TL/Editor: Butter Cat
Status: 4/week mon-thurs
Illustrations: none
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〈 Chapter 104 〉 888. The Chapter of the Zombie and the Girl (The End)
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The ones who should live are dead, and the ones who should be dead are alive.
That, in and of itself, is irrational (? illogical).
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Hee-ah's appearance as she opened the door was horrifying.
She was practically naked, with only a few scraps of cloth dangling from her shoulders and waist as the last traces of once-worn clothing, leaving her as bare as the day she was born.
The child's body, which until just days ago had been pure white and flawless without a single scar, now had bites and tears everywhere, with the tendons and flesh that should have been hidden beneath the skin now gruesoly exposed.
That horrific sight was enough to shatter the hopes I had been clinging to, my prayers for the child to return safely.
['....■■■, ■■■■.....']
Creak, creak, and a groan.
As if soone was forcibly twisting a doll’s limbs beyond their limits, in the opposite direction they were ant to bend.
While Hee-ah took small steps toward us, sounds that should never emanate from a human body were flowing out in succession from various parts of her body.
—Tap.
"—Hiiik!?"
A gasp from behind , whose it was I don’t know.
Was it Jung-eun, or Yeon-ah. I couldn’t tell.
Patches of blood, dried into a dark crimson hue, were spattered all over Hee-ah’s body.
"....Shit, shit, shit, shit."
"S-Sunbae?! What, what, what should I, wh-what should I do?"
Thud, thunk.
From behind, I heard the sound of two wooden clubs falling to the concrete floor.
Glancing back, I saw Yeon-ah and Jung-eun had dropped the clubs they had been holding until just a mont ago. Their hands were trembling uncontrollably, flailing in midair as though they couldn’t figure out what else to do.
It was a reflexive act, because they couldn’t bring themselves to aim a weapon at Hee-ah, of all people.
In their eyes, as they looked at Hee-ah, there was only unconcealed horror and confusion.
And it wasn't any different for .
—Tremble, tremble.
"........"
I, too, couldn't stop my hands from shaking like this.
I knew better than anyone that we should be doing sothing instead of just standing around like this.
Whether it ant greeting that child warmly for miraculously returning all by herself over such a distance, or embracing the child whose entire body was now covered in wounds.
I, we, had to do sothing. Anything.
But none of that was possible for us.
Holding her in our arms, nursing her wounds, and ultimately—turning her back into a human, all of it.
With our ager abilities, it was impossible.
—Click.
"....Hee-ah."
I bit my lip.
Our hands, simply grasping at the air, accomplishing nothing.
We couldn’t do anything, one way or another, and we didn’t even know what we should do. The pathetic flailing of humans.
That pitiful gesture resembled the helpless flailing of soone who’d fallen into the vast ocean, unable to grab onto anything to support their weight.
The only sensation that t those hands was the touch of cold seawater as it slipped away, mocking their struggle.
Not even a straw could be grasped.
It was cruel.
Faced with this horrific reality that can only be described as cruel, I wanted to run and demand answers from soone, anyone.
Be it God, Buddha, or the Devil.
Why couldn’t this child be allowed to rest peacefully even in death.
Why was it that child, and not , who ended up like this, through no fault of her own.
Did you hate that child, whose only trait was being kind and gentle, that much.
As my heart was consud by that gut-wrenching agony, I despaired.
If my lips, which refused to move, could have made a sound, perhaps I would have scread.
If my eyes could shed more than tears, perhaps I would have shed blood.
A despair and emptiness like none I had ever felt before, infinite in depth, consuming everything in its path.
—Thud.
"I'm so, sorry."
There, in front of her, I finally sank to my knees.
On the inside, I even thought that such an end wouldn’t be so bad.
Perhaps, in my heart, I was already convinced this was the logical outco.
Rather than quietly waiting to die in a room sowhere, it seed more fitting to be killed by the very child we had killed ourselves.
If that could be so form of atonent toward her.
If Hee-ah over there could free herself of resentnt through this.
Wouldn't that be better, I thought.
—Step, step.
['.....■■■, ■.']
"It must have hurt so much, didn’t it? Hee-ah."
Before I knew it, Hee-ah was right in front of .
The distance between and Hee-ah, who had been standing before everyone else there, rapidly closed. The shadow she cast beneath the sun now fully enveloped .
At that distance where I could clearly see every small detail of Hee-ah’s body.
I saw the strange green ooze I had seen countless tis on the zombies, slowly trickling from the child’s mouth.
But unlike the usual thick sli of other zombies, this fluid was thinner, almost watery.
It was slowly leaking out of Hee-ah’s mouth, reminiscent of blood.
—Tap.
And then, one last step.
['...■, ■.']
".........."
Finally, my entire field of vision was filled by Hee-ah.
Hee-ah, now right in front of , slowly started to stretch both her arms out wide, as though to engulf .
Her arms moved slowly, almost leisurely.
Even though she looked weak enough that I could have fought her off at any mont, I simply remained on my knees, waiting desperately for the punishnt to co.
Swish──
['.........']
And finally, Hee-ah’s mouth opened, ever so cautiously.
Inside were razor-sharp teeth, inching toward my neck.
This was the end that had finally arrived.
The death I had been waiting for.
'Hwa-min unnie, I──'
What Hee-ah is carrying out—
'───I feel sorry for them.'
"Ah-"
──Revenge?
And at that mont.
The conversation I had with Hee-ah in the middle of the night suddenly ca to mind in my head.
Could this truly be what Hee-ah wanted to do?
…Yes, I, we, had killed Hee-ah. That was true.
It was an undeniable, irrefutable truth.
I deserved to die.
*Do you really think Hee-ah hates you?*
…For anyone else, it would be more than enough reason to hate.
It would be understandable to be angry and demand, *Why did you abandon ?*
This was just how it was.
*Isn’t it possible that it’s not Hee-ah who hates you, but rather you who hates yourself?*
….
I did not answer.
*That sweet child, you think she hates you enough to kill you?*
….
Did not, answer.
*Do you think Hee-ah is that kind of child?*
No.
*No, she's not.*
Right. You know her well.
…I know too
Because, you see──
Because──
"───There’s no way Hee-ah would ever think like that!!"
I could say it without a doubt.
That there’s no way Hee-ah would do this.
She was always a kind child who thought of others before herself.
She was a child who worried late into the night, lest she beco a burden to us, a child who suffered alone without ever showing her struggles.
She was a child who, even as she was being devoured by zombies in our place, smiled at until the very end.
And you’re saying that child wishes for us to die?
That Hee-ah wants to kill us?
Ha.
──There’s no way.
If Hee-ah truly wished for our deaths, I’d willingly die a hundred tis over.
If she demanded why we’d abandoned her and thus condemned our sins, I’d die a thousand tis over.
But this wasn’t it.
This isn’t right.
The only thing on my mind right now is one thing.
To make sure that Hee-ah, who might still be watching us from inside that body, wouldn’t commit any more sins.
To not burden Hee-ah once again with just our pathetic reason of wanting to be comfortable.
'───If that happens, I'll stop you, Hee-ah.'
'....Heehee. Okay. I'm counting on you, Hwa-min unnie.'
Those were the very words of the promise we made.
The world flickered before my eyes, as if film fras were skipping and breaking.
When I ca to, I found that my hand was clutching a wooden club that had been rolling nearby.
It was undoubtedly the one that Yeon-ah or Jung-eun had dropped earlier, its end sharpened to a point.
The scene shifted abruptly, and in the next fra, my eyes saw Hee-ah, her cloudy eyes staring down at with both arms spread wide.
"────────"
I murmured.
That I'm sorry.
That it’s okay to curse .
That I'll gladly accept this punishnt.
Will I go to hell, I wonder?
…Haha, so what if I do.
I’m already in hell as it is.
What’s one more sin, it won’t change anything.
So, so Hee-ah───
───Please, don’t forgive .
─Thwack.
"───Uaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!"
I thrust the club at Hee-ah.
The world around flickered again, everything darkening to black.
My heart, in this mont, was filled with a sense of duty to stop Hee-ah from doing anything she might regret.
For Hee-ah, I will kill Hee-ah.
That was it, exactly.
And then──
"Ah."
──Thwack!
Along with a sound and sensation like piercing soft clay.
Green ooze flew onto my face.
**
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