Apocalypse Tyrant

One Among the Flock (3)

Basement floor 1 of the Central Library, Banseok University, Seoul.

Three light sources calmly illuminate the basement floor 1 covered in darkness.

“With this we’ve checked all the doors connected to basement floor 1. It seems most of the zombies have been cleared too.”

Tok—! Todok—!

A flashlight received from the 2nd floor library camp in one hand and fingers quickly recording something on a smartphone in the other hand.

I nodded to Ko Janghun who was quickly updating situations to check on the smartphone while reporting to me.

“Good. It’s going very smoothly.”
“…You seem to be in a good mood?”

Ko Janghun’s question heard while I was nodding my head freely and illuminating ahead with the flashlight.

I shrugged my shoulders and asked back.

“Do I?”
“Yes. Did something good happen?”
“…Something good, huh.”

There is.

[Strength: 20]

Stat point ’20’ finally achieved while smashing the remaining zombies in basement floor 1.

And right after achieving Strength stat ’20’, no status window message informed me of any changes.

In other words, it meant I could still allocate stats by consuming only 5 remaining points even in the stat point 20 range.

I had been a bit nervous that the points needed to allocate stats might increase from 5 points, but there’s probably no better news for me right now than this.

I could continue the same growth as now with 5 remaining points at least until stat point ’30’.

“Well, should we stop here for today?”
“Uh— I’m not sure about other places, but the leftmost passage directly connecting basement floor 1 to the ground floor doesn’t seem completely safe yet…”
“I know. That’s why we roughly blocked it off with the overflowing lockers in basement floor 1.”

And—

I smiled brightly and continued speaking to Ko Janghun who was carefully expressing his opinion.

“We need to continue searching the extremely dangerous basement floor 1 now, but it would be a bit awkward if it looked too safe. A long tail eventually gets stepped on.”

There were still quite a few things to do while avoiding the eyes of the 2nd floor library camp.

Before that, I should avoid throwing any potential hints just in case.

Ko Janghun who quietly nodded his head put away his smartphone and illuminated the path with the flashlight.

Trudge— Trudge—

The quiet basement floor 1 where only Ko Janghun’s footsteps echoed.

The rustling— sound gradually gets closer as we pass by large sofas and round computers.

Ko Janghun’s flashlight illuminates the corner of the store past the store door.

The two minions who had stopped their actions right in the middle of hurriedly grabbing and eating food there.

Park Woojin and Kim Minjun realizing I had come and quickly withdrawing their hands that had been grabbing food.

“There’s no one taking food away from you, why are you eating so hurriedly.”

I approached them with a gentle smile towards their trembling pupils.

Ting—!

The metal pipe making a small vibrating sound as I put it down on the floor while sitting next to them.

Their completely frozen bodies flinched once, then froze again without moving like ice.

“Eat comfortably.”

Nothing happened while I was gone, right?

The two minions showing no reaction at all to my gently thrown words.

I frowned slightly while looking at them like that and muttered.

“Not eating and not answering either.”

This is a waste of time…

And wasting time—

“Considerably hurts teamw—”
“N-nothing happened! Nothing happened at all!”

Park Woojin hurriedly answering while having a fit at my words.

Kim Minjun next to him hurriedly started tearing and eating beef jerky again as if to show me.

When I smiled brightly— at that sight, the two minions started randomly shoveling food again while watching me.

“Good. You finished everything I told you to do before eating, right?”
“O-of course! We pa-packed the food bag with mainly frozen foods as appropriate.”
“Nice. The teamwork is really good.”

This is a team.

The minions nodding their heads enthusiastically like twins at the satisfactory answer.

After confirming the frozen foods overflowing in the freezer that no longer freezes at all were packed in the minions’ food bag, I gestured to the minions with my eyes.

“What are you doing. You should quickly eat everything you want to eat before going up.”
“…Y-yes sir! Thank you!”

Perhaps thanks to the continuous gentle responses, the minions were now quite mildly even giving thanks.

But despite this gentle conversation, I secretly clicked my tongue at the status window not changing from ‘surrender’ to ‘submission’.

The difference between those two minions and Ko Janghun.

The biggest part of that was the lack of a ‘positive factor’.

A positive factor they gain from submitting to me.

Even though I was showing consistently gentle treatment to create that factor, the status window still hadn’t budged at all.

Ko Janghun’s status window had clearly shaken right away even if I just threw a few words of small comfort.

The more I feel while managing those two minions again—

Despite being the very first survivor I met, Ko Janghun was quite—

A very, very unusual case that couldn’t be denied.

I turned my gaze to Ko Janghun who was still checking each store shelf one by one with the flashlight.

Ko Janghun matching his gaze to me after noticing my gaze and inputting something on his smartphone.

“Hehe— I was checking what’s in the store and what their expiration dates are.”

Ko Janghun continuing to speak while grinning hehe— with eyes slit in a straight line.

“Shouldn’t I prepare things like this in advance to make your work easier, hehe.”

Really—

What an unusual bastard.

Ko Janghun who had been watching me smile satisfactorily while looking at him hurriedly approached me.

Ko Janghun carefully bowing his head to me as if intending to say something secret.

“By the way, a few snacks disappeared from the food bag yesterday.”

Sweet words whispered into my ear as if knowing exactly what I wanted.

I nodded my head again with a satisfied smile at the news I had been waiting for.

Well, the best way to search for something suspicious is—

To search when that suspicious person is not there.

The moment we went down to basement floor 1 must have been the perfect timing to search the suspicious black bag Ko Janghun was carrying.

And the considerable amount of food inside that bag.

Even if not all of it, seeing that must have been a temptation that someone’s eyes couldn’t help but turn at.

“By the way— There’s no way they just let it slide.”

A muttered grumbling to the two minions while watching Ko Janghun who had started thoroughly inspecting the store again.

I continued speaking to the two minions who straightened their posture while stopping mid-bite.

“Wasn’t there anyone interrogating you in detail yesterday?”
“…Y-yes, Yeri noona— I mean, Ku Yeri asked in detail but there was no problem at all!”

Kim Minjun answering while hurriedly swallowing food.

I nodded my head slightly at the expression containing 100% sincerity as if really asking me to believe him.

Well, it was hard to find any particularly awkward parts in what happened yesterday.

While packing food, Sim Yuhan was bitten by a zombie that hadn’t been drawn by the aggro and we stopped packing food and barely escaped.

Then we dealt with Sim Yuhan who had turned into a zombie after being bitten and returned to the 2nd floor.

A plausible scenario with no notable flaws visible.

Moreover, it was a situation where they couldn’t doubt even if they wanted to with two people they firmly believed were allies as witnesses.

As far as they were concerned, there was absolutely no reason for those two minions to lie crazily.

Especially since they had returned with bodies showing no signs of being hit or threatened by someone at all.

“Ko-ja. But thinking about it, isn’t it really absurd?”
“Yes, what is?”

I started a conversation with Ko Janghun as if for the two minions to hear.

“Even though that chaos happened yesterday, only us four are in basement floor 1 now.”
“Who would volunteer for the search team when even that big guy Sim Yuhan died? It’s just making the bastards who went once sacrifice again.”

Park Woojin and Kim Minjun’s faces naturally darkened at the conversation continuing like clockwork.

“The vice president who was openly crying until we went down because his friend died, and the camp people who stayed quiet without saying anything when we said we’d go down again.”

Thinking about it, is there any greater silent pressure than this?

“They just openly pushed Woojin and Minjun’s backs to go down.”

Park Woojin and Kim Minjun lowering their gazes more deeply at Ko Janghun’s eye contact.

Thud—!

When I pushed Park Woojin’s shoulder thud— as he bowed his head deeply, Park Woojin pushed Kim Minjun’s shoulder like dominoes.

The two minions raising their heads and looking at me simultaneously.

“So don’t feel guilty and eat as much as you want. Anyway, the food packed in that bag will be shared with all the people up there like some communism.”

You do the hard work, but you share the food with the bastards who pushed your backs up there.

They slightly avoided my eyes as if feeling resistance to the words cursing the 2nd floor camp people.

However, their ears pricked up— knowingly or unknowingly couldn’t escape my sight.

I squatted in front of them and patted their shoulders thud— thud— with both arms.

“I’ll take all responsibility so don’t worry about anything. As long as you don’t hurt teamwork, we’re one team from now on forever.”

Park Woojin and Kim Minjun quietly listening to my words.

“While I kill zombie bastards, you and Janghun do the things I couldn’t do from a safe place instead.”

While I gather points by killing zombie bastards.

“Like now.”

Thud—!

Park Woojin and Kim Minjun meeting my eyes as they raised their heads at my hand gesture patting once more.

“Safely.”

Their heads nodded slightly at the words I recited like a spell.

“What are we?”
“…Team.”

…We’re a team.

“What shouldn’t we hurt?”

Their lips opening and closing repeatedly like a final conscience.

However, their lips opened simultaneously at my appearance patiently waiting.

“…Teamwork.”
“Good.”

Thud—!

I stood up while patting their shoulders thud— one last time.

“Ko-ja, let’s go to that passage leading to the ground floor you mentioned earlier.”

To prevent that stench and disaster from happening on the Humanities Building rooftop, we needed to gather and dispose of the zombie corpses scattered around basement floor 1.

And while we’re at it—

I smiled slightly while making a gesture of applying something to my face.

The two minions hurriedly standing up and packing the food bag and Ko Janghun approaching me.

There’s a proposition that works unconditionally in any relationship.

In any relationship—

“If we go up like this, won’t our secret be too obvious?”

Secrets make that relationship special.

“I’m sorry. Z-zombie bastards kept popping out from somewhere.”
“…It’s okay. You guys did the hard work.”

Small tools covered in blood and black bloodstains spreading on clothing hems.

I moved my steps towards our temporary dwelling while watching the two minions holding out the not very satisfactory food bag to Ku Yeri.

Two bookshelves located exactly opposite the 2nd floor library camp.

Ko Janghun who hurriedly entered through that gap checked the black bag first.

“…Huh.”

Ko Janghun inhaling slightly in surprise as soon as he checked the bag.

Ko Janghun letting out a hollow laugh showed me the inside of the black bag.

Our food bag completely empty, contrary to Ko Janghun’s words that only a few snacks had disappeared.

In other words, it meant there had been one more theft at the point when we went down to basement floor 1.

“…”

I smiled softly at the perfect news I had been waiting for.

Ko Janghun’s urgent footsteps following me as I immediately moved my steps.

Trudge— Trudge— Trudge— Trudge—

He hurriedly followed behind me as I walked without controlling my speed, more like small jumps rather than walking.

The center of the camp I returned to not even 1 minute after going back to the temporary dwelling.

I smiled slightly while looking at the camp people gathered here and there as if nothing was wrong.

Clearly according to the two minions’ words, quite a lot of people had cried sorrowfully yesterday.

It was the day someone died in the library camp after a truly long time—

And last night, the light that had brightly illuminated the library until now disappeared.

Perhaps they belatedly realized not on the first day of the zombie apocalypse, but right last night.

That the world was ending.

Maybe they only felt it for real after the electricity and water they had taken for granted were cut off.

And at such a moment,

Very naturally— their survival instinct would have swelled enormously.

They couldn’t feel it in the times when everyone was struggling for food together, but now that even a little food was placed in their hands, their thoughts would be very different.

The ending world.

Cut off electricity and water.

Scarce and scarce food.

Meanwhile, the very small piece of snack that came into their hands—

Rather intensifies their greed and instincts even more.

“An Sejun!”

A loud voice enough to focus everyone’s attention.

An Sejun stopped his steps with a disgruntled face at my call.

An Sejun approaching while avoiding my eyes at my gesture to come closer with a gentle smile.

“Yes, Sejun. Nothing happened, right?”
“…Y-yes. Nothing happened.”

A gaze continuously looking at the floor rather than my eyes as if feeling guilty about something.

I lowered my head slightly towards An Sejun and whispered.

“Did you eat the energy bar I gave you yesterday well?”
“…Yes.”

There were countless tremors contained in that single syllable.

“Was it Seri, that girlfriend? Did you eat it together with Seri?”
“…No. Just me alone.”
“I see?”

Then, that means the only person I gave food to was you.

An Sejun flinching at the words I whispered while bowing my head more deeply to him.

I stared intently into his eyes and continued speaking.

“Then why is my food bag all emptied out?”

Hm?

An Sejun tightly closing his trembling lips at my gentle question.

I smiled brightly— again at An Sejun who was presenting duck feet to the end.

“Sejun.”
“…”
“From now on, answer only with yes or no.”

His pupils shaking violently like a pendulum.

I quietly asked him with me fully contained in those eyes.

“Did you steal all my food?”
“…”

The library camp people gradually gather at the strange confrontation between An Sejun and me.

Us having a conversation in whispers that they probably can’t hear well.

I whispered once more to An Sejun who wasn’t saying anything.

“I’m asking.”
“…”
“Did you eat up all my food like you eat out your girlfriend?”
“…What?”

An Sejun whispering something in a very quiet voice.

I brought my ear closer to hear what he was saying better, and An Sejun whispered once more.

“…D-do you have evidence?”

Splat—!

Just like on the first day, a kick embedding into An Sejun’s stomach as soon as his words ended.

“Kyaaaah—!”

The women in the camp let out delicate screams as An Sejun instantly collapsed face down on the floor.

Perhaps because he had somewhat adapted while being hit by Sim Yuhan, An Sejun kept coughing— and exhaling urgent breaths without fainting at the appropriate strike now.

Splat—!

An accurate kick finds An Sejun’s stomach as he lay face down just like Sim Yuhan.

“Kuok—! U-uweeeeek—!”

An Sejun urgently gasping and simultaneously vomiting out the food along with the breath he had gathered while gasping.

I lightly stepped on the head of An Sejun who was continuing to vomit while lying face down.

“Uweeek—!”

An Sejun continuing to vomit while sprawled on the floor.

Ku Yeri and the vice president urgently running over at the women’s screams enter my sight.

I whispered to An Sejun while looking at their faces full of bewilderment and anger.

“I told you to answer only with yes or no.”