Chapter 3
In the novel, it is mentioned that the protagonist awakens after escaping from the air-raid shelter.
In other words, it meant that I was ‘Extra #1,’ who gets brutally killed at the beginning of the novel to trigger the protagonist’s awakening.
D*mn it. I can’t just conclude my life as material for the protagonist’s awakening…
The novel didn’t go into detail about how only the protagonist survived in the air-raid shelter.
‘Why? How did only the protagonist survive in the air-raid shelter?’
As I was clutching my head, puzzled, suddenly Baek Yi-heon let out a small chuckle.
‘…He’s laughing?’
Of course, it was a beautifully charming smile that could fool anyone, but to me, it was just irritating.
Whenever someone laughed without context, I always felt like they were mocking me.
“Why are you laughing?”
When I asked with a defiant tone, raising my eyes corners, his eyes widened slightly.
“Asking why I’m laughing. In this situation.”
“Ah, it’s a bit amusing.”
“What exactly…”
“In this situation, the name ‘Noah’ just feels fitting. It’s like we’re on Noah’s Ark or something.”
You find this amusing?
Of course, as the protagonist, he remained calm and composed even in this situation.
Taking advantage of me being dumbfounded, a bright voice swiftly cut into the conversation.
“I’m Park Ji-in!”
Park Ji-in stood in front of me, naturally blocking Baek Yi-heon’s gaze from reaching me.
Whenever someone paid me the slightest bit of attention, she would always act like this.
It was a very familiar occurrence, so I coldly took a step back with an icy gaze.
Baek Yi-heon briefly looked back and forth between me, Park Ji-in, and my mom with sharp eyes.
“Ah, this is my mom! Ah, no. Our mom! Hehe.”
Noticing his gaze, Park Ji-in quickly laughed and spoke.
He must have already noticed that we had different last names.
In the novel, Baek Yi-heon was portrayed as having quick thinking and situational judgment.
However, he simply nodded his head with a calm expression, without saying a word.
“Isn’t now not the time for casual introductions?”
Then, an unsatisfied voice suddenly blurted out.
It was the bespectacled man who had turned on his phone’s flashlight earlier.
“Shouldn’t we first figure out what’s going on… Save the love stories for later.”
He glanced at Baek Yi-heon’s handsome face over his glasses and grumbled discontentedly.
“Exactly. The glasses guy made a good point. That’s what I’ve been thinking too.”
A man in a fluorescent green soccer jersey chimed in loudly.
“I haven’t been able to get any signal or internet. Does anyone have a working phone?”
‘What a stupid thing to say.’
I inwardly scoffed at the man’s words.
Cell towers and such would have already been destroyed by the monsters.
“It seems that monster is still outside.”
The middle-aged woman, tightly hugging a child, joined the conversation.
As she said, the heavy sound of tentacles knocking on the iron door rhythmically could be heard, as if checking.
“Why isn’t that d*mn monster leaving and just sticking around here?!”
The man in the soccer uniform exploded with frustration.
They might not understand, but having read the novel, I knew the reason.
‘It must have sensed the life energy inside here.’
The monsters don’t capture humans for fun or amusement.
In the world of the novel, their ultimate goal, commanded by the final villain ‘Asura’, is to eliminate as many humans as possible, and these monsters are murderous tools for that purpose.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
“…Let’s check inside this air-raid shelter first.”
Amidst the frightened people, the middle-aged woman bravely took the lead again.
Her swollen cheek from being hit by the tattooed man, she seemed to be trying her best to appear calm for her child.
“I agree. I wonder if there’s any food inside?”
Park Ji-in peered inside the air-raid shelter, craning her neck.
Beyond the iron door, a long corridor stretched out.
It was designed in a suitable shape to withstand bomb damage.
The dim phone flashlight didn’t reach far, making the inside of the corridor look like a pitch-black hole.
The people hesitated, looking at each other, not taking the first step.
“Well, since everyone seems to agree, Let’s go in.”
Then, the usually curt Baek Yi-heon took the lead, striding forward with his long legs.
Park Ji-in quickly stuck close behind him.
She must have decided to stick to the person who appeared strongest in here.
Of course, his handsome face undoubtedly contributed to that decision.
Relying only on the phone’s flashlight, the people entered the dark corridor.
Unlike the tense expressions on everyone else’s faces, I followed with a grim look.
I didn’t need to look back, as I was already well-acquainted with the layout of the air-raid shelter.
I had come in occasionally to clean and tidy it up myself.
Further inside the long concrete corridor, there were a total of three rooms.
One was the ‘food room’ where I had stockpiled food supplies and bottled water.
Another was the ‘bedroom’ where I had brought in a radio, single sleeping bags, and such.
The last room was the largest and since I hadn’t decided its purpose yet, I simply called it the ‘big room’ to myself.
There was also a restroom with plumbing facilities installed between the bedroom and big room.
Sure enough, as I had expected, after going a certain distance a corridor with multiple rooms appeared.
“Rooms!”
“This place was in the neighborhood… The facilities seem pretty well-equipped.”
“What do we do now?”
“What do you mean? We should check them one by one! Um, there are nine of us in total.”
The bespectacled man quickly counted and spoke.
“Let’s split into groups of three to explore the insides of the rooms.”
Before anyone could make a move, Baek Yi-heon naturally took a spot beside me.
Seeing that, Park Ji-in loudly clicked her tongue from behind.
The plainly-dressed man in his early 20s, who had been following behind without any presence, quietly joined us.
Since I have no interest in their names, I’ll just call them Suit Guy, Soccer Guy, and Glasses Guy for convenience.
That’s how we split into three groups: me, Baek Yi-heon, and Suit Guy.
Mom, Park Ji-in, and Soccer Guy.
Child’s Mom, Child, and Glasses Guy.
Divided like that, we entered the respective rooms.
✦
02. The Nine Survivors
The area I was assigned to investigate was the ‘bedroom.’
“That’s… a lamp.”
Surveying the small room with his phone’s flashlight, Suit Guy muttered.
I pointed to the 20-liter oil container next to it.
“Yes, there’s oil too. It must be an oil lamp.”
I knew it well as I had purchased it directly from Coupang.
Suit Guy nodded slightly and picked up the lamp.
“Let’s light the lamp first to save phone battery.”
As expected, items should be utilized as soon as they’re found.
However, there was no way the modern Suit Guy had used an oil lamp before.
I watched him struggle for a bit, then eventually showed him the fuel inlet discreetly.
Quietly observing me, Baek Yi-heon suddenly spoke up.
“There are sleeping bags too. …Single ones.”
As he said, there were fairly thick green sleeping bags in the bedroom. I had ordered those from Coupang too.
“…Not much dust either.”
At his soft murmur, I unconsciously furrowed my brows a little.
‘Of course, since I came often to clean and tidy up.’
Indeed, befitting the survival genre protagonist, his observation and situational awareness were quick.
But if asked why I cleaned this abandoned air-raid shelter alone and even brought in sleeping bags, I’d be at a loss for words.
Saying I expected something like this to happen could get me labeled as crazy, even by a morally upright protagonist.
I decided to just stay quiet and pretend ignorance.
Conveniently, Suit Guy managed to light the lamp.
Soon, the small room was filled with a warm orange glow.
“Wow! It worked! This oil lamp is quite bright!”
I brazenly feigned ignorance with that exclamation.
I felt Baek Yi-heon’s observant gaze on me.
The items in the room were the oil lamp, oil container, sleeping bags, a portable flashlight, four batteries, a radio, and a first aid kit.
After confirming everything, we left the room and ran into three people coming out of the ‘big room’ in the corridor.
“Huh? There was a lamp over there?”
Glasses Guy quickly turned off his phone’s flashlight and spoke.
“This room was completely empty.”
“Nothing at all? …Was there dust?”
With the lamplight dispelling some of the darkness, everyone’s expressions became clearer.
Glasses Guy shrugged nonchalantly with a pretentious tone.
“Huh? Well, there didn’t seem to be much. It’s an air-raid shelter. No way for dust to get in from outside.”
He seemed to dislike seeing Baek Yi-heon taking an active role from the start.
“Everyone, come over here!”
Then, Park Ji-in’s excited voice called out from the food room.
With nine people entering the cramped food room, it was so packed our bodies brushed against each other.
Park Ji-in exclaimed with a proud face.
“I found it!”
What she pointed at was the food supplies stacked in the corner.
20 cans of canned fruit.
30 cans of canned tuna.
10 bags of hardtack.
2 boxes of 20 chocolate bars each.
30 pouches of 1-liter emergency drinking water.
‘Huh? Strange?’
As I examined the list of food supplies stacked against the wall, I slightly furrowed one eyebrow.
‘I clearly brought three boxes of chocolate bars into the food room?’
One box was missing.
✦
Thank you for reading! ♡
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