We caught monsters without difficulty, continued on our way, had pointless conversations, and when monsters appeared we caught them again. We repeated this.
Since my role was only to detect the presence of monsters, during battles I just stayed obediently in Cha Woodan’s arms. Cha Jeoh mainly took charge of fighting, but Cha Woodan also held a baseball bat he’d brought to use as a weapon in case of an unforeseen situation.
While that unchanging pattern continued about five times, I suddenly felt a sense of déjà vu.
It might have been my imagination, so I first left it at speculation and moved on. Then when a situation arose again where monsters appeared and we had to face them, I could carefully be certain.
Whether it was one monster, two monsters, or many numbering five or more. They didn’t attack Cha Woodan.
At first I thought it was just coincidence, and next I thought maybe they were ignoring us because Cha Jeoh was wielding his sword and taking all their attention. But if they were monsters following instinct, they would try to fell weak enemies before strong ones. In the midst of that, leaving alone Cha Woodan who was holding a weapon that wasn’t a blade and even holding a helpless person didn’t make sense.
Then what was the difference? And what was the peculiarity?
‘Due to the influence of the ability I awakened, monsters don’t attack me.’
What if that ability could be shared with others too?
‘Unlike Cha Jeoh who’s separated alone, Cha Woodan and I have been stuck together the whole time.’
As I turned my head, I moved my lips looking for the direction where Cha Jeoh was. As if he’d been keenly watching me without taking his eyes off me the whole time, Cha Woodan immediately spoke.
“Jeoh-ya, Hayoung is calling you.”
“Now?”
When I nodded, Cha Woodan conveyed it as is.
“Yeah. Now.”
Cha Jeoh, who had been about to stab his sword into the head of the last remaining monster, turned his head instead. He lightly avoided the kicking monster’s attack and approached me right away without complaint or dissatisfaction.
“What is it, Hayoung-ah? Is there something I can do for you?”
Instead of focusing on Cha Jeoh’s words, I examined the presence of the monster located beyond him. I felt it lowering its body and taking a stance to pounce on Cha Jeoh with his back turned.
If it were Cha Jeoh, he would have already noticed the monster’s presence and finished planning how to respond, whether to dodge or slash it in one stroke. But there was something I needed to find out before Cha Jeoh killed that monster.
My hand that suddenly extended out groped through the air and settled on a collar warm with body heat. I fiddled with the piece of clothing that must be Cha Jeoh’s while examining the monster beyond him again. It was still only preparing to pounce on Cha Jeoh, showing no particular reaction.
‘There’s another condition… Ah.’
Right now I was in Cha Woodan’s arms while also touching his shoulder to keep my body from shaking too much. To be precise, my fingertips were touching Cha Woodan’s exposed nape with skin overlapping skin.
I let go of Cha Jeoh’s collar and carefully lowered my hand along his arm. Finally, the moment the monster that had been maintaining a ready stance beyond Cha Jeoh was about to jump and pounce, I caught his hand as if snatching it at the right timing.
Warm warmth was transmitted through our clasped palms. Cha Jeoh, who trembled and flinched as if surprised, soon carefully threaded his fingers through and interlaced them with mine.
Whether Cha Jeoh touched my hand this way or that way, that wasn’t my area of interest right now.
‘My ability does work on others too.’
The monster that had been emitting a murderous aura as if it would pounce on Cha Jeoh any moment until just before had become docile as if that had never happened. The thing that had been staring blankly at this side for a moment sauntered off to find its own way.
If skin and skin touched, that target could escape the monsters’ interest and threat as long as my skin was touching them.
For ordinary people, this was information and operation method they should have instinctively realized on the first day monsters appeared, when individual abilities awakened. However, I hadn’t imagined it at all until experiencing it directly like this.
‘I wonder if there are other usage methods remaining besides this.’
In any case, one thing became clear. The fact that the ability I awakened was something in a different form from other survivors’ abilities.
I belatedly escaped from my personal thoughts while lost in contemplation.
“The monster just… left?”
Cha Jeoh muttered with displeasure as if he couldn’t believe it. When I momentarily put firm strength into the hand clasped with his in response, Cha Jeoh noticed my reaction and looked down at our clasped hands before opening his mouth.
“If you’re touching me, Hayoung, I don’t become a target of monsters.”
I nodded. Then Cha Woodan’s voice was heard from near my head.
“This too… we can’t carelessly divulge to other bastards. Just by having skin touching, not becoming a target of monsters—that’s an ability with too much merit.”
I thought the same. The ominous and terrible future I’d harbored before brushed through my mind again. If everything about the ability I awakened was exposed, I might be dragged around like a charm beyond being a simple monster bait.
“Then Hayoung-ah, should I keep holding your hand all the way until we arrive at the mart?”
Cha Jeoh’s subtly offered proposal brushed past my ear. I could clearly see he was hoping for it due to emotional reasons rather than logical ones, but since I also planned to hold onto skin somewhere even if he disliked it, there was no reason to refuse.
Held in Cha Woodan’s arms, holding hands with Cha Jeoh with my left hand, we strolled down the empty road. There were no more monsters approaching after hearing the twins’ voices, and I didn’t need to pay attention to examine the surroundings.
We moved leisurely and carefreely toward the large mart.
***
Usually in the case of large marts, near pharmacies, or luxury homes well-equipped with security, they easily became people’s dwellings or the base of survivor groups. Since there were so many profitable parts, in the early days when the world became like this, people would have fought and brawled indiscriminately, but now that nearly three weeks had passed, it was obvious that groups that had considerably expanded their forces would be occupying the affluent spaces.
However, the large mart we visited was different. Starting from the first-floor space with broken glass doors, it was only quiet without a trace of human presence. Neither in the underground grocery section, nor on the third floor crowded with clothes and toys, nor in the parking lot above could we find traces of survivors hiding or living.
Instead, the twins told me the large mart was littered with blood that seemed to have dried long ago, with corpses piled up like mountains in one corner. Seeing that those bodies weren’t scattered haphazardly but somewhat organized, it was certain that a large number of people had stayed here, but since we couldn’t find any particular clues, there was nothing we could know.
The Hanul High sports club students who had visited here a few days ago probably cautiously looked around only the underground grocery section before quickly escaping. They too wouldn’t have thought there would be no survivor groups at all in such a large mart.
Then the group that had chased the sports club students must have been stationed at the mart’s first-floor entrance or the basement, looking for suitable sacrificial lambs. However, even when we looked over the first floor and basement again with focus, even when we thoroughly swept up to the upper floors, not even a survivor’s breath could be heard.
‘Did they leave their position in the meantime?’
That couldn’t be. After sending some survivors to kill sacrificial lambs and bring back resources, they packed up and left among themselves without even waiting for that news? It didn’t make sense.
‘Or the traces remaining here belong to a completely unrelated survivor group, and the group of those survivors who chased the sports club students was located somewhere else to begin with.’
However, since we obtained no information here, there was nothing more we could do. At this rate, it really would be like we came out on a trip and would just enjoy one night and two days of sleeping out before going home.
I continued my deliberation while settling into Cha Woodan’s arms for now. In the meantime, Cha Jeoh, who had stubbornly found remaining groceries in the basement and returned after putting them in his backpack, approached my side.
“Hayoung-ah, I found cereal too. Do you like cereal?”
I didn’t like it, but I didn’t dislike it either. Anyway, the only opinion expression I could do was one of two things: nodding or shaking my head, so instead of needlessly denying it, I nodded for him.
I didn’t know why they were gathering goods even here when the twins already had overflowing amounts of food and water, but maybe there was a reason I didn’t know. They might have simply wanted to eat cereal instead of the chocolate bars or canned food they’d been eating until now.
I held out my hand to Cha Jeoh, who adjusted the bag he’d been wearing in front to his back. Having gotten used to it already, he clasped my hand as if it were natural and led me. Naturally, Cha Woodan holding me also moved with the initiative of his steps taken away.
“Cha Woodan, where should we go?”
“I wonder if there’s a suitable place nearby to stay overnight.”
I let the conversation the twins exchanged flow through one ear and at some point we’d left the mart. As I breathed in the refreshing air different from the stuffy mart’s, I felt the twins simultaneously turn their heads toward a specific direction.
A beat late, I shifted my attention to follow them. As I did so, I faintly felt the presence of two people at a distance.
They were walking toward none other than this place, toward us.
