Chapter.4 Eyelids (7)
***
Thump thump thump
‘Large bell. It’s so heavy that it makes the thick stone floor vibrate.’
Crack, crack, crack! Crack!
‘Medium size. A light sound that moves as fast as a bow. Insect type. As well as the praying mantis from earlier, it looks like a lot of insect-type entities came to this attack.’
In fact, it is true that at this time, the majority are simply infected level 8 individuals or level 7 individuals that use insects or rodents as their templates. Since it is the easiest gene to obtain, it will have been a long time since the Queen fully digested it. However, if a tunnel was drilled…
‘Failface. Level 6. Special species. It seems that the mutes in this world are operated by a small number of elites.’
This guy looks like a giant earthworm wearing a white mask. The white mask has developed front jaws, and all it does is use its two large jaws to dig into the ground. It is occasionally seen digging into tunnels like this, but it is not a big threat.
In most cases, they just enter the cave because they know how to dig, but the cave collapses and they are buried alive.
It’s such a useless subject and consumes so little resources that it doesn’t appear often until a highly intelligent command-type entity appears on the mute side.
‘Resources, so if there was enough game provided to the queen, they would have just flocked to it. However, due to Edeorna’s hunting failure, the queen starved and troop production was disrupted. In that situation, when there aren’t enough resources to expand the nest’s artificial womb, you can’t believe they’re increasing special species like that king earthworm.’
This makes it clear. The queen is currently using her troops very sparingly. Even if it’s a cave that can collapse at any time, it won’t collapse that easily if a small force passes by. This method was used to infiltrate the city and force them to retreat if necessary.
‘It’s not an idea that a queen who is just growing up would do… ‘Did a sense of crisis promote the development of intelligence?’
It was something that was still unknown.
thud! thud! thud!!
The big guy’s footsteps got closer and closer.
Squeak-Quaeng!
‘The sound of an iron gate falling. ‘It’s my room.’
In the bathtub, the professor prayed earnestly. Please go….. Please just go….
“Sniff sniff grrr grrr ugh.”
The guy who had been sniffing in front of the fallen door came inside.
thud! thud!
“Grrr.”
Shake!
The bathtub lid was opened. The professor lay still in the bathtub like a corpse, without even blinking.
“Sniff sniff- really? Oh no. Boo.”
Furry.
thud! thud. Boom….
The guy who smelled the bathtub for a moment tilted his head, put the bathtub lid, and started walking away.
‘also. It had a similar effect on a living one!’
A bathtub full of Mute’s blood. When I was immersed in Mute’s blood, the infectious agent in my body also became quiet.
‘The only way for Mute, who gathers all kinds of creatures and have different body odors, etc., to distinguish between allies, is the infection factor they all have in common!’
So, without hesitation, I jumped into the bathtub. Every time he tries to run away, even if he is a guy who specializes in searching outside, he will just go straight to the goal.
‘I’m fighting in here until I can’t hear anything.’
It was a bit uncomfortable as it wasn’t clean water, but there was no discomfort in holding my breath, perhaps due to my affinity for water-based mana. If you watch the situation like this and become quiet-
[You’ve loved hiding since you were little.]
‘!!!’
A sweet scent that seems to be injected directly into the brain. The voice of a young boy whispering mockingly and mockingly. It’s him.
[He was a child with many problems. He doesn’t get along well with other kids, and of course, boys his age are crazy about things like secret bases, but yours was even worse.] His
voice became clearer than before. Now he no longer stuttered or said anything unintelligible. It really felt like I was talking to another person inside my head.
The professor had thought a lot about this situation since his first encounter with it. In a special situation where a long time has passed since the entire body was infected except for the head, Edeorna’s infection agent made individual action possible. The behavior of a man who constantly brings up his trauma, first in nightmares and then in his subconscious.
‘This conversation itself is an ongoing process of mental contamination.’
I couldn’t understand how this happened or why this was included in the game, but one thing was certain. In reality, the trap in GG that led to the death of countless players was exactly the same type as this. If so, you must fight back. It’s looking for a way to weaken my consciousness and sneak in. If you don’t waver, that’s it.
‘Resolutely. As if it was nothing. ‘Agari Fighting is my specialty again’
[Oh, be scared. But there’s something misunderstanding, and I’m not specifically against you, right?]
‘If it was a joke, it’s 3 digits. Of course, it’s a perfect score of 100. ‘I guess I just skimmed through the part related to the joke in my head?’
Giggling.
It’s an eerie laugh no matter when you hear it. Although I couldn’t see it, I could naturally tell. The guy was having fun now.
[No, I’m serious. I am now enjoying the freedom of being an independent entity for the first time in my life. While I was finished with the existence of a mother, it felt like I was taking a confession drug and shaking off my dark history. My mother really…. Oh, I’m sorry. I wasn’t delicate enough. You don’t have a mother?]
….This bastard?
‘….I guess it’s because I was born not long ago, so I don’t really have any manners even if I wash my eyes and look around.’
[hmm···. Politeness is a set of restrictions on various actions in order to maintain relationships with others, right? Are you and I not strangers? professor. Take it easy. Like I’m only wearing underwear at home.]
Damn it. Someone who knows everything about me. No matter how I say it, I can feel myself being drawn into the atmosphere over there.
‘Okay, let’s say you’re not against me. So what has been attacking me over the past few days? The infection agent below the head is already under your control. If you wanted to, you could calm them down and you wouldn’t be chopped up like a butcher’s treasure trove, right? When you fell asleep after being hit by old Isaac, you were the one who had that strange nightmare, right? What are you doing by making modifications like that? Aren’t you against me? ‘Do you think I’ll believe that?’
[Ah, that?]
Giggling…giggling, giggling-
Red eyes with thin arcs visible through closed eyelids. Pure white teeth. It’s a guy. The guy laughed and said as if he couldn’t stand it anymore.
[Oh, of course, there is a reason to explain everything. Now, look?]
Wiggle!
‘This is…’
My fingers move against my will. It’s hard, like I’m stuck somewhere, but slowly. The index and middle fingers are bent.
[The infectious agent is basically a single-celled organism. Even though I am the consciousness that grew in the head of the professor who was taken over by Edeorna, who was born from my mother, I cannot directly control the infection agent firmly embedded in the center of my consciousness through my mother’s commands. All I can do is slightly encourage them to move in the direction they were originally going to move and move these two fingers in your head?]
Softly
, softly. The professor was disgusted as he watched his right finger twitching as if greeting him in an opaque solution. I felt this heat. When I applied strength to my hand, my fingers were moving according to the professor’s will again, as if they had never done so before.
[Um, ah, I can’t stand it. I wanted to slow it down more. Secrets are such a fun thing.]
‘What?’
Giggling.
The red-eyed vision came so close that I could feel its breath. For some reason, his arms and legs had been growing in black smoke.
[Actually, it’s all just an excuse. I just did it because it was fun.]
‘…What?’
[It was so interesting to see how the self-consciousness that considered oneself to be solid collapsed like a sand castle swept by waves with just a single word. The feeling of dominating someone, the feeling that I know everything about that person and can hold it in my hand and shake it! It was so much fun! Your consciousness curled up like a baby! The way he picks up his broken emotions and tries to build them up again as strong as before! How sad!]
Joy. A feeling of pure joy filled my mind. I could feel what he felt. The sound of a guy who is truly happy that I am falling apart.
It is evil. It was truly a purely evil creature.
Suddenly,
the emotions that had been running wild for a moment quieted down as if they had been cut with a knife.
[That’s why it is like that. That’s how I came today as well.]
Grumbling –
my body suddenly became itchy so much that I couldn’t stand it. Just like the pain you feel when an infectious agent first invades your body.
[I encouraged the guys below as much as possible. It’ll be okay while you’re in here, but the moment you leave, it’ll instantly come into your head and turn you into an idiot.]
‘Why on earth… why are you doing this? If that was possible, then why did I have to wait until now….’
Giggling.
[I told you, right? Did you say it was fun?]
Crackling, crackling –
A small, old TV appeared in the pitch-black space of consciousness where it was just the guy and I.
[Since we are in a game, let’s play a game with me.]
‘What…’
[‘Hold on for a long time’. not a big deal. On this screen, you will see memories that I carefully selected from your memory. If you maintain the same rationality after seeing it all, you win. I will suppress the infectious agent as much as I can. I’ll shut up if you want.]
I didn’t want to see it. However, even when I closed my eyes and turned my head, the screen followed me as if it were fixed in front of my eyes.
‘What if I can’t hold on?’
[I can’t believe I’m already weak! 1 point deduction. Hmm, just because you can’t stand it, I’m not going to do anything.]
Giggling,
giggling,
the guy who dragged a small wooden chair from somewhere sat in front of the screen, leaned his hands behind his head, and said.
[No matter what I do, this body will be mine from then on.]
P-It –
The screen of the old TV turned on and an image that seemed to have been shot on old film appeared.
The professor couldn’t look away from the screen. Because it was a chronicle of his sins that had been festering inside him for a long time.
***
The war ended as suddenly as it had begun.
I don’t know what happened, but I think the commanders on the battlefield realized it at some point. That the orders coming from above are no longer for lofty ideals or something bigger, but are simply for dissolving accumulated hatred. The last orders I heard were to hold on to our current position and annihilate the enemy according to the situation on the ground. Same thing three times in a row.
I didn’t have that many expectations while returning home. I stopped by with the thought that the only thing left to remember my father was a gas mask, so when I go home, there would be something left to remember my mother as well. Although the building was built in a heap of fashion, it was still a shelter, so it must not have completely collapsed.
And there I received an unexpected gift.
dump.
“mother?”
“…You’ve grown a lot in two years. “My son knows how to call me mother.”
“Oh mom!”
My father and I were conscripted one after the other and my mother was left alone. My mother, who I thought had already died as she watched life disappear like a toy on the battlefield and the civilian residential area devastated, was there, looking much thinner but stronger than before. In the middle of a wasteland shelter with nothing left around.
My mother, who ran a bakery before the war, learned how to make shell casings by pouring molten copper into molds within two years. I couldn’t imagine what kind of life my mother lived during the tribulation that destroyed the world.
[It was a good time. Umm, I feel nostalgic.]
That’s how my mother and I went on with our lives. We fortified the shelter and gathered necessary items from the surrounding area. When I told him the news of my father’s death, my mother didn’t say anything, but when I saw her secretly hugging my father’s clothes and crying at night, I felt like I had to protect my mother in my father’s place. Fortunately, the skills learned in the 14th Special Operations Division were extremely useful in making a living in the wasteland.
Especially when it comes to killing people..
***
“Mom, think again. “DOM is the only group in this rotten world that is trying to uphold the standards of law and justice!”
“My son’s mother has said it many times, but there are people who say such superficial things and don’t have their backs? “I guess they don’t know because it’s only been a month since you came to the wasteland, but they…”
“I also saw everything there was to see and not see in the military! I know everything! “The two of us can’t live like this forever!”
“…What if we two live together….”
I was becoming more violent by the day. Every time I killed someone, cut into their flesh with a knife and covered them with blood, I made up excuses that I had no choice but to survive, but I knew that those who were already dead were just like me. I suffered from nightmares every night, and my anxiety symptoms got worse as time went by.
It was from then on that I became interested in domes. Their words of rebuilding the civilization of the past and the sense of security and belonging of being able to receive orders from someone were very tempting. If I go to a safe place, I won’t have to kill anyone again. Working like ordinary people, just like the old days…
So one day, my mother collapsed from sepsis after being injured outside, and I carried her on my back and moved to the dome. They knew about my military background and welcomed me and my mother.
Everything seemed to be back to normal. A small but neat officetel located in the middle of the Upper Dome city center. Fresh air without a speck of dust thanks to the city-level semi-permeable shield generator that was in the experimental stage before the war. A place where you can see people smiling.
Just one thing. Only my mother could not return to normal. At my request, doctors sent directly from the dome injected my mother with antibiotics and took various measures, but she was still unconscious.
“We did everything we could. I guess… I wonder if the mutant virus is causing some kind of problem…”
Bang!
“So you’re saying my mother is dead?”
“No, he’s still alive. But I don’t know when it will happen… “I think we will have to continue to administer antibiotics and watch.”
“Damn it…”
Antibiotics were extremely expensive items, even in a dome that retained some form of past civilization. I had to pick up a gun and a knife again to save my mother, and I extended her life with the medicine I received through the blood of countless people.
[Chuckling, look at this wonderful narrative. How could I watch this alone…]
It had been almost two months since I had done it with the dome. Late at night, I felt a slight noise coming from the window. I, who had been busy with the ‘work’ I had been doing, was pointing a pistol at the intruder’s head who had climbed through the window before he could approach.
“…Your skills have improved a lot, Bobbong.”
“This voice is… Ruwil? “Are you from the 14th Special Operations Unit, Ruwil?”
Ruwil responded to my question by slowly pushing the muzzle of the gun away.
“It’s been a while. “It’s been about three or four months since I was discharged.”
“Because we made so many enemies. Scattered objects were less likely to be targeted than those that were clustered together. Nice to meet you, Ruwil. “It would have been icing on the cake if he had come knocking during the day.”
Despite being happy, he was a guy who secretly came to my house at night when no one was around. I killed too many people to just be happy about it, and the Luwil I met on the battlefield… was a master of infiltration and assassination.
Haaah.
Dull.
In the darkness without even moonlight, Ruwil’s cigarette followed him like an aiming point.
“….professor. “I heard a rumor that he is active as part of Dome’s powerful force.”
“I couldn’t help it. “Because I had to pay for my mother’s medicine.”
“Medicine… It’s medicine…”
Tuuk.
Ruwil took out a neatly organized folder from his arms.
“My business was simply to deliver this to you. “It was nice to meet you and I hope we never meet again.”
Sweet.
Ruwil, who was leaning out the back window of the house, hesitated for a moment and then spoke to me, who was still aiming his gun.
“…I couldn’t help it. I didn’t know she was your mother. “I have a daughter and a wife here.”
“for a moment. What does that mean? Luwill! wait! Ruwil Bartos!”
I hurriedly followed him and looked out the window, but I couldn’t even find a trace of Ruwil. The only file he left behind was left on the table.
I took out the folder, feeling anxious as if I was on the battlefield again.
‘Stop, please stop…’
[This kind of shell? Didn’t we talk about etiquette a few minutes ago? It’s not polite to go to the bathroom during the climax of a movie. Watch till the end. Your life.]
Sarah.
=======
Subject: Professor Park
Special Notes: Served in the 14th Special Extermination Operation Unit. He entered the workforce as a teenager and achieved remarkable results. His specialty is that he has been active in so many fields that it is impossible to pinpoint his specialty. He was responsible for all types of supplies and was recorded as being excellent both as an engineer and as a combatant. Also called Professor Bob, Bobbong Supplier, etc.
It is confirmed that the father died during the operation. It is believed that he moved to the dome to save his mother, who was suffering from sepsis. In face-to-face counseling, it was confirmed that the mother had a very negative attitude toward Dom.
Measures: Confirmed as a talented person needed by Dome in various fields. The mother was put to sleep by injecting D-36. Encourage them to purchase medicine, secure them financially, and then encourage them to build a positive relationship with someone by their side.
=======
I
turned over the documents one by one. Description of the drug D-36. The next chapter contains photos and personal details of people around me, and records of what was intercepted at home. Then, then, and then…! “What is
justice
? What is law?”
As I turned over each document, the tremors in my body became more and more severe. It was all a lie. I must help my mother get up, that I am working for the world, the friend I met at the bar, the woman who comforted me next to my fallen mother, and even this house! Everything!!
That night, I secretly left the dome carrying my mother. For some reason, the doors to the dome, which boasted tight security, were left open. In the wind of the wasteland, the tear stains turned into sand and hardened.
***
