Next Time, Tomorrow Is Guaranteed (2)
Next Time, Tomorrow Is Guaranteed (2) — Marin Hotel, Jung-gu District, Incheon
A fist snapped forward. CRACK! The zombie's head burst into fragments and scattered across the floor. Headless, it crumpled—and another zombie immediately lunged into the gap it left behind.
Shim Soyoung answered by driving her opposite fist straight through the air.
PWHACK!
As chunks of flesh hit the ground, she rolled her eyes toward the next attacker. More zombies were already taking the place of those that had fallen. She kicked backward against the floor and opened the distance between them.
Somewhere behind us, the Baby maintained its unbroken, piercing wail, and the zombies kept gathering in answer. If there was one thing the dead feared most, it was probably that.
“WAAAH— WAAAH—!”
The zombies surged toward Shim Soyoung and collapsed beneath her blows one after another. Their owner had a hot streak going, but...
Another impact rang through the lobby.
She yielded ground again, her sharp breaths coming faster with every exchange. One awakened human could make a wreck of the dead when their body itself became a weapon, but numbers would always favor a horde. No matter how strong she was, Shim Soyoung lacked the power to break that equation.
As if praising her attendants, I rubbed Kim Jian's backside while she worked the nipple opposite the one Go Hyemi was handling. The novice priestesses lavished me with enthusiastic attention while I kept watching the battle.
“Mmm—nch—nnn—!”
Go Hyemi rolled her tongue and squeezed with her lips, far more dedicated than the service required.
“Oh—hnn— Cult Leader-nim—”
Their shameless flattery left me free to observe the fight. The Steroid was doing more to shift the battlefield than the ordinary zombies, grabbing the ones around it and hurling them like garbage. Its burning gaze followed Shim Soyoung as she edged toward the hotel entrance, her shoulders heaving with each ragged breath.
At first glance, the fight looked like a slaughter, but from beginning to end, Shim Soyoung had been holding back the zombies' waves. The Steroid kept throwing bodies at her from a safe distance, steadily draining her strength.
“It's about time I headed down.”
“Huh? What?”
Go Hyemi blinked at me with a dazed expression. She looked less like someone giving a massage and more like the one receiving it.
I slowly looked over the novice priestesses surrounding me. Each of them breathed sweetly against my skin, their excitement as automatic as Pavlov's dogs.
Every last one of them was a woman with my semen filling her womb. By now, the part of them that mattered most would be filled with me alone. Not their own painful pasts. Not even Shim Soyoung. Only me—Han Guwon.
“Shim Soyoung looks a little dangerous out there. Would you retie the knot in my cult robes?”
“Ah! Yes, sir!”
Only then did Go Hyemi seem to recover from her surprise. She carefully tightened the robes I had left loose and tied the knot in place. The other novice priestesses hurriedly smoothed the wrinkles from my ceremonial clothes and restored my appearance.
“Cult Leader-nim,” Kim Jian said, “I kept telling Soyoung-unnie that you weren't a bad person. I did everything you told me to do.”
I looked down and replied without the slightest warmth.
“Good work, our Jian.”
“Aaaaah— Cult Leader-nim!”
Her cry of gratitude was as if I had granted her the entire world. I looked over the priestesses once more and gave them my instruction.
“All of you do only what I tell you. Understood?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good. Kim Jian will be last tonight.”
“Aaaaah— thank you, thank you, Cult Leader-nim!”
Tonight, I would have Kim Jian attend to me before I slept. The other priestesses watched her tear up with joy, then quietly bit their lips. I smiled at Go Hyemi as she stepped back with exaggerated care, then headed down the stairs.
I crossed the broad lobby slowly, waiting for the right moment.
“Hah— Haaah—!”
Shim Soyoung's increasingly ragged cries filled the air. Thanks to her, I could see her desperate struggle as she finally came into view. I charged at the Steroid just as she was sent flying like an arrow.
She bounced twice with a hollow thump, thump, then struck my foot before finally coming to a stop. Clutching her stomach, she raised her bloodshot eyes toward me with a poisonous glare.
Red mana flared around her again. She was stronger than before, but not nearly strong enough.
“GRRRAAAAAH—!”
The victorious Steroid turned its bloodshot gaze on our newly arrived group.
“WAAAH— WAAAH—!”
With Shim Soyoung out of position, the zombies poured through the gap in our defense. Then she noticed the novice priestesses lined up behind me and erupted.
“Why did you come out?! I told you to stay inside!”
Not one of them moved. They stayed behind me despite the zombies and Shim Soyoung screaming on either side.
“Everyone—get back to your rooms! Go back—khkh—!”
Even so, she forced herself to stand. Her arms and legs trembled, yet her desperate, pained resolve was unmistakable.
She had to know it in her bones. The endless waves of zombies were already flooding the lobby again, and the Steroid stood against them despite being in no condition to fight.
A chill of defeat settled in her chest. It was obvious that, whether she lived to see tomorrow or not, she would lose today.
Even in that moment of utter despair, Shim Soyoung looked right through me as though I were invisible. I smiled at her.
At least she's got some personality.
“GRRRAAAAAH—!”
The horde had nearly reached us. I stepped past Soyoung, who staggered badly enough to be pitiful, and raised my right hand.
WHOOOOOM—
The zombies froze in their charge, their rotten bodies and lolling jaws suspended in my telekinetic grip. The endless tide stopped.
With a sweep of my hand, I threw them aside like Moses parting the sea. The sightline opened, revealing the Baby wailing in front of the hotel as though someone had dumped it there.
Its cry decrescendod into the distance.
I had no intention of killing a mutant infant so useful and convenient. That was something worth keeping for later.
After returning it to the roof of the building, I looked back.
Shim Soyoung was trembling without a word. It wasn't fear that filled her body. A deeper red glow rose around her, and her eyes were brimming with humiliation and shame.
“What?” I asked.
She bit her lip without answering. I smiled at her.
“Why don't you go ahead and claim victory?”
Blood popped from her split lip. Her bloodshot gaze swept across the zombies suspended in my grasp, the Steroid glaring with its mouth sealed shut, and the survivors behind us watching quietly.
Her shaking hand closed into a fist. She walked straight past my outstretched hand and punched the first zombie she encountered, knocking its head from its body. The headless corpse hit the floor and convulsed.
CRACK!
She moved from zombie to zombie, killing them one after another, until she finally reached the Steroid.
“GRRRH—! GRRRHHH—!”
“Aim for the head. You know that, right?”
“...”
Her body trembled even harder, but she launched herself forward and crushed the monster's skull with her fist.
KOOOOM—!
The last enemy hit the ground and raised a cloud of dust. Watching the mutant fall so easily left Shim Soyoung churning through emotions she couldn't name. She suppressed the boiling feeling in her stomach and looked around.
It was a victory.
No. This isn't a victory.
It was defeat. Complete, flawless defeat—the worst defeat imaginable. Had she gritted her teeth and fought to the absolute bitter end, it wouldn't have ended this way. I would never permit an ending that open.
The only ending I could give her was a bad ending beyond imagination.
“I thought you might need these.”
I pulled a towel and a bottle of water from my inventory and sent them flying toward her. The woman, whose face looked like a demon smeared with zombie blood and flesh, slashed them aside.
FWIP—
The towel and water floated before her again. She stared at them, then raised her eyes to me.
After a long exchange of glances, she clenched her teeth and pointed toward the hotel entrance.
“Get out.”
That was the most mercy she could offer.
I gave a quiet laugh and looked behind me. At my signal, the novice priestesses rushed forward and surrounded her.
“No! Why should you decide that by yourself?”
“Exactly! If you're going out, then we're going too!”
They clustered around me as if they were defending me from her.
Shim Soyoung stared at them in disbelief, her mouth falling open. The priestesses hurried over and smothered her protests.
“The Cult Leader is the benefactor of our lives! You can't keep treating him so rudely!”
“Exactly! While you were unconscious, that man fed us, gave us clothes, bathed us, and gave us everything we need!”
Only then did Shim Soyoung really look at the survivors gathered around her.
Their complexions had grown remarkably healthy. Every one of them wore the same style of pristine white clothes. Glossy lips, a faint pink blush—Shim Soyoung stared at all of it in shock.
“...You all put on makeup, too?”
They answered her question with shy smiles and quiet nods.
Only at that moment did she understand. The people surrounding her were no longer the helpless survivors she remembered. No way. Something had happened while she'd been unconscious—something massive.
“Everyone, calm down for a moment, okay?”
“Sis, aren't you hungry? Let's go inside and eat all the delicious food Cult Leader-nim gave us! We have rose tteokbokki—spicy rice cakes in a creamy pink sauce—as well as pizza and chicken feet! Do you like spicy chicken feet?”
They dragged Shim Soyoung toward the stairs, but she remained too shocked and unsettled to focus. Halfway up, she suddenly turned her head and glared back at me.
Yeah. None of the real problem had been solved. This was nothing more than a temporary patch.
At this rate, they'll be here within the hour.
I shrugged toward her and smiled.
“I heard everything about where you and Jeong Seonga went!”
“Haha— Really?”
I was staying in a Sweet Room in the Purple Wing. Kang Jihye sat beside me, talking with me as she pouted with exaggerated dissatisfaction.
“I was going to ask when my turn came too—why of all times did it have to be my turn—”
“It doesn't matter. You'll be living there soon enough.”
I gently slid my hand along her thigh and offered her a bottle of water.
“Mmm—”
She drained the entire bottle in one go and released a sweet whimper.
“Ahhhh— Cult Leader-nim—”
Her voice had grown syrupy, as if she were dazed by a drug, while her legs slowly drew apart. I stroked her soft, plump thigh and waited for the visitor scheduled to arrive.
THUD—! THUD—!
Heavy footsteps approached from far down the hall. The visitor thrust the door open and crossed the foyer into the living room. Seeing us seated on the sofa, she bit her lip.
“Hmm— Soyoung, have you already eaten everything?”
Kang Jihye smiled sweetly at Shim Soyoung, who had come to my Sweet Room. Her eyes moved between Kang Jihye and my hand, idly tracing her thigh.
Shim Soyoung clenched her trembling fist and opened her mouth.
“I haven't eaten anything. Sis, why are you here? Go back to the Blue Wing right now.”
Kang Jihye said nothing and looked at me. I nodded twice.
Only with my permission did she rise, but before leaving, she turned back to Soyoung.
“She's truly kind and considerate. Please don't be rude to her, Soyoung.”
Shim Soyoung's fist shook even harder. The moment Kang Jihye's footsteps faded down the corridor, she spoke.
“What are you planning?”
I calmly held out a bottle of water.
“Want a drink?”
Her eyes narrowed, but she ignored the offer.
“What are you planning?”
“You.”
Our gazes locked sharply. After a moment, I continued.
“And all of you.”
“What?”
I ignored her question and spoke as though the answer were obvious.
“You saw the happy faces, didn't you?”
She understood at once. No reassurance or gentle words could have given them the hope and vitality they were radiating. The survivors had worn that light on their faces like magic throughout the days she'd been unconscious.
“Teach me how.”
For the first time, her pupils trembled with something other than anger.
“I know,” I said. “Everything about this must feel completely confusing. It's not as if some Tess suddenly barged in to rape you or knock you unconscious. You wake up, and everyone has changed in the strangest possible way. The most unusual thing of all is...”
I extended a finger and gave it a lazy little wave.
“The most unusual thing is that you're perfectly fine. Even after being overpowered by the Tess.”
She flinched as though I'd struck the exact point that mattered most.
She hadn't been raped. She hadn't died. If our positions had been reversed, I would have killed them without hesitation.
She had never encountered a Tess who had remained impossible to kill for this long, one whose chances of survival were so pitiful. This entire situation was alien and unbearable to her.
“So what exactly are you planning?!”
That was all she could say in reply, circling uselessly around the question.
“I'm just telling you. I want you that much. I gave the survivors the stability and peace they wanted.”
I pointed to the table where Kang Jihye and I had eaten dinner.
Food still covered every inch of it. Shim Soyoung slowly raised her head and stared at the seat where Kang Jihye had been sitting.
She remembered the woman's face there, smiling so freely and brightly.
“I gave you a present today, too. It wasn't bad, was it?”
“What?”
“Even so, what will you do if one Steroid beats you bloody? What if two of them show up tomorrow?”
“So you did this on purpose, you bastard—!”
“Is that really so important?”
I reached out toward her. Instinctively, she shrank back. I snorted and withdrew my arm.
Once the rage rising inside her had subsided, I spoke again.
“You told the survivors that trials make people strong. Which means today was the day you became the strongest version of yourself, didn't it?”
“I gave you exactly the strength you've always wanted. The kind you need to kill half the world.”
Shim Soywon bit her lip as she looked at me, clearly wondering how much I knew.
I knew every word she had told the survivors, without missing a syllable.
“I don't need your help! I have no intention of becoming your underling, like some worthless Tess!”
Truly childish. Her hatred of men was so completely blind that the more blind it became, the better. Give that blindness even the slightest turn, and it became fanaticism.
“I understand. I know exactly how you feel. This ridiculous situation must be driving you crazy. You've never encountered anything this absurd before, have you?”
I could understand her position. If our roles were reversed, I would probably be losing my mind and jumping out of my skin.
She needed to kill me, but she couldn't. Yet all I did was speak strangely and refuse to kill her.
Shim Soyoung scowled at me, but she didn't refute a word. I could sense her wavering in response to the solution I had casually tossed out, and so I offered the sweetest possible reward for taking it.
“If you defeat me tomorrow, I'll never come looking for this place again. I won't lay a finger on your survivors either. Deal?”
“...”
Shim Soyoung turned her head with a low growl and walked out of the Sweet Room.
“Tomorrow, I'll kill you.”
I watched her back as she plotted her revenge and smiled brightly. As she stomped through the foyer, her flared bell-bottoms exposed a thin strip of flesh above her backside. I licked my lips and murmured.
“That tomorrow of yours is probably going to be the day after tomorrow.”
And that day after tomorrow became the next day.