READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 25
Chapter 25 – A Peaceful Hell (8)
—–CROW—–
Seong-ho was prepared to kill people if necessary.
He wasn’t naive enough to believe that he could secure his own safety in this damned world without killing anyone.
That’s why he had been reassuring himself ever since he had arrived in this world.
Although he hadn’t directly taken anyone’s life, there were definitely people who had died because of his actions. Choi Ji-young had become a zombie, so it was safe to assume she was dead. And Choi Seung-jo had likely died from a concussion because he didn’t receive proper treatment. Even if he had survived, he would have been left with permanent disabilities.
The same was true for the camp guards he had left trapped in the burning building. Although he didn’t kill them directly, he had left them in a place where they were sure to suffocate. They would never escape.
‘I don’t regret my choices.’
Even if he could go back to those moments, Seong-ho wouldn’t have spared them. He wasn’t merciful enough to return kindness to evil. However, that didn’t mean his character was cruel. At least, Seong-ho had never cut off anyone’s limbs one by one. He had never artificially stemmed the bleeding of a person he had dismembered to prevent them from dying. And of course, he had never thought about burning someone alive.
“Kiahhhhh!”
Go Ji-hoon’s screams, as he was burned at the stake after suffering severe torture, echoed throughout the world. And those screams were followed by laughter filled with madness and bloodlust.
“Hahahaha!”
“Serves him right! Ahahaha!”
Despite expecting Go Ji-hoon’s miserable end, the scene unfolding before him was overwhelming. He had no desire to condone the evil he had committed, but he couldn’t fully understand those who cheered while watching someone’s agony and struggle. Seong-ho watched the brutal reality unfold before him, his body stiff.
He suddenly wondered, ‘Will I end up like that if I keep living in this world?’
Just imagining a day that might never come, or perhaps didn’t even exist, made him grit his teeth. He understood why they were the way they were. Knowing what they must have gone through to become like that made his mouth taste bitter. But even if he went through the same things,
‘I don’t want to become like them.’
He had the vague feeling that if he changed like that, he would never be able to return to his original world. Seong-ho watched Go Ji-hoon’s end with a heavy heart. How much time had passed like that? The spine-chilling screams subsided, and the cheers filled with madness stopped abruptly at some point.
「The character (Go Ji-hoon) has died.」
「You have intervened in the fate of the world.」
「Fate Intervention Reward will be distributed.」
「Please confirm your optional reward.」
「You have directly contributed to the death of the character (Go Ji-hoon).」
「You have successfully completed the character (Go Ji-hoon) hunting quest.」
「Please receive your success reward.」
New messages appeared one after another, blurring his vision.
‘The success message for hunting quests pops up as soon as they die.’
On the other hand, there was still no news about the civilian rescue quest.
‘Let’s see what happens when everything is finished.’
After checking the messages, Seong-ho looked back at the playground. The crowd surrounding the dead Go Ji-hoon was silent. Had they vented all their pent-up feelings? Or did they no longer have the strength to resent him? Whatever the reason, people began to gather in small groups and leave Go Ji-hoon’s side. Seong-ho filled the void they had left. Reaching the body, Seong-ho crouched down and took out the item he had carefully kept safe in his inner pocket.
[Special Ability Extraction Bead]
– Allows the user to utilize the extracted special ability of a deceased Awakened individual for 30 minutes.
– Extraction Target: None
– Extracted Ability: None
The reason why Seong-ho had to come all the way to Myeong-dong. There was no need to worry about how to use the problematic item. As soon as he placed the bead on Go Ji-hoon’s charred corpse, a new system window appeared.
「A deceased Awakened individual has been detected. Would you like to extract their special ability? (Y/N)」
‘Yes.’
Something began to fill the inside of the transparent bead. Gray smoke continuously increased, filling the inside of the bead, and then a system message was displayed.
「The extraction of the special ability is complete.」
When he picked up the bead again, the description had changed.
[Special Ability Extraction Bead]
– Allows the user to utilize the extracted special ability of a deceased Awakened individual for 30 minutes.
– Extraction Target: Go Ji-hoon
– Extracted Ability: Puppeteer Ability
「Would you like to use the extracted special ability? (Y/N)」
Seong-ho pressed the reject button and put the bead back in his inner pocket. He had been worrying about what to say if someone asked what he had just done, but everyone around him was busy doing something else after he had finished extracting the ability.
“You guys, go to the nunnery right away. Ju-mi-ssi, Lee-seul-ssi… the women’s control should be broken as well. Stop them if they’re about to make a bad choice.”
“Yes!”
Among them, a man who was naturally giving orders to others.
“It’s a bit late to introduce myself, considering the situation. I’m Ahn Hee-seop.”
Ahn Hee-seop, who had thrown Go Ji-hoon into the flames himself, introduced himself to Seong-ho first. Seong-ho stared at him, covered in blood. Only then did he realize that the blood that had splattered on his face was concentrated around his mouth. As if he had bitten someone. Watching the brutal stains with mixed feelings, Seong-ho let out a shallow sigh and shook Ahn Hee-seop’s hand.
“I’m Han Seong-ho.”
“It seems it will be difficult to put out the fire right away. Should we move to another building for now? The nunnery is clean since they were using it.”
“Let’s do that later. There’s something more urgent.”
“Something urgent?”
Seong-ho looked back at the fire, which had spread even more than before, and said,
“We need to save those we can and clean up what we need to clean up.”
“Save people?”
“You’re not the only victims.”
* * *
Turning away from the burning building, Seong-ho headed to the mortuary.
*Knock, knock, knock.*
“Song In-hye-ssi, it’s me. Please open the door.”
Ahn Hee-seop, who had followed him to the entrance of the underground passage, stared at him, asking what he was doing with his eyes, but instead of explaining the situation, Seong-ho knocked on the metal door again.
“I know you have the bolt cutters, so come out.”
Soon, he heard rustling sounds from below the metal door. A moment later, people rushed out of the basement that Song In-hye had opened. He learned something new in the process.
“Oh my god, Father?”
“……Hee-seop-ssi?”
“You’re safe…!”
The cathedral staff Seong-ho had confined in the underground passage knew Ahn Hee-seop’s group. Surprised by the sudden reunion, Jung Han-soo and Ahn Hee-seop embraced each other. Because of that, the crow perched on Jung Han-soo’s shoulder took flight.
*Caw!*
The crow flapped its wings in protest, forcing Ahn Hee-seop to step back.
“What’s with the crow…?”
“Don’t you remember? That child whose wing was broken a couple of months ago.”
“Ah…!”
“It seems it wanted to thank you, so it brought a benefactor here.”
Although Jung Han-soo’s gaze was fixed on Seong-ho, not the crow, Seong-ho wasn’t even aware that he was being looked at. Checking his watch, he looked at the people around him and said,
“Let’s move.”
“What? Why all of a sudden…?”
“It’s almost 9 am. If we don’t hurry, we’ll be tormented by zombies all night.”
“Zombies…?”
Ahn Hee-seop gasped, suddenly remembering the word he had forgotten. Seong-ho reminded him of the current situation.
“The smell of smoke will have spread everywhere.”
Setting fire to the food storage was perfect for gathering the cannibals in one place. But it wasn’t without its problems. One of those problems was the zombies that would have been drawn by the smell.
‘Zombies are blind, but their noses aren’t plugged.’
Seong-ho emphasized the seriousness of the situation once again and urged the people to move.
* * *
The people who had been freed from control, the survivors in the school building, and even some survivors who had been trapped in the rectory without any news… all were focused on the single task of dealing with the zombies. Thanks to that, when the sun, which had been high in the sky, began to set, Seong-ho and the cathedral camp members had succeeded in clearing the zombies that had gathered beyond the barricades.
‘This one I’m holding is the last one.’
Only then did Seong-ho use the last of his special ability that he had been saving.
A flash of light, and then his knees buckled, and he had to endure that familiar feeling of strain.
[Character Status Window]
– Character Information –
Name: Han Seong-ho
Role: Fate Pioneer
Level: 3 (38/125)
Physical Ability: 7
Special Ability: 1/18
– Activity Information –
Merit Points: 39
Discrepancy Score: 372P
Influence: Only a very small number of the world’s members are aware of you; you have no significant influence.
Title: None
The increase in his special ability from 17 to 18 made up for all his hardships. As he caught his breath, his hand resting on the ground, he saw another hand suddenly appear in his vision.
“……Are you okay?”
Ahn Hee-seop, who had been moving with him while clearing the zombies, had reached out his hand. Seong-ho took his hand and replied,
“I’m fine.”
Even though he had seen someone collapse suddenly, he helped Seong-ho up without any visible surprise.
“……You’re an Awakened, aren’t you? You were just experiencing exhaustion?”
“That’s right.”
“Lucky you. You don’t have to worry about getting infected.”
Although there was a hint of sarcasm, Seong-ho didn’t add anything else.
‘It’s too early to reveal my special ability.’
Just as Seong-ho was looking around to avoid talking to Ahn Hee-seop,
「Multiple civilians have been freed from the threat of being hunted by cannibals and from zombie attacks.」
「Successfully completed the ‘Rescue 10 Civilians’ quest.」
「Successfully completed the ‘Rescue 25 Civilians’ quest.」
The messages he had been waiting for finally appeared.
‘The quest completion is triggered after everything is completely over.’
Was it because it was related to the number of people? Or were there other conditions?
‘Judging by how the conditions of the quest are linked to specific groups, and the threat of multiple events can be combined, I guess that must be it.’
Considering that two events, being hunted by cannibals and being attacked by zombies, were applied at the same time, it was probably correct.
‘There were quite a few people in the camp, so what happened with the 50-person quest?’
Seong-ho had rescued well over 35 people from the cannibal camp. Yet, messages only popped up for the 10-person and 25-person quests. He wanted to open the Pioneer’s Cradle right away, but he postponed it because there were too many eyes watching him.
‘It’s enough that the success messages have appeared.’
While he was clearing the zombies, Seong-ho turned to look at the white smoke rising from the place where the fire had been and said to Ahn Hee-seop,
“Ahn Hee-seop-ssi.”
Ahn Hee-seop, who had been busy moving zombie corpses to one side, turned his head at Seong-ho’s call.
“What is it?”
“It seems like it’s almost over, so I’d like you to bring my group.”
“Ah, that’s right. Please wait a moment, I’ll gather an escort.”
Seong-ho had briefly explained his situation to Ahn Hee-seop while they were clearing the zombies. He had said that he had a group outside and wanted to bring them in once the clearing was over, as it was too dangerous to leave them outside. Ahn Hee-seop agreed to Seong-ho’s request without much resistance. Of course, with one condition.
“We’re ready. Let’s go.”
He and a few other able-bodied men would accompany him on his way to meet his group. It was a condition clearly intended to keep him under surveillance, but Seong-ho didn’t mind it too much.
‘It’s not like I’m planning to do anything bad.’
Seong-ho left the cathedral with Ahn Hee-seop and five other men.
—–CROW—–