Red Dot - 60

At first, he thought there was an issue with the helicopter. Though he couldn’t remember it clearly, he considered the possibility that some part of the helicopter might have been damaged, leading to a crash.
He tried the same thing in the next dream. This time, he consciously opened his eyes at the same timing to remember it clearly.

Thunk-

Once again, he experienced the same phenomenon and returned to the beginning.

The helicopter seemed perfectly fine. Until the moment before experiencing this phenomenon, he kept looking outside, wondering if there was smoke or damage somewhere. Even in the last moment he remembered, the helicopter was intact and in perfect condition.

Unable to comprehend this inexplicable phenomenon, Junseong couldn’t hide his confusion.

Then, he came to one conclusion.

‘Maybe it’s because I’m not qualified to move forward yet.’

When he aimed to go to the outskirts of the city using the rescue helicopter, it corresponded to the early stages of the second day in the flow of the dream when he hadn’t grasped any clues for a solution to the zombie situation. He thought he was sent back because he tried to escape without finding a proper solution.

As Junseong, it felt unjust since he did it not to escape using the rescue helicopter but to obtain accurate information. Ultimately, the dream interfered with his information gathering.

If moving on his own was restricted, how about trying to explore the outskirts of the city or beyond using a different method?

That’s when he thought of Hwang Gyeong-ohhh’s drone.

Even in the dream, he constantly modified his own drone. It had many useful functions, allowing him to strategize using the drone when fighting zombies. It could record video, transmit audio, and later, he expanded its maximum range for effective reconnaissance and increased the maximum weight for item delivery.

Junseong decided to use this drone to survey the outskirts of the city.

Ironically, the dream didn’t allow even that.

Not only was he restricted from going outside, but also whenever he tried to use another method to gather external information, the dream abruptly restarted.

Junseong was not pleased with this unreasonable information block.

But now, it’s not a dream.

It’s ‘reality.’

Reality couldn’t block information or obstruct the way forward like a dream could.

As reality dared not interfere, now seemed like the perfect opportunity to obtain the information he couldn’t get back then.

Excited at the thought of finally being able to see outside the city, Junseong clenched his fists and spoke to Gyeong-ohhh.

“I plan to check the outskirts using your drone.”

Even in the dream, he had some information about the outside.

‘Soldiers from the military have closed off the city and are managing shelters on the outskirts.’ or ‘Even the police authorities have issued official statements and are suppressing all reports related to zombies to avoid confusion.’ These were credible pieces of information he considered because they were gathered through various routes during countless repetitions of the dream. He wished he could believe them as they were.

‘Feels uneasy.’

For some reason, he felt uneasy. The presence of ‘variables’ rolling around in places he couldn’t see constantly bothered him.

Thinking about what happened at the Inhan Hospital and ‘that man,’ he couldn’t shake off the uneasy feeling that everything in unseen places might have changed.

To confirm this, external reconnaissance using Hwang Gyeong-ohhh’s drone was absolutely necessary.

“With the current drone, you can only go about 2km at most, right? You need to modify it to go up to 10km for it to be effective outside the city.”

“10km?!”

Gyeong-ohhh was surprised, raising his head.

“Going that far is impossible. It’s not only difficult to modify the drone to cover such distances, but even if it’s possible, the flight management won’t work. Controlling it over such a long distance with pure wireless communication…”

“Anyway, sir, you’ll figure it out and modify it well on your own, but I’ll tell you everything within the limits of what I remember. That way, you can modify it in a day, saving you the trouble you’ve been through for a week.”

The more Gyeong-ohh listened, the more he felt something strange in Junseong’s words.

It seemed like Junseong was convinced that he could successfully carry out such a modification.

‘No, not conviction… more like… as if I’ve successfully modified it like he says…’

While feeling uncomfortable with Junseong’s words and just tilting his head, Changmin, who had been quietly listening, finally spoke up.

“I’ve felt so awkward about this, not sure if it makes sense or not, but could you check if this is just a ridiculous thought?”

Changmin’s eyes looked seriously at Junseong.

“Junseong, can you see the future?”

“Huh?!”

The one who made the sound was not Junseong but Gyeong-ohh. He awkwardly laughed while looking at Changmin, who was throwing a serious joke.

“Ha, hahaha… that’s an absurd thought, isn’t it, right…?”

“Yeah, it is.”

“Huh?!”

Gyeong-ohh, with widened eyes at Junseong’s words, had a bewildered expression. The problem was that it wasn’t just Gyeong-ohh making such an expression.

“Wow, Junseong oppa is trying to be funny…”

Jian, showing a face that seemed to say it was ridiculous, was just thinking that it was a joke. But somehow, both Changmin who asked the question and Junseong who answered seemed too serious.

Junseong looked at Changmin first and then Jian and Gyeong-ohh, saying:

“From now on, it’s up to the three of you to believe it or not.”

Since Gyeong-ohh had already experienced saying this in a dream, he wasn’t too worried. He knew all the components and tools needed for modifying the drone among the items in his house. More importantly, he knew where he sent the drone with the same model on the last day for reconnaissance.

The decisive factor was the ‘inhaler.’

Gyeong-ohh attached considerable importance to the fact that Junseong sent him the crucial inhaler just when he needed it. Moreover, the medicine was an item that could only be purchased with a prescription for asthma patients, making it not easily obtainable.

Junseong also knew this. So, on the first day, he went to the pharmacy where the owner had fled, collected the necessary medicines, and included the inhaler. He left the medicine price on the pharmacy table.

The inhaler prepared in advance proved to be very useful for Gyeong-ohh, and knowing all the details, he had no choice but to believe Junseong’s words.

However, it was a problem with the other two who hadn’t experienced it before.

Seeing Jian, with eyes wide open and a face showing uncertainty, and Changmin, with a face that wanted to hear and confirm despite knowing everything, Junseong finally brought up the story about his ‘dream.’

One hour later.

Under the dark night sky, Junseong, who came out of the container office, looked at the shadow following him and spoke.

“To be honest, I’m not really worried. Everyone has directly seen and experienced situations that are hard to believe.”

A warm blanket covered Junseong’s shoulders. It was a fairly wide blanket, so he spread it out a bit more and covered shoulders with Hanseo, who said:

“You can trust it.”

Hanseo’s arm wrapped around Junseong’s waist, pulling him close. Remembering the time when they stayed close to avoid getting bitten by zombies, Junseong was about to push him away when he recalled the past.

‘Come to think of it, I told this guy everything.’

When he talked about his dreams and the future, Hanseo either playfully laughed or had a face that didn’t deny it with expressions like ‘Oh, really.’ It was an attitude that believed and listened to everything he said as if it were a fact.

It took a while for Do Hanseo to genuinely feel thankful.

“If you still can’t believe it, just leave everything. I’ll be enough on my own.”

Junseong turned his head to look at Hanseo’s face. Despite his usual relaxed smile, there seemed to be some discontent.

“What don’t you like?”

“Yeah.”

Hanseo, who responded promptly, grabbed Junseong’s chin and looked down at him.

“I asked someone who raises dogs, and they said if you listen well, they’ll love you.”

“Dogs?”

To Junseong, who looked puzzled, Hanseo continued.

“Since you did well with what I asked, you should love me, right?”

Junseong still had a face that said, ‘What nonsense is this?’

Perhaps feeling frustrated, Hanseo lifted Junseong’s hand and placed it on his head.

“I know your head is complicated, but you should do what you can. Otherwise, the meaning of me sending you alone with that guy will be lost.”

Junseong, staring at Hanseo intently, looked at his hand on his head and his smiling face. Then, he chuckled softly.

“Is this because our dog wants to hear praise from the master that it did well?”

Hanseo’s eyes narrowed mischievously. He turned Junseong around, pulled his waist with one arm, and embraced him. Chest, belly, and even below that, they fully touched.

“Yeah, master.”

Hanseo lifted the blanket that covered both of them over his arm and up to the top of his head. Because of that, even if you looked out the window towards the container office, you could hardly see the heads of the two.

Inside the blanket, Hanseo grinned.

“Our little puppy wants praise from the master, huh?”