Two bloodshot eyes pressed against the bus window, peering inside. They didn't look human.
"Huh?"
But I recognized the face. The right-side lights were on, so I could see clearly.
It was the guy with the box cutter — the one who'd disappeared just a few minutes ago.
Could he actually see inside the bus?
How was he still alive?
I'd assumed he was dead, taken out by that creature. I'd been too frantic getting back to the bus to check.
But why did his eyes look like a monster's now?
W-wait.
Infected?
It was definitely the same guy's face.
But now those eyes — bloodshot and crawling — were scanning the inside of the bus.
Come to think of it, the creature that Seonghee had caved in with her knee moved differently from the others. Its build was closer to human, too.
The biggest difference: I hadn't been able to track its movements. It hadn't looked slow to me.
A humanoid monster? And had this guy gotten infected by it and turned into… this?
Could the humanoid type see the bus?
I moved closer to the window and studied its face.
Human features, but the expression, the eyes — no different from any other monster.
It seemed like it was trying to look inside, but it hadn't spotted us yet.
Like it could sense something was there but couldn't quite see it.
Either way, I needed to add a new category in my head.
*Humanoid monsters.*
This one wasn't going to be easy for me to handle. And Seonghee — her ability still wasn't something she could control. I couldn't just hand this off to her.
*Does she have to lose herself before it kicks in?*
I turned and looked at her. She was sitting in her seat, staring blankly out the window at the creature, face tight with fear. Nothing like the person from a few minutes ago.
She couldn't consciously control her ability. It would've been nice if she could trigger it herself. Frustrating.
The creature started moving. It seemed to register the shape of the bus but couldn't make out what was inside the windows. Small mercies.
I carefully opened the bus door. Even if it was humanoid, it couldn't get in, right?
My right arm still ached, but I gripped the sword with my right hand anyway. My left felt wrong. Better to deal with the pain than fumble with the unfamiliar.
I leveled the sword at the door and waited.
The creature drifted slowly from the window toward the door. From there, it would be able to see straight into the open bus.
The moment it stepped into range, I drove the sword forward without hesitation.
*SHRIEK!*
I felt the blade connect with its throat — and then stop.
The instant the sword hit, it yanked itself backward and put distance between itself and the bus.
Dark red blood seeped from its neck for just a moment, then the bleeding stopped. A beat later, a thick green liquid oozed from the wound, viscous and slow. It coiled around its throat.
"What… what is that?"
The green sludge spread in a grotesque wave, coating its entire body in seconds. Like a green gummy candy melting over it.
*Holy—*
Should I go out there and cut it down now?
But I had no idea what I was looking at. That could get me killed.
Wait. Watch. Whatever's happening right in front of me — I don't understand it yet.
And this is information. Anything I can learn about them matters.
I stayed tense and kept watching. But even as time passed, the thing just stood there — a lump of green jelly, motionless.
*Gurgle.*
That wasn't my stomach. It came from the table — from Seonghee, the knee-of-god herself.
*Seriously, it's already been that long since she ate…*
At least Korka had recharged a little earlier. That helped.
I pulled ingredients from the fridge and the food storage and set them on the counter.
"Take your time eating."
She stood with an apologetic look and got to work — grilling meat, microwaving rice. Before long, the table looked almost exactly like before. Same fridge contents, same spread.
She was noticeably faster at it than I would've been.
"What about you?"
"Not hungry."
I really wasn't.
She glanced at me for a moment, then turned back and ate everything with the same ravenous focus as before. When she finished, the fear in her eyes had vanished completely. She started clearing the table with a calm, settled expression.
Had that look earlier been hunger, not fear?
I sat at the table and kept watching the creature outside. Seonghee, hit by the post-meal drowsiness, started nodding off in her seat.
"Sleep in the bed."
She startled awake at my voice, eyes wide — then slowly started drifting off again.
*Too guilty to sleep comfortably on her own, I guess.*
Then, from outside, came a sound like a carbonated bottle being cracked open. It came from the direction of the green jelly.
The jelly was dissolving — fizzing and foaming like a shaken soda, the green liquid running down and pooling on the ground.
And as it melted away, the creature's original form emerged. Except it wasn't the half-formed thing from before. Now it looked almost identical to the one that had nearly killed me.
*So it wasn't fully evolved yet when it got infected.*
Why did that make sense to me? Had I watched too many movies? I liked disaster films, sure — but I'd never seen or heard of anything like this. So why did it feel familiar?
"Damn it."
The creature started walking toward the bus. Without thinking, I slammed the door shut. It probably couldn't get in anyway, but something told me I had to.
Could it see the bus now?
It was walking straight toward us. No guessing, no wandering — it knew exactly where we were.
The tension came back. I found myself desperately hoping my ancient cells would kick in and tell me something useful.
*Shouldn't I get some kind of power boost when a stronger enemy shows up? What kind of balance is this?*
Wait, why am I thinking in game terms? This isn't a game. This isn't a novel. This is real.
The creature stopped right in front of the window on the right side of the bus. Its eyes swept back and forth, searching.
My breath caught. The fear I thought I'd buried came rushing back.
It locked eyes with me.
It could see inside the bus now. For real.
I grabbed the sword and stared it down. It stared back for a moment — then slowly raised both of its grotesque hands.
Could it actually touch the bus?
Before I could finish the thought, it started pounding on the window. But I still felt no vibration. No sound came through. Like the bus was on mute.
Then something caught my eye near the driver's seat — a blinking light.
*What's that?*
I moved quickly to the front and checked the dashboard. There was a gauge I hadn't noticed before, labeled:
**[SHIELD]**
Shield? A barrier?
The gauge showed a number.
**[3/20]**
Huh?
Every time the creature struck the bus, the number dropped. And each time it dropped, the light flashed like crazy.
**[2/20]**
So when it hits zero—
I looked back. The creature was still hammering away. I checked the gauge again.
**[1/20]**
*Damn it!*
And then—
**[20/20]**
Wait. Why did it refill?
I figured it out fast. The answer was right next to it — the Korka gauge.
**[12/100]**
It had shown 13 a moment ago. One was gone.
*Damn it. The bus's defense isn't unlimited.*
I'd thought it was invincible. But nothing's free — not even at the end of the world.
Why hadn't the lights flashed when the boar creatures rammed us earlier? Was the gauge there and I just missed it? Did the warning light only appear after the bus evolved?
Either way, I had to deal with this thing before it drained all the Korka.
I wanted to go out there and cut it down, but remembering what happened last time — that wasn't going to be simple.
I turned and looked at Seonghee, slumped over the table, asleep.
*What if I just… pushed her outside?*
Would she snap into it and knee this thing's head clean off?
If I couldn't figure out how to trigger her ability, maybe throwing her into the situation would do it.
But what if it didn't work?
*Sorry. Sorry I even thought that.*
Maybe her ability only activated when I was the one in danger?
Should I go out there and let it hit me again, like before?
And if the former box-cutter guy just carved me into pieces?
Looking at those razor-sharp claws, I was pretty sure I'd end up as fresh tartare.
*Ah…* I still had no idea what to do. While I was thinking, the creature kept pounding, and the gauge kept falling.
Another Korka gone.
*Oh!*
I grabbed the bow and nocked an arrow. Then I opened the bus door.
*Worth a shot. Literally.*
The creature didn't seem to notice the door opening.
I leaned out just far enough, loosed an arrow straight at it, and pulled back inside immediately.
I watched through the window to see what happened.
It stopped hitting the bus. It stared at the arrow sticking out of its body with a blank, almost curious expression.
*Damn it, damn it, damn it.*
No reaction. No pain. It looked mildly inconvenienced at best.
It reached up with one gnarled hand and grabbed the arrow. And pulled.
Then—
*BOOM!*
A sound like a giant gummy exploding — and the creature's torso burst apart.
Green liquid sprayed in every direction. What hit the bus window slid straight down and dripped off. The head and arms that had been attached to the shredded torso dropped to the ground.
"Oh!"
Where it had stood, a thick green puddle spread across the pavement. The head and limbs were slowly dissolving into it.
*One arrow. That's all it took.*
The green liquid rose like steam and faded from sight. Left behind: one Korka and the arrow.
"Wait — the arrow's still good?"
I checked outside carefully, then stepped out and picked up the arrow. The Korka beside it lifted into the air and was absorbed into the bus.
Just one Korka. Because it was humanoid? Or because it had only just turned? Hard to say yet.
Either way, that creature had been an ordinary person until just a little while ago.
And even as a person, he'd attacked me when I tried to help him. Not a shred of gratitude.
Then he turned into a monster and came after us again.
I didn't feel sorry for something that had tried to kill me twice.
That's when I noticed the box cutter lying on the ground.