Chapter 205 – Panam Subway Station (2)

Although only a few people greeted us on the platform, there were more refugees hiding inside the subway station than I had expected.

They were all gathered in the concourse above the platform, living there.

After entrusting the party members with the pouch containing food supplies, I set out with Seo-eun.

Going alone would have been safer, but I needed a guide here.

“It’s best if I go. Thanks to my husband, I’ve been eating well, so my stamina is fine. And I’ve been gathering information about the surrounding areas from my husband and Seung-ah, so I know the area the best.”

She said this as she took the lead.

Looking at her, it seemed like only half of what she said was true.

It was true that she had been gathering information out of a sense of responsibility, but she didn’t seem to be in the best physical condition.

She had clearly lost weight, and seeing how quickly she got tired, it was obvious that she was stepping forward out of a sense of duty, not because of her stamina.

‘Hasn’t she changed?’

Even though we hadn’t met often and there had been many difficult events, Seo-eun remained the same as she was in our past life every time we met.

‘In my past life, I fell for her because of that demeanor……’

Unfortunately, now I felt nothing when I looked at her.

It would have been ridiculous to feel anything for her, a married woman, but it seemed I had finally let go of the emotions from my past life.

Thinking this, I walked through the dark tunnel with a flashlight I had prepared earlier, when Seo-eun’s voice came from beside me.

“Who is the woman you’re interested in, Sir?”

“?”

It was a completely unexpected question.

I hadn’t expected to hear such a thing while walking through this dark tunnel.

“There are three women in your party, right? Well, four, but one is too young. So, three. When you spend so much time together, isn’t it natural to develop feelings?”

I had no choice but to turn my head and look at Seo-eun.

As she swung the dim flashlight around and rambled on, her expression was stiff.

‘Is she scared?’

Come to think of it, despite her bold personality in our past life, Seo-eun had always hated this kind of atmosphere.

She would always veto horror movies as a date option.

‘She’s just saying whatever comes to mind because she’s scared.’

I understood why she was saying such random things, but the content was the problem.

“Even from a brief glance, it seems like all the women are interested in you, Sir. Yerim has been like that from the start, and the mage seems different around you now too. The elf acts completely differently when she’s with you compared to others.”

If I left her alone, her words would only get more out of hand.

Is this the gossip of a married woman?

I thought she hadn’t changed from before, but that wasn’t the case.

“You act differently around your party members compared to others, Sir. But the atmosphere is so ambiguous that it’s hard to tell who you like. Won’t you tell me? As someone who knows Yerim well, I’m a bit worried.”

No, it was clear that wasn’t the reason.

After talking for a while, her tension seemed to ease, and her eyes were filled with curiosity.

Seeing this, I put the flashlight back into my pouch.

“At this rate, we’ll never get there. Excuse me for a moment.”

I grabbed her by the waist and hoisted her onto my back.

“Ah!”

Seo-eun’s surprised voice came from behind me, but I ignored it and started running forward.

The dark railway tracks rushed toward us and then fell behind.

As I began to sprint through the darkness, Seo-eun let out a deep breath behind me, followed by a small voice.

“Ah, this is… I’m sorry. I’m not usually like this…… I don’t know why I’m acting like this……”

I didn’t respond to her apology.

Instead, I increased my speed.

After passing through Sinheung Station, I continued running past Daedong Station and Daejeon Station.

As Seo-eun had said before we started, there were no undead in the dark subway tunnels.

As I ran through the darkness, I heard Seo-eun’s whispers.

“At first, we tried to get food from the buildings connected to nearby stations. But while gathering food, we were chased by zombies and skeletons, and we almost got caught near Panam Station.

Fortunately, Seung-ah lured them away, so we weren’t discovered, but after that, we gave up on going to nearby stations.”

I immediately knew where she had lured them.

The train maintenance facility east of Panam Station. The battle scars there must have been left by Seung-ah.

“So this time, we tried to get food from the farthest station……”

But the two who had gone to get food still hadn’t returned.

For a moment, the thought that something bad might have happened crossed my mind, but I quickly pushed it aside.

From what I knew, Seung-ah was a woman who was even more resilient to bad luck than I was.

She had been involved with us multiple times, and each time, she had survived crises and grown stronger.

There was no way she would die so easily.

“So, the place they went to this time was Jungang-ro Station?”

“Yes…… I remembered that there’s a passage connected to a department store near Jungang-ro Station……”

When we arrived at the Jungang-ro Station platform, we looked at the indoor map on the wall and talked.

Sure enough, the map showed a passage connected to the department store.

From the map, it seemed possible to reach the department store without going above ground.

However, upon arriving here, it became clear why the two hadn’t returned.

The subway stairs on both sides of the platform had completely collapsed.

At this point, it was certain that the station facilities above had also collapsed.

Moreover, even without a detailed inspection, it was clear that the stairs had collapsed recently.

The stairs must have collapsed after the two had passed through.

‘Or maybe the stairs collapsed because of their fight……’

If that were the case, contrary to my expectations, the two would be in serious trouble.

Left in a building in the heart of Daejeon, swarming with undead, and with their escape route cut off, the likelihood of them being dead was high.

Seeing Seo-eun’s stiff expression, it seemed she had the same thought.

Boom! Crash! Crackle!

However, the sounds coming from above suggested that our assumptions were wrong.

The sound of a fierce battle.

Someone was fighting on the surface above.

In a place like this, filled with undead, it could only be them.

“You can’t hear it, but you can feel it, right? They’re still alive.”

Even if she couldn’t hear the sounds as a non-awakened, she could definitely feel the vibrations.

“Ah, you’re right. They’re alive. But……”

Seo-eun, who had been relieved by my words, looked at the collapsed stairs and her expression darkened again.

“What do we do? We can’t get up there.”

If they weren’t in the middle of a fight, Seung-ah could have dug a hole to come down, but since they were fighting, they wouldn’t even know we were here.

“If only the elf…… Zahina had come with us, she could have made a path……”

Seo-eun was right.

Zahina, who could manipulate the earth, would have been able to clear the debris and create a hole to the surface.

So, I turned around and looked into the darkness we had come from, making a request.

“Please open a path.”

At my sudden words, Seo-eun looked puzzled, but a voice came from the darkness.

“Yes. Understood.”

Along with the reply, Zahina emerged from the darkness.

“Huh? You didn’t come alone?”

It was true that only the two of us had set out.

However, after hearing Seo-eun’s words on the way, I had sent a message spell to Zahina, asking her to come.

It was a precautionary request, but it turned out to be a better decision than I had expected.

Zahina stood in front of the collapsed stairs and began to manipulate her mana.

Rumble…

The dirt, cement, and various debris blocking the stairs began to flow downward like water.

Zahina’s magic was always fascinating to watch.

Even I was amazed, and Seo-eun seemed even more surprised, staring at Zahina with wide eyes.

Realizing that her husband was still alive and that there was now a way to help him, Seo-eun’s expression brightened.

Then, with an awkward expression, she approached Zahina, who was opening the path, and whispered to her.

“You didn’t hear what I said earlier, did you?”

Although she whispered into Zahina’s ear, unfortunately, my hearing was exceptionally good.

“?”

At the sudden question, Zahina looked at Seo-eun with a puzzled expression.

“Ah, no. I think I said something strange again because I was nervous. It’s fine if you didn’t hear it.”

Seeing Seo-eun nod in relief, Zahina calmly spoke.

“Ah, are you talking about when you said I like the knight? Yes, I do like him.”

“Ah, you heard it.”

Seeing Seo-eun’s awkward expression, Zahina tilted her head.

It seemed that what Zahina meant by “like” was different from what Seo-eun had thought.

As I watched Zahina create a passage to the surface, I also began to wonder.

‘Seo-eun said that before I called Zahina……’

Could she have been secretly following us all along?

Such a ridiculous thought crossed my mind, but fortunately, I didn’t need to dwell on it.

The hole was finally opened.

Boom! Crash!

The sounds of battle above grew closer, as if they had noticed the hole.

It seemed I needed to go up and meet them.

I jumped into the newly opened stairway and surged upward.

The concourse above and the escalators leading to the surface were all collapsed, but Zahina had created a perfect hole, so there was no difficulty in reaching the surface.

What I saw upon reaching the surface was different from what I had expected.

As expected, a battle was raging, but contrary to my expectations, the two weren’t on the verge of death.

Well, one of them was in a life-threatening situation and was running toward me, but the other was holding her own against the enemies.

And she wasn’t just fighting—she was dominating.

“I don’t think I even need to help……”

The one holding the rear was overwhelming the enemies.

The one running toward me was Seo-eun’s husband, and the one holding off the undead was Seung-ah, the telekinetic.

Seung-ah had grown stronger since I last saw her.

She was floating in the air, manipulating countless debris to crush the undead swarming toward her.

Boom! Boom! Crash!

The sounds I had heard from below were the sounds of her slamming boulder-sized debris into the ground.

She was fighting far better than I had expected, but it was clear she was getting tired.

“Hurry! I’ll cover the rear!”

Hearing my shout, she beamed and flew toward me.

“Your wife is here, so go down and check on her.”

After informing Seo-eun’s husband, who had arrived first, that his wife was here, and sending Seung-ah down, I turned to face the horde of undead rushing toward me.

And I swung my sword.

A sword filled with mana, aimed at the high-rise building next to the station.

Slash.

A sword beam over ten meters long sliced through the building’s pillar.

Rumble…

The high-rise building began to collapse toward me.

I watched the building fall and then jumped into the hole Zahina had created.