Season 2: Chapter 9. Zombie School (3)
Crack. Crack.
Kim Woo-Jung cracked his neck and prepared to land a solid hit.
"Kya. He’s Kim Ju-Hyeok's personal bully today."
"Back off, Kim Woo-Jung!"
The guys next to him found it amusing and chuckled. For them, they thought they looked intimidating or cool doing this.
— Oh, my hands and feet LOL.
— These kids acting tough LOL.
— Hand and foot curler: Kim Woo-Jung.
— Remembering the school meal times makes me wanna puke LOL.
— Cringe :(
It was embarrassing. Almond agreed. It was so embarrassing that even his face grew hot.
'They're really trying hard.'
Their effort was obvious. They were desperate to stand out among their friends, to maintain their insignificant status at all costs.
They chose the quickest and easiest method to torment a character named Kim Ju-Hyeok, which revealed their own pitiful lives.
Almond didn't even want to humor such people by taking a playful hit.
"Hyaaaaaaa!"
Kim Woo-Jung roared and charged at full speed.
Whoosh!
Once again, a punch whiffed through the air. Almond managed to dodge once more despite the effects of fear, extreme hunger, and fatigue slowing him down.
"Wow! He dodged again!"
"What's with Kim Ju-Hyeok? Did he take some drugs?"
Kim Woo-Jung's gang now looked at Almond with admiration.
The fury in Kim Woo-Jung's eyes was evident. Right, nothing angered or scared him more than getting upstaged. Especially not by Kim Ju-Hyeok, someone he always regarded as beneath him.
"Hey, you jerk."
Thump.
Kim Woo-Jung readied himself again.
Ding!
[Warning! If the fear state continues, you will enter panic.]
A warning resounded.
‘Panic, huh?’
Almond momentarily ignored it and focused on Kim Woo-Jung's fist.
Zoom!
Kim Woo-Jung's punch missed and barely grazed past his ear.
"Hey~ Kim Woo-Jung is totally off today~"
"He’s not the Kim Woo-Jung from our childhood~"
Laughter erupted.
— Living for just 20 years and talking about childhood LOL.
— When was this childhood? Sperm years? LOL.
— Ugh. I feel like I'll lose all my limbs :(
— Totally gone LOL
— When zombies come, you guys will all lose to Almond ^^.
"Damn it! Didn't I tell you not to dodge!? Come here!"
Kim Woo-Jung reached out, seemingly trying to grab him by the collar. However, no rule said one couldn’t dodge a collar grab.
Swoosh!
Kim Woo-Jung's fingers merely clutched at the air.
[The fear state has been prolonged for too long.]
It seemed Almond’s dodging ability had reached its limit.
[You've now entered the panic state.]
[Movement will stop.]
'What?'
Stunned, Almond looked down at his immobile body.
'To this extent...'
To be controlled to this extent... The main element of this game seemed to revolve around these states.
Then...
Ring— ring — ring— ring~
The bell signaled the start of class.
"Ah, it's Han Moon’s class."
Baek Joon-Soo had been sitting on someone's desk in the very back of the group and stretched.
"When Han Moon gets angry, he freaks out even if he's usually a pushover. Sit down."
When Baek Joon-Soo said that, Kim Woo-Jung and his gang all took their seats.
After that...
Boom.
The back door forcefully opened and the group that rushed to buy bread came in.
"Phew. Finally made it."
"They always run out of sausage bread. Ugh..."
"Chae-Yeon, lend me your pillow."
Rattle.
The front door opened and the teacher, Han Moon entered.
"Ahem."
Han Moon spotted Almond still standing aimlessly and adjusted his glasses.
"My friend, why are you standing?"
"Ah, I'm sorry. Just a moment..."
Almond quickly sat back down.
'It seems the situation has passed for now.'
Almond pretended as if nothing happened and observed the class.
The teacher, Han Moon, was a middle-aged man wearing square glasses and a tracksuit. His voice sounded rather monotonous.
"Uh... So... it’s easy if you remember it like this... the Chinese character for small and..."
— The teachers in my past life must've been boring lol.
— Getting sleepy again.
— My eyes are closing~ My eyes are closing~
One by one, the students began to nod off. It seemed this class notoriously made students sleep. Those who weren't sleeping were solving problems from other textbooks.
Han Moon was useless for the college entrance exam.
— This is like a documentary lol.
— Solving math problems is really smart.
— Wow lol.
It was surprising that they had implemented this much detail in the game, but the scene itself wasn't shocking.
"When the characters for moon and sun are next to each other... it looks like this..."
The teacher rambled on at the blackboard, giving a lecture that no one listened to. It felt like a one-man play in an empty theatre.
Swoosh.
The screen started darkening, and the sounds of Han Moon class' slowly faded.
'Huh?'
It seemed like Almond was falling asleep. Come to think of it, the fatigue status had been active the entire time.
***
A moment later...
'What's this?'
Almond was slightly taken aback.
'I can't see the chat window?'
Apparently, the chat window became invisible when sleeping. Or had he actually fallen asleep? He couldn't hear anything.
"... Ah."
He could hear his own voice.
Then...
“Aaah!"
Some sounds came through.
"Wake upppppppppp!" someone yelled in his ear.
Suddenly, his eyes shot open.
'Finally?'
Almond thought zombies had appeared. He was expecting it... but that wasn't the case. He could hear the students laughing in an uproar.
"Ah~ this guy. What if he sleeps until break time?"
It was Kim Woo-Jung's voice.
"Play during break. Sleep during class. Aren't you grateful I woke you up?"
“Sigh.”
An involuntary sigh escaped his lips.
'What's with these guys?'
Almond felt relieved that he didn't have such kids in his own school as he got up.
— I really want to kill that Kim Woo-Jung.
— Ugh, damn it.
— Let's put a bounty on him LOL
— Such a jerk.
The viewers were deeply engrossed and their initial amusement turned into evident anger.
Of course, Kim Woo-Jung was snickering and laughing in front of him. Somehow, that smile looked familiar. Ju-Hyeok and Sang-Hyeon often forcefully smiled like that. In short, it was a fake smile. He was desperately trying to maintain his composure.
"Hey, Kim Ju-Hyeok. Next period is PE."
"...?"
Thud.
Kim Woo-Jung tossed him a PE uniform with a sly smile. There was no way that guy gave him a PE uniform just because it was PE time.
'... Ugh.'
Unsurprisingly, the uniform reeked of sweat.
"I'll lend you mine. Nice, right?"
He opened what seemed like Kim Ju-Hyeok's locker and took out a fresh PE uniform.
"I'll wear this one."
Laughter erupted again.
"Ah~ Kim Woo-Jung. So kind~! Giving away his own stuff." Yoon So-Hee laughed hysterically.
"At least he's not making him strip. He's obviously kinder than So-Hee."
The two girls with her joined in and laughed.
Almond decided to remember them.
'First, Yoon So-Hee.'
She was the one who tried to slap him first and seemed close to Baek Joon-Soo, who was probably her boyfriend. Her two friends always accompanied her.
'Next, Baek Joon-Soo.'
Baek Joon-Soo was always at the back observing the situation. He was the tallest and seemed to be the leader of the group. Yoon So-Hee could only confront Kim Woo-Jung probably thanks to Baek Joon-Soo.
'And then...'
Almond looked at the guy who tormented Kim Ju-Hyeok the most.
'Kim Woo-Jung.'
Kim Woo-Jung still sported his forced smile. He seemed to be the frontman or some sort of ringleader in the group.
"It's PE time! Girls go to Class 4! Boys, change here! Classes 3 and 4 gather on the right side of the sports field!" a student who looked like the class representative yelled out.
The girls moved to another class. Yoon So-Hee tried to leave, but Baek Joon-Soo pulled her back.
"So-Hee, shall we change in the bathroom separately?"
"Ah, Baek Joon-Soo. Are you crazy? Why here at school?"
“Come on. We’re old enough to know everything anyway.”
"Unbelievable!"
Yoon So-Hee returned to Class 4, telling him she didn’t want to. Baek Joon-Soo looked at her and chuckled.
— Almond, I'm setting a mission.
— Baek Joon-Soo is the top assassination target, right? Yes?
— Let's start by hanging those two.
Ding!
[Mission Registered!]
A mission had been registered. The viewer who mentioned it in the chat seemed serious.
[Baek Joon-Soo & Yoon So-Hee Assassination]
[100,000 won]
Almond switched the microphone to his streaming channel.
"Even if you say so, killing students isn't the way here."
Ding!
Another mission was quickly set.
[Beat up Kim Woo-Jung]
[300,000 won]
‘300,000 won?’
Almond scratched his head.
"Hmm... Well, a beating is possible."
— Lol! I can feel the anger!
— ???? If he dies from the beating, it's not my fault, okay?!
— You heard it's 300,000 won, right?
[NutsTranslator has donated 10,000 won!]
[True nut fans understand like this: Ah! If beating is 300, then killing is probably 100!]
"It's not that kind of channel."
— That kind of channel lololol.
— Raise it to 100!
— Baek Joon-Soo ❤ Yoon So-Hee (From the afterlife) FOREVER
— To hell!
Viewers started adding more to the set missions.
[Baek Joon-Soo & Yoon So-Hee Assassination]
[110,000 won]
"No, what I mean is..."
Ding!
[230,000 won]
The mission funds rapidly increased. Big spenders started adding 100,000 won at a time.
[480,000 won]
Almost 500,000 won had been raised in a flash.
— Even a little helps...
— Lol, crazy firepower.
— LOL Is it worth this much?
Then, someone made a huge contribution.
Boom!
[ShyNapoleon has added a whopping 1,000,000 won to the mission funds!]
[I can’t miss this chance to rescue a person.]
The amount had surpassed a million.
— What a big spender!
— The big spender can’t miss out on school activities.
— Isn't it about killing people? Why say the opposite? Lololol.
— When he spends, he really spends! Spender!
— Did they hate Baek Joon-Soo that much? Lol.
— It's about killing, you know lol.
[Baek Joon-Soo & Yoon So-Hee Assassination]
[1,480,000 won]
The mission fund neared a staggering 1,500,000 won.
Almond immediately changed his stance.
"I'll show these guys hell."
— Lololol.
— It's a 1,500,000 won ticket to hell, lovebirds!
— So it’s 750,000 won per life lol.
— Nice! This house knows how to bargain!
[Oh? has donated 10,000 won!]
[You said it's not that kind of channel! Lololol.]
Someone pointed out Almond's principles.
"How can I help it? It's that kind of game," he sharply concluded.
— His reaction speed is dope lol.
— Money over principles.
— After attending a talk show once, even his verbal skills have improved.
***
Except for the days when they had theory lessons, they stood on the athletic field in numerical order during PE and waited for their gym teacher.
"Kim Ju-Hyeok, you're Number 12, aren't you? Stand here," the class president scolded Almond.
His action was mixed with annoyance.
"Oh, it's so hot."
Only then did Almond realize it was summer.
The class president wiped the sweat off his glasses and called the other kids, "Hey, line up! Are we running again?!"
At the class president's shout, the students who had been joking around lined up one by one.
Those who hadn't lined up yet in the back, Baek Joon-Soo and his group, were making noises.
The class president deeply sighed and didn’t say much.
"Those kids... not lining up, they'll get scolded as a group again..."
Suddenly, the gym teacher's whistle rang out. Immediately, all the students promptly stood in their places.
— Wow, nostalgia.
— What's with that gym outfit?
— Such an old-timer.
The gym teacher looked extraordinary. Firstly, he had an outrageous fashion sense. His bright red t-shirt and shorts stood out from about 150 meters away.
He kept blowing his whistle without stopping over and over again! He seemed to be communicating something and continuously blew his whistle.
"Line up!"
"Hey! Come here! Quickly!"
"Looks like the gym teacher's angry."
It was probably because the kids hadn’t lined up correctly. The whistle didn't stop even after most of the kids lined up.
"Ugh... I told you to line up properly..."
The class president thought it was because Baek Joon-Soo and his group hadn't lined up correctly.
"Hey, isn't the gym teacher acting weird?"
"What do you mean?"
"Why's he walking like that?"
"What's he carrying?"
"Is he making us do something strange again?"
The kids whispered, sensing something was off with the gym teacher.
The whistle finally stopped. At the same time, the gym teacher suddenly collapsed.
"...?"
A brief silence followed.
They had seen people falling before, but collapsing and fainting was a different story. Seeing someone hit the cement floor face-first was a rare and shocking sight.
"What... what happened?"
"Why did he do that?"
The kids murmured to each other.
"Class president! Go check on him!"
Baek Joon-Soo and his group pushed the class president from the back.
"Ugh... Really..."
"What? What's wrong?"
"No, it's nothing. I'll go."
Avoiding Baek Joon-Soo's gaze, the class president approached the gym teacher.
"Teacher, are you okay? Should I call the nurse?"
Suddenly, the class president was met with a foul smell and his face wrinkled up.
"What...?!"
He wondered if he saw it correctly and adjusted his glasses for another look. Then he realized the gym teacher's red tracksuit was actually white.
"It’s... blood."