Chapter 41
As the sound of water faded, I hastily cleared my throat and stood up from the cab.
Before Ha-seon came out of the bathroom, I had neatly set up the soft bed.
Just in case, I also hung curtains around the bed to block the light, the way they do in hospitals.
Click.
Soon, the bathroom door opened with a cloud of white steam.
Ha-seon came out carefully pressing a towel against her wet white hair, and when she spotted her own bed, she stopped in her tracks.
"You went this far..."
From the tone of her voice, she seemed a little touched.
I answered, feeling oddly embarrassed at her reaction.
"Yes, I wanted you to sleep comfortably... If anything's missing, just let me know anytime."
"No, this is plenty. Thank you..."
At my reply, she bowed her head deeply and expressed her sincere thanks.
Even so, my eyes kept drifting toward her white hair.
So that's what wet white hair looks like.
After a while, Ha-seon, her face now dry and fresh, sat on the bed, carefully checked where the outlet was, then began taking something out of her backpack and setting it up.
"Could I... use the outlet? I need to manage the gallery..."
"Of course. But... you run the gallery on a laptop?"
I blinked.
Ever since I was possessed, I'd only ever accessed the gallery on my smartphone, so this was the first time I learned you could log in from other electronic devices too.
"Yes, the smartphone screen alone is too small..."
After plugging the laptop in, Ha-seon’s timid, cautious demeanor from a moment ago gradually disappeared.
She put on her glasses, and her expression turned serious.
Tap, tap, tap-tap-tap.
Her fingers moved quickly as she worked the keyboard and mouse.
"...You look incredibly busy."
"There are a lot of accounts to suspend..."
"Really?"
"Yes, lately there have been a lot of accounts abusing the marketplace for scams and crimes under the guise of trade posts... Even I, right now, am—"
"Ah..."
A cold light gleamed in Ha-seon's eyes.
In the middle of her monitor, the account info for the Yeouido username that had sold off the everyday supplies with the tracker in them was highlighted in red.
I watched the scene with interest, then suddenly grew curious and asked.
"What if they just make a new fake account and come back in after you suspend them like that?"
At my question, Ha-seon briefly took her hands off the keyboard and shook her head.
"I worried about that too, but it doesn't really feel like suspending the account so much as blocking that person from accessing my skill."
It feels like the skill itself is blocking that person.
It was somewhat similar to my train.
"But are there really that many people doing something bad enough to get suspended? Everyone must be too busy trying to survive."
In a situation this bleak, losing access to information and trade would be a pretty big risk.
Could there really be that many people doing such things?
At my words, Ha-seon gave a bitter smile and scrolled through the block list on her monitor.
Countless nicknames were listed there.
"There are far more than you'd think. Especially since the marketplace tab opened, people like that have increased a lot."
She stared at the screen with dim eyes and quietly went on.
"Since survivors travel in groups anyway, as long as even one account in the group survives, there's no problem getting gallery info or using the marketplace. So it looks like they use one person's account as a front, then use that account to scam others or lure them into dangerous traps."
"Ah..."
I let out a short sigh.
The people in Yeouido must have set that obvious trap for the same reason.
"That must be rough."
At my words of comfort, Ha-seon gave a faint smile and turned her gaze back to the laptop screen.
"It's fine. This is my responsibility to bear. And I am being compensated accordingly."
Inside the first car of the train, I lay down on the bed, listening to the clicks and keyboard sounds that carried on late into the night.
Strangely enough, the sound seemed to lull me to sleep.
***
Inside a large SUV heading from Yeouido to Ansan.
Even though the world had become overrun with monsters, two men sat in the front seats—the driver's seat and the passenger seat—slicked-back hair and all, dressed neatly in suits.
Their attire felt strangely out of place against the ruined cityscape flickering past the window.
By contrast, the two men in the back seat were dressed in a way that suited this changed world.
Two Awakened, armed all over with thick-looking gear and weapons, sat leaning arrogantly back in their seats.
Tap, tap.
One of the Awakened in the back seat lightly tapped the thick, book-shaped skill book in his hand with a finger.
Smiling, he opened his mouth toward the front seats.
"No matter how rushed you are, is it really okay to just hand over a combat skill that fetches a king's ransom on the marketplace? The assemblyman must be feeling that one pretty badly."
At that, the man in the passenger seat turned around and gave a warm, friendly smile.
"Oh, come now, that's a bit much. Thanks to excellent Awakened like you two, we can sleep easy back in Yeouido. As a way of asking for even greater work from you in the future, it's only natural that we provide support with a combat skill like this."
A textbook example of slick, oily flattery.
But the expressions on the two Awakened hearing that polished nonsense turned cold.
The Awakened holding the skill book snorted.
"Cut the crap. What exactly are you hiding in Ansan that it's worth taking this kind of loss just to hire us as escorts?"
"Ha ha..."
At the question, the suited men in front gave awkward laughs.
The Awakened in the back seat had been hired to escort them to Ansan Jungang Station and clear the road, and were riding along in the car for that job.
Skreeeech—KABOOM!
When the Awakened holding the skill book gave a flick of his hand, a wrecked car blocking their path lifted slightly as if caught by an invisible hand, then was slammed into the roadside.
It was a rather powerful telekinesis skill.
The other Awakened sitting beside him was also silently checking his weapon.
He was loading the magazine of a special firearm item with low-grade mana stones glowing with a red light instead of bullets.
Bzzzz—click.
The mana stones were converted into energy inside the gun as it loaded, and the barrel glowed red-hot.
Even in the face of the two Awakened subtly showing off their firepower by clearing obstacles and preparing for battle, the suited men deliberately changed the subject as if nothing was wrong.
"We're just going to check the listings for the vending machines over in Ansan and see whether there are any isolated survivors. We prioritize civilian safety above all else."
"...What civilian safety, my ass."
"Ha ha..."
The suited man laughed offhandedly, but his eyes glittered coldly and cunningly like a snake's.
'A combat skill is nothing. It's a cheap price to pay. If this job succeeds—'
Inside his breast pocket was already a note with the detailed address of the person they were looking for.
"We're getting close to the station."
The SUV came to a stop on an Ansan road where the asphalt had been smashed apart.
The two Awakened in the back seat opened the door and got out, readjusting their weapons as they drew a firm line with the suited men.
"The condition was that we'd clear obstacles and escort you on the way here, so whether you're looking for vending machines or whatever else, don't expect any extra fighting or assistance beyond that. We're worth exactly the price of the skill book."
At their knife-edged attitude, the suited men swallowed their curses inside, but on the outside they nodded with friendly smiles.
"Of course."
In fact, that alone was enough.
Because it would be entirely possible for just the two of them to enter the cramped apartment indicated by the tracker, capture the target, and drag them out.
"If we do capture them... take those two back first, then come back."
"Yes."
If they captured the target, one of them would stay with the captured target, and the other would shuttle the two Awakened back to Yeouido.
They were just about to get out of the car and head toward the apartment complex.
"Kyaaaak—!"
The dark clouds covering Ansan's sky began to stir all at once.
—I had thought they were dark clouds.
With shrill cries, dozens of huge bird-type monsters began charging fiercely toward them.
"...Those black things are all monsters?"
"Ha... fuck, of course not. There was no way it'd be this easy..."
The Awakened's faces twisted in an instant.
They had said they'd only be worth the price of the skill book, but in the face of monsters as big as adult men's torsos raining down like a downpour, they had no choice but to raise their weapons.
Tat-tat-tat!
"Die!"
The telekinetic Awakened swept both hands through the air, putting up an invisible barrier that crushed the birds, while the gun-wielding Awakened tore through their wings by spraying mana-stone rounds nonstop from the red-hot muzzle.
It was a hellish chaos of blood splashing everywhere and feathers raining down.
The two Awakened were completely bogged down, unable to focus as they dealt with the flock pouring out of the sky.
"Let's go now! Hurry to the apartment!"
The suited men shouted to each other and sprinted into the apartment complex, taking advantage of the time and confusion the Awakened had bought them.
After running until their lungs were burning, they finally arrived at the door of the high-rise apartment the tracker had indicated.
After running and climbing the stairs until they were out of breath, the two paused at the door for a moment to steady themselves.
"Phew... Should we go in?"
"...Yeah."
One of the men gave the door a test pull.
The already-open door gave way with absurd ease.
"...Huh, why is it open?"
"Signal!"
One of the men stormed into the house menacingly, aiming his gun as he went.
A dark, empty living room, fluorescent lights covered with thick hanji paper, and neatly arranged furniture.
"...Why is it so dark?"
"Where are you hiding! Get out here right now!"
The two of them frantically turned room after room upside down searching for the Awakened.
They yanked open the closet doors and looked under the bed.
But after more than ten minutes of searching every inch of the house, confusion clouded their faces.
There was no one there.
On the floor, there were only open drawers and traces of abandoned food, as if whoever had been here had hurriedly packed only the bare essentials and left.
It proved that someone had been staying here until only a few hours ago.
"W-what, what the hell is going on here?"
The two men grimaced and scratched their heads furiously.
"This doesn't make any sense..."
One of them muttered.
The roads had all been jammed with wrecked cars and piles of building debris until just before they arrived, so they figured the target couldn't have escaped by car.
Then that meant they ran away on foot?
'On foot, with that flock of birds filling the sky?'
It was, by common sense, absolutely impossible.
For the same reason, bikes or motorcycles didn't seem likely to work either.
"How are we supposed to report this to the assemblyman?"
"...Maybe they hid in another house nearby. We should search a little more first."
The two men's expressions darkened.