A Survival Guide for a Counselor in the Apocalypse Chapter 45

Chapter 45

 

The speed increases even more. Lee Hoin inhales deeply and begins moving quickly. The percentage starts dropping fast.

And finally, something begins to enter our field of vision. From my position, I still couldn’t see clearly, but…

“Larvae!”

With that one word, screamed like a shriek by the middle-aged man, I saw something being blocked by Lee Hyun.

Using the force generated by Lee Hyun’s longsword and the speed, something was sliced apart and dropped in pieces all the way to the rear, where the handle was.

Thud.

What kept falling. Half-cut, oozing thick fluid…

It was a larva.

But for something called a larva…

 

— 

[That’s far too large to be just a simple insect.]

— 

 

Its size wasn’t the only problem. It was a larva, but it had legs.

And not just any legs, mammalian legs.

They weren’t smooth. Short fur covered them, and there were four pairs attached. Yet its body was a smooth bluish mass, maintaining the bulging shape of a larva.

It was grotesque and utterly revolting.

The thick fluid oozing out was a dark green color. Excessively viscous…

My eyebrow twitched.

‘The Traitor’s House.’

When we obtained the box there…

The residue that had stained my hand back then felt just like this…

The woman who had been screaming was now, at some point, beside Lee Hyun, barely managing to cut down the larvae.

Though rather than cutting, it was closer to smashing them down and throwing them away.

A swarm of giant larvae.

“Ugh, ugh…”

The middle-aged man gagged as he clumsily shoved the larvae aside.

The number of larvae kept increasing. Like moths chasing light, they surged toward the cart and climbed aboard.

When a larva climbing up was pierced and stopped moving as it oozed fluid, the one behind it mercilessly trampled over its own kind and climbed up. With countless legs. With massive bodies.

The more corpses piled up, the more they became footholds.

The cart was moving forward, but their numbers only grew.

“AAAH!”

Suddenly, the woman beside Lee Hyun screamed. A climbing larva had bitten into her forearm. She quickly tore it off and threw it away, but…

 

— 

[Oh? That’s an interesting reaction.]

— 

 

Her forearm began swelling rapidly.

At the bite mark, a massive green blister started forming.

“Can you still move?!”

I shouted forward.

She staggered for a moment, then regained her stance.

“I can!”

She screamed back.

We couldn’t change positions right now. There weren’t many who could afford to spare attention.

The middle-aged man had already shut his mouth and was now near the tribute, pushing away and throwing off larvae.

Breathing heavily, we kept pushing forward at high speed.

Even so…

“Ugh!”

“Ahh!”

The screams only grew louder.

And then…

 

— 

Distance to destination: 75%

Tribute durability: 95%

— 

 

The durability was dropping.

And just now, it had fallen to 93%.

Still, there wasn’t much we could do.

If we slowed down, those larvae would tear us apart.

If we tried to go faster, this was already our limit.

In the end, we had to endure.

Lee Hyun continued silently cutting through at the front, the woman gritted her teeth and kept moving, and the middle-aged man struggled to push the larvae away.

When we reached 70%, something opened ahead with a rattling sound.

As we passed through that gate, something rumbled behind us.

Rumble

Something was rolling from afar.

Along with the sound of shaking…

And the sound of living creatures being crushed and ground.

Lee Hoin and I caught our breath and slowly reduced speed.

At that moment, something glinted atop the tribute, and a window appeared.

 

—

! First checkpoint cleared!

[Choose what to send to the other escort team]

[〉  Chasing boulder

[〉  Arrow barrage

[〉  Restore durability

[〉  Brief rest

—

 

The mud-slinging battle had truly begun.

 

***

 

What to send to the other team: a boulder, arrows, durability, or rest.

Two were clearly for interference.

The other two were for mutual benefit.

As everyone stared at the tribute, Lee Hoin, who had been watching behind us, spoke:

“Shit, something’s still coming from behind.”

The rumbling of the rolling boulder grew louder.

“…Pursuit.”

Lee Hyun muttered and fell silent. His jaw tightened.

The answer to the situation was clear.

They had chosen interference over cooperation.

And that was the correct choice.

We weren’t teammates… we were competitors.

“Why are we hesitating?! We need to choose something too!”

The middle-aged man shouted, face exhausted.

“If they’ve already chosen to harm us, then we’ve got no reason to hold back. Let’s send arrows or a boulder!”

A fair point.

Once interference started, they’d keep sending attacks.

Suspicion crept into my mind.

A boulder rolled behind us. The man fumed. Lee Hyun stayed silent. The woman frowned at the window. Lee Hoin and I maintained speed.

Doubt lingered.

Had they really chosen interference?

There was no way to know.

And no matter the answer…

“….”

I chose interference.

No excuses.

I would harm them by my own will.

Because this was a competition.

So I didn’t blame their choice.

I had already decided… but my gaze turned to Lee Hyun.

Why had he stepped away from the Muryang Sect and tried to become his own person?

Was he here by his own will… or by someone else’s command?

Back in the mart, Lee Hyun had always handed off judgment to others.

Even when we briefly traveled together, he never did more than he was told.

And now… in this absurd coincidence.

I watched him.

What answer would he give?

What he’d say.

Or whether he’d remain silent again.

Lee Hyun spoke.

“A boulder would be better. We don’t know how the arrows will fall. When we first entered the tunnel, the arrows completely missed…”

My eyebrow twitched.

The middle-aged man and the woman nodded, listening to him as if accustomed to it.

“….”

I looked at him again.

He continued.

“A boulder forces them to maintain speed. That’s why they likely chose it as well; it increases the burden on whoever is handling the controls.”

“Then the boulder–”

“Yes, I think choosing the boulder would be best.”

He’s… deciding on his own?

I thought for a moment as I listened.

Was this still someone else’s command?

Or had my earlier words made him start thinking for himself?

Lee Hyun turned to me.

“What do you think?”

He offered an opinion, yet still handed over the final decision.

Even from the start, he had done that.

It wasn’t blind obedience… but it was still giving away control.

‘Still…’

The fact that he could now express his own thoughts… that was growth.

Of course, whether that growth came from within or from someone else’s influence was something to figure out later.

Another variable.

‘There’s a good chance it’ll be a positive change.’

He was a police officer, after all.

Even if he had been like a machine executing commands, he still had past principles ingrained in him.

‘If Lee Hyun leaves the Muryang Sect… that organization loses a massive pillar.’

I watched him quietly.

That insane cult…

In any apocalypse, the most dangerous person isn’t the one holding a knife, but the one holding a doctrine you don’t even understand.

If their power weakens…

“…I think that’s reasonable.”

That was all I could give him.

Acknowledging that his decision was correct.

Not just the answer, but the act itself.

His act.

Becoming the one who decides his own life.

Even if he regrets those choices someday…