Chapter 105: A Fair Exchange
They had noticed the commotion outside earlier.
However, all they had been able to see was the glow of a large fire in the distance.
They had no idea what had actually happened and naturally did not dare act recklessly.
Now that they had obtained clear information, it felt no different from a pie falling from the sky.
Joo Joowon thought for a moment.
"Do you have any toothpaste?"
To be honest, he really had forgotten about it when he left home.
Whenever he searched for supplies, he usually prioritized important necessities first.
Things like toothpaste genuinely had not crossed his mind.
Of course, there had definitely been toothpaste among the supplies he encountered.
The problem was that none of them had been unopened.
Because of that, he had never taken any.
He was still somewhat particular about using personal hygiene products that had already belonged to someone else.
"We do, we do!" Jin Hunseok replied happily.
He did not waste any more words and immediately called for his teammates before heading downstairs.
Now that Joo Joowon had gained a certain amount of confidence in his own strength, he did not mind helping other people from time to time.
After all, it only required moving his lips a little.
Besides, the other party had a decent attitude, so there was no reason to look down on them.
Once the group left, Joo Joowon continued inspecting the other apartments where he had placed potted plants.
Somewhat unexpectedly, the success rate of these plants did not seem particularly high.
The succulents, in particular, had completely exploded, leaving pools of green liquid scattered all over the floor.
Only one cactus had survived.
However, it had not bloomed yet and still only had a flower bud.
Joo Joowon guessed that potted plants, no matter how carefully they were cared for, naturally struggled to compete with plants grown directly in the ground.
Because of that, they probably all suffered from some degree of congenital weakness.
That was likely why the failure rate was so high.
This was both good news and bad news.
Joo Joowon had not seen a single plant remain unchanged.
Every single one had either evolved successfully or failed during evolution.
In that regard, the transformation was even more complete than the process that turned humans into zombies.
After all, if humans did not become zombies, they were basically no different from before.
There was no such thing as becoming some half human, half zombie creature.
Plants, however, were different.
Thinking about it this way, then the wilderness outside...
For a very long time, humanity might end up trapped inside cities with no way of leaving.
Although Joo Joowon normally preferred staying indoors and avoiding going outside anyway, choosing not to go out and being forced not to go out were two entirely different things.
Still, in some ways, it was fortunate that he had no family members.
Otherwise, facing a situation like this would truly be despair.
Worried that the awakened plants might eventually begin cooperating with one another, Joo Joowon had deliberately avoided placing potted plants on every floor.
He had only used the eleventh floor, where he originally lived, as an experiment.
After all, there were still survivors living on the other floors.
He did not want his actions to indirectly cause innocent people to lose their lives.
After finishing his inspection of the eleventh floor, Joo Joowon waited for them to bring the toothpaste over.
Of course, it was always wise to stay cautious around other people.
Joo Joowon was also worried that they might gather others and try to surround him, so he kept his spider silk active the entire time.
After resting with his eyes closed for a short while, Joo Joowon felt the spider silk he had placed in the hallway being disturbed.
Judging from the movement, only one person had come upstairs while the others had remained behind.
Jin Hunseok walked over carrying a transparent plastic bag.
Inside were more than ten tubes of toothpaste along with quite a few toothbrushes.
None of the packaging had been opened.
"Thanks."
Joo Joowon accepted the plastic bag, casually tossed the lock opening tool over to him, and then turned around and headed upstairs.
Although it was obvious that the other party had not intended to ask for payment, Joo Joowon also had no intention of taking advantage of them for free.
More importantly, he disliked forming "connections" with other people.
Once there was familiarity, it meant more communication in the future.
Although his current impression of them was not bad, taking things any further was unnecessary.
Jin Hunseok froze for a moment.
By the time he regained his senses, Joo Joowon had already disappeared from sight, leaving him with no chance to refuse the gift.
He could only stand there holding the lock opening tool while wondering whether he should send more supplies upstairs as repayment.
But if he did send something, how could he guarantee that nobody else would take it before it reached Joo Joowon?
Even though he was already beginning to suspect that Joo Joowon’s level was much higher than he had originally imagined and that he probably had no need for such small favors, that was not how he saw the situation.
"Hyung!"
The others immediately gathered around as soon as Jin Hunseok returned.
To be honest, while Joo Joowon had been worried that they might have bad intentions, they had been just as afraid that Joo Joowon might suddenly attack them.
After all, he was carrying a crossbow.
Very few people could survive even a single bolt.
"I’m fine," Jin Hunseok said. "When you get the chance, describe his appearance to everyone who hasn’t seen him yet. If you run into him in the future, don’t start any conflicts. If we happen to set our sights on the same zombie, tell our people to avoid competing with him."
The group stared blankly for a moment.
None of them argued.
They all nodded their heads.