Chapter 45: Wave

“Something’s weird....”

Baek Sua, twenty-five years old this year, stared at Baek Hail with narrowed flatfish eyes.

Whenever she called him or their eyes met, he smiled, sure—but he kept failing to hide the anxious look of someone being chased by something.

No, actually, it was not just today that he had suddenly started acting strange.

Come to think of it, he had been kind of weird for about two years now.

After her mother died over ten years ago, he had started taking construction jobs in other regions for months at a time even though he had never really done that before.

She had not said much because he was making good money, but then he had said he took out a loan against the house he treasured so much and invested it in stocks.

Earlier this year, on the anniversary of her mother’s death, he had suddenly taken her ashes—after they had been perfectly fine where they were all that time—and said he was moving them to a different columbarium.

And a few months ago, he had suddenly had them get every vaccine imaginable, from tetanus to pneumonia to rabies.

Then there was the “family trip,” something they had never done in their lives, and the fact that today, after she had already started suspecting something before, he suddenly wanted to introduce them to his girlfriend....

All of it was weird.

Still...

The luxury resort at Sanjeong Lake in Pocheon where they had spent last night, the pool, and the open-air hot spring had been really nice.

Especially the meteor shower they had seen from the hot spring—the one supposedly scattered by fragments of an asteroid called Esik—was beautiful enough that she would remember it for the rest of her life.

Anyway, aside from that, Baek Sua found both her father and this whole situation deeply strange.

Slide.

“Oh, so you served in Pocheon too, hyung?”

“Yeah. 705 Special Commando Regiment. I was the last conscript there. It’s probably all career personnel now.”

“That’s right. I saw those 705 commando guys a few times during training. Wow, that’s seriously fate too, hyung.”

“Yeah, guess so. Anyway, nice to meet you, man.”

“Same here.”

Her idiot little brother had, of course, noticed nothing.

He was just following around a tall, well-built man who was even handsome in that pretty-boy way, calling him

hyung

like a duckling trailing after its mother.

Slide.

Baek Sua’s gaze shifted again.

That man over there talking quietly with her father, Lee Junho, who was apparently the “owner” of this pension.

If he ran the place, then he was the boss or the representative—what the hell was “owner”?

Anyway, compared with her younger brother’s pretty-boy face, this man’s face was ordinary, but his build and the feeling he gave off were kind of....

“A fighter? Or... a human weapon?”

He was intimidating.

No, maybe not intimidating exactly, since his face itself looked calm and composed.

And the expression and look in his eyes when Lee Junho had first greeted her had also been really strange.

It was hard to explain exactly, but there had been this vague sense that he seemed to feel sorry for her somehow....

“Ugh, whatever.”

Muttering under her breath, Baek Sua reached for the iced coffee sitting on the outdoor parasol table.

Then her large eyes suddenly softened.

“Ohhh, you cuties.”

The German Shepherd named Purdy, lying under the shade of the parasol, raised his head toward her and panted with what looked like a grin.

Woof! Yip!

Then the black mutt beside him got all excited and planted its front paws on her lap.

“Yes, yes. Kkamsoonie, you’re adorable too. Ohhh, you pretty little things.”

Everything here felt strange and off-putting, but she liked the two dogs they raised at this pension.

Steady and dignified, Purdy fulfilled one hundred and twenty percent of the fantasy people usually had of a “loyal big dog.”

And Kkamsoonie, a Jindo-Retriever mix, was smart, affectionate, and loved people so much that just being around her was fun.

“Sua.”

“Yes?”

At that moment Baek Hail approached with an awkward smile on his face.

“I’m heading out for a bit. Just rest here, all right?”

“She got here?”

“She’ll be at Suseo Station in forty minutes. Anyway, just wait here with Hoya for a bit. I’ll be back in two hours or so.”

“...Okay.”

Her feelings were a little unsettled, but her father was still a person, and after spending more than ten years raising and taking care of them alone, he had done more than enough.

More than anything, she knew how hard he had worked, so she actually supported his dating life wholeheartedly.

That was what family was for.

Well, except for one bastard.

“Hey, Baek Suho!”

“Huh? Why you callin’ me?”

At his sister’s call, Baek Suho, who had been happily chatting away with Junhyeok, flinched and turned his head.

“You done unpacking in the room yet?”

“I can do that later, slow and easy—”

“There you go again. You gonna forget something again like this morning and make Dad turn the car around? Go unpack first while I’m still asking nicely.”

“Ah, okay. I’ll do it right now.”

Even though he was taller and bigger, Baek Suho could not do a thing against his older sister, and he headed toward the main building.

But while sneaking glances around as he passed the parasol, he still did not forget to add one last remark.

“But noona, can’t you quit using that Seoul accent? It makes my whole body cringe—ack! Why’re you hitting me? Ow! Ow!”

After getting smacked on the back three times, Baek Suho ran off toward the main building like he was fleeing for his life.

“That little shit’s asking to die....”

Mrrr... woof!

At her feet, Kkamsoonie let out a little rumble as if telling her not to do that, then rubbed against her again, acting cute.

“Ohhh, did our Kkamsoonie get startled? Big sis is sorryyyy.”

As if she had never shown the slightest trace of violence, Baek Sua smoothed the look from between her brows and petted Kkamsoonie enthusiastically.

Then suddenly—

“Ah.”

Her eyes met Junhyeok’s.

And at the sight of him clearly trying to hold back a laugh, Baek Sua’s face turned bright red.

“K-Kkamsoonie, let’s gooo.”

Hurriedly putting her sunglasses back on and grabbing both her iced coffee and her things, Baek Sua quickly moved away.

Watching her hurry off with Kkamsoonie down the back-mountain walking trail, Junhyeok chuckled, and Junho spoke.

“So, what do you think of the kids? Talk to them much?”

“Huh? Ah, yeah. Suho seems nice. Just... exactly about that age, I guess? Likes screwing around, but what guy in his early twenties doesn’t?”

“Like you?”

“Hyung, I really wasn’t that wild. You know that....”

“A guy like that spent over five million won at a club?”

“That was... my last memory, okay.”

Junho gave his slightly downcast younger brother a calm smile.

“Who said anything? Good for you. I thought you’d go even harder. Anyway, what about Baek Sua?”

“Not sure. Didn’t really get a chance to talk to her. But Suho says she’s seriously scary. Apparently back in high school she slapped some girl trying to bully her without even blinking.”

“Really? Didn’t know that.”

At a piece of information he had not even heard from Baek Hail before the regression, Junho nodded.

“And he says she’s insanely tough and stubborn. When she was retaking the entrance exam, she only slept three or four hours a day while studying.”

“That’s good.”

It meant she worked and did what she had to do no matter the circumstances.

Then again, that was probably why she had managed to endure life in that nightmare cult before the regression.

“Hyung, so after one more person gets here, that’s everybody? Mr. Baek’s girlfriend?”

“Yeah. Choi Haneul. She’s a good person. Great personality. And she’s an incredible cook.”

“I’m looking forward to it. Honestly, I was worried we’d end up eating the same thing here every day. If it got bad enough, I was gonna download whole cooking channels before the internet went down.”

“I already did.”

“For real?”

Junhyeok stared at him, startled, and Junho smirked.

“You think I only downloaded cooking videos? I downloaded every useful video I could think of. They’re in the basement of the Bucheon house.”

Not just cooking videos, but videos on all kinds of survival-related skills had already been downloaded until a 4-terabyte SSD was completely full.

“Purdy.”

Woof!

Purdy, who had been sitting gallantly beside Junho the whole time, jerked his head up.

“Go bring back Kkamsoonie and that woman from before.”

When Junho pointed toward the walking trail, the sharp-witted Purdy shot off like lightning.

Once the dog vanished from sight, wearing the calf-sized cooling vest they had put on him for the summer, Junhyeok said,

“Still, this is seriously great. Purdy found himself a partner too.”

“Who knew we’d end up bringing in Kkamsoonie like that?”

A few months ago, on the way back to the pension after his last deal with the Volcano Group, Junho had been stopped at a light when he saw a black dog getting attacked by local strays.

That kind of thing was common in the countryside, so he had been about to ignore it, but that day Purdy—who for some reason had come along with him instead of staying at the pension—showed hostility from the passenger seat, then looked at Junho.

At the desperate look in the dog’s eyes, something Purdy had never shown even once before, Junho pulled over to the shoulder, grabbed his baton, and got out with Purdy.

As it turned out, Purdy did not even need to intervene.

The second Junho struck what looked like the pack leader once with the baton, every stray ran.

And after taking the bitten-up Kkamsoonie to the animal hospital, things had eventually led to where they were now.

Though she was not as perceptive as Purdy, Kkamsoonie was still quick-witted and smart, just like a Jindo-Retriever mix should be, and she surpassed him when it came to energy and affection. She followed Purdy around like glue.

And Purdy seemed to like Kkamsoonie too, acting every bit like a senior and teaching her various things.

“All right. Before Haneul gets here, let’s do one last check. You take the warehouses, greenhouse, and chicken coop. I’ll inspect the whole main building.”

“Roger that.”

Junhyeok, whose mouth had been stuck in military mode ever since training at Redrock, headed toward the warehouses, and Junho headed for the main building.

About twenty hours left now?

Starting around 7:00 tomorrow morning, the road to the end of the world would open.

So Junho had gone back and forth several times over whether he should tell the truth—or at least hint at it—to the people in their shelter a day in advance.

And today, he had decided.

No matter how he thought about it, it seemed right to let the people in their shelter spend their last peaceful hours in peace.

And truths too difficult to bear were probably better revealed when the people hearing them could witness them for themselves.

“Hoo....”

Feeling both a small anxiety and a strange excitement at once,

Junho looked over their shelter, the place he had built with every effort he could make over the last three years.

Somehow, the anxiety eased a little.

***

[Real Time Zombie Attack!?] Viral Stream Ends in Screams / St Lucia, Brisbane

“You see that? That’s my neighbor Blake. Guess that feral asshole pulled another all-nighter.”

With the cameraman’s irritated voice, the phone camera zoomed in.

A man in shorts and a T-shirt stood there barefoot, his hair sticking up in every direction.

The dazed man dropped to his knees like he was about to puke, then suddenly began thrashing around, bending his limbs at grotesque angles.

“Seriously annoying as hell. Guess he went on another drugs-and-booze bender last night. Dude’s built diff. Swear to God, that MF’s insane.”

Just then, a young woman out jogging along the sidewalk came near the man, whose whole body was jerking.

In an instant, he lunged at her and knocked her down.

And then—

“Holy shit! Did he just bite her? He really bit her? What the fuck!”

Blood sprayed everywhere, and the young woman whose neck had been bitten writhed soundlessly, unable even to scream.

“No, no, no. This is fake, right? A prank? Is he on meth again or some shit?”

The cameraman’s voice shook with shock and confusion.

The man bit, tore, and chewed at the woman’s neck, and the woman’s flailing arms gradually went stiff.

Then the man slowly turned his head.

Eyes gleaming gray-white with no visible pupils, face completely drenched in blood.

His eyes, chewing on a strip of flesh hanging from his mouth, locked directly onto the camera.

And then he came sprinting like a bullet.

“Fuck! I’m out—!”

With the cameraman’s short scream, the phone screen shook violently, and the one-minute NewTube clip ended.

***

August 16, 2024. 7:27 a.m., local time.

Sydney, Australia.

Bzzzz. Bzzzz.

The phone beside the bed vibrated heavily.

Jang Heesoo, who had only just fallen asleep after 3:00 in the morning, barely opened her eyes and reached for it. On the screen was the name Senior Changsik.

Still lying facedown on the bed, she answered the call.

“Hello?”

“Hey! Heesoo!”

“Ah, shit....”

At the booming voice, she instantly pulled the phone away from her ear, made a face, then pressed it back to her cheek.

“What is it this early?”

“Hey, Sydney and Brisbane are going insane right now! I’m on duty at the news desk and something huge broke out over there—some kind of riot or something. Videos are blowing up all over NewTube and everywhere else!”

“W-what did you say?”

“This isn’t the time to ask me! Local police can’t even get it under control. Get ready to go live and get moving right now. Director’s orders.”

“The director?”

At the mention of the news director himself, Jang Heesoo shot upright.

“Where? Huh? Yeah. Hey, they said Newtown or Ultimo. Field footage matters most! I already called Doil, so go with him right away. Got it?”

“Newtown’s closer, so I’ll go there!”

Her reporter’s instincts kicking in, Jang Heesoo leaped out of bed, splashed some water on her face, grabbed her phone and the things she needed, and rushed out.

August 16, 2024. 7:42 a.m., local time.

Newtown, Sydney, Australia.

“Th-this is....”

Jang Heesoo and PD-cameraman Yoon Doil froze.

The streets, which should have been packed with the normal rush-hour crowd, were in total chaos. Police cars and ambulances were everywhere, and the air rang with citizens screaming and shouting.

“Heesoo, you’re live in thirty! Get ready here!”

As Yoon Doil raised the camera after getting the update from the Seoul studio through his earpiece,

Jang Heesoo quickly clipped on her microphone and took a deep breath, trying to steady her rough breathing.

“6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, cue.”

“Yes, we’re connected live. I’m currently here near the scene in Newtown, Sydney. At this moment, a large-scale violent incident of unknown origin is breaking out in Sydney. Behind us, local police are struggling to control the civilians, but—”

“...Huh?”

Yoon Doil committed the one unforgivable sin a cameraman should never commit during a live shot.

He took his eye off the viewfinder.

“As you can see, the situation on the ground right now—”

Cursing her idiot senior inwardly, Jang Heesoo forced herself to stay professional.

Naturally turning her body and pointing in the direction Yoon Doil was staring, she said,

“R-right now... right now, what appears to be a foreign reporter and p-police... and paramedics... people are...”

She had no choice but to stammer.

Across the street, a fallen woman was being crushed under police officers and paramedics.

Then—

Smack!

Something came flying from another direction and landed between Jang Heesoo and Yoon Doil.

It was a human arm,

stained dark red with blood.

“Aaaaaaaah! Aah! Aah!”

Jang Heesoo screamed.

At that instant, the faces of those things across the street all snapped toward her at the same time.

The first to move was a woman in a suit.

—Screeeeeech!!!

Rolling her gray-white eyes back, she came sprinting across the road like a madwoman.

And behind her, dozens of other things started moving too.

“Heesoo!”

Yoon Doil threw down the camera and shoved her.

“Ack!”

The middle-aged woman brushed right past the fallen Jang Heesoo and tackled Yoon Doil instead.

The ENG camera that had hit the ground ended up pointing perfectly at the two of them as they were attacked.

Five or six people piled on top of the fallen pair and began biting and tearing into them.

“Aaah! Aaaaah!”

“Get off me, you bastards! Ngh! Agh!”

Their horrible screams echoed as they thrashed their arms and legs wildly.

But the violent struggle died down in less than thirty seconds.

Crunch, crack... tear, rip....

With grotesque sounds of things being torn, ripped, and gnawed apart, the two could only twitch intermittently in their limbs.

Then, at a certain moment—

the things crouched over them, engrossed in whatever they were doing, abruptly stopped as if by prior agreement and slowly rose to their feet.

And the two people whose chests, stomachs, necks, and faces had been torn open and mangled also slowly stood up, then began limping forward.

For only a moment, the viewfinder—now empty of its main and supporting players—showed blood flowing like a small stream, with intestines and chunks of flesh scattered messily across the ground.

Then the fallen camera captured a sight powerful enough to overwhelm even the auditory chaos of screams, sirens, gunshots, and explosions all blending together.

Countless numbers of those things, too many to count, were charging forward, filling the entire road.

A wave of things wearing human skin, radiating madness and terror as overwhelming as their sheer mass, crashed toward the camera—

and with that final image,

the broadcast being transmitted through NewTube to Korea and the rest of the world cut out.