Chapter 97
I hoisted the corpse of the signaller onto my back and returned to my underlings.
I laid its body next to that of the dong leader of Jayang-dong, then took a deep breath and stretched.
I checked on my remaining troops and realized that I had lost nearly one hundred and fifty underlings from the first company. All of my stage-one mutants were alive, but one of them was seriously injured. One of its arms had fallen off, and the flesh covering its abdomen had been torn to shreds.
I wondered if mutants lacked regenerative abilities.
I tried to keep my mind open to possibilities, and looked around at the motionless zombies that littered the area.
The dong leader’s underlings had lost their commander, and were all looking up at the sky blankly. I pointed to them and gave orders to the injured mutant.
'Eat.'
Ki… Ah…
The mutant tottered toward the zombies. Using one good arm, it grabbed onto one head after another and stuffing it into its mouth.
The mutant showed no signs of stopping.
I wondered if it was because I hadn’t given it specific orders on how many to eat.
After eating about ten zombies, a dark red-colored bone started to grow from the stump of its missing arm. The more brains it ate, the more the bones continued to grow. As the bone took form, ligaments, muscles, and flesh began to grow around it as well.
After it had finished eating about thirty brains, its wounds completely disappeared, as if it had never been injured in the first place.
KIAAA!!!
The mutant let out a raspy cry and looked me straight in the eyes.
The mutant that had just regenerated seemed triumphant, unlike the other mutants. Its skin color was also darker than the others.
It was miles away from being a black creature, but I could vaguely tell that it had grown stronger than before.
I looked at the newly-strengthened mutant.
‘You’re the mutant leader from now on.’
Kia…
It rolled its countless eyeballs and looked at me from top to bottom, then lay flat on the floor and went completely still.
I wondered if this was its manner of showing that it had accepted its role as the mutant leader. As I watched its behavior, the gears in my mind began to turn.
'I need to make more mutants.'
So far, I had limited the number of mutants because of the potential threat, and pressure of having to constantly feed them zombies.
But the stage-one mutants hadn’t asked for zombies for over a month, and yet I was still able to maintain my command over them. And since they regenerated any body parts they lost after eating zombies, they were superior in every aspect compared to regular zombies, especially when it came to combat.
If normal zombies were just ordinary soldiers, these mutants were like generals.
I organized my thoughts and headed to the rooftop again. The city was engulfed in darkness, and it was impossible to tell anything apart.
I jumped across the rooftops and found a vantage point that overlooked Jayang-dong. It was possible that other zombie leaders had hidden their underlings nearby, just as I had left my underling with Do Han-Sol.
After an hour-long search of Jayang-dong, however, I did not come across any red zombies.
I let out a sigh of relief and headed for Seongsu-dong with my underlings in tow.
When I got to Seongsu 2-ga, 1-dong, I saw Do Han-Sol’s face peeking out from a rooftop. He jumped down to the first floor in an instant and approached me.
'How did things go over there?'
'It went as planned.'
'Did you take care of the dong leader of Jayang-dong?'
I nodded, and Do Han-Sol let out a burst of admiration.
'Wow… You, sir, are really amazing. You’ve earned my respect.'
‘Well, things aren’t looking too good though.’
'Pardon?’
‘I assumed that all the officers would head toward Gunja-dong… But it seems like they’re at Guui-dong.’
I recalled the words the dong leader of Jayang-dong had said before I killed it.
- The guy that just ran away is going to come back with the dong leader of Guui-dong and the seventh officer. Till then, you’re gonna have to deal with me.
This meant that the seventh officer was close to Jayang-dong, and since the leader had specifically mentioned Guui-dong… The seventh officer was most likely stationed in Guui-dong.
Do Han-Sol Do scratched his sideburns and thought for a moment, then smiled sheepishly.
'Umm… I’m sorry but I’m not following…'
‘The forces from Jayang-dong and Guui-dong were supposed to be the vanguard for this attack. However, there are officers involved in these areas. Something doesn’t add up.’
I looked up and tilted my head, and Do Han-Sol mirrored me.
It seemed like he had no idea what I was talking about.
I sighed and continued to speak.
‘They’re targeting Gunja-dong first. But why is there an officer taking part in the Seongsu-dong raid? There’s clearly something fishy about this.’
‘Then…’
Do Han-sol swallowed, as if he had finally understood what I was trying to say.
‘Then there are…’
I nodded.
‘Yeah, probably. There are at least two officers.’
Do Han-Sol’s mouth opened and closed like a goldfish, and he put his right hand on his forehead.
For someone like Do Han-Sol, who had barely been able to handle a dong leader, officers were beings that he didn’t dare challenge. And there were two of those beings taking part in this attack on Gwangjin-gu.
This was also the reason why I hadn’t gone to Guui-dong after dealing with the dong leader of Jayang-dong. I would’ve been in trouble if I had advanced all the way to Guui-dong and encountered the seventh officer. If the dong leader of Guui-dong snuck behind my back while I was dealing with the seventh officer, it would have been a piece of cake to take me down.
I had to get stronger.
I had to get stronger somehow to win this battle and turn Gwangjin-gu into a safe zone.
I looked at my underlings behind me and spoke up.
‘If any red zombies show up, hold them off at all costs. Make sure not a single one makes it through.’
GRR!!!
Satisfied by my underlings’ answering cries, I grabbed the two corpses on the ground. Do Han-Sol watched me pick the two corpses up and came up to me.
'What are you trying to do?'
'I'm going to eat a brain.'
‘Pardon? What if they come in the meantime?'
‘The earliest they’ll come is tomorrow night. They’ll probably notice that the dong leader of Jayang-dong is dead tomorrow morning.’
'I don't know… I have a bad feeling about this.’
‘I’m only going to eat one. It was weaker than me, so I’ll probably pass out for half a day at most.’
Do Han-Sol swallowed as he listened to my answer. He then pointed to the two corpses in my hand.
‘Then the other one... Do you mind if I eat its brain?’
‘There’s no way you can.’
‘I’m sorry…’
Do Han-Sol’s head sagged, his expression growing bitter.
I wondered if I’d answered him too forcefully. He seemed dejected.
I chuckled and spoke.
'It's not because I don't trust you.'
'No, not at all. I was the one who crossed the line. I didn’t have any ill intentions in mind when I asked… I thought it would help if I became a little stronger.’
'Thank you, but you can’t eat this one’s brain. In fact, no one should right now. This one had underlings with them, but the other one was just a signaller. I didn’t have the chance to identify the signaller’s underlings.’
‘Oh…’
‘Judging from the signaller’s movement speed, I’m guessing that it probably had at least seven hundred underlings. What do you think will happen if its underlings are in enemy territory when we eat its brain?’
'They'll know that Jayang-dong was attacked.'
I smiled lightly and nodded. Do Han-Sol returned a smile of his own.
‘I didn’t know you were thinking that far ahead. I… I still have a long way to go to catch up to you.’
‘I wasn’t any different. If Hyeong-Jun hadn’t helped me, I would’ve already been dead.’
‘Haha…’
‘Anyway, double your efforts in keeping a lookout for the enemy. I ordered my underlings to kill any red zombie that appears… But they can’t make decisions for themselves, so…’
‘Got it!’
Do Han-Sol straightened his back. His reply was full of vigor.
I chuckled, then took the corpse of the dong leader of Jayang-dong and disappeared into the darkness.
* * *
The next day, I woke up squinting. The sun was right above me.
I tossed and turned on the old couch that I’d found on a random rooftop to get back to my senses. As I awoke, I noticed the cool breeze blowing gently on my cheeks.
I massaged my stiff neck and headed straight to Seongsu 1-ga, 2-dong.
When I returned to where I’d left Do Han-Sol the night before, I saw him holding a walkie-talkie.
“Then what would you like to do?”
- I think it’d be better for us to strike first.
"Pardon? That’s a no-go. I’m currently waiting for Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok…”
I poked him in the shoulder with a finger, and he turned around in surprise.
'Oh, did you sleep alright?'
'What’s going on?'
‘Well, the thing is…’
Do Han-Sol filled me in on what had happened the night before.
He told me that the gang members’ underlings were deployed along the borders of Seongsu-dong. It seemed to be a reaction to losing contact with their signaller.
They seemed to be quick on their feet with everything, and now that they seemed to have raised their DEFCON level, they were moving at a speed that exceeded my expectations.[1]
I furrowed my brow as I looked at Do Han-Sol.
‘How many zombies do they have?'
'About that… I don’t think it’ll be an easy fight.’
I asked him to explain the situation in detail. Do Han-Sol sucked on his lower lip for a moment.
'I think they have well over four thousand zombies.’
'What?'
My jaw dropped to the ground. That number was beyond belief.
I swallowed.
‘Are the ones heading to Gunja-dong with them as well? Are all the Family’s forces together?’
‘Well… There’s no way of knowing that…’
I clicked my tongue and gestured at the walkie-talkie.
'Pass on my words.’
Do Han-Sol nodded, looking into my eyes while picking up the walkie-talkie.
“Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok is telling me that we shouldn’t attack hastily. We need to wait.”
- Is he up now?
“Yes, he just joined me.”
- Then tell him this. That there aren’t any zombies with glowing red eyes among them, so we're going to go ahead and attack them first.?
I waved my hands furiously after hearing what she said.
Hwang Ji-Hye had gotten the situation all wrong. It was the complete opposite of what she presumed.
Not being able to identify any zombies with glowing red eyes didn’t mean it was okay. In fact, it meant the complete opposite.
In order to know how strong the zombies were and what they were capable of, it was essential to first determine how many zombies with glowing red eyes were controlling them.
I told all of this to Do Han-Sol. He nodded, then spoke into the walkie-talkie again.
“He’s asking if there are any mutants.”
- There are no mutants in sight.
I clenched my fists when I heard that there weren’t any mutants.
This changed the entire situation.
The opponents had a lot of zombies, but we had mutants.
I had mutants, but Kim Hyeong-Jun had even stronger mutants, since Kim Hyeong-Jun had five stage-one mutants, along with Mood-Swinger.
I tapped Do Han-Sol on the shoulder.
“Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok is looking for Kim Hyeong-Jun.”
- Go ahead and speak. He’s right next to me.
"Uh… Hmm… He’s looking for a person named Mood-Swinger…?”
- I beg your pardon?
I could tell that Hwang Ji-Hye was bewildered. Judging from the fact that there was silence on the other end, I assumed Hwang Ji-Hye and Kim Hyeong-Jun were communicating through his notepad.
A little later, I heard Hwang Ji-Hye’s voice.
- He said that Mood-Swinger is still in Majang-dong.
“Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok is asking Kim Hyeong-Jun to bring Mood-Swinger to him.”
- He’s asking if that’ll be okay… But who is this Mood-Swinger?
I could tell that Hwang Ji-Hye was annoyed by this jargon that only me and Kim Hyeong-Jun could understand.
But I had no time to explain everything to her.
I looked into Do Han-Sol’s face, and he briefly summarized what I’d communicated to him to Hwang Ji-Hye.
“He’s saying that the fate of this war depends on Mood-Swinger.”
- Alright, I’ll let this pass for now. But Kim Hyeong-Jun is telling me to relay to you that he won’t take the blame for whatever happens. I do have a question… This person named Mood-Swinger… They won’t happen to hurt us in any way, right?
“...”
Do Han-Sol didn’t reply.
Because I didn’t say anything.
Grr…
Gaaa…
I heard zombies howling from Achasan-ro, far far away. Their cries echoed around the area, causing my five senses to prick up.
I looked straight ahead. Do Han-Sol, who was next to me, had a puzzled look on his face.
“What, what is it? What is this sound?”
I headed toward the rooftop of the building to my right.
I stood atop the eight-story building and looked out, and my eyes were greeted by a sight that made my jaw drop.
An enormous, endless wave of red zombies was advancing our way.
The war had started.
I anticipated that they would move when the sun went down, but instead, they’d initiated the war while the sun was still at its zenith.
I cried out to Do Han-Sol, who was on the rooftop of a five-story building across from me.
“GRRR!!!”
Do Han-Sol gave me a startled expression.
I looked into his eyes.
'They’re coming. Get ready.'
Do Han-Sol nodded vigorously and shouted into the walkie-talkie,
“Prepare for battle!”
1. DEFCON refers to defense readiness condition, an alert state used by the United States Armed Forces. It has five levels of readiness, each level corresponding to a different readiness level. The lower the number, the lower the readiness. 👈
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