episode_0100

He was receiving the gazes of many women.

It was a situation every man might dream of at least once.

Especially if they were young, beautiful, and half-naked women.

In that sense, it would be safe to say that a man named Yeom Seongjin had achieved one of his dreams.

Though only if the person himself wasn’t unconscious and the gazes weren’t filled with murderous intent.

He stepped forward calmly amidst the chilling atmosphere.

He pointed at Yeom Seongjin, who was thrown at the old doctor’s feet, and requested.

“Please make this guy wake up.”

“……”

The old doctor’s expression as he looked down at Mr. Yeom, who was unconscious and covered in blood, was far from pleasant.

“Because I feel like he’d die if I did it myself.”

“Huh…”

The old doctor seemed dumbfounded, losing his words at my flat, blunt remark.

The people standing around had similar reactions.

“You certainly speak well in front of a doctor.”

Despite that, the old doctor didn’t seem particularly bothered, instructing a young doctor to bring something.

“This guy deserves to die a hundred times over, even if he dies once. Please don’t talk about life being precious or anything like that in front of me…”

“Rather than that, I am a doctor, you see. It would be better if you put it a bit more delicately.”

“……”

The old doctor shook his head slightly, smiling bitterly.

This old man also seems extraordinary.

He doesn’t seem to blindly insist on a doctor’s duty.

‘…He’s someone who knows how to read the room.’

In a situation like this, if someone were to spout nonsense like, ‘All lives are precious!’, it wouldn’t be strange for a knife fight to break out.

At least the old doctor in front of me didn’t seem to be that kind of person.

Just as I was organizing my thoughts about the old man, a young doctor came carrying something. It looked like a reagent in a small glass bottle.

At the old doctor’s gesture, the young doctor opened the glass bottle without hesitation.

And he brought it under Mr. Yeom’s nose, who was still unconscious.

Then…

“Cough! Ughhh!”

Mr. Yeom thrashed his arms and immediately regained consciousness.

He was flailing as if his mind was still hazy, but the effect was undeniable.

When I looked at the doctor with slightly surprised eyes, the young doctor grinned.

“It’s ammonia. The effect is certain.”

“…I’ve learned something useful.”

I nodded slightly and approached Mr. Yeom.

I slapped the cheek of the guy who was staring up at me blankly, as if he hadn’t fully come to his senses.

Splat!

“Ahh!”

With a sharp impact sound, Mr. Yeom screamed.

Blood gushed from his cheek, where the flesh had already burst open.

I grabbed the Adam’s apple of the guy who still couldn’t fully regain his senses.

“Gasp!”

“Listen carefully. Answer the questions I ask quickly from now on. Otherwise, it’s going to be very difficult for you.”

“Gasp! Gasp!”

“You see the doctors next to you?”

Yeom Seongjin scanned his surroundings with trembling eyes at my words.

I murmured quietly to him.

“They all seem skilled. That means you won’t die easily.”

“Gasp…”

“So, answer the questions well. Don’t try to scheme. You know well what I’m capable of, don’t you?”

At my gently spoken words, Mr. Yeom flinched considerably.

He seemed to recall the ‘event’ that had taken place on the first floor.

Seeing his satisfactory reaction, I began to ask what I was curious about.

“What kind of guy are you? And who is this ‘Big Brother’ person?”

Starting with this, I began to pry into one thing after another, and Yeom Seongjin answered docilely, as if resigned to his fate.

Yeom Seongjin was a local thug leader in this area.

His group was small, with barely twenty members, and he was just an insignificant fellow.

The ‘Big Brother’ he served was one of the influential figures in the region.

One day, while living peacefully by doing petty errands for his Big Brother.

The zombie apocalypse broke out.

Sensing that the situation was unusual, he quickly gathered his subordinates to protect his Big Brother.

His response was excellent, but a problem arose.

Big Brother’s only son was bitten by a zombie.

He didn’t die immediately, but soon after, he turned into a zombie.

“Was this the hospital where he was being treated?”

“…Yes.”

“Then the zombie on the third floor is…”

“That’s right. He’s Big Brother’s son.”

The regional influential figure could not accept his son’s death.

He ordered them to find a cure, and when the doctors couldn’t solve it, he began bringing in all the doctors from the vicinity.

“Doctors, while zombies were running rampant?”

“That’s why we had a lot of trouble…”

Until then, they hadn’t gone completely overboard.

As the situation grew more serious, Mr. Yeom started using the hospital as a base and gathering supplies. In the process, gangsters began to latch onto them one by one.

They still brought doctors in almost by kidnapping them, but he claimed they didn’t treat them badly.

“I also came here once before.”

The old doctor, who had been listening nearby, interjected a comment.

“It was certainly coercive until then, but…”

“What was the trigger?”

At my words, Mr. Yeom, who had been silent, opened his mouth heavily.

“…Taeseong.”

“Taeseong? The Taeseong I know?”

The name of Korea’s top conglomerate popped out.

Completely out of the blue.

“…Yes. People from Taeseong told us. To hand over the doctors and seize control of this area. They said they would help us then.”

“…They said that? What benefit would they gain?”

As I bared my teeth and growled at the absurd answer, the old doctor stopped me.

“…It’s probably true.”

“Are you serious?”

“They tried to take me too.”

The old doctor said that Taeseong had taken more than half of the gathered doctors.

They mobilized many vehicles and personnel to move them, but they never came back.

He said there were personnel who remained to monitor the old doctor and a few others.

“It was called protection, but it was nothing short of surveillance.”

“Perhaps those guys…”

“Yes. The zombies in suits on the third floor. They are Taeseong people.”

I tilted my head.

“Still, it doesn’t make sense. Taeseong wouldn’t be making drugs like you.”

“Of course, I don’t know that. But they emphasized one thing.”

Mr. Yeom smiled thinly, continuing mockingly.

“To make sure to secure this old man.”

The person he pointed to was the old doctor.

“I don’t know why either. They just told me that, and after that, there was no contact.”

At Mr. Yeom’s words, the old doctor’s expression hardened.

He seemed to have some idea.

“But did you cause all this trouble just by listening to Taeseong?”

“Of course not. They sent some supplies and a few people.”

“Gangsters?”

“More accurately, they were people from Taeseong.”

“Where are those guys?”

It seemed quicker to ask the person himself. So I asked, but…

“Didn’t you kill them all?!”

“I did?”

“Yes! The one who uses dual blades!”

“Dual blades? Ah, that flashy dual-wielder.”

“……”

“For someone like that, they weren’t much different from your subordinates, were they?”

Mr. Yeom scrunched his face at my unfiltered sarcastic remarks.

“…You monster bast—”

Whack!

I struck Mr. Yeom’s temple as he slowly started to get aggressive.

Seeing him collapse weakly, I realized my mistake.

“Should I wake him up?”

The young doctor stepped forward, holding the small reagent bottle.

I nodded to the doctor, who stepped forward as if he had been waiting.

A moment later.

“Aghhh! Damn it!”

“If you call me a monster one more time, I’ll tear off your limbs.”

“……”

“Answer.”

“Ah, understood.”

“Then keep talking.”

Mr. Yeom’s disheartened explanation was nothing special.

He accepted Taeseong’s offer, who had extended their hand first.

He used Taeseong’s name and the name of his Big Brother, the local influential figure, to indiscriminately gather people. That’s how many Joseonjok got mixed in.

After that, there was no difference from what I had grasped.

They subdued rebellious groups with violence and annihilated them by driving in zombies without getting their hands dirty. As a bonus, they used young biker gangs and delinquents in the process.

They instill fear to dominate people.

The mass slaughter carried out as part of that.

They hunted people and killed indiscriminately, whether children or adults.

“Then how and why did you make the drugs?”

“Among the Joseonjok who got mixed in, there was a guy who knew the manufacturing method. It just so happened that we could extract the raw materials through the captured doctors, so we proceeded.”

At his words, I looked around at the doctors and people who still hadn’t fully recovered.

“So you tried to exploit them by adding drugs to the pleasure of killing?”

Once addicted to drugs, it’s hard to escape.

If they controlled the addicted gangsters with drugs, it might have been very smooth.

At my sarcastic remarks, Mr. Yeom chuckled.

“When the country became like this, the Joseonjok were the first to reveal their true nature. They’re incredibly cruel and unrestrained. We just piggybacked on those guys who were leading the way. Heheheh.”

Yeom Seongjin, now laughing as if insane, blurted out as if spitting words.

“Even when a great opportunity like Taeseong came, that Big Brother couldn’t get his head straight! He was kicking away a huge opportunity because of one son who turned into a zombie!!”

“So you threw Big Brother and the Taeseong employees to the zombies as food?”

“…That was an accident. It wasn’t intentional.”

Mr. Yeom, who seemed to cower for a moment, shouted again.

“I, I! I’m not supposed to be in a place like this! I’m originally a Baekho-pa family member!”

“Baekho-pa? A gangster?”

“You don’t know Baekho-pa? The nationwide organization that backs Jincheon?”

“What do I know about gangster bastards? But why are you here?”

“Th-that’s…”

“Ah, never mind. More importantly, Jincheon? The Jincheon where Chairman Bok is?”

“Yo-you dare!”

I slapped the top of Mr. Yeom’s head, whose eyes suddenly bulged.

“Don’t talk nonsense. I, you know? I shook hands with Chairman Bok, you know? We even had lunch together, you know? We were that kind of relationship. Understand?”

Mr. Yeom, whose eyes were wide, didn’t seem to think my words were a lie.

“R-really?”

“It was a few years ago, though.”

“Indeed… If it’s a mon— no, if it’s a human like you, you might have connections with Chairman Bok-nim…”

To think he’d accept it like this…

My fighting appearance must have been quite impressive.

Anyway.

I took a moment to organize my thoughts.

For something done in a little over a month, it was too rushed.

Almost mindless…

‘Taeseong… Baekho-pa…’

I generally got the picture.

“Mr. Yeom. You needed accomplishments, didn’t you?”

“…”

“Whether it’s Baekho or Ppaeko, or Taeseong. You must have needed something to show for yourself.”

Mr. Yeom remained expressionless, as if it was the correct answer, saying nothing.

“Although you claimed to piggyback on the Joseonjok, it must have been difficult to manage all your subordinates. So you probably planned to buy time with alcohol and women, then get them addicted to drugs.”

“……”

“Didn’t you want to gobble up this area and fulfill Taeseong’s wishes to create a connection?”

“…Roughly similar…”

It was indeed true that this guy, Yeom Seongjin, had caused all this out of his own greed.

“I don’t know why you were kicked out, but it seems you thought you’d shine if you returned to Baekho with a connection to Taeseong.”

“……”

“What an amazing bastard this one was.”

The trigger seems to have been Taeseong, one of Korea’s leading corporations.

Of course, this man, Mr. Yeom, who escalated and carried out these actions, is also a problem.

Whatever the reason.

The victims who sacrificed themselves, creating pools of blood, were a result of one human’s greed.

Even young children were caught up in an adult’s dirty desires.

Yeom Seongjin truly did not consider the targets of his slaughter.

As I clearly realized that fact now, my head cooled.

“…Yeom Seongjin.”

“Ugh…”

I murmured quietly to him, as he stiffened, sweating cold.

“What did Taeseong want? State it precisely.”

“Th-that was…”

I grabbed his right hand as he hesitated to answer.

Crunch!

A tearing scream echoed down the corridor.

Without stopping, I kneaded his crushed hand.

Crunch! Crunch!

He couldn’t even scream, just writhed in pain with his mouth open.

Watching that, I spoke coldly.

“Tell me everything you know from now on. If you hesitate even a little…”

Crunch! Crunch!

“Aghhhhhh!”

“You’ll end up begging to be killed instead. Speak quickly if you don’t want to see your heart ripped out alive.”

“Ugh! Alright! I get it!”

Immediately after, Yeom Seongjin confessed as if spewing words, weeping tears of blood from the pain.

Unfortunately, no useful information came out.

What Taeseong wanted was puzzling.

First, capable doctors, including the old doctor.

Second, the capture of unusual individual zombies.

That was all.

There was no means to contact Taeseong.

The only person he knew was the one who was showing off with dual blades.

The guy who died by my hand…

It was I who cut off the connection with Taeseong.

‘How was I supposed to know…’

I sighed deeply and asked.

“Why on earth are they looking for this old man so much? You don’t even know that?”

At my words, Mr. Yeom, who was writhing in pain, looked incredulous.

“I don’t know! I told you I don’t know!”

“Oh, right…”

Watching Mr. Yeom convulsing, I slowly stood up.

I pulled out the kitchen knife that had been stuck in Mr. Yeom’s knee until then.

Thud!

“Ugh, ughhh…”

I then mercilessly stomped and ground my foot on his crushed hand, which was about to lose consciousness again.

His reaction to that was very satisfying.

His eyes, bloodshot from burst capillaries, were wide open, and he couldn’t even scream.

He was merely convulsing from the unbearable pain.

At that sight, I pressed on even harder.

I began to stomp and strike Yeom Seongjin’s intact body.

Dull thuds and the sound of bones breaking could be heard.

Sounds of something bursting inside his body burst out repeatedly.

Ugly sounds echoed through the quiet corridor.

The suddenly unleashed, merciless violence.

I could feel the breathing of the people nearby dying down.

The air became heavy and cold, and a little viscous.

The identity of that viscosity was murderous intent, and that murderous intent was fully contained in the gazes of the people lining the corridor.

And those gazes were directed at Yeom Seongjin.

I felt it in my body and lived up to their expectations.

Right now, I was literally pulverizing Yeom Seongjin’s body.

His body was beyond bruised, almost black with congealed blood on the verge of breaking through his skin. The areas he was hit were greatly swollen, making it difficult to even look at.

…Those with weak stomachs turned away and dry-heaved.

But most people did not turn away.

It was as if an obstinacy to watch until the very end could be felt.

I snatched the small reagent bottle from the young doctor who was standing there trembling.

I brought it under Yeom Seongjin’s nose, whose consciousness was still flickering.

“Ugh, oh…”

He groaned, seemingly having regained some faint awareness.

Looking at his eyes, red from burst capillaries, I spoke softly.

“I told you. I wouldn’t kill you gently.”

“Ugh… ugh… Ki-kill me…”

“I don’t keep all my promises, but I try to keep them.”

My words, murmured as if to myself, seemed to be heard by everyone.

Everyone held their breath and focused on me.

Feeling that, I continued to murmur.

“I’m going to leave you like this.”

“?!!”

“Die slowly while feeling the pain. And reflect a little.”

“N-no d—”

“Yuna Kim.”

I spoke the name that had been etched into my mind.

“She must have been about five years old. She couldn’t even close her eyes. I didn’t know her, but I remembered her name from the name tag on her chest.”

How would my dry, indifferent words appear to Mr. Yeom? That question briefly crossed my mind as I uttered the words I really wanted to say.

“Die slowly. And when you meet that child, make sure to kneel and apologize.”

After those words, I stood up.

With this, all my business was concluded.

Now I felt the unpleasant feeling finally lifting.

I don’t enjoy killing, nor do I particularly prefer violence.

But now that the feeling that kept me from sleeping was gone, I simply felt refreshed.

It was the feeling of having resolved something that absolutely needed to be done.

‘…Let’s go back.’

The fatigue belatedly washed over me.

A feeling of slight heaviness spread throughout my body.

Fortunately, the sun hadn’t risen yet.

It seemed I could just quietly go in and try to sleep.

Just as I was about to move my feet.

“Shall we talk now?”

The old doctor, who had been silent until then, stopped me.