Chapter 9
Chapter 9
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 009
Chapter Title: Shadow Worm, Cha-Ratevil (1)
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0.
Somewhere, a sobbing voice cried out, “Mommy…”
I froze for a moment, dropping into a crouch. My breathing quickened.
A person?
A person here?
But there was one ridiculous problem with that.
This was the Nightmare Zone.
Right in the heart of a dead, ruined city.
It was day six since the end of the world, and I’d never seen a single survivor. So why now…?
“Mommy… Mommy… Mommy…”
It came again.
Clearer this time. It was human. A little girl.
I pinpointed the direction of the voice.
There. Northeast, thirty meters—Building 2 of J Apartments. First floor? Second?
It was weird how intact it looked compared to the surrounding structures.
That’s what scared me.
I’d made one ironclad rule in the Nightmare Zone.
Never enter a building during the day. It was suicide. All kinds of heteromorphs lurked inside.
But a survivor’s voice… This was unprecedented. It was worth the risk.
I wiped the sweat from my hands and gripped the Dawn Sword tight.
J Apartments loomed, swallowed in massive darkness.
The entrance.
The glass door was shattered, and two skeletons lay sprawled across the floor.
“Mommy… Mommy…”
The pitch-black entryway.
Something darted across the hallway ahead for a split second.
I jumped, shining the Dawn Sword down the hall. Nothing.
…Damn it.
They were hiding, as expected. Those things.
“Mommy…”
The voice leaked from somewhere on the first floor.
It sounded like it was calling for me. I wiped sweat from my forehead and crept slowly down the hallway.
Room 109… 108… 107…
Rustling sounds from behind closed doors.
I pressed my ear to one.
Squishing breaths… Sloppy footsteps… Not human.
“Mommy…”
The source was at the end of the hall.
[101]
No matter how I listened, it was a human voice.
This was the crucial part.
I leaned against the wall beside the door.
I needed to catch my breath. And prep my gear.
I pulled two pills from my chest pocket. Combat consumables from a Paradise Zone general store.
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[Holy Blood Pill]
[Description Summary]
- 1: A blood-red pill made from sacred blood.
[Usage]
- Toss it to scatter the scent of blood.
This pill’s aroma lures every heteromorph.
Their frail flesh craves sacred blood.
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In short, an item to draw heteromorphs for a few minutes. The most expensive consumable by far.
Now for the final checklist.
1. Throw it to the far end of the opposite hallway.
2. While they swarm the pill, rescue the survivor and escape.
The moment I finished thinking, I executed step one.
For five seconds, nothing happened.
Then screams tore through from all directions.
…Ihihihi… Hehehehe… Hehehe…
Doors slammed open with bangs. Ash-gray shapes burst out, charging toward the pill.
The apartment shook like it might collapse.
Not yet. Hold on.
I steadied my breath, waiting for the perfect moment.
That’s when the door to 101 creaked open.
My heart turned to ice.
The thing that emerged looked right at me and started giggling.
Not human.
A heteromorph at least two meters tall.
Hard to see in the gloom, but I could make out the writhing tentacles on its face.
Something dangling from those tentacles whimpered, “Mommy.”
No… No way.
It took a step forward.
I stepped back. At the same time, I shone the Dawn Sword on it.
It was a human head.
I didn’t want to believe it, but my mind pieced it together.
It was vibrating the vocal cords with its tentacles to mimic the voice.
Why?
To lure in other survivors and kill them?
…You bastard.
I roared and charged.
Impaled through the gut by the Dawn Sword, it shrieked, and we tumbled into 101 in a crashing heap.
We rolled, grappling wildly for a moment.
In that split second, I slashed it like a maniac—slash after slash.
It struck me a few times too, but adrenaline dulled the pain.
“Haa, haa, haa.”
Silence fell after the frenzy.
Drenched in sticky blood, I stood over its corpse.
The Dawn Sword’s blade gleamed with bloody light wherever it had cut.
I stared blankly at the girl’s face, wrapped in its tentacles.
Seven years old, at most?
The face that should’ve been full of innocent smiles was twisted in agony and despair.
“Sorry…”
I muttered, head bowed.
It was the only way to bear the frustration.
…Fsssh…
The Dawn Sword incinerated the heteromorph completely.
──Clack.
A heavy stone dropped in its place.
A soulstone.
Bluntly put, the currency of this insane world.
Hunt, get soulstones. Buy gear or consumables with soulstones.
You could even boost your stats.
So, I had to pick it up.
As I reached for it, my hand froze.
What the hell am I doing? Looting items in this situation?
Crazy bastard.
It was pathetically funny.
A world turned into a mad nightmare.
I couldn’t end the nightmare, but I was getting used to surviving in it.
A nightmare without a single ray of light.
And here I was, right in the middle of it.
1.
The world had turned into a game.
Like in a game, shops had popped up everywhere.
The <Blacksmith> I’d come to was one of them, dealing in all sorts of gear.
The counter was empty.
Only stifled giggles from the workbench.
I waited a bit, then finally spoke up.
“Anyone here?”
The laughter stopped.
A boy came rushing out, nearly tripping.
“S-Sorry! Hunter, sir. R-Really, I’m sorry. No one’s come at this hour before, so I…”
A mid-teen boy.
Soot covered his body. His hands were battered from hard labor, and a slave-like mark was branded on his forehead.
[Weaponsmith]
His assigned job: weaponsmith.
This damn Paradise wasn’t paradise at all.
Refugees got food, clothing, and shelter “rationed” to them, but only if they served Hunters in their assigned roles.
Like becoming NPCs in a game.
“Please… just forgive me this once? I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. Please.”
The boy bowed frantically, voice choking with sobs. It burned my throat.
“Stop. What’re you even apologizing for like that?”
“I couldn’t even greet you right away… Made you wait when you’re busy… And now I’m making you talk to me like this…”
The reason for his desperation was simple.
Hunters could exile refugees from Paradise. Some abused that power terribly.
In less than a week, the world had become a class society.
“Enough. It’s not worth begging like that. I showed up late too.”
I… hated this changed world with a passion.
A world where a kid who should be at school dreaming big was stuck in a forge, covered in soot, taking all kinds of crap.
“I won’t kick you out, promise. Lift your head. Please. You’re making me feel pathetic.”
Only after my firm assurance did he raise his head. Fifteen years old. Name: Lee Seon-hyo.
A little chat showed he was lively and pure-hearted.
“Came to get my hunting gear fixed. Patch this vest-like chestplate. See the hole? Greaves are worn thin too. Helmet’s nose guard is smashed.”
“R-Right away! One hour, please.”
I sat on the waiting bench.
Pulled out my leather-bound journal and pen. Scribbled in bleak despair.
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Day 7 since the world ended.
Seoul is total ruins. 167 Hunters in Seodaemun-gu dead or missing.
Lost so much, gained nothing.
Despite desperate efforts from me and the other ‘Nightmare Hunters.’
Haven’t even hunted a single Exalted One, let alone its Subordinates.
Two reasons for the frustrating lack of progress.
First.
The Nightmare Hunters—think ‘raid group players’ in game terms—number fewer than 80.
Second.
The Nightmare Zone’s hellish difficulty.
Everything in the Nightmare Zone is a tangled madman’s nightmare.
Spawn conditions for Exalted Ones, heteromorph behaviors, where the seven Subordinates even are.
In short, week one status in new Seodaemun-gu:
Surviving Hunters: 781.
Conquered Exalted Ones: 0.
Yeah. I’m still trapped in the nightmare.
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As I finished the entry, Lee Seon-hyo emerged with the gear.
“W-Wanna try it on? I’ll redo if it’s off.”
Hunters leveled combat skills like in a game; civilians could level job skills the same way.
By that measure, Lee Seon-hyo’s weaponsmithing was top-notch.
The gear he brought back in an hour was flawless.
“Perfect. Feels good. How much?”
“Uh… Two low-grade soulstones.”
I pulled out my pouch and handed over one. Not low-grade—top-grade ones from the Nightmare Zone.
“H-Here’s your change.”
“Nah. Keep the rest.”
He shook his head wildly, but I called it a “tip.” His eyes welled up.
“Buy something tasty with it. You look drained.”
“T-That’s too much.”
“That kid in the back? Your friend? Share it.”
He bowed his head.
“T-Too… Ah… Thank you… Thank you. Top-grade soulstones… You’ve got so many… You must be crazy strong…”
Lee Seon-hyo glanced up cautiously, looked above my head, and gaped.
“Ahh…! You’re the Lead Hunter!”
“You know me?”
I said it, but figured it out quick. He’d seen the [Lead Hunter] title.
“I overheard Hunters talking… So, Lead Hunter, sir, you’re back for the raid council?”
“Raid council?”
I was baffled.
He looked even more confused.
“Huh…? You didn’t hear? Weird. They wouldn’t skip notifying you.”
“Been out in the Nightmare Zone two days. Tell me.”
“You know <GodSpring> raid team?”
Yeah. Every Hunter knew the name.
The frontline team pushing the Nightmare Zone, packed with talent.
“They found the first Subordinate’s location. Sent official notices to Nightmare Hunters… That’s what I heard.”
“No way.”
“It’s true. Yesterday, tons of Nightmare Hunters came to the <Blacksmith>. Said it was for the council.”
My heart pounded hard.
Nightmare Hunters—those scouting the Nightmare Zone—rarely gathered.
If they were… it was real.
“Where? When? You know that much?”
I grabbed his hand; he nodded frantically, eyes wide.
“Independence Park. Time… Yeah, 8 a.m. I remember.”
Checked my watch.
1:35 a.m.
Gotta camp at Independence Gate.
Thanks and goodbye—but as I turned to leave the <Blacksmith>, Lee Seon-hyo asked in a trembling voice.
“Hunter, sir… We can win, right?”
“…What?”
“Someday… This nightmare ends, right? We’ll game again, hang with friends like before? Right…?”
The quiver in his eyes and voice hurt too much.
“Here.”
I held out my hand to Lee Seon-hyo.
Took his small pinky with mine, pressed my thumb to his.
“Promise.”
“…Huh?”
“I’ll restore this world someday. For real.”
“…?!”
“Man to man. So no crying now. We’ll cry together later.”
He stared at our linked fingers, then looked up.
“…Later?”
“When the world’s back to normal. You wake up, go to school, eat lunch with friends, play till dinner. That time. Promise.”
Lee Seon-hyo nodded wildly, tears streaming. Sobs leaked from the workshop too.
I didn’t cry.
April 11, 2045.
Day 7 of the world devoured by nightmare.
Finally… the First Subordinate Raid Council begins.
Hunting the First Subordinate wasn’t just taking down a mid-boss.
It was the first step to ending this mad nightmare.