Resurrection
The water-filled bathtub. The unknown machine devices. There it was again.
Did it hurt? I didn't know because I was dead, but the feeling was disgusting. If they had shot me right in the face like that, it would have been completely obliterated...
"You've finally had your head blown apart."
The oval pillar guy came closer again. He looked more like a long stretched-out pill than a pillar.
"Am I really dead now? Is this the end?"
An exclamation mark popped up on the guy's face. It wasn't a metaphor. There was actually an exclamation mark on his screen.
"Dead? You have Super Regeneration, don't you?"
"What? I shot you in the head with a shotgun. Your head should have been completely shattered, right? Brains are the rule for zombies too."
"Comparing me to mere zombies? Brains regenerate plenty well. It takes longer because it's the most complex area, but roughly... it should be back to normal after about three days."
"Brain regeneration too? Does that make me immortal? Totally invincible..."
"Not invincible. If someone traps you somewhere you can't escape, you'll just die of thirst, won't you?"
"I see... That's actually simple. But why am I here again? Did I come back from the dead?"
"No. You came with your own will. The will to cross the wall of the world. Not anyone can do it."
Was I really that weak-willed? Always lazy... so studying was just so-so and I never got a proper job...
"Well, that makes me feel good. Actually, I'm close to being weak-willed."
"Heh. You've got humility too. Time to go back. Staying here any longer is a rule violation."
"Wait, wait. Since I came this far, can't you give me more power? I'm way too weak to be a gun expert right now. Telekinesis or something... can't you make me stronger?"
The guy stayed quiet for a moment. Then he started speaking again in a serious voice.
"Being able to move freely in this world means you can reach omnipotence depending on your will. There were a few such saints before."
"Omnipotence? All I did was get better at regeneration and physical strength. Even if I can dodge bullets a little..."
"Super Sensory? Right before death, people see a long bridge in slowed-down time. Or in sports, the critical moments when the outcome is decided, the life-and-death moments on the battlefield. Those are all cases where Super Sensory kicks in. Using that, you should be able to dodge bullets to some extent."
"What? How do I get that?"
"Just will yourself to have Super Sensory."
"What, shit?"
The instant I thought that, I was pushed backward and tumbled into the bathtub, submerged in water. The bastard interrupted me again and shoved me away.
"Puaa!"
*Swoosh!*
The sound of rain.
What the hell is in my mouth? Full of dirt.
"Tch tch!"
My body was half-covered in mud, and I only managed to raise my upper body.
Looking around, I was back at the Geumseon Apartments complex I had been at last. And this spot was exactly where I had fallen. When I looked up, I saw a makeshift grave someone had roughly covered with dirt.
Someone buried me. Who did it? One of the women? Or the men?
It had been raining a lot.
Hands, shoulders, head... all perfectly regenerated. The body was intact too. But it was terribly thin. It looked like I had been starving for more than three days.
The air gun and pistol I had been holding were nowhere to be seen, but luckily the jungle knife and knife were still there at my waist.
The guy said it took three days for the brain to regenerate. Had three days already passed?
Standing up, I gathered rainwater in my hands and drank. The thirst was gone.
I headed toward the place where I had stayed.
No one was in the house I used to live in, and all the food and supplies had been completely looted.
The house right in front of mine was where my subordinates used to live. I opened the door and went in.
On a small room chair, the key-spinning guy was sitting tied up.
He wasn't moving like he was dead.
All his fingers had been cut off, and his toes were crushed.
The skin on his face had been sliced in various places. The inner muscle layer was exposed like he had been flayed.
It was a complete torture scene.
A faint smell and signs of decay coming from his skin. Maybe he had been caught and tortured right after I died...
In the biggest bedroom, a woman lay naked, tied up.
Approaching, it was Inpo. Her already thin body looked even more emaciated.
It had been a horrible death. Tied spread-eagle and naked, it looked like she had been raped and then killed.
Two forks had been driven into both eyes. Her face was swollen from severe beating.
Thick wooden rods had been thrust into her genitals and anus, and a lot of blood had flowed. The rods were too big to enter normally.
The nipples had been torn off and blood had dripped. There were also knife cuts all over her body.
Was there any reason to kill her this brutally? Revenge for me? I had shot several of them before dying, so maybe some of them died too.
What a joke. They talked about justice and punishing the wicked, but they ended up doing this.
There was no big justice, but still, they were my people, so my chest burned.
Was it pain or anger...?
Anyway, I had lost, my people had died, and I was insanely angry.
How about the others? Captured? Escaped?
Looking at these two corpses like this, it seemed more likely they were captured. The only women who were beautiful enough to be seen were all taken, no doubt to be used somehow.
Even me. Beautiful women like that weren't worth killing outright.
First, I needed to replenish my stamina.
Because of regeneration, my body was extremely thin and weak.
I carried the two corpses to the spot where I had buried myself and buried them. I had buried her for me, so it was only fair for me to bury her.
The key-spinning guy's corpse was horrible, but the Inpo guy's corpse with the forks and rods pulled out was even more gruesome.
We buried them and stepped out.
If I looked back at the villa alley, there would be living survivors.
Concentrating my hearing, I walked. Before long, I heard voices.
Four men were talking.
I arrived in front of the villa where the sound was coming from. I quietly climbed up to the fourth floor where the sound was coming from.
From inside the door, a dumb sound came out.
Middle-aged voices. Talk of the world ending, old stories, stories about women, and stories of dead family members.
The sound was quite small, something normal people would never hear.
The door was obviously locked when I tried to move it.
All I had was the jungle knife and the knife. No tool to open the door.
*Knock, knock, knock*
I just knocked on the door. Loud enough for it to be clear.
The guys' voices stopped.
After a moment of silence, small footsteps came.
Suddenly the door opened wide. A person opened the door and stepped back quickly.
Another man holding a crossbow was aiming at the entrance from far away.
I jumped forward holding the jungle knife.
Instantly the crossbow was fired.
The crossbow fired, and I saw the bolt slicing through the air.
Time slowed.
I ran forward slowly, and the bolt came flying slowly toward me.
Was this Super Sensory? Did it activate in critical moments like in combat?
I twisted my body and barely dodged the flying bolt. My movements were also slow, so it didn't seem like my speed had increased much. But because time slowed, I could make efficient moves.
The bolt passed right beside my eye. The guys had shocked expressions.
I swung the jungle knife toward the guy who had opened the door closest to me.
I sliced his throat exactly, and time returned to normal.
"Gurgle... gulp..."
"Crazy bastards!"
Their screams erupted, and this time I focused on the guy who had shot the crossbow.
Time slowed again.
I reached in front of him in one step, two steps. He slowly raised the iron pipe to block the jungle knife.
I just casually brushed the iron pipe aside and stabbed his belly.
Time returned to normal.
Looking to the side, the guy holding the window was aiming at me with a terrified face.
I pulled the jungle knife out from his belly and focused.
At the same time time slowed, I dodged his window blade easily and slashed his throat.
Only one guy left.
The guy chose to open the window instead of fighting me and jumped out.
This is the fourth floor?
Still, he jumped, and I heard a crack.
Looking out the window, he was grabbing his legs and screaming. His shin bone had broken and was sticking out of his skin.
He couldn't die or escape. Then I had to make it easy for him.
I loaded the rubber-band crossbow they had and fired at the fallen guy.
Two shots hit, and his movements slowly slowed.
[Soul 4 absorbed]
[Super Regeneration: 217]
There was no one left.
My eyes were stinging, and my body felt rapidly exhausted. Was it a aftereffect of Super Sensory?
But because of regeneration, the body's fatigue would disappear quickly anyway.
I searched the kitchen and found quite a bit of food. Enough for two weeks if I ate it all alone.
I was too hungry.
Without burying the corpses, I sat right there, opened a can, and ate.
Before long, I had eaten all the food. I ate and lay down.
Because digestion was fast, my huge belly slowly shrank.
Their weapons were pathetic. They had a rubber-band crossbow, but if the range was far enough, it was better for me to just run over and chop them with the jungle knife.
Well, there was still the crowbar. With this, I could even pry open the locked entrance door. With my current strength, I could open the door at high speed.
The weird thing was that from one guy's bag came out many women's panties.
On the panties were attached women's ID cards. Looking at the birth dates, most of them were young women's IDs.
Was this like a trophy for murder or rape? Or maybe both?
Lying down, I rested for a moment, and my parched flesh gradually rose back up. Incredible digestion speed and regeneration speed.
Soon I would step out again. My body condition wasn't fully back yet.
I needed to eat more.
With concentrated hearing, I walked the streets.
Hearing had definitely risen a lot. Was this also part of Super Sensory?
Small bird sounds. Wind sounds. Even insect sounds.
But people's voices were hard to hear, so it was clear the number of people had decreased.
Or maybe they had formed a group in a large place outside regular residential areas. It would be more advantageous for survival, so probably that.
"Haa..."
I heard a small sound. A sigh that sounded like a woman's tone.
Just from that sound, I could roughly figure out the location.
I approached the place where the sound seemed to come from, and the women's voices became a bit clearer.
HP: [x] / [max]