We tensed and exchanged glances.
The sound of hinges resounded ominously. The door was open, but no one came out to greet us.
What lies beyond may be a terrified family member, or a neighbor with a knife trying to harm us.
If that's not the case.
"Who are you?"
The voice of a nervous child. We immediately opened the door.
Through the wide open front door, I saw a scruffy boy. He had a short stature and plump body and cheeks.
He was a kid with a big mole on the bridge of his nose, who looked like he was about 13 or 14 years old.
"Ahhh."
The child, startled to see us, backed away.
Jung Heewon lightly raised both of her hands toward the child.
"Hey, it's okay. We don't want to harm you."
After saying that, she whispered a little to me.
"Probably the kid who went to the same school as my brother."
"How do you know?"
"Dots... No, I remember seeing him on SNS."
She probably recognized the boy by the mole on his nose.
Hearing that, the boy's eyes widened. In an instant, the grouchy boy glanced back and asked us.
"Do you know me? Who are you?"
"Where are the adults? Are you alone?"
"All adults…"
The spotted boy cried and approached step by step. Perhaps feeling sorry for such a boy, Jung Heewon bent down and looked at the child.
Is it because I am Lee Hakhyun or Cheon Inho that I wasn't agitated throughout the entire time I looked at the scenery?
「 How on earth did this child survive the first scenario? 」
With five steps left, I opened my mouth.
"Little boy."
The boy looked up at me.
I kindly narrowed my eyes and asked.
"Can you not do that?"
Before I could finish my words, the boy dug into Jung Heewon's arms. I reflexively pulled Jung Heewon and stepped forward.
Fortunately, the boy's kitchen knife was blocked by my 'reinforced exterior suit'.
Seeing the kitchen knife lying on the floor, the frightened boy banged his butt.
"Ah, aaaaa! I-I didn't do that on purpose! I was ordered to! I did it because I was told to do it!"
Was it a trap too?
Jung Heewon asked.
"Inho-ssi, are you okay?"
"It's okay, Heewon-ssi."
"Why don't you listen?"
I said, looking at her right hand, which was already touching the hilt of her sword.
"At least you have to hear the story."
If I hadn't stopped her, the boy would have been cut.
Realizing that fact belatedly, the boy sat down on the floor and stepped back, dragging his butt.
I laughed and bowed like a good cheater.
"So, who made you do this?"
I didn't even have to ask.
No matter how you look at it, it really didn't look like someone ordered it.
To be precise, "Shoot! hurry!"
It looked like 'the one this guy ordered'.
Bang! Bang!
At the same time as the spotted boy's command, a gunfire was heard.
A menacing warning shot. Pieces of broken concrete fell from the ceiling.
Three boys and girls stood beside the spotted boy who quickly stepped back.
Two of them are holding guns.
It was the K-2 used by the military.
The proud spotted boy opened his mouth.
"Did you see it? It's real weapons."
When I smiled at the threat that continued like a flow of liquidation, the boy warned me with an expression of silence.
"Five counts from now."
Count to five.
And my questions are four.
"One."
Where the hell did these kids come from?
"Two."
I'm self-sufficient, why didn't even Jung Heewon notice the children?
[The consonant tone method (breathing concealment) is activated in the area.]
It's the consonant method. Alright, the second question is solved.
"Three."
How did these kids dig these traps?
"Four."
So far, how many people have you killed?
"Five. Just kill them."
I activated [Incite] and converted 'thought' into 'Hercules's shield'.
[The special skill 'wide area defense' is activated!]
The barrels of K2, which had been turned into continuous fire, spewed fire all at once.
Too-ta-ta-ta!
It is a wide-area defense that has withstood even Gong Pildu's [mini turret], why can't it just block a normal bullet?
When the bullets fired in succession began to bounce off the shield and make the wrong place in the house into a beehive, the startled children stopped shooting with a scream.
I rushed over and took the guns from the kids. Even if you look at it, it was not difficult to subdue them because they did not have high overall abilities.
The spotted boy shouted as the situation turned against him.
"Hey, now! Get rid of him!"
For an instant, the back of my neck felt cold.
There was something flying fast through the air. It wasn't as fast as the bullet, but I raised my head reflexively to avoid the attack with unusual energy. The attack that pinged and brushed the ball was embedded in the wall and vibrated violently.
It was a chopstick filled with magical power.
When I turned my head, I saw a fifth boy with a spoon holder there.
The boy was unusually wearing a skull mask.
Skull mask?
Perhaps he did not know that I would avoid the attack, but the boy stared at me with agitated eyes and stood firm.
The spotted boy said in an annoyed voice.
"Can't you get that right too?"
"Sorry."
"Throw it back!"
"…There's a cooldown."
Hearing that, the button must have been pressed, and the spotted boy huffed and cursed.
The spotted boy approached with excited steps and struck the skull boy in the stomach and face.
Even then, as if his anger was not resolved, the spotted boy looked back at me.
"You're being kind. But this time you picked the wrong person. Do you know who we are?"
At the words of the spotted boy, the other children, who were shivering with a lot of shrinking, changed their expressions one by one.
As if the words were a 'wide-area defense' to protect them.
"That's right."
"Even the soldiers can't touch us! My sisters and brothers are all dead now!"
Where the hell do these kids come from?
The first question I had was now to be resolved.
A spotted boy with a dark smile waved a knot hidden around his waist.
It was the same knot as the sniper Jung Heewon subdued at the Complaints Building a few hours ago.
The sniper's knots were three, but the spotted boy had five.
Feeling Jung Heewon approaching, I opened my mouth.
"These kids, they're from the Beggar Sect."
I don't know if she heard me or not. However, Jung Heewon passed by me and walked away.
"That's right. It's our Beggar Sect. Do you know who I am? It is said that I am at the level of the head of the Beggar Sect. You're dead now-"
"Get out of the way"
Jung Heewon, who pushed the spotted boy as if he was in the way, opened her mouth as she walked toward the skeleton boy.
"Jung Eunho."
The moment I heard the voice, the atmosphere went cold.
Is the Jung Heewon I know right there right now?
Was Jung Heewon a person who could make such a bloody expression?
"Take off the mask. Are you Eunho?"
It was the children who reacted first.
Contemplative boys and girls looked at each other with anxious eyes and muttered.
"Who, who are you?"
"Do you know Eunho?"
The boy wearing the skull mask stared at Jung Heewon stiffly.
He twisted his head slightly in disbelief and shook his hand holding the spoon holder.
The boy's eyes reflected through the mask shook violently. Then the boy's hand moved slowly to remove his mask.
Then there.
"...Sister."
There was a boy who looked very much like Jung Heewon.
rlaehrwk37: Oh shit.
rlaehrwk99: Is it real?
A miraculous reunion of two siblings who survived the hellish apocalypse.
[The constellation 'Maritime Admiral' nods at the tearful sibling reunion.]
[The constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' observes the situation with a complicated expression.]
[The constellation 'Abyssal Black Flame Dragon' says that the spots should be matched.]
If it was normal, it was the timing for the planned new wave to unfold. Tears and runny nose spilled out, the brother and sister hugged each other, brushed off old love and hatred, and realized true family love.
It should have been, but Jung Heewon's family was a bit unusual.
"What the hell have you been up to?"
In spite of Jung Heewon's insistence, Jung Eunho silently lowered his head.
I carefully looked at the skull mask in Jung Eunho's hand.
「 The butcher, who searches for the enemy who killed his comrades and went through the scenario like a ghost, always wore a 'skeleton mask'. 」
Does that mean that Jung Heewon's younger brother was the 'mad butcher'?
In theory, it was plausible.
'The Mad Butcher' is one of the few incarnations with the characteristics of 'Crouching Figure' mentioned by Kim Dokja.
Jung Heewon also had the 'Crouching Figure', so it was no surprise to me that her younger brother had the same attribute.
Then let's check it out by myself.
[Currently, the skill 'Character List' is being updated.]
[Currently, the skill cannot be used.]
No, at least now?
"Who made you do this? Can't you speak sooner?"
Jung Heewon's cool eyes turned to the spotted boy.
The spotted boy was struggling on the floor with his hands, feet and mouth bound.
Impressed by the reunion of her brother and sister, there were tears and a runny nose on the guy's plump face.
"Sister."
Jung Eunho, who glanced at the spot with an indifferent eye, asked.
"Why are you here? Are you here to check if I'm dead?"
"What?
"Don't come back. This is no place for sister."
A faint sense of rebellion and emptiness coexisted in Jung Eunho's face, who slowly raised his head.
"It's a different situation than when my sister ran away after beating up my father. Do you still think that sister is the boss of the house?"
"Hey, what are you doing now?"
Jung Heewon, taken aback by her brother's bombshell remarks, suddenly looked back at me.
"No, Inho-ssi. This... it's not that."
I smiled and shook my head as a sign of ok.
Looking at the situation, I seemed to know what had happened.
Of course, children shouldn't hit their parents.
However, I also thought that if someone like Jung Heewon had done such a thing, there must have been a reason.
Jung Heewon sighed lightly and asked.
"So. Where is daddy now?"
"Dad."
Jung Eunho hesitated for a moment before saying with a sigh.
"He's in the Beggar Sect."
"Beggars?"
"That's the name of the organization I belong to."
"It's strange."
"That person is not a person who will readily join any organization. How's the army doing? What about the apartment people? Dad was a soldier. There must have been subordinates."
At the word 'military', Jung Eunho's eyes flashed a dark light.
"All caught in the Beggar Sect."
"My father is not a man to be easily caught."
"My original dad would have done that."
Original dad. The nuances in those words were peculiar. However, Jung Eunho's continued words were even more bizarre than that.
"It's as if he is already dead. He's not my dad anymore."
Not his dad?
"The world was destroyed, and the sick suddenly became like a different person."
"What do you mean? Did that person hit you again?"
"No. It's not like that."
The figure of Jung Eunho sighing lightly with Jung Heewon was like a brother and sister.
"Daddy went mad all of a sudden."
"Crazy?"
For a moment, I thought I knew what had happened to Jung Heewon's family.
Jung Eunho, who slowly turned his head toward the window, saw the ruined apartment building in his eyes.
It rained.
Traces of the scenario that left this world in ruins.
However, it may not be the scenario that destroyed Jung Heewon's family.
"Did the novel become a reality, or was it impossible for something like this to happen... He said strange things. Until then, I just thought that my father had gone out of his mind for a moment."
The scenario was brutal, but at least kind.
Like a visitor who rang a doorbell, he introduced who he was, told them what was to come, and taught them what to do.
But he also had unfriendly guests.
Those who came to this world without any kindness or knocks.
"But when the scenario started and I met dad again, dad abandoned me and ran away alone. I cried and chased after him, but I will never forget what my dad said then."
His face rubbed against the cracked veranda window.
I turned my gaze completely to see the boy's face smoldering on the edge of the glass.
A boy wearing a skull mask.
"Everybody saw him."
A boy who had lost all of his family's history in an instant was talking.
"He said he had to find 'Kim Dokja' from now on."
Apparently, a 'reader' possessed Jung Heewon's father.