Gyeoul glanced back slowly, still shivering.

When her eyes met Yeoreum’s, Gyeoul’s stiff tail began to sway slightly.

Yeoreum had been worried she might be panicking.

But she was holding up surprisingly well.

Of course, there could be hidden issues, so Yeoreum carefully called out to her.

“Gyeoul.”

“Shh.”

Gyeoul pressed a finger to her lips, signaling for quiet.

She then pulled paper and pen from her pocket and started writing.

Her handwriting was shaky, likely from fear.

-Are all the zombies dead?

As she’d suspected, she was worried the zombies might hear them.

Yeoreum was about to reveal the truth, but suddenly held her tongue as a thought occurred.

‘…I should observe a bit longer.’

She needed to figure out how Gyeoul had survived in the zombie world.

The behavior of someone with experience could be helpful in real situations.

And she could see how Gyeoul had managed to stay alive.

Of course, Gyeoul didn’t remember that terrible world, but the experiences ingrained in her body couldn’t be ignored.

“We haven’t caught them all yet.”

Gyeoul gasped.

Then we shouldn’t talk too loudly.

Yeoreum held out an item to the anxious Gyeoul.

It was something she’d made for her sensitive hearing.

“Know what this is?”

“Sound blocker…?”

“Right. It blocks sound from escaping, so you can speak freely.”

“Ah…”

Gyeoul stared at the mana stone, then tugged on Yeoreum’s arm.

She wanted them to hide together among the clothes.

‘Guess I’ll have to buy all the clothes around here.’

Yeoreum nonchalantly crouched down next to Gyeoul.

Only then did Gyeoul seem to relax, letting out a long sigh.

“I didn’t realize real zombies would be this scary…”

“Oh dear, were you really frightened?”

“Yeah… It was just fun to watch on TV, but when I actually saw them, I couldn’t move…”

“But you did move in the end and hid here.”

Yeoreum patted Gyeoul’s head, praising her for doing well.

Gyeoul’s trembling body gradually began to calm.

“In situations like this, freezing up is dangerous. You have to force yourself to move, even if it’s hard.”

“Yeah…”

Did she purposely ignore her fear to survive?

Yeoreum realized how Gyeoul had managed to stay alive.

‘She does have impressive mental fortitude…’

Did she survive by forcing himself onward?

Yeoreum found herself hugging Gyeoul tightly.

“Don’t worry too much. If there’s no sign of them, they’ll leave after about ten minutes.”

“Ten minutes?”

“Yes. But don’t show yourself. And don’t make any noise.”

I see.

But how did Gyeoul know that?

she shouldn’t have any memories of zombies, right?

Yeoreum looked down at Gyeoul with wide eyes.

“How did you know that?”

“Um… I’m not sure?”

Gyeoul tilted her head in confusion.

Yeoreum realized this was Gyeoul’s ingrained survival instinct.

‘I’ll stop here.’

She now knew how Gyeoul had survived and learned some useful tips.

She could probably learn more if she continued, but decided to stop for the sake of her precious family member.

“Hehe, Gyeoul’s really into this event, huh?”

“Event?”

“Yeah. The zombie event.”

Zombies and event.

Gyeoul’s mouth gaped open at those two absurd words put together.

“Huh?”

—

—

I trudged to the pet supply store.

My steps lacked energy.

After all that fuss, to find out it was fake.

I couldn’t lift my head from embarrassment.

Still, I had to go to the store.

I needed to apologize to the people there.

“Excuse me…”

The store clerk turned to look at me as the bell jingled.

I thought she’d be furious, but for some reason, her face wore a bright smile.

“You’re back!”

“Y-yeah…”

I needed to approach and apologize, but my feet wouldn’t move.

Yeoreum gently pushed my back.

I ended up naturally stepping towards the clerk.

“Do you need something?”

“Um, I’m so sorry about earlier… I thought real zombies had appeared…”

I glanced at the clerk, then turned to look at Yeoreum.

For some reason, both of them had smiles on their faces.

“It’s fine. I had fun.”

“You had fun?”

“Yes. It was like an event breaking up the monotony of daily life. I enjoyed playing along.”

“Ah…”

I’m glad she didn’t mind.

Whew, a sigh of relief escaped me.

“You came to buy something for your pet, right?”

“Yes. I was going to buy cat treats and supplies.”

“For that…!”

The clerk lifted a box from behind the counter.

The box she pulled out was full of cat treats and supplies.

“You can take this.”

“Oh… I don’t have money right now…”

It would be too much to buy all of this. Maybe I could afford a quarter of it.

I pulled out two 10,000 won bills from my pocket.

“It’s okay. You don’t have to pay.”

“What? Why?”

“Because Gyeoul protected…”

The clerk looked at Yeoreum behind me as she started to say something.

It seemed like they were having a conversation with their eyes, so I turned around, but Yeoreum was just grinning.

‘What’s going on?’

There was clearly some exchange happening.

As I stared up at Yeoreum in confusion, the clerk poked my shoulder.

“You won the event prize.”

“Event?”

“Yes. You participated in the zombie event, right?”

“Ah…!”

Zombie event.

Of course, events usually have gifts for enthusiastic participants.

Like giving away the items they were going to buy.

By chance, I had participated enthusiastically in the event, so I was receiving a prize.

“This is the winning prize. You can just take it.”

“Wow, thank you. I’ll cherish it.”

At my words about cherishing it, everyone in the store turned to look at me.

As they glanced between me and the cat supplies, I realized I’d misspoken.

“I mean Seol will cherish it. Seol is the cat I’m raising at home…”

“Ah, I see.”

The store clerk handed me the box.

As soon as I lifted it, my arms started trembling. I didn’t think I could carry it all the way home.

I naturally looked up at Yeoreum.

“I’ll carry it for you.”

“Thank you. I’ll buy you waffles instead.”

“Waffles?”

“Yeah. I couldn’t afford them before, but now I have money.”

The 20,000 won I’d brought to buy cat supplies.

This would be enough to buy waffles for the kids at home too.

My steps were light as I headed back.

I held Yeoreum’s hand as we returned home.

—

—

Yeoreum sat on the sofa, recalling the zombies she’d seen at the store.

Their grotesque appearances had seemed quite realistic.

Perhaps these zombie props could be put to use.

‘If we held an event using zombies…’

Yeoreum tapped her chin thoughtfully.

She began envisioning how to utilize the illusory zombies.

Rent an empty neighborhood for a zombie survival festival?

If many people participated, they might be able to collect valuable data.

Data on surviving in a zombie world.

‘The more data, the better.’

Yeoreum and the other Yeomyeong Guild members were collecting as much data as possible.

Even holding competitions without mana was a form of data collection.

They needed to figure out how to fight efficiently without mana.

‘With Yu-na’s magic, materializing them shouldn’t be difficult.’

If they offered a high prize, experts in the field would flock to it.

The zombie survival genre had a solid fanbase after all.

As long as they could extract information from them, the prize money was no problem.

They could also gain experience by participating in the competition themselves.

‘For the competition, we’ll exclude mana…’

Having organized her thoughts, Yeoreum sat down beside Jung Yu-na.

Yu-na was sitting on the living room floor, drawing pictures with the children.

“Yu-na, I need to talk to you for a minute.”

“Okay. What is it?”

“Well…”

Yeoreum glanced towards the kitchen.

It was a signal to go talk somewhere else.

After moving to the living room, Yeoreum shared her plan with Yu-na.

Yu-na folded her arms in thought, then carefully nodded.

“It sounds good, but the cost…”

“I’ll cover all the expenses. Money isn’t the important part.”

“No, let’s split the cost.”

Gyeoul is my sister after all.

A very precious sister at that.

Yu-na turned to look in Gyeoul’s direction.

Given the layout, she shouldn’t have been able to see Gyeoul, yet somehow Gyeoul was in view.

“You’re holding a zombie survival event?”

“…!”

How long has she been there?

Yeoreum’s pupils shook.

“G-Gyeoul, did you follow us?”

“Y-yes…”

Was I not supposed to?

Gyeoul anxiously clasped her hands together.

“I see. Were you going to get some water?”

“No, I just followed you…”

“Ah.”

Like a baby bird following its mother, there’s no particular reason.

She’s just following her guardian.

Yeoreum clicked her tongue.

If Gyeoul had heard everything, there was nothing to be done.

Fortunately, they’d only discussed plans for the survival event, so nothing hidden would be revealed.

“Was I not supposed to hear that?”

“No, it’s fine if you heard. We talked separately because we were worried the zombie talk might scare you.”

Zombies are scary, after all.

Gyeoul nodded.

“Should I help with the zombie survival event?”

“Y-you, Gyeoul?”

“Yes. I know a lot about zombies.”

Helping with zombies.

It was a kind offer, but to Yeoreum and Yu-na, it sounded like this:

Want to watch my trauma resurface?

—

4/6 Enjoy the chappy!

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