Im Chan, after a brief moment of hesitation, reluctantly followed Seongho.

His face was pale, almost as if he were a sheep being led to slaughter, but the important thing was that he had chosen to go along.

‘He’s braver than I thought.’

Maybe it’s because his resolve was stronger than he expected.

Since Ji-hyo wasn’t immune, there was no way he could give up Seongho’s abilities.

Seongho, having decided on his course, turned toward Myeongdong Station.

Normally, it would take them about two hours on foot, but after spending half a day traveling, they finally saw the sign for Myeongdong Station's exit 9 from a distance.

*Squawk, squawk.*

At that moment, the cawing of a crow echoed from somewhere.

Given the scarcity of animals in this world, it was an extremely rare sound.

*Squawk.*

The repeated caws of the crow created a strangely eerie atmosphere, making Seongho feel uneasy.

He furrowed his brow, quickening his pace as he approached the subway station.

"Seongho...," Im Chan said, his voice filled with confusion as he looked at Seongho with a mix of bewilderment and concern.

Seongho didn’t stop. His footsteps became faster, reaching the stairs to the station.

At that very moment, Seongho came to a sudden halt.

He had stopped in front of the severed head of someone who had fallen down the stairs, their eyes wide open and staring directly at him.

It felt like cold water had been splashed over him.

No, it was probably just pure fear.

For that moment, Seongho couldn’t move a muscle.

After a while, standing frozen like a statue, he finally took a shaky breath.

“Seongho...,” Im Chan’s almost sobbing voice snapped Seongho out of his trance.

The moment that had bound him, keeping him rigid, loosened.

Seongho didn’t step back, though. He stepped forward instead, pulling out the flashlight he had tucked into his backpack and turning it on.

At first, there was just the head lying on the stairs.

But as they descended deeper, the man’s warning from earlier became reality.

It seemed as if the place was being used as a dumping ground, filled with human remains.

There were dozens of bodies, far more than Seongho had anticipated.

‘Is this really the accumulation over the course of this winter?’

The grotesque sight made Seongho’s heart race, almost choking him.

For a long moment, he stood there, frozen, before finally taking a deep breath and stepping back.

When he returned upstairs, he saw Im Chan still standing, unable to move, his eyes scanning the surroundings nervously.

Seongho looked at him, rubbing his pale face, and said quietly, "Let’s find somewhere to hide for now."

The Pioneer’s Cradle had confirmed that there were no other survivors nearby.

But someone must have been coming and going.

‘I’ll lie in wait here, and when they come back to dispose of the next batch of bodies, I’ll catch them.’

Seongho quickly left Myeongdong Station.

---

The next day, only one night had passed since they had started their surveillance from the third floor of a building, but Seongho was already wide awake at the sound of the crow cawing again.

*Caw!*

It echoed louder than usual, rousing Seongho from his half-sleep.

Im Chan, standing guard at the window, glanced back at Seongho.

He had been trying to wake Seongho, but as soon as Seongho’s eyes opened, he didn’t waste time.

“Seongho, someone’s coming,” Im Chan said, his voice tense as he pointed out the window.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Seongho stood up and moved toward the window.

It was early morning, the first light of dawn barely touching the sky.

As Im Chan had said, a figure was crossing the empty street below.

A man in his mid-twenties, pulling a cart, was heading toward Myeongdong Station.

Each step he took was followed by a clinking sound from the cart, growing louder as it approached.

Seongho fixed his gaze on the cart the man was pulling.

The cart was filled with pale, red chunks.

“Ugh...”

Im Chan, realizing what it was, immediately covered his mouth to stifle a gag.

But Seongho, without reacting, continued to watch the man’s actions.

As the man arrived at Myeongdong Station's exit 9, he tilted the cart, and the remains inside spilled down the stairs.

*Clatter, thud.*

It was a noisy sound, but thankfully, no zombies seemed to be drawn to it.

This allowed Seongho to observe the man undisturbed.

Though Seongho couldn’t see the man’s expression from above, there was no hesitation or unease as the man dumped the bodies.

He seemed entirely accustomed to it, as if it were just a simple task.

The way he disposed of the remains felt more like he was throwing out garbage than anything else.

The stark dissonance between human life and this act of cold indifference made Seongho uneasy.

‘Not all humans are worth living, but they surely don’t deserve to be discarded like trash.’

As Seongho furrowed his brow, the man who had dropped the bodies turned and headed down the stairs.

From the underground, the sounds of him continuing his work reached Seongho's ears.

*Clatter.*

*Rumble.*

It seemed like he was pushing the bodies deeper into the space below.

Once that task was done, the man would likely head back to his base.

“Im Chan, gather your things,” Seongho said.

The man had moved out of sight, but they needed to follow him before it was too late.

Im Chan, shaking with fear, hastily gathered his belongings.

The noise from below continued for a few more minutes before finally quieting down.

Soon after, the man reappeared, emerging from the underground.

And then, he tripped.

The sudden noise startled Seongho, and his brow furrowed again.

The way the man fell onto the pavement was strange.

He had collapsed face-first, then his hips had shot up, followed by his elbow lifting into the air.

It looked as though his elbow was being pulled up by some invisible force, his body lifting off the ground like a puppet.

Seongho’s eyes narrowed.

Taking a deep breath, Seongho reminded himself of the cannibal camp’s information from the previous day.

‘The scale is small, fewer than 50 people, and there’s only one awakened among them.’

That awakened individual was Ko Ji-hoon, a character from the original story.

His ability, known as "Puppet," allowed him to control others.

‘He’s a fairly significant antagonist.’

Seongho remembered how difficult it had been for the protagonist to deal with him.

As Seongho pondered this, the man who had fully stood up began moving the cart again.

Seongho quickly urged his group to move.

How much time passed before Seongho finally caught sight of where the man had gone?

They had reached a place near Myeongdong Cathedral.

Seongho stared at the man’s retreating figure, his expression unusual.

Like the hospital where he met Im Chan, this place was also tied to Seongho’s past.

The cathedral was a place he often visited when he lived at an orphanage.

‘I used to go for Sunday Mass or meet with the volunteers.’

As an adult, he had volunteered there himself.

Was it a coincidence that these places were connected to him?

‘We’ll find out in time.’

Seongho shook off the unsettling feeling and reflected on what he knew.

‘Ko Ji-hoon’s power has a clear limitation.’

He couldn’t brainwash or control someone’s consciousness.

His puppet ability only controlled actions, not thoughts.

What did that mean?

‘It means there are people caught up in the cannibal incident who are being forced to participate against their will.’

Seongho clenched his fist.

But what could he do? He couldn’t retreat now.

If they weren’t going to back down, they had no choice but to keep moving forward.

‘We need to finish this quickly.’

The longer they delayed, the more people from the camp would suffer.

At this point, swift action was the best course of action.

“Im Chan.”

“Y-Yes?”

“Let’s train your ability while we’re at it.”

Im Chan tilted his head, confused by Seongho’s sudden words.

But Seongho didn’t explain. He simply led them away.

---

It was late in the evening when Seongho, crouched by the window of a high-rise building, stared through the binoculars Im Chan had brought from the hospital.

Although it was dark, Seongho could clearly see the movements of people walking around the church grounds, with flashlights or lanterns.

This gave him an opportunity to figure out the patrol frequency and their routes.

‘The night patrols aren’t as frequent as I thought.’

After the fourth patrol ended, about 30 minutes later, the sky began to lighten.

Seongho, having observed the pattern throughout the night, stretched and stood up.

‘At least the overnight observation paid off.’

Through the overnight watch, he was able to confirm not only the patrol patterns and routes but also some additional details.

‘There were more survivors coming to the church than I expected.’

After tracking the movements of the survivors who arrived at the cathedral, Seongho learned that the rectory was where newcomers were quarantined, and the cultural school was where they were kept after being cleared.

This separation had a simple reason

.

Those who ate people didn’t consume the newly captured ones right away.

‘They can’t eat someone infected with the virus.’

Those who weren’t immune would become infected if they ate someone infected.

So, there was usually a quarantine process to make sure the newcomers weren’t infected before they were consumed.

Aside from what he already knew and what he had observed, Seongho also knew from the Pioneer’s Cradle some information about the cannibal camp, such as how many awakened and members the camp had.

After reviewing the information, he came to a conclusion.

‘Further investigation is pointless.’

Once he had his confirmation, he focused on the two buildings where the survivors were kept.

Just as he was deep in thought, a rustling sound came from behind.

“Seongho...?”

Im Chan had woken up from his sleeping bag.

Seongho, shaking off his thoughts, turned and spoke.

“Let’s go over what we practiced yesterday once more.”

“Yes! Yes!” 

Im Chan quickly rose, careful not to wake Ji-hyo in her sleeping bag.

Then he returned to the spot he had been sitting before.

The area, now filled with scattered grass and branches, was once used as an office space.

Seongho waited for Im Chan to settle, and after a moment:

*Shh...!*

Im Chan’s hand quickly sprouted rose vines that began to wither.

Seongho carefully checked the condition of the plants altered by Im Chan’s ability.

‘Im Chan’s ability isn’t just about growing plants.’

He could manipulate the entire growth cycle of plants.

Not only could he sprout seeds, but he could also make plants bloom again or cause healthy ones to wilt.

Seongho, who knew this best, had pushed Im Chan’s ability the night before and managed to get the desired results.

“This is good. Just keep it like this. Try to make as much as you can before dawn.”

“Yeah...! Understood.”

Im Chan nodded with relief, letting out a shallow sigh.

But that didn’t last long.

Im Chan looked around at the grass surrounding him with a complicated expression.

After a brief hesitation, he turned to Seongho.

“Um... Seongho, what exactly are you planning to do with this?”

The office space was filled with the plants he had cultivated.

Seongho, remembering his thoughts from the night before near the cathedral, responded.

“I’m going to set the church on fire.”

It would be the most effective way to uproot that damned cannibal camp.