The silent pistol was cool against Dohyun's skin as he led Soo-min back to the stolen van. The alley was stained with the blood of the two looters he'd subdued and the single zombie he'd killed. Soo-min moved with a fragile, stiff posture, but she didn't question him; the sight of the dead man and the monster had stripped away her civilian skepticism.
They reached the van. "Get in the back," Dohyun instructed. "You need to patch that shoulder."
As she climbed inside, Dohyun accessed the System Store. He had to prioritize her medical skill immediately.
The System's voice was a low hum in his skull: "Soo-min's wound is superficial but requires professional medical attention. The Host's only viable option is the System Store."
He had \text{6 SC} and \text{250 XP}. He needed \text{30 SC} for the Grade A Medkit.
"We need a pit stop," Dohyun muttered, pulling away from the hotel district. "You're going to teach me how to maximize this situation."
Medical Market Scavenge
Dohyun drove to the outskirts of a district known for its small, private medical clinics. These clinics would have high-value, organized supplies and would be less looted than large pharmacies.
He stopped outside a small dermatology office, using the Silent Pistol to dispatch the two Infected guarding the entrance.
"Zombie Class Entity Eliminated. +2 SC Awarded. Current SC: 8. Current XP: 350/2000."
He brought the dead bodies inside, quickly locking the door behind them.
"Your turn," Dohyun said, gesturing to the corpses. "The rules of this world are simple. System Coins are earned by eliminating the Infected. I need those coins for medicine, for weapons, and for your survival. If you want a medkit, we need \text{22} more coins. Where are the safest kills?"
Soo-min stared at the slain zombies, her eyes fixed on the neat, silent entry points of the bullets. The concept was monstrous, yet logical. He was trading death for life.
"The basement," Soo-min whispered, her professional instinct kicking in despite her trauma. "Basements and storage units hold supplies, and the infected get trapped in the stairwells. They're usually slow, dense packs. High risk, high reward."
Dohyun didn't wait. He led the way down. They cleared the basement methodically. Soo-min's knowledge of the clinic layout was invaluable; she knew exactly where the supply cabinets and locked rooms were. Dohyun, relying on Perception 17 to track movement, executed the trapped, lurching Infected one by one.
Pfft. Pfft. Pfft. The silent pistol was relentless.
The System tallied the gruesome work: "Zombie Class Entities Eliminated: 11. +11 SC Awarded. Current SC: 19. Current XP: 900/2000."
They were still \text{11 SC} short.
"Next, the adjacent building. Physical therapist," Dohyun stated, his voice devoid of fatigue, thanks to his Endurance 11.
They moved next door. Here, the Infected were stronger, mostly fitness enthusiasts and clinic patients. Dohyun used his Agility 13 to evade a lunge from a massive, muscular Infected, driving his knife through its skull to conserve precious ammunition.
After twenty minutes of brutal, close-quarters combat, the System chimed its final reward.
"Zombie Class Entities Eliminated: 15. +15 SC Awarded. Current SC: 34. XP: 1650/2000. System Store Purchase unlocked."
Dohyun immediately opened the Store and purchased the Grade A Medkit (\text{30 SC}). It materialized instantly on the empty countertop—a clean, white box labeled with complex medical schematics.
Soo-min stared at the kit, her mouth slightly agape. "How did you...?"
"Don't ask," Dohyun interrupted. "Use it. And I need a full physical assessment. My body's been pushed to its limit. I need to know my true capabilities."
The Upgrade
Soo-min, her hands finally engaging in familiar, necessary work, cleaned and stitched her own shoulder with professional, if trembling, focus. Then, she turned her attention to Dohyun.
She was meticulous, checking his pulse, muscle density, reflexes, and bone structure. Her medical expertise was at odds with the physical reality of the man.
"Your resting heart rate is impossible—too slow," she murmured, her stethoscope pressed to his chest. "Your reflexes... they're beyond Olympic athletes. Your skin, muscles... they're dense. You have no residual fatigue. Medically, you should be hospitalized from exhaustion, but you're completely regenerated. You're... inhuman."
"Good," Dohyun said. "That's my baseline. Now, your skills are confirmed. We move. Target two: Seo-yeon."
Soo-min hesitated. "Your 'Scout.' Why her first? Why not the police woman?"
"Seo-yeon is the Scout," Dohyun explained, zipping the Medkit closed and tucking it into his pack. "She's a master of parkour and evasion. If she gets cornered, she can escape, but she'll be alone. If Hyuk-jin finds her, she'll be invaluable to him for communication and reconnaissance. I need her mobility on my side—or buried."
He had pinpointed her location—a tiny, heavily secured apartment near a maze of high-rise commercial buildings, a perfect base for a parkour specialist.
"She will kill you if she doesn't trust you," Soo-min warned, now viewing Dohyun as a force of nature she had to advise. "She trusts no one."
"She chose to betray me once," Dohyun replied, opening the clinic door and stepping out into the dead city. "I'll give her two choices: My side, or a silent bullet. Let's move."
The hunt for the traitors had begun in earnest, and Dohyun now had his indispensable medic by his side, acknowledging him as the only path to survival.