The Tough Guy Hides the Villainess

079 – The Intensity is from 1 to 7! # 1

079 – The Intensity is from 1 to 7! # 1

Weeeeee-.

At 6 PM, a loud siren rang out.

It meant that the sun would soon set and the movement of ordinary citizens would be controlled.

“Everyone, please return home quickly! If you’re still out on the streets after 7 PM, you’ll be fined!”

This year, Yunami, a newly awakened explorer who just graduated from Youngsa High School, shouted at the people.

After 7 PM, only awakened ones like Yunami could freely roam the streets.

‘Did my siblings get home safely?’

Yunami, who had to take care of her two siblings, one in the third year of high school and the other in the second year of middle school, had a lot of worries these days.

The world had become too dangerous to let her guard down.

“Excuse me, Miss Nami. Could you patrol the abandoned factory today? We received a report of suspicious groups there yesterday.”

“Got it.”

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Yunami nodded, checking the baton in her hand in response to the police’s request.

Patrolling the dark streets late at night was also a task for the awakened ones under martial law.

“It’s reassuring to have an awakened one on the team!”

Yunami’s face turned red at the handsome policeman’s smile.

She awkwardly scratched her nose.

“I’m still just a first-stage awakened one without even a concept yet…”

“But you’re still several times stronger than me. If something like a zombie really appeared, I think you could easily take it down, Miss Nami.”

Indeed, the difference between an ordinary person and an awakened one was as vast as that between a child and an adult.

That’s why Yunami was tasked with patrolling rough or secluded alleys that ordinary people couldn’t.

That was the problem.

While shining her flashlight through the old, secluded neighborhood alleys, Yunami spotted a group of figures huddled together with blurry eyes.

“Z-zombies…!?”

The stench of decay confirmed that they were real zombies.

It was the second day after martial law.

It was also Yunami’s first time seeing real zombies.

“Requesting backup! This is─.”

━Craaack-!

━Kyaaack-!

The zombies quickly lunged at Yunami, who was shouting into her radio.

Yunami’s hair stood on end at the sight of the unpleasant corpses rushing towards her.

“D-don’t come any closer!!!”

Yunami swung the baseball bat she was holding like a weapon.

Thwack-!

Crack-!

A few zombies fell like that.

But the problem was the reluctance to hit their heads. Some of the zombies that had been knocked down desperately crawled and bit Yunami’s ankle.

Crunch-.

“Ahhh! I got bitten!”

Fear struck her.

If she stayed like this, she might die.

If that happened, her two younger siblings would be left to face the harsh reality without their mom, dad, or even their sister.

“You damn b*stards!”

Although she was a first awakener without much concept, Yunami had also been training at Yeongsa High School for three years.

“Die! Die!”

Crack-! Thud-!

She managed to knock down all five zombies with her bat, panting heavily, feeling a strange sense of accomplishment and exhilaration.

“Hah, hah, I, I can do it if I try.”

But she couldn’t just be happy.

Since she was bitten by a zombie, she might turn into one over time. So Yunami opened her bag and took out a drink.

It was known as the cure, “Zero Cola Fresh.”

Yunami couldn’t understand why cola was considered a cure for zombie infection. But there was no other way, and drinking the cola she had prepared in advance was the only solution.

Gulp, gulp-.

It was when she drank the cola.

Yunami felt the unpleasant sensation in her ankle disappear as if it had been washed away.

“…It really healed…!?”

Her mind filled with joy like the refreshing carbonation.

She had fought and defeated a horde of zombies and even cured the infection with cola.

‘I can do it if I try!’

Just as she was feeling that joy.

Step, step-.

She heard someone walking from the darkness.

A zombie?

No, it felt different.

He was a man with his hands in his pockets.

“After 7 PM, citizens’ movements are restricted! Please show your ID!”

Yunami shouted at the man.

The man clicked his tongue as he glanced at the fallen zombies, barely listening to Yunami.

“Damn it, I was going to rob the grave because of these b*stards, and now it’s blocked so easily. And cola as a cure? Don’t make me laugh. Idiots─.”

“Excuse me! Please show your ID! Huh?”

The reason Yunami made a dumbfounded sound was simple.

The man’s face, illuminated by the flashlight, was covered with a white, featureless mask.

“I’ve seen this somewhere….”

The terrorist who caused the “zombie incident.” By the time she realized it, it was already too late.

Snap-.

As the man snapped his fingers, zombies appeared behind him.

“Huh…?”

These two were different from ordinary zombies.

They were more like grotesque monsters, twisted and combined human bodies.

One was thick and muscular like an inflated balloon, holding a giant hammer, while the other was as nimble as an uncomfortably skinny mantis.

Scrape, scrape-.

Sharp blades were attached to their hands like claws.

“Capture them alive. Awakened ones make excellent materials.”

Yunami tried to run but was overpowered.

When she came to her senses, she was trapped in a narrow, smelly iron cage.

Around her were many other cages, filled with people like herself.

“Wh-where am I? Let me out!”

A panicked Yunami.

At that moment, the man with the white mask approached and took out her ID from her wallet.

“Awakened Yunami. First awakened this year. You’re quite pretty. Lucky you. I like to keep pretty girls just as they are.”

Poke-!

Sss-.

The man injected something into Yunami’s arm.

“Just wait about a week, and you’ll become my special masterpiece. Aren’t you happy?”

“Ahhh!”

Yunmi snapped back to reality with the pain in her arm.

She was terrified of what might happen if time passed like this.

“Help me! Please, help me!”

“I don’t know how you guys figured out the infection cure, but do you even know about my masterpieces and the existence of my legion? Absolutely not!”

Hehehehe-.

The man started laughing ominously and slyly.

“You don’t even know where I am! This place is my kingdom! Only mine! And the same goes for Seo Ga-eul. She must be mine too! Only mine!”

Yunmi despaired.

Because she realized that no one could come to help her.

After all, this place is….

# # #

“The zombie mine is probably in the ‘Great Labyrinth’.”

I reviewed various places where the zombie mine might be hiding and finally came to a conclusion.

A place where Awakeners can easily come and go.

Yet, a place where they can’t roam freely.

In a world covered with CCTV, the only place where one can completely erase their presence is the Great Labyrinth.

That’s why I hid Seo Ga-eul and Yoo Yeoreum in the ‘Great Labyrinth’.

“As far as I know, there are several entrances to the ‘Great Labyrinth’.”

One is in the basement of Yeongsa High School.

Another is in the basement of the Seonam Group headquarters building.

And the rest.

I know that the coordinates inside the Great Labyrinth change depending on the entrance.

I thought that the zombie mine might have occupied one of the unknown entrances to the Great Labyrinth and created its own base somewhere in that labyrinth.

There must be a lot of zombies piled up in there too.

“In the worst case, we have to assume there might be special zombies.”

━Gyuing…?

“Yes, special zombies. Mutant ones. They’re tricky to deal with. They say that when Awakeners become zombies, they turn into those. Running away gives you the highest chance of survival if you encounter them.”

How many special zombies might be in that disgusting kingdom of his?

Breaking through the front of it would be tricky for me in many ways too.

But?

It wasn’t about me going into his territory; it was enough to draw him out.

If he really is Namsanho, he won’t be able to resist my bait.

In that sense, I visited the “Room of Flowers” where Seo Ga-eul and Yoo Yeoreum were. As soon as I entered, Yoo Yeoreum and Seo Ga-eul, who had been whispering just moments ago, fell silent.

“…….”

“…….”

Yoo Yeoreum and Seo Ga-eul began to glance at each other.

It seemed like they were hiding something.

This is ominous.

“What have you two been up to until now?”

“What’s it to you, idiot? Whatever we were doing, it’s none of your business.”

Seo Ga-eul snapped back curtly.

Her frowning expression was quite prickly.

What about Yoo Yeoreum then?

“Yoo Yeoreum, you’re hiding something from me.”

“No.”

She shook her head vigorously, but Yoo Yeoreum was really bad at lying.

I lunged at her.

“Come here-!”

“Ah, seriously, don’t do that!!!!”

I licked the nape of Yoo Yeoreum’s neck!

Lick-!

It tasted sweet.

But it was a tense kind of sweetness.

“Indeed, it tastes like a lie.”

“…W-what!”

Yoo Yeoreum and Seo Ga-eul were hiding something from me.

What could it be?

As I looked around for a while, I noticed that Seo Ga-eul’s bedspread was puffed up in a round shape.

When I pulled it back sharply, the object appeared.

It is a doll.

A doll crudely made of cloth and cotton.

“A doll?”

Seo Ga-eul and Yoo Yeo-reum’s faces turned the color of dirt.

“Where did this come from?”

I thought I had complete control over this “Room of Flowers,” but was that not the case?

To suddenly have a doll I had never seen before.

There were many things I was curious about, but unfortunately, I did not have much time.

“Seo Ga-eul, I think I need to use you as bait to draw out Namsanho.”

“Use me as bait?”

“Yeah, that guy threatened me that if I didn’t confess, he would increase the number of infected people by ten thousand a day, right? We’ll turn that around. If he doesn’t show up, we’ll go from ‘1’ to ‘7.’”

“What does that even mean?”

“Step one is holding hands.”

I took Seo Ga-eul’s hand.

Of course, Seo Ga-eul struggled, clearly disgusted.

“Let go, you pervert!”

What a great expression.

The more Seo Ga-eul hated it, the better the photo turned out.

Click-.

“I plan to release this photo to the media. If he doesn’t confess, we’ll have to move to step two. Step two is hugging. We’ll keep progressing through the steps every day to pressure him into confessing.”

“…If step one is holding hands and step two is hugging, what’s step three?”

Yoo Yeo-reum asked.

She seemed genuinely curious.

“Kissing.”

I had spent a long time in the shanty, running countless dating simulations in my head.

I had resolved that if I got a girlfriend, I would advance the physical intimacy according to the seven steps, each stage containing profound meaning.

“In other words, ‘1’ to ‘7’ refers to the seven stages of physical intimacy of a man named Han Nam-jin. If Namsanho likes Seo Ga-eul, he won’t be able to stand her being intimate with another guy, and he’ll eventually jump out like a loach hit with salt.”

Yoo Yeo-reum was impressed.

“That seems like a reasonable progression. It sounds like a painful punishment for Seo Ga-eul too.”

Yoo Yeo-reum knows a thing or two.

Gryffindor 10 points!

At that moment, Seo Ga-eul, whose face had turned the color of dirt, asked.

“Hey, then what about stage 7—!?”

“It’s okay. We won’t go that far. If Namsanho really likes you, wouldn’t he bite the bait at stage 2? Holding out to stage 4 would be the maximum, I guess.”

“No! What the hell is stage 7!”

Did my level of physical contact pique his curiosity?

That could happen.

“Stage 7 is ‘Giving a ride to grandchildren.’”

“What? What the hell? You said physical contact, so why the sudden mention of grandchildren? No, wait, then what’s stage 4! What is stage 4!”

“Uheuheu.”

“…Uheuheu?”

At my laughter, Seo Ga-eul’s expression went blank.

For a moment.

His face twisted in a strange way before it exploded like a bomb.

“Ahhh!!! You perverted b*stard!!! Why does it suddenly go from kissing to uheuheu!!! You crazy b*stard!!!”

Seo Ga-eul’s scream.

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I recorded it well.