The One Who Feels No Fear
It was predictable that H-O-13, the embodiment of fear, would go on a rampage. The creature had broken the rules, but its innate nature hadn't vanished. A Hwanjong that devoured fear and converted it into strength. A being born solely to hunt humans. I'd known something like this would happen eventually, but I hadn't expected it to be right now. I'd planned to devour it and flee before getting chewed out for it.
“Tsk.”
The situation had changed. My top priority was now stopping Jason and absorbing him. I wasn't sure if it applied to all Hwanjong, but Jason was an entity immune to magic. In other words, something the people here couldn't possibly handle. Whether they lived or died wasn't my business, but...
“I should get there quickly before more victims pile up...”
Kang Naram, who served as my conscience, wouldn't want innocent people dying.
Jason was a difficult opponent. Unlike the Neck-Snapping Statue, this one moved around and shredded enemies with its chainsaw. Since neck-snapping only worked on humans and not other Hwanjong, the only tools I could use right now were resurrection and firearms.
Having your neck snapped was instantaneous, but a chainsaw wouldn't kill in one blow. It would be a death accompanied by excruciating pain. This would probably be hard to endure with a clear mind.
This Woo Suho was unusually resilient, so I could handle the pain, but I couldn't confidently claim I wouldn't feel any fear from it.
Fine. Looked like I'd have to use that method after all.
“Noona, what about that item I asked you for before?”
“You're really going to use it…?”
“Seems I don't have a choice.”
“Understood. But if anything goes wrong, stop immediately. Your safety is my number one priority, Suho.”
“Yep. Then please deliver it to the entrance side.”
I arrived at the arena entrance with the Adam and Eve siblings. The most eye-catching thing was the package Naram noona had delivered.
“What's that?”
“An invitation to the land of fantasy.”
I picked up the item and looked up at the massive circular arena.
“Kyaaaaaaaaaah!! Save me!! I don't want to die!!”
“Everyone run!!”
“I-it's a monster!!”
The arena was being devastated by Jason. The screams of people mixed with the whining, whirring sound of the chainsaw, creating a terrifying atmosphere. The metallic scent of blood reached all the way here, showing just how many people he'd carved up.
I'd come to another world, but it felt like I'd been dropped into a B-grade horror movie.
Standing amid the people frantically fleeing from the entrance, I tossed a pouch of gold coins to the siblings.
“I don't think I'll need your help.”
“What!?”
“What do you mean!?”
“I mean, dealing with Jason is something I can handle by myself.”
“Ah.”
“I have to settle the accounts properly. There's 300,000 sola in there. Adam, starting now, use that money to search for the ‘Hwanjong’ I mentioned before. Eve, stay by Adam's side and assist him.”
“Understood.”
The two seemed to be mages with fairly rare abilities by this world's standards, but in a fight against Jason, where magic didn't work, they weren't particularly necessary.
Everyone has their role. You two should head back and do what you need to do.
“If you find any clues, come to the Supernatural Research Institute. I'll be waiting.”
“Yes, please be careful.”
I raised my thumb. The siblings blended in with the fleeing crowd and left. Adam, who had looked devastated when he couldn't save his younger sister, now walked with much lighter steps than when we'd first met. The corners of my mouth lifted slightly.
“Well then.”
I stretched my arms.
“I'm heading off to meet him now.”
I broke into a run.
Jason was in the spectator stands. The creature had bound a person with the chain from its chainsaw and was slicing them apart. The victim whose limbs were being torn off, gushing fountains of blood, let out a painful scream before eventually dying.
“Hello.”
Jason, whose body had grown three times larger than normal, was breathing heavily. It wasn't from fatigue but from excitement.
“Do. Not. In. Ter. Fere.”
“Don't speak to me like that.”
Jason greeted me using the voice of the woman he'd just murdered. This time, he didn't avoid my eyes.
“And I have no choice but to interfere. This is a fight to get revenge for your mother.”
“Mo. Ther's. Re. Venge?”
“If it's a crazy bastard who slices people up and chops them into pieces, then obviously he would've done the same to your mom's arms and legs before killing her.”
“Su. Ho. Nice. Words……”
“You son of a bitch. How the hell could you chop up your own mother's limbs and kill her!”
Jason shuddered at the mother insult. It seemed he'd gained enough intelligence to recognize that my words were an insult.
“Did. You. In. Ter. Fere. With. My. Fight. With. The. Grave?”
“Bingo.”
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!!!!”
Jason's rage blared from the radio. It was the scream of the woman who'd just been killed by the chainsaw, but it carried the depth of Jason's fury.
I glanced around. There were no living people among the countless seats. Only human corpses and chunks of what had once been bodies. The director's remains were probably among them too.
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!!!!”
“My ears are ringing, you bastard!”
Jason charged at me like a man who'd lost his reason, chainsaw in hand. He'd always looked like a monster back in the isolation room, but seeing him now, he really did resemble a human. Quite the improvement.
H-O-13. Of course, I'm not proud of you.
“Save.”
“Arena.”
I inhaled the powder through my nose. This wasn't the first time I'd taken narcotic painkillers. Director Jeong Yongjin had conducted an experiment on me before to test this Save & Load function.
Even with resurrection, consciousness and memories remained. The experiment was about how the body would return to the saved state while consciousness and memory would continue from after the save.
The result was that even if the brain was destroyed, memory, consciousness, and mental state all returned intact.
People's experiences with drugs varied. Some saw hallucinations like the moon melting in the sky, others felt sleepy, and some said it cleared their minds.
In my case…
“……”
As the massive surge of dopamine flooded my brain, I lifted the corners of my mouth like a madman. A dreamy sensation washed over me, as if I were in a dream. A large child up ahead was asking me to play with him. It would probably hurt to be sliced apart by such a big chainsaw, but so what? That would be quite a fun game too. After the limbs and organs were disassembled, what should I offer up next? I'd decide that after coming back to life. And when I grew tired of this game, I'd switch roles and tear that child's body to shreds. After all, when the seeker gets tired, it's time to change who’s it.
Amid the countless deaths I'd accumulated, I stood calmly. The arena was beautifully decorated with my corpses, and the blood and flesh pieces formed a river complete with fish. The once-giant Jason had shrunk to a size smaller than my waist, like a child.
“You who grow stronger by absorbing fear.”
“Ah, uh, ah, ah, uh.”
“Become weaker when you feel fear.”
I could detect the subtle changes—how Jason grew smaller and more frail every time he avoided my gaze. This was a fact that only I knew from the Supernatural Research Institute. After all, the only time Jason had ever felt fear was when standing before this Woo Suho.
“Up until now, people would tremble in fear at the sound of your chainsaw, and even beasts would piss themselves.”
I was different.
“Sa, ve, me.”
“I wasn’t.”
To me, who had come to understand death, there was nothing about Jason that could inspire fear. In this world, the things that could frighten me were extremely limited.
Even when hearing the raucous sound of the chainsaw, even when looking at that bizarre mask, I had always remained perfectly calm.
And including the Neck-Snapping Statue, my instincts simply told me that you were nothing but prey.
A sweet scent. Nothing more than delicious food.
No matter how powerful your abilities, no matter how enormous your size, meat was still just meat.
You stimulated my hunger and satisfied my sadistic urges.
That's why I didn't fear you.
“Since the me who doesn't fear your terrifying chainsaw must have been your one and only fear.”
It's fine.
“Because when you die, it's all over. You won't need to feel fear anymore, or worry about having to scare people.”
Jason's chainsaw clattered to the ground. In a faintly trembling voice, he begged me for his life.
“I. Don't. Want. To. Die.”
I opened my mouth. For some reason, I felt like I could swallow him whole in a single bite.
Crunch— Gulp.
In my dreamy state of mind, I finished my feast.