Chapter 579
Yoo Yeonji's hand, which was holding the phone and shining the light, trembled violently.
“Huh?”
But it was already too late.
Resident Kang Hyeonwoo, at the very back, heard something behind him.
...
His mouth fell open in horror.
But by the time he realized it, it was already too late.
“Aaagh!”
A chilling sensation around his ankle.
The cold, damp hand of an infected grabbed onto his body.
The sudden scream terrified the VIP ward nurse directly in front of him.
“Kyaah! Kyaah!”
It was already too late for Kang Hyeonwoo.
His ankle was being torn apart.
The camera zoomed in on his face.
Fear.
Pain.
And faintly visible—
“Ah, fuck...!”
Regret.
A perfectly natural emotion for a human.
An unglorified death.
Seeing his raw, unfiltered side only made viewers accept the situation as reality even more.
-TT__TT
-Ah holy shit
-They're sending Hyeonwoo off like this?
-Watching him regret it hurts... I feel like I'd be the same T_T
The others didn't need to see what had happened behind them.
Kang Hyeonwoo's screams were too desperate.
“Don't go, don't go...!”
Kang Hyeonwoo sobbed and shouted.
“Save me!”
Only one person answered his cries.
“Ah, let go! Let go, you bastard!”
It was the VIP ward nurse whose clothes Kang Hyeonwoo had grabbed with desperate gestures.
His grip on her ankle only tightened.
He refused to let go no matter how much she kicked, even after his shoes and socks were coming off.
“Tch!”
She pulled out a phone from her pocket.
-???
-Holy shit
-She said she didn't have one
-What the hell
Being the only survivor from the VIP ward meant one thing.
She had used everyone except herself as shields.
“Aaaaaah!”
She turned on music and threw the phone toward Kang Hyeonwoo.
So the infected would stay where the sound was.
So only Kang Hyeonwoo would become prey.
The VIP ward nurse kicked him once more.
Then she crawled away.
The screen composition changed repeatedly.
The survivors crawled forward through the tunnel like a centipede, while Kang Hyeonwoo's lone hand flailed helplessly among the infected.
* * *
“Climb! Climb!”
Even after seeing Kang Hyeonwoo's fate, Yoo Yeonji remained at the rear and sent everyone upward.
Those climbing the ladder were desperate.
But they had spent so much time crawling on all fours that their muscles had stiffened.
“Hurry up! Damn it!”
“Ah, ugh...”
The security chief's legs cramped violently.
Grinding his teeth, he dripped cold sweat.
There was no time.
At the very bottom, Yoo Yeonji hadn't even managed to climb a single rung.
-TT__TT
-Yeonji hurry
-Please, just let Yeonji live
-Don't touch Yeonji. Yeonji is our love.
-T_T I'm going insane
The death of Resident Kang Hyeonwoo, who had been at the very end, could easily have been Yoo Yeonji's death, since she had been at the front.
The viewers were even more nervous because of that.
Just as Yoo Yeonji finally climbed onto the ladder, the scene changed.
The seventeenth-floor staff cafeteria.
The fire still hadn't gone out.
The leaking gas continued making soft sounds.
By now, Yeonji had climbed four rungs.
The security chief at the front had climbed surprisingly high.
Almost an entire floor.
Like Yeonji earlier, he held a phone flashlight in his mouth.
The seventeenth-floor staff cafeteria.
An infected bumped into another and stumbled.
Yeonji had climbed quite high too.
Hyeonmok's condition worsened further, cold sweat pouring down him like rain.
Behind him, his father quietly comforted him.
The soldier had been biting his lips and crying for some time.
Apparently, he was thinking about his fallen comrade.
Kang Hyeonwoo's pleas for help sounded too much like him.
The seventeenth-floor staff cafeteria.
An infected stretched out its hand to get back up.
Grasping for anything.
By now, Yeonji had climbed an entire floor.
Sweat constantly soaked her palms, forcing her to stop and catch her breath.
Then—
“...Faster. Climb faster.”
As she paused to breathe and looked down, terror colored Yoo Yeonji's voice.
Everyone stopped.
As if rehearsed, they all looked below.
“...Eek!”
“H-He came out! He came out!”
Resident Kang Hyeonwoo—
Now infected—
Wandered near the ladder.
The infected crawling inside the vents were with him.
Everyone who saw it fell silent.
Their eyes widened as they climbed upward faster.
Faster.
Faster.
The seventeenth-floor staff cafeteria.
Hiss—
The sound of gas leaking grew louder.
One mindless infected accidentally touched something.
The surrounding air turned red in an instant.
BOOM!!!
-TT___TT
-Holy shit
-It really happened...
-TT_TT Please stop already
A massive explosion rang out.
Flames shot upward.
A violent shockwave erupted.
“...Ah...”
The ladder above them—
The one that had been there moments ago—
Was gone.
A section nearly two meters long.
...
And—
-Fuck, the father
-Ahhhh TT____TT
-Hyeonmok's dad, please...
The people above it were gone too.
“...Dad!”
Through her ringing ears, Yoo Yeonji heard Hyeonmok's pitiful cry.
The explosion had severed the upper part of the ladder.
On the floor below lay Hyeonmok's father, his lower body mangled.
Nearby floated the soldier's legs, his upper body completely gone.
The infected greedily chewed on the corpses.
The horrific sight brought viewers to tears.
-I enrolled in Seoul Metropolitan City University and entered my era of insanity
-😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 Please stop
-Seomun Ihwa has really gone insane...
-Poor Hyeonmok TT_TT
-Thank God, Yeonji survived T_T
“Hey.”
At that moment, Hyeonmok, who was directly above his father, nearly lost his balance.
“Pull yourself together.”
Myeong Jeha grabbed him.
Though his voice was cold, his grip tightened around the child.
Afraid the crying boy might fall, he pulled him up forcefully and hoisted him above himself with one arm.
“Grab it.”
“Hic... Dad...”
“Cry later. Grab it. Hurry up.”
Urged by Myeong Jeha, Hyeonmok slowly climbed, his trembling hands gripping the ladder.
Myeong Jeha looked down.
Once at the broken ladder.
Then at the three people below.
In order—
On Jihwa.
The soldier.
And Yoo Yeonji.
“Hah...”
Sighing, Myeong Jeha reached down.
His bony hand couldn't reach On Jihwa.
-Guys, Kangil and Jihwa, let's go
-Ah fuck, why is this so good?
-These characters never even talked, but they fit together so well
-TT__TT Huijae TT_TT
-GiYeon Never Die...
Watching 〈Seoul Metropolitan City〉 live, Shim Juhwan held his forehead.
“Ah! I'm going crazy!”
He hit his forehead so hard his palm made a loud smack, but he didn't feel pain at all.
Just seeing Myeong Jeha and Han Yeoreum together drove people insane.
...
Fortunately, the gap in the ladder was only around two meters.
A little higher and they'd make it.
On Jihwa removed the hard case hanging from her shoulder and raised it upward.
Myeong Jeha grabbed one end of the shoulder strap attached to the case.
On Jihwa held the other end.
With one hand, Myeong Jeha lifted her.
On Jihwa barely caught the edge of the ladder, and he grabbed her forearm and hauled her up.
The ladder level was too narrow for two people side by side.
Almost half-embracing her, Myeong Jeha pushed On Jihwa upward.
“Waaaaaaah!”
Shim Juhwan screamed.
“Ah, please! Just up to there! Just that far!”
“Crazy... you dumb bastard.”
The soldier below shouted urgently, afraid they would abandon him.
Myeong Jeha lowered the hard case again and had him grab the strap.
Supporting the entire weight of a grown man with one arm, he pulled him up.
“Hot! Hot, fuck.”
The broken ladder was still scorching from the explosion.
After making a huge fuss, the man climbed up without even thanking Myeong Jeha.
“Next.”
The hand gripping the hard case strap was scraped red in a straight line, blood seeping through.
The arm lifting Yoo Yeonji trembled slightly.
“Thank you...”
“Just hurry and climb.”
The two-star general shouted from above.
“The eighteenth floor is a dead end!”
Meaning they still had to climb three more floors after this ladder.
* * *
The end was approaching.
Thanks to the ladder, sacrificing one phone per floor, they finally reached the rooftop.
“Ah... a lock...”
But one last obstacle remained.
The rooftop door wouldn't open.
“Anyone got something to break it with? We need to break it fast.”
“We can't afford to make noise for too long...”
“They'll definitely come while we're breaking it.”
Now they had to decide.
“How many people will break the lock, and how many will stay below and hold them back?”
The VIP ward nurse's face turned pale.
“I'll do the lock. Me.”
“Lady. Stop your bullshit. We saved you, and earlier you lied about not having a phone.”
The very phone that had caused Kang Hyeonwoo's death.
She had already lied once.
“The battery was under five percent! I didn't know when it'd die, so I said I didn't have one! A-And I threw the phone, that's why they stopped coming! If I hadn't, more people would've died!”
She grabbed Yoo Yeonji and pleaded.
“You know me, right? Right? I'm not that kind of person.”
“You’re hurting me...”
“Say something! Aren't you a national athlete? Right! We've got soldiers, young men, and athletes here. We can do it like that. Perfect.”
Everyone's eyes filled with anger at her shameless insistence on staying above.
“The nurse and the pilot stay upstairs. And the child. Everyone else goes down. I'll go too.”
The two-star general spoke firmly.
The VIP ward nurse exploded.
“Who decided that?! Why do you get to decide?! I'm a nurse too! I can take care of the kid!”
“Lady.”
The soldier grabbed her collar.
“Want me to throw you down the stairs before you get bitten?”
No one stopped him.
Kim Kangil also stood off to the side, his head turned away.
Feeling outnumbered, the VIP ward nurse forced a smile.
“Please... I don't have any strength anyway. I'm useless...”
“That's your problem. Shut up and get downstairs.”
“T-Then I'll go with him!”
The VIP ward nurse desperately wanted to go with Kim Kangil.
But the soldier was faster.
“You two go together.”
His sharp gaze pointed toward the fifty-something security chief.
The look in his eyes clearly asked whether she wanted to be beaten to death before being bitten.
“No! On Jihwa! Go with me!”
On Jihwa, who had just removed her hard case and drawn her bow, didn't answer.
“Two women alone would be dangerous. I'll go with her. On Jihwa should go with the security chief.”
Kim Kangil and the soldier.
The VIP ward nurse and the two-star general.
The security chief and On Jihwa.
The three groups would each block different doors.
-Wow, finally
-TT___TT
-Let's go, let's go
-Jihwa's archery scene is coming!
-I'm so excited TT_TT
-Please don't die, guys
“First we'll activate the sprinklers, then slow them down with stun guns.”
The two-star general remembered the earlier sprinkler incident and directed the operation.
Using a lighter, he set the security chief's hat on fire.
Smoke reached the ceiling.
Beep—
Along with the warning sound, water burst from the sprinklers.
The hospital corridors flooded.
“Start!”
At the two-star general's shout—
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The pilot swung a fire extinguisher, smashing at the lock.
Hearing the noise, the infected charged toward them like mad.