Chapter 270

As the scavengers all collapsed, an endless silence descended around the silver-haired girl.

Just moments ago, the shotguns had been ceaselessly flying through the sky, but with no enemies left, they fell limp on the ground as if their job was done.

“Hah… hahaha.”

The desolate open lot echoed with Cheong’s dry laugh, as if nothing had ever happened.

The sound of rain that had been so grating against her ears now felt eerily silent.

The flames from the grenades were extinguished by the freezing rainwater, which was cold enough to freeze ordinary water.

Apart from a slight indentation in the hard floor, all traces of the grenades that had threatened life were gone.

Crunch. Crunch.

At that moment, a bizarre sound pierced through the rain.

‘!’

The man who had been spitting out blood was making a cracking noise as his bones twisted in every direction.

“No way!”

It was a sound that should never come from someone who had enhanced their body with objects.

Cheong pulled out an elegant silver-decorated syringe from the man’s backpack and jabbed it straight into his body.

The moment she pressed the switch, a ‘click’ sound rang out as a hidden needle pierced through the man’s flesh.

This syringe, called “Dice,” acted like a potion in games.

Despite its hefty price tag, its effect was nothing short of miraculous.

It healed even minor scrapes instantly and could regenerate lost limbs like severed arms in the blink of an eye.

In short, as long as you weren’t dead, this syringe could bring you back to life.

But perhaps because its effects were too incredible…

Or maybe because it was too dreamlike for such a cruel reality…

As its name suggested, Dice was an imperfect item despite its high cost.

The probability of it working upon use was a mere 1/6.

In the remaining 5/6 cases, it did absolutely nothing.

It was literally rolling the dice with your life.

Moreover, repeated use within a short time further reduced the chances of success.

“Please. Please. Please.”

Had Cheong’s prayers been answered, or was it another miracle akin to the shotguns?

The man’s body, which had been writhing as if his bones would burst through his skin, calmed down, and his wounds began to vanish.

“Huh, thank goodness.”

Cheong, who had been sitting on the ground in extreme tension, slumped her body in relief.

At that moment, the same strange sound began again.

Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.

And this time, the sound multiplied, coming from all directions.

It was the sound emanating from the perfectly killed scavenger corpses, unimaginable as they were to have survived shotgun blasts.

A clean shot through the eye socket into the brain.

Piercing through reinforced skin to hit the heart.

So precise, it reminded one of the legendary sniper of the Free City Alliance, ‘Night Hawk.’

Yet those immaculately dead scavengers started twitching.

As if something inside a dumpling wrapper was moving.

As if bones were moving aimlessly.

As if clay was being kneaded violently.

With the sound of breaking bones, they twitched.

And the more they twitched, the more it seemed internal organs were collapsing, spurting blood and chunks of innards like holes in a dumpling.

Cheong covered her ears as if blocking out unwanted sounds and tightly shut her eyes as if avoiding an unpleasant sight.

After a while of nauseating sounds, the corpses finally stopped twitching.

Swishhh.

The heavy rain returned, soaking everything once more.

Cheong opened her eyes slightly amidst the familiar rain, only to be splattered with scalding hot blood as something tore through skin.

“!!!!”

Like parasites bursting from abdomens in famous movies, grotesque creatures began emerging from the scavengers’ bodies.

With several spider-like legs and a sickly pale red hue.

They resembled human vertebrae fused with multiple fingers.

These were the objects embedded in the scavengers’ bodies.

Now that their hosts were dead, these object-parasites were emerging.

Much like tapeworms bursting from a host’s body.

“#$%$%#$”

Cheong squeezed her eyes shut and unleashed every curse word she knew.

Crazy. Crazy. Crazy.

Why. Why. Why.

Who would willingly implant such things into their bodies?

Everyone’s insane.

Completely out of their minds.

All of them are idiots.

While Cheong ranted with her eyes shut, more objects began emerging from the scavenger corpses.

The icy rain hitting the scorching-hot object surfaces created thick steam.

It was a nasty mix of oil and blood odors in the vapor.

And these parasite-like objects began crawling into the shadows of the city, as if knowing exactly where to go.

***

At the boundary of the Mini Reaper Garden, between the Snowfield and Candy Mountain.

A secluded spot where other reapers rarely ventured.

I gathered the orange reapers there and began explaining the prank we’d pull together.

A simple plan: head to the ice palace built by the golden reapers and smash it to pieces.

Of course, my real plan was to sneak away as soon as the orange reapers started destroying and then tattle on them to the golden reapers.

Hehe.

Besides, I added that with everyone causing chaos, the golden reapers wouldn’t dare to get too angry.

‘How about it?’

As I asked the confident orange reapers with a sly grin, they responded with enthusiastic applause.

“Mom, you’re amazing!”

“Amazing!”

Though I thought they might refuse, I received far more enthusiastic cheers than expected.

The orange reapers really are obedient and smart.

Though pricking my conscience slightly to trick such good kids, I decided to think of it as their social studies lesson.

Hehe.

When I giggled, the orange reapers giggled too.

For some reason, their cheerful smiles seemed a bit unsettling.

Their closed-eye smiles even gave off a villainous vibe.

‘Nah, it’ll be fine.’

I brushed off the feeling and laughed along, excited about the prank.

***

The prank with the orange reapers seemed to be going smoothly.

Especially since I spotted all the golden reapers gathered in one place while spying on them to set the timing.

What luck—just in time for the irregularly held Golden Reaper Conference.

These conferences often start over trivial matters like “What’s the tastiest pudding?” and last at least three hours.

‘!’

The orange reapers, thrilled at the opportunity, urged us to quickly destroy the ice palace.

They claimed they’d fill the white hungry ghost’s belly with hot chocolate to attack the palace.