The Predatory Genius of a Ruined World

Chapter 24 – A Peaceful Hell (7)

—–CROW—– 

Within minutes of the fire breaking out inside the building, the main entrance opened.  Those who appeared beyond it were people carrying fire extinguishers.

‘They must be the guards who were monitoring the school building.’

Unfortunately for the cannibal camp, they didn’t get to extinguish the fire.  Seong-ho ambushed and knocked them unconscious. He then roughly laid their limp bodies down in a corner of the building.  When people rushed over after spotting the fire, he slipped into the crowd.  He started carrying dirt to the school along with the people who were distracted by the fire.

How many minutes passed like that?  After a short wait, Go Ji-hoon appeared, dragging his puppets along with him. As expected, the puppets didn’t approach the burning building. They were only focused on digging up dirt from the playground.  Go Ji-hoon, on the other hand, was yelling furiously while watching the flames. Now that most of his puppets were away from him, and the camp members were beginning to distance themselves from his anger,

‘Now’s my chance.’

Seong-ho, mixed in with the crowd, turned towards Go Ji-hoon.  His heart pounded faster with every step he took.  Then suddenly, as Go Ji-hoon sensed his presence and turned around,

– He didn’t feel any guilt as he used the lives of dozens of people as shields and ran away from danger.

The vivid sentence was definitely from the original story.  Without hesitation, Seong-ho threw the basket of dirt at Go Ji-hoon’s face.

“Argh! You, you bastard, who are you?!”

Go Ji-hoon screamed, rubbing his face as dirt got into his eyes.  Meanwhile, Seong-ho pulled out the axe he had been hiding inside his padded jacket and lit the lighter he was still holding.

*Click.*

The small spark was instantly swallowed by the kerosene-soaked blanket, becoming a larger flame. Almost at the same time, Go Ji-hoon shuddered, his body trembling, and quickly retreated as if he had been pushed back.

*Whoosh!*

The flaming axe brushed past the spot where Go Ji-hoon had been standing. Following the empty air, the flames flared up. The flames that continued through the air finally reached the people scattered in the playground.

“Urgh…!”

“Hah…!”

Those who had been controlled lost control of their bodies and collapsed, clutching their heads.  The reason why Go Ji-hoon didn’t send his puppets near the fire was revealed. The strings created by his ability were vulnerable to flames.

“Eek…!”

Go Ji-hoon’s bloodshot eyes opened wide as he felt the strings burning.  He looked at Seong-ho, his eyes filled with shock, caution, and malice.  In that moment, everything he had seen and heard on the way here flashed through Seong-ho’s mind.  He impulsively blurted out his pent-up emotions.

“Father, can I still make a confession?”

Go Ji-hoon’s face contorted in anger at the mocking tone. He had realized who Seong-ho was.

“You bastard…!”

His eyes, previously filled with shock, were now consumed by rage.  The change was truly pathetic.  This was the same man who had trampled on the hopes of dozens of people who were happy to have finally found a place to rest.  The same man who had reveled in pushing those who had entered this camp with desperate hearts into despair. Yet he was now so furious just because he had been betrayed.

Clenching his teeth, Seong-ho swung the flaming axe even more quickly than before.  Go Ji-hoon quickly threw himself sideways, but more strings were burned this time. The faces of the man he had confined in the rectory and the cathedral staff tied up in the basement of the mortuary filled his mind.  Seong-ho followed closely as Go Ji-hoon tried to retreat.

And once again, *Whoosh.*

*Whoosh!*

The flames that weren’t visible to the eye, but were undoubtedly present, flared up once more.  Go Ji-hoon rolled on the ground of the playground, desperately shouting,

“Catch that bastard!”

He was desperately trying to summon those who were still under his control.  But no one came at his call.

“Stop!”

“Yoon-hyung-ah, come to your senses!”

“Stop! Don’t be manipulated anymore!”

Those who had been freed from control were holding back those who were still being manipulated. Some were sitting down, weeping, while others were in a tangle with the cannibals, venting their anger.

“Die! Die! Die, you demon!”

“Aaaargh!”

The playground was filled with anguished cries and desperate shouts.  Dozens of people were running about in a chaotic mess, and in the center were Go Ji-hoon and Seong-ho.  Go Ji-hoon looked around in frustration. Seong-ho swung the axe in his hand from side to side and said,

“Aren’t you going to call for more?”

“Eek…! You damned bastard…!”

Go Ji-hoon gritted his teeth again at the repeated mockery.

“Where did you come from?! Why are you suddenly doing this crazy shit?!”

“Where did you come from?”

“What?”

“Where did you come from that you were able to do such a heinous thing as eating people?”

Seong-ho’s voice lowered calmly, but even his calm contained his rage.

“If you do shitty things to others, you should expect the same to happen to you.”

As Seong-ho took a step towards him, Go Ji-hoon stumbled backward.  Then, suddenly, as if a thought had struck him, Go Ji-hoon glared at Seong-ho and lunged at him.  Seong-ho quickly twisted his waist and shoulder.  As Go Ji-hoon lost his balance and fell forward, the flaming axe brushed across his face.

“Aack!”

Another set of strings burned, leaving a long wound from Go Ji-hoon’s chin to his eye.  It was a cut from the blade of the axe, which had been hidden between the pieces of burning blanket. Go Ji-hoon writhed in pain and rolled on the ground.

‘A man who’s killed people and eaten their flesh makes a fuss about a scratch on his face.’

Seong-ho stepped on Go Ji-hoon’s back as he tried to crawl away.

“Cough!”

“Did you think I’d let you get close enough to use your ability if you lunged at me like that?”

“Y-You… you know about my ability…?”

“I know how to sever them, why wouldn’t I know how to connect them?”

Go Ji-hoon had suddenly lunged at Seong-ho to use his ability.  The Puppeteer ability required skin-to-skin contact like Seong-ho’s virus extraction ability.  That’s why Seong-ho had only used fire, avoiding any physical contact with Go Ji-hoon.  And he would continue to avoid being grabbed by Go Ji-hoon.

“Aaaargh! Ack!”

Go Ji-hoon screamed as Seong-ho began to beat him mercilessly.  His clothes, hair, and flesh burned, emitting a pungent odor.  Every time the flames flared up in the empty air, more people who had been robbed of their freedom and bodies were released.  How long did he continue to beat Go Ji-hoon?  Just as the flames of the axe began to die down, the strings stopped burning.

‘Is it over?’

He wanted to check until the very end, just in case. If Go Ji-hoon died while his ability was still connected, the puppets would be left controlled. That was why hundreds of people became mentally impaired when the protagonist had killed Go Ji-hoon. If he didn’t want to leave anyone mentally impaired, he needed to burn every string before killing him. Go Ji-hoon was currently unconscious. Seong-ho grabbed Go Ji-hoon by the hair and swept his entire body with fire.

He continued checking like this for a while.  Suddenly, he sensed a presence beside him.  He turned his head and saw a person with blood smeared all over their mouth.  The intensity of their gaze was so fierce that even Seong-ho, who could easily subdue ordinary people, flinched.  Beside him, another person approached with a large stone dripping with red blood, and another joined them, holding a weapon. Only then did Seong-ho realize how quiet the surroundings had become. He looked around and saw that all the people who had been shouting and rushing towards the fire had disappeared.  Instead, most of the people were sprawled out on the ground, unconscious. They were the members of the cannibal camp.

‘…The controlled people won.’

The outcome wasn’t surprising. There were almost twice as many controlled people as there were those who weren’t controlled.

‘But I didn’t expect to see such a horrifying scene.’

Just by looking at what was in front of him, no one would think these people were victims.

‘They look more like demons or asuras.’

As Seong-ho remained silent, simply watching them, the man who had approached him first asked, seething,

“Aren’t you going to kill him?”

His gaze shifted to Go Ji-hoon. A sticky, murderous intent was evident.  Fortunately, it seemed they were aware that Seong-ho had freed them. If not, they would have rushed forward and taken Go Ji-hoon away.  Seong-ho began to speak calmly,

“I will kill him.”

He had already confirmed several times that there were no strings remaining. This meant that it was safe to kill Go Ji-hoon now. That was why he had planned to finish it off himself.

“Wait.”

The man from before stopped Seong-ho and stepped forward.

“How?”

“What?”

“I’m asking how you’re going to kill him. With that?”

The man pointed to the axe, where the flames had almost died out.

“You’re going to end it just like that?”

He wouldn’t let him die that easily.  The hatred and resentment were deep, seemingly endless. Seong-ho looked back and forth between the blackened axe and the unknown man, feeling a strange sense of unease.

“I don’t know what your relationship is with that bastard, but… if you’re going to kill him anyway, hand him over to us.”

The man didn’t try to hide his excitement and murderous intent.  Thanks to that, Seong-ho could imagine what would happen if he handed Go Ji-hoon over. Objectively, it wasn’t Seong-ho’s place to interfere.

‘I did save them, but that’s all.’

When it came to grudges, they had more of a connection than Seong-ho.  Whatever their current state, they had a legitimate right to take revenge on Go Ji-hoon.  And he had neither the right nor the desire to stop them. Moreover, he had finished the checks related to the ability.  The only issue was the Fate Pioneer exclusive quest.

‘It doesn’t require me to kill him personally.’

It stated to kill him or directly contribute to his death.  After some deliberation, Seong-ho made up his mind and tossed Go Ji-hoon, whom he had been holding by the collar, forward.

“You can have the body.”

The cause of Go Ji-hoon’s death wasn’t important to Seong-ho. He only needed the body of a dead Go Ji-hoon. And the other party’s focus was the exact opposite of his.

“We don’t care about him once he’s dead.”

The man who had picked up Go Ji-hoon, sprawled out on the ground, smirked strangely.  Seong-ho watched the face of the man, whose name he didn’t even know.  Eyes filled with deep-seated hatred and resentment.  Eyebrows distorted as if in sorrow. A mouth that curved upwards as if wanting to cry, yet stretched endlessly towards the sky.  After showing this complex expression, he tossed Go Ji-hoon to the people who had the same face as him and said,

“Begin.”

That day, Seong-ho witnessed what revenge in a ruined world looked like.

—–CROW—–