Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Hongir followed after the traces left behind by Noah.

Without fail, bodies were found scattered along the path that he passed, and because of this, it wasn’t difficult at all to find where to look.

‘…As expected, he’s not an ordinary guy.’

He had examined the wounds left on the corpses. Every corpse seemed to have been cut neatly by one attack.

Perhaps these people didn’t even notice their death as their neck fell to the ground.

‘It’s terribly clean.’

It wasn’t murder because of a grudge. If it had been, there would have been more traces left on the bodies.

However, it was ambiguous to say that the boy was simply a murderer who enjoyed murder.

If he was that kind of human, he would have chosen a different method to savor the kills a little more.

‘I see…we’re the same.’

Looking at the traces left by the boy, he felt a strange sense of kinship.

A business-like slaughtering. The boy simply killed people by quick and efficient means.

Perhaps he was the kind of human who kills people at the request of someone, just like himself.

He followed the traces which led him to the outskirts of Guangcheng District.

A vacant lot where a big flame was burning. A battle must have taken place here, as corpses can be seen scattered everywhere.

He carefully examined the traces and tried to measure the boy’s strength.

What was most prevalent here were bodies that were shattered into pieces as if it had been bombed.

‘This…must have come from an armory.’

It seems that he’ll have to be mindful of these firearms when dealing with the boy.

As he turned his head, he saw a decapitated head wearing a strange-looking mask rolling on one side of the vacant lot.

And next to it, there was a beastman covered in bandages.

The body was already very decayed, so it was difficult to recognize what it originally looked like.

The moment he saw it, he stood up and frowned.

‘Damn, is it the work of a necromancer?’

The Turbak tribe traditionally has a belief in resurrection.

It was believed that the great Turbak would give new life to the brave warriors on the promised day.

For this reason, from the time they lived in their hometowns, they have hated and feared necromancers who played tricks on corpses.

On a closer look, he noticed a familiar talisman dangling from the neck of the undead.

It was the same object he saw in the video of the boy a while ago. This beastman seemed to have been killed twice by the boy.

‘…What a terrible fate.’

Perhaps this beastman was of mixed blood like himself, but for some reason, he felt a sense of familiarity with it.

In any case, there were tombstones at the Turbak Brotherhood’s grave site, but in fact, there was a possibility that there was nobody under it.

Although he didn’t have many good memories of the Turbak tribe…

Nevertheless, it was hard to bear the fact that warriors who have taken rest were being played with by a necromancer.

‘Now there’s one more reason to chase the boy.’

He didn’t know why, but the boy was also aiming for the necromancer.

If so, as long as he follows the boy’s traces, he’ll eventually meet the necromancer at some point.

‘I’ll take care of it all at once.’

After taking a moment to express his condolences for the dead here, he began to follow the traces left by the boy again.

* * *

After giving each child a gun, I also wanted to show them how to use it.

But at that moment, Hairy who was watching from the side suddenly began to interrupt me.

“No! What are you doing giving guns to kids? Hurry and get rid of these dangerous things.”

In the meantime, he began to take the guns from the children. I frowned and told him.

“Then do you have another way, ajeossi? I’m sure there are only monsters around here. They need to be able to protect themselves.”

“That…I can do it instead.”

“Ajeossi, you’re weak.”

“In any case, no! It’s better to hide somewhere quietly and hold out. I don’t want them shooting people with guns!”

From Hairy’s firm expression, it seemed that there would be no compromise.

This won’t do.

My plan will be disrupted. I’ll have to clean up this obstacle first before I can use these children.

After staring blankly at Hairy, I called the floating spirit that was next to him.

“Blackie.”

It flew straight to me like an obedient puppy.

The shadow swayed as if it was wagging its tails.

Looking at the spirit, I asked.

“Please stop that ajeossi over there.”

“W-what? Noah, what are you saying…”

Hairy looked at me in surprise. Then Blackie slowly turned toward him.

Although I don’t know how to distinguish a spirit’s facial expressions, somehow I felt that Blackie was smiling.

Stepping back little by little from Blackie, Hairy spoke.

“H-huh? Blackie, you rascal! What are you trying to do right now?! No! Get off me! Remember you signed a contract with Ko Changsu…Keuk!”

I don’t know what the spirit did, but Hairy lost consciousness on the spot.

Next, Hairy was tied by a rope made of shadow and was hung in the air like a dried fish.

After completing the work, Blackie floated in front of my eyes as if hoping for praise.

This ability was a lot more useful than I had thought.

I’m not sure about the exact mechanism, but I seem to have command priority over contractors with low spirit affinity.

I should ask Choi Bokhee about spirits later when I get home.

Now that the obstacle is gone…

I’m going to have to teach these children how to shoot.

Looking at the children, they were all standing with a lost look on their faces. Watching them, I realized something else.

As expected, newbies need to be tempted with rewards.

I took out a bag of candy and shook it in front of their eyes. The eyes of those who tasted this candy a moment ago sparkled and shone.

“You want to eat this, don’t you?”

Then their heads nodded at a fierce speed. Looking at them, I spoke.

“I’ll give you guys a chance. From now on, I’m only going to give this candy to the person who shoots the corpse over there with a gun.”

But the children just looked at each other. No one was willing to step up.

When I thought the silence would continue, someone hidden among the children awkwardly raised one of their hands.

“Can I try?”

Then the children opened the way and a little girl walked out.

Black hair and bright yellow eyes. And ears that resembled a cat rising above. It was a girl who seemed to be of mixed race between a beastman and a human.

“Okay, give it a try. All you have to do is hit the head over there.”

“Erm…So I just have to do that?”

I handed over the gun without much expectation. The girl pulled the trigger with a curious look.

And…

Bang–!

Blood bursts out of the corpse that was scattered on the ground.

“Wow! I did it!”

The girl ran to me with joy.

I didn’t expect her to get it right away.

It was unbelievable that she had done it without a scope. She was more talented than I thought.

I handed over the candy as promised. She put the candy right in her mouth and rolled it on her tongue.

Her tail lightly shook. It seems she’s really happy.

It was a much more positive result than I had expected.

“What do you think? Easy, right?”

“Hehe, I want to do it again because it’s fun! I feel like I’m playing a game at home.”

“?!”

How long has it been since I met a proper human being like this?! Her words were so touching that I couldn’t help but smile.

“What’s your name?”

“It’s Pie!”

“Okay! Pie. From now on, you’re the captain. Do you want chocolate instead of candy? It’s delicious.”

“I love it!”

I handed over the chocolate to this commendable newbie. Then Pumpkin, who was watching the scene, spoke with a determined look.

“Hero, I want to try too!”

Then he immediately took a gun and after three shots was able to hit the head. This punk also had good skills.

“Then hyung, you’ll be the commander.”

“Thank you! I’ll do my best!”

I thought he would be a useless bum, so this was surprising.

After receiving candy from me, he went back to his spot with an unnecessary bravado.

But since then, no other guys have stepped up.

Everyone was just reading the situation, and from the way their shoulders shrunk, I didn’t think they had any intention of moving.

Hmm…this is going to be difficult.

The plan wasn’t going as I expected. To get candy and shoot a gun, wasn’t it twice as enticing?

It was something you can do with just your fingers, so I don’t know why they were refusing such an easy job.

I couldn’t understand it at all, but from the look on their faces, I thought no progress would be made no matter how long I waited.

Should I just give up on the reward for this Challenge?

As soon as I thought that, suddenly, Pumpkin, who was standing between the children, shouted.

“How long are you going to live like that?”

When he said that, the children who had their heads lowered all raised their heads at once.

Hmm?

I’m not sure what Pumpkin was trying to do, but I decided to observe him for now.

Anyway, I’ve already cleaned up this place, so it was enough to just give up the Challenge and leave.

Pumpkin shouted with an angry look.

“Do you guys really have no conscience? Right now, hero…Noah-nim is working so hard to protect us, but why don’t you have the courage?!”

“B-but…the sound of gunshots is scary. We should leave this to the adults…”

“Who saved you when you were about to die? Did an adult save you?”

“T-that’s…”

“Adults can’t be trusted! You guys know it well!”

Suddenly, Pumpkin began shedding tears. The children’s expressions became agitated when they saw him crying.

“I…almost died today to the person I trusted the most in the world. If it weren’t for him over there, I wouldn’t be alive now.”

“…”

“But…I managed to get home safely after that, and guess what?”

Pumpkin pointed to his father who was standing next to him and spoke.

“My father over there tried to kill me again! Just because I broke the curfew! At that time, if Noah hadn’t saved me, I wouldn’t be standing here now.”

Pointing to one of the children, Pumpkin angrily asked.

“You there! Why are you living here?”

“I-I…My mom hits me when she sees me.”

“And you, tall girl over there!”

“I-I…Every night my uncle…Heuk!”

After that, Pumpkin continued to point out each child and asked why they were living here.

And every time he did that, the children would burst into tears. The whole place turned into a sea of tears.

“Waaah! Don’t cry, brothers and sisters!”

Pumpkin’s father, who was standing next to him, cried along with the children without knowing what was happening.

In this situation, Pumpkin shouted with confidence.

“We have to protect our own bodies! Adults won’t help us!”

Then the children, who had been crying so far, shouted with anger.

“Right! I’ll protect myself!”

“I’m going to have my revenge at all cost…”

“Waaaah!!”

The children scrambled to pick up their guns. I watched the series of events blankly.

What’s this?

In fact, I was determined to give up on the Challenge. I can’t believe the punk had turned the children’s heart around with just a few words.

Coincidently, I made eye contact with Pumpkin.

As if he had never cried, he looked at me as if hoping for praise.

Did he purposely create this situation for me?

Perhaps because of , he seemed to have done what I didn’t even ask him to do.

In fact, I thought he was just a useless bum, so for him to have this kind of talent was surprising.

Well, anyway, it’s a good thing for me.

I stood in front of the children with guns.

Then the children clumsily formed a line.

This is fun.

Looking at it, I felt as if I was leading a unit in an FPS battle.

Reciting a line I had heard from a game in the past, I told the children.

“From now on, everyone must answer with a ‘Yah!’ in unison. Do you understand?”

“””Yah!”””

“Okay, then, let’s go save this town on behalf of the useless adults!”

“””Yah!”””

Unlike a while ago, their eyes were full of malice.

If they’re in this state, they may be much more helpful than I thought.

Like so, I led them as the war against the necromancer began.

* * *

Ko Changsu felt dizzy as if he had drunk all night. What time was it now?

“…Kill!…Kill!”

The faint voices of children were heard from somewhere. Were they playing a game?

He grabbed his throbbing head and opened his eyes.

“Ugh…”

Unknowingly, a painful groan came out. What the hell happened?

He tried to get up, but his body didn’t move.

‘What’s going on?!’

Looking down, he saw a rope made of shadow wrapped around his body.

‘?!’

He was currently floating in the air with his body tied up.

Upon confirming his situation, the images before he lost consciousness began to replay in his mind one by one.

“T-the children!”

He widened his eyes and shouted.

What caught his eyes was the bodies of monsters all over the place. A pool of blood was flowing wherever his eyes landed.

To the point where the word ‘Night of the Dead’ fits well.

“Uh, uh…W-what’s all this?”

Who in the world killed all of these monsters? Was Noah hunting the monsters by himself?

At that moment, the same sound from earlier rang in his ears.

“””Kill! Kill! Kill!”””

Turning his head, he could see children holding up guns and shouting.

And in front of the children who were gathered like that were the bodies of monsters piled high and a girl on top of it.

“P-Pie!”

It was the girl who was crying in front of his house one day. A small, gentle child that started his mission to help children.

But the girl right now, she was holding a monster’s head in one hand and shooting a gun in the other.

Bang–! Bang–!

“Kyahah! I killed the most this time!”

“””Kill! Kill! Kill!”””

Why on earth were the children doing such a terrible thing?

This was a nightmare. A nightmare that can’t be happening in real life.

He felt his soul leaving his body.

‘I-I have to stop them before they go any further…’

He tried to break the rope by force, but at that moment…

“Ajeossi woke up again. Please do the same thing as before.”

Noah’s voice was heard from somewhere. Then he saw the spirit of darkness flying in front of him.

“B-Blackie?”

As if it was having fun, the shadow swelled up.

“W-wait! S-stay away! Blackie! No! For fuck’s sake…Keuk!”

As such, against the backdrop of children shouting, Ko Changsu fainted once again.

== Translator’s Note ==

1. Please report any typos, grammatical/spelling errors, sentences you find weird, and other etc…in the comment section.