Season 2: Chapter 23. Customer (2)
Almond's heart pounded. It was probably the character Kim Ju-Hyeok's heart that was racing, but it inexplicably resonated with him. The game felt thrilling because of this.
Thud. Thud.
The sound of his beating heart grew louder than the banging on the door.
'Can they catch us?'
Given Kim Ju-Hyeok's reaction, a direct confrontation could mean the end for him.
"Hey, is anyone there? Open the door, will you?" Kim Woo-Jung asked as if he knew someone was inside.
Almond covered the shaggy-haired guy's mouth beside him.
"Shh."
Getting discovered wouldn't do any good.
The metal door rattled a few more times and Baek Jun-Soo spoke, "Stop it. Zombies will come."
"Ah... The convenience store. It's a shame," Kim Woo-Jung murmured.
Someone else spoke. The voice sounded unfamiliar. It seemed they had absorbed another group.
"Let's quickly head back to the cafeteria. We need to deal with the zombies there first and come back later. We're almost out of Choco Pies in the infirmary."
‘Choco Pies in the infirmary?’ Almond was puzzled. ‘How lucky...’
"Ah. It would have been a disaster if it weren't for the Choco Pies and the other snacks for the blood donation today."
"Canned coffee and cola too."
Blood donation? Was there a blood donation today?
'This...'
Almond could have secured beds, medical supplies, and food if he had gone to the infirmary first. Of course, the infirmary had less food than the convenience store, so it wasn't too regrettable.
— Those bastards took over the infirmary.
— It snowballed like this...
— Can't believe this
— The infirmary was such a sweet spot
The viewers seemed to know a bit about the infirmary, perhaps from watching other streams.
'Bubblegum?'
They occasionally mentioned Bubblegum.
'Is Gum also playing this?'
Bubblegum seemed to be playing Zombie School as well. From Almond's perspective, it was a great boon to do a joint promotion like this.
'This is huge.'
While Almond made his dark calculations, the students on the other side counted their Choco Pies.
"How many Choco Pies are left now?"
"... About two boxes in a large parcel? Maybe around a hundred."
"Isn't that enough?"
"We have ten people. A hundred will disappear in no time."
Ten people, Almond hadn't expected their numbers to be so high.
"We have to raid the cafeteria."
"Oh? Zombies! For now, let's..."
"Run!"
The last thing Almond heard from beyond the door was this conversation. Eventually, the noise attracted zombies that swarmed in and Baek Joon-Soo's group retreated.
Thump. Thump.
At that moment, someone clapped their hands and made a sound.
"Uh! Uh!"
"Ah. Sorry."
"Huah!"
Almond had unknowingly been covering Pizza Bread's nose as well because his face was so small.
"Hey, can you breathe?"
Pizza Bread supported himself on his knees and gasped for breath, "... Are you in the same class as them?"
"Yeah."
"Haah. I see."
Pizza Bread scratched his head, making his hair even more tousled.
Then he spoke with an irritated tone, "I know who they are too. The ones who hang out with Baek Joon-Soo."
"How do you know?"
"They're famous, aren't they? The bullies of our school."
"... Famous, huh. Why did such guys survive?" Almond muttered to himself unknowingly.
— That's because you couldn't get to the infirmary
— They survived because they got the infirmary
— Check out Bubblegum's stream later hehe
They wanted him to check out Bubblegum's stream? He wouldn’t learn anything regarding skills there.
Almond felt puzzled when Pizza Bread spoke again, "But man, you're really unlucky."
"Why?"
"Well, your class... In our class, we call it the devil's realm. How they all ended up in one class..."
— Devil's realm, LOL
— What a class name haha
— LOL
— Those guys were famous in the whole school.
"But..." Pizza Bread looked up and down at Almond and said, "You might be able to beat them, right?"
"..."
"From what I've seen of you... Honestly, I doubt an ordinary high school student could handle you."
— Fear is the only issue, I guess.
— True
— What a top-notch eye for detail
"You should be famous. I've never heard of you. If I had your skills, I would have beaten those guys to a pulp."
Almond pondered for a moment. Should he tell this guy? That he was actually a bullied loner those guys also beat up?
"Famous, what are you talking about?"
For now, Almond decided to hold back. He knew all too well how those who cursed the bullies would react.
"Let's go help with the laundry."
***
Upon reaching the bathroom, the clerk was still doing the laundry.
"I'll help."
"Oh? Really? I'm touched!"
The clerk distributed the laundry without any hesitation. It seemed that she already washed her own underwear and set them aside, so it didn't matter.
The three of them each took a position in front of the sinks. It wasn't laundry soap, but hand soap from the store's warehouse. However, it seemed better for handwashing.
Swish, swish.
The wet clothes made wave-like sounds. The waves danced back and forth on an empty shore. It was a peaceful and leisurely sight. Their eyes coincidentally met in the mirror when they unintentionally looked up.
“Pfft.”
All three unwittingly smiled at the corners of their mouths, not knowing why. They exchanged small talk while doing the laundry. The shaggy-haired boy relayed the earlier incident to the clerk.
— The shaggy-haired guy talks a lot now
— He acted cool at first, but
— He was a Speedwagon
As the viewers said, Pizza Bread became quite talkative.
The clerk listened to everything and asked, "Eh? Those bullies came here?"
The clerk seemed to know who they were.
"The world is indeed harsh."
She didn't seem pleased that they were still alive too.
After a moment, she looked in the mirror and asked, "But what are your names?"
The three of them were lined up doing laundry in front of the mirror.
The clerk spoke first in the mirror, "I'm Kim Hyun-Ah, twenty-two years old."
Swish, swish.
Amid the sound of laundry being done, Pizza Bread replied, "... I'm Park Soo-Hyun, in 11th grade."
"Ooh, Pizza Bread is Park Soo-Hyun~ Sounds like a girl's name. And what about you, Soboro Bread?"
Almond briefly opened his mouth in the mirror before closing it.
"Soboro Bread?" Hyun-Ah, the clerk, asked again.
"I'm Almond."
"... Eh?"
Hyun-Ah looked at Soo-Hyun (Pizza Bread) as if that was absurd.
"Am I the only one who finds this weird?"
She sought agreement, but Soo-Hyun (Pizza Bread) avoided her gaze.
"Cough, cough. There can be someone named Almond. Yeah."
"That, that's right?"
Hyun-Ah (the clerk) became confused by Soo-Hyun (Pizza Bread)'s calm response.
"Someone can be named Almond... How can a person's name be...?"
— Hahaha, hilarious!
— Are they really falling for this? Haha!
— Pizza Bread is too scared to say anything, haha!
— Too bad the convenience store noona isn't playing along.
— Kim Hyun-Ah is so cute! Haha! And what a pretty name...
"Now that we've formally introduced ourselves, are we really a team now? Right?" Hyun-Ah said with a smile.
Almond met her eyes in the mirror and just smiled blandly.
***
After doing the laundry, the three ate a simple meal at the convenience store. Almond had peanut soboro bread, Soo-Hyun had pizza bread, and Hyun-Ah had cream bread. They all drank milk because it had the closest expiration date.
Later, they used the rope from the storage meant for packing boxes to make a clothesline between chairs. They placed six packs of water on top to ensure the chairs wouldn't tip over.
Soo-Hyun (Pizza Bread) finished the task and deeply exhaled, "Ah, if only we had beds here."
"Didn't you say you were going to the infirmary?"
"We can't... those guys are there."
"Those guys?"
"The unpleasant visitors we talked about while doing laundry."
They had discussed the unpleasant visitors who came earlier while doing the laundry.
"It really bothers me that they’re at the infirmary."
Hyun-Ah frowned.
"And now they've gone to the cafeteria too," Soo-Hyun responded.
Hyun-Ah said with a sigh, "This has turned into a game of land grabbing."
"Resources are limited, after all."
Soo-Hyun shrugged and glanced at Almond.
"Almond, have you thought of anything?"
"About what?"
"How to fight off the zombies? We still don't have proper weapons to kill them. It seems like they do."
‘Weapons...’
Almond also noticed that. Those guys spoke as if they could wipe out the zombies if they wanted to.
“Let's quickly head to the cafeteria. We need to deal with the zombies there and come back later. The biscuits in the staff room are also getting... sparse.”
They probably had proper weapons and their group was as large as ten people.
In contrast, Almond’s group only had three members without any real weapons.
"Should we go to the gym storage?" Almond tentatively voiced the first thing that came to mind.
He was actually thinking of finding a bow.
"What's there but footballs? Is there anything that could be used as a weapon?" Soo-Hyun reacted coldly.
"The archery club..."
"There are no tips on the archery arrows. We need to find materials to make tips first..."
"The science lab?"
"... Unless we're the main character of Breaking Bad, what could we do with the stuff there?"
"Breaking Bad?"
"Never mind."
Well, they could probably use the hydrochloric acid. However, it was unlikely that they had the skills to use it precisely as a weapon.
Almond carefully examined the minimap.
'...!?'
While looking at the minimap, he spotted a place that seemed likely to have many weapons.
"The construction site."
He only mentioned this much when Soo-Hyun suddenly stood up.
"Right! The construction site! If we grab something like a hammer there, it's entirely possible to smash a zombie's head. Didn't Almond break one with a small hammer?" He added excitedly, "And I've worked in construction before. I know how to handle those tools."
Setting aside the question of why a high school sophomore had experience in construction, Almond asked what they could make.
"Couldn't we make something like arrowheads there? If we grind them with a metal cutter..."
It seemed feasible as they discussed back and forth.
— So, it's like a game clear if we go to the construction site, haha
— It's the end once arrows start coming out, damn haha
— Seriously, haha
"But the construction site is too close to the infirmary..." Soo-Hyun spoke with evident unease.
He wasn’t the only one who felt uneasy.
'This is bad. The infirmary and the construction site are conveniently connected.'
Almond felt a sense of foreboding as he looked at the minimap. It would be too easy for Baek Joon-Soo's gang to reach the construction site.
“If they’re not all fools, they'll naturally think there are useful weapons at the construction site,” Almond muttered.
"... They could also have hammers."
The faces of Hyun-Ah and Soo-Hyun hardened.
Hyun-Ah looked terrified and grabbed Soo-Hyun, "P-Pizza Bread, if there's a hammer... can they open the fire door?"
"Um..."
Soo-Hyun nodded after a moment of thought, "Probably. Just breaking the handle should do it. The annex's fire door is old-fashioned, so it could open that way. The annex was actually the original building of this school... "
"I know that, but... sigh..." Hyun-Ah worriedly sighed and slumped down.
This was just a game to Almond, but this situation was real for the NPCs here. He needed to be understanding of their fragile minds.
Just as he was considering this, Hyun-Ah suddenly stood up.
"Wait, I've got a good plan."
It seemed she thought of something. Wasn't she just despairing?
"It's risky for us to go to the construction site, right?"
"... Yeah."
Both Soo-Hyun and Almond nodded in agreement.
"Then..."
Hyun-Ah took a deep breath and said, "What about getting rid of Baek Joon-Soo's gang first?"
Soo-Hyun asked, "How, exactly?"
Hyun-Ah's gaze naturally shifted to Almond.
He looked back at her as if to say, 'You want me to take them out?'
Almond felt flabbergasted.
— Hahaha, is this the plan?
— Operation name: Almond, haha
— He knows something, haha
— You go to the farm!
— Crazy, haha
— "The real team"
— As a college student, she really understands group assignments well~~ haha