Episode 66
The rhythmic jolts made me nauseous. When I forced my heavy eyelids open because it felt like I was carsick, I was met with the blur of a cityscape whipping past and the murmur of voices around me.
“…?”
I stared blankly at the scenery in front of my eyes for a moment until clarity seeped back enough for me to question the situation.
Where… am I?
My last memory was clearly being underwater—pulled into a raging current after the victory notification, then blacking out. If the sealed gate of the aquarium had opened, draining the water, I should’ve woken on cold concrete. But this…?
I removed my gaze from the window and looked the other way. Do-yoon was sleeping soundly beside me. Then, as I looked further back, I found Ga-eun and Jun-woo unconscious across each other in the seats.
…A bus?
A sightseeing bus, judging by the half-opened windows and curtains that fluttered due to the shaking of the bus. When I looked more closely, the plush seats were made of what seemed to be pretty good material, unlike ordinary buses, and each seat had a safety seat-belt — When did I buckle this seat belt again?
After staring at the belt around my waist, I looked up to take a look around. Just then, the bus jolted to a halt with a metallic sound as if it had hit something. Then, the previously noisy inside of the bus fell silent.
“Driver. What happened?”
I heard someone getting up from their seat. They seemed to be heading toward the front.
“I struck them. They were intimidating the lambs.”
“You’ve done well. Thanks to your actions, they’ve been given salvation, and those ones will now receive new lives.”
“I simply engraved the Lord’s teachings in my heart and followed the doctrine.”
A question mark popped up in my mind. What were they talking about? I couldn’t understand, so I just kept blinking.. Salvation? Lambs? Doctrine? I wondered if they were religious, but something felt off.
Meanwhile, the cabin grew noisy again. Some stepped outside, while those remaining bustled about preparing something. I sensed someone approaching us.
I didn’t know what was happening, but figured it would be best to observe the situation for longer, so I closed my eyes and pretended to still be asleep.
“The lambs should be seated here.”
“But are they still unconscious?”
At that moment, I felt a presence inches away. I kept my eyes closed, waiting for them to leave. Soon, the presence faded. Relieved, I sighed inwardly and continued to eavesdrop.
“It seems no one’s awake yet.”
“Really? Good. We’ve got a long way to go—no need for disruptions.”
Disruptions…? These people were definitely shady.
Once they’d moved away completely, I cautiously opened my eyes. To figure out what was happening, I pressed against the window to peer outside.
But the commotion was at the front of the bus, and I was stuck in the back. From this angle, I could only catch glimpses of people moving about.
…What do I do? I don’t even know where this bus is headed. What if it’s taking us somewhere dangerous? The game never had an event like this.
Anxiety parched my throat. My eyes darted restlessly.
Should I wake up Do-yoon? With his abilities, we could handle these creeps easily…
I glanced at him, who was still dead asleep beside me. Carefully, I raised my hand to his shoulder. Afraid he might jolt awake loudly, I shook him gently to wake him up, but just then, the bus erupted with noise.
“Thank you so much. I almost died back there.”
“Who could abandon a lamb in need? Especially in times like these.”
“Is the injured one alright? We’ll treat them inside.”
“Sob… Thank you. I thought I was done for…”
“Please come this way. We have seats for you.”
With that, multiple footsteps approached where we were.
“You can sit here.”
“What about the ones in the back…?”
“They’re people we helped as well. We found them collapsed and brought them along. They’d have been harmed if left behind.”
They “found” us unconscious and brought us? Why? For all they know, one of us could’ve been bitten! Were they simply naïve—or up to something?
I eavesdropped on their stories, trying to piece together information to find out who these people were, or their motives. Only when they returned to their seats and the bus began moving did I dare open my eyes again.
After hearing them, they did sound kind, but…
Just as I wondered if I’d misjudged them, Do-yoon stirred awake beside me.
Panicking, I pressed a finger to my lips.
Shh. Stay quiet.
When he saw me mouthing that silently, he seemed to catch on and nodded.
“We’re so lucky we met such good people,” someone said.
“Yeah. Never thought people like this still existed,” someone added.
Unaware of what was going on, Do-yoon tilted his head to listen to the voices in front of him. I grabbed his hand, palm up. He then interlocked our fingers. Annoyed, I flicked his hand until he relented, splaying his palm obediently.
As I began tracing words in his palm to convey my message to him, he flinched as if ticklish.
「Something’s off. I think we’ve been “rescued” by questionable people.」
I paused mid-stroke on his palm at the word rescued. Whether this was salvation or abduction remained unclear, but for now I chose optimism.
Seeing that he was just blinking as if not comprehending what I was saying, I added more, though I didn’t know much myself, to be honest.
「There’s definitely something unsettling about this to me.」
After hearing me out, he replied in agreement like this.
「Agreed.」
「What now?」
His support of my thoughts steadied me, so I wrote that on his palm in a more relaxed touch. But he seemed to be agonizing over something. I knew what it was, because I was too. The crux: if these were cultists with ulterior motives, we needed to get off right here. Of course, in such a situation, it wouldn’t be easy to get off, but his abilities could handle it. But what if they really were just good samaritans trying to help us? Then it would be disrespectful to force our way out.
But if being polite means risking danger, it’s better to be rude and get off here…
The odds of this bus heading to Stage 6 were near zero anyway. More likely, it was taking us further from the next stage. That would be a disaster for my plan to clear all stages—it was best to bail now.
“…?”
Just as I resolved to tell him that, the bus halted—this time smoothly, like reaching a destination. Up front, passengers began rising from their seats, confirming my suspicion.
“Driver, thank you for today.”
“Just doing my duty.”
What was this? Why was everyone getting off?
Outside the window lay a desolate area: a building that looked like an abandoned factory and another intact building that looked too fine for such a deserted area.
Where the hell were we?
“Oh, you’re awake! Good, I was about to wake you—we’ve arrived.”
I was distracted by the scenery outside and missed her approaching me. The woman who met my eyes smiled gently. You shouldn’t judge people by their appearance, but her smile seemed so harmless that my alertness softened a little involuntarily—that is, until others rescued like us asked:
“Where are we?”
“Our sanctuary. Now, let me show you inside—follow me.”
Then, the others followed unquestioningly, making me wonder if they’d been given more information from the woman. Do-yoon and I, however, stayed rooted to our seats.
“Why are we here? Who are you?”
“Ah! Goodness me, I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Cheonjiin.”
Then, they got out of their seats and got off the bus without any doubt, wondering if they had already heard anything from the woman. However, Do-yoon and I sat there without making a fuss.
“Why are we here? Who are you?”
“Oh, my. I didn’t introduce myself. I’m Cheonjiin.”
“….”
Cheonjiin? There wasn’t a character by that name in the game.
Or maybe it was a minor one I forgot?
I combed through memories of even background extras, desperate to place the woman.
“You must’ve been startled by waking up here all of a sudden. I understand completely how you feel. I don’t know what hell you’ve been through out there, but when we found you, you were in terrible shape, so we moved you inside. Letting you stay there would’ve meant letting them take you.”
“Them?”
“They—they who appeared suddenly—falling from the sky as if they were fallen angels. Preying on lambs, destroying the order of this world.”
So she meant zombies. Why the theatrical way of speaking?
“My apologies—we’ve kept you in such a state while you’re still recovering. Shall we head inside? We dried you off as best we could, but the cold’s biting, so if you stay like this, we’ll catch a chill out here.”
Now that she mentioned it, my clothes clung damply to my skin. After the underwater chaos, being soaked was inevitable. But since we weren’t wet enough to bother me enough to pay it attention earlier, they’d likely dried us off with a towel when moving us to the bus.
“Thank you for your help, but we’ve imposed enough. We’ll get going now.”
I recoiled at the thought of entering that building. Absolutely not. Pure kindness in this hellscape? The last “rescuers” at the supermarket had cured me of trust. I was terribly reluctant to follow that woman.
“But night’s falling—it’s already sunset. And those companions of yours—if I’m correct, they don’t seem to be doing too well, seeing that they still haven’t woken up yet. Stay here tonight.”
She wasn’t wrong, but…
I shot a glance at the figure beside me. With him here, one night was manageable, right? Suspicious? Yes, but they were just humans—not zombies. Even if things turned dangerous, he’d be able to easily handle it..
“…Then we’ll be indebted to you for just this night.”
“Wise choice. Now, let’s get you inside—you must be freezing. Everyone’s waiting.”
If I’m correct, the name “Cheonjiin” (천지인) is derived from the Sino-Korean characters 天地人, which translate to “Heaven, Earth, and Human”, so do with that information as you will
Author let these people catch a rest damn it TT
