episode_0162

“Squeak! Squeak! Squeak!”

The blade that had dug into her forehead came out through the back of her head. The woman scratched her face and screamed loudly. It was a sound that did not sound human at all.

“Kkiiik!”

She soon fell to the floor, twisting her entire body at bizarre angles as if she had no joints. Lee Hyun could tell that his gamble had paid off. She was definitely dying after being hit in the head.

“Haa… Haa… !”

Lee Hyun shuffles towards the struggling woman. He climbs on top of her, firmly holds her lower body, turns the blade around, and uses the last of his strength to thrust it back in.

-Thwack! Thwack!

“Squeak!! Squeak!!”

-Bam! Bam!

“Squeak…! Squeak!”

-Thud! Thud! Thud!

Lee Hyun repeatedly hit the woman’s head several times. Suddenly, he realized that he could not hear any loud screams and looked down.

“… ”

Before she knew it, the woman was lying motionless, her body hanging limply. She was accompanied by a tattered rag that could no longer be called a head.

“Haa… Haa… ”

Only then did Lee Hyun stop moving. Along with that, a heavy, crushing pain began to creep up on his entire body.

Extreme fatigue, no strength in my limbs. My stomach felt terrible, as if I had swallowed poison.

Another price for using the power of the Seven Paths beyond its limit. He instinctively thought of the faces of the captain and his angry sisters. This time, he had no idea how much of his life he had used up.

However, it was also an inevitable choice for him. The enemy in front of him was one that required enough effort.

‘If you rest for a few days… you’ll be fine for now.’

Hyun Lee, who thought like that, staggered and barely managed to get up.

-Thud!

Something grabbed his ankle hard and he rolled on the floor with a loud crash.

Soon after, I felt a weight on my stomach and a pain in my neck.

A woman with a hideous appearance, her face and crown of her head covered in knife wounds, was strangling his neck with both hands.

“Keuk… Keuheuk… !”

He clawed at the floor with both hands. His vision was blurry and his limbs felt weak, so he couldn’t respond properly.

“Uh… How… Giggle… ”

The woman was glaring at him through gaping holes in her eyes and muttering something.

“Cough… Cool… !”

“How… how dare you… !”

“Coolook, coolook!”

“Gigig, how on earth did a lower species… gain… Polaris’… power…!”

“Coolook… What the… Cough… !”

“Gigig, I have to tell… my sisters… !”

-Bam! Boom!

“Coolook, coolook… gasp… ”

Suddenly, a dull impact sound is heard. The weight that had been weighing him down disappears in an instant. His vision, which had been blurred by the lack of oxygen, regains its brightness.

Lee Hyeon looked up, rubbing his neck.

“Haa… Haa… !”

Jin Ye-seo is seen breathing heavily while holding onto the remains of a broken wall.

“Haa… Are you okay… ?”

“First of all… Cool… ”

The two who exchanged greetings turned their heads without saying a word.

The woman who had been hit on the back of the head by Jin Ye-seo was now truly motionless.

***

“… I guess that was the last straw.”

Jin Ye-seo, who was catching her breath, glanced to the side as if she was anxious.

-Chiiik…

The place where corpses had been strewn just a moment ago. The sound of something melting was coming from there. Only torn clothes remained, and not a trace of the nun’s body remained. Not even bones, not even flesh, not anything.

“What the heck… ”

Jin Ye-seo shivered as she witnessed the strange death of a strange being.

“It’s really over now… ”

“… I think so. Okay. ”

While staggering, Lee Hyeon found something while searching through the pile of monster corpses. Then he quickly threw it at Jin Ye-seo.

An old gas mask covered in blood, likely used by one of the monsters when they were still human.

At this, Jin Ye-seo frowned deeply.

“How could I do something like this… Knock knock, knock… !”

But soon she starts coughing violently, bloody. The toxic gases that have settled underground are having an adverse effect on her.

During particle exhaustion, the wizard was no different from a weak ordinary person.

Eventually, she grumbled and accepted it, putting it on her face.

“… What should I do? The road is blocked.”

Jin Ye-seo blankly stared at the back road that the fat pig-like man had escaped through earlier. The place had completely collapsed and was useless due to the violent clash that had just occurred.

Lee Hyeon looked around for a moment and then gestured to Jin Ye-seo.

“There’s air flowing, even if it’s faint. There must be another passage. Let’s go that way… Huh?”

It was the moment he turned his body.

My legs still feel weak and I lose my balance.

Just before he fell face down on the floor.

Jin Ye-seo, who had come closer without him noticing, barely managed to support him.

“Sigh… ”

Jin Ye-seo, who was completely buried in him, let out a shrill scream. She used her strength to pull Lee Hyeon up again.

Then he glared at me with a spiteful look.

“Why are you so weak? Anyway, men are just talking big… ”

“That doesn’t seem like something someone who was just lying down should say… ”

“What? Hey. If only I hadn’t let my guard down… Phew.”

Jin Ye-seo, who had been pretending to protest, suddenly burst into laughter.

Contrary to what he said, there was no particular sharpness in his attitude.

“What’s going on all of a sudden?”

“Just because… we look funny.”

Clothes torn and tattered, hair soaked with blood and dirt, and a ridiculous gas mask on their face. They looked like a pair of cockroaches rummaging through a garbage dump.

At this, a faint smile appears on Lee Hyeon’s lips.

“That’s true.”

***

The two walked along the underpass, leaning on each other’s bodies. A faint breeze blowing from somewhere was their only guide in the darkness.

-Thud! Kwung!

An intermittent, earth-shaking sound.

At this, Jin glanced upwards as if he was anxious.

“… Surely something didn’t happen outside too.”

“Maybe so.”

Lee Hyeon answered in a calm voice.

“Those monsters from before are still there.”

“… Ah.”

Jin Ye-seo shivered as she recalled the monster that had put sticky white liquid on her head earlier.

“We shouldn’t run into each other here… ”

“That’s right. I can only hope that the pig, no, the chief of the security bureau, handled things properly… ”

“Phew.”

“Why?”

“No, it’s strange to hear the word pig coming out of your mouth… ”

Jin Ye-seo said in a tone full of jokes.

“I was thinking the same thing.”

“Anyone who sees it would probably think so.”

“That’s true… ”

Jin Ye-seo, who had been taking a deep breath, opened her mouth hesitantly.

“But…what did he say at the end?”

“Last?”

“Uh. I thought a woman was shouting something… Did you hear that?”

“… ”

After thinking for a moment, Lee Hyeon answered.

“… No. I didn’t hear it properly either.”

“Really? Well, given the circumstances… Huh? Hey!”

Then Jin Ye-seo discovered something and pointed with her finger.

An iron ladder leading upward was visible. It was clear that the air flow was also leading there.

As I climbed the ladder, I came to a dark warehouse. It smelled like wine and had dry bread stored in it.

“Here… ”

“Wherever it is, what matters is that I got out of that dirty place. ”

Unlike Lee Hyeon, who felt a sense of unease, Jin Ye-seo was very excited and chattered.

“Haa… I think I’ll live a little. Let’s go for now. I think that pig ran away. How dare he ignore the warning I gave him in Baekgwang’s name. Just try catching him. I’ll skin him and roast him whole… ”

The two of them opened the door and stepped out, leaning against each other. The warehouse was connected to another space.

The outline of the window was faintly visible, but it was covered with dark cloth, leaving little light inside.

-Kwaang… Boom…

Outside, sporadic explosions continued.

A strange, growing sense of unease tickled Lee Hyeon’s nerves.

“Why is it so dark? It’s not like it’s a sewer… Huh?”

Jin Ye-seo, who had been grumbling, discovers something and makes a puzzled expression.

In the middle of a dark room, about five or six children were standing motionless. Lee Hyun could easily identify them.

When he first visited Block B, there were children there smiling brightly and playing mischievous pranks.

“What? I’m surprised.”

“I know those guys.”

“Huh?”

“I’ve seen it a few times while exploring. I guess this is section B.”

“… If it’s Block B, then that’s where that woman was hiding earlier. Why would I have to come out and… ”

Jin Ye-seo frowned as if she didn’t like something.

“But why are they doing that? Something is strange… ”

“Wait a minute… !”

As Jin Ye-seo approached the children with a puzzled expression, Lee Hyeon, who discovered something, urgently pulled her back.

-bang!

Jin Ye-seo ended up rolling around on the cold floor.

“What, what is it…!”

“front.”

“Huh?”

“Look ahead… ”

Jin Ye-seo turned her head according to Lee Hyeon’s words, who was very wary. Before she knew it, the children were staring at them with their necks bent at a strange angle. Their eyes were rolled back and only the whites of their eyes were shining.

And where Jinyeseo had been just a moment ago, a sharp hook was extending from his back, dangling in the air.

“Keeeek… ! Keeeek… !”

“Keeeek! Keeeek!”

Children with pursed lips let out screams.

-Wood thud! Wood thud!

The change is even more dramatic because of its small body. The skin is pushed up and the grayish-white tissue swells. Dozens of tentacles are already sprouting from its upper body. Its size is incomparably larger than the monsters from before.

-Krrrr…

The facial features, distorted and crushed and no longer human, let out a scream as they looked at them.

The monsters had already surrounded them. Jinyeseo could feel a familiar unpleasantness from them.

According to the woman… the name is definitely Angel.

The being that had been searching for her as if it was going to devour her while covering her in sticky white fluid earlier.

-That’s also the reason why I like children. They are just lovely beings, full of untainted innocence…

“That’s what I meant… ”

Hyun Lee muttered in confusion as he recalled the words of the woman who seemed to care about children.

“Ugh… ”

He tried to lift his trembling arms and maintain his posture, but he couldn’t even properly pull up the strength of the first path.

No matter how much you train to the limit, it’s virtually impossible to deal with those monsters without the help of magic.

He glanced to the side. Jin Ye-seo also had not yet recovered.

-Kiaak!

Then, the monster that had silently turned to the side suddenly rushed towards Jin Ye-seo.

Hyun Lee, who saw him, threw his body and stopped the monster.

“Damage!”

“Gyah… !”

-Bang!!

The monster that had pushed Lee Hyun into the wall destroyed the wall itself. Lee Hyun, who was pushed outside, was able to immediately recognize where he was.

The place where evil nested. The church in Block B.

-Phew!

“Ugh… !”

Suddenly, I felt a dull pain in my lower abdomen. The monster was deeply inserting its sharp hook into it.

-Keeeek! Keeeek!

The mouth gaped open into four. Then, five tongues filled with sharp thorns rushed forward as if they were going to swallow him up. Lee Hyun thrust the blade vertically into the gaping, deep cave.

-Keeek!

The monster howled in pain and was instantly pulled away from him, the blade still stuck in its snout.

At the same time, another monster rushes towards his square and throws its tentacles.

-Whew!

“Ugh… ”

Jin Ye-seo, who appeared late, barely managed to cut the tentacles horizontally. Then, he pushed back the monster that was rushing towards him by raising the side of the blade.

-Chaenggang!

However, the blades could no longer withstand the accumulated impact and were shattered. They were left without weapons and in the middle of the monsters again.

‘No, it’s there but it’s useless…’

Lee Hyun looked around. The surroundings were still covered in orange fog, but beyond that, a noise like never before was heard loudly.

-Whoa!

-Monster, monster…!

-Save me…!

-Level 1 biological disaster has occurred. Citizens, please evacuate to shelters immediately and wait calmly for the military. I repeat, Level 1 biological disaster has occurred. Citizens, please…

Booming noises, screams, empty sirens and announcements.

He couldn’t figure out why the city suddenly became noisy. Lee Hyun recalled the monsters moving in unison in response to the woman’s words earlier. Perhaps by killing her, the ones still hiding had lost control and started to run wild.

“Ugh… ”

I feel something lukewarm continuously flowing down the wounded area from the hook. My vision darkens and my judgment gradually becomes clouded.

The monsters were circling around and closing in on me. No matter how much I racked my brain, I couldn’t come up with a solution.

I’ve defeated my enemies. There are a lot of things to find out. But in a place like this, to a mere monster…

“Ugh… ”

Jin Ye-seo seemed to be thinking the same thing. Without even realizing it, she was holding onto Lee Hyeon’s hand tightly.

-Keeeek!

The monster that had been exploring them suddenly rushed at them and gaped open its mouth. Even in the midst of all this, Lee Hyun tried to protect Jin Ye-seo by hugging her.

He was able to immediately shake off the emptiness that had come to him.

It was a second life that I had finally gained.

Even if there is no way to live, it is absolutely impossible to give up that life on your own.

So, I can’t face the family who left first or the leader.

Even if I have to give up all my limbs, I will fight until the end as long as I have breath.

At that moment, with such determination, I was preparing for my final resistance against the monster.

-Kwaaang!

-Wake up! Wake up!

A loud noise, as if the air were exploding, that suddenly brushed past my ears.

He stared blankly ahead.

A monster with its head cut off by a giant block of ice was lying on the ground with its neck still stuck in the ground.

-Bang! Bang! Bang!

The explosions just now continue one after another. Each attack hits the monsters surrounding him with precision. The monsters end their lives in vain without even being able to resist.

-Crash… Crash…

Then, a sound approaches along the floor. Along with that, an unseasonable chill seeps into my skin. Even a thin breath escapes from the corners of my mouth.

Lee Hyun tried to look around with his darkening vision.

Before they knew it, they were in the middle of a snowy field.

“This is… ”

Lee Hyun muttered as his consciousness began to fade. He had already experienced this space.

In the middle of none other than the communist war.

“Ah… !”

An exclamation of joy burst out from Jin Ye-seo’s mouth as she was held in his arms. The ice rink that suddenly appeared, and Jin Ye-seo’s friendly response.

This was the part where you could clearly tell who had come.

-Where, where are you…!

“Oh, that’s… that pig voice from earlier!”

And from afar, someone’s echo resonated through the amplifier. Jin Ye-seo, who heard it, made a surprised expression, but also shouted in joy.

-The unlucky Lee Deok-gu, as promised, has returned leading the support of the cradle…!

“What the… You kept your promise? Here! This way! Hey, now… Huh?”

Jin Ye-seo was about to look back at Lee Hyeon. Her pupils dilated as if she had belatedly noticed something. Dark red blood was dripping from her open palm.

“You, you, what are you… Why are you bleeding… so much… ”

“Haa… Haa… ”

“Hey, hey… Wake up… Hey!”

Jin Ye-seo shouted something with a flustered face, but it did not reach Lee Hyeon.

“Hey… Why are you suddenly like this… Are you kidding me…? No… No… !”

Everything was blurry. Both sight and hearing. As if being consumed by an abyss.

The last thing that entered his field of vision were clearly someone’s eyes, shining golden.

***

‘…paper.’

The consciousness that had sunken rises to the surface.

‘Idiot… Dad, you’re an idiot…!’

In the midst of not being able to feel any sensations, only a very faint noise tickled my ears.

‘I overdid it again… I came back hurt again… ! ൸ ൸ My teeth were fixed… But again… !’

Someone who is really angry and grumbling…

‘No… not anymore… not anymore… ൸ ൸ I can’t even fix this… ‘

There is a sadness in that muttering voice.

‘This is the last time… If you overdo it again… Then… Then… Sob… ‘

A girl. She seems to be a very young child. It’s definitely the first time I’ve heard her voice.

But why does this feel so familiar? Where did I get this…

‘…I’m really going to die.’

“Oh my… !”

As I took a deep breath, my eyes shot open. Darkness had descended upon the surroundings, and there was only silence.

The throbbing pain all over my body, the soft pillows and blankets wrapping around my body, and for some reason the familiar, scratchy texture of my lips that were wet.

And what filled my vision was… an unfamiliar ceiling.