Red Dot - 13

Chapter 13

“Your arm must hurt. Just go down quietly.”

“Still, I can at least help one person down.”

Junseong felt the pressure under his groin and butt as he pushed Hanseo away. This time, Hanseo backed off without resistance.

Junseong knew that Hanseo was just being considerate, but if he went down first, there would be no one to lower the rope slowly. It was a difficult descent that required holding onto a single rope and controlling the speed alone. If something went wrong, he could fall and get seriously injured. In his dreams, he had no pain, so he had been able to recklessly drop and learn. But in reality, he wouldn’t have dared to try.

When Junseong grabbed the rope near his thigh to untie the loop, Hanseo tightly grabbed his arm and pulled it away. Unfortunately, it was the same arm he had been using to pull and adjust the rope, so when Hanseo suddenly grabbed it with his big hands, his muscles ached in protest.

Seeing Junseong grimace in pain, Hanseo loosened his grip.

“See? I barely grabbed you, and you’re already in pain.”

“How is that barely grabbing me?”

“By my standards, that was really light.”

Hanseo responded casually, then wrapped the rope connected to Junseong around his own arm. Copying what Junseong had been doing, Hanseo leaned against the cabinet and asked,

“You said ten minutes, right? There’s not much time left.”

Hearing Hanseo’s relaxed tone, Junseong checked his watch and sat on the window frame with a reluctant expression. To reduce weight, he took off his backpack and placed it below the window. Hanseo picked up the backpack and remarked, “Even military gear isn’t this heavy,” looking at Junseong with fresh curiosity.

Junseong lightly sat on the window frame. Without the backpack, he definitely felt lighter.

With both legs outside and gripping the rope, Junseong turned to Hanseo with a nervous look. Hanseo was strangely enthusiastic, already holding the rope tightly.

“Just so you know, I’m heavy.”

“Doesn’t seem like it.”

“You’re mistaken because of the backpack. I’m really heavy.”

“If that’s your weight including the backpack, then you’re actually pretty light.”

“Are you picking a fight?”

“If you want, I can.”

Exchanging these pointless words helped ease his nerves a little. Junseong chuckled and gripped the rope tightly.

“I’m going down.”

It was his first time having someone control his descent, so he was nervous. But in his dreams, he had gone down ropes like a special forces soldier.

Thinking of his dream self, Junseong positioned himself and lowered his body out of the window.

Despite his worries, Hanseo was supporting him effortlessly. In fact, he was lowering the rope much more smoothly and steadily than Junseong would have on his own.

‘His arms must hurt, right?’

Unlike Junseong, Hanseo had well-developed muscles, so he could probably endure better. But considering how sore his own arms and shoulders already were, he couldn’t help but worry.

‘Worrying… really?’

He still couldn’t fully trust Hanseo, yet just because they had exchanged names and joked a little, his guard had loosened.

As he passed the third floor and reached the second floor—

The rope, which had been moving smoothly, suddenly stopped. Junseong assumed Hanseo had paused to adjust the rope wrapped around his arm. But after a few seconds, there was still no movement.

‘Did he get hurt?’

Worried that Hanseo might have injured himself while releasing the rope, Junseong lifted his head—

And suddenly, his body dropped sharply. The three people below him let out short screams.

“Ugh…!”

Though startled, he didn’t crash straight into the ground. He instinctively gripped the rope tighter and pulled up his knees, curling his body. It was an attempt to reduce the impact in case he hit the ground.

Fortunately, Junseong didn’t slam into the floor.

His body came to an abrupt stop between the second and first floors. His heart pounded as if it had dropped to his stomach. But hearing Chaei call out to him worriedly from below helped him regain focus.

After that terrifying moment, the descent became unusually gentle, almost careful. Once Junseong finally set both feet on the ground, he let out a relieved breath.

“Oppa, are you okay?”

Amid the much louder alarm sound than what he had heard on the third floor, Chaei ran up with a worried face. Even though he had landed safely, she must have been shocked by the sudden drop.

To reassure her, Junseong patted Chaei’s head, then untied the loop around his leg and shook the rope. It was the signal that he had reached the ground.

Hanseo poked his head out of the third-floor window. Without saying anything, he just looked down at Junseong as if checking his condition.

‘What… was that just now?’

The sudden heart-stopping drop still lingered in his mind.

Back when he was inexperienced, he had once misjudged his strength while releasing the rope and accidentally sent Jiwoo crashing down. There was no pain in the dream, but something must have happened to his muscles, because afterward, half of his forearm felt numb, making it difficult to use. Since it had been a dream, there had been no pain—but if the same injury happened in reality, the pain would be unbearable.

If his arm was injured, then no matter how much of an expert he was at descending, it wouldn’t be easy to go down while holding onto just one rope. In that case, he had to figure out how to get Hanseo down safely.

Hanseo quickly slipped back inside through the window. Since he wasn’t pulling the rope up, it really seemed like he might have been hurt.

Contrary to Junseong’s worries, Hanseo climbed onto the window frame looking perfectly fine. Wearing Junseong’s backpack on his back and holding the stick Chaeyi had given him, he gripped the rope close to the cabinet while sitting upside down.

Right after that.

Despite Junseong’s concerns, Hanseo showed an incredibly smooth descent. Like a veteran, he pushed off the wall at just the right moments, adjusting his speed, and when he landed, it was as light as if he had stepped down from a first-floor window.

‘As expected, guys who are good at sports are good at everything.’

Junseong recalled that Dohanseo was the top student in the kendo department and admired his athletic ability.

For a moment, he was amazed that Hanseo had come down holding onto just a single rope without even securing a loop around his legs.

Junseong approached Hanseo and helped him take off the backpack before asking,

“Are you hurt?”

“Hurt from what?”

“You let go of the rope earlier and then grabbed it again, didn’t you? You didn’t get hurt from that?”

“You’re asking the wrong question. You should be asking why I let go of the rope like that.”

“You did it on purpose?”

Junseong, now wearing the backpack himself, asked again. Hanseo looked at him silently for a moment.

For a second, Junseong wondered if Hanseo had really done it on purpose.

Would he joke around in such an urgent situation? Or did he actually try to drop himself? But why?

As if brushing away Junseong’s anxiety, Hanseo gave a slight smile.

“No way.”

“Then it’s fine. You don’t look hurt. Let’s go.”

Thinking it was a relief, Junseong started walking ahead toward the hill. If those long fingers had gotten hurt, he might have felt a little guilty.

Hanseo silently watched Junseong’s back once again.

After crossing the small hill and exiting the university grounds, Junseong’s group finally reached the main road. They quickly hid in a narrow alley nearby to avoid the zombies’ eyes.

From the shadows of the alley, they could finally take a proper look at the outside situation.

Cars were stopped all over the road as if they had crashed into each other in a chaotic accident.

Fires were burning in the distant shopping district.

Dark red bloodstains were splattered everywhere.

Desperate screams echoed from somewhere.

And even louder than those screams, countless zombies ran around, letting out terrifying howls.

Severed body parts were scattered around.

The thick smell of bl00d filled the main road so strongly that they had to cover their noses and mouths to endure it.

It was nothing less than hell itself.

“Ugh, urgh…!”

Soyeon covered her mouth with both hands at the horrifying sight, looking like she might faint at any moment. Fortunately, she managed to suppress the urge to vomit.

Jiwoo, standing next to her, wasn’t much better. His legs trembled so badly that it looked like he might collapse at any second.

Chaeyi seemed to be in slightly better condition, but her face had still lost all color. As a habit, her shaking hand gripped Junseong’s sleeve tightly.

Junseong checked the state of the three, confirming that it was exactly like what he had seen in his dream. Then, he suddenly turned his gaze toward Hanseo.

‘Why is he so calm?’

It almost felt like Hanseo was looking at the world before the zombie outbreak. Despite the screams of dying people, despite the zombie driver blaring a deafening horn while howling, he remained composed. As if it had nothing to do with him.

It was like he was watching a movie from outside the screen, completely detached.

Junseong couldn’t understand what Hanseo was thinking. Come to think of it, even in the instructor’s office earlier, he had shown an abnormal level of calmness.

‘He’ll snap out of it once he actually fights a zombie.’

Judging by how clean his clothes were, it was clear he hadn’t fought a zombie properly yet. He was lucky to have made it to the instructor’s office unharmed, and thanks to Junseong’s alarm and rope, he had avoided encountering zombies so far. It could only be called pure luck.

But from now on, things would be different.

There was no such thing as a perfect route where they could avoid zombies completely.