episode_0091

My country’s classic novels often have sad endings. They say it’s because a lyrical sensibility is etched into the DNA of Koreans. I don’t know much about lyrical sensibility or whatever, but even I remember some classic novels. *A Lucky Day* I only read it when I was young, but its tragic ending remains unforgettable even now. The protagonist, leaving his bedridden wife, went out to work. His steps were heavy, but once he started, luck was on his side that day, and he earned a good sum. The protagonist returned home with a bowl of ox bone soup that his wife had wanted to eat. What greeted him was the cold corpse of his wife. The end of his good luck was nothing but a heartbreaking tragedy. And now. I am indirectly feeling the protagonist’s emotions.

‘…No wonder I felt lucky…’ That was the thought that came to mind as I looked at the living chunks of meat before me. Today, before the day was out, I had experienced many things. I found a doctor and obtained medicine that I didn’t even know if it would help. I coincidentally met someone I knew and was able to offer assistance. And now, at the final moment, when all I had to do was go home, things went awry. No matter where you go, the ending is always important. Watching the uninvited guests before me ruin it, I felt my mood souring.

“You bastard! Are you deaf? Someone’s talking, what the— ” The gang I unluckily ran into looked to be roughly over twenty. They were grimy, but didn’t look starved; their faces were greasy and glistening. Their sneering expressions, full of contempt as they mocked me and my companions, made me want to hit them. They swaggered, trying to exude an intimidating aura, as if they’d seen it somewhere. But these guys were just a ragtag bunch. Each of them held a weapon in their hands. They tried to intimidate us with harsh curses and glares, but it was meaningless. Without any signs of training or strength, they were simply laughable.

Still, there were notable points. Bloodstains here and there, and greasy blood and flesh stuck to their weapons. In their contemptuous gazes, emotions like those seeing prey or a plaything flickered. And the smell of blood that seemed to have soaked into their bodies.

‘…They crawled here on their own.’ I found them. These are the ones. Monsters wearing human skin. They ruined my mood at the end, but if I beat them up, I feel like it might get better. That feeling was strong.

Even as I organized my thoughts, they were still running their mouths. “Are you scared~? Are you ignoring us~? Just wait ‘til you’re in front of your elders!” The man, trying to set an atmosphere but not approaching, blabbed on, faintly smelling of blood, like the rest of his gang. “Kids, and with women too? Phew~ This country’s really going to the dogs~”

“Are you jealous?” “What? Ha! Did this bastard swallow his manners? You punk! Show your face!” “Bullshit.” “…This son of a bitch…”

Someone grabbed the shoulder of the man who was acting as if he would lunge, snarling. Another man pushed through the crowd. Everyone was making way for him, so he seemed to be the leader. “Enough with the games.” “I wasn’t playing games.” “Hmph. Alright then. You, come work for us.” “…What?” I was dumbfounded by the sudden recruitment.

“You’re the one, aren’t you? The one setting fires with Molotov cocktails.” “……” “Hand over those bastards behind you and join us. We’ll treat you right. We’ll even give you women.” “Why them?” “Because I have a debt with that guy holding the gun.”

At his words, I glanced back to see Private Kang with a thoroughly contorted face. “Debt, my ass! Who was it that threw zombies at us and left?!” “Who told you to be there? Thanks to that, our guys died.” “You son of a bitch! So you want us to die?!” Private Kang, unable to contain his rage, raised his gun. He was so furious that the muzzle trembled slightly. The leader, mocking Private Kang, sneered with an air of complete composure. “You must be out of bullets, aren’t you?”

A sudden silence fell. …For some reason, the leader was gravely mistaken. Seeing Private Kang and the others frozen, the leader grinned broadly and continued to run his mouth. “If you had bullets left, you wouldn’t have run away like that then. We have quotas, so we won’t kill you, don’t worry. More importantly, Molotov. Stop weighing your options and join me.” This murderous bastard, calling *me* Molotov.

“Before that, a question.” “…This isn’t a situation for questions, is it? Can’t you grasp the situation?” “Shit, they light a cigarette for you before you die, but I can’t ask a question?” The thugs burst into loud laughter at my words. The leader swaggered, as if granting a favor, telling me to go ahead.

“Are you the ones driving zombies around this neighborhood?” “Well, yeah. We’re the only ones who can.” “You’re the ones who dragged the doctors away too?” “Oh-ho. You know about that too?” I tossed my last question at the man who was laughing as if amused. “The bodies on the hospital rooftop, those were your doing too?” “Tha— ”

The leader, who had been about to speak, suddenly froze, his face hardening as if by magic. At the same time, a faint killing intent rose from him, and he began to glare at me. “You climbed up there? You’re a fearless one.” “Why did you kill the children?” *Cough… Mister… I’m… cold… sleepy…* The voice from a memory, deeply hidden in my heart, echoed in my mind.

“Useless sh— ” “Why did you do it?” Only then did the leader and the thugs grasp the atmosphere. Their faint killing intents gathered, creating an icy atmosphere. “To dare play games with words in front of me. I’ll kill you right here.” “You too.” I threw the crowbar I was holding at Private Kang’s feet. “I’ll kill you slowly and painfully. You murderous bastards.” As the leader gave a signal with his chin, one of them rushed at me.

“Die! You bas— ” *Thud! Snap—! Crackle—!!* “Kuaaaah—!!” *Crunch!* It was but a moment. I stopped him with a single punch to the face. Immediately after, I twisted and broke the bones of whatever part I could grab with both hands. I stood on the writhing thug who couldn’t even properly scream as he collapsed. “You’re all dead.” I subtly narrowed my eyes into a smile, provoking the murderous men who had gone cold.

***

Seongjin Faction’s Team Leader 2 doubted his own eyes. Whether what he had just seen was truly what he saw. ‘I didn’t even see it properly!’ It didn’t even look like he’d punched with all his might. The subordinate who had just charged was a fearless and somewhat strong fellow, as if a screw had come loose in his head. Such a guy was instantly overwhelmed and collapsed. ‘That masked guy! He’s no ordinary person!’ Team Leader 2, having rolled around in this line of work for a while, wasn’t a complete fool. An urgent alarm rang mercilessly in his head. “What are you doing! Kill him!” He shouted spasmodically at his 24 subordinates who had still been merely spectating. In response, his subordinates, snapping out of it, all rushed forward at once.

They all held weapons good for breaking people: knives, hammers, and so on. His subordinates were tough individuals who had hunted quite a few zombies. They were trained by hunting people who ran or hid. Subordinates so cruel that it would be fair to say they had half-abandoned their humanity. Team Leader 2 had no doubt that the masked man would be torn to shreds and die right here.

“Th-that… that’s!!” Team Leader 2 felt his faith in his subordinates shattering mercilessly. The subordinates who rushed at the masked man were falling and flying. Literally, people were flying. He was clearly fighting bare-handed, but Team Leader 2 simply couldn’t believe the sight before his eyes. Every time that human’s attack connected with his subordinates’ bodies, a horrifying sound was heard. It was to the point where he doubted if it was even possible for such sounds to come from a human body. The sound of bones shattering was a given, and Team Leader 2, now realizing that drum-like bursting sounds could come from inside a body, couldn’t collect himself. Team Leader 2 wondered if the sight he was seeing every time that crazy human, whom he had called the Molotov, extended his hands and feet, was real. People flying through the air, splattering blood…

When a subordinate’s blood splattered on his face, Team Leader 2 suddenly snapped back to reality. “Grab the women and the kids!” Dealing with that madman was impossible. Even if 50, no, 100 people charged him, they wouldn’t be able to catch him. With that conviction, he changed his target. But he couldn’t achieve that objective.

“Private Kang. Don’t worry about the zombies, just shoot.” A command without hesitation, and shooting without hesitation. *Bang—! Bang—!* At the thunderous gunshots echoing in the air, two subordinates fell back. ‘Sh-shit!! Wasn’t he out of bullets?!’ A previous report from a subordinate said he had run away without looking back because he was out of bullets. Team Leader 2 had been waiting for this chance to take his gun, but this was the result. ‘I shouldn’t have trusted that idiotic subordinate’s word!’ The subordinate’s report had been correct, but Team Leader 2, with no way of knowing the full story, merely cursed the innocent subordinate. In the meantime, a gunshot rang out once more. He watched, greatly flustered, as a subordinate who was rushing towards the women had his head explode. Frozen by the gunshots, the subordinates were being furiously beaten by the Molotov.

‘He’s not just ordinarily cruel!’ Watching his subordinates, with bones protruding, limbs twisted, and bleeding, Team Leader 2’s mind went blank. The word ‘resistance’ no longer existed for him. He had never seen a human so indifferently destroy people. There was no hesitation, no hint of remorse; he was utterly unrestrained. As a result, most of Team Leader 2’s subordinates were lying on the ground, groaning. Only a few subordinates remained standing. He was next. As that thought struck him, he chose to run. When he came to his senses, he was already running. He had never run so fast in his life, unequivocally. He didn’t dare to even think about looking back. Despite the cold weather, Team Leader 2’s clothes were soaked with cold sweat. …He just ran, unaware that his pants were also wet.

But… *Thump—* “……Huh?” Team Leader 2, running with all his might, suddenly collapsed weakly. Unconsciously, he shifted his gaze to his legs and was dumbfounded. “Wh-when did this happen… why?” Two knives were deeply embedded behind both of Team Leader 2’s knees. So deep that the blades pierced through his knees. Realizing his condition belatedly, Team Leader 2 screamed until his throat tore.

“Aaaaaaaah—!!” He couldn’t stand up, nor could he crawl forward. He desperately tried to crawl on the ground by twisting his body sideways. *Gasp! Gasp! Groan!!!* When he felt pain, fear surged. When he felt fear, pain rushed in. In a situation that made him want to go crazy and jump, Team Leader 2 found himself uncontrollably shedding tears.

Zombies didn’t frighten him. He had harmed countless people without a second thought. He wasn’t afraid of death and believed he feared nothing. …He was wrong. Team Leader 2 felt that the current reality was terrifying. Especially that mad Molotov with the masked face; he was even more frightening and terrifying. “I-I need to run— ” *Grab—* Team Leader 2’s body stiffened at the sensation of his ankle being seized. “Where are you going?” At the calm voice in his ear, Team Leader 2 nearly lost his mind. In the meantime, all of Team Leader 2’s subordinates were writhing on the ground. He almost lost his senses at that sight, but the words that followed prevented it.

“I told you. I’d kill you slowly and painfully.” “Ugh, uwaaaahhh!!” Team Leader 2 began to be dragged away by the brutal hand gripping his ankle. He wailed, begging for his life, for help, but there was no one to hear him. He struggled desperately to avoid being dragged, but it was futile. He dug his fingernails into the ground, but it was meaningless. Instead, his fingernails ripped off, bleeding and intensifying the pain. Ten vivid red lines were drawn on the asphalt road where Team Leader 2 was dragged. And at the end of them, an inexpressible wail of agony echoed. That chilling sight was remarkably similar to the time of suffering Team Leader 2 had inflicted upon his victims. Team Leader 2 and his subordinates, writhing in pain, had no way of knowing that fact. The agonizing echoes of his pleas for help did not last long.

When the street became silent, only Seonghan and his companions were standing. The street was quiet, but it was thoroughly stained with the blood of the murderers. The cold asphalt road seemed to suck up the blood as if it had been waiting. Very slowly, very little by little.