Chapter 85

46. Messiah (3)

Unlike Seoul, which had a fairly decent evacuation facility and plan, it seems that the local areas, due to a lack of manpower and resources, were unable to implement a proper evacuation plan.

Among the many cities, one particularly unlucky city stood out.

Around the time the war broke out, a small creature invaded somewhere in the city and killed an unlucky person.

Ironically, that monster was a necromancer type that could turn the dead into zombies.

While various nuclear bombings, chemical weapons, and other mass destruction weapons were raining down on Korea, that city silently transformed into a city of the dead.

I Am Jesus lived on the outskirts of that dead city.

Once it had another name, but now it is called Jeungbuhoho City, the city of the dead.

Roar---

Even on the outskirts, the chorus of zombies can be heard.

It is unknown why zombies howl like wolves.

Scientists speculate that the degenerated brain accidentally moves the vocal cords and produces primitive sounds, but I don't really know.

From my experience, zombies are not much different from beasts, but they seem to retain a tiny fragment of their memories from when they were alive.

Shiver

I turned off the motorcycle.

Regardless of his character, the gift from Baek Seung-hyun was extremely useful.

It runs on any fuel, handles rough terrain well, is powerful, and to be honest, I was a bit envious when Baek Seung-hyun was riding it.

Tap tap

After tapping my new steed, "White Beauty," I rechecked the address.

Somewhere in the outskirts, a mix of cafes, warehouses, small factories, farms, one-room buildings, and tire shops, I Am Jesus's bunker is located.

A few zombies are loitering around.

Squeak—

I sprayed something called "zombie spray" on my body.

It has a mint-like scent, and it is said that this smell is one that zombies subconsciously avoid.

While it has almost no real effect, human nature tends to cling to even the slightest possibility.

What I trust more than the zombie spray is a heavy two-handed hammer.

Surprisingly, an axe is not very efficient when dealing with zombies.

While it can crush a skull in one hit, it is a bladed weapon, and after breaking a few skulls, the blade will inevitably dull, and its reach is not long.

On the other hand, a hammer has no risk of dulling, and if I can strike first, I can almost infinitely kill zombies.

The method is to go behind a zombie standing still and—

Smash!

Hit the back of the head with all my strength.

Zombies are essentially dead humans brought back to life by a mutation factor.

They need a brain and nervous system to function.

The one I just hit convulsed a few times and then stopped moving.

She looked like a young woman in nice clothes, perhaps a victim of a date gone wrong.

Thinking about the deceased's past is not a good attitude when dealing with zombies, so I quickly erased the image from my mind and looked for the next target.

Smash!

The second one.

Smash!

The third one.

I gave each one a peaceful rest as I approached the bunker where I Am Jesus is located.

It was in an open space surrounded by a fence.

On the right was a single-story chicken restaurant, and on the left was a two-story adult shop.

Beyond the collapsed fence, building materials like pipes and rebar were piled up, perhaps left by a dishonest construction worker or intended for construction.

I checked beyond the fence.

No one was there, but a short stake marked in red was sticking out.

It looked like the ventilation shaft of a factory-type bunker.

Not just the ventilation shaft, but various pipes and wires were also buried underground.

To me, it seemed like a clear sign saying, "There's a bunker here!"

If this weren't a zombie-infested area, I Am Jesus might have already been dead.

Just as I was about to enter the open space by climbing over the fence—

"Growl!"

Two figures emerged from the corner and pounced on me.

They were zombies.

They had been hiding in a corner without a sound and immediately attacked upon spotting me.

It was a sharp attack.

However—

Crack! Crack!

I had experienced this situation dozens of times.

The two-handed hammer, which the zombies dropped before the axes embedded in their heads, hit the ground with a loud noise.

I confirmed the zombies.

One in a suit, one in a flowing designer outfit.

I pulled the axes out of the zombies' heads, wiped the brain matter on their clothes, and listened.

Roar---

The chorus of zombies could be heard from a distance, but it didn't seem to be a response to the noise.

However, nearby zombies might hear it and become interested, so I waited motionless, watching for any reaction.

A few zombies stirred and appeared on the street, but they didn't seem very interested and soon staggered away into the distance.

I took a deep breath and headed towards the bunker entrance.

I saw a wooden board.

That was the entrance to the bunker where I Am Jesus lives.

The board was covered with layers of dirt and dust, indicating it hadn't been moved for years.

Surely, he hasn't left the bunker even once during this time?

I felt a brief doubt and lifted the board, revealing a hatch-shaped metal entrance.

I knocked on the entrance with the axe handle.

Knock knock knock knock knock knock

A rhythm of 2, 3, 4.

It was a pre-arranged code between me and I Am Jesus.

I held my breath and waited for a response.

"S, Skeleton?"

His response came soon.

His voice was unnaturally thin and weak.

"Yes."

Click

The lock opened.

"I, I'm sorry. I don't have the strength to open the door."

I opened the heavy hatch myself.

A ladder leading down was visible.

I removed the safety of my pistol, ready to fire at any moment, and put it in my pocket before descending the ladder.

However, a more sudden crisis hit me.

"......!!"

A foul smell.

An indescribable stench came from inside.

It wasn't the smell of a corpse.

It was the smell of a living person.

Perhaps the highest level of stench a living person could produce.

Squeak—

The smell was so overwhelming that I had to spray zombie spray on my nose.

At the bottom of the ladder, a man stood awkwardly, holding a phone as a makeshift light.

It was easy to recognize him as I Am Jesus.

His eyes emitted a faint light.

A gloomy, ashen light, similar to that of a monster, indicating he had seen the truth.

An undeniable sign of a high-level Awakened.

I sighed with relief and stood in front of him.

"Huh!"

In the darkness below the ladder, a gaunt, bearded, and long-haired figure with hollow eyes was looking at me, not much different from a zombie.

However,

"E, E, E......!!"

He was afraid of me.

"Ugh......!!"

He was experiencing uncontrollable fear.

What was he afraid of?

Well, I have been a symbol of fear for a long time, but that's an old story.

If he hasn't seen a man like me in a long time, it's natural for him to feel fear.

To calm him down, I prepared a special phrase.

"Mmm."

A forced smile was out of the question.

With a serious face, I spoke our secret code in a tone more reverent than any sacred text.

"?!?"

The trembling in I Am Jesus's hollow eyes stopped.

"Mmm mmm."

"Mmm?"

"Mmm~."

I Am Jesus sighed with relief and slumped his shoulders.

He seemed to have calmed down, but he didn't speak first.

The one who is afraid should speak first.

It's part of the civilian manual I learned and implemented since my time in China.

"S, S, Skeleton. Is it really you, Skeleton?"

With a voice like a leaky wind and a stammer, I Am Jesus barely managed to speak.

I nodded slowly and replied.

"I Am Jesus?"

I Am Jesus nodded.

Finally, I met him.

However, the I Am Jesus I saw with my own eyes looked young despite his long, unkempt hair and beard and emaciated body.

He didn't look in his mid-twenties.

He was in his early twenties.

He looked at me and asked, as if challenging me.

"Why do you look so normal?"

"What do you mean?"

"Didn't we have the same class? That's why I called you!"

I didn't know what to say to his outburst.

"......"

Silence.

"Is there any food?"

I Am Jesus asked, drooling.

I smiled and showed him the food I brought.

Cup noodles, 3-minute meatballs, and a thermos of hot water.

*

Chomp! Chomp! Slurp!

Bringing the thermos of hot water was an excellent choice.

His place didn't seem to have any tools to boil water.

I looked around.

A microwave, a pile of trash, a faucet, a toilet with a shower curtain, a sink.

I turned on the faucet.

Swoosh—

Surprisingly, water came out.

I smelled it.

It had a faint smell of rust but was clearly tap water.

"How did you do that?"

"What?"

I Am Jesus, who was eating the cup noodles, looked up and asked.

"The water."

"The construction workers just connected it, I guess?"

"What?"

I looked at the toilet.

The inside of the toilet was covered in disgusting stains, similar to feces, but the water flushed well.

"The sewage system too?"

"Yeah."

"......"

It seems the ignorance and routine of the workers contributed to saving this young man.

Connecting water and sewage to a shelter is unheard of.

Not to mention, they even connected electricity and gas.

It seems the workers installed the shelter and connected various facilities as if they were building a regular house.

Still, one question remains.

"Electricity?"

"Solar power."

"Solar power?"

"Next building. It's also my dad's. On the roof."

"Ah."

Indeed, with the best security guards—zombies—solar power would work fine.

Anyway, the shelter was unexpectedly spacious.

Upon closer inspection, it seemed to be four of the same model connected together.

I remember there were multi-module models among the prefabricated shelters.

However, the spaciousness was useless.

The three other sections of the shelter, except for the one I Am Jesus lived in, were filled with trash.

The source of the indescribable stench, perhaps.

Once, they might have been filled with food and supplies, but like how dung beetles larvae eat dung and fill the empty space with their own excrement, I Am Jesus did something similar to his shelter.

"Have you never left here?"

I asked, shocked by the mountain of trash, something I had only seen in the news.

"Yeah."

I Am Jesus answered with a stammer.

He had a small appetite and was rubbing his stomach, having not eaten the 3-minute meatballs or half of the cup noodles I brought.

Next to him were some grotesque adult toys scattered on a dirty mattress.

There were dirty stains around the mattress, but I didn't think it necessary to ask.

"Let's go out."

I would take him to my territory.

I don't know how to control him, but he deserves it.

I'm sorry to the sniper mother and daughter, but this guy can endure minor inconveniences.

That's the kind of person I am.

"Where?"

I Am Jesus asked, confused.

"Outside. Let's go to my place. It's bigger and better. The air is clean, and there are no zombies."

"......"

I Am Jesus stared at me.

His eyes, glowing faintly in the darkness, stared at me for a while.

"Can you move the computer and satellite equipment?"

"Yeah."

"Game consoles too?"

"Of course."

A bicycle would be impossible, but a motorcycle would work.

His game console was a "ROM pack" type, a relic from 30 years ago.

You insert a cartridge-shaped game pack into the console to play.

I Am Jesus had dozens of such classic games.

"We can't take them all."

"R, really?"

"Pick about five."

"Can I take six?"

"Sure."

That seemed to satisfy I Am Jesus.

One more thing remained.

"......Dad's church."

I Am Jesus carefully put an adult toy in his pocket and said.

"Can you take me to Dad's church?"

I felt annoyed.

"Where?"

My question had a hint of sharpness.

But this guy, even with that slight sharpness, flinched and avoided my gaze.

"It's nothing."

This is problematic.

He is afraid of me.

I barely calmed him down, but if he remains wary and afraid, nothing will work.

"Where? If I can, I'll take you."

I spoke in the softest voice I could manage.

I Am Jesus, who had turned his glowing eyes away, looked back at me and stammered.

"City."

"The city is full of zombies."

"R, really? I guess so."

A deep disappointment clouded his immature face.

At that moment, I felt I understood one of the sources of the madness that had consumed him.

He was curious about his family.

But he couldn't go outside.

He didn't have the courage to open the hatch, let alone the courage to break through the zombies.

In the desperate need to know about his family and the helplessness of not being able to do anything, the I Am Jesus we know was born.

"Where?"

I know it's dangerous.

But it's better to fulfill his small wish.

For my greater goal.

"Where? Let's see and decide."

Of course, I'll stop if it's too dangerous.

"R, really?"

"If I can."

The important thing is the effort.

It's better to show him with my own eyes that it's impossible rather than just saying it can't be done.

"Okay!"

I Am Jesus showed me a photo.

It was a church, grand and ornate, almost like a palace.

It looked like a palace with a cross on top.

The moment I saw the grand and ornate church building, I remembered a news story from before the war.

It was a cult church that the Korean Presbyterian Church had declared a heresy for its claims of the Second Coming, Rapture, and Salvation.

I don't know the exact details, but I know the cult leader had committed unspeakable acts with female followers, even though I don't follow the news closely.

The various sexual abuses committed by the cult leader were so outrageous that even I, who don't follow the news, knew about them through various channels.

I Am Jesus pointed to a photo of the cult leader, who was smiling brightly.

"Our dad."

In his glowing eyes, there was a mix of love and hate, impossible to define in a single word.