Mental Caretaker In An Apolcalypse Game

Episode 55

“Well, if you’re curious, go check it out yourself. You’re going to go in there anyway.”

Then he smiled prettily, saying he understood, and then obediently left my side.

“Ms. Ji-ah, Mr. Do-yoon. Do you have a cell phone?”

I felt a bit uneasy as it was resolved more easily than I expected. Then, I heard her calling us and approached her, wondering what it was about.

“Why do you need a cell phone all of a sudden?”

“Jun-woo didn’t have a cell phone while he was trapped, so he doesn’t know anything about the outside situation except that zombies appeared. I also didn’t know much because my phone broke not long after I was trapped in the supermarket.”

“Ah… now that you mention it, I forgot about it too.”

With the constant threat to our lives from the zombies, I had forgotten about having a cell phone. The only news I saw was a brief moment in the school infirmary on the first day.

I was sure I had turned it off to save battery and hadn’t used it since then…

As it was easier than I thought, I felt uncomfortable. At that time, I approached her voice calling us, wondering what it was.

I absentmindedly checked my clothes pocket but then remembered I didn’t have them. I had taken it out when I changed into new clothes at the supermarket and put it in the bag with food in it, forgetting about it. So, it should still be in the shadows inside that bag. I asked Do-yoon to get the bag from the shadows and took out my cell phone when he did.

‘But will this phone even work? The world has changed so much, and everyone’s dead… But it’s still early, so maybe it hasn’t been cut off yet? Come to think of it, the water in the bathroom keeps running, so the water supply hasn’t been cut off yet. Will this be the same?’

Thinking that, I turned on the internet and fortunately, it connected. I didn’t have much faith that the government had come up with a solution to the problem, but I went to a news website for now anyway. As I scrolled down, my eyes were caught by an article that made me stop. Now that I thought about it, this was about the time shelters started appearing.

“Everyone, come here and take a look at this.”

I showed them the article on the screen so they could see the content.

“A shelter…?”

“It seems the government has come up with measures. They’ve designated several shelters in various areas and are providing food and essential supplies.”

The appearance of shelters was tantamount to an announcement that the game had entered the mid-stage. Once all allies were gathered and there was enough food, there was no need to move around to other places. The shelter was the driving force that led the protagonist to the next stage. The areas from Stage 5 to Stage 8 were on the way to the shelter, making it a natural progression to the next stage.

“If we go there, we’ll be safe from zombies because soldiers are guarding it, and we’ll get food supplies. Every survivor will probably flock there.”

“Then shouldn’t we go there too?”

“Of course, that would be ideal. Hmm… The closest shelter from here is… Ah, I found it.”

“It’s a bit far, but it should be okay if we travel by car.”

While saying that, I pretended to listen to their opinions and asked if we should go to the shelter. Even if they said no, I would find a way to take them there. There was no room for refusal. And if they had any common sense, they would definitely want to go to a safer place than here.

“If you want to, noona, it’s fine with me.”

“I think it’s a good idea too. What about you, Jun-woo?”

“W-What? Me? I… If I’d like to go if I could.”

“Then come with us.”

“Ah, no! I’m sure I’ll just be a nuisance to you the whole way there…”

“Since our destination is the same, is there really a need to go separately? It’s more dangerous to be alone.”

“Yeah, Jun-woo. Let’s go together.”

Come to think of it, at some point, she had started calling him by his name in a friendly manner.

When did those two become so close?

“By the way, Ms. Ga-eun, when did you two become so close?”

“We talked a bit earlier, and we connected better than I expected.”

“Hmm, I see. I’m a little jealous that you’ve already gotten close enough to speak casually.”*

“Oh, it just happened when we talked about our ages… I’m older, so it became natural.”

Come to think of it, I didn’t ask her age when we first met and introduced ourselves. Given the situation at the time, we only shared our names. Since we’d be together until the ending anyway, it might be good to get to know each other better, including our ages.

“It’s true we only know each other’s names. I’m 21 years old. How about you, Ms. Ga-eun?”

“I’m 25 years old.”

Wow, she was older than I thought. I think it was vaguely mentioned in the game that she was in her early to mid-20s.

“Since I’m younger, feel free to talk to me casually. Oh, you can talk casually to him too. He’s 20 years old.”

“Oh, really? You’re the youngest among us.”

“Like I said, just talk to us casually. By the way, if Do-yoon is the youngest, how old are you, Jun-woo?”

“Ah, I’m also 21 years old.”

“Really? Then let’s talk casually. We’re the same age.”

That was unexpected. I didn’t know he was the same age as me…

Since the game’s story revolved around the protagonist, I only knew Do-yoon’s age. I didn’t know the exact ages of the other two. I only knew they were older than Do-yoon, but hearing their specific ages gave me a sense of realism again.

Indeed, in Korea, it was the same whether in games or reality—people started by asking each other’s ages and establishing a hierarchy.

“So, you’ll come to the shelter with us, right?”

“Yes… I’d like to go with you if you’re all okay with it.”

“Of course, it’s okay. Do-yoon, it’s okay with you too, right?”

He didn’t have a choice. He just had to say yes. Knowing that, he obediently nodded without saying much.

***

Time passed by quickly as we continued to chat and share stories. I didn’t intend to become this close, but somehow it became like this. Indeed, there was nothing better than gossiping about others to get close to someone.

“I had a professor like that too. Luckily, it was a general education class. If it had been my major, I might have seriously considered getting a criminal record.”

“Ah, really? On the days we had that class, I was so annoyed from the morning that I considered skipping it every time. Once, I skipped the class with my friends and had a drink during the day because I didn’t want to listen to the professor.”

“In my first year, I often skipped classes and went out drinking with friends. Then, a bunch of seniors came and bullied us while drinking, so I had a big realization.”

“As expected, the arts and physical education departments are a bit scary. There are still more remnants of that behavior compared to other departments, right?”

“That’s true. But seniors like that are pretty rare these days.”

While we were laughing and chatting, I suddenly noticed that he was sitting quietly and not participating in the conversation.

Oh no. Come to think of it, he hadn’t even had his university entrance results announced yet. He couldn’t join in this kind of university life conversation. Realizing that I had been excluding him, I spoke to him.

“You haven’t had your university entrance announcement yet, right?”

“Yes.”

“That means you did all your work on time. I think regular admission is better than early admission. Instead of managing your grades for three years, it’s more comfortable to study hard and pour everything out on the day of CSAT.”

I tried to find a common topic to include him in the conversation.

“How was your CSAT? Did you do well?”

“It was just okay.”

“What major did you apply for?”

But what major did he really apply for? I suddenly got curious.

What would be a good fit for him? Liberal arts? Science? Surprisingly, it could even be arts or physical education.

“I applied for the Department Of Veterinary Medicine.”

“…Huh? What did you say?”

For a moment, I thought I had misheard and asked again. The answer was the same.

“The Department Of Veterinary Medicine…?”

“Yes, why? Is it strange?”

“Ah, no. It’s not that… It’s just that I didn’t expect it at all.”

What do you mean he was… Medical! Ah, but is a veterinarian also considered a doctor? No, a veterinarian is a doctor, so I guess it counts. Whether treating humans or animals, saving lives is the same. But still, it was really unexpected. It seemed that the others felt the same way, as they suddenly became quiet.

“You must have studied well…”

I felt a bit bitter for some reason.

“I was just average.”

“What about your CSAT grades…?”

“I got one question wrong in Korean and one in Math, and the rest…”

“Okay, I get it. Yeah…”

With those scores, you could probably get into medical school, right? Was he even human?

For a moment, I felt a distance from him. It was a distance that I could never reach even despite my efforts.

“….”

“….”

Since then, there was silence. It was supposed to be a conversation to lift the mood and find a common topic for him to participate in, but at some point, my mouth felt dry, and I couldn’t continue the conversation.

In the game, he wasn’t like this… Why does this feel like a betrayal? I feel betrayed. The you I know was definitely not like this!

“Ah, come to think of it…”

Suddenly, I remembered the shadow animals he created with his skill. When I first asked him to try out his ability, he made animals. Thinking about it, I remembered that even outside of combat situations, he used his ability unnecessarily every day, creating animals and taking them around with him. Was the reason he did that because he liked animals and was aiming for the veterinary medicine department? Thinking about it that way gave me goosebumps. The game devs were so meticulous.

“Why are you looking at me like that? Does it not fit me? Is it weird?”

“No, you fit it very well. You’re an amazing person, by the way.”

“Huh?”

“No… It’s nothing. You’re just cool.”

---

*Speak casually = speak without honorifics. After this chapter, I will no longer be using Ms/Mr for the characters’ names since they’ve decided to speak to each other with familiarity

The reason they’re all so shocked and in silence over Do-yoon’s major is because getting into med school is notoriously hard in Korea, nearly impossible if you’re aiming for Big universities. From what Do-yoon says, he scored great in his CSAT (the common college entrance test there) too, so if the world has been normal, he would’ve probably gotten into the top medical universities, so they now feel like he’s on a completely different level than him and feel a bit self-conscious, lol. In comparison, the others are all in majors that are considered relatively easy to get into (physical education, liberal arts, Psychology.)

I get them, i get the same feeling when looking at my cousins sometimes lol