Central Library (4)

After swapping shifts with Seo Taesan, I lay staring into empty space, using a hardcover dictionary for a pillow.

Hmm. So I just have to tap something and it builds?

I tried tapping the Prayer Room first.

Next I tapped the Restrooms under Amenities.

Okay, I understood how to use it.

Religious facilities managed the inflow of Faith Points and the believers themselves, while constructing amenities gave them a taste of comfort. The whole structure was, in essence, a prison you wouldn't want to escape from.

When I tapped again, a 3D map of the library floated up before me. And a restroom colored in red moved this way and that at my gesture. So as long as the conditions were met, that red would turn green and the facility would be installed wherever I wanted.

Good. Starting tomorrow, I'd need to farm Faith Points a lot more aggressively.

With that small resolution, I closed the Sanctuary Management tab and looked up at the ceiling. The time displayed on my minimap had just passed nine at night.

Under normal circumstances, this would be the hour when society hummed even more busily than in the morning. Neon signs flashing and stinging the eyes, streets that made the phrase "city that never sleeps" feel like an understatement. Bars that should have been overflowing with office workers mid-company-dinner and the loud laughter of men and women shouting over each other. The horns of cars weaving through downtown and somebody's drunken rampage.

And me — I'd be getting ready for my shift, waiting for my night job to start. That was the everyday life that had made me who I was. That dull but peaceful daily routine had vanished as ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠if it had all been a fleeting dream.

Silence.

Now even the cannon fire and gunshots that had greeted the mornings had stopped, and this perfect silence was telling me something. That those days would never come again.

And yet, in this age of despair, I felt something closer to exhilaration. The euphoria of killing zombies. The omnipotence I felt as my skills climbed. The sense of superiority that came from observing everything from above someone's head. And on top of all that, a woman's soft, supple hands.

The specialness I had never been allowed to enjoy was finally mine. As sorry as I felt for the dead of this world — no, honestly, even the apology was a lie — I was enjoying this situation so much I couldn't fall asleep. My head kept churning, over and over, with nothing but plans for making Yoon Ayoung mine, and this camp along with her.

I felt my sleeping consciousness slowly returning. Someone was approaching me with quiet footsteps. When I gradually opened my eyes, complete darkness still greeted me. It wasn't morning, and no one had come to wake me.

Which meant it was either someone with business with me — or a zombie. Neither boded well for me.

Keeping an eye on the minimap, I readied my telekinesis.

"O-oh, oh, Oppa."

The moment I confirmed Yoon Ayoung's name on the minimap, her voice reached my ears. Far too distant and small to be an attempt to wake me. I stayed silent, giving no reaction, and waited for her next move.

Creeping closer, she took my shoulder and shook it.

"Oppa… w-wake up, please."

"…Ayoung?"

"…Yes."

I rose slowly and shone a flashlight drawn from my inventory onto her. She flinched at the floating flashlight and then began trembling all over, nonstop.

A completely different reaction from when we'd kept watch together and she'd watched my telekinesis with wide eyes. She'd even smiled like she was enjoying herself when I lifted her body off the ground.

Still glancing around uneasily, she drew nearer to me. Yoon Ayoung clutched the hem of my clothes and whispered.

"The m-monster came again. It's really, really close. It m-might come here any second."

She had sensed a crisis.

With a hand overflowing with ulterior motives, I stroked her head and calmed her down.

"It's okay. It's going to be okay. I'm right here, so don't worry about a thing."

Watching Yoon Ayoung's trembling gradually subside, I studied the minimap. There had been no hostile entry into the library yet. Which meant something was lurking just near it.

Whether it's a zombie or a mutant, I'd better go take a look.

Continuing to let her know I was right beside her, I wrapped a hand around her shoulder. She flinched again — you'd think she'd be used to it by now — and as I watched her do it, a thought crossed my mind.

What if this hand went somewhere lower than her shoulder, somewhere far more precious? Would she accept it wordlessly then, just like now? I was dying to know.

But first things first — I had to deal with this annoying situation. We began walking in the direction Yoon Ayoung indicated, the flashlight I floated lighting up the darkened space. Her footsteps led toward the first floor.

As we entered the first floor, I caught the floating flashlight with the hand that had been on her shoulder.

"Wh-what? W-why are you…"

At the sound of Lee Gyeongmin, startled by our sudden descent, I scanned the surroundings. The scene that met my eyes was truly a spectacle. A few snack bags rolling across the table, and a smartphone clutched in Lee Gyeongmin's hand. A portable battery pack, plugged into the phone, sat beside it.

An absolute bottom-tier loser. First-class certified.

"H-hahaha. W-well, you see…"

Ignoring Lee Gyeongmin as he hurried to fire up his excuses, I asked Yoon Ayoung.

"This is the place?"

"…Th-this is the cl-closest spot."

At our conversation echoing through the lobby, Lee Gyeongmin's expression turned sharply cold.

"W-wait a second. If sh-she came, then… Sh-shit!"

THUD—

The moment Lee Gyeongmin grabbed the hiking stick lying abandoned on the table was the same moment the bookshelf barricading the door collapsed. Something that had torn through the shelf in a single burst came flying — literally — straight at Lee Gyeongmin. A zombie with grotesquely, abnormally developed thighs that instantly drew the eye.

"KYEEEEEEEEK!"

"U-UWAAAAAAAH!"

In an instant, the zombie mounted Lee Gyeongmin like a rider taking a saddle, and the hiking stick wedged itself into its gaping maw. A desperate struggle began between Lee Gyeongmin's quivering arms as he screamed, and a zombie dead set on devouring him.

Kik-kik—

Unable to withstand the zombie's bite force, the hiking stick was slowly bending.

A mutant.

From Lee Gyeongmin's perspective, the luck could not have been worse. A mutant clearly capable of special ambush attacks — against a first-class bottom-feeder who couldn't even handle an ordinary zombie. This was a cattle-slaughtering knife being swung at a chicken.

I felt bad for our poor, innocent chicken of a cripple, but what could you do? I lacked the magnanimity of a Kang San, who'd keep even a broken thing like that around.

Honestly, dying like this wouldn't be so bad for him. A so-called honorable death, you might say.

The indefatigable veteran Lee Gyeongmin. Departing this world via ambush at the hands of a mutant zombie instead of an ordinary one.

Lee Gyeongmin squirmed desperately, trying somehow to escape the mutant's mounted position. As the hiking stick bowed lower and lower, his head turned to the side — as if averting his eyes from the death closing in on him.

Then Lee Gyeongmin's gaze met Yoon Ayoung's. The resignation that had filled his eyes rapidly boiled over into something else entirely. I could see the resentment and curses brimming in his eyeballs.

"HEEERRR! THAT F-FUCKING BITCH! I-I WAS RIGHT! I WAS RIGHT, WASN'T IIIIII!"

"H-hiiiik!"

Trembling harder than she ever had before, Yoon Ayoung threw herself into my arms of her own accord. And at the sight, a flash of inspiration struck my brain.

"KYEEEEEEK!"

"Gyeongmin! Move!"

The mutant's head, a hair's breadth from slamming down onto Lee Gyeongmin's body, locked in place under powerful telekinesis.

WHISH—

With a sound of cleaving wind, the distance between the mutant and me collapsed explosively. My body slam detonated against the startled creature's torso — though truthfully, it was a telekinesis burst dressed up as a body slam.

CRASH—

Staring at the mutant smashed into the collapsed bookshelf, I picked up the hiking stick lying on the floor. It was bent well beyond proper use, but it beat holding nothing. With the stick gripped in my right hand, I positioned myself in front of Lee Gyeongmin, shielding him.

"KYEEEEEEK!"

The mutant's body heaved amid the shards of the broken shelf. I could see its thighs contracting sharply and then swelling. It didn't seem to have any special ability like the 'baby mutant' had. More likely a pure combat-type mutant, a mass of solid muscle. It must have pounced on prey with terrifying speed exploding out of those developed thighs.

The telekinesis of my Mimic Holy Body, boasting double efficiency thanks to the Sanctuary's effect, began pressing the mutant down.

"K-KYEEEEEEEK!"

Desperate to break free of the telekinesis, the mutant started thrashing wildly. I hurriedly checked the minimap.

Fuck, hurry up and get down here.

There was no way all this noise hadn't carried upstairs. Sure enough, I could see Kang San's and Seo Taesan's name tags sprinting this way.

"Gyeongmin!"

Hearing Kang San's urgent bellow, I let out a deliberate battle cry.

"HYAAAAAH!"

Then I began charging at the mutant at a speed an ordinary human could plausibly produce.

"KYEEEEEEK!"

The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠mutant, pinned by telekinesis, screamed its last defiant shriek. It thrashed its whole body again and again, but my telekinesis ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was just a little stronger.

"Die, you bastard!"

The stick plunged into the mutant's skull, and a message window appeared.

Tap— tap—

Amid all this, I checked on the oil drums still faithfully burning away. So the mutant hadn't come here by pure chance after all.

"G-Gyeongmin! Are you okay?"

"Nobody goes near Gyeongmin!"

Kang San, rushing to Lee Gyeongmin in a panic, faltered at Seong Gaeul's words. Seong Gaeul, staring at the shell-shocked, vacant-eyed Lee Gyeongmin, addressed me.

"…Was he bitten?"

"No. It's definitely dead."

"…Were you bitten?"

"Hmm, obviously not me, and Gyeongmin probably wasn't bitten either."

"I'd like to believe that."

Seong Gaeul handed spare hiking sticks to Kang San and Seo Taesan, then spoke ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠again.

"Stay right there and don't move for five minutes."

"Five minutes and you'll know for certain, huh?"

"Based on everything I've seen so far, yes."

I gave a shrug and nodded.

"Fair enough."

When the ice-cold five minutes had passed, Kang San let out a sigh of relief and ran to Lee Gyeongmin.

"Gyeongmin! You okay? What the hell happened!"

"U-uugh… h-hyung?"

"Yeah! It's me, Kang San hyung. Are you back with us?"

"My h-head…"

Lee Gyeongmin grimaced hard, clutching his head — and then his eyes turned toward Yoon Ayoung.

"H-have to kill her. H-have to…"

"What are you saying all of a sudden? Gyeongmin? Lee Gyeongmin?"

"W-we have to kill that girl! I-I was right, wasn't I! I was right! How many times has that f-fucking bitch nearly gotten me killed already!"

In an instant, the group's gazes all converged on Yoon Ayoung. She hunched in on herself and began slowly backing away. And at the sight, an irrepressible burst of laughter escaped me.

"Have to kill her! We have to kill her! That fucking bitch is the one who summons the mutants! She's a witch! She's been a witch all along! A fucking witch!"

And so the modern-day witch hunt had come again.