The Predatory Genius of a Ruined World

Chapter 7 – Survivors of a Ruined World (3)

—–CROW—– 

‘What was that just now…?’

As Seong-ho blinked in confusion, Lim Chan left the emergency room.  Staring at the space he had vacated, Seong-ho turned his head at the sound of sniffling and crying.

‘Those must be the infected.’

While waiting for treatment in the emergency room, he had overheard quite a few conversations.  Thanks to that, he learned a few things.

The camp members didn’t seem to know much about evolved zombies.  They used the word “monster” instead of referring to them as “evolved zombies.”  It meant the existence of evolved zombies wasn’t yet common knowledge.

Because of this, there was an argument about whether or not those injured this time were infected.  He understood their desire to believe they weren’t infected since they had been bitten by blood clots, not ordinary zombies.  However, that didn’t change the fact that they *were* infected.

The camp members weren’t certain, but they seemed to be at least aware of the danger.

– *If we don’t know if they’re infected, we have to assume they are!*

– *What if they all turn and bite us!*

– *That’s right! We know that if a mutated one appears inside, the infection spreads quickly!*

Those who hadn’t been bitten, in particular, expressed strong anxiety.  In response, most of the combatants vented their frustrations.  While they risked their lives fighting to protect this place, most of those people had been hiding safely, trembling in fear.

Resentment, sorrow, fear, and anxiety mixed in an instant.  Just an hour ago, the emergency room had been near chaos.  The situation calmed down after Choi Seung-jo intervened.

– *Let’s wait and see for now.*

– *But Mr. Seung-jo!*

– *What if they turn!*

– *I’m not saying let’s just leave them, I’m saying let’s wait.  If they’re really infected, someone immune like me might appear, and if they’re not, everyone will be fine.  Right?*

The potentially infected could be future Awakened.  These words diluted the resentment of the unbitten and gave hope to the bitten.  The former immediately shut their mouths, worried about offending a potential new Awakened.

Thanks to this, the commotion subsided, and everyone agreed to temporary quarantine.  However, Seong-ho didn’t like Choi Seung-jo’s method of resolving the issue.

‘They *might* be immune…’

How would those people feel when they realized it was false hope? He couldn’t help but wonder.

‘The probability of someone actually being immune is low.’

Seong-ho sighed in frustration.  He shook his head, trying to clear his mind.  Dwelling on this would only stress him out.

When he looked up, forcing the thought away, the golden sunset caught his eye.  He looked out the window; the sun was setting.  The day was finally coming to an end.

‘…It’s still the first day?’

It felt like at least ten days had passed.  He chuckled wryly.

*Knock, knock.*

“Excuse me.”

He turned towards the door and saw a woman he had never seen before.

“I’m here to guide you to the dining hall.”

Seong-ho’s eyes widened slightly.  He had assumed that since they had helped each other, that was the end of it.  He hadn’t expected any kindness or goodwill, given the state of the world.  Since they hadn’t asked him about the evolved zombie even after some time had passed, he had even prepared himself for the possibility of being kicked out.

But guiding him to the dining hall?

“Are you offering me food?”

Seong-ho asked in a bewildered voice, and the answer came quickly.

“We should at least offer you a meal, considering you saved our lives.”

There was no reason to stubbornly refuse a free meal.

“Are you coming or not?”

At the woman’s urging, Seong-ho got up and replied, “I’ll gladly accept your offer.”

“Then let’s go.  We eat together in the dining hall.  Oh, I’m Choi Ji-young.”

“Han Seong-ho.”

After a brief exchange of names, the two walked down the hallway.  They passed quite a few people on their way to the dining hall.

‘This is a large-scale operation.’

There seemed to be at least a dozen infected combatants.  And the number of other members wasn’t small either.

As he entered the dining hall, guided by Ji-young, as expected…

‘There are at least twenty people gathered here.’

Not everyone ate at the same time, so the total size of the camp must be even larger.  A camp of this size would have likely gathered all the supplies in the surrounding area.  He finally understood why he hadn’t encountered many zombies.

‘The people here must have cleared the area.’

Seong-ho continued to observe the situation inside the camp discreetly.  He received a simple meal and sat down with Ji-young.  They ate in silence for a few minutes.

“Dad, over here!”

Ji-young suddenly raised her hand and called out to someone.  He followed her gaze and saw Choi Seung-jo entering the dining hall.  It seemed Ji-young was Seung-jo’s daughter.  Seung-jo, after receiving his food, approached their table.

“Mr. Seong-ho.”

He greeted Seong-ho directly.

“I would have liked to guide you myself, but I still have a lot to take care of, so I asked Ji-young to do it.  I hope you weren’t too offended.”

“It’s fine.  I’m grateful that you even considered me amidst all the chaos.”

“Thank you for understanding.  By the way, how’s your wound?”

“It’s fine.  Mr. Lim Chan said the suturing went well.”

“That’s good to hear.”

Choi Seung-jo, noticing that Seong-ho’s food tray was half empty, added, “If you need more food, please feel free to have more.  It wouldn’t be right to hold back after the help you’ve given us.”

“Thank you.”

“And the others asked me to convey their gratitude to you.  I’m also very grateful.  I thought we were all going to die, but you appeared like a miracle.”

“I was just lucky.”

“It was close to a miracle for us.”

Choi Seung-jo chuckled and recalled the events from a few hours earlier.

“Those things… no matter how many we burst, they just kept coming, and then they were all washed away at once.  I couldn’t believe my eyes.  How did you know that monster was weak to water?”

He had gotten a free meal, and…

‘Perhaps I can trade information and supplies when I leave this place.’

Seong-ho shrugged casually.

“You see a lot of things when you’re wandering around alone.  Thanks to that, I learned something… those things, they don’t use their abilities when it rains.”

It was something the protagonist of the original novel had discovered.  He felt a slight pang of guilt for stealing someone else’s credit, but he continued speaking without showing it.

“I found that strange, so I tried spraying them with water on a clear day, and they were all washed away.  The main body’s legs are slow, so if you neutralize its ability and kill it in that opening, hunting them is relatively easy.”

“What exactly are those things? You called them evolved zombies earlier… is that right?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“Evolving by eating people… *Sigh*… Th-They… you mean there’s more than one of those monsters?”

“Yes, I feel like I’m encountering them more and more frequently.”

Actually, he had only seen one evolved zombie so far.  But since it had already appeared, it was inevitable that there would be more.  So, it wasn’t entirely a lie.

Perhaps because the news was shocking, the atmosphere at the table turned cold.  Seong-ho waited for them to process the information.  They needed time to accept the shocking truth.

As Seong-ho continued eating in silence, Choi Seung-jo and Choi Ji-young composed themselves.  After regaining their composure, the two exchanged glances.  After a moment, Seung-jo spoke again.

“This is a sudden request, but how about staying here until your injury heals?”

Seong-ho’s lips curved slightly.

‘He’s trying to keep me here.’

It seemed Choi Seung-jo wanted to prevent him from leaking any information he might see or hear inside the hospital.  He was probably suspecting Seong-ho of being a spy or a raider from the outside.

It was a reasonable suspicion from his perspective.

‘It’s probably because of the timing of the evolved zombie and my appearance.’

He didn’t know for sure, but Choi Seung-jo’s mind must be racing.  It would be filled with all sorts of imaginations, assumptions, and speculations.  He might even be searching the area around the hospital for any traces of raiders.

‘He’s making unnecessary trouble for himself.’

Of course, Seong-ho had no intention of clearing up his misunderstanding.  It wasn’t the kind of suspicion that could be resolved with words, and it was Seung-jo, not him, who was going through the trouble.

While Seong-ho was lost in thought, Choi Seung-jo added anxiously, “If you have urgent business, it can’t be helped… but still, you’re our lifesaver, and I’m worried you might get hurt if you leave and push yourself too hard.”

Honestly, from Seong-ho’s perspective, accepting the offer was more advantageous than refusing.

‘It’s not like I have no way to leave this place if I need to.’

While coming to the dining hall, he had discreetly confirmed that the hospital’s layout was identical to his memory.  It meant that the locations of other structures he knew were likely the same as well.

‘There’s definitely… on the west side of the building…’

There was an emergency exit that the medical staff had used during a fire at this hospital in the past.  One on each floor.  Since it looked like an ordinary wall, no one would know about its existence unless they were a hospital insider or someone like Seong-ho who had used it before.

In the worst-case scenario, Seong-ho could escape through there.

‘There’s also something I want to confirm…’

The tattoo he had seen on Lim Chan earlier.  And the sentence that pointed to that tattoo.

‘That was definitely from the original novel.’

In *Savior of the Ruined World*, there was a character with butterfly tattoos on the back of his neck and shoulders.  A character with considerable weight in the latter half of the story.  His name wasn’t mentioned, but Seong-ho clearly remembered his nickname.

‘Butterfly.’

He had just encountered someone with the same tattoos in the same location, the same number, and the same shape as Butterfly.  Could this really be a mere coincidence?

‘I’ll stay until I confirm Lim Chan’s identity.’

If Lim Chan really was Butterfly…

‘I have to eliminate or persuade him before it’s too late.’

There was no guarantee it would go as planned, but he couldn’t just leave feeling this uneasy.  Fortunately, Choi Seung-jo also didn’t want him to leave.

“Mr. Seong-ho, do you have something urgent to attend to?”

He even subtly pressured him for a decision.  Seong-ho smiled faintly.

“…I was worried about being a burden.  People don’t usually welcome outsiders.”

“Well, as you can see, we already have a lot of people.  One or two more members won’t be a big problem.”

“That’s why I’m a bit uncomfortable.  I’m alone, and there are so many people here.”

“Ahahaha, if that’s the problem, I’ll provide you with a private space to rest.  Would that be alright?”

Choi Seung-jo smiled warmly and stared intently at Seong-ho.  Under the silent pressure, Seong-ho smiled back and replied, “If you insist, I’ll impose on you for a few days.  I don’t want my wound to get worse.”

“Alright, good thinking.”

With that, their conversation ended.  Choi Seung-jo hurriedly left the dining hall, saying he still had things to do.  Seong-ho watched him leave and spotted Lim Chan entering the dining hall.

—–CROW—–