Even Zombies Have Fandoms

Chapter 9



Chapter 9

Despite trembling in fear, Muyoung did not run away. Instead of safely leaving his spot, he chose to confirm whether the person outside the door was Seokjae or not.

“I’m just checking, just checking. If it’s not him, I’ll run away immediately.”

He wanted to verify if the person beyond the door was truly the one he had longed to see.

That desperation overcame his fear. Muyoung pressed his body tightly against the door frame, hiding completely, and peeked his head out. Fortunately, the emergency stairs were darker compared to the dim light filtering in from outside, which helped conceal Muyoung from the zombie killer.

“He came from over there…”

Muyoung cautiously looked in the direction from which the head had flown.

There, just as Muyoung had hoped, was the person who had been causing him confusion all along, facing off against a zombie. Although there was some distance, Seokjae’s tall stature and sturdy build were not something one could easily overlook.

“It really is him?”

As if he had never been scared, Muyoung whispered with a voice full of joy. His heels lifted and lowered repeatedly, showing his excitement like a child unable to contain his happiness.

Dressed in different clothes than yesterday, he appeared healthy and uninjured. With the biggest worry resolved, Muyoung regained his composure and slowly examined Seokjae from head to toe.

“What’s he holding?”

Unlike yesterday when he was empty-handed, Seokjae now wielded a weapon that looked like a dagger. However, it was thicker and longer than a dagger, with one side resembling a saw. It was a gruesome weapon one wouldn’t typically see in daily life, yet strangely, it felt familiar.

“I feel like I’ve seen that somewhere…”

The moment Muyoung realized that the zombie killer was Seokjae, he completely shook off his fear and let out a thoughtful hum.

“Oh, that’s a machete.”

It was when Seokjae dispatched another zombie with his blade. Memories of a camping trip with his uncle from his childhood came rushing back.

It was definitely the same type of knife his uncle had used that day. It took a moment to recall, as it seemed larger than what his uncle had, but now that he looked closely, it was just an optical illusion since Seokjae was about 1.5 times bigger than his uncle.

“Wasn’t that really heavy?”

Muyoung watched in amazement as Seokjae swung the machete effortlessly, as if it weighed nothing at all. But that was only for a moment. He quickly shifted his gaze to follow Seokjae, who was skillfully slaughtering zombies. He thought he would need to jump in to help if things got dangerous.

However, Seokjae fought even better than Muyoung had imagined.

“Wow.”

With a thud, one zombie was kicked away by Seokjae’s foot.

The zombies that had rolled down the emergency stairs were all in a state where at least one part of their bodies was not functioning, but it was still a tough fight. Moreover, zombies felt no pain and did not tire, making them even more challenging to deal with. In contrast, Seokjae was in a situation where he could not afford to allow even a single attack.

Yet, Seokjae calmly took down the staggering zombies with an unwavering expression.

His method of maintaining a certain distance while gradually changing direction to take them out one by one was particularly impressive. He backed against the wall to block blind spots, and whenever a zombie tried to cluster together, he would immediately kick one to scatter them.

His strength was remarkable, capable of decapitating with just a few strikes, but it was his precise movements and impeccable timing that showcased his exceptional judgment.

“Cool…”

It felt like watching a meticulously choreographed fight scene from a movie, and Muyoung found himself muttering in admiration without realizing it.

In truth, Muyoung had fought countless zombies himself. Perhaps even more than Seokjae. But just because one has done it a lot doesn’t mean they do it well. Compared to Seokjae’s fighting, everything he had done until now felt like nothing more than a dogfight.

As memories of wrestling with zombies by their hair from yesterday resurfaced, Muyoung felt his cheeks flush for some reason. Even though they were zombies, it shouldn’t have made him feel that way.

“B-but why did he come back?”

Feeling awkward, Muyoung decided to shift his thoughts. He brought up the curiosity he had temporarily set aside while focusing on Seokjae. What reason could he have for returning to the very place where he had almost died yesterday?

He was glad to see him back, thinking he would never meet him again. His courage to face danger without fear was admirable.

However, Muyoung found himself desperately wishing for Seokjae to survive for a long time. Seeing him recklessly charge at zombies like that only made his worry grow larger than his admiration.

“Is there something he forgot? If he tells me, I can bring it to him…”

He wanted to bring him everything, not just now but in the future as well. Unlike him, he wasn’t in any danger.

But the reality was that he was in a position where he couldn’t directly ask. So, Muyoung leaned his head out a little more to catch Seokjae’s voice. He hoped he might drop some hint. He wished Seokjae was the type to talk to himself a lot.

“Phew…”

In the meantime, after putting another zombie to rest, Seokjae took a deep breath. After catching his breath from the relentless movement, he glanced at the head of the rolling zombie and immediately fixed his gaze on the next target.

“Hmm?”

There was something strange about his demeanor. Noticing this, Muyoung tilted his head slightly.

Once he recognized it, Muyoung realized that Seokjae was repeatedly engaging in some inexplicable behavior. Each time he dispatched a zombie, he would stare intently at its face.

It was natural to look at an opponent to be cautious. But this felt different. Unlike a human, the emotionless faces of zombies were being scrutinized too closely, as if he were assessing the features of the decaying flesh.

“Why is he looking at them?”

Even Muyoung, who had engaged in close combat with zombies more than anyone, sometimes found it hard to look at their faces. Yet here was Seokjae, a human, staring at the rotting, mangled faces of zombies. Muyoung found it hard to understand Seokjae.

But then a thought suddenly crossed his mind, and Muyoung covered his mouth with his hand.

“Could it be that he’s trying to remember them?”

Seokjae was a good person. Even if they had become zombies, it wouldn’t be strange for him to pray for the souls of those who had once been human as he dealt with them one by one. Muyoung could empathize, having once struggled with distinguishing between zombies and humans himself.

‘Living with such delicate emotions in a world like this must be difficult.’

Muyoung began to worry about Seokjae’s mental state. What kind of experiences had he gone through to be able to kill zombies so ruthlessly?

“Ugh, I wonder how hard it must have been.”

Imagining that time in the past, it felt as if his tear ducts, which had long ceased to function, were normalizing.

As Muyoung held back tears that wouldn’t come, Seokjae finished off all the zombies on the first floor. Only then did he finally lower his arms, which had not dropped even once during the fight.

Drip, drip. Thick, tar-like crimson blood flowed down the blade and pooled on the floor, creating a puddle.

A horrific scene with dismembered bodies sprawled everywhere. Seokjae, standing amidst it all, slowly rolled his eyes, scanning the headless corpses one by one. Then, one, two, three. Silently, he moved his lips, counting the bodies.

From a distance, Muyoung had no way of knowing exactly what Seokjae was doing, but it seemed he was trying to swallow his anguish. He hoped fervently that he would overcome his sorrow, but then a small voice broke the silence.

“Is there no more…?”

What did he just say? Muyoung’s face turned confused. It sounded as if he was hoping there were more zombies. Startled, Muyoung blinked rapidly.

‘I thought he came looking for something. Wasn’t that the case?’

If he had come to retrieve something he had left behind, he would have left the first floor immediately after dispatching the zombies. But asking if there were no more zombies made it seem like he had come for a zombie hunt. Or perhaps he was looking for a specific zombie.

As that thought crossed his mind, Muyoung let out a weak laugh. He felt foolish for coming up with such a ridiculous guess when nothing else came to mind.


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