The Predatory Genius of a Ruined World

Chapter 16 – Awakened Abilities (3)

—–CROW—– 

The next morning, Seong-ho, hidden within an abandoned shopping complex, watched the shadows moving outside. 

They were zombies, heads craned forward, wandering the streets.  As soon as he left the mountain path and entered the city, zombies swarmed. 

He had already entered buildings to avoid them over twenty times.  Because of this, he wasn’t making much progress, unlike when he was moving through the mountains.

But it wasn’t all bad.

*Groan!*

Zombies, having finally located Seong-ho and his group, rushed into the shopping complex.

*Flash! Flash! Flash!*

They collapsed one after another as they reached Seong-ho, who had sprung up from beneath a table.

「Members of the world have witnessed the Fate Pioneer’s actions.」

「Members of the world are influenced by the Fate Pioneer.」

「The Fate Pioneer’s influence slightly increases.」

「Discrepancy Score decreases by 2P.」

「Discrepancy Score decreases by 1P.」

「1 Merit Point acquired.」

「Discrepancy Score decreases by 3P.」

…

Popping the newly acquired virus beads into his mouth, Seong-ho checked outside.  There had been a bit of a commotion during the recent hunt, but it wasn’t a big problem. The area was already filled with the groans of hungry zombies wandering among the abandoned buildings.

*Groooan!*

Due to the noise everywhere, the sounds from here were insignificant. This made hunting relatively easy. He was particularly benefiting from having postponed leveling up.

[Character Status Window]

– Character Information –

Name: Han Seong-ho

Role: Fate Pioneer

Level: 3 (21/125)

Physical Ability: 7

Special Ability: 8/17

– Activity Information –

Merit Points: 21

Discrepancy Score: 198P

Influence: Only a very small number of the world’s members are aware of you; you have no significant influence.

Title: None

‘I leveled up again, and the number of times I can use my special ability increased by 5.’

The number of viruses required for the next level up had increased fivefold.  If this pattern continued, leveling up would become increasingly difficult.

But that was a worry for later.

‘At level 2, I could use it 12 times.’

He had leveled up while traveling today, increasing his special ability uses to 17. Even though he had already used it 9 times, he still had some left.

Of course, a stable hunt didn’t mean fast travel. Despite setting off as soon as the sun rose, they had only covered three blocks in two hours.

“This is frustrating.”

As Seong-ho sighed heavily, Lim Chan, who had been covering Lim Ji-hyo’s mouth, straightened up and said,

“There are still… a lot of zombies… I didn’t expect there to be this many…”

Seong-ho agreed. The overall atmosphere of Jongno District was very different from Eunpyeong District.

‘The area around the hospital was quite well-maintained.’

The vicinity of the hospital, within a 1km radius, was clear of roaming zombies. But in Jongno District, zombies wandering the streets were a common sight.  Because of this, every step was filled with tension.

Swallowing a sigh, Seong-ho stepped out onto the street again.  Lim Chan, holding Lim Ji-hyo, followed close behind.

Seong-ho glanced back at Lim Chan and asked,

“Aren’t you tired?”

Since sensing the unsettling atmosphere of the streets, Lim Chan had been carrying Lim Ji-hyo for hours. Seong-ho was simply asking if he wasn’t tired.

“Ah, well, since there are… quite a few zombies… I thought it would be better if I carried her.”

*Whisper, whisper.*

Lim Ji-hyo clutched Lim Chan’s clothes tightly at their hushed conversation.  He hadn’t meant to scold him, but did it seem that way?

Feeling awkward, Seong-ho looked back and forth between Lim Chan and Lim Ji-hyo and said,

“Tell me if you’re tired.”

*I’ll help you.*

Before he could add those short words, Seong-ho stopped abruptly and raised his fist. At the military hand signal, Lim Chan also stopped without a word.  He thought Seong-ho had spotted more zombies.

“That’s…”

Faint shadows were visible, stopped across the street, just like them. The movements back and forth beyond the abandoned vehicles were definitely not those of zombies.

‘Survivors.’

His deliberation was brief.  Keeping his eyes fixed on the distant figures, Seong-ho turned to the right.  Fortunately, the other party also seemed to want to avoid contact, turning to the left.  They watched each other as they moved apart.

Once the other survivors were out of sight, Seong-ho entered an empty store.  He hid himself, using a toppled table as cover.

‘In the original story, things never went this smoothly.’

Although it was a waste of time, this was a world where one’s life could be lost at any moment. It was better to be overly cautious when it came to safety.

One minute, five minutes, then ten minutes.  Just as he was growing tired of waiting,

“—Huh? I told you, let’s just go.”

Voices began to reach him.

“You’re the only one who’ll be exposed!”

Seong-ho held his breath and listened intently to their conversation.

“Still, we should warn them.”

“What if they’re the culprits?!”

“Don’t be ridiculous. They were coming in from outside.”

“They could be returning after going out!”

*Bickering.*

Judging from the snippets of conversation he could hear, there were two people, and they seemed to have a disagreement. One voice trembled with fear.  The other was relatively calm but couldn’t completely hide his tension.

‘It seems they are following us.’

Seong-ho tilted his head in puzzlement.

‘I can’t hear any footsteps.’

Could they really be this quiet, even if they were being careful?

The reason was soon revealed.

A strange, shimmering object drifted past the store where Seong-ho and his group were hiding.

‘Water…?’

Within the large, undulating mass of water, he could faintly make out human figures.

“How many times are you going to repeat what’s already been said? There’s no danger with my ability, so just wait.”

“Jeez, you’re so stubborn.”

The voices of the strangers were also coming from beyond the water.

‘Awakened.’

It seemed like an ability that allowed long-distance communication. If it could not only transmit voices but also provide vision, it would be a far more useful ability than clairvoyance.

‘This ability never appeared in the original story.’

Seong-ho kept a close watch until the fist-sized water sphere disappeared. Once it was out of sight, he headed towards the entrance of the store.  Without revealing himself, he made his presence known with his voice.

“Why are you following me?”

The shadow of the water sphere on the floor stopped abruptly.  But only for a moment. The Awakened individual beyond the water, seemingly flustered, hurriedly defended himself.

“Ah, we’re not following you to harm you.”

Scoffing, Seong-ho replied,

“That’s for me to decide.  Don’t waste time with pointless tricks and tell me why you’re following me. Otherwise, I’ll find out myself.”

“…You’re bluffing. We’re far away from you.”

“At most, you’re within 1 or 2 kilometers.  Do you think I can’t find you?”

He could sense their unease from the ensuing silence.  Seong-ho didn’t miss the opportunity to press them.

“You’re not the only Awakened in the world. Finding your location isn’t difficult for me.”

“…”

“So answer me properly. Why are you following me? If you don’t answer this time, I’ll find you and ask you directly.”

Did his threat work?

“…To warn you.”

He finally got a proper answer after asking three times.

“Warn me?”

“It seems like you’re heading towards Myeong-dong.”

“Is there a reason I shouldn’t go there?”

“Well, I haven’t seen it myself, but…”

The man hesitated, trailing off, before continuing with difficulty,

“There seems to be a group of cannibals… I mean, people who eat other people… somewhere in Myeong-dong.”

Lim Chan, who was inside the store, gasped sharply.

Regardless, the other party continued their explanation.

“You know Myeong-dong Station, right? There were… several human bones discarded there.”

He understood why they had associated it with cannibalism.

“Z-Zombies don’t… pick bones clean like that, do they?”

Right, they didn’t pick the flesh off bones and eat it.  They chewed and swallowed humans whole, bones and all.  That’s why they seemed to think the bones weren’t the work of zombies.

“I-It’s not just a guess. It was so strange that I kept watching with my ability.”

He claimed that he had actually seen survivors coming to dispose of the bones.

“It seems like they’re using that place as a dumping ground. We, uh, we’re originally from around here, and we didn’t want to get involved, so we were in the process of moving.”

Seong-ho frowned and stared at the shadow of the water sphere on the ground.

“You could have just left, like your companion said. Why are you giving me this warning? We’re complete strangers.”

“…I saw that you have a child with you.”

At the mention of Lim Ji-hyo, Seong-ho tensed involuntarily. If they were targeting the child, he wouldn’t hesitate to strike first.  He had saved some Merit Points just in case, so finding their location wouldn’t be difficult.

Fortunately, Seong-ho didn’t have to track down the unknown Awakened group.

“If I hadn’t seen that child, I wouldn’t have bothered following you to tell you this. Seeing as you haven’t abandoned a child in this kind of world, I figured you must be a decent person, and I wanted you to live…”

Unless he had the ability to see through people’s hearts, it was dangerous to believe words at face value.  It could all be a well-crafted lie.

‘They could have seen where we were hiding and then approached us with this plausible story.’

Perhaps his companion was also Awakened. It was impossible to tell before seeing them use their abilities, so it was right to be wary of all strangers.

He tried to sharpen his suspicion and vigilance, but it was pointless.

“I saw the bones near Exit 9 or 10.  I’ve told you all I can, so I’m done here.  Live or die, it’s up to you now.”

With those words, the water sphere splashed onto the ground.

Once the strangers’ traces disappeared, Seong-ho told Lim Chan to wait and moved to the next building. He immediately opened the Pioneer’s Cradle.

‘The Cradle can’t see through people’s hearts.’

The Cradle only confirmed objective facts; it wasn’t omniscient.  If he asked why the brothers had given him this information, he would likely get the answer that it couldn’t tell him.

Then, should he ask if what the brothers said was true?

‘No.’

If he were to ask the Pioneer’s Cradle a question about this incident, it would be better to…

“Is there a survivor monitoring Myeong-dong Station?”

It would be better to give it an objective proposition that it could verify.  He approved the use of Merit Points, and the answer arrived shortly.

「No, there is not.」

Seong-ho recalled the faces of the brothers who had just left.  If there wasn’t a trap at Myeong-dong Station… if the information they gave was true…

‘Did they really tell me out of goodwill?’

He suddenly found himself curious about a truth that even the Pioneer’s Cradle couldn’t reveal.  Staring at the wet spot where the water had splashed, Seong-ho shook his head.

‘Don’t be too optimistic.’

There were too many suspicious points to completely let go of his suspicion. If this was a trap, and he encountered the person with that water ability again…

‘I’ll stab him.’

Seong-ho pressed down on his trembling right hand with his left at the clear thought of murder.  He had already resolved himself to this when dealing with Choi Seung-jo and Choi Ji-young.

Steeling his resolve, Seong-ho closed the Pioneer’s Cradle.

‘Still, if there really is something at Myeong-dong Station, I can save some time.’

Returning to his group, he found Lim Chan waiting for him with a stiff, tense expression.  It was undoubtedly because of the story he had just heard from the brothers.  Lim Chan asked in a trembling voice, filled with fear,

“Seong-ho-ssi, a-are we still going?”

Instead of a lengthy explanation, Seong-ho simply nodded once.  Lim Chan continued speaking in his stead.

“But, well, it sounds too d-dangerous… If what those people said is true, then nearby… Wouldn’t it be better to turn back?”

Seong-ho simply stared at Lim Chan without replying.  Did Lim Chan sense something from his calm demeanor?

“Could it be… that the reason you came to Myeong-dong…?”

Although phrased as a question, Lim Chan already seemed certain.

Seong-ho gave him a clear answer.

“I have to go there.”

—–CROW—–