The city was a screaming, burning nightmare. Dohyun navigated the van through the choked streets, bypassing overturned cars and the first, scattered hordes of the newly risen dead. The smell of blood and burning rubber was acrid in the air, a grim perfume for the apocalypse. His Perception 17 was a constant, agonizing drone of nearby threats—every lurching shadow, every distant moan.
His first target: Min-ji. Her apartment building was a mid-rise complex near a major commercial district, now a death trap. He needed to confirm her status, and more importantly, her location. If she was already with Hyuk-jin, his plan would change.
He ditched the van three blocks from Min-ji's building, melting into the shadows. The area was eerily quiet, the immediate chaos having either moved on or been brutally silenced. He moved like a ghost, the Silent Pistol a comforting weight against his hip.
He reached her apartment building, the lobby door shattered, the interior dark and ominous. He scanned the mailboxes, looking for a sign of life, a clue. Nothing. He checked the building directory. Her name, Lee Min-ji, was still listed. A relic of the old world.
Dohyun scaled the fire escape, his Agility 13 making light work of the climb. Her window was on the third floor. It was broken. A bad sign. He slipped inside.
The apartment was a wreck. Furniture overturned, clothes strewn across the floor, a broken vase. It wasn't a zombie attack; it was a struggle. Min-ji wasn't here. She was either taken, or she had escaped. His gut told him the former.
He checked her bedroom, finding nothing. Then, a faint, almost imperceptible sound from the adjacent apartment. A muffled whimper.
Dohyun froze. His Perception 17 narrowed, focusing on the sound. It was human. And it was distressed.
His plan was to find Min-ji for revenge, not to play hero. But the whimper tugged at something deep, something he hadn't fully suppressed yet. And then, he recognized the voice.
Soo-min.
He remembered her from the future, the "Beautiful MILF" and veteran nurse. Essential for healing, betrayed in the end. A target for his vengeance, yes, but not yet. Not like this.
He moved to the adjoining door. It was ajar, forced open. He heard male voices, coarse and ugly, and then a muffled sob.
"Come on, no one's going to hear you now, honey," a man slurred, his voice thick with malicious glee. "The world's ending, so why not have some fun?"
Rage, cold and absolute, slammed into Dohyun. He didn't know why it hit so hard. In his future, he hated all of them—especially the women who chose Min-ji over him. But this... this was a violation of something fundamental, something beyond his personal revenge. He remembered Soo-min's tired, compassionate face from the future, patching him up after a fight. She didn't deserve this.
He kicked the door in, the cheap wood splintering inward.
Inside, the scene was barbaric. Four men, remnants of the immediate looting chaos, had cornered Soo-min against a kitchen counter. Her clothes were torn, her hair disheveled, and she was crying silently, her body trembling. Her "good body," as he'd coldly noted in his future recollections, was now the source of her immediate peril.
The men turned, startled by Dohyun's sudden entry. One, a hulking brute with a grimy face, let out a snarl, lunging.
Dohyun's Strength 13 and Agility 13 detonated. He didn't hesitate. He didn't warn. He didn't aim for a non-lethal strike.
The Silent Pistol rose, a blur.
Pfff.
The bullet struck the hulking man precisely in the center of his forehead. The man dropped instantly, his eyes wide and unseeing, a neat hole blooming in his skull. The sickening thud of his body hitting the floor was the loudest sound in the room.
The other three men froze, their drunken lust replaced by naked terror. They had just seen a ghost, a silent, efficient killer who hadn't even broken stride.
"Get out," Dohyun's voice was a low, chilling growl, devoid of any human warmth. "Or you die where you stand."
The men scrambled, tripping over themselves, scrambling out of the apartment as fast as their trembling legs could carry them.
Dohyun didn't watch them go. His eyes were fixed on Soo-min.
She was huddled on the floor, weeping, clutching her torn clothes. Her eyes, red and swollen, slowly rose to meet his. She recognized him, a faint flicker of the memory of his student face. But the man standing over her now, the man with the silent pistol and the cold, dead eyes, was a stranger.
"Dohyun?" she whispered, her voice barely audible. "What... how...?"
He didn't offer comfort. He didn't offer a hand. He merely stared at her, his mind already calculating. She was a valuable asset. And she was now utterly terrified of him.
"Hostile Human Entities Eliminated (Lethal: 1, Non-Lethal: 3). +200 XP Awarded. Current XP: 200/2000. Moral Alignment Shift Detected: Neutral. Host shows selective protective instinct for designated 'ally' without direct self-preservation trigger."
The System's analysis of his 'moral alignment' sent a chill down his spine. He hadn't intended to protect her out of kindness. It was... something else. An efficiency. A cold, tactical decision to secure an asset and eliminate a threat.
"The world is over, Soo-min," Dohyun finally said, his voice flat. "This apartment is a death trap. If you want to live, you come with me. Now. I have a safe place."
Soo-min looked at the dead man, then at the silent pistol in Dohyun's hand, then at his cold, unreadable face. He was her savior, but he was also the most terrifying thing she had ever seen. The man who had effortlessly murdered another human being just moments ago.
She didn't trust him. Her body might have been saved, but her mind was reeling.
Dohyun didn't care about trust. He cared about survival. And about the fact that her skills as a medic were invaluable.
This happened to Soo-min because I hated men in the future, a chilling thought flickered through his mind. No. It happened because the world is a cesspool, and women like her are always targets. I won't let it happen again, not to anyone I choose to keep alive.
He had saved her. Now, he had to secure her. The revenge on Min-ji could wait a little longer. He needed his assets. And Soo-min was the first.