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Chapter: 24
Even if this was a zombie game world, she could not just watch a child kill a zombie.
Zombies were once human. They looked human. They moved like they were alive. It felt wrong to just stand and watch.
But Ryan only looked at Jigu with confused eyes.
“Why? I can do it.”
“Well… you’re a child.”
“So what?”
“Ugh. It matters! A lot!”
He asked innocently, leaving her speechless.
Without another word, Jigu took the stick from Ryan’s hand and walked toward the zombie with an uneasy face. Ryan watched curiously, then quietly cheered and gave advice.
“Stab the eye. Deep. That’s the weakest spot.”
“I know! Be quiet, Ryan!”
“Okay.”
Even in this ruined world, those were not words a child should say.
Jigu shouted in shock, and Ryan obediently stepped back. But he could not hide his curiosity and peeked over her shoulder.
It seemed Jigu was not used to killing zombies. Ryan thought it would be good for her to gain experience in a safe situation like this.
Of course, if Jigu knew what he was thinking, she would have exploded—but he did not say it aloud.
To Ryan, Jigu did not belong in this world at all.
‘If it were me, I would kill it instantly.’
He scratched his head, watching her hesitate.
The crawling zombie looked disgusting like a corpse—but it was a small girl, about his age.
Sometimes there were people like that.
People who pitied zombies. Or believed they were still human. Most of them had already died—or become zombies.
Ryan hoped Jigu would not become like that.
“Jigu, want me to do it?”
“What? No!”
Jigu jumped, denying quickly. She had been wondering if it was okay to show a child such a scene.
Ryan looked at her with worried eyes, full of pity.
“Ugh. Ryan, turn around!”
“Huh? Why?”
“Children shouldn’t see this!”
“…Okay.”
Not fully understanding, Ryan turned around because of her serious expression.
“Haa…”
Looking at Ryan’s small round head, Jigu sighed and gripped the stick tightly.
“Grr… kaaah…”
The zombie, dried like a mummy, was too weak to even move. It only snapped its mouth toward Jigu.
Jigu stared at the pale wheat-colored hair tied with a pink ribbon… then drove the broken stick into its cloudy eye.
Thud!
The rotting body was easily pierced. It felt dry and light, like stabbing dust.
Jigu quietly looked down at the now motionless child zombie… then broke nearby corn stalks and gently covered the body.
Showing respect to the dead—even a zombie—was something unfamiliar to Ryan. But he liked this kindness of Jigu.
Watching her cover the body with corn leaves, Ryan silently helped.
The stalks were tough and hard to break. After struggling for a while, Ryan suddenly looked up.
They had walked farther than expected. The farm was no longer visible.
The tall corn, untouched for years, had grown like a towering wall.
“Jigu… I think we came too far. I can’t see the farm…”
Frightened, Ryan grabbed her sleeve. Surrounded by corn, it felt like a maze.
A memory surfaced.
‘Never go deep into a cornfield.’
‘Why?’
‘Because you might never come out… even after you die.’
Hearing Ryan’s scared voice, Jigu also looked around.
Ryan could not see—but Jigu, slightly taller, saw the tip of a roof beyond the corn.
She narrowed her eyes, then nodded.
“I see the roof over there.”
The sky, once clear and blazing, was now filling with dark clouds. It would be better to return before it got darker.
‘Still couldn’t find what the Detection skill warned about.’
Jigu clicked her tongue and brushed corn dust from her hands.
Even after killing the zombie, the edge of her vision was still faintly red.
But that was normal outside the Earth Protection Zone. Still… the uneasiness came from the farm.
She looked toward the darkening farm, then smiled at Ryan.
“Let’s go back.”
Ryan finally relaxed and smiled brightly.
But then—
Rustle… rustle…
Corn stalks shook somewhere far away.
Ryan stiffened.
“What was that?”
“Just the wind. Let’s go. Peggy will worry.”
“…Okay…”
Rustle.
Rustle.
But the dry sound kept getting closer.
It sounded like wind… or something moving through grass.
Rustle.
Rustle.
Crack!
‘…Not my imagination.’
Right? No—behind?
They could not tell.
Jigu and Ryan stopped, exchanged glances, and quietly took out weapons.
Someone was following them.
Rustle.
Slide.
Rustle.
Crack!
Closer.
Sweat filled their joined hands.
But something was strange—
Her vision was still calm.
The Detection skill did not consider this dangerous.
‘Not a zombie?’
Jigu’s mind raced.
For 400 days alone in Little Rock, she had tested everything about her skills—except one thing.
Living humans.
The Detection skill sensed “danger” within 500 meters. But it never clearly defined what counted as danger.
Rustle—closer now.
Her heart pounded. Ryan froze.
Yet her vision did not change.
The corn in front of them slowly parted.
What appeared was—
“…Morton.”
Jigu whispered his name, watching his anxious face.
Morton looked just as startled.
“Why are you here… did you get lost?”
“No. We were going back to the farm.”
“I see…”
“What about you?”
“I was… well…”
His blue eyes wandered, distracted. Then his gaze fell on the pile of corn leaves covering the body.
His face stiffened.
“…What is that?”
“Oh! A zombie body. We covered it,” Ryan said proudly.
But Morton kept staring—at the pale wheat-colored hair visible between the leaves.
Jigu slowly tightened her hidden hand behind her back.
Cold metal touched her palm.
In a zombie apocalypse, danger was usually clear.
Zombies attacked humans on instinct.
But would the system consider humans as danger?
She had never tested it.
‘For example… killing intent.’
Veins rose on Morton’s hand gripping the axe.
And at that moment—
Her vision slowly began to turn red.
