Yuseong University (5): The Faceless
—Bang! Boom!—gunshots rang out in rapid succession, but the explosion accompanying the Ice Spears hit first.
—Splash!
Guts and blood sprayed across the hallway. A single eyeball rolled along the floor. And clumps of blood and entrails trickled inward from the corridor.
"Aaaah! Fuck! Fuuuuck!"
A scream followed. One survived.
I grimaced. I'd tried to wipe them out in one go, but even after launching two Ice Spears, one had made it through.
This changes things...
Two white dots vanished from Yoo Soyeon's hand, but countless others dotted the area around us.
—Ding-ding-ding!
An alarm blared. Someone must have heard the scream and triggered it—or maybe a skill.
The surroundings grew chaotic with noise.
"!!!!!!"
"!!!!!!"
The clatter of rifles cocking. Murmurs rising.
"Th-they're still coming! R-right side."
"Got it."
We reformed our ranks. I took point, Yoo Soyeon right beside me. Jeong Yena covered the rear.
"Ice Shield."
I summoned one behind us to guard against any surprise attacks, then advanced slowly.
—Scrape. —Scrape.
As we moved, I occasionally checked Yoo Soyeon's hand. The white dots were closing in tighter.
That's how we reached the elevator. I quickly scanned the area.
The sixth floor matched the layout from the guide map—same as the seventh. A wide lounge area, connected to Reading Rooms 1 and 2 and the laptop room via the corridor.
I spoke without looking back.
"Yena. How many more summons can you do?"
If she could use her scarecrow ability more, it was worth knowing the limit.
"Five times."
Five. With most people's mana around ten, each scarecrow probably cost two. She'd already used one on the sixth floor, so one per floor from here seemed smart.
Better to conserve.
"Then hold position for now. Yoo Soyeon, stick close. Speak up the second anything gets near."
"Y-yes."
"G-got it."
I shifted the Ice Shield from behind us—crack!—to the front.
—Rat-tat-tat!
More gunshots followed. But the shield held firm.
...Push forward with this and pick them off slowly.
I stepped out into the open. Three men came into view—white dots on Yoo Soyeon's radar.
Three whites. So they're human.
To me, there was no difference. Just more scum to kill in this fucked world.
"You son of a—!"
"That's the bastard!"
"Spread out...!"
—Boom!
Two men's bodies exploded from the Ice Spears.
But the Liberation Army had long since scattered across the sixth floor.
Makes sense.
They'd seen my skills plenty. Benefit Mart, Southdong Office, Gaeseong High, the station. Even back in Northdong. I'd handled everything with Ice Spears and Ice Shields. The debris was a dead giveaway, and ice was easy to spot.
...Like goddamn bugs.
But this made things worse. In novels or games, psycho bastards like these just waited to get wrecked. These guys? Perfect detection, perfect response when we met. The whole plan was shot.
No choice.
Had to hunt them down one by one.
—Rat-tat-tat!
—Clang-clang!
Bullets hammered the Ice Shield. I locked eyes with the shooter and launched another Ice Spear.
—Boom!
—Splatter!
The man burst apart. But the Liberation Army didn't flee—they kept targeting us.
—Bang!
—Rat-tat-tat!
A near-constant barrage piled up on the shield.
—Click-click-click!
—Bang!
The shield held. Though I'd need to swap it soon.
...Where the hell did they get all these bullets?
We swept the area carefully, heading for Reading Room 1.
—Squelch.
Six Liberation Army dead.
"Ugh... ughh..."
"My ears..."
The women groaned in pain. Makes sense—assault rifles were deafening up close.
"Euugh."
I grabbed Yoo Soyeon's hand and peered at her radar.
Definitely.
Then it hit me. Everyone I'd killed so far? All white dots.
The ones deeper inside? Red dots.
What's the difference between red and white?
That's why I'd come here—to find out about those red dots. All seven I'd spotted were right here in Reading Room 1 on the sixth floor.
"Quiet."
—Crack.
I dragged the Ice Shield over and sealed the door. Resized to fit the door frame and ceiling, it blocked perfectly.
The reading room was a U-shape. The door at the upper left arm, so the middle was blind.
But Yoo Soyeon's ability pinpointed the red dots inside.
"...Let's go."
I led the way inside, the women following cautiously.
—Creak. —Creak.
We crept through the silence.
But at the U's midpoint, I floated an Ice Spear.
"Ice Spear."
Two spears hovered.
"...There."
Yoo Soyeon whispered. I fired them into the box.
—Boom!
—Splash!
Guts and blood erupted. Then the red dots scattered.
Spreading out, huh.
Blood trickled right to my feet. Meaning these had flesh and blood too—human.
But...
...Fucking lunatics.
They were burning my mana, forcing me to widen the gap myself.
No helping it.
I summoned another Ice Shield. Wasteful, but necessary for safety.
I pushed it forward, moving into the U's wide middle where they'd spread.
—Rat-tat-tat!
Gunfire echoed.
"Ice Spear."
Followed by bodies bursting.
—Boom!
—Splash!
No survivors—just Liberation Army. I launched spears on sight.
The sixth-floor reading room, once dust-covered, was painted in their gore.
"Clear."
No chatter. No noise. We were the only humans left on six.
"Uh... uhh."
"......"
Horrified Yoo Soyeon and stone-faced Jeong Yena followed.
I checked Yoo Soyeon's hand. Countless red and white dots moving below on the fifth floor and down.
How to clear those...
Mana near twenty—forty soon—but still tight. Shields held against bullets, but visibility across gaps was an issue.
Gonna take time.
As I thought that, Yoo Soyeon spoke up, face pale with dread.
"Uh... uh, i-is this a monster?"
She pointed at a bisected corpse.
"...It's human. Monstrous bastards, sure."
I shot back, incredulous.
But.
"J-Junyoung-ssi. Th-they... have no faces."
Jeong Yena, dry-heaving quietly, pointed at a rolling head.
I scowled.
—Squelch. —Squelch.
I picked up a head from a nearby corpse—chest caved in, everything but neck up and legs gone.
Yeah.
Then I realized what I'd missed.
That's how it is.
It clicked. I'd been thinking wrong.
Jo Jeongmin narrowed my view.
Dusk fell outside. But dusk meant the sun hadn't set yet.
I tossed the head at the corpses hissing—sizzle—in the sunlight.
—Thud.
—Roll.
My mistake: faceless ones only active at night. What I'd seen was Jo Jeongmin's corpse melting in daylight.
Which meant...
They can move in daylight too.
Or some restriction allowed it.
Either way, serious shit.
I glanced at Yoo Soyeon, standing blood-free.
Without her ability or Jeong Suhyun, hard to tell them apart.
If the latter, no biggie. Herd 'em into sunlight.
But if they could roam fine even alive...
Most survivor camps are fucked.
Even the former—with sunlight limits—it was bad. They could fake allergies or fluorescent lights and infiltrate camps for chaos.
"Rest a bit, then fifth floor..."
I started to say to the women.
But then.
Red text flashed in my vision.
The energy of the Ninth Fragment of Ruin is felt from afar.
"Hold up."
Familiar text. But slightly different this time.
Ninth. And far away.
—Boom!
I instantly shattered the Ice Shield at the Reading Room 1 door.
—Squelch.
Blood and guts on my shoes. No time to clean.
"J-Junyoung-ssi?"
"Junyoung-ssi?"
Yoo Soyeon and Jeong Yena called out.
"Never mind. Moving now. No time. You saw these fuckers, right?"
Plan changed. Clear this place before sunset. Capture at least one Liberation Army alive.
Ninth, huh.
I had a rough idea how these damn remnants were numbered.
Time to verify if I was right.
I led Yoo Soyeon and the others straight to the stairs for the fifth floor.