Chapter 20: Grand Minimalist

“Why do you have so little stuff, Lee Eun-ho? Like, what’s it called, minimum? Is it that kind of thing?”

I’ve never been one to buy a lot of things.

Not because I’m some grand minimalist or anything like that.

I’d switched companies as if ending a lease, and moved frequently, so getting new things always felt kind of awkward.

Besides, I hated paying expensive monthly rent just to store a bunch of junk.

So, I’d gotten used to only buying what was absolutely necessary.

‘This is the first time I’ve bought something like this.’

I never imagined it.
That I would buy moldy bread and even give it as a gift.
But….

[Gift received from target ‘Choi Jae-hyuk’!]

Thanks to that, the biggest problem was solved—
passing on the mission’s rules and攻略法 to others.

【‘Prince of the Investigation Bureau’ marvels that this is the first time a target has applied the gift system like this.】
【Anonymous Spectator smiles smugly, claiming it’s thanks to them.】

…A new problem had arisen, but for now, the mission comes first.

“Confirmed.”

Feeling a sense of satisfaction that my trick had worked, I examined the letter and box taking shape before my eyes.

Snap!

When I touched the square envelope, it sprouted arms like a budding sprout, spreading them out in all directions.

────  ────
ㆍTo: Lee Eun-ho
ㆍFrom: Choi Jae-hyuk
ㆍHyung, are you okay? I really thought I was going to die. Some weird monster dropped from the sky, and no matter how many times I killed it…
────  ────

No matter how many times I killed it.
Jae-hyuk’s reply ended like an outdated song title.

I doubt he deliberately cut off the sentence for effect, so maybe there was a character limit.
Good thing he compressed the sentence as much as possible, or important information might have been cut off.

‘Jieun must’ve gotten it, too.’

I thought with a mix of relief and worry as I opened the box Jae-hyuk sent.

Srrrk.

The box opened smoothly, almost like glass, yet soft to the touch.

Inside was—

‘Ugh….’

Spoiled milk.
An unknown coagulated substance made of white fermented chunks, no telling how old it was.

【‘Prince of the Investigation Bureau’ shakes his head, saying he can’t understand the food tastes of District 13.】
【‘Management Bureau Crow’ urges me to drink it quickly.】

“Store!”

Not wanting to even hold it, I immediately sent it to my inventory, shaking my head.

At that moment, an announcement informed me the mission was starting.

[The final mission will begin in 10 seconds.]

The last chance.
I had to catch it as quickly as possible and save the child.

Though unseen, I was sure Jieun and Jae-hyuk, who received my gifts, were thinking the same.

[Mission failure penalty: Daegwi (大鬼) evolves into Taegwi (太鬼).]

I was also certain they were worried about the penalty.

Taegwi (太鬼), huh…
Would it get even bigger?
Even the Daegwi from the second round was already bigger than me.

[Final mission start.]
[Defeat the Taegwi (太鬼)!]

Hoo.

I let out a short breath, lowered my body’s center of gravity by bending my legs shoulder-width apart.

Then, standing right below the distorting space—

— Ss-s-s-s-s-sssht!

A black energy, somewhere between liquid and gas, filled the ceiling.

Then, like a silent cough, it vomited out a massive mass.

The Taegwi (太鬼) dove straight toward the crown of my head.

Normally, I would have dodged without hesitation, but….

“Seokhwa! Summon!”

Gripping the energy-laden sword with my Seokhwa-enhanced hand, I raised it above my head.

At a moment when even a tenth of a second counted.

‘I have to take it down in one hit.’

— Pook! Pazzzzzzzzzzt-!

[Using ‘Electric Discharge (電擊放出)’!]
[‘Electric Discharge (電擊放出),’ 4 uses remaining.]

I stabbed the sword between the falling Taegwi’s crotch.

Kyaaaaaaak!

Writhing in unimaginable pain, the Taegwi dropped the iron mace it held.

Kugugugung!

Its thick hide stubbornly protected its life, but soon the sparking sword tip and the entire blade pierced deep into the monster.

— Puhwahk!

Ugh!

The giant corpse twitched as it split in half.

Blood as dark as rust poured down like a waterfall, but I had no time or luxury to admire it.

[Taegwi (太鬼) defeated!]
[Car 18 cleared.]

「09:45」

Next up was Car 17.
This time, acceleration.

Alternating between Seokhwa and acceleration to endure cooldown times.

Seokhwa, acceleration, Seokhwa, acceleration, Seokhwa.

‘Faster than round two!’

Without acceleration, speed was slow, and without Seokhwa, I couldn’t use the electrified sword.
So in round two, I wasted almost all cooldown time.

“Summon Cheongcheol Sword (靑鐵劍)!”

When I had Seokhwa, I used the blade-tip sword.
When I didn’t, I used Lee Ye-ji’s sword.

【Anonymous Spectator is pleased with target ‘Lee Eun-ho’ monopolizing the weapons.】

‘Bringing the swords was a godsend.’

Thanks to Lee Ye-ji’s sword, the time was drastically cut.

Plus, since I told the potty-mouthed one to hide outside the train, she obediently waited, so no casualties occurred.

When I had just finished killing the Taegwi in Car 13, where Yoon Sol-ah was—

— Tick.

The stupid monster’s iron mace, raised high, dropped to the floor not knowing it was about to die.

[Gift received from target ‘Ji-eun Kim’!]
[Check?]

A reply from Jieun.
With what had been yellowish socks—

────  ────
ㆍTo: Lee Eun-ho
ㆍFrom: Ji-eun Kim
ㆍCars 1–3 cleared. I’ll help up to Car 6 then return. Take care!
────  ────

‘Jieun is safe.’

Thank goodness.

Her hearing is slow, so she must have managed to catch some.
Jieun caught the second most zombies in our TF after me.
And she had surprisingly good combat sense.

「08:20」

With the speed faster than planned, I had over eight minutes left.

Even counting time to return, if Jieun advanced up to Car 6, that would be enough, and I felt somewhat at ease.
It felt strange, having a comrade I could rely on for the rear.

— Drreuk!

‘This speed is enough. I can do this.’

Gaining speed bit by bit, I even felt some confidence and relief.

That is, until I passed Car 12 and was about to open the door to Car 11, which I hadn’t reached in round two.

“!!”

Hwaat!

As soon as I opened the door, a strong scent of blood hit me.

After smell, it was vision that struck me most.

Pieces of flesh and blood were scattered across the hallway’s center.

‘Uniform…’

A black uniform barely holding its shape revealed the victim’s identity.

The grumpy man who had been on a team with the mother and daughter in the previous mission.
Crushed by a monster falling from the ceiling, apparently dead before he could even run.

— Kyaaaak!

“…Acceleration.”

I barely opened my mouth and took down the Taegwi rushing at me with heavy footsteps, then moved on to Car 10.

Before I could even swallow my bitter feelings, I was met with another corpse.

“…”

Broken glasses in Car 10.
An employee ID poking out from a pool of blood in Car 9, proving the victim’s identity.
In place of a face shattered by a mace.

【‘Management Bureau Crow’ clicks its tongue at the weak targets.】
【‘Prince of the Investigation Bureau’ protests that this is normal.】

“…Shut up.”

Without realizing it, a string of curses spilled out.

Because the man crushed by the ear-wrecking monster seemed to represent all of us.

This system that mercilessly trampled on the lives of people who had struggled hard.

And the anger boiling toward the spectators above, laughing as they watched all this.

【Anonymous Spectator warns that recent remarks were dangerous.】
【‘Prince of the Investigation Bureau’ is outraged, calling me a cocky target.】

Angry reactions poured in immediately.

“Fuck.”

I had no intention of playing along anymore.

Tat-tak!

Though the dreadful scene made my hair stand on end and my feet reluctant to move, I opened the door anyway.

Because I had to move forward.
Because I had to survive.
And… because I had to save those who remained.

— Squeak!

I dashed toward the Taegwi baring crooked jaws, then swung the sword raised above my head down to slice.

Cut and cut again.

Until the scratches on the thick hide revealed white and black bones.

I wiped thoughts from my mind and advanced with the inertia of my body.

Car 7 came into view.
Car 6, which Jieun said she’d help with, appeared next.

‘When I meet Jieun, I’m heading back.’

Meeting Jieun, who started from the front car, would mean all trains had been cleared.

After killing the Taegwi in Car 7, just one more car to go….

— Drreuk!

‘Huh?’

The Taegwi in Car 7 was already dead.

Broken chairs and blood-stained armrests.
A Taegwi whose legs were cut and head smashed with a blunt weapon.

A weapon powerful enough to cut its leg must be….

‘Jae-hyuk!’

— Tat-tak!

The first person besides me to kill a Taegwi.

Feeling like I’d found another castaway while wandering the vast sea alone, I hurriedly opened the door and ran into Car 6.

And then—

— Kkang!

The Taegwi’s iron mace struck Jae-hyuk’s armor with a metallic sound.

The sword that should have been in his hand lay far off at his feet.

“You must… survive! You have to meet your daughter again!”

“Gah, I never meant to bring you into this dangerous place…”

Kkang! Kkang! Kkang!

Jae-hyuk protected the man behind him by dodging here and there with his bare… no, armored body, without any weapon.

Earlier, when killing zombies, he acted as a shield for me.
Now, standing up and blocking the mace looked quite heroic.

“No! Hyung told me to help those around!”
“If it’s hyung, he saved us earlier….”
“Yes! That’s right!”
“You teachers are really… gah…”

I felt he was about to cry, so before he became more dramatic, I stepped forward.

Jumping up, I plunged the sword into the Taegwi’s back.

Tzuzuzuzuzuzzt-!

[Using ‘Electric Discharge (電擊放出)’!]
[All uses exhausted.]
[Taegwi (太鬼) defeated!]
[Car 6 cleared.]

“Hy-hyung!”
“Teacher!”

They both looked as if they had just seen a lifeline descend from the sky, their faces filled with emotion.

“Hyuuuuung!”
“Jae-hyuk. Did you not meet Jieun?”
“Nunim?”

Jae-hyuk shook his head, eyes wide open.

He hadn’t met her.
That was strange.

Jieun definitely said she’d help up to Car 6 then return….

‘Did something happen?’

Just as a foreboding chill ran down my spine and I raised my head—

“Kyaaaaaaak!”

A sharp scream came from beyond the glass door.

When I opened Car 5’s door, a Taegwi stood on crushed seats.
In its hand, a female student dangled by the back of her neck.

“Oh no! She’s been grabbed!”
“C-Calm down! I’ll save you, sister!”

Ji-eun said “calm down” with a face not calm at all, and the cleaning lady was stamping her feet anxiously.

“P-Please save me….”

In her hand was Yoon Sol-ah’s friend, a short student, trembling white as a sheet.

She wanted to scream, but seemed to be covering her mouth worried she might provoke the Taegwi.

Plop.

“The shoe….”
“Shh, shh!”

Meanwhile, one of the girl’s shoes dropped onto the Taegwi’s foot.

Hyeeeek-!

Making a sound like air escaping, the Taegwi slowly lowered its head, as if its neck was injured.

A tense silence hung, thick enough to raise hairs.

“Hic…”

The student silently shed tears, face filled with terror.

“H-Student! What should we do?!”
“Ms. Song! Shh!”

The Taegwi was less than three meters away.
If I could use acceleration to dash over and pull her out in that moment….

“Acceleration!”

[Cooldown in progress. 43 sec, 42 sec, 41 sec…]

‘Damn!’

“I’ll go…!”
“Don’t, Jae-hyuk!”

Too dangerous.
I stopped Jae-hyuk as he drew his sword.

“If you swing a long sword here, the student might get cut by accident!”

The Taegwi probably knew that too, which is why it held its arm like a shield.

“Hyung! Then what should we do?!”
“39, 38, 37 seconds… We need time.”

I gripped the sword tightly, planning to wait for the acceleration cooldown and then take it down.

— Tap!

Ji-eun stepped forward, lips tightly pressed together.
Left hand gripping the blade-tip sword, right hand holding a dagger.

“Lower your head!”

Was she going to throw it?

‘Dangerous!’

“Ji-eun! If you miss, the student will be in danger!”

I shouted urgently, but Ji-eun’s dagger was already slicing through the air.

— Ssaaek!

The arm-thick dagger pierced toward the Taegwi’s heart.

Like a straight tree, unwavering and true.
The trajectory was clearly aimed at the monster’s heart.

But—

— Sseuk.

The Taegwi must have thought fast, moving its jaw as if chewing.
Then lifted the girl in its hand up to its chest.

Like a human shield.

“Kyaaaaaak!”
“No!!!”

The girl’s scream upon seeing the dagger flying straight at the monster’s head.
Ji-eun’s panicked shout.

It was a disaster.

Taat!

Regardless of acceleration or anything, I ran forward, but the arrow-like dagger brushed past my fingertips as it flew.

“Kyaaaaaaak!”

And then—

— Pook!

It stuck right into the monster’s forehead.

The entire arm-length blade sank deep inside.

“Kyaaaaaak! Somebody save me! Kyaaaaaa… huh?”

— Jjikeok!

A thick stream of blood flowed from where the dagger was stuck.

The forehead split open.

Not the girl’s, but the Taegwi’s.

“That just….”
“Bent, didn’t it?”

The dagger’s trajectory flying toward the girl’s head curved.

In other words… the dagger, long gone from Ji-eun’s hand,
had changed direction on its own.

“I-It lived…?”

Thunk!

The girl freed from the Taegwi’s grasp dropped to her knees, bowing in joy.

“What is this….”

Ji-eun murmured two familiar words, looking at the crying and laughing student and her own hand in turns.

“Skill… data?”