A Survival Guide for a Counselor in the Apocalypse Chapter 7

Episode 7

 

He took it.

He took it.

‘…He took it?’

Pretending to stay calm, I stepped back.

I didn’t even need to test him further anymore.

At the very least, this wasn’t Sa Jaeheon within ten regressions.

‘Even past the 500th regression, he still dislikes sweet things…’

…but after the 519th regression, he began unconsciously seeking out chocolate very often.

519th regression.

…That’s a number I should never let Sa Jaeheon associate me with.

‘510 regressions… isn’t that heavy? Why not drop some of that off at home? You’re the kind of bastard who leaves your age behind every time you regress…’

The moment I was shocked that Sa Jaeheon had taken the chocolate, another thought suddenly surged up, sending a chill down my spine.

‘Wait… if it’s past the 519th regression…’

 

—

[You have discovered a hidden trait.]

—

 

This isn’t a game.

Because the game was only updated up to before the 500th regression.

 

—

[‘Trait: Book Possession’ has been added.]

[‘Skill: Character Encyclopedia’ has been added.]

—

 

A window appeared, putting a full stop to the situation.

Without hesitation, Sa Jaeheon turned his back on us and immediately grabbed the convenience store door handle.

Lee Hoin, who had been watching this, called out to stop him.

 

—

[Chapter 2, Fate Community ▼]

Someone is trying to leave the group.

And that someone is none other than the ‘protagonist’ of this world.

Ah, of course, you are also the protagonist of ‘your own’ apocalypse….

However, the protagonist of the apocalypse you read, the story itself… is over there.

Will you stop him?

[〉 Stop him.

[〉 Do not stop him.]

—

 

It was the fastest choice I’d made so far.

 

—

[You did not stop him. Whether it was a wise decision… We’ll see.]

—

 

I didn’t stop him.

“Where are you going?”

Sa Jaeheon glanced at Hoin, then turned away and walked out.

“…What the hell?”

As Hoin took a step forward, I grabbed his arm to stop him.

“What’s with him? Why’s he acting like that all of a sudden? His eyes look weird too, like he’s a different person.”

Because he ‘is’ a different person.

Well, technically, he’s still Sa Jaeheon, but…

“Leave him. Let’s block the door first… go check the storage room.”

“What if he comes back later like that?”

I swallowed the words ‘that won’t happen’ and replied instead,

“…He left on his own.”

Watching Hoin walk toward the storage room connected to the staff area, I pressed my brow.

‘Getting involved with Sa Jaeheon brings me no benefit. That’s been proven just now.’

He’ll follow a proven route, and I know exactly what that route is.

If I want to avoid him, I have to abandon the easy path and take a longer, roundabout way.

‘Then who do I go with?’

It’s already difficult, and now I have to make it even harder.

Even if I have a counseling skill, it’s useless without people to use it on.

‘…Whatever. I’ll rest for now and think later.’

Staring at the flickering convenience store lights, I asked Hoin as he came out of the storage room,

“Is there a breaker box in there?”

“A breaker box?”

“The fuse box.”

“Oh, that. Yeah, there is.”

I tossed him the key and said,

“Lock the door too. That’s the only one I found.”

The reason for turning off the lights was simple.

At night, mutants become less sensitive to visual stimuli, but not completely insensitive.

Just like the one who had spotted me in the auditorium earlier.

Once all the switches in the breaker box were flipped down, the lights inside the store went completely dark.

A few rattling sounds confirmed the door had been locked as well.

Shin Giyeon, who had even set up a barricade using a small freezer, finally seemed to relax and slumped to the floor.

Leaving the exhausted group behind, I searched the shelves for wound dressings when Hoin, watching me, asked,

“Do convenience stores even sell bandages?”

“Why?”

“Your ankle.”

He added while chewing on some bread,

“You messed up your ankle.”

He’s more perceptive than I thought.

“Just give me some cloth or something. I know how to wrap it.”

 

*

 

Once things had settled down, silence took over as everyone drifted off to sleep.

More precisely, Shin Giyeon and Kim Woohyun did.

‘It is pretty late.’

It was already past [2:13 AM].

Sure, it was a time when people got sleepy… but more than that, it was because the tension had finally eased.

Looking at the half-dead Kim Woohyun and Shin Giyeon, I spoke to Hoin, who was still wide awake.

“You should get some sleep too.”

“Nah. Someone has to stay awake in case something happens.”

“I’ll stay up. You get some rest.”

Hoin scoffed.

“Yeah, right. Like the injured guy’s gonna pull that off. Cut the crap and go to sleep yourself.”

“Then we’ll take turns.”

At the quiet exchange, Shin Giyeon barely opened her eyes and yawned widely.

“…Yeah… let’s take turns… I’ll go after Muyeong…”

“Me too… I’ll… yawn… do that…”

The two barely conscious zombies muttered that before immediately passing out.

Hoin, still stubborn, leaned back and stared at me.

‘Why does he insist on making things harder for himself?’

It’s appreciated, but…

Eventually, I lay down as well.

A brief silence followed.

All I could hear was the hum of the refrigerator and distant mutant noises.

Strangely, lying here on the convenience store floor felt the most real.

‘The Sa Jaeheon who left won’t be coming back…’

And the version of him I saw earlier… 

That “alive” one… won’t return either.

 

—

[Ah, what a shame. We’ve lost a valuable asset.]

—

 

I wouldn’t usually agree, but right now, that’s exactly right.

We really did lose someone valuable.

Even without regression, a protagonist is still a protagonist.

He was helpful in every way… quick thinking, sharp instincts, fast judgment.

And he still maintained cooperation and teamwork.

Honestly, I almost wanted to grab him and beg him to go back to how he was before.

‘But that’s impossible.’

Now I have to find a way to survive on my own.

For example…

‘The routes Sa Jaeheon abandoned…’

I need to sift through them and find something reusable.

Somewhere close, somewhere he won’t go, and somewhere with decent rewards.

After a bit of thought, I managed to pick one.

A co-op event from his 17th regression.

The rules are simple: tag.

Survive for ten days while evading pursuit, and you can escape.

Enhanced mutants are scattered across the entire map, but fighting them isn’t the only option.

In fact, those who avoided them quietly tended to gain better rewards.

‘To do that, I need companions by Day 3.’

On the third day, the “Third Parties” open 33 co-op events.

People choose one of them to participate in.

This ‘tag’ event is one of those.

In the 17th regression, Sa Jaeheon obtained the “Incomplete Transfer Mark.”

An item that allows you to designate a space and transfer items there.

‘But honestly, by itself, it’s a bit lacking.’

In a ruined world, finding a safe and suitable storage space is already a challenge.

So it’s usually used alongside subspace-type items.

Sa Jaeheon did the same… rather than risk storing things in real space, he kept it until he obtained a subspace item and immediately linked them.

And recently, it was revealed that in this location, you can also obtain the “Incomplete Subspace” item.

If you designate that subspace with the Transfer Mark, it essentially functions like an inventory.

‘It’s basically sold as a set. Hidden behind a special route and fairly expensive, though.’

The route is a bit tedious and time-consuming, so Sa Jaeheon won’t come this way.

That makes it perfect.

Compared to solo events, this co-op event offers much better rewards.

Of course, the risk of death is also higher.

But in this apocalypse, everything is high risk, high return.

If I’m going to risk my life anyway, I’d rather go for a high return.

‘The danger is…’

There’s a character, Sa Jaeheon, who is actively recruiting in this event.

‘Well.’

I’ll just avoid that character.

As long as I don’t get involved, it’ll be fine, right?

Thinking lightly like that, I checked the newly added trait and skill.

 

—

[Trait: Book Possession (-)]

You are a transmigrator. You are always aware of that fact.

That this is not your world.

—

 

No level here either.

‘…Another reason to be even more careful around Sa Jaeheon.’

Every time he regresses, he obtains an item that lets him check others’ traits.

Of course, there are limitations, but…

‘I can hide it.’

But whether he sees it or not, nothing good will come of it either way.

Either scenario spells trouble.

And the skill…

 

—

[Character Encyclopedia (Lv. 1)] (Passive Skill)

An encyclopedia of major characters in <Ruined World>.

Covers their actions within the story.

Currently, 1 major character is stored.

Would you like to view it?

※ You must recognize a character to store it.

※ Exclusive to the trait [Book Possession].

—

 

“Recognize.”

So that means I have to personally identify that someone is a character from <Ruined World>.

‘In most transmigration novels, people figure that stuff out easily…’

But now that it’s my reality, it just feels overwhelming.

I have to personally pick out characters from strangers based on vague descriptions.

‘The difficulty is insane.’

The novel barely describes appearances.

Why?

Because people die quickly.

There are game illustrations, but translating those into real-life appearances makes recognition difficult.

And they’re pixel-based anyway, how am I supposed to identify people from that?

You could argue that remembering names is enough, like how I recognized Sa Jaeheon from his name tag, but…

‘Bullshit. There are tens of truckloads of extras.’

The final regression count was around 556, wasn’t it?

If someone lived through 556 cycles, it wouldn’t be strange if every citizen of Seoul appeared at least once.

And the prerequisite for this skill is ridiculous.

What’s the point of letting me view information about characters I already remember?

It should let me look up ones I don’t know.

‘Ha…’

Even that window felt smug, like it had given me some kind of cheat skill.

Why does it assume every transmigrator is smart?

Apologize to my memory first.