The five dared not linger any longer. Taking advantage of the monster being attracted by a sound from the other end of the tunnel—it could be the sound of wind, or it could be the sound of other strangers—they disregarded the lives of others and quickly fled in the opposite direction.
The good news is that they seem to have gotten rid of the monster.
The bad news is that they didn't notice the new mark they had acquired.
That was a Fierce Ghost from a vengeful ghost; no matter where they fled, the Fierce Ghost would find them.
At this moment, the Fierce Ghost was left in the subway station.
Han Zhiyu rubbed her sore shoulders, the subway announcements blurring into a white noise in her ears.
Working overtime past 10 p. m. has become the norm at the company, and she has even begun to get used to this feeling of exhaustion.
In South Korea, ordinary people face immense pressure to survive, especially single women living alone.
Even with all the pressure, it's still better than getting married, having children, and becoming a housewife. So even though she has to work overtime until late at night every day, she'll persevere.
As the train slowly pulled into the central station, she noticed her reflection in the opposite glass. Fine lines had already crept onto her face, which appeared to be in her early thirties, and a few strands of black hair hung loosely from her bun.
"Next stop, passengers preparing to disembark..."
The broadcast suddenly stopped, the carriage lights flickered a few times, and then returned to normal.
Han Ji-woo frowned; this kind of malfunction was rare in the Seoul subway. After the train came to a stop, she followed the flow of people toward the exit, her high heels clicking crisply on the marble floor.
The screams started at that moment.
What began as a few scattered screams quickly escalated into a chorus of terrifying shouts.
Han Zhiyu was pushed backward by the crowd. She stood on tiptoe and saw people near the ticket gate scattering and fleeing like a receding tide.
"Monster! There's a monster!"
"Run! Run!"
Han Zhiyu's phone slipped from her hand and fell to the ground with a thud. As she bent down to pick it up, she saw it—a charred corpse.
The corpse stood in the crowd like a wax figure, its charred skin cracked to reveal dark red muscle tissue, its head twisted at an impossible angle, its eye sockets without eyelids containing two murky white spheres, and its teeth, no longer protected by lips, were blackened and yellowed.
Ahhh--!
A girl in a school uniform let out a piercing scream. The next second, the Charred Corpse instantly moved towards the source of the sound.
Han Zhiyu watched helplessly as the Charred Corpse killed the girl. A spray of blood misted the ground, and the girl's face was filled with terror and disbelief. The body made a wet, muffled thud when it hit the ground. The entire subway station fell into a deathly silence, as if everyone had been put on pause.
Han Zhiyu felt a warm liquid flowing down her thigh—she had lost control of her bladder, but felt no shame whatsoever; only a pure, primal fear gripped her heart.
The Charred Corpse slowly turned its neck, making a cracking sound like dry twigs snapping. It didn't attack a stationary person, but suddenly attacked a commuter who was retreating rapidly. The person turned and ran, but after three steps, the Charred Corpse pierced through his chest from behind, its charred fingers crushing his heart, and blood gushed from his mouth.
Han Zhiyu didn't understand what had happened; her mind was filled with only one thought—I have to survive!
She slowly crouched down, curling up behind the ticket machine. Her phone was just two meters away, the screen still lit, showing missed calls from her boyfriend, but she dared not move, not even dared to breathe too loudly.
The killing continued; corpses were everywhere.
Those who ran fast all died, and those who made the loudest noises also died. The remaining people gradually discovered some patterns and dared not make a sound or move recklessly.
Some covered their mouths and sobbed silently, while others closed their eyes and pretended not to exist.
The Charred Corpse wandered through the station hall like a malfunctioning robotic vacuum cleaner, moving about intermittently. Whenever someone couldn't help but scream or run away, it would kill them in incomprehensible ways.
Han Zhiyu even saw a mother tightly covering the mouth and nose of her baby until the child stopped struggling.
The police were delayed for more than 20 minutes before finally arriving, carrying riot shields and pistols, their footsteps making a chaotic sound on the ground.
"Put down your weapons! Lie down on the ground!" the officer in charge shouted through a megaphone.
Han Zhiyu wanted to warn them, but fear locked her vocal cords. The Charred Corpse turned towards the source of the sound, and when its image came into view, the police captain in charge immediately realized something was wrong.
Recently, it seems that all sorts of supernatural events have been happening around the world, and clearly, this Charred Corpse in front of us is probably one of them.
"Fire!" the captain ordered decisively.
The bullet struck the Charred Corpse, but to no avail; the loud noise, however, drew its attention.
It teleported into the police ranks, tearing riot shields apart like pieces of paper. Han Zhiyu saw a police officer's head being ripped off, his spine trailing behind like a ribbon.
The surviving police officers began to flee, which triggered a chain reaction; the crowd inside the station also broke down, screaming and rushing towards the exits.
The Charred Corpses flashed through the crowd, each pause creating a cloud of blood mist. Han Zhiyu saw a woman in red high heels torn in two at the waist, her upper body still in a crawling position with her hands, her eyes wide open in death.
Han Zhiyu was terrified and frantically prayed to all sorts of gods and Buddhas, hoping to receive their protection.
She had heard about the Vatican's True God descending not long ago, but such things were too far removed from her life. No matter how many gods or Buddhas there were, they couldn't change the fact that she was a lowly working-class person.
I never expected to encounter a supernatural event so soon. I don't usually have any faith in gods or Buddhas, so it's probably not going to be very effective if I have to resort to such methods when I'm in danger.
After praying silently for a while, Han Zhiyu felt that this wouldn't work and that she had to save herself.
Taking advantage of the chaos, she crawled towards the exit, using both hands and feet to move slowly and steadily along the ground like an animal.
Behind him, the sounds of flesh being torn apart and the agonizing screams of the dead continued to echo. The escalator had stopped operating. When Han Zhiyu climbed up, her palms were cut by the sharp metal edges, but she felt no pain.
She stumbled out of the subway station, but the scene on the street was even more despairing. She saw an exploded police car and the gruesome bodies of police officers lying on the ground.
The Charred Corpse had already moved outside the subway station, and more screams and explosions from car crashes could be heard in the distance.
The sirens blared throughout the city, but rescue forces were slow to arrive.
Han Zhiyu hid in a nearby convenience store, only to find that several people were already hiding inside.
A man wearing glasses is recording a video on his phone. "It's 11:17 PM now, and an unidentified creature has attacked downtown Seoul... Oh my god, what is that?"
Through the glass window, they saw the Charred Corpse get into a speeding ambulance. The ambulance then went out of control and crashed into a street lamp. In the flames of the explosion, the Charred Corpse walked out unharmed and turned toward the next source of sound.
"We have to leave the city," a young girl hiding in a convenience store said, trembling, "To the countryside, to a place where there are no people..."
The back door of the convenience store was suddenly kicked open, and a man covered in blood stumbled in. "Help me! It's here! It's chasing us!"
Everyone froze instantly. Han Zhiyu turned her head and saw the Charred Corpse standing at the alley entrance.
The blood-covered man crawled toward the refrigerated display case, knocking over a row of beverage cans; the sound of the aluminum cans rolling was particularly jarring.
The Charred Corpse appeared in front of him in an instant, and then he fell to the ground, lifeless.
Han Zhiyu felt dizzy and forcibly suppressed the urge to scream and vomit.
The bespectacled man next to him couldn't help but vomit, and was instantly killed by the Charred Corpse.
Outside the convenience store, more screams rose and fell. Han Zhiyu huddled in a corner, crying silently.
As an ordinary woman born in South Korea, her life was already full of hardships, so why did she have to encounter something like this?
No one could answer her questions.
Han Zhiyu's fingernails dug into her palms, bleeding but she was oblivious. The survivors in the store were like a frightened herd of beasts, their breathing extremely low.
I don't know how much time passed...
"The army is here!" someone whispered, their voice trembling with relief.
Han Zhiyu carefully moved to the window and looked out through the crack.
At the end of the street, armored vehicles lined up, and fully armed special forces quickly dispersed to set up firing positions. Snipers climbed to high ground, their dark gun barrels aimed at the Charred Corpses wandering in the distance.
"Finally... finally there's hope..." The other survivors in the convenience store collapsed to the ground, tears streaming silently down their faces.
But Han Zhiyu's heart sank.
First, she had no expectations of the South Korea troops.
Secondly, she had witnessed firsthand how the Charred Corpse tore the police apart, bullets having no effect on it. And now, the army's presence would only invite even more frenzied killing.
"Attention all personnel! Target confirmed, open fire!"
At the commander's order, gunfire erupted!
Bullets rained down like a storm, hitting the Charred Corpse countless times, but none of them could make it move back an inch.
Then the Charred Corpse raised its head, its empty eyeballs quickly locking onto the source of the sound.
The next second, it disappeared.
"Where did it go?!" A soldier looked around in horror.
Then, screams came from the back of the group.
Han Zhiyu watched helplessly as the Charred Corpse teleported into the crowd and began its slaughter.
"Fire! Keep firing!" the commander roared in terror.
But it was too late.
Charred Corpses flashed and weaved among the soldiers, each pause accompanied by the sound of flesh being torn apart. Bulletproof vests were ripped open like paper, rifles were broken, and the soldiers' screams rose and fell.
"Retreat! Retreat!"
The armored vehicle's engine roared, attempting to crush the Charred Corpse, but the Charred Corpse somehow managed to enter the vehicle's interior. The screams of the soldiers inside abruptly ceased, and blood seeped from the gaps.
The sniper finally found his opportunity, aimed at the Charred Corpse's eye, and pulled the trigger.
For any living being, the eyes are the most vulnerable part of its body.
Unfortunately, this Charred Corpse was actually a Fierce Ghost, and it was least afraid of physical attacks.
Bang!
The bullet hit its target precisely.
The Charred Corpse, unharmed and completely undisturbed, slowly turned its head to look in the direction of the sniper.
"No... no..." The sniper retreated, trembling.
The next second, the Charred Corpse appeared in front of the sniper in an unbelievable way. After a heart-wrenching scream, another corpse was added to the world.
The army was routed.
Soldiers dropped their weapons and fled in all directions, armored vehicles crashed into shops, and the commander slumped to the ground, with only static on the walkie-talkie.
Han Zhiyu covered her mouth, but she wasn't particularly surprised by the result.
Even the army couldn't stop it...
On the other side, in the underground emergency command center of the Blue House, the air was so thick it was almost condensing.
On the huge electronic screen, the real-time monitoring footage kept switching—the streets were littered with corpses, the army was in defeat, and the Charred Corpse was still wandering around, reaping lives like the Grim Reaper.
"Gentlemen, now is not the time to shirk responsibility!" the Minister roared, slamming his fist on the table, veins bulging on his forehead. "Seoul is being massacred! We must act immediately!"
"What action should we take?" The Minister sneered. "The army has already failed. Are we going to use missiles to bomb our own capital?"
"That's at least better than sitting and waiting to die!"
"Ridiculous! Do you know how much economic damage that would cause?" the Minister interrupted, tapping his finger on the table. "The stock market has already plummeted, foreign capital is withdrawing, and if another round of bombing occurs, the South Korea economy will regress by ten years!"
The president sat in the main seat, his face grim. He stared at the screen and saw the Charred Corpse enter an ambulance in an unbelievable way, before the paramedics inside could even scream.
"Where's the intelligence department? Have they figured out what this thing is?"
The head of the Intelligence Agency wiped his sweat. "Preliminary assessment suggests it's a supernatural event, related to a cult called the New Dawn Church..."
"Useless!" the president slammed his fist on the table. "You get astronomical budgets every year, and this is all the garbage intelligence you've gathered?"
A brief silence fell over the meeting room. Although supernatural events were occurring all over the world, and some had happened in South Korea's understanding of the supernatural was far too limited compared to those major powers.
Then, the ruling party representative cleared his throat. "Your Excellency, I believe the most urgent task is to control public opinion. If the public knows that the government is helpless, it will likely cause even greater panic..."
"Panic?" the Minister scoffed. "People are being slaughtered in the streets, and you're worried about public opinion?"
"Watch your words!" The ruling party representative's face turned ashen. "Without media control, social order would completely collapse!"
The opposition leader seized the opportunity to launch an attack. "I believe the government's response was inadequate from the very beginning! If the churches had been sealed off earlier, this disaster would never have happened! This is entirely the ruling party's dereliction of duty!"
"Bullshit! You opposition parties accepted political donations from the New Dawn Church last year, what are you pretending to be innocent for now?"
The meeting quickly devolved into a political mudslinging match, with officials blushing and hurling accusations at each other. Some brought up past grievances, others shirked responsibility, and some even secretly contacted the media by phone, preparing to leak the meeting's contents to gain political capital for themselves.
The president closed his eyes, his head throbbing with pain.