‘…Gunshot?’
In the Republic of Korea, guns are the exclusive domain of soldiers and police.
It was safe to say there were practically no other avenues.
And that sound just now was…
‘A pistol.’
By now, I’d become able to distinguish gunshots to some degree.
Of course, I couldn’t tell the finer details, but I could at least tell the difference between a rifle and a pistol.
To call it a rifle… how should I put it? The sound was slightly smaller. It felt more dull, somehow.
‘Then there’s a high chance it’s a survivor.’
My team members didn’t carry pistols in the first place. And since there weren’t any other soldiers deployed here, that naturally led to survivors.
How they’d gotten a gun was a bit questionable, but, well… police carried pistols too.
‘…So have they figured out my location?’
The gunshot had come from closer than I’d expected.
I didn’t know whether the survivors’ hideout was near here, or whether they’d been out exploring…
But it seemed I’d be able to link up with them sooner than expected.
Because there was no way they could ignore the light I was scattering.
‘Though if there’s one thing that bothers me…’
There wasn’t a single mimic beast or anything of the sort in this area.
The only things here were those mine-type caterpillars that spawned moths when killed.
On top of that, the survivors’ ammunition was surely not all that plentiful.
In that kind of situation, there was only one reason I could think of for firing a gun.
‘…If they were shooting another survivor.’
It was cruel, but I considered that the most likely possibility.
“…Hoo.”
A sigh escaped me on its own. The chill of the concrete pierced through my clothes and seeped all the way into my bones.
Let’s keep this in mind. This place is a blackout zone.
Hell descended upon the present world.
We had come here strictly to rescue survivors, but…
Conversely, the survivors themselves might become the biggest obstacle.
…Not that I could simply avoid meeting up with them because of that.
*
I didn’t stay in the apartment building for long and came back out. I intended to head toward the place where I’d heard the gunshot.
Of course, if I stayed there, they would probably come find me on their own… but sitting still really didn’t suit me.
And so, after leaving the building and walking for quite a while,
I stood in the middle of the main road and slowly looked around the neighborhood, packed with buildings jutting up like jagged teeth.
‘What am I supposed to do with this view?’
I remembered the reference footage of Dogok-dong I’d seen before coming here.
Maybe because it had been filmed in summer, it had been a neighborhood where the blazing sunlight and fresh greenery stood out. But now…
‘…There sure are a lot of bugs.’
Every single one of the dozens of buildings had caterpillars clinging to it like barnacles.
Clustered thickly together.
They were stuck to buildings and apartments alike without distinction, and I had no choice but to admit that the apartment I had just entered and left had been on the clean side.
Even though I’d heard wriggling sounds inside, as if caterpillars were moving around there too, it hadn’t been this disgusting.
‘…It’s a relief their eyesight is bad, at least.’
That was the only reason I could stroll down the main road at all.
The caterpillars had as many as twelve eyes, but their field of vision was extremely narrow.
Ordinary caterpillars had poor eyesight too, so I didn’t know if they were following that trait or what.
And then, after another while,
As I walked a little farther, the number of caterpillars around me dropped sharply.
No matter where I looked, there were still caterpillars everywhere, but they weren’t swarming like before.
Apparently, that place earlier had been something like the caterpillars’ gathering point.
‘…I think the gunshot came from around here.’
I couldn’t know the exact location, but it was somewhere in this area.
I’d come all the way here without even trying to hide my movements, so if they were going to approach me, they should be doing it about now…
Tap.
The sound of someone stepping on a branch or something similar came from beyond an alley.
The alley was far too small for caterpillars to pass through.
And since I had never once seen any wild animals inside a blackout zone, that was probably…
‘Right, you’ve come.’
It was definitely a survivor.
I raised both arms, showing that I had no hostile intent, and spoke.
“Who are you?”
It feels a bit odd to say this in the middle of all this, but my voice could be said to reach the heavens.
This wasn’t narcissism; even from an objective standpoint, there weren’t many voices more beautiful than mine.
And when people see something beautiful, their tension naturally eases…
Rustle.
Once again, a sound came from beyond the alley.
This time, it didn’t stop after just once.
As if hesitating, the rustling repeated several times…
And then, suddenly,
A person popped out from beyond the alley.
Alone, without any other companions.
A tall woman who looked to be over 180 centimeters.
There were faint traces on her body that suggested she had once taken care of herself, so before being stranded, she must have been a fairly healthy beauty…
But now, after surviving in the darkness for so long and failing to get proper nutrition, various parts of her body looked far from well.
“……”
“……”
We looked at each other in silence.
She wasn’t a mutant, but an ordinary person.
Her skin-and-bones appearance certainly stirred pity in me, but you never knew.
I always had to leave open the possibility that this woman might be a mimic beast…
“……Ah.”
In the end, she was the one who opened her mouth first.
Though it wasn’t really speech as language, and was closer to simply spilling out the emotions welling up inside her.
Drip.
Tears flowed from the woman’s eyes.
As if that one drop had been the trigger, tears soon welled up around her eyes, leaving her with an expression that made it hard for her to speak.
I closed my eyes for a moment and looked up at the sky.
‘She’s… probably not a mimic beast.’
For a mimic beast, that person’s emotions were too genuine.
I couldn’t sense the peculiar alienness unique to mimic beasts either.
If it were one of those things, it would have appeared in a more intact state and reacted shamelessly.
Even if their mimicry was close to perfect, their inhumanity always revealed itself somehow.
I reached a conclusion regarding my doubts.
I took one step closer and asked,
“May I come a little closer?”
“……”
No answer came back, but there was no movement that suggested refusal either.
With both hands still raised, I slowly approached her.
Even as I drew near, she simply stood there blankly, crying endlessly.
Once I had gotten close enough, I stretched out my hand.
Fwaaah—!
A radiant light extending from my hand enveloped her.
The healing power that I had been able to use instinctively even before learning sacred arts manifested.
‘……’
There was no dramatic reaction.
She wasn’t seriously injured anywhere, and she was healthy enough to move around alone.
But the inside of her body must have been different.
She had been essentially isolated in darkness where she couldn’t see an inch ahead.
Food and water must have been difficult to obtain, so even if she looked fine, there was no way she hadn’t been badly worn down.
“……”
Tears still pooled in her eyes.
But less so than before.
The reason she cried was, of course, because her emotions had welled up, but seeing light again after so long must have played a part too.
I looked at her for a moment, then stood on tiptoe and wiped away her tears.
“……”
Only then could I see her eyes.
Whether because of her emotions, or simply because she hadn’t been able to live properly,
Her eyes shone with tears, yet could not stop their faint trembling.
“…Ah, ahem.”
She cleared her hoarse throat.
It seemed she was finally about to speak, so I did my best to make her comfortable.
“Yes, go ahead.”
“By any chance… am I already dead…?”
The words that came from her mouth were a somewhat bewildering question.
But thinking about it carefully, it was an understandable misunderstanding.
After all, an angel had suddenly appeared in this hell.
I shook my head with a faint smile.
“No.”
“Then am I destined to die soon?”
“That is also not the case.”
“Then am I dreaming right now?”
“Would you like to try pinching yourself?”
At that, she nodded.
With trembling hands, she reached toward my cheek…
‘…Wait. Why is she pinching me?’
What I’d said had clearly meant she should pinch herself.
But it was something I could tolerate to some extent. She was someone who had survived in this hell, so something like this was nothing.
‘…Or so I thought.’
Squeeze, squeeze.
The woman’s hand didn’t know moderation and showed no sign of stopping, so I took one step back and dodged.
“Ahh……”
The woman let out a sound of disappointment.
I was a little dissatisfied by that, but seeing as she still couldn’t stop crying, I could endure it well enough.
She asked me in a trembling voice,
“If I am not dead, and I am not dreaming… then why are you here?”
That was a very simple question.
I smiled brightly and said,
“To save you, of course.”
“Ahh…!”
Only then did her tension seem to leave her, and the woman’s legs gave out.
Startled, I hurriedly supported her.
Most injuries should already have been healed, so her tension had probably just loosened all at once.
Haa, haa…
Perhaps because her tension had relaxed far too much, she went one step further and fell asleep.
Good grief. It was bewildering… but a natural reaction.
If I’d been put in a similar environment, I probably would have reacted even worse than that.
“…It can’t be helped.”
Letting out a deep sigh, I patted her back.
Seeing her relax like this made some part of my chest feel ticklish and proud…
But I still couldn’t let down my guard.
Between the gunshot earlier and everything else… there were too many things that didn’t sit right with me.
The strangest thing was none other than the woman now in my arms.
Why on earth was this woman, who wasn’t even a mutant, wandering around the dangerous outside all alone?