Season 2: Chapter 34. Brain Vs. Walnut (1)
Rattle. Thud.
The door to the nurse's office swung open and students covered in blood entered one by one. Fortunately, it wasn't their own blood. It was either the blood of zombies or someone else's. After Baek Joon-Soo's group failed to take over the snack bar, they lost team members and suffered injuries.
Baek Joon-Soo sat on the white bed. He rested his forehead on his bat and lost himself in thought.
The students didn't approach him, perhaps thinking he was cooling off his anger. In reality, Baek Joon-Soo contemplated which direction to take the group now.
Many of the students suggested taking a detour to the cafeteria. They thought they couldn’t break through the barricades at the snack bar, but the reality was different.
To Baek Joon-Soo, these kids were just scared. Kim Woo-Jung's death, fighting with the zombies, and the traps set by the opponent worked well. They nearly died together and that was terrifying. It felt completely different from facing mindless zombies, but wouldn't it be the same for the opponents?
"Uh... Joon-Soo?" Yoon So-Hee approached.
She wanted to comfort him, but before she could even start...
Baek Joon-Soo declared, "We'll die without the snack bar."
"!"
The students blankly stared at him as if their faces were saying, ‘What about the cafeteria?’
"It's been two days like this. The ingredients in the cafeteria need preparation."
He had no intention of taking a detour to the cafeteria instead of the snack bar because he knew the food in the cafeteria would soon lose its value. If the electricity went out, the cafeteria would only become a massive grave for them.
"They resisted us quite fiercely," said a tall male student adjusting his glasses.
"Can we do it?"
The student who readjusted his glasses had distinct bloodstains on his sleeves. His nametag read Choi Ki-Soo.
"Think of a way. You're good at this sort of thing."
Baek Joon-Soo clearly trusted Choi Ki-Soo's planning abilities.
"...."
Choi Ki-Soo thought for a moment and shook his head.
"They didn't secure the bathrooms. Just having one person on guard and the rest in rotation will suffice. We just need to take over this annex. We can still survive for three days."
"We can handle about three days' worth of human waste in a slightly unsanitary manner, assuming it's right before death."
"Eww~”
Yoon So-Hee, who was listening, made a gesture of vomiting.
Choi Ki-Soo glanced at her and turned back to Baek Joon-Soo.
"Why don’t they just surrender? I would’ve."
"To those trying to kill them?"
"Are you going to kill them?"
"It's up to them to decide."
"So you’re gonna kill them."
Choi Ki-Soo looked away and crossed his arms. He genuinely contemplated a solution now.
"The barricades aren't impregnable."
"Yeah?"
Baek Joon-Soo looked at Choi Ki-Soo with hopeful eyes.
"It's likely made of tables and metal grates from inside the snack bar. Unless it's very well made, it can only resist pushing force."
Choi Ki-Soo's explanation was easy to understand.
The enemy barricades relied on weight for resistance. It wasn’t just a matter of a few people pushing. Due to the door size, only four people at most could push at a time. That would work against the three people inside with the desks and bookshelves.
However, what if they pulled instead of pushed? Unless the fire door and the barricades were intricately intertwined, they wouldn’t be able to stop the door from opening the other way.
"Don't both the fire door and the snack bar door only open in one direction?" Baek Joon-Soo pointed out.
It was a valid argument. From the beginning, there was no option to pull. Fire doors only opened in one direction. This was the same for the snack bar shutters.
"That's right. That's why we need to go to the construction site again."
Choi Ki-Soo had considered this.
"The reason the fire door and snack bar door only open in one direction is because of the frame. We can pry them open with a lever-like tool."
"...?”
Baek Joon-Soo didn't understand, so Choi Ki-Soo explained further in detail.
"If you pry the frame at the right spots upward, it’ll open even if we pull the door."
"But even if the door opens, there's still the barricades."
"Their barricades are for holding against weight. It's probably not very dense. Once the door is gone, we just need to climb in like at a jungle gym. If that doesn't work..."
Choi Ki-Soo lifted an alcohol lamp he had taken from the science lab.
"Threaten them by throwing this."
"That's a last resort," Baek Joon-Soo firmly declined.
Throwing that could result in them losing all the food inside.
"So you're saying we can open it?"
"Yes. The only downside is it'll take time. We have a lot of time though, don't we?"
Baek Joon-Soo nodded and sent some students to the construction site with Choi Ki-Soo after arranging them in teams.
"Find and bring back the tools you need."
Choi Ki-Soo took a few students and headed to the construction site. He procured a tool resembling a drill, specifically for breaking marble on site.
[(Picture)]
[This thing here. I don't know how to use it, but I think it can easily break that door.]
[Just hearing it sounds threatening.]
Choi Ki-Soo thought it was a splendid tool and decided to bring it no matter what.
***
"These crazy bastards!" Hyun-Ah grew furious.
She questioned why they had to retreat and saw the message that Almond showed them.
Baek Joon-Soo planned on attacking them again at dawn.
"They're coming again with those tools? Do they even know how to use them?"
"We don't know, but something might happen if they use them."
Almond shrugged. He wasn't afraid of their tools. He was more worried about Kim Ju-Hyeok's reaction if they faced Baek Joon-Soo. He was thinking of a way to avoid the confrontation and win.
"Anyway, just relying on the barricades now is dangerous. Once the fire door is broken, the barricades will be nothing."
Hyun-Ah devised the plan because she didn’t want to give up the store.
"How about... making the barricades denser so they have to crawl. Then, we stab them through the windows? Hmm? Like the time with Kim Woo-Jung or something."
— WTF, lol.
— General Hyun-Ah is now ruthless.
— Hey, hey, hey, big sis.
It was a plan at least, but Kim Ju-Hyeok's timid nature was the problem. Could he stab while looking directly at Baek Joon-Soo's face? That was hard to imagine.
"But if that plan fails, we have no backup."
More than anything, Hyun-Ah's plan had no next step. If they couldn't stop them there, they had no other options. Worst case, they would all die and lose the store.
Almond suggested they should at least save their lives.
"But... what exactly is your plan? Why are we wrapping bread in boxes? Are we bread slaves?"
— Bread slaves, lol.
—Bread slaves? Lol.
— Bread conspiracy emerges.
"No, it's not that."
Almond scratched his head. He actually thought of a way on the spot.
"The bread is the reason why they want to take over the store, right?"
"That's true, but we can't carry it around wrapped like that. Where are we going?"
"Well..."
— Walnut almond’s full spin move.
— Do you trust in Almond's plan? I'd rather trust in dogs!
— What crazy thing will he do this time? Lol.
Almond did have a plan.
"What is it? Tell me."
When Hyun-Ah asked, Almond confidently explained his plan.
"My plan is called, Killing Baek Joon-Soo."
— Lol.
— The operation name spoils the operation, lol.
— Brilliant name
— What a name.
— Suddenly?
Almond always seemed to forget that his plans rarely went as planned.
"It will definitely work."
He finished explaining with a hopeful tone and checked the viewers' reactions.
— His Intense love for Walnut.
— Are you finally using a bow this time?
— But it seems decent.
— Oh, it might work.
— Better than expected.
It wasn't a bad reaction. The NPCs also seemed convinced.
"If you're that confident, it might be worth a try. The risk isn't that high."
Hyun-Ah nodded and paused.
"Soboro Bread, it’s almost time for them to change guards."
"Already?"
Two hours had already passed when they checked the time. Time seemed to pass faster here.
"They’ll notice and move first if they sense any problem with the guard change. That can't happen."
"Um..."
— Did they not think about that? Lol.
— A plan that fails after a second...
— A failed plan
Hyun-Ah hesitated for a moment and showed them her cell phone.
"There's a way."
***
When it was almost time to change guards, one of the students in Baek Joon-Soo's group stood up and looked confused. He was the next guard.
"Hmm... There's no reply from Jang Seong-Soo."
Originally, they had agreed to communicate before the guard change. However, no reply came because Almond already subdued him.
"What’s going on?"
He felt something was wrong and thought about delaying the switch, but received a message at that moment.
Ring.
[Sorry, I wasn't looking at the phone for a bit.]
A reply came from Jang Seong-Soo.
"Ugh, this guy. Is he serious...?"
He frowned and took his weapon.
[I’m going now. Come in front of the east stairs.]
[Ok]
"See you later."
"Okay."
After saying goodbye, he left the infirmary. He continued texting while walking without paying much attention to what was ahead. They had already cleared the first floor of zombies, so he didn’t need to be wary of anything.
[Leaving now]
[Okie, okie]
[Isn't it scary there?]
[No, not really lol]
Thud. Thud.
"Ah shit... that scared the hell out of me."
A few zombies banging on the main door slightly startled him. He still needed to be extra careful when passing by the main entrance of the annex. The shutters of the main entrance allowed for a clear view from the inside, so zombies always gathered there.
He headed toward the east stairs, gripping his bat, and soon arrived.
"Gasp."
He glanced at the second floor when he reached the crossroad between the stairs to the second floor and the basement.
'I was told to never go to the second floor.'
Baek Joon-Soo's gang had mentioned that they should never go to the second floor. He wondered what was there considering how much they emphasized it. Maybe there were too many zombies there?
His survival instinct was stronger than his curiosity and he continued heading down to the basement. The place felt eerie due to the silence and darkness.
"Hey. Jang Seong-Soo," he called out his friend's name for no reason. "Where are you?"
The smell of blood wafted from the ground and sticky zombie fragments were scattered around. Did Jang Seong-Soo stay here for two hours?
He sent a message from his cell phone again because no reply came.
[Hey. Where are you? You should be here.]
The reply came from behind.
"I’m here."
Thwack!
Something smashed his right shoulder and he dropped his baseball bat.
"Uh! Ughh!"
Someone also covered his mouth and prevented him from screaming.
"Just stay still."
Hyun-Ah felt annoyed and sealed his mouth with tape. Soo-Hyun tied his legs with a rope and knocked him over.
"You were always warned that looking at a smartphone while walking is dangerous."
Thud.
He lost his balance and fell. Then, he saw the face of the one who attacked him. It was Kim Ju-Hyeok with a baseball bat on his shoulder.
"Uh! Uuh!? (Kim Ju-Hyeok, you jerk!?)"
He tried to curse with all his might, but Kim Ju-Hyeok didn't hear him.
Kim Ju-Hyeok silently searched his pockets and stole his phone.
"Oh, lucky~. It's a fingerprint one. Nice."
Kim Ju-Hyeok borrowed his finger to open the lock screen. Then he changed the security setting to his fingerprint and called out to Hyun-Ah and Soo-Hyun.
"Okay. Changed it."
Almond nodded and the other two dragged him away.
"Good. You're up for music execution."
Music execution? The student didn't know what that was, but it scared him. Clearly, it wasn't good.
"Uh! Uuh!"
Thud!
He tried to jump like a fish, but it was futile. Soon, they lifted him onto a cart and took him to the music room.
Almond looked at him being dragged away and focused back on the phone. He had to write a message in the group chat.
[Swapped guard duty]
[Hey, Jang Seong-Soo, are you coming?]
[He must have just left, right?]
Almond picked up Jang Seong-Soo's phone and asked the audience.
"What should I say now?"
— What?
— Didn't you think of something?
— ? lol
Hyun-Ah only told him to make an excuse. She didn't tell him what to say.
[Jang Seong-Soo?]
[He’s not coming?]
He finally thought of something after a few urging messages.
"Oh."
Almond quickly moved his thumbs and seemed to have thought of a good excuse.
[My tummy is killing me. I'm in the bathroom.]
— Toilet issue lol
— Bathroom school lol
— Always using that excuse lol lol!