Chapter 13 – 13. A Woman With a Slightly Strange Mind
The simple labyrinth that appeared before the eyes of an unspecified number of people was connected to the ‘Twisted Basement’.
The twisted basement was filled with various facilities, including an unnamed hotel, a ruined theater, and an abandoned laboratory. Since it is literally a ‘simple’ labyrinth, various places were just put together.
There was no need for big details. For the participants, it was just one of the farming locations they passed through, and for those watching the whole situation, it was just a moment of entertainment.
Anyway, there are fifteen participants who entered the twisted basement. Five of them met in one place. If the game rules had been battle royale rather than simple escape, the bloodshed would have already started.
“…”
But is it because there is no need to fight? There was silence and tension at the scene.
Some people simply felt uncomfortable with the existence of others, while others were afraid because they knew full well how dangerous the existence of others was in a destroyed world. And some were looking at the faces of other participants, looking for prey to devour.
‘With a crazy bitch who splits threads. A psychopathic curly haired person with a smiling mouth but not smiling eyes… And a boy who wants to kill an electric current boy and a muscular office worker…’
Kang In-ho, who was looking for game, whetted his appetite. Current Boy is the most mouth-watering prey. I wanted to rip his head off right away and take control of his abilities. However, there are too many eyes watching. It was clear that if I moved rashly, I would become a target and be hunted by them.
‘Especially.. The look in that curly haired kid’s eyes.. Is annoying…’
Kang In-ho didn’t like the sight of the curly-haired man who kept smiling while staring at people. It was as if I was looking into the other person’s mind.
‘Could it be a mind-reading type? That subtle smile is a handicap or penalty for using the ability… If that’s the case, they must kill you and rob you of the ability… That’s right, if you’re still reading my inner thoughts… It’s too dangerous to keep me alive… Even mind reading… It’s too crazy. It’s an ability.’
Kang In-ho stroked his forehead, which had suddenly widened. His hair is an extremely limited resource. The last time the steam engine and sense of reason were taken away, he felt that more hair had fallen out than he imagined.
One handful was more than I expected. If my hair continued to fall out like this, I would probably go bald before I even gained my twenty abilities.
‘So… We need to take away as many useful abilities as possible… We can’t waste hair on useless abilities… Or it would be nice if we could at least discover the ability to grow hair… ‘
Kang In-ho thought. There are all sorts of strange abilities, so I’m sure one of them would be the ability to grow hair. I also considered transplanting my hair, but it seemed too difficult to find the relevant equipment and a doctor who could perform the procedure.
“Excuse me. Let’s all calm down for now.”
When Kang In-ho’s thoughts turned to hair transplant, the stocky office worker opened his mouth. He lowered the ohama he was holding and expressed that he had no intention of fighting.
“Fighting among ourselves is a loss. Let’s all cooperate appropriately and move up.”
The electric current boy held the iron pipe nodded his head in agreement at the words of the office worker, and the blue-haired woman standing next to Kang In-ho also smiled and nodded her head. The tense atmosphere eased a little.
Kang In-ho thought that it might have turned out well. Because he’ll be easier to target when he’s a little loose than when he’s tense.
“Hmm.. Um.. I want to go separately… Preferably alone.. Hehe..”
Then the stooped man with curly hair raised one of his hands and said, euphemistically, that he had no intention of going with you. The office worker holding the ohama nodded at his words
“Please. I have no intention of forcing you to go with me. It was just a story about not fighting amongst ourselves. All you have to do is go to the first floor.”
“That’s right. Then.. I first… “
Curly Head left alone. Kang In-ho’s hands became itchy. Should I continue to follow that man like this and kill him, or should I continue targeting Electric Current Boy?
‘It would be nice if I could at least use self-immolation techniques… ‘
Kang In-ho quenched his appetite, thinking that there might be someone capable of self-immolation somewhere in this world. He decided to send the curly hair for now. In fact, I’m not even sure that Curly Hair had mind-reading skills, and when I actually killed him and took away his abilities, I thought he might just have bad abilities.
Moreover, seeing that he decided to go alone even though it was an opportunity to make teammates in such a strange place, Kang In-ho thought that his penalty might be that he had to go alone.
In the end, he praised the boy for his electrical power and tried to ask him to go with him. However, before that, the current boy spoke to the office worker first.
“Uh… Uncle. Would you like to go with me?”
“What? Um… Okay, let’s do it. There… You…”
Kang In-ho thought he was one step too late and quickly tried to join the office worker and the current boy. Only then will you have a chance to kill that electric current boy.
However, the blue-haired woman who was standing next to Kang In-ho grabbed his wrist and spoke firmly to the office worker and the current boy.
“Kihi.. We’ll go up the stairs here. There are several stairs leading up, so there’s no need to go all of them together. Kihihi..”
“What? For a moment. What bullshit..”
Kang In-ho was so angry at the moment that he briefly considered killing the crazy woman. However, before Kang In-ho’s anger exploded, the madwoman whispered softly in a voice that only he could hear.
“Oppa… Do you want to kill that kid?”
“What..?”
“I can see it. My eyes are shining brightly. Kihi… I was staring too hard. That kid got attached to that guy because he had an uneasy look in his eyes. Kihihi..”
“What…”
“I’m targeting the guy with the ohamma over there. Why don’t we help each other? Kihihi… Let’s just let those two go up for now… Let’s have a strategy meeting and then target those two.”
“…”
Kang In-ho was so embarrassed that he didn’t know what to say to her.
‘This woman.. What is it? How did he know that I was trying to kill Current Boy? Are my eyes really that cruel? Maybe.. It has something to do with the abilities this woman has..’
Kang In-ho decided to follow the woman’s words for now. Of course, she had no intention of being swayed or led by her. First of all, I planned to have a conversation when it was just the two of us, and if I thought something was really strange, I would kill him.
Above all else, Kang In-ho thought that the best way to hunt would be to keep her companions as far away as possible. If several people gather together, it becomes difficult to target and kill someone. It’s easier and easier to kill them when they’re all scattered.
‘Once I find out what this woman is capable of, I’ll have to do something to kill her… ‘
Just like that, a muscular office worker holding a sword and a boy went up the stairs on the other side, and Kang In-ho and a woman with blue short hair watched them go up until the end before heading up the stairs.
When they were alone together, Kang In-ho frowned at her and asked the madwoman a question.
“Hey, what did you mean by what you just said?”
“Huh? “What?”
“They said they were going to kill the man with the sword.”
“Huh. Kihihi… That’s my prey, so if you touch it, you won’t be safe either.”
“What…?”
“I will kill that man.”
A woman whose eyes flash with madness for a moment. She showed a will to never let her prey be taken away. Kang In-ho swallowed her saliva and nodded at the woman’s death.
Right now was not the time to fight. She had to first understand the woman’s abilities. If the penalty is too large or the ability is not necessary to obtain, there is no reason to kill it.
“No. Fuck, why on earth are you trying to kill that guy? “What kind of ability and what kind of penalty is it to kill someone?”
“And you. What are your abilities and what kind of penalty would make you want to kill that bastard? “How about you, you can’t talk too?”
“…”
“Look. Even my brother can’t tell me. Kihi… I can’t tell you either. It’s the same thing. But… I have to kill that man. Just know that. And that kid doesn’t care, but his abilities seem quite tricky, so we fight him 2v2. It will be more stable that way.”
“If you don’t like it. Kill you here What if I go to those two?”
“Huh? Are you going to kill me? Under. Haha. Try it.”
She immediately widened the distance and aimed her ax at Kang In-ho.
Kang In-ho watched the movements of the madwoman and measured the distance between her.
‘No matter how strong I am.. I’m just a woman.. When it comes to physical ability, of course I have the upper hand..’
-Kwajajajak!!!!
“Keuuuuu!!! Fuck..!!!!”
The madwoman leapt forward for a moment and flew down the stairs halfway, swinging her ax towards Kang In-ho’s face.
Kang In-ho could barely follow the movements of the madwoman, who jumped and flew away in an instant. It was an instantaneous acceleration ability that made him lose his mind.
Since my visual acuity was high, I was able to pick up the baseball bat and block her ax blow, but…
‘What… !!’
I was pushed out of power. It wasn’t just speed. The madwoman had enough strength to crush an adult man.
‘How can such a slim body have such strength..!!’
Kang In-ho is a man born as a superior child who is bigger than others. Even when he didn’t exercise, he never heard of his strength and his being weak. However, the madwoman had enough strength to crush Kang In-ho, who was naturally boneless.
Kang In-ho began to break into a cold sweat as his strength was completely different from his appearance.
‘First, give me your shoulder… Pull out the stem and cut off your neck…’
He tried to stab him, but before he could, the madwoman put away her axe. Kang In-ho, who was trying to make a comeback, asked the madwoman who stepped behind her and glared at him with murderous eyes.
“What the fuck.. Let’s stop here?”
“Whew.. Okay, I’m sorry, but you are not my prey. Hmm.. So we’ll end here, shall we?”
Kang In-ho smiled and looked into the eyes of the madwoman who held out her hand. Unlike her light actions and tone her, her eyes her, her eyes her were extremely emotionless. The playful atmosphere we had when we first met had long since disappeared.
The only thing left in her eyes was the intention to kill her prey.
‘She certainly looked like a prostitute when she acted frivolously… ‘
Now the woman seemed like a kind of fighter and fighter. It was only the look in her eyes that changed, but it seemed like the person itself had changed. Like a double personality.
‘It’s the same with the word ‘prey’… It’s the same with the physicality that can never come out of that body… ‘
Kang In-ho roughly deduced the abilities that the woman in front of him must have had.
‘Is it the ability to kill designated prey and increase stats? If so, what is the penalty? It may be a penalty that causes mental problems…’
From earlier, Kang In-ho was very impressed by her laugh, which was out of proportion to the situation. She probably had a penalty or a handicap that made her mentally ill.
‘I ate it wrong for no reason.. I’m going to get away with it… ‘
Kang In-ho’s thoughts of having to take her abilities away from her she disappeared. Although she took the lives of others and ate her abilities to survive, she could not eat just anything. He had to eat separately.
‘First of all, it’s an alliance… No matter how much the steam engine is strengthened… It’s hard to catch Ohamma and Electric Current Boy at the same time… ‘
She had a high chance of being beaten to death in a two-on-one fight.
In the end, after evaluating various situations, Kang In-ho came to the conclusion that it would be easier to kill the current boy if she joined forces with the madwoman. He held the madwoman’s hand and shook her hand.
“Now then, let’s pay more attention to each other’s prey.”
“I understand.”
“Good! Then the strategy meeting is over! Let’s go back down! “I have to chase after my prey.”
“Okay… “
The madwoman smiled as if she had never glared before and went downstairs again. She had planned to go back to the floor full of rooms and follow the office worker and the boy up the stairs. In order to chase after them and break their heads.
“Hmm~”
Her eyes were half-dead, so she must have been happy to be on the same team as Kang In-ho, who looked like a serial killer. The madwoman walked ahead, even humming her own song.
