Episode 12 Escape (1)
‘Am I dead in this world? Or is it still alive somewhere? ‘What happens if we meet each other?’
Numerous thoughts came to Kangmin’s mind.
I briefly thought of movies and novels related to parallel worlds, but in the end, those were just the writer or director’s imagination.
‘In the end, I have no choice but to find out for myself?’
I wanted to find out for myself, but I didn’t know where to start. Still, it was very important to Kang Min.
‘There are people who are dead in the real world but alive in the parallel world!’
I couldn’t help but think of my parents. Kangmin was willing to do anything if he could see them again.
‘I should have taken a closer look at it at home.’
If my parents were alive, their traces would definitely remain somewhere in the house.
‘I want to go home right now, but… … .’
Kangmin stood up and looked outside the veranda. He saw numerous zombies moving around.
The streets were full of zombies. Huge ‘muscle zombies’ were also seen moving among the zombies.
‘It will be impossible to go home.’
To get home, you had to cross an eight-lane road, which was swarming with thousands and thousands of zombies.
It was impossible to get through those zombies and get to the house 3km away.
But it couldn’t be here.
There was no food right away. I left all my food at home. All I brought was a bottle of water.
Kangmin picked up the sports bag placed on the sofa. He was heavy.
If I were to return to reality, these were precious metals that would have cost me hundreds of millions of won, but they were of no use now. What was needed was food.
‘Maybe Han Min-joo has some kind of solution?’
As soon as Han Min-ju arrived, he went into the master bedroom and did not come out.
Kangmin listened to the door of the master bedroom just in case. The voice of democracy was heard.
Minju seemed to be having a conversation with someone.
‘call? No, of course cell phones won’t work, so is it a walkie-talkie?’
Although the soundproofing was not good, I could hear voices quite clearly.
‘base? ‘The base is around here!’
I thought maybe I could survive. But soon expectations were dashed. Because the Democratic Party rejected it.
‘why not!’
It was frustrating.
‘Even if a person is nice, he or she is oily!’
Minjoo prioritized the lives of others over his own.
‘If it were me, I would have asked you to save me right away.’
It was frustrating, but when I thought about it, I felt like I was able to survive because of my democratic nature.
‘But if you have that kind of personality, why did you take drugs? I guess I’ll never do it.’
I was curious, but I couldn’t ask why he did drugs.
Before I knew it, Minjoo’s voice could no longer be heard in the living room. It seemed like communication was over.
Kangmin quickly sat down on the sofa again.
Minju came out of the living room, glanced at Kangmin, then went to the veranda and looked around. As she walked to the side, she thought she was looking at a high school playground, not a road.
‘Do you see that from here?’
If it were real, I would have assured you that you would never see it, but this was not a world where common sense prevailed.
“driving me crazy. What should I do next?”
Minju was seen shaking with a despairing expression on her face.
‘Isn’t it difficult? ‘So did I.’
Kang-min took out a bottle of water from his bag and handed it to Min-ju.
“Would you like to talk about that? “How will we survive in the future?”
* * *
Minjoo shook his head and responded to Kangmin’s words.
“Surviving? “Wrong.”
Kangmin frowned. This is because, considering his democratic personality, he thought he would try to survive somehow.
“Are you already giving up without even trying something?”
Minju raised his eyebrows and said.
“give up? “This isn’t giving up, it’s a conclusion!”
“What is the conclusion?”
Minju said, pointing to the street outside the veranda.
“So far, many people have tried to escape this situation, but there has been only one conclusion.”
Minju said, taking a step closer to Kangmin.
“If you are surrounded by zombies, you will definitely die!”
Kang Min also spoke without giving up.
“So you came to save me without any plan?”
Minjoo, who was frustrated by Kangmin’s words, opened the cap of the bottled water, took a sip, and answered.
“That’s right, there was a solution. Originally, I was going to take you and take you straight to our base. But the muscle zombies showed up and everything went awry.”
When Minju put pressure on his hand, the bottle of water crumbled.
“I also want my life… … .”
Min-joo spoke loudly and then stopped.
The conversation didn’t continue, but Kangmin seemed to know what she wanted to say.
‘Everyone’s life is precious.’
Minju said in a bitter voice.
“I’m sorry for being loud. “I’m tired, so I’ll get some rest.”
Minju went into the living room.
Only then did Kang Min realize what had happened.
‘You came to this officetel because you saw me being chased by muscle zombies!’
If he had given up on saving himself, he could have lived alone, but he chose to go into the officetel and save himself.
‘driving me crazy.’
Kangmin became frustrated and ran his hands through his hair.
I felt grateful and sorry for Minjoo.
However, this did not mean that I agreed with Minjoo’s words.
‘There must be a way somehow.’
Kangmin did not give up and looked at what he had.
‘30 points are earned by killing regular zombies and muscle zombies. Adding up the remaining points, a total of 31 points. A bottle of water. Where is the axe?’
Kang-min remembered that he left his ax on the stairs.
‘If you do this, you don’t have a weapon. ‘Is there a solution to the shield skill?’
Kangmin opened the status window and checked the ‘Shield’ skill information.
Level 3: Summon 2 shields (Durability 200) – 20 points.
Level 4: Summon 2 shields (durability 300) – 50 points.
Level 5: Summon 3 shields (durability 300) – 100 points.
The current shield skill was level 3.
The number of points required to level the shield to level 4 is 50 points. 31 points were not enough.
‘The problem is that even if you make it to level 4, you won’t be able to escape from here.’
Even if I raised it to level 9, the highest level, there was no way to see it.
‘What do we do?’
I thought about it until the sun set outside the window, but I couldn’t come up with an answer. I thought I knew why Minjoo said there was no way.
Kangmin became frustrated and went into a small room. When I looked out the window, I saw houses and ‘Opae Mountain’ not far away.
‘I think I can survive just by going up to Mt. Opae.’
The distance wasn’t far. Approximately 300m. But there was no way to get there.
‘I don’t know if there are stepping stones in the sky.’
Kangmin smiled bitterly and closed the window.
It was then.
‘Stepping stones?’
For a moment, Kangmin’s eyes sparkled.
* * *
Kang Min developed a hypothesis.
‘If I put a shield in the sky, wouldn’t I be able to cross?’
Kang Min immediately summoned the shield.
Two shields appeared 1m in front of Kangmin’s body.
Kangmin reached for his shield. His hand passed through the shield.
‘good. If you think you won’t pass this time!’
Kang Min looked at the shield and ordered not to let it pass. The shield sparkled slightly.
When Kang Min stretched out his hand, he touched the shield.
‘it’s okay!’
Kang Min adjusted the shield and placed it on the floor. It wasn’t really on the floor. He placed the shield about 10 cm above the floor.
A shield floated in the air. Kangmin stepped onto the shield with a nervous expression. Kangmin’s body rose 10cm above.
“it’s okay!”
Kangmin clenched his fists.
Kangmin placed another shield 1m in front of him. He was able to stretch out his feet and move around. However, 1m was too wide, so we adjusted the width to about 60cm.
At first, moving the shield was not easy, but after practicing for about an hour, Kangmin was able to move back and forth across the entire small room.
‘I can move with this!’
Of course, in this state, I could only move alone.
For two people to stand on shields and move with one shield, they had to have at least three shields.
Kangmin immediately came out to the living room and knocked on the master bedroom.
“What’s going on?”
The powerless voice of democracy was heard.
“I have something to say.”
“What do you want to say?”
“I need to get an axe. Help me.”
The ax was between the first and second floors.
The master bedroom door opened with a ‘click’. I saw Minjoo’s face with bloodshot eyes.
“Why the axe? “Are you going to die fighting zombies?”
Minju said bluntly.
“No, there is a way for us to survive here.”
Minjoo shook his head vigorously before answering.
“no way. Are you going to kill all the zombies in this officetel and set up barricades to prevent them from entering the first floor? I’m sorry, but that’s what the people at this officetel already did. “They are all dead now.”
Looking at Minjoo’s expression, it seemed like there was some story behind this officetel.
Kangmin shook his head.
“That’s not what I’m talking about. Okay, I’ll show you.”
Kangmin summoned a shield in his mind. Two shields appeared in the living room in front of the master bedroom.
“Look at me.”
Kangmin started walking on the shield floating in the air. When Kang Min took a step forward, the shield behind him disappeared and appeared in front, becoming a stepping stone.
Minjoo’s eyes widened when he saw that.
“Walking on air?”
“Okay, with this I will get out of here with you.”
“uh… How, how can this be? “The shield had this ability?”
“It’s a change of thinking. And does it matter? What’s important now is that we can get out of here. “Come up here and have a look.”
When Kang-min gestured, Min-ju approached and carefully stood on the shield.
I was afraid that it might fall because it was a transparent shield, but surprisingly, the shield seemed to be solid.
“This won’t fall off, right?”
Minju asked with wide eyes.
“don’t worry. “It’s solid.”
Kangmin was just finishing his answer. A message appeared in front of me.
Kangmin’s eyes wavered. When someone other than himself uses the shield, its durability is reduced by 1 per second.
The current durability of the shield was 200. In other words, the only time it could be used was 200 seconds. It took a little over 3 minutes per shield.
‘With two shields, about 7 minutes would be the limit.’
The distance to Opae Mountain was about 300m. If it had been on the ground, 1 minute would have been enough time instead of 7, but 7 minutes seemed to be not enough for walking in the air.
“Great. “You can get away with this.”
Minju lowered the shield and said with a bright smile.
“What do you mean ‘you’? What are you talking about? “I didn’t show it to you so I could get out on my own.”
“you’re stupid? There are only two shields, right? Then only one person can move!”
Min-joo, who spoke loudly, approached Kang-min and tapped him on the shoulder.
“I’m sorry for yelling. “I’m fine, you can survive.”
He said he was okay, but it was written on his face that he wasn’t okay.
“Do not be ridiculous. I will definitely go with you. “I can’t live with debt either.”
Minjoo chuckled when he heard that he couldn’t live with debt. That was what he said to Kangmin.
“You look a little different? “I thought you were just like other men.”
“You will see that things are more different in the future. So please help me.”
“what?”
“I told you earlier. “Help me get the axe.”
* * *
“Now!”
Kangmin shouted. Democracy was already moving.
There were three zombies in the hallway, but Minju rushed in without hesitation and swung his knife.
– Snip.
Minju’s head was cut off with a single slash of the zombie in the middle. The remaining two zombies rushed towards Minjoo, but could not move because of the shield.
Minju moved his body and cut off the head of the zombie on the left.
When Minju turned around, Kangmin lowered the shield of the right zombie he was blocking. When the upper part of her neck was empty, Minju swung his knife towards her neck.
– Snip.
In an instant, three zombies fell. It was only a few seconds.
‘Does this mean that my contribution will be recognized even if I didn’t kill it myself?’
Min-joo wiped the blood off the knife and approached Kang-min.
“Your skills are truly amazing. “I haven’t dealt with zombies this easily since they appeared.”
Kangmin also acknowledged that.
“I think I get along well with you.”
Minjoo doesn’t want to admit it, but he has no choice but to admit it.
“You’re like a tank and I’m a dealer?”
“huh? “I guess you’ve played some games?”
Minju smiled and answered.
“I was also a game model once. “I reached max level in that game.”
Minjoo’s expression became vague as if he was thinking about the past.
Minju shook his head and said after a while.
“I think the 5th floor has been taken care of now. Are you going down further?”
Hearing Minju’s words, Kangmin looked at the window at the end of the hallway. The sunset was setting.
Fighting zombies in the dark without light was difficult.
“No, let’s do the rest tomorrow.”
The two returned to room 503 again.
As soon as Minju came in, he pulled out the living room sofa. Minju took something out from behind the sofa, and it turned out to be two ‘energy bars.’
“Take this. “It’s the last emergency food.”
Minju sat on the sofa and ate an energy bar with water.
Kangmin, who had only eaten ramen in the early morning, had been hungry since earlier.
Kangmin immediately opened the energy bar. It was a month past its expiration date, but I felt good about it now.
Kangmin sat on the edge of the sofa and put an energy bar in his mouth.
“really… “What is your name?”
When I thought about it, I realized that Kangmin didn’t tell me his name.
‘Are you here to save the life of someone whose name you don’t even know? Really, there are degrees of goodness.’
Kangmin couldn’t even imagine how much the people around him had tormented someone like that to the point of committing suicide.
“Choi Kang-min.”
“Choi Kang-min? “That’s a cool name.”
Min-joo said that and didn’t say anything until he finished eating the energy bar.
Minju, who had even sucked the powder off her hands, asked as she passed by.
“But your shield skill, you stole it from Jinho Bang, right?”
Kangmin was surprised and glared at Minjoo.
“Why are you so surprised? “Shield skills are not common, and stealing skills from dead people is natural.”
At that moment, Kangmin almost spit out the energy bar that was in his mouth.
‘Is it natural to steal a dead person’s technology? So, does that mean everyone else is like that too?’
When Kang-min could not speak, Min-ju continued to speak.
“no way? Is this the first time you know that you can kill people and steal technology? Nonsense!”
Instead, Minjoo, who looked surprised, shouted as if he had finally remembered something.
“That’s right, that was the first time you killed someone. Still doesn’t make sense? If you haven’t lived alone until now, there’s no way you wouldn’t know this. Surely you… “Have you been alone all this time?”
“ah… no.”
Kangmin answered urgently.
“But you don’t know this?”
Min-joo looked at Kang-min with an expression of disbelief. I hoped for an answer from Kangmin, but Kangmin never answered.
“Okay, if you don’t want to answer, I have no choice. But tell me one thing. “Can you really make three shields?”
“huh.”
“How can you be so sure? “Even if you are a genius who created two shields in one day, that is impossible.”
While talking with Min-joo, Kang-min realized that his abilities were special.
They had no ‘points’. There was nothing to gain from killing zombies.
However, there was ‘talent’. People with outstanding talent were able to level up their skills.
Such a person was called a ‘genius’.
Min-joo thought Kang-min was such a ‘genius’. He heard that in one day he had raised his skill level to 3.
Until now, Minjoo had only seen one person with this kind of talent.
But now Kangmin said he would raise the skill level to 5. So he said he would make three shields.
To be honest, he cooperated because it was the only chance he had of survival, but Min-joo didn’t think Kang-min would do it.
But Minjoo’s thinking turned out to be wrong.
* * *
“oh my god.”
Two days have passed. At that moment when he was so hungry that he no longer had the strength to move, Minju opened his mouth.
This was because Kang Min hit the last zombie on the second floor with an ax and created three shields.
“Minjoo, let’s go. “To where your friends are.”
