In the darkness, something hideous bloomed.
The flower of flesh has bloomed.
“Everyone, run awaayyyyy!!!”
[“■■■,■■….!!” “■■■■!!” “■■,■■■■■.” “■■■■■■■!!!!” “…..■■…..■■■■.” “■■■……!!” “■■, ■■■,■■■■!” “■■■■■…!!” “■■■,■■■■!!”]
“—Damn it! Where’s Hee Ah, Hee Ah!? Hwamin, where’s Hee Ah?”
“I haven’t seen her since earlier!! Has anyone seen Hee Ah here?!”
“I haven’t seen her either!!”
Crack-crack—, crack-crack—.
From the gaping hole that I presumed to be a mouth, a horrific stench of rotting corpses filled the air instead of the fragrant flower scent that should have been.
Below that hole, where there should have been beautiful petals, jagged teeth protruded in a twisted manner.
A neck, or maybe the trunk, reminiscent of a withered stem.
And there were branches splitting off from it, now reaching out towards us.
“…..What on earth.”
Perhaps it was a flower that was made by flipping all human values upside down.
[“””””■■■■■■■■■────!!!”””””]
“What the hell is going on!?”
An indescribable sound, rising from the flowers, filled the layer of the mart where we stood.
As if they were sunflowers turning their heads in unison toward the sun.
Or like an army of ants gathering around a food source.
In the darkness, they revealed their horrific forms and started walking towards us, the only ones with warmth here.
Even when we threatened them with long weapons, or shined bright lights from our flashlights, they didn’t care.
Step by step. They moved slowly but surely, as if our resistance didn’t matter, and the distance between us and the zombies continued to close.
Do they really want to kill us that badly?
Do they really need to eat us that much?
Of course, we weren’t just standing still in this dire situation.
But the moment we got scratched even a little, we would be at a disadvantage, and trying to escape through the sales counter would only get us stuck among the zombies.
And that—
—Comprehension!
“Get away, you bastards!!”
[“…..■■….■■■.”]
It turned out that zombies had entered right when we were swinging our sticks, which was a horrifying reality.
Wherever we looked, the only sight was the wave of screaming corpses.
Where did it all go wrong?
Since when was this trap laid?
And the most important, where is Hee Ah now?
Suddenly, hordes of zombies began to spring forth.
And the sudden disappearance of the child who had been clutching my clothes until just a moment ago.
In the worst scenario where these two things that should never happen occurred simultaneously, ominous premonitions made of worry and anxiety began to grow like a tail chasing a tail in my head.
Could it be that she’s already been caught by the zombies?
Or perhaps she’s wandering somewhere on this level, unaware, lost in the crowd of zombies?
If that’s not the case, maybe even now, at this very moment where we’re stuck here, Hee Ah is desperately calling out our names, waiting for help—
….
No.
That can’t be true.
—Screech!
“Hee Ah. That smart child can’t fall so easily.”
I gripped my weapon tighter.
With rage. No, maybe out of desperation, I glared at the approaching zombie horde.
A woman with long black hair, and swarms of maggots greedily munching away at her brown-rotting skin caught my eye.
No matter how much I looked, her grotesque form was utterly unfamiliar.
Forcing back the nausea that surged from within, I began to smack down the heads of the surrounding zombies with my stick.
Thud, wham!
[“……■,■■■…”]
“Hee Ah!! Where are you!!”
With every strong swing of my hand, thick ooze erupted from the bodies of the zombies I hit.
The strange liquid was something of an intense green color that I could just barely tell.
How could something like this be produced from those who were once human?
Did everyone I know transform into this?
Could it be that among the zombies I’m attacking, their faces exist?
What I’m toppling over now is the remnants of something that was once human.
[“…..■■■■!”]
“No…no…!!”
Thud—!
I bit my teeth and swung my stick harder.
There was no room for other thoughts in the immediate danger presented by the zombies right in front of me.
In such urgent circumstances, what I could do best was just swing my stick with all my might.
First, there was a sharp sound cutting through the air, followed by the dull noise of something being smashed.
It felt like I was hitting clay with my hand, and just like that, the one walking towards me with its arms outstretched fell to the floor as was.
As expected, the zombies weren’t as strong as they looked.
Thanks to that, we were somehow managing to take them down even in this tense moment.
But.
[“”””────■■■■■■■■■!!!”””””]
Just thinking we could somehow escape this way was futile.
Crack!
“They’re….gathering more….”
“…There’s no end in sight, damn it. Where the heck were they hiding all this time….!!”
We stepped across the fallen bodies of zombies and saw a new horde of zombies arriving that was many times more than what we had already brought down.
At first, there were gaps throughout the layer, but as time passed, their numbers kept increasing, and the gaps were slowly being filled.
Moreover, adding insult to injury—
Swoosh.
[“….■….■■….”]
“…This is driving me insane.”
The zombies we had toppled earlier also began to stand up slowly as if recovering.
The ground was already covered in something eerie and green.
“………..”
The encroaching net was getting tighter.
The only thing we could do was back away, bracing each other’s backs.
But even our efforts seemed futile; the layer was turning into a frenzy of zombies.
Soon, the path we had used to come down here would be blocked as well.
At this rate, the entire building would become our tomb.
—Comprehension!
“Is Hee Ah still not found!? She didn’t go up to the first floor already, did she?”
“She could still be left on this floor, right!? We can’t leave Hee Ah all alone here…!! Uh, uh… We need to find Hee Ah!”
“—They’re approaching from the other side! There’s no time! If it keeps up like this, the stairs will be blocked too! Hee Ah, Hee Ah!! Can you hear me!!! Where are you!!!”
We called out for Hee Ah with all our might.
Could it be that our voices served as a trigger? The attacks from the zombies grew fiercer.
But still, our cries calling for Hee Ah only grew louder.
When they heard our voices, that was much better than being directed at Hee Ah, who might be somewhere in the building.
But.
“…Hee Ah….please answer me…please…..!”
[“….■….■■■..”]
Comprehension—!
Even with our efforts calling out that loudly, we couldn’t find a trace of Hee Ah.
What echoed back were only our voices reflected off the walls and the groans escaping the zombies.
In the ultimate resort, suppressing the urge to turn my head, even among the zombies I scanned, I couldn’t find Hee Ah’s face.
Yeah.
None, not a single one.
Not a trace left behind.
Not the bag she might have been carrying.
Not a shred of her clothes, nor her hat. Nothing.
Ultimately, as I had predicted—
“Wait—”
Not a single thing?
That’s strange.
No, it’s just wrong, it is.
Clearly—
[“…■■….■■■!”]
“Not a single thing…. does not make sense.”
I mumbled blankly.
Thinking about it, it was simple.
Sound? Maybe Hee Ah’s voice didn’t reach us due to the noisy zombies. Or perhaps there were zombies around, so she couldn’t make a sound.
Objects? Being enveloped in darkness, we might not have spotted her clothes or figure.
Yeah, that could be it.
But still.
The absence of ‘that’ is strange.
In this kind of darkness, that should always be the first thing visible.
Something everyone has, and I had strongly urged Hee Ah to always keep on during any event.
I even went to the extent of tying it to Hee Ah’s wrist with a string.
And that is—
“—The flashlight.”
“…Sunbae? What are you saying?”
“—Hee Ah’s flashlight is gone! The light of the flashlight…. isn’t visible!!”
I blurted out those words and quickly scanned the surroundings once more.
And indeed, aside from where we shone our flashlight, only dark shadows surrounded us.
“……..That’s right. It’s gone.”
Exactly. There was literally nothing in sight.
This area, aside from the places illuminated by our light, was so dark that you couldn’t see an inch ahead.
In the quick scan of every corner, not a trace of light emanating from Hee Ah’s flashlight was anywhere to be found.
And that means only one thing.
Hee Ah is not here, or rather her presence is—
“──Not on this level! She must be upstairs!”
She’s not on this level, that’s the conclusion I came to.
Thinking back, before we went down the stairs to this ground level with the food stands, Hee Ah clearly paid close attention to the stands with other items, not food.
Even if Jeong Eun and I were distracted by the canned goods, she definitely would have let out a scream or noise while resisting, which neither I nor Jeong Eun could have failed to notice.
So if her flashlight was broken or taken, then certainly if there had been such a loud noise, me, Jeong Eun, or even quiet Yeon would’ve noticed it early on.
Then it means, while we were momentarily distracted by the food, Hee Ah left our side by herself.
If so, the only place Hee Ah could be now was upstairs.
And if that speculation is true, while we continue to linger here, Hee Ah alone upstairs could be in danger.
The answer was set.
Even if this is a vain hope, it doesn’t matter.
I will do my best with what I can do in this situation.
—Clap!
“Alright! There’s still a way out! Let’s break through quickly towards the stairs!! The way we came down, let’s use that to get out!”
“…Yes!!”
We dashed, hoping that Hee Ah was waiting for us on the first floor, pushing through the zombies with all our might.
The zombies blocking our path, the objects lying on the ground like obstacles, couldn’t stop our relentless rush.
In my mind, there was only one thought; the image of Hee Ah, who would be waiting alone for us.
Hee Ah, don’t move! Just wait right there!
Unnie’s coming!!
Tick.
“Alright. It’s your turn, Unnie.”
– 1:59
Tick.
“Hehe. If you don’t roll quickly… you’ll be late, just like last time?”
– 1:58
Tick.
“Well, I could roll for you instead… but still, it would be rude for someone like me to handle yours, right?”
– 1:57
Regret is looking back at something that has already passed.
Since anything you do will come too late, that’s why it’s called regret.
So, Unnie, there’s no need to be too heartbroken.
Even if you always do your best, regret will always come along.
Tick.
– 1:56
Ah.
“I miss you, Hwammin Unnie.”
I wonder when you’ll come.
Tick tick, the numbers change.
There’s now less than 2 minutes left.
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