Chapter 48
Cough, cough.
I got up and coughed a dry cough. Moonlight shone on the rooftop, and the sound that pierced my eardrums had faded away. The clouds that had been covering the sky had cleared up, allowing the bright moon to light up the night.
My underlings were standing around looking at me. I wiped away the sweat trickling down my forehead and got ready to go.
‘Hmm?’
I opened my eyes wide and looked down at my hands. My torn and broken arms were normal again. My left leg, which I had been dragging behind me, was also fully recovered.
I felt warm. My entire body was steaming. I ran my hands down my entire body. Every part of me was hot, like a frying pan that had been left on the stove. My body temperature was way above normal.
‘Am I dreaming…?’
I stared blankly into the horizon, all confused.
GRR!!! GAA!!!
Zombie cries echoed through the air, pulling me back to my senses. I went to the guardrail to see where the sound was coming from. I squinted my eyes toward the source of the sound, and could just about make out a sign saying ‘Middle School’ a distance away.
Continuous zombie roars were coming from the field in the middle school. I saw a group of zombies all tangled up together in the middle of the field. Purple and red zombies were fighting each other to the death. They were like water and oil, coexisting but not mixing with each other.
‘Kim Hyeong-Jun!’
I had totally forgotten about Kim Hyeong-Jun. It seemed like he had ambushed the zombie leader’s position. Thanks to him, I’d been able to regenerate my body parts and was ready to fight again. I quickly called in my underlings.
‘Let’s go!’
As I gave my orders, I leaped down to the ground floor. I felt no jarring impact despite jumping from the sixth floor to the first. In fact, I felt swifter and lighter than ever. My joints felt stronger, and my muscles felt like coiled springs, full of energy.
‘I feel even better than before!’
I could sense that my physical attributes had improved. However, I shook my head to get rid of these useless thoughts. Now wasn’t the time to assess if my physical capabilities had indeed grown. I had to save Kim Hyeong-Jun first.
I folded my upper body and got ready to leap into action. As I propelled myself forward off the ground, the environment rushed past me in a blur. It was as though I were in a high-speed train, looking out. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I was running on my own two legs.
The biting wind assaulted my eardrums, and I felt the air pushing against my entire body. The strength in my thighs and the sensations I felt through my feet were unbelievable. It reminded me of the physical transformation I’d gone through when I’d eaten the black creature’s brain. I realized that my physical abilities had altered once again.
That moment, I recalled what Kim Hyeong-Jun had told me.
- The black creatures grow stronger when they eat brains, but they can also grow without eating their enemy’s brains. I don’t know how, or what conditions they have to meet in order to do so. But one thing’s for sure—the black creatures get stronger with time.
I recalled the black creature I had seen in my dream. In my dream, I had absorbed it, and afterward, a burning pain had engulfed me. It was like a caterpillar undergoing metamorphosis in order to become a butterfly. After enduring the pain, I had come back to my senses. After that, my body was stronger than before.
I wondered if I held the key to unlock the knowledge behind how the black creatures grew.
GRR!!! GAA!!!
As I got closer to the school, I set my eyes on the chaotic battlefield. I charged toward the red creatures without hesitation.
* * *
‘Where are you, where are you, Kim Hyeong-Jun!’
I looked for Kim Hyeong-Jun urgently as I waded through the enemies. Kim Hyeong-Jun’s underlings were fighting on the right side, while my underlings and I were fighting on the left. The number of red creatures slowly began to decrease, and as soon as they were cornered, they fled into the school.
The sound of shattering windows and zombies howling was continuous. It seemed like the fight inside the school building was still going on in earnest. I ordered my underlings to take over the field and then jumped onto the school rooftop in one go. From there, I surveyed the whole situation.
Aside from the field, which was in complete chaos, I couldn’t see much else. After quickly assessing the situation, I broke through the door leading to the rooftop and went inside.
I knew the first floor was full of red creatures, so I was planning to make my way down from the top.
As I entered the fourth-floor hallway, I was engulfed by the clanging sounds of desks and chairs shattering. Kim Hyeong-Jun’s underlings were engaged in a pitched battle against the red creatures.
I beat the red creatures to death and looked into every classroom and bathroom. I checked all the locations where a person could possibly hide. I checked every nook and cranny of the school building. Despite going through every classroom from the fourth floor to the first, I could not find a zombie with glowing red eyes. Not only did I not find the zombie leader, but I did not find Mr. Kwak or Kim Hyeong-Jun.
‘Where the hell is this bastard!’
I grabbed the red creature in front of me by its face and slammed it to the ground in frustration.
Splat.
Just like a watermelon splitting in half, its face was crushed into an unrecognizable pulp. I looked around with murderous eyes.
GRR!!!
At that moment, I heard a roar coming from the right of the school building.
I dashed toward the source of the sound, and saw a kindergarten. I hadn’t noticed it there before, because it was hidden by the surrounding buildings.
The entrance to the kindergarten had already fallen apart. I kept hearing the sound of things crashing and breaking apart. Without hesitation, I entered.
I finally found Kim Hyeong-Jun, whom I’d been looking for all this time. However, he was covered in blood and facing the enemy leader. It was holding Kim Hyeong-Jun by his neck while celebrating his victory.
Kim Hyeong-Jun’s arms were hanging uselessly by his side, like deflated balloons. I almost lost my mind.
“GRRRR!!!”
I roared so loudly that my throat felt like it would rip apart. The enemy leader noticed me. Throwing Kim Hyeong-Jun to the ground, it immediately readied itself to fight.
I launched myself off the ground and charged toward it like a hurricane.
My movement seemed to surprise it, but it quickly braced its lower body and fell into a defensive stance, shielding its face with its arms.
‘Alright, try and block all you want.’
I was so agitated, I was almost overwhelmed by the amount of adrenaline coursing through my veins.
Woosh!!
I put my full strength behind my punches, breaking the zombie’s arms straight away and knocking it backward. I didn’t give it a single second to realize what had happened to it. I crouched down and grabbed the creature’s hips. Holding onto its legs, I pulled it toward me.
As it lost its balance and fell to the ground, I wrapped my arms around its right leg and folded its knee, twisting it in the opposite direction to which they usually bent.
Crack, crack!
As I broke its leg, it let out a deadly scream and tried kicking me with its other leg.
I avoided its attack by rolling backward swiftly and used the momentum to come around and attack its upper body, aiming for the muscles that connected its arms to its shoulders.
I had the upper hand now.
It tried to twist its upper body to avoid my attack, but it was impossible for it to break free from my fangs, which had already sunk deep into their target. It tried to turn, trying to right its upper body and just about finding its balance.
However, it didn’t seem about to attack me. The injuries to its leg and upper torso were severe. Its right arm hung uselessly by its side, like twigs being blown by the wind.
‘Yeah, I bet you can’t lift your arm now, you idiot.’
With the injury it just sustained, there was no way it could use its right arm. Its right side was completely maimed.
‘Let’s see how much longer you can keep it up with just your left arm and leg.’
I knew better than to give it time to think. I had no clue what kind of tricks it would come up with to get me. I charged at it right away.
Its eyes went wide, and it hurled its left hand out at me in desperation. I ducked to avoid its punch and slammed my right fist into its jaw. Its jaw twisted with a sickening crunch, exposing the bottom row of teeth. It had sharp teeth like me.
I pressed the attack, not giving it time to recover. I swung my left arm, going straight for its face. It lost its balance and landed on its bottom. As I got on top of it, it started screaming desperately.
“Wait, wait, wait up!”
It… The zombie leader could talk. That meant it had eaten a live person’s brain. I frowned.
‘You should’ve kept quiet if you wanted to live.’
In an instant, I bit into its neck.
“GAA! HUP! KAK!”
Its two eyes bulged out of their sockets.
Rip, tear!
As I ripped out its throat, red blood spewed out like a fountain. The creature pressed its broken arm against its ruined neck in a feeble attempt to keep itself alive, staring at me all the while.
I stood up and glared at it with my glowing red eyes until the moment it died.
“GA… YOU… FUCK! GA…!”
‘Go to hell.’
I crushed its neck with my right foot. Its arms jerked violently one last time, then stopped moving. Its arms sagged to the ground, and the red glow in its eyes slowly faded away.
I took in a couple of deep breaths, then turned around and looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun. He was on the ground, motionless.
I squatted down in front of him, and noticed a slight movement in his upper body. He was still breathing. His breathing was faint, but he was definitely still breathing. Despite having been beaten to the brink of death, he was still holding onto his dear life.
I looked Kim Hyeong-Jun in the eyes and shouted,
‘Hyeong-Jun! Kim Hyeong-Jun! Wake up!’
‘Ah… Ahjussi?’
He looked at me with his heavy-lidded eyes. I couldn’t believe how relieved I was to hear his voice. He was alive. He wasn’t dead just yet. My voice grew emotional.
‘Why were you fighting alone? You should’ve let me know!’
‘But how would I have known where you were, ahjussi…?’
‘Still… You fool! There had to be some way!’
‘You’re the one who’s late, ahjussi. Why are you putting the blame on me…’
‘...’
He was blaming me for all this because I’d shown up late. I didn’t know what else to say. After a moment, Kim Hyeong-Jun’s mouth twitched into a smirk. It seemed like he hadn’t gotten a good enough beating, since he still had the energy to make jokes.
I snorted.
‘I thought you were dead, you fool!’
‘Were you worried about me?’
‘That’s not the point. Get up.’
‘What do you mean get up, ahjussi? I can barely breathe right now.’
Kim Hyeong-Jun coughed and placed a trembling hand on his forehead. After a moment, he looked at me with bleary eyes.
‘Ahjussi, the person you were talking about… Mr. Kwak. He’s in the night-duty room.’
‘But what about you? Is there anything I can do for you?’
‘Ahjussi, just stop talking to me. I’ll recover if I just lie down like this.’
‘Oh…’
I’d forgotten for a split second that Kim Hyeong-Jun was also a zombie with glowing red eyes. It meant that he had self-healing abilities just like me.
After realizing such an obvious fact, a wave of relief washed over me.
‘Stay here and recover. Leave the rest to me.’
‘Oh, ahjussi, before you go.’
‘What?’
‘When you go into the night-duty room, don’t be surprised.’
‘Huh?’
‘You’ll know what I mean when you see it.’
Kim Hyeong-Jun slowly closed his eyes. His last words bothered me a little, but I headed toward the night-duty room anyway. As I walked over, I mentally prepared myself for the worst.
The night-duty room was in the corner of the kindergarten. I took a quick breath and opened the door. I was hit with a wave of stuffiness, as well as the stench of a dead body.
I frowned reflexively and covered my nose with my hand. There were more dead bodies lying on the floor than I could count. I noticed a zombie with glowing red eyes in the corner. I looked straight into the glowing red eyes and asked,
‘Mr. Kwak…?’
There was no response.
‘Mr. Kwak, Mr. Kwak, are you alright?’
Not even a sliver of moonlight made it into the room. The night-duty room was basically a darkroom, and I couldn’t feel a single presence. I swallowed hard and made my way slowly toward the glowing red eyes.
‘Mr. Kwak, it’s me. Can’t you tell?’
Again, I was met with silence.
‘Mr. Kw…!’
At that moment, my jaw fell to the ground. The words left me, and my eyes began to tremble uncontrollably. My legs gave way and I fell on my bottom.
The being in the corner of the night-duty room was, without a doubt, Mr. Kwak. But it wasn’t the same Mr. Kwak I knew. It was Mr. Kwak, with his face half torn away. And on his lap, I saw Ms. Koo’s dead body, cold as ice.
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