Because I'm Shooting Star's Son (2)
Shuuuuaaaang-! Ohoo rocketed into the depths of Bupyeong Station Underground Mall, his mother's legacy—the Acceleration ability—forced open against his will.
"Kyaaaaah!"
"Help! Over there, there's a monster...!"
Bupyeong Station Underground Mall. It boasted the largest scale of any single underground mall in Korea, with a staggering 1,400 shops tangled together like an ant colony—crude slang even called it a dungeon.
Thankfully, residents near the Line 1 station on the surface or in the upper levels around the old mart and cinema had evacuated swiftly at the sound of gunfire. The problem was the chaotic underground first floor, where the fierce battle raged.
Maze-like paths. A central rotary dividing zones. Narrow stairs connecting levels—limited escape routes that, with thousands of slum dwellers and illegal immigrants pouring out at once, inevitably led to bottlenecks and crush panics.
"Grraaaaaah!"
Bang! Rat-tat-tat-!
Deogi's roars and the armed gang members' gunfire echoed mercilessly through the enclosed underground space, shredding people's eardrums.
Directionless, people bolted into dead-end alleys with shuttered shops, collapsing in sobs.
The paths are a fucking mess...
Even with his vision warping and surroundings stretching in Acceleration mode, Ohoo calmly assessed the situation.
Luckily, this Bupyeong Underground Mall layout is identical to the one I knew from my original world before possession.
Radial paths from the central fountain rotary. Positions of the widest exits, Gates 11 and 12. Narrow passages by the restrooms prone to bottlenecks.
"Get out of the way!!!"
Kaboom-! Every time Ohoo kicked off the floor and turned, tiles shattered, shards flying.
Leaving afterimages, he darted through the underground labyrinth.
"Not this way! Go back!"
He blocked crowds heading to dead ends, forcing them to turn.
Chin.
"Take this!"
He snatched the napes of elderly folks and kids nearly trampled, herding them to safer wide corridors.
Guided by memories, he drove residents along the shortest evacuation routes.
But.
Fuck... limits hit.
Shuuuuaaaak-! Scalding steam vented from Ohoo's skin.
Painless under hypnosis, but his overtaxed body reached its breaking point. Especially when turning—his knee buckled momentarily, slamming him into walls.
Hypnosis-limited time: a mere 15 minutes. Physically impossible to solo-control and evacuate a panicking crowd in this underground maze, even with Shooting Star's Acceleration.
Can't do it alone. Need manpower. Shepherd dogs.
Ohoo's eyes scanned fleeing evacuees for busy movers. He spotted able-bodied young men shoving elders aside, bolting selfishly for their own skins.
Taat! Ohoo cut in front of a burly delinquent-type guy.
"G-get out of the way, you fucking bastard! Move?!"
As the man rolled his eyes back and swung a fist—
Ohoo shoved his smartphone screen right in the man's face. A purple spiral whirled.
Flaaash-!
"...!"
The man's jaw slackened, strength draining. Hypnosis injected into terror and panic sank deeper and faster than ever, seizing his brain.
Ohoo leaned to his ear, voice cold and firm.
"From now on, you're my rescue squad. Forget fear. Support the injured who can't evacuate. Herd evacuees in groups to Gates 11 and 12—force them if needed. Beat down resistors."
Mission ignited in the zombie-like man's eyes. Without looking back, he reversed course, hoisted the injured grandma he'd shoved aside, and charged for the exit.
"Good."
Method secured. But one issue.
Hypnosis app max: 6 slots.
Currently: Ohoo himself, Miyang, Park Ayoung, and this new guy—four occupied. Two slots left.
Three rescuers total? Nowhere near enough for this vast maze crowd.
Ohoo glanced at his phone, hesitating.
To make more, release existing slots.
Miyang...
Hesitation brief. She'd loved and devoted without hypnosis before. Unshakable trust she'd never betray.
Park Ayoung's the issue...
Releasing that vicious bitch? High risk. But Ohoo steeled himself.
The hours he'd drowned her in despair. The fear he'd instilled, staining his hands to crush her pride, breaking body and mind.
Even sans hypnosis collar, she'd be bone-deep tamed by terror of Ohoo.
More rescuers, more lives saved.
Ohoo tapped delete on Miyang and Ayoung.
Ding-!
Two released, four slots free.
Secured, Ohoo dove back into Acceleration to expand the squad.
Flash!
Flash!
Flaaash-!
Purple flashes erupted at key spots. Ohoo grabbed random fit men or selfish evacuees, hypnotizing them.
Phone battery and his stamina ground down, but five emotionless, fear-stripped rescuers formed across the mall—dedicated to control and aid.
"This way! No running—move in order!"
"Don't trample the fallen! Help them up no matter what!"
Blank-eyed men barked like drill sergeants, veins bulging, corralling evacuees and hauling injured like luggage to exits.
Ohoo's ruthless, efficient hypnosis control worked miracles—the bloodiest, riskiest underground first-floor rotary evacuation wrapping up at breakneck speed.
* * *
"Hahk... haa... haa..."
Evacuation stabilized, Ohoo judged.
Click. Rrrrack. Clunk.
Gang's homemade gunfire—raging the narrow underground—cut off abruptly.
"F-fuck! Ammo...!"
"We're out! Damn it!"
Blind-firing into air and civilians depleted their stocks.
Ohoo halted. Breath held, steaming, he watched the carnage unfold.
"Grrrrr..."
Central rotary's heart, post-gunfire. Deogi panted raggedly.
His body honeycomb-pierced by bullets—shoulders, gut, thighs oozing red everywhere. Fatal for normals: exsanguination or shock.
But.
"Grraaaaaahp-!!"
Deogi screamed, muscles swelling unnaturally. Coarse black fur bristled erect.
And.
Plop. Plop-plop-plop-!
Unbelievable: mangled bullets deep in flesh wriggled out like living worms.
Dozens spilled with blood, splat-splat, onto tiles. Bouncing bullets slowing to stillness chilled the mall.
Not regeneration exactly...
No clean cell-division healing like Ayoung's. Holes gaped, bleeding. Just freakish blood flow and pressure—muscles contracting to expel foreign objects.
Not abnormal regen... but abnormal vitality.
"Y-you fucking monster...!"
"It pushed out the bullets...! Fuck, don't retreat! It's bleeding bad too! Dogpile it to death!"
Guns useless, greed-mad thugs went berserk. They drew sashimi knives, pipes, bats—closing the net on Deogi.
"Kill it-!!"
Three or four lunged, stabbing thighs and flanks, swinging pipes.
Stab! Thwack!
But.
"Grrr... Kyaaaaak!!"
Deogi didn't dodge or scream. Clamped muscles on blades, then arms swept—snatching attackers into a hug.
"Wh-what...? Let go! Let— you shit...!"
Crunch! Kwajik-!
Deogi's jaws gaped, chomping a thrashing thug's head from crown to face in one bite.
"Kyaaaaaaaah!"
A grown man's falsetto shriek.
"Boss!! Boss's head...!"
Even their screams drowned in bone-crushing jaws.
Deogi ignored brain-blood dribbling from his maw, ripping into live human heads, devouring.
Hunters turned pitiable prey in seconds.
Ohoo watched the grotesque cannibalism blankly, analyzing fast.
Why'd this bastard crawl into this dead-end maze? Surface plaza's open—each way better for hiding with his agility.
Yet he dove into sealed Bupyeong Underground. Reason?
Ohoo's mind mapped Bupyeong's layout.
The far end connects straight to subway platforms where tracks cross for transfers. And those tracks...
Link to Incheon Line. Quarantine or not, tracks abandoned—underworld types might've cleared secret paths.
If a rat-hole evading cops and pursuers existed... he'd eyed that dark rail escape.
High chance.
Doesn't matter now.
Ohoo turned to retrace steps. Goal no longer Deogi capture.
If he breaks quarantine, local Hero Association branch handles it.
Plus, hypnosis 15-min timer ticking—much wasted. Evac 90% done thanks to his squads.
Left: beast vs. scumbag loan shark thugs' dogfight.
Whether it munches more or rails to Incheon sea—Ohoo's problem solved.
Slip out quiet, back to pickup truck, grab Eunbyeol and Miyang, ghost the scene.
Ohoo tensed legs on a sign for Acceleration—that instant.
Screeeeech-!
Ripping blood-mist air: rusty shutter friction from a worn clothing shop beyond Deogi.
"...!"
Ohoo froze. Gunfire silenced, only faint munching from Deogi's feast.
Someone inside mistook it for end or heroes arriving—hastily half-raised the shutter.
Recklessly.
"Oppa... can we go out now...? No more gunshots..."
"Shh. Quiet. Hero uncles must be here to save us..."
Trembling kids' scared whispers leaked through the gap. Siblings hiding in the back storeroom—unevacuated.
Tiny murmurs. In the mall's hush: fatal life-pulse of fragile young.
"..."
Deogi, gorging on a corpse head, snapped blood-smeared face toward the shutter.
Then.
Suddenly, Deogi clawed his head madly with bloody hands, freaking out.
"Grraaak! Urgh! N-no...!"
Rip!
"Alive... they're alive..."
Zzzzt!
He tore off a dog-ear, blood splattering the shutter. Deogi fought his own legs, desperately halting steps toward it.