075 – Z Apocalypse #3
There was a time when zombies spread endlessly.
It was utter chaos. Winter was exceptionally cold too.
But I was a survivor from that Armageddon.
Which means I have the perfect strategy for tackling the Z Apocalypse in my head.
“Seugal, I think I need to make a call to your dad.”
Seo Do-cheol. That man can use his social connections to send out emergency disaster text messages nationwide or schedule an emergency broadcast.
That could slow down the rapid spread of zombie infection!
Kya! This is why you need good in-laws!
Of course, Seugal was shocked.
“Are you saying I should call my dad myself?”
“Yeah. Since things have come to this, let’s negotiate for your ransom a bit. I’ll take care of your treatment later, okay?”
“So ultimately, you’re going to use me as a hostage by taking the treatment hostage, you b*stard Hanamjin!”
Whoever is deliberately instigating this zombie situation might fail utterly.
Because of my, Nam Jin the world’s smartest high school dropout’s, perfect handling!
I took out Seugal’s phone that I’d had since the abduction from my pocket.
Since the moment I turn it on, they’ll start tracking my location, we don’t have much time.
“Hey, you need to use your words carefully. Don’t say anything about me yet.”
Tock-tock-tock, trrrrrr.
Realizing where the phone signal was heading, Seugal’s face turned pale like a zombie’s as she stumbled around in panic.
“Hey! Are you calling my dad?! What should I even say?!”
I understood how the zombies who wanted to bite Seugal felt.
She’s so cute, I almost wanted to bite her too!
# # #
Seo Do-cheol stared at a graph while swigging a large cup of alcohol.
Glug-glug.
It had been about three years—around the time his wife passed—since he last drank alcohol. This was the first time in roughly three years.
“South Seonam Group’s plummeting stock prices!”
“Is the 30,000 line going to collapse?”
“The worst disaster since the company’s founding!”
From 120,000 to 30,000.
Seonam Group’s stocks were dropping to the point of becoming worthless.
Thinking about it being all the fault of one high school student made his intestines twist and his stomach churn.
“Hanamjin, that useless mongrel. I should’ve strangled him the moment I first met him.”
Of course, the group’s crisis was temporary, and he was sure he could overcome it somehow. Seonam Group had technology secured from the Great Labyrinth, after all.
Thinking about that eased Seo Do-cheol’s expression a little.
However,
Seo Do-cheol actually had a bigger problem.
The disappearance of his daughter, Seugal.
“my daughter.”
Thinking about his daughter who was suffering somewhere made it hard for him to calm down. His eyes even welled up with tears due to drinking after a few years.
This was a midlife crisis in its purest form.
“Stay alive and healthy.”
It would’ve been easier on his mind if the mysterious kidnapper had just asked for money.
He would have happily given a huge amount of money to get his daughter back.
But what the kidnapper wanted wasn’t money.
“Ransom Demands by the Kidnapper 3”
“1. Disclosure of dealings with Billernuz”
“2. Immediate release of Zero Cola Fresh this week”
“3. Change all beverage products to glass bottles”
What he wanted was most likely the downfall of “Seonam.”
There was even a sense of hatred and malice toward Seo Do-cheol personally.
Would someone who went to such lengths leave his daughter alone?
He would surely defile and k*ll her once he had achieved his goals.
“Son of a b*tch! My daughter did nothing wrong!”
Seo Do-cheol shouted profanities into the air at the kidnapper, whose identity he didn’t know.
Right then,
—”Dad, pick up the phone!”
The strange ringtone caught his attention. He was sober instantly upon seeing “Princess” on the phone screen when he picked up.
“Hello? Is that you, Ga-eul? Seugal! Is that really you?”
Seo Do-cheol strained his ears as much as possible through the phone to hear his daughter’s voice and warmth.
A good 30 seconds or so of silence passed before he somehow fully regained the cold composure he had lost just moments ago.
‘I need to make sure this call lasts as long as possible.’
Seo Do-cheol was a master of cold-blooded thinking.
When he finally calmed down, a faint whisper was heard through the phone.
—”Dad, it’s me.”
“Seugal!”
—”We don’t have much time to talk.
Seugal didn’t know what to say to her father after such a long time of not speaking.
Besides, Seugal wasn’t really the affectionate type.
She had nothing to say. It had been about three years since she last spoke to her father.
‘What on earth should I say to Dad? You could at least give me a hint before making me call him, d*mn Hanamjin! Is he really going to blow up the moment he finds out?’
But telling that she was in Hanamjin’s captivity would mean he wouldn’t disclose any clue about the zombie cure.
Seugal looked at the corpses scattered grotesquely on the floor.
She didn’t want to end up like that. Not at all.
“Well, I’m with Yu Yeo-reum at least. So, don’t worry too much about me being lonely.”
Therefore, Seugal played a small act of revenge on Hanamjin.
Though she didn’t directly reveal Hanamjin’s identity, she gave some hints.
Click.
The call ended at that moment.
“What? What happened? Seugal! What’s going on?”
Chairman Seo Do-cheol tried calling his daughter back, but the line was cut each time.
As his bl**d that had turned cold suddenly boiled again, a message came through his daughter’s messenger service.
“Did you confirm your daughter’s survival through our conversation just now? If you want to get your daughter back, you must fulfill the following contract terms.”
“1. Send out an emergency broadcast and disaster text message within one hour containing the ‘referenced matter.’”
“2. Begin a ‘Zero Cola Fresh Buy One Get One Free’ event starting tomorrow.”
“3. Should you fail to meet these demands, your daughter, Seo Ga-eul, will be in danger.”
“Referenced matter—National Disaster Situation Declaration due to Zombie Infections.”
“Content: The State hereby declares a state of emergency as of this hour—”
Seo Do-cheol immediately realized this was a message from the kidnapper.
It wasn’t a simple threat.
“This son of a b*tch! I will personally tear you apart! With my own hands!”
He quickly picked up his phone to comply with the kidnapper’s demands, while also replaying his daughter’s words in his mind.
“Yu Yeo-reum is with me… The kidnapper doesn’t like me saying too many details?”
Yu Yeo-reum, the lost adoptive daughter of opposition leader Yoo Dogwan.
Could it be that the same person who kidnapped Seugal also took her?
“Whoever kidnapped my daughter seems to be a young and powerful Awakened One. The reference to him means he’s male, no doubt about that. Still, my daughter is amazing. Even with a brief call, she gave me lots of information.”
An insider well-versed in Seonam Group and President Nam Tae-geon.
Hatred and desire for revenge against the masterminds of the N-Mart incident.
An Awakened One with an obsession for Seugal.
There was only one man in Seo Do-cheol’s mind that fit all these criteria.
“Could it be that b*stard Nam San-ho is still alive? Was he the one who kidnapped my daughter…?”
Snap.
The calm facade of Seo Do-cheol gave way as veins bulged on his forehead.
If Nam San-ho, who had President Nam Tae-geon’s backing, was indeed the one who kidnapped Seugal, everyone would find it difficult to step in.
‘If the kidnapper really is that b*stard, I may never get my daughter back. No one can help me. Unless there’s someone who’s fearless against the world….’
Nam San-ho came to mind.
If it was Hanamjin, the one who completely annihilated the witch Jin Eun-byul, he wouldn’t fear anyone. Indeed, that guy would surely help Seo Do-cheol take down the kidnapper.
Even though it was extremely distasteful to Seo Do-cheol to have to ask for help from Hanamjin, the rude, crazy stray dog who had bitten his arm, he reasoned that for his daughter’s safety, it wouldn’t matter even if his knees got slightly dirty.
“Honestly, Hanamjin is different from the talk-only types these days. He backs up his words with action. Just look at how much he made Kim Jin-eun and the wealthy suffer.”
Moreover, despite causing a huge commotion, he left the police station through the front door unscathed.
‘Insufficient evidence.’ He must have undoubtedly used some amazing magic.
‘Since I can’t predict what he will do, keeping him close might be beneficial. Perhaps with enough money, I can make use of him.’
Seo Do-cheol decided to prepare a lot of cash to make Hanamjin confront the kidnapper. No one disliked money. Surely, not even Hanamjin, who lived alone as if the world didn’t matter to him.
‘It’s better to keep such an unpredictable guy close and watch him closely. Perhaps if I pay him enough, I can make him useful.’
Having decided, Seo Do-cheol prepared a substantial amount of cash to recruit Hanamjin to face the kidnapper.
“Good job. It would’ve been better if you hadn’t mentioned Yu Yeo-reum.”
Crack!
I crushed the phone I took from Seugal with my foot.
Seo Do-cheol’s side would already be tracing our position and deploying forces, so it’s best if we vacate the area quickly.
But Seugal was like a relentless debt collector.
“You cooperated with the call as I requested. Now tell me what the cure is.”
Seugal, bitten by a zombie, was on the verge of becoming an Awakened zombie within seven days if this continued.
“First, massage my shoulders.”
“What?”
“It’s part of the necessary process.”
Frowning with evident disapproval, Seugal approached me and began rubbing my shoulders. Her touch was quite efficient.
“Ugh, feels good.”
“Honestly, I didn’t expect this from you. I thought you’d ask my dad for a few dozen billion as my ransom. So it seems you really didn’t kidnap me for money.”
“Money? What would I do with that? And besides, Seugal, isn’t your value worth more than just a few dozen billion? You’re worth more than a few thousand trillion.”
“What’s this? Are you complimenting me? Saying my ransom is worth several thousand trillion? While I may be special, it’s not that much, is it? Seonam’s trademark value doesn’t even reach a thousand trillion.”
“Seugal, don’t underestimate yourself. No matter how much money your dad brings, I’ll never let you go.”
“No, let me go!”
Seugal’s outburst made her face incredibly red with anger.
[Name: Seugal
Holding: Expand to view details <<
State: 《Embarrassment》 - The compliment valuing myself in monetary terms was very pleasing. But I don't know what kind of expression I should make.]
"Well, now that the shoulders are loosened up, I'll give you the cure."
Swish. From my pants' area, I drew out a bottle of "Zero Cola Fresh."
Seeing it, Seugal's expression changed to a mixture of surprise and irritation.
"Hey, why cola all of a sudden? And where did you get that thing!"
"And why? Because it's an essential cure. Come on, open wide."
"Wait a second! Where did you—Ghkkghkk!"
I shoved the cola bottle into Seugal's mouth.
Glug-glug.
Of course, Seugal thrashed around like she was receiving a d*ath sentence, but the ticklish and sweet cola was already filling her mouth.
"Ghhkk! It's itchy!"
Tsk-tsk. Thinking soda is itchy, how is she going to handle the apocalypse world full of such sensations?
Exactly ten seconds later.
Examining with emotion, I confirmed the "zombie" notion had disappeared from Seugal.
Indeed, the effect was excellent!
"Cola is the cure?"
"To be precise, only 'Zero Cola Fresh' works."
"Still, this is crazy! Such nonsense—really, is this finally the end?"
"Sure is. You've experienced it firsthand, so you know it works well, right?"
Seugal looked at me as if seeing a miraculous figure who performed wonders.
And she exclaimed, almost like a religious testimony.
"When you demanded Cola's release to my dad earlier, I thought you were crazy! Did you foresee all of this somehow!?"
"…Pretty much."
"Then why the shoulder massage? You called it a necessary process!"
"That was just out of boredom."
"YOU SON OF A b*tch!!!"
Beeeep, Beeeep, Beeeep!
"Emergency disaster message"
"Outbreak of regional infections reported! Damage widespread!"
"Please refrain from contact with others and avoid outside activities!"
An emergency disaster message!
This was the response to the message I sent to Seo Do-cheol.
Soon, the sound of sirens wailed—wheeeeee-!
Martial law?
It happened about half a year earlier than I thought it would.
There’d certainly be an emergency broadcast on TV based on my 'referenced matter.'
The announcers would likely be kindly explaining how Cola can serve as a cure too.
Normally, it would have taken some time to establish that "Zero Cola Fresh" was an exceptional cure against infections, but thanks to me, Hanam Jin, we've drastically reduced the discovery period.
In a way, the Zombie Apocalypse could be considered over.
Last winter, there was a hard time since "Zero Cola Fresh" was newly released and the supply was short. But this time, it wasn’t.
It's released half a year earlier and the supply is abundant.
Of course, the price of cola might soar to about ten thousand won per bottle due to this incident.
Ten thousand won per bottle! It would be a hardship for me, Hanam Jin, who loves drinks.
However?
If we manage to suppress the zombie situation early and quickly eliminate its root cause,
The cost of cola, which is no longer needed as a treatment, will return to normal!
Indeed, the impeccable plan of the world's smartest high school dropout.
This was also a tremendous counterattack against the Demon of Zombies who had been threatening the entire populace with ten thousand infections.
"Mask guy. You’re in for it."
Initially, I had ventured out to find the Demon by utilizing Seugal's unique senses, but the Demon appeared first, saving me a lot of time.
It was all good timing.
Seugal, wiping the cola from her mouth with the back of her hand, said,
"I've been feeling uneasy about this since earlier, but I think I know who the Demon is. Who's behind the mask and where I can encounter him."
Huh?
Sure enough, Seugal is my goddess of fortune!
"Hahaha, it's working!"
Unable to contain my joy, I pulled Seugal into an embrace and sucked on her cheek with my mouth.
Zhuuuaaaap!
Receiving a kiss from the king of men—what's the ultimate reward for women, right?
Feeling too good from my reward, Seugal screamed like an evil spirit being exorcised.
"Aaaaahhhhhh!!!!!"
# # #
