Chapter 149
The second officer's underlings that were mobbing the black creature trembled in unison.
Then, like robots that had run out of battery power, they all stopped moving. The black creature, with its torn-up body, looked around. After the death cry, all the zombies around it had gone still. It looked carefully at the zombies, then squinted toward the city, where it could feel death.
To the black creature, which had the ability to learn, it was a rather interesting experience.
When a zombie leader died, the chain of command between the leader and its underlings was broken, and the underlings became living corpses.
Kwaaa…
The black creature made its way toward the city, a low growl in its throat. Judging by the way it was limping, it was at its limit as well.
* * *
The stage-one mutants came back with the second officer’s dead body. The moment they arrived, they tore off the second officer's head and shook it vigorously in front of Lee Hyun-Deok. However, Lee Hyun-Deok was fast asleep, so he didn’t acknowledge the stage-one mutants for their hard work.
The stage-one mutants calmly waited for Lee Hyun-Deok to react, but after a moment, they threw the second officer's head at him. The head bounced off Lee Hyun-Deok's chest and rolled onto the floor. Mood-Swinger came running over. He picked up the second officer’s head and started drooling.
“Kaaa.”
Ji-Eun, who had been watching Mood-Swinger, let out a low growl, as though she were hissing. Mood-Swinger looked at Ji-Eun blankly, then tilted his head.
"Ar… no… ld?” he muttered.
“My… child…”
“Arno… ld?”
“Child…”
The two of them looked each other in the eyes and continued their incomprehensible conversation. Perhaps it wasn’t right to call it a conversation… It seemed like they were wary of each other.
Mood-Swinger scratched his head with a troubled expression, then tossed the second officer's head at Ji-Eun. Ji-Eun took the head and brought it near to Lee Hyun-Deok's mouth. However, Lee Hyun-Deok didn’t bother to bite into it because he was fast asleep.
Ji-Eun looked at the head again and grimaced. Mood-Swinger glared at the head as he wiped away the saliva drooling out from his mouth. Ji-Eun didn’t seem happy with Mood-Swinger’s appetite. After hesitating for a moment, she ate the contents of the head herself.
“Arnold!!”
Mood-Swinger began to jump up and down frantically. Ji-Eun growled quietly again and kept a wary eye on Mood-Swinger, but then she grabbed her chest with her hands as if she were in pain. Mood-Swinger seemed to flinch at her reaction, and then started backing away in fear.
After a moment, Ji-Eun’s bones dislocated, and she slowly began to melt into a sphere again. Mood-Swinger shook Kim Hyeong-Jun’s arm vigorously as he watched Ji-Eun transform.
“Ar… nold, Arnold!”
Even though he had mutated in the same way as Ji-Eun was doing right now, he had no clue about the mutation process.
Splash, splash—
Just then, he heard footsteps coming from outside the building. All the stage-one mutants and Mood-Swinger turned their attention toward the direction from which the sound was coming. The black creature limped through the wall that the dong leaders had knocked down earlier.
Mood-Swinger frowned when he saw the black creature, then clenched his fists. Steam rose from his body. He had already regained his energy after eating one of the dong leader’s brains.
He propelled himself off the ground and rushed at the black creature without thinking twice. The black creature hurriedly raised its arms to defend itself.
Thud!!
Its right arm broke, and its upper body swayed. Mood-Swinger didn’t let his chance slip by and continued to punch it. The black creature was having a hard time fighting off Mood-Swinger, as its ability to defend itself had fallen drastically.
KIAAA!!!
At the same time, dozens of stage-one mutants charged toward the black creature. It was surrounded by mutants, and in the blink of an eye, its escape route was blocked off. The mutants continued to apply pressure on all sides. The black creature braced its lower limbs and leaped to the roof of the five-story building on the other side.
Kwaaa!
The black creature collapsed on the roof, coughing up dirty blood. It was panting heavily due to the damage it had taken so far. To make matters worse, it no longer could regenerate its body.
“Arnold!!”
Mood-Swinger wasn’t about to give it time to get away. He followed the black creature and leaped onto the rooftop as well. He had lost round one, but there was an eager glint in his eye. He wasn’t about to lose round two to it.
The stage-one mutants on the ground floor also scaled the building walls as they pursued the black creature. It tried desperately to lift its upper body off the floor, but Mood-Swinger came swinging in and kicked it in the stomach. It flew through the guardrail along the roof with the sound of a balloon popping and smashed into the outer wall on the third floor of the neighboring building, where it stuck.
Mood-Swinger jumped over the rooftop and kneed the black creature in the chest.
Crash, Crash!
Mood-Swinger pummeled the defenseless black creature. The black creature spurted out thick liquid from its mouth that came from its internal organs.
The two of them were now inside the building, still continuing their fight. They smashed through the support pillars, sending cement dust flying. Meanwhile, the stage-one mutants had finally scaled the first building that the black creature had escaped to, and were now observing the fight.
The constant sound of crashing came from the second and third floors of the building that Mood-Swinger and the black creature were in. After a moment, the towering building began to shake. With an ear-piercing roar, the building shook, and it began to collapse.
Boom, boom, boom!!!
Mood-Swinger walked out from within the thick cloud of dust. The black creature was nowhere to be seen. It was still trapped in the collapsed building, crushed into the earth.
Mood-Swinger was still huffing and puffing in anger. He looked up at the night sky and roared. He found it difficult to cool his anger because of all the hatred he felt toward it after the first fight. After howling, Mood-Swinger ran back into the collapsed building and started looking for its body. He threw lengths of and chunks of cement wall into the air as he made his way toward the place where he had last seen the black creature.
When Mood-Swinger finally found the black creature, its body was all torn up and broken, and a rusty length of rebar was sticking out of it. Mood-Swinger grabbed the black creature by the neck and forcefully pulled out the rebar.
Kwaaa…!
The black creature let out a death cry. The flesh from its lower abdomen and the bones from its pelvis came free as the rebar was pulled out of its body. Mood-Swinger slammed its upper body to the ground and continued to kick it, like an animal that had lost control.
After kicking it for a substantial amount of time, Mood-Swinger finally calmed down. The stage-one mutants on the rooftop started to return to their places. Mood-Swinger gave the black creature a final glance, then snorted and headed back to where Kim Hyeong-Jun was.
The black creature was crying, tears of blood leaking from its drooping black eyes. It had tried its tenacious best to survive, but in the end, it seemed, was all for naught.
Kwaaaa… Kwa…
The black creature barely croaked out a weak, soft cry. A red dot appeared in its jet-black eyes. It fixed its gaze on Mood-Swinger as he was walking away.
Squelch—
The black creature's lower body was slowly regenerating. It was squeezing out every little bit of strength it had. It seemed like it was focusing on regenerating its legs and right arm. All of its other body parts were torn up and useless.
Despite its condition, it still had one goal. To get to Lee Hyun-Deok and Kim Hyeong-Jun, who were asleep.
Thanks to its countless battles, the black creature had learned one thing. It didn’t have to fight everyone and everything; it could just hop past opponents and achieve its goal when the enemies let their guard down.
However, it had also learned something else through the death of the second officer. When the second officer had died, his underlings had instantly stopped moving. It had realized that, when the leader died, the underlings were reduced to nothing more than living corpses.
Kwaaa…!
The black creature squeezed out every last drop of strength and sprinted toward the building where Lee Hyun-Deok and Kim Hyeong-Jun were. As it flashed past Mood-Swinger, the stage-three mutant’s eyes went wide, and he hurriedly gave chase. The stage-one mutants also screamed as the black creature raced past them.
It was impossible for Mood-Swinger and the stage-one mutants to catch up with the black creature, now that it had already accelerated to such a speed. The black creature was well aware that things could change in a single second, or with a single attack.
It was already too late for Mood-Swinger and the stage-one mutants. There was no way they could get back in time to save the two that it had targeted.
In the blink of an eye, Lee Hyun-Deok and Kim Hyeong-Jun were on the verge of death again. It would only take the black creature one single attack to accomplish what it had desired from the beginning.
Despite its sunken face, it was smiling.
Grinning widely, it entered the building where Lee Hyun-Deok and Kim Hyeong-Jun were. It saw the two of them lying on the floor, and stretched out its right arm without hesitation.
Slash—
Blood spurted from its throat like a fountain.
Thud.
The black creature’s head fell to the floor, rolling about helplessly.
Mood-Swinger and the stage-one mutants were still trying to catch up. They flinched when they witnessed what had happened. The black creature’s head was between Lee Hyun-Deok and Kim Hyeong-Jun. And in front of it, ten blades hung under the moonlight. The blades, which were each about a meter long, gradually began to shorten and turn into normal-looking fingers again.
Ji-Eun had finished mutating and had cut off the black creature’s head. Mood-Swinger looked at Ji-Eun and opened his mouth out of surprise.
“Arno… ld."
He was wary of Ji-Eun, now that she had changed. Ji-Eun stared blankly at Mood-Swinger, then sat cross-legged on the floor. She looked at Lee Hyun-Deok with a gentle smile on her face.
Ji-Eun had the face of an actress in her sixties. This actress starred as a benevolent mother in many movies and dramas. She was recognized as Korea’s favorite motherly figure. She was the actress who inspired the image that all mothers were strong.
Kiaaa…
The stage-one mutants began to stare longingly at the black creature’s head on the floor. When two stage-one mutants approached, drooling, Ji-Eun glared at the mutants. Mood-Swinger blinked like a cow when he saw her glare, then squatted down on the floor and smacked his lips.
* * *
I opened my eyes and straightened my upper body.
My head was throbbing terribly. I massaged my temples constantly, breathing heavily.
I had no clue how many hours had passed. I glanced at my watch. The hour hand indicated four in the morning. I’d been asleep for about five hours. The stronger I got, the length of time I needed to sleep for after consuming the brains of weaker beings grew shorter.
After checking the time, the first thing that came to mind was the black creature.
‘The black creature… Is it still battling the forces of the Family? Or did it move to Gangnam?’
Just as I was about to turn my head with these questions in mind, I saw the corpse of the black creature right next to me.
I almost screamed.
The black creature’s corpse was growing cold. Its head had been sliced off. I looked around, surprise in my eyes. It seemed like much had changed.
There were traces of mutation on the ground, and hardened, muddy bloodstains. And in front of it was Ji-Eun.
Ji-Eun looked at me and smiled gently as I slowly got back to my senses. I knew she was Ji-Eun… But it seemed like her appearance had changed since the last time I’d seen her. I looked at Ji-Eun's face carefully.
'Isn’t she… an actress?'
She had the face of a famous actress in Korea. The fact that she had the face of a celebrity meant that she had also mutated into a stage-three mutant like Mood-Swinger.
‘Did she eat the black creature’s brain while I was asleep?’
I suddenly realized that there was another dead body on the ground, and next to it was the black creature’s head. I wondered how Ji-Eun had mutated even though the black creature’s brain was still here.
'It can’t be… Is that the officer’s body?’
It made sense for the headless corpse to be the officer’s, because their brains would have the same effect as the black creatures’ brains. I tried to piece together what had happened, and realized that Ji-Eun had eaten the officer’s brain, while the black creature's brain was still there, getting cold.
‘But how did they win?’
I couldn't help but doubt my conclusion. I couldn’t believe how my underlings could beat both an officer and the black creature.
‘How in the world did they win?’
I looked at Ji-Eun.
“Can you explain what happened here?” I asked.
Ji-Eun hesitated for a moment, then pretended to eat the corpse of the officer lying on the floor. Just as I had expected, the body on the floor seemed to be the officer’s body. Ji-Eun had eaten the officer’s brain and had mutated into a stage-three mutant.
After that, Ji-Eun picked up the body of the black creature next to me and began to mime something. With her bodily gestures, she showed me how the black creature had come barging in and how she had taken care of it.
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