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Translator: uly
Chapter: 2
Chapter Title: The Betrayed Sacrifice
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"Then we'll select the personnel to go out on tomorrow's scouting run."
Around lunchtime, the civilian group had gathered in the second-floor lobby of the dormitory, listening to Private Yoo Jae-wook's voice.
Among them, I sat there with a ghostly pale face, staring at the floor while my hands trembled.
Scouting team.
It was exactly what it sounded like—a team that left the dormitory to scout the surrounding area.
Usually, it consisted of a few soldiers and a few civilians.
But this scouting run was different from the norm.
Thanks to Chae Soo-ah's betrayal, it had come out that several in the civilian group were plotting a rebellion.
She was the bitch spreading her legs for Captain Kang Hae-seok.
By whoring herself out to him, she'd secured the safest spot in the group.
There was no way she hadn't spilled the beans about the plan to kill Kang Hae-seok and the soldiers.
In other words, the civilian picked for this scouting team...
Was as good as dead once they stepped out.
"Um, excuse me... I have a suggestion."
At that moment, Lee Sang-woon, the professor who'd been our rebellion leader, raised his hand.
"Yes? What is it?"
"For the civilian we pick today... could we select them ourselves?"
"Hmm... Sure, why not. Just pick carefully. Only one person."
One person.
Fewer than the usual scouting team.
It meant they were making an example—someone to kill as a warning.
I lifted my head and looked at Professor Lee Sang-woon.
'He's got... he's got to have something in mind.'
He was a doctor, after all. The most educated, the most knowledgeable person here.
He had to have a way to get out of this mess.
That's what I had to believe.
Afterward, we huddled around Professor Lee Sang-woon to begin selecting the scouting team member.
"How about... we do it by vote?"
"Vote? What about the usual lottery?"
Ryu Da-hee tilted her head at Professor Lee Sang-woon's words, puzzled.
The regular scouting teams were dangerous enough, heading out into a zombie-infested world.
That's why civilians usually drew lots made by the soldiers or picked someone with decent stamina.
But this time, Professor Lee Sang-woon was proposing a vote.
'Yeah...! He's probably gonna vote out some useless trash to dodge this punishment.'
Like that slut Shin Ju-ha or some random who didn't join the rebellion.
That way, the rebels would survive and get another shot later.
I crammed that forced optimism into my head.
But deep down, I knew the truth.
One of the rebellion participants had to die, no question.
That slut Shin Ju-ha?
No way the soldiers would send their cocksucker out on scouting.
Especially not when they were dead set on picking a rebel to execute.
If they picked someone outside the rebels, the soldiers would reject it.
And then they'd just pick one of us themselves.
I knew all that.
So maybe...
This outcome was inevitable.
"...Huh?"
"Then, Lee Seo-ho... be careful out there."
After unfolding all the ballots, the result was in.
The one chosen to die as an example for the rebellion...
Was me.
"Hey, wait a minute! Lee Seo-ho already does so much labor—does it make sense to send him scouting too?
"I... I don't think that's right either..."
Seeing the results, Ryu Da-hee and Han Mo-ah piped up.
But the others just hung their heads and ignored them.
"Don't worry too much. The soldiers will be with you, and it shouldn't be that dangerous."
Professor Lee Sang-woon explained it that way to the protesting Ryu Da-hee and Han Mo-ah.
Unaware of the rebellion's details, they shut up at his words.
It was a majority vote, and he said it'd be safe—what more could they say?
Plus, he was a doctor.
His words carried this weird persuasive weight because of it.
"Still, this is too much..."
Ryu Da-hee shot me a dissatisfied look.
And as I watched all this, my face drained white, I stared blankly at Professor Lee Sang-woon and the other rebellion participants.
And at the others who knew I was dead meat, plus Chae Soo-ah quietly watching it all.
'These... these fucking bastards.'
We'd planned the rebellion for our whole group, but now that it was busted, they were turning their backs.
Even the guys who'd risked their lives plotting with me—they'd cast me out like I was disposable.
Knowing full well this scouting run was a one-way trip to the slaughterhouse.
"Hey... uh, anyway, be careful out there."
The clueless Ryu Da-hee patted my shoulder with a worried voice.
But I just stared blankly into space, too shocked to respond.
No running away.
Outside was zombie hell.
Throw a fit and refuse? They'd shoot me on the spot.
Beg to switch now? No one would take my place.
I'd been sentenced to death.
. . .
"Hey, keep up, will ya?"
The scouting team totaled five, including me.
Sergeant Park Sung-ho, Corporal Choi Hee-jae, Corporal Joo Tae-eun, and Private Yoo Jae-wook.
Plus one cow headed to the slaughterhouse.
Me.
"But did you hear? About that department store they found recently. The zombie in the cape."
"Yeah, dumbass. That's where we're headed."
"You're giving that one to him?"
Once we slipped out of the dormitory and left the university via a safe route, they started chatting freely about what was ahead.
In short, how they'd kill me.
"Hey, you gotta be a real moron to fuck up like that?"
Wham.
A hand slammed into the back of my head.
"What, wanna live? Then run if you've got the balls. Heh, not that it matters with zombies everywhere."
They dragged me along, spewing taunts the whole way.
'The place we're heading is some department store.'
'Zombie central, so tons of food inside.'
'Try surviving in there...'
Stuff like that.
All the while, one thought looped in my head.
'I gotta run... I gotta run...'
I racked my brain for a way to survive, but nothing came.
They'd told me straight up.
Try bolting, and they'd shoot my legs, leave me to die slow as zombie bait.
Go ahead if I thought I could make it.
Shaking from the threat, I just followed where they led.
Before I knew it, we'd reached the department store.
"Fuck, it's huge."
"Man, if it weren't for the zombies inside, we'd never worry about food again."
"Heh, grab the grub in there, and maybe Soo-ah'll spread for me too?"
Sergeant Park Sung-ho draped an arm over my shoulder, yapping at me while I trembled.
"Hey, idiot, weren't you college classmates with Chae Soo-ah? You into her or what?"
"Haha, talk about pathetic. Getting backstabbed by the girl you like and dying."
"Wonder how tight that pussy is that the captain's obsessed with her. Huh? Hey, Lee Seo-ho, right?"
He slapped my cheek with the hand on my shoulder.
"Ugh, you moron. If it were me, I'd at least beg her to spread before I croaked."
"Nah, Sergeant Park, no way Soo-ah'd fuck a loser like this."
The others cackled at Corporal Choi Hee-jae's words.
I seethed hearing it all, but couldn't snap back.
The thought of dying soon cooled my head instead.
"Anyway, watch from heaven when you're gone. Once the captain's bored of her, we'll fuck Soo-ah raw."
"If you can jerk off from heaven, go nuts. Heh heh."
Amid the filthy talk, they navigated the safe path with ease.
Veterans at weaving through zombies, they reached the department store without a hitch.
A bus had crashed into the outer wall, leaving a hole.
As we approached, there was space below it.
The department store's basement restroom.
"H-Here..."
"Where you're going in."
Sergeant Park Sung-ho pointed his gun barrel at the hole.
"Inside leads to B1, the grocery section. Check it out, grab some canned stuff, come back the way we came."
"Come back? What do you..."
"Captain says he'll let you live if you bring back food. Pfft! Our captain's got a big heart."
I'd figured they'd toss me straight to the zombies.
But no—they wanted to test the entry route with me.
If I died, rebel dealt with. Good.
If I lived, jackpot of food. Also good.
"You're... really gonna let me live?"
"This punk must've been born gullible. Yeah, bring food back, and I'll put in a word with the captain so you can fuck Soo-ah once."
"Damn, I'd dive right in and grab all the Spam."
They joked and jeered about banging her, mocking me.
But amid the humiliation, one thought hooked me.
'I... I can live...!'
A faint glimmer of hope.
Compared to certain death, it was sweet. No choice but to take it.
I peered into the restroom below the hole.
Looked safe enough at a glance.
I edged closer, bent down to check—
"Hurry up, dumbass."
—Thud.
"Gahhh!!"
Someone kicked my back from behind, and I tumbled into the pit.
"Guh, w-wait! I haven't said yes yet!"
"Don't care if you do or don't. You're going anyway. Get in. We're outta here."
With that, the shadows above vanished.
"W-wait...!!"
Too high to climb back in one go, I scrambled for footholds.
-Grr... aaah, grrraaah...
Behind me.
In the dark shadow.
A familiar sound.
"H-Heek...!"
I whipped around. A zombie.
Weird robe on, hood flipped over its head—freakish getup.
"Hey—! You fucking bastards!! There's a zombie in here!! You motherfuckers—!!"
Terrified, tears and snot streaming, I screamed up at the hole.
I didn't want to die here. I wanted to live.
Not like this.
My life couldn't end here.
-Raaarghhh!!
"You fuckeeeers!!"
The zombie heard my yells and charged.
Grabbed my arm.
"Eeeek—!!"
I spun, no chance to block—
Crunch.
"Gaaaaahhhh—!!!"
I exposed my nape.
Crunch, crunch.
"It huuuurts!! It fucking hurts!! Sniff, please spare me!! I'm sorry!! I won't do anything weird again!! I'll obey!! Please, please let me live—!!"
Terror mixed tears and snot across my face, neck bitten and bleeding, screaming into the void.
No one answered.
Thud.
Crunch, crunch.
"G-Guhh..."
The zombie grabbed my waist, shoved me down.
I hit the floor.
Under the zombie tearing into me like a beast at its meal.
I stared at the restroom ceiling, sinking into death's swamp.
Burning pain in my shoulder, sickening sensation.
Vision blurring from agony, regrets flooded as I gazed up.
'If I'd known, I'd have raided the food warehouse, stuffed myself before dying.'
Even shot would've been better.
Even starving to death, I felt hunger.
And those soldier lackeys' words on the way here echoed.
'Ugh, you moron. If it were me, I'd at least beg her to spread before dying.'
Bullshit from that prick, but now it haunted me.
Like he said—if I'd known I'd die like this.
That bitch Chae Soo-ah, spreading for the captain then backstabbing me.
If this was it, I should've jumped her that dawn before leaving the dorm, filled her womb with my load, then taken the bullet.
Still a virgin too.
"Fuuu... ckkk...!"
And finally.
Above all else.
The dog-shit soldiers who'd treated me like a slave.
The survivors who'd ignored it and used me too.
And Chae Soo-ah, who'd spread her legs and stabbed me in the back.
'Fuck... fuckers. Should kill 'em all.'
"Sniff, sob, you fucking bastards... All of you."
Crunch, crunch.
Tears welled, trickling down my trembling cheeks.
Not from fear of death.
Indignation.
Rage.
Vengeance.
All boiling over—blood tears from grinding teeth.
I cursed the ones who'd bitten my neck, put me here.
Even in death, I'd kill them somehow.
I swore it through tears and blood.
My consciousness faded.
In blurring vision.
Faces of those I loathed flashing by.
As I died.
—Ding.
Something changed.
[You have received a job. Your job is Necromancer.]
A transparent blue window popped up before my eyes.
Seeing the sudden message, I muttered.
"...What the fuck is this now."