The Devouring Genius of a Destroyed World

On the way to Seogang-dong.

Seongho turned around as he rummaged through the pocket of his coat.

"Im Chan, I need to give this to the kid..."

*Growwww!*

But before Seongho could finish his sentence, the sound of a zombie's cry echoed.

Im Chan, who had been pushing another bicycle, and even Im Ji-hyo, who had been sitting in the back seat of his bike, were startled.

On the other hand, Seongho stopped his bicycle, thinking to himself that this worked out well.

*’The timing is perfect.’*

Seongho pulled out a necklace from his pocket and put it around his neck.

**[Sometimes Like a Zombie]**
- While this item is active, it mimics the presence of a zombie, making it undetectable by zombies.
- Activation Time: 100:00:00

It was an item he had received after killing Go Ji-hoon, and its function was exactly what he had confirmed through the Pioneer’s Cradle in advance.

He hadn’t known about the activation time, but 100 hours wasn’t exactly short.

The moment Seongho put the necklace on and grabbed the pendant in his hand...

The zombie, which had only been making noise up until then, finally appeared from the alley.

*‘Just one?’*

It was the perfect timing to test the item's performance without worrying about anything else.

The zombie was charging directly toward Seongho, who was at the front of the group.

When the zombie was about to get within reach, Seongho pressed the gem at the center of the necklace.

*Gwoooah...?!*

Seongho, who never expected to see the zombie’s expression filled with confusion, let out a small laugh.

Meanwhile, thanks to the item’s effect, the zombie’s head turned to the side, losing its target.

The new target was now Im Chan and his daughter, Ji-hyo, who were behind Seongho.

In fact, the zombie attempted to pass by Seongho entirely, as if he wasn’t even there.

Of course, before it could go too far, Seongho grabbed its neck.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Seongho turned off the necklace's function.

And, strangely enough, the zombie began thrashing again, this time directing its rage back toward Seongho.

Seongho repeated the process of turning the necklace on and off a few times, and each time, the zombie’s reaction was unmistakably obvious.

The item’s functionality left no room for doubt.

"Nice."

Seongho dragged the struggling zombie over to a nearby vehicle and shoved it inside.

Once the door was closed, the zombie was trapped inside the car.

It continued to cause a ruckus, causing the car to shake, but since the zombie had no intelligence to use its hands, the chances of it escaping were low.

Seongho then approached Im Ji-hyo.

“Se-Seongho, what was that...?”

“Let’s just call it today’s strange and amazing event.”

After calming Im Chan, who was visibly shaken, Seongho placed the necklace around Ji-hyo’s neck.

"Hey kid, listen up."

"Yeah?"

"From now on, if you wear this necklace and press the gem, the zombies won’t be able to see you."

Im Chan's eyes widened in disbelief.

Meanwhile, Seongho continued to explain to Ji-hyo, making sure she understood that she would be able to hide from zombies completely.

When Seongho adjusted his words to suit the child’s understanding, Ji-hyo's face lit up.

"Really? Really, really?!"

She even started to stand up from the bicycle seat in excitement.

Seongho quickly picked her up before she could fall.

The moment Ji-hyo's feet touched the ground, she started jumping up and down in place.

Seongho, seeing this, asked for Im Chan's approval.

“If you don’t believe me, you can test it out yourself.”

"R-Really, really, will the zombies not be able to see Ji-hyo?"

"Yes, just like the one that passed me earlier. It will go right by you."

"Ji-hyo, let’s try it!"

With confidence in Seongho's answer, Im Chan’s face was bright, just like Ji-hyo’s.

After a short pause, Im Chan gave his approval.

Seongho took Ji-hyo toward the vehicle.

"What do you need to press to hide from the zombie?"

"This, the blue stone!"

"Press it and wait."

"Okay, Ji-hyo pressed it!"

Ji-hyo, who was firmly holding the pendant of the necklace, stared at the vehicle with a serious expression.

Although her face was harmless and sweet, Seongho couldn’t help but smile at her adorableness as he opened the vehicle door.

Just then, a zombie, seemingly waiting for this moment, rushed out and attacked Seongho.

Seongho easily restrained the zombie with one hand and then approached Ji-hyo.

“Hit it, kick it, or whatever you want.”

Still, Ji-hyo hesitated, her expression stiff, before reaching out her hand.

However, after a moment of poking and hitting the zombie, she realized it wasn't responding to her at all, and her mood changed.

"Eh, hey!"

With all her strength, Ji-hyo kicked the zombie’s shin, and her face lit up with joy.

"Wow, wow! It really can’t see Ji-hyo! Ji-hyo can do this and this, and it still can’t see me!"

Watching the child so excited, Seongho felt like he might start laughing too.

*‘Now that we’re at it, might as well double-check.’*

Seongho intentionally kicked the zombie far away, then moved backward with Ji-hyo in front of him.

Ji-hyo, initially startled, soon regained her big smile.

The zombie, which had rolled over on the road, ignored Ji-hyo and immediately rushed toward Seongho.

"Dummy! Ji-hyo’s here, and you can’t see me! Hahaha!"

Ji-hyo danced around the zombie, laughing and teasing it.

She stuck out her tongue or performed silly dance moves, mocking the zombie.

"Ji-hyo’s here! Try and catch me! Can’t catch me, can’t catch me?"

This was the most childlike Seongho had ever seen her.

"Uncle, do it again! Again, again!"

She seemed to have so much fun watching the zombie pass her by that she kept urging Seongho to do it again.

Her joy was so pure that she even changed how she called him.

Seongho found it amusing but also a bit strange. Im Chan, who had always called him "Sir," had now changed to "Uncle."

Seongho couldn’t help but chuckle, feeling oddly touched by the child’s excitement.

*‘Guess it’s fine for now.’*

Since there was no immediate danger, he decided to humor her a few more times.

Seongho spent about five minutes playing along with Ji-hyo’s game of hide-and-seek with the zombie.

After five minutes, he grabbed the zombie by the neck and sternly signaled Ji-hyo to stop.

"Alright, that’s enough."

"Why?"

"You’ve had enough fun for now."

Ji-hyo pouted in protest, her excitement fading as she reluctantly stopped.

However, instead of consoling the child, Seongho called Im Chan over to remove the necklace.

Im Chan, who had taken off the necklace as Seongho instructed, spoke in a firm voice.

“Ji-hyo, what did your dad tell you? You’re never supposed to whine when we’re outside, right?”

Ji-hyo’s lips puffed out as she sulked.

Seongho wasn’t surprised if she had started crying, since children usually act up when things don’t go their way.

But Ji-hyo didn’t cry or whine.

It was a small thing, but Seongho felt a bit of bitterness in his mouth.

It felt like Ji-hyo couldn’t live like a child in this world.

*‘But I can’t just let her do whatever she wants either.’*

That necklace was an item with a limited activation time.

“Im Chan, there’s a usage limit on this.”

“Huh?”

“It doesn’t work indefinitely. It only lasts for 100 hours. So, make sure Ji-hyo doesn’t use it recklessly.”

Seongho knew that Ji-hyo wouldn’t be able to control herself, so after informing Im Chan, he moved the zombie to another spot.

He planned to test the performance of other items while there was time.

Seongho then checked the new item he had received from Ahn Hee-seob after his involvement in the Destiny Interference event.

[Dagger That Grows by Drinking Blood]

• Consumes the blood of a target it cuts, allowing the blade to extend at will using the consumed blood.
• Blood Consumed: 0ml

It appeared like an ordinary military-style large sword, but what was unusual was the leather sheath it came with, which could be worn on the thigh or the back.

The item's options weren’t exactly what Seongho had expected.

‘I thought it was just a growing weapon that would get stronger.’

The growth mechanic was limited to the length of the blade.

At first, Seongho was a little surprised, but after calmly thinking about it, he realized it wasn’t a bad option.

‘If I stab it in and extend it, it could deal critical damage, right?’

Since the blade was short at first, it would easily catch an opponent off guard.

Looking at the description, it seemed like the blood could be consumed from both zombies and humans, meaning the dagger could be useful against both sides.

That would significantly increase its utility.

Seongho was confident the dagger would be a useful item.

Seongho stabbed the dagger into the zombie in front of him.

Thunk.

The sound was dull, but as the item's description indicated, the amount of blood consumed began to increase on the item’s status window.

Interestingly, even though the dagger was pulled out, there was barely any bloodstain left on the wound.

‘So this is the logic behind it.’

The blood that should have spilled out was absorbed by the dagger.

However, it seemed that there was a limit to how much blood could be extracted from a single zombie.

No matter how much Seongho stabbed, the amount of blood consumed never exceeded 2L.

After confirming that, Seongho used his unique ability on the zombie.

After placing the Virus Sphere into his mouth, the first thing Seongho checked was his status window.

Level: 3 (106/125)
Physical Ability: 10
Special Abilities: 21/24

The physical ability had remained unchanged, but his special abilities had increased quite a bit.

Since he had been using his powers to their limits while selecting Awakened individuals at the camp, it made sense that his ability had grown.

He also had 3 unassigned stats from Ahn Hee-seob’s character addition, which Seongho had invested entirely into his special abilities.

‘Experience…’

The infection checks for 66 people at the cathedral camp, along with the viruses he had been collecting, had brought his experience past 100.

He only needed 19 more experience points for the next level.

Seongho etched the number into his mind and returned to the Im family.

They were still in the middle of their training.

"Did you understand what I explained, Im Chan? What happens if Ji-hyo uses this without thinking?"

"If she uses it recklessly, she won’t be able to hide when it really matters..."

"Exactly. So, when Dad or I aren’t around, and Ji-hyo is alone in a dangerous situation, you can use it."

"Okay… Ji-hyo promises!"

Ji-hyo responded with a serious expression, and she made a pinky promise with Im Chan.

Not long ago, she had been sulking, unable to play more, but now she seemed completely different.

Seongho couldn’t help but chuckle at the transformation, feeling a little awkward when he realized Im Chan was staring at him with sparkling eyes.

“Seongho, I really have to thank you for everything. How can we repay this kindness?”

Im Chan’s voice was full of emotion, and Seongho awkwardly smiled in response.

“I just gave it to her because it’s better for her to use it. Im Chan, both you and I are immune, so we don’t need it.”

Seongho understood why Ji-hyo and Im Chan would be grateful, but being looked at like that made him a little uncomfortable.

He only passed along something that was useless to him, and yet, Im Chan was treating him as if he’d done something extraordinary.

The way Im Chan kept referring to it as his "strange world" made Seongho feel a bit burdened.

Seongho didn’t want to prolong this awkward moment.

“We shouldn’t linger here for too long. Let’s get moving.”

With that, he hurriedly got back on the road.