Magic on the Dead Chapter 40

Thwack—! Crash!! The brick, hitting the passenger side window dead on, made a loud noise. Simultaneously, the car alarm went off.

BEEP— BEEP— BEEP— BEEP—!!!

Hajin covered his ears at the alarm that blared at one-second intervals. Zombies, seemingly appearing out of nowhere, could be seen running fiercely in the direction of the sound. Like sprinters in a 100-meter dash, the zombies jostled and scrambled, racing across the ground at a terrifying speed.

Rumble… Hajin closed his eyes at the familiar vibration of the ground and caught his breath. The moment the fire broke out at the mart and the moment they crossed the medical center’s parking lot passed by like a panorama. The death of Lee Changyeol, which he had momentarily forgotten, also came to mind.

It was a moment when he truly realized the fact that they had risked their lives to come here to get the car of a person who was already dead and gone.

“Let’s go.”

As all the zombies in the back parking lot cleared out, Hajin and Eden stood up at the same time. Without hesitation, Hajin pressed the unlock button on the smart key.

Although it was drowned out by the loud alarm, a faint beep-beep! from somewhere caught his ear. Lee Changyeol’s car was here.

“Mr. Jung Taegeon, I think it’s over, over there.”

Eden, who arrived first in front of the car Hajin was pointing to, quickly opened the driver’s side door. Click! The car door opened without any trouble. It was Lee Changyeol’s car. Finally, success was right in front of them.

Next, Hajin’s body, which was pulling on the passenger side door handle, froze for a split second.

Beep—Beep—Beep—!

‘The last I heard, she was hiding in the garage next to the visitor’s room. I have to go.’

The garage next to the visitor’s room. The place where Lee Changyeol’s girlfriend was said to be hiding was right before his eyes.

“What are you doing, Mr. Do Hajin. Hurry up and get in.”

Only after Eden, who had locked the driver’s side door, urged him, did Hajin’s backside belatedly settle into the passenger seat. Thud. Hajin, who had closed the door without a sound, couldn’t take his eyes off the garage in front of him and stared at it intently.

The small garage door was brutally torn off. And inside….

There was no one.

It seemed a great commotion had taken place, as there was nothing but empty boxes rolling around.

‘My girlfriend will be fine. If you just escort me safely to the police station, I’ll be sure to reward you.’

The girlfriend that Lee Changyeol had been searching for, risking his life, was already gone.

Perhaps it was to be expected. It had probably been almost a week since he had last been in contact with his girlfriend, so she would have desperately fled anywhere to survive, and common sense dictated that was the right thing to do.

Why had Lee Changyeol been so confident that she would still be here? Perhaps, in order to not go insane, he had been extremely positive and blindly believed in the situation.

As Hajin came face to face with the fact that the woman Lee Changyeol had been searching for had either already left this place or become a zombie, he was engulfed in an inexplicable sense of loss.

It felt as if he had become Lee Changyeol. A void that was difficult to explain with anything rushed over him.

‘It’s better that Lee Changyeol died….’

Was it a relief? If he had survived, his despair would have been beyond words.

He didn’t want to think about it any more deeply, but Hajin inevitably had to think of his younger brother. What if he went to a place after giving it his all, only to find no trace of Junseok? Or what if he found a zombified Junseok?

Would I be able to live on with a sane mind?

The thought alone was enough to make him go crazy.

“…He’s probably alive.”

At Hajin’s mutterings, which flowed out like a cold breath, Eden, who had finished preparing for departure, turned his head. Hajin was staring yearningly at the inside of the empty garage. He had a look full of fear. Eden, who was staring at Hajin’s profile, opened his mouth.

“We’re leaving. The driving might get a bit rough to shake off the zombies, so fasten your seatbelt properly.”

Hajin, nodding blankly, fastened his seatbelt tightly. The sound of the engine starting brought his sense of reality back.

He was probably alive. Perhaps it was a relief that he had disappeared without a trace. Hajin, trying his best to sort out his complicated feelings, turned his head to the scenery passing by the window. The car lightly circled the back parking lot and moved to the front of the main building.

The zombies that had been gathered in the left parking lot spotted the moving car and swarmed towards it like a hive of bees.

“Ugh! Mr. Jung Taegeon, be careful!”

Eden’s driving, as he had said, was somewhat aggressive. It was unavoidable in order to dodge the swarming zombies, but his body was jostled around so much that his head hit the ceiling, and he was disoriented.

“Hold on to your seatbelt tight.”

Eden dodged the parked cars here and there and charged towards the main gate.

CRASH!! BAAANG!!!

In the process, two fences were shattered, and Hajin had to squeeze his eyes shut several times.

Eden, who had easily passed through the main gate, glanced back at the zombies running towards them in the side mirror.

‘Yes, of course. She’s probably the prettiest among all the police officers in our country, and the bob cut suits her the best.’

The reason Lee Changyeol’s words, as he had been boasting about his girlfriend to Hajin while crossing the hills, came to mind, was probably because the zombie leading the charge had a bob cut and was wearing a uniform.

“Why? Is there a problem?”

Hajin followed Eden, who kept glancing behind them, and turned his head. But before his neck could even turn halfway, Eden’s large hand turned his gaze back to the front. Startled by the sudden grabbing of his cheek, Hajin blinked.

“Look straight ahead, and find the people who are waiting.”

Saying so, Eden sped off towards the opposite road without hesitation.

[I was worried! I thought something happened when the alarm went off!!]

Jeffrey, who had been hiding under the thicket, grumbled as he got into the back seat of the car.

[If you were so worried, you should have come running.]

[I value my own life, you know?]

“Such a disloyal bastard with not an ounce of loyalty to squeeze out.”

[Speak in English!]

While Eden and Jeffrey were having their witty exchange, the rest of the group also got into the back seat one after another, avoiding the rushing zombies. Because the seats were cramped, Byeol had to sit quietly on Miso’s lap.

“Do Hajin, are you okay? You’ve been through a lot… Aack!”

Miso’s words of concern were cut short by the shocking sight unfolding outside the window. A zombie, boasting a tattered cheek, was pressing its forehead against the back seat window and following them.

Miso covered the eyes and ears of Byeol, who was in her arms, and unleashed a torrent of curses at the zombie.

“Fuck, if I just had a gun, I would have shot them all dead.”

The sliver of pity she once had, thinking that they too were once human like her, had long since vanished. Miso, glaring at the zombie that was getting further and further away, keenly felt her own eroded humanity.

The car roared and went straight ahead. The zombies, which had multiplied like popcorn, were pushed out of view.

The moment Hajin turned his head to check on the group in the back seat, a soft hand came up to his sweat-soaked, grimy face. Byeol, who had wiped away the dirt under his nose with a wriggling motion, asked cutely.

“Uncle Hajini, did you find this car with magic?”

As Byeol, who considered magic to be on the same level as sorcery, asked brightly, Hajin’s lips loosened into a smile.

“Of course. I found it easily with magic. Cool, right?”

It seemed the expected answer had come out. Byeol, his eyes sparkling, turned to Jeffrey and shouted.

“See!! Uncle Hajini is stronger than Uncle Eden! I was right, wasn’t I?!”

[Ugh, here we go again.]

It was unclear what kind of argument had taken place while they were gone to get the car, but Byeol was making a fuss, pestering Jeffrey.

“Jeong Byeol, don’t disturb me while I’m driving and sit quietly.”

Eden simply shut the chattering Byeol’s mouth and checked the road conditions.

—In a moment, the speed limit will be 50 kilometers per hour.

The car had plenty of gas, and the GPS-operated navigation system was also working normally. It was a moment when everyone was letting out a sigh of relief. Suddenly, Eden turned the steering wheel and parked the car on the side of the road.

“Director, why did you suddenly stop the car….”

The moment Park Chunbeom asked with a puzzled expression, he suddenly reached his hand towards the waist of Hajin, who was sitting in the seat next to him.

“Come to think of it, there’s something I need to check.”

“Suddenly, wh-what….”

Hajin was staring at the unhesitatingly approaching hand with a sense of unreality. The waistband was pulled in an instant, and his upper body was dragged along. His body swayed like a signpost fluttering in the wind.

His dumbfounded eyes were fixed on Eden’s neat hand. He bent his hand as if to grab something inside Hajin’s pants.