Half the World (2)
Half the World (2) — Marin Hotel, Jung-gu, Incheon
A clamor of footsteps came thundering down from the floors above the stairwell. I turned back to Kim Haeil with a smile.
"Survivors we meet out in the open after so long. What a treat."
"I'll take the lead in case anything happens, Cult Leader-nim."
"No, no. Stay behind me until I say otherwise."
Waving a hand casually, I kept climbing the stairs.
"Fuck! It's the fucking Tess, I knew it!"
A crisp stream of profanity rang out from the top of the stairs to the second floor. The sharp, biting voice belonged, without question, to a woman.
Dozens of women were staring down at us from the second-floor landing. I took my time studying the one standing at the very front of the pack.
Legs that stretched on for days, framed by dolphin shorts that had no business existing in the apocalypse. A chest that strained against her black t-shirt no matter how it tried to hide it, and a face scrunched up in fury like she'd just seen something she wished she hadn't.
"Oh..."
I couldn't help letting out a low whistle. It had truly been ages since I'd laid eyes on a beauty like this — the kind that stirred up every acquisitive instinct I had. The way her brow furrowed deeper and deeper with disgust looked, at a glance, a little like Seong Gaeul, but it wasn't the same. Where Seong Gaeul was a slightly more refined, high-bred breed of cat, this woman was pure alley cat, dripping with defiance from every pore. And not just any alley cat — a pretty one that blew past my standards without even trying.
"You fucking bastard! Get those goddamn lecherous eyes off me!"
...Impressive perception, I'll give her that.
She kicked off the floor and lunged at me on the spot. Red mana brimmed in her right fist as she closed the distance fast enough to leave an afterimage.
...An awakened?
Her killing intent was so distilled, so concentrated, that one look at it was enough to send a chill down my spine.
"...Huh?"
Or it would have, if that fist had ever reached me. My right hand rose lazily, and she froze midair, mounted like a specimen. She scrambled to make sense of her situation with bewildered eyes, and I calmly sent her flying right back the way she'd come.
CRASH!
"Soyouuuung!"
"So, Soyoung, nooo!"
Ooh, even her name was pretty. Soyoung. When the face is that pretty, everything about her starts looking good.
I resumed my ascent as if nothing had happened and stepped into the second-floor lobby. Dozens of women were scrambling backward, faces drained white at the sight of Kim Haeil and me.
"FUUUUCK!"
With a scream of raw profanity, she came charging again, pulling herself free of the shattered wall she'd been embedded in. This time the crimson mana rippled not just from her right hand but across her entire body — the textbook pattern of a physical-type awakened going all out. Deciding a straight rush had been her mistake, she darted violently left and right, trying to throw off my tracking.
Clever. And adorable.
Even after taking a heavy counter and getting half-stunned, she'd analyzed the cause and executed a countermeasure. A combat sense that didn't fit the stereotype of her gender at all. Of course, none of it could take her outside my field of vision.
"Nnnngh!"
Juwon... you really were one hell of a strong awakened, weren't you?
Honestly speaking, she was far easier to handle than Seo Juwon had been. Maybe part of that was the windfall from Guro-gu — killing Seo Juwon early had paid off in more ways than one.
Once again she hung suspended in the air, and once again I admired her — this time from a different angle. Her fashion, her face — she looked exactly like the gorgeous delinquent girl from your school days, and it was doing terrible things to me. Wow... that face is pure delinquent trash, and it's driving me insane. This one was a treasure.
"E-even — everyone, RUN!"
A wise judgment, if a bit late. The survivors who'd been about to bolt at her command froze solid instead. There wasn't a single soul left in the second-floor lobby beyond the reach of my telekinesis.
Caught in midair, she strained against my power with everything she had, but the only result was her thighs trembling deliciously — raising my interest another notch rather than accomplishing anything. This time, though, I didn't hurl her. I let her down gently, soft as a feather, and arranged the telekinetically bound survivors into a neat line.
I scanned the faces of the women, all shivering under the unseen force that puppeted their bodies against their will.
What is this, a college freshman retreat that survived the apocalypse?
Then again, what university holds an MT retreat at a five-star hotel? The gender ratio and age distribution were so absurd it invited that ridiculous a guess. The survivors — every one of them female, not a single man among them — numbered around twenty, all young. And their looks were well above average too. Until now, the only woman I could have contemplated passing around to my executives was that delinquent, but at this level they ranked in the upper tier. After scrutinizing thousands of followers over the course of my cult leadership, mine was a standard with fairly high confidence behind it. Never since my days as a cult leader began had I faced an enemy camp that was, quite literally, a field of flowers.
I ran my eyes over that delinquent once more — the one who had caught my attention above all the rest. Her mouth, still bound shut by my telekinesis, kept muttering something, but there was business to attend to first.
"Vice Captain."
"Yes, sir!"
At my call, Kim Haeil shouted back without lowering the document in his hands.
"Among you, is there a Jeong Seonga — a prospective follower and granddaughter of our believer Kim Deoksoon? Jeong Seonga. Jeong. Seong. Ah."
At the repetition of her name, the eyes of the woman at the far right of the line went wide as saucers. I released the telekinesis binding her and asked,
"Are you Jeong Seonga?"
"...Y-yes. Th-that's me..."
Truthfully, Kim Haeil and I had already seen her photograph, so we'd known perfectly well who Jeong Seonga was. But this was less about identification and more about broadcasting to the other survivors exactly why we'd come.
Hm... she photographs worse than she looks in person.
After quietly admiring Jeong Seonga's face for a moment, I turned my gaze back to the delinquent at the far left. Well then — with a full moon in the sky, the fireflies never stood a chance, did they?
"Welcome, Jeong Seonga—"
"Vice Captain."
I raised a hand to stop Kim Haeil and turned the situation over in my head. I had no intention of unveiling the religion right off the bat and antagonizing that already furious, bulldog of a delinquent any further than necessary. A pretty civilian on one hand; an awakened beauty on the other. The priority here was blindingly obvious.
"I'll kill you! You fucking bastards! I swear I will kill every last one of you!"
The moment I freed her mouth, profanity rang out in full bloom. I asked Jeong Seonga with a perfectly placid expression,
"That woman's name is Soyoung?"
"...Sorry? Yes. Shim Soyoung..."
"Seonga! Don't you dare say a word to those Tess bastards! Have you already forgotten?"
"N-no, no, Unnie."
Under Shim Soyoung's bellow, Jeong Seonga shrank into herself, head bowed, fidgeting. Strangers from the outside who claimed to know her own grandmother — a mystery she should have been bursting with questions about, yet she said nothing, as if waiting for Shim Soyoung's permission. It was obvious who the leader was here. An awakened — naturally.
What's more, this "Tess" that Shim Soyoung kept shrieking about nagged at me. Tess for men... Could she possibly mean testosterone? Good grief. Suppressing a hollow laugh, I addressed Shim Soyoung.
"We're comrades of your grandmother — of Kim Deoksoon. At her request, we'd like to take her granddaughter, Jeong Seonga, home with us. We ask for your understanding."
"Cut the shit! Then why didn't she come herself, and why did two Tess bastards show up instead?!"
"You'd have had us bring the grandmother along? Through that hell out there? That's asking a bit much, don't you think? She's in a safe place, waiting for her granddaughter day and night."
"Shut your shit-covered mouth! Then how did you even know Seonga was HERE?! Grandma must think she's still at her university — how the hell did you get all the way here!"
Oh? They weren't all gathered here together?
I shrugged lightly and pointed at Kim Haeil beside me.
"You're not the only awakened one around, you know. We have our own methods."
"Ah...!"
Jeong Seonga, who had been watching our exchange, stared in shock at the photograph Kim Haeil produced. Her grandmother — and herself, resting a hand on the old woman's shoulder. A home she could never return to. A bedroom she would never sleep in again. This man was holding a photograph that could only have come from the picture frame sitting on the desk in that room.
"U-Unnie!"
"Don't trust them! Would bastards like that break in here by force if they meant well?!"
Hm... rich talk coming from a woman who charged in here intending to kill me, no?
Grinning, I kept fishing for her reactions. That was the whole point of this conversation from the start.
"Fucking bastards! Piece-of-shit bastards! I should carve every one of you up! Why do you keep wounding people weaker than you?! Why are you THIS desperate to drag these people away?!"
Ooh, look at those eyes. Burst blood vessels, glazed and gleaming with bloodlust. At Shim Soyoung's words, tears welled up in the eyes of every woman bound in my telekinesis.
"Does it have to go this far?! You smash your way in here and dangle that pathetic excuse for a dick around just to feel better about yourself? Or is this revenge for the bastards I killed?!"
"Kill you? Who?"
"You fucking Tess bastards, obviously! And soon — I'll kill you too! I swear I will kill every one of you!"
You do realize you're saying this while dangled in my grip, right? That flushed-red glare, that thrashing like a prize catch fresh off the hook. Imagine how much you'd thrash pinned underneath me. This woman... I wonder what she's like in bed? I swallowed the drool pooling in my mouth and shook my head. No — she was not a woman to use once and throw away.
"...Dirty animals obsessed with nothing but their own lust. Beasts that solve everything with violence. Idiots who roam the outside dragging infection and catastrophe behind them. The most worthless pieces of trash in this entire world."
"So you're the Tess crowd, then. What, you mean testosterone?"
"Yes. You chimpanzee bastards."
"Then what does that make you — an E? Estrogen?"
"No."
She glared daggers into my eyes and answered through clenched teeth.
"We are human."
Oh.
Clap— Clap— Clap—
I nodded and offered a round of applause in genuine admiration. The moment the echo of clapping died out of the lobby, I asked Shim Soyoung,
"One thing does puzzle me. As I understand it, men carry a certain amount of estrogen too, and women have testosterone as well. So by your logic, aren't you also a Tess?"
"I'm saying testosterone is the most worthless, most toxic substance in existence, you dimwitted Tess bastard."
Ah, I see.
Nodding slowly, I swept my gaze across the survivors. Fear and dread filled every one of their eyes. This was the realm of emotion, not reason. It had absolutely been the right call not to lead with religion here. To these women, no matter how I dressed it up, I would never read as a cult leader — only as a man.
I released the seals I'd placed over the survivors' mouths.
"Waaah! P-please! Please, just spare Soyoung, please!"
"A-are you by any chance from Dream City Apartments? Then — then please take me back instead, just leave Soyoung alone, please, I'm begging you."
"Did you come from SH Bank? Th-then I'll come with you, so—!"
In an instant, their wailing turned the lobby into a hive of noise. Not only could I tell they'd come from all different places, I grasped at once how they'd survived until now. And the reason for the molten fury seething from the very bottom of Shim Soyoung's chest, too. Thinking that, I looked at her — and something sank heavily in the pit of my stomach.
So then... was Shim Soyoung herself a victim of what men had done?
"Did men hurt you badly, too?"
"What, disappointed I'm not a virgin? Oh, I'm SO sorry about that! Not that a scumbag like you would ever get a crack at it — a place like that's already been stuffed full with dildos, you know?"
"...Dildos?!"
Dildos — not men? For a split second, I couldn't hide how delighted I was. The moment Shim Soyoung saw her taunt land as a source of joy instead of shame, she flew into an even greater frenzy and started shrieking. I could hear it all in the trembling of her cheeks as she strained against my telekinesis with everything she had.
"You think I'd let a fucking Tess bastard touch me?! I'd rather DIE! I'd fucking rather DIE first!"
Hm... whenever it comes to moments like that, she's always biting her tongue — so why not this time? My worry was dispelled the moment I saw what Shim Soyoung did next. She kept glancing meaningfully at the survivors, pulling all of their attention onto herself alone. So that's why she's making such a scene? And judging from what those women had said, it was Shim Soyoung, in the end, who had saved them all, wasn't it?
Wow. An honest-to-god Jeanne d'Arc, aren't we.
"Vice Captain."
"Yes, sir!"
But would she ever realize that the more she did this, the more it only fed my hunger to add her to my collection?
I released the telekinesis binding Shim Soyoung. Perhaps from all the tension she'd been building to break free of it, she collapsed the instant the force let go. Watching her arms tremble as she slowly pushed herself upright, I said,
"I know this isn't a situation where any amount of explaining will earn your understanding. As long as we're men, we're your enemies — so let's propose a deal instead."
Barely back on her feet, she stiffened at the word deal, the lunge she'd been coiling into dying mid-motion. I looked at Jeong Seonga and asked,
"Would you be willing to come with us and return to your grandmother?"
"...Sorry? I, um..."
Her eyes darted helplessly to Shim Soyoung, searching her for permission. I nodded as if I understood completely.
"Of course. Naturally, you can't bring yourself to trust us."
"...I-I'm sorry."
"Don't be. If I'd known it would go like this, I really should have brought Kim Deoksoon along. But we had a grueling journey getting here, you see."
I gestured at Kim Haeil, spear in hand, standing at the ready in front of me.
"If you can defeat my comrade here, we'll withdraw, clean as you like. But if my comrade wins — then I'd appreciate it if you'd give us some time to persuade Jeong Seonga."
"...Persuade?"
"That's right. Getting here consumed a frankly absurd amount of supplies for our group. Even if she returns, we'd need something proper to bring back for her grandmother."
"...Stop talking like Grandma is really still alive."
"Unfortunately, we have no way to prove it."
Or rather, no desire to prove it.
I looked at Shim Soyoung and pressed for an answer.
"So. Do we have a deal?"
Ptui!
She clenched her jaw so hard she spat out the mouthful of blood that had collected there, then glared past Kim Haeil at me.
"Just wait. You'll be next. I'll kill you too."
"That's quite the colorful way to answer. Vice Captain."
The instant the words left my mouth, Kim Haeil leveled his spear and charged her. He'd clearly been unable to stomach her continued insolence — his movements were far fiercer than usual.
Crimson light flooded across Shim Soyoung's entire body once more as she met Kim Haeil's glare. His spear, brimming to the tip with white mana, spun a full rotation before driving straight for her face. She barely twisted clear of the point, all her bravado notwithstanding, her hair whipping through empty air.
Ah. Should've told him not to aim for the face.
Hands folded quietly behind my back, I watched a duel whose outcome was never in question.
WHAM!
"Soyouuung!"
"Nooo! What do we do! What do we DO!"
The shaft of Kim Haeil's spear slammed into her waist and sent Shim Soyoung flying through the air once again. I smiled as I watched the survivors weep in despair over her — noting the hollowed cheeks and the thin, wasted flesh of their forearms. They were short on food. So where were they sourcing what they did have? The answer went without saying.
"Khhk!"
Once again she took the spear's shaft and rolled across the floor. Kim Haeil gazed down at her without a flicker of feeling, spear swaying idly, then walked toward her. Shim Soyoung tried to push herself up using her quivering arms for support, but her arms slipped out from under her again and again, and she crumpled to the ground. She glared up at Kim Haeil with eyes full of venom; he looked down at her with eyes full of nothing at all.
Kim Haeil turned his head toward me. When I gave a slight nod, he drove the spear down without hesitation.
Thud.
"NOOOO! SOYOUNG!"
"No, no, please, NOOO!"
Freed from the telekinesis, the survivors wailed and scrambled toward Shim Soyoung's fallen body. Kim Haeil reversed his spear, returned it to its resting position, and walked back to me.
"How long do you think it'll take?"
"This being the first time, I can't say for certain — but I didn't hold back on the force."
Not a single drop of blood marked the ground around Shim Soyoung as the survivors frantically shook her awake. Kim Haeil had acted from the very beginning precisely as I'd instructed — to knock her out, nothing more. I smiled down at Shim Soyoung, unconscious and sprawled on the floor.
You're mine. No two ways about it. That's the whole reason I set this stage.
Branding men with the slur "Tess" — manufacturing a common enemy. One person controlling everything, deciding everything. Why did it all feel so familiar?
I looked down at the survivors of Marin Hotel and spoke.
"My subordinate's hand may have been a bit heavy. For that, I apologize to you all. But awakened bodies are tough things — she'll be back on her feet before long, I'm sure."
What should I call this place, I wondered? A women-only community? Or a pseudo-religion? In that case, something like the Church of Estrogen, perhaps?
Smiling down at the women who stared up at me with eyes brimming over with terror, I said:
"So then. Where shall we be staying?"
I'll show you what a real pseudo-cult looks like.