Chapter 46
Yohan’s body reacted instinctively, smashing a zombie’s jaw upward with his elbow before striking another zombie’s head with the underside of his Glock.
He quickly shifted his gaze toward the enemy leader. The man was aiming a crossbow at him, as if determined not to miss this opportunity. Acting on reflex, Yohan hurled the object in his hand at him.
The object struck the man’s face at the exact moment the fired arrow grazed Yohan’s arm. The leather jacket tore, but that was the extent of the damage.
Yohan immediately charged at the man.
One second—his hand reached for another arrow.
Two seconds—he gripped the arrow and loaded it into the crossbow.
Three seconds—the crossbow was aimed at Yohan.
Four seconds—Yohan kicked the man’s hand aside as the arrow flew and embedded itself in the ceiling.
Yohan’s fist connected with the man’s jaw, sending him staggering. The man wobbled for a moment before picking up a monkey wrench from the floor and swinging it at Yohan.
Yohan instinctively raised his arm to block the attack, but a sharp pain jolted through him. The weapon sliced through the air again, and this time, Yohan leaned back to dodge and stepped away. The monkey wrench slammed into the floor.
Straightening his stance, Yohan drew a large sword from his belt. This was his last weapon. Given its reach and utility, it was an advantage. Yohan took a deep breath.
Then the man opened his mouth. His low, gravelly voice sounded eerie.
“I didn’t expect you to be such a headache. This is a first.”
A chill ran down Yohan’s spine as he heard the man’s voice. There was something eerily familiar about it.
“We both don’t want to risk more danger, do we? How about a truce? How’s your shoulder?”
Yohan kept his gaze fixed on the man without responding. Even by touch alone, he could tell whether the zombie’s teeth had pierced his leather jacket. He had no intention of looking away, not even for a moment.
He wasn’t interested in exchanging words with the enemy. But Yohan had a question he needed answered.
‘The traitor’s existence.’
The enemy had acted as if they had been observing the allied camp, setting traps and making calculated moves. This wasn’t something that could be done based solely on reconnaissance or guesswork.
Yohan needed to confirm if there was a spy among them.
Of course, his plan was to capture the man and interrogate him to the brink of death. Yohan instinctively sensed the man feared this standoff and decided to speak.
“How did you know?”
“Know what?”
“That our camp was allied, that I’m the leader, and that we were preparing for an ambush.”
The masked man smirked, clapping his fist into his palm as if he had just realized something. His eyes narrowed unnaturally behind his mask.
“Well… should I tell you or not?”
“Don’t bother. I’ll make you talk.”
Yohan tightened his grip on his knife. The man raised something from the ground to eye level—a walkie-talkie.
“You’re impatient.”
The man fiddled with a dial on the walkie-talkie, and a familiar voice came through.
-“Oppa, oppa, can you hear me?! Where are you?!”
He turned the dial again, silencing the voice.
“Ever heard of communication security?”
Yohan bit his lip. This wasn’t the worst-case scenario he had feared, but it was still bad enough.
If they had intercepted their communications using walkie-talkies from the same location, anyone skilled with communication equipment could have eavesdropped. Yohan had faced a similar problem in the past during his fight with “Seoul Survival Union.”
He could blame the situation on not anticipating an enemy’s ability to eavesdrop, but he knew better. This was his own carelessness.
‘Still not good enough.’
Yohan chastised himself, but the man continued in a calm voice, oblivious to Yohan’s inner turmoil.
“You weren’t our original target. We’ve been eyeing the department store for weeks. But just days before we were set to act, someone beat us to the punch.”
The man’s gaze was unsettling as he looked at Yohan. The fall of the department store gang had been intriguing for him to witness.
The man had been looking to upgrade his weapons when he noticed his prey carrying a few firearms. It was natural for a hunter to turn his sights back on the predator that had stolen his catch.
What he hadn’t anticipated was the prey biting back.
The man, introducing himself as Baek Jong-soo, casually rubbed his jaw before saying something that shook Yohan to the core.
“Have you heard of the Seoul Survival Union?”
It felt like Yohan had been struck by a hammer. The words “Seoul Survival Union” sent shockwaves through him. Without hesitation, Yohan launched an attack. His dagger slashed Baek Jong-soo’s thigh and then cut upward.
Clang!
The dagger collided with the monkey wrench, and the force numbed Yohan’s hand. He clenched the handle tightly, but the dagger slipped from his grasp.
Dodging another swing of the wrench, Yohan tackled Baek Jong-soo, tripping him and pinning him down.
Mounting him, Yohan pummeled his face until teeth broke and blood splattered. His trembling hands tore off the man’s mask.
Despite the swelling, Yohan immediately recognized the face.
It was a vile face he would never forget, no matter how many times he died.
Baek Jong-soo, the leader of Search Team 2 for the Seoul Survival Union.
Although ranked ninth or tenth in the Union, he was effectively a field commander. Yohan’s expression twisted as he stared him down.
“You.”
Baek Jong-soo, seemingly unaware of the danger he was in, laughed uproariously.
“You heard it too, didn’t you? That radio broadcast.”
“Radio broadcast?”
A wicked grin spread across Baek Jong-soo’s bloodied face.
“A world where only the strong survive. A place where the capable are rewarded, free from the threat of zombies.”
His words only deepened the storm in Yohan’s mind.
“We are on our way to the Seoul Survival Union.”
The tangled threads unraveled in an instant, and the mysteries fell into place. The reason they kept moving, the way they survived so conspicuously in this chaos—it all made sense.
Yohan’s thoughts began to organize.
This man was a future key figure of the Seoul Survival Union. If Yohan hadn’t diverted his path and established himself here, this man would have crushed the department store gang, headed to Seoul, and joined “Gaebeakjeong.”
Thinking back, there had been something strange. When Yohan arrived at the third camp—the mart—none of the people there had mentioned the department store gang. Yohan didn’t recall the gang existing at all.
His intervention had altered reality. The original timeline had Baek Jong-soo killing the survivors at H Department Store, taking their weapons, and heading to Seoul.
Afterward, Baek Jong-soo would have become the enforcer of the Seoul Survival Union, responsible for countless deaths.
The Union’s hallmark method of survival—sacrificing subordinates mercilessly and only bringing the survivors—was something Gaebeakjeong and the other Union leaders had pioneered. And Baek Jong-soo was the one who started it all.
Yohan tightened his grip on Baek Jong-soo’s neck with both hands.
The priority was killing Baek Jong-soo. Letting him go would lead to countless sacrifices. He must die. Yohan couldn’t allow this man to live.
He squeezed with all his might, but Baek Jong-soo, with muscles even in his neck, only gasped and struggled without dying easily. Yohan struck him. Once, twice, three times.
Reaching for the fallen dagger to finish him, Yohan suddenly felt Baek Jong-soo’s hand clutch his collar.
Their foreheads collided violently, blinding Yohan momentarily. Baek Jong-soo planted one hand on the ground and grabbed Yohan’s chin with the other, slamming him to the ground. Yohan staggered and put some distance between them—about three steps.
His forehead, which had hit the floor, burned. He raised his arm to wipe away what felt like sweat, only to find sticky blood smeared on it, reeking of iron.
Baek Jong-soo spat out red blood with a sneer. Yohan, still gripping the dagger, kicked the monkey wrench across the floor and out of reach.
The moment Yohan kicked the monkey wrench away, Baek Jong-soo twisted his body and ran. He grabbed onto a pipe beside the building and slid straight down. Thud—a heavy landing echoed.
Yohan’s entire body ached, the exhaustion from the fight weighing on him.
He could endure it all. The wound on his forehead was the real problem. Left untreated, it could become infected.
But there was no time for treatment. He had to chase him. The ominous shadow of death crept up to his scalp.
Baek Jong-soo, leader of Search Team 2 of the Seoul Survival Union.
Seeing his face had already shattered Yohan’s rationality.
This man.
That bastard had brutally murdered his comrades.
He tied up his closest friend and threw him into a pit of zombies. Even when he could have killed him outright, he ensured he was devoured alive.
He raped women, forcing them to watch their lovers being eaten alive by zombies. He would make them beg to save their loved ones and then humiliate them in every possible way.
That was his method.
He was a monster who made sure his victims couldn’t even die peacefully, who relished their screams as if it were music.
Among his victims were Yohan’s allies—friends who had confessed their feelings to him, comrades he cherished like siblings, a mentor-like figure who had been like a father.
Seeing Baek Jong-soo’s face brought all those memories crashing back, chilling Yohan to the bone. A single thought consumed him.
Kill Baek Jong-soo.
If he let him go, he would eventually turn his vicious fangs toward Yohan. Baek Jong-soo never let prey escape. If he returned to the Union, it was only a matter of time before they came for this place.
In his previous life, during the long war with the Seoul Survival Union, Yohan’s camp had been in Yeouido. Even three years later, the Union hadn’t moved outside Seoul.
He needed to prevent future threats. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, a chance given by fate itself. A chance to avenge his fallen comrades and eliminate a future threat.
Yohan slid down the pipe, landing on the ground with a jolt that stung his knees. He caught sight of Baek Jong-soo’s back as the man fled through the alley. Yohan felt like his skull was rattling as he gave chase.
The warm summer night air brushed against his face as he ran. His body burned with exertion, and his breathing grew ragged.
The dark alleys seemed endless as the pursuit continued. Zombies popped out unexpectedly, but Yohan didn’t have time to deal with them. He simply cleared a path and continued chasing Baek Jong-soo.
Baek Jong-soo wasn’t in good condition either. Limping as he ran, the gap between them steadily closed.
Yohan shoulder-checked a zombie blocking his way, grabbing another by the head and smashing it into the wall. Its skull burst like a cracked egg, leaving sticky fluids dripping from Yohan’s hands.
His breathing was labored, but he could feel the distance shrinking.
After what felt like an eternity of running, they reached a fork in the road. At the “T” junction, Baek Jong-soo turned left, with Yohan close behind.
The alley ended in a dead end.
Baek Jong-soo, as if waiting for this moment, swung a wooden plank down at him.
