Magic on the Dead Chapter 60

It was a very sudden realization. The correlation between zombies and rain. Jeffrey, who barely managed to interpret Eden’s words, let out a low curse through his teeth.

【Shit, what kind of bullshit is this? Zombies avoid the rain?】

“Uncles! A phone call!!”

Just then, everyone’s attention was drawn to Byeol’s loud shout. A phone call? Without a moment for rational thought, everyone scrambled to find their own cell phones. In the meantime, Miso grabbed the child and asked.

“Byeol, what do you mean a phone call?”

“That thing. The thick, square one….”

“Huh?”

“The cellphone the police misters use….”

Beep-beep—!

Just as they were racking their brains to understand Byeol’s words, a faint signal sound was heard from somewhere, cutting through the commotion. Hajin and Eden’s eyes met.

‘The walkie-talkie from the police station.’

Hajin, who had run quickly to where his backpack was, frantically searched for the walkie-talkie, oblivious to his knees scraping against the ground.

In the meantime, the call signal rang once more. He picked up the walkie-talkie, its screen faintly glowing, and pressed the receive button. The voice of an unfamiliar man flowed waveringly through the device.

—Uh? Connec…tion is made….

Crackle—

—Is there anyone on the chan…. Requesting confirmation of receipt. Reques…ting recep…

The weather conditions were terrible, and their current location was a rugged high-altitude area. There was no way the walkie-talkie would connect unless they were close. Hajin quickly passed the walkie-talkie to Eden.

“I’ve received the transmission. Who is this?”

—This is Police Corporal Kim Gwang… from Sangwon Central Station. Who is receiving?

“I am an acquaintance of Police Officer Lee Changyeol from Sangwon Central Station.”

—…Lee Changyeol? Did you just say Lee Changyeol… …safe?

“Yes. An acquaintance of Lee Changyeol.”

There was no reply. It seemed the signal was poor. Eden frowned and lightly tapped the speaker with his palm. Just then, another call signal was heard.

—Changyeol… are you listening? If you’re listening… head straight to Misan Ranch, c….

The connection cut off at that point. Eden tossed the dead walkie-talkie onto his backpack. The signal had been poor, but he had been able to understand enough of what the person on the other end was trying to say.

To Misan Ranch.

Hajin’s and Eden’s eyes met once again. For some reason, he felt like he was out of breath.

🃏

Miso packed their survival supplies into the plastic bags Eden had given out and sealed them meticulously.

“No, but seriously, these zombie bastards are ridiculous. Are they people or what? They’d attack regardless of whether it was night, morning, or hot enough to die, but now they hide when it rains? Does this make any sense to you, Mr. Park Chunbeom?”

“I-I’m flabbergasted too. But if you think about it, animals also instinctively hide when it rains. Besides, the zombies’ bodies are decaying…. maybe water accelerates the decay, so they naturally avoid it? Ah, maybe that’s going too far….”

An ardent discussion continued even as they frantically packed their belongings. It was because it was unbelievable that the zombies, who didn’t even shy away from sharp ax blades, would hide their bodies from mere raindrops.

“Whatever the reason, I think it’s true that rain is their weakness. If you think about it, we’ve never seen a zombie on a rainy day. Ugh, why didn’t we notice that sooner?”

“Honestly, the fact that a zombie virus spread in the first place doesn’t make sense…. How could we have imagined that monsters would avoid the rain? We were too busy trying to survive. Anyway, I don’t know how lucky we are to have figured it out now.”

Park Chunbeom was visibly excited. It was because Eden had established a new destination while they were packing. He hadn’t rashly set it as a destination before due to a lack of definite information, but now was the chance to stop by Misan Ranch.

The radio broadcast stating that the police were stationed there was not a lie. The fact that the corporal, who had mistaken Eden for Lee Changyeol, had personally told him to come to Misan Ranch was proof of that.

Eden planned to obtain necessary information, raincoats, and boots at Misan Ranch, located on the south side of Mount Jeongmang, and then leave immediately. An hour would be enough time to stay. Now that they knew the zombies avoided the rain, they had to equip themselves with protective gear and move diligently during the rainy season. There was no time.

After finishing their preparations, the group silently marched in the direction of the ranch, getting hit by the intermittent rain. Misan Ranch was a hilly area located on the southern slope of Mount Jeongmang, at an altitude of 850 meters.

After moving for about 40 minutes, the mud kept clinging to their feet, making their bodies feel as heavy as lead. Their condition would have been even worse if they hadn’t torn the small amount of remaining rain gear and crudely covered their heads with it.

“pant, pant… are, are we there? We’ve arrived, right?”

Park Chunbeom, who was panting heavily, threw off his glasses and shook off the raindrops.

【Shit, I’m so fucking tired I could die. Misan Ranch or whatever, there better be something there.】

Leaving the group who were tossing out comments one by one, Eden looked around the vast, fenced pasture. Dark clouds gloomily adorned the sky, but the green meadow created a rather fresh feeling. Amidst the green leaves, gray sheep stood blankly, getting wet in the rain.

“Those aren’t zombies, right? Since they’re grazing in the rain.”

At Hajin’s words, Miso shuddered and trembled.

“Ugh. I’m okay with people, but I think it would break my heart if an animal became a zombie.”

“But there are no people. There are animals, though.”

“This pasture is originally really big. You’d have to go down a long way to get to the restaurants and campground. Since it’s raining, everyone’s probably gathered there.”

In the meantime, Eden handed Byeol, who was in his arms, over to Jeffrey.

【Just in case, stay in the very back and take care of Byeol.】

【Got it. Princess, come here and let your uncle hold you.】

“No. Jeffrey Uncle’s beard has grown a lot, it’s prickly.”

Byeol, held by Jeffrey, made a disgusted face and scrunched up her nose.

【Hey now. I told you your uncle can’t understand you if you speak Korean that fast, right?】

Eden, who let out a wry smile, straightened his head again. At some point, Chunbeom was walking far ahead. It seemed that his energy was surging now that they had arrived, after he had been dry heaving and saying he was dying of exhaustion.

“Director! It’s a hut! I think we can take a short break there?”

As Park Chunbeom said, there was a small hut made of logs about 100 meters ahead, inside the fence. On closer inspection, there were huts placed along the walking paths like photo zones.

Hajin, who was standing next to Eden, nodded his head.

“We’re here anyway, so like Mr. Chunbeom said, should we rest for just 5 minutes? The pasture is big, so it looks like it’ll take a while to go down.”

As Eden was about to reply, let’s do that, a black object flickered into his vision. Just then, the light drizzle stopped, and the heavy rain clouds receded, allowing the sun to begin filling the sky.

He stopped dead in his tracks and stretched out his right arm, blocking Hajin who was about to step forward. While a questioning gaze swept over Eden’s profile, Eden was staring intently at something black that had come out of the hut.

Soon, Hajin also turned his head in the same direction.

“Uh…?”

Flinch. Hajin, who had spotted a figure wearing a black raincoat, widened his eyes in surprise.

“Is that a zombie? That’s a zombie, right?”

The hunched figure was approaching the group. Its awkward gait made him certain it was a zombie. Just as Hajin tightly gripped the new stone hammer Eden had given him.

“No.”

Eden’s low, sunken voice echoed in his eardrums, and at the same time, a gunshot like a thunderbolt descended on the group.

Bang—!!!

“Aack!!”

【What, what the fuck!!】

It was a sudden gunshot. The entire startled group fell to the ground. The shooting continued despite the child’s loud screams. The man who came out of the hut was relentlessly firing a pistol he had hidden inside his raincoat.

Bang! Bang!!

【Everyone go back the way you came!!!】

As Eden commanded in English, Jeffrey quickly fled backward with Miso and Byeol.

Hajin also grabbed Eden’s arm to hide in the bushes. The merciless shooting continued. However, it seemed he was soon out of bullets, as the frequency of the gunshots that had been deafening his ears gradually began to decrease.

In the meantime, Eden roughly pulled away Hajin’s hand, which was clinging to his arm.

Leaving behind Hajin, who turned to look at him in surprise, he ran out without hesitation. Hajin stared in disbelief at the back of Eden, who was running into the jaws of death.

And the face that had been soaked in bewilderment soon hardened with despair.

“Mr. Park Chunbeom…?”

Far away, he could see Park Chunbeom collapsed against the fence.

The yellow short-sleeved shirt he often wore as pajamas was completely soaked in bright red blood.