Chapter 2149 – 2149. Eternal Eden
Swish!
The fifth person was cleaved in half and executed.
The atmosphere here was beyond quiet; it was terrifying. Did the condemned just accept their fate without resistance? Of course not. They didn’t want to die, so they grabbed guns and made a fuss, but their haphazard shooting couldn’t even scratch me. I executed those who fired guns first.
The silver blade descended, and without fail, another human was split in two and died. From the bisected corpse, blood and entrails flowed instead of the parasites that should have been there.
“Next, Seo Jun-saeng.”
The eleventh.
Seo Jun-saeng was a gaunt man. His hair was dyed yellow with cheap dye, and his face was covered in acne. He had three piercings in his ear. He was a thug through and through, and he was crying his eyes out.
“I-I’m not a parasite either! I swear!”
“This isn’t about confirming that. Come out here, you little shit.”
I pointed at Seo Jun-saeng with my blood-dripping cutlass.
“I-I’m not! You all saw it too! The people who were executed were all humans, not parasites! It was a false accusation! If this keeps up, that guy will kill us all! We have to kill him first!”
Seo Jun-saeng made a decent choice. He was trying to incite the people to unite. But the situation was bad. The people were already overwhelmed by fear. They were just hesitating, looking at each other.
“Uwaaaaaaaah!”
Seo Jun-saeng screamed and pointed a pistol at me, firing it.
Thunder Sky Style (雷天流) Electromagnetic Barrier (電磁氣幕).
The barrage of bullets fell vertically to the ground before they could even reach my body. I showed them the same performance I had shown them several times before. It was a reminder that firearms were useless against me.
This was why people couldn’t resist me. Their greatest weapon was firearms.
“Come out here now!”
Thwack!
Choi Hye-jin approached Seo Jun-saeng and swung her bat, beating him mercilessly. Seo Jun-saeng screamed and held out until his limbs were broken, and he was forcibly dragged out by Choi Hye-jin.
I didn’t kill him right away, but instead, I stalled so that people could see it clearly. If you go against me, whether you’re a parasite or not, this is what will happen. I was making sure to engrave that fact into the people’s minds.
“The execution begins!”
It was the moment I stood in front of Seo Jun-saeng and raised my cutlass high. Dozens of thin, long tentacles shot out of Seo Jun-saeng’s eyes and mouth, aiming for my head.
I hadn’t let my guard down and had been tensing my body, so I immediately stepped back and swung my sword, cutting off the tentacles.
‘Found it, the parasite.’
If it had been an ordinary human, they might have panicked and been caught, but for me, who had been through thick and thin, it was nothing special. As always, I went on the counterattack.
Thunder Sky Style (雷天流) Thunder Flash (雷光).
A blue flash of light flashed and severed Seo Jun-saeng’s neck. His head floated in the air, spinning around. Tentacles shot out from the cross-section of his neck, lunging at me as if making a final desperate attempt.
‘Disgusting.’
Before the tentacles could reach me, I split the head in half.
Thud.
From the cross-section of the fallen head, a mass of tentacles that had been acting as a brain wriggled and then drooped.
The people were horrified at the sight of the monster that was clearly controlling a human.
Many had doubted even after hearing that a parasitic monster was pretending to be human. But this proved that what I had said was true.
“Look. I successfully executed the parasite. The tip I received was true.”
Since a parasite had appeared, I had the justification.
Eleven people, including the parasite, had died, but in the end, a parasite had been found. I could be confident.
Having lost my purpose, I sheathed my sword. Today’s execution show was over.
“Don’t be relieved just because one parasite died. We believe there are at least five parasites in Saetbyeol Apartment. So, if you see someone who looks like a parasite, report it to me immediately.”
I didn’t tell them how to deal with the parasites. I didn’t know either. It wasn’t me who was in danger anyway, so they would figure it out.
“Oh, right. From now on, I will manage all the food in the apartment. The parasites might try to get to it. Anyone who has a complaint is highly likely to be a parasite. Anyone have a complaint?”
“……”
Nearly 1,000 people were silent.
I nodded in satisfaction.
“In the afternoon, I will start individual interviews with Block 103. I trust you won’t ignore me like you did yesterday.”
It didn’t matter if they ignored me. However, tomorrow, another parasite hiding in Block 103 would be executed.
I went back into the apartment with Choi Hye-jin. I made eye contact with Lee Ye-bin in the middle. She was acting like a queen bee among the men. She pursed her lips and glared at me as if she wanted to kill me.
‘What are you going to do by glaring? This apartment is mine now.’
Gather followers and start a rebellion? Well, they saw with their own eyes that firearms didn’t work on me. Would they rashly start a rebellion?
And even though Lee Ye-bin was the representative of the apartment, she didn’t completely control it. The residents of Block 101 and Block 103 seemed to follow Lee Ye-bin, but they were also wary of her.
‘Why didn’t I kill Kang Sang-gi, the representative of Block 103? I didn’t kill him to keep Lee Ye-bin in check.’
What if things didn’t go as I expected and they joined forces? Then they would both become parasites.
• • •
Kang Sang-gi, who had been beaten by Seong Yu-jin in front of the apartment residents, was aching all over his body. He had wrapped half of his body in bandages and taken painkillers, but the pain that wouldn’t go away ignited a flame of anger in his mind and heart.
“That damn bastard… suddenly appearing and committing massacres…! All that talk about him being a Korean hero was bullshit!”
Unlike the furious Kang Sang-gi, the security guards next to him sighed. They had already lost their will to fight.
“Still, his skills were real. Bullets didn’t work on him at all… How can we fight someone like that?”
A psychic who was immune to bullets. He was no different from the monsters roaming outside the apartment.
“Psychics are human too. If you stab them with a knife or shoot them when they’re off guard, they’ll die!”
Kang Sang-gi, who used to be a gangster, shouted boldly.
“Oh. Are you going to kill him, boss?!”
People looked at him with sparkling eyes. But Kang Sang-gi couldn’t answer. The memory of being beaten by Seong Yu-jin washed away his anger and instilled fear. Just thinking about Seong Yu-jin made his hands and feet tremble.
“Damn it. What do you mean kill? Why is that bastard so eager to catch us? Only people from our block died this time!”
“…A parasite actually appeared. Seo Jun-saeng. Who would have thought he was a parasite?”
Three months after the D-virus outbreak. They were more horrified by the parasites than by the deaths of people. The existence of parasites was a matter directly related to their survival. According to Seong Yu-jin, there were more parasites pretending to be human.
People looked around at each other with suspicious eyes. What if that guy was a parasite? What if they tried to eat me when we were alone? The trust between them was slowly collapsing.
Kang Sang-gi decided that this couldn’t go on.
To unite internally, they needed an external enemy. But turning Seong Yu-jin into an enemy was out of the question.
“…That guy said someone reported that there were parasites in Block 103, right? Did you find out who reported it?”
“I don’t know. It’s not someone from Block 103, at least. Block 103 ignored the individual interviews yesterday on your orders.”
“……It’s obvious. Lee Ye-bin. That bitch did it. She’s the one who brought that guy here.”
“That’s right. That bitch has been acting up too much lately.”
“I don’t know why the idiots in Block 102 are sucking up to that bitch.”
“She must be spreading her legs every night.”
“Even the guys who used to like our women have gone over to that bitch. She definitely gave it up. That whore.”
“It might be the work of the guys from Block 101. Those bastards are eager to catch us. That white horse is probably giving her body like Lee Ye-bin. Boss, let’s just flip them over this time?”
“Flip them over, my ass. Are you going to lead the charge? Huh?”
“……No, sir.”
They also had guns. Even men with better physiques than women were powerless in front of guns.
“Anyway, we can’t just sit still like this. Seong Yu-jin. That bastard said he’d manage the food… If we don’t do anything, we’ll starve to death.”
Of course, they had some food hidden away for emergencies. But it was just for emergencies. They couldn’t touch it rashly, and it wasn’t enough to last a week.
“I don’t think that bastard will give us food easily…”
“But we can’t fight that monster, can we? We have no choice but to… entertain him.”
“Entertain him?”
Kang Sang-gi grinned.
He had risen to the rank of executive in his gangster days. If the organization hadn’t been forcibly disbanded by the police, he would have become an executive. He had done all sorts of dirty work, including entertaining corrupt officials.
“Get the girls ready. Bring out some of the liquor we’ve been saving. And the gold we’ve been saving, just in case? Bring that too.”
“…Boss. Isn’t offering women a bit too much? Besides, the crazy woman next to that bastard is not ordinary looking. Will he be satisfied with our women?”
“You idiot. No matter how beautiful the woman next to a man is, he’ll always look for a new one. That’s instinct. If they put on makeup, they’ll be as good as Lee Ye-bin, right? Oh, and ask them for cooperation too. If this keeps up, we’ll all die. They’ve probably sold their bodies a few times before.”
Block 103 was full of decadence. Most of the people there were involved in illegal activities. The women there were ready to sell their bodies to survive. The women who weren’t had left for Block 101 or Block 102.
It was then. The door opened, and someone entered their space.
“Boss. That guy is telling us to come for an interview.”
“Damn it.”
Kang Sang-gi got up from his seat. He looked around, warning them. He was worried that they might cause trouble because they were ignorant.
“Don’t say anything unnecessary when you go there. Just answer the questions appropriately and come out. Got it?”
“Yes, boss. Don’t worry.”
Kang Sang-gi took his reluctant steps and headed to the room where Seong Yu-jin was staying. On the way, the people from Block 102 watched him as if they were monitoring him. Lee Ye-bin was among them.
“It was you, wasn’t it?”
“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
“The person who reported to that bastard. You reported it, so only our people died.”
“Don’t talk nonsense. It’s because you guys ignored the interview yesterday that he got angry. If you’re upset, reflect on yourselves for not participating in the interview properly.”
“We’ll see.”
“Ha. What can you do? Just don’t cause trouble in Block 102.”
