Ch.26DIY Beverage Factory

The exposed concrete and steel structure repeats infinitely.

I ran endlessly through the long building structure.

Vending machine□□□□■■

■■■□□□□Window

Vending machine□□□□■■

■■■□□□□Window

Behind me, Park Sungjin is chasing at tremendous speed.

“Seven hurry hurry grab a reversed blade and slice out the arteries. People surrounded trying to survive. For the ritual—”

Judging by his words, he seems to have completely lost his mind.

Given the building’s structure, there’s nowhere to hide. We have no choice but to keep going deeper inside.

“Why is it just one straight line?!”

“Just keep running for now!”

“Can’t we just fight?”

Thud.

At the sound from behind, Heo Yoon immediately closed her mouth.

“Holy shit.”

With one swing of his crowbar, the wall collapses and surrounding windows shatter.

The dark red liquid continuously flowing from Park Sungjin’s body begins to move as if it has a will of its own.

“What’s happening to him… Can a single memetic kill agent really do that…?”

Catching my breath, I shared what I had learned before.

“It’s not just about a single memetic kill agent.”

“What?”

“It apparently implants a ritual that summons something into your mind. Usually people can’t handle the ritual process and die while self-harming, but…”

“This guy didn’t?”

“Yes, it seems so. He’s still alive and well, as we can see.”

“He’s already this bad. What happens when the ritual actually summons something?”

Heo Yoon stops mid-question and exhales sharply.

Unlike Park Sungjin who’s becoming increasingly frenzied, we were gradually getting exhausted.

“Unnie! There’s a path over there!”

“Huh?”

To the left of the endlessly repeating straight space, there’s an inward-turning alley.

There’s a path behind a fallen vending machine with a placard hanging above it.

[Beverage Factory]

Heo Yoon, who was running at the front, changed direction.

“Let’s go in there.”

I have a bad feeling about this.

Before I knew it, words spilled out.

“Are you sure?”

“We’ll get caught anyway if we keep running in a straight line. Better to hide in there.”

“That’s true, but…”

Crack!

A fragment flies from a distance and lodges into the floor.

Like a baseball pitcher, Park Sungjin was picking up and throwing head-sized rocks.

“This crazy bastard, seriously!!!”

Crash!

There’s no other option.

Turning into the alley, we see another door at the end of the path.

“Dabin! Run!!!”

Heo Yoon and Choi Serim are already grabbing the door.

Maybe my stamina has decreased since becoming a woman? Somehow I’ve fallen to the very back.

“Huff. Huff. Huff…”

Though I feel like I might collapse at any moment, I grit my teeth and run until I reach the interior.

Heo Yoon closes the door with all her might and turns the handle to lock it securely.

For a while, only the sound of heavy breathing can be heard.

The cells in my brain are screaming, and with each breath, it feels like my chest is burning from the inside.

“…Unnie. Should I turn on the flashlight?”

“Not yet.”

Choi Serim takes out a flashlight, but Heo Yoon shakes her head.

“Before that guy comes, we should get used to the darkness first.”

As she said, our eyes gradually adjust to the darkness.

The surroundings reveal an old food factory.

The wall paint has yellowed, and sticky liquid residue is splattered across the white tile floor, making a sticky sound with each step.

“Dabin. What did the placard outside say?”

“Factory. Beverage factory.”

“Factory… then maybe there’s space to hide behind machines?”

Haa. Haa…

Even while speaking, Choi Serim breathes roughly and glances behind.

“Dabin.”

“…Yes.”

“How about over there?”

“The control room?”

“Yeah.”

This time Heo Yoon interjects.

“Won’t it be locked?”

My heart is still racing incredibly fast, but not to the point where I can’t move. I got up and headed toward the door in the back.

“I’ll check.”

“I’ll come with you. Don’t separate.”

Heo Yoon stood in front of me, and Choi Serim followed beside us.

“Let’s go, Dabin.”

※ DIY Beverage Factory

§ Addicted to carbonated drinks? Got a disease where you’ll die if you don’t drink herbal tea for a day? Build a simple beverage factory in your backyard!

Cola. Cider. Mineral sugar water. Even acidic solutions and nitroglycerin. And even ■■■! We’ll make miracles happen for just §■■■■§!

Dr. Wong Industrial, <Complete Cooking Encyclopedia Just by Reading>, Art and Life Publishing Co.

Creeeeak-

Fortunately, the door was open. Just as I was about to open the storage door.

Rattle rattle rattle!

Park Sungjin has arrived at the door.

Heo Yoon immediately rushes out.

“I’ll go check!”

Soon after, a voice filled with shock is heard.

“Destroying the door with a crowbar? Is that even possible?”

Clang! Clang!

The sharp sound of metal being crushed mixes together.

At this rate, getting caught is just a matter of time. We need to do something quickly. But what?

Fighting back is impossible no matter how I think about it. Two women. And I’m in a woman’s body now too. There were bodies piled like mountains in the elevator, all killed by Park Sungjin. How can we defeat a monster who can shatter iron doors with a crowbar?

In the darkness, Choi Serim quietly pointed to a corner of the warehouse.

“That.”

A valve. And pipes.

I traced the PVC pipes that spread throughout the factory with my eyes. All the pipes converge and connect to one point on the wall. Could it be?

“Is there a water tank behind the wall?”

“Seems like it.”

More precisely, what I thought was a tank wall was actually a massive water tank.

“Unnie. Flashlight.”

When we shine the light, shadows of the water surface appear inside. The tank is filled with dirty beverage concentrate.

With this. Maybe we can do something?

I firmly grabbed the round, gear-shaped valve.

“Wait. Are you going to turn it right away? Won’t we get swept away too?”

Come to think of it, the first to be swept away would be us, standing close to the storage room. What if we get washed out to the entrance and get caught more easily?

“And the concentrate is denser than you think. If we spill it all, it’ll turn into a swamp.”

A swamp…

“Unnie. There were tables outside, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Gather them with Yoon unnie at this door. As many as possible.”

“Got it.”

Crack! Clang!

As Choi Serim runs out quickly, the outside situation becomes visible.

The iron door is almost completely torn apart now, making the outside clearly visible. The warehouse, which was dark until just now, is now bright thanks to the light seeping in.

“This is insane, seriously!”

Heo Yoon screams in disbelief. Choi Serim approaches her and urgently conveys the plan.

“Unnie. Help me move the tables.”

“Sure! I was thinking of piling them at the door…”

“No. In front of the warehouse.”

“What?”

The two arrange tables in a long vertical line. I grab the valve handle and turn it with all my strength.

Rumble rumble rumble-

The vibration is powerful enough to shake the entire warehouse.

First, a sweet smell fills the surrounding space. Gas is being released from the fermented sugars that have been sitting for a long time.

After a moment.

Beverage concentrate begins to burst from the wall with tremendous force.

An appetizing orange color. Caramel concentrate?

Splash, splash.

I ran out of the warehouse, cutting through the sticky concentrate.

“Now grab one table each! Over your heads!”

The high-density liquid begins to rise from the floor.

As Choi Serim said, the surroundings have become a sweet swamp.

The concentrate has now risen to waist level.

I can see Park Sungjin howling as he kicks down the door and enters.

“Now put the table on the surface!!!”

Splash!

We place the wide table on the sticky swamp and pull ourselves up onto it using the table.

“Unnie! Take my hand!”

Choi Serim helps the flailing Heo Yoon. Fortunately, both of them managed to secure positions on the swamp.

The caramel concentrate continues to pour out.

Park Sungjin, who was rushing forward, gets swept away by the current and falls.

“Come heeeeere! Grrrr! Cough, hack!”

Standing on the board, we watched Park Sungjin flailing, covered in caramel.

“Keep pulling up the surrounding tables without stopping.”

Even though we’ve avoided sinking immediately, this table will gradually sink too.

We need to keep pulling up surrounding tables to create new supports.

While pulling with all my might on a table leg stuck in the sticky liquid:

“Not over yet the ritual is not over yet!!!!”

Splash-

A strong arm cuts through the caramel concentrate, and Park Sungjin rises above the swamp.

Eyes. Nose. Mouth. Shoulders and abdomen, wounds on the chest. Blood begins to violently spurt from all over Park Sungjin’s body.

“W-what…”

While Choi Serim mutters, the dark red liquid solidifies and forms chains.

Soon, the dark red liquid begins to lift Park Sungjin’s body. Heo Yoon shouts loudly.

“We have to stop it!”

But it was only for a moment. The blood mixed with the beverage concentrate bubbled, then emitted smoke and spread around.

“Cough. Cough. Nooooo….”

Splash.

Park Sungjin’s figure is no longer visible.

The continuously flowing caramel concentrate has heavily covered his body.

Looking sadly at Park Sungjin disappearing, I stood up on the table.

“Let’s get out quickly. If we just get past the bend in the alley from earlier, we should be fine.”

Heo Yoon swings her arms back and forth to balance herself.

“So we just need to jump as far as possible from here?”

“Yes. Then somehow walk out.”

“Okay.”

Heo Yoon leaps and lands far away.

As she steps into the shallow part of the surface, a loud splashing sound echoes.

That distance with almost no running start? Her physical abilities are no joke.

Next is Choi Serim. Not as good as Heo Yoon, but she landed safely in a relatively safe spot.

Then me…

“Gasp.”

I tried to jump as far as possible but almost fell into the swamp.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes. Thanks, unnie.”

Choi Serim lifts my waist and pulls me out.

“Let’s go now.”

We escaped through the alley we came from, avoiding the caramel concentrate gushing from behind.

“Haa… we almost died.”

Heo Yoon sighs deeply, shaking off the concentrate stuck to her hair.

Although we survived safely, I’m still troubled by Park Sungjin.

“……”

I can’t express the complicated feelings, and I don’t even know what I’m thinking. Just. I keep sighing. And my eyes are getting hot.

Tap.

I turn to see Heo Yoon placing her hand on my head.

“Don’t worry about that guy. He always said to do this if it happened.”

“What?”

“Whenever someone turned into a monster, that guy would always handle it. He said if it ever happened to him, don’t think useless thoughts and just kill him.”

Heo Yoon removes a caramel lump stuck to my hair and throws it on the floor.

“So don’t worry about it.”

“Yes…”

“We got the amnestic too. And we’re all safe, right?”

Stroke, stroke.

A pleasant sensation tickles my head. Heo Yoon is patting my head. It might be getting sticky, but it still feels nice.

“Let’s go back now.”

Heo Yoon presses the elevator button. After being quiet for a while, Choi Serim suddenly speaks.

“Dabin. Are you crying?”

“No. Just…”

“You did well.”

Somehow, the bodies that were piled up until just now are nowhere to be seen.

The elevator interior is clean.

We get on the elevator and press the button. 7th floor. Time to go back.