Chapter 37
Chapter 37
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 37
Chapter Title: Jang Yu's Memory Fragment
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The moment Jang Yu and I locked eyes, time froze.
[Boss Discovered]
[You have encountered the main boss of the third round.]
[A fragment of memory from 'Jang Yu' is activated, replaying the story cutscene.]
I tried to force my body to move. Of course, I couldn't even twitch a finger.
'I don't want to see this.'
A fog-like whiteness filled my vision, followed by the cheerful laughter of playing children.
Like a curtain drawing open on a stage, the mist parted to both sides, widening my view.
Just like a protagonist in a movie experiencing an out-of-body episode, my soul floated up into the sky.
"……I see."
I knew this scene.
It was the story I'd seen as illustrations flipping like pages in a picture book while playing Land of Ruin on my PC.
Jang Yu's past.
Not as a monster the size of an ogre.
But as the chubby, pot-bellied neighborhood uncle he once was.
Crash!
Glass shattering echoed.
A bald, paunchy man emerged from the mansion's yard, holding a baseball.
A group of kids were huddled together, having been playing with the ball.
Worn-out, torn clothes and shoes so threadbare their toes poked through.
Kids from the orphanage near the square.
The tallest among them looked up at Jang Yu with eyes full of fear.
"S-sorry……"
Jang Yu handed over the baseball.
"Oh dear! I thought a war had broken out with shells exploding. Were you playing baseball?"
"We couldn't play baseball without a bat…… We were just tossing the ball back and forth…… I didn't think it'd fly that far."
"Hmm. Didn't expect it to reach my house…… Well, since the window's broken, there has to be a punishment."
"P-punishment?!"
"Yes. If you've done wrong, you must be punished."
Jang Yu fetched a baseball bat from the mansion yard and swung it through the air with a whoosh.
"Now, who threw the ball?"
A brown-haired boy stepped forward hesitantly. His eyes brimmed with tears. He clenched his teeth and spoke to Jang Yu.
"It was…… me."
Any normal kid would have been too scared to speak. But this boy met Jang Yu's gaze without flinching, even as tears welled up.
"Very well. Time for your punishment. Hold out your hand."
"……"
"What are you waiting for? Hand out."
"…… Hic. H-here. Hic……"
The boy sniffled.
Jang Yu swung the bat back with a stoic face.
Whoosh-!
The bat whistled through the air, then slowed and gently tapped the boy's palm.
Tap.
"Here you go."
"Huh? What?"
"Your punishment. I'll give you this bat, so no more ball games around here."
The boy tilted his head in confusion.
Jang Yu ruffled his hair and continued.
"There's lots of people walking around nearby, and houses packed close together—not good for playing ball. Take this bat to the park and play baseball there."
"Uh…… A baseball bat……! Th-thank you! But…… I don't think we can play baseball. The park has an entry fee……"
"No worries, just head to the park. See the writing on the bat? 'JY.' Show it to the guard, and they won't charge you. That park's my property."
The kids exchanged glances and whispered.
-Hey? So we can go to the park?
-Wow…… That's his land? Uncle's super rich.
-R-really, Uncle?
All their eyes turned to Jang Yu.
"Yes. Off you go, then."
The brown-haired boy wiped his tears, grabbed the bat, and grinned wide.
They bowed to Jang Yu and left.
"……May divine grace be with you."
The benevolent Jang Yu.
I looked down at him, chin in hand.
'Get to the next scene already.'
The screen went white again.
Seconds later, the misty curtain parted to reveal the next scene.
A woman infected with the Z Virus screamed and lunged, biting Jang Yu's forearm.
Crunch!
It was his wife.
Jang Yu struggled to push her away, but her strength far surpassed that of an ordinary human.
Against a regular zombie, he might have shaken her off.
But his wife had mutated into the rare variant zombie.
The mutant zombie that had torn into his forearm suddenly clutched her hair, emitting a eerie cry.
"Graaaah! R-run…… Run now. Honey, guh!"
"H-honey!"
"Run…… Graaaah……"
"How did the virus get here…… Why you, of all people……"
"Please…… Please…… Just run……"
"Hic…… Honey……"
Tears fell from Jang Yu's eyes. One by one at first, then streaming down like rain against a wall.
"Please…… Guh. Honey……"
"No…… I can't leave you behind."
"Please…… Graaaah!"
His wife lost consciousness and attacked again, her mouth stained with blood, wailing.
Jang Yu didn't dodge. He embraced her fully.
"Lord, please!"
Crunch!
She bit his shoulder.
He stopped resisting, squeezing his eyes shut. No screams. Just enduring the pain.
He seemed to have let go of everything.
I floated closer and heard his murmur.
"Lord…… Ngh. Please take us to a better place—guh."
Jang Yu groaned, calling out to his god. I didn't know his faith, but it was strong.
'……'
Whoosh-
A wind-cutting sound rang out.
The brown-haired boy swung a massive candlestick, smashing it down on the mutated wife.
Thwack!
Right to the back of her head.
She collapsed. Her strength may have increased, but her unfinished mutation left her body as fragile as any human's.
In his blurring vision, Jang Yu looked up at him.
The boy Jang Yu had adopted from the neighborhood.
The brown-haired kid, Kim Dohyun.
"D-Dad!"
"Dohyun……"
Dohyun rushed over and hugged Jang Yu. Jang Yu pushed him away with bloodied hands.
"Run. It's too late for Dad."
"No. W-we just need to get a doctor."
"This sickness has no vaccine. Doctors can't cure it. Stop talking nonsense and get out of this house before you get infected!"
Dohyun shoved his fallen mother aside and hoisted Jang Yu onto his back.
"Dad. I can't abandon you. You're the one who chose me when the world threw me away."
"Dohyun……"
The boy, who looked about middle-school age, struggled even to take a step with Jang Yu on his back. Yet he dragged him out of the mansion with all his might.
"Hah…… Hah……"
At the door, Kim Dohyun's arms gave out, dropping Jang Yu.
Thud.
It was impossible for a kid that age to carry his father that far.
"S-sorry."
"It's fine……"
Jang Yu bit down hard, fighting the fading consciousness.
If he turned zombie now, he'd surely infect his son.
Clang! Clang!
The mansion's iron gate rattled loudly.
"Are you alright?!"
Turning, I saw the mansion's butler standing there.
Of course, he became the butler later.
The butler vaulted the fence like it was nothing and approached.
He stood by Dohyun, examining the fallen Jang Yu.
"This is……"
Dohyun replied.
"H-he's infected with the virus, I think. Sorry, but could you fetch a doctor? Please!"
The butler wiped his lips with his thumb and spoke.
"……I'm a doctor."
"……What?! Really?"
"Yes."
"D-Doctor. Can you save my dad?"
The butler inspected Jang Yu's wounds.
"Not certain…… But it hasn't progressed too far, so it should be possible. Fetch some towels and a knife so I can start treatment right away?"
Dohyun jumped up.
"Got it. I'll be right—"
Graaaah!!
The mutant zombie—Jang Yu's wife—charged from inside the mansion.
She had regained consciousness.
The boy backed away in terror.
"Uwaaah."
The butler drew a pistol from his waist and fired at the mutant zombie.
Bang-! Bang! Bang! Bang!
She collapsed from the bullets. The butler grabbed a shovel from the yard and decapitated her.
Crunch!
Her head rolled off.
Overwhelmed by fear, Dohyun's legs buckled.
Thud.
The butler shouted at him.
"Hurry and get those towels! Don't you want to save your father?!"
"Y-yes!"
Dohyun grabbed his shaking legs and forced himself up. He shuffled slowly into the mansion.
The butler watched him go.
As Dohyun entered, the butler's lips curled into a long smile.
A meaningful grin.
He pulled a syringe from his pocket and jabbed it into Jang Yu's wound.
Pffft-.
Ssssss.
The butler muttered to himself.
"Good. No more worries about research funding."
[The story cutscene has ended.]
* * * * *
My viewpoint returned to my body.
With the cutscene over, frozen time resumed flowing.
Kim Juncheol shone his flashlight upward.
Through the collapsed ceiling, the monstrous Jang Yu came into view.
If I had to describe him, he was like an orc infected with the virus.
No trace of human form—just a grotesque face and skin cracked like parched earth.
Jang Yu glared down at us.
"You damn bastards."
Bang!
A gunshot rang out.
The Goblin Unit soldier behind fired his rifle. The bullet hit Jang Yu's heart area.
It barely pierced the skin—less than a centimeter deep, judging by the visible tail end.
As expected, Jang Yu's body was as tough as a golem's hide.
-What the—? Bullets aren't working?
Kim Juncheol gripped his sword hilt tight and ordered his men.
"We're going up!"
Two Goblin soldiers clasped hands and knelt.
Kim Juncheol stepped onto their hands.
His subordinates launched him upward.
Pop!
Using the momentum, he swung his sword mid-leap.
Whoosh-
Jang Yu swatted the flat of the blade with his palm.
Clang!
The clash of unyielding metal.
A sound no human hand could make.
"Chasing me all the way here."
Kim Juncheol flipped in the air and landed lightly.
Tap.
"Jang Yu, where are you hiding the villagers?"
"……No idea what you're talking about."
"Don't play dumb."
Kim Juncheol pulled out a hairpin and a clump of hair, showing them.
"Found these in your house."
"……That bastard."
While Kim Juncheol and Jang Yu talked, I pulled the disposable torch from my waist and lit it.
Fizzle. Fizzle.
Whoosh!
I asked a Goblin soldier to toss it up.
One. Two. Three.
The soldiers tossed me up like a cheer.
Lighter than Kim Juncheol with his gear, I soared like a flying squirrel.
It was dark.
Pitch black beyond Kim Juncheol's flashlight beam, like the depths of a cave.
I hurled the torch toward the room's interior.
Whirrr-
It bounced off the wall and hit the ground.
Thud.
The area lit up like morning. A handheld flashlight couldn't compare.
An eerie sound came from behind Jang Yu.
-Graaaaaah!
"……"
A mutant zombie.
A brown-haired one caged behind iron bars like an animal pen.
The door was open; it crawled out slowly.
Limping badly—clearly, the virus had taken full control of its brain.
No human speech, body fully browned.
Jang Yu backed up slowly as if to block us, baring sharp fangs.
"Grrr…… Now that you're here…… None of you are leaving alive."