A Survival Guide for a Counselor in the Apocalypse – Chapter 27.0

Author: Cireng

Chapter 27

My solution was simple.

Figure out the position of the “light-licker” and send it in the opposite direction.

And then…

‘I can’t find Lee Hoin.’

No matter how much I push through this pitch-dark forest, I won’t be able to find him. Even if he screams to find me, I can’t be sure that the one calling me is really Lee Hoin.

Right now, there are probably two types of unusual mutants roaming this place. One is the light-licker in front of me, and the other is…

—

[The night deepens. It is the night where life blooms.]

—

An Imperfect Creator.

A species created by some deranged “Third Party.” They look like ordinary humans whose gender can’t be distinguished. At a glance, they look like statues, yet also like living beings.

During the day, they don’t move at all, no different from statues. But when night falls, they begin to breathe and move like living creatures. Their purpose is absurdly simple.

‘They act exactly like their name suggests.’

They don’t move to harm or kill. They move to “create.”

Their creation process resembles how mutants are born, except this one is artificial instead of natural.

Their behavior is simple, much like that of other mutants. They designate someone they touched during the day as a “target,” and upon contact, they leave behind a special substance. At night, they track that target through the substance and move toward them. Since their speed is specialized for movement, unless you’ve crossed dimensions in half a day, you’re almost guaranteed to be tracked down.

If they have no target, they search for anything within a 3-meter radius and carefully approach to inject the “substance” produced by their bodies.

‘That substance…’

It’s something the narrator scattered alongside the apocalypse in this world. Something that can’t quite be defined, yet allows things humans normally can’t do.

Simply put, it reconstructs the body, its “vessel”, so it can use abilities. It is also the source of those abilities.

In many fictional works, reconstructing the body comes with risks, death, or permanent disability.

But here, instead of that…

You simply lose your ego and become another lifeform.

‘Thankfully, Imperfect Creators have low lethality.’

Becoming a mutant isn’t considered “death” in this world. The real problem is that they keep producing troublesome things.

Artificial mutants differ from naturally occurring ones. They’re irregular, unpredictable, and often impossible to name.

‘If Lee Hoin is still alive and met someone…’

It wouldn’t be an Imperfect Creator.

It would be something created ‘by’ one.

Because aside from light-lickers, that’s the only thing nearby that makes noise.

First, I located the light-licker’s position. If I just threw a light source without knowing its location, I might get caught in its movement path.

Using only the faint glow of the interface, I slowly moved forward through the dense forest where even moonlight couldn’t penetrate.

“AAAH! Kyaaaak!”

The sound grew louder in that direction.

“AAAGH–!”

Then I stopped.

Shhht

Rustle!

Scratch–

Tap tap tap…

Something was clearly ahead.

It wandered like crazy… moving closer, then farther, then closer again.

It’s here.

‘If I want to send it the opposite direction…’

At the very least, I have to turn on my phone. The only stronger light source is the flashlight. If I carelessly turn on the phone light to find my way, it’ll draw aggro again.

So…

I have to navigate in the dark using only direction.

‘…Or I kill it.’

The thing kept alternating between screams and groans as it circled, getting closer and farther repeatedly.

If I kill it, this would be solved easily.

—

[TIP! Do not overestimate your own abilities.]

—

Shut up.

…Either way, killing it now is impossible. I have no visibility, no proper means of combat. My combat strength was Lee Hoin.

I slowly backed away, hiding in a direction where the noise faded, then turned on my phone.

SHHHHK!

It reacted even to the faintest light and moved closer.

I immediately turned it off after checking the direction, and it began circling that area again.

Round and round.

After taking a breath, I glanced at the flashlight in my hand…

Click.

Rustle!

THUD THUD THUD!

“Kyaaaak!”

It’s charging!

No time to think.

I immediately threw the flashlight in the opposite direction.

The beam traced a wild arc through the air, scattering light across the forest.

In the flickering brightness, I saw it.

Crawling on all fours, tongue stretched long, licking even the traces of light off the ground as it ran madly toward it.

Before the flashlight was swallowed into that massive mouth, I moved.

I can’t find Lee Hoin in this damned forest.

Then I have no choice but to rely on one hope.

—

[What a beautiful night.]

—

That Lee Hoin remembers our destination.

That now that we’re separated, my bad luck no longer affects him… and that his luck will carry him to our destination.

A hope with a ridiculously high chance of being impossible.

***

“Run!!”

Lee Hoin shoved the girl standing blankly beside him as she stared at the thing opening its eyes.

Her name tag, attached to her uniform, caught the light and flashed briefly.

“Hey, Cha Hyeongseo!”

Cha Hyeongseo.

At the sound of her name, she snapped out of it as if struck by lightning and started running.

That thing–

That thing…

‘You can’t kill it.’

Absolutely not.

Without Nam Muyeong, there’s no way to come up with a strategy to deal with that.

Lee Hoin, unfortunately, wasn’t that smart.

‘…Unlike Nam Muyeong.’

So there’s only one thing he can do.

Run.

Run until it’s out of sight.

Run and…

Escape this place.

His vision shook wildly. He couldn’t even tell if he was moving in the right direction. The flashlight, which he didn’t even remember when he dropped it, was gone.

All he could see was Cha Hyeongseo’s short hair shaking ahead of him, and the same scenery repeating over and over.

Everything felt distant.

A blur.

THUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUD

Except for the countless sounds of palms hitting from behind.

Where…

Where do I go?

“Here!”

The girl, who had gotten far ahead, grabbed the back door of a building and called him.

The building looked like it had been dragged there.

At the very least, whatever was chasing him couldn’t enter there.

For that thing, it would be like a rat hole.

‘I don’t know if crawling into a cramped hole to survive is the right choice…’

But Lee Hoin had no choice.

Without hesitation, he grabbed Cha Hyeongseo’s outstretched hand.

His weakening body was yanked inside just in time, and the door slammed shut.

BANG!

The loud noise echoed.

Cha Hyeongseo quickly locked the door and piled nearby shelves in front of it, then dragged Lee Hoin deeper inside.

Lee Hoin…

Was being dragged by a girl 20 cm shorter than him.

[STAFF ONLY]

[AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY]

As he read the sign in passing, Lee Hoin lay there, staring at the ceiling, gasping for breath.

BANG! BANG!

THUDTHUDTHUDTHUD

BANG!

Something slammed into the walls and door outside.

Amid that chaos, another sound echoed.

“SKREEEEE!”

A familiar sound.

Damn familiar.

And then, a mutter flashed through his mind like lightning.

—

“Lee Hoin, can you run more? Hand me your bag.”

—

Something Nam Muyeong would definitely say.

Which meant…

This situation wasn’t good at all.

The thing smashing the walls would attract other monsters.

—

“…At night, hearing is stronger. In the day, vision is stronger. Remember that. If something doesn’t follow that rule, it means something else about it is far stronger.”

—

Thanks to Nam Muyeong constantly saying things he didn’t fully understand, Lee Hoin remembered at least that much.

‘If I’m moving with someone who knows nothing, I have to be even more careful.’

Fighting something while escorting someone is risky.

At night, visibility is poor, and monsters can appear from anywhere.

And he doesn’t even know how to deal with them properly.

Lee Hoin slumped down and took a deep breath, pulling out a canteen from his bag to drink.

“You have a tourist guidebook, right?”

At that, Cha Hyeongseo hesitated, then pulled out a crumpled map from her pocket.

“…This is different from ours.”

She glanced at it and replied calmly:

“Of course it is. You guys haven’t collected any yet.”