Immortals vs. Grim Reapers - chapter 21
Chapter 21. Noisy Neighbors (2)
‘The U.S. military, really?’
Gangrim was incredulous, but he appreciated the misconception.
At the cry of “U.S. military,” the gang members reflexively conjured images of American soldiers in their minds.
As their gazes scattered to the ceiling, walls, and doors, Gangrim moved swiftly.
Swish, thwack. Thud, thud!
Gangrim lunged at the nearest gang member, splitting his head.
Given the Death Sword’s property of becoming sharper rather than duller or greasy as it absorbed souls, there was no worry about the blade getting caught in bone.
In the pitch-black darkness, the gang members were in chaos trying to locate Gangrim. However, with the Eyes of the Beholder, Gangrim had placed will-o’-wisps at various points, allowing him to see them without any issue.
It was only when the gang members discovered the second corpse that they realized it wasn’t the U.S. military attacking them.
“The head is split… It’s not the U.S. military! What is it? A zombie?!”
“Damn it! Someone turn on the lights!”
“Catch him!”
At the last shout, the ghouls that had been motionless in the darkness began to move in unison. The already chaotic warehouse became even more of a mess.
Having given orders without knowing what to catch in the first place, the ghouls grabbed random gang members, while the gang members panicked at their touch, creating a vicious cycle.
“Wait, I think I saw something…”
Clank.
Something was revealed in the light of a gang member who was frantically waving his flashlight around.
What emerged from the writhing darkness was Gangrim ‘s white face reflected in the light. Seeing Gangrim in his black robe, the gang member reflexively shouted.
“It’s a ghost!”
Not entirely wrong, but not quite right either.
And for those who failed to guess correctly, punishment awaited.
Gangrim ‘s hand axe flashed.
Thud, crack.
Gangrim easily took down the third gang member. But the third one didn’t just fall.
As his throat was cut, he reflexively clenched his fist tightly.
Gunfire rang out.
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat!
The assault rifle set to full auto fired continuously, creating a deafening roar. With gunfire added to the mix, the gang members either dropped to the floor or slumped down.
“Hii, hiiik!”
Unable to bear the terror of being picked off one by one in the darkness, one of the gang members ran towards the exit.
Seeing this, the other gang members shouted.
“Don’t go out, you idiot!”
But the gang member had already flung the door open. In that instant, he was greeted by the swarm of zombies that had been teeming outside.
The fleeing gang member was instantly torn apart by the zombies.
“Gua, guaaagh!”
“Damn it, fire!”
The vicious cycle of screams and gunfire attracting more zombies continued, but they had to prevent the zombies from rushing in. Fortunately, the opened door was the back entrance, and there weren’t many zombies.
“Block the entrance now!”
The ghouls that had been causing chaos inside the warehouse all rushed to the entrance at once. Only after the ghouls cleared away the corpse and closed the door did the warehouse finally quiet down.
The leader, panting behind a wall in the second-floor office, tried to figure out what was happening.
Something had clearly ambushed them. But he couldn’t tell who or what it was.
The movements were beyond that of an ordinary trained hunter, and even for an awakened, it seemed questionable if they could do this.
The leader caught his breath and shouted.
“Shine your flashlights on each other!”
“Y-yes!”
“He’s skilled at hiding in the darkness! How many of us are left?! Call out your numbers! One!”
“T-two!”
“Two!”
“Three, three?!”
“Five!”
The gang members called out their numbers in voices that were more like screams and groans. But with no order to who was first or last, it quickly became a mess.
The leader irritably shouted again.
“Call out one at a time! One!”
“Two!”
The leader waited for the next response. But no further voices were heard.
A chill ran down the leader’s spine.
Already? Were they all dead already?
There seemed to have been many voices clamoring earlier, but it was impossible for them all to have died in such a short time.
“Answer me!”
Thump, crash.
The moment he heard a sound from across the second-floor corridor, the leader reflexively raised his gun and fired wildly.
Rat-tat-tat-tat, thud-thud.
The leader didn’t release the trigger until no more bullets came out. The gun barrel glowed red-hot in the darkness.
‘I hit something.’
He was certain he’d heard the sound of something being hit as he emptied the entire magazine. With senses honed from dealing with zombies, he could be sure. But he lacked the courage to confirm whether he’d hit the intruder or one of his own men.
The leader hesitated, then shouted.
“O-one!”
As he desperately prayed for anyone to answer, something rolled in front of his flashlight.
It was the head of the gang member who had been keeping watch with him on the second floor.
Someone answered from behind the leader.
“Two.”
***
The leader screamed and swung his gun around. The flashlight illuminated a pale man wrapped in a black robe.
The leader kept pulling the trigger at the man. But instead of gunshots, only the clicking sound of an empty chamber was heard.
“You should reload.”
At Gangrim ‘s calm suggestion, the leader belatedly reached for his magazine pouch.
But before that, the tip of Gangrim ‘s axe touched the leader’s chin.
It wasn’t an ideal weapon for stabbing, but the leader had no doubt his head would be in pieces before he could reload.
“Put the gun down and lie face down.”
The leader obediently did as he was told, but didn’t forget to run his mouth.
“You, w-who are you! Do you know who we are…!”
“You?”
At Gangrim ‘s quiet retort, the leader quickly became polite.
“W-who might you be, sir?”
“I’ll ask the questions first.”
“P-please, go ahead.”
“I don’t feel like choosing questions, so just tell me everything you know.”
“……”
Is he a psychopath?
The leader seriously pondered, but considering the man’s skills, he was no ordinary dangerous psychopath.
The leader quickly looked Gangrim up and down, thinking.
Gangrim ‘s appearance was barely visible due to the darkness, but the silhouette of his black robe fluttering in the darkness could be seen.
This bizarre being had already killed all the other gang members, and the Elder who should have been his backing was far away.
But in this situation, the only one he could trust was that distant Elder.
After all, the Elder’s hands reached unseen into many places.
“I-I am Han-taek Jang.”
“No, I’m not particularly curious about that…”
“D-do you know who we are, sir?”
“No.”
“You don’t know…”
This response made things difficult for Han-taek instead.
If he knew, he could try to threaten or not, but since he claimed to know nothing, threats wouldn’t work.
No, then why did he attack in the first place?
“W-we are the Necromancy Faction. Have you heard of the Necromancy Faction?”
“I don’t know. What is it, a gang?”
Han-taek felt like crying tears of blood as he explained in detail.
“O-our Necromancy Faction is a vast organization that reaches from northern Seoul to Incheon, Uijeongbu, and as far south as Pangyo, a nationwide organization centered in Seoul…”
“So it’s a gang. A gang stealing U.S. military weapons? Are you crazy?”
“W-well. We’re not just a simple gang, but a dangerous and secretive…”
“Yeah, yeah. I get the gist of what you’re trying to say, now call your superior.”
“Pardon?”
“When things get this bad, you’d usually call for help or beg, right? So you must have a superior you’d contact at times like this. Isn’t that why you were threatening? Saying you have this scary big brother behind you. If I mess with you, this scary guy will come and crush me. Right?”
“Uh, that’s…”
“So call him here.”
“I-if I call, what are you planning to…”
“I’ll deal with him, then call the one above him. Eventually, the one at the very top will show up, right?”
From Han-taek’s reaction, Gangrim could tell he wasn’t an immortal. If so, there must be an executive-level immortal like Lopez above him.
Gangrim ‘s goal was to call him out and deal with him, then the one above him, and ultimately deal with the ‘Elder’.
There was no need to be as cautious as with Gerald.
Naturally, the strategy changes when there’s such a clear difference in power.
“Y-you must be crazy. No, I mean, you must have a death wish, sir. The executives are on a completely different level from lowlifes like us.”
“A different level?”
“Those people…”
“Can control zombies, right? And what else?”
Han-taek flinched and couldn’t answer.
Just as he thought.
In this zombie apocalypse era, there’s nothing more attractive as a means of controlling thugs like these than the ability to control zombies.
It guarantees both safety and demonstrates power.
It can do it all.
“Th-they are very powerful awakened ones!”
“Right. And what else?”
“……”
Han-taek couldn’t provide any more answers. It seemed he didn’t know about the immortals.
“Is that all you’re relying on? If there’s more, spill it. Or just call those scary people for me.”
Han-taek belatedly realized that threats wouldn’t work on this opponent. And that he had the skills to back up such boldness.
Han-taek desperately pondered how to get out of this situation.
“I-I can’t contact them at will. They only communicate one-sidedly…”
“I’ll cut off one finger for each lie.”
“Aaaaah! It’s true! There is an appointment to meet at a warehouse in Incheon tomorrow!”
Han-taek cried out urgently as Gangrim ‘s hand axe touched his fingers.
Gangrim stopped the hand axe and asked in detail.
“Warehouse?”
“Y-yes! We received instructions to gather all the supplies at a warehouse in Incheon by tomorrow.”
Gangrim realized they were consolidating all the resources now that they could no longer smuggle items out of Yongsan.
Whatever plans this ‘Elder’ had, it seemed to require considerable armament.
‘Are they planning a military rebellion?’
It was entirely possible.
With the country unstable and times turbulent, it wouldn’t be strange for someone to rise up. Though it’s unclear who would want a failing country.
‘But as far as I know, nothing like that happened…’
In the history before Gangrim ‘s regression, no military rebellion had occurred.
Korea gradually depleted its national power and collapsed when the Gates proliferated.
Gangrim quickly understood the reason.
‘It must have failed.’
This ‘Elder’ gathering resources was in conflict with Gerald. Whatever the Elder was planning, it was clear he had been suppressed and failed against Gerald.
‘Messing with Gerald, how insane.’
It meant that the Elder’s plans would fail even if he just sat back and watched.
While it would be gratifying if the immortals fought each other and reduced their numbers, Gangrim couldn’t just leave it be.
‘I can’t miss this chance to practice on easy prey.’
Compared to Gerald, the Elder was at best the head of a nationwide gang.
He was suitable as a practice opponent.
Above all, if left alone, Gerald would absorb all of the Elder’s resources and assets.
Gangrim couldn’t bear to see that happen, even if it killed him.
‘If I can’t eliminate you immediately, I’ll at least wreak havoc on your plans.’
***
“Alright. Then another question. How are ghouls created?”
Just as Gangrim was about to continue his interrogation, Han-taek, upon hearing the question, slammed his head on the floor and sobbed.
“Huk, huk! Just kill me instead. If I return like this, not only me but my family too…”
Han-taek couldn’t finish his sentence and continued sobbing.
Gangrim was puzzled.
The man who seemed to be spilling everything out of attachment to life just moments ago was suddenly asking to be killed. Was there something he feared more than death?
Then Gangrim ‘s gaze turned to the ghouls standing on the first floor.
The ghouls wore masks and hats, but their attire was similar to that of the gang members.
Something flickered across Gangrim ‘s mind.
“So you turn disobedient ones into ghouls, huh?”
Han-taek couldn’t answer.
Gangrim sighed, contemplating this group that had taken efficiency to the extreme.
He had thought zombies were efficient because they didn’t need labor costs, rest, or welfare, unlike humans.
He needed to change his perspective.
If zombies could be used as labor, humans too wouldn’t need labor costs, rest, or welfare.
Those who complained could simply be turned into zombies.
“Hey, you’re already done for. Get out of there quickly and join me.”
“P-pardon?”
“I know because I’ve betrayed once too. The ship you’re on is about to sink. If you join me, I’ll make sure you avoid becoming a zombie. Spill everything you know.”
Han-taek hesitated, looking at Gangrim. Realizing the man’s resolve was wavering, Gangrim decided to push a bit more.
“Our ‘organization’ is far larger and more dangerous than you think. Would you believe me if I said someone like me is just a lowly intern? I can take all of you out on my own, so do you think your ‘Elder’ would survive?”
Han-taek flinched at those words.
He seemed to have caught onto something in Gangrim ‘s words, looking at him before cautiously opening his mouth.
“Excuse me…”
“Yes. What is it?”
“Are you perhaps from the U.S. military?”
“Let’s stop with the nonsense, shall we?”