Chapter 37. Routine

Chapter 37. Routine

“Boss~ I’ll take everything from here to there!”

“Sir, if you eat that much, you’ll get an upset stomach.”

“Oh, and please put the Shooting Star Flavor in a Cone!”

“You’re not listening to a word I’m saying, are you?”

After checking, it seems I don’t need to worry about the Ice Cream’s expiration date. The only issue is that it’s stored in an open display for sale, so if it shows any signs of melting or spoiling, it’ll be inedible.

This time, instead of just getting my usual flavors, I sampled a little bit of over thirty different kinds. It felt incredibly luxurious.

“Oppa, what are we going to do about Minsu?”

“Yeah, I wonder if we should go check on him.”

“Doesn’t it feel a bit awkward? What would we even say?”

“‘Minsu, are you perhaps living with two other people? Could you introduce us?’”

“Seriously, no jokes. If Director Kim was right, then one of them…”

“Right, one of them could be dead. But we don’t know the situation. Honestly, we could just ignore it, but it feels… off.”

“Exactly. The best thing would be to meet them naturally and try to gauge the situation.”

“Then how about we use the excuse of giving them medicine to call them over?”

“Ah, they don’t have any medicine over there, do they? That’s a good idea.”

In truth, whether Minsu continues to live alone or if several survivors join him, it’s none of our business. We’ve already written off that convenience store, and there aren’t any other stores nearby worth Farming, so an increase in survivors wouldn’t lead to more competition for supplies.

My only concern is that our residences are close enough that any problem they face could quickly become our problem. In such cases, it’s always better to have some information, even a little, about the situation. I want to know if two new people really joined Minsu’s building, and if one of them left or died. If they left, why? If they died, who died and why?

If only one person joined in the first place, then Director Kim’s assessment was wrong, which would mean that using an Ability to determine the number of survivors isn’t always accurate.

“Alright, finished eating? Shall we get going?”

“Yep, that was delicious! Thank you!”

“Alright, alright~ Hehehe.”

“Oppa, now that I think about it again, it might seem a bit strange if we suddenly offer them medicine.”

“True… It would be strange to suddenly offer help now, after keeping our distance from the start.”

We continued our conversation as we finished the Ice Cream and cleaned up. We talked for a bit, but couldn’t come up with a suitable excuse. We decided to think about it more on the way back and left the store to search the building.

[Canary Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, and Adolescent Clinic]

The upper floors of the Pharmacy Building housed a rather large hospital. The 2nd floor and 3rd floor were entirely occupied by this one hospital, while the 4th floor and 5th floor had no signs. The 1st floor had already been cleared during our trips between the Pharmacy and the Ice Cream shop, so we headed straight for the 2nd floor.

Climbing the stairs, the Hospital Entrance was directly in front of us—a glass automatic door. Inside, a spacious area with a Reception Desk and Patient Waiting Area was visible. Bloodstains splattered the automatic door and various spots on the glass walls. Beyond them, Zombies spotted us and began to charge, letting out grotesque screams.

Thud, thud, thud!

“Whew, Seonyoung, are you alright?”

“Yes, yes, I’m fine. Were there always this many patients in the morning?”

“I don’t know? This hospital must have done good business.”

The automatic doors, living up to their name, coolly slid open as the Patient Zombies and Nurse Zombies swarmed out. A few of them crashed into the door before it opened, bouncing off, but in that time, I managed to climb a few steps up the stairs and face the surging Zombies. Seonyoung’s Shield had grown quite large, allowing her to block the entire hallway from slightly above the stairs. I smashed down on the struggling Zombies’ heads as if playing a game of Whac-A-Mole.

Just as the Shield was about to shatter, Seonyoung dismissed it and deployed a new one with almost no delay. Thanks to this, all the Zombies’ crowns were caved in, but now I was more worried about the Baseball Bat. I’m worried it’s almost at its limit…

“Let’s finish clearing inside and quickly head up. Is your Baseball Bat okay?”

“Uh, I think it’s still fine. Oppa, can you take a look?”

“Hmm… The exterior looks fine, but I honestly can’t tell. Even though I’m trying to control my strength, I feel like it’s going to break soon.”

“Oppa, I can’t even tell what color yours was originally anymore. Wasn’t it coated? Can the color change this much?”

Now, instead of worrying about Zombies, we were worrying about our tools as we dealt with the remaining Zombies in the Internal Medicine Department on the 2nd floor. By the way, can’t this Baseball Bat get an enchantment like ‘Blood-Soaked Bat +1’? It’s starting to feel like a soulmate…

“Seonyoung, if you deploy the Shield at maximum size like you did earlier, how many more times can you do it?”

“If I do it like on the stairs, about three times? If I push myself, maybe four.”

“Three times is enough. Let’s go up then.”

Before heading to the 3rd floor, we discussed facing the Zombies from the top of the stairs, just like we did on the 2nd floor. If the 3rd floor also had automatic doors, the Zombies would charge out on their own, so we planned our strategy carefully in advance.

After our strategy session, we went up to the Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine Department on the 3rd floor. It was indeed an automatic door, but it was covered in colorful animal stickers. With each step up the stairs, the inside of the hospital gradually came into view through the upper part of the automatic door, where there were no stickers.

Soon, my eyes met those of a female Zombie standing blankly, and she began to move as if to rush towards us.

Thump, thump, thump!

“It’s opening, get ready, Seonyoung.”

The sound of Zombies crashing into the door echoed, and in that moment, I quickly ran up the stairs as before, taking position on the stairs leading to the 4th floor. The automatic door held firm against the Zombies’ impacts, but then slowly split open, left and right, spitting out the Zombies.

Graaah! Kiiieek!

“Choi Seonyoung!!! Snap out of it!”

“Hmph… Sh-Shield!”

I grabbed the frozen Seonyoung, shook her, and shouted to snap her out of it. Her reaction was delayed, making the Shield deployment timing dangerously close. Seonyoung barely managed to hold back the charging Zombies, and from behind her Shield, I swung the Baseball Bat down mechanically, trying to feel nothing.

“Hic… hic… I’m sorry… I’m sorry…”

“What are you sorry for? Seonyoung, don’t cry. You did well. They’re just monsters.”

After dealing with all the charging Zombies, I tightly hugged Seonyoung, who had slumped to the floor, sobbing, and comforted her. All the Zombies we had just dealt with were female Zombies. Two Nurse Zombies and five regular female Zombies. And among them were four small-bodied Zombies.

Small-bodied Zombies that would barely reach my waist if they stood side by side. One of them was even less than a meter tall. These small Zombies, retaining their appearance from life, were no different from humans except for their strange movements and cloudy eyes.

I was hugging and patting Seonyoung, but this was also a way of comforting myself. I had expected this when I saw so many Syrup Bottles while Farming the Pharmacy. Perhaps that’s why I had put off this building until last.

“It’s okay… it’s okay… We helped them. Always remember, we just dealt with monsters—zombies. We allowed them to finally rest.”

I mumbled words, unsure if they were for Seonyoung or for myself. No matter how much I tried to get used to this world, it seemed some things were unavoidable. I had killed countless Zombies, repeating to myself that they weren’t human anymore, but today was a difficult trial even for me. I kept whispering, trying to protect both Seonyoung’s sanity and my own.

We remained slumped on the cold floor together for a long time until her trembling subsided. Seonyoung eventually calmed down enough to stand, but seeing the corpses lying on the floor, she soon became distressed again. In the end, I took the risk of sending Seonyoung down to the 2nd floor, deciding to clear the 3rd floor alone.

Honestly, no matter how much I tell myself that Zombies are monsters and not human, seeing the fallen corpses makes that thought waver. I’ve grown quite accustomed to the adult Zombies I’ve encountered so far, but seeing children turned into Zombies today was truly difficult. If even I, whose mental damage is somewhat recovered by my Ability, find it this hard, wouldn’t it be even harder for ordinary people to endure?

Gritting my teeth, I opened all the doors on the 3rd floor and dealt with the Zombies. It seemed there were many sick children nearby, as small Zombies and large Zombies emerged together every time I opened a door. What made it even harder for me while clearing the 3rd floor were the sights of small Zombies gruesomely disfigured by other Zombies.

How much pain and fear must those young ones have felt? Mister will make sure you rest now.

It was a sight guaranteed to leave deep trauma, but I didn’t avert my gaze as I continued to dispatch the Zombies. This is the reality that those who survived must face, and no one can escape it. I probably won’t visit this place again. So, I tried my best to stop thinking, opening drawers and quickly sweeping small glass bottles of medicine, Syringes, Ointments, Gauze, Band-Aids, and Bandages into my Backpack. Most of them had labels on their boxes, so I could check them later.

Descending to the 2nd floor, I found Seonyoung gathering the medicines there. Without a word, we worked together to open the remaining storage cabinets and finish our Farming.

“Seonyoung, I think we’re pretty much done. Let’s go check the 4th and 5th floors.”

“Oppa… Can’t we just stop here for today? I think we could just skip those floors…”

She must be afraid to pass through the 3rd floor again. Seonyoung is right; we could skip them. Avoiding isn’t always the answer, but breaking the Routine just this once should be fine. The repetition of slowly expanding our territory and clearing out all the Zombies. Meticulously checking every building for future needs had become our Routine, but for today, it seems better to retreat.

“No. Oppa, let’s go. We have to overcome situations like this, too. It’s okay.”

“Seonyoung, you don’t have to force yourself to overcome everything. If something’s hard, it’s hard, and I think it’s okay to avoid what you can. Let’s head back a little early today.”

“Hic… Yes, I’m sorry, Oppa. Honestly, I’m just so tired. I can’t go back up there…”

I might be strict with myself, but there’s no need to be that way with Seonyoung. Thinking that I’d have to clear this building alone later, I decided to retreat and leave for the first time. Of course, that doesn’t mean it’ll be easy for me to come back alone later.

This damned world just keeps throwing new trials at us. I thought I had adapted well enough, but it seems I still have a long way to go.