Chapter 83

083 – If you want to catch a big fish, you have to use a big bait #2

If the saying “hard work is also a talent” is true, then the boy’s talent was simply genius-level.

From a very young age, the boy realized how incredible it was to work hard for something and ultimately conquer it.

The higher and more rugged the peak, the more passionate the boy’s heart burned.

It was due to this challenging spirit that President Nam Tae-geon took notice of the boy and adopted him as his own.

“Starting today, your name is Nam San-ho. Nam San-ho. Keep working hard in the future.”

The boy, Nam San-ho, was delighted.

Although the great genius Nam Tae-geon had numerous adopted sons and daughters, only a few people bore his last name—so few that they could be counted on one hand.

That alone made him feel superior to others.

An accomplishment obtained through his own efforts.

It seemed like there was nothing he couldn’t achieve if he just worked hard enough.

This was also true for his relationships with women.

Nam San-ho saw women as trophies he had to work for, lands he had to conquer.

But—.

Unfortunately, women couldn’t fulfill his desires.

They were simply boring.

Women would fall for him without much effort, attracted to his excellent background or handsome appearance.

No adventurer rejoices at climbing merely a small hill.

That was when he met Seugal.

“Seugal was different from any girl I’ve ever met. Even if I begged like a dog, she wouldn’t glance at me easily. That’s it. What I wanted was exactly that kind of challenge.”

Nam San-ho with the white mask.

He recalled that day.

The time when Seugal pushed him down the stairs at N-Mart.

Thud!

The pain in his neck when it broke was still vivid.

If he hadn’t awakened to the concept of “zombie” at that moment, he would have died for sure.

“I was the first woman who not only rejected him but also tried to k*ll him. Thinking about her makes me want to rip her apart. I want to physically become one with her. This must be real love, right?”

Drip, drip…

Yunami, kidnapped by the demon of zombies, felt a bone-chilling shiver as she saw saliva streaming down from beneath the white mask.

It felt like he was going to devour her whole.

“Zombies eat people, right? In these next five days, if I can’t drink cola, I’ll…”

Yunami soon lost consciousness due to a fierce headache.

As much as she tried to cling to her consciousness, it was in vain.

“Yunami, when you wake up, you’ll become a completely obedient woman to me like all the others.”

It was about time.

The zombie’s master Nam San-ho decided to head to City D’s Memorial Park to meet the kidnapper of Seugal.

“Capturing the kidnapper and making Seugal only submissive to me.”

Nam San-ho possessed the concepts of “zombie” and “infection”…

…And the most important one remaining.

With these three concepts, there seemed to be nothing he couldn’t conquer.

If he kept putting in the effort, it was possible to become the king of the world.

He was a chosen entity.

It was for that reason that he had returned from the brink of d*ath that day.

As he ascended back to the surface, the chilly air brushed against Nam San-ho’s face.

“Due to unconfirmed infections, the Memorial Park is temporarily closed.”

The closed Memorial Park seemed very eerie.

It was eerily quiet, the kind of stillness where zombies could appear, yet for Nam San-ho, it felt like a picnic.

His long-stopped heart felt like it was beating again.

It was hard to believe that he would meet Seugal very soon.

When he reached the promised time and place, he saw a woman with long hair standing with her back turned.

A sight he’d never forget.

Because she was the woman he saw every day in his dreams.

“…Seu… Seugal.”

Nam San-ho felt like he was back in his awkward teenage years when he didn’t know anything about women.

He felt awkward and didn’t know what to say.

So, Nam San-ho confessed his rawest and purest truth.

“You killed me that day. But I don’t want to resent you. Thanks to you, I’ve become an even greater person.”

“……”

Seugal turned her head.

The white and delicate face, the ruby-like bright red eyes that shimmered.

The woman who seemed untouchable was now close enough to reach out and touch.

It felt like a dream.

If he didn’t have any resentment towards Seugal, it would be a lie.

After all, he had lost everything because of Seugal.

But, despite all the resentment and hatred towards her, she was still an extraordinary woman, someone who surpassed just being simply pretty; the dignity she exuded was one such quality.

“Seugal, I’ll gift you the world. Let’s go together. Hold my hand.”

Swish.

Nam San-ho reached out his hand.

Under the moonlight.

The feeling of being the only two people in the world.

That sensation didn’t last long.

“Figured you’d come alone. It’s not that you’re honest about the agreement; you probably just don’t want anyone else to see Seugal.”

Someone emerged from the dark.

Their face was partially covered by a strange cotton candy-like material, but Nam San-ho immediately recognized the individual.

The kidnapper of Seugal.

Heat surged into Nam San-ho’s head instantly.

“You!”

“Oops, don’t come any closer. If you take even one step forward, I’ll kiss Seugal’s cheek. I’m a man who does what he says he will.”

“sh*t, I hate it!”

The kidnapper’s threat caused Seugal to look genuinely disgusted.

That fact lit a fire in Nam San-ho’s heart even more.

“Fallen! Wait for me! I’ll rescue you right away!”

“Anyone watching would think I’m the villain. You know, in the past few days, a lot of awakened ones have gone missing. Zombie master Nam San-ho, they were nabbed by you, weren’t they? You’ve probably locked them up somewhere to turn them into special zombies, haven’t you?”

Nam San-ho was shocked.

The matter of special zombies was supposed to remain a secret.

Could it be that the test subjects he released outside while abducting Yunami were caught on CCTV?

No, that couldn’t be.

Nam San-ho had spent the last two years mastering the art of concealing his true identity.

“What are you? Could you have been the one who revealed the infection treatment?”

The kidnapper of Seugal—it was clear they weren’t an ordinary person.

…

…

…

The plan was simple.

The more details there were, the higher the chance of failure.

Therefore, the most important thing was to use Seugal as bait to lure Nam San-ho.

Conclusion:

It was so easy it almost seemed effortless to succeed.

He really came alone.

His desire to monopolize Seugal must be great.

That’s what demons are like.

They’re honest about their own desires, aren’t they?

The desire to have Seugal.

Shall we see how pure his desire is?

“Nam San-ho, free all your hostages and turn yourself in. Nullify all the special zombies you’ve created. That’s where our story begins.”

“Huh?”

Behind the mask, a bright red eye flickered momentarily.

Did my condition seem too harsh?

It was an unfair condition, like the Treaty of Versailles, so it was natural.

“f*ck off.”

Nam San-ho rejected my proposal, as expected.

I thought so.

“Seo Do-cheol’s president thought the same. Even when he could save his daughter, he hated the thought of kneeling down for a moment. Everyone talks big, but they have things more precious to them than Seugal.”

I was angry at this.

To Seugal, she was my entire world.

“What a disgusting mentality. To try and obtain the entire world but not be willing to give up what they cherish? It’s like trying to reach the top of a mountain without effort or sacrifice. It’s highway robbery, isn’t it?”

“…Are you serious about talking about effort and sacrifice in front of me?”

Nam San-ho flared up.

According to Seugal, Nam San-ho was a guy who was deeply obsessed with the image of ‘himself working hard.’ It seems it was true.

You know those people who like posting their body profiles on SNS? If they evolve in the dark, they turn into Nam San-ho.

“Alright, I’ll release them. Follow me. For Seugal, I can give up and sacrifice everything.”

Soon, Nam San-ho readily accepted my proposal.

Of course, it was a trap.

He was probably trying to take me to his hideout.

But that was my goal too.

To find out his hideout.

Nam San-ho, wearing the white mask, headed underground in the Memorial Park.

There was a small stone door there, which looked more like something from an ancient civilization rather than from the 21st century.

Here it is.

Another entrance to the Great Labyrinth.

Hummm…

The ring on my finger reacted.

‘Opening the door.’

As I mentally inputted the command, the door groaned and swung outward.

“…!”

It seemed like Nam San-ho experienced something unexpected.

But that moment didn’t last long, and he stepped into the labyrinth ahead.

The structure of the Great Labyrinth turned out to be very simple.

It was a large square.

It was an obviously strange space to be under the park’s facilities.

Even though it was an underground installation, the ceiling appeared to be the night sky twinkling, and the space was impossibly vast.

Comparing it to my knowledge, it was like the Colosseum.

Various iron cages were scattered there, and inside, the rotting corpses moaned as if grieving.

“Hahaha, hahaha…”

Then suddenly, Nam San-ho began to laugh.

Perhaps some amusing memory came back to him.

“Hahahaha, release the hostages? As if I would agree to that!”

Nam San-ho suddenly changed his tune.

Such a scammer, huh? But it’s alright. Even if he had released all the hostages and surrendered, I wasn’t planning to trade him for Seugal.

“Did you seriously think you could walk into my kingdom without fear? Stupid! You won’t leave! The entrance to this “Great Labyrinth” only works with a specific spell!”

Nam San-ho had his trust in place, as did I.

I took out a cage from the bag I was carrying on my back.

“Yu Yeo-reum, come out!”

Poof!

Yu Yeo-reum emerged from inside the cage.

She immediately kneeled and threw up.

“…It feels like my stomach has flipped after shrinking and then suddenly growing again!”

Seeing this, Nam San-ho shouted behind the white mask.

“Son of a b*tch! I said Seugal and I should have come alone!”

“Both of us lied, let’s call it even.”

Grrrrrr…

Nam San-ho growled like a beast.

Then he yelled as he ran into the dark.

“Stupid kid, adding one more person doesn’t make a difference! Everyone, come out!”

Chhrrrr…

The sound of chains unraveling was heard, and zombies appeared everywhere. Twenty? Thirty? There were so many that counting seemed meaningless.

Nam San-ho, you b*stard, how many corpses did you steal?

If these countless zombies were released into the world without knowledge of the cure, it could potentially lead to ten thousand new infections per day.

“Qi bullets!”

Pang, pangpangpang!

Seugal fired miraculous bullets from her palm.

Zombies fell as if struck by bullets.

“You should aim for the head!”

While I lamented, Nam San-ho screamed as if in a seizure.

“Seugal! Why! Why are you stopping me! I’m trying to save you from the kidnapper!”

“Why, of course! I just hate you! Right now, I fucking hate you a lot! I hate you more than the kidnapper!”

With that, Seugal extended her hand toward the zombies and hesitated.

Perhaps disturbed by the children dressed like Santa, she hesitated momentarily, and at that moment, Nam San-ho laughed out loud in the dark as if waiting for it.

And just like a kid boasting about their merit badge, he rambled on about something no one asked for.

“Did you recognize them? They are people you met at N-Mart that day. They were my first zombies, but they’re hard even for me to control.”

“…First? That day…!? Nam San-ho, what did you do?”

“Seugal, have you ever wondered why “Billenus” Yeomhun had to set the market on fire? Hiding a corpse you accidentally killed wouldn’t require something so excessive, right?”

It was an excessively grand event.

I recalled the flustered face of the arsonist Yeomhun behind the gas mask.

He seemed genuinely shocked by the fire he himself had set.

Why did that coward have to start a fire?

Perhaps he received some incomprehensible order from his superiors—like destroying the building and people entirely in order to burn off the inexplicable zombie virus that suddenly spread in the N-Mart.

“Nam San-ho, that day, the one who caused the fire to be set was you.”

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