Chapter 25 - The First Plague (4) (1/2)
The First Plague (4)
“We’re almost there… the boy… there’s only one child who’s been in for years…”
“…”
“Children don’t last a long time, but this child is just holding on to it. Everyone is interested in his awakening,” the guide explained as he led us.
“If you say something else without me asking, you die, too.” Yeon-soo warned him.
“Sorry, sorry, Queen!”
According to the guide, Seong Hyun-woo was attracting attention within the Natasha family. A child who has survived many years in an experiment that even adults can’t stand. Even though the stress was extreme, he was a boy who was steadily building up mental fatigue without any major problems.
Upon reaching the other cells, Han Yeon-soo took the lead.
The Kraken jumped out of her shadow, killing all the villains in the area before they could even react.
Then, the victims who were incarcerated were rescued.
There was a variety of them in different conditions. Some were in such poor condition that they looked like their lives are in danger, some looked like they have just been imprisoned and without any visible injuries, while some had limbs missing.
“Ah…”
What’s common is that they didn’t seem to realize what just happened. That they are free now. Even after their redemption, they just stared in space without getting out of their places.
“What have they done,” Lee Jin-woo muttered as he bit his lower lip. “They are monsters.”
This was worse than any crime he had seen in the news. There were indeed other monsters threatening humanity other than those inside the cracks.
Han Yeon-soo spilled blood as she walked. The Kraken following her orders had no mercy, and the path we were walking through was scattered with blood and torn flesh from the villains.
“You damn bastards!”
We turned as one of the villains yelled. Usually, they suffered fatal injuries in an instant, but this one seemed to have escaped Yeon-soo’s Kraken with only a slight injury.
[First Strike Activated]
[Enemy recognized]
[User Lee Jin-woo can unconditionally attack first before the Enemy.]
“I’ll take care of this one,” Jin-woo told us.
[In a confrontational situation, if someone else interferes, the use of First Strike will be canceled.]
Jin-woo took one of the many things that were hanging on his waist. The opponent was charging at full swing.
Of course, the villain’s basic ability will be stronger than Jin-woo, who was just a cadet.
[When the enemy evades the attack, a 3-second cooldown is applied.]
So, it may be dangerous for Lee Jin-woo. His skill allows him to unconditionally deal damage before the enemy can attack, but if the enemy evades it, or if the enemy disappears from his sight, the skill gets canceled.
Nevertheless, there’s a reason why the characteristic was absurd.
“This would be enough,” Jin-woo said.
Taang!
Taang!
Taang!
Gunshots resonated. The villain’s head exploded and rolled on the floor. Unless he had some restorative abilities, he would never be able to attack us again.
I don’t know if it would work the same from a distance, but how many people can avoid a bullet at such a close range?
Blocking it would be wiser. However, Lee Jin-woo’s ability can be avoided but never stopped.
“I shot a person for the first time,” Jin-woo muttered as he looked at the villain’s corpse. “It feels strange.”
I could see his hands trembling. Even though he thought the villain deserved to die and was able to shoot him without hesitation, this may have an impact on his mind.
“What they taught us in the academy does not always apply in real-life,” I offered a little advice.
“Think of it as if you killed a monster, not a person.”
He nodded.
We started walking after Han Yeon-soo, who was already quite far away, unaware of what happened behind her.
Something changed in the eyes of Jin-woo and Ji-yeon.
They weren’t the eyes of naïve students of the academy anymore.
* * *
“Here he is…”
The man stopped walking.
We reached an iron gate, with the words ‘Seong Hyun-woo’ written on the side of it.
Beneath the text was a photo of the young boy, his age, height, and weight.
The words’ longest-term experiment’ is also included in the description.
The man opened the iron door at Han Yeon-soo’s command.
The interior was slowly revealed…
Lee Jin-woo sighed heavily at the sight that unfolded.
Yoo Ji-yeon covered her mouth with her hands, as if to stifle a scream, and closed her eyes tightly before slowly opening them again.
A stench burst out as soon as the door was opened.
It was an unpleasant odor of decay.
The source of the smell was a boy tied in the middle of a narrow cell.
On the boy’s head, dandruff piled, and flocks of insects crawled.
He had wounds all over his body, and most of them are rotten, swollen, and stained black.
Things that looked like maggot eggs can be seen on some of the wounds.
“How… to a child…” Ji-yeon’s voice trembled.
He was small enough to make me wonder if he was the right age.
There was a lot of dirt on his mouth that I couldn’t identify what it is he had been eating.
There was food waste on the floor.
“You, go and get ready to send me the information I need. Do you remember what I need?”
“All right, of course, Queen, I’m going to go and organize it now!”
The man ran out urgently upon Yeon-soo’s command.
The little boy seemed as if he was just noticing that the door was opened. He slowly lifted his head.
“Ah…”
I can’t help but sigh from my dry lips as we looked at the child’s empty eyes.
Then, an unpleasant metallic sound rang from his tight chains.
Cheol-cheol, cheol-cheol.
It’s a fine, sharp sound that hurts the ears.
The boy stared at us one by one.
“Everyone, get ready,” I told them.
“Ready? What are you talking about?” Yoo Ji-yeon said.
“What are you talking about? If you’re talking about getting ready to rescue this boy…” Han Yeon-soo was saying, but I cut her down. It was almost time.
“No, not that. I told you, be prepared to face Seong Hyun-woo.”
I followed Hyun-woo’s gaze.
He was looking at a severed man’s arm.
To be precise… it was the arm of the man who tortured the boy’s parents.
Cheol-cheol, cheol-cheol!
Seong Hyun-woo started to shake his head from side to side violently.
Cheol-cheol, cheol-cheol!
The metal sounds of the chains rang endlessly, and his swollen wounds have burst.
The first plague is here.
“Ah ah ah ah!”
A cracked voice came from his throat.
He was screaming.
As he did, the chains holding him down were all destroyed.
His chains boasted 10 times the strength of ordinary metal, but for Seong Hyun-woo, they were no different from paper sheets.
“Yoo Ji-yeon!”
“Okay!”
When I called her name, she began radiating mana from her body, and soon, the entire cell turned blue.
Good.
Now, it’s up to her.
Until er mana is exhausted, the power of Seong Hyun-woo won’t reach outside the cell.
But it wouldn’t last long.
“Now, let’s soothe the little child.”
I changed Nightmare to another form and walked in front of Han Yeon-soo.
[It goes without saying that even this woman here would find the kid difficult, so what are you going to do?]
I heard the voice of the Traveler. He’s correct.
Seong Hyun-woo was too much for us, a level we could not handle.
Just watch, I planned this way better than you think, I thought, for the Traveler.
There is no problem yet.
* * *
It was strange from the beginning. The people who just threw food in before opened the door and didn’t speak their usual lines.
I looked up at the bright light that I hadn’t seen for a long time.
It was dazzling, but I was glad for the glare after being in the darkness for so long.
There were two women and two men.
The woman standing behind was looking at me with a sad look.
I stared at her eyes, and strangely, I can see the women’s memories.
She was a very good-looking woman. Her eyes were unusually light purple.
She had always done good deeds since she was a child; she is a caring person. It was a bit unpleasant to see her being hurt by other women and to see her crying because of her lack of ability.
However, she found her talent and succeeded.
As he watched her memories, she wanted to clap a few times for her.
The memories of the man and the other woman were also amazing.