A Survival Guide for a Counselor in the Apocalypse Chapter 21

Chapter 21

 

After 14 attempts, I finally found the episode I was looking for.

 

—

[Episode 1689 ▼]

Reveals details of the first joint event she participated in with Sa Jaeheon.

…

—

 

Episode 1689.

The one about the weapon supply zone was written in the hidden rules that Cha Hyeongseo first obtained.

 

—

“Was it… some kind of tourist guidebook? I heard you needed an item like that so that I couldn’t do it….”

—

 

It said that if you stamped one ‘Rabbit Group’ tourist stamp and went to the supply zone, you could enter another supply zone.

I could see Cha Hyeongseo’s dialogue written out in text.

 

—

“How do you obtain it?”

“…Do you remember Bae Jinjoo unni? She helped me there, and she said….[The waiting room symbol. That’s the tourist stamp. So you need to hunt someone from the same waiting room, and also have the item called a tourist guidebook.]”

—

 

After recalling that far, I fell silent for a moment.

In the end… it leads to conflict again.

If possible, I’d like to consider avoiding that route, but…

If the weapon quality is like this…

Do I have no choice but to go?

As I sank into thought, Lee Hoin, chewing on dried apple, called me.

“Nam Muyeong.”

“Yeah?”

I answered lightly, and Hoin pointed somewhere with a stiff expression.

“People are coming.”

“Oh, then–”

I was about to say we should leave…

When I saw short hair swaying in my field of vision.

“With that girl from earlier.”

…Speak of the devil, and he shows up.

“Ah, crap…”

But at this point, he’s basically haunting me.

 

***

 

The apocalypse has come. To survive tomorrow, I must hunt someone today.

Then who should I hunt?

Some would search for a way to survive without killing.

Others would choose to punish evil and survive that way.

But such “righteous” solutions are not something everyone can do.

Someone must kill someone else.

Whether that person is evil or good…

I must kill.

Whether I am evil or good.

 

Let’s restate the premise:

The apocalypse has come. I must hunt someone to survive tomorrow.

But I am clearly weak.

I have never killed before, and I don’t think I can defeat the person in front of me.

Then who should I hunt today?

I avert my eyes.

There is someone right in front of me, openly exposing weakness…

But if I attack and they counterattack, I die.

So I look away.

I search for prey that I can kill.

 

—

“I just wanted to live, I just–!”

“I know your first kill was an infant. Then children, teenagers, the elderly, the sick, and eventually the weak. Those younger and weaker than you.”

“…I, I…”

“After sacrificing so many lives, can you truly claim that none of them were in vain? The value of your story… now that you’re about to be killed by me.”

—

 

A line from long ago, when Sa Jaeheon had not yet lost his humanity.

In that sense, Cha Hyeongseo is good prey.

A girl walking alone.

Covered in blood, not entirely someone else’s.

Clearly exhausted.

Even elephants are hunted if they are young, sick, or injured.

Cha Hyeongseo undeniably has immense talent, but…

“We’re not asking for much. Just hand over your supplies. Look, we’ve got a lot of mouths to feed, and all you’ve got is that one bag.”

“Ha. If you’re going to say that, maybe don’t kill people right in front of me.”

“They attacked us first. We had nothing.”

In the end…

She’s just an injured kid.

I quietly hid behind a tree and assessed the situation.

Five people in front of her.

One porter and four with decent weapons.

Every time one of them spun a dagger, I caught a glimpse of a black symbol on his wrist.

The rabbit is white. Ox is green. The horse is yellow. Eagle is black.

Eagle.

From the looks of it, the armed ones weren’t a hastily formed group.

They were chatting and laughing casually, clearly familiar with each other.

If they’re that close…

They were probably together from the start.

Meaning all four armed ones are likely Eagles.

I lifted my gaze to the floating display.

 

—

[Waiting Room Population Status]

‘Eagle Group’: 41 people

‘Ox Group’: 33 people

‘Rabbit Group’: 28 people

‘Horse Group’: 23 people

—

 

Aside from the Eagles, the numbers hadn’t decreased much…

No.

If someone killed others and took their symbols, the count wouldn’t decrease.

There probably aren’t many like that yet, but still.

The reason they have weapons…

They either killed people from other waiting rooms…

Or looted them from the dead.

Given what Cha Hyeongseo said, probably the former.

“Anyway, you can just go back to that supply place in 12 hours, right?”

“Then you go too!”

“Why bother every 12 hours when you’re carrying this much?”

As she said that, Cha Hyeongseo scanned her surroundings.

Looking for an escape route.

And if I could see that from here…

“So stop looking around like that, kid. We don’t want to hurt you.”

They could see it too.

The one in front spun his knife lazily as he spoke.

The others snickered behind him.

Between their laughter, they casually tightened their formation, slowly cornering her.

“…What are we going to do?”

At Hoin’s question, I frowned slightly and kept watching.

What are we going to do…

Even if I don’t intervene, Cha Hyeongseo will survive.

She’s someone who roamed a ruined Seoul with nothing.

Compared to me, her talent is far superior.

Even Sa Jaeheon was impressed by her at times.

But if I intervene…

She’ll lower her guard toward me, at least a little.

However…

 

—

[Your first time killing a ‘human,’ not a ‘mutant,’ isn’t it?]

[Humans and mutants aren’t that different, yet amusingly, first-time killers of humans often fall into abnormal states. Whether good or bad.]

[Now then! What about your companion, ‘Lee Hoin’? What kind of person is he? How does it feel to draw lots with blanks mixed in? Ah… such an old memory.]

—

 

If I intervene, we’ll inevitably clash with them.

Killing them isn’t strictly necessary…

But once you’ve killed before, you know.

It’s better to eliminate those who bear hostility toward you.

The moment you kill someone, you’ve thrown a boomerang.

You have two choices:

Ignore whether it comes back…

Or shoot it down midair.

It’s going to come back anyway.

Unless you’re someone who can destroy it with superhuman instincts, there’s no reason to leave it flying.

Even so…

The reason I’ve hesitated to harm people until now…

Is because of Hoin.

For him, seeing someone get hurt or die could be a trigger.

For his mental stability…

It would be better not to intervene.

It should be better not to…

But…

I couldn’t look away.

The poorly wrapped bandage on her hand.

Her pale face.

Her school uniform.

 

—

“…Muyeong, I’m not pitying you. This is simply what adults are supposed to do. And you…”

—

 

She kept reminding me.

Projecting fragments of my past.

In the end, I gripped my axe.

“Lee Hoin.”

“…Yeah.”

“Remember the mart?”

He nodded.

“When there were three of us, but the monsters only focused on you.”

“Yeah. I remember.”

No way he’d forget that.

“Then, in this situation, what’s a way to deal with those five without fighting them?”

Hoin’s gaze shifted side to side.

Then, as if making a decision, he pulled out his phone.

A loud noise suddenly rang out across the area.

 

***

 

Fuck.

Grinding her teeth, Cha Hyeongseo slowly stepped back.

Honestly, this wasn’t surprising.

She knew her current state was perfect for attracting trash like this.

It wasn’t her first time encountering people like them.

But here…

There’s nowhere to run.

She had made it this far relying on her talent.

But coming here was a mistake.

If I hadn’t been chased like that earlier…

Gripping her weapon tightly with both hands, she exhaled.

She had never expected someone to save her.

She had always been the one to save herself.

Even if she handed over her supplies, she wouldn’t survive.

At best, she’d become like that porter behind them.

Or die.

Then…

She steadied her breathing and tightened her grip so the weapon wouldn’t shake.

Fight back.

Like always.

 

—

“…Seo! You made another friend again…! Why is that child so stubborn?!”

—

 

A crying voice echoed somewhere.

Her torn palm was damp.

If she couldn’t survive…

She’d at least bite someone’s ear off to create an opening.

 

—

“They say you’re living off talent alone. But since you can’t spend money on talent, all you can do is train. If that breaks you, your life’s over.”

—

 

Survive.

That was her only goal.

She didn’t need a grand life.

Even if people pointed at her and called her garbage…

 

—

[You’re an amazing child. I couldn’t raise or feed you myself, but you are still like another daughter to me. So don’t pay attention to those words.]

—

 

There was someone who believed in her life…

When everyone else had abandoned it.

Someone who praised her, no matter how pathetic her survival story was.

For that person…

She had to live.

That person wouldn’t want her to die here.

They wouldn’t have devoted ten years to someone meant to die easily.

“We really don’t want to go this far, kid.”

“Bullshit.”

Cha Hyeongseo raised her middle finger.

So…

‘I’ll live.’

No matter what.

“I’ve been too nice to this brat…”

The opponent gripped his knife properly.

“Looks like you need to learn some respect. There’s no end to learning, right?”

He smirked as he stepped forward.

Cha Hyeongseo glared back, convincing herself she could win.

Because in her short life…

She had always beaten people with that expression.

Just as she was about to charge–

WEE-OO WEE-OO WEE-OO–

An unfamiliar sound rang out.