The Demon Who Slays Beasts
"H-here. The guy in here is the last one."
"……."
Jun-ho briefly stared at the Alpha, which had been tossed carelessly onto the sofa inside the karaoke room, bound in chains. Grrr! Kk-! The creature, having spotted a living human, rolled its grayish-white eyes and thrashed violently. However, with its limbs wrapped in chains and its mouth tightly bound with duct tape below the nose, it posed no real threat.
Jun-ho carefully observed the third Alpha he had captured here. 'This one isn't starving, either.'
Zombies were, strictly speaking, living organisms—they were just infected with a virus, and living things needed to eat. It meant they were not exempt from the laws of energy conservation and entropy. Zombies maintained a body temperature only about 10 degrees lower than a human's, and to sustain that, they usually stayed still inside buildings or huddled together. In other words, if they couldn't eat for a long time and replenish their energy, they would weaken.
"Hey, gang boss."
"Y-yes, yes."
Jun-ho spoke coldly to the cowering Son Je-guk.
"You said the first two I saw were caught about two months ago. Then what about this one?"
"Th-that is... this one has been here for a month."
"A month? Are you sure?"
"Y-yes...."
Thinking he might have made a mistake with this human, who was more of a monster than the zombies, Son Je-guk nodded repeatedly while nervously watching Jun-ho's reaction.
Swish. Thud!
Jun-ho, having driven his Commando Dagger into the crown of the last Alpha's head, glared at the startled Son Je-guk.
"Just follow me."
"Y-yes, sir!"
At Jun-ho's command, after he wiped the blood from his blade, Son Je-guk swallowed hard and took quick, shuffling steps. Once they stepped outside, the rescued women, as instructed earlier, had closed the elevator lobby doors and blocked them with a car from the parking lot. With this, even if the zombies attacking the Cheongsan Building managed to occupy the 8th floor, they wouldn't be able to reach this area.
"If you're done, let's go."
"Ah! Yes."
"B-but where to?"
Jun-ho turned his head toward Son Je-guk.
"Lead the way."
"Yes, sir."
With only his hands tied behind his back with zip ties, Son Je-guk walked diligently. In contrast, An Jun-tae still had his feet bound, so Jun-ho detached him from the pipe, grabbed him by the scruff of his neck, and dragged him along.
"Kgh! Kgh-!"
Between the heavy backpack and the sheer strength of Jun-ho, who was dragging the bulky An Jun-tae with one hand, Son Je-guk renewed his vow never to cross him and led the way to the parking lot's mechanical room.
"I-it's over there."
Inside the dim mechanical room, there was one more door marked with a small piece of glow-in-the-dark tape. Just before entering the room, Jun-ho lowered the night-vision goggles attached to his helmet and suddenly pulled a throwing knife from his tactical belt.
"Huk?"
Ignoring the terrified Son Je-guk, Jun-ho threw the knife in the direction he had just pointed.
Thwack!
After destroying the CCTV camera mounted on the ceiling, Jun-ho turned back to Son Je-guk.
"Lead the way."
Feeling even greater fear at the supernatural accuracy of the dagger throw, Son Je-guk quickly turned, fumbled to open the door, and entered the narrow, pitch-black concrete passage.
Creak. Whirrr....
A mini-drone flew through the slightly opened iron door. Having confirmed that the outside was safe, Jun-ho poked his Glock 17 out of the door and destroyed both CCTV cameras. The reason he hadn't been able to use this secret passage when infiltrating the Cheongsan Building was precisely because of those cameras. Whether he shot them from nearby or sniped them from afar, if the CCTVs went down, the gangsters would have inevitably set up a defense in the mechanical room or the underground parking lot, waiting for the intruder.
Finally, Jun-ho opened the iron door wide and dragged An Jun-tae out.
Whoosh!
The concrete passage had been chilly due to the cold, but the outside, where the biting wind howled, was far colder. This was a scrapyard located under a small mountain, just 120 meters behind the Cheongsan Building. It seemed this scrapyard was also a business run by Park Il-ho, the owner of the Cheongsan Building. Whenever there was a crackdown on his illegal prostitution business, he must have guided the customers through the secret passage they had just passed to exit here.
"It's cold...."
The women shivered as they stepped out of the iron door one by one. Although they had managed to put on the clothes of the dead gangsters, the wind blowing from the mountain was no joke.
"Ugh...."
Among them, one woman, wearing only a padded jacket over bare feet, leaving her thighs exposed, turned blue and trembled violently in an instant.
Click. Clack.
"Hey, gang boss."
"Y-yes, yes!"
At Jun-ho's call, Son Je-guk, who had just closed the iron door, hurried over. The women recoiled in fear, stepping back. To them, having been dragged to the Cheongsan Building and treated as playthings for the gangsters, the boss Son Je-guk was an object of pure terror.
"Take off your shoes and pants."
"...Pardon?"
"Shoes. Pants. Take them off."
"I-I'll take them off! I'm taking them off!"
As Jun-ho reached for his Glock 17, Son Je-guk panicked, kicked off his brown boots, and unbuckled his belt.
"Ugh...."
Seeing Son Je-guk shivering from the cold despite wearing black thermal underwear beneath his pants, Jun-ho spoke to the woman with the exposed thighs.
"Do you want the thermal underwear, too?"
"P-pardon?"
"That thermal underwear. Looks like it would be warm."
"...!?"
Seeing Son Je-guk's eyes widen in shock, the woman shook her head.
"N-no. I think the pants will be enough. Thank you."
The woman bowed her head, put on Son Je-guk's pants, and slipped into the boots. Jun-ho stared at the man, who was twisting his legs like a squid, unable to act his age or size.
"....!"
Seeing Jun-ho's icy gaze, Son Je-guk flinched and stood straight. He feared the coldness in Jun-ho's eyes far more than the wind blowing from the mountain.
"...Do you know?"
After watching Son Je-guk in silence for a while, Jun-ho spoke in a low voice.
"Yes? Wh-what do you mean?"
Son Je-guk swallowed hard.
"That even zombies can't use their strength if they starve for a long time."
"Oh... is that so?"
"Yeah. A normal adult male human needs at least 1,500 kilocalories a day, but a zombie only needs about half that. Because they usually just stay holed up somewhere and don't move."
"....!"
"For the few minutes or tens of minutes they spend running at full speed to attack after spotting prey... zombies instinctively conserve their stamina and energy. Still, if they don't eat for a long time, they can't use their strength well."
"Ah...."
"So, if a zombie catches prey—say, a full-grown adult—assuming they don't turn into one of their own, 50 zombies can survive for 3 or 4 days on the body of one human."
"I... see."
Credibility aside, Son Je-guk, not understanding why he was being told this, nodded awkwardly.
"But that's just for normal zombies. Alphas—the special zombies you've captured—are different."
"....!?"
Not only Son Je-guk, but An Jun-tae, who had been sitting on the ground glaring at Jun-ho, also widened his eyes.
"Alphas, who can think like smart predators and issue orders to other zombies, are different. They need to eat three or four times more than a normal zombie every day. They might be fine for three or four days, but if they starve for more than a week, they get weak. And here, 'weak' means...."
Jun-ho's gaze passed over Son Je-guk, whose face had turned pale as if he had realized something, and settled on An Jun-tae, who was looking up at him with wide eyes.
"It means the number of zombies they control gradually decreases. For example, from 300 to 200, from 200 to 100. And if an Alpha keeps eating humans, the number of zombies they control increases instead. From 10 to 20, from 20 to 30...."
Step, step, step.
Walking slowly toward the two gangsters, Jun-ho continued.
"Eventually, they might become strong enough to control the zombies you've holed up on the 1st and 2nd floors of that building as landmines."
Swoosh.
"Hrk!"
As the Commando Dagger appeared in Jun-ho's hand, Son Je-guk was seized with terror. But Jun-ho didn't swing the blade at him; he tilted his head slightly.
"Is there anyone here who was captured along with their family, friends, or acquaintances?"
"....!?"
The women, whose faces had turned pale at the terrifying story they had just heard from Jun-ho, were startled.
"Do you know where those people who were captured with you are? Have you seen them?"
The women, looking back and forth between Jun-ho's indifferent face and Son Je-guk, who was sweating despite the cold, immediately understood the meaning of his words.
"Ah, aah...."
"Ah, Dad. Mom...."
Two women instantly turned ashen and collapsed on the spot. They had realized it. That their loved ones, who had been captured with them, had been 'provided' as food for the zombies.... That while they were spending hellish times as playthings for the gangsters, their loved ones had become 'meat' and were eaten.
"Hic. Huuu...."
"Kgh. Kgh."
"Don't cry. Stand up."
Jun-ho said firmly to the two women who were covering their mouths to stifle their sobs. Watching them stand up shakily as instructed, even while shedding tears, Jun-ho pointed to one side of the scrapyard.
"There are plenty of things to use as weapons. Pick anything up. And with that...."
His icy gaze turned back to Son Je-guk.
"You deal with this beast yourself."
The death sentence was passed.
"Ugh... Ughhh."
Just as Son Je-guk, whose legs were free, tried to run—
Swish! Thud!
In the blink of an eye, a throwing knife flew and pierced the man's thigh.
"Argh!"
Thump!
Son Je-guk screamed and tumbled as the throwing knife buried itself into his calf up to the hilt.
"Kgh... Kgh!"
Soon, a dirty rag was stuffed into Son Je-guk's mouth. With his hands tied behind his back, unable to pull out the knife, Son Je-guk began to crawl like a beast, face-down in the dirty dirt. Crunch, crunch, crunch. Toward that beast, the two women, their eyes bloodshot and their faces twisted like demons, walked forward holding a rusted kitchen knife and a piece of broken glass.
Jun-ho held out in the scrapyard until sunset, and once darkness had fully fallen, he headed to the Jaeseong Building with the women. The zombies, having devastated the Cheongsan Building in just 30 minutes, had all returned to their original positions. Using night-vision goggles and guided by Akina through drone reconnaissance, Jun-ho was able to safely escort the women to the Jaeseong Building.
"Oh, what do I do, what do I do."
"Stop making a fuss and bring some clothes and warm water. Bring some medicine, too."
At Lee Won-o's words, the assistants scurried about and began to care for the women, whose faces were blue from the cold.
"As you probably saw, the Gukje Gang has disappeared today."
"Y-yes, yes. I saw. I saw it very clearly."
Lee Won-o, who had clearly witnessed the sight of zombies, twice as numerous as those that had swarmed his own building, devastating the Cheongsan Building from the rooftop, swallowed hard.
"But just in case, keep staying here for the time being."
"Understood. Th-then, Mr. Jun-ho...."
"I have business left to attend to, so I must be going."
"Ah...."
Lee Won-o's expression turned somehow bittersweet.
"And the radio."
"Ah, y-yes."
Lee Won-o hurriedly handed over the radio Jun-ho had given him earlier that day.
"Keep it with you. I think I'll be coming this way often."
"Ah! Really?"
To Lee Won-o, who immediately brightened, Jun-ho nodded.
"When I contact you again, it will be because I want to trade with you and the people here, just like today. If you accept my proposal, I'll give you something, just like today. Do you understand what I mean?"
"Of course. Just call me. And, well, I feel the same, but our guys have become big fans of Lee Jun-ho. Especially Se-young, she really wants to... ahem!"
"Yes...?"
"Se-young said she ate what she received earlier very well. She was happy because the medicine worked really well, too. Hehe...."
Lee Won-o laughed awkwardly and then changed the subject.
"By the way, are you leaving right now?"
"Yes. I have urgent business to take care of."
Jun-ho thought of his younger brother, Jun-hyeok, who was still at the safe house in the Edutown apartments. The search-and-destroy team led by Song Ki-jun had routed the Edutown looters without a single casualty. However, a problem had arisen for Jun-hyeok, who had planned to finish off the stragglers fleeing back to Edutown. To be precise, it wasn't Jun-hyeok and the A1 drone assisting him that had dealt with the remnants, but an Alpha that had appeared from somewhere, along with the zombies it commanded, that had taken care of the Edutown men and the gangsters. Fortunately, they hadn't discovered Jun-hyeok on the rooftop, but because there were over 1,000 zombies, including the Alpha, the ones it commanded, and normal individuals, Jun-hyeok was unable to leave the apartment and was waiting in the safe house.
"Besides, there's still one beast left...."
He had tied An Jun-tae up tightly with several zip ties and dumped him deep inside the scrapyard. He was the same kind of beast as Son Je-guk, who had died cruelly at the hands of the women, but he was kept alive for now because he had immediate utility. Of course, he had dislocated both shoulders and severed his Achilles tendons, so he was in a state where even moving on his own was difficult.
"A beast?"
"It's nothing. Ah, and take this."
Jun-ho handed Lee Won-o some weapons and equipment he had collected from the gangsters.
"The crossbow shouldn't be difficult to use. It has a scope, so it should be easy to hit targets. The stab-proof vests are...."
Lee Won-o's mouth hung open as he received two crossbows, over 100 bolts, three stab-proof vests, and a decent pair of binoculars. They weren't particularly needed at his shelter, but they were invaluable items that would drastically increase the survival rate for these people. And so.
"Thank you. Thank you so much, Mr. Jun-ho."
"Don't mention it."
Jun-ho had only provided things he had truly 'picked up on the way,' but the eyes of Lee Won-o looking at him were shining like those of a fanatic dealing with a cult leader.