Chapter 1182

<Episode 1182> Day 15

Shibata chased me relentlessly after I left the hospital.

“That damn nuisance.”

I bolted towards the mountains.

The mountain terrain, full of obstacles, was better for dealing with Shibata’s reckless charge like a runaway tram.

Luring Shibata was easy. He came running without any suspicion.

“If I hadn’t consumed the Blood Pill, I’d probably have been caught already.”

Thanks to the enhanced physical abilities from the Blood Pill, I’ve managed to maintain a steady distance without getting caught. I quickly glance back.

BOOM! KRAKRAKRA!

His running posture was clumsy. His weak lower body compared to his upper torso looked like it could lose balance and fall over at any moment—at least, on the surface.

But despite the awkward stance, the speed of his leg movements was astonishingly fast; otherwise, I would’ve shaken him off long ago.

“Get out of the way!!”

Whenever Shibata saw a villager, he would just punch them with no hesitation. The villagers couldn’t handle the impact and exploded into death.

‘That guy is deliberately doing this.’

Shibata may not be the brightest bulb, but he’s not an animal either. He can distinguish between enemies and allies. There was no need to attack random villagers as he passed by. Yet, he killed them either for his own amusement or to flaunt his strength.

It wasn’t necessarily wrong. I do similar things occasionally too.

‘The only one who can control that kid… is the Shaman, right?’

I glanced around. The villagers who might’ve chased me were instead fleeing in terror at the sight of Shibata. Apparently, Shibata is quite infamous even among the villagers.

We entered the forest.

WHOOSH! CRACK! THUD!

I darted around skillfully, dodging trees. Shibata, however, charged ahead recklessly in the woods, uncaring if branches hit him, solely focused on catching me.

Shibata’s speed began to slow down. The distance widened, and he lost sight of me.

“Where are you?! Where are you hiding?!”

The sound of trees breaking and falling echoed—looks like he’s taking out his frustration on innocent trees.

I climbed up a tree and lay in wait, suppressing my breathing while using my clothes to stem the continuous flow of bloody tears from my eyes.

‘I don’t like running away like this. As soon as he passes under here, I’ll drop down and attack. A strike to the head should finish him off.’

I could sense Shibata approaching. His footsteps, his heavy breathing—he was far too noisy.

‘He’s here.’

I held my breath, waiting for him to get a little closer.

‘This is it!’

Gripping my katana backwards, I leapt down from the tree.

Was it instinct? Shibata slightly raised his gaze to see me, then lifted his left arm. My blade was blocked by his left wrist.

‘So it comes to this… at least his left arm!’

Shibata went berserk. He violently shook his body, throwing me off. Rolling across the ground, I struggled to regain my footing amidst dizziness as he approached me confidently.

“I won. You’re finished now.”

His left hand grabbed my leg. I tried to aim for his head, but his right arm was blocking it perfectly.

‘Did I focus too much on targeting his head?’

Attempting to pierce Shibata’s heart, I reconsidered…


It changed. His chest had swollen to the point it looked as solid as a rock.

“Too big. Is this even a human body? I can’t even tell where the heart is.”

In a rush, I aimed for the bastard’s right arm.

I swung my sword with both hands. The blade managed to slice halfway through his right arm.

The bastard crushed my leg.

I swung my sword again. This time, his entire right arm was severed.

“Aaaaah! What the hell!”

Shibata hurled me away like a soccer ball. My body tumbled and rolled. Was I lucky? Or unlucky? Either way, instead of hitting a tree, I plummeted straight off a cliff.

Thud.

My body hit the ground. Thanks to the effects of *Hadan*, the pain was minimal, but my body wouldn’t move, and I lost my vision.

“Shit.”

For what felt like five seconds, I floated in limbo. It couldn’t have been less than 20 meters. At this height, there’s no way anyone survives.

What’s ridiculous is that I’m still alive. My body’s wrecked, but my mind is crystal clear.

“It must be because of *Hadan*.”

I deliberately didn’t use Full Recovery. I was waiting for Shibata to check my corpse so I could ambush him when he let his guard down.

“The perfect plan. Hurry up and show yourself.”

But after dozens of seconds, the bastard didn’t appear. He probably assumed I was dead after falling so far.

[Death Resistance has activated. You will not die for the next 15 seconds.]

[Time remaining on Death Resistance: 15 seconds]

[Using Full Recovery.]

There was no way I could fail the quest and die, so I used Full Recovery.

With my body feeling lighter, I stood up. The effects of *Hadan* seemed to have worn off.

I looked up at the cliff. It was too dark to estimate the exact height, but it felt like more than 20 meters. Can I climb back up without equipment in this state?

“I can’t be sure, so I’ll need to circle around a bit.”

I lowered my head. Finding another route wouldn’t be easy either.

Suddenly, frustration surged within me.

I didn’t kill Shibata. If only I’d stayed calmer, could I have taken him out?

“SHIIITTT!! SHIBATA!! I’LL KILL YOU!! SHIBATA, YOU BASTARD!!”

I screamed with all my might.

It brought some relief to my mood.

•••

Shibata stared down at the cliff Sung Yoojin had fallen from.

It’s deep.

So deep that the bottom isn’t visible at all.

“He must be dead.”

Even dimwitted Shibata knows that no creature survives a fall from this height. Not to mention, that guy was already severely injured.

“It’s too dark. I don’t want to go down there.”

Shibata turned around. His condition wasn’t great either. His right arm had been cut off. There was a chance he’d have to live without it. He held up his severed right arm.

“If the shrine maiden sees this… she’ll reattach my arm.”

Muttering to himself, he headed toward the shrine.

Just as he was about to enter the village after leaving the mountains—

“SHIIIITTT!! SHIBATA!! I’LL KILL YOU!! SHIBATA, YOU BASTARD!!”

He heard Sung Yoojin’s voice. Shibata tilted his head. It was strange to hear the voice of someone who should already be dead.

But Shibata dismissed it as unimportant and continued toward the shrine. Occasionally, he hears voices—sometimes his deceased parents’, sometimes the shrine maiden’s—without any reason. His parents would say worried things, while the shrine maiden promised he’d reach heaven if he followed her words. Typical hallucinations.

Once inside the shrine, he met the shrine maiden.

As always, she greeted Shibata with a faint smile.

“Shibata. Good work. I’ve received reports that the hospital director is dead, but it’s trivial, so don’t worry about it. That Korean… how did you—”

The shrine maiden paused mid-sentence. She belatedly noticed that Shibata was holding his severed right arm with his left hand. Her eyes widened in shock before regaining composure.

“Shrine Maiden-sama. My arm got cut off. That guy… he was strong.”

“…I thought he wasn’t an ordinary Korean. But in the end, he died by Shibata’s hand, didn’t he? I’ll reattach your arm. How did you—”


“Did I kill him?”

“I tried to grab him and make him explode with my hands…”

“And?”

“He fell down.”

“I see. So that’s why you didn’t bring the corpse.”

“Should I go get it?”

“It’s fine. Let Shibata rest deeply. Here, this is a gift from the Mountain Spirit for Shibata.”

“Ooooh… A gift from the Mountain Spirit…”

Shibata took the candy given by the shrine maiden and put it in his mouth. Soon his face went all dreamy. His massive body wobbled and fell backward. Eyes rolled back, drool flowing out of his mouth. The special drug made by the shrine maiden had sent Shibata to a hallucinatory paradise.

The shrine maiden waved her hand.

“Reattach Shibata’s arm. He’s a rare suitable candidate, so we should be able to reattach it easily using blood dan.”

“Understood, Shrine Maiden.”

Many followers surrounded the shrine maiden. They carried Shibata to the hidden lab inside the shrine.

The shrine maiden gave orders to those remaining in the shrine.

“Bring me the corpse of that Korean. He’s not an ordinary human. There’s a possibility he might be a specially modified human like Shibata.”

“Understood, Shrine Maiden.”

Her followers moved into action.

—

“Aaaaaaaaaaaah!”

Black-clad bastards scream as they meet their end. I tossed the rock I was holding onto the ground and kept walking without sparing a glance at the corpses.

‘These guys dressed just like Shibata. At first I thought they were dangerous, but there’s no monster like Shibata here.’

They have decent physical abilities, but their combat skills are lacking.

I’ve faced four so far, and killed all of them easily. Two had pistols, but the mountain was dark and there were plenty of trees for cover.

‘Well, thanks to that I now have two pistols…’

But without gun proficiency, my accuracy is terrible. Right now I can barely hit targets 10 meters away.

‘I need to finish this before dawn. Before their reinforcements arrive from outside.’

Crunch crunch.

Walking through the mountains, I spotted a light and smirked. Thanks to this, I avoided the worst-case scenario of getting lost.

Following the light, I found some felled trees. In one corner, there was a pile of logs.

‘A sawmill, huh.’

It was a small sawmill, but it had everything. This sawmill was one of the village’s lifelines.

‘Well, the real lifeline is probably the blood dan though.’

Entering the sawmill, I tried to make as little noise as possible. The fact that the lights were on inside meant someone was awake.

‘Kill that guy and take something usable as a weapon. A nice long sword would be great.’

The katana I had before got lost when I fought Shibata.

I quietly approached the sawmill building. Light leaked out through the window. I peeked in silently.

‘Holy sh*t.’

I almost yelled out loud, barely managing to suppress it as I assessed the situation inside.

More than ten men were naked. There were men of various ages, from young men to old men. Their gazes were directed at the women in the center. Two women. Two very familiar women being gang-raped.

Women I knew.

Aizawa Natsuko and Minewaki Juriye.

The women who surrendered to the villagers. They lay there with expressions like living corpses. Their bodies and faces showed signs of beatings, and men’s semen was smeared on their hair, mouths, breasts, thighs. Old naked men were vigorously thrusting between their legs.

‘So they were brought here and gang-raped.’

I felt nothing. These women weren’t my type. Objectively speaking, they were unattractive – at best they could be considered average.

I looked toward the entrance. Weapons were placed there along with piles of clothes. Among them was a long sword – a katana – exactly what I was looking for.

I headed toward the entrance.