Memorize

A/N:- 3 chapters a week from now on.

The deadmen were shuffling towards us, constantly sniffing with their noses. Their skin was torn and ragged, and their faces exposed decaying bones, giving them a grotesque appearance.

Fear was evident in the eyes of those watching them. These were people who had been living ordinary lives just a day before, and expecting them to act with any kind of alertness after seeing the deadmen in less than a day was a distant hope or simply impossible.

"Grrr. Grrr."

The deadmen in the front let out a low growl. Seeing its slow pace, it didn't seem fully infected yet. But as I watched one of the ones at the back change direction, I furrowed my brow. At this point, dealing with all three at once was almost impossible.

"Grrr. Grrr."

Every time the deadmen growled, it felt like the trees were shaking. Glancing to the side, it was no surprise to see that the culprit was An Sol. She was leaning against a tree, trembling violently.

"Swish, swish."

With the sound of grass being dragged, the two deadmen finally reached right in front of the tree. They paused for a moment, tilting their heads as if confused, but then began to slowly advance again. The tree we were hiding behind was quite large, so I subtly signaled to my companions. As the deadmen took a step forward, we would also move sideways the same distance. Although there was a high chance that we might be spotted if they suddenly turned sideways, they generally had a tendency to move straight ahead, so there was also a chance we wouldn't be detected.

'One step closer. We move one step sideways.'

'One step closer. We move one step sideways.'

'One step closer. We move one step sideways.'

After repeating this several times, we had managed to move more than halfway around the tree, and the deadmen had advanced to the point where they could see the location where we had been hiding earlier.

Everyone held their breath, and the surroundings were eerily silent. The deadmen, shaking their heads and scanning the area, let out a frustrated growl before slowly resuming their forward march. Just as a slight sense of relief began to appear on everyone's faces, thinking we just had to hold out a bit longer, something happened.

"Clack!" "Crack!"

"Aah!"

An Sol, trembling and keeping her eyes tightly shut, had accidentally stepped on a twig, making a loud noise. Looking down, I saw the small branch she had broken. To make matters worse, she couldn't suppress a scream and ended up making a noise loud enough to definitely catch the deadmen's attention. The situation quickly deteriorated.

"Grrr! Grrr! Grrr!"

The deadmen's growls grew more frequent. Hearing these sounds, my companions were frozen in place. The deadmen's footsteps grew faster, and soon their horrifying faces emerged around the tree where we were hiding. We had been spotted.

"Arrrgh!"

"Ugh! Ughhhh!"

The deadmen charged forward with their mouths wide open, revealing their blood-red teeth. An Sol, overwhelmed by terror, let out a scream. Though An Hyun managed to muffle her scream with his hand, it was still loud enough for the three deadmen nearby to hear.

In this desperate moment, I aimed my crossbow while An Hyun raised his shield with his remaining hand to protect both himself and An Sol. The deadmen charging forward collided with An Hyun's shield with a loud crash.

"Thud!"

The impact echoed, and I saw An Hyun's body stagger. Thankfully, the defense had been successful, but the deadmen only took a single step back, distracted by the effort of protecting Sol. Seeing another deadmen closing in, I quickly drew back the crossbow's string. At that moment, an idea flashed through my mind, and I adjusted my aim slightly downward before releasing the bolt.

"One or two times won't be enough."

With a "ping" sound, the crossbow bolt pierced the chest of the second deadmen charging at us. As the deadmen staggered, I drew the longsword strapped to my waist.

"An Hyun! Send your sister this way! And use this sword!"

Seeing the deadmen charging fiercely towards him, An Hyun gritted his teeth. He pushed An Sol toward me while extending his right hand.

"Please take care of her!"

As soon as An Hyun finished speaking, the deadmen were forced back a few steps from the impact with the shield, but he still managed to push An Sol toward me. She slid and stumbled toward me, wrapping her arms around me as I threw the sword in a direction that would be easiest for An Hyun to catch. The longsword and An Sol crossed in mid-air. I safely caught the almost-falling An Sol, and in the background, I could hear Lee Yun-Jung and Kim Han-Byeol's urgent voices.

"Behind you!"

"Watch your back!"

"I know."

Glancing behind me, I saw the deadmen that had changed direction earlier charging towards me. While it might be a fleeting moment for the deadmen, my perception had already surpassed the threat. In just 2 seconds, I reloaded the crossbow and aimed it at the deadmen's forehead. And then, I fired.

"Thud!"

This time, aiming directly at the forehead, the bolt easily penetrated the deadmen's head.

"Ugh… uhh… uhh…"

From a distance, An Sol's frantic behavior seemed like just another panic response. But holding her close, I realized she was sobbing uncontrollably, her tears streaming down, making me feel sad. Without thinking, I gently patted her head and whispered, "It's okay" into her ear. I felt her trembling slowly begin to subside.

An Hyun's eyes were filled with fear as he wielded his sword and shield. However, he did not back down. Facing his fear head-on, his feet were firmly planted on the ground. This attitude was exactly what I had hoped for from An Hyun and the rest of the group. It was a sign that An Hyun's mental awakening had begun, even if just a little.

An Hyun raised his shield to chest height. As the saying goes, "The best defense is a good offense," and this was a reasonable choice. Instead of swinging his sword first, he used the shield to charge forward with all his strength.

"Thud!" "Crash!"

The impact of the charge was so powerful that I could hear something breaking. On closer inspection, the deadmen's chest had caved in from the force of An Hyun's shield. Seeing him raise his sword for a swift counterattack, I offered a helpful piece of advice.

"Aim for the head. That's their weak spot."

As if he had heard me, An Hyun slammed his sword into the deadmen's head. The blow was poorly executed but packed a lot of power, and the deadmen in front of him was unable to resist, resulting in his skull splitting open.

The fate of the next Deadmen was not much different. He defends with his shield the same way he did the first time, attacks with the shield and momentarily targets the head while it's dazed. With the sound of something being stabbed, the deadmen wriggled a couple of times before collapsing under the weight of An's sword. His arm went down with the weight, and An hastily drew his sword and turned away, dazed.

Ragged breaths dominated the surroundings. Clearly, everyone had been on edge, and after successfully dispatching the deadmen, they all exhaled the breath they had been holding in unison. Using the shield to block and the sword to stab—An Hyun's actions were straightforward, but not everyone could perform them so effectively. If the deadmen had targeted someone else, even if they weren't as paralyzed as An Sol, executing a clean series of attacks would have been challenging.

An Hyun let his arms hang down, breathing heavily.

"Whew… whew… I didn't realize how tough it would be until I actually faced them, even though I hit them with stones from above."

Of course. In a life-or-death situation, maintaining composure and controlling one's body is truly remarkable. Feeling a slight stirring in my arms, I loosened my hold, and An Sol immediately ran over to check on An Hyun.

"Are you okay, Oppa?"

"I don't have any bites or injuries. I think I'm okay."

"Aah… aaah… I'm sorry…"

"Don't cry. Stop it."

Realizing that her brother was in danger because of her, An Sol's tears flowed continuously. Even though An Hyun assured her he was fine, her tears showed no sign of stopping. Lee Yun-Jung walked over with a face that seemed to have aged ten years and patted An Hyun's back, saying,

"Thanks to you, we survived. Pretty impressive, huh?"

"Not really. If Hyung hadn't given me this, we'd have been in a lot of trouble. Oh, I'll return this sword to you."

Seeing An Hyun extend the longsword with a hesitant gesture, I shook my head. An Hyun's face brightened with relief.

"I think it's better if you keep the longsword. You handled it well."

"Is it really okay for me to keep it?"

"Of course! Besides, your hyung has the crossbow. But have you done some sword training somewhere?"

Lee Yun-Jung chimed in, and An Hyun, putting away the longsword, nodded his head in agreement. Watching An Hyun and Lee Yun-Jung chat away, I couldn't help but smile inwardly. Just moments ago, I had aimed for the deadmen's forehead but deliberately shot at the chest instead.

"Seems like it's okay…"

"Hold on a moment."

At that moment, Kim Han-Byeol, who had managed to kill a deadmen with a thrown stone, looked at us with a slightly worried expression. Given that she usually stayed quiet, her next words piqued my curiosity.

"Didn't they suddenly swarm after killing one of these things in the open space?"

"Did… did that happen?"

When Lee Yun-Jung confirmed with a hesitant expression, everyone's faces changed. An Sol, in particular, looked like she might have a panic attack. Noticing his sister's distress, An Hyun quickly patted her back and spoke urgently.

"Then, shouldn't we leave this place quickly?"

"Yeah, let's do that. How about heading in the opposite direction from where she came?"

"Hmm… no. Let's continue in the direction we were going. If we change direction now, we might end up having to spend the night in this forest."

To my surprise, An Hyun was thinking of getting out of the forest by tonight. If he was my disciple, I'd have patted his head, but for now, I was satisfied with just nodding in agreement. Despite a few deadmen detected ahead, An Hyun's decision was the right one.

After a brief moment to ready ourselves, we quickly began to leave the area where the recent battle had taken place.

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