The Shaman King (7)
Ju Kang-rim scraped together his remaining 4,000 nyang and prepared to buy today's fortune. But a better idea struck him first. He opened Biman to check his mission.
Kill the Local Boss (BOSS)
📍 Target: Capture Kangryeong Daegun
🎁 Reward 1: Saingeom Enhancement Voucher (1 use)
🎁 Reward 2: Guaranteed Luxury Grade Minimum 'Today's Fortune'
Ju Kang-rim eyed the reward list and tossed a proposal at Yeomra like he'd made up his mind.
Ju Kang-rim dangled the one that had slipped through his fingers.
Ju Kang-rim pointed at Reward 2 from the mission prizes: the guaranteed luxury-grade 'Today's Fortune' voucher.
Yoo Wol-ryeong watched him with a look of utter disbelief, but Ju Kang-rim was dead certain it'd work. This wasn't a game. This was a slice of the world run by human hands.
What he'd learned observing the world hurtle toward doom was that everything boiled down to people—people's brains and hands. Humans brought extinction chasing long life, and even as it crumbled, they clawed for success in desperate competition.
Even in the underworld, they casually slapped on 20,000-year lifespans for anyone vaguely useful and reined in employees with some half-assed app. In the end, whether living world or afterlife, gaps got filled with connections and haggling.
Yoo Wol-ryeong peered into Biman with a face screaming you can just do that?, but Ju Kang-rim clenched his fist tight. No surprise there. He'd bet on Yeomra being open to a deal from the start.
Ju Kang-rim declared it boldly and sealed the deal with Yeomra. Plus, he had the 'VIP List' in his head. They weren't top priority right now, but tracking where they were and what they were up to was simple. A bit of annoying legwork, sure, but Ttakkachi's skills were a huge help. Especially with abominations popping up more and more.
Yeomra cackled through Biman before wiping Reward 2 from the list.
'Judges with prosecution power too? Isn't that a conflict—prosecuting and judging themselves?' The thought tickled his throat, but Ju Kang-rim held it back. What mattered was what Yeomra could actually do.
It wasn't what Ju Kang-rim expected, but in a way, it was even better.
Vroooom. Pulling a trailer with its front smashed to hell, the trio headed back to the hotel. Yoo Wol-ryeong swerved around wrecked cars and zombie packs, but driving the beast was no picnic.
"How'd you even get a rig like this in here? Big truck too. You must be a pro driver."
"Ah... I played Euro Truck once."
"...Euro Truck?"
"It's a truck sim game, y'know..."
"Yeah, no clue even if you explain. Whatever. Learned from a game, got it. Wait— you got a license, right?"
Han Min-ah just grinned hehe instead of answering. Ju Kang-rim got chills from her goal-driven vibe. No holds barred for her objectives.
Then it hit him—did she feel any guilt about smashing the vehicle with his organization guys in it?
"Uh... you okay after hitting those people? Must've been a shock."
The biggest hurdle for civilians becoming zombie hunters was the gut punch of killing a 'big beast.' Plenty of folks couldn't even wring a chicken's neck. Human-shaped? Forget it. A couple tries broke you in, but that's why PTSD existed.
Han Min-ah didn't look rattled, though.
"I'm good. Heard they were all ghouls? Smart zombies, right?"
She answered firmly, like she'd steeled herself.
"Their sacrifice lays the foundation for a cure. If we're burying humans as the cornerstone, better bad ones than good."
Not all were ghouls—some were still human. But Han Min-ah wouldn't care even knowing that. Dropped in a fantasy world, she'd be some zealot paladin.
Screeech. The trailer ground to a halt. Ju Kang-rim peered ahead.
"Zombies are a bit thick here."
Not a bit, as Yoo Wol-ryeong put it. Downtown Seoul, plus the racket from his brawl with Kangryeong Daegun must've drawn them—a massive horde blocked the road. Enhanced zombies for sure among them.
Flocks of carrion birds wheeled with them, corpse-munchers blotting the ink-dark sky along power lines in eerie numbers.
"Not critically dangerous, but with Han Min-ah here..."
"Detour?"
"Was gonna say use up all the intel guy's weapons here."
Solid plan. But a full-on war might pull even more zombies. Plus, around now, some seriously nasty ones started showing up in his memories.
"Hm. Let's use our new bird buddy."
Yoo Wol-ryeong got it instantly and nodded. Ju Kang-rim stepped out alone. Zombies spotted him—some shambling slow, others charging wild.
He raised his Saingeom and whispered to the air like a chant.
"Ttakkachi."
Whoosh. Netherworld chill brushed his cheek.
"Clear the path."
Cawww. A crow on a pole cried out eerie. Grown fat on corpses, bigger than a man's torso, it screeched like a battlefield asura craving blood: caw-caw-caw.
The flocks exploded in chorus: caw, caw, chirp-chirp, cawww, caw, ga-ga-gak. The skies over abandoned downtown belonged to the birds. Their cries boomed louder than gunfire.
Zombies flailed in chaos. Ju Kang-rim swung his Saingeom like a conductor. The first crow dove like an arrow, slicing the zombie-packed road.
Slash, thunk. Its dagger-beak cleaved a zombie's mangled skull clean. Blood-red eyes gleaming creepy, it clacked its gore-smeared beak.
That sparked it—the flocks swarmed. Hit or miss, they clawed, bit, tore. Spectacular, but more about scattering than clearing. The fat crows, though—huge claws ripped faces, beaks pecked brains.
Dull zombies couldn't fend them off.
"Gaaah, ga, gaga-gak!"
From the horde's heart, a long-limbed freak snatched a bird and ripped its wings. Enhanced zombie. As Ju Kang-rim moved to intervene—BANG!
Yoo Wol-ryeong leaned from the truck, squeezing the sniper rifle. The anti-tank round that pierced tanks blew its head off. The freak twitched into bird chow.
"We can pass now."
Ju Kang-rim nodded and climbed back, glancing at the crow atop the pole. Red eyes fixed on him, it followed as the trailer rolled. That was Ttakkachi, reborn via Yeomra's deal—not just bound to his Saingeom, but mobile in crow flesh.
Worse than human, but with ego and body? Way better than Han Min-seong fused inside. She could hide in the blade like a coroner or manifest at will.
"Ttakkachi's powers seem stronger than in life."
Yoo Wol-ryeong eyed the circling crow.
"Feels that way... but hard to say for sure."
Stronger, no doubt. Blind Dog and her own death fueled massive growth. But not Shira Vito level. Years for that. Whether she'd hit it bound to the sword? Time would tell.
"People awaken near gates, on death's doorstep," Yoo Wol-ryeong said. "When life-death boundaries blur, nether energies seep into the soul. Especially for those who've touched death. Ttakkachi's power will keep growing."
Cawk. Crow cry pierced the engine roar. Ju Kang-rim sensed her listening via the sword. Crow outside, Ttakkachi inside—understood speech, had her own will. How she'd communicate? TBD.
"Confident you can fulfill Ttakkachi's condition?"
Ju Kang-rim's face hardened at Yoo Wol-ryeong's question. Like the soul contract with Han Min-seong, Ttakkachi had terms. Tougher, heavier than Yeomra's bet.
"Gotta. Promised, didn't I?"
"It'll be hard and grueling."
"Prefer if it was life-or-death. Easier."
He muttered thickly. Yoo Wol-ryeong looked grim too. Han Min-ah, eavesdropping blankly, stared.
"Zombie hunters always talk this heavy?"
"Loneliness of those who bear karma."
"No idea... what's this contract condition anyway?"
Ju Kang-rim clammed up, looked away. Yoo Wol-ryeong answered for him.
"We're heading somewhere you can see it fulfilled right now. Watch."
A while later, the trailer crossed a bridge and stopped at riverside apartments. They climbed a still-occupied building, exchanging tense glances. Ttakkachi's condition waited inside.
Soon, at a door. Ju Kang-rim caught his breath, picked the lock with a key from Ttakkachi's pocket, and entered.
Barking erupted—eight dogs charged. From fist-sized Pomeranian to shoulder-high Golden Retriever, all sizes mobbed him.
Ju Kang-rim turned human jungle gym, shoving inside. Han Min-ah gawked at Yoo Wol-ryeong, who nodded.
Ttakkachi's price for serving as his sword lifelong: "She raised eight dogs alone. Take care of them till they die."
Han Min-ah's face twisted complex in a flash.