Yuseong University (6)
Central Library, 4th floor data room.
Rumble rumble rumble.Crack crack.Snap.
"Aaaargh!"
"Fuck this shit! Pull back and aim for the side!"
I was right in the middle of it all, recalling the status window message about the ninth fragment.
Bang!Crack!
"H-heek!"
"Stay still. Don't go in front of that ice wall, no matter what."
"Y-yes... yes!"
"A-and me...?"
"Yena, just summon scarecrows when I tell you."
"Got it!"
Thud.Crunch crunch.
"Ice Spear."
Pop!Splash!
Back at Rocket Mart, it had definitely told me the seventh fragment was nearby when I tried to ignore the place and head back. More precisely, when I turned away from going inside and started heading back to Jeong Suhyun.
"J-Junyoung! They're coming again!"
"Yeah."
Crack crack.Boom!
The status window had popped up again after that. Right at Northhyang General Hospital. There, it only notified me of the second fragment after I'd spotted the fetus.
"Yena, can you send one scarecrow to the back over there?"
"Yes. Scarecrow Summon."
Thump thump.
"...No guns, huh? Or maybe they predicted it."
"Probably the latter. Always suspect the worst with those fuckers—they're all pieces of shit."
Boom!Splash!
"Uwaaaah!"
Rat-a-tat-tat!
"...Yeah."
But this time, the ninth fragment alert only came after I'd realized these faceless ones showed up red on Yoo Soyeon's radar and that they could somehow move around even during the day.
"Frost Blink."
Squelch.
"Let g-g-g-gooo!"
Thwack!
"Guhhh!"
It was different from the "you're near the seventh fragment" or "second fragment discovered" alerts.
What did that mean?
What else? It's obvious.
I kept bashing the neck of one of the red-marked Liberation Army bastards with my pickaxe. Then, pinning his throat with my knee, I called out to Yoo Soyeon and Jeong Yena.
"...Soyeon. Yena."
"A-all done...?"
"Yeah. Nothing on your radar?"
"N-no... n-none here except this guy."
"Then that's it."
"B-but you're not showing up. M-maybe...?"
"...It's a skill."
"Uh... uh... b-but from what I've s-seen, you have t-two, no, three skills... n-never mind, got it."
The status window only alerted me after I'd gathered some clue about the fragments or remnants.
Which meant...
It confirmed my guess: these faceless ones could move around during the day somehow.
And like the second fragment, these guys are minions of something too.
Crackle.
"Urgh!"
Thump.
I dismissed the status window alert and bound the man's body with clothes soaked in Liberation Army blood.
Thud.Roll roll roll.
I kicked aside the head oozing blood as it tumbled, tore down a curtain, and tied the man completely to a nearby concrete pillar.
"Soyeon."
"Y-yes...?"
"He's red, right? This guy."
"Yes."
I stared at the man, thinking.
Second was monsters that eat people and their main body. Seventh was minds. Ninth is bodies and minds.
The remnants weren't random either. They got stronger or trickier the higher the number.
Two wasn't enough to guess, but this ninth remnant alert confirmed it. Honestly, the blood clump zombies from the second were something modern civilization could handle.
We're properly fucked.
Tsk.
The remnants—or fragments—I'd encountered were in order 7-2-9.
I leaned against a bookshelf in the data room and sighed.
I'd said it a million times, and I knew it: modern governments and militaries didn't fall for no reason. Zombies alone couldn't topple modern civilization.
But...
Monsters that don't just fuck with heads but build bodies and control minds?
The ninth remnant. This one's abilities were on another level from these guys I'd seen.
Monsters that mimic people, the dead, with bodies, minds, and memories.
How to tell them apart...
"Achoo!"
Yoo Soyeon's radar ability, which stupidly made her cough like that. Or Jeong Suhyun's ability.
No, even Suhyun's isn't foolproof.
I'd have to test later, but excluding Soyeon's power, it was sunlight or just killing them.
"Soyeon."
"Y-yes... yes?"
"You and Yena, wait outside."
I still didn't have perfect intel on these things. There was clearly some queen like the fetus, but I didn't know what it looked like, how it worked, or how it made these faceless ones.
Hell, most of what I knew about faceless ones was just my guesses.
"...Pardon?"
"Mmmph mmmph!"
I had a lot left to do for that.
So I needed to test this bastard on various things before sunset.
"I said wait outside. Gotta try stuff with this guy."
Yoo Soyeon and Jeong Yena looked anxious staring at me. I nodded at the man, then the hallway.
Then...
"I-I wanna stay here too."
"...Me too. Who knows what'll happen if we go out."
Yoo Soyeon and Jeong Yena were trembling but wanted to stay.
Fine then. No twice.
"Alright... whatever. Just don't get in the way."
They'd already seen the guts party here anyway. Easier for them to stick together than watch me skin a monster wearing a human mask.
I got it.
"Mmmph!"
The gagged man screamed. I calmly pulled a machete from a Liberation Army corpse.
I get it.
And jammed the machete into the Liberation Army bastard's shoulder.
Squelch.
The sound of flesh piercing.
And then.
Rip.Fizz!
"!!!!!!!"
A silent scream.
"Haa..."
I moved my hand.
Sounds of flesh slicing and blood bursting kept coming.
===
It got dark outside. Around 7 PM.
"Urk bleeech!"
"Ugh... ugh..."
Yoo Soyeon and Jeong Yena were dry-heaving.
...Nothing came up.
I'd killed all the Liberation Army on the 4th and 5th floors. No survivors. All white and red dots were them.
Means they killed everyone they brought here.
Or it was time to anyway.
Made sense—they'd tried to kill Soyeon and Yena too.
"Ugh..."
"......"
I sighed, watching the two women look at me half relieved, half terrified.
...Gotta head back soon.
I checked outside. Pitch black. We'd spent too much time cleaning the 4th and 5th floor data rooms.
...Annoying.
Definitely hard to clear internals with my abilities. Especially in a place like the central library full of obstacles.
Lucky we had Soyeon's power this time. Alone later? Big problem.
Not like a small high school.
The building was as big as a high school main building, so hitting two spots today was tough as planned. Hell, even one library was pushing it.
But.
We got something.
I opened a thick book in the data room, wiped blood off on it, and sat.
Dissected flesh lumps in front of me. No—monsters mimicking humans.
Got plenty of intel on the faceless ones.
Since no more Liberation Army came up, I could experiment plenty.
I glanced at Soyeon and the others.
"...You kept watch good."
"Uwoook."
".....Ugh."
"Gonna wash up."
Splash.
Washing my hands, I thought. No talking. Wasn't the situation for it anyway. Who chats with Liberation Army when anyone could come up?
Besides, the guy just roared in rage and cursed—wouldn't even talk.
So.
I inflicted sadism disguised as torture.
And got info.
Faceless ones' traits:
While alive, sunlight doesn't hurt them much. Just a rash like sun allergy or cholinergic urticaria from sweat buildup.
Means my first guess was right.
Good thing. No damage didn't mean immortal—their flesh burned same as zombies.
If you know, easy to handle.
Hell, just gather at sunrise every day and bask.
But...
If you don't know? Hard to counter.
...They look human, high chance of sabotage.
Like those human rights activists defending perpetrators. In democratic bases not run like ours around me, Suhyun, and Jungshik, damage would be huge.
So tell Suhyun quick.
No—get Soyeon on board fast.
If shit hits inside the base, or worst case a faceless one sneaks in? Who knows how many die.
Everything else fine, but that's the issue.
Other traits were as expected. Cut their flesh alive? The pieces act like corpses—melt in sunlight guaranteed. Dead? Melts anyway.
But alive? Different.
Of course, no clue how they're made.
That I'd have to find out.
I quickly left the bathroom and headed back to the 4th floor data room.
"Ah...."
"Junyoung-ssi?"
"Rested?"
"Yes..."
"Ugh..."
"...By 9 PM, we clear downstairs and head to base."
I scraped the wall with my pickaxe.
The data room stank of fish guts and innards, blood and flesh splatters hardening.
"Stay alert, everyone."
"O-okay."
"Let's go. Same formation as before. Problem? Call me."
"Yes...!"
Creeeak.
The door opened. I'd come to clear Yuseong University after leaving remnants behind, but no idea why I was dealing with this bullshit.
...Whatever.
Had to clear the library anyway.
So we headed down.
===
The central library 3rd floor was weirdly empty.
"Ugh... urk..."
"...So cruel. Why'd they kill everyone like this."
No, something was there.
Just not alive.
"Soyeon."
"Ah, nothing."
We were in room 1 conference hall. Tons of corpses piled up.
Sexual urges explode like the seventh remnant. Turning violent too.
But calling it a corpse storage? Nah.
Unlike the real storage on 7th floor room 1, this had living traces—and rape signs everywhere.
Who gets it up in a place like this?
Couldn't understand with my normal tastes. Though I'd given up understanding non-human tastes.
...Fucking annoying.
Couldn't stop it with one body and low mana.
"Librarian's office first. Then other conference rooms."
"Y-yeah..."
I eyed the headless rape victim corpse and stepped into the hall.
3rd floor had librarian's office, conference rooms, admin support, and a book cafe.
Makes sense as living quarters.
Creeeak.
I opened the librarian's office door. No sign of the old librarian—just three dangling female corpses.
...Nothing.
Weird part: all headless.
...Like room 1. Connected somehow?
As I examined the hanging corpses closely...
Bang!
Someone grabbed my sleeve tight.
"Junyoung-ssi!"
"Yeah, I heard."
Outside. But pretty far—a gunshot echoed.