Chapter 8
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 8
Chapter Title: Human Enemy (5)
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Before dawn broke.
The hour when silence was an unspoken rule.
Uninvited guests were wandering the shopping mall, breaking that pact.
"First, we'll head up to the first floor and check on the larvae in the shooting range. Then I'll explain our plans going forward."
"Ah.... Okay, got it. Um.... Can I ask something else that's been on my mind?"
The woman holding the flashlight asked the man leading the way.
"No."
"Ugh, come on. You're going to answer anyway, so why say that?"
"Who said I would?"
"...."
When So-hee glared at Min-jun's curt reply, he let out a sigh and finally nodded.
With permission granted, she fired off her question right away.
"Why did you insist on leaving at this hour? The opposition left last night after grabbing their stuff."
"I seem to recall suggesting that you and I, having had an exhausting day, should rest up first before departing."
"Don't BS me. That's not it. Forgot how good my intuition is? Stop agonizing over it alone and just spill it. You'll get stress sickness at this rate."
Min-jun stared at her after she hit the nail on the head, then spoke.
"...It's nothing."
"Yeah right. Come on, tell me. Your face is screaming 'Please ask me!' in big letters. Is it because of those people you yelled at?"
"What's wrong with my face..."
Finishing his words, Min-jun glanced at his reflection in the escalator glass as they ascended.
*Did it show that much?*
Truth be told, when he'd first arrived at the Golden Apartments fleeing the larvae, the faces of those who'd told him to get lost were there among the opposition. And the faces of those who'd shoved him away when he'd tried to enter Jamsil Station.
He had no desire to fight about it now, but he also had no wish to run into them.
That awkwardness alone was the honest reason for their early departure.
"It's nothing. Just.... I'm grateful to you, So-hee."
"Huh?"
"Never mind. Here we are."
As he wrapped up, they reached the first floor. Min-jun brushed past So-hee and headed to the center of the lobby.
That's when they spotted the main entrance to the shopping mall in the distance....
And the guest waiting beside it.
*Why is someone here right now?*
Still before sunrise, the silhouette blended into the darkness. Sensing something off, Min-jun called out without approaching further.
"Who's there?"
"...."
The figure kept silent even after repeated questions, only speaking once So-hee's flashlight revealed them, as if with no choice.
A man covered in grime, wearing what might've once been a suit.
"Good day, our citizen hero. I'm Assemblyman Lee Gi-dong."
As Gi-dong stepped forward speaking, the light exposed his face from the shadows.
"I was so worried you might've left ahead of us, hero. Heh heh."
A smirk. His face was smeared with dark red stains, and his eyes gleamed not white, but glossy red.
Sensing something wrong in an instant, So-hee asked Assemblyman Lee Gi-dong in a trembling voice.
"I wouldn't think you and us had any reason to wait for each other, so why show up in front of us?"
"Well, that's because of this...."
Snap! Whirrr—
Mid-sentence, Gi-dong severed the steel cable beside him, and it snapped upward with a screech.
Spotting it, Min-jun shoved So-hee hard out of the way. Boosted by his enhanced strength, she flew through the air and crashed into a pillar, blacking out.
Min-jun tried to flee too, but too late.
Crash!!!
A massive chandelier from the four-story ceiling smashed the central lobby where he'd stood.
"Cough... cough.... Whew, looks like the staff slacked on dusting. Haha! Oh, right, you're probably dead already and can't hear me? Hahaha!"
Step. Step.
Dust filled the air amid shattered chandelier and debris, but Gi-dong's face beamed with a smile as he walked through it.
"Your feat of slaying the giant larva and ruining my plans left such an impression. So I chose this bothersome method—don't hold it against me...."
Muttering as he reached the lobby center, a mountain of pulverized chandelier piled there—no trace of a body.
No human could survive a direct hit from dozens of kilograms plummeting four stories.
Certain of Min-jun's death, Gi-dong turned toward So-hee.
"Min-jun's so considerate, leaving me a toy out of thoughtfulness.... It'd be rude to refuse such kindness, so I'll have my fun with this bitch...."
He froze.
*Did I hear something? Nah, must've imagined it.*
But straining his ears yielded nothing.
Dismissing it as frayed nerves, he stepped forward again—
Rustle.
This time, unmistakable.
A faint but clear rustling from the chandelier rubble.
*No way.*
Gi-dong whirled, drew a dagger reverse-grip, and approached the pile slowly.
Five steps.... Four.... Three.
Drawing near, right at the edge—
Rustle—Grab!
A bloodied hand shot from the debris, seizing his throat.
"Urk! Wha— what?!"
Gi-dong swung his dagger in panic, but it only scratched Min-jun's arm—nothing serious.
Crunch.
Drenched head to toe in blood like spilled paint, Min-jun's fierce gaze pierced Gi-dong through the dark.
Gi-dong masked his alarm and stabbed repeatedly at Min-jun's gut.
"Wha, what's going on?!"
But the blade sank only half an inch each time, no deeper.
"I knew you were scum, but this level...."
"Why... won't the knife...?"
Min-jun yanked him closer, growling like he wanted to devour him.
"You've done everything you wanted? Now... it's my turn."
* * *
Her vision blacked out briefly, and when awareness returned, dust choked the air.
So-hee felt off and cracked her eyes while pretending to rise.
*Damn.... Min-jun.*
Through a sliver, the scene was horrific beyond gruesome.
Where she and Min-jun had stood lay a hill of shattered chandelier.
*Min-jun's definitely in there.*
Worried for him who'd taken the hit for her, but to save him and kill this psycho, she had to play possum.
*He's bound to let his guard down.*
Seizing one chance, she drew her machete and hid it in the shadow of nearby rubble.
As the repulsive shadow loomed closer, her heart pounded wildly.
To mask tension, she gripped the hidden machete tighter.
*But....*
Mid-stride, he sensed something and turned toward the rubble.
*What's going on?*
The instant Assemblyman Lee Gi-dong neared the fallen chandelier—
A blood-soaked figure burst out, grabbing his throat.
*...Huh? Min-jun?*
Blood cloaked him, obscuring features, but it was Min-jun.
The shocked foe swung wildly at him, but enduring the stabs, Min-jun countered by smashing his shield into the assemblyman's face.
Thud!
- Wa... wait....
Sensing doom, he tried to stop Min-jun, but he showed no mercy.
Silent dawn. The wet smacks of fragile flesh against metal echoed relentlessly.
* * *
Collapsed nose.
Torn face here and there.
Lips sucked in from missing teeth.
Blood cascading like a waterfall.
Gi-dong looked one breath from death.
Lisp through gaps, he begged.
"Sp... spare me. Half my shi— survival time'sh yourshe."
"Huff... huff.... Shut up."
"Pleashe...."
I gripped his sagging hair, forcing his head up. He dangled like a puppet on strings, eyes pleading.
Those red orbs burned with lust for life.
I'd heard over twenty had followed him—add the remaining Golden Apartments residents, and it neared fifty.
*Crazy bastard.*
He'd admitted killing them all, offering the stolen time for mercy.
Revolting.
The one begging with time bought from his followers' lives.
And me, hesitating if killing him made me the same, yet excusing that survival demands accepting this.
Nauseatingly vile.
*But I can't let him live.*
He'd kill me by any means if spared.
Even stripping other reasons, self-preservation demanded his death.
Yes, that alone sufficed.
In this mad world, finger-pointing as murderer meant nothing.
Just clinging to my meager hypocrisy of upholding my standards.
Focusing on that, I gripped fading consciousness.
"Did you... spare those who begged you like that?"
His eyes wavered.
No more stalling. Time to end it.
Smashing the shield over his face, he sensed death and soiled himself.
Boom!!!
Immense force erupted from the shield, ripping his head clean off.
Fsssh—
Headless corpse sprayed arterial blood, staggering back, limbs twitching.
Messages flooded Min-jun's view as he gazed down.
[You have committed murder.]
[Karma value decreases.]
[You have defeated the Murderer.]
[Karma value increases.]
[You have eliminated 'Lee Gi-dong' and stolen 1,461 hours.]
['Lee Gi-dong's items have been transferred to you.]
Truth be told, he'd survived by sheer luck stacked on luck.
Without choosing [Accumulating Small Shield].
Without raising his stamina level.
He'd be the cold corpse.
Roll—
The dagger slipped from the corpse's grasp, clattering.
Min-jun approached, picked it up, and checked.
「Silent Fairbairn-Sykes
Rank: Common
Info: Dagger specialized in thrusting.
*Special Option: Grants [Shadow Step] skill that erases the owner's presence.」
[Shadow Step Lv.1]: Erases user's presence upon activation. (Consumes 1 hour of survival time per minute)
*...This?*
The dagger from the market. Clearly used its skill to kill during the blackout.
*Maybe he caused the blackout too....*
Guilt over first kill surfaced, but reason crushed it.
Alive, he'd have killed more.
*His death, his victims... not my fault.*
For now.... He needed justification, right or wrong.
Even lame self-consolation was fine.
Just, crumbling here meant regretting choices, no reflection, wasting the time gained from Gi-dong.
Conviction settled: this would recur. He couldn't waver each time.
Mouth bitter, he pocketed the new dagger and approached So-hee.
Her breathing sounded normal—likely just unconscious.
"So-hee? You okay?"
"Uh... ugh, how in the...."
Clutching her head, feigning recovery with Oscar-worthy acting, So-hee screamed at blood-soaked Min-jun.
"Aaah!! What?! Min-jun? Is that you? What's wrong with you!?"
Min-jun's head lolled weakly.