Chapter 92

When I came out onto the rooftop, bright light greeted me.

But I had no time to look around the rooftop.

THUD—! CLACK—!

I immediately turned around and locked the door.

Then I watched for a reaction.

In case it tried to break the door down from outside.

I waited for a while, but there was no sign of the door being grabbed and shaken.

But I could not let out a breath of relief.

Because I realized it by instinct.

Something was wrong.

A fishy smell was vibrating behind my back.

No, it was closer to a rotten stench than a fishy smell.

A terrible odor, so awful it was hard to breathe.

What on earth is this smell?

I did not want to confirm it.

But I had to.

I gritted my teeth and slowly turned around.

What I then faced was the enormous skull of the 「False God」.

“……!”

I clapped a hand over my mouth and swallowed a scream.

That enormous skull was lying only a few meters away from me.

But was it asleep?

The 「False God」’s head did not move at all.

Looking again, I saw that part of the glass ceiling had been pierced through.

The 「False God」 was sleeping without a care, with only its neck poking out through that hole.

It was no different from a reptile sunbathing, but I felt no humor from it.

Because of the things scattered beside that enormous skull.

A sight similar to a dump.

Objects that had lost their original forms were piled here and there like mountains.

They were covered in pitch-black filth, making it impossible to even guess what they had originally looked like.

The only thing clear was that this was the source of the terrible odor.

Was this also what was blocking the entry passage?

If so, I had to check what it was, but I could not bring myself to move.

Not simply because it was dirty, but because I felt I already knew what it was.

Gurgle—!

It was then.

The skull of the 「False God」 squirmed.

I flinched in shock, thinking it had woken up.

Fortunately, not yet.

Gurgle— grrrgle—!

Still asleep, it moved its jawbone while making sounds like a sewer.

Lurch—!

Something flowed down between its sharp teeth.

It was the body of the man it had chewed and swallowed earlier.

God had shown me mercy.

So I would not have to dig through that mountain of filth myself.

So I would not have to pull out human jawbones or femurs with my own hands.

It had kindly informed me that everything here was human, chewed like gum and spat out by God.

“Haa, ha……!”

Something that might have been laughter or a sigh burst from my mouth.

Both were made from my breath, so my lungs shrank rapidly.

My heart clamored for me to fill them with oxygen again.

But I could not inhale.

I could not bring myself to swallow this terrible stench.

“Ha, ngh……!”

Only ragged breaths poured out.

Exhaling was as difficult as throwing up what was inside me.

It was my limit.

The moment I released my final breath, my consciousness plunged into the abyss.

---

I have to get up.

I cannot collapse now.

Get a hold of yourself, quickly.

In the blackout, I urged myself on.

But I could not move my body.

As if I were trapped in sleep paralysis, neither asleep nor awake, only my consciousness was floating.

In truth, I think I was a little tired too.

But there is nothing I can do about it.

Situation is what is given.

All I can do is make the most reasonable choice within the given situation.

If I stop here, then only death awaits…….

-You are good at lying.

At that moment, a clear voice came from within me.

-Cut it out already, you frustrating bastard.

I saw the one who had spoken to me.

It was none other than me.

Much younger than I was now, and therefore wearing a school uniform.

The me who was still a boy had an extremely irritated expression.

With eyes full of nothing but cynicism, he looked down at me almost with contempt.

-Do you not know your place? You are weak as hell, so why do you act as if you are something? Do you want to be a hero?

I, no, the boy said.

-Enough already. Let us be honest. The reason you feel like you are going insane right now, do you really not know it?

What are you talking about?

I do not know. I truly do not know.

-Then should I say it for you?

At my ignorance, the boy burst into cold laughter.

I could not refuse.

Because that boy was also me, there was no way to stop him.

The boy, who had stolen my right to speak from me, abruptly stopped laughing and said,

-If you keep going like this, you will die.

The boy’s assertion scraped coldly across my chest.

-It is not that you will die if you stop here. If you keep going here, you will die. You will do plenty of good things for everyone else and end up dying alone. And even in the form you find most horrifying.

“…….”

-You want to escape this nightmare together? No. You are the only one thinking that. The other humans are not particularly interested in saving you.

That is not true.

I wanted to refute him.

But the boy was faster than me.

-If that is not true, would they be giggling and exchanging numbers in the middle of this? Nothing has been resolved on this side yet, but they are already preparing a party over there as if everything is over. No one is even curious anymore about the reason you got caught up in this situation.

At the boy’s sharp words, I was rendered speechless again.

I could not refute him.

Because if I said I had never felt this way at all, that would be a lie.

That was right.

I had disliked the fireworks people set off too early.

With my situation already treated as a given, I had felt a sense of wrongness at the sight of them turning me into a hero and enjoying it.

When I admitted this, the boy laughed even more coldly.

-But why are you struggling alone? Look at yourself right now. Is this something a person who lived an ordinary life can handle? What are you going to do by enduring like that? Are you going to get more and more smashed apart and then truly become a patriotic martyr?

The boy clicked his tongue as if frustrated.

Then he approached me with a considerably softened face.

-Stop pretending to be virtuous and admit it. You are regretting it right now.

The boy’s gaze was now gloomy.

He was pitying me.

-So stop now. You cannot go any further from here.

The boy held out his hand to me and murmured lowly.

-Do not draw any closer to death.

I looked back and forth between the boy’s youthful face and the hand he had extended.

Looking at the me who spoke for my sake, I came to know many things.

And that I had been driven much closer to the edge than I had thought.

If I took this hand, would I be able to escape from here?

I would.

If I chose to run away, I could turn away from the death blooming thickly throughout this deformed world.

As always, the choice was mine.

I soon made up my mind and reached out.

Then I passed by the boy’s hand and placed my hand on his shoulder.

“I am sorry I did not notice sooner.”

-…….

“But it is all right. I can still do more.”

At my words, the boy’s eyes widened.

The boy twisted his face and shouted something.

But because he had already had his right to speak taken away, he could no longer make a voice.

A pitiful part of me screamed soundlessly, then scattered into light.

The sparkling light shattered and spread, and the dark world brightened white.

A clear laugh sounded from somewhere.

In the place where the boy had disappeared, Author Na Bit was laughing.

The author, who had been laughing while holding her stomach, spoke to me with a face full of joy.

-You are such an idiot.

The author’s face as she said that was bright and innocent.

So bright and innocent that I truly smiled back like an idiot.

---

I, who had been collapsed with my shoulder against the floor, slowly raised my body.

Then I sat leaning against the door and looked at the 「False God」’s head and the mountains of filth piled around it.

The sight before me was still horrific.

But was it because my mind had gone out and come back once?

My head felt strangely clear.

How long was I unconscious?

The current time was 6:06.

It seemed I had been unconscious for about 30 minutes.

It also seemed I had even dreamed in that short time.

It had been a strange dream.

So much so that I wondered whether it really was only a dream.

I put the earpiece I had removed in front of the 「Exhibition Docent」 back into my ear and spoke.

“Manager, are you there?”

-Yes, I am here.

A calm voice.

It seemed he had been waiting for me to speak the whole time.

While thinking about what I should say, I unconsciously murmured,

“I hope things go well for you, Manager.”

-What? Do-un, what situation are you in right now? Are you really safe? Answer me!

I had only spoken without passing through my brain.

But Kwon Mu-seop shouted, thinking I might be leaving a final message.

Ah, I should not carelessly say things like this here.

Because Team Leader Kang Seung-cheol, who had explored this place, had left his final message through communication like this and fallen in the line of duty.

Feeling as if I had needlessly startled the Manager, I added,

“I am all right. You do not need to worry.”

-Is that true? Are you truly all right?

“Yes. I am still all right. But I want to keep being all right, so please maintain the entry passages.”

-Yes. As soon as you come out, I will conduct a full inspection. Once you come out.

“And please give me some vacation.”

-Vacation?

“Yes. I think I need to rest a little.”

Even water boils if placed over fire.

So if one dislikes the state of boiling fiercely, one can turn off the fire.

Was it truly a bad thing that Manager Kwon Mu-seop had or had not accepted the female rescued person’s contact information?

No. A person who had said managing Special Zones was everything had come to think about what came next, so this was a good thing.

What about Ha Yu-ju’s passionate dedication to S.O.C.H. activities?

A person who had been badly injured because of me was still getting by cheerfully and joyfully.

This too was a good thing.

Then was I bad for feeling uncomfortable about it?

No. My feelings were legitimate too.

So I could choose.

I could spread my feelings, which had been driven to the edge of a cliff, to other people, or I could acknowledge that I had no room to spare and rest a little.

As always, the choice was mine, so I chose again.

Among the options given to me, the most reasonable one.

-Yes, I will give you as much vacation or anything else as you want, but what exactly is your situation right now? Can you assess the situation?

Kwon Mu-seop asked in a tone of agitation unlike himself.

It seemed my saying I needed to rest had also sounded like a final message.

Right. Whether vacation or anything else, I had to get out of here alive first to receive it.

I finally came to my senses and spoke.

“I arrived on the rooftop, and the 「False God」 was asleep with its head lifted outside the rooftop. And around it, the bodies of the people the 「False God」 ate are piled up.”

-What……?

“It seems the thing blocking the passage is the victims’ bodies.”

Only humans could leave a Special Zone.

The substances of a Special Zone could also go outside only through humans.

Either humans carried them out themselves, or they combined with human bodies. One of the two.

In other words, what had been pushed out into the passage now was ultimately human.

A massive quantity of corpses, melted and hardened by the 「False God」’s saliva.

“It seems impossible for me to find the rooftop exit alone. There are too many bodies piled up, and the bodies are half-melted, so I do not think I should carelessly touch them without equipment.”

-…….

Kwon Mu-seop’s breathing deepened.

So I made a suggestion to the worried Kwon Mu-seop.

“Manager, can you explain in detail the situation during the last exploration of this Special Zone?”

-Why suddenly?

“I need to find a new escape route.”