2―6. Infection
As zombies began gathering on the only path, the difficulty increased even more. About a hundred zombies swarmed in like crazy.
“Heok!”
A zombie with its mouth torn to its ears tried to bite Jeong Minha’s shoulder but fell and disappeared, shot by Seo Sihan’s gun. Jeong Minha let out a sigh of relief, then immediately got into position and shouted.
“Hyung, you shoot well too! I survived thanks to you!”
“Thanks. But aiming is still really difficult it seems….”
As soon as he finished speaking, Seo Sihan unfastened the axe he’d been carrying on his back and lifted it with his left hand. He fought by shooting the gun with his right hand and swinging the axe with his left hand. In reality it was a light toy model so the motion was possible, but when viewed through VR it looked incredibly heavy, so it was quite a spectacle.
Jeong Minha ran around with pistols in both hands, firing headshots in rapid succession. Despite the unpredictable actions of the bizarrely leaping zombies, there wasn’t a single mistake. Without even blinking his eyes, he eliminated dozens in 10 seconds.
He couldn’t just run obediently. Because of zombies attacking from all directions, he dodged his body here and there. For zombies jumping and rushing at him, he made a “huk” sound while bending his body backward and rolling to the side. Even in a prone position, his shooting skills were perfect.
The central road leading to the safe zone was made up of a long bridge. If he pushed them well with the axe, he could drop zombies under the bridge even without headshots. Therefore, Seo Sihan skillfully dealt with the zombies while intermittently gazing as if entranced at Jeong Minha’s cool action.
However, before long, Seo Sihan realized one strange thing.
The numerous zombie hordes scattered on the road right now were being generated from the safe zone side, which was the destination.
“……”
Jeong Minha was running ahead dealing with zombies. But more zombies were popping out in front of him. Clearly zombies were supposed to be chasing from behind, and the safe zone was where people gathered, so didn’t it not make sense for them to come from that direction?
“Minha-ya, wait a moment….”
Jeong Minha, who was already fighting while absorbed far away, didn’t seem to hear his voice. He was just changing ammunition as fast as he could and brawling with zombies.
Eventually, it was when Seo Sihan ran toward Jeong Minha to speak from close by.
Suddenly, a person wearing a black robe appeared from the safe zone side. Judging by their intact appearance and gait, it didn’t seem to be a zombie.
‘……Did they make living human models in this game too?’
And Seo Sihan’s anxious intuition soon turned out to be exactly right.
“……!”
The person in the black robe took out a gun from their bosom.
Then they pulled the trigger aimed at Jeong Minha, the player closest to the safe zone.
“Minha-ya!”
“Euhuk!”
Jeong Minha, who had been fighting while completely immersed, suddenly clutched his right leg and fell. Seo Sihan swept away the surrounding zombies with the axe and hurriedly ran toward Jeong Minha.
“Minha-ya, are you okay?!”
“Hyung, a cramp! I got a cramp! Aack! Why at a time like this! Did I roll around too enthusiastically?!”
“A cramp? No, wait, Minha, your leg… weren’t you shot…?”
“Huh…?”
Only then did Jeong Minha look at the warning message that appeared at the top of the device screen. He had been moving vigorously when his right leg suddenly went numb so he thought it was a cramp, but it wasn’t that—it seemed to be an electric shock.
“Your movement is restricted due to a bullet grazing your right thigh…? What is this? Don’t tell me you shot me, hyung?!”
“No, it wasn’t me…! A person in black clothes suddenly appeared from the safe zone side and shot you. Something’s strange, Minha-ya. That person too, and the zombies are also popping out from the safe zone side….”
“Huh? Whoa! You’re right…?! Wait, where is that person?”
The two simultaneously raised their heads to look toward the safe zone. However, no human form other than zombies could be seen.
“……It’s not a lie. They really appeared.”
“I… believe you, hyung.”
“Minha-ya….”
“Sihan-i hyung… Hyung!”
Jeong Minha urgently grabbed Seo Sihan’s shoulder and pulled him down. Seo Sihan was flustered as his face suddenly became buried in Jeong Minha’s chest, and Jeong Minha hastily lifted the pistol with his left hand, but it was already too late.
“Urk….”
Just before Jeong Minha shot, a suddenly appearing zombie bit Seo Sihan’s right shoulder. Since he shot immediately, the zombie disappeared, but Seo Sihan frowned slightly because of the stinging shock. As the electric shock flowed from his right shoulder, the device screen was ringing with red warning windows like crazy.
[Warning: You have been bitten by a zombie. The virus begins to spread through your body.—Electric shocks will flow sequentially through not only the bitten area but your entire body.—A 10-minute countdown to complete infection begins. You cannot move until then, and after that you can move in a zombie state.]
[Warning: Your partner has been bitten by a zombie. A 10-minute countdown to complete infection begins. Please hurry and find a cure for your partner who cannot move until then!]
Warning windows appeared on each of their devices. Reading the message, Jeong Minha jumped up.
“I need to find a cure quickly. Hyung, get on my back!”
“M-me?”
When he tried to support the stunned Seo Sihan, Seo Sihan unconsciously moved his arm.
[Warning: You cannot move. Game over at the 3rd warning.]
“Hyung! Stay still.”
“But….”
Since Seo Sihan was just dawdling, Jeong Minha simply fixed Seo Sihan to his back with arm strength and bent his waist to make it easier to carry him.
“Minha-ya… you can leave me and go….”
“What are you saying. I absolutely can’t leave you. Get on my back right now.”
“But if we do this, it seems like it’ll be hard for both of us to escape….”
“I got shot in the leg anyway so I’m speed-restricted. It’ll be just right if I carry you, hyung.”
Jeong Minha carried Seo Sihan on his leg that had the gunshot wound. Seo Sihan’s feet, being taller, dragged on the ground, but that wasn’t what was important right now. They had to escape from here immediately.
‘Just a little more and it’s the safe zone.’ Jeong Minha gritted his teeth and took deep breaths to calm his trembling heart, advancing forward with all his strength. Seo Sihan, unable to move, felt sorry hearing Jeong Minha’s breathing becoming rougher.
“…At least you have to survive, Minha-ya.”
“I’m a scaredy-cat so if you’re not with me, hyung, I’ll die too.”
There were only a few zombies nearby now. The zombies that had been popping out from the safe zone side also suddenly disappeared.
Jeong Minha walked while carrying Seo Sihan, then periodically freed only his right hand to hold the pistol. Then after shooting the nearby zombies, he repeated walking again.
Before they knew it, the moon was hanging overhead.
[4 hours of play time have elapsed. Rest is recommended.]
“Ah, already?”
“Should we go out soon?”
“Yes….”
Jeong Minha took off his helmet. The scenery visible to his eyes changed from a ruined city to a cutting-edge VR equipment center. It was amazing even seeing it again. Seo Sihan, who got down from Jeong Minha’s back, also took off his helmet.
“Sorry…. Wasn’t I heavy?”
“It’s okay. You’re not heavy, hyung. More than that, we need to find a cure…. It’s almost the safe zone, right? If we escape in this state, will both of us be recognized as successful?”
“If we meet the rescue team before becoming a zombie, it’s a success. But….”
Seo Sihan looked at the giant mechanical building that had appeared to be the safe zone building while deep in thought.
Seeing Seo Sihan like that, Jeong Minha was newly impressed. When wearing the helmet, only the lower face showed so he hadn’t known well, but with even his eyes properly visible, Seo Sihan seriously pondering looked really like a movie actor. At first it had felt like he was playing the game together because Minha had asked, but now it seemed like Seo Sihan was also immersed and enjoying it, which was gratifying.
As Jeong Minha grinned to himself, Seo Sihan asked.
“So the method…. Minha-ya, are you listening?”
“Huh?”
It was a blank expression that clearly showed he hadn’t heard because he was thinking of something else. Seo Sihan kindly explained again.
“I was saying whether it might be a trap.”
“A trap?”
“Is the safe zone really the destination?”
“The starting announcement broadcast also told us to go there.”
“But…. Think about when we actually went there earlier. Not only were zombies swarming from that direction, a strange person appeared and even shot you.”
“That is true, but…. Isn’t it just like a final obstacle? The part right before escape is originally the hardest.”
When Jeong Minha spoke carefreely, Seo Sihan’s face became even more troubled.
“What if the announcement broadcast itself was a lie? In the original game rules, it said to meet the ‘rescue team,’ it didn’t say to go to the safe zone which is an emergency shelter. We just vaguely thought that if we go to a safe place there would be a rescue team too….”
“Oh, you’re right…? Hmm….”
Despite it being rest time in reality, the two who had been right before escape spent all their time having a strategy meeting. When 15 minutes had passed before they knew it, an alert rang asking if they would restart the game. Since escape was right around the corner anyway, the two decided to go to the safe zone and started the game again.
