Levinas, emboldened after slaying a zombie, raised her hammer.

She dashed towards the door with a fierce yet confident expression.

“Follow Levinas!”

“Levinas, you’ll get eliminated early that way!”

“Then follow the King!”

Levinas fell in behind me as I ran out.

Even without mana, my eyes and ears were sharp.

Putting me at the front was a smart move.

“I’ll take point. My hearing’s excellent.”

“Okay. Then I’ll bring up the rear.”

Levinas gripped her hammer while Nam Doyeon held a knife.

Without a weapon, I carried nothing.

It seemed I’d need my companions’ help until I could scavenge some supplies.

“King, take this…!”

“A doll?”

Levinas handed me a shark plushie.

It was one of her prized possessions.

“If you get too scared, throw this! The shark will protect you!”

“Okay. I’ll throw it if I’m scared.”

It was a doll stuffed with cotton.

It could stop a zombie from biting if shoved in its mouth.

But was it right to throw Levinas’ precious doll?

With that doubt, our journey began.

“We need to go left here.”

With my keen ears and eyes, I guided the team using the map.

In the middle, Levinas followed, softly singing.

“Invincible horned rabbit…!”

“Levinas.”

“Hm?”

“Did Saebyeok join too?”

If Saebyeok was participating, we needed to find her quickly.

I worried, but Levinas’ answer brought relief.

“The Dark King isn’t here…!”

“Saebyeok’s not here?”

“No…! The Dark King is too strong even without mana, so she couldn’t participate…!”

“Ah…”

Saebyeok was physically powerful.

If she had joined, she might have wiped out all the zombies alone.

It made sense to bar her entry, for the sake of the competition’s balance.

‘It’s a shame Saebyeok isn’t here.’

It would’ve been better with the three of us together.

As I thought this, I heard zombie sounds from around the corner ahead.

‘Two of them.’

I signaled to my companions.

I pointed at the corner, then held up two fingers.

Nam Doyeon nodded, understanding the signal.

Levinas held up two fingers as well.

In a V-sign pose.

“Levinas too, V.”

“Levinas, this isn’t a V-sign. It means there are two enemies.”

“Oh…!”

Levinas raised her hammer.

Nam Doyeon gripped her knife tightly.

It was a large knife, perfect for chopping.

‘What should I do?’

Without a weapon, I clutched the doll tightly.

If needed, I’d have to shove the doll in a zombie’s mouth.

With that thought, we rounded the corner.

“Grrrr…”

Two zombies wandered the devastated road.

They wandered aimlessly between overturned, half-destroyed cars.

The zombies hadn’t noticed us yet, showing no reaction.

We moved between the cars, avoiding their gaze.

Not to escape, but to deal with them.

“Grrrr.”

We faced off against the two zombies with a car between us.

Nam Doyeon moved first among us.

“I’ll draw their attention. Take one out from behind.”

Nam Doyeon revealed herself, making a loud noise.

The zombies’ attention naturally turned to her.

“Grrrk.”

Two zombies followed Nam Doyeon.

They were the fast-walking type.

Levinas and I snuck around the car, hiding behind it.

Poong poong-

I signaled Levinas to swing her hammer.

Nodding, Levinas brought her hammer down on the zombie behind.

“Hyah!”

Thwack-!

The zombie’s head was crushed as it collapsed.

Its corpse fell onto the zombie in front.

“Grak?”

Nam Doyeon finished off the zombie as it lost balance and fell.

“Wow.”

Hugging the shark doll, I thought:

Our teamwork is pretty good.

—

—

We reached the next supply building only after dealing with several more zombies.

It was a five-story building with a piloti structure.

“A box…!”

A supply crate sat right next to a building pillar.

Levinas hopped excitedly towards the box she spotted.

“King’s the leader, so King should open it…!”

“I’m the leader?”

Nam Doyeon’s here too, isn’t she?

Wouldn’t she be upset if I became leader without discussion?

I glanced at Nam Doyeon nervously.

She looked like she didn’t mind either way.

“Yeah. Let’s have Gyeoul open it.”

“Um… okay…”

I cautiously placed my hand on the box.

What could be inside?

Just as I was about to open it, expecting something good:

Crunch-

I quickly turned my head at the sound of footsteps on asphalt.

Two men were approaching us.

“…!”

Their armaments were alarming.

One held a jungle knife, the other a gun.

‘A pistol…!’

In a world without mana, guns were overwhelmingly powerful weapons.

If they wanted, they could kill all three of us in an instant.

“Ah… someone’s already here.”

The man lowered his gun and approached us.

I hugged the shark doll tightly, wary of the newcomers.

“Did you find anything inside?”

“…We haven’t opened it yet.”

His tone was unexpectedly friendly.

Weren’t we supposed to be enemies? Why was he acting like this?

I couldn’t understand the situation.

“Go ahead and open it. I’m curious what’s inside.”

“O-okay…”

I carefully opened the box.

What came out shocked everyone.

“A shotgun!”

The man with the knife shouted loudly.

Then, realizing his mistake, he clamped his mouth shut.

We all looked around as if on cue.

No zombies came investigating the noise.

‘Something amazing dropped.’

A pump shotgun.

An iconic zombie-fighting weapon.

The problem was the man with the gun next to us.

Surely he’d point his gun and demand we hand it over.

Phew, I sighed.

But for some reason, no gun was pointed at us even as time passed.

“That’s great.”

“Huh…?”

The two men didn’t threaten us to hand over the shotgun.

They just looked at us expectantly, as if urging us to pick it up.

‘What’s going on?’

Shouldn’t they be trying to take the shotgun here?

If they pointed the gun and threatened us to hand over the shotgun, we’d be helpless, right?

I couldn’t understand at all.

I even thought they might shoot the moment I picked up the shotgun.

“How much ammo is there?”

“Uh, well…”

Glancing nervously at the two men, I picked up the shotgun.

It was heavier than I’d imagined.

“There’s about fifty rounds.”

“Oh…”

The man examining the shotgun raised his pistol.

I was startled, thinking he’d shoot, but he just held out the pistol to me.

“Want to trade? I’ve got about fifty rounds too.”

“For the pistol?”

“Yeah. It’ll be hard to shoot a shotgun without mana, right?”

He wasn’t wrong.

Nam Doyeon was small too.

Firing the shotgun recklessly would likely exhaust us from the recoil.

“Um… okay, let’s trade.”

We exchanged our weapons.

I remained on guard even then.

‘Why aren’t they shooting?’

If they shot us, they could take both the shotgun and pistol, right?

They’re really not going to shoot?

I stood there awkwardly, holding the pistol.

“That gun has low recoil. Even a kid could shoot it.”

“Ah…”

“But don’t fire carelessly. The gunshot will attract everything.”

He gave us some precautions after handing over the shotgun.

He was so kind it made me suspicious.

“Um…”

“Oh! Since we’ve met like this, why don’t we team up?”

The man with the shotgun proposed an alliance.

Is this their real motive?

If we refuse, will they shoot us?

The shotgun is a devastating weapon after all.

I exchanged glances with Levinas and Nam Doyeon, then nodded.

“S-sure, why not?”

An uneasy alliance began.

—

—

The shotgun-wielding man’s name was Kim Junsu.

The knife-wielder was Hong Seongwoo.

I took the rearguard position, pistol in hand.

I knew how to use it from watching at the guild training grounds.

‘Don’t let your guard down.’

They might betray us if we relaxed.

I stayed alert, focusing all my senses.

“Grrrk!”

We fought zombie hordes and found new supply crates.

As the sun began to set, we searched for shelter to sleep.

Even by the end of the day, the two men hadn’t betrayed us.

‘What’s going on?’

Are they really good people?

As my suspicions began to fade, the three men started discussing.

“How should we do night watch?”

“…Let the kids sleep and we’ll handle it?”

“That’ll be tough with just three of us. How about putting the kids at the very front and back?”

“Gyeoul said she usually wakes up early, so we can wake her around five…”

Night watch!

I see.

It would be easier to deal with us if everyone’s asleep.

I think I understand their intentions now.

In that case, I’ll pretend to sleep.

I got into a tattered blanket nearby and closed my eyes.

Clutching the pistol tightly inside.

If I pretend to sleep like this, surely…

—

—

“Gyeoul, it’s time for your watch.”

Someone shook my body.

I opened my eyes with a yawn to see Kim Junsu with the shotgun.

“Eh…”

Is it my turn already?

Thinking that, I jumped up in shock.

My ears and tail stood straight up in surprise.

‘I didn’t get attacked in my sleep?’

Are they really good people?

I blinked, looking up at Kim Junsu.

“Um, you know…”

“Yeah?”

I knew I shouldn’t, but I was too curious to hold back.

Head bowed, I spoke to him.

“Why… why don’t people loot?”

“…Huh?”

“It’d be easier to just kill us and take our stuff…”

Kim Junsu froze at my question.

I knew it was a very rude thing to ask.

But I really wanted to know.

It felt like my soul was being pricked.

I didn’t know why.

—

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