“I’m thinking of checking out a hospital soon. I don’t know much about medicine, but maybe I can at least find some disinfectant, bandages, or painkillers? Or even a pharmacy would be fine.”
Yohan rambled on as he walked. Aside from the frog monster ambush yesterday, nothing major had happened while he wandered around with Lee Hyunmook, which gave him a bit more courage. He kept an eye out for any buildings that looked worth investigating.
“Restaurants might be good to check too. Seasoning jars and utensils could be pretty useful! And if we find a burner or butane gas, we could even cook. Oh, there’s a clothing store! We can wear what fits and use the rest as bedding, maybe?”
As he walked through the ruins, it almost felt like being dropped into one of those typical zombie apocalypse novels. But unlike those, this place had no people, which meant the supplies were plentiful. Yohan found himself thinking it’d be nice if there were more people around to share all this with. ...Was it really just him and Lee Hyunmook in this place?
Lost in thought, Yohan turned around and practically jumped out of his skin. Lee Hyunmook had silently come right up behind him. Towering over him with a dark, heavy stare, he spoke with an oppressive tone.
“Keep talking. Ramble.”
Then, without warning, he pressed a thumb against Yohan’s lips, forcing them shut. Stunned by the sudden and borderline disrespectful contact, Yohan quickly backed away.
“Y-yes, okay. I-I will.”
Shrinking back, Yohan mumbled something about hoping there was a department store or big-box retailer nearby, maybe somewhere to find a tent or a sleeping bag. Hyunmook said nothing but seemed to listen intently to the sound of Yohan’s voice. Even without a proper conversation, he appeared to find comfort in the mere act of someone talking.
'Just how long has it been since he last met another person?'
Feeling sorry for him, Yohan kept chattering until, finally—after two hours of searching—he found his goal.
[Jeo Seung Hospital]
The actual name had once been “Jeonghan Medical Foundation Sejong Hospital,” a fairly well-known place, but some of the letters had broken off, likely from the shock of being pulled into the Abyss. Now it eerily read “Afterlife Hospital.” A creepy coincidence.
Yohan halted and took a deep breath before cautiously glancing at Hyunmook and taking a step forward. As expected, Hyunmook moved ahead to block him from entering. Then he gave him a little shove, as if to say, turn back.
“Uh, is it really that dangerous inside?”
They’d come all this way, and it felt like such a waste to give up now. Yohan hovered nearby. Maybe it’d be better to just keep looking for a pharmacy instead?
'But most pharmacies were cleaned out once the rifts started appearing.'
Ever since the rift crisis began, the value of medicine skyrocketed, not just in Korea but worldwide. Yohan had checked out a few pharmacies on the way here, and they were all completely empty. It seemed like either evacuees or later military teams and mercenaries had stripped them bare.
But this hospital might’ve been different. The windows were smeared with some unknown black, tar-like substance, and strange noises occasionally echoed from inside. It was obvious to anyone that this place was dangerous.
'Let’s just play it safe and move on.'
Hesitating for a while, Yohan eventually turned back. He couldn’t risk his life just to get medicine he didn’t urgently need yet.
* * *
The next morning, Yohan thought:
'I think I really do need to get medicine...'
Something felt off—his leg ached and seemed swollen. Checking it revealed that the cut on his calf was festering. He must’ve gotten stabbed by debris when falling into the Abyss, and instead of healing, the wound was oozing pus and puffing up badly. Yohan rinsed it with precious bottled water and Lee Hyunmook silently watched him do it.
“Ugh...”
How had he not noticed it had gotten this bad? Yohan winced as tears leaked from the corners of his eyes. After cleaning the wound, he wrapped it with the cleanest cloth he could find. Then, he wearily prepared breakfast and shared it with Hyunmook, though he could barely taste a thing from worry. After that, they wandered the ruined city, checking any buildings that looked even remotely like pharmacies.
But no matter how much he searched, there wasn’t even a trace of disinfectant, let alone anti-inflammatories. Every drawer was either empty or filled with junk too rotten to be of any use. From the amount of walking he did, the injury got worse, and by the time he returned to their shelter, he was limping.
He fell asleep hoping it’d improve, but the next morning, it was worse. The wound had turned nearly black-red and was starting to swell with pus. Yohan was terrified. He racked his brain for what little medical knowledge he had, panicking over the thought of his leg rotting—or worse, sepsis. He sat there sniffling, scared and lost in his thoughts.
Then, all of a sudden, a shadow fell over him. Yohan looked up to see Lee Hyunmook had crept right up to his face. He was so startled he nearly smacked his head into the wall.
“Lee Hyunmook...? Why are you...?”
There was a flicker of light in those usually dark, vacant eyes. Without blinking, his gaze tracked the tear sliding down Yohan’s cheek. And then Yohan saw it: the red light flaring in his pupils.
When Hyunmook opened his mouth, revealing a row of white teeth—
“D-don’t... please... Aagh!”
Hyunmook pressed his knee into Yohan’s wound, and Yohan let out a scream of pain. Clutching his leg and sobbing, Yohan watched as the madman paused, then looked down. He stared at Yohan’s swollen calf like someone disgusted by spoiled food and clicked his tongue. Yohan, already in tears, grew even more frightened.
“Y-you didn’t just... lick your lips at me, right?!”
In this world, those contaminated by the Abyss had been known to eat people. Hyunmook’s actions felt deeply threatening. Crying, Yohan scrambled toward the emergency rations he’d taken from a convenience store.
“I-I taste bad... Don’t eat me.”
Sniffling, he opened a precious can of spam and offered it up like an offering. Hyunmook, barbaric as ever, dug in with his bare hands and devoured it. Yohan, watching nervously, debated whether to open a second can. Fortunately, Hyunmook merely licked his greasy fingers, showing no further interest in Yohan himself. Seeing this, Yohan let out a small grunt and stood ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) up. He was going to try one more time to find a pharmacy nearby.
But again, it was no use. He wandered and searched until he suddenly realized he was standing in front of the hospital again. Anxiously, he paced around beside a rusted car.
“My leg...”
His eyes welled up with tears once more. He’d always been a crybaby—his nickname had even been “Crybaby” back home, and his brother used to scold him for it. But here, it was like crying had become a daily routine.
Still, anyone would cry in a situation like this. Entering the hospital could mean death. But leaving the wound untreated? That could kill him too. That morning, he’d even started to feel a slight fever coming on.
Faced with the choice between a fast, sudden death and a slow, agonizing one, Yohan wiped his eyes with his sleeve and kept staring at the hospital. He was about to give up and turn away when the silent figure beside him suddenly moved.
“Lee Hyunmook? Where are you going?!”
Hyunmook had never once moved anywhere of his own accord until now. Alarmed, Yohan scrambled after him, limping frantically. They’d already been attacked by monsters more times than he could count, and his nerves were completely shot.
“Don’t leave me behind...!”
Crying openly now, Yohan followed him as best he could. The street between them widened fast, and the fear of being abandoned in this hellish place by the only other person left alive hit him hard. When he finally had to stop from exhaustion, wiping his tears, he suddenly froze.
“O-oh...”
Hyunmook had walked into a building—and the sign above it made Yohan’s eyes go wide.
[EME□GEN□Y ME□IC□L CENT□R]
Some letters were broken or bent, but there was no mistaking it. The emergency room! Yohan’s chest, which had been crushed under despair, suddenly swelled with hope. If Hyunmook was going inside, maybe it meant it was safe now. Yohan’s expression lit up as he hurried toward the entrance. And just as he stepped inside—
Something dark and massive was rushing straight toward them.
Before he could even process what he was seeing, Hyunmook casually swung his right elbow back, then thrust a punch forward.
Thwack! Yohan hadn’t even figured out what was happening before some kind of strange bodily fluid and debris splattered all over his face.
“Uwaaaagh...!”
He staggered back, frantically wiping his face. The thing that had attacked them was a grotesque monster. It resembled a giant wolf, but its head had swollen grotesquely—almost like a flashing red siren. The body was completely pulverized by Hyunmook’s blow. Behind it, more of the same monsters were shambling forward.
'Red Heads!'
