI think like that too.â
The gym members have been working closely together for several months. Sometimes, they even overcame the crisis of life and death together. They even shared their past to each other.
But Seongho wasnât like that. No one knew what he was doing before running the snack bar, nor what his past was like. Amongst the gym members, Hyung-jun Hyung was probably the one who knew Seongho the best.
âBut Seongho didnât feel that way. To be precise, we think of him as a family member, but heâs not thinking the same way. Do you know what that means?â
âItâs kind of strangeâŚâ
âItâs not strange. Itâs just, he has something he wants to hide, and its probably something private, so he canât just show it to others.â
Mikyung put one side of her cheeks at Sooyeonâs chest without saying a word, and she was instantly surprised.
âUnnieâs breasts are so bigâŚâ
âOh my headâŚâ Sooyeon sighed. The girl in front of her really canât read the atmosphere. Because of that, she crossed the line that Seongho drew. Sooyeon thought that she had to make her understand now. She grabbed her ear and pull her face off her chest,
âEveryone has kindness, right? I have it and you also have it. That kindness is the line you donât want others to invade.â
âYesâŚâ
âSeongho has it too. She said implicitly that he didnât want us to go over it either, but Mikyung didnât even notice it and passed over it.â
âI didnât mean to go overâŚâ
âOf course you didnât, but how about your mouth?â
When Sooyeon tapped Mikyungâs lips lightly with her hand, Mikyung instantly tried to run away. At that moment, Sooyeon continued. âIn normal times, it might not be a big deal. I would have thought that Seongho was overreacting too. But itâs an apocalypse. Everyday, people are still dying everywhere on the mainland.â
âI knowâŚâ
âHow many survivors asked us during the day? I mean, asking us to enter this island? Do you know why Hyung-jun oppa refused?â
âUmmm⌠thatâsâŚâ
âItâs because he thought that all the people that Seongho brought were good people. Jiman, Yeowool, Junho, and Doyoung⌠All of them were quick on their feet, and they are also kind. At least they wonât harm us. But what if Hyung-jun oppa decided to let those people in?â
âAre you saying that a conflict will occur?â
Yes? What did she eat wrong?
When Mikyung saw Sooyeon looking at her with perplexed eyes, she quickly said that Yoohyeon had told her so.
âThatâs right. It is also because he canât trust them. Hyung-jun oppa thinks thereâs no need to do what Seongho didnât do. This is a really good and safe shelter. We just have to keep it the way Seongho runs it. if we try to do something new or change something, things might get complicated, or at worst, ruined.â
âThen what should those people do?â
âWe shouldnât care about them. Even now, a lot of people are still dying elsewhere. How can we survive if we keep paying attention to each and every one of them?â
She tried to emphasize that it was an apocalypse to Mikyung just before, but now she got off topic. Sooyeon coughed and then spoke again.
âSeongho is not someone who cares about anyone. He didnât think someone was on his side just because they cared about him.â
When Sooyeon thought about it, there were only two people who Seongho thought of as his ally. It was Hyung-jun and Jiman. It was only natural for Seongho to think like that about Hyung-jun since their relationship stretched way back, but Sooyeon was quite surprised about Jiman.
Is it because the kid is so innocent?
If you listen to the two of them chattering, they were really like brothers. When Seongho said he was leaving, everyone was saddened. But it was clear that Jiman didnât feel so. Though, she wasnât sure if itâs due to the fact that heâs sure that Seongho will definitely come back.
Sooyeon placed her hand on Mikyungâs shoulder, and whispered to her. âWithout him, we wouldnât have been alive. All he wants in return is to keep our mouth shut. Itâs not difficult⌠isnât it?â
âUn-unnie, you look just like Seongho oppaâŚâ
âWell, I guess I imitate him quite a bit. anyway, be careful about what you say from now on, okay?â
âOkay.â
Sooyeon let out a sigh of relief at her words. She was glad that the matters ended there. If Mikyung had been more aggressive, Seongho might not have returned at all. When she mentioned it, Mikyungâs eyes quivered.
âDo-donât tell me heâs not going to return⌠Because of meâŚâ
âDonât worry. Heâll return. Do you know the reason he gathered us here?â
âUmmm⌠whatâs the reason?â
âItâs a house⌠a house.â
After observing Seongho for so long, Sooyeon was able to deduce that he was a person who could endure loneliness. To be precise, he is the type of person who does not feel lonely even when heâs alone. All he needed was a home to return to; a cozy place to relax after a tough long journey.
Seongho had gathered themselves one by one for that purpose. Or at least, thatâs what Sooyeon thought.
.
.
.
âThatâs absolutely crazy.â My eyes went wide as i saw the murderer tried to catch my arrow. He probably didnât know that itâs an adamantine arrow, so it means that itâs his muscle memory which also means that heâd been doing it a lot.
Have you accumulated a lot of resentment from the people around you?
Well, it only natural because heâs a murderer. As I was preparing for the second shot, I found a certain man beating the killer. I guess I couldnât see him earlier because of the murdererâs size.
Heâs completely naked in the apocalypse, itâs crazy. And as far as I know, only one person was crazy enough to do something like that.
ââŚRapwi?â
The man literally flew around and beat the killer. It was clear that the arrow I shot had given him a chance. But, his offensive did not last long. His fists which he had been swinging with excitement were blocked by the murderer and the two went into a struggle of power again.
It was clear those two guys were people who really enjoyed fighting.
WIthout shooting the next arrow, I moved to the building in front of me. As soon as I went up to the roof, the panoramic view of the area was revealed. At the same time, thumping heartbeat could be heard in my ears. Some distance away from the two fighting men, a few people were lying on the ground.
âItâs strange that zombie raid didnât happen.â
The murderer moved and start to attack Rapwi. Since he knows how to measure the distance, heâs certainly a user with a noticeable amount of playtime. And the one he fought was of course, Rapwi. However, thereâs still work to be done before reuniting with him, namely killing the murderer whoâs fighting him.
I immediately opened the portal and went out with the things I needed: A small firework. Then, I tied it to the arrowhead of the adamantite arrow. This small firework was made by the scarabs.
Existing fireworks were too large so thereâs a risk of it attracting all monsters in the surroundings. And when the firework is this small, it becomes a firework that only shocks one person. Kudos to the scarabs who found the correct mixture of gunpowder, ignition stone and black charcoal to make it.
The arrowâs trajectory would get weird because of it, but it doesnât matter at this distance. Moreover, Iâm not shooting to hit him anyway.
I took advantage of the gap between the two of them, lit a fire and pulled the bowstrings. As the arrow flew towards him, the murderer swung his upper body to avoid it. Unfortunately for him, this arrow was an exploding arrow.
When the arrow fly right in front of his face, the firework exploded.
âKeeuuukkkkk!â
From his scream alone, I could easily infer just how painful it was. Excited to know that someone was helping him, Rapwi moved again to beat him up. But that was the end of it. Even though Rapwi had beaten the murderer for countless times in one second, he didnât appear to be severely injured.
His stats were no joke, just how many people did he have killed so far?
Did he even get the quick recovery skill?
Why not use a sword rather than a bare fist?
Afterall, most of the killers had ceramic knives with them.
âŚAnyway, I thought I would have to use a heavy object to kill that guy. I opened the portal and let the dingo in. They told the scarabs: âTell Dingo to pull the string when I signal, okay?â
nod nod.
Once I open the portal right in front of the ballista, the preparation is finished. Now, if I open the portal again and throw a stone inside, the ballista will fire. SInce the ballista was a weapon which send the gryphon to the death door with only 2 shoots, no matter how high the murdererâs stat is, he will suffer a fatal wound.
Now, I have to approach him to trigger the deathmatch, I took out the hook, hung it on the railing, and rappelled down. Once my feet touched the ground, I retrieved the hook and hid in the parking lot to watch the two fights.
They were both moving in rapid momentum. Therefore, it was hard for me to find a gap to exploit since the process of opening a portal, sending a signal, and the ballista finally shooting was quite longâŚ
âHahaha! Even when you have someoneâs assistance, you still canât beat me!â
As I looked closer to Rapwi, I became more and more convinced that heâs a real one. His muscular body and bald head was just like his avatar in the game. Letâs not mind the swinging things on his lower body.
The murderer blocked the Rapwiâs mid-air kick and then rotated his body to blow him away. Rapwi took a stance to strike him again in the air, but was pushed back by the attack of the running killer.
âWhat kind of action movie are you two filming?â The two people were those who have almost reached the limit of their physical body. In that state, people would be able to face an ogre only once they acquire a few tier 2 skills. However, just because you can fight it doesnât mean you can win. Because ogre was a real monster.
Anyway, it would be nice to be able to tie him up even for a few seconds. However, with Rapwi alone it seems like it was impossible. Therefore, I must help him directly.
I sneakily approached the two who were fighting fiercely. Mid-fight, Rapwi looked at me and cocked his head to the side as if he recognizes me,
âWhere are you looking at!â The murdererâs fearsome fist slammed into the face of Rapwi.
Iâm sorry.
.
.
.
Seokhyun was happy. Even though he was beaten by a murderer who knows about him back in the game, he could finally met his friend. SInce his enemy was the infamous murderer who is notorious in the Changwon area, hardly anyone normal will sneak up on him.
Togong glanced at his friend as he fought. He is quite tall and bulky. An all-black armor was wrapping his entire body with a long knife hanging on his waist and a backpack and a bow on his back. Somehow, what heâs wearing was the standard outfit for a survivor.
But he was clearly different from other survivors. Afterall, his sharp eyes were staring at him clearly. There was also a certain determination in his expressionless face.
However, soon after, Seokhyun had to pay the price for taking his mind off the fight as suddenly, the murderer grabbed two of his wrists.
âYou are so careless! Do I look that insignificant to you?â The murderer said, face burning in rage.
Seokhyun twisted his body and tried to pull his arms out of the murdererâs grip, but he couldnât move as it was too sttong.
How high is his strength stat?
Bam-!!
Their foreheads collided against each other, and a dull sound echoed throughout the area. Amongst the two, It was only Seokhyun who faltered because of it. His vision became dizzy,, and the murderer gave him another headbutt.
If there was a brick between the two, it would have been shattered immediately.
âHardskin! Thatâs awesome! How are you doing, can you stand it?â The murderer taunted.
Seokhyun did not lose consciousness even when blood was dripping from his forehead and obscuring his vision. His survival instict skill was activated and his eyes lit up. As his body become lighter, the moment the murderer released his wrist to swing his own fist, he ducked away.
There was a sound of wind along with murdererâs punch, but Seokhyun was no longer there. When the punch passed, Seokhyun stood up once again. stretched out, it was his turn to headbutt the murderer. Not in the forehead though, but in the chin.
âEughâ The murderer staggered and collapsed but still alive even though It was a blow that would have killed him if heâs just a normal person.
He should end the fight here. If itâs delayed any longer, the murdererâs survival instinct skill will also get activated, which would lead into much harder fight.
Seokhyun tried to break the murdererâs knee, but his body tensed up at the sudden voice.
âMove away!â
itâs his friendâs voice. He was looking at where he was from a dozen meters away. The object his friend shot out moved faster than he thought. Therefore, Seokhyun had to throw himself to the side.
âYou bastardâŚâ
When Cheolseong rolled his eyes and stood up, a bolt the size of a hand zoomed towards him. When it hits his body, the bolt simply pierces his body which was strengthened by his stats like it was nothing.
âAckkkkkkkk!â
Cheolseong opened because of the excruciating pain. At that moment, his instinct screams: This is dangerous, run away quickly.
However, before he could do so, Rapwi managed to hold him of by throwing a punch at him. The shock was so great to the point it made his head dizzy..
âFuck, get out of the way!â Cheolseong pushed Rapwi with his body and started running. But suddenly, zombies began to gather around. Seongho tried to shoot more bolts at the murderer, but instantly gave up because the murderer hides amongst the zombies.
âWhat are you doing that for?â
Then an amazing thing happened. The zombies which saw the killer did absolutely nothing to him. They just walked around like usual.
Did he acquire the friendliness skill?
The number of people who need to be killed in order to acquire that skill would easily surpass the number of people Seongho had killed.
The killer grabbed the ghoulâs head near him and threw it at Seokhyun. Once it landed on its feet, it soon took a stance and exposed its teeth towards the Rapwi. Then, with a thump as the signal, the deathmatch opened.
Cheolseong laughed hard among the zombies. âHeh heh! If you can hold on, you win!â
On the other hand, Seongho mumbled to no one in particular. âIs he crazy?â and frowned. He just tasted the power of my arrow earlier, yet he was brave enough to do deathmatch here?
âLetâs see how well you do.â
Seeing the murderer running towards him, Rapwi shouted loudly.