Chapter 51
Chapter 51
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 51
Chapter Title: The Skyscraper Twins (8)
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"It's dark... so dark..."
The restaurant district was shrouded in darkness with all the lights out. Nothing lay before my eyes but endless blackness. Without a flashlight or the glow of a phone screen, it would have been utterly impossible to press forward.
I surely would have been crawling along on all fours too if I weren't in Selverion's body. Kim A-rin and Lee Min-jun would have struggled plenty if they'd come searching this way.
"Blood... smell..."
The deeper I ventured into the restaurant district, the stronger the thick stench of blood grew. The sharp sting at the tip of my nose told me it was fresh—spilled not long ago.
From the unnecessarily eerie atmosphere seeping everywhere to the blood smell leaking from all sides, it was clear something major had gone down in this restaurant district.
"This way..."
...Selverion's senses were all exceptionally sharp, but if I had to pick the sharpest, it was none other than her sense of smell.
The lingering traces of scents at my nostrils formed the shape of an arrow, guiding me to my destination. Like a hunting dog tracking prey, I instinctively followed the blood scent, my feet carrying me to its source.
"Korean restaurant...?"
I finally reached a Korean eatery tucked into the farthest corner of the district. The exterior was just an ordinary restaurant, but an indescribably intense reek of blood poured from within.
"..."
Perhaps the Graveyard guild members used this place often as a cannibal feast hall—the door wasn't locked. Without hesitation, I pushed it open and stepped inside.
Striding forward, I headed straight for the source of the smell.
...It was coming from the kitchen.
The closer I got, the more not just blood but a putrid rotting stench mingled in, assaulting me.
"Trash can...?"
A blue trash bin sat in the corner of the kitchen. Judging by its size and shape, it looked like one for food waste.
Flies buzzed around it, and a stench beyond words spread outward.
"Ah..."
I lifted the lid, and
inside wasn't food,
"You crazy bastards..."
but people's heads.
"......"
Nine severed human heads, eyes popped wide. In the hot, humid air, decomposition had progressed far, their state too gruesome to describe.
If this were a stage boss or player body and gut, it'd provoke instant vomiting—but not mine.
"......"
I immediately raised my hand and froze the victims' heads along with the entire bin solid. My bare minimum show of respect, an effort to halt further decay.
"A restaurant district, so they actually used it like a real diner..."
From the bleached bones piled like trash near the escalator to the heads stuffed in here like worthless scraps.
It really seemed they'd turned this fourth-floor restaurant district into a proper cannibal joint.
A place that once sold food to delight customers, now a spot to devour people.
The original owners would faint in horror if they knew.
"..."
And if they'd been chowing down here, at least one or two guild members had to be lurking nearby.
Just hiding for now, probably.
Selverion's passives pierced even Ferroln's invisibility—no item could fully mask their presence from her.
"Let's try left..."
To keep searching, I stepped back out of the Korean restaurant.
"Ah...?"
"Huh...?"
...That's when I crossed paths with a child out of nowhere.
"Ah..."
"......"
Right in front of the Korean restaurant door stood a girl around nine years old, staring blankly at me. Her whole body was caked in dust, dotted with minor scrapes—like she'd been abused.
"S-Sis..."
The moment she saw me, the girl started sniffling.
Like stumbling on an oasis in the desert.
Like meeting the hero come to save her.
"P-Please... save me..."
"......"
She rushed straight into my arms and clung tight. Burying her face in my chest, she sobbed, tears and snot flowing freely.
"Weird uncles eating people right and left, Mom, D-Dad too..."
"......"
"I barely hic, e-escaped, n-now what do I hic, d-do, I don't kn-know..."
She broke down wailing.
From what she said, she seemed like one of the hostages the Graveyard crew had grabbed—managed to escape.
But with nowhere to go, she'd wandered the restaurant district until luck brought her to me.
"Sis, p-please get me out, out of here... Okay...? Please..."
She practically dangled from my arm, pleading earnestly. A heartfelt beg to escape this hellish cannibal den.
For Selverion, it was no trouble at all—a request I should've granted on the spot.
Normally, I'd have nodded without a second thought, but
"Well..."
...I flashed a wry smile and shook her arm off roughly.
"Eh...?"
She staggered back from the jolt.
Her face froze as she slowly looked up at me.
"S-Sis...?"
Her would-be savior—a powerhouse by the look of me—had brushed her off. Fear flooded her eyes.
Was this sis one of those cannibals?
Was she a bad person too?
My unexpected response swirled her small, round eyes with a storm of thoughts and delusions.
......Not bad acting.
"Why—trying to stall me?"
My voice sliced out sharp, and her expression hardened instantly.
"Y-Yes...?"
I curled my lips in a sly smirk and kept going.
"Luring me outside to buy time somehow?"
"Huh? W-What are you talking about...?"
Tears brimmed as her whole body screamed confusion and injustice. Outwardly, her looks, actions, speech matched a normal little girl perfectly.
...On the surface.
⚔ STATUS ⚔ 👤 Name: Yun Jo-hee (Arara) 📊 Level: 2500 🎭 Class: Necromancer 🌑 Attribute: Dark 🏰 Guild: Graveyard ⚠️ Status: None "Good try."
The passive that pierces disguises and reveals true identities, Piercing Frost, activated. My red eyes lit up bright in the darkness.
The girl's true nature: no helpless civilian, but a Graveyard guild member. Not a real child, just a grotesque monster donning a girl's skin via customization.
She'd been giggling and tearing into human flesh just hours ago, no doubt.
Now, she'd sidled up to lure me out of the mall somehow, buying her comrades time to flee.
Not a bad idea, really.
Her customization was top-notch—the girl's form was indistinguishable from a normal kid's.
Paired with method acting, Kim A-rin or Lee Min-jun would've bought it hook, line, and sinker, whisking her straight outside.
...Giving the rest of the Graveyard crew ample time to scatter leisurely.
"Thought you were all total nutjobs, but looks like a few brain cells fire after all?"
Graveyard's rep was pure lunacy—I figured they'd just charge Selverion blindly. Color me surprised.
Their stalling ploy would've worked perfectly on anyone without an info-pierce passive.
Bad luck: Selverion herself stood here.
No half-baked act was fooling her.
"...Wow, how'd you know? It was an act?"
"Huh...?"
"Sis got an info-scan skill or something? Even a stage boss couldn't spot me as a player eyeballing it— not with my item disguise..."
Realizing she'd blown it, the girl ditched the pitiful hostage routine and flashed a chilling grin.
A face brimming with nothing but madness—one only a true psycho could wear.
"Hmm, saw you hanging with that lady pirate—figured you could chat with humans fine. Thought tugging a few heartstrings would drag you outside. Guess not."
She smacked her lips like it was a shame.
"Funny, you."
I just eyed her with interest.
Anyone else would've begged for life or groveled by now that the jig was up. But this girl? Brazen. Cocky.
As if nothing scared her.
As if death held zero terror.
"...Whatever, doesn't matter now!"
She beamed at my words, whipping a grimoire from her bosom. A black magic circle unfurled at her feet.
It screamed battle prep.
Voice brimming with confidence, she yelled at me.
"My job was stalling max time anyway! Plan A flops? Pivot to B—that's all!"
"......"
The necromancer girl ready to throw down, buying escape time for her pals by force.
"Hmm, but hey."
At the sight of her, I just cocked my head.
"...How much time you figure you can actually buy?"
Gazing at the smug psycho's vacant face, all cockiness and no sense, I let a faint smile play on my lips.