Chapter 21: A Great Step Forward (4)
-Flash!
-Rumble, crash-!
Thunder echoed inside the building.
The monsters began to awaken one by one.
It was too late to turn back.
“Uh, o-over there. Hasn’t anyone come yet?”
The woman who had approached looked around.
My gaze remained fixed outside.
“Mo, monsters……?!”
“Why were you so late.”
“It looks like they’re coming this way?! Wh-what do we do now!”
“I’ll be heading there soon, so tell everyone. Tell them to gather in one place.”
Zerglings viewed the world through sound.
Through the sound of raindrops falling, they could find places where the rain did not fall.
Because of the thunder and rain, not immediately, but once the surrounding decibels dropped, they would soon come in here.
Quite a number of Zerglings were roaming the streets, making it impossible to go back the way we came.
Moreover, forcing a return would put the Shelter itself in danger.
In the meantime, one that had been nearby entered the building.
The thing came toward me, seeking a warmer place.
A monster was just five meters ahead.
I had to move immediately, but my deliberation was not over.
In truth, returning alone would have been nothing. The problem was the ten volunteers.
First outing, first attempt.
If there were casualties today, the atmosphere in the Shelter would sink coldly.
Perhaps the will to fight would break.
Even so, taking all of that into account, casualties were a necessary evil.
What I was agonizing over was whether it was really necessary to sacrifice all ten.
Manpower was power. One or two were enough to instill vigilance.
Then who should live, and who should be abandoned.
I decided to give them one last chance.
-Step. Step.
Ending my deliberation, I walked toward the entrance.
At the sound of my footsteps, the thing’s large ears fluttered like flags.
-Kieeek!
The cry it made upon finding prey.
Having confirmed my position, the Zergling lunged.
-Swoosh-!
At the same time I drew my sword, I severed its neck.
It was a fast and precise sword technique.
Shaking off the greenish bloodstains on the blade, I went down to Basement Level 1.
[15:03]
“Sh-Shelter Head?!”
“So you were here.”
People were gathered in a corner.
Their backs were laden with backpacks stuffed full of food, and their pants pockets looked like they were about to tear from how much they had crammed inside.
“What do we do now?”
“How many monsters are wandering around? We can make it back, right?”
To their desperate questions, I replied without a soul.
“Throw away everything you’re carrying.”
“Throw it away? You don’t mean the food, do you?”
“Can you run like that. Throw everything away and find something you can use as a weapon.”
“No, still, we can’t do that. If we throw away the food and go, there’s no point in having come here.”
“Your life and the food. The weighing of them is up to you.”
This was the last chance I was giving them.
Anyone who followed orders even now had a high chance of surviving.
Conversely, those who remained stubborn to the end would die without exception.
Three people obediently took off their bags.
The remaining seven only watched the others, not moving.
“My father hasn’t been able to eat properly for days. I can’t give up.”
“M-me too! Shelter Head, you know a way, right? I’ll listen well until we return. Just get me back, and I’ll give you half!”
“You pathetic bastards! Didn’t you hear what the Shelter Head said?! He told you to grab weapons!”
Gwak Cheoldu, who had brought a kitchen knife, said as he tore open the packaging.
Gwak Cheoldu was one of the three who had thrown off their bags.
“Pathetic?! What’s pathetic is coming all this way and throwing everything away!”
“Try jumping in place! Can’t you hear the cans clanging? Are you deaf?!”
“Fuck! So what! Shut up and stay out of it!”
Just as the conflict was about to intensify, Gwak Cheoldu glanced at me and calmed his excitement.
It was because he instinctively realized that making noise when a monster was right in front of us was forbidden.
“Shelter Head. Let’s just ditch them and go. Dragging them along will obviously only make them baggage.”
“What, what?! You piece of human trash!”
-Thud-!
The man charged at Gwak Cheoldu and drove his fist straight into him.
Since everyone was backed up against a cliff, even a small scuffle became a detonator and exploded.
The same was true for Gwak Cheoldu.
“You wretch, worse than an insect, how dare you!”
Of course.
There was no way the hot-blooded Gwak Cheoldu would endure taking the first hit.
The men’s brawl grew even more violent, and those watching could only stomp their feet.
“Please, stop them! This is going to turn into something big!”
I crossed my arms and watched the fools fight.
Isn’t there a saying like that? That the most entertaining fights are the ones between incompetents.
“Shelter Head! Why are you just standing there! Please, do something!”
“Why should I.”
“Excuse me?!”
Sorry to say, but you and I were in different positions.
Even if monsters barged in, I could escape at any time, but without my help, you would die here.
So the ones who needed to restrain themselves and be careful were not me, but you.
And the reason to stop them lay with you as well.
“Ah, seriously! Everyone calm down! The monsters will hear and come!”
People who could no longer stand it pulled the two apart.
Gwak Cheoldu was still furious, his face bright red.
“This fucking bastard hit me?!”
“So what are you gonna do?! Try jumping me again, you piece of shit!”
In an instant, the food aisle had turned into pandemonium.
For a moment, that train-wreck fight ended more anticlimactically than expected.
-Clang!
“?!”
Glass bottles on the shelves fell due to the violent scuffle.
The savory scent of sesame oil spilled across the floor.
And then.
-Kieeek!
The monsters that heard the sound came down to Basement Level 1.
They vaulted over the escalator and leaped straight toward the point where the decibels had erupted.
“Gah!”
Sharp claws dug into the man’s body.
It was the man who had been grappling with Gwak Cheoldu.
“Shh.”
I raised my index finger and pressed it to my lips.
There was a Zergling right in front of us.
-Crunch! Crack!
The Zergling chewed its captured prey with grinding bites.
With the sound of bones being crushed whole, blood splattered in all directions.
Everyone watched the horrific scene unfolding before their eyes, holding their breath.
“U, ugh!”
One woman couldn’t hold it in and vomited.
The Zergling did not miss the chance and pierced the woman’s neck.
-Crunch!
Two people in an instant.
The remaining members covered their mouths and trembled violently.
Drawn by the untimely sounds of feeding, more of them nearby gathered.
If this continued, it was total annihilation.
I grabbed a bottle of sesame oil from the shelf.
-Clang!
-Kieeeek!
When I threw the bottle to the opposite side, the creatures charged like mad toward the shattered bottle.
In that opening, I looked at the people and spoke.
“Go to the parking lot.”
If they wanted to live, they had to leave this place.
However, the people were frozen in fear.
Even after I told them the way to survive, they showed no sign of moving.
“Go.”
When I glared at them, the first to move was Gwak Cheoldu.
Starting with him, they began to move one by one.
During the rehearsal, I had taught them what to do if they were spotted by a Zergling.
They had to suppress sound as much as possible and move slowly.
But their minds had long since gone blank.
Forgetting the training, they began to run recklessly.
“R, run!”
Humans could not outrun Zerglings.
Even Usain Bolt would not be able to shake off their pursuit.
“Gyaaaaah!”
Just like that, another victim was added.
Hearing the dull footsteps of the remaining seven, the Zerglings realized there were multiple prey.
They began charging indiscriminately toward where the decibels were coming from.
“F, fuck!”
Perhaps remembering what I had done, Gwak Cheoldu was moving while knocking items off the shelves.
It was an excellent judgment.
The Zergling’s strength was its hearing, and its weakness was also its hearing.
“Sh-Shelter Head……! Gyaaah!”
However, Gwak Cheoldu’s actions at the front only put the rest of the group in greater danger.
Fallen items blocked their path and made them designated targets.
Screams echoed from all sides, along with the sound of shelves collapsing.
As long as they didn’t make noise, they wouldn’t be caught.
I had learned this with my body through experience before the regression, but these people had only learned it with their heads. Their ability to adapt was bound to differ.
Inside the building that had turned into hell, I walked calmly.
Only occasionally cutting down the ones that blocked my path.
The parking lot was on Basement Level 2.
By the time I arrived, a considerable number of monsters had already entered.
It was the result of fleeing blindly without shaking them off.
Only a few people, including Gwak Cheoldu, were visible. It seemed quite a lot had already lost their lives.
“Shelter Head! What do we do now?!”
The people who came up beside me asked with desperate expressions.
If they hadn’t forgotten the training, we could have found another way.
But since they had dragged the monsters all the way here, there was no other option.
Just holding out.
“Endure until morning.”
“Whaaat?! Is that even possible?”
“It’s the best option for now.”
“That’s nonsense! If we stay here, we’ll all die!”
Showing them through action would be faster than explaining.
I approached a parked car and smashed the front window. The theft alarm blared, and the people’s faces stiffened rapidly.
“What are you doing right now…!”
“Create noise and hide your presence.”
“…?!”
“If you think just a little, you can live. I wish you luck.”
Four people had made it to the parking lot.
They nodded, then quickly scattered in different directions.
-Beep! Beep!
The alarms blaring from all sides made my ears feel like they were about to burst.
If it was loud even for humans, for creatures with superior hearing, it was torture-level.
-Kieeeeeek!
As expected, they lost their bearings.
They ran around wildly, venting their rage on innocent cars.
In the meantime, the people hid under cars that weren’t sounding alarms.
One, two, three…… eight, nine.
For now, there were nine visible Zerglings.
I watched their evacuation from the center of the parking lot.
Using decibels to evade their pursuit was one of the most classic methods.
It was simple and effective, but it wasn’t without drawbacks.
Because monsters drawn by the sound were increasing exponentially.
The nine Zerglings quickly grew to over thirty.
I could no longer stay in the center.
I found a suitably secluded spot and hid myself the same way the others did.
-Grrrk!
How much time had passed.
The blaring alarms stopped one by one.
In the wide parking lot, only the creatures’ cries could be heard.
In that silent space, our fear was amplified even further.
“Huff!”
When I turned my gaze at a presence, there was someone hiding right next to me.
It was the man who had promised to give half the food upon arrival.
He was taking deep breaths to control his trembling heart.
Afraid that even a small sound might leak out, I watched with bated breath.
Most of those who had stubbornly refused until the end had thrown away their food while fleeing. Everyone else was dead.
Yet that man still hadn’t let go of his bag even in this situation.
That kind of obsession alone was worth acknowledging.
There was nothing more dangerous than an ignorant man holding convictions.
Likewise, the obsession of an incompetent person was nothing more than reckless bravado.
-Roll…
A tuna can spilled from the bag and rolled toward me.