I'm still alive

[198] (Epilogue 3 – Completed)

[Despite fierce opposition and criticism from some civic groups, the operation to enter the blockade begins a week later, right? And in District 3, which is currently preparing for the operation, there are crowds of citizens cheering for them and protesting against them. There are voices of concern from all walks of life about the world's first entry operation. At the desk today...….]

In the evening of a calm spring rain, an old TV was broadcasting the important news of the day with light noise at a shabby pork soup restaurant in a market frequented by people. And the guests sitting there enjoying the drinking party start talking about different things, using the images of District 3 on the screen as a side dish.

And between those many guests, two men, wearing black hats, had a small drinking party. They were sitting at a table in the corner of the corner and continuing something private, and at the noise of people talking loudly, their conversation was quietly buried. Then a middle-aged man who sits in the middle and puts down his soju glass, slowly shrinks his voice and whispers.

"How about, Mr. Kim......... yes, have you thought about it?”

The middle-aged man, who asked the question, quietly licked soju on his lips, expressing anxiety that he might refuse. And the man, named "Assistant Manager Kim," frowned and drank soju with a sigh. His eyes and face were filled with deep hesitation. After much thought, he asked the middle-aged man in front of him.

"Are you sure you can make a lot of money really safely? If I die or I don't get paid, can you take responsibility?"

The cause of Kim's hesitation was also in high-risk, high-liton. With a grimace on his face a week ago, he had been agonizing over his boss's offer of authority behind the company's back. And he's still not making up his mind on the secret side job that he has to do tomorrow, and he's only drinking a little bit of booze.

While he was hesitating, the calm spring rain was dripping down through the window with the big letters "gukbap," and darkness and time were slowly passing by. Feeling frustrated by his constant agony, Choi patted his chest and answered with a voice that was louder than before.

"Yes! I'd rather take care of everything! And Mr. Kim......... No, Joong-won. Give much thought to it. All the kids who go in there and do dangerous things are journalists and Chinese mercenaries. All we have to do is pack our stretchers and follow quietly.”

Two weeks before Tim Eden and armed soldiers entered the blockade, strange rumors were circulating on the Internet of unknown origin. The rumor is that Kwak Dong-yoon and Eom Jae-hyung, who everyone thought were dead, are alive.

The rumour, which had been coming down like a city legend, had swept through all the Internet communities in a short period of time, and was creating numerous taboos at this moment.

Someone who saw the chirashi felt curious, and someone else chirping in vain for attention. However, some people, who quietly watched the situation, were able to find that the sourceless rumors were quite credible. And among them, the first ones to move were journalists and mercenaries who smelled the smell of specialties and money.

The myth of Kim Chang-sik, who entered the blockade area naked and won the greatest scoop in history, is already a legend among journalists. Of course, they had to suffer more pain and pain than others knew before they got that reputation, but countless journalists who were yearning for Kim Chang-sik's drama-like story quickly began to follow the rumors, regardless of the risks.

Sweet pulp was prioritized in the shell over the hard-picking process. The fearful creatures were slowly forgotten by the desire to be super-beat when lucky, and the hard-to-earner recession began to attract people to the dangerous smell of money. And Choi, who is now enticing the young head of household, was a man of the same class.

"Jung-won! You have three children, three! Your wife, you lost your job this time, and you're in a terrible mood. How are you going to raise three kids in this recession? You know how hard it is to make lump sum money in this situation, huh? Let's trust him and go! Kids, you should send them to college!"

The voices and contents of persuasion were persuasive enough to penetrate this difficult era accurately. Prices go up, wages stay the same. There are unemployed and homeless people on the streets. In this era of mouth-watering and fortunate to live, the head of a family was eventually forced to bow his head. And Choi comforts the struggling man and fills the glass with soju.

"It's eight o'clock tomorrow morning. Keep it a secret from Jae-soo and the kids, and come out quietly. Those reporters have hired Chinese mercenaries, so don't worry too much. Okay?"

Are you sure this is okay? The stories and images of the monsters on the news were ringing in the man's head. However, Kim nodded at the hot drinks, the tight mood, and the cost of living he had to worry about starting next month. The spring rain began to fall like the day the people of Eden escaped that day. The loud voices of people talking and the high tension of Choi's laughter. That night passed by so Sinabro.

*

"Come on, here and here, here, here, here, here......... And you have to follow the line well later. If you get inside the containment area and you get a dig at it, it's really naughty, okay?

The young man who received support from the headquarters without the government's knowledge is a dirty trick. Acting like he's opening his eyes, Kim swallows a curse in his heart, and sideways glances at the arrogant reporter. And next to him, Choi kept nodding his head and making a servile look. While watching the scene, Kim secretly sighs.

Yes, to feed a foxy wife and a rabbit-like child, it's an inevitable choice. Kim was determined to turn his actions and servility into reality. And he had no choice but to bow his head like Choi to a young reporter who was holding his purse strings.

And at that moment, in front of me comes a man's husky voice.

"Really~ Really, this is the last time! I have no choice but to do it because of your brother-in-law's request, and the moment I get caught, it's all you and me. Anyway, you know, some nutcase spread such a rumor and...….”

Ten minutes before departure, a group of people who had stopped near the blockade area could reach the front of the fence with the guidance of a government official who had been recruited in advance. The official, however, sighed with a dark face as he shifted his steps to see if something was poking his conscience, even though he could not let go of the cowardice of his connections. And the faces of the crowds walking behind them didn't seem much different.

Manager Kim, who followed the pack powerlessly at the back of the line with Choi, was able to sympathize a little with why people were making such expressions. Because he himself was a member who lived through this era and witnessed the day.

The world, which had been on the verge of the end of the century, had to deal with the rising suicide rate at the same time as those who constantly crawled out of the pit. A fearful past, a hopeless future. For a group of people, what is scarier than those who bite their necks right away was the fear and despair that spread among people. And that year, Korea, where darkness fell, was no different.

A vicious public power, such as an unheard-of recession, whiplash, etc. And at the same time, soaring unemployment and suicide rates were representing the situation of people living in this era. In a society dying like an infectious disease, citizens were wandering the foggy path, unable to resist the despair and fear that began to eat them little by little.

But at that moment, it was not a religion, policy, or thought that put the brakes on the spirits falling into the abyss, but a book that appeared really starkly. Despair, tears, exuberance, and finally hope. Listening to a man's wretched diaries and testimony from those who crawled up from the abyss, the citizens raised their anger at the government and hope that had been hidden in their hearts.

They weren't special people. Nor was he a hero of great power. However, they climbed the mud of despair to the end and finally seized on the ultimate goal of life. And for that moment, neither philosophy nor religion was needed as to why people should live.

I am still alive, and the earth, which is always likely to be full of darkness, was not until my legs were broken, that I knew how to get up on my own.

Much has changed, and we have found the right milestone. And the group of people who remember reading the diary that was the beginning of it all was feeling guilty about using him to take advantage of fame and capital. But human greed and desire quickly covered up the guilt, and they did what the government and Tim Eden had asked for so much restraint.

When the civil servants stopped walking, the group that was following stopped. An iron fence and thick grass that has rusted over time. In front of a door that seemed to lead to a different world, people began to move with a little fear and hesitation.

*

The gray city, which has remained unchanged over the years, was moving the wind and silence today, with an atmosphere that seemed to be cut off from the world. But in the city, which always seemed quiet, two uninvited guests were busily crossing the middle of a two-lane road full of rusty cars.

Choi grabbed his bloody shoulder and shouted to Kim, who was playing with him.

"Jung, Joong-won!! Shit, you see?! You saw it!"

"Is that important now?! Shut up and run!!!”

At this moment when he was running out of breath, he cursed at his boss for the first time. However, Choi, who is in a panic, was running toward the front without a destination, regardless of the abusive language. The two bags had long since disappeared, and their bodies were full of small wounds.

The work was smooth until lunch. Whether Tim Eden and the soldiers worked hard so far, the number of them distributed outside the blockade area was quite small. And even that, the mercenaries hired by the press quickly handled it, and whether the Chinese mercenaries' bluff that they had killed many monsters was not a lie, we were able to do something safe throughout the journey.

They captured the scenery inside the blockade area and also photographed the ones whose appearance has changed a lot. And to find his ultimate goal, his figure, the herd diligently moves on. The smooth-running routine, the anticipation that he might hit the jackpot in search of him, the guilt and fear that he had shown at the first start had long been gone, and people's faces were only bright.

But the gray city, which had the mire of death, did not let them stand still as if they were on a picnic. a raid on a group of people resting in the grass for a while

By no means, the game of hunting, which was initiated by non-human beings, quickly tore the cameraman's head off and turned the quiet scene into an avalanche.

People's eyes had been on mercenaries. I hope that the confidence and bravado that dozens of mutants can kill them is not a lie. But the mercenaries were swept away in an instant by the strain, so ashamed of the expensive gun they were carrying. Blood and intestines spouting everywhere. People began to scream and scatter in all directions, and Choi and Assistant Manager Kim, who are now running away, were also......... was continuing the race to live.

Fucking bastards! What do you mean catch dozens of them? Even when the alarm of his life came to the tip of his nose, Kim took a pack of cigarettes from him and cursed the mercenaries who were bluffing. And around his eyes was a stream of tears of fear. The grotesque sound coming from behind was giving me goose bumps all over. At that moment, Choi screams next to him.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!! It's coming, it's coming!!!"

Already? You've already killed all those people, followed them all this way? He looked at the back in a hurry, feeling the shudder of standing on his feet. And among the buildings seen under the dark sky, something black could be found crawling as fast as a spider.

Long gray arms and legs, grotesquely breaking all over the body, had a smile torn to the ear on the head that turned 90 degrees. Kim cursed Choi, who was screaming all the way here, to shut up, but for the moment he faced him, he was screaming the same.

Hell, and in hell came the monk himself. Kim shed tears of deep regret and resentment as he watched his wife and daughters passing by like a flash of lightning. The arms and legs began to lose strength, and the bursting swelling of the lungs was now pushing the man to the limit. The heart that began to beat frantically in the face of death, he was hopeless.

"Argh!"

At that moment, Choi, who was playing next to Kim, was caught in a stone beak and fell on the floor. With a shrill scream, his body collapsed on the floor, and he struggled with painful gestures whether he had sprained his ankle or not. Choi urgently calls Kim.

"Jung, Joong-won!"

I've been working with him for ten years. Of course, he was a good man who brought himself to his extremities, but had never blushed while working with him. Kim was forced to stop running and looked at Choi, who fell on the floor. A strain and a life of alertness that has reached 100 meters away. In front of the eyes, the lantern passes, and through the lantern, all the sights are overlapped.

"Fuck it!!!"

Kim, an ordinary head of household, but unable to hide his good heart, eventually began to run toward Choi with a single word of abuse. Choi reached out like an instinct, and Kim also reached out to him. However, Kim, who was pulling up Choi, had no choice but to sit on the floor in front of the guard who was narrowing the gap in an instant.

Hm....hmhh...….

It's just around the corner.

There was a strange groan coming out of his mouth, and from Choi's trousers, yellow water with a strong smell was flowing down. And the strain, which reached them, still had a chilling smile and began to grotesquely bend their limbs. As it was like a mockery of the prey, the two men standing in front of the moment of death quietly hit each other's hands and shed tears.

"Assistant Manager Kim... ...really......... really, I'm sorry...….”

Choi apologizes to Kim. However, even at a moment when all humans were forced to be honest, Kim did not curse Choi, who shed tears. He just closed his eyes to see his daughters acting cute in front of him and his wife again.

"Making fun!!!!!!!!!

And whether the mockery for hunting and hunting had ended, the variant began to rush toward the two with a terrible cry. The two instinctively crouched and screamed, and Assistant Manager Kim said goodbye to the world with a pop.

Ping!

"Ki?"

“ .”

But what came to the two was not pain and death, but the shrill sound of something crossing the air. The mutant, who reached out his hand to kill, does not even realize what happened, spits out a suspicious one-word terminal and hits his head against the wall.

Parr.

The quiver of feathers pierces a man's ear. Assistant manager Kim didn't realize what was going on for a moment, and he gently opens his eyes with a puzzled feeling in his arms. Then, the long arrow can't penetrate the head of the strain. I could see it stuck in the wall of the building next to it. The monk, who crawled out of hell, died before a single arrow.

Beep beep.

A penetrating reason didn't last that long.

The calmness of the gray city, which came back as soon as the variant died, began to approach the man with a spring breeze, and Kim hurriedly wiped away tears and turned his eyes toward Choi. But he has long been in a state of confusion.

Assistant manager Kim felt a loss of strength all over his body. And the afterglow and Ando, which come from the joy of living, gently caresses the pounding heart. There was a quiet orange twilight hanging in the sky, not knowing when it came. Between the building and the building, a blinding light gathers quietly in my mind.

“ .”

A warm spring breeze was blowing, as someone said. Kim slowly raised his head toward the source of light and the city, wiping away the sweat and fear that had been collected by the wind. Then the scent of longing life tickling the tip of the nose passes through the city with warm winds.

And on the rooftop of the building, not far away, two men with orange backs were looking quietly at this side.

I'm still alive. complete and complete

A warm spring has come for Dongyoon. And I'm happy to finish the work in the spring.

I don't know what I was thinking when I first started. Maybe it's because of the excitement and my personal greed that I've held in my arms for a long time. But that little dream was able to go forward step by step with good readers, and now I can get the very valuable word of completion. No matter how much I think about it, all I can think about is that I was very lucky.

It's over now. Dongyoon's story is over here. Of course, I will write stories that I couldn't tell through foreign currency, but Dong-yoon will be meeting Chae-yeon and her party, whom she has missed so much, to solve her long-standing regret. The main character who was scared and weak......... We've come all the way here through all the hard times and pains.

Dong-yoon was not a hero, nor was he a hero like Superman. He was one of the ordinary people who was always sickly, constantly agonizing, and agonizing over life's purpose throughout his life. But Dong-yoon grew up because he was such an ordinary person. An unfinished pupa, but like a butterfly waiting to hatch soon.

Butterflies think that the most beautiful moment of hatching is when they burst their patience. And Dong-yoon also overcame the pain and got up again was the coolest. Although I would have been a silly character that no one wanted in this day and age, I loved the character Dong-yoon so much. And I hope that Dong-yoon's small courage will always be with the readers who have watched this work to the end.

I'd like to thank my family for supporting me and the editor for helping me complete my work during the process. And before that, I would like to thank my readers for watching me finish writing.

'When I called his name, he came to me and became a flower.’

It's a poem that I really. And it's the phrase that touched my heart when I finished my work today. I was with you from beginning to end. Don't forget that I was the one who wrote and told stories, but you were the one who walked with the work.

I'll take a break for a while, and I'll publish a series of foreign currency from the 19 I look forward to your kind cooperation.

Done, thank you for watching me till the end.