Antisocial Chapter 17

Chapter 17. Immunity

Do-kyung also wore a worried expression, as if he hadn’t expected this.

“Wouldn’t it be better to go back…?”

Bo-yeon cautiously suggested. Do-kyung’s eyes seemed to smile, as if his mood had shifted.

“Choose who to send first.”

Do-kyung said while looking at Ji-won.

Send? Over there?

“It’s dangerous!”

Bo-yeon tried to stop him. But Do-kyung’s eyes, so cold and cruel that it was impossible to believe they were an illusion, reflected vivid mockery.

He put his lips next to Bo-yeon’s ear and whispered slowly and affectionately.

“You’re different.”

“……”

“I won’t put you in danger.”

“……”

For a moment, Bo-yeon couldn’t speak, her breath caught in her throat.

“Ji, Ji-won! It isn’t me, right?”

“I was the one you told to take care of them when they ran away!”

“Think about who would be the most helpful!”

When three or more humans gather, they form a society. No matter how small, politics and power always exist.

Ji-won’s mind raced. That monster bastard would think of him as useless and immediately cast him aside, using him as a discarded pawn.

But then again, he felt no guilt about using those who had already betrayed him once as bait.

Oh, I don’t know. That monster bastard would handle the mutants. He was really good at fighting. If he wanted to survive, he had to make a decision—someone had to go.

“Kim Jung-woong. That kid is the worst…!”

Ji-won glared at Do-kyung, who was whispering to Bo-yeon, and without hesitation, he pointed to Jung-woong. His eyes gleamed smugly, as if he were a righteous judge.

“Okay, wait a minute. I’ll take a look with a drone….”

Bo-yeon desperately clung to Do-kyung.

If the person chosen as bait had been a weak child, Bo-yeon would have immediately offered to take their place without thinking twice.

But Jung-woong was someone even Bo-yeon distrusted and hated. No matter how kind he had been, she couldn’t bring herself to risk her life for someone like him.

‘You’re different.’

‘I won’t put you in danger.’

The devil’s whispers shattered Bo-yeon’s mind. In that moment, a clear divide formed between herself and them, and she felt a faint, yet unsettling sense of relief.

“Go in and hold out for five minutes. If you make it back safely, I’ll treat you like him. Next time, the choice will be yours.”

Do-kyung’s words, pointed at Ji-won, shifted the atmosphere. Everyone’s eyes changed in response.

Ji-won’s face twisted with annoyance. Sung-sik and Yeong-cheol glared at Jung-woong, their expressions hinting at a desire for him not to return.

“Wait, I really just have to hold out for five minutes…?” Jung-woong stammered, his uncertainty clear.

After a moment, he shook off his doubts and walked toward the eerily silent entrance of the department store.

Bo-yeon couldn’t stop him. He made the decision on his own. Jung-woong pushed open the transparent glass door and stepped inside, cautiously. One minute. Two minutes. Time passed. Nothing happened.

Jung-woong, who had been tense moments ago, regained some composure and began to scan his surroundings. He knew that if he left without discovering anything, he wouldn’t be treated well. Do-kyung’s cold gaze seemed to linger on his back.

Broken furniture, likely used as makeshift barricades, was scattered near the entrance. Not far away, Jung-woong noticed a faint, glowing light.

Since I’m here, I might as well find out what that is. And if I have a choice, I should start by dealing with that punk, Lee Ji-won.

Summoning his courage, Jung-woong began to move forward, hoping his efforts would earn him recognition.

The glowing sphere lay carelessly on the floor of the department store, and it certainly didn’t look like any ordinary light source.

He gradually moved further from the entrance, getting closer to the sphere. As he approached, he noticed the surface wasn’t smooth.

White, dense tentacles covered it, and it resembled an albino hedgehog, curled up defensively. In the dim light, the floor beneath it seemed dark red—a stark mark of dried human blood.

The object disguised as a round sphere stirred.

It wiggled.

It wasn’t a sphere.

It was alive.

As Jung-woong, pale with shock, staggered backward, it leapt toward him with startling speed.

“Eww!” 

Jung-woong’s scream echoed loudly through the air. He kicked open the door and bolted out, shattering the stillness of the quiet city. There was little difference between this and when he’d first stormed out—except for the round light now attached to his back.

“It’s stuck to me! Take it off!”

But as Jung-woong moved farther from the department store, the creature fell off his back and hit the ground, lying still as if it were dead. Its glow, reminiscent of a deep-sea creature, made it visible to everyone nearby.

“Ugh! It’s disgusting! What is that?!”

The creature’s head and torso were roughly the size of an adult’s fist, with short, underdeveloped arms and legs. Sharp teeth peeked out from its gaping mouth.

Tentacles covered its entire body, and through its translucent skin, its internal organs, filled with dark red liquid, were briefly visible.

It looked just like…

“It’s like… a fetus. About eight weeks old. Did it reproduce?”

Sung-sik, staring at the glowing creature, spoke in a voice as pale as lead.

Reproduce? A zombie…?

The creature really did resemble the short, plump fetuses Bo-yeon had seen in books. She instinctively covered her mouth and took a step back. A cold sweat ran down her spine. It was all too creepy.

“Fuck, there was a lot of seeds…. It looked like a frog laid its eggs on the floor” 

Jung-woong’s explanation made everyone’s faces harden. But, in the end, the only one who remained detached was Do-kyung.

“What’s your immune response?”

“Huh? Oh… Now that you mention it, my back hurts a lot. Ugh… I think I’m getting a fever. And, damn, that must be a zombie!”

“Are you going to get infected too? Hyun-woo became a zombie after being bitten by a mutant.”

Ji-won stepped back, keeping her distance from Jung-woong, her eyes wary.

“What’s your deal? Are you picking on me just because I’m fine? Huh?”

She wasn’t sure whether to feel relieved or not, but at least Jung-woong didn’t seem to show any symptoms of infection.

“What should we call that thing? It’s definitely not a regular zombie. A mutant cub?”

Bo-yeon was lost in thought.

What was the difference between Hyun-woo and Jung-woong when they were both bitten by mutants?

Bo-yeon wondered if there was a limit to the immunity they had. So far, the situation made sense—mutants were clearly more infectious than the average zombie.

It seemed to come down to those who could withstand the mutant’s contagion and those who couldn’t. There might even be variations in the infectivity of each mutant.

“It looked like it fed on human blood, so why did it stop moving after it got your blood? Are they trying to catch us off guard?”

Bo-yeon felt her thoughts growing more tangled as she remained wary of the creature.

“It was still when I first saw it, and then it attacked.”

“Does it think the situation is disadvantageous because there are so many people?”

“I can’t believe there are mutants that attack people like that. Are they really that patient? It’s creepy…”

“At first, it was the size of my fist, but after it got my blood, it doubled in size. Is it a monster cub that grows up quickly?”

“Is this really a baby? If zombies had the ability to reproduce, we would’ve seen more of them by now…”

Bo-yeon asked, her face twisted in disgust.

“I haven’t seen any zombies like that.”

“… Doesn’t it seem like it’s in some kind of limbo? Like a doll with its strings cut off… Maybe it didn’t freeze on purpose, but became immobile when it lost its strings?”

Bo-yeon pursed her lips, her gaze fixed on the eerily quiet department store.

“There’s definitely a mutant in there. The other zombies can’t get close. But it’s so quiet. Why hasn’t it come out, especially when everyone’s causing such a commotion? If this is a baby… even more so. I’ve never seen a zombie that doesn’t attack people. There must be a reason it can’t come out…”

Bo-yeon felt the quiet department store weigh down on her, like a cursed ruin—its ominous presence more suffocating than before. Fear gripped her, and unsettling thoughts flooded her mind, making her heart race.

She couldn’t help but think that it might be safer to face the ordinary zombies, who were staring at her from a distance, as the only non-immune one.

Meanwhile, Do-kyung’s thoughts remained a mystery. He silently observed Bo-yeon, who was expressing her concerns, as if waiting for something.

“If something the size of a human fist is swarming inside, it’s like releasing a swarm of zombified rats. Given their inherent violence, it’s too risky. It can’t be done…”

Bo-yeon glanced desperately at Do-kyung, her eyes silently pleading with him to turn back. After a moment of watching the situation unfold, Do-kyung finally moved.

Bang! A gunshot shattered the silence. The monster’s hind legs, which had been lying motionless on the ground, were blown off. Yet, the creature showed no reaction, even after being shot.

Do-kyung took out a knife from his waist and stabbed the monster in the stomach. As expected, the monster did not move. However, when he moved toward the department store with it, it came to life again and moved.

“Grrr! Grrr!”

It bared its ugly teeth and tried to bite Do-kyung’s hand, but it fell off. As soon as it touched the ground, it curled up into a ball and bounced up.