Ch.157Treacherous Path (2)

We continued moving after leaving the theater.

As soon as we exited, faint radio waves could be heard.

– Silver beetle.

– Rustling wallpaper.

This level wouldn’t drive us insane immediately, but it was dangerous long-term.

Radio waves being transmitted by the Foundation.

And we couldn’t ignore the influence of the “Fifth Apostle” either.

In this situation with both factors overlapping, we needed to carefully check even the smallest anomalies.

The problem was how to do that.

Because we were wearing earplugs, conversation was nearly impossible unless someone shouted loudly.

The easiest way to check someone’s condition would be to talk to them.

But that wasn’t possible now.

‘Noona.’

I glanced toward Serim noona.

Serim noona read my thoughts.

‘Yes, Dabin.’

Communication through thoughts, using Serim noona’s ability.

‘This might be difficult, but could you briefly check how everyone else is doing? Can you manage that?’

‘Yes.’

‘Your safety is the most important thing, so pace yourself. Understand?’

‘Yes, I understand.’

Serim noona examined each person one by one to check their condition.

‘The effects of the Foundation’s radio waves are still faint? The influence from the “Fifth Apostle” is stronger. Wanting to drink blood, wanting to kill someone. Also…’

‘Noona. That’s enough.’

Beads of cold sweat formed on noona’s forehead.

I conveyed the same message to Yebin next.

‘Yebin. Let me know right away if anyone starts acting strange. Got it?’

‘Yes, Dabin.’

‘If someone’s eyes look strange or they start mumbling weird things. Tell me immediately.’

Yebin nodded vigorously.

Most of the library management system was now unusable, but Yebin and I were still connected through it.

I still didn’t know why.

Perhaps Yebin had also gained abilities as a “power user.”

Maybe she could communicate similarly to Serim noona.

Conversing through thoughts, we arrived at the elevator.

Click.

Seok Hyunmin, who pressed the button, turned to us with wide eyes.

Click. Click.

The elevator that had been working fine when we entered now refused to move.

The lights were off, and the buttons weren’t functioning properly.

‘Dabin. What’s happening?’

‘The elevator seems broken. Hyunmin is still checking.’

Seok Hyunmin pressed the button repeatedly, but the elevator remained unresponsive.

Soon after, Serim noona brought up the same issue.

‘Dabin. Is the elevator broken?’

‘Yes. I think we’ll have to use the stairs.’

‘I’ll tell the others.’

‘Don’t push yourself. Just use the cards.’

‘I’m still fine.’

‘You need to save your strength for when it’s really important.’

I stopped Serim noona from using her ability and instead used communication cards to share opinions with everyone.

The conclusion was to use the stairs.

Fortunately, there was no one near the emergency exit.

One thing that worried me was Daju.

Not only had Daju been carrying me all this time, now she would have to carry me down the stairs too.

“Daju.”

When I lowered my head to speak, Daju reacted due to our close proximity.

“Aren’t you tired?”

“Hmm. A little?”

Daju continued staring at me even after answering.

“…”

“…?”

Then she grinned and said:

“Oppa. You know, right?”

“No. What?”

“Come on. You know exactly what.”

“I absolutely won’t do anything weird.”

We moved down to the floor below through the emergency exit.

Right below the theater was a large supermarket.

It was closed with the lights off.

For a moment, I considered gathering food supplies but decided against it.

We had enough food.

We might also get support from the Occult Association later.

Above all, there would be many opportunities to secure food.

There were plenty of supermarkets and convenience stores elsewhere.

The important thing was to navigate through the immediate danger.

We needed to go down one more floor to reach the first floor.

We came down safely before, but this time felt different.

Outside the emergency exit door.

An ominous energy emanated strongly from behind the steel door.

Everyone else seemed to sense it too, as they all became tense.

‘We need to stop here.’

‘Yes, Dabin.’

‘I’ll stop the others. Can I use my ability this time?’

‘Yes. We need to alert everyone quickly.’

Serim noona closed her eyes briefly and sent the same message to everyone nearby.

‘We need to stop here.’

Everyone’s movements stopped simultaneously.

And then, something was coming.

“Get away from the door! Quickly!!!”

Just as I shouted, the steel door began to tear apart with a thunderous noise.

Rrrrrip-

Seok Hyunmin and Heo Yoon raised their weapons.

Daju backed away while still carrying me.

The rest of the people who were behind us were just beginning to move forward to prepare for the upcoming battle when it happened.

BOOM!

The door opened as if exploding.

Like a bursting balloon, the steel door tore into several pieces and scattered across the floor.

But there was no one behind it.

The door, which had been fine moments ago, had been torn apart on its own.

…Now we could see inside the emergency exit.

The air glowed gray in the faint sunlight.

Below that, the staircase was literally packed with people.

Men and women, completely naked and covered in blood.

There must have been at least hundreds of them.

‘What? How are there so many!?’

‘Dabin. What do we do?’

Serim noona and Yebin panicked simultaneously.

I took a deep breath to stay calm.

‘Don’t panic, stay calm. Understand?’

There was no time to panic.

‘This is the only passage, so we must break through here.’

‘Can we do it?’

Serim noona asked without even adding a question mark.

I answered briefly.

‘First, take off your earplugs.’

We had to do it.

Even if it meant taking some risk.

***

Shortly after. In the supermarket where we had been.

A shopping cart filled with goods appeared near the checkout counters.

It was so haphazardly loaded with items that it was difficult to steer properly.

“Run!”

With my voice, everyone started running while pushing the shopping carts.

I was being carried by Daju at the back, watching for enemies approaching from around us.

“Up ahead! There’s one!”

Even as we were gathering shopping carts and randomly filling them with items, the “believers” of the Fifth Apostle who had crawled out from the emergency exit were right on our heels.

Until now we had only been running away, but now it was different.

The cart was now aimed directly at them.

“Ram straight through!”

Heo Yoon shouted in a booming voice.

Everyone gritted their teeth, and the shopping cart accelerated even more.

CRASH-!

The naked “believer” was lifted into the air before being pushed away and flying off into the distance.

Once accelerated, this was no longer just a shopping cart.

It was literally a destruction tank, capable of blowing away everything in front of it.

“Just keep going to the emergency exit!”

“Keep it balanced! If this tips over, we’re all dead!”

My voice and Heo Yoon’s voice echoed through the dimly lit second floor.

Pshh-!

Robin raised her gun and took out a “believer” who was charging in from the side.

Even while doing so, she kept up with the cart without slowing down.

“Just keep going! A little more!”

Seok Hyunmin and Jung Haewon also shouted with all their might.

“Let’s go!!!”

“Let’s gooooo!”

We finally reached the emergency exit.

The “believers” who hadn’t yet made it upstairs were staring at us with bloodshot eyes.

This was the bloody domain touched by the “Fifth Apostle.”

Why would sacrifices willingly enter here?

Even with all their might, squeezing out every last bit of strength they had.

That might be what they were thinking.

“Now! Push!”

“Push!”

“Put your weight into it and push!”

CRUNCH!

The corner of the stairs met the shopping cart wheels.

The wheel supports made a thunderous noise as if they would break at any moment.

“Just a little more!”

It must have been just a brief moment.

But time seemed to stretch out.

Everyone concentrated all their strength and willpower on pushing the cart.

CLANG!

With a refreshing sound, the cart rolled down the emergency exit.

CRACK!

THUD!

THUD!

THUD!

THUD!

The “believers” covering the emergency exit faced one of two fates.

Either they were hit by the cart and sent flying, or they were crushed underneath with broken bones.

Items spilled from the wobbling cart and covered the surviving “believers.”

The potted plants we had placed on top flew quite far and directly hit a male “believer” in the head.

The naked men and women wailed in chaos. The pile of colorful goods crushed the blood-covered humans consumed by madness.

I leaned toward Daju and said:

“Now let’s run too.”

“Yes, oppa.”

And to everyone else:

“Run now!”

The cart was still rolling down.

We ran down the stairs at full speed along the path the cart had cleared.

“Huff… huff…”

Even Yoon Daju was breathing heavily.

We finally reached the first floor.

But we couldn’t rest yet.

In fact, the situation had taken a turn for the worse.

Everyone’s expressions froze simultaneously.

Serim noona pointed to one side of the building with a trembling voice.

“Dabin. Over there…”

A red wall.

On that wall surface, countless naked people were clinging and breathing.

People with their arms and legs spread wide in an X-shape, pressed tightly against the building wall.

They were piled up in layers upon layers.

Like intertwined bloody vines.

Or like one giant membrane.

In the center of the membrane was a hole, and air moved in and out as the membrane expanded and contracted.

Whoosh.

Whoosh.

And shortly after.

Something unbelievable happened.

From inside the hole, a naked woman crawled out covered in blood.

The hole seemed quite narrow, as the woman had to use both arms to barely pull her body out.

Behind her came a tall, thin man. After him, a man with wrinkles all over his body. New believers were crawling out of the hole in a line.

All of them naked.

Their bodies covered in blood, their cloudy eyes lifeless.

That red wall, like a womb, was giving birth to new believers.

There was no time to be shocked.

The newly born believers all turned their gaze toward us at once.

“Let’s get out of here quickly.”

“Yes.”

Heo Yoon took the lead and found the door.

When we opened the main entrance and went outside, we could see the street.

The red wall must have been reproducing and giving birth for quite some time, as the street was already covered with believers.

“…”

Everyone was silent.

Again, everyone was looking at me.

Daju barely opened her mouth to speak.

“Oppa. What do we do now?”

“…Wait a moment.”

I concentrated.

There must be a passage connecting to the Occult Association nearby.

‘Phone booth.’

The Association’s “phone booths” are found in crowded places.

In a place with this much population, there had to be at least one on the street.

The way to find it was to use anomaly observation.

A familiar dizziness stirred in my mind.

‘Please. Just a little more.’

While praying inwardly.

I kept turning my head, searching for the “phone booth.”