Immortals vs. Grim Reapers - chapter 42
Chapter 42. The Shaman King (7)
Ju Gangrim prepared to spend his remaining 4,000 nyang on Today’s Fortune. But a better idea came to mind.
He opened his spirit phone and checked the mission.
«Mission: Kill the Boss»
«Objective: Capture the Prince of Gangreung»
«Reward 1: Death Sword Enhancement Ticket (1 use)»
«Reward 2: Guaranteed Minimum Luxury Grade ‘Today’s Fortune’»
Ju Gangrim looked at the reward list and, as if making a decision, proposed to Yeomna.
«Gangrim: Yeomna, how about an advance?»
«Yeomna: …An advance?»
Ju Gangrim staked the one he had narrowly missed.
«Gangrim: I mean the Prince of Gangreung. I know his name, and I almost caught him.»
«Gangrim: If someone hadn’t cowardly interfered midway, I would have caught him. It’s just a matter of time, really.»
«Gangrim: I’ll stake that bastard’s head, so how about advancing one of the mission rewards?»
Ju Gangrim pointed to Reward 2, the guaranteed minimum luxury grade ‘Today’s Fortune’ ticket, from the mission rewards.
Yu Wolryeong watched Ju Gangrim with disbelief, but Ju Gangrim was certain it would work.
This isn’t a game. This is part of a world that runs by human hands.
What Ju Gangrim had observed while watching the world on the brink of destruction was that ultimately, everything is driven by human minds and human hands.
People bring about destruction due to their desire to live longer, and even amidst that destruction, there are those who obsess over success and struggle to compete.
Even in the afterlife, they casually extend lifespans to 20,000 years just because someone seems potentially useful, and control employees with a hastily made app for management.
In the end, whether in this world or the afterlife, gaps are filled with ‘connections’ and ‘negotiations’.
«Yeomna: Kekekekekekeke»
«Yeomna: I can’t believe this.»
«Yeomna: Alright. Well, you did almost catch him.»
Yu Wolryeong looked at the spirit phone with an expression that seemed to ask if this was really okay, but Ju Gangrim clenched his fist.
It wasn’t surprising. He believed that if it was Yeomna, of all people, compromise would surely be possible.
«Yeomna: But it can’t be that simple.»
«Yeomna: Let’s make a bet.»
«Gangrim: A bet?»
«Yeomna: Catch the Prince of Gangreung plus one more within a week.»
«Gangrim: Understood.»
«Yeomna: You’re not going to ask what happens if you fail?»
«Gangrim: You’ve given me a whole week. There’s no way I’ll fail.»
Ju Gangrim confidently accepted the deal with Yeomna. Moreover, Ju Gangrim had a ‘VIP list’ in his mind.
Though they were pushed down in priority for now, it would be simple to find out where they were and what they were doing.
It took some troublesome effort, but Ttaekachi’s ability would certainly be helpful. The more he encounters monstrosities in the future, the more useful it will be.
Yeomna snickered through the spirit phone and then erased the Reward 2 item.
«Yeomna: So you want to use that beast woman, right?»
«Gangrim: I’d like to take issue with both ‘beast woman’ and ‘use’, but yes, that’s right.»
«Yeomna: I’ll be honest. I can’t advance the mission reward, but I’ll give you something better.»
«Gangrim: Something better?»
«Yeomna: The judges of the afterlife have special investigative authority.»
The words ‘Isn’t it problematic for the judiciary to have investigative authority? That means they’d both prosecute and judge’ tickled Ju Gangrim’s throat, but he didn’t say it.
What mattered more was what Yeomna could do for him.
«Yeomna: I’ll temporarily hire Ttaekachi as your subordinate.»
However, it wasn’t what Ju Gangrim had expected.
In a way, it was even better.
***
Vroom.
The three headed back to the hotel, towing the trailer with its front horribly crumpled. Yu Wolryeong drove, dodging scrapped cars and zombie hordes here and there, but it wasn’t easy to drive.
“How did you manage to drive here? And a large vehicle at that. You must be a good driver.”
“Ah… I’ve played Euro Truck before.”
“…Euro Truck?”
“It’s a truck simulation game, you see…”
“Ah, I don’t think I’d understand even if you explained, so I’ll just take your word for it. You learned from a game, right? Wait a minute. You do have a license, right?”
Instead of answering, Han Mina just laughed, “Hehe.” Ju Gangrim felt a slight chill at her goal-oriented nature.
She doesn’t seem to care about the means as long as she achieves her goal.
Suddenly, Ju Gangrim wondered if she felt any guilt about ramming the car with the organization members.
“Uh… are you okay with hitting those people? You must have been quite shocked.”
The biggest hurdle for an ordinary person to become a zombie hunter is the sensation of killing a ‘large animal’.
Many people in the world can’t even wring a chicken’s neck. Even more so if it’s in human form.
Of course, after experiencing it two or three times, one quickly gets over it, but there’s a reason the term PTSD exists.
Fortunately, Han Mina didn’t seem particularly shocked.
“It’s fine. From what I heard, weren’t those people all ghouls? You know, the smart zombies?”
Han Mina answered resolutely, as if she had steeled herself.
“Their sacrifice will be the cornerstone for developing a cure. If we’re going to use humans as cornerstones, it’s better to bury bad people under the pillars than good ones.”
Not all of them, and there might have been some who were still human. But Han Mina probably wouldn’t care even if she knew that fact.
If she had fallen into a fantasy world, wouldn’t she have become some kind of fanatical crusader?
Screech.
The trailer Yu Wolryeong was driving came to a stop. Ju Gangrim looked ahead.
“There are quite a few zombies.”
As Yu Wolryeong said, it wasn’t just ‘quite a few’ zombies.
Being in the center of Seoul, and perhaps having heard the commotion of Ju Gangrim and the Prince of Gangreung’s battle, a considerable number of zombies were blocking the road. Among them, there were surely enhanced zombies.
Along with the enormous number of zombies, countless birds feeding on corpses accompanied them. The vast number of birds lined up on power lines against the dark blue sky was eerie.
“It’s not a particularly dangerous situation, but with Ms. Han Mina here…”
“Should we take a detour?”
“I was going to suggest using all the weapons the informant gave us here.”
It didn’t seem like a bad idea. But no matter how he thought about it, starting such a noisy battle might attract even more zombies.
Moreover, if Ju Gangrim remembered correctly, some pretty dangerous ones should be starting to appear around this time.
“Hmm, let’s use our new friend.”
Yu Wolryeong immediately understood who he meant and nodded.
Ju Gangrim went out of the trailer alone. The zombies spotted Ju Gangrim and began approaching, some slowly, others hurriedly.
Ju Gangrim raised the Death-Summoning Sword and whispered into the air as if reciting.
“Ttaekachi.”
Whoosh.
A gust of air carrying the chilly atmosphere of the afterlife brushed past Ju Gangrim’s cheek.
“Clear the way.”
Caw. A crow sitting on a telephone pole cried out with an eerie voice.
The crow, grown larger than an adult’s upper body from feeding on corpses, cawed repeatedly as if craving blood, like an asura on the battlefield.
Soon, flocks of birds began to cry out in unison with the crow’s call.
Caw, caw, chirp chirp, caw, caw, gagaga.
The sky over the city center, devoid of humans, was dominated by countless birds. The birds’ cries echoed louder than gunshots.
The zombies began to flounder in confusion.
Ju Gangrim raised the Death-Summoning Sword and swung it once more as if conducting.
Simultaneously, the crow that had first cried out swooped down like an arrow over the road filled with zombies.
Crack, thud.
The crow’s beak, sharper than a dagger, instantly carved out the tattered skull of a zombie.
The crow flashed its red eyes eerily and clacked its blood-stained beak.
As if triggered by the crow’s attack, the flocks of birds began to swoop down on the zombies all at once.
Whether effective or not, the birds clawed, bit, and tore at the zombies.
It was a spectacular sight, but its significance lay more in confusing and dispersing the zombie horde rather than actually clearing them out.
However, among them, the crows that had grown large from feeding well tore off faces with a single swipe of their talons and pecked out brains with their beaks.
The dull zombies couldn’t fend off the birds’ attacks.
“Gaaah, ga, gagak!”
Just then, an exceptionally long-limbed zombie in the middle of the horde grabbed a bird and tore off its wings.
It was an enhanced zombie.
The moment Ju Gangrim was about to step in, a loud bang rang out.
Yu Wolryeong was leaning out of the car, pulling the trigger of a sniper rifle.
The enhanced zombie, its head blown off by a single shot from the anti-tank sniper rifle capable of penetrating even tanks, flailed briefly before becoming prey for the bird flock.
“I think we can pass through now.”
Ju Gangrim nodded. As he climbed into the trailer, he looked up at the crow sitting on the telephone pole.
The crow, its red eyes gleaming, watched Ju Gangrim intently before moving along with the trailer as it began to move.
That crow was Ttaekachi, who had gained a new body through the contract with Yeomna.
Or more precisely, it was a being subordinate to Ju Gangrim’s Death-Summoning Sword.
Ttaekachi had become part of the Death-Summoning Sword like Han Min-sung, but gained a crow’s body to move around in.
Though not as good as a human, having a self and a body to move with was much better than Han Min-sung’s situation.
Moreover, she could now blend into the Death-Summoning Sword like the robes and reveal herself at will.
“Ttaekachi’s ability seems to have become stronger than when she was alive.”
Yu Wolryeong said, gazing at Ttaekachi flying above their heads.
“It seems so… but I’m not sure yet.”
It was certain that she had become stronger.
Maenggu’s death, as well as her own, clearly served as a major motivation for growth. But it wasn’t quite at Shrike’s level yet.
It would have taken years for Ttaekachi to grow to Shrike’s level. Whether she, now subordinate to the Death-Summoning Sword, would grow that far remained to be seen.
“People awaken their abilities in areas where the gates to the afterlife have opened, when they stand at the crossroads of life and death.”
Yu Wolryeong spoke.
“When the boundary between life and death becomes blurred, the otherworldly energy of the afterlife seeps into the soul. This is even more so for someone who has immersed themselves in death. Ttaekachi’s abilities will continue to grow stronger in the future.”
Caw. The crow’s cry pierced through the engine noise of the trailer.
Ju Gangrim felt that Ttaekachi was listening through the Death-Summoning Sword. Though she looked like a crow, Ttaekachi was still Ttaekachi. She understood human speech and had her own sense of self.
He wasn’t sure how she would express her thoughts.
“Are you confident you can fulfill the condition Ttaekachi set?”
Ju Gangrim’s expression hardened at Yu Wolryeong’s words. Just like when making the soul contract with Han Min-sung, Ttaekachi had also set a condition for the contract.
In some ways, it was a more difficult and weighty task than the bet conditions set by Yeomna.
“I have to. I agreed to it.”
“It will be a difficult and arduous task.”
“If only it were a life-threatening task, it would be easier.”
Ju Gangrim muttered painfully. Yu Wolryeong’s expression wasn’t good either.
Han Mina, who had been listening to their conversation, stared at them blankly.
Even as they made a contract with Ttaekachi and the death messengers had this incomprehensible conversation, she, with almost no knowledge about zombie hunters, understood all these bizarre events as things they could do because they were awakened ones.
“Do zombie hunters always have such difficult conversations?”
“It’s the loneliness of those who bear a great burden.”
“I don’t really understand… What exactly is this contract condition?”
Ju Gangrim closed his mouth and turned his gaze away. But Yu Wolryeong answered Han Mina’s question instead.
“We’re heading to a place where we can fulfill the contract condition right now, so you’ll see for yourself.”
***
Much later, the trailer that had crossed the bridge again stopped at an apartment by the river.
They exchanged tense glances as they climbed the apartment where people were still living.
Ttaekachi’s condition was inside this apartment.
A moment later, they stood in front of a door.
Ju Gangrim took a deep breath, then used the key from Ttaekachi’s pocket to unlock the door and step inside.
Simultaneously, an incredibly loud barking erupted as eight dogs rushed to the door.
From a Pomeranian the size of a fist to a Golden Retriever that could rest its paws on a person’s shoulders, dogs of various sizes pounced on Ju Gangrim.
Ju Gangrim, instantly drenched in saliva, struggled to push past the dogs and enter the room.
Han Mina turned to Yu Wolryeong with a horrified expression.
Yu Wolryeong nodded.
The condition Ttaekachi had proposed in exchange for dedicating her life and abilities as Ju Gangrim’s sword:
“She was keeping eight dogs in her studio apartment, so she asked for them to be cared for until they die.”
Han Mina’s expression instantly became complex.