A Survival Guide for a Counselor in the Apocalypse Chapter 28.0

Chapter 28

 

“Ki… kii… kiiieee….”

“Kkiiik, kii.”

Out of the frying pan and into the fire. We’d escaped the light-lickers, but…

My gaze slowly shifted to the corpses sprawled across the ground. And the three mutants wandering around them.

There were five bodies in total.

And the place where those bodies lay was…

In front of “Home.” And the flag of “Home” held no light.

‘They must’ve died trying to get inside.’

On the way here, I’d thought I might run into Lee Hoin if I got lucky, but that was just luck. Not something I could rely on.

In the end, I arrived alone in front of “Home,” only to find something like that…

‘It might be possible to sneak in somehow.’

But the problem was Lee Hoin, who would come after me. Even if I diverted their attention briefly and got inside, those things would stay around here. I didn’t even know from which direction Lee Hoin would arrive; I couldn’t leave those things roaming near the forest.

Around “Home” was a clearing with few trees, and the moonlight was blindingly bright.

 

— 

[Let us act as a proper guardian!]

— 

 

I can do this.

 

***

 

“You can’t help it if you move alone.”

Cha Hyeongseo summed everything up with that one sentence. Recalling the situation in which he had met her again, Lee Hoin nodded.

Her actions were a kind of self-defense and justice. That’s what Lee Hoin thought.

“……”

Meanwhile, Cha Hyeongseo looked at him as if surprised.

“…Anyway, if you collect about four waiting room symbols, they change like that. They say it gets upgraded.”

She flipped the tourist guidebook as if to say, “See for yourself.”

There were four symbols printed in it: two rabbits, one horse, and one cow. The rabbit waiting room symbol had already lost its light, along with one horse and one cow.

On Cha Hyeongseo’s wrist, three waiting room symbols were also shining.

When he flipped back to the front, the tourist guidebook looked different from theirs. For one, their current location was marked…

‘There are more buildings marked, too.’

The nearest “Home” Nam Muyeong had pointed out earlier required crossing the forest. But in this guidebook, there was one that didn’t require crossing it.

‘Since there’s a cow drawn…’

‘Did collecting them evenly reveal the locations of buildings you can enter for each waiting room?’

As he stared at it for a while, he noticed a faintly obscured “Home.”

This was…

“It’s a hidden ‘Home.’ They’re usually empty since they’re so hard to find.”

Cha Hyeongseo said that the “Home” she had found a few hours ago had been inside a tree knot so small it was hard to even fit her body into.

“How did you get in there?”

“If you’re desperate enough, you can get in.”

“……”

“…Just kidding. You just have to touch the door, and you’re transported inside. When you leave, you come back to the exact spot you touched, so there’s no problem.”

For now, he thought he should show this tourist guidebook to Nam Muyeong. Though first, he had to find him…

‘Is he wandering in the forest?’

No, he wasn’t that reckless. …Or was he? He was reckless, but not stupid. Since visibility was poor, he would’ve left the forest. The most likely place he’d go was…

The location of “Home” he had mentioned before they split up. Lee Hoin pointed to it with his finger.

“Here.”

“…That’s pretty far from here.”

“I need to go there.”

Cha Hyeongseo stared at the map, deep in thought for a moment.

“Then let’s go. You can’t get there without this anyway, right?”

“I can find my own way. I’ve got a compass. If you’re too tired, let’s split here.”

Then she hesitated for a moment before letting out a short breath.

“…No. I owe you guys. Even if we get separated later, it’s right for you to have this. I wouldn’t have gotten it in the first place if it weren’t for him.”

There was more he wanted to say, but there wasn’t time for conversation right now. Whether or not Cha Hyeongseo apologized or thanked him, she had saved him, and he had said things he shouldn’t have.

And for now, she was cooperative and favorable. That alone was enough to travel together. Compared to the market, it was more than enough.

“Let’s get moving. We can’t stay here.”

Because the number of nearby monsters kept increasing.

 

***

 

Fighting all three at once was insane.

 

— 

[Sometimes, insanity is necessary.]

— 

 

It would be faster to lure them out one by one and deal with them. And when killing them, I had to make sure they couldn’t make noise… while luring them, it would be better to throw something from afar to create sound.

I had to consider every possible scenario. I couldn’t die here.

 

— 

[You’re so thorough it’s making me yawn.]

— 

 

Shut up. Why is that thing rambling so much?

 

— 

[Men must act, after all. Ah, who would’ve thought your ‘companion’ disappearing would be this infuriating?]

— 

 

Swallowing a sigh, I quickly tied a rope to a tree, then buried a water bottle behind it to fix it in place. The mutants were spaced apart, so drawing their attention carefully should work.

I glanced at the tree with the rope and the buried water bottle behind it, then picked up a stone of suitable size and threw it.

The stone arced through the air and headed straight for the bottle…

Tap

The bottle–

 

— 

[Hahaha! You’re absolutely terrible at hitting targets! If this were a comedy, that would’ve been a brilliant attempt! You’d make a great comedian! Hah, heh, hahaha!]

— 

 

For something made of text, it sure laughs obnoxiously loud.

I threw another stone. After about three misses, one finally hit the bottle.

Clang!

Only then did the empty bottle make a sound.

 

— 

[Five attempts for one success! Splendid! Now, if you want to gain a ‘skill,’ you’ll need about 295 more successful hits. With your 20% accuracy, that’s about 1,475 throws!]

— 

 

You sound thrilled.

At the moderate noise, the mutant responded with a cry. Quietly removing my shoes, I stood right next to the rope.

My heart pounded wildly. It was a different feeling from when I fought at the mart. Back then, I knew I might die if I made a mistake, but…

‘Now, I’ll die for sure.’

Even if the rabbit symbol let me survive once, enduring a death crisis while surrounded would be no different from dying twice.

Just like those people lying in front of “Home.”

“Kiieee!”

The shadow grew darker. The dragging footsteps. Breath barely escaping through clenched teeth so that no sound would leak out.

Thud!

Crash!

The taut rope snapped tight, and at the same time, the mutant’s ankle was caught hard in it. Its massive body flailed briefly before collapsing forward with a loud crash.

I lunged out immediately, crushed its head into the dirt to muffle its cry, and raised my axe high.

Thunk!

With a powerful swing, it lodged deep into the back of its neck. I had hunted countless times before, yet I couldn’t shake the strange sensation clinging to my fingertips each time.

But I couldn’t show it. Lee Hoin was in front of me, and he relied on me mentally. I couldn’t waver.

Still, the sensation of cutting through this damned flesh lingered in my hands, refusing to fade.

So..

 

— 

[Everything is an illusion. Even if you wash your hands over and over like someone with a disease, the fact that you harmed something will not change.]

— 

 

I forced the axe out from where it was stuck in the neck. Blood splattered around. It stained my uniform. Something dripped from my chin.

Whether it was cold sweat or blood, I didn’t bother figuring it out.

It felt like both.

I raised the axe again. The dull blade bit into bone. And to cut through it, I raised and brought it down again and again.

 

— 

[Even if you rationalize it as a monster.]

— 

 

I lifted it high once more…

 

— 

[The fact remains that you have taken a ‘life.’]

— 

 

…and brought it down.

 

— 

[However, that is the order of nature. Humans are creatures capable of fluidly shifting between prey and predator. At every moment, you stand at that crossroads.]

— 

 

The window whispered to me.

 

— 

[Shall I tell you something fascinating?]

— 

 

It was obvious it was mocking me.

 

— 

[Your world is full of contradictions.]

[Even in the world before its destruction, you sustained your lives through ‘gathering’ and ‘slaughter.’ Humans, interestingly, only perceive it as a sin when they harm their own kind.]

[There is no need to dwell on the sensation in your hands now.]

[You have always lived by dirtying them.]

— 

 

A low-grade mana stone rested in my hand.

 

— 

[So keep your guilt in moderation, my ‘righteous’ protagonist.]

—