Side Story Chapter 54 - Bloody Family Trip (5)

A horrible screech that could only be made by a monster born from the combined sins of all of mankind echoed throughout the hallway.

"Kuuuuuuruu!"

The middle-aged woman vomited so much blood as if proving to the world that the human body was indeed seventy percent water. A thick puddle of blood was made in the hallway.

Splash!

The woman collapsed on top of the puddle of blood she made herself, but only for a moment.

Crunch, crack!

The woman suddenly stood up on all fours, her eyes overturned. Every joint on her body bent at unnatural angles and her head split in half, brain matter leaking out. Sharp teeth sprouted from her split skull and the halves hit against each other as if her head had become one giant mouth.

"Jesus, look at that thing."

Oh Kang-Woo wondered if that creature was what a corpse would look like if it were hit by a dump truck and run over by its wheels. It was so horrid that it could easily surpass demons from the First to Ninth Hell in hideousness.

"Urpp!"

"Wh-What the fuck is that?!"

Echidna stepped backward with her mouth covered and Cha Yeon-Joo cursed in shock. The middle-aged woman with limbs bent at unnatural angles latched herself on the hallway walls on all fours.

"KuRaaaAAAAAAAA!!"

The woman screamed inhumanly as she crawled along the hallway walls at an insane speed.

"What—" Kang-Woo pulled Echidna back by her shoulder and stretched his right arm outward. "—THE FUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK?!!"

He pulled out Wrath, the two-meter greatsword used by Satan, and swung it fiercely.

Slash—!

He cleaved the middle-aged woman crawling along the wall in half.

"keruuuuuu!"

The woman was split from head to groin and was blown back. Her intestines poured out from the split ends and she stopped moving.

"I-Is she dead?" Yeon-Joo asked in pallor as she slowly walked toward the corpse.

Splash—!!

Just then, blood shot out of the fragmented corpse like bullets.

"Watch out!" Kang-Woo yelled.

"Kyaah!"

Kang-Woo quickly grabbed Yeon-Joo's shoulder and ran forward as he pulled her back. He swung Wrath fiercely with one arm.

Fwoosh!

Black flames burnt the bullet-like blood.

"KaRAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaa!!"

The middle-aged woman stood up again despite almost splitting into two; she ran toward them again as she spun like a windmill.

"Shit! Why isn't she dying?!"

Yeon-Joo became enraged after almost getting hit by the bullet-like blood and ran at the middle-aged woman as she gritted her teeth.

Flutter.

Her white gown came off and dropped to the floor.

"

Gasp.

"

Kang-Woo's eyes widened. Yeon-Joo had been wearing a purple one-piece swimsuit under the white gown; it was swimwear worn by competitive swimmers. Although there was little exposure, it was the best kind of swimsuit on her because of her slim body.

'Fighting in a swimsuit?! Is this a DLC?'

"You—" Yeon-Joo raced through the hallway in her swimsuit. "—FUCKING HYDRA!!!"

Slam!

Yeon-Joo shot forward like a bullet and dropkicked the middle-aged woman.

Bash!! Boom! Boom! Boom!

The woman tumbled across the floor like a rock skipping on a water surface.

"Kaaaaaaaa......."

The ragged middle-aged woman collapsed as she groaned lifelessly.

"Looks like she's not immortal," said Kang-Woo as he looked down at the collapsed woman.

He wondered if the woman was immortal like himself after seeing her rampaging, full of energy like a tiger after eating Frosted Flakes, but that, fortunately, did not seem to be the case.

"Shit! What the fuck was that?"

Yeon-Joo frowned as she wiped the blood off her feet with the white gown.

"No idea." Kang-Woo shook his head.

He had never seen or heard about someone vomiting blood and becoming a monster from nightmares.

"Kang-Woo! What's going on?!"

"My king, we heard a monstrous screech. Did something happen?"

Seol-Ah and Lilith came out of the suite room soon after.

"Well..."

Kang-Woo concisely explained what happened but there wasn't much to explain since he wasn't sure what happened either.

"I should examine the corpse."

Kang-Woo approached the middle-aged woman's corpse and activated the Authority of Insight. Just like earlier at the pool, he couldn't feel any energy like demonic energy or sacred power from it.

"Could this be... drug or disease-related then?"

Kang-Woo shook his head. "No, I might just not be able to detect it."

He couldn't take this lightly since it had happened to two people. He needed to take into account the possibility that an unknown power caused the two women to die.

'But who?'

He had no idea whose power could birth such horrifying monsters without being detected by the Authority of Insight.

"Huuu," Kang-Woo sighed, his mind jumbled. Just then, he thought of something. "Oh. Lilith, hand me the unconfirmed abnormal Gate phenomenon report again."

'Yes, my king."

Lilith reached into her white gown and took out a fist-sized crystal orb.

'The unconfirmed abnormal Gate phenomenon detected in Singapore a month ago.'

It could be related to why the woman suddenly died and turned into a monster.

"A new Gate was detected by the coast of Singapore on July 16th, 03:00. Based on investigations, we confirmed that a lifeform less than ten centimeters long came out of the Gate and went into hiding..." Kang-Woo read.

"Unfortunately, we failed to discover the lifeform."

"Hence why it's unconfirmed." Kang-Woo clicked his tongue. It was impossible to correlate the two incidents based on this information alone. "First, we should contact the lobby and get them to clean up this corpse—"

"Kang-Woo, Kang-Woo," Echidna called.

"Huh?"

"Doesn't it kinda feel like we're in a zombie movie?"

"A zombie movie...?" Kang-Woo frowned.

Echidna, hiding behind Kang-Woo as if she were scared of the mangled corpse, stole glances at the corpse and continued, "Yeah. Corpses start getting up and running at you in zombie movies."

"Oh, I've seen a few movies like that."

Kang-Woo could count the number of films he had watched in his life with his fingers but he had seen zombie films where they got up and attacked people.

"A zombie movie, huh...?"

As Echidna mentioned, the way the middle-aged woman's corpse turned into a monster and attacked them made her feel like a zombie.

'But zombies usually move like sloths in movies.'

The middle-aged woman had gotten on all fours face-up and displayed extraordinary agility, even crawling along the wall. Not only that, but she was persistent enough to move as if nothing had happened even after she was split in half.

"We'd be fucked if this were a zombie movie," said Kang-Woo as he chuckled. "Huh...? Wait, a zombie movie?"

He felt like he had forgotten something crucial; chills ran down his back as if he had accidentally thrown away a puzzle piece.

"Echidna, do you remember the person we saw at the department store this morning?"

"Yup."

"She was just drunk... right?"

"...?"

The crucial point of zombie films wasn't that corpses could move.

"Oh Kang-Woo... this woman is the person who got covered in blood at the pool, isn't she?" asked Yeon-Joo, her voice trembling as if she had also figured it out.

"..."

"..."

The alpha and omega of zombie films— it wasn't only that the zombie virus caused corpses to come back to life, but that it was

contagious

.

Boom—!!

An ear-splitting explosion rang. It didn't come from the hotel but from outside.

"Shit!"

Kang-Woo punched a giant hole in the hallway wall and examined the situation outside.

"This is..."

Flames and smoke had engulfed the department store next to the hotel and people were running out of the building, but only for a moment.

"KaraaaaaaaaaaaaaAAA!!"

Monsters on all fours face-up were attacking the running civilians.

Crunch! Crunch!

They devoured flesh and bit through bone. The people died without being able to put up any resistance. No, to be more exact, they

were

dead.

"KururaaaAAAaaaa!!!"

The victims convulsed soon after and became monsters themselves after vomiting blood. They then chased after the survivors. One of the most beautiful cities in the world had become a battlefield in a flash. The zombies, boasting extraordinary speed and agility unlike zombies in films, were multiplying as they attacked people without giving them a chance to resist.

"What... the fuck?"

Kang-Woo trembled as he looked down at the city in chaos. The issue went far past the pool; his first family trip— the heart-pounding trip with his lovers had been dyed in blood.

"A-Aaaahh... M-My trip... our bath..."

"Shit! Seol-Ah! Lilith unnie! Let's change out of our swimsuits first! You too, Echidna!"

"O-Okay!" Seol-Ah nodded as she clenched her white gown.

Kang-Woo turned around in surprise.

"Y-You're changing?"

"Of course we fucking are! Do you expect us to fight in our swimsuits?! We need our weapons and equipment too!" shouted Yeon-Joo exasperatedly.

'Ah..."

Kang-Woo reached out lifelessly toward the women entering their rooms to change.

"Hmm... what a shame." Lilith sighed in disappointment. "I believe it was called a slingshot? I picked out a super~ erotic bikini that you would love, but it seems now isn't the time."

"..."

"I'll show you next time, my king."

Lilith entered her room to change like the others.

"..."

Kang-Woo was left alone in the hallway as screams echoed throughout the burning city.

"A-Aaaahh." His sense of reason was burning along with the city, being replaced by immense resentment. "I-It's over."

He had lost everything— his peaceful family trip, his wonderful time at the pool, and even the lovey-dovey time they were about to spend in the bath. Nothing was left.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

Surging rage! Destructive resentment! Chaos! Ruin!

Kang-Woo jumped from the hallway out into the city. He raised Wrath above his head as he fell from a height dozens of floors high.

"YOU DRAGOON MOTHERFUCKEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERS!!!"[1]

He ferociously swung down Wrath at the monsters on all fours.

1. A dragoon is a quadrupedal assault walker in

Starcraft

. ☜