Karma (4)
Leading the villa survivors into the subway station, Han Sora and Park Seeun forgot even that their voices would echo — and froze in pure shock.
"I-it's so dark...!"
"And this stench — ugh...!"
Park Seeun made no effort to hide it, clamping a hand over her nose and twisting her face in disgust.
The other survivors were no different. This was already a ruined world, a zombie apocalypse where corpses littered the streets — the smell outside was hardly mild. But deeper inside the station, it was far worse. Not just the reek of rot, but the raw, vivid stench of blood vibrating through the air. An underground space with almost no light, sealed off from the world — a perfect, nightmarish cocktail of everything foul.
"E-everyone, please turn on your flashlights!"
"Ugh, the smell... and I can't see an inch in front of me. Unnie, can you see anything?"
"Th-there's no light at all..."
An Archer's vision was excellent, that much was certain — but even that meant nothing in a space without a single scrap of light. Back when she'd helped Jeong Hoon infiltrate the Yumin Building, there'd at least been moonlight, and he'd uploaded screenshots so she could map the interior. Here, there was nothing. Not a glimmer.
Fortunately, the survivors had prepared for exactly this. Flashlights and lamps to hang on the walls. Korean subway stations were cluttered with every kind of junk imaginable, and more importantly, the architecture was full of fixtures perfect for hanging or mounting things.
Along the path leading deeper into the station — toward the actual tracks — the survivors spaced out lamps at intervals, marking the way.
And the moment they finally stepped into the boarding area itself, they found the source of the stench.
"U-ugh..."
"Th-they're all piled up like that... no wonder it smells."
Monsters were clustered along one side of the tracks. Thankfully, the boarding platform itself was clean. The boundary of the Safe Zone seemed to cut off at just the right place.
"Th-that way... looks like the direction toward Seoul."
"Thought so, right?"
The two women nodded as they looked toward the densely packed monsters. Training in this subway station had two goals.
First, obviously, was improving the survivors' combat skills. Second was gauging whether the underground tunnels could serve as a viable route to Seoul.
"H-how many lamps do we have left?"
"Four remaining."
"G-good. I-I'll send party invites to everyone."
They hadn't split into separate parties for this expedition — every survivor was in a single group. A precaution against anyone getting lost or separated.
"W-we're starting..."
Starting without Seyeon unnie's buffs... I'm more nervous than I expected...
Even carrying that unease, three arrows left Sora's bow—
Thwip. Thwip. Thwip!
—and buried themselves cleanly in three zombies' skulls.
Flashlights lit the way. Sora fired. Then, without hesitation, they stepped beyond the Safe Zone boundary. Naturally, the zombies packed into the narrow tracks came charging.
"Uwaaaaaagh...!"
"Not a chance!"
CRACK!
But at her side stood a Level 12 Warrior, ready to protect her.
Park Seeun smashed a baseball bat into the skulls of two zombies that lunged at them in an instant.
Like that, Han Sora and Park Seeun took the lead and guided the group forward. Of course, two people alone couldn't shield everyone. So the Blacksmiths who'd hit Level 10 stepped up.
"Hyaaah!"
CRUNCH!
A woman's hammer slammed squarely into a zombie's head. The skull caved in on impact, and the creature toppled. The woman who'd swung the hammer wrinkled her nose slightly — but that was all.
In Brave Saga Online, the Blacksmith class was originally a production job, perfect for an alt character. Sure, it came with Hammer Handling and Blunt Weapon Mastery from the start, but early on the stats were too low to be useful in a real fight.
Past Level 10, though — once stamina and stats had some real weight behind them — a Blacksmith was a different story. Not at Park Seeun's level, carving through packs of zombies like a one-woman army. But cracking open a zombie's skull? That much, they could manage.
Whoosh! CRACK! SNAP!
Park Seeun shattered a zombie's spine in a single blow, then shone her flashlight ahead.
"No subway cars up front. I think we can go a little deeper."
"O-okay. How long... has it been?"
Seeun pulled out her phone. It was connected to a portable battery pack.
"Five minutes since we started. Let's push another fifty and then head back?"
"H-how does that sound?"
Sora turned to check with the other survivors.
The people still grimacing at the stench nodded in agreement. These were people who'd come here specifically to overcome an environment this horrific. If they'd been the type to quit now, they never would have started.
And so the group pressed deeper, farther from XX-gu.
With no idea whatsoever what kind of monster waited at the end of the line.
"...What's with that bastard?"
Standing beside Seo Hyejin, keeping the ragtag survivors in check, I caught a strange presence out of the corner of my eye.
A man in glasses. He was among their group, technically — but he kept fidgeting, restless and out of place.
No — looking closer, his clothes were in relatively good shape, and he didn't look half-starved either.
...Suspicious.
"Kim Seyeon, a moment."
"Ah — yes?"
After excusing myself to Kim Seyeon, I slipped away from their side.
Using my Agility of 18, I closed the distance to the bespectacled man in a flash.
"Wh—huh!?"
The second I got close, I was certain. This bastard... it was him!
GRAB!
"W-waaah!"
The man in glasses shrieked as I seized him by the collar.
My sudden aggression drew every eye among the surrounding ragtag survivors. I'd prepared an excuse. I glared at them and spoke low.
"I know this man."
It wasn't a lie. The fact that Lawful Good hadn't lifted a finger was proof enough. I had seen this bastard before.
When? Two days ago.
Who? One of that Kim Suhyeok bastard's gang.
I hauled him in by the collar and growled into his ear, voice thick with threat.
"Why are you here? These people... did you put them up to this?"
"Hiiik! I-I... I'm not— I didn't—!"
He trembled so hard anyone could see he was terrified. Couldn't even form a proper answer.
Fine. Too many eyes right now... I kept my grip on his collar and dragged him along.
"U-uaaagh... wh-what kind of strength—!"
"H-holy..."
"How is he that strong!?"
The other survivors stared like I was some kind of monster as I hauled a full-grown man along like he weighed nothing and returned to Seo Hyejin and Kim Seyeon's side.
I didn't care in the slightest.
Why? Because my gut feeling was very, very bad. Right now, nothing existed in my head except interrogating this bastard with Seo Hyejin and Kim Seyeon.
And that bad feeling became reality.
"Jeong Hoon? This man is..."
"Two days ago — one of the men who came with that fellow named Kim Suhyeok. His face was far too familiar."
"...Ah. Glasses, checkered shirt... yes, I definitely recognize him."
Seo Hyejin busied herself sweet-talking the ragtag survivors and dispersing them. Naturally, the interrogation fell to me and Kim Seyeon.
We found a chair nearby, forced him into it, and pressed him hard.
"What business do you have inserting yourself here? No — let me guess. These people coming to find us... you lot put them up to it, didn't you?"
I laid out my suspicion without hesitation and fixed the bespectacled man with a stare. He shrank into himself, shaking violently. Even so, he managed a clear answer.
"Th-th-th... y-yes! Y-you're right. W-we... o-our boss... Suhyeok told us to..."
"Just as I thought."
Kim Seyeon let out a long sigh.
"Haa... I don't particularly want to know, but why would you do something like that?"
"Answer. If you want to walk away with your body intact."
I cracked my knuckles beside him. His face went deathly pale, like he might pass out on the spot.
And then he spilled.
"Hiiiiiik! I-it's... S-Suhyeok... he... he wants to f-fuck Han Sora—"
"What...!?"
I flooded him with killing intent for daring to use that kind of language in front of me. He scrambled to revise his wording.
"N-no no! I-I mean... Suhyeok wanted... r-revenge? Y-yeah, revenge on Han Sora... but y-you and... that hot chick with the glasses next to you— n-no no! The beautiful woman with glasses... y-you two were too strong...! So he cooked up a plan to split your attention...!"
...So that Kim Suhyeok bastard's brain isn't entirely made of muscle. Coming up with a plan to divide our forces.
"Wait a moment, Jeong Hoon. If what this man is saying is true...!?"
Kim Seyeon grabbed my arm, her face pale with alarm.
Right. Just as that bastard planned, our forces had been split. Which meant—
"Y-y-yes! Th-that's why... I-I came here! Y-yeah! Th-those bastards... r-right now... they're going after Sora for revenge... and the other women too, to f-fuc— to h-hurt them... heading to the subway station...!"
I didn't wait for him to finish.
I kicked off the ground. Threw one last line over my shoulder at Kim Seyeon.
"I leave Seo Hyejin in your care!"
There was only one destination.
The XX-gu subway station.
And only one purpose.
To rip the throat out of the bastard who dared lay a hand on my woman...!
"A taboo... this day alone, I shall not hesitate to break it!"
Roaring with the kind of righteous fury that belonged in the Middle Ages — the full-throated cry of Lawful Good itself.
...The sounds are wrong.
How many monsters had they killed while moving?
Advancing through the long, narrow subway tunnel with the survivors, Sora felt a creeping sense of unease.
Their number was seventeen. Subtracting Jeong Hoon, Kim Seyeon, and the Gumiho— no, Seo Hyejin — left behind on the surface, exactly seventeen.
But her hyper-sharpened hearing was picking up more footsteps than that.
Zombies, maybe?
No. Not zombies.
These footsteps were far heavier... denser.
For a split second she wondered if it was a moving subway train — but that was impossible.
Then what on earth...
"Um... Han Sora-ssi?"
Someone tapped Sora's shoulder while she was still puzzling over the strange sounds.
Startled out of her thoughts, Sora flinched and turned. It was one of the Illusionist-class women who'd been hanging back in the rear. Her face was tight with tension as she spoke.
"W-what's wrong?"
"B-behind us... I keep hearing footsteps. At first I wasn't sure what it was, but... it's not just one or two people. I can even hear voices!"
"W-wha...!? Footsteps?"
At that absurd claim, Han Sora's mind went blank — like someone had poured bleach straight through her skull.
No — I'm already going crazy over those weird footsteps ahead, and now there are footsteps behind us too?
Fortunately, Sora had a reliable savior at her side. Park Seeun tilted her head and asked back.
"Isn't it just Hoon oppa, Seyeon unnie, and Hyejin unnie?"
But the answer was a firm no. The woman even shook her head as she denied it.
"A-absolutely not! There were way more than three people! I thought something was off too, but I was too scared to..."
It was suspicious enough that both Han Sora and Park Seeun instinctively knew they couldn't just let it slide.
"I-I'll go check."
"What the hell... okay, everyone hold position. Keep watch on the surroundings, and if anything happens, fall back first, got it?"
After giving those instructions, the two of them walked toward the rear of the group.
They hadn't gone far before the sound brushed their ears. Footsteps — no question.
"—,—!"
"—,—ga?"
No — voices, too. And the moment they heard those voices, both women's faces went deathly pale.
That's not two women and one man.
Those are the voices of multiple men.
"How deep did these bitches go— huh?"
"Over there! I see someone!"
And through the lamps Han Sora's group had hung along the walls, the identities of the approaching figures were laid bare.
Han Sora and Park Seeun instinctively stumbled backward.
Especially Han Sora — the moment she saw the man at the very front, her breath caught in her throat.
"Heeey... long time no see. Hmm? Han Sora."
That athletic buzz cut. That expression flooding with delight the instant he laid eyes on her. How could she not recognize it?
The moment she'd spotted his friend Youngsu, her heart had hammered wildly and the world had spun before her eyes.
And now the exact same symptoms were crashing over her all at once.
"Han Sora... you little bitch. Living pretty well, huh? Looking at that healthy glow on your face. Hmm?"
Kim Suhyeok.
The root of Han Sora's trauma had shown his face.