Expansion
"Here it is. Found him."
"...This one?"
The man spotted the corpse sprawled across the ground and pointed. Dogyeong approached and looked down.
Neck torn clean off in one go. That's serious strength. Must've been a pretty lively zombie.
Looking at the scene, he could roughly piece it together. The guy had probably gotten cocky, figuring hunting down a single zombie was nothing, wandered around in the dark completely off-guard, taken a solid bite, and gone down with the thing.
Dogyeong crushed the zombie head underfoot—its spinal cord severed at the nape, mouth still clacking as it glared up at him—then said casually,
"What a complete idiot. Getting ambushed by a mindless zombie and taking each other out—he should've died a long time ago."
"...Something's off."
"Hmm?"
The man beside Dogyeong, still carefully examining the corpse, said this, then crushed the head to keep another zombie from rising before he continued.
"These aren't bite marks. I've sent enough friends to the zombies to know—no matter how strong they are, there should at least be some tooth marks. But this neck..."
He grinned with interest, fiddling with the baseball bat in his hands.
"Looks like it was torn off by hand, doesn't it? No scrawny zombie could pull this off."
"...You sure?"
"Yeah. It feels so off it's giving me the creeps. The back of my neck is itching like hell right now."
Destroying a human's neck muscles like that wasn't something another person could do—you'd need something on the level of a gorilla.
The man—Park Jinseong—licked his dry lips as alarm bells rang through his instincts.
"There's something nearby. Not some ordinary zombie—at minimum, a beast-level inhuman."
"...I'd love to write this off as detailed delusions from the dark, but well."
No harm in being careful. Shin Dogyeong pulled a folding knife from his coat, spun it once, and began slowly scanning the surroundings.
...This is thrilling.
Park Jinseong thought back to the night before he'd been half-forcibly scouted into this factory—to the vicious jaguar zombie he'd faced through a window.
If I hadn't joined up and kept going solo, I'd have been dead within days for sure. Even I couldn't handle a beast alone.
With their nerves wound tight, they gradually moved toward the factory's main gate—and eventually, a silhouette appeared beyond the iron fence.
...But for a gorilla, it was awfully small.
Park Jinseong couldn't help but feel puzzled.
What the hell. Damn it. How did they figure it out?
Luring one of them out by dragging a zombie into the yard and making it scream had gone fine. But the bastard had been too primitive for conversation, so I'd ended up killing him.
He'd started swinging a weapon and cursing before I could even get a word in. What choice did I have? Had to call someone else over.
So I'd just strangled him, then carefully torn the back of his neck with grip strength to disguise it—figuring if I made it look right, they wouldn't get all cautious and we could have a nice, casual conversation like the lunatics they were.
It had seemed to be going pretty convincingly this time—except the two bastards who showed up were way too sharp.
No, the disguise was solid. How the hell did they catch on? What a pain.
Eventually, after scratching my head, I revealed myself before the two of them could head inside the factory and drag everyone out. Both palms raised, as if to say: I'm a harmless human being.
"What are you?"
In the darkness where you could barely see an inch ahead, the guy with glasses spoke.
My vision had improved with my physical enhancements, so I could make things out roughly—but those two wouldn't be able to.
So I took a few more steps forward, intending a proper conversation—only for a baseball bat and a small folding knife to be leveled at me simultaneously.
"Come any closer and you die."
That icy follow-up made me stop. I shrugged, pondering how to greet them, when the one with the baseball cap pulled low—matching his weapon—spoke up.
"You do that?"
"...?"
"That neck torn off like an animal. You do that? Don't even think about playing dumb."
Someone who could tell that in this kind of darkness. No wonder I'd gotten caught.
I'd hoped we could just chat casually like the lunatics they were, but seeing the neck wound had put them on edge. Maybe I should've controlled my strength better.
"Well, it wasn't intentional. I tried to talk to him, and he just started cursing and swinging a kitchen knife, so I... kind of lost control."
The guy with glasses carefully observed my nonchalant demeanor, then said quietly,
"So that's why you came in the middle of the night? To talk? And then you killed one of our people and call it self-defense?"
Does he even know where he is? Arrogant bastard.
Killing intent filled the eyes behind the silver-rimmed glasses reflecting moonlight.
Everyone felt the shift in atmosphere. As the guy with glasses settled into a stance, I frowned and casually asked,
"Before you start swinging that, let me ask one thing. What's your position in this factory?"
"A position that doesn't talk to the likes of you."
Then—whoosh—he closed the distance in an instant, and I somewhat understood his confidence.
If he's an executive, I should at least leave him alive.
He clearly wasn't in a talking mood right now. I'd have to make him want to talk.
I snatched the blade flying toward my side and held it fast—and watched the cold eyes behind the glasses fly wide with shock.
...He caught it?
In that moment, Dogyeong couldn't believe his own eyes.
He hadn't barely dodged it, or casually deflected it. In the dead of night, he'd caught the folding knife Dogyeong had thrust—outright. Meaning he'd read the speed.
Even if it had been a probing strike, the feeling he got was the same as when he'd trained under the old man. How could a guy like this...
Most trash couldn't even see it coming. And yet.
The unpleasant anger from this midnight uninvited guest vanished cleanly, his mind going cold as if doused with ice water.
"Yeah. That's actually what I want. To have a conversation. With that boss of yours."
"The nuisances lately have been getting out of hand. You think I'd come out here myself at this hour otherwise?"
Dogyeong turned his head toward Jinseong. He too looked considerably shocked, eyes wide as he stared at the caught folding knife.
"A guy who wants to talk kills one of our people without a sound?"
"Ah, that couldn't be helped. Do you know how much crap I've taken from you people? I was holding it in, trying to approach this rationally, and he swings a kitchen knife—what, I'm supposed to not kill him?"
As he spoke, the blade gripped in the man's hand gradually dug into his palm.
After a moment of silent deliberation, Dogyeong thought to himself,
...Coming alone at this hour, for one thing—this is no ordinary guy. At minimum, he'd have a gang of his own...
At that point, Dogyeong raised his head and met Sijun's eyes.
"You want to speak with the old man?"
"Your boss is an old geezer? Impressive. Managing cannibals like these, how do you—"
Shhk-shhk-shhk—
The blade danced for an instant, shredding the hand, then slipped free naturally.
"....."
"Watch your mouth. Get cocky relying on that meager skill of yours and you'll die without a sound."
Even if his dynamic vision is natural talent, he clearly hasn't learned any real techniques.
"I'll allow you to meet the old man. But that hand is the price for your actions and your words."
Dogyeong made that judgment while gauging Sijun's ability—when the man suddenly smirked.
And then.
Hisssss...
"...What?"
At the alien sound, Dogyeong checked his folding knife—and his mind went blank.
Blood frozen solid—crimson crystals he'd never seen in his life bloomed across the blade, scattering cold air.
At the same time, the man spoke.
"Is having zero manners just a shared trait of you cannibals? The others are enthusiastically rude, and you're dramatically rude?"
"Even when I'm trying to have a rational conversation, person to person. If you keep treating me like I'm not human..."
Then, as if run through a blender, the shredded palm began regenerating on its own.
"I won't see you as human either."
Before Dogyeong's mind—unable to tell if what he was seeing was reality or a dream—could even catch up, Sijun's hand shot for his throat.
Thud—
"Ghk?!"
He flinched and instinctively counterattacked, driving the folding knife into the back of the hand—but Sijun, unfazed, simply clamped down on his throat with it still embedded.
Then he pulled the knife free himself, tossed it onto the asphalt, and lifted Dogyeong into the air as he spoke.
"If you don't want your neck snapped, lead the way. Before I just walk in and turn every last one of you into ground meat."
If I didn't have something to discuss, I'd have done that already. Consider yourself lucky my situation is a bit complicated right now.
Damn those Alpha bastards, anyway.
At those completely incomprehensible words, Dogyeong wheezed with his throat constricted—and when he was released a few seconds later, he staggered and barely managed to reply.
"...Once you've seen the old man, you die by my hand."
These really aren't your ordinary lunatics.
Sijun couldn't help but smirk once more.
Still, this was far more entertaining than someone completely cowed and groveling.
If he came at me again, all the better. Perfect for killing time.