Mental Caretaker In An Apolcalypse Game

Episode 56

As the atmosphere became weird after the shocking revelation, I stood up from my seat.

“Come to think of it, we haven’t checked all the theaters yet, right? There’s one left.”

“Ah, that’s right. There’s one left.”

“Let’s go check that one out too.”

“One left?”

“Ah, Jun-woo, you don’t know. We were looking around because we had something to check. That’s also how we found you. Anyway, there’s still one place we haven’t checked.”

“Oh….”

When the theater was mentioned, his expression darkened. Maybe because it reminded him of being trapped there.

“You stay here and rest. We’ll go and check it out.”

“No, I’ll come with you. I can’t just rest here.”

However, despite what he said, his expression didn’t look good. It was obvious that he was forcing himself to keep up with us.

Due to his personality and low self-esteem, he was probably used to being excessively considerate of others and trying to fit in. He seemed to be deliberately trying to follow us. There was no need for that. Even if he pretended to be okay on the outside, it was clear that the mental trauma he must have experienced while trapped there was severe.

In times like this, it was better to be with someone rather than alone… Should two of us go to the screening room and leave one person here with him?

In that case, the most ideal scenario would be for Do-yoon and Seo Ga-eun to go, and for me and him to stay. I don’t have any combat abilities, so even if I went, I wouldn’t be much help. So it would be better if I stayed.

But what worried me a bit was the fact that they didn’t know about the main zombie. I couldn’t fight, but I knew a lot about that guy. If I went with them, I could subtly point out its weaknesses and help. Hmm… What should I do? But even without me, those two could probably handle it…

After much contemplation, I came to a conclusion and said to them:

“Then, do you want to stay here with me? Do-yoon, can you go with Ga-eun? I can’t fight well since I’m hurt anyway. I won’t be much help even if I go. I’ll wait here with Jun-woo, so you two go ahead. Is that okay, Unnie?”

“Yes. It’s better for someone to be with Jun-woo since he’s still confused. We’ll go and check. It’s probably similar to the other rooms anyway.”

“Even so, don’t let your guard down. You can’t tell what will happen in the future.”

No matter how many times I told them to be careful, I couldn’t shake off my anxiety.

Maybe it would be better if I went with them? I could just ask him to stay alone for a while. It was still the main zombie we were talking about, so sending just the two of them felt a bit… But with my wrist in this state, I couldn’t fight even if I went with them…

My stomach kept turning because I was worried about what might happen. What if, like in the hospital, the main zombie had changed into something different from what I originally knew? There could be many other changes from the game.

“Then we’ll go and check. Take a rest.”

“I’ll be right back, Noona”

As I watched their backs, I finally couldn’t hold back and grabbed him.

“Wait, come here for a moment.”

I took him and stepped away from the others so they couldn’t hear us and finally shared the words I had been holding back.

“As soon as you go in, tear the screen. You have to tear the screen first.”

“The screen? Okay.”

“And don’t deal with the other zombies. Go to the projection room as quickly as possible and destroy the machine. After that, it will be easy. But breaking the machine will be difficult.”

“Okay.”

“Don’t get hurt. No, it’s okay if you do get hurt. I can heal you. But make sure to come back alive.”

I told him everything I could think of because I was anxious. He didn’t ask any questions and just nodded gently. Then, he reassured me by stroking my head and telling me not to worry too much. After sending him and her to face the main zombie, I returned to my seat and sat down.

“You should have gone with them — you seem worried. I can really stay here alone. It’s only for a short time, right?”

“It’s okay. Even if I went, I would just be a burden.”

“…You said you were injured. Are you badly hurt?”

“It’s not serious, but I can’t use one wrist too well for a while.”

I rolled up my left sleeve to show my bandaged wrist. It looked better than yesterday, but if I removed this bandage, it was clear it would be bruised black and blue.

“That’s pretty bad, isn’t it? It must hurt a lot… How did you get injured?”

“I was fighting a zombie. That guy was a tough one, so it was hard to kill it.”

“Weren’t you scared?”

“Of course I was scared. But what can I do? If I didn’t, I would have died.”

That’s right. If we didn’t kill that guy, I wouldn’t be able to go home, and if that happened, I would have to keep living in this terrible world. It was clear that I would die if I stayed here.

“How is it to fight zombies?”

“How it is? What do you mean?”

“I think it’s amazing. Fighting with your life on the line. I’m afraid I can’t do it because of my fears.”

“At first, I couldn’t do it either. But to survive. To protect myself, I had no choice but to move, and it became easier once I started. The first time is the hardest.”

“Do-yoon, was it?”

“Yeah. What about him?”

“Are you dating him?”

“…What?”

I don’t understand why he suddenly brought him up while we were talking about zombies. And dating?

“No, absolutely not. Why are you asking that all of a sudden?”

“You two seem close.”

“Ah, that’s because… he was the first person I met. I met him at that school.”

“School… So, you’ve been close since childhood?”

“No, that’s not it… I met him just a few days ago. I ran into a nearby building while escaping from the zombies, and that building was a school, where we met.”

“Still, you two seem close.”

“Well, we’ve been through several life-threatening situations together at this point, so we have no choice but to be close.”

Moreover, he spent more time with me than anyone else, so he probably felt closer to me.

“I heard you met Ga-eun at the supermarket.”

“Yeah. We went to a supermarket nearby for food, and we ended up meeting and sticking together.”

“You have good social skills, huh?”

Social skills? Me?

That was a new one. I’d heard plenty of times that I was shy, so I never imagined someone would say I had good social skills.

“No way. I’m really shy.”

“You don’t seem shy with me, though? And Ga-eun said you were the one who approached her first.”

“Ah, that’s because…”

That’s because you guys are game characters, after all. But I couldn’t say that out loud. Hmm… What should I say?

Since I couldn’t tell the truth, I needed a plausible lie, but nothing came to mind.

“I envy you.”

“Huh?”

“It’s nothing. By the way…”

While I was racking my brain for how to respond, he said something I didn’t catch properly. So I asked him again, but he brushed it off as nothing and changed the subject. I felt a bit uneasy about it, but I decided to let it go for now.

***

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「Congratulations. You have cleared Stage 4: The Movie Theater.」

 

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Finally, the long-awaited message appeared before my eyes, and I could breathe a sigh of relief at last. Even while talking to him, I had been worried about them on the inside, and my mind was in turmoil. I was thinking that if the clear message didn’t appear soon, I would have to go check on them myself. Fortunately, the clear message appeared before I got up, and my anxiety disappeared. Now I hoped they didn’t get hurt too much.

“Ji-ah?”

“Huh… What? Sorry, I was thinking about something. What did you say?”

“It’s nothing.”

The atmosphere had been quite good until just now, but it suddenly dropped, so I wondered if I had done something wrong. I looked at him, but he was looking the other way. Just as I was about to speak, I saw them coming back from the direction he was looking at. Relieved to see they were okay, I stood up from my seat.

“It took you a while. What happened?”

“Well, that theater wasn’t like the others. When we went in, there were no zombies at all. But the movie kept playing, and suddenly a monster appeared from the screen.”

So far, it was the same as what I knew.

“Then what happened?”

“So, we fought those things for a while. Do-yoon tried to go into the projection room to destroy the machine, but a strange zombie appeared and blocked the way… So, it took us some time.”

“I see. But I’m glad you don’t seem to be hurt. But just in case, let me heal you. Give me your hand.”

“I’m fine, go check on Do-yoon instead. I think he got hurt.”

“What? He’s hurt?!”

At those words, I quickly turned my head to check on him. I saw a faint trace of blood on the corner of his mouth. My eyes widened immediately at the sight, alarmed, and I rushed over to him. I questioned him about what had happened.

“Unnie said you were hurt. Where are you hurt? There’s blood on your mouth. You didn’t vomit blood, did you?”

“Not exactly… But if I did, would you kiss me?”

“What? Why are you saying that all of a sudden?”

“If I vomited blood, it would mean internal injuries. Then you wouldn’t be able to touch the wound, so I feel like you’d have to kiss my mouth…”

“Enough. I guess you’re fine seeing that you’re saying all that.”

Not wanting to hear any more, I covered his mouth with my hand. I thought it would be quiet for a while after that, but he started his nonsense again after a moment and I couldn’t help but sigh.

At that moment, a ticklish sensation on my palm made me quickly remove my hand from his mouth.

“Eek! What are you doing! Why did you lick my hand!”

“I thought I’d do this since you didn’t give me a kiss.”

Wow, this bastard.

My mouth was left hanging because I was simply speechless. Seeing my reaction, he chuckled and took my hand. He opened my fist and placed something in my palm, then closed my hand into a fist again.

“Here, I’ll give you this. You need it, right?”

“What did you give me now…”

Wondering what it was, I opened my hand and saw a shiny orange gem.

Huh?

“You have the others besides this one, right, noona?”

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