Day of the Unbelievers (3)

"Give us this day our daily bread, please…"

The prayer hall seethed with the low, mumbled murmurings of people begging for a miracle.

In a space where every soul was praying, there was exactly one woman who was not.

Refined yet sharply defined features, hair gathered back so far it brushed her waist. Joo Joohye, who had sat with only her eyes closed beside those groaning in agony, finally opened them.

Before her loomed the giant cross.

It was not holiness that surged up first, but a thick, festering resentment, and she bit down on her lower lip.

Thud—

At that sound — disgustingly familiar by now — she picked up the candlestick beside her. The faint orange glow illuminated the old woman who had collapsed.

"Grandma. Grandma, can you hear me?"

"……"

Joohye hurriedly pressed her fingers beneath the old woman's nose. A breath, thin as a thread, tickled her fingertips.

"Haa…"

With that small relief came the memory. The face of the woman who had stepped forward to defend her when the others sneered and called her a pre-infected — saying she reminded her of her own youngest daughter, gone off to university in Seoul. That face and the one lying before her now had changed beyond all recognition.

"Grandma…"

She slowly kneaded the body that had been reduced to little more than bone. Only last week the old woman had still been muttering that she was hungry, wiping away cold sweat. Was this the end of the line, then? Her grandmother's limbs had gone rigid, like the branches of a withered tree.

"Just hold on a little longer. Rations come soon — you know they do."

Sergeant Kim, that bastard, would drag things to the very limit of the limit and then dole out food like he was performing an act of charity, same as he always had. All she could do was pray that her grandmother lasted until then.

Pray.

At the question echoing inside her, she let out a bitter laugh.

What am I supposed to pray for now? That God would give Grandma something to eat? That He would spare her life? Rather than beg desperately for things like that, it would be faster and more certain to get down on her knees before Sergeant Kim himself.

Right. Better to go talk to Sergeant Kim.

Having draped a blanket over her fallen grandmother, she rose to her feet. The great sanctuary was pointlessly enormous, as if to flaunt some vanished age of glory — and in a space where even the hall's own light couldn't fill the room, let alone any light from the world outside, the cross stood drowned in blackness.

Where are You, really?

In every moment when she had truly wanted to die, her parents had held her hand. They had gone to church together to pray, and murmured softly to her: The pain you're going through now, our daughter, is all pain you can bear. The trials God gives are His will, for your sake.

His will.

Her churning stomach rolled like a wave and spilled out fragments of that day. His faithful, diligent servants — more devout and more hardworking than anyone else in that church. Her own mother and father. Was it also His will that the zombies devoured them? Was that the trial she was meant to overcome? A gift?

Overwhelmed, Joo Joohye raised her middle finger at the cross.

She was hurrying out of the sanctuary when someone grabbed her ankle.

"J-Joohye! There you are!"

"Deaconess Shin. What's wrong?"

"It's Haewon! It's Haewon!"

Haewon was Deaconess Shin's daughter. Joohye slid her hands down the woman's shoulders, trying to calm her.

"Breathe. Tell me slowly."

"Th-that bastard took her! Dragged our Haewon away! I held him off as long as I could, but he— he took my daughter!"

From the woman's panicked rambling alone, Joohye understood the situation perfectly. Park Yeongjin, you son of a bitch. Using food as bait to satisfy his filthy lust again, no doubt. She could even guess roughly where he'd be.

"I'll go find out what's going on, so just stay calm and wait here."

"Oh, oh, you're the only one left I can count on. I'm so sorry I doubted you all this time… You're not a pre-infected at all — you're an angel sent by God… thank you, really…"

An angel. Joo Joohye was not the angel this woman wanted her to be, either. She had no confidence she could actually pull Haewon out of there, so she simply let an awkward smile play at the corner of her mouth. And seeing that smile, Deaconess Shin wiped her tears and slowly stood. A mother robbed of her daughter staggered back down the same path Joohye had come from.

Left alone in the darkness, the woman settled into a chair and clasped her hands together.

"Lord! Please, my daughter Haewon—"

Leaving behind a prayer that would never be answered, Joo Joohye pushed open the sanctuary door.

Creeeeak—

With the groan of old hinges, the third floor of Star Light Church greeted her. Unlike the sanctuary that depended on candlelight, here daylight kept her vision clear as she walked and climbed the stairs.

"Uuungh— uhn— nn—"

The moment she reached the fifth floor, the sobbing moans hit her ears. Joohye's face twisted at the sound.

"Wipe those tears if you don't wanna die. It's not like I'm forcing you, and I'm even giving you a meal ticket!"

A lewd, filthy stench drifted from the Young Adults' Room, its door left slightly ajar. At the revolting scene it implied, Joohye broke into a run.

"Damn, your face is seriously negative-tier! Should I put a bag over it? Hey! You follow orders as well as Joo Joohye does?"

The hand sliding quickly toward the doorknob stopped dead. She clenched the trembling fist — fear and fury shaking it together — then slammed the door open.

BANG—

"Hey! Park Yeongjin!"

"Shit, you scared me!"

Park Yeongjin, mid-thrust with a look of revolting concentration, froze. When Joohye spotted Haewon pinned beneath him, her eyes went red.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

"Ah, c'mon, we're into each other, a little sex between consenting people — why you making a federal case out of it? If you're not gonna put out, get lost."

The bastard scowled in irritation and flapped his hand dismissively. As he moved to start thrusting again, she seized him by the scruff of the neck — and he formed his fingers into a gun and leveled them at her.

"Ah, fucking hell! Why do you always have to push it? I coddle you because you're awakened, and now you think you're in my league?"

Bluish mana gathering at the tip of Park Yeongjin's index finger made Joohye stumble backward. The fear that had built up from watching his ability all this time came crashing in — but she did not retreat.

"You're the one who shouldn't push it, you pathetic loser! If you could actually kill me, you'd have fucked me and disposed of me ages ago. Wouldn't you?"

"Would I? Want to find out if a hole gets punched through that skull right now?"

He formed his free hand into a gun as well and aimed it at her. Cold sweat ran down her back at the blue light flickering on both index fingers. On her own, she could not rein in this insane creep. In the end, Joohye was forced to play her last card.

"If you kill me, do you think Sergeant Kim will just look the other way?"

"Haa… every single time, it's Sergeant Kim this, Sergeant Kim that."

And once again today, the man's one and only weakness did the trick. The blue light fizzled out, and he lowered his gun-shaped hands. Park Yeongjin, pulling his outer clothes back on in a half-hearted mess, spat a gob of phlegm at the collapsed Haewon.

Thk—

Even with the phlegm splattered across her chest, the girl said nothing — only kept shivering in her frail body.

"You didn't put out properly, so no meal ticket, like we agreed. If you want to curse someone, curse that young geezer bitch over there."

Watching him spew his filth to the very end and walk away, Joohye hurriedly threw the blanket beside her over Haewon.

"Are you okay?"

"U-unni… th-thank you…"

"I told you not to go out unless it was absolutely necessary…"

"I-I really had to pee… and the bathroom's already…"

Ever since the water and power had been cut, the single most miserable part of daily life was dealing with waste. The bathrooms were now so foul no human could set foot inside, so people had no choice but to relieve themselves somewhere in the outer corridors. And those moments were the perfect hunting window for the men.

"Get back to the sanctuary and stay with the others, fast. I have to go see Sergeant Kim."

"C-can't I come with you, unni?"

"…I'm sorry. The Elder collapsed again."

"Oh no — ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠this time it might really be serious…"

That even after what had just been done to her — something no woman could easily bear — she could still worry about someone else. Such a good kid…

"Anyway, get back before Park Yeongjin returns."

Joo Joohye stroked Haewon's hair slowly, then added those words as she stepped out of the Young Adults' Room. Beyond the fifth floor where the room stood, she climbed to the very top of Star Light Church — the sixth floor. Passing Harmony Hall, the kitchen and mess hall, she stopped before the Elder's Office tucked into the far left corner.

Knock. Knock.

"Come in."

A blunt, middle-aged man's voice. Joohye opened the office door slowly.

Sergeant Kim's eyes lifted from whatever he'd been studying intently at the desk and met hers. The soldier — sharply cut uniform, eyes steeped in cold — spoke.

"Come to think of it, the recon team's running a bit late."

"The Elder collapsed. Release some food to the people, even a little."

"Not a single day goes by without you asking. Doesn't it get tedious by now?"

His gaze swept over her as if to say, what's the problem with that? The name stitched on his uniform read Kim Joohyung. This cold-blooded ruler, who had casually told everyone to just call him Sergeant Kim, had appeared out of nowhere alongside a wrecked military vehicle. A man said to have fled alone, without a single subordinate or comrade, he had melted into the church in a matter of moments.

He won over the men, who had been seething at the hard labor dumped on them and the meager rewards, along with the people wrongly branded as pre-infected — and armed with the assortment of military rifles he'd supposedly carried out with him when he fled, he rose to become the church's absolute ruler in the blink of an eye.

And so began Sergeant Kim's cold, tyrannical reign. The supply distributions that had once gone to everyone equally were cut off; the men received rations first, and far more of them. Riding the explosive support of those men, he rapidly expanded his territory around the church. What's more, having already known about the existence of the awakened, he singled out the awakened — who had been smeared with the label "pre-infected" — for special treatment and bought their favor.

Every zombie discovered during search operations was put down by the rifles gripped in awakened hands. The church that had once huddled together in prayer, barely enduring this hell, no longer existed. There was only a kingdom of madness, where Sergeant Kim was king and the awakened were its nobles.

"That's a fraction of what's piled up like a mountain in the kitchen! Releasing even a little of it wouldn't hurt you!"

"That's our reserve! Whatever happens, we hold it to the very end!"

The rod Sergeant Kim carried jabbed into Joohye's shoulder. He watched her step backward with each thrust, then spoke again — his voice booming through the room.

"Those people are already receiving more than adequate compensation just by being alive. Keep that in mind, Joo Joohye."

"…Then pay me what I'm owed for cooperating all this time. I've earned that much, haven't I?"

She knew. She knew exactly why Sergeant Kim's men and the awakened could expand the territory like a pack of rampaging beasts — and the reason, eight parts out of ten, was her skill.

Thanks to the monstrous utility of this skill, she had been able to stay safe from the men's playground games.

"If you won't compensate me, then I won't share my 'keyword' with you or your men anymore."

"Hmm. Fine. What was today's 'operation name' again?"

No matter how many times she told him it was a keyword, not an operation name, he never bent. Watching him stay perfectly composed in the face of her threat, Joohye moistened her dry throat with spit.

"…'A World Full of Grace.'"

"Oh, you can always tell a Christian upbringing — it shows up even in your operation names."

It wasn't her Christian upbringing that showed. It was that in this world, she was practically the only person left who could even come up with a keyword like that.

"…Don't change the subject. Are you paying me or not? I'd prefer food, if possible."

"Hmmm…"

Sergeant Kim waved a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sheet of paper in front of her. Looking down at the paper — her own stats written out in fine detail — her eyes wavered.

"You're being compensated plenty already… or did you somehow not notice?"

At those quiet, skin-crawling words, Joohye thought of the collapsed Elder and of Haewon, violated upstairs. Whatever it was Sergeant Kim had just shown her rippled through her like a stone dropped into water already shaking violently.

"I'm even specially guarding the only family you have left."

In Sergeant Kim's hand, the grandmother's cross earrings swung gently. Ever since her ability had come to light, Joohye had been forced to live apart from her ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠grandmother and grandfather — the only family she had left. All to guard against ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the possibility that she might share her keyword with them and run.

"Joohye. Your grandmother took my hand and told me — her name means 'the grace of the Lord,' so take good care of her."

"…You son of a bitch."

If only she'd had any other option. If only there had been any other way to breathe, she wouldn't have to use her skill for a bastard like him. She could feel mana seeping out of her trembling body. Blue light wrapped around Joo Joohye, and the recon team's members materialized around her.

"Uuuuugh! S-Sergeeeeaant!"

The returning recon team was in a strange state. The men who had been groaning with their eyes squeezed shut grabbed at the hem of Sergeant Kim's trousers the instant they saw his face. His sharp eyes flicked over them, assessing.

"Jinhyun's missing."

"S-Sergeant! We have to run! We need to leave this place right now!"

Surprise crossed Joo Joohye's face as she watched them. The faces of men who strutted around fondling women every day had gone so pale it was as if they'd been painted white.

"W-we shouldn't have gone north!"

"Our squad leader got killed in one shot! L-look at this rifle!"

Sergeant Kim lifted the rifle slung over the shoulder of one of the men still screaming. A K2 rifle, bent badly out of shape by some unfathomable force. Sergeant Kim's voice went thin as a snake's.

"Who?"

His eyes swept rapidly across the recon team. One of them, eyes rolling wildly, spat the words out like he was having a seizure.

"H-he said he was a cult leader! Said he was the leader of some Church of Salvation or whatever, that bastard—!"

BOOOOM—

Before the man could even finish, the ceiling shook. Something had struck the rooftop with tremendous force.

"H-hiiiiik! He's here, he's come! Sergeant! Wh-where's Yeongjin?! Get Yeongjin, quick!"

Sergeant Kim, always so icy and composed, opened his mouth as he stared up at the trembling ceiling. It was the first ripple ever to disturb his barren kingdom. Watching every second of it, Joo Joohye's eyes glinted faintly.