Chapter 77
Translator: True Detective
Chapter 77 - How to Escape From Being a Troublemaker (7)
“So? Are you going to stay here?”
“Mmhm. Because data collection is necessary.”
“What about Nahyun?”
With those words, she finally made eye contact with me. Then she spoke softly to me.
“Nahyun, Mom will protect people through research.”
Protecting people? While smiling brightly, saying you were glad the gate opened?
“And Mom wants to leave her name in history.”
My head was pounding.
“So I think I need to stay away from Nahyun for a while.”
At those words, I nodded obediently.
After my reincarnation, I thought of her as Mom without much thought.
She was just a single mom with a bit of interest in research. She’s so focused on work that she sometimes neglects childcare, but she’s still a loving mother.
“Then you will come to the middle zone as an individual?”
“Yeah. If I go as a researcher, it’s obvious that you’re an important person and they won’t let me move from the middle zone, right? To come and go as an individual. I think we’ll hire hunters at our own expense.”
“I see… Let’s go, kid.”
Hanging my head from Choi Garam, I saw her starting to have a conversation with someone again.
As if she was just… possessed by something.
That day, for the first time, I realized that ‘Mom’ had something more precious than me.
“Mhm.”
Of course, I wasn’t really a newborn baby, so that didn’t bother me.
It’s just, just… I just wanted to know a new truth. Really.
“Isn’t your mom really crazy about research? That’s why she’s the way she is.”
Choi Garam patted my head.
I just fell asleep clinging to Choi Garam.
Perhaps because I had suddenly encountered a dangerous situation, I became drowsy due to fatigue.
I just felt like everything would be better when I woke up.
***
— Confirmed the appearance of ‘doppelgangers’, monsters that transform into humans. Be careful.
— Block entry to the barricade for all vehicles except those with authorized qualifications.
— Vehicles traveling under authorized qualifications will also be allowed in under strict inspection.
“Well, it looks like such an order has been given. It passed just in the nick of time.”
“I see~ I have to tell Ahyeon.”
For a few days, I was staying at the shelter where Choi Garam was staying.
She seemed to have decided to work in the middle zone as a hunter for a while, and she took up a position near the barricade.
I have now become accustomed to receiving stares from people around me whenever I come and go to this place, which was significantly better than a typical shelter. It’s been a long time since I got used to seeing the procession of refugees beyond the window.
“Can’t Mom come here?”
In response to my question, Choi Garam scratched her head and said as if it was no big deal.
“No, it’ll be okay. There will be no problem with doppelgangers if they are suppressed early.”
“If we fail to suppress it early, something terrible will happen.”
“There’s no way you could fail at that unless you’re an idiot!”
“That’s right!”
Choi Garam and her friend were chatting and watching the news leisurely, laughing.
“But what about the prices of houses here?”
“It has become a danger zone, you know, are housing prices the problem?”
So I was relieved too. I guess it’s no big deal.
It was only a few days later that I realized that wasn’t the case.
“Block!”
“Shoot!”
The world was noisy.
The noise could be heard even in the lodgings located close to the border line and barricades.
Zzzzp, zzzzp.
A strange sound was heard from the spare radio that Choi Garam had left behind.
— Zzzzp… Repeat. Confirm the spread of doppelgangers.
I held my breath quietly.
— Block all movements attempting to cross the barricade.
To think that it says ‘block’. Mom hasn’t made it to the middle zone on the other side yet, though.
— If they try to force their way over the barricade, they will be killed unconditionally.
Didn’t they say she would definitely come today?
I carefully got off the bed and put on my outerwear. I needed to check outside.
— Zzzp… Request for manpower…
I carefully left the house, holding the radio in one hand.
As soon as I went outside, the loud noise became clearer.
Bang—! Bang—! Bang—!
“Kill! It’s a doppelganger!”
“No! I!”
“Save me! “It’s a monster!”
An ominous feeling went up my spine.
Mom, what happened to Mom?
I walked slowly and touched the corner of the wall. And when my eyes finally turned to the barricade, I saw the loon.
Beyond the barbed wire, people and monsters were mixed together.
The monsters were laughing as they tore and trampled on people, and people rushed towards the barbed wire to escape from the monsters.
People in front of the barbed wire were pushed, fell, stepped on, and died after being stepped on again.
Blood was splattered and red flesh was visible.
“Nahyun!”
Through it all, I could see Mom reaching out her hand in this direction from beyond the barricade.
Behind her was a person, or rather something that looked like a person but had monstrous arms around her, reaching out with her claws towards her.
Bang—!
A gunshot rang out. The monster fell.
I saw Mom coming towards me.
“Mom…!”
I let go of the corner of the wall and walked towards the barricade.
At that time, one more gunshot rang out.
I saw Mom collapse.
Mom was…
…Huh? Weird?
Why was she bleeding from her head?
Mom didn’t move.
I was dazed because the sight didn’t feel real.
Someone’s body was piled on top of Mom lying face down. People screamed.
“Save me!”
“Die!”
People die from monsters, guns, and people. The sight made me gag.
“Bleeergh!”
I vomited a lot.
A monster suddenly popped out among seemingly normal people. I guessed that it was a doppelganger.
“We don’t know if it could be a doppelganger! Kill them all!”
“Push! If this continues, we’ll all die!”
And I guessed that the doppelganger was wearing a human mask.
I wanted to take my eyes off the scene before me. Yet it couldn’t be done.
No one paid any attention to me, everyone was busy with their own work.
For the soldiers to protect, for the people beyond to survive.
“Die!”
“Shoot!”
“Push!”
“Save me!”
A group of monsters could be seen behind the people. Then people tried even harder to get over the barricade. It was a fierce battle.
And only when the bodies piled up and the blood flowed and formed a small stream did it all come to an end.
“Bleeergh.”
I was holding onto my stomach as I had nothing more to spit out.
Meanwhile, the night had passed and the sun was rising. Some people were moving to clean up after themselves.
“Kid, what are you doing here?”
And then I heard Choi Garam’s voice. Only then did I burst into tears.
“Mom, Mom…”
“Ahyeon why?”
“Mom died…”
“…What?”
Choi Garam asked again with a trembling voice, as if she didn’t know that fact, yet my answer was the same.
She ran to the barricade. Then she shouted.
“Kang Ahyeon! Where is Kang Ahyeon?!”
There was no way the dead person would answer.
***
It was said that the doppelganger incident caused terrible damage due to the poor conduct of the commander who was leading the operation.
However, that was none of my business.
What was just in front of us, or rather what I saw in front of me, was that all the people on the other side of the barbed wire were dead.
The soldiers would drink and scream and rationalize that they might all have been monsters, yet there were many who couldn’t think of it that way and went crazy.
People who were waiting for their families on the other side of the barbed wire would move through the piles of corpses, hoping that the bodies on the other side weren’t their family members, yet also hoping to find a body.
After Mom’s death, Choi Garam seemed to have lost her mind for a while, but then she started to run around busy finishing Mom’s research and business.
And I…
—was left in a reasonably safe survivor shelter.
“Nahyun lives in the big building over there, right? I envy you!”
Although it was different from the general public, it was a place where strong people could stay.
Choi Garam seemed to think that since I was mature, it would be fine to leave me alone for a while in a safe place.
It may not be a desirable choice, but it was her friend’s child and the carrier she and her friend have built for their entire lives. This would be the maximum compromise in a situation where nothing can be easily discarded or chosen.
I just take the weight off her.
“Mmhm. That’s right. I live there.”
“Your Mom and Dad must be cool!”
“Both my parents are dead.”
“Ah, sorry…”
Still, there will come a time when I’m in danger. I took care of the children in the shelter while fiddling with the signal that Choi Garam had given me.
“It’s fine.”
I’m not even a child. I’ll be fine if I take care of myself.
However, it soon became clear that this was an extremely easy idea.
I underestimated the situation around me where public security had become extremely lax. In this situation, a young child wandering around alone was good prey.
“…What should I do?”
Forget that fact and this is the result.
I pressed the signal in my pocket. Scary-looking men surrounded me.
“Oh, it’s fine though?”
“Do you think it will sell?”
And the thick men’s hands restrained me.
I struggled, yet I couldn’t fight them. I felt something hit the back of my head hard and darkness soon descended.
***
When I opened my eyes again, I was in a shaking car with my hands and feet tied.
The inside of the car was dark and quiet. The conversation from the driver’s seat could be heard vividly.
“And what about that signal?”
“Ah, that? They said she was contacting nearby soldiers. So I just gave some money to those who came. I told them to keep their mouths shut, so they won’t know where we went.”
She said it would contact her, though.
Liar.
Actually, it would be more efficient to contact soldiers nearby rather than Choi Garam, who is busy and far away. The reason she said she would be contacted was probably to ease my anxiety.
If I contact the soldiers, she will also be contacted later, so it wouldn’t be a complete lie.
Still,
[If you press that, I’ll appear right away, so don’t worry!]
Still…
…What kind of stupid thing is this? I’m not even a child. Before lamenting, it would be reasonable to think of a way to escape.
“Excuse me…”
As I was wondering what to do, I heard a soft voice calling me from nearby.