episode_0092

The thugs lay sprawled, all unconscious. Even without consciousness, their bodies twitched as if registering pain. They looked exactly like trash illegally dumped on the road.

The team leader begged and pleaded to be spared his life until the very end. It was laughable to see anyone and everyone sporting the title of “team leader”. I had a frank conversation with this guy until just before finishing him off. Most of it was information I already knew, but by gently coaxing him, I was able to get a little more information about a man named Yeom Seongjin.

‘He’s a guy living a real-life noir drama in real-time.’

That was exactly my impression after hearing it. To put it crudely, he’s a guy who embodies a degenerate, bottom-feeder life. He’s the kind of person who would throw himself at anything without hesitation, just to survive or for money. The team leader spewed every word he could to beg for his life, and listening to him, I confirmed he had a vicious nature, enough to make me frown throughout. The type to view people as tools or means. A human with no mercy in his actions.

‘Given this situation, he must be thriving.’

When he stopped giving useful information and started rambling, I punched him in the face, knocking him unconscious. I slowly got up and looked down at the thugs.

‘…This guy is even more out of control than I thought.’

It seems that as the world fell into this state, self-restraint vanished, and desires were unleashed. If everyone could do whatever they pleased just because societal norms collapsed, then a chaotic pandemonium where everyone ran wild would have erupted. Most people hid themselves in dark buildings because they couldn’t do that. The problem is that this guy, Yeom Seongjin, is quite capable of doing just that. What’s more, he’s even planning an expedition to the neighboring town. The reason these twenty or so thugs crawled all the way here was for procurement. To scrape together whatever they could, be it supplies, people, or women. The bloodstains on the weapons they held and their clothing were the result of that. They had rummaged through various places, even ransacking apartments, but finding no gain, they were causing a ruckus and coming down when they ran into me.

‘To think he planned to use people as both human shields and bait….’

I sensed wickedness in his classic-style plan. Pointlessly, anger surged, and I kicked the unconscious team leader in the ribs. As the sensation of crushing ribs traveled up to my toes, I felt a slight improvement in my mood.

For now, I hadn’t killed anyone. For now. First, although my whole body was already covered, I wanted to get as little more dirty blood on me as possible. And a clean death was a luxury these guys didn’t deserve. The chances of those twitching on the ground surviving are slim. Not only did I break their limbs, but I also turned their insides into mush. This isn’t a metaphor; these guys are literally going to be shitting blood.

‘That’s assuming they even survive, though.’

They’re going to find it painful even to breathe, let alone move. They’re going to die feeling the sensation of broken bone fragments piercing their internal organs. Slowly, on the cold street. Anyway, these guys don’t sympathize with the pain of their victims. But I want them to slowly die, squeezing out hot tears of regret. Only then might those who died unjustly find a little peace from their lingering resentment. Though I wouldn’t mind watching these guys die with satisfaction, I turned my back for the sake of the people behind me.

“……”

The people stood frozen in place. Was my fighting shocking? Or did my actions seem cruel? Either way, they were definitely quite shocked. Putting aside my poor physical condition, their pale faces made it impossible not to notice.

“Hyung-nim, I heard your actions were spectacular, but this is incredible.”

“…Suddenly?”

“The squad members said you have to see it for yourself to understand, and that’s really true. I see it now.”

I smiled bitterly at his words. It seems he heard something about me at the school before.

“More importantly, what about all this splattered blood? It would have been fine if I had just shot them all.”

“Well, there’ll be another chance.”

“Will you let me handle it then?”

I nodded slightly and observed Kang Ilbyeong, who looked surprisingly fine. Although Kang Ilbyeong is a soldier with good shooting skills, the fact remains that he is a young man. Remembering that, I looked into his eyes for a moment.

“…Why are you looking at me like that?”

“It’s nothing.”

Seeing Kang Ilbyeong look embarrassed, I felt a slight sense of relief. Though I’d felt worried seeing him casually say he’d shoot, it was a groundless fear.

‘…It doesn’t seem like he’s grown accustomed to killing.’

I wondered if he had come to disregard life, but looking into his eyes, that wasn’t the case. He merely spoke strongly because he had a lot of pent-up anger towards those thugs. If they hadn’t rushed at the people just now, there would have been no need to shoot.

‘I hope it doesn’t leave a scar on his mind….’

This applies not only to Kang Ilbyeong but also to the others. It seems they’ve already been quite shocked, though…. Lieutenant Lee, the soldier, seemed a bit better, but the child’s mother stood trembling like an aspen leaf.

‘Still, she kept her child well-covered.’

Even amidst all that, she covered the child with the windbreaker I gave her so the child wouldn’t see. I suppose that’s what maternal love is like. I didn’t say much to the somewhat shocked people. It would be fortunate if it didn’t backfire pointlessly. Instead, I urged them to move.

Then Kang Ilbyeong spoke quietly. “Are you leaving them like this?”

“…And if I did?”

Surely, saving those who have given up on being human means life is precious—

“Shouldn’t we deal with them thoroughly to ensure a clean aftermath?”

“……It’s fine.”

“But….”

“They’ll have difficulty surviving anyway.”

“Ah… I’m sorry. I spoke out of turn.”

“No, I understand.”

It was a baseless thought. It seems they really had it out for them. To see Kang Ilbyeong, with his normally amiable personality, displaying such hostility presented quite a gap from the image I had of him.

Anyway, with the situation resolved, we continued on our way. After passing through a small path, we arrived at the fake house. Everyone seemed relieved at first, but then they looked puzzled when they realized it wasn’t the shelter. They chattered amongst themselves, expecting something like a hidden bunker underground, but that wasn’t it either. Until we passed through a hidden door and reached the real shelter. Their reactions were no different from those of our group when we first arrived here. I almost laughed at the sight of them, mouths agape, constantly exclaiming in admiration.

Finally, we arrived at the shelter entrance. “We’ve arrived. Please go inside.”

I opened the door and let the people in. The moment they stepped inside, a wave of warm air enveloped them. Their skin, long exposed to the cold, quickly turned red. As we headed to the reception room, our group, who had been chatting, spotted me. Jihyeok hyung, Shia, and Dr. Jang Heeyeon.

“Seonghan!”

I was surprised to see Jihyeok hyung startled at the sight of me. The people with him were also startled and jumped to their feet.

“Oh, Oppa! Blood! Blood!”

“No, this is—.”

“What happened to you?! Are you hurt?”

“Show me where you’re hurt!”

Shia was making a fuss, while Dr. Jang Heeyeon, suppressing her surprise, calmly began to search for any injuries on my body.

‘I should’ve at least hosed myself down before coming in.’

I hated dousing myself with cold water, so I just came in, and now there’s a huge commotion.

“Calm down. This isn’t my blood.”

“You’re not hurt anywhere?”

At Shia’s words, I nodded repeatedly, calming everyone down. “Something happened on the way here. I’m sorry for startling you.”

“Haa….”

The people were greatly relieved by my calming words. Their expressions somehow made me grateful, and I also felt sorry for being so thoughtless.

“Huh? Kang Ilbyeong-nim?”

“It’s been a long time, Actor-nim. Shia-nim, have you been well?”

“No, how??”

Kang Ilbyeong’s face, pale and covered in blood, but cheerfully greeting them, clearly showed both relief and welcome. “These are the people who came with Kang Ilbyeong. We met them while looking for medicine and brought them here.”

“You all truly suffered a lot to get here.”

“Welcome.”

At the sight of Hyung and Shia warmly welcoming the people, Kang Ilbyeong’s group visibly displayed relief. At the same time, their legs seemed to give out, and they collapsed onto the ground.

“Doctor-nim, please check on these people. They’re all in bad condition.”

“Of course. But Seonghan-ssi, were you unable to get the medicine?”

Perhaps because I returned faster than expected, Dr. Jang Heeyeon cautiously asked. Judging by her expression, she seemed to think I hadn’t been able to get it. In response, I set down my backpack and began taking out the medicine.

“For now, I got all of it.”

“What? You mean, all of it?”

“But the quantity isn’t much.”

“Just getting what you did is amazing… Oh my! Penicillin too?”

Dr. Jang Heeyeon, who had confirmed the variety and good condition of all the medicines and was delighted, immediately began preparing for treatment. Before that, she asked for everyone’s understanding, saying it wouldn’t take long. She made sure to prioritize Mr. Byeongsu, who was in the worst condition, above all others.

“We just need to adjust the dosage based on his condition. He’ll be fine now.”

Mr. Byeongsu’s treatment didn’t take long. Dr. Jang Heeyeon’s reassuring words and explanation when she came out of the room. That assurance alone made wandering around all day worthwhile. Soon after, Dr. Jang, examining the newly arrived group, even called the nurses to begin caring for them.

“I’ll look after these people, Seonghan-ssi, so please go wash up.”

“Ah… I suppose I should.”

“It seems the child was very startled.”

Her words made me realize my mistake. How terrifying must my blood-soaked appearance have looked to the child’s eyes? I subtly shifted my gaze to the child, who wouldn’t leave her mother’s embrace. Her tiny hand was clenched tightly to her mother’s clothing, rigid. Her unfocused eyes seemed to be looking at me somehow. It felt as if her gaze was nailed to me, staring silently.

“Oppa. Are you okay?”

“Huh? Oh, I’m fine. Then I’ll go wash up.”

I left the newly arrived people to Hyung and Shia and headed to my room. I threw the blood-soaked clothes into a corner and first rinsed my body with water. It felt like the smell of blood had slightly permeated my body. Rotten blood, fresh blood.

‘…Horrible.’

As the warm water hit me, the unclean feeling seemed to dissipate. It wasn’t until I had soaped and shampooed multiple times that I felt the smell of blood had finally gone. Finally, that feeling of a clean body. Feeling my body grow weary under the warm water, I briefly sorted through the day’s events and my thoughts. Various things happened in half a day, but they were resolved well. I got the medicine and saved people. And I ran into those damn thugs.

‘…I need to clean things up.’

There were no direct victims before, but that’s no longer the case. They attacked Kang Ilbyeong’s group and even lunged at me. The ones I saw with my own eyes, I can’t just leave them be. In a country like America, they’d easily get life imprisonment or even the death penalty. Our country, well…

‘It’s a miracle if I don’t get the death penalty myself.’

In this land with its miraculous logic where victims become perpetrators, there’s a strong possibility I’ll be branded a historical serial killer. It was a good thing I went around with my face covered. No, actually, it probably wouldn’t matter even if I didn’t. If such a situation arose, I could just disappear somewhere. However, there is something that bothers me. Dong-woo, Shia, Jihyeok hyung, and the others. I don’t want to be remembered as a murderer by my group. In the past, I wouldn’t have cared. But now that I’ve grown fond of them and feelings are building up, that thought is slowly changing. And there’s another problem.

‘…What do I do….’

The blood on my body ended up proclaiming that something had happened outside. I need to explain what happened outside. I’m worried about how to convey it so they’ll be less shocked. I’m also worried about how my aggressive and ruthless side will be perceived. My ceaseless worries continued as I stood under the warm water. And the shower continued until my hands and feet were bloated from the water. For quite a long time.