Chapter 98
His vision blurred as if covered by a layer of fog. Slowly, the haziness lifted, revealing a world drained of color.
This is… a dream.
The dreamer instinctively recognized it. This wasn’t the first time. It had happened countless times since that day.
Like watching a film, scene after scene unfolded in rapid succession. The frames flickered until they suddenly stopped—
The image settled on a familiar island.
There were people living there. They raised livestock, farmed, and laughed together. If not for what he knew, it would have been impossible to tell whether this was before or after the apocalypse.
Then, the scene shifted violently.
The peaceful island was instantly thrown into chaos.
People who had been laughing just moments ago turned into the dead, tearing into their companions. Zombies appeared from nowhere, swarming like an endless tide.
And among them—
A grotesque monster with shark-like fangs snapped its jaws, ripping apart those who fought back.
[Jung-hwan!]
[Yohan-hyung! Aaaagh!]
A man screamed as he watched another get torn apart. Jung-hwan reached out desperately toward someone, only to fall lifelessly moments later. The one who had called his name had no time to mourn—zombies closed in on all sides.
One by one, the survivors retreated, regrouped, and fell.
The man who wore his Polaroid camera like a treasure—
The woman who fought with unmatched ferocity—
The soldier who never missed a shot—
They all became victims of the dead.
Soon, only three remained.
One of them, a large man with a prosthetic arm, had already been bitten on the shoulder. Surrounding them was an impossible number of zombies. The three men’s faces were painted with despair.
They fought desperately.
The man with the prosthetic swung his weapon with both hands, stacking zombie corpses at his feet. Eventually, even getting bitten didn’t matter anymore—he simply focused on killing as many as he could before collapsing, still standing.
Two survivors left.
One, a man with shoulder-length wavy hair, was too occupied dealing with a zombie with an elongated jaw to protect the other’s back.
And the last man—Yohan—was completely surrounded, struggling alone.
A mutated zombie slashed wildly with its razor-sharp claws and fangs, cutting down even its own kind in its frenzied attacks.
The long-haired man moved inhumanly fast, cutting down dozens of zombies. But in the end, the monstrous creature tore off both his hands.
Despite the agony, he forced a smirk.
[What a load of shit. Right, hyung?]
His grin twisted into a grimace of pain.
And then—
Yohan, the last survivor of the peaceful island, stared at the incoming horde with hollow eyes, arms falling limp.
The screen shattered. (T/N: Wait, whutttt?)
—
“Hah!”
“Miss Rina, you’re awake?”
“Hah… hah…”
Sister Paulina—Rina—was drenched in sweat.
“You had that dream again, didn’t you?”
“Berda.”
“Yes, my lady?”
“Call Pio. Right now.”
“Should I tell him what it’s about?”
Still gasping, Rina wet her lips. The dream had never felt this real before. Not since the first day the zombies appeared.
And the island in the vision—she recognized it.
It was close.
She had dreamt every time she slept. Some were omens, others nightmares. Over time, they had blurred together like muddied water.
But this time—this time, she was sure.
“They’re coming.”
Because this wasn’t the first time she had seen them.
And they—they needed her.
—
Yohan’s group arrived at Sam-mok Pier.
From here, their next destination, Sindo, was close enough to see with the naked eye.
Among the smaller fishing boats and passenger ferries, a single old mid-sized vessel stood out.
Abandoned cars cluttered the inner part of the pier, alongside closed-down buildings.
Being a remote area, there weren’t many zombies in sight.
“Prepare for resupply.”
At Yohan’s curt command, the team unloaded their gear and began reorganizing.
The recon unit spread out swiftly, creating a defensive perimeter so the non-combatants could work safely.
Their movements were seamless, like a single entity.
The survivors from the main camp, witnessing the precision of the recon team for the first time, could only stare in awe.
Once the supplies were sorted, Yohan gave the next order, looking satisfied.
“This area isn’t too dangerous. Spread out—each group will clear one building. Don’t go overboard with scavenging, just focus on the zombies.”
With those brief instructions, Yohan headed for the boat to start the engine.
The recon team moved like well-trained hounds, dispersing efficiently. Given the area’s low population, clearing it individually was much faster and safer than moving in groups.
Their method was simple—open the entrances, lure the zombies outside, and take them down in the open.
For trained warriors, it was hardly a challenge.
—
“Uh? Ah-young, you don’t need to follow. It’s dangerous—stay put.”
Jung-hwan waved Ah-young away as she quietly trailed after him.
Ah-young hesitated.
“Go on, shoo, shoo.”
Minors were kept out of combat whenever possible. Rather than letting them fumble around trying to help, it was safer to have them stay put.
Jung-hwan, sensing her unease, tried again.
“Look, just stay back—”
But before he could finish—
Ah-young ignored him and kept following.
This is bad.
Jung-hwan grimaced. He had a feeling Yohan would chew him out for this later.
He planted his hands on his hips and put on a mock-serious face, trying to scare her off. But instead, Ah-young burst into a bright, carefree laugh.
A cheerful high school girl smiling at him like that—it completely drained the strength from his body.
Ah, seriously. Telling people off is really not my thing.
Jung-hwan shook his head.
“You have to be careful, okay? Recon work is no joke, Ah-young. It’s really dangerous.”
Ah-young nodded vigorously.
“It should be fine.”
If it had been the old him, he might have doubted it. But now? He was confident he could at least protect one person.
Besides, as Yohan had pointed out, they had barely encountered any zombies on their way here. This area wasn’t that dangerous.
Still, dealing with women was tough. Seri was at least straightforward and outgoing, which made things easier. Ji-hye was gentle and kind, so they got along well. But aside from those two, he struggled. Even Jung-eun, his fellow recon member, was difficult to talk to sometimes.
Thinking about Seri made him feel awkward all over again. At one point, he’d thought his feelings for her were incredibly intense. But looking back, it wasn’t that big of a deal. Even he had to admit it was kind of embarrassing. Just remembering how he had whined to Yohan about it made him want to punch his past self.
“Uh… Ah-young.”
“Yes?”
“Why are you following me?”
Jung-hwan patted himself on the back for asking such a good question to break the awkward silence.
Ah-young hesitated for a moment, then replied in a voice so small it was almost a whisper.
“Because… the others are scary.”
“Hah, so you’re saying I’m not scary?”
He laughed, but she didn’t answer.
It felt like silent confirmation.
Jung-hwan pouted a little.
“So, I’m just easy to deal with, huh?”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“Huh?”
“You’re strong… but kind.”
“…Oh?”
That was unexpected.
It was both surprising and… a little thrilling.
No one had ever said that to him before.
His chest felt warm, almost ticklish.
Growing up surrounded by older brothers, he had always felt lacking—whether in physical ability or combat skills.
He wasn’t exactly useless, but he never thought of himself as an important fighter.
Hearing someone call him strong for the first time… it wasn’t a bad feeling.
Still feeling a little awkward, they continued their conversation in quiet tones. Before long, they reached their destination.
Jung-hwan gestured for Ah-young to step back. She quickly ran a few meters away and clasped her hands together.
Jung-hwan yanked open the fish market’s door and immediately stepped back.
A lone zombie stumbled out of the darkness.
“Hahp!”
Like a sidearm pitcher, Jung-hwan swung his knife in a clean horizontal arc—slicing the zombie’s head off.
The decapitated body collapsed forward. The severed head blinked and opened its mouth, but before it could do anything, Jung-hwan stabbed his knife straight into its skull.
For some reason, his movements felt lighter than usual.
With newfound confidence, he knocked on the market’s metal doors.
From inside, he heard the groaning wails of the dead. Two. Maybe three.
No problem.
“They’re coming. Two or three,” he warned Ah-young.
It wasn’t just for her safety—he wanted to make sure she didn’t scream if multiple zombies suddenly appeared.
But the zombies weren’t charging out.
It seemed they were wandering aimlessly inside.
Jung-hwan knocked harder.
Kyaaaargh!
Suddenly, a zombie lunged at him, claws outstretched.
Jung-hwan instinctively dodged, thrusting his knife forward while simultaneously leaping backward. The zombie fell, arms flailing.
Then another. And another.
He dispatched them one by one, grabbing and tossing their corpses out of the doorway.
“Hah…”
If Sweeper or Hajin were watching, they’d probably say, “What’s with the action movie performance over just three zombies?”
But for an average person? This would probably look badass.
Sure enough, when he glanced at Ah-young, she was staring at him wide-eyed—like she was watching a superhero movie.
Stay focused.
If Yohan’s drilled-in warnings weren’t echoing in his head, he might have actually gotten cocky.
“A terrifying man…”
Even now, he could hear Yohan’s voice in his head. Seriously. That guy was scary.
Shaking off the thought, Jung-hwan banged on the door one more time.
Walking into a dark building without checking for hidden zombies was a death sentence.
Basic recon protocol was to double or triple check before entering.
He knocked again.
Nothing.
A fourth time.
Still nothing.
Either there were no zombies inside, or if there were, they were too damaged to move.
Switching to his shorter knife, he grabbed a flashlight.
Drip. Drip.
The building was old.
Tiny grains of sand and debris trickled from the ceiling. Cracks ran through the rotting beams, allowing slivers of sunlight to seep in.
Even without the flashlight, it was bright enough to see inside.
“This place is falling apart… The ceiling’s not gonna collapse, is it?”
