Chapter 24
Mo Haein didn’t answer.
Maybe I’d been too vague. I made it crystal clear.
"I’m asking you to turn me into a zombie."
Finally, Mo Haein’s lips parted. But instead of a reply, she let out a long sigh.
I’d expected that reaction. I pressed on.
"Zombies don’t attack preemptively. That goes for people in the middle of zombification too. Once three hours pass after infection, the System classifies you as a zombie."
I’d learned this from doing every crazy thing imaginable to speed-clear the game.
An infected Player won’t be attacked by zombies as long as they don’t strike first.
The catch was that there was no cure — so it was only viable right before reaching the ending.
I’d even done multiple playthroughs where I deliberately got bitten before the finale.
This is the best option right now.
It would prevent Mo Haein from attacking her own teammates, and since I was the weakest link, it also meant I could avoid the boss zombie. A solid plan.
I’d repair the generator with Mo Haein while Kwak Hanmuk handled the boss zombie.
Kwak Hanmuk listened quietly to my explanation, then asked calmly.
"So we ask the Lieutenant Colonel to take the boss, and you and I do the repairs?"
"We need the delivery items urgently, and the emergency generator could get damaged."
Je Hyun-oh’s attacks had a wide area of effect.
Since the boss fight would happen right next to the generator, a stray shot could destroy the machinery.
For similar reasons, we couldn’t leave the repairs to Je Hyun-oh either. When it came to aggression, he was in a league of his own.
There was no way he’d sit still with a boss zombie lurking nearby.
The odds of him blowing up the entire underground section were roughly one hundred percent.
"Hmmmm..."
Kwak Hanmuk nodded deeply, as if he fully understood.
When Mo Haein shot him an uneasy look, he said exactly what she didn’t want to hear.
"Then I should go zombie too."
"Kwak Hanmuk!"
"What? It’s a solid plan."
Kwak Hanmuk nonchalantly twisted the knife in her gut.
"If the whole TRA special team turns into infected, they won’t be able to execute us. They can’t afford to lose two team leaders at once, can they?"
"That’s nonsense...!"
"You can’t die."
Mo Haein froze. She dropped her head low.
After a long silence, she called out to me like she was talking to herself.
"...Trainee."
"Yes."
"If we can’t get the True Ending—"
"We will. Yi Ga-on confirmed she can produce the vaccine within three days as long as the power supply is stable."
"..."
Mo Haein had two days left.
She’d have to spend about a day as a zombie, whether we liked it or not.
We could keep her under control for a day, but any longer than that wouldn’t be good for her either.
You can’t stay as a zombie too long.
Because of the nature of zombies — they don’t feel pain. If she lost her reason, she might mutilate her own body without realizing it.
Even if the True Ending cured the infection, damaged bodies didn’t regenerate.
My goal was to produce both the vaccine and the cure within three days and clear DeZonDeal.
"Captain. Trust me on this."
"You’re as crazy as Kwak Hanmuk."
"Thank you."
"That wasn’t a compliment."
"Sorry."
I corrected myself quickly, and Mo Haein let out a short laugh. Finally, she turned to Je Hyun-oh.
"Lieutenant Colonel."
The final decision was his. Je Hyun-oh stared at me in silence.
I tensed up naturally.
He was unpredictable — and with his goggles and gas mask hiding his face, I couldn’t read his expression at all.
Je Hyun-oh was exactly the kind of person who might suddenly smash me into pieces with his metal hand without warning.
I was bracing myself for whatever emoticon he’d flash when his voice came through.
"Goyo."
Whenever Je Hyun-oh started a sentence by calling my name, it had never led to anything good.
I waited for what came next.
"If you wanted to die, you should’ve just said so."
His metal hand spread wide. The sharp tips glinted in the early morning light.
"I could’ve done it for you."
"I! I absolutely want to live."
At my quick response, Je Hyun-oh clacked his metal fingers together.
I swallowed dryly as he tapped his digits against each other.
His voice, like scraping the bottom of an abyss, drilled into my eardrums.
"Don’t any of you die while I’m gone."
Kwak Hanmuk, Mo Haein, and I were reflected in his black goggles.
I could feel murderous intent radiating from him as he kept clacking his hand. It was aimed at the Trial. At the Adaptees.
"I went through the trouble of not killing you, keeping you alive..."
It wasn’t an empty threat. No one would mistake Je Hyun-oh’s words for a bluff.
"We’ll manage."
"We’ll be careful."
But the Captains answered with practiced nonchalance, as if they’d already sworn to die only by Je Hyun-oh’s hand.
Something about their replies made me think Je Hyun-oh might have smiled briefly.
Of course, since his face was completely hidden, it was just a guess.
"Goyo. Tell me what to do."
"I’ll organize the item list and locations for you to farm. One of the items is zombie blood — not from Dead Zombies, but regular zombie blood."
I scribbled the list on paper and pen I’d brought from the lab, and also sent him a Message.
I’ll send you the list through the System window too.
Given his physical structure, checking paper would be inconvenient.
I also had another motive: showing him how useful I could be.
Please don’t kill me.
If I proved my worth now, maybe he’d spare me when he eventually left DeZonDeal.
Je Hyun-oh took the item list and the blood collection kit I’d brought from the lab, then headed for the emergency stairs.
The fifth floor, where the lab was located, had windows that couldn’t be opened, so he’d need to go up to the rooftop to fly out.
Kwak Hanmuk offered to open the door for him and followed along to see him off.
Right before opening the emergency stairwell door, Je Hyun-oh looked back at me.
~
~
What the hell was that now.
I told myself not to get caught up in Je Hyun-oh’s emoticons, but every time a new one appeared on his goggles, I ended up puzzling over its meaning.
The wave symbol probably meant he’d be back quickly.
And while I was still deliberating, Je Hyun-oh disappeared into the stairwell.
Kwak Hanmuk went with him, leaving me alone with Mo Haein for a moment.
We sat down in a corner of the hallway.
"Should I let you bite me before Captain Kwak gets back?"
At my suggestion, Mo Haein let out a disbelieving laugh and grabbed my arm.
"Don’t regret this, Trainee. I’m going to bite down hard."
"...Ah, could you use this hand instead?"
"Aren’t you right-handed?"
I smiled sheepishly at her concern. Fortunately, she switched hands without protest.
She gripped my forearm and met my eyes.
"Here I go."
Mo Haein opened her mouth. Her neat teeth had sharpened at the tips.
Then she bit down gently. The sensation of her teeth touching my skin was ticklish.
When I flinched, she quickly pulled away.
"Does it hurt?"
I shook my head.
"Just ticklish. I’m fine."
"Okay."
She took a breath, then brought her lips back to my forearm.
And this time, without warning, she bit down.
CRUNCH. The sound of flesh being pierced rang clear.
At the same time, my heart hammered wildly.
Thump, thump — the pulse pounded in my ears like my heart was beating right next to my eardrums.
My vision darkened, and the System window appeared.
You have been infected!
Zombification in progress. (Current zombification progress: 10%)
The fever hit immediately — or at least, that’s what it felt like. Heat radiated from my body.
It really was different from the game. The process of becoming a zombie wasn’t easy.
I breathed calmly and waited for my vision to return.
Fortunately, the world brightened again quickly.
But the pain in my forearm was still there.
Mo Haein was still biting my arm, breathing raggedly. She was fighting the urge to tear off the flesh. The veins standing out on her neck were visible.
"Captain."
"Hnngh... huuuh..."
"Captain Mo. It’s okay. Take your time."
"Nngh..."
She squeezed her eyes shut. A short groan escaped her, and then — very, very slowly — she opened her mouth.
With a wet sound, Mo Haein pulled away from my arm.
Her mouth was covered in blood. She muttered, her voice thick with self-loathing.
"I almost actually ate you..."
"You did well."
I staunched the bleeding and quickly moved away from her. If I stayed close, she might actually take a bite.
I was clumsily wrapping a bandage around myself when Kwak Hanmuk appeared.
"What, already bit?"
He sauntered over and held out his arm to Mo Haein. "Me too."
"AAARGH!"
Kwak Hanmuk screamed. Mo Haein had bitten down without mercy, hard and fast.
Apparently it really hurt — Kwak Hanmuk’s eyes welled up as he whined.
"Captain Mo... that fucking hurts..."
"Drama queen."
Mo Haein licked her bloody lips and shot back curtly. Then she looked at me steadily.
"...I’ll go bandage up."
I quietly retreated further into the corner.
Before entering the underground section, I stopped by to see Yi Ga-on.
She tried to scream the moment she saw me, so I quickly said.
"I got bitten on purpose."
"..."
Yi Ga-on stared at me, speechless, then lowered her voice to a shout.
"Why would you do that!"
I explained it was to avoid zombie attacks.
And before she could really get angry, I offered a bribe.
"Here."
"This is..."
It was the portable cassette tape player Kwak Hanmuk had given me.
I remembered Yi Ga-on complaining to Yi Se-on in the game that she wanted to listen to music, so I’d brought it along.
Since she was an NPC of this place, listening to music through a Player shouldn’t cause any problems.
"You might get bored during your breaks."
Yi Ga-on clutched the portable player tightly. Her knuckles went white, her hand trembling.
"If Roasted Chestnut doesn’t come back..."
She made a terrifying threat.
"I’ll release every virus in the lab."
"I... I’d rather you didn’t."
"Then come back quickly."
"Yes. I’ll be going."
If Tak Jucheol and Paeng Sangdo found out I’d been bitten, it would be a headache. I needed to keep it a secret from them for now, so I finished my greeting and disappeared.
But that wasn’t the real reason I’d fled.
It was the thought that had surfaced in my mind.
I wanted to bite Yi Ga-on.
I could still suppress it, but the moment that thought crossed my mind, I panicked — worried I might slip up — and got out of there.
The aggression zombies showed toward humans was an instinct, like hunger.
So this is the zombie heart.
A zombie’s state of mind — something I’d never been able to feel in the game.
My heart pounding slightly, I pushed open the emergency stairwell door.
"You’re here?"
Mo Haein, who’d been sitting on the stairs, stood up.
Kwak Hanmuk, who’d been leaning against the wall, straightened up too.
He was carrying a small sling bag diagonally — inside were the items I’d asked him to bring.
The three zombies descended the stairs.
Emergency stairwells had fewer zombie spawns, but they weren’t safe zones.
Starting from the second-floor landing, which Mo Haein and Kwak Hanmuk hadn’t used, zombies appeared.
We passed them quietly and soon reached the first basement level.
The stairs leading to the second basement were blocked by rubble, so we’d have to go through the first basement interior to reach B2.
I planned to use the freight elevator.
Normally, you had to struggle through ventilation ducts, but now that I was a zombie, I could use the elevator.
Kwak Hanmuk opened the door and stepped inside first, letting out a low whistle.
"Oh, a cafeteria."
The first basement emergency stairs opened into a cafeteria. Since we were zombies now, it seemed like an easy enough area to push through.
"We could farm supplies from the cafeteria while we progress. Let’s take it slow and check other areas too. There’s a freight elevator connected to the second basement. Inside that elevator—"
Zzt — a noise crackled.
I stopped mid-sentence and looked around.
That came from the PA speakers, didn’t it?
I was wondering if I’d misheard when—
WHEEEEEOOOOM—!
A deafening siren started blaring.
The zombies that had been dormant in the cafeteria area all opened their eyes at once and rose.
Through the growls and groans of the zombies, a recorded female voice cut through the underground section.
An emergency warning broadcast, automatically triggered.
"Attention. All researchers must evacuate the laboratory immediately. Current emergency generator output is below 3%. Estimated remaining power: 15 minutes."
Kwak Hanmuk and Mo Haein both looked at me.
The broadcast continued.
"After 15 minutes, isolation shutters will activate across all sectors, sealing the building. I repeat. All researchers must evacuate—"
"Captains."
I gave them the new objective.
"We need to repair the emergency generator within the next fifteen minutes."