Surviving Every Worldview

Chapter 18: Surviving the Undead (4)

As instructed, the bus took the lead and headed out the front door of the school.

The other vehicles followed, and finally, Kang Hyunseok’s car with the club members in it left.

In this situation, we would definitely stand out to the undead who would see us.

“Is that…Seon-woo?”

Sister Seorin asked in a panicked voice.

She had to shout loudly to be heard, drowned out by the wind.

“Where did you get that thing you’re holding in your hand……?”

“A friend made it for me.”

I didn’t ask, but she made it for me.

It uses energy, so it’s powerful, and it recharges itself so I don’t have to worry about ammo.

“…You know, even if you do something bad and become a criminal, I’m on your side.”

“Not me! I mean, we’re in the same club, but I don’t want to be an accomplice next to someone with a gun!”

Seorin said as she placed her hand on my shoulder, and Lee Min-seo couldn’t help but squirm.

You don’t have to.

“Don’t worry. The unwritten rules will take care of it anyway!”

“What the hell do you mean?”

Lee Min-seo kept looking down at the bus, wanting to run away but the bus was already speeding up so he had no choice but to stay with us, dead or alive.

“Anyway, nothing will happen to you, so don’t worry and look ahead.”

On the way to the school, I checked the distribution of the undead.

The undead were concentrated inside the campus, with fewer at the entrance and more a little further away.

Now we’re out the front door and turning right.

“Make sure you don’t fall when you turn!”

We each went our separate ways, trying not to fall off as the bus turned.

As expected, as soon as we turned, the undead began to appear.

All of them, attracted by the sound of the bus, looked at us.

“Screech!”

“Turn around!”

The screams of frightened students leaked out of the bus.

Even with the windows closed, the noise was deafening.

However, the bus driver didn’t seem to mind and sped up just like I told them before we left.

The moment the bus collided with the charging undead, they either tripped over the makeshift sharp bumpers or fell down with their legs severed.

It was exactly what I expected to see.

As I watched, the screams from inside the bus gradually died down.

Instead, there was silence, as if they were horrified by the grotesque scene.

“It’s working…….”

“See? It works.”

“Well, doesn’t this mean we don’t have to be here-?”

Seorin asked with a worried look in her eyes.

She looked more worried about someone else than herself.

“It’ll be difficult if they go out onto the open road, and that’s when we’ll have to step in.”

“…Seon-woo, what should she do then?”

She giggled and pointed to a spot.

There, Lee Min-seo was shivering, clinging to the iron sheeting on the bus.

He kept his eyes closed, so it was almost pathetic that he was so frightened and oblivious to the situation.

“That would be even scarier.”

“Maybe I should have told him to stay in the car with the other kids-”

If Lee Min-seo had been willing to come forward, the unwritten rule would have been in effect.

Or he would have shot the undead while crying about how scared he was.

But the way he’s reacting now… it’s hard to expect anything.

“Are you okay with just the two of us?”

“It’s okay, he’s done enough…Can you calm him down for a second? I’ll be fine on my own for now.”

“Okay.”

Seorin walked slowly on the moving bus and approached Min-seo.

While they talked, I aimed my pistol at the zombies in front of me.

I don’t know if I’m holding it right.

I hadn’t tried it but I wasn’t worried.

[Your story begins.]

The arm I pointed at the undead moved slightly.

The muzzle of the gun aimed precisely at the undead’s head.

Taang-!!!

The moment the trigger was pulled, a purple beam of light shot out of the muzzle and pierced the zombie’s head.

I immediately aimed elsewhere and pulled the trigger, but the undead didn’t dodge.

The corpse bounced off the bumper and floated for a moment before falling out and hitting the ground.

“Phew…….”

I took a moment to look behind me.

Luckily, there didn’t seem to be any undead targeting the car behind.

Lee Min-seo also seems to be calming down, taking deep breaths.

The inside of the bus, where I could hear the shaking from the roof, is now quiet.

“Sis, how many minutes does it take from here to the city where the movie theater is?”

“I don’t know – it takes a while if there’s traffic… but there’s no one else on the road right now, so seven minutes? Five?”

If we keep up the pace, we’ll reach the people gathered downtown in five minutes and get help.

At that moment, Lee Min-seo, who was catching his breath, muttered.

“It’s like watching a zombie movie, but they didn’t accept me even though I went all the way…….”

“Seon-woo told me not to talk about ominous things-”

“He was so laid back there. Don’t worry.”

It was so peaceful, like they could open the store tomorrow.

I don’t know about anything else, but there must be people out there hunting the undead to find the hidden piece.

“So, how are you feeling now, still struggling?”

“I… I’m… No, because there’s no one else…….”

Oh no.

I could hear it in his dying voice.

“Don’t bother. You two can work something out, so stay here and watch.”

“What? But…”

“If you collapse, that’s more of a problem. It won’t take more than a few minutes, so cover your eyes and ears and rest.”

Min-seo leaned against the grating, covered his eyes and ears, and took deep breaths.

The goal is to get people out of the school not to force them to get help.

“Just hang in there, it’s coming.”

“Okay…uh-huh.”

I wonder if the timing was right.

Suddenly, instead of old buildings and trees, the bus was surrounded by apartments and restaurants.

There were no people in sight.

Only the undead walked around, like in a zombie apocalypse.

It was a neighborhood that had been abandoned because there was no one to fix it.

Even the streetlights were turned off, and only the high rises of the apartments shone brightly.

[Citizens watch in wonder at the traffic.]

[Awareness is increasing.]

People must have abandoned their cars when they fled during the day.

We have to keep going straight for a while, but I see empty cars with open doors blocking the road…….

“This sucks, we’re going to have to take a detour.”

“We’re going to be late-?”

“The road is blocked, what can I do?”

If you’re going to do it, you have to be able to get through it but safety was the priority right now.

It made sense to avoid anything dangerous, even if it meant being a few minutes late.

I reached out the driver’s window to signal.

[You have the attention of the city…….]

My hand was about to reach the window when a status window suddenly appeared.

[Episode 1 is focusing on you and gauging your capabilities.]

[The right development for you will be ready soon.]

It was the most disparate message I’ve ever received.

Fortunately, it was still something I knew.

Developments are the events you must go through to clear an episode.

It happens to those who are in the spotlight, and the more attention they attract, the more important the developments they can experience.

Getting this notification means I’m on track.

So, what should I do now?

Right now, I have to create an event that will get attention.

“I want my baton back, now!”

“What? All of a sudden……!?”

I snatched the one I lent to sister and took it back, then I tapped on the driver’s side window twice to signal.

No matter what, don’t stop, go straight.

I don’t know what the driver was thinking, but the bus took the signal and sped toward the blocked road.

Sister Seorin looked at me with a puzzled expression.

“What are you doing all of a sudden……?”

“I’m watching. Check to see if there are any undead following behind.”

The bus didn’t slow down and the distance to the blocked road was now a hundred meters.

I ran on top of the bus, using it as a barrier, and jumped up high.

“Uh……!!!”

My body floated much higher than I expected.

I could see where the road was blocked.

Just up to the nearest traffic light.

If I can push past the four cars and the hordes of undead below, I can make it to the city.

I pulled the statue from my pocket and placed it on the handle of my baton.

As if energized, the baton’s electricity flashed more intensely.

“Ugh……!”

The weapon was made without any materials.

Sparks flew everywhere, and my arm tingles from the electricity that had broken through the safety on the handle but the firepower is more than enough.

After a moment’s struggle, my body slowly descended, and I fixed the baton.

Now I have to think of a story.

I need to organize in my head what happens when I wield this weapon.

A story is not a skill.

You don’t have a predetermined outcome stored in your mind, you can literally choose what happens.

That’s what stories are.

I can make anything happen as long as I don’t overstep my bounds.

[Undetected.]

[The story is active.]

Once I’ve set the stage for what’s to come, the sparks that had been flying wildly slow down and stabilize.

Now it’s ready to swing.

Phazik-

The undead gather among the cars…dull foes, who only notice and start to move as the bus approaches.

I drop into the center of the undead horde, bringing my baton down on the road.

In that brief moment a red current centered on me continued to spread across the asphalt.

The undead that had spotted me earlier and tried to pounce on me are electrocuted and collapse.

The undead in the distance were touched by the current and fell helplessly.

Things that had been moving became immobile.

Conversely, the cars on the road were shocked and pushed outward.

This was the unfolding I had created and accomplished.

Beep, beep, beep.

My ears rang as my vision, which had been blurry for a moment, was finally starting to return.

It didn’t hurt, but what should I do if it blinded me, too.

“-Seon-woo!”

“Hold my hand…quickly!”

I heard a faint human voice.

I followed the sound and lifted my arm, only to be grabbed by someone and lifted back up.

When I came back to my senses, Seorin was holding my shoulder, asking if I was okay.

“Are you okay?”

I nodded, holding my head in my hands.

* * *

“Hey, don’t lift the curtains, if you do that once, we’ll all die!”

“……Sorry, I’ll be careful.”

A college student returned home in the early hours of the morning.

He was about to look out the window when he heard an unfamiliar sound, but his mother restrained him and he sat back down.

The countdown is over, and the world has changed.

Being so close to home and returning early during exams, he didn’t really know what was going on outside.

He had to rely on photos of the university community to get a sense of the situation.

‘Is my dad okay…….?’

That didn’t make it any less real.

Right away, his father said he couldn’t leave work and wasn’t coming back.

They stayed in touch, but the mood at home didn’t improve and he couldn’t leave.

“Eh.”

He turned his attention back to his phone and checked the status of the school one more time but something wasn’t right.

There hadn’t been any new posts from people at the school since 20 minutes ago.

The only people left were those using the message board from elsewhere.

‘This is…….’

At first, he was shaken, but then he looked down and realized that there was a strange vibe.

For some reason, the reactions were more excited than worried.

At the center of it all were several photos from the dorm.

Two men approaching the dorm wielding red electricity, a photo of hundreds of people gathered together, seemingly going somewhere and, of course, the words “I’m leaving the school”.

What the hell.

-Bam!

That’s when it happened.

There was a flash of red and noise outside his window.

Electricity crackled like a cartoon, tires screeched, and cars drove by.

All the sounds were both familiar and unfamiliar.

They sounded like something out of a made-up story, not reality.

“Hey, I told you not to……!”

He ignored the warning and pulled back the curtains to look out the window, the one with a clear view of the road next to his apartment.

From there, he saw cars racing down the chaotic road.

“Whoa…….”

At the same time, he quickly realized that it was his university shuttle bus.

Surely, it couldn’t be a coincidence that he felt a connection to the community’s story.

Realizing this, he subconsciously took a picture of what he saw with his phone.