Absolute Dweller-Chapter 175

Park Sae-rom immediately pressed the stop recording button the moment the stranger appeared.

Then, she turned the phone's screen light toward the direction of the voice.

"Ugh?"

The man flinched at the sudden light, but only for a brief moment.

"You—You!"

Seeing the smartphone in Park Sae-rom's hand, the man panicked and lunged toward her.

The sight of a man, far larger than herself, rushing at her in the darkness could have been straight out of a horror movie. But Park Sae-rom remained calm.

"Hey, Bixby."

Galaxy phones had a rather amusing feature.

Ding—♪

"Lumos."

A famous spell from a well-known novel.

Flash!

Just like that, the flashlight turned on.

"Argh!"

A burst of light, far brighter than the phone screen, struck the man’s eyes. Instinctively, he raised his arms to shield himself.

And then.

"......!"

He felt a chilling sensation at his neck and opened his eyes.

"From now on, only answer what I ask."

Even as cold sweat dripped down his back from Park Sae-rom’s icy voice, the man still had something to say.

"D-Destroy that phone! Right now—!"

"What?"

"I-If you don’t, everyone will die. Everyone will die!"

Even though his life was on the line, the desperate look on the man's face made Park Sae-rom hesitate.

"Why do I need to destroy this phone?" she asked.

"Break it, now! You have to—!"

The moment the man, flustered, reached out his hand, she hooked her foot around his leg and tripped him, pinning him down completely.

"Argh! Let me go!"

He struggled violently, but it was useless.

Even if Park Sae-rom was on the weaker side among the Awakened, she was still leagues beyond an ordinary person who had yet to gain any abilities.

The difference in physical ability due to level alone was overwhelming.

"Quit the nonsense and answer me. Why do I need to destroy this phone?" she pressed.

"...Because the screen is made of glass."

Park Sae-rom frowned, confused.

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"...You really just got here, didn't you?"

"......."

She didn’t respond, but her silence was enough of an answer.

The man, now a bit calmer, began to plead with her.

"Please! It’s not too late. Break that phone now! If you don’t, the shadow creatures will come here soon!"

"...Shadow creatures."

She instantly understood what he meant.

After all, she had been fighting them just moments ago.

'They appear where there’s glass?'

Now that she thought about it, Gwangju U-Square was littered with shattered glass fragments.

'Is that why those monsters showed up?'

Park Sae-rom glanced down at her phone, deep in thought.

The monsters she had fought at U-Square hadn’t been particularly dangerous.

The only real issue was their numbers constantly increasing, which was annoying but not difficult to deal with.

Even their explosive trait upon death wasn’t much of a problem as long as she was prepared—she could simply avoid them using shadow movement.

That said...

'...It wouldn’t hurt to be cautious.'

There was ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ no reason to take unnecessary risks after making it this far.

The man had been rambling incoherently, but she had already recorded everything she needed.

'Inventory.'

Vwoom—

As she stored the smartphone in her inventory, the light disappeared, plunging the surroundings back into darkness.

But unlike before, she didn’t feel uneasy.

After all, she had confirmed that her connection to Kim Jae-hyun remained intact.

"Mister, from what I see—"

"Turning off the phone isn’t enough! You have to break the screen!"

"Oh, for fuck’s sake."

A harsh curse slipped from Park Sae-rom’s lips, and the burly man clamped his mouth shut.

He could clearly feel the difference in strength between them while being completely restrained.

"I’ve handled the phone, so don’t worry about it. Now, you seem to know a lot about this place. Tell me everything you know."

"What—?"

"Oh, don’t worry. I’m not asking you to do it for free."

She got off him and pulled a can of cola and a chocolate bar from her inventory.

Then, still crouching beside him, she pressed the cold cola can against his cheek.

"Ugh?"

He flinched in surprise, quickly raising his head.

Park Sae-rom smirked.

"Ah, this? This is called cola."

"...What?"

"And this is a chocolate bar."

Right in front of the confused man—

Tsss—

She casually popped open the cola can, lifted it to her lips, and took several big gulps.

Then—

"Burp—!"

She let out a satisfied belch.

Holding out the half-empty can toward him, she asked, "Want some?"

Unlike her, whose heightened senses allowed her to perceive her surroundings even in complete darkness, the man still needed light.

Tsssk—

Pulling out a lighter from his pocket, he flicked it on, and the darkness receded, revealing their surroundings.

The man, now able to see properly, was startled twice.

First, by how much smaller Park Sae-rom looked than he had imagined.

And second, by the can of cola in her hand.

'C-Could it be real?'

He hesitated but ultimately couldn’t refuse the cola she offered.

After all, he hadn’t eaten anything in days.

Taking the can, he tightly shut his eyes and took a deep swig.

Gulp, gulp—

The instant the liquid hit his tongue, the sharp carbonation and intense sweetness overwhelmed his senses.

The fizziness tingled against his throat as the cola flowed down.

The sensation was so unfamiliar yet nostalgic that his throat burned slightly, but even that felt like bliss.

Before he knew it, the entire can was empty.

"Haa, huff... Hic!"

And then, suddenly—

He began to sob.

"Eh? It—it’s not that good, is it...?"

Park Sae-rom understood.

She knew exactly how amazing that cola tasted.

After all, when she first met Kim Geon and received a can of cola and a chocolate bar, she, too, had felt an overwhelming sense of loyalty.

'But was it really enough to make someone cry?'

As she awkwardly watched the burly man weep—

Thud!

He suddenly dropped to his knees and bowed his head at her feet.

Then, trembling, he pleaded.

"Please, I beg you! Hic... My family and others are on the other side! They’ve been starving for days, and people are dying! I’ll tell you everything I know! So please, please, share your food with us!"

Seeing the tears streaming down his face, she realized something.

He wasn’t crying because of the taste of cola.

He was crying because, for the first time in a long while—

He felt like he might actually survive.

'...I know that feeling all too well.'

She still remembered it vividly.

That moment in Ulsan, when the entire office filled up with food.

How could she forget?

It was the feeling of barely escaping death.

Every little detail of that moment had been burned into her memory.

She, too, had once broken down and wept like that.

Even now, if she wanted, she could recall every word she had said back then, along with the exact expression Kim Geon had worn as he looked at her.

‘So that’s why... that’s why he made that face.’

Only now did she understand why Kim Geon had looked at her like that back then.

‘I must have looked... so pitiful.’

Pity.

Sympathy.

And guilt.

Park Sae-rom looked at the man and spoke.

"I'm sorry. For coming too late."

***

Song Tae-young.

Hope surged within him.

While scouring for food, avoiding the monsters’ sight, he had been incredibly lucky to run into this woman—his own personal lottery ticket.

Honestly, even just that single chocolate bar she had given him was an enormous gain.

‘I don’t know how much food she’ll give me, so I have to save this for Jisoo and Jihyun.’

Just the thought of feeding his two daughters made his chest swell with emotion.

"This place... you’re saying it’s the world inside a mirror?"

"Yes. We can't be certain, but that’s the conclusion we've come to."

Even as they walked, the woman kept asking him for information.

"Before you entered this world, did you happen to look into a mirror? It doesn’t have to be a mirror exactly. Glass, or even the screen of your phone—any reflective surface could have been the cause."

"Ah... so that’s why..."

The woman seemed to have come to a realization about something.

The silence between them didn’t last long.

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"Then, if that’s the case, wouldn’t it be possible to leave this world through such a surface?"

"......We’ve tested that theory before. To cut to the conclusion—it’s impossible."

"I see."

"Moreover, any intact mirror or glass is always accompanied by monsters. No matter how well you hide, if there’s glass, the monsters will emerge from the darkness. The only way to prevent their appearance is to shatter every last piece."

"So that’s why you tried to break my phone earlier."

"......I truly apologize for that."

The relentless barrage of questions.

Song Tae-young was starting to grow anxious.

"Do you have any guesses as to how we can get out of here?"

"...There are a few possibilities."

His stock of information was running dry.

"What are they?"

"One is to reach the boundary at the end of the city. There’s a rumor that this mirror world has an edge."

Even as he shared all the information he knew as sincerely as possible, he was afraid.

Would this woman really keep her promise?

Would she really share food with his family and the others?

No—did she even have any food to begin with?

She had been generous enough to give him cola and a chocolate bar, but even she couldn’t have an infinite supply.

‘She doesn’t even have a backpack...’

Honestly, with how lightly equipped she was, it was hard to believe she had much more food.

At most, she might have another chocolate bar or two.

‘Still, I have to be grateful.’

Thanks to the chocolate bar she had given him, at least his two daughters would suffer a little less from hunger.

‘Even if we get food, we won’t last much longer anyway.’

All he wanted was for his children to have something delicious to eat before he died.

That was why.

That was why he was answering all her questions so honestly.

But perhaps he had been too lost in thought while moving.

Or maybe it was because he was too anxious and moving too hastily.

Screeech!

He had failed to avoid the gaze of the shadow monsters.

‘No!’

From above, shadow monsters swooped down toward them.

The creatures had the forms of massive birds, larger than grown men.

The shattered glass fragments scattered on the ground reflected the faint light, making the monsters’ silhouettes all too clear.

Seeing the monsters rapidly descending, Song Tae-young closed his eyes, accepting his fate.

But then—

Boom—!

Something exploded in the air.

When he opened his eyes—

Boom! Boom!

One by one, the shadow monsters were bursting apart.

‘W-What the hell?’

Strangely enough, he knew exactly what was happening.

‘The monsters... are dying?’

As far as he knew, there was only one person capable of such a thing.

‘Juseok?’

Their leader, who possessed a mysterious ability.

This was exactly what he had witnessed when Juseok fought against the monsters.

The very reason they had been able to survive until now.

But—

‘Juseok... died a week ago.’

He had seen it with his own eyes.

Juseok had been caught in the explosion of a shadow monster, his body completely obliterated.

‘Then what the hell is this...?’

And yet, there was no sign of the laser Juseok had once fired from his fingertips.

Boom!

The shadow monsters were simply detonating mid-air, as if torn apart by an unseen force.

Then—

"Hah!"

Just as one of the shadow monsters lunged at him, almost within striking distance—

Shlck!

A woman sprang from the creature’s back, driving a black dagger straight into its nape.

And right before it exploded—

Tsk!

The woman stepped in front of him.

Boom!

Surprisingly, even as the explosion went off, the woman remained unscathed.

Shocked, his legs gave out, and Song Tae-young collapsed onto the ground.

The shadow monsters that had been attacking them had all been wiped out.

Even their formidable leader, Han Juseok, had never been able to dispatch the monsters this quickly.

Nor had he ever remained so completely unharmed after taking them down.

"Are you okay, mister?"

It took only a moment to understand.

The woman standing before him now—

"Mister? What’s wrong? Are you hurt somewhere?"

—was a force incomparably stronger than Han Juseok had ever been.

‘If it’s her...!’