SRW | Chapter 28

After leaving the science lab, Seo Yul’s group headed straight for the cafeteria. While the path from the clubroom to the lab had been fraught with monsters, the way to the cafeteria was eerily clear. They eyed the barricade of desks and chairs surrounding the cafeteria with envy, unlike the clubroom, which was still too dangerous to move around freely. With fewer survivors, there were fewer Awakened to secure the area.

As they approached the cafeteria door, Kang Deokho, standing guard, bowed slightly.

“Good day.”

“Is Lee Hyunwoo inside?”

“Please wait a moment.”

Kang Deokho stepped inside. Meanwhile, Seo Yul sternly warned Go Hyeju to keep her mouth shut unless she wanted to die. Go Hyeju just tilted her chin up, boasting about her past as a child actor. She might not feel sorry, but she could fake it flawlessly. She had no idea Lee Hyunwoo could detect lies, and that overconfidence was her downfall.

As Sun Eunsoo predicted, the mood stayed civil until Jeon Yeseul’s gratitude. But the moment Go Hyeju stepped forward to “apologize,” Lee Hyunwoo’s expression turned icy. Sensing danger, Go Hyeju instinctively recoiled, dodging his grab at her collar. Seo Yul hastily blocked her.

“What’s wrong with you?!”

“Did you come here to mock us?”

Lee Hyunwoo’s anger was palpable. Go Hyeju’s face twisted in irritation.

“Ugh, so picky. Sun Eunsoo was way cooler about it.”

The moment Sun Eunsoo’s name left her lips, the cafeteria survivors drew their weapons, still on edge from his attack on Lee Hyunwoo days prior.

“You’re not conspiring with Sun Eunsoo, are you?”

Yoo Yeonha’s growl made Seo Yul freeze. She hadn’t realized the rift between them had grown so deep. Raising her hands in surrender, Seo Yul clarified,

“…We didn’t know you’d fallen out. We just went to thank him.”

“If we see you with Sun Eunsoo again, we’ll consider the clubroom survivors our enemies.”

Yoo Yeonha’s voice dripped with venom. Seo Yul glanced at Lee Hyunwoo, who looked conflicted but didn’t intervene. Kang Deokho stormed out, but as a non-Awakened, no one cared.

Seo Yul eyed their weapons, all gifts from the clubroom.

‘Sun Eunsoo only carried a single dagger.’

She scoffed. Whatever had happened, one thing was clear: these people were wielding the spoils Sun Eunsoo had nearly died to obtain.

“They’re leaving soon anyway, and these kids are picking sides? How childish.”

Even surrounded, Go Hyeju couldn’t shut up. One Awakened pressed a blade to her throat, but she just glared back. Then Yoo Yeonha’s expression shifted.

“L-Leaving? Where?”

She paled visibly, looking completely shaken.

“Dunno. Just heard they’re going. So we won’t be teaming up with Sun Eunsoo or coming back here. Let’s just go our separate ways.”

Before things escalated, Seo Yul dragged Go Hyeju and Jeon Yeseul out. Go Hyeju resisted, even drawing her bow, but a smack from Seo Yul sent her stumbling through the door.

After they left, the cafeteria buzzed with tension. Sun Eunsoo leaving was good news, but Kim Jaeyoung going with him? That changed everything. They’d seen his power firsthand when he cleared monsters while Sun Eunsoo was unconscious. Without him, they stood no chance against another attack.

“What do we do? Losing Kim Jaeyoung too is…”

“That bastard thinks Kim Jaeyoung’s his lackey.”

“You think Sun Eunsoo turned him against us?”

“Because of him, Hwang Sooyeon won’t heal us anymore. How did he brainwash her?!”

“What if he takes Hwang Sooyeon too? We need to watch her.”

Hwang Sooyeon was locked in the staff cafeteria. Her mental state had been deteriorating, and she was refusing to cooperate with treating the wounded, so Ms. Kim Boksoon had been trying to calm her down. At first, the awakened survivors had treated Hwang Sooyeon well due to her healing abilities, but their patience had worn thin. Now, they had locked her up and redirected all their frustration toward Son Eunsoo.

While the others treated Sun Eunsoo as a villain, Lee Hyunwoo felt confused. Of course, he didn’t trust Sun Eunsoo either, but the guy hadn’t always lied. Though he didn’t act for everyone’s benefit, he had never done anything harmful, and though he might scheme, he always did his best. Lee Hyunwoo also knew Sun Eunsoo had cared for him more than others. The reason he had decided to go to the pharmacy was because his positive feelings toward Sun Eunsoo had been stronger.

‘After coming back from the pharmacy…suddenly…’

Suddenly, the doubt in his heart grew. Why had that sunbaenim lied?  His initial suspicion snowballed into the irrational belief that “everything Sun Eunsoo does leads to disaster.” After the day he clashed with Sun Eunsoo, even his childhood friend Kang Deokho grew distant. Kang Deokho didn’t even want to talk to Lee Hyunwoo. He seemed greatly disappointed. Oh Hanbit came to consult him, saying he didn’t understand what was going on. Lee Hyunwoo felt the same. He couldn’t understand why things had turned out this way.

“…That’s enough. Jaeyoung-sunbaenim hasn’t come to the cafeteria since that day. That’s sunbaenim’s choice, and we have no grounds to keep Kim Jaeyoung-sunbaenim here. We…we’ll find our own way to survive.”

When Lee Hyunwoo spoke firmly, the murmuring crowd gradually quieted. Though Yoo Yeonha’s standing had grown recently, people trusted and followed the resolute Lee Hyunwoo more than the emotional Yoo Yeonha. Of course, Lee Hyunwoo also felt uneasy about the powerful Kim Jaeyoung leaving this place, but it wasn’t an issue where they could forcibly keep him. As the atmosphere calmed, Lee Hyunwoo sent everyone back to their tasks.

And…

“…I won’t let them take him away…”

Only Yoo Yeonha remained rooted to the spot like a fixture. Blood dripped from his clenched fists, but no one noticed.

*

“Let’s leave at two o’clock.”

Though the watch’s hour hand pointed to ten, since they couldn’t tell if it was AM or PM, they arbitrarily decided to leave in four hours at two o’clock.

The preparations to leave were complete. While retrieving a working motorcycle from outside the school, I swung weapons around to raise my skill proficiency. Through this, I learned that the Special Dexterity skill gained experience not only from wielding weapons in combat but also from doing anything with my hands in daily life. However, the amount of increase varied depending on how difficult the task was for the user. Fighting monsters was still the fastest way to grow quickly. Only 3% remained until the next skill level up. Thanks to Kim Jaeyoung watching my back safely, my growth was quick. Kim Jaeyoung, who didn’t even know skill levels existed, seemed to think I was just relieving stress on the monsters.

“But there won’t be as much food there as in Seoul. What should we do? Go fishing in the sea or something?”

“I’ll catch them for you.”

“Have you ever fished before?”

“I think I can just go into the sea and catch them.”

“…?”

It’s not like a beach, how would a human enter the deep East Sea? For someone who seems smart, there are times he appears dumber than me.

“You’ll drown. Do you think the sea is some stream?”

“Is that so.”

“What do you mean ‘is that so’? There’s a fishing gear store nearby, so we’ll find something if we search.”

The reason I was worried about food was the considerable distance between the supermarket and the villa. Transporting food from the supermarket would be quite troublesome, but fortunately there was a pump connected to groundwater behind the villa so drinking water wouldn’t be a problem. The bigger issue was how to safely get there… How far could we go by motorcycle? The motorcycle’s noise would attract hordes of monsters, and if unlucky, we might not even make it out of Seoul. If things seemed dangerous, we’d abandon the motorcycle and hide, then find another means of transport, ride it, abandon it again, find another… I expected this process to be quite grueling.

“Ah, our villa is damn huge. Cleaning it will be a pain.”

“Do you need someone to clean?”

“…”

…Why is he asking that? When Kim Jaeyoung, who can control people’s minds, says something like that, it makes me unnecessarily anxious. If I answer wrong, I get this ominous premonition that he’ll drag out some survivor hiding in a corner and turn them into a cleaning slave.