The Predatory Genius of a Ruined World - Chapter 4

Chapter 4 – Perhaps the One and Only Ability (3)

—–CROW—– 

‘I thought it would recharge quickly like mana or health in a game.’

Thirty minutes had easily passed since he first used it, yet there was still no sign of it increasing.  It seemed the cooldown time was longer than he thought.

‘It could be dangerous if I encounter a group of three or more next time.’

Seong-ho sighed deeply and returned to the zombies.

‘I need to collect the spoils.’

Taking the backpack off the zombie sprawled face down wasn’t difficult.  He opened the zipper, and lo and behold…

“Water!”

He exclaimed in delight.  Fortunately, no other zombies appeared, but it was something to be cautious about.

Seong-ho closed his mouth and rummaged through the backpack.  Two 500ml bottles of water.  And a bag of bread, crushed beyond recognition.

“Ugh…!”

Seong-ho threw the frozen, unidentifiable bread, bag and all.  Then he picked up the still-sealed plastic water bottles. He had been thirsty ever since he woke up to this disaster.

*Click.*

*Gulp, gulp.*

The icy water flowed down his throat, as if freezing his esophagus.  Seong-ho emptied half a bottle in an instant.  He put the remaining water back in the backpack and then stripped the zombie of its shoes and clothing. The shoes were a bit small, and he had to crush the heels to wear them, but…

‘Better than barefoot.’

Having collected the spoils, Seong-ho set off again into the harsh world.

* * *

The journey was remarkably smooth.  This was because he encountered very few zombies along the way.  There were far more dead zombies than living ones.

He tried using his power on the dead ones, just in case, but no virus was extracted.  The number of times he could use his ability didn’t decrease either.

At first, he considered searching for more prey. However, he needed to confirm the time he had entered this world, and he also needed to treat his injuries.  So, he prioritized reaching his destination over hunting zombies.

Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, the zombies hadn’t completely died out.  He managed to hunt one more zombie while passing through the desolate city.

*Groan.*

And just now, he had even found one trapped and struggling under a car tire.

“Should I call this a lucky break or not…?”

As soon as he saw the frantically struggling zombie, Seong-ho opened his status window again.

Special Ability: 1/5

He had used it once more just before, so he only had one chance left.

‘Strangely, my body feels heavy since the number dropped to one.’

It was a troubling situation.  Should he use his last remaining chance on this zombie, or not?

Of course, it wasn’t a long deliberation.

‘If there weren’t any zombies to hunt, I might consider it, but I can’t just leave it when it’s right there.’

It would be good to try leveling up.  The virus experience points next to his level only needed one more to fill up.  Rather than leaving everything unknown, he would take the risk and move forward.

As soon as he made up his mind, Seong-ho approached the zombie. The zombie struggled even more frantically as he got closer.  Of course, it was futile.

*Flash.*

“Gasp!”

A sudden wave of exhaustion, as if all the strength had drained from his body, made his knees buckle.  He collapsed, hands hitting the ground with a thud, and gasped for air.

“Gasp… gasp… what… what is this…?”

His limbs trembled weakly, unable to hold his weight.  His vision started to darken.  He swayed, and finally, his body crumpled onto the asphalt.

That wasn’t the end.  Even lying on the cold ground, he felt like the world was spinning.  Just as he was wondering what was happening, a word came to mind.

‘Is this… ability exhaustion?’

The exhaustion symptoms that Awakened showed after depleting all their power.

‘I… I think I’m going to throw up…’

Seong-ho lay sprawled on the asphalt, experiencing the bizarre sensation of being sucked deeper and deeper.  Just as he thought he was about to lose consciousness…

His vision suddenly cleared, like a drop of water falling onto dry earth.  Breathing became noticeably easier.

“Ugh…”

Seong-ho groaned, barely managing to sit up.  He looked around and muttered in a dazed voice, “I almost died right there in the middle of the road…”

It was a good thing that almost all the zombies around him had been dealt with.  If even one zombie had appeared while he was lying there gasping for breath, he would have been torn apart.

‘I need to be more careful about using the last charge.’

Seong-ho learned a new lesson and reached out his hand.  Fortunately, finding the marble that hadn’t rolled far wasn’t difficult.

Before putting it in his mouth, he brought up his status window.

Level: 1 (4/5)

Physical Ability: 4

Special Ability: 1/6

And he witnessed an unexpected result.

‘What? Why is the Special Ability number…’

He muttered to himself in confusion, then found the answer.  He recalled the sensation he had just felt.  The feeling of a drop of water falling on dry earth.  The feeling of breaking through existing limits and gaining something new.

‘…So, I can increase my stats even without leveling up.’

Perhaps his abilities grew stronger each time he pushed them to their limits?  Even in the original novel, Awakened individuals grew their powers this way.

If this assumption was true, it was advantageous for him.  At least his struggles weren’t in vain.

Seong-ho, celebrating internally, popped the virus marble into his mouth.

*Ding.*

「Level Up!」

A clear chime rang in his head.  At the same time, his body felt incredibly light.  The change was most noticeable in his status window.

Level: 2 (0/25)

Physical Ability: 4

Special Ability: 11/11

As expected, he had leveled up.  And that wasn’t all. The maximum number of times he could use his Special Ability had also increased significantly.

A smile finally appeared on Seong-ho’s face.  The virus experience required for the next level had increased fivefold, but the fact that his previously limited five uses had doubled brought him peace of mind.  Moreover, his depleted ability charges had been fully restored.  He felt energized.

‘This means Special Ability is also a part of my body.’

Seeing how his physical condition was affected by his Special Ability, he couldn’t help but realize this.  Seong-ho accepted this strange fact with a sigh.  Then he checked the other stats besides Special Ability and Level.

Merit Points were at 5, Discrepancy Score at 50, and Physical Ability was still at 4.

‘My level increased, but my Physical Ability hasn’t changed.’

If there were undistributed stat points like in a game, he would have invested them.  But it didn’t seem to work that way.

‘Is it impossible to increase Physical Ability? Is it just displaying my current state?’

He frowned and pondered, but there was no way to find the answer.  It was foolish to dwell on a question without an answer.

He got up, feeling much lighter, and continued towards Eunpyeong Hospital.  He saw the corpses of dead zombies every block.  Thanks to this, there were no additional viruses to obtain.  But he didn’t think it was a big problem.

‘It’s rather a good sign.’

It meant there was a group of survivors active in the area.  He continued walking briskly, braving the cold winter wind.  After a while, Seong-ho arrived at the pharmacy street near his destination.

He checked the pharmacies, hoping to find some medicine, but they were all empty.  All that remained were broken glass shards and dust.  No, looking closely, there was something out of place.

‘That’s…’

In a corner of the pharmacy, tucked away in a dark spot, was a dark mass.  He frowned and approached it, and as expected…

“Feces.”

It was human excrement.  It was dry, but it didn’t look old. He recognized it from his time working at apartment construction sites, where he often saw traces left by workers relieving themselves on higher floors.

‘There really are survivors nearby.’

It was unlikely they would choose other facilities when the hospital building was right there.  If his prediction was correct and the survivors had set up camp in the hospital…

‘Getting inside is the problem.’

How could he get his hands on medicine?  Even if he tried to sell information from the original novel, there was no guarantee the other side would accept it.  There was no easy way to prove the information he had was real.

Using his ability to negotiate wasn’t a good option either.  Aside from the issue of whether they would believe him, his safety wouldn’t be guaranteed.

‘They’re likely to be a large group.’

It would be troublesome if he revealed his power recklessly and ended up restrained.

Seong-ho stood there for a while, lost in thought.  His thoughts were interrupted by a noise that had started at some point.

‘What’s that…?’

The surroundings were so quiet that the rumbling sound was clearly audible.  It sounded like someone shouting.

After a brief moment of contemplation, Seong-ho stepped out of the pharmacy.  He headed towards the source of the noise, towards his final destination, the hospital.

But as soon as he turned the corner and saw the direction of the hospital, he recoiled.

‘What… what…’

Seong-ho hid back around the corner, frozen, his back against the wall.  His heart pounded in his chest.  It was all because of the bizarre sight he had just witnessed.

*Gasp, gasp.*

Seong-ho took several deep breaths to calm himself.  After a considerable amount of time, he cautiously peeked around the corner again.

“What is this…?”

He hadn’t been mistaken.  The hospital building was covered in a dark reddish color.

‘What is that?’

At first, he thought it was blood.  But the dark red color was spreading upwards from the bottom.  He narrowed his eyes and focused.

‘It’s moving.’

He could see something wriggling on the outer walls of the building.

“—-!”

Another noise echoed.  Suddenly, the dark red wall shot up into the sky.  And then it exploded in midair.  Like a water balloon.

What had been clinging to the building was a mass of round liquid blobs.  Watching this, Seong-ho felt a sense of déjà vu.

‘Is that…?’

After a brief moment of thought, Seong-ho started walking again.  As he got closer to the hospital, the sounds that were faint from afar became clearer.

“Aack! It hurts, it hurts!”

“Th-these damn things — –!”

“– — — be careful!”

“Close it! Lock everything down!”

The overlapping screams of people continued without end.  It seemed that most of the survivors were inside the building.  The sound of Seong-ho’s footsteps was swallowed by the screams, disappearing without a trace.

Thanks to this, Seong-ho was able to snoop around the hospital more freely.  And finally, he found it.  On one side of the building, covered in the dark red mass, near what appeared to be the main entrance of the hospital, was something that wasn’t covered in the dark red substance.

“Wh-why is that…?”

A trembling voice escaped Seong-ho’s lips.  He couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

‘That… that thing shouldn’t appear until the third year of the virus outbreak…’

As if to answer his question, a system message appeared.

「The world has recognized the existence of the Fate Pioneer.」

「The world requests permission to use dimensional shift.」

「Dimensional shift confirmed.」

「Accelerating the apocalypse to maintain the existing fate.」

「Evolved zombies are appearing faster than in the existing fate.」

Seong-ho froze at the sudden influx of information.

As if to reprimand him, a bloodcurdling scream, beyond human description, echoed.  Snapping back to his senses, Seong-ho ran towards the nearest commercial building.

—–CROW—–