Special Episode 3. You Monster Bastard.

A terrifying sense of pressure bore down on Ji-hyuk’s body. The massive figure charged with incredible speed, swinging a heavy club with violent force.

*Buung*, the sound of air tearing apart grazed Ji-hyuk’s ear. He dodged the club swung within a hair’s breadth and thrust his spear straight in. However, the opponent, with agility that belied his size, spun around *hwiririk* to evade it.

After a brief exchange, the two slightly widened the distance again. …They immediately realized that neither was an easy opponent.

…Definitely worth being scared shitless and running away.

Ji-hyuk snapped his neck to the side, renewing his fighting spirit. And then he rejoined the fray with the bastard.

Tremendous attacks that could not guarantee what would happen after even one hit poured down relentlessly. The club tore through the air and shattered the ground. Zombies caught in its path were completely crushed, their flesh and bones pulverized.

It was truly a mad battle. But for some reason, both were feeling an inexplicable thrill. A fight with a strong opponent-. In fact, the massive guy had entered this competition not for the sake of winning, but to fight strong opponents.

Yeah, this is the guy. I’ve been looking for a guy like this.

An irrepressible smile appeared on the face of the usually expressionless massive guy.

Crazy bastard.

Ji-hyuk was also laughing while cursing at him. He, too, had been feeling a slight sense of emptiness since becoming overwhelmingly strong after becoming a god. …How long has it been since I’ve had such a close fight-!

At that moment, the club suddenly bent in an unexpected direction and moved *hwiik* towards Ji-hyuk’s torso. He parried with the spear shaft and pulled his body back as much as possible. However, the weak spear shaft was helplessly crushed by the solid iron club. Fortunately, he managed to dodge the attack, but now he had no weapon.

…But I couldn’t run away anyway. This is an unavoidable fight.

In any case, Ji-hyuk was more comfortable with his fists than with a spear. The Heavenly Demon didn’t unify the martial world with just his fists in an era where countless weapons were rampant? And that was with a mere human body-!

A weapon is just an extension of the arm. If you fully understand the origin of martial arts, weapons are meaningless-.

As Ji-hyuk clenched his fists and prepared to fight again, the opponent smiled even more intensely. He was a guy whose skills and spirit he liked. If they hadn’t met in this kind of situation, they could definitely have become friends.

Of course, the bastard didn’t do such an absurd thing as throwing away his weapon to even the odds. Advantages and disadvantages in a fight were elements that should naturally be assumed.

The massive guy swung his club violently again. Ji-hyuk, having abandoned his spear, dodged the club more easily than before.

…This bastard…!

So the bastard swung the club even faster and harder, but the opponent dodged it, again and again. …It was an amazing feat that even the massive guy was surprised by inwardly.

You rat bastard…!

Realizing that Ji-hyuk wasn’t an opponent he could afford to conserve strength against, the massive guy eventually unleashed his full power. Even if he had to pour out all his strength here and then be eaten by zombies, he was prepared to see the fight to the end.

ㅡ!

The massive guy’s speed suddenly increased dramatically to an extent that Ji-hyuk couldn’t predict. In the end, he allowed the bastard’s attack to hit his left arm.

With a dizzying impact, Ji-hyuk flew *buung* and crashed into the wall of a building. He collided so hard that he broke through the crumbling cement wall and went inside the building.

The massive guy slowly approached the place where Ji-hyuk had flown, cracking his thick trapezius muscles. With this kind of impact, the opponent must have suffered considerable damage as well. Maybe he was even in a state where he couldn’t fight.

…However, contrary to the massive guy’s expectations, Ji-hyuk walked out of the broken wall unharmed, swinging his left arm, which had been hit by the club, around in large circles.

“It was a little stiff, but thanks for loosening it up, you bastard.”

The massive guy’s eyebrows twitched at Ji-hyuk’s perfectly fine appearance. At the very least, it would be normal for his left arm to be crushed to the point where he couldn’t use it, but his being so unharmed was a phenomenon that even he couldn’t understand.

…What is it? Why is he so unharmed? Was the impact weaker than I thought? …No. I definitely felt the sensation of hitting him accurately on the arm.

The massive guy gripped the handle of the club even tighter. And then, shouting *uwooreooreo*, he ran towards the opponent.

Ji-hyuk also realized that the fight wouldn’t be decided if he fought while conserving his stamina, and he flared up his power.

The moment an attack comes in, aim for that gap-.

The aura emanating from the massive guy was also not something to be taken lightly. Frankly, even though he pretended to be fine, the impact he had just received remained in his body. …If he allowed one more attack here, even Ji-hyuk’s solid body would have a hard time enduring it.

A one-hit fight.

Either I fall, or that bastard falls. Ji-hyuk was determined.

…And the moment of the final battle quickly approached.

The massive guy instantly ran up to Ji-hyuk and swung his club with terrifying momentum. The massive guy was sure that the opponent had been hit, but the club didn’t feel any impact.

ㅡ!

At first, he pretended to swing it briefly on purpose, and then suddenly extended his arm in the middle to increase the range. It would be natural for the opponent not to be able to predict that…! But the opponent seemed to have dodged the club with a technique one level above that.

Before he could even think about how he was able to dodge it, Ji-hyuk’s fist was lodged in the massive guy’s chest.

ㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡ!!!!

With a tremendous impact sound of *peoeeong*, the massive guy’s chest flesh and bones burst. The bastard’s heavy body soared into the air *buung* and then fell back down *tteok*. And zombies swarmed over him.

The massive guy twisted his body, trying to shake off the zombies, and stood up again, but his chest already had a gaping hole, and blood was pouring out. …The bastard looked down at his chest and coughed up blood *kuluk*.

The massive guy’s defeat.

The bastard raised his head again and looked at Ji-hyuk with bloodshot eyes.

“…Name.”

The massive guy asked Ji-hyuk’s name in a heavy voice.

“Kang Ji-hyuk.”

“Kang Ji-hyuk…. I will remember.”

The bastard closed his eyes and fell forward *kung*. And again, zombies swarmed over him. The massive guy’s flesh began to enter the zombies’ stomachs.

Ji-hyuk gritted his teeth at the pain that pierced through his body. His left arm, which had been hit by the club earlier, was red and bruised and swollen. It seemed like there was a slight fracture in the bone as well, as there was pain every time he moved it.

At that moment, a mutated zombie flew towards Ji-hyuk, but its head was crushed in an instant by his fist.

Ji-hyuk saw the zombies swarming again and fled the scene.

More zombies gathered at the spot where the massive guy had fallen.

· · ·

Dawn was approaching.

The time when zombies, who had been moving towards the living, were also finding their nests.

Exhausted, Ji-hyuk found a spot between the rusted cars on the road and lay down flat on his back. He took a deep breath and fell asleep, and when he opened his eyes, it was morning, just as the sun was rising. His left arm, which had been broken and swollen, had also recovered a lot, and the swelling had noticeably subsided.

Ji-hyuk, who had quickly recovered his stamina after sleeping, moved again. In fact, he hadn’t really expected to win, but after catching a strong candidate for the championship, he started to think, maybe.

Still, he couldn’t let his guard down until the end. He didn’t know how many participants were still left.

As Ji-hyuk was walking alone through the city, he suddenly started hearing a *bbi-bbi* sound in his ear. He wondered what this sound was. But the more he walked, the faster and louder the sound became. He thought it might be a warning sound of some kind, like a restricted area. He turned back the way he had come. Then the sound slowed down and became quieter again. …It seems like this is some kind of warning sound.

Ji-hyuk moved towards the outskirts of the city, just in case. But he started hearing the warning sound again in a place where he could definitely go out before.

…Is this going to end up with everyone gathering in one place?

Only then did Ji-hyuk grasp the reality of this game. The intention was to push everyone into one place and make them fight each other in this way.

In addition, the space to run away from the zombies was also narrowing, so naturally, survival and fighting would become even more intense.

After wandering around for a while, Ji-hyuk discovered a shelter in the distance. It seemed like there were survivors.

Ji-hyuk pretended to be dying and approached the front gate of the shelter, knocking on it with his fist *tangtang*.

“S, s, save me…!”

The door creaked open. A group of survivors in ragged clothes greeted him. The number of people, including Ji-hyuk, was eight.

There was also a familiar face there. It was the participant named Kai.

“Oh, you…!”

Kai recognized Ji-hyuk and greeted him. Ji-hyuk also sat down close to him with a happy face.

“I ran away like crazy. If I had given up, I would have definitely died there.”

“I’m glad.”

Kai patted Ji-hyuk’s shoulder, saying he had suffered a lot.

“You must be tired from coming all the way here, so get some rest. You’ll have to fight fiercely again tonight.”

“Yes.”

Ji-hyuk lay down in the musty sleeping area. Kai’s friendly face quickly disappeared. He was thinking about how he could take control of this group. Since a familiar face who could be of help had appeared, he would use him well.

Of course, Ji-hyuk also had his own plans. Since Kai was also a participant, he was no different from an enemy to him.

…Tonight, I’ll have to take care of him.

Ji-hyuk wriggled and tossed and turned a little. Of course, he only closed his eyes and didn’t sleep. He had to stay alert in case Kai suddenly changed his attitude.

The sun, which had been floating for a while, was setting, and soon there was a sunset in the sky.

…Another hellish night was approaching.