Chapter 120

Blood burst from Hajin’s side, and Sweeper screamed.

That arm had definitely twisted like a snake.

Both of them were caught off guard by the unexpected attack.

While Hajin was down, the creature’s arm curled again. Sweeper instinctively dodged the sudden strike, but the claws grazed his shoulder. Another follow-up attack came in a straight line, and Sweeper blocked it with his hand axe turned sideways.

No—he blocked it, but his body couldn’t absorb the impact. Sweeper went tumbling across the ground.

The mutant charged forward.

Screams rang out from all sides, and the creature’s jaws gaped wide. Sweeper fumbled for his grenade, but the thing’s maw came crashing down faster.

Just then, a bullet flew in from somewhere and pierced the mutant’s tongue.

“Hyungnims!”

It was Sergeant Ong.

Ong, wielding his sniper rifle, was relentlessly pulling the trigger. One by one, each shot rammed into the creature’s open mouth, making the mutant pause.

In that split-second window, Sweeper shoved the grenade into the creature’s mouth. Realizing something foreign had entered its stomach, the mutant snapped its mouth shut and stumbled backward.

“Chew on that, you bastard.”

Three seconds, four, five—then boom! The shockwave was enough to feel through the ground. The mutant went berserk.

Kkyaeeeaak!

Its entire body thrashed like someone suffering a violent allergic reaction. In the chaos, Sweeper dragged Hajin away.

“Ong, nice shot.”

Sweeper tried to flash a bright expression and gave Ong a thumbs-up, but cold sweat poured down his face. Both he and Hajin had been wounded by a zombie.

That meant infection.

There was no denying it.

Dark red blood sprayed from the mutant’s body as it roared with its mouth wide open, eyes locked on them.

‘One hit wasn’t enough?’

Its movements had definitely slowed, but its glare was even more ferocious. It was furious, howling at them with abandon.

“Hah, what a shit show. Right, hyung?”

“Couldn’t agree more.”

Without giving them time to regroup, the creature cunningly, deliberately hit them with its hidden trick.

‘It was hiding its final attack pattern on purpose.’

Against something this physically superior, discovering it also had combat instincts was a tragedy for them.

“How long can we hold out?”

“Dunno—few minutes?”

“At least we can fight without worrying about infection now. Hyung, we’ve gotta avenge Junghwan, yeah?”

“Count me in. Ong, open the doors and get everyone inside. Hold out until Yohan arrives.”

“But what about you guys—”

“Leave us. We’re gonna die fighting anyway.”

“Damn right. We’ve got a debt to pay for Junghwan.”

Already infected, their only chance to avoid a meaningless death was to take the creature down with them. They couldn’t let it escape.

“Urgh…!”

“Get going. Don’t cry like some punk. Ong, Hyuk, move everyone before it’s too late.”

Hyuk came to his senses and gathered the survivors inside. Meanwhile, Sweeper and Hajin charged again, hammering at the mutant until its jaws opened wide, backed by Sergeant Ong who refused to retreat and continued covering fire.

The mutant curled into itself like a turtle, waiting for its shock to pass.

Even then, its eyeballs rolled with visible irritation.

Tak!

Then it leapt—toward Sergeant Ong.

“Shit, Ong!”

Hyuk had just come out after leading the people inside and sprinted toward Ong, but the mutant had already reached him.

“Dodge!”

Ong fired shot after shot, but it wasn’t enough to stop the mutant. Just as Ong clenched his eyes shut—

Thud!

The mutant was knocked backward by a motorcycle that shot out from the alley.

It was Yohan.

Rolling along the ground and landing in a crouch, Yohan stood immediately and pulled Ong to his feet.

“Good work. Get inside the shelter.”

Without pause, Yohan pulled the pin on a grenade and hurled it at the creature roaring with its mouth open.

It snapped its mouth shut in a hurry, but whether it was the accumulated damage or the new shock, the mutant staggered. As Yohan gripped his machete and rushed in, the creature began to retreat. Then, with quick bounds, it vanished into the darkness.

It disappeared from sight in an instant.

Yohan grimaced and rushed over to tend to the others’ wounds.

One had a waist injury. The other, a shoulder.

“Hyung, you’re late.”

“……”

“You’re bleeding, you know?”

“It’s not my blood. Don’t worry about it.”

“Really? That’s a lot of blood, though.”

Yohan looked down at their wounds with a complicated expression. They were clearly infected. The two of them sat slumped on the ground, grim-faced and speechless.

Junghwan, Hajin, Sweeper—losing them all at once?

It was an unbelievable, absurd reality.

Hope at the camp was vanishing.

Yohan covered his face and collapsed to the ground as if his legs gave out.

“…We’re short on time. If you’ve got anything to say, say it now.”

“Avenge us.”

“…I’ll chase it to the depths of hell and do it. Hajin?”

“Same here.”

“…Alright.”

Always the same till the end. Yohan couldn’t even cry—it didn’t feel real. Just distant and surreal.

“Thought I’d feel something if I got infected, but honestly? I feel totally fine. Anyway, hyung, it was good fighting with you.”

“…Wait. You don’t feel anything at all?”

“Nope. Why?”

“Hajin?”

“It hurts. Got stabbed deep.”

Yohan quickly pressed.

“How long ago did you get hurt?”

“Hmm… ten minutes maybe?”

That didn’t add up. When wounded near a mutant, infection usually starts within five minutes—ten at most. The first symptom? Fever.

Yohan placed a hand on their foreheads.

…No fever at all.

He shot to his feet and shouted toward Ong and Hyuk.

“Disinfectant and bandages!”

The two rushed into the shelter and returned with supplies. Yohan applied disinfectant and taped them up as if giving standard first aid.

“What the hell?”

“When a mutant is nearby, infection starts within five minutes. Fever and bloodshot eyes. But you’ve gone over ten minutes without a single symptom.”

“Then… don’t tell me.”

“You might be immune.”

The eyes of the two men, who had already accepted death, lit up. It truly felt like grabbing onto a rope at the edge of a cliff.

“Let’s wait a bit longer.”

Even after ten, twenty minutes, there were no signs of infection. They were immune.

“Wow, now that’s a surprise gift. Feels like I wasted all that time playing it safe.”

Yohan let out a deep sigh.

Thank god.

Truly, thank god.

Having three immune individuals in one camp was incredible, but right now, he could only be grateful for this unbelievable stroke of luck.

When Yohan looked up at the two of them, they wore starkly different expressions—Sweeper beaming with joy, Hajin looking like he’d lost his homeland.

“What’s with the face, hyung? It’s good news—why do you look like you stepped in shit… Oh.”

Hajin’s gaze was fixed on the severed stump of his own hand.

“Then why the hell did I cut off my arm, damn it…”

That day, they heard Hajin swear for the first time in his life.

* * *

The search team stayed up all night, unable to sleep. The mutant didn’t show up again.

“Think it gave up?”

“No chance.”

Whether zombies or all other mutants, one unchanging trait was their instinct to kill and devour living beings—especially humans. It might have backed off in the face of resistance, but it still considered them prey.

“It’s coming back. I’m sure of it. My whole body’s tingling.”

“But for now, we should conserve our strength.”

Yohan nodded at Hajin’s words. If they wanted to fight in peak condition when the time came, even minimal sleep was necessary.

“Let’s take shifts sleeping.”

Yohan set up a three-shift rotation with himself, Hajin, and Sweeper. Sticking to an eight-hour sleep cycle would keep them battle-ready even if the fight dragged on.

“Hopefully it doesn’t become a long battle.”

In drawn-out fights, the hunted were always at a disadvantage.

But as always, uneasy premonitions were never wrong. The mutant didn’t appear at the shelter for several days. Maybe it was waiting for them to tire, or for someone to stray from the group.

The important thing was—they couldn’t keep this up forever.

The people were growing exhausted.

After catching four hours of sleep, Yohan called the other two over.

“I have an idea. Can’t say it’s foolproof, but it might be worth a shot.”

Yohan explained his plan: a strike on the mutant shark using a new weapon.

“Will that even work?”

“No idea. Never tried it. But we can’t take it down like this. That thing runs the moment it senses danger. We have to hit it in one shot.”

“Hmmm…”

“It’s a weapon designed to bring down fighter jets. Remember David? If they took damage from Claymores, there’s no way they’re surviving a 25kg high-explosive warhead.”

It was an uncertain plan—but also a tempting one.

“Let’s do it. What’s the worst that happens—we die?”

Sweeper let out a carefree laugh.

“I’d prefer all three of us go, but just in case, one should stay behind. If the creature appears, don’t engage—just buy time.”

At Yohan’s words, the two looked at each other. They spoke at the exact same time.

“You stay.”

“Hyung, you stay.”

Another pause.

“No. I’m going.”

“Don’t push yourself, hyung.”

“I have to get revenge on the bastard that took my arm.”

“…Wasn’t it David who took your arm—”

Yohan trailed off. Given Hajin’s immunity, the one who truly took his arm… was himself.

But Yohan decided to go along with it.

Come to think of it, Hajin had always seemed oddly resistant to infection. Even in environments where wounds alone led to infection, he had survived countless injuries.

It made sense if he’d been immune from the beginning.

“Alright, then Hajin goes with us. Feels like the David fight all over again.”

“Yeah. That really was like a scene out of a martial arts novel, wasn’t it?”

“…Seriously?”

At Sweeper’s question, Yohan just shrugged.

“Was it? Sweeper, we’ll count on you to hold the rear.”

“Leave it to me.”

Sweeper’s voice brimmed with confidence.

(T/N: Phew! I thought we will have another death. I still havent moved on from Jung-hwan’s death!)