The Fifth Wave (Part 3)

Fortunately, nothing went wrong during the night. The fire hadn't spread, reducing only that single infested building to ash.

When Saebyeok woke the following evening, Jian and Heejin were already staring at him with bright, expectant eyes.

"Look... I appreciate that you believe in my ability, but... it's not like I have prophetic dreams every single night..."

"What a shame."

"Well, there's always next time. Keep your chin up, Oppa..."

"Hey! Listen to me! I'm not the kind of guy who relies on that sort of thing anyway!"

Thwack!

Waving his hands defensively as he leaned back, Saebyeok finally lost his patience with Heejin hovering around him and rapped her on the head.

"Today, we do things by the book..."

"Yeees..."

"By the way, Heejin, your hair is completely white now, isn't it?"

"Ugh, tell me about it. I really liked my brown hair, too..."

Their idle chatter gave way to the second day, which proved far less forgiving than expected.

After spending the first hour observing, they opted for a nighttime sweep. Three hours into the search, they discovered thick briars creeping out of a building like grasping tentacles. The sight of them squirming across the asphalt and climbing the walls was utterly repulsive. Despite the menacing thorns, however, their durability was remarkably poor. Treating the advance like routine logging, they chopped through the vines, forced their way inside, and Jian shattered the Summoning Stone.

There was no system-wide announcement; Jian simply reported that she had received 20,000 CP.

"Brother Saebyeok, it felt like stepping right into a horror film," Scholar John remarked, shivering. "As if plants were crawling straight out of hell."

Saebyeok chuckled. "Tell me about it. Shouldn't you have solved that with a prayer before they even sprouted, Scholar John?"

When Saebyeok teased him with a smirk, John rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment, sheepishly mumbling that it was due to his lacking piety and promising to do better next time.

Wishing Eunbyeol would learn fire magic sooner rather than later, Saebyeok torched the building just as before and led the party back to base.

Then came the third night. This time, it was ants.

Ghostly white ants, each the size of a grown man's foot, crawled sickeningly over the exterior of a black-painted pub. Though he had never seen one in person, Saebyeok had a grim suspicion they were termites. Because locating the source took an excessive amount of time, they couldn't completely prevent the swarm from scattering into the surrounding area.

Saebyeok destroyed the Summoning Stone himself this time, earning 30,000 CP. While it was too early to draw conclusions, he suspected the reward scaled up by 10,000 CP with each passing day.

When Saebyeok asked during the strategy meeting whether termites only fed on wood, Park Donghyun—a former delivery courier who loved watching nature documentaries—spoke up, noting that certain species were capable of chewing straight through brick.

"Hyung, you're kidding, right?"

"I'm not... It blew my mind, too... Formosan termites will eat through almost anything. It left such an impression on me that I still remember it."

"Insane... Then we'll need to be even more vigilant about structural collapse during our sweeps."

Uneasy murmurs rippled through the survivors. They had faced zombies, slaughtered goblins, and even fought werewolves, yet giant insects provoked the most visceral horror by a wide margin.

Donghyun drove the final nail into the coffin.

"And apparently, they're closely related to cockroaches..."

"Fuck..."

On the fifth day, slimes emerged. They spawned right in front of the mart, but because the scout teams were busy sweeping other sectors, they discovered them late. Lee Jaehoon, the archer, was the one who shattered the Summoning Stone.

On the sixth day, a building abruptly collapsed. Rushing toward the plume of dust, they found grotesque, leech-like horrors secreting acidic mucus that hissed against the rubble, choking the air with a pungent, burning stench. Arriving first on the scene, Saebyeok obliterated the Summoning Stone.

"Damn it... Just how big is this fucking universe?"

Chills prickled Saebyeok's skin at the realization that all sixty-six varieties of alien life might be seeded across the Earth in this exact manner.

On the seventh day, knee-high rats swarmed the streets. Sister Agnes flew into a holy fervor, manifesting volleys of divine blades through sacred power and the name of the Lord, turning every rodent in sight into a pincushion.

Scanning the perimeter, Saebyeok noticed tracks trailing off into the overgrown thicket.

Too late again...

A few had almost certainly burrowed underground or slipped into nearby cracks.

Even so, the full wrath of Sister Agnes had laid waste to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠everything within sight; she alone had skewered several hundred vermin without breaking stride.

"Even the Lord rested on the Sabbath, yet you dare commit such blasphemy...!"

"Uh, Sister... Today is Monday."

"Ah! No! Brother Saebyeok, you know that is not what I meant! It was humor! Humor, I tell you!"

"I was only teasing. Your face looked far too grave."

"I... I apologize. Viscerally... I simply cannot stomach rodents..."

"I understand. They disgusted me just as much."

"Haah... Rats of that size... How are we to survive from here on? Lord..."

The eighth day brought giant spiders, also reaching knee-height. This time, it was Saebyeok who snapped. Seeing the jet-black arachnids clustered so densely across a storefront that the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠building appeared stained in ink, he poured every ounce of his strength into cleaving the structure apart with his spear. He didn't stop until the entire place was pulverized into dust.

"Oppa... are you scared of spiders?"

Watching Saebyeok demolish an entire building without pacing himself in the slightest, Jian asked with wide, curious eyes, like a child witnessing a marvel.

"Yeah..."

"To think even you had a weakness like that..."

"I honestly don't mind reptiles, but bugs—especially spiders—I just can't stand them."

"Noted. Definitely writing that down."

Heejin piped up cheekily from the side, practically begging for another reprimand, and promptly received another knuckle to the forehead.

On the ninth day, a deafening drone heralded the descent of mosquitoes the size of human heads.

"Fucking sadistic system bastards... You goddamn... motherfuckers!"

Fortunately, the thunderous buzzing gave them away during patrol, allowing the team to pinpoint their nest swiftly. For once, the entire community moved in total unison. Not only did they incinerate the building, but the stress levels among the survivors spiked to their absolute peak.

And on the long-awaited tenth day, their tripwire bell traps finally proved their worth. This time, it was goblins. Like the ones from before, they wielded primitive weapons and communicated in guttural tongues, but these specimens were far swifter and felt distinctly more alive. What shocked the search party most was their behavior: the moment they were summoned, they immediately began copulating in broad daylight.

Saebyeok hurled his spear to shatter the Summoning Stone, then ruthlessly slaughtered the creatures rutting like wild beasts across the clearing.

"Haa... Fuck, my head hurts. I desperately need a monster bestiary... Trying to make sense of this with my puny knowledge is giving me a migraine."

"Me too... Honestly, I was a little jealous," Heejin mumbled.

A stunned silence descended upon the clearing. Saebyeok settled the matter with another swift rap to her skull before briskly steering the conversation toward Shasha.

"The shop opens tomorrow morning, right? I really hope Shasha has some kind of monster encyclopedia... Or would he actually answer if I asked why the system is pulling this crap?"

"Don't merchants usually refuse to answer questions like that?" Jian mused. "What was that trope again? Ah! They start droning on about causality, saying your level isn't high enough or causality is insufficient to permit knowledge, right?"

"Well, that's how fiction usually handles it... but who knows? Maybe Shasha will give us something useful."

To Saebyeok, watching the morning sun crest over the derelict, hollow ruins of the overgrown city had begun to feel entirely ordinary.

"Haa... Adapting so seamlessly makes me feel like a lunatic. It's unsettling..."

Troubled by how unfazed he was by the apocalypse, Saebyeok muttered under his breath.

"Pardon? Why? Isn't adapting a good thing?"

"It is, but... still..."

"I think I know what you mean," Jian said softly, standing beside him and watching the dawn break. "That strange sense of alienation, like... I was never this kind of person before? A lingering feeling that you aren't quite yourself anymore."

Ssssshhhrrrk.

Murmurs began to rise from the plaza below.

"Oh, Shasha is here."

Other survivors filed inside first. Many had accumulated substantial needs over the grueling week. Saebyeok, Jian, and Heejin queued up, and their turn arrived sooner than expected.

"Long time no see, Shasha."

"Ssssst. Good to see you, ssst! The young lady is accompanying you as well, I see. As expected..."

"Ah... well, that's how things turned out."

"Ssst! However, I still have no exclusive items suited for her to purchase."

"Why?! Ugh, are you kidding me?!"

"Ssst. I have been making inquiries on my end, but the Black Saint class is exceedingly rare, making related wares extraordinarily difficult to acquire. Moreover, the likelihood of it manifesting within a sapient humanoid species is minuscule. Thus, I simply have no relevant stock."

"Gah! It's not fair! It's just not fair!"

Heejin pounded her fists on the floor, lodging a noisy protest.

"Oh... there's a reason like that?" Saebyeok asked.

"Indeed... ssst. And because it is such a peculiar class, even if you were to force-purchase foreign skill grimoires, you would be unable to master them, ssst."

"Wait, but Shasha... Heejin seems pretty proficient at copying things just by observing them, doesn't she?"

"Ah! Heavens! She... read a grimoire, didn't she? Sssst. And you, Saebyeok... ssst, I see..."

"..."

"Sssst. In that case, I may have a few recommendations for ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠today. Though they fall short of what I would ideally prescribe, and truth be told, the effects will be modest. Still, they will be far better than having nothing at all. Particularly for you, Saebyeok..."

"Gasp! That's way too expensive! Waaaah! Finally, something I can actually buy, and it costs a fortune...!"

Heejin writhed across the shop floor in theatrical agony.

"Shasha, you mentioned this would help me as well. What did you mean by that?"

"Sssst. It suppresses the collateral effects that Heejin's mad interpretations and chaotic impulses inflict upon those around her. It will also slightly restrain her from recklessly dissecting and distorting everything she touches. Even so, the aura continually radiating from within her is troubling. Madness, after all, is inherently contagious, ssst."

"..."

"Then doesn't that mean Heejin has no proper way to grow stronger? Isn't there any other method?"

"Ssst. Cultivating her own foundation from the knowledge she has already pilfered will serve her well enough."

Torn between the bitter sting of parting with so much CP and the dread of contagious Madness, Saebyeok finally sighed and yielded.

"Haa... Shasha, I'll pay for it."

"Yes..."

Though agonizing over the cost until the very last second, Saebyeok confirmed the transaction.

"Haah... Shasha, and one more thing..."

Just as he sighed and prepared to inquire about a monster bestiary, Shasha pulled out a weathered, ancient-looking tome.

"Sssst. Consider this on the house."

"Shasha?"

"You are slated to be upgraded from VIP to VVIP today... A modest gift such as this is nothing."

"Wait, just how much are you planning to fleece from me down the road?"

"Sssst??!"

Though the reptilian merchant's scaled features remained entirely impassive, for some reason, he looked as if he were beaming with unbridled delight.