Chapter 54
Chapter 54
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 54
Chapter Title: Breaking the Faithful
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The corpse of a comrade who had fallen from the second floor.
Zombies swarming in.
And a single man entering the building leisurely, ignoring those zombies entirely.
At the sight of me, the guys who had been locked in fierce combat just moments ago froze like statues, grinding their teeth as they glared.
It almost made me feel like Medusa herself.
"But seriously, why are you all built like that? On roids or something?"
I tossed out a casual greeting and question to the familiar faces I hadn't seen in a while.
I had tons of questions, of course.
But the first one that hit me upon facing them directly was about their sheer bulk.
'Hulks or what?'
They weren't freakishly huge like that spandex-loving green monster, sure.
Still, they had bodies that no normal person would believe a woman could build.
Shoulders spread wide like slabs, muscles bulging even under the thick zombie-proof clothing.
Straight-up drugged-out muscle freak vibes.
And not just one—six of them.
"Don't you dare speak filthily of the Leader's grace, you pathetic man."
The one who answered my greeting was the woman at the center of the warrior women, wielding a machete.
Her bleached hair tied back in a ponytail like Tomb Raider's heroine.
Though her build was more Doomguy than anything.
'...Leader?'
My first question must've irked her, because Doomguy twisted her face and pointed her machete at me.
Impressive that she could pull that off against someone clearly in control.
━Leader.
I focused on the info she'd let slip in her excitement.
'So there are more than just these guys, after all.'
Why kidnap Yoon Hyun-seo?
That had been nagging at me.
In this zombie world, she wasn't valuable labor, and way too young for breeding.
Especially when they'd let someone like Baek Min-ah—who fit those criteria even better—die.
There had to be some special reason.
And if they were organized enough to send out search teams...
Their group wasn't small.
At least as big as the dorm's soldiers.
'Kang Hye-seok wouldn't send out a team this size for scouting, either.'
So, their scale had to be at least double the dorm's.
Twice as many survivors gathered somewhere.
"The five up front."
I spoke up right away, pointing at the leftmost kidnapper among them.
"You can eat that one."
At my words and gesture, the tense kidnappers stared at me in utter confusion.
Faces screaming, 'What the hell is this guy on about?'
Their questions were answered soon enough by the five zombies that lunged forward.
-Uh, uh, uhh.
-Kraaaah!
"Eek! W-wait, get off—!!"
The five zombies zeroed in on the women I'd pointed out.
When the halted zombies suddenly charged her, the woman on the left panicked, swinging her bat wildly.
But her tense, full-of-gaps flailing couldn't fend them off.
Crunch, crunch.
"Kyahaaaaak—!!! It hurts!! Kraaaak!! It huuuurts—!! Hic, ugh…!! T-team leader—!! Tea—…!!"
One grabbed her arm and ripped into it with its gaping maw, and she collapsed screaming, unable to resist.
Tears and snot streaming from the pain as she reached out to her comrades around her.
But they just stood there, pale-faced, watching her get devoured.
"Hey, don't kill her right away. Limbs first. Yeah, skin first—slowly. That way she'll last longer."
I gave further orders to the five feasting zombies, loud enough for the women to hear.
The zombies that had been tearing chunks obliged, carefully gnawing at her skin with their front teeth. The woman, who seemed on the verge of death, screamed back to life with fresh vigor.
Her cries echoed through the first-floor shop like café background music.
I savored the pleasant tune with a grin, locking eyes with the Doomguy woman in front of me.
She grimaced at her comrade's agonized screams and spoke up as their rep.
"…What do you want."
Just as I'd figured—she was their leader.
No one behind her objected to her stepping forward; they stayed quiet.
"What I want?"
I sneered and replied softly.
"I just got what I wanted back. Anything else…? You lot suffering."
I'd secured Yoon Hyun-seo through Ryu Da-hee moments ago.
Now all that was left was making these pigs pay for what they did to Baek Min-ah.
I wanted these boars to suffer.
To writhe in agony, despair, beg for mercy, and regret it all.
And they'd seen with their own eyes—next to the zombie devouring their friend—that I had the power to make it happen.
But.
"Hah, heh, us suffer?"
Their leader smirked mockingly, lifting her chin defiantly.
Then she shouted over her shoulder.
"We'll become the Leader's power even in death! Right?!"
"…Y-yes!"
"Death holds no fear for us!!"
"All is as the Leader wills!!"
Like wolves howling, the women shook off their frozen expressions, grinning madly with fanatic eyes.
Even as their comrade screamed beside them.
They stared me down boldly.
As if fear was nonexistent.
'I see.'
That's when I realized how they'd cleared the zombie horde below the apartment.
Even veteran fighters avoid sacrifices to achieve their goals.
But amid those zombie corpses were survivor bodies strewn like sacrificial lambs.
As if they'd fought a melee battle.
No normal survivors would sacrifice themselves like that for a goal.
But these kidnappers...
The madness in their eyes explained those corpses—they'd thrown away their lives willingly.
They weren't afraid of death.
'So killing them won't make them suffer enough.'
I wanted them tormented.
I was that pissed.
They'd infected Baek Min-ah and kidnapped Yoon Hyun-seo, hurling rocks into my peaceful, fun daily life.
I wanted them to meet an end fitting for them.
...But that fanaticism was getting in the way of the ending I craved.
'Then.'
I grinned at the defiant Doomguy and replied.
"Yeah? Guess I'll change my approach."
……What?"
Humans don't fear death itself.
If it came peacefully and happily, no one would dread it much.
The issue is how you die.
Humans fear the pain that comes with the process.
And I'd shown them a perfect example with the woman I'd fed to them.
"Ugh, ugh, save… huuuh."
The woman who'd screamed herself hoarse now just dribbled tears from fish-like eyes, her body twitching with each zombie bite.
Even if these fanatics claimed no fear of death's pain...
That sight had seared agony into their minds plenty.
Good tempering.
But they wouldn't break from heat alone.
Some madness let them endure it.
However.
"I'll spare one. Just my whim. No strings—one gets out safe."
……
Even the toughest tempered glass shatters with one drop of cold water after heating.
At my grinning words, their fanatic eyes wavered.
No matter how fearless of death, humans avoid it if they can.
Refusing when you could is just stupid.
And sadly for them, they weren't that dumb.
……O-one?
Someone behind the leader muttered quietly.
They'd steeled themselves for death via faith.
But one could live.
And if that one could be her...
"First come, first served. If no one steps up, I'll pick randomly."
Their solid bond of shared suffering?
Cracks easily.
"M-me…!!"
One woman from the back raised a trembling hand with a shaky smile.
Her comrades, who'd been holding back against my temptation, stared in shocked betrayal.
"W-wait! You serious? Mi-jeong, betraying the Leader?!"
"Falling for some guy's silver tongue like that! Have some shame!"
"Shut up! Shut up! H-he said one survives anyway! Screw the rest! Gotta live first to do anything!!"
Just one crumbling.
No matter how steadfast their faith.
After seeing a human get shredded like that up close, that single break dooms the whole group.
"Wait! M-me! I'll do it! Save me—!!"
"Don't spout bullshit, you bitch!! Not him—me! Please, I-I have family alive!"
"Family my ass!! Your mom's been picked for paradise and croaked days ago!!"
"T-teacher! N-no, bro! Me! Please! Hic, I'll do anything you say if you save me!"
Moments ago, they'd worn faces like holy martyrs on a sacred mission.
But starting with the one who fell to temptation...
These death-fearless women shoved each other, begging me to save them instead.
I chuckled, finding the sight hilarious.
"Ugh…"
But the leader-looking woman held firm amid the cracks, glaring without breaking.
She just looked flustered, like she never imagined her comrades folding so easily.
'Might use her.'
I meant it about sparing one.
Though "sparing" just meant for now.
Needed one alive for intel, after all.
"Outta the way!! The first traitor gets dibs!!"
"What kinda bullshit—first come first served, raising hand first is right, you pig!!"
Their survival desperation boiled over; now they brandished weapons at each other, snarling murderously.
Satisfied with the ripened emotions, I nodded.
"That's enough. Eat all but the one in front."
I ordered the slobbering zombies waiting nearby.
"W-wait…!!"
"Hold on!! Just wait…!!"
"Eek!! Save me!! Hic, please…!! Please save…!!"
The ones who'd glimpsed hope lost all resolve, fleeing in tears from the approaching death.
But zombies blocked the escape routes too.
"Kyahaaaaaaaak—!!!"
Soon the shop filled with screams of flesh being torn.
"Alright, shall we relocate? Name?"
……
"Yeah, no need to answer now. Fine by me."
The leader woman clenched her teeth at my words, fists balled, trembling in rage.
I smiled at her silence and patted her shoulder.
"I enjoy it more when you don't talk anyway."
I'd take her back to the dorm.
Find out where they came from, why they kidnapped Yoon Hyun-seo.
And the size of their survivor group.
All of it.
'Smells like a goldmine.'
Their base probably had way more survivors than this bunch.
Survivors were resources to me.
I grinned at the sweet scent of gold.
。 。 。
High up on a hotel building's terrace.
A woman sat in a rocking chair, savoring wine in the cool night air.
"L-Leader, pardon the intrusion."
Another woman's voice came from behind the so-called Leader, and a gloomy-faced woman with long black hair covering her features approached hesitantly.
"What is it?"
The Leader rose from the rocker to face her.
Moonlight from the sky illuminated the dark ground.
Bathed in it, the Leader's form made the gloomy woman gulp.
Dressed in a pure white dress, white hair flowing like the fabric.
Her skin was flawless jade, features mysteriously beautiful.
Her otherworldly gaze made the woman bow hastily.
"Th-the team led by Scout Leader Lee Seon-ji, sent to Seoul… their radio cut out."
…Lee's team?
The Leader, mid-sip, frowned slightly.
An elite scout team picked from her followers with the finest physiques.
And their leader, Lee Seon-ji, had gone silent.
'...No way Lee fell to zombies?'
She shook her head at the thought.
Lee was too skilled for that.
In danger, she'd evade calmly.
'Or… maybe.'
Another possibility struck; she addressed the gloomy reporter.
"Assemble another scout team and send them to Seoul."
Not to find Lee Seon-ji, but to uncover why contact broke.
'If… some other survivors got her.'
The Leader licked her lovely lips, eyes gleaming with desire.
"Y-yes…! Got it!"
The gloomy woman, who'd stared blankly at her face, answered frantically and scurried off.
'Come to think of it, there's a department store we haven't scouted yet…'
Leaning on the terrace railing amid Seoul's unrest, the Leader sipped her wine.
Her pose naturally accentuated her body's curves through the dress.
A silhouette so stunning it could make the earlier woman drool.
The alluring Leader smirked at the thought of Seoul's resources, gazing into the dark night sky.