SRW | Chapter 18

I ran toward the schoolyard, leading the monsters. When enough had gathered around me, I violently slammed my collapsible baton against the ground. The schoolyard surface cratered, sending up clouds of sand that hung like fog. Swish-! I struck a charging monster, then ran and hit the ground again. After repeating this, the visibility became so poor I couldn’t see ahead. In the sandstorm, the monsters began colliding with each other. Holding my breath, I escaped the chaos.

Cough, cough.

Damn, my eyes stung. Tears streamed down from the irritation. My entire body was covered in sand. After dusting myself off in front of the cafeteria, I leaped through the open window.

“…What are you doing?”

I blinked my irritated eyes at Hyunwoo and the girl wrestling on the floor. This bastard. He’s the one who wanted to save her, so why are they fighting?

“Sun Eunsoo!”

The girl suddenly stood up and grabbed the fallen gun, aiming it at me with hostile eyes.

“…Did I do something wrong?”

“How should I know?” Hyunwoo wiped his bleeding mouth with the back of his hand as he stood up, his response curt. The three of us stood in a strange standoff.

“Sun Eunsoo… I can’t believe you didn’t die back then. And even gained powers!”

Wait… “didn’t die back then”? That means…

“Were you trying to kill me in the clubroom attack?”

Why? The clubroom was closer to the girls’ building, so most survivors would be female. Having had no contact with girls since first-year co-ed classes, I couldn’t understand their hostility.

“At least tell me why. What did I do wrong?”

“…Ha.”

“It was all girls there, right? I barely know any girls, only had one girlfriend last year for barely a month before getting dumped-“

“Bae Yongpal. Jung Hyukjun.”

As I rambled, the girl suddenly spat out two familiar names. Bae Yongpal, Jung Hyukjun. Who were they again? I thought hard but couldn’t remember.

“Do you know who Bae Yongpal and Jung Hyukjun are?”

“…How would I know?” Hyunwoo’s voice grew even more irritated.

“Who are they?”

I squared my shoulders and asked confidently. The girl’s face flickered with surprise.

“Those thugs who followed you around!”

Now I remembered. Bae Yongpal was the scrawny bastard who hung around Park Changjin, and Jung Hyukjun was the short kid with a potato face. But what did they do to make her attack me? My clueless attitude seemed to anger her further as she gritted her teeth. I subtly exchanged glances with Hyunwoo without her noticing.

“Thinking about what those bastards did… tearing you limb from limb wouldn’t be enough.”

“W-wait, I cut ties with them long ago! Whatever they did to you has nothing to do with me!”

“You expect me to believe that? Where’s Bae Yongpal? After killing you, I’ll find that bastard next!”

She aimed the gun at me again. Damn, did it still have bullets? Unless it was a vital spot, it wouldn’t be fatal, but if she had gun-related Awakened skills, this close range could be dangerous. I noticed Hyunwoo slowly moving toward her. Not yet. I needed to stall more.

“Bae Yongpal and Jung Hyukjun were less than 0.0000… whatever percent of my life. There are only good people here. You know Kim Jaeyoung, right? The model student! He’s my best friend!”

“Don’t make me laugh. Why would Jaeyoung associate with trash like you?”

Wow, I never thought I’d hear that to my face. That bastard Jaeyoung really built up his image well. It pissed me off that I was the only one who knew how crazy he really was.

“Wow, seriously? You don’t know how insane Kim Jaeyoung is?”

“Why would I care? He’s handsome. But you and those bastards… whatever. Just die.”

“Hey! How can you put me on the same level as them? What’s wrong with your eyes?”

As I got heated, the girl smirked.

“People say guys look in the mirror and think they’re better-looking than they actually are. Guess it’s true. To me, you and Bae Yongpal are the same.”

“Okay, I’ll admit I’m not as good-looking as Jaeyoung… but Bae Yongpal? That’s too much!”

“Go to the afterlife and check the mirror again. No wonder your girlfriend dumped you after a month.”

“You…that’s-that’s personal attack! That’s murder of character!”

“Who cares? You’re dying any…Ghk!”

As I genuinely flushed red arguing, Hyunwo had quietly approached and chopped the back of her neck. She collapsed unconscious. Fuming, I pointed at her.

“I hate her. Let’s just throw her outside.”

Hyunwoo ignored me, fetching a hose to tightly bind her.

*

“Oh? She’s awake.”

“Mmph! Mm!”

Kim Boksoon tried calming her as the girl, Seo Yul, struggled. She could probably break the hose if she tried, but being gagged too seemed to fluster her. After scanning the room and realizing her target wasn’t present, she finally relaxed – though she still glared daggers at me. I glared back while waving my former gun.

“Mm! Mmm! Mm!”

“My, so much to say. Hyunwoo, can we at least ungag her?”

“…Fine.”

The moment Kim Boksoon removed the gag, Yul exploded:

“You… coward!”

“Coward or not, that’s not important right now,” Hyunwoo said coldly. “If you want to live, explain why you were alone outside. And exactly why you attacked us.”

His attitude was unusually harsh. If not for the clubroom attack, fewer might have died. Everyone understood his trauma-induced sharpness. When the girl stayed silent, Hyunwoo snatched the gun from me and pressed it to her head.

“Introduce yourself first. Year, class, name.”

“Third year… class seven. Seo Yul.”

“Good. Sunbaenim.”

…Has Hyunwoo gone a bit dark? I whispered to Jaeyoung, who just shrugged. Whatever.

“Why were you outside alone?”

“Bae Yongpal… he’s not here?”

“No. Talk.”

“…Before that, I need to be sure Sun Eunsoo isn’t actually dangerous. Do you all trust him?”

Silence. Wow, my unpopularity is showing. I elbowed Jaeyoung to say something, but he just pressed his lips together. This bastard… At least Bear and Hanbit raised their hands.

“I trust him! I don’t know what misunderstandings you have, but sunbaenim is tough outside but kind inside! Haven’t you heard of crispy-on-the-outside, soft-on-the-inside?”

“Y-yeah! Without sunbaenim, we’d all be dead!”

Crispy-on-the-outside, soft-on-the…? Touching, but Jaeyoung’s silence stung. Maybe my recent actions hadn’t earned his trust. Earlier, Hyunwoo and I had explained Awakening to everyone. Jaeyoung might be upset we kept it secret. But he never asked! Lately, our relationship felt increasingly tangled.

“…Fine, I’ll talk. Let’s go back… to the morning of July 12.”

Yul began her story.

When the Days of Darkness came, some girls hiding in the annex fled to the library. Finding the first floor covered in blood, they retreated to a storage room on the second floor being used as a clubroom. Monsters that followed pounded the building before eventually leaving. While hiding, Yul discovered long wooden crates. Inside were weapons like from movies. Flashlight searches revealed stockpiled food and survival kits.