The Devouring Genius of a Destroyed World-Chapter 44

Seongho watched Jang Hyungsu, who had been watching from a distance.

Jang Hyungsu had been glaring at him with a hostile expression for quite some time.

‘Seems like he was hoping the Scratcher would go after me…’

It looked like Jang Hyungsu had realized that the Scratcher only reacted to moving prey.

Seongho couldn’t help but laugh quietly at his futile efforts.

‘The Scratcher doesn’t move that erratically to begin with.’

The more the body trembles, the harder it is for the Scratcher to spot moving prey.

But the new victim didn’t realize the discrepancy, and like before, he couldn’t fight his fear and started to flee.

The Scratcher raised its arm as the awakened individual moved.

Seongho quickly dodged to the side just before the Scratcher’s arm fell, narrowly avoiding the invisible blades that swept through the spot where he had just stood. Another awakened individual screamed as his shoulder was severed.

"AAAH! AAH!"

Thanks to this, the Scratcher’s focus shifted entirely to him.

Jang Hyungsu moved quietly to the side as the Scratcher turned toward its new target.

The Scratcher noticed his movement, but only briefly.

It was more focused on the man on the ground, struggling with a bleeding shoulder, than on Jang Hyungsu, who had paused.

‘Seems like it figured out that it doesn’t chase after prey whose movement stops midway.’

Jang Hyungsu's sharp observational skills must have helped him deduce this, likely aided by his illusion ability.

As Seongho marveled at his observation, the Scratcher kept moving, gradually closing the distance between them.

Meanwhile, Jang Hyungsu, having sacrificed another victim to buy himself some time, began to move farther away.

Then, unexpectedly, he glanced back at Seongho, grinning widely.

It seemed he was satisfied with how the Scratcher had been left to Seongho.

"Try struggling your best," his eyes seemed to say.

Jang Hyungsu seemed confident that Seongho would die here.

Even if Seongho survived, he wouldn’t be able to move freely with the Scratcher so close.

He must have believed that Seongho wouldn’t be able to reach him.

Seongho, seeing Jang Hyungsu move farther away, extended his hand.

Just before Jang Hyungsu moved out of reach, his hand brushed the back of the Scratcher.

With a flash, the Scratcher collapsed with a loud thud.

In shock, Jang Hyungsu turned around and froze in place, rubbing his eyes in disbelief.

In the meantime, Seongho drew a blood-drinking dagger from his belt.

The target was the awakened individual whose entire shoulder had been severed.

Thunk.

The blade buried itself in the center of his forehead, and he collapsed immediately.

Seongho confirmed the death of his target before slamming his fist into the ground.

Seongho’s new form shot forward like a shell.

Jang Hyungsu, who had just regained his senses, began to run without looking back.

But instead of increasing the distance between them, it only grew smaller.

Unable to handle the tightening sense of anxiety, Jang Hyungsu looked over his shoulder.

Thwack!

Seongho struck his head with a heavy blow.

Jang Hyungsu tumbled to the ground with a sickening thud.

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Dazed from the blow, he couldn’t even gather himself as Seongho grabbed him by the collar.

“L- Let go…”

Jang Hyungsu tried to resist, but his weak hands slipped, unable to put up any meaningful struggle.

No one came to his rescue to prevent Seongho’s hands from tightening around his neck.

"Character (Jang Hyungsu) has died."

"You have interfered with the fate of the world."

"Fate intervention rewards have been granted."

"Please confirm your reward choices."

"You directly contributed to the death of character (Jang Hyungsu)."

"You have successfully hunted character (Jang Hyungsu)."

"Claim your reward."

After letting Jang Hyungsu’s lifeless body drop, Seongho exhaled deeply.

“Phew.”

It was a vague feeling, but even after doing this multiple times, it never seemed to get any easier.

Still, knowing it was something he had to get used to, he tried to act indifferent.

‘At least the Scratcher made things easier.’

Thanks to the Scratcher, the number of awakened individuals had been reduced significantly, and he hadn’t even had to use his puppet abilities, which wasn’t part of the original plan.

That’s why he could now fully understand the phrase from the second fortune cookie.

“Never thought the evolutionary zombie would count toward the victory number.”

5:12.

The numbers that didn’t make sense before now clearly pointed to the evolutionary zombies rather than Im Jiho.

With a light laugh, Seongho looked toward the campus.

Now, the only ones left were Kang Seongbae and Oh Jonghyuk, who had headed toward the broken defense wall.

Seongho, dragging Jang Hyungsu’s corpse with him, pulled out the blood-drinking dagger once more, ready to collect what he needed from the dead awakened.

‘About 28L left.’

Since 1L of blood was required to extend the blade by 10cm, it wasn’t much.

‘The Scratcher has only been awake for less than 20 minutes.’

Seongho was in a hurry, unsure of what Oh Jonghyuk might do, but he knew he had to gather the blood when he had the chance.

From Jang Hyungsu to the other awakened and even the relatively large Scratcher, Seongho proceeded to stab his dagger into each of them.

‘Time to move.’

Once the blood collection was done, Seongho left the daycare without a second thought.

How much time had passed since he entered the campus?

A ruckus could be heard from a side path on the left.

Among the noise, human screams mixed in.

It was likely civilians trapped by zombies, unable to leave due to the repairs on the wall.

Instead of helping them, Seongho pushed forward.

The people outside were those who had sided with the awakened, exploiting civilians in the process.

Even if they survived, they would only bring more conflict to the camp.

After dealing with a few zombies that popped up in front of him and running for about ten minutes, Seongho finally saw the Humanities and Social Sciences building in the distance.

Kaaah!

A loud roar shook the ground.

Seongho stopped dead in his tracks, staring at the direction of the sound. It came from the school.

It wasn’t a sound typical of a regular zombie.

With a nervous heart, he began moving forward again, when a large mirror appeared in the sky above.

“I found you! Seongho hyung!”

Jo Gyu-hyun, who had spotted Seongho, called out urgently.

“Ahhh! They’re chasing us!”

Seongho slammed the ground harder than before.

***

Near the Humanities and Social Sciences building, at the Seogang Elementary School playground.

Jo Gyu-hyun was watching the Scratcher’s one-sided massacre from there.

If the evolutionary zombie that had come for them had been that one, he shuddered at the thought of what would have happened.

It was a chilling sight.

He couldn’t help but feel a sense of awe toward Seongho, the one who had planned all of this.

As Seongho stayed focused on the task at hand, a voice suddenly cut through the tension—Seongho’s, emotionless and tense.

“It’s here.”

Only then did Jo Gyu-hyun’s gaze shift to the left, to the shimmering mirror in the sky.

Oh Jonghyuk and Kang Seongbae were nearly at their destination.

Jo Gyu-hyun swallowed hard.

From the start, the roles of Seongho’s group, including Seongho and Jo Gyu-hyun, had been simple.

Infiltrate through the broken wall, and when the confusion caused by the commotion scattered the awakened ones, take them out.

‘Kang Seongbae will probably come to repair the wall.’

He had known that the group would come to handle the zombies.

But he hadn’t anticipated that it would be Oh Jonghyuk.

Seongho was right about everything. Through the mirror, Jo Gyu-hyun watched Oh Jonghyuk, who was now visible.

“It’s exactly as Seongho said, they split right in front of the Humanities and Social Sciences building. They really are planning to attack the people,” said Seo Minhee, eyes locked on the scene.

The faces of those they had once known filled Seo Minhee’s mind.

She couldn’t just let this slide.

Even if it wasn’t Seongho’s request, she would’ve taken action herself.

With her fists clenched tightly, Seo Minhee took a deep breath.

How long had passed?

As soon as Oh Jonghyuk arrived at the Humanities and Social Sciences building, Seo Minhee saw the shadow crossing the school playground.

“Ugh, annoying zombies. Get out of the way, get out of the way! I need to block the hole, I’m busy!”

A rock dropped from the air, crushing zombies without mercy.

Judging by the ability to create rocks, it had to be Kang Seongbae.

Seo Minhee and Jo Gyu-hyun swallowed nervously.

Kang Seongbae had quickly cleared the remaining zombies from the playground and reached the collapsed defense wall.

At the same time, a loud sound echoed not far from them.

Boom!

Seo Minhee, Jo Gyu-hyun, and even Kang Seongbae, who had been working on the wall, turned their heads toward the sound in surprise.

But Kang Seongbae quickly shook his head and turned away.

“Ah, really. Can’t you be a little quieter?”

While Kang Seongbae nonchalantly returned to fixing the wall, Seo Minhee, her heart racing, began nervously biting her lip.

Through the mirror, she saw Oh Jonghyuk's back as he tore apart the entrance to the Humanities and Social Sciences building.

That damn madman who created this hellish camp.

Coldness crept into Seo Minhee’s gaze as she glared at Oh Jonghyuk.

But there was no way to stop him from entering.

Once inside, Oh Jonghyuk began mercilessly assaulting the civilians and slitting their throats.

Seo Minhee, with a worried look, checked the defense wall again.

The broken wall had been half-repaired.

‘Hurry, hurry…!’

She kept glancing between the mirror and the wall, her anxiety mounting.

Then, from the mirror, came Im Chan’s shout.

“Stop! You don’t need to kill them!”

“Oh?”

Im Chan had blocked the path of the wounded person who had collapsed.

It seemed like a conversation was taking place between Oh Jonghyuk and Im Chan, but the sound was too quiet to catch clearly.

In response, Jo Gyu-hyun shifted the mirror closer to the two.

But Oh Jonghyuk was faster and approached Im Chan in one step.

Im Chan, grabbed by the collar, hung limply in midair, his legs kicking in vain.

Im Chan’s face turned pale as he struggled to breathe.

At that moment, Seo Minhee couldn’t wait any longer and urged Jo Gyu-hyun.

Jo Gyu-hyun, now with the mirror positioned beside Oh Jonghyuk, showed his face in surprise.

Shocked by the sudden change, Oh Jonghyuk froze.

“Drowning is one of the most painful ways to die for a human,” Seo Minhee said, her voice trembling as she activated her ability.

Water began to accumulate above Kang Seongbae, who was still focused on repairing the wall, unaware of what was happening.

The water moved lightly, as if ready to strike Kang Seongbae, but instead, it flowed toward Oh Jonghyuk via the mirror.

“Which is faster, you killing Im Chan, or me killing that bastard?”

Before her words could even finish, Kang Seongbae stretched and let out a satisfied sigh.

“Ah, done!”

While Seo Minhee had been waiting for the wall to be repaired, she flicked her hand lightly.

The water that had been gathering in the air suddenly surged into Kang Seongbae’s throat, choking him.

“Cough!”

As the water relentlessly flowed down his throat, Kang Seongbae began to thrash in pain.

At the same time, Oh Jonghyuk, with a fierce expression, tossed Im Chan aside.

With a face like a demon, he slammed his fist into the ground.

Crack.

His bones and muscles twisted and swelled, and his clothes tore apart as his body began to morph.

In his place stood a giant bear.