Chapter 32: The End of the World Will Surely Be Exhausting

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After drying the water from the two girls’ skin, Xiao Guang thought for a moment, then ran outside again and returned with another heap of cosmetics. There ought to be some body lotion in there.

Xiao Guang knew body lotion only by name. He had never actually used it himself; among all the men he knew, none seemed to have such a habit.

But the two lovely figures standing in the living room were girls, zombies or not. Xiao Guang remembered a scene from a movie: an ancient mummy queen who, upon hearing that her youthful, supple skin could be restored, was willing to pay any price.

“See how good I am to you? I know you’re girls. You may not feel anything right now, but what if you fully recover someday and your skin is as rough as dry tree bark? Wouldn’t that make you sad? Same as always, Bae Joo-hyun, you first.”

Bae Joo-hyun walked over to him. Xiao Guang rummaged through the bag and found something that looked very much like body lotion. He opened it and gave it a sniff. The fresh fragrance was quite pleasant. Then he scooped out a large lump with his index finger and flicked it onto Bae Joo-hyun’s body.

She let out a cry.

“All right, all right. I’ll be gentler next time. Don’t cry out like that. I think I took too much. Never mind—the rest can go on Min-joo.”

Cosmetics were strange things. Apparently, only a little was needed to make the skin smooth and slippery. Xiao Guang applied the lotion to Bae Joo-hyun with great enthusiasm.

“To be honest, just looking at you onstage, I’d never have guessed your legs were this short. I’ve said it so many times already, but short is short. Look at Min-joo’s legs—long and straight.”

Xiao Guang was squatting as he rubbed lotion onto Bae Joo-hyun’s calves. He did not notice her looking down at him. Hearing his complaint, she opened her mouth and made a little biting motion at the air.

When he finished, Xiao Guang looked up. His eyes happened to be level with her waist. Taking in the body before him, he felt his nose grow slightly hot. He held Bae Joo-hyun by the shoulders, turned her around, and gave her a pat on the rear.

“Next. Min-joo, come here.”

The last of his strength and patience vanished along with the last of the lotion he applied to Min-joo. Xiao Guang shook his arms.

“All right, I’m too lazy to dress you two as well. I won’t close the bedroom door. If you get tired of watching television, just go straight into the bedroom. But let me make this clear first: I’m exhausted and need to rest quietly. You two are not allowed to fight in the middle of the night.”

Xiao Guang was about to stand when Min-joo shifted slightly to one side. He looked up at her. Min-joo turned around, and the movement seemed a little odd. After thinking it over, Xiao Guang gave her a pat on the rear. Only then did Min-joo return to Bae Joo-hyun’s side and sit down to watch television.

Really, they had to do everything the same way.

Xiao Guang looked at Kim Min-joo and laughed. He liked seeing such human emotions. At least they proved to him that all his efforts had not been in vain.

~~~

He was having a nightmare. He was surrounded by countless zombies, their hideous faces making him break out in a sweat. When he opened his eyes, he found a little head resting on his chest.

Why was it Min-joo today?

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He lifted the blanket and looked. Bae Joo-hyun was curled beneath it, hugging one of his legs, while Min-joo’s head rested against his chest. Both of her hands were on his arm, which had been pinned beneath her.

Xiao Guang let out a long breath.

The matter of sleeping together needed some thought. At first, it had been because of his desire for the opposite sex and the loneliness of being alone.

But now, he really needed to think about himself. During the nightmare just now, his arm had been seized tightly. Thinking about it, that must have been related to Min-joo lying on top of him. He had to admit that ever since he began sleeping with them, the number of dreams he had had increased noticeably.

Xiao Guang remembered one dream particularly clearly. Overcome by fear, he had slammed his head forcefully toward the other person. At the time, he had been living in an apartment, so he had ended up smashing his head into the wall. When he woke, he was dizzy, and his forehead hurt terribly.

Now he had such a large bed and such a large blanket, yet when he slept, he was effectively restrained by two zombie girls. If he had another dream like that, he might slam his head forward again—and Min-joo would probably be frightened into hiding in the wardrobe.

He moved slightly and turned onto his side. This should have made Bae Joo-hyun very uncomfortable; her little face was pressed out of shape. Yet she merely shifted backward a little and braced herself against the crook of Xiao Guang’s leg with her head.

As for Min-joo, who had originally been lying on his chest, she made a soft humming sound when he moved. Her cheek was pressed against his stomach, and both her legs stretched straight behind her, sticking out from beneath the blanket again.

Xiao Guang was helpless. In this sideways position, Min-joo occupied his stomach while Bae Joo-hyun occupied the bend of his leg. What decent person could sleep like this?

Their bodies were cool, and having them pressed against him was quite comfortable, but Xiao Guang still felt awkward. Especially when he reached out to pull Min-joo’s bare legs back beneath the blanket, his damned instincts awakened. He even shifted restlessly.

No. No, this really wouldn’t do. Even rubbing against them was out of the question. This was no joke—bodily fluids would certainly transmit the virus. It wasn’t a matter of whether he was willing to take a risk. After surviving alone in his apartment for three months and fighting for his life against zombies so many times, it would be absurd to lose everything because of this.

Unable to resist, he reached over and slapped down on the troublesome reaction. From beneath the blanket came an indignant cry. Xiao Guang had just begun to calm down when Min-joo opened her arms again and flopped onto him, her two adorable mounds pressing against his body.

Feeling that softness, Xiao Guang grew furious with himself for not knowing any scriptures, calming mantras, or anything else that might keep his thoughts from running wild.

“Tomorrow, I’ll see if we can sleep separately. This is torture.”

He reached out and touched Min-joo’s bare little rear, then closed his eyes again.

He had to sleep. He still had farming to do tomorrow.

~~~

Farmers knew that working in the early morning was the sensible thing to do. The sun had not yet risen high, and even if the air was somewhat close, it would not be too hot.

Xiao Guang did not actually need to farm yet. He still had plenty of supplies, but he understood the meaning of preparing for a rainy day. He was farming now mainly to master the skill. Sooner or later, his supplies would run out. The earlier he learned, the more secure he would feel.

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He pounded his lower back. That morning, he dug open the mound of earth again and sprinkled three or five grains of fertilizer inside. The instructions on the corn-seed packet were very clear: two or three seeds, and a small pinch of fertilizer.

How much was a small pinch? That damned instruction sheet was useless. Xiao Guang could only add what he thought was appropriate. As for whether this was the best time to plant corn, heaven only knew.

At least he was working. Even if it might all prove useless, Xiao Guang still felt faintly heroic. He turned to look toward the living room. The two ungrateful zombie girls had not come to help.

That morning, he had asked Min-joo to carry a basin of water. The moment he turned away, Min-joo had lifted it and poured it over Bae Joo-hyun.

Then came the task of breaking up the fight. He had to calm both zombie girls down, which cost him even more time that could have been spent farming. Rather than have them make things worse, it was better for him to work alone.

“If I captured a few completely mindless zombies and used them as laborers, wouldn’t that save me a lot of trouble?”

Xiao Guang’s thought was not entirely motivated by how hard the work was. He remembered how that sumo-wrestler zombie had chased him down several streets at Bolt-like speed. It would be a terrible waste not to put all that strength to work in the fields.

At that thought, Xiao Guang could not help glancing toward the living room. Bae Joo-hyun had awakened an enhancement of strength, while he still had no idea what Min-joo was capable of.

Xiao Guang considered such differences perfectly normal. Every group was like that. The same virus could infect one person with excruciating pain while leaving another almost unaffected.

To be honest, Xiao Guang had also wanted to try being infected by the ancient virus. What if he awakened into some kind of super-powered zombie?

But he did not dare gamble on it. Three months had passed. Although he had not wandered all over the world, among all the zombies he had encountered, only Bae Joo-hyun and the sumo-wrestler zombie had awakened extraordinary strength.

This virus was fascinating. It could awaken strength in human beings, yet it could also drive them completely insane and strip away their humanity. However one looked at it, it resembled a process of selection. The human race had undergone countless rounds of selection since ancient times before becoming what it was today.

“If Bae Joo-hyun fully regains her sanity, then with that strength of hers, won’t she see me as a pathetic weakling?”

Xiao Guang felt rather depressed. But less than three seconds later, the glass on the living-room side shattered with a crash. Something seemed to shoot out at the speed of light, like a little ball.

Why were they fighting again? And how had they managed to use so much force?

Xiao Guang dropped the shovel in his hand and hurried toward the living room to break up the fight.

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