◈ Episode 178

The corpse, killed instantly by a single blow, fell forward.

There was a squirrel in the place where he had fallen. His movements, which had been struggling to avoid eating the larvae, had stopped. He slowly rolled his eyes at the weight that had come up on his shoulders.

Blood and cerebrospinal fluid gushed out from the man's broken back of the head. The flowing blood stained Biya's shoulder bright red. The blood, which was not even 40 degrees, felt hot like lava.

"Ugh, euaaaah...."

Villa is a criminal who cannot be saved. He is not poor enough to starve to death, but he has ruined the lives of several people for money. He has taken the death of others lightly.

But I have never killed anyone directly.

I can count on one hand the number of times I have witnessed a murder.

In short, he was unfamiliar with the current situation. Leone was no different. She knew how to survive among monsters, but this was her first time fighting humans to the death.

If there are those who are unfamiliar, there are those who are familiar.

"Take up your weapon! Catch him and kill him!"

One of the infected screamed. As soon as the man died, the remaining eleven took up a fighting stance. Of them, the four who were holding Villa were the closest to Kim I-Hyeon.

"Ouch!"

He throws down his hat and rushes forward. He holds a folding knife or a pipe wrench in his hand. The weapon is crude, but it is faster than the guys in the septic tank from before.

Physical abilities that are clearly beyond the level of ordinary humans.

This is evidence that parasiteization has progressed considerably.

That's all.

"Ahhhhhh!"

The axe swung by Kim Yi-hyun cut the arm holding the knife to the bone. Then, the handle was raised and broke the infected man's jawbone. One was kicked in the stomach and flew away, and the last one was stuck in the face with the axe blade.

Before we get to the superiority of technology, there was a huge gap in specs. The special weapons of 5 stars or higher each have their own distinct characteristics, perhaps because the game company put a lot of effort into them.

Minigun [Karura], a mass-produced specification.

[Signature] that transforms to be compatible with auxiliary equipment.

The alloy axe [Crocus] boasts the strongest physical penetration among 5-star weapons.

"Huh, huh. In an instant…."

"Khan, Bullocks! What the hell…!"

The infected who were about to join in a hurry hesitated. Even those who are accustomed to violence will stop thinking when they are crushed by an overwhelming force. In times like these, you have to be wary of a guy who knows how to move.

A relatively distant location, the infected person was found rummaging through the pockets of his bosom.

Kim Yi-hyeon immediately took [Crocus] out of his hand. The assault rifle [Browning] took its place. The moment the guy pulled out his revolver and aimed, Kim Yi-hyeon's index finger was already pulling the trigger.

Tadadang!

The infected holding the revolver were hives. Meanwhile, the others were scattered in all directions in panic. Three or four bullets were fired at the infected who were running for cover.

A hole was ripped through the wall of the abandoned factory, and glass was shattered. After emptying an entire magazine, smoke rose from the muzzle. Only two people hiding behind a container were lucky enough to survive.

After the commotion passed, silence came.

"What the heck, you did it all by yourself."

"I guess it just happened. But I saved it to some extent."

"Oh my. Should I tell you that you did a good job?"

"Look at the words. I'm the boss."

Biya looked up at them, unconsciously sitting down. The shocking powerlessness. The two men and women joking around as if nothing happened while committing murder.

"Ugh, ugh…."

Meanwhile, Leone's breathing became ragged even though he had done nothing. His legs were still weak, but he was mentally shocked.

Dustborne Corporation.

Each of them has their own unique personality, but they are all kind in their own way. The boss may seem cold at first, but he cares for his own people. The things they have done - eliminating enemies and saving civilians - can be called noble.

At that moment, I felt it with my skin, not with my knowledge.

The fact that 'enemy' also includes humans.

"Trainee. Don't talk nonsense."

Chelsea spat out at Leone, who was standing there blankly.

"Did you really have to kill me? If you say something like that, I'll hit you in the back of the head."

"Well, wasn't there another way?"

"What method?"

Kim Hyun-ah asked back, taking off his blood-soaked mask.

"The result is the same. These guys had to be dealt with anyway. They were the ones who tried to put the city at risk by using the larvae. Even if we hadn't done it, the police would have stepped in and swept it up."

The law does not apply. You cannot bring infected people into the city and execute them.

"In the process, an innocent security officer might die. There's a high chance that these guys will hide or run away in the first place. I don't know what they do next, but they are a potential danger to the city."

"…Is that so?"

"Yeah, that's it."

He took off his mask and threw it on the floor.

"Compassion isn't infinite. It wears out quickly. It's a waste to give it to these useless guys."

He concluded by saying, "Keep that in mind."

The education ended here. It may have been shocking, but this is something that you have no choice but to adapt to. Just like Kim Lee-hyun did when he first drifted into the Polaris world.

'If you can't adapt, well.'

Regardless of whether or not he performed well in the game, I have no intention of bringing along a worthless piece of trash who would put his comrades at risk out of needless pity. I should either give him a severance pay and send him back to Harrenhal, or send him to Lab to spend it properly.

Now is the time to focus again on the situation in front of us.

"Hey, you two over there."

When I called the infected, Chelsea shot the sky with [Ivory] that she had received in advance. When I looked at Chelsea as if to ask what she was doing, she replied, "It sets the mood."

Kim Yi-hyeon continued speaking with a sour taste in his mouth.

"Take me to your base."

* * *

Luckily or unfortunately, Brandon Furty was not one of the twelve people in the abandoned factory. The two surviving infected were named Jay and Kay, and they both spilled a lot of information before I could even ask.

"You're saying that you're artificially infecting people using larvae?"

"That's right! That's right, if you ingest the larvae, they break down in your stomach and the contaminants are absorbed into your body. You'll almost certainly get infected. There are some who couldn't endure it and died."

"That's right. They were all dead or infected or something."

That was the reason why they preferred healthy young men.

Kim Yi-hyeon couldn't hold it in and let out a sigh. The truth of this incident and its future direction were forming in his mind. He muttered while pressing his temple.

"Mass production of parasites..."

There was a similar episode in the game. The culprit was an organization of doomsday evangelists. They created the so-called 'parasite factory' in a way other than larvae.

'There must be at least two groups involved.'

First, the group of infected people. Their role is to supply the larvae to the city using the septic tank. If so, there are also people inside the city who receive the larvae. This is consistent with what Biya explained earlier.

"The missing person was some kind of test subject."

"Yes? A test subject?"

"No?"

"Uh, um. We don't know the details either. There used to be someone who would tell us things and give us instructions, but he just disappeared. Since then, Kujak has been the leader."

Kujak. We'll have to look into it, but it might not be his real name.

"Is that guy Kujak at the base?"

"No. He's dead…."

"뭐?"

"The first one you killed was Kujak."

… … Should I have kept it alive?

"But I don't think Kujak had any grand plans."

"It was just crazy. It was so funny to see a perfectly healthy person get infected. Once you're infected, you can't run away, right? You can't go back to the city, so where else can you go?"

The two of them were not a strong-knit group, so they denounced Kujak.

"I picked out the useful ones among them, gave them medicine, and made them my colleagues."

"That's how it happened to us too. We were originally in a septic tank."

I wondered why they were so tight-lipped. They were saying that they were just victims, so please turn a blind eye. If it were true, they would be among the victims, but it was nonsense.

These recruits will be handed over to the police.

'You won't be punished right away, but I will have to interrogate you…'

There is no bright future for those already infected. I know of several ways to suppress the progression of mutations, but it would be a waste to use them against them.

"Here, here it is."

The base, like Area E, was an apartment complex.

As the car pulled in, the infected rushed out, but no battle broke out. This was because Kim I-Hyun was holding a gun, and Jay and Kay used hand and foot gestures to stop their comrades.

Crucially, there weren't many combatants.

"...."

You could tell just by looking at their timid posture and their unwillingness to make eye contact. It seemed like the information that the missing people had joined the group of infected people was not a lie.

'It must be a lot of work to drag everything along.'

The twelve I met at the abandoned factory seemed to be accustomed to rough times, but they were not. There must be some who are truly innocent. It might be possible to deliver a letter to their family.

This is a problem to think about after finishing the business.

"We're looking for a man in his late 40s and a girl around 5 years old. Their names are Brandon Furty and Sarah Furty. If anyone has seen them, please let us know. This is important."

"...Are you a girl?"

Jay flinched. It was a reaction that something had occurred to him.

"I see you're here. Take the lead."

"Uh, uh…."

"If you decide to cooperate, do it to the end."

The words he had used on Villa worked this time too. He started to walk in front, showing signs of being embarrassed. Kim Yi-hyeon looked at Chelsea's stern face and followed behind.

Thud, thud.

The garage shutter rattled as I passed by.

"What's in there?"

"…It's a parasite."

"Have you locked up the infected?"

"Kuzak told me to do it too… It's dangerous."

They do all sorts of crazy things.

I ignored it and hurried my steps. As I entered the apartment, an unknown stench wafted up to the first floor. The place I arrived at after following Jay and Kay had a sign that said 406.

"They're both in here."

I went in with my nerves on edge, considering the possibility that it might be a trap. As a result, there was no surprise attack. However, the scene I witnessed in the bedroom was so gruesome that even Kim Yi-hyun clicked his tongue.

The two are not dead yet.

A man believed to be Brandon Furty was found gasping for breath with a severing tendon in his ankle. A girl with pink eyes who looked just like Chelsea was tied tightly to a bed frame.

Brandon Furty was on the verge of becoming a parasite.

"Answer me. What is the situation?"

"He, he. Kujak said he needed to bring me some 'snacks'…."

It means that they threw it away together so that you could eat it when it changes.

'Well done.'

It wasn't usually trash.

"Whew, huh."

Brandon nodded his head like a drunk. He slowly raised his head as if he sensed someone's presence. Chelsea was standing stiffly, speechless, with her pupils clouded.

"Heh, heh. Sa, Sa. That's your sister. Your sister abandoned us. She wanted to live well on her own, and didn't know the gratitude of the person who raised her. The reason I became like this, and the reason you became like this, all of it…."

Every time his body shook, the decision fell into his hands. Brandon's eyes were unfocused. He couldn't tell if Chelsea in front of him was him or a hallucination.

"You shouldn't grow up like your sister. You're a bitch with no parents, don't you hate hearing that...?"

At this stage, recovery is impossible.

Kim Lee-hyeon predicted the ending of the request.

"Leone. Take the child out."

"Oh, I understand."

Leone, who received the dagger from Kim Yi-hyeon, hurriedly untied the bindings. Sarah was unconscious, but her pulse was normal. We would have to measure it to know, but there was no sign of a decision on the outside.

Leone recalled the story of someone dying because they couldn't withstand the mutation. Then maybe the child wasn't fed larvae. If it wasn't naturally contaminated, Sarah could have survived.

I really hope so.

May salvation be found for the clumsy and wounded senior.

"…It's okay. I'll do it with my own hands."

Leaving Chelsea's voice behind, he went outside. Leone closed the front door and covered Sarah's ears while she was sleeping. He hoped the child wouldn't hear him.

-Taang!

A final gunshot rang out the front door.

Leone bit his lip until it bled. It was an unconscious act. In this world, people who deserved to die lived shamelessly, dragging others' lives down to the bottom.

Not long afterwards, the front door opened.

Chelsea kept her mouth shut, holding the gun in one hand. She couldn't bear to look at Sarah, who was being held by Leone.

The commission is over. The whereabouts of many missing people have been revealed.

Of the missing Putty women, only the daughter was rescued.

Measurement results showed that Sarah's contamination level was below the standard.

Sarah Putty was not infected.