Some memories, like aging wine, become clearer with time.
The memory of Christmas Eve two years ago was exactly like that.
Seo Ga-eul, as usual, gathered a lot of people in her penthouse for a party.
After her mother passed away, she thought it was better to spend the end of the year amidst meaningless comparisons, boasting, and tiresome mind games than to be alone in the quiet penthouse.
"Merry Christmas!"
"Ga-eul-ah, this is a present for you!"
Seo Ga-eul, the host of the party, received a lot of presents as if she were the star of Christmas.
"Eunbyeol-ah, thank you so much. What's in the box?"
"That's a secret."
"I'll put it under the tree for now. I'll open it later."
The pile of presents under the sparkling Christmas tree was mixed together, stimulating a rich sense of romance, but Seo Ga-eul, after saying thank you, didn't even glance at the gifts.
No matter what she received, it wouldn't have improved Seo Ga-eul's mood.
But the opposite was possible.
Just the appearance of one person was enough to make Seo Ga-eul feel bad.
"It's Yoo Yeo-reum!"
"Yeo-reum-i came to the Christmas party?"
"Wow!"
The appearance of Yoo Yeo-reum, who usually didn't attend parties, drew everyone's attention.
Seo Ga-eul, who didn't like losing attention at her own party, approached Yoo Yeo-reum and said.
"I'm surprised. I thought you wouldn't be able to come because you were busy."
Her expression was smiling, but in reality, it contained the sarcastic meaning of "Did you have nothing better to do than to come here?"
Of course, Yoo Yeo-reum, who was usually blunt and impossible to understand, didn't seem to notice and responded nonchalantly.
"You invited me. But I already regret coming. It doesn't look very fun."
Bulge-.
It was a rude statement, enough to make the veins on Seo Ga-eul's forehead bulge.
Seo Ga-eul thought Yoo Yeo-reum might be socially awkward but didn't show it.
They weren't close enough to get angry at each other.
But it was clear that Yoo Yeo-reum's appearance had bothered Seo Ga-eul. Seo Ga-eul, her nerves frayed, looked around and found a female student who was watching her.
"Who is this? Isn't it my friend Yeoul-i?"
"G-Ga-eul-ah!"
Baek Yeo-ul, who was hesitant, approached Seo Ga-eul.
And she held out something small, which seemed to be a gift.
"My cousin gave me this present. He said it might be an item that grants wishes. If that's true, I think you need it more than I do..."
It was an unwrapped item.
It looked like a foreign coin, and its grubby and unattractive appearance made Seo Ga-eul feel awful.
"What do you mean by saying I need this?"
"...Huh? It's... You've seemed down since your mother passed away... I was just worried about you... And this is a letter I wrote..."
"Oh? Thank you."
Tap-.
Seo Ga-eul pretended to receive the coin from Baek Yeo-ul's hand, but deliberately tapped her hand.
Then, the coin slipped from her palm and rolled- as if it would roll- before falling out of the penthouse window.
Baek Yeo-ul, who saw it, screamed.
"O-Oppa gave that to me! Seo Ga-eul, you dropped it on purpose!"
Suddenly, people's eyes were drawn to Baek Yeo-ul and Seo Ga-eul.
"What?"
"Did Baek Yeo-ul pick a fight with Seo Ga-eul again?"
"Why is she even here? She's bad luck."
"Isn't there going to be a blackout or something?"
Thinking that people's whispers were directed at her, Baek Yeo-ul ran out of the place. Finding the 「Lucky Coin」 that her cousin Nam Woo-joo had given her was her priority.
"Even though Seo Ga-eul is a bad person, she wouldn't have dropped the coin on purpose. People make mistakes. I make mistakes every day. If I find it again and give it to her..."
Baek Yeo-ul used the bright full moon as a light and searched for the coin for a very long time.
By the time she finally found the coin and returned to the penthouse, the party was over.
'There's no one here!'
Seo Ga-eul was nowhere to be seen.
Instead, the reconciliation letter that Baek Yeo-ul had spent days writing was thrown in the trash can, unopened.
Even Baek Yeo-ul, who tried to think positively, couldn't help but shed a tear.
At that time-.
Seo Ga-eul, who was in an unusually bad mood, ended the party early and headed to a nearby large mart. There were a lot of people enjoying the Christmas atmosphere.
Most of them were families and couples.
Compared to the party Seo Ga-eul had thrown, they looked humble and simple, but they seemed happier.
Just as she was thinking that she had such a time, someone grabbed Seo Ga-eul's hand.
"Ga-eul-ah, we meet again here? What a coincidence."
It was Nam San-ho, a tall man with a noticeable white complexion.
He said "coincidence," but Seo Ga-eul could tell that Nam San-ho had secretly followed her after the party ended.
It was creepy.
"Did you cry? Your eyes are swollen."
Seo Ga-eul felt awful.
Of all people, she met the man she least wanted to meet at the worst possible timing.
"Why are you crying alone? I can't have that. I know a good place. Let's go together. I was lucky enough to reserve two seats."
Swoosh-.
Nam San-ho pulled Seo Ga-eul's arm.
Seo Ga-eul was annoyed and wanted to push him away, but a strange thing happened.
'My body's strength...?'
She couldn't muster any strength.
As if she were an ordinary person.
Since this had never happened before, she was confused herself.
"Let go of me!"
"Ga-eul-ah, I've been thinking a lot about you lately. My father is against our marriage. Honestly, it won't be easy to persuade him. But I think being forgiven is easier than getting permission."
Nam San-ho's arm strength was strong.
Seo Ga-eul thought that if she was dragged away by Nam San-ho, she didn't know what would happen. When they reached a staircase where there were few people, Nam San-ho didn't hide his desire.
"You actually like me, right? If you really hated me, you wouldn't have followed me here. You could have easily pushed me away with your strength."
Goosebumps-.
"I said let go!"
Thud-!
So Seo Ga-eul pushed Nam San-ho with all her might, and very unfortunately, Nam San-ho stepped back, fell, and tumbled down the stairs.
"O-oh-."
Crash, bang-. Crack-.
It was an ominous sound that Seo Ga-eul could hear clearly.
When Seo Ga-eul slowly approached and put her hand on his chest, after seeing a pool of blood forming from the back of the man's head, not even a slight movement could be felt.
"De...dead..."
Seo Ga-eul was very flustered.
So she called her father, whom she hadn't contacted for a long time since her mother passed away.
"D-Dad. I think I...killed someone..."
━Where are you? Is anyone with you?
"N-Mart 5th-floor stairs... There's no one but me..."
After a while, unfamiliar faces arrived.
Seo Ga-eul could only tell that they were unregistered Awakeneds who did illegal work under her father's orders.
"Miss Ga-eul, we have a car parked in the basement, so let's go there first."
Following the man in the leather jacket, Seo Ga-eul got into the car in the basement and left N-Mart.
Two hours later.
Seo Ga-eul, who was curled up under a blanket in bed, noticed that the outside of the window was unusually bright.
Fwoosh, fwoosh-.
From the window, the burning N-Mart under the unusually bright full moon was dazzling.
Even from the penthouse, the hot air was enough to warm her nose.
Seo Ga-eul became afraid of people.
Even her own father.
Even herself.
"Seo Ga-eul, if you had quietly followed me, nothing would have happened. If you had, I wouldn't have been resurrected as a 「Zombie」! Because of you, I...!"
Nam San-ho shouted from the darkness.
Seo Ga-eul thought that a ghost had come from the past.
This situation is a punishment for what she had done.
Price. Retribution. Side-effect.
Whatever it was called, it was wearing a white mask and shining red eyes from beyond the darkness.
"Seo Ga-eul! Because of you, I rot every moment! You made me like this! Do you know how it feels to not even feel the warmth and cold of the seasons?"
The guilt gnawed at her heart due to the constant accusations.
"Everything I eat tastes like rotten sand? There's no meaning in living. You made me like this. You have to take responsibility, right? If you have even a little bit of conscience for the people who died because of you...!"
Just then.
The male student, who had been listening to the story by Seo Ga-eul's side, spoke.
"So the conclusion is that you were resurrected as a zombie and bit people, and to stop the pandemic, N-Mart had to be set on fire. That aside, what about now?"
The male student looked at the people trapped in iron cages.
"Are you saying that Seo Ga-eul is also responsible for your plan to overthrow the country by creating ten thousand infected people? No, it's just because you're a rotten human being. If you're a man, take responsibility for your actions."
Sniff-.
The male student took a deep breath through his nose.
He finished speaking.
"And no matter how much you hide, you can't hide the smell of your rotten conscience. No matter how much perfume you spray, it only gets more pungent."
Bang-!
The male student rushed into the darkness, making a powerful explosive sound.
# # #
The concept of 「Appraisal」 that I received from Seo Ga-eul was very helpful.
Even in a situation full of zombies, I could accurately distinguish the crude perfume smell.
I pushed off the ground with all my might.
The world accelerated in an instant.
My fist, which had been searching for the opponent, now aimed for the correct address.
"Namjin Kiiiiick!!!"
Thud-!
With a strong impact, something rolled on the floor.
Yoo Yeo-reum's eye gleam illuminated the place, and Nam San-ho, whose mask had been removed, was touching his jaw and grinding his teeth.
Grind-.
"It's a kick, but you used your fist, you bastard..."
"Gasp..."
Yoo Yeo-reum, who had seen all sorts of horrors as a victim of illegal experiments, gasped. It was probably because Nam San-ho's face, revealed when the white mask broke, was so hideous.
With his bones, flesh, and muscles exposed without any filter, that face could no longer be considered human.
"Ugh, damn, it's disgusting."
Even I frowned at the horrific face.
Nam San-ho, who had made an aggressive display, quickly covered his face with his palm and shouted.
"Damn it! What the hell are you!"
"Your karma, you bastard!"
"Karma? Screw you! All of you, come out! Kill that bastard! As long as Seo Ga-eul is captured unharmed, the rest of you can die! Don't even scratch Seo Ga-eul! Especially her face!"
What? My god, I've never seen such a bad guy.
I couldn't contain my anger.
"You bad bastard! Treat Yeo-reum-i specially too! Yeo-reum-i is a pretty girl too!"
"...Jin-ah, is that important right now?"
Yoo Yeo-reum's eye gleam shone in all directions.
Clang, clatter-.
I could see thick-bodied zombies emerging from the iron cages.
They were special zombies.
"You've made me too angry. Fifteen special zombies. Can you deal with monsters, each of which is comparable to a 3rd-grade Awakened?"
Hehehe- Nam San-ho started laughing.
It was a bad situation in many ways, but it wasn't the worst.
Even in dire misfortune, a ray of hope can bloom.
That's me!
It wasn't my first time fighting special zombies today. The appearance of special zombies was within my expectations in the first place.
I thought there would be about thirty of them, but fifteen is actually less than expected.
"Yoo Yeo-reum, Seo Ga-eul, listen carefully. Just as there was a cure for zombie infection, there is a weakness for special zombies. The weakness of special zombies. It's..."
"Could it be..., there's a weakness!?"
The concept of 「Appraisal」 sensed that Nam San-ho's rotten face was filled with astonishment. I boldly carried out the revelation of future knowledge to give him despair.
"If you cut off their head and body and separate them, they die!"
"......"
"Like this."
Swish-! Crack-. Thud, roll-.
The head of one special zombie fell and rolled on the ground.
Instead of a head, a dagger was stuck in the pillar where it had been standing.
Nam San-ho, who saw the scene, screamed.
"When did you...!? "