Chapter 35: The Swamp of the Alligator Snapping Turtle (3)
Sion crouched down and began pulling something out of his bag.
Everyone’s attention turned to him.
What Sion took out from the bag was a canned good.
Mackerel pike canned goods.
Sion carefully placed the cans on the ground one by one.
A woman watching this scene spoke with a trembling voice.
“…Are you saying we should… eat now?”
The man standing next to her, whose eyebrows were frozen stiff, frowned.
“Is that your solution? Ah… ah…”
Lastly, Inspector Lee Chung-chun cautiously asked.
“Of course, we can replenish our energy by eating and hold out for a while. But isn’t that just stalling for time? I heard that the alligator snapping turtle only moves to breathe once every ten years…?”
After saying that, Lee Chung-chun turned to Jin Jae-hee, seeking confirmation.
Jin Jae-hee carefully nodded her head.
Lee Chung-chun was right.
The alligator snapping turtle only moves to breathe once every ten years.
For humans, ten years is an unbearably long time.
Even if we barely survive by eating the food we have now…
A week?
No, we wouldn’t last even three days.
This place was a swamp.
The more you struggle, the deeper you sink into despair.
‘…What’s your plan?’
Jin Jae-hee swallowed dryly and looked at Sion.
Sion was still pulling out cans from his bag and stacking them like a tower.
It was incomprehensible behavior for any ordinary person.
But for some reason…
Jin Jae-hee felt a significant sense of relief just seeing him take action.
He wasn’t the kind of man to act without a plan.
“Who’s going to eat this?”
Swish—
At that moment, a can flew through the air.
Jin Jae-hee barely managed to catch it.
Sion began throwing cans to the remaining survivors, one by one.
The survivors fumbled to catch the cans and then looked back at Sion.
Sion, slightly out of breath, rolled his shoulders while holding a can of mackerel pike.
It seemed like he was warming up.
Everyone could only stare at him in bewilderment.
“When I give the signal, run. If you hesitate, you’ll die immediately.”
“…Ah.”
“What…?”
No one understood what Sion meant.
Except for Jin Jae-hee.
She was the only one who grasped his meaning.
At that moment, Sion turned his body toward the window.
A window bathed in moonlight.
Then, in the next instant…
Sion stared at the window briefly, tightly gripped the can, and hurled it with all his might toward the glass.
Crash!
The glass shattered into countless pieces, scattering in the air.
The small shards of glass sparkled in the moonlight as they fell outside.
“…That was it.”
Jin Jae-hee instantly realized what he was doing.
In the end, this was the only way for us to survive.
She gripped her can tightly and threw it with all her strength.
Crash!
The can she threw made an even louder noise as it shattered another window.
Shimmering shards of glass scattered everywhere.
The others didn’t understand what this was about or why they were doing it, but they followed suit and began throwing their cans at the windows.
Those with weaker arms couldn’t break the glass.
But they still threw.
Even if they didn’t know why.
Even if they didn’t fully understand what they were thinking.
Their instincts told them this was their only chance.
Crash! Crash! Crash!
The windows were reduced to glittering ruins.
From here, Kang Sion’s plan began to unfold precisely as intended.
The changes had begun.
Shhhhk! Shhshshk!
Snow Nepenthes, hidden in the snowfield, stirred to life.
These monsters reacted to anything that shimmered.
As the windows shattered, the reflected shards of glass caught the light, drawing them in.
An enormous number of tendrils shot toward the shattered fourth-floor windows.
Swish— Bang!
The tendrils began thrashing wildly, tearing through the self-bar on the fourth floor.
The dynamic movement of the Nepenthes triggered a reaction from the alligator snapping turtles, which finally revealed themselves.
Chomp— Crunch!
The alligator snapping turtles started biting into the tendrils.
One… Two… Three.
Three alligator snapping turtles emerged.
They bit at the tendrils, and the tendrils coiled around the turtles’ heads.
Seeing this, Sion shouted.
“Now’s the time!”
Snow Nepenthes react to shiny objects.
This was information I had obtained upon arriving here.
I used that information.
The Snow Nepenthes would be drawn to the sparkling glass shards, and the alligator snapping turtles would react to the movement of the Nepenthes.
And the plan worked.
Dozens of Snow Nepenthes swarmed the fourth floor.
The alligator snapping turtles, which hunted prey by sensing movement, ignored the humans and went after the more dynamic Nepenthes.
Chomp, chomp—!
The alligator snapping turtles ferociously bit into the thrashing tendrils.
This was our only chance.
“Now’s the time!”
I sprinted straight toward the window, now filled with Nepenthes.
Those closer to the stairs ran toward the stairwell.
But those heading toward the stairs would likely die.
The stairs were even more dangerous.
That area was still a minefield.
Who knew how many snapping turtles were lying in wait there?
But I had no time to warn them.
While this was a way to escape the snapping turtles, it didn’t guarantee safety from the Nepenthes.
Leap!
I vaulted through the window, diving into the open air.
Below me, dozens of Nepenthes roots stretched upward.
This was the fourth floor.
Normally, jumping from this height would guarantee broken bones.
But fortunately, the snow piled up to a person’s height would act as an airbag.
Thud— Puff!
I sank deep into the snow.
The impact didn’t hurt.
I struggled inside the snow, trying to free myself.
Around me, I could hear the sound of the Nepenthes.
Shhhhk, shhhshk.
The tendrils slithered through the snowfield.
I flailed like a drowning man in a stormy sea, desperately trying to escape.
Meanwhile, the tendrils lunged at me.
But they didn’t get to touch my body.
Swoosh— Slice!
Jin Jae-hee appeared and severed all the tendrils with her sword.
She spun her blade and cut down the tendrils rushing at me from the left.
She didn’t stop.
She sliced, slashed, and struck again.
The tendrils wrapping around her body didn’t matter—she focused solely on cutting those coming for me.
There was no room for error.
This was why she was a regressor.
Why she was the strongest human.
She proved it before my eyes.
The Nepenthes fell one by one under her blade, writhing as they sank back into the snow.
They must have realized her strength.
“Hah, hah.”
Jin Jae-hee was panting, her breath labored.
The cold had taken a toll on her stamina.
I stared at her for a moment.
Then, hearing a commotion, I turned toward the building’s entrance.
There, Inspector Lee Chung-chun and two others burst out.
“Are you okay?!”
Inspector Lee Chung-chun rushed over.
The building’s exterior was still wrapped in Nepenthes tendrils.
The Nepenthes were retreating, pushed back by the alligator snapping turtles.
And from the broken window, its face briefly appeared.
Gaaaah-.
A bizarre cry.
A shell that looked tougher than steel.
Eyes sharp like those of a dragon.
And teeth and jaws stained with human blood.
The alligator snapping turtle stared at the humans for a moment and then began to disappear.
‘…Can it not come down to the ground?’
I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand.
My cracked lips left blood smeared on my hand.
I looked at the blood-stained back of my hand and then at the hand before me.
Jin Jae-hee was there.
She was reaching out her hand to me.
I stared blankly at it before grabbing her hand and standing up.
Pat, pat.
I brushed off the snow clinging to my waist and turned to her again as she opened her mouth to speak.
“Thank you.”
Inspector Lee Chung-chun and the two other people nearby also spoke to me.
“Thank you so much. I really thought we were dead…”
“Ah, really, it’s such a relief. Having you here, Sion… it’s truly a relief.”
They each said something to me, and I looked at them blankly.
Then I turned my body and said.
“Let’s hurry. It’s still night, and the Nepenthes will soon retreat into the snow.”
We weren’t safe yet.
The streets were dark.
Silent, with a murderous cold.
We trudged forward, clearing only enough snow to move.
After walking for quite some time, I suddenly looked back.
“…”
There, on First Street, stood dozens of Snow Nepenthes, rising like a bamboo forest.
No, not bamboo.
They swayed and moved, almost fluid.
Like strands of seaweed.
And under the moonlight, dozens of Snow Nepenthes swayed their bodies gently.
It was a grotesque yet strangely beautiful sight.
At the same time Sion was watching the swaying Nepenthes under the moonlight.
Six people stood on the rooftop of a commercial building, watching the same scene.
One woman, her mask pulled under her chin, smoked a cigarette as she looked at Sion.
“What do you think? Can they handle it? The cops, I mean.”
Another woman approached her and asked.
The first woman raised her leg onto the rooftop railing and scratched her calf with her hand.
She exhaled a puff of smoke.
“The cops aren’t the problem. Those two are.”
The long-haired woman, the leader of the scouting party, spoke as she watched the police reconnaissance team making their way through the snowfield.
Among them, she referred to two individuals.
Kang Sion and Jin Jae-hee.
The two had shown such prowess earlier that even the scouting party found them to be a significant threat.
Another woman approached the leader and spoke.
“Doesn’t he seem similar to the man Her Majesty mentioned?”
At those words, the leader pondered for a moment before flicking the ash from her cigarette.
“Well, we’ll have to catch him to find out.”
“How many people do you think are at the police station?”
The scout continued to ask the leader questions.
They hadn’t originally feared the police force.
They thought they could easily crush them.
But after seeing today’s display, their minds had changed.
Rather than seeming insignificant, they now felt intimidating.
The leader felt the same way.
To win the second round, or rather, to fulfill the Queen’s “decree,” they had to capture the best man at any cost.
The Queen was searching for one man.
It was to fulfill her sexual desires and possessiveness.
Since the first round, the Queen had quickly adapted to the League and seized power.
Leaders of factions with more than 100 members were granted absolute authority through the “decree.”
Everyone under the faction knelt before the decree.
It all came down to the decree.
As long as they executed it well, they could regain their freedom.
The leader threw her cigarette to the ground and pulled up her mask.
“Let’s go.”
Then, they descended the building.
In the alleyway, there was a monster resembling a deer.
Toon Toon.
A monster domesticated and named by the Queen.
By riding Toon Toon, they could avoid most threats from Snow Nepenthes and other monsters.
The women crossed from Manan District to Dongan District.
Dongan District had two major factions.
One centered around City Hall and Beomgye Station, and the other around Hogae.
There had already been several skirmishes.
Through this war, the Queen sought to completely dominate Anyang’s Dongan District.
The horrors of war could be seen everywhere near Beomgye Station.
Swish— Slash!
The useless were publicly beheaded.
The decapitated humans were thrown to Toon Toon as feed.
Beomgye Station, once famous for its pubs and commercial district, had become the residence of the First Faction of Dongan District.
Bonfires burned in various places, cooking unidentifiable meat.
Their residences were established around the buildings, and most of them worked in the streets.
Butchering captured monsters.
Escorting prisoners from the Second Faction in Hogae.
Managing prisoners by gender.
Beheadings.
Torture.
Building barricades.
Or simply fooling around.
In just two weeks, they had rapidly expanded their influence under the Queen’s leadership.
The scouting party rode Toon Toon into Beomgye Station’s intersection.
A sentry who spotted them shouted.
“Scout Leader Lee Soo-eun is here!”
“It’s the Leader!”
“The Leader is back!”
As the scouting party returned, women nearby rushed out to greet them.
Lee Soo-eun, as a direct subordinate of the Queen, wielded significant power here.
She passed through the Beomgye Station intersection and walked down Rodeo Street.
A messenger approached her.
“Where is Her Majesty?”
“She’s inside. She just arrived with the slaves.”
“Got it.”
Lee Soo-eun handed Toon Toon to a soldier and entered the building.
The fifth floor.
It used to be a motel.
The elevator no longer worked, so she climbed the stairs.
Once a motel, it was now nothing more than the Queen’s villa.
On the fifth floor, naked people knelt in a line.
They couldn’t meet Lee Soo-eun’s eyes.
They were the Queen’s slaves.
Lee Soo-eun walked down the hallway.
The suite.
Two warriors guarded its door.
“Haa—.”
Standing before it, Lee Soo-eun let out a short sigh.
The Queen, who held the largest faction in the second round, was plagued by abnormal lust and possessiveness, and consumed by delusions.
Meeting her always made one tense.
After pausing briefly at the door, Lee Soo-eun cautiously knocked.
Knock, knock.
“It’s the Scout Leader. May I come in?”
Lee Soo-eun spoke and swallowed nervously.
From inside, the Queen’s voice answered.