They were easy to deceive due to their lack of experience and knowledge, and easy to rob because of their weakness.

That’s how children were treated in a ruined world.

People often approached to steal rather than to ally.

‘This is bad.’

Without magic, I was weaker than even Levinas.

My only advantage was legs faster than an adult’s, but now I was trapped inside a trash can.

In a situation where I couldn’t run away, her mercy was my only hope for survival.

“Um, could we live a little longer…? I don’t want to die yet…”

“That’s right…! Please spare us…!”

Levinas and I begged for our lives together.

Two of us pleading together had more impact.

Of course, the chances of being spared were still low even like this.

“Hey, do you need anything…? I have a chocolate bar…”

Just as I was about to hand over my backpack, she frantically waved her hands.

“Ah, no, I’m not here to do anything bad. I just came because I was worried.”

She came because she was worried?

Was there any reason to worry about us in this situation?

I glared at her, not letting my guard down.

Behind me, Levinas started trembling.

“King, are we going to lose everything…?!”

“W-well…?”

If she showed mercy, we wouldn’t have to lose everything.

The problem was that the chances of that were low.

“Levinas has too many things right now…!”

Levinas hugged her carrot bag to her chest.

I knew it was full of carrots.

In the current situation where we couldn’t grow carrots, they were like treasure to Levinas.

“Kids, I won’t take anything, so calm down. Okay?”

“Not even one…?”

“Yeah. I’m just here because I was worried. I have no bad intentions at all.”

“Okay…”

She said that, but it wasn’t easy to trust people in this kind of situation.

She seemed to understand this to some extent and gave a bitter smile.

“Why are you so guarded? Were you beaten by adults growing up?”

Her tone was joking, trying to lighten the mood.

Levinas responded with a startled look.

“How did you know…?!”

“Huh?”

“Levinas wasn’t beaten…! But King was beaten a lot…! Adults beat her up terribly…!”

“I-is that so…?”

Her pupils shook.

I could see the concern in her eyes as she looked at me.

Was she really a good person?

I was able to let my guard down a little bit.

“It’s okay. I don’t get beaten anymore.”

“…That’s good.”

She reached out towards us.

She picked up me and Levinas and set us down outside the trash can.

Making it easier for us to run away.

She didn’t seem like a bad person.

“I’m sorry for doubting you.”

“No, it’s understandable in this situation. Your names are Gyeoul and Levinas, right?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

“I’m Nam Doyeon.”

She offered her hand for a handshake.

I murmured her name, Nam Doyeon Nam Doyeon, as I shook her hand.

“But we need to hide.”

“Yeah. Let’s hide in a nearby building for now.”

Nam Doyeon crouched down and ran towards a nearby building.

It was a tall building over ten stories high.

Levinas and I were short, so we could just run normally.

“…Looks like there’s no one on the first floor.”

“Yeah. I don’t see anyone either.”

We nodded and entered the building.

We tried to go up to the safer second floor, but the stairs were blocked by collapsed debris.

We had no choice but to stay on the first floor.

“…Let’s look for anything useful inside, and avoid windows as much as possible.”

“Okay. But are we going to stay together from now on?”

“Yeah. You look like you need a guardian.”

“I see…”

Levinas who knew absolutely nothing, and me who was weaker than a child.

In this situation, Nam Doyeon’s help would be invaluable.

She seemed like an expert in this zombie world.

To help without looting or killing in a world like this.

She really was a good person.

I was finally able to let my guard down completely.

“Your eyes suddenly got all sparkly?”

“Well, I’m surprised. Usually in this situation, killing and looting is normal, right?”

“That’s not… normal…?”

“Huh?”

Wasn’t she an expert in this zombie apocalypse world?

It didn’t make sense for an expert not to know this.

I looked up at her with wide eyes.

“In this situation, cooperating with each other is best.”

“I see… But isn’t a child useless? Usually they’re abandoned…”

“Ah, no…! Children are helpful just by existing, even if they don’t do anything…!”

She spoke in a small but forceful voice.

She shook her head and hands, insisting it wasn’t true at all.

It was enough to make me worry she’d get dizzy.

Were the rules of this world different somehow?

Hmm, I was about to suggest a different approach to everyone when-

“King…!”

Levinas, who had opened a nearby door, gestured for me to come over.

It was the look she had when she found something interesting.

Survival should be our top priority right now.

I decided to think about the rules of this world later.

—

—

Nam Doyeon.

She was a survival genre enthusiast.

She had even spent a few nights in an actual dungeon.

She had some recognition for running a survival-focused channel.

It was natural for Nam Doyeon to participate in this competition.

And she discovered two beast-kin children.

Nam Doyeon had heard rumors about them before.

But for some reason, the darkness within the child was too deep.

-Killing and looting is normal, right?

-Isn’t a child useless? Usually they’re abandoned…

Every word the child said stabbed at her heart.

It was even more painful because she could guess what the child had been through.

‘Why did the Yeomyeong Guild have a child participate in the competition?’

A competition hosted by the Yeomyeong Guild.

They had a scarred Yeomyeong Guild child participate.

Despite the fact that betrayal would leave an even deeper wound.

‘The Yeomyeong Guild wouldn’t have done this thoughtlessly, and if they did think it through…’

Did they want to show that there are adults who won’t betray even in this situation?

Nam Doyeon thought as she walked behind Gyeoul.

The thought that maybe the Yeomyeong Guild had deliberately placed her next to the children.

‘Did they think I wouldn’t betray the children?’

If so…

They were absolutely correct.

Nam Doyeon decided to show the scarred child what a real adult is.

—

—

Inside the room Levinas led us to.

There was a large box placed there.

Levinas puffed out her chest and cleared her throat in front of the box.

“Did Levinas find this?”

“Wow, Levinas is amazing.”

It was a supply drop.

We opened the box with expectant expressions.

“Oh…?”

Inside were a knife, a hammer, and a map.

Levinas’s eyes sparkled as she picked up the hammer.

She lifted the seemingly heavy hammer with no resistance at all.

“It’s a squeaky hammer!”

“Squeaky hammer…?”

Did this look like a squeaky hammer to Levinas?

Nam Doyeon seemed to notice something odd too, and looked at Levinas’s bracelet.

On the bracelet, which looked like a smartwatch, the number 7 was written.

It meant she wasn’t in a scary state at all.

“Ah… Level 7, huh?”

“Yes. Levinas is level 7 and I’m level 3.”

“Even level 3 must be pretty scary though?”

“It is scary, but not terribly so.”

“I-I see…?”

She took out the map from the box.

It showed the locations of supply drops and where we needed to go.

“Should we head towards the nearest supply drop?”

“Wouldn’t that increase our chances of running into people?”

“Oh… You’re right.”

“Yeah. But that’s probably the best strategy. We need supplies to increase our chances of winning the competition.”

So it was designed to make us compete over supplies.

That was too difficult a direction for our weak team.

“Maybe we should avoid the supplies instead-“

I was about to suggest a different approach when-

Levinas tapped my shoulder with the hammer head.

“King, a teddy bear is coming.”

“Teddy bear?”

Didn’t teddy bear mean zombie?

I turned to look where Levinas was pointing.

Thud- Thud-

A zombie started banging its head against the window.

‘It’s a slow zombie.’

Which also meant it was a weak zombie.

But if we left it like that, the noise would attract other zombies.

“I’ll take care of it.”

Nam Doyeon approached the zombie with the knife.

Just as she was about to slide open the window and stab the zombie’s head-

“Hiyah!”

Levinas smashed the zombie’s head with the hammer.

The zombie’s head was crushed with a single blow.

Blood and bits of flesh splattered, but it didn’t look too gruesome to my level 3 eyes.

“Levinas chased away the teddy bear!”

“A-Amazing…”

To swing that heavy-looking hammer like chopsticks.

Could the balance be adjusted according to level?

Levinas might be playing on ultra-easy mode all by herself.

Looked like our team’s combat power wasn’t completely hopeless.

This should be enough to go after the supply drops, right?

I made eye contact with Nam Doyeon.

She clearly had the same thought.

We decided to go look for the next supply drop.

—

4/6 Enjoy the chappy!

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