The Predatory Genius of a Ruined World

Chapter 17 – Awakened Abilities (4)

—–CROW—– 

After a brief deliberation, Lim Chan reluctantly followed Seong-ho.  His face was ashen, as if he were being led to a slaughterhouse, but the important thing was that he had decided to come along.

‘He’s braver than I thought.’

Or perhaps, he was more desperate than Seong-ho realized.  He couldn’t give up on Seong-ho’s ability unless Lim Ji-hyo was immune.

Setting off again, Seong-ho changed direction to head towards Myeong-dong Station.  After spending half a day covering a distance that would normally have taken a couple of hours on foot, he finally began to see the sign for Myeong-dong Station Exit 9 in the distance.

*Caw, caw.*

The cawing of crows suddenly echoed from somewhere.  It was a rare occurrence in this world where animals seldom appeared.

*Caw.*

The crows’ continuous cawing, as if in warning, gave the surroundings an eerie feeling.  Frowning, Seong-ho quickly approached the subway station.

“S-Seong-ho-ssi…”

Lim Chan grabbed Seong-ho’s arm, his eyes filled with confusion and bewilderment, as if he couldn’t understand at all, but Seong-ho couldn’t stop.

*Thud, thud.*

His pace quickened, and he finally reached the stairs leading down to the station.  Then, he had to stop dead in his tracks.  Someone’s head, eyes wide open, lay at the bottom of the stairs, staring back at him.

He felt as if he had been doused with cold water. Or perhaps, it was fear.  For that moment, he couldn’t move a muscle.  He stood there, frozen like a statue, his jaw clenched, for a long time.

“Seong-ho-ssi…”

Lim Chan’s almost-sobbing voice jolted him back to movement.  The moment the shackles that had bound him were released, Seong-ho didn’t retreat but moved forward.  He pulled out the flashlight from the side pocket of his backpack and switched it on.

At first, all he saw was a single human head lying on the stairs.  Going a little further down, he saw exactly what the man he had met earlier had described.  The place was filled with human remains, as if it were being used as a dumping ground.  He was speechless at the sheer number, easily exceeding several dozen.

‘Did all of this really accumulate just this winter?’

His heart pounded in his chest at the horrific sight that stole his breath away.  He stood there, rooted to the spot, for a while before swallowing hard and retreating.

Back upstairs, he saw Lim Chan, who hadn’t dared to approach any further.  Returning to Lim Chan, who was nervously scanning their surroundings, Seong-ho rubbed his pale face and said,

“Let’s find a place to hide nearby first.”

The Pioneer’s Cradle had confirmed that there were no survivors in the immediate vicinity.  However, it was a fact that someone was coming and going here.

‘I’ll lie in wait here and ambush the next people who come to dump bodies.’

Seong-ho quickly left Myeong-dong Station.

* * *

Only one night had passed since they started their stakeout from a three-story building with a clear view.

*Caaaaw!*

The unusually loud cawing of a crow startled Seong-ho awake.  Immediately after, Lim Chan, who had been keeping watch at the window, looked back at Seong-ho.  He had been about to wake him.  However, seeing that Seong-ho was already awake, he was momentarily surprised.

“S-Seong-ho-ssi, someone’s coming.”

Lim Chan pointed out the window with a tense look.

Seong-ho got up without hesitation and went to the window.  Dawn was just breaking. As Lim Chan had said, someone was crossing the deserted road.  A man in his mid-twenties was pulling a cart towards Myeong-dong Station.  With each step he took, a strange sound drifted through the broken windows.

*Clatter, clatter.*

Seong-ho fixed his gaze on the cart the man was pulling. It was piled with white and red fragments.

“Ugh…”

Realizing what it was, Lim Chan gagged and covered his mouth.  Seong-ho, however, watched everything the man did.  The man reached Myeong-dong Station Exit 9 and tilted the cart. The human remains inside tumbled down the stairs.

*Clang, thud.*

Although it was a somewhat loud noise, fortunately, it didn’t attract any zombies.  Thanks to this, Seong-ho could observe the man who had brought the cart without any interruption.  He couldn’t see the man’s expression from above, but he sensed no hesitation or unease in the man’s actions as he disposed of the human remains.  As if he were very accustomed to it, as if it were just another chore. He simply displayed a businesslike attitude.  It felt as if he wasn’t disposing of human remains, but simply garbage. The discrepancy created an unsettling feeling that made Seong-ho uncomfortable.

‘Not all humans deserve to live.’

But that didn’t mean they deserved to end up discarded like trash.

As Seong-ho frowned, the man set down the cart and headed down the stairs.  Sounds continued to echo from the underground space.

*Clatter.*

*Rumble.*

He seemed to be pushing the remains that had fallen onto the stairs further down.  And once this task was finished, he would likely leave for his base.

“Lim Chan-ssi, pack your things.”

They had to follow the man before he completely disappeared from sight.

At Seong-ho’s instruction, Lim Chan began packing their belongings with trembling hands.  The noise, which had continued for a while, subsided after a few minutes.  Soon, the man who had gone down reappeared.  Then, he suddenly tripped over a stone and fell.  Seong-ho flinched in surprise, then frowned. The way the man fell onto the pavement was strange.  He pressed his face against the ground and lifted his hips, then his elbows suddenly shot upwards.  He looked as if his arms were dangling in the air.  Then, the man’s body began to rise upwards on its own.  He hadn’t pushed off the ground with his hands or feet.  His body simply floated upwards with his elbows raised, as if someone were pulling up a string puppet.

Seong-ho’s eyes narrowed.  Suppressing his emotions with a sigh, he recalled the information he had confirmed the previous day about the cannibal camp’s strength.

‘The scale is less than 50 people, still mid-sized, and there’s only one Awakened individual in the camp.’

That one person was the Awakened individual who also appeared in the original story, Go Ji-hoon.  The nickname for his ability was Puppeteer, the power to control others.

‘He’s quite a significant villain.’

He remembered the protagonist having quite a difficult time dealing with him.  As Seong-ho frowned, recalling the information, the man, now fully upright, began to move again, pulling the cart.  Seong-ho also urged his companions and set off.

How long had they been following the distant figure?  Seong-ho’s eyes narrowed as he finally saw where the man arrived.

‘This is…’

It was Myeong-dong Cathedral, not far from the subway station.  Seong-ho made a strange expression as he watched the man disappear into the cathedral.  Like the hospital where he had met Lim Chan, this place also held significance for him.  This cathedral was a place he frequented during his time at the orphanage.

‘I used to attend Sunday Mass or meet volunteers here.’

As an adult, he had even volunteered here himself. After the hospital and now the cathedral, was it really a coincidence that he kept encountering places connected to his past?

‘I’ll find out eventually.’

Seong-ho brushed aside the uneasy feeling.  He reiterated the facts he knew.

‘Go Ji-hoon’s ability has clear limitations.’

It wasn’t about brainwashing or controlling consciousness.  The Puppeteer ability literally only controlled actions.  If that was the case…

‘It means there are people involved in the cannibalism who are being forced against their will.’

Seong-ho silently clenched his fists. But what could he do about the frustration and burden? If he wasn’t going to back down, he had no choice but to move forward.

‘I need to resolve this as quickly as possible.’

Wasting time would only increase the number of victims at the camp.  In the current situation, swift action was the best course of action.

“Lim Chan-ssi.”

“Y-Yes?”

“Let’s do some special ability training.”

Lim Chan tilted his head at Seong-ho’s cryptic words.  But instead of explaining, Seong-ho took his companions and left.

* * *

It was late, and the sun had completely set.

‘This is the fourth time.’

Seong-ho lay prone by the window of a high-rise building, his eyes glued to the binoculars Lim Chan had brought from the hospital.  It might seem impossible to see anything through the lenses in the thick darkness, but it was precisely because of the darkness that he could clearly see the movements of those carrying flashlights and lanterns as they patrolled the cathedral grounds. Thanks to this, Seong-ho was able to figure out the frequency and route of their patrols.

‘The night patrols aren’t as frequent as I thought.’

About 30 minutes after the fourth patrol ended, the sky began to brighten.  Seong-ho finally moved away from the window and stretched.

‘It’s a good thing the all-nighter was productive.’

Through his overnight observation, he had not only figured out the patrol cycle and route but also learned several other things.

‘There were more survivors coming to the cathedral after seeing the smoke rising from the mortuary building than I expected.’

After tracking the movements of the survivors who had newly arrived at the cathedral, he learned that the rectory was where newcomers were quarantined, and the cultural center was where those who had completed quarantine were kept.  The reason for this distinction was simple. The cannibals didn’t typically eat their newly captured prey on the same day.

‘Because they might accidentally eat someone infected.’

Those who weren’t immune would become infected themselves after eating an infected person. Therefore, they usually had a quarantine procedure to confirm that the person wasn’t infected before touching them.

In addition to what he had learned through his overnight observation and the information he already knew, he had also gleaned some information about the cannibal camp through the Pioneer’s Cradle. Basic information such as the number of Awakened and the total number of people in the camp.  After reviewing the information he had,

‘Further investigation is pointless.’

The moment he felt a sense of certainty, Seong-ho focused his attention on the two buildings where the survivors were being held.  Just then, he heard a rustling sound behind him.

“Seong-ho-ssi…?”

Lim Chan, who had been sleeping in his sleeping bag, had woken up.  Shaking off his thoughts, Seong-ho turned around and said,

“Since you’re awake, let’s review what we practiced yesterday.”

“Oh, yes, yes!”

Lim Chan immediately shook off his sleepiness and carefully got out of his sleeping bag, making sure not to wake Lim Ji-hyo inside. He returned to the spot where he had been sitting before falling asleep. Scattered grass and twigs filled the space that had once been an office.  Seong-ho waited for Lim Chan to settle down.

A moment later,

“Hup…!”

Rose vines rapidly sprouted from Lim Chan’s hand and then began to wither.  Seong-ho carefully examined the state of the plants altered by his ability.

‘Lim Chan’s ability isn’t just about growing plants.’

To be precise, it was about controlling the overall growth of plants.  He could germinate seeds, make plants with healthy roots bloom again, and even make healthy plants wither.  Knowing this better than anyone, Seong-ho had pushed Lim Chan’s ability to its limits the night before, finally succeeding in creating the desired result.

“Good. Just like this. Please make as many as you can until dawn tomorrow.”

“Yes…! I understand.”

As Seong-ho nodded in satisfaction, Lim Chan breathed a shallow sigh of relief. But it was only momentary.  He soon looked at the grass filling the space around him with a complicated expression.  After a brief hesitation, he asked Seong-ho,

“Um… but Seong-ho-ssi,”

As Seong-ho gave him a look that encouraged him to continue, Lim Chan gulped and asked,

“What are you planning to do with this?”

What was he going to do with all the grass piled up in the office?

Recalling the thought he had had in front of the cathedral the previous day, Seong-ho replied,

“I’m going to set the cathedral on fire.”

That would be the most effective way to eradicate this damned cannibal camp.

—–CROW—–