IZSTASL Chapter 13

I thought I was keeping my expression under control, but I guess it was obvious.

To that bastard, it was just entertaining.

As I silently glared at him, Yoon Si-chan lifted his elbow from my head and walked toward the three still working on the password.

Even as I irritably fixed my hair, I felt relieved—Yoon Si-chan wasn’t going to ditch me here.

Right now, he needed someone with decent physical ability who would follow his orders without question.

None of those three fit that description.

Because, well… they were insane.

“Is it working?”

Standing beside Kim Woo-hyung, Yoon Si-chan looked at the laptop, which was still stuck on the login screen, and asked.

Lee Seon-kang mumbled as he tapped on the keyboard.

“Oh, I think it was something like 1234-something.”

I stood behind Cha Min-seok, watching the laptop screen.

Kim Woo-hyung, staring at the screen, suddenly said, “Wait, maybe it’s this,” and started typing.

The loading bar appeared with the words Connecting… and within seconds, the Wi-Fi was connected.

“Oh! What the hell? Woo-hyung!”

“How did you know?”

As Lee Seon-kang and Cha Min-seok made a fuss, Kim Woo-hyung smirked and said it just made sense since this was the faculty office.

Why the fuck did he have to be the one to get it right?

Having internet access was good, but it still pissed me off.

On top of that, the way those three were huddled together while I stood alone in the back was getting on my nerves.

I suppressed the urge to shove Lee Seon-kang’s hand away from the mouse.

They were going to die soon anyway—no point in wasting my energy.

“Check the news.”

At Yoon Si-chan’s words, Lee Seon-kang nodded and opened YouTube.

The moment he typed “zombie,” the screen filled with videos uploaded less than an hour ago.

[Mysterious Infectious Disease Spreading Rapidly, CDC: “Still Assessing the Situation”]

[New Infectious Disease? Symptoms Identical to ‘Zombies’ in the Media]

[Not Riots, but an Epidemic… Is It Spreading Nationwide?]

[A Reality More Like a Movie—‘Zombies’ Appear, Capital Region in Chaos]

Seeing all the different news headlines, I realized the situation was way more serious than I had thought.

I had assumed this shitstorm was only happening around here, but in reality, our school had been late to the outbreak.

I still had no fucking clue why zombies suddenly started appearing.

Did someone from outside bring it in?

Or had there already been an infected teacher or student inside the school?

I hadn’t even thought about that—I’d been too focused on surviving.

Lee Seon-kang hesitated, unsure of what to click.

Before he could decide, Yoon Si-chan shoved his hand aside, grabbed the mouse, and clicked on the most recent video.

A news anchor with a grave expression appeared on screen, a map displayed behind her.

She began explaining where the infection had spread.

The first report came in at 10:36 AM—a call from Seocho District, where someone reported that their spouse had suddenly collapsed while coughing up blood.

Then, at 11:50 AM, the hospital that had received the infected spouse called for emergency assistance—but there was no sound from the other end of the line.

The CDC suspects that the outbreak spread from that hospital.

We were in Gwacheon, just south of Seocho.

Even though we were near Gwacheon Station, which was still quite a distance from Seocho, everything around us had already gone to shit.

Which meant the infection had already spread across all of Gwacheon.

I checked the current time—3:50 PM.

In less than five hours, this zombie shit had completely taken over.

“Oh… what do we do…?”

Cha Min-seok, staring at the screen, stumbled backward, his face pale with fear.

“What the fuck do you mean, what do we do?”

I shoved his swaying body aside and stepped next to Lee Seon-kang, focusing on the screen.

The news anchor was just spewing the usual bullshit—urging citizens in the capital region to barricade their doors and avoid contact with the infected.

“Fucking useless advice.”

Kim Woo-hyung muttered as he stood there, staring blankly at the screen.

Yoon Si-chan, having let go of the mouse, remained still while Kim Woo-hyung scrolled down and clicked on a short video.

[The Zombie Infection Path the Government Is Hiding—Stay Alert, Everyone]

It was a video from one of those news-aggregating YouTube channels.

The footage was just a compilation of screenshots from various news articles.

A robotic TTS voice narrated, explaining that the zombie outbreak had already spread to Seocho, Gangnam, and Dongdaemun Districts and that the infection was transmitted through respiratory droplets.

The androgynous, artificial voice grated on my nerves, making me scowl.

“Guys… it says it spreads through droplets…?”

Lee Seon-kang, watching the video, spoke anxiously.

“The fuck is that?”

I frowned, wondering why the hell he was suddenly freaking out.

Yoon Si-chan, his brow slightly furrowed, answered in his place.

“It spreads through saliva.”

“FUCK!”

I cursed under my breath—yeah, we were definitely fucked.

As I scowled and thought about it, I suddenly remembered all the zombie spit and blood that had splattered on me earlier.

“But I got my ass beat by them, like a lot. That kind of thing? And I’m totally fine.”

“Yeah, sounds like complete bullshit.”

As Yoon Si-chan and I exchanged words, Cha Min-seok, who had been leaning against the wall, butted in.

“Right? You have to be bitten, don’t you? Like, actually bitten…?”

Every single thing this guy did made him look like a pathetic loser. I wanted to beat the shit out of him.

Lee Seon-kang, agreeing that was probably the case, scrolled down to check the comment section.

@user-4hhtgtr
Droplets my ass lol don’t panic, guys, you gotta be bitten to get infected.

└ @user-374fdsdj
What’s the truth? Some people are saying it’s real.

└ @user-dnfdjk89
Nah, this is right. My friend literally swallowed zombie spit and he’s fine.

└ @user-5763t2g
How the fuck do you even eat zombie spit lol shut up.

└ @user-yy3djgcw
I have a video on my channel.

Clicking on the profile of the guy who claimed to have a video led to an empty channel—there was nothing uploaded.

“Fucking hell, is this a joke?”

The curse slipped out instantly.

Lee Seon-kang, also frowning in frustration, started skimming through other comments.

@user-6rudjdjk
Is this really happening in South Korea?

@user-14h0dds
A government that only knows how to “assess the situation.”

└ @cong_ge12
Then what are they supposed to do? Should they get bitten in our place?

└ @user-14h0dds
Dumbass.

@hehekong
If it spreads through droplets, doesn’t that mean the whole country is screwed…? This is terrifying.

@user-5dj87sd
I’m in Yeouido right now. It’s completely overrun here too. 119 isn’t responding, and I’m trapped in the station. Someone please call for help. My friend got bitten, and it’s chaos.

└ @user-3sdnd1
Your friend got bitten, and you’re sitting here typing comments?

└ @user-1yg9xe2
Nice try, storyteller.

Not a single useful comment.

Yoon Si-chan, clearly deciding this was a waste of time, snatched the mouse from Lee Seon-kang’s hand and started searching for actual news articles.

Glancing at the others, I saw Kim Woo-hyung anxiously biting his nails while Cha Min-seok looked like he was about to start crying.

Lee Seon-kang was also staring blankly at the monitor.

These bastards must have actually thought someone would come to rescue them soon.

Yoon Si-chan skimmed through a few news articles before deciding to at least try reporting the situation.

He went to the 119 emergency site, clicked “Report”, and filled out the form—entering the school’s location and explaining that they were trapped inside the gymnasium.

After submitting it, he clicked on “View Reports”, and the page was already flooded with similar posts.

Even after scrolling through multiple pages, it was endless.

There were probably already hundreds of calls flooding in too.

Returning to the news page, Yoon Si-chan glanced around and spoke.

“Quit whining and start thinking about how the fuck we’re getting out of here, you dumbasses.”

Hearing that from the same guy who was planning to use them as bait was hilarious.

I covered my mouth with the back of my hand to stop myself from laughing.

Cha Min-seok, on the other hand, had gone completely pale.

His eyes widened in shock.

“Are you crazy?! Why would we go outside?!”

“Then what the fuck do you plan on doing holed up in here?”

“We called for help! We have to wait for rescue!”

“You really think they’re coming?”

At those words, Cha Min-seok clutched his head with both hands and started crying.

He kept mumbling that dying like this was unfair and that the military would come to help.

His loser mentality had completely shattered already.

“But still… wouldn’t it be too dangerous to leave?”

“Of course it’s fucking dangerous. You guys dragged all the zombies inside.”

Lee Seon-kang hesitated before cautiously speaking.

Kim Woo-hyung immediately jumped in, running his mouth.

“Then fuck it, let’s all just die, huh? You’re the ones who opened the damn door.”

The urge to beat the shit out of him made me take a step forward.

Kim Woo-hyung had been glaring at me, but then his gaze shifted over my shoulder.

When I turned around, I saw Yoon Si-chan staring straight at him.

“I-I wasn’t trying to start anything. Just saying.”

Yoon Si-chan didn’t even look pissed or say anything.

And yet, Kim Woo-hyung backed down immediately.

It really pissed me off that everyone had no problem talking shit to me, but wouldn’t dare say a word to him.

Meanwhile, Cha Min-seok had fully collapsed onto the floor, sobbing loudly and calling for his mom.

“Ah, fuck, I can’t stand this. What, you bragging about having a mom or something?”

I leaned against the wall and plugged my ears with my pinky finger, glaring at Cha Min-seok.

His crying was even more unbearable than that failed alarm sound from earlier.

“Why the fuck are you taking it out on the kid just because you don’t have a mom…?”

I heard Kim Woo-hyung mutter weakly.

In an instant, my grip tightened.