Chapter 84
Chapter 84
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 84
Chapter Title: Rampage, Crush, and Destroy
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Lee Chan-seong, the leader of the Bandit Gang, had always been a man with a twisted hobby—he was deeply obsessed with gore.
He would scour the deep web for scenes of people dying or meeting horrific fates, deriving an inexplicable thrill and stress relief from viewing blood and entrails.
But in modern society, bound by strict laws and morals, he could never openly indulge such a perverse taste.
So he kept it tightly hidden, venting his urges by killing stray cats or small animals.
Then came the perfect opportunity for this psychopath to unleash his desires freely: the end of the world.
"P-Please... no more... just kill me already..."
Lee Chan-seong smiled down at the woman dismantled before him.
His hobby was crafting "art."
He selected only the most handsome or beautiful captives, torturing them just short of death.
The screams they let out filled him with ecstasy.
"Now... for the finale..."
When his victim finally begged for death, that's when he'd slice open their belly.
It was his personal rule. Only by following it precisely could he feel satisfied—a true psychopath.
"Ah... ugh..."
The woman hanging there soon went limp, her life extinguished. Stroking her cheek, Lee Chan-seong admired his creation.
Then he caressed the warm, spilling entrails with a smile.
A man with a filthy, repulsive, nightmarish hobby. Someone who deserved to die.
"Haa..."
He presented his two-day masterpiece to his underlings, as if holding an exhibition.
"So, what do you think?"
"W-Wow... th-that's incredible, boss..."
A few Outlaws, dragged in against their will, forced claps despite finding his insanity unbearable. Refusing might bring disaster—they knew it all too well.
Not everyone could stomach the gruesome sight, though.
One clapping Outlaw finally succumbed to nausea and vomited.
"Urk... blegh..."
The atmosphere chilled instantly. Lee Chan-seong's face went blank as he approached the retching man.
He stroked the man's head and said,
"Your name."
"Hic... S-Sorry..."
"No. Your name."
"P-Please..."
"Your name!!!"
He began beating the subordinate.
His rule: answer three questions, or face punishment.
"Ji-hoon! J-Ji-hoon!"
"Hoo... Right. Ji-hoon. You're next."
His next artwork was decided.
'That crazy bastard...'
'Damn it...'
'If only he weren't here... life would be so much better...'
Everyone trembled at his atrocities.
Rebellion plots had arisen multiple times, but all failed beforehand. Escapees met brutal executions.
Once part of this group, there was no escape. The seven Hidden Class holders stuck together, crushing any uprising before it began.
In the end, to avoid becoming his target, everyone played it safe amid his madness.
Terror was etched into the Outlaws' hearts.
As long as they stayed out of the madman's sight, they could scrape by—so many endured. Or went mad alongside him.
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Beast Tamer Im Jin-su, finally sobering up after late-night drinking and rolling with kidnapped women, sat in the storage room nursing his hangover with instant ramen.
He monitored the Sports Center perimeter through his familiars: a fox and a ptarmigan.
"Slurp... gulp. Something feels off. Hmm. What is it?"
After about two hours sharing vision with his beasts via skills, searching for survivors or notable named entities, he spotted something unusual.
"Why... are there no zombies?"
This was truly bizarre.
Zombies that should be shambling the streets were nowhere in sight.
The roads were spotless, as if someone had cleaned them.
With all the deaths in Seoul, a zombie shortage defied logic.
This needed reporting to the boss, Lee Chan-seong.
"Weird. Too weird. Hey! Jun-ho!"
"Yes!"
"Tell the boss the streets are eerily quiet—no zombies in sight."
"Uh... yes, got it."
Im Jin-su felt inexplicable tension.
It stemmed from sharing his familiars' emotions.
'Chills down my spine. Something's there. Something...'
Beast instincts were razor-sharp.
If the ptarmigan and fox sensed wrongness, trouble was brewing.
'Earthquake making zombies migrate en masse? No. Not that. An assault, then... maybe that ghoul zombie from before.'
This Monday, the Sports Center suffered a minor raid by ghouls leading zombies.
Most were remnants fleeing from Jang Jojun's mart via Kyseria, but even they troubled the Outlaws.
'Maybe a survivor group nearby... but that doesn't explain missing zombies. And against fellow Players, we'd win.'
Never defeated since the apocalypse, arrogance reigned. They were frogs in a well. Comfortable, they stopped proper scouting, holing up in the Sports Center.
"Haa... tired."
Im Jin-su stretched, briefly losing focus and connection. He re-linked vision.
But...
"Wh-What...?"
In that short moment, the fox died.
No connection.
'The f-fox...'
Not just any fox—his was a three-tailed fox spirit, smart as an yokai, fierce enough to beat special zombies.
Yet this elite familiar died in seconds while he stretched.
Not fleeing, but utterly slain.
"Hey!! Jun-ho!! Ah, fuck... you just ran errands... damn it."
The fox's pointless death signaled a massive threat closing in.
Stomping in frustration, Im Jin-su linked with the ptarmigan.
"Shit!! Fuck!!! Emergency!!!! Assault!!!"
Linking vision, he screamed. But the warning came too late.
"Uwaaaah!!!"
"Wh-What is this!!"
"Bugs!!! Bugs!! Uwaaaah!!!"
With his scream, Outlaws shrieked throughout the Sports Center.
Bug swarms poured from every possible entry: walls, ceilings, floors.
"Damn it!!!"
Through the ptarmigan's eyes, Im Jin-su saw manholes around the Sports Center heaving, exploding as hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of bugs crawled inside.
From one manhole, a dozen humans emerged, dashing in—mostly women, one headless.
Too late to note details anyway.
"Damn!! These things die with a hit!!! Don't panic!!!"
"Just bugs!! You fuckers, fight don't run!!!"
"Fuck!!! How?! There's so many!!!"
"Kuaaah!!! It hurts!!!"
No time to stop or prepare—the cockroach wave from sewers unleashed screams everywhere.
Jang Jojun, from the ghoul fight, knew they built forces underground.
Resummoning Ebony Cockroaches, he sent them straight into the sewers.
As planned, ghouls and evolved zombies gathered there with thousands of zombies for round two.
He ordered the Ebony Cockroaches to devour them all.
Egg-laying rush began.
Ebony Cockroach offspring lived three hours. Before they died, the parent spawned an army to raze the Sports Center, turning hiding zombies into bug hordes.
Once surging, no zombies could stop them.
Ghouls and evolved ones fled after losing their hordes.
'Damn... these bugs are weak individually...'
Im Jin-su thought, eyeing the roaches.
Indeed, baby Ebony Cockroaches were plain giant aggressive roaches—no special powers. Basic mobs that popped on hit. A level 15 Awakener needn't fear them.
With focus, the hundred-plus Awakeners could've won united.
If they stayed focused.
'But numbers... too many... we'll all get swept.'
Im Jin-su bashed incoming bugs with his metal pipe.
When numbers exploded, their true terror emerged.
Palm-sized roaches surged like waves, evoking disgust and fear, inducing panic.
Unprepared victims got overwhelmed by the visual onslaught, bitten, toppled, buried alive.
"Murder Bear!!"
Im Jin-su summoned his last familiar, the bear, to fight.
But with swarms infiltrating everywhere, one bear couldn't hold. Needed more allies—but most had fled, panicked, or died.
Soon bugs crawled into his clothes, gnawing flesh. Bugs entered hair, mouth amid screams.
"Kraa!! Shit!! Fuuuck!! Uwaaa!!"
He flailed, shaking them off.
Like others, the crawling sensation drove him mad with revulsion.
Then someone approached the thrashing man.
"Bear... Hidden Class... the Beast Tamer oppa mentioned... right?"
An unknown woman. No time to answer—bugs gnawed urgently.
Oddly, as she neared, bugs tormenting him scattered, parting like a path.
Shaaaah...
"Guhk... ptui... urk... bleghhh..."
Im Jin-su spat out a crunching cockroach from his mouth.
Had to vomit his hangover ramen too.
"Ugh... gross..."
The woman approaching recoiled in disgust as he puked.
"Urk... fuck..."
Suddenly, the chaos quieted. He looked up, puzzled.
No sounds but her voice—not even his bear fighting.
"Wha...?"
Splash!!!
His last familiar, Murder Bear, took a helpless hit.
A massive hairless black beast, mouth splitting four ways like a large dog, pressured it.
Not alone.
A human-faced bird and a moth-like insect stabbing with a long stinger joined.
Kim Ye-won's summons: Haesil, Tosil, Bangsil—named cutely with Jojun last night, but horrific in action.
They tormented the bear mercilessly.
Cold sweat beaded on Im Jin-su. Shifting from the fight, he asked the staring woman,
"What are those? What you're holding... don't tell me..."
"What else? Your summons."
Kim Ye-won held the dead ptarmigan and three-tailed fox.
She tossed them to the battling beasts.
The human-faced bird swooped, mocking him as it devoured the ptarmigan. The deathmoth latched to the fox corpse, stabbing venom into the spine, parasitizing.
Like killing a pet before its owner. Worse, even.
"Y-You... you fucking bitch!!!"
Mentally shattered, Im Jin-su raged, veins bulging, screaming at the smirking blonde.
But first, Kim Ye-won flashed a creepy grin—never shown to dear Jojun—and said,
"Hehe... mister... your familiars suck. Cockbait."
Her twisted smile's madness silenced him.
'This woman's not right.'
Deeply deficient, warped human.
In her, he glimpsed his insane boss Lee Chan-seong.
Like Chan-seong smiling grotesquely while dismantling people. Trembling, Im Jin-su felt trapped.
Bug horde insanity, this psycho woman—unhuman grin.
'What the hell's attacking? She's not alone... no chance fighting.'
He considered surrendering.
Then another entered the storage room behind her.
"What's with this bear...?"
While Im Jin-su dazed at Kim Ye-won, Gang Hwa-young entered, tilting her head at Murder Bear.
Freakishly long-armed bear vs. her grotesque summons—bewildering for normal aesthetics.
"Ye-won unnie. Can I finish it?"
"Yeah. Sorry... taking too long..."
"Don't apologize with that."
"Yeah... sorry."
"Haa..."
Gang Hwa-young's skill shredded Murder Bear effortlessly.
Im Jin-su lost all will utterly.
Insanely mad attackers—he realized resistance meant only painful death.
Gang Hwa-young wiped blood from her face, approaching.
"Haa... nothing special. Jojun oppa said be tense, so I was... disappointing. Low level. Haa... die here? Or come nicely?"
"S-Surrender! Surrender!!"
Staring at Kim Ye-won and Gang Hwa-young, he thought:
Stunning beauties, yet monstrously cruel and terrifying.
"Alright then."
Gang Hwa-young knocked him out with a jaw strike, then slashed wrists and ankles with a blood-red dagger, severing tendons.
"Hoo... unnie. Drag this bastard."
"Yeah...!"
Thus, one of seven Hidden Classes—Beast Tamer Im Jin-su—was neutralized.
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Sports Center second-floor gym.
Merhere battled Possession Warrior Lee Hoon atop corpses sliced by her scythe.
"You damn bitch!!!"
Merhere kicked screaming Lee Hoon's gut.
Bam!!!
"Guhk..."
One kick sent him meters back, crashing into the wall.
His body was bruised and wounded.
If Merhere aimed to kill, he'd be in three pieces already—but Jojun ordered capturing special ones alive.
"Kuaaah!!!!"
Fifth time Lee Hoon crumpled under her one-sided beating.
Screaming in pain, humiliated, he thrashed in disbelief.
'Me, who devoured hundreds of souls... losing to a woman...?'
Unbearable. Body doped to limit with forced possessions, yet losing.
Abandoning natural growth for soul-doping, can't beat one woman—rage shook mad Lee Hoon.
Like his foundation denied.
And unfair.
He didn't know she was an angel.
Superior from the start. Knowing that, he'd accept defeat.
"Wh-What are you! Where'd a thing like you crawl from!!"
Merhere ignored his shouts—unworthy of words.
Instead, she grabbed dumbbells from the floor, hurling mercilessly at fleeing Outlaws.
Crack!! Crunch!!
"Gahk!!!"
"Kuaaah!!"
Dumbbells smashed skulls, barbells impaled torsos. Cockroaches swarmed the fallen.
'Throwing that weight casually? What have I even been doing...'
Despair eroded Lee Hoon's will.
But Merhere cut off his surrender, beating mercilessly.
"Guhk..."
"How many souls have you devoured? You'll puke them all up, human."
She scowled at souls shrieking on his back.
Not anger at evil—just annoying wails from ghosts.
Accepting Fallen Angel identity under Jojun, morals faded. She acted on her mood.
"Th-Those eyes... guherk..!!"
Merhere didn't stop, smashing his face murderously. Souls peeled off like dust.
"Grrrk..."
After repeated face blows, Lee Hoon slumped.
Undigested souls spewed from his mouth.
Merhere grabbed his leg, dragging the fainted man out.
His fate for the master.
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"Haa... haa... damn it... what are you lot...?"
Barbarian No Ji-guk, fleeing bug-swallowed minions, shattered a window and leaped out.
About to run, he faced Han A-ram and Kang Hee-sun at the entrance. Corpses pulped by her man-sized hammer littered around them.
'What're those chicks...? With that short-haired maniac inside?'
He'd fled the rampaging Han A-ram.
"Hoo... hey. You. What's your class...?"
Han A-ram panted, asking the gauging No Ji-guk. A curled goat-horn sprouted from her forehead.
They'd slain escaping Outlaws. Spotting this extraordinary Player jumping out, they pegged him Hidden Class.
"Wh-What business of yours!!"
Kang Hee-sun replied pityingly,
"We could let you live."
"Y-You fucking bitches..."
No Ji-guk brushed off clinging bugs, fleeing from them.
Instantly realized: unbeatable.
'That stupid huge hammer... corpses exploded around... barely escaped bugs, now these psychos...!'
Running, he thought.
He'd never been called weak—yet reality differed.
'Especially that pink-haired girl's aura... beyond imagination. Something qualitatively beyond mana.'
Barbarian's sharp senses detected Han A-ram's demonic energy.
Feeling her faint yet potent aura pre-fight, he deemed her unbeatable, choosing flight.
True to survival-specialized class, ditching teammates was effortless.
"Hey... don't run!!!"
"Wait, A-ram, then that guy's dea—d... haa..."
Suppressing boiling demonic energy, Han A-ram raged at his flight.
She roared, hefting the hammer two-handed, hurling it.
Whoosh! Crash!!
"Eh? Huh?"
The hammer pulverized his legs, crushing him flat.
No Ji-guk smashed to death.
"Ah. Damn. Killed him. Unnie... why didn't you stop me..."
"A-ram... you threw before I could..."
"Unnie, please keep it secret. Don't tell Jooni."
"You think that'll work...?"
Han A-ram recalled Jojun's order: capture as many as possible alive.
"Urk... damn."
Momentary fury led to disobeying again, unintentionally.
Kang Hee-sun tried stopping her, to no avail.
Thus, three of seven Hidden Classes neutralized. One dead before capture.
Regardless, Jojun's ambush succeeded.
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