Chapter 80
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 80
Chapter Title: The Fatal Scream
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On the seventh day of the Zombie Wave, just as the system window had warned, most Awakeners were doing their best to stay indoors. They could endure it with the thought that even if the Takers came out, they just needed to hold out for one day.
But that didn't guarantee safety just from hiding quietly. Takers lacked eyes but had incredibly acute hearing, reacting to even the tiniest sounds that regular zombies couldn't detect. People ended up dying after attracting them with accidental noises.
Every window was covered with blinds, blocking out almost all sunlight in the room.
Inside, three women sat in silence, mouths shut tight to avoid drawing a Taker.
- BOOM!
The massive crash from outside made all three flinch and squeeze their eyes shut. One got up, walked to the window, and peeked through the blinds by lifting them slightly with her fingers.
The sight that met her eyes was utterly horrifying. A monster presumed to be a Taker had slammed its body into the building, causing the entire structure to collapse. Amid the rubble, it was devouring what looked like human remains.
"Ugh... fuck, how the hell are we supposed to deal with a monster like that?"
The woman peeking through the blinds muttered. The one sitting called out quietly.
"Hey! Don't make a racket and get us caught. Get back here! If we attract one of those, we're done for."
"Fine, I'll come back."
The woman by the window returned to her spot and sat down.
"Haa... when the hell are these zombies finally gonna disappear? I just want to go back to the normal world..."
"Tell me about it. Awakeners this, zombies that... I wish all this crap would just vanish."
As the two whispered softly to each other, the remaining woman sat with her head bowed, saying nothing.
"But seriously, what do we do if one of those monsters finds us?"
"What do you mean? We use Seo-yoon as bait and run."
Lee Seoyoon, the one with her head down, jerked her head up in shock at the words.
"Pfft! She reacts the second her name comes up. What, you don't like it? Can't you do it for your friends?"
"Ah, th-that..."
"Wow, so we're not friends after all? I thought we were. Why else would we come stay here with you? Right?"
Lee Seoyoon wanted to snap back at the woman's absurd words.
She wanted to say they weren't friends, that she wished this bitch would just go outside and die. But her mouth wouldn't move as she intended.
"Tch, friends, sure. Ahaha..."
"That's my friend! Friends would even lay down their lives for each other, right?"
At Lee Seoyoon's words, the woman next to her slung an arm around her shoulders in mock affection. Seoyoon flinched and shrank back in instinctive fear.
It was an unavoidable reaction from the trauma of being tormented by the woman before her so many times.
"Oh, by the way, friend. I'm thirsty. Get me some water."
"Ah, okay."
Lee Seoyoon rose as ordered and headed to the fridge.
Anyone could see it wasn't a friendship, but Seoyoon couldn't defy her. The trauma etched into her heart from three years of bullying left her no choice but to obey.
In her mind, she wanted to tear the two intruders in her home to shreds, but she lacked the power to make it reality.
When the zombie apocalypse began, Lee Seoyoon had been alone in her dark room. Startled by the screams of people being attacked outside, she had drawn the blinds and huddled under the covers, ears plugged.
Once the noises outside quieted, she cautiously ventured out. She had no food left in the house and couldn't hold out any longer.
But unluckily, that's when she ran into them. The two women who had bullied her throughout high school.
They pretended to help by bringing a zombie for her to kill, turning her into an Awakener since she'd been holed up at home. Then they demanded to stay in her house as payment for their "help."
Seoyoon desperately wanted to refuse, but the high school trauma combined with their current strength made it impossible. She nodded and let her enemies into her home.
Of course, the women who saw her as beneath them turned the place upside down from the moment they arrived. They treated her like a slave, making her do everything, and before the Zombie Wave started, they'd drag her to zombie-infested areas for "fun," laughing as she fled for her life.
They justified it by saying it was to "train" their friend Seoyoon, that she couldn't survive the apocalypse stuck at home, so they had no choice. Utter nonsense.
Seoyoon wasn't stupid; she knew it was all lies. But powerless to fight back, she had to smile like an idiot and thank them.
And as time passed, their abuse only worsened.
"H-here's the water..."
The woman took the cup from Lee Seoyoon, sipped it, then suddenly splashed the water in her face.
"Kyaaak!"
Seoyoon yelped in surprise at the sudden cold splash. Watching her, the woman stood, approached, and yanked her by the hair.
"Hey, this water's lukewarm! Don't you know I like it cold? You ran errands for me all through high school fetching it—still can't remember?"
"S-sorry..."
The water from the fridge had been cold; Seoyoon had checked. But that didn't matter to the woman gripping her hair. It was just an excuse to torment her.
"Time to remind you of high school. Hey, help me out."
"Sure? I've been cooped up feeling shitty anyway. Perfect."
At the words of the woman holding her hair, the other stood and approached.
"Ah, ah... s-sorry! My fault!"
Facing the reality of another beating, Seoyoon cried out desperately. But to the two women, it was just hilarious entertainment.
Slap!
The sharp sound of a hand striking Seoyoon's pleading cheek echoed through the room.
"Shut up, bitch. What if the monster outside hears?"
"You trying to kill your friends too? You really need a beating today."
"Ugh!"
The woman punched Seoyoon in the gut, forcing her to crumple to the floor. That was the signal, and the two began stomping her gleefully.
"Ugh, uugh!"
Seoyoon instinctively shielded her head with her arms, but the women targeted everywhere else.
It hurts, it hurts so much! Why do I have to go through this? Why?
Amid the trampling, Seoyoon's heart rebelled against this reality imposed by the women.
Not content with the high school torment, they were ruining her life even now. She hated her powerless self, unable to fight back.
At that moment, thinking death would be better than this, Seoyoon opened her mouth wide and screamed at the top of her lungs.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!"
The near-bestial shriek startled the two women, who had been stomping her for fun. They hurriedly clamped hands over her mouth to silence her.
"Is this bitch crazy? Why scream like that?"
"You lost it? What if you attract the monster outside?"
At that instant, the wall of Seoyoon's apartment building was ripped clean off. Sunlight flooded the darkened room, blinding the three women.
Temporarily blinded by the sudden light, they gradually adjusted and grasped the situation.
"Wh-what... the fuck."
"This is fucked..."
The reason was simple.
A nearby Taker had torn the wall away with its hands.
"You crazy bitch... you actually called it here."
There was only one reason the Taker had come: reacting to Seoyoon's desperate shriek moments ago.
The two women eyed the eyeless Taker and moved cautiously, thinking silence might keep them safe.
But the Taker had already sensed prey inside. Stealth was futile.
It shot out its arm, snatching both women in one hand.
"U, uwaaaak! S-save me!"
The captured women screamed for help, but no one was around to save them.
Only Seoyoon remained, watching with joy.
"Die! Just die already!"
At her words, the Taker shoved the women into its maw and chewed them up savoring the meal. The crunch of human bones breaking rang out, but Seoyoon only smiled happily.
She didn't care that she was next.
"Ahaha... they're dead. Those fucking bitches are finally dead! No, I killed them!"
The joy of her tormentors' deaths overshadowed everything.
Having eaten the women, the Taker reached for the last prey: Seoyoon.
She didn't run. She felt no regrets even in death.
Just as the Taker was about to devour her, ending her life, a massive black maw appeared above its head.
Resembling a beast's jaws, it swallowed the Taker's head, bit down hard, and severed it. The headless body collapsed.
"Huh...?"
Unable to comprehend, Seoyoon crawled toward the fallen Taker. Then she saw a man approaching it.
And in her eyes, she witnessed something black flowing from the Taker's body into the man's.