Editor’s Survival Guide - Chapter 31

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Editor’s Survival Rules Episode 31

ep7. The Running Dead(3)

Ha Yu-ju.

Screams, struggling, pain, bleeding, crying, fingernails.

Kwak Jae-gyeom.

Agitation, first aid, excitement, irritation, desperation, veins bulging.

Cha Si-eon.

Radio, voice, composure, pressing, orders, situation terminated.

Seo Do-un.

An editor who once again encountered death, a certain gravekeeper.

* * *

Ha Yu-ju’s sobbing had subsided.

It seemed the medication had finally taken effect.

I considered wiping the dried blood from Ha Yu-ju’s face but decided against it.

It was better to conserve water for now.

The back of my hand stung.

Looking at it, I saw it was covered with crescent-shaped wounds.

These were nail marks that Ha Yu-ju had dug in while writhing in pain.

Unable to show that I was in pain, I covered the back of my hand with my sleeve.

Kwak Jae-gyeom, who had suffered more than me, was sitting a little distance away.

Exhausted, he was leaning against the wall with his head down.

Though it wasn’t very bright, the blood smeared all over Kwak Jae-gyeom’s head was clearly visible.

It was fortunate that the clothes we wore were black.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, well…”

When I approached and asked, Kwak Jae-gyeom looked up.

Then he smiled as if my concern was rather awkward.

“Of course I’m fine, I was prepared for this. But Ha Yu-ju isn’t even part of the combat team. The composition team only does basic training, and not all field departments are the same field department, ah, really…”

Kwak Jae-gyeom tried to act fine but then lowered his head again.

Then he roughly tousled his own hair.

Kwak Jae-gyeom’s forearm that came up over his head was a mess of bite marks.

These were marks from when Ha Yu-ju had panicked and bitten him as he tried to tie her arm tightly to stop the bleeding.

The traces of blood beading and bruising were horrific.

But his inside seemed more messed up than his outside.

If it had been just him and me who were dragged here, he probably would have been giggling calmly.

He would have excitedly reported to Cha Si-eon that he had accomplished the belongings mission.

If his own hand had been blown off, he might have even bragged about wanting a robot arm.

But right now, Kwak Jae-gyeom didn’t have that kind of composure.

I also swallowed a sigh from my frustrated feelings.

The place we were in was a narrow, curved corridor like the inside of a snail shell.

There were fluorescent lights on the ceiling, but they weren’t on.

However, there was dim light seeping in from outside, so we could see inside.

Other than that, there were no distinguishing features, so I couldn’t guess where we were.

I looked around for a moment, then spoke into my smartwatch.

“Team Leader Cha Si-eon, where are we?”

-I’ll explain the space after Ha Yu-ju has stabilized.

So that’s why there was no explanation – he was waiting.

Just as I was nodding my head.

“I’m okay now.”

Ha Yu-ju spoke in a thread-like voice.

I turned toward Ha Yu-ju in surprise, and Kwak Jae-gyeom also looked up.

Ha Yu-ju, who had been lying on Kwak Jae-gyeom’s outer clothing, was forcing herself to sit up.

-Ha Yu-ju, have you calmed down?

“Yes, I’ve calmed down.”

Really?

Ha Yu-ju had barely stopped sobbing but was still crying.

-First, I’ll update you on the situation. Your severed hand is being transported to the medical center. The loss rate of the silicone bracelet that was severed with it has been determined to be 0.5mm or less. If your wrist area is in the same condition, they say most of the nerves can be reattached.

“What about contamination?”

-The contamination level will be measured as soon as it arrives at the medical center. The decision on whether to perform suturing surgery will also depend on the results.

Does that mean if it’s contaminated, they might not be able to reattach it?

I quietly observed Ha Yu-ju’s complexion.

But Ha Yu-ju was unexpectedly composed.

No, she was breathing shallowly, trying hard to stay composed.

-Jae-gyeom.

“Yes, Team Leader.”

-Evacuate Ha Yu-ju first, then return with Seo Do-un. The medical team has determined Ha Yu-ju’s golden time to be 2 hours.

“Is the rescue team being deployed?”

-Whether to deploy the rescue team will be re-discussed after Ha Yu-ju’s evacuation.

“Why? No, more than that, where are we?”

To postpone deploying the rescue team when there’s a critical patient.

Kwak Jae-gyeom asked repeatedly, finding the decision hard to accept.

-The place where you are now is the “Zombie Sports Stadium.”

But Cha Si-eon’s answer was enough to silence us.

A heavy silence fell.

As if entranced, I stood up and headed toward where the light was seeping in.

After climbing a few steps, an open outdoor area spread out before me.

A dark sky with no moon or stars.

Below it, a giant illumination tower shining brightly.

A soccer field with green grass monopolizing the intense lighting.

And the dead wandering above it.

Dozens, no. Hundreds of corpses were walking around.

Even covered in blood, even with their bodies torn apart.

Without a doubt, it was the most horrific sight of my life.

—

Survival Rules for Missing Persons in “Zombie Sports Stadium”

You are currently in the “Zombie Sports Stadium” managed by the Government of South Korea.

This is a dangerous situation where you could lose your life, so please familiarize yourself with the survival rules below and evacuate quickly.

Survival Rules for Missing Persons in “Zombie Sports Stadium”

■ Common Precautions

One. Do not forget that you are human.

Only humans can escape from this place.

Two. Comply with the social norms of South Korea.

Criminal acts are not permitted even in Special Management Zones (SMZ).

However, minimal killing for one’s own survival is exceptionally permitted.

All other criminal acts and proxy killing for rescuing lives other than one’s own are strictly prohibited.

Violation of this may result in punishment under Special Zone Special Law.

■ “Zombie Sports Stadium” Escape Guidelines

“Zombie Sports Stadium” is a sports complex-type Special Zone characterized by dead humans attacking living humans.

The escape routes identified so far are as follows, so please refer to the content below and return safely.

-Next-

Route A. Escape through stadium cleaning

Route B. Escape through the “White Shadow with a Pierced Chest”

Route C. Escape through the “Judge Who Weighs”

Route D. Martyrdom

—

Let’s throw out that damn ‘martyrdom’ for now.

There are 3 escape methods from the “Zombie Sports Stadium”.

“Ha Yu-ju got injured while performing official duties, so shouldn’t this count as making her a national merit recipient?”

Kwak Jae-gyeom made an unreasonable argument.

-No.

Of course it didn’t work.

—

Route B. Escape through the “White Shadow with a Pierced Chest”

This escape method is only possible for those who meet the following conditions.

1. National merit recipients or their direct descendants

2. Those who have engaged in regular donations or volunteer activities for 3 years or more

3. Those who have received commendations for substantial social contributions

4. Others recognized as exemplary for their devotion to the country, social contributions, practice of sharing, etc.

Those who meet the above conditions can seek help from the “White Shadow with a Pierced Chest”.

If you don’t meet the conditions, please choose another route.

—

Route B is an escape route like a reward for patriots.

Unfortunately, none of us qualify.

I should have lived more virtuously.

“Stadium cleaning would take too long, wouldn’t it?”

This time I muttered the obvious.

-Currently, conditions for stadium cleaning are not met. Even if conditions were satisfied, cleaning all 147 “Running Corpses” currently roaming the stadium would take more than 3 days.

Right. I knew it wouldn’t work.

—

Route A. Escape through stadium cleaning

This method can be attempted when there are 5 or fewer survivors in the Special Zone and 100 or more “Running Corpses” in the stadium.

Become a janitor, subdue all the “Running Corpses”, put them in bags provided in the cleaning supply closet, and transport them to the disposal site.

Once stadium cleaning is complete, the janitor can go home.

—

Route A is also practically impossible.

Now all that’s left is ‘Route C. Escape through the “Judge Who Weighs”‘.

However, we didn’t mention this carelessly.

No, we were deliberately avoiding it.

—

Route C. Escape through the “Judge Who Weighs”

Determine victory or defeat through confrontation, deals, bets, drawing lots, etc. with other people in the Special Zone, and secure corpses of the losers equivalent to your body weight.

The judge will determine your victory by weight, not quantity.

Once you’ve secured the corpses, run from the stadium center toward a soccer goal. Either goal is fine.

At this time, the “Running Corpses” roaming the stadium will target you or the corpses you’ve secured.

If you overcome the interference and reach the goal, the “Judge Who Weighs” will let you out.

Precautions

1. Bodies of “Running Corpses” cannot be recycled as loser corpses.

2. If you leave the stadium while moving to the goal, you must return to the stadium center and start over from the beginning.

3. Maintain the weight of the corpses until you reach the goal. If the corpse weight at the time of goal arrival is less than your body weight, you cannot receive a victory judgment.

—

In short, it’s soccer played with corpses.

Moreover, it’s the truly clichéd and unpleasant setting of ‘kill if you want to live’.

That’s why I didn’t want to mention it much, but Kwak Jae-gyeom deliberately brought it up.

“Hyung, what’s your weight?”

“About 60.”

“I’m 73kg. Even combined, we’re not even 140kg.”

Kwak Jae-gyeom let out a long sigh.

Then with a determined face, he placed his hand on Ha Yu-ju’s shoulder.

“You’ll have to sacrifice yourself after all. Hippos weigh over a ton.”

“I’m already short on blood, don’t make my blood pressure rise…”

Ha Yu-ju shot back with a pale face.

Joking at a time like this.

I wanted to laugh at their spirit, but it didn’t come easily.

That wasn’t just joking around, but an effort to hide their pain.

So all I could manage was a bitter smile.

The fortunate thing was that there was no possibility of us fighting each other.

I’m Section Chief Kwon Mu-seop’s pick.

Jae-gyeom is the gun holder.

Yu-ju is the lightest among us.

In order: someone who shouldn’t be killed, someone who can’t be killed, someone whose death wouldn’t help.

Besides, Cha Si-eon is watching in real time from outside.

So we don’t need to participate in that atrocious game…

But then how exactly do we get Ha Yu-ju out?

I can’t see a way.

Moreover, Cha Si-eon is strangely tight-lipped.

At the mart, it seemed like he didn’t give us a moment to breathe, so why now?

-Stop chatting and focus. First, Seo Do-un, put on your mask.

Cha Si-eon suddenly gave an order.

-Seo Do-un will sit and wait at the spot where Ha Yu-ju was lying. Jae-gyeom and Yu-ju move to the left room, Jae-gyeom waits behind the door.

The explanation was quite lacking, but we scattered as instructed.

However, the corridor was so narrow it was practically right next to each other.

About 3 minutes passed in that state.

Clang- Bang-!

Some can flew from the end of the corridor.

It rolled near me, then stopped and suddenly spewed out smoke.

“Ugh…!”

-Don’t move.

When I flinched, Cha Si-eon warned in a low voice.

Is this why he told me to wear a mask?

The mask provided by the Management Bureau is a special mask with an external filter.

Even so, a pungent smell stung my nose.

It seems they put something strange in the can and lit it on fire.

I endured the acrid smoke without understanding why.

That crude tear gas didn’t last long and went out weakly, filling the corridor with murky smoke.

Step-

Footsteps echoed in the silence.

Step- Step-

As those footsteps gradually approached me.

-Jae-gyeom, shoot 15 degrees left of the corridor, 10 meters.

Cha Si-eon commanded without hesitation, and Kwak Jae-gyeom followed without hesitation.

Pop-pop-pop-!

I opened my eyes wide at the gunfire that erupted right next to me.

I was holding my breath, not knowing what was happening.

Thud-

From the far end of the corridor came the sound of something collapsing.

It was a sound that left no doubt about death.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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