How to Create a God (5)
The sun was high in the sky.
Donghyun was staring blankly out the window from inside the building when he spotted a familiar face and sipped his coffee.
Beyond the glass window he was facing, he saw Yuseong holding a shovel.
Cheon Yuseong.
He was the first companion Donghyun had made after the disaster that started in Africa reached Korea.
He had been trapped in the company surrounded by monsters until Donghyun rescued him.
That’s when their relationship began.
Since then, they had been relying on each other for a long time.
‘But something is off about him lately.’
Donghyun felt a strong sense of discomfort from Yuseong recently.
When did he start feeling this way?
He remembered that it was about a month ago when Yuseong began to show some strange behaviors.
He started to leave his seat more often, using walks as an excuse.
Maybe he had found some valuable resources and hidden them somewhere.
He briefly entertained that suspicion, but he dismissed it as he thought about Yuseong’s personality.
As far as he knew, Yuseong was not stingy or selfish when it came to sharing.
He also tended to avoid causing harm to others as much as possible.
It didn’t make sense that Yuseong would hoard food or necessities and keep them secret.
‘What is he hiding?’
His eyes narrowed as he watched Yuseong leave the company.
Yuseong always attracted trouble wherever he went.
He had always solved the problems in the group with his intuition, but Donghyun doubted that he could handle everything on his own.
As he recalled the past that had gone by, a vague anxiety crept into Donghyun’s chest.
The thick and sticky anxiety quickly eroded Donghyun’s heart.
“…”
He was uneasy.
He felt uneasy about his friend who was going outside.
It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Yuseong, who had been with him for so long.
Donghyun was sure that Yuseong had a good reason for whatever decision he made.
But there was an inexplicable uneasiness flowing from Yuseong’s appearance as he went outside.
“…”
This won’t do.
As his doubt and anxiety grew in his chest, Donghyun grabbed a steel pipe.
He couldn’t just sit and watch like this.
He had to see for himself.
I had to find out what was causing this uneasy feeling in my chest.
As Donghyun went down the stairs with a steel pipe, one of the group members who was wandering in the hallway saw him and asked.
“Where are you going, bro?”
“I have something to check.”
Donghyun gave a brief answer to the group member and started to follow Yuseong, who was on his way.
He had a bad feeling about this.
It was the same intuition that had helped him survive until now.
He had to chase after Yuseong.
He had to find out why he was lying about taking a walk and going outside.
“I’m looking forward to today.”
Donghyun kept a distance from Yuseong and followed him from a barely visible range.
Yuseong walked calmly with a shovel, unaware of anyone behind him.
He crossed the crosswalk with a shovel on his shoulder and passed a narrow alley.
Then he went through a few more buildings and headed somewhere unknown.
He seemed very familiar with this place, as if he had been here many times before.
‘Where is he going?’
The place Yuseong was passing by was definitely an area that the group had explored early on.
But it wasn’t a road that the group members often used.
Since the exploration work was done long ago, there were hardly any resources left in the buildings.
In other words, they were buildings with nothing to gain.
Donghyun continued to follow Yuseong, who was heading somewhere.
“I never thought I could play games in these times.”
‘Games…?’
Yuseong muttered something incomprehensible as he moved his feet busily.
It was clearly about games, judging from what came out of his mouth.
But after the world was destroyed, the only games that could be played were card games or board games at best.
It was impossible to play games using PCs or smartphones anymore.
Despite that, Yuseong was calmly mumbling about a game.
‘A game… What the hell…?’
Considering Yuseong’s habit of talking to himself, his words must have some basis.
To find out the truth behind his incomprehensible story, I had to follow his trail to the end.
That’s why I chased after Yuseong more carefully than before.
“…”
As I kept following Yuseong, I finally found something.
He stopped in the middle of a street where buildings of moderate height were densely packed.
He looked around as I quickly hid myself. He seemed to be cautious.
“I thought I heard something. Is anyone there?”
But that was only for a moment.
He decided that no one was there and opened the door of a building and went inside.
Creak.
The glass door that he had opened closed back as soon as he went in.
I heard the sound of friction as the glass door shut. I sighed in relief then.
“Whew…”
I barely breathed a sigh of relief as I confirmed that Yuseong had gone inside the building.
There was no way he could hear me sighing now that he was inside.
I calmed down my pounding heart and approached the building with quiet steps.
It was a close call.
I almost got caught by Yuseong.
‘Sometimes he’s brilliant… But he’s clueless when it comes to this.’
Was he dull or trusting?
Maybe it was both.
I gave a brief evaluation of Yuseong and looked closely at the building he had entered with a steel pipe in my hand.
I touched the stone that decorated the exterior of the building and dust came off, reflecting the passage of time.
‘He must have gone upstairs.’
My eyes followed the dust and landed on the hallway where Yuseong had disappeared.
Through the windows of the same size, I could see the residential facilities where people used to live.
I didn’t know how long it had been since the owners had left, after the day of destruction.
It was obvious that the place was meant for people to live in, no matter how I looked at it.
‘Is that his old home?’
I had heard him talk about it before.
It was the studio apartment he had rented when he got his first job at the company.
He had moved away from there naturally as he and the other survivors gathered at the company.
He said he only visited there occasionally to clean up.
But it seemed like he had been sneaking there more often, using walks as an excuse.
“I don’t like this feeling…”
I muttered something without realizing it as I looked at the building.
I startled myself and looked around.
But I meant what I said.
I felt uneasy as I watched the building where Yuseong had gone in.
My sharp intuition was ringing a loud alarm.
‘Maybe I should go in when he comes out.’
It was a sense I couldn’t explain.
But I knew that my intuition had never betrayed me before.
It was always my intuition that saved me in dangerous situations.
When the dead came in through an unknown passage.
When a fire spread unexpectedly.
I always trusted my intuition and solved the problems.
‘Why am I so anxious?’
My intuition, which had always saved me, was sending me a stronger anxiety than ever.
Sweat dripped from my hand that held the steel pipe as I felt the anxiety.
I moved my right hand that was slippery with sweat.
I adjusted my grip on the steel pipe and leaned against the wall.
My heart was pounding hard in my chest, sending loud thumps to my ears.
“Huff…”
I listened to the thumping of my heart and took a deep breath to calm it down.
Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.
The sound of my heart was more clear than ever.
As I tried to quiet it down, a thin female voice echoed in my ears.
“Curiosity killed the cat.”
My body froze at the unfamiliar voice.
Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.
My heart beat faster than before.
My hand that held the steel pipe trembled with the raging blood flow.
I pressed my shaking hand with the other hand and turned my head toward the direction of the voice.
Creak.
I slowly turned my head and saw a girl with jet-black hair fluttering in the wind.
“Ah…”
“You made a foolish choice, it seems.”
It was over.
I knew it as soon as I faced the girl.
I didn’t know why.
But just by looking into her eyes, I felt that my life was over.
My intuition told me that this was the end.
The camp, the group, everything was over.
My dream of becoming a boss was gone like a bubble.
“Pl-please…”
I begged for my life instinctively, without knowing why.
But the girl’s expression was still cold as ice.
She didn’t seem to care about whether I lived or died.
She waved her hand as if to shoo away an annoyance and spoke to me.
“I don’t care who survives anymore. Can you go back to where you came from?”
“…”
That was the last conversation I had with her.
Thud. Thud.
I walked back the way I came with a blank look in my eyes.
My role was over.
Donghyun’s eyes were dark as he headed back to the company.
***
“You finally woke up.”
I regained my faint consciousness and got up from my seat.
The first thing that caught my eye was the dark studio apartment.
The TV and the lights were off, and the silence was oppressive.
The room still reflected the world after the destruction.
Yawn.
I let out a short yawn and looked at the girl with sleepy eyes.
She was sitting in the same spot as before, and next to her was a smartphone that was turned on.
“Did you fall asleep while playing a game?”
“You looked happy in your sleep.”
It seemed like I had borrowed the smartphone from the girl and dozed off while playing a game.
I was staring blankly at the screen, so it wasn’t strange that I fell asleep suddenly.
It wasn’t a bad feeling to sleep while playing a game.
The problem was that I had fallen asleep without any plan.
“This is bad. I told the others I was going for a walk.”
I lifted my head and looked out the window. It was already evening.
I had been gone for too long for a walk.
Maybe I was too relieved to be in my old room, but I had slept quite heavily.
It wasn’t something I could excuse with my usual lies.
And knowing Donghyun’s personality, he might be searching for me outside by now.
I had to go back soon to avoid worrying them more.
“Hey.”
I stretched my stiff body from sleeping and looked at the girl who was still sitting in the same place.
She didn’t show any interest in the smartphone that was rolling on the floor.
I called her to say goodbye.
I had to go back to the company before everyone got worried.
“Are you listening?”
“I have to go now.”
Blink. Blink.
The girl closed her eyes as she heard me.
She thought for a moment, then smiled faintly and said to me.
“You’re leaving?”
“Yeah, I should go. At least I have some excuse.”
I said that and looked at the liquor box in the corner.
The liquor I had found by chance was still intact, except for a few bottles.
It was a lucky find from this area a while ago.
Some people in the group didn’t like alcohol, but there were more who wanted to get drunk.
They would be happy if I brought this back. It was obvious.
“I have some liquor I found last time to bring to the group. I think they’ll like it.”
“There are still many people who like that kind of thing.”
“It’s not that few. I don’t really like it, though.”
I walked over to the crate in the corner and put the shovel I had brought on top of it.
Then I grabbed the crate firmly with both hands and lifted it up.
The weight in my hands told me how full the contents were.
I thought the company might smell of alcohol for a while.
“Anyway, I have to go now. See you next time.”
“…”
I said a simple goodbye to the girl and opened the door and left.
The weight of the shovel that hung from the crate to my shoulder and the weight of the liquor in my hands felt together.
The bottles were heavy, but so was the liquid inside them.
It was not a weight that I could easily run with.
But my mind was light as I carried the crate.
“I hope they like it.”
How many times had I come and gone here in a month?
My steps were familiar and skillful as they found their way forward.
I had made dozens of excuses to go out for a walk and escape from the group.
My steps were agile enough to get used to the phrase “knowing the streets”.
“Donghyun hyung… He’ll get really drunk today.”
I thought of Donghyun, the leader of the group, as I passed through the narrow alley.
He was a big man who drank like a fish, as if it suited his size.
He hadn’t had a proper drinking party lately because of the lack of alcohol, but he still drank so much that it made anyone who saw him dizzy.
He would love the crate I brought today more than anyone else.
“Maybe he’ll be less angry if I bring some liquor.”
I hoped he wouldn’t nag too much today.
I moved my steps while thinking of the apology I would give to my colleagues who were worried about me being late and the reaction of the group members who would see the crate.
“Huff…”
Traffic lights. Crosswalks. Corners of alleys.
And then a large crosswalk again.
I followed the flow that I had repeated as usual.
When I passed by the buildings and streets that I always passed by, I soon found the building where the company was located.
“There’s already one person out.”
A building standing tall in the middle of the shopping district.
It was hard to call it big, no matter how you looked at it.
There was a silhouette of a group member standing there, waiting for me.
He looked impatiently waiting for me, who had been late without any news.
I guessed his identity from his silhouette in the distance and shouted at him with a loud voice.
“Seongcheol hyung!”
I shouted with joy at him.
My voice echoed loudly in the silent street at night.
Did my voice reach him?
The silhouette that was far away started to come closer to me quickly.
He seemed to be running to meet me sooner.
“You’re quick! Hyung, do you know what I brought today?”
– …
I tried to talk to him in a cheeky tone as he approached me.
But there was no answer from him.
As I waited for his answer, the silhouette in the dark grew bigger and bigger.
As the size of the silhouette grew gradually, we were soon close enough to touch each other.
That’s when I realized his condition.
“What is this…”
What I faced at the entrance of the company was a group member who was staggering with his eyes open wide.
He used to prank me all the time, but now he had a grotesque expression on his face as he came toward me.
It didn’t take long for me to realize what had happened.
He was dead.
The old colleague in front of me had become a nameless corpse.
Thud.
I dropped the crate I was holding and asked him with a half-locked voice.
“Hyung… right…?”
Meteor showers were falling behind the dark building.
