Surviving Every Worldview

Chapter 25: Episode 1 (2)

My current location it’s the fourth floor.

I explored the hospital, pistol-whipping every undead I saw along the way.

Then I remembered something I hadn’t considered.

The wards where the patients stay are sealed off, with only authorized personnel allowed to enter.

There’s a good chance someone is there, but I can’t get in.

Even the call bell has been jammed due to the outbreak, so there’s no way to know if anyone is inside.

If I call out, the undead upstairs will hear me.

Even if I killed all the undead here, there would be more.

With no other option, I decided to give the ward a pass.

If there were people inside, it might be better to pass quietly.

I continued my exploration, eventually reaching the top floor.

I think I passed by the wards and only skimmed the middle.

However, I didn’t find anything other than the undead.

I found evidence that people were gathering in the wards, but I don’t know where the Necromancer is.

Even so, if there was something important, there would have definitely been traces.

“Nothing here.”

Then is it in the basement or the new building?

I pulled out my cell phone to report my findings.

-Lee Seorin: There were two people in the basement.

-Lee Seorin: I came to the laundry room for a bit and got locked in. I’ll just help these people out and go.

Yoo Seon-woo: Get them out of the hospital altogether. I think they should hide in a building some distance away.

Someone got trapped because of bad timing.

It’s a good thing we split up and acted separately.

-Yoo Seon-woo: And come up to the new building. I’m about to go now.

-Seol Do-yeon: Where are you now?

-Yoo Seon-woo: I’m on my way to the connecting bridge.

While I was waiting for a reply, I started to hear the sound of a helicopter approaching outside the window.

-Seol Do-yeon: Can you look out the window for a second?

There’s nothing there, what is it?

I looked out the window in the middle of the concourse.

The sound of the helicopter grew louder and louder, and soon a black shape rose up from under the window.

A drone as big as a car was flying in front of me and Seol Do-yeon, wearing an ill-fitting coat as a blanket, was on top.

“…Open the window……!!”

It sounded like she was saying something, so I opened the window.

Then Do-yeon jumped from the drone to the window in a single bound.

“Wow, I didn’t expect that!”

“No, when did you…how did you prepare that?”

“I put the settings I drew on my phone and called it up earlier. I was worried it wouldn’t work because of its size, but it worked!”

I asked her when she drew the new drone again.

I was about to ask her again when I saw the design of the drone outside the window.

It was just an enlarged version of the last drone.

“So you just changed the size in the settings?”

“I didn’t think it would work, but it did. The system is a little bit flaky.”

“But what if you just fly around outside without actually looking?”

“Uh, well…I can see through the windows! There’s no problem, the people are just huddled in a room.”

“People?”

She nodded.

“Yeah. They saw me through the window and asked for help, so I dropped them off one by one, and I’m just now getting here.”

Come to think of it, she could see the inside of the ward from the window.

Seol Do-yeon saw the message, so she must have dropped people off at a building far from the hospital.

There was no need to worry about them for the time being.

“Thanks. I didn’t think of that. Was there anything else?”

“Nothing weird, just a building with a lot of undead?”

“Uh… that’s…not good.”

But it wasn’t like we were making any progress.

Not in the basement. Nothing in the main building. Nothing in the new wing.

How could the answer be hidden like this from the first episode?

Did I miss something?

-Yoo Seon-woo: Seorin, where are you?

-Lee Seorin: I’m dropping off people and heading to the connecting passage.

– Yoo Seon-woo: We’re there now, too, so take your time.

Two minutes after sending the DM, Seorin opened the door of the emergency staircase and appeared, even though I asked her to come slowly.

“How was the basement?”

“Nothing. What about you?”

“We’re the same. It’s a bit strange. There’s no way it’d be hidden.”

It’s the first episode, so there are no exceptions.

Even if Do-yeon just glanced through the window, there had to be a stronghold in a place that was visible enough to be noticed.

Even if he’s hiding in a small room, there should be some strange smoke leaking through the door.

…Should we search the ward I passed by?

“Do-yeon, can you fit more people on the drone?”

“I suppose I could…but wouldn’t three people be too much?”

“Suppose it’s just you and Seorin?”

Seol Do-yeon nodded.

“What do you want to do?”

“I can’t check the ward side of the main building, so I want you to check through the window. Is that okay?”

“I’ll do it.”

Do-yeon opened the window and carefully climbed onto the drone first.

“Uh…please…come up.”

Seorin climbed in after her, and the drone wobbled for a moment under the weight, but it held.

After regaining her balance, clinging tightly to Do-yeon, she asked me.

“Seon-woo, what are you going to do?”

“I’m going to go to the new building, maybe Do-yeon hasn’t seen it.”

“I’ll look for it and call you!”

With that, Seol Do-yeon took control of the drone and flew off to the side.

……We’ll have to fix this before the building gets worse.

* * *

At first, Seol Do-yeon couldn’t find her place.

If it was just someone else, like on the train, she wouldn’t mind.

But when there’s someone like her friend’s senior, she can’t even speak properly.

This is the worst situation for Seol Do-yeon, who can’t think of anything to talk about even when she’s with someone she knows.

All she can think about is turning around as quickly as possible and getting back to Yoo Seon-woo.

“Did you say your name was Do-yeon?”

But Lee Seorin didn’t know that.

“Yes, yes!”

“Are those Seon-woo’s clothes you’re wearing?”

“This…Yes, it is.”

I just brought it from home without asking permission.

“You must be close with Seon-woo?”

“……?”

“It’s just that you two seem to be talking.”

“I… think so, but…….since we’ve known each other since middle school.”

Lee Seorin looked at her with a blunt expression.

The more she did so, the more Seol Do-yeon could only avoid her eyes and cower.

By now, the controller was still in her hand, hovering over the roof of the main building rather than looking at the main ward.

“……?”

At that moment, a single word filled Seol Do-yeon’s head.

Rooftop.

Isn’t this the perfect location for the mastermind to be hiding?

The three of them searched the interior of the building.

It was much more likely to be on the roof than in a hospital room they hadn’t yet found.

“Hey, we’re going to go up there for a minute, is that okay?”

“Why? Where are you going?”

“The roof of the new building! If it’s a game, the boss is on the roof, not some obscure sixth floor or something!”

Seol Do-yeon only glanced at Lee Seorin after she had finished speaking.

Game analogies should be reserved for people who can understand them!

“……That’s right! Let’s go upstairs. We can see the wards from the roof.”

Despite what Seol Do-yeon thought, Lee Seorin understood the analogy.

Seol Do-yeon suddenly remembered that she was from the same game development club as Yoo Seon-woo.

“What’s wrong?”

“Oh, nothing! I’m going up!”

Seol Do-yeon moved the controller and slowly sent the drone up.

She gained altitude and approached slowly, keeping a distance, just in case she ran into something.

“What the……?”

The rooftop was covered in dark-colored grass.

Long vines were tangled around the walls and fans, and several leafless trees stood tall.

In the midst of all this bustling nature, there were several small tombstones.

It was like a small cemetery that no one ever visits.

A man with a lamp stood there, shaking his head.

“I found it! It’s there!”

“Haha, we’ve been looking in the wrong places…….”

Lee Seorin sighed, and Seol Do-yeon nodded in agreement.

‘We couldn’t see it because of the red mist.’

It wasn’t a hidden place, but it wasn’t conspicuous either.

Under the circumstances, they had to have searched from the first floor and found nothing.

Seol Do-yeon moved her hand to go downstairs.

Kaaaak-!!!

Just then, a flock of birds flew in.

The man with the lamp raised his hand, and black birds appeared around him and rushed toward them.

Before they had time to react, the birds closed in and surrounded the drone, pecking at it.

“We have to go down!”

“It’s okay, we were bound to get caught coming up here anyway.”

Seol Do-yeon crouched down and fired the drone’s gun indiscriminately.

One by one, the birds were shot and fell to the ground, but it didn’t have much effect.

The birds outside of range were not frightened by the noise, their red eyes shining.

At this rate, the drone would crash.

“Listen to me!”

Just as Seol Do-yeon was about to get lost in thought, Yi Seorin shouted.

“What……?”

“Stay down like that for a second!”

She ducked low and glanced up.

Lee Seorin swung her weapon with one hand, slashing at the undead birds and protecting the drone.

With her other hand, she pulled a can from her inventory and poured the contents into her mouth.

It wasn’t hard to see what she was doing.

Seol Do-yeon had already heard what Lee Seorin had to say.

“Don’t freak out. When I get down there, get as far back as you can.”

“What? What did you just say……?”

Seorin emptied the can and let out a long breath.

Then she tossed the empty can forward.

When all the birds’ eyes were on it, she threw herself off the drone.

As she leapt, her tattered scarf caught around her neck and fluttered like a flame.

“What, what are you doing!”

Seol Do-yeon unconsciously stretched out her hand and looked at the falling Lee Seorin.

“Tell Seon-woo to come to the roof!”

After jumping to the rooftop, Lee Seorin was engulfed in a red mist and became invisible.

At the same time, the birds attacking the drone followed her and disappeared.

Realizing that time was running out, Seol Do-yeon immediately rushed downstairs and called Yoo Seon-woo.

-Uh, Do-yeon? I’m heading to the roof…….

“It’s the roof! I couldn’t see it because it was on the roof of the new building!”

Yoo Seon-woo shouted over the phone, stunned.

-I’m on my way too. Where are you two now?

“Your senior…went down first. You have to go help her quickly.”

-I’m on the 12th floor now…….

Yoo Seon-woo’s words were unnaturally interrupted.

-Wait, I’ll call you later.

Then, without any explanation, the call ended.

Seol Do-yeon’s mind raced.

Why did he end the call?

What’s the point of going back to the rooftop without Seon-woo?

What could have happened that he couldn’t afford to call her in the first place?

The same Seon-woo who always acted like a regressive?

* * *

The moment I received Do-yeon’s call, inside the emergency stairwell in front of the 12th floor door I felt a change in the building.

A slight noise.

An indescribably small, but unmistakable rumble.

An unusual rumbling that I felt even though I was alone.

I suddenly had a bad feeling, hung up the phone, and headed up the stairs.

BANG!!!

…the sound of a door being slammed open from upstairs.

The undead had poured out of nowhere and were rushing me down the stairs.

I can’t go up and there’s no place to hide on the fire escape.

They seem to know where I am, and they’re coming for me, but they’re not giving me any options.

I’m on my own again.

Without further ado, I open the door and enter the 12th floor.

I locked the door, pulled a nearby couch to block the pathway, and calmly surveyed my surroundings.

Luckily, this is the staff cafeteria, not a ward where people could get caught.

The elevator wasn’t working, but there was another fire escape, so I wasn’t trapped.

The question now was how to get upstairs.

If Do-Yeon is right, the undead are out in full force because of the two of them coming into contact with the Necromancer.

That will definitely prevent me from getting to the roof……..

-Thump! Thump!

The moment I heard the sound of the door breaking down, I pulled out my baton and pistol from my inventory.

It was only a matter of time before the undead burst through the door.

Still, with my back to the glass walls, I might be able to hold out.

Thinking of a plan, I burst through the door with a loud bang and pointed my gun at the charging undead.

“Yoo Seon-woo! Get down!!”

I was about to take aim when I heard an order from behind me.

At the familiar voice, I lowered my stance and pressed myself against the floor.

I looked up to see none other than Seol Do-yeon aiming the muzzle of the drone at the undead coming out of the fire escape.

Boom!

The sound of a glass wall shattering from bullets was heard and machine gun fire followed and hit the undead’s terminal stampede.

The undead that had jumped out earlier all collapsed into a honeycomb, becoming a barrier to the other undead.

“Seon-woo!”

Seol Do-yeon, who had used up all her ammo, waved and called out to me.

The drone had already lowered slightly, just enough for me to jump.

As I stood in front of the broken glass wall, Do-yeon extended her arms and called out to me.

“Run, I’ll catch you!”

At first glance, the instruction seemed frightening but there was no time to be scared.

Without hesitation, I launched myself through the 12-story wall of broken glass.