The New Emperor
The New Emperor
A lump of flesh being crushed and mangled on the road.
No, along with Jeong Woobin's head, half of the bastards who had been running toward me came to a sudden halt.
Because running to save a living bastard was different from running to take revenge for a dead one.
Especially in a situation where one had to risk their life.
Unless it was a beloved lover, a friend like family, or actual family, there wouldn't be many people willing to risk their lives for revenge.
The bastards running forward might have been unable to suppress their impulsive emotions more than the ones who stopped, or perhaps it was already too late for them to halt.
Or maybe, just maybe, they were harboring the delusional dream that they could kill me if everyone joined forces.
"How dare you touch Woobin-hyung?!"
"Dare, my ass."
Dodging the guy's attack with a light twist of his body as he hurled himself at me with a hand axe, the moment the bastard's two feet—which had been suspended in the air—landed on the ground.
Grab!
"One down."
After grabbing the back of the bastard's head with my left hand, I slammed him down with all my might toward the rear end of the short spear sticking stiffly out of Jeong Woobin's forearm.
Stab-!
Leaving behind the lucky bastard whose eyeball had been pierced by the back end of the short spear so he kicked the bucket, I swung the iron mace in my right hand sideways like an uppercut. As the bastard's chin was knocked upward and he flew backward as if lying down, I ducked my body to the left diagonal to dodge a knife thrusting in from his side.
Swish-
Whoosh-!!
The sharp blade and tip of the knife grazed right over my right shoulder.
In the meantime, I swept the iron mace across the floor like a broom, taking out the two legs of the bastard who had attacked me. As his body tilted sideways and crashed down to the ground, I drove my left fist straight into his face.
Crack-!!
Thud!!
Pinning him down with my fist until his face was smashed flat against the pavement, I slowly stood up and furiously stomped all over the twitching bastard's head.
Until he was dead.
And staring piercingly at the bastards who had stopped midway through their attack on me.
"U-Uaaaaah!!!!"
"Run away!!!"
"It's a monster!!!"
"Who the hell are you calling a monster? I'm a human being, you assholes!!"
"Uaaaaaaah!!!!"
People running for their lives.
Now, these people would never dare pick a fight with me like this ever again.
I'd love to chase down and kill pretty much all of them, but...
"Kkack-!!!"
"Kkuaaah!!!"
"Kuk..! Kuk..! Kkuaaaah!!!"
Now the problem wasn't humans; it was zombies.
"No way..."
"Kkuaaah!!"
Crunch-! Squish! Crunch!!
Perhaps because they had lost their leader, the disorganized rabble could only run for their lives, each shouting to save themselves, before they began getting caught and eaten by the zombies.
Yet, even in this situation, there was someone still fighting.
None other than Minseo.
"You crazy bitch! We're all gonna die at this rate!!"
"Shut up! You tried to kill me first!!"
The guy wanted to end the fight, but Minseo wouldn't let him go and kept launching relentless attacks.
That's right, good job.
If it's a fight where your life is on the line, you have to push forward with that kind of viciousness.
And there was an obvious reason why those two showed such a stark difference in their stance.
In Minseo's case, she had a reliable ally like me by her side, whereas that bastard's reliable ally, Jeong Woobin, had just kicked the bucket.
Well, no matter how much I was around, the current situation wasn't one where we could leisurely drag out a fight.
Ordinary zombies were one thing, but when those bastards showed up, things got genuinely tricky.
Namely, the real zombies that lacked eyeballs, yet had red eyes flashing fiercely.
Normally, those bastards didn't show up in packs like this...
Or had the population grown large enough for these freaks to roam around in groups now?
Shit, what a headache.
"Keuk..! Keuk..! Keuk..!"
"Kkuaaaah-!!!!"
"Kkuaaah!!!"
When the three zombies with flashing red eyes let out a screech, the human-turned zombies and the real zombies abandoned the people they were tearing into and started sprinting straight toward the living ones among us.
Shit...
Quickly retrieving the short spear, I sprinted over to where Kwon Juha was shouting from a more dangerous position.
"Seoyoung, get a grip!! Jeong Seoyoung!!!"
"She's already dead."
"Let go of me! Let go, I said!!!"
"What the hell are you just staring for?! Take care of your sister, you otaku bastard!!"
"Ah, yes!! We gotta go, Juha! Hurry!!"
"Let go of me! Let go!!!"
Kwon Juha's companions had already breathed their last.
Even that ugly bitch I had planned on saving if I had the spare time.
The total number of people still breathing here right now was five: me, Minseo, Kwon Juha, Kwon Juhyeok, and that bastard still fighting Minseo.
Make that four now.
"Finish it."
"No way..."
"No way, my ass."
Clang!!
Bam!!
Swishing the short spear to beat the bastard's knife downward, I drove the iron mace into his abdomen, then looked down at Minseo, who was gasping for breath, and said,
"End it."
"M-Me..???"
Seeing that stupid expression on her face, it seemed she hadn't actually intended to kill this guy; she had probably just been trying to buy time until I came over to off him.
So she didn't want to commit murder, is that it?
Part of me did want Minseo to survive as an ordinary person without having to kill anyone, but...
"Then who else is going to do it?"
"Oppa..."
"Cut the bullshit and kill him. If you're going to let survivors live, you've got to kill the ones who deserve to die."
Not committing murder in a world like this?
That was far too massive a weakness.
That was precisely why she needed to experience taking a life given this opportunity.
Only then would she hesitate no more when it came to killing, no matter what happened in the future.
In this world, a moment of hesitation directly correlated to one's own life.
Besides, Minseo had said she wanted to save people, but to do that, she also needed to be capable of killing people.
Because this was a world where situations inevitably arose where one had to kill someone in order to protect someone else.
"Do it fast! We don't have time!!"
"..."
"Kkack!!"
"Kkuaaah!!"
"W-We gotta run, hurry up!!"
"Seoyoung-iii!!!"
Zombies swarming in even at this very hour, Minseo hesitating to commit murder, and Kwon Juhyeok urging everyone to run.
And Kwon Juha, draped over Kwon Juhyeok's shoulder, repeatedly crying out for the dead bitch.
Shit, what a total mess.
Well, I'll kill this asshole first, and killing people can wait for later...
Stab!!
"Keu.. Keuheok..!"
"Ah..."
Minseo's knife was driven at an angle into the neck of the bastard who had been bending forward.
Her two hands trembling violently and both eyes stained with bewilderment told me her mental state was far from normal, but...
"Good job."
"Oppa... I killed a person..."
"I've killed a lot more. I killed this otaku here too, and probably Kwon Juha as well? Or maybe not."
"Oppa..."
"You can stammer and stutter later, let's move for now. No, just take good care of your knife. I'll take care of getting us out of here."
Just as Kwon Juhyeok had slung Kwon Juha over his shoulder, I hoisted Minseo over my shoulder as well and started running.
"Hey, otaku."
"Yes!"
"Protect your sister with your life."
"I will protect her with my life."
"......Why are you listening to me so damn well all of a sudden?"
I handed the short spear I was holding in my left hand to the otaku.
He needed to be holding at least a weapon to safely protect my prey.
Anyway, this fat bastard... why is he moving so damn slow?!
"Kkuaaah!!"
"Damn it..!!"
"Just run, you asshole!"
Whoosh!!
Stopping in my tracks, I spun around and swung the iron mace the moment Kwon Juhyeok dashed past my side.
Aiming straight for the three zombies chasing us with their red eyes flashing.
Tatart-
Swoosh-
Swish-
"These bastards..!"
Every single one of them ducked or twisted their bodies to dodge my attack.
Are these freaks still continuing to get stronger too?!
Back then, agility levels of 7 or 8 were definitely enough to handle these guys.
Of course, I couldn't handle them simultaneously like this back then, but one on one was a breeze.
Yet they were dodging an attack that was vastly faster than before?
Granted, it was a hasty swing without properly establishing distance, but I still expected at least one of them to take the hit...
Come to think of it, the movements of the eyeless zombies had changed as well.
I just hadn't noticed the gap widening as I grew faster, but these bastards were accelerating too.
Zombies that kept growing stronger...
What kind of bullshit setting is this?!
"Kkack!!"
"Kkuaaah!!"
"Kkack!!"
"These little motherfuckers..!!"
Tatart-
Swoosh-
Stepping back in a backstep to dodge a lunging zombie, I pulled my right shoulder back and dodged the hand of the bastard rushing in right after.
And for the last one...
Crack-!!
I delivered a clean left-handed uppercut sweeping from bottom to top straight into its chin and tried to finish it off by swinging the iron mace, but there was no particular need for that.
Stab!!
Because Minseo's knife had already buried itself deep into the temple of the bastard whose chin had been knocked upward.
"Oppa! Put me down now!"
"Your recovery's fast."
"We gotta survive, don't we!"
However, Minseo wasn't the only one with fast recovery.
"Uaaaaah!!!"
Smack!!
Thwack!!!
At the shriek of the otaku bastard coming from behind me, I turned my head just as Kwon Juha, who had been slung over his shoulder, slid swiftly down, snatched the short spear from his hands, and cleanly pierced the head of a zombie lunging from the front.
"Oppa, handle the stragglers I dropped."
"No way! Oppa should take the lead..."
"Listen to me!"
"..."
"Sigh, what a burden of a bastard... Minseo, you join up with them too."
"Then what about oppa?!"
"Without you holding me back, these guys are nothing."
"...Okay! Don't get hurt!"
Minseo turned around and sprinted toward where Kwon Juha and Kwon Juhyeok were, while the remaining two zombies rushed at me simultaneously.
Of course, trailing right behind them were well over dozens of more zombies sprinting in, but I was confident I could kill these bastards within the few seconds it took for those others to arrive.
Strangely enough, my body...
"Why did I get so fast?"
"Kkack!!"
"Kkuaaah!!"
Even without raising my stats, I could physically feel that my movements had undeniably sped up.
Could it be...?
No, let's deal with these bastards first and check later.
Whoosh!!
Grab!! Swoosh!!
Swinging my left hand, I snatched the oncoming zombie's right wrist out of midair, pulled it straight toward my body while simultaneously spinning my body along its extended arm, and used that rotational force to swing the iron mace in my right hand.
Straight into the noggin of the zombie blocked by the friend I had pulled in to use as a human shield.
Thwack-!!!
Well, once I put Minseo down and could fight properly, they really weren't anything special.
Though it also meant I was growing stronger at a rapid pace myself.
"Kkack!!"
"Ah, you're not dead yet, are you?"
Twisting its head toward me to bare its filthy teeth while simultaneously thrusting out its left hand, the zombie came at me.
Swish!!
I quickly ducked my waist to dodge the incoming hand, hoisted the bastard's belly up with my shoulder, and flipped him right over.
Instantly catapulted into the air and shifted from my left to my right side, the bastard crashed straight to the ground with virtually no breakfall to speak of. I smashed my iron mace down onto its face, then swiftly threw my body backward and took a massive, sweeping swing with the mace once more.
"Kkack!!"
"Kkuaaah!!"
Thwaack-!!
In the meantime, the zombies that had rushed me were struck dead-center by the swinging iron mace and blasted backward. I spun around and started running in pursuit of the three people who had moved quite a distance away.
Wait, just how far were they planning on going?
Now that we'd killed the eyeless freaks, we could just hide in some random building and wait for the zombies to disperse.
Ah, as a side note, those eyelless bastards were pretty damn stubborn.
Unlike ordinary zombies that would pound on a door for about five to ten minutes before dispersing, those freaks would keep hammering away at any door they judged breakable until it literally shattered.
How did I know? Because while coming here, Minseo and I had crossed paths with the eyeless bastards a few times, and because I was physically exhausted, we had hidden twice.
One of those times, the door was a sturdy iron one, so they coolly gave up and turned around. But the other time, it was a wooden door, so they hammered on it nonstop without resting until they finally smashed the door down and got inside.
If there hadn't been a window to escape through back then, it would have been genuinely dangerous.
In any case, that meant we could wrap up the running away about right here.
"Kim Minseo! Stop running and get into a decent building!"
"O-Oppa! That's..!"
What? Did a problem come up?
Ah, wait—were they not running away from the zombies right now, but rather running away from me?
Though they were running along way too amicably with Minseo for that to make sense...
Well, I'd find out when I got there.
Tadatat-
Accelerating further to widen the distance from the chasing zombies, I arrived at the spot where Kwon Juha was forging ahead, slaying zombies ruthlessly. Without needing any separate explanation, I instantly grasped the situation.
"J-Juha..! At this rate, even you're in danger!! Find a place to take cover first and..."
"That's right! Juha-ssi, calm down first!"
"I don't care if I die. I'm going to get my revenge with my own hands."
"Kkack!!"
Stab!!
Revenge, she says.
They're all already dead, so what kind of revenge is she talking about?
"Hey, I killed Jeong Woobin and the rest of them are dead too. So what revenge are you talking about?"
"Those people were nothing more than puppets. The one who plotted all this must be that bastard!"
"What are you talking about?"
"That is... Jeong Woobin has an older brother. That bastard is the actual leader... The guy who targeted Juha was acting under that bastard's orders... Anyway, that bastard is the root cause of everything! Jeong Woobin was just a strong, obedient younger brother, that's all."
What the hell? There was a separate main boss all along?
An apartment building situated behind an elementary school.
In one of the households on the very top floor of that apartment, Jeong Woobin's older brother, Jeong Seongmin, was playing emperor while sitting naked on the living room sofa.
Suck- suck- suck-
A woman knelt on the floor, continuously sucking furiously on his fully engorged cock, while another woman, leaning her body against the sofa's backrest with both arms draped over it, fed him chocolate slightly melted in her mouth, passing it to the ruler's mouth.
Suck! Lick- lick-
"Mmm~ tastes great~ You go on and knead it tighter."
"Yes."
A total of three women, including the one standing behind the sofa massaging his shoulders.
As many as three naked women were catering to Jeong Seongmin.
"By the way, do you think it'll be alright?"
"About what?"
"That's the guy Woobin-ssi already lost to once."
"Don't worry about it. Sure, that asshole is a brute who only ever exercised his whole life, but he's good at following orders. Plus, we sent extra men with him too~ So there's nothing to worry about. That stupid bastard is gonna kill the asshole who dared kill my slave, and this time he'll drag that bitch Kwon Juha back here,hehehehe..!"
"Then does that mean we..."
"Ah! Don't worry. That bitch is just a slave. You guys just keep doing what you've been doing right here by my side~ Then I'll put in a good word with my stupid brother so you can live safely and eat well for the rest of your lives."
Even though he hadn't killed a single zombie with his own hands up to this point, Jeong Seongmin was reigning like an emperor in this world.
As long as his younger brother Jeong Woobin was by his side, whether it was zombies or whatever else, he had nothing to fear in the world.
Until now, anyway.
Bangs!!
Tadadadak!!
Along with the front door swinging open without even a knock, the sound of footsteps rushing into the living room caused Jeong Seongmin's face to crumple into a frown. Before he could even shout anything, the voice of the uninvited guest, Lee Yuchan, burst out.
"H-Hyung..!! We've got a huge problem right now!! Urgh..!"
"What kind of emergency is it that makes you barge in here like this?!"
More displeased by Lee Yuchan—who had come to report a danger with broken ribs—violently invading his home uninvited than by the news itself, Jeong Seongmin heard an unfamiliar voice ring out in his ears.
"What kind of fucking dog shit is this? Shit, what a living it up this bastard has."
"W-Who the hell are you?!"
"What's it to you, you asshole. Zip your trap if you don't wanna die. Ah, you're gonna croak anyway, so go ahead and flap your gums. Keep babbling."
"This bastard, knowing who the hell I am...!"
The new uninvited guest, Kang Hajin, didn't give a single damn about who Jeong Seongmin was.
He was solely interested in disposing of the previous prey he had let slip away.
After all, the new prey had already been agreed to be handed over to Kwon Juha.
"Hey, brat. You've got cracked ribs, so why are you running around so briskly? Why aren't you getting over here in a hurry?"
"You crazy bastard!! What did you do to Woobin-hyung?!"
"What do you mean, what? I killed him."
"D-Don't lie!! Woobin-hyung even had an Ability...!"
"Ah! Right, I got that Ability. Agile movements? This thing is insanely good, you know? Don't you have any Abilities yourself?"
"Uaaaaaaah!!! I won't forgive you!!"
"Forgiveness is something strong bastards do. You just need to croak."
Lee Yuchan lunged at Kang Hajin, brandishing the knife clutched in his hand.
However...
Whoosh!!
Crack-!!!
His head burst apart from the swinging iron mace, spraying blood, flesh, and shattered brains all over Jeong Seongmin's face as he sat on the sofa.
"Ah..."
Jeong Seongmin, too flabbergasted to even speak, and Kang Hajin standing before him, drenched in blood.
"Step aside, you asshole. My legs are aching to death."
"......Yes...‐"
And thus, a new emperor came to reign over Jeong Seongmin's kingdom.