NOVEL NEXT Chapter 3 - First Murder
Chapter 3 – First Murder
Episode 3.
‘Th-thank you for saving me.’
Suddenly expressing gratitude.
If Youngmin hadn’t killed the infected person who charged at them, this cheeky little kid would have been the next target.
‘Just thinking she’s expressing gratitude for that…’
With her moral compass allowing her to smoke cigarettes so boldly while wearing a school uniform, she doesn’t seem like someone who would be so thoughtful and polite.
‘Well.’
Pushing aside the thought that briefly crossed his mind, he continued walking.
Then the uniformed kid urgently called out to him.
‘Um, could I… could I follow you…?’
‘So that’s why she spoke to me.’
He didn’t want any baggage. Youngmin was naturally going to refuse.
However, what the high school girl did after finishing her sentence caught his eye.
The uniformed kid reached under her skirt to remove her underwear and immediately began tying up her hair.
She was skilled at it, transforming her long hair that reached her waist into a ponytail sticking up on top of her head.
Feeling Youngmin’s gaze, she blushed and spoke.
‘If my hair gets grabbed… I think I’ll die.’
But using the underwear you were wearing to tie up your hair?
In Youngmin’s mind, the label ‘uniformed kid’ changed to ‘panty kid.’
He chuckled and replied.
‘But you’re fine running around with a skirt and no underwear?’
‘Before all this, I would have said I’d rather die… but now dying seems scarier, doesn’t it?’
‘For a kid, you’re quick to grasp the situation.’
Hearing her answer, a slight interest arose in him.
Following his long-standing habit, his mind began analyzing information about this person of interest.
Gwangmyeong High School uniform with a white nameplate. Senior year. 19 years old.
A shirt emphasizing her figure and a shortened skirt. Plus smoking.
A rational aspect that prioritized survival probability over feminine modesty.
‘I won’t stop you from following. So do as you please.’
‘Yes… thank you, mister.’
He wasn’t old enough to be called ‘mister.’
Youngmin didn’t bother voicing this thought as he headed toward the PC room.
‘Excuse me… where are you going, mister?’
‘PC room.’
Gaming in this situation?
The panty kid stammered in confusion.
‘Ah, s-so gaming is your hobby…’
With each step, more unusual scenes unfolded.
The sidewalks that were always crowded with people were now mostly empty except for the occasional person running by with screams.
Meanwhile, the road was chaos itself, filled with abandoned cars from accidents and a bus that had crashed into a street tree, emitting smoke.
It was when they finally arrived at the building housing the internet café.
From the entrance of the building, a strong smell of blood wafted through the air.
‘Did someone get infected inside the building?’
Perhaps they would have to deal with multiple infected individuals.
Instead of entering the high-risk building interior, they climbed up to the second floor using the pipes.
Youngmin, who opened the window of the internet café, frowned.
The smell of blood became even stronger.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
A man was pounding his fist into a pulverized corpse, and with each blow, blood splattered in all directions.
‘Die… die… die!’
The source of the blood smell was inside the internet café—the troublesome customer he had nicknamed ‘piglet.’
Youngmin calmly surveyed the surroundings.
The corpse being smashed by the panicked pig’s fists appeared to have been an infected person, judging by its discolored skin.
‘How did a pig like him manage to kill an infected person?’
After thinking for a moment, he could figure out the answer.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The punches contained tremendous strength that seemed impossible for an exercise-deprived, severely obese piglet.
Like himself, this person must have awakened through the equipment in the recreational space.
However, there was a difference.
Unlike himself, who hadn’t made it into the 0.1% but had awakened after killing an infected person with an ordinary body.
The pig appeared to be one of the lucky ones who belonged to that 0.1%.
‘He managed to kill an infected person with his luckily obtained power, but his mental state couldn’t handle it, so he’s fallen into panic.’
‘Die… dieee!’
Looking at the pig splattering droplets of blood everywhere, a thought suddenly occurred to him.
The infected. And the Z-virus.
In typical zombie fiction, zombie blood and bodily fluids contain the zombie virus.
The others seemed to know this too, as they were huddled in a corner, keeping as far away from the pig as possible.
While this was a reasonable judgment by normal standards…
[Tip: Infected individuals can only transmit the virus when they inflict wounds with their teeth and nails!]
Unlike the typical zombie fiction cliché, the infected don’t transmit the virus through bodily fluid contact.
Nevertheless, Youngmin frowned.
‘The floor is completely covered in blood.’
Seeing the place he cleaned every day getting dirty didn’t make him feel good.
Youngmin grabbed a box cutter from the counter and approached the pig.
‘Customer… no, not a customer anymore. Hey, pig. Stop it.’
The pig slightly turned his head. The muscles on his face were twitching abnormally.
‘D-don’t come near meee!’
He could easily dodge the convulsively swung fist.
‘His speed itself is that of an ordinary person.’
The pig’s skill seems to be the type that amplifies the impact of attacks themselves rather than increasing physical strength.
‘I warned you. Stop. If you attack again, it’ll be self-defense.’
‘Shut up!’
Rule 1. Do not commit criminal acts unless there are grounds for extenuating circumstances.
Self-defense is an excellent ground for extenuating circumstances.
Watching the pig’s widely swung fist, I bent my knees and lowered my head like the weaving and ducking movements in boxing.
Just when I was preparing to counter, thinking the pig’s arm would have passed over my head by now.
‘Huh?’
The pig’s arm was still far away.
Watching the fist approaching slowly, as if the playback speed had been reduced by half.
Youngmin recalled the effect of his skill, Dex Weapon.
[When holding a weapon, movement speed doubles.]
When he saw it as text, he didn’t realize it, but the effect was much more impressive than what he had perceived.
‘Well, that makes sense.’
Among professional baseball players, there are many pitchers who throw baseballs at 120 kilometers per hour, but with just a 40 kilometer increase in speed, one becomes a major league-level pitcher.
What about 240 kilometers per hour?
It becomes a ball that can never be hit with a human body.
The short battle ended with Youngmin’s fist lodged in the pig’s solar plexus, and the pig convulsing, retching, and fainting.
**** 【BANG!】 ****
[You have achieved the minor accomplishment ‘Awakened vs Awakened’ for the first time!]
[First achievement reward: Awakened Name Card unlocked]
◆Awakened Name Card unlocked
[A hunter knows how to recognize prey. A special privilege given to you who has killed an Awakened for the first time!]
[A name card visible only to you will be created above the heads of Awakened.]
Beyond the pleasant message announced by the gunshot, his first thought was this:
‘Let’s kill him.’
The terrible smell of blood permeating from all directions. His senses were becoming clearer. His body heated up.
Rule 1. Established as self-defense.
Rule 2. Established as his safety was violated.
Rule 3. In decision-making, seek others’ opinions and include them in the basis for judgment.
He hesitated for a moment.
To follow Rule 3, whenever he needed others’ opinions, he used to call his grandmother.
After his parents’ death, he began living apart from his grandmother, and he hadn’t seen her since then.
Still, his grandmother never refused his calls when he needed to follow Rule 3.
Youngmin took out his smartphone from his pocket. No matter how many buttons he pressed, the screen wouldn’t turn on.
It seemed that the smartphone’s power source was also considered an engine and had stopped working.
His throat was parched with thirst.
‘If not grandmother, then someone else.’
‘Hey, you.’
The person he pointed to was the underwear kid he had met in the smoking area.
The owner of morality who smokes cigarettes proudly while wearing a school uniform.
Among them, this person is most likely to give Youngmin the opinion he wants.
‘What do you think about me killing this person?’
‘Y-yes…?’
The underwear kid’s face turned pale.
‘You saw the message too, so you know. This pig has awakened an ability. He attacked me and I subdued him in self-defense, but when he wakes up, he’ll try to take revenge on me.’
Since this was about expressing an opinion on the irreversible act of murder, I was prepared to wait patiently for about 5 minutes.
But the underwear kid’s answer came back soon.
‘I-I think killing him is the right thing to do.’
Finding this unexpected, I observed her face.
Her terrified gaze was directed not at me but at the pig.
‘Perhaps she fears someone with power who can’t even control themselves.’
I thought she was rational and quick to assess the situation.
‘I see. Thanks for your answer.’
Rule 1. Rule 2. Rule 3. All established.
‘Sigh, haaaa…’
I never thought I would experience killing a human without breaking the rules in my lifetime.
For the first time in his life, he let go of the reins of his rampaging murderous impulse.
Kill. Let’s kill. Kill. Let’s kill. Kill. Let’s kill. Kill. Let’s kill. Kill. Let’s kill.
Tear. Cut. Stab. Crush.
How should I do it? How should I kill?
My first time, my virgin, my first experience.
How should I start and how should I finish it so that I won’t regret it?
A chilling smile. A laugh filled with cruel anticipation.
People who saw his face stepped back hesitantly, but he
didn’t even recognize that fact.
He decided.
Since it’s indoors and a base where they need to stay for a while, he would handle it cleanly.
He embraced the unconscious pig from behind. He wrapped his forearm around the pig’s neck and locked it against his other forearm like fastening a lock, putting him in a chokehold.
Then, slowly. He applied strength to his forearm, gradually blocking the inhaling and exhaling breath.
‘Guh…kk…huh…huk…!’
The pig, who had been flailing his limbs, suddenly opened his eyes, but he wasn’t flustered at all.
Even though it was his first time actually strangling someone, he knew the theory perfectly.
A person loses consciousness within 10 seconds after the carotid artery is blocked. Maintaining it for 1 minute leads to death.
Sure enough, the strength drained from the pig’s body.
He didn’t release his grip.
The pig’s pulse felt through his forearm.
The fading breath.
He savored the sensation of the human flesh going limp and hanging loose.
Crack, crack.
Only after hearing the sound of a neck bone breaking did Youngmin raise his body, and the pig’s body, now a corpse, rolled onto the floor.
▶▶▶▶▶ 【BANG!】 ◀◀◀◀◀
[Minor Achievement, ‘Human Murder’ has been accomplished for the first time.]
[First Achievement Reward: Hades’ Gift (Skill)]
◆Hades’ Gift: Skill, Murderer’s Time
[To Ji Youngmin, the first human to achieve the sin of killing their own kind, the deity Hades presents a skill!]
[Gain a buff that lasts for 1 hour when committing murder.]
Just 13 minutes after the arrival of the world’s destruction.
Youngmin committed murder.
Despite committing an act that would normally make him a prisoner isolated from society, the newly established rules of this world rewarded him.
‘Haha, hahahahaha!’
Life was, this blissful.