POARW 05

Chapter 5

Was I just being sensitive?

I couldn’t tell if the egg felt strangely light or simply hollow inside.

To check, I placed a plate on the table and cracked the egg onto it.

Crack! Splurt—

“…What the hell is this?”

It was rotten.

The color was wrong, and the smell was absolutely disgusting.

‘Wait… then…’

I hurriedly checked the ramen package.

The moment I saw the manufacturing date printed on it, my jaw dropped.

“What is this supposed to mean…?”

The world I lived in was the mid-2020s.

Then why… why did this say it was manufactured in 2030?

Had I read it wrong?

No. It clearly wasn’t the expiration date—it was the manufacturing date.

‘Is that why the buildings are different?’

The lottery shop had become a snack bar, and the hardware store had turned into a café.

Maybe the reason had something to do with the manufacturing date on this ramen.

Then the world where the zombies appeared…

“This is the future?”

Was No Way Home a game set in the future?

I was the type to always check manuals, but not enough to read every bit of worldbuilding lore.

I didn’t know the answer, but if No Way Home really took place in the 2030s… then this situation made sense.

Grrrrr—

My stomach felt like it was sticking to my back.

“Ah, screw it… whatever.”

2030 or not, I needed to eat first.

I’d been moving nonstop since morning without eating a single meal. If I wanted to survive, I had to put something in my stomach.

I wolfed down the ramen.

After stuffing myself, I slept like the dead for about an hour.

When I woke up, my body felt lighter and my mind clearer.

I’d rested enough.

Time for round two.

I stood up and started preparing to head out again.

I wrapped magazines and notebooks around my arms and legs, changed into dry padded clothes and clean combat boots.

The wet leather gloves were uncomfortable, but I had to wear them to prevent getting bitten on the hands.

“Whew… let’s go. Come on, move!”

I really didn’t want to go outside.

I was scared too.

But if I wanted to survive, I had to hunt zombies.

I whipped my lazy thoughts into shape, slapped my cheeks a few times, and forced myself to focus.

* * *

[Remaining Time: 17 Hours]

I slept six hours a day.

The rest of the time, I hunted zombies.

No need to prepare for work.

No need for project deadlines or presentation materials.

In this world, I ate like a machine and killed zombies like a machine.

Of course, every encounter with a zombie was a life-or-death struggle.

“Show me my stats.”

[Current Stats: Stamina 28, Strength 20, Agility 20, Epidermis 5]

[Owned Points: 12]

Over two days, I’d earned a whopping 1,300 points.

I used them to increase Stamina by 8 and Strength by 5.

As my hunting sessions grew longer, I could feel my body struggling more and more, so I invested in Strength instead of Agility.

I’d crushed so many zombie skulls that my aluminum bat had become dented.

Thankfully, while taking a break in a villa during one of my hunts, I’d found another baseball bat and replaced it.

The current time was 1 PM.

I could still hunt for another twelve hours, so today’s goal was to raise my Stamina to 30.

After finishing my preparations, I stepped outside into the pouring rain.

Shaa—

“Grrrrr…”

The dozen or so zombies were still gathered about thirty meters from the first floor of the villa.

It would’ve been nice if I could deal with them too, but handling fifteen zombies alone was beyond me.

It might be possible if I used the narrow terrain to my advantage…

‘No need to overdo it.’

Just like before, it was safer to target lone zombies or small groups of three or four.

Fighting large numbers drained too much stamina.

Over the past two days, I’d mainly cleared the northern and eastern areas, so today I planned to head west.

I intentionally avoided the south because Shin OO Apartments were there, and I didn’t want to run into survivors.

I checked the western side using the 3D terrain map.

Haengdang Station was about 400 meters away.

Come to think of it, I hadn’t checked the subway station yet.

Would there be a lot of zombies underground too?

I should clear the surface first, then check below if I had time.

“Grrrr… Kahak!”

As I moved west while looking at the map, zombie noises started echoing from the alleys around me.

Judging from the sounds alone, there didn’t seem to be many.

I’d clear them all as I moved.

Gripping the baseball bat tightly, I headed straight toward the noises.

“Kahak! Kahak!”

“Kakak…”

“Tadadadak— kkrrrk…”

The closer I got, the more zombie sounds overlapped into a chaotic cacophony.

Teeth grinding.

Wet footsteps splashing irregularly.

There seemed to be more zombies than I expected, so I hid behind a wall and cautiously peeked around the corner to count them first.

The moment I did, my eyes widened and I immediately ducked back.

I couldn’t see clearly, but there were definitely over twenty zombies looking around restlessly.

They wouldn’t behave like that for no reason.

That only happened when they were stimulated by something.

What was it? Who had drawn their attention?

Creeeak—

Then came the sound of someone stepping on a rusty metal sheet.

I couldn’t pinpoint the location, but it wasn’t nearby.

“Kahak! Haaak!”

The moment the zombies heard the noise, they all charged in one direction.

I peeked out again to follow their movement.

“They’re coming! Run!”

“Big bro, this way!”

Human voices echoed faintly in the distance.

Because visibility was so poor, I couldn’t see them, but whoever they were, survival would be difficult.

When zombies ground their teeth or clacked them together, it meant prey was nearby.

It was their way of signaling the presence of prey.

Something like: I smell prey nearby, but I can’t see it yet.

Then, the moment they spotted prey, they let out that guttural growl and charged.

The sound spread from one zombie to another until they all began pursuing the target together.

If someone was dragging around twenty zombies already…

More would only keep gathering.

The number would never decrease.

No Way Home players called this phenomenon “zombie resonance.”

Back on Yanben, people constantly asked how to deal with resonance, and every time I replied with the same answer.

• It’s easier if you just give up.

Unless you were blessed by sheer luck, surviving a situation like that was nearly impossible.

‘What a waste of points.’

Still, there was nothing I could do.

Taking risks wouldn’t help.

It seemed those fleeing survivors had dragged away all the zombies nearby, so maybe I should check the subway station instead—

“Daddyyy!”

At that moment, a voice snapped my attention back.

Where had that come from?

It sounded close.

“Kyungseo, shh.”

“Daddy… waaah… daddy…”

Without thinking, I looked up.

Their voices… were coming from above me.

I spotted human silhouettes on a rooftop.

An unfamiliar man was holding a child, and beside him stood a woman I didn’t recognize.

That man probably wasn’t the child’s father.

If he were, the child wouldn’t be desperately calling for her dad.

“Sister-in-law, stay here with Kyungseo for now.”

“How are we supposed to stay here…?!”

“If we leave things like this, we’ll all die. I have to bring hyung back.”

After saying that, the man disappeared somewhere.

Sister-in-law? Hyung?

Then that man was… the child’s uncle?

Earlier, I’d heard two male voices in the distance.

One of them had called the other “big bro.”

Three men, one woman, and one child…

‘A family?’

As I was piecing things together, zombie noises suddenly echoed from inside the building.

At the same time came the sound of frantic footsteps racing up the stairs.

I pressed myself tightly against the outer wall of the building and didn’t move.

That child’s cry must’ve alerted the zombies inside.

I thought the nearby zombies had all followed the men earlier, but apparently not.

BANG! BANG BANG! BANG!

The sound of something pounding violently echoed above.

I couldn’t see it, but it was obviously the rooftop metal door being slammed.

Not just pounding—they were throwing themselves against it.

“Run, sister-in-law! It won’t hold long!”

“W-Where am I supposed to run?!”

“Isn’t there an emergency staircase?!”

“N-No!”

Panicked voices rang out above me.

The child’s crying grew louder, and the mother was completely helpless.

Logically, the right choice was to leave.

Whether they lived or died had nothing to do with me.

But…

“Fuck…”

I couldn’t make myself walk away.

It wasn’t fear.

And it wasn’t because of some cheap sense of justice or morality.

It was something deeply personal and emotional.

The child’s desperate cries for her father overlapped with memories from my own past.

Faded memories, blurry like old Polaroid photos.

The people who were supposedly my parents—I couldn’t even remember their faces or voices anymore.

—Daddy will be right back.

They said they’d come back.

Said they’d return soon.

Then they left me alone at the zoo.

Back then, six-year-old me had believed those words completely and waited.

Until the sunset faded.

Until darkness completely swallowed the sky.

Until the ice cream in my hand melted and turned sticky.

If one hundred people pass by, Mom and Dad will come back.

If two hundred people pass by, they’ll come back.

If three hundred people pass by…

I kept thinking that while endlessly counting the people walking past me.

Watching children held safely in their parents’ arms.

Swallowing an indescribable sadness.

That image of myself overlapped with the child crying for her dad.

Creak—

My grip tightened around the bat.

Yeah.

This decision wasn’t like me.

But…

‘The child did nothing wrong.’

No one understood the feelings of an abandoned child better than I did.

Tap!

Before I could even think, my body moved first.

I rushed into the villa’s first floor and swung the baseball bat at the stair railing.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

As I smashed the railing repeatedly, the sound of many footsteps thundered down the stairs.

“Over here, you bastards!!”

The zombies that had climbed to the rooftop tumbled down the staircase in a tangled mess.

“KAHAAAK!!”

“KRAAAAH!!”

Even with broken limbs, even while trampling over each other, they single-mindedly sought my flesh.

I’d drawn enough attention.

Without looking back, I sprinted outside the building.

The villa entrance was only wide enough for one person to pass through.

I didn’t know how many zombies there were, but I’d kill them all here.

“Kahak!!”

The first zombie to rush down the stairs glared at me and charged.

I raised the baseball bat vertically and smashed it into the top of its skull with all my strength.

CRACK!!

The zombie collapsed limply with the sound of a watermelon splitting open.

But no message saying it was dead appeared.

Only after smashing the back of its head again did the system message appear.

[Zombie eliminated.]

[1 point awarded.]

“Kuhk! Kahak!!”

The system messages blocked my vision.

I quickly muted the alerts and swung my baseball bat nonstop at the zombies pouring out of the building in a tangled mass.

If average human stats were quantified, they’d probably be around 4.

Someone who exercised regularly might be around 8 to 10.

If my memory of No Way Home was correct, early-game zombies averaged around 14.

Meanwhile, my Strength was already 20, and my Stamina was 27.

I swung the aluminum bat relentlessly, crushing their skulls.

Crunch! Crack! Splatter!

At that moment, I felt pressure clamp down around my ankle.

Looking down, I saw a zombie with half its head caved in biting at my leg.

I slammed the bat into its nose and immediately stomped its temple.

If I left the point notifications on, they blocked my vision.

But if I turned them off, things like this happened.

If I’d been wearing normal sneakers, my life would’ve ended right there.

But I was wearing combat boots.

No matter how strong zombies were, human teeth couldn’t bite through those.

CRASH!

Then, with the sound of shattering glass, another zombie dropped from above me.

Too close.

There wasn’t enough room to dodge.

The moment our eyes met, a chill shot down my spine.

Those horrifying eyes fixated on my flesh.

My eyes widened as I instinctively raised my arms to protect my face.

CRUNCH!

The zombie that had leapt through the window… sank its teeth directly into my forearm.