The Predatory Genius of a Ruined World

Chapter 19 – A Peaceful Hell (2)

—–CROW—– 

*Cough!*

He wrapped his arm around the man’s neck and squeezed.

*Thump! Thump!*

Surprised by the sudden attack, the man struggled, pounding on Seong-ho’s arm. But Seong-ho’s strength wasn’t something an ordinary person could overcome. He had raised his physical ability to 7 with the stat points he had recently acquired.  Testing his newfound strength, Seong-ho tightened his grip.

*Choke, gasp…!*

The man’s eyes rolled back as he lost consciousness.  Laying the man on the floor, Seong-ho looked at the other person who was standing blankly by the door.

‘He’s not even glancing at me in this situation.’

The man simply stared at the fire burning in the room, completely oblivious to his surroundings.  Watching the man’s behavior, Seong-ho recalled what the man he had just knocked unconscious had said.

“Little puppet…”

Although unfamiliar in this context, it was a word he had encountered countless times in the text.  In the original story, Go Ji-hoon referred to the people he controlled with his ability as “puppets.”

Seong-ho closed the door and went to where the fire had started. It wasn’t easy to extinguish because of the oil, but after stamping on the source of the flames several times, the fire died out.  Finally breathing a sigh of relief, Seong-ho approached the man who was still standing motionless.  He waved his hand in front of the man’s face, tugged on his arm, and even pinched his cheek. But the man showed no reaction. He was clearly under the influence of the Puppeteer ability.

‘I can’t touch him right now.’

The Puppeteer ability worked by the controller connecting a special ability-created string to the controlled person’s head and issuing commands.  Therefore, if he killed this man or if the ability controlling him was released, Go Ji-hoon would immediately notice the change in his puppet.  It was safe to assume that Go Ji-hoon was constantly monitoring all the locations where he had his puppets.

It was a truly troublesome ability.

Sighing inwardly, Seong-ho picked up the sleeping bag, leaving the motionless man where he was. He ripped it apart without hesitation to restrain the unconscious man. He also didn’t forget to take precautions in case the man who had been giving orders regained consciousness.  He stuffed a wad of the remaining fabric into the man’s mouth and gagged him.

‘There’s no need to let him blabber.’

It was obvious that the man would cry for help once he came to his senses.  Seong-ho carefully checked the knot to make sure the gag wouldn’t come loose.  He then picked up the set of keys the unconscious man had dropped when he entered the room.  Upon closer inspection, he saw that each key had a sticker on it.

‘They’re all keys to the rectory.’

The rectory was originally used as priests’ quarters, so it had many small, individual rooms.

‘It’s the perfect place to isolate newly arrived survivors.’

Seong-ho thought about the survivors trapped in this building. Even if he opened their doors with these keys, would they really leave?

‘As if.’

A warm heater, a comfortable sleeping bag, and delicious food served at every meal. How much would these people, who had experienced all of this, listen to a stranger they had just met?

‘As planned, I’ll skip this place and move on.’

Seong-ho gathered the keys, the torn sleeping bag, and the kerosene heater and approached the door.  Just before leaving, he glanced back at the man standing motionless. He couldn’t help him right now, but…

“Just wait until dawn. Then you won’t have to be like this anymore.”

Was it a message for the man who would be left here in this state?  Or was it a way to console himself for having to leave the man behind even though he had a way to help him?  Leaving behind these ambiguous words, Seong-ho closed the door.  The rattling sound of the lock followed, and then the sound of his footsteps began to fade away.

In the silent room, a tear rolled down the cheek of the man who stood motionless like a broken doll.  Unseen by anyone, yet undeniably there.

* * *

The rectory was originally a place where outsiders were strictly prohibited. However, Seong-ho had a vague understanding of its layout.

‘I’m really benefiting from the head priest’s kindness.’

It was thanks to a priest who had taken him, a curious child, on a tour of the building.  The orphanage where Seong-ho had lived had close ties with Myeong-dong Cathedral. This was thanks to the bishop at the time, who had a strong interest in supporting orphans.

‘He believed that children should be allowed to do what they wanted at least once.’

Following the bishop’s lead, most of the people at the cathedral were lenient towards children.  They were even willing to take Seong-ho, who was curious about the inside of the building, on a tour.  Recalling his past memories, Seong-ho chuckled involuntarily.  That day’s memory was also the memory of the first time he felt like he was someone special. The fact that he had been inside a place where others weren’t allowed had been a source of pride for him for a while.  After reminiscing about this nostalgic memory, Seong-ho quickened his pace again.

It didn’t take long to pass through the rectory corridors, descend the stairs, and reach the lower floor.  It was late at night, and apart from a few guards, no one was around.  Seong-ho crept through the building’s corridors like a stray cat.  He passed people on the lower floor a couple of times, but thanks to the darkness, he wasn’t discovered.  As a result, he safely descended two flights of stairs and reached his desired destination.

‘The rectory storage room.’

This was where they kept all sorts of things, such as toolboxes, repair materials for emergencies, and unused furniture.  Although he had reached his destination, Seong-ho hesitated to enter. He clenched his jaw as he looked at the storage room door, which was as familiar as if pulled from his memories.  He was truly in a complicated state of mind.

‘The hospital, and now the cathedral…’

Just what kind of world was this, that it resembled the reality he remembered so closely?

‘Is it some kind of parallel world?’

The unanswerable question weighed heavily on him. But he couldn’t remain burdened by it forever.  He forced the thought away by biting the inside of his cheek.  He rummaged through the set of keys he had brought and soon found the one for the storage room.  He inserted the key into the handle and turned it.  The lock clicked open.

The first thing Seong-ho looked for inside the storage room were tools. He diligently gathered cable ties, a hammer, a hatchet, and even bolt cutters that could cut locks and chains, which were scattered in one corner. He put them all into a suitably sized toolbox.  He did the same with the torn sleeping bag and kerosene heater he had brought from the room.  As he packed, he also thought about his next move.

‘The final destination is the cultural center building.’

It was where the survivors went after their quarantine in the rectory, and it served as the camp’s food storage. Seong-ho planned to set it on fire and lure all the members of the cannibal camp there.

‘It’s impossible to go around the outside of the cathedral.’

As he had observed while monitoring the cathedral the previous day, all the paths leading outside were blocked by barricades made of furniture and vehicles.  This meant he had to move within the cathedral grounds.

‘It’s not a big problem.’

He had already checked the patrol routes and frequency before entering.  Having finalized his route, Seong-ho picked up his equipment and stood up. At that moment, something placed in the corner of the storage room caught his eye.  Beyond the broken glass, he clearly saw…

‘…The cathedral staff.’

It was a list of the faces and names of the clergy who originally belonged to this cathedral.  It seemed to be an organizational chart, with their positions and photos printed together.  As if to prove that this wasn’t the world he knew, all the faces were unfamiliar. Seong-ho stared at the faces of the people he was seeing for the first time.  It wasn’t difficult to predict their fate now that Go Ji-hoon’s group had taken over the cathedral.  Seong-ho turned his head away from the photos, trying to ignore the growing weight in his chest.

‘Don’t think about it.’

He had agreed with Lim Chan to move at dawn. He would be busy finishing all the preparations before then.  Calming himself, Seong-ho stood up and left the rectory.  He checked the watch he had borrowed from Lim Chan. It was time for the first patrol to be over. He still had some time before the second patrol.  But just in case, he carefully muffled his footsteps.  His heart pounded with tension every time he passed a patrol route.

After experiencing this suffocating tension several times, his smooth progress was interrupted.  An unexpected obstacle appeared at a moment he hadn’t anticipated at all.

*Flutter!*

*Caw!*

A crow, taking flight from a nearby tree, swooped down at him.

“Uh…!”

He almost cried out in surprise.  Seong-ho hurriedly closed his mouth and swatted away the crow that had suddenly attacked him. The crow was knocked away by his large hand, but as if it had never been on the ground, it took flight again and lunged at him.

*Caw! Caw!*

It even caused a commotion by cawing incessantly. The quiet, pre-dawn cathedral quickly became noisy.  Startled, Seong-ho reached out, snatched the crow out of the air, and firmly gripped its beak.  The crow grumbled in protest, but it wasn’t as loud as before.  The surroundings became quiet again, as if dawn had returned.

Seong-ho, with a sense of foreboding, sharpened his senses and scanned his surroundings.  In the pitch-black night, he saw no signs of movement. There were no approaching lights or people who might have heard the commotion.  Only then, breathing a sigh of relief, Seong-ho narrowed his eyes.  As he glared at the crow trapped in his hand, a memory suddenly surfaced.

The fortune cookie’s message that had occasionally disturbed his thoughts on the way to the cathedral.

‘Black beast…’

Could it really be related to this current situation?  Half of him thought such a coincidence was impossible. The other half wondered, what if?  Seong-ho, unable to immediately resolve his conflicting thoughts, hesitated.  Then, feeling the crow struggling in his grip, he snapped out of his thoughts.  He looked back and forth between the path to the cultural center and the crow.

‘According to the setting of Savior of the Ruined World, there aren’t many living animals.’

This meant the probability of encountering another black beast wasn’t very high.  In that case, it would be better to check it out.  Thanks to hurrying from the rectory, he still had time before dawn.

Seong-ho muttered to the crow in his hand,

“If you make any more noise, I’ll break your neck.”

He found it a little ridiculous that he was talking to a crow. But he couldn’t shake off his unease, so he spoke without thinking.  Then, with a mix of anxiety and anticipation, he loosened his grip and released the crow.

The crow, back on the ground, tilted its head.

‘It’s a relief it’s not making a fuss like before.’

His anxiety eased slightly.  Secretly relieved, Seong-ho looked down at the crow standing still at his feet.

‘For it to guide me, it needs to move.’

Should he try to urge it on?

As soon as he finished that thought, the crow hopped forward.  Seong-ho watched the crow as it led the way. After a while, the crow stopped and looked back at him, as if checking if he was following.  Only then did Seong-ho follow behind the crow.  As he started walking, the crow also started leading the way again.

As he followed the crow to the back entrance of the mortuary building, he heard a sound.

*Screech, drag.*

The sound of something being dragged across the floor.

*Thump, thud.*

And the sound of something being hit.  Was there someone inside the building?

‘Then why didn’t anyone come out when the crow was making a fuss earlier?’

He hadn’t seen any lights from outside. What was the source of this sound?  As Seong-ho tilted his head in confusion, the crow, which had been leading the way, stopped at the corner of the building.  A faint light was leaking from there.

—–CROW—–