Chapter 29
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 29
Chapter Title: Mafia Game
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The survivor group headed toward the landmark of the mutant village: the colossal puffball flower.
Normally, it would be the humane thing to stop them in their tracks.
No matter how much survival had become a cheap joke in this era, from a humanitarian standpoint, you had to say what needed saying.
'But fuck, is this a normal situation?'
Unless your eyes were fucked, there was no way you could miss that monstrosity on the rooftop of the hot spring building visible from the city outskirts.
It had to be goddamn enormous.
Special trait of the ultra-giant puffball flower.
It looked grotesque at a glance, and getting close seemed like a sure way to fuck yourself over.
Yet they were heading right for it?
'Two possibilities. Either it's a group suicide club, or there's a way to survive even there.'
Obviously, the odds of the former were next to zero.
Just surviving this shitheap of a world proved they had more than enough will to live.
If they were the type to get depressed over the apocalypse and off themselves, they'd have died ages ago.
So there had to be a way to survive even up close...
But no matter how you sliced it, it didn't look like any normal method.
"Hurry up, move it!"
As I watched their suspicious movements closely,
I saw what looked like assaulters—resembling Garak Market laborers—hauling something under the orders of a man who seemed to be their leader.
They were hefty burlap sacks, each big enough to fit a person, bulging full from the inside.
What the hell?
Food supplies?
Were there places that could still stockpile that much food these days?
Maybe they had some hideout with large-scale plantation farming—
Just as that thought crossed my mind,
Squirm!
'...Huh?'
Suddenly, one of the rice sacks they were carrying started wriggling from within.
"Agh, fuck. Stay still, will ya?"
Thud, thud-thud, thud—!
Brutal violence followed immediately.
A survivor carrying the sack swung his fist, and it twitched! before going limp.
Blood leaked out as a bonus.
'...Ha.'
Okay, let's think this through.
A sketchy survivor group carrying man-sized rice sacks toward a mutant-infested area.
What could be inside at a time like this?
If you burned your hope circuits, you might assume they were poachers and the sacks held illegally hunted beasts... Yeah, right.
That'd burn down your whole thatched house of hope.
I heard it.
The low groan of a human leaking out the moment the violence stopped.
"Hey, hey, ease up. Don't you know we gotta bring 'em alive?"
"Sorry, boss. This one's feisty..."
"Yeah, yeah, beat 'em to the brink of death all you want—just don't actually kill 'em. No profit in that, oil ain't cheap."
"Got it, boss."
They hoisted the limp sacks and trudged deeper into the city.
After walking along the main road for a while—
"Man, this thing looks like total shit every time."
"Heh heh, could be a dick too."
"Shut your dick-speak, fucker."
What the hell was that.
Beneath the puffball flower landmark rose a massive pillar of flesh protruding from the snow-covered ground.
It looked like something you'd never want to get near...
But the survivors just grimaced a bit, approaching it like it was routine.
Then they opened the sacks they'd brought.
"Mmph! Mmph-mmph-mmph!!"
"Mmph-mmph-mmph!!"
"Mmmph—!!"
As expected, out came people bound head to toe, mouths taped shut.
One of them, beaten to a bloody pulp—proof the trip here wasn't smooth—drew the approach of the group's apparent leader.
Riiiip—
He roughly tore off the tape from the 50-something man's mouth, and blocked blood gushed out.
But the man ignored it, desperately clinging to him.
"P-Pleash... shpare me!!"
"Kekeke, what're you mumbling, retard."
The leader squatted mockingly in front of the middle-aged man.
"Listen up, you retard. You made it this far—still don't get it? You think I wasted precious fuel dragging your asses here to save you?"
"Th-Then...?"
"I just like watching reactions from trash like you before you croak. What're you waiting for? Feed 'em."
"N-No!! Pleash no!!"
And that was it.
Big goons from the back dragged the wailing man to the meat pillar and hurled him in.
"One going in~"
"Yeah, chow down."
Spluuurt.
The meat pillar split vertically like a maw and swallowed the man whole.
Chomp chomp.
The flesh pulsed and writhed, its innard-like tendrils linking to the rooftop's fleshy flower.
"Alright, let's hustle now."
They methodically tossed sack after sack into the pillar like pros.
It didn't take long for the people inside to vanish into the flesh.
The group that fed people to the monster dusted off and headed to a nearby building like it was nothing.
A few gunshots rang out soon after, then silence.
Moments later, cooking smoke rose from the building, accompanied by rowdy, drunken voices.
Hearing that felt like pure shit.
'...Fuck.'
Those people getting eaten one by one had been alive right up to the end.
Some thrashed for life, others begged for mercy.
All met the same fair cannibal ending.
Some toyed with them like a game, but everyone ended up monster chow.
Was this how Paris flies felt watching kin get tossed alive into hell?
No words came easy.
'Could I... have saved them?'
All sorts of thoughts swirled.
If they'd been corpses, maybe—but watching live humans become monster feed brought an indescribable disgust.
I debated intervening several times,
And each time I suppressed it, self-loathing and disgust deepened.
Of course, I knew.
Even if I jumped in, I couldn't save them.
They had guns; barging in with some martial arts would've just added my corpse to the menu.
But knowing that didn't quell the tangled emotions.
'Pathetic.'
Soft-ass thinking for an apocalypse.
If I really wanted to save them, I'd have jumped in already.
If not, forget it clean.
Straddling both, nursing regrets—what good was that?
Pointless hypocrisy?
Or lame self-consolation?
Either way, pathetic.
That's when it happened.
Disciple... you okay?
Lost in foul thoughts, a DM from Master arrived.
I stared at it a moment, then typed.
Yeah? What's up?
The people. You're beating yourself up for not saving them...
How'd she know.
I blanked out, my "I'm fine—" response delayed.
You were gonna say you're fine!
Gasp!
Lying to your master gets you punished! ?(?ω?`)o
A chuckle escaped me.
Forgot for a sec.
With her cute emotes and ditzy acts,
But Master was a warrior who'd lived millennia.
Reading a greenhorn like me was child's play.
So I was honest.
Lol... yeah, feeling kinda shitty tbh.
Because you had to watch without saving them?
Yeah... if Master or the others from the gallery were here... things would've gone differently.
What if it wasn't me here.
If it was Master or the gallery folks?
Obviously, the ending would've been totally different.
Instead of feeding people to the monster,
Those fuckers would've been the meal,
And the monsters would've starved to death.
But,
No, that's not true.
Master said my thinking was wrong.
No matter who was there—even me in your shoes—the ending would've been the same.
...Pardon?
Disciple. Everyone thinks 'what ifs.' What if it wasn't me, what if someone else, what if I were stronger. But those are meaningless—they won't happen. What matters is whether you did your best in that moment.
I...
You did your best. Don't believe me? Look at your hands. Then your eyes in the nearest window.
I looked down at my hands.
Nail marks dug deep from clenching so hard.
I checked the nearby window.
Lips bitten tight, crusted blood between them; eyes burst with red veins, bloodshot.
I...
I...
I saw your gallery post. You live-reported right up to the last kidnapped soul vanishing. Watched it all with your own eyes. Not hard to guess your feelings.
But... I just watched.
That's impressive enough. How many turn away, unable even to watch?
Master said,
So you did well, disciple. Your best. No one in the gallery could've handled it better than you.
That was my best.
Those warm words made me snort a laugh.
"Best my ass."
Not my best.
Disciple, but...
Don't misunderstand. I'm not moping like an idiot.
To be precise, I was—until just now.
Blamed myself for being weak, what-iffing impossible scenarios.
But not anymore.
Master's words reminded me why I'd endured that horrific cannibal show.
Spacing out here's not my best. I endured for a reason—now it's time to reap, that's the best.
Right?
...!!
Yes!! Exactly!!
Go disciple!! Fighting!! ?(?▽?*)o
Good.
Master's cheer fired me up more.
Reminded me of the plan I'd cooked up earlier.
'You ten bastards, enjoy your beauty sleep.'
I kept stealth up, biding my time.
They'd played people by day, cards by night—now all asleep.
Night deepened.
Now—
"Time for the mafia to make their move."
Time for me to play a game too.