Chapter 96

The spine bones laid out in midair swayed and shook every time I put my weight on them.

Running across stepping-stones without any safety device was, mm, how should I put it?

It felt like being forced to enjoy speed against my will.

Like little kids learning to ride a bicycle for the first time, blindly pedaling so they would not fall.

THUMP— THUMP— THUMP—!

By the time I had somehow gotten the hang of it and was thudding along the spine.

WHOOOSH—!

The sound of something flying.

I reflexively turned toward the sound, then lowered my body in shock.

SWISH—!

Something like a whip struck swiftly past over my head.

“Do…… not…… hurt, that…….”

It was a contaminated person.

“Save…… it……!”

The contaminated people, who had been swollen with the thought of receiving 「Imitation Rice」, began getting angry at me.

WHOOOSH—! WHOOSH—!

But was it because I was hanging onto the 「False God」’s spine?

They could not strike me directly and only burst the air with sharp cracking sounds, as if in irritation.

“Youuu…… must…… die…….”

“Catch, him.”

Perhaps the contaminated people also thought it would be difficult to attack directly, because they began creeping toward me.

If I get caught there, I really will die.

I raised my lowered body and began running over the spine again.

Slither—!

The contaminated people immediately came after me from behind.

I took out a bomb and threw it into the air.

BOOM—!

With a roar, the air burst into flame.

“Aaaaah……!”

“H-hot……!”

The contaminated people were struck directly.

But…….

“No, hate, this…… hungry……!”

One contaminated person, driven mad by pain and hunger, struck the 「False God」’s spine with all its strength.

Sway—!

That blow made the 「False God」’s already loosened spine shake violently.

“Kh……!”

At that moment, my foot slipped on the violently rocking bone joint.

Slide— catch—!

“Hah, haah……!”

I slid helplessly beneath the spine bones and barely managed to grab a protruding piece of bone with my hand.

Thanks to that, I avoided falling, but I was left hanging in midair by one hand.

Then, as if they had been waiting for it, the contaminated people came aiming for me.

BOOM—!

I threw another bomb and drove them off.

Then I pulled with all my strength.

Hold on. The pull-ups, I did, every day, were not…… useless!

“Hoo, hah…….”

After crawling back up onto the spine bones, I paused to catch my breath.

Now the distance to the core was only 10m.

But because the spine bones were tangled and twisted, the route was far longer and more complicated than that.

What do I do? Should I just run in a straight line?

It was when I was judging the path before my eyes and my own reflexes.

Slither—

Without getting tired of it, the cords surrounded me again.

Considering the smell of gunpowder had a subtle burnt-stench mixed into it, they must have taken considerable damage too.

Yet they kept clinging on stubbornly.

“Everyone, move!”

I shouted, taking out a bomb and showing it.

I shouted boldly, but this bomb was the last one too.

The goal was right in front of me, and I could not be tripped up and fail here.

“Do not get in my way. I will let you out of here. I am trying to get you all out of this place.”

I tried persuasion.

But my words did not work at all.

“Do…… not…… need, it…….”

“Do, not, torment, us.”

“Just…… leave…… us…… here…….”

They had no desire whatsoever to return home.

Because they were addicted to 「Imitation Rice」?

No. It was because they knew.

The bill they would receive once they escaped this pseudo-hell and returned to human society.

On the grounds that they had become contaminated earlier than others, they had captured newly entered people like livestock.

And they had offered those people as sacrifices and eaten rice in exchange.

Even taking the situation into consideration, the fact that they had rather enjoyed that power could not be permitted.

Because here, there were countless witnesses who had been captured by them.

So they were hoping for this.

Just as those who had worn armbands in the past had.

That the hell cozy to them would continue from now on as well.

“…….”

Should I just throw the bomb and blow up the core?

Then everyone would be released outside together.

Humans still as humans, and the contaminated losing their contaminated parts.

That would be easier for me too.

Rather than taking more risks here.

“Hoo…….”

I hesitated briefly, then exhaled long.

“Do not give up on being human.”

Then, murmuring words that were nothing but a monologue, I threw the final bomb.

BOOM—!

Not at the core, but toward the contaminated people.

“Gya…… aa……!”

“E-ee, eek!”

While the contaminated people scattered to avoid the heat, I ran.

Instead of running along the curved spine bones, I strode forward by stepping on footholds sparsely placed in a straight line.

The contaminated people lunged to snatch me.

Thin, strong cords tangled around my arms and legs, but it was already too late.

Crackle—!

I had already reached the core and was reaching out.

Crackle— crackle—!

As during 「Ant Hill」, I felt strong resistance.

Sparks flew along with the sensation of my whole body being pushed back.

The contaminated people were also pulling from behind, trying to drag me down.

With everything I had, I dug into that resistance.

It was then.

CRACK—!

Something broke on my hand.

Crack, crackle— BANG—!

The black ring I wore shattered into pieces.

And my hand finally touched the core.

Wooooong—!

A deep vibration stretched from my grip in every direction.

Slither— slither—

At the same time, the contaminated people’s heads wrapped around my arms and legs also loosened weakly.

A strange silence flowed.

Is it over?

The moment I lifted my head to examine the situation.

Jolt—!

My body suddenly dropped about 30cm downward.

Then an ominous sound followed.

Ttak, ttak, ttadadadadak—!

The 「False God」’s spine was collapsing.

Ah, no……!

I sensed I was about to fall, but there was nothing I could do.

Because I had not yet learned how to survive a collapsing building.

“……!”

In the end, I plunged toward the floor together with the spine bones crumbling in a shower.

THUD—!

---

My vision was pure white.

As if I had entered thick fog.

Is this, heaven?

……There was no way.

The pain pressing into my lower back was clearly something from reality.

Then what is this white smoke?

The bones of the 「False God」 scattered across the floor were dissolving into smoke.

It was disappearing in a manner appropriate for an undead.

As I stared at it blankly, unable to even think of getting up, Manager Kwon Mu-seop called me.

-Do-un.

A tense voice.

My report had cut off, and only consecutive roars had sounded, so he seemed anxious.

“Manager.”

Kwon Mu-seop sighed when he heard my voice.

Right now, I was in no condition to say I was all right.

And yet I could not stop a smile from spreading across my face.

“It seems the Special Zone closure experiment succeeded.”

-What?

“I secured the core.”

I hugged the black sphere lying on my chest even tighter.

At the same time, loud cheers came through beyond the earpiece.

-Waaaaaah!

It was not a sound Manager Kwon Mu-seop had made, but a sound all the employees in the Situation Control Room had burst out with together.

-Quiet!

At Yoon U-jeong’s shout, the surroundings quickly became quiet, and Kwon Mu-seop urgently asked me again.

-Do-un, what about you? Are you all right?

“No, I am in a great deal of pain…….”

I had fallen on my lower back from the height of the second floor.

The 「False God」’s bones had served as a buffer, but the impact had not been small.

This was definitely going to cause trouble.

-You are in pain? Where…… wait, what?

Kwon Mu-seop stopped talking to me midway and received a report from the person beside him.

Then he passed it on to me in a joyful voice.

-Do-un, Response Team 3 will enter soon. They say the thing blocking the passage has flowed down, so the entry route has been secured.

It was welcome news.

When Team Leader Cha and Jae-gyeom came, I would have to tell them to split my upper body and lower body as promised.

Because I really could not move a single inch now.

Leaving the rest to Response Team 3, I wanted to faint right here.

But I barely held on.

I could not release all my tension yet.

Because there were other people here besides me.

……But why has it been so quiet for a while?

At the belated question that came to mind, I forced myself to raise my body.

With a somewhat light feeling, as if checking again on something already finished.

But when I actually raised my body, what I faced was an extremely bewildering new phase.

---

Firm footsteps reached me.

It was the sound of Response Team 3 descending from the rooftop.

Sitting beneath the Ten-Story Stone Pagoda, I watched them come down the stairs.

The first to arrive on the first floor was Cha Si-eon.

Cha Si-eon briefly froze at the scene before him.

Because dozens of people were dead.

Their faces had turned earth-colored, and they were gaunt and emaciated.

Cha Si-eon quickly scanned the condition of the dead with his eyes.

Then he immediately ran toward me.

I also raised my heavy body, trying to go to him.

It was an action worse than not doing it at all.

Unable to control my body, I staggered, and Cha Si-eon caught me and seated me back down on the floor.

Then he wrapped the blanket he was carrying around my shoulders and said,

“You worked hard.”

Only then did I realize I was feeling cold.

It was a common symptom of exhaustion.

After forcing myself to drink the water Cha Si-eon gave me, I spoke.

“Among those people, a few are still alive.”

“Team 3! Search for survivors!”

At my words, Cha Si-eon shouted to the agents following behind him.

As soon as the Response Team 3 agents came down to the first floor, they each scattered and began checking the people.

Among those collapsed on the floor, several people stood with support.

There were also people who were carried away altogether.

However, the number selected like that was not very high.

The majority of the people collapsed on the floor had already breathed their last.

“The core stopped, so why did they die?”

I asked even though I knew Cha Si-eon could not answer.

It was a mutter I had let out in bewilderment.

“We will investigate.”

Unlike me, who had fallen into confusion, Cha Si-eon maintained composure.

I looked at that steadfast figure for a moment, then opened my mouth with difficulty.

“And this.”

Clink—

I handed Cha Si-eon a flat piece of metal.

A silver metal plate with a serial number and name engraved in intaglio.

It was a Bureau identification tag.

When Cha Si-eon saw that identification tag, he asked me with a startled face,

“Where did this come from?”

Instead of answering, I pointed behind the Ten-Story Stone Pagoda.

Cha Si-eon’s gaze moved along my fingertip.

In the place I pointed to, there was a body.

The body of a large man wearing the Bureau’s black combat uniform.

Seeing that body, Cha Si-eon murmured with a pale face.

“Team Leader Kang Seung-cheol…….”