The Devouring Genius of a Destroyed World

Seongho was ready to kill if necessary.

He wasn’t naive enough to believe that he could secure his safety in this godforsaken world without taking lives.

So, after being thrown into this world, he had constantly reassured himself, time and time again.

Though he had never directly ended a life, his involvement had certainly led to the death of others.

For example, Choi Ji-young was likely a zombie by now, so it was safe to consider her dead.

Choi Seungjo had probably died due to his untreated concussion, and even if he had somehow survived, permanent damage was inevitable.

The camp guards left behind in the burning building were no different. Though Seongho didn’t kill them himself, he had left them in a place where they could only suffocate.

They would never make it out alive.

*‘I have no regrets about my choices.’*

Even if given the same choice again, Seongho wouldn’t have spared them.

Seongho was not a merciful person who would turn goodwill toward evil.

But that didn’t mean he was a sadistic person.

At least, Seongho had never cut apart a person’s body, nor had he artificially stopped bleeding to keep someone from dying after amputating their limbs.

Naturally, he had never once thought about burning someone alive.

**“Kyaaah!”**

Go Ji-hoon’s scream, the sound of him being burned alive after enduring torture, echoed across the world.

And then followed laughter, filled with madness and malice.

“Hahahaha!”

“Serves you right! Hahaha!”

Even though Seongho had expected Go Ji-hoon’s tragic end, the scene before him was still somewhat overwhelming.

He didn’t want to defend the atrocities Go Ji-hoon had led, but...

He couldn’t fully understand the people who cheered at someone’s pain and suffering.

Seongho stood rigid, watching the cruel reality unfold before him.

And then, suddenly, a thought crossed his mind.

*‘If I keep living in this world, will I end up like them?’*

The mere thought of a day that hadn’t even come yet, one that might never even arrive, made Seongho grit his teeth.

He didn’t fail to understand their position.

He could guess the hardships they must have faced to become like this, which made his mouth taste bitter.

But even if he went through the same things...

*‘I don’t want to become like them.’*

If he did, he felt that he would never be able to return to the world he once knew.

Seongho watched, conflicted, as Go Ji-hoon met his end.

How much time had passed?

The chilling screams began to fade, and the maniacal cheers also abruptly stopped after a certain moment.

---

**[System Message]**

**"The character (Go Ji-hoon) has died."**

**"You have interfered with the fate of the world."**

**"Fate interference rewards are being provided."**

**"Please confirm the reward for your choice."**

**"You have directly contributed to the death of the character (Go Ji-hoon)."**

**"You have successfully completed the hunt for the character (Go Ji-hoon)."**

**"Please claim your success reward."**

A new message flooded the screen, making Seongho's vision dizzy.

*‘The hunting quest shows up immediately after death.’*

On the other hand, the civilian rescue quest had not yet provided any updates.

*‘I’ll wait until everything is settled.’*

After checking the message, Seongho turned his attention back to the field.

The crowd surrounding Go Ji-hoon’s body was quiet.

Had they released everything they had inside?

Or maybe they no longer had the strength to resent?

Whatever the reason, people began to scatter, leaving Go Ji-hoon’s lifeless body behind.

Seongho moved to fill the space left behind.

When he reached the body, he crouched down and took an item he had carefully kept in his inner pocket.

**[Ability Extraction Orb]**
- Allows you to use the ability extracted from a deceased awakened person for 30 minutes.
- Extraction Target: None
- Extraction Ability: None

The reason Seongho had come all the way to Myeongdong was clear.

There was no need to worry about how to use the item.

As soon as he placed it on Go Ji-hoon’s charred body, a new system window popped up.

**"An awakened person's death has been detected. Would you like to extract their ability? (Y/N)"**

*‘Yes.’*

From inside the transparent orb, something began to rise up.

Gray smoke continued to expand, filling the orb, and soon a new system message appeared.

**"Ability extraction complete."**

When Seongho picked up the orb again, the description had changed.

**[Ability Extraction Orb]**
- Allows you to use the ability extracted from a deceased awakened person for 30 minutes.
- Extraction Target: Go Ji-hoon
- Extraction Ability: Puppet Master Ability

**"Would you like to use the extracted ability? (Y/N)"**

Seongho pressed the “No” button and placed the orb back into his inner pocket.

He briefly wondered what he would say if anyone asked what he had just done.

But before he could ponder further, he noticed everyone around him moving frantically.

“Go check the convent. Jumi and Isul... The women should be free of control. If they seem like they might make a bad decision, stop them.”

“Yes!”

Among them, a man was naturally giving orders to others.

“Sorry for the delay, I’m Ahn Hee-seop.”

Ahn Hee-seop, the man who had thrown Go Ji-hoon into the flames, greeted Seongho first.

Seongho stared at him, covered in blood.

It wasn’t until then that he realized the blood splashed on Hee-seop’s face was concentrated around his mouth.

As if he had bitten someone.

With mixed emotions, Seongho sighed lightly and shook Ahn Hee-seop's hand.

“I’m Han Seongho.”

“We can’t put out the fire right now, but should we move to another building? The convent is clean, as it was where they used to stay.”

“We’ll do that later. There’s something more urgent.”

“Urgent?”

Seongho glanced at the spreading fire and responded.

“We need to rescue those we can, and clean up what needs to be cleaned up.”

“Rescue?"

“They’re not the only victims here.”

---

Seongho turned his back on the burning building and headed toward the morgue.

Knock, knock, knock.

“Song In-hye, it’s me. Please open the door.”

Ahn Hee-seop, who had followed him to the underground entrance, looked at him curiously.

But instead of explaining, Seongho simply knocked on the iron door again.

“I know you’ve taken the rebar cutter, so come out.”

Soon, there was a rustling sound from under the iron door.

A moment later, Song In-hye opened the door and people rushed up from the basement.

"What in the world, Father?"

"...Hee-seop?"

"You’re unharmed…!"

Seongho realized that the people trapped in the underground tunnel, along with Ahn Hee-seop’s group, were familiar with each other.

The sudden reunion shocked Jeong Han-soo and Ahn Hee-seop, who embraced each other tightly.

In the process, the crow that had been perched on Jeong Han-soo’s shoulder flew up with a flap of its wings.

Caw!

Ahn Hee-seop had to step back to avoid the flapping bird.

"What’s with the crow...?"

"Don’t you remember? The one whose wings were broken a couple of months ago."

"Ah...!"

"It seems it wanted to thank you, so it brought an important person."

As Jeong Han-soo spoke, his gaze was not on the crow but on Seongho.

However, Seongho didn’t realize that Han-soo was looking at him.

Checking his watch, Han-soo surveyed the surroundings.

"We should move soon."

"Huh? What’s happening...?"

"The time’s already almost 9 PM. If we don’t hurry, we’ll be stuck dealing with zombies all night."

"Zombies...?"

Ahn Hee-seop, who had suddenly recalled the word, took a sharp breath.

Seongho reminded him of the situation.

"The smell of smoke has probably spread everywhere."

Starting the fire in the supply warehouse had been the perfect way to draw the cannibal camp members to one spot.

However, this had also brought about its own set of problems.

One of the issues was the zombies, who would inevitably be drawn by the scent.

‘Zombies may be blind, but their sense of smell is far from impaired.’

Seongho emphasized the seriousness of the situation and urged them to move.

The controlled people, along with the survivors from the school and some who had been trapped in the priest’s residence without any communication, all focused on the single task of dealing with the zombies.

Thanks to that, by the time the sun began to set and the sky darkened, Seongho and the church camp had successfully cleared the zombies gathered beyond the barricade.

‘This is the last one I’m holding.’

At last, Seongho used the last ability he had been saving.

With a flash of light, his knees buckled, and he had to endure that heavy sensation once again.

[Character Status Window]

• Character Information - Name: Han Seongho
  Role: Destiny Pioneer
  Level: 3 (38/125)
  Physical Ability: 7
  Ability: 1/18
• Activity Information -
  Merit Points: 39
  
  Corruption Points: 372P
  Influence: Only a very small number of the world’s inhabitants recognize you, and you hold little to no influence.
  Title: None

The increase in abilities from 17 to 18 made all the hardships worth it.

Breathing heavily and supporting himself with his hand, Seongho noticed a hand appear in his line of sight.

"Are you alright?"

Ahn Hee-seop, who had been moving alongside him while clearing zombies, offered his hand.

Seongho accepted his hand and replied, “I’m fine.”

It would have been a surprise if someone suddenly collapsed, but Hee-seop, without any sign of distress, helped Seongho up and asked, "…You're an Awakened one, right? You just collapsed from exhaustion?"

"That's right."

"That’s fortunate. At least you don’t have to worry about infection."

Though there was a hint of sarcasm in his tone, Seongho didn’t add anything further.

‘It’s not the time to reveal my abilities.’

While Seongho avoided further discussion, his attention shifted to his surroundings.

[System Message]

"The majority of civilians are now safe from the cannibal hunters and zombie attacks."
"Successfully rescued 10 civilians."
"Successfully rescued 25 civilians."

The awaited messages appeared.

‘The quest doesn’t complete until the situation is fully resolved.’

Was this related to the number of people?

Or perhaps there was another condition?

‘The target seems to be a specific group, and the condition of danger appears to overlap.’

Given that both the cannibal hunters and the zombies were involved, it seemed to be the case.

‘I’ve rescued more than 35 people from the cannibal camp, so why did the quest message only show 10 and 25?’

Seongho had rescued more than 35 people from the cannibal camp alone, yet the system was only recognizing 10 and 25-person quests.

Though he wanted to check the Pioneer’s Cradle immediately, he knew there were too many eyes on him, so he decided to wait.

‘At least the success message has appeared. That’s enough for now.’

While finishing the zombie cleanup, Seongho glanced back at the smoke rising from the place where the fire had died down and spoke to Ahn Hee-seop.

"Ahn Hee-seop."

Ahn Hee-seop, who was cleaning up the zombie corpses, turned at Seongho’s call.

"What’s up?"

"It seems like things are winding down, so I need you to bring my group here."

“Oh, right. Wait a moment, I’ll gather a protection squad.”

Seongho briefly explained his situation to Ahn Hee-seop while they were still clearing the zombies. His group was outside, and since it was too dangerous to leave them out there, he wanted them brought in once the cleanup was done.

Ahn Hee-seop accepted his request without much resistance, but with one condition.

“It’s done. Let’s go.”

On their way to meet his group, Ahn Hee-seop insisted that he and other men accompany Seongho.

It was clearly meant as a precaution, but Seongho wasn’t too concerned.

‘Not like I’m planning anything bad.’

With Ahn Hee-seop and five other men in tow, Seongho left the church.