Chapter 225
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 225
Chapter Title: Lotis's Natives - 7
Even in the downpour, Seok-hyun's killing spree showed no signs of stopping.
He was like a hornet charging into a beehive.
The honeybees might have been united, but the Chinese just scattered like locusts.
The terror of death gripped them.
In the apocalypse, death was practically a friend to humans.
But that changed when it came at you with a blade right up close.
Eventually, the Chinese started fleeing on boats.
Back to their homeland.
Seok-hyun pursued them relentlessly, cutting through the oil-slicked sea, and killed them all.
The torrential rain washed his body, but it couldn't do anything about the blood and oil.
Shwaaa―
As Seok-hyun made his way back to the beach, he spotted a man who hadn't died yet.
The man had a massive wound in his abdomen and was gasping his final breaths.
He must have gotten attacked by a monster while fleeing.
As Seok-hyun approached, the man spat out a plea mixed with bloody foam.
"Is this... your justice...?"
"Never called it justice."
"We... just wanted to live..."
"Same here."
"You could've... just chased us away... why this cruelty... why...?"
"No talent for convincing people who plug their ears."
Seok-hyun knelt on one knee, lowering himself to eye level.
"Your goal's the same as ours. Kill Koreans and seize untainted land and supplies."
"We... some of us... wanted coexistence..."
"Should've done it sooner."
That ended the conversation.
The man spewed a gush of blood from his mouth, then went limp.
Seok-hyun stood and headed south.
Rumble―
Storm clouds gathered, suddenly darkening his vision.
Then lightning struck the ground, briefly illuminating everything around.
The fleeing people stood out clearly.
Their faces were all twisted in terror.
Seok-hyun killed them all, then turned away.
In the lightning's flash, a silhouette appeared.
It wasn't human.
A massive maw gaped open, and a guttural voice emanated.
"I've been waiting for you."
But Seok-hyun said nothing and charged, smashing it with his fist.
Thwack!
The enhanced ghoul's body scattered in all directions.
But chunks of flesh regrouped, reforming the ghoul.
Seok-hyun turned, tilting his head.
"Neat ghoul."
"I am... Judeca. I came to greet you."
"Judeca? Monster from the Great Labyrinth?"
"A monster in the same boat as you."
"Sorry, but I don't wanna be lumped in with you."
"Different?"
Judeca, in ghoul form, spread its arms.
So many people had died that even in the downpour, blood flowed.
Corpses littered the streets.
All Seok-hyun's doing.
"That resilient strength, infinite stamina, and broken mind drew me here. Come to me. I'll give you everything."
"How about ending this apocalypse?"
Judeca chuckled lowly at Seok-hyun's sarcasm.
"Is that really what you want? No. You can no longer live normally. Nor can your comrades."
Those who committed countless murders could never return to normal life.
But Judeca underestimated Seok-hyun.
His mind was 100% sane.
"Sorry, but I'm perfectly normal. Don't wanna team up with a monster like you."
"You're already a fine monster..."
"You can think that, but don't push it on me. Makes me wanna beat you right now."
"Haha... You know it's pointless, right?"
"Pointless? Why?"
Seok-hyun rushed Judeca, grabbed its ankle, and swung it around.
"Giant Swing!"
When he let go, the ghoul soared like a kite into the distant sea.
Incredible power.
Seok-hyun dusted off his hands.
"Finally quiet."
But he met Judeca again.
Enhanced ghouls across Incheon relayed its will.
"I am everywhere..."
"You can never defeat me..."
"Surrender to me while your value is high. It's your best option..."
"Even now, I evolve..."
Seok-hyun mocked it.
"Low-level monster stuck in the Great Labyrinth."
"..."
Silence fell briefly.
The ghoul transmitted after a while.
"You'll regret this..."
"Guys who say that never make you regret it."
"Don't think you're the only purebloods..."
"Go find those purebloods and get tentacle-modded. Stop clinging to us."
"..."
Judeca didn't speak again after that.
Even after the rain stopped and skies cleared, Seok-hyun didn't halt.
Following Yu-hyun's paper airplane south, Chinese started disappearing.
They'd left Korean soil.
Their homeland was rife with radiation risks, but better than instant death.
Countless makeshift boats crossed the oily sea.
By the time Seok-hyun reached Gwangju, almost no Chinese remained.
Gwangju Clan leader Gu Young-hoon rushed to meet him, but he turned toward the coast.
A massive wingbeat sounded, followed by a heavy voice.
"You okay?"
"..."
Seok-hyun turned.
The griffon landed, and his friends dismounted.
His gloomy expression brightened for the first time in a while.
"Eh, same as always."
"Good..."
"See? Told ya Bunny Duo ain't crazy."
"Let's sit first."
Sung-ho, Seok-hyun, Da-jeong, and Geom-in sat side by side on a hill, watching the rising sun.
Da-jeong nudged Seok-hyun with her elbow.
"What got into you suddenly? Scared me. Thought you really lost it."
"Just handled what I'd been putting off."
Seok-hyun spoke calmly, and Sung-ho bowed his head slightly.
"Sorry. That was my job."
The conflict with the Chinese had dragged on for a while.
Sung-ho had nipped some outbreaks, but hadn't performed the root surgery.
Today, the side effects erupted, forcing Seok-hyun into emergency surgery.
His body was splattered with bloodstains and reeked horribly.
But no one showed it.
Seok-hyun looked at Sung-ho.
"What you're supposed to do soon is what I'll have to do. We're friends, right?"
"Friends... yeah. We are."
People walking the same path.
Different ages, upbringings, personalities, but the four were inseparable.
Da-jeong grinned cheerfully, slinging arms around Geom-in and Seok-hyun's shoulders.
"Don't mope. Tell us what's next."
"Next? Oh, we paused in front of Elderwood Forest."
Sung-ho explained recent events to Seok-hyun.
He took the Transcendent Knight and Ezekium in stride, but his eyes widened at the talking ogre.
"Ogre talks?"
"Clumsily, but we could communicate. Smaller build. Still way bigger than us."
"In Lotis now?"
"In my dimension storage. Griffon's slow."
At Luat's palace, after meeting Geom-in, Sung-ho realized he needed to handle Da-jeong's monsters.
The Chinese war was an issue, but Seok-hyun jumped in, freeing her up.
So the three secured the monsters, stored the ogre in dimension storage, and headed to Elderwood Forest.
"Open dimension storage."
The three grunted as they dragged out the ogre.
The recovered Small Fist looked around in shock.
"Here, home, no."
"Our home. And this is my friend."
Seeing Seok-hyun, Small Fist looked suspicious.
"Human, no."
"Pfft."
"Yeah, Bunny Duo's not ordinary."
Seok-hyun slowly stood, facing Small Fist directly.
"Ogre friend, wanna test strength?"
"Human, weak. Small Fist, strong."
"Gotta see to know."
Small Fist was flustered when the sudden monster rushed him.
He tried to shove it off lightly, but damn, the power was no joke.
Light body, yet matching or surpassing his strength.
Human and monster rolled on the ground, tussling.
After a long power struggle, they sprang up, catching their breath.
Small Fist's thick chest heaved.
"You, this, not human."
"Thanks for the compliment."
Despite just meeting, they bonded like friends.
In joy, Seok-hyun danced.
Small Fist followed.
Belly jiggling.
Groin flopping.
The other three turned away midway.
Size different, minds similar.
The Chinese vanished from Korea.
Not all died, of course.
Many fled on makeshift boats to their homeland; some scattered.
Around Gimpo Airport, where tension hung thick, only hollow sighs escaped.
"Whoa... took 'em all out solo."
"Didn't kill everyone, though. More fled in terror."
"I'd run too if One Punch Man charged me."
"But why? Sudden rage?"
That was the big mystery.
Everyone knew old-timers and Chinese forces weren't on good terms.
From the moment Chinese set foot here, fights broke out, culminating in the water bottle hoarding incident recently.
People gathered in groups, discussing it.
No fights, thanks to the huge incident.
No one wanted trouble and get marked by Bunny Duo.
Reports reached Jang Won-taek.
He stood on the rooftop, smoking, gazing west.
"...Final tally: about 95% of Chinese dead or fled. Remaining 5% scattered. That's all."
"Hoo..."
Smoke trailed in the wind.
Lee Beom-seok waited for his superior, speaking only after the cigarette butt fell.
"President, we must expel them."
"Who?"
"Hwang Seok-hyun and his comrades. Leaving them be will bring disaster."
"Witness something while tailing?"
"Yes... horrific carnage. Like hell on earth. Auschwitz? Nanking? Can't accept one man did that massacre..."
"War demands blood."
"Not war—slaughter. Nearly a thousand dead... Who has the right?"
Jang Won-taek's aged face hardened.
He knew this guy was rigid, but today was extreme.
Too shocked from the sights following Seok-hyun?
He lit a new cigarette, ordering.
"Rest. Cool your head, we'll talk later."
But Lee Beom-seok approached instead.
His eyes shook fiercely.
"Not just me—others are shaken too. Say it's inhuman."
Korea Shelter agents' talk.
Not everyone welcomed Seok-hyun's extremism.
Many harbored quiet resentment.
Afraid he'd turn on them someday.
Seok-hyun or old-timers would've called it idiotic.
But excessive victimhood mentality was rampant.
Jang Won-taek's gaze chilled.
"You really don't get it?"
"Get what?"
"While we hunkered in offices criticizing, he acted."
"Different positions... abilities too."
"Doing what we can't, and we gossip? Pathetic, no?"
"Gossip? That's too much."
Lee Beom-seok seemed agitated.
Otherwise, he wouldn't defy a superior of decades.
Jang Won-taek lit up, asking.
"Three hundred killing a thousand vs. one killing a thousand—what's the difference?"
"Former's war; Seok-hyun's massacre. One-sided..."
"Same result, though?"
"Process over result..."
"Process in apocalypse? Per you, what happened to Zone 2? Goodwill to Chinese—how'd it bite us? What're you thinking?"
Rebuked by his respected superior, Lee Beom-seok flinched.
He'd proposed admitting Chinese to Zone 2.
Selected quiet ones, stressed no trouble.
But they griped like their auction house was tainted.
Demanding supplies for unauthorized people, control handover.
Lucky moderates like Natalie expelled them, or Zone 2 nearly collapsed.
But Lee Beom-seok stood firm.
"You said humans have inviolable dignity, President. No need for mass slaughter... scare them off..."
"If persuasion worked, no fight to begin with. I affirm and follow human dignity. But... circumstances differ now."
Lee Beom-seok was shocked there.
The President's heart had changed.
Obvious culprit.
Kang Sung-ho.
The butcher who saw human lives like flies had swayed the President.
Lee Beom-seok clenched his fist.
"Your beliefs change with situations...?"
"More like abandoned."
A crack formed in the invisible glass wall between them.
Neither understood the other.
Jang Won-taek stubbed his smoke midway.
"Enough. Both need to cool off. Ponder what Seok-hyun did means."
"Gave masses fear via mass slaughter."
"Tch."
"Taking leave."
Lee Beom-seok left without salute.
First time like this.
Jang Won-taek lit a third cigarette in dismay.
"Hoo... cough, gonna die like this..."
As a rift hit Korea Shelter's core, the old-timers entered Elderwood Forest.
They'd gotten basics from Elf Amelia.
"All trees from one root? Insane scale."
"Elderwood. Oldest lifeform. Burns but regenerates."
Geom-in eyed the giant trees with awe, but Seok-hyun differed.
He pulled a flint from his panties somewhere.
"Then let's torch it."
Friends panicked, stopping him.
"Hey, no."
"You maniac!"
The four bickered into the forest.
Entwined branches parted welcomingly at the entrance.
< Lotis's Natives - 7 > End