Surviving the Apocalypse with Crafting Skills

– Knock, knock.

“Um, uh… Come in.”

I entered the room and sat right in front of Dr. Dieterich’s desk, who was trying her best to maintain composure.

But as soon as she saw my face, hers turned bright red almost immediately.

“It’s because of the adrenaline, I already told you, you should understand.”

“…It would’ve been much better if I had blacked out like when I drink.”

She had been trying to obtain a sample, picking up her charred arm which gave her a mild burn on her hand.

She was hopping around like a child, looking at various syringes we found in the warehouse.

Eventually, we had to exclude her from the transportation duties as it was becoming too dangerous, but she still kept fussing around us anyway.

“Let me just say this, that wasn’t me back then.”

“Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde?”

“Dr. Jekyll — you’re making it sound like I’m some mad scientist. I’m a veterinarian, remember? Though Dr. Jekyll was… a doctor too, I guess… At least I deal with animals.”

However, her words didn’t come off as confident as usual.

Her expressions were somewhat odd as well.

“Alright, let’s be honest — this is the first time I’ve been aware of this part of my personality. At first, I was terrified of those strange creatures… but the adrenaline wiped away the fear, leaving only curiosity. But… I didn’t realize I’d voice those thoughts aloud.”

With her hands on her knees, Dr. Dieterich nervously bounced her legs.

This kind of behavior doesn’t fit the calm and composed atmosphere one would expect from a scientist.

Though, I’m not here for that, really.

“Honestly—”

“Angela Dieterich.”

In both Korea and Western countries, calling someone by their full name usually grabs their attention.

It’s often used when scolding someone.

And it worked on the German woman in front of me.

“Didn’t we agree everyone understands and we should move on from that incident?”

“…That’s right.”

“Then that’s settled.”

“Is it… really?”

“You’ll still worry about it, I imagine. It’s probably embarrassing and awkward, I understand. But— it’s already resolved.”

The red in her pale face lingered for a while and eventually subsided as she nodded.

“…Alright, understood.”

“Then—”

“Thank you for understanding, Mr. Xuan Woo. Honestly… because, you know, Nazis are notoriously famous for their inhumane experiments—”

“Inhumane experiments? What does this have to do with Nazis?”

“Mr. Curtis…?”

“Did Mr. Curtis say something after I left?”

“Ah, no, it’s not that. It’s just… with my background in the 0th Empire and various factors… it brought to mind elements reminiscent of Nazis.”

“Didn’t you overthink this?”

“I might’ve done things in the past that led to overthinking…? I still recall things I said, like, how obtaining such samples was rare, or wondering what happens when you combine human and animal elements, or if we could create something like a human centipede—”

“Enough, enough.”

“—Sorry.”

I tried to stop her but only made her ramble more, didn’t I?

Let’s just change the topic.

Before it gets worse.

“Have you finished analyzing the drugs I brought?”

“Oh, the drugs… right! I was expecting you to ask about them.”

Her previously gloomy expression suddenly brightened.

Soon, Dr. Dieterich took a bag from under her desk and placed vials in front of me, one by one.

Opening multiple bags, she presented a variety—eight vials in total.

“Most of them are antibiotics and vaccines. Influenza, tetanus, hepatitis… quantities sufficient to fight off well-known infectious diseases.”

“How much does ‘sufficient’ mean exactly?”

“Ah, sorry, I was speaking by 0th Empire standards…”

“Hm?”

“So, judging by what we’ve gathered, each of these vials contains about five milliliters and the prescribed dose per person is half a milliliter, meaning a single vial should suffice for around ten people. Each bag has eight vials.”

“One bag then covers eighty people…”

“And with precautions for reoccurrence, having 160 doses for eighty people should be enough, considering there are five bags per vaccine type.”

“…”

“Exactly.”

Vaccines are expensive for a good reason—they’re directly tied to human lives.

And antibiotics only came about with advancements in medical science enabling specific components to be isolated from blue molds.

Yet, despite not producing them ourselves, we have four hundred doses of antibiotics and the same quantity for each disease-specific vaccine.

“Just one issue… and I imagine you’re curious about this drug.”

– Clatter.

The very first syringe we came across sat on her desk.

“The vaccines and antibiotics you looked at earlier were all from BioMed Pharmaceuticals, but this one… it’s different.”

She picked up the syringe and examined the attached sticker.

“Biordnance.”

“I might be overthinking, but in a warehouse full of medicines from the same company, the presence of a different company’s products feels a bit unusual.”

“Do you know what this drug is?”

“…No.”

Yet, its appearance was somewhat familiar.

A rare and unpredictable human enhancement injection.

Known for their wild side effects, they’re rarely used unless in extreme situations, typically applied as a last resort before death.

Of course, I’ve encountered it only a few times, and it was never relevant to me, so I usually discarded or traded them to wandering merchants.

Although, this is the first time I’ve seen the name of the company.

Or was it?

Didn’t some high-level veterans studying the game world once mention it, referring to the owner of a ‘research facility’?

My memory is a bit foggy now.

“Analyzing the composition is impossible, and finding someone with specialized knowledge will be difficult. I think the best course of action is to store it until someone who knows something comes along.”

She returned the syringes to the bag and handed it to me.

Even so, we’ve collected some essential drugs and valuable items that can be traded for high prices.

“Because of you, I understand how to use them. Thank you.”

“Rather, I should thank you for trusting me.”

“Glad I wasn’t wrong to bring them from the 0th Empire.”

“Guess this is what headhunting is like, huh. Heh.”

It was helpful to have someone skilled standing right here.

Maybe this will give us a breather.

“By the way, any idea what the Omen family is doing right now?”

“They’re all in a warehouse with an air conditioner installed. They said they enjoyed cooling off after so long.”

Particularly Mr. James was suffering from the heat badly; thanks to the warehouse air, his symptoms improved rapidly.

He’s now lounging in an air-conditioned room, even wearing long sleeves.

“Although we should consider air conditioning sickness too.”

“Given his time near the flamethrowers, a quick visit to the monster corpse occasionally certainly helped.”

“…Heh.”

Despite covering her mouth, her smile was visible.

And her eyes twinkled as they looked at me.

“Why?”

“No, it’s just… I find this situation amusing.”

“If you’re talking about adrenaline—”

“No, no, not that. That’s a closed chapter, right?”

Pushing the bag toward me, she leaned back in her chair, looking at me with an ease I’d never seen before.

She always seemed tense back in the 0th Empire.

“Until recently, I was worrying about tomorrow’s survival and who might die. Now, I’m worried about the senior combat veterans catching air conditioning sickness. As a veterinarian, this is bizarre.”

“Things change.”

“Indeed. Meeting you was fortunate for me.”

Supporting her arms on the desk, Dr. Dieterich nodded at me.

“From vaccine refrigerators, to water that runs smoothly from taps we could almost forget about in an apocalypse, to warm water for taking showers—by the way, it used to take so long before hot water came out in our old place. A waste of water bill.”

“At least I’m a generous landlord who doesn’t deduct utility bills from you?”

“…Rather not an unscrupulous employer who doesn’t pay salaries?”

Her lips curved up at the light-hearted joke.

And so did Dr. Dieterich’s, who was looking at me.

“Mr. Xuan Woo… may I ask how old you are?”

“Twenty-seven. Why suddenly?”

“Twenty-seven. It’s remarkable how Asians appear younger than their ages.”

“And how old is our esteemed doctor?”

“…It’s rude to ask a woman’s age.”

“You were the one who started it?”

“Alright. I’m… twenty-nine.”

She’s older, then.

Though, I did sense a certain grace in her, twenty-nine.

“Doesn’t seem older?”

“Externally, no.”

“…Are you implying I look old?”

“Eh?”

“Heh, just teasing.”

While talking, Dieterich seemed completely relaxed.

Her stiff shoulders looked soft, and her gaze was gentler.

Is this the feeling of growing closer?

“Dr. Dieterich.”

“Sara gets called by name… why don’t you?”

“Three people can say ‘Omen’…”

“How about Angela?”

“Angela.”

“Since we’ll continue seeing each other often, let’s try to get comfortable.”

Given she’s a responsible vet going forward too.

I nodded and prepared to stand up with the bag when Angela’s hand pressed it lightly.

“Are you busy?”

“I’m just finishing up work before heading home.”

“Urgent work?”

“Daily routine.”

“Always so busy.”

“That’s the gist of it.”

After lingering for a moment, her hand lifted from the bag. Then she waved gently at me.

Perking her ears.

“Everyone has their own work to do, after all.”

“Yes.”

In the midst of an odd atmosphere, I turned to leave with the bag when the steel door suddenly opened.

Of course.

It was Sara.

“…What were you two doing?”

“Explaining about the medicines and a bit of… counseling. Right, Mr. Xuan Woo?”

I met her blue gaze with a nod.

“Yes, Angela.”

“Angela?”

“That’s my name, isn’t it?”

With a serene smile, Dieterich looked at her.

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