Chapter 22: Absolute Terror
*
Inder, observing Gang-ho and his group, sensed a troubling change at the Town Center.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
“I feel some powerful presence,” Reina replied.
Lisa added a bit more context, “It’s not just strong; I’ve never felt anything like this before.”
Seeing Reina’s tense expression and Lisa trembling as if she felt a chill, Inder breathed softly.
Hmm…
‘If they’ve already crossed the Dimension Gate, then it’s going to be hard to stop just them…’
He couldn’t tell Gang-ho and his group about the disparity in power levels.
Inder didn’t know all the details, but he had heard things.
While Inder was getting increasingly anxious, Gang-ho was still grappling with a dilemma: should he approach or turn back? It wasn’t an easy decision.
‘If we decide to turn back, will we even make it?’
Just then, in the distance, a sight emerged that they hadn’t seen before: survivors staggering out of the Apartment Common Entrance and making their way toward the Town Center.
“People!”
Gang-ho hesitated for a moment, observing their unsteady movements before finally deciding.
“Stay here. I’ll check it out.”
However, his companions weren’t the type to just sit idly by.
“Let’s go together.”
“It’s dangerous to go alone.”
“Well, I’ll stay here then.”
The two women turned to Satoshi, expressionless.
Hik!
Startled, Satoshi quickly changed his tune, “I, I’ll go too!”
Gang-ho didn’t try to dissuade him twice. Yet he looked at Inder with concern.
‘Is he alright?’
It seemed Inder read the worry in Gang-ho’s eyes, as he managed a faint smile.
“Isn’t it better to go together than to stay here alone?”
Understanding the unspoken bond in those words, Gang-ho chuckled lightly.
“That’s true.”
Gang-ho and the group cautiously followed, keeping their distance, matching the survivors’ weak steps.
As they did, they caught a glimpse inside the first-floor units through open living room windows.
The interiors were a chaotic mess.
It looked like either a burglar had come in or someone had hastily packed up belongings in panic.
And it wasn’t just one unit; multiple apartments were in disarray.
‘Seems like signs of evacuating…’
This indicated that the survivors had sensed some danger.
Questions and speculations filled the air.
Why were these people, who had been so silent and hidden like a ghost town, now out in the open, heading who-knows-where? It looked as if they were entranced by something.
The deeper the questions probed, the more fear began to settle in.
Then, it was Satoshi who first sensed something amiss.
“I smell blood.”
With those words, everyone stopped in their tracks.
In the distance, the fountain at the Apartment Central Park came into view.
A crowd had gathered there.
“What could they be doing?”
Reina whispered nervously, and Lisa tilted her head, whispering back, “That… figure wearing a black hood — no, that entity…”
Although her words came out in a stutter, everyone understood what she implied.
‘That’s it. The entity that disrupts our senses.’
As they recognized the presence, cold sweat trickled down their spines.
Gulp.
A particularly loud gulp echoed through the silence, amplifying their rising anxiety.
And then, at that moment, a voice, disturbing and disorienting, echoed somewhere close to them.
[How numerous you are, like cockroaches. Worthless mortals.]
Tremble.
No, it was fear.
A coarse intensity seeped into their skin, constricting their hearts.
And Gang-ho realized the name of the entity.
“Lich.”
Why he knew a creature he had never seen before was beyond him, but his instincts screamed one thing: dangerous; run.
But they couldn’t.
‘It feels like my body has been paralyzed.’
Truth be told, it was his mind that had frozen.
As he stood there, frozen in terror, the eerie voice whispered once more.
[If you wish to exist, do so in the most beautiful form. Then you shall be worthy of my admiration.]
As those words lingered — whether a command or a taunt — a strange sound rippled through the air.
Sssssss.
kikikikiki.
Once again, Gang-ho recognized the source of the unsettling sound.
“Banshee.”
With what felt like his instinctive remarks, the people around him began to move.
Swish.
Thud.
Thump.
Gush.
A truly gruesome cacophony erupted all around.
People continued to stab and fall, yet not a single scream pierced the atmosphere.
‘Mind control!’
Gang-ho’s senses sharpened instantly.
He recognized the name of the entity and grasped how the phenomenon operated.
[Disaster Manual synchronization restriction lifted.]
[Previous patch (Ver. 3) applied.]
[Inter-species database accessed.]
[…]: ……
[Code name]: Undead.
[Type]: Lich.
[Basic Effect]: Mind control.
[…]: ……
[Type]: Banshee.
[Basic Effect]: Fear. Paralysis.
[…]: ……
He barely registered Lisa’s panicked voice amid the barrage of information.
“We have to stop this. We need to do something!”
She was in a similar daze as Gang-ho had been moments before.
With the realization of their fuzzy state, Gang-ho turned back, worried about Inder.
“I’m… fine.”
Though he bore a face that suggested a terrible headache, his eyes shone with determination to convey that he was holding up.
Gang-ho turned once more to witness the horrifying massacre unfolding before him.
Blood sprayed everywhere.
People continued to collapse upon the splattered blood all around them.
Watching this made his heart race in pain.
It felt all too familiar, reminiscent of the time he had to watch hostages die while waiting for orders.
That was agony.
He had to stop this.
Yet only then did he realize how many there were already dead.
– How numerous you are, like cockroaches.
The Lich’s words echoed in his mind.
‘This has happened multiple times now.’
He couldn’t help but notice his hands trembling uncontrollably.
His legs felt bound as if something held him back.
He saw Reina next to him gritting her teeth and struggling with all her might to move.
In that moment, Gang-ho realized.
‘Absolute terror.’
He couldn’t fight back now.
[Your torn flesh and the blood-stained earth are truly beautiful.]
Kekekekekeke.
Whether it was a laugh or the sound of a robe dragging on the ground, the Lich slowly turned and began to drift away.
[Still, so many remain. Mmm, I can sense the breath of the living.]
Then, just like that, it vanished.
The weight — that felt hundreds of times heavier than gravity — was lifted.
He could tell the entity had disappeared.
Yet the unbelievable scene persisted.
Creeeeeeak.
Ukkahh.
The people who had just been stabbing and killing one another started to rise.
Gooooo.
There seemed to be more of them than he had expected.
The Town Center filled with the dead.
An ominous aura began to thicken and spread outwards, staining the ground they stood upon black.
Gang-ho recognized this phenomenon again.
‘The land of the undead, Blight.’
For a brief moment, time seemed to stand still.
The movements of the resurrected were synchronized with his awareness.
Then suddenly, time resumed.
Fwoosh.
Having died at the hands of the Lich, the now-reanimated figures began to move towards where it had vanished.
Gang-ho and his group stood frozen, feeling the absurdity of the scene in its entirety.
The procession of the undead was almost majestic, like a requiem.
But then,
One of the undead at the back of the line turned abruptly to look back.
And locked eyes with Gang-ho, Lisa, Reina, and Satoshi.
“…!”
His already stiff body tightened even more.
It felt like his breath was catching in his throat.
‘Did it see me? What do I do?’
Gang-ho, who rarely flustered, felt his heart race.
It wasn’t just any zombie-like undead that concerned him.
‘Lich, I don’t want to see you again right now.’
Ssssssssss.
The undead’s jaw flopped open grotesquely like a torn rag, then snapped shut.
And then it returned to the procession.
Several moments passed before any of them reacted.
“Haah, uh… huff!”
Splat.
Lisa crumpled, collapsing to the ground in tears.
Following her, Reina sank to her knees one after the other.
Thud.
Ugh!
The difference was that while Lisa wept, Reina cursed quietly under her breath.
“Shit, fuck!”
Gang-ho only then realized that he hadn’t been breathing.
When he registered that, he expelled a sharp breath.
Haaah!
He was barely able to stand.
It felt like all of his strength had left him.
After a moment of dizzying realization, he peered back.
“It seems we’re exhausted.”
Satoshi was helping Inder stay upright.
He felt relieved but was also overwhelmed with curiosity.
‘How did he manage to hold on?’
But there wasn’t room for deep thoughts.
No, he couldn’t afford to.
“Everyone, it’s tough, but we need to move quickly to the next village.”
He remembered the direction the Lich had gone.
It had certainly said something.
It could sense the breath of the living.
‘If we can’t fight back, we have to stop it before it reaches us.’
*
To be continued…
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