They said it would take half a day.
Considering the pace of walking with Yuna on his back, it could take longer. But Donghoon's legs were faster than expected. His enhanced stamina more than offset Yuna's weight. An ordinary person would be exhausted after an hour of walking with someone on their back. Donghoon had been walking for two hours, and he still wasn't out of breath.
Yuna spoke from behind him.
"You can rest."
"I'm fine."
"It's not that you're fine. It's weird. Is it normal to walk for two hours without stopping while carrying someone?"
Donghoon didn't answer.
It wasn't normal. He knew that too. Five Crawlers and one Howler. The enhancement he had gained by killing them was now in his legs. But he couldn't explain that.
"I've always been pretty fit."
"...I see."
Suspicion colored Yuna's voice. But she didn't press him any further. That was courtesy in this world.
Donghoon kept walking.
The cityscape was gradually changing. Once they left the densely populated residential area, the roads grew wider. Four lanes, two in each direction. Cars had been abandoned, but the gaps between them were wide enough to pass through easily. The buildings had changed too. Factories and warehouses began appearing instead of apartment buildings. An industrial district.
"Is this the right way?"
"Yes. If we keep following this road, we'll reach a bridge. Once we cross it, we'll be in Zone 2."
A bridge. Donghoon recalled the web novel's plot. In the novel, travel between zones was done through major roads and bridges. Bridges were choke points. Easy to defend, easy to control. There was a high chance Zone 2 was using the bridge as a defensive stronghold.
"Will there be people at the bridge?"
"There should be. Zone 2 set up guard posts on both sides of the bridge to watch for outsiders coming in."
Watch. Donghoon turned the word over in his mind.
"Are they hostile?"
"Not hostile, exactly... They're just extremely wary. A man named Park Jeongsu is in charge, and he's very strict about managing supplies. If outsiders come in, they have to share their supplies. They won't accept anyone who shows up empty-handed."
Donghoon touched the ax at his waist.
"You said they'd accept someone who could kill a Howler."
"That... has to be proven."
Donghoon nodded.
They walked for another hour. The sun had passed its zenith. Faint light began to slant westward through the gray sky.
Then Donghoon stopped.
He heard something.
A sound caught by his enhanced hearing. Ahead. About two blocks away. Footsteps. The sound of four feet scraping against the ground.
A Crawler.
In the daytime?
Donghoon put Yuna down.
"What is it?"
"There's something ahead. Wait here."
"How do you know? I can't hear any—"
"Wait."
Donghoon drew his ax and walked forward, making no sound. On the balls of his feet.
After passing one block, he saw them.
Two Crawlers. They were crouched beneath the shadow of a warehouse. Even in daylight, the shade was dark. Dark enough for Crawlers to hide in.
The two creatures were eating something. Something lay on the ground. Donghoon narrowed his eyes. Even with his enhanced vision, the inside of the shadow wasn't clear.
An animal? No. He could see clothing.
A person.
Donghoon's expression hardened.
The person was already dead. There was nothing he could do. Dongho suppressed his emotions. This was the time for judgment.
Two of them. Two Crawlers were no longer a threat. Dongho had killed five already. He could handle two.
Dongho approached.
He drove his ax into the back of the first one's neck. He approached without a sound and struck in one motion. The Crawler collapsed without even getting the chance to scream.
The second one reacted. It abandoned its meal and charged at Donghoon. He sidestepped and swung the ax horizontally. It struck the side of the creature's neck. Its outer shell split open. The Crawler staggered. Donghoon stepped in and delivered the final blow to the back of its neck.
It was over.
Donghoon exhaled and looked at the ground.
It had been a person. A man. His age was impossible to tell. His clothes were torn, and parts of his body were missing. Donghoon didn't know how long he had been dead, but it hadn't happened recently. The smell was overpowering.
Donghoon turned his head away.
There had been a scene like this in the novel too. The scene where the protagonist found the corpse of someone who had been eaten by a monster for the first time. In the novel, the protagonist vomited. Donghoon didn't. Instead, his mouth tasted bitter and his stomach twisted.
Donghoon tore his eyes from the corpse and searched the surroundings. There was a backpack beside the body. It was torn, but there were still things inside. Donghoon opened it.
Two bottles of water. Three cans of food. A lighter. And a folding knife.
Donghoon took the items. He felt no guilt about taking something from the dead. In this world, the living had to use the belongings of the dead. That was how it worked in the novel too, and it was a basic rule of survival.
Donghoon returned to Yuna.
"What was it?"
"Two Crawlers. I took care of them."
Yuna looked at Donghoon. She saw the black fluid covering his ax. Without saying anything, she nodded.
Donghoon put Yuna on his back again.
As he walked, Donghoon thought. He had killed two more Crawlers. Seven in total. And he felt it again. That sensation. A warm current. He was starting to get used to it. Every time he killed something, something entered his body. And he grew a little stronger.
The change from one Crawler was small. But it accumulated. Seven of them. And one Howler. The Donghoon of two days ago and the Donghoon of now were different people.
They walked for another hour.
The bridge came into view.
A concrete bridge spanning the river. Four lanes, two in each direction. A barricade had been erected at the entrance. It was far sturdier than the barricade in Zone 3. Three cars had been placed across the road, with steel plates welded over them. It stood three meters high. There was even barbed wire along the top.
And there were people.
Two men stood on top of the barricade. One held binoculars, and the other held a metal pipe.
Donghoon stopped.
"That's it. The Zone 2 guard post."
Yuna spoke. Donghoon put her down.
A man atop the barricade shouted.
"Stop right there! Who are you?"
It was a man's voice, thick with suspicion.
Donghoon raised both hands. He left the ax at his waist.
"We're survivors. Two of us."
"Where'd you come from?"
"From the direction of Zone 3."
The two men atop the barricade looked at each other. They exchanged a few words. Donghoon's enhanced hearing picked up the conversation.
"Zone 3? There's no one there."
"There's a woman with him. Isn't that Seo Yuna?"
"Yuna? Seo Yuna from Zone 5?"
The man with the binoculars shouted again.
"Ms. Seo Yuna?"
Yuna answered.
"Yes, that's me. Seo Yuna from Zone 5."
The atmosphere atop the barricade changed. Their wariness eased a little, but not completely.
"Who's the man with you?"
"His name is Han Donghoon. He saved me."
"He saved you?"
"I was being chased by a Howler, and he killed it. By himself."
Silence fell.
The two men atop the barricade spoke again. This time, their voices were too low for even Donghoon to hear.
A moment later, one side of the barricade opened. They had pushed one of the cars aside to create a passage.
The man with the binoculars came down. He looked to be in his mid-thirties. Short hair, sharp eyes. His body was solid. The body of someone who had survived in this world.
"I'm Lee Jaehyuk. I handle security for Zone 2. Put down your weapon."
Donghoon removed the ax from his waist and set it on the ground.
Lee Jaehyuk looked Donghoon up and down.
"You killed a Howler by yourself?"
"Yes."
"With what weapon?"
"This ax."
Lee Jaehyuk's eyes narrowed.
"A Howler with one ax? Does that make any sense?"
"It happened. That's why I'm standing here."
Lee Jaehyuk stared at Donghoon for a long moment. Then he looked at Yuna.
"Ms. Yuna, is that really what happened?"
"I saw it with my own eyes. He shoved the ax into the Howler's mouth and killed it."
Lee Jaehyuk's expression shifted subtly. Surprise and suspicion mingled in his eyes.
"...I'll take you to the representative. Follow me."
Lee Jaehyuk led the way. Donghoon picked up his ax again, helped Yuna along, and passed through the barricade.
They crossed the bridge.
There was another barricade on the opposite side. This one was even sturdier. Buildings were visible behind it. It was different from Zone 3. Lights glowed in the windows. Faint, but unmistakable. Candlelight or lanterns.
People lived here.
After three years, Donghoon saw a living city—or, for him, after only three days. It was too shabby to really call a city, but it was different from the empty ruins of Zone 3. This wasn't merely evidence that people had been here. There were actual people.
Several people inside the barricade looked at Donghoon and Yuna. Wary eyes. Curious eyes. Sympathetic eyes. All kinds of gazes mixed together.
Lee Jaehyuk entered one of the buildings. It was a four-story structure, with the first floor being used as a lobby. Tables and chairs had been set out, and a map was posted on the wall. A map of the zones. As he passed, Donghoon scanned it. The boundaries of Zone 2, the locations of the barricades, and the supply warehouse were marked on it.
Lee Jaehyuk went up to the second floor. He stopped in front of a room at the end of the hall.
"Representative, we've got outsiders."
The door opened.
A man stepped out. Early forties. Tall and lean. His eyes were deep-set. They looked tired, but there was sharpness in them. The eyes of a man who measured people.
Park Jeongsu.
It was a name Donghoon had read in the novel. He knew this man. In the novel, Park Jeongsu was the representative of Zone 2. A pragmatist. Cold, but not incompetent. A man who had protected the survivors for three years. In the novel, he initially clashed with the protagonist, Jin Seoha, before eventually becoming her ally.
But this was the story of the fiftieth iteration. Donghoon didn't know whether the Park Jeongsu of the third iteration was the same person.
Park Jeongsu looked at Donghoon.
"Name."
"Han Donghoon."
"Where are you from?"
"From the direction of Zone 3."
"There are no people in Zone 3."
"I know. I'm not from Zone 3. I came to this world three days ago."
Park Jeongsu's eyes shifted slightly.
"Three days ago."
"Yes."
"From 2024?"
"Yes."
Park Jeongsu looked at Lee Jaehyuk. Lee Jaehyuk nodded.
"Ms. Yuna confirmed it. And she says this man killed a Howler by himself."
Park Jeongsu looked at Donghoon again. This time, he looked for longer.
"You killed a Howler by yourself after only three days?"
"Yes."
"How?"
"With an ax. I stabbed it in the mouth."
Park Jeongsu's expression didn't change. But something in his eyes did. They were calculating now, judging whether Donghoon was useful or not.
"Are you Enhanced?"
Donghoon heard the word for the first time. But he understood its meaning. It was what the people who grew stronger by killing monsters were called. The novel had used a different name, but this world seemed to call them the Enhanced. The terminology could differ between iterations.
"I think so."
"You think so?"
"It's only been three days. I'm not sure."
Park Jeongsu snorted. It wasn't mockery. There was something almost approving in his tone.
"You're an honest bastard."
Park Jeongsu turned away and spoke.
"Come in for now. Eat, then we'll talk."
Donghoon helped Yuna into the room.
There was one table and several chairs inside. More maps were posted on the walls. They were more detailed than the zone map: monster sightings, supply routes, and the guard shift schedule.
Park Jeongsu sat at the table and spoke.
"We eat twice a day. Morning and evening. One liter of water a day. If you need more, you find it yourself. There's an empty room on the third floor where you can sleep. Everyone takes turns standing guard. Hunting outside requires permission. If you go outside the barricade without my permission, you won't be allowed back in."
They were rules. Donghoon nodded.
"Are there conditions?"
"Conditions?"
"Conditions for letting me stay."
Park Jeongsu looked at Donghoon.
"You said you could kill a Howler."
"Yes."
"That's the condition. In exchange for food and a place to sleep, you kill monsters outside. You also participate in supply-gathering missions. If you're useful, you stay. If you're not, you leave."
Donghoon nodded.
"Understood."
Park Jeongsu gestured to Lee Jaehyuk. Lee Jaehyuk left, then returned a moment later with food. Rice and canned side dishes. Donghoon ate a proper meal for the first time in three days.
As he ate, Donghoon surveyed the room. On the map on the wall, red dots marked monster sightings. The farther west they went, the denser the dots became. That made sense, since the rift was in the west.
There were also numbers written in one corner of the map.
'Current population: 87.'
Eighty-seven people. Far fewer than the two hundred Yuna had mentioned. That must be the population of Zone 2 alone.
Donghoon finished his meal and set down his spoon.
Park Jeongsu looked at him.
"Any questions?"
Donghoon thought for a moment. There was a lot he wanted to ask. The current state of the world, the distribution of monsters, the relationship between the zones, the number of Enhanced. And Jin Seoha.
But asking about Jin Seoha first would be strange. Why would someone who had arrived three days ago know the name of a specific person? He couldn't mention the novel.
"How many Enhanced are there?"
"Five in Zone 2. Including me."
Five people. Out of eighty-seven.
"Who's the strongest?"
Park Jeongsu looked at Donghoon. The corner of his mouth rose slightly.
"I am."
Donghoon nodded.
Park Jeongsu stood and spoke.
"Get some rest today. Starting tomorrow, you work."
Donghoon left the room. Lee Jaehyuk showed him to an empty room on the third floor. It was small. One mattress and a blanket. The window had been boarded shut.
Yuna was assigned the room next door.
Donghoon sat on the mattress. He placed the ax beside him.
It was quiet. But it was different from the silence of Zone 3. Voices drifted from somewhere in the building. Footsteps echoed. The sounds of the living.
Donghoon closed his eyes.
He had entered Zone 2. The zone system created by the protagonist, Jin Seoha, in the novel. Donghoon had entered it. But Jin Seoha had already disappeared. Two years ago. Leaving behind the words, 'This isn't going to work this time.'
This was the iteration where Jin Seoha had given up.
Donghoon opened his eyes.
He had to survive the iteration where she had given up. With the knowledge from the novel. With his enhanced body. And with his own strength.
Donghoon touched his ax and looked up at the ceiling.
Starting tomorrow, he would hunt.
Donghoon's lips curled upward. In the darkness where no one could see him.