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‘You saw Mr. Kwak in your dreams? Did this Mr. Kwak, who appeared in your dreams, try talking to you, by any chance?’

‘Huh? How did you know, ahjussi? He muttered that he needed strength, that he needed power to protect Ms. Koo and the children.’

‘And?’

‘Well, I got into a little quarrel as I spoke to him.’

‘...?’

I didn’t know what to say to that. It seemed like Kim Hyeong-Jun’s prickly personality carried into his dream self. Kim Hyeong-Jun scratched his head and continued to speak.

‘I won, in the end.’

‘Is that important?’

‘Hmm… Maybe it was a pointless dream.’

Kim Hyeong-Jun beamed like a fool and looked at me. I couldn’t help but sigh, seeing just how naive Kim Hyeong-Jun was.

Sometimes it seemed like he was extremely smart, but other times, he seemed like a really simple fellow. I bit my lower lip and asked him another question.

‘Are you saying that Mr. Kwak admitted his defeat? The Mr. Kwak in your dreams?’

‘Yeah, he charged toward me while taunting me, in a way, asking me to try if I could. Like he was threatening me, you know?’

‘He came charging at you?’

‘Yeah, it was like I was absorbing him inside me. It was a very strange dream. After I came back to my senses, I realized that I was lying in the guard room in your shelter. I then heard my underlings\' signals and came running right away.’

‘Your brother also appeared in my dreams.’

‘What?’

Kim Hyeong-Jun’s eyes flew wide open, and he looked me right in the eye. He stuttered a little and asked,

‘My, my little brother. Hyeong-Seok appeared in your dreams?’

‘Yeah, he told me to survive.’

‘Why?’

‘...’

I didn’t know how to respond to that. Did he want me to die or something?

I smacked my lips and stared at Kim Hyeong-Jun. He shook his head, noticing that he had blurted out something wrong, and moved on.

‘No, no. I’m sorry, ahjussi. I was too shocked, so I just blurted out some nonsense.’

‘Do you remember what I said earlier?’

‘Hmm? What?’

‘The stuff that the enemy leader told me. That it’s not about hope, but desire.’

‘Oh… Yeah, I do remember.’

‘The reason we were able to turn into zombies with red glowing eyes. It might be because we have stronger desires than others.’

Kim Hyeong-Jun nodded slowly, clearly paying attention to what I was saying. I scratched my sideburns and continued to speak.

‘The black creatures and the zombies with glowing red eyes. The two might be connected by desire.’

‘Connected by desire?’

‘Once the zombies with glowing red eyes lose their desire, they turn into black creatures. Well, to say it more exactly, when their desire gets destroyed, they turn into black creatures.’

‘Hmm… Yeah.’

‘Then what in the world is a black creature?’

Kim Hyeong-Jun pouted his lower lip, his expression still serious. It seemed like he didn’t know. I sighed.

‘Everything happens for a reason. Every problem has a root. Processes lead to results.’

‘Ahjussi, explain it in easier terms.’

‘Desires all begin as small wishes. Once small wishes grow bigger, they become desires. And what does desire create in humans?’

‘What, hope?’

‘You’re right. Even for those living the crappiest lives, humans still strive as long as they have hope. And the black creatures, they have no hope whatsoever. What do you think is left for a human with no hope?’

‘...Despair.’

Kim Hyeong-Jun’s eyes went wide, even though he was the one answering. After a moment, he stuttered and said,

‘Then, then… Is the black creature a blob of despair?’

‘Well, this is all speculation, but I think it’s safe to assume so.’

‘Then what did the Mr. Kwak in my dreams mean?’

‘Perhaps the black ones… may not have disappeared completely.’

‘What do you mean? Are you saying they’re still alive? We ate their brains, though.’

‘I’m saying that we ate their brains and their wills live within us.’

‘I don’t know, ahjussi. It seems like you have your head in the clouds with this one.’

Kim Hyeong-Jun frowned at me. I shrugged and continued to speak.

‘Like I said. It’s just speculation. Nothing’s certain. But the creatures we met in our dreams. Don’t you think there’s something weird about them?’

‘What about them?’

‘I met Kim Hyeong-Seok after eating his brain. You met Mr. Kwak after eating his brain. If it happened to one of us, I wouldn’t have given it much thought. But the two of us going through the same thing? I think it’s hard to attribute it to chance.’

Kim Hyeong-Jun shook his head, still unconvinced.

I knew what I was saying seemed far-fetched, but at the moment, it seemed like my hypothesis was the closest thing to the truth.

We were in a world full of zombies. The logic from the world before this one did not apply anymore. There was no such thing as reason, or doing the bare minimum. It was all about the survival of the fittest, where everyone had to strive to survive.

Kim Hyeong-Jun let out a deep breath and posed a question.

‘Then… What about the things they said in our dreams? Why would these creatures, who are full of despair, tell us to survive, to try to save others if we could? Why would they say anything along these lines?’

‘I’m not sure myself… but perhaps they were counting on us to create change.’

‘Counting on us?’

‘They’re creatures trapped in despair, but I feel like they’re counting on us for some reason.’

I scratched my forehead as I answered, and Kim Hyeong-Jun looked at me with a sour face.

‘Ahjussi.’

‘What?’

‘You know, you were really cheesy just now.’

I chuckled and slapped Kim Hyeong-Jun on the back. Kim Hyeong-Jun rubbed his stinging back and complained,

‘What happened to you, ahjussi? It seems like someone picked up some bad habits while I was gone.’

‘Oh come on. What’s up with you, acting all weak? I know you don’t even feel pain anyway.’

‘You’re just doing this because you don’t want it to make it awkward, right ahjussi?’

‘Alrighty, let’s just get going.’

I stashed my hands in my pockets and headed toward the apartment where the enemy leader was being held. Kim Hyeong-Jun followed me, still mumbling to himself.

‘Counting on us…?’

But the thing was, I wasn’t even sure about my theory as well.

Thinking that a black creature that was trapped in despair was living within me gave me chills down my spine. Especially knowing that I had eaten its brain. But the message the black creature gave me wasn’t something that a being in despair would say.

- Make it out alive. For my brother. For my family.

I wondered if what it had voiced was its wish, its desire, or its hope.

Whenever I killed a zombie, even if they were my underlings, they thanked me with a gentle smile. Perhaps whatever the black creature said… was something along these lines.

After all, the saying ‘every cloud has a silver lining’ didn’t come out of nowhere.

I wondered if the black creature was counting on me to fulfill its hope, which it couldn’t do while it was alive. I looked up at the night sky and took a deep breath. I looked up, seeing the stars shining in the pitch-black darkness, and thought to myself,

‘I’ll fulfill whatever you want… Help me in return.’

* * *

I saw my underlings on the first floor when we got to the apartment where the enemy leader was being held. I made it past my underlings and entered the living room where the enemy leader was. The enemy leader was sitting in the center, his eyes hollow.

The enemy leader sneered when he saw me and Kim Hyeong-Jun.

“Are you ready to have a serious conversation?”

‘No. We came because we wanted to ask you something.’

“Go ahead.”

‘You have mutants under you. How’d you do it?’

“Mutants huh… Is that why you came to me?”

‘Stop with the bullshit and just answer my question already.’

The enemy leader burst out in laughter and shook his head. His eyes flared.

“I don’t think I’ve heard an answer to my offer yet. Don’t you think it’s common sense to respond to my offer first?”

‘Common sense, my ass. You should be thankful that you’re still alive.’

“If you have no intention of accepting my offer, just go ahead and kill me.”

‘So you won’t tell us about the mutants no matter what?’

“Well, you gave my ego a big blow, you know? I feel like shit. You don’t answer any of my questions, so I don’t see a reason why I have to answer any of yours.”

The enemy leader smiled faintly and looked back and forth between Kim Hyeong-Jun and me. I just couldn’t get used to his serene attitude.

It wasn’t easy to interrogate him even with his limbs cut off, since he didn’t feel any pain. He also didn’t fear death, so threats would not work as well.

However, the enemy leader had made a big mistake from the start.

His arrogance had led to a misjudgment.

The enemy leader thought too much, and that had created gaps in his perfect story. He’d forgotten about the real problem while considering all the other possibilities.

I smirked and posed him a question.

‘So, you said you’ve been protecting Shelter Seoul Forest all this time, right?’

“Yeah.”

‘If you don’t tell us about the mutants, Shelter Seoul Forest is going to go down.’

“Shouldn’t that make you see my offer in a more positive light? Shelter Seoul Forest will only be protected if I live, and you and I can get rid of the boss together.”

‘But you know what?’

“...?”

‘Everything you say revolves around you.’

“Now, what kind of nonsense…”

‘You don’t care for others in the slightest. You lack a sense of selflessness. Even toward your daughter. Don’t you think you’re excessively selfish?’

The enemy leader frowned for a moment, then snorted.

“Where are you trying to go with this?”

‘Data about mutants? I don’t have to get them from you. I have plenty of zombies I can experiment with. I wanted to see if you were going to cooperate, or if you were going to be hostile toward me.’

“Ha! So you had no intention of keeping me alive in the first place, then? Alright, kill me already!”

‘No, no, no. You can’t just die like this.’

“...What?”

‘You said your daughter is in Shelter Seoul Forest, right?’

As I smirked, the enemy leader’s eyebrows twitched. I kept talking, but kept an eye on how the enemy leader’s expression changed.

‘Unlike you, I genuinely care about the survivors. The gang members might attack Shelter Seoul Forest while research about the mutants is underway. And you probably need power to protect the shelter, don’t you?’

“Cut to the chase.”

‘If I kill your daughter… You’ll turn into a black creature, right?”

“What in the world…!”

‘I feel like I could easily take on the officers if I eat another black creature’s brain.’

I stopped talking and looked the enemy leader right in the eye. I saw his eyes trembling for the first time. He seemed to be lost in thought for a second, but then he quickly burst out laughing.

“You, killing a person? You should have just begged for the mutant data, you stupid idiot.”

‘Funny thing is, I never said I\'d be the one eating it.’

“...What?”

I smiled while I looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun, who was right next to me.

Kim Hyeong-Jun looked at me blankly while mouthing the word ‘why’. I looked at him and told him to nod.

‘Huh? Okay…’

Kim Hyeong-Jun nodded calmly. The enemy leader saw his reaction and grew desperate. I was well aware that Kim Hyeong-Jun looked as cold as ice when his expression was calm. I knew he couldn’t have heard our conversation, as my eyes hadn’t met his while I was conversing with the enemy leader.

The enemy leader ground his teeth loudly enough for us to hear from a distance away.

“Hey!”

‘We’re done talking. He agrees with my plan.’

“Wait, I’m not done with my story!”

‘Your daughter, what’s her name?’

“What?”

‘Well, we have to at least know her name in order to kill her, right?’

“At this point, why do I have to tell you that?”

The enemy leader swallowed but smiled slyly. It seemed like he thought his daughter would be safe if he stayed quiet. I gave orders to the underlings standing next to me.

‘You, carry the enemy leader and follow me.’

Grr.

As one of my underlings hoisted the enemy leader onto their back, the enemy leader started rolling his eyes. It seemed like it was trying to come up with a witty plan. I pinched his cheeks.

‘I mean, your daughter will probably recognize you.’

“You son of a bitch!”

‘Remember what you said earlier? A blow to your ego? What will feel worse, appearing in front of your daughter as a zombie without arms or legs, or just telling us about the mutants? Your call.’

“Goddamn it, you bastard!”

‘Oh no, don’t swear. It makes you sound uneducated.’

I left the apartment after saying what I’d planned. My underling followed me, the enemy leader still on their back. Kim Hyeong-Jun looked at me slyly and asked,

‘Ahjussi, what did you tell him? I haven’t even gotten to my part.’

‘I just saved us some time.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘We’re going back to the shelter. If this man’s daughter is still alive, she’ll recognize him.’

‘What?’

‘I’m going to use his daughter to threaten him. If the desire driving this man is his daughter’s safety, he’ll turn into a black creature when his daughter dies before his eyes.’

‘Ahjussi...’

Kim Hyeong-Jun’s eyes quivered. It seemed like he thought I was cold-blooded. I snorted.

‘I’m kidding. I have no intention of killing his daughter. I’m just going to threaten him.’

‘And what if that doesn’t work?’

‘Then I kill the enemy leader.’

As I answered, my glowing red eyes flared. Kim Hyeong-Jun swallowed and nodded.