Chapter 1182 – 1182. Day 15
Shibata chased me relentlessly after I left the hospital.
‘That annoying bastard.’
I ran into the mountains.
The mountainous terrain, with its many obstacles, was better for dealing with Shibata, who charged like a tank.
Luring Shibata was easy. He was running after me without any suspicion.
‘If I hadn’t taken the Blood Pill, I would have been caught.’
Thanks to the enhanced physical abilities from the Blood Pill, I was maintaining a certain distance without being caught. I glanced back to check.
Thump! Thump-thump-thump!
His running posture was awkward. His lower body, weak compared to his upper body, looked like it could lose balance and collapse at any moment. At least, that’s how it looked.
Even with his awkward posture, the speed at which he moved his legs was incredibly fast. If he hadn’t been so fast, I would have shaken him off long ago.
“Get out of the way!!”
When Shibata saw a villager, he punched them without hesitation. The villagers, unable to withstand the impact, would explode and die.
‘That bastard. He’s doing it on purpose.’
Shibata was not very intelligent, but his brain wasn’t at the level of an animal. He could distinguish between friend and foe. There was no need for him to attack the villagers he passed by. He killed them for his own amusement, or to show off his power.
Not that it was necessarily bad. I did that sometimes too.
‘Is the only one who can control that bastard… the Miko?’
I looked around. The villagers, even though they could chase me, were too terrified of Shibata and were busy running away. Shibata must be famous among the villagers.
I went deeper into the mountains.
Boom! Crash! Thump!
I dodged trees, jumping around. Shibata was reckless even in the mountains. He ran to catch me, not caring if he hit trees.
Shibata’s speed decreased. The distance grew, and he lost sight of me.
“Where are you! Where are you!!”
Shibata shouted. I could hear the sound of trees breaking and falling. He seemed to be taking his anger out on the innocent trees.
I climbed up a tree. I held my breath and lay in ambush. I covered the blood tears that kept flowing from my eyes with my clothes.
‘Running away like this isn’t my style. The moment he passes by here, I’ll drop down and attack. If I cut off his head, he’ll die.’
I could feel Shibata getting closer. Footsteps, breathing. He was too noisy.
‘He’s here.’
I held my breath, waiting for him to get closer.
‘Now!’
I grabbed my katana in reverse grip and jumped down from the tree.
Was it instinct? Shibata glanced up at me, then raised his left arm. The blade was blocked by his left wrist.
‘If that’s the case, then at least his left arm…!’
Shibata went berserk. He shook his body violently and threw me off. I rolled on the ground, feeling dizzy, and got back on my feet. He was already close to me, and he said triumphantly,
“I won. You’re finished now.”
His left hand grabbed my leg. I tried to aim for his head, but his right arm was completely blocking it.
‘…Did I focus too much on his head?’
I changed my mind from trying to pierce Shibata’s heart. His chest was swollen and looked as hard as a rock.
‘It’s too big. Is this even a human body? I don’t know where his heart is.’
I aimed for his right arm in a hurry.
I swung the katana with both hands. The blade cut halfway through his right arm.
He crushed my leg.
I swung the blade again. This time, his right arm fell off.
“Aaaargh! This!”
Shibata threw me away. My body rolled like a soccer ball. Was I lucky? Or unlucky? I fell straight down the cliff without hitting a tree.
Thud.
My body hit the ground. The pain was minimal thanks to the Blood Pill, but my body wouldn’t move, and I lost my sight.
‘Shit.’
It felt like I was floating for about five seconds. I must have fallen at least 20 meters. With this height, it was impossible for my body to be okay.
What was absurd was that I wasn’t dead yet. My body was a mess, but my mind was clear.
‘It must be because of the Blood Pill.’
I deliberately didn’t use Full Recovery. I planned to wait for Shibata to show up and check my corpse. The moment he let his guard down, I would use Full Recovery and counterattack.
‘Perfect plan. Show up already.’
But even after several tens of seconds, he didn’t appear. He must have thought I was dead after falling from such a height.
[Death Resistance has been activated. You will not die for the next 15 seconds.]
[Time remaining for Death Resistance: 15 seconds]
[Using Full Recovery.]
I couldn’t fail the quest by dying, so I used Full Recovery.
I got up, feeling refreshed. The effects of the Blood Pill seemed to have worn off.
I looked up at the cliff. It was too dark to measure the exact height. I guessed it was over 20 meters. Could I climb that cliff with my current body and without any equipment?
‘I can’t be sure, so I should go around.’
I lowered my head. Finding another way wasn’t going to be easy either.
Suddenly, I felt a surge of irritation.
I couldn’t kill Shibata. If I had been a little more composed, could I have killed him?
“Shibaal!! Shibata!! I’m going to kill you! You bastard Shibata!!”
I screamed at the top of my lungs.
I felt a little better.
•••
Shibata looked down at the cliff where Sung Yu-jin had fallen.
It was deep.
So deep that the bottom was not visible at all.
“He must be dead.”
Even the dim-witted Shibata knew. No animal could survive a fall from that height. And that guy was seriously injured.
“It’s too dark. I don’t want to go down.”
Shibata turned around. His own condition wasn’t good either. His right arm was cut off. He might have to live without his right arm. He picked up his severed right arm.
“If it’s the Miko… she’ll reattach my right arm.”
He muttered to himself and headed to the shrine with his right arm.
He was about to leave the mountain and enter the village.
“Shibaal!! Shibata!! I’m going to kill you! You bastard Shibata!!”
Sung Yu-jin’s voice was heard. Shibata tilted his head. It was strange to hear the voice of Sung Yu-jin, who was already dead.
But Shibata didn’t think much of it and headed to the shrine. He sometimes heard the voices of his dead parents and the Miko for no reason. His parents would say words of concern, and the Miko would say that if he believed and followed her, he could go to heaven. It was a common hallucination.
He entered the shrine and met the Miko.
The Miko greeted Shibata with her usual faint smile.
“Shibata. Good work. I received a report that the hospital director is dead, but it’s a trivial matter, so don’t worry about it. How about that Joseon person….”
The Miko stopped mid-sentence. She belatedly noticed that Shibata was holding his severed right arm with his left hand. The Miko, startled, widened her eyes, then composed herself.
“Miko. My arm was cut off. That guy was strong.”
“…I thought he wouldn’t be an ordinary Korean. But in the end, he died at Shibata’s hands. I will reattach your arm. How did you kill him?”
“I tried to grab him with my hand and crush him….”
“And?”
“He fell down.”
“I see. So you didn’t bring the body.”
“…Should I bring it?”
“It’s okay. Shibata, please rest well. Here, this is a gift from the Mountain God to Shibata.”
“Ooh… a gift from the Mountain God….”
Shibata took the candy the Miko gave him and put it in his mouth. Soon, his face became hazy. The giant staggered and fell backward. His eyes rolled back, and he drooled. The drug the Miko had specially made led Shibata to a paradise of illusions.
The Miko waved her hand.
“Reattach Shibata’s arm. Shibata is a rare suitable subject, so you can easily reattach his arm using the Blood Pill.”
“Yes, Miko.”
There were many followers around the Miko. They took Shibata to a hidden laboratory in the shrine.
The Miko gave orders to those who remained in the shrine.
“Bring the Korean’s body. That Korean is not an ordinary human. He might be a special modified human like Shibata.”
“Yes, Miko.”
The Miko’s followers moved.
•••
“Aaaaargh!”
The guys, with their bodies and heads covered in black cloth, screamed and died. I threw the rock I was holding onto the ground. I didn’t care about the corpses and went my way.
‘Guys dressed the same as Shibata. At first, I thought they were dangerous, but… there aren’t any monsters like Shibata.’
Their physical abilities were good, but their combat abilities were poor.
I had encountered four of them so far, and I had killed all four without much difficulty. Two of them had pistols, but the mountain was dark, and there were many trees that were perfect for cover.
‘Thanks to that, I got two pistols….’
I didn’t have the shooting trait, so my accuracy was low. Right now, I could barely hit an enemy even if they were 10 meters away.
‘I need to finish this before dawn. Before their reinforcements arrive from outside.’
Thump, thump.
As I walked through the mountains, I spotted a light and grinned. This meant I had avoided the worst-case scenario of being lost.
As I walked towards the light, I found felled trees. There was a pile of wood in one corner.
‘A lumber mill.’
It was a small lumber mill. But it had everything it needed. This lumber mill was one of the village’s lifelines.
‘Well, the real lifeline is the Blood Pill, though.’
I entered the lumber mill, trying to be as quiet as possible. The fact that the light inside the lumber mill was on meant that someone was awake.
‘Let’s kill that guy and take anything that can be used as a weapon. I wish I had a long sword like a katana.’
I had lost the katana I had when I fought Shibata.
I slowly moved towards the lumber mill building. Light was leaking through the windows. I quietly peeked through the window.
‘Oh, shit.’
I saw a naked man.
I almost cursed out loud. I desperately held it in and assessed the situation inside the building.
There were more than ten naked men. Their ages ranged from young to old. Their eyes were fixed on the women in the center. Two women. Two familiar women were being gang-raped by the men.
It was Aizawa Nachiko and Minewaki Julie.
The women who had surrendered to the villagers. They were lying there with expressions as if they were corpses. There were signs of beatings on their bodies and faces, and men’s semen was smeared on their hair, mouths, chests, and thighs. Between their legs, naked old men were vigorously shaking their hips.
‘Were they dragged here and gang-raped?’
I didn’t feel anything. Those women weren’t my type. Objectively, they were ugly. Even at their best, they were just average.
I looked at the front entrance. Clothes and weapons were placed there. Among the weapons was the long sword I wanted, a katana.
I headed for the front entrance.
