“Can you run?”
Yeon Dogyeong, shouldering the bag that looked the heaviest at a glance, looked down at Joo Seonghan and asked in a gentle voice. Joo Seonghan met the eyes of the man who was smiling calmly and answered, “Yes.”
“Then let’s run. There are still a lot of them behind us.”
In the wide-open forest, footsteps heavier than those of humans could be heard from afar. It hit him anew that this place was the world of semi-humans. Even though they had killed so many semi-humans, there was no end to them.
“Park Gyujin-ssi, please guide us.”
At Yeon Dogyeong’s words, Park Gyujin looked up at the sky. After counting the number of stars, he pointed toward where tall trees grew thickly.
“If this is the spot I’m thinking of, we need to go about 7km. So, um, instead of running, maybe we should walk…”
Yeon Dogyeong, who had grinned mischievously at Park Gyujin, took off at the start. Park Gyujin let out a deep sigh. Still, whether considering the distance they had to go or being considerate of the others, the speed at which Yeon Dogyeong ran wasn’t fast. One or two people at a time followed behind him.
“What’s there when we arrive?”
Kang Hyeonjoo, who had rubbed his face with the back of his hand, asked Park Gyujin, who was already huffing and puffing.
“A house, where we can, hide our bodies, huff, appears…!”
Kang Hyeonjoo secretly glanced at Han Jaejun. Han Jaejun, who noticed the gaze, asked, “What?” As expected, he’s not thinking about anything. Kang Hyeonjoo, who muttered to himself inwardly, sighed and shook his head as if it were nothing.
They arrived at the private residence in a little under an hour and a half, resting briefly in between. The fairly large house with a pond in the back was falling apart. The doors were all torn off, holes were poked here and there throughout the wooden hall floor, and broken roof tiles were scattered everywhere. The only place where they could lie down was the annex next to the wooden hall, which still had its roof and door properly attached.
“Go inside.”
Yeon Dogyeong, who had opened the door of the annex, said as he threw his bag inside. Park Gyujin, who had weak stamina, went in first with his limbs trembling and collapsed face-first with a thud. Following him, Han Jaejun, who had blood stains here and there, approached Yeon Dogyeong and suddenly embraced him.
“Team Leader-nim, really…”
They had fought semi-humans as soon as they met, and after that, they hadn’t even been able to exchange proper greetings as they came to a safe place. Han Jaejun rubbed his forehead against Yeon Dogyeong’s shoulder, suppressing his overwhelming emotions. Yeon Dogyeong, who had been holding onto the door, patted Han Jaejun’s shoulder.
“Jaejun must have been scared.”
When he spoke teasingly, Han Jaejun let out an annoyed “Ah” and pushed Yeon Dogyeong away before entering the room. Kang Hyeonjoo, who had been quietly standing in line behind Han Jaejun, took a step forward and hugged Yeon Dogyeong tightly, who was of similar height, then let go.
“Team Leader-nim, I’m really so glad to see you.”
“Me too. You’ve lost weight.”
“This is nothing. If you had come a few days later, we all would have starved to death. Thank you for coming all the way here to rescue us.”
“No. Go inside and rest quickly.”
Yeon Dogyeong, who smiled and lightly tapped Kang Hyeonjoo’s forearm, gestured toward the room with his chin. Kang Hyeonjoo, who grinned, moved his steps without resistance. And Joo Seonghan, who had been crouching nearby catching his breath, took his heel out of his shoe and approached the door. In front of him, long arms appeared.
“……”
Joo Seonghan looked at Yeon Dogyeong, who had both arms spread open, with a puzzled expression.
“Shall I give you a hug?”
Yeon Dogyeong asked with a smile. Angel. Joo Seonghan stared at him blankly, leaving the word that had surfaced in his mind again. Despair had been lurking right before his eyes. While eating their last remaining food, he had imagined various endings. Being killed by semi-humans, dying of starvation, falling asleep without even knowing he had collapsed from exhaustion…. When chased by countless semi-humans, he couldn’t think about life flashing before his eyes or anything—he couldn’t think at all. He was busy running and instinctively swung his knife, tensing his stomach so as not to vomit his heart out.
He had barely managed to move forward when he was caught by a semi-human. At that moment, Joo Seonghan had purely struggled to survive. In that instant, nothing else mattered. He just struggled to live, to keep his life going. And this man appeared before Joo Seonghan’s eyes.
Joo Seonghan slowly lowered his eyes and took a step toward Yeon Dogyeong. Yeon Dogyeong’s solid arms wrapped around his shoulders and back. He patted his waist pat-pat. Joo Seonghan just breathed without saying anything.
“I’m Yeon Dogyeong, Team Leader of Semi-Human Department Team 3.”
“…Joo Seonghan.”
The voice introducing himself out of the blue was close. The tip of his nose touched Yeon Dogyeong’s hard collarbone. Joo Seonghan, who took several small breaths, pulled his body back. Yeon Dogyeong, who let go gently, opened the nearly closed door and waited. Joo Seonghan, who bowed his head slightly in greeting, entered the room.
“Joo Seonghan-ssi, come here quickly.”
Han Jaejun gestured to Joo Seonghan. In the corner of the spacious room, three people were huddled together filling their stomachs. It was military combat rations. His body, which had been starting to forget hunger, reacted quickly. Joo Seonghan swallowed the saliva pooling in his mouth, approached them, and began eating somewhat urgently.
“There’s a map. It’s only half, but if we go here, they say we can open the Guimun.”
“What? A map? A map of this place?”
It was when Joo Seonghan, who had filled his stomach after a long time, sprawled out on the dirty floor that Yeon Dogyeong spoke up. At Han Jaejun’s quick voice that followed, Joo Seonghan pushed away the drowsiness that was approaching with large strides and sat up. In Han Jaejun’s hand was the map that Yeon Dogyeong had handed over. Kang Hyeonjoo picked up one of the flashlights placed in the middle of the room and shone it on the map.
“That’s right. It’s a map of this place, and I know how to open the Guimun.”
Park Gyujin, who had been leaning against the wall, said while raising one finger. Although attention was focused on him, Park Gyujin only rolled his eyes and didn’t open his mouth any further.
“He says it’s Park Gyujin-ssi’s weapon.”
At Yeon Dogyeong’s words, tinged with laughter, Han Jaejun’s face hardened crookedly. Saying that the method of opening the Guimun would be used as a weapon meant he wouldn’t tell it to others.
“I wonder if I should feel sorry about the lack of trust, or see it as being cautious.”
Park Gyujin wanting to keep the method to himself alone could be because of suspicion that Semi-Human Department Team 3 might abandon Park Gyujin, or it could mean he would move cautiously because it was classified information. Whatever the case, Semi-Human Department Team 3 and Joo Seonghan needed Park Gyujin to return home. Han Jaejun, who understood the situation, somehow found Park Gyujin a bit annoying.
“If we face a life-or-death crisis, then I’ll tell you…”
Thud.
“Ah, sorry.”
Yeon Dogyeong apologized as he picked up the grenade that had fallen on the floor and put it in his tactical vest. Han Jaejun stared at Yeon Dogyeong with his mouth hanging open.
“Ah, Team Leader-nim. How many times have I told you to manage your weapons properly, huh?”
“Sorry. I thought I put it in properly.”
“Let me see. Look at this, look at this. If the pin had been pulled on this, we’d all be dead.”
Han Jaejun, who roughly frowned, properly inserted the grenade into Yeon Dogyeong’s vest. Yeon Dogyeong, who said “Thanks” with a smile, checked his attire.
“Park Gyujin-ssi, how long does it take from here to the Guimun?”
While Yeon Dogyeong neatly closed the precariously open magazine pouch, Kang Hyeonjoo asked Park Gyujin. Park Gyujin, who had been staring blankly at Han Jaejun and Yeon Dogyeong, took out a map from his back pocket. He brought the map close to his face to look at it, then tapped his thigh with his finger, tap tap, counting numbers.
“I think it’ll take five days…. There is a faster route, but that might be a bit rough. We have to pass through a large cave…. I don’t know what’s inside it either.”
“Let’s take the safe route even if it takes longer.”
Yeon Dogyeong said while looking down at the map in Han Jaejun’s hand. The eyes of Han Jaejun and Kang Hyeonjoo, who nodded in agreement, quickly passed over Joo Seonghan and Park Gyujin. It meant that going on a rough path with those weak in combat would be too much. Joo Seonghan, who wasn’t strong enough to confidently say he could go, kept his mouth shut and just held his position.
“Let’s stick together as much as possible, and each of us will pack our own food and weapons.”
Yeon Dogyeong said while pulling over three long, large bags placed in the corner. He looked down at his wristwatch and continued speaking.
“Pack up, wash, and sleep. We leave in six hours.”
The team members, who answered “Yes” familiarly, rummaged through the bags and picked up the food, medicine, and weapons that Yeon Dogyeong had brought one by one. Whether to increase efficiency or not, the firearm types were unified to one model, so there was nothing to choose or decide. After confirming that the team members were dividing up the supplies, Yeon Dogyeong half-emptied a backpack containing some of the food, put a flare gun and ammunition inside, then filled it with water.
“Did you serve in the military?”
Yeon Dogyeong asked Joo Seonghan, who was sitting quietly. Joo Seonghan, who had only been fiddling with his knees, answered, “Yes.”
“Army?”
“Riot police.”
Yeon Dogyeong, who nodded, put several rifle magazines into a belt-type magazine pouch, then handed it to Joo Seonghan along with the backpack. Joo Seonghan, who received the luggage, didn’t have time to examine the inside before he additionally held out a rifle.
“It’ll be similar to what you used in the military. Learn how to use it from Hyeonjoo.”
