#004.
『The End, and Three Years Later』
“Kreeek!”
“Kyaak!”
Ahead, countless monsters shrieked their monstrous cries.
Unknown lifeforms that appeared alongside the apocalypse.
Weapons born solely to slaughter humanity were unleashing their savage cries for that purpose.
What they had to face was a Monster Wave.
A brutal mission to hold back monsters pouring forth like waves.
Gulp—
He swallowed dryly.
Quite some time had passed since the apocalypse began, so he had thought he’d adapted to monsters, but these numbers made it a different story.
However, they had to fight.
The Three Little Pigs’ ‘house,’ built with such effort, had its location exposed by a traitor and been destroyed by the wolf.
All that remained was a fierce battle against monsters flicking their tongues like predators eyeing prey.
“Yunchan.”
The leader currently guiding the group.
Though he had lost one arm, it was proof of his sacrifice to save his comrades.
And the scars covering his entire body like wriggling worms were glorious wounds that would not let him retreat.
Kim Daewoong.
The middle-aged man who had seized control of the group in an instant with his unique charisma called out to the man standing beside him.
“Yes, Captain.”
The benefactor who had accepted a man with the worthless ability called Strengthening.
Because of that, Yunchan had served him with all his heart, never once talking back to an order.
“…You said body strengthening was possible, right?”
“….”
Knowing the implication behind those words, he couldn’t answer readily.
“Answer me.”
“…Yes. It’s possible. But—”
“You said the side effects are severe when it fails. That you could become half-paralyzed.”
“That’s correct.”
Body Strengthening.
An ability finally reached after training Strengthening.
But after his first attempt, he had never strengthened a body.
The intense impact from that first attempt—he still hadn’t forgotten it.
“Yunchan.”
“Yes.”
“The current battle—what do you think are our chances?”
“Everyone’s morale is high. We have sufficient chances to…”
“I’m not asking for your hope.”
“….”
Silence fell.
Everyone, including Yunchan, knew.
The moment they lost the house, this battle had lost any chance of victory.
The monsters right before their eyes weren’t the problem.
Even if they could somehow repel them, next was the wolf they had barely managed to drive out through countless sacrifices.
How could they face that Named?
“There’s only one way. Strengthen me, Yunchan.”
He couldn’t refute it.
Although the failure rate was high, if it succeeded.
‘There’s definitely a possibility.’
Yunchan, the Strengthener, knew that fact better than anyone.
But it was too much.
“If you strengthen the entire body, the penalty is….”
“Death.”
Daewoong recited calmly.
The penalty for full-body strengthening was death.
Death by explosion.
An explosion starting from inside the body would kill him instantly.
“Captain. I’d agree to partial strengthening, but full-body strengthening? The probability isn’t even ten percent. You know that!”
Though he had never talked back before, this time he spoke forcefully.
Daewoong’s life was on the line.
And it was almost certain to end in death.
“It’s a small probability. But that still means there’s hope.”
That was certainly true.
A low probability—in other words, there was still hope.
But if they didn’t do full-body strengthening?
With absolute certainty, the people here—those who had survived this far thanks to Daewoong’s sacrifices—would all face death.
“Captain….”
“If I don’t go to hell, who will?”
Words Daewoong, a devout Buddhist, uttered whenever making a difficult decision.
The prayer beads on his wrist—he rolled them with his thumb, striving to free himself from anguish.
How could he not fear death?
And why wouldn’t he want to live?
But if someone didn’t sacrifice themselves, everyone would die.
And as always, that sacrifice had to be Daewoong himself.
“Begin.”
“…Yes.”
Having read that firm resolve, he could no longer object.
“Th-then, I’ll begin.”
Choked up by Daewoong’s resolve, Yunchan sniffled, unable to speak properly.
Pat.
A thick, massive, and warm hand settled atop his head.
“Don’t cry. Anyone would think this is a funeral. There’s clearly a chance I’ll survive, isn’t there?”
“Kkeup. Y-yes. Of course. If it’s you, Captain, with your tenacious vitality, you’ll definitely survive.”
“That’s enough.”
Daewoong, having prepared his heart, closed his eyes.
Yunchan, who had been gazing for a moment at him standing upon the earth like a bear,
“Haaaahp!”
Though it was an act that didn’t particularly require strength, he poured all his energy into a shout.
And.
Flash!
Finally, the energy of Strengthening flowed in, and light burst forth.
But it was.
“Captain!”
Blue light.
Along with that ominous light signaling strengthening failure.
Wide!
Daewoong’s eyes went wide.
An alien sensation felt from within.
Realizing the strengthening had failed, he intuited the end.
“It’s fine….”
He opened his mouth, forcefully suppressing the bursting energy.
“…It wasn’t such a bad life.”
With those words.
Boooom!
With the explosion, bones, flesh, and blood soared in all directions.
Splurt.
Yunchan’s eyes unfocused, covered in the remains.
“Uaaaaaaaaah!”
He who had led his Captain to death, unable to overcome terrible self-loathing, attempted to strengthen his own flesh.
Flash!
He shot up.
Sitting up.
“….”
He looked around.
A two-room officetel.
The home of his past that he had returned to not long ago.
“…Tch.”
These days, he often had nightmares.
Probably because of the remnants he had left behind in the… not the past, but the future.
“By the way.”
A full day had passed since he declared his dropout and ran out of school.
That there was no intervention from public authorities like the police despite causing such a ruckus at school.
‘It means they’ll handle it themselves.’
They probably didn’t know those crazy bastards’ hearts were broken.
But Gang Jieun—would they stay still knowing she had a scar on her face?
That’s nonsense.
Like parent, like child—there was no way that family with their filthy temperament would leave him alone.
Yet the fact that public authorities hadn’t intervened meant they intended to borrow private—exactly, underworld power.
Chaebols and gangsters had a symbiotic relationship like crocodiles and plover birds.
To them, burying one person—just a high schooler like him—was nothing.
“Well, whatever.”
But he had already made ‘preparations’ for that, so there was no need to worry.
“That’s that, but first, food….”
He shook off his thoughts.
The urgent matter right now was stopping this belly clock ringing nonstop.
In the past he had easily endured starving for days, but the stomach of a nineteen-year-old youth in his prime was uncontrollable.
If he didn’t stuff food into his mouth quickly, he would collapse from dizziness.
“No rice, no ramen, not even a single bread crumb.”
He searched all the kitchen cabinets but found nothing.
Of course.
Because he had devoured everything yesterday.
Mad with finally eating proper food(?), he had emptied it all.
No matter how developed cooking techniques were, how could food made from monster corpses taste good?
Modern food sprinkled with MSG, the symbol of modern cuisine, had been enough to satisfy his long-lost sense of taste.
“I need to go grocery shopping.”
He had no choice but to stop by a mart for food supplies.
He turned on his smartphone right away.
Among the many icons, he clicked one.
『Balance: 350,552,384』
His account balance came up.
A whopping 350 million won.
An enormous amount for a mere high schooler.
But the size of the amount stirred no emotion in him.
Rather, it brought up a bit of sadness, emotions from the past he had forgotten.
“….”
On the dining table, in the frame hanging on the wall, was a happy family of three.
Parents who had passed away in a traffic accident.
Because of that unfortunate accident, he was alone.
Along with 350 million won in death insurance money.
In other novels and movies they fought over insurance money like crazy, but that hadn’t happened.
His aunt, designated as his legal guardian, hadn’t embezzled a single penny and put all the insurance money into his account.
Even now, when she thought of him, she’d pack side dishes and come visit the officetel—a very good person.
“If you’re going to turn back time, why not go back three years?”
Then he could have prevented his parents’ accident.
Well, the world didn’t work that way anyway.
Shaking off the sudden sentiment, he went outside.
Early winter.
Streets sparse with people due to the suddenly chilly weather.
He was hurrying toward a nearby mart with his hands in his padding pockets when.
Thud-thud—
Around him, there were people moving in sync with his steps.
Though they pretended not to be together, following with distance between them.
‘Look at these guys?’
He was a battle-hardened veteran who had rolled on the battlefield for over twenty years, appearances aside.
As if he couldn’t tell whether it was tailing or just people walking.
“Hoo—”
Pretending to blow on his hands for no reason, he quickly scanned the surroundings.
Two in the rear, three to the left and right.
Five burly men in black coats were tailing him.
He couldn’t be certain.
Detecting hostility with this weak body might have dulled his senses.
But one thing was certain.
‘He sent them.’
Gang Cheoljun, parent of the twin siblings.
He had definitely mobilized the gangsters under him to avenge his children.
Five or more gangsters who lived by the blade.
Combat power incomparable to the rookie high schooler he had faced recently, but it was fine.
His condition was perfect.
Then there was only one thing left.
Quickening his pace, he turned not toward the mart but into a deserted alley.
Squelch.
A gloomy alley filled with filth and trash.
He stood there, as if he might make eye contact with local thugs, and waited for the gangsters.
Before long.
Click-clack.
Six gangsters blocked the front and back of the alley.
Tsk.
He had missed one.
As expected, his senses had dulled quite a bit.
“Did Gang Cheoljun send you?”
At his unhesitating question,
“…You knew?”
A hulk with a long scar on his face, obviously a gangster, answered.
“If I didn’t know when you were following me so obviously, I’d be a retard.”
“And yet you walked in here? You must’ve lost your fear.”
Finding it absurd, he laughed. “Heh—”
“Then would I have followed obediently?”
He probably thought he had given up.
“As if.”
“Is that so? Then it can’t be helped.”
Quick to judge.
The man looked at the gangsters on both sides.
Click-clack, click-clack.
The two burliest gangsters started walking from front and back.
“It’d be better not to resist. The order came down that crippling your arms and legs is fine.”
Savage bastards.
Crippling arms and legs was fine?
In any case, it meant as long as he was brought in alive.
“Well. Will that really go your way?”
Before they got any closer, he took out ‘that’ which he had prepared.
“Hm?”
The gangsters who saw it flinched and stopped.
In his hand was a black Glock.
Of course, it wasn’t real—it was a BB gun sold for pigeon deterrence.
“Ha!”
Laughter suddenly burst out.
“Ahahaha!”
“Uwahaha!”
Some bastard bent over at the waist, cackling.
“Kid. Is a toy all you prepared?”
“Ha, fuck. This is absurd.”
These were guys who had been stabbed in the gut.
They wouldn’t be scared of a mere BB gun.
“Is that so?”
A smile curved at his lips.
He pulled the trigger of the BB gun with force.
Taang!
A shallow sound different from the real thing.
Clearly it was nothing but a toy gun.
Puk!
“Kuaack!”
With a scream, one gangster collapsed to the ground.
The surprising fact was that a thumb-sized hole had been pierced in the bastard’s knee by the BB pellet.
“….”
In the brief silence born of shock,
“This is a Strengthened gun, you bastards!”
Only his triumphant voice echoed through.