Kill Them All!
"Huff, huff, huff..." Han Chang-oh and his four remaining men scrambled up the emergency stairwell, finally reaching the rooftop. They slammed the door shut and leaned against it, gasping for air.
"Damn it, let's go. We'll head to the main building—either to rest or to beat the hell out of those bastards inside." Since there was no time to catch their breath, they followed Han Chang-oh’s lead, dragging their exhausted bodies forward.
The Gahyeon Elementary School building was structured in an '工' shape, connecting the main building, the cafeteria, and the gymnasium. They crossed the rooftop of the central building, which housed the cafeteria on the first floor and the faculty office on the second. Though the roof was densely packed with solar panels, there was a narrow path maintained for access. They hurried along, relying on the weak, flickering light of a standard security guard's flashlight.
"Huff, huff..." They were about halfway across the central building when—
Phwip. Thwack!
The moment they registered an unfamiliar sound, a heavy, dull impact echoed. The man walking in the lead jerked his head back violently and collapsed sideways.
"Gah!"
Another thug froze, his breath hitching as he watched his colleague fall, a hole punched through his forehead, his eyes wide open in death. Red blood began to pool rapidly on the rooftop floor, leaking from the back of the dead man's skull.
Phwip. Thwack!
That was his end, too.
"It's a gun! Take cover!" Han Chang-oh roared, diving behind the solar panels.
Phwip. Phwip.
Subsonic rounds, fired in rapid succession, pierced the necks and chests of the men who hadn't managed to hide in time.
"Krrk... Kruh..." A thug whose throat had been half-torn away collapsed, bubbling blood from his mouth.
"......!"
Watching this from behind the solar panels, Han Chang-oh’s mind naturally conjured the image of 'someone' dressed entirely in black from head to toe. And then—
Phwip.
The moment that chillingly suppressed gunshot rang out once more—
Crunch!
"Aaaargh!"
The bullet punched through the metal plate of the solar panel and embedded itself in Han Chang-oh’s shoulder.
Elimination Target #2. No weapons currently in possession.
"......"
Jun-ho, who had been firing from the main building's railing about 50 meters away, stood up at the AI's cold report. He slung his AR15 over his back and drew his machete.
"Ugh... Argh!"
Han Chang-oh wept, saliva and tears streaming down his face as the pain in his shoulder felt like a heavy, red-hot hammer driven into his flesh. All sensation in his arm had vanished, as if it no longer belonged to him, and he couldn't put any strength into his fingers.
"Kugh! Ugh!" He tried to twist his body, but hitting the solar panel again sent a fresh wave of agony through him. Just then, his vision brightened instantly, and Han Chang-oh squeezed his eyes shut.
"Kugh!?"
"Han Chang-oh. Younger brother of Han Chang-sik, the head of Han Chang Development. Purchasing Manager, or Material Manager, or whatever the hell you call yourself."
"Ugh...!?"
At the flat, emotionless voice, Han Chang-oh forced his eyes half-open. Someone was standing behind the light that was beaming into his face.
"You lived your life playing gangster as a two-bit thug, drifting in and out of detention centers. You were almost headed to prison for rape, but thanks to the high-priced lawyer your brother hired, you settled and got probation. And since the world went to hell, you’ve been raping every pretty woman in the townhouses and villas, haven't you? Right in front of their husbands and families."
"Who... who are you? You fucking bastard, who the hell are you..."
Thwack!
"Gah!"
Han Chang-oh was struck hard across the face by the flat of the machete and collapsed to the side.
"Don't you know me? A few months ago, some of you Han Chang Development thugs crawled into the apartment complex behind the townhouse village, didn't you?"
"Ugh...!?"
"And a while ago at The First Mart, I let you live and sent you away. Don't you recognize me?"
"You, you..."
Goosebumps erupted all over Han Chang-oh’s body. Forgetting the pain in his shoulder and face, he drooled and gaped at Jun-ho.
"I saw you running straight to your brother, not even realizing I’d spared you on purpose. And today? You were surprised by the sudden swarm of zombies, weren't you? That was my gift to you. Did you like it?"
"You... you fucking..."
Han Chang-oh, who was reasonably cunning—though not as much as his brother Han Chang-sik—finally grasped the situation. He had been terrified when hundreds of zombies, which usually didn't come out in such cold weather, had suddenly swarmed them. To think that the 'Mansion Slayer' standing right in front of him had orchestrated it all.
"Why... why are you doing this? You fucking bastard, what did I ever do to you? Fuck."
"What you did?"
Jun-ho chuckled beneath his mask. In this life, the brothers Han Chang-oh and Han Chang-sik hadn't done anything directly to him yet. However, in his previous life, Jun-ho hadn't just been beaten countless times by Han Chang-oh; he had lost his left ear and a finger, and he had lost the reliable survivors who had helped him in Gahyeon-ri—including Song Ki-jun—to those thugs.
"Just consider it your fault for being born as Han Chang-oh."
"What kind of bullshit..."
Slice!
As the machete drew a short, diagonal line, Han Chang-oh’s words were cut short. Thud! His cleanly severed head, still wearing the expression of someone about to speak, rolled across the floor.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
— Yeah. You just need to go that way.
— No, I said go straight. There's nothing there, it's clear. Yeah?
— Ah, I told you, there are no zombies and no people. Just keep going, keep going.
"Ah, yes, I understand."
Song Ki-jun walked diligently, listening to the slightly flippant voice of the young man who claimed to be Lee Jun-ho’s colleague.
— Wait. There’s a friend of ours a hundred meters ahead, so don't shoot. You'll see him soon.
"Where... ah, I see him. Yes."
Song Ki-jun and the men from The First Apartments grew tense as they saw a tall man dressed in gear almost identical to Lee Jun-ho’s standing in the darkness. The tall man, dressed entirely in black, was also heavily armed with firearms—even carrying two suppressed pistols.
"Mr. Song Ki-jun?"
"Yes. I am Song Ki-jun."
"Follow me this way. Oh, and don't touch that thing. It’ll follow us on its own."
"......?"
Song Ki-jun and his men tilted their heads as they looked where he pointed.
Whirrr.
"Huff!?"
"Ugh?"
But when the G1 drone began to move on its own with a motor hum, they were shocked out of their wits.
"You remember when the thugs raided the mart, right? That was me and him helping you guys out back then."
"Ah, I see."
"Wow..."
They had long since realized that Jun-ho, who had brought them generators, batteries, three drums of diesel, and various emergency medicines, including painkillers and antibiotics, was no ordinary person. But they hadn't even imagined he would possess such an extraordinary weapon, on top of using a drone to monitor their surroundings from the sky. Swallowing their dry saliva in a mix of tension and relief, Song Ki-jun and his men followed the tall man.
Despite the biting wind and the falling snow, they puffed out white clouds of breath and kept walking. Less than 30 minutes later, they arrived at a hill overlooking the townhouse complex and the villas.
"From here on, we’ve made a path that wasn't there before. Be careful not to slip as you follow."
"Yes."
After struggling for another 20 minutes down a narrow, valley-like area that could no longer be called a 'path,' they reached the retaining wall of the largest and most luxurious villa.
"Grab that and come down one by one, carefully."
At Jun-hyuk's words, they grabbed the thick rope that had been pre-installed and descended the 10-meter-high wall one by one.
— Only the second floor has lights on. The first floor has curtains drawn so no light leaks out.
— Six people confirmed on the first floor. Three on the second floor, including Elimination Target #1. The first floor has one woman and five men. The second floor has the target and two women. They're all in one room.
There was no need to ask why two women were in the same room as Han Chang-sik.
"What about backup?"
— Both Dol-soe and G1 are in position. G1 will catch anything coming to the house, and Dol-soe will catch anyone trying to leave.
"Okay."
Following Yun Yeong-su’s communication, Jun-hyuk opened a small ventilation window he had already scouted in the first-floor kitchen.
Click.
Jun-hyuk opened the plastic window just wide enough for a fist and pulled a mini-drone from his pouch.
"......!"
Whirrr...
Under the curious gazes of Song Ki-jun and his men, the mini-drone entered the window with a faint sound.
"Three are lounging in the living room, and two are in the first-floor room and sunroom. The woman is in the room, too."
Checking the first floor of the villa on the mini-drone's controller screen, Jun-hyuk turned to Song Ki-jun and his men and continued.
"Go in and finish them all at once. Think of it as killing them. These bastards have already killed plenty of people and zombies. You must never show mercy."
"Understood."
Having already steeled themselves, Song Ki-jun and his men nodded, steadying their breathing.
"I'll handle the second floor. The reason I'm taking on that guy alone is because he has a pistol."
"Ah..."
"Then let's begin. I'll go up to the second floor, and the signal will come. Six of you go into the living room, and the others go into the sunroom and the room in pairs simultaneously."
"Yes."
Hearing Song Ki-jun's response, Jun-hyuk grabbed the gas pipe and climbed. Having practiced dozens of times from before the apocalypse until now, Jun-hyuk reached the second-floor balcony without any difficulty. Meanwhile, Song Ki-jun and his men moved quietly to reach their respective positions.
— Alright, players, stand by.
A few seconds after Yun Yeong-su’s voice, Phwip...! Phwip...! Phwip...!
Tungsten rounds, fired simultaneously by the two G1 drones already in position and Park Deok-cheol, struck the floor-to-ceiling windows connected to the first-floor living room and the second-floor balcony.
Crackle! Clang!
As soon as the bullets hit the windows, Jun-hyuk on the second floor and the men on the first floor smashed the windows with the weapons in their hands.
Crash! Craaaash!
Song Ki-jun, who had leaped through the shattered window amidst the loud noise, roared.
"You fucking bastards!"
He shouted and thrust his left hand forward.
Flash!
A blinding 2,500-lumen beam of light was fired directly at the thugs who had jumped up, swords in hand.
"Argh!?"
"Ack!"
Like a white explosion, the thugs, hit by the light that literally pierced their eyes and pushed into their brains, instinctively covered their faces and turned away, their vision burning from the powerful flash embedded in their retinas. One of them even fell on his butt, covering his face with both hands.
"Kill them all!"
At the same time, as Song Ki-jun raised his voice, the men from The First Apartments rushed in, mercilessly striking and beating the thugs with the weapons in their hands.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Clang!
Jun-hyuk, who had broken through the balcony window and entered the room, quickly turned his muzzle. As he had scouted, there was no one there, so Jun-hyuk quickly ran to the bedroom door and opened it slightly.
Aaaah! Screeeech...! Fuck, what is this!?
The screams of women and someone's swearing could be heard from the living room across the hallway. Since it was clearly the voice of 'Elimination Target #1' Han Chang-sik from the second-floor master bedroom, Jun-hyuk left the room immediately and moved quickly, aiming his muzzle toward the master bedroom.
He had taken about ten steps when—
Bang!
With a loud noise, the master bedroom door swung open, and someone bolted out. Jun-hyuk instinctively tightened his finger on the trigger.
But—
"Aaaah!"
It was a half-naked young woman who had emerged from the master bedroom.
"......!"
Not forgetting his experience of friendly fire during the Red Rock Academy test, Jun-hyuk made a split-second judgment and did not pull the trigger. And the moment he saw someone sticking their head and shoulders out from the master bedroom behind the woman, reaching their arm out toward him—
KA-BOOM!!!
Rat-tat-tat!
The sound of the pistol fired from the master bedroom and the sound of Jun-hyuk’s KP9 erupted simultaneously.