Chapter 42: Sharing the Load

Even villains who suddenly appeared in the middle of the school,

attacking students ,slicing up teachers,

escaped easily.

There was no reason I couldn’t escape too.

And those guys were much weaker than me anyway.

Where should I go after I get out of here?

The research facility I couldn’t enter because of Lee So-hyun last time wouldn’t be bad.

No one would expect me to attack a research facility right after escaping.

The cool breeze, the neatly trimmed lawn, the place where I met Seo-jun returning from her hometown and revealed my identity, the place where Si-hyun “unni” told me to contact her if I had any trouble, the place where I got into the Chairman’s car to go to Si-hyun “unni”’s funeral.

Bullets flew, lightning struck, fireballs erupted… it was chaos.

Why were they so sensitive to a student who just wanted to skip class?

The guy shooting at me was so focused on aiming that he didn’t notice the pool of blood spreading on the ground and ended up getting ground to pieces.

The mage who was shooting electricity from his staff realized it was pointless to try and fry the incoming chunks of flesh with electricity. He closed his eyes and was crushed.

A woman wielding a sword and breathing fire pulled the lever for the security gate. She stood in the middle of the main gate, blocking my path as I limped towards her.

I sent some rippling blood her way, hoping to scare her off, but she wouldn’t budge.

“Come out, and I’ll let you live.”

“…….”

The woman trembled, but she ignited her sword and scorched the ground.

That would only make the smell of blood worse, not solve anything.

She was just pointlessly blocking my way, unable to do anything. I wanted to ask her why she didn’t just leave.

But the large security gate was slowly closing, and I figured talking was pointless.

I submerged her ankles in blood and ground them down, then covered her face with the liquid.

Thanks to that, I couldn’t hear any screams.

I didn’t like how she was throwing herself at me like a moth to a flame.

I stepped on her as she writhed on the ground, trying to claw the blood off her face, and continued on my way.

Perhaps because of the sirens, there were no people around, and no stores were open.

Well, there was one.

I made eye contact with the clerk inside the convenience store, even though the door was locked.

I walked over, smashed the door, and went inside.

A mechanical voice greeted me, “Welcome.”

I let out a hollow laugh, grabbed a sports drink from the shelf, and brought it to the counter.

The clerk, with trembling hands, told me the price, and I tossed him a crumpled bill from my pocket.

The sky outside was hazy.

Either from dust or clouds.

I gulped down the drink and just started walking, wherever my feet took me.

I wanted to keep moving, wherever I went, wherever I arrived.

Freely.

I felt a few people following me, probably sent from the school.

I tore off my arm, and the blood that dripped onto the ground was quickly cleaned up. But I couldn’t shake the feeling that being chased was tiring.

I thought about visiting the old hideout, but I didn’t want to cause trouble for a family that might be living there now.

It would also be ridiculous to ride the subway or bus while being wanted.

Wandering through the alleys, I saw a rather run-down area and headed towards it.

Five-story apartment buildings, a villa that smelled of sewage from a burst pipe, a crumbling shack with a sign that read .

“Fruit and Vegetable Mart.”

Everyone looked shabby.

I, in my blood-soaked uniform, probably looked the most decent person there.

As I walked through this shabby street, a man with a metal pipe blocked my way.

“You’re that villain from the news, aren’t you?”

He was very small.

Probably only around 12 years old.

“Follow me! Comrade Chairman wants to see you as soon as he heard you were here!”

He strangely resembled Si-hyun “unni.”

Even though they didn’t look alike at all.

The kid grabbed my hand and led me somewhere.

I thought he was taking me into the crumbling shack, but it led to a large underground tunnel.

Walking down into the basement felt strange.

Like I’d entered a different world.

The boy held my hand and greeted people as we passed.

He seemed to be quite popular here. Everyone we met fussed over not having any candy to give him.

They didn’t even glance at me, so this must be a common occurrence.

We soon stopped in front of a cave with a large door.

The boy knocked and opened the door without waiting for permission.

Inside, a middle-aged man was typing on his laptop while smoking.

His clothes were covered with stars, medals, things that definitely weren’t from this country.

“Sorry for bringing you to such a humble place.
Unlike you guys who get persuaded, we get summarily executed on sight.”

“I followed a random person here, but I’m a little tired right now.”

“I can’t hand you over to the South Korean
… and please have a seat. I’ll make you some coffee.”

The man spoke sarcastically as he closed his laptop. He noticed the blood flowing from my arm and corrected himself.

“Listen to the radio while I make the coffee.”

He switched the speaker to radio mode, turned up the volume, and left the room.

The person who brought me here followed him out.

[Citizens, if you see a teenage girl with white hair and red eyes wandering around the city, please contact the authorities immediately…]

Annoyed, I turned off the speaker just as the man returned.

“Thanks to you, I won’t be able to leave this place for a month.
I chose this location near the school because I thought it would be safe.”

“So why did you call me?”

“I’m curious about the organization you belong to.
You see, you guys wear uniforms before you start something.”

I thought he was talking nonsense, but then I remembered hearing something similar.

The Chairman had dismissed it as foolish.

Saying it was enough to wear a mask while working.

“……It’s just a mask.”

“I heard your organization was wiped out. Is this revenge?”

“Probably.”

I took a sip of the coffee.

“You must be the leader.”

I shrugged instead of answering.

If there was an organization, I was the only member.

“I’d like to propose a deal.”

“What kind of deal.”

“I’ll provide you with a suitable location, weapons, and funds.
Can you infiltrate the school and kill these students, like you did this time?”

The man pulled out three photos from his pocket.

Surprisingly, they were familiar faces.

Seo-jun, Hye-yeon, and one I didn’t recognize. I’d never met them before.

“You can just disguise your face, and with your ability, you should be able to kill those kids in the top class instantly.”

“What did they do?”

“……It’s not really my place to say this in these clothes, but do you not watch the news?”

“No.”

“Comrade Chairman took over Yanbian, Changchun, Hamhung, and Uiju, starting a revolution.It seemed successful.
Until some brats disguised as students stabbed him in the neck.”

“Those brats are these kids.”

“If you succeed, if you bring them to me alive, I’ll even give you A-rank lungs and kidneys.
We’ll process them and hand them over. We just need an example.”

“Give me a knife, any blade.”

The man scratched his head and handed me a box cutter from his desk.

I slashed at my arm, but only superficial cuts appeared, not deep enough to draw blood.

“W-what are you doing…?”

“Are all the people here, the people who pass by, the people who know you… are they all like you?”

“I don’t understand what you mean.”

“Just answer the question.”

“If you’re asking if they are comrades, then yes…”

The man didn’t finish his sentence. He just collapsed on the floor.

How rude, not even answering after ,I separated his head from his shoulders.

This is why they say communists have no parents or siblings.

As I left the room, I saw a few thugs standing there in strange brown suits.

They saw the scene inside the room and started drawing their weapons, attacking me.

But they exploded soon after.

The maggots in the tunnel, unharmed, couldn’t stop the blood seeping into the holes in their faces. They choked and stumbled out of the tunnel.

Outside, I saw the person who guided me here, and the shabby people on the street.

Wouldn’t it be nice to gather them all in one place?

You see, what was it…

Unlike where I lived, they call people who reminisce about a country that collapsed decades ago communists.

Communists like to huddle together, they have filthy habits, they thrive in places with food, water, plenty of hiding spots, and no disturbances.

They exhibit burrowing behavior, swarming behavior, cannibalism, and attraction to scents.

There was a perfect place.

The smelly villa I saw on my way here.

It was a bizarre sight, everyone on the street clutching their heads, stumbling as they walked.

As if wanting to become equal and the same, they approached each other, kissing deeply or biting into flesh, while normal people ran away screaming.

Soon, most of the people I saw were crammed inside the villa.

They probably didn’t know why they had to die.

It’s better not to know.

If they knew that so many people had to suffer like this because of one person, they probably wouldn’t find any value in living.

Anyway, the tunnel was quite cozy.

The room that the Chairman or whoever used was quite livable.

A deal? What deal.

We should share.

I’m feeling down anyway.