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Translator: uly
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: The Door Finally Opens
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It was a miracle.
Yoo Ha-yeon thought so as she nibbled away at the food the man beyond the door had left behind.
She had thought she was about to die, but now that she had survived, tears streamed down her face.
I don't want to die.
I want to live even in this godforsaken world.
"Thank you.... Sob, thank you...."
In that situation, Yoo Ha-yeon kept thanking the man who had saved her.
Even though he had already left and her voice couldn't reach him.
'Um, ...ex, excuse me, when might you come next time?'
[Who knows. Probably in two or three days.]
She recalled their last conversation.
Three days from now.
With the food he had left, she could just barely hold out.
'He probably doesn't have enough for himself either.'
From Yoo Ha-yeon's perspective, he seemed like a saintly gentleman.
To extend a helping hand to a stranger in this insane world.
Even though the world had ended, kind people still remained, she thought.
. . .
Now the question was when to cut off her food supply.
'I wonder if she's doing okay today.'
The woman inside the room.
It had been about five days since I met Yoo Ha-yeon.
Two days ago, I had returned to the building where she was hiding, given her more food, and chatted a bit.
Her name was Yoo Ha-yeon.
A college student at the same university I had attended.
She had just turned twenty. Four years younger than me.
'If the zombie outbreak hit right when she turned twenty... she's probably still a virgin.'
That gave me even more reason to claim her.
To do that, I first needed to make her mine.
Of course, there were easy ways—like threatening her with zombies or starving her until she submitted.
But I wanted her to follow me of her own free will, as much as possible.
Coercion could backfire later, like when my stomach grumbled and she lunged for my throat.
Just like how I rebelled against those military bastards.
To eliminate that risk, Yoo Ha-yeon had to beg to become my slave herself.
That would naturally require some kind of story.
"Ha-yeon, everything okay while I was gone?"
[Yes! Thanks to you, mister, I can manage somehow.]
The voice from inside the room sounded much more lively than five days ago.
Back then, she was starving, but with no hope for the future, she had been in even deeper despair.
After meeting me and on my third visit, she started speaking with hope in her voice.
She probably believed I'd keep dropping by occasionally with food.
Humans turn stupid in the face of hope.
Even though a little rational thought would reveal that hope doesn't last long and can vanish with one misstep.
Yet in tough times, people cling blindly to any glimmer of hope.
"Today I'll leave more than last time. Lots of high-calorie stuff like chocolate."
[Thank you so much, mister.... You could have ignored someone like me and kept it for yourself....]
But what if that blind hope suddenly vanished?
"Um.... That's actually what I wanted to talk about, Ha-yeon."
[...Y-Yes?]
Sensing something in my hesitant tone, the voice from the room grew cautious.
"Like you said, my own food's running low now, and coming here often is getting dangerous."
[...Yes, ...huh? What do you....]
When the hope right in front of you suddenly disappears.
You'll fall into even greater despair than before.
"So, today's the last time I can bring food...."
[W-Wait! Please wait just a moment!]
Yoo Ha-yeon desperately called out to stop me.
She must have firmly believed it.
That I was a kind-hearted, good person.
Weak to pity.
That I wouldn't abandon her so easily in her pitiful state.
Time to betray that belief spectacularly.
I had plenty of justification.
In this mad world, helping this much was already more than enough.
But she wasn't in a position to understand that.
Her life depended on my food deliveries.
That's why for the past few days, I'd only given her just enough to get by.
She had probably eaten all the food from last time, believing I'd come again.
[M-Mister...? Mister! Don't go! Please, mister...!! Sob, mister...!!]
When I didn't answer from in front of the door, she raised her voice even more desperately.
Only then did I speak.
"I'm really sorry. But I'm struggling too now. Wandering around without a proper place to stay."
Of course, it was a lie.
A place to stay? I was living it up in a department store mansion, warm and eating whatever I wanted.
But these details were necessary.
"Anyway, I found a good spot to hole up. But if I stay there, coming here would be too risky...."
Yoo Ha-yeon trusted me, but she still hadn't opened the door.
On one hand, she saw me as a good person; on the other, she feared something terrible might happen.
Of course, she was right. The moment she opened the door, I'd do something terrible to her.
And all this was to make her open the door herself.
[B-But I...! Mister.... I-I know this is incredibly shameless to say...! Sob, without you, I might die soon...!]
A sobbing voice came from right on the other side of the door.
She had probably collapsed to the floor against it.
That showed how desperate she was.
But even right at the door, she wouldn't open it.
Hmm, I thought this would be enough to make her open it.
Yoo Ha-yeon must be even more of a coward than I thought.
Well, that's probably how she'd survived this long.
Otherwise, she'd have gone out for food and died by now.
'Guess she needs a bit more time.'
I stepped back a pace from the door.
"I'm sorry. I want to live too, Ha-yeon. ...And you won't even open the door for me standing out here in this dangerous hallway."
[...Y-Yes, ...huh?]
She must have been flustered.
Probably not something she'd considered.
She hadn't opened the door instinctively. I could understand that.
She thought I was a good person, but hadn't gone so far as to open the door right away.
So a flustered voice leaked from inside.
[M-Mister...! I-I mean...!]
Even she must think she's selfish.
She kept her own door firmly shut against the dangers outside.
Yet she'd left the man bringing her food standing in that dangerous hallway three times already.
[W-Wait! I...! I'll do it right now...!]
The sound of the door chain rattling.
But before she could open it, I quickly moved away.
"I'm sorry, Ha-yeon. Please survive, no matter what."
Then I leisurely walked down the hallway away from her door.
Making sure my footsteps echoed loudly, of course.
[Mister━!! Mister━...!!]
Her cries echoed from the receding room.
'She still won't come out even after all that....'
I'd expected her to fling open the door and grab me as I walked away.
But she didn't.
Maybe when she heard me leaving, she realized it was too late even if she opened it.
'Hmm.... Then I'll wait another five days before coming back.'
I calculated based on the food I'd just left.
If she rationed it, three or four days maybe.
Or she might give up on life and devour it all in one day.
Either way, she'd last five days.
Of course, there was a chance despair would drive her to suicide.
But I figured that possibility was low.
Suicide takes courage too.
A woman who wouldn't leave her room even now probably lacked the guts to kill herself.
If she died, it'd be by starvation.
'Well, if she dies, no big loss.'
If she did, I'd just feel a little regret.
Then I'd look for another survivor.
. . .
The footsteps faded away, and no presence remained outside the door.
Even then, Yoo Ha-yeon didn't open it.
With trembling hands, she undid the chain and one of the double locks.
She tried to unlock the handle last.
But her shaking hands wouldn't obey.
The instinctive fear buried deep within had overridden her rational judgment.
And now, three days later.
"I should have opened it.... I should have opened it.... I should have opened it...."
Yoo Ha-yeon sat huddled with her knees hugged to her chest, muttering the same thing as always.
That man had really left.
Abandoning her, who couldn't survive without him.
He had gone off to some other base to survive.
'And you won't even open the door for me standing out here in this dangerous hallway.'
His words came back to her.
She hadn't even thought of it.
It was so obvious.
That man had risked his life to bring her food he'd scrounged up while starving himself.
Blinded by her own survival, Yoo Ha-yeon hadn't shown even that basic courtesy.
It was all her fault.
He had been kind and considerate to her from start to finish.
'If, ...if I had at least opened the door.'
Yes, if she had opened it from the start and welcomed him.
Then he wouldn't have gone looking for another base.
He would have felt more secure with company than alone.
She could have invited him into her room and made this their shared home.
But cowardly her had thrown away every possibility.
Foolishly believing he'd keep helping her forever.
"...I don't want to die."
It was terrifying.
The last food he had left was already running out.
I'll starve to death.
Yoo Ha-yeon thought.
She couldn't even imagine stepping out into the zombie-infested world beyond.
Unable to do anything, she'd starve here.
Tears fell as Yoo Ha-yeon stared blankly at the floor.
Regretting how she had severed the lifeline of hope that had rolled right to her feet.
'God, please....'
"Sob, please, ugh, please give me just one more chance...."
Yoo Ha-yeon buried her face in her knees and prayed.
. . .
"Alright, time to head over."
Five days had passed since I declared our farewell to Yoo Ha-yeon.
Her food should be running out about now, and she'd be in a real bind.
What if she thought the bus she'd missed had stopped and waited just a bit longer?
She'd probably sprint full speed to catch it.
After dropping her this low, things should go well today.
"Whew.... Nice weather again today."
It didn't take long to reach the building where Yoo Ha-yeon was.
The first time, I'd been cautious of other survivors spotting me, so it took longer.
But while delivering food to her, I'd scoured the area thoroughly.
Yoo Ha-yeon was the only living survivor.
Plus, with so many zombies swarming here, outsiders wouldn't approach easily.
'Hmm.... Just in case, maybe move them farther away.'
The female college student zombie I'd met on my first visit was tied up on the second-floor stairs.
A deterrent in case Yoo Ha-yeon ever ventured out alone and got scared back inside.
But today, with good results expected, it might just get in the way.
I untied the rope around her ankle and dragged her down to the first floor for now.
'Well.... Let's see how she's doing.'
After these small preparations, I cautiously approached Yoo Ha-yeon's door.
Honestly, I half-expected her to be dead.
My judgments aren't always perfect.
She might have killed herself in despair.
Bracing for any outcome, I knocked on her door.
*Knock, knock.*
"Ha-yeon. ...You there?"
I waited, but silence.
No way....
*Knock, knock.*
"Ha-yeon? If you're there, please answer."
As I knocked again in panic, wondering if she was really dead.
[Uh, ...m-mister?]
A completely drained voice came faintly.
[Uh, ...ah, ...ah, mister━!!]
But only for a moment.
Once she recognized my voice for sure, she called out desperately.
And then.
*Click, click.*
Something manipulated quickly at the door.
*Bang!*
"Misterrrr━!!"
The firmly shut door flew open, and a woman burst out, throwing herself at me.
"Sob, mister...!! Y-You're really back, right! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I was so selfish, mister...!!"
Without even confirming who I was, she hugged me and bawled.
Then she looked up at me with her tear-streaked face.
'Whoa.... This is something.'
I hadn't expected this at all.
Among all the women I'd seen so far, her face was by far the most beautiful.