The Predatory Genius of a Ruined World

Chapter 23 – A Peaceful Hell (6)

—–CROW—– 

The hallway that ran through the building and the classrooms on the left were exactly as Seong-ho remembered. The only unfamiliar things were the people and objects occupying the space.  Survivors who had woken up due to the earlier commotion, and those still asleep.  Sleeping bags, blankets, and other belongings.  These made the familiar space feel alien. The absence of wooden furniture like desks and bookshelves, which should have been a natural part of a school, also contributed to the strangeness.

‘They must have already been used as firewood for the winter.’

It wasn’t welcome news, but he had expected it to some extent.

‘There’s no way they could properly heat the building with electricity and gas cut off.’

And since kerosene was limited, they couldn’t use it freely.  In the end, the survivors must have chopped down trees or broken wooden furniture to keep warm during the winter. This didn’t bode well for Seong-ho’s plan to set the cathedral on fire. It would be difficult for the fire to spread quickly in a cement building without any wooden materials.

However, if Lim Chan had worked diligently through the night, it would be a problem easily overcome.  After confirming the layout of the first floor, Seong-ho headed upstairs.  Some survivors were using the second floor, but the third floor and above were empty.  And on the fourth floor, the rooftop, the access door was tightly locked with chains and a padlock.  Seong-ho unlocked it with his tools and then took out his hammer.

*Bang, bang!*

With two precise strikes, the metal handle came loose and fell off.  As he opened the door and stepped outside, a biting winter wind hit him.  Undeterred, Seong-ho looked around to get his bearings.  Although it was still dark, he could see the spire, the symbol of the main cathedral building.

‘That’s north.’

Then south was the opposite direction.  Seong-ho walked to the edge of the roof, heading south. He then faced a building not far from the school building.  How many minutes did he wait there?  The sky slowly began to brighten.  Seong-ho looked up at the roof of the building opposite him.  As if waiting for that exact moment, something popped up from beyond the railing of the roof.

‘Lim Chan-ssi.’

He had appeared right on time, as promised.  Seong-ho waved his arm widely at Lim Chan on the building’s roof.  Lim Chan waved both arms in response.  A moment later, Lim Chan disappeared, and something he had dropped landed on the roof.  It was a pile of dried grass that Lim Chan, alone on the high-rise building, had made throughout the night.

‘Good, he made a lot.’

This was enough to spread the fire rapidly.  After checking the grass bundles tied with rope, Seong-ho looked at the building’s roof again and drew a large circle in the air above his head.  Lim Chan, looking down, mirrored the action.  Then, the dried grass bundles began to fall in earnest.  Seong-ho carried them inside and stacked them neatly.

How many minutes passed like this?  When he looked up to check the roof, Lim Chan was crossing his arms in an X.  It meant there were no more.  Seong-ho drew a circle to signal his understanding and went inside the building. He counted the grass bundles piled up on the stairs.

‘Let’s see, one, two, three…’

There were seventeen, more than he had expected.

‘He really worked hard.’

He must have pushed his ability to the limit continuously without slacking off.

‘I should thank him when this is over.’

But right now, moving these was the priority. Fortunately, the individual bundles weren’t too heavy.

‘If I can’t carry them, I can roll them.’

As Seong-ho rolled the bundles down to the second floor, he heard a commotion and urgent shouts from below.

“Wake up! Wake the children first!”

“Pack your things! We have to get out of here!”

“Move! Get out of the way!”

Then, several people rushed up from the first floor.  The second floor instantly became noisy.

“W-What…!”

“Hey, Kang Tae-ho! What’s gotten into you?”

“I don’t have time to argue! We have to leave now!”

“We have to escape! P-People are dead!”

“Honey, what are you talking about…?”

“This is a cannibal camp! There are people who eat other people!”

It seemed Song In-hye, who had gone to the mortuary, had returned. And with undeniable evidence.  The survivors inside the school ran frantically through the hallways. They grabbed their belongings from their respective classrooms, bumping into each other and falling, some even tumbling down the stairs.  Seong-ho retreated to the top of the stairs to avoid the chaos.  When the second floor was clear of people, he started rolling the dried grass bundles again. He piled them up neatly on the north side of the first floor.  He also gathered the belongings the survivors had abandoned in one place to help the fire spread.

While he was busy working, he suddenly saw a familiar face at the end of the hallway. It was Song In-hye, coming up from the basement.

“Hey!”

Seong-ho stared at her as she rushed towards him, a sharp hatchet in her hand.  Song In-hye stopped in front of him, gasping for breath.  ‘She must have run here in a hurry.’

Instead of waiting for her to catch her breath, Seong-ho made the first move. He reached out and took the hatchet from her hand. Then, sitting down, he opened the toolbox. He took out a piece of blanket and wrapped it around the hatchet’s head. Then, he turned over the portable kerosene heater.

*Glug, glug, glug.*

The kerosene flowed out of the narrow opening, soaking the blanket.  Song In-hye, catching her breath, watched him and gulped.

“W-Where did you get all this grass…? No, wait, are you really going to set it on fire?”

It seemed she had already heard from Yoo Min-sang. In that case, there was no need to repeat the explanation.  Waving his hand dismissively, Seong-ho said,

“Don’t forget to close the basement door. Once you’re inside, take the others and go towards the mortuary.”

This was a precaution, just in case.

‘Since the underground passage is connected to the mortuary, there should be at least some ventilation.’

Moreover, hot smoke tended to rise.  Therefore, he thought the basement would be relatively safe, but…

‘You never know with these things.’

After Seong-ho finished speaking, Song In-hye hesitated for a moment before taking the bolt cutters from the toolbox.

“J-Just in case, I’ll take this this time! I re-tied the cable ties on my way here!”

After speaking hurriedly, almost shouting, Song In-hye turned around and went back down to the basement.  Seong-ho waited until she was completely out of sight before picking up the portable kerosene heater. He poured the remaining kerosene all over the place. It wasn’t a large amount, but it was enough to help the fire spread.

Having finished all his preparations, Seong-ho took out his lighter.

‘Now, let’s cast the bait.’

Bait that would force all the camp members and Go Ji-hoon’s puppets to come running here.

* * *

*Bang! Bang! Bang!*

Go Ji-hoon was woken up by the loud banging on his door. He had been having a dream about taking the believer he had met the day before and tormenting him, and his pleasant entertainment had been interrupted.  Annoyed, Go Ji-hoon yelled without even opening his eyes,

“Who the hell is it?!”

Normally, people would have quieted down, sensing his displeasure. That was the kind of presence Go Ji-hoon commanded within the camp.  But today was different.

“Hyungnim! Hyungnim! Wake up!”

The difference sent a chill down Go Ji-hoon’s spine.  Still half-asleep, he forced his eyes open.  At the same time, the door burst open without his permission.

“Hyungnim! There’s a fire in the storage room! Wake up!”

Go Ji-hoon, who had been lying in bed, bolted upright at the unexpected news.

“W-What’s on fire?”

“There’s a fire! In the storage room where we keep the meat!”

Hurriedly getting out of bed, Go Ji-hoon grabbed his clothes and yelled,

“The meat? Did you get the meat out?!”

“Th-The fire spread too quickly… No, that’s not the important thing! We tried to put out the fire, but strangely, the puppets you gave us won’t go near the fire! They’re not listening at all!”

His subordinate, in his haste, didn’t notice, but Go Ji-hoon’s shoulders twitched and trembled for a moment.

“So, the guys are putting out the fire themselves! Please do something about the puppets!”

“Damn it!”

Go Ji-hoon cursed violently.

‘Send the puppets to the fire?’

Normally, he wouldn’t even consider it.  But if his subordinate was desperate enough to plead for him to send the puppets, wasn’t the situation serious?  Biting his lip in thought, Go Ji-hoon decided to assess the situation first and headed out.

As soon as he left the nunnery building, which served as his quarters, he realized how naive his earlier thought had been.  Despite the bright morning sky, he could see the crimson flames raging in the distance.  Thick, black smoke billowed into the sky.  He momentarily choked at the larger-than-expected scale of the fire.  Without further hesitation, Go Ji-hoon summoned all the puppets he currently controlled.

“Cough, cough!”

“Are you sure you brought all the fire extinguishers?!”

“Pour more sand!”

“Bring dirt from the playground!”

By the time he reached the scene, the central part of the building had already been completely engulfed in flames, which were spreading rapidly. Some people already had their clothes and hair singed black. They seemed to have tried and failed to enter the building in the early stages of the fire.

“You guys, get dirt from the playground!”

Go Ji-hoon gave instructions to his puppets and asked his subordinates nearby,

“What happened to the guys inside?! Did they get out?”

“W-When we discovered the fire, it had already spread… No one came out from inside!”

“Damn it! What kind of bullshit is that?! Where are the guys who were on night watch?!”

“I-I don’t know! There was no one there when we saw the fire!”

All the food for the next few weeks had burned down overnight.  This was truly terrible news. He wondered if they should focus on extinguishing the fire and at least retrieving the bodies of those who had likely died inside, but the flames were too intense, and it wasn’t easy. They had already missed the window of opportunity to control it manually.  The sense of helplessness naturally fueled his anger and frustration.

“You useless idiots! Does it make sense that you didn’t notice until the fire spread this much?! Bring the guys who were on storage duty right now!”

He needed to find those responsible for this mess and vent his anger.  Go Ji-hoon yelled and pressured his subordinates, but most of them were busy carrying dirt. They didn’t have the time to search for the missing people.  Finally, one of the people carrying dirt spoke up,

“S-Shouldn’t we send the puppets inside now? We might be able to save some of those who suffocated…!”

Sparks flew from Go Ji-hoon’s eyes.

“Are you crazy?!  Do you want my puppets to die too?!”

*Whack!*

Go Ji-hoon kicked the subordinate who had dared to speak.

“Instead of spouting nonsense, carry the dirt!”

He continued to yell at his subordinates, but inwardly, he gnawed on the inside of his cheek. He couldn’t send his puppets, controlled by his ability, into that inferno, unless it was to rescue people near the fire.

‘Absolutely not.’

Go Ji-hoon gritted his teeth as he looked at the chaotic situation.  Just as he was fuming, he felt a presence behind him.  A distinct presence that made him turn around reflexively, even though he hadn’t been consciously aware of it. As soon as he turned his head, he saw someone with a padded jacket hood pulled low over their face.

‘Who is that…?’

Judging by the dirt basket in his hand, he must be a camp member who had come running to help extinguish the fire. But why did he feel this sense of déjà vu and unease?  As he stared at the man’s face, trying to figure it out, the dirt the man was holding was flung towards Go Ji-hoon.

—–CROW—–