Season 2: Chapter 51. Schrdingers Almond (4)
Baek Joon-Soo collapsed. It was an anticlimactic defeat.
Thud...!
The other gang members became speechless seeing him fall at the entrance of the infirmary. Their boss had fallen, yet none of them could move. They couldn’t comprehend what happened and froze.
Yoon So-Hee's dreadful scream shattered this deep silence.
"Aaaahhhhhhh!"
A beat... no, two beats later, she screamed like someone who lost their mind.
She tried to crawl toward Baek Joon-Soo, but couldn't make it. Baek Joon-Soo had just been killed by an arrow. If she crossed that door, an arrow would hit her too. She eventually stopped and didn’t cross the infirmary's threshold. She felt afraid more than sorrow.
On the other hand, the emotion Kim Ju-Hyeok felt was...
[Exhilaration]
It felt as if his body was burning fiercely.
***
'Exhilaration?'
After pondering about how to deal with Yoon So-Hee, Almond stared intently at the word that suddenly popped up.
[Exhilaration]
[10 second immunity to all status abnormalities]
For Almond, immunity to all status abnormalities practically meant invincibility.
'But why?'
Why did this exhilaration status appear?
'Ah.'
Almond recalled that this state always appeared when one of the school bullies got hurt.
'Because Baek Joon-Soo died...'
This was a natural emotion for Kim Ju-Hyeok in a way since he defeated Baek Joon-Soo.
'Ten seconds...'
It only granted ten seconds of immunity from status abnormalities. As he pondered, only nine seconds remained.
Almond steadily walked toward the infirmary with his bow.
"Let's go too!"
The quick-thinking class president decided to follow Almond toward the enemy base despite not having any protection. He, too, saw a way to end this fight.
Three enemies had died anticlimactically and even their boss died. Almond had used up all the arrows, but the enemies lost something even more crucial than arrows. It was their fighting spirit.
Thud.
Almond stood blocking the entrance to the infirmary.
Yoon So-Hee and the others saw the bow in Almond's hand.
"Everyone, hands up and step back," Almond commanded them and stepped into the infirmary.
Behind him, the class president and his two members stood firm with sharply honed spears.
"Step back!"
"We'll really stab you to death!"
The spears looked deadly at first glance. Baek Joon-Soo had also been defeated by the bow.
The remnants of the gang realized they had no arrows, but raised their hands in surrender without the time to process it.
"We surrender."
Only then did Almond, in full view of everyone, leisurely remove an arrow stuck in a body. Then, he placed it on the bowstring.
The blood-dripping arrowhead aimed at each person until it met Yoon So-Hee's eyes.
Thump. Thump.
Almond grew nervous about what would happen if exhilaration faded at this point.
"Who are you?"
"?"
"Where is Yoon So-Hee?"
It wasn't Yoon So-Hee.
— ??
— What?
— LMAO, she wiped off her makeup.
— LOL
— OMG LOL
Yoon So-Hee stammered in confusion. Given the situation, no one could laugh.
Only the class president whispered in his ear, "She wiped off her makeup."
"Ah. Anyway, hands up and step back."
She promptly cast her eyes down and raised her hands.
"Everyone, kneel."
There was no hesitation in their submission.
Thud.
All the kids knelt, raising their hands as if compelled by some force.
[Exhilaration]
The fading exhilaration reappeared. Now, it seemed there was no need to instill fear in Yoon So-Hee or anyone else for that matter.
'Is it over?'
That was what he thought when the screen suddenly went black.
***
"Did you know? You made me this way."
‘Huh?’
Amond unknowingly covered his mouth. Or rather, he intended to, but his body wouldn't move as he wanted.
His mouth involuntarily spewed out the lines.
"No, you all made me this way."
It was Kim Ju-Hyeok speaking. He aimed his bow at each of the kids with a mixture of sorrow and murderous intent while speaking in a low, trembling voice.
"It wasn’t the zombies or this damned school, but you guys who brought it to this."
Indeed, this was a cutscene. A story prepared by the game developers. Perhaps this was even the finale.
— Wow, what's this?
— Suddenly transitioning to a cutscene, the mood is totally ruined.
— Damn
— So there are cutscenes in this game?
— Oh
The creators had intervened for the first time. Unlike the rest of the game, this part was not left to the player's freedom and proceeded as they set it.
"People can never understand others until they experience it themselves."
Baek Joon-Soo's gang members didn’t dare to interrupt Kim Ju-Hyeok while he spoke. He was still tensely aiming the bow at everyone.
"Having acted like you all, I now understand why you attacked me."
Kim Ju-Hyeok likely meant killing other students, even if it was for survival.
"Should I show how cruel I am, so no one dares to defy me?"
The gang members, including Yoon So-Hee, shivered at his words.
"When it comes down to risking your lives in a fight, you're not very confident. You only harass one weakling with a group. Pretending to be strong, right? You're just scared."
As Kim Ju-Hyeok moved the bow closer to Yoon So-Hee's head, she panicked and nodded.
"Yes, yes... That's right... It was just, just to make sure others wouldn't bother us..."
Yoon So-Hee sobbed.
"Huuuk... I couldn't stop once I started... Others kept challenging my position..."
Even while she cried, Kim Ju-Hyeok's eyes remained cold and detached. His icy gaze turned to the other members next to Yoon So-Hee. They had also been aggressors or ambiguous bystanders.
"Ah, why does that kid act like that? Why does he take those beatings? You always asked me that. How does it feel now? Do you understand why?"
Then, Kim Ju-Hyeok aimed at the ones next to Yoon So-Hee.
"Eh? Why no answer? Why are you all kneeling so pathetically? Why live like that? Eh? Grab that window bar and attack me."
For a moment, the thought crossed their minds. 'Really? Should I attack with that window bar?'
However, that was impossible. They felt helpless in front of a domineering opponent. It wasn't just Kim Ju-Hyeok who felt it in the past. Now they all felt the same.
"Why don't you attack? I'm telling you to."
No one dared to challenge him.
Kim Ju-Hyeok smirked.
"Give me that."
He reached out to the class president, who handed over his spear without a word.
Swoosh.
Kim Ju-Hyeok held the spear with the blade facing behind him.
"You all, who only know how to lick Baek Joon-Soo's boots, your greatest achievement in life...!"
Thwack!
He struck one gang member in the solar plexus with the back of the spear.
"Why act so tough?"
Then he kicked another one nearby.
Thump!
The beaten ones helplessly rolled on the ground.
"I've never seen you fight on your own! Always moving in packs, pretending to be predators?"
Thwack!
Thump!
He continuously swung the spear like a club, brutally beating them. One even seemed to be on the brink of death, yet they didn't resist.
"Why am I above you all?! Why?!"
Thwack!
Thump!
He beat them until they couldn’t think of anything else and merely became beaten pulps. Amid this, the feeling of exhilaration never appeared. They weren’t even worth it.
"Haah... Haah..."
After knocking everyone senseless, Kim Ju-Hyeok stood before Yoon So-Hee.
"Ju, Ju-Hyeok... I, I..."
She was the only one he hadn't hit yet and had grown pale with fear, shivering all over.
Kim Ju-Hyeok threw the spear to the ground.
Clang!
Yoon So-Hee's eyes were fixed on the rolling spear and she realized she wouldn't be hit.
"Th-Thank you. Thank you."
She clung to Kim Ju-Hyeok's shoes, whimpering, but it was a vain delusion.
"What are you thanking me for? It's just the beginning."
"Wha...?"
Her relieved expression turned to fear again.
"The others can at least be used as workers, but you're useless."
Kim Ju-Hyeok resorted to violence against the others because they still had some use. However, he had no intention of doing so for Yoon So-Hee.
"Wha, what? I'm useful! Wha...!?"
"President. Tie her up."
"Yes, yes. Alright!"
Suddenly, the class president seemed very obedient and followed Kim Ju-Hyeok's commands. The screen went black for a moment.
***
When the screen lit up again, the class president and Kim Ju-Hyeok were dragging Yoon So-Hee to the basement.
"Ju, Ju-Hyeok, please... Please save me. Eh? I'll do anything! Please!" Yoon So-Hee begged in a trembling voice with her arms tied behind her back.
Ding.
Suddenly, a choice appeared.
[1. Anything? Hmm. Maybe you could be useful.]
[2. Anything? Oh, sure. If you want to live, you'd have to do anything.]
"Huh?"
Almond, who had been blankly watching, suddenly came to his senses.
The chat messages skyrocketed.
— 1111
— 2222
— 2's line is so funny lol
— 11111
— Go for 2
Those who said to choose option one were probably joking.
"For the first time, let's go with what seems normal."
Obviously, he chose option two and would only choose the other one if he ever replayed it again.
— Okay
— Good
— Yay~
Kim Ju-Hyeok spoke, "Anything? Oh, sure. If you want to live, you'd have to do anything. And it's not dying. It's something similar."
— Lol, so cool
— Wow, that's refreshing
— Yoon So-Hee's face lol
"Aaah... Aaaah!" Yoon So-Hee madly screamed in desperation.
Kim Ju-Hyeok remained indifferent just like Yoon So-Hee had been.
Creak.
"Here's where you'll go."
He opened the door to the basement music room.
"There's nowhere to relieve yourself. Your arms aren't free and I have no intention of giving you food."
"I'll lock the door completely and barricade it."
It was essentially a death sentence.
"Reflect on your life while you’re in there. Maybe write a reflection on the blackboard. Who knows, maybe I'll see it and let you off."
Thump.
Kim Ju-Hyeok pushed her back and shoved her into the music room.
The dark, damp room was full of bloodstains from cleaning up the zombies.
"Seal it."
At Kim Ju-Hyeok's command, the class president's group efficiently locked the door and set up a barricade.
Yoon So-Hee's desolate face appeared in the small window at the top of the door. She just stared blankly into space and neither screamed nor cried.
The cutscene ended there.
***
Meanwhile, a new short video was uploaded on Amond's YouTube channel. The video had a particularly eye-catching thumbnail. This format had never been seen before on Amond's channel.
— What's with the thumbnail? Lol
— Really, does it work like that?
— Is this something the critics posted in the community?
The thumbnail featured a post that had been shared in a community.
The video was titled as such:
[Zombie School: "Chikicha"ing the Haters]
The number of views exploded as soon as it was uploaded.