Those Who Tend the Scrub (7)
Yang Min-cheol swung the shovel straight at the pursuing old man.
Thwack! The blade slammed into the old man's hip.
"Guhk?" The man staggered, letting out a groan as his mouth gaped open.
Yang Min-cheol didn't miss the opening. Clang! As he rose, he swung again, smashing the man's elbow.
The old man, struck squarely on the bone, screamed in agony. "W-Wait!"
"Wait, my ass!" Yang Min-cheol kicked him hard in the gut. The old man crashed to the ground.
"Grrgh."
But he wasn't the only one crying out in pain. Yang Min-cheol glanced down at his own hand. The skin was peeled back. It had happened when the old man stabbed downward with the shovel, freeing his bound hands. Gripping the handle with blood dripping from the wound was excruciating.
"Wait! Just wait a second...!" The old man reached out, pleading with Yang Min-cheol.
"There's been a misunderstanding. How about we talk it out?"
"Talk?" Yang Min-cheol scoffed in disbelief. "You wanna talk?"
He'd nearly been buried alive after being force-fed poison, and now his shoulder and hand were wrecked. Even if he escaped this pit, without treatment, he was in critical condition.
"Don't tell me you're about to offer to help if I let you live."
"No! That's not it!"
"Don't wanna hear it." Yang Min-cheol raised the sharp shovel high.
"Trash like you is better off buried here."
"Wai—"
The old man's words cut off as the shovel tip plunged into his abdomen.
"G-Gaaaahhh!"
Yang Min-cheol stared down coldly at the man screaming like a madman.
"You didn't think I'd let you go easy, did you?"
He had no intention of giving a merciful death to someone who'd tried to bury him alive. Schluck. He yanked the shovel free and raised it again. The old man flailed his arms desperately.
"Wait! Just wait a sec!"
"Shut up."
Along the way here, fighting monsters, Yang Min-cheol had learned not to hesitate. Once someone was confirmed an enemy, there was no need to wait.
"Take your punishment like a man."
He was about to bring the shovel down again when—
"Your friends!"
The old man shouted something unexpected.
"Aren't you curious where your friends are? Huh?"
Yang Min-cheol froze, glaring at him. Seizing the moment, the old man rushed on.
"Kill me, and you'll never find them! If you want to save them, you have to listen!"
"My friends?"
That reminded Yang Min-cheol why he'd come back deeper into the arboretum. He asked flatly,
"Where are they."
"Huh?"
"Where. Are they."
Go Cheon-su had to be found. In this dogshit world, he was a reliable ally. If he was still alive, they had to rescue him.
"E-Even if I told you, you wouldn't know. The paths here are complicated...!" The old man patted himself and said, "Take me with you! I'll guide you to them!"
"..."
"A-Are you listening? Take me with you!"
Yang Min-cheol replied in a cold voice. "Give me the location. Like you said, I wouldn't know it anyway."
"You wouldn't know, so why...?"
"Spit it out."
As Yang Min-cheol threatened with the shovel again, the old man yelled, "B-Broadleaf Exhibit Hall!"
"Broadleaf Exhibit Hall?"
"Yeah! Head there!"
"Which way from the main gate."
"Uh... northwest, but why?"
Yang Min-cheol's shovel stabbed into the old man's shoulder.
"Gaaahhh! Why?!"
"You shitting me?"
All that was northwest were the evergreen tree-lined paths.
"I memorized everything."
He'd glanced at the map once and committed it all to memory.
"W-What? There's an exhibit hall over there...!"
"Thought you'd get away with bullshitting me?"
Even if someone saw the map, in a panic, they'd never memorize every landmark. Naming a nonexistent hall would make anyone doubt themselves—it'd seem like a place they just hadn't noted.
But that only worked if you hadn't memorized the whole map.
Schluck! Yang Min-cheol yanked the shovel free and aimed it at the old man's throat.
"L-Look here."
The old man made a last desperate plea. "Is this how you treat your elders at your age? Show some respect...!"
"Sorry, but I'm not a kid."
Judging by his build, it was an easy mistake. Yang Min-cheol had dropped out and re-enrolled, so chronologically, he was nineteen.
"Old enough to do whatever the hell I want."
He was just wearing the uniform to blend back into student life. But the world had ended, and he'd run into scum like this old fart.
"Unfortunately, you've got nothing to teach me."
Swish. A tree root slithered in from the side. Yang Min-cheol swung the shovel, slicing it.
Splatter. Sap sprayed from the severed root as it writhed in agony.
"Urgh... uurrgh."
While Yang Min-cheol was distracted, the old man pushed off the ground and crawled away. He knew what happened to those left inside.
"..."
Yang Min-cheol turned away, then stomped hard and leaped, landing on the old man before jumping up again. Thud! He stabbed the shovel into the pit's edge and hauled himself out, looking down at the old man left alone below.
"Looks like the tables have turned."
"You little shit...!"
The old man staggered to his feet. "You think you can escape alone? My family won't let you get away!"
"Sure."
Yang Min-cheol scooped dirt with the shovel and dumped it on the old man's head.
"Kgh...! You bastard!"
"Feels shitty, huh?"
Yang Min-cheol paused his shoveling and said quietly, "If it sucks so bad, climb out."
"Raaarghhh!"
The enraged old man roared and tried to climb. Wham! Yang Min-cheol swung the shovel down on his head. Wham! Crunch! He didn't stop there, relentlessly bashing the hands reaching for the edge.
"Agh! Aaaagh!"
The old man glanced at the crawling tree roots, desperately stretching upward. "Uwaaaah! Please!"
Yang Min-cheol didn't respond. These were plants he babied enough to fertilize with people—surely he wouldn't complain about becoming feed himself.
Thud! "Aaaagh!" Thud! Thud! Thwack!
Even battered to hell, the old man didn't give up. But only for a moment.
Slither. A tree root finally wrapped around his leg.
"No! Nooo!"
He thrashed, but too many roots lunged. They seized him and dragged him down.
"Uwaaaak! Uwaaa! You fucker!"
To the end, he glared at Yang Min-cheol with rage, then turned to the roots in despair. "After all I've done raising you...!"
His words stopped as a root jammed into his mouth.
"Mmph! Mmmph!"
No more screams escaped. Watching the old man's body crumple under the roots, Yang Min-cheol turned away.
"Kuhurk!"
It was different from a zombie bursting. A healthy person going like that... He coughed up bile-like vomit, gripping the shovel to steady himself.
"Hyung...!"
Wherever he was, if he was in the same mess, they had to hurry.
"I'm coming now."
"Yang Min-cheol... where the hell are you!"
Go Cheon-su couldn't find him right away and was wandering lost.
"Damn it, if only I knew the way."
He'd found a map midway and glanced at it while moving, but the arboretum was huge—hard to get his bearings. The real issue was not knowing where Yang Min-cheol was in the first place. That's why he kept getting turned around.
"Go Cheon-su!"
Then Jang Seo-yeon pointed somewhere.
"Yeah?"
Go Cheon-su's eyes widened. Far off, he spotted someone passing by.
Such warnings didn't matter. Go Cheon-su bolted toward the figure. He had to close in before they noticed him.
'...That guy!'
As the distance shrank, Go Cheon-su saw it was a burly man heading for a pit. Beside it lay a naked, bound someone and a shovel.
"Yang Min-cheol?"
Identity unclear, but the situation was obvious enough.
"Hey, you fucking bastard!"
Go Cheon-su yelled at the man walking toward the pit. Startled, the man turned.
Crack! Go Cheon-su's fist smashed into his philtrum.
"Grahk!"
The man toppled backward, tumbling.
"You crazy fuck!"
Go Cheon-su checked the bound person. Not Yang Min-cheol.
The man charged at Go Cheon-su. He snatched the shovel and smashed the man's knee.
"Grahk!"
The man staggered, glared, and straightened up again.
"What the."
As Go Cheon-su muttered, the man spat blood from his mouth.
Exactly. Go Cheon-su rushed in and swung the shovel sideways. Crunch! The blade shattered—it couldn't withstand the man's bulk.
"Heh."
The man grinned creepily. But thinking he'd won was a mistake. Go Cheon-su stomped his ankle hard.
"Kgh?"
The powered kick made the man lurch.
"That philtrum hit."
Go Cheon-su pointed at him. "That was me going easy, asshole."
Smashing his jaw shut would mean no intel.
"Raaargh!"
As if rejecting the nonsense, the man lunged with a punch.
"Tch?"
Strong. It grazed, but Go Cheon-su could tell this guy was no scrawny pushover.
Whoosh! But Go Cheon-su had superior stats overall. He leaped high, spun, grabbed the man's shoulder, and flipped into a handstand.
"Uwa!"
The man swung wildly upward to grab him. Go Cheon-su dropped, seizing his fingers. Crack! Twisting the joints mid-fall, the man howled.
"Hurts, right?"
Go Cheon-su kneed his knee. "Grahk!"
"Just getting started."
No matter the muscle, joints were weak points. Go Cheon-su hammered kicks into the knee relentlessly. The man had no chance to recover as it buckled repeatedly.
"Gaaaah!" Crunch!
A final hard kick collapsed him.
"Yang Min-cheol?"
Jang Seo-yeon arrived, rushing to the bound figure by the pit. "Yang Min-cheol!"
But it wasn't. Just some dead stranger with glassy eyes.
"Go Cheon-su! It's not him!"
"I checked already."
The burly man before them didn't match the skinny guy's description of the old man either—looked more like a dad age-wise.
"Heh."
The man glared murderously. Go Cheon-su met his gaze without flinching.
"Roooaaar!"
"Ah, shit."
That's when Go Cheon-su noticed. The man had no tongue. No wonder he couldn't talk.
"Where'd you lose your tongue...?"
Then the man rose and charged, knees creaking like they could break for all he cared.
"Tch?"
He grabbed Go Cheon-su and barreled forward.
"Raaaahhh!"
With the man's roar, Go Cheon-su tumbled into the pit with him.