Ashes of Earth-The Last Heir

The streets were a mess — broken cars, scattered loot, zombie groans echoing through the air. Kim Byeol-ha sprinted at the back of a terrified crowd, his hands casually stuffed in the pockets of his ragged hoodie. A dull thought floated lazily in his mind. “Should I make ramen tonight? Or maybe... tteokbokki? Something spicy sounds nice…” Behind him, a monstrous zombie let out an ugly screech. Byeol-ha glanced over his shoulder, yawned, then slightly shifted his wrist. Puff. The zombie's head exploded without warning, but he didn't even blink. No one noticed. Everyone was too busy screaming. At the front of the street, a group of well-armed fighters burst into view. Their leader — tall, broad-shouldered, in sleek black tactical armor — pointed his gleaming sword forward with authority. “Everyone behind me! We'll protect you!" Baek Ryeo-woon, commander of District 9, the textbook definition of a hero. Byeol-ha stopped running. “Ah. It’s the overachiever type.” He scratched his head and turned to the side, casually strolling toward a side alley to avoid getting drafted into some dumb citizen protection program. Meanwhile, Baek Ryeo-woon spotted Byeol-ha slipping away like a lazy cat ditching chores. "You!" he barked sharply. "Stay with the group!" Byeol-ha tilted his head lazily, eyes half-closed. “Mm? Why?” His voice was soft, almost sleepy. “It's dangerous, idiot!” Ryeo-woon shouted, cutting down two zombies with clean, practiced strikes. “You want to die alone out there?” Byeol-ha considered it seriously. "Not really. But if I die, at least I won't have to worry about dinner," he muttered, shoving his hands deeper into his pockets. Baek Ryeo-woon stared at him like he'd just grown a second head. "Who the hell worries about dinner during an evacuation!?" He stormed toward Byeol-ha, grabbed him by the back of the hoodie like a stray cat, and physically dragged him back into the crowd. Byeol-ha grumbled under his breath, getting hauled like a shopping bag. "Geez, musclehead. Let a guy think about tteokbokki in peace." Meanwhile, Ryeo-woon growled low, half-annoyed, half-baffled: "Great. Just what I needed. Another helpless civilian with no survival instincts." Neither of them knew yet — one was the hidden protector of the entire city, the other... was about to fall hopelessly in love with a boy who cared more about spicy rice cakes than zombie apocalypses.