Chapter 34

Creeeak—

Jae-gyeom and I pulled the cord we had tied to the goal and benches earlier.

When the two of us pulled with all our might, the objects tied to it were dragged along one after another and moved into the field.

We pulled until the cord grew taut, then tied it to a pillar in the spectator stands.

With that, a barricade crossing the field was complete.

Of course, neither of us expected this flimsy fence to hold for long.

Still, it had to be better than playing tag in an open field.

“Ha-ma, Ha Yu-ju! Wake up. We’re going now!”

At Jae-gyeom’s shout, Ha Yu-ju forced her eyes open.

Ha Yu-ju’s entire body was soaked in sweat, as if she had been standing alone in the rain.

We placed the corpse inside the roll container we had found in the storage room and seated Ha Yu-ju there too.

Jang Han-bin had to push this alone.

To the center of the field, and then to the goal.

We had considered tying a cord to it and pulling with him.

But since we did not know how strict the victory judgment would be, it was better not to take needless risks.

Instead, Jae-gyeom and I were planning to block the zombies rushing in as much as possible.

“Let’s go.”

At Jae-gyeom’s signal, Jang Han-bin pushed the roll container.

The contents weighed 150kg, but when a male high schooler put strength into it, it rolled along somehow.

KHAAK—! KAK—!

Damn it, their reaction is sharp as a knife.

The zombies in that corner roared and swarmed toward us.

I thought it would be a little better because we had already taken out the sprinters, but the force from the sheer number of them was terrifying too.

“Don’t pay attention to them. Keep going!”

It was not easy to steadily move forward when a horde of zombies was rushing in from the side.

I myself wanted to run away to the opposite side right now.

Knowing this cowardly heart of mine, Kwak Jae-gyeom kept encouraging him.

“It’s fine, there’s enough distance! Keep going like this!”

SCREECH—!

When we barely reached the center of the field, the zombies also reached the barricade.

Zombies snagged on cords and obstacles flailed about blindly.

Some among them toppled over like dolls and were trampled by their own kind.

“Good, now go to the goal!”

We sent Jang Han-bin toward the goal and stayed in the center.

By then, the barricade that had been a straight line was gradually bending.

As the zombies swarmed in, the cord could not withstand the weight and was being pushed back.

Creak— creak—

The cover tied to the cord shook together and screamed for a moment.

SNAP—!

The nylon cord tied in several layers finally burst.

As the cord snapped, the barricade tangled messily, and corpses poured out through the gap.

BANG—!

Jae-gyeom shot the one running at the very front.

BANG— BANG—!

The one behind it too, and the one behind that.

He dropped them immediately, but it had little effect.

Because the numbers on that side were too overwhelming.

“Hurry!”

Anxious, Kwak Jae-gyeom shouted behind him.

But he would have been better off not doing that.

“What are you doing, now!”

“The, the wheel got stuck……!”

Kwak Jae-gyeom shouted at Jang Han-bin, who was fumbling in place.

Grown impatient, Jang Han-bin began forcing the roll container forward.

“No, don’t push it!”

I shouted, but it was too late.

In the end, the roll container toppled over, and the impact sent Ha Yu-ju rolling out.

The man’s corpse also bounced out and came unraveled from the foil blanket.

“Son of a……!”

Jae-gyeom ran toward the roll container without delay.

“Ha-ma, pick up the small bag!”

Ha Yu-ju, barely holding onto consciousness, hugged the small bag.

At the same time, Kwak Jae-gyeom picked Ha Yu-ju up and began running toward the goal just like that.

“Jang Han-bin! You drag that over too!”

The field was covered in slippery artificial turf.

Even a 90kg burden should be movable enough if dragged along the ground.

On top of that, there were only about 20m left to the goal now.

But Jang Han-bin did not move.

“Hey!”

Even when Kwak Jae-gyeom shouted again, it was the same.

Jang Han-bin had turned white and was staring at the dead man.

Two or so 「Running Corpses」 passed beside me and charged toward Jang Han-bin.

Even so, the kid remained frozen.

---

Precautions

5. 「Running Corpses」 target the loser’s corpse before living humans. Therefore, in an emergency, abandoning the corpse and fleeing is also an option.

---

TAK—!

With the collapsible baton Jae-gyeom had given me, I tripped the legs of the zombies trying to pass me.

But they touched the ground for only a moment like newspaper blown by the wind, then got up and kept moving.

I overtook those zombies and shouted at Jang Han-bin.

“Get up!”

Whether he heard me or not, Jang Han-bin flinched his shoulders.

But his gaze was still fixed on the dead man.

Flap—

I covered the man with the foil blanket.

Then, tying it around him in a hurry, I shouted again.

“You already won, so don’t freeze up now!”

“……!”

“If you don’t want to see him anymore, get rid of him completely.”

I jerked my chin toward the goal.

Jang Han-bin looked at me, then raised himself.

Then he began dragging the man, foil blanket and all.

The slippery foil crossed over the artificial turf smoothly.

But the zombies running over while flailing were slightly faster.

If that corpse was taken now, it was over.

In desperation, I stood the roll container upright and blocked the zombies.

CLANK— CRASH—!

The zombies charging blindly crashed into the roll container.

But when four or five of them came and shoved, I was the one who was pushed back instead.

Just as I strained with all my might, thinking I had to endure even a few seconds longer.

Kwak Jae-gyeom’s voice came from behind me.

“Hyung, get down!”

If I get down now, I’ll be crushed to death!

I turned around to shout that.

But damn it.

The muzzle was already pointed this way!

BANGBANGBANGBANGBANG—!

I hit the ground at once, and the world shattered.

Urgh, the trauma from the mart……!

I blocked my ears with all my strength and endured.

How much time had passed after that?

“Hyung……! ……un!”

Jae-gyeom, who had come to my side at some point, grabbed my arm and shouted.

But my ears were ringing, so I could not hear a single thing he said.

I looked around in confusion, then turned toward the goal.

Ha Yu-ju and Jang Han-bin were inside it.

The corpses were properly with them too.

This was both good and bad news.

With an ominous feeling, I looked forward again.

Sure enough, the zombies were now running toward us.

I grabbed Jae-gyeom and scrambled to my feet.

KHAAK— KAT—!

To think the first sound I heard after my hearing recovered was this……!

Chased by the cries of zombies, I ran frantically.

But when I tried to head toward the goal, which was the shortest distance, Kwak Jae-gyeom yanked me back.

“To the side! The kids are there, so go to the side!”

No, then you should’ve run diagonally from the start……!

Aside from the burden of suddenly changing direction, one zombie had come close enough to pounce on me.

KAGAT—!

Its damp breath brushed my forearm.

CRACK—!

Kwak Jae-gyeom struck that zombie down with his elbow.

Then he grabbed me and began sprinting.

I was half-dragged until I crossed the white line.

Immediately after, Jae-gyeom let me go, and thanks to inertia, I rolled beautifully.

Roll, roll— THUD—!

“Hurk, hurk, hurk!”

“Hyung, are you okay?”

“Hurk, hurk, don’t, hurk…….”

“Got it, you don’t have to talk.”

Ah, I seriously feel like I’m going to throw up.

What happened to the kids?

Kwak Jae-gyeom ran while carrying Ha Yu-ju in the middle. That won’t cause any problem, right?

Forcing myself, I raised my head to check the kids’ situation.

At that moment, a huge shadow fell over the field.

I looked up without thinking and froze in place.

A hand that could be called divine was descending from the sky.

A hand with the same texture as the pitch-black sky.

That dark hand, swallowing light as it revealed its outline, was enormous enough to cover the entire field.

At the same time, its lines were impossibly delicate.

At the sight that made it impossible to tell whether I felt fear or awe, my breath caught in my throat.

Two hands passed through the goal, and with one hand, they grabbed Ha Yu-ju and Jang Han-bin, while with the other, they gripped the corpses.

The hand holding the living curled upward into the sky, and the hand holding the dead descended to the center of the field.

When that hand finally opened, we met again.

The man who had been wrapped in foil in death, now a 「Running Corpse」.

If Jang Han-bin had seen that, he would have had a fit…….

Even I, who had personally witnessed the sight of a human becoming a zombie, did not feel very good.

Just as I swallowed that complicated feeling.

-Ha Yu-ju and Jang Han-bin have successfully escaped.

For once, Cha Si-eon delivered welcome news.

-Our agents are transporting them to the Medical Center.

The moment Jae-gyeom and I heard that, we hugged each other and patted each other’s shoulders.

What a relief. The person from the neighboring team who had been pointlessly caught up in this, and the teenager we had picked up in confusion, were now safe.

But after about 30 seconds of happiness, reality hit.

“Jae-gyeom.”

“Yes, hyung.”

“What do we do now?”

Kwak Jae-gyeom stared at me, then smiled brightly.

His face said, Why are you asking me that?

---

“I feel like I’m going to have a panic attack.”

“If you keep looking, you really will.”

This did not feel like an exaggeration. It truly seemed likely.

Right now, I was looking beyond the wall of the field.

I had looked because I was curious what lay outside, and whether there might be a way out, but I ended up facing a truly astonishing sight.

What existed outside the wall was perfect black.

Empty air, darkness, abyss, nothingness.

It was a sight as if only this space had been cut out and placed inside a black hole.

Would this be how it feels to be stranded during space travel…….

If I kept looking, I felt like I would develop a phobia I did not even have, so I got down from the trash can I had been using as a foothold.

“Hyung, sit and rest a little.”

Kwak Jae-gyeom said while sprawled over the spectator seats.

He looked light and relaxed, as usual.

Even though only a little while ago, the space between his brows had been full of tension.

It was good that he had regained his composure, but he looked far too carefree, so I said something.

“Aren’t you letting your guard down too much now that your girlfriend got out?”

“What? How is she my girlfriend? She isn’t!”

“…….”

Is whether she is your girlfriend or a female friend important right now?

When I stared at him, Jae-gyeom realized his mistake and cleared his throat.

“Mm, ahem! Team Leader will tell us our escape method soon. He seems to be discussing it right now…….”

Right. Team Leader Cha would bring us a plan soon.

But I could roughly predict what that plan would be.

He would probably procure sacrifices equivalent to my and Jae-gyeom’s body weights.

And those would most likely be Bureau convicts.

Special Zones were truly a fucked-up mess, so the Bureau responding to them was inevitably a fucked-up mess too.

We were not in a position to be picky, but surviving in this manner honestly did not feel pleasant.

I wondered if this was why Manager Kwon had told me to make a reason I absolutely had to survive.

Feeling pointlessly troubled, I changed the subject.

“How did they figure out the escape rules here?”

“They say they’re written over there.”

At my question, Jae-gyeom pointed to the field’s electronic scoreboard.

The huge electronic scoreboard was operating normally, just like the lighting towers.

Of course, I could not read the letters written there.

“Don’t look at it for long. With that, it won’t end at a panic attack.”

I knew that.

The letters of Special Zones were not readable to begin with, and if one tried to force oneself to read them, the eyes hurt as if they would fall out.

“Among the contaminated people, there’s someone who can read the letters of Special Zones. That person told us the rules here.”

“It’s impressive they thought to disclose that as Survival Rules.”

“It’s better than doing nothing and dying.”

That was true.

When the situation was a mess, what else could one do?

There was no choice but to be satisfied with and compromise for the lesser evil rather than the worst.

As I prepared myself mentally, I waited for Cha Si-eon’s plan.

Then someone appeared in the spectator stands across the field.

Had they hidden and watched Ha Yu-ju and Jang Han-bin’s escape?

That person began waving their outerwear toward us.