NOVEL NEXT Chapter 6
– Creak. Clatter, bang.
I found the medical room, but it was covered in blood and filth.
After briefly sending the group outside, I commenced the cleaning process to make the interior as tidy as possible.
The medicines I had gathered beforehand remained on the shelves.
Ordinarily, I would collect scrap iron and wood to create a makeshift crafting table and roughly disassemble about twenty boxes to level up my construction skills, but—
This was a basic ability possessed by Crafter.
– Click.
I gathered the broken tiles and reassembled them using the crafting kit.
The ability to gather “waste” and repair it.
Other job groups would need to find the right people for their profession to take on or request tasks, but Crafter could perform these independently.
“Alright, tiles are done.”
I placed a detergent-soaked towel on a grimy cover.
It was quite surprising how my body moved on its own.
The stench of old blood was pungent.
After already engaging in three battles against spiders, zombies, and hammerheads…
Carrying heavy loads for a few hours, I suspect.
Surely, if I were to take my hands off the task for even a moment, I would pass out.
Just before falling asleep, my body continued to wipe away the bloodstains.
– Crunch, crunch.
Infection is the most terrifying disease in the apocalypse.
Rooms where people who aren’t properly disinfected frequently enter, or where the sick are placed in filth and blood, would quickly lead to contracting various diseases.
They would waste away and die.
Though we could use antibiotics, finding them isn’t easy, and besides that…
Producing basic medicines requires several people trained in pharmacology, and unless we serendipitously find a few pharmacists, we’d need to establish a school… In any case, it’s not an easy task.
“Alright, that’s good.”
However, if treated before infection sets in, it’s good enough.
With a clean medical room and proper medical knowledge, treating wounds is not that difficult.
– Rumble. Shiver…
It seems we successfully started the generator at just the right moment, as the incandescent lights hanging from the ceiling began to flicker slowly.
There was a sink in the medical room, but until we inspect the water tank’s condition, it’s risky to use it.
– Snap.
After donning the rubber gloves from the emergency medical kit, I opened the door with my foot.
“How’s the condition?”
“…Much better, except for the yellow pus constantly oozing from the wound.”
“Fortunately, the antidote seems to be working. Okay, let’s go ahead.”
Lifting the body and laying it on the bed, I placed a metal basin near the leg.
When I touched the wound, the blood-mixed liquid surged out.
“…We’ll need to keep it like this until most of the poison is out. His energy is drained, so we should prepare gruel for him.”
“Let’s look for canned food.”
“Not immediately. The blood smell and generator noise will attract them, so it’s dangerous for Sarah if we don’t have a proper barricade.”
“So… the metal furniture?”
“Yes. Using unused metal drawers to block the way could work too.”
Curtis, who had been holding Sarah’s hand, slowly detached his dry lips.
“There are plenty of welders around. As you might’ve guessed, this bunker is ‘almost’ complete. The internal living quarters and power installations in incomplete areas have many tools of this kind.”
Then we’re lucky.
If we can weld from the start, the durability of the barricades and simple weapons will increase.
“…And.”
After emptying the extracted paralyzing poison into a nearby plastic container and returning it to me, a hand was placed on mine.
“I’m sorry about earlier.”
I tore out a handful of gauze from the emergency medical kit and wiped the discharge.
…Though it’s rare, it’s not wise to use the valuable alcohol swabs here.
But if we make a distillery, we can produce as much as we want.
“I understand. Family is important.”
Characters connected by blood ties generally have extremely high affection for each other.
Therefore, even a slightly hostile action can lead to extreme reactions—or even bloodshed.
Sometimes, we attempted to recruit excellent survivors, only to find out that they were related to hostile raiders, leading to tearful and bloody family reunions.
Of course, if treated well, entire families will return the favor accordingly.
“Do you have family?”
“It’s not common for whole families to enter the bunker.”
“…That’s true. Sorry.”
Having wrapped the bandage, I handed Curtis a bottle of ibuprofen I found on the shelf.
“If it hurts too much, you can give one pill with water.”
“Is it a painkiller?”
“Yes.”
“…Alright.”
I tossed the rubber gloves and the steel sheet into the plastic bin.
In the game, disposal was simply done by throwing it into fire, but I suppose it’s about to get… more complicated here.
In the countryside, you might burn plastic and vinyl, but the smell is so terrible.
“As soon as James comes back, I’ll head out to work on the barricades.”
“…Didn’t you push yourself enough? Rest here. I’ll take the watch.”
“Nope. I’m probably not going to be able to move tomorrow anyway.”
We’re supposed to divide tasks.
With a fatigue system in place, after a single battle, you need sufficient rest…
After overexerting yourself, you need sufficient rest…
After experiencing mental shock, you need sufficient rest…
If you don’t, severe debuffs will directly affect your strength and agility levels.
– Creak.
Turning to James, who entered and was opening his bags, I gently stopped him with my arm as he rushed to approach.
“You just finished treatment. I don’t recommend touching the wound with unwashed hands.”
The dirt was smeared all over his hands and arms.
His gaze shifted to me, though not as harshly as when we make “questionable” medicine.
“…”
Sarah was now completely relaxed, breathing peacefully and asleep.
James twitched a few times, bowed his head.
“…Thank god.”
Wobbling, he knelt down, and tears fell as he leaned on his gun.
There’s no way I can take him out to work like this.
Quietly grabbing the waste, I stood up from my seat and closed the door.
The materials for barricades are splinters of wood and pieces of scrap iron.
The scrap iron needs to be used for tools immediately, so perhaps our only option is to break open the nearby supply boxes.
– Creak.
Using the knife, I weakened the parts to be broken repeatedly, and then detached the fragments.
After repeating the process a few times, the boards crumbled down with a loud noise.
Pouring the boards into the white chalk-marked crafting zone, my body moved on autopilot.
Stacking the boards in the appropriate spots, I hammered the nails pulled from the disassembled boxes.
Just how strong will these thin boards become? My thoughts were interrupted by the waist-high blocking wall that had already formed.
“…It’s fairly sturdy.”
“Ah.”
James, carrying several sheets of steel and bundles of planks, placed the materials down nearby.
“I brought some reinforcements. And… since you mentioned, I found a welder.”
The welder was the portable kind wielded by sappers in the game.
This could speed up our development by another step.
A few sheets of steel, wooden planks, and about eight nails…
With these, we could construct a proper crafting table, instead of the makeshift portable one.
And the perfect crafting table could produce military-grade guns.
Though we can only initially produce civilian-grade, single-shot guns—what’s the harm?
Given that it can also produce magazines and rifle bullets, they’re valuable tools.
“…Sarah… she’s my only daughter.”
“If you intended to apologize, I’d appreciate the welder in return.”
“No, I need to say it.”
With the welder firmly in hand, James sat down.
Adjusting his scruffy beard,
“My Father was a war hero. Until things got bad, he was invited by the government, traveled to old battlefields, and even gave interviews.”
“Normandy.”
“Normandy. Yes. Though, Father, as a soldier, wasn’t overly proud of his success.”
Surviving was all luck, he said.
Battlefields where countless people were mowed down by machine guns.
The blood and bullets that established a bridgehead.
The reason he didn’t cherish those memories must be…
“But the son of a successful soldier naturally admired his father, and people pressured him into that path… so I naturally enrolled too, in the same battalion as Dad.”
He momentarily cleared his raspy throat with a cough, then fetched a water bottle from behind his back and sipped to soothe it.
There was no reason to refuse it. I was tired too.
“I went to Iraq when my daughter was six years old. Survived the battlefield filled with artillery and bullets. Some say it was an easy war, but screw that. There’s no such thing as an ‘easy’ battlefield.”
“People hit by bullets.”
“Fellows screaming. Machine guns wildly dropping shell casings. Firing blindly at unseen targets.”
James took the water bottle again, drained the rest, and threw it into the waste can.
The quiet hallway was momentarily loud.
“It was okay up to that point. No matter what anyone said, it was a war for my country, and I returned alive to my daughter. But…”
“But?”
“It was around the time Sarah turned ten. I received a message claiming my wife was doing suspicious things with a restaurant employee…”
“…Ah.”
“Maybe because she grew up intelligent. Or perhaps as revenge for her mother’s neglect of her every day. That young girl randomly took pictures with her phone and sent them to me.”
A long sigh.
The atmosphere grew heavy.
“I quit the army at forty. After that, I focused solely on my child. I swear to God that I’ve never neglected my daughter, but my father’s words kept echoing in my mind.”
“…”
“The military uses the sweetest word, patriotism, to make you give up the most precious things.”
“…”
“You can’t comprehend how terrifying it is to show your child the sight of parents fighting in court with words they don’t understand. Yet, this girl is intelligent enough, brave enough, and honorable enough to know what’s right and wrong…”
Two tears fell over his beard.
The hairy arm wiped his eyes.
“Thank you for saving my daughter, Xuan Woo.”
The deep voice, now recovered, resonated through the hallway.
“If there’s a way to express my gratitude, I will do anything.”
This attitude clearly shows that his favorability has surpassed a certain level.
Perhaps, from being newly accepted into the community, I’ve now been recognized as a member.
In that case…
“We need several more steel sheets to make the barricade bulletproof. Also, nails and planks.”
“Is that enough?”
“Then, you wouldn’t mind if I asked for money, would you?”
“The wedding ring I still have has a small diamond embedded in it.”
“…”
“If you want it. That woman did take one already, forcefully. Anyway, it’s useless now.”
“…”
I grabbed the hand that started rummaging through the bag.
“…No, really. That’s enough.”
“But your involvement with my daughter’s condition—”
“Helping people in the same community is natural, isn’t it?”
I grabbed the welding mask hanging on the welder and placed it on my head.
I was reminded of how my character, having just completed the tutorial and neglecting to wear the welding mask, suffered permanent blindness as a result.
“Helping your daughter was simply my duty. Your bringing supplies to me is also natural.”
“…”
“There will be a day when you save me. That’s enough.”
Without uttering a word, I left James standing there.
Muscle pain was gradually creeping in.
I had to finish work before I couldn’t move anymore.
Lifting the welding mask, I started the welder.
A bright blue flame lit up the darkness dazzlingly.
“Go get the steel sheets soon. Your daughter looks exhausted.”
To connect the steel sheets to the barricade, my body naturally started assembling hooks out of a few scraps of iron.
It seemed a shadow loomed, watching me for a moment.
– Pat.
A light tap on my back, and the sound of retreating footsteps echoed down the corridor.
– Whirr. Whirrr.
As I began to feed in the wire, vivid sparks flew.
To already gain this level of trust…
I wonder how much more surprised they’ll be when I start producing rifle bullets at the workstation?