Lee Jung-woo headed not for the barricaded main entrance but for the spiral staircase leading to the back door.

This was an area with little student traffic, and iron bars were installed between the first and second floors.

I vaguely recalled hearing from seniors that these bars were set up next to the second-floor store to prevent students from running off without paying.

Since there were metal doors separating the staircases and hallways on each floor, we decided to bypass the fourth and third floors and start clearing from the second floor.

When we reached the second-floor metal door, Lee Jung-woo turned around and said in a low voice,

“Everyone, stay focused.”

I nodded and drew the hunting knife from the leg holster.

Each member gripped their weapon tightly, swallowing dryly as they kept their eyes on Lee Jung-woo.

He carefully unwound the microphone cable tied to the door and slowly opened it.

“Krrr…rrrr…”

Lee Jung-woo’s eyes widened, and he quickly closed the door, turning back to us.

He motioned silently for me, standing at the very back, to hurry upstairs.

Scrambling back up to the fifth floor, I was followed closely by the rest of the group.

Once on the fifth-floor hallway, Lee Jung-woo pressed his temples.

All eyes turned to him as he clicked his tongue and said,

“We can’t go in. There are too many.”

“How many are there?”

“The hallway’s packed—there’s not even room to step.”

With a troubled look on his face, Lee Jung-woo was interrupted by Choi Hyun, who asked,

“Hyung, do we have any food left?”

At that, Lee Jung-woo glanced over at Jung Jin-young.

Was Jin-young in charge of the food supply?

Jung Jin-young scratched his eyebrow before replying,

“There’s no food left. All we have is eight 500ml bottles of water.”

The group’s faces grew grim at his response.

This meant we had no choice but to break through that hallway.

Rubbing my chin, I sank into thought.

It was still early morning, and the mist only enveloped the first floor.

There was no need to worry about the zombies’ sense of smell, but we had to be cautious about their vision and hearing.

Turning to Choi Hyun, I asked,

“Hyun-ah, how many ‘fireworks’ do we have left?”

“Just one.”

One remaining firework wasn’t enough to lure the horde on the second floor.

With no better options, I pulled my phone from my pocket to check the remaining battery.

8% left.

Enough to set an alarm.

Lee Jung-woo stared at me, tilting his head.

“Do you have a plan?”

“For now, let’s clear the third and fourth floors first.”

“Why go there?”

“There are too many zombies on the second floor, right? We can’t just charge in blindly. We need to expand our operational range first.”

“To get to the third and fourth floors, we have to use the main stairwell. What if the noise echoes, and the zombies from the second floor come up?”

“We’ll lure them away.”

Answering matter-of-factly, I could see Lee Jung-woo raise his eyebrows slightly but remain silent.

Receiving the firework from Choi Hyun, I began setting an alarm on my phone as I explained,

“To fight safely, we need to create a disturbance on the first floor to draw some of the zombies down from the second floor.”

“We can’t even get through the second floor. How are you going to cause a commotion on the first floor?”

“We’ll drop the firework between the stair railings to the first floor. The zombies will follow the sound down. Then I’ll throw my phone with the alarm set into the flowerbed outside.”

“Outside?”

“If we only use the firework, the zombies around the building might come inside. The alarm outside will draw the zombies from the old student union building to follow it instead.”

Everyone seemed to grasp the idea.

However, Jung Jin-young, who had been quietly listening, tilted his head and asked,

“That makes sense, but once we start clearing the second floor, won’t the zombies on the first floor just come back up? If we fight on the stairs, the noise will echo, and the zombies downstairs will hear it, right?”

“We’ll attack the second floor simultaneously from the main stairwell and the spiral staircase. That way, the zombies will be divided between two directions.”

“Fine for the main stairs, but you’ve seen the spiral staircase. You said we can’t even get in there. How are you planning to attack?”

“If we wrap the door handle with the microphone cable, the zombies in the second-floor hallway won’t be able to push it open all the way. If they try to press against the metal door, it’ll only open a crack.”

“And we attack through the crack?”

Jung Jin-young snorted in disbelief, seemingly unimpressed by the plan.

Risky, but this was the safest option we had.

“If the zombies pile up in front of the door, their own bodies will block it. They won’t be able to push through easily. We need to thin their numbers first.”

“And if the cable breaks? Are microphone cables even strong enough for this?”

“They’re tougher than you think. There are cases of people escaping burning buildings by holding onto microphone cables.”

Lee Jung-woo rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

He must have concluded that my idea was the best option because it didn’t take long before he nodded in agreement.

“Alright. We’ll clear the fourth and third floors first, as Jae-hyung suggested. Any objections?”

Everyone shook their heads.

Lee Jung-woo inspected the group’s weapons before saying,

“To get to the fourth floor, we’ll need to go down the main stairwell. Jin-young, Wan-soo, and I will head into the fourth-floor hallway. The rest of you cover the stairs.”

---

After moving aside the boxes at the barricade’s base, we slipped out one by one.

I set my phone’s alarm for three minutes later, then walked over to a window.

If the phone broke upon impact, the plan would fail. Aiming carefully, I threw the phone into the flowerbed in front of the student union building.

I’d set the volume to maximum, so the zombies wouldn’t hear any internal noise over it.

After throwing the phone, I turned to the group and said,

“When the alarm rings, we move immediately.”

The tension in the air was palpable.

During the brief three-minute wait, silence reigned as everyone sharpened their focus, straining their ears for the sound of the alarm.

Ding-ding-ding-ding—Good morning—ba-ba-ba-ba!

KRRRRRAAAAHHH!!

Soon after, the sound of zombie footsteps and growls came from outside.

Wasting no time, I lit the firework and dropped it through the gap in the stair railings.

Tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!!

The firework clattered noisily down to the first floor, and zombies on all levels began heading downward.

Everything was going as planned.

Seeing the zombies descend, Lee Jung-woo signaled for us to move.

We quickly advanced to the landing between the fifth and fourth floors.

In the distance, figures shuffled aimlessly along the fourth-floor hallway.

The zombies limped aimlessly, their movements erratic.

While the alarm and firework had drawn most of them away, it seemed the zombies deeper inside hadn’t registered the noise.

As expected, the zombies’ senses had not yet evolved.

Approximately seven of them.

Lee Jung-woo glanced briefly at the stairs leading to the third floor, then began signaling with hand gestures.

He pointed to his eyes with his right hand’s index and middle fingers, then gestured downward, holding up three fingers.

Three zombies below?

I nodded and drew the hunting knife from the leg holster.

We had to move as one.

Once we entered the fourth-floor hallway, the zombies from the third-floor stairs would come rushing.

Lee Jung-woo took a few deep breaths, then inhaled sharply and stepped into the fourth-floor hallway.

The zombies on the fourth floor turned simultaneously at the sound of his footsteps. Without hesitation, they let out throaty growls.

My job was to block the zombies coming up from the third floor.

The zombies on the third-floor stairs turned their gaze upward, having heard the cries from above.

Kaaaahhk!!

Gripping the hilt tightly, I swung the hunting knife toward the throat of the zombie that rushed toward me.

Swish—

The blade sliced cleanly through its neck.

The hunting knife’s sharpness was evident as it severed the vocal cords with precision.

I noticed another zombie approaching from my right. Just as I prepared to swing again—

Thwack!

Choi Hyun’s katana pierced the zombie’s eye socket.

Without hesitation, Choi Hyun pushed the zombie’s torso backward with his left foot.

The zombie tumbled backward, taking another zombie with it as it fell.

I clenched my teeth and reversed my grip on the knife. Swiftly, I descended a few steps, stabbing the knife into the eye socket of the fallen zombie.

After swiftly dealing with three zombies, I scanned the stairs leading to the third floor.

Even at a glance, there were more than ten zombies in the third-floor hallway.

Ka-kak! Kahaaaak!!

The zombies on the third floor spotted me and began charging upward.

Five, six, seven zombies rushed up the stairs between the third and fourth floors.

Choi Hyun and Seol Yeo-won quickly joined me, forming a defensive line.

Focusing on the pounding in my chest and the tension coursing through my body, I worked with mechanical precision to dispatch the zombies.

Kraaaahhhh!!

Stabbing their eye sockets was the most reliable method, but it was too slow for handling a large group.

I needed to target their necks.

Keeping my left hand raised defensively, I swung the hunting knife relentlessly with my right.

One critical thing to remember: zombies with severed necks often remained active for 20 to 30 seconds before dying.

I had to stay alert to avoid having my ankles bitten by the fallen ones.

With our high ground advantage, our movements became more efficient, and we expended less energy.

Zombies, consumed by instinct, charged with their heads held high, making their necks easier targets.

The problem was Choi Hyun.

Positioned between Seol Yeo-won and me, Choi Hyun’s long katana was difficult to wield freely.

Unable to swing properly, he resorted to repeated thrusts.

“Damn it—!”

I heard Choi Hyun curse beside me.

A quick glance revealed his katana lodged deep in a zombie’s skull, refusing to budge.

He grimaced as he kicked the zombie in an attempt to free the blade.

Thunk.

At the same time, the falling zombie grabbed onto Choi Hyun’s leg.

Watching the scene felt surreal, as if time itself had stretched unnaturally.

I was barely managing the zombie in front of me; I had no capacity to help Choi Hyun.

“Grab him!”

I shouted to no one in particular, and moments later, I saw someone pull Choi Hyun backward.

Turning my head slightly, I saw Yun Hye-ri gripping Choi Hyun’s shoulders, dragging him away.

As Choi Hyun and Yun Hye-ri fell back together, a gap formed in our defensive line.

I stepped to the right to cover for Choi Hyun, prompting Seol Yeo-won to move left.

It seemed Seol Yeo-won had also been keeping an eye on Choi Hyun.

Kaahhh!

A zombie leaned against the left wall and lunged at me, its eyes bloodshot.

I quickly shoved its jaw away with my left forearm and stabbed its eye socket with my hunting knife.

The zombie collapsed, spewing viscous blood.

Its teeth had been sharp enough to tear through the tape around my forearm, leaving a thick, two-centimeter chunk of a book dangling.

Using my arm as a shield had become far too dangerous.

Had the fourth floor not been cleared yet?

Scanning the fourth floor with wide eyes, I saw Jeon Wan-soo running toward us at just the right moment.

He waved his arm energetically, signaling for us to come up.

Noticing this, Seol Yeo-won stepped back cautiously.

Five zombies remained.

We had to move before more arrived.

“Go on up!”

Choi Hyun’s voice came from behind.

He stood, gripping his katana with both hands, his expression fierce.

Though he’d just survived a harrowing moment, he seemed more angry than scared.

Was he telling us to go so he could fight freely without being hindered?

I hesitated, watching Choi Hyun.

Having only thrust repeatedly until now, he adjusted his grip on the katana and charged the zombies like a kendo practitioner.

Precise movements.

Quick and accurate strikes.

They weren’t the motions of an amateur.

Kahhh!

But fighting zombies wasn’t the same as fighting humans.

A zombie with severed legs lunged at his ankle with bared teeth.

Seeing this, I instinctively moved to assist him.

Thwack!

Before I could act, Choi Hyun’s katana traced an elegant arc in the air, piercing the zombie’s temple directly.

He had already anticipated the attack.

The zombie fell lifelessly without even a death rattle.

Twisting the katana to extract it, Choi Hyun slashed diagonally at another zombie, severing its torso cleanly in two.

Without missing a beat, he pulled his elbows in and decapitated the bisected zombie.

Fast and decisive.

In mere moments, Choi Hyun had dispatched five zombies, exhaling deeply to steady himself.

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