Chapter 1179 – Day 15
“Those goddamn bastards….”
I wanted to slaughter the villagers right then and there as they watched the flames engulfing the lodge, their faces lit by the fire.
But in a crisis like this, I needed to think clearly. Being on the second floor, jumping out the window wasn’t a problem. However, facing over 30 armed villagers alone was nearly impossible.
“…What is this?”
Haga and Ryoko, who had come up behind me, frowned. She was still putting on her underwear, her hands moving quickly.
“Looks like they planned this. They must be really pissed.”
Nakahami Risa said calmly from behind. Only her voice was calm. Her body was moving busily. She was getting dressed and packing her bag. The floor was hot. Flames were rising. I couldn’t keep staring outside, so I got dressed too.
I looked out the window.
This was the women’s lodge. The other three women staying on the first floor were hastily packing their things and coming outside. The villagers were grinning ominously, pointing their weapons at the female college students.
I checked the men’s lodge. The situation was the same. The three men, not wanting to burn to death, came out of the lodge and were confronting the villagers, who were armed with kitchen knives, iron bars, and baseball bats.
The villagers were watching. They felt like soldiers following someone’s orders.
“Nakahami-senpai, what are we going to do? Should we go down to the first floor?”
“We can’t go down to the first floor. We have to jump out of the second-floor window.”
Nakahami Risa pushed my back. She meant for me to jump from the second floor first. I threw open the window. Black smoke poured out. The fire that had started on the first floor was beginning to reach the second floor.
Thud.
I jumped from the second floor and landed without much difficulty. Following me, Haga, Ryoko, and Nakahami Risa jumped down.
“Heh. Hehehe.”
“Such beautiful young ladies….”
“The priestess will surely give us a chance to taste them. It’s always been that way.”
Young and old alike, they looked at Haga, Ryoko, and Nakahami Risa with lustful eyes. Even in this strange village, their eyes for beautiful women were the same.
I wanted to kill those bastards who were eyeing my women right away, but I didn’t have a weapon. And they weren’t letting their guard down.
“The priestess warned us to be careful of that Joseon bastard.”
“That bastard killed my friend and cousin.”
“My friend was also killed by that bastard and hung on a ginkgo tree.”
“We shouldn’t kill that bastard easily.”
“That bastard should be torn to pieces.”
“The mountain god will take that bastard to hell.”
“Hell isn’t enough. That bastard should suffer for eons.”
The villagers’ murderous intent was focused on me.
I didn’t even raise an eyebrow. The murderous intent of 30 people? It was laughable. Besides, they were just ordinary people, not soldiers.
The villagers, seeing me standing there unfazed, began to look at someone’s face.
Behind the villagers stood a short old man. He had pure white hair and eyebrows. His mouth was tightly shut.
He was an old man who had been hidden by the villagers and hadn’t been visible until now. He was the shortest and his build was at the level of an elementary school student. But he had an aura that overwhelmed his surroundings.
‘He’s killed at least 10 people, I bet.’
The old man put his hands behind his back and spoke to the villagers.
“Wait. Don’t move recklessly.”
“Sasaki-san, what if those bastards run away?”
“You idiot. We’re surrounding them in front, and the house is on fire behind them, where are they going to run? Just listen to me.”
“…Yes.”
Sasaki strode forward. His short, thin legs were full of power.
“Hey, Joseon bastard.”
Sasaki said to me.
“What is it, you Jap?”
“Isn’t your back hot? Surrender. You’ve probably heard it before. That burning to death is more painful than any other death.”
“Looking at you guys, it seems like it would be better to just burn to death cleanly?”
“Then burn to death. Turn around and go back into that building.”
“……”
I had no intention of going into the fire to burn to death. When I closed my mouth, the standoff continued. Crack, crackle! Sparks flew from behind. The heat made my back damp with sweat.
‘This isn’t good.’
The heat behind me was draining my stamina. I might even get burned. Above all, the psychological pressure was immense. Sasaki was probably aiming for this psychological pressure.
Just as I was thinking about what to do, one of our group walked confidently towards the villagers.
It was Minewaki Jurie, who had been in conflict with Mori Masahiro.
The villagers pointed their weapons at Jurie.
“Put those away!”
Minewaki Jurie said venomously.
‘Was that woman always so bold?’
No way.
I immediately shook my head. She was the one who had been hysterical at Mori Masahiro earlier today. There was no way she would act so confidently. It was more logical to think differently.
‘She has a reason to be so confident with those guys.’
When can a human be confident? The answer was simple. When they had successfully completed their task.
“Sasaki-san. I did as you told me.”
“Yes. Good job. You set the fire very well. Have you done it before?”
“I’m not in the mood to joke with you. You have to keep your promise.”
“I promise. I won’t harm you. Thanks to you, we’ve identified those bastards.”
Sasaki waved his hand. The weapons pointed at Minewaki Jurie were lowered, and a path was opened. Minewaki Jurie sighed in relief and walked behind the villagers.
Betrayal.
And judging by the looks of it, it didn’t seem like she had betrayed us overnight.
“Minewaki! You can’t be!”
Aizawa Nachiko, who was in the same grade as Minewaki Jurie, was shocked.
Minewaki Jurie looked at her coldly.
“I had no choice. I wanted to live. I didn’t even want to come to this village, and to have to go through something out of a horror movie… that’s too much. I want to live.”
Thump.
A loud noise came from the men’s lodge. The burning roof had fallen down. The college students flinched. In this situation, that alone was enough to make them feel fear and break their spirits. They started imagining being crushed to death under the collapsed lodge building if they stayed here.
The other college students began to look at each other’s faces. Sasaki noticed this like a ghost and said.
“I promise survival to the first person among you who surrenders.”
It was an unbelievable statement.
If he really intended to let them live, he wouldn’t have done something so extreme.
“However, not that Joseon bastard.”
Sasaki’s hand pointed at me.
“That Joseon bastard must die. That Joseon bastard has committed too many sins.”
“I’ll kill you too.”
I flipped Sasaki off. He was indifferent to my provocation.
More time passed. Nebata Noriko and Aizawa Nachiko were wavering, looking at each other. The situation was similar for the male students.
“Senpai, Haga. Do you guys have any intention of surrendering?”
“Those guys know what you and I did. It’s better to die than surrender, right?”
Nakahami Risa held up a hatchet. She handed me one hatchet.
“What about Haga?”
“…Rather than being captured and raped by those guys… it’s better to be raped by you.”
“I’m honored.”
“Don’t misunderstand. It’s only compared to those guys.”
Haga Ryoko held a dagger. She also intended to fight to the end.
But I had no intention of dying here. I was planning to break through the encirclement and escape.
“I’ll make a path.”
I had complete recovery. If I used my body as a shield and went wild… it was definitely possible.
“I, I’ll surrender!!”
Aizawa Nachiko shouted and walked towards the villagers. Sasaki’s lips curled up.
“Welcome. I promise you survival. Go to the back. The rest of you… will have to cut off an arm or so.”
Aizawa Nachiko’s face brightened. She walked to where Minewaki Jurie was. Minewaki Jurie’s face was complicated.
Sasaki gestured to the villagers. The encirclement narrowed, and weapons approached.
The ground shook.
It was a pretty big earthquake. Big enough to crack the ground.
“Huk?!”
“It’s an earthquake!”
“Sh, shit! Aah! Where are you stabbing?!”
The villagers lost their balance and staggered. In the process, accidents happened. Thump, thump! The burning lodge building began to collapse.
“Now’s the time!”
I shouted and charged at the villagers with the hatchet. The earthquake affected me too, but I could handle this much shaking.
I split the head of the man in front of me, picked up a spear that had fallen on the ground, and stabbed it into the chest of a man who had fallen over.
“Ahahaha, ahahahahaha!”
Nakahami Risa laughed loudly and swung her hatchet at the villagers. Their stances were unstable because of the earthquake.
“……”
What worried me was Haga Ryoko. As someone from a ninja family, she had the skills, but skill and killing people were two different things.
‘…It was a needless worry.’
Haga Ryoko was mercilessly killing the villagers. Her dagger pierced people’s vital points, and two people had already died. Her face was calm. There was no wavering.
‘Has she killed people in the past?’
If not, then she was just born with it.
Anyway, they were doing well.
I approached Sasaki. I didn’t like this bastard. Even if I had to deal with him later when I was escaping, I would kill this bastard.
“Kill that Joseon bastard!!”
Sasaki shouted.
The villagers didn’t live up to Sasaki’s expectations. They couldn’t even keep their balance because of the shaking ground. Unless they had been professionally trained in combat. They were just ordinary farmers.
“Aaaah!”
Screams echoed from everywhere.
Even Sasaki’s calm face was now filled with anxiety. He took out a red pill from his pocket, swallowed it, and turned to run away.
“Where do you think you’re going!”
I charged at Sasaki. On the way, Sasaki fell to the side. No, he pretended to fall and took out a weapon from his pocket.
It was a silver revolver.
Sasaki grinned maliciously and pointed the gun at me. As soon as I saw the gun, I rolled to the side. Bang, bang, bang, gunshots rang out. Fortunately, no bullets hit my body. I was in pain from rolling on the ground, but I couldn’t just stay still. He was still pointing the gun at me.
Bang, bang, bang!
A bullet grazed my right shoulder. However, with that, he had used all six bullets. I confidently ran towards him. He was crying tears of blood as he took out another weapon from his pocket. It was an awl.
Clumsy.
From shooting the gun to swinging the awl.
I used the hatchet to chop off Sasaki’s wrist that was holding the awl. Half of his wrist was cut off and dangling. I charged at the horrified Sasaki and slammed the hatchet into his head.
“That’s it! Let’s run away!!”
I shouted. The college students began to run towards me. I killed the villagers and helped them.
“Sung!”
Mori Masahiro, Wada Kyoshiro, and Fudo Jun joined us.
Mori Masahiro looked at the two women who hadn’t joined yet.
“Minewaki! Aizawa! Come here!”
Mori Masahiro shouted.
“Don’t be ridiculous! I’m not going! The villagers promised to save me!!”
“I, I’m not going either. There’s no way we can escape this village!!”
“Do you really think those guys will let you live! Don’t say stupid things and come here!”
“I’m not going!”
They shouted.
“Mori-senpai. Let’s go without them. We don’t have time.”
I didn’t care whether those ugly bitches lived or died. I started running towards the mountain, and Nakahami Risa and Haga Ryoko followed me. Then, the others followed. The earthquake soon stopped.
