Antisocial Chapter 29

Chapter 29. Human

It took about 4 to 5 seconds for the grenade to explode. Considering the time it took to pull out the pin and throw it, it was less than 3 seconds before it detonated.

As soon as Do-kyung saw the pin pulled, he hurled the grenade back. The motion of picking it up and sending it back into the house was as fluid as flowing water.

His reaction speed was so quick that Bo-yeon barely saw the movement. Before she knew it, he was covering her, pressing her down.

Boom! The grenade exploded the moment it left his hand. By the time Bo-yeon realized Do-kyung was lying on top of her, the explosion had already subsided.

“…….”

It was an incredible boldness to throw the grenade back. Bo-yeon couldn’t help but think of him as someone who didn’t even care about his own life.

“Ugh, urk…!”

After that, Bo-yeon’s hearing improved and she sensed a groan coming from inside.

Dokyung glanced at Boyeon. She was located exactly behind the door, so it was used as a cover. Boyeon didn’t suffer any damage.

He went inside and sorted out the situation.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Bo-yeon shivered as she heard a few gunshots. Everything had happened so quickly. A split-second decision had determined her fate.

“……”

Only then did she begin to think differently. Her mind was in a haze, torn between the shock of almost dying and the relief that it was the enemies who had fallen, not her.

Perhaps it was the deafening sound of the grenade explosion that left her feeling disoriented.

She felt dizzy and nauseous as she tried to move, the smell of blood and gunpowder seeping in like poison.

Do-kyung emerged from the door.

“Are you not breathing again?”

He looked slightly exasperated as he pulled the inhaler from Bo-yeon’s stiffened pocket.

Phew! Bo-yeon gasped and shivered as the powder burst into her throat.

“Urk! Haa… Hn!”

“Zombies are okay, but humans aren’t?”

“Nhhk… I’m, hm, sorry…”

I thought I had adapted. Why am I so weak?

Do-kyung hugged Bo-yeon, who was sobbing in self-loathing, and rose to his feet.

Since the bald man had already confessed everything, he was able to locate the mutant’s head right away.

Perhaps due to the passage of time, part of its upper body below the neck had regenerated. It lacked its limbs but still tried to bite Do-kyung.

“Grrr!”

“Shush. Don’t make a sound because you’re scared.”

Do-kyung severed the zombie’s lower body with the chainsaw the bald man had used.

While Do-kyung performed his experiments, the mutant’s screams didn’t reach Bo-yeon.

If a zombie’s body and head were separated, it would die. But this mutant remained alive, even with only its head cut off at the lower jaw.

The mutant’s regeneration was alarmingly fast, its blood vessels pulsating as it healed. No matter how many times it was cut, there seemed to be no noticeable change in its speed of recovery.

It was regenerating this quickly, even without proper food or humans for several months. Would it regenerate even faster if it were fed?

Even without testing it, it was clear that this was an entity specialized in regeneration.

This creature had evolved in the wrong direction. While its regeneration was incredibly strong, its physical strength remained weak. Do-kyung held the vibrating saw blade to the mutant’s forehead, his expression blank.

Drrkk! Drrggkk!

The brain was sliced gently. The mutant stopped moving, as if the brain damage was something it couldn’t regenerate.

A red fog of blood and brain fluid hovered around Do-kyung, seeping into him.

While Do-kyung conducted his unsettling experiment in the bathroom, Bo-yeon was examining the ledger in the room outside.

 

 

That was all that was recorded in the bald man’s ledger for Apartment No. 703.

After finishing his task, Do-kyung washed his hands and face and came out of the bathroom.

“Should we go up and take a look?”

“If that’s okay… yes, I want to check it out.”

Just in case, they went to No. 703, but there was no trace of anyone in the apartment. The path to finding her uncle’s whereabouts became even more uncertain. Bo-yeon could only hope that he was safe somewhere.

“He’s still alive.”

Do-kyung glanced at the bald man and muttered, his expression as blank as ever. The mutant had died, and Do-kyung hadn’t protected it.

When he came to his senses, Do-kyung had already escaped the swarm of zombies and entered the apartment.

No zombies were near Do-kyung. The bald man, curious, noticed that Do-kyung didn’t have the mutant’s head in his hand.

However, the bald man didn’t worry too much because he thought that Do-kyung might have made the mutant smaller. His own life was more important to him than that. 

“S-save me, I’ll do whatever you say. I’m a pretty good guy. I’m strong and I’m tough. Please…” 

Hmm. Do-kyung was thinking. 

Will she have trouble breathing again? 

Bo-yeon’s condition was worsening, the strain from everything that had happened yesterday and today weighing on her. She was also afraid of people dying—that was why the bald man was still alive.

“Should I give him to you?”

Do-kyung asked, his voice cold, as he looked at Bo-yeon, who was battered and exhausted.

“Slave No. 5.”

His eyes were icy, as if ready to shoot at any moment if Bo-yeon refused. It was ironic—he looked like a hunting dog, waiting for its master’s command.

***

Do I have the right to take away a human life?

Bo-yeon had no time to agonize over this difficult decision.

It might have been because she didn’t want to witness any more death, or perhaps it was selfishness—she didn’t want to feel guilty for agreeing to kill someone.

For that reason alone, Bo-yeon asked Do-kyung not to kill the man, and Do-kyung complied.

Bo-yeon thought of herself as a hypocrite.

The bald man was massive, weighing over 100 kg. His shoulders were broad, and he looked like someone who constantly used his strength. His face was fierce.

Yet, Do-kyung subdued him as if he were a child. Even when he tightly bound him and tossed him into the backseat to prevent any foolishness, the man couldn’t put up a fight.

If Do-kyung hadn’t been there, would Bo-yeon have made the same decision? Her reasoning was based on the fact that the man wouldn’t be in real danger as long as Do-kyung was around.

In the end, she had relied on Do-kyung’s power to save the man.

It was a pretense of benevolence, a hypocrisy. Bo-yeon believed that human beings existed to live as humans.

She shouldn’t be getting used to killing people, but she also couldn’t remain as weak as she was now.

It was necessary to draw a line. She needed to be firm. What was she supposed to do next?

While Bo-yeon was lost in her thoughts, the car came to a stop. They had arrived at the house where the immune people were staying.

“You’re here, hyung!”

Ji-won, spotting Do-kyung, rushed out to greet him. He bowed low, his eyes wide like a dog caught doing something wrong, watching Do-kyung carefully.

It was a 360-degree bow, the kind one might see in a gangster movie, but Do-kyung remained expressionless, unfazed by the gesture. Of course, he didn’t acknowledge the greeting either.

“What’s going on?”

Do-kyung asked Sung-sik, who had followed Ji-won. Sung-sik glanced at the man being dragged in, limping, and his face shifted, showing signs of exhaustion.

“Kim Jung-woong is dead.”

Do-kyung thought of Slave No. 3, the one he had ordered to be tied up. His expression remained unchanged, as if he didn’t care whether the man was dead or not.

“Dead? What happened?”

Bo-yeon asked.

“Ah, that’s…”

“That bad old man Choi Sung-sik tied him up and didn’t even give him water!”

While Sung-sik was wondering what to say, Ji-won suddenly spoke up. Sung-sik, who had seemingly felt unjust, started to argue.

“That’s the same for you too!”

“Hyung made me his number one slave. It t was something that you would naturally do!”

Number one slave? Bo-yeon paused at the sloppy choice of words, then understood the situation and asked again.

“You tied him up and left him alone…? You didn’t even let him go…?”

“There were no other instructions.”

“……”

There’s no way a doctor wouldn’t know what would happen if he tied someone up and left them there for days. He didn’t give him any water for three days.

Sung-sik and Ji-won hadn’t wanted to share food with Jung-woong, and they never knew when he might act out and threaten them again. So, when they finally had an excuse, they got rid of him.

In reality, that was human nature. Humans are the species most likely to kill their own kind. When they feel threatened, they tend to kill first, acting on the belief that their survival depends on it.

“…….”

Bo-yeon didn’t know what to say.

Jung-woong was the murderer who had killed Yeong-cheol.

Sung-sik and Ji-won had left the murderer to die, hoping he would perish.

It was the difference between direct murder and indirect murder through negligence.

Then, the motive behind Sung-sik and Ji-won’s actions—killing the murderer—should be examined. Who was the true murderer?

Bo-yeon wasn’t a judge. The reality unfolding before her eyes felt dizzying and distant.

“Should I kill them?”

Ji-won and Sung-sik flinched at Do-kyung’s indifferent question.

“They killed your slave without reason.”

When Bo-yeon opened her eyes wide and looked at him, Do-kyung smiled and explained the reason.