Chapter 30. Encounter

Chapter 30. Encounter

After agonizing for several minutes in front of the Bungeoppang Cart, I finally gave up. We couldn’t use it anyway without breaking the lock, so we decided to discuss it together back home.

This was already our second round of Farming today. We set the supplies down in the living room and the three of us began organizing. We opened the Apartment Entrances of both Apartment 501 and Apartment 502, moving between the two homes to meticulously store the supplies. I had told Gayoung never to open the door when she was alone, so it took quite a while to organize everything, including the items from our first round of Farming.

As noon approached, we concluded our morning schedule with two rounds of Farming and ate lunch.

“Gayoung, this young radish kimchi is delicious. Did you make it yourself?”

“Yes, my mom did. She even makes Kimjang herself.”

“Ah, I’m really grateful. We’re all benefiting from it. You’re still in touch with your father, right?”

“Yes, once a day. He says there are no problems yet.”

For lunch, Gayoung had prepared simple noodles boiled in broth, served with young radish kimchi. It would be nice to add some garnishes, but she said there weren’t many eggs left, so she planned to use them for another dish. I’d casually mentioned how good the kimchi was, but somehow the conversation had shifted to her parents, and I could see her growing somber.

“Oppa, how are we going to break the lock? We don’t have any bolt cutters or anything at home.”

I could tell Seonyoung was trying to change the subject. She must have been struggling too, yet she never showed it, always putting Gayoung first.

“I’m thinking of taking a Fire Extinguisher and smashing it. Even if I can’t break the chain itself, I might be able to snap the joint connecting it to the lock body.”

“Huh? We have a Fire Extinguisher?”

“Yeah. When we came in earlier, I saw a big Fire Extinguisher in the Guard Office.”

I suddenly remembered breaking open a locker lock with a Fire Extinguisher back in my school days. If you don’t have teeth, you chew with your gums, right? We have to try something.

After lunch, we decided to rest until 3 PM. We’d been up and moving since dawn, so it seemed like we’d continue with this schedule from now on, avoiding the hottest part of the day and managing our condition. Seonyoung went into the Master Bedroom, saying she’d take a quick shower and a nap, while Gayoung rustled around in the kitchen.

“Mister, would you like some coffee?”

“Oh, that would be great. Do we still have coffee beans left?”

“Yes, a little. Iced?”

“Yeah, thanks.”

Gayoung and I sat facing each other in the kitchen, drinking coffee. I happened to glance at Gayoung, who was wearing a black short-sleeved shirt, and noticed a small bulge on her chest.

*Oh, no. Gayoung must have noticed my gaze.*

“Ah… it’s more comfortable not to wear it when I’m alone, so I took it off earlier and forgot. It’s okay, isn’t it, Mister?”

“Uh, uh… it doesn’t matter to me. Do whatever’s comfortable.”

“Next time, if you see any coffee beans, please bring them. Since you’ll be home for lunch now, I’ll make you coffee every day!”

“Alright. I’ll definitely look for them.”

The conversation died in the slightly awkward atmosphere. I took my coffee, stepped out into the hallway, and lit a cigarette. I wasn’t so exhausted that I needed to rest during the lunch break, so I decided to use this time to clear out the apartments.

*Today, I think I’ll start with the lower floors.*

Back inside, I put on my safety gear, using the rope and D-shaped Carabiner I’d used last time. Before I knew it, Gayoung came over to help me secure the harness. As she bent down to wrap the rope around my waist and thighs, the neckline of her shirt gaped open, revealing a glimpse inside. Having done it once before, she quickly finished and stood up. I casually averted my gaze and moved to the railing outside. My half-erect ‘other self’ felt uncomfortable.

*Damn it, she probably saw everything.*

“You don’t need to come out. I’ll just deal with any Zombies, change the Door Lock passwords, and come back. Oh, wait, are all the Door Locks the same?”

“I don’t know about that either. Unless someone changed it personally, wouldn’t they all be the same?”

“Yeah, or I’ll just take out the batteries. Anyway, you should take it easy too.”

“Okay, please be careful!”

*Was I the only one feeling awkward and embarrassed this whole time?* Gayoung saw me off with a calm expression.

As if fleeing, I leaped down to the floor below and hung onto the railing. This apartment’s balcony window was also open.

“Excuse me. I’m here to check out the place.”

Kroooaaak!

As I entered the living room and announced myself, a sound came from the Master Bedroom.

*At least one is definitely here.*

Clearing my mind, I gripped my Baseball Bat and headed for the Master Bedroom.

Starting with Apartment 402, I cleared out Apartment 302 and Apartment 202 before returning home. From the fourth floor down, I figured a fall wouldn’t be fatal, so I moved directly without bothering to connect the rope. Not a single apartment had its balcony window locked, so I entered easily. I didn’t encounter a single person, and Apartment 202 was completely empty. If I left the Zombie Corpses in Apartment 402 and Apartment 302, they would start to decompose inside the homes. I pondered what to do but decided to leave them for now and came back up.

When I entered the apartment, Seonyoung, who had woken up, was drinking coffee.

“Oppa, you’re back? Are you sure you don’t need to rest?”

“Yeah, I’m really fine. I’d rest if I were tired. By the way, there are Zombie Corpses in the apartments below and on the third floor. How should we deal with them?”

“Hmm, good point… We’ll be Farming the cleared apartments too, right?”

“Of course. How about this afternoon, we go out, come back for dinner, and then explore other apartments together?”

“Sounds good. If we can find sacks or something to move the bodies, let’s bring them and move them outside the apartment complex.”

We hadn’t decided what to do with the bodies after moving them outside, but we’d think about it later. For now, I prepared to leave. While waiting for Seonyoung, I smoked a cigarette in the hallway. She finished getting ready and came out quickly. From behind, Gayoung peeked her head out of the Apartment Entrance and greeted us.

For the afternoon, we planned to clear out the Hana Trade Building. Aside from the Convenience Store building we cleared this morning, the other buildings probably have low Farming expectations. Most of them were residential or office-type officetels. While we might find unexpected treasures, I’d pushed them lower on the priority list.

On our way out of the apartment complex, we stopped by the Guard Office to pick up the Fire Extinguisher.

“Oppa, the Bungeoppang Cart first then?”

“Let’s just drop off the Fire Extinguisher and head to Hana Trade first. We can try to break the lock on the way back.”

“Alright then. That makes more sense for our route.”

We walked diligently, passing by the four-story building where Minsu was. Perhaps he saw us coming, because Minsu was out on the road.

“Hello, Team Leader. Everything alright?”

“Yes, hello. We’re fine. How about you, Minsu?”

“I’ve been well, thanks to you. Nothing unusual has happened. I haven’t been watching constantly, but only the two of you have passed by.”

“That’s good to hear. Well then, we’ll be going.”

“Yes, please take care.”

He still didn’t exchange a single word with Seonyoung, only having a brief conversation with me before we parted ways.

*What on earth could be the reason?*

I asked Seonyoung as we walked, but she said she didn’t know either. Since he didn’t acknowledge her, Seonyoung seemed disinclined to speak with him further. Engaging in such an unproductive conversation, we arrived at the Hana Trade Building. We decided to check the N-Company Store for anything else we might need, and if we had time, we’d go up the building floor by floor, dealing with Zombies.

“Oppa, how about this? It’s a Pole and a Wrist Guard… Oh, but we don’t have a free hand to carry a Pole. Should we just wear the Wrist Guards?”

“Yeah, we walk a lot, so let’s wear the guards. And the Knee Guards next to them too.”

Entering the store, we began Farming, moving around like hyenas searching for prey. We both immediately put on the guards and packed some spares. The store displayed basic items like clothing, shoes, and bags, as well as various hiking and camping gear, arranged by section.

“Oh? Oppa, look here.”

In a corner where camping gear was gathered, Seonyoung’s eyes sparkled as she pointed at something.

“What’s this… a foldable Camping Trolley? We could actually use this, couldn’t we?”

What Seonyoung found was a storage container with wheels. Checking its specifications, the frame was stainless steel, and the fabric was listed as Oxford cloth and PU. Seonyoung was already looking it up on her Cell Phone.

“Oppa, this says it can carry up to 300 kg. What do you think?”

“It looks pretty flimsy, but it must be quite sturdy. Alright, let’s load up all the supplies we Farmed today into this and take it.”

Thanks to the trolley, we could carry a lot more supplies, so we began sweeping up all sorts of items and loading them in. We swept up the remaining electronic watches, a lightweight Mess Kit and a Titanium Mess Kit Set, various camping cooking utensils, several types of Multi-tools, compressed Lightweight Padded Jackets, and even a Tent. I never knew, not being into camping, but so many different tools were designed to minimize bulk. There was also a bag filled with Poles, and it was quite large, so I thought it could be used as a body bag.

“Seonyoung, that’s enough. We can’t take any more now.”

“Hah… I really splurged for the first time in a while. Huh? What’s this? Oppa, why did you pack so many Mess Kits?”

We’d just been grabbing things indiscriminately, so I had no idea how much of what we’d actually packed. Fortunately, the trolley seemed to be worth its price; it didn’t look like it would break.

*It would be a disaster if it broke down halfway while dragging it home, though.*

“But this store really is huge. There’s still so much left.”

“I know, but it’ll be hard to take everything. For now, let’s just take what we have, organize it, and then next time, we can figure out what we absolutely need to get.”

As Seonyoung and I were talking, we heard a faint Elevator sound from the hallway. Seonyoung must have heard it too, because we both grabbed our Baseball Bats simultaneously and headed towards the hallway. Even while Farming, I’d kept my Baseball Bat tucked under my arm, so in the short time between hearing the Elevator and its doors opening, we were able to hide somewhere with a clear view.

*An Elevator…*

Tense at the unfamiliar sound, something I hadn’t even considered, I stared at the slowly opening doors.