It was as if the world came to a still.
Once Van's words ended, he made Shin Yoosoung levitate with magic, tearing her away from Gehrman Sparrow and enveloping her with a shield.
On the side, Gehrman Sparrow discreetly flipped a coin in his pocket to make a divination.
"Why are you here?" Kim Dokja questioned.
Van glanced at Kim Dokja.
With his mana senses, he could feel Yoo Joonghyuk's presence here. Coincidentally, Kim Dokja had been heading straight in this direction—which should have been an ordinary wall—so Lenoch could easily guess the reader's destination.
Van had also seen how, by following Kim Dokja's instructions, his party members had ended up in hidden green zones—but since the place he was heading toward wasn't empty and one person was already there, he guessed things may have gone wrong and headed there first just in case.
While using magic to conceal his presence from monsters, he could easily fly over the chaos by casting a levitation spell on his clothes and reach Yoo Joonghyuk first.
When he saw Yoo Joonghyuk standing in a hidden green zone made for only two people, his suspicions that something had gone wrong deepened so he decided to wait there.
Van seized Shin Yoosoung next to him with magic. Although she resisted at first, she immediately stopped once she saw Gehrman Sparrow signaling that it was okay.
Ignoring Kim Dokja's question, Van gestured toward Lee Gilyoung.
Lee Gilyoung looked up at Kim Dokja and Kim Dokja hesitated before choosing to trust the drug addict he had barely met. He handed over the child to Van.
"Hyung! Wait a minute! Hyung!"
Wrapping the other kid with a multi-layered shield, Van moved away with Lee Gilyoung and Shin Yoosoung.
Now, there were only Kim Dokja and Gehrman Sparrow standing in front of the green zones where Yoo Joonghyuk was standing.
[Green Zone 1/2]
And monsters.
Grrrr!
Kim Dokja calmly looked at the regressor.
Of course, since he was his companion, Yoo Joonghyuk would choose him, right?
"Yoo Joonghyuk."
Yoo Joonghyuk mercilessly cut him off.
"Gehrman can come here."
What?
"Wait—"
[Green Zone 2/2]
Without waiting for his opinion, Yoo Joonghyuk heartlessly betrayed his companion.
Of course, Kim Dokja had a plan, but still.
Watching the now full green zone, the reader lowered his arm and sighed.
Kim Dokja swung his sword towards the ground rats.
[The constellation, 'Bald General of Justice', has closed his eyes.]
[The constellation, 'Demon-like Judge of Fire', is watching you with uncomfortable eyes.]
The waves of monsters headed towards him. Now there were no more green zones remaining.
Addressing Yoo Joonghyuk, the reader confidently said, "I won't die."
Gehrman Sparrow glanced at the direction the children had moved away.
Then, Kim Dokja used a Specter's Stone to escape the wave of monsters, displaying once again his extensive knowledge about this apocalypse.
The man who often knew about hidden objects.
The man who had known about the locations of the hidden green zones and had prepared a way to survive the monsters.
But in this place, the green zone they had reached originally had only two places. Barely enough to save the children.
A thought surfaced in Gehrman's mind.
「Did Kim Dokja really not know that there wouldn't be enough places?」
At the same time, Van hurriedly moved upstairs, blasting all the monsters in his way.
Soon, he reached Gong Pildu's huge zone.
Dragging Lee Gilyoung and Shin Yoosoung with him, he stared at Gong Pildu.
"Take the children."
Gong Pildu glared back at him.
"I said I wouldn't take any more orders."
Blasting another monster on the side, Lenoch recalled Jung Heewon's words earlier. He continued, "I'm not asking you to take them for free. Did you say 2000 coins the night?"
Gong Pildu was surprised. He didn't expect Van to be willing to pay.
However, he still hesitated.
Van looked around at the huge zone.
Well, if he refused to take in the children, he could simply destroy the zone altogether-
Maybe feeling the threat, Gong Pildu reacted.
"…Fine. But there's only one place left."
[Green Zone 69/70]
Intimidated by what Van could do to him, Gong Pildu announced the bleak reality.
"We can only take one of the children."
Van paused for a moment, thoughtful.
Gong Pildu felt more and more anxious as the other man's gaze swept over the people in the huge zone.
"There's nothing I can do then."
The middle-aged man's heart skipped a beat. Would this drug addict kill everyone if they didn't make another place?
Or would he go somewhere else? But there should be no other room left in the entire station.
Van turned to the children and met their gazes.
"You two, what are your skills?"
The children didn't understand why he posed that question.
"Beast taming."
Hearing Shin Yoosoung's words, Lee Gilyoung also reacted.
"Insect communication."
So the two's skills overlapped.
Van considered the two for a moment.
In an apocalypse, even children should not be underestimated. With stats, they could easily have the same strength as adults.
Around him, ground rats continued to attack.
Van made a judgement in a split second and threw Lee Gilyoung into the green zone.
Shin Yoosoung's skill would obviously be more useful in this situation. In case he ran out of magic or the shield he had put on her broke and she needed to defend herself, the possibility of taming the enemy would be a useful help.
[Incarnation '???' has paid 2000 coins.]
Gong Pildu felt relief wash over him.
"But what about you and the other child?"
Van shook his head.
"I'll find a way."
Lighting up another cigarette—prototype number 7—and putting it in his mouth, he lifted Shin Yoosoung and held her close to him.
He hadn't thought he would have to face the monsters all night instead of waiting in a room.
However, since Shin Yoosoung had no place to stay, there was no choice.
Van exhaled a puff of smoke.
Come to think of it, it had always been that way.
Nothing ever went according to plan.
For this reason, he always had to be prepared for the worst situation.
So maybe it wasn't that bad now?
Making a wry smile, Van prepared lightning.
"Well then."
Bolts rose around him, filling their surroundings.
Shin Yoosoung looked up at Van.
"Let's survive now."
In an instant, her sight was dyed in blue.
***
Once the 8 hours ended, the rooms lost their effect and the hidden green zones disappeared.
Yoo Joonghyuk and Gehrman Sparrow left the place where they were standing.
Guided by divination, Gehrman decided to search for the children first.
He went upstairs and paused at the sight that greeted him.
The walls and floor were covered in scorch marks, the place heavily damaged as if a battle had taken place there.
Was it related to the blue light that frequently appeared during the scenario?
Further away, Gong Pildu and his group were staring in one direction, their expressions as if they were looking at a monster.
However, Gehrman Sparrow could not see the object of their fear from his current position.
Scanning the faces in the huge zone, Gehrman noticed the kid that was often following Kim Dokja. Shin Yoosoung was nowhere to be found.
Lee Gilyoung saw Gehrman and regained his senses.
He immediately ran out, heading downstairs.
"Hyung!"
Gehrman Sparrow ignored him and stepped forward, approaching the place Gong Pildu's group was staring at.
Soon, a figure appeared in his sight.
Coming closer, he noticed Van sitting against a wall. The mage's face was full of exhaustion as he absentmindedly smoked a cigarette, and his clothes looked like a mess. On his lap, the child Gehrman had been searching for was lying there, her eyes closed.
The destruction around Gehrman suddenly took on a new meaning.
If it had been caused by the one in front of him, the other people's reactions made sense.
"You."
Appearing behind Gehrman, Yoo Joonghyuk seemed surprised.
With his Sage's Eyes, he could also tell that Shin Yoosoung had become considerably stronger. This night had given her valuable experience and the opportunity to level up her skills.
"Did you fight the monsters all night?"
Gehrman ignored Yoo Joonghyuk.
Come to think of it, the number on the huge green zone showed it had been full. It wasn't hard to guess that Van had been unable to find a room and had to fight all night.
But was fighting against the waves of monsters for so long really possible?
Gehrman came close to Van and checked that Shin Yoosoung was only unconscious.
Understanding what he was thinking, Van reassured him.
"She only collapsed from exhaustion. She will be fine with some rest."
She wasn't dead.
With his spiritual vision, Gehrman also checked her body for injuries. Thankfully, she was relatively unharmed.
Only then did Klein allow himself to be relieved.
Gehrman lifted her into his arms, the child stirring lightly before falling back into sleep.
"Thank you for protecting her."
If Kim Dokja had heard the madman utter these words now, he would have been shocked.
Van nodded.
Soon after, Lee Jihye also joined them.
"Master, are you oka- Whoa. What happened here?"
She finally took in the damage to the station.
Jung Heewon was surprised as well when she learnt the situation.
"You really survived the night fighting off monsters? For 8 hours?"
"Don't tell me the flashes of light were your doing?"
Lee Jihye looked at him as if he weren't human.
The group was waiting for Kim Dokja to wake up. Thankfully, they could distract their anxiety by chatting.
However, the person at the center of attention had a headache from mana exhaustion. Van rubbed his temples.
The side effects from taking drugs all night were also kicking in. He was feeling nauseous.
"Are you alright? Your complexion is paler than usual," Yoo Sangah worriedly inquired.
Shaking his head, Van forced himself up, struggling to stand up as he leaned on his cane.
"It's alright."
He could not afford to show any weakness here. Especially since he was so weak now.
Van advanced with difficulty, his pace even slower than usual, and entered Gong Pildu's green zone. After seeing him obliterate the monsters, the middle-aged man didn't dare argue with him about paying and let him do as he pleased.
Tap, tac. Tap, tac.
Kim Dokja's group had also stopped paying attention to him and headed downstairs to gather around the unconscious reader.
Tap, tac. Tap, tac.
Due to his chronic insomnia, Van was unable to fall asleep and couldn't rest properly even now. Despite having fought for eight hours and being exhausted, his body refused sleep if he didn't take sleeping pills.
Yet, his mind was clear.
Van entered the bathroom.
Actually, how many days had it been since he had slept for the last time?
Facing himself in the mirror, he saw his reflection before leaning over the sink. There was nobody around.
Lenoch put up a sound barrier and started vomiting blood.