Breathing Life into Real Dolls

“That bastard is not a zombie! Catch him———!!”

Choi Cheolnam screamed desperately.

Park Sangcheol tried to grab him with his strengthened right hand, but failed. The guy was really quick.

As if he had planned his movements in advance, he immediately ran away from the convenience store after sticking the kitchen knife into Lee Dongyeop’s neck without hesitation.

Several zombies from the horde that arrived late chased after him, but he would easily shake them off.

“That son of a bitch……!”

Cold sweat ran down Choi Cheolnam’s back.

He couldn’t erase the thought that he had completely fallen into a trap.

That guy had used Baek Seonahh’s text to lure them to this convenience store.

Then, disguised as a zombie, he lured zombies and charged into the convenience store mixed in with dozens of them.

At first, they didn’t notice, but that zombie horde was following the guy at the front.

And in the moment of negligence, Lee Dongyeop was attacked, and the zombie horde was now targeting those who they outnumbered.

‘Lee Dongyeop was a shield ability user, playing a very important role in human combat. Now that Lee Dongyeop has foolishly died, the danger has increased.’

Perhaps the guy who disguised himself as a zombie likely knew about their abilities beforehand.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to pick out and kill the shield ability user and run away without hesitation.

‘Damn it. It’s a meticulously planned trap.’

Choi Cheolnam felt his palms getting wet with cold sweat, but he shouted loudly, pretending to be unfazed.

“This bastard! Do you think I’m going to take this quietly—!?”

He strode towards the entrance of the convenience store.

There, dozens of zombies scrambled to get in through the broken glass door.

The deafening roars of the zombies filled the air.

“Woahhh—

Woahhhhhh—

Woahhhhh—“

“I’m E-Class Choi Cheolnam—! Do you think I’ll blink at these garbage zombies—!?”

Flames began to spew from his hands.

Choi Cheolnam’s E-Class special ability, [Flame Spray].

It was a powerful ability that placed him at the head of the shelter ability users.

In front of his overwhelming flame baptism, the zombies were powerless.

After about 10 seconds of spewing fire, dozens of zombies had all turned to ash.

The temperature was so high that the shards of the broken glass door turned scarlet.

Park Sangcheol, who had been standing dumbfounded next to him, expressed his admiration belatedly.

“Wow, as expected, it’s you, hyung!”

“Hooh, hooh, khahahahaha! Come out here, you fucker—!!”

Just as Choi Cheolnam, filled with confidence, shouted loudly,

Suddenly, a large crash was heard from the convenience store ceiling.

Crash—!!

As the gypsum tile ceiling collapsed, something fell.

Long platinum hair whipped about her face. It was a human that descended. More accurately, a woman with an inhumanly beautiful face.

As soon as she landed, she reached out and twisted Choi Cheolnam’s neck 180 degrees, plucking it off.

“……?”

The last thing Choi Cheolnam’s eyes recognized was the expressionless woman.

She showed no signs of any emotion, looking like a doll or perhaps like a statue of a Greek goddess.

‘She’s beautiful……’

With his head ripped off, Choi Cheolnam’s consciousness cut off with that final thought.

“Ah, ah……!”

In front of Park Sangcheol, who was backing up in surprise, the expressionless woman thrust Choi Cheolnam’s head forward.

She looked much like the goddess of death who roamed the world to harvest lives.

“Stay still. Don’t move. Unless you want this to happen to you.”

“……”

The goddess even had a beautiful voice.

That was Park Sangcheol’s thought, who had frozen solid with fear.

A man appeared in front of the now-bound Park Sangcheol.

It was the man who had disguised himself as a zombie and broke the convenience store’s glass door earlier.

Lee Dongyeop died from the kitchen knife this man had plunged into his neck.

“Ah, you, from before……!”

And following him was someone Park Sangcheol recognized from a photograph.

“Baek Seona……!”

Even though he was slow to comprehend, Park Sangcheol finally realized.

They had fallen into a trap.

Probably, they had killed Hyung and Dongyeop and kept only him alive to interrogate him.

Park Sangcheol gave up.

He was an ordinary office worker before the world turned into a zombie apocalypse.

He didn’t believe he could endure for even 10 seconds if they started torturing him.

Nor was there any reason to endure.

A bubbly female voice reached Park Sangcheol’s ears as he bowed his head.

“Doha~!”

Running with her platinum hair whipping about was the expressionless goddess who had ripped off his Hyung’s neck earlier.

He doubted his own ears.

Contrary to the emotionless, cold voice she had when telling him not to move earlier, the goddess was now using a cutesy voice.

That wasn’t all.

“Hehe. How was it? Did I do well? Huh?”

As if seeking praise, the goddess hugged the man disguised as a zombie and eagerly rubbed her face against his chest.

The man was also dressed like a zombie, his clothes looking ragged with hardened blood here and there, but she didn’t seem to mind.

It was as if an affectionate Golden Retriever had transformed into a human.

‘That’s the same person as the expressionless goddess from before…?’

The man disguised as a zombie, the man she called Doha, answered while stroking her hair.

“You did well, Rena. Remarkable. Very pretty.”

“What? I’m remarkable…? Pretty? Hehehehehehe……”

The goddess seemed pleased to be complimented, her face becoming blissfully happy.

“I’m so happy to be able to do something for Doha…!!”

“Just being with you is always a help, Rena.”

“He, hehe. Don’t make me fly too high……”

Now she looked as if she was high on pure joy.

“……”

Park Sangcheol couldn’t understand what was happening right before his eyes.

The plan was a complete success.

From beginning to end, everything flowed as anticipated, culminating in the capture of Park Sangcheol.

Initially, they had planned to capture the one they called Hyung, Choi Cheolnam, but they changed the plan, judging his ability to be too dangerous.

If Choi Cheolnam could still use his power even after being subdued, it could be dangerous, no matter how formidable Serena was.

The power of his flame was terrifying.

In contrast, Park Sangcheol’s power wasn’t that threatening.

A power that enhanced and enlarged a part of the body.

It was easy to react to, and Serena was still stronger, even with his enhanced physical abilities.

That was why they decided to capture Park Sangcheol.

I waved a hammer and nails in front of Park Sangcheol and spoke.

“How about it, Park Sangcheol? Will you answer my questions, or do you want to experience some nail pain before answering?”

Basically, the outcome would be settled by answering my question.

Park Sangcheol spat out words quickly, like a skilled rapper.

“I’ll tell you everything! I’ll honestly answer anything you ask! Just spare my life…!”

“Good. Then shall we start slowly?”

I started to extract information from Park Sangcheol.

Firstly…

“My brother! Baek Jihun! What happened to Baek Jihun…!?”

Baek Seonah spoke urgently.

“Baek Jihun… are you referring to the pro gamer?”

“Ye, yes!!”

“Hmm…?”

Pro gamer Baek Jihun?

Was this the pro gamer Baek Jihun I knew about?

The pro gamer who enjoyed global popularity in the AOS game Legend Arena.

A prodigy who won the domestic league in his debut season and recorded an undefeated march to the World Championship that same year.

He was also handsome, so he had fans all over the world regardless of gender and age.

That Baek Jihun was Baek Seona’s brother…?

Come to think of it, there was a time when Baek Jihun’s family in the audience was captured on camera during his match.

Among them, Baek Jihun’s sister looked so pretty and innocent, like an actress or model, that eSports news articles were filled with stories about her.

[A surprise visit to the stadium by a female celebrity? Turns out it's the elder sister of player Baek Jihun.]

[Appearance of Baek Jihun's sister in the audience causes a stir, 'Goddess clip' becomes a hot topic!]

The comments were explosive.

-Wow, looking at Baek Jihun's face, it's expected, but this is beyond imagination.....

-Crazy. She's a goddess, lol. Genetics is everything, as is the case with Baek Jihun.

-I was in the same high school with Baek Jihun's sister, and her personality is so nice, lol. Plus, she was good at studying, so she went to Seoul University's Business Administration lol.

└So, she's from Seoul University? Crazy lol.

└The younger brother wins the league as soon as he debuts. The sister is from Seoul University, lol.

└I heard their parents are doctors. Damn, a genius family.

-Younger brother-in-law, congrats on the win, although it's late! We'll count on you from now on.

└?

That was how pro gamer Baek Jihun became the national younger brother-in-law for a while.

Even now, if you said ‘younger brother-in-law’ on the internet without any additional explanation, it meant Baek Jihun.

But that Baek Jihun was the younger brother Baek Seona was so worried about…?

I quickly turned on my smartphone and searched ‘Baek Jihun’s sister’ on the internet.

As soon as I switched to the image tab, there were countless clips of Baek Jihun’s sister caught in the audience.

In it, Baek Seona’s face looking at the camera with a surprised expression, was captured.

Turning my head, I could see Baek Seona’s face, which was looking at Park Sangcheol with a serious expression. It was identical to the one in the picture.

As I thought when I first saw her, she was really beautiful.

‘Why did I find out about this now…?’

Of course, nothing changed because I knew this.

I was already planning to help Baek Seona and find her family, including her brother.

But an additional thought arose.

‘I have to ask Baek Jihun to play a round of Legend Arena with me…’

Would the Legend Arena server still be alive?

With that thought, I stopped daydreaming.

The first priority was to interrogate Park Sangcheol and extract information.

Just then, Park Sangcheol, who had been hesitating while watching Baek Seona, opened his mouth.

“Baek Jihun… he was not an ability user, but people at the shelter really liked and followed him. So there were many people gathered around Baek Jihun…”

“…..”

“Choi Cheolnam hyung really hated Baek Jihun. He said it was too presumptuous for a kid who’s just good at games… In a world where the zombie virus has spread, he called him a useless brat…”

Baek Seona’s voice trembled as if she had a premonition of something.

“…So?”

“Hyung said that we need to create a power structure centered on ability users… after all, it’s the ability users who end up protecting people, so it’s not wrong, right…?”

Not wrong?

“Hey.”

I held a nail against his hand and hammered it in.

Bang-!

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh———!!!”

Park Sangcheol screamed as if the world was ending.

Making a big fuss as if he did something great?

I slapped him across the face once more.

Slap-!

“Get a grip on the situation. If you scream again, I’ll drive in another nail.”

“………Hic!”

With teary eyes, Park Sangcheol stifled a scream.

Waving the nail in front of him, I spoke.

“Who told you to defend yourself? Just answer the questions you’re asked. Can’t you understand something this simple?”

“No, it’s not like that… Hic……”

“What happened to Baek Jihun?”

“Baek Jihun escaped… Choi Cheolnam tried to kill him, but Baek Jihun noticed the signs and ran out of the shelter with a few people…!”

“So you didn’t catch him?”

“Yes, yes……”

Upon hearing this, Baek Seona shed tears of relief.

“Hic…!”

“…..”

For a while, I patted Baek Seona’s back without saying a word.