Two weeks had passed since monsters appeared and the world ended, and of those, one week had passed since the third floor overrun with monsters was cut off. In other words, during the first week before monsters swarmed here, they could freely move between the lower and upper floors.
Then did that mean they’d obtained supplies from outside during that week and moved them to the art room on the third floor?
“The ability we awakened is pretty strong. So we’ve been receiving various things in exchange for helping hunt monsters.”
“……”
“The rest, well, we looted from nearby convenience stores or ownerless houses.”
But the way he said it sounded exactly like they’d been able to go down to the lower floors even during this recent week when the third floor was cut off. Did they have a separate method for movement?
‘He said they receive things in exchange for helping hunt monsters.’
That meant these twins were having mutual interactions called exchanges with the survivors on the lower floors. Then perhaps when the twins needed to move to the lower floors, they sent signals, and each time the lower floors opened the entrance and cleared a path for them.
‘The ones on the lower floors are quite materialistic too.’
When I was still on the fourth floor, several combat-ability users from Kang Jekyung’s group had been selected to go down and came back. From what I heard, they’d shouted themselves hoarse and even begged on the stairway leading to the second floor. Please open the door, please save us. But the harsh noise only drew more attention from the third-floor monsters that were already swarming, and the firmly closed passage never opened in the end.
I held no particular grudge against those on the lower floors. I’d long since understood and respected that humans were generally materialistic and selfish. I was one of those humans too.
‘The ability the twins awakened must be that strong and useful.’
Thinking that, I peeled the wrapper off the palm-sized chocolate bar and took a bite. The sweetness that intensified the more I chewed made my tongue ache.
Whether they enjoyed watching mukbang YouTube videos normally, the two pairs of eyes watching me slowly eat a single chocolate bar were intense. But it wasn’t uncomfortable enough to bother me, so I let it pass and just moved my mouth diligently.
Another bite, chewing slowly. Another bite, munching away.
Unlike when I was part of Kang Jekyung’s group, there was no one nagging me to eat faster, so I could eat comfortably. After pushing the tiny remaining piece of chocolate bar into my mouth, I leisurely finished the series of processes that must have lasted a good ten minutes.
I set down the wrapper left all alone and gripped the water bottle again.
‘But if they’re skilled enough to live on the third floor with just the two of them, fight monsters capably, loot nearby convenience stores and houses, and return here unscathed…’
I blinked and swallowed what was in my mouth before staring at them.
“Why are you still here, and on the third floor at that?”
I saw the right face and left face blink in turn.
“Right? There’s no need to make this place your base. There’s no merit at all.”
Even excluding the premise of the third floor full of monsters by assuming they were extraordinarily strong, establishing themselves in a school teeming with not just monsters but people would be far less convenient than making an isolated space like a house their base. Moreover, an ordinary house would have beds, sofas, and quite a few other daily necessities left in one space, which seemed better than one of the school’s many classrooms.
“Or you could find another survivor group and ask them to take you in.”
Two weeks wasn’t such a short time in a world where law, order, and previous daily life had all collapsed. Since I’d lived almost completely isolated from others after the apocalypse era arrived, I’d done little and knew little. But such ignorance only applied to me, not to other survivors who’d never been trapped in a confined space.
Especially in the world outside the school, it couldn’t be otherwise. Centered around marts and pharmacies where many people would have flocked immediately after the monsters appeared, forces incomparably larger than Hanul High must have formed.
While living alone without companions wouldn’t be impossible, it was undeniable that associating with powerful groups would increase survival chances. Even if they were minors, if they were talented individuals with strong awakened abilities, those groups wouldn’t refuse but would be desperate to take them in.
“It’s comfortable.”
The sudden interjection stopped my train of thought.
“We’re comfortable moving around just the two of us. We don’t like serving under anyone, and we hate crawling around like obedient little bitches.”
The one on the right said, tapping his lips with his fingertips. Then when our eyes met, he curved both eye corners pitifully.
“Then why not find a suitable house to live in instead? Wouldn’t that be more convenient in many ways than a classroom?”
“We thought they might still be alive.”
I turned my head toward the left who answered instead of the right.
“If they’re dead, there’s nothing we can do, but if they’re alive, we wanted to see them at least once. That’s why we stayed at school.”
“On the third floor full of monsters, of all places?”
“It’s uncomfortable running into other bastards for no reason. And…”
“It’s better to reduce conflicts as much as possible. My younger brother goes around picking fights here and there.”
Ah, so the right one was the older brother.
“Ah, come on. Cha Woodan!”
And the older brother’s name was Cha Woodan.
“Why, Jeoh-ya. It’s not like I made up something that didn’t happen.”
And the younger brother’s name was Cha Jeoh…
I tilted the bottle I’d only been holding while listening to the story. Receiving the stream of water flowing from it, I held a small amount and swallowed it with a gulp. Then I lowered the bottle again and licked my lips with my tongue.
“…I’m just asking because I’m curious.”
I stared intently at Cha… the right one who’d started speaking while straightening my loosened vision.
“Does your thirst really go away drinking little sips like a bird pecking at food?”
I swallowed the dry saliva pooled in my still parched mouth down my throat.
“No.”
“Then? The chocolate bar earlier too—is slowly chewing thoroughly and swallowing a habit? Is it because your mouth is small?”
Is my mouth small? I’d never thought about that.
As I raised my fingers to fidget with my lips, the left one added:
“You’re not drinking sparingly because you think water is precious, are you? You can drink freely. We’ll give you however many more bottles you want.”
I silently stared at the two who seemed about to be taken for fools by their lifesaver, then shook my head.
“It’s not that. I’m just kind of clumsy, I guess—I’m not careful, so I try to be cautious in advance.”
“Not careful?”
“Yeah.”
My usual behavior couldn’t be called sharp and efficient either, but my careless nature particularly shone when I tried to eat something. I constantly spilled, dropped things, and because of that I’d ruined clothes and food more than once or twice.
So eating rice or drinking water one mouthful at a time, bit by bit, slowly had become a habit. Besides wasting precious things by dropping them on the ground, I couldn’t dirty my clothes too. Recently when food and water had become scarce, I’d been even more careful, controlling the speed and amount.
As I brought the bottle to my lips that had become dry without moisture again, the left one suddenly leaned toward me, eyes sparkling.
“Show me.”
“…What?”
“Drinking water in big gulps all at once.”
Wow.
‘I guess these days you have to be pretty to be a pervert.’
“You perverted bastard?”
While I was absorbed in this fresh impression, the right one ground out a fierce curse. The left one who’d been about to crumple his face after being criticized met my gaze awkwardly with his sharp look. He loosely relaxed his ambiguous expression that had been half-twisted as if nothing had happened and pressed his lips tightly together. Then he drooped down like a dog thoroughly soaked by rain.
“Yeah. Right. I’m a perverted bastard.”
Was there a need to act so pitiful and tragic while boldly admitting it? Of course, I wouldn’t have believed him if he’d protested otherwise either.
‘So what if he’s a perverted bastard. His face is only beneficial.’
Drinking water a bit faster wasn’t such a big deal either.
From the moment I had the left one’s face sparkling and radiating beauty before my eyes, there was no hesitation. I immediately tilted the bottle and opened my mouth as wide as possible to prepare for the coming tidal wave.
But preparing and bracing in advance, opening my mouth with all my might to create a passage—nothing changed. Perhaps this was truly my innate talent.
No matter how hard I moved my throat, the water inevitably overflowed outside my mouth. It wasn’t that the space in my mouth was used up, nor that it was filled with water leaving no room for more, but the water sloshed freely and leaked out of my mouth. Thinking about it again, this truly seemed to be my genuine talent.
When the liquid flowing down my chin dripped onto my clothes and my stomach became damp, I withdrew the bottle. Looking down, I could see the burgundy uniform vest’s abdominal area was thoroughly soaked.
Wiping my lips as damp as my clothes with my shirt sleeve, I raised the bottle to check its contents. Unlike before the performance, barely half the water remained, but of the amount that disappeared, what I’d successfully drunk was probably less than a third.
I set down the bottle and raised my head. At my gaze asking “how was it,” the right one smiled awkwardly.
“Um, that was good to see.”
The response was a bit strange, but if I were to become a spectator of this performance, I wouldn’t have any other words or admiration to offer either, so I let it pass without pressing.
“It is quite serious… I guess. From now on, Cha Jeoh or I will have to feed you.”
Ah, so the left one’s name was Cha Jeoh. Did he say Cha Jeoh was the older brother or younger brother? …Wait.
‘From now on?’
